Plato in Italy

. . . We marked on one of the walls of the small room where the great man dwelt:

Plato and his disciple Cleobulus to the father of Greek history.

Nor, in speaking of the affairs of the Thurians, shall I forget you, wise author of most just laws, Charondas; you to whom Thurii owes its present happiness, and from whom Sybaris would have obtained the duration of its greatness, if the perverse customs of men had not made your laws forgotten (1)! — I have seen the monument that the Thurians have raised to his memory. Charondas had by law forbidden anyone to enter the assembly armed. Now it happened that one day, returning from the field, armed as he was, he received news of a sedition that had arisen in the assembly: he runs, and does not notice to lay down his sword. You are guilty of death, O Charondas, cried the seditious then, who feared his presence. That sword of yours has broken all your laws. This sword, instead, will confirm them, replied the wise man. And so saying he plunged it into his chest — The inscription that is carved on the pedestal of his statue recalls these words; and then one reads added

(1) Here it seems that Charondas is made older than is commonly believed. See app. I.