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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9060-8.txt b/9060-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a03ae0e --- /dev/null +++ b/9060-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7772 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Public Orations of Demosthenes, volume 1, by +Demosthenes + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Public Orations of Demosthenes, volume 1 + +Author: Demosthenes + +Posting Date: October 13, 2014 [EBook #9060] +Release Date: October, 2005 +First Posted: September 2, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PUBLIC ORATIONS DEMOSTHENES, VOL I *** + + + + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Jon Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + THE PUBLIC ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES + IN TWO VOLUMES + VOL I + + TRANSLATED BY + ARTHUR WALLACE PICKARD + + + + +PREFACE + +The translations included in this volume were written at various times +during the last ten years for use in connexion with College Lectures, +and a long holiday, for which I have to thank the Trustees of the +Balliol College Endowment Fund, as well as the Master and Fellows of +Balliol College, has enabled me to revise them and to furnish them with +brief introductions and notes. Only those speeches are included which +are generally admitted to be the work of Demosthenes, and the spurious +documents contained in the MSS. of the Speech on the Crown are omitted. +The speeches are arranged in chronological order, and the several +introductions to them are intended to supply an outline of the history +of the period, sufficient to provide a proper setting for the speeches, +but not more detailed than was necessary for this purpose. No +discussion of conflicting evidence has been introduced, and the views +which are expressed on the character and work of Demosthenes must +necessarily seem somewhat dogmatic, when given without the reasons for +them. I hope, however, before long to treat the life of Demosthenes +more fully in another form. The estimate here given of his character as +a politician falls midway between the extreme views of Grote and +Schäfer on the one hand, and Beloch and Holm on the other. + +I have tried to render the speeches into such English as a political +orator of the present day might use, without attempting to impart to +them any antique colouring, such as the best-known English translations +either had from the first or have acquired by lapse of time. It is of +the essence of political oratory that it is addressed to +contemporaries, and the translation of it should therefore be into +contemporary English; though the necessity of retaining some of the +modes of expression which are peculiar to Greek oratory and political +life makes it impossible to produce completely the appearance of an +English orator's work. The qualities of Demosthenes' eloquence +sometimes suggest rather the oratory of the pulpit than that of the +hustings or that of Parliament and of the law-courts. I cannot hope to +have wholly succeeded in my task; but it seemed to be worth +undertaking, and I hope that the work will not prove to have been +altogether useless. + +I have made very little use of other translations; but I must +acknowledge a debt to Lord Brougham's version of the Speeches on the +Chersonese and on the Crown, which, though often defective from the +point of view of scholarship and based on faulty texts, are (together +with his notes) very inspiring. I have also, at one time or another, +consulted most of the standard German, French, and English editions of +Demosthenes. I cannot now distinguish how much I owe to each; but I am +conscious of a special debt to the editions of the late Professor Henri +Weil, and of Sir J.E. Sandys, and (in the Speech on the Crown) to that +of Professor W.W. Goodwin. I also owe a few phrases in the earliest +speeches to Professor W.R. Hardie, whose lectures on Demosthenes I +attended twenty years ago. My special thanks are due to my friend Mr. +P.E. Matheson of New College, for his kindness in reading the +proof-sheets, and making a number of suggestions, which have been of +great assistance to me. + +The text employed has been throughout that of the late Mr. S.H. Butcher +in the _Bibliotheca Classica Oxoniensis_. Any deviations from this are +noted in their place. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION i. 7 + +LIST OF SPEECHES TRANSLATED + + Traditional Order In this Edition + ORATION I. OLYNTHIAC I i. 87 + II. OLYNTHIAC II i. 99 + III. OLYNTHIAC III i. 109 + IV. PHILIPPIC I i. 68 + V. ON THE PEACE i. 120 + VI. PHILIPPIC II i. 133 + VIII. ON THE CHERSONESE ii. 3 + IX. PHILIPPIC III ii. 26 + XIV. ON THE NAVAL BOARDS i. 31 + XV. FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE RHODIANS i. 56 + XVI. FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS i. 45 + XVIII. ON THE CROWN ii. 47 + XIX. ON THE EMBASSY i. 144 + + NOTES ii. 149 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Demosthenes, the son of Demosthenes of Paeania in Attica, a rich and +highly respected factory-owner, was born in or about the year 384 B.C. +He was early left an orphan; his guardians mismanaged his property for +their own advantage; and although, soon after coming of age in 366, he +took proceedings against them and was victorious in the law-courts, he +appears to have recovered comparatively little from them. In preparing +for these proceedings he had the assistance of Isaeus, a teacher and +writer of speeches who was remarkable for his knowledge of law, his +complete mastery of all the aspects of any case with which he had to +do, and his skill in dealing with questions of ownership and +inheritance. Demosthenes' speeches against his guardians show plainly +the influence of Isaeus, and the teacher may have developed in his +pupil the thoroughness and the ingenuity in handling legal arguments +which afterwards became characteristic of his work. + +Apart from this litigation with his guardians, we know little of +Demosthenes' youth and early manhood. Various stories have come down to +us (for the most part not on the best authority), of his having been +inspired to aim at an orator's career by the eloquence and fame of +Callistratus; of his having overcome serious physical defects by +assiduous practice; of his having failed, nevertheless, owing to +imperfections of delivery, in his early appearances before the people, +and having been enabled to remedy these by the instruction of the +celebrated actor Satyrus; and of his close study of the _History_ of +Thucydides. Upon the latter point the evidence of his early style +leaves no room for doubt, and the same studies may have contributed to +the skill and impressiveness with which, in nearly every oration, he +appeals to the events of the past, and sums up the lessons of history. +Whether he came personally under the influence either of Plato, the +philosopher, or of Isocrates, the greatest rhetorical teacher of his +time, and a political pamphleteer of high principles but little +practical insight, is much more doubtful. The two men were almost as +different in temperament and aims as it was possible to be, but +Demosthenes' familiarity with the published speeches of Isocrates, and +with the rhetorical principles which Isocrates taught and followed, can +scarcely be questioned. + +In the early years of his manhood, Demosthenes undertook the +composition of speeches for others who were engaged in litigation. This +task required not only a very thorough knowledge of law, but the power +of assuming, as it were, the character of each separate client, and +writing in a tone appropriate to it; and, not less, the ability to +interest and to rouse the active sympathy of juries, with whom feeling +was perhaps as influential as legal justification. This part, however, +of Demosthenes' career only concerns us here in so far as it was an +admirable training for his later work in the larger sphere of politics, +in which the same qualities of adaptability and of power both to argue +cogently and to appeal to the emotions effectively were required in an +even higher degree. + +At the time when Demosthenes' interest in public affairs was beginning +to take an active form, Athens was suffering from the recent loss of +some of her most powerful allies. In the year 358 B.C. she had counted +within the sphere of her influence not only the islands of Lemnos, +Imbros, and Scyros (which had been guaranteed to her by the Peace of +Antalcidas in 387), but also the chief cities of Euboea, the islands of +Chios, Cos, Rhodes, and Samos, Mytilene in Lesbos, the towns of the +Chersonese, Byzantium (a city of the greatest commercial importance), +and a number of stations on the south coast of Thrace, as well as +Pydna, Potidaea, Methone, and the greater part of the country bordering +upon the Thermaic Gulf. But her failure to observe the terms of +alliance, laid down when the new league was founded in 378, had led to +a revolt, which ended in 355 or 354 in the loss to her of Chios, Cos, +Rhodes, and Byzantium, and of some of the ablest of her own commanders, +and left her treasury almost empty. About the same time Mytilene and +Corcyra also took the opportunity to break with her. Moreover, her +position in the Thermaic region was threatened first by Olynthus, at +the head of the Chalcidic League, which included over thirty towns; and +secondly by Philip, the newly-established King of Macedonia, who seemed +likely to displace both Olynthus and Athens from their positions of +commanding influence.[1] + +Nevertheless, Athens, though unable to face a strong combination, was +probably the most powerful single state in Greece. In her equipment and +capacity for naval warfare she had no rival, and certainly no other +state could vie with her in commercial activity and prosperity. The +power of Sparta in the Peloponnese had declined greatly. The +establishment of Megalopolis as the centre of a confederacy of Arcadian +tribes, and of Messene as an independent city commanding a region once +entirely subject to Sparta, had seriously weakened her position; while +at the same time her ambition to recover her supremacy kept alive a +feeling of unrest throughout the Peloponnese. Of the other states of +South Greece, Argos was hostile to Sparta, Elis to the Arcadians; +Corinth and other less important cities were not definitely attached to +any alliance, but were not powerful enough to carry out any serious +movement alone. In North Greece, Thebes, though she lacked great +leaders, was still a great power, whose authority throughout Boeotia +had been strengthened by the complete or partial annihilation of +Platacae, Thespiae, Orchomenus,[2] and Coroneia. In Athens the ill +feeling against Thebes was strong, owing to the occupation by the +Thebans of Oropus,[2] a frontier town which Athens claimed, and their +treatment of the towns just mentioned, towards which the Athenians were +kindly disposed. The Phocians, who had until recently been unwilling +allies of Thebes, were now hostile and not insignificant neighbours, +and about this time entered into relations with both Sparta and Athens. +The subject of contention was the possession or control of the Temple +of Apollo at Delphi, which the Phocians had recently taken by force +from the Delphians, who were supported by Thebes; and in the 'Sacred +War' to which this act (which was considered to be sacrilege) gave rise +in 355 B.C., the Thebans and Locrians fought against the Phocians in +the name of the Amphictyonic Council, a body (composed of +representatives of tribes and states of very unequal importance[3]) to +which the control of the temple traditionally belonged. Thessaly +appears to have been at this time more or less under Theban influence, +but was immediately dominated by the tyrants of Pherae, though the +several cities seem each to have possessed a nominally independent +government. The Greek peoples were disunited in fact and unfitted for +union by temperament. The twofold desire, felt by almost all the more +advanced Greek peoples, for independence on the one hand, and for +'hegemony' or leadership among other peoples, on the other, rendered +any effective combination impossible, and made the relations of states +to one another uncertain and inconstant. While each people paid respect +to the spirit of autonomy, when their own autonomy was in question, +they were ready to violate it without scruple when they saw their way +to securing a predominant position among their neighbours; and although +the ideal of Panhellenic unity had been put before Greece by Gorgias +and Isocrates, its realization did not go further than the formation of +leagues of an unstable character, each subject, as a rule, to the more +or less tyrannical domination of some one member. + +Probably the power which was most generally feared in the Greek world +was that of the King of Persia. Several times in recent years (and +particularly in 387 and 367) he had been requested to make and enforce +a general settlement of Hellenic affairs. The settlement of 387 (called +the King's Peace, or the Peace of Antalcidas, after the Spartan officer +who negotiated it) had ordained the independence of the Greek cities, +small and great, with the exception of those in Asia Minor, which were +to form part of the Persian Empire, and of Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros, +which were to belong to Athens as before. The attempt to give effect to +the arrangement negotiated in 367 failed, and the terms of the Peace of +Antalcidas, though it was still appealed to, when convenient, as a +charter of liberty, also came to be disregarded. But there was always a +sense of the possibility or the danger of provoking the great king to +exert his strength, or at least to use his wealth, to the detriment of +some or all of the Greek states; though at the moment of which we are +speaking (about 355) the Persian Empire itself was suffering from +recent disorders and revolutions, and the king had little leisure for +interfering in the affairs of Greece. + +It was to the department of foreign and inter-Hellenic affairs that +Demosthenes principally devoted himself. His earliest political +speeches, however, were composed and delivered in furtherance of +prosecutions for the crime of proposing illegal legislation. These were +the speeches against Androtion (spoken by Diodorus in 355) and against +Leptines (in 354). Both these were written to denounce measures which +Demosthenes regarded as dishonest or unworthy of Athenian traditions. +In the former he displays that desire for clean-handed administration +which is so prominent in some of his later speeches; and in the +prosecution of Leptines he shows his anxiety that Athens should retain +her reputation for good faith. Both speeches, like those of the year +352 against Timocrates (spoken by Diodorus), and against Aristocrates +(spoken by Euthycles), are remarkable for thoroughness of argument and +for the skill which is displayed in handling legal and political +questions, though, like almost all Athenian forensic orations, they are +sometimes sophistical in argument. + +The first speech which is directly devoted to questions of external +policy is that on the Naval Boards in 354; and this is followed within +the next two years by speeches delivered in support of appeals made to +Athens by the people of Megalopolis and by the exiled democratic party +of Rhodes. From these speeches it appears that the general lines of +Demosthenes' policy were already determined. He was in opposition to +Eubulus, who, after the disastrous termination of the war with the +allies, had become the leading statesman in Athens. The strength of +Eubulus lay in his freedom from all illusion as to the position in +which Athens stood, in his ability as a financier, and in his readiness +to take any measures which would enable him to carry out his policy. He +saw that the prime necessity of the moment was to recruit the financial +and material strength of the city; that until this should be effected, +she was quite incapable of carrying on war with any other power; and +that she could only recover her strength through peace. In this policy +he had the support of the well-to-do classes, who suffered heavily in +time of war from taxation and the disturbance of trade. On the other +hand, the sentiments of the masses were imperialistic and militant. We +gather that there were plenty of orators who made a practice of +appealing to the glorious traditions of the past and the claim always +made by Athens to leadership among the Greek states. To buy off the +opposition which his policy might be expected to encounter, Eubulus +distributed funds freely to the people, in the shape of +'Festival-money', adopting the methods employed before him by +demagogues, very different from himself, in order that he might +override the real sentiments of the democracy; and in spite of the +large amounts thus spent he did in fact succeed, in the course of a few +years, in collecting a considerable sum without resorting to +extraordinary taxation, in greatly increasing the navy and in enlarging +the dockyards. For the success of this policy it was absolutely +necessary to avoid all entanglement in war, except under the strongest +compulsion. The appeals of the Megalopolitans and the Rhodians, to +yield to which would probably have meant war with Sparta and with +Persia, must be rejected. Even in dealing with Philip, who was making +himself master of the Athenian allies on the Thermaic coast, the fact +of the weakness of Athens must be recognized, and all idea of a great +expedition against Philip must be abandoned for the present. At the +same time, some necessary measures of precaution were not neglected. It +was essential to secure the route to the Euxine, over which the +Athenian corn-trade passed, if corn was not to be sold at famine +prices. For this purpose, therefore, alliance was made with the +Thracian prince, Cersobleptes; and when Philip threatened Heraeon +Teichos on the Propontis, an expedition was prepared, and was only +abandoned because Philip himself was forced to desist from his attempt +by illness. Similarly, when Philip appeared likely to cross the Pass of +Thermopylae in 352, an Athenian force was sent (on the proposal of +Diophantus, a supporter of Eubulus) to prevent him. The failure of +Eubulus and his party to give effective aid to Olynthus against Philip +was due to the more pressing necessity of attempting to recover control +of Euboea: it had clearly been their intention to save Olynthus, if +possible. But when this had proved impossible, and the attempt to form +a Hellenic league against Philip had also failed, facts had once more +to be recognized; and, since Athens was now virtually isolated, peace +must be made with Philip on the only terms which he would accept--that +each side should keep what it _de facto_ possessed at the time. + +Demosthenes was generally in opposition to Eubulus and his party, of +which Aeschines (once an actor and afterwards a clerk, but a man of +education and great natural gifts) was one of the ablest members. +Demosthenes was inspired by the traditions of the past, but had a much +less vague conception of the moral to be drawn from them than had the +multitude. Athens, for him as for them, was to be the first state in +Hellas; she was above all to be the protectress of democracy +everywhere, against both absolutism and oligarchy, and the leader of +the Hellenes in resistance to foreign aggression. But, unlike the +multitude, Demosthenes saw that this policy required the greatest +personal effort and readiness for sacrifice on the part of every +individual; and he devotes his utmost energies to the task of arousing +his countrymen to the necessary pitch of enthusiasm, and of effecting +such reforms in administration and finance as, in his opinion, would +make the realization of his ideal for Athens possible. In the speeches +for the Megalopolitans and the Rhodians, the nature of this ideal is +already becoming clear both in its Athenian and in its Panhellenic +aspects. But so soon as it appeared that Philip, at the head of the +half-barbarian Macedonians, and not Athens, was likely to become the +predominant power in the Hellenic world, it was against Philip that all +his efforts were directed; and although in 346 he is practically at one +with the party of Eubulus in his recognition of the necessity of peace, +he is eager, when the opportunity seems once more to offer itself, to +resume the conflict, and, when it is resumed, to carry it through to +the end. + +We have then before us the sharp antagonism of two types of +statesmanship. The strength of the one lies in the recognition of +actual facts, and the avoidance of all projects which seem likely, +under existing circumstances, to fail. The other is of a more sanguine +type, and believes in the power of enthusiasm and self-sacrifice to +transform the existing facts into something better, and to win success +against all odds. Statesmen of the former type are always attacked as +unpatriotic and mean-spirited; those of the latter, as unpractical and +reckless. There is truth and falsehood in both accusations: but since +no statesman has ever combined all the elements of statesmanship in a +perfect and just proportion, and since neither prudence and +clear-sightedness, nor enthusiastic and generous sentiment, can ever be +dispensed with in the conduct of affairs without loss, a larger view +will attach little discredit to either type. While, therefore, we may +view with regret some of the methods which both Demosthenes and +Aeschines at times condescended to use in their conflicts with one +another, and with no less regret the disastrous result of the policy +which ultimately carried the day, we need not hesitate to give their +due to both of the contending parties: nor, while we recognize that +Eubulus and Phocion (his sturdiest supporter in the field and in +counsel) took the truer view of the situation, and of the character of +the Athenians as they were, need we (as it is now fashionable to do) +denounce the orator who strove with unstinting personal effort and +self-sacrifice to rouse the Athenians into a mood in which they could +and would realize the ideal to which they, no less than he, professed +their devotion. + +But the difficulties in the way of such a realization were wellnigh +insuperable. Neither the political nor the military system of Athens +was adapted to such a policy. The Sovereign Assembly, though capable of +sensible and energetic action at moments of special danger, was more +likely to be moved by feeling and prejudice than by businesslike +argument, particularly at a time when the tendency of the best educated +and most intelligent men was to withdraw from participation in public +life; and meeting, as the Assembly did (unless specially summoned), +only at stated intervals, it was incapable of taking such rapid, +well-timed, and decisive action as Philip could take, simply because he +was a single man, sole master of his own policy, and personally in +command of his own forces. The publicity which necessarily attached to +the discussions of the Assembly was a disadvantage at a time when many +plans would better have been kept secret; and rapid modifications of +policy, to suit sudden changes in the situation, were almost +impossible. Again, while no subjects are so unsuited under any +circumstances for popular discussion as foreign and military affairs, +the absence in Athens of a responsible ministry greatly increased the +difficulties of her position. It is true that the Controller of the +Festival Fund (whose office gradually became more and more important) +was now appointed for four years at a time, while all other offices +were annual; and that he and his friends, and their regular opponents, +were generally ready to take the lead in making proposals to the +Council or the Assembly. But if they chose to remain silent, they could +do so;[4] no one was bound to make any proposal at all; and, on the +other hand, any one might do so. With such a want of system, far too +much was left to chance or to the designs of interested persons. +Moreover, the Assembly felt itself under no obligation to follow for +any length of time any lead which might be given to it, or to maintain +any continuity or consistency between its own decrees. In modern times, +a minister, brought into power by the will of the majority of the +people, can reckon for a considerable period upon the more or less +loyal support of the majority for himself and his official colleagues. +In Athens the leader of the moment had to be perpetually adapting +himself afresh to the mood of the Assembly, and even to deceive it, in +order that he might lead at all, or carry out the policy which, in his +opinion, his country's need required. It is therefore a remarkable +thing that both Eubulus and Demosthenes succeeded for many years in +maintaining a line of action as consistent as that taken by practical +men can ever be. + +The fact that the Council of Five Hundred, which acted as a standing +committee of the people, and prepared business for the Assembly and was +responsible for the details of measures passed by the Assembly in +general form, was chosen by lot and changed annually, as did +practically all the civil and the military officials (though the latter +might be re-elected), was all against efficiency and continuity of +policy.[5] After the system of election by lot, the most characteristic +feature of the Athenian democracy was the responsibility of statesmen +and generals to the law-courts.[6] Any citizen might accuse them upon +charges nominally limited in scope, but often serving in reality to +bring their whole career into question. Had it been certain that the +courts would only punish incompetence or misconduct, and not failure as +such, little harm would have resulted. But although there were very +many acquittals in political trials, the uncertainty of the issue was +so great, and the sentences inflicted upon the condemned so severe +(commonly involving banishment at least), that the liability to trial +as a criminal must often have deterred the statesman and the general +from taking the most necessary risks; while the condemnation of the +accused had usually the result of driving a really able man out of the +country, and depriving his fellow countrymen of services which might be +urgently required when they were no longer available. + +The financial system was also ill adapted for the purposes of a people +constantly liable to war. The funds required for the bare needs of a +time of peace seem indeed to have been sufficiently provided from +permanent sources of income (such as the silver mines, the rent of +public lands, court fees and fines, and various indirect taxes): but +those needed for war had to be met by a direct tax upon property, +levied _ad hoc_ whenever the necessity arose, and not collected without +delays and difficulties. And although the equipment of ships for +service was systematically managed under the trierarchic laws,[7] it +was still subject to delays no less serious. There was no regular +system of contribution to State funds, and no systematic accumulation +of a reserve to meet military needs. The raising of money by means of +loans at interest to the State was only adopted in Greece in a few +isolated instances:[8] and the practice of annually distributing +surplus funds to the people,[9] however necessary or excusable under +the circumstances, was wholly contrary to sound finance. + +An even greater evil was the dependence of the city upon mercenary +forces and generals, whose allegiance was often at the call of the +highest bidder, and in consequence was seldom reliable. There is no +demand which Demosthenes makes with greater insistence, than the demand +that the citizens themselves shall serve with the army. At a moment of +supreme danger, they might do so. But in fact Athens had become more +and more an industrial state, and men were not willing to leave their +business to take care of itself for considerable periods, in order to +go out and fight, unless the danger was very urgent, or the interests +at stake of vital importance; particularly now that the length of +campaigns had become greater and the seasons exempted from military +operations shorter. In many minds the spread of culture, and of the +ideal of self-culture, had produced a type of individualism indifferent +to public concerns, and contemptuous of political and military +ambitions. Moreover, the methods of warfare had undergone great +improvement; in most branches of the army the trained skill of the +professional soldier was really necessary; and it was not possible to +leave the olive-yard or the counting-house and become an efficient +fighter without more ado. But the expensiveness of the mercenary +forces; the violent methods by which they obtained supplies from +friends and neutrals, as well as foes, if, as often happened, their pay +was in arrear; and the dependence of the city upon the goodwill of +generals and soldiers who could without much difficulty find employment +under other masters, were evils which were bound to hamper any attempt +to give effect to a well-planned and far-sighted scheme of action. + +It also resulted from the Athenian system of government that the +general, while obviously better informed of the facts of the military +situation than any one else could be, and at the same time always +liable to be brought to trial in case of failure, had little influence +upon policy, unless he could find an effective speaker to represent +him. In the Assembly and in the law-courts (where the juries were large +enough to be treated in the same manner as the Assembly itself) the +orator who could win the people's ear was all powerful, and expert +knowledge could only make itself felt through the medium of oratory. + +A constitution which gave so much power to the orator had grave +disadvantages. The temptation to work upon the feelings rather than to +appeal to the reason of the audience was very strong, and no charge is +more commonly made by one orator against another than that of deceiving +or attempting to deceive the people. It is, indeed, very difficult to +judge how far an Athenian Assembly was really taken in by sophistical +or dishonest arguments: but it is quite certain that such arguments +were continually addressed to it; and the main body of the citizens can +scarcely have had that first-hand knowledge of facts, which would +enable them to criticize the orator's statements. Again, the oration +appealed to the people as a performance, no less than as a piece of +reasoning. Ancient political oratory resembled the oratory of the +pulpit at the present day, not only because it appealed perpetually to +the moral sense, and was in fact a kind of preaching; but also because +the main difficulty of the ancient orator and the modern preacher was +the same: for the Athenians liked being preached at, as the modern +congregation 'enjoys' a good sermon, and were, therefore, almost +equally immune against conversion. The conflicts of rival orators were +regarded mainly as an entertainment. The speaker who was most likely to +carry the voting (except when a great crisis had roused the Assembly to +seriousness) was the one who found specious and apparently moral +reasons for doing what would give the audience least trouble; and +consequently one who, like Demosthenes, desired to stir them up to +action and personal sacrifices, had always an uphill fight: and if he +also at times 'deceived the people' or employed sophistical arguments +in order to secure results which he believed to be for their good, we +must remember the difficulty (which, in spite of the wide circulation +of authentic information, is at least equally great at the present day) +of putting the true reasons for or against a policy, before those who, +whether from want of education or from lack of training in the +subordination of feeling to thought, are not likely to understand or to +listen to them. Nor, if we grant the genuineness of Demosthenes' +conviction as to the desirability of the end for which he contended, +can many statesmen be pointed out, who have not been at least as guilty +as he in their choice of means. That he did not solve the problem, how +to lead a democracy by wholly honest means, is the less to his +discredit, in that the problem still remains unsolved. + +It should be added that with an audience like the Athenian, whose +aesthetic sensitiveness was doubtless far greater than that of any +modern assembly, delivery counted for much. Aeschines' fine voice was a +real danger to Demosthenes, and Demosthenes himself spoke of delivery, +or the skilled acting of his part, as the all-important condition of an +orator's success. But it is clear that this can have been no advantage +from the standpoint of the public interest. + +In the law-courts the drawbacks to which the commanding influence of +oratory was liable were intensified. In the Assembly a certain amount +of reticence and self-restraint was imposed by custom: an opponent +could not be attacked by name or on purely personal grounds; and an +appearance of impartiality was commonly assumed. But in the courts much +greater play was allowed to feeling; and the arguments were often much +more disingenuous, not only because the personal interests at stake +made the speaker more unscrupulous, but also, perhaps, because the +juries ordinarily included a larger proportion of the poorer, the +idler, and the less-educated citizens than the Assembly. The legal +question was often that to which the jury were encouraged to pay least +attention, and the condemnation or acquittal of the accused was +demanded upon grounds quite extraneous to the indictment. (The two +court-speeches contained in these volumes afford abundant illustrations +of this.) Personalities were freely admitted, of a kind which it is +difficult to excuse and impossible to justify. To attempt to blacken +the personal character of an opponent by false stories about his +parentage and his youth, and by the ascription to him and his relations +of nameless immoralities, is a very different thing from the assignment +of wrong motives for his political actions, though even in purely +political controversy the ancients far exceeded the utmost limits of +modern invective. And this both Demosthenes and Aeschines do freely. +There is also reason to suspect that some of the tales which each tells +of the other's conduct, both while serving as ambassadors and on other +occasions, may be fabrications. The descriptive passages for which such +falsehoods gave an opening had doubtless their dramatic value in the +oratorical performance: possibly they were even expected by the +listeners; but their presence in the speeches does not increase our +admiration either for the speaker or for his audience. + +All the force of Demosthenes' oratory was unable to defeat the great +antagonist of his country. To Philip of Macedon failure was an +inconceivable idea. Resident during three impressionable years of his +youth at Thebes, he had there learned, from the example of Epaminondas, +what a single man could do: and he proceeded to each of the three great +tasks of his life--the welding of the rough Macedonians into one great +engine of war, the unification of Greece under his own leadership, and +the preparation for the conquest of the East by a united Greece and +Macedonia--without either faltering in face of difficulties, or +hesitating, out of any scrupulosity, to use the most effective means +towards the end which he wished at the moment to achieve; though in +fact the charges of bad faith made against him by Demosthenes are found +to be exaggerated, when they are impartially examined. Philip intended +to become master of Greece: Demosthenes realized this early, and, with +all the Hellenic detestation of a master, resolved to oppose him to the +end. Philip was, indeed, in spite of the barbarous traits which +revealed themselves in him at times, not only gracious and courteous by +nature, but a sincere admirer of Hellenic--in other words, of +Athenian--culture; the relations between his house and the people of +Athens had generally been friendly; and there was little reason to +suppose that, if he conquered Athens, he would treat her less +handsomely than in fact he did. Yet this could not justify one who +regarded freedom as Demosthenes regarded it, in making any concession +not extorted by the necessities of the situation: his duty and his +country's duty, as he conceived it, was to defeat the enemy of Hellenic +independence or to fall in the attempt. Nor was it for him to consider +(as Isocrates might) whether or no Philip's plans had now developed +into, or could be transformed into, a beneficent scheme for the +conquest of the barbarian world by a united Hellas, if the union was to +be achieved at the price of Athenian liberty. It is because, in spite +of errors and of the questionable methods to which he sometimes +stooped, Demosthenes devoted himself unflinchingly to the cause of +freedom, for Athens and for the Hellenes as a whole, that he is +entitled, not merely as an orator but as a politician, to the +admiration which posterity has generally accorded him. It is, above +all, by the second part of his career, when his policy of antagonism to +Philip had been accepted by the people, and he was no longer in +opposition but, as it were, in office, that Demosthenes himself claims +to be justified; and Aeschines' attempt to invalidate the claim is for +the most part unconvincing. + +It is not easy to describe in a few paragraphs the characteristics of +Demosthenes as an orator. That he stands on the highest eminence that +an orator has ever reached is generally admitted. But this is not to +say that he was wholly free from faults. His contemporaries, as well as +later Greek critics, were conscious of a certain artificiality in his +eloquence. It was, indeed, the general custom of Athenian orators to +prepare their speeches with great care: the speakers who, like +Aeschines and Demades, were able to produce a great effect without +preparation, and the rhetoricians who, like Alcidamas, thought of the +studied oration as but a poor imitation of true eloquence, were only a +small minority; and in general, not only was the arrangement of topics +carefully planned, but the greatest attention was paid to the sound and +rhythm of the sentences, and to the appropriateness and order of the +words. The orator had also his collections of passages on themes which +were likely to recur constantly, and of arguments on either side of +many questions; and from these he selected such passages as he +required, and adapted them to his particular purpose. The rhetorical +teachers appear to have supplied their pupils with such collections; we +find a number of instances of the repetition of the same passage in +different speeches, and an abundance of arguments formed exactly on the +model of the precepts contained in rhetorical handbooks.[10] Yet with +all this art nothing was more necessary than that a speech should +appear to be spontaneous and innocent of guile. There was a general +mistrust of the 'clever speaker', who by study or rhetorical training +had learned the art of arguing to any point, and making the worse cause +appear the better. To have studied his part too carefully--even to have +worked up illustrations from history and poetry--might expose the +orator to suspicion.[11] Demosthenes, in spite of his frequent attempts +to deprecate such suspicion, did not succeed wholly in keeping on the +safe side. Aeschines describes him as a wizard and a sophist, who +enjoyed deceiving the people or the jury. Another of his opponents +levelled at him the taunt that his speeches 'smelt of the lamp'. +Dionysius of Halicarnassus, one of the best of the ancient critics, +says that the artificiality of Demosthenes and his master Isaeus was +apt to excite suspicion, even when they had a good case. Nor can a +modern reader altogether escape the same impression. Sometimes, +especially in the earlier speeches to the Assembly, the argument seems +unreal, the joints between the previously prepared commonplaces or +illustrations and their application to the matter in hand are too +visible, the language is artificially phrased, and wanting in +spontaneity and ease. There are also parts of the court speeches in +which the orator seems to have calculated out all the possible methods +of meeting a particular case, and to be applying them in turn with more +ingenuity than convincingness. An appearance of unreality also arises +at times (again principally in the earlier speeches) from a certain +want of imagination. He attributes feelings and motives to others, +which they were really most unlikely to have entertained, and argues +from them. Some of the sentiments which he expects Artaxerxes or +Artemisia to feel (in the Speeches on the Naval Boards and for the +Rhodians) were certainly not to be looked for in them. Similar +misconceptions of the actual or possible sentiments of the Spartans +appear in the Speech for the Megalopolitans, and of those of the +Thebans in the Third Olynthiac (§ 15). The early orations against +Philip also show some misunderstanding of his character. And if, in +fact, Demosthenes lived his early years largely in solitary +studiousness and was unsociable by disposition, this lack of a quick +grasp of human nature and motives is quite intelligible. But this +defect grew less conspicuous as his experience increased; and though +even to the end there remained something of the sophist about him, as +about all the disciples of the ancient rhetoric, the greatness of his +best work is not seriously affected by this. For, in his greatest +speeches, and in the greatest parts of nearly all his speeches, the +orator is white-hot with genuine passion and earnestness; and all his +study and preparation resulted, for the most part, not in an artificial +product, but in the most convincing expression of his real feeling and +belief; so that it was the man himself, and not the rhetorical +practitioner that spoke. + +The lighter virtues of the orator are not to be sought for in him. In +gracefulness and humour he is deficient: his humour, indeed, generally +takes the grim forms of irony and satire, or verges on personality and +bad taste. Few of his sentences can be imagined to have been delivered +with a smile; and something like ferocity is generally not far below +the surface. Pathos is seldom in him unmixed with sterner qualities, +and is usually lost in indignation. But of almost every other variety +of tone he has a complete command. The essential parts of his reasoning +(even when it is logically or morally defective) are couched, as a +rule, in a forcible and cogent form;[12] and he has a striking power of +close, sustained, and at the same time lucid argumentation. His matter +is commonly disposed with such skill that each topic occurs where it +will tell most powerfully; and while one portion of a speech affords +relief to another (where relief is needed, and particularly in the +longer orations) all alike bear on the main issue or strengthen the +orator's position with his audience. Historical allusions are not (as +they often are by Aeschines and Isocrates) enlarged out of proportion +to their importance, but are limited to what is necessary, in order to +illustrate the orator's point or drive his lesson home. Add to these +qualities his combination of political idealism with absolute mastery +of minute detail; the intensity of his appeal to the moral sense and +patriotism of his hearers; the impressiveness of his denunciation of +political wrong; the vividness of his narrative, the rapid succession +of his impassioned phrases, and some part of the secret of his power +will be explained. For the rest, while there is in his writing every +degree of fullness or brevity, there is no waste of words, no 'fine +language' out of place. His language, indeed, is ordinarily +simple--sometimes even colloquial; though in the arrangement of his +words in their most telling order he shows consummate art, and his +metaphors are often bold and sometimes even violent. In the use of the +'figures of speech' he excels; above all, in the use of antitheses +(whether for the purpose of vivid contrast or of precise logical +expression), and of the rhetorical question, used now in indignation, +now in irony, now in triumphant conclusion of an argument: and at times +there are master-strokes of genius, which defy all analysis, such as +the great appeal to the men of Marathon in the Speech on the Crown.[13] +He does not as a rule (and this is particularly true of the Speech on +the Crown) cover the whole of the ground with the same adequacy; but so +concentrates all his forces upon certain points as to be irresistible, +and thus 'with thunder and lightning confounds'[14] the orators who +oppose him. It is no wonder that some of the greatest of English +orators, and notably of those of the eighteenth and early nineteenth +centuries, borrow from him not only words and phrases, but inspiration +and confidence in their cause, and look upon him as a model whom they +may emulate, but cannot excel. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] See Introduction to First Philippic. + +[2] See notes on Speech for the Megalopolitans. + +[3] See note on Speech on the Crown, § 140. + +[4] See Speech on the Crown, §§ 170 ff. + +[5] See Zimmern, _The Greek Commonwealth_, pp. 159 ff., for an +excellent short account of the constitution and functions of the +Council. That the councillors themselves sat (for administrative +purposes) in relays, changing ten times a year, was also against +continuity. + +[6] See Speech on Embassy, § 2 n. + +[7] See Introduction to Speech on Naval Boards, and Philippic I, §§ 36, +37. + +[8] See Zimmern, _The Greek Commonwealth_, p. 205. + +[9] See Zimmern, _The Greek Commonwealth_, p. 205. + +[10] The 'Art' of Anaximenes is an interesting extant example of a +fourth-century handbook for practical orators. The Rhetoric of +Aristotle stands on a higher plane, but probably follows the lines laid +down by custom in the rhetorical schools. + +[11] See Speech on Embassy, § 246, and note. + +[12] He is especially fond of the dilemma, which is not indeed cogent +in strict logic, but is peculiarly telling and effective in producing +conviction in large audiences. + +[13] See [Longinus] 'On the Sublime', especially chap, xvi-xviii +(English translation by A. O. Prickard in this series). This treatise +should be read by all students of Demosthenes, especially chap. xii, +xvi-xviii, xxxii, xxxiv, xxxix. + +[14] 'On the Sublime', chap. xxxiv. + + + + +[TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: The text for all notes marked [n] will be found at +the end of the second volume.] + + + + +ON THE NAVAL BOARDS (OR. XIV) + + +[_Introduction_. The speech was delivered in 354 B.C. News had been +brought to Athens that the Persian King Artaxerxes Ochus was making +great military and naval preparations, and though these were, in fact, +directed against his own rebellious subjects in Egypt, Phoenicia, and +Cyprus, the Athenians had some ground for alarm: for, two years before +this, Chares, in command of an Athenian fleet, had given assistance to +Artabazus, Satrap of Ionia, who was in revolt against the king. The +king had made a protest, and (late in 355) Athens had ordered Chares to +withdraw his aid from Artabazus. A party in Athens now wished to +declare war on Persia, and appealed strongly to Athenian traditions in +favour of the proposal. Demosthenes opposes them, on the ground that it +was not certain that the king was aiming at Athens at all, and that the +disunion of the Hellenic peoples would render any such action unsafe: +Athens had more dangerous enemies nearer home, and her finances were +not in a condition for such a campaign. But he takes advantage of the +interest aroused, to propose a reform of the trierarchic system, +designed to secure a more efficient navy, and to remedy certain abuses +in the existing method of equipping vessels for service. + +In earlier times, the duty of equipping and commanding each trireme was +laid upon single citizens of means, the hull and certain fittings being +found by the state. When, early in the fourth century, the number of +wealthy men had diminished, each ship might be shared by two citizens, +who commanded in turn. In 357 a law was passed, on the proposal of +Periander, transferring the responsibility from individuals to +'Symmories' or Boards. (The system had been instituted in a slightly +different form for the collection of the war-tax in the archonship of +Nausinicus, 378-7 B.C.) The collection of the sums required became the +work of twenty Boards, formed by the subdivision of the 1,200 richest +citizens: each contributor, whatever his property, paid the same share. +The richer men thus got off with the loss of a very small proportion of +their income, as compared with the poorer members of the Boards,[1] and +in managing the business of the Boards they sometimes contrived to +exact the whole sum from their colleagues, and to escape payment +themselves. At the same time the duties of the several Boards and their +members were not allocated with sufficient precision to enable the +responsibility to be brought home in case of default; and the nominal +Twelve Hundred had fallen to a much smaller number, on whom the burden +accordingly fell with undue weight. Demosthenes' proposal provided for +the distribution of the responsibility of equipping the vessels and +providing the funds, in the most detailed manner, with a view to +preventing all evasion; but it was not carried. In fact, it was not +until 340 that he succeeded in reforming the trierarchy, and he then +made the burden vary strictly with property. The proposal, however, to +declare war upon Persia went no further. + +While, in this speech, Demosthenes is in accord with the policy of +Eubulus, so far as concerns the avoidance of war with Persia, his +proposals of financial reform would not be viewed with favour by the +wealthy men who were Eubulus' firm supporters. Some of the themes which +recur continually in later speeches are prominent in this--the futility +of rhetorical appeals to past glories, without readiness for personal +service, and the need of a thorough organization of the forces. While +the speech shows rather too strongly the marks of careful preparation, +and seldom rises to eloquence--the style, indeed, is often rather +cramped and stiff, and the sentiments, especially at the beginning, +artificially phrased--it is moderate and practical in tone, and shows a +characteristic mastery of minute detail.] + + +{1} Those who praise your forefathers,[n] men of Athens, desire, no +doubt, to gratify you by their speeches; and yet I do not think that +they are acting in the interests of those whom they praise. For the +subject on which they attempt to speak is one to which no words can do +justice; and so, although they thus win for themselves the reputation +of capable speakers, the impression which they convey to their hearers +of the merit of our forefathers is not adequate to our conception of +it. For my part I believe that their highest praise is constituted by +Time: for the time that has passed has been long, and still no +generation has arisen, whose achievements could be compared with +advantage to theirs. {2} As for myself, I shall attempt to point out +the way in which, in my opinion, you can best make your preparations. +For the truth is, that if all of us who propose to address you were to +succeed in proving to you our rhetorical skill, there would not be the +slightest improvement in your condition--I am sure of it; but if a +single speaker were to come forward, whoever he might be, who could +instruct and convince you as to the nature of the preparations which +would meet the city's need, as to their extent, and the resources upon +which we can draw for them, your present fears would instantly be +dissolved. This I will attempt to do--if indeed it is in my power. But +first I must briefly express my views as to our relations with the king. + +{3} I hold the king to be the common enemy of all the Hellenes; and yet +I should not on that account urge you, alone and unsupported, to raise +war against him. For I observe that there is no common or mutual +friendship even among the Hellenes themselves: some have more faith in +the king than in some other Hellenes. When such are the conditions, +your interest requires you, I believe, to see to it that you only begin +war from a fair and just cause, and to make all proper preparations: +this should be the basis of your policy. {4} For I believe, men of +Athens, that if it were made plain to the eyes and understandings of +the Hellenes, that the king was making an attempt upon them, they would +both fight in alliance with those who undertook the defence for them +and with them, and would feel very grateful to them. But if we quarrel +with him prematurely, while his intentions are still uncertain, I am +afraid, men of Athens, that we may be forced to fight not only against +the king, but also against those for whose benefit we are exercising +such forethought. {5} For he will pause in the execution of his +project, if indeed he has really resolved to attack the Hellenes, and +will bribe some of them with money and offers of friendship; while +they, desirous of bringing their private wars to a successful end, and +animated only by such a spirit, will disregard the common safety of +all. I urge you then, not to hurl the city needlessly into the midst of +any such chaos of selfish passions. {6} Moreover, I see that the +question of the policy to be adopted towards the king does not even +stand on the same footing for the other Hellenes as for you. It is +open, I think, to many of them to manage certain of their own interests +as they please, and to disregard the rest of the Hellenes. But for you +it is not honourable, even if you are the injured party, and are +dealing with those who have injured you, to punish them so severely as +to leave some of them to fall under the domination of the foreigner: +{7} and this being so, we must take care, first, that we do not find +ourselves involved in an unequal war, and secondly, that he, whom we +believe to be plotting against the Hellenes, does not gain credit from +the supposition that he is their friend. How then can this be achieved? +It will be achieved if it is manifest to all that the forces of Athens +have been overhauled and put in readiness, and if her intentions in +regard to their use are plainly righteous. {8} But to those who take a +bold line, and urge you, without any hesitation whatever, to go to war, +my reply is this--that it is not difficult to win a reputation for +bravery, when the occasion calls for deliberation; nor to prove +yourself an accomplished orator, when danger is at the door: but to +display your courage in the hour of danger, and, in debate, to have +wiser advice to offer than others--that is the hard thing, and that is +what is required of you. {9} For my part, men of Athens, I consider +that the proposed war with the king would be a difficult undertaking +for the city; while the decisive conflict in which the war would result +would be an easier matter, and for this reason. Every war, I suppose, +necessarily requires ships and money and the command of positions. All +such advantages the king, I find, possesses more abundantly than we. +But a conflict of forces requires nothing so much as brave men; and of +these, I believe, the larger number is with us, and with those who +share our danger. {10} For this reason I exhort you not to be the +first, in any way whatever, to take up the war; but for the decisive +struggle I think you ought to be ready and your preparations made. And +further, if the forces[n] with which foreigners and Hellenes could +respectively be repelled were really different in kind, the fact that +we were arraying our forces against the king would naturally, it may +be, admit of no concealment. {11} But since all military preparations +are of the same character, and the main points of a force must always +be the same--the means to repel enemies, to help allies, and to retain +existing advantages--why, when we have our acknowledged foes,[n] do we +seek to procure others? Let us rather prepare ourselves to meet the +enemies whom we have, and we shall then repel the king also, if he +takes the aggressive against us. {12} Suppose that you yourselves +summon the Hellenes to your side now. If, when the attitude of some of +them towards you is so disagreeable, you do not fulfil their demands, +how can you expect that any one will listen to you? 'Why,' you say, 'we +shall tell them that the king is plotting against them.' Good Heavens! +Do you imagine that they do not foresee this themselves? Of course they +do. But their fear of this does not yet outweigh the quarrels which +some of them have against you and against each other. And so the tour +of your envoys will end in nothing but their own rhapsodies.[n] {13} +But if you wait, then, if the design which we now suspect is really on +foot, there is not one of the Hellenes who stands so much upon his +dignity that he will not come and beg for your aid, when he sees that +you have a thousand cavalry, and infantry as many as any one can +desire, and three hundred ships: for he will know that in these lies +his surest hope of deliverance. Appeal to them now, and we shall be +suppliants, and, if unsuccessful, rejected suppliants. Make your own +preparations and wait, and then they will be the suppliants and we +their deliverers; and we may rest assured that they will all come to us +for help. + +{14} In thinking out these points and others like them, men of Athens, +my object was not to devise a bold speech,[n] prolonged to no purpose: +but I took the greatest pains to discover the means by which our +preparations could be most effectively and quickly made; and therefore, +if my proposal meets with your approval, when you have heard it, you +ought, I think, to pass it. Now the first element in our preparation, +men of Athens (and it is the most important), must be this: your minds +must be so disposed, that every one of you will perform willingly and +heartily any service that is required of him. {15} For you see, men of +Athens, that whenever you have unanimously desired any object, and the +desire has been followed by a feeling on the part of every individual, +that the practical steps towards it were for himself to take, the +object has never yet slipped from your grasp: but whenever the wish has +had no further result than that each man has looked to his neighbour, +expecting his neighbour to act while he himself does nothing, the +object has never yet been attained. {16} But supposing you to be filled +with the keenness that I have described, I am of opinion that we should +make up the Twelve Hundred to their full number, and increase it to +2,000, by the addition of 800. For if you can display this total, then, +when you have allowed for the unmarried heiresses and orphans,[n] for +property outside Attica,[n] or held in partnership, and for any persons +who may be unable to contribute,[n] you will, I believe, actually have +the full 1,200 persons available. {17} These you must divide into +twenty boards, as at present, with sixty persons to each board; and +each of these boards you must divide into five sections of twelve +persons each, taking care in every case to associate with the richest +man the poorest men,[n] to maintain the balance. Such is the +arrangement of persons which I recommend, and my reason you will know +when you have heard the nature of the entire system. {18} I pass to the +distribution of the ships. You must provide a total complement of 300 +ships, forming twenty divisions of fifteen ships apiece, and including +in each division five of the first hundred vessels,[n] five of the +second hundred, and five of the third hundred. Next, you must assign by +lot[n] to each board of persons its fifteen ships, and each board must +assign three ships to each of its sections. {19} This done, in order +that you may have the payments also systematically arranged, you must +divide the 6,000 talents (for that is the taxable capital[n] of the +country) into 100 parts of sixty talents each. Five of each of these +parts you must allot to each of the larger boards--the twenty--and each +board must assign one of these sums of sixty talents to each of its +sections; {20} in order that, if you need 100 ships,[n] there may be +sixty talents to be taxed for the expense of each ship, and twelve +persons responsible for it; if 200, thirty talents will be taxed to +make up the cost, and six persons will be responsible; if 300, then +twenty talents must be taxed to defray the expense, and four persons +will be responsible. {21} In the same way, men of Athens, I bid you +make a valuation according to the register of all those fittings of the +ships which are in arrear,[n] divide them into twenty parts, and allot +to each of the large boards one-twentieth of the debtors: these must +then be assigned by each board in equal numbers to each of its +sections, and the twelve persons composing each section must call up +their share of the arrears, and provide, ready-equipped, the ships +which fall to them. {22} Such is the plan by which, in my opinion, the +expense, the ships, the trierarchs, and the recovery of the fittings +could best be provided for and put into working order. I proceed to +describe a simple and easy scheme for the manning of the vessels. I +recommend that the generals should divide the whole space of the +dockyards into ten, taking care to have in each space thirty slips for +single vessels close together. This done they should apportion to each +space two of the boards and thirty ships; and should then assign a +tribe to each space by lot. {23} Each captain should divide into three +parts the space which falls to his tribe, with the corresponding ships, +and should allot these among the three wards[n] of each tribe, in such +a way that if each tribe has one division of the entire docks, each +ward will have a third of one of these divisions; and you will know, in +case of need, first the position assigned to the tribe; next, that of +the ward; and then the names of the trierarchs and their ships; each +tribe will be answerable for thirty, and each ward for ten ships. If +this system is put in train, circumstances as they arise will provide +for anything that I may have overlooked to-day (for perhaps it is +difficult to think of everything), and there will be a single +organization for the whole fleet and every part of it. + +{24} But what of funds? What resources have we immediately at our +command? The statement which I am about to make on this subject will no +doubt be astonishing; but I will make it nevertheless; for I am +convinced that upon a correct view of the facts, this statement alone +will be proved true, and will be justified by the event. I say then, +that this is not the time to discuss the financial question. We have +large resources upon which, in case of necessity, we may honourably and +rightly draw: but if we inquire for them now, we shall not believe that +we can rely upon them even against the hour of need; so far shall we be +from supplying them now. 'What then,' you will ask me, 'are these +resources, which are non-existent now, but will be ours then? This is +really like a riddle.' I will tell you. {25} Men of Athens, you see all +this great city.[n] In this city there is wealth which will compare, I +had almost said, with the united wealth of all other cities. But such +is the disposition of those who own it, that if all your orators were +to raise the alarm that the king was coming--that he was at the +doors--that there was no possible escape; and if with the orators an +equal number of prophets foretold the same thing; even then, far from +contributing funds, they would show no sign[2] [and make no +acknowledgement] of their possession of them. {26} If, however, they +were to see in course of actual realization all the terrors with which +at present we are only threatened in speeches, not one of them is so +blind that he would not both offer his contribution, and be among the +first to pay the tax. For who will prefer to lose his life and +property, rather than contribute a part of his substance to save +himself and the remainder of it? Funds, then, we can command, I am +certain, if there is a genuine need of them, and not before; and +accordingly I urge you not even to look for them now. For all that you +would provide now, if you decided upon a levy, would be more ludicrous +than nothing at all. {27} Suppose that we are told to pay 1 per cent. +now; that gives you sixty talents. Two per cent. then--double the +amount; that makes 120 talents. And what is that to the 1,200 camels +which (as these gentlemen tell us) are bringing the king's money for +him? Or would you have me assume a payment of one-twelfth, 500 talents? +Why, you would never submit to this; and if you paid the money down, it +would not be adequate to the war. {28} You must, therefore, make all +your other preparations, but allow your funds to remain for the present +in the hands of their owners--they could nowhere be more safely kept +for the use of the State; and then, if ever the threatened crisis +arises, you will receive them as the voluntary gift of their +possessors. This, men of Athens, is not only a possible course of +action, but a dignified and a politic one. It is a course of action +which is worthy to be reported to the ears of the king, and which would +inspire him with no slight apprehension. {29} For he well knows that by +two hundred ships, of which one hundred were Athenian,[n] his ancestors +were deprived of one thousand; and he will hear that Athens alone has +now equipped three hundred; so that, however great his infatuation, he +could certainly not imagine it a light thing to make this country his +foe. But if it is his wealth that suggests proud thoughts to his mind, +he will find that in this respect too his resources are weaker than +ours. {30} It is true that he is said to be bringing a great quantity +of gold with him. But if he distributes this, he must look for more: +for just so it is the way of springs and wells to give out, if large +quantities are drawn from them all at once; whereas we possess, as he +will hear, in the taxable capital of the country, resources which we +defend against attack in a way of which those ancestors of his who +sleep at Marathon can best tell him: and so long as we are masters of +the country there is no risk of our resources being exhausted. + +{31} Nor again can I see any grounds for the fear, which some feel, +lest his wealth should enable him to collect a large mercenary force. +It may be that many of the Hellenes would be glad to serve under him +against Egypt,[n] against Orontas,[n] or against certain other foreign +powers--not from a wish that the king should conquer any such enemies, +but because each desires individually to obtain some private means to +relieve his present poverty. But I cannot believe that any Hellene +would march against Hellas. Whither will he turn afterwards? Will he go +to Phrygia and be a slave? {32} For the war with the foreigner is a war +for no other stake than our country, our life, our habits, our freedom, +and all that we value. Where is the wretch who would sacrifice self, +parents, sepulchres, fatherland, for the sake of some short-lived gain? +I do not believe that he exists. And indeed it is not even to the +king's own interest to conquer the Hellenes with a mercenary force; for +an army which has conquered us is, even more certainly,[n] stronger +than he; and his intention is not to destroy us only that he may fall +into the power of others: he wishes to rule, if it may be, over all the +world; but if not, at least over those who are already his slaves. + +{33} It may be supposed that the Thebans will be on the king's side. +Now this subject is one upon which it is hard to address you. For such +is your hatred of them, that you cannot hear a good word about them, +however true, without displeasure. And yet those who have grave +questions to consider must not on any pretext pass over any profitable +line of argument. {34} I believe, then, that so far are the Thebans +from being likely ever to march with him against the Hellenes, that +they would give a great deal, if they had it to give, for an +opportunity of cancelling their former sins against Hellas.[n] But if +any one does believe that the Thebans are so unhappily constituted, at +least you are all aware, I presume, that if the Thebans take the part +of the king, their enemies must necessarily take the part of the +Hellenes. + +{35} My own belief is that our cause, the cause of justice, and its +supporters, will prove stronger in every emergency than the traitor and +the foreigner. And therefore I say that we need feel no excessive +apprehension, and that we must not be led on into taking the first step +towards war. Indeed, I cannot even see that any of the other Hellenes +has reason to dread this war. {36} Are they not all aware, that so long +as they thought of the king as their common foe, and were at unity with +one another, they were secure in their prosperity; but that ever since +they imagined that they could count upon the king as their friend, and +fell to quarrelling over their private interests, they have suffered +such evils as no malediction could have devised for them? Must we then +dread a man whose friendship, thanks to Fortune and Heaven, has proved +so unprofitable, and his enmity so advantageous? By no means! Let us +not, however, commit any aggression, in view of our own interests, and +of the disturbed and mistrustful spirit which prevails among the rest +of the Hellenes. {37} Were it possible, indeed, to join forces with +them all, and with one accord to attack the king in his isolation, I +should have counted it no wrong even were we to take the aggressive. +But since this is impossible, we must be careful to give the king no +pretext for trying to enforce the claims of the other Hellenes against +us. If you keep the peace, any such step on his part would arouse +suspicion; but if you are the first to begin war, his hostility to you +would make his desire to befriend your rivals appear natural enough. +{38} Do not then lay bare the evil condition of Hellas, by calling the +powers together when they will not obey, or undertaking a war which you +will be unable to carry on. Keep the peace; take courage, and make your +preparations. Resolve that the news which the king hears of you shall +certainly not be that all Hellas, and Athens with it, in distress or +panic or confusion. Far from it! {39} Let him rather know that if +falsehood and perjury were not as disgraceful in Hellenic eyes as they +are honourable in his, you would long ago have been on the march +against him: and that though, as it is, your regard for yourselves +forbids you to act thus, you are praying to all the gods that the same +madness may seize him as once seized his ancestors. And if it occurs to +him to reflect upon this, he will find that your deliberations are not +conducted in any careless spirit. {40} He at least shares the knowledge +that it was your wars with his own ancestors that raised Athens to the +summit of prosperity and greatness; while the peaceful policy which she +previously pursued never gave her such a superiority as she now enjoys +over any single state in Hellas. Aye, and he sees that the Hellenes are +in need of one who, whether intentionally or not, will reconcile them +one to another; and he knows that if he were to stir up war, he himself +would assume that character in relation to them; so that the news which +he will hear of you will be intelligible and credible to him. + +{41} But I do not wish to trouble you, men of Athens, by unduly +prolonging my speech. I will therefore recapitulate my advice and +retire. I bid you prepare your forces with a view to the enemies whom +you have. If the king or any other power attempts to do you injury, you +must defend yourselves with these same forces. But you must not take +the aggressive by word or deed; and you must take care that it is your +deeds, and not your platform speeches, that are worthy of your +forefathers. If you act thus, you will be consulting both your own +interests and those of the speakers who are opposing me; since you will +have no cause to be angry with them afterwards, because you have +decided wrongly to-day. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] See Speech on Crown, §§ 102 ff. and notes. + +[2] See Speech on Crown, §§ 102 ff. and notes. + + + + +FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS (OR. XVI) + +[_Introduction_. In 371 B.C. the Thebans under Epaminondas defeated the +Spartans at Leuctra, and, assisted by Thebes, the Arcadians and +Messenians threw off the Spartan yoke. The former founded Megalopolis +as their common centre, the latter Messene. But after the death of +Epaminondas in 362, Thebes was left without a leader; and when, in 355, +she became involved in the 'Sacred War' with the Phocians, the new +Peloponnesian states turned towards Athens, and Messene received a +solemn promise of Athenian assistance, if ever she was attacked by +Sparta. In 353 Thebes was suffering considerably from the Sacred War, +and the Spartans made an ingenious attempt to recover their power, in +the form of a proposal for the restoration of territory to its original +owners. This meant that Athens would recover Oropus, which had been in +the hands of Thebes since 366, and had previously been the subject of a +long-standing dispute; that Orchomenus, Thespiae, and Plataeae, which +had all been overthrown by Thebes, would be restored; and that Elis and +Phlius would also recover certain lost possessions. All these states +would then be morally bound (so the Spartans thought) to help Sparta to +reconquer Arcadia and Messenia. + +On the occasion of this speech (delivered in 353) the Megalopolitans +had appealed to Athens, and an Arcadian and a Spartan embassy had each +had an audience of the Assembly, and had each received strong support +from Athenian speakers. The principal motives of the supporters of +Sparta were their hostility to Thebes, and their desire not to break +with the Spartans, whom Athens had assisted at Mantineia in 362 against +the Thebans and Megalopolitans. Demosthenes supports the Arcadians, and +lays great stress on the desirability of maintaining a balance of power +between Sparta and Thebes, so that neither might become too strong. To +allow Sparta to reconquer Arcadia, and, as the next step, Messenia, +would be to render her too formidable; and to reject the proposal of +Sparta would not preclude Athens from recovering Oropus and demanding +the restoration of the Boeotian towns. But the promise of assistance to +the Arcadians should be accompanied by a request for the termination of +their alliance with Thebes. + +Demosthenes' advice was not followed. In fact Athens was hardly in a +position to risk becoming entangled in a war with Sparta, particularly +in view of the danger to her northern possessions from Philip. She +therefore remained neutral, while the Thebans, relieved from the +pressure of the Sacred War owing to the defeat of the Phocian leader +Onomarchus by Philip, were able to send aid to Megalopolis. A truce +between Sparta and Megalopolis was made about 350. It was, however, a +result of the neutrality of Athens, that she was unable, a few years +later, to secure the support of the Arcadians against Philip, whose +allies they subsequently became. + +Lord Brougham describes the oration as 'one of extraordinary subtlety +and address in handling delicate topics'; and, after quoting the +passage in which Demosthenes urges the necessity of maintaining a +balance of power between rival states, adds that 'this is precisely the +language of modern policy'. At the same time, the speech has in places +a somewhat academic and theoretical air: it is much occupied with the +weighing of hypothetical considerations and obligations against one +another: and though it enunciates some plain and reasonable political +principles, and makes an honest attempt to satisfy those who wished to +help the Arcadians, but at the same time desired to regain ground +against Thebes, it is not always convincing, and the tone is more +frankly opportunist than is usually the case with Demosthenes.] + + {1} I think, men of Athens, that those who have spoken on the Arcadian side and +those who have spoken on the Spartan, are alike making a mistake. For +their mutual accusations and their attacks upon one another would +suggest that they are not, like yourselves, Athenians, receiving the +two embassies, but actually delegates of the two states. Such attacks +it was for the two deputations to make. The duty of those who claim to +advise you here was to discuss the situation impartially, and to +inquire, in an uncontentious spirit, what course is best in your +interests. {2} As it is, if one could alter the fact that they are +known to us, and that they speak the dialect of Attica, I believe that +many would imagine that those on the one side actually were Arcadians, +and those on the other, Spartans. For my part, I see plainly enough the +difficulty of offering the best advice. For you, like them, are +deluded, in your desire for one extreme or the other: and one who +endeavours to propose an intermediate course, which you will not have +the patience to understand, will satisfy neither side and will forfeit +the confidence of both. {3} But in spite of this, I shall prefer, for +my own part, to risk being regarded as an idle chatterer (if such is +really to be my lot), rather than to abandon my conviction as to what +is best for Athens, and leave you to the mercy of those who would +deceive you. And while I shall deal with all other points later, by +your leave, I shall take for my starting-point, in explaining the +course which I believe to be best, those principles which are admitted +by all. + +{4} There can be no possible question that it is to the interest of the +city that both the Spartans and these Thebans should be weak; and the +present situation, if one may judge at all from what has constantly +been asserted in your presence, is such, that if Orchomenus, Thespiae, +and Plataeae[n] are re-established, Thebes becomes weak; and that if +the Spartans can reduce Arcadia to subjection and destroy Megalopolis, +Sparta will recover her former strength. {5} We must, therefore, take +care not to allow the Spartans to attain a formidable degree of +strength, before the Thebans have become insignificant, lest there +should take place, unobserved by us, such an increase in the power of +Sparta as would be out of proportion to the decrease in the power of +Thebes which our interests demand. For it is, of course, out of the +question that we should desire merely to substitute the rivalry of +Sparta for that of Thebes: that is not the object upon which we are +bent. Our object is rather that neither people shall be capable of +doing us any injury. That is what will best enable us to live in +security. + +{6} But, granted that this is what ought to be, still, we are told, it +is a scandalous thing to choose for our allies the men against whom we +were arrayed at Mantineia, and further, to help them against those +whose perils we shared that day. I agree; but I think that we need to +insert the condition, 'provided that the two parties are willing to act +rightly.' {7} For if all alike prove willing to keep the peace, we +shall not go to the aid of the Megalopolitans, since there will be no +need to do so; and so there will be no hostility whatever on our part +towards our former comrades in battle. They are already our allies, as +they tell us; and now the Arcadians will become our allies as well. +What more could we desire? {8} But suppose they act wrongfully and +think fit to make war. In that case, if the question before us is +whether we are to abandon Megalopolis to Sparta or not, then I say +that, wrong though it is, I will acquiesce in our permitting this, and +declining to oppose our former companions in danger. But if you all +know that, after capturing Megalopolis, they will march against +Messene, let me ask any of those who are now so harshly disposed +towards Megalopolis to say what action he will _then_ advise. No answer +will be given. {9} In fact you all know that, whether they advise it or +not, we _must_ then go to the rescue, both because of the oath which we +have sworn to the Messenians, and because our interests demand the +continued existence of that city. Ask yourselves, then, on which +occasion you can most honourably and generously interpose to check the +aggressions of Sparta--in defence of Megalopolis, or in defence of +Messene? {10} On the present occasion it will be understood that you +are succouring the Arcadians, and are anxious that the Peace, which you +fought for and risked your lives to win, may be secure. But if you +wait, all the world will see plainly that it is not in the name of +right that you desire the existence of Messene, but because you are +afraid of Sparta. And while we should always seek and do the right, we +should at the same time take good care that what is right shall also be +advantageous. + +{11} Now an argument is used by speakers on the other side to the +effect that we ought to attempt to recover Oropus,[n] and that if we +make enemies of those who might come to our assistance against it we +shall have no allies. I too say that we should try to recover Oropus. +But the argument that the Spartans will be our enemies now, if we make +alliance with those Arcadians who desire our friendship, is an argument +which no one has less right even to mention, than those who induced you +to help the Spartans when they were in danger. {12} Such was not their +argument, when all the Peloponnesians came to you,[n] entreating you to +support them in their campaign against Sparta, and they persuaded you +to reject the entreaty, with the result that the Peloponnesians took +the only remaining course and applied to Thebes--when they bade you +contribute funds and imperil your lives for the deliverance of the +Spartans. Nor, I presume, would you have been willing to protect them, +had they warned you that you must expect no gratitude for their +deliverance, unless, after saving them, you allowed them once more to +do as they pleased and commit fresh aggressions. {13} And further, +however antagonistic it may be to the designs of the Spartans, that we +should make the Arcadians our allies, they are surely bound to feel a +gratitude towards us for saving them when they were in the utmost +extremity, which will outweigh their vexation at our preventing their +present wrongdoing. Must they not then either assist us to recover +Oropus, or else be regarded as the basest of mankind? For, by Heaven, I +can see no other alternative. + +{14} I am astonished, also, to hear it argued that if we make the +Arcadians our allies, and carry out my advice, it will seem as though +Athens were changing her policy, and were utterly unreliable. I believe +that the exact reverse of this is the case, men of Athens, and I will +tell you why. I suppose that no one in the world can deny that when +this city saved the Spartans,[n] and before them the Thebans,[n] and +finally the Euboeans,[n] and subsequently made them her allies, she had +one and the same end always in view. {15} And what was this? It was to +deliver the victims of aggression. And if this is so, it is not we that +should be changing, but those who refuse to adhere to the right; and it +will be manifest that, although circumstances change from time to time +with the ambitious designs of others, Athens does not change. + +{16} I believe that the Spartans are playing a very unscrupulous part. +At present they tell us that the Eleans are to recover part of +Triphylia,[n] and the Phliasians, Tricaranum;[n] other Arcadians are to +recover their own possessions, and we ourselves are to recover +Oropus--not that they have any desire to see every state enjoying its +own--far from it!-- such generosity on their part would be late indeed +in showing itself. {17} They wish rather to present the appearance of +co-operating with each separate state in the recovery of the territory +that it claims, in order that when they themselves march against +Messene, all may take the field with them, and give them their hearty +assistance, on pain of seeming to act unfairly, in refusing to return +an equivalent for the support which each of them received from Sparta +in regard to their own several claims. {18} My own view is that, even +without the tacit surrender of some of the Arcadians to Sparta, we can +recover Oropus, aided not only by the Spartans, if they are ready to +act honourably, but by all who disapprove of allowing Thebes to retain +what is not her own. But even if it were made quite plain to us, that +without allowing Sparta to subdue the Peloponnese, we should not be +able to take Oropus, I should still think it preferable, if I may dare +to say so, to let Oropus go, rather than sacrifice Messene and the +Peloponnese to Sparta. For our quarrel with them would not, I believe, +be confined to this; since--I will not say what occurs to me; but there +are many risks which we should run. + +{19} But, to pass on, it is a monstrous thing to use the hostile +actions which, they say, the Megalopolitans committed against us, under +the influence of Thebes, as a ground of accusation against them to-day; +and, when they wish to be friends and so atone for their action by +doing us good, to look askance at them, to seek for some way of +avoiding their friendship, to refuse to recognize that in proportion to +the zeal which my opponents can prove the Megalopolitans to have shown +in supporting Thebes will be the resentment to which my opponents +themselves will deservedly be exposed, for depriving the city of such +allies as these, when they have appealed to you before appealing to +Thebes. {20} Such a policy is surely the policy of men who wish to make +the Arcadians for the second time the allies of others. And so far as +one can forecast the future by calculation, I am sure, and I believe +that most of you will agree with me, that if the Spartans take +Megalopolis, Messene will be in peril; and if they take Messene also, +then I predict that we shall find ourselves allies of Thebes.[n] {21} +It is a far more honourable, a far better, course that we should +ourselves take over the Theban confederacy,[n] refusing to leave the +field open to the cupidity of the Spartans, than that we should be so +afraid of protecting the allies of Thebes, as first to sacrifice them, +and then to save Thebes itself; and, in addition, to be in a state of +apprehension for our own safety. {22} For if the Spartans capture +Megalopolis and become a great power once more, the prospect, as I +conceive it, is not one which this city can view without alarm. For I +can see that even now they are determining to go to war, not to prevent +any evil which threatens them, but to recover their own ancient power: +and what their aims were when they possessed that power, you, I think, +know[n] perhaps better than I, and with that knowledge may well be +alarmed. + +{23} Now I should be glad if the speakers who profess their hatred for +Thebes on the one side, or for Sparta on the other, would tell me if +their professed hatred is based on consideration for you and your +interests, or whether the one party hates Thebes from an interest in +Sparta, and the other Sparta from an interest in Thebes. If the latter +is the case, you should not listen to either, but treat them as insane: +but if the former, why this inordinate exaltation of one side or the +other? {24} For it is possible, perfectly possible, to humiliate Thebes +without rendering Sparta powerful. Indeed, it is by far the easier +course; and I will try to tell you how it can be done. We all know +that, however unwilling men may be to do what is right, yet up to a +certain point they are ashamed not to do so, and that they withstand +wrongdoers openly, particularly if there are any who receive damage +through the wrong done: and we shall find that what ruins everything +and is the source of all evil is the unwillingness to do what is right +without reserve. {25} Now in order that no such obstacle may stand in +the way of the humiliation of Thebes, let us demand the +re-establishment of Thespiae, Orchomenus, and Plataeae, co-operating +with their citizens ourselves, and requiring others to do so; for the +principle of refusing to allow ancient cities to lie desolate is a +right and honourable one. But let us at the same time decline to +abandon Megalopolis and Messene to the aggressors, or to suffer the +destruction of existing and inhabited cities, on the pretext of +restoring Plataeae and Thespiae. {26} Then, if our policy is made plain +to all, there is no one who will not wish to terminate the Thebans' +occupation of territory not their own. But if it is not, not only will +our designs be opposed by the Arcadians, in the belief that the +restoration of these towns carries with it their own ruin, but we shall +have troubles without end. For, honestly, where can we expect to reach +an end, when we permit the annihilation of existing cities, and require +the restoration of those that have been annihilated? + +{27} It is demanded by those whose speeches display the strongest +appearance of fairness, that the Megalopolitans shall take down the +pillars[n] which commemorate their alliance with Thebes, if they are to +be trustworthy allies of Athens. The Megalopolitans reply that for them +it is not pillars, but interest, that creates friendship; and that it +is those who help them, that they consider to be their allies. Well, +that may be their attitude. Nevertheless, my own view is, roughly +speaking, this:--I say that we should simultaneously require the +Megalopolitans to take down the pillars, and the Spartans to keep the +peace: and that in the event of either side refusing to fulfil our +request, we should at once take the part of those who are willing to +fulfil it. {28} For if the Megalopolitans obtain peace, and yet adhere +to the Theban alliance, it will be clear to all that they prefer the +grasping policy of Thebes to that which is right. If, on the other +hand, Megalopolis makes alliance frankly with us, and the Spartans then +refuse to keep the peace, it will surely be clear to all that what the +Spartans desire so eagerly is not the re-establishment of Thespiae, but +an opportunity of subduing the Peloponnese while the Thebans are +involved in the war.[n] {29} And I am surprised to find that there are +some who are alarmed at the prospect of the enemies of Sparta becoming +allies of Thebes, and yet see nothing to fear in the subjugation of +these enemies by Sparta herself; whereas the experience of the past can +teach us that the Thebans always use such allies against Sparta, while, +when Sparta had them, she used to use them against us. + +{30} There is another point which I think you should consider. Suppose +that you reject the overtures of the Megalopolitans. If they are +annihilated and dispersed, Sparta can recover her power at once. If +they actually survive--for things have happened before now beyond all +hope--they will quite rightly be the firm allies of Thebes. But suppose +you receive them. Then the immediate result, so far as they are +concerned, is that they are saved by you: and as to the future, let us +now transfer our calculation of possible risks to the case of the +Thebans and Spartans. {31} If the Thebans are crushed, as they ought to +be, the Spartans will not be unduly powerful, for they will always have +these Arcadians at their doors to hold them in check. But if the +Thebans actually recover and survive the attack, they will at least be +weaker; for the Arcadians will have become our allies, and will owe +their preservation to us. Thus on every ground it is to our interest +not to sacrifice the Arcadians, nor to let them think that their +deliverance, if they are really saved, is due to themselves, or to any +other people than you. + +{32} And now, men of Athens, I solemnly declare that what I have said +has been prompted by no personal feeling, friendly or hostile, towards +either side. I have told you only what I believe to be expedient for +you; and I exhort you not to sacrifice the people of Megalopolis, and +to make it your rule, never to sacrifice a smaller power to a greater. + + + + +FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE RHODIANS (OR. XV) + + +[_Introduction_. Dionysius of Halicarnassus places the speech in 351 +B.C. He is not always accurate, and the internal evidence has been +thought by some to suggest a date perhaps two years earlier. The +reasons, however, for this are not strong, and there has recently been +a disposition to accept Dionysius' date. + +As the result of the Social War, Chios, Cos, Rhodes, and Byzantium had +made themselves independent of Athens. They had been assisted by +Mausolus, King of Caria, a vassal of Persia. After the termination of +the war, a Carian garrison occupied Cos and Rhodes; the democratic +constitution of Rhodes was overthrown and the democratic party driven +into banishment, as the result of an oligarchic plot, which Mausolus +had fostered. In 353 Mausolus died, and was succeeded by Artemisia, his +sister and wife. The exiles appealed to Athens for restoration, and for +the liberation of Rhodes from the Carian domination. It is evident that +the feeling in Athens against the Rhodians was very strong, owing to +their part in the late war, for which the democratic party had been +responsible; and there was some fear of the possible consequences of +offending Artemisia and perhaps becoming involved in war with Persia. +Demosthenes, nevertheless, urges the people to assist them, and to +forget their misconduct. He appeals to the traditional policy of +Athens, as the saviour of the oppressed and protectress of democracies, +and warns them of the danger which would threaten Athens herself, if +the conversion of free constitutions into oligarchies were allowed to +go unchecked. He takes a different view from that of his opponents of +the probable attitude of Artemisia, and utters an impressive warning +against corrupt and unpatriotic statesmen, which foreshadows his more +vehement attacks in the orations against Philip. + +The appeal was unsuccessful, for in the speech on the Peace (§ 25) +Demosthenes speaks of Cos and Rhodes as still subject to Caria. + +The speech is more eloquent than the last, and more outspoken. +Political principles and ideals are enunciated with some confidence, +and illustrated by striking examples from history. But there also +appears for the first time that sense of the difficulty of rousing the +Athenians to action of any kind, which is so strongly expressed in +later speeches.] + + +{1} It is, I think, your duty, men of Athens, when you are deliberating +upon affairs of such importance, to grant freedom of speech to every +one of your advisers. And for my part, I have never yet felt any +difficulty in pointing out to you the best course; for I believe that, +broadly speaking, you all know from the first what this is. My +difficulty is to persuade you to act upon your knowledge. For when a +measure is approved and passed by you, it is as far from execution as +it was before you resolved upon it. {2} Well, you have to render thanks +to Heaven for this, among other favours--that those who went to war +with you not long ago, moved by their own insolent pride, now place +their own hopes of preservation in you alone. Well may we rejoice at +our present opportunity! For if your decision in regard to it is what +it should be, you will find yourselves meeting the calumnies of those +who are slandering this city with a practical and a glorious +refutation. {3} For the peoples of Chios, Byzantium, and Rhodes accused +us of entertaining designs against them; and on this ground they +combined against us in the recent war. But now it will be seen[n] that, +while Mausolus, who under the pretence of friendship towards Rhodes, +directed and instigated their efforts, in reality robbed the Rhodians +of their freedom; while their declared allies, Chios and Byzantium, +never came to aid them in their misfortunes; {4} you, of whom they were +afraid, and you alone, have been the authors of their salvation. And +because all the world will have seen this, you will cause the popular +party in every city to consider your friendship a guarantee of their +own safety; nor could you reap any greater blessing than the goodwill +which will thus be offered to you, spontaneously and without +misgivings, upon every hand. + +{5} I notice, to my surprise, that those who urge us to oppose the king +in the interest of the Egyptians,[n] are the very persons who are so +afraid of him when it is the interest of the popular party in Rhodes +that is in question. And yet it is known to every one that the Rhodians +are Hellenes, while the Egyptians have a place assigned them in the +Persian Empire. {6} I expect that some of you remember that, when you +were discussing our relations with the king, I came forward and was the +first to advise you[n] (though I had, I believe, no supporters, or one +at the most), that you would show your good sense, in my opinion, if +you did not make your hostility to the king the pretext of your +preparations, but prepared yourselves against the enemies whom you +already had; though you would resist him also, if he attempted to do +you any injury. {7} Nor, when I spoke thus, did I fail to convince you, +but you also approved of this policy. What I have now to say is the +sequel to my argument on that occasion. For if the king were to call me +to his side and make me his counsellor, I should give him the same +advice as I gave you--namely, that he should fight in defence of his +own possessions, if he were opposed by any Hellenic power, but should +absolutely forego all claim to what in no way belongs to him. {8} If, +therefore, you have made a general resolve, men of Athens, to retire +from any place of which the king makes himself master, either by +surprise or by the deception of some of the inhabitants, you have not +resolved well, in my judgement: but if you are prepared, in defence of +your rights, even to fight, if need be, and to endure anything that may +be necessary, not only will the need for such a step be less, the more +firmly your minds are made up, but you will also be regarded as showing +the spirit which you ought to show. + +{9} To prove to you that I am not suggesting anything unprecedented in +bidding you liberate the Rhodians, and that you will not be acting +without precedent, if you take my advice, I will remind you of one of +those incidents in the past which have ended happily for you. You once +sent out Timotheus, men of Athens, to assist Ariobarzanes,[n] adding to +your resolution the provision that he must not break our treaty with +the king; and Timotheus, seeing that Ariobarzanes was now openly in +revolt against the king, but that Samos was occupied by a garrison +under Cyprothemis, who had been placed there by Tigranes, the king's +viceroy, abandoned his intention of helping Ariobarzanes, but sat down +before Samos, relieved it, and set it free. {10} And to this day no war +has ever arisen to trouble you on account of this. For to enter upon a +war for the purpose of aggrandizement is never the same thing as to do +so in defence of one's own possessions. Every one fights his hardest to +recover what he has lost; but when men endeavour to gain at the expense +of others, it is not so. They desire to do this, if it is allowed them; +but if they are prevented, they do not consider that their opponents +have done them any wrong. + +{11} Now listen for a moment, and consider whether I am right or wrong, +when I conclude that if Athens were actively at work, Artemisia herself +would now not even oppose our action. If the king effects in Egypt all +that he is bent upon, I believe that Artemisia would make every attempt +to secure for him the continued possession of Rhodes--not from any +goodwill towards him, but from the desire to be credited with a great +service to him, while he is still in her neighbourhood,[n] and so to +win from him as friendly a reception as possible. {12} But if he is +faring as we are told, if all his attempts have failed, she will +consider, and rightly, that the island can be of no further use to the +king, except as a fortified post to command her own dominions--a +security against any movement on her part. Accordingly she would +prefer, I believe, that you should have it, without her openly +surrendering it to you, rather than that he should occupy it. I think, +therefore, that she would not even make an attempt to save it; or that +if she actually did so, it would be but weakly and ineffectively. {13} +For although I cannot, of course, profess to know what the king will +do, I must insist that it is high time that it should be made clear, in +the interests of Athens, whether he intends to lay claim to Rhodes or +not: for if he does so, we have then to take counsel, not for the +Rhodians alone, but for ourselves and for the Hellenes as a whole. + +{14} At the same time, even if the Rhodians who are now in +possession[n] of the town held it by their own strength, I should never +have urged you to take them for your allies, for all the promises in +the world. For I observe that they took to their side some of their +fellow citizens, to help them overthrow the democracy, and that, having +done this, they turned and expelled them: and I do not think that men +who failed to keep faith with either party would ever be trustworthy +allies for yourselves. {15} And further, I should never have made my +present proposal, had I been thinking only of the interests of the +popular party in Rhodes. I am not their official patron,[n] nor have I +a single personal friend among them; and even if both these things were +otherwise, I should not have made this proposal, had I not believed it +to be for your advantage. For as for the Rhodians, if I may use such an +expression when I am pleading with you to save them, I share your +joy[1] at what has happened to them. For it is because they grudged you +the recovery of your rights that they have lost their own freedom; and +that, instead of the equal alliance which they might have had with +Hellenes, better than themselves, they are in bondage to foreigners and +slaves, whom they have admitted to their citadels. {16} Indeed, if you +resolve to go to their aid, I may almost say that this calamity has +been good for them; for, Rhodians as they are, I doubt if they would +ever have come to their right mind in prosperity; whereas actual +experience has now taught them that folly generally leads to manifold +adversities; and perhaps they will be wiser for the future. This +lesson, I feel sure, will be no small advantage to them. I say then +that you should endeavour to save these men, and should bear no malice, +remembering that you too have been greatly deceived by conspirators +against you, and yet would not admit that you deserved yourselves to +suffer for such mistakes. + +Observe this also, men of Athens. {17} You have waged many wars both +against democracies and against oligarchies; and of this no doubt you +are as well aware as I. But I doubt whether any of you considers for +what objects you are fighting in each case. What then are these +objects? In fighting against a democracy, you are fighting either over +some private quarrel, when the parties have failed to settle their +disputes by the means publicly provided;[n] or you are contending for a +piece of territory, or about a boundary, or for a point of honour, or +for paramountcy. But in fighting against an oligarchy, it is not for +any such objects--it is your constitution and your freedom that are at +stake. {18} And therefore I should not hesitate to say that I believe +it would be better for you, that all the Hellenic peoples should be +democracies, and be at war with you, than that they should be governed +by oligarchies, and be your friends. For with a free people you would +have no difficulty, I believe, in making peace whenever you desired: +but with an oligarchical State friendship itself cannot be safe. For +there can be no goodwill between Few and Many--between those who seek +for mastery, and those who have chosen the life of political equality. + +{19} It surprises me also that though Chios and Mytilene are ruled by +oligarchies, and though now the Rhodians and all mankind, I may almost +say, are being brought into the same bondage, no one considers that any +danger threatens our own constitution also, or reflects that if every +State is organized upon an oligarchic basis, it is not possible that +your own democracy should be suffered to remain. For they know that no +people but you could ever bring them forth into a state of liberty +again; and they will wish to put an end to so likely a source of +trouble to themselves. {20} As a rule we may regard wrongdoers as +enemies only to those whom they have wronged. But when men destroy free +constitutions and convert them into oligarchies, I say that you must +think of them as the common enemies of all whose hearts are set on +freedom. {21} Again, men of Athens, it is only right that you, a +democracy yourselves, should show towards other democracies in distress +the same spirit as you would expect them to show towards you, if any +such calamity (which God forbid!) should happen to you. It may be said +that the Rhodians are justly punished. If so, this is not the time to +exult over them. When men are prosperous they should always be found +taking thought how best to help the distressed; for the future is +unknown to all men. + +{22} I have often heard it stated here in your presence, that when our +democracy had met with disaster,[n] you were joined by certain others +in your anxiety for its preservation. Of these I will only refer on the +present occasion to the Argives, and that briefly. For I cannot desire +that you, who enjoy the reputation of being always the saviours of the +distressed, should prove inferior to the Argives in that work. These +Argives, though their territory borders on that of the Spartans, whom +they saw to be masters by land and sea, neither hesitated nor feared to +display their goodwill towards you; but when envoys came from Sparta +(so the story goes) to demand the persons of certain Athenian refugees, +they even voted that unless the envoys departed before sunset, they +should be adjudged public enemies. {23} If then the democracy of Argos +in those days showed no fear of the might of the Spartan Empire, will +it not be a disgrace if you, who are Athenians, are afraid of one who +is a barbarian--aye, and a woman?[n] The Argives, moreover, could point +to many defeats sustained at the hands of Sparta, while you have often +defeated the king, and have not once proved inferior either to his +servants or to himself. For if ever the king has gained any success +against Athens, it has been by bribing the basest of the Hellenes to +betray their countrymen; in no other way has he ever succeeded. {24} +Indeed, even such success has done him no good. You will find that no +sooner had he rendered Athens weak,[n] by the help of the Spartans, +than he had to fight for his own kingdom against Clearchus and Cyrus. +His successes, therefore, have not been won in the open field, nor have +his plots brought him any good. Now some of you, I notice, are in the +habit of speaking contemptuously of Philip, as though he were not worth +reckoning with; while you dread the king, as a powerful enemy to any +whom he chooses to oppose. But if we are not to defend ourselves +against Philip, because he is so mean a foe, and are to give way in +everything to the king, because he is so formidable, who is there, men +of Athens, against whom we shall ever take the field? + +{25} Men of Athens, you have among you those who are particularly +skilful in pleading with you the rights of the rest of the world; and I +should be glad to give them this single piece of advice--that they +should seek to plead your rights with the rest of the world,[n] and so +set an example of duty. It is monstrous to instruct you about rights, +without doing right oneself; and it is not right that a fellow citizen +of yours should have studied all the arguments against you and none of +those in your favour. {26} Ask yourselves, in God's name, why it is +that there is no one in Byzantium to tell the Byzantines that they must +not occupy Chalcedon,[n] which belongs to the king and formerly +belonged to you, but upon which they had no sort of claim; or that they +must not make Selymbria, once your ally, a contributory portion of the +Byzantine state; or include the territory of Selymbria[n] within the +Byzantine frontier, in defiance of the sworn treaty which ordains the +independence of the cities? {27} Why was there no one to tell Mausolus, +while he lived, and Artemisia after his death, that they must not +occupy Cos and Rhodes and other Hellenic cities as well, which the king +their master ceded to the Hellenes by the treaty,[n] and for the sake +of which the Hellenes of those days faced many a peril and fought many +a gallant fight? Even if there actually are such advisers[n] in both +cases, at least it is not likely that they will find listeners. {28} +For my part I believe that it is right to restore the exiled democracy +of Rhodes. But even if it were not right, I think it would be proper to +urge you to do it, when I consider the course taken by such speakers as +these; and for this reason. If all the world, men of Athens, were bent +upon doing right, it would be a disgrace to us if we alone were +unwilling to do so: but when all the world is preparing itself in order +to be able to commit wrong, then for us alone to abstain from every +enterprise, on the plea of right, is no righteousness, to my mind, but +cowardice. For I observe that the extent to which rights are admitted +is always in proportion to the claimant's power at the moment. {29} I +can illustrate this by an instance familiar to all of you. There are +two treaties[n] between the Hellenes and the king. The first was made +by our own city, and all men praise it; the second by the Spartans, and +it is denounced by all. The rights defined in these two treaties are +not the same. For whereas a common and equal share of private rights is +given by law to weak and strong alike, in a settlement of international +rights it is the stronger who legislate for the weaker. + +Well, you already know what the right course is.[n] {30} It remains to +inquire how you can carry out your knowledge into action; and this will +be possible, if you come to be regarded as public champions of +universal liberty. But the great difficulty which you find in doing +your duty is, to my mind, natural enough. All other men have only one +conflict to face--the conflict with their declared foes; and when these +are subdued, there is no further obstacle to their secure enjoyment of +their happiness. {31} But for you there is a double conflict. In +addition to that to which all men are liable, there is another which is +harder, and which must be faced first: for you have to win the victory +in your councils over those who are deliberately working in your midst +against the interests of the city; and because, thanks to them, you can +effect nothing that is demanded of you without a struggle, it is +natural that you should often miss your mark. {32} The chief reason for +the fearless adoption of such a course in public life by so many men is +perhaps to be found in the benefits which they obtain from those who +hire them. Yet at the same time, some of the blame may fairly be laid +at your own doors. For you ought, men of Athens, to think of a man's +post in public life as you think of his post in the army in the field. +And how do you think of this? If a man leaves the post assigned to him +by his general, you think that he deserves to be disfranchised and to +lose all share in the privileges of a citizen. {33} And so when men +desert the post of civil duty, committed to them by our forefathers, +and follow an oligarchical[n] policy, they should forfeit the privilege +of acting as advisers to yourselves. As it is, while you believe that +those of your allies are best disposed towards you, who have sworn to +have the same friends and foes as yourselves, the politicians in whom +you place most faith are those whom you well know to have chosen the +side of the enemies of Athens. + +{34} It is easy enough, however, to find reasons for accusing them and +reproaching all of you. But to find words or actions which will enable +us to rectify what is now amiss with us, is a task indeed. Moreover, +the present is not, perhaps, the time for entering into every point: +but if only you can confirm the policy which you have chosen by some +suitable action, it may be that other conditions will each in turn show +some improvement. {35} I think, therefore, that you ought to take this +enterprise in hand with vigour, and to act worthily of your country. +Remember with what delight you listen to the praises of your +forefathers,[n] the recital of their deeds, the enumeration of their +trophies. Consider then that your forefathers dedicated these trophies, +not that you might gaze at them in idle wonder, but that you might +imitate the actions of those who placed them there. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] [Greek: humin sygchair_o]. + + + + +THE FIRST PHILIPPIC (OR. IV) + + +[_Introduction_. Philip became King of Macedonia in 359 B.C. Being in +great difficulties both from external enemies and from internal +division, he made peace with the Athenians, who were supporting the +pretensions of Argaeus to the throne, in the hope of recovering (by +agreement with Argaeus) the colony of Amphipolis on the Strymon, which +they had lost in 424. Philip acknowledged the title of Athens to +Amphipolis, and sent home the Athenian prisoners, whom he had captured +among the supporters of Argaeus, without ransom. The Athenians, +however, neglected to garrison Amphipolis. In 358 (the year in which +Athens temporarily recovered her hold over Euboea, by compelling the +Thebans to evacuate the island), Philip carried on a successful +campaign against the Paeonian and Illyrian tribes, who were standing +enemies of Macedonia. For the next three years Athens was kept occupied +by the war with her allies, and Philip saw his opportunity. He besieged +Amphipolis: when the citizens sent Hierax and Stratocles to ask Athens +for help, he dispatched a letter promising the Athenians that he would +give them Amphipolis when he had taken it; and a secret understanding +was arrived at between Philip and the Athenian envoys sent to him, that +Athens should give him Pydna (once a Macedonian town, but now an ally +of Athens) in exchange. Athens, therefore, listened neither to +Amphipolis nor to Olynthus, which had also made overtures to her. The +Olynthians in consequence made a treaty with Philip, who gave them +Anthemus and promised to help them against their old rival Poteidaea, a +town in alliance with Athens. The Olynthians on their part agreed not +to make peace with Athens except in conjunction with him. But Philip, +when he had captured Amphipolis by a combination of siege and intrigue, +did not give it up to Athens, and instead of waiting to receive Pydna +from Athens, besieged and took it, aided once more by treachery from +within. In 356 he took Poteidaea (in conjunction with the Olynthians, +to whom he gave the town), the Athenians arriving too late to relieve +it; and then pursued his conquests along the Thracian coast. Further +inland he expelled the Thasians (allies of Athens) from Crenides and +founded Philippi on the site, in the centre of the gold-mines of Mount +Pangaeus, from which he henceforward derived a very large revenue; +while the forests of the district provided him with timber for +ship-building, of which he took full advantage: for in the next few +years his ships made descents upon the Athenian islands of Lemnos and +Imbros, plundered the Athenian corn-vessels off the coast of Euboea, +and even landed a force at Marathon. In the latter part of 356 and in +355 he was occupied with the conquest of the Paeonians and Illyrians, +with whom Athens had made an alliance in 356. At the end of 355 he laid +siege to Methone, the last Athenian port on the Thermaic gulf, and +captured it in 354. (Some place the siege and capture of Methone in +354-3, but an inscription, C.I.G. II. 70, makes it at least probable +that the siege had begun by the last month of 355.) In 353 Philip made +his way to the Thracian coast, and conquered Abdera and Maroneia. At +Maroneia we find him in company with Pammenes (his former host at +Thebes), who had been sent by the Thebans to assist Artabazus in his +revolt against the Persian king; and at the same place he received +Apollonides of Cardia, the envoy of the Thracian prince Cersobleptes. +On his way home his ships escaped from Chares, off Neapolis, by a ruse. +In the same year he interfered in the affairs of Thessaly, where the +Aleuadae of Larissa had invited his assistance against Lycophron and +Peitholaus of Pherae, who had invoked the aid of the Phocians. (In +opposing the Phocians, the antagonists of the Thebans in the Sacred +War, Philip was also helping the Thebans themselves, and gaining credit +as the opponent of the plunderers of the temple of Apollo at Delphi.) +Onomarchus, the Phocian leader, twice defeated Philip, but was +overthrown and slain in 352. Philip took Pherae and Pagasae (its port), +occupied Magnesia, and, by means of promises, obtained financial aid +from the Thessalians. The expedition sent by Athens to relieve Pagasae +arrived too late; but when Philip, after putting down the tyrants of +Pherae and arranging matters in Thessaly, advanced towards the Pass of +Thermopylae, an Athenian force, sent on the advice of Diophantus and +Eubulus, appeared in time to oblige him to retire to Macedonia. Late in +the autumn of 352 we find him once more in Thrace. It was probably now +that he assisted the peoples of Byzantium and Perinthus, together with +Amadocus, a rival of Cersobleptes, against the latter; with the result +that Cersobleptes was obliged to give up his son to Philip as a +hostage. Philip had also made alliance with Cardia, which, like +Byzantium, was on bad terms with Athens. He now laid siege to Heraeon +Teichos, a fortress on the Propontis, but illness obliged him to +suspend operations, and the rumour of his death prevented the Athenians +from sending against him the expedition which they had resolved upon. +(The retention of her influence in this region was essential for +Athens, if her corn-supply was to be secure.) In 351, on recovering +from his illness, he entered the territory of Olynthus, which, contrary +to the agreement with him, had made peace with Athens in the previous +year, apart from himself: but he did not at present pursue the invasion +further. In October 351 Athens sent Charidemus to the Hellespont with +ten ships, but no soldiers and little money. If these are the ships +alluded to in § 43 of the present Speech, the Speech must have been +delivered after that date. Otherwise any date after Philip's incursion +into the territory of Olynthus would suit the contents of the Speech, +and many writers place it earlier in the year. The question of the +relations of Athens with Philip had been brought forward; and +Demosthenes, who had risen first to speak, proposes the creation of a +large permanent fleet, and of a smaller force for immediate action, +laying great stress on the necessity of sending Athenian citizens both +to command and to form a substantial proportion of the troops, which, +had so far been mostly mercenaries. The scheme was worked out in +detail, both in its military and in its financial aspects, and +supported with an eloquence and an earnestness which are far in advance +of those displayed in the earlier speeches. + +The statement of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, that the Speech as we have +it, is really a conflation of two speeches, of which the second +(beginning at § 30) was delivered in 347, is generally (and rightly) +discredited.] + + +{1} If some new subject were being brought before us, men of Athens, I +would have waited until most of your ordinary advisers had declared +their opinion; and if anything that they said were satisfactory to me, +I would have remained silent, and only if it were not so, would I have +attempted to express my own view. But since we find ourselves once more +considering a question upon which they have often spoken, I think I may +reasonably be pardoned for rising first of all. For if their advice to +you in the past had been what it ought to have been, you would have had +no occasion for the present debate. + +{2} In the first place, then, men of Athens, we must not be downhearted +at our present situation, however wretched it may seem to be. For in +the worst feature of the past lies our best hope for the future-in the +fact, that is, that we are in our present plight because you are not +doing your duty in any respect; for if you were doing all that you +should do, and we were still in this evil case, we could not then even +hope for any improvement. {3} In the second place, you must bear in +mind (what some of you have heard from others, and those who know can +recollect for themselves), how powerful the Spartans were, not long +ago, and yet how noble and patriotic your own conduct was, when instead +of doing anything unworthy of your country you faced the war with +Sparta [n] in defence of the right. [n] Now why do I remind you of +these things? It is because, men of Athens, I wish you to see and to +realize, that so long as you are on your guard you have nothing to +fear; but that if you are indifferent, nothing can be as you would +wish: for this is exemplified for you both by the power of Sparta in +those days, to which you rose superior because you gave your minds to +your affairs; and by the insolence of Philip to-day, which troubles us +because we care nothing for the things which should concern us. {4} If, +however, any of you, men of Athens, when he considers the immense force +now at Philip's command, and the city's loss of all her strongholds, +thinks that Philip is a foe hard to conquer, I ask him (right though he +is in his belief) to reflect also that there was a time when we +possessed Pydna and Poteidaea and Methone; when all the surrounding +country was our own, and many of the tribes [n] which are now on his +side were free and independent, and more inclined to be friendly to us +than to him. {5} Now if in those days Philip had made up his mind that +it was a hard thing to fight against the Athenians, with all their +fortified outposts on his own frontiers, while he was destitute of +allies, he would have achieved none of his recent successes, nor +acquired this great power. But Philip saw quite clearly, men of Athens, +that all these strongholds were prizes of war, displayed for +competition. He saw that in the nature of things the property of the +absent belongs to those who are on the spot, and that of the negligent +to those who are ready for toil and danger. {6} It is, as you know, by +acting upon this belief, that he has brought all those places under his +power, and now holds them--some of them by right of capture in war, +others in virtue of alliances and friendly understandings; for every +one is willing to grant alliance and to give attention to those whom +they see to be prepared and ready to take action as is necessary. {7} +If then, men of Athens, you also will resolve to adopt this principle +to-day--the principle which you have never observed before--if each of +you can henceforward be relied upon to throw aside all this pretence of +incapacity, and to act where his duty bids him, and where his services +can be of use to his country; if he who has money will contribute, and +he who is of military age will join the campaign; if, in one plain +word, you will resolve henceforth to depend absolutely on yourselves, +each man no longer hoping that he will need to do nothing himself, and +that his neighbour will do everything for him; then, God willing, you +will recover your own; you will take back all that your indolence has +lost, and you will have your revenge upon Philip. {8} Do not imagine +that his fortune is built to last for ever, as if he were a God. He +also has those who hate him and fear him, men of Athens, and envy him +too, even among those who now seem to be his closest friends. All the +feelings that exist in any other body of men must be supposed to exist +in Philip's supporters. Now, however, all such feelings are cowed +before him: your slothful apathy has taken away their only rallying +point; and it is this apathy that I bid you put off to-day. {9} Mark +the situation, men of Athens: mark the pitch which the man's outrageous +insolence has reached, when he does not even give you a choice between +action and inaction, but threatens you, and utters (as we are told) +haughty language: for he is not the man to rest content in possession +of his conquests: he is always casting his net wider; and while we +procrastinate and sit idle, he is setting his toils around us on every +side. {10} When, then, men of Athens, when, I say, will you take the +action that is required? What are you waiting for? 'We are waiting,' +you say, 'till it is necessary.' But what must we think of all that is +happening at this present time? Surely the strongest necessity that a +free people can experience is the shame which they must feel at their +position! What? Do you want to go round asking one another, 'Is there +any news?' Could there be any stranger news than that a man of +Macedonia is defeating Athenians in war, and ordering the affairs of +the Hellenes? {11} 'Is Philip dead?' 'No, but he is sick.' And what +difference does it make to you? For if anything should happen to him, +you will soon raise up for yourselves a second Philip, if it is thus +that you attend to your interests. Indeed, Philip himself has not risen +to this excessive height through his own strength, so much as through +our neglect. I go even further. {12} If anything happened to Philip--if +the operation of Fortune, who always cares for us better than we care +for ourselves, were to effect this too for us--you know that if you +were at hand, you could descend upon the general confusion and order +everything as you wished; but in your present condition, even if +circumstances offered you Amphipolis, you could not take it; for your +forces and your minds alike are far away. + +{13} Well, I say no more of the obligation which rests upon you all to +be willing and ready to do your duty; I will assume that you are +resolved and convinced. But the nature of the armament which, I +believe, will set you free from such troubles as these, the numbers of +the force, the source from which we must obtain funds, and the best and +quickest way, as it seems to me, of making all further +preparations--all this, men of Athens, I will at once endeavour to +explain when I have made one request of you. {14} Give your verdict on +my proposal when you have heard the whole of it; do not prejudge it +before I have done; and if at first the force which I propose appears +unprecedented, do not think that I am merely creating delays. It is not +those whose cry is 'At once', 'To-day', whose proposals will meet our +need; for what has already happened cannot be prevented by any +expedition now. {15} It is rather he who can show the nature, the +magnitude, and the financial possibility of a force which when provided +will be able to continue in existence either until we are persuaded to +break off the war, or until we have overcome the enemy; for thus only +can we escape further calamity for the future. These things I believe I +can show, though I would not stand in the way of any other speaker's +professions. It is no less a promise than this that I make; the event +will soon test its fulfilment, and you will be the judges of it. + +First then, men of Athens, I say that fifty warships must {16} at once +be got in readiness: and next, that you must be in such a frame of mind +that, if any need arises, you will embark in person and sail. In +addition, you must prepare transports for half our cavalry, and a +sufficient number of boats. {17} These, I think, should be in readiness +to meet those sudden sallies of his from his own country against +Thermopylae, the Chersonese, Olynthus, and any other place which he may +select. For we must make him realize that there is a possibility of +your rousing yourselves out of your excessive indifference, just as +when once you went to Euboea,[n] and before that (as we are told) to +Haliartus,[n] and finally, only the other day, to Thermopylae. {18} +Such a possibility, even if you are unlikely to make it a reality, as I +think you ought to do, is not one which he can treat lightly; and you +may thus secure one of two objects. On the one hand, he may know that +you are on the alert--he will in fact know it well enough: there are +only too many persons, I assure you, in Athens itself, who report to +him all that happens here: and in that case his apprehensions will +ensure his inactivity. But if, on the other hand, he neglects the +warning, he may be taken off his guard; for there will be nothing to +hinder you from sailing to his country, if he gives you the +opportunity. {19} These are the measures upon which I say you should +all be resolved, and your preparations for them made. But before this, +men of Athens, you must make ready a force which will fight without +intermission, and do him damage. Do not speak to me of ten thousand or +twenty thousand mercenaries. I will have none of your paper-armies. [n] +Give me an army which will be the army of Athens, and will obey and +follow the general whom you elect, be there one general or more, be he +one particular individual, or be he who he may. {20} You must also +provide maintenance for this force. Now what is this force to be? how +large is it to be? how is it to be maintained? how will it consent to +act in this manner? I will answer these questions point by point. The +number of mercenaries--but you must not repeat the mistake which has so +often injured you, the mistake of, first, thinking any measures +inadequate, and so voting for the largest proposal, and then, when the +time for action comes, not even executing the smaller one; you must +rather carry out and make provision for the smaller measure, and add to +it, if it proves too small--{21} the total number of soldiers, I say, +must be two thousand, and of these five hundred must be Athenians, +beginning from whatever age you think good: they must serve for a +definite period--not a long one, but one to be fixed at your +discretion--and in relays. The rest must be mercenaries. With these +must be cavalry, two hundred in number, of whom at least fifty must be +Athenians, as with the infantry; and the conditions of service must be +the same. {22} You must also find transports for these. And what next? +Ten swift ships of war. For as he has a fleet, we need swift-sailing +warships too, to secure the safe passage of the army. And how is +maintenance to be provided for these? This also I will state and +demonstrate, as soon as I have given you my reasons for thinking that a +force of this size is sufficient, and for insisting that those who +serve in it shall be citizens. + +{23} The size of the force, men of Athens, is determined by the fact +that we cannot at present provide an army capable of meeting Philip in +the open field; we must make plundering forays, and our warfare must at +first be of a predatory nature. Consequently the force must not be +over-big--we could then neither pay nor feed it--any more than it must +be wholly insignificant. {24} The presence of citizens in the force +that sails I require for the following reasons. I am told that Athens +once maintained a mercenary force in Corinth,[n] under the command of +Polystratus, Iphicrates, Chabrias and others, and that you yourselves +joined in the campaign with them; and I remember hearing that these +mercenaries, when they took the field with you, and you with them, were +victorious over the Spartans. But even since your mercenary forces have +gone to war alone, it is your friends and allies that they conquer, +while your enemies have grown more powerful than they should be. After +a casual glance at the war to which Athens has sent them, they sail off +to Artabazus,[n] or anywhere rather than to the war; and the general +follows them naturally enough, for his power over them is gone when he +can give them no pay. You ask what I bid you do. {25} I bid you take +away their excuses both from the general and the soldiers, by supplying +pay and placing citizen-soldiers at their side as spectators of these +mysteries of generalship;[n] for our present methods are a mere +mockery. Imagine the question to be put to you, men of Athens, whether +you are at peace or no. 'At peace?' you would say; 'Of course not! We +are at war with Philip.' {26} Now have you not all along been electing +from among your own countrymen ten captains and generals,[n] and +cavalry-officers, and two masters-of-the-horse? and what are they +doing? Except the one single individual whom you happen to send to the +seat of war, they are all marshalling your processions for you with the +commissioners of festivals. You are no better than men modelling +puppets of clay. Your captains and your cavalry-officers are elected to +be displayed in the streets, not to be sent to the war. {27} Surely, +men of Athens, your captains should be elected from among yourselves, +and your master-of-the-horse from among yourselves; your officers +should be your own countrymen, if the force is to be really the army of +Athens. As it is, the master-of-the-horse who is one of yourselves has +to sail to Lemnos; while the master-of-the-horse with the army that is +fighting to defend the possessions of Athens is Menelaus.[n] I do not +wish to disparage that gentleman; but whoever holds that office ought +to have been elected by you. + +{28} Perhaps, however, while agreeing with all that I have said, you +are mainly anxious to hear my financial proposals, which will tell you +the amount and the sources of the funds required. I proceed, therefore, +with these at once. First for the sum. The cost of the bare rations for +the crews, with such a force, will be 90 talents and a little over--40 +talents for ten swift ships, and 20 minae a month for each ship; and +for the soldiers as much again, each soldier to receive rations to the +value of 10 drachmae a month; and for the cavalry (two hundred in +number, each to receive 30 drachmae a month) twelve talents. {29} It +may be said that the supply of bare rations to the members of the force +is an insufficient initial provision; but this is a mistake. I am quite +certain that, given so much, the army will provide everything else for +itself from the proceeds of war, without injury to a single Hellene or +ally of ours, and that the full pay will be made up by these means. I +am ready to sail as a volunteer and to suffer the worst, if my words +are untrue. The next question then is of ways and means, in so far as +the funds are to come from yourselves. I will explain this at once. + +[_A schedule of ways and means is read_.] + +{30} This, men of Athens, is what we have been able to devise; and when +you put our proposals to the vote, you will pass them, if you approve +of them; that so your war with Philip may be a war, not of resolutions +and dispatches, but of actions. + +{31} I believe that the value of your deliberations about the war and +the armament as a whole would be greatly enhanced, if you were to bear +in mind the situation of the country against which you are fighting, +remembering that most of Philip's plans are successfully carried out +because he takes advantage of winds and seasons; for he waits for the +Etesian winds[n] or the winter-season, and only attacks when it would +be impossible for us to effect a passage to the scene of action. {32} +Bearing this in mind, we must not carry on the war by means of isolated +expeditions; we shall always be too late. We must have a permanent +force and armament. As our winter-stations for the army we have Lemnos, +Thasos, Sciathos, and the islands in that region, which have harbours +and corn, and are well supplied with all that an army needs. And as to +the time of year, whenever it is easy to approach the shore and the +winds are not dangerous, our force can without difficulty lie close to +the Macedonian coast itself, and block the mouths of the ports. + +{33} How and when he will employ the force is a matter to be +determined, when the time comes, by the commander whom you put in +control of it. What must be provided from Athens is described in the +scheme which I have drafted. If, men of Athens, you first supply the +sum I have mentioned, and then, after making ready the rest of the +armament--soldiers, ships, cavalry--bind the whole force in its +entirety,[n] by law, to remain at the seat of war; if you become your +own paymasters, your own commissioners of supply, but require your +general to account for the actual operations; {34} then there will be +an end of these perpetual discussions of one and the same theme, which +end in nothing but discussion: and in addition to this, men of Athens, +you will, in the first place, deprive him of his chief source of +supply. For what is this? Why, he carries on the war at the cost of +your own allies, harrying and plundering those who sail the seas! And +what will you gain besides this? You will place yourselves out of reach +of disaster. It will not be as it was in the past, when he descended +upon Lemnos and Imbros, and went off, with your fellow-citizens as his +prisoners of war, or when he seized the vessels off Geraestus,[n] and +levied an enormous sum from them; or when (last of all) he landed at +Marathon, seized the sacred trireme,[n] and carried it off from the +country; while all the time you can neither prevent these aggressions, +nor yet send an expedition which will arrive when you intend it to +arrive. {35} But for what reason do you think, men of Athens, do the +festival of the Panathenaea and the festival of the Dionysia[n] always +take place at the proper time, whether those to whom the charge of +either festival is allotted are specially qualified persons or +not--festivals upon which you spend larger sums of money than upon any +armament whatsoever, and which involve an amount of trouble[n] and +preparation, which are unique, so far as I know, in the whole world--; +and yet your armaments are always behind the time--at Methone, at +Pagasae, at Potidaea? {36} It is because for the festivals all is +arranged by law. Each of you knows long beforehand who is to supply the +chorus,[n] and who is to be steward of the games,[n] for his tribe: he +knows what he is to receive, and when, and from whom, and what he is to +do with it. No detail is here neglected, nothing is left indefinite. +But in all that concerns war and our preparation for it, there is no +organization, no revision, no definiteness. Consequently it is not +until the news comes that we appoint our trierarchs and institute +exchanges of property for them, and inquire into ways and means. When +that is done, we first resolve that the resident aliens and the +independent freedmen[n] shall go on board; then we change our minds and +say that citizens shall embark; then that we will send substitutes; and +while all these delays are occurring, the object of the expedition is +already lost. {37} For we spend on preparation the time when we should +be acting, and the opportunities which events afford will not wait for +our slothful evasions; while as for the forces on which we think we can +rely in the meantime, when the critical moment comes, they are tried +and found wanting. And Philip's insolence has reached such a pitch, +that he has sent such a letter as the following to the Euboeans. + +[_The letter is read_.] + +{38} The greater part of the statements that have been read are true, +men of Athens; and they ought not to be true! but I admit that they may +possibly be unpleasant to hear; and if the course of future events +would pass over all that a speaker passes over in his speech, to avoid +giving pain, we should be right in speaking with a view to your +pleasure. But if attractive words, spoken out of season, bring their +punishment in actual reality, then it is disgraceful to blind our eyes +to the truth, to put off everything that is unpleasant, {39} to refuse +to understand even so much as this, that those who conduct war rightly +must not follow in the wake of events, but must be beforehand with +them: for just as a general may be expected to lead his army, so those +who debate must lead the course of affairs, in order that what they +resolve upon may be done, and that they may not be forced to follow at +the heels of events. {40} You, men of Athens, have the greatest power +in the world-warships, infantry, cavalry, revenue. But none of these +elements of power have you used as you ought, down to this very day. +The method of your warfare with Philip is just that of barbarians in a +boxing-match. Hit one of them, and he hugs the place; hit him on the +other side, and there go his hands; but as for guarding, or looking his +opponent in the face, he neither can nor will do it. {41} It is the +same with you. If you hear that Philip is in the Chersonese, you +resolve to make an expedition there; if he is at Thermopylae, you send +one there; and wherever else he may be, you run up and down in his +steps. It is he that leads your forces. You have never of yourselves +come to any salutary decision in regard to the war. No single event do +you ever discern before it occurs--before you have heard that something +has happened or is happening. Perhaps there was room for this +backwardness until now; but now we are at the very crisis, and such an +attitude is possible no longer. {42} Surely, men of Athens, it is one +of the gods--one who blushes for Athens, as he sees the course which +events are taking--that has inspired Philip with this restless +activity. If he were content to remain at peace, in possession of all +that he has won by conquest or by forestalling us--if he had no further +plans--even then, the record against us as a people, a record of shame +and cowardice and all that is most dishonourable, would, I think, seem +complete enough to some of you. But now he is always making some new +attempt, always grasping after something more; and unless your spirit +has utterly departed, his conduct will perhaps bring you out into the +field. {43} It amazes me, men of Athens, that not one of you remembers +with any indignation, that this war had its origin in our intention to +punish Philip; and that now, at the end of it, the question is, how we +are to escape disaster at his hands. But that he will not stay his +progress until some one arrests it is plain enough. Are we then to wait +for that? Do you think that all is right, when you dispatch nothing but +empty ships and somebody's hopes? Shall we not embark? {44} Shall we +not now, if never before, go forth ourselves, and provide at least some +small proportion of Athenian soldiers? Shall we not sail to the enemy's +country? But I heard the question, 'At what point on his coast are we +to anchor?' The war itself, men of Athens, if you take it in hand, will +discover his weak points: but if we sit at home listening to the mutual +abuse and recriminations of our orators, you can never realize any of +the results that you ought to realize. {45} I believe that whenever any +portion of Athens is sent with the forces, even if the whole city does +not go, the favour of Heaven and of Fortune fights on our side. But +whenever you dispatch anywhere a general with an empty resolution and +some platform-hopes to support him, then you achieve nothing that you +ought to achieve, your enemies laugh at you, and your allies are in +deadly fear of all such armaments. {46} It is impossible, utterly +impossible, that any one man should be able to effect all that you wish +for you. He can give undertakings and promises;[n] he can accuse this +man and that; and the result is that your fortunes are ruined. For when +the general is at the head of wretched, unpaid mercenaries, and when +there are those in Athens who lie to you light-heartedly about all that +he does, and, on the strength of the tales that you hear, you pass +decrees at random, what _must_ you expect? + +{47} How then can this state of things be terminated? Only, men of +Athens, when you expressly make the same men soldiers, witnesses of +their general's actions, and judges at his examination[n] when they +return home; for then the issue of your fortunes will not be a tale +which you hear, but a thing which you will be on the spot to see. So +shameful is the pass which matters have now reached, that each of your +generals is tried for his life before you two or three times, but does +not dare to fight in mortal combat with the enemy even once. They +prefer the death of kidnappers and brigands to that of a general. {48} +For it is a felon's death, to die by sentence of the court: the death +of a general is to fall in battle with the enemy. Some of us go about +saying that Philip is negotiating with Sparta[n] for the overthrow of +the Thebans and the breaking up of the free states; others, that he has +sent ambassadors to the king;[n] others, that he is fortifying cities +in Illyria. {49} We all go about inventing each his own tale. I quite +believe, men of Athens, that he is intoxicated with the greatness of +his successes, and entertains many such visions in his mind; for he +sees that there are none to hinder him, and he is elated at his +achievements. But I do not believe that he has chosen to act in such a +way that the most foolish persons in Athens can know what he intends to +do; for no persons are so foolish as newsmongers. {50} But if we +dismiss all such tales, and attend only to the certainty--that the man +is our enemy, that he is robbing us of our own, that he has insulted us +for a long time, that all that we ever expected any one to do for us +has proved to be against us, that the future is in our own hands, that +if we will not fight him now in his own country we shall perhaps be +obliged to do so in ours--if, I say, we are assured of this, then we +shall have made up our minds aright, and shall be quit of idle words. +For you have not to speculate what the future may be: you have only to +be assured that the future must be evil, unless you give heed and are +ready to do your duty. + +{51} Well, I have never yet chosen to gratify you by saying anything +which I have not felt certain would be for your good; and to-day I have +spoken freely and without concealment, just what I believe. I could +wish to be as sure of the good that a speaker will gain by giving you +the best advice as of that which you will gain by listening to him. I +should then have been far happier than I am. As it is, I do not know +what will happen to me, for what I have said: but I have chosen to +speak in the sure conviction that if you carry out my proposals, it +will be for your good; and may the victory rest with that policy which +will be for the good of all! + + + + +THE OLYNTHIAC ORATIONS (OR. I-III) + + +[_Introduction_. It has already been noticed that when Philip took +Amphipolis in 357 B.C., the Olynthians made overtures to the Athenians, +with whom they had been at war for some years, and that, being +rejected, they became allies of Philip, who gave them Anthemus and +Poteidaea. In 352, alarmed at Philip's growing power, they once more +applied to Athens. Peace was made, and negotiations began with regard +to an alliance. In 351 Philip appeared in the territory of Olynthus. He +did not, however, at once carry the invasion further, but took pains, +during this year and the next, to foster a Macedonian party in the +town. In 349 Philip virtually declared war on the Olynthians by +demanding the surrender of his step-brother Arrhidaeus, who had taken +refuge with them. The Olynthians again appealed to Athens; an alliance +was made; Chares was sent with thirty ships and 2,000 mercenaries, but +seems to have mismanaged the war by misfortune or by design. Probably +he had been badly supplied with funds, and instead of helping Olynthus, +resorted to acts of piracy to satisfy his men. The Macedonian troops +proceeded to take Stageira and other towns of the Olynthian League, +though Philip still professed to have no hostile intentions against +Olynthus (see Phil. III, § ii). Chares was recalled and put on his +trial; and, probably in response to a further message from Olynthus, +Charidemus was transferred thither from the Hellespont. With a +considerable mercenary force at his disposal, Charidemus overran +Pallene and Bottiaea, and did some damage to Philip's territory, but +afterwards gave himself up to dissipation in Olynthus. In the meantime, +some of the Thessalians had become restless under Philip's supremacy +(see Olynth. I, § 22, II, § ii), and he was obliged to undertake an +expedition to suppress the revolt, and to put down Peitholaus (who had +apparently become tyrant of Pherae once more, though he had been +expelled in 352). But early in 348 he appeared in person in Chalcidice, +and took one after another of the towns of the League, including +Mecyberna the port of Olynthus, and Torone. He thrice defeated the +Olynthians in battle, and at last obtained possession of Olynthus +itself by the treachery of Euthycrates and Lasthenes, the commanders of +the Olynthian cavalry. + +Athens had probably been occupied during the early part of the year [1] +with an expedition which she sent (against the advice of Demosthenes) +to help Plutarchus of Eretria to repel attacks which were partly, at +least, instigated by Philip; and in consequence she had done little for +Olynthus, though on a request of the Olynthians for cavalry, she had +ordered some of those which had been sent to Euboea to go to Olynthus, +and these may have been the Athenians whom Philip captured in that +city. The seventeen ships, 2,000 infantry, and 300 cavalry (all +citizens), which Athens dispatched under Chares in response to a last +urgent appeal from Olynthus, were delayed by storms and arrived too +late. Philip entirely destroyed Olynthus and thirty-two other towns, +sold their inhabitants into slavery, brought the whole of Chalcidice +within the Macedonian Empire, and celebrated his conquests by a +festival in honour of the Olympian Zeus at Dium. + +The First Olynthiac Oration was delivered before Olynthus itself was +attacked or any other towns actually taken (Olynth. I, § 17); and both +the First and Second before the discontent with Philip in Thessaly had +taken an active form (I, § 22, II, § 7). Both, that is, belong to the +summer of 349, and the situation implied is very much the same in both. +The First was perhaps spoken when the Olynthians first appealed to +Athens in that year, before the mission of Chares; the Second, to +counteract the effect of something which had caused despondency in +Athens (possibly the conduct of the Athenian generals, or the account +given by other orators of Philip's power). In both Demosthenes urges +the importance of resisting Philip while he is still far away, and of +sending, not mercenaries, but a citizen-army; and while hinting at what +he regards as the true solution of the financial difficulty, proposes a +special war-tax. The solution which he thinks the right one is more +explicitly described in the Third Olynthiac, spoken (probably +[Footnote: See note on Olynth. III, Section 4]) in the autumn of the +same year, and certainly at a time when the situation had become much +more grave. The root of the financial difficulty lay in the existence +of a law which prohibited (evidently under severe penalties, Olynth. +III, Section 12) any proposal to devote to military purposes that +portion of the revenues which constituted the 'Festival' or 'Theoric +Fund', and was for the most part distributed to the citizens to enable +them to take part in the public festivals, and so join in fulfilling +what was no doubt a religious duty as well as a pleasure. This +particular form of expenditure is stated to have been introduced by the +demagogue Agyrrhius in 394, when it revived in an extended form a +distribution of theatre money instituted late in the fifth century by +Cleophon; but the special law in question appears to have been of +recent date (Olynth. III, Section 12), and was almost certainly the +work of Eubulus and his party. Demosthenes himself proposes an +extraordinary Legislative Commission, to repeal the mischievous laws +and leave the way clear for financial reform. At the same time he +attacks the whole policy of Eubulus, charging him with distributing +doles without regard to public service, adding to the amenities of +Athens instead of maintaining her honour in war, and enriching her +politicians while degrading her people. The main object of the speech +was unsuccessful; and just about this time (though whether before or +after the speech is disputed) Apollodorus proposed that the people +should decide whether the surplus revenues should go to the Festival +Fund, or be applied to military purposes, and was heavily fined for the +illegality of the proposal. + +The Three Olynthiacs rank high among the Orations of Demosthenes. Some +passages, indeed, show that he had hardly as yet appreciated the genius +of Philip, or the unlikelihood of his making a false move either +through over-confidence or because he had come to the end of his +resources. But the noble patriotism of the speaker, the lofty tone of +his political reflections, the clearness of his diagnosis of the evils +of his time, and the fearlessness of his appeal for loyal and united +self-sacrifice, are nowhere more conspicuous.] + + +THE FIRST OLYNTHIAC + +{1} I believe, men of Athens, that you would give a great sum to know +what policy, in reference to the matter which you are now considering, +will best serve the interests of the city, and since that is so, you +ought to be ready and eager to listen to those who desire to give you +their advice. For not only can you hear and accept any useful proposals +which a speaker may have thought out before he came here; but such, I +conceive, is your fortune, that the right suggestion will often occur +to some of those present on the spur of the moment; and out of all +these suggestions it should be easy for you to choose the most +advantageous course. + +{2} The present time, men of Athens, seems almost to cry aloud that you +must take matters into your own hands yonder, if you have any interest +in a successful termination of the crisis: and yet our attitude appears +to be--I do not know what. My own opinion, at all events, is that you +should at once resolve to send this assistance; that you should prepare +for the departure of the expedition at the first possible moment--you +must not fall victims to the same error as before--and that you should +dispatch an embassy to announce our intention, and to be present at the +scene of action. {3} For what we have most to fear is this--that he, +with his unscrupulous cleverness in taking advantage of +circumstances--now, it may be, by making concessions; now by uttering +threats, which he may well seem likely to fulfil; now by +misrepresenting ourselves and our absence from the scene--may turn and +wrest to his own advantage some of the vital elements of our power. {4} +And yet it may fairly be said, men of Athens, that our best hope lies +in that very circumstance which renders Philip's power so hard to +grapple with. The fact that the entire control over everything, open or +secret,[n] is concentrated in the hands of a single man; that he is at +one and the same time general, master, and treasurer; that he is always +present in person with his army--all this is a great advantage, in so +far as military operations must be prompt and well-timed. But as +regards the compact which he would so gladly make with the Olynthians, +the effect is just the reverse. {5} For the Olynthians know well that +they are not fighting now for honour and glory, nor for a strip of +territory, but to avert the devastation and enslavement of their +country. They know how he treated[n] those who betrayed to him their +city at Amphipolis, and those who received him at Pydna; and it is, I +imagine, universally true that tyranny is a faithless friend to a free +state, and that most of all, when they occupy adjoining territories. +{6} With this knowledge, men of Athens, and with all the reflections +that the occasion calls for in your minds, I say that now, if ever +before, you must make your resolve, rouse all your energies, and give +your minds to the war: you must contribute gladly, you must go forth in +person, you must leave nothing undone. There is no longer any reason or +excuse remaining, which can justify you in refusing to do your duty. +{7} For every one was but recently harping on the desirability of +exciting Olynthus to war with Philip; and this has now come to pass of +itself, and in the way which most completely suits your interests. Had +they taken up the war because you had persuaded them to do so, their +alliance might perhaps have been precarious, and their resolution might +only have carried them a certain way. But now their detestation of +Philip is based upon grievances which affect themselves; and we may +suppose that a hostility which is occasioned by their own fears and +sufferings will be a lasting one. {8} Since, therefore, men of Athens, +such an opportunity has been thrown in your way, you must not let it +go, nor fall victims to the mistake from which you have often suffered +before. If, for instance, when we had returned from our expedition in +aid of the Euboeans,[n] and Hierax and Stratocles came from Amphipolis +and stood upon this platform and urged us to sail and take over the +city; if, I say, we had continued to display in our own interest the +eagerness which we displayed in the deliverance of the Euboeans, you +would have kept Amphipolis then, and we should have been free from all +the trouble that we have had since. {9} And again, when news kept +coming of the investment of Pydna, Poteidaea, Methone, Pagasae, and all +the other places--I will not stay to enumerate them all--if we had +acted at once, and had gone to the rescue of the first place attacked, +with the energy which we ought to have shown, we should now have found +Philip much less proud and difficult to deal with. As it is, we are +always sacrificing the present, always fancying that the future will +turn out well of itself; and so we have raised Philip to a position of +such importance as no king of Macedonia has ever before attained. {10} +And now an opportunity has come to Athens, in this crisis at Olynthus, +as great as any of those former ones: and I believe, men of Athens, +that one who was to draw up a true account of the blessings which have +been given us by the gods, would, in spite of much that is not as it +should be, find great cause for thankfulness to them; and naturally so. +For our many losses in the war must in fairness be set down to our own +indifference; but that we did not suffer such losses long ago, and that +an alliance has presented itself to us, which, if we will only take +advantage of it, will act as a counterpoise to them--all this I, for +one, should set down as a favour due to their goodness towards us. But +it is, I imagine, in politics, as it is in money-making. {11} If a man +is able to keep all that he gets, he is abundantly grateful to Fortune; +but if he loses it all before he is aware, he loses with it his memory +of Fortune's kindness. So it is in politics. When men have not made a +right use of their opportunities, they do not remember any good that +heaven may actually have granted them: for it is by the ultimate issue +that men estimate all that they have enjoyed before. Therefore, men of +Athens, you must pay the very utmost heed to the future, that by the +better use you make of it, you may wipe out the dishonour of the past. +{12} But if you sacrifice these men also, men of Athens, and Philip in +consequence reduces Olynthus to subjection, I ask any of you to tell me +what is to prevent him from marching where he pleases. Is there a man +among you, men of Athens, who considers or studies the steps by which +Philip, weak enough at first, has become so strong? First he took +Amphipolis, next Pydna, then again Poteidaea, and then Methone. Next he +set foot in Thessaly. {13} Then when Pherae, Pagasae, Magnesia[n] were +secured for his purposes, just as it suited him, he departed to Thrace. +In Thrace, after expelling one prince and setting up another, he fell +ill. When he grew easier again, he showed no inclination to take things +easily, but at once attacked the Olynthians[n]--and I am passing over +his campaigns against the Illyrians and the Paeonians, against +Arybbas,[n] and in every possible direction. + +{14} Why, I may be asked, do I mention these things at the present +moment? I wish you to understand, men of Athens, and to realize these +two points: first, the unprofitableness of perpetually sacrificing your +interests one by one; and, secondly, the restless activity which is a +part of Philip's very being, and which will not allow him to content +himself with his achievements and remain at peace. For if it is to be +his fixed resolve, that he must always be aiming at something greater +than he has yet attained; and ours, that we will never set ourselves +resolutely to work; ask yourselves what you can expect to be the end of +the matter. {15} In God's name, is there one of you so innocent as not +to know that the war will be transferred from Olynthus to Attica, if we +pay no heed? But if that happens, men of Athens, I fear that we shall +be like men who light-heartedly borrow at a high rate of interest, and +after a brief period of affluence, lose even their original estate; +that like them we shall find that our carelessness has cost us dear; +that through making pleasure our standard in everything, we shall find +ourselves driven to do many of those unpleasant things which we wished +to avoid, and shall find our position even in our own country +imperilled. + +{16} I may be told that it is easy to criticize--any one can do that; +but that a political adviser is expected to offer some practical +proposal to meet the existing situation. Now I am well aware, men of +Athens, that in the event of any disappointment, it is not upon those +who are responsible that your anger falls, but upon those who have +spoken last upon the subject in question. Yet I do not think that +consideration for my own safety should lead me to conceal my conviction +as to the course which your interests demand. {17} I say then that +there are two things which you must do to save the situation. You must +rescue these towns [n] for the Olynthians, and send troops to +accomplish this: and you must damage Philip's country with your ships +and with a second body of troops. {18} If you neglect either of these +things, our campaign, I greatly fear, will be in vain. For suppose that +you inflict damage on his country, and that he allows you to do so, +while he reduces Olynthus; he will have no difficulty in repelling you +when he returns. Suppose, on the other hand, that you only go to the +help of Olynthus; he will see that he has nothing to fear at home, and +so he will sit down before the town and remain at his task, until time +enables him to get the better of the besieged. The expedition, +therefore, must be large, and it must be in two parts. + +Such is my view with regard to the expedition. {19} As to the sources +of supply, you have funds, men of Athens--funds larger than any one +else in the world; but you appropriate these without scruple, just as +you choose. Now if you will assign these to your troops, you need no +further supplies: otherwise, not only do you need further supplies--you +are destitute of supplies altogether. 