Cadmea

but when you had seized the Cadmea, you did not permit even the Thebans themselves to be independent.

In your own case, also, I see that sometimes many reverses result from the things you have done with too little judgment, among which was, in fact, the seizure of the Cadmea in Thebes;

It is truly a noble deed that is told of your ancestors, when they did not suffer those Argives who died at the Cadmea to go unburied;

and this victory they loved so exceedingly that, though their city was overthrown for them and even now well-nigh is so save for a small part, the Cadmea being inhabited, of all the rest that had been destroyed — of many shrines, of many monuments and inscriptions — they took no thought, but having sought out the Hermes they again set it upright, on which was the epigram about the flute-playing:

Having explained in the preceding part the nature and rights of property, it remains for us to consider the obligation which we incur from thence.

For this they were punished by the gods, and, after the Cadmea was captured, they were forced to take refuge here in Athens.

They accuse the Lacedaemonians because they occupied the Cadmea and established garrisons in their cities, yet they themselves, not sending garrisons, but razing the walls of some and entirely destroying others, think they have committed no atrocity;

For when the Argives came to your ancestors and implored them to take up for burial the bodies of the dead at the foot of the Cadmea, your forefathers yielded to their persuasion and compelled the Thebans to adopt measures more conformable to our usage, and thus not only gained renown for themselves in those times, but also bequeathed to your city a glory never to be forgotten for all time to come …