[53]
But, what is most reprehensible of all, we regard those whom all would acknowledge to be the most depraved of our citizens1 as the most trustworthy guardians of our polity; and we judge the character of our alien residents by the kind of patrons2 they select to represent them, but do not expect that we shall be judged by the character of those who represent us at the head of the state.
1 Cf. Isoc. 15.316 ff. and notes; Aristoph. Frogs 730 ff.
2 Only through a citizen to represent him as his “patron” before the law could a foreign resident enjoy the protection of the state. The word for patron, προστάτης, was also used for the leader of the General Assembly. Hence the play on the word, which can be reproduced only by a free rendering in English.
Isocrates. Isocrates with an English Translation in three volumes, by George Norlin, Ph.D., LL.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1980.
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