'Well' (does someone say?), 'do +you move that this money should form a war-fund?' I assure you that I +make no such motion. {20} For while I do indeed believe that a force +ought to be made ready [and that this money should form a war-fund], +and that the receipt of money should be connected, as part of one and +the same system, with the performance of duty; you, on the contrary, +think it right to take the money, after your present fashion, for your +festivals, and spare yourselves trouble. And therefore, I suppose, our +only resource is a general tax--larger or smaller, according to the +amount required. In any case, we need funds, and without funds nothing +can be done that we ought to do. Various other sources of supply are +suggested by different persons. Choose whichever you think best of +these, and get to work, while you have the opportunity. + +{21} It is worth while to remember and to take into account the nature +of Philip's position at this moment. For neither are his affairs at +present in such good order, or in so perfectly satisfactory a state, as +might appear to any but a careful observer; nor would he ever have +commenced this present war, if he had thought that he would really have +to fight. He hoped at first that by his mere advance he would carry all +before him; and he has since discovered his mistake. This +disappointment, then, is the first thing which disturbs him and causes +him great despondency: {22} and next there is the disposition of the +Thessalians, naturally inconstant as we know it has always been found +by all men; and what it has always been, that, in the highest degree, +Philip finds it now. For they have formally resolved to demand from him +the restitution of Pagasae; they have prevented him from fortifying +Magnesia, and I myself heard it stated that they intend even to refuse +him the enjoyment of their harbour and market dues for the future. +These, they say, should go to maintain the public administration of +Thessaly, instead of being taken by Philip. But if he is deprived of +these funds, the resources from which he must maintain his mercenaries +will be reduced to the narrowest limits. {23} Nay, more: we must surely +suppose that the chieftains of the Paeonians and Illyrians, and in fact +all such personages--would prefer freedom to slavery; for they are not +accustomed to obey orders, and the man, they say, is a bully. Heaven +knows, there is nothing incredible in the statement. Unmerited success +is to foolish minds a fountain-head of perversity, so that it is often +harder for men to keep the good they have, than it was to obtain it. +{24} It is for you then, men of Athens, to regard his difficulty as +your opportunity, to take up your share of the burden with readiness, +to send embassies to secure all that is required, to join the forces +yourselves, and to stir up every one else to do so. Only consider what +would happen, if Philip got such an opportunity to strike at us, and +there was war on our frontier. Can you not imagine how readily he would +march against us? Does it arouse no shame in you, that, when you have +the opportunity, you should not dare to do to him even as much as you +would have to suffer, were he able to inflict it? + +{25} There is a further point, men of Athens, which must not escape +you. I mean that you have now to choose whether you are to carry on war +yonder, or whether he is to do so in your own country. If the +resistance of Olynthus is maintained, you will fight there and will +inflict damage on Philip's territory, while you remain secure in the +enjoyment of this land of your own which you now possess. But if Philip +captures Olynthus, who is to hinder him from marching to Athens? The +Thebans? {26} It seems, I fear, too bitter a thing to say; but they +will be glad to join him in the invasion. The Phocians? They cannot +protect their own country, unless you go to their aid, or some other +power. 'But, my good Sir,'[n] you say, 'he will not want to march +here.' And yet it would be one of the strangest things in the world, +if, when he has the power, he does not carry out the threats, which he +now blurts out in spite of the folly that they show. {27} But I suppose +that I need not even point out how vast is the difference between war +here and war in his country. For had you to camp outside the walls +yourselves, for only thirty days, and to take from the country such +things as men in camp must have--and I am assuming that there is no +enemy in the country--I believe that the loss your farmers would suffer +would exceed your whole expenditure on the war up to the present time. +What then must we think will be the extent of our loss, if ever war +comes to our doors? And besides the loss there is his insolence, and +the shame of our position, which to right-minded men is as serious as +any loss. + +{28} When you take a comprehensive view of these things you must all go +to the rescue and stave the war off yonder; you who are well-to-do, in +order that, with a small expense in defence of the great fortunes which +you quite rightly enjoy, you may reap the benefit of the remainder +without fear; you who are of military age, that you may gain your +experience of war in Philip's country, and so become formidable +guardians of a fatherland unspoiled; and your orators, that they may +find it easy to render an account of their public life; for your +judgement upon their conduct will itself depend upon the position in +which you find yourselves. And may that be a happy one, on every ground! + + +THE SECOND OLYNTHIAC + +{1} Many as are the occasions, men of Athens, on which we may discern +the manifestation of the goodwill of Heaven towards this city, one of +the most striking is to be seen in the circumstances of the present +time. For that men should have been found to carry on war against +Philip; men whose territory borders on his and who possess some power; +men, above all, whose sentiments in regard to the war are such that +they think of the proposed compact with him, not only as untrustworthy, +but as the very ruin of their country--this seems to be certainly the +work of a superhuman, a divine, beneficence. {2} And so, men of Athens, +we must take care that we do not treat ourselves less well than +circumstances have treated us. For it is a shameful thing--nay, it is +the very depth of shame--to throw away openly, not only cities and +places which were once in our power, but even the allies and the +opportunities which have been provided for us by Fortune. + +{3} Now to describe at length the power of Philip, men of Athens, and +to incite you to the performance of your duty by such a recital, is +not, I think, a satisfactory proceeding; and for this reason--that +while all that can be said on this subject tends to Philip's glory, it +is a story of failure on our part. For the greater the extent to which +his success surpasses his deserts, the greater is the admiration with +which the world regards him; while, for your part, the more you have +fallen short of the right use of your opportunities, the greater is the +disgrace that you have incurred. {4} I will therefore pass over such +considerations. For any honest inquirer must see that the causes of +Philip's rise to greatness lie in Athens, and not in himself. Of the +services for which he has to thank those whose policy is determined by +his interest--services for which you ought to require their +punishment--the present is not, I see, the moment to speak. But apart +from these, there are things which may be said, and which it is better +that you should all have heard--things which (if you will examine them +aright) constitute a grave reproach against him; and these I will try +to tell you. + +{5} If I called him perjured and faithless, without giving his actions +in evidence, my words would be treated as idle abuse, and rightly: and +it happens that to review all his actions up to the present time, and +to prove the charge in every case, requires only a short speech. It is +well, I think, that the story should be told, for it will serve two +purposes; first, to make plain the real badness of the man's character; +and secondly, to let those who are over-alarmed at Philip, as if he +were invincible, see that he has come to the end of all those forms of +deceit by which he rose to greatness, and that his career is already +drawing to its close. {6} For I, too, men of Athens, should be +regarding Philip with intense fear and admiration, if I saw that his +rise was the result of a righteous policy. {7} But when I study and +consider the facts, I find that originally, when certain persons wished +to drive from your presence the Olynthians who desired to address you +from this place, Philip won over our innocent minds by saying that he +would deliver up Amphipolis to us, and by inventing the famous secret +understanding; that he afterwards conciliated the Olynthians by seizing +Poteidaea, which was yours, and injuring their former allies by handing +it over to themselves; and that, last of all, he recently won over the +Thessalians, by promising to give up Magnesia to them, and undertaking +to carry on the war with the Phocians on their behalf. There is +absolutely no one who has ever had dealings with him that he has not +deluded; and it is by deceiving and winning over, one after another, +those who in their blindness did not realize what he was, that he has +risen as he has done. {8} And therefore, just as it was by these +deceptions that he rose to greatness, in the days when each people +fancied that he intended to do some service to themselves; so it is +these same deceptions which should drag him down again, now that he +stands convicted of acting for his own ends throughout. Such, then, is +the crisis, men of Athens, to which Philip's fortunes have now come. If +it is not so, let any one come forward and show me (or rather you) that +what I say is untrue; or that those who have been deceived at the +outset trust him as regards the future; or that those who have been +brought into unmerited bondage would not gladly be free. + +{9} But if any of you, while agreeing with me so far, still fancies +that Philip will maintain his hold by force, because he has already +occupied fortified posts and harbours and similar positions, he is +mistaken. When power is cemented by goodwill, and the interest of all +who join in a war is the same, then men are willing to share the +labour, to endure the misfortunes, and to stand fast. But when a man +has become strong, as Philip has done, by a grasping and wicked policy, +the first excuse, the least stumble, throws him from his seat and +dissolves the alliance. {10} It is impossible, men of Athens, utterly +impossible, to acquire power that will last, by unrighteousness, by +perjury, and by falsehood. Such power holds out for a moment, or for a +brief hour; it blossoms brightly, perhaps, with fair hopes; but time +detects the fraud, and the flower falls withered about its stem. In a +house or a ship, or any other structure, it is the foundations that +must be strongest; and no less, I believe, must the principles, which +are the foundation of men's actions, be those of truth and +righteousness. Such qualities are not to be seen to-day in the past +acts of Philip. + +{11} I say, then, that we should help the Olynthians; and the best and +quickest method which can be proposed is the method which I approve. +Further, we should send an embassy to the Thessalians--to some, to +inform them of our intention; to others, to spur them on; for even now +they have resolved to demand the restitution of Pagasae, and to make +representations in regard to Magnesia. {12} Take care, however, men of +Athens, that our envoys may not only have words to speak, but also +actions of yours to point to. Let it be seen that you have gone forth +in a manner that is worthy of Athens, and are already in action. Words +without the reality must always appear a vain and empty thing, and +above all when they come from Athens; for the more we seem to excel in +the glib use of such language, the more it is distrusted by every one. +{13} The change, then, which is pointed out to them must be great, the +conversion striking. They must see you paying your contributions, +marching to war, doing everything with a will, if any of them is to +listen to you. And if you resolve to accomplish all this in very deed, +as it should be accomplished, not only will the feeble and +untrustworthy nature of Philip's alliances be seen, but the weakness of +his own empire and power will also be detected. + +{14} The power and empire of Macedonia is, indeed, to speak generally, +an element which tells considerably as an addition to any other power. +You found it so when it helped you against the Olynthians in the days +of Timotheus;[n] the Olynthians in their turn found its help of some +value, in combination with their own strength, against Poteidaea; and +it has recently come to the aid of the Thessalians, in their disordered +and disturbed condition, against the ruling dynasty: and wherever even +a small addition is made to a force, it helps in every way. {15} But in +itself the Macedonian Empire is weak and full of manifold evils. Philip +has in fact rendered his own tenure of it even more precarious than it +naturally was, by these very wars and campaigns which might be supposed +to prove his power. For you must not imagine, men of Athens, that +Philip and his subjects delight in the same things. Philip has a +passion for glory--that is his ambition; and he has deliberately chosen +to risk the consequences of a life of action and danger, preferring the +glory of achieving more than any King of Macedonia before him to a life +of security. {16} But his subjects have no share in the honour and +glory. Constantly battered about by all these expeditions, up and down, +they are vexed with incessant hardships: they are not suffered to +pursue their occupations or attend to their own affairs: for the little +that they produce, as best they can, they can find no market, the +trading stations of the country being closed on account of the war. +{17} From these facts it is not difficult to discover the attitude of +the Macedonians in general towards Philip; and as for the mercenaries +and Infantry of the Guard who surround him, though they have the +reputation of being a fine body of well-drilled warriors, I am told by +a man who has been in Macedonia, and who is incapable of falsehood, +that they are no better than any other body of men. {18} Granted that +there may be experienced campaigners and fighters among them; yet, he +tells me, Philip is so jealous of honour, that he thrusts all such men +away from him, in his anxiety to get the credit of every achievement +for himself; for in addition to all his other qualities, his jealousy +is insurpassable. On the other hand, any generally temperate or upright +man, who cannot endure the dissolute life there, day by day, nor the +drunkenness and the lewd revels, is thrust on one side and counts for +nothing. {19} Thus he is left with brigands and flatterers, and men +who, when in their cups, indulge in dances of a kind which I shrink +from naming to you now. And it is evident that this report is true; for +men whom every one tried to drive out of Athens, as far viler than even +the very juggler in the street--Callias the public slave and men like +him, players of farces, composers of indecent songs, written at the +expense of their companions in the hope of raising a laugh--these are +the men he likes and keeps about him. {20} You may think that these are +trivial things, men of Athens: but they are weighty, in the judgement +of every right-minded man, as illustrations of the temper with which +Philip is cursed. At present, I suppose, these facts are overshadowed +by his continual prosperity. Success has a wonderful power of throwing +a veil over shameful things like these. But let him only stumble, and +then all these features in his character will be displayed in their +true light. And I believe, men of Athens, that the revelation is not +far off, if Heaven be willing and you desirous of it. {21} So long as a +man is in good health, he is unconscious of any weakness; but if any +illness comes upon him, the disturbance affects every weak point, be it +a rupture or a sprain or anything else that is unsound in his +constitution. And as with the body, so it is with a city or a tyrant. +So long as they are at war abroad, the mischief is hidden from the +world at large, but the close grapple of war on the frontier brings all +to light. + +{22} Now if any of you, men of Athens, seeing Philip's good fortune, +thinks that this makes him a formidable enemy to fight against, he +reasons like a sensible man: for fortune weighs heavily in the +scale--nay, fortune is everything, in all human affairs. And yet, if I +were given the choice, it is the fortune of Athens that I should +choose, rather than that of Philip, provided that you yourselves are +willing to act even to a small extent as you should act. For I see that +there are far more abundant grounds for expecting the goodwill of +Heaven on your side than on his. {23} But here, of course, we are +sitting idle; and one who is a sluggard himself cannot require his +friends to help him, much less the gods. It is not to be wondered at +that Philip, who goes on campaigns and works hard himself, and is +always at the scene of action, and lets no opportunity go, no season +pass, should get the better of us who delay and pass resolutions and +ask for news; nor do I wonder at it. It is the opposite that would have +been wonderful--if we, who do nothing that those who are at war ought +to do, were successful against one who leaves nothing undone. {24} But +this I do wonder at, that you who once raised your hand against Sparta, +in defence of the rights of the Hellenes--you, who with opportunities +often open to you for grasping large advantages for yourselves, would +not take them, but to secure for others their rights spent your own +fortunes in war-contributions, and always bore the brunt of the dangers +of the campaign--that you, I say, are now shrinking from marching, and +hesitating to make any contribution to save your own possessions; and +that, though you have often saved the rest of the Hellenes, now all +together and now each in their turn, you are sitting idle, when you +have lost what was your own. {25} I wonder at this; and I wonder also, +men of Athens, that none of you is able to reckon up the time during +which you have been fighting with Philip, and to consider what you have +been doing while all this time has been going by. Surely you must know +that it is while we have been delaying, hoping that some one else would +act, accusing one another, bringing one another to trial, hoping +anew--in fact, doing practically what we are doing now--that all the +time has passed. {26} And have you now so little sense, men of Athens, +as to hope that the very same policy, which has made the position of +the city a bad one instead of a good, will actually make it a good one +instead of a bad? Why, it is contrary both to reason and to nature to +think so! It is always much easier to retain than to acquire. But now, +owing to the war, none of our old possessions is left for us to retain; +and so we must needs acquire. {27} This, therefore, is our own personal +and immediate duty; and accordingly I say that you must contribute +funds, you must go on service in person with a good will, you must +accuse no one before you have become masters of the situation; and then +you must honour those who deserve praise, and punish the guilty, with a +judgement based upon the actual facts. You must get rid of all excuses +and all deficiencies on your own part; you cannot examine mercilessly +the actions of others, unless you yourselves have done all that your +duty requires. {28} For why is it, do you think, men of Athens, that +all the generals whom you dispatch avoid this war,[n] and discover +private wars of their own--if a little of the truth must be told even +about the generals? It is because in this war the prizes for which the +war is waged are yours, and if they are captured, you will take them +immediately for your own; but the dangers are the personal privilege of +your commanders, and no pay is forthcoming: while in those wars the +dangers are less, and the profits--Lampsacus, Sigeum, and the ships +which they plunder--go to the commanders and their men. Each force +therefore takes the road that leads to its own advantage. {29} For your +part, when you turn your attention to the serious condition of your +affairs, you first bring the commanders to trial; and then, when you +have given them a hearing, and have been told of the difficulties which +I have described, you acquit them. The result, therefore, is that while +you are quarrelling with one another and broken into factions-one party +persuaded of this, another of that--the public interest suffers. You +used, men of Athens, to pay taxes by Boards:[n] to-day you conduct your +politics by Boards. On either side there is an orator as leader, and a +general under him; and for the Three Hundred, there are those who come +to shout. The rest of you distribute yourselves between the two +parties, some on either side. {30} This system you must give up: you +must even now become your own masters; you must give to all alike their +share in discussion, in speech and in action. If you assign to one body +of men the function of issuing orders to you, like tyrants; to another, +that of compulsory service as trierarchs or tax-payers or soldiers; and +to another, only that of voting their condemnation, without taking any +share in the labour, nothing that ought to be done will be done in +time. For the injured section will always be in default, and you will +only have the privilege of punishing them instead of the enemy. {31} To +sum up, all must contribute, each according to his wealth, in a fair +proportion: all must go on active service in turn, until you have all +served: you must give a hearing to all who come forward, and choose the +best course out of all that you hear--not the course proposed by this +or that particular person. If you do this, you will not only commend +the proposer of that course at the time, but you will commend +yourselves hereafter, for the whole position of your affairs will be a +better one. + + +THE THIRD OLYNTHIAC + +{1} Very different reflections suggest themselves to my mind, I men of +Athens, when I turn my eyes to our real situation, and when I think of +the speeches that I hear. For I observe that the speeches are all +concerned with the taking of vengeance upon Philip; whereas in reality +matters have gone so far, that we have to take care that we are not +ourselves the first to suffer: so that those who speak of vengeance are +actually, as it seems to me, suggesting to you a false conception of +the situation which you are discussing. {2} That there was a time when +the city could both keep her own possessions in safety, and punish +Philip, I am very well aware. For it was not long ago, but within my +own lifetime, that both these things were so. But I am convinced that +it is now quite enough for us as a first step to make sure of the +preservation of our allies. If this is safely secured, we shall then be +able to consider upon whom vengeance is to fall, and in what way. But +until the first step is properly conceived, I consider it idle to say +anything whatever about the last. + +{3} If ever the most anxious deliberation was required, it is required +in the present crisis; and my greatest difficulty is not to know what +is the proper advice to give you in regard to the situation: I am at a +loss rather to know, men of Athens, in what manner I should address you +in giving it. For I am convinced by what I have heard with my own ears +in this place that, for the most part, the objects of our policy have +slipped from our grasp, not because we do not understand what our duty +is, but because we will not do it; and I ask you to suffer me, if I +speak without reserve, and to consider only whether I speak truly, and +with this object in view--that the future may be better than the past. +For you see that it is because certain speakers make your gratification +the aim of their addresses, that things have gone on getting worse, +till at last the extremity has been reached. + +{4} I think it necessary, first, to remind you of a few of the events +which have taken place. You remember, men of Athens, that two or three +years ago[n] the news came that Philip was in Thrace, besieging Heraeon +Teichos. That was in the month of November. Amidst all the discussion +and commotion which took place in this Assembly, you passed a +resolution that forty warships should be launched, that men under +forty-five years of age should embark in person, and that we should pay +a war-tax of 60 talents. {5} That year came to an end, and there +followed July, August, September. In the latter month, after the +Mysteries,[n] and with reluctance, you dispatched Charidemus[n] with +ten ships, carrying no soldiers, and 5 talents of silver. For so soon +as news had come that Philip was sick or dead--both reports were +brought--you dismissed the armament, men of Athens, thinking that there +was no longer any occasion for the expedition. But it was the very +occasion; for had we then gone to the scene of action with the same +enthusiasm which marked our resolution to do so, Philip would not have +been preserved to trouble us to-day. {6} What was done then cannot be +altered. But now a critical moment in another campaign has arrived; and +it is in view of this, and to prevent you from falling into the same +error, that I have recalled these facts. How then shall we use this +opportunity, men of Athens? For unless you will go to the rescue 'with +might and main to the utmost of your power',[n] mark how in every +respect you will have served Philip's interest by your conduct of the +war. {7} At the outset the Olynthians possessed considerable strength, +and such was the position of affairs, that neither did Philip feel safe +against them, nor they against Philip. We made peace with them, and +they with us. It was as it were a stumbling-block in Philip's path, and +an annoyance to him, that a great city which had made a compact with us +should sit watching for any opportunity he might offer. We thought that +we ought to excite them to war with him by every means; and now this +much-talked-of event has come to pass--by what means, I need not +relate. {8} What course then is open to us, men of Athens, but to go to +their aid resolutely and eagerly? I can see none. Apart from the shame +in which we should be involved, if we let anything be lost through our +negligence, I can see, men of Athens, that the subsequent prospect +would be alarming in no small degree, when the attitude of the Thebans +towards us is what it is, when the funds of the Phocians are +exhausted,[n] and when there is no one to prevent Philip, so soon as he +has made himself master of all that at present occupies him, from +bringing his energies to bear upon the situation further south. {9} But +if any of you is putting off until then his determination to do his +duty, he must be desirous of seeing the terrors of war close at hand, +when he need only hear of them at a distance, and of seeking helpers +for himself, when now he can give help to others. For that this is what +it must come to, if we sacrifice the present opportunity, we must all, +I think, be fairly well aware. + +{10} 'But,' some one may say, 'we have all made up our minds that we +must go to their aid, and we will go. Only tell us how we are to do +it.' Now do not be surprised, men of Athens, if I give an answer which +will be astonishing to most of you. You must appoint a Legislative +Commission.[n] But when the commissioners meet, you must not enact a +single law--you have laws enough--you must cancel the laws which, in +view of present circumstances, are injurious to you. {11} I mean the +laws which deal with the Festival Fund--to put it quite plainly--and +some of those which deal with military service: for the former +distribute your funds as festival-money to those who remain at home; +while the latter give immunity to malingerers,[n] and thereby also take +the heart out of those who want to do their duty. When you have +cancelled these laws, and made the path safe for one who would give the +best advice, then you can look for some one to propose what you all +know to be expedient. {12} But until you have done this, you must not +expect to find a man who will be glad to advise you for the best, and +be ruined by you for his pains; for you will find no one, particularly +when the only result will be that some unjust punishment will be +inflicted on the proposer or mover of such measures, and that instead +of helping matters at all, he will only have made it even more +dangerous in future than it is at present to give you the best advice. +Aye, and you should require the repeal of these laws, men of Athens, +from the very persons who proposed them.[n] {13} It is not fair that +those who originally proposed them should enjoy the popularity which +was fraught with such mischief to the whole State, and that the +unpopularity, which would lead to an improvement in the condition of us +all, should be visited to his cost upon one who now advises you for the +best. Until you have thus prepared the way, men of Athens, you must +entertain no expectation whatever that any one will be influential +enough here to transgress these laws with impunity, or senseless enough +to fling himself to certain ruin. + +{14} At the same time, men of Athens, you must not fail to realize this +further point. No resolution is worth anything, without the willingness +to perform at least what you have resolved, and that heartily. For if +decrees by themselves could either compel you to do what you ought, or +could realize their several objects unaided, you would not be decreeing +many things and performing few--nay, none--of the things that you +decree, nor would Philip have insulted you so long. {15} If decrees +could have done it, he would have paid the penalty long ago. But it is +not so. Actions come later than speeches and voting in order of +procedure, but in effectiveness they are before either and stronger +than either. It is action that is still needed; all else you already +have. For you have those among you, men of Athens, who can tell you +what your duty is; and no one is quicker than you are to understand the +speaker's bidding. Aye, and you will be able to carry it out even now, +if you act aright. {16} What time, what opportunity, do you look for, +better than the present? When, if not now, will you do your duty? Has +not the man seized every position from us already? If he becomes master +of this country too, will not our fate be the most shameful in the +world? And the men whom we promised to be ready to save, if they went +to war--are they not now at war? {17} Is he not our enemy? Are not our +possessions in his hands? Is he not a barbarian? Is he not anything +that you choose to call him? In God's name, when we have let everything +go, when we have all but put everything into his hands, shall we then +inquire at large who is responsible for it all? That we shall never +admit our own responsibility, I am perfectly sure. Just so amid the +perils of war, none of those who have run away accuses himself; he +accuses his general, his neighbour--any one but himself; and yet, I +suppose, all who have run away have helped to cause the defeat. He who +now blames the rest might have stood fast; and if every one had done +so, the victory would have been theirs. {18} And so now, if a +particular speaker's advice is not the best, let another rise and make +a proposal, instead of blaming him; and if some other has better advice +to give, carry it out, and good fortune be with you. What? Is the +advice disagreeable? That is no longer the speaker's fault--unless, of +course, he leaves out the prayer that you expect of him. There is no +difficulty in the prayer, men of Athens; a man need only compress all +his desires into a short sentence. But to make his choice, when the +question for discussion is one of practical policy, is by no means +equally easy. _Then_ a man is bound to choose what is best, instead of +what is pleasant, if both are not possible at once. {19} But suppose +that some one is able, without touching the Festival Fund, to suggest +other sources of supply for military purposes--is not he the better +adviser? Certainly, men of Athens--if such a thing _is_ possible. But I +should be surprised if it ever has happened or ever should happen to +any one to find, after spending what he has upon wrong objects, that +what he has _not_ is wealth enough to enable him to effect right ones. +Such arguments as these find, I think, their great support in each +man's personal desire, and, for that reason, nothing is easier than to +deceive oneself; what a man desires, he actually fancies to be true. +{20} But the reality often follows no such principle. Consider the +matter, therefore, men of Athens, after this fashion; consider in what +way our objects can be realized under the circumstances, and in what +way you will be able to make the expedition and to receive your pay. +Surely it is not like sober or high-minded men to submit +light-heartedly to the reproach which must follow upon any shortcomings +in the operations of the war through want of funds--to seize your +weapons and march against Corinthians and Megareans,[n] and then to +allow Philip to enslave Hellenic cities, because you cannot find +rations for your troops. + +{21} These words do not spring from a wanton determination to court the +ill-will of any party among you. I am neither so foolish nor so +unfortunate as to desire unpopularity when I do not believe that I am +doing any good. But a loyal citizen ought, in my judgement, to care +more for the safety of his country's fortunes than for the popularity +of his utterances. Such, I have heard, and perhaps you have heard it +also, was the principle which the orators of our forefather's time +habitually followed in public life--those orators who are praised by +all who rise to address you, though they are far from imitating +them--the great Aristides, and Nicias, and my own namesake, and +Pericles. {22} But ever since these speakers have appeared who are +always asking you, 'what would you like?' 'what may I propose for you?' +'what can I do to please you?' the interests of the city have been +wantonly given away for the sake of the pleasure and gratification of +the moment; and we see the consequences--the fortunes of the speakers +prosper, while your own are in a shameful plight. {23} And yet +consider, men of Athens, the main characteristics of the achievements +of your forefathers' time, and those of your own. The description will +be brief and familiar to you; for you need not have recourse to the +history of others, when your own will furnish examples, by following +which you may achieve prosperity. {24} Our forefathers, who were not +courted and caressed by their politicians as you are by these persons +to-day, were leaders of the Hellenes, with their goodwill, for +forty-five years;[n] they brought up into the Acropolis more than +10,000 talents; the king[n] who then ruled Macedonia obeyed them as a +foreigner ought to obey a Hellenic people; serving in person, they set +up many glorious trophies for victories by land and sea; and alone of +all mankind they left behind them, as the crown of their exploits, a +fame that is beyond the reach of envy. {25} Such was the part they +played in the Hellenic world: and now contemplate the manner of men +they were in the city, both in public and in private life. As public +men, they gave us buildings and objects of such beauty and grandeur, in +the temples which they built and the offerings which they dedicated in +them, that no room has been left for any of those that come after to +surpass them: while in private life they were so modest, {26} so +intensely loyal to the spirit of the constitution, that if any one +actually knows what the house of Aristides, or Miltiades, or any other +of the glorious men of that day, is like, he can see that it is no more +imposing than those of their neighbours. For it was not to win a +fortune that they undertook affairs of State; but each thought it his +duty to add to the common weal. And thus, acting in a spirit of good +faith towards the Hellenes, of piety towards the gods, and of equality +towards one another, they naturally attained great prosperity. {27} +Such was the national life of those times, when those whom I have +mentioned were the foremost men in the State. How do matters stand +to-day, thanks to these worthy persons? Is there any likeness, any +resemblance, to old times? Thanks to them (and though I might say much, +I pass over all but this), when we had the field, as you see, +completely open to us--when the Spartans had been ruined,[n] and the +Thebans had their hands full,[n] and no other power could seriously +dispute the supremacy with us on the field of battle--when we could +have retained our own possessions in safety, and have stood as umpires +of the rights of others--we have been deprived of our own territory; +{28} we have spent more than 1,500 talents to no good purpose; the +allies whom we had gained in the war,[n] these persons have lost in +time of peace; and we have trained Philip to be the powerful enemy to +us that he is. Let any one rise and tell me how Philip has grown so +strong, if we ourselves are not the source of his strength. {29} 'But, +my good Sir,' you say, 'if we are badly off in these respects, we are +at any rate better off at home.' And where is the proof of this? Is it +in the whitewashing of the battlements, the mending of the roads, the +fountains, and all such trumperies? Look then at the men whose policy +gives you these things. Some of them who were poor have become rich; +others, who were unknown to fame, have risen to honour; some of them +have provided themselves with private houses more imposing than our +public buildings; and the lower the fortunes of the city have fallen, +the higher theirs have risen. + +{30} What is the cause of all these things? Why is it that all was well +then, and all is amiss to-day? It is because then the people itself +dared to act and to serve in the army; and so the people was master of +its politicians; all patronage was in its own hands; any separate +individual was content to receive from the people his share of honour +or office or other emolument. The reverse is now the case. {31} All +patronage is in the hands of the politicians, while you, the people, +emasculated, stripped of money and allies, have been reduced to the +position of servile supernumeraries, content if they give you +distributions of festival-money, or organize a procession at the +Boedromia;[n] and to crown all this bravery, you are expected also to +thank them for giving you what is your own. They pen you up closely in +the city; they entice you to these delights; they tame you till you +come to their hand. {32} But a high and generous spirit can never, I +believe, be acquired by men whose actions are mean and poor; for such +as a man's practice is, such must his spirit be. And in all solemnity I +should not be surprised if I suffered greater harm at your hands for +telling you the things that I have told you, than the men who have +brought them to pass. Even freedom of speech is not possible on all +subjects in this place, and I wonder that it has been granted me to-day. + +{33} If, even now, you will rid yourselves of these habits, if you will +resolve to join the forces and to act worthily of yourselves, +converting the superfluities which you enjoy at home into resources to +secure our advantage abroad, then it may be, men of Athens, it may be, +that you will gain some great and final good, and will be rid of these +your perquisites, which are like the diet that a physician gives a sick +man--diet which neither puts strength into him nor lets him die. For +these sums which you now share among yourselves are neither large +enough to give you any adequate assistance, nor small enough to let you +renounce them and go about your business; but these it is that[2] +increase the indolence of every individual among you. {34} 'Is it, +then, paid service that you suggest?'[n] some one will ask. I do, men +of Athens; and a system for immediate enforcement which will embrace +all alike; so that each, while receiving his share of the public funds +may supply whatever service the State requires of him.[3] If we can +remain at peace, then he will do better to stay at home, free from the +necessity of doing anything discreditable through poverty. But if a +situation like the present occurs, then supported by these same sums, +he will serve loyally in person, in defence of his country. If a man is +outside the military age, then let him take, in his place among the +rest, that which he now receives irregularly and without doing any +service, and let him act as an overseer and manager of business that +must be done. {35} In short, without adding or subtracting anything,[n] +beyond a small sum, and only removing the want of system, my plan +reduces the State to order, making your receipt of payment, your +service in the army or the courts, and your performance of any duty +which the age of each of you allows, and the occasion requires, all +part of one and the same system. But it has been no part of my proposal +that we should assign the due of those who act to those who do nothing; +that we should be idle ourselves and enjoy our leisure helplessly, +listening to tales of victories won by somebody's mercenaries;[n] for +this is what happens now. {36} Not that I blame one who is doing some +part of your duty for you; but I require you to do for yourselves the +things for which you honour others, and not to abandon the position +which your fathers won through many a glorious peril, and bequeathed to +you. + +I think I have told you all that, in my belief, your interest demands. +May you choose the course which will be for the good of the city and of +you all! + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] See notes to Speech on the Peace, § 5. Some date the Euboean +expedition and the sending of the cavalry one or two years earlier, and +the whole chronology is much disputed; but there are strong arguments +for the date (348) given in the text. + +[2] [Greek: esti tauta ta]. + +[3] [Greek: touto parechae]. + + + + +ON THE PEACE (OR. V) + + +[_Introduction_. After the fall of Olynthus in 348, the Athenians, on +the proposal of Eubulus, sent embassies to the Greek States in the +Peloponnese and elsewhere, to invite them to join in a coalition +against Philip. Aeschines went for this purpose to Megalopolis, and did +his best to counteract Philip's influence in Arcadia. When the +embassies proved unsuccessful, it became clear that peace must be made +on such terms as were possible. Philip himself was anxious for peace, +since he wished to cross the Pass of Thermopylae without such +opposition from Athens as he had encountered in 352, and to be free +from the attacks of hostile ships upon his ports. Even before the fall +of Olynthus, informal communications passed between himself and Athens +(see Speech on Embassy, §§ 12, 94, 315); and in consequence of these, +Philocrates proposed and the Assembly passed a decree, under which ten +ambassadors were appointed to go to Philip and invite him to send +plenipotentiaries to Athens to conclude a peace. Demosthenes (who had +strongly supported Philocrates) was among the ten, as well as Aeschines +and Philocrates himself. Delighted with Philip's reception of them, and +greatly attracted by his personality, the ambassadors returned with a +letter from him, promising in general terms to confer great benefits +upon Athens, if he were granted alliance as well as peace: in the +meantime he undertook not to interfere with the towns allied to Athens +in the Chersonese. Demosthenes proposed (in the Council, of which he +was a member in the year 347-346) the usual complimentary resolution in +honour of the ambassadors, and on his motion it was resolved to hold +two meetings of the Assembly, on the 18th and 19th of the month +Elaphebolion (i.e. probably just after the middle of April 346), when +Philip's envoys would have arrived, to discuss the terms of peace. The +envoys--Antipater, Parmenio, and Eurylochus--reached Athens shortly +after this; and before the first of the two meetings was held, the +Synod of the allies of Athens, now assembled in the city, agreed to +peace on such terms as the Athenian people should decide, but added a +proposal that it should be permitted to any Greek State to become a +party to the Peace within three months. They said nothing of alliance. +Of the two meetings of the Assembly, in view of the conflicting +statements of Demosthenes and Aeschines, only a probable account can be +given. At the first, Philocrates proposed that alliance as well as +peace should be made by Athens and her allies with Philip and his +allies, on the understanding that both parties should keep what they +_de facto_ possessed--a provision entailing the renunciation by Athens +of Amphipolis and Poteidaea; but that the Phocians and the people of +Halus should be excluded. Aeschines opposed this strongly; and both he +and Demosthenes claim to have supported the resolution of the allies, +which would have given the excluded peoples a chance of sharing the +advantage of the Peace. The feeling of the Assembly was with them, +although the Phocians had recently insulted the Athenians by declining +to give up to Proxenus (the Athenian admiral) the towns guarding the +approaches to Thermopylae, which they had themselves offered to place +in the hands of Athens. But Philocrates obtained the postponement of +the decision till the next day. On the next day, if not before, it +became plain that Philip's envoys would not consent to forgo the +exclusion of the Phocians and Halus; but in order that the Assembly +might be induced to pass the resolution, the clause expressly excluding +them was dropped, and peace and alliance were made between Athens and +Philip, each with their allies.[n] Even this was not secured before +Aeschines and his friends had deprecated rash attempts to imitate the +exploits of antiquity by continuing the war, and had explained that +Philip could not openly accept the Phocians as allies, but that when +the Peace was concluded, he would satisfy all the wishes of the +Athenians in every way; while Eubulus threatened the people with +immediate war, involving personal service and heavy taxation, unless +they accepted Philocrates' decree. A few days afterwards the Athenians +and the representatives of the allies took the oath to observe the +Peace: nothing was said about the Phocians and Halus: Cersobleptes' +representative was probably not permitted to swear with the rest. The +same ten ambassadors as before were instructed to receive Philip's +oath, and the oaths of his allies, to arrange for the ransom of +prisoners, and generally to treat with Philip in the interests of +Athens. Demosthenes urged his colleagues (and obtained an instruction +from the Council to this effect) to sail at once, in order that Philip, +who was now in Thrace, might not make conquests at the expense of +Athens before ratifying the Peace; but they delayed at Oreus, went by +land, instead of under the escort of Proxenus by sea, and only reached +Pella (the Macedonian capital) twenty-three days after leaving Athens. +Philip did not arrive for twenty-seven days more. By this time he had +taken Cersobleptes prisoner, and captured Serrhium, Doriscus, and other +Thracian towns, which were held by Athenian troops sent to assist +Cersobleptes. Demosthenes was now openly at variance with his +colleagues. He had no doubt realized the necessity of peace, but +probably regarded the exclusion of the Phocians as unwarrantable, and +thought that the policy of his colleagues must end in Philip's conquest +of all Greece. At Pella he occupied himself in negotiations for the +ransom of prisoners. After taking the oath, Philip kept the ambassadors +with him until he had made all preparations for his march southward, +and during this time he played with them and with the envoys from the +other Greek States who were present at the same time. His intention of +marching to Thermopylae was clear; but he seems to have led all alike +to suppose that he would fulfil their particular wishes when he had +crossed the Pass. The ambassadors accompanied him to Pherae, where the +oath was taken by the representatives of Philip's allies; the Phocians, +Halus, and Cersobleptes were excluded from the Peace. (Halus was taken +by Philip's army shortly afterwards.) The ambassadors of Athens then +returned homewards, bearing a letter from Philip, but did not arrive at +Athens before Philip had reached Thermopylae. On their return +Demosthenes denounced them before the Council, which refused them the +customary compliments, and (on Demosthenes' motion) determined to +propose to the people that Proxenus with his squadron should be ordered +to go to the aid of the Phocians and to prevent Philip from crossing +the Pass. When the Assembly met on the 16th of Scirophorion (shortly +before the middle of July), Aeschines rose first, and announced in +glowing terms the intention of Philip to turn round upon Thebes and to +re-establish Thespiae and Plataeae; and hinted at the restoration to +Athens of Euboea and Oropus. Then Philip's letter was read, containing +no promises, but excusing the delay of the ambassadors as due to his +own request. The Assembly was elated at the promises announced by +Aeschines; Demosthenes' attempt to contradict the announcement failed; +and on Philocrates' motion, it was resolved to extend the Peace and +alliance with Philip to posterity, and to declare that if the Phocians +refused to surrender the Temple of Delphi to the Amphictyons, Athens +would take steps against those responsible for the refusal. Demosthenes +refused to serve on the Embassy appointed to convey this resolution to +Philip: Aeschines was appointed, but was too ill to start. The +ambassadors set out, but within a few days returned with the news that +the Phocian army had surrendered to Philip (its leader, Phalaecus, and +his troops being allowed to depart to the Peloponnese). The surrender +had perhaps been accelerated by the news of the Athenian resolution. +The Assembly, in alarm lest Philip should march southwards, now +resolved to take measures of precaution and defence, and to send the +same ambassadors to Philip, to do what they could. They went, Aeschines +among them, and arrived in the midst of the festivities with which +Philip was celebrating the success of his plans. The invitation which +Philip sent to Athens--to send a force to join his own, and to assist +in settling the affairs of Phocis--was (on Demosthenes' advice) +declined by the Assembly; and soon afterwards another letter from +Philip expressed surprise at the unfriendly attitude taken up by the +Athenians towards him. Philip next summoned the Amphictyonic Council +(the legitimate guardians of the Delphian Temple, on whose behalf the +Thebans and Thessalians, aided by Philip, were now at war with the +Phocians): and the Council, in the absence of many of its members, +resolved to transfer the votes of the Phocians in the Council-meeting +to Philip, to break up the Phocian towns into villages, disarming their +inhabitants and taking away their horses, to require them to repay the +stolen treasure to the temple by instalments, and to pronounce a curse +upon those actually guilty of sacrilege, which would render them liable +to arrest anywhere. The destructive part of the sentence was rigorously +executed by the Thebans. In order to punish the former supporters of +the Phocians, the right to precedence in consulting the oracle was +transferred from Athens to Philip, by order of the Council, and the +Spartans were excluded from the temple: Orchomenus and Coroneia were +destroyed and their inhabitants enslaved; and Thebes became absolute +mistress of all Boeotia. The Pythian games (at Delphi) in September 346 +were celebrated under Philip's presidency; but both Sparta and Athens +refused to send the customary deputation to them, and Philip +accordingly sent envoys to Athens, along with representatives of the +Amphictyons, to demand recognition for himself as an Amphictyonic +power. Aeschines supported the demand, his argument being apparently to +the effect that Philip had been forced to act as he had done by the +Thebans and Thessalians; but the Assembly was very angry at the results +(as they seemed to be) of Aeschines' diplomacy and the calamities of +the Phocians; and it was only when Demosthenes, in the Speech on the +Peace, advised compliance, that they were persuaded to give way. To +have refused would have brought the united forces of the Amphictyonic +States against Athens: and these she could not have resisted. It was +therefore prudent to keep the Peace, though Demosthenes evidently +regarded it only as an armistice.] + + +{1} I see, men of Athens, that our present situation is one of great +perplexity and confusion, for not only have many of our interests been +sacrificed, so that it is of no use to make eloquent speeches about +them; but even as regards what still remains to us, there is no general +agreement in any single point as to what is expedient: some hold one +view, and some another. {2} Perplexing, moreover, and difficult as +deliberation naturally is, men of Athens, you have made it far more +difficult. For while all the rest of mankind are in the habit of +resorting to deliberation before the event, you do not do so until +afterwards: and consequently, during the whole time that falls within +my memory, however high a reputation for eloquence one who upbraids you +for all your errors may enjoy, the desired results and the objects of +your deliberation pass out of your grasp. {3} And yet I believe--and it +is because I have convinced myself of this that I have risen--that if +you resolve to abandon all clamour and contention, as becomes men who +are deliberating on behalf of their country upon so great an issue, I +shall be able to describe and recommend measures to you, by which the +situation may be improved, and what we have sacrificed, recovered. + +{4} Now although I know perfectly well, men of Athens, that to speak to +you about one's own earlier speeches, and about oneself, is a practice +which is always extremely repaying, I feel the vulgarity and +offensiveness of it so strongly, that I shrink from it even when I see +that it is necessary. I think, however, that you will form a better +judgement on the subject on which I am about to speak, if I remind you +of some few of the things which I have said on certain previous +occasions. {5} In the first place, men of Athens, when at the time of +the disturbances in Euboea[n] you were being urged to assist +Plutarchus, and to undertake an inglorious and costly campaign, I came +forward first and unsupported to oppose this action, and was almost +torn in pieces by those who for the sake of their own petty profits had +induced you to commit many grave errors: and when only a short time had +elapsed, along with the shame which you incurred and the treatment +which you received--treatment such as no people in the world ever +before experienced at the hands of those whom they went to +assist--there came the recognition by all of you of the baseness of +those who had urged you to this course, and of the excellence of my own +advice. {6} Again, men of Athens, I observed that Neoptolemus[n] the +actor, who was allowed freedom of movement everywhere on the ground of +his profession, and was doing the city the greatest mischief, was +managing and directing your communications with Philip in Philip's own +interest: and I came forward and informed you; and that, not to gratify +any private dislike or desire to misrepresent him, as subsequent events +have made plain. {7} And in this case I shall not, as before, throw the +blame on any speakers or defenders of Neoptolemus--indeed, he had no +defenders; it is yourselves that I blame. For had you been watching +rival tragedies in the theatre, instead of discussing the vital +interests of a whole State, you could not have listened with more +partiality towards him, or more prejudice against me. {8} And yet, I +believe, you have all now realized that though, according to his own +assertion, this visit to the enemy's country was paid in order that he +might get in the debts owing to him there, and return with funds to +perform his public service[n] here; though he was always repeating the +statement that it was monstrous to accuse those who were transferring +their means from Macedonia to Athens; yet, when the Peace had removed +all danger, he converted his real estate here into money, and took +himself off with it to Philip. {9} These then are two events which I +have foretold--events which, because their real character was exactly +and faithfully disclosed by me, are a testimony to the speeches which I +have delivered. A third, men of Athens, was the following; and when I +have given you this one instance, I will immediately proceed to the +subject on which I have come forward to speak. When we returned from +the Embassy, after receiving from Philip his oath to maintain the +Peace, {10} there were some[n] who promised that Thespiae and +Plataeae[n] would be repeopled, and said that if Philip became master +of the situation, he would save the Phocians, and would break up the +city of Thebes into villages; that Oropus would be yours, and that +Euboea would be restored to you in place of Amphipolis--with other +hopes and deceptions of the same kind, by which you were seduced into +sacrificing the Phocians in a manner that was contrary to your interest +and perhaps to your honour also. But as for me, you will find that +neither had I any share in this deception, nor yet did I hold my peace. +On the contrary, I warned you plainly, as, I know you remember, that +_I_ had no knowledge and no expectations of this kind, and that I +regarded such statements as nonsense. + +{11} All these plain instances of superior foresight on my part, men of +Athens, I shall not ascribe to any cleverness, any boasted merits, of +my own. I will not pretend that my foreknowledge and discernment are +due to any causes but such as I will name; and they are two. The first, +men of Athens, is that good fortune, which, I observe, is more powerful +than all the cleverness and wisdom on earth. {12} The second is the +fact that my judgement and reasoning are disinterested. No one can +point to any personal gain in connexion with my public acts and words: +and therefore I see what is to our interest undistorted, in the light +in which the actual facts reveal it. But when you throw money into one +scale of the balance, its weight carries everything with it; your +judgement is instantly dragged down with it, and one who has acted so +can no longer think soundly or healthily about anything. + +{13} Now there is one primary condition which must be observed by any +one who would furnish the city with allies or contributions or anything +else--he must do it without breaking the existing Peace: not because +the Peace is at all admirable or creditable to you, but because, +whatever its character, it would have been better, in the actual +circumstances, that it should never have been made, than that having +been made, it should now be broken through our action. For we have +sacrificed many advantages which we possessed when we made it, and +which would have rendered the war safer and easier for us then than it +is now. {14} The second condition, men of Athens, is that we shall not +draw on these self-styled Amphictyons,[n] who are now assembled, until +they have an irresistible or a plausible reason for making a united war +against us. My own belief is that if war broke out again between +ourselves and Philip about Amphipolis or any such claim of our own, in +which the Thessalians and Argives and Thebans had no interest, none of +these peoples would go to war against us, least of all--{15} and let no +one raise a clamour before he hears what I have to say--least of all +the Thebans; not because they are in any pleasant mood towards us; not +because they would not be glad to gratify Philip; but because they know +perfectly well, however stupid one may think them,[n] that if war +springs up between themselves and you, _they_ will get all the +hardships of war for their share, while another will sit by, waiting to +secure all the advantages; and they are not likely to sacrifice +themselves for such a prospect, unless the origin and the cause of the +war are such as concern all alike. {16} Nor again should we, in my +opinion, suffer at all, if we went to war with Thebes on account of +Oropus[n] or any other purely Athenian interest. For I believe that +while those who would assist ourselves or the Thebans would give their +aid if their ally's own country were invaded, they would not join +either in an offensive campaign. For this is the manner of +alliances--such, at least, as are worth considering; and the +relationship is naturally of this kind. {17} The goodwill of each +ally--whether it be towards ourselves or towards the Thebans--does not +imply the same interest in our conquest of others as in our existence. +Our continued existence they would all desire for their own sakes; but +none of them would wish that through conquest either of us should +become their own masters. What is it then that I regard with +apprehension? What is it that we must guard against? I fear lest a +common pretext should be supplied for the coming war, a common charge +against us, which will appeal to all alike. {18} For if the Argives[n] +and Messenians and Megalopolitans, and some of the other Peloponnesians +who are in sympathy with them, adopt a hostile attitude towards us +owing to our negotiations for peace with Sparta, and the belief that to +some extent we are giving our approval to the policy which the Spartans +have pursued: if the Thebans already (as we are told) detest us, and +are sure to become even more hostile, because we are harbouring those +whom they have exiled,[n] and losing no opportunity of displaying our +ill-will towards them; {19} and the Thessalians, because we are +offering a refuge to the Phocian fugitives;[n] and Philip, because we +are preventing his admission to Amphictyonic rank; my fear is that, +when each power has thus its separate reasons for resentment, they may +unite in the war against us, with the decrees of the Amphictyons for +their pretext: and so each may be drawn on farther than their several +interests would carry them, just as they were in dealing with the +Phocians. {20} For you doubtless realize that it was not through any +unity in their respective ambitions, that the Thebans and Philip and +the Thessalians all acted together just now. The Thebans, for instance, +could not prevent Philip from marching through and occupying the +passes, nor even from stepping in at the last moment to reap the credit +of all that they themselves had toiled for.[n] {21} For, as it is, +though the Thebans have gained something so far as the recovery of +their territory is concerned, their honour and reputation have suffered +shamefully, since it now appears as though they would have gained +nothing, unless Philip had crossed the Pass. This was not what they +intended. They only submitted to all this in their anxiety to obtain +Orchomenus and Coroneia, and their inability to do so otherwise. {22} +And as to Philip, some persons,[n] as you know, are bold enough to say +that it was not from any wish to do so that he handed over Orchomenus +and Coroneia to Thebes, but from compulsion; and although I must part +company with them there, I am sure that at least he did not want to do +this _more_ than he desired to occupy the passes, and to get the credit +of appearing to have determined the issue of the war, and to manage the +Pythian games by his own authority. These, I am sure, were the objects +which he coveted most greedily. {23} The Thessalians, again, did not +desire to see either the Thebans or Philip growing powerful; for in any +such contingency they thought that they themselves were menaced. But +they did desire to secure two privileges--admission to the Amphictyonic +meeting, and the recovery of rights at Delphi;[n] and in their +eagerness for these privileges, they joined Philip in the actions in +question. Thus you will find that each was led on, for the sake of +private ends, to take action which they in no way desired to take. But +this is the very thing against which we have now to be on our guard. + +{24} 'Are we then, for fear of this, to submit to Philip? and do _you_ +require this of us?' you ask me. Far from it. Our action must be such +as will be in no way unworthy of us, and at the same time will not lead +to war, but will prove to all our good sense and the justice of our +position: and, in answer to those who are bold enough to think that we +should refuse to submit to anything whatever,[n] [2] and who cannot +foresee the war that must follow, I wish to urge this consideration. We +are allowing the Thebans to hold Oropus; and if any one asked us to +state the reason honestly, we should say that it was to avoid war. {25} +Again, we have just ceded Amphipolis to Philip by the Treaty of +Peace;[n] we permit the Cardians[n] to occupy a position apart from the +other colonists in the Chersonese; we allow the Prince of Caria[n] to +seize the islands of Chios, Cos, and Rhodes, and the Byzantines to +drive our vessels to shore[n]--obviously because we believe that the +tranquillity afforded by peace brings more blessings than any collision +or contention over these grievances would bring: so that it would be a +foolish and an utterly perverse policy, when we have behaved in this +manner towards each of our adversaries individually, where our own most +essential interests were concerned, to go now to war with all of them +together, on account of this shadow at Delphi.[n] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] The term 'the allies of Athens' was ambiguous. It might be taken +(as it was taken by Philip and his envoys) to include only the +remaining members of the League (see p. 9), who were represented by the +Synod then sitting, and whose policy Athens could control. But it was +evidently possible to put a wider interpretation upon it, as the +Assembly probably did and as Demosthenes often does (e.g. Speech on +Embassy, § 278), and to understand it as including the Phocians and +others (such as Cersobleptes) with whom Athens had a treaty of +alliance. Much of the trouble which followed arose out of this +ambiguity. + +[2] [Greek: oud hotioun]. + + + + +THE SECOND PHILIPPIC (OR. VI) + + +[_Introduction_. After settling affairs at Delphi in 346, Philip +returned to Macedonia. During a considerable part of 345 and in the +early months of 344 he was occupied with campaigns against the +Illyrians, Dardani, and Triballi. But in the summer (probably) of 344 +he resumed his activities in Greece, garrisoning Pherae and other towns +of Thessaly with Macedonians, appropriating the revenues derived from +the Thessalian ports, and establishing oligarchical governments +throughout the country. At the same time negotiations were going on +between himself and Athens with regard to the Thracian strongholds +which he had captured in 346. He refused to give these up, though he +offered to cut a canal across the Chersonese, for the protection of the +Athenian allies there from the attacks of the Thracians. He also sent +money and mercenaries to help the Messenians and Argives, who, like the +Megalopolitans, were anxious to secure their independence of Sparta. +Athens, which was on friendly terms with Sparta, sent envoys to the +Peloponnesian states to counteract Philip's influence, and of these +Demosthenes was one. In return, Argos and Messene complained to Athens +of her interference with their attempt to secure freedom, and Philip +sent envoys to deprecate the charges made against him by the Athenian +ambassadors in the Peloponnese. He pointed out that he had not broken +any promises made to Athens at the time of the Peace, for he had made +none. (In fact, if Demosthenes' account is correct, he had confined +himself to vague expressions of goodwill; the promises had been made by +Aeschines.) The Second Philippic, spoken late in 344, proposes a reply +to Philip, the text of which has unfortunately not come down to us. The +Peloponnesian envoys appear also to have been in Athens at the time; +and Philip's supporters had put forward various explanations of his +conduct at the time when the Peace was made. To these also Demosthenes +replies.] + + +{1} In all our discussions, men of Athens, with regard to the acts of +violence by which Philip contravenes the terms of the Peace, I observe +that, although the speeches on our side are always manifestly just and +sympathetic,[n] and although those who denounce Philip are always +regarded as saying what ought to be said, yet practically nothing is +done which ought to be done, or which would make it worth while to +listen to such speeches. {2} On the contrary, the condition of public +affairs as a whole has already been brought to a point at which, the +more and the more evidently a speaker can convict Philip both of +transgressing the Peace which he made with you and of plotting against +all the Hellenes, the harder it is for him to advise you how you should +act. {3} The responsibility for this rests with us all, men of Athens. +It is by deeds and actions, not by words, that a policy of encroachment +must be arrested: and yet, in the first place, we who rise to address +you will not face the duty of proposing or advising such action, for +fear of unpopularity with you, though we dilate upon the character of +Philip's acts, upon their atrocity, and so forth; and, in the second +place, you who sit and listen, better qualified though you doubtless +are than Philip for using the language of justice and appreciating it +at the mouths of others, are nevertheless absolutely inert, when it is +a question of preventing him from executing the designs in which he is +now engaged. {4} It follows as the inevitable and perhaps reasonable +consequence, that you are each more successful in that to which your +time and your interest is given--he in actions, yourselves in words. +Now if it is still enough for you, that your words are more just than +his, your course is easy, and no labour is involved in it. {5} But if +we are to inquire how the evil of the present situation is to be +corrected; if its advance is not still to continue, unperceived, until +we are confronted by a power so great that we cannot even raise a hand +in our own defence; then we must alter our method of deliberation, and +all of us who speak, and all of you who listen, must resolve to prefer +the counsels which are best, and which can save us, to those which are +most easy and most attractive. + +{6} I am amazed, men of Athens, in the first place, that any one who +sees the present greatness of Philip and the wide mastery which he has +gained, can be free from alarm, or can imagine that this involves no +peril to Athens, or that it is not against you that all his +preparations are being made. And I would beg you, one and all, to +listen while I put before you in a few words the reasoning by which I +have come to entertain the opposite expectation, and the grounds upon +which I regard Philip as an enemy; that so, if my own foresight appears +to you the truer, you may believe me; but if that of the persons who +have no fears and have placed their trust in him, you may give your +adhesion to them. {7} Here then, men of Athens, is my argument. Of +what, in the first place, did Philip become master, when the Peace was +concluded? Of Thermopylae, and of the situation in Phocis. Next, what +use did he make of his power? He deliberately chose to act in the +interests of Thebes, not in those of Athens. And why? He scrutinized +every consideration in the light of his own ambition and of his desire +for universal conquest: he took no thought for peace, or tranquillity, +or justice; {8} and he saw quite correctly that our state and our +national character being what they are, there was no attraction that he +could offer, nothing that he could do, which would induce you to +sacrifice any of the other Hellenes to him for your own advantage. He +saw that you would take account of what was right; that you would +shrink from the infamy attaching to such a policy; that you would +exercise all the foresight which the situation demanded, and would +oppose any such attempt on his part, as surely as if you were at open +war with him. {9} But the Thebans, he believed--and the event proved +that he was right--in return for what they were getting would let him +do as he pleased in all that did not concern them; and far from acting +against him, or preventing him effectively, would even join him in his +campaign, if he bade them. His services to the Messenians and the +Argives at the present moment are due to his having formed the same +conception of them. And this, men of Athens, is the highest of all +tributes to yourselves: {10} for these actions of his amount to a +verdict upon you, that you alone of all peoples would never, for any +gain to yourselves, sacrifice the common rights of the Hellenes, nor +barter away your loyalty to them for any favour or benefit at his +hands. This conception of you he has naturally formed, just as he has +formed the opposite conception of the Argives and the Thebans, not only +from his observation of the present, but also from his consideration of +the past. {11} He discovers, I imagine, and is told, how when your +forefathers might have been rulers of the rest of the Hellenes, on +condition of submitting to the king themselves, they not only refused +to tolerate the suggestion, on the occasion when Alexander [n], the +ancestor of the present royal house, came as his herald to negotiate, +but chose rather to leave their country and to face any suffering which +they might have to endure; and how they followed up the refusal by +those deeds which all are so eager to tell, but to which no one has +ever been able to do justice; and for that reason, I shall myself +forbear to speak of them, and rightly; for the grandeur of their +achievements passes the power of language to describe. He knows, on the +other hand, how the forefathers of the Thebans and Argives, in the one +case, joined the barbarian army, in the other, offered no resistance to +it. {12} He knows, therefore, that both these peoples will welcome what +is to their own advantage, instead of considering the common interests +of the Hellenes: and so he thought that, if he chose you for his +allies, he would be choosing friends who would only serve a righteous +cause; while if he joined himself to them, he would win accomplices who +would further his own ambitions. That is why he chose them, as he +chooses them now, in preference to you. For he certainly does not see +them in possession of more ships than you; nor has he discovered some +inland empire, and withdrawn from the seaboard and the trading-ports; +nor does he forget the words and the promises, on the strength of which +he was granted the Peace. + +{13} But some one may tell us, with an air of complete knowledge of the +matter, that what then moved Philip to act thus was not his ambition +nor any of the motives which I impute to him, but his belief that the +demands of Thebes were more righteous than your own. I reply, that this +statement, above all others, is one which he cannot possibly make +_now_. How can one who is ordering Sparta to give up Messene put +forward his belief in the righteousness of the act, as his excuse for +handing over Orchomenus and Coroneia to Thebes? + +{14} 'But,' we are told (as the last remaining plea), 'he was forced to +make these concessions, and did so against his better judgement, +finding himself caught between the cavalry of Thessaly and the infantry +of Thebes.' Admirable! And so, we are informed, he intends henceforth +to be wary of the Thebans, and the tale goes round that he intends to +fortify Elateia [n]. 'Intends,' indeed! and I expect that it will +remain an intention! {15} But the help which he is giving to the +Messenians and Argives is no 'intention'; for he is actually sending +mercenaries to them and dispatching funds, and is himself expected to +arrive on the spot with a great force. Is he trying to annihilate the +Spartans, the existing enemies of Thebes, and at the same time +protecting the Phocians, whom he himself has ruined? Who will believe +such a tale? {16} For if Philip had really acted against his will and +under compulsion in the first instance--if he were now really intending +to renounce the Thebans--I cannot believe that he would be so +consistently opposing their enemies. On the contrary, his present +course plainly proves that his former action also was the result of +deliberate policy; and to any sound observation, it is plain that the +whole of his plans are being organized for one end--the destruction of +Athens. {17} Indeed, this has now come to be, in a sense, a matter of +necessity for him. Only consider. It is empire that he desires, and +you, as he believes, are his only possible rivals in this. He has been +acting wrongfully towards you for a long time, as he himself best +knows; for it is the occupation of your possessions that enables him to +hold all his other conquests securely, convinced, as he is, that if he +had let Amphipolis and Poteidaea go, he could not dwell in safety even +at home. {18} These two facts, then, he well knows--first, that his +designs are aimed at you, and secondly, that you are aware of it: and +as he conceives you to be men of sense, he considers that you hold him +in righteous detestation: and, in consequence, his energies are roused: +for he expects to suffer disaster, if you get your opportunity, unless +he can anticipate you by inflicting it upon you. {19} So he is wide +awake; he is on the alert; he is courting the help of others against +Athens--of the Thebans and those Peloponnesians who sympathize with +their wishes; thinking that their desire of gain will make them embrace +the immediate prospect, while their native stupidity will prevent them +from foreseeing any of the consequences. Yet there are examples, +plainly visible to minds which are even moderately +well-balanced[n]--examples which it fell to my lot to bring before +Messenian and Argive audiences, but which had better, perhaps, be laid +before yourselves as well. + +{20} 'Can you not imagine,' I said, 'men of Messenia, the impatience +with which the Olynthians used to listen to any speeches directed +against Philip in those times, when he was giving up Anthemus to +them--a city claimed as their own by all former Macedonian kings; when +he was expelling the Athenian colonists from Poteidaea and presenting +it to the Olynthians; when he had taken upon his own shoulders their +quarrel with Athens, and given them the enjoyment of that territory? +Did they expect, do you think, to suffer as they have done? if any one +had foretold it, would they have believed him? {21} And yet,' I +continued, 'after enjoying territory not their own for a very short +time, they are robbed of their own by him for a great while to come; +they are foully driven forth--not conquered merely, but betrayed by one +another and sold; for it is not safe for a free state to be on these +over-friendly terms with a tyrant. {22} What, again, of the +Thessalians? Do you imagine,' I asked, 'that when he was expelling +their tyrants, or again, when he was giving them Nicaea and Magnesia, +they expected to see the present Council of Ten[n] established in their +midst? Did they expect that the restorer of their Amphictyonic rights +would take their own revenues from them for himself? Impossible! And +yet these things came to pass, as all men may know. {23} You +yourselves,' I continued, 'at present behold only the gifts and the +promises of Philip. Pray, if you are really in your right minds, that +you may never see the accomplishment of his deceit and treachery. There +are, as you know well,' I said, 'all kinds of inventions designed for +the protection and security of cities--palisades, walls, trenches, and +every kind of defence. {24} All these are made with hands, and involve +expense as well. But there is one safeguard which all sensible men +possess by nature--a safeguard which is a valuable protection to all, +but above all to a democracy against a tyrant. And what is this? It is +distrust. Guard this possession and cleave to it; preserve this, and +you need never fear disaster. {25} What is it that you desire?' I said. +'Is it freedom? And do you not see that the very titles that Philip +bears are utterly alien to freedom? For a king, a tyrant, is always the +foe of freedom and the enemy of law. Will you not be on your guard,' I +said, 'lest in striving to be rid of war, you find yourselves +slaves?'[n] + +{26} My audience heard these words and received them with a tumult of +approbation, as well as many other speeches from the envoys, both when +I was present and again later. And yet, it seems, there is still no +better prospect of their keeping Philip's friendship and promises at a +distance. {27} In fact, the extraordinary thing is not that Messenians +and certain Peloponnesians should act against their own better +judgement, but that you who understand for yourselves, and who hear us, +your orators, telling you, that there is a design against you, and that +the toils are closing round you--that you, I say, by always refusing to +act at once, should be about to find (as I think you will) that you +have exposed yourselves unawares to the utmost peril: so much more does +the pleasure and ease of the moment weigh with you, than any advantage +to be reaped at some future date. + +{28} In regard to the practical measures which you must take, you will, +if you are wise, deliberate by yourselves[n] later. But I will at once +propose an answer which you may make to-day, and which it will be +consistent with your duty to have adopted. + +[_The answer is read._] + +Now the right course, men of Athens, was to have summoned before you +those who conveyed the promises[n] on the strength of which you were +induced to make the Peace. {29} For I could never have brought myself +to serve on the Embassy, nor, I am sure, would you have discontinued +the war, had you imagined that Philip, when he had obtained peace, +would act as he has acted. What we were then told was something very +different from this. And there are others, too, whom you should summon. +You ask whom I mean? After the Peace had been made, and I had returned +from the Second Embassy, which was sent to administer the oaths, I saw +how the city was being hoodwinked, and I spoke out repeatedly, +protesting and forbidding you to sacrifice Thermopylae and the +Phocians: {30} and the men to whom I refer were those who then said +that a water-drinker[n] like myself was naturally a fractious and +ill-tempered fellow; while Philip, if only he crossed the Pass, would +fulfil your fondest prayers; for he would fortify Thespiae and +Plataeae; he would put an end to the insolence of the Thebans; he would +cut a canal through the Chersonese at his own charges, and would repay +you for Amphipolis by the restoration of Euboea and Oropus. All this +was said from this very platform, and I am quite sure that you remember +it well, though your memory of those who injure you is but short. {31} +To crown your disgrace, with nothing but these hopes in view, you +resolved that this same Peace should hold good for your posterity also; +so completely had you fallen under their influence. But why do I speak +of all this now? why do I bid you summon these men? By Heaven, I will +tell the truth without reserve, and will hold nothing back. {32} My +object is not to give way to abuse, and so secure myself as good a +hearing[n] as others in this place, while giving those who have come +into collision with me from the first an opportunity for a further +claim[n] upon Philip's money. Nor do I wish to waste time in empty +words. {33} No; but I think that the plan which Philip is pursuing will +some day trouble you more than the present situation does; for his +design is moving towards fulfilment, and though I shrink from precise +conjecture, I fear its accomplishment may even now be only too close at +hand. And when the time comes when you can no longer refuse to attend +to what is passing; when you no longer hear from me or from some other +that it is all directed against you, but all alike see it for +yourselves and know it for a certainty; then, I think, you will be +angry and harsh enough. {34} And I am afraid that because your envoys +have withheld from you the guilty secret of the purposes which they +have been bribed to forward, those who are trying to remedy in some +degree the ruin of which these men have been the instruments will fall +victims to your wrath. For I observe that it is the general practice of +some persons to vent their anger, not upon the guilty, but upon those +who are most within their grasp. {35} While then the trouble is still +to come, still in process of growth, while we can still listen to one +another's words, I would remind each of you once more of what he well +knows--who it was that induced you to sacrifice the Phocians and +Thermopylae, the control of which gave Philip command of the road to +Attica and the Peloponnesus; who it was, I say, that converted your +debate about your rights and your interests abroad into a debate about +the safety of your own country, and about war on your own borders--a +war which will bring distress to each of us personally, when it is at +our doors, but which sprang into existence on that day. {36} Had you +not been misled by them, no trouble would have befallen this country. +For we cannot imagine that Philip would have won victories by sea which +would have enabled him to approach Attica with his fleet, or would have +marched by land past Thermopylae and the Phocians; but he would either +have been acting straightforwardly--keeping the Peace and remaining +quiet; or else he would have found himself instantly plunged into a war +no less severe than that which originally made him desirous of the +Peace. {37} What I have said is sufficient by way of a reminder to you. +Heaven grant that the time may not come when the truth of my words will +be tested with all severity: for I at least have no desire to see any +one meet with punishment, however much he may deserve his doom, if it +is accompanied by danger and calamity to us all. + + + + +ON THE EMBASSY (OR. XIX) + + +[_Introduction_. The principal events with which a reader of this +Speech ought to be acquainted have already been narrated (see +especially the Introductions to the last two Speeches). The influence +of the anti-Macedonian party grew gradually from the time of the Peace +onwards. In 346, within a month after the return of the Second Embassy, +the ambassadors presented their reports before the Logistae or Board of +Auditors (after a futile attempt on the part of Aeschines to avoid +making a report altogether); and Timarchus, supported by Demosthenes, +there announced his intention of taking proceedings against Aeschines +for misconduct on the Second Embassy. But Timarchus' own past history +was not above reproach: he was attacked by Aeschines for the +immoralities of his youth, which, it was stated, disqualified him from +acting as prosecutor, and though defended by Demosthenes, was condemned +and disfranchised (345 B.C.). But early in 343 Hypereides impeached +Philocrates for corruption as ambassador, and obtained his condemnation +to death--a penalty which he escaped by voluntary exile before the +conclusion of the trial; and, later in the same year, Demosthenes +brought the same charge against Aeschines. + +In the meantime (since the delivery of Demosthenes' Second Philippic) +Philip had been making fresh progress. The Arcadians and Argives (for +the Athenian envoys to the Peloponnese in 344 seem to have had little +success) were ready to open their gates to him. His supporters in Elis +massacred their opponents, and with them the remnant of the Phocians +who had crossed over to Elis with Phalaecus. At Megara, Perillus and +Ptoeodorus almost succeeded in bringing a force of Philip's mercenaries +into the town, but the attempt was defeated, by the aid of an Athenian +force under Phocion. In Euboea Philip's troops occupied Porthmus, where +the democratic party of Eretria had taken refuge, owing to an overthrow +of the constitution (brought about by Philip's intrigues) which +resulted in the establishment of Cleitarchus as tyrant. In the course +of the same year (343) occurred two significant trials. The first was +that of Antiphon, who had made an offer to Philip to burn the Athenian +dockyards at the Peiraeus. He was summarily arrested by order of +Demosthenes (probably in virtue of some administrative office): +Aeschines obtained his release, but he was re-arrested by order of the +Council of Areopagus[1] and condemned to death. The other trial was +held before the Amphictyonic Council on the motion of the people of +Delos, to decide whether the Athenians should continue to possess the +right of managing the Temple of Delos. The Assembly chose Aeschines as +counsel for Athens; but the Council of Areopagus, which had been given +power to revise the appointment, put Hypereides in his place. +Hypereides won the case. Early in 343 (or at all events before the +middle of the year), Philip sent Python of Byzantium to complain of the +language used about him by Athenian orators, and to offer to revise and +amend the terms of the Peace of Philocrates. In response, an embassy +was sent, headed by Hegesippus, a violent opponent of Macedonia, to +propose to Philip (1) that instead of the clause 'that each party shall +retain possession of what they have', a clause, 'that each party shall +possess what is their own,' should be substituted; and (2) that all +Greek States not included in the Treaty of Peace should be declared +free, and that Athens and Philip should assist them, if they were +attacked. These proposals, if sanctioned, would obviously have reopened +the question of Amphipolis, Pydna, and Poteidaea, as well as of Cardia +and the Thracian towns taken by Philip in 346. Hegesippus, moreover, +was personally objectionable, and the embassy was dismissed with little +courtesy by Philip, who even banished from Macedonia the Athenian poet +Xenocleides for acting as host to the envoys. The feeling against +Philip in Athens was evidently strong, when the prosecution of +Aeschines by Demosthenes took place. + +The trial was held before a jury (probably consisting of 1,501 +persons), presided over by the Board of Auditors. Demosthenes spoke +first, and Aeschines replied in a speech which is preserved. There is +no doubt, on a comparison of the two speeches, that each, before it was +published, received alterations and insertions, intended to meet the +adversary's points, or to give a better colour to passages which had +been unfavourably received. Probably not all the refutations 'in +advance' were such in reality. But there is no sufficient reason to +doubt that the speeches were delivered substantially as we have them. +Aeschines was acquitted by thirty votes. + +The question of the guilt or innocence of Aeschines will probably never +be finally settled. A great part of his conduct can be explained as a +sincere attempt to carry out the policy of Eubulus, or as the issue of +a genuine belief that it was best for Athens to make terms with Philip +and stand on his side. Even so the wisdom and the veracity of certain +speeches which he had made is open to grave question; but this is a +different thing from corruption. Moreover, to some of Demosthenes' +arguments he has a conclusive reply. It is more difficult to explain +his apparent change of opinion between the 18th and 19th of +Elaphebolion, 346 (if Demosthenes' report of the debates is to be +trusted); and some writers are disposed to date his corruption from the +intervening night. Nor is it easy to meet Demosthenes' argument that if +Aeschines had really been taken in by Philip, and believed the promises +which he announced, or if he had actually heard Philip make the +promises, he would have regarded Philip afterwards as a personal enemy, +and not as a friend. But even on these points Aeschines might reply +(though he could not reply so to the Athenian people or jury) that +though he did not trust the promises, he regarded the interest of +Athens as so closely bound up with the alliance with Philip, that he +considered it justifiable to deceive the people into making the +alliance, or at least to take the risk of the promises which he +announced proving untrue. In any case there is no convincing evidence +of corruption; and it may be taken as practically certain that he was +not bribed to perform particular services. It is less certain that he +was not influenced by generous presents from Philip in forming his +judgement of Philip's character and intentions. The standard of +Athenian public opinion in regard to the receipt of presents was not +that of the English Civil Service; and the ancient orators accuse one +another of corruption almost as a matter of course. (We have seen that +Demosthenes began the attack upon Eubulus' party in this form as early +as the Speech for the Rhodians; it appears in almost every subsequent +oration: and in their turn, his opponents make the same charge against +him.) It is, in any case, remarkable that at a time when the people was +plainly exasperated with the Peace and its authors, and very +ill-disposed towards Philip, a popular jury nevertheless acquitted +Aeschines; and the verdict is not sufficiently explained either by the +fact that Eubulus supported Aeschines or by the jurors' memory of +Demosthenes' own part in the earlier peace-negotiations, though this +must have weakened the force of his attack. That Demosthenes himself +believed Aeschines to have been bribed, and could himself see no other +explanation of his conduct, need not be doubted; and although the +speech contains some of those misrepresentations of fact and passages +of irrelevant personal abuse which deface some of his best work, it +also contains some of his finest pieces of oratory and narrative. + +The second part of the speech is more broken up into short sections and +less clearly arranged than the first; earlier arguments are repeated, +and a few passages may be due (at least in their present shape) to +revision after the trial: but the latter part even as it stands is +successful in leaving the points of greatest importance strongly +impressed upon the mind. + +The following analysis of the speech may enable the reader to find his +way through it without serious difficulty:-- + + +INTRODUCTION (§§ 1-28) + +(i) _Exordium_ (§§ 1, 2). Impartiality requested of the jury, in view +of Aeschines' attempt to escape by indirect means. + +(ii) _Points of the trial_ (§§ 3-8). An ambassador must (1) give true +reports; (2) give good advice; (3) obey his instructions; (4) not lose +time; (5) be incorruptible. + +(iii) _Preliminary exposition of the arguments_ (§§ 9-28). + + (1) The previous anti-Macedonian zeal of Aeschines suddenly collapsed + after the First Embassy. + + (2) In the deliberations on the Peace, Aeschines supported + Philocrates. + + (3) After the Second Embassy, Aeschines prevented Athens from guarding + Thermopylae and saving the Phocians, by false reports and + promises. + + (4) Such a change of policy is only explicable by corruption. + +PART 1 (§§ 29-178) + +The five points of Introduction (ii) are treated as three, or in three +groups. + +(i) The reports made by Aeschines on his return from the Second +Embassy, and his advice, especially as to the ruin of the Phocians (§§ +29-97). + + (1) The reports (a) to the Senate, (b) to the People, and their + reception (§§ 29-46). + + (2) Evidence that Aeschines conspired with Philip against the + Phocians, whose ruin is described (§§ 47-71). + + (3) Refutation of three anticipated objections, beginning at § 72, § + 78, § 80 respectively (§§ 72-82). + + (4) The danger to Athens from Aeschines' treachery (§§ 83-7). + + (5) Request to confine the trial strictly to relevant points + (§§ 88-97). + +(ii) The corruption of Aeschines by the bribes of Philip (§§ 98-149). + + (1) Arguments (beginning § 102, § 111, § 114, § 116) showing the + corruption of Aeschines (§§ 98-119). + + (2) Refutation of anticipated objections (beginning at § 120, § 134, + § 147) (§§ 120-49). + +(iii) Aeschines' loss of time, by which Philip profited, and +disobedience to his instructions (§§ 150-77). + + (1) Narrative of the Second Embassy (§§ 150-62). + + (2) Comparison of the two Embassies (§§ 163-5). + + (3) Comparison of Demosthenes' own conduct with that of the other + ambassadors (§§ 167-77). Recapitulation of the points established + (§§ 177, 178). + +PART II (§§ 179-343) + +(i) The injury done to Athens-- + + (a) by the loss of Thrace and the Hellespont; + + (b) generally, by false reports from ambassadors (§§ 179-86). + +(ii) Refutation of anticipated objections-- + + (a) 'It is not Philip's fault that he has not satisfied Athens' + (§ 187). + + (b) 'Demosthenes has no right to prosecute' (§§ 188-220): including a + digression (§§ 192-200) on Aeschines' character and incidents in + his life. + +(iii) Demosthenes' object in prosecuting, passing into reproof of the +laxity of Athens towards traitors (§§ 221-33). + +(iv) Warning against any attempt by Aeschines to confuse the dates and +incidents of the two Embassies (§§ 234-6.) + +(v) Criticism of Aeschines' brothers and his prosecution of Timarchus +(§§ 237-58). + +(vi) The increasing danger from traitors, and the traditional attitude +of Athens towards them (§§ 259-87). + +(vii) Attack upon Eubulus for defending Aeschines (§§ 288-99). + +(viii) Philip's policy and methods; proofs of Aeschines' complicity +repeated (§§ 300-31). + +(ix) Warnings to the jury against Aeschines' attempts to mislead them; +and conclusion (§§ 331-43).] + + +{1} How much interest this case has excited, men of Athens, and how +much canvassing has taken place, must, I feel sure, have become fairly +evident to you all, after the persistent overtures just now made to +you, while you were drawing your lots.[n] Yet I will make the request +of you all--a request which ought to be granted even when unasked--that +you will not allow the favour or the person of any man to weigh more +with you than justice and the oath which each of you swore before he +entered the court. Remember that what I ask is for your own welfare and +for that of the whole State; while the entreaties and the eager +interest of the supporters of the accused have for their aim the +selfish advantage of individuals: and it is not to confirm criminals in +the possession of such advantages that the laws have called you +together, but to prevent their attainment of them. {2} Now I observe +that while all who enter upon public life in an honest spirit profess +themselves under a perpetual responsibility, even when they have passed +their formal examination, the defendant Aeschines does the very +reverse. For before entering your presence to give an account of his +actions, he has put out of the way one of those[n] who appeared against +him at his examination; and others he pursues with threats, thus +introducing into public life a practice which is of all the most +atrocious and most contrary to your interests. For if one who has +transacted and managed any public business is to render himself secure +against accusation by spreading terror round him, rather than by the +justice of his case, your supremacy[n] must pass entirely out of your +hands. + +{3} I have every confidence and belief that I shall prove the defendant +guilty of many atrocious crimes, for which he deserves the extreme +penalty of the law. But I will tell you frankly of the fear which +troubles me in spite of this confidence. It seems to me, men of Athens, +that the issue of every trial before you is determined as much by the +occasion as by the facts; and I am afraid that the length of time which +has elapsed since the Embassy may have caused you to forget the crimes +of Aeschines, or to be too familiar with them. {4} I will tell you +therefore how, in spite of this, you may yet, as I believe, arrive at a +just decision and give a true verdict to-day. You have, gentlemen of +the jury, to inquire and to consider what are the points on which it is +proper to demand an account from an ambassador. He is responsible first +for his report; secondly, for what he has persuaded you to do; thirdly, +for his execution of your instructions; next, for dates; and, besides +all these things, for the integrity or venality of his conduct +throughout. {5} And why is he responsible in these respects? Because on +his report must depend your discussion of the situation: if his report +is true, your decision is a right one: if otherwise, it is the reverse. +Again, you regard the counsels of ambassadors as especially +trustworthy. You listen to them in the belief that they have personal +knowledge of the matter with which they were sent to deal. Never, +therefore, ought an ambassador to be convicted of having given you any +worthless or pernicious advice. {6} Again, it is obviously proper that +he should have carried out your instructions to him with regard to both +speech and action, and your express resolutions as to his conduct. Very +good. But why is he responsible for dates? Because, men of Athens, it +often happens that the opportunity upon which much that is of great +importance depends lasts but for a moment; and if this opportunity is +deliberately and treacherously surrendered to the enemy, no subsequent +steps can possibly recover it. {7} But as to the integrity or +corruption of an ambassador, you would all, I am sure, admit that to +make money out of proceedings that injure the city is an atrocious +thing and deserves your heavy indignation. Yet the implied distinction +was not recognized by the framer of our law. He absolutely forbade +_all_ taking of presents, thinking, I believe, that a man who has once +received presents and been corrupted with money no longer remains even +a safe judge of what is to the interest of the city. {8} If then I can +convict the defendant Aeschines by conclusive proofs of having made a +report that was utterly untrue, and prevented the people from hearing +the truth from me; if I prove that he gave advice that was entirely +contrary to your interests; that on his mission he fulfilled none of +your instructions to him; that he wasted time, during which +opportunities for accomplishing much that was of great importance were +sacrificed and lost to the city; and that he received presents in +payment for all these services, in company with Philocrates; then +condemn him, and exact the penalty which his crimes deserve. If I fail +to prove these points, or fail to prove them all, then regard me with +contempt, and let the defendant go. + +{9} I have still to charge him, men of Athens, with many atrocious acts +in addition to these--acts which would naturally call forth the +execration of every one among you. But I desire, before all else that I +am about to say, to remind you (though most of you, I know, remember it +well) of the position which Aeschines originally took up in public +life, and the speeches which he thought it right to address to the +people against Philip; for I would have you realize that his own +actions, his own speeches at the beginning of his career, are the +strongest evidence of his corruption. {10} According to his own public +declaration at that time, he was the first Athenian to perceive that +Philip had designs against the Hellenes and was corrupting certain +leading men in Arcadia. With Ischander, the son of Neoptolemus, to +second him in his performance, he came before the Council and he came +before the people, to speak on the subject: he persuaded you to send +envoys in all directions to bring together a congress at Athens to +discuss the question of war with Philip: {11} then, on his return from +Arcadia, he reported to you those noble and lengthy speeches which, he +said, he had delivered on your behalf before the Ten Thousand[n] at +Megalopolis, in reply to Philip's spokesman, Hieronymus; and he +described at length the criminal wrong that was done, not only to their +own several countries, but to all Hellas, by men who took bribes and +received money from Philip. {12} Such was his policy at that time, and +such the sample which he displayed of his sentiments. Then you were +induced by Aristodemus, Neoptolemus, Ctesiphon, and the rest of those +who brought reports from Macedonia in which there was not an honest +word, to send ambassadors to Philip and to negotiate for peace. +Aeschines himself is appointed one of them, in the belief, not that he +was one of those who would sell your interests, or had placed +confidence in Philip, but rather one who would keep an eye on the rest. +The speeches which he had already delivered, and his antipathy to +Philip, naturally led you to take this view of him. {13} Well, after +this he came to me[n] and tried to make an agreement by which we should +act in concert on the Embassy, and urged strongly that we should both +keep an eye upon that abominable and shameless man Philocrates; and +until we returned to Athens from the First Embassy, I at least, men of +Athens, had no idea that he had been corrupted and had sold himself. +For (not to mention the other speeches which, as I have told you, he +had made on former occasions) at the first of the assemblies in which +you debated about the Peace, he rose and delivered an exordium which I +think I can repeat to you word for word as he uttered it at the +meeting. {14} 'If Philocrates,' he said, 'had spent a very long time in +studying how he could best oppose the Peace, I do not think he could +have found a better device than a motion of this kind. The Peace which +he proposes is one which I can never recommend the city to make, so +long as a single Athenian remains alive. Peace, however, we ought, I +think, to make.' {15} And he made a brief and reasonable speech in the +same tone. But though he had spoken thus at the first meeting, in the +hearing of you all, yet at the second meeting, when the Peace was to be +ratified; when I was upholding the resolution of the allies and working +for a Peace on just and equitable terms; when you in your desire for +such a Peace would not even listen to the voice of the despicable +Philocrates; then, I say, Aeschines rose and spoke in support of him, +using language for which he deserves, God knows, to die many deaths, +{16} saying that you must not remember your forefathers, nor tolerate +speakers who recalled your trophies and your victories by sea; and that +he would frame and propose a law, that you should assist no Hellene who +had not previously assisted you. These words he had the callous +shamelessness to utter in the very presence and hearing of the +ambassadors[n] whom you had summoned from the Hellenic states, in +pursuance of the advice which he himself had given you, before he had +sold himself. + +{17} You elected him again, men of Athens, to receive the oaths. How he +frittered away the time, how cruelly he injured all his country's +interests, and what violent mutual enmity arose between myself and him +in consequence of his conduct and of my desire to prevent it, you shall +hear presently. But when we returned from this Embassy which was sent +to receive the oaths, and the report of which is now under examination; +when we had secured nothing, either small or great, of all that had +been promised and expected when you were making the Peace, but had been +totally deceived; when they had again acted without regard to their +instructions,[n] and had conducted their mission in direct defiance of +your decree; we came before the Council: and there are many who have +personal knowledge of what I am about to tell you, for the +Council-Chamber was crowded with spectators. {18} Well, I came forward +and reported to the Council the whole truth: I denounced these men: I +recounted the whole story, beginning with those first hopes, aroused in +you by the report of Ctesiphon and Aristodemus, and going on to the +speeches which Aeschines delivered during the time of the +Peace-negotiations, and the position into which they had brought the +city: as regards all that remained to you--I meant the Phocians and +Thermopylae--I counselled you not to abandon these, not to be victims +once more of the same mistake, not to let yourselves be reduced to +extremities through depending upon a succession of hopes and promises: +and I carried the Council with me. {19} But when the day of the +Assembly came, and it was our duty to address you, the defendant +Aeschines came forward before any of his colleagues--and I entreat you, +in God's name, to follow me, and try to recollect whether what I tell +you is true; for now we have come to the very thing which so cruelly +injured and ruined your whole cause. He made not the remotest attempt +to give any report of the results of the Embassy--if indeed he +questioned the truth of my allegations at all--but instead of this, he +made statements of such a character, promising you benefits so numerous +and so magnificent, that he completely carried you away with him. {20} +For he said that,[n] before his return, he had persuaded Philip upon +all the points in which the interests of the city were involved, in +regard both to the Amphictyonic dispute and to all other matters: and +he described to you a long speech which he professed to have addressed +to Philip against the Thebans, and of which he reported to you the +substance, calculating that, as the result of his own diplomacy, you +would within two or three days, without stirring from home or taking +the field or suffering any inconvenience, hear that Thebes was being +blockaded, alone and isolated from the rest of Boeotia, {21} that +Thespiae and Plataeae were being repeopled, and that the debt due to +the god[n] was being exacted not from the Phocians, but from the +Thebans who had planned the seizure of the temple. For he said that he +gave Philip to understand that those who planned the act were no less +guilty of impiety than those whose hands executed the plan; and that on +this account the Thebans had set a price upon his head. {22} Moreover, +he said that he heard some of the Euboeans, who had been thrown into a +state of panic and confusion by the friendly relations established +between Athens and Philip, saying to the ambassadors, 'You have not +succeeded, gentlemen, in concealing from us the conditions on which you +have made your Peace with Philip; nor are we unaware that while you +have given him Amphipolis, he has undertaken to hand over Euboea to +you.' There was, indeed, another matter which he had arranged as well, +but he did not wish to mention this at present, since even as it was +some of his colleagues were jealous of him. {23} This was an +enigmatical and indirect allusion to Oropus. These utterances naturally +raised him high in your estimation; he seemed to be an admirable +speaker and a marvellous man; and he stepped down with a very lofty +air. Then I rose and denied all knowledge of these things, and at the +same time attempted to repeat some part of my report to the Council. +But they now took their stand by me, one on this side, one on that--the +defendant and Philocrates; they shouted, they interrupted me, and +finally they jeered, while you laughed. {24} You would not hear, and +you did not wish to believe anything but what Aeschines had reported. +Heaven knows, your feelings were natural enough; for who, that expected +all these marvellous benefits, would have tolerated a speaker who said +that the expectation would not be realized, or denounced the +proceedings of those who made the promise? All else, of course, was of +secondary importance at the time, in comparison with the expectations +and the hopes placed before you; any contradiction appeared to be +nothing but sheer obstruction and malignity, while the proceedings +described seemed to be of incredible importance and advantage to the +city. + +{25} Now with what object have I recalled these occurrences to you +before everything else, and described these speeches of his? My first +and chief object, men of Athens, is that none of you, when he hears me +speak of any of the things that were done and is struck by their +unparalleled atrocity, may ask in surprise why I did not tell you at +once and inform you of the facts; {26} but may remember the promises +which these men made at each critical moment, and by which they +entirely prevented every one else from obtaining a hearing; and that +splendid pronouncement by Aeschines; and that you may realize that in +addition to all his other crimes, you have suffered this further wrong +at his hands--that you were prevented from learning the truth +instantly, when you ought to have learned it, because you were deluded +by hopes, deceits and promises. {27} That is my first and, as I have +said, my chief object in recalling all these occurrences. But there is +a second which is of no less importance than the first, and what is +this? It is that you may remember the policy which he adopted in his +public life, when he was still uncorrupted--his guarded and mistrustful +attitude towards Philip; and may consider the sudden growth of +confidence and friendship which followed; {28} and then, if all that he +announced to you has been realized, if the results achieved are +satisfactory, you may believe that all has been done out of an honest +interest in the welfare of Athens; but if, on the other hand, the issue +has been exactly the opposite of that which he predicted: if his policy +has involved the city in great disgrace and in grave perils, you may +then be sure that his conversion was due to his own base covetousness +and to his having sold the truth for money. + +{29} And now, since I have been led on to this subject, I desire to +describe to you, before everything else, the way in which they took the +Phocian question entirely out of your hands. And let none of you, +gentlemen of the jury, when he looks at the magnitude of the +transactions, imagine that the crimes with which the defendant is +charged are on a grander scale than one of his reputation could +compass. You have rather to observe that any one whom you would have +placed in such a position as this--a position in which, as each +critical moment arrived, the decision would be in his hands--could have +brought about disasters equal to those for which Aeschines is +responsible, if, like Aeschines, he had wished to sell his services, +and to cheat and deceive you. {30} For however contemptible[n] may be +the men whom you frequently employ in the public service, it does not +follow that the part which the world expects this city to play is a +contemptible one. Far from it! And further, though it was Philip, of +course, who destroyed the Phocian people, it was Aeschines and his +party who seconded Philip's efforts. And so what you have to observe +and consider is whether, so far as the preservation of the Phocians +came within the scope of their mission, these men deliberately +destroyed and ruined that whole cause. You have not to suppose that +Aeschines ruined the Phocians by himself. How could he have done so? + +{31} (_To the clerk._) Now give me the draft-resolution which the +Council passed in view of my report, and the deposition of the clerk +who wrote it. (_To the jury._) For I would have you know that I am not +repudiating to-day transactions about which I held my peace at the +time, but that I denounced them at once, with full prevision of what +must follow; and that the Council, which was not prevented from hearing +the truth from me, neither voted thanks to the ambassadors, nor thought +fit to invite them to the Town Hall.[n] From the foundation of the city +to this day, no body of ambassadors is recorded to have been treated +so; nor even Timagoras,[n] whom the people condemned to death. {32} But +these men have been so treated. (_To the clerk._) First read them the +deposition, and then the resolution. + +[_The deposition and resolution are read._] + +Here is no expression of thanks, no invitation of the ambassadors to +the Town Hall by the Council. If Aeschines asserts that there is any, +let him point it out and produce it, and I give way to him. But there +is none. Now on the assumption that we all fulfilled our mission in the +same way, the Council had good reason not to thank any of us, for the +transactions of all alike were in that case atrocious. But if some of +us acted uprightly, while others did the reverse, it must, it seems, +have been owing to the knavery of their colleagues that the virtuous +were forced to take their share of this dishonour. {33} How then can +you all ascertain without any difficulty who is the rogue? Recall to +your minds who it is that has denounced the transaction from the +outset. For it is plain that it must have been the guilty person who +was well content to be silent, to stave off the day of reckoning for +the moment, and to take care for the future not to present himself to +give an account of his actions; while it must have been he whose +conscience was clear to whom there occurred the thought of the danger, +lest through keeping silence he might be regarded as a partner in such +atrocious villany. Now it is I that have denounced these men from the +outset, while none of them has accused me. {34} Such then was the +resolution of the Council. The meeting of the Assembly took place when +Philip was already at Thermopylae: for this was the first of all their +crimes, that they placed Philip in command of the situation, so that, +when you ought first to have heard the facts, then to have deliberated, +and afterwards to have taken such measures as you had resolved upon, +you in fact heard nothing until he was on the spot, and it was no +longer easy to say what steps you ought to take. {35} In addition to +this, no one read the resolution of the Council to the people, and the +people never heard it; but Aeschines rose and delivered the harangue +which I just now described to you, recounting the numerous and +important benefits which he said he had, before his return, persuaded +Philip to grant, and on account of which the Thebans had set a price +upon his head. In consequence of this, appalled though you were at +first at the proximity of Philip, and angry with these men for not +having warned you of it, you became as mild as possible, having now +formed the expectation that all your wishes would be realized; and you +would not hear a word from me or from any one else. {36} After this was +read the letter from Philip, which Aeschines had written[n] when we had +left him behind, a letter which was nothing less than a direct and +express defence in writing of the misconduct of the ambassadors. For in +it is stated that Philip himself prevented them, when they were anxious +to go to the several cities and receive the oaths, and that he retained +them in order that they might help him to effect a reconciliation +between the peoples of Halus and Pharsalus. He takes upon his own +shoulders the whole of their misconduct, and makes it his own. {37} But +as to the Phocians and Thespiae, and the promises contained in +Aeschines' report to you--why, there is not the slightest mention of +them! And it was no mere accident that the proceedings took this form. +For the failure of the ambassadors to carry out or give effect to any +of the instructions imposed upon them by your resolution--the failure +for which you were bound to punish them--Philip makes himself +responsible in their stead, and says that the fault was his; for you +were not likely, of course, to be able to punish _him_. {38} But the +points in regard to which Philip wished to deceive you and to steal a +march upon the city were made the subject of the defendant's report, in +order that you might be able to find no ground of accusation or +reproach against Philip, since these points were not mentioned either +in his letter or in any other part of the communications received from +him. But (_to the clerk_) read the jury the actual letter--written by +Aeschines, sent by Philip; and (_to the jury_) do you observe that it +is such as I have described. (_To the clerk._) Read on. + +[_The letter is read._] + +{39} You hear the letter, men of Athens; you hear how noble and +generous it is. But about the Phocians or the Thebans or the other +subjects of the defendant's report--not a syllable. Indeed, in this +letter there is not an honest word, as you will very shortly see for +yourselves. He says that he retained the ambassadors to help him +reconcile the people of Halus: and such is the reconciliation that they +have obtained, that they are exiles from their country, and their city +is laid waste. And as to the prisoners, though he professed to be +wondering what he could do to gratify you, he says that the idea of +procuring their release had not occurred to any one. {40} But evidence +has, as you know, been laid before you many times in the Assembly, to +the effect that I myself went to ransom them, taking a talent[n] for +the purpose; and it shall now be laid before you once more. It follows, +therefore, that it was to deprive me of my laudable ambition[n] that +Aeschines persuaded Philip to insert this statement. But the strongest +point of all is this. In his former letter--the letter which we brought +back--he wrote, 'I should have mentioned expressly the great benefits +that I propose to confer upon you, if I felt sure that you would grant +me the alliance as well.' And yet when the alliance has been granted, +he says that he does not know what he can do to gratify you. He does +not even know what he had himself promised! Why, he must obviously have +known that, unless he was trying to cheat you! To prove that he did +write thus and in these terms, (_to the clerk_) take his former letter, +and read the very passage, beginning at this point. Read on. + +[_An extract from the letter is read._] + +{41} Thus, before he obtained the Peace, he undertook to set down in +writing the great benefits he would confer on the city, in the event of +an alliance also being granted him. But as soon as he had obtained both +his wishes, he says that he does not know what he can do to gratify +you, but that if you will inform him, he will do anything that will not +involve any disgrace or stigma upon himself. Such are the excuses in +which he takes refuge, to secure his retreat, in case you should +actually make any suggestion or should be induced to ask any favour. + +{42} It would have been possible to expose this whole proceeding at the +time--and a great deal more--without delay; to inform you of the facts, +and to prevent you from sacrificing your cause, had not the thought of +Thespiae and Plataeae, and the idea that the Thebans were on the very +point of paying the penalty, robbed you of the truth. While, however, +there was good reason for mentioning these prospects, if the city was +to hear of them and then be cheated, it would have been better, if +their realization was actually intended, that nothing should have been +said about them. For if matters had already reached a stage at which +the Thebans would be no better off, even if they perceived the design +against them, why was the design not fulfilled? But if its fulfilment +was prevented because they perceived it in time, who was it that +betrayed the secret? {43} Must it not have been Aeschines? Its +fulfilment, however, was not in fact intended, nor did the defendant +either desire or expect it; so that he may be relieved of the charge of +betraying the secret. What was intended was that you should be +hoodwinked by these statements, and should refuse to hear the truth +from me; that you should not stir from home, and that such a decree +should carry the day as would involve the destruction of the Phocians. +Hence this prodigality in promises, and their proclamation in his +speech to the people. + +{44} When I heard Aeschines making all these magnificent promises, I +knew perfectly well that he was lying; and I will tell you how I knew. +I knew it first, because when Philip was about to take the oath in +ratification of the Peace, the Phocians were openly excluded from it. +This was a point which it would have been natural to pass over in +silence, if the Phocians were really to be saved. And secondly, I knew +it because the promises were not made by Philip's ambassadors or in +Philip's letter, but by the defendant. {45} Accordingly, drawing my +conclusions from these facts, I rose and came forward and attempted to +contradict him; but as you were not willing to hear me, I held my +peace, with no more than these words of solemn protest, which I entreat +you, in Heaven's name, to remember. 'I have no knowledge of these +promises,' I said, 'and no share in making them; and,' I added, 'I do +not believe they will be fulfilled.' This last expression roused your +temper, and I proceeded, 'Take care, men of Athens, that if any of +these things comes to pass, you thank these gentlemen for it, and give +your honours and crowns to them, and not to me. If, however, anything +of an opposite character occurs, you must equally vent your anger on +them: I decline all responsibility.' {46} 'No, no!' interrupted +Aeschines, 'do not decline responsibility now! Take care rather that +you do not claim credit, when the time comes.' 'Indeed, it would be an +injustice if I did so,' I replied. Then Philocrates arose with a most +insolent air, and said, 'It is no wonder, men of Athens, that I and +Demosthenes should disagree; for he drinks water, I drink wine.' And +you laughed. + +{47} Now consider the decree which Philocrates proposed and handed +in.[n] An excellent resolution it sounds, as you hear it now. But when +you take into account the occasion on which it was proposed, and the +promises which Aeschines was then making, you will see that their +action amounts to nothing less than a surrender of the Phocians to +Philip and the Thebans, and that, practically, with their hands tied +behind their backs. (_To the clerk._) Read the decree. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{48} There, men of Athens, is the decree, overflowing with expressions +of gratitude and auspicious language. 'The Peace,' it says, 'which is +granted to Philip shall be granted on the same terms to his +descendants, and also the alliance.' Again, we are 'to thank Philip for +his promised acts of justice'. Yet Philip made no promises: so far was +he from making promises that he said he did not know what he could do +to gratify you. {49} It was Aeschines who spoke in his name, and made +the promises. Then Philocrates took advantage of the enthusiasm which +Aeschines' words aroused in you, to insert in the decree the clause, +'and unless the Phocians act as they are bound, and surrender the +temple to the Amphictyons, the Athenian people will render their +assistance against those who still stand in the way of such surrender.' +{50} Thus, men of Athens, at a time when you were still at home and had +not taken the field, when the Spartans had foreseen the deception and +retired, and when none of the Amphictyons were on the spot but the +Thessalians and Thebans, he proposes in the most innocent-sounding +language in the world that they shall deliver up the temple to these. +For he proposes that they shall deliver it up to the Amphictyons. But +what Amphictyons? for there were none there but the Thessalians and +Thebans. He does not propose that the Amphictyons should be convoked, +or that they should wait until the Amphictyons met or that Proxenus +should render assistance in Phocis, or that the Athenians should take +the field, or anything of the sort. {51} Philip did indeed actually +send two letters to summon you.[n] But he did not intend you really to +march from Athens. Not a bit of it! For he would not have waited to +summon you until he had seen the time go by in which you could have set +out; nor would he have tried to prevent me, when I wished to set sail +and return hither; nor would he have instructed Aeschines to speak to +you in the terms which would be least likely to cause you to march. No! +he intended that you should fancy that he was about to fulfil your +desires, and in that belief should abstain from any resolution adverse +to him; and that the Phocians should, in consequence, make no defence +or resistance, in reliance upon any hopes inspired by you, but should +put themselves into his hands in utter despair. (_To the clerk._) Read +to the jury the letters of Philip. + +[_The letters are read._] + +{52} Now these letters summon you, and that, forsooth, instantly; and +it was surely for Aeschines and his party, if the proceeding was in any +way genuine, to support the summons, to urge you to march, and to +propose that Proxenus, whom they knew to be in those parts, should +render assistance at once. Yet it is plain that their action was of +precisely the opposite character; and naturally so. For they did not +attend to the terms of the letter, but to the intention with which +Philip wrote it. {53} With this intention they co-operated, and to this +they strove to give effect. As soon as the Phocians had learned the +news of your proceedings in the Assembly, and had received this decree +of Philocrates, and heard the defendant's announcement and his +promises, everything combined to effect their doom. Consider the +circumstances. There were some of them who had the wisdom to distrust +Philip. These were induced to trust him. And why? Because they believed +that even if Philip were trying to deceive them ten times over, the +ambassadors of Athens, at least, would never dare to deceive their own +countrymen. This report which Aeschines had made to you must therefore +be true: it was the Thebans, and not themselves, whose hour had come. +{54} There were others who advocated resistance at all hazards; but +these too were weakened in their resolution, now that they were +persuaded that they could count upon Philip's favour, and that, unless +they did as they were bidden, you, whose assistance they were hoping +for, would march against them. There was also a third party, who +thought that you repented of having made the Peace with Philip; but to +these they pointed out that you had decreed that the same Peace should +hold good for posterity also; so that on every ground, all assistance +from you was despaired of. That is why they crowded all these points +into one decree. {55} And in this lies, I think, the very greatest of +all their crimes against you. To have made a Peace with a mortal man, +whose power was due to the accidents of the moment--a Peace, whereby +they covenanted that the disgrace brought upon the city should be +everlasting; to have robbed the city, not only of all beside, but even +of the benefits that Fortune might hereafter bestow: to have displayed +such superabundant villany as to have done this wicked wrong not only +to their countrymen now living, but also to all those who should ever +thereafter be born--is it not utterly atrocious? {56} And this last +clause, by which the Peace was extended to your descendants, you would +certainly never have allowed to be added to the conditions of peace had +you not then placed your trust in the promises announced by Aeschines, +as the Phocians placed their trust in them and perished. For, as you +know, they delivered themselves up to Philip; they gave their cities +into his hands; and the consequences which befell them were the exact +opposite of all that Aeschines had predicted to you. + +{57} That you may realize plainly that this calamity was brought about +in the manner that I have described, and that they are responsible for +it, I will go through the dates at which each separate event occurred; +and if any one can contradict me on any point, I invite him to rise and +speak in the time allotted to me. The Peace was made on the 19th of +Elaphebolion, and we were away on the mission which was sent to receive +the oaths three whole months. {58} All this time the Phocians remained +unharmed. We returned from that mission on the 13th of Scirophorion. +Philip had already appeared at Thermopylae, and was making promises to +the Phocians, none of which they believed--as is proved, when you +consider that otherwise they would not have appealed to you. Then +followed the Assembly, at which, by their falsehoods and by the +deception which they practised upon you, Aeschines and his party ruined +the whole cause. {59} That was on the 16th of Scirophorion. Now I +calculate that it was on the fifth day that the report of your +proceedings reached the Phocians: for the Phocian envoys were here on +the spot, and were deeply concerned to know what report these men would +make, and what your resolution would be. That gives us the 20th as the +date on which, as we calculate, the Phocians heard of your proceedings; +for, counting from the 16th, the 20th is the fifth day. Then followed +the 21st, the 22nd, and the 23rd. {60} On the latter day the truce was +made, and the ruin of the Phocians was finally sealed. This can be +proved as follows. On the 27th you were holding an Assembly in the +Peiraeus, to discuss the business connected with the dockyards, when +Dercylus arrived from Chalcis with the news that Philip had put +everything into the hands of the Thebans, and that this was the fifth +day since the truce had been made. 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th--the +27th is the fifth day precisely. Thus the dates, and their reports and +their proposals--everything, in short, convicts them of having +co-operated with Philip, and of sharing with him the responsibility for +the overthrow of the Phocians. {61} Again, the fact that none of the +towns in Phocis was taken by siege or by an attack in force, and that +the utter ruin of them all was the direct consequence of their truce +with Philip, affords the strongest evidence that it was the belief +inspired in the Phocians by these men, that they would be preserved +from destruction by Philip, which was the cause of their fate. Philip +himself they knew well enough. (_To the clerk._) Bring me our treaty of +alliance with the Phocians, and the decrees under which they demolished +their walls. (_To the jury._) You will then realize what were the +relations between themselves and you, upon which they relied, and what +nevertheless was the fate which befell them through the action of these +accursed men. (_To the clerk._) Read. + +[_The Treaty of Alliance between the Athenians and Phocians is read._] + +{62} These, then, were the things for which they relied upon +you--friendship, alliance, and assistance. Now listen to what befell +them, because Aeschines prevented your going to their assistance. (_To +the clerk._) Read. + + [_The Agreement between Philip and the Phocians is read._] + +You hear it, men of Athens. 'An Agreement between Philip and the +Phocians,' it runs--not between the Thebans and the Phocians, nor the +Thessalians and the Phocians, nor the Locrians, nor any one else who +was there. Again, 'the Phocians shall deliver up their cities to +Philip'--not to the Thebans or Thessalians or any one else. {63} And +why? Because the defendant's report to you was that Philip had crossed +the Pass with a view to the preservation of the Phocians. Thus it was +Aeschines in whom all their trust was placed; it was with him in their +minds that they considered the whole situation; it was with him in +their minds that they made the Peace. (_To the clerk._) Now read the +remainder. (_To the jury._) And do you observe for what they trusted +him, and what treatment they received. Does it show any resemblance or +similarity to what Aeschines predicted in his report? (_To the clerk._) +Read on. + +[_The decrees of the Amphictyons are read._] + +{64} Men of Athens, the horror and the immensity of this calamity have +never been surpassed in our day in the Hellenic world, nor even, I +believe, in the time before us. Yet these great and dreadful events a +single man has been given power to bring about, by the action of these +men, while the city of Athens was still in being--Athens, whose +traditional policy is to stand as the champion of the Hellenic peoples, +and not to suffer anything like this to take place. The nature of the +ruin which the unhappy Phocians have suffered may be seen, not only +from these decrees, but also from the actual results of the action +taken, and an awful and piteous sight it is, men of Athens. {65} For +when recently we were on our way to Delphi[n] we could not help seeing +it all--houses razed to the ground, cities stripped of their walls, the +land destitute of men in their prime--only a few poor women and little +children left, and some old men in misery. Indeed, no words can +describe the distress now prevailing there. Yet this was the people, I +hear you all saying, that once gave its vote against the Thebans,[n] +when the question of your enslavement was laid before them. {66} What +then, men of Athens, do you think would be the vote, what the sentence, +that your forefathers would give, if they could recover consciousness, +upon those who were responsible for the destruction of this people? I +believe that if they stoned them to death with their own hands, they +would hold themselves guiltless of blood. Is it not utterly +shameful--does it not, if possible, go beyond all shame--that those who +saved us then, and gave the saving vote for us, should now have met +with the very opposite fate through these men, suffering as no Hellenic +people has ever suffered before, with none to hinder it? Who then is +responsible for this crime? Who is the author of this deception? Who +but Aeschines? + +{67} Of all the many reasons for which Philip might be congratulated +with good cause upon his fortune, the chief ground of congratulation is +a piece of good fortune, to which, by every Heavenly Power, I cannot +find any parallel in our days. To have captured great cities, to have +reduced a vast expanse of territory to subjection, and all similar +actions, are, of course, enviable and brilliant +achievements--undeniably so. But many other persons might be mentioned +who had achieved as much. {68} The good fortune of which I am about to +speak is peculiar to Philip, and has never been given to any other. It +is this--that when he needed scoundrels to do his work for him, he +found even greater scoundrels than he wanted. For as such we have +surely good reason to think of them. For when there were falsehoods +which Philip himself, in spite of the immense interests which he had at +stake, did not dare to utter on his own behalf--which he did not set +down in any of his letters, and which none of his envoys uttered--these +men sold their services for the purpose, and undertook your deception. +{69} Antipater and Parmenio, servants of a master as they were, and +unlikely ever to find themselves in your presence again, none the less +secured for themselves that _they_ should not be the instruments in +your deception, while these men, who were Athenians, citizens of the +most free city, and held an official position as your +ambassadors--though they would have to meet you and look you in the +face, and pass the remainder of their lives among you, and render +before you an account of their actions--they, I say, undertook the task +of deceiving you. How could vileness or desperation go further than +this? + +{70} But I would have you understand further that he is under your +curse, and that you cannot, without violation of religion and piety, +acquit him, when he has thus lied to you. (_To the clerk._) Recite the +Curse. Take it from me, and read it out of the law. + +[_The Curse is read._] + +This imprecation is pronounced in your name, men of Athens, by the +herald, at every meeting of the Assembly, as the law appoints; and when +the Council sits, it is pronounced again there. Nor can Aeschines say +that he did not know it well. He was your under-clerk and servant to +the Council, and used himself to read this law over[n] to the herald. +{71} Surely, then, you will have done a strange and monstrous thing, +men of Athens, if to-day, when you have it in your power, you should +fail to do for yourselves the thing which you enjoin upon the gods, or +rather claim from them as your due; and should acquit a man whom you +pray to the gods to destroy utterly--himself, his race and his house. +You must not do this. You may leave it to the gods to punish one whom +you cannot yourselves detect; but when you have yourselves caught the +criminal, you must no longer lay the task of punishing him upon the +gods. + +{72} Now I am told that he intends to carry his shamelessness and +impudence so far, as to avoid all mention of his own proceedings--his +report, his promises, the deception he has practised upon the city--as +though his trial were taking place before strangers, instead of before +you, who know all the facts; and that he intends to accuse first the +Spartans,[n] then the Phocians,[n] and then Hegesippus.[n] {73} That is +mere mockery; or rather, it is atrocious shamelessness. For all that he +will allege to-day against the Phocians or the Spartans or +Hegesippus--their refusal to receive Proxenus, their impiety--let him +allege what he will--all these allegations refer, as you know, to +actions which were already past when these ambassadors returned to +Athens, and which were no obstacle to the preservation of the +Phocians--the admission is made by whom? By the defendant Aeschines +himself. For what was his report on that occasion? {74} Not that if it +had not been for their refusal to receive Proxenus, nor that if it had +not been for Hegesippus, nor that if it had not been for such and such +things, the Phocians would have been saved. No! he discarded all such +qualifications, and stated expressly that before he returned he had +persuaded Philip to save the Phocians, to repeople Boeotia, and to +arrange matters to suit your convenience; that within two or three days +these things would be accomplished facts, and that for this reason the +Thebans had set a price upon his head. {75} Refuse then, to hear or to +tolerate any mention of what had already been done, either by the +Spartans or by the Phocians, before he made his report; and do not let +him denounce the rascality of the Phocians. It was not for their virtue +that you once saved the Spartans, nor the Euboeans, that accursed +people! nor many others; but because the interests of the city demanded +their preservation, as they demanded that of the Phocians just now. And +what wrong was done either by the Phocians or by the Spartans, or by +yourselves, or by any one else in the world after he made those +declarations, to prevent the fulfilment of the promises which he then +made? Ask him that: for that is what he will {76} not be able to show +you. It was within five days--five days and no more--that Aeschines +made his lying report, that you believed him, that the Phocians heard +of it, surrendered themselves and perished. This, I think, makes it as +plain as it can possibly be, that the ruin of the Phocians was the +result of organized deceit and trickery, and of nothing else.[n] For so +long as Philip was unable to proceed to Phocis on account of the +Peace,[n] and was only waiting in readiness to do so, he kept sending +for the Spartans, promising to do all that they wished,[n]in order that +the Phocians might not win {77} them over to their side by your help. +But when he had arrived at Thermopylae, and the Spartans had seen the +trap and retired, he now sent Aeschines in advance to deceive you, in +order that he might not, owing to your perceiving that he was playing +into the hands of the Thebans, find himself once more involved in loss +of time and war and delay, through the Phocians defending themselves +and your going to their assistance, but might get everything into his +power without a struggle; and this is what has in fact happened. Do +not, then, let the fact that Philip deceived the Spartans and Phocians +as well as yourselves enable Aeschines to escape his punishment for +deceiving you. That would not be just. + +{78} But if he tells you that, to compensate for the Phocians and +Thermopylae and all your other losses, you have retained possession of +the Chersonese, do not, in Heaven's name, accept the plea! Do not +tolerate the aggravation of all the wrong that you have suffered +through his conduct as ambassador, by the reproach which his defence +would bring upon the city--the reproach of having sacrificed the +existence of your allies, in an underhand attempt to save part of your +own possessions! You did not act thus; for when the Peace had already +been made, and the Chersonese was no longer in danger, there followed +four whole months[n] during which the Phocians remained unharmed; and +it was not until after this that the lying statements of Aeschines +brought about their ruin by deceiving you. {79} And further, you will +find that the Chersonese is in much greater danger now than it was +then. For when do you think that we had the greater facilities for +punishing Philip for any trespass against the Chersonese?--before he +stole any of these advantages from the city, or now? For my part, I +think we had far greater facilities then. What, then, does this +'retention of the Chersonese' amount to, when all the fears and the +risks which attended one who would have liked to attack it have been +removed? + +{80} Again, I am told that he will express himself to some such effect +as this--that he cannot think why he is accused by Demosthenes, and not +by any of the Phocians. It is better that you should hear the true +state of the case from me beforehand. Of the exiled Phocians, the best, +I believe, and the most respectable, after being driven into banishment +and suffering as they have suffered, are content to be quiet, and none +of them would consent to incur an enmity which would fall upon himself, +on account of the calamities of his people: while those who would do +anything for money have no one to give it to them. {81} For assuredly +_I_ would never have given any one anything whatever to stand by my +side here and cry aloud how cruelly they have suffered. The truth and +the deeds that have been done cry aloud of themselves. And as for the +Phocian people,[n] they are in so evil and pitiable a plight, that +there is no question for them of appearing as accusers at the +examination of every individual ambassador in Athens. They are in +slavery, in mortal fear of the Thebans and of Philip's mercenaries, +whom they are compelled to support, broken up into villages as they are +and stripped of their arms. {82} Do not, then, suffer him to urge such +a plea. Make him prove to you that the Phocians are not ruined, or that +he did not promise that Philip would save them. For the questions upon +which the examination of an ambassador turns are these: 'What have you +effected? What have you reported? If the report is true, you may be +acquitted; if it is false, you must pay the penalty.' How can you plead +the non-appearance of the Phocians, when it was you yourself, I fancy, +that brought them, so far as it lay in your power, into such a +condition that they could neither help their friends nor repel their +enemies. + +{83} And further, apart from all the shame and the dishonour in which +also these proceedings are involved, it is easy to show that in +consequence of them the city has been beset with grave dangers as well. +Every one of you knows that it was the hostilities which the Phocians +were carrying on, and their command of Thermopylae, that rendered us +secure against Thebes, and made it impossible that either Philip or the +Thebans should ever march into the Peloponese or into Euboea or into +Attica. {84} But this guarantee of safety which the city possessed, +arising out of the position of Thermopylae and the actual circumstances +of the time, you were induced to sacrifice by the deceptions and the +lying statements of these ambassadors--a guarantee, I say, fortified by +arms, by a continuous campaign, by great cities of allies, and by a +wide tract of territory; and you have looked on while it was swept +away. Fruitless has your first expedition to Thermopylae become--an +expedition made at a cost of more than two hundred talents, if you +include the private expenditure of the soldiers--and fruitless your +hopes of triumph over Thebes! {85} But of all the wicked services which +he has done for Philip, let me tell you of that which is in reality the +greatest outrage of all upon Athens and upon you all. It is this--that +when Philip had determined from the very first to do for the Thebans +all that he has done, Aeschines, by reporting the exact opposite to +you, and so displaying to the world your antagonism to Philip's +designs, has brought about for you an increase in the enmity between +yourselves and the Thebans, and for Philip an increase in their +gratitude. How could a man have treated you more outrageously than this? + +(_To the clerk._) {86} Now take and read the decrees of Diophantus[n] +and Callisthenes[n]; (_to the jury_) for I would have you realize that +when you acted as you ought, you were thought worthy to be honoured +with public thanksgivings and praises, both at home and abroad; but +when once you had been driven astray by these men, you had to bring +your children and wives in from the country, and to decree that the +sacrifice to Heracles[n] should take place within the walls, though it +was a time of peace. And in view of this it is an amazing idea, that +you should dismiss unpunished a man who even prevented the gods from +receiving their worship from you after the manner of your fathers. (_To +the clerk._) Read the decree. + +[_The decree of Diophantus is read._] + +This decree, men of Athens, was one which your conduct nobly deserved. +(_To the clerk._) Now read the next decree. + +[_The decree of Callisthenes is read._] + +{87} This decree you passed in consequence of the action of these men. +It was not with such a prospect in view that you made the Peace and the +alliance at the outset, or that you were subsequently induced to insert +the words which extended them to your posterity. You expected their +action to bring you benefits of incredible value. Aye, and besides +this, you know how often, after this, you were bewildered by the report +that Philip's forces and mercenaries were threatening Porthmus or +Megara. You have not then to reflect contentedly that Philip has not +yet set foot in Attica. You have rather to consider whether their +action has not given him power to do so when he chooses. It is that +danger that you must keep before your eyes, and you must execrate and +punish the man who is guilty of putting such power into Philip's hands. + +{88} Now I am aware that Aeschines will eschew all defence of the +actions with which he is charged, and that, in his desire to lead you +as far away as possible from the facts, he will enumerate the great +blessings which Peace brings to all mankind, and will set against them +the evils that follow in the train of war. His whole speech will be a +eulogy of peace, and in that will consist his defence. But such an +argument actually incriminates the defendant further. If peace, which +brings such blessings to all other men, has been the source of such +trouble and confusion to us, what explanation can be found, except that +they have taken bribes and have cruelly marred a thing by nature so +fair? {89} 'What?' he may say, 'have you not to thank the Peace for +three hundred ships, with their fittings, and for funds which remain +and will remain yours?' In answer to this, you are bound to suppose +that, thanks to the Peace, Philip's resources too have become far more +ample--aye, and his command of arms, and of territory, and of revenues, +which have accrued to him to such large amounts. {90} We, too, have had +some increase of revenue. But as for power and alliances, by the +establishment of which all men retain their advantages, either for +themselves or their masters, ours have been sold by these men--ruined +and enfeebled; while Philip's have become more formidable and extensive +by far. Thus it is not fair that while Philip has been enabled by their +action to extend both his alliances and his revenue, all that would in +any case have been ours, as the result of the Peace, should be set off +against what they themselves sold to Philip. The former did not come to +us in exchange for the latter. Far from it! For had it not been for +them, not only should we have had the former, as we have now, but we +should have had the latter as well. + +{91} You would doubtless admit, men of Athens, in general terms, that, +on the one hand, however many and terrible the disasters that have +befallen the city, your anger cannot justly be visited upon Aeschines, +if none of them has been caused by him; and that, on the other hand, +Aeschines is not entitled to be acquitted on account of any +satisfactory results that may have been accomplished through the action +of others. You must examine the acts of Aeschines himself, and then +show him your favour if he is worthy of it, or your resentment, on the +other hand, if his acts prove to be deserving ing of that. {92} How, +then, can you solve this problem fairly? You will do so if, instead of +allowing him to confound all questions with one another--the criminal +conduct of the generals, the war with Philip, the blessings that flow +from peace--you consider each point by itself. For instance, were we at +war with Philip? We were. Does any one accuse Aeschines on that ground? +Does any one wish to bring any charge against him in regard to things +that were done in the course of the war? No one whatever. He is +therefore acquitted in regard to such matters, and must not say +anything about them; for the witnesses and the proofs which a defendant +produces must bear upon the matters which are in dispute; he must not +deceive you by offering a defence upon points which are not disputed. +Take care, then, that you say nothing about the war; for no one charges +you with any responsibility for that. {93} Later on we were urged by +certain persons to make peace. We consented; we sent ambassadors; and +the ambassadors brought commissioners to Athens who were to conclude +the Peace. Once more, does any one blame Aeschines for this? Does any +one allege that Aeschines introduced the proposal of peace, or that he +committed any crime in bringing commissioners here to make it? No one +whatever. He must therefore say nothing in regard to the fact that the +city made peace; for he is not responsible for that. {94} 'Then what +_is_ your assertion, sir?' I may be asked. 'At what point _do_ your +charges begin?' They begin, men of Athens, from the time when the +question before you was not whether you should make peace or not (for +that had already been settled), but what sort of peace you should +make--when Aeschines opposed those who took the side of justice, +supported for a bribe the hireling mover of the decree, and afterwards, +when he had been chosen to receive the oaths, failed to carry out every +one of your instructions, destroyed those of your allies who had passed +unscathed through the war, and told you falsehoods whose enormity and +grossness has never been surpassed, either before or since. At the +outset, before Philip was given a hearing in regard to the Peace, +Ctesiphon and Aristodemus took the leading part in the work of +deception; but when the time had come for action, they surrendered +their rôle to Philocrates and Aeschines, who took it up and ruined +everything. {95} And then, when he is bound to answer for his actions +and to give satisfaction for them--like the unscrupulous God-forsaken +clerk that he is--he will defend himself as though it were the Peace +for which he was being tried. Not that he wishes to account for more +than is charged against him--that would be lunacy. No! He sees rather +that in all his own proceedings no good can be found--that his crimes +are his whole history; while a defence of the Peace, if it has no other +merits, has at least the kindly sound of the name to recommend it. {96} +I fear, indeed, men of Athens, I fear that, unconsciously, we are +enjoying this Peace like men who borrow at heavy interest. The +guarantees of its security--the Phocians and Thermopylae--they have +betrayed. But, be that as it may, it was not through _Aeschines_ that +we originally made it; for, paradoxical as it may seem, what I am about +to say is absolutely true--that if any one is honestly pleased at the +Peace, it is the generals, who are universally denounced, that he must +thank for it: for had they been conducting the war as you desired them +to do, {97}you would not have tolerated even the name of peace. For +peace, then, we must thank the generals; but the perilous, the +precarious, the untrustworthy nature of the Peace is due to the +corruption of these men. Cut him off, then, cut him off, I say, from +all arguments in defence of the Peace! Set him to defend his own +actions! Aeschines is not being tried on account of the Peace. On the +contrary, the Peace stands discredited owing to Aeschines. And here is +evidence of the fact:--if the Peace had been made, and if no subsequent +deception had been practised upon you, and none of your allies had been +ruined, who on earth would have been hurt by the Peace, except in so +far as it was inglorious? And for its inglorious character the +defendant in fact shares the responsibility, for he spoke in support of +Philocrates. At least no irreparable harm would have been done; whereas +now, I believe, much has been done, and the guilt rests with the +defendant. {98} That these men have been the agents in this shameful +and wicked work of ruin and destruction, I think you all know. Yet so +far am I, gentlemen of the jury, from putting any unfair construction +upon these facts or asking you to do so, that if it has been through +stupidity or simplicity, or ignorance in any form whatever, that such +results have been so brought about, I acquit Aeschines myself, and I +{99} recommend you also to acquit him. At the same time none of these +excuses is either constitutional[n] or justifiable. For you neither +command nor compel any one to undertake public business; but when any +one has satisfied himself of his own capacity and has entered political +life, then, like good-hearted, kindly men, you welcome him in a +friendly and ungrudging manner, and even elect him to office and place +your own interests in his hands. {100} Then, if a man succeeds, he will +receive honour and will so far have an advantage over the crowd. But if +he fails, is he to plead palliations and excuses? That is not fair. It +would not satisfy our ruined allies, or their children, or their wives, +or the rest of the victims, to know that it was through my +stupidity--not to speak of the stupidity of the defendant--that they +had suffered such a fate. Far from it! {101} Nevertheless, I bid you +forgive Aeschines for these atrocious and unparalleled crimes if he can +prove that it was simplicity of mind, or any form of ignorance +whatever, which led him to work such ruin. But if it was the rascality +of a man who had taken money and bribes--if he is plainly convicted of +this by the very facts themselves--then, if it be possible, put him to +death; or if not, make him, while he lives, an example to others. + +And now give your thoughts to the proof by which he is convicted on +these points, and observe how straightforward it will be. + +{102} If the defendant Aeschines was not deliberately deceiving you for +a price, he must necessarily, I presume, have had one of two reasons +for making the statements in question to you, in regard to the Phocians +and Thespiae and Euboea. Either he must have heard Philip promise in +express terms that such would be his policy and the steps he would +take; or else he must have been so far bewitched and deluded by +Philip's generosity in all other matters as to conceive these further +hopes of him. There is no possible alternative besides these two. {103} +Now in both these cases he, more than any living man, ought to detest +Philip. And why? Because, so far as Philip could bring it about, all +that is most dreadful and most shameful has fallen upon him. He has +deceived you; his reputation is gone [he is rightly ruined]; he is on +his trial; aye, and were the course of the proceedings in any way that +which his conduct called for, he would long ago have been impeached;[n] +{104-109} whereas now, thanks to your innocence and meekness, he +presents his report, and that at the time which suits his own wishes. I +ask, then, if there is one among you who has ever heard Aeschines raise +his voice in denunciation of Philip--one, I say, who has seen Aeschines +exposing him or saying a word against him? Not one! All Athens +denounces Philip before Aeschines does so. Every one whom you meet does +so, though not one of them has been injured by him--I mean, of course, +personally. On the assumption that Aeschines had not sold himself, I +should have expected to hear him use some such expressions as +these--'Men of Athens, deal with _me_ as you will. I trusted Philip; I +was deceived; I was wrong; I confess my error. But beware of _him_, men +of Athens. He is faithless--a cheat, a knave. Do you not see how he has +treated me? how he has deceived me?' {110} But I hear no such +expressions fall from him, nor do you. And why? Because he was _not_ +misled; he was _not_ deceived; he made these statements, he betrayed +all to Philip, because he had sold his services and received the money +for them; and gallantly and loyally has he behaved--as Philip's +hireling. But as your ambassador, as your fellow citizen, he is a +traitor who deserves to die, not once, but thrice. + +{111} This is not the only evidence which proves that all those +statements of his were made for money. For, recently, the Thessalians +came to you, and with them envoys from Philip, demanding that you +should decree the recognition of Philip as one of the Amphictyons. Who +then, of all men, should naturally have opposed the demand? The +defendant Aeschines. And why? Because Philip had acted in a manner +precisely contrary to the announcement which Aeschines had made to you. +{112} Aeschines declared that Philip would fortify Thespiae and +Plataeae; that he intended, not to destroy the Phocians, but to put +down the insolence of Thebes. But in fact Philip has raised the Thebans +to an undue height of power, while he has utterly destroyed the +Phocians; and instead of fortifying Thespiae and Plataeae, he has +brought Orchomenus and Coroneia into the same bondage with them. How +could any contradiction be greater than this? Aeschines did not oppose +the demand. He neither opened his lips nor uttered a sound in +opposition to it. {113} But even this, monstrous as it is, is not yet +the worst. For he, and he alone, in all Athens, actually supported the +demand. This not even Philocrates dared to do, abominable as he was; it +was left for the defendant Aeschines. And when you raised a clamour and +would not listen to him, he stepped down from the platform, and, +showing off before the envoys who had come from Philip, told them that +there were plenty of men who made a clamour, but few who took the field +when it was required of them--you remember the incident, no +doubt--being himself, of course, a marvellous soldier, God knows! + +{114} Again, if we had been unable to prove that any of the ambassadors +had received anything--if the fact were not patent to all--we might +then have resorted to examination by torture,[n] and other such +methods. But if Philocrates not only admitted the fact frequently in +your presence at the Assembly, but used actually to make a parade of +his guilt--selling wheat, building houses, saying that he was going[n] +whether you elected him or not, importing timber, changing Macedonian +gold openly at the bank--it is surely impossible for _him_ to deny that +he received money, when he himself confesses and displays his guilt. +{115} Now, is any human being so senseless or so ill-starred that, in +order that Philocrates might receive money, while he himself incurred +infamy and disgrace, he would want to fight against those upright +citizens in whose ranks he might have stood, and to take the side of +Philocrates and face a trial? I am sure that there is no such man; but +in all these considerations, if you examine them aright, you will find +strong and evident signs of the corruption of the defendant. + +{116} Consider next an incident which occurred last in order of time, +but which is second to none as an indication that Aeschines had sold +himself to Philip. You doubtless know that in the course of the recent +impeachment of Philocrates by Hypereides, I came forward and expressed +my dissatisfaction with one feature of the impeachment--namely, the +idea that Philocrates alone had been responsible for all these +monstrous crimes, and that the other nine ambassadors had no share in +them. I said that it was not so, for Philocrates by himself would have +been nowhere, had he not had some of them to co-operate with him. {117} +'And therefore,' I said, 'in order that I may not personally acquit or +accuse any one, and that the guilty may be detected, and those who have +had no share in the crime acquitted by the evidence of their own +conduct, let any one who wishes to do so rise and come forward into +your midst, and let him declare that he has no share in it, and that +the actions of Philocrates are displeasing to him. Any one who does +this,' I said, 'I acquit.' You remember the incident, I am sure. {118} +Well, no one came forward or showed himself. Each of the others has +some excuse. One was not liable to examination; another, perhaps, was +not present; a third is related to Philocrates. But Aeschines has no +such excuse. No! So completely has he sold himself, once for all--so +plain is it that his wages are not for past services only, but that, if +he escapes now, Philip can equally count upon his help against you in +the future--that to avoid letting fall even a word that would be +unfavourable to Philip, he does not accept his discharge[n] even when +you offer to discharge him, but chooses to suffer infamy, to stand his +trial and to endure any treatment in this court, rather than to take a +step that would not please Philip. {119} But what is the meaning of +this partnership, this careful forethought for Philocrates? For if +Philocrates had by his diplomacy accomplished the most honourable +results and achieved all that your interest required, and yet admitted +(as he did admit) that he had made money by his mission, this very fact +was one by which an uncorrupted colleague should have been repelled and +set him on his guard, and led to protest to the best of his power. +Aeschines has not acted in this way. Is it not all clear, men of +Athens? Do not the facts cry aloud and tell you that Aeschines has +taken money, that he is a rascal for a price, and that +consistently--not through stupidity, or ignorance, or bad luck? {120} +'But where is the witness who testifies to my corruption?' he asks. +Why, this is the finest thing of all![n] The witnesses, Aeschines, are +facts; and they are the surest of all witnesses: none can assert or +allege against them, that they are influenced by persuasion or by +favour to any one: what your treachery and mischief have made them, +such, when examined, they must appear. But, besides the facts, you +shall at once bear witness against yourself. Come, stand up[n] and +answer me! Surely you will not plead that you are so inexperienced as +not to know what to say. For when, under the ordinary limitations of +time, you prosecute and win cases that have all the novelty of a +play[n]--cases, too, that have no witness to support them--you must +plainly be a speaker of tremendous genius. + +{121} Many and atrocious as are the crimes of the defendant Aeschines, +and great as is the wickedness which is implied by them (as I am sure +you also feel) there is none which is more atrocious than that of which +I am about to speak to you, and none which will afford more palpable +proof that he has taken bribes and sold everything. For when once more, +for the third time, you sent the ambassadors to Philip on the strength +of those high and noble expectations which the defendant's promises had +roused, you elected both Aeschines and myself, and most of those whom +you had previously sent. {122} For my part I came forward and declined +upon oath to serve;[n] and though some raised a clamour and bade me go, +I declared that I would not; but the defendant had already been +elected. Afterwards, when the Assembly had risen, he and his party met +and discussed whom they should leave behind in Athens. For while +everything was still in suspense, and the future doubtful, there were +all kinds of gatherings and discussions in the market-place. {123} They +were afraid, no doubt, that a special meeting of the Assembly might +suddenly be called, and that you might then hear the truth from me, and +pass some of the resolutions which it was your duty to pass in the +interest of the Phocians, and that so Philip's object might slip from +his grasp. For had you merely passed a resolution and shown them the +faintest ray of hope of any kind, the Phocians would have been saved. +It was absolutely impossible for Philip to stay where he was, unless +you were misled. There was no corn in the country, for, owing to the +war, the land had not been sown; and to import corn was impossible so +long as your ships were there and in command of the sea; while the +Phocian towns were many in number, and difficult to take except by a +prolonged siege. Even assuming that he were taking a town a day, there +are two and twenty of them. {124} For all these reasons they left +Aeschines in Athens, to guard against any alteration of the course +which you had been deluded into taking. Now to decline upon oath to +serve, without any cause, was a dangerous and highly suspicious +proceeding. 'What?' he would have been asked, 'are you not going on the +mission which is to secure all those wonderful good things which you +have foretold?' Yet he was bound to remain. How could it be done? He +pleads illness. His brother took with him Execestus the physician, came +before the Council, swore that Aeschines was too ill to serve, and was +himself elected in his place. {125} Five or six days later the ruin of +the Phocians had been accomplished, and Aeschines' contract--a mere +matter of business--had been fulfilled. Dercylus turned back, and on +his arrival here from Chalcis announced to you the destruction of the +Phocians, while you were holding an Assembly in the Peiraeus. On +hearing the news you were naturally struck with sympathy for them, and +with terror for yourselves. You passed resolutions to bring in your +children and wives from the country, to repair the garrison-forts, to +fortify the Peiraeus, and to celebrate the sacrifice to Heracles within +the city walls: {126} and in the midst of all this, in the midst of the +confusion and the tumult which had fallen upon the city, this learned +and able speaker, so loud of voice, though not elected[n] either by the +Council or by the people, set off as ambassador to the man who had +wrought the destruction, taking no account of the illness which he had +previously made his excuse, upon oath, for not serving, nor of the +election of another ambassador in his place, nor of the law which +imposes the penalty of death for such offences; {127} nor yet +reflecting how utterly atrocious it was, that after announcing that the +Thebans had placed a price on his head, he should choose the moment +when the Thebans had (in addition to all Boeotia, which they already +possessed) become masters of the territory of the Phocians as well, to +go into the very midst of Thebes, and into the very camp of the +Thebans. But so beside himself was he, so utterly bent upon his profits +and his bribe, that he ruled out and overlooked all such +considerations, and took his departure. + +{128} Such was the nature of this transaction; and yet his proceedings +when he arrived at his destination are far worse. All of you who are +present, and all other Athenians as well, thought the treatment of the +unhappy Phocians so atrocious and so cruel that you sent to the Pythian +games neither the official deputation from the Council, nor the +Thesmothetae,[n] but abandoned that ancient representation of +yourselves at the festival. But Aeschines went to the triumphal +feast[n] with which the Thebans and Philip were celebrating the victory +of their cause and their arms. He joined in the festival: he shared in +the libations and the prayers which Philip offered over the ruined +walls and country and arms of your allies: with Philip he set garlands +on his head, and raised the paean, and drank the loving-cup. {129} Nor +is it possible for the defendant to give a different version of the +facts from that which I have given. As regards his sworn refusal to +serve, the facts are in your public records in the Metroon,[n] guarded +by your officer; and a decree stands recorded with express reference to +the name of Aeschines.[n] And as for his conduct there, his fellow +ambassadors, who were present, will bear witness against him. They told +me the story; for I was not with them on this Embassy, having entered a +sworn refusal to serve. + +(_To the clerk._) {130} Now read me the resolution [and the record], +and call the witnesses. + +[_The decree is read, and the witnesses called._] + +What prayers, then, do you imagine Philip offered to the gods, when he +poured his libation, or the Thebans? Did they not ask them to give +success in war, and victory, to themselves and their allies, and the +contrary to the allies of the Phocians? In these prayers, therefore--in +these imprecations upon his own country--Aeschines joined. It is for +you to return them upon his own head to-day. + +{131} His departure, then, was a contravention of the law which imposes +the penalty of death for the offence, and it has been shown that on his +arrival he acted in a manner for which he deserves to die again and +again, while his former proceedings and the work which he did as +ambassador, in their interest,[n] would justly slay him. Ask yourselves +what penalty can be found, which will adequately atone for all these +crimes? {132} It would surely be shameful, men of Athens, that while +all of you, and the whole people, denounce publicly all the +consequences of the Peace; while you decline to take part in the +business of the Amphictyons; while your attitude towards Philip is one +of vexation and mistrust, because the deeds that have been done are +impious and atrocious, instead of righteous and advantageous to you; +that nevertheless, when you have come into court as the sworn +representatives of the State, to sit in judgement upon the report of +these proceedings, you should acquit the author of all the evil, when +you have taken him red-handed in actions like these. {133} Who is there +of all your fellow citizens--nay, who of all the Hellenes--that would +not have good cause for complaint against you, when he saw that though +you were enraged against Philip, who in making peace after war was +merely purchasing the means to his end from those who offered them for +sale--a very pardonable transaction--you were yet acquitting Aeschines, +who sold your interests in this shameful manner, notwithstanding the +extreme penalties which the laws appoint for such conduct? + +{134} Now it is possible that an argument may also be used by the other +side to some such effect as this--that the condemnation of those whose +diplomacy brought about the Peace will mean the beginning of enmity +with Philip. If this is true, then, I can imagine, upon consideration, +no more serious charge that I could bring against the defendant, than +this. If Philip, who spent his money on the Peace which he wished to +obtain, has become so formidable, so powerful, that you have already +ceased to regard your oaths and the justice of the case, and are +seeking how you can gratify Philip, what penalty, that those who are +responsible for this could suffer, would be adequate to the offence? +{135} I believe, however, that I shall actually show you that it would +more probably mean the beginning of a friendship, advantageous to you. +For you must be well assured, men of Athens, that Philip does not +despise your city; nor was it because he regarded you as less +serviceable than the Thebans, that he preferred them to you. No! {136} +He had been instructed by these men and had heard from them, what I +once told you in the Assembly, without contradiction from any of them, +that the People is the most unstable thing in the world, and the most +incalculable, inconstant as a wave of the sea, stirred by any chance +wind. One comes, another goes; but no one cares for the public +interest, or remembers it. Philip needs (he is told) friends upon whom +he can rely to execute and manage his business with you--such friends, +for instance, as his informant.[n] If this were secured for him, he +would easily effect all that he desired in Athens. {137} Now if he +heard that those who had used such language to him had immediately upon +their return been beaten to death, he would doubtless have behaved as +the Persian king did. And how was this? He had been deceived by +Timagoras,[n] and had given him, it is said, forty talents; but when he +heard that Timagoras had been put to death here, and had not even power +to secure his own life, much less to carry out the promises he had made +to him, he recognized that he had not paid the price to the man who had +the power to effect his object. For first, as you know, he sent a +dispatch, acknowledging once more your title to Amphipolis, which he +had previously described as in alliance and friendship with himself; +and secondly, he thenceforward wholly abstained from giving money to +any one. {138} This is exactly what Philip would have done, if he had +seen that any of these men had paid the penalty, and what, if he sees +it, he will still do. But when he hears that they address you, and +enjoy a high reputation with you, and prosecute others, what is he to +do? Is he to seek to spend much, when he can spend less? or to desire +to court the favour of all, when he need but court two or three? That +would be madness. For even those public benefits which Philip conferred +upon the Thebans he conferred not from choice-- far from it--but +because he was induced to do so by their ambassadors; and I will tell +you how. {139} Ambassadors came to him from Thebes just at the time +when we were there upon our mission from you. Philip wished to give +them money, and that (so they said) in very large amounts. The Theban +ambassadors would not accept or receive it. After that, while drinking +at a sacrificial banquet and displaying his generosity towards them, +Philip offered, as he drank to them, presents of many kinds--captives +and the like--and finally he offered them goblets of gold and silver. +All these they steadily refused, declining to put themselves in his +power in any way. {140} At last Philo, one of the ambassadors, made a +speech, men of Athens, which was worthy to be made in the name, not of +Thebes, but of yourselves. For he said that it gave them pleasure and +delight to see the magnanimous and generous attitude of Philip towards +them; but for their own personal part, they were already his good +friends even without these presents; and they begged him to apply his +generosity to the existing political situation of their country, and to +do something worthy of himself and Thebes, promising that, if he did +so, their whole city, as well as themselves, would become attached to +him. {141} And now observe what the Thebans have gained by this, and +what consequences have followed; and contemplate in a real instance the +advantages of refusing to sell your country's interests. First of all, +they obtained peace when they were already distressed and suffering +from the war, in which they were the losing side. Next, they secured +the utter ruin of their enemies, the Phocians, and the complete +destruction of their walls and towns. And was this all? No, indeed! For +besides all this they obtained Orchomenus, Coroneia, Corsia, the +Tilphossaeum, and as much of the territory of the Phocians as they +desired. {142} This then was what the Thebans gained by the Peace; and +surely no more could they have asked even in their prayers. And the +ambassadors of Thebes gained--what? Nothing but the credit of having +brought this good fortune to their country; and a noble reward it was, +men of Athens, a proud record on the score of merit and honour--that +honour which Aeschines and his party sold for money. Let us now set +against one another the consequences of the Peace to the city of Athens +and to the Athenian ambassadors respectively; and then observe whether +its effects have been similar in the case of the city and of these men +personally. {143} The city has surrendered all her possessions and all +her allies; she has sworn to Philip that even if another approaches +them to preserve them for her, you will prevent him; that you will +consider any one who wishes to give them up to you as your enemy and +foe, and the man who has robbed you of them as your ally and friend. +{144} That is the resolution which Aeschines supported, and which was +moved by his accomplice Philocrates; and although on the first day I +was successful, and had persuaded you to ratify the decree of the +allies and to summon Philip's envoys,[n] the defendant forced an +adjournment of the question till the next day, and persuaded you to +adopt the resolution of Philocrates, in which these proposals, and many +others even more atrocious, are made. {145} These were the consequences +of the Peace to Athens. It would not be easy to devise anything more +shameful. What were the consequences to the ambassadors who brought +these things about? I say nothing of all that you have seen for +yourselves--the houses, the timber, the wheat. But they also possess +properties and extensive estates in the country of your ruined allies, +bringing in incomes of a talent to Philocrates and thirty minae to the +defendant. {146} Yet surely, men of Athens, it is an atrocious and a +monstrous thing, that the calamities of your allies should have become +sources of revenue to your ambassadors, and that the same Peace which +to the city that sent them meant the ruin of her allies, the surrender +of her possessions, and shame in the place of honour, should have +created for the ambassadors who brought these things to pass against +their country, revenue, affluence, property, and wealth, in the place +of abject poverty. To prove, however, that what I am telling you is +true (_to the clerk_) call me the witnesses from Olynthus. + +[_The witnesses are called._] + +{147} Now I should not wonder if he even dared to make some such +statement as this--that the Peace which we were making could not have +been made an honourable one, or such as I demanded, because our +generals had mismanaged the war. If he argues thus, then remember, in +Heaven's name, to ask him whether[n] it was from some other city that +he went as ambassador, or from this city itself? If it was from some +other, to whose success in war and to whose excellent generals he can +point, then it was natural for him to take Philip's money: but if it +was from Athens itself, why do we find him taking presents as part of a +transaction which involved the surrender of her possessions by the city +which sent him? For in any honest transaction the city that sent the +ambassadors ought to have shared the same fortune as the ambassadors +whom she sent. {148} Consider also this further point, men of Athens. +Do you think that the successes of the Phocians against the Thebans in +the war, or the successes of Philip against you, were the more +considerable? Those of the Phocians against the Thebans, I am quite +certain. At least, they held Orchomenus and Coroneia and the +Tilphossaeum;[n] they had intercepted the Theban garrison at Neones;[n] +they had slain two hundred of them on Hedyleum;[n] a trophy had been +raised, their cavalry were victorious, and a whole Iliad of misfortunes +had beset the Thebans. You were in no such position as this, and may +you never be so in the future! Your most serious disadvantage in your +hostilities with Philip was your inability to inflict upon him all the +damage that you desired; you were completely secure against suffering +any harm yourselves. How is it then that, as the result of one and the +same Peace, the Thebans, who were being so badly worsted in the war, +have recovered their own possessions and, in addition, have gained +those of their enemies; while you, the Athenians, have lost under the +Peace even what you retained safely through the war? It is because +their ambassadors did not sell their interests, while these men have +sold yours. [Ah! he will say,[n] but the allies were exhausted by the +war....]. That this is how these things were accomplished, you will +realize still more clearly from what I have yet to say. + +{150}For when this Peace was concluded--the Peace of Philocrates, which +Aeschines supported--and when Philip's envoys had set sail, after +receiving the oaths from us--and up to this time nothing that had been +done was irreparable, for though the Peace was disgraceful and unworthy +of Athens, still we were to get those marvellous good things in +return--then I say, I asked and told the ambassadors to sail as quickly +as possible to the Hellespont, and not to sacrifice any of our +positions there, nor allow Philip to occupy them in the interval. {151} +For I knew very well that everything that is sacrificed when peace is +in process of being concluded after war, is lost to those who are so +neglectful; since no one who had been induced to make peace with regard +to the situation as a whole ever yet made up his mind to fight afresh +for the sake of possessions which had been left unsecured; such +possessions those who first take them keep. And, apart from this, I +thought that, if we sailed, the city could not fail to secure one of +two useful results. Either, when we were there and had received +Philip's oath according to the decree, he would restore the possessions +of Athens which he had taken, and keep his hands off the rest; {152} +or, if he did not do so, we should immediately report the fact to you +here, and so, when you saw his grasping and perfidious disposition in +regard to those your remoter and less important interests, you would +not in dealing with greater matters close at hand--in other words, with +the Phocians and Thermopylae--let anything be lost. If he failed to +forestall you in regard to these, and you were not deceived, your +interests would be completely secured, and he would give you your +rights without hesitation. {153} And I had good reason for such +expectations. For if the Phocians were still safe and sound, as they +then were, and were in occupation of Thermopylae, Philip would have had +no terror to brandish before you, which could make you overlook any of +your rights. For he was not likely either to make his way through by +land, or to win a victory by sea, and so reach Attica; while if he +refused to act as was right, you would instantly close his ports, +reduce him to straits for money and other supplies, and place him in a +state of siege; and in that case it would be he, and not you, to whom +the advantages of peace would be the overmastering consideration. {154} +And that I am not inventing this or claiming wisdom after the +event--that I knew it at once, and, with your interest in view, foresaw +what must happen and told my colleagues--you will realize from the +following facts. When there was no longer any meeting of the Assembly +available (since you had used up all the appointed days) and still the +ambassadors did not depart, but wasted time here, I proposed a decree +as a member of the Council, to which the people had given full powers, +that the ambassadors should depart directly, and that the admiral +Proxenus should convey them to any district in which he should +ascertain Philip to be. My proposal was just what I now tell you, +couched expressly in those terms. (_To the clerk_.) Take this decree +and read it. + +[_The decree is read_.] + +{155} I brought them away, then, from Athens, sorely against their +will, as you will clearly understand from their subsequent conduct. +When we reached Oreus and joined Proxenus, instead of sailing and +following their instructions, they made a circuitous journey by land, +and before we reached Macedonia we had spent three and twenty days. All +the rest of the time, until Philip's arrival, we were sitting idle at +Pella; and this, with the journey, brought the time up to fifty days in +all. {156} During this interval, in a time of peace and truce, Philip +was taking Doriscus,[n] Thrace, the district towards the Walls, the +Sacred Mountain--everything, in fact, and making his own arrangements +there; while I spoke out repeatedly and insistently, first in the tone +of a man giving his opinion to his colleagues, then as though I were +informing the ignorant, till at last I addressed them without any +concealment as men who had sold themselves and were the most impious of +mankind. {157} And the man who contradicted me openly and opposed +everything which I urged and which your decree enjoined, was Aeschines. +Whether his conduct pleased all the other ambassadors as well, you will +know presently; for as yet I allege nothing about any of them, and make +no accusation: no one of them need appear an honest man to-day because +I oblige him to do so, but only of his own free will, and because he +was no partner in Aeschines' crimes. That the conduct in question was +disgraceful, atrocious, venal, you have all seen. Who were the partners +in it, the facts will show. + +{158} 'But of course, during this interval they received the oaths from +Philip's allies, or carried out their other duties.' Far from it! For +though they had been absent from home three whole months, and received +1,000 drachmae from you for their expenses, they did not receive the +oaths from a single city, either on their journey to Macedonia, or on +the way back. It was in the inn before the temple of the Dioscuri--any +one who has been to Pherae will understand me--when Philip was already +on the march towards Athens at the head of an army, that the oaths were +taken, in a fashion which was disgraceful, men of Athens, and insulting +to you. {159} To Philip, however, it was worth anything that the +transaction should have been carried out in this form. These men had +failed in their attempt to insert among the terms of the Peace the +clause which excluded the people of Halus and Pharsalus; Philocrates +had been forced by you to expunge the words, and to write down +expressly 'the Athenians and the allies of the Athenians'; and Philip +did not wish any of his own allies to have taken such an oath; for then +they would not join him in his campaign against those possessions of +yours which he now holds, but would plead their oaths in excuse; {160} +nor did he wish them to be witnesses of the promises on the strength of +which he was obtaining the Peace. He did not wish it to be revealed to +the world that the city of Athens had not, after all, been defeated in +the war, and that it was Philip who was eager for peace, and was +promising to do great things for Athens if he obtained it. It was just +to prevent the revelation of these facts that he thought it inadvisable +that the ambassadors should go to any of the cities; while for their +part, they sought to gratify him in everything, with ostentatious and +extravagant obsequiousness. {161} But when all this is proved against +them--their waste of time, their sacrifice of your position in Thrace, +their complete failure to act in accordance either with your decree or +your interests, their lying report to you--how is it possible that +before a jury of sane men, anxious to be true to their oath, Aeschines +can be acquitted? To prove, however, that what I say is true (_to the +clerk_), first read the decree, under which it was our duty to exact +the oaths, then Philip's letter, and then the decree of Philocrates and +that of the people. + +[_The decrees and letter are read._] + +{162} And now, to prove that we should have caught Philip in the +Hellespont, had any one listened to me, and carried out your +instructions as contained in the decrees, (_to the clerk_) call the +witnesses who were there on the spot. + +[_The witnesses are called._] + +(_To the clerk._) Next read also the other deposition--Philip's answer +to Eucleides,[n] who is present here, when he went to Philip afterwards. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +{163} Now listen to me, while I show that they cannot even deny that it +was to serve Philip's interest that they acted as they did. For when we +set out on the First Embassy--that which was to discuss the Peace--you +dispatched a herald in advance to procure us a safe conduct. Well, on +that occasion, as soon as ever they had reached Oreus, they did not +wait for the herald, or allow any time to be lost; but though Halus was +being besieged, they sailed there direct, and then, leaving the town +again, came to Parmenio, who was besieging it, set out through the +enemy's camp to Pagasae, and, continuing their journey, only met the +herald at Larissa: with such eager haste did they proceed. {164} But at +a time when there was peace and they had complete security for their +journey and you had instructed them to make haste, it never occurred to +them either to quicken their pace or to go by sea. And why? Because on +the former occasion Philip's interest demanded that the Peace should be +made as soon as possible; whereas now it required that as long an +interval as possible should be wasted before the oaths were taken. +{165} To prove that this is so, (_to the clerk_) take and read this +further deposition. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +How could men be more clearly convicted of acting to serve Philip's +interest throughout, than by the fact that they sat idle, when in your +interest they ought to have hurried, on the very same journey over +which they hastened onward, without even waiting for the herald, when +they ought not to have moved at all? + +{166} Now observe how each of us chose to conduct himself while we were +there, sitting idle at Pella. For myself, I chose to rescue and seek +out the captives, spending my own money and asking Philip to procure +their ransom[n] with the sums which he was offering us in the form of +presents. How Aeschines passed his whole time you shall hear presently. +{167} What then was the meaning of Philip's offering money to us in +common? He kept sounding us all--for this too I would have you know. +And how? He sent round privately to each of us, and offered us, men of +Athens, a very large sum in gold. But when he failed in a particular +case (for I need not mention my own name myself, since the proceedings +and their results will of themselves show to whom I refer), he thought +that we should all be innocent enough to accept what was given to us in +common; and then, if we all alike had a share, however small, in the +common present, those who had sold themselves privately would be +secure. {168} Hence these offers, under the guise of presents to his +guest-friends. And when I prevented this, my colleagues further divided +among themselves the sum thus offered. But when I asked Philip to spend +this sum on the prisoners, he could neither, without discredit, +denounce my colleagues, and say, 'But So-and-so has the money, and +So-and-so,' nor yet evade the expense. So he gave the promise, but +deferred its fulfilment, saying that he would send the prisoners home +in time for the Panathenaea. (_To the clerk._) Read the evidence of +Apollophanes, and then that of the rest of those present. + +[_The evidence is read._] + +{169} Now let me tell you how many of the prisoners I myself ransomed. +For while we were sitting waiting there at Pella, before Philip's +arrival, some of the captives--all, in fact, who were out on bail--not +trusting, I suppose, my ability to persuade Philip to act as I wished, +said that they wished to ransom themselves, and to be under no +obligation to Philip for their freedom: and they borrowed, one three +minae, another five, and another--whatever the amount of the ransom was +in each case. {170} But when Philip had promised that he would ransom +the rest, I called together those to whom I had advanced the money; I +reminded them of the circumstances; and, lest they should seem to have +suffered by their impatience, and to have been ransomed at their own +cost, poor men as they were, when all their comrades expected to be set +free by Philip, I made them a present of their ransom. To prove that I +am speaking the truth, (_to the clerk_) read these depositions. + +[_The depositions are read._] + +{171} These, then, are the sums which I excused them, and gave as a +free gift to fellow citizens who had met with misfortune. And so, when +Aeschines says presently, in his speech to you, 'Demosthenes, if, as +you say, you knew, from the time when I supported Philocrates' +proposal, that we were acting altogether dishonestly, why did you go +again as our colleague on the subsequent mission to take the oaths, +instead of entering a sworn excuse?' remember this, that I had promised +those whose freedom I had procured that I would bring them their +ransom, and deliver them to the best of my power. {172} It would have +been a wicked thing to break my word and abandon my fellow citizens in +their misfortune; while, on the other hand, if I had excused myself +upon oath from service, it would not have been altogether honourable, +nor yet safe, to make a tour there in a private capacity. For let +destruction, utter and early, fall upon me, if I would have joined in a +mission with these men for a very large sum of money, had it not been +for my anxiety to rescue the prisoners. It is a proof of this, that +though you twice elected me to serve on the Third Embassy, I twice +swore an excuse. And all through the journey in question my policy was +entirely opposed to theirs. {173} All, then, that it was within my own +power to decide in the course of my mission resulted as I have +described; but wherever in virtue of their majority they gained their +way, all has been lost. And yet, had there been any who listened to me, +all would have been accomplished in a manner congruous with my own +actions. For I was not so pitiful a fool as to give away money, when I +saw others receiving it, in my ambition to serve you, and yet not to +desire what could have been accomplished without expense, and would +have brought far greater benefits to the whole city. I desired it +intensely, men of Athens; but, of course, they had the advantage over +me. + +{174} Come now and contemplate the proceedings of Aeschines and those +of Philocrates, by the side of my own; for the comparison will bring +out their character more vividly. Well, they first pronounced the +exclusion from the Peace of the Phocians and the people of Halus, and +of Cersobleptes, contrary to your decree and to the statements made to +you. Then they attempted to tamper with and alter the decree, which we +had come there as ambassadors to execute. Then they entered the +Cardians as allies of Philip and voted against sending the dispatch +which I had written to you, sending in its stead an utterly unsound +dispatch of their own composition. {175} And then the gallant gentleman +asserted that I had promised Philip that I would overthrow your +constitution, because I censured these proceedings, not only from a +sense of their disgracefulness, but also from fear lest through the +fault of these men I might have to share their ruin: while all the time +he was himself having incessant private interviews with Philip. And, to +pass over all besides, Dercylus (not I) watched him through the night +at Pherae, along with my slave who is here present; and as the slave +came out of Philip's tent he took him and bade him report what he had +seen, and remember it himself; and finally, this disgusting and +shameless fellow was left behind with Philip for a night and a day, +when we went away. {176} And to prove that I am speaking the truth, I +will myself give evidence which I have committed to writing,[n] so as +to put myself in the position of a responsible witness; and after that +I call upon each of the other ambassadors, and I will compel them to +choose their alternative--either to give evidence, or to swear that +they have no knowledge of the matter. If they take the latter course, I +shall convict them of perjury beyond doubt. + +[_Evidence is read._] + +{177} You have seen now by what mischief and trouble I was hampered, +throughout our absence from home. For what must you imagine their +conduct to have been there, with their paymaster close at hand, when +they act as they do before your very eyes, though you have power either +to confer honour or, on the other hand, to inflict punishment upon them? + +I wish now to reckon up from the beginning the charges which I have +made, in order to show you that I have done all that I undertook to do +at the beginning of my speech. {178} I have proved that there was no +truth in his report--that, on the contrary, he deceived you--by the +evidence not of words but of the actual course of events. I have proved +that he was the cause of your unwillingness to hear the truth from my +mouth, captivated as you were at the time by his promises and +undertakings; that he gave you advice which was the exact opposite of +that which he ought to have given, opposing the Peace which was +suggested by the allies, and advocating the Peace of Philocrates; that +he wasted time, in order that you might not be able to march to the aid +of the Phocians, even if you wished to do so; and that he has done many +atrocious deeds during his absence from home; for he has betrayed and +sold everything, he has taken bribes, and has left no form of rascality +untried. These are the points which I promised at the outset to prove, +and I have proved them. {179} Observe, then, what follows; for what I +have now to say to you has already become a simple matter. You have +sworn that you will vote according to the laws and the decrees of the +people and the Council of Five Hundred. The defendant is proved, in all +his conduct as ambassador, to have acted in contravention of the laws, +of the decrees, and of justice. He ought, therefore, to be convicted in +any court composed of rational men. Even if there were no other crimes +at his door, two of his actions are sufficient to slay him; for he +betrayed to Philip not only the Phocians but also Thrace. {180} Two +places in the whole world of greater value to Athens than Thermopylae +on land, and the Hellespont over sea, could not possibly be found; and +both these places these men have shamefully sold, and placed in +Philip's hands to be used against you. The enormity of this crime +alone--the sacrifice of Thrace and the Walls--apart from all the rest, +might be proved in countless ways,[n] and it is easy to point out how +many men have been executed or fined vast sums of money by you for such +offences--Ergophilus,[n] Cephisodotus,[n] Timomachus,[n] Ergocles[n] +long ago, Dionysius, and others; all of whom together, I may almost +say, have done the city less harm than the defendant. {181} But in +those days, men of Athens, you still guarded against danger by +calculation and forethought; whereas now you overlook any danger which +does not annoy you from day to day, or cause you pain by its immediate +presence, and then pass such resolutions here as 'that Philip shall +take the oath in favour of Cersobleptes also,' 'that we will not take +part in the proceedings of the Amphictyons,' 'that we must amend the +Peace.' But none of these resolutions would have been required, had +Aeschines then been ready to sail and to do what was required. As it +is, by urging us to go by land, he has lost all that we could have +saved by sailing; and by lying, all that could have been saved by +speaking the truth. + +{182} He intends, I am told, to express immediately his indignation +that he alone of all the speakers in the Assembly should have to render +an account of his words. I will not urge that all speakers would +reasonably be called upon to render such an account, if any of their +words were spoken for money; I only say this. If Aeschines in his +private capacity has spoken wildly on some occasion or committed some +blunder, do not be over-strict with him, but let it pass and grant him +pardon: but if as your ambassador he has deliberately deceived you for +money, then do not let him go, or tolerate the plea that he ought not +to be called to account for what he _said_. {183} Why, for what, if not +for his words, is an ambassador to be brought to justice? Ambassadors +have no control over ships or places or soldiers or citadels--no one +puts such things in their hands--but over words and times. As regards +times, if he did not cause the times of the city's opportunities to be +lost, he is not guilty; but if he did so, he has committed crime. And +as to his words, if the words of his report were true or expedient, let +him escape; but if they were at once false, venal, and disastrous, let +him be convicted. {184} No greater wrong can a man do you, than is done +by lying speeches. For where government is based upon speeches, how can +it be carried on in security, if the speeches are not true? and if, in +particular, a speaker takes bribes and speaks to further the interests +of the enemy, how can you escape real danger? For to rob you of your +opportunities is not the same thing as to rob an oligarchy or a tyrant. +Far from it. {185} Under such governments, I imagine, everything is +done promptly at a word of command. But with you the Council must first +hear about everything, and pass its preliminary resolution--and even +that not at any time, but only when notice has been given of the +reception of heralds and embassies: then you must convoke an Assembly, +and that only when the time comes for one, as ordained by law: then +those who speak for your true good have to master and overcome those +who, through ignorance or wickedness, oppose them. {186} Besides all +this, even when a measure is resolved upon, and its advantages are +already plain, time must be granted to the impecuniosity of the +majority, in which they may procure whatever means they require in +order to be able to carry out what has been resolved. And so he who +causes times so critical to be lost, in a state constituted as ours is, +has not caused you to lose times, but has robbed you absolutely of the +realization of your aims. + +{187} Now all those who are anxious to deceive you are very ready with +such expressions as 'disturbers of the city,' 'men who prevent Philip +from conferring benefits on the city.' In reply to these, I will use no +argument, but will read you Philip's letters, and will remind you of +the occasion on which each piece of deception took place, that you may +know that Philip has got beyond this exaggerated title of +'benefactor',[n] of which we are so sickened, in his attempts to take +you in by it. + +[_Philip's letters are read._] + +{188} Now although his work as ambassador has been so shameful, so +detrimental to you in many--nay, in all points, he goes about asking +people what they think of Demosthenes, who prosecutes his own +colleagues. I prosecute you indeed, whether I would or no, because +throughout our entire absence from home you plotted against me as I +have said, and because now I have the choice of only two alternatives: +either I must appear to share with you the responsibility for such work +as yours, or I must prosecute you. {189} Nay, I deny that I was ever +your colleague in the Embassy. I say that your work as ambassador was +an atrocious work, while my own was for the true good of those present +here. It is Philocrates that has been your colleague, as you have been +his, and Phrynon. For your policy was the same as theirs, and you all +approved of the same objects. But 'where are the salt, the table, the +libations that we shared?' So he asks everywhere in his theatrical +style--as though it were not the criminals, but the upright, that were +false to such pledges! {190} I am certain that though all the Prytanes +offer their common sacrifice on each occasion, and join one with +another in their meal and their libation, the good do not on this +account copy the bad; but if they detect one of their own number in +crime they report the fact to the Council and the people. In the very +same way the Council offers its inaugural sacrifice and feasts +together, and joins in libations and sacred rites. So do the generals, +and, one may practically say, every body of magistrates. Does that mean +that they grant an indemnity to any of their number who is guilty of +crime? Very far from it. {191} Leon accuses Timagoras,[n] after being +his fellow ambassador for four years: Eubulus accuses Tharrex and +Smicythus, after sharing the banquet with them: the great Conon, the +elder, prosecuted Adeimantus,[n] though they were generals together. +Which sinned against the salt and the libation, Aeschines--the traitors +and the faithless ambassadors and the hirelings, or their accusers? +Plainly those who violated, as you have done, the sanctity, not of +private libations, but of libations poured in the name of the whole +country. + +{192} That you may realize that these men have been the most worthless +and wicked not only of all who have ever gone to Philip in a public +capacity, but even of those who have gone as private persons, and +indeed of all mankind, I ask you to listen to me while I describe +briefly an incident which falls outside the story of this Embassy. When +Philip took Olynthus he celebrated Olympian games, and gathered +together all the artists to the sacrifice and the festal gathering. +{193} And while he was entertaining them at a banquet, and crowning the +victors, he asked Satyrus, the well-known comic actor, why he alone +requested no favour of him. Did he see any meanness in him, or any +dislike towards himself? Satyrus answered (so the story goes) that he +happened to stand in no need of the things for which the rest were +asking, but that the boon which he would like to ask was a favour which +it would be very easy indeed for Philip to bestow; only he was afraid +that he might fail to obtain it. {194} Philip bade him name his +request, declaring with some spirit that there was nothing that he +would not do for him. Satyrus is then said to have stated that +Apollophanes of Pydna was formerly his friend and guest-friend,[n] and +that when he had perished by a treacherous assassination, his kinsman +had, in alarm, conveyed his daughters, then little children, to +Olynthus secretly. 'These girls,' said Satyrus, 'have been taken +prisoners at the capture of the city; they are with you, and they are +now of marriageable age. {195} It is these girls that I beg and entreat +you to give to me. But I should like you to hear and understand what +sort of present you will be giving me, if you really give it. I shall +gain nothing by receiving it: I shall give them in marriage, and a +dowry with them, and shall not allow them to suffer anything unworthy +of us or of their father.' When those who were present at the feast +heard this, there was such applause and cheering and approbation on all +hands, that Philip was moved and granted the request, although the +Apollophanes who was spoken of was one of the murderers of Alexander, +Philip's brother. {196} Now let us examine side by side with this +banquet of Satyrus, that in which these men took part in Macedonia. +Observe what likeness and resemblance there is between the two! For +these men were invited to the house of Xenophron, the son of Phaedimus, +who was one of the Thirty,[n] and went. I did not go. But when it came +to the time for wine, he brought in an Olynthian woman--good-looking, +but well-bred and modest, as the event proved. {197} At first, I +believe (according to the account which Iatrocles gave me the next +day), they only forced her to drink a little wine quietly and to eat +some dessert; but as the feast proceeded and they waxed warm, they bade +her recline and even sing a song. And when the poor creature, who was +in great distress, neither would nor could do as they bade her, +Aeschines and Phrynon declared that it was an insult and quite +intolerable, that a captive woman--one of those god-forsaken devils the +Olynthians--should give herself airs. 'Call a slave,' they cried, 'and +let some one bring a strap.' A servant came with a lash; they had been +drinking, I imagine, and were easily annoyed; and as soon as she said +something and burst into tears, the servant tore open her dress and +gave her a number of cuts across the back. {198} Beside herself with +the pain and the sense of her position, the woman leaped up and fell +before the knees of Iatrocles, overturning the table as she did so. And +had he not rescued her, she would have perished as the victim of a +drunken debauch; for the drunkenness of this abominable creature is +something horrible.[n] The case of this woman was also mentioned in +Arcadia before the Ten Thousand, and Diophantus reported to you what I +shall now force him to testify; for the matter was much talked of in +Thessaly and everywhere. + +{199} Yet with all this on his conscience this unclean creature will +dare to look you in the face, and will very soon be speaking to you of +the life he has lived, in that magnificent voice of his. It chokes me +to hear him! Does not the jury know how at first you used to read over +the books to your mother at her initiations,[n] and wallow amid bands +of drunken men at their orgies, while still a boy? {200} and how you +were afterwards under-clerk to the magistrates, and played the rogue +for two or three drachmae?[n] and how at last, in recent days, you +thought yourself lucky to get a parasitic living in the training-rooms +of others, as a third-rate actor? What then is the life of which you +propose to speak? Where have you lived it? For the life which you have +really lived has been what I have described. And how much does he take +upon himself! He brought another man to trial here for unnatural +offences! But I leave this point for the moment. (_To the clerk._) +First, read me these depositions. + +[_The depositions are read._] + +{201} So many, then, and so gross, gentlemen of the jury, being the +crimes against you of which he stands convicted--and what wickedness do +they not include? he is corrupt, he is a minion, he is under the curse, +a liar, a betrayer of his own people; all the most heinous offences are +there--he will not defend himself against a single one of these +charges, and will have no defence to offer that is either just or +straightforward. But the statement which, I am told, he intends to +make, borders on madness; though perhaps a man who has no other plea to +offer must contrive anything that he can. {202} For I hear that he is +to say that I, forsooth, have been a partner in everything of which I +accuse him; that at first I used to approve of his policy and to act +with him; and that I have suddenly changed my mind and become his +accuser. As a defence of his conduct such assertions are, of course, +neither legitimate nor to the point, though they do imply some kind of +charge against myself; for, of course, if I have acted thus, I am a +worthless person. But the conduct itself is no better for that. Far +from it! {203} At the same time, I think it is proper for me to prove +to you both the points in question--first, that if he makes such an +assertion he will be lying; and secondly, what is the just line of +defence. Now a just and straightforward defence must show either that +the acts charged against him were not committed, or that having been +committed, they are to the advantage of the city. {204} But Aeschines +cannot do either of these things. For I presume that it is not possible +for him to say that it is to the advantage of the city that the +Phocians have been ruined, that Thermopylae is in Philip's hands, that +Thebes is powerful, that there are soldiers in Euboea and plotting +against Megara, and that the Peace should not have been sworn to,[n] +when on the former occasion he announced the very contrary of all these +things to you in the guise of advantages, and advantages about to be +realized? Nor will he be able to persuade you that these things have +not been done, when you yourselves have seen them and know the facts +well. {205} It remains for me, therefore, to show you that I have had +no share in any of their proceedings. Shall I then dismiss everything +else from consideration--all that I have said against them in your +presence, all my collisions with them during our absence, all my +antagonism to them from first to last--and produce my opponents +themselves as witnesses to the fact that my conduct and theirs have +been absolutely contrary the one to the other--that they have taken +money to your detriment, and that I refused to receive it? Then mark +what I say. + +{206} Who, would you say, was of all men in Athens the most offensive, +most overflowing with effrontery and contemptuousness? I am sure that +none of you, even by mistake, would name any other than Philocrates. +And who, would you say, possessed the loudest voice and could enunciate +whatever he pleased most clearly? Aeschines the defendant, I am sure. +Who is it then that these men describe as cowardly and timid before a +crowd, while I call him cautious? It is myself; for I have never +annoyed you or forced myself upon you against your will. {207} Now at +every meeting of the Assembly, as often as a discussion has arisen upon +these subjects, you hear me accusing and convicting these men, +declaring explicitly that they have taken money and have sold all the +interests of the city. And not one of them has ever to this day +contradicted the statement, when he heard it, or opened his mouth, or +shown himself. {208} What then is the reason, why the most offensive +men in the city, the men with the loudest voices, are so cowed before +me, the timidest of men, whose voice is no louder than any other? It is +because Truth is strong; while to them, on the other hand, the +consciousness of having sold public interests is a source of weakness. +It is this that steals away the boldness of these men, this that binds +down their tongues and stops their mouths--chokes them, and makes them +silent. {209} You remember, of course, how at the recent meeting in the +Peiraeus, when you would not have him for your representative,[n] he +was shouting that he would impeach me and indict me, and crying, 'Oh! +Oh!' But such steps are the beginning of long and numerous trials and +speeches; whereas the alternative was but to utter perhaps two or three +words, which even a slave purchased yesterday could have +pronounced--'Men of Athens, this is utterly atrocious. Demosthenes is +accusing me here of crimes in which he himself was a partner; he says +that I have taken money, when he has taken money, or shared it, +himself.' {210} But no such words, no such sound, did he utter, nor did +one of you hear him do so; he only uttered threats to a different +effect. And why? Because he knew that he had done what he was charged +with doing; he was abjectly afraid to use any such expressions; his +resolution could not rise to them, but shrank back; for it was in the +grip of his conscience; whereas there was nothing to hinder him from +uttering irrelevant abuse and slander. {211} But here is the strongest +proof of all, and it consists not in words, but in fact. For when I was +anxious to do what it was right to do, namely, to make a second report +to you, after serving a second time as ambassador, Aeschines came +before the Board of Auditors with a number of witnesses, and forbade +them to call me before the court, since I had rendered my account +already, and was no longer liable to give it. The incident was +extremely ridiculous. And what was the meaning of it? He had made his +report with reference to the First Embassy, against which no one +brought any charge, and did not wish to go before the court again with +regard to the Second Embassy, with reference to which he now appears +before you, and within which all his crimes fell. {212} But if I came +before you twice, it became necessary for him also to appear again; and +so he tried to prevent them from summoning me. But this action of his, +men of Athens, plainly proves to you two things--first, that he had so +condemned himself that none of you can now acquit him without impiety; +and secondly, that he will not speak a word of truth about me. Had he +anything true to assert, he would have been found asserting it and +accusing me then; he would certainly not have tried to prevent my being +summoned. {213} To prove the truth of what I say, (_to the clerk_) call +me the witnesses to the facts. + +But further, if he makes slanderous statements against me which have +nothing to do with the Embassy, there are many good reasons for your +refusing to listen to him. For I am not on my trial to-day, and when I +have finished my speech I have no further time allotted to me.[n] What +can such statements mean, except that he is bankrupt of legitimate +arguments? For who that was on his trial and had any defence to make, +would prefer to accuse another? {214} And consider also this further +point, gentlemen of the jury. If I were on my trial, with the defendant +Aeschines for accuser and Philip for judge; and if, being unable to +disprove my guilt, I abused Aeschines and tried to sully his character, +do you not think that Philip would be indignant at the very fact of a +man abusing _his_ benefactors in his own presence? Do not _you_ then +prove worse than Philip; but force Aeschines to defend himself against +the charges which are the subject of the trial. (_To the clerk._) Read +the deposition. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +{215} So for my part, because I had nothing on my conscience, I felt it +my duty to render an account and submit all the information that the +laws required, while the defendant took the opposite view. How then can +his conduct and mine have been the same? or how can he possibly assert +against me now things of which he has never even accused me before? It +is surely impossible. And yet he will assert these things, and, Heaven +knows, it is natural enough. For you doubtless know well that ever +since the human race began and trials were instituted, no one was ever +convicted admitting his crime: they brazen it out, they deny it, they +lie, they make up excuses, they take every means to escape paying the +penalty. {216} _You_ must not let any of these devices mislead you +to-day; your judgement must be given upon the facts, in the light of +your own knowledge; you must not attend to words, whether mine or his, +still less to the witnesses whom he will have ready to testify +anything, since he has Philip to pay his expenses--you will see how +glibly they will give evidence for him; nor must you care whether his +voice is fine and loud, or whether mine is poor. {217} For it is no +trial of orators or of speeches that you have to hold to-day, if you +are wise men. You have rather, in the name of a cause shamefully and +terribly ruined, to thrust off the present disgrace on to the shoulders +of the guilty, after a scrutiny of those results which are known to you +all. {218} And these results, which you know and do not require us to +tell you of--what are they? If the consequences of the Peace have been +all that they promised you; if you admit that you were so filled with +an unmanly cowardice, that, though the enemy was not in your land, +though you were not blockaded by sea, though your city was menaced by +no other danger whatever, though, on the contrary, the price of corn +was low and you were in other respects as well off as you are to-day, +{219} though you knew beforehand on the information of these men that +your allies were about to be ruined and Thebes to become powerful, that +Philip was about to occupy the Thracian strongholds and to establish a +basis of operations against you in Euboea, and that all that has now +happened was about to come to pass, you nevertheless made peace +cheerfully;--if that is so, then acquit Aeschines, and do not add +perjury to all your disgrace. For in that case he is guilty of no crime +against you; it is I that am mad and brainsick to accuse him now. {220} +But if what they told you was altogether the reverse of this, if it was +a tale of great generosity--of Philip's love for Athens, of his +intention to save the Phocians, to check the insolence of the Thebans, +and beside all this (if he obtained the Peace) to confer on you +benefits that would more than compensate for Amphipolis, and to restore +to you Euboea and Oropus; if, I say, they stated and promised all this, +and have now totally deceived and cheated you, and have all but robbed +you of Attica itself, then condemn him, and do not, in addition to all +the outrages--I know not what other word to use--that you have +suffered, carry with you to your homes, through upholding their +corruption, the curse and the guilt of perjury. + +{221} Again, gentlemen of the jury, ask yourselves what reason I could +have had for choosing to accuse these men, if they had done no wrong? +You will find none. Is it pleasant to have many enemies? Pleasant? It +is not even safe. Was there any quarrel between me and Aeschines? None. +What then? 'You were afraid for yourself, and in your cowardice thought +to save yourself this way:' for that, I have heard, is what he says. +What? I was afraid, when, according to your own statement, there was +nothing to be afraid of, and no crime had been committed? If he repeats +such an assertion, men of Athens, consider[n] what these men +themselves, the actual criminals, ought to suffer for their offences, +if I, who am absolutely guiltless, was afraid of being ruined owing to +them. {222} But what is my motive for accusing you? I am an informer, +of course, and want to get money out of you![n] And which was the +easier course for me--to get money out of Philip, who offered a large +sum--to get as much as any of these men, and to have not only Philip +for my friend, but also my opponents (for they would assuredly have +been friends, had I been partner with them, since even now they have no +inherited quarrel against me, but only the fact that I refused to join +in their actions); or to beg them for a share of their gains, and be +regarded with hostility both by Philip and by them? Is it likely that +when I was ransoming the prisoners at such cost to myself, I should ask +to receive a paltry sum from these men, in a disgraceful manner and +with their enmity accompanying it? {223} Impossible! My report was +true. I abstained from taking money for the sake of justice and truth +and my own future. For I thought, as others among you have thought, +that my own uprightness would receive its reward, and that I must not +barter my ambition to stand well with you for gain of any kind. And I +abhor these men, because I saw that they were vile and impious in the +conduct of their mission, and because I have been robbed of the objects +of my own ambition, owing to their corruption, now that you have come +to be vexed with the Embassy as a whole. And it is because I foresee +what must happen that I now accuse him, and appear to challenge his +report; for I would have it decided here, in a trial before a jury, +that my conduct has been the opposite of his. {224} And I am +afraid--afraid, I say, for I will speak all my mind to you--that though +when the time comes you may drag me in spite of my entire innocence to +the same ruin with them, you are now utterly supine. For, men of +Athens, you appear to me to be altogether unstrung, waiting to suffer +the horrors which others are suffering before your eyes, and taking no +precautions, no thought for the city, which for so long has been +exposed to destruction in many a dreadful form. {225} Is it not, think +you, dreadful and preternatural? For even where I had resolved upon +silence, I am driven to speak. You doubtless know Pythocles here, the +son of Pythodorus. I had been on very kindly terms with him, and to +this day there has been no unpleasantness between us. He avoids me now, +when he meets me--ever since he visited Philip--and if he is obliged to +encounter me anywhere, he starts away immediately, lest any one should +see him talking with me. But with Aeschines he walks all round the +marketplace, discussing their plans. {226} Now is it not a terrible and +shocking thing, men of Athens, that those who have made it their choice +to foster Philip's interests should be able to rely upon so accurate a +discrimination on Philip's part, that all that any one of them does +here can no more be hid from Philip (so they believe) than if he were +standing by their side, and that his friends and foes alike are those +that Philip chooses; while those whose life is lived for _your_ good, +who are greedy of honour at _your_ hands, and have not betrayed you, +should be met by such deafness, such blindness, on your part, that +to-day I have to wrestle with these devils incarnate on equal terms, +and that before you, who know the whole truth? {227} Would you know or +hear the cause of these things? I will tell you, and I beg that none of +you be angry with me for speaking the truth. It is, I imagine, that +Philip has but one body and one soul, and it is with all his heart that +he cherishes those who do him good and detests those who do him evil: +whereas each of you, in the first place, has no feeling that the good +or the evil which is being done to the city, is being done to himself; +{228} other feelings are of more consequence, and often lead you +astray--pity, envy, anger, favour towards the suppliant, and an +infinite number of other motives: while if a man has actually escaped +all these, he will still not escape from those who do not want such a +man to exist at all. And so the error due to each of these single +causes steals on little by little, till the state is exposed to the +whole accumulated mischief. + +{229} Do not fall victims to any such error to-day, men of Athens: do +not let the defendant go, when he has done you all this wrong. For +honestly, if you let him go, what will be said of you? 'Certain men,' +it will be said, 'went as ambassadors to Philip yonder--Philocrates, +Aeschines, Phrynon, and Demosthenes; and, what happened? One of them +not only gained nothing by his mission, but ransomed the prisoners at +his private expense; another, with the money for which he sold the +interests of his country, went about purchasing harlots and fish. {230} +One of them, the abominable Phrynon, sent his son to Philip before he +had registered him as an adult; the other did nothing unworthy of +himself or his city. One, though serving as choregus and trierarch,[n] +felt it his duty voluntarily to incur that further expense [to ransom +the prisoners] rather than see any of his fellow citizens suffering +misfortune for want of means; the other, so far from rescuing any of +those who were already in captivity, joined in bringing a whole +district, and more than 10,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry with them, +the forces of the actual allies of his country, into captivity to +Philip. What followed? {231} When the Athenians got them into their +hands (for they had long known the truth) what did they do? They let go +the men who had received bribes and had disgraced themselves, and their +city, and their children; they thought that these were wise men, and +that all was well[n] with the city; and as for their accuser, they +thought him thunderstruck--a man who did not understand his country, +and did not know where to fling his money away.' {232} And who, men of +Athens, with this example before his eyes, will be willing to offer you +his honest service? who will act as ambassador for nothing, if he is +not only to gain nothing by it, but is not to be more trustworthy in +your eyes than those who have taken money? You are not only trying +these men to-day, but you are laying down a law for all future time--a +law which will declare whether your ambassadors are to serve the enemy +for a price, or to act disinterestedly for your true good and to take +no bribe? {233} On all the other points you require no evidence; but to +prove that Phrynon sent his son, (_to the clerk_) call me the witnesses +to the facts. + +Aeschines then did not prosecute Phrynon, for sending his own son to +Philip for a disgraceful purpose. But because a man, who in his youth +was above the average in appearance, did not foresee the suspicion +which his good looks might entail, and afterwards lived a somewhat fast +life, he has prosecuted him for unnatural offences. + +{234} Now let me speak of the banquet and the decree; for I had almost +overlooked what I was especially bound to tell you. In drawing up the +resolution of the Council with reference to the First Embassy, and +again in addressing the people, at the assemblies in which you were to +discuss the question of peace, not a single word or act of a criminal +nature on the part of these men having so far come to light, I followed +the ordinary custom, and proposed to accord them a vote of thanks, and +to invite them to the Town Hall. {235} And I did, of course, entertain +Philip's ambassadors as well, and on a very splendid scale, men of +Athens. For when I saw that in their own country they prided themselves +even on things like these, as showing their prosperity and splendour, I +thought that I must begin by outdoing them in this respect, and +displaying even greater magnificence. These incidents Aeschines will +shortly bring forward to prove that 'Demosthenes himself voted thanks +to us, and gave a banquet to the ambassadors', without telling you the +precise time when the incidents occurred. {236} For these things belong +to a time before any injury had been done to the city, and before it +was evident that they had sold themselves. The ambassadors had only +just arrived on their first visit; the people had still to hear what +they proposed; and there was nothing as yet to show that Aeschines +would support Philocrates, or that Philocrates would make such +proposals as he did. If, then, Aeschines uses any such argument, +remember that the dates of the incidents are earlier than those of his +crimes. But since then there has been no friendliness between myself +and them, and no common action. (_To the clerk._) Read the deposition. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +{237} Now perhaps his brother Philochares will support him, and +Aphobetus. There is much that you may fairly urge in reply to both; and +I am obliged, men of Athens, to speak to you quite freely and without +any reserve. You, Philochares, are a painter of vase-cases and drums; +your brothers are under-clerks and quite ordinary men--not that there +is any harm in these things, but at the same time they do not qualify a +man to be a general.[n] And yet, Aphobetus and Philochares, we thought +you worthy to be ambassadors and generals, and to receive the highest +honours; {238} so that even if none of you were guilty of any crime, we +should owe no gratitude to you; you would rather owe gratitude to us +for your preferment. For we passed by many others, more deserving of +such honours than you were, and exalted you instead. But if in the +enjoyment of these very honours one of you has actually committed +crimes, and crimes of such a nature, how much more deserving are you of +execration than of acquittal? Much more, I am sure. Perhaps they will +force their claims upon you, for they are loud-voiced and shameless, +and they have taken to themselves the motto that 'it is pardonable for +brother to help brother'. {239} But you must not give way. Remember +that if it is right for them to think of Aeschines, it is for you to +think of the laws and the whole State, and, above all, of the oath +which you yourselves, who sit here, have taken. Yes, and if they have +entreated some of you to save the defendant, then ask yourselves +whether you are to save him if he is proved innocent of crime, or even +if he is proved guilty. If they ask you to do so, should he be +innocent, I too say that you must acquit him. But if you are asked to +acquit him, whatever he has done, then they have asked you to commit +perjury. For though your vote is secret, it will not be hidden from the +gods; and the framer of our law [which enjoins secret voting] was +absolutely right, when he saw that though none of these men will know +which of you has granted his request, the gods will know, and the +unseen powers, who has given the unjust vote. {240} And it is better +for a man to lay up, for his children and himself, those good hopes +which _they_ can bestow, by giving the decision that is just and right, +than to win credit from these men for a favour of whose reality they +can have no certain knowledge, and to acquit the defendant, when his +own testimony condemns him. For what stronger testimony can I produce, +Aeschines, to prove how terrible your work as ambassador has been, than +your own testimony against yourself? For when you thought it necessary +to involve in so great and dreadful a calamity one who wished to reveal +some of your actions as ambassador, it is plain that you expected your +own punishment to be a terrible one, if your countrymen learned what +you had done. + +{241} That step, if you are wise, he will prove to have taken to his +own detriment; not only because it is an overwhelming proof of the +nature of his conduct as ambassador, but also because of those +expressions which he used in the course of the prosecution, and which +are now at our disposal against himself. For the principles of justice, +as defined by you when you were prosecuting Timarchus, must, I presume, +be no less valid when used by others against yourself. {242} His words +to the jury on that occasion were these. 'Demosthenes intends to defend +Timarchus, and to denounce my acts as ambassador. And then, when he has +led you off the point by his speech, he will brag of it, and go about +saying, "Well? what do you think?[2] Why I led the jury right away from +the point, and stole the case triumphantly out of their hands."' Then +you at least must not act thus, but must make your defence with +reference to the real points of your case, though, when you were +prosecuting Timarchus on that occasion, you permitted yourself to make +any charges and assertions that you chose. + +{243} But there were verses too, which you recited before the jury, in +your inability to produce any witness to the charges on which you were +prosecuting Timarchus:-- + + Rumour, the voice of many folk, not all + Doth die, for Rumour too a goddess is.[3] + +Well, Aeschines, all those who are present say that you have made money +out of your mission; and so it holds true against you, I suppose, that +'Rumour, the voice of many folk, not all doth die'. {244} For observe +how easily you can ascertain how much larger a body of accusers appears +in your case than in his. Timarchus was not known even to all his +neighbors; while there is not a man, Hellene or foreigner, but says +that you and your fellow ambassadors made money out of your mission. +And so, if the rumour is true, then the rumour which is the voice of +many folk is against you; and you have yourself laid down that such a +rumour is to be believed, that 'Rumour too a goddess is', and that the +poet who composed these lines was a wise man. + +{245} Then, you remember, he collected some iambic verses, and recited +the whole passage; for instance:-- + + Whoso in evil company delights + Of him I ne'er enquired, for well I trow, + As is his company, such is the man.[3] + +And 'when a man goes to the cockpit[n] and walks about with +Pittalacus'--he added more to the same effect--'surely,' said he, 'you +know what to think of him.' Well, Aeschines, these same verses will now +exactly serve my turn against you, and if I quote them to the jury, the +quotation will be true and apposite. 'But whoso in the company +delights' of Philocrates, and that when he is an ambassador, 'Of him I +ne'er enquired, for well I trow' that he has taken money, as did +Philocrates who does not deny it. + +{246} He attempts to insult others by labelling them hack-writers[n] +and sophists. He shall himself be proved liable to these very +imputations. The verses he quoted are derived from the _Phoenix_ of +Euripides--a play which has never to this day been acted either by +Theodorus or Aristodemus, the actors under whom Aeschines always played +third-rate parts, though it was performed by Molon, and no doubt by +other actors of former times. But the _Antigone_ of Sophocles has often +been acted by Theodorus and often by Aristodemus; and in this play +there are some admirable and instructive verses, which he must know +quite well by heart, since he has often delivered them himself, but +which he has omitted to quote. {247} For you know, I am sure, that in +every tragedy it is, as it were, the special privilege of third-rate +actors to play in the rôle of tyrants and sceptred kings. Consider, +then, these excellent lines, placed by the poet in the mouth of our +Creon-Aeschines in this play--lines which he neither repeated to +himself to guide him as an ambassador, nor yet quoted to the jury. (_To +the clerk._) Read the passage. + + _Verses from the 'Antigone' of Sophocles._ + + To learn aright the soul and heart and mind + Of any man--for that, device is none, + Till he be proved in government and law, + And so revealed. For he who guides the State, + Yet cleaves not in his counsels to the best, + But from some fear in prison locks his tongue, + Is in mine eyes, as he hath ever been, + Vilest of men. And him, who sets his friend + Before his land, I count of no esteem. + For I--be it known to God's all-viewing eye-- + Would ne'er keep silence, seeing the march of doom + Upon this city--doom in safety's stead, + Nor ever take to me as mine own friend + My country's foe.' For this I know, that she, + Our country, is the ship that bears us safe, + And safe aboard her, while she sails erect, + We make good friends. + +{248} None of these lines did Aeschines ever repeat to himself during +his mission. Instead of preferring his country he thought that to be +friend and guest-friend of Philip was much more important and +profitable for himself, and bade a long farewell to the wise Sophocles. +He saw the 'march of doom' draw near, in the campaign against the +Phocians; but he gave no warning, no announcement of what was to come. +On the contrary, he helped to conceal it, he helped to carry out the +doom, he prevented those who would have given warning--{249} not +remembering that 'Our country is the ship that bears us safe, and safe +aboard her' his mother with the help of her initiations and +purifications and the property of the clients, on whom she lived, +reared up these sons of hers to their destined greatness;[n] while his +father, who kept an elementary school, as I am told by my elders, near +the temple of the Hero-Physician,[n] made a living, such as he could +indeed, but still on the same ship. The sons, who had received money as +under-clerks and servants in all the magistrates' offices, were finally +elected clerks by you, and for two years continued to get their living +in the Round Chamber;[n] and Aeschines was just now dispatched as your +ambassador--from this same ship. He regarded none of these things. +{250} He took no care that the ship should sail erect. Nay, he capsized +her; he sank the ship; he did all that he could to bring her into the +power of the enemy. What then? Are you not a sophist? Aye, and a +villanous one. Are you not a hack? Aye, and one detested of Heaven--for +you passed over the scene which you had so often performed and knew +well by heart, while you sought out a scene which you had never acted +in your life, and produced the passage in the hope of injuring one of +your fellow citizens. + +{251} And now examine his speech about Solon. He told us that the +statue of Solon, with his hand concealed in the drapery of his robe, +was erected as an illustration of the self-restraint of the orators of +that day. (This was in the course of a scurrilous attack upon the +impetuosity of Timarchus.) But the Salaminians tell us that this statue +was erected less than fifty years ago, whereas some two hundred and +forty years have passed between the time of Solon and the present day; +so that not only was the artist, who modelled him in this attitude, not +living in Solon's day, but even his grandfather was not. {252} That +then is what he told the jury, copying the attitude as he did so. But +that which it would have done his country far more good to see--the +soul and the mind of Solon--he did not copy. No, he did the very +reverse. For when Salamis had revolted from Athens and the +death-penalty had been decreed against any one who proposed to attempt +its recovery, Solon, by singing, at the risk of his own life,[n] a lay +which he had composed, won back the island for his country, and wiped +out her disgrace: {253} while Aeschines, when the king and all the +Hellenes had decided that Amphipolis was yours, surrendered and sold +it, and supported Philocrates, who proposed the resolution for this +purpose. It is indeed worth his while (is it not?) to remember Solon! +Nor was he content with acting thus in Athens; for when he had gone to +Macedonia, he did not even mention the name of the place which it was +the object of his mission to secure. This, in fact, he reported to you +himself, in words which doubtless you remember: 'I too had something to +say about Amphipolis; but in order that Demosthenes might have an +opportunity of speaking upon the subject, I left it to him.' {254} Upon +which I came forward and denied that Aeschines had left to me anything +which he was anxious to say to Philip; he would rather have given any +one a share in his lifeblood than in his speech. The truth is, I +imagine, that he had taken money; and as Philip had given him the money +in order that he might not have to restore Amphipolis, he could not +speak in opposition to Philip's case. Now (_to the clerk_) take this +lay of Solon's and read it; and (_to the jury_) then you will know how +Solon used to hate all such men as this. + +{255} It is not when you are speaking, Aeschines, but when you are upon +an embassy, that you should keep your hand within your robe. But on the +Embassy you held out your hand, and held it open; you brought shame to +your countrymen: and do you here assume a solemn air and recite in +those practised tones the miserable phrases that you have learned by +heart, and expect to escape the penalty for all your heinous +crimes--even if you do go round with a cap on your head,[n] uttering +abuse against me? (_To the clerk._) Read the verses. + + _Solon's Lay._ + + The Father's voice hath spoken, + Whose word is Destiny, + And the blest Gods have willed it, + The Gods who shall not die; + That ne'er shall the Destroyer + Prevail against our land; + The Dread Sire's valiant Daughter + Guards us with eye and hand. + Yet her own sons, in folly, + Would lay their country low, + For pelf; and in her leaders + An heart of sin doth grow. + For them--their pride's fell offspring-- + There waiteth grievous pain; + For sated still, they know not + Their proud lust to contain. + Not theirs, if mirth be with them, + The decent, peaceful feast; + To sin they yield, and sinning + Rejoice in wealth increased. + No hallowed treasure sparing, + Nor people's common store, + This side and that his neighbour + Each robs with havoc sore. + The holy law of Justice + They guard not. Silent she, + Who knows what is and hath been, + Awaits the time to be. + Then cometh she to judgement, + With certain step, tho' slow; + E'en now she smites the city, + And none may 'scape the blow. + To thraldom base she drives us, + From slumber rousing strife,-- + Fell war of kin, destroying + The young, the beauteous life. + The foemen of their country + In wicked bands combine, + Fit company; and stricken + The lovely land doth pine. + These are the Wrong, the Mischief, + That pace the earth at home; + But many a beggared exile + To other lands must roam-- + Sold, chained in bonds unseemly; + For so to each man's hall + Comes home the People's Sorrow, + And leaps the high fence-wall. + No courtyard door can stay it; + It follows to his side, + Flee tho' he may, and crouching + In inmost chamber hide. + Such warning unto Athens + My spirit bids me sound, + That Lawlessness in cities + Spreads evil all around; + But Lawfulness and Order + Make all things good and right, + Chaining Sin's hands in fetters, + Quenching the proud soul's light, + Smoothing the rough, the sated + Staying, and withering + The flowers, that, fraught with ruin, + From fatal seed upspring. + The paths of crooked justice + Are turned into straight; + The ways of Pride grow gentle, + The ways of Strife and Hate; + Then baleful Faction ceases, + Then Health prevails alway, + And Wisdom still increases, + Beneath Law's wholesome sway. + +{256} You hear, men of Athens, how Solon speaks of men like these, and +of the gods, who, he says, preserve the city. It is my belief and my +hope that this saying of his, that the gods preserve our city, is true +at all times; but I believe that all that has happened in connexion +with the present examination is, in a sense, a special proof of the +goodwill of some unseen power towards the city. {257} Consider what has +happened. A man who as ambassador did a work of great wickedness, and +has surrendered countries in which the gods should have been worshipped +by yourselves and your allies, has disfranchised one who accepted the +challenge[n] to prosecute him. To what end? To the end that he himself +might meet with no pity or mercy for his own iniquities. Nay, more; +while prosecuting his victim he deliberately set himself to speak evil +of me; and again, before the People, he threatened to enter an +indictment against me, and said more to the same effect. And to what +end? To the end that I, who had the most perfect knowledge of all his +acts of villany, and had followed them closely throughout, might have +your full indulgence in prosecuting him. {258} Aye, and through +postponing his appearance before you continually up to the present +moment, he has been insensibly brought to a time when, on account of +what is coming upon us, if for no other reason, it is neither possible +nor safe for you to allow him (after his corruption) to escape +unscathed. For though, men of Athens, you ought always to execrate and +to punish those who are traitors and corrupt, to do so at this time +would be more than ever seasonable, and would confer a benefit upon all +mankind in common. {259} For a disease, men of Athens, an awful disease +has fallen upon Hellas--a disease hard to cope with, and requiring +abundant good fortune, and abundant carefulness on your own part. For +the most notable men in their several cities, the men who claim[n] to +lead in public affairs, are betraying their own liberty--unhappy +men!--and bringing upon themselves a self-chosen servitude, under the +milder names of friendship and companionship with Philip, and other +such phrases; while the other citizens, and the sovereign bodies in +each city, however composed, whose duty it was to punish these men and +slay them out of hand, are so far from taking any such action, that +they admire and envy them, and every one would be glad to be in the +same case. {260} Yet it is from this very cause--it is through +entertaining ambitions like these--that the Thessalians, who up to +yesterday or the day before had lost thereby only their paramount +position[n] and their dignity as a state, are now already being +stripped of their very liberty; for there are Macedonian garrisons in +some of their citadels. This same disease it is which has invaded the +Peloponnese and brought about the massacres in Elis, infecting the +unhappy people of that country with such insanity and frenzy, that in +order to be lords over one another and to gratify Philip, they murder +their kinsmen and fellow citizens. {261} Not even here has the disease +been stayed: it has penetrated Arcadia and turned it upside-down; and +now many of the Arcadians, who should be no less proud of liberty than +yourselves--for you and they alone are indigenous peoples--are +declaring their admiration for Philip, erecting his image in bronze, +and crowning him; and, to complete the tale, they have passed a +resolution that, if he comes to the Peloponnese, they will receive him +within their walls. {262} The Argives have acted in exactly the same +way. These events, I say it in all solemnity and earnestness, call for +no small precautions: for this plague, men of Athens, that is spreading +all around us, has now found its way to Athens itself. While then we +are still safe, ward it off, and take away the citizenship of those who +first introduced it. Beware lest otherwise you realize the worth of the +advice given you this day, only when there is no longer anything that +you can do. {263} Do you not perceive, men of Athens, how vivid and +plain an example has been afforded you by the unhappy Olynthians? The +destruction of those wretched men was due to nothing so much as to +conduct like that of which I speak. You can test this clearly if you +review their history. {264} For at a time when they possessed only 400 +cavalry, and numbered not more than 5,000 men in all, since the +Chalcidians were not yet all united under one government, the Spartans +came against them with a large force, including both army and fleet +(for you doubtless remember that at that period the Spartans were +virtually masters both of land and sea); and yet, though this great +force came against them, the Olynthians lost neither the city nor any +single fortress, but won many battles, killed three of the enemy's +commanders, and finally concluded the war on their own terms.[n] {265} +But when some of them began to take bribes, and the people as a whole +were foolish enough, or rather unfortunate enough, to repose greater +confidence in these men than in those who spoke for their own good; +when Lasthenes roofed his house with the timber which came from +Macedonia, and Euthycrates was keeping a large herd of cattle for which +he had paid no one anything; when a third returned with sheep, and a +fourth with horses, while the people, to whose detriment all this was +being done, so far from showing any anger or any disposition to +chastise men who acted so, actually gazed on them with envy, and paid +them honour and regarded them as heroes--{266} when, I say, such +practices were gaining ground in this way, and corruption had been +victorious; then, though they possessed 1,000 cavalry and numbered more +than 10,000 men; though all the surrounding peoples were their allies; +though you went to their assistance with 10,000 mercenaries and 50 +ships, and with 4,000 citizen-soldiers as well, none of these things +could save them. Before a year of the war had expired they had lost all +the cities in Chalcidice, while Philip could no longer keep pace with +the invitations of the traitors, and did not know which place to occupy +first. {267} Five hundred horsemen were betrayed by their own +commanders and captured by Philip, with their arms--a larger number +than were ever before captured by any one. And the men who acted thus +were not ashamed to face the sun or the earth--the soil of their native +land--on which they stood, or the temples, or the sepulchres of the +dead, or the disgrace which was bound to follow upon such deeds +afterwards. Such is the madness and distraction which corruption +engenders. So it is for you--for you, the People--to be wise, to refuse +to suffer such things, and to visit them with public chastisement. For +it would be monstrous indeed, if, after the terrible condemnation which +you passed upon those who betrayed the Olynthians, it were seen that +you allowed the criminals who are in your very midst to go unpunished. +(_To the clerk._) Read the decree passed with reference to the +Olynthians. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{268} This decree, gentlemen of the jury, is one which in the eyes of +all, Hellenes and foreigners alike, it was right and honourable in you +to have passed in condemnation of traitors and men detested of Heaven. +And so, since the taking of the bribe is the step which precedes such +actions, and it is the bribe that prompts the traitor's deeds, +whenever, men of Athens, you find a man receiving a bribe, you must +count him a traitor as well. That one man betrays opportunities, and +another affairs of state, and another soldiers, means only, I imagine, +that each works mischief in the particular department over which he has +control; but there should be no distinction in your execration of all +such men. {269} You, men of Athens, are the only people in the world +who can draw from your own history examples which bear upon this +matter, and who have those ancestors, whom you rightly praise, to +imitate in your actions. You may not be able, at the present time, to +imitate them in the battles, the campaigns, the perils in which they +distinguished themselves, since at the present moment you are at peace; +but at least you can imitate their wisdom. {270} For of wisdom there is +need everywhere; and a right judgement is no more laborious or +troublesome a thing than a wrong one. Each of you need sit here no +longer, in order to judge and vote on the question before him aright, +and so to make his country's position a better one, and worthy of our +ancestors, than he must in order to judge and vote wrongly, and so make +it worse and unworthy of our ancestors. What then were their sentiments +on this matter? (_To the clerk._) Take this, clerk, and read it: (_to +the jury_) for I would have you see that the acts towards which you are +so indifferent are acts for which your forefathers voted death to the +doers. (_To the clerk._) Read. + +[_An inscription is read._] + +{271} You hear the inscription, men of Athens, declaring that +Arthmius[n] of Zeleia, son of Pythonax, is a foe and a public enemy to +the people of Athens and their allies--both he and all his house. And +why? Because he brought the gold from the foreigner to the Hellenes. +Apparently, therefore, we may judge from this, that your ancestors +sought to ensure that no one, not even a stranger, should work mischief +against Hellas for money; whereas you do not even seek to prevent any +of your fellow citizens from injuring his own city. {272} 'But,' it may +be said, 'the inscription occupies a quite unimportant position.' On +the contrary, although all yonder Acropolis is sacred and there is no +lack of space upon it, this inscription stands on the right hand of the +great bronze statue of Athena, the prize of valour in the war against +the barbarians, set up by the State with funds which the Hellenes had +presented to her. In those days, therefore, uprightness was so sacred, +and such merit was attached to the punishment of actions like these, +that the sentences passed upon such crimes were thought to deserve the +same position as the prize-statue of the goddess. And now, unless you, +in your turn, set a check upon this excess of licence, the result must +be ridicule, impunity, and shame.[5] {273} You would do well, I think, +men of Athens, to imitate your forefathers, not in this or that point +alone, but continuously, and in all that they did. Now I am sure that +you have all heard the story of Callias,[n] the son of Hipponicus, to +whose diplomacy was due the Peace which is universally celebrated, and +which provided that the king should not come down by land within a +day's ride of the sea, nor sail with a ship of war between the +Chelidonian islands and the Cyanean rocks. He was thought to have taken +bribes on his mission; and your forefathers almost put him to death, +and actually fined him, at the examination of his report, a sum of 50 +talents. {274} True it is, that no more honourable peace can be +mentioned than this, of all which the city ever made before or +afterwards. But it was not to this that they looked. The nature of the +Peace they attributed to their own prowess and the glory of their city: +but whether the transaction was disinterested or corrupt, depended upon +the character of the ambassador; and they expected the character +displayed by one who took part in public affairs to be upright and +incorruptible. {275} Your ancestors, then, regarded corruption as so +inimical, so unprofitable, to the state, that they would not admit it +in connexion with any single transaction or any single man; while you, +men of Athens, though you have seen that the Peace which has laid low +the walls of your own allies is building the houses of your +ambassadors--that the Peace which has robbed the city of her +possessions has secured for them more than they had ever before hoped +for even in their dreams--you, I say, instead of putting them to death +of your own accord, need a prosecutor to assist you; and when all can +see their crimes in very deed, you are making their trial a trial of +words. + +{276} It is not, however, by the citation of ancient history, nor by +these examples alone, that one may stimulate you to vengeance: for even +within the lifetime of yourselves, who are here and still living, many +have paid the penalty. All the rest of these I will pass over; but I +will mention one or two of those who were punished with death, on +returning from a mission whose results have been far less disastrous to +the city than those of the present Embassy. (_To the clerk._) Take then +this decree and read it. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{277} In this decree, men of Athens, you passed sentence of death upon +those ambassadors, one of whom was Epicrates,[n] a good man, as I am +told by my elders, and one who had in many ways been of service to his +country--one of those who brought the people back from the Peiraeus,[n] +and who was generally an upholder of the democracy. Yet none of these +services helped him, and rightly. For one who claims to manage affairs +of such magnitude has not merely to be half honest; he must not secure +your confidence and then take advantage of it to increase his power to +do mischief; he must do absolutely no wrong against you of his own +will. {278} Now if there is one of the things for which those men were +sentenced to death, that these men have not done, you may put me to +death without delay. Observe what the charges were. 'Since they +conducted their mission,' says the decree,[n] 'contrary to the terms of +the resolution'--that is the first of the charges. And have not these +men contravened the terms of the resolution? Does not the decree speak +of peace 'for the Athenians and the allies of the Athenians?' and did +they not exclude the Phocians from the treaty? Does not the decree bid +them administer the oath to the magistrates in the several cities? and +did they not administer it to men sent to them by Philip? Does not the +resolution forbid them 'to meet Philip anywhere alone?' and did they +not incessantly do business with him privately? {279} Again I read, +'And some of them have been convicted of making a false report before +the Council.' But these men have been convicted of doing so before the +People as well. And convicted by whom? for this is the splendid +thing.[n] Convicted by the actual facts; for all that has happened, as +you know, has been the exact reverse of what they announced. 'And,' the +decree goes on, 'of not sending true dispatches.' Nor did these men. +'And of accusing our allies falsely and taking bribes.' Instead of +'accusing falsely', say, 'of having utterly ruined'--surely a far more +heinous thing than a false accusation. And as for the charge of taking +bribes, if it had been denied, it would still have required proof; but +since they admitted it, a summary procedure was surely the proper one. +{280} What then will you do, men of Athens? You are the offspring of +that generation, and some of you are actually survivors from it; and +will you endure it, that Epicrates, the benefactor of the people, one +of the men from the Peiraeus, should have been exiled and punished;[n] +that Thrasybulus, again, the son of the great Thrasybulus, the People's +friend, who brought the people back from Phyle, should recently have +been fined ten talents; and that the descendant of Harmodius,[n] and of +those who achieved for you the greatest of blessings, and whom, for the +benefits which they conferred upon you, you have caused to share in the +libations and the bowls outpoured, in every temple where sacrifice is +offered, singing of them and honouring them as you honour heroes and +gods--{281} that all these, I say, should have undergone the penalty +ordained by the laws, and that no feeling of compassion or pity, nor +the tears of their children who bore the names of our benefactors, nor +aught else, should have availed them anything: and yet, when you have +to do with the son of Atrometus the schoolmaster, and Glaucothea, who +used to hold those meetings of the initiated, a practice for which +another priestess[n] was put to death--when you have in your hands the +son of such parents, a man who never did a single service to his +country--neither himself, nor his father, nor any of his house--will +you let him go? {282} Where is the horse, the trireme, the military +service, the chorus, the burden undertaken[n] for the state, the +war-contribution, the loyal action, the peril undergone, for which in +all their lifetime the city has had to thank him or his? Aye, and even +if all these stood to his credit, and those other qualifications, of +uprightness and integrity in his mission, were not also to be found in +him, it would surely have been right that he should perish. But when +neither the one nor the other are to be found, will you not avenge +yourselves upon him? {283} Will you not call to mind his own words, +when he was prosecuting Timarchus--that there was no help for a city +which had no sinews to use against the criminal, nor for a constitution +in which compassion and solicitation were more powerful than the +laws--that it was your duty not to pity the aged mother of Timarchus, +nor his children, nor any one else, but to attend solely to one point, +namely, that if you abandoned the cause of the laws and the +constitution, you would look in vain for any to have pity on +yourselves. {284} Is that unhappy man to have lost his rights as a +citizen, because he witnessed the guilt of Aeschines, and will you then +suffer Aeschines to escape unscathed? On what ground can you do so? for +if Aeschines demanded so heavy a penalty from those whose sins were +against their own persons, what must be the magnitude of the penalty +which _you_ should require--you, the sworn judges of the case--from +those who have sinned so greatly against their country's interests, and +of whom Aeschines is convincingly proved to be one? {285} 'But,' we are +told, 'that was a trial which will raise the moral standard of our +young men.' Yes, and this trial will raise that of our statesmen, upon +whose character the supreme interests of the city are staked. For your +care ought to extend to them also. But you must realize that his real +motive for ruining Timarchus himself was not, Heaven knows, to be found +in any anxiety for the virtue of your sons. Indeed, men of Athens, they +are virtuous even now; for I trust that the city will never have fallen +so low, as to need Aphobetus and Aeschines to reform the morals of the +young. {286} No! the reason was that Timarchus had proposed in the +Council, that if any one was convicted of conveying arms or fittings +for ships of war to Philip, the penalty should be death. And here is a +proof. How long had Timarchus been in the habit of addressing you? For +a long time. Now throughout all this time Aeschines was in Athens, and +never showed any vexation or indignation at the fact of such a man +addressing you, until he had been to Macedonia and made himself a +hireling. (_To the clerk._) Come, take the actual decree which +Timarchus proposed, and read it. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{287} So the man who proposed on your behalf the resolution which +forbade, on pain of death, the supply of arms to Philip during the war, +has been ruined and treated with contumely; while Aeschines, who had +surrendered the arms of your very allies to Philip, was his accuser, +and charged him--I call Heaven and Earth to witness--with unnatural +offences, although two of his own kinsmen stood by his side, the very +sight of whom would call forth a cry of protest from you--the +disgusting Nicias, who went to Egypt and hired himself to Chabrias, and +the accursed Cyrebion,[n] who joins in processions, as a reveller,[n] +without a mask. Nay, why mention these things? His own brother +Aphobetus was there before his eyes! In very truth all the words that +were spoken on that day about unnatural offences were water flowing up +stream.[n] + +{288} And now, to show you the dishonour into which the villainy and +mendacity of the defendant have brought our country, passing by all +besides, I will mention a fact known to you all. Formerly, men of +Athens, all the other Hellenes used to watch attentively, to see what +had been resolved in your Assembly; but now we are already going about +and inquiring what others have decided--trying to overhear what the +Arcadians are doing, or the Amphictyons, or where Philip will be next, +and whether he is alive or dead. {289} We do this, do we not? But for +me the terrible question is not whether Philip is alive, but whether in +this city the habit of execrating and punishing criminals is dead. +Philip has no terrors for me, if your own spirit is sound; but the +prospect that you may grant security to those who wish to receive their +wages from him--that they may be supported by some of those whom you +have trusted, and that those who have all along denied that they were +acting in Philip's interests may now mount the platform in their +defence--that is the prospect which terrifies me. {290} Tell me, +Eubulus, why it was, that at the recent trial of your cousin +Hegesilaus,[n] and of Thrasybulus, the uncle of Niceratus, when the +primary question[n] was before the jury, you would not even respond +when they called upon you; and that when you rose to speak on the +assessment of the penalty,[n] you uttered not a word in their defence, +but only asked the jury to be indulgent to you? Do you refuse to ascend +the platform in defence of kinsmen and relations, {291} and will you +then do so in defence of Aeschines, who, when Aristophon was +prosecuting Philonicus, and in accusing him was denouncing your own +acts, joined with him in accusing you, and was found in the ranks of +your enemies? You frightened your countrymen here by saying that they +must either march down to the Peiraeus at once, and pay the war-tax, +and convert the festival-fund into a war-fund, or else pass the decree +advocated by Aeschines and proposed by the shameless Philocrates--{292} +a decree, of which the result was that the Peace became a disgraceful +instead of a fair one, and that these men have ruined everything by +their crimes: and have you, after all this, become reconciled to him? +You uttered imprecations upon Philip, in the presence of the people, +and swore by the life of your children that you would be glad if +perdition seized him; and will you now come to the aid of Aeschines? +How can perdition seize Philip, when you are trying to save those who +take bribes from him? {293} Why is it that you prosecuted Moerocles for +misappropriating 20 drachmae out of the sums paid by each of the +lessees of the mines, and indicted Ctesiphon for the theft of sacred +moneys, because he paid 7 minae into the bank three days too late; and +yet, when men have taken money and confess it, and are convicted, by +being caught in the very act, of having done so in order to bring about +the ruin of our allies, you do not prosecute them, but even command +their acquittal? {294} But the appalling character of these crimes and +the great watchfulness and caution that they call for, and the +triviality of the offences for which you prosecuted those other men, +may further be seen in this way. Were there any men in Elis who stole +public funds? It is very likely indeed. Well, had any of them anything +to do with the overthrow of the democracy there? Not one of them. +Again, while Olynthus was standing, were there others of the same +character there? I am sure that there were. Was it then through them +that Olynthus was destroyed? No. Again, do you not suppose that in +Megara there was someone who was a thief and who embezzled public +funds? There must have been. Well, has any such person been shown to be +responsible for the recent crisis there? {295} Not one. But of what +sort _are_ the men who commit crimes of such a character and magnitude? +They are those who count themselves worthy to be styled friends and +guest-friends of Philip, who would fain be generals, who claim[n] to be +leaders, who must needs be exalted above the people. Was not Perillus +put on his trial lately before the Three Hundred at Megara, because he +went to Philip's court; and did not Ptoeodorus, the first man in Megara +in wealth, family, and distinction, come forward and beg him off, and +send him back again to Philip? and was not the consequence that the one +came back at the head of the mercenaries, while the other was churning +the butter[n] at home? {296} For there is nothing, nothing, I say, in +the world, which you must be so careful not to do, as not to allow any +one to become more powerful than the People. I would have no man +acquitted or doomed, to please any individual. Only let us be sure that +the man whose actions acquit or condemn him will receive from you the +verdict he deserves. {297} That is the true democratic principle. And +further, it is true that many men have come to possess great influence +with you at particular times--Callistratus, and again Aristophon, +Diophantus, and others before them. But where did each of these +exercise his primacy? In the Assembly of the People. But in the +law-courts no man has ever, to this day, carried more influence than +the laws and the juror's oath. Do not then allow the defendant to have +such influence to-day. To prove to you that there is good reason for +you not to trust, but to beware of such influence, I will read you an +oracle of the gods, who always protect the city far better than do its +foremost citizens. (_To the clerk._) Read the oracles. + +[_The oracles are read._] + +{298} You hear, men of Athens, the warnings of the gods. If these +responses were given by them when you were at war, they mean that you +must beware of your generals, since in war it is the generals who are +leaders; but if they were uttered after you had made peace, they must +refer to those who are at the head of your government; for these are +the leaders whom you obey, and it is by these that you are in danger of +being led astray. 'And hold the state together' [says the oracle] +'until all are of one mind, and afford no joy to their foes.' {299} +Which event then, men of Athens, do you think would afford joy to +Philip--the acquittal of one who has brought about all this evil, or +his punishment? His acquittal, I am sure. But the oracle, you see, says +that we should so act as not to afford joy to our foes; and therefore, +by the mouth of Zeus, of Dione,[n] and of all the gods, is this +exhortation given to us all, that with one mind we chastise those who +have done any service to our enemies. Without are those who are +plotting against us, within are their confederates. The part of the +plotters is to offer the bribe; that of their confederates is to +receive it, and to save from condemnation those who have received it. + +{300} And further, it needs no more than human reason to arrive at the +conclusion that nothing can be more hateful and dangerous than to allow +your first citizen to be intimate with those whose objects are not +those of the People. Consider by what means Philip has become master of +the entire situation, and by what means he has accomplished the +greatest of his successes. It has been by purchasing the opportunities +for action from those who offered them for sale--by corrupting and +exciting the aspirations of the leaders of their several cities. {301} +These have been the means. Now both of these methods it is in your +power, if you wish it, to render futile to-day, if you will refuse to +listen to prominent persons who speak in defence of such practices, and +will thus prove that they have no power over you--for now they assert +that they have you under their control--while at the same time you +punish the man who has sold himself, and let all the world see what you +have done. {302} For you would have reason enough, men of Athens, for +being angry with any man who had acted so, and had betrayed your allies +and your friends and your opportunities (for with these are bound up +the whole prosperity or adversity of every people), but with no one +more than with Aeschines, or with greater justice. After taking up a +position as one of those who mistrusted Philip--after being the first +and the only man to perceive that Philip was the common enemy of all +the Hellenes--he deserted, he betrayed you; he suddenly became Philip's +supporter. Surely he deserves to die many times over! {303} Nay, he +himself will not be able to deny that these things are so. For who was +it that brought Ischander forward before you originally, stating that +he had come from the friends of Athens in Arcadia? Who was it that +cried out that Philip was organizing Hellas and the Peloponnese against +you, while you were asleep? Who was it that delivered those long and +noble orations to the people, that read to you the decrees of Miltiades +and Themistocles, and the oath of the young soldiers[n] in the temple +of Aglaurus? {304} Was it not the defendant? Who was it that persuaded +you to send embassies almost as far as the Red Sea, on the ground that +Philip was plotting against Hellas, and that it was for you to foresee +this and not to sacrifice the interests of the Hellenes? Was it not +Eubulus who proposed the decree, while the ambassador to the +Peloponnese was the defendant Aeschines? What expressions he used in +his address to the people, after he arrived there, is best known to +himself: but I know you all remember what he reported to you. {305} +Many a time in the course of his speech he called Philip 'barbarian' +and 'devil'; and he reported the delight of the Arcadians at the +thought that Athens was now waking up and attending to public affairs. +One thing he told us, which caused him, he said, more distress than +anything else. As he was leaving, he met Atrestidas, who was travelling +home from Philip's court, and with him were walking some thirty women +and children. Wondering at this, he asked one of the travellers who the +man was, and what this crowd was along with him; {306} and on hearing +that it was Atrestidas, who was on his way home, and that these with +him were captives from Olynthus whom Philip had given him as a present, +he was struck with the atrocity of the thing and burst into tears, and +lamented the unhappy condition of Hellas, that she should allow such +tragedies to pass unnoticed. At the same time he counselled you to send +representatives to Arcadia to denounce Philip's agents, saying that his +friends told him that if Athens took notice of the matter and sent +envoys, Philip's agents would be punished. {307} Such, men of Athens, +was the tenor of his speeches then; and very noble they were, and +worthy of this city. But when he had been to Macedonia, and had seen +the enemy of himself and of the Hellenes, were his speeches couched any +more in the same or a similar tone? Far from it! He told you that you +must neither remember your forefathers nor mention your trophies, nor +go to the aid of any one. He was amazed, he said, at those who urged +you to confer with the rest of the Hellenes in regard to the Peace with +Philip, as though there was any need to convince some one else about a +matter which was purely your own affair. {308} And as for Philip, 'Why, +good gracious!' said he, 'Philip is the most thorough Hellene in the +world, a most able speaker, and most friendly towards Athens: only +there are certain persons in Athens so unreasonable and so churlish, +that they are not ashamed to slander him and call him "barbarian".' Now +is it possible that the man who had formerly spoken as Aeschines did, +should now have dared to speak in such a way, if he had not been +corrupted? What? {309} Is there a man who after conceiving such +detestation for Atrestidas, owing to those children and women from +Olynthus, could have endured to act in conjunction with Philocrates, +who brought freeborn Olynthian women here to gratify his lust, and is +so notorious for his abominable living, that it is unnecessary for me +now to use any offensive or unpleasant expression about him; for if I +say that Philocrates brought women here, the rest will be understood by +all of you and of the bystanders, and you will, I am sure, pity the +poor unhappy creatures--though Aeschines felt no pity for them, and +shed no tears for Hellas at the sight of them, or at the thought of the +outrages they were suffering among their own allies at the hands of our +ambassadors. {310} No! he will shed tears on his own behalf--he whose +proceedings as ambassador have had such results--and perhaps he will +bring forward his children, and mount them upon the platform. But, +gentlemen of the jury, when you see the children of Aeschines, remember +that the children of many of your allies and friends are now vagabonds, +wandering in beggary, owing to the cruel treatment they have suffered +in consequence of his conduct, and that these deserve your compassion +far more than those whose father is a criminal and a traitor. Remember +that your own children have been robbed even of their hopes by these +men, who inserted among the terms of the Peace the clause which +extended it to posterity. And when you see the tears of Aeschines, +remember that you have now before you a man who urged you to send +representatives to Arcadia to denounce the agents of Philip. {311} Now +to-day you need send no embassy to the Peloponnese; you need take no +long journey; you need incur no travelling expenses. Each of you need +only come as far as this platform, to deposit the vote which piety and +justice demand of him, on behalf of your country; and to condemn the +man who--I call Earth and Heaven to witness!--after originally +delivering the speeches which I described, speaking of Marathon and of +Salamis, and of your battles and your trophies, suddenly--so soon as he +had set foot in Macedonia--changed his tone completely, and told you +that you must not remember your forefathers, nor recount your trophies, +nor go to the aid of any one, nor take common counsel with the +Hellenes--who all but told you that you must pull down your walls. +{312} Never throughout all time, up to this day, have speeches more +shameful than these been delivered before you. What Hellene, what +foreigner, is so dense, or so uninstructed, or so fierce in his hatred +of our city, that if one were to put to him this question, and say, +'Tell me now; of all Hellas, as it now is--all this inhabited +country--is there any part which would have been called by this name, +or inhabited by the Hellenes who now possess it, unless those who +fought at Marathon and Salamis, our forefathers, had displayed that +high prowess on their behalf?' Why, I am certain that not one would +answer 'Yes': they would say that all these regions must have been +conquered by the barbarians. {313} If then no single man, not even one +of our enemies, would have deprived them of these their panegyrics and +praises, does Aeschines forbid you to remember them--you their +descendants--in order that he himself may receive money? In all other +blessings, moreover, the dead have no share; but the praises which +follow their noble deeds are the peculiar possession of those who have +died thus; for then even envy opposes them no longer. Of these praises +Aeschines would deprive them; and justly, therefore, would he now be +deprived of his privileges as as a citizen, and justly, in the name of +your forefathers, would you exact from him this penalty. Such words you +used, nevertheless, in the wickedness of your heart, to despoil and +traduce the deeds of our forefathers, and by your word you ruined all +our interests in very deed. {314} And then, as the outcome of this, you +are a landed gentleman, and have become a personage of consequence! For +this, too, you must notice. Before he had wrought every kind of +mischief against the city he acknowledged that he had been a clerk; he +was grateful to you for having elected him, and behaved himself +modestly. But since he has wrought countless evils, he has drawn up his +eyebrows, and if any one speaks of 'Aeschines the late clerk', he is +his enemy at once, and declares that he has been insulted: he walks +through the market-place with his cloak trailing down to his ankles, +keeping step with Pythocles,[n] and puffing out his cheeks--already one +of Philip's friends and guest-friends, if you please--one of those who +would be rid of the democracy, and who regard the established +constitution as so much tempestuous madness--he who was once the humble +servant of the Round Chamber. + +{315} I wish now to recapitulate to you summarily the ways in which +Philip got the better of you in policy, when he had taken these +heaven-detested men to aid him. It is well worth while to review and +contemplate the course of his deception as a whole. It began with his +anxiety for peace; for his country was being plundered, and his ports +were closed, so that he could enjoy none of the advantages which they +afforded; and so he sent the messengers who uttered those generous +sentiments on his behalf--Neoptolemus, Aristodemus, and Ctesiphon. +{316} But so soon as we went to him as your ambassadors, he immediately +hired the defendant to second and co-operate with the abominable +Philocrates, and so get the better of those who wished to act +uprightly; and he composed such a letter to you as he thought would be +most likely to help him to obtain peace. {317} But even so, he had no +better chance than before of effecting anything of importance against +you, unless he could destroy the Phocians. And this was no easy matter. +For he had now been reduced, as if by chance, to a position in which he +must either find it impossible to effect any of his designs, or else +must perforce lie and forswear himself, and make all men, whether +Hellenes or foreigners, witnesses of his own baseness. {318} For if, on +the one hand, he received the Phocians as allies, and administered the +oath to them together with yourselves, it at once became necessary for +him to break his oaths to the Thessalians and Thebans; for he had sworn +to aid the latter in the reduction of Boeotia, and the former in the +recovery of their place in the Amphictyonic Council; but if, on the +other hand, he refused to receive them (as in fact he did reject them), +he thought that you would not let him cross the Pass, but would rally +to Thermopylae--and so you would have done, had you not been misled; +and if this happened, he calculated that he would be unable to march +across. {319} Nor had he to learn this from others; he had already the +testimony of his own experience. For on the occasion of his first +defeat of the Phocians, when he destroyed their mercenaries and their +leader and general, Onomarchus, although not a single human being, +Hellene or foreigner, came to the aid of the Phocians, except +yourselves, so far was he from crossing the Pass and thereafter +carrying out any of his designs, that he could not even approach near +it. {320} He realized, I imagine, quite clearly, that at a time when +the feelings of the Thessalians were turning against him, and the +Pheraeans (to take the first instance) refused to accompany him--when +the Thebans were being worsted and had lost a battle, and a trophy had +been erected to celebrate their defeat--it was impossible for him to +cross the Pass, if you rallied to its defence; and that if he made the +attempt he would regret it, unless some cunning could be called in to +aid him. How then, he asked, can I avoid open falsehood, and yet +accomplish all that I wish without appearing perjured? How can it be +done? It can be done, if I can get some of the Athenians to deceive the +Athenians. In that case the discredit no longer falls to my share. +{321} And so Philip's own envoys first informed you that Philip +declined to receive the Phocians as allies; and then these men took up +the tale, and addressed you to the effect that it was inconvenient to +Philip to receive the Phocians as your allies openly, on account of the +Thebans and the Thessalians; but if he gets command of the situation, +they said, and is granted the Peace, he will do just what we should now +request him to promise to do. {322} So they obtained the Peace from +you, by holding out these seductive hopes, without including the +Phocians. But they had still to prevent the expedition to Thermopylae, +for the purpose of which, despite the Peace, your fifty ships were +still lying ready at anchor, in order that, if Philip marched, you +might prevent him. {323} How then could it be done? what cunning could +be used in regard to this expedition in its turn? They must deprive you +of the necessary time, by bringing the crisis upon you suddenly, so +that, even if you wished to set out, you might be unable to do so. So +this, it appears, was what these men undertook to do; while for my +part, as you have often been told, I was unable to depart in advance of +them, and was prevented from sailing even when I had hired a boat for +the purpose. {324} But it was further necessary that the Phocians +should come to believe in Philip and give themselves up to him +voluntarily, in order that there might be no delay in carrying out the +plan, and that no hostile decree whatever might issue from you. 'And +therefore,' said he, 'the Athenian ambassadors shall announce that the +Phocians are to be preserved from destruction, so that even if any one +persists in distrusting me, he will believe them, and put himself in my +hands. We will summon the Athenians themselves, so that they may +imagine that all that they want is secured, and may pass no hostile +decree: but the ambassadors shall make such reports about us, and give +such promises, as will prevent them from moving under any +circumstances.' {325} It was in this way, and by such trickery as this, +that all was ruined, through the action of these doomed wretches. For +immediately afterwards, as you know, instead of seeing Thespiae and +Plataeae repeopled, you heard that Orchomenus and Coroneia had been +enslaved; instead of Thebes being humbled and stripped of her insolence +and pride, the walls of your own allies were being razed, and it was +the Thebans who were razing them--the Thebans who, according to +Aeschines' story, were as good as broken up into villages. {326} +Instead of Euboea being handed over to you in exchange for Amphipolis, +Philip is making new bases of operations against you in Euboea itself, +and is plotting incessantly against Geraestus and Megara. Instead of +the restoration of Oropus to you, we are making an expedition under +arms to defend Drymus and the country about Panactum[n]--a step which +we never took so long as the Phocians remained unharmed. {327} Instead +of the restoration of the ancestral worship in the temple, and the +exaction of the debt due to the god, the true Amphictyons are +fugitives, who have been banished and their land laid desolate; and +Macedonians, foreigners, men who never were Amphictyons in the past, +are now forcing their way to recognition; while any one who mentions +the sacred treasures is thrown from the rocks, and our city has been +deprived of her right to precedence in consulting the oracle. {328} +Indeed, the story of all that has happened to the city sounds like a +riddle. Philip has spoken no falsehood, and has accomplished all that +he wished: you hoped for the fulfilment of your fondest prayers, and +have seen the very opposite come to pass; you suppose yourselves to be +at peace, and have suffered more terribly than if you had been at war; +while these men have received money for all this, and up to this very +day have not paid the penalty. {329} For that the situation has been +made what it is solely by bribery, and that these men have received +their price for it all, has, I feel sure, long been plain to you in +many ways; and I am afraid that, quite against my will, I may long have +been wearying you by attempting to prove with elaborate exactness what +you already know for yourselves. {330} Yet this one point I ask you +still to listen to. Is there, gentlemen of the jury, one of the +ambassadors whom Philip sent, whose statue in bronze you would erect in +the market-place? Nay, one to whom you would give maintenance in the +Town Hall, or any other of those complimentary grants with which you +honour your benefactors? I think not. And why? For you are of no +ungrateful or unfair or mean disposition. You would reply, that it is +because all that they did was done in the interest of Philip, and +nothing in your own; and the reply would be true and just. {331} Do you +imagine then that, when such are your sentiments, Philip's are not also +such? Do you imagine that he gives all these magnificent presents +because your ambassadors conducted their mission honourably and +uprightly with a view to _your_ interest? Impossible. Think of +Hegesippus, and the manner in which he and the ambassadors who +accompanied him were received by Philip. To go no further, he banished +Xenocleides, the well-known poet, by public proclamation, because he +received the ambassadors, his own fellow citizens. For so it is that he +behaves to men who honestly say what they think on your behalf: while +to those who have sold themselves he behaves as he has to these men. Do +we then need witnesses? do we need stronger proofs than these to +establish my conclusions? Will any one be able to steal these +conclusions from your minds? + +{332} Now I was told a most extraordinary thing just now by some one +who accosted me in front of the Court, namely, that the defendant is +prepared to accuse Chares, and that by such methods and such arguments +as that, he hopes to deceive you. I will not lay undue stress on the +fact that Chares,[n] subjected to every form of trial, was found to +have acted on your behalf, so far as was in his power, with +faithfulness and loyalty, while his frequent shortcomings were due to +those who, for money, were cruelly injuring your cause. But I will go +much further. Let it be granted that all that the defendant will say of +Chares is true. {333} Even so it is utterly absurd that Aeschines +should accuse him. For I do not lay the blame on Aeschines for anything +that was done in the course of the war--it is the generals who have to +account for all such proceedings--nor do I hold him responsible for the +city's having made peace. So far I acquit him of everything. What then +do I allege, and at what point does my accusation begin? I accuse him +of having supported Philocrates, at the time when the city was making +peace, instead of supporting those who proposed what was for your real +good. I accuse him of taking bribes, and subsequently, on the Second +Embassy, of wasting time, and of not carrying out any of your +instructions. I accuse him of cheating the city, and ruining +everything, by the suggestion of hopes that Philip would do all that we +desired; and then I accuse him of speaking afterwards in defence of one +of whom[n] all warned him to beware, on account of the great crimes of +which he had been guilty. {334} These are my charges, and these are +what you must bear in mind. For a Peace that was honest and fair, and +men that had sold nothing and had told no falsehoods afterwards, I +would even have commended, and would have bidden you crown them. But +the injuries which some general may have done you have nothing to do +with the present examination. Where is the general who has caused the +loss of Halus? or of the Phocians? or of Doriscus? or of Cersobleptes? +or of the Sacred Mountain? or of Thermopylae? Who has secured Philip a +road to Attica that leads entirely through the country of allies and +friends? who has given Coroneia and Orchomenus and Euboea to others? +who has all but given Megara to the enemy, only recently? who has made +the Thebans powerful? {335} Not one of all these heavy losses was the +work of the generals; nor does Philip hold any of these places because +you were persuaded to concede it to him by the treaty of peace. The +losses are due to these men and to their corruption. If then he evades +these points, and tries to mislead you by speaking of every other +possible subject, this is how you must receive his attempt. 'We are not +sitting in judgement upon any general,' you must say, 'nor are you on +your trial for the things of which you speak. Do not tell us whether +some one else may not also be responsible for the ruin of the Phocians: +prove to us that no responsibility attaches to yourself. Why do you +tell us _now_ of the alleged iniquities of Demosthenes, instead of +accusing him when his report was under examination? For such an +omission alone you deserve to perish. {336} Do not speak of the beauty +of peace, nor of its advantages. No one holds you responsible for the +city's having made peace. But show that it was not a shameful and +discreditable peace; that we have not since been deceived in many ways; +that all was not lost. It is for all these things that the +responsibility has been proved to be yours. And why, even to this hour, +do you praise the man who has done us all this evil?' If you keep a +watch upon him thus, he will have nothing to say; and then he will lift +up his voice here, in spite of all his vocal exercises, to no purpose. + +{337} And yet perhaps it is necessary for me to speak about his voice +also. For of this too, I am told, he is extremely proud, and expects to +carry you away by his declamation. But seeing that you used to drive +him away and hiss him out of the theatre and almost stone him, when he +was performing the tragic story of Thyestes or of the Trojan War, so +that at last he gave up his third-rate playing, you would be acting in +the most extraordinary way if, now that he has wrought countless ills, +not on the stage, but in the most important affairs in the public life +of the state, you listened to him for his fine voice. {338} By no means +must you do this, or give way to any foolish sentiment. Rather reflect, +that if you were testing the qualifications of a herald, you would then +indeed look for a fine voice; but when you are testing those of an +ambassador, or a man who claims the administration of any public +business, you must look for an upright man--a man who bears himself +proudly indeed, as your representative, but seeks no more than equality +with yourselves--as I myself refused to pay respect to Philip, but did +pay respect to the captives, whom I saved, and never for a moment drew +back; whereas Aeschines rolled at Philip's feet, and chanted his +paeans, while he looks down upon you. {339} And further, whenever you +notice that cleverness or a good voice or any other natural advantage +has been given to an honest and public-spirited man, you ought all to +congratulate him and help him to cultivate his gift; for the gift is an +advantage in which you all share, as well as he. But when the gift is +found in a corrupt and villainous man, who can never resist the chance +of gain, then you should exclude him from your presence, and give a +harsh and hostile reception to his words: for villainy, which wins from +you the reputation of ability, is the enemy of the State. {340} You see +what great troubles have fallen upon the city, through those qualities +which have brought renown to Aeschines. But whereas all other faculties +are more or less independent, the gift of eloquence, when it meets with +hostility from you who listen, is a broken thing. Listen, then, to the +defendant as you would listen to a corrupt villain, who will not speak +a single word of truth. + +{341} Observe also that the conviction of the defendant is in every way +expedient, not only on all other grounds, but even when you consider +our relations with Philip himself. For if ever Philip finds himself +compelled to give the city any of her rights, he will change his +methods. As it is, he has chosen to deceive the people as a whole, and +to show his favours to a few persons; whereas, if he learns that these +men have perished, he will prefer for the future to act in the interest +of yourselves collectively, in whose hands all power rests. {342} If, +however, he intends to persist in his present domineering and +outrageous insolence, you will, by getting rid of these men, have rid +the city of those who would do anything in the world for him. For when +they have acted as they have done, with the expectation of having to +pay the penalty in their minds, what do you think they will do, if you +relax your severity towards them? Where is the Euthycrates,[n] or the +Lasthenes, or the traitor of any description, whom they will not outdo? +{343} And who among all the rest will not be a worse citizen, when he +sees that, for those who have sold themselves, the friendship of Philip +serves, in consequence, for revenue, for reputation, and for capital; +while to those who have conducted themselves uprightly, and have spent +their own money as well, the consequences are trouble, hatred, and ill +will from a certain party. Let it not be so. It is not for your +good--whether you regard your reputation or your duty towards Heaven or +your safety or any other object, that you should acquit the defendant; +but rather that you should avenge yourselves upon him, and make him an +example in the eyes of all your fellow citizens and of the whole +Hellenic world. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] This body was composed of life-members, the archons passing into it +annually at the conclusion of their term of office. A certain religious +solemnity attached to it, and it was generally respected as a +public-spirited and high-minded body. + +[2] [Greek: p_os: ti;]. + +[3] Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 761. + +[4] Euripides, _Phoenix_ fragment. + +[5] [Greek: adeia, aischuv_e.]. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Public Orations of Demosthenes, +volume 1, by Demosthenes + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PUBLIC ORATIONS DEMOSTHENES, VOL I *** + +***** This file should be named 9060-8.txt or 9060-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/0/6/9060/ + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Jon Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Public Orations of Demosthenes, volume 1 + +Author: Demosthenes + +Posting Date: October 13, 2014 [EBook #9060] +Release Date: October, 2005 +First Posted: September 2, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PUBLIC ORATIONS DEMOSTHENES, VOL I *** + + + + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Jon Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + THE PUBLIC ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES + IN TWO VOLUMES + VOL I + + TRANSLATED BY + ARTHUR WALLACE PICKARD + + + + +PREFACE + +The translations included in this volume were written at various times +during the last ten years for use in connexion with College Lectures, +and a long holiday, for which I have to thank the Trustees of the +Balliol College Endowment Fund, as well as the Master and Fellows of +Balliol College, has enabled me to revise them and to furnish them with +brief introductions and notes. Only those speeches are included which +are generally admitted to be the work of Demosthenes, and the spurious +documents contained in the MSS. of the Speech on the Crown are omitted. +The speeches are arranged in chronological order, and the several +introductions to them are intended to supply an outline of the history +of the period, sufficient to provide a proper setting for the speeches, +but not more detailed than was necessary for this purpose. No +discussion of conflicting evidence has been introduced, and the views +which are expressed on the character and work of Demosthenes must +necessarily seem somewhat dogmatic, when given without the reasons for +them. I hope, however, before long to treat the life of Demosthenes +more fully in another form. The estimate here given of his character as +a politician falls midway between the extreme views of Grote and +Schaefer on the one hand, and Beloch and Holm on the other. + +I have tried to render the speeches into such English as a political +orator of the present day might use, without attempting to impart to +them any antique colouring, such as the best-known English translations +either had from the first or have acquired by lapse of time. It is of +the essence of political oratory that it is addressed to +contemporaries, and the translation of it should therefore be into +contemporary English; though the necessity of retaining some of the +modes of expression which are peculiar to Greek oratory and political +life makes it impossible to produce completely the appearance of an +English orator's work. The qualities of Demosthenes' eloquence +sometimes suggest rather the oratory of the pulpit than that of the +hustings or that of Parliament and of the law-courts. I cannot hope to +have wholly succeeded in my task; but it seemed to be worth +undertaking, and I hope that the work will not prove to have been +altogether useless. + +I have made very little use of other translations; but I must +acknowledge a debt to Lord Brougham's version of the Speeches on the +Chersonese and on the Crown, which, though often defective from the +point of view of scholarship and based on faulty texts, are (together +with his notes) very inspiring. I have also, at one time or another, +consulted most of the standard German, French, and English editions of +Demosthenes. I cannot now distinguish how much I owe to each; but I am +conscious of a special debt to the editions of the late Professor Henri +Weil, and of Sir J.E. Sandys, and (in the Speech on the Crown) to that +of Professor W.W. Goodwin. I also owe a few phrases in the earliest +speeches to Professor W.R. Hardie, whose lectures on Demosthenes I +attended twenty years ago. My special thanks are due to my friend Mr. +P.E. Matheson of New College, for his kindness in reading the +proof-sheets, and making a number of suggestions, which have been of +great assistance to me. + +The text employed has been throughout that of the late Mr. S.H. Butcher +in the _Bibliotheca Classica Oxoniensis_. Any deviations from this are +noted in their place. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION i. 7 + +LIST OF SPEECHES TRANSLATED + + Traditional Order In this Edition + ORATION I. OLYNTHIAC I i. 87 + II. OLYNTHIAC II i. 99 + III. OLYNTHIAC III i. 109 + IV. PHILIPPIC I i. 68 + V. ON THE PEACE i. 120 + VI. PHILIPPIC II i. 133 + VIII. ON THE CHERSONESE ii. 3 + IX. PHILIPPIC III ii. 26 + XIV. ON THE NAVAL BOARDS i. 31 + XV. FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE RHODIANS i. 56 + XVI. FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS i. 45 + XVIII. ON THE CROWN ii. 47 + XIX. ON THE EMBASSY i. 144 + + NOTES ii. 149 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Demosthenes, the son of Demosthenes of Paeania in Attica, a rich and +highly respected factory-owner, was born in or about the year 384 B.C. +He was early left an orphan; his guardians mismanaged his property for +their own advantage; and although, soon after coming of age in 366, he +took proceedings against them and was victorious in the law-courts, he +appears to have recovered comparatively little from them. In preparing +for these proceedings he had the assistance of Isaeus, a teacher and +writer of speeches who was remarkable for his knowledge of law, his +complete mastery of all the aspects of any case with which he had to +do, and his skill in dealing with questions of ownership and +inheritance. Demosthenes' speeches against his guardians show plainly +the influence of Isaeus, and the teacher may have developed in his +pupil the thoroughness and the ingenuity in handling legal arguments +which afterwards became characteristic of his work. + +Apart from this litigation with his guardians, we know little of +Demosthenes' youth and early manhood. Various stories have come down to +us (for the most part not on the best authority), of his having been +inspired to aim at an orator's career by the eloquence and fame of +Callistratus; of his having overcome serious physical defects by +assiduous practice; of his having failed, nevertheless, owing to +imperfections of delivery, in his early appearances before the people, +and having been enabled to remedy these by the instruction of the +celebrated actor Satyrus; and of his close study of the _History_ of +Thucydides. Upon the latter point the evidence of his early style +leaves no room for doubt, and the same studies may have contributed to +the skill and impressiveness with which, in nearly every oration, he +appeals to the events of the past, and sums up the lessons of history. +Whether he came personally under the influence either of Plato, the +philosopher, or of Isocrates, the greatest rhetorical teacher of his +time, and a political pamphleteer of high principles but little +practical insight, is much more doubtful. The two men were almost as +different in temperament and aims as it was possible to be, but +Demosthenes' familiarity with the published speeches of Isocrates, and +with the rhetorical principles which Isocrates taught and followed, can +scarcely be questioned. + +In the early years of his manhood, Demosthenes undertook the +composition of speeches for others who were engaged in litigation. This +task required not only a very thorough knowledge of law, but the power +of assuming, as it were, the character of each separate client, and +writing in a tone appropriate to it; and, not less, the ability to +interest and to rouse the active sympathy of juries, with whom feeling +was perhaps as influential as legal justification. This part, however, +of Demosthenes' career only concerns us here in so far as it was an +admirable training for his later work in the larger sphere of politics, +in which the same qualities of adaptability and of power both to argue +cogently and to appeal to the emotions effectively were required in an +even higher degree. + +At the time when Demosthenes' interest in public affairs was beginning +to take an active form, Athens was suffering from the recent loss of +some of her most powerful allies. In the year 358 B.C. she had counted +within the sphere of her influence not only the islands of Lemnos, +Imbros, and Scyros (which had been guaranteed to her by the Peace of +Antalcidas in 387), but also the chief cities of Euboea, the islands of +Chios, Cos, Rhodes, and Samos, Mytilene in Lesbos, the towns of the +Chersonese, Byzantium (a city of the greatest commercial importance), +and a number of stations on the south coast of Thrace, as well as +Pydna, Potidaea, Methone, and the greater part of the country bordering +upon the Thermaic Gulf. But her failure to observe the terms of +alliance, laid down when the new league was founded in 378, had led to +a revolt, which ended in 355 or 354 in the loss to her of Chios, Cos, +Rhodes, and Byzantium, and of some of the ablest of her own commanders, +and left her treasury almost empty. About the same time Mytilene and +Corcyra also took the opportunity to break with her. Moreover, her +position in the Thermaic region was threatened first by Olynthus, at +the head of the Chalcidic League, which included over thirty towns; and +secondly by Philip, the newly-established King of Macedonia, who seemed +likely to displace both Olynthus and Athens from their positions of +commanding influence.[1] + +Nevertheless, Athens, though unable to face a strong combination, was +probably the most powerful single state in Greece. In her equipment and +capacity for naval warfare she had no rival, and certainly no other +state could vie with her in commercial activity and prosperity. The +power of Sparta in the Peloponnese had declined greatly. The +establishment of Megalopolis as the centre of a confederacy of Arcadian +tribes, and of Messene as an independent city commanding a region once +entirely subject to Sparta, had seriously weakened her position; while +at the same time her ambition to recover her supremacy kept alive a +feeling of unrest throughout the Peloponnese. Of the other states of +South Greece, Argos was hostile to Sparta, Elis to the Arcadians; +Corinth and other less important cities were not definitely attached to +any alliance, but were not powerful enough to carry out any serious +movement alone. In North Greece, Thebes, though she lacked great +leaders, was still a great power, whose authority throughout Boeotia +had been strengthened by the complete or partial annihilation of +Platacae, Thespiae, Orchomenus,[2] and Coroneia. In Athens the ill +feeling against Thebes was strong, owing to the occupation by the +Thebans of Oropus,[2] a frontier town which Athens claimed, and their +treatment of the towns just mentioned, towards which the Athenians were +kindly disposed. The Phocians, who had until recently been unwilling +allies of Thebes, were now hostile and not insignificant neighbours, +and about this time entered into relations with both Sparta and Athens. +The subject of contention was the possession or control of the Temple +of Apollo at Delphi, which the Phocians had recently taken by force +from the Delphians, who were supported by Thebes; and in the 'Sacred +War' to which this act (which was considered to be sacrilege) gave rise +in 355 B.C., the Thebans and Locrians fought against the Phocians in +the name of the Amphictyonic Council, a body (composed of +representatives of tribes and states of very unequal importance[3]) to +which the control of the temple traditionally belonged. Thessaly +appears to have been at this time more or less under Theban influence, +but was immediately dominated by the tyrants of Pherae, though the +several cities seem each to have possessed a nominally independent +government. The Greek peoples were disunited in fact and unfitted for +union by temperament. The twofold desire, felt by almost all the more +advanced Greek peoples, for independence on the one hand, and for +'hegemony' or leadership among other peoples, on the other, rendered +any effective combination impossible, and made the relations of states +to one another uncertain and inconstant. While each people paid respect +to the spirit of autonomy, when their own autonomy was in question, +they were ready to violate it without scruple when they saw their way +to securing a predominant position among their neighbours; and although +the ideal of Panhellenic unity had been put before Greece by Gorgias +and Isocrates, its realization did not go further than the formation of +leagues of an unstable character, each subject, as a rule, to the more +or less tyrannical domination of some one member. + +Probably the power which was most generally feared in the Greek world +was that of the King of Persia. Several times in recent years (and +particularly in 387 and 367) he had been requested to make and enforce +a general settlement of Hellenic affairs. The settlement of 387 (called +the King's Peace, or the Peace of Antalcidas, after the Spartan officer +who negotiated it) had ordained the independence of the Greek cities, +small and great, with the exception of those in Asia Minor, which were +to form part of the Persian Empire, and of Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros, +which were to belong to Athens as before. The attempt to give effect to +the arrangement negotiated in 367 failed, and the terms of the Peace of +Antalcidas, though it was still appealed to, when convenient, as a +charter of liberty, also came to be disregarded. But there was always a +sense of the possibility or the danger of provoking the great king to +exert his strength, or at least to use his wealth, to the detriment of +some or all of the Greek states; though at the moment of which we are +speaking (about 355) the Persian Empire itself was suffering from +recent disorders and revolutions, and the king had little leisure for +interfering in the affairs of Greece. + +It was to the department of foreign and inter-Hellenic affairs that +Demosthenes principally devoted himself. His earliest political +speeches, however, were composed and delivered in furtherance of +prosecutions for the crime of proposing illegal legislation. These were +the speeches against Androtion (spoken by Diodorus in 355) and against +Leptines (in 354). Both these were written to denounce measures which +Demosthenes regarded as dishonest or unworthy of Athenian traditions. +In the former he displays that desire for clean-handed administration +which is so prominent in some of his later speeches; and in the +prosecution of Leptines he shows his anxiety that Athens should retain +her reputation for good faith. Both speeches, like those of the year +352 against Timocrates (spoken by Diodorus), and against Aristocrates +(spoken by Euthycles), are remarkable for thoroughness of argument and +for the skill which is displayed in handling legal and political +questions, though, like almost all Athenian forensic orations, they are +sometimes sophistical in argument. + +The first speech which is directly devoted to questions of external +policy is that on the Naval Boards in 354; and this is followed within +the next two years by speeches delivered in support of appeals made to +Athens by the people of Megalopolis and by the exiled democratic party +of Rhodes. From these speeches it appears that the general lines of +Demosthenes' policy were already determined. He was in opposition to +Eubulus, who, after the disastrous termination of the war with the +allies, had become the leading statesman in Athens. The strength of +Eubulus lay in his freedom from all illusion as to the position in +which Athens stood, in his ability as a financier, and in his readiness +to take any measures which would enable him to carry out his policy. He +saw that the prime necessity of the moment was to recruit the financial +and material strength of the city; that until this should be effected, +she was quite incapable of carrying on war with any other power; and +that she could only recover her strength through peace. In this policy +he had the support of the well-to-do classes, who suffered heavily in +time of war from taxation and the disturbance of trade. On the other +hand, the sentiments of the masses were imperialistic and militant. We +gather that there were plenty of orators who made a practice of +appealing to the glorious traditions of the past and the claim always +made by Athens to leadership among the Greek states. To buy off the +opposition which his policy might be expected to encounter, Eubulus +distributed funds freely to the people, in the shape of +'Festival-money', adopting the methods employed before him by +demagogues, very different from himself, in order that he might +override the real sentiments of the democracy; and in spite of the +large amounts thus spent he did in fact succeed, in the course of a few +years, in collecting a considerable sum without resorting to +extraordinary taxation, in greatly increasing the navy and in enlarging +the dockyards. For the success of this policy it was absolutely +necessary to avoid all entanglement in war, except under the strongest +compulsion. The appeals of the Megalopolitans and the Rhodians, to +yield to which would probably have meant war with Sparta and with +Persia, must be rejected. Even in dealing with Philip, who was making +himself master of the Athenian allies on the Thermaic coast, the fact +of the weakness of Athens must be recognized, and all idea of a great +expedition against Philip must be abandoned for the present. At the +same time, some necessary measures of precaution were not neglected. It +was essential to secure the route to the Euxine, over which the +Athenian corn-trade passed, if corn was not to be sold at famine +prices. For this purpose, therefore, alliance was made with the +Thracian prince, Cersobleptes; and when Philip threatened Heraeon +Teichos on the Propontis, an expedition was prepared, and was only +abandoned because Philip himself was forced to desist from his attempt +by illness. Similarly, when Philip appeared likely to cross the Pass of +Thermopylae in 352, an Athenian force was sent (on the proposal of +Diophantus, a supporter of Eubulus) to prevent him. The failure of +Eubulus and his party to give effective aid to Olynthus against Philip +was due to the more pressing necessity of attempting to recover control +of Euboea: it had clearly been their intention to save Olynthus, if +possible. But when this had proved impossible, and the attempt to form +a Hellenic league against Philip had also failed, facts had once more +to be recognized; and, since Athens was now virtually isolated, peace +must be made with Philip on the only terms which he would accept--that +each side should keep what it _de facto_ possessed at the time. + +Demosthenes was generally in opposition to Eubulus and his party, of +which Aeschines (once an actor and afterwards a clerk, but a man of +education and great natural gifts) was one of the ablest members. +Demosthenes was inspired by the traditions of the past, but had a much +less vague conception of the moral to be drawn from them than had the +multitude. Athens, for him as for them, was to be the first state in +Hellas; she was above all to be the protectress of democracy +everywhere, against both absolutism and oligarchy, and the leader of +the Hellenes in resistance to foreign aggression. But, unlike the +multitude, Demosthenes saw that this policy required the greatest +personal effort and readiness for sacrifice on the part of every +individual; and he devotes his utmost energies to the task of arousing +his countrymen to the necessary pitch of enthusiasm, and of effecting +such reforms in administration and finance as, in his opinion, would +make the realization of his ideal for Athens possible. In the speeches +for the Megalopolitans and the Rhodians, the nature of this ideal is +already becoming clear both in its Athenian and in its Panhellenic +aspects. But so soon as it appeared that Philip, at the head of the +half-barbarian Macedonians, and not Athens, was likely to become the +predominant power in the Hellenic world, it was against Philip that all +his efforts were directed; and although in 346 he is practically at one +with the party of Eubulus in his recognition of the necessity of peace, +he is eager, when the opportunity seems once more to offer itself, to +resume the conflict, and, when it is resumed, to carry it through to +the end. + +We have then before us the sharp antagonism of two types of +statesmanship. The strength of the one lies in the recognition of +actual facts, and the avoidance of all projects which seem likely, +under existing circumstances, to fail. The other is of a more sanguine +type, and believes in the power of enthusiasm and self-sacrifice to +transform the existing facts into something better, and to win success +against all odds. Statesmen of the former type are always attacked as +unpatriotic and mean-spirited; those of the latter, as unpractical and +reckless. There is truth and falsehood in both accusations: but since +no statesman has ever combined all the elements of statesmanship in a +perfect and just proportion, and since neither prudence and +clear-sightedness, nor enthusiastic and generous sentiment, can ever be +dispensed with in the conduct of affairs without loss, a larger view +will attach little discredit to either type. While, therefore, we may +view with regret some of the methods which both Demosthenes and +Aeschines at times condescended to use in their conflicts with one +another, and with no less regret the disastrous result of the policy +which ultimately carried the day, we need not hesitate to give their +due to both of the contending parties: nor, while we recognize that +Eubulus and Phocion (his sturdiest supporter in the field and in +counsel) took the truer view of the situation, and of the character of +the Athenians as they were, need we (as it is now fashionable to do) +denounce the orator who strove with unstinting personal effort and +self-sacrifice to rouse the Athenians into a mood in which they could +and would realize the ideal to which they, no less than he, professed +their devotion. + +But the difficulties in the way of such a realization were wellnigh +insuperable. Neither the political nor the military system of Athens +was adapted to such a policy. The Sovereign Assembly, though capable of +sensible and energetic action at moments of special danger, was more +likely to be moved by feeling and prejudice than by businesslike +argument, particularly at a time when the tendency of the best educated +and most intelligent men was to withdraw from participation in public +life; and meeting, as the Assembly did (unless specially summoned), +only at stated intervals, it was incapable of taking such rapid, +well-timed, and decisive action as Philip could take, simply because he +was a single man, sole master of his own policy, and personally in +command of his own forces. The publicity which necessarily attached to +the discussions of the Assembly was a disadvantage at a time when many +plans would better have been kept secret; and rapid modifications of +policy, to suit sudden changes in the situation, were almost +impossible. Again, while no subjects are so unsuited under any +circumstances for popular discussion as foreign and military affairs, +the absence in Athens of a responsible ministry greatly increased the +difficulties of her position. It is true that the Controller of the +Festival Fund (whose office gradually became more and more important) +was now appointed for four years at a time, while all other offices +were annual; and that he and his friends, and their regular opponents, +were generally ready to take the lead in making proposals to the +Council or the Assembly. But if they chose to remain silent, they could +do so;[4] no one was bound to make any proposal at all; and, on the +other hand, any one might do so. With such a want of system, far too +much was left to chance or to the designs of interested persons. +Moreover, the Assembly felt itself under no obligation to follow for +any length of time any lead which might be given to it, or to maintain +any continuity or consistency between its own decrees. In modern times, +a minister, brought into power by the will of the majority of the +people, can reckon for a considerable period upon the more or less +loyal support of the majority for himself and his official colleagues. +In Athens the leader of the moment had to be perpetually adapting +himself afresh to the mood of the Assembly, and even to deceive it, in +order that he might lead at all, or carry out the policy which, in his +opinion, his country's need required. It is therefore a remarkable +thing that both Eubulus and Demosthenes succeeded for many years in +maintaining a line of action as consistent as that taken by practical +men can ever be. + +The fact that the Council of Five Hundred, which acted as a standing +committee of the people, and prepared business for the Assembly and was +responsible for the details of measures passed by the Assembly in +general form, was chosen by lot and changed annually, as did +practically all the civil and the military officials (though the latter +might be re-elected), was all against efficiency and continuity of +policy.[5] After the system of election by lot, the most characteristic +feature of the Athenian democracy was the responsibility of statesmen +and generals to the law-courts.[6] Any citizen might accuse them upon +charges nominally limited in scope, but often serving in reality to +bring their whole career into question. Had it been certain that the +courts would only punish incompetence or misconduct, and not failure as +such, little harm would have resulted. But although there were very +many acquittals in political trials, the uncertainty of the issue was +so great, and the sentences inflicted upon the condemned so severe +(commonly involving banishment at least), that the liability to trial +as a criminal must often have deterred the statesman and the general +from taking the most necessary risks; while the condemnation of the +accused had usually the result of driving a really able man out of the +country, and depriving his fellow countrymen of services which might be +urgently required when they were no longer available. + +The financial system was also ill adapted for the purposes of a people +constantly liable to war. The funds required for the bare needs of a +time of peace seem indeed to have been sufficiently provided from +permanent sources of income (such as the silver mines, the rent of +public lands, court fees and fines, and various indirect taxes): but +those needed for war had to be met by a direct tax upon property, +levied _ad hoc_ whenever the necessity arose, and not collected without +delays and difficulties. And although the equipment of ships for +service was systematically managed under the trierarchic laws,[7] it +was still subject to delays no less serious. There was no regular +system of contribution to State funds, and no systematic accumulation +of a reserve to meet military needs. The raising of money by means of +loans at interest to the State was only adopted in Greece in a few +isolated instances:[8] and the practice of annually distributing +surplus funds to the people,[9] however necessary or excusable under +the circumstances, was wholly contrary to sound finance. + +An even greater evil was the dependence of the city upon mercenary +forces and generals, whose allegiance was often at the call of the +highest bidder, and in consequence was seldom reliable. There is no +demand which Demosthenes makes with greater insistence, than the demand +that the citizens themselves shall serve with the army. At a moment of +supreme danger, they might do so. But in fact Athens had become more +and more an industrial state, and men were not willing to leave their +business to take care of itself for considerable periods, in order to +go out and fight, unless the danger was very urgent, or the interests +at stake of vital importance; particularly now that the length of +campaigns had become greater and the seasons exempted from military +operations shorter. In many minds the spread of culture, and of the +ideal of self-culture, had produced a type of individualism indifferent +to public concerns, and contemptuous of political and military +ambitions. Moreover, the methods of warfare had undergone great +improvement; in most branches of the army the trained skill of the +professional soldier was really necessary; and it was not possible to +leave the olive-yard or the counting-house and become an efficient +fighter without more ado. But the expensiveness of the mercenary +forces; the violent methods by which they obtained supplies from +friends and neutrals, as well as foes, if, as often happened, their pay +was in arrear; and the dependence of the city upon the goodwill of +generals and soldiers who could without much difficulty find employment +under other masters, were evils which were bound to hamper any attempt +to give effect to a well-planned and far-sighted scheme of action. + +It also resulted from the Athenian system of government that the +general, while obviously better informed of the facts of the military +situation than any one else could be, and at the same time always +liable to be brought to trial in case of failure, had little influence +upon policy, unless he could find an effective speaker to represent +him. In the Assembly and in the law-courts (where the juries were large +enough to be treated in the same manner as the Assembly itself) the +orator who could win the people's ear was all powerful, and expert +knowledge could only make itself felt through the medium of oratory. + +A constitution which gave so much power to the orator had grave +disadvantages. The temptation to work upon the feelings rather than to +appeal to the reason of the audience was very strong, and no charge is +more commonly made by one orator against another than that of deceiving +or attempting to deceive the people. It is, indeed, very difficult to +judge how far an Athenian Assembly was really taken in by sophistical +or dishonest arguments: but it is quite certain that such arguments +were continually addressed to it; and the main body of the citizens can +scarcely have had that first-hand knowledge of facts, which would +enable them to criticize the orator's statements. Again, the oration +appealed to the people as a performance, no less than as a piece of +reasoning. Ancient political oratory resembled the oratory of the +pulpit at the present day, not only because it appealed perpetually to +the moral sense, and was in fact a kind of preaching; but also because +the main difficulty of the ancient orator and the modern preacher was +the same: for the Athenians liked being preached at, as the modern +congregation 'enjoys' a good sermon, and were, therefore, almost +equally immune against conversion. The conflicts of rival orators were +regarded mainly as an entertainment. The speaker who was most likely to +carry the voting (except when a great crisis had roused the Assembly to +seriousness) was the one who found specious and apparently moral +reasons for doing what would give the audience least trouble; and +consequently one who, like Demosthenes, desired to stir them up to +action and personal sacrifices, had always an uphill fight: and if he +also at times 'deceived the people' or employed sophistical arguments +in order to secure results which he believed to be for their good, we +must remember the difficulty (which, in spite of the wide circulation +of authentic information, is at least equally great at the present day) +of putting the true reasons for or against a policy, before those who, +whether from want of education or from lack of training in the +subordination of feeling to thought, are not likely to understand or to +listen to them. Nor, if we grant the genuineness of Demosthenes' +conviction as to the desirability of the end for which he contended, +can many statesmen be pointed out, who have not been at least as guilty +as he in their choice of means. That he did not solve the problem, how +to lead a democracy by wholly honest means, is the less to his +discredit, in that the problem still remains unsolved. + +It should be added that with an audience like the Athenian, whose +aesthetic sensitiveness was doubtless far greater than that of any +modern assembly, delivery counted for much. Aeschines' fine voice was a +real danger to Demosthenes, and Demosthenes himself spoke of delivery, +or the skilled acting of his part, as the all-important condition of an +orator's success. But it is clear that this can have been no advantage +from the standpoint of the public interest. + +In the law-courts the drawbacks to which the commanding influence of +oratory was liable were intensified. In the Assembly a certain amount +of reticence and self-restraint was imposed by custom: an opponent +could not be attacked by name or on purely personal grounds; and an +appearance of impartiality was commonly assumed. But in the courts much +greater play was allowed to feeling; and the arguments were often much +more disingenuous, not only because the personal interests at stake +made the speaker more unscrupulous, but also, perhaps, because the +juries ordinarily included a larger proportion of the poorer, the +idler, and the less-educated citizens than the Assembly. The legal +question was often that to which the jury were encouraged to pay least +attention, and the condemnation or acquittal of the accused was +demanded upon grounds quite extraneous to the indictment. (The two +court-speeches contained in these volumes afford abundant illustrations +of this.) Personalities were freely admitted, of a kind which it is +difficult to excuse and impossible to justify. To attempt to blacken +the personal character of an opponent by false stories about his +parentage and his youth, and by the ascription to him and his relations +of nameless immoralities, is a very different thing from the assignment +of wrong motives for his political actions, though even in purely +political controversy the ancients far exceeded the utmost limits of +modern invective. And this both Demosthenes and Aeschines do freely. +There is also reason to suspect that some of the tales which each tells +of the other's conduct, both while serving as ambassadors and on other +occasions, may be fabrications. The descriptive passages for which such +falsehoods gave an opening had doubtless their dramatic value in the +oratorical performance: possibly they were even expected by the +listeners; but their presence in the speeches does not increase our +admiration either for the speaker or for his audience. + +All the force of Demosthenes' oratory was unable to defeat the great +antagonist of his country. To Philip of Macedon failure was an +inconceivable idea. Resident during three impressionable years of his +youth at Thebes, he had there learned, from the example of Epaminondas, +what a single man could do: and he proceeded to each of the three great +tasks of his life--the welding of the rough Macedonians into one great +engine of war, the unification of Greece under his own leadership, and +the preparation for the conquest of the East by a united Greece and +Macedonia--without either faltering in face of difficulties, or +hesitating, out of any scrupulosity, to use the most effective means +towards the end which he wished at the moment to achieve; though in +fact the charges of bad faith made against him by Demosthenes are found +to be exaggerated, when they are impartially examined. Philip intended +to become master of Greece: Demosthenes realized this early, and, with +all the Hellenic detestation of a master, resolved to oppose him to the +end. Philip was, indeed, in spite of the barbarous traits which +revealed themselves in him at times, not only gracious and courteous by +nature, but a sincere admirer of Hellenic--in other words, of +Athenian--culture; the relations between his house and the people of +Athens had generally been friendly; and there was little reason to +suppose that, if he conquered Athens, he would treat her less +handsomely than in fact he did. Yet this could not justify one who +regarded freedom as Demosthenes regarded it, in making any concession +not extorted by the necessities of the situation: his duty and his +country's duty, as he conceived it, was to defeat the enemy of Hellenic +independence or to fall in the attempt. Nor was it for him to consider +(as Isocrates might) whether or no Philip's plans had now developed +into, or could be transformed into, a beneficent scheme for the +conquest of the barbarian world by a united Hellas, if the union was to +be achieved at the price of Athenian liberty. It is because, in spite +of errors and of the questionable methods to which he sometimes +stooped, Demosthenes devoted himself unflinchingly to the cause of +freedom, for Athens and for the Hellenes as a whole, that he is +entitled, not merely as an orator but as a politician, to the +admiration which posterity has generally accorded him. It is, above +all, by the second part of his career, when his policy of antagonism to +Philip had been accepted by the people, and he was no longer in +opposition but, as it were, in office, that Demosthenes himself claims +to be justified; and Aeschines' attempt to invalidate the claim is for +the most part unconvincing. + +It is not easy to describe in a few paragraphs the characteristics of +Demosthenes as an orator. That he stands on the highest eminence that +an orator has ever reached is generally admitted. But this is not to +say that he was wholly free from faults. His contemporaries, as well as +later Greek critics, were conscious of a certain artificiality in his +eloquence. It was, indeed, the general custom of Athenian orators to +prepare their speeches with great care: the speakers who, like +Aeschines and Demades, were able to produce a great effect without +preparation, and the rhetoricians who, like Alcidamas, thought of the +studied oration as but a poor imitation of true eloquence, were only a +small minority; and in general, not only was the arrangement of topics +carefully planned, but the greatest attention was paid to the sound and +rhythm of the sentences, and to the appropriateness and order of the +words. The orator had also his collections of passages on themes which +were likely to recur constantly, and of arguments on either side of +many questions; and from these he selected such passages as he +required, and adapted them to his particular purpose. The rhetorical +teachers appear to have supplied their pupils with such collections; we +find a number of instances of the repetition of the same passage in +different speeches, and an abundance of arguments formed exactly on the +model of the precepts contained in rhetorical handbooks.[10] Yet with +all this art nothing was more necessary than that a speech should +appear to be spontaneous and innocent of guile. There was a general +mistrust of the 'clever speaker', who by study or rhetorical training +had learned the art of arguing to any point, and making the worse cause +appear the better. To have studied his part too carefully--even to have +worked up illustrations from history and poetry--might expose the +orator to suspicion.[11] Demosthenes, in spite of his frequent attempts +to deprecate such suspicion, did not succeed wholly in keeping on the +safe side. Aeschines describes him as a wizard and a sophist, who +enjoyed deceiving the people or the jury. Another of his opponents +levelled at him the taunt that his speeches 'smelt of the lamp'. +Dionysius of Halicarnassus, one of the best of the ancient critics, +says that the artificiality of Demosthenes and his master Isaeus was +apt to excite suspicion, even when they had a good case. Nor can a +modern reader altogether escape the same impression. Sometimes, +especially in the earlier speeches to the Assembly, the argument seems +unreal, the joints between the previously prepared commonplaces or +illustrations and their application to the matter in hand are too +visible, the language is artificially phrased, and wanting in +spontaneity and ease. There are also parts of the court speeches in +which the orator seems to have calculated out all the possible methods +of meeting a particular case, and to be applying them in turn with more +ingenuity than convincingness. An appearance of unreality also arises +at times (again principally in the earlier speeches) from a certain +want of imagination. He attributes feelings and motives to others, +which they were really most unlikely to have entertained, and argues +from them. Some of the sentiments which he expects Artaxerxes or +Artemisia to feel (in the Speeches on the Naval Boards and for the +Rhodians) were certainly not to be looked for in them. Similar +misconceptions of the actual or possible sentiments of the Spartans +appear in the Speech for the Megalopolitans, and of those of the +Thebans in the Third Olynthiac (Sec. 15). The early orations against +Philip also show some misunderstanding of his character. And if, in +fact, Demosthenes lived his early years largely in solitary +studiousness and was unsociable by disposition, this lack of a quick +grasp of human nature and motives is quite intelligible. But this +defect grew less conspicuous as his experience increased; and though +even to the end there remained something of the sophist about him, as +about all the disciples of the ancient rhetoric, the greatness of his +best work is not seriously affected by this. For, in his greatest +speeches, and in the greatest parts of nearly all his speeches, the +orator is white-hot with genuine passion and earnestness; and all his +study and preparation resulted, for the most part, not in an artificial +product, but in the most convincing expression of his real feeling and +belief; so that it was the man himself, and not the rhetorical +practitioner that spoke. + +The lighter virtues of the orator are not to be sought for in him. In +gracefulness and humour he is deficient: his humour, indeed, generally +takes the grim forms of irony and satire, or verges on personality and +bad taste. Few of his sentences can be imagined to have been delivered +with a smile; and something like ferocity is generally not far below +the surface. Pathos is seldom in him unmixed with sterner qualities, +and is usually lost in indignation. But of almost every other variety +of tone he has a complete command. The essential parts of his reasoning +(even when it is logically or morally defective) are couched, as a +rule, in a forcible and cogent form;[12] and he has a striking power of +close, sustained, and at the same time lucid argumentation. His matter +is commonly disposed with such skill that each topic occurs where it +will tell most powerfully; and while one portion of a speech affords +relief to another (where relief is needed, and particularly in the +longer orations) all alike bear on the main issue or strengthen the +orator's position with his audience. Historical allusions are not (as +they often are by Aeschines and Isocrates) enlarged out of proportion +to their importance, but are limited to what is necessary, in order to +illustrate the orator's point or drive his lesson home. Add to these +qualities his combination of political idealism with absolute mastery +of minute detail; the intensity of his appeal to the moral sense and +patriotism of his hearers; the impressiveness of his denunciation of +political wrong; the vividness of his narrative, the rapid succession +of his impassioned phrases, and some part of the secret of his power +will be explained. For the rest, while there is in his writing every +degree of fullness or brevity, there is no waste of words, no 'fine +language' out of place. His language, indeed, is ordinarily +simple--sometimes even colloquial; though in the arrangement of his +words in their most telling order he shows consummate art, and his +metaphors are often bold and sometimes even violent. In the use of the +'figures of speech' he excels; above all, in the use of antitheses +(whether for the purpose of vivid contrast or of precise logical +expression), and of the rhetorical question, used now in indignation, +now in irony, now in triumphant conclusion of an argument: and at times +there are master-strokes of genius, which defy all analysis, such as +the great appeal to the men of Marathon in the Speech on the Crown.[13] +He does not as a rule (and this is particularly true of the Speech on +the Crown) cover the whole of the ground with the same adequacy; but so +concentrates all his forces upon certain points as to be irresistible, +and thus 'with thunder and lightning confounds'[14] the orators who +oppose him. It is no wonder that some of the greatest of English +orators, and notably of those of the eighteenth and early nineteenth +centuries, borrow from him not only words and phrases, but inspiration +and confidence in their cause, and look upon him as a model whom they +may emulate, but cannot excel. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] See Introduction to First Philippic. + +[2] See notes on Speech for the Megalopolitans. + +[3] See note on Speech on the Crown, Sec. 140. + +[4] See Speech on the Crown, Secs. 170 ff. + +[5] See Zimmern, _The Greek Commonwealth_, pp. 159 ff., for an +excellent short account of the constitution and functions of the +Council. That the councillors themselves sat (for administrative +purposes) in relays, changing ten times a year, was also against +continuity. + +[6] See Speech on Embassy, Sec. 2 n. + +[7] See Introduction to Speech on Naval Boards, and Philippic I, Secs. 36, +37. + +[8] See Zimmern, _The Greek Commonwealth_, p. 205. + +[9] See Zimmern, _The Greek Commonwealth_, p. 205. + +[10] The 'Art' of Anaximenes is an interesting extant example of a +fourth-century handbook for practical orators. The Rhetoric of +Aristotle stands on a higher plane, but probably follows the lines laid +down by custom in the rhetorical schools. + +[11] See Speech on Embassy, Sec. 246, and note. + +[12] He is especially fond of the dilemma, which is not indeed cogent +in strict logic, but is peculiarly telling and effective in producing +conviction in large audiences. + +[13] See [Longinus] 'On the Sublime', especially chap, xvi-xviii +(English translation by A. O. Prickard in this series). This treatise +should be read by all students of Demosthenes, especially chap. xii, +xvi-xviii, xxxii, xxxiv, xxxix. + +[14] 'On the Sublime', chap. xxxiv. + + + + +[TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: The text for all notes marked [n] will be found at +the end of the second volume.] + + + + +ON THE NAVAL BOARDS (OR. XIV) + + +[_Introduction_. The speech was delivered in 354 B.C. News had been +brought to Athens that the Persian King Artaxerxes Ochus was making +great military and naval preparations, and though these were, in fact, +directed against his own rebellious subjects in Egypt, Phoenicia, and +Cyprus, the Athenians had some ground for alarm: for, two years before +this, Chares, in command of an Athenian fleet, had given assistance to +Artabazus, Satrap of Ionia, who was in revolt against the king. The +king had made a protest, and (late in 355) Athens had ordered Chares to +withdraw his aid from Artabazus. A party in Athens now wished to +declare war on Persia, and appealed strongly to Athenian traditions in +favour of the proposal. Demosthenes opposes them, on the ground that it +was not certain that the king was aiming at Athens at all, and that the +disunion of the Hellenic peoples would render any such action unsafe: +Athens had more dangerous enemies nearer home, and her finances were +not in a condition for such a campaign. But he takes advantage of the +interest aroused, to propose a reform of the trierarchic system, +designed to secure a more efficient navy, and to remedy certain abuses +in the existing method of equipping vessels for service. + +In earlier times, the duty of equipping and commanding each trireme was +laid upon single citizens of means, the hull and certain fittings being +found by the state. When, early in the fourth century, the number of +wealthy men had diminished, each ship might be shared by two citizens, +who commanded in turn. In 357 a law was passed, on the proposal of +Periander, transferring the responsibility from individuals to +'Symmories' or Boards. (The system had been instituted in a slightly +different form for the collection of the war-tax in the archonship of +Nausinicus, 378-7 B.C.) The collection of the sums required became the +work of twenty Boards, formed by the subdivision of the 1,200 richest +citizens: each contributor, whatever his property, paid the same share. +The richer men thus got off with the loss of a very small proportion of +their income, as compared with the poorer members of the Boards,[1] and +in managing the business of the Boards they sometimes contrived to +exact the whole sum from their colleagues, and to escape payment +themselves. At the same time the duties of the several Boards and their +members were not allocated with sufficient precision to enable the +responsibility to be brought home in case of default; and the nominal +Twelve Hundred had fallen to a much smaller number, on whom the burden +accordingly fell with undue weight. Demosthenes' proposal provided for +the distribution of the responsibility of equipping the vessels and +providing the funds, in the most detailed manner, with a view to +preventing all evasion; but it was not carried. In fact, it was not +until 340 that he succeeded in reforming the trierarchy, and he then +made the burden vary strictly with property. The proposal, however, to +declare war upon Persia went no further. + +While, in this speech, Demosthenes is in accord with the policy of +Eubulus, so far as concerns the avoidance of war with Persia, his +proposals of financial reform would not be viewed with favour by the +wealthy men who were Eubulus' firm supporters. Some of the themes which +recur continually in later speeches are prominent in this--the futility +of rhetorical appeals to past glories, without readiness for personal +service, and the need of a thorough organization of the forces. While +the speech shows rather too strongly the marks of careful preparation, +and seldom rises to eloquence--the style, indeed, is often rather +cramped and stiff, and the sentiments, especially at the beginning, +artificially phrased--it is moderate and practical in tone, and shows a +characteristic mastery of minute detail.] + + +{1} Those who praise your forefathers,[n] men of Athens, desire, no +doubt, to gratify you by their speeches; and yet I do not think that +they are acting in the interests of those whom they praise. For the +subject on which they attempt to speak is one to which no words can do +justice; and so, although they thus win for themselves the reputation +of capable speakers, the impression which they convey to their hearers +of the merit of our forefathers is not adequate to our conception of +it. For my part I believe that their highest praise is constituted by +Time: for the time that has passed has been long, and still no +generation has arisen, whose achievements could be compared with +advantage to theirs. {2} As for myself, I shall attempt to point out +the way in which, in my opinion, you can best make your preparations. +For the truth is, that if all of us who propose to address you were to +succeed in proving to you our rhetorical skill, there would not be the +slightest improvement in your condition--I am sure of it; but if a +single speaker were to come forward, whoever he might be, who could +instruct and convince you as to the nature of the preparations which +would meet the city's need, as to their extent, and the resources upon +which we can draw for them, your present fears would instantly be +dissolved. This I will attempt to do--if indeed it is in my power. But +first I must briefly express my views as to our relations with the king. + +{3} I hold the king to be the common enemy of all the Hellenes; and yet +I should not on that account urge you, alone and unsupported, to raise +war against him. For I observe that there is no common or mutual +friendship even among the Hellenes themselves: some have more faith in +the king than in some other Hellenes. When such are the conditions, +your interest requires you, I believe, to see to it that you only begin +war from a fair and just cause, and to make all proper preparations: +this should be the basis of your policy. {4} For I believe, men of +Athens, that if it were made plain to the eyes and understandings of +the Hellenes, that the king was making an attempt upon them, they would +both fight in alliance with those who undertook the defence for them +and with them, and would feel very grateful to them. But if we quarrel +with him prematurely, while his intentions are still uncertain, I am +afraid, men of Athens, that we may be forced to fight not only against +the king, but also against those for whose benefit we are exercising +such forethought. {5} For he will pause in the execution of his +project, if indeed he has really resolved to attack the Hellenes, and +will bribe some of them with money and offers of friendship; while +they, desirous of bringing their private wars to a successful end, and +animated only by such a spirit, will disregard the common safety of +all. I urge you then, not to hurl the city needlessly into the midst of +any such chaos of selfish passions. {6} Moreover, I see that the +question of the policy to be adopted towards the king does not even +stand on the same footing for the other Hellenes as for you. It is +open, I think, to many of them to manage certain of their own interests +as they please, and to disregard the rest of the Hellenes. But for you +it is not honourable, even if you are the injured party, and are +dealing with those who have injured you, to punish them so severely as +to leave some of them to fall under the domination of the foreigner: +{7} and this being so, we must take care, first, that we do not find +ourselves involved in an unequal war, and secondly, that he, whom we +believe to be plotting against the Hellenes, does not gain credit from +the supposition that he is their friend. How then can this be achieved? +It will be achieved if it is manifest to all that the forces of Athens +have been overhauled and put in readiness, and if her intentions in +regard to their use are plainly righteous. {8} But to those who take a +bold line, and urge you, without any hesitation whatever, to go to war, +my reply is this--that it is not difficult to win a reputation for +bravery, when the occasion calls for deliberation; nor to prove +yourself an accomplished orator, when danger is at the door: but to +display your courage in the hour of danger, and, in debate, to have +wiser advice to offer than others--that is the hard thing, and that is +what is required of you. {9} For my part, men of Athens, I consider +that the proposed war with the king would be a difficult undertaking +for the city; while the decisive conflict in which the war would result +would be an easier matter, and for this reason. Every war, I suppose, +necessarily requires ships and money and the command of positions. All +such advantages the king, I find, possesses more abundantly than we. +But a conflict of forces requires nothing so much as brave men; and of +these, I believe, the larger number is with us, and with those who +share our danger. {10} For this reason I exhort you not to be the +first, in any way whatever, to take up the war; but for the decisive +struggle I think you ought to be ready and your preparations made. And +further, if the forces[n] with which foreigners and Hellenes could +respectively be repelled were really different in kind, the fact that +we were arraying our forces against the king would naturally, it may +be, admit of no concealment. {11} But since all military preparations +are of the same character, and the main points of a force must always +be the same--the means to repel enemies, to help allies, and to retain +existing advantages--why, when we have our acknowledged foes,[n] do we +seek to procure others? Let us rather prepare ourselves to meet the +enemies whom we have, and we shall then repel the king also, if he +takes the aggressive against us. {12} Suppose that you yourselves +summon the Hellenes to your side now. If, when the attitude of some of +them towards you is so disagreeable, you do not fulfil their demands, +how can you expect that any one will listen to you? 'Why,' you say, 'we +shall tell them that the king is plotting against them.' Good Heavens! +Do you imagine that they do not foresee this themselves? Of course they +do. But their fear of this does not yet outweigh the quarrels which +some of them have against you and against each other. And so the tour +of your envoys will end in nothing but their own rhapsodies.[n] {13} +But if you wait, then, if the design which we now suspect is really on +foot, there is not one of the Hellenes who stands so much upon his +dignity that he will not come and beg for your aid, when he sees that +you have a thousand cavalry, and infantry as many as any one can +desire, and three hundred ships: for he will know that in these lies +his surest hope of deliverance. Appeal to them now, and we shall be +suppliants, and, if unsuccessful, rejected suppliants. Make your own +preparations and wait, and then they will be the suppliants and we +their deliverers; and we may rest assured that they will all come to us +for help. + +{14} In thinking out these points and others like them, men of Athens, +my object was not to devise a bold speech,[n] prolonged to no purpose: +but I took the greatest pains to discover the means by which our +preparations could be most effectively and quickly made; and therefore, +if my proposal meets with your approval, when you have heard it, you +ought, I think, to pass it. Now the first element in our preparation, +men of Athens (and it is the most important), must be this: your minds +must be so disposed, that every one of you will perform willingly and +heartily any service that is required of him. {15} For you see, men of +Athens, that whenever you have unanimously desired any object, and the +desire has been followed by a feeling on the part of every individual, +that the practical steps towards it were for himself to take, the +object has never yet slipped from your grasp: but whenever the wish has +had no further result than that each man has looked to his neighbour, +expecting his neighbour to act while he himself does nothing, the +object has never yet been attained. {16} But supposing you to be filled +with the keenness that I have described, I am of opinion that we should +make up the Twelve Hundred to their full number, and increase it to +2,000, by the addition of 800. For if you can display this total, then, +when you have allowed for the unmarried heiresses and orphans,[n] for +property outside Attica,[n] or held in partnership, and for any persons +who may be unable to contribute,[n] you will, I believe, actually have +the full 1,200 persons available. {17} These you must divide into +twenty boards, as at present, with sixty persons to each board; and +each of these boards you must divide into five sections of twelve +persons each, taking care in every case to associate with the richest +man the poorest men,[n] to maintain the balance. Such is the +arrangement of persons which I recommend, and my reason you will know +when you have heard the nature of the entire system. {18} I pass to the +distribution of the ships. You must provide a total complement of 300 +ships, forming twenty divisions of fifteen ships apiece, and including +in each division five of the first hundred vessels,[n] five of the +second hundred, and five of the third hundred. Next, you must assign by +lot[n] to each board of persons its fifteen ships, and each board must +assign three ships to each of its sections. {19} This done, in order +that you may have the payments also systematically arranged, you must +divide the 6,000 talents (for that is the taxable capital[n] of the +country) into 100 parts of sixty talents each. Five of each of these +parts you must allot to each of the larger boards--the twenty--and each +board must assign one of these sums of sixty talents to each of its +sections; {20} in order that, if you need 100 ships,[n] there may be +sixty talents to be taxed for the expense of each ship, and twelve +persons responsible for it; if 200, thirty talents will be taxed to +make up the cost, and six persons will be responsible; if 300, then +twenty talents must be taxed to defray the expense, and four persons +will be responsible. {21} In the same way, men of Athens, I bid you +make a valuation according to the register of all those fittings of the +ships which are in arrear,[n] divide them into twenty parts, and allot +to each of the large boards one-twentieth of the debtors: these must +then be assigned by each board in equal numbers to each of its +sections, and the twelve persons composing each section must call up +their share of the arrears, and provide, ready-equipped, the ships +which fall to them. {22} Such is the plan by which, in my opinion, the +expense, the ships, the trierarchs, and the recovery of the fittings +could best be provided for and put into working order. I proceed to +describe a simple and easy scheme for the manning of the vessels. I +recommend that the generals should divide the whole space of the +dockyards into ten, taking care to have in each space thirty slips for +single vessels close together. This done they should apportion to each +space two of the boards and thirty ships; and should then assign a +tribe to each space by lot. {23} Each captain should divide into three +parts the space which falls to his tribe, with the corresponding ships, +and should allot these among the three wards[n] of each tribe, in such +a way that if each tribe has one division of the entire docks, each +ward will have a third of one of these divisions; and you will know, in +case of need, first the position assigned to the tribe; next, that of +the ward; and then the names of the trierarchs and their ships; each +tribe will be answerable for thirty, and each ward for ten ships. If +this system is put in train, circumstances as they arise will provide +for anything that I may have overlooked to-day (for perhaps it is +difficult to think of everything), and there will be a single +organization for the whole fleet and every part of it. + +{24} But what of funds? What resources have we immediately at our +command? The statement which I am about to make on this subject will no +doubt be astonishing; but I will make it nevertheless; for I am +convinced that upon a correct view of the facts, this statement alone +will be proved true, and will be justified by the event. I say then, +that this is not the time to discuss the financial question. We have +large resources upon which, in case of necessity, we may honourably and +rightly draw: but if we inquire for them now, we shall not believe that +we can rely upon them even against the hour of need; so far shall we be +from supplying them now. 'What then,' you will ask me, 'are these +resources, which are non-existent now, but will be ours then? This is +really like a riddle.' I will tell you. {25} Men of Athens, you see all +this great city.[n] In this city there is wealth which will compare, I +had almost said, with the united wealth of all other cities. But such +is the disposition of those who own it, that if all your orators were +to raise the alarm that the king was coming--that he was at the +doors--that there was no possible escape; and if with the orators an +equal number of prophets foretold the same thing; even then, far from +contributing funds, they would show no sign[2] [and make no +acknowledgement] of their possession of them. {26} If, however, they +were to see in course of actual realization all the terrors with which +at present we are only threatened in speeches, not one of them is so +blind that he would not both offer his contribution, and be among the +first to pay the tax. For who will prefer to lose his life and +property, rather than contribute a part of his substance to save +himself and the remainder of it? Funds, then, we can command, I am +certain, if there is a genuine need of them, and not before; and +accordingly I urge you not even to look for them now. For all that you +would provide now, if you decided upon a levy, would be more ludicrous +than nothing at all. {27} Suppose that we are told to pay 1 per cent. +now; that gives you sixty talents. Two per cent. then--double the +amount; that makes 120 talents. And what is that to the 1,200 camels +which (as these gentlemen tell us) are bringing the king's money for +him? Or would you have me assume a payment of one-twelfth, 500 talents? +Why, you would never submit to this; and if you paid the money down, it +would not be adequate to the war. {28} You must, therefore, make all +your other preparations, but allow your funds to remain for the present +in the hands of their owners--they could nowhere be more safely kept +for the use of the State; and then, if ever the threatened crisis +arises, you will receive them as the voluntary gift of their +possessors. This, men of Athens, is not only a possible course of +action, but a dignified and a politic one. It is a course of action +which is worthy to be reported to the ears of the king, and which would +inspire him with no slight apprehension. {29} For he well knows that by +two hundred ships, of which one hundred were Athenian,[n] his ancestors +were deprived of one thousand; and he will hear that Athens alone has +now equipped three hundred; so that, however great his infatuation, he +could certainly not imagine it a light thing to make this country his +foe. But if it is his wealth that suggests proud thoughts to his mind, +he will find that in this respect too his resources are weaker than +ours. {30} It is true that he is said to be bringing a great quantity +of gold with him. But if he distributes this, he must look for more: +for just so it is the way of springs and wells to give out, if large +quantities are drawn from them all at once; whereas we possess, as he +will hear, in the taxable capital of the country, resources which we +defend against attack in a way of which those ancestors of his who +sleep at Marathon can best tell him: and so long as we are masters of +the country there is no risk of our resources being exhausted. + +{31} Nor again can I see any grounds for the fear, which some feel, +lest his wealth should enable him to collect a large mercenary force. +It may be that many of the Hellenes would be glad to serve under him +against Egypt,[n] against Orontas,[n] or against certain other foreign +powers--not from a wish that the king should conquer any such enemies, +but because each desires individually to obtain some private means to +relieve his present poverty. But I cannot believe that any Hellene +would march against Hellas. Whither will he turn afterwards? Will he go +to Phrygia and be a slave? {32} For the war with the foreigner is a war +for no other stake than our country, our life, our habits, our freedom, +and all that we value. Where is the wretch who would sacrifice self, +parents, sepulchres, fatherland, for the sake of some short-lived gain? +I do not believe that he exists. And indeed it is not even to the +king's own interest to conquer the Hellenes with a mercenary force; for +an army which has conquered us is, even more certainly,[n] stronger +than he; and his intention is not to destroy us only that he may fall +into the power of others: he wishes to rule, if it may be, over all the +world; but if not, at least over those who are already his slaves. + +{33} It may be supposed that the Thebans will be on the king's side. +Now this subject is one upon which it is hard to address you. For such +is your hatred of them, that you cannot hear a good word about them, +however true, without displeasure. And yet those who have grave +questions to consider must not on any pretext pass over any profitable +line of argument. {34} I believe, then, that so far are the Thebans +from being likely ever to march with him against the Hellenes, that +they would give a great deal, if they had it to give, for an +opportunity of cancelling their former sins against Hellas.[n] But if +any one does believe that the Thebans are so unhappily constituted, at +least you are all aware, I presume, that if the Thebans take the part +of the king, their enemies must necessarily take the part of the +Hellenes. + +{35} My own belief is that our cause, the cause of justice, and its +supporters, will prove stronger in every emergency than the traitor and +the foreigner. And therefore I say that we need feel no excessive +apprehension, and that we must not be led on into taking the first step +towards war. Indeed, I cannot even see that any of the other Hellenes +has reason to dread this war. {36} Are they not all aware, that so long +as they thought of the king as their common foe, and were at unity with +one another, they were secure in their prosperity; but that ever since +they imagined that they could count upon the king as their friend, and +fell to quarrelling over their private interests, they have suffered +such evils as no malediction could have devised for them? Must we then +dread a man whose friendship, thanks to Fortune and Heaven, has proved +so unprofitable, and his enmity so advantageous? By no means! Let us +not, however, commit any aggression, in view of our own interests, and +of the disturbed and mistrustful spirit which prevails among the rest +of the Hellenes. {37} Were it possible, indeed, to join forces with +them all, and with one accord to attack the king in his isolation, I +should have counted it no wrong even were we to take the aggressive. +But since this is impossible, we must be careful to give the king no +pretext for trying to enforce the claims of the other Hellenes against +us. If you keep the peace, any such step on his part would arouse +suspicion; but if you are the first to begin war, his hostility to you +would make his desire to befriend your rivals appear natural enough. +{38} Do not then lay bare the evil condition of Hellas, by calling the +powers together when they will not obey, or undertaking a war which you +will be unable to carry on. Keep the peace; take courage, and make your +preparations. Resolve that the news which the king hears of you shall +certainly not be that all Hellas, and Athens with it, in distress or +panic or confusion. Far from it! {39} Let him rather know that if +falsehood and perjury were not as disgraceful in Hellenic eyes as they +are honourable in his, you would long ago have been on the march +against him: and that though, as it is, your regard for yourselves +forbids you to act thus, you are praying to all the gods that the same +madness may seize him as once seized his ancestors. And if it occurs to +him to reflect upon this, he will find that your deliberations are not +conducted in any careless spirit. {40} He at least shares the knowledge +that it was your wars with his own ancestors that raised Athens to the +summit of prosperity and greatness; while the peaceful policy which she +previously pursued never gave her such a superiority as she now enjoys +over any single state in Hellas. Aye, and he sees that the Hellenes are +in need of one who, whether intentionally or not, will reconcile them +one to another; and he knows that if he were to stir up war, he himself +would assume that character in relation to them; so that the news which +he will hear of you will be intelligible and credible to him. + +{41} But I do not wish to trouble you, men of Athens, by unduly +prolonging my speech. I will therefore recapitulate my advice and +retire. I bid you prepare your forces with a view to the enemies whom +you have. If the king or any other power attempts to do you injury, you +must defend yourselves with these same forces. But you must not take +the aggressive by word or deed; and you must take care that it is your +deeds, and not your platform speeches, that are worthy of your +forefathers. If you act thus, you will be consulting both your own +interests and those of the speakers who are opposing me; since you will +have no cause to be angry with them afterwards, because you have +decided wrongly to-day. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] See Speech on Crown, Secs. 102 ff. and notes. + +[2] See Speech on Crown, Secs. 102 ff. and notes. + + + + +FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS (OR. XVI) + +[_Introduction_. In 371 B.C. the Thebans under Epaminondas defeated the +Spartans at Leuctra, and, assisted by Thebes, the Arcadians and +Messenians threw off the Spartan yoke. The former founded Megalopolis +as their common centre, the latter Messene. But after the death of +Epaminondas in 362, Thebes was left without a leader; and when, in 355, +she became involved in the 'Sacred War' with the Phocians, the new +Peloponnesian states turned towards Athens, and Messene received a +solemn promise of Athenian assistance, if ever she was attacked by +Sparta. In 353 Thebes was suffering considerably from the Sacred War, +and the Spartans made an ingenious attempt to recover their power, in +the form of a proposal for the restoration of territory to its original +owners. This meant that Athens would recover Oropus, which had been in +the hands of Thebes since 366, and had previously been the subject of a +long-standing dispute; that Orchomenus, Thespiae, and Plataeae, which +had all been overthrown by Thebes, would be restored; and that Elis and +Phlius would also recover certain lost possessions. All these states +would then be morally bound (so the Spartans thought) to help Sparta to +reconquer Arcadia and Messenia. + +On the occasion of this speech (delivered in 353) the Megalopolitans +had appealed to Athens, and an Arcadian and a Spartan embassy had each +had an audience of the Assembly, and had each received strong support +from Athenian speakers. The principal motives of the supporters of +Sparta were their hostility to Thebes, and their desire not to break +with the Spartans, whom Athens had assisted at Mantineia in 362 against +the Thebans and Megalopolitans. Demosthenes supports the Arcadians, and +lays great stress on the desirability of maintaining a balance of power +between Sparta and Thebes, so that neither might become too strong. To +allow Sparta to reconquer Arcadia, and, as the next step, Messenia, +would be to render her too formidable; and to reject the proposal of +Sparta would not preclude Athens from recovering Oropus and demanding +the restoration of the Boeotian towns. But the promise of assistance to +the Arcadians should be accompanied by a request for the termination of +their alliance with Thebes. + +Demosthenes' advice was not followed. In fact Athens was hardly in a +position to risk becoming entangled in a war with Sparta, particularly +in view of the danger to her northern possessions from Philip. She +therefore remained neutral, while the Thebans, relieved from the +pressure of the Sacred War owing to the defeat of the Phocian leader +Onomarchus by Philip, were able to send aid to Megalopolis. A truce +between Sparta and Megalopolis was made about 350. It was, however, a +result of the neutrality of Athens, that she was unable, a few years +later, to secure the support of the Arcadians against Philip, whose +allies they subsequently became. + +Lord Brougham describes the oration as 'one of extraordinary subtlety +and address in handling delicate topics'; and, after quoting the +passage in which Demosthenes urges the necessity of maintaining a +balance of power between rival states, adds that 'this is precisely the +language of modern policy'. At the same time, the speech has in places +a somewhat academic and theoretical air: it is much occupied with the +weighing of hypothetical considerations and obligations against one +another: and though it enunciates some plain and reasonable political +principles, and makes an honest attempt to satisfy those who wished to +help the Arcadians, but at the same time desired to regain ground +against Thebes, it is not always convincing, and the tone is more +frankly opportunist than is usually the case with Demosthenes.] + + {1} I think, men of Athens, that those who have spoken on the Arcadian side and +those who have spoken on the Spartan, are alike making a mistake. For +their mutual accusations and their attacks upon one another would +suggest that they are not, like yourselves, Athenians, receiving the +two embassies, but actually delegates of the two states. Such attacks +it was for the two deputations to make. The duty of those who claim to +advise you here was to discuss the situation impartially, and to +inquire, in an uncontentious spirit, what course is best in your +interests. {2} As it is, if one could alter the fact that they are +known to us, and that they speak the dialect of Attica, I believe that +many would imagine that those on the one side actually were Arcadians, +and those on the other, Spartans. For my part, I see plainly enough the +difficulty of offering the best advice. For you, like them, are +deluded, in your desire for one extreme or the other: and one who +endeavours to propose an intermediate course, which you will not have +the patience to understand, will satisfy neither side and will forfeit +the confidence of both. {3} But in spite of this, I shall prefer, for +my own part, to risk being regarded as an idle chatterer (if such is +really to be my lot), rather than to abandon my conviction as to what +is best for Athens, and leave you to the mercy of those who would +deceive you. And while I shall deal with all other points later, by +your leave, I shall take for my starting-point, in explaining the +course which I believe to be best, those principles which are admitted +by all. + +{4} There can be no possible question that it is to the interest of the +city that both the Spartans and these Thebans should be weak; and the +present situation, if one may judge at all from what has constantly +been asserted in your presence, is such, that if Orchomenus, Thespiae, +and Plataeae[n] are re-established, Thebes becomes weak; and that if +the Spartans can reduce Arcadia to subjection and destroy Megalopolis, +Sparta will recover her former strength. {5} We must, therefore, take +care not to allow the Spartans to attain a formidable degree of +strength, before the Thebans have become insignificant, lest there +should take place, unobserved by us, such an increase in the power of +Sparta as would be out of proportion to the decrease in the power of +Thebes which our interests demand. For it is, of course, out of the +question that we should desire merely to substitute the rivalry of +Sparta for that of Thebes: that is not the object upon which we are +bent. Our object is rather that neither people shall be capable of +doing us any injury. That is what will best enable us to live in +security. + +{6} But, granted that this is what ought to be, still, we are told, it +is a scandalous thing to choose for our allies the men against whom we +were arrayed at Mantineia, and further, to help them against those +whose perils we shared that day. I agree; but I think that we need to +insert the condition, 'provided that the two parties are willing to act +rightly.' {7} For if all alike prove willing to keep the peace, we +shall not go to the aid of the Megalopolitans, since there will be no +need to do so; and so there will be no hostility whatever on our part +towards our former comrades in battle. They are already our allies, as +they tell us; and now the Arcadians will become our allies as well. +What more could we desire? {8} But suppose they act wrongfully and +think fit to make war. In that case, if the question before us is +whether we are to abandon Megalopolis to Sparta or not, then I say +that, wrong though it is, I will acquiesce in our permitting this, and +declining to oppose our former companions in danger. But if you all +know that, after capturing Megalopolis, they will march against +Messene, let me ask any of those who are now so harshly disposed +towards Megalopolis to say what action he will _then_ advise. No answer +will be given. {9} In fact you all know that, whether they advise it or +not, we _must_ then go to the rescue, both because of the oath which we +have sworn to the Messenians, and because our interests demand the +continued existence of that city. Ask yourselves, then, on which +occasion you can most honourably and generously interpose to check the +aggressions of Sparta--in defence of Megalopolis, or in defence of +Messene? {10} On the present occasion it will be understood that you +are succouring the Arcadians, and are anxious that the Peace, which you +fought for and risked your lives to win, may be secure. But if you +wait, all the world will see plainly that it is not in the name of +right that you desire the existence of Messene, but because you are +afraid of Sparta. And while we should always seek and do the right, we +should at the same time take good care that what is right shall also be +advantageous. + +{11} Now an argument is used by speakers on the other side to the +effect that we ought to attempt to recover Oropus,[n] and that if we +make enemies of those who might come to our assistance against it we +shall have no allies. I too say that we should try to recover Oropus. +But the argument that the Spartans will be our enemies now, if we make +alliance with those Arcadians who desire our friendship, is an argument +which no one has less right even to mention, than those who induced you +to help the Spartans when they were in danger. {12} Such was not their +argument, when all the Peloponnesians came to you,[n] entreating you to +support them in their campaign against Sparta, and they persuaded you +to reject the entreaty, with the result that the Peloponnesians took +the only remaining course and applied to Thebes--when they bade you +contribute funds and imperil your lives for the deliverance of the +Spartans. Nor, I presume, would you have been willing to protect them, +had they warned you that you must expect no gratitude for their +deliverance, unless, after saving them, you allowed them once more to +do as they pleased and commit fresh aggressions. {13} And further, +however antagonistic it may be to the designs of the Spartans, that we +should make the Arcadians our allies, they are surely bound to feel a +gratitude towards us for saving them when they were in the utmost +extremity, which will outweigh their vexation at our preventing their +present wrongdoing. Must they not then either assist us to recover +Oropus, or else be regarded as the basest of mankind? For, by Heaven, I +can see no other alternative. + +{14} I am astonished, also, to hear it argued that if we make the +Arcadians our allies, and carry out my advice, it will seem as though +Athens were changing her policy, and were utterly unreliable. I believe +that the exact reverse of this is the case, men of Athens, and I will +tell you why. I suppose that no one in the world can deny that when +this city saved the Spartans,[n] and before them the Thebans,[n] and +finally the Euboeans,[n] and subsequently made them her allies, she had +one and the same end always in view. {15} And what was this? It was to +deliver the victims of aggression. And if this is so, it is not we that +should be changing, but those who refuse to adhere to the right; and it +will be manifest that, although circumstances change from time to time +with the ambitious designs of others, Athens does not change. + +{16} I believe that the Spartans are playing a very unscrupulous part. +At present they tell us that the Eleans are to recover part of +Triphylia,[n] and the Phliasians, Tricaranum;[n] other Arcadians are to +recover their own possessions, and we ourselves are to recover +Oropus--not that they have any desire to see every state enjoying its +own--far from it!-- such generosity on their part would be late indeed +in showing itself. {17} They wish rather to present the appearance of +co-operating with each separate state in the recovery of the territory +that it claims, in order that when they themselves march against +Messene, all may take the field with them, and give them their hearty +assistance, on pain of seeming to act unfairly, in refusing to return +an equivalent for the support which each of them received from Sparta +in regard to their own several claims. {18} My own view is that, even +without the tacit surrender of some of the Arcadians to Sparta, we can +recover Oropus, aided not only by the Spartans, if they are ready to +act honourably, but by all who disapprove of allowing Thebes to retain +what is not her own. But even if it were made quite plain to us, that +without allowing Sparta to subdue the Peloponnese, we should not be +able to take Oropus, I should still think it preferable, if I may dare +to say so, to let Oropus go, rather than sacrifice Messene and the +Peloponnese to Sparta. For our quarrel with them would not, I believe, +be confined to this; since--I will not say what occurs to me; but there +are many risks which we should run. + +{19} But, to pass on, it is a monstrous thing to use the hostile +actions which, they say, the Megalopolitans committed against us, under +the influence of Thebes, as a ground of accusation against them to-day; +and, when they wish to be friends and so atone for their action by +doing us good, to look askance at them, to seek for some way of +avoiding their friendship, to refuse to recognize that in proportion to +the zeal which my opponents can prove the Megalopolitans to have shown +in supporting Thebes will be the resentment to which my opponents +themselves will deservedly be exposed, for depriving the city of such +allies as these, when they have appealed to you before appealing to +Thebes. {20} Such a policy is surely the policy of men who wish to make +the Arcadians for the second time the allies of others. And so far as +one can forecast the future by calculation, I am sure, and I believe +that most of you will agree with me, that if the Spartans take +Megalopolis, Messene will be in peril; and if they take Messene also, +then I predict that we shall find ourselves allies of Thebes.[n] {21} +It is a far more honourable, a far better, course that we should +ourselves take over the Theban confederacy,[n] refusing to leave the +field open to the cupidity of the Spartans, than that we should be so +afraid of protecting the allies of Thebes, as first to sacrifice them, +and then to save Thebes itself; and, in addition, to be in a state of +apprehension for our own safety. {22} For if the Spartans capture +Megalopolis and become a great power once more, the prospect, as I +conceive it, is not one which this city can view without alarm. For I +can see that even now they are determining to go to war, not to prevent +any evil which threatens them, but to recover their own ancient power: +and what their aims were when they possessed that power, you, I think, +know[n] perhaps better than I, and with that knowledge may well be +alarmed. + +{23} Now I should be glad if the speakers who profess their hatred for +Thebes on the one side, or for Sparta on the other, would tell me if +their professed hatred is based on consideration for you and your +interests, or whether the one party hates Thebes from an interest in +Sparta, and the other Sparta from an interest in Thebes. If the latter +is the case, you should not listen to either, but treat them as insane: +but if the former, why this inordinate exaltation of one side or the +other? {24} For it is possible, perfectly possible, to humiliate Thebes +without rendering Sparta powerful. Indeed, it is by far the easier +course; and I will try to tell you how it can be done. We all know +that, however unwilling men may be to do what is right, yet up to a +certain point they are ashamed not to do so, and that they withstand +wrongdoers openly, particularly if there are any who receive damage +through the wrong done: and we shall find that what ruins everything +and is the source of all evil is the unwillingness to do what is right +without reserve. {25} Now in order that no such obstacle may stand in +the way of the humiliation of Thebes, let us demand the +re-establishment of Thespiae, Orchomenus, and Plataeae, co-operating +with their citizens ourselves, and requiring others to do so; for the +principle of refusing to allow ancient cities to lie desolate is a +right and honourable one. But let us at the same time decline to +abandon Megalopolis and Messene to the aggressors, or to suffer the +destruction of existing and inhabited cities, on the pretext of +restoring Plataeae and Thespiae. {26} Then, if our policy is made plain +to all, there is no one who will not wish to terminate the Thebans' +occupation of territory not their own. But if it is not, not only will +our designs be opposed by the Arcadians, in the belief that the +restoration of these towns carries with it their own ruin, but we shall +have troubles without end. For, honestly, where can we expect to reach +an end, when we permit the annihilation of existing cities, and require +the restoration of those that have been annihilated? + +{27} It is demanded by those whose speeches display the strongest +appearance of fairness, that the Megalopolitans shall take down the +pillars[n] which commemorate their alliance with Thebes, if they are to +be trustworthy allies of Athens. The Megalopolitans reply that for them +it is not pillars, but interest, that creates friendship; and that it +is those who help them, that they consider to be their allies. Well, +that may be their attitude. Nevertheless, my own view is, roughly +speaking, this:--I say that we should simultaneously require the +Megalopolitans to take down the pillars, and the Spartans to keep the +peace: and that in the event of either side refusing to fulfil our +request, we should at once take the part of those who are willing to +fulfil it. {28} For if the Megalopolitans obtain peace, and yet adhere +to the Theban alliance, it will be clear to all that they prefer the +grasping policy of Thebes to that which is right. If, on the other +hand, Megalopolis makes alliance frankly with us, and the Spartans then +refuse to keep the peace, it will surely be clear to all that what the +Spartans desire so eagerly is not the re-establishment of Thespiae, but +an opportunity of subduing the Peloponnese while the Thebans are +involved in the war.[n] {29} And I am surprised to find that there are +some who are alarmed at the prospect of the enemies of Sparta becoming +allies of Thebes, and yet see nothing to fear in the subjugation of +these enemies by Sparta herself; whereas the experience of the past can +teach us that the Thebans always use such allies against Sparta, while, +when Sparta had them, she used to use them against us. + +{30} There is another point which I think you should consider. Suppose +that you reject the overtures of the Megalopolitans. If they are +annihilated and dispersed, Sparta can recover her power at once. If +they actually survive--for things have happened before now beyond all +hope--they will quite rightly be the firm allies of Thebes. But suppose +you receive them. Then the immediate result, so far as they are +concerned, is that they are saved by you: and as to the future, let us +now transfer our calculation of possible risks to the case of the +Thebans and Spartans. {31} If the Thebans are crushed, as they ought to +be, the Spartans will not be unduly powerful, for they will always have +these Arcadians at their doors to hold them in check. But if the +Thebans actually recover and survive the attack, they will at least be +weaker; for the Arcadians will have become our allies, and will owe +their preservation to us. Thus on every ground it is to our interest +not to sacrifice the Arcadians, nor to let them think that their +deliverance, if they are really saved, is due to themselves, or to any +other people than you. + +{32} And now, men of Athens, I solemnly declare that what I have said +has been prompted by no personal feeling, friendly or hostile, towards +either side. I have told you only what I believe to be expedient for +you; and I exhort you not to sacrifice the people of Megalopolis, and +to make it your rule, never to sacrifice a smaller power to a greater. + + + + +FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE RHODIANS (OR. XV) + + +[_Introduction_. Dionysius of Halicarnassus places the speech in 351 +B.C. He is not always accurate, and the internal evidence has been +thought by some to suggest a date perhaps two years earlier. The +reasons, however, for this are not strong, and there has recently been +a disposition to accept Dionysius' date. + +As the result of the Social War, Chios, Cos, Rhodes, and Byzantium had +made themselves independent of Athens. They had been assisted by +Mausolus, King of Caria, a vassal of Persia. After the termination of +the war, a Carian garrison occupied Cos and Rhodes; the democratic +constitution of Rhodes was overthrown and the democratic party driven +into banishment, as the result of an oligarchic plot, which Mausolus +had fostered. In 353 Mausolus died, and was succeeded by Artemisia, his +sister and wife. The exiles appealed to Athens for restoration, and for +the liberation of Rhodes from the Carian domination. It is evident that +the feeling in Athens against the Rhodians was very strong, owing to +their part in the late war, for which the democratic party had been +responsible; and there was some fear of the possible consequences of +offending Artemisia and perhaps becoming involved in war with Persia. +Demosthenes, nevertheless, urges the people to assist them, and to +forget their misconduct. He appeals to the traditional policy of +Athens, as the saviour of the oppressed and protectress of democracies, +and warns them of the danger which would threaten Athens herself, if +the conversion of free constitutions into oligarchies were allowed to +go unchecked. He takes a different view from that of his opponents of +the probable attitude of Artemisia, and utters an impressive warning +against corrupt and unpatriotic statesmen, which foreshadows his more +vehement attacks in the orations against Philip. + +The appeal was unsuccessful, for in the speech on the Peace (Sec. 25) +Demosthenes speaks of Cos and Rhodes as still subject to Caria. + +The speech is more eloquent than the last, and more outspoken. +Political principles and ideals are enunciated with some confidence, +and illustrated by striking examples from history. But there also +appears for the first time that sense of the difficulty of rousing the +Athenians to action of any kind, which is so strongly expressed in +later speeches.] + + +{1} It is, I think, your duty, men of Athens, when you are deliberating +upon affairs of such importance, to grant freedom of speech to every +one of your advisers. And for my part, I have never yet felt any +difficulty in pointing out to you the best course; for I believe that, +broadly speaking, you all know from the first what this is. My +difficulty is to persuade you to act upon your knowledge. For when a +measure is approved and passed by you, it is as far from execution as +it was before you resolved upon it. {2} Well, you have to render thanks +to Heaven for this, among other favours--that those who went to war +with you not long ago, moved by their own insolent pride, now place +their own hopes of preservation in you alone. Well may we rejoice at +our present opportunity! For if your decision in regard to it is what +it should be, you will find yourselves meeting the calumnies of those +who are slandering this city with a practical and a glorious +refutation. {3} For the peoples of Chios, Byzantium, and Rhodes accused +us of entertaining designs against them; and on this ground they +combined against us in the recent war. But now it will be seen[n] that, +while Mausolus, who under the pretence of friendship towards Rhodes, +directed and instigated their efforts, in reality robbed the Rhodians +of their freedom; while their declared allies, Chios and Byzantium, +never came to aid them in their misfortunes; {4} you, of whom they were +afraid, and you alone, have been the authors of their salvation. And +because all the world will have seen this, you will cause the popular +party in every city to consider your friendship a guarantee of their +own safety; nor could you reap any greater blessing than the goodwill +which will thus be offered to you, spontaneously and without +misgivings, upon every hand. + +{5} I notice, to my surprise, that those who urge us to oppose the king +in the interest of the Egyptians,[n] are the very persons who are so +afraid of him when it is the interest of the popular party in Rhodes +that is in question. And yet it is known to every one that the Rhodians +are Hellenes, while the Egyptians have a place assigned them in the +Persian Empire. {6} I expect that some of you remember that, when you +were discussing our relations with the king, I came forward and was the +first to advise you[n] (though I had, I believe, no supporters, or one +at the most), that you would show your good sense, in my opinion, if +you did not make your hostility to the king the pretext of your +preparations, but prepared yourselves against the enemies whom you +already had; though you would resist him also, if he attempted to do +you any injury. {7} Nor, when I spoke thus, did I fail to convince you, +but you also approved of this policy. What I have now to say is the +sequel to my argument on that occasion. For if the king were to call me +to his side and make me his counsellor, I should give him the same +advice as I gave you--namely, that he should fight in defence of his +own possessions, if he were opposed by any Hellenic power, but should +absolutely forego all claim to what in no way belongs to him. {8} If, +therefore, you have made a general resolve, men of Athens, to retire +from any place of which the king makes himself master, either by +surprise or by the deception of some of the inhabitants, you have not +resolved well, in my judgement: but if you are prepared, in defence of +your rights, even to fight, if need be, and to endure anything that may +be necessary, not only will the need for such a step be less, the more +firmly your minds are made up, but you will also be regarded as showing +the spirit which you ought to show. + +{9} To prove to you that I am not suggesting anything unprecedented in +bidding you liberate the Rhodians, and that you will not be acting +without precedent, if you take my advice, I will remind you of one of +those incidents in the past which have ended happily for you. You once +sent out Timotheus, men of Athens, to assist Ariobarzanes,[n] adding to +your resolution the provision that he must not break our treaty with +the king; and Timotheus, seeing that Ariobarzanes was now openly in +revolt against the king, but that Samos was occupied by a garrison +under Cyprothemis, who had been placed there by Tigranes, the king's +viceroy, abandoned his intention of helping Ariobarzanes, but sat down +before Samos, relieved it, and set it free. {10} And to this day no war +has ever arisen to trouble you on account of this. For to enter upon a +war for the purpose of aggrandizement is never the same thing as to do +so in defence of one's own possessions. Every one fights his hardest to +recover what he has lost; but when men endeavour to gain at the expense +of others, it is not so. They desire to do this, if it is allowed them; +but if they are prevented, they do not consider that their opponents +have done them any wrong. + +{11} Now listen for a moment, and consider whether I am right or wrong, +when I conclude that if Athens were actively at work, Artemisia herself +would now not even oppose our action. If the king effects in Egypt all +that he is bent upon, I believe that Artemisia would make every attempt +to secure for him the continued possession of Rhodes--not from any +goodwill towards him, but from the desire to be credited with a great +service to him, while he is still in her neighbourhood,[n] and so to +win from him as friendly a reception as possible. {12} But if he is +faring as we are told, if all his attempts have failed, she will +consider, and rightly, that the island can be of no further use to the +king, except as a fortified post to command her own dominions--a +security against any movement on her part. Accordingly she would +prefer, I believe, that you should have it, without her openly +surrendering it to you, rather than that he should occupy it. I think, +therefore, that she would not even make an attempt to save it; or that +if she actually did so, it would be but weakly and ineffectively. {13} +For although I cannot, of course, profess to know what the king will +do, I must insist that it is high time that it should be made clear, in +the interests of Athens, whether he intends to lay claim to Rhodes or +not: for if he does so, we have then to take counsel, not for the +Rhodians alone, but for ourselves and for the Hellenes as a whole. + +{14} At the same time, even if the Rhodians who are now in +possession[n] of the town held it by their own strength, I should never +have urged you to take them for your allies, for all the promises in +the world. For I observe that they took to their side some of their +fellow citizens, to help them overthrow the democracy, and that, having +done this, they turned and expelled them: and I do not think that men +who failed to keep faith with either party would ever be trustworthy +allies for yourselves. {15} And further, I should never have made my +present proposal, had I been thinking only of the interests of the +popular party in Rhodes. I am not their official patron,[n] nor have I +a single personal friend among them; and even if both these things were +otherwise, I should not have made this proposal, had I not believed it +to be for your advantage. For as for the Rhodians, if I may use such an +expression when I am pleading with you to save them, I share your +joy[1] at what has happened to them. For it is because they grudged you +the recovery of your rights that they have lost their own freedom; and +that, instead of the equal alliance which they might have had with +Hellenes, better than themselves, they are in bondage to foreigners and +slaves, whom they have admitted to their citadels. {16} Indeed, if you +resolve to go to their aid, I may almost say that this calamity has +been good for them; for, Rhodians as they are, I doubt if they would +ever have come to their right mind in prosperity; whereas actual +experience has now taught them that folly generally leads to manifold +adversities; and perhaps they will be wiser for the future. This +lesson, I feel sure, will be no small advantage to them. I say then +that you should endeavour to save these men, and should bear no malice, +remembering that you too have been greatly deceived by conspirators +against you, and yet would not admit that you deserved yourselves to +suffer for such mistakes. + +Observe this also, men of Athens. {17} You have waged many wars both +against democracies and against oligarchies; and of this no doubt you +are as well aware as I. But I doubt whether any of you considers for +what objects you are fighting in each case. What then are these +objects? In fighting against a democracy, you are fighting either over +some private quarrel, when the parties have failed to settle their +disputes by the means publicly provided;[n] or you are contending for a +piece of territory, or about a boundary, or for a point of honour, or +for paramountcy. But in fighting against an oligarchy, it is not for +any such objects--it is your constitution and your freedom that are at +stake. {18} And therefore I should not hesitate to say that I believe +it would be better for you, that all the Hellenic peoples should be +democracies, and be at war with you, than that they should be governed +by oligarchies, and be your friends. For with a free people you would +have no difficulty, I believe, in making peace whenever you desired: +but with an oligarchical State friendship itself cannot be safe. For +there can be no goodwill between Few and Many--between those who seek +for mastery, and those who have chosen the life of political equality. + +{19} It surprises me also that though Chios and Mytilene are ruled by +oligarchies, and though now the Rhodians and all mankind, I may almost +say, are being brought into the same bondage, no one considers that any +danger threatens our own constitution also, or reflects that if every +State is organized upon an oligarchic basis, it is not possible that +your own democracy should be suffered to remain. For they know that no +people but you could ever bring them forth into a state of liberty +again; and they will wish to put an end to so likely a source of +trouble to themselves. {20} As a rule we may regard wrongdoers as +enemies only to those whom they have wronged. But when men destroy free +constitutions and convert them into oligarchies, I say that you must +think of them as the common enemies of all whose hearts are set on +freedom. {21} Again, men of Athens, it is only right that you, a +democracy yourselves, should show towards other democracies in distress +the same spirit as you would expect them to show towards you, if any +such calamity (which God forbid!) should happen to you. It may be said +that the Rhodians are justly punished. If so, this is not the time to +exult over them. When men are prosperous they should always be found +taking thought how best to help the distressed; for the future is +unknown to all men. + +{22} I have often heard it stated here in your presence, that when our +democracy had met with disaster,[n] you were joined by certain others +in your anxiety for its preservation. Of these I will only refer on the +present occasion to the Argives, and that briefly. For I cannot desire +that you, who enjoy the reputation of being always the saviours of the +distressed, should prove inferior to the Argives in that work. These +Argives, though their territory borders on that of the Spartans, whom +they saw to be masters by land and sea, neither hesitated nor feared to +display their goodwill towards you; but when envoys came from Sparta +(so the story goes) to demand the persons of certain Athenian refugees, +they even voted that unless the envoys departed before sunset, they +should be adjudged public enemies. {23} If then the democracy of Argos +in those days showed no fear of the might of the Spartan Empire, will +it not be a disgrace if you, who are Athenians, are afraid of one who +is a barbarian--aye, and a woman?[n] The Argives, moreover, could point +to many defeats sustained at the hands of Sparta, while you have often +defeated the king, and have not once proved inferior either to his +servants or to himself. For if ever the king has gained any success +against Athens, it has been by bribing the basest of the Hellenes to +betray their countrymen; in no other way has he ever succeeded. {24} +Indeed, even such success has done him no good. You will find that no +sooner had he rendered Athens weak,[n] by the help of the Spartans, +than he had to fight for his own kingdom against Clearchus and Cyrus. +His successes, therefore, have not been won in the open field, nor have +his plots brought him any good. Now some of you, I notice, are in the +habit of speaking contemptuously of Philip, as though he were not worth +reckoning with; while you dread the king, as a powerful enemy to any +whom he chooses to oppose. But if we are not to defend ourselves +against Philip, because he is so mean a foe, and are to give way in +everything to the king, because he is so formidable, who is there, men +of Athens, against whom we shall ever take the field? + +{25} Men of Athens, you have among you those who are particularly +skilful in pleading with you the rights of the rest of the world; and I +should be glad to give them this single piece of advice--that they +should seek to plead your rights with the rest of the world,[n] and so +set an example of duty. It is monstrous to instruct you about rights, +without doing right oneself; and it is not right that a fellow citizen +of yours should have studied all the arguments against you and none of +those in your favour. {26} Ask yourselves, in God's name, why it is +that there is no one in Byzantium to tell the Byzantines that they must +not occupy Chalcedon,[n] which belongs to the king and formerly +belonged to you, but upon which they had no sort of claim; or that they +must not make Selymbria, once your ally, a contributory portion of the +Byzantine state; or include the territory of Selymbria[n] within the +Byzantine frontier, in defiance of the sworn treaty which ordains the +independence of the cities? {27} Why was there no one to tell Mausolus, +while he lived, and Artemisia after his death, that they must not +occupy Cos and Rhodes and other Hellenic cities as well, which the king +their master ceded to the Hellenes by the treaty,[n] and for the sake +of which the Hellenes of those days faced many a peril and fought many +a gallant fight? Even if there actually are such advisers[n] in both +cases, at least it is not likely that they will find listeners. {28} +For my part I believe that it is right to restore the exiled democracy +of Rhodes. But even if it were not right, I think it would be proper to +urge you to do it, when I consider the course taken by such speakers as +these; and for this reason. If all the world, men of Athens, were bent +upon doing right, it would be a disgrace to us if we alone were +unwilling to do so: but when all the world is preparing itself in order +to be able to commit wrong, then for us alone to abstain from every +enterprise, on the plea of right, is no righteousness, to my mind, but +cowardice. For I observe that the extent to which rights are admitted +is always in proportion to the claimant's power at the moment. {29} I +can illustrate this by an instance familiar to all of you. There are +two treaties[n] between the Hellenes and the king. The first was made +by our own city, and all men praise it; the second by the Spartans, and +it is denounced by all. The rights defined in these two treaties are +not the same. For whereas a common and equal share of private rights is +given by law to weak and strong alike, in a settlement of international +rights it is the stronger who legislate for the weaker. + +Well, you already know what the right course is.[n] {30} It remains to +inquire how you can carry out your knowledge into action; and this will +be possible, if you come to be regarded as public champions of +universal liberty. But the great difficulty which you find in doing +your duty is, to my mind, natural enough. All other men have only one +conflict to face--the conflict with their declared foes; and when these +are subdued, there is no further obstacle to their secure enjoyment of +their happiness. {31} But for you there is a double conflict. In +addition to that to which all men are liable, there is another which is +harder, and which must be faced first: for you have to win the victory +in your councils over those who are deliberately working in your midst +against the interests of the city; and because, thanks to them, you can +effect nothing that is demanded of you without a struggle, it is +natural that you should often miss your mark. {32} The chief reason for +the fearless adoption of such a course in public life by so many men is +perhaps to be found in the benefits which they obtain from those who +hire them. Yet at the same time, some of the blame may fairly be laid +at your own doors. For you ought, men of Athens, to think of a man's +post in public life as you think of his post in the army in the field. +And how do you think of this? If a man leaves the post assigned to him +by his general, you think that he deserves to be disfranchised and to +lose all share in the privileges of a citizen. {33} And so when men +desert the post of civil duty, committed to them by our forefathers, +and follow an oligarchical[n] policy, they should forfeit the privilege +of acting as advisers to yourselves. As it is, while you believe that +those of your allies are best disposed towards you, who have sworn to +have the same friends and foes as yourselves, the politicians in whom +you place most faith are those whom you well know to have chosen the +side of the enemies of Athens. + +{34} It is easy enough, however, to find reasons for accusing them and +reproaching all of you. But to find words or actions which will enable +us to rectify what is now amiss with us, is a task indeed. Moreover, +the present is not, perhaps, the time for entering into every point: +but if only you can confirm the policy which you have chosen by some +suitable action, it may be that other conditions will each in turn show +some improvement. {35} I think, therefore, that you ought to take this +enterprise in hand with vigour, and to act worthily of your country. +Remember with what delight you listen to the praises of your +forefathers,[n] the recital of their deeds, the enumeration of their +trophies. Consider then that your forefathers dedicated these trophies, +not that you might gaze at them in idle wonder, but that you might +imitate the actions of those who placed them there. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] [Greek: humin sygchair_o]. + + + + +THE FIRST PHILIPPIC (OR. IV) + + +[_Introduction_. Philip became King of Macedonia in 359 B.C. Being in +great difficulties both from external enemies and from internal +division, he made peace with the Athenians, who were supporting the +pretensions of Argaeus to the throne, in the hope of recovering (by +agreement with Argaeus) the colony of Amphipolis on the Strymon, which +they had lost in 424. Philip acknowledged the title of Athens to +Amphipolis, and sent home the Athenian prisoners, whom he had captured +among the supporters of Argaeus, without ransom. The Athenians, +however, neglected to garrison Amphipolis. In 358 (the year in which +Athens temporarily recovered her hold over Euboea, by compelling the +Thebans to evacuate the island), Philip carried on a successful +campaign against the Paeonian and Illyrian tribes, who were standing +enemies of Macedonia. For the next three years Athens was kept occupied +by the war with her allies, and Philip saw his opportunity. He besieged +Amphipolis: when the citizens sent Hierax and Stratocles to ask Athens +for help, he dispatched a letter promising the Athenians that he would +give them Amphipolis when he had taken it; and a secret understanding +was arrived at between Philip and the Athenian envoys sent to him, that +Athens should give him Pydna (once a Macedonian town, but now an ally +of Athens) in exchange. Athens, therefore, listened neither to +Amphipolis nor to Olynthus, which had also made overtures to her. The +Olynthians in consequence made a treaty with Philip, who gave them +Anthemus and promised to help them against their old rival Poteidaea, a +town in alliance with Athens. The Olynthians on their part agreed not +to make peace with Athens except in conjunction with him. But Philip, +when he had captured Amphipolis by a combination of siege and intrigue, +did not give it up to Athens, and instead of waiting to receive Pydna +from Athens, besieged and took it, aided once more by treachery from +within. In 356 he took Poteidaea (in conjunction with the Olynthians, +to whom he gave the town), the Athenians arriving too late to relieve +it; and then pursued his conquests along the Thracian coast. Further +inland he expelled the Thasians (allies of Athens) from Crenides and +founded Philippi on the site, in the centre of the gold-mines of Mount +Pangaeus, from which he henceforward derived a very large revenue; +while the forests of the district provided him with timber for +ship-building, of which he took full advantage: for in the next few +years his ships made descents upon the Athenian islands of Lemnos and +Imbros, plundered the Athenian corn-vessels off the coast of Euboea, +and even landed a force at Marathon. In the latter part of 356 and in +355 he was occupied with the conquest of the Paeonians and Illyrians, +with whom Athens had made an alliance in 356. At the end of 355 he laid +siege to Methone, the last Athenian port on the Thermaic gulf, and +captured it in 354. (Some place the siege and capture of Methone in +354-3, but an inscription, C.I.G. II. 70, makes it at least probable +that the siege had begun by the last month of 355.) In 353 Philip made +his way to the Thracian coast, and conquered Abdera and Maroneia. At +Maroneia we find him in company with Pammenes (his former host at +Thebes), who had been sent by the Thebans to assist Artabazus in his +revolt against the Persian king; and at the same place he received +Apollonides of Cardia, the envoy of the Thracian prince Cersobleptes. +On his way home his ships escaped from Chares, off Neapolis, by a ruse. +In the same year he interfered in the affairs of Thessaly, where the +Aleuadae of Larissa had invited his assistance against Lycophron and +Peitholaus of Pherae, who had invoked the aid of the Phocians. (In +opposing the Phocians, the antagonists of the Thebans in the Sacred +War, Philip was also helping the Thebans themselves, and gaining credit +as the opponent of the plunderers of the temple of Apollo at Delphi.) +Onomarchus, the Phocian leader, twice defeated Philip, but was +overthrown and slain in 352. Philip took Pherae and Pagasae (its port), +occupied Magnesia, and, by means of promises, obtained financial aid +from the Thessalians. The expedition sent by Athens to relieve Pagasae +arrived too late; but when Philip, after putting down the tyrants of +Pherae and arranging matters in Thessaly, advanced towards the Pass of +Thermopylae, an Athenian force, sent on the advice of Diophantus and +Eubulus, appeared in time to oblige him to retire to Macedonia. Late in +the autumn of 352 we find him once more in Thrace. It was probably now +that he assisted the peoples of Byzantium and Perinthus, together with +Amadocus, a rival of Cersobleptes, against the latter; with the result +that Cersobleptes was obliged to give up his son to Philip as a +hostage. Philip had also made alliance with Cardia, which, like +Byzantium, was on bad terms with Athens. He now laid siege to Heraeon +Teichos, a fortress on the Propontis, but illness obliged him to +suspend operations, and the rumour of his death prevented the Athenians +from sending against him the expedition which they had resolved upon. +(The retention of her influence in this region was essential for +Athens, if her corn-supply was to be secure.) In 351, on recovering +from his illness, he entered the territory of Olynthus, which, contrary +to the agreement with him, had made peace with Athens in the previous +year, apart from himself: but he did not at present pursue the invasion +further. In October 351 Athens sent Charidemus to the Hellespont with +ten ships, but no soldiers and little money. If these are the ships +alluded to in Sec. 43 of the present Speech, the Speech must have been +delivered after that date. Otherwise any date after Philip's incursion +into the territory of Olynthus would suit the contents of the Speech, +and many writers place it earlier in the year. The question of the +relations of Athens with Philip had been brought forward; and +Demosthenes, who had risen first to speak, proposes the creation of a +large permanent fleet, and of a smaller force for immediate action, +laying great stress on the necessity of sending Athenian citizens both +to command and to form a substantial proportion of the troops, which, +had so far been mostly mercenaries. The scheme was worked out in +detail, both in its military and in its financial aspects, and +supported with an eloquence and an earnestness which are far in advance +of those displayed in the earlier speeches. + +The statement of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, that the Speech as we have +it, is really a conflation of two speeches, of which the second +(beginning at Sec. 30) was delivered in 347, is generally (and rightly) +discredited.] + + +{1} If some new subject were being brought before us, men of Athens, I +would have waited until most of your ordinary advisers had declared +their opinion; and if anything that they said were satisfactory to me, +I would have remained silent, and only if it were not so, would I have +attempted to express my own view. But since we find ourselves once more +considering a question upon which they have often spoken, I think I may +reasonably be pardoned for rising first of all. For if their advice to +you in the past had been what it ought to have been, you would have had +no occasion for the present debate. + +{2} In the first place, then, men of Athens, we must not be downhearted +at our present situation, however wretched it may seem to be. For in +the worst feature of the past lies our best hope for the future-in the +fact, that is, that we are in our present plight because you are not +doing your duty in any respect; for if you were doing all that you +should do, and we were still in this evil case, we could not then even +hope for any improvement. {3} In the second place, you must bear in +mind (what some of you have heard from others, and those who know can +recollect for themselves), how powerful the Spartans were, not long +ago, and yet how noble and patriotic your own conduct was, when instead +of doing anything unworthy of your country you faced the war with +Sparta [n] in defence of the right. [n] Now why do I remind you of +these things? It is because, men of Athens, I wish you to see and to +realize, that so long as you are on your guard you have nothing to +fear; but that if you are indifferent, nothing can be as you would +wish: for this is exemplified for you both by the power of Sparta in +those days, to which you rose superior because you gave your minds to +your affairs; and by the insolence of Philip to-day, which troubles us +because we care nothing for the things which should concern us. {4} If, +however, any of you, men of Athens, when he considers the immense force +now at Philip's command, and the city's loss of all her strongholds, +thinks that Philip is a foe hard to conquer, I ask him (right though he +is in his belief) to reflect also that there was a time when we +possessed Pydna and Poteidaea and Methone; when all the surrounding +country was our own, and many of the tribes [n] which are now on his +side were free and independent, and more inclined to be friendly to us +than to him. {5} Now if in those days Philip had made up his mind that +it was a hard thing to fight against the Athenians, with all their +fortified outposts on his own frontiers, while he was destitute of +allies, he would have achieved none of his recent successes, nor +acquired this great power. But Philip saw quite clearly, men of Athens, +that all these strongholds were prizes of war, displayed for +competition. He saw that in the nature of things the property of the +absent belongs to those who are on the spot, and that of the negligent +to those who are ready for toil and danger. {6} It is, as you know, by +acting upon this belief, that he has brought all those places under his +power, and now holds them--some of them by right of capture in war, +others in virtue of alliances and friendly understandings; for every +one is willing to grant alliance and to give attention to those whom +they see to be prepared and ready to take action as is necessary. {7} +If then, men of Athens, you also will resolve to adopt this principle +to-day--the principle which you have never observed before--if each of +you can henceforward be relied upon to throw aside all this pretence of +incapacity, and to act where his duty bids him, and where his services +can be of use to his country; if he who has money will contribute, and +he who is of military age will join the campaign; if, in one plain +word, you will resolve henceforth to depend absolutely on yourselves, +each man no longer hoping that he will need to do nothing himself, and +that his neighbour will do everything for him; then, God willing, you +will recover your own; you will take back all that your indolence has +lost, and you will have your revenge upon Philip. {8} Do not imagine +that his fortune is built to last for ever, as if he were a God. He +also has those who hate him and fear him, men of Athens, and envy him +too, even among those who now seem to be his closest friends. All the +feelings that exist in any other body of men must be supposed to exist +in Philip's supporters. Now, however, all such feelings are cowed +before him: your slothful apathy has taken away their only rallying +point; and it is this apathy that I bid you put off to-day. {9} Mark +the situation, men of Athens: mark the pitch which the man's outrageous +insolence has reached, when he does not even give you a choice between +action and inaction, but threatens you, and utters (as we are told) +haughty language: for he is not the man to rest content in possession +of his conquests: he is always casting his net wider; and while we +procrastinate and sit idle, he is setting his toils around us on every +side. {10} When, then, men of Athens, when, I say, will you take the +action that is required? What are you waiting for? 'We are waiting,' +you say, 'till it is necessary.' But what must we think of all that is +happening at this present time? Surely the strongest necessity that a +free people can experience is the shame which they must feel at their +position! What? Do you want to go round asking one another, 'Is there +any news?' Could there be any stranger news than that a man of +Macedonia is defeating Athenians in war, and ordering the affairs of +the Hellenes? {11} 'Is Philip dead?' 'No, but he is sick.' And what +difference does it make to you? For if anything should happen to him, +you will soon raise up for yourselves a second Philip, if it is thus +that you attend to your interests. Indeed, Philip himself has not risen +to this excessive height through his own strength, so much as through +our neglect. I go even further. {12} If anything happened to Philip--if +the operation of Fortune, who always cares for us better than we care +for ourselves, were to effect this too for us--you know that if you +were at hand, you could descend upon the general confusion and order +everything as you wished; but in your present condition, even if +circumstances offered you Amphipolis, you could not take it; for your +forces and your minds alike are far away. + +{13} Well, I say no more of the obligation which rests upon you all to +be willing and ready to do your duty; I will assume that you are +resolved and convinced. But the nature of the armament which, I +believe, will set you free from such troubles as these, the numbers of +the force, the source from which we must obtain funds, and the best and +quickest way, as it seems to me, of making all further +preparations--all this, men of Athens, I will at once endeavour to +explain when I have made one request of you. {14} Give your verdict on +my proposal when you have heard the whole of it; do not prejudge it +before I have done; and if at first the force which I propose appears +unprecedented, do not think that I am merely creating delays. It is not +those whose cry is 'At once', 'To-day', whose proposals will meet our +need; for what has already happened cannot be prevented by any +expedition now. {15} It is rather he who can show the nature, the +magnitude, and the financial possibility of a force which when provided +will be able to continue in existence either until we are persuaded to +break off the war, or until we have overcome the enemy; for thus only +can we escape further calamity for the future. These things I believe I +can show, though I would not stand in the way of any other speaker's +professions. It is no less a promise than this that I make; the event +will soon test its fulfilment, and you will be the judges of it. + +First then, men of Athens, I say that fifty warships must {16} at once +be got in readiness: and next, that you must be in such a frame of mind +that, if any need arises, you will embark in person and sail. In +addition, you must prepare transports for half our cavalry, and a +sufficient number of boats. {17} These, I think, should be in readiness +to meet those sudden sallies of his from his own country against +Thermopylae, the Chersonese, Olynthus, and any other place which he may +select. For we must make him realize that there is a possibility of +your rousing yourselves out of your excessive indifference, just as +when once you went to Euboea,[n] and before that (as we are told) to +Haliartus,[n] and finally, only the other day, to Thermopylae. {18} +Such a possibility, even if you are unlikely to make it a reality, as I +think you ought to do, is not one which he can treat lightly; and you +may thus secure one of two objects. On the one hand, he may know that +you are on the alert--he will in fact know it well enough: there are +only too many persons, I assure you, in Athens itself, who report to +him all that happens here: and in that case his apprehensions will +ensure his inactivity. But if, on the other hand, he neglects the +warning, he may be taken off his guard; for there will be nothing to +hinder you from sailing to his country, if he gives you the +opportunity. {19} These are the measures upon which I say you should +all be resolved, and your preparations for them made. But before this, +men of Athens, you must make ready a force which will fight without +intermission, and do him damage. Do not speak to me of ten thousand or +twenty thousand mercenaries. I will have none of your paper-armies. [n] +Give me an army which will be the army of Athens, and will obey and +follow the general whom you elect, be there one general or more, be he +one particular individual, or be he who he may. {20} You must also +provide maintenance for this force. Now what is this force to be? how +large is it to be? how is it to be maintained? how will it consent to +act in this manner? I will answer these questions point by point. The +number of mercenaries--but you must not repeat the mistake which has so +often injured you, the mistake of, first, thinking any measures +inadequate, and so voting for the largest proposal, and then, when the +time for action comes, not even executing the smaller one; you must +rather carry out and make provision for the smaller measure, and add to +it, if it proves too small--{21} the total number of soldiers, I say, +must be two thousand, and of these five hundred must be Athenians, +beginning from whatever age you think good: they must serve for a +definite period--not a long one, but one to be fixed at your +discretion--and in relays. The rest must be mercenaries. With these +must be cavalry, two hundred in number, of whom at least fifty must be +Athenians, as with the infantry; and the conditions of service must be +the same. {22} You must also find transports for these. And what next? +Ten swift ships of war. For as he has a fleet, we need swift-sailing +warships too, to secure the safe passage of the army. And how is +maintenance to be provided for these? This also I will state and +demonstrate, as soon as I have given you my reasons for thinking that a +force of this size is sufficient, and for insisting that those who +serve in it shall be citizens. + +{23} The size of the force, men of Athens, is determined by the fact +that we cannot at present provide an army capable of meeting Philip in +the open field; we must make plundering forays, and our warfare must at +first be of a predatory nature. Consequently the force must not be +over-big--we could then neither pay nor feed it--any more than it must +be wholly insignificant. {24} The presence of citizens in the force +that sails I require for the following reasons. I am told that Athens +once maintained a mercenary force in Corinth,[n] under the command of +Polystratus, Iphicrates, Chabrias and others, and that you yourselves +joined in the campaign with them; and I remember hearing that these +mercenaries, when they took the field with you, and you with them, were +victorious over the Spartans. But even since your mercenary forces have +gone to war alone, it is your friends and allies that they conquer, +while your enemies have grown more powerful than they should be. After +a casual glance at the war to which Athens has sent them, they sail off +to Artabazus,[n] or anywhere rather than to the war; and the general +follows them naturally enough, for his power over them is gone when he +can give them no pay. You ask what I bid you do. {25} I bid you take +away their excuses both from the general and the soldiers, by supplying +pay and placing citizen-soldiers at their side as spectators of these +mysteries of generalship;[n] for our present methods are a mere +mockery. Imagine the question to be put to you, men of Athens, whether +you are at peace or no. 'At peace?' you would say; 'Of course not! We +are at war with Philip.' {26} Now have you not all along been electing +from among your own countrymen ten captains and generals,[n] and +cavalry-officers, and two masters-of-the-horse? and what are they +doing? Except the one single individual whom you happen to send to the +seat of war, they are all marshalling your processions for you with the +commissioners of festivals. You are no better than men modelling +puppets of clay. Your captains and your cavalry-officers are elected to +be displayed in the streets, not to be sent to the war. {27} Surely, +men of Athens, your captains should be elected from among yourselves, +and your master-of-the-horse from among yourselves; your officers +should be your own countrymen, if the force is to be really the army of +Athens. As it is, the master-of-the-horse who is one of yourselves has +to sail to Lemnos; while the master-of-the-horse with the army that is +fighting to defend the possessions of Athens is Menelaus.[n] I do not +wish to disparage that gentleman; but whoever holds that office ought +to have been elected by you. + +{28} Perhaps, however, while agreeing with all that I have said, you +are mainly anxious to hear my financial proposals, which will tell you +the amount and the sources of the funds required. I proceed, therefore, +with these at once. First for the sum. The cost of the bare rations for +the crews, with such a force, will be 90 talents and a little over--40 +talents for ten swift ships, and 20 minae a month for each ship; and +for the soldiers as much again, each soldier to receive rations to the +value of 10 drachmae a month; and for the cavalry (two hundred in +number, each to receive 30 drachmae a month) twelve talents. {29} It +may be said that the supply of bare rations to the members of the force +is an insufficient initial provision; but this is a mistake. I am quite +certain that, given so much, the army will provide everything else for +itself from the proceeds of war, without injury to a single Hellene or +ally of ours, and that the full pay will be made up by these means. I +am ready to sail as a volunteer and to suffer the worst, if my words +are untrue. The next question then is of ways and means, in so far as +the funds are to come from yourselves. I will explain this at once. + +[_A schedule of ways and means is read_.] + +{30} This, men of Athens, is what we have been able to devise; and when +you put our proposals to the vote, you will pass them, if you approve +of them; that so your war with Philip may be a war, not of resolutions +and dispatches, but of actions. + +{31} I believe that the value of your deliberations about the war and +the armament as a whole would be greatly enhanced, if you were to bear +in mind the situation of the country against which you are fighting, +remembering that most of Philip's plans are successfully carried out +because he takes advantage of winds and seasons; for he waits for the +Etesian winds[n] or the winter-season, and only attacks when it would +be impossible for us to effect a passage to the scene of action. {32} +Bearing this in mind, we must not carry on the war by means of isolated +expeditions; we shall always be too late. We must have a permanent +force and armament. As our winter-stations for the army we have Lemnos, +Thasos, Sciathos, and the islands in that region, which have harbours +and corn, and are well supplied with all that an army needs. And as to +the time of year, whenever it is easy to approach the shore and the +winds are not dangerous, our force can without difficulty lie close to +the Macedonian coast itself, and block the mouths of the ports. + +{33} How and when he will employ the force is a matter to be +determined, when the time comes, by the commander whom you put in +control of it. What must be provided from Athens is described in the +scheme which I have drafted. If, men of Athens, you first supply the +sum I have mentioned, and then, after making ready the rest of the +armament--soldiers, ships, cavalry--bind the whole force in its +entirety,[n] by law, to remain at the seat of war; if you become your +own paymasters, your own commissioners of supply, but require your +general to account for the actual operations; {34} then there will be +an end of these perpetual discussions of one and the same theme, which +end in nothing but discussion: and in addition to this, men of Athens, +you will, in the first place, deprive him of his chief source of +supply. For what is this? Why, he carries on the war at the cost of +your own allies, harrying and plundering those who sail the seas! And +what will you gain besides this? You will place yourselves out of reach +of disaster. It will not be as it was in the past, when he descended +upon Lemnos and Imbros, and went off, with your fellow-citizens as his +prisoners of war, or when he seized the vessels off Geraestus,[n] and +levied an enormous sum from them; or when (last of all) he landed at +Marathon, seized the sacred trireme,[n] and carried it off from the +country; while all the time you can neither prevent these aggressions, +nor yet send an expedition which will arrive when you intend it to +arrive. {35} But for what reason do you think, men of Athens, do the +festival of the Panathenaea and the festival of the Dionysia[n] always +take place at the proper time, whether those to whom the charge of +either festival is allotted are specially qualified persons or +not--festivals upon which you spend larger sums of money than upon any +armament whatsoever, and which involve an amount of trouble[n] and +preparation, which are unique, so far as I know, in the whole world--; +and yet your armaments are always behind the time--at Methone, at +Pagasae, at Potidaea? {36} It is because for the festivals all is +arranged by law. Each of you knows long beforehand who is to supply the +chorus,[n] and who is to be steward of the games,[n] for his tribe: he +knows what he is to receive, and when, and from whom, and what he is to +do with it. No detail is here neglected, nothing is left indefinite. +But in all that concerns war and our preparation for it, there is no +organization, no revision, no definiteness. Consequently it is not +until the news comes that we appoint our trierarchs and institute +exchanges of property for them, and inquire into ways and means. When +that is done, we first resolve that the resident aliens and the +independent freedmen[n] shall go on board; then we change our minds and +say that citizens shall embark; then that we will send substitutes; and +while all these delays are occurring, the object of the expedition is +already lost. {37} For we spend on preparation the time when we should +be acting, and the opportunities which events afford will not wait for +our slothful evasions; while as for the forces on which we think we can +rely in the meantime, when the critical moment comes, they are tried +and found wanting. And Philip's insolence has reached such a pitch, +that he has sent such a letter as the following to the Euboeans. + +[_The letter is read_.] + +{38} The greater part of the statements that have been read are true, +men of Athens; and they ought not to be true! but I admit that they may +possibly be unpleasant to hear; and if the course of future events +would pass over all that a speaker passes over in his speech, to avoid +giving pain, we should be right in speaking with a view to your +pleasure. But if attractive words, spoken out of season, bring their +punishment in actual reality, then it is disgraceful to blind our eyes +to the truth, to put off everything that is unpleasant, {39} to refuse +to understand even so much as this, that those who conduct war rightly +must not follow in the wake of events, but must be beforehand with +them: for just as a general may be expected to lead his army, so those +who debate must lead the course of affairs, in order that what they +resolve upon may be done, and that they may not be forced to follow at +the heels of events. {40} You, men of Athens, have the greatest power +in the world-warships, infantry, cavalry, revenue. But none of these +elements of power have you used as you ought, down to this very day. +The method of your warfare with Philip is just that of barbarians in a +boxing-match. Hit one of them, and he hugs the place; hit him on the +other side, and there go his hands; but as for guarding, or looking his +opponent in the face, he neither can nor will do it. {41} It is the +same with you. If you hear that Philip is in the Chersonese, you +resolve to make an expedition there; if he is at Thermopylae, you send +one there; and wherever else he may be, you run up and down in his +steps. It is he that leads your forces. You have never of yourselves +come to any salutary decision in regard to the war. No single event do +you ever discern before it occurs--before you have heard that something +has happened or is happening. Perhaps there was room for this +backwardness until now; but now we are at the very crisis, and such an +attitude is possible no longer. {42} Surely, men of Athens, it is one +of the gods--one who blushes for Athens, as he sees the course which +events are taking--that has inspired Philip with this restless +activity. If he were content to remain at peace, in possession of all +that he has won by conquest or by forestalling us--if he had no further +plans--even then, the record against us as a people, a record of shame +and cowardice and all that is most dishonourable, would, I think, seem +complete enough to some of you. But now he is always making some new +attempt, always grasping after something more; and unless your spirit +has utterly departed, his conduct will perhaps bring you out into the +field. {43} It amazes me, men of Athens, that not one of you remembers +with any indignation, that this war had its origin in our intention to +punish Philip; and that now, at the end of it, the question is, how we +are to escape disaster at his hands. But that he will not stay his +progress until some one arrests it is plain enough. Are we then to wait +for that? Do you think that all is right, when you dispatch nothing but +empty ships and somebody's hopes? Shall we not embark? {44} Shall we +not now, if never before, go forth ourselves, and provide at least some +small proportion of Athenian soldiers? Shall we not sail to the enemy's +country? But I heard the question, 'At what point on his coast are we +to anchor?' The war itself, men of Athens, if you take it in hand, will +discover his weak points: but if we sit at home listening to the mutual +abuse and recriminations of our orators, you can never realize any of +the results that you ought to realize. {45} I believe that whenever any +portion of Athens is sent with the forces, even if the whole city does +not go, the favour of Heaven and of Fortune fights on our side. But +whenever you dispatch anywhere a general with an empty resolution and +some platform-hopes to support him, then you achieve nothing that you +ought to achieve, your enemies laugh at you, and your allies are in +deadly fear of all such armaments. {46} It is impossible, utterly +impossible, that any one man should be able to effect all that you wish +for you. He can give undertakings and promises;[n] he can accuse this +man and that; and the result is that your fortunes are ruined. For when +the general is at the head of wretched, unpaid mercenaries, and when +there are those in Athens who lie to you light-heartedly about all that +he does, and, on the strength of the tales that you hear, you pass +decrees at random, what _must_ you expect? + +{47} How then can this state of things be terminated? Only, men of +Athens, when you expressly make the same men soldiers, witnesses of +their general's actions, and judges at his examination[n] when they +return home; for then the issue of your fortunes will not be a tale +which you hear, but a thing which you will be on the spot to see. So +shameful is the pass which matters have now reached, that each of your +generals is tried for his life before you two or three times, but does +not dare to fight in mortal combat with the enemy even once. They +prefer the death of kidnappers and brigands to that of a general. {48} +For it is a felon's death, to die by sentence of the court: the death +of a general is to fall in battle with the enemy. Some of us go about +saying that Philip is negotiating with Sparta[n] for the overthrow of +the Thebans and the breaking up of the free states; others, that he has +sent ambassadors to the king;[n] others, that he is fortifying cities +in Illyria. {49} We all go about inventing each his own tale. I quite +believe, men of Athens, that he is intoxicated with the greatness of +his successes, and entertains many such visions in his mind; for he +sees that there are none to hinder him, and he is elated at his +achievements. But I do not believe that he has chosen to act in such a +way that the most foolish persons in Athens can know what he intends to +do; for no persons are so foolish as newsmongers. {50} But if we +dismiss all such tales, and attend only to the certainty--that the man +is our enemy, that he is robbing us of our own, that he has insulted us +for a long time, that all that we ever expected any one to do for us +has proved to be against us, that the future is in our own hands, that +if we will not fight him now in his own country we shall perhaps be +obliged to do so in ours--if, I say, we are assured of this, then we +shall have made up our minds aright, and shall be quit of idle words. +For you have not to speculate what the future may be: you have only to +be assured that the future must be evil, unless you give heed and are +ready to do your duty. + +{51} Well, I have never yet chosen to gratify you by saying anything +which I have not felt certain would be for your good; and to-day I have +spoken freely and without concealment, just what I believe. I could +wish to be as sure of the good that a speaker will gain by giving you +the best advice as of that which you will gain by listening to him. I +should then have been far happier than I am. As it is, I do not know +what will happen to me, for what I have said: but I have chosen to +speak in the sure conviction that if you carry out my proposals, it +will be for your good; and may the victory rest with that policy which +will be for the good of all! + + + + +THE OLYNTHIAC ORATIONS (OR. I-III) + + +[_Introduction_. It has already been noticed that when Philip took +Amphipolis in 357 B.C., the Olynthians made overtures to the Athenians, +with whom they had been at war for some years, and that, being +rejected, they became allies of Philip, who gave them Anthemus and +Poteidaea. In 352, alarmed at Philip's growing power, they once more +applied to Athens. Peace was made, and negotiations began with regard +to an alliance. In 351 Philip appeared in the territory of Olynthus. He +did not, however, at once carry the invasion further, but took pains, +during this year and the next, to foster a Macedonian party in the +town. In 349 Philip virtually declared war on the Olynthians by +demanding the surrender of his step-brother Arrhidaeus, who had taken +refuge with them. The Olynthians again appealed to Athens; an alliance +was made; Chares was sent with thirty ships and 2,000 mercenaries, but +seems to have mismanaged the war by misfortune or by design. Probably +he had been badly supplied with funds, and instead of helping Olynthus, +resorted to acts of piracy to satisfy his men. The Macedonian troops +proceeded to take Stageira and other towns of the Olynthian League, +though Philip still professed to have no hostile intentions against +Olynthus (see Phil. III, Sec. ii). Chares was recalled and put on his +trial; and, probably in response to a further message from Olynthus, +Charidemus was transferred thither from the Hellespont. With a +considerable mercenary force at his disposal, Charidemus overran +Pallene and Bottiaea, and did some damage to Philip's territory, but +afterwards gave himself up to dissipation in Olynthus. In the meantime, +some of the Thessalians had become restless under Philip's supremacy +(see Olynth. I, Sec. 22, II, Sec. ii), and he was obliged to undertake an +expedition to suppress the revolt, and to put down Peitholaus (who had +apparently become tyrant of Pherae once more, though he had been +expelled in 352). But early in 348 he appeared in person in Chalcidice, +and took one after another of the towns of the League, including +Mecyberna the port of Olynthus, and Torone. He thrice defeated the +Olynthians in battle, and at last obtained possession of Olynthus +itself by the treachery of Euthycrates and Lasthenes, the commanders of +the Olynthian cavalry. + +Athens had probably been occupied during the early part of the year [1] +with an expedition which she sent (against the advice of Demosthenes) +to help Plutarchus of Eretria to repel attacks which were partly, at +least, instigated by Philip; and in consequence she had done little for +Olynthus, though on a request of the Olynthians for cavalry, she had +ordered some of those which had been sent to Euboea to go to Olynthus, +and these may have been the Athenians whom Philip captured in that +city. The seventeen ships, 2,000 infantry, and 300 cavalry (all +citizens), which Athens dispatched under Chares in response to a last +urgent appeal from Olynthus, were delayed by storms and arrived too +late. Philip entirely destroyed Olynthus and thirty-two other towns, +sold their inhabitants into slavery, brought the whole of Chalcidice +within the Macedonian Empire, and celebrated his conquests by a +festival in honour of the Olympian Zeus at Dium. + +The First Olynthiac Oration was delivered before Olynthus itself was +attacked or any other towns actually taken (Olynth. I, Sec. 17); and both +the First and Second before the discontent with Philip in Thessaly had +taken an active form (I, Sec. 22, II, Sec. 7). Both, that is, belong to the +summer of 349, and the situation implied is very much the same in both. +The First was perhaps spoken when the Olynthians first appealed to +Athens in that year, before the mission of Chares; the Second, to +counteract the effect of something which had caused despondency in +Athens (possibly the conduct of the Athenian generals, or the account +given by other orators of Philip's power). In both Demosthenes urges +the importance of resisting Philip while he is still far away, and of +sending, not mercenaries, but a citizen-army; and while hinting at what +he regards as the true solution of the financial difficulty, proposes a +special war-tax. The solution which he thinks the right one is more +explicitly described in the Third Olynthiac, spoken (probably +[Footnote: See note on Olynth. III, Section 4]) in the autumn of the +same year, and certainly at a time when the situation had become much +more grave. The root of the financial difficulty lay in the existence +of a law which prohibited (evidently under severe penalties, Olynth. +III, Section 12) any proposal to devote to military purposes that +portion of the revenues which constituted the 'Festival' or 'Theoric +Fund', and was for the most part distributed to the citizens to enable +them to take part in the public festivals, and so join in fulfilling +what was no doubt a religious duty as well as a pleasure. This +particular form of expenditure is stated to have been introduced by the +demagogue Agyrrhius in 394, when it revived in an extended form a +distribution of theatre money instituted late in the fifth century by +Cleophon; but the special law in question appears to have been of +recent date (Olynth. III, Section 12), and was almost certainly the +work of Eubulus and his party. Demosthenes himself proposes an +extraordinary Legislative Commission, to repeal the mischievous laws +and leave the way clear for financial reform. At the same time he +attacks the whole policy of Eubulus, charging him with distributing +doles without regard to public service, adding to the amenities of +Athens instead of maintaining her honour in war, and enriching her +politicians while degrading her people. The main object of the speech +was unsuccessful; and just about this time (though whether before or +after the speech is disputed) Apollodorus proposed that the people +should decide whether the surplus revenues should go to the Festival +Fund, or be applied to military purposes, and was heavily fined for the +illegality of the proposal. + +The Three Olynthiacs rank high among the Orations of Demosthenes. Some +passages, indeed, show that he had hardly as yet appreciated the genius +of Philip, or the unlikelihood of his making a false move either +through over-confidence or because he had come to the end of his +resources. But the noble patriotism of the speaker, the lofty tone of +his political reflections, the clearness of his diagnosis of the evils +of his time, and the fearlessness of his appeal for loyal and united +self-sacrifice, are nowhere more conspicuous.] + + +THE FIRST OLYNTHIAC + +{1} I believe, men of Athens, that you would give a great sum to know +what policy, in reference to the matter which you are now considering, +will best serve the interests of the city, and since that is so, you +ought to be ready and eager to listen to those who desire to give you +their advice. For not only can you hear and accept any useful proposals +which a speaker may have thought out before he came here; but such, I +conceive, is your fortune, that the right suggestion will often occur +to some of those present on the spur of the moment; and out of all +these suggestions it should be easy for you to choose the most +advantageous course. + +{2} The present time, men of Athens, seems almost to cry aloud that you +must take matters into your own hands yonder, if you have any interest +in a successful termination of the crisis: and yet our attitude appears +to be--I do not know what. My own opinion, at all events, is that you +should at once resolve to send this assistance; that you should prepare +for the departure of the expedition at the first possible moment--you +must not fall victims to the same error as before--and that you should +dispatch an embassy to announce our intention, and to be present at the +scene of action. {3} For what we have most to fear is this--that he, +with his unscrupulous cleverness in taking advantage of +circumstances--now, it may be, by making concessions; now by uttering +threats, which he may well seem likely to fulfil; now by +misrepresenting ourselves and our absence from the scene--may turn and +wrest to his own advantage some of the vital elements of our power. {4} +And yet it may fairly be said, men of Athens, that our best hope lies +in that very circumstance which renders Philip's power so hard to +grapple with. The fact that the entire control over everything, open or +secret,[n] is concentrated in the hands of a single man; that he is at +one and the same time general, master, and treasurer; that he is always +present in person with his army--all this is a great advantage, in so +far as military operations must be prompt and well-timed. But as +regards the compact which he would so gladly make with the Olynthians, +the effect is just the reverse. {5} For the Olynthians know well that +they are not fighting now for honour and glory, nor for a strip of +territory, but to avert the devastation and enslavement of their +country. They know how he treated[n] those who betrayed to him their +city at Amphipolis, and those who received him at Pydna; and it is, I +imagine, universally true that tyranny is a faithless friend to a free +state, and that most of all, when they occupy adjoining territories. +{6} With this knowledge, men of Athens, and with all the reflections +that the occasion calls for in your minds, I say that now, if ever +before, you must make your resolve, rouse all your energies, and give +your minds to the war: you must contribute gladly, you must go forth in +person, you must leave nothing undone. There is no longer any reason or +excuse remaining, which can justify you in refusing to do your duty. +{7} For every one was but recently harping on the desirability of +exciting Olynthus to war with Philip; and this has now come to pass of +itself, and in the way which most completely suits your interests. Had +they taken up the war because you had persuaded them to do so, their +alliance might perhaps have been precarious, and their resolution might +only have carried them a certain way. But now their detestation of +Philip is based upon grievances which affect themselves; and we may +suppose that a hostility which is occasioned by their own fears and +sufferings will be a lasting one. {8} Since, therefore, men of Athens, +such an opportunity has been thrown in your way, you must not let it +go, nor fall victims to the mistake from which you have often suffered +before. If, for instance, when we had returned from our expedition in +aid of the Euboeans,[n] and Hierax and Stratocles came from Amphipolis +and stood upon this platform and urged us to sail and take over the +city; if, I say, we had continued to display in our own interest the +eagerness which we displayed in the deliverance of the Euboeans, you +would have kept Amphipolis then, and we should have been free from all +the trouble that we have had since. {9} And again, when news kept +coming of the investment of Pydna, Poteidaea, Methone, Pagasae, and all +the other places--I will not stay to enumerate them all--if we had +acted at once, and had gone to the rescue of the first place attacked, +with the energy which we ought to have shown, we should now have found +Philip much less proud and difficult to deal with. As it is, we are +always sacrificing the present, always fancying that the future will +turn out well of itself; and so we have raised Philip to a position of +such importance as no king of Macedonia has ever before attained. {10} +And now an opportunity has come to Athens, in this crisis at Olynthus, +as great as any of those former ones: and I believe, men of Athens, +that one who was to draw up a true account of the blessings which have +been given us by the gods, would, in spite of much that is not as it +should be, find great cause for thankfulness to them; and naturally so. +For our many losses in the war must in fairness be set down to our own +indifference; but that we did not suffer such losses long ago, and that +an alliance has presented itself to us, which, if we will only take +advantage of it, will act as a counterpoise to them--all this I, for +one, should set down as a favour due to their goodness towards us. But +it is, I imagine, in politics, as it is in money-making. {11} If a man +is able to keep all that he gets, he is abundantly grateful to Fortune; +but if he loses it all before he is aware, he loses with it his memory +of Fortune's kindness. So it is in politics. When men have not made a +right use of their opportunities, they do not remember any good that +heaven may actually have granted them: for it is by the ultimate issue +that men estimate all that they have enjoyed before. Therefore, men of +Athens, you must pay the very utmost heed to the future, that by the +better use you make of it, you may wipe out the dishonour of the past. +{12} But if you sacrifice these men also, men of Athens, and Philip in +consequence reduces Olynthus to subjection, I ask any of you to tell me +what is to prevent him from marching where he pleases. Is there a man +among you, men of Athens, who considers or studies the steps by which +Philip, weak enough at first, has become so strong? First he took +Amphipolis, next Pydna, then again Poteidaea, and then Methone. Next he +set foot in Thessaly. {13} Then when Pherae, Pagasae, Magnesia[n] were +secured for his purposes, just as it suited him, he departed to Thrace. +In Thrace, after expelling one prince and setting up another, he fell +ill. When he grew easier again, he showed no inclination to take things +easily, but at once attacked the Olynthians[n]--and I am passing over +his campaigns against the Illyrians and the Paeonians, against +Arybbas,[n] and in every possible direction. + +{14} Why, I may be asked, do I mention these things at the present +moment? I wish you to understand, men of Athens, and to realize these +two points: first, the unprofitableness of perpetually sacrificing your +interests one by one; and, secondly, the restless activity which is a +part of Philip's very being, and which will not allow him to content +himself with his achievements and remain at peace. For if it is to be +his fixed resolve, that he must always be aiming at something greater +than he has yet attained; and ours, that we will never set ourselves +resolutely to work; ask yourselves what you can expect to be the end of +the matter. {15} In God's name, is there one of you so innocent as not +to know that the war will be transferred from Olynthus to Attica, if we +pay no heed? But if that happens, men of Athens, I fear that we shall +be like men who light-heartedly borrow at a high rate of interest, and +after a brief period of affluence, lose even their original estate; +that like them we shall find that our carelessness has cost us dear; +that through making pleasure our standard in everything, we shall find +ourselves driven to do many of those unpleasant things which we wished +to avoid, and shall find our position even in our own country +imperilled. + +{16} I may be told that it is easy to criticize--any one can do that; +but that a political adviser is expected to offer some practical +proposal to meet the existing situation. Now I am well aware, men of +Athens, that in the event of any disappointment, it is not upon those +who are responsible that your anger falls, but upon those who have +spoken last upon the subject in question. Yet I do not think that +consideration for my own safety should lead me to conceal my conviction +as to the course which your interests demand. {17} I say then that +there are two things which you must do to save the situation. You must +rescue these towns [n] for the Olynthians, and send troops to +accomplish this: and you must damage Philip's country with your ships +and with a second body of troops. {18} If you neglect either of these +things, our campaign, I greatly fear, will be in vain. For suppose that +you inflict damage on his country, and that he allows you to do so, +while he reduces Olynthus; he will have no difficulty in repelling you +when he returns. Suppose, on the other hand, that you only go to the +help of Olynthus; he will see that he has nothing to fear at home, and +so he will sit down before the town and remain at his task, until time +enables him to get the better of the besieged. The expedition, +therefore, must be large, and it must be in two parts. + +Such is my view with regard to the expedition. {19} As to the sources +of supply, you have funds, men of Athens--funds larger than any one +else in the world; but you appropriate these without scruple, just as +you choose. Now if you will assign these to your troops, you need no +further supplies: otherwise, not only do you need further supplies--you +are destitute of supplies altogether. 'Well' (does someone say?), 'do +you move that this money should form a war-fund?' I assure you that I +make no such motion. {20} For while I do indeed believe that a force +ought to be made ready [and that this money should form a war-fund], +and that the receipt of money should be connected, as part of one and +the same system, with the performance of duty; you, on the contrary, +think it right to take the money, after your present fashion, for your +festivals, and spare yourselves trouble. And therefore, I suppose, our +only resource is a general tax--larger or smaller, according to the +amount required. In any case, we need funds, and without funds nothing +can be done that we ought to do. Various other sources of supply are +suggested by different persons. Choose whichever you think best of +these, and get to work, while you have the opportunity. + +{21} It is worth while to remember and to take into account the nature +of Philip's position at this moment. For neither are his affairs at +present in such good order, or in so perfectly satisfactory a state, as +might appear to any but a careful observer; nor would he ever have +commenced this present war, if he had thought that he would really have +to fight. He hoped at first that by his mere advance he would carry all +before him; and he has since discovered his mistake. This +disappointment, then, is the first thing which disturbs him and causes +him great despondency: {22} and next there is the disposition of the +Thessalians, naturally inconstant as we know it has always been found +by all men; and what it has always been, that, in the highest degree, +Philip finds it now. For they have formally resolved to demand from him +the restitution of Pagasae; they have prevented him from fortifying +Magnesia, and I myself heard it stated that they intend even to refuse +him the enjoyment of their harbour and market dues for the future. +These, they say, should go to maintain the public administration of +Thessaly, instead of being taken by Philip. But if he is deprived of +these funds, the resources from which he must maintain his mercenaries +will be reduced to the narrowest limits. {23} Nay, more: we must surely +suppose that the chieftains of the Paeonians and Illyrians, and in fact +all such personages--would prefer freedom to slavery; for they are not +accustomed to obey orders, and the man, they say, is a bully. Heaven +knows, there is nothing incredible in the statement. Unmerited success +is to foolish minds a fountain-head of perversity, so that it is often +harder for men to keep the good they have, than it was to obtain it. +{24} It is for you then, men of Athens, to regard his difficulty as +your opportunity, to take up your share of the burden with readiness, +to send embassies to secure all that is required, to join the forces +yourselves, and to stir up every one else to do so. Only consider what +would happen, if Philip got such an opportunity to strike at us, and +there was war on our frontier. Can you not imagine how readily he would +march against us? Does it arouse no shame in you, that, when you have +the opportunity, you should not dare to do to him even as much as you +would have to suffer, were he able to inflict it? + +{25} There is a further point, men of Athens, which must not escape +you. I mean that you have now to choose whether you are to carry on war +yonder, or whether he is to do so in your own country. If the +resistance of Olynthus is maintained, you will fight there and will +inflict damage on Philip's territory, while you remain secure in the +enjoyment of this land of your own which you now possess. But if Philip +captures Olynthus, who is to hinder him from marching to Athens? The +Thebans? {26} It seems, I fear, too bitter a thing to say; but they +will be glad to join him in the invasion. The Phocians? They cannot +protect their own country, unless you go to their aid, or some other +power. 'But, my good Sir,'[n] you say, 'he will not want to march +here.' And yet it would be one of the strangest things in the world, +if, when he has the power, he does not carry out the threats, which he +now blurts out in spite of the folly that they show. {27} But I suppose +that I need not even point out how vast is the difference between war +here and war in his country. For had you to camp outside the walls +yourselves, for only thirty days, and to take from the country such +things as men in camp must have--and I am assuming that there is no +enemy in the country--I believe that the loss your farmers would suffer +would exceed your whole expenditure on the war up to the present time. +What then must we think will be the extent of our loss, if ever war +comes to our doors? And besides the loss there is his insolence, and +the shame of our position, which to right-minded men is as serious as +any loss. + +{28} When you take a comprehensive view of these things you must all go +to the rescue and stave the war off yonder; you who are well-to-do, in +order that, with a small expense in defence of the great fortunes which +you quite rightly enjoy, you may reap the benefit of the remainder +without fear; you who are of military age, that you may gain your +experience of war in Philip's country, and so become formidable +guardians of a fatherland unspoiled; and your orators, that they may +find it easy to render an account of their public life; for your +judgement upon their conduct will itself depend upon the position in +which you find yourselves. And may that be a happy one, on every ground! + + +THE SECOND OLYNTHIAC + +{1} Many as are the occasions, men of Athens, on which we may discern +the manifestation of the goodwill of Heaven towards this city, one of +the most striking is to be seen in the circumstances of the present +time. For that men should have been found to carry on war against +Philip; men whose territory borders on his and who possess some power; +men, above all, whose sentiments in regard to the war are such that +they think of the proposed compact with him, not only as untrustworthy, +but as the very ruin of their country--this seems to be certainly the +work of a superhuman, a divine, beneficence. {2} And so, men of Athens, +we must take care that we do not treat ourselves less well than +circumstances have treated us. For it is a shameful thing--nay, it is +the very depth of shame--to throw away openly, not only cities and +places which were once in our power, but even the allies and the +opportunities which have been provided for us by Fortune. + +{3} Now to describe at length the power of Philip, men of Athens, and +to incite you to the performance of your duty by such a recital, is +not, I think, a satisfactory proceeding; and for this reason--that +while all that can be said on this subject tends to Philip's glory, it +is a story of failure on our part. For the greater the extent to which +his success surpasses his deserts, the greater is the admiration with +which the world regards him; while, for your part, the more you have +fallen short of the right use of your opportunities, the greater is the +disgrace that you have incurred. {4} I will therefore pass over such +considerations. For any honest inquirer must see that the causes of +Philip's rise to greatness lie in Athens, and not in himself. Of the +services for which he has to thank those whose policy is determined by +his interest--services for which you ought to require their +punishment--the present is not, I see, the moment to speak. But apart +from these, there are things which may be said, and which it is better +that you should all have heard--things which (if you will examine them +aright) constitute a grave reproach against him; and these I will try +to tell you. + +{5} If I called him perjured and faithless, without giving his actions +in evidence, my words would be treated as idle abuse, and rightly: and +it happens that to review all his actions up to the present time, and +to prove the charge in every case, requires only a short speech. It is +well, I think, that the story should be told, for it will serve two +purposes; first, to make plain the real badness of the man's character; +and secondly, to let those who are over-alarmed at Philip, as if he +were invincible, see that he has come to the end of all those forms of +deceit by which he rose to greatness, and that his career is already +drawing to its close. {6} For I, too, men of Athens, should be +regarding Philip with intense fear and admiration, if I saw that his +rise was the result of a righteous policy. {7} But when I study and +consider the facts, I find that originally, when certain persons wished +to drive from your presence the Olynthians who desired to address you +from this place, Philip won over our innocent minds by saying that he +would deliver up Amphipolis to us, and by inventing the famous secret +understanding; that he afterwards conciliated the Olynthians by seizing +Poteidaea, which was yours, and injuring their former allies by handing +it over to themselves; and that, last of all, he recently won over the +Thessalians, by promising to give up Magnesia to them, and undertaking +to carry on the war with the Phocians on their behalf. There is +absolutely no one who has ever had dealings with him that he has not +deluded; and it is by deceiving and winning over, one after another, +those who in their blindness did not realize what he was, that he has +risen as he has done. {8} And therefore, just as it was by these +deceptions that he rose to greatness, in the days when each people +fancied that he intended to do some service to themselves; so it is +these same deceptions which should drag him down again, now that he +stands convicted of acting for his own ends throughout. Such, then, is +the crisis, men of Athens, to which Philip's fortunes have now come. If +it is not so, let any one come forward and show me (or rather you) that +what I say is untrue; or that those who have been deceived at the +outset trust him as regards the future; or that those who have been +brought into unmerited bondage would not gladly be free. + +{9} But if any of you, while agreeing with me so far, still fancies +that Philip will maintain his hold by force, because he has already +occupied fortified posts and harbours and similar positions, he is +mistaken. When power is cemented by goodwill, and the interest of all +who join in a war is the same, then men are willing to share the +labour, to endure the misfortunes, and to stand fast. But when a man +has become strong, as Philip has done, by a grasping and wicked policy, +the first excuse, the least stumble, throws him from his seat and +dissolves the alliance. {10} It is impossible, men of Athens, utterly +impossible, to acquire power that will last, by unrighteousness, by +perjury, and by falsehood. Such power holds out for a moment, or for a +brief hour; it blossoms brightly, perhaps, with fair hopes; but time +detects the fraud, and the flower falls withered about its stem. In a +house or a ship, or any other structure, it is the foundations that +must be strongest; and no less, I believe, must the principles, which +are the foundation of men's actions, be those of truth and +righteousness. Such qualities are not to be seen to-day in the past +acts of Philip. + +{11} I say, then, that we should help the Olynthians; and the best and +quickest method which can be proposed is the method which I approve. +Further, we should send an embassy to the Thessalians--to some, to +inform them of our intention; to others, to spur them on; for even now +they have resolved to demand the restitution of Pagasae, and to make +representations in regard to Magnesia. {12} Take care, however, men of +Athens, that our envoys may not only have words to speak, but also +actions of yours to point to. Let it be seen that you have gone forth +in a manner that is worthy of Athens, and are already in action. Words +without the reality must always appear a vain and empty thing, and +above all when they come from Athens; for the more we seem to excel in +the glib use of such language, the more it is distrusted by every one. +{13} The change, then, which is pointed out to them must be great, the +conversion striking. They must see you paying your contributions, +marching to war, doing everything with a will, if any of them is to +listen to you. And if you resolve to accomplish all this in very deed, +as it should be accomplished, not only will the feeble and +untrustworthy nature of Philip's alliances be seen, but the weakness of +his own empire and power will also be detected. + +{14} The power and empire of Macedonia is, indeed, to speak generally, +an element which tells considerably as an addition to any other power. +You found it so when it helped you against the Olynthians in the days +of Timotheus;[n] the Olynthians in their turn found its help of some +value, in combination with their own strength, against Poteidaea; and +it has recently come to the aid of the Thessalians, in their disordered +and disturbed condition, against the ruling dynasty: and wherever even +a small addition is made to a force, it helps in every way. {15} But in +itself the Macedonian Empire is weak and full of manifold evils. Philip +has in fact rendered his own tenure of it even more precarious than it +naturally was, by these very wars and campaigns which might be supposed +to prove his power. For you must not imagine, men of Athens, that +Philip and his subjects delight in the same things. Philip has a +passion for glory--that is his ambition; and he has deliberately chosen +to risk the consequences of a life of action and danger, preferring the +glory of achieving more than any King of Macedonia before him to a life +of security. {16} But his subjects have no share in the honour and +glory. Constantly battered about by all these expeditions, up and down, +they are vexed with incessant hardships: they are not suffered to +pursue their occupations or attend to their own affairs: for the little +that they produce, as best they can, they can find no market, the +trading stations of the country being closed on account of the war. +{17} From these facts it is not difficult to discover the attitude of +the Macedonians in general towards Philip; and as for the mercenaries +and Infantry of the Guard who surround him, though they have the +reputation of being a fine body of well-drilled warriors, I am told by +a man who has been in Macedonia, and who is incapable of falsehood, +that they are no better than any other body of men. {18} Granted that +there may be experienced campaigners and fighters among them; yet, he +tells me, Philip is so jealous of honour, that he thrusts all such men +away from him, in his anxiety to get the credit of every achievement +for himself; for in addition to all his other qualities, his jealousy +is insurpassable. On the other hand, any generally temperate or upright +man, who cannot endure the dissolute life there, day by day, nor the +drunkenness and the lewd revels, is thrust on one side and counts for +nothing. {19} Thus he is left with brigands and flatterers, and men +who, when in their cups, indulge in dances of a kind which I shrink +from naming to you now. And it is evident that this report is true; for +men whom every one tried to drive out of Athens, as far viler than even +the very juggler in the street--Callias the public slave and men like +him, players of farces, composers of indecent songs, written at the +expense of their companions in the hope of raising a laugh--these are +the men he likes and keeps about him. {20} You may think that these are +trivial things, men of Athens: but they are weighty, in the judgement +of every right-minded man, as illustrations of the temper with which +Philip is cursed. At present, I suppose, these facts are overshadowed +by his continual prosperity. Success has a wonderful power of throwing +a veil over shameful things like these. But let him only stumble, and +then all these features in his character will be displayed in their +true light. And I believe, men of Athens, that the revelation is not +far off, if Heaven be willing and you desirous of it. {21} So long as a +man is in good health, he is unconscious of any weakness; but if any +illness comes upon him, the disturbance affects every weak point, be it +a rupture or a sprain or anything else that is unsound in his +constitution. And as with the body, so it is with a city or a tyrant. +So long as they are at war abroad, the mischief is hidden from the +world at large, but the close grapple of war on the frontier brings all +to light. + +{22} Now if any of you, men of Athens, seeing Philip's good fortune, +thinks that this makes him a formidable enemy to fight against, he +reasons like a sensible man: for fortune weighs heavily in the +scale--nay, fortune is everything, in all human affairs. And yet, if I +were given the choice, it is the fortune of Athens that I should +choose, rather than that of Philip, provided that you yourselves are +willing to act even to a small extent as you should act. For I see that +there are far more abundant grounds for expecting the goodwill of +Heaven on your side than on his. {23} But here, of course, we are +sitting idle; and one who is a sluggard himself cannot require his +friends to help him, much less the gods. It is not to be wondered at +that Philip, who goes on campaigns and works hard himself, and is +always at the scene of action, and lets no opportunity go, no season +pass, should get the better of us who delay and pass resolutions and +ask for news; nor do I wonder at it. It is the opposite that would have +been wonderful--if we, who do nothing that those who are at war ought +to do, were successful against one who leaves nothing undone. {24} But +this I do wonder at, that you who once raised your hand against Sparta, +in defence of the rights of the Hellenes--you, who with opportunities +often open to you for grasping large advantages for yourselves, would +not take them, but to secure for others their rights spent your own +fortunes in war-contributions, and always bore the brunt of the dangers +of the campaign--that you, I say, are now shrinking from marching, and +hesitating to make any contribution to save your own possessions; and +that, though you have often saved the rest of the Hellenes, now all +together and now each in their turn, you are sitting idle, when you +have lost what was your own. {25} I wonder at this; and I wonder also, +men of Athens, that none of you is able to reckon up the time during +which you have been fighting with Philip, and to consider what you have +been doing while all this time has been going by. Surely you must know +that it is while we have been delaying, hoping that some one else would +act, accusing one another, bringing one another to trial, hoping +anew--in fact, doing practically what we are doing now--that all the +time has passed. {26} And have you now so little sense, men of Athens, +as to hope that the very same policy, which has made the position of +the city a bad one instead of a good, will actually make it a good one +instead of a bad? Why, it is contrary both to reason and to nature to +think so! It is always much easier to retain than to acquire. But now, +owing to the war, none of our old possessions is left for us to retain; +and so we must needs acquire. {27} This, therefore, is our own personal +and immediate duty; and accordingly I say that you must contribute +funds, you must go on service in person with a good will, you must +accuse no one before you have become masters of the situation; and then +you must honour those who deserve praise, and punish the guilty, with a +judgement based upon the actual facts. You must get rid of all excuses +and all deficiencies on your own part; you cannot examine mercilessly +the actions of others, unless you yourselves have done all that your +duty requires. {28} For why is it, do you think, men of Athens, that +all the generals whom you dispatch avoid this war,[n] and discover +private wars of their own--if a little of the truth must be told even +about the generals? It is because in this war the prizes for which the +war is waged are yours, and if they are captured, you will take them +immediately for your own; but the dangers are the personal privilege of +your commanders, and no pay is forthcoming: while in those wars the +dangers are less, and the profits--Lampsacus, Sigeum, and the ships +which they plunder--go to the commanders and their men. Each force +therefore takes the road that leads to its own advantage. {29} For your +part, when you turn your attention to the serious condition of your +affairs, you first bring the commanders to trial; and then, when you +have given them a hearing, and have been told of the difficulties which +I have described, you acquit them. The result, therefore, is that while +you are quarrelling with one another and broken into factions-one party +persuaded of this, another of that--the public interest suffers. You +used, men of Athens, to pay taxes by Boards:[n] to-day you conduct your +politics by Boards. On either side there is an orator as leader, and a +general under him; and for the Three Hundred, there are those who come +to shout. The rest of you distribute yourselves between the two +parties, some on either side. {30} This system you must give up: you +must even now become your own masters; you must give to all alike their +share in discussion, in speech and in action. If you assign to one body +of men the function of issuing orders to you, like tyrants; to another, +that of compulsory service as trierarchs or tax-payers or soldiers; and +to another, only that of voting their condemnation, without taking any +share in the labour, nothing that ought to be done will be done in +time. For the injured section will always be in default, and you will +only have the privilege of punishing them instead of the enemy. {31} To +sum up, all must contribute, each according to his wealth, in a fair +proportion: all must go on active service in turn, until you have all +served: you must give a hearing to all who come forward, and choose the +best course out of all that you hear--not the course proposed by this +or that particular person. If you do this, you will not only commend +the proposer of that course at the time, but you will commend +yourselves hereafter, for the whole position of your affairs will be a +better one. + + +THE THIRD OLYNTHIAC + +{1} Very different reflections suggest themselves to my mind, I men of +Athens, when I turn my eyes to our real situation, and when I think of +the speeches that I hear. For I observe that the speeches are all +concerned with the taking of vengeance upon Philip; whereas in reality +matters have gone so far, that we have to take care that we are not +ourselves the first to suffer: so that those who speak of vengeance are +actually, as it seems to me, suggesting to you a false conception of +the situation which you are discussing. {2} That there was a time when +the city could both keep her own possessions in safety, and punish +Philip, I am very well aware. For it was not long ago, but within my +own lifetime, that both these things were so. But I am convinced that +it is now quite enough for us as a first step to make sure of the +preservation of our allies. If this is safely secured, we shall then be +able to consider upon whom vengeance is to fall, and in what way. But +until the first step is properly conceived, I consider it idle to say +anything whatever about the last. + +{3} If ever the most anxious deliberation was required, it is required +in the present crisis; and my greatest difficulty is not to know what +is the proper advice to give you in regard to the situation: I am at a +loss rather to know, men of Athens, in what manner I should address you +in giving it. For I am convinced by what I have heard with my own ears +in this place that, for the most part, the objects of our policy have +slipped from our grasp, not because we do not understand what our duty +is, but because we will not do it; and I ask you to suffer me, if I +speak without reserve, and to consider only whether I speak truly, and +with this object in view--that the future may be better than the past. +For you see that it is because certain speakers make your gratification +the aim of their addresses, that things have gone on getting worse, +till at last the extremity has been reached. + +{4} I think it necessary, first, to remind you of a few of the events +which have taken place. You remember, men of Athens, that two or three +years ago[n] the news came that Philip was in Thrace, besieging Heraeon +Teichos. That was in the month of November. Amidst all the discussion +and commotion which took place in this Assembly, you passed a +resolution that forty warships should be launched, that men under +forty-five years of age should embark in person, and that we should pay +a war-tax of 60 talents. {5} That year came to an end, and there +followed July, August, September. In the latter month, after the +Mysteries,[n] and with reluctance, you dispatched Charidemus[n] with +ten ships, carrying no soldiers, and 5 talents of silver. For so soon +as news had come that Philip was sick or dead--both reports were +brought--you dismissed the armament, men of Athens, thinking that there +was no longer any occasion for the expedition. But it was the very +occasion; for had we then gone to the scene of action with the same +enthusiasm which marked our resolution to do so, Philip would not have +been preserved to trouble us to-day. {6} What was done then cannot be +altered. But now a critical moment in another campaign has arrived; and +it is in view of this, and to prevent you from falling into the same +error, that I have recalled these facts. How then shall we use this +opportunity, men of Athens? For unless you will go to the rescue 'with +might and main to the utmost of your power',[n] mark how in every +respect you will have served Philip's interest by your conduct of the +war. {7} At the outset the Olynthians possessed considerable strength, +and such was the position of affairs, that neither did Philip feel safe +against them, nor they against Philip. We made peace with them, and +they with us. It was as it were a stumbling-block in Philip's path, and +an annoyance to him, that a great city which had made a compact with us +should sit watching for any opportunity he might offer. We thought that +we ought to excite them to war with him by every means; and now this +much-talked-of event has come to pass--by what means, I need not +relate. {8} What course then is open to us, men of Athens, but to go to +their aid resolutely and eagerly? I can see none. Apart from the shame +in which we should be involved, if we let anything be lost through our +negligence, I can see, men of Athens, that the subsequent prospect +would be alarming in no small degree, when the attitude of the Thebans +towards us is what it is, when the funds of the Phocians are +exhausted,[n] and when there is no one to prevent Philip, so soon as he +has made himself master of all that at present occupies him, from +bringing his energies to bear upon the situation further south. {9} But +if any of you is putting off until then his determination to do his +duty, he must be desirous of seeing the terrors of war close at hand, +when he need only hear of them at a distance, and of seeking helpers +for himself, when now he can give help to others. For that this is what +it must come to, if we sacrifice the present opportunity, we must all, +I think, be fairly well aware. + +{10} 'But,' some one may say, 'we have all made up our minds that we +must go to their aid, and we will go. Only tell us how we are to do +it.' Now do not be surprised, men of Athens, if I give an answer which +will be astonishing to most of you. You must appoint a Legislative +Commission.[n] But when the commissioners meet, you must not enact a +single law--you have laws enough--you must cancel the laws which, in +view of present circumstances, are injurious to you. {11} I mean the +laws which deal with the Festival Fund--to put it quite plainly--and +some of those which deal with military service: for the former +distribute your funds as festival-money to those who remain at home; +while the latter give immunity to malingerers,[n] and thereby also take +the heart out of those who want to do their duty. When you have +cancelled these laws, and made the path safe for one who would give the +best advice, then you can look for some one to propose what you all +know to be expedient. {12} But until you have done this, you must not +expect to find a man who will be glad to advise you for the best, and +be ruined by you for his pains; for you will find no one, particularly +when the only result will be that some unjust punishment will be +inflicted on the proposer or mover of such measures, and that instead +of helping matters at all, he will only have made it even more +dangerous in future than it is at present to give you the best advice. +Aye, and you should require the repeal of these laws, men of Athens, +from the very persons who proposed them.[n] {13} It is not fair that +those who originally proposed them should enjoy the popularity which +was fraught with such mischief to the whole State, and that the +unpopularity, which would lead to an improvement in the condition of us +all, should be visited to his cost upon one who now advises you for the +best. Until you have thus prepared the way, men of Athens, you must +entertain no expectation whatever that any one will be influential +enough here to transgress these laws with impunity, or senseless enough +to fling himself to certain ruin. + +{14} At the same time, men of Athens, you must not fail to realize this +further point. No resolution is worth anything, without the willingness +to perform at least what you have resolved, and that heartily. For if +decrees by themselves could either compel you to do what you ought, or +could realize their several objects unaided, you would not be decreeing +many things and performing few--nay, none--of the things that you +decree, nor would Philip have insulted you so long. {15} If decrees +could have done it, he would have paid the penalty long ago. But it is +not so. Actions come later than speeches and voting in order of +procedure, but in effectiveness they are before either and stronger +than either. It is action that is still needed; all else you already +have. For you have those among you, men of Athens, who can tell you +what your duty is; and no one is quicker than you are to understand the +speaker's bidding. Aye, and you will be able to carry it out even now, +if you act aright. {16} What time, what opportunity, do you look for, +better than the present? When, if not now, will you do your duty? Has +not the man seized every position from us already? If he becomes master +of this country too, will not our fate be the most shameful in the +world? And the men whom we promised to be ready to save, if they went +to war--are they not now at war? {17} Is he not our enemy? Are not our +possessions in his hands? Is he not a barbarian? Is he not anything +that you choose to call him? In God's name, when we have let everything +go, when we have all but put everything into his hands, shall we then +inquire at large who is responsible for it all? That we shall never +admit our own responsibility, I am perfectly sure. Just so amid the +perils of war, none of those who have run away accuses himself; he +accuses his general, his neighbour--any one but himself; and yet, I +suppose, all who have run away have helped to cause the defeat. He who +now blames the rest might have stood fast; and if every one had done +so, the victory would have been theirs. {18} And so now, if a +particular speaker's advice is not the best, let another rise and make +a proposal, instead of blaming him; and if some other has better advice +to give, carry it out, and good fortune be with you. What? Is the +advice disagreeable? That is no longer the speaker's fault--unless, of +course, he leaves out the prayer that you expect of him. There is no +difficulty in the prayer, men of Athens; a man need only compress all +his desires into a short sentence. But to make his choice, when the +question for discussion is one of practical policy, is by no means +equally easy. _Then_ a man is bound to choose what is best, instead of +what is pleasant, if both are not possible at once. {19} But suppose +that some one is able, without touching the Festival Fund, to suggest +other sources of supply for military purposes--is not he the better +adviser? Certainly, men of Athens--if such a thing _is_ possible. But I +should be surprised if it ever has happened or ever should happen to +any one to find, after spending what he has upon wrong objects, that +what he has _not_ is wealth enough to enable him to effect right ones. +Such arguments as these find, I think, their great support in each +man's personal desire, and, for that reason, nothing is easier than to +deceive oneself; what a man desires, he actually fancies to be true. +{20} But the reality often follows no such principle. Consider the +matter, therefore, men of Athens, after this fashion; consider in what +way our objects can be realized under the circumstances, and in what +way you will be able to make the expedition and to receive your pay. +Surely it is not like sober or high-minded men to submit +light-heartedly to the reproach which must follow upon any shortcomings +in the operations of the war through want of funds--to seize your +weapons and march against Corinthians and Megareans,[n] and then to +allow Philip to enslave Hellenic cities, because you cannot find +rations for your troops. + +{21} These words do not spring from a wanton determination to court the +ill-will of any party among you. I am neither so foolish nor so +unfortunate as to desire unpopularity when I do not believe that I am +doing any good. But a loyal citizen ought, in my judgement, to care +more for the safety of his country's fortunes than for the popularity +of his utterances. Such, I have heard, and perhaps you have heard it +also, was the principle which the orators of our forefather's time +habitually followed in public life--those orators who are praised by +all who rise to address you, though they are far from imitating +them--the great Aristides, and Nicias, and my own namesake, and +Pericles. {22} But ever since these speakers have appeared who are +always asking you, 'what would you like?' 'what may I propose for you?' +'what can I do to please you?' the interests of the city have been +wantonly given away for the sake of the pleasure and gratification of +the moment; and we see the consequences--the fortunes of the speakers +prosper, while your own are in a shameful plight. {23} And yet +consider, men of Athens, the main characteristics of the achievements +of your forefathers' time, and those of your own. The description will +be brief and familiar to you; for you need not have recourse to the +history of others, when your own will furnish examples, by following +which you may achieve prosperity. {24} Our forefathers, who were not +courted and caressed by their politicians as you are by these persons +to-day, were leaders of the Hellenes, with their goodwill, for +forty-five years;[n] they brought up into the Acropolis more than +10,000 talents; the king[n] who then ruled Macedonia obeyed them as a +foreigner ought to obey a Hellenic people; serving in person, they set +up many glorious trophies for victories by land and sea; and alone of +all mankind they left behind them, as the crown of their exploits, a +fame that is beyond the reach of envy. {25} Such was the part they +played in the Hellenic world: and now contemplate the manner of men +they were in the city, both in public and in private life. As public +men, they gave us buildings and objects of such beauty and grandeur, in +the temples which they built and the offerings which they dedicated in +them, that no room has been left for any of those that come after to +surpass them: while in private life they were so modest, {26} so +intensely loyal to the spirit of the constitution, that if any one +actually knows what the house of Aristides, or Miltiades, or any other +of the glorious men of that day, is like, he can see that it is no more +imposing than those of their neighbours. For it was not to win a +fortune that they undertook affairs of State; but each thought it his +duty to add to the common weal. And thus, acting in a spirit of good +faith towards the Hellenes, of piety towards the gods, and of equality +towards one another, they naturally attained great prosperity. {27} +Such was the national life of those times, when those whom I have +mentioned were the foremost men in the State. How do matters stand +to-day, thanks to these worthy persons? Is there any likeness, any +resemblance, to old times? Thanks to them (and though I might say much, +I pass over all but this), when we had the field, as you see, +completely open to us--when the Spartans had been ruined,[n] and the +Thebans had their hands full,[n] and no other power could seriously +dispute the supremacy with us on the field of battle--when we could +have retained our own possessions in safety, and have stood as umpires +of the rights of others--we have been deprived of our own territory; +{28} we have spent more than 1,500 talents to no good purpose; the +allies whom we had gained in the war,[n] these persons have lost in +time of peace; and we have trained Philip to be the powerful enemy to +us that he is. Let any one rise and tell me how Philip has grown so +strong, if we ourselves are not the source of his strength. {29} 'But, +my good Sir,' you say, 'if we are badly off in these respects, we are +at any rate better off at home.' And where is the proof of this? Is it +in the whitewashing of the battlements, the mending of the roads, the +fountains, and all such trumperies? Look then at the men whose policy +gives you these things. Some of them who were poor have become rich; +others, who were unknown to fame, have risen to honour; some of them +have provided themselves with private houses more imposing than our +public buildings; and the lower the fortunes of the city have fallen, +the higher theirs have risen. + +{30} What is the cause of all these things? Why is it that all was well +then, and all is amiss to-day? It is because then the people itself +dared to act and to serve in the army; and so the people was master of +its politicians; all patronage was in its own hands; any separate +individual was content to receive from the people his share of honour +or office or other emolument. The reverse is now the case. {31} All +patronage is in the hands of the politicians, while you, the people, +emasculated, stripped of money and allies, have been reduced to the +position of servile supernumeraries, content if they give you +distributions of festival-money, or organize a procession at the +Boedromia;[n] and to crown all this bravery, you are expected also to +thank them for giving you what is your own. They pen you up closely in +the city; they entice you to these delights; they tame you till you +come to their hand. {32} But a high and generous spirit can never, I +believe, be acquired by men whose actions are mean and poor; for such +as a man's practice is, such must his spirit be. And in all solemnity I +should not be surprised if I suffered greater harm at your hands for +telling you the things that I have told you, than the men who have +brought them to pass. Even freedom of speech is not possible on all +subjects in this place, and I wonder that it has been granted me to-day. + +{33} If, even now, you will rid yourselves of these habits, if you will +resolve to join the forces and to act worthily of yourselves, +converting the superfluities which you enjoy at home into resources to +secure our advantage abroad, then it may be, men of Athens, it may be, +that you will gain some great and final good, and will be rid of these +your perquisites, which are like the diet that a physician gives a sick +man--diet which neither puts strength into him nor lets him die. For +these sums which you now share among yourselves are neither large +enough to give you any adequate assistance, nor small enough to let you +renounce them and go about your business; but these it is that[2] +increase the indolence of every individual among you. {34} 'Is it, +then, paid service that you suggest?'[n] some one will ask. I do, men +of Athens; and a system for immediate enforcement which will embrace +all alike; so that each, while receiving his share of the public funds +may supply whatever service the State requires of him.[3] If we can +remain at peace, then he will do better to stay at home, free from the +necessity of doing anything discreditable through poverty. But if a +situation like the present occurs, then supported by these same sums, +he will serve loyally in person, in defence of his country. If a man is +outside the military age, then let him take, in his place among the +rest, that which he now receives irregularly and without doing any +service, and let him act as an overseer and manager of business that +must be done. {35} In short, without adding or subtracting anything,[n] +beyond a small sum, and only removing the want of system, my plan +reduces the State to order, making your receipt of payment, your +service in the army or the courts, and your performance of any duty +which the age of each of you allows, and the occasion requires, all +part of one and the same system. But it has been no part of my proposal +that we should assign the due of those who act to those who do nothing; +that we should be idle ourselves and enjoy our leisure helplessly, +listening to tales of victories won by somebody's mercenaries;[n] for +this is what happens now. {36} Not that I blame one who is doing some +part of your duty for you; but I require you to do for yourselves the +things for which you honour others, and not to abandon the position +which your fathers won through many a glorious peril, and bequeathed to +you. + +I think I have told you all that, in my belief, your interest demands. +May you choose the course which will be for the good of the city and of +you all! + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] See notes to Speech on the Peace, Sec. 5. Some date the Euboean +expedition and the sending of the cavalry one or two years earlier, and +the whole chronology is much disputed; but there are strong arguments +for the date (348) given in the text. + +[2] [Greek: esti tauta ta]. + +[3] [Greek: touto parechae]. + + + + +ON THE PEACE (OR. V) + + +[_Introduction_. After the fall of Olynthus in 348, the Athenians, on +the proposal of Eubulus, sent embassies to the Greek States in the +Peloponnese and elsewhere, to invite them to join in a coalition +against Philip. Aeschines went for this purpose to Megalopolis, and did +his best to counteract Philip's influence in Arcadia. When the +embassies proved unsuccessful, it became clear that peace must be made +on such terms as were possible. Philip himself was anxious for peace, +since he wished to cross the Pass of Thermopylae without such +opposition from Athens as he had encountered in 352, and to be free +from the attacks of hostile ships upon his ports. Even before the fall +of Olynthus, informal communications passed between himself and Athens +(see Speech on Embassy, Secs. 12, 94, 315); and in consequence of these, +Philocrates proposed and the Assembly passed a decree, under which ten +ambassadors were appointed to go to Philip and invite him to send +plenipotentiaries to Athens to conclude a peace. Demosthenes (who had +strongly supported Philocrates) was among the ten, as well as Aeschines +and Philocrates himself. Delighted with Philip's reception of them, and +greatly attracted by his personality, the ambassadors returned with a +letter from him, promising in general terms to confer great benefits +upon Athens, if he were granted alliance as well as peace: in the +meantime he undertook not to interfere with the towns allied to Athens +in the Chersonese. Demosthenes proposed (in the Council, of which he +was a member in the year 347-346) the usual complimentary resolution in +honour of the ambassadors, and on his motion it was resolved to hold +two meetings of the Assembly, on the 18th and 19th of the month +Elaphebolion (i.e. probably just after the middle of April 346), when +Philip's envoys would have arrived, to discuss the terms of peace. The +envoys--Antipater, Parmenio, and Eurylochus--reached Athens shortly +after this; and before the first of the two meetings was held, the +Synod of the allies of Athens, now assembled in the city, agreed to +peace on such terms as the Athenian people should decide, but added a +proposal that it should be permitted to any Greek State to become a +party to the Peace within three months. They said nothing of alliance. +Of the two meetings of the Assembly, in view of the conflicting +statements of Demosthenes and Aeschines, only a probable account can be +given. At the first, Philocrates proposed that alliance as well as +peace should be made by Athens and her allies with Philip and his +allies, on the understanding that both parties should keep what they +_de facto_ possessed--a provision entailing the renunciation by Athens +of Amphipolis and Poteidaea; but that the Phocians and the people of +Halus should be excluded. Aeschines opposed this strongly; and both he +and Demosthenes claim to have supported the resolution of the allies, +which would have given the excluded peoples a chance of sharing the +advantage of the Peace. The feeling of the Assembly was with them, +although the Phocians had recently insulted the Athenians by declining +to give up to Proxenus (the Athenian admiral) the towns guarding the +approaches to Thermopylae, which they had themselves offered to place +in the hands of Athens. But Philocrates obtained the postponement of +the decision till the next day. On the next day, if not before, it +became plain that Philip's envoys would not consent to forgo the +exclusion of the Phocians and Halus; but in order that the Assembly +might be induced to pass the resolution, the clause expressly excluding +them was dropped, and peace and alliance were made between Athens and +Philip, each with their allies.[n] Even this was not secured before +Aeschines and his friends had deprecated rash attempts to imitate the +exploits of antiquity by continuing the war, and had explained that +Philip could not openly accept the Phocians as allies, but that when +the Peace was concluded, he would satisfy all the wishes of the +Athenians in every way; while Eubulus threatened the people with +immediate war, involving personal service and heavy taxation, unless +they accepted Philocrates' decree. A few days afterwards the Athenians +and the representatives of the allies took the oath to observe the +Peace: nothing was said about the Phocians and Halus: Cersobleptes' +representative was probably not permitted to swear with the rest. The +same ten ambassadors as before were instructed to receive Philip's +oath, and the oaths of his allies, to arrange for the ransom of +prisoners, and generally to treat with Philip in the interests of +Athens. Demosthenes urged his colleagues (and obtained an instruction +from the Council to this effect) to sail at once, in order that Philip, +who was now in Thrace, might not make conquests at the expense of +Athens before ratifying the Peace; but they delayed at Oreus, went by +land, instead of under the escort of Proxenus by sea, and only reached +Pella (the Macedonian capital) twenty-three days after leaving Athens. +Philip did not arrive for twenty-seven days more. By this time he had +taken Cersobleptes prisoner, and captured Serrhium, Doriscus, and other +Thracian towns, which were held by Athenian troops sent to assist +Cersobleptes. Demosthenes was now openly at variance with his +colleagues. He had no doubt realized the necessity of peace, but +probably regarded the exclusion of the Phocians as unwarrantable, and +thought that the policy of his colleagues must end in Philip's conquest +of all Greece. At Pella he occupied himself in negotiations for the +ransom of prisoners. After taking the oath, Philip kept the ambassadors +with him until he had made all preparations for his march southward, +and during this time he played with them and with the envoys from the +other Greek States who were present at the same time. His intention of +marching to Thermopylae was clear; but he seems to have led all alike +to suppose that he would fulfil their particular wishes when he had +crossed the Pass. The ambassadors accompanied him to Pherae, where the +oath was taken by the representatives of Philip's allies; the Phocians, +Halus, and Cersobleptes were excluded from the Peace. (Halus was taken +by Philip's army shortly afterwards.) The ambassadors of Athens then +returned homewards, bearing a letter from Philip, but did not arrive at +Athens before Philip had reached Thermopylae. On their return +Demosthenes denounced them before the Council, which refused them the +customary compliments, and (on Demosthenes' motion) determined to +propose to the people that Proxenus with his squadron should be ordered +to go to the aid of the Phocians and to prevent Philip from crossing +the Pass. When the Assembly met on the 16th of Scirophorion (shortly +before the middle of July), Aeschines rose first, and announced in +glowing terms the intention of Philip to turn round upon Thebes and to +re-establish Thespiae and Plataeae; and hinted at the restoration to +Athens of Euboea and Oropus. Then Philip's letter was read, containing +no promises, but excusing the delay of the ambassadors as due to his +own request. The Assembly was elated at the promises announced by +Aeschines; Demosthenes' attempt to contradict the announcement failed; +and on Philocrates' motion, it was resolved to extend the Peace and +alliance with Philip to posterity, and to declare that if the Phocians +refused to surrender the Temple of Delphi to the Amphictyons, Athens +would take steps against those responsible for the refusal. Demosthenes +refused to serve on the Embassy appointed to convey this resolution to +Philip: Aeschines was appointed, but was too ill to start. The +ambassadors set out, but within a few days returned with the news that +the Phocian army had surrendered to Philip (its leader, Phalaecus, and +his troops being allowed to depart to the Peloponnese). The surrender +had perhaps been accelerated by the news of the Athenian resolution. +The Assembly, in alarm lest Philip should march southwards, now +resolved to take measures of precaution and defence, and to send the +same ambassadors to Philip, to do what they could. They went, Aeschines +among them, and arrived in the midst of the festivities with which +Philip was celebrating the success of his plans. The invitation which +Philip sent to Athens--to send a force to join his own, and to assist +in settling the affairs of Phocis--was (on Demosthenes' advice) +declined by the Assembly; and soon afterwards another letter from +Philip expressed surprise at the unfriendly attitude taken up by the +Athenians towards him. Philip next summoned the Amphictyonic Council +(the legitimate guardians of the Delphian Temple, on whose behalf the +Thebans and Thessalians, aided by Philip, were now at war with the +Phocians): and the Council, in the absence of many of its members, +resolved to transfer the votes of the Phocians in the Council-meeting +to Philip, to break up the Phocian towns into villages, disarming their +inhabitants and taking away their horses, to require them to repay the +stolen treasure to the temple by instalments, and to pronounce a curse +upon those actually guilty of sacrilege, which would render them liable +to arrest anywhere. The destructive part of the sentence was rigorously +executed by the Thebans. In order to punish the former supporters of +the Phocians, the right to precedence in consulting the oracle was +transferred from Athens to Philip, by order of the Council, and the +Spartans were excluded from the temple: Orchomenus and Coroneia were +destroyed and their inhabitants enslaved; and Thebes became absolute +mistress of all Boeotia. The Pythian games (at Delphi) in September 346 +were celebrated under Philip's presidency; but both Sparta and Athens +refused to send the customary deputation to them, and Philip +accordingly sent envoys to Athens, along with representatives of the +Amphictyons, to demand recognition for himself as an Amphictyonic +power. Aeschines supported the demand, his argument being apparently to +the effect that Philip had been forced to act as he had done by the +Thebans and Thessalians; but the Assembly was very angry at the results +(as they seemed to be) of Aeschines' diplomacy and the calamities of +the Phocians; and it was only when Demosthenes, in the Speech on the +Peace, advised compliance, that they were persuaded to give way. To +have refused would have brought the united forces of the Amphictyonic +States against Athens: and these she could not have resisted. It was +therefore prudent to keep the Peace, though Demosthenes evidently +regarded it only as an armistice.] + + +{1} I see, men of Athens, that our present situation is one of great +perplexity and confusion, for not only have many of our interests been +sacrificed, so that it is of no use to make eloquent speeches about +them; but even as regards what still remains to us, there is no general +agreement in any single point as to what is expedient: some hold one +view, and some another. {2} Perplexing, moreover, and difficult as +deliberation naturally is, men of Athens, you have made it far more +difficult. For while all the rest of mankind are in the habit of +resorting to deliberation before the event, you do not do so until +afterwards: and consequently, during the whole time that falls within +my memory, however high a reputation for eloquence one who upbraids you +for all your errors may enjoy, the desired results and the objects of +your deliberation pass out of your grasp. {3} And yet I believe--and it +is because I have convinced myself of this that I have risen--that if +you resolve to abandon all clamour and contention, as becomes men who +are deliberating on behalf of their country upon so great an issue, I +shall be able to describe and recommend measures to you, by which the +situation may be improved, and what we have sacrificed, recovered. + +{4} Now although I know perfectly well, men of Athens, that to speak to +you about one's own earlier speeches, and about oneself, is a practice +which is always extremely repaying, I feel the vulgarity and +offensiveness of it so strongly, that I shrink from it even when I see +that it is necessary. I think, however, that you will form a better +judgement on the subject on which I am about to speak, if I remind you +of some few of the things which I have said on certain previous +occasions. {5} In the first place, men of Athens, when at the time of +the disturbances in Euboea[n] you were being urged to assist +Plutarchus, and to undertake an inglorious and costly campaign, I came +forward first and unsupported to oppose this action, and was almost +torn in pieces by those who for the sake of their own petty profits had +induced you to commit many grave errors: and when only a short time had +elapsed, along with the shame which you incurred and the treatment +which you received--treatment such as no people in the world ever +before experienced at the hands of those whom they went to +assist--there came the recognition by all of you of the baseness of +those who had urged you to this course, and of the excellence of my own +advice. {6} Again, men of Athens, I observed that Neoptolemus[n] the +actor, who was allowed freedom of movement everywhere on the ground of +his profession, and was doing the city the greatest mischief, was +managing and directing your communications with Philip in Philip's own +interest: and I came forward and informed you; and that, not to gratify +any private dislike or desire to misrepresent him, as subsequent events +have made plain. {7} And in this case I shall not, as before, throw the +blame on any speakers or defenders of Neoptolemus--indeed, he had no +defenders; it is yourselves that I blame. For had you been watching +rival tragedies in the theatre, instead of discussing the vital +interests of a whole State, you could not have listened with more +partiality towards him, or more prejudice against me. {8} And yet, I +believe, you have all now realized that though, according to his own +assertion, this visit to the enemy's country was paid in order that he +might get in the debts owing to him there, and return with funds to +perform his public service[n] here; though he was always repeating the +statement that it was monstrous to accuse those who were transferring +their means from Macedonia to Athens; yet, when the Peace had removed +all danger, he converted his real estate here into money, and took +himself off with it to Philip. {9} These then are two events which I +have foretold--events which, because their real character was exactly +and faithfully disclosed by me, are a testimony to the speeches which I +have delivered. A third, men of Athens, was the following; and when I +have given you this one instance, I will immediately proceed to the +subject on which I have come forward to speak. When we returned from +the Embassy, after receiving from Philip his oath to maintain the +Peace, {10} there were some[n] who promised that Thespiae and +Plataeae[n] would be repeopled, and said that if Philip became master +of the situation, he would save the Phocians, and would break up the +city of Thebes into villages; that Oropus would be yours, and that +Euboea would be restored to you in place of Amphipolis--with other +hopes and deceptions of the same kind, by which you were seduced into +sacrificing the Phocians in a manner that was contrary to your interest +and perhaps to your honour also. But as for me, you will find that +neither had I any share in this deception, nor yet did I hold my peace. +On the contrary, I warned you plainly, as, I know you remember, that +_I_ had no knowledge and no expectations of this kind, and that I +regarded such statements as nonsense. + +{11} All these plain instances of superior foresight on my part, men of +Athens, I shall not ascribe to any cleverness, any boasted merits, of +my own. I will not pretend that my foreknowledge and discernment are +due to any causes but such as I will name; and they are two. The first, +men of Athens, is that good fortune, which, I observe, is more powerful +than all the cleverness and wisdom on earth. {12} The second is the +fact that my judgement and reasoning are disinterested. No one can +point to any personal gain in connexion with my public acts and words: +and therefore I see what is to our interest undistorted, in the light +in which the actual facts reveal it. But when you throw money into one +scale of the balance, its weight carries everything with it; your +judgement is instantly dragged down with it, and one who has acted so +can no longer think soundly or healthily about anything. + +{13} Now there is one primary condition which must be observed by any +one who would furnish the city with allies or contributions or anything +else--he must do it without breaking the existing Peace: not because +the Peace is at all admirable or creditable to you, but because, +whatever its character, it would have been better, in the actual +circumstances, that it should never have been made, than that having +been made, it should now be broken through our action. For we have +sacrificed many advantages which we possessed when we made it, and +which would have rendered the war safer and easier for us then than it +is now. {14} The second condition, men of Athens, is that we shall not +draw on these self-styled Amphictyons,[n] who are now assembled, until +they have an irresistible or a plausible reason for making a united war +against us. My own belief is that if war broke out again between +ourselves and Philip about Amphipolis or any such claim of our own, in +which the Thessalians and Argives and Thebans had no interest, none of +these peoples would go to war against us, least of all--{15} and let no +one raise a clamour before he hears what I have to say--least of all +the Thebans; not because they are in any pleasant mood towards us; not +because they would not be glad to gratify Philip; but because they know +perfectly well, however stupid one may think them,[n] that if war +springs up between themselves and you, _they_ will get all the +hardships of war for their share, while another will sit by, waiting to +secure all the advantages; and they are not likely to sacrifice +themselves for such a prospect, unless the origin and the cause of the +war are such as concern all alike. {16} Nor again should we, in my +opinion, suffer at all, if we went to war with Thebes on account of +Oropus[n] or any other purely Athenian interest. For I believe that +while those who would assist ourselves or the Thebans would give their +aid if their ally's own country were invaded, they would not join +either in an offensive campaign. For this is the manner of +alliances--such, at least, as are worth considering; and the +relationship is naturally of this kind. {17} The goodwill of each +ally--whether it be towards ourselves or towards the Thebans--does not +imply the same interest in our conquest of others as in our existence. +Our continued existence they would all desire for their own sakes; but +none of them would wish that through conquest either of us should +become their own masters. What is it then that I regard with +apprehension? What is it that we must guard against? I fear lest a +common pretext should be supplied for the coming war, a common charge +against us, which will appeal to all alike. {18} For if the Argives[n] +and Messenians and Megalopolitans, and some of the other Peloponnesians +who are in sympathy with them, adopt a hostile attitude towards us +owing to our negotiations for peace with Sparta, and the belief that to +some extent we are giving our approval to the policy which the Spartans +have pursued: if the Thebans already (as we are told) detest us, and +are sure to become even more hostile, because we are harbouring those +whom they have exiled,[n] and losing no opportunity of displaying our +ill-will towards them; {19} and the Thessalians, because we are +offering a refuge to the Phocian fugitives;[n] and Philip, because we +are preventing his admission to Amphictyonic rank; my fear is that, +when each power has thus its separate reasons for resentment, they may +unite in the war against us, with the decrees of the Amphictyons for +their pretext: and so each may be drawn on farther than their several +interests would carry them, just as they were in dealing with the +Phocians. {20} For you doubtless realize that it was not through any +unity in their respective ambitions, that the Thebans and Philip and +the Thessalians all acted together just now. The Thebans, for instance, +could not prevent Philip from marching through and occupying the +passes, nor even from stepping in at the last moment to reap the credit +of all that they themselves had toiled for.[n] {21} For, as it is, +though the Thebans have gained something so far as the recovery of +their territory is concerned, their honour and reputation have suffered +shamefully, since it now appears as though they would have gained +nothing, unless Philip had crossed the Pass. This was not what they +intended. They only submitted to all this in their anxiety to obtain +Orchomenus and Coroneia, and their inability to do so otherwise. {22} +And as to Philip, some persons,[n] as you know, are bold enough to say +that it was not from any wish to do so that he handed over Orchomenus +and Coroneia to Thebes, but from compulsion; and although I must part +company with them there, I am sure that at least he did not want to do +this _more_ than he desired to occupy the passes, and to get the credit +of appearing to have determined the issue of the war, and to manage the +Pythian games by his own authority. These, I am sure, were the objects +which he coveted most greedily. {23} The Thessalians, again, did not +desire to see either the Thebans or Philip growing powerful; for in any +such contingency they thought that they themselves were menaced. But +they did desire to secure two privileges--admission to the Amphictyonic +meeting, and the recovery of rights at Delphi;[n] and in their +eagerness for these privileges, they joined Philip in the actions in +question. Thus you will find that each was led on, for the sake of +private ends, to take action which they in no way desired to take. But +this is the very thing against which we have now to be on our guard. + +{24} 'Are we then, for fear of this, to submit to Philip? and do _you_ +require this of us?' you ask me. Far from it. Our action must be such +as will be in no way unworthy of us, and at the same time will not lead +to war, but will prove to all our good sense and the justice of our +position: and, in answer to those who are bold enough to think that we +should refuse to submit to anything whatever,[n] [2] and who cannot +foresee the war that must follow, I wish to urge this consideration. We +are allowing the Thebans to hold Oropus; and if any one asked us to +state the reason honestly, we should say that it was to avoid war. {25} +Again, we have just ceded Amphipolis to Philip by the Treaty of +Peace;[n] we permit the Cardians[n] to occupy a position apart from the +other colonists in the Chersonese; we allow the Prince of Caria[n] to +seize the islands of Chios, Cos, and Rhodes, and the Byzantines to +drive our vessels to shore[n]--obviously because we believe that the +tranquillity afforded by peace brings more blessings than any collision +or contention over these grievances would bring: so that it would be a +foolish and an utterly perverse policy, when we have behaved in this +manner towards each of our adversaries individually, where our own most +essential interests were concerned, to go now to war with all of them +together, on account of this shadow at Delphi.[n] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] The term 'the allies of Athens' was ambiguous. It might be taken +(as it was taken by Philip and his envoys) to include only the +remaining members of the League (see p. 9), who were represented by the +Synod then sitting, and whose policy Athens could control. But it was +evidently possible to put a wider interpretation upon it, as the +Assembly probably did and as Demosthenes often does (e.g. Speech on +Embassy, Sec. 278), and to understand it as including the Phocians and +others (such as Cersobleptes) with whom Athens had a treaty of +alliance. Much of the trouble which followed arose out of this +ambiguity. + +[2] [Greek: oud hotioun]. + + + + +THE SECOND PHILIPPIC (OR. VI) + + +[_Introduction_. After settling affairs at Delphi in 346, Philip +returned to Macedonia. During a considerable part of 345 and in the +early months of 344 he was occupied with campaigns against the +Illyrians, Dardani, and Triballi. But in the summer (probably) of 344 +he resumed his activities in Greece, garrisoning Pherae and other towns +of Thessaly with Macedonians, appropriating the revenues derived from +the Thessalian ports, and establishing oligarchical governments +throughout the country. At the same time negotiations were going on +between himself and Athens with regard to the Thracian strongholds +which he had captured in 346. He refused to give these up, though he +offered to cut a canal across the Chersonese, for the protection of the +Athenian allies there from the attacks of the Thracians. He also sent +money and mercenaries to help the Messenians and Argives, who, like the +Megalopolitans, were anxious to secure their independence of Sparta. +Athens, which was on friendly terms with Sparta, sent envoys to the +Peloponnesian states to counteract Philip's influence, and of these +Demosthenes was one. In return, Argos and Messene complained to Athens +of her interference with their attempt to secure freedom, and Philip +sent envoys to deprecate the charges made against him by the Athenian +ambassadors in the Peloponnese. He pointed out that he had not broken +any promises made to Athens at the time of the Peace, for he had made +none. (In fact, if Demosthenes' account is correct, he had confined +himself to vague expressions of goodwill; the promises had been made by +Aeschines.) The Second Philippic, spoken late in 344, proposes a reply +to Philip, the text of which has unfortunately not come down to us. The +Peloponnesian envoys appear also to have been in Athens at the time; +and Philip's supporters had put forward various explanations of his +conduct at the time when the Peace was made. To these also Demosthenes +replies.] + + +{1} In all our discussions, men of Athens, with regard to the acts of +violence by which Philip contravenes the terms of the Peace, I observe +that, although the speeches on our side are always manifestly just and +sympathetic,[n] and although those who denounce Philip are always +regarded as saying what ought to be said, yet practically nothing is +done which ought to be done, or which would make it worth while to +listen to such speeches. {2} On the contrary, the condition of public +affairs as a whole has already been brought to a point at which, the +more and the more evidently a speaker can convict Philip both of +transgressing the Peace which he made with you and of plotting against +all the Hellenes, the harder it is for him to advise you how you should +act. {3} The responsibility for this rests with us all, men of Athens. +It is by deeds and actions, not by words, that a policy of encroachment +must be arrested: and yet, in the first place, we who rise to address +you will not face the duty of proposing or advising such action, for +fear of unpopularity with you, though we dilate upon the character of +Philip's acts, upon their atrocity, and so forth; and, in the second +place, you who sit and listen, better qualified though you doubtless +are than Philip for using the language of justice and appreciating it +at the mouths of others, are nevertheless absolutely inert, when it is +a question of preventing him from executing the designs in which he is +now engaged. {4} It follows as the inevitable and perhaps reasonable +consequence, that you are each more successful in that to which your +time and your interest is given--he in actions, yourselves in words. +Now if it is still enough for you, that your words are more just than +his, your course is easy, and no labour is involved in it. {5} But if +we are to inquire how the evil of the present situation is to be +corrected; if its advance is not still to continue, unperceived, until +we are confronted by a power so great that we cannot even raise a hand +in our own defence; then we must alter our method of deliberation, and +all of us who speak, and all of you who listen, must resolve to prefer +the counsels which are best, and which can save us, to those which are +most easy and most attractive. + +{6} I am amazed, men of Athens, in the first place, that any one who +sees the present greatness of Philip and the wide mastery which he has +gained, can be free from alarm, or can imagine that this involves no +peril to Athens, or that it is not against you that all his +preparations are being made. And I would beg you, one and all, to +listen while I put before you in a few words the reasoning by which I +have come to entertain the opposite expectation, and the grounds upon +which I regard Philip as an enemy; that so, if my own foresight appears +to you the truer, you may believe me; but if that of the persons who +have no fears and have placed their trust in him, you may give your +adhesion to them. {7} Here then, men of Athens, is my argument. Of +what, in the first place, did Philip become master, when the Peace was +concluded? Of Thermopylae, and of the situation in Phocis. Next, what +use did he make of his power? He deliberately chose to act in the +interests of Thebes, not in those of Athens. And why? He scrutinized +every consideration in the light of his own ambition and of his desire +for universal conquest: he took no thought for peace, or tranquillity, +or justice; {8} and he saw quite correctly that our state and our +national character being what they are, there was no attraction that he +could offer, nothing that he could do, which would induce you to +sacrifice any of the other Hellenes to him for your own advantage. He +saw that you would take account of what was right; that you would +shrink from the infamy attaching to such a policy; that you would +exercise all the foresight which the situation demanded, and would +oppose any such attempt on his part, as surely as if you were at open +war with him. {9} But the Thebans, he believed--and the event proved +that he was right--in return for what they were getting would let him +do as he pleased in all that did not concern them; and far from acting +against him, or preventing him effectively, would even join him in his +campaign, if he bade them. His services to the Messenians and the +Argives at the present moment are due to his having formed the same +conception of them. And this, men of Athens, is the highest of all +tributes to yourselves: {10} for these actions of his amount to a +verdict upon you, that you alone of all peoples would never, for any +gain to yourselves, sacrifice the common rights of the Hellenes, nor +barter away your loyalty to them for any favour or benefit at his +hands. This conception of you he has naturally formed, just as he has +formed the opposite conception of the Argives and the Thebans, not only +from his observation of the present, but also from his consideration of +the past. {11} He discovers, I imagine, and is told, how when your +forefathers might have been rulers of the rest of the Hellenes, on +condition of submitting to the king themselves, they not only refused +to tolerate the suggestion, on the occasion when Alexander [n], the +ancestor of the present royal house, came as his herald to negotiate, +but chose rather to leave their country and to face any suffering which +they might have to endure; and how they followed up the refusal by +those deeds which all are so eager to tell, but to which no one has +ever been able to do justice; and for that reason, I shall myself +forbear to speak of them, and rightly; for the grandeur of their +achievements passes the power of language to describe. He knows, on the +other hand, how the forefathers of the Thebans and Argives, in the one +case, joined the barbarian army, in the other, offered no resistance to +it. {12} He knows, therefore, that both these peoples will welcome what +is to their own advantage, instead of considering the common interests +of the Hellenes: and so he thought that, if he chose you for his +allies, he would be choosing friends who would only serve a righteous +cause; while if he joined himself to them, he would win accomplices who +would further his own ambitions. That is why he chose them, as he +chooses them now, in preference to you. For he certainly does not see +them in possession of more ships than you; nor has he discovered some +inland empire, and withdrawn from the seaboard and the trading-ports; +nor does he forget the words and the promises, on the strength of which +he was granted the Peace. + +{13} But some one may tell us, with an air of complete knowledge of the +matter, that what then moved Philip to act thus was not his ambition +nor any of the motives which I impute to him, but his belief that the +demands of Thebes were more righteous than your own. I reply, that this +statement, above all others, is one which he cannot possibly make +_now_. How can one who is ordering Sparta to give up Messene put +forward his belief in the righteousness of the act, as his excuse for +handing over Orchomenus and Coroneia to Thebes? + +{14} 'But,' we are told (as the last remaining plea), 'he was forced to +make these concessions, and did so against his better judgement, +finding himself caught between the cavalry of Thessaly and the infantry +of Thebes.' Admirable! And so, we are informed, he intends henceforth +to be wary of the Thebans, and the tale goes round that he intends to +fortify Elateia [n]. 'Intends,' indeed! and I expect that it will +remain an intention! {15} But the help which he is giving to the +Messenians and Argives is no 'intention'; for he is actually sending +mercenaries to them and dispatching funds, and is himself expected to +arrive on the spot with a great force. Is he trying to annihilate the +Spartans, the existing enemies of Thebes, and at the same time +protecting the Phocians, whom he himself has ruined? Who will believe +such a tale? {16} For if Philip had really acted against his will and +under compulsion in the first instance--if he were now really intending +to renounce the Thebans--I cannot believe that he would be so +consistently opposing their enemies. On the contrary, his present +course plainly proves that his former action also was the result of +deliberate policy; and to any sound observation, it is plain that the +whole of his plans are being organized for one end--the destruction of +Athens. {17} Indeed, this has now come to be, in a sense, a matter of +necessity for him. Only consider. It is empire that he desires, and +you, as he believes, are his only possible rivals in this. He has been +acting wrongfully towards you for a long time, as he himself best +knows; for it is the occupation of your possessions that enables him to +hold all his other conquests securely, convinced, as he is, that if he +had let Amphipolis and Poteidaea go, he could not dwell in safety even +at home. {18} These two facts, then, he well knows--first, that his +designs are aimed at you, and secondly, that you are aware of it: and +as he conceives you to be men of sense, he considers that you hold him +in righteous detestation: and, in consequence, his energies are roused: +for he expects to suffer disaster, if you get your opportunity, unless +he can anticipate you by inflicting it upon you. {19} So he is wide +awake; he is on the alert; he is courting the help of others against +Athens--of the Thebans and those Peloponnesians who sympathize with +their wishes; thinking that their desire of gain will make them embrace +the immediate prospect, while their native stupidity will prevent them +from foreseeing any of the consequences. Yet there are examples, +plainly visible to minds which are even moderately +well-balanced[n]--examples which it fell to my lot to bring before +Messenian and Argive audiences, but which had better, perhaps, be laid +before yourselves as well. + +{20} 'Can you not imagine,' I said, 'men of Messenia, the impatience +with which the Olynthians used to listen to any speeches directed +against Philip in those times, when he was giving up Anthemus to +them--a city claimed as their own by all former Macedonian kings; when +he was expelling the Athenian colonists from Poteidaea and presenting +it to the Olynthians; when he had taken upon his own shoulders their +quarrel with Athens, and given them the enjoyment of that territory? +Did they expect, do you think, to suffer as they have done? if any one +had foretold it, would they have believed him? {21} And yet,' I +continued, 'after enjoying territory not their own for a very short +time, they are robbed of their own by him for a great while to come; +they are foully driven forth--not conquered merely, but betrayed by one +another and sold; for it is not safe for a free state to be on these +over-friendly terms with a tyrant. {22} What, again, of the +Thessalians? Do you imagine,' I asked, 'that when he was expelling +their tyrants, or again, when he was giving them Nicaea and Magnesia, +they expected to see the present Council of Ten[n] established in their +midst? Did they expect that the restorer of their Amphictyonic rights +would take their own revenues from them for himself? Impossible! And +yet these things came to pass, as all men may know. {23} You +yourselves,' I continued, 'at present behold only the gifts and the +promises of Philip. Pray, if you are really in your right minds, that +you may never see the accomplishment of his deceit and treachery. There +are, as you know well,' I said, 'all kinds of inventions designed for +the protection and security of cities--palisades, walls, trenches, and +every kind of defence. {24} All these are made with hands, and involve +expense as well. But there is one safeguard which all sensible men +possess by nature--a safeguard which is a valuable protection to all, +but above all to a democracy against a tyrant. And what is this? It is +distrust. Guard this possession and cleave to it; preserve this, and +you need never fear disaster. {25} What is it that you desire?' I said. +'Is it freedom? And do you not see that the very titles that Philip +bears are utterly alien to freedom? For a king, a tyrant, is always the +foe of freedom and the enemy of law. Will you not be on your guard,' I +said, 'lest in striving to be rid of war, you find yourselves +slaves?'[n] + +{26} My audience heard these words and received them with a tumult of +approbation, as well as many other speeches from the envoys, both when +I was present and again later. And yet, it seems, there is still no +better prospect of their keeping Philip's friendship and promises at a +distance. {27} In fact, the extraordinary thing is not that Messenians +and certain Peloponnesians should act against their own better +judgement, but that you who understand for yourselves, and who hear us, +your orators, telling you, that there is a design against you, and that +the toils are closing round you--that you, I say, by always refusing to +act at once, should be about to find (as I think you will) that you +have exposed yourselves unawares to the utmost peril: so much more does +the pleasure and ease of the moment weigh with you, than any advantage +to be reaped at some future date. + +{28} In regard to the practical measures which you must take, you will, +if you are wise, deliberate by yourselves[n] later. But I will at once +propose an answer which you may make to-day, and which it will be +consistent with your duty to have adopted. + +[_The answer is read._] + +Now the right course, men of Athens, was to have summoned before you +those who conveyed the promises[n] on the strength of which you were +induced to make the Peace. {29} For I could never have brought myself +to serve on the Embassy, nor, I am sure, would you have discontinued +the war, had you imagined that Philip, when he had obtained peace, +would act as he has acted. What we were then told was something very +different from this. And there are others, too, whom you should summon. +You ask whom I mean? After the Peace had been made, and I had returned +from the Second Embassy, which was sent to administer the oaths, I saw +how the city was being hoodwinked, and I spoke out repeatedly, +protesting and forbidding you to sacrifice Thermopylae and the +Phocians: {30} and the men to whom I refer were those who then said +that a water-drinker[n] like myself was naturally a fractious and +ill-tempered fellow; while Philip, if only he crossed the Pass, would +fulfil your fondest prayers; for he would fortify Thespiae and +Plataeae; he would put an end to the insolence of the Thebans; he would +cut a canal through the Chersonese at his own charges, and would repay +you for Amphipolis by the restoration of Euboea and Oropus. All this +was said from this very platform, and I am quite sure that you remember +it well, though your memory of those who injure you is but short. {31} +To crown your disgrace, with nothing but these hopes in view, you +resolved that this same Peace should hold good for your posterity also; +so completely had you fallen under their influence. But why do I speak +of all this now? why do I bid you summon these men? By Heaven, I will +tell the truth without reserve, and will hold nothing back. {32} My +object is not to give way to abuse, and so secure myself as good a +hearing[n] as others in this place, while giving those who have come +into collision with me from the first an opportunity for a further +claim[n] upon Philip's money. Nor do I wish to waste time in empty +words. {33} No; but I think that the plan which Philip is pursuing will +some day trouble you more than the present situation does; for his +design is moving towards fulfilment, and though I shrink from precise +conjecture, I fear its accomplishment may even now be only too close at +hand. And when the time comes when you can no longer refuse to attend +to what is passing; when you no longer hear from me or from some other +that it is all directed against you, but all alike see it for +yourselves and know it for a certainty; then, I think, you will be +angry and harsh enough. {34} And I am afraid that because your envoys +have withheld from you the guilty secret of the purposes which they +have been bribed to forward, those who are trying to remedy in some +degree the ruin of which these men have been the instruments will fall +victims to your wrath. For I observe that it is the general practice of +some persons to vent their anger, not upon the guilty, but upon those +who are most within their grasp. {35} While then the trouble is still +to come, still in process of growth, while we can still listen to one +another's words, I would remind each of you once more of what he well +knows--who it was that induced you to sacrifice the Phocians and +Thermopylae, the control of which gave Philip command of the road to +Attica and the Peloponnesus; who it was, I say, that converted your +debate about your rights and your interests abroad into a debate about +the safety of your own country, and about war on your own borders--a +war which will bring distress to each of us personally, when it is at +our doors, but which sprang into existence on that day. {36} Had you +not been misled by them, no trouble would have befallen this country. +For we cannot imagine that Philip would have won victories by sea which +would have enabled him to approach Attica with his fleet, or would have +marched by land past Thermopylae and the Phocians; but he would either +have been acting straightforwardly--keeping the Peace and remaining +quiet; or else he would have found himself instantly plunged into a war +no less severe than that which originally made him desirous of the +Peace. {37} What I have said is sufficient by way of a reminder to you. +Heaven grant that the time may not come when the truth of my words will +be tested with all severity: for I at least have no desire to see any +one meet with punishment, however much he may deserve his doom, if it +is accompanied by danger and calamity to us all. + + + + +ON THE EMBASSY (OR. XIX) + + +[_Introduction_. The principal events with which a reader of this +Speech ought to be acquainted have already been narrated (see +especially the Introductions to the last two Speeches). The influence +of the anti-Macedonian party grew gradually from the time of the Peace +onwards. In 346, within a month after the return of the Second Embassy, +the ambassadors presented their reports before the Logistae or Board of +Auditors (after a futile attempt on the part of Aeschines to avoid +making a report altogether); and Timarchus, supported by Demosthenes, +there announced his intention of taking proceedings against Aeschines +for misconduct on the Second Embassy. But Timarchus' own past history +was not above reproach: he was attacked by Aeschines for the +immoralities of his youth, which, it was stated, disqualified him from +acting as prosecutor, and though defended by Demosthenes, was condemned +and disfranchised (345 B.C.). But early in 343 Hypereides impeached +Philocrates for corruption as ambassador, and obtained his condemnation +to death--a penalty which he escaped by voluntary exile before the +conclusion of the trial; and, later in the same year, Demosthenes +brought the same charge against Aeschines. + +In the meantime (since the delivery of Demosthenes' Second Philippic) +Philip had been making fresh progress. The Arcadians and Argives (for +the Athenian envoys to the Peloponnese in 344 seem to have had little +success) were ready to open their gates to him. His supporters in Elis +massacred their opponents, and with them the remnant of the Phocians +who had crossed over to Elis with Phalaecus. At Megara, Perillus and +Ptoeodorus almost succeeded in bringing a force of Philip's mercenaries +into the town, but the attempt was defeated, by the aid of an Athenian +force under Phocion. In Euboea Philip's troops occupied Porthmus, where +the democratic party of Eretria had taken refuge, owing to an overthrow +of the constitution (brought about by Philip's intrigues) which +resulted in the establishment of Cleitarchus as tyrant. In the course +of the same year (343) occurred two significant trials. The first was +that of Antiphon, who had made an offer to Philip to burn the Athenian +dockyards at the Peiraeus. He was summarily arrested by order of +Demosthenes (probably in virtue of some administrative office): +Aeschines obtained his release, but he was re-arrested by order of the +Council of Areopagus[1] and condemned to death. The other trial was +held before the Amphictyonic Council on the motion of the people of +Delos, to decide whether the Athenians should continue to possess the +right of managing the Temple of Delos. The Assembly chose Aeschines as +counsel for Athens; but the Council of Areopagus, which had been given +power to revise the appointment, put Hypereides in his place. +Hypereides won the case. Early in 343 (or at all events before the +middle of the year), Philip sent Python of Byzantium to complain of the +language used about him by Athenian orators, and to offer to revise and +amend the terms of the Peace of Philocrates. In response, an embassy +was sent, headed by Hegesippus, a violent opponent of Macedonia, to +propose to Philip (1) that instead of the clause 'that each party shall +retain possession of what they have', a clause, 'that each party shall +possess what is their own,' should be substituted; and (2) that all +Greek States not included in the Treaty of Peace should be declared +free, and that Athens and Philip should assist them, if they were +attacked. These proposals, if sanctioned, would obviously have reopened +the question of Amphipolis, Pydna, and Poteidaea, as well as of Cardia +and the Thracian towns taken by Philip in 346. Hegesippus, moreover, +was personally objectionable, and the embassy was dismissed with little +courtesy by Philip, who even banished from Macedonia the Athenian poet +Xenocleides for acting as host to the envoys. The feeling against +Philip in Athens was evidently strong, when the prosecution of +Aeschines by Demosthenes took place. + +The trial was held before a jury (probably consisting of 1,501 +persons), presided over by the Board of Auditors. Demosthenes spoke +first, and Aeschines replied in a speech which is preserved. There is +no doubt, on a comparison of the two speeches, that each, before it was +published, received alterations and insertions, intended to meet the +adversary's points, or to give a better colour to passages which had +been unfavourably received. Probably not all the refutations 'in +advance' were such in reality. But there is no sufficient reason to +doubt that the speeches were delivered substantially as we have them. +Aeschines was acquitted by thirty votes. + +The question of the guilt or innocence of Aeschines will probably never +be finally settled. A great part of his conduct can be explained as a +sincere attempt to carry out the policy of Eubulus, or as the issue of +a genuine belief that it was best for Athens to make terms with Philip +and stand on his side. Even so the wisdom and the veracity of certain +speeches which he had made is open to grave question; but this is a +different thing from corruption. Moreover, to some of Demosthenes' +arguments he has a conclusive reply. It is more difficult to explain +his apparent change of opinion between the 18th and 19th of +Elaphebolion, 346 (if Demosthenes' report of the debates is to be +trusted); and some writers are disposed to date his corruption from the +intervening night. Nor is it easy to meet Demosthenes' argument that if +Aeschines had really been taken in by Philip, and believed the promises +which he announced, or if he had actually heard Philip make the +promises, he would have regarded Philip afterwards as a personal enemy, +and not as a friend. But even on these points Aeschines might reply +(though he could not reply so to the Athenian people or jury) that +though he did not trust the promises, he regarded the interest of +Athens as so closely bound up with the alliance with Philip, that he +considered it justifiable to deceive the people into making the +alliance, or at least to take the risk of the promises which he +announced proving untrue. In any case there is no convincing evidence +of corruption; and it may be taken as practically certain that he was +not bribed to perform particular services. It is less certain that he +was not influenced by generous presents from Philip in forming his +judgement of Philip's character and intentions. The standard of +Athenian public opinion in regard to the receipt of presents was not +that of the English Civil Service; and the ancient orators accuse one +another of corruption almost as a matter of course. (We have seen that +Demosthenes began the attack upon Eubulus' party in this form as early +as the Speech for the Rhodians; it appears in almost every subsequent +oration: and in their turn, his opponents make the same charge against +him.) It is, in any case, remarkable that at a time when the people was +plainly exasperated with the Peace and its authors, and very +ill-disposed towards Philip, a popular jury nevertheless acquitted +Aeschines; and the verdict is not sufficiently explained either by the +fact that Eubulus supported Aeschines or by the jurors' memory of +Demosthenes' own part in the earlier peace-negotiations, though this +must have weakened the force of his attack. That Demosthenes himself +believed Aeschines to have been bribed, and could himself see no other +explanation of his conduct, need not be doubted; and although the +speech contains some of those misrepresentations of fact and passages +of irrelevant personal abuse which deface some of his best work, it +also contains some of his finest pieces of oratory and narrative. + +The second part of the speech is more broken up into short sections and +less clearly arranged than the first; earlier arguments are repeated, +and a few passages may be due (at least in their present shape) to +revision after the trial: but the latter part even as it stands is +successful in leaving the points of greatest importance strongly +impressed upon the mind. + +The following analysis of the speech may enable the reader to find his +way through it without serious difficulty:-- + + +INTRODUCTION (Secs. 1-28) + +(i) _Exordium_ (Secs. 1, 2). Impartiality requested of the jury, in view +of Aeschines' attempt to escape by indirect means. + +(ii) _Points of the trial_ (Secs. 3-8). An ambassador must (1) give true +reports; (2) give good advice; (3) obey his instructions; (4) not lose +time; (5) be incorruptible. + +(iii) _Preliminary exposition of the arguments_ (Secs. 9-28). + + (1) The previous anti-Macedonian zeal of Aeschines suddenly collapsed + after the First Embassy. + + (2) In the deliberations on the Peace, Aeschines supported + Philocrates. + + (3) After the Second Embassy, Aeschines prevented Athens from guarding + Thermopylae and saving the Phocians, by false reports and + promises. + + (4) Such a change of policy is only explicable by corruption. + +PART 1 (Secs. 29-178) + +The five points of Introduction (ii) are treated as three, or in three +groups. + +(i) The reports made by Aeschines on his return from the Second +Embassy, and his advice, especially as to the ruin of the Phocians (Secs. +29-97). + + (1) The reports (a) to the Senate, (b) to the People, and their + reception (Secs. 29-46). + + (2) Evidence that Aeschines conspired with Philip against the + Phocians, whose ruin is described (Secs. 47-71). + + (3) Refutation of three anticipated objections, beginning at Sec. 72, Sec. + 78, Sec. 80 respectively (Secs. 72-82). + + (4) The danger to Athens from Aeschines' treachery (Secs. 83-7). + + (5) Request to confine the trial strictly to relevant points + (Secs. 88-97). + +(ii) The corruption of Aeschines by the bribes of Philip (Secs. 98-149). + + (1) Arguments (beginning Sec. 102, Sec. 111, Sec. 114, Sec. 116) showing the + corruption of Aeschines (Secs. 98-119). + + (2) Refutation of anticipated objections (beginning at Sec. 120, Sec. 134, + Sec. 147) (Secs. 120-49). + +(iii) Aeschines' loss of time, by which Philip profited, and +disobedience to his instructions (Secs. 150-77). + + (1) Narrative of the Second Embassy (Secs. 150-62). + + (2) Comparison of the two Embassies (Secs. 163-5). + + (3) Comparison of Demosthenes' own conduct with that of the other + ambassadors (Secs. 167-77). Recapitulation of the points established + (Secs. 177, 178). + +PART II (Secs. 179-343) + +(i) The injury done to Athens-- + + (a) by the loss of Thrace and the Hellespont; + + (b) generally, by false reports from ambassadors (Secs. 179-86). + +(ii) Refutation of anticipated objections-- + + (a) 'It is not Philip's fault that he has not satisfied Athens' + (Sec. 187). + + (b) 'Demosthenes has no right to prosecute' (Secs. 188-220): including a + digression (Secs. 192-200) on Aeschines' character and incidents in + his life. + +(iii) Demosthenes' object in prosecuting, passing into reproof of the +laxity of Athens towards traitors (Secs. 221-33). + +(iv) Warning against any attempt by Aeschines to confuse the dates and +incidents of the two Embassies (Secs. 234-6.) + +(v) Criticism of Aeschines' brothers and his prosecution of Timarchus +(Secs. 237-58). + +(vi) The increasing danger from traitors, and the traditional attitude +of Athens towards them (Secs. 259-87). + +(vii) Attack upon Eubulus for defending Aeschines (Secs. 288-99). + +(viii) Philip's policy and methods; proofs of Aeschines' complicity +repeated (Secs. 300-31). + +(ix) Warnings to the jury against Aeschines' attempts to mislead them; +and conclusion (Secs. 331-43).] + + +{1} How much interest this case has excited, men of Athens, and how +much canvassing has taken place, must, I feel sure, have become fairly +evident to you all, after the persistent overtures just now made to +you, while you were drawing your lots.[n] Yet I will make the request +of you all--a request which ought to be granted even when unasked--that +you will not allow the favour or the person of any man to weigh more +with you than justice and the oath which each of you swore before he +entered the court. Remember that what I ask is for your own welfare and +for that of the whole State; while the entreaties and the eager +interest of the supporters of the accused have for their aim the +selfish advantage of individuals: and it is not to confirm criminals in +the possession of such advantages that the laws have called you +together, but to prevent their attainment of them. {2} Now I observe +that while all who enter upon public life in an honest spirit profess +themselves under a perpetual responsibility, even when they have passed +their formal examination, the defendant Aeschines does the very +reverse. For before entering your presence to give an account of his +actions, he has put out of the way one of those[n] who appeared against +him at his examination; and others he pursues with threats, thus +introducing into public life a practice which is of all the most +atrocious and most contrary to your interests. For if one who has +transacted and managed any public business is to render himself secure +against accusation by spreading terror round him, rather than by the +justice of his case, your supremacy[n] must pass entirely out of your +hands. + +{3} I have every confidence and belief that I shall prove the defendant +guilty of many atrocious crimes, for which he deserves the extreme +penalty of the law. But I will tell you frankly of the fear which +troubles me in spite of this confidence. It seems to me, men of Athens, +that the issue of every trial before you is determined as much by the +occasion as by the facts; and I am afraid that the length of time which +has elapsed since the Embassy may have caused you to forget the crimes +of Aeschines, or to be too familiar with them. {4} I will tell you +therefore how, in spite of this, you may yet, as I believe, arrive at a +just decision and give a true verdict to-day. You have, gentlemen of +the jury, to inquire and to consider what are the points on which it is +proper to demand an account from an ambassador. He is responsible first +for his report; secondly, for what he has persuaded you to do; thirdly, +for his execution of your instructions; next, for dates; and, besides +all these things, for the integrity or venality of his conduct +throughout. {5} And why is he responsible in these respects? Because on +his report must depend your discussion of the situation: if his report +is true, your decision is a right one: if otherwise, it is the reverse. +Again, you regard the counsels of ambassadors as especially +trustworthy. You listen to them in the belief that they have personal +knowledge of the matter with which they were sent to deal. Never, +therefore, ought an ambassador to be convicted of having given you any +worthless or pernicious advice. {6} Again, it is obviously proper that +he should have carried out your instructions to him with regard to both +speech and action, and your express resolutions as to his conduct. Very +good. But why is he responsible for dates? Because, men of Athens, it +often happens that the opportunity upon which much that is of great +importance depends lasts but for a moment; and if this opportunity is +deliberately and treacherously surrendered to the enemy, no subsequent +steps can possibly recover it. {7} But as to the integrity or +corruption of an ambassador, you would all, I am sure, admit that to +make money out of proceedings that injure the city is an atrocious +thing and deserves your heavy indignation. Yet the implied distinction +was not recognized by the framer of our law. He absolutely forbade +_all_ taking of presents, thinking, I believe, that a man who has once +received presents and been corrupted with money no longer remains even +a safe judge of what is to the interest of the city. {8} If then I can +convict the defendant Aeschines by conclusive proofs of having made a +report that was utterly untrue, and prevented the people from hearing +the truth from me; if I prove that he gave advice that was entirely +contrary to your interests; that on his mission he fulfilled none of +your instructions to him; that he wasted time, during which +opportunities for accomplishing much that was of great importance were +sacrificed and lost to the city; and that he received presents in +payment for all these services, in company with Philocrates; then +condemn him, and exact the penalty which his crimes deserve. If I fail +to prove these points, or fail to prove them all, then regard me with +contempt, and let the defendant go. + +{9} I have still to charge him, men of Athens, with many atrocious acts +in addition to these--acts which would naturally call forth the +execration of every one among you. But I desire, before all else that I +am about to say, to remind you (though most of you, I know, remember it +well) of the position which Aeschines originally took up in public +life, and the speeches which he thought it right to address to the +people against Philip; for I would have you realize that his own +actions, his own speeches at the beginning of his career, are the +strongest evidence of his corruption. {10} According to his own public +declaration at that time, he was the first Athenian to perceive that +Philip had designs against the Hellenes and was corrupting certain +leading men in Arcadia. With Ischander, the son of Neoptolemus, to +second him in his performance, he came before the Council and he came +before the people, to speak on the subject: he persuaded you to send +envoys in all directions to bring together a congress at Athens to +discuss the question of war with Philip: {11} then, on his return from +Arcadia, he reported to you those noble and lengthy speeches which, he +said, he had delivered on your behalf before the Ten Thousand[n] at +Megalopolis, in reply to Philip's spokesman, Hieronymus; and he +described at length the criminal wrong that was done, not only to their +own several countries, but to all Hellas, by men who took bribes and +received money from Philip. {12} Such was his policy at that time, and +such the sample which he displayed of his sentiments. Then you were +induced by Aristodemus, Neoptolemus, Ctesiphon, and the rest of those +who brought reports from Macedonia in which there was not an honest +word, to send ambassadors to Philip and to negotiate for peace. +Aeschines himself is appointed one of them, in the belief, not that he +was one of those who would sell your interests, or had placed +confidence in Philip, but rather one who would keep an eye on the rest. +The speeches which he had already delivered, and his antipathy to +Philip, naturally led you to take this view of him. {13} Well, after +this he came to me[n] and tried to make an agreement by which we should +act in concert on the Embassy, and urged strongly that we should both +keep an eye upon that abominable and shameless man Philocrates; and +until we returned to Athens from the First Embassy, I at least, men of +Athens, had no idea that he had been corrupted and had sold himself. +For (not to mention the other speeches which, as I have told you, he +had made on former occasions) at the first of the assemblies in which +you debated about the Peace, he rose and delivered an exordium which I +think I can repeat to you word for word as he uttered it at the +meeting. {14} 'If Philocrates,' he said, 'had spent a very long time in +studying how he could best oppose the Peace, I do not think he could +have found a better device than a motion of this kind. The Peace which +he proposes is one which I can never recommend the city to make, so +long as a single Athenian remains alive. Peace, however, we ought, I +think, to make.' {15} And he made a brief and reasonable speech in the +same tone. But though he had spoken thus at the first meeting, in the +hearing of you all, yet at the second meeting, when the Peace was to be +ratified; when I was upholding the resolution of the allies and working +for a Peace on just and equitable terms; when you in your desire for +such a Peace would not even listen to the voice of the despicable +Philocrates; then, I say, Aeschines rose and spoke in support of him, +using language for which he deserves, God knows, to die many deaths, +{16} saying that you must not remember your forefathers, nor tolerate +speakers who recalled your trophies and your victories by sea; and that +he would frame and propose a law, that you should assist no Hellene who +had not previously assisted you. These words he had the callous +shamelessness to utter in the very presence and hearing of the +ambassadors[n] whom you had summoned from the Hellenic states, in +pursuance of the advice which he himself had given you, before he had +sold himself. + +{17} You elected him again, men of Athens, to receive the oaths. How he +frittered away the time, how cruelly he injured all his country's +interests, and what violent mutual enmity arose between myself and him +in consequence of his conduct and of my desire to prevent it, you shall +hear presently. But when we returned from this Embassy which was sent +to receive the oaths, and the report of which is now under examination; +when we had secured nothing, either small or great, of all that had +been promised and expected when you were making the Peace, but had been +totally deceived; when they had again acted without regard to their +instructions,[n] and had conducted their mission in direct defiance of +your decree; we came before the Council: and there are many who have +personal knowledge of what I am about to tell you, for the +Council-Chamber was crowded with spectators. {18} Well, I came forward +and reported to the Council the whole truth: I denounced these men: I +recounted the whole story, beginning with those first hopes, aroused in +you by the report of Ctesiphon and Aristodemus, and going on to the +speeches which Aeschines delivered during the time of the +Peace-negotiations, and the position into which they had brought the +city: as regards all that remained to you--I meant the Phocians and +Thermopylae--I counselled you not to abandon these, not to be victims +once more of the same mistake, not to let yourselves be reduced to +extremities through depending upon a succession of hopes and promises: +and I carried the Council with me. {19} But when the day of the +Assembly came, and it was our duty to address you, the defendant +Aeschines came forward before any of his colleagues--and I entreat you, +in God's name, to follow me, and try to recollect whether what I tell +you is true; for now we have come to the very thing which so cruelly +injured and ruined your whole cause. He made not the remotest attempt +to give any report of the results of the Embassy--if indeed he +questioned the truth of my allegations at all--but instead of this, he +made statements of such a character, promising you benefits so numerous +and so magnificent, that he completely carried you away with him. {20} +For he said that,[n] before his return, he had persuaded Philip upon +all the points in which the interests of the city were involved, in +regard both to the Amphictyonic dispute and to all other matters: and +he described to you a long speech which he professed to have addressed +to Philip against the Thebans, and of which he reported to you the +substance, calculating that, as the result of his own diplomacy, you +would within two or three days, without stirring from home or taking +the field or suffering any inconvenience, hear that Thebes was being +blockaded, alone and isolated from the rest of Boeotia, {21} that +Thespiae and Plataeae were being repeopled, and that the debt due to +the god[n] was being exacted not from the Phocians, but from the +Thebans who had planned the seizure of the temple. For he said that he +gave Philip to understand that those who planned the act were no less +guilty of impiety than those whose hands executed the plan; and that on +this account the Thebans had set a price upon his head. {22} Moreover, +he said that he heard some of the Euboeans, who had been thrown into a +state of panic and confusion by the friendly relations established +between Athens and Philip, saying to the ambassadors, 'You have not +succeeded, gentlemen, in concealing from us the conditions on which you +have made your Peace with Philip; nor are we unaware that while you +have given him Amphipolis, he has undertaken to hand over Euboea to +you.' There was, indeed, another matter which he had arranged as well, +but he did not wish to mention this at present, since even as it was +some of his colleagues were jealous of him. {23} This was an +enigmatical and indirect allusion to Oropus. These utterances naturally +raised him high in your estimation; he seemed to be an admirable +speaker and a marvellous man; and he stepped down with a very lofty +air. Then I rose and denied all knowledge of these things, and at the +same time attempted to repeat some part of my report to the Council. +But they now took their stand by me, one on this side, one on that--the +defendant and Philocrates; they shouted, they interrupted me, and +finally they jeered, while you laughed. {24} You would not hear, and +you did not wish to believe anything but what Aeschines had reported. +Heaven knows, your feelings were natural enough; for who, that expected +all these marvellous benefits, would have tolerated a speaker who said +that the expectation would not be realized, or denounced the +proceedings of those who made the promise? All else, of course, was of +secondary importance at the time, in comparison with the expectations +and the hopes placed before you; any contradiction appeared to be +nothing but sheer obstruction and malignity, while the proceedings +described seemed to be of incredible importance and advantage to the +city. + +{25} Now with what object have I recalled these occurrences to you +before everything else, and described these speeches of his? My first +and chief object, men of Athens, is that none of you, when he hears me +speak of any of the things that were done and is struck by their +unparalleled atrocity, may ask in surprise why I did not tell you at +once and inform you of the facts; {26} but may remember the promises +which these men made at each critical moment, and by which they +entirely prevented every one else from obtaining a hearing; and that +splendid pronouncement by Aeschines; and that you may realize that in +addition to all his other crimes, you have suffered this further wrong +at his hands--that you were prevented from learning the truth +instantly, when you ought to have learned it, because you were deluded +by hopes, deceits and promises. {27} That is my first and, as I have +said, my chief object in recalling all these occurrences. But there is +a second which is of no less importance than the first, and what is +this? It is that you may remember the policy which he adopted in his +public life, when he was still uncorrupted--his guarded and mistrustful +attitude towards Philip; and may consider the sudden growth of +confidence and friendship which followed; {28} and then, if all that he +announced to you has been realized, if the results achieved are +satisfactory, you may believe that all has been done out of an honest +interest in the welfare of Athens; but if, on the other hand, the issue +has been exactly the opposite of that which he predicted: if his policy +has involved the city in great disgrace and in grave perils, you may +then be sure that his conversion was due to his own base covetousness +and to his having sold the truth for money. + +{29} And now, since I have been led on to this subject, I desire to +describe to you, before everything else, the way in which they took the +Phocian question entirely out of your hands. And let none of you, +gentlemen of the jury, when he looks at the magnitude of the +transactions, imagine that the crimes with which the defendant is +charged are on a grander scale than one of his reputation could +compass. You have rather to observe that any one whom you would have +placed in such a position as this--a position in which, as each +critical moment arrived, the decision would be in his hands--could have +brought about disasters equal to those for which Aeschines is +responsible, if, like Aeschines, he had wished to sell his services, +and to cheat and deceive you. {30} For however contemptible[n] may be +the men whom you frequently employ in the public service, it does not +follow that the part which the world expects this city to play is a +contemptible one. Far from it! And further, though it was Philip, of +course, who destroyed the Phocian people, it was Aeschines and his +party who seconded Philip's efforts. And so what you have to observe +and consider is whether, so far as the preservation of the Phocians +came within the scope of their mission, these men deliberately +destroyed and ruined that whole cause. You have not to suppose that +Aeschines ruined the Phocians by himself. How could he have done so? + +{31} (_To the clerk._) Now give me the draft-resolution which the +Council passed in view of my report, and the deposition of the clerk +who wrote it. (_To the jury._) For I would have you know that I am not +repudiating to-day transactions about which I held my peace at the +time, but that I denounced them at once, with full prevision of what +must follow; and that the Council, which was not prevented from hearing +the truth from me, neither voted thanks to the ambassadors, nor thought +fit to invite them to the Town Hall.[n] From the foundation of the city +to this day, no body of ambassadors is recorded to have been treated +so; nor even Timagoras,[n] whom the people condemned to death. {32} But +these men have been so treated. (_To the clerk._) First read them the +deposition, and then the resolution. + +[_The deposition and resolution are read._] + +Here is no expression of thanks, no invitation of the ambassadors to +the Town Hall by the Council. If Aeschines asserts that there is any, +let him point it out and produce it, and I give way to him. But there +is none. Now on the assumption that we all fulfilled our mission in the +same way, the Council had good reason not to thank any of us, for the +transactions of all alike were in that case atrocious. But if some of +us acted uprightly, while others did the reverse, it must, it seems, +have been owing to the knavery of their colleagues that the virtuous +were forced to take their share of this dishonour. {33} How then can +you all ascertain without any difficulty who is the rogue? Recall to +your minds who it is that has denounced the transaction from the +outset. For it is plain that it must have been the guilty person who +was well content to be silent, to stave off the day of reckoning for +the moment, and to take care for the future not to present himself to +give an account of his actions; while it must have been he whose +conscience was clear to whom there occurred the thought of the danger, +lest through keeping silence he might be regarded as a partner in such +atrocious villany. Now it is I that have denounced these men from the +outset, while none of them has accused me. {34} Such then was the +resolution of the Council. The meeting of the Assembly took place when +Philip was already at Thermopylae: for this was the first of all their +crimes, that they placed Philip in command of the situation, so that, +when you ought first to have heard the facts, then to have deliberated, +and afterwards to have taken such measures as you had resolved upon, +you in fact heard nothing until he was on the spot, and it was no +longer easy to say what steps you ought to take. {35} In addition to +this, no one read the resolution of the Council to the people, and the +people never heard it; but Aeschines rose and delivered the harangue +which I just now described to you, recounting the numerous and +important benefits which he said he had, before his return, persuaded +Philip to grant, and on account of which the Thebans had set a price +upon his head. In consequence of this, appalled though you were at +first at the proximity of Philip, and angry with these men for not +having warned you of it, you became as mild as possible, having now +formed the expectation that all your wishes would be realized; and you +would not hear a word from me or from any one else. {36} After this was +read the letter from Philip, which Aeschines had written[n] when we had +left him behind, a letter which was nothing less than a direct and +express defence in writing of the misconduct of the ambassadors. For in +it is stated that Philip himself prevented them, when they were anxious +to go to the several cities and receive the oaths, and that he retained +them in order that they might help him to effect a reconciliation +between the peoples of Halus and Pharsalus. He takes upon his own +shoulders the whole of their misconduct, and makes it his own. {37} But +as to the Phocians and Thespiae, and the promises contained in +Aeschines' report to you--why, there is not the slightest mention of +them! And it was no mere accident that the proceedings took this form. +For the failure of the ambassadors to carry out or give effect to any +of the instructions imposed upon them by your resolution--the failure +for which you were bound to punish them--Philip makes himself +responsible in their stead, and says that the fault was his; for you +were not likely, of course, to be able to punish _him_. {38} But the +points in regard to which Philip wished to deceive you and to steal a +march upon the city were made the subject of the defendant's report, in +order that you might be able to find no ground of accusation or +reproach against Philip, since these points were not mentioned either +in his letter or in any other part of the communications received from +him. But (_to the clerk_) read the jury the actual letter--written by +Aeschines, sent by Philip; and (_to the jury_) do you observe that it +is such as I have described. (_To the clerk._) Read on. + +[_The letter is read._] + +{39} You hear the letter, men of Athens; you hear how noble and +generous it is. But about the Phocians or the Thebans or the other +subjects of the defendant's report--not a syllable. Indeed, in this +letter there is not an honest word, as you will very shortly see for +yourselves. He says that he retained the ambassadors to help him +reconcile the people of Halus: and such is the reconciliation that they +have obtained, that they are exiles from their country, and their city +is laid waste. And as to the prisoners, though he professed to be +wondering what he could do to gratify you, he says that the idea of +procuring their release had not occurred to any one. {40} But evidence +has, as you know, been laid before you many times in the Assembly, to +the effect that I myself went to ransom them, taking a talent[n] for +the purpose; and it shall now be laid before you once more. It follows, +therefore, that it was to deprive me of my laudable ambition[n] that +Aeschines persuaded Philip to insert this statement. But the strongest +point of all is this. In his former letter--the letter which we brought +back--he wrote, 'I should have mentioned expressly the great benefits +that I propose to confer upon you, if I felt sure that you would grant +me the alliance as well.' And yet when the alliance has been granted, +he says that he does not know what he can do to gratify you. He does +not even know what he had himself promised! Why, he must obviously have +known that, unless he was trying to cheat you! To prove that he did +write thus and in these terms, (_to the clerk_) take his former letter, +and read the very passage, beginning at this point. Read on. + +[_An extract from the letter is read._] + +{41} Thus, before he obtained the Peace, he undertook to set down in +writing the great benefits he would confer on the city, in the event of +an alliance also being granted him. But as soon as he had obtained both +his wishes, he says that he does not know what he can do to gratify +you, but that if you will inform him, he will do anything that will not +involve any disgrace or stigma upon himself. Such are the excuses in +which he takes refuge, to secure his retreat, in case you should +actually make any suggestion or should be induced to ask any favour. + +{42} It would have been possible to expose this whole proceeding at the +time--and a great deal more--without delay; to inform you of the facts, +and to prevent you from sacrificing your cause, had not the thought of +Thespiae and Plataeae, and the idea that the Thebans were on the very +point of paying the penalty, robbed you of the truth. While, however, +there was good reason for mentioning these prospects, if the city was +to hear of them and then be cheated, it would have been better, if +their realization was actually intended, that nothing should have been +said about them. For if matters had already reached a stage at which +the Thebans would be no better off, even if they perceived the design +against them, why was the design not fulfilled? But if its fulfilment +was prevented because they perceived it in time, who was it that +betrayed the secret? {43} Must it not have been Aeschines? Its +fulfilment, however, was not in fact intended, nor did the defendant +either desire or expect it; so that he may be relieved of the charge of +betraying the secret. What was intended was that you should be +hoodwinked by these statements, and should refuse to hear the truth +from me; that you should not stir from home, and that such a decree +should carry the day as would involve the destruction of the Phocians. +Hence this prodigality in promises, and their proclamation in his +speech to the people. + +{44} When I heard Aeschines making all these magnificent promises, I +knew perfectly well that he was lying; and I will tell you how I knew. +I knew it first, because when Philip was about to take the oath in +ratification of the Peace, the Phocians were openly excluded from it. +This was a point which it would have been natural to pass over in +silence, if the Phocians were really to be saved. And secondly, I knew +it because the promises were not made by Philip's ambassadors or in +Philip's letter, but by the defendant. {45} Accordingly, drawing my +conclusions from these facts, I rose and came forward and attempted to +contradict him; but as you were not willing to hear me, I held my +peace, with no more than these words of solemn protest, which I entreat +you, in Heaven's name, to remember. 'I have no knowledge of these +promises,' I said, 'and no share in making them; and,' I added, 'I do +not believe they will be fulfilled.' This last expression roused your +temper, and I proceeded, 'Take care, men of Athens, that if any of +these things comes to pass, you thank these gentlemen for it, and give +your honours and crowns to them, and not to me. If, however, anything +of an opposite character occurs, you must equally vent your anger on +them: I decline all responsibility.' {46} 'No, no!' interrupted +Aeschines, 'do not decline responsibility now! Take care rather that +you do not claim credit, when the time comes.' 'Indeed, it would be an +injustice if I did so,' I replied. Then Philocrates arose with a most +insolent air, and said, 'It is no wonder, men of Athens, that I and +Demosthenes should disagree; for he drinks water, I drink wine.' And +you laughed. + +{47} Now consider the decree which Philocrates proposed and handed +in.[n] An excellent resolution it sounds, as you hear it now. But when +you take into account the occasion on which it was proposed, and the +promises which Aeschines was then making, you will see that their +action amounts to nothing less than a surrender of the Phocians to +Philip and the Thebans, and that, practically, with their hands tied +behind their backs. (_To the clerk._) Read the decree. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{48} There, men of Athens, is the decree, overflowing with expressions +of gratitude and auspicious language. 'The Peace,' it says, 'which is +granted to Philip shall be granted on the same terms to his +descendants, and also the alliance.' Again, we are 'to thank Philip for +his promised acts of justice'. Yet Philip made no promises: so far was +he from making promises that he said he did not know what he could do +to gratify you. {49} It was Aeschines who spoke in his name, and made +the promises. Then Philocrates took advantage of the enthusiasm which +Aeschines' words aroused in you, to insert in the decree the clause, +'and unless the Phocians act as they are bound, and surrender the +temple to the Amphictyons, the Athenian people will render their +assistance against those who still stand in the way of such surrender.' +{50} Thus, men of Athens, at a time when you were still at home and had +not taken the field, when the Spartans had foreseen the deception and +retired, and when none of the Amphictyons were on the spot but the +Thessalians and Thebans, he proposes in the most innocent-sounding +language in the world that they shall deliver up the temple to these. +For he proposes that they shall deliver it up to the Amphictyons. But +what Amphictyons? for there were none there but the Thessalians and +Thebans. He does not propose that the Amphictyons should be convoked, +or that they should wait until the Amphictyons met or that Proxenus +should render assistance in Phocis, or that the Athenians should take +the field, or anything of the sort. {51} Philip did indeed actually +send two letters to summon you.[n] But he did not intend you really to +march from Athens. Not a bit of it! For he would not have waited to +summon you until he had seen the time go by in which you could have set +out; nor would he have tried to prevent me, when I wished to set sail +and return hither; nor would he have instructed Aeschines to speak to +you in the terms which would be least likely to cause you to march. No! +he intended that you should fancy that he was about to fulfil your +desires, and in that belief should abstain from any resolution adverse +to him; and that the Phocians should, in consequence, make no defence +or resistance, in reliance upon any hopes inspired by you, but should +put themselves into his hands in utter despair. (_To the clerk._) Read +to the jury the letters of Philip. + +[_The letters are read._] + +{52} Now these letters summon you, and that, forsooth, instantly; and +it was surely for Aeschines and his party, if the proceeding was in any +way genuine, to support the summons, to urge you to march, and to +propose that Proxenus, whom they knew to be in those parts, should +render assistance at once. Yet it is plain that their action was of +precisely the opposite character; and naturally so. For they did not +attend to the terms of the letter, but to the intention with which +Philip wrote it. {53} With this intention they co-operated, and to this +they strove to give effect. As soon as the Phocians had learned the +news of your proceedings in the Assembly, and had received this decree +of Philocrates, and heard the defendant's announcement and his +promises, everything combined to effect their doom. Consider the +circumstances. There were some of them who had the wisdom to distrust +Philip. These were induced to trust him. And why? Because they believed +that even if Philip were trying to deceive them ten times over, the +ambassadors of Athens, at least, would never dare to deceive their own +countrymen. This report which Aeschines had made to you must therefore +be true: it was the Thebans, and not themselves, whose hour had come. +{54} There were others who advocated resistance at all hazards; but +these too were weakened in their resolution, now that they were +persuaded that they could count upon Philip's favour, and that, unless +they did as they were bidden, you, whose assistance they were hoping +for, would march against them. There was also a third party, who +thought that you repented of having made the Peace with Philip; but to +these they pointed out that you had decreed that the same Peace should +hold good for posterity also; so that on every ground, all assistance +from you was despaired of. That is why they crowded all these points +into one decree. {55} And in this lies, I think, the very greatest of +all their crimes against you. To have made a Peace with a mortal man, +whose power was due to the accidents of the moment--a Peace, whereby +they covenanted that the disgrace brought upon the city should be +everlasting; to have robbed the city, not only of all beside, but even +of the benefits that Fortune might hereafter bestow: to have displayed +such superabundant villany as to have done this wicked wrong not only +to their countrymen now living, but also to all those who should ever +thereafter be born--is it not utterly atrocious? {56} And this last +clause, by which the Peace was extended to your descendants, you would +certainly never have allowed to be added to the conditions of peace had +you not then placed your trust in the promises announced by Aeschines, +as the Phocians placed their trust in them and perished. For, as you +know, they delivered themselves up to Philip; they gave their cities +into his hands; and the consequences which befell them were the exact +opposite of all that Aeschines had predicted to you. + +{57} That you may realize plainly that this calamity was brought about +in the manner that I have described, and that they are responsible for +it, I will go through the dates at which each separate event occurred; +and if any one can contradict me on any point, I invite him to rise and +speak in the time allotted to me. The Peace was made on the 19th of +Elaphebolion, and we were away on the mission which was sent to receive +the oaths three whole months. {58} All this time the Phocians remained +unharmed. We returned from that mission on the 13th of Scirophorion. +Philip had already appeared at Thermopylae, and was making promises to +the Phocians, none of which they believed--as is proved, when you +consider that otherwise they would not have appealed to you. Then +followed the Assembly, at which, by their falsehoods and by the +deception which they practised upon you, Aeschines and his party ruined +the whole cause. {59} That was on the 16th of Scirophorion. Now I +calculate that it was on the fifth day that the report of your +proceedings reached the Phocians: for the Phocian envoys were here on +the spot, and were deeply concerned to know what report these men would +make, and what your resolution would be. That gives us the 20th as the +date on which, as we calculate, the Phocians heard of your proceedings; +for, counting from the 16th, the 20th is the fifth day. Then followed +the 21st, the 22nd, and the 23rd. {60} On the latter day the truce was +made, and the ruin of the Phocians was finally sealed. This can be +proved as follows. On the 27th you were holding an Assembly in the +Peiraeus, to discuss the business connected with the dockyards, when +Dercylus arrived from Chalcis with the news that Philip had put +everything into the hands of the Thebans, and that this was the fifth +day since the truce had been made. 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th--the +27th is the fifth day precisely. Thus the dates, and their reports and +their proposals--everything, in short, convicts them of having +co-operated with Philip, and of sharing with him the responsibility for +the overthrow of the Phocians. {61} Again, the fact that none of the +towns in Phocis was taken by siege or by an attack in force, and that +the utter ruin of them all was the direct consequence of their truce +with Philip, affords the strongest evidence that it was the belief +inspired in the Phocians by these men, that they would be preserved +from destruction by Philip, which was the cause of their fate. Philip +himself they knew well enough. (_To the clerk._) Bring me our treaty of +alliance with the Phocians, and the decrees under which they demolished +their walls. (_To the jury._) You will then realize what were the +relations between themselves and you, upon which they relied, and what +nevertheless was the fate which befell them through the action of these +accursed men. (_To the clerk._) Read. + +[_The Treaty of Alliance between the Athenians and Phocians is read._] + +{62} These, then, were the things for which they relied upon +you--friendship, alliance, and assistance. Now listen to what befell +them, because Aeschines prevented your going to their assistance. (_To +the clerk._) Read. + + [_The Agreement between Philip and the Phocians is read._] + +You hear it, men of Athens. 'An Agreement between Philip and the +Phocians,' it runs--not between the Thebans and the Phocians, nor the +Thessalians and the Phocians, nor the Locrians, nor any one else who +was there. Again, 'the Phocians shall deliver up their cities to +Philip'--not to the Thebans or Thessalians or any one else. {63} And +why? Because the defendant's report to you was that Philip had crossed +the Pass with a view to the preservation of the Phocians. Thus it was +Aeschines in whom all their trust was placed; it was with him in their +minds that they considered the whole situation; it was with him in +their minds that they made the Peace. (_To the clerk._) Now read the +remainder. (_To the jury._) And do you observe for what they trusted +him, and what treatment they received. Does it show any resemblance or +similarity to what Aeschines predicted in his report? (_To the clerk._) +Read on. + +[_The decrees of the Amphictyons are read._] + +{64} Men of Athens, the horror and the immensity of this calamity have +never been surpassed in our day in the Hellenic world, nor even, I +believe, in the time before us. Yet these great and dreadful events a +single man has been given power to bring about, by the action of these +men, while the city of Athens was still in being--Athens, whose +traditional policy is to stand as the champion of the Hellenic peoples, +and not to suffer anything like this to take place. The nature of the +ruin which the unhappy Phocians have suffered may be seen, not only +from these decrees, but also from the actual results of the action +taken, and an awful and piteous sight it is, men of Athens. {65} For +when recently we were on our way to Delphi[n] we could not help seeing +it all--houses razed to the ground, cities stripped of their walls, the +land destitute of men in their prime--only a few poor women and little +children left, and some old men in misery. Indeed, no words can +describe the distress now prevailing there. Yet this was the people, I +hear you all saying, that once gave its vote against the Thebans,[n] +when the question of your enslavement was laid before them. {66} What +then, men of Athens, do you think would be the vote, what the sentence, +that your forefathers would give, if they could recover consciousness, +upon those who were responsible for the destruction of this people? I +believe that if they stoned them to death with their own hands, they +would hold themselves guiltless of blood. Is it not utterly +shameful--does it not, if possible, go beyond all shame--that those who +saved us then, and gave the saving vote for us, should now have met +with the very opposite fate through these men, suffering as no Hellenic +people has ever suffered before, with none to hinder it? Who then is +responsible for this crime? Who is the author of this deception? Who +but Aeschines? + +{67} Of all the many reasons for which Philip might be congratulated +with good cause upon his fortune, the chief ground of congratulation is +a piece of good fortune, to which, by every Heavenly Power, I cannot +find any parallel in our days. To have captured great cities, to have +reduced a vast expanse of territory to subjection, and all similar +actions, are, of course, enviable and brilliant +achievements--undeniably so. But many other persons might be mentioned +who had achieved as much. {68} The good fortune of which I am about to +speak is peculiar to Philip, and has never been given to any other. It +is this--that when he needed scoundrels to do his work for him, he +found even greater scoundrels than he wanted. For as such we have +surely good reason to think of them. For when there were falsehoods +which Philip himself, in spite of the immense interests which he had at +stake, did not dare to utter on his own behalf--which he did not set +down in any of his letters, and which none of his envoys uttered--these +men sold their services for the purpose, and undertook your deception. +{69} Antipater and Parmenio, servants of a master as they were, and +unlikely ever to find themselves in your presence again, none the less +secured for themselves that _they_ should not be the instruments in +your deception, while these men, who were Athenians, citizens of the +most free city, and held an official position as your +ambassadors--though they would have to meet you and look you in the +face, and pass the remainder of their lives among you, and render +before you an account of their actions--they, I say, undertook the task +of deceiving you. How could vileness or desperation go further than +this? + +{70} But I would have you understand further that he is under your +curse, and that you cannot, without violation of religion and piety, +acquit him, when he has thus lied to you. (_To the clerk._) Recite the +Curse. Take it from me, and read it out of the law. + +[_The Curse is read._] + +This imprecation is pronounced in your name, men of Athens, by the +herald, at every meeting of the Assembly, as the law appoints; and when +the Council sits, it is pronounced again there. Nor can Aeschines say +that he did not know it well. He was your under-clerk and servant to +the Council, and used himself to read this law over[n] to the herald. +{71} Surely, then, you will have done a strange and monstrous thing, +men of Athens, if to-day, when you have it in your power, you should +fail to do for yourselves the thing which you enjoin upon the gods, or +rather claim from them as your due; and should acquit a man whom you +pray to the gods to destroy utterly--himself, his race and his house. +You must not do this. You may leave it to the gods to punish one whom +you cannot yourselves detect; but when you have yourselves caught the +criminal, you must no longer lay the task of punishing him upon the +gods. + +{72} Now I am told that he intends to carry his shamelessness and +impudence so far, as to avoid all mention of his own proceedings--his +report, his promises, the deception he has practised upon the city--as +though his trial were taking place before strangers, instead of before +you, who know all the facts; and that he intends to accuse first the +Spartans,[n] then the Phocians,[n] and then Hegesippus.[n] {73} That is +mere mockery; or rather, it is atrocious shamelessness. For all that he +will allege to-day against the Phocians or the Spartans or +Hegesippus--their refusal to receive Proxenus, their impiety--let him +allege what he will--all these allegations refer, as you know, to +actions which were already past when these ambassadors returned to +Athens, and which were no obstacle to the preservation of the +Phocians--the admission is made by whom? By the defendant Aeschines +himself. For what was his report on that occasion? {74} Not that if it +had not been for their refusal to receive Proxenus, nor that if it had +not been for Hegesippus, nor that if it had not been for such and such +things, the Phocians would have been saved. No! he discarded all such +qualifications, and stated expressly that before he returned he had +persuaded Philip to save the Phocians, to repeople Boeotia, and to +arrange matters to suit your convenience; that within two or three days +these things would be accomplished facts, and that for this reason the +Thebans had set a price upon his head. {75} Refuse then, to hear or to +tolerate any mention of what had already been done, either by the +Spartans or by the Phocians, before he made his report; and do not let +him denounce the rascality of the Phocians. It was not for their virtue +that you once saved the Spartans, nor the Euboeans, that accursed +people! nor many others; but because the interests of the city demanded +their preservation, as they demanded that of the Phocians just now. And +what wrong was done either by the Phocians or by the Spartans, or by +yourselves, or by any one else in the world after he made those +declarations, to prevent the fulfilment of the promises which he then +made? Ask him that: for that is what he will {76} not be able to show +you. It was within five days--five days and no more--that Aeschines +made his lying report, that you believed him, that the Phocians heard +of it, surrendered themselves and perished. This, I think, makes it as +plain as it can possibly be, that the ruin of the Phocians was the +result of organized deceit and trickery, and of nothing else.[n] For so +long as Philip was unable to proceed to Phocis on account of the +Peace,[n] and was only waiting in readiness to do so, he kept sending +for the Spartans, promising to do all that they wished,[n]in order that +the Phocians might not win {77} them over to their side by your help. +But when he had arrived at Thermopylae, and the Spartans had seen the +trap and retired, he now sent Aeschines in advance to deceive you, in +order that he might not, owing to your perceiving that he was playing +into the hands of the Thebans, find himself once more involved in loss +of time and war and delay, through the Phocians defending themselves +and your going to their assistance, but might get everything into his +power without a struggle; and this is what has in fact happened. Do +not, then, let the fact that Philip deceived the Spartans and Phocians +as well as yourselves enable Aeschines to escape his punishment for +deceiving you. That would not be just. + +{78} But if he tells you that, to compensate for the Phocians and +Thermopylae and all your other losses, you have retained possession of +the Chersonese, do not, in Heaven's name, accept the plea! Do not +tolerate the aggravation of all the wrong that you have suffered +through his conduct as ambassador, by the reproach which his defence +would bring upon the city--the reproach of having sacrificed the +existence of your allies, in an underhand attempt to save part of your +own possessions! You did not act thus; for when the Peace had already +been made, and the Chersonese was no longer in danger, there followed +four whole months[n] during which the Phocians remained unharmed; and +it was not until after this that the lying statements of Aeschines +brought about their ruin by deceiving you. {79} And further, you will +find that the Chersonese is in much greater danger now than it was +then. For when do you think that we had the greater facilities for +punishing Philip for any trespass against the Chersonese?--before he +stole any of these advantages from the city, or now? For my part, I +think we had far greater facilities then. What, then, does this +'retention of the Chersonese' amount to, when all the fears and the +risks which attended one who would have liked to attack it have been +removed? + +{80} Again, I am told that he will express himself to some such effect +as this--that he cannot think why he is accused by Demosthenes, and not +by any of the Phocians. It is better that you should hear the true +state of the case from me beforehand. Of the exiled Phocians, the best, +I believe, and the most respectable, after being driven into banishment +and suffering as they have suffered, are content to be quiet, and none +of them would consent to incur an enmity which would fall upon himself, +on account of the calamities of his people: while those who would do +anything for money have no one to give it to them. {81} For assuredly +_I_ would never have given any one anything whatever to stand by my +side here and cry aloud how cruelly they have suffered. The truth and +the deeds that have been done cry aloud of themselves. And as for the +Phocian people,[n] they are in so evil and pitiable a plight, that +there is no question for them of appearing as accusers at the +examination of every individual ambassador in Athens. They are in +slavery, in mortal fear of the Thebans and of Philip's mercenaries, +whom they are compelled to support, broken up into villages as they are +and stripped of their arms. {82} Do not, then, suffer him to urge such +a plea. Make him prove to you that the Phocians are not ruined, or that +he did not promise that Philip would save them. For the questions upon +which the examination of an ambassador turns are these: 'What have you +effected? What have you reported? If the report is true, you may be +acquitted; if it is false, you must pay the penalty.' How can you plead +the non-appearance of the Phocians, when it was you yourself, I fancy, +that brought them, so far as it lay in your power, into such a +condition that they could neither help their friends nor repel their +enemies. + +{83} And further, apart from all the shame and the dishonour in which +also these proceedings are involved, it is easy to show that in +consequence of them the city has been beset with grave dangers as well. +Every one of you knows that it was the hostilities which the Phocians +were carrying on, and their command of Thermopylae, that rendered us +secure against Thebes, and made it impossible that either Philip or the +Thebans should ever march into the Peloponese or into Euboea or into +Attica. {84} But this guarantee of safety which the city possessed, +arising out of the position of Thermopylae and the actual circumstances +of the time, you were induced to sacrifice by the deceptions and the +lying statements of these ambassadors--a guarantee, I say, fortified by +arms, by a continuous campaign, by great cities of allies, and by a +wide tract of territory; and you have looked on while it was swept +away. Fruitless has your first expedition to Thermopylae become--an +expedition made at a cost of more than two hundred talents, if you +include the private expenditure of the soldiers--and fruitless your +hopes of triumph over Thebes! {85} But of all the wicked services which +he has done for Philip, let me tell you of that which is in reality the +greatest outrage of all upon Athens and upon you all. It is this--that +when Philip had determined from the very first to do for the Thebans +all that he has done, Aeschines, by reporting the exact opposite to +you, and so displaying to the world your antagonism to Philip's +designs, has brought about for you an increase in the enmity between +yourselves and the Thebans, and for Philip an increase in their +gratitude. How could a man have treated you more outrageously than this? + +(_To the clerk._) {86} Now take and read the decrees of Diophantus[n] +and Callisthenes[n]; (_to the jury_) for I would have you realize that +when you acted as you ought, you were thought worthy to be honoured +with public thanksgivings and praises, both at home and abroad; but +when once you had been driven astray by these men, you had to bring +your children and wives in from the country, and to decree that the +sacrifice to Heracles[n] should take place within the walls, though it +was a time of peace. And in view of this it is an amazing idea, that +you should dismiss unpunished a man who even prevented the gods from +receiving their worship from you after the manner of your fathers. (_To +the clerk._) Read the decree. + +[_The decree of Diophantus is read._] + +This decree, men of Athens, was one which your conduct nobly deserved. +(_To the clerk._) Now read the next decree. + +[_The decree of Callisthenes is read._] + +{87} This decree you passed in consequence of the action of these men. +It was not with such a prospect in view that you made the Peace and the +alliance at the outset, or that you were subsequently induced to insert +the words which extended them to your posterity. You expected their +action to bring you benefits of incredible value. Aye, and besides +this, you know how often, after this, you were bewildered by the report +that Philip's forces and mercenaries were threatening Porthmus or +Megara. You have not then to reflect contentedly that Philip has not +yet set foot in Attica. You have rather to consider whether their +action has not given him power to do so when he chooses. It is that +danger that you must keep before your eyes, and you must execrate and +punish the man who is guilty of putting such power into Philip's hands. + +{88} Now I am aware that Aeschines will eschew all defence of the +actions with which he is charged, and that, in his desire to lead you +as far away as possible from the facts, he will enumerate the great +blessings which Peace brings to all mankind, and will set against them +the evils that follow in the train of war. His whole speech will be a +eulogy of peace, and in that will consist his defence. But such an +argument actually incriminates the defendant further. If peace, which +brings such blessings to all other men, has been the source of such +trouble and confusion to us, what explanation can be found, except that +they have taken bribes and have cruelly marred a thing by nature so +fair? {89} 'What?' he may say, 'have you not to thank the Peace for +three hundred ships, with their fittings, and for funds which remain +and will remain yours?' In answer to this, you are bound to suppose +that, thanks to the Peace, Philip's resources too have become far more +ample--aye, and his command of arms, and of territory, and of revenues, +which have accrued to him to such large amounts. {90} We, too, have had +some increase of revenue. But as for power and alliances, by the +establishment of which all men retain their advantages, either for +themselves or their masters, ours have been sold by these men--ruined +and enfeebled; while Philip's have become more formidable and extensive +by far. Thus it is not fair that while Philip has been enabled by their +action to extend both his alliances and his revenue, all that would in +any case have been ours, as the result of the Peace, should be set off +against what they themselves sold to Philip. The former did not come to +us in exchange for the latter. Far from it! For had it not been for +them, not only should we have had the former, as we have now, but we +should have had the latter as well. + +{91} You would doubtless admit, men of Athens, in general terms, that, +on the one hand, however many and terrible the disasters that have +befallen the city, your anger cannot justly be visited upon Aeschines, +if none of them has been caused by him; and that, on the other hand, +Aeschines is not entitled to be acquitted on account of any +satisfactory results that may have been accomplished through the action +of others. You must examine the acts of Aeschines himself, and then +show him your favour if he is worthy of it, or your resentment, on the +other hand, if his acts prove to be deserving ing of that. {92} How, +then, can you solve this problem fairly? You will do so if, instead of +allowing him to confound all questions with one another--the criminal +conduct of the generals, the war with Philip, the blessings that flow +from peace--you consider each point by itself. For instance, were we at +war with Philip? We were. Does any one accuse Aeschines on that ground? +Does any one wish to bring any charge against him in regard to things +that were done in the course of the war? No one whatever. He is +therefore acquitted in regard to such matters, and must not say +anything about them; for the witnesses and the proofs which a defendant +produces must bear upon the matters which are in dispute; he must not +deceive you by offering a defence upon points which are not disputed. +Take care, then, that you say nothing about the war; for no one charges +you with any responsibility for that. {93} Later on we were urged by +certain persons to make peace. We consented; we sent ambassadors; and +the ambassadors brought commissioners to Athens who were to conclude +the Peace. Once more, does any one blame Aeschines for this? Does any +one allege that Aeschines introduced the proposal of peace, or that he +committed any crime in bringing commissioners here to make it? No one +whatever. He must therefore say nothing in regard to the fact that the +city made peace; for he is not responsible for that. {94} 'Then what +_is_ your assertion, sir?' I may be asked. 'At what point _do_ your +charges begin?' They begin, men of Athens, from the time when the +question before you was not whether you should make peace or not (for +that had already been settled), but what sort of peace you should +make--when Aeschines opposed those who took the side of justice, +supported for a bribe the hireling mover of the decree, and afterwards, +when he had been chosen to receive the oaths, failed to carry out every +one of your instructions, destroyed those of your allies who had passed +unscathed through the war, and told you falsehoods whose enormity and +grossness has never been surpassed, either before or since. At the +outset, before Philip was given a hearing in regard to the Peace, +Ctesiphon and Aristodemus took the leading part in the work of +deception; but when the time had come for action, they surrendered +their role to Philocrates and Aeschines, who took it up and ruined +everything. {95} And then, when he is bound to answer for his actions +and to give satisfaction for them--like the unscrupulous God-forsaken +clerk that he is--he will defend himself as though it were the Peace +for which he was being tried. Not that he wishes to account for more +than is charged against him--that would be lunacy. No! He sees rather +that in all his own proceedings no good can be found--that his crimes +are his whole history; while a defence of the Peace, if it has no other +merits, has at least the kindly sound of the name to recommend it. {96} +I fear, indeed, men of Athens, I fear that, unconsciously, we are +enjoying this Peace like men who borrow at heavy interest. The +guarantees of its security--the Phocians and Thermopylae--they have +betrayed. But, be that as it may, it was not through _Aeschines_ that +we originally made it; for, paradoxical as it may seem, what I am about +to say is absolutely true--that if any one is honestly pleased at the +Peace, it is the generals, who are universally denounced, that he must +thank for it: for had they been conducting the war as you desired them +to do, {97}you would not have tolerated even the name of peace. For +peace, then, we must thank the generals; but the perilous, the +precarious, the untrustworthy nature of the Peace is due to the +corruption of these men. Cut him off, then, cut him off, I say, from +all arguments in defence of the Peace! Set him to defend his own +actions! Aeschines is not being tried on account of the Peace. On the +contrary, the Peace stands discredited owing to Aeschines. And here is +evidence of the fact:--if the Peace had been made, and if no subsequent +deception had been practised upon you, and none of your allies had been +ruined, who on earth would have been hurt by the Peace, except in so +far as it was inglorious? And for its inglorious character the +defendant in fact shares the responsibility, for he spoke in support of +Philocrates. At least no irreparable harm would have been done; whereas +now, I believe, much has been done, and the guilt rests with the +defendant. {98} That these men have been the agents in this shameful +and wicked work of ruin and destruction, I think you all know. Yet so +far am I, gentlemen of the jury, from putting any unfair construction +upon these facts or asking you to do so, that if it has been through +stupidity or simplicity, or ignorance in any form whatever, that such +results have been so brought about, I acquit Aeschines myself, and I +{99} recommend you also to acquit him. At the same time none of these +excuses is either constitutional[n] or justifiable. For you neither +command nor compel any one to undertake public business; but when any +one has satisfied himself of his own capacity and has entered political +life, then, like good-hearted, kindly men, you welcome him in a +friendly and ungrudging manner, and even elect him to office and place +your own interests in his hands. {100} Then, if a man succeeds, he will +receive honour and will so far have an advantage over the crowd. But if +he fails, is he to plead palliations and excuses? That is not fair. It +would not satisfy our ruined allies, or their children, or their wives, +or the rest of the victims, to know that it was through my +stupidity--not to speak of the stupidity of the defendant--that they +had suffered such a fate. Far from it! {101} Nevertheless, I bid you +forgive Aeschines for these atrocious and unparalleled crimes if he can +prove that it was simplicity of mind, or any form of ignorance +whatever, which led him to work such ruin. But if it was the rascality +of a man who had taken money and bribes--if he is plainly convicted of +this by the very facts themselves--then, if it be possible, put him to +death; or if not, make him, while he lives, an example to others. + +And now give your thoughts to the proof by which he is convicted on +these points, and observe how straightforward it will be. + +{102} If the defendant Aeschines was not deliberately deceiving you for +a price, he must necessarily, I presume, have had one of two reasons +for making the statements in question to you, in regard to the Phocians +and Thespiae and Euboea. Either he must have heard Philip promise in +express terms that such would be his policy and the steps he would +take; or else he must have been so far bewitched and deluded by +Philip's generosity in all other matters as to conceive these further +hopes of him. There is no possible alternative besides these two. {103} +Now in both these cases he, more than any living man, ought to detest +Philip. And why? Because, so far as Philip could bring it about, all +that is most dreadful and most shameful has fallen upon him. He has +deceived you; his reputation is gone [he is rightly ruined]; he is on +his trial; aye, and were the course of the proceedings in any way that +which his conduct called for, he would long ago have been impeached;[n] +{104-109} whereas now, thanks to your innocence and meekness, he +presents his report, and that at the time which suits his own wishes. I +ask, then, if there is one among you who has ever heard Aeschines raise +his voice in denunciation of Philip--one, I say, who has seen Aeschines +exposing him or saying a word against him? Not one! All Athens +denounces Philip before Aeschines does so. Every one whom you meet does +so, though not one of them has been injured by him--I mean, of course, +personally. On the assumption that Aeschines had not sold himself, I +should have expected to hear him use some such expressions as +these--'Men of Athens, deal with _me_ as you will. I trusted Philip; I +was deceived; I was wrong; I confess my error. But beware of _him_, men +of Athens. He is faithless--a cheat, a knave. Do you not see how he has +treated me? how he has deceived me?' {110} But I hear no such +expressions fall from him, nor do you. And why? Because he was _not_ +misled; he was _not_ deceived; he made these statements, he betrayed +all to Philip, because he had sold his services and received the money +for them; and gallantly and loyally has he behaved--as Philip's +hireling. But as your ambassador, as your fellow citizen, he is a +traitor who deserves to die, not once, but thrice. + +{111} This is not the only evidence which proves that all those +statements of his were made for money. For, recently, the Thessalians +came to you, and with them envoys from Philip, demanding that you +should decree the recognition of Philip as one of the Amphictyons. Who +then, of all men, should naturally have opposed the demand? The +defendant Aeschines. And why? Because Philip had acted in a manner +precisely contrary to the announcement which Aeschines had made to you. +{112} Aeschines declared that Philip would fortify Thespiae and +Plataeae; that he intended, not to destroy the Phocians, but to put +down the insolence of Thebes. But in fact Philip has raised the Thebans +to an undue height of power, while he has utterly destroyed the +Phocians; and instead of fortifying Thespiae and Plataeae, he has +brought Orchomenus and Coroneia into the same bondage with them. How +could any contradiction be greater than this? Aeschines did not oppose +the demand. He neither opened his lips nor uttered a sound in +opposition to it. {113} But even this, monstrous as it is, is not yet +the worst. For he, and he alone, in all Athens, actually supported the +demand. This not even Philocrates dared to do, abominable as he was; it +was left for the defendant Aeschines. And when you raised a clamour and +would not listen to him, he stepped down from the platform, and, +showing off before the envoys who had come from Philip, told them that +there were plenty of men who made a clamour, but few who took the field +when it was required of them--you remember the incident, no +doubt--being himself, of course, a marvellous soldier, God knows! + +{114} Again, if we had been unable to prove that any of the ambassadors +had received anything--if the fact were not patent to all--we might +then have resorted to examination by torture,[n] and other such +methods. But if Philocrates not only admitted the fact frequently in +your presence at the Assembly, but used actually to make a parade of +his guilt--selling wheat, building houses, saying that he was going[n] +whether you elected him or not, importing timber, changing Macedonian +gold openly at the bank--it is surely impossible for _him_ to deny that +he received money, when he himself confesses and displays his guilt. +{115} Now, is any human being so senseless or so ill-starred that, in +order that Philocrates might receive money, while he himself incurred +infamy and disgrace, he would want to fight against those upright +citizens in whose ranks he might have stood, and to take the side of +Philocrates and face a trial? I am sure that there is no such man; but +in all these considerations, if you examine them aright, you will find +strong and evident signs of the corruption of the defendant. + +{116} Consider next an incident which occurred last in order of time, +but which is second to none as an indication that Aeschines had sold +himself to Philip. You doubtless know that in the course of the recent +impeachment of Philocrates by Hypereides, I came forward and expressed +my dissatisfaction with one feature of the impeachment--namely, the +idea that Philocrates alone had been responsible for all these +monstrous crimes, and that the other nine ambassadors had no share in +them. I said that it was not so, for Philocrates by himself would have +been nowhere, had he not had some of them to co-operate with him. {117} +'And therefore,' I said, 'in order that I may not personally acquit or +accuse any one, and that the guilty may be detected, and those who have +had no share in the crime acquitted by the evidence of their own +conduct, let any one who wishes to do so rise and come forward into +your midst, and let him declare that he has no share in it, and that +the actions of Philocrates are displeasing to him. Any one who does +this,' I said, 'I acquit.' You remember the incident, I am sure. {118} +Well, no one came forward or showed himself. Each of the others has +some excuse. One was not liable to examination; another, perhaps, was +not present; a third is related to Philocrates. But Aeschines has no +such excuse. No! So completely has he sold himself, once for all--so +plain is it that his wages are not for past services only, but that, if +he escapes now, Philip can equally count upon his help against you in +the future--that to avoid letting fall even a word that would be +unfavourable to Philip, he does not accept his discharge[n] even when +you offer to discharge him, but chooses to suffer infamy, to stand his +trial and to endure any treatment in this court, rather than to take a +step that would not please Philip. {119} But what is the meaning of +this partnership, this careful forethought for Philocrates? For if +Philocrates had by his diplomacy accomplished the most honourable +results and achieved all that your interest required, and yet admitted +(as he did admit) that he had made money by his mission, this very fact +was one by which an uncorrupted colleague should have been repelled and +set him on his guard, and led to protest to the best of his power. +Aeschines has not acted in this way. Is it not all clear, men of +Athens? Do not the facts cry aloud and tell you that Aeschines has +taken money, that he is a rascal for a price, and that +consistently--not through stupidity, or ignorance, or bad luck? {120} +'But where is the witness who testifies to my corruption?' he asks. +Why, this is the finest thing of all![n] The witnesses, Aeschines, are +facts; and they are the surest of all witnesses: none can assert or +allege against them, that they are influenced by persuasion or by +favour to any one: what your treachery and mischief have made them, +such, when examined, they must appear. But, besides the facts, you +shall at once bear witness against yourself. Come, stand up[n] and +answer me! Surely you will not plead that you are so inexperienced as +not to know what to say. For when, under the ordinary limitations of +time, you prosecute and win cases that have all the novelty of a +play[n]--cases, too, that have no witness to support them--you must +plainly be a speaker of tremendous genius. + +{121} Many and atrocious as are the crimes of the defendant Aeschines, +and great as is the wickedness which is implied by them (as I am sure +you also feel) there is none which is more atrocious than that of which +I am about to speak to you, and none which will afford more palpable +proof that he has taken bribes and sold everything. For when once more, +for the third time, you sent the ambassadors to Philip on the strength +of those high and noble expectations which the defendant's promises had +roused, you elected both Aeschines and myself, and most of those whom +you had previously sent. {122} For my part I came forward and declined +upon oath to serve;[n] and though some raised a clamour and bade me go, +I declared that I would not; but the defendant had already been +elected. Afterwards, when the Assembly had risen, he and his party met +and discussed whom they should leave behind in Athens. For while +everything was still in suspense, and the future doubtful, there were +all kinds of gatherings and discussions in the market-place. {123} They +were afraid, no doubt, that a special meeting of the Assembly might +suddenly be called, and that you might then hear the truth from me, and +pass some of the resolutions which it was your duty to pass in the +interest of the Phocians, and that so Philip's object might slip from +his grasp. For had you merely passed a resolution and shown them the +faintest ray of hope of any kind, the Phocians would have been saved. +It was absolutely impossible for Philip to stay where he was, unless +you were misled. There was no corn in the country, for, owing to the +war, the land had not been sown; and to import corn was impossible so +long as your ships were there and in command of the sea; while the +Phocian towns were many in number, and difficult to take except by a +prolonged siege. Even assuming that he were taking a town a day, there +are two and twenty of them. {124} For all these reasons they left +Aeschines in Athens, to guard against any alteration of the course +which you had been deluded into taking. Now to decline upon oath to +serve, without any cause, was a dangerous and highly suspicious +proceeding. 'What?' he would have been asked, 'are you not going on the +mission which is to secure all those wonderful good things which you +have foretold?' Yet he was bound to remain. How could it be done? He +pleads illness. His brother took with him Execestus the physician, came +before the Council, swore that Aeschines was too ill to serve, and was +himself elected in his place. {125} Five or six days later the ruin of +the Phocians had been accomplished, and Aeschines' contract--a mere +matter of business--had been fulfilled. Dercylus turned back, and on +his arrival here from Chalcis announced to you the destruction of the +Phocians, while you were holding an Assembly in the Peiraeus. On +hearing the news you were naturally struck with sympathy for them, and +with terror for yourselves. You passed resolutions to bring in your +children and wives from the country, to repair the garrison-forts, to +fortify the Peiraeus, and to celebrate the sacrifice to Heracles within +the city walls: {126} and in the midst of all this, in the midst of the +confusion and the tumult which had fallen upon the city, this learned +and able speaker, so loud of voice, though not elected[n] either by the +Council or by the people, set off as ambassador to the man who had +wrought the destruction, taking no account of the illness which he had +previously made his excuse, upon oath, for not serving, nor of the +election of another ambassador in his place, nor of the law which +imposes the penalty of death for such offences; {127} nor yet +reflecting how utterly atrocious it was, that after announcing that the +Thebans had placed a price on his head, he should choose the moment +when the Thebans had (in addition to all Boeotia, which they already +possessed) become masters of the territory of the Phocians as well, to +go into the very midst of Thebes, and into the very camp of the +Thebans. But so beside himself was he, so utterly bent upon his profits +and his bribe, that he ruled out and overlooked all such +considerations, and took his departure. + +{128} Such was the nature of this transaction; and yet his proceedings +when he arrived at his destination are far worse. All of you who are +present, and all other Athenians as well, thought the treatment of the +unhappy Phocians so atrocious and so cruel that you sent to the Pythian +games neither the official deputation from the Council, nor the +Thesmothetae,[n] but abandoned that ancient representation of +yourselves at the festival. But Aeschines went to the triumphal +feast[n] with which the Thebans and Philip were celebrating the victory +of their cause and their arms. He joined in the festival: he shared in +the libations and the prayers which Philip offered over the ruined +walls and country and arms of your allies: with Philip he set garlands +on his head, and raised the paean, and drank the loving-cup. {129} Nor +is it possible for the defendant to give a different version of the +facts from that which I have given. As regards his sworn refusal to +serve, the facts are in your public records in the Metroon,[n] guarded +by your officer; and a decree stands recorded with express reference to +the name of Aeschines.[n] And as for his conduct there, his fellow +ambassadors, who were present, will bear witness against him. They told +me the story; for I was not with them on this Embassy, having entered a +sworn refusal to serve. + +(_To the clerk._) {130} Now read me the resolution [and the record], +and call the witnesses. + +[_The decree is read, and the witnesses called._] + +What prayers, then, do you imagine Philip offered to the gods, when he +poured his libation, or the Thebans? Did they not ask them to give +success in war, and victory, to themselves and their allies, and the +contrary to the allies of the Phocians? In these prayers, therefore--in +these imprecations upon his own country--Aeschines joined. It is for +you to return them upon his own head to-day. + +{131} His departure, then, was a contravention of the law which imposes +the penalty of death for the offence, and it has been shown that on his +arrival he acted in a manner for which he deserves to die again and +again, while his former proceedings and the work which he did as +ambassador, in their interest,[n] would justly slay him. Ask yourselves +what penalty can be found, which will adequately atone for all these +crimes? {132} It would surely be shameful, men of Athens, that while +all of you, and the whole people, denounce publicly all the +consequences of the Peace; while you decline to take part in the +business of the Amphictyons; while your attitude towards Philip is one +of vexation and mistrust, because the deeds that have been done are +impious and atrocious, instead of righteous and advantageous to you; +that nevertheless, when you have come into court as the sworn +representatives of the State, to sit in judgement upon the report of +these proceedings, you should acquit the author of all the evil, when +you have taken him red-handed in actions like these. {133} Who is there +of all your fellow citizens--nay, who of all the Hellenes--that would +not have good cause for complaint against you, when he saw that though +you were enraged against Philip, who in making peace after war was +merely purchasing the means to his end from those who offered them for +sale--a very pardonable transaction--you were yet acquitting Aeschines, +who sold your interests in this shameful manner, notwithstanding the +extreme penalties which the laws appoint for such conduct? + +{134} Now it is possible that an argument may also be used by the other +side to some such effect as this--that the condemnation of those whose +diplomacy brought about the Peace will mean the beginning of enmity +with Philip. If this is true, then, I can imagine, upon consideration, +no more serious charge that I could bring against the defendant, than +this. If Philip, who spent his money on the Peace which he wished to +obtain, has become so formidable, so powerful, that you have already +ceased to regard your oaths and the justice of the case, and are +seeking how you can gratify Philip, what penalty, that those who are +responsible for this could suffer, would be adequate to the offence? +{135} I believe, however, that I shall actually show you that it would +more probably mean the beginning of a friendship, advantageous to you. +For you must be well assured, men of Athens, that Philip does not +despise your city; nor was it because he regarded you as less +serviceable than the Thebans, that he preferred them to you. No! {136} +He had been instructed by these men and had heard from them, what I +once told you in the Assembly, without contradiction from any of them, +that the People is the most unstable thing in the world, and the most +incalculable, inconstant as a wave of the sea, stirred by any chance +wind. One comes, another goes; but no one cares for the public +interest, or remembers it. Philip needs (he is told) friends upon whom +he can rely to execute and manage his business with you--such friends, +for instance, as his informant.[n] If this were secured for him, he +would easily effect all that he desired in Athens. {137} Now if he +heard that those who had used such language to him had immediately upon +their return been beaten to death, he would doubtless have behaved as +the Persian king did. And how was this? He had been deceived by +Timagoras,[n] and had given him, it is said, forty talents; but when he +heard that Timagoras had been put to death here, and had not even power +to secure his own life, much less to carry out the promises he had made +to him, he recognized that he had not paid the price to the man who had +the power to effect his object. For first, as you know, he sent a +dispatch, acknowledging once more your title to Amphipolis, which he +had previously described as in alliance and friendship with himself; +and secondly, he thenceforward wholly abstained from giving money to +any one. {138} This is exactly what Philip would have done, if he had +seen that any of these men had paid the penalty, and what, if he sees +it, he will still do. But when he hears that they address you, and +enjoy a high reputation with you, and prosecute others, what is he to +do? Is he to seek to spend much, when he can spend less? or to desire +to court the favour of all, when he need but court two or three? That +would be madness. For even those public benefits which Philip conferred +upon the Thebans he conferred not from choice-- far from it--but +because he was induced to do so by their ambassadors; and I will tell +you how. {139} Ambassadors came to him from Thebes just at the time +when we were there upon our mission from you. Philip wished to give +them money, and that (so they said) in very large amounts. The Theban +ambassadors would not accept or receive it. After that, while drinking +at a sacrificial banquet and displaying his generosity towards them, +Philip offered, as he drank to them, presents of many kinds--captives +and the like--and finally he offered them goblets of gold and silver. +All these they steadily refused, declining to put themselves in his +power in any way. {140} At last Philo, one of the ambassadors, made a +speech, men of Athens, which was worthy to be made in the name, not of +Thebes, but of yourselves. For he said that it gave them pleasure and +delight to see the magnanimous and generous attitude of Philip towards +them; but for their own personal part, they were already his good +friends even without these presents; and they begged him to apply his +generosity to the existing political situation of their country, and to +do something worthy of himself and Thebes, promising that, if he did +so, their whole city, as well as themselves, would become attached to +him. {141} And now observe what the Thebans have gained by this, and +what consequences have followed; and contemplate in a real instance the +advantages of refusing to sell your country's interests. First of all, +they obtained peace when they were already distressed and suffering +from the war, in which they were the losing side. Next, they secured +the utter ruin of their enemies, the Phocians, and the complete +destruction of their walls and towns. And was this all? No, indeed! For +besides all this they obtained Orchomenus, Coroneia, Corsia, the +Tilphossaeum, and as much of the territory of the Phocians as they +desired. {142} This then was what the Thebans gained by the Peace; and +surely no more could they have asked even in their prayers. And the +ambassadors of Thebes gained--what? Nothing but the credit of having +brought this good fortune to their country; and a noble reward it was, +men of Athens, a proud record on the score of merit and honour--that +honour which Aeschines and his party sold for money. Let us now set +against one another the consequences of the Peace to the city of Athens +and to the Athenian ambassadors respectively; and then observe whether +its effects have been similar in the case of the city and of these men +personally. {143} The city has surrendered all her possessions and all +her allies; she has sworn to Philip that even if another approaches +them to preserve them for her, you will prevent him; that you will +consider any one who wishes to give them up to you as your enemy and +foe, and the man who has robbed you of them as your ally and friend. +{144} That is the resolution which Aeschines supported, and which was +moved by his accomplice Philocrates; and although on the first day I +was successful, and had persuaded you to ratify the decree of the +allies and to summon Philip's envoys,[n] the defendant forced an +adjournment of the question till the next day, and persuaded you to +adopt the resolution of Philocrates, in which these proposals, and many +others even more atrocious, are made. {145} These were the consequences +of the Peace to Athens. It would not be easy to devise anything more +shameful. What were the consequences to the ambassadors who brought +these things about? I say nothing of all that you have seen for +yourselves--the houses, the timber, the wheat. But they also possess +properties and extensive estates in the country of your ruined allies, +bringing in incomes of a talent to Philocrates and thirty minae to the +defendant. {146} Yet surely, men of Athens, it is an atrocious and a +monstrous thing, that the calamities of your allies should have become +sources of revenue to your ambassadors, and that the same Peace which +to the city that sent them meant the ruin of her allies, the surrender +of her possessions, and shame in the place of honour, should have +created for the ambassadors who brought these things to pass against +their country, revenue, affluence, property, and wealth, in the place +of abject poverty. To prove, however, that what I am telling you is +true (_to the clerk_) call me the witnesses from Olynthus. + +[_The witnesses are called._] + +{147} Now I should not wonder if he even dared to make some such +statement as this--that the Peace which we were making could not have +been made an honourable one, or such as I demanded, because our +generals had mismanaged the war. If he argues thus, then remember, in +Heaven's name, to ask him whether[n] it was from some other city that +he went as ambassador, or from this city itself? If it was from some +other, to whose success in war and to whose excellent generals he can +point, then it was natural for him to take Philip's money: but if it +was from Athens itself, why do we find him taking presents as part of a +transaction which involved the surrender of her possessions by the city +which sent him? For in any honest transaction the city that sent the +ambassadors ought to have shared the same fortune as the ambassadors +whom she sent. {148} Consider also this further point, men of Athens. +Do you think that the successes of the Phocians against the Thebans in +the war, or the successes of Philip against you, were the more +considerable? Those of the Phocians against the Thebans, I am quite +certain. At least, they held Orchomenus and Coroneia and the +Tilphossaeum;[n] they had intercepted the Theban garrison at Neones;[n] +they had slain two hundred of them on Hedyleum;[n] a trophy had been +raised, their cavalry were victorious, and a whole Iliad of misfortunes +had beset the Thebans. You were in no such position as this, and may +you never be so in the future! Your most serious disadvantage in your +hostilities with Philip was your inability to inflict upon him all the +damage that you desired; you were completely secure against suffering +any harm yourselves. How is it then that, as the result of one and the +same Peace, the Thebans, who were being so badly worsted in the war, +have recovered their own possessions and, in addition, have gained +those of their enemies; while you, the Athenians, have lost under the +Peace even what you retained safely through the war? It is because +their ambassadors did not sell their interests, while these men have +sold yours. [Ah! he will say,[n] but the allies were exhausted by the +war....]. That this is how these things were accomplished, you will +realize still more clearly from what I have yet to say. + +{150}For when this Peace was concluded--the Peace of Philocrates, which +Aeschines supported--and when Philip's envoys had set sail, after +receiving the oaths from us--and up to this time nothing that had been +done was irreparable, for though the Peace was disgraceful and unworthy +of Athens, still we were to get those marvellous good things in +return--then I say, I asked and told the ambassadors to sail as quickly +as possible to the Hellespont, and not to sacrifice any of our +positions there, nor allow Philip to occupy them in the interval. {151} +For I knew very well that everything that is sacrificed when peace is +in process of being concluded after war, is lost to those who are so +neglectful; since no one who had been induced to make peace with regard +to the situation as a whole ever yet made up his mind to fight afresh +for the sake of possessions which had been left unsecured; such +possessions those who first take them keep. And, apart from this, I +thought that, if we sailed, the city could not fail to secure one of +two useful results. Either, when we were there and had received +Philip's oath according to the decree, he would restore the possessions +of Athens which he had taken, and keep his hands off the rest; {152} +or, if he did not do so, we should immediately report the fact to you +here, and so, when you saw his grasping and perfidious disposition in +regard to those your remoter and less important interests, you would +not in dealing with greater matters close at hand--in other words, with +the Phocians and Thermopylae--let anything be lost. If he failed to +forestall you in regard to these, and you were not deceived, your +interests would be completely secured, and he would give you your +rights without hesitation. {153} And I had good reason for such +expectations. For if the Phocians were still safe and sound, as they +then were, and were in occupation of Thermopylae, Philip would have had +no terror to brandish before you, which could make you overlook any of +your rights. For he was not likely either to make his way through by +land, or to win a victory by sea, and so reach Attica; while if he +refused to act as was right, you would instantly close his ports, +reduce him to straits for money and other supplies, and place him in a +state of siege; and in that case it would be he, and not you, to whom +the advantages of peace would be the overmastering consideration. {154} +And that I am not inventing this or claiming wisdom after the +event--that I knew it at once, and, with your interest in view, foresaw +what must happen and told my colleagues--you will realize from the +following facts. When there was no longer any meeting of the Assembly +available (since you had used up all the appointed days) and still the +ambassadors did not depart, but wasted time here, I proposed a decree +as a member of the Council, to which the people had given full powers, +that the ambassadors should depart directly, and that the admiral +Proxenus should convey them to any district in which he should +ascertain Philip to be. My proposal was just what I now tell you, +couched expressly in those terms. (_To the clerk_.) Take this decree +and read it. + +[_The decree is read_.] + +{155} I brought them away, then, from Athens, sorely against their +will, as you will clearly understand from their subsequent conduct. +When we reached Oreus and joined Proxenus, instead of sailing and +following their instructions, they made a circuitous journey by land, +and before we reached Macedonia we had spent three and twenty days. All +the rest of the time, until Philip's arrival, we were sitting idle at +Pella; and this, with the journey, brought the time up to fifty days in +all. {156} During this interval, in a time of peace and truce, Philip +was taking Doriscus,[n] Thrace, the district towards the Walls, the +Sacred Mountain--everything, in fact, and making his own arrangements +there; while I spoke out repeatedly and insistently, first in the tone +of a man giving his opinion to his colleagues, then as though I were +informing the ignorant, till at last I addressed them without any +concealment as men who had sold themselves and were the most impious of +mankind. {157} And the man who contradicted me openly and opposed +everything which I urged and which your decree enjoined, was Aeschines. +Whether his conduct pleased all the other ambassadors as well, you will +know presently; for as yet I allege nothing about any of them, and make +no accusation: no one of them need appear an honest man to-day because +I oblige him to do so, but only of his own free will, and because he +was no partner in Aeschines' crimes. That the conduct in question was +disgraceful, atrocious, venal, you have all seen. Who were the partners +in it, the facts will show. + +{158} 'But of course, during this interval they received the oaths from +Philip's allies, or carried out their other duties.' Far from it! For +though they had been absent from home three whole months, and received +1,000 drachmae from you for their expenses, they did not receive the +oaths from a single city, either on their journey to Macedonia, or on +the way back. It was in the inn before the temple of the Dioscuri--any +one who has been to Pherae will understand me--when Philip was already +on the march towards Athens at the head of an army, that the oaths were +taken, in a fashion which was disgraceful, men of Athens, and insulting +to you. {159} To Philip, however, it was worth anything that the +transaction should have been carried out in this form. These men had +failed in their attempt to insert among the terms of the Peace the +clause which excluded the people of Halus and Pharsalus; Philocrates +had been forced by you to expunge the words, and to write down +expressly 'the Athenians and the allies of the Athenians'; and Philip +did not wish any of his own allies to have taken such an oath; for then +they would not join him in his campaign against those possessions of +yours which he now holds, but would plead their oaths in excuse; {160} +nor did he wish them to be witnesses of the promises on the strength of +which he was obtaining the Peace. He did not wish it to be revealed to +the world that the city of Athens had not, after all, been defeated in +the war, and that it was Philip who was eager for peace, and was +promising to do great things for Athens if he obtained it. It was just +to prevent the revelation of these facts that he thought it inadvisable +that the ambassadors should go to any of the cities; while for their +part, they sought to gratify him in everything, with ostentatious and +extravagant obsequiousness. {161} But when all this is proved against +them--their waste of time, their sacrifice of your position in Thrace, +their complete failure to act in accordance either with your decree or +your interests, their lying report to you--how is it possible that +before a jury of sane men, anxious to be true to their oath, Aeschines +can be acquitted? To prove, however, that what I say is true (_to the +clerk_), first read the decree, under which it was our duty to exact +the oaths, then Philip's letter, and then the decree of Philocrates and +that of the people. + +[_The decrees and letter are read._] + +{162} And now, to prove that we should have caught Philip in the +Hellespont, had any one listened to me, and carried out your +instructions as contained in the decrees, (_to the clerk_) call the +witnesses who were there on the spot. + +[_The witnesses are called._] + +(_To the clerk._) Next read also the other deposition--Philip's answer +to Eucleides,[n] who is present here, when he went to Philip afterwards. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +{163} Now listen to me, while I show that they cannot even deny that it +was to serve Philip's interest that they acted as they did. For when we +set out on the First Embassy--that which was to discuss the Peace--you +dispatched a herald in advance to procure us a safe conduct. Well, on +that occasion, as soon as ever they had reached Oreus, they did not +wait for the herald, or allow any time to be lost; but though Halus was +being besieged, they sailed there direct, and then, leaving the town +again, came to Parmenio, who was besieging it, set out through the +enemy's camp to Pagasae, and, continuing their journey, only met the +herald at Larissa: with such eager haste did they proceed. {164} But at +a time when there was peace and they had complete security for their +journey and you had instructed them to make haste, it never occurred to +them either to quicken their pace or to go by sea. And why? Because on +the former occasion Philip's interest demanded that the Peace should be +made as soon as possible; whereas now it required that as long an +interval as possible should be wasted before the oaths were taken. +{165} To prove that this is so, (_to the clerk_) take and read this +further deposition. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +How could men be more clearly convicted of acting to serve Philip's +interest throughout, than by the fact that they sat idle, when in your +interest they ought to have hurried, on the very same journey over +which they hastened onward, without even waiting for the herald, when +they ought not to have moved at all? + +{166} Now observe how each of us chose to conduct himself while we were +there, sitting idle at Pella. For myself, I chose to rescue and seek +out the captives, spending my own money and asking Philip to procure +their ransom[n] with the sums which he was offering us in the form of +presents. How Aeschines passed his whole time you shall hear presently. +{167} What then was the meaning of Philip's offering money to us in +common? He kept sounding us all--for this too I would have you know. +And how? He sent round privately to each of us, and offered us, men of +Athens, a very large sum in gold. But when he failed in a particular +case (for I need not mention my own name myself, since the proceedings +and their results will of themselves show to whom I refer), he thought +that we should all be innocent enough to accept what was given to us in +common; and then, if we all alike had a share, however small, in the +common present, those who had sold themselves privately would be +secure. {168} Hence these offers, under the guise of presents to his +guest-friends. And when I prevented this, my colleagues further divided +among themselves the sum thus offered. But when I asked Philip to spend +this sum on the prisoners, he could neither, without discredit, +denounce my colleagues, and say, 'But So-and-so has the money, and +So-and-so,' nor yet evade the expense. So he gave the promise, but +deferred its fulfilment, saying that he would send the prisoners home +in time for the Panathenaea. (_To the clerk._) Read the evidence of +Apollophanes, and then that of the rest of those present. + +[_The evidence is read._] + +{169} Now let me tell you how many of the prisoners I myself ransomed. +For while we were sitting waiting there at Pella, before Philip's +arrival, some of the captives--all, in fact, who were out on bail--not +trusting, I suppose, my ability to persuade Philip to act as I wished, +said that they wished to ransom themselves, and to be under no +obligation to Philip for their freedom: and they borrowed, one three +minae, another five, and another--whatever the amount of the ransom was +in each case. {170} But when Philip had promised that he would ransom +the rest, I called together those to whom I had advanced the money; I +reminded them of the circumstances; and, lest they should seem to have +suffered by their impatience, and to have been ransomed at their own +cost, poor men as they were, when all their comrades expected to be set +free by Philip, I made them a present of their ransom. To prove that I +am speaking the truth, (_to the clerk_) read these depositions. + +[_The depositions are read._] + +{171} These, then, are the sums which I excused them, and gave as a +free gift to fellow citizens who had met with misfortune. And so, when +Aeschines says presently, in his speech to you, 'Demosthenes, if, as +you say, you knew, from the time when I supported Philocrates' +proposal, that we were acting altogether dishonestly, why did you go +again as our colleague on the subsequent mission to take the oaths, +instead of entering a sworn excuse?' remember this, that I had promised +those whose freedom I had procured that I would bring them their +ransom, and deliver them to the best of my power. {172} It would have +been a wicked thing to break my word and abandon my fellow citizens in +their misfortune; while, on the other hand, if I had excused myself +upon oath from service, it would not have been altogether honourable, +nor yet safe, to make a tour there in a private capacity. For let +destruction, utter and early, fall upon me, if I would have joined in a +mission with these men for a very large sum of money, had it not been +for my anxiety to rescue the prisoners. It is a proof of this, that +though you twice elected me to serve on the Third Embassy, I twice +swore an excuse. And all through the journey in question my policy was +entirely opposed to theirs. {173} All, then, that it was within my own +power to decide in the course of my mission resulted as I have +described; but wherever in virtue of their majority they gained their +way, all has been lost. And yet, had there been any who listened to me, +all would have been accomplished in a manner congruous with my own +actions. For I was not so pitiful a fool as to give away money, when I +saw others receiving it, in my ambition to serve you, and yet not to +desire what could have been accomplished without expense, and would +have brought far greater benefits to the whole city. I desired it +intensely, men of Athens; but, of course, they had the advantage over +me. + +{174} Come now and contemplate the proceedings of Aeschines and those +of Philocrates, by the side of my own; for the comparison will bring +out their character more vividly. Well, they first pronounced the +exclusion from the Peace of the Phocians and the people of Halus, and +of Cersobleptes, contrary to your decree and to the statements made to +you. Then they attempted to tamper with and alter the decree, which we +had come there as ambassadors to execute. Then they entered the +Cardians as allies of Philip and voted against sending the dispatch +which I had written to you, sending in its stead an utterly unsound +dispatch of their own composition. {175} And then the gallant gentleman +asserted that I had promised Philip that I would overthrow your +constitution, because I censured these proceedings, not only from a +sense of their disgracefulness, but also from fear lest through the +fault of these men I might have to share their ruin: while all the time +he was himself having incessant private interviews with Philip. And, to +pass over all besides, Dercylus (not I) watched him through the night +at Pherae, along with my slave who is here present; and as the slave +came out of Philip's tent he took him and bade him report what he had +seen, and remember it himself; and finally, this disgusting and +shameless fellow was left behind with Philip for a night and a day, +when we went away. {176} And to prove that I am speaking the truth, I +will myself give evidence which I have committed to writing,[n] so as +to put myself in the position of a responsible witness; and after that +I call upon each of the other ambassadors, and I will compel them to +choose their alternative--either to give evidence, or to swear that +they have no knowledge of the matter. If they take the latter course, I +shall convict them of perjury beyond doubt. + +[_Evidence is read._] + +{177} You have seen now by what mischief and trouble I was hampered, +throughout our absence from home. For what must you imagine their +conduct to have been there, with their paymaster close at hand, when +they act as they do before your very eyes, though you have power either +to confer honour or, on the other hand, to inflict punishment upon them? + +I wish now to reckon up from the beginning the charges which I have +made, in order to show you that I have done all that I undertook to do +at the beginning of my speech. {178} I have proved that there was no +truth in his report--that, on the contrary, he deceived you--by the +evidence not of words but of the actual course of events. I have proved +that he was the cause of your unwillingness to hear the truth from my +mouth, captivated as you were at the time by his promises and +undertakings; that he gave you advice which was the exact opposite of +that which he ought to have given, opposing the Peace which was +suggested by the allies, and advocating the Peace of Philocrates; that +he wasted time, in order that you might not be able to march to the aid +of the Phocians, even if you wished to do so; and that he has done many +atrocious deeds during his absence from home; for he has betrayed and +sold everything, he has taken bribes, and has left no form of rascality +untried. These are the points which I promised at the outset to prove, +and I have proved them. {179} Observe, then, what follows; for what I +have now to say to you has already become a simple matter. You have +sworn that you will vote according to the laws and the decrees of the +people and the Council of Five Hundred. The defendant is proved, in all +his conduct as ambassador, to have acted in contravention of the laws, +of the decrees, and of justice. He ought, therefore, to be convicted in +any court composed of rational men. Even if there were no other crimes +at his door, two of his actions are sufficient to slay him; for he +betrayed to Philip not only the Phocians but also Thrace. {180} Two +places in the whole world of greater value to Athens than Thermopylae +on land, and the Hellespont over sea, could not possibly be found; and +both these places these men have shamefully sold, and placed in +Philip's hands to be used against you. The enormity of this crime +alone--the sacrifice of Thrace and the Walls--apart from all the rest, +might be proved in countless ways,[n] and it is easy to point out how +many men have been executed or fined vast sums of money by you for such +offences--Ergophilus,[n] Cephisodotus,[n] Timomachus,[n] Ergocles[n] +long ago, Dionysius, and others; all of whom together, I may almost +say, have done the city less harm than the defendant. {181} But in +those days, men of Athens, you still guarded against danger by +calculation and forethought; whereas now you overlook any danger which +does not annoy you from day to day, or cause you pain by its immediate +presence, and then pass such resolutions here as 'that Philip shall +take the oath in favour of Cersobleptes also,' 'that we will not take +part in the proceedings of the Amphictyons,' 'that we must amend the +Peace.' But none of these resolutions would have been required, had +Aeschines then been ready to sail and to do what was required. As it +is, by urging us to go by land, he has lost all that we could have +saved by sailing; and by lying, all that could have been saved by +speaking the truth. + +{182} He intends, I am told, to express immediately his indignation +that he alone of all the speakers in the Assembly should have to render +an account of his words. I will not urge that all speakers would +reasonably be called upon to render such an account, if any of their +words were spoken for money; I only say this. If Aeschines in his +private capacity has spoken wildly on some occasion or committed some +blunder, do not be over-strict with him, but let it pass and grant him +pardon: but if as your ambassador he has deliberately deceived you for +money, then do not let him go, or tolerate the plea that he ought not +to be called to account for what he _said_. {183} Why, for what, if not +for his words, is an ambassador to be brought to justice? Ambassadors +have no control over ships or places or soldiers or citadels--no one +puts such things in their hands--but over words and times. As regards +times, if he did not cause the times of the city's opportunities to be +lost, he is not guilty; but if he did so, he has committed crime. And +as to his words, if the words of his report were true or expedient, let +him escape; but if they were at once false, venal, and disastrous, let +him be convicted. {184} No greater wrong can a man do you, than is done +by lying speeches. For where government is based upon speeches, how can +it be carried on in security, if the speeches are not true? and if, in +particular, a speaker takes bribes and speaks to further the interests +of the enemy, how can you escape real danger? For to rob you of your +opportunities is not the same thing as to rob an oligarchy or a tyrant. +Far from it. {185} Under such governments, I imagine, everything is +done promptly at a word of command. But with you the Council must first +hear about everything, and pass its preliminary resolution--and even +that not at any time, but only when notice has been given of the +reception of heralds and embassies: then you must convoke an Assembly, +and that only when the time comes for one, as ordained by law: then +those who speak for your true good have to master and overcome those +who, through ignorance or wickedness, oppose them. {186} Besides all +this, even when a measure is resolved upon, and its advantages are +already plain, time must be granted to the impecuniosity of the +majority, in which they may procure whatever means they require in +order to be able to carry out what has been resolved. And so he who +causes times so critical to be lost, in a state constituted as ours is, +has not caused you to lose times, but has robbed you absolutely of the +realization of your aims. + +{187} Now all those who are anxious to deceive you are very ready with +such expressions as 'disturbers of the city,' 'men who prevent Philip +from conferring benefits on the city.' In reply to these, I will use no +argument, but will read you Philip's letters, and will remind you of +the occasion on which each piece of deception took place, that you may +know that Philip has got beyond this exaggerated title of +'benefactor',[n] of which we are so sickened, in his attempts to take +you in by it. + +[_Philip's letters are read._] + +{188} Now although his work as ambassador has been so shameful, so +detrimental to you in many--nay, in all points, he goes about asking +people what they think of Demosthenes, who prosecutes his own +colleagues. I prosecute you indeed, whether I would or no, because +throughout our entire absence from home you plotted against me as I +have said, and because now I have the choice of only two alternatives: +either I must appear to share with you the responsibility for such work +as yours, or I must prosecute you. {189} Nay, I deny that I was ever +your colleague in the Embassy. I say that your work as ambassador was +an atrocious work, while my own was for the true good of those present +here. It is Philocrates that has been your colleague, as you have been +his, and Phrynon. For your policy was the same as theirs, and you all +approved of the same objects. But 'where are the salt, the table, the +libations that we shared?' So he asks everywhere in his theatrical +style--as though it were not the criminals, but the upright, that were +false to such pledges! {190} I am certain that though all the Prytanes +offer their common sacrifice on each occasion, and join one with +another in their meal and their libation, the good do not on this +account copy the bad; but if they detect one of their own number in +crime they report the fact to the Council and the people. In the very +same way the Council offers its inaugural sacrifice and feasts +together, and joins in libations and sacred rites. So do the generals, +and, one may practically say, every body of magistrates. Does that mean +that they grant an indemnity to any of their number who is guilty of +crime? Very far from it. {191} Leon accuses Timagoras,[n] after being +his fellow ambassador for four years: Eubulus accuses Tharrex and +Smicythus, after sharing the banquet with them: the great Conon, the +elder, prosecuted Adeimantus,[n] though they were generals together. +Which sinned against the salt and the libation, Aeschines--the traitors +and the faithless ambassadors and the hirelings, or their accusers? +Plainly those who violated, as you have done, the sanctity, not of +private libations, but of libations poured in the name of the whole +country. + +{192} That you may realize that these men have been the most worthless +and wicked not only of all who have ever gone to Philip in a public +capacity, but even of those who have gone as private persons, and +indeed of all mankind, I ask you to listen to me while I describe +briefly an incident which falls outside the story of this Embassy. When +Philip took Olynthus he celebrated Olympian games, and gathered +together all the artists to the sacrifice and the festal gathering. +{193} And while he was entertaining them at a banquet, and crowning the +victors, he asked Satyrus, the well-known comic actor, why he alone +requested no favour of him. Did he see any meanness in him, or any +dislike towards himself? Satyrus answered (so the story goes) that he +happened to stand in no need of the things for which the rest were +asking, but that the boon which he would like to ask was a favour which +it would be very easy indeed for Philip to bestow; only he was afraid +that he might fail to obtain it. {194} Philip bade him name his +request, declaring with some spirit that there was nothing that he +would not do for him. Satyrus is then said to have stated that +Apollophanes of Pydna was formerly his friend and guest-friend,[n] and +that when he had perished by a treacherous assassination, his kinsman +had, in alarm, conveyed his daughters, then little children, to +Olynthus secretly. 'These girls,' said Satyrus, 'have been taken +prisoners at the capture of the city; they are with you, and they are +now of marriageable age. {195} It is these girls that I beg and entreat +you to give to me. But I should like you to hear and understand what +sort of present you will be giving me, if you really give it. I shall +gain nothing by receiving it: I shall give them in marriage, and a +dowry with them, and shall not allow them to suffer anything unworthy +of us or of their father.' When those who were present at the feast +heard this, there was such applause and cheering and approbation on all +hands, that Philip was moved and granted the request, although the +Apollophanes who was spoken of was one of the murderers of Alexander, +Philip's brother. {196} Now let us examine side by side with this +banquet of Satyrus, that in which these men took part in Macedonia. +Observe what likeness and resemblance there is between the two! For +these men were invited to the house of Xenophron, the son of Phaedimus, +who was one of the Thirty,[n] and went. I did not go. But when it came +to the time for wine, he brought in an Olynthian woman--good-looking, +but well-bred and modest, as the event proved. {197} At first, I +believe (according to the account which Iatrocles gave me the next +day), they only forced her to drink a little wine quietly and to eat +some dessert; but as the feast proceeded and they waxed warm, they bade +her recline and even sing a song. And when the poor creature, who was +in great distress, neither would nor could do as they bade her, +Aeschines and Phrynon declared that it was an insult and quite +intolerable, that a captive woman--one of those god-forsaken devils the +Olynthians--should give herself airs. 'Call a slave,' they cried, 'and +let some one bring a strap.' A servant came with a lash; they had been +drinking, I imagine, and were easily annoyed; and as soon as she said +something and burst into tears, the servant tore open her dress and +gave her a number of cuts across the back. {198} Beside herself with +the pain and the sense of her position, the woman leaped up and fell +before the knees of Iatrocles, overturning the table as she did so. And +had he not rescued her, she would have perished as the victim of a +drunken debauch; for the drunkenness of this abominable creature is +something horrible.[n] The case of this woman was also mentioned in +Arcadia before the Ten Thousand, and Diophantus reported to you what I +shall now force him to testify; for the matter was much talked of in +Thessaly and everywhere. + +{199} Yet with all this on his conscience this unclean creature will +dare to look you in the face, and will very soon be speaking to you of +the life he has lived, in that magnificent voice of his. It chokes me +to hear him! Does not the jury know how at first you used to read over +the books to your mother at her initiations,[n] and wallow amid bands +of drunken men at their orgies, while still a boy? {200} and how you +were afterwards under-clerk to the magistrates, and played the rogue +for two or three drachmae?[n] and how at last, in recent days, you +thought yourself lucky to get a parasitic living in the training-rooms +of others, as a third-rate actor? What then is the life of which you +propose to speak? Where have you lived it? For the life which you have +really lived has been what I have described. And how much does he take +upon himself! He brought another man to trial here for unnatural +offences! But I leave this point for the moment. (_To the clerk._) +First, read me these depositions. + +[_The depositions are read._] + +{201} So many, then, and so gross, gentlemen of the jury, being the +crimes against you of which he stands convicted--and what wickedness do +they not include? he is corrupt, he is a minion, he is under the curse, +a liar, a betrayer of his own people; all the most heinous offences are +there--he will not defend himself against a single one of these +charges, and will have no defence to offer that is either just or +straightforward. But the statement which, I am told, he intends to +make, borders on madness; though perhaps a man who has no other plea to +offer must contrive anything that he can. {202} For I hear that he is +to say that I, forsooth, have been a partner in everything of which I +accuse him; that at first I used to approve of his policy and to act +with him; and that I have suddenly changed my mind and become his +accuser. As a defence of his conduct such assertions are, of course, +neither legitimate nor to the point, though they do imply some kind of +charge against myself; for, of course, if I have acted thus, I am a +worthless person. But the conduct itself is no better for that. Far +from it! {203} At the same time, I think it is proper for me to prove +to you both the points in question--first, that if he makes such an +assertion he will be lying; and secondly, what is the just line of +defence. Now a just and straightforward defence must show either that +the acts charged against him were not committed, or that having been +committed, they are to the advantage of the city. {204} But Aeschines +cannot do either of these things. For I presume that it is not possible +for him to say that it is to the advantage of the city that the +Phocians have been ruined, that Thermopylae is in Philip's hands, that +Thebes is powerful, that there are soldiers in Euboea and plotting +against Megara, and that the Peace should not have been sworn to,[n] +when on the former occasion he announced the very contrary of all these +things to you in the guise of advantages, and advantages about to be +realized? Nor will he be able to persuade you that these things have +not been done, when you yourselves have seen them and know the facts +well. {205} It remains for me, therefore, to show you that I have had +no share in any of their proceedings. Shall I then dismiss everything +else from consideration--all that I have said against them in your +presence, all my collisions with them during our absence, all my +antagonism to them from first to last--and produce my opponents +themselves as witnesses to the fact that my conduct and theirs have +been absolutely contrary the one to the other--that they have taken +money to your detriment, and that I refused to receive it? Then mark +what I say. + +{206} Who, would you say, was of all men in Athens the most offensive, +most overflowing with effrontery and contemptuousness? I am sure that +none of you, even by mistake, would name any other than Philocrates. +And who, would you say, possessed the loudest voice and could enunciate +whatever he pleased most clearly? Aeschines the defendant, I am sure. +Who is it then that these men describe as cowardly and timid before a +crowd, while I call him cautious? It is myself; for I have never +annoyed you or forced myself upon you against your will. {207} Now at +every meeting of the Assembly, as often as a discussion has arisen upon +these subjects, you hear me accusing and convicting these men, +declaring explicitly that they have taken money and have sold all the +interests of the city. And not one of them has ever to this day +contradicted the statement, when he heard it, or opened his mouth, or +shown himself. {208} What then is the reason, why the most offensive +men in the city, the men with the loudest voices, are so cowed before +me, the timidest of men, whose voice is no louder than any other? It is +because Truth is strong; while to them, on the other hand, the +consciousness of having sold public interests is a source of weakness. +It is this that steals away the boldness of these men, this that binds +down their tongues and stops their mouths--chokes them, and makes them +silent. {209} You remember, of course, how at the recent meeting in the +Peiraeus, when you would not have him for your representative,[n] he +was shouting that he would impeach me and indict me, and crying, 'Oh! +Oh!' But such steps are the beginning of long and numerous trials and +speeches; whereas the alternative was but to utter perhaps two or three +words, which even a slave purchased yesterday could have +pronounced--'Men of Athens, this is utterly atrocious. Demosthenes is +accusing me here of crimes in which he himself was a partner; he says +that I have taken money, when he has taken money, or shared it, +himself.' {210} But no such words, no such sound, did he utter, nor did +one of you hear him do so; he only uttered threats to a different +effect. And why? Because he knew that he had done what he was charged +with doing; he was abjectly afraid to use any such expressions; his +resolution could not rise to them, but shrank back; for it was in the +grip of his conscience; whereas there was nothing to hinder him from +uttering irrelevant abuse and slander. {211} But here is the strongest +proof of all, and it consists not in words, but in fact. For when I was +anxious to do what it was right to do, namely, to make a second report +to you, after serving a second time as ambassador, Aeschines came +before the Board of Auditors with a number of witnesses, and forbade +them to call me before the court, since I had rendered my account +already, and was no longer liable to give it. The incident was +extremely ridiculous. And what was the meaning of it? He had made his +report with reference to the First Embassy, against which no one +brought any charge, and did not wish to go before the court again with +regard to the Second Embassy, with reference to which he now appears +before you, and within which all his crimes fell. {212} But if I came +before you twice, it became necessary for him also to appear again; and +so he tried to prevent them from summoning me. But this action of his, +men of Athens, plainly proves to you two things--first, that he had so +condemned himself that none of you can now acquit him without impiety; +and secondly, that he will not speak a word of truth about me. Had he +anything true to assert, he would have been found asserting it and +accusing me then; he would certainly not have tried to prevent my being +summoned. {213} To prove the truth of what I say, (_to the clerk_) call +me the witnesses to the facts. + +But further, if he makes slanderous statements against me which have +nothing to do with the Embassy, there are many good reasons for your +refusing to listen to him. For I am not on my trial to-day, and when I +have finished my speech I have no further time allotted to me.[n] What +can such statements mean, except that he is bankrupt of legitimate +arguments? For who that was on his trial and had any defence to make, +would prefer to accuse another? {214} And consider also this further +point, gentlemen of the jury. If I were on my trial, with the defendant +Aeschines for accuser and Philip for judge; and if, being unable to +disprove my guilt, I abused Aeschines and tried to sully his character, +do you not think that Philip would be indignant at the very fact of a +man abusing _his_ benefactors in his own presence? Do not _you_ then +prove worse than Philip; but force Aeschines to defend himself against +the charges which are the subject of the trial. (_To the clerk._) Read +the deposition. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +{215} So for my part, because I had nothing on my conscience, I felt it +my duty to render an account and submit all the information that the +laws required, while the defendant took the opposite view. How then can +his conduct and mine have been the same? or how can he possibly assert +against me now things of which he has never even accused me before? It +is surely impossible. And yet he will assert these things, and, Heaven +knows, it is natural enough. For you doubtless know well that ever +since the human race began and trials were instituted, no one was ever +convicted admitting his crime: they brazen it out, they deny it, they +lie, they make up excuses, they take every means to escape paying the +penalty. {216} _You_ must not let any of these devices mislead you +to-day; your judgement must be given upon the facts, in the light of +your own knowledge; you must not attend to words, whether mine or his, +still less to the witnesses whom he will have ready to testify +anything, since he has Philip to pay his expenses--you will see how +glibly they will give evidence for him; nor must you care whether his +voice is fine and loud, or whether mine is poor. {217} For it is no +trial of orators or of speeches that you have to hold to-day, if you +are wise men. You have rather, in the name of a cause shamefully and +terribly ruined, to thrust off the present disgrace on to the shoulders +of the guilty, after a scrutiny of those results which are known to you +all. {218} And these results, which you know and do not require us to +tell you of--what are they? If the consequences of the Peace have been +all that they promised you; if you admit that you were so filled with +an unmanly cowardice, that, though the enemy was not in your land, +though you were not blockaded by sea, though your city was menaced by +no other danger whatever, though, on the contrary, the price of corn +was low and you were in other respects as well off as you are to-day, +{219} though you knew beforehand on the information of these men that +your allies were about to be ruined and Thebes to become powerful, that +Philip was about to occupy the Thracian strongholds and to establish a +basis of operations against you in Euboea, and that all that has now +happened was about to come to pass, you nevertheless made peace +cheerfully;--if that is so, then acquit Aeschines, and do not add +perjury to all your disgrace. For in that case he is guilty of no crime +against you; it is I that am mad and brainsick to accuse him now. {220} +But if what they told you was altogether the reverse of this, if it was +a tale of great generosity--of Philip's love for Athens, of his +intention to save the Phocians, to check the insolence of the Thebans, +and beside all this (if he obtained the Peace) to confer on you +benefits that would more than compensate for Amphipolis, and to restore +to you Euboea and Oropus; if, I say, they stated and promised all this, +and have now totally deceived and cheated you, and have all but robbed +you of Attica itself, then condemn him, and do not, in addition to all +the outrages--I know not what other word to use--that you have +suffered, carry with you to your homes, through upholding their +corruption, the curse and the guilt of perjury. + +{221} Again, gentlemen of the jury, ask yourselves what reason I could +have had for choosing to accuse these men, if they had done no wrong? +You will find none. Is it pleasant to have many enemies? Pleasant? It +is not even safe. Was there any quarrel between me and Aeschines? None. +What then? 'You were afraid for yourself, and in your cowardice thought +to save yourself this way:' for that, I have heard, is what he says. +What? I was afraid, when, according to your own statement, there was +nothing to be afraid of, and no crime had been committed? If he repeats +such an assertion, men of Athens, consider[n] what these men +themselves, the actual criminals, ought to suffer for their offences, +if I, who am absolutely guiltless, was afraid of being ruined owing to +them. {222} But what is my motive for accusing you? I am an informer, +of course, and want to get money out of you![n] And which was the +easier course for me--to get money out of Philip, who offered a large +sum--to get as much as any of these men, and to have not only Philip +for my friend, but also my opponents (for they would assuredly have +been friends, had I been partner with them, since even now they have no +inherited quarrel against me, but only the fact that I refused to join +in their actions); or to beg them for a share of their gains, and be +regarded with hostility both by Philip and by them? Is it likely that +when I was ransoming the prisoners at such cost to myself, I should ask +to receive a paltry sum from these men, in a disgraceful manner and +with their enmity accompanying it? {223} Impossible! My report was +true. I abstained from taking money for the sake of justice and truth +and my own future. For I thought, as others among you have thought, +that my own uprightness would receive its reward, and that I must not +barter my ambition to stand well with you for gain of any kind. And I +abhor these men, because I saw that they were vile and impious in the +conduct of their mission, and because I have been robbed of the objects +of my own ambition, owing to their corruption, now that you have come +to be vexed with the Embassy as a whole. And it is because I foresee +what must happen that I now accuse him, and appear to challenge his +report; for I would have it decided here, in a trial before a jury, +that my conduct has been the opposite of his. {224} And I am +afraid--afraid, I say, for I will speak all my mind to you--that though +when the time comes you may drag me in spite of my entire innocence to +the same ruin with them, you are now utterly supine. For, men of +Athens, you appear to me to be altogether unstrung, waiting to suffer +the horrors which others are suffering before your eyes, and taking no +precautions, no thought for the city, which for so long has been +exposed to destruction in many a dreadful form. {225} Is it not, think +you, dreadful and preternatural? For even where I had resolved upon +silence, I am driven to speak. You doubtless know Pythocles here, the +son of Pythodorus. I had been on very kindly terms with him, and to +this day there has been no unpleasantness between us. He avoids me now, +when he meets me--ever since he visited Philip--and if he is obliged to +encounter me anywhere, he starts away immediately, lest any one should +see him talking with me. But with Aeschines he walks all round the +marketplace, discussing their plans. {226} Now is it not a terrible and +shocking thing, men of Athens, that those who have made it their choice +to foster Philip's interests should be able to rely upon so accurate a +discrimination on Philip's part, that all that any one of them does +here can no more be hid from Philip (so they believe) than if he were +standing by their side, and that his friends and foes alike are those +that Philip chooses; while those whose life is lived for _your_ good, +who are greedy of honour at _your_ hands, and have not betrayed you, +should be met by such deafness, such blindness, on your part, that +to-day I have to wrestle with these devils incarnate on equal terms, +and that before you, who know the whole truth? {227} Would you know or +hear the cause of these things? I will tell you, and I beg that none of +you be angry with me for speaking the truth. It is, I imagine, that +Philip has but one body and one soul, and it is with all his heart that +he cherishes those who do him good and detests those who do him evil: +whereas each of you, in the first place, has no feeling that the good +or the evil which is being done to the city, is being done to himself; +{228} other feelings are of more consequence, and often lead you +astray--pity, envy, anger, favour towards the suppliant, and an +infinite number of other motives: while if a man has actually escaped +all these, he will still not escape from those who do not want such a +man to exist at all. And so the error due to each of these single +causes steals on little by little, till the state is exposed to the +whole accumulated mischief. + +{229} Do not fall victims to any such error to-day, men of Athens: do +not let the defendant go, when he has done you all this wrong. For +honestly, if you let him go, what will be said of you? 'Certain men,' +it will be said, 'went as ambassadors to Philip yonder--Philocrates, +Aeschines, Phrynon, and Demosthenes; and, what happened? One of them +not only gained nothing by his mission, but ransomed the prisoners at +his private expense; another, with the money for which he sold the +interests of his country, went about purchasing harlots and fish. {230} +One of them, the abominable Phrynon, sent his son to Philip before he +had registered him as an adult; the other did nothing unworthy of +himself or his city. One, though serving as choregus and trierarch,[n] +felt it his duty voluntarily to incur that further expense [to ransom +the prisoners] rather than see any of his fellow citizens suffering +misfortune for want of means; the other, so far from rescuing any of +those who were already in captivity, joined in bringing a whole +district, and more than 10,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry with them, +the forces of the actual allies of his country, into captivity to +Philip. What followed? {231} When the Athenians got them into their +hands (for they had long known the truth) what did they do? They let go +the men who had received bribes and had disgraced themselves, and their +city, and their children; they thought that these were wise men, and +that all was well[n] with the city; and as for their accuser, they +thought him thunderstruck--a man who did not understand his country, +and did not know where to fling his money away.' {232} And who, men of +Athens, with this example before his eyes, will be willing to offer you +his honest service? who will act as ambassador for nothing, if he is +not only to gain nothing by it, but is not to be more trustworthy in +your eyes than those who have taken money? You are not only trying +these men to-day, but you are laying down a law for all future time--a +law which will declare whether your ambassadors are to serve the enemy +for a price, or to act disinterestedly for your true good and to take +no bribe? {233} On all the other points you require no evidence; but to +prove that Phrynon sent his son, (_to the clerk_) call me the witnesses +to the facts. + +Aeschines then did not prosecute Phrynon, for sending his own son to +Philip for a disgraceful purpose. But because a man, who in his youth +was above the average in appearance, did not foresee the suspicion +which his good looks might entail, and afterwards lived a somewhat fast +life, he has prosecuted him for unnatural offences. + +{234} Now let me speak of the banquet and the decree; for I had almost +overlooked what I was especially bound to tell you. In drawing up the +resolution of the Council with reference to the First Embassy, and +again in addressing the people, at the assemblies in which you were to +discuss the question of peace, not a single word or act of a criminal +nature on the part of these men having so far come to light, I followed +the ordinary custom, and proposed to accord them a vote of thanks, and +to invite them to the Town Hall. {235} And I did, of course, entertain +Philip's ambassadors as well, and on a very splendid scale, men of +Athens. For when I saw that in their own country they prided themselves +even on things like these, as showing their prosperity and splendour, I +thought that I must begin by outdoing them in this respect, and +displaying even greater magnificence. These incidents Aeschines will +shortly bring forward to prove that 'Demosthenes himself voted thanks +to us, and gave a banquet to the ambassadors', without telling you the +precise time when the incidents occurred. {236} For these things belong +to a time before any injury had been done to the city, and before it +was evident that they had sold themselves. The ambassadors had only +just arrived on their first visit; the people had still to hear what +they proposed; and there was nothing as yet to show that Aeschines +would support Philocrates, or that Philocrates would make such +proposals as he did. If, then, Aeschines uses any such argument, +remember that the dates of the incidents are earlier than those of his +crimes. But since then there has been no friendliness between myself +and them, and no common action. (_To the clerk._) Read the deposition. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +{237} Now perhaps his brother Philochares will support him, and +Aphobetus. There is much that you may fairly urge in reply to both; and +I am obliged, men of Athens, to speak to you quite freely and without +any reserve. You, Philochares, are a painter of vase-cases and drums; +your brothers are under-clerks and quite ordinary men--not that there +is any harm in these things, but at the same time they do not qualify a +man to be a general.[n] And yet, Aphobetus and Philochares, we thought +you worthy to be ambassadors and generals, and to receive the highest +honours; {238} so that even if none of you were guilty of any crime, we +should owe no gratitude to you; you would rather owe gratitude to us +for your preferment. For we passed by many others, more deserving of +such honours than you were, and exalted you instead. But if in the +enjoyment of these very honours one of you has actually committed +crimes, and crimes of such a nature, how much more deserving are you of +execration than of acquittal? Much more, I am sure. Perhaps they will +force their claims upon you, for they are loud-voiced and shameless, +and they have taken to themselves the motto that 'it is pardonable for +brother to help brother'. {239} But you must not give way. Remember +that if it is right for them to think of Aeschines, it is for you to +think of the laws and the whole State, and, above all, of the oath +which you yourselves, who sit here, have taken. Yes, and if they have +entreated some of you to save the defendant, then ask yourselves +whether you are to save him if he is proved innocent of crime, or even +if he is proved guilty. If they ask you to do so, should he be +innocent, I too say that you must acquit him. But if you are asked to +acquit him, whatever he has done, then they have asked you to commit +perjury. For though your vote is secret, it will not be hidden from the +gods; and the framer of our law [which enjoins secret voting] was +absolutely right, when he saw that though none of these men will know +which of you has granted his request, the gods will know, and the +unseen powers, who has given the unjust vote. {240} And it is better +for a man to lay up, for his children and himself, those good hopes +which _they_ can bestow, by giving the decision that is just and right, +than to win credit from these men for a favour of whose reality they +can have no certain knowledge, and to acquit the defendant, when his +own testimony condemns him. For what stronger testimony can I produce, +Aeschines, to prove how terrible your work as ambassador has been, than +your own testimony against yourself? For when you thought it necessary +to involve in so great and dreadful a calamity one who wished to reveal +some of your actions as ambassador, it is plain that you expected your +own punishment to be a terrible one, if your countrymen learned what +you had done. + +{241} That step, if you are wise, he will prove to have taken to his +own detriment; not only because it is an overwhelming proof of the +nature of his conduct as ambassador, but also because of those +expressions which he used in the course of the prosecution, and which +are now at our disposal against himself. For the principles of justice, +as defined by you when you were prosecuting Timarchus, must, I presume, +be no less valid when used by others against yourself. {242} His words +to the jury on that occasion were these. 'Demosthenes intends to defend +Timarchus, and to denounce my acts as ambassador. And then, when he has +led you off the point by his speech, he will brag of it, and go about +saying, "Well? what do you think?[2] Why I led the jury right away from +the point, and stole the case triumphantly out of their hands."' Then +you at least must not act thus, but must make your defence with +reference to the real points of your case, though, when you were +prosecuting Timarchus on that occasion, you permitted yourself to make +any charges and assertions that you chose. + +{243} But there were verses too, which you recited before the jury, in +your inability to produce any witness to the charges on which you were +prosecuting Timarchus:-- + + Rumour, the voice of many folk, not all + Doth die, for Rumour too a goddess is.[3] + +Well, Aeschines, all those who are present say that you have made money +out of your mission; and so it holds true against you, I suppose, that +'Rumour, the voice of many folk, not all doth die'. {244} For observe +how easily you can ascertain how much larger a body of accusers appears +in your case than in his. Timarchus was not known even to all his +neighbors; while there is not a man, Hellene or foreigner, but says +that you and your fellow ambassadors made money out of your mission. +And so, if the rumour is true, then the rumour which is the voice of +many folk is against you; and you have yourself laid down that such a +rumour is to be believed, that 'Rumour too a goddess is', and that the +poet who composed these lines was a wise man. + +{245} Then, you remember, he collected some iambic verses, and recited +the whole passage; for instance:-- + + Whoso in evil company delights + Of him I ne'er enquired, for well I trow, + As is his company, such is the man.[3] + +And 'when a man goes to the cockpit[n] and walks about with +Pittalacus'--he added more to the same effect--'surely,' said he, 'you +know what to think of him.' Well, Aeschines, these same verses will now +exactly serve my turn against you, and if I quote them to the jury, the +quotation will be true and apposite. 'But whoso in the company +delights' of Philocrates, and that when he is an ambassador, 'Of him I +ne'er enquired, for well I trow' that he has taken money, as did +Philocrates who does not deny it. + +{246} He attempts to insult others by labelling them hack-writers[n] +and sophists. He shall himself be proved liable to these very +imputations. The verses he quoted are derived from the _Phoenix_ of +Euripides--a play which has never to this day been acted either by +Theodorus or Aristodemus, the actors under whom Aeschines always played +third-rate parts, though it was performed by Molon, and no doubt by +other actors of former times. But the _Antigone_ of Sophocles has often +been acted by Theodorus and often by Aristodemus; and in this play +there are some admirable and instructive verses, which he must know +quite well by heart, since he has often delivered them himself, but +which he has omitted to quote. {247} For you know, I am sure, that in +every tragedy it is, as it were, the special privilege of third-rate +actors to play in the role of tyrants and sceptred kings. Consider, +then, these excellent lines, placed by the poet in the mouth of our +Creon-Aeschines in this play--lines which he neither repeated to +himself to guide him as an ambassador, nor yet quoted to the jury. (_To +the clerk._) Read the passage. + + _Verses from the 'Antigone' of Sophocles._ + + To learn aright the soul and heart and mind + Of any man--for that, device is none, + Till he be proved in government and law, + And so revealed. For he who guides the State, + Yet cleaves not in his counsels to the best, + But from some fear in prison locks his tongue, + Is in mine eyes, as he hath ever been, + Vilest of men. And him, who sets his friend + Before his land, I count of no esteem. + For I--be it known to God's all-viewing eye-- + Would ne'er keep silence, seeing the march of doom + Upon this city--doom in safety's stead, + Nor ever take to me as mine own friend + My country's foe.' For this I know, that she, + Our country, is the ship that bears us safe, + And safe aboard her, while she sails erect, + We make good friends. + +{248} None of these lines did Aeschines ever repeat to himself during +his mission. Instead of preferring his country he thought that to be +friend and guest-friend of Philip was much more important and +profitable for himself, and bade a long farewell to the wise Sophocles. +He saw the 'march of doom' draw near, in the campaign against the +Phocians; but he gave no warning, no announcement of what was to come. +On the contrary, he helped to conceal it, he helped to carry out the +doom, he prevented those who would have given warning--{249} not +remembering that 'Our country is the ship that bears us safe, and safe +aboard her' his mother with the help of her initiations and +purifications and the property of the clients, on whom she lived, +reared up these sons of hers to their destined greatness;[n] while his +father, who kept an elementary school, as I am told by my elders, near +the temple of the Hero-Physician,[n] made a living, such as he could +indeed, but still on the same ship. The sons, who had received money as +under-clerks and servants in all the magistrates' offices, were finally +elected clerks by you, and for two years continued to get their living +in the Round Chamber;[n] and Aeschines was just now dispatched as your +ambassador--from this same ship. He regarded none of these things. +{250} He took no care that the ship should sail erect. Nay, he capsized +her; he sank the ship; he did all that he could to bring her into the +power of the enemy. What then? Are you not a sophist? Aye, and a +villanous one. Are you not a hack? Aye, and one detested of Heaven--for +you passed over the scene which you had so often performed and knew +well by heart, while you sought out a scene which you had never acted +in your life, and produced the passage in the hope of injuring one of +your fellow citizens. + +{251} And now examine his speech about Solon. He told us that the +statue of Solon, with his hand concealed in the drapery of his robe, +was erected as an illustration of the self-restraint of the orators of +that day. (This was in the course of a scurrilous attack upon the +impetuosity of Timarchus.) But the Salaminians tell us that this statue +was erected less than fifty years ago, whereas some two hundred and +forty years have passed between the time of Solon and the present day; +so that not only was the artist, who modelled him in this attitude, not +living in Solon's day, but even his grandfather was not. {252} That +then is what he told the jury, copying the attitude as he did so. But +that which it would have done his country far more good to see--the +soul and the mind of Solon--he did not copy. No, he did the very +reverse. For when Salamis had revolted from Athens and the +death-penalty had been decreed against any one who proposed to attempt +its recovery, Solon, by singing, at the risk of his own life,[n] a lay +which he had composed, won back the island for his country, and wiped +out her disgrace: {253} while Aeschines, when the king and all the +Hellenes had decided that Amphipolis was yours, surrendered and sold +it, and supported Philocrates, who proposed the resolution for this +purpose. It is indeed worth his while (is it not?) to remember Solon! +Nor was he content with acting thus in Athens; for when he had gone to +Macedonia, he did not even mention the name of the place which it was +the object of his mission to secure. This, in fact, he reported to you +himself, in words which doubtless you remember: 'I too had something to +say about Amphipolis; but in order that Demosthenes might have an +opportunity of speaking upon the subject, I left it to him.' {254} Upon +which I came forward and denied that Aeschines had left to me anything +which he was anxious to say to Philip; he would rather have given any +one a share in his lifeblood than in his speech. The truth is, I +imagine, that he had taken money; and as Philip had given him the money +in order that he might not have to restore Amphipolis, he could not +speak in opposition to Philip's case. Now (_to the clerk_) take this +lay of Solon's and read it; and (_to the jury_) then you will know how +Solon used to hate all such men as this. + +{255} It is not when you are speaking, Aeschines, but when you are upon +an embassy, that you should keep your hand within your robe. But on the +Embassy you held out your hand, and held it open; you brought shame to +your countrymen: and do you here assume a solemn air and recite in +those practised tones the miserable phrases that you have learned by +heart, and expect to escape the penalty for all your heinous +crimes--even if you do go round with a cap on your head,[n] uttering +abuse against me? (_To the clerk._) Read the verses. + + _Solon's Lay._ + + The Father's voice hath spoken, + Whose word is Destiny, + And the blest Gods have willed it, + The Gods who shall not die; + That ne'er shall the Destroyer + Prevail against our land; + The Dread Sire's valiant Daughter + Guards us with eye and hand. + Yet her own sons, in folly, + Would lay their country low, + For pelf; and in her leaders + An heart of sin doth grow. + For them--their pride's fell offspring-- + There waiteth grievous pain; + For sated still, they know not + Their proud lust to contain. + Not theirs, if mirth be with them, + The decent, peaceful feast; + To sin they yield, and sinning + Rejoice in wealth increased. + No hallowed treasure sparing, + Nor people's common store, + This side and that his neighbour + Each robs with havoc sore. + The holy law of Justice + They guard not. Silent she, + Who knows what is and hath been, + Awaits the time to be. + Then cometh she to judgement, + With certain step, tho' slow; + E'en now she smites the city, + And none may 'scape the blow. + To thraldom base she drives us, + From slumber rousing strife,-- + Fell war of kin, destroying + The young, the beauteous life. + The foemen of their country + In wicked bands combine, + Fit company; and stricken + The lovely land doth pine. + These are the Wrong, the Mischief, + That pace the earth at home; + But many a beggared exile + To other lands must roam-- + Sold, chained in bonds unseemly; + For so to each man's hall + Comes home the People's Sorrow, + And leaps the high fence-wall. + No courtyard door can stay it; + It follows to his side, + Flee tho' he may, and crouching + In inmost chamber hide. + Such warning unto Athens + My spirit bids me sound, + That Lawlessness in cities + Spreads evil all around; + But Lawfulness and Order + Make all things good and right, + Chaining Sin's hands in fetters, + Quenching the proud soul's light, + Smoothing the rough, the sated + Staying, and withering + The flowers, that, fraught with ruin, + From fatal seed upspring. + The paths of crooked justice + Are turned into straight; + The ways of Pride grow gentle, + The ways of Strife and Hate; + Then baleful Faction ceases, + Then Health prevails alway, + And Wisdom still increases, + Beneath Law's wholesome sway. + +{256} You hear, men of Athens, how Solon speaks of men like these, and +of the gods, who, he says, preserve the city. It is my belief and my +hope that this saying of his, that the gods preserve our city, is true +at all times; but I believe that all that has happened in connexion +with the present examination is, in a sense, a special proof of the +goodwill of some unseen power towards the city. {257} Consider what has +happened. A man who as ambassador did a work of great wickedness, and +has surrendered countries in which the gods should have been worshipped +by yourselves and your allies, has disfranchised one who accepted the +challenge[n] to prosecute him. To what end? To the end that he himself +might meet with no pity or mercy for his own iniquities. Nay, more; +while prosecuting his victim he deliberately set himself to speak evil +of me; and again, before the People, he threatened to enter an +indictment against me, and said more to the same effect. And to what +end? To the end that I, who had the most perfect knowledge of all his +acts of villany, and had followed them closely throughout, might have +your full indulgence in prosecuting him. {258} Aye, and through +postponing his appearance before you continually up to the present +moment, he has been insensibly brought to a time when, on account of +what is coming upon us, if for no other reason, it is neither possible +nor safe for you to allow him (after his corruption) to escape +unscathed. For though, men of Athens, you ought always to execrate and +to punish those who are traitors and corrupt, to do so at this time +would be more than ever seasonable, and would confer a benefit upon all +mankind in common. {259} For a disease, men of Athens, an awful disease +has fallen upon Hellas--a disease hard to cope with, and requiring +abundant good fortune, and abundant carefulness on your own part. For +the most notable men in their several cities, the men who claim[n] to +lead in public affairs, are betraying their own liberty--unhappy +men!--and bringing upon themselves a self-chosen servitude, under the +milder names of friendship and companionship with Philip, and other +such phrases; while the other citizens, and the sovereign bodies in +each city, however composed, whose duty it was to punish these men and +slay them out of hand, are so far from taking any such action, that +they admire and envy them, and every one would be glad to be in the +same case. {260} Yet it is from this very cause--it is through +entertaining ambitions like these--that the Thessalians, who up to +yesterday or the day before had lost thereby only their paramount +position[n] and their dignity as a state, are now already being +stripped of their very liberty; for there are Macedonian garrisons in +some of their citadels. This same disease it is which has invaded the +Peloponnese and brought about the massacres in Elis, infecting the +unhappy people of that country with such insanity and frenzy, that in +order to be lords over one another and to gratify Philip, they murder +their kinsmen and fellow citizens. {261} Not even here has the disease +been stayed: it has penetrated Arcadia and turned it upside-down; and +now many of the Arcadians, who should be no less proud of liberty than +yourselves--for you and they alone are indigenous peoples--are +declaring their admiration for Philip, erecting his image in bronze, +and crowning him; and, to complete the tale, they have passed a +resolution that, if he comes to the Peloponnese, they will receive him +within their walls. {262} The Argives have acted in exactly the same +way. These events, I say it in all solemnity and earnestness, call for +no small precautions: for this plague, men of Athens, that is spreading +all around us, has now found its way to Athens itself. While then we +are still safe, ward it off, and take away the citizenship of those who +first introduced it. Beware lest otherwise you realize the worth of the +advice given you this day, only when there is no longer anything that +you can do. {263} Do you not perceive, men of Athens, how vivid and +plain an example has been afforded you by the unhappy Olynthians? The +destruction of those wretched men was due to nothing so much as to +conduct like that of which I speak. You can test this clearly if you +review their history. {264} For at a time when they possessed only 400 +cavalry, and numbered not more than 5,000 men in all, since the +Chalcidians were not yet all united under one government, the Spartans +came against them with a large force, including both army and fleet +(for you doubtless remember that at that period the Spartans were +virtually masters both of land and sea); and yet, though this great +force came against them, the Olynthians lost neither the city nor any +single fortress, but won many battles, killed three of the enemy's +commanders, and finally concluded the war on their own terms.[n] {265} +But when some of them began to take bribes, and the people as a whole +were foolish enough, or rather unfortunate enough, to repose greater +confidence in these men than in those who spoke for their own good; +when Lasthenes roofed his house with the timber which came from +Macedonia, and Euthycrates was keeping a large herd of cattle for which +he had paid no one anything; when a third returned with sheep, and a +fourth with horses, while the people, to whose detriment all this was +being done, so far from showing any anger or any disposition to +chastise men who acted so, actually gazed on them with envy, and paid +them honour and regarded them as heroes--{266} when, I say, such +practices were gaining ground in this way, and corruption had been +victorious; then, though they possessed 1,000 cavalry and numbered more +than 10,000 men; though all the surrounding peoples were their allies; +though you went to their assistance with 10,000 mercenaries and 50 +ships, and with 4,000 citizen-soldiers as well, none of these things +could save them. Before a year of the war had expired they had lost all +the cities in Chalcidice, while Philip could no longer keep pace with +the invitations of the traitors, and did not know which place to occupy +first. {267} Five hundred horsemen were betrayed by their own +commanders and captured by Philip, with their arms--a larger number +than were ever before captured by any one. And the men who acted thus +were not ashamed to face the sun or the earth--the soil of their native +land--on which they stood, or the temples, or the sepulchres of the +dead, or the disgrace which was bound to follow upon such deeds +afterwards. Such is the madness and distraction which corruption +engenders. So it is for you--for you, the People--to be wise, to refuse +to suffer such things, and to visit them with public chastisement. For +it would be monstrous indeed, if, after the terrible condemnation which +you passed upon those who betrayed the Olynthians, it were seen that +you allowed the criminals who are in your very midst to go unpunished. +(_To the clerk._) Read the decree passed with reference to the +Olynthians. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{268} This decree, gentlemen of the jury, is one which in the eyes of +all, Hellenes and foreigners alike, it was right and honourable in you +to have passed in condemnation of traitors and men detested of Heaven. +And so, since the taking of the bribe is the step which precedes such +actions, and it is the bribe that prompts the traitor's deeds, +whenever, men of Athens, you find a man receiving a bribe, you must +count him a traitor as well. That one man betrays opportunities, and +another affairs of state, and another soldiers, means only, I imagine, +that each works mischief in the particular department over which he has +control; but there should be no distinction in your execration of all +such men. {269} You, men of Athens, are the only people in the world +who can draw from your own history examples which bear upon this +matter, and who have those ancestors, whom you rightly praise, to +imitate in your actions. You may not be able, at the present time, to +imitate them in the battles, the campaigns, the perils in which they +distinguished themselves, since at the present moment you are at peace; +but at least you can imitate their wisdom. {270} For of wisdom there is +need everywhere; and a right judgement is no more laborious or +troublesome a thing than a wrong one. Each of you need sit here no +longer, in order to judge and vote on the question before him aright, +and so to make his country's position a better one, and worthy of our +ancestors, than he must in order to judge and vote wrongly, and so make +it worse and unworthy of our ancestors. What then were their sentiments +on this matter? (_To the clerk._) Take this, clerk, and read it: (_to +the jury_) for I would have you see that the acts towards which you are +so indifferent are acts for which your forefathers voted death to the +doers. (_To the clerk._) Read. + +[_An inscription is read._] + +{271} You hear the inscription, men of Athens, declaring that +Arthmius[n] of Zeleia, son of Pythonax, is a foe and a public enemy to +the people of Athens and their allies--both he and all his house. And +why? Because he brought the gold from the foreigner to the Hellenes. +Apparently, therefore, we may judge from this, that your ancestors +sought to ensure that no one, not even a stranger, should work mischief +against Hellas for money; whereas you do not even seek to prevent any +of your fellow citizens from injuring his own city. {272} 'But,' it may +be said, 'the inscription occupies a quite unimportant position.' On +the contrary, although all yonder Acropolis is sacred and there is no +lack of space upon it, this inscription stands on the right hand of the +great bronze statue of Athena, the prize of valour in the war against +the barbarians, set up by the State with funds which the Hellenes had +presented to her. In those days, therefore, uprightness was so sacred, +and such merit was attached to the punishment of actions like these, +that the sentences passed upon such crimes were thought to deserve the +same position as the prize-statue of the goddess. And now, unless you, +in your turn, set a check upon this excess of licence, the result must +be ridicule, impunity, and shame.[5] {273} You would do well, I think, +men of Athens, to imitate your forefathers, not in this or that point +alone, but continuously, and in all that they did. Now I am sure that +you have all heard the story of Callias,[n] the son of Hipponicus, to +whose diplomacy was due the Peace which is universally celebrated, and +which provided that the king should not come down by land within a +day's ride of the sea, nor sail with a ship of war between the +Chelidonian islands and the Cyanean rocks. He was thought to have taken +bribes on his mission; and your forefathers almost put him to death, +and actually fined him, at the examination of his report, a sum of 50 +talents. {274} True it is, that no more honourable peace can be +mentioned than this, of all which the city ever made before or +afterwards. But it was not to this that they looked. The nature of the +Peace they attributed to their own prowess and the glory of their city: +but whether the transaction was disinterested or corrupt, depended upon +the character of the ambassador; and they expected the character +displayed by one who took part in public affairs to be upright and +incorruptible. {275} Your ancestors, then, regarded corruption as so +inimical, so unprofitable, to the state, that they would not admit it +in connexion with any single transaction or any single man; while you, +men of Athens, though you have seen that the Peace which has laid low +the walls of your own allies is building the houses of your +ambassadors--that the Peace which has robbed the city of her +possessions has secured for them more than they had ever before hoped +for even in their dreams--you, I say, instead of putting them to death +of your own accord, need a prosecutor to assist you; and when all can +see their crimes in very deed, you are making their trial a trial of +words. + +{276} It is not, however, by the citation of ancient history, nor by +these examples alone, that one may stimulate you to vengeance: for even +within the lifetime of yourselves, who are here and still living, many +have paid the penalty. All the rest of these I will pass over; but I +will mention one or two of those who were punished with death, on +returning from a mission whose results have been far less disastrous to +the city than those of the present Embassy. (_To the clerk._) Take then +this decree and read it. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{277} In this decree, men of Athens, you passed sentence of death upon +those ambassadors, one of whom was Epicrates,[n] a good man, as I am +told by my elders, and one who had in many ways been of service to his +country--one of those who brought the people back from the Peiraeus,[n] +and who was generally an upholder of the democracy. Yet none of these +services helped him, and rightly. For one who claims to manage affairs +of such magnitude has not merely to be half honest; he must not secure +your confidence and then take advantage of it to increase his power to +do mischief; he must do absolutely no wrong against you of his own +will. {278} Now if there is one of the things for which those men were +sentenced to death, that these men have not done, you may put me to +death without delay. Observe what the charges were. 'Since they +conducted their mission,' says the decree,[n] 'contrary to the terms of +the resolution'--that is the first of the charges. And have not these +men contravened the terms of the resolution? Does not the decree speak +of peace 'for the Athenians and the allies of the Athenians?' and did +they not exclude the Phocians from the treaty? Does not the decree bid +them administer the oath to the magistrates in the several cities? and +did they not administer it to men sent to them by Philip? Does not the +resolution forbid them 'to meet Philip anywhere alone?' and did they +not incessantly do business with him privately? {279} Again I read, +'And some of them have been convicted of making a false report before +the Council.' But these men have been convicted of doing so before the +People as well. And convicted by whom? for this is the splendid +thing.[n] Convicted by the actual facts; for all that has happened, as +you know, has been the exact reverse of what they announced. 'And,' the +decree goes on, 'of not sending true dispatches.' Nor did these men. +'And of accusing our allies falsely and taking bribes.' Instead of +'accusing falsely', say, 'of having utterly ruined'--surely a far more +heinous thing than a false accusation. And as for the charge of taking +bribes, if it had been denied, it would still have required proof; but +since they admitted it, a summary procedure was surely the proper one. +{280} What then will you do, men of Athens? You are the offspring of +that generation, and some of you are actually survivors from it; and +will you endure it, that Epicrates, the benefactor of the people, one +of the men from the Peiraeus, should have been exiled and punished;[n] +that Thrasybulus, again, the son of the great Thrasybulus, the People's +friend, who brought the people back from Phyle, should recently have +been fined ten talents; and that the descendant of Harmodius,[n] and of +those who achieved for you the greatest of blessings, and whom, for the +benefits which they conferred upon you, you have caused to share in the +libations and the bowls outpoured, in every temple where sacrifice is +offered, singing of them and honouring them as you honour heroes and +gods--{281} that all these, I say, should have undergone the penalty +ordained by the laws, and that no feeling of compassion or pity, nor +the tears of their children who bore the names of our benefactors, nor +aught else, should have availed them anything: and yet, when you have +to do with the son of Atrometus the schoolmaster, and Glaucothea, who +used to hold those meetings of the initiated, a practice for which +another priestess[n] was put to death--when you have in your hands the +son of such parents, a man who never did a single service to his +country--neither himself, nor his father, nor any of his house--will +you let him go? {282} Where is the horse, the trireme, the military +service, the chorus, the burden undertaken[n] for the state, the +war-contribution, the loyal action, the peril undergone, for which in +all their lifetime the city has had to thank him or his? Aye, and even +if all these stood to his credit, and those other qualifications, of +uprightness and integrity in his mission, were not also to be found in +him, it would surely have been right that he should perish. But when +neither the one nor the other are to be found, will you not avenge +yourselves upon him? {283} Will you not call to mind his own words, +when he was prosecuting Timarchus--that there was no help for a city +which had no sinews to use against the criminal, nor for a constitution +in which compassion and solicitation were more powerful than the +laws--that it was your duty not to pity the aged mother of Timarchus, +nor his children, nor any one else, but to attend solely to one point, +namely, that if you abandoned the cause of the laws and the +constitution, you would look in vain for any to have pity on +yourselves. {284} Is that unhappy man to have lost his rights as a +citizen, because he witnessed the guilt of Aeschines, and will you then +suffer Aeschines to escape unscathed? On what ground can you do so? for +if Aeschines demanded so heavy a penalty from those whose sins were +against their own persons, what must be the magnitude of the penalty +which _you_ should require--you, the sworn judges of the case--from +those who have sinned so greatly against their country's interests, and +of whom Aeschines is convincingly proved to be one? {285} 'But,' we are +told, 'that was a trial which will raise the moral standard of our +young men.' Yes, and this trial will raise that of our statesmen, upon +whose character the supreme interests of the city are staked. For your +care ought to extend to them also. But you must realize that his real +motive for ruining Timarchus himself was not, Heaven knows, to be found +in any anxiety for the virtue of your sons. Indeed, men of Athens, they +are virtuous even now; for I trust that the city will never have fallen +so low, as to need Aphobetus and Aeschines to reform the morals of the +young. {286} No! the reason was that Timarchus had proposed in the +Council, that if any one was convicted of conveying arms or fittings +for ships of war to Philip, the penalty should be death. And here is a +proof. How long had Timarchus been in the habit of addressing you? For +a long time. Now throughout all this time Aeschines was in Athens, and +never showed any vexation or indignation at the fact of such a man +addressing you, until he had been to Macedonia and made himself a +hireling. (_To the clerk._) Come, take the actual decree which +Timarchus proposed, and read it. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{287} So the man who proposed on your behalf the resolution which +forbade, on pain of death, the supply of arms to Philip during the war, +has been ruined and treated with contumely; while Aeschines, who had +surrendered the arms of your very allies to Philip, was his accuser, +and charged him--I call Heaven and Earth to witness--with unnatural +offences, although two of his own kinsmen stood by his side, the very +sight of whom would call forth a cry of protest from you--the +disgusting Nicias, who went to Egypt and hired himself to Chabrias, and +the accursed Cyrebion,[n] who joins in processions, as a reveller,[n] +without a mask. Nay, why mention these things? His own brother +Aphobetus was there before his eyes! In very truth all the words that +were spoken on that day about unnatural offences were water flowing up +stream.[n] + +{288} And now, to show you the dishonour into which the villainy and +mendacity of the defendant have brought our country, passing by all +besides, I will mention a fact known to you all. Formerly, men of +Athens, all the other Hellenes used to watch attentively, to see what +had been resolved in your Assembly; but now we are already going about +and inquiring what others have decided--trying to overhear what the +Arcadians are doing, or the Amphictyons, or where Philip will be next, +and whether he is alive or dead. {289} We do this, do we not? But for +me the terrible question is not whether Philip is alive, but whether in +this city the habit of execrating and punishing criminals is dead. +Philip has no terrors for me, if your own spirit is sound; but the +prospect that you may grant security to those who wish to receive their +wages from him--that they may be supported by some of those whom you +have trusted, and that those who have all along denied that they were +acting in Philip's interests may now mount the platform in their +defence--that is the prospect which terrifies me. {290} Tell me, +Eubulus, why it was, that at the recent trial of your cousin +Hegesilaus,[n] and of Thrasybulus, the uncle of Niceratus, when the +primary question[n] was before the jury, you would not even respond +when they called upon you; and that when you rose to speak on the +assessment of the penalty,[n] you uttered not a word in their defence, +but only asked the jury to be indulgent to you? Do you refuse to ascend +the platform in defence of kinsmen and relations, {291} and will you +then do so in defence of Aeschines, who, when Aristophon was +prosecuting Philonicus, and in accusing him was denouncing your own +acts, joined with him in accusing you, and was found in the ranks of +your enemies? You frightened your countrymen here by saying that they +must either march down to the Peiraeus at once, and pay the war-tax, +and convert the festival-fund into a war-fund, or else pass the decree +advocated by Aeschines and proposed by the shameless Philocrates--{292} +a decree, of which the result was that the Peace became a disgraceful +instead of a fair one, and that these men have ruined everything by +their crimes: and have you, after all this, become reconciled to him? +You uttered imprecations upon Philip, in the presence of the people, +and swore by the life of your children that you would be glad if +perdition seized him; and will you now come to the aid of Aeschines? +How can perdition seize Philip, when you are trying to save those who +take bribes from him? {293} Why is it that you prosecuted Moerocles for +misappropriating 20 drachmae out of the sums paid by each of the +lessees of the mines, and indicted Ctesiphon for the theft of sacred +moneys, because he paid 7 minae into the bank three days too late; and +yet, when men have taken money and confess it, and are convicted, by +being caught in the very act, of having done so in order to bring about +the ruin of our allies, you do not prosecute them, but even command +their acquittal? {294} But the appalling character of these crimes and +the great watchfulness and caution that they call for, and the +triviality of the offences for which you prosecuted those other men, +may further be seen in this way. Were there any men in Elis who stole +public funds? It is very likely indeed. Well, had any of them anything +to do with the overthrow of the democracy there? Not one of them. +Again, while Olynthus was standing, were there others of the same +character there? I am sure that there were. Was it then through them +that Olynthus was destroyed? No. Again, do you not suppose that in +Megara there was someone who was a thief and who embezzled public +funds? There must have been. Well, has any such person been shown to be +responsible for the recent crisis there? {295} Not one. But of what +sort _are_ the men who commit crimes of such a character and magnitude? +They are those who count themselves worthy to be styled friends and +guest-friends of Philip, who would fain be generals, who claim[n] to be +leaders, who must needs be exalted above the people. Was not Perillus +put on his trial lately before the Three Hundred at Megara, because he +went to Philip's court; and did not Ptoeodorus, the first man in Megara +in wealth, family, and distinction, come forward and beg him off, and +send him back again to Philip? and was not the consequence that the one +came back at the head of the mercenaries, while the other was churning +the butter[n] at home? {296} For there is nothing, nothing, I say, in +the world, which you must be so careful not to do, as not to allow any +one to become more powerful than the People. I would have no man +acquitted or doomed, to please any individual. Only let us be sure that +the man whose actions acquit or condemn him will receive from you the +verdict he deserves. {297} That is the true democratic principle. And +further, it is true that many men have come to possess great influence +with you at particular times--Callistratus, and again Aristophon, +Diophantus, and others before them. But where did each of these +exercise his primacy? In the Assembly of the People. But in the +law-courts no man has ever, to this day, carried more influence than +the laws and the juror's oath. Do not then allow the defendant to have +such influence to-day. To prove to you that there is good reason for +you not to trust, but to beware of such influence, I will read you an +oracle of the gods, who always protect the city far better than do its +foremost citizens. (_To the clerk._) Read the oracles. + +[_The oracles are read._] + +{298} You hear, men of Athens, the warnings of the gods. If these +responses were given by them when you were at war, they mean that you +must beware of your generals, since in war it is the generals who are +leaders; but if they were uttered after you had made peace, they must +refer to those who are at the head of your government; for these are +the leaders whom you obey, and it is by these that you are in danger of +being led astray. 'And hold the state together' [says the oracle] +'until all are of one mind, and afford no joy to their foes.' {299} +Which event then, men of Athens, do you think would afford joy to +Philip--the acquittal of one who has brought about all this evil, or +his punishment? His acquittal, I am sure. But the oracle, you see, says +that we should so act as not to afford joy to our foes; and therefore, +by the mouth of Zeus, of Dione,[n] and of all the gods, is this +exhortation given to us all, that with one mind we chastise those who +have done any service to our enemies. Without are those who are +plotting against us, within are their confederates. The part of the +plotters is to offer the bribe; that of their confederates is to +receive it, and to save from condemnation those who have received it. + +{300} And further, it needs no more than human reason to arrive at the +conclusion that nothing can be more hateful and dangerous than to allow +your first citizen to be intimate with those whose objects are not +those of the People. Consider by what means Philip has become master of +the entire situation, and by what means he has accomplished the +greatest of his successes. It has been by purchasing the opportunities +for action from those who offered them for sale--by corrupting and +exciting the aspirations of the leaders of their several cities. {301} +These have been the means. Now both of these methods it is in your +power, if you wish it, to render futile to-day, if you will refuse to +listen to prominent persons who speak in defence of such practices, and +will thus prove that they have no power over you--for now they assert +that they have you under their control--while at the same time you +punish the man who has sold himself, and let all the world see what you +have done. {302} For you would have reason enough, men of Athens, for +being angry with any man who had acted so, and had betrayed your allies +and your friends and your opportunities (for with these are bound up +the whole prosperity or adversity of every people), but with no one +more than with Aeschines, or with greater justice. After taking up a +position as one of those who mistrusted Philip--after being the first +and the only man to perceive that Philip was the common enemy of all +the Hellenes--he deserted, he betrayed you; he suddenly became Philip's +supporter. Surely he deserves to die many times over! {303} Nay, he +himself will not be able to deny that these things are so. For who was +it that brought Ischander forward before you originally, stating that +he had come from the friends of Athens in Arcadia? Who was it that +cried out that Philip was organizing Hellas and the Peloponnese against +you, while you were asleep? Who was it that delivered those long and +noble orations to the people, that read to you the decrees of Miltiades +and Themistocles, and the oath of the young soldiers[n] in the temple +of Aglaurus? {304} Was it not the defendant? Who was it that persuaded +you to send embassies almost as far as the Red Sea, on the ground that +Philip was plotting against Hellas, and that it was for you to foresee +this and not to sacrifice the interests of the Hellenes? Was it not +Eubulus who proposed the decree, while the ambassador to the +Peloponnese was the defendant Aeschines? What expressions he used in +his address to the people, after he arrived there, is best known to +himself: but I know you all remember what he reported to you. {305} +Many a time in the course of his speech he called Philip 'barbarian' +and 'devil'; and he reported the delight of the Arcadians at the +thought that Athens was now waking up and attending to public affairs. +One thing he told us, which caused him, he said, more distress than +anything else. As he was leaving, he met Atrestidas, who was travelling +home from Philip's court, and with him were walking some thirty women +and children. Wondering at this, he asked one of the travellers who the +man was, and what this crowd was along with him; {306} and on hearing +that it was Atrestidas, who was on his way home, and that these with +him were captives from Olynthus whom Philip had given him as a present, +he was struck with the atrocity of the thing and burst into tears, and +lamented the unhappy condition of Hellas, that she should allow such +tragedies to pass unnoticed. At the same time he counselled you to send +representatives to Arcadia to denounce Philip's agents, saying that his +friends told him that if Athens took notice of the matter and sent +envoys, Philip's agents would be punished. {307} Such, men of Athens, +was the tenor of his speeches then; and very noble they were, and +worthy of this city. But when he had been to Macedonia, and had seen +the enemy of himself and of the Hellenes, were his speeches couched any +more in the same or a similar tone? Far from it! He told you that you +must neither remember your forefathers nor mention your trophies, nor +go to the aid of any one. He was amazed, he said, at those who urged +you to confer with the rest of the Hellenes in regard to the Peace with +Philip, as though there was any need to convince some one else about a +matter which was purely your own affair. {308} And as for Philip, 'Why, +good gracious!' said he, 'Philip is the most thorough Hellene in the +world, a most able speaker, and most friendly towards Athens: only +there are certain persons in Athens so unreasonable and so churlish, +that they are not ashamed to slander him and call him "barbarian".' Now +is it possible that the man who had formerly spoken as Aeschines did, +should now have dared to speak in such a way, if he had not been +corrupted? What? {309} Is there a man who after conceiving such +detestation for Atrestidas, owing to those children and women from +Olynthus, could have endured to act in conjunction with Philocrates, +who brought freeborn Olynthian women here to gratify his lust, and is +so notorious for his abominable living, that it is unnecessary for me +now to use any offensive or unpleasant expression about him; for if I +say that Philocrates brought women here, the rest will be understood by +all of you and of the bystanders, and you will, I am sure, pity the +poor unhappy creatures--though Aeschines felt no pity for them, and +shed no tears for Hellas at the sight of them, or at the thought of the +outrages they were suffering among their own allies at the hands of our +ambassadors. {310} No! he will shed tears on his own behalf--he whose +proceedings as ambassador have had such results--and perhaps he will +bring forward his children, and mount them upon the platform. But, +gentlemen of the jury, when you see the children of Aeschines, remember +that the children of many of your allies and friends are now vagabonds, +wandering in beggary, owing to the cruel treatment they have suffered +in consequence of his conduct, and that these deserve your compassion +far more than those whose father is a criminal and a traitor. Remember +that your own children have been robbed even of their hopes by these +men, who inserted among the terms of the Peace the clause which +extended it to posterity. And when you see the tears of Aeschines, +remember that you have now before you a man who urged you to send +representatives to Arcadia to denounce the agents of Philip. {311} Now +to-day you need send no embassy to the Peloponnese; you need take no +long journey; you need incur no travelling expenses. Each of you need +only come as far as this platform, to deposit the vote which piety and +justice demand of him, on behalf of your country; and to condemn the +man who--I call Earth and Heaven to witness!--after originally +delivering the speeches which I described, speaking of Marathon and of +Salamis, and of your battles and your trophies, suddenly--so soon as he +had set foot in Macedonia--changed his tone completely, and told you +that you must not remember your forefathers, nor recount your trophies, +nor go to the aid of any one, nor take common counsel with the +Hellenes--who all but told you that you must pull down your walls. +{312} Never throughout all time, up to this day, have speeches more +shameful than these been delivered before you. What Hellene, what +foreigner, is so dense, or so uninstructed, or so fierce in his hatred +of our city, that if one were to put to him this question, and say, +'Tell me now; of all Hellas, as it now is--all this inhabited +country--is there any part which would have been called by this name, +or inhabited by the Hellenes who now possess it, unless those who +fought at Marathon and Salamis, our forefathers, had displayed that +high prowess on their behalf?' Why, I am certain that not one would +answer 'Yes': they would say that all these regions must have been +conquered by the barbarians. {313} If then no single man, not even one +of our enemies, would have deprived them of these their panegyrics and +praises, does Aeschines forbid you to remember them--you their +descendants--in order that he himself may receive money? In all other +blessings, moreover, the dead have no share; but the praises which +follow their noble deeds are the peculiar possession of those who have +died thus; for then even envy opposes them no longer. Of these praises +Aeschines would deprive them; and justly, therefore, would he now be +deprived of his privileges as as a citizen, and justly, in the name of +your forefathers, would you exact from him this penalty. Such words you +used, nevertheless, in the wickedness of your heart, to despoil and +traduce the deeds of our forefathers, and by your word you ruined all +our interests in very deed. {314} And then, as the outcome of this, you +are a landed gentleman, and have become a personage of consequence! For +this, too, you must notice. Before he had wrought every kind of +mischief against the city he acknowledged that he had been a clerk; he +was grateful to you for having elected him, and behaved himself +modestly. But since he has wrought countless evils, he has drawn up his +eyebrows, and if any one speaks of 'Aeschines the late clerk', he is +his enemy at once, and declares that he has been insulted: he walks +through the market-place with his cloak trailing down to his ankles, +keeping step with Pythocles,[n] and puffing out his cheeks--already one +of Philip's friends and guest-friends, if you please--one of those who +would be rid of the democracy, and who regard the established +constitution as so much tempestuous madness--he who was once the humble +servant of the Round Chamber. + +{315} I wish now to recapitulate to you summarily the ways in which +Philip got the better of you in policy, when he had taken these +heaven-detested men to aid him. It is well worth while to review and +contemplate the course of his deception as a whole. It began with his +anxiety for peace; for his country was being plundered, and his ports +were closed, so that he could enjoy none of the advantages which they +afforded; and so he sent the messengers who uttered those generous +sentiments on his behalf--Neoptolemus, Aristodemus, and Ctesiphon. +{316} But so soon as we went to him as your ambassadors, he immediately +hired the defendant to second and co-operate with the abominable +Philocrates, and so get the better of those who wished to act +uprightly; and he composed such a letter to you as he thought would be +most likely to help him to obtain peace. {317} But even so, he had no +better chance than before of effecting anything of importance against +you, unless he could destroy the Phocians. And this was no easy matter. +For he had now been reduced, as if by chance, to a position in which he +must either find it impossible to effect any of his designs, or else +must perforce lie and forswear himself, and make all men, whether +Hellenes or foreigners, witnesses of his own baseness. {318} For if, on +the one hand, he received the Phocians as allies, and administered the +oath to them together with yourselves, it at once became necessary for +him to break his oaths to the Thessalians and Thebans; for he had sworn +to aid the latter in the reduction of Boeotia, and the former in the +recovery of their place in the Amphictyonic Council; but if, on the +other hand, he refused to receive them (as in fact he did reject them), +he thought that you would not let him cross the Pass, but would rally +to Thermopylae--and so you would have done, had you not been misled; +and if this happened, he calculated that he would be unable to march +across. {319} Nor had he to learn this from others; he had already the +testimony of his own experience. For on the occasion of his first +defeat of the Phocians, when he destroyed their mercenaries and their +leader and general, Onomarchus, although not a single human being, +Hellene or foreigner, came to the aid of the Phocians, except +yourselves, so far was he from crossing the Pass and thereafter +carrying out any of his designs, that he could not even approach near +it. {320} He realized, I imagine, quite clearly, that at a time when +the feelings of the Thessalians were turning against him, and the +Pheraeans (to take the first instance) refused to accompany him--when +the Thebans were being worsted and had lost a battle, and a trophy had +been erected to celebrate their defeat--it was impossible for him to +cross the Pass, if you rallied to its defence; and that if he made the +attempt he would regret it, unless some cunning could be called in to +aid him. How then, he asked, can I avoid open falsehood, and yet +accomplish all that I wish without appearing perjured? How can it be +done? It can be done, if I can get some of the Athenians to deceive the +Athenians. In that case the discredit no longer falls to my share. +{321} And so Philip's own envoys first informed you that Philip +declined to receive the Phocians as allies; and then these men took up +the tale, and addressed you to the effect that it was inconvenient to +Philip to receive the Phocians as your allies openly, on account of the +Thebans and the Thessalians; but if he gets command of the situation, +they said, and is granted the Peace, he will do just what we should now +request him to promise to do. {322} So they obtained the Peace from +you, by holding out these seductive hopes, without including the +Phocians. But they had still to prevent the expedition to Thermopylae, +for the purpose of which, despite the Peace, your fifty ships were +still lying ready at anchor, in order that, if Philip marched, you +might prevent him. {323} How then could it be done? what cunning could +be used in regard to this expedition in its turn? They must deprive you +of the necessary time, by bringing the crisis upon you suddenly, so +that, even if you wished to set out, you might be unable to do so. So +this, it appears, was what these men undertook to do; while for my +part, as you have often been told, I was unable to depart in advance of +them, and was prevented from sailing even when I had hired a boat for +the purpose. {324} But it was further necessary that the Phocians +should come to believe in Philip and give themselves up to him +voluntarily, in order that there might be no delay in carrying out the +plan, and that no hostile decree whatever might issue from you. 'And +therefore,' said he, 'the Athenian ambassadors shall announce that the +Phocians are to be preserved from destruction, so that even if any one +persists in distrusting me, he will believe them, and put himself in my +hands. We will summon the Athenians themselves, so that they may +imagine that all that they want is secured, and may pass no hostile +decree: but the ambassadors shall make such reports about us, and give +such promises, as will prevent them from moving under any +circumstances.' {325} It was in this way, and by such trickery as this, +that all was ruined, through the action of these doomed wretches. For +immediately afterwards, as you know, instead of seeing Thespiae and +Plataeae repeopled, you heard that Orchomenus and Coroneia had been +enslaved; instead of Thebes being humbled and stripped of her insolence +and pride, the walls of your own allies were being razed, and it was +the Thebans who were razing them--the Thebans who, according to +Aeschines' story, were as good as broken up into villages. {326} +Instead of Euboea being handed over to you in exchange for Amphipolis, +Philip is making new bases of operations against you in Euboea itself, +and is plotting incessantly against Geraestus and Megara. Instead of +the restoration of Oropus to you, we are making an expedition under +arms to defend Drymus and the country about Panactum[n]--a step which +we never took so long as the Phocians remained unharmed. {327} Instead +of the restoration of the ancestral worship in the temple, and the +exaction of the debt due to the god, the true Amphictyons are +fugitives, who have been banished and their land laid desolate; and +Macedonians, foreigners, men who never were Amphictyons in the past, +are now forcing their way to recognition; while any one who mentions +the sacred treasures is thrown from the rocks, and our city has been +deprived of her right to precedence in consulting the oracle. {328} +Indeed, the story of all that has happened to the city sounds like a +riddle. Philip has spoken no falsehood, and has accomplished all that +he wished: you hoped for the fulfilment of your fondest prayers, and +have seen the very opposite come to pass; you suppose yourselves to be +at peace, and have suffered more terribly than if you had been at war; +while these men have received money for all this, and up to this very +day have not paid the penalty. {329} For that the situation has been +made what it is solely by bribery, and that these men have received +their price for it all, has, I feel sure, long been plain to you in +many ways; and I am afraid that, quite against my will, I may long have +been wearying you by attempting to prove with elaborate exactness what +you already know for yourselves. {330} Yet this one point I ask you +still to listen to. Is there, gentlemen of the jury, one of the +ambassadors whom Philip sent, whose statue in bronze you would erect in +the market-place? Nay, one to whom you would give maintenance in the +Town Hall, or any other of those complimentary grants with which you +honour your benefactors? I think not. And why? For you are of no +ungrateful or unfair or mean disposition. You would reply, that it is +because all that they did was done in the interest of Philip, and +nothing in your own; and the reply would be true and just. {331} Do you +imagine then that, when such are your sentiments, Philip's are not also +such? Do you imagine that he gives all these magnificent presents +because your ambassadors conducted their mission honourably and +uprightly with a view to _your_ interest? Impossible. Think of +Hegesippus, and the manner in which he and the ambassadors who +accompanied him were received by Philip. To go no further, he banished +Xenocleides, the well-known poet, by public proclamation, because he +received the ambassadors, his own fellow citizens. For so it is that he +behaves to men who honestly say what they think on your behalf: while +to those who have sold themselves he behaves as he has to these men. Do +we then need witnesses? do we need stronger proofs than these to +establish my conclusions? Will any one be able to steal these +conclusions from your minds? + +{332} Now I was told a most extraordinary thing just now by some one +who accosted me in front of the Court, namely, that the defendant is +prepared to accuse Chares, and that by such methods and such arguments +as that, he hopes to deceive you. I will not lay undue stress on the +fact that Chares,[n] subjected to every form of trial, was found to +have acted on your behalf, so far as was in his power, with +faithfulness and loyalty, while his frequent shortcomings were due to +those who, for money, were cruelly injuring your cause. But I will go +much further. Let it be granted that all that the defendant will say of +Chares is true. {333} Even so it is utterly absurd that Aeschines +should accuse him. For I do not lay the blame on Aeschines for anything +that was done in the course of the war--it is the generals who have to +account for all such proceedings--nor do I hold him responsible for the +city's having made peace. So far I acquit him of everything. What then +do I allege, and at what point does my accusation begin? I accuse him +of having supported Philocrates, at the time when the city was making +peace, instead of supporting those who proposed what was for your real +good. I accuse him of taking bribes, and subsequently, on the Second +Embassy, of wasting time, and of not carrying out any of your +instructions. I accuse him of cheating the city, and ruining +everything, by the suggestion of hopes that Philip would do all that we +desired; and then I accuse him of speaking afterwards in defence of one +of whom[n] all warned him to beware, on account of the great crimes of +which he had been guilty. {334} These are my charges, and these are +what you must bear in mind. For a Peace that was honest and fair, and +men that had sold nothing and had told no falsehoods afterwards, I +would even have commended, and would have bidden you crown them. But +the injuries which some general may have done you have nothing to do +with the present examination. Where is the general who has caused the +loss of Halus? or of the Phocians? or of Doriscus? or of Cersobleptes? +or of the Sacred Mountain? or of Thermopylae? Who has secured Philip a +road to Attica that leads entirely through the country of allies and +friends? who has given Coroneia and Orchomenus and Euboea to others? +who has all but given Megara to the enemy, only recently? who has made +the Thebans powerful? {335} Not one of all these heavy losses was the +work of the generals; nor does Philip hold any of these places because +you were persuaded to concede it to him by the treaty of peace. The +losses are due to these men and to their corruption. If then he evades +these points, and tries to mislead you by speaking of every other +possible subject, this is how you must receive his attempt. 'We are not +sitting in judgement upon any general,' you must say, 'nor are you on +your trial for the things of which you speak. Do not tell us whether +some one else may not also be responsible for the ruin of the Phocians: +prove to us that no responsibility attaches to yourself. Why do you +tell us _now_ of the alleged iniquities of Demosthenes, instead of +accusing him when his report was under examination? For such an +omission alone you deserve to perish. {336} Do not speak of the beauty +of peace, nor of its advantages. No one holds you responsible for the +city's having made peace. But show that it was not a shameful and +discreditable peace; that we have not since been deceived in many ways; +that all was not lost. It is for all these things that the +responsibility has been proved to be yours. And why, even to this hour, +do you praise the man who has done us all this evil?' If you keep a +watch upon him thus, he will have nothing to say; and then he will lift +up his voice here, in spite of all his vocal exercises, to no purpose. + +{337} And yet perhaps it is necessary for me to speak about his voice +also. For of this too, I am told, he is extremely proud, and expects to +carry you away by his declamation. But seeing that you used to drive +him away and hiss him out of the theatre and almost stone him, when he +was performing the tragic story of Thyestes or of the Trojan War, so +that at last he gave up his third-rate playing, you would be acting in +the most extraordinary way if, now that he has wrought countless ills, +not on the stage, but in the most important affairs in the public life +of the state, you listened to him for his fine voice. {338} By no means +must you do this, or give way to any foolish sentiment. Rather reflect, +that if you were testing the qualifications of a herald, you would then +indeed look for a fine voice; but when you are testing those of an +ambassador, or a man who claims the administration of any public +business, you must look for an upright man--a man who bears himself +proudly indeed, as your representative, but seeks no more than equality +with yourselves--as I myself refused to pay respect to Philip, but did +pay respect to the captives, whom I saved, and never for a moment drew +back; whereas Aeschines rolled at Philip's feet, and chanted his +paeans, while he looks down upon you. {339} And further, whenever you +notice that cleverness or a good voice or any other natural advantage +has been given to an honest and public-spirited man, you ought all to +congratulate him and help him to cultivate his gift; for the gift is an +advantage in which you all share, as well as he. But when the gift is +found in a corrupt and villainous man, who can never resist the chance +of gain, then you should exclude him from your presence, and give a +harsh and hostile reception to his words: for villainy, which wins from +you the reputation of ability, is the enemy of the State. {340} You see +what great troubles have fallen upon the city, through those qualities +which have brought renown to Aeschines. But whereas all other faculties +are more or less independent, the gift of eloquence, when it meets with +hostility from you who listen, is a broken thing. Listen, then, to the +defendant as you would listen to a corrupt villain, who will not speak +a single word of truth. + +{341} Observe also that the conviction of the defendant is in every way +expedient, not only on all other grounds, but even when you consider +our relations with Philip himself. For if ever Philip finds himself +compelled to give the city any of her rights, he will change his +methods. As it is, he has chosen to deceive the people as a whole, and +to show his favours to a few persons; whereas, if he learns that these +men have perished, he will prefer for the future to act in the interest +of yourselves collectively, in whose hands all power rests. {342} If, +however, he intends to persist in his present domineering and +outrageous insolence, you will, by getting rid of these men, have rid +the city of those who would do anything in the world for him. For when +they have acted as they have done, with the expectation of having to +pay the penalty in their minds, what do you think they will do, if you +relax your severity towards them? Where is the Euthycrates,[n] or the +Lasthenes, or the traitor of any description, whom they will not outdo? +{343} And who among all the rest will not be a worse citizen, when he +sees that, for those who have sold themselves, the friendship of Philip +serves, in consequence, for revenue, for reputation, and for capital; +while to those who have conducted themselves uprightly, and have spent +their own money as well, the consequences are trouble, hatred, and ill +will from a certain party. Let it not be so. It is not for your +good--whether you regard your reputation or your duty towards Heaven or +your safety or any other object, that you should acquit the defendant; +but rather that you should avenge yourselves upon him, and make him an +example in the eyes of all your fellow citizens and of the whole +Hellenic world. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] This body was composed of life-members, the archons passing into it +annually at the conclusion of their term of office. A certain religious +solemnity attached to it, and it was generally respected as a +public-spirited and high-minded body. + +[2] [Greek: p_os: ti;]. + +[3] Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 761. + +[4] Euripides, _Phoenix_ fragment. + +[5] [Greek: adeia, aischuv_e.]. + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Public Orations of Demosthenes, +volume 1, by Demosthenes + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PUBLIC ORATIONS DEMOSTHENES, VOL I *** + +***** This file should be named 9060.txt or 9060.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/0/6/9060/ + +Produced by Anne Soulard, Jon Ingram and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Public Orations of Demosthenes, volume 1 + +Author: Demosthenes + +Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9060] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on September 2, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PUBLIC ORATIONS OF *** + + + + +Anne Soulard, Jon Ingram and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +THE PUBLIC ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES +IN TWO VOLUMES +VOL I + +TRANSLATED BY +ARTHUR WALLACE PICKARD + + + + +PREFACE + +The translations included in this volume were written at various times during +the last ten years for use in connexion with College Lectures, and a long +holiday, for which I have to thank the Trustees of the Balliol College Endowment +Fund, as well as the Master and Fellows of Balliol College, has enabled me to +revise them and to furnish them with brief introductions and notes. Only those +speeches are included which are generally admitted to be the work of +Demosthenes, and the spurious documents contained in the MSS. of the Speech on +the Crown are omitted. The speeches are arranged in chronological order, and the +several introductions to them are intended to supply an outline of the history +of the period, sufficient to provide a proper setting for the speeches, but not +more detailed than was necessary for this purpose. No discussion of conflicting +evidence has been introduced, and the views which are expressed on the character +and work of Demosthenes must necessarily seem somewhat dogmatic, when given +without the reasons for them. I hope, however, before long to treat the life of +Demosthenes more fully in another form. The estimate here given of his character +as a politician falls midway between the extreme views of Grote and Schaefer on +the one hand, and Beloch and Holm on the other. + +I have tried to render the speeches into such English as a political orator of +the present day might use, without attempting to impart to them any antique +colouring, such as the best-known English translations either had from the first +or have acquired by lapse of time. It is of the essence of political oratory +that it is addressed to contemporaries, and the translation of it should +therefore be into contemporary English; though the necessity of retaining some +of the modes of expression which are peculiar to Greek oratory and political +life makes it impossible to produce completely the appearance of an English +orator's work. The qualities of Demosthenes' eloquence sometimes suggest rather +the oratory of the pulpit than that of the hustings or that of Parliament and of +the law-courts. I cannot hope to have wholly succeeded in my task; but it seemed +to be worth undertaking, and I hope that the work will not prove to have been +altogether useless. + +I have made very little use of other translations; but I must acknowledge a debt +to Lord Brougham's version of the Speeches on the Chersonese and on the Crown, +which, though often defective from the point of view of scholarship and based on +faulty texts, are (together with his notes) very inspiring. I have also, at one +time or another, consulted most of the standard German, French, and English +editions of Demosthenes. I cannot now distinguish how much I owe to each; but I +am conscious of a special debt to the editions of the late Professor Henri Weil, +and of Sir J.E. Sandys, and (in the Speech on the Crown) to that of Professor +W.W. Goodwin. I also owe a few phrases in the earliest speeches to Professor +W.R. Hardie, whose lectures on Demosthenes I attended twenty years ago. My +special thanks are due to my friend Mr. P.E. Matheson of New College, for his +kindness in reading the proof-sheets, and making a number of suggestions, which +have been of great assistance to me. + +The text employed has been throughout that of the late Mr. S.H. Butcher in the +_Bibliotheca Classica Oxoniensis_. Any deviations from this are noted in their +place. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION i. 7 + +LIST OF SPEECHES TRANSLATED + +Traditional Order In this Edition +ORATION I. OLYNTHIAC I i. 87 + II. OLYNTHIAC II i. 99 + III. OLYNTHIAC III i. 109 + IV. PHILIPPIC I i. 68 + V. ON THE PEACE i. 120 + VI. PHILIPPIC II i. 133 + VIII. ON THE CHERSONESE ii. 3 + IX. PHILIPPIC III ii. 26 + XIV. ON THE NAVAL BOARDS i. 31 + XV. FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE RHODIANS i. 56 + XVI. FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS i. 45 + XVIII. ON THE CROWN ii. 47 + XIX. ON THE EMBASSY i. 144 + +NOTES ii. 149 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Demosthenes, the son of Demosthenes of Paeania in Attica, a rich and highly +respected factory-owner, was born in or about the year 384 B.C. He was early +left an orphan; his guardians mismanaged his property for their own advantage; +and although, soon after coming of age in 366, he took proceedings against them +and was victorious in the law-courts, he appears to have recovered comparatively +little from them. In preparing for these proceedings he had the assistance of +Isaeus, a teacher and writer of speeches who was remarkable for his knowledge of +law, his complete mastery of all the aspects of any case with which he had to +do, and his skill in dealing with questions of ownership and inheritance. +Demosthenes' speeches against his guardians show plainly the influence of +Isaeus, and the teacher may have developed in his pupil the thoroughness and the +ingenuity in handling legal arguments which afterwards became characteristic of +his work. + +Apart from this litigation with his guardians, we know little of Demosthenes' +youth and early manhood. Various stories have come down to us (for the most part +not on the best authority), of his having been inspired to aim at an orator's +career by the eloquence and fame of Callistratus; of his having overcome serious +physical defects by assiduous practice; of his having failed, nevertheless, +owing to imperfections of delivery, in his early appearances before the people, +and having been enabled to remedy these by the instruction of the celebrated +actor Satyrus; and of his close study of the _History_ of Thucydides. Upon the +latter point the evidence of his early style leaves no room for doubt, and the +same studies may have contributed to the skill and impressiveness with which, in +nearly every oration, he appeals to the events of the past, and sums up the +lessons of history. Whether he came personally under the influence either of +Plato, the philosopher, or of Isocrates, the greatest rhetorical teacher of his +time, and a political pamphleteer of high principles but little practical +insight, is much more doubtful. The two men were almost as different in +temperament and aims as it was possible to be, but Demosthenes' familiarity with +the published speeches of Isocrates, and with the rhetorical principles which +Isocrates taught and followed, can scarcely be questioned. + +In the early years of his manhood, Demosthenes undertook the composition of +speeches for others who were engaged in litigation. This task required not only +a very thorough knowledge of law, but the power of assuming, as it were, the +character of each separate client, and writing in a tone appropriate to it; and, +not less, the ability to interest and to rouse the active sympathy of juries, +with whom feeling was perhaps as influential as legal justification. This part, +however, of Demosthenes' career only concerns us here in so far as it was an +admirable training for his later work in the larger sphere of politics, in which +the same qualities of adaptability and of power both to argue cogently and to +appeal to the emotions effectively were required in an even higher degree. + +At the time when Demosthenes' interest in public affairs was beginning to take +an active form, Athens was suffering from the recent loss of some of her most +powerful allies. In the year 358 B.C. she had counted within the sphere of her +influence not only the islands of Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros (which had been +guaranteed to her by the Peace of Antalcidas in 387), but also the chief cities +of Euboea, the islands of Chios, Cos, Rhodes, and Samos, Mytilene in Lesbos, the +towns of the Chersonese, Byzantium (a city of the greatest commercial +importance), and a number of stations on the south coast of Thrace, as well as +Pydna, Potidaea, Methone, and the greater part of the country bordering upon the +Thermaic Gulf. But her failure to observe the terms of alliance, laid down when +the new league was founded in 378, had led to a revolt, which ended in 355 or +354 in the loss to her of Chios, Cos, Rhodes, and Byzantium, and of some of the +ablest of her own commanders, and left her treasury almost empty. About the same +time Mytilene and Corcyra also took the opportunity to break with her. Moreover, +her position in the Thermaic region was threatened first by Olynthus, at the +head of the Chalcidic League, which included over thirty towns; and secondly by +Philip, the newly-established King of Macedonia, who seemed likely to displace +both Olynthus and Athens from their positions of commanding influence.[1] + +Nevertheless, Athens, though unable to face a strong combination, was probably +the most powerful single state in Greece. In her equipment and capacity for +naval warfare she had no rival, and certainly no other state could vie with her +in commercial activity and prosperity. The power of Sparta in the Peloponnese +had declined greatly. The establishment of Megalopolis as the centre of a +confederacy of Arcadian tribes, and of Messene as an independent city commanding +a region once entirely subject to Sparta, had seriously weakened her position; +while at the same time her ambition to recover her supremacy kept alive a +feeling of unrest throughout the Peloponnese. Of the other states of South +Greece, Argos was hostile to Sparta, Elis to the Arcadians; Corinth and other +less important cities were not definitely attached to any alliance, but were not +powerful enough to carry out any serious movement alone. In North Greece, +Thebes, though she lacked great leaders, was still a great power, whose +authority throughout Boeotia had been strengthened by the complete or partial +annihilation of Platacae, Thespiae, Orchomenus,[2] and Coroneia. In Athens the +ill feeling against Thebes was strong, owing to the occupation by the Thebans of +Oropus,[2] a frontier town which Athens claimed, and their treatment of the +towns just mentioned, towards which the Athenians were kindly disposed. The +Phocians, who had until recently been unwilling allies of Thebes, were now +hostile and not insignificant neighbours, and about this time entered into +relations with both Sparta and Athens. The subject of contention was the +possession or control of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, which the Phocians had +recently taken by force from the Delphians, who were supported by Thebes; and in +the 'Sacred War' to which this act (which was considered to be sacrilege) gave +rise in 355 B.C., the Thebans and Locrians fought against the Phocians in the +name of the Amphictyonic Council, a body (composed of representatives of tribes +and states of very unequal importance[3]) to which the control of the temple +traditionally belonged. Thessaly appears to have been at this time more or less +under Theban influence, but was immediately dominated by the tyrants of Pherae, +though the several cities seem each to have possessed a nominally independent +government. The Greek peoples were disunited in fact and unfitted for union by +temperament. The twofold desire, felt by almost all the more advanced Greek +peoples, for independence on the one hand, and for 'hegemony' or leadership +among other peoples, on the other, rendered any effective combination +impossible, and made the relations of states to one another uncertain and +inconstant. While each people paid respect to the spirit of autonomy, when their +own autonomy was in question, they were ready to violate it without scruple when +they saw their way to securing a predominant position among their neighbours; +and although the ideal of Panhellenic unity had been put before Greece by +Gorgias and Isocrates, its realization did not go further than the formation of +leagues of an unstable character, each subject, as a rule, to the more or less +tyrannical domination of some one member. + +Probably the power which was most generally feared in the Greek world was that +of the King of Persia. Several times in recent years (and particularly in 387 +and 367) he had been requested to make and enforce a general settlement of +Hellenic affairs. The settlement of 387 (called the King's Peace, or the Peace +of Antalcidas, after the Spartan officer who negotiated it) had ordained the +independence of the Greek cities, small and great, with the exception of those +in Asia Minor, which were to form part of the Persian Empire, and of Lemnos, +Imbros, and Scyros, which were to belong to Athens as before. The attempt to +give effect to the arrangement negotiated in 367 failed, and the terms of the +Peace of Antalcidas, though it was still appealed to, when convenient, as a +charter of liberty, also came to be disregarded. But there was always a sense of +the possibility or the danger of provoking the great king to exert his strength, +or at least to use his wealth, to the detriment of some or all of the Greek +states; though at the moment of which we are speaking (about 355) the Persian +Empire itself was suffering from recent disorders and revolutions, and the king +had little leisure for interfering in the affairs of Greece. + +It was to the department of foreign and inter-Hellenic affairs that Demosthenes +principally devoted himself. His earliest political speeches, however, were +composed and delivered in furtherance of prosecutions for the crime of proposing +illegal legislation. These were the speeches against Androtion (spoken by +Diodorus in 355) and against Leptines (in 354). Both these were written to +denounce measures which Demosthenes regarded as dishonest or unworthy of +Athenian traditions. In the former he displays that desire for clean-handed +administration which is so prominent in some of his later speeches; and in the +prosecution of Leptines he shows his anxiety that Athens should retain her +reputation for good faith. Both speeches, like those of the year 352 against +Timocrates (spoken by Diodorus), and against Aristocrates (spoken by Euthycles), +are remarkable for thoroughness of argument and for the skill which is displayed +in handling legal and political questions, though, like almost all Athenian +forensic orations, they are sometimes sophistical in argument. + +The first speech which is directly devoted to questions of external policy is +that on the Naval Boards in 354; and this is followed within the next two years +by speeches delivered in support of appeals made to Athens by the people of +Megalopolis and by the exiled democratic party of Rhodes. From these speeches it +appears that the general lines of Demosthenes' policy were already determined. +He was in opposition to Eubulus, who, after the disastrous termination of the +war with the allies, had become the leading statesman in Athens. The strength of +Eubulus lay in his freedom from all illusion as to the position in which Athens +stood, in his ability as a financier, and in his readiness to take any measures +which would enable him to carry out his policy. He saw that the prime necessity +of the moment was to recruit the financial and material strength of the city; +that until this should be effected, she was quite incapable of carrying on war +with any other power; and that she could only recover her strength through +peace. In this policy he had the support of the well-to-do classes, who suffered +heavily in time of war from taxation and the disturbance of trade. On the other +hand, the sentiments of the masses were imperialistic and militant. We gather +that there were plenty of orators who made a practice of appealing to the +glorious traditions of the past and the claim always made by Athens to +leadership among the Greek states. To buy off the opposition which his policy +might be expected to encounter, Eubulus distributed funds freely to the people, +in the shape of 'Festival-money', adopting the methods employed before him by +demagogues, very different from himself, in order that he might override the +real sentiments of the democracy; and in spite of the large amounts thus spent +he did in fact succeed, in the course of a few years, in collecting a +considerable sum without resorting to extraordinary taxation, in greatly +increasing the navy and in enlarging the dockyards. For the success of this +policy it was absolutely necessary to avoid all entanglement in war, except +under the strongest compulsion. The appeals of the Megalopolitans and the +Rhodians, to yield to which would probably have meant war with Sparta and with +Persia, must be rejected. Even in dealing with Philip, who was making himself +master of the Athenian allies on the Thermaic coast, the fact of the weakness of +Athens must be recognized, and all idea of a great expedition against Philip +must be abandoned for the present. At the same time, some necessary measures of +precaution were not neglected. It was essential to secure the route to the +Euxine, over which the Athenian corn-trade passed, if corn was not to be sold at +famine prices. For this purpose, therefore, alliance was made with the Thracian +prince, Cersobleptes; and when Philip threatened Heraeon Teichos on the +Propontis, an expedition was prepared, and was only abandoned because Philip +himself was forced to desist from his attempt by illness. Similarly, when Philip +appeared likely to cross the Pass of Thermopylae in 352, an Athenian force was +sent (on the proposal of Diophantus, a supporter of Eubulus) to prevent him. The +failure of Eubulus and his party to give effective aid to Olynthus against +Philip was due to the more pressing necessity of attempting to recover control +of Euboea: it had clearly been their intention to save Olynthus, if possible. +But when this had proved impossible, and the attempt to form a Hellenic league +against Philip had also failed, facts had once more to be recognized; and, since +Athens was now virtually isolated, peace must be made with Philip on the only +terms which he would accept--that each side should keep what it _de facto_ +possessed at the time. + +Demosthenes was generally in opposition to Eubulus and his party, of which +Aeschines (once an actor and afterwards a clerk, but a man of education and +great natural gifts) was one of the ablest members. Demosthenes was inspired by +the traditions of the past, but had a much less vague conception of the moral to +be drawn from them than had the multitude. Athens, for him as for them, was to +be the first state in Hellas; she was above all to be the protectress of +democracy everywhere, against both absolutism and oligarchy, and the leader of +the Hellenes in resistance to foreign aggression. But, unlike the multitude, +Demosthenes saw that this policy required the greatest personal effort and +readiness for sacrifice on the part of every individual; and he devotes his +utmost energies to the task of arousing his countrymen to the necessary pitch of +enthusiasm, and of effecting such reforms in administration and finance as, in +his opinion, would make the realization of his ideal for Athens possible. In the +speeches for the Megalopolitans and the Rhodians, the nature of this ideal is +already becoming clear both in its Athenian and in its Panhellenic aspects. But +so soon as it appeared that Philip, at the head of the half-barbarian +Macedonians, and not Athens, was likely to become the predominant power in the +Hellenic world, it was against Philip that all his efforts were directed; and +although in 346 he is practically at one with the party of Eubulus in his +recognition of the necessity of peace, he is eager, when the opportunity seems +once more to offer itself, to resume the conflict, and, when it is resumed, to +carry it through to the end. + +We have then before us the sharp antagonism of two types of statesmanship. The +strength of the one lies in the recognition of actual facts, and the avoidance +of all projects which seem likely, under existing circumstances, to fail. The +other is of a more sanguine type, and believes in the power of enthusiasm and +self-sacrifice to transform the existing facts into something better, and to win +success against all odds. Statesmen of the former type are always attacked as +unpatriotic and mean-spirited; those of the latter, as unpractical and reckless. +There is truth and falsehood in both accusations: but since no statesman has +ever combined all the elements of statesmanship in a perfect and just +proportion, and since neither prudence and clear-sightedness, nor enthusiastic +and generous sentiment, can ever be dispensed with in the conduct of affairs +without loss, a larger view will attach little discredit to either type. While, +therefore, we may view with regret some of the methods which both Demosthenes +and Aeschines at times condescended to use in their conflicts with one another, +and with no less regret the disastrous result of the policy which ultimately +carried the day, we need not hesitate to give their due to both of the +contending parties: nor, while we recognize that Eubulus and Phocion (his +sturdiest supporter in the field and in counsel) took the truer view of the +situation, and of the character of the Athenians as they were, need we (as it is +now fashionable to do) denounce the orator who strove with unstinting personal +effort and self-sacrifice to rouse the Athenians into a mood in which they could +and would realize the ideal to which they, no less than he, professed their +devotion. + +But the difficulties in the way of such a realization were wellnigh insuperable. +Neither the political nor the military system of Athens was adapted to such a +policy. The Sovereign Assembly, though capable of sensible and energetic action +at moments of special danger, was more likely to be moved by feeling and +prejudice than by businesslike argument, particularly at a time when the +tendency of the best educated and most intelligent men was to withdraw from +participation in public life; and meeting, as the Assembly did (unless specially +summoned), only at stated intervals, it was incapable of taking such rapid, +well-timed, and decisive action as Philip could take, simply because he was a +single man, sole master of his own policy, and personally in command of his own +forces. The publicity which necessarily attached to the discussions of the +Assembly was a disadvantage at a time when many plans would better have been +kept secret; and rapid modifications of policy, to suit sudden changes in the +situation, were almost impossible. Again, while no subjects are so unsuited +under any circumstances for popular discussion as foreign and military affairs, +the absence in Athens of a responsible ministry greatly increased the +difficulties of her position. It is true that the Controller of the Festival +Fund (whose office gradually became more and more important) was now appointed +for four years at a time, while all other offices were annual; and that he and +his friends, and their regular opponents, were generally ready to take the lead +in making proposals to the Council or the Assembly. But if they chose to remain +silent, they could do so;[4] no one was bound to make any proposal at all; and, +on the other hand, any one might do so. With such a want of system, far too much +was left to chance or to the designs of interested persons. Moreover, the +Assembly felt itself under no obligation to follow for any length of time any +lead which might be given to it, or to maintain any continuity or consistency +between its own decrees. In modern times, a minister, brought into power by the +will of the majority of the people, can reckon for a considerable period upon +the more or less loyal support of the majority for himself and his official +colleagues. In Athens the leader of the moment had to be perpetually adapting +himself afresh to the mood of the Assembly, and even to deceive it, in order +that he might lead at all, or carry out the policy which, in his opinion, his +country's need required. It is therefore a remarkable thing that both Eubulus +and Demosthenes succeeded for many years in maintaining a line of action as +consistent as that taken by practical men can ever be. + +The fact that the Council of Five Hundred, which acted as a standing committee +of the people, and prepared business for the Assembly and was responsible for +the details of measures passed by the Assembly in general form, was chosen by +lot and changed annually, as did practically all the civil and the military +officials (though the latter might be re-elected), was all against efficiency +and continuity of policy.[5] After the system of election by lot, the most +characteristic feature of the Athenian democracy was the responsibility of +statesmen and generals to the law-courts.[6] Any citizen might accuse them upon +charges nominally limited in scope, but often serving in reality to bring their +whole career into question. Had it been certain that the courts would only +punish incompetence or misconduct, and not failure as such, little harm would +have resulted. But although there were very many acquittals in political trials, +the uncertainty of the issue was so great, and the sentences inflicted upon the +condemned so severe (commonly involving banishment at least), that the liability +to trial as a criminal must often have deterred the statesman and the general +from taking the most necessary risks; while the condemnation of the accused had +usually the result of driving a really able man out of the country, and +depriving his fellow countrymen of services which might be urgently required +when they were no longer available. + +The financial system was also ill adapted for the purposes of a people +constantly liable to war. The funds required for the bare needs of a time of +peace seem indeed to have been sufficiently provided from permanent sources of +income (such as the silver mines, the rent of public lands, court fees and +fines, and various indirect taxes): but those needed for war had to be met by a +direct tax upon property, levied _ad hoc_ whenever the necessity arose, and not +collected without delays and difficulties. And although the equipment of ships +for service was systematically managed under the trierarchic laws,[7] it was +still subject to delays no less serious. There was no regular system of +contribution to State funds, and no systematic accumulation of a reserve to meet +military needs. The raising of money by means of loans at interest to the State +was only adopted in Greece in a few isolated instances:[8] and the practice of +annually distributing surplus funds to the people,[9] however necessary or +excusable under the circumstances, was wholly contrary to sound finance. + +An even greater evil was the dependence of the city upon mercenary forces and +generals, whose allegiance was often at the call of the highest bidder, and in +consequence was seldom reliable. There is no demand which Demosthenes makes with +greater insistence, than the demand that the citizens themselves shall serve +with the army. At a moment of supreme danger, they might do so. But in fact +Athens had become more and more an industrial state, and men were not willing to +leave their business to take care of itself for considerable periods, in order +to go out and fight, unless the danger was very urgent, or the interests at +stake of vital importance; particularly now that the length of campaigns had +become greater and the seasons exempted from military operations shorter. In +many minds the spread of culture, and of the ideal of self-culture, had produced +a type of individualism indifferent to public concerns, and contemptuous of +political and military ambitions. Moreover, the methods of warfare had undergone +great improvement; in most branches of the army the trained skill of the +professional soldier was really necessary; and it was not possible to leave the +olive-yard or the counting-house and become an efficient fighter without more +ado. But the expensiveness of the mercenary forces; the violent methods by which +they obtained supplies from friends and neutrals, as well as foes, if, as often +happened, their pay was in arrear; and the dependence of the city upon the +goodwill of generals and soldiers who could without much difficulty find +employment under other masters, were evils which were bound to hamper any +attempt to give effect to a well-planned and far-sighted scheme of action. + +It also resulted from the Athenian system of government that the general, while +obviously better informed of the facts of the military situation than any one +else could be, and at the same time always liable to be brought to trial in case +of failure, had little influence upon policy, unless he could find an effective +speaker to represent him. In the Assembly and in the law-courts (where the +juries were large enough to be treated in the same manner as the Assembly +itself) the orator who could win the people's ear was all powerful, and expert +knowledge could only make itself felt through the medium of oratory. + +A constitution which gave so much power to the orator had grave disadvantages. +The temptation to work upon the feelings rather than to appeal to the reason of +the audience was very strong, and no charge is more commonly made by one orator +against another than that of deceiving or attempting to deceive the people. It +is, indeed, very difficult to judge how far an Athenian Assembly was really +taken in by sophistical or dishonest arguments: but it is quite certain that +such arguments were continually addressed to it; and the main body of the +citizens can scarcely have had that first-hand knowledge of facts, which would +enable them to criticize the orator's statements. Again, the oration appealed to +the people as a performance, no less than as a piece of reasoning. Ancient +political oratory resembled the oratory of the pulpit at the present day, not +only because it appealed perpetually to the moral sense, and was in fact a kind +of preaching; but also because the main difficulty of the ancient orator and the +modern preacher was the same: for the Athenians liked being preached at, as the +modern congregation 'enjoys' a good sermon, and were, therefore, almost equally +immune against conversion. The conflicts of rival orators were regarded mainly +as an entertainment. The speaker who was most likely to carry the voting (except +when a great crisis had roused the Assembly to seriousness) was the one who +found specious and apparently moral reasons for doing what would give the +audience least trouble; and consequently one who, like Demosthenes, desired to +stir them up to action and personal sacrifices, had always an uphill fight: and +if he also at times 'deceived the people' or employed sophistical arguments in +order to secure results which he believed to be for their good, we must remember +the difficulty (which, in spite of the wide circulation of authentic +information, is at least equally great at the present day) of putting the true +reasons for or against a policy, before those who, whether from want of +education or from lack of training in the subordination of feeling to thought, +are not likely to understand or to listen to them. Nor, if we grant the +genuineness of Demosthenes' conviction as to the desirability of the end for +which he contended, can many statesmen be pointed out, who have not been at +least as guilty as he in their choice of means. That he did not solve the +problem, how to lead a democracy by wholly honest means, is the less to his +discredit, in that the problem still remains unsolved. + +It should be added that with an audience like the Athenian, whose aesthetic +sensitiveness was doubtless far greater than that of any modern assembly, +delivery counted for much. Aeschines' fine voice was a real danger to +Demosthenes, and Demosthenes himself spoke of delivery, or the skilled acting of +his part, as the all-important condition of an orator's success. But it is clear +that this can have been no advantage from the standpoint of the public interest. + +In the law-courts the drawbacks to which the commanding influence of oratory was +liable were intensified. In the Assembly a certain amount of reticence and self- +restraint was imposed by custom: an opponent could not be attacked by name or on +purely personal grounds; and an appearance of impartiality was commonly assumed. +But in the courts much greater play was allowed to feeling; and the arguments +were often much more disingenuous, not only because the personal interests at +stake made the speaker more unscrupulous, but also, perhaps, because the juries +ordinarily included a larger proportion of the poorer, the idler, and the less- +educated citizens than the Assembly. The legal question was often that to which +the jury were encouraged to pay least attention, and the condemnation or +acquittal of the accused was demanded upon grounds quite extraneous to the +indictment. (The two court-speeches contained in these volumes afford abundant +illustrations of this.) Personalities were freely admitted, of a kind which it +is difficult to excuse and impossible to justify. To attempt to blacken the +personal character of an opponent by false stories about his parentage and his +youth, and by the ascription to him and his relations of nameless immoralities, +is a very different thing from the assignment of wrong motives for his political +actions, though even in purely political controversy the ancients far exceeded +the utmost limits of modern invective. And this both Demosthenes and Aeschines +do freely. There is also reason to suspect that some of the tales which each +tells of the other's conduct, both while serving as ambassadors and on other +occasions, may be fabrications. The descriptive passages for which such +falsehoods gave an opening had doubtless their dramatic value in the oratorical +performance: possibly they were even expected by the listeners; but their +presence in the speeches does not increase our admiration either for the speaker +or for his audience. + +All the force of Demosthenes' oratory was unable to defeat the great antagonist +of his country. To Philip of Macedon failure was an inconceivable idea. Resident +during three impressionable years of his youth at Thebes, he had there learned, +from the example of Epaminondas, what a single man could do: and he proceeded to +each of the three great tasks of his life--the welding of the rough Macedonians +into one great engine of war, the unification of Greece under his own +leadership, and the preparation for the conquest of the East by a united Greece +and Macedonia--without either faltering in face of difficulties, or hesitating, +out of any scrupulosity, to use the most effective means towards the end which +he wished at the moment to achieve; though in fact the charges of bad faith made +against him by Demosthenes are found to be exaggerated, when they are +impartially examined. Philip intended to become master of Greece: Demosthenes +realized this early, and, with all the Hellenic detestation of a master, +resolved to oppose him to the end. Philip was, indeed, in spite of the barbarous +traits which revealed themselves in him at times, not only gracious and +courteous by nature, but a sincere admirer of Hellenic--in other words, of +Athenian--culture; the relations between his house and the people of Athens had +generally been friendly; and there was little reason to suppose that, if he +conquered Athens, he would treat her less handsomely than in fact he did. Yet +this could not justify one who regarded freedom as Demosthenes regarded it, in +making any concession not extorted by the necessities of the situation: his duty +and his country's duty, as he conceived it, was to defeat the enemy of Hellenic +independence or to fall in the attempt. Nor was it for him to consider (as +Isocrates might) whether or no Philip's plans had now developed into, or could +be transformed into, a beneficent scheme for the conquest of the barbarian world +by a united Hellas, if the union was to be achieved at the price of Athenian +liberty. It is because, in spite of errors and of the questionable methods to +which he sometimes stooped, Demosthenes devoted himself unflinchingly to the +cause of freedom, for Athens and for the Hellenes as a whole, that he is +entitled, not merely as an orator but as a politician, to the admiration which +posterity has generally accorded him. It is, above all, by the second part of +his career, when his policy of antagonism to Philip had been accepted by the +people, and he was no longer in opposition but, as it were, in office, that +Demosthenes himself claims to be justified; and Aeschines' attempt to invalidate +the claim is for the most part unconvincing. + +It is not easy to describe in a few paragraphs the characteristics of +Demosthenes as an orator. That he stands on the highest eminence that an orator +has ever reached is generally admitted. But this is not to say that he was +wholly free from faults. His contemporaries, as well as later Greek critics, +were conscious of a certain artificiality in his eloquence. It was, indeed, the +general custom of Athenian orators to prepare their speeches with great care: +the speakers who, like Aeschines and Demades, were able to produce a great +effect without preparation, and the rhetoricians who, like Alcidamas, thought of +the studied oration as but a poor imitation of true eloquence, were only a small +minority; and in general, not only was the arrangement of topics carefully +planned, but the greatest attention was paid to the sound and rhythm of the +sentences, and to the appropriateness and order of the words. The orator had +also his collections of passages on themes which were likely to recur +constantly, and of arguments on either side of many questions; and from these he +selected such passages as he required, and adapted them to his particular +purpose. The rhetorical teachers appear to have supplied their pupils with such +collections; we find a number of instances of the repetition of the same passage +in different speeches, and an abundance of arguments formed exactly on the model +of the precepts contained in rhetorical handbooks.[10] Yet with all this art +nothing was more necessary than that a speech should appear to be spontaneous +and innocent of guile. There was a general mistrust of the 'clever speaker', who +by study or rhetorical training had learned the art of arguing to any point, and +making the worse cause appear the better. To have studied his part too +carefully--even to have worked up illustrations from history and poetry--might +expose the orator to suspicion.[11] Demosthenes, in spite of his frequent +attempts to deprecate such suspicion, did not succeed wholly in keeping on the +safe side. Aeschines describes him as a wizard and a sophist, who enjoyed +deceiving the people or the jury. Another of his opponents levelled at him the +taunt that his speeches 'smelt of the lamp'. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, one of +the best of the ancient critics, says that the artificiality of Demosthenes and +his master Isaeus was apt to excite suspicion, even when they had a good case. +Nor can a modern reader altogether escape the same impression. Sometimes, +especially in the earlier speeches to the Assembly, the argument seems unreal, +the joints between the previously prepared commonplaces or illustrations and +their application to the matter in hand are too visible, the language is +artificially phrased, and wanting in spontaneity and ease. There are also parts +of the court speeches in which the orator seems to have calculated out all the +possible methods of meeting a particular case, and to be applying them in turn +with more ingenuity than convincingness. An appearance of unreality also arises +at times (again principally in the earlier speeches) from a certain want of +imagination. He attributes feelings and motives to others, which they were +really most unlikely to have entertained, and argues from them. Some of the +sentiments which he expects Artaxerxes or Artemisia to feel (in the Speeches on +the Naval Boards and for the Rhodians) were certainly not to be looked for in +them. Similar misconceptions of the actual or possible sentiments of the +Spartans appear in the Speech for the Megalopolitans, and of those of the +Thebans in the Third Olynthiac (Sec. 15). The early orations against Philip also +show some misunderstanding of his character. And if, in fact, Demosthenes lived +his early years largely in solitary studiousness and was unsociable by +disposition, this lack of a quick grasp of human nature and motives is quite +intelligible. But this defect grew less conspicuous as his experience increased; +and though even to the end there remained something of the sophist about him, as +about all the disciples of the ancient rhetoric, the greatness of his best work +is not seriously affected by this. For, in his greatest speeches, and in the +greatest parts of nearly all his speeches, the orator is white-hot with genuine +passion and earnestness; and all his study and preparation resulted, for the +most part, not in an artificial product, but in the most convincing expression +of his real feeling and belief; so that it was the man himself, and not the +rhetorical practitioner that spoke. + +The lighter virtues of the orator are not to be sought for in him. In +gracefulness and humour he is deficient: his humour, indeed, generally takes the +grim forms of irony and satire, or verges on personality and bad taste. Few of +his sentences can be imagined to have been delivered with a smile; and something +like ferocity is generally not far below the surface. Pathos is seldom in him +unmixed with sterner qualities, and is usually lost in indignation. But of +almost every other variety of tone he has a complete command. The essential +parts of his reasoning (even when it is logically or morally defective) are +couched, as a rule, in a forcible and cogent form;[12] and he has a striking +power of close, sustained, and at the same time lucid argumentation. His matter +is commonly disposed with such skill that each topic occurs where it will tell +most powerfully; and while one portion of a speech affords relief to another +(where relief is needed, and particularly in the longer orations) all alike bear +on the main issue or strengthen the orator's position with his audience. +Historical allusions are not (as they often are by Aeschines and Isocrates) +enlarged out of proportion to their importance, but are limited to what is +necessary, in order to illustrate the orator's point or drive his lesson home. +Add to these qualities his combination of political idealism with absolute +mastery of minute detail; the intensity of his appeal to the moral sense and +patriotism of his hearers; the impressiveness of his denunciation of political +wrong; the vividness of his narrative, the rapid succession of his impassioned +phrases, and some part of the secret of his power will be explained. For the +rest, while there is in his writing every degree of fullness or brevity, there +is no waste of words, no 'fine language' out of place. His language, indeed, is +ordinarily simple--sometimes even colloquial; though in the arrangement of his +words in their most telling order he shows consummate art, and his metaphors are +often bold and sometimes even violent. In the use of the 'figures of speech' he +excels; above all, in the use of antitheses (whether for the purpose of vivid +contrast or of precise logical expression), and of the rhetorical question, used +now in indignation, now in irony, now in triumphant conclusion of an argument: +and at times there are master-strokes of genius, which defy all analysis, such +as the great appeal to the men of Marathon in the Speech on the Crown.[13] He +does not as a rule (and this is particularly true of the Speech on the Crown) +cover the whole of the ground with the same adequacy; but so concentrates all +his forces upon certain points as to be irresistible, and thus 'with thunder and +lightning confounds'[14] the orators who oppose him. It is no wonder that some +of the greatest of English orators, and notably of those of the eighteenth and +early nineteenth centuries, borrow from him not only words and phrases, but +inspiration and confidence in their cause, and look upon him as a model whom +they may emulate, but cannot excel. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] See Introduction to First Philippic. + +[2] See notes on Speech for the Megalopolitans. + +[3] See note on Speech on the Crown, Sec. 140. + +[4] See Speech on the Crown, Sec.Sec. 170 ff. + +[5] See Zimmern, _The Greek Commonwealth_, pp. 159 ff., for an excellent short +account of the constitution and functions of the Council. That the councillors +themselves sat (for administrative purposes) in relays, changing ten times a +year, was also against continuity. + +[6] See Speech on Embassy, Sec. 2 n. + +[7] See Introduction to Speech on Naval Boards, and Philippic I, Sec.Sec. 36, 37. + +[8] See Zimmern, _The Greek Commonwealth_, p. 205. + +[9] See Zimmern, _The Greek Commonwealth_, p. 205. + +[10] The 'Art' of Anaximenes is an interesting extant example of a fourth- +century handbook for practical orators. The Rhetoric of Aristotle stands on a +higher plane, but probably follows the lines laid down by custom in the +rhetorical schools. + +[11] See Speech on Embassy, Sec. 246, and note. + +[12] He is especially fond of the dilemma, which is not indeed cogent in strict +logic, but is peculiarly telling and effective in producing conviction in large +audiences. + +[13] See [Longinus] 'On the Sublime', especially chap, xvi-xviii (English +translation by A. O. Prickard in this series). This treatise should be read by +all students of Demosthenes, especially chap. xii, xvi-xviii, xxxii, xxxiv, +xxxix. + +[14] 'On the Sublime', chap. xxxiv. + + + + +[TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: The text for all notes marked [n] will be found at the end +of the second volume.] + + + + +ON THE NAVAL BOARDS (OR. XIV) + + +[_Introduction_. The speech was delivered in 354 B.C. News had been brought to +Athens that the Persian King Artaxerxes Ochus was making great military and +naval preparations, and though these were, in fact, directed against his own +rebellious subjects in Egypt, Phoenicia, and Cyprus, the Athenians had some +ground for alarm: for, two years before this, Chares, in command of an Athenian +fleet, had given assistance to Artabazus, Satrap of Ionia, who was in revolt +against the king. The king had made a protest, and (late in 355) Athens had +ordered Chares to withdraw his aid from Artabazus. A party in Athens now wished +to declare war on Persia, and appealed strongly to Athenian traditions in favour +of the proposal. Demosthenes opposes them, on the ground that it was not certain +that the king was aiming at Athens at all, and that the disunion of the Hellenic +peoples would render any such action unsafe: Athens had more dangerous enemies +nearer home, and her finances were not in a condition for such a campaign. But +he takes advantage of the interest aroused, to propose a reform of the +trierarchic system, designed to secure a more efficient navy, and to remedy +certain abuses in the existing method of equipping vessels for service. + +In earlier times, the duty of equipping and commanding each trireme was laid +upon single citizens of means, the hull and certain fittings being found by the +state. When, early in the fourth century, the number of wealthy men had +diminished, each ship might be shared by two citizens, who commanded in turn. In +357 a law was passed, on the proposal of Periander, transferring the +responsibility from individuals to 'Symmories' or Boards. (The system had been +instituted in a slightly different form for the collection of the war-tax in the +archonship of Nausinicus, 378-7 B.C.) The collection of the sums required became +the work of twenty Boards, formed by the subdivision of the 1,200 richest +citizens: each contributor, whatever his property, paid the same share. The +richer men thus got off with the loss of a very small proportion of their +income, as compared with the poorer members of the Boards,[1] and in managing +the business of the Boards they sometimes contrived to exact the whole sum from +their colleagues, and to escape payment themselves. At the same time the duties +of the several Boards and their members were not allocated with sufficient +precision to enable the responsibility to be brought home in case of default; +and the nominal Twelve Hundred had fallen to a much smaller number, on whom the +burden accordingly fell with undue weight. Demosthenes' proposal provided for +the distribution of the responsibility of equipping the vessels and providing +the funds, in the most detailed manner, with a view to preventing all evasion; +but it was not carried. In fact, it was not until 340 that he succeeded in +reforming the trierarchy, and he then made the burden vary strictly with +property. The proposal, however, to declare war upon Persia went no further. + +While, in this speech, Demosthenes is in accord with the policy of Eubulus, so +far as concerns the avoidance of war with Persia, his proposals of financial +reform would not be viewed with favour by the wealthy men who were Eubulus' firm +supporters. Some of the themes which recur continually in later speeches are +prominent in this--the futility of rhetorical appeals to past glories, without +readiness for personal service, and the need of a thorough organization of the +forces. While the speech shows rather too strongly the marks of careful +preparation, and seldom rises to eloquence--the style, indeed, is often rather +cramped and stiff, and the sentiments, especially at the beginning, artificially +phrased--it is moderate and practical in tone, and shows a characteristic +mastery of minute detail.] + + +{1} Those who praise your forefathers,[n] men of Athens, desire, no doubt, to +gratify you by their speeches; and yet I do not think that they are acting in +the interests of those whom they praise. For the subject on which they attempt +to speak is one to which no words can do justice; and so, although they thus win +for themselves the reputation of capable speakers, the impression which they +convey to their hearers of the merit of our forefathers is not adequate to our +conception of it. For my part I believe that their highest praise is constituted +by Time: for the time that has passed has been long, and still no generation has +arisen, whose achievements could be compared with advantage to theirs. {2} As +for myself, I shall attempt to point out the way in which, in my opinion, you +can best make your preparations. For the truth is, that if all of us who propose +to address you were to succeed in proving to you our rhetorical skill, there +would not be the slightest improvement in your condition--I am sure of it; but +if a single speaker were to come forward, whoever he might be, who could +instruct and convince you as to the nature of the preparations which would meet +the city's need, as to their extent, and the resources upon which we can draw +for them, your present fears would instantly be dissolved. This I will attempt +to do--if indeed it is in my power. But first I must briefly express my views as +to our relations with the king. + +{3} I hold the king to be the common enemy of all the Hellenes; and yet I should +not on that account urge you, alone and unsupported, to raise war against him. +For I observe that there is no common or mutual friendship even among the +Hellenes themselves: some have more faith in the king than in some other +Hellenes. When such are the conditions, your interest requires you, I believe, +to see to it that you only begin war from a fair and just cause, and to make all +proper preparations: this should be the basis of your policy. {4} For I believe, +men of Athens, that if it were made plain to the eyes and understandings of the +Hellenes, that the king was making an attempt upon them, they would both fight +in alliance with those who undertook the defence for them and with them, and +would feel very grateful to them. But if we quarrel with him prematurely, while +his intentions are still uncertain, I am afraid, men of Athens, that we may be +forced to fight not only against the king, but also against those for whose +benefit we are exercising such forethought. {5} For he will pause in the +execution of his project, if indeed he has really resolved to attack the +Hellenes, and will bribe some of them with money and offers of friendship; while +they, desirous of bringing their private wars to a successful end, and animated +only by such a spirit, will disregard the common safety of all. I urge you then, +not to hurl the city needlessly into the midst of any such chaos of selfish +passions. {6} Moreover, I see that the question of the policy to be adopted +towards the king does not even stand on the same footing for the other Hellenes +as for you. It is open, I think, to many of them to manage certain of their own +interests as they please, and to disregard the rest of the Hellenes. But for you +it is not honourable, even if you are the injured party, and are dealing with +those who have injured you, to punish them so severely as to leave some of them +to fall under the domination of the foreigner: {7} and this being so, we must +take care, first, that we do not find ourselves involved in an unequal war, and +secondly, that he, whom we believe to be plotting against the Hellenes, does not +gain credit from the supposition that he is their friend. How then can this be +achieved? It will be achieved if it is manifest to all that the forces of Athens +have been overhauled and put in readiness, and if her intentions in regard to +their use are plainly righteous. {8} But to those who take a bold line, and urge +you, without any hesitation whatever, to go to war, my reply is this--that it is +not difficult to win a reputation for bravery, when the occasion calls for +deliberation; nor to prove yourself an accomplished orator, when danger is at +the door: but to display your courage in the hour of danger, and, in debate, to +have wiser advice to offer than others--that is the hard thing, and that is what +is required of you. {9} For my part, men of Athens, I consider that the proposed +war with the king would be a difficult undertaking for the city; while the +decisive conflict in which the war would result would be an easier matter, and +for this reason. Every war, I suppose, necessarily requires ships and money and +the command of positions. All such advantages the king, I find, possesses more +abundantly than we. But a conflict of forces requires nothing so much as brave +men; and of these, I believe, the larger number is with us, and with those who +share our danger. {10} For this reason I exhort you not to be the first, in any +way whatever, to take up the war; but for the decisive struggle I think you +ought to be ready and your preparations made. And further, if the forces[n] with +which foreigners and Hellenes could respectively be repelled were really +different in kind, the fact that we were arraying our forces against the king +would naturally, it may be, admit of no concealment. {11} But since all military +preparations are of the same character, and the main points of a force must +always be the same--the means to repel enemies, to help allies, and to retain +existing advantages--why, when we have our acknowledged foes,[n] do we seek to +procure others? Let us rather prepare ourselves to meet the enemies whom we +have, and we shall then repel the king also, if he takes the aggressive against +us. {12} Suppose that you yourselves summon the Hellenes to your side now. If, +when the attitude of some of them towards you is so disagreeable, you do not +fulfil their demands, how can you expect that any one will listen to you? 'Why,' +you say, 'we shall tell them that the king is plotting against them.' Good +Heavens! Do you imagine that they do not foresee this themselves? Of course they +do. But their fear of this does not yet outweigh the quarrels which some of them +have against you and against each other. And so the tour of your envoys will end +in nothing but their own rhapsodies.[n] {13} But if you wait, then, if the +design which we now suspect is really on foot, there is not one of the Hellenes +who stands so much upon his dignity that he will not come and beg for your aid, +when he sees that you have a thousand cavalry, and infantry as many as any one +can desire, and three hundred ships: for he will know that in these lies his +surest hope of deliverance. Appeal to them now, and we shall be suppliants, and, +if unsuccessful, rejected suppliants. Make your own preparations and wait, and +then they will be the suppliants and we their deliverers; and we may rest +assured that they will all come to us for help. + +{14} In thinking out these points and others like them, men of Athens, my object +was not to devise a bold speech,[n] prolonged to no purpose: but I took the +greatest pains to discover the means by which our preparations could be most +effectively and quickly made; and therefore, if my proposal meets with your +approval, when you have heard it, you ought, I think, to pass it. Now the first +element in our preparation, men of Athens (and it is the most important), must +be this: your minds must be so disposed, that every one of you will perform +willingly and heartily any service that is required of him. {15} For you see, +men of Athens, that whenever you have unanimously desired any object, and the +desire has been followed by a feeling on the part of every individual, that the +practical steps towards it were for himself to take, the object has never yet +slipped from your grasp: but whenever the wish has had no further result than +that each man has looked to his neighbour, expecting his neighbour to act while +he himself does nothing, the object has never yet been attained. {16} But +supposing you to be filled with the keenness that I have described, I am of +opinion that we should make up the Twelve Hundred to their full number, and +increase it to 2,000, by the addition of 800. For if you can display this total, +then, when you have allowed for the unmarried heiresses and orphans,[n] for +property outside Attica,[n] or held in partnership, and for any persons who may +be unable to contribute,[n] you will, I believe, actually have the full 1,200 +persons available. {17} These you must divide into twenty boards, as at present, +with sixty persons to each board; and each of these boards you must divide into +five sections of twelve persons each, taking care in every case to associate +with the richest man the poorest men,[n] to maintain the balance. Such is the +arrangement of persons which I recommend, and my reason you will know when you +have heard the nature of the entire system. {18} I pass to the distribution of +the ships. You must provide a total complement of 300 ships, forming twenty +divisions of fifteen ships apiece, and including in each division five of the +first hundred vessels,[n] five of the second hundred, and five of the third +hundred. Next, you must assign by lot[n] to each board of persons its fifteen +ships, and each board must assign three ships to each of its sections. {19} This +done, in order that you may have the payments also systematically arranged, you +must divide the 6,000 talents (for that is the taxable capital[n] of the +country) into 100 parts of sixty talents each. Five of each of these parts you +must allot to each of the larger boards--the twenty--and each board must assign +one of these sums of sixty talents to each of its sections; {20} in order that, +if you need 100 ships,[n] there may be sixty talents to be taxed for the expense +of each ship, and twelve persons responsible for it; if 200, thirty talents will +be taxed to make up the cost, and six persons will be responsible; if 300, then +twenty talents must be taxed to defray the expense, and four persons will be +responsible. {21} In the same way, men of Athens, I bid you make a valuation +according to the register of all those fittings of the ships which are in +arrear,[n] divide them into twenty parts, and allot to each of the large boards +one-twentieth of the debtors: these must then be assigned by each board in equal +numbers to each of its sections, and the twelve persons composing each section +must call up their share of the arrears, and provide, ready-equipped, the ships +which fall to them. {22} Such is the plan by which, in my opinion, the expense, +the ships, the trierarchs, and the recovery of the fittings could best be +provided for and put into working order. I proceed to describe a simple and easy +scheme for the manning of the vessels. I recommend that the generals should +divide the whole space of the dockyards into ten, taking care to have in each +space thirty slips for single vessels close together. This done they should +apportion to each space two of the boards and thirty ships; and should then +assign a tribe to each space by lot. {23} Each captain should divide into three +parts the space which falls to his tribe, with the corresponding ships, and +should allot these among the three wards[n] of each tribe, in such a way that if +each tribe has one division of the entire docks, each ward will have a third of +one of these divisions; and you will know, in case of need, first the position +assigned to the tribe; next, that of the ward; and then the names of the +trierarchs and their ships; each tribe will be answerable for thirty, and each +ward for ten ships. If this system is put in train, circumstances as they arise +will provide for anything that I may have overlooked to-day (for perhaps it is +difficult to think of everything), and there will be a single organization for +the whole fleet and every part of it. + +{24} But what of funds? What resources have we immediately at our command? The +statement which I am about to make on this subject will no doubt be astonishing; +but I will make it nevertheless; for I am convinced that upon a correct view of +the facts, this statement alone will be proved true, and will be justified by +the event. I say then, that this is not the time to discuss the financial +question. We have large resources upon which, in case of necessity, we may +honourably and rightly draw: but if we inquire for them now, we shall not +believe that we can rely upon them even against the hour of need; so far shall +we be from supplying them now. 'What then,' you will ask me, 'are these +resources, which are non-existent now, but will be ours then? This is really +like a riddle.' I will tell you. {25} Men of Athens, you see all this great +city.[n] In this city there is wealth which will compare, I had almost said, +with the united wealth of all other cities. But such is the disposition of those +who own it, that if all your orators were to raise the alarm that the king was +coming--that he was at the doors--that there was no possible escape; and if with +the orators an equal number of prophets foretold the same thing; even then, far +from contributing funds, they would show no sign[2] [and make no +acknowledgement] of their possession of them. {26} If, however, they were to see +in course of actual realization all the terrors with which at present we are +only threatened in speeches, not one of them is so blind that he would not both +offer his contribution, and be among the first to pay the tax. For who will +prefer to lose his life and property, rather than contribute a part of his +substance to save himself and the remainder of it? Funds, then, we can command, +I am certain, if there is a genuine need of them, and not before; and +accordingly I urge you not even to look for them now. For all that you would +provide now, if you decided upon a levy, would be more ludicrous than nothing at +all. {27} Suppose that we are told to pay 1 per cent. now; that gives you sixty +talents. Two per cent. then--double the amount; that makes 120 talents. And what +is that to the 1,200 camels which (as these gentlemen tell us) are bringing the +king's money for him? Or would you have me assume a payment of one-twelfth, 500 +talents? Why, you would never submit to this; and if you paid the money down, it +would not be adequate to the war. {28} You must, therefore, make all your other +preparations, but allow your funds to remain for the present in the hands of +their owners--they could nowhere be more safely kept for the use of the State; +and then, if ever the threatened crisis arises, you will receive them as the +voluntary gift of their possessors. This, men of Athens, is not only a possible +course of action, but a dignified and a politic one. It is a course of action +which is worthy to be reported to the ears of the king, and which would inspire +him with no slight apprehension. {29} For he well knows that by two hundred +ships, of which one hundred were Athenian,[n] his ancestors were deprived of one +thousand; and he will hear that Athens alone has now equipped three hundred; so +that, however great his infatuation, he could certainly not imagine it a light +thing to make this country his foe. But if it is his wealth that suggests proud +thoughts to his mind, he will find that in this respect too his resources are +weaker than ours. {30} It is true that he is said to be bringing a great +quantity of gold with him. But if he distributes this, he must look for more: +for just so it is the way of springs and wells to give out, if large quantities +are drawn from them all at once; whereas we possess, as he will hear, in the +taxable capital of the country, resources which we defend against attack in a +way of which those ancestors of his who sleep at Marathon can best tell him: and +so long as we are masters of the country there is no risk of our resources being +exhausted. + +{31} Nor again can I see any grounds for the fear, which some feel, lest his +wealth should enable him to collect a large mercenary force. It may be that many +of the Hellenes would be glad to serve under him against Egypt,[n] against +Orontas,[n] or against certain other foreign powers--not from a wish that the +king should conquer any such enemies, but because each desires individually to +obtain some private means to relieve his present poverty. But I cannot believe +that any Hellene would march against Hellas. Whither will he turn afterwards? +Will he go to Phrygia and be a slave? {32} For the war with the foreigner is a +war for no other stake than our country, our life, our habits, our freedom, and +all that we value. Where is the wretch who would sacrifice self, parents, +sepulchres, fatherland, for the sake of some short-lived gain? I do not believe +that he exists. And indeed it is not even to the king's own interest to conquer +the Hellenes with a mercenary force; for an army which has conquered us is, even +more certainly,[n] stronger than he; and his intention is not to destroy us only +that he may fall into the power of others: he wishes to rule, if it may be, over +all the world; but if not, at least over those who are already his slaves. + +{33} It may be supposed that the Thebans will be on the king's side. Now this +subject is one upon which it is hard to address you. For such is your hatred of +them, that you cannot hear a good word about them, however true, without +displeasure. And yet those who have grave questions to consider must not on any +pretext pass over any profitable line of argument. {34} I believe, then, that so +far are the Thebans from being likely ever to march with him against the +Hellenes, that they would give a great deal, if they had it to give, for an +opportunity of cancelling their former sins against Hellas.[n] But if any one +does believe that the Thebans are so unhappily constituted, at least you are all +aware, I presume, that if the Thebans take the part of the king, their enemies +must necessarily take the part of the Hellenes. + +{35} My own belief is that our cause, the cause of justice, and its supporters, +will prove stronger in every emergency than the traitor and the foreigner. And +therefore I say that we need feel no excessive apprehension, and that we must +not be led on into taking the first step towards war. Indeed, I cannot even see +that any of the other Hellenes has reason to dread this war. {36} Are they not +all aware, that so long as they thought of the king as their common foe, and +were at unity with one another, they were secure in their prosperity; but that +ever since they imagined that they could count upon the king as their friend, +and fell to quarrelling over their private interests, they have suffered such +evils as no malediction could have devised for them? Must we then dread a man +whose friendship, thanks to Fortune and Heaven, has proved so unprofitable, and +his enmity so advantageous? By no means! Let us not, however, commit any +aggression, in view of our own interests, and of the disturbed and mistrustful +spirit which prevails among the rest of the Hellenes. {37} Were it possible, +indeed, to join forces with them all, and with one accord to attack the king in +his isolation, I should have counted it no wrong even were we to take the +aggressive. But since this is impossible, we must be careful to give the king no +pretext for trying to enforce the claims of the other Hellenes against us. If +you keep the peace, any such step on his part would arouse suspicion; but if you +are the first to begin war, his hostility to you would make his desire to +befriend your rivals appear natural enough. {38} Do not then lay bare the evil +condition of Hellas, by calling the powers together when they will not obey, or +undertaking a war which you will be unable to carry on. Keep the peace; take +courage, and make your preparations. Resolve that the news which the king hears +of you shall certainly not be that all Hellas, and Athens with it, in distress +or panic or confusion. Far from it! {39} Let him rather know that if falsehood +and perjury were not as disgraceful in Hellenic eyes as they are honourable in +his, you would long ago have been on the march against him: and that though, as +it is, your regard for yourselves forbids you to act thus, you are praying to +all the gods that the same madness may seize him as once seized his ancestors. +And if it occurs to him to reflect upon this, he will find that your +deliberations are not conducted in any careless spirit. {40} He at least shares +the knowledge that it was your wars with his own ancestors that raised Athens to +the summit of prosperity and greatness; while the peaceful policy which she +previously pursued never gave her such a superiority as she now enjoys over any +single state in Hellas. Aye, and he sees that the Hellenes are in need of one +who, whether intentionally or not, will reconcile them one to another; and he +knows that if he were to stir up war, he himself would assume that character in +relation to them; so that the news which he will hear of you will be +intelligible and credible to him. + +{41} But I do not wish to trouble you, men of Athens, by unduly prolonging my +speech. I will therefore recapitulate my advice and retire. I bid you prepare +your forces with a view to the enemies whom you have. If the king or any other +power attempts to do you injury, you must defend yourselves with these same +forces. But you must not take the aggressive by word or deed; and you must take +care that it is your deeds, and not your platform speeches, that are worthy of +your forefathers. If you act thus, you will be consulting both your own +interests and those of the speakers who are opposing me; since you will have no +cause to be angry with them afterwards, because you have decided wrongly to-day. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] See Speech on Crown, Sec.Sec. 102 ff. and notes. + +[2] See Speech on Crown, Sec.Sec. 102 ff. and notes. + + + + +FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS (OR. XVI) + +[_Introduction_. In 371 B.C. the Thebans under Epaminondas defeated the Spartans +at Leuctra, and, assisted by Thebes, the Arcadians and Messenians threw off the +Spartan yoke. The former founded Megalopolis as their common centre, the latter +Messene. But after the death of Epaminondas in 362, Thebes was left without a +leader; and when, in 355, she became involved in the 'Sacred War' with the +Phocians, the new Peloponnesian states turned towards Athens, and Messene +received a solemn promise of Athenian assistance, if ever she was attacked by +Sparta. In 353 Thebes was suffering considerably from the Sacred War, and the +Spartans made an ingenious attempt to recover their power, in the form of a +proposal for the restoration of territory to its original owners. This meant +that Athens would recover Oropus, which had been in the hands of Thebes since +366, and had previously been the subject of a long-standing dispute; that +Orchomenus, Thespiae, and Plataeae, which had all been overthrown by Thebes, +would be restored; and that Elis and Phlius would also recover certain lost +possessions. All these states would then be morally bound (so the Spartans +thought) to help Sparta to reconquer Arcadia and Messenia. + +On the occasion of this speech (delivered in 353) the Megalopolitans had +appealed to Athens, and an Arcadian and a Spartan embassy had each had an +audience of the Assembly, and had each received strong support from Athenian +speakers. The principal motives of the supporters of Sparta were their hostility +to Thebes, and their desire not to break with the Spartans, whom Athens had +assisted at Mantineia in 362 against the Thebans and Megalopolitans. Demosthenes +supports the Arcadians, and lays great stress on the desirability of maintaining +a balance of power between Sparta and Thebes, so that neither might become too +strong. To allow Sparta to reconquer Arcadia, and, as the next step, Messenia, +would be to render her too formidable; and to reject the proposal of Sparta +would not preclude Athens from recovering Oropus and demanding the restoration +of the Boeotian towns. But the promise of assistance to the Arcadians should be +accompanied by a request for the termination of their alliance with Thebes. + +Demosthenes' advice was not followed. In fact Athens was hardly in a position to +risk becoming entangled in a war with Sparta, particularly in view of the danger +to her northern possessions from Philip. She therefore remained neutral, while +the Thebans, relieved from the pressure of the Sacred War owing to the defeat of +the Phocian leader Onomarchus by Philip, were able to send aid to Megalopolis. A +truce between Sparta and Megalopolis was made about 350. It was, however, a +result of the neutrality of Athens, that she was unable, a few years later, to +secure the support of the Arcadians against Philip, whose allies they +subsequently became. + +Lord Brougham describes the oration as 'one of extraordinary subtlety and +address in handling delicate topics'; and, after quoting the passage in which +Demosthenes urges the necessity of maintaining a balance of power between rival +states, adds that 'this is precisely the language of modern policy'. At the same +time, the speech has in places a somewhat academic and theoretical air: it is +much occupied with the weighing of hypothetical considerations and obligations +against one another: and though it enunciates some plain and reasonable +political principles, and makes an honest attempt to satisfy those who wished to +help the Arcadians, but at the same time desired to regain ground against +Thebes, it is not always convincing, and the tone is more frankly opportunist +than is usually the case with Demosthenes.] + + {1} I think, men of Athens, that those who have spoken on the Arcadian side and +those who have spoken on the Spartan, are alike making a mistake. For their +mutual accusations and their attacks upon one another would suggest that they +are not, like yourselves, Athenians, receiving the two embassies, but actually +delegates of the two states. Such attacks it was for the two deputations to +make. The duty of those who claim to advise you here was to discuss the +situation impartially, and to inquire, in an uncontentious spirit, what course +is best in your interests. {2} As it is, if one could alter the fact that they +are known to us, and that they speak the dialect of Attica, I believe that many +would imagine that those on the one side actually were Arcadians, and those on +the other, Spartans. For my part, I see plainly enough the difficulty of +offering the best advice. For you, like them, are deluded, in your desire for +one extreme or the other: and one who endeavours to propose an intermediate +course, which you will not have the patience to understand, will satisfy neither +side and will forfeit the confidence of both. {3} But in spite of this, I shall +prefer, for my own part, to risk being regarded as an idle chatterer (if such is +really to be my lot), rather than to abandon my conviction as to what is best +for Athens, and leave you to the mercy of those who would deceive you. And while +I shall deal with all other points later, by your leave, I shall take for my +starting-point, in explaining the course which I believe to be best, those +principles which are admitted by all. + +{4} There can be no possible question that it is to the interest of the city +that both the Spartans and these Thebans should be weak; and the present +situation, if one may judge at all from what has constantly been asserted in +your presence, is such, that if Orchomenus, Thespiae, and Plataeae[n] are re- +established, Thebes becomes weak; and that if the Spartans can reduce Arcadia to +subjection and destroy Megalopolis, Sparta will recover her former strength. {5} +We must, therefore, take care not to allow the Spartans to attain a formidable +degree of strength, before the Thebans have become insignificant, lest there +should take place, unobserved by us, such an increase in the power of Sparta as +would be out of proportion to the decrease in the power of Thebes which our +interests demand. For it is, of course, out of the question that we should +desire merely to substitute the rivalry of Sparta for that of Thebes: that is +not the object upon which we are bent. Our object is rather that neither people +shall be capable of doing us any injury. That is what will best enable us to +live in security. + +{6} But, granted that this is what ought to be, still, we are told, it is a +scandalous thing to choose for our allies the men against whom we were arrayed +at Mantineia, and further, to help them against those whose perils we shared +that day. I agree; but I think that we need to insert the condition, 'provided +that the two parties are willing to act rightly.' {7} For if all alike prove +willing to keep the peace, we shall not go to the aid of the Megalopolitans, +since there will be no need to do so; and so there will be no hostility whatever +on our part towards our former comrades in battle. They are already our allies, +as they tell us; and now the Arcadians will become our allies as well. What more +could we desire? {8} But suppose they act wrongfully and think fit to make war. +In that case, if the question before us is whether we are to abandon Megalopolis +to Sparta or not, then I say that, wrong though it is, I will acquiesce in our +permitting this, and declining to oppose our former companions in danger. But if +you all know that, after capturing Megalopolis, they will march against Messene, +let me ask any of those who are now so harshly disposed towards Megalopolis to +say what action he will _then_ advise. No answer will be given. {9} In fact you +all know that, whether they advise it or not, we _must_ then go to the rescue, +both because of the oath which we have sworn to the Messenians, and because our +interests demand the continued existence of that city. Ask yourselves, then, on +which occasion you can most honourably and generously interpose to check the +aggressions of Sparta--in defence of Megalopolis, or in defence of Messene? {10} +On the present occasion it will be understood that you are succouring the +Arcadians, and are anxious that the Peace, which you fought for and risked your +lives to win, may be secure. But if you wait, all the world will see plainly +that it is not in the name of right that you desire the existence of Messene, +but because you are afraid of Sparta. And while we should always seek and do the +right, we should at the same time take good care that what is right shall also +be advantageous. + +{11} Now an argument is used by speakers on the other side to the effect that we +ought to attempt to recover Oropus,[n] and that if we make enemies of those who +might come to our assistance against it we shall have no allies. I too say that +we should try to recover Oropus. But the argument that the Spartans will be our +enemies now, if we make alliance with those Arcadians who desire our friendship, +is an argument which no one has less right even to mention, than those who +induced you to help the Spartans when they were in danger. {12} Such was not +their argument, when all the Peloponnesians came to you,[n] entreating you to +support them in their campaign against Sparta, and they persuaded you to reject +the entreaty, with the result that the Peloponnesians took the only remaining +course and applied to Thebes--when they bade you contribute funds and imperil +your lives for the deliverance of the Spartans. Nor, I presume, would you have +been willing to protect them, had they warned you that you must expect no +gratitude for their deliverance, unless, after saving them, you allowed them +once more to do as they pleased and commit fresh aggressions. {13} And further, +however antagonistic it may be to the designs of the Spartans, that we should +make the Arcadians our allies, they are surely bound to feel a gratitude towards +us for saving them when they were in the utmost extremity, which will outweigh +their vexation at our preventing their present wrongdoing. Must they not then +either assist us to recover Oropus, or else be regarded as the basest of +mankind? For, by Heaven, I can see no other alternative. + +{14} I am astonished, also, to hear it argued that if we make the Arcadians our +allies, and carry out my advice, it will seem as though Athens were changing her +policy, and were utterly unreliable. I believe that the exact reverse of this is +the case, men of Athens, and I will tell you why. I suppose that no one in the +world can deny that when this city saved the Spartans,[n] and before them the +Thebans,[n] and finally the Euboeans,[n] and subsequently made them her allies, +she had one and the same end always in view. {15} And what was this? It was to +deliver the victims of aggression. And if this is so, it is not we that should +be changing, but those who refuse to adhere to the right; and it will be +manifest that, although circumstances change from time to time with the +ambitious designs of others, Athens does not change. + +{16} I believe that the Spartans are playing a very unscrupulous part. At +present they tell us that the Eleans are to recover part of Triphylia,[n] and +the Phliasians, Tricaranum;[n] other Arcadians are to recover their own +possessions, and we ourselves are to recover Oropus--not that they have any +desire to see every state enjoying its own--far from it!-- such generosity on +their part would be late indeed in showing itself. {17} They wish rather to +present the appearance of co-operating with each separate state in the recovery +of the territory that it claims, in order that when they themselves march +against Messene, all may take the field with them, and give them their hearty +assistance, on pain of seeming to act unfairly, in refusing to return an +equivalent for the support which each of them received from Sparta in regard to +their own several claims. {18} My own view is that, even without the tacit +surrender of some of the Arcadians to Sparta, we can recover Oropus, aided not +only by the Spartans, if they are ready to act honourably, but by all who +disapprove of allowing Thebes to retain what is not her own. But even if it were +made quite plain to us, that without allowing Sparta to subdue the Peloponnese, +we should not be able to take Oropus, I should still think it preferable, if I +may dare to say so, to let Oropus go, rather than sacrifice Messene and the +Peloponnese to Sparta. For our quarrel with them would not, I believe, be +confined to this; since--I will not say what occurs to me; but there are many +risks which we should run. + +{19} But, to pass on, it is a monstrous thing to use the hostile actions which, +they say, the Megalopolitans committed against us, under the influence of +Thebes, as a ground of accusation against them to-day; and, when they wish to be +friends and so atone for their action by doing us good, to look askance at them, +to seek for some way of avoiding their friendship, to refuse to recognize that +in proportion to the zeal which my opponents can prove the Megalopolitans to +have shown in supporting Thebes will be the resentment to which my opponents +themselves will deservedly be exposed, for depriving the city of such allies as +these, when they have appealed to you before appealing to Thebes. {20} Such a +policy is surely the policy of men who wish to make the Arcadians for the second +time the allies of others. And so far as one can forecast the future by +calculation, I am sure, and I believe that most of you will agree with me, that +if the Spartans take Megalopolis, Messene will be in peril; and if they take +Messene also, then I predict that we shall find ourselves allies of Thebes.[n] +{21} It is a far more honourable, a far better, course that we should ourselves +take over the Theban confederacy,[n] refusing to leave the field open to the +cupidity of the Spartans, than that we should be so afraid of protecting the +allies of Thebes, as first to sacrifice them, and then to save Thebes itself; +and, in addition, to be in a state of apprehension for our own safety. {22} For +if the Spartans capture Megalopolis and become a great power once more, the +prospect, as I conceive it, is not one which this city can view without alarm. +For I can see that even now they are determining to go to war, not to prevent +any evil which threatens them, but to recover their own ancient power: and what +their aims were when they possessed that power, you, I think, know[n] perhaps +better than I, and with that knowledge may well be alarmed. + +{23} Now I should be glad if the speakers who profess their hatred for Thebes on +the one side, or for Sparta on the other, would tell me if their professed +hatred is based on consideration for you and your interests, or whether the one +party hates Thebes from an interest in Sparta, and the other Sparta from an +interest in Thebes. If the latter is the case, you should not listen to either, +but treat them as insane: but if the former, why this inordinate exaltation of +one side or the other? {24} For it is possible, perfectly possible, to humiliate +Thebes without rendering Sparta powerful. Indeed, it is by far the easier +course; and I will try to tell you how it can be done. We all know that, however +unwilling men may be to do what is right, yet up to a certain point they are +ashamed not to do so, and that they withstand wrongdoers openly, particularly if +there are any who receive damage through the wrong done: and we shall find that +what ruins everything and is the source of all evil is the unwillingness to do +what is right without reserve. {25} Now in order that no such obstacle may stand +in the way of the humiliation of Thebes, let us demand the re-establishment of +Thespiae, Orchomenus, and Plataeae, co-operating with their citizens ourselves, +and requiring others to do so; for the principle of refusing to allow ancient +cities to lie desolate is a right and honourable one. But let us at the same +time decline to abandon Megalopolis and Messene to the aggressors, or to suffer +the destruction of existing and inhabited cities, on the pretext of restoring +Plataeae and Thespiae. {26} Then, if our policy is made plain to all, there is +no one who will not wish to terminate the Thebans' occupation of territory not +their own. But if it is not, not only will our designs be opposed by the +Arcadians, in the belief that the restoration of these towns carries with it +their own ruin, but we shall have troubles without end. For, honestly, where can +we expect to reach an end, when we permit the annihilation of existing cities, +and require the restoration of those that have been annihilated? + +{27} It is demanded by those whose speeches display the strongest appearance of +fairness, that the Megalopolitans shall take down the pillars[n] which +commemorate their alliance with Thebes, if they are to be trustworthy allies of +Athens. The Megalopolitans reply that for them it is not pillars, but interest, +that creates friendship; and that it is those who help them, that they consider +to be their allies. Well, that may be their attitude. Nevertheless, my own view +is, roughly speaking, this:--I say that we should simultaneously require the +Megalopolitans to take down the pillars, and the Spartans to keep the peace: and +that in the event of either side refusing to fulfil our request, we should at +once take the part of those who are willing to fulfil it. {28} For if the +Megalopolitans obtain peace, and yet adhere to the Theban alliance, it will be +clear to all that they prefer the grasping policy of Thebes to that which is +right. If, on the other hand, Megalopolis makes alliance frankly with us, and +the Spartans then refuse to keep the peace, it will surely be clear to all that +what the Spartans desire so eagerly is not the re-establishment of Thespiae, but +an opportunity of subduing the Peloponnese while the Thebans are involved in the +war.[n] {29} And I am surprised to find that there are some who are alarmed at +the prospect of the enemies of Sparta becoming allies of Thebes, and yet see +nothing to fear in the subjugation of these enemies by Sparta herself; whereas +the experience of the past can teach us that the Thebans always use such allies +against Sparta, while, when Sparta had them, she used to use them against us. + +{30} There is another point which I think you should consider. Suppose that you +reject the overtures of the Megalopolitans. If they are annihilated and +dispersed, Sparta can recover her power at once. If they actually survive--for +things have happened before now beyond all hope--they will quite rightly be the +firm allies of Thebes. But suppose you receive them. Then the immediate result, +so far as they are concerned, is that they are saved by you: and as to the +future, let us now transfer our calculation of possible risks to the case of the +Thebans and Spartans. {31} If the Thebans are crushed, as they ought to be, the +Spartans will not be unduly powerful, for they will always have these Arcadians +at their doors to hold them in check. But if the Thebans actually recover and +survive the attack, they will at least be weaker; for the Arcadians will have +become our allies, and will owe their preservation to us. Thus on every ground +it is to our interest not to sacrifice the Arcadians, nor to let them think that +their deliverance, if they are really saved, is due to themselves, or to any +other people than you. + +{32} And now, men of Athens, I solemnly declare that what I have said has been +prompted by no personal feeling, friendly or hostile, towards either side. I +have told you only what I believe to be expedient for you; and I exhort you not +to sacrifice the people of Megalopolis, and to make it your rule, never to +sacrifice a smaller power to a greater. + + + + +FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE RHODIANS (OR. XV) + + +[_Introduction_. Dionysius of Halicarnassus places the speech in 351 B.C. He is +not always accurate, and the internal evidence has been thought by some to +suggest a date perhaps two years earlier. The reasons, however, for this are not +strong, and there has recently been a disposition to accept Dionysius' date. + +As the result of the Social War, Chios, Cos, Rhodes, and Byzantium had made +themselves independent of Athens. They had been assisted by Mausolus, King of +Caria, a vassal of Persia. After the termination of the war, a Carian garrison +occupied Cos and Rhodes; the democratic constitution of Rhodes was overthrown +and the democratic party driven into banishment, as the result of an oligarchic +plot, which Mausolus had fostered. In 353 Mausolus died, and was succeeded by +Artemisia, his sister and wife. The exiles appealed to Athens for restoration, +and for the liberation of Rhodes from the Carian domination. It is evident that +the feeling in Athens against the Rhodians was very strong, owing to their part +in the late war, for which the democratic party had been responsible; and there +was some fear of the possible consequences of offending Artemisia and perhaps +becoming involved in war with Persia. Demosthenes, nevertheless, urges the +people to assist them, and to forget their misconduct. He appeals to the +traditional policy of Athens, as the saviour of the oppressed and protectress of +democracies, and warns them of the danger which would threaten Athens herself, +if the conversion of free constitutions into oligarchies were allowed to go +unchecked. He takes a different view from that of his opponents of the probable +attitude of Artemisia, and utters an impressive warning against corrupt and +unpatriotic statesmen, which foreshadows his more vehement attacks in the +orations against Philip. + +The appeal was unsuccessful, for in the speech on the Peace (Sec. 25) Demosthenes +speaks of Cos and Rhodes as still subject to Caria. + +The speech is more eloquent than the last, and more outspoken. Political +principles and ideals are enunciated with some confidence, and illustrated by +striking examples from history. But there also appears for the first time that +sense of the difficulty of rousing the Athenians to action of any kind, which is +so strongly expressed in later speeches.] + + +{1} It is, I think, your duty, men of Athens, when you are deliberating upon +affairs of such importance, to grant freedom of speech to every one of your +advisers. And for my part, I have never yet felt any difficulty in pointing out +to you the best course; for I believe that, broadly speaking, you all know from +the first what this is. My difficulty is to persuade you to act upon your +knowledge. For when a measure is approved and passed by you, it is as far from +execution as it was before you resolved upon it. {2} Well, you have to render +thanks to Heaven for this, among other favours--that those who went to war with +you not long ago, moved by their own insolent pride, now place their own hopes +of preservation in you alone. Well may we rejoice at our present opportunity! +For if your decision in regard to it is what it should be, you will find +yourselves meeting the calumnies of those who are slandering this city with a +practical and a glorious refutation. {3} For the peoples of Chios, Byzantium, +and Rhodes accused us of entertaining designs against them; and on this ground +they combined against us in the recent war. But now it will be seen[n] that, +while Mausolus, who under the pretence of friendship towards Rhodes, directed +and instigated their efforts, in reality robbed the Rhodians of their freedom; +while their declared allies, Chios and Byzantium, never came to aid them in +their misfortunes; {4} you, of whom they were afraid, and you alone, have been +the authors of their salvation. And because all the world will have seen this, +you will cause the popular party in every city to consider your friendship a +guarantee of their own safety; nor could you reap any greater blessing than the +goodwill which will thus be offered to you, spontaneously and without +misgivings, upon every hand. + +{5} I notice, to my surprise, that those who urge us to oppose the king in the +interest of the Egyptians,[n] are the very persons who are so afraid of him when +it is the interest of the popular party in Rhodes that is in question. And yet +it is known to every one that the Rhodians are Hellenes, while the Egyptians +have a place assigned them in the Persian Empire. {6} I expect that some of you +remember that, when you were discussing our relations with the king, I came +forward and was the first to advise you[n] (though I had, I believe, no +supporters, or one at the most), that you would show your good sense, in my +opinion, if you did not make your hostility to the king the pretext of your +preparations, but prepared yourselves against the enemies whom you already had; +though you would resist him also, if he attempted to do you any injury. {7} Nor, +when I spoke thus, did I fail to convince you, but you also approved of this +policy. What I have now to say is the sequel to my argument on that occasion. +For if the king were to call me to his side and make me his counsellor, I should +give him the same advice as I gave you--namely, that he should fight in defence +of his own possessions, if he were opposed by any Hellenic power, but should +absolutely forego all claim to what in no way belongs to him. {8} If, therefore, +you have made a general resolve, men of Athens, to retire from any place of +which the king makes himself master, either by surprise or by the deception of +some of the inhabitants, you have not resolved well, in my judgement: but if you +are prepared, in defence of your rights, even to fight, if need be, and to +endure anything that may be necessary, not only will the need for such a step be +less, the more firmly your minds are made up, but you will also be regarded as +showing the spirit which you ought to show. + +{9} To prove to you that I am not suggesting anything unprecedented in bidding +you liberate the Rhodians, and that you will not be acting without precedent, if +you take my advice, I will remind you of one of those incidents in the past +which have ended happily for you. You once sent out Timotheus, men of Athens, to +assist Ariobarzanes,[n] adding to your resolution the provision that he must not +break our treaty with the king; and Timotheus, seeing that Ariobarzanes was now +openly in revolt against the king, but that Samos was occupied by a garrison +under Cyprothemis, who had been placed there by Tigranes, the king's viceroy, +abandoned his intention of helping Ariobarzanes, but sat down before Samos, +relieved it, and set it free. {10} And to this day no war has ever arisen to +trouble you on account of this. For to enter upon a war for the purpose of +aggrandizement is never the same thing as to do so in defence of one's own +possessions. Every one fights his hardest to recover what he has lost; but when +men endeavour to gain at the expense of others, it is not so. They desire to do +this, if it is allowed them; but if they are prevented, they do not consider +that their opponents have done them any wrong. + +{11} Now listen for a moment, and consider whether I am right or wrong, when I +conclude that if Athens were actively at work, Artemisia herself would now not +even oppose our action. If the king effects in Egypt all that he is bent upon, I +believe that Artemisia would make every attempt to secure for him the continued +possession of Rhodes--not from any goodwill towards him, but from the desire to +be credited with a great service to him, while he is still in her +neighbourhood,[n] and so to win from him as friendly a reception as possible. +{12} But if he is faring as we are told, if all his attempts have failed, she +will consider, and rightly, that the island can be of no further use to the +king, except as a fortified post to command her own dominions--a security +against any movement on her part. Accordingly she would prefer, I believe, that +you should have it, without her openly surrendering it to you, rather than that +he should occupy it. I think, therefore, that she would not even make an attempt +to save it; or that if she actually did so, it would be but weakly and +ineffectively. {13} For although I cannot, of course, profess to know what the +king will do, I must insist that it is high time that it should be made clear, +in the interests of Athens, whether he intends to lay claim to Rhodes or not: +for if he does so, we have then to take counsel, not for the Rhodians alone, but +for ourselves and for the Hellenes as a whole. + +{14} At the same time, even if the Rhodians who are now in possession[n] of the +town held it by their own strength, I should never have urged you to take them +for your allies, for all the promises in the world. For I observe that they took +to their side some of their fellow citizens, to help them overthrow the +democracy, and that, having done this, they turned and expelled them: and I do +not think that men who failed to keep faith with either party would ever be +trustworthy allies for yourselves. {15} And further, I should never have made my +present proposal, had I been thinking only of the interests of the popular party +in Rhodes. I am not their official patron,[n] nor have I a single personal +friend among them; and even if both these things were otherwise, I should not +have made this proposal, had I not believed it to be for your advantage. For as +for the Rhodians, if I may use such an expression when I am pleading with you to +save them, I share your joy[1] at what has happened to them. For it is because +they grudged you the recovery of your rights that they have lost their own +freedom; and that, instead of the equal alliance which they might have had with +Hellenes, better than themselves, they are in bondage to foreigners and slaves, +whom they have admitted to their citadels. {16} Indeed, if you resolve to go to +their aid, I may almost say that this calamity has been good for them; for, +Rhodians as they are, I doubt if they would ever have come to their right mind +in prosperity; whereas actual experience has now taught them that folly +generally leads to manifold adversities; and perhaps they will be wiser for the +future. This lesson, I feel sure, will be no small advantage to them. I say then +that you should endeavour to save these men, and should bear no malice, +remembering that you too have been greatly deceived by conspirators against you, +and yet would not admit that you deserved yourselves to suffer for such +mistakes. + +Observe this also, men of Athens. {17} You have waged many wars both against +democracies and against oligarchies; and of this no doubt you are as well aware +as I. But I doubt whether any of you considers for what objects you are fighting +in each case. What then are these objects? In fighting against a democracy, you +are fighting either over some private quarrel, when the parties have failed to +settle their disputes by the means publicly provided;[n] or you are contending +for a piece of territory, or about a boundary, or for a point of honour, or for +paramountcy. But in fighting against an oligarchy, it is not for any such +objects--it is your constitution and your freedom that are at stake. {18} And +therefore I should not hesitate to say that I believe it would be better for +you, that all the Hellenic peoples should be democracies, and be at war with +you, than that they should be governed by oligarchies, and be your friends. For +with a free people you would have no difficulty, I believe, in making peace +whenever you desired: but with an oligarchical State friendship itself cannot be +safe. For there can be no goodwill between Few and Many--between those who seek +for mastery, and those who have chosen the life of political equality. + +{19} It surprises me also that though Chios and Mytilene are ruled by +oligarchies, and though now the Rhodians and all mankind, I may almost say, are +being brought into the same bondage, no one considers that any danger threatens +our own constitution also, or reflects that if every State is organized upon an +oligarchic basis, it is not possible that your own democracy should be suffered +to remain. For they know that no people but you could ever bring them forth into +a state of liberty again; and they will wish to put an end to so likely a source +of trouble to themselves. {20} As a rule we may regard wrongdoers as enemies +only to those whom they have wronged. But when men destroy free constitutions +and convert them into oligarchies, I say that you must think of them as the +common enemies of all whose hearts are set on freedom. {21} Again, men of +Athens, it is only right that you, a democracy yourselves, should show towards +other democracies in distress the same spirit as you would expect them to show +towards you, if any such calamity (which God forbid!) should happen to you. It +may be said that the Rhodians are justly punished. If so, this is not the time +to exult over them. When men are prosperous they should always be found taking +thought how best to help the distressed; for the future is unknown to all men. + +{22} I have often heard it stated here in your presence, that when our democracy +had met with disaster,[n] you were joined by certain others in your anxiety for +its preservation. Of these I will only refer on the present occasion to the +Argives, and that briefly. For I cannot desire that you, who enjoy the +reputation of being always the saviours of the distressed, should prove inferior +to the Argives in that work. These Argives, though their territory borders on +that of the Spartans, whom they saw to be masters by land and sea, neither +hesitated nor feared to display their goodwill towards you; but when envoys came +from Sparta (so the story goes) to demand the persons of certain Athenian +refugees, they even voted that unless the envoys departed before sunset, they +should be adjudged public enemies. {23} If then the democracy of Argos in those +days showed no fear of the might of the Spartan Empire, will it not be a +disgrace if you, who are Athenians, are afraid of one who is a barbarian--aye, +and a woman?[n] The Argives, moreover, could point to many defeats sustained at +the hands of Sparta, while you have often defeated the king, and have not once +proved inferior either to his servants or to himself. For if ever the king has +gained any success against Athens, it has been by bribing the basest of the +Hellenes to betray their countrymen; in no other way has he ever succeeded. {24} +Indeed, even such success has done him no good. You will find that no sooner had +he rendered Athens weak,[n] by the help of the Spartans, than he had to fight +for his own kingdom against Clearchus and Cyrus. His successes, therefore, have +not been won in the open field, nor have his plots brought him any good. Now +some of you, I notice, are in the habit of speaking contemptuously of Philip, as +though he were not worth reckoning with; while you dread the king, as a powerful +enemy to any whom he chooses to oppose. But if we are not to defend ourselves +against Philip, because he is so mean a foe, and are to give way in everything +to the king, because he is so formidable, who is there, men of Athens, against +whom we shall ever take the field? + +{25} Men of Athens, you have among you those who are particularly skilful in +pleading with you the rights of the rest of the world; and I should be glad to +give them this single piece of advice--that they should seek to plead your +rights with the rest of the world,[n] and so set an example of duty. It is +monstrous to instruct you about rights, without doing right oneself; and it is +not right that a fellow citizen of yours should have studied all the arguments +against you and none of those in your favour. {26} Ask yourselves, in God's +name, why it is that there is no one in Byzantium to tell the Byzantines that +they must not occupy Chalcedon,[n] which belongs to the king and formerly +belonged to you, but upon which they had no sort of claim; or that they must not +make Selymbria, once your ally, a contributory portion of the Byzantine state; +or include the territory of Selymbria[n] within the Byzantine frontier, in +defiance of the sworn treaty which ordains the independence of the cities? {27} +Why was there no one to tell Mausolus, while he lived, and Artemisia after his +death, that they must not occupy Cos and Rhodes and other Hellenic cities as +well, which the king their master ceded to the Hellenes by the treaty,[n] and +for the sake of which the Hellenes of those days faced many a peril and fought +many a gallant fight? Even if there actually are such advisers[n] in both cases, +at least it is not likely that they will find listeners. {28} For my part I +believe that it is right to restore the exiled democracy of Rhodes. But even if +it were not right, I think it would be proper to urge you to do it, when I +consider the course taken by such speakers as these; and for this reason. If all +the world, men of Athens, were bent upon doing right, it would be a disgrace to +us if we alone were unwilling to do so: but when all the world is preparing +itself in order to be able to commit wrong, then for us alone to abstain from +every enterprise, on the plea of right, is no righteousness, to my mind, but +cowardice. For I observe that the extent to which rights are admitted is always +in proportion to the claimant's power at the moment. {29} I can illustrate this +by an instance familiar to all of you. There are two treaties[n] between the +Hellenes and the king. The first was made by our own city, and all men praise +it; the second by the Spartans, and it is denounced by all. The rights defined +in these two treaties are not the same. For whereas a common and equal share of +private rights is given by law to weak and strong alike, in a settlement of +international rights it is the stronger who legislate for the weaker. + +Well, you already know what the right course is.[n] {30} It remains to inquire +how you can carry out your knowledge into action; and this will be possible, if +you come to be regarded as public champions of universal liberty. But the great +difficulty which you find in doing your duty is, to my mind, natural enough. All +other men have only one conflict to face--the conflict with their declared foes; +and when these are subdued, there is no further obstacle to their secure +enjoyment of their happiness. {31} But for you there is a double conflict. In +addition to that to which all men are liable, there is another which is harder, +and which must be faced first: for you have to win the victory in your councils +over those who are deliberately working in your midst against the interests of +the city; and because, thanks to them, you can effect nothing that is demanded +of you without a struggle, it is natural that you should often miss your mark. +{32} The chief reason for the fearless adoption of such a course in public life +by so many men is perhaps to be found in the benefits which they obtain from +those who hire them. Yet at the same time, some of the blame may fairly be laid +at your own doors. For you ought, men of Athens, to think of a man's post in +public life as you think of his post in the army in the field. And how do you +think of this? If a man leaves the post assigned to him by his general, you +think that he deserves to be disfranchised and to lose all share in the +privileges of a citizen. {33} And so when men desert the post of civil duty, +committed to them by our forefathers, and follow an oligarchical[n] policy, they +should forfeit the privilege of acting as advisers to yourselves. As it is, +while you believe that those of your allies are best disposed towards you, who +have sworn to have the same friends and foes as yourselves, the politicians in +whom you place most faith are those whom you well know to have chosen the side +of the enemies of Athens. + +{34} It is easy enough, however, to find reasons for accusing them and +reproaching all of you. But to find words or actions which will enable us to +rectify what is now amiss with us, is a task indeed. Moreover, the present is +not, perhaps, the time for entering into every point: but if only you can +confirm the policy which you have chosen by some suitable action, it may be that +other conditions will each in turn show some improvement. {35} I think, +therefore, that you ought to take this enterprise in hand with vigour, and to +act worthily of your country. Remember with what delight you listen to the +praises of your forefathers,[n] the recital of their deeds, the enumeration of +their trophies. Consider then that your forefathers dedicated these trophies, +not that you might gaze at them in idle wonder, but that you might imitate the +actions of those who placed them there. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] [Greek: humin sygchair_o]. + + + + +THE FIRST PHILIPPIC (OR. IV) + + +[_Introduction_. Philip became King of Macedonia in 359 B.C. Being in great +difficulties both from external enemies and from internal division, he made +peace with the Athenians, who were supporting the pretensions of Argaeus to the +throne, in the hope of recovering (by agreement with Argaeus) the colony of +Amphipolis on the Strymon, which they had lost in 424. Philip acknowledged the +title of Athens to Amphipolis, and sent home the Athenian prisoners, whom he had +captured among the supporters of Argaeus, without ransom. The Athenians, +however, neglected to garrison Amphipolis. In 358 (the year in which Athens +temporarily recovered her hold over Euboea, by compelling the Thebans to +evacuate the island), Philip carried on a successful campaign against the +Paeonian and Illyrian tribes, who were standing enemies of Macedonia. For the +next three years Athens was kept occupied by the war with her allies, and Philip +saw his opportunity. He besieged Amphipolis: when the citizens sent Hierax and +Stratocles to ask Athens for help, he dispatched a letter promising the +Athenians that he would give them Amphipolis when he had taken it; and a secret +understanding was arrived at between Philip and the Athenian envoys sent to him, +that Athens should give him Pydna (once a Macedonian town, but now an ally of +Athens) in exchange. Athens, therefore, listened neither to Amphipolis nor to +Olynthus, which had also made overtures to her. The Olynthians in consequence +made a treaty with Philip, who gave them Anthemus and promised to help them +against their old rival Poteidaea, a town in alliance with Athens. The +Olynthians on their part agreed not to make peace with Athens except in +conjunction with him. But Philip, when he had captured Amphipolis by a +combination of siege and intrigue, did not give it up to Athens, and instead of +waiting to receive Pydna from Athens, besieged and took it, aided once more by +treachery from within. In 356 he took Poteidaea (in conjunction with the +Olynthians, to whom he gave the town), the Athenians arriving too late to +relieve it; and then pursued his conquests along the Thracian coast. Further +inland he expelled the Thasians (allies of Athens) from Crenides and founded +Philippi on the site, in the centre of the gold-mines of Mount Pangaeus, from +which he henceforward derived a very large revenue; while the forests of the +district provided him with timber for ship-building, of which he took full +advantage: for in the next few years his ships made descents upon the Athenian +islands of Lemnos and Imbros, plundered the Athenian corn-vessels off the coast +of Euboea, and even landed a force at Marathon. In the latter part of 356 and in +355 he was occupied with the conquest of the Paeonians and Illyrians, with whom +Athens had made an alliance in 356. At the end of 355 he laid siege to Methone, +the last Athenian port on the Thermaic gulf, and captured it in 354. (Some place +the siege and capture of Methone in 354-3, but an inscription, C.I.G. II. 70, +makes it at least probable that the siege had begun by the last month of 355.) +In 353 Philip made his way to the Thracian coast, and conquered Abdera and +Maroneia. At Maroneia we find him in company with Pammenes (his former host at +Thebes), who had been sent by the Thebans to assist Artabazus in his revolt +against the Persian king; and at the same place he received Apollonides of +Cardia, the envoy of the Thracian prince Cersobleptes. On his way home his ships +escaped from Chares, off Neapolis, by a ruse. In the same year he interfered in +the affairs of Thessaly, where the Aleuadae of Larissa had invited his +assistance against Lycophron and Peitholaus of Pherae, who had invoked the aid +of the Phocians. (In opposing the Phocians, the antagonists of the Thebans in +the Sacred War, Philip was also helping the Thebans themselves, and gaining +credit as the opponent of the plunderers of the temple of Apollo at Delphi.) +Onomarchus, the Phocian leader, twice defeated Philip, but was overthrown and +slain in 352. Philip took Pherae and Pagasae (its port), occupied Magnesia, and, +by means of promises, obtained financial aid from the Thessalians. The +expedition sent by Athens to relieve Pagasae arrived too late; but when Philip, +after putting down the tyrants of Pherae and arranging matters in Thessaly, +advanced towards the Pass of Thermopylae, an Athenian force, sent on the advice +of Diophantus and Eubulus, appeared in time to oblige him to retire to +Macedonia. Late in the autumn of 352 we find him once more in Thrace. It was +probably now that he assisted the peoples of Byzantium and Perinthus, together +with Amadocus, a rival of Cersobleptes, against the latter; with the result that +Cersobleptes was obliged to give up his son to Philip as a hostage. Philip had +also made alliance with Cardia, which, like Byzantium, was on bad terms with +Athens. He now laid siege to Heraeon Teichos, a fortress on the Propontis, but +illness obliged him to suspend operations, and the rumour of his death prevented +the Athenians from sending against him the expedition which they had resolved +upon. (The retention of her influence in this region was essential for Athens, +if her corn-supply was to be secure.) In 351, on recovering from his illness, he +entered the territory of Olynthus, which, contrary to the agreement with him, +had made peace with Athens in the previous year, apart from himself: but he did +not at present pursue the invasion further. In October 351 Athens sent +Charidemus to the Hellespont with ten ships, but no soldiers and little money. +If these are the ships alluded to in Sec. 43 of the present Speech, the Speech must +have been delivered after that date. Otherwise any date after Philip's incursion +into the territory of Olynthus would suit the contents of the Speech, and many +writers place it earlier in the year. The question of the relations of Athens +with Philip had been brought forward; and Demosthenes, who had risen first to +speak, proposes the creation of a large permanent fleet, and of a smaller force +for immediate action, laying great stress on the necessity of sending Athenian +citizens both to command and to form a substantial proportion of the troops, +which, had so far been mostly mercenaries. The scheme was worked out in detail, +both in its military and in its financial aspects, and supported with an +eloquence and an earnestness which are far in advance of those displayed in the +earlier speeches. + +The statement of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, that the Speech as we have it, is +really a conflation of two speeches, of which the second (beginning at Sec. 30) was +delivered in 347, is generally (and rightly) discredited.] + + +{1} If some new subject were being brought before us, men of Athens, I would +have waited until most of your ordinary advisers had declared their opinion; and +if anything that they said were satisfactory to me, I would have remained +silent, and only if it were not so, would I have attempted to express my own +view. But since we find ourselves once more considering a question upon which +they have often spoken, I think I may reasonably be pardoned for rising first of +all. For if their advice to you in the past had been what it ought to have been, +you would have had no occasion for the present debate. + +{2} In the first place, then, men of Athens, we must not be downhearted at our +present situation, however wretched it may seem to be. For in the worst feature +of the past lies our best hope for the future-in the fact, that is, that we are +in our present plight because you are not doing your duty in any respect; for if +you were doing all that you should do, and we were still in this evil case, we +could not then even hope for any improvement. {3} In the second place, you must +bear in mind (what some of you have heard from others, and those who know can +recollect for themselves), how powerful the Spartans were, not long ago, and yet +how noble and patriotic your own conduct was, when instead of doing anything +unworthy of your country you faced the war with Sparta [n] in defence of the +right. [n] Now why do I remind you of these things? It is because, men of +Athens, I wish you to see and to realize, that so long as you are on your guard +you have nothing to fear; but that if you are indifferent, nothing can be as you +would wish: for this is exemplified for you both by the power of Sparta in those +days, to which you rose superior because you gave your minds to your affairs; +and by the insolence of Philip to-day, which troubles us because we care nothing +for the things which should concern us. {4} If, however, any of you, men of +Athens, when he considers the immense force now at Philip's command, and the +city's loss of all her strongholds, thinks that Philip is a foe hard to conquer, +I ask him (right though he is in his belief) to reflect also that there was a +time when we possessed Pydna and Poteidaea and Methone; when all the surrounding +country was our own, and many of the tribes [n] which are now on his side were +free and independent, and more inclined to be friendly to us than to him. {5} +Now if in those days Philip had made up his mind that it was a hard thing to +fight against the Athenians, with all their fortified outposts on his own +frontiers, while he was destitute of allies, he would have achieved none of his +recent successes, nor acquired this great power. But Philip saw quite clearly, +men of Athens, that all these strongholds were prizes of war, displayed for +competition. He saw that in the nature of things the property of the absent +belongs to those who are on the spot, and that of the negligent to those who are +ready for toil and danger. {6} It is, as you know, by acting upon this belief, +that he has brought all those places under his power, and now holds them--some +of them by right of capture in war, others in virtue of alliances and friendly +understandings; for every one is willing to grant alliance and to give attention +to those whom they see to be prepared and ready to take action as is necessary. +{7} If then, men of Athens, you also will resolve to adopt this principle to- +day--the principle which you have never observed before--if each of you can +henceforward be relied upon to throw aside all this pretence of incapacity, and +to act where his duty bids him, and where his services can be of use to his +country; if he who has money will contribute, and he who is of military age will +join the campaign; if, in one plain word, you will resolve henceforth to depend +absolutely on yourselves, each man no longer hoping that he will need to do +nothing himself, and that his neighbour will do everything for him; then, God +willing, you will recover your own; you will take back all that your indolence +has lost, and you will have your revenge upon Philip. {8} Do not imagine that +his fortune is built to last for ever, as if he were a God. He also has those +who hate him and fear him, men of Athens, and envy him too, even among those who +now seem to be his closest friends. All the feelings that exist in any other +body of men must be supposed to exist in Philip's supporters. Now, however, all +such feelings are cowed before him: your slothful apathy has taken away their +only rallying point; and it is this apathy that I bid you put off to-day. {9} +Mark the situation, men of Athens: mark the pitch which the man's outrageous +insolence has reached, when he does not even give you a choice between action +and inaction, but threatens you, and utters (as we are told) haughty language: +for he is not the man to rest content in possession of his conquests: he is +always casting his net wider; and while we procrastinate and sit idle, he is +setting his toils around us on every side. {10} When, then, men of Athens, when, +I say, will you take the action that is required? What are you waiting for? 'We +are waiting,' you say, 'till it is necessary.' But what must we think of all +that is happening at this present time? Surely the strongest necessity that a +free people can experience is the shame which they must feel at their position! +What? Do you want to go round asking one another, 'Is there any news?' Could +there be any stranger news than that a man of Macedonia is defeating Athenians +in war, and ordering the affairs of the Hellenes? {11} 'Is Philip dead?' 'No, +but he is sick.' And what difference does it make to you? For if anything should +happen to him, you will soon raise up for yourselves a second Philip, if it is +thus that you attend to your interests. Indeed, Philip himself has not risen to +this excessive height through his own strength, so much as through our neglect. +I go even further. {12} If anything happened to Philip--if the operation of +Fortune, who always cares for us better than we care for ourselves, were to +effect this too for us--you know that if you were at hand, you could descend +upon the general confusion and order everything as you wished; but in your +present condition, even if circumstances offered you Amphipolis, you could not +take it; for your forces and your minds alike are far away. + +{13} Well, I say no more of the obligation which rests upon you all to be +willing and ready to do your duty; I will assume that you are resolved and +convinced. But the nature of the armament which, I believe, will set you free +from such troubles as these, the numbers of the force, the source from which we +must obtain funds, and the best and quickest way, as it seems to me, of making +all further preparations--all this, men of Athens, I will at once endeavour to +explain when I have made one request of you. {14} Give your verdict on my +proposal when you have heard the whole of it; do not prejudge it before I have +done; and if at first the force which I propose appears unprecedented, do not +think that I am merely creating delays. It is not those whose cry is 'At once', +'To-day', whose proposals will meet our need; for what has already happened +cannot be prevented by any expedition now. {15} It is rather he who can show the +nature, the magnitude, and the financial possibility of a force which when +provided will be able to continue in existence either until we are persuaded to +break off the war, or until we have overcome the enemy; for thus only can we +escape further calamity for the future. These things I believe I can show, +though I would not stand in the way of any other speaker's professions. It is no +less a promise than this that I make; the event will soon test its fulfilment, +and you will be the judges of it. + +First then, men of Athens, I say that fifty warships must {16} at once be got in +readiness: and next, that you must be in such a frame of mind that, if any need +arises, you will embark in person and sail. In addition, you must prepare +transports for half our cavalry, and a sufficient number of boats. {17} These, I +think, should be in readiness to meet those sudden sallies of his from his own +country against Thermopylae, the Chersonese, Olynthus, and any other place which +he may select. For we must make him realize that there is a possibility of your +rousing yourselves out of your excessive indifference, just as when once you +went to Euboea,[n] and before that (as we are told) to Haliartus,[n] and +finally, only the other day, to Thermopylae. {18} Such a possibility, even if +you are unlikely to make it a reality, as I think you ought to do, is not one +which he can treat lightly; and you may thus secure one of two objects. On the +one hand, he may know that you are on the alert--he will in fact know it well +enough: there are only too many persons, I assure you, in Athens itself, who +report to him all that happens here: and in that case his apprehensions will +ensure his inactivity. But if, on the other hand, he neglects the warning, he +may be taken off his guard; for there will be nothing to hinder you from sailing +to his country, if he gives you the opportunity. {19} These are the measures +upon which I say you should all be resolved, and your preparations for them +made. But before this, men of Athens, you must make ready a force which will +fight without intermission, and do him damage. Do not speak to me of ten +thousand or twenty thousand mercenaries. I will have none of your paper-armies. +[n] Give me an army which will be the army of Athens, and will obey and follow +the general whom you elect, be there one general or more, be he one particular +individual, or be he who he may. {20} You must also provide maintenance for this +force. Now what is this force to be? how large is it to be? how is it to be +maintained? how will it consent to act in this manner? I will answer these +questions point by point. The number of mercenaries--but you must not repeat the +mistake which has so often injured you, the mistake of, first, thinking any +measures inadequate, and so voting for the largest proposal, and then, when the +time for action comes, not even executing the smaller one; you must rather carry +out and make provision for the smaller measure, and add to it, if it proves too +small--{21} the total number of soldiers, I say, must be two thousand, and of +these five hundred must be Athenians, beginning from whatever age you think +good: they must serve for a definite period--not a long one, but one to be fixed +at your discretion--and in relays. The rest must be mercenaries. With these must +be cavalry, two hundred in number, of whom at least fifty must be Athenians, as +with the infantry; and the conditions of service must be the same. {22} You must +also find transports for these. And what next? Ten swift ships of war. For as he +has a fleet, we need swift-sailing warships too, to secure the safe passage of +the army. And how is maintenance to be provided for these? This also I will +state and demonstrate, as soon as I have given you my reasons for thinking that +a force of this size is sufficient, and for insisting that those who serve in it +shall be citizens. + +{23} The size of the force, men of Athens, is determined by the fact that we +cannot at present provide an army capable of meeting Philip in the open field; +we must make plundering forays, and our warfare must at first be of a predatory +nature. Consequently the force must not be over-big--we could then neither pay +nor feed it--any more than it must be wholly insignificant. {24} The presence of +citizens in the force that sails I require for the following reasons. I am told +that Athens once maintained a mercenary force in Corinth,[n] under the command +of Polystratus, Iphicrates, Chabrias and others, and that you yourselves joined +in the campaign with them; and I remember hearing that these mercenaries, when +they took the field with you, and you with them, were victorious over the +Spartans. But even since your mercenary forces have gone to war alone, it is +your friends and allies that they conquer, while your enemies have grown more +powerful than they should be. After a casual glance at the war to which Athens +has sent them, they sail off to Artabazus,[n] or anywhere rather than to the +war; and the general follows them naturally enough, for his power over them is +gone when he can give them no pay. You ask what I bid you do. {25} I bid you +take away their excuses both from the general and the soldiers, by supplying pay +and placing citizen-soldiers at their side as spectators of these mysteries of +generalship;[n] for our present methods are a mere mockery. Imagine the question +to be put to you, men of Athens, whether you are at peace or no. 'At peace?' you +would say; 'Of course not! We are at war with Philip.' {26} Now have you not all +along been electing from among your own countrymen ten captains and generals,[n] +and cavalry-officers, and two masters-of-the-horse? and what are they doing? +Except the one single individual whom you happen to send to the seat of war, +they are all marshalling your processions for you with the commissioners of +festivals. You are no better than men modelling puppets of clay. Your captains +and your cavalry-officers are elected to be displayed in the streets, not to be +sent to the war. {27} Surely, men of Athens, your captains should be elected +from among yourselves, and your master-of-the-horse from among yourselves; your +officers should be your own countrymen, if the force is to be really the army of +Athens. As it is, the master-of-the-horse who is one of yourselves has to sail +to Lemnos; while the master-of-the-horse with the army that is fighting to +defend the possessions of Athens is Menelaus.[n] I do not wish to disparage that +gentleman; but whoever holds that office ought to have been elected by you. + +{28} Perhaps, however, while agreeing with all that I have said, you are mainly +anxious to hear my financial proposals, which will tell you the amount and the +sources of the funds required. I proceed, therefore, with these at once. First +for the sum. The cost of the bare rations for the crews, with such a force, will +be 90 talents and a little over--40 talents for ten swift ships, and 20 minae a +month for each ship; and for the soldiers as much again, each soldier to receive +rations to the value of 10 drachmae a month; and for the cavalry (two hundred in +number, each to receive 30 drachmae a month) twelve talents. {29} It may be said +that the supply of bare rations to the members of the force is an insufficient +initial provision; but this is a mistake. I am quite certain that, given so +much, the army will provide everything else for itself from the proceeds of war, +without injury to a single Hellene or ally of ours, and that the full pay will +be made up by these means. I am ready to sail as a volunteer and to suffer the +worst, if my words are untrue. The next question then is of ways and means, in +so far as the funds are to come from yourselves. I will explain this at once. + +[_A schedule of ways and means is read_.] + +{30} This, men of Athens, is what we have been able to devise; and when you put +our proposals to the vote, you will pass them, if you approve of them; that so +your war with Philip may be a war, not of resolutions and dispatches, but of +actions. + +{31} I believe that the value of your deliberations about the war and the +armament as a whole would be greatly enhanced, if you were to bear in mind the +situation of the country against which you are fighting, remembering that most +of Philip's plans are successfully carried out because he takes advantage of +winds and seasons; for he waits for the Etesian winds[n] or the winter-season, +and only attacks when it would be impossible for us to effect a passage to the +scene of action. {32} Bearing this in mind, we must not carry on the war by +means of isolated expeditions; we shall always be too late. We must have a +permanent force and armament. As our winter-stations for the army we have +Lemnos, Thasos, Sciathos, and the islands in that region, which have harbours +and corn, and are well supplied with all that an army needs. And as to the time +of year, whenever it is easy to approach the shore and the winds are not +dangerous, our force can without difficulty lie close to the Macedonian coast +itself, and block the mouths of the ports. + +{33} How and when he will employ the force is a matter to be determined, when +the time comes, by the commander whom you put in control of it. What must be +provided from Athens is described in the scheme which I have drafted. If, men of +Athens, you first supply the sum I have mentioned, and then, after making ready +the rest of the armament--soldiers, ships, cavalry--bind the whole force in its +entirety,[n] by law, to remain at the seat of war; if you become your own +paymasters, your own commissioners of supply, but require your general to +account for the actual operations; {34} then there will be an end of these +perpetual discussions of one and the same theme, which end in nothing but +discussion: and in addition to this, men of Athens, you will, in the first +place, deprive him of his chief source of supply. For what is this? Why, he +carries on the war at the cost of your own allies, harrying and plundering those +who sail the seas! And what will you gain besides this? You will place +yourselves out of reach of disaster. It will not be as it was in the past, when +he descended upon Lemnos and Imbros, and went off, with your fellow-citizens as +his prisoners of war, or when he seized the vessels off Geraestus,[n] and levied +an enormous sum from them; or when (last of all) he landed at Marathon, seized +the sacred trireme,[n] and carried it off from the country; while all the time +you can neither prevent these aggressions, nor yet send an expedition which will +arrive when you intend it to arrive. {35} But for what reason do you think, men +of Athens, do the festival of the Panathenaea and the festival of the +Dionysia[n] always take place at the proper time, whether those to whom the +charge of either festival is allotted are specially qualified persons or not-- +festivals upon which you spend larger sums of money than upon any armament +whatsoever, and which involve an amount of trouble[n] and preparation, which are +unique, so far as I know, in the whole world--; and yet your armaments are +always behind the time--at Methone, at Pagasae, at Potidaea? {36} It is because +for the festivals all is arranged by law. Each of you knows long beforehand who +is to supply the chorus,[n] and who is to be steward of the games,[n] for his +tribe: he knows what he is to receive, and when, and from whom, and what he is +to do with it. No detail is here neglected, nothing is left indefinite. But in +all that concerns war and our preparation for it, there is no organization, no +revision, no definiteness. Consequently it is not until the news comes that we +appoint our trierarchs and institute exchanges of property for them, and inquire +into ways and means. When that is done, we first resolve that the resident +aliens and the independent freedmen[n] shall go on board; then we change our +minds and say that citizens shall embark; then that we will send substitutes; +and while all these delays are occurring, the object of the expedition is +already lost. {37} For we spend on preparation the time when we should be +acting, and the opportunities which events afford will not wait for our slothful +evasions; while as for the forces on which we think we can rely in the meantime, +when the critical moment comes, they are tried and found wanting. And Philip's +insolence has reached such a pitch, that he has sent such a letter as the +following to the Euboeans. + +[_The letter is read_.] + +{38} The greater part of the statements that have been read are true, men of +Athens; and they ought not to be true! but I admit that they may possibly be +unpleasant to hear; and if the course of future events would pass over all that +a speaker passes over in his speech, to avoid giving pain, we should be right in +speaking with a view to your pleasure. But if attractive words, spoken out of +season, bring their punishment in actual reality, then it is disgraceful to +blind our eyes to the truth, to put off everything that is unpleasant, {39} to +refuse to understand even so much as this, that those who conduct war rightly +must not follow in the wake of events, but must be beforehand with them: for +just as a general may be expected to lead his army, so those who debate must +lead the course of affairs, in order that what they resolve upon may be done, +and that they may not be forced to follow at the heels of events. {40} You, men +of Athens, have the greatest power in the world-warships, infantry, cavalry, +revenue. But none of these elements of power have you used as you ought, down to +this very day. The method of your warfare with Philip is just that of barbarians +in a boxing-match. Hit one of them, and he hugs the place; hit him on the other +side, and there go his hands; but as for guarding, or looking his opponent in +the face, he neither can nor will do it. {41} It is the same with you. If you +hear that Philip is in the Chersonese, you resolve to make an expedition there; +if he is at Thermopylae, you send one there; and wherever else he may be, you +run up and down in his steps. It is he that leads your forces. You have never of +yourselves come to any salutary decision in regard to the war. No single event +do you ever discern before it occurs--before you have heard that something has +happened or is happening. Perhaps there was room for this backwardness until +now; but now we are at the very crisis, and such an attitude is possible no +longer. {42} Surely, men of Athens, it is one of the gods--one who blushes for +Athens, as he sees the course which events are taking--that has inspired Philip +with this restless activity. If he were content to remain at peace, in +possession of all that he has won by conquest or by forestalling us--if he had +no further plans--even then, the record against us as a people, a record of +shame and cowardice and all that is most dishonourable, would, I think, seem +complete enough to some of you. But now he is always making some new attempt, +always grasping after something more; and unless your spirit has utterly +departed, his conduct will perhaps bring you out into the field. {43} It amazes +me, men of Athens, that not one of you remembers with any indignation, that this +war had its origin in our intention to punish Philip; and that now, at the end +of it, the question is, how we are to escape disaster at his hands. But that he +will not stay his progress until some one arrests it is plain enough. Are we +then to wait for that? Do you think that all is right, when you dispatch nothing +but empty ships and somebody's hopes? Shall we not embark? {44} Shall we not +now, if never before, go forth ourselves, and provide at least some small +proportion of Athenian soldiers? Shall we not sail to the enemy's country? But I +heard the question, 'At what point on his coast are we to anchor?' The war +itself, men of Athens, if you take it in hand, will discover his weak points: +but if we sit at home listening to the mutual abuse and recriminations of our +orators, you can never realize any of the results that you ought to realize. +{45} I believe that whenever any portion of Athens is sent with the forces, even +if the whole city does not go, the favour of Heaven and of Fortune fights on our +side. But whenever you dispatch anywhere a general with an empty resolution and +some platform-hopes to support him, then you achieve nothing that you ought to +achieve, your enemies laugh at you, and your allies are in deadly fear of all +such armaments. {46} It is impossible, utterly impossible, that any one man +should be able to effect all that you wish for you. He can give undertakings and +promises;[n] he can accuse this man and that; and the result is that your +fortunes are ruined. For when the general is at the head of wretched, unpaid +mercenaries, and when there are those in Athens who lie to you light-heartedly +about all that he does, and, on the strength of the tales that you hear, you +pass decrees at random, what _must_ you expect? + +{47} How then can this state of things be terminated? Only, men of Athens, when +you expressly make the same men soldiers, witnesses of their general's actions, +and judges at his examination[n] when they return home; for then the issue of +your fortunes will not be a tale which you hear, but a thing which you will be +on the spot to see. So shameful is the pass which matters have now reached, that +each of your generals is tried for his life before you two or three times, but +does not dare to fight in mortal combat with the enemy even once. They prefer +the death of kidnappers and brigands to that of a general. {48} For it is a +felon's death, to die by sentence of the court: the death of a general is to +fall in battle with the enemy. Some of us go about saying that Philip is +negotiating with Sparta[n] for the overthrow of the Thebans and the breaking up +of the free states; others, that he has sent ambassadors to the king;[n] others, +that he is fortifying cities in Illyria. {49} We all go about inventing each his +own tale. I quite believe, men of Athens, that he is intoxicated with the +greatness of his successes, and entertains many such visions in his mind; for he +sees that there are none to hinder him, and he is elated at his achievements. +But I do not believe that he has chosen to act in such a way that the most +foolish persons in Athens can know what he intends to do; for no persons are so +foolish as newsmongers. {50} But if we dismiss all such tales, and attend only +to the certainty--that the man is our enemy, that he is robbing us of our own, +that he has insulted us for a long time, that all that we ever expected any one +to do for us has proved to be against us, that the future is in our own hands, +that if we will not fight him now in his own country we shall perhaps be obliged +to do so in ours--if, I say, we are assured of this, then we shall have made up +our minds aright, and shall be quit of idle words. For you have not to speculate +what the future may be: you have only to be assured that the future must be +evil, unless you give heed and are ready to do your duty. + +{51} Well, I have never yet chosen to gratify you by saying anything which I +have not felt certain would be for your good; and to-day I have spoken freely +and without concealment, just what I believe. I could wish to be as sure of the +good that a speaker will gain by giving you the best advice as of that which you +will gain by listening to him. I should then have been far happier than I am. As +it is, I do not know what will happen to me, for what I have said: but I have +chosen to speak in the sure conviction that if you carry out my proposals, it +will be for your good; and may the victory rest with that policy which will be +for the good of all! + + + + +THE OLYNTHIAC ORATIONS (OR. I-III) + + +[_Introduction_. It has already been noticed that when Philip took Amphipolis in +357 B.C., the Olynthians made overtures to the Athenians, with whom they had +been at war for some years, and that, being rejected, they became allies of +Philip, who gave them Anthemus and Poteidaea. In 352, alarmed at Philip's +growing power, they once more applied to Athens. Peace was made, and +negotiations began with regard to an alliance. In 351 Philip appeared in the +territory of Olynthus. He did not, however, at once carry the invasion further, +but took pains, during this year and the next, to foster a Macedonian party in +the town. In 349 Philip virtually declared war on the Olynthians by demanding +the surrender of his step-brother Arrhidaeus, who had taken refuge with them. +The Olynthians again appealed to Athens; an alliance was made; Chares was sent +with thirty ships and 2,000 mercenaries, but seems to have mismanaged the war by +misfortune or by design. Probably he had been badly supplied with funds, and +instead of helping Olynthus, resorted to acts of piracy to satisfy his men. The +Macedonian troops proceeded to take Stageira and other towns of the Olynthian +League, though Philip still professed to have no hostile intentions against +Olynthus (see Phil. III, Sec. ii). Chares was recalled and put on his trial; and, +probably in response to a further message from Olynthus, Charidemus was +transferred thither from the Hellespont. With a considerable mercenary force at +his disposal, Charidemus overran Pallene and Bottiaea, and did some damage to +Philip's territory, but afterwards gave himself up to dissipation in Olynthus. +In the meantime, some of the Thessalians had become restless under Philip's +supremacy (see Olynth. I, Sec. 22, II, Sec. ii), and he was obliged to undertake an +expedition to suppress the revolt, and to put down Peitholaus (who had +apparently become tyrant of Pherae once more, though he had been expelled in +352). But early in 348 he appeared in person in Chalcidice, and took one after +another of the towns of the League, including Mecyberna the port of Olynthus, +and Torone. He thrice defeated the Olynthians in battle, and at last obtained +possession of Olynthus itself by the treachery of Euthycrates and Lasthenes, the +commanders of the Olynthian cavalry. + +Athens had probably been occupied during the early part of the year [1] with an +expedition which she sent (against the advice of Demosthenes) to help Plutarchus +of Eretria to repel attacks which were partly, at least, instigated by Philip; +and in consequence she had done little for Olynthus, though on a request of the +Olynthians for cavalry, she had ordered some of those which had been sent to +Euboea to go to Olynthus, and these may have been the Athenians whom Philip +captured in that city. The seventeen ships, 2,000 infantry, and 300 cavalry (all +citizens), which Athens dispatched under Chares in response to a last urgent +appeal from Olynthus, were delayed by storms and arrived too late. Philip +entirely destroyed Olynthus and thirty-two other towns, sold their inhabitants +into slavery, brought the whole of Chalcidice within the Macedonian Empire, and +celebrated his conquests by a festival in honour of the Olympian Zeus at Dium. + +The First Olynthiac Oration was delivered before Olynthus itself was attacked or +any other towns actually taken (Olynth. I, Sec. 17); and both the First and Second +before the discontent with Philip in Thessaly had taken an active form (I, Sec. 22, +II, Sec. 7). Both, that is, belong to the summer of 349, and the situation implied +is very much the same in both. The First was perhaps spoken when the Olynthians +first appealed to Athens in that year, before the mission of Chares; the Second, +to counteract the effect of something which had caused despondency in Athens +(possibly the conduct of the Athenian generals, or the account given by other +orators of Philip's power). In both Demosthenes urges the importance of +resisting Philip while he is still far away, and of sending, not mercenaries, +but a citizen-army; and while hinting at what he regards as the true solution of +the financial difficulty, proposes a special war-tax. The solution which he +thinks the right one is more explicitly described in the Third Olynthiac, spoken +(probably [Footnote: See note on Olynth. III, Section 4]) in the autumn of the +same year, and certainly at a time when the situation had become much more +grave. The root of the financial difficulty lay in the existence of a law which +prohibited (evidently under severe penalties, Olynth. III, Section 12) any +proposal to devote to military purposes that portion of the revenues which +constituted the 'Festival' or 'Theoric Fund', and was for the most part +distributed to the citizens to enable them to take part in the public festivals, +and so join in fulfilling what was no doubt a religious duty as well as a +pleasure. This particular form of expenditure is stated to have been introduced +by the demagogue Agyrrhius in 394, when it revived in an extended form a +distribution of theatre money instituted late in the fifth century by Cleophon; +but the special law in question appears to have been of recent date (Olynth. +III, Section 12), and was almost certainly the work of Eubulus and his party. +Demosthenes himself proposes an extraordinary Legislative Commission, to repeal +the mischievous laws and leave the way clear for financial reform. At the same +time he attacks the whole policy of Eubulus, charging him with distributing +doles without regard to public service, adding to the amenities of Athens +instead of maintaining her honour in war, and enriching her politicians while +degrading her people. The main object of the speech was unsuccessful; and just +about this time (though whether before or after the speech is disputed) +Apollodorus proposed that the people should decide whether the surplus revenues +should go to the Festival Fund, or be applied to military purposes, and was +heavily fined for the illegality of the proposal. + +The Three Olynthiacs rank high among the Orations of Demosthenes. Some passages, +indeed, show that he had hardly as yet appreciated the genius of Philip, or the +unlikelihood of his making a false move either through over-confidence or +because he had come to the end of his resources. But the noble patriotism of the +speaker, the lofty tone of his political reflections, the clearness of his +diagnosis of the evils of his time, and the fearlessness of his appeal for loyal +and united self-sacrifice, are nowhere more conspicuous.] + + +THE FIRST OLYNTHIAC + +{1} I believe, men of Athens, that you would give a great sum to know what +policy, in reference to the matter which you are now considering, will best +serve the interests of the city, and since that is so, you ought to be ready and +eager to listen to those who desire to give you their advice. For not only can +you hear and accept any useful proposals which a speaker may have thought out +before he came here; but such, I conceive, is your fortune, that the right +suggestion will often occur to some of those present on the spur of the moment; +and out of all these suggestions it should be easy for you to choose the most +advantageous course. + +{2} The present time, men of Athens, seems almost to cry aloud that you must +take matters into your own hands yonder, if you have any interest in a +successful termination of the crisis: and yet our attitude appears to be--I do +not know what. My own opinion, at all events, is that you should at once resolve +to send this assistance; that you should prepare for the departure of the +expedition at the first possible moment--you must not fall victims to the same +error as before--and that you should dispatch an embassy to announce our +intention, and to be present at the scene of action. {3} For what we have most +to fear is this--that he, with his unscrupulous cleverness in taking advantage +of circumstances--now, it may be, by making concessions; now by uttering +threats, which he may well seem likely to fulfil; now by misrepresenting +ourselves and our absence from the scene--may turn and wrest to his own +advantage some of the vital elements of our power. {4} And yet it may fairly be +said, men of Athens, that our best hope lies in that very circumstance which +renders Philip's power so hard to grapple with. The fact that the entire control +over everything, open or secret,[n] is concentrated in the hands of a single +man; that he is at one and the same time general, master, and treasurer; that he +is always present in person with his army--all this is a great advantage, in so +far as military operations must be prompt and well-timed. But as regards the +compact which he would so gladly make with the Olynthians, the effect is just +the reverse. {5} For the Olynthians know well that they are not fighting now for +honour and glory, nor for a strip of territory, but to avert the devastation and +enslavement of their country. They know how he treated[n] those who betrayed to +him their city at Amphipolis, and those who received him at Pydna; and it is, I +imagine, universally true that tyranny is a faithless friend to a free state, +and that most of all, when they occupy adjoining territories. {6} With this +knowledge, men of Athens, and with all the reflections that the occasion calls +for in your minds, I say that now, if ever before, you must make your resolve, +rouse all your energies, and give your minds to the war: you must contribute +gladly, you must go forth in person, you must leave nothing undone. There is no +longer any reason or excuse remaining, which can justify you in refusing to do +your duty. {7} For every one was but recently harping on the desirability of +exciting Olynthus to war with Philip; and this has now come to pass of itself, +and in the way which most completely suits your interests. Had they taken up the +war because you had persuaded them to do so, their alliance might perhaps have +been precarious, and their resolution might only have carried them a certain +way. But now their detestation of Philip is based upon grievances which affect +themselves; and we may suppose that a hostility which is occasioned by their own +fears and sufferings will be a lasting one. {8} Since, therefore, men of Athens, +such an opportunity has been thrown in your way, you must not let it go, nor +fall victims to the mistake from which you have often suffered before. If, for +instance, when we had returned from our expedition in aid of the Euboeans,[n] +and Hierax and Stratocles came from Amphipolis and stood upon this platform and +urged us to sail and take over the city; if, I say, we had continued to display +in our own interest the eagerness which we displayed in the deliverance of the +Euboeans, you would have kept Amphipolis then, and we should have been free from +all the trouble that we have had since. {9} And again, when news kept coming of +the investment of Pydna, Poteidaea, Methone, Pagasae, and all the other places-- +I will not stay to enumerate them all--if we had acted at once, and had gone to +the rescue of the first place attacked, with the energy which we ought to have +shown, we should now have found Philip much less proud and difficult to deal +with. As it is, we are always sacrificing the present, always fancying that the +future will turn out well of itself; and so we have raised Philip to a position +of such importance as no king of Macedonia has ever before attained. {10} And +now an opportunity has come to Athens, in this crisis at Olynthus, as great as +any of those former ones: and I believe, men of Athens, that one who was to draw +up a true account of the blessings which have been given us by the gods, would, +in spite of much that is not as it should be, find great cause for thankfulness +to them; and naturally so. For our many losses in the war must in fairness be +set down to our own indifference; but that we did not suffer such losses long +ago, and that an alliance has presented itself to us, which, if we will only +take advantage of it, will act as a counterpoise to them--all this I, for one, +should set down as a favour due to their goodness towards us. But it is, I +imagine, in politics, as it is in money-making. {11} If a man is able to keep +all that he gets, he is abundantly grateful to Fortune; but if he loses it all +before he is aware, he loses with it his memory of Fortune's kindness. So it is +in politics. When men have not made a right use of their opportunities, they do +not remember any good that heaven may actually have granted them: for it is by +the ultimate issue that men estimate all that they have enjoyed before. +Therefore, men of Athens, you must pay the very utmost heed to the future, that +by the better use you make of it, you may wipe out the dishonour of the past. +{12} But if you sacrifice these men also, men of Athens, and Philip in +consequence reduces Olynthus to subjection, I ask any of you to tell me what is +to prevent him from marching where he pleases. Is there a man among you, men of +Athens, who considers or studies the steps by which Philip, weak enough at +first, has become so strong? First he took Amphipolis, next Pydna, then again +Poteidaea, and then Methone. Next he set foot in Thessaly. {13} Then when +Pherae, Pagasae, Magnesia[n] were secured for his purposes, just as it suited +him, he departed to Thrace. In Thrace, after expelling one prince and setting up +another, he fell ill. When he grew easier again, he showed no inclination to +take things easily, but at once attacked the Olynthians[n]--and I am passing +over his campaigns against the Illyrians and the Paeonians, against Arybbas,[n] +and in every possible direction. + +{14} Why, I may be asked, do I mention these things at the present moment? I +wish you to understand, men of Athens, and to realize these two points: first, +the unprofitableness of perpetually sacrificing your interests one by one; and, +secondly, the restless activity which is a part of Philip's very being, and +which will not allow him to content himself with his achievements and remain at +peace. For if it is to be his fixed resolve, that he must always be aiming at +something greater than he has yet attained; and ours, that we will never set +ourselves resolutely to work; ask yourselves what you can expect to be the end +of the matter. {15} In God's name, is there one of you so innocent as not to +know that the war will be transferred from Olynthus to Attica, if we pay no +heed? But if that happens, men of Athens, I fear that we shall be like men who +light-heartedly borrow at a high rate of interest, and after a brief period of +affluence, lose even their original estate; that like them we shall find that +our carelessness has cost us dear; that through making pleasure our standard in +everything, we shall find ourselves driven to do many of those unpleasant things +which we wished to avoid, and shall find our position even in our own country +imperilled. + +{16} I may be told that it is easy to criticize--any one can do that; but that a +political adviser is expected to offer some practical proposal to meet the +existing situation. Now I am well aware, men of Athens, that in the event of any +disappointment, it is not upon those who are responsible that your anger falls, +but upon those who have spoken last upon the subject in question. Yet I do not +think that consideration for my own safety should lead me to conceal my +conviction as to the course which your interests demand. {17} I say then that +there are two things which you must do to save the situation. You must rescue +these towns [n] for the Olynthians, and send troops to accomplish this: and you +must damage Philip's country with your ships and with a second body of troops. +{18} If you neglect either of these things, our campaign, I greatly fear, will +be in vain. For suppose that you inflict damage on his country, and that he +allows you to do so, while he reduces Olynthus; he will have no difficulty in +repelling you when he returns. Suppose, on the other hand, that you only go to +the help of Olynthus; he will see that he has nothing to fear at home, and so he +will sit down before the town and remain at his task, until time enables him to +get the better of the besieged. The expedition, therefore, must be large, and it +must be in two parts. + +Such is my view with regard to the expedition. {19} As to the sources of supply, +you have funds, men of Athens--funds larger than any one else in the world; but +you appropriate these without scruple, just as you choose. Now if you will +assign these to your troops, you need no further supplies: otherwise, not only +do you need further supplies--you are destitute of supplies altogether. 'Well' +(does someone say?), 'do you move that this money should form a war-fund?' I +assure you that I make no such motion. {20} For while I do indeed believe that a +force ought to be made ready [and that this money should form a war-fund], and +that the receipt of money should be connected, as part of one and the same +system, with the performance of duty; you, on the contrary, think it right to +take the money, after your present fashion, for your festivals, and spare +yourselves trouble. And therefore, I suppose, our only resource is a general +tax--larger or smaller, according to the amount required. In any case, we need +funds, and without funds nothing can be done that we ought to do. Various other +sources of supply are suggested by different persons. Choose whichever you think +best of these, and get to work, while you have the opportunity. + +{21} It is worth while to remember and to take into account the nature of +Philip's position at this moment. For neither are his affairs at present in such +good order, or in so perfectly satisfactory a state, as might appear to any but +a careful observer; nor would he ever have commenced this present war, if he had +thought that he would really have to fight. He hoped at first that by his mere +advance he would carry all before him; and he has since discovered his mistake. +This disappointment, then, is the first thing which disturbs him and causes him +great despondency: {22} and next there is the disposition of the Thessalians, +naturally inconstant as we know it has always been found by all men; and what it +has always been, that, in the highest degree, Philip finds it now. For they have +formally resolved to demand from him the restitution of Pagasae; they have +prevented him from fortifying Magnesia, and I myself heard it stated that they +intend even to refuse him the enjoyment of their harbour and market dues for the +future. These, they say, should go to maintain the public administration of +Thessaly, instead of being taken by Philip. But if he is deprived of these +funds, the resources from which he must maintain his mercenaries will be reduced +to the narrowest limits. {23} Nay, more: we must surely suppose that the +chieftains of the Paeonians and Illyrians, and in fact all such personages-- +would prefer freedom to slavery; for they are not accustomed to obey orders, and +the man, they say, is a bully. Heaven knows, there is nothing incredible in the +statement. Unmerited success is to foolish minds a fountain-head of perversity, +so that it is often harder for men to keep the good they have, than it was to +obtain it. {24} It is for you then, men of Athens, to regard his difficulty as +your opportunity, to take up your share of the burden with readiness, to send +embassies to secure all that is required, to join the forces yourselves, and to +stir up every one else to do so. Only consider what would happen, if Philip got +such an opportunity to strike at us, and there was war on our frontier. Can you +not imagine how readily he would march against us? Does it arouse no shame in +you, that, when you have the opportunity, you should not dare to do to him even +as much as you would have to suffer, were he able to inflict it? + +{25} There is a further point, men of Athens, which must not escape you. I mean +that you have now to choose whether you are to carry on war yonder, or whether +he is to do so in your own country. If the resistance of Olynthus is maintained, +you will fight there and will inflict damage on Philip's territory, while you +remain secure in the enjoyment of this land of your own which you now possess. +But if Philip captures Olynthus, who is to hinder him from marching to Athens? +The Thebans? {26} It seems, I fear, too bitter a thing to say; but they will be +glad to join him in the invasion. The Phocians? They cannot protect their own +country, unless you go to their aid, or some other power. 'But, my good Sir,'[n] +you say, 'he will not want to march here.' And yet it would be one of the +strangest things in the world, if, when he has the power, he does not carry out +the threats, which he now blurts out in spite of the folly that they show. {27} +But I suppose that I need not even point out how vast is the difference between +war here and war in his country. For had you to camp outside the walls +yourselves, for only thirty days, and to take from the country such things as +men in camp must have--and I am assuming that there is no enemy in the country-- +I believe that the loss your farmers would suffer would exceed your whole +expenditure on the war up to the present time. What then must we think will be +the extent of our loss, if ever war comes to our doors? And besides the loss +there is his insolence, and the shame of our position, which to right-minded men +is as serious as any loss. + +{28} When you take a comprehensive view of these things you must all go to the +rescue and stave the war off yonder; you who are well-to-do, in order that, with +a small expense in defence of the great fortunes which you quite rightly enjoy, +you may reap the benefit of the remainder without fear; you who are of military +age, that you may gain your experience of war in Philip's country, and so become +formidable guardians of a fatherland unspoiled; and your orators, that they may +find it easy to render an account of their public life; for your judgement upon +their conduct will itself depend upon the position in which you find yourselves. +And may that be a happy one, on every ground! + + +THE SECOND OLYNTHIAC + +{1} Many as are the occasions, men of Athens, on which we may discern the +manifestation of the goodwill of Heaven towards this city, one of the most +striking is to be seen in the circumstances of the present time. For that men +should have been found to carry on war against Philip; men whose territory +borders on his and who possess some power; men, above all, whose sentiments in +regard to the war are such that they think of the proposed compact with him, not +only as untrustworthy, but as the very ruin of their country--this seems to be +certainly the work of a superhuman, a divine, beneficence. {2} And so, men of +Athens, we must take care that we do not treat ourselves less well than +circumstances have treated us. For it is a shameful thing--nay, it is the very +depth of shame--to throw away openly, not only cities and places which were once +in our power, but even the allies and the opportunities which have been provided +for us by Fortune. + +{3} Now to describe at length the power of Philip, men of Athens, and to incite +you to the performance of your duty by such a recital, is not, I think, a +satisfactory proceeding; and for this reason--that while all that can be said on +this subject tends to Philip's glory, it is a story of failure on our part. For +the greater the extent to which his success surpasses his deserts, the greater +is the admiration with which the world regards him; while, for your part, the +more you have fallen short of the right use of your opportunities, the greater +is the disgrace that you have incurred. {4} I will therefore pass over such +considerations. For any honest inquirer must see that the causes of Philip's +rise to greatness lie in Athens, and not in himself. Of the services for which +he has to thank those whose policy is determined by his interest--services for +which you ought to require their punishment--the present is not, I see, the +moment to speak. But apart from these, there are things which may be said, and +which it is better that you should all have heard--things which (if you will +examine them aright) constitute a grave reproach against him; and these I will +try to tell you. + +{5} If I called him perjured and faithless, without giving his actions in +evidence, my words would be treated as idle abuse, and rightly: and it happens +that to review all his actions up to the present time, and to prove the charge +in every case, requires only a short speech. It is well, I think, that the story +should be told, for it will serve two purposes; first, to make plain the real +badness of the man's character; and secondly, to let those who are over-alarmed +at Philip, as if he were invincible, see that he has come to the end of all +those forms of deceit by which he rose to greatness, and that his career is +already drawing to its close. {6} For I, too, men of Athens, should be regarding +Philip with intense fear and admiration, if I saw that his rise was the result +of a righteous policy. {7} But when I study and consider the facts, I find that +originally, when certain persons wished to drive from your presence the +Olynthians who desired to address you from this place, Philip won over our +innocent minds by saying that he would deliver up Amphipolis to us, and by +inventing the famous secret understanding; that he afterwards conciliated the +Olynthians by seizing Poteidaea, which was yours, and injuring their former +allies by handing it over to themselves; and that, last of all, he recently won +over the Thessalians, by promising to give up Magnesia to them, and undertaking +to carry on the war with the Phocians on their behalf. There is absolutely no +one who has ever had dealings with him that he has not deluded; and it is by +deceiving and winning over, one after another, those who in their blindness did +not realize what he was, that he has risen as he has done. {8} And therefore, +just as it was by these deceptions that he rose to greatness, in the days when +each people fancied that he intended to do some service to themselves; so it is +these same deceptions which should drag him down again, now that he stands +convicted of acting for his own ends throughout. Such, then, is the crisis, men +of Athens, to which Philip's fortunes have now come. If it is not so, let any +one come forward and show me (or rather you) that what I say is untrue; or that +those who have been deceived at the outset trust him as regards the future; or +that those who have been brought into unmerited bondage would not gladly be +free. + +{9} But if any of you, while agreeing with me so far, still fancies that Philip +will maintain his hold by force, because he has already occupied fortified posts +and harbours and similar positions, he is mistaken. When power is cemented by +goodwill, and the interest of all who join in a war is the same, then men are +willing to share the labour, to endure the misfortunes, and to stand fast. But +when a man has become strong, as Philip has done, by a grasping and wicked +policy, the first excuse, the least stumble, throws him from his seat and +dissolves the alliance. {10} It is impossible, men of Athens, utterly +impossible, to acquire power that will last, by unrighteousness, by perjury, and +by falsehood. Such power holds out for a moment, or for a brief hour; it +blossoms brightly, perhaps, with fair hopes; but time detects the fraud, and the +flower falls withered about its stem. In a house or a ship, or any other +structure, it is the foundations that must be strongest; and no less, I believe, +must the principles, which are the foundation of men's actions, be those of +truth and righteousness. Such qualities are not to be seen to-day in the past +acts of Philip. + +{11} I say, then, that we should help the Olynthians; and the best and quickest +method which can be proposed is the method which I approve. Further, we should +send an embassy to the Thessalians--to some, to inform them of our intention; to +others, to spur them on; for even now they have resolved to demand the +restitution of Pagasae, and to make representations in regard to Magnesia. {12} +Take care, however, men of Athens, that our envoys may not only have words to +speak, but also actions of yours to point to. Let it be seen that you have gone +forth in a manner that is worthy of Athens, and are already in action. Words +without the reality must always appear a vain and empty thing, and above all +when they come from Athens; for the more we seem to excel in the glib use of +such language, the more it is distrusted by every one. {13} The change, then, +which is pointed out to them must be great, the conversion striking. They must +see you paying your contributions, marching to war, doing everything with a +will, if any of them is to listen to you. And if you resolve to accomplish all +this in very deed, as it should be accomplished, not only will the feeble and +untrustworthy nature of Philip's alliances be seen, but the weakness of his own +empire and power will also be detected. + +{14} The power and empire of Macedonia is, indeed, to speak generally, an +element which tells considerably as an addition to any other power. You found it +so when it helped you against the Olynthians in the days of Timotheus;[n] the +Olynthians in their turn found its help of some value, in combination with their +own strength, against Poteidaea; and it has recently come to the aid of the +Thessalians, in their disordered and disturbed condition, against the ruling +dynasty: and wherever even a small addition is made to a force, it helps in +every way. {15} But in itself the Macedonian Empire is weak and full of manifold +evils. Philip has in fact rendered his own tenure of it even more precarious +than it naturally was, by these very wars and campaigns which might be supposed +to prove his power. For you must not imagine, men of Athens, that Philip and his +subjects delight in the same things. Philip has a passion for glory--that is his +ambition; and he has deliberately chosen to risk the consequences of a life of +action and danger, preferring the glory of achieving more than any King of +Macedonia before him to a life of security. {16} But his subjects have no share +in the honour and glory. Constantly battered about by all these expeditions, up +and down, they are vexed with incessant hardships: they are not suffered to +pursue their occupations or attend to their own affairs: for the little that +they produce, as best they can, they can find no market, the trading stations of +the country being closed on account of the war. {17} From these facts it is not +difficult to discover the attitude of the Macedonians in general towards Philip; +and as for the mercenaries and Infantry of the Guard who surround him, though +they have the reputation of being a fine body of well-drilled warriors, I am +told by a man who has been in Macedonia, and who is incapable of falsehood, that +they are no better than any other body of men. {18} Granted that there may be +experienced campaigners and fighters among them; yet, he tells me, Philip is so +jealous of honour, that he thrusts all such men away from him, in his anxiety to +get the credit of every achievement for himself; for in addition to all his +other qualities, his jealousy is insurpassable. On the other hand, any generally +temperate or upright man, who cannot endure the dissolute life there, day by +day, nor the drunkenness and the lewd revels, is thrust on one side and counts +for nothing. {19} Thus he is left with brigands and flatterers, and men who, +when in their cups, indulge in dances of a kind which I shrink from naming to +you now. And it is evident that this report is true; for men whom every one +tried to drive out of Athens, as far viler than even the very juggler in the +street--Callias the public slave and men like him, players of farces, composers +of indecent songs, written at the expense of their companions in the hope of +raising a laugh--these are the men he likes and keeps about him. {20} You may +think that these are trivial things, men of Athens: but they are weighty, in the +judgement of every right-minded man, as illustrations of the temper with which +Philip is cursed. At present, I suppose, these facts are overshadowed by his +continual prosperity. Success has a wonderful power of throwing a veil over +shameful things like these. But let him only stumble, and then all these +features in his character will be displayed in their true light. And I believe, +men of Athens, that the revelation is not far off, if Heaven be willing and you +desirous of it. {21} So long as a man is in good health, he is unconscious of +any weakness; but if any illness comes upon him, the disturbance affects every +weak point, be it a rupture or a sprain or anything else that is unsound in his +constitution. And as with the body, so it is with a city or a tyrant. So long as +they are at war abroad, the mischief is hidden from the world at large, but the +close grapple of war on the frontier brings all to light. + +{22} Now if any of you, men of Athens, seeing Philip's good fortune, thinks that +this makes him a formidable enemy to fight against, he reasons like a sensible +man: for fortune weighs heavily in the scale--nay, fortune is everything, in all +human affairs. And yet, if I were given the choice, it is the fortune of Athens +that I should choose, rather than that of Philip, provided that you yourselves +are willing to act even to a small extent as you should act. For I see that +there are far more abundant grounds for expecting the goodwill of Heaven on your +side than on his. {23} But here, of course, we are sitting idle; and one who is +a sluggard himself cannot require his friends to help him, much less the gods. +It is not to be wondered at that Philip, who goes on campaigns and works hard +himself, and is always at the scene of action, and lets no opportunity go, no +season pass, should get the better of us who delay and pass resolutions and ask +for news; nor do I wonder at it. It is the opposite that would have been +wonderful--if we, who do nothing that those who are at war ought to do, were +successful against one who leaves nothing undone. {24} But this I do wonder at, +that you who once raised your hand against Sparta, in defence of the rights of +the Hellenes--you, who with opportunities often open to you for grasping large +advantages for yourselves, would not take them, but to secure for others their +rights spent your own fortunes in war-contributions, and always bore the brunt +of the dangers of the campaign--that you, I say, are now shrinking from +marching, and hesitating to make any contribution to save your own possessions; +and that, though you have often saved the rest of the Hellenes, now all together +and now each in their turn, you are sitting idle, when you have lost what was +your own. {25} I wonder at this; and I wonder also, men of Athens, that none of +you is able to reckon up the time during which you have been fighting with +Philip, and to consider what you have been doing while all this time has been +going by. Surely you must know that it is while we have been delaying, hoping +that some one else would act, accusing one another, bringing one another to +trial, hoping anew--in fact, doing practically what we are doing now--that all +the time has passed. {26} And have you now so little sense, men of Athens, as to +hope that the very same policy, which has made the position of the city a bad +one instead of a good, will actually make it a good one instead of a bad? Why, +it is contrary both to reason and to nature to think so! It is always much +easier to retain than to acquire. But now, owing to the war, none of our old +possessions is left for us to retain; and so we must needs acquire. {27} This, +therefore, is our own personal and immediate duty; and accordingly I say that +you must contribute funds, you must go on service in person with a good will, +you must accuse no one before you have become masters of the situation; and then +you must honour those who deserve praise, and punish the guilty, with a +judgement based upon the actual facts. You must get rid of all excuses and all +deficiencies on your own part; you cannot examine mercilessly the actions of +others, unless you yourselves have done all that your duty requires. {28} For +why is it, do you think, men of Athens, that all the generals whom you dispatch +avoid this war,[n] and discover private wars of their own--if a little of the +truth must be told even about the generals? It is because in this war the prizes +for which the war is waged are yours, and if they are captured, you will take +them immediately for your own; but the dangers are the personal privilege of +your commanders, and no pay is forthcoming: while in those wars the dangers are +less, and the profits--Lampsacus, Sigeum, and the ships which they plunder--go +to the commanders and their men. Each force therefore takes the road that leads +to its own advantage. {29} For your part, when you turn your attention to the +serious condition of your affairs, you first bring the commanders to trial; and +then, when you have given them a hearing, and have been told of the difficulties +which I have described, you acquit them. The result, therefore, is that while +you are quarrelling with one another and broken into factions-one party +persuaded of this, another of that--the public interest suffers. You used, men +of Athens, to pay taxes by Boards:[n] to-day you conduct your politics by +Boards. On either side there is an orator as leader, and a general under him; +and for the Three Hundred, there are those who come to shout. The rest of you +distribute yourselves between the two parties, some on either side. {30} This +system you must give up: you must even now become your own masters; you must +give to all alike their share in discussion, in speech and in action. If you +assign to one body of men the function of issuing orders to you, like tyrants; +to another, that of compulsory service as trierarchs or tax-payers or soldiers; +and to another, only that of voting their condemnation, without taking any share +in the labour, nothing that ought to be done will be done in time. For the +injured section will always be in default, and you will only have the privilege +of punishing them instead of the enemy. {31} To sum up, all must contribute, +each according to his wealth, in a fair proportion: all must go on active +service in turn, until you have all served: you must give a hearing to all who +come forward, and choose the best course out of all that you hear--not the +course proposed by this or that particular person. If you do this, you will not +only commend the proposer of that course at the time, but you will commend +yourselves hereafter, for the whole position of your affairs will be a better +one. + + +THE THIRD OLYNTHIAC + +{1} Very different reflections suggest themselves to my mind, I men of Athens, +when I turn my eyes to our real situation, and when I think of the speeches that +I hear. For I observe that the speeches are all concerned with the taking of +vengeance upon Philip; whereas in reality matters have gone so far, that we have +to take care that we are not ourselves the first to suffer: so that those who +speak of vengeance are actually, as it seems to me, suggesting to you a false +conception of the situation which you are discussing. {2} That there was a time +when the city could both keep her own possessions in safety, and punish Philip, +I am very well aware. For it was not long ago, but within my own lifetime, that +both these things were so. But I am convinced that it is now quite enough for us +as a first step to make sure of the preservation of our allies. If this is +safely secured, we shall then be able to consider upon whom vengeance is to +fall, and in what way. But until the first step is properly conceived, I +consider it idle to say anything whatever about the last. + +{3} If ever the most anxious deliberation was required, it is required in the +present crisis; and my greatest difficulty is not to know what is the proper +advice to give you in regard to the situation: I am at a loss rather to know, +men of Athens, in what manner I should address you in giving it. For I am +convinced by what I have heard with my own ears in this place that, for the most +part, the objects of our policy have slipped from our grasp, not because we do +not understand what our duty is, but because we will not do it; and I ask you to +suffer me, if I speak without reserve, and to consider only whether I speak +truly, and with this object in view--that the future may be better than the +past. For you see that it is because certain speakers make your gratification +the aim of their addresses, that things have gone on getting worse, till at last +the extremity has been reached. + +{4} I think it necessary, first, to remind you of a few of the events which have +taken place. You remember, men of Athens, that two or three years ago[n] the +news came that Philip was in Thrace, besieging Heraeon Teichos. That was in the +month of November. Amidst all the discussion and commotion which took place in +this Assembly, you passed a resolution that forty warships should be launched, +that men under forty-five years of age should embark in person, and that we +should pay a war-tax of 60 talents. {5} That year came to an end, and there +followed July, August, September. In the latter month, after the Mysteries,[n] +and with reluctance, you dispatched Charidemus[n] with ten ships, carrying no +soldiers, and 5 talents of silver. For so soon as news had come that Philip was +sick or dead--both reports were brought--you dismissed the armament, men of +Athens, thinking that there was no longer any occasion for the expedition. But +it was the very occasion; for had we then gone to the scene of action with the +same enthusiasm which marked our resolution to do so, Philip would not have been +preserved to trouble us to-day. {6} What was done then cannot be altered. But +now a critical moment in another campaign has arrived; and it is in view of +this, and to prevent you from falling into the same error, that I have recalled +these facts. How then shall we use this opportunity, men of Athens? For unless +you will go to the rescue 'with might and main to the utmost of your power',[n] +mark how in every respect you will have served Philip's interest by your conduct +of the war. {7} At the outset the Olynthians possessed considerable strength, +and such was the position of affairs, that neither did Philip feel safe against +them, nor they against Philip. We made peace with them, and they with us. It was +as it were a stumbling-block in Philip's path, and an annoyance to him, that a +great city which had made a compact with us should sit watching for any +opportunity he might offer. We thought that we ought to excite them to war with +him by every means; and now this much-talked-of event has come to pass--by what +means, I need not relate. {8} What course then is open to us, men of Athens, but +to go to their aid resolutely and eagerly? I can see none. Apart from the shame +in which we should be involved, if we let anything be lost through our +negligence, I can see, men of Athens, that the subsequent prospect would be +alarming in no small degree, when the attitude of the Thebans towards us is what +it is, when the funds of the Phocians are exhausted,[n] and when there is no one +to prevent Philip, so soon as he has made himself master of all that at present +occupies him, from bringing his energies to bear upon the situation further +south. {9} But if any of you is putting off until then his determination to do +his duty, he must be desirous of seeing the terrors of war close at hand, when +he need only hear of them at a distance, and of seeking helpers for himself, +when now he can give help to others. For that this is what it must come to, if +we sacrifice the present opportunity, we must all, I think, be fairly well +aware. + +{10} 'But,' some one may say, 'we have all made up our minds that we must go to +their aid, and we will go. Only tell us how we are to do it.' Now do not be +surprised, men of Athens, if I give an answer which will be astonishing to most +of you. You must appoint a Legislative Commission.[n] But when the commissioners +meet, you must not enact a single law--you have laws enough--you must cancel +the laws which, in view of present circumstances, are injurious to you. {11} I +mean the laws which deal with the Festival Fund--to put it quite plainly--and +some of those which deal with military service: for the former distribute your +funds as festival-money to those who remain at home; while the latter give +immunity to malingerers,[n] and thereby also take the heart out of those who +want to do their duty. When you have cancelled these laws, and made the path +safe for one who would give the best advice, then you can look for some one to +propose what you all know to be expedient. {12} But until you have done this, +you must not expect to find a man who will be glad to advise you for the best, +and be ruined by you for his pains; for you will find no one, particularly when +the only result will be that some unjust punishment will be inflicted on the +proposer or mover of such measures, and that instead of helping matters at all, +he will only have made it even more dangerous in future than it is at present to +give you the best advice. Aye, and you should require the repeal of these laws, +men of Athens, from the very persons who proposed them.[n] {13} It is not fair +that those who originally proposed them should enjoy the popularity which was +fraught with such mischief to the whole State, and that the unpopularity, which +would lead to an improvement in the condition of us all, should be visited to +his cost upon one who now advises you for the best. Until you have thus prepared +the way, men of Athens, you must entertain no expectation whatever that any one +will be influential enough here to transgress these laws with impunity, or +senseless enough to fling himself to certain ruin. + +{14} At the same time, men of Athens, you must not fail to realize this further +point. No resolution is worth anything, without the willingness to perform at +least what you have resolved, and that heartily. For if decrees by themselves +could either compel you to do what you ought, or could realize their several +objects unaided, you would not be decreeing many things and performing few--nay, +none--of the things that you decree, nor would Philip have insulted you so long. +{15} If decrees could have done it, he would have paid the penalty long ago. But +it is not so. Actions come later than speeches and voting in order of procedure, +but in effectiveness they are before either and stronger than either. It is +action that is still needed; all else you already have. For you have those among +you, men of Athens, who can tell you what your duty is; and no one is quicker +than you are to understand the speaker's bidding. Aye, and you will be able to +carry it out even now, if you act aright. {16} What time, what opportunity, do +you look for, better than the present? When, if not now, will you do your duty? +Has not the man seized every position from us already? If he becomes master of +this country too, will not our fate be the most shameful in the world? And the +men whom we promised to be ready to save, if they went to war--are they not now +at war? {17} Is he not our enemy? Are not our possessions in his hands? Is he +not a barbarian? Is he not anything that you choose to call him? In God's name, +when we have let everything go, when we have all but put everything into his +hands, shall we then inquire at large who is responsible for it all? That we +shall never admit our own responsibility, I am perfectly sure. Just so amid the +perils of war, none of those who have run away accuses himself; he accuses his +general, his neighbour--any one but himself; and yet, I suppose, all who have +run away have helped to cause the defeat. He who now blames the rest might have +stood fast; and if every one had done so, the victory would have been theirs. +{18} And so now, if a particular speaker's advice is not the best, let another +rise and make a proposal, instead of blaming him; and if some other has better +advice to give, carry it out, and good fortune be with you. What? Is the advice +disagreeable? That is no longer the speaker's fault--unless, of course, he +leaves out the prayer that you expect of him. There is no difficulty in the +prayer, men of Athens; a man need only compress all his desires into a short +sentence. But to make his choice, when the question for discussion is one of +practical policy, is by no means equally easy. _Then_ a man is bound to choose +what is best, instead of what is pleasant, if both are not possible at once. +{19} But suppose that some one is able, without touching the Festival Fund, to +suggest other sources of supply for military purposes--is not he the better +adviser? Certainly, men of Athens--if such a thing _is_ possible. But I should +be surprised if it ever has happened or ever should happen to any one to find, +after spending what he has upon wrong objects, that what he has _not_ is wealth +enough to enable him to effect right ones. Such arguments as these find, I +think, their great support in each man's personal desire, and, for that reason, +nothing is easier than to deceive oneself; what a man desires, he actually +fancies to be true. {20} But the reality often follows no such principle. +Consider the matter, therefore, men of Athens, after this fashion; consider in +what way our objects can be realized under the circumstances, and in what way +you will be able to make the expedition and to receive your pay. Surely it is +not like sober or high-minded men to submit light-heartedly to the reproach +which must follow upon any shortcomings in the operations of the war through +want of funds--to seize your weapons and march against Corinthians and +Megareans,[n] and then to allow Philip to enslave Hellenic cities, because you +cannot find rations for your troops. + +{21} These words do not spring from a wanton determination to court the ill-will +of any party among you. I am neither so foolish nor so unfortunate as to desire +unpopularity when I do not believe that I am doing any good. But a loyal citizen +ought, in my judgement, to care more for the safety of his country's fortunes +than for the popularity of his utterances. Such, I have heard, and perhaps you +have heard it also, was the principle which the orators of our forefather's time +habitually followed in public life--those orators who are praised by all who +rise to address you, though they are far from imitating them--the great +Aristides, and Nicias, and my own namesake, and Pericles. {22} But ever since +these speakers have appeared who are always asking you, 'what would you like?' +'what may I propose for you?' 'what can I do to please you?' the interests of +the city have been wantonly given away for the sake of the pleasure and +gratification of the moment; and we see the consequences--the fortunes of the +speakers prosper, while your own are in a shameful plight. {23} And yet +consider, men of Athens, the main characteristics of the achievements of your +forefathers' time, and those of your own. The description will be brief and +familiar to you; for you need not have recourse to the history of others, when +your own will furnish examples, by following which you may achieve prosperity. +{24} Our forefathers, who were not courted and caressed by their politicians as +you are by these persons to-day, were leaders of the Hellenes, with their +goodwill, for forty-five years;[n] they brought up into the Acropolis more than +10,000 talents; the king[n] who then ruled Macedonia obeyed them as a foreigner +ought to obey a Hellenic people; serving in person, they set up many glorious +trophies for victories by land and sea; and alone of all mankind they left +behind them, as the crown of their exploits, a fame that is beyond the reach of +envy. {25} Such was the part they played in the Hellenic world: and now +contemplate the manner of men they were in the city, both in public and in +private life. As public men, they gave us buildings and objects of such beauty +and grandeur, in the temples which they built and the offerings which they +dedicated in them, that no room has been left for any of those that come after +to surpass them: while in private life they were so modest, {26} so intensely +loyal to the spirit of the constitution, that if any one actually knows what the +house of Aristides, or Miltiades, or any other of the glorious men of that day, +is like, he can see that it is no more imposing than those of their neighbours. +For it was not to win a fortune that they undertook affairs of State; but each +thought it his duty to add to the common weal. And thus, acting in a spirit of +good faith towards the Hellenes, of piety towards the gods, and of equality +towards one another, they naturally attained great prosperity. {27} Such was the +national life of those times, when those whom I have mentioned were the foremost +men in the State. How do matters stand to-day, thanks to these worthy persons? +Is there any likeness, any resemblance, to old times? Thanks to them (and though +I might say much, I pass over all but this), when we had the field, as you see, +completely open to us--when the Spartans had been ruined,[n] and the Thebans had +their hands full,[n] and no other power could seriously dispute the supremacy +with us on the field of battle--when we could have retained our own possessions +in safety, and have stood as umpires of the rights of others--we have been +deprived of our own territory; {28} we have spent more than 1,500 talents to no +good purpose; the allies whom we had gained in the war,[n] these persons have +lost in time of peace; and we have trained Philip to be the powerful enemy to us +that he is. Let any one rise and tell me how Philip has grown so strong, if we +ourselves are not the source of his strength. {29} 'But, my good Sir,' you say, +'if we are badly off in these respects, we are at any rate better off at home.' +And where is the proof of this? Is it in the whitewashing of the battlements, +the mending of the roads, the fountains, and all such trumperies? Look then at +the men whose policy gives you these things. Some of them who were poor have +become rich; others, who were unknown to fame, have risen to honour; some of +them have provided themselves with private houses more imposing than our public +buildings; and the lower the fortunes of the city have fallen, the higher theirs +have risen. + +{30} What is the cause of all these things? Why is it that all was well then, +and all is amiss to-day? It is because then the people itself dared to act and +to serve in the army; and so the people was master of its politicians; all +patronage was in its own hands; any separate individual was content to receive +from the people his share of honour or office or other emolument. The reverse is +now the case. {31} All patronage is in the hands of the politicians, while you, +the people, emasculated, stripped of money and allies, have been reduced to the +position of servile supernumeraries, content if they give you distributions of +festival-money, or organize a procession at the Boedromia;[n] and to crown all +this bravery, you are expected also to thank them for giving you what is your +own. They pen you up closely in the city; they entice you to these delights; +they tame you till you come to their hand. {32} But a high and generous spirit +can never, I believe, be acquired by men whose actions are mean and poor; for +such as a man's practice is, such must his spirit be. And in all solemnity I +should not be surprised if I suffered greater harm at your hands for telling you +the things that I have told you, than the men who have brought them to pass. +Even freedom of speech is not possible on all subjects in this place, and I +wonder that it has been granted me to-day. + +{33} If, even now, you will rid yourselves of these habits, if you will resolve +to join the forces and to act worthily of yourselves, converting the +superfluities which you enjoy at home into resources to secure our advantage +abroad, then it may be, men of Athens, it may be, that you will gain some great +and final good, and will be rid of these your perquisites, which are like the +diet that a physician gives a sick man--diet which neither puts strength into +him nor lets him die. For these sums which you now share among yourselves are +neither large enough to give you any adequate assistance, nor small enough to +let you renounce them and go about your business; but these it is that[2] +increase the indolence of every individual among you. {34} 'Is it, then, paid +service that you suggest?'[n] some one will ask. I do, men of Athens; and a +system for immediate enforcement which will embrace all alike; so that each, +while receiving his share of the public funds may supply whatever service the +State requires of him.[3] If we can remain at peace, then he will do better to +stay at home, free from the necessity of doing anything discreditable through +poverty. But if a situation like the present occurs, then supported by these +same sums, he will serve loyally in person, in defence of his country. If a man +is outside the military age, then let him take, in his place among the rest, +that which he now receives irregularly and without doing any service, and let +him act as an overseer and manager of business that must be done. {35} In short, +without adding or subtracting anything,[n] beyond a small sum, and only removing +the want of system, my plan reduces the State to order, making your receipt of +payment, your service in the army or the courts, and your performance of any +duty which the age of each of you allows, and the occasion requires, all part of +one and the same system. But it has been no part of my proposal that we should +assign the due of those who act to those who do nothing; that we should be idle +ourselves and enjoy our leisure helplessly, listening to tales of victories won +by somebody's mercenaries;[n] for this is what happens now. {36} Not that I +blame one who is doing some part of your duty for you; but I require you to do +for yourselves the things for which you honour others, and not to abandon the +position which your fathers won through many a glorious peril, and bequeathed to +you. + +I think I have told you all that, in my belief, your interest demands. May you +choose the course which will be for the good of the city and of you all! + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] See notes to Speech on the Peace, Sec. 5. Some date the Euboean expedition and +the sending of the cavalry one or two years earlier, and the whole chronology is +much disputed; but there are strong arguments for the date (348) given in the +text. + +[2] [Greek: esti tauta ta]. + +[3] [Greek: touto parechae]. + + + + +ON THE PEACE (OR. V) + + +[_Introduction_. After the fall of Olynthus in 348, the Athenians, on the +proposal of Eubulus, sent embassies to the Greek States in the Peloponnese and +elsewhere, to invite them to join in a coalition against Philip. Aeschines went +for this purpose to Megalopolis, and did his best to counteract Philip's +influence in Arcadia. When the embassies proved unsuccessful, it became clear +that peace must be made on such terms as were possible. Philip himself was +anxious for peace, since he wished to cross the Pass of Thermopylae without such +opposition from Athens as he had encountered in 352, and to be free from the +attacks of hostile ships upon his ports. Even before the fall of Olynthus, +informal communications passed between himself and Athens (see Speech on +Embassy, Sec.Sec. 12, 94, 315); and in consequence of these, Philocrates proposed and +the Assembly passed a decree, under which ten ambassadors were appointed to go +to Philip and invite him to send plenipotentiaries to Athens to conclude a +peace. Demosthenes (who had strongly supported Philocrates) was among the ten, +as well as Aeschines and Philocrates himself. Delighted with Philip's reception +of them, and greatly attracted by his personality, the ambassadors returned with +a letter from him, promising in general terms to confer great benefits upon +Athens, if he were granted alliance as well as peace: in the meantime he +undertook not to interfere with the towns allied to Athens in the Chersonese. +Demosthenes proposed (in the Council, of which he was a member in the year 347- +346) the usual complimentary resolution in honour of the ambassadors, and on his +motion it was resolved to hold two meetings of the Assembly, on the 18th and +19th of the month Elaphebolion (i.e. probably just after the middle of April +346), when Philip's envoys would have arrived, to discuss the terms of peace. +The envoys--Antipater, Parmenio, and Eurylochus--reached Athens shortly after +this; and before the first of the two meetings was held, the Synod of the allies +of Athens, now assembled in the city, agreed to peace on such terms as the +Athenian people should decide, but added a proposal that it should be permitted +to any Greek State to become a party to the Peace within three months. They said +nothing of alliance. Of the two meetings of the Assembly, in view of the +conflicting statements of Demosthenes and Aeschines, only a probable account can +be given. At the first, Philocrates proposed that alliance as well as peace +should be made by Athens and her allies with Philip and his allies, on the +understanding that both parties should keep what they _de facto_ possessed--a +provision entailing the renunciation by Athens of Amphipolis and Poteidaea; but +that the Phocians and the people of Halus should be excluded. Aeschines opposed +this strongly; and both he and Demosthenes claim to have supported the +resolution of the allies, which would have given the excluded peoples a chance +of sharing the advantage of the Peace. The feeling of the Assembly was with +them, although the Phocians had recently insulted the Athenians by declining to +give up to Proxenus (the Athenian admiral) the towns guarding the approaches to +Thermopylae, which they had themselves offered to place in the hands of Athens. +But Philocrates obtained the postponement of the decision till the next day. On +the next day, if not before, it became plain that Philip's envoys would not +consent to forgo the exclusion of the Phocians and Halus; but in order that the +Assembly might be induced to pass the resolution, the clause expressly excluding +them was dropped, and peace and alliance were made between Athens and Philip, +each with their allies.[n] Even this was not secured before Aeschines and his +friends had deprecated rash attempts to imitate the exploits of antiquity by +continuing the war, and had explained that Philip could not openly accept the +Phocians as allies, but that when the Peace was concluded, he would satisfy all +the wishes of the Athenians in every way; while Eubulus threatened the people +with immediate war, involving personal service and heavy taxation, unless they +accepted Philocrates' decree. A few days afterwards the Athenians and the +representatives of the allies took the oath to observe the Peace: nothing was +said about the Phocians and Halus: Cersobleptes' representative was probably not +permitted to swear with the rest. The same ten ambassadors as before were +instructed to receive Philip's oath, and the oaths of his allies, to arrange for +the ransom of prisoners, and generally to treat with Philip in the interests of +Athens. Demosthenes urged his colleagues (and obtained an instruction from the +Council to this effect) to sail at once, in order that Philip, who was now in +Thrace, might not make conquests at the expense of Athens before ratifying the +Peace; but they delayed at Oreus, went by land, instead of under the escort of +Proxenus by sea, and only reached Pella (the Macedonian capital) twenty-three +days after leaving Athens. Philip did not arrive for twenty-seven days more. By +this time he had taken Cersobleptes prisoner, and captured Serrhium, Doriscus, +and other Thracian towns, which were held by Athenian troops sent to assist +Cersobleptes. Demosthenes was now openly at variance with his colleagues. He had +no doubt realized the necessity of peace, but probably regarded the exclusion of +the Phocians as unwarrantable, and thought that the policy of his colleagues +must end in Philip's conquest of all Greece. At Pella he occupied himself in +negotiations for the ransom of prisoners. After taking the oath, Philip kept the +ambassadors with him until he had made all preparations for his march southward, +and during this time he played with them and with the envoys from the other +Greek States who were present at the same time. His intention of marching to +Thermopylae was clear; but he seems to have led all alike to suppose that he +would fulfil their particular wishes when he had crossed the Pass. The +ambassadors accompanied him to Pherae, where the oath was taken by the +representatives of Philip's allies; the Phocians, Halus, and Cersobleptes were +excluded from the Peace. (Halus was taken by Philip's army shortly afterwards.) +The ambassadors of Athens then returned homewards, bearing a letter from Philip, +but did not arrive at Athens before Philip had reached Thermopylae. On their +return Demosthenes denounced them before the Council, which refused them the +customary compliments, and (on Demosthenes' motion) determined to propose to the +people that Proxenus with his squadron should be ordered to go to the aid of the +Phocians and to prevent Philip from crossing the Pass. When the Assembly met on +the 16th of Scirophorion (shortly before the middle of July), Aeschines rose +first, and announced in glowing terms the intention of Philip to turn round upon +Thebes and to re-establish Thespiae and Plataeae; and hinted at the restoration +to Athens of Euboea and Oropus. Then Philip's letter was read, containing no +promises, but excusing the delay of the ambassadors as due to his own request. +The Assembly was elated at the promises announced by Aeschines; Demosthenes' +attempt to contradict the announcement failed; and on Philocrates' motion, it +was resolved to extend the Peace and alliance with Philip to posterity, and to +declare that if the Phocians refused to surrender the Temple of Delphi to the +Amphictyons, Athens would take steps against those responsible for the refusal. +Demosthenes refused to serve on the Embassy appointed to convey this resolution +to Philip: Aeschines was appointed, but was too ill to start. The ambassadors +set out, but within a few days returned with the news that the Phocian army had +surrendered to Philip (its leader, Phalaecus, and his troops being allowed to +depart to the Peloponnese). The surrender had perhaps been accelerated by the +news of the Athenian resolution. The Assembly, in alarm lest Philip should march +southwards, now resolved to take measures of precaution and defence, and to send +the same ambassadors to Philip, to do what they could. They went, Aeschines +among them, and arrived in the midst of the festivities with which Philip was +celebrating the success of his plans. The invitation which Philip sent to +Athens--to send a force to join his own, and to assist in settling the affairs +of Phocis--was (on Demosthenes' advice) declined by the Assembly; and soon +afterwards another letter from Philip expressed surprise at the unfriendly +attitude taken up by the Athenians towards him. Philip next summoned the +Amphictyonic Council (the legitimate guardians of the Delphian Temple, on whose +behalf the Thebans and Thessalians, aided by Philip, were now at war with the +Phocians): and the Council, in the absence of many of its members, resolved to +transfer the votes of the Phocians in the Council-meeting to Philip, to break up +the Phocian towns into villages, disarming their inhabitants and taking away +their horses, to require them to repay the stolen treasure to the temple by +instalments, and to pronounce a curse upon those actually guilty of sacrilege, +which would render them liable to arrest anywhere. The destructive part of the +sentence was rigorously executed by the Thebans. In order to punish the former +supporters of the Phocians, the right to precedence in consulting the oracle was +transferred from Athens to Philip, by order of the Council, and the Spartans +were excluded from the temple: Orchomenus and Coroneia were destroyed and their +inhabitants enslaved; and Thebes became absolute mistress of all Boeotia. The +Pythian games (at Delphi) in September 346 were celebrated under Philip's +presidency; but both Sparta and Athens refused to send the customary deputation +to them, and Philip accordingly sent envoys to Athens, along with +representatives of the Amphictyons, to demand recognition for himself as an +Amphictyonic power. Aeschines supported the demand, his argument being +apparently to the effect that Philip had been forced to act as he had done by +the Thebans and Thessalians; but the Assembly was very angry at the results (as +they seemed to be) of Aeschines' diplomacy and the calamities of the Phocians; +and it was only when Demosthenes, in the Speech on the Peace, advised +compliance, that they were persuaded to give way. To have refused would have +brought the united forces of the Amphictyonic States against Athens: and these +she could not have resisted. It was therefore prudent to keep the Peace, though +Demosthenes evidently regarded it only as an armistice.] + + +{1} I see, men of Athens, that our present situation is one of great perplexity +and confusion, for not only have many of our interests been sacrificed, so that +it is of no use to make eloquent speeches about them; but even as regards what +still remains to us, there is no general agreement in any single point as to +what is expedient: some hold one view, and some another. {2} Perplexing, +moreover, and difficult as deliberation naturally is, men of Athens, you have +made it far more difficult. For while all the rest of mankind are in the habit +of resorting to deliberation before the event, you do not do so until +afterwards: and consequently, during the whole time that falls within my memory, +however high a reputation for eloquence one who upbraids you for all your errors +may enjoy, the desired results and the objects of your deliberation pass out of +your grasp. {3} And yet I believe--and it is because I have convinced myself of +this that I have risen--that if you resolve to abandon all clamour and +contention, as becomes men who are deliberating on behalf of their country upon +so great an issue, I shall be able to describe and recommend measures to you, by +which the situation may be improved, and what we have sacrificed, recovered. + +{4} Now although I know perfectly well, men of Athens, that to speak to you +about one's own earlier speeches, and about oneself, is a practice which is +always extremely repaying, I feel the vulgarity and offensiveness of it so +strongly, that I shrink from it even when I see that it is necessary. I think, +however, that you will form a better judgement on the subject on which I am +about to speak, if I remind you of some few of the things which I have said on +certain previous occasions. {5} In the first place, men of Athens, when at the +time of the disturbances in Euboea[n] you were being urged to assist Plutarchus, +and to undertake an inglorious and costly campaign, I came forward first and +unsupported to oppose this action, and was almost torn in pieces by those who +for the sake of their own petty profits had induced you to commit many grave +errors: and when only a short time had elapsed, along with the shame which you +incurred and the treatment which you received--treatment such as no people in +the world ever before experienced at the hands of those whom they went to +assist--there came the recognition by all of you of the baseness of those who +had urged you to this course, and of the excellence of my own advice. {6} Again, +men of Athens, I observed that Neoptolemus[n] the actor, who was allowed freedom +of movement everywhere on the ground of his profession, and was doing the city +the greatest mischief, was managing and directing your communications with +Philip in Philip's own interest: and I came forward and informed you; and that, +not to gratify any private dislike or desire to misrepresent him, as subsequent +events have made plain. {7} And in this case I shall not, as before, throw the +blame on any speakers or defenders of Neoptolemus--indeed, he had no defenders; +it is yourselves that I blame. For had you been watching rival tragedies in the +theatre, instead of discussing the vital interests of a whole State, you could +not have listened with more partiality towards him, or more prejudice against +me. {8} And yet, I believe, you have all now realized that though, according to +his own assertion, this visit to the enemy's country was paid in order that he +might get in the debts owing to him there, and return with funds to perform his +public service[n] here; though he was always repeating the statement that it was +monstrous to accuse those who were transferring their means from Macedonia to +Athens; yet, when the Peace had removed all danger, he converted his real estate +here into money, and took himself off with it to Philip. {9} These then are two +events which I have foretold--events which, because their real character was +exactly and faithfully disclosed by me, are a testimony to the speeches which I +have delivered. A third, men of Athens, was the following; and when I have given +you this one instance, I will immediately proceed to the subject on which I have +come forward to speak. When we returned from the Embassy, after receiving from +Philip his oath to maintain the Peace, {10} there were some[n] who promised that +Thespiae and Plataeae[n] would be repeopled, and said that if Philip became +master of the situation, he would save the Phocians, and would break up the city +of Thebes into villages; that Oropus would be yours, and that Euboea would be +restored to you in place of Amphipolis--with other hopes and deceptions of the +same kind, by which you were seduced into sacrificing the Phocians in a manner +that was contrary to your interest and perhaps to your honour also. But as for +me, you will find that neither had I any share in this deception, nor yet did I +hold my peace. On the contrary, I warned you plainly, as, I know you remember, +that _I_ had no knowledge and no expectations of this kind, and that I regarded +such statements as nonsense. + +{11} All these plain instances of superior foresight on my part, men of Athens, +I shall not ascribe to any cleverness, any boasted merits, of my own. I will not +pretend that my foreknowledge and discernment are due to any causes but such as +I will name; and they are two. The first, men of Athens, is that good fortune, +which, I observe, is more powerful than all the cleverness and wisdom on earth. +{12} The second is the fact that my judgement and reasoning are disinterested. +No one can point to any personal gain in connexion with my public acts and +words: and therefore I see what is to our interest undistorted, in the light in +which the actual facts reveal it. But when you throw money into one scale of the +balance, its weight carries everything with it; your judgement is instantly +dragged down with it, and one who has acted so can no longer think soundly or +healthily about anything. + +{13} Now there is one primary condition which must be observed by any one who +would furnish the city with allies or contributions or anything else--he must do +it without breaking the existing Peace: not because the Peace is at all +admirable or creditable to you, but because, whatever its character, it would +have been better, in the actual circumstances, that it should never have been +made, than that having been made, it should now be broken through our action. +For we have sacrificed many advantages which we possessed when we made it, and +which would have rendered the war safer and easier for us then than it is now. +{14} The second condition, men of Athens, is that we shall not draw on these +self-styled Amphictyons,[n] who are now assembled, until they have an +irresistible or a plausible reason for making a united war against us. My own +belief is that if war broke out again between ourselves and Philip about +Amphipolis or any such claim of our own, in which the Thessalians and Argives +and Thebans had no interest, none of these peoples would go to war against us, +least of all--{15} and let no one raise a clamour before he hears what I have to +say--least of all the Thebans; not because they are in any pleasant mood towards +us; not because they would not be glad to gratify Philip; but because they know +perfectly well, however stupid one may think them,[n] that if war springs up +between themselves and you, _they_ will get all the hardships of war for their +share, while another will sit by, waiting to secure all the advantages; and they +are not likely to sacrifice themselves for such a prospect, unless the origin +and the cause of the war are such as concern all alike. {16} Nor again should +we, in my opinion, suffer at all, if we went to war with Thebes on account of +Oropus[n] or any other purely Athenian interest. For I believe that while those +who would assist ourselves or the Thebans would give their aid if their ally's +own country were invaded, they would not join either in an offensive campaign. +For this is the manner of alliances--such, at least, as are worth considering; +and the relationship is naturally of this kind. {17} The goodwill of each ally-- +whether it be towards ourselves or towards the Thebans--does not imply the same +interest in our conquest of others as in our existence. Our continued existence +they would all desire for their own sakes; but none of them would wish that +through conquest either of us should become their own masters. What is it then +that I regard with apprehension? What is it that we must guard against? I fear +lest a common pretext should be supplied for the coming war, a common charge +against us, which will appeal to all alike. {18} For if the Argives[n] and +Messenians and Megalopolitans, and some of the other Peloponnesians who are in +sympathy with them, adopt a hostile attitude towards us owing to our +negotiations for peace with Sparta, and the belief that to some extent we are +giving our approval to the policy which the Spartans have pursued: if the +Thebans already (as we are told) detest us, and are sure to become even more +hostile, because we are harbouring those whom they have exiled,[n] and losing no +opportunity of displaying our ill-will towards them; {19} and the Thessalians, +because we are offering a refuge to the Phocian fugitives;[n] and Philip, +because we are preventing his admission to Amphictyonic rank; my fear is that, +when each power has thus its separate reasons for resentment, they may unite in +the war against us, with the decrees of the Amphictyons for their pretext: and +so each may be drawn on farther than their several interests would carry them, +just as they were in dealing with the Phocians. {20} For you doubtless realize +that it was not through any unity in their respective ambitions, that the +Thebans and Philip and the Thessalians all acted together just now. The Thebans, +for instance, could not prevent Philip from marching through and occupying the +passes, nor even from stepping in at the last moment to reap the credit of all +that they themselves had toiled for.[n] {21} For, as it is, though the Thebans +have gained something so far as the recovery of their territory is concerned, +their honour and reputation have suffered shamefully, since it now appears as +though they would have gained nothing, unless Philip had crossed the Pass. This +was not what they intended. They only submitted to all this in their anxiety to +obtain Orchomenus and Coroneia, and their inability to do so otherwise. {22} And +as to Philip, some persons,[n] as you know, are bold enough to say that it was +not from any wish to do so that he handed over Orchomenus and Coroneia to +Thebes, but from compulsion; and although I must part company with them there, I +am sure that at least he did not want to do this _more_ than he desired to +occupy the passes, and to get the credit of appearing to have determined the +issue of the war, and to manage the Pythian games by his own authority. These, I +am sure, were the objects which he coveted most greedily. {23} The Thessalians, +again, did not desire to see either the Thebans or Philip growing powerful; for +in any such contingency they thought that they themselves were menaced. But they +did desire to secure two privileges--admission to the Amphictyonic meeting, and +the recovery of rights at Delphi;[n] and in their eagerness for these +privileges, they joined Philip in the actions in question. Thus you will find +that each was led on, for the sake of private ends, to take action which they in +no way desired to take. But this is the very thing against which we have now to +be on our guard. + +{24} 'Are we then, for fear of this, to submit to Philip? and do _you_ require +this of us?' you ask me. Far from it. Our action must be such as will be in no +way unworthy of us, and at the same time will not lead to war, but will prove to +all our good sense and the justice of our position: and, in answer to those who +are bold enough to think that we should refuse to submit to anything +whatever,[n] [2] and who cannot foresee the war that must follow, I wish to urge +this consideration. We are allowing the Thebans to hold Oropus; and if any one +asked us to state the reason honestly, we should say that it was to avoid war. +{25} Again, we have just ceded Amphipolis to Philip by the Treaty of Peace;[n] +we permit the Cardians[n] to occupy a position apart from the other colonists in +the Chersonese; we allow the Prince of Caria[n] to seize the islands of Chios, +Cos, and Rhodes, and the Byzantines to drive our vessels to shore[n]--obviously +because we believe that the tranquillity afforded by peace brings more blessings +than any collision or contention over these grievances would bring: so that it +would be a foolish and an utterly perverse policy, when we have behaved in this +manner towards each of our adversaries individually, where our own most +essential interests were concerned, to go now to war with all of them together, +on account of this shadow at Delphi.[n] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] The term 'the allies of Athens' was ambiguous. It might be taken (as it was +taken by Philip and his envoys) to include only the remaining members of the +League (see p. 9), who were represented by the Synod then sitting, and whose +policy Athens could control. But it was evidently possible to put a wider +interpretation upon it, as the Assembly probably did and as Demosthenes often +does (e.g. Speech on Embassy, Sec. 278), and to understand it as including the +Phocians and others (such as Cersobleptes) with whom Athens had a treaty of +alliance. Much of the trouble which followed arose out of this ambiguity. + +[2] [Greek: oud hotioun]. + + + + +THE SECOND PHILIPPIC (OR. VI) + + +[_Introduction_. After settling affairs at Delphi in 346, Philip returned to +Macedonia. During a considerable part of 345 and in the early months of 344 he +was occupied with campaigns against the Illyrians, Dardani, and Triballi. But in +the summer (probably) of 344 he resumed his activities in Greece, garrisoning +Pherae and other towns of Thessaly with Macedonians, appropriating the revenues +derived from the Thessalian ports, and establishing oligarchical governments +throughout the country. At the same time negotiations were going on between +himself and Athens with regard to the Thracian strongholds which he had captured +in 346. He refused to give these up, though he offered to cut a canal across the +Chersonese, for the protection of the Athenian allies there from the attacks of +the Thracians. He also sent money and mercenaries to help the Messenians and +Argives, who, like the Megalopolitans, were anxious to secure their independence +of Sparta. Athens, which was on friendly terms with Sparta, sent envoys to the +Peloponnesian states to counteract Philip's influence, and of these Demosthenes +was one. In return, Argos and Messene complained to Athens of her interference +with their attempt to secure freedom, and Philip sent envoys to deprecate the +charges made against him by the Athenian ambassadors in the Peloponnese. He +pointed out that he had not broken any promises made to Athens at the time of +the Peace, for he had made none. (In fact, if Demosthenes' account is correct, +he had confined himself to vague expressions of goodwill; the promises had been +made by Aeschines.) The Second Philippic, spoken late in 344, proposes a reply +to Philip, the text of which has unfortunately not come down to us. The +Peloponnesian envoys appear also to have been in Athens at the time; and +Philip's supporters had put forward various explanations of his conduct at the +time when the Peace was made. To these also Demosthenes replies.] + + +{1} In all our discussions, men of Athens, with regard to the acts of violence +by which Philip contravenes the terms of the Peace, I observe that, although the +speeches on our side are always manifestly just and sympathetic,[n] and although +those who denounce Philip are always regarded as saying what ought to be said, +yet practically nothing is done which ought to be done, or which would make it +worth while to listen to such speeches. {2} On the contrary, the condition of +public affairs as a whole has already been brought to a point at which, the more +and the more evidently a speaker can convict Philip both of transgressing the +Peace which he made with you and of plotting against all the Hellenes, the +harder it is for him to advise you how you should act. {3} The responsibility +for this rests with us all, men of Athens. It is by deeds and actions, not by +words, that a policy of encroachment must be arrested: and yet, in the first +place, we who rise to address you will not face the duty of proposing or +advising such action, for fear of unpopularity with you, though we dilate upon +the character of Philip's acts, upon their atrocity, and so forth; and, in the +second place, you who sit and listen, better qualified though you doubtless are +than Philip for using the language of justice and appreciating it at the mouths +of others, are nevertheless absolutely inert, when it is a question of +preventing him from executing the designs in which he is now engaged. {4} It +follows as the inevitable and perhaps reasonable consequence, that you are each +more successful in that to which your time and your interest is given--he in +actions, yourselves in words. Now if it is still enough for you, that your words +are more just than his, your course is easy, and no labour is involved in it. +{5} But if we are to inquire how the evil of the present situation is to be +corrected; if its advance is not still to continue, unperceived, until we are +confronted by a power so great that we cannot even raise a hand in our own +defence; then we must alter our method of deliberation, and all of us who speak, +and all of you who listen, must resolve to prefer the counsels which are best, +and which can save us, to those which are most easy and most attractive. + +{6} I am amazed, men of Athens, in the first place, that any one who sees the +present greatness of Philip and the wide mastery which he has gained, can be +free from alarm, or can imagine that this involves no peril to Athens, or that +it is not against you that all his preparations are being made. And I would beg +you, one and all, to listen while I put before you in a few words the reasoning +by which I have come to entertain the opposite expectation, and the grounds upon +which I regard Philip as an enemy; that so, if my own foresight appears to you +the truer, you may believe me; but if that of the persons who have no fears and +have placed their trust in him, you may give your adhesion to them. {7} Here +then, men of Athens, is my argument. Of what, in the first place, did Philip +become master, when the Peace was concluded? Of Thermopylae, and of the +situation in Phocis. Next, what use did he make of his power? He deliberately +chose to act in the interests of Thebes, not in those of Athens. And why? He +scrutinized every consideration in the light of his own ambition and of his +desire for universal conquest: he took no thought for peace, or tranquillity, or +justice; {8} and he saw quite correctly that our state and our national +character being what they are, there was no attraction that he could offer, +nothing that he could do, which would induce you to sacrifice any of the other +Hellenes to him for your own advantage. He saw that you would take account of +what was right; that you would shrink from the infamy attaching to such a +policy; that you would exercise all the foresight which the situation demanded, +and would oppose any such attempt on his part, as surely as if you were at open +war with him. {9} But the Thebans, he believed--and the event proved that he was +right--in return for what they were getting would let him do as he pleased in +all that did not concern them; and far from acting against him, or preventing +him effectively, would even join him in his campaign, if he bade them. His +services to the Messenians and the Argives at the present moment are due to his +having formed the same conception of them. And this, men of Athens, is the +highest of all tributes to yourselves: {10} for these actions of his amount to a +verdict upon you, that you alone of all peoples would never, for any gain to +yourselves, sacrifice the common rights of the Hellenes, nor barter away your +loyalty to them for any favour or benefit at his hands. This conception of you +he has naturally formed, just as he has formed the opposite conception of the +Argives and the Thebans, not only from his observation of the present, but also +from his consideration of the past. {11} He discovers, I imagine, and is told, +how when your forefathers might have been rulers of the rest of the Hellenes, on +condition of submitting to the king themselves, they not only refused to +tolerate the suggestion, on the occasion when Alexander [n], the ancestor of the +present royal house, came as his herald to negotiate, but chose rather to leave +their country and to face any suffering which they might have to endure; and how +they followed up the refusal by those deeds which all are so eager to tell, but +to which no one has ever been able to do justice; and for that reason, I shall +myself forbear to speak of them, and rightly; for the grandeur of their +achievements passes the power of language to describe. He knows, on the other +hand, how the forefathers of the Thebans and Argives, in the one case, joined +the barbarian army, in the other, offered no resistance to it. {12} He knows, +therefore, that both these peoples will welcome what is to their own advantage, +instead of considering the common interests of the Hellenes: and so he thought +that, if he chose you for his allies, he would be choosing friends who would +only serve a righteous cause; while if he joined himself to them, he would win +accomplices who would further his own ambitions. That is why he chose them, as +he chooses them now, in preference to you. For he certainly does not see them in +possession of more ships than you; nor has he discovered some inland empire, and +withdrawn from the seaboard and the trading-ports; nor does he forget the words +and the promises, on the strength of which he was granted the Peace. + +{13} But some one may tell us, with an air of complete knowledge of the matter, +that what then moved Philip to act thus was not his ambition nor any of the +motives which I impute to him, but his belief that the demands of Thebes were +more righteous than your own. I reply, that this statement, above all others, is +one which he cannot possibly make _now_. How can one who is ordering Sparta to +give up Messene put forward his belief in the righteousness of the act, as his +excuse for handing over Orchomenus and Coroneia to Thebes? + +{14} 'But,' we are told (as the last remaining plea), 'he was forced to make +these concessions, and did so against his better judgement, finding himself +caught between the cavalry of Thessaly and the infantry of Thebes.' Admirable! +And so, we are informed, he intends henceforth to be wary of the Thebans, and +the tale goes round that he intends to fortify Elateia [n]. 'Intends,' indeed! +and I expect that it will remain an intention! {15} But the help which he is +giving to the Messenians and Argives is no 'intention'; for he is actually +sending mercenaries to them and dispatching funds, and is himself expected to +arrive on the spot with a great force. Is he trying to annihilate the Spartans, +the existing enemies of Thebes, and at the same time protecting the Phocians, +whom he himself has ruined? Who will believe such a tale? {16} For if Philip had +really acted against his will and under compulsion in the first instance--if he +were now really intending to renounce the Thebans--I cannot believe that he +would be so consistently opposing their enemies. On the contrary, his present +course plainly proves that his former action also was the result of deliberate +policy; and to any sound observation, it is plain that the whole of his plans +are being organized for one end--the destruction of Athens. {17} Indeed, this +has now come to be, in a sense, a matter of necessity for him. Only consider. It +is empire that he desires, and you, as he believes, are his only possible rivals +in this. He has been acting wrongfully towards you for a long time, as he +himself best knows; for it is the occupation of your possessions that enables +him to hold all his other conquests securely, convinced, as he is, that if he +had let Amphipolis and Poteidaea go, he could not dwell in safety even at home. +{18} These two facts, then, he well knows--first, that his designs are aimed at +you, and secondly, that you are aware of it: and as he conceives you to be men +of sense, he considers that you hold him in righteous detestation: and, in +consequence, his energies are roused: for he expects to suffer disaster, if you +get your opportunity, unless he can anticipate you by inflicting it upon you. +{19} So he is wide awake; he is on the alert; he is courting the help of others +against Athens--of the Thebans and those Peloponnesians who sympathize with +their wishes; thinking that their desire of gain will make them embrace the +immediate prospect, while their native stupidity will prevent them from +foreseeing any of the consequences. Yet there are examples, plainly visible to +minds which are even moderately well-balanced[n]--examples which it fell to my +lot to bring before Messenian and Argive audiences, but which had better, +perhaps, be laid before yourselves as well. + +{20} 'Can you not imagine,' I said, 'men of Messenia, the impatience with which +the Olynthians used to listen to any speeches directed against Philip in those +times, when he was giving up Anthemus to them--a city claimed as their own by +all former Macedonian kings; when he was expelling the Athenian colonists from +Poteidaea and presenting it to the Olynthians; when he had taken upon his own +shoulders their quarrel with Athens, and given them the enjoyment of that +territory? Did they expect, do you think, to suffer as they have done? if any +one had foretold it, would they have believed him? {21} And yet,' I continued, +'after enjoying territory not their own for a very short time, they are robbed +of their own by him for a great while to come; they are foully driven forth--not +conquered merely, but betrayed by one another and sold; for it is not safe for a +free state to be on these over-friendly terms with a tyrant. {22} What, again, +of the Thessalians? Do you imagine,' I asked, 'that when he was expelling their +tyrants, or again, when he was giving them Nicaea and Magnesia, they expected to +see the present Council of Ten[n] established in their midst? Did they expect +that the restorer of their Amphictyonic rights would take their own revenues +from them for himself? Impossible! And yet these things came to pass, as all men +may know. {23} You yourselves,' I continued, 'at present behold only the gifts +and the promises of Philip. Pray, if you are really in your right minds, that +you may never see the accomplishment of his deceit and treachery. There are, as +you know well,' I said, 'all kinds of inventions designed for the protection and +security of cities--palisades, walls, trenches, and every kind of defence. {24} +All these are made with hands, and involve expense as well. But there is one +safeguard which all sensible men possess by nature--a safeguard which is a +valuable protection to all, but above all to a democracy against a tyrant. And +what is this? It is distrust. Guard this possession and cleave to it; preserve +this, and you need never fear disaster. {25} What is it that you desire?' I +said. 'Is it freedom? And do you not see that the very titles that Philip bears +are utterly alien to freedom? For a king, a tyrant, is always the foe of freedom +and the enemy of law. Will you not be on your guard,' I said, 'lest in striving +to be rid of war, you find yourselves slaves?'[n] + +{26} My audience heard these words and received them with a tumult of +approbation, as well as many other speeches from the envoys, both when I was +present and again later. And yet, it seems, there is still no better prospect of +their keeping Philip's friendship and promises at a distance. {27} In fact, the +extraordinary thing is not that Messenians and certain Peloponnesians should act +against their own better judgement, but that you who understand for yourselves, +and who hear us, your orators, telling you, that there is a design against you, +and that the toils are closing round you--that you, I say, by always refusing to +act at once, should be about to find (as I think you will) that you have exposed +yourselves unawares to the utmost peril: so much more does the pleasure and ease +of the moment weigh with you, than any advantage to be reaped at some future +date. + +{28} In regard to the practical measures which you must take, you will, if you +are wise, deliberate by yourselves[n] later. But I will at once propose an +answer which you may make to-day, and which it will be consistent with your duty +to have adopted. + +[_The answer is read._] + +Now the right course, men of Athens, was to have summoned before you those who +conveyed the promises[n] on the strength of which you were induced to make the +Peace. {29} For I could never have brought myself to serve on the Embassy, nor, +I am sure, would you have discontinued the war, had you imagined that Philip, +when he had obtained peace, would act as he has acted. What we were then told +was something very different from this. And there are others, too, whom you +should summon. You ask whom I mean? After the Peace had been made, and I had +returned from the Second Embassy, which was sent to administer the oaths, I saw +how the city was being hoodwinked, and I spoke out repeatedly, protesting and +forbidding you to sacrifice Thermopylae and the Phocians: {30} and the men to +whom I refer were those who then said that a water-drinker[n] like myself was +naturally a fractious and ill-tempered fellow; while Philip, if only he crossed +the Pass, would fulfil your fondest prayers; for he would fortify Thespiae and +Plataeae; he would put an end to the insolence of the Thebans; he would cut a +canal through the Chersonese at his own charges, and would repay you for +Amphipolis by the restoration of Euboea and Oropus. All this was said from this +very platform, and I am quite sure that you remember it well, though your memory +of those who injure you is but short. {31} To crown your disgrace, with nothing +but these hopes in view, you resolved that this same Peace should hold good for +your posterity also; so completely had you fallen under their influence. But why +do I speak of all this now? why do I bid you summon these men? By Heaven, I will +tell the truth without reserve, and will hold nothing back. {32} My object is +not to give way to abuse, and so secure myself as good a hearing[n] as others in +this place, while giving those who have come into collision with me from the +first an opportunity for a further claim[n] upon Philip's money. Nor do I wish +to waste time in empty words. {33} No; but I think that the plan which Philip is +pursuing will some day trouble you more than the present situation does; for his +design is moving towards fulfilment, and though I shrink from precise +conjecture, I fear its accomplishment may even now be only too close at hand. +And when the time comes when you can no longer refuse to attend to what is +passing; when you no longer hear from me or from some other that it is all +directed against you, but all alike see it for yourselves and know it for a +certainty; then, I think, you will be angry and harsh enough. {34} And I am +afraid that because your envoys have withheld from you the guilty secret of the +purposes which they have been bribed to forward, those who are trying to remedy +in some degree the ruin of which these men have been the instruments will fall +victims to your wrath. For I observe that it is the general practice of some +persons to vent their anger, not upon the guilty, but upon those who are most +within their grasp. {35} While then the trouble is still to come, still in +process of growth, while we can still listen to one another's words, I would +remind each of you once more of what he well knows--who it was that induced you +to sacrifice the Phocians and Thermopylae, the control of which gave Philip +command of the road to Attica and the Peloponnesus; who it was, I say, that +converted your debate about your rights and your interests abroad into a debate +about the safety of your own country, and about war on your own borders--a war +which will bring distress to each of us personally, when it is at our doors, but +which sprang into existence on that day. {36} Had you not been misled by them, +no trouble would have befallen this country. For we cannot imagine that Philip +would have won victories by sea which would have enabled him to approach Attica +with his fleet, or would have marched by land past Thermopylae and the Phocians; +but he would either have been acting straightforwardly--keeping the Peace and +remaining quiet; or else he would have found himself instantly plunged into a +war no less severe than that which originally made him desirous of the Peace. +{37} What I have said is sufficient by way of a reminder to you. Heaven grant +that the time may not come when the truth of my words will be tested with all +severity: for I at least have no desire to see any one meet with punishment, +however much he may deserve his doom, if it is accompanied by danger and +calamity to us all. + + + + +ON THE EMBASSY (OR. XIX) + + +[_Introduction_. The principal events with which a reader of this Speech ought +to be acquainted have already been narrated (see especially the Introductions to +the last two Speeches). The influence of the anti-Macedonian party grew +gradually from the time of the Peace onwards. In 346, within a month after the +return of the Second Embassy, the ambassadors presented their reports before the +Logistae or Board of Auditors (after a futile attempt on the part of Aeschines +to avoid making a report altogether); and Timarchus, supported by Demosthenes, +there announced his intention of taking proceedings against Aeschines for +misconduct on the Second Embassy. But Timarchus' own past history was not above +reproach: he was attacked by Aeschines for the immoralities of his youth, which, +it was stated, disqualified him from acting as prosecutor, and though defended +by Demosthenes, was condemned and disfranchised (345 B.C.). But early in 343 +Hypereides impeached Philocrates for corruption as ambassador, and obtained his +condemnation to death--a penalty which he escaped by voluntary exile before the +conclusion of the trial; and, later in the same year, Demosthenes brought the +same charge against Aeschines. + +In the meantime (since the delivery of Demosthenes' Second Philippic) Philip had +been making fresh progress. The Arcadians and Argives (for the Athenian envoys +to the Peloponnese in 344 seem to have had little success) were ready to open +their gates to him. His supporters in Elis massacred their opponents, and with +them the remnant of the Phocians who had crossed over to Elis with Phalaecus. At +Megara, Perillus and Ptoeodorus almost succeeded in bringing a force of Philip's +mercenaries into the town, but the attempt was defeated, by the aid of an +Athenian force under Phocion. In Euboea Philip's troops occupied Porthmus, where +the democratic party of Eretria had taken refuge, owing to an overthrow of the +constitution (brought about by Philip's intrigues) which resulted in the +establishment of Cleitarchus as tyrant. In the course of the same year (343) +occurred two significant trials. The first was that of Antiphon, who had made an +offer to Philip to burn the Athenian dockyards at the Peiraeus. He was summarily +arrested by order of Demosthenes (probably in virtue of some administrative +office): Aeschines obtained his release, but he was re-arrested by order of the +Council of Areopagus[1] and condemned to death. The other trial was held before +the Amphictyonic Council on the motion of the people of Delos, to decide whether +the Athenians should continue to possess the right of managing the Temple of +Delos. The Assembly chose Aeschines as counsel for Athens; but the Council of +Areopagus, which had been given power to revise the appointment, put Hypereides +in his place. Hypereides won the case. Early in 343 (or at all events before the +middle of the year), Philip sent Python of Byzantium to complain of the language +used about him by Athenian orators, and to offer to revise and amend the terms +of the Peace of Philocrates. In response, an embassy was sent, headed by +Hegesippus, a violent opponent of Macedonia, to propose to Philip (1) that +instead of the clause 'that each party shall retain possession of what they +have', a clause, 'that each party shall possess what is their own,' should be +substituted; and (2) that all Greek States not included in the Treaty of Peace +should be declared free, and that Athens and Philip should assist them, if they +were attacked. These proposals, if sanctioned, would obviously have reopened the +question of Amphipolis, Pydna, and Poteidaea, as well as of Cardia and the +Thracian towns taken by Philip in 346. Hegesippus, moreover, was personally +objectionable, and the embassy was dismissed with little courtesy by Philip, who +even banished from Macedonia the Athenian poet Xenocleides for acting as host to +the envoys. The feeling against Philip in Athens was evidently strong, when the +prosecution of Aeschines by Demosthenes took place. + +The trial was held before a jury (probably consisting of 1,501 persons), +presided over by the Board of Auditors. Demosthenes spoke first, and Aeschines +replied in a speech which is preserved. There is no doubt, on a comparison of +the two speeches, that each, before it was published, received alterations and +insertions, intended to meet the adversary's points, or to give a better colour +to passages which had been unfavourably received. Probably not all the +refutations 'in advance' were such in reality. But there is no sufficient reason +to doubt that the speeches were delivered substantially as we have them. +Aeschines was acquitted by thirty votes. + +The question of the guilt or innocence of Aeschines will probably never be +finally settled. A great part of his conduct can be explained as a sincere +attempt to carry out the policy of Eubulus, or as the issue of a genuine belief +that it was best for Athens to make terms with Philip and stand on his side. +Even so the wisdom and the veracity of certain speeches which he had made is +open to grave question; but this is a different thing from corruption. Moreover, +to some of Demosthenes' arguments he has a conclusive reply. It is more +difficult to explain his apparent change of opinion between the 18th and 19th of +Elaphebolion, 346 (if Demosthenes' report of the debates is to be trusted); and +some writers are disposed to date his corruption from the intervening night. Nor +is it easy to meet Demosthenes' argument that if Aeschines had really been taken +in by Philip, and believed the promises which he announced, or if he had +actually heard Philip make the promises, he would have regarded Philip +afterwards as a personal enemy, and not as a friend. But even on these points +Aeschines might reply (though he could not reply so to the Athenian people or +jury) that though he did not trust the promises, he regarded the interest of +Athens as so closely bound up with the alliance with Philip, that he considered +it justifiable to deceive the people into making the alliance, or at least to +take the risk of the promises which he announced proving untrue. In any case +there is no convincing evidence of corruption; and it may be taken as +practically certain that he was not bribed to perform particular services. It is +less certain that he was not influenced by generous presents from Philip in +forming his judgement of Philip's character and intentions. The standard of +Athenian public opinion in regard to the receipt of presents was not that of the +English Civil Service; and the ancient orators accuse one another of corruption +almost as a matter of course. (We have seen that Demosthenes began the attack +upon Eubulus' party in this form as early as the Speech for the Rhodians; it +appears in almost every subsequent oration: and in their turn, his opponents +make the same charge against him.) It is, in any case, remarkable that at a time +when the people was plainly exasperated with the Peace and its authors, and very +ill-disposed towards Philip, a popular jury nevertheless acquitted Aeschines; +and the verdict is not sufficiently explained either by the fact that Eubulus +supported Aeschines or by the jurors' memory of Demosthenes' own part in the +earlier peace-negotiations, though this must have weakened the force of his +attack. That Demosthenes himself believed Aeschines to have been bribed, and +could himself see no other explanation of his conduct, need not be doubted; and +although the speech contains some of those misrepresentations of fact and +passages of irrelevant personal abuse which deface some of his best work, it +also contains some of his finest pieces of oratory and narrative. + +The second part of the speech is more broken up into short sections and less +clearly arranged than the first; earlier arguments are repeated, and a few +passages may be due (at least in their present shape) to revision after the +trial: but the latter part even as it stands is successful in leaving the points +of greatest importance strongly impressed upon the mind. + +The following analysis of the speech may enable the reader to find his way +through it without serious difficulty:-- + + +INTRODUCTION (Sec.Sec. 1-28) + +(i) _Exordium_ (Sec.Sec. 1, 2). Impartiality requested of the jury, in view of +Aeschines' attempt to escape by indirect means. + +(ii) _Points of the trial_ (Sec.Sec. 3-8). An ambassador must (1) give true reports; +(2) give good advice; (3) obey his instructions; (4) not lose time; (5) be +incorruptible. + +(iii) _Preliminary exposition of the arguments_ (Sec.Sec. 9-28). + + (1) The previous anti-Macedonian zeal of Aeschines suddenly collapsed + after the First Embassy. + + (2) In the deliberations on the Peace, Aeschines supported + Philocrates. + + (3) After the Second Embassy, Aeschines prevented Athens from guarding + Thermopylae and saving the Phocians, by false reports and + promises. + + (4) Such a change of policy is only explicable by corruption. + +PART 1 (Sec.Sec. 29-178) + +The five points of Introduction (ii) are treated as three, or in three groups. + +(i) The reports made by Aeschines on his return from the Second Embassy, and his +advice, especially as to the ruin of the Phocians (Sec.Sec. 29-97). + + (1) The reports (a) to the Senate, (b) to the People, and their + reception (Sec.Sec. 29-46). + + (2) Evidence that Aeschines conspired with Philip against the + Phocians, whose ruin is described (Sec.Sec. 47-71). + + (3) Refutation of three anticipated objections, beginning at Sec. 72, Sec. + 78, Sec. 80 respectively (Sec.Sec. 72-82). + + (4) The danger to Athens from Aeschines' treachery (Sec.Sec. 83-7). + + (5) Request to confine the trial strictly to relevant points + (Sec.Sec. 88-97). + +(ii) The corruption of Aeschines by the bribes of Philip (Sec.Sec. 98-149). + + (1) Arguments (beginning Sec. 102, Sec. 111, Sec. 114, Sec. 116) showing the + corruption of Aeschines (Sec.Sec. 98-119). + + (2) Refutation of anticipated objections (beginning at Sec. 120, Sec. 134, + Sec. 147) (Sec.Sec. 120-49). + +(iii) Aeschines' loss of time, by which Philip profited, and disobedience +to his instructions (Sec.Sec. 150-77). + + (1) Narrative of the Second Embassy (Sec.Sec. 150-62). + + (2) Comparison of the two Embassies (Sec.Sec. 163-5). + + (3) Comparison of Demosthenes' own conduct with that of the other + ambassadors (Sec.Sec. 167-77). Recapitulation of the points established + (Sec.Sec. 177, 178). + +PART II (Sec.Sec. 179-343) + +(i) The injury done to Athens-- + + (a) by the loss of Thrace and the Hellespont; + + (b) generally, by false reports from ambassadors (Sec.Sec. 179-86). + +(ii) Refutation of anticipated objections-- + + (a) 'It is not Philip's fault that he has not satisfied Athens' + (Sec. 187). + + (b) 'Demosthenes has no right to prosecute' (Sec.Sec. 188-220): including a + digression (Sec.Sec. 192-200) on Aeschines' character and incidents in + his life. + +(iii) Demosthenes' object in prosecuting, passing into reproof of the laxity of +Athens towards traitors (Sec.Sec. 221-33). + +(iv) Warning against any attempt by Aeschines to confuse the dates and incidents +of the two Embassies (Sec.Sec. 234-6.) + +(v) Criticism of Aeschines' brothers and his prosecution of Timarchus +(Sec.Sec. 237-58). + +(vi) The increasing danger from traitors, and the traditional attitude +of Athens towards them (Sec.Sec. 259-87). + +(vii) Attack upon Eubulus for defending Aeschines (Sec.Sec. 288-99). + +(viii) Philip's policy and methods; proofs of Aeschines' complicity +repeated (Sec.Sec. 300-31). + +(ix) Warnings to the jury against Aeschines' attempts to mislead them; and +conclusion (Sec.Sec. 331-43).] + + +{1} How much interest this case has excited, men of Athens, and how much +canvassing has taken place, must, I feel sure, have become fairly evident to you +all, after the persistent overtures just now made to you, while you were drawing +your lots.[n] Yet I will make the request of you all--a request which ought to +be granted even when unasked--that you will not allow the favour or the person +of any man to weigh more with you than justice and the oath which each of you +swore before he entered the court. Remember that what I ask is for your own +welfare and for that of the whole State; while the entreaties and the eager +interest of the supporters of the accused have for their aim the selfish +advantage of individuals: and it is not to confirm criminals in the possession +of such advantages that the laws have called you together, but to prevent their +attainment of them. {2} Now I observe that while all who enter upon public life +in an honest spirit profess themselves under a perpetual responsibility, even +when they have passed their formal examination, the defendant Aeschines does the +very reverse. For before entering your presence to give an account of his +actions, he has put out of the way one of those[n] who appeared against him at +his examination; and others he pursues with threats, thus introducing into +public life a practice which is of all the most atrocious and most contrary to +your interests. For if one who has transacted and managed any public business is +to render himself secure against accusation by spreading terror round him, +rather than by the justice of his case, your supremacy[n] must pass entirely out +of your hands. + +{3} I have every confidence and belief that I shall prove the defendant guilty +of many atrocious crimes, for which he deserves the extreme penalty of the law. +But I will tell you frankly of the fear which troubles me in spite of this +confidence. It seems to me, men of Athens, that the issue of every trial before +you is determined as much by the occasion as by the facts; and I am afraid that +the length of time which has elapsed since the Embassy may have caused you to +forget the crimes of Aeschines, or to be too familiar with them. {4} I will tell +you therefore how, in spite of this, you may yet, as I believe, arrive at a just +decision and give a true verdict to-day. You have, gentlemen of the jury, to +inquire and to consider what are the points on which it is proper to demand an +account from an ambassador. He is responsible first for his report; secondly, +for what he has persuaded you to do; thirdly, for his execution of your +instructions; next, for dates; and, besides all these things, for the integrity +or venality of his conduct throughout. {5} And why is he responsible in these +respects? Because on his report must depend your discussion of the situation: if +his report is true, your decision is a right one: if otherwise, it is the +reverse. Again, you regard the counsels of ambassadors as especially +trustworthy. You listen to them in the belief that they have personal knowledge +of the matter with which they were sent to deal. Never, therefore, ought an +ambassador to be convicted of having given you any worthless or pernicious +advice. {6} Again, it is obviously proper that he should have carried out your +instructions to him with regard to both speech and action, and your express +resolutions as to his conduct. Very good. But why is he responsible for dates? +Because, men of Athens, it often happens that the opportunity upon which much +that is of great importance depends lasts but for a moment; and if this +opportunity is deliberately and treacherously surrendered to the enemy, no +subsequent steps can possibly recover it. {7} But as to the integrity or +corruption of an ambassador, you would all, I am sure, admit that to make money +out of proceedings that injure the city is an atrocious thing and deserves your +heavy indignation. Yet the implied distinction was not recognized by the framer +of our law. He absolutely forbade _all_ taking of presents, thinking, I believe, +that a man who has once received presents and been corrupted with money no +longer remains even a safe judge of what is to the interest of the city. {8} If +then I can convict the defendant Aeschines by conclusive proofs of having made a +report that was utterly untrue, and prevented the people from hearing the truth +from me; if I prove that he gave advice that was entirely contrary to your +interests; that on his mission he fulfilled none of your instructions to him; +that he wasted time, during which opportunities for accomplishing much that was +of great importance were sacrificed and lost to the city; and that he received +presents in payment for all these services, in company with Philocrates; then +condemn him, and exact the penalty which his crimes deserve. If I fail to prove +these points, or fail to prove them all, then regard me with contempt, and let +the defendant go. + +{9} I have still to charge him, men of Athens, with many atrocious acts in +addition to these--acts which would naturally call forth the execration of every +one among you. But I desire, before all else that I am about to say, to remind +you (though most of you, I know, remember it well) of the position which +Aeschines originally took up in public life, and the speeches which he thought +it right to address to the people against Philip; for I would have you realize +that his own actions, his own speeches at the beginning of his career, are the +strongest evidence of his corruption. {10} According to his own public +declaration at that time, he was the first Athenian to perceive that Philip had +designs against the Hellenes and was corrupting certain leading men in Arcadia. +With Ischander, the son of Neoptolemus, to second him in his performance, he +came before the Council and he came before the people, to speak on the subject: +he persuaded you to send envoys in all directions to bring together a congress +at Athens to discuss the question of war with Philip: {11} then, on his return +from Arcadia, he reported to you those noble and lengthy speeches which, he +said, he had delivered on your behalf before the Ten Thousand[n] at Megalopolis, +in reply to Philip's spokesman, Hieronymus; and he described at length the +criminal wrong that was done, not only to their own several countries, but to +all Hellas, by men who took bribes and received money from Philip. {12} Such +was his policy at that time, and such the sample which he displayed of his +sentiments. Then you were induced by Aristodemus, Neoptolemus, Ctesiphon, and +the rest of those who brought reports from Macedonia in which there was not an +honest word, to send ambassadors to Philip and to negotiate for peace. Aeschines +himself is appointed one of them, in the belief, not that he was one of those +who would sell your interests, or had placed confidence in Philip, but rather +one who would keep an eye on the rest. The speeches which he had already +delivered, and his antipathy to Philip, naturally led you to take this view of +him. {13} Well, after this he came to me[n] and tried to make an agreement by +which we should act in concert on the Embassy, and urged strongly that we should +both keep an eye upon that abominable and shameless man Philocrates; and until +we returned to Athens from the First Embassy, I at least, men of Athens, had no +idea that he had been corrupted and had sold himself. For (not to mention the +other speeches which, as I have told you, he had made on former occasions) at +the first of the assemblies in which you debated about the Peace, he rose and +delivered an exordium which I think I can repeat to you word for word as he +uttered it at the meeting. {14} 'If Philocrates,' he said, 'had spent a very +long time in studying how he could best oppose the Peace, I do not think he could +have found a better device than a motion of this kind. The Peace which he +proposes is one which I can never recommend the city to make, so long as a +single Athenian remains alive. Peace, however, we ought, I think, to make.' {15} +And he made a brief and reasonable speech in the same tone. But though he had +spoken thus at the first meeting, in the hearing of you all, yet at the second +meeting, when the Peace was to be ratified; when I was upholding the resolution +of the allies and working for a Peace on just and equitable terms; when you in +your desire for such a Peace would not even listen to the voice of the despicable +Philocrates; then, I say, Aeschines rose and spoke in support of him, using +language for which he deserves, God knows, to die many deaths, {16} saying that +you must not remember your forefathers, nor tolerate speakers who recalled your +trophies and your victories by sea; and that he would frame and propose a law, +that you should assist no Hellene who had not previously assisted you. These +words he had the callous shamelessness to utter in the very presence and hearing +of the ambassadors[n] whom you had summoned from the Hellenic states, in +pursuance of the advice which he himself had given you, before he had sold +himself. + +{17} You elected him again, men of Athens, to receive the oaths. How he +frittered away the time, how cruelly he injured all his country's interests, and +what violent mutual enmity arose between myself and him in consequence of his +conduct and of my desire to prevent it, you shall hear presently. But when we +returned from this Embassy which was sent to receive the oaths, and the report +of which is now under examination; when we had secured nothing, either small or +great, of all that had been promised and expected when you were making the +Peace, but had been totally deceived; when they had again acted without regard +to their instructions,[n] and had conducted their mission in direct defiance of +your decree; we came before the Council: and there are many who have personal +knowledge of what I am about to tell you, for the Council-Chamber was crowded +with spectators. {18} Well, I came forward and reported to the Council the whole +truth: I denounced these men: I recounted the whole story, beginning with those +first hopes, aroused in you by the report of Ctesiphon and Aristodemus, and +going on to the speeches which Aeschines delivered during the time of the Peace- +negotiations, and the position into which they had brought the city: as regards +all that remained to you--I meant the Phocians and Thermopylae--I counselled you +not to abandon these, not to be victims once more of the same mistake, not to +let yourselves be reduced to extremities through depending upon a succession of +hopes and promises: and I carried the Council with me. {19} But when the day of +the Assembly came, and it was our duty to address you, the defendant Aeschines +came forward before any of his colleagues--and I entreat you, in God's name, to +follow me, and try to recollect whether what I tell you is true; for now we have +come to the very thing which so cruelly injured and ruined your whole cause. He +made not the remotest attempt to give any report of the results of the Embassy-- +if indeed he questioned the truth of my allegations at all--but instead of this, +he made statements of such a character, promising you benefits so numerous and +so magnificent, that he completely carried you away with him. {20} For he said +that,[n] before his return, he had persuaded Philip upon all the points in which +the interests of the city were involved, in regard both to the Amphictyonic +dispute and to all other matters: and he described to you a long speech which he +professed to have addressed to Philip against the Thebans, and of which he +reported to you the substance, calculating that, as the result of his own +diplomacy, you would within two or three days, without stirring from home or +taking the field or suffering any inconvenience, hear that Thebes was being +blockaded, alone and isolated from the rest of Boeotia, {21} that Thespiae and +Plataeae were being repeopled, and that the debt due to the god[n] was being +exacted not from the Phocians, but from the Thebans who had planned the seizure +of the temple. For he said that he gave Philip to understand that those who +planned the act were no less guilty of impiety than those whose hands executed +the plan; and that on this account the Thebans had set a price upon his head. +{22} Moreover, he said that he heard some of the Euboeans, who had been thrown +into a state of panic and confusion by the friendly relations established +between Athens and Philip, saying to the ambassadors, 'You have not succeeded, +gentlemen, in concealing from us the conditions on which you have made your +Peace with Philip; nor are we unaware that while you have given him Amphipolis, +he has undertaken to hand over Euboea to you.' There was, indeed, another matter +which he had arranged as well, but he did not wish to mention this at present, +since even as it was some of his colleagues were jealous of him. {23} This was +an enigmatical and indirect allusion to Oropus. These utterances naturally +raised him high in your estimation; he seemed to be an admirable speaker and a +marvellous man; and he stepped down with a very lofty air. Then I rose and +denied all knowledge of these things, and at the same time attempted to repeat +some part of my report to the Council. But they now took their stand by me, one +on this side, one on that--the defendant and Philocrates; they shouted, they +interrupted me, and finally they jeered, while you laughed. {24} You would not +hear, and you did not wish to believe anything but what Aeschines had reported. +Heaven knows, your feelings were natural enough; for who, that expected all +these marvellous benefits, would have tolerated a speaker who said that the +expectation would not be realized, or denounced the proceedings of those who +made the promise? All else, of course, was of secondary importance at the time, +in comparison with the expectations and the hopes placed before you; any +contradiction appeared to be nothing but sheer obstruction and malignity, while +the proceedings described seemed to be of incredible importance and advantage to +the city. + +{25} Now with what object have I recalled these occurrences to you before +everything else, and described these speeches of his? My first and chief object, +men of Athens, is that none of you, when he hears me speak of any of the things +that were done and is struck by their unparalleled atrocity, may ask in surprise +why I did not tell you at once and inform you of the facts; {26} but may +remember the promises which these men made at each critical moment, and by which +they entirely prevented every one else from obtaining a hearing; and that +splendid pronouncement by Aeschines; and that you may realize that in addition +to all his other crimes, you have suffered this further wrong at his hands--that +you were prevented from learning the truth instantly, when you ought to have +learned it, because you were deluded by hopes, deceits and promises. {27} That +is my first and, as I have said, my chief object in recalling all these +occurrences. But there is a second which is of no less importance than the +first, and what is this? It is that you may remember the policy which he adopted +in his public life, when he was still uncorrupted--his guarded and mistrustful +attitude towards Philip; and may consider the sudden growth of confidence and +friendship which followed; {28} and then, if all that he announced to you has +been realized, if the results achieved are satisfactory, you may believe that +all has been done out of an honest interest in the welfare of Athens; but if, on +the other hand, the issue has been exactly the opposite of that which he +predicted: if his policy has involved the city in great disgrace and in grave +perils, you may then be sure that his conversion was due to his own base +covetousness and to his having sold the truth for money. + +{29} And now, since I have been led on to this subject, I desire to describe to +you, before everything else, the way in which they took the Phocian question +entirely out of your hands. And let none of you, gentlemen of the jury, when he +looks at the magnitude of the transactions, imagine that the crimes with which +the defendant is charged are on a grander scale than one of his reputation could +compass. You have rather to observe that any one whom you would have placed in +such a position as this--a position in which, as each critical moment arrived, +the decision would be in his hands--could have brought about disasters equal to +those for which Aeschines is responsible, if, like Aeschines, he had wished to +sell his services, and to cheat and deceive you. {30} For however +contemptible[n] may be the men whom you frequently employ in the public service, +it does not follow that the part which the world expects this city to play is a +contemptible one. Far from it! And further, though it was Philip, of course, who +destroyed the Phocian people, it was Aeschines and his party who seconded +Philip's efforts. And so what you have to observe and consider is whether, so +far as the preservation of the Phocians came within the scope of their mission, +these men deliberately destroyed and ruined that whole cause. You have not to +suppose that Aeschines ruined the Phocians by himself. How could he have done +so? + +{31} (_To the clerk._) Now give me the draft-resolution which the Council passed +in view of my report, and the deposition of the clerk who wrote it. (_To the +jury._) For I would have you know that I am not repudiating to-day transactions +about which I held my peace at the time, but that I denounced them at once, with +full prevision of what must follow; and that the Council, which was not +prevented from hearing the truth from me, neither voted thanks to the +ambassadors, nor thought fit to invite them to the Town Hall.[n] From the +foundation of the city to this day, no body of ambassadors is recorded to have +been treated so; nor even Timagoras,[n] whom the people condemned to death. {32} +But these men have been so treated. (_To the clerk._) First read them the +deposition, and then the resolution. + +[_The deposition and resolution are read._] + +Here is no expression of thanks, no invitation of the ambassadors to the Town +Hall by the Council. If Aeschines asserts that there is any, let him point it +out and produce it, and I give way to him. But there is none. Now on the +assumption that we all fulfilled our mission in the same way, the Council had +good reason not to thank any of us, for the transactions of all alike were in +that case atrocious. But if some of us acted uprightly, while others did the +reverse, it must, it seems, have been owing to the knavery of their colleagues +that the virtuous were forced to take their share of this dishonour. {33} How +then can you all ascertain without any difficulty who is the rogue? Recall to +your minds who it is that has denounced the transaction from the outset. For it +is plain that it must have been the guilty person who was well content to be +silent, to stave off the day of reckoning for the moment, and to take care for +the future not to present himself to give an account of his actions; while it +must have been he whose conscience was clear to whom there occurred the thought +of the danger, lest through keeping silence he might be regarded as a partner in +such atrocious villany. Now it is I that have denounced these men from the +outset, while none of them has accused me. {34} Such then was the resolution of +the Council. The meeting of the Assembly took place when Philip was already at +Thermopylae: for this was the first of all their crimes, that they placed Philip +in command of the situation, so that, when you ought first to have heard the +facts, then to have deliberated, and afterwards to have taken such measures as +you had resolved upon, you in fact heard nothing until he was on the spot, and +it was no longer easy to say what steps you ought to take. {35} In addition to +this, no one read the resolution of the Council to the people, and the people +never heard it; but Aeschines rose and delivered the harangue which I just now +described to you, recounting the numerous and important benefits which he said +he had, before his return, persuaded Philip to grant, and on account of which +the Thebans had set a price upon his head. In consequence of this, appalled +though you were at first at the proximity of Philip, and angry with these men +for not having warned you of it, you became as mild as possible, having now +formed the expectation that all your wishes would be realized; and you would not +hear a word from me or from any one else. {36} After this was read the letter +from Philip, which Aeschines had written[n] when we had left him behind, a +letter which was nothing less than a direct and express defence in writing of +the misconduct of the ambassadors. For in it is stated that Philip himself +prevented them, when they were anxious to go to the several cities and receive +the oaths, and that he retained them in order that they might help him to effect +a reconciliation between the peoples of Halus and Pharsalus. He takes upon his +own shoulders the whole of their misconduct, and makes it his own. {37} But as +to the Phocians and Thespiae, and the promises contained in Aeschines' report to +you--why, there is not the slightest mention of them! And it was no mere +accident that the proceedings took this form. For the failure of the ambassadors +to carry out or give effect to any of the instructions imposed upon them by your +resolution--the failure for which you were bound to punish them--Philip makes +himself responsible in their stead, and says that the fault was his; for you +were not likely, of course, to be able to punish _him_. {38} But the points in +regard to which Philip wished to deceive you and to steal a march upon the city +were made the subject of the defendant's report, in order that you might be able +to find no ground of accusation or reproach against Philip, since these points +were not mentioned either in his letter or in any other part of the +communications received from him. But (_to the clerk_) read the jury the actual +letter--written by Aeschines, sent by Philip; and (_to the jury_) do you observe +that it is such as I have described. (_To the clerk._) Read on. + +[_The letter is read._] + +{39} You hear the letter, men of Athens; you hear how noble and generous it is. +But about the Phocians or the Thebans or the other subjects of the defendant's +report--not a syllable. Indeed, in this letter there is not an honest word, as +you will very shortly see for yourselves. He says that he retained the +ambassadors to help him reconcile the people of Halus: and such is the +reconciliation that they have obtained, that they are exiles from their country, +and their city is laid waste. And as to the prisoners, though he professed to be +wondering what he could do to gratify you, he says that the idea of procuring +their release had not occurred to any one. {40} But evidence has, as you know, +been laid before you many times in the Assembly, to the effect that I myself +went to ransom them, taking a talent[n] for the purpose; and it shall now be +laid before you once more. It follows, therefore, that it was to deprive me of +my laudable ambition[n] that Aeschines persuaded Philip to insert this +statement. But the strongest point of all is this. In his former letter--the +letter which we brought back--he wrote, 'I should have mentioned expressly the +great benefits that I propose to confer upon you, if I felt sure that you would +grant me the alliance as well.' And yet when the alliance has been granted, he +says that he does not know what he can do to gratify you. He does not even know +what he had himself promised! Why, he must obviously have known that, unless he +was trying to cheat you! To prove that he did write thus and in these terms, +(_to the clerk_) take his former letter, and read the very passage, beginning at +this point. Read on. + +[_An extract from the letter is read._] + +{41} Thus, before he obtained the Peace, he undertook to set down in writing the +great benefits he would confer on the city, in the event of an alliance also +being granted him. But as soon as he had obtained both his wishes, he says that +he does not know what he can do to gratify you, but that if you will inform him, +he will do anything that will not involve any disgrace or stigma upon himself. +Such are the excuses in which he takes refuge, to secure his retreat, in case +you should actually make any suggestion or should be induced to ask any favour. + +{42} It would have been possible to expose this whole proceeding at the time-- +and a great deal more--without delay; to inform you of the facts, and to prevent +you from sacrificing your cause, had not the thought of Thespiae and Plataeae, +and the idea that the Thebans were on the very point of paying the penalty, +robbed you of the truth. While, however, there was good reason for mentioning +these prospects, if the city was to hear of them and then be cheated, it would +have been better, if their realization was actually intended, that nothing +should have been said about them. For if matters had already reached a stage at +which the Thebans would be no better off, even if they perceived the design +against them, why was the design not fulfilled? But if its fulfilment was +prevented because they perceived it in time, who was it that betrayed the +secret? {43} Must it not have been Aeschines? Its fulfilment, however, was not +in fact intended, nor did the defendant either desire or expect it; so that he +may be relieved of the charge of betraying the secret. What was intended was +that you should be hoodwinked by these statements, and should refuse to hear the +truth from me; that you should not stir from home, and that such a decree should +carry the day as would involve the destruction of the Phocians. Hence this +prodigality in promises, and their proclamation in his speech to the people. + +{44} When I heard Aeschines making all these magnificent promises, I knew +perfectly well that he was lying; and I will tell you how I knew. I knew it +first, because when Philip was about to take the oath in ratification of the +Peace, the Phocians were openly excluded from it. This was a point which it +would have been natural to pass over in silence, if the Phocians were really to +be saved. And secondly, I knew it because the promises were not made by Philip's +ambassadors or in Philip's letter, but by the defendant. {45} Accordingly, +drawing my conclusions from these facts, I rose and came forward and attempted +to contradict him; but as you were not willing to hear me, I held my peace, with +no more than these words of solemn protest, which I entreat you, in Heaven's +name, to remember. 'I have no knowledge of these promises,' I said, 'and no +share in making them; and,' I added, 'I do not believe they will be fulfilled.' +This last expression roused your temper, and I proceeded, 'Take care, men of +Athens, that if any of these things comes to pass, you thank these gentlemen for +it, and give your honours and crowns to them, and not to me. If, however, +anything of an opposite character occurs, you must equally vent your anger on +them: I decline all responsibility.' {46} 'No, no!' interrupted Aeschines, 'do +not decline responsibility now! Take care rather that you do not claim credit, +when the time comes.' 'Indeed, it would be an injustice if I did so,' I replied. +Then Philocrates arose with a most insolent air, and said, 'It is no wonder, men +of Athens, that I and Demosthenes should disagree; for he drinks water, I drink +wine.' And you laughed. + +{47} Now consider the decree which Philocrates proposed and handed in.[n] An +excellent resolution it sounds, as you hear it now. But when you take into +account the occasion on which it was proposed, and the promises which Aeschines +was then making, you will see that their action amounts to nothing less than a +surrender of the Phocians to Philip and the Thebans, and that, practically, with +their hands tied behind their backs. (_To the clerk._) Read the decree. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{48} There, men of Athens, is the decree, overflowing with expressions of +gratitude and auspicious language. 'The Peace,' it says, 'which is granted to +Philip shall be granted on the same terms to his descendants, and also the +alliance.' Again, we are 'to thank Philip for his promised acts of justice'. Yet +Philip made no promises: so far was he from making promises that he said he did +not know what he could do to gratify you. {49} It was Aeschines who spoke in his +name, and made the promises. Then Philocrates took advantage of the enthusiasm +which Aeschines' words aroused in you, to insert in the decree the clause, 'and +unless the Phocians act as they are bound, and surrender the temple to the +Amphictyons, the Athenian people will render their assistance against those who +still stand in the way of such surrender.' {50} Thus, men of Athens, at a time +when you were still at home and had not taken the field, when the Spartans had +foreseen the deception and retired, and when none of the Amphictyons were on the +spot but the Thessalians and Thebans, he proposes in the most innocent-sounding +language in the world that they shall deliver up the temple to these. For he +proposes that they shall deliver it up to the Amphictyons. But what Amphictyons? +for there were none there but the Thessalians and Thebans. He does not propose +that the Amphictyons should be convoked, or that they should wait until the +Amphictyons met or that Proxenus should render assistance in Phocis, or that the +Athenians should take the field, or anything of the sort. {51} Philip did indeed +actually send two letters to summon you.[n] But he did not intend you really to +march from Athens. Not a bit of it! For he would not have waited to summon you +until he had seen the time go by in which you could have set out; nor would he +have tried to prevent me, when I wished to set sail and return hither; nor would +he have instructed Aeschines to speak to you in the terms which would be least +likely to cause you to march. No! he intended that you should fancy that he was +about to fulfil your desires, and in that belief should abstain from any +resolution adverse to him; and that the Phocians should, in consequence, make +no defence or resistance, in reliance upon any hopes inspired by you, but should +put themselves into his hands in utter despair. (_To the clerk._) Read to the +jury the letters of Philip. + +[_The letters are read._] + +{52} Now these letters summon you, and that, forsooth, instantly; and it was +surely for Aeschines and his party, if the proceeding was in any way genuine, to +support the summons, to urge you to march, and to propose that Proxenus, whom +they knew to be in those parts, should render assistance at once. Yet it is +plain that their action was of precisely the opposite character; and naturally +so. For they did not attend to the terms of the letter, but to the intention +with which Philip wrote it. {53} With this intention they co-operated, and to +this they strove to give effect. As soon as the Phocians had learned the news of +your proceedings in the Assembly, and had received this decree of Philocrates, +and heard the defendant's announcement and his promises, everything combined to +effect their doom. Consider the circumstances. There were some of them who had +the wisdom to distrust Philip. These were induced to trust him. And why? Because +they believed that even if Philip were trying to deceive them ten times over, +the ambassadors of Athens, at least, would never dare to deceive their own +countrymen. This report which Aeschines had made to you must therefore be true: +it was the Thebans, and not themselves, whose hour had come. {54} There were +others who advocated resistance at all hazards; but these too were weakened in +their resolution, now that they were persuaded that they could count upon +Philip's favour, and that, unless they did as they were bidden, you, whose +assistance they were hoping for, would march against them. There was also a +third party, who thought that you repented of having made the Peace with Philip; +but to these they pointed out that you had decreed that the same Peace should +hold good for posterity also; so that on every ground, all assistance from you +was despaired of. That is why they crowded all these points into one decree. +{55} And in this lies, I think, the very greatest of all their crimes against +you. To have made a Peace with a mortal man, whose power was due to the +accidents of the moment--a Peace, whereby they covenanted that the disgrace +brought upon the city should be everlasting; to have robbed the city, not only +of all beside, but even of the benefits that Fortune might hereafter bestow: to +have displayed such superabundant villany as to have done this wicked wrong not +only to their countrymen now living, but also to all those who should ever +thereafter be born--is it not utterly atrocious? {56} And this last clause, by +which the Peace was extended to your descendants, you would certainly never have +allowed to be added to the conditions of peace had you not then placed your +trust in the promises announced by Aeschines, as the Phocians placed their trust +in them and perished. For, as you know, they delivered themselves up to Philip; +they gave their cities into his hands; and the consequences which befell them +were the exact opposite of all that Aeschines had predicted to you. + +{57} That you may realize plainly that this calamity was brought about in the +manner that I have described, and that they are responsible for it, I will go +through the dates at which each separate event occurred; and if any one can +contradict me on any point, I invite him to rise and speak in the time allotted +to me. The Peace was made on the 19th of Elaphebolion, and we were away on the +mission which was sent to receive the oaths three whole months. {58} All this +time the Phocians remained unharmed. We returned from that mission on the 13th +of Scirophorion. Philip had already appeared at Thermopylae, and was making +promises to the Phocians, none of which they believed--as is proved, when you +consider that otherwise they would not have appealed to you. Then followed the +Assembly, at which, by their falsehoods and by the deception which they +practised upon you, Aeschines and his party ruined the whole cause. {59} That +was on the 16th of Scirophorion. Now I calculate that it was on the fifth day +that the report of your proceedings reached the Phocians: for the Phocian envoys +were here on the spot, and were deeply concerned to know what report these men +would make, and what your resolution would be. That gives us the 20th as the +date on which, as we calculate, the Phocians heard of your proceedings; for, +counting from the 16th, the 20th is the fifth day. Then followed the 21st, the +22nd, and the 23rd. {60} On the latter day the truce was made, and the ruin of +the Phocians was finally sealed. This can be proved as follows. On the 27th you +were holding an Assembly in the Peiraeus, to discuss the business connected with +the dockyards, when Dercylus arrived from Chalcis with the news that Philip had +put everything into the hands of the Thebans, and that this was the fifth day +since the truce had been made. 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th--the 27th is the +fifth day precisely. Thus the dates, and their reports and their proposals-- +everything, in short, convicts them of having co-operated with Philip, and of +sharing with him the responsibility for the overthrow of the Phocians. {61} +Again, the fact that none of the towns in Phocis was taken by siege or by an +attack in force, and that the utter ruin of them all was the direct consequence +of their truce with Philip, affords the strongest evidence that it was the +belief inspired in the Phocians by these men, that they would be preserved from +destruction by Philip, which was the cause of their fate. Philip himself they +knew well enough. (_To the clerk._) Bring me our treaty of alliance with the +Phocians, and the decrees under which they demolished their walls. (_To the +jury._) You will then realize what were the relations between themselves and +you, upon which they relied, and what nevertheless was the fate which befell +them through the action of these accursed men. (_To the clerk._) Read. + +[_The Treaty of Alliance between the Athenians and Phocians is read._] + +{62} These, then, were the things for which they relied upon you--friendship, +alliance, and assistance. Now listen to what befell them, because Aeschines +prevented your going to their assistance. (_To the clerk._) Read. + + [_The Agreement between Philip and the Phocians is read._] + +You hear it, men of Athens. 'An Agreement between Philip and the Phocians,' it +runs--not between the Thebans and the Phocians, nor the Thessalians and the +Phocians, nor the Locrians, nor any one else who was there. Again, 'the Phocians +shall deliver up their cities to Philip'--not to the Thebans or Thessalians or +any one else. {63} And why? Because the defendant's report to you was that +Philip had crossed the Pass with a view to the preservation of the Phocians. +Thus it was Aeschines in whom all their trust was placed; it was with him in +their minds that they considered the whole situation; it was with him in their +minds that they made the Peace. (_To the clerk._) Now read the remainder. (_To +the jury._) And do you observe for what they trusted him, and what treatment +they received. Does it show any resemblance or similarity to what Aeschines +predicted in his report? (_To the clerk._) Read on. + +[_The decrees of the Amphictyons are read._] + +{64} Men of Athens, the horror and the immensity of this calamity have never +been surpassed in our day in the Hellenic world, nor even, I believe, in the +time before us. Yet these great and dreadful events a single man has been given +power to bring about, by the action of these men, while the city of Athens was +still in being--Athens, whose traditional policy is to stand as the champion of +the Hellenic peoples, and not to suffer anything like this to take place. The +nature of the ruin which the unhappy Phocians have suffered may be seen, not +only from these decrees, but also from the actual results of the action taken, +and an awful and piteous sight it is, men of Athens. {65} For when recently we +were on our way to Delphi[n] we could not help seeing it all--houses razed to +the ground, cities stripped of their walls, the land destitute of men in their +prime--only a few poor women and little children left, and some old men in +misery. Indeed, no words can describe the distress now prevailing there. Yet +this was the people, I hear you all saying, that once gave its vote against the +Thebans,[n] when the question of your enslavement was laid before them. {66} +What then, men of Athens, do you think would be the vote, what the sentence, +that your forefathers would give, if they could recover consciousness, upon +those who were responsible for the destruction of this people? I believe that if +they stoned them to death with their own hands, they would hold themselves +guiltless of blood. Is it not utterly shameful--does it not, if possible, go +beyond all shame--that those who saved us then, and gave the saving vote for us, +should now have met with the very opposite fate through these men, suffering as +no Hellenic people has ever suffered before, with none to hinder it? Who then is +responsible for this crime? Who is the author of this deception? Who but +Aeschines? + +{67} Of all the many reasons for which Philip might be congratulated with good +cause upon his fortune, the chief ground of congratulation is a piece of good +fortune, to which, by every Heavenly Power, I cannot find any parallel in our +days. To have captured great cities, to have reduced a vast expanse of territory +to subjection, and all similar actions, are, of course, enviable and brilliant +achievements--undeniably so. But many other persons might be mentioned who had +achieved as much. {68} The good fortune of which I am about to speak is peculiar +to Philip, and has never been given to any other. It is this--that when he +needed scoundrels to do his work for him, he found even greater scoundrels than +he wanted. For as such we have surely good reason to think of them. For when +there were falsehoods which Philip himself, in spite of the immense interests +which he had at stake, did not dare to utter on his own behalf--which he did not +set down in any of his letters, and which none of his envoys uttered--these men +sold their services for the purpose, and undertook your deception. {69} +Antipater and Parmenio, servants of a master as they were, and unlikely ever to +find themselves in your presence again, none the less secured for themselves +that _they_ should not be the instruments in your deception, while these men, +who were Athenians, citizens of the most free city, and held an official +position as your ambassadors--though they would have to meet you and look you +in the face, and pass the remainder of their lives among you, and render before +you an account of their actions--they, I say, undertook the task of deceiving +you. How could vileness or desperation go further than this? + +{70} But I would have you understand further that he is under your curse, and +that you cannot, without violation of religion and piety, acquit him, when he +has thus lied to you. (_To the clerk._) Recite the Curse. Take it from me, and +read it out of the law. + +[_The Curse is read._] + +This imprecation is pronounced in your name, men of Athens, by the herald, at +every meeting of the Assembly, as the law appoints; and when the Council sits, +it is pronounced again there. Nor can Aeschines say that he did not know it +well. He was your under-clerk and servant to the Council, and used himself to +read this law over[n] to the herald. {71} Surely, then, you will have done a +strange and monstrous thing, men of Athens, if to-day, when you have it in your +power, you should fail to do for yourselves the thing which you enjoin upon the +gods, or rather claim from them as your due; and should acquit a man whom you +pray to the gods to destroy utterly--himself, his race and his house. You must +not do this. You may leave it to the gods to punish one whom you cannot +yourselves detect; but when you have yourselves caught the criminal, you must no +longer lay the task of punishing him upon the gods. + +{72} Now I am told that he intends to carry his shamelessness and impudence so +far, as to avoid all mention of his own proceedings--his report, his promises, +the deception he has practised upon the city--as though his trial were taking +place before strangers, instead of before you, who know all the facts; and that +he intends to accuse first the Spartans,[n] then the Phocians,[n] and then +Hegesippus.[n] {73} That is mere mockery; or rather, it is atrocious +shamelessness. For all that he will allege to-day against the Phocians or the +Spartans or Hegesippus--their refusal to receive Proxenus, their impiety--let +him allege what he will--all these allegations refer, as you know, to actions +which were already past when these ambassadors returned to Athens, and which +were no obstacle to the preservation of the Phocians--the admission is made by +whom? By the defendant Aeschines himself. For what was his report on that +occasion? {74} Not that if it had not been for their refusal to receive +Proxenus, nor that if it had not been for Hegesippus, nor that if it had not +been for such and such things, the Phocians would have been saved. No! he +discarded all such qualifications, and stated expressly that before he returned +he had persuaded Philip to save the Phocians, to repeople Boeotia, and to +arrange matters to suit your convenience; that within two or three days these +things would be accomplished facts, and that for this reason the Thebans had set +a price upon his head. {75} Refuse then, to hear or to tolerate any mention of +what had already been done, either by the Spartans or by the Phocians, before he +made his report; and do not let him denounce the rascality of the Phocians. It +was not for their virtue that you once saved the Spartans, nor the Euboeans, +that accursed people! nor many others; but because the interests of the city +demanded their preservation, as they demanded that of the Phocians just now. And +what wrong was done either by the Phocians or by the Spartans, or by yourselves, +or by any one else in the world after he made those declarations, to prevent the +fulfilment of the promises which he then made? Ask him that: for that is what he +will {76} not be able to show you. It was within five days--five days and no +more--that Aeschines made his lying report, that you believed him, that the +Phocians heard of it, surrendered themselves and perished. This, I think, makes +it as plain as it can possibly be, that the ruin of the Phocians was the result +of organized deceit and trickery, and of nothing else.[n] For so long as Philip +was unable to proceed to Phocis on account of the Peace,[n] and was only waiting +in readiness to do so, he kept sending for the Spartans, promising to do all +that they wished,[n]in order that the Phocians might not win {77} them over to +their side by your help. But when he had arrived at Thermopylae, and the +Spartans had seen the trap and retired, he now sent Aeschines in advance to +deceive you, in order that he might not, owing to your perceiving that he was +playing into the hands of the Thebans, find himself once more involved in loss +of time and war and delay, through the Phocians defending themselves and your +going to their assistance, but might get everything into his power without a +struggle; and this is what has in fact happened. Do not, then, let the fact that +Philip deceived the Spartans and Phocians as well as yourselves enable Aeschines +to escape his punishment for deceiving you. That would not be just. + +{78} But if he tells you that, to compensate for the Phocians and Thermopylae +and all your other losses, you have retained possession of the Chersonese, do +not, in Heaven's name, accept the plea! Do not tolerate the aggravation of all +the wrong that you have suffered through his conduct as ambassador, by the +reproach which his defence would bring upon the city--the reproach of having +sacrificed the existence of your allies, in an underhand attempt to save part of +your own possessions! You did not act thus; for when the Peace had already been +made, and the Chersonese was no longer in danger, there followed four whole +months[n] during which the Phocians remained unharmed; and it was not until +after this that the lying statements of Aeschines brought about their ruin by +deceiving you. {79} And further, you will find that the Chersonese is in much +greater danger now than it was then. For when do you think that we had the +greater facilities for punishing Philip for any trespass against the +Chersonese?--before he stole any of these advantages from the city, or now? For +my part, I think we had far greater facilities then. What, then, does this +'retention of the Chersonese' amount to, when all the fears and the risks which +attended one who would have liked to attack it have been removed? + +{80} Again, I am told that he will express himself to some such effect as this-- +that he cannot think why he is accused by Demosthenes, and not by any of the +Phocians. It is better that you should hear the true state of the case from me +beforehand. Of the exiled Phocians, the best, I believe, and the most +respectable, after being driven into banishment and suffering as they have +suffered, are content to be quiet, and none of them would consent to incur an +enmity which would fall upon himself, on account of the calamities of his +people: while those who would do anything for money have no one to give it to +them. {81} For assuredly _I_ would never have given any one anything whatever to +stand by my side here and cry aloud how cruelly they have suffered. The truth +and the deeds that have been done cry aloud of themselves. And as for the +Phocian people,[n] they are in so evil and pitiable a plight, that there is no +question for them of appearing as accusers at the examination of every +individual ambassador in Athens. They are in slavery, in mortal fear of the +Thebans and of Philip's mercenaries, whom they are compelled to support, broken +up into villages as they are and stripped of their arms. {82} Do not, then, +suffer him to urge such a plea. Make him prove to you that the Phocians are not +ruined, or that he did not promise that Philip would save them. For the +questions upon which the examination of an ambassador turns are these: 'What +have you effected? What have you reported? If the report is true, you may be +acquitted; if it is false, you must pay the penalty.' How can you plead the non- +appearance of the Phocians, when it was you yourself, I fancy, that brought +them, so far as it lay in your power, into such a condition that they could +neither help their friends nor repel their enemies. + +{83} And further, apart from all the shame and the dishonour in which also these +proceedings are involved, it is easy to show that in consequence of them the +city has been beset with grave dangers as well. Every one of you knows that it +was the hostilities which the Phocians were carrying on, and their command of +Thermopylae, that rendered us secure against Thebes, and made it impossible that +either Philip or the Thebans should ever march into the Peloponese or into +Euboea or into Attica. {84} But this guarantee of safety which the city +possessed, arising out of the position of Thermopylae and the actual +circumstances of the time, you were induced to sacrifice by the deceptions and +the lying statements of these ambassadors--a guarantee, I say, fortified by +arms, by a continuous campaign, by great cities of allies, and by a wide tract +of territory; and you have looked on while it was swept away. Fruitless has your +first expedition to Thermopylae become--an expedition made at a cost of more +than two hundred talents, if you include the private expenditure of the +soldiers--and fruitless your hopes of triumph over Thebes! {85} But of all the +wicked services which he has done for Philip, let me tell you of that which is +in reality the greatest outrage of all upon Athens and upon you all. It is this +--that when Philip had determined from the very first to do for the Thebans all +that he has done, Aeschines, by reporting the exact opposite to you, and so +displaying to the world your antagonism to Philip's designs, has brought about +for you an increase in the enmity between yourselves and the Thebans, and for +Philip an increase in their gratitude. How could a man have treated you more +outrageously than this? + +(_To the clerk._) {86} Now take and read the decrees of Diophantus[n] and +Callisthenes[n]; (_to the jury_) for I would have you realize that when you +acted as you ought, you were thought worthy to be honoured with public +thanksgivings and praises, both at home and abroad; but when once you had been +driven astray by these men, you had to bring your children and wives in from the +country, and to decree that the sacrifice to Heracles[n] should take place +within the walls, though it was a time of peace. And in view of this it is an +amazing idea, that you should dismiss unpunished a man who even prevented the +gods from receiving their worship from you after the manner of your fathers. +(_To the clerk._) Read the decree. + +[_The decree of Diophantus is read._] + +This decree, men of Athens, was one which your conduct nobly deserved. (_To the +clerk._) Now read the next decree. + +[_The decree of Callisthenes is read._] + +{87} This decree you passed in consequence of the action of these men. It was +not with such a prospect in view that you made the Peace and the alliance at the +outset, or that you were subsequently induced to insert the words which extended +them to your posterity. You expected their action to bring you benefits of +incredible value. Aye, and besides this, you know how often, after this, you +were bewildered by the report that Philip's forces and mercenaries were +threatening Porthmus or Megara. You have not then to reflect contentedly that +Philip has not yet set foot in Attica. You have rather to consider whether their +action has not given him power to do so when he chooses. It is that danger that +you must keep before your eyes, and you must execrate and punish the man who is +guilty of putting such power into Philip's hands. + +{88} Now I am aware that Aeschines will eschew all defence of the actions with +which he is charged, and that, in his desire to lead you as far away as possible +from the facts, he will enumerate the great blessings which Peace brings to all +mankind, and will set against them the evils that follow in the train of war. +His whole speech will be a eulogy of peace, and in that will consist his +defence. But such an argument actually incriminates the defendant further. If +peace, which brings such blessings to all other men, has been the source of such +trouble and confusion to us, what explanation can be found, except that they +have taken bribes and have cruelly marred a thing by nature so fair? {89} +'What?' he may say, 'have you not to thank the Peace for three hundred ships, +with their fittings, and for funds which remain and will remain yours?' In +answer to this, you are bound to suppose that, thanks to the Peace, Philip's +resources too have become far more ample--aye, and his command of arms, and of +territory, and of revenues, which have accrued to him to such large amounts. +{90} We, too, have had some increase of revenue. But as for power and alliances, +by the establishment of which all men retain their advantages, either for +themselves or their masters, ours have been sold by these men--ruined and +enfeebled; while Philip's have become more formidable and extensive by far. Thus +it is not fair that while Philip has been enabled by their action to extend both +his alliances and his revenue, all that would in any case have been ours, as the +result of the Peace, should be set off against what they themselves sold to +Philip. The former did not come to us in exchange for the latter. Far from it! +For had it not been for them, not only should we have had the former, as we have +now, but we should have had the latter as well. + +{91} You would doubtless admit, men of Athens, in general terms, that, on the +one hand, however many and terrible the disasters that have befallen the city, +your anger cannot justly be visited upon Aeschines, if none of them has been +caused by him; and that, on the other hand, Aeschines is not entitled to be +acquitted on account of any satisfactory results that may have been accomplished +through the action of others. You must examine the acts of Aeschines himself, +and then show him your favour if he is worthy of it, or your resentment, on the +other hand, if his acts prove to be deserving ing of that. {92} How, then, can +you solve this problem fairly? You will do so if, instead of allowing him to +confound all questions with one another--the criminal conduct of the generals, +the war with Philip, the blessings that flow from peace--you consider each +point by itself. For instance, were we at war with Philip? We were. Does any one +accuse Aeschines on that ground? Does any one wish to bring any charge against +him in regard to things that were done in the course of the war? No one +whatever. He is therefore acquitted in regard to such matters, and must not say +anything about them; for the witnesses and the proofs which a defendant produces +must bear upon the matters which are in dispute; he must not deceive you by +offering a defence upon points which are not disputed. Take care, then, that you +say nothing about the war; for no one charges you with any responsibility for +that. {93} Later on we were urged by certain persons to make peace. We +consented; we sent ambassadors; and the ambassadors brought commissioners to +Athens who were to conclude the Peace. Once more, does any one blame Aeschines +for this? Does any one allege that Aeschines introduced the proposal of peace, +or that he committed any crime in bringing commissioners here to make it? No one +whatever. He must therefore say nothing in regard to the fact that the city made +peace; for he is not responsible for that. {94} 'Then what _is_ your assertion, +sir?' I may be asked. 'At what point _do_ your charges begin?' They begin, men +of Athens, from the time when the question before you was not whether you should +make peace or not (for that had already been settled), but what sort of peace +you should make--when Aeschines opposed those who took the side of justice, +supported for a bribe the hireling mover of the decree, and afterwards, when he +had been chosen to receive the oaths, failed to carry out every one of your +instructions, destroyed those of your allies who had passed unscathed through +the war, and told you falsehoods whose enormity and grossness has never been +surpassed, either before or since. At the outset, before Philip was given a +hearing in regard to the Peace, Ctesiphon and Aristodemus took the leading part +in the work of deception; but when the time had come for action, they +surrendered their role to Philocrates and Aeschines, who took it up and ruined +everything. {95} And then, when he is bound to answer for his actions and to +give satisfaction for them--like the unscrupulous God-forsaken clerk that he +is--he will defend himself as though it were the Peace for which he was being +tried. Not that he wishes to account for more than is charged against him--that +would be lunacy. No! He sees rather that in all his own proceedings no good can +be found--that his crimes are his whole history; while a defence of the Peace, +if it has no other merits, has at least the kindly sound of the name to +recommend it. {96} I fear, indeed, men of Athens, I fear that, unconsciously, we +are enjoying this Peace like men who borrow at heavy interest. The guarantees of +its security--the Phocians and Thermopylae--they have betrayed. But, be that as +it may, it was not through _Aeschines_ that we originally made it; for, +paradoxical as it may seem, what I am about to say is absolutely true--that if +any one is honestly pleased at the Peace, it is the generals, who are +universally denounced, that he must thank for it: for had they been conducting +the war as you desired them to do, {97}you would not have tolerated even the +name of peace. For peace, then, we must thank the generals; but the perilous, +the precarious, the untrustworthy nature of the Peace is due to the corruption +of these men. Cut him off, then, cut him off, I say, from all arguments in +defence of the Peace! Set him to defend his own actions! Aeschines is not being +tried on account of the Peace. On the contrary, the Peace stands discredited +owing to Aeschines. And here is evidence of the fact:--if the Peace had been +made, and if no subsequent deception had been practised upon you, and none of +your allies had been ruined, who on earth would have been hurt by the Peace, +except in so far as it was inglorious? And for its inglorious character the +defendant in fact shares the responsibility, for he spoke in support of +Philocrates. At least no irreparable harm would have been done; whereas now, I +believe, much has been done, and the guilt rests with the defendant. {98} That +these men have been the agents in this shameful and wicked work of ruin and +destruction, I think you all know. Yet so far am I, gentlemen of the jury, from +putting any unfair construction upon these facts or asking you to do so, that if +it has been through stupidity or simplicity, or ignorance in any form whatever, +that such results have been so brought about, I acquit Aeschines myself, and I +{99} recommend you also to acquit him. At the same time none of these excuses is +either constitutional[n] or justifiable. For you neither command nor compel any +one to undertake public business; but when any one has satisfied himself of his +own capacity and has entered political life, then, like good-hearted, kindly +men, you welcome him in a friendly and ungrudging manner, and even elect him to +office and place your own interests in his hands. {100} Then, if a man succeeds, +he will receive honour and will so far have an advantage over the crowd. But if +he fails, is he to plead palliations and excuses? That is not fair. It would not +satisfy our ruined allies, or their children, or their wives, or the rest of the +victims, to know that it was through my stupidity--not to speak of the stupidity +of the defendant--that they had suffered such a fate. Far from it! {101} +Nevertheless, I bid you forgive Aeschines for these atrocious and unparalleled +crimes if he can prove that it was simplicity of mind, or any form of ignorance +whatever, which led him to work such ruin. But if it was the rascality of a man +who had taken money and bribes--if he is plainly convicted of this by the very +facts themselves--then, if it be possible, put him to death; or if not, make +him, while he lives, an example to others. + +And now give your thoughts to the proof by which he is convicted on these +points, and observe how straightforward it will be. + +{102} If the defendant Aeschines was not deliberately deceiving you for a price, +he must necessarily, I presume, have had one of two reasons for making the +statements in question to you, in regard to the Phocians and Thespiae and +Euboea. Either he must have heard Philip promise in express terms that such +would be his policy and the steps he would take; or else he must have been so +far bewitched and deluded by Philip's generosity in all other matters as to +conceive these further hopes of him. There is no possible alternative besides +these two. {103} Now in both these cases he, more than any living man, ought to +detest Philip. And why? Because, so far as Philip could bring it about, all that +is most dreadful and most shameful has fallen upon him. He has deceived you; his +reputation is gone [he is rightly ruined]; he is on his trial; aye, and were the +course of the proceedings in any way that which his conduct called for, he would +long ago have been impeached;[n] {104-109} whereas now, thanks to your innocence +and meekness, he presents his report, and that at the time which suits his own +wishes. I ask, then, if there is one among you who has ever heard Aeschines +raise his voice in denunciation of Philip--one, I say, who has seen Aeschines +exposing him or saying a word against him? Not one! All Athens denounces Philip +before Aeschines does so. Every one whom you meet does so, though not one of +them has been injured by him--I mean, of course, personally. On the assumption +that Aeschines had not sold himself, I should have expected to hear him use some +such expressions as these--'Men of Athens, deal with _me_ as you will. I trusted +Philip; I was deceived; I was wrong; I confess my error. But beware of _him_, +men of Athens. He is faithless--a cheat, a knave. Do you not see how he has +treated me? how he has deceived me?' {110} But I hear no such expressions fall +from him, nor do you. And why? Because he was _not_ misled; he was _not_ +deceived; he made these statements, he betrayed all to Philip, because he had +sold his services and received the money for them; and gallantly and loyally has +he behaved--as Philip's hireling. But as your ambassador, as your fellow +citizen, he is a traitor who deserves to die, not once, but thrice. + +{111} This is not the only evidence which proves that all those statements of +his were made for money. For, recently, the Thessalians came to you, and with +them envoys from Philip, demanding that you should decree the recognition of +Philip as one of the Amphictyons. Who then, of all men, should naturally have +opposed the demand? The defendant Aeschines. And why? Because Philip had acted +in a manner precisely contrary to the announcement which Aeschines had made to +you. {112} Aeschines declared that Philip would fortify Thespiae and Plataeae; +that he intended, not to destroy the Phocians, but to put down the insolence of +Thebes. But in fact Philip has raised the Thebans to an undue height of power, +while he has utterly destroyed the Phocians; and instead of fortifying Thespiae +and Plataeae, he has brought Orchomenus and Coroneia into the same bondage with +them. How could any contradiction be greater than this? Aeschines did not oppose +the demand. He neither opened his lips nor uttered a sound in opposition to it. +{113} But even this, monstrous as it is, is not yet the worst. For he, and he +alone, in all Athens, actually supported the demand. This not even Philocrates +dared to do, abominable as he was; it was left for the defendant Aeschines. And +when you raised a clamour and would not listen to him, he stepped down from the +platform, and, showing off before the envoys who had come from Philip, told them +that there were plenty of men who made a clamour, but few who took the field +when it was required of them--you remember the incident, no doubt--being +himself, of course, a marvellous soldier, God knows! + +{114} Again, if we had been unable to prove that any of the ambassadors had +received anything--if the fact were not patent to all--we might then have +resorted to examination by torture,[n] and other such methods. But if +Philocrates not only admitted the fact frequently in your presence at the +Assembly, but used actually to make a parade of his guilt--selling wheat, +building houses, saying that he was going[n] whether you elected him or not, +importing timber, changing Macedonian gold openly at the bank--it is surely +impossible for _him_ to deny that he received money, when he himself confesses +and displays his guilt. {115} Now, is any human being so senseless or so ill- +starred that, in order that Philocrates might receive money, while he himself +incurred infamy and disgrace, he would want to fight against those upright +citizens in whose ranks he might have stood, and to take the side of Philocrates +and face a trial? I am sure that there is no such man; but in all these +considerations, if you examine them aright, you will find strong and evident +signs of the corruption of the defendant. + +{116} Consider next an incident which occurred last in order of time, but which +is second to none as an indication that Aeschines had sold himself to Philip. +You doubtless know that in the course of the recent impeachment of Philocrates +by Hypereides, I came forward and expressed my dissatisfaction with one feature +of the impeachment--namely, the idea that Philocrates alone had been responsible +for all these monstrous crimes, and that the other nine ambassadors had no share +in them. I said that it was not so, for Philocrates by himself would have been +nowhere, had he not had some of them to co-operate with him. {117} 'And +therefore,' I said, 'in order that I may not personally acquit or accuse any +one, and that the guilty may be detected, and those who have had no share in the +crime acquitted by the evidence of their own conduct, let any one who wishes to +do so rise and come forward into your midst, and let him declare that he has no +share in it, and that the actions of Philocrates are displeasing to him. Any one +who does this,' I said, 'I acquit.' You remember the incident, I am sure. {118} +Well, no one came forward or showed himself. Each of the others has some excuse. +One was not liable to examination; another, perhaps, was not present; a third is +related to Philocrates. But Aeschines has no such excuse. No! So completely has +he sold himself, once for all--so plain is it that his wages are not for past +services only, but that, if he escapes now, Philip can equally count upon his +help against you in the future--that to avoid letting fall even a word that +would be unfavourable to Philip, he does not accept his discharge[n] even when +you offer to discharge him, but chooses to suffer infamy, to stand his trial and +to endure any treatment in this court, rather than to take a step that would not +please Philip. {119} But what is the meaning of this partnership, this careful +forethought for Philocrates? For if Philocrates had by his diplomacy +accomplished the most honourable results and achieved all that your interest +required, and yet admitted (as he did admit) that he had made money by his +mission, this very fact was one by which an uncorrupted colleague should have +been repelled and set him on his guard, and led to protest to the best of his +power. Aeschines has not acted in this way. Is it not all clear, men of Athens? +Do not the facts cry aloud and tell you that Aeschines has taken money, that he +is a rascal for a price, and that consistently--not through stupidity, or +ignorance, or bad luck? {120} 'But where is the witness who testifies to my +corruption?' he asks. Why, this is the finest thing of all![n] The witnesses, +Aeschines, are facts; and they are the surest of all witnesses: none can assert +or allege against them, that they are influenced by persuasion or by favour to +any one: what your treachery and mischief have made them, such, when examined, +they must appear. But, besides the facts, you shall at once bear witness against +yourself. Come, stand up[n] and answer me! Surely you will not plead that you +are so inexperienced as not to know what to say. For when, under the ordinary +limitations of time, you prosecute and win cases that have all the novelty of a +play[n]--cases, too, that have no witness to support them--you must plainly be a +speaker of tremendous genius. + +{121} Many and atrocious as are the crimes of the defendant Aeschines, and great +as is the wickedness which is implied by them (as I am sure you also feel) there +is none which is more atrocious than that of which I am about to speak to you, +and none which will afford more palpable proof that he has taken bribes and sold +everything. For when once more, for the third time, you sent the ambassadors to +Philip on the strength of those high and noble expectations which the +defendant's promises had roused, you elected both Aeschines and myself, and most +of those whom you had previously sent. {122} For my part I came forward and +declined upon oath to serve;[n] and though some raised a clamour and bade me go, +I declared that I would not; but the defendant had already been elected. +Afterwards, when the Assembly had risen, he and his party met and discussed whom +they should leave behind in Athens. For while everything was still in suspense, +and the future doubtful, there were all kinds of gatherings and discussions in +the market-place. {123} They were afraid, no doubt, that a special meeting of +the Assembly might suddenly be called, and that you might then hear the truth +from me, and pass some of the resolutions which it was your duty to pass in the +interest of the Phocians, and that so Philip's object might slip from his grasp. +For had you merely passed a resolution and shown them the faintest ray of hope +of any kind, the Phocians would have been saved. It was absolutely impossible +for Philip to stay where he was, unless you were misled. There was no corn in +the country, for, owing to the war, the land had not been sown; and to import +corn was impossible so long as your ships were there and in command of the sea; +while the Phocian towns were many in number, and difficult to take except by a +prolonged siege. Even assuming that he were taking a town a day, there are two +and twenty of them. {124} For all these reasons they left Aeschines in Athens, +to guard against any alteration of the course which you had been deluded into +taking. Now to decline upon oath to serve, without any cause, was a dangerous +and highly suspicious proceeding. 'What?' he would have been asked, 'are you not +going on the mission which is to secure all those wonderful good things which +you have foretold?' Yet he was bound to remain. How could it be done? He pleads +illness. His brother took with him Execestus the physician, came before the +Council, swore that Aeschines was too ill to serve, and was himself elected in +his place. {125} Five or six days later the ruin of the Phocians had been +accomplished, and Aeschines' contract--a mere matter of business--had been +fulfilled. Dercylus turned back, and on his arrival here from Chalcis announced +to you the destruction of the Phocians, while you were holding an Assembly in +the Peiraeus. On hearing the news you were naturally struck with sympathy for +them, and with terror for yourselves. You passed resolutions to bring in your +children and wives from the country, to repair the garrison-forts, to fortify +the Peiraeus, and to celebrate the sacrifice to Heracles within the city walls: +{126} and in the midst of all this, in the midst of the confusion and the tumult +which had fallen upon the city, this learned and able speaker, so loud of voice, +though not elected[n] either by the Council or by the people, set off as +ambassador to the man who had wrought the destruction, taking no account of the +illness which he had previously made his excuse, upon oath, for not serving, nor +of the election of another ambassador in his place, nor of the law which imposes +the penalty of death for such offences; {127} nor yet reflecting how utterly +atrocious it was, that after announcing that the Thebans had placed a price on +his head, he should choose the moment when the Thebans had (in addition to all +Boeotia, which they already possessed) become masters of the territory of the +Phocians as well, to go into the very midst of Thebes, and into the very camp of +the Thebans. But so beside himself was he, so utterly bent upon his profits and +his bribe, that he ruled out and overlooked all such considerations, and took +his departure. + +{128} Such was the nature of this transaction; and yet his proceedings when he +arrived at his destination are far worse. All of you who are present, and all +other Athenians as well, thought the treatment of the unhappy Phocians so +atrocious and so cruel that you sent to the Pythian games neither the official +deputation from the Council, nor the Thesmothetae,[n] but abandoned that ancient +representation of yourselves at the festival. But Aeschines went to the +triumphal feast[n] with which the Thebans and Philip were celebrating the +victory of their cause and their arms. He joined in the festival: he shared in +the libations and the prayers which Philip offered over the ruined walls and +country and arms of your allies: with Philip he set garlands on his head, and +raised the paean, and drank the loving-cup. {129} Nor is it possible for the +defendant to give a different version of the facts from that which I have given. +As regards his sworn refusal to serve, the facts are in your public records in +the Metroon,[n] guarded by your officer; and a decree stands recorded with +express reference to the name of Aeschines.[n] And as for his conduct there, his +fellow ambassadors, who were present, will bear witness against him. They told +me the story; for I was not with them on this Embassy, having entered a sworn +refusal to serve. + +(_To the clerk._) {130} Now read me the resolution [and the record], and call +the witnesses. + +[_The decree is read, and the witnesses called._] + +What prayers, then, do you imagine Philip offered to the gods, when he poured +his libation, or the Thebans? Did they not ask them to give success in war, and +victory, to themselves and their allies, and the contrary to the allies of the +Phocians? In these prayers, therefore--in these imprecations upon his own +country--Aeschines joined. It is for you to return them upon his own head to- +day. + +{131} His departure, then, was a contravention of the law which imposes the +penalty of death for the offence, and it has been shown that on his arrival he +acted in a manner for which he deserves to die again and again, while his former +proceedings and the work which he did as ambassador, in their interest,[n] would +justly slay him. Ask yourselves what penalty can be found, which will adequately +atone for all these crimes? {132} It would surely be shameful, men of Athens, +that while all of you, and the whole people, denounce publicly all the +consequences of the Peace; while you decline to take part in the business of the +Amphictyons; while your attitude towards Philip is one of vexation and mistrust, +because the deeds that have been done are impious and atrocious, instead of +righteous and advantageous to you; that nevertheless, when you have come into +court as the sworn representatives of the State, to sit in judgement upon the +report of these proceedings, you should acquit the author of all the evil, when +you have taken him red-handed in actions like these. {133} Who is there of all +your fellow citizens--nay, who of all the Hellenes--that would not have good +cause for complaint against you, when he saw that though you were enraged +against Philip, who in making peace after war was merely purchasing the means to +his end from those who offered them for sale--a very pardonable transaction--you +were yet acquitting Aeschines, who sold your interests in this shameful manner, +notwithstanding the extreme penalties which the laws appoint for such conduct? + +{134} Now it is possible that an argument may also be used by the other side to +some such effect as this--that the condemnation of those whose diplomacy brought +about the Peace will mean the beginning of enmity with Philip. If this is true, +then, I can imagine, upon consideration, no more serious charge that I could +bring against the defendant, than this. If Philip, who spent his money on the +Peace which he wished to obtain, has become so formidable, so powerful, that you +have already ceased to regard your oaths and the justice of the case, and are +seeking how you can gratify Philip, what penalty, that those who are responsible +for this could suffer, would be adequate to the offence? {135} I believe, +however, that I shall actually show you that it would more probably mean the +beginning of a friendship, advantageous to you. For you must be well assured, +men of Athens, that Philip does not despise your city; nor was it because he +regarded you as less serviceable than the Thebans, that he preferred them to +you. No! {136} He had been instructed by these men and had heard from them, what +I once told you in the Assembly, without contradiction from any of them, that +the People is the most unstable thing in the world, and the most incalculable, +inconstant as a wave of the sea, stirred by any chance wind. One comes, another +goes; but no one cares for the public interest, or remembers it. Philip needs +(he is told) friends upon whom he can rely to execute and manage his business +with you--such friends, for instance, as his informant.[n] If this were secured +for him, he would easily effect all that he desired in Athens. {137} Now if he +heard that those who had used such language to him had immediately upon their +return been beaten to death, he would doubtless have behaved as the Persian king +did. And how was this? He had been deceived by Timagoras,[n] and had given him, +it is said, forty talents; but when he heard that Timagoras had been put to +death here, and had not even power to secure his own life, much less to carry +out the promises he had made to him, he recognized that he had not paid the +price to the man who had the power to effect his object. For first, as you know, +he sent a dispatch, acknowledging once more your title to Amphipolis, which he +had previously described as in alliance and friendship with himself; and +secondly, he thenceforward wholly abstained from giving money to any one. {138} +This is exactly what Philip would have done, if he had seen that any of these +men had paid the penalty, and what, if he sees it, he will still do. But when he +hears that they address you, and enjoy a high reputation with you, and prosecute +others, what is he to do? Is he to seek to spend much, when he can spend less? +or to desire to court the favour of all, when he need but court two or three? +That would be madness. For even those public benefits which Philip conferred +upon the Thebans he conferred not from choice-- far from it--but because he was +induced to do so by their ambassadors; and I will tell you how. {139} +Ambassadors came to him from Thebes just at the time when we were there upon our +mission from you. Philip wished to give them money, and that (so they said) in +very large amounts. The Theban ambassadors would not accept or receive it. After +that, while drinking at a sacrificial banquet and displaying his generosity +towards them, Philip offered, as he drank to them, presents of many kinds-- +captives and the like--and finally he offered them goblets of gold and silver. +All these they steadily refused, declining to put themselves in his power in any +way. {140} At last Philo, one of the ambassadors, made a speech, men of Athens, +which was worthy to be made in the name, not of Thebes, but of yourselves. For +he said that it gave them pleasure and delight to see the magnanimous and +generous attitude of Philip towards them; but for their own personal part, they +were already his good friends even without these presents; and they begged him +to apply his generosity to the existing political situation of their country, +and to do something worthy of himself and Thebes, promising that, if he did so, +their whole city, as well as themselves, would become attached to him. {141} And +now observe what the Thebans have gained by this, and what consequences have +followed; and contemplate in a real instance the advantages of refusing to sell +your country's interests. First of all, they obtained peace when they were +already distressed and suffering from the war, in which they were the losing +side. Next, they secured the utter ruin of their enemies, the Phocians, and the +complete destruction of their walls and towns. And was this all? No, indeed! For +besides all this they obtained Orchomenus, Coroneia, Corsia, the Tilphossaeum, +and as much of the territory of the Phocians as they desired. {142} This then +was what the Thebans gained by the Peace; and surely no more could they have +asked even in their prayers. And the ambassadors of Thebes gained--what? Nothing +but the credit of having brought this good fortune to their country; and a noble +reward it was, men of Athens, a proud record on the score of merit and honour-- +that honour which Aeschines and his party sold for money. Let us now set against +one another the consequences of the Peace to the city of Athens and to the +Athenian ambassadors respectively; and then observe whether its effects have +been similar in the case of the city and of these men personally. {143} The city +has surrendered all her possessions and all her allies; she has sworn to Philip +that even if another approaches them to preserve them for her, you will prevent +him; that you will consider any one who wishes to give them up to you as your +enemy and foe, and the man who has robbed you of them as your ally and friend. +{144} That is the resolution which Aeschines supported, and which was moved by +his accomplice Philocrates; and although on the first day I was successful, and +had persuaded you to ratify the decree of the allies and to summon Philip's +envoys,[n] the defendant forced an adjournment of the question till the next +day, and persuaded you to adopt the resolution of Philocrates, in which these +proposals, and many others even more atrocious, are made. {145} These were the +consequences of the Peace to Athens. It would not be easy to devise anything +more shameful. What were the consequences to the ambassadors who brought these +things about? I say nothing of all that you have seen for yourselves--the +houses, the timber, the wheat. But they also possess properties and extensive +estates in the country of your ruined allies, bringing in incomes of a talent to +Philocrates and thirty minae to the defendant. {146} Yet surely, men of Athens, +it is an atrocious and a monstrous thing, that the calamities of your allies +should have become sources of revenue to your ambassadors, and that the same +Peace which to the city that sent them meant the ruin of her allies, the +surrender of her possessions, and shame in the place of honour, should have +created for the ambassadors who brought these things to pass against their +country, revenue, affluence, property, and wealth, in the place of abject +poverty. To prove, however, that what I am telling you is true (_to the clerk_) +call me the witnesses from Olynthus. + +[_The witnesses are called._] + +{147} Now I should not wonder if he even dared to make some such statement as +this--that the Peace which we were making could not have been made an honourable +one, or such as I demanded, because our generals had mismanaged the war. If he +argues thus, then remember, in Heaven's name, to ask him whether[n] it was from +some other city that he went as ambassador, or from this city itself? If it was +from some other, to whose success in war and to whose excellent generals he can +point, then it was natural for him to take Philip's money: but if it was from +Athens itself, why do we find him taking presents as part of a transaction which +involved the surrender of her possessions by the city which sent him? For in any +honest transaction the city that sent the ambassadors ought to have shared the +same fortune as the ambassadors whom she sent. {148} Consider also this further +point, men of Athens. Do you think that the successes of the Phocians against +the Thebans in the war, or the successes of Philip against you, were the more +considerable? Those of the Phocians against the Thebans, I am quite certain. At +least, they held Orchomenus and Coroneia and the Tilphossaeum;[n] they had +intercepted the Theban garrison at Neones;[n] they had slain two hundred of them +on Hedyleum;[n] a trophy had been raised, their cavalry were victorious, and a +whole Iliad of misfortunes had beset the Thebans. You were in no such position +as this, and may you never be so in the future! Your most serious disadvantage +in your hostilities with Philip was your inability to inflict upon him all the +damage that you desired; you were completely secure against suffering any harm +yourselves. How is it then that, as the result of one and the same Peace, the +Thebans, who were being so badly worsted in the war, have recovered their own +possessions and, in addition, have gained those of their enemies; while you, the +Athenians, have lost under the Peace even what you retained safely through the +war? It is because their ambassadors did not sell their interests, while these +men have sold yours. [Ah! he will say,[n] but the allies were exhausted by the +war....]. That this is how these things were accomplished, you will realize +still more clearly from what I have yet to say. + +{150}For when this Peace was concluded--the Peace of Philocrates, which +Aeschines supported--and when Philip's envoys had set sail, after receiving the +oaths from us--and up to this time nothing that had been done was irreparable, +for though the Peace was disgraceful and unworthy of Athens, still we were to +get those marvellous good things in return--then I say, I asked and told the +ambassadors to sail as quickly as possible to the Hellespont, and not to +sacrifice any of our positions there, nor allow Philip to occupy them in the +interval. {151} For I knew very well that everything that is sacrificed when +peace is in process of being concluded after war, is lost to those who are so +neglectful; since no one who had been induced to make peace with regard to the +situation as a whole ever yet made up his mind to fight afresh for the sake of +possessions which had been left unsecured; such possessions those who first take +them keep. And, apart from this, I thought that, if we sailed, the city could +not fail to secure one of two useful results. Either, when we were there and had +received Philip's oath according to the decree, he would restore the possessions +of Athens which he had taken, and keep his hands off the rest; {152} or, if he +did not do so, we should immediately report the fact to you here, and so, when +you saw his grasping and perfidious disposition in regard to those your remoter +and less important interests, you would not in dealing with greater matters +close at hand--in other words, with the Phocians and Thermopylae--let anything +be lost. If he failed to forestall you in regard to these, and you were not +deceived, your interests would be completely secured, and he would give you your +rights without hesitation. {153} And I had good reason for such expectations. +For if the Phocians were still safe and sound, as they then were, and were in +occupation of Thermopylae, Philip would have had no terror to brandish before +you, which could make you overlook any of your rights. For he was not likely +either to make his way through by land, or to win a victory by sea, and so reach +Attica; while if he refused to act as was right, you would instantly close his +ports, reduce him to straits for money and other supplies, and place him in a +state of siege; and in that case it would be he, and not you, to whom the +advantages of peace would be the overmastering consideration. {154} And that I +am not inventing this or claiming wisdom after the event--that I knew it at +once, and, with your interest in view, foresaw what must happen and told my +colleagues--you will realize from the following facts. When there was no longer +any meeting of the Assembly available (since you had used up all the appointed +days) and still the ambassadors did not depart, but wasted time here, I proposed +a decree as a member of the Council, to which the people had given full powers, +that the ambassadors should depart directly, and that the admiral Proxenus +should convey them to any district in which he should ascertain Philip to be. My +proposal was just what I now tell you, couched expressly in those terms. (_To +the clerk_.) Take this decree and read it. + +[_The decree is read_.] + +{155} I brought them away, then, from Athens, sorely against their will, as you +will clearly understand from their subsequent conduct. When we reached Oreus and +joined Proxenus, instead of sailing and following their instructions, they made +a circuitous journey by land, and before we reached Macedonia we had spent three +and twenty days. All the rest of the time, until Philip's arrival, we were +sitting idle at Pella; and this, with the journey, brought the time up to fifty +days in all. {156} During this interval, in a time of peace and truce, Philip +was taking Doriscus,[n] Thrace, the district towards the Walls, the Sacred +Mountain--everything, in fact, and making his own arrangements there; while I +spoke out repeatedly and insistently, first in the tone of a man giving his +opinion to his colleagues, then as though I were informing the ignorant, till at +last I addressed them without any concealment as men who had sold themselves and +were the most impious of mankind. {157} And the man who contradicted me openly +and opposed everything which I urged and which your decree enjoined, was +Aeschines. Whether his conduct pleased all the other ambassadors as well, you +will know presently; for as yet I allege nothing about any of them, and make no +accusation: no one of them need appear an honest man to-day because I oblige him +to do so, but only of his own free will, and because he was no partner in +Aeschines' crimes. That the conduct in question was disgraceful, atrocious, +venal, you have all seen. Who were the partners in it, the facts will show. + +{158} 'But of course, during this interval they received the oaths from Philip's +allies, or carried out their other duties.' Far from it! For though they had +been absent from home three whole months, and received 1,000 drachmae from you +for their expenses, they did not receive the oaths from a single city, either on +their journey to Macedonia, or on the way back. It was in the inn before the +temple of the Dioscuri--any one who has been to Pherae will understand me--when +Philip was already on the march towards Athens at the head of an army, that the +oaths were taken, in a fashion which was disgraceful, men of Athens, and +insulting to you. {159} To Philip, however, it was worth anything that the +transaction should have been carried out in this form. These men had failed in +their attempt to insert among the terms of the Peace the clause which excluded +the people of Halus and Pharsalus; Philocrates had been forced by you to expunge +the words, and to write down expressly 'the Athenians and the allies of the +Athenians'; and Philip did not wish any of his own allies to have taken such an +oath; for then they would not join him in his campaign against those possessions +of yours which he now holds, but would plead their oaths in excuse; {160} nor +did he wish them to be witnesses of the promises on the strength of which he was +obtaining the Peace. He did not wish it to be revealed to the world that the +city of Athens had not, after all, been defeated in the war, and that it was +Philip who was eager for peace, and was promising to do great things for Athens +if he obtained it. It was just to prevent the revelation of these facts that he +thought it inadvisable that the ambassadors should go to any of the cities; +while for their part, they sought to gratify him in everything, with +ostentatious and extravagant obsequiousness. {161} But when all this is proved +against them--their waste of time, their sacrifice of your position in Thrace, +their complete failure to act in accordance either with your decree or your +interests, their lying report to you--how is it possible that before a jury of +sane men, anxious to be true to their oath, Aeschines can be acquitted? To +prove, however, that what I say is true (_to the clerk_), first read the decree, +under which it was our duty to exact the oaths, then Philip's letter, and then +the decree of Philocrates and that of the people. + +[_The decrees and letter are read._] + +{162} And now, to prove that we should have caught Philip in the Hellespont, had +any one listened to me, and carried out your instructions as contained in the +decrees, (_to the clerk_) call the witnesses who were there on the spot. + +[_The witnesses are called._] + +(_To the clerk._) Next read also the other deposition--Philip's answer to +Eucleides,[n] who is present here, when he went to Philip afterwards. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +{163} Now listen to me, while I show that they cannot even deny that it was to +serve Philip's interest that they acted as they did. For when we set out on the +First Embassy--that which was to discuss the Peace--you dispatched a herald in +advance to procure us a safe conduct. Well, on that occasion, as soon as ever +they had reached Oreus, they did not wait for the herald, or allow any time to +be lost; but though Halus was being besieged, they sailed there direct, and +then, leaving the town again, came to Parmenio, who was besieging it, set out +through the enemy's camp to Pagasae, and, continuing their journey, only met the +herald at Larissa: with such eager haste did they proceed. {164} But at a time +when there was peace and they had complete security for their journey and you +had instructed them to make haste, it never occurred to them either to quicken +their pace or to go by sea. And why? Because on the former occasion Philip's +interest demanded that the Peace should be made as soon as possible; whereas now +it required that as long an interval as possible should be wasted before the +oaths were taken. {165} To prove that this is so, (_to the clerk_) take and read +this further deposition. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +How could men be more clearly convicted of acting to serve Philip's interest +throughout, than by the fact that they sat idle, when in your interest they +ought to have hurried, on the very same journey over which they hastened onward, +without even waiting for the herald, when they ought not to have moved at all? + +{166} Now observe how each of us chose to conduct himself while we were there, +sitting idle at Pella. For myself, I chose to rescue and seek out the captives, +spending my own money and asking Philip to procure their ransom[n] with the sums +which he was offering us in the form of presents. How Aeschines passed his whole +time you shall hear presently. {167} What then was the meaning of Philip's +offering money to us in common? He kept sounding us all--for this too I would +have you know. And how? He sent round privately to each of us, and offered us, +men of Athens, a very large sum in gold. But when he failed in a particular case +(for I need not mention my own name myself, since the proceedings and their +results will of themselves show to whom I refer), he thought that we should all +be innocent enough to accept what was given to us in common; and then, if we all +alike had a share, however small, in the common present, those who had sold +themselves privately would be secure. {168} Hence these offers, under the guise +of presents to his guest-friends. And when I prevented this, my colleagues +further divided among themselves the sum thus offered. But when I asked Philip +to spend this sum on the prisoners, he could neither, without discredit, +denounce my colleagues, and say, 'But So-and-so has the money, and So-and-so,' +nor yet evade the expense. So he gave the promise, but deferred its fulfilment, +saying that he would send the prisoners home in time for the Panathenaea. (_To +the clerk._) Read the evidence of Apollophanes, and then that of the rest of +those present. + +[_The evidence is read._] + +{169} Now let me tell you how many of the prisoners I myself ransomed. For while +we were sitting waiting there at Pella, before Philip's arrival, some of the +captives--all, in fact, who were out on bail--not trusting, I suppose, my +ability to persuade Philip to act as I wished, said that they wished to ransom +themselves, and to be under no obligation to Philip for their freedom: and they +borrowed, one three minae, another five, and another--whatever the amount of the +ransom was in each case. {170} But when Philip had promised that he would ransom +the rest, I called together those to whom I had advanced the money; I reminded +them of the circumstances; and, lest they should seem to have suffered by their +impatience, and to have been ransomed at their own cost, poor men as they were, +when all their comrades expected to be set free by Philip, I made them a present +of their ransom. To prove that I am speaking the truth, (_to the clerk_) read +these depositions. + +[_The depositions are read._] + +{171} These, then, are the sums which I excused them, and gave as a free gift to +fellow citizens who had met with misfortune. And so