Hearing these words Theramenes sprang upon the altar of Hestia,
exclaiming: "And I, sirs, supplicate you for the barest forms of law
and justice. Let it not be in the power of Critias to strike off
either me, or any one of you whom he will. But in my case, in what may
be your case, if we are tried, let our trial be in accordance with the
law they have made concerning those on the list. I know," he added,
"but too well, that this altar will not protect me; but I will make it
plain that these men are as impious towards the gods as they are
nefarious towards men. Yet I do marvel, good sirs and honest
gentlemen, for so you are, that you will not help yourselves, and that
too when you must see that the name of every one of you is as easily
erased as mine."

But when he had got so far, the voice of the herald was heard giving
the order to the Eleven to seize Theramenes. They at that instant
entered with their satellites--at their head Satyrus, the boldest and
most shameless of the body--and Critias exclaimed, addressing the
Eleven, "We deliver over to you Theramenes yonder, who has been
condemned according to the law. Do you take him and lead him away to
the proper place, and do there with him what remains to do." As
Critias uttered the words, Satyrus laid hold upon Theramenes to drag
him from the altar, and the attendants lent their aid. But he, as was
natural, called upon gods and men to witness what was happening. The
senators the while kept silence, seeing the companions of Satyrus at
the bar, and the whole front of the senate house crowded with the
foreign guards, nor did they need to be told that there were daggers
in reserve among those present.

And so Theramenes was dragged through the Agora, in vehement and loud
tones proclaiming the wrongs that he was suffering. One word, which is