Yet Socrates was right there in the city, comforting the grieving fathers and encouraging those who had given up hope for their republic. He scolded rich men who feared their wealth would get them killed, pushing them to finally regret their greed. He walked around as a living example for anyone who wanted to follow his lead. Here was a free man moving among thirty masters. But Athens herself put him to death in prison. Even Freedom couldn't stand the freedom of someone who had scorned an entire gang of tyrants. This shows you that even in an oppressed state, a wise person can find ways to make a difference. But in a prosperous and thriving state, arrogance, jealousy, and a thousand other cowardly vices take over.
Yet Socrates was in the midst of the city, and consoled its mourning Fathers, encouraged those who despaired of the republic, by his reproaches brought rich men, who feared that their wealth would be their ruin, to a tardy repentance of their avarice, and moved about as a great example to those who wished to imitate him, because he walked a free man in the midst of thirty masters. However, Athens herself put him to death in prison, and Freedom herself could not endure the freedom of one who had treated a whole band of tyrants with scorn: you may know, therefore, that even in an oppressed state a wise man can find an opportunity for bringing himself to the front, and that in a prosperous and flourishing one wanton insolence, jealousy, and a thousand other cowardly vices bear sway.