The
people cheered and applauded him, at which he was so much delighted as
to forget a quail which he had in his cloak. When it escaped and ran
about bewildered, the Athenians applauded all the more, and many rose
and chased it. It was caught by the pilot Antiochus, who restored it,
and became one of Alkibiades's greatest friends. Starting with great
advantages from his noble birth, his wealth, his recognised bravery in
battle, and his many friends and relatives, he relied upon nothing so
much as on his eloquence for making himself popular and influential. His
rhetorical powers are borne witness to by the comic dramatists; and the
greatest of orators, Demosthenes, in his speech against Meidias, speaks
of Alkibiades as being most eloquent, besides his other charms. If we
are to believe Theophrastus, who has inquired more diligently into these
various tales than any one else, Alkibiades excelled all men of his time
in readiness of invention and resource. However, as he wished not merely
to speak to the purpose, but also to clothe his thoughts in the most
appropriate language, he did not always succeed in combining the two,
and often hesitated and stopped, seeking for the right word, and not
continuing his speech until it occurred to him.
XI. He was renowned for his stud, and for the number of his racing
chariots. No other person, king or commoner, ever entered seven
four-horse chariots for the race at Olympia except Alkibiades.
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