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Section 52

SOCRATES. "But whoever among you remains, having seen the way we pass judgments and manage the rest of the city, we say that he has now agreed with us by his actions to do whatever we command. And the one who disobeys, we say, acts unjustly in three ways: because he disobeys us who gave him birth; because he disobeys those who nurtured him; and because, having agreed to obey us, he neither obeys nor tries to persuade us if we are doing something wrong, even though we propose it to him and do not fiercely dictate that he must do what we order. We allow a choice between two things—either to persuade us or to do as we say—yet he does neither. These are the charges, Socrates, to which we say you too will be liable if you carry out what you are intending, and you not the least of the Athenians, but among the most." If I were to ask, "Why so?", perhaps they would rightly rebuke me, saying that I happen to have made this agreement with them more strongly than other Athenians. They would say, "Socrates, we have great proofs that we and the city were pleasing to you. For you would never have remained in it so exceptionally compared to all other Athenians if it had not been exceptionally pleasing to you. You never left the city for a festival, except once to the Isthmus, nor went anywhere else, except on military campaigns; nor did you ever make a journey abroad like other people do, nor did a desire seize you to know another city or other laws. We and our city were sufficient for you. So strongly did you choose us and agree to be governed under us; and you even begot children in this city, proving that it pleased you. Furthermore, even during the trial itself, you could have proposed the penalty of exile if you wished, and done with the city's consent what you are now attempting to do without it. Back then you prided yourself on not being bothered if you had to die, choosing, as you said, death over exile. But now you neither respect those words, nor do you reverence us, the Laws, attempting to destroy us. You are acting just as the most worthless slave would act, attempting to run away contrary to the contracts and the agreements by which you agreed to live as a citizen under us. First, answer us this: are we speaking the truth when we say that you agreed to be a citizen under us in deeds, though not in words, or is it not true?" What shall we say to this, Crito? Must we not agree?

CRITO. We must, Socrates.

SOCRATES. "Are you doing anything else," they would say, "than violating the covenants and agreements you made with us, which you were not forced to agree to, nor deceived, nor compelled to decide upon in a short time? You had seventy years in which you could have departed if we did not please you, or if the agreements did not seem just to you. But you chose neither Lacedaemon nor Crete, which you are always saying have good laws, nor any other city of the Hellenes or the barbarians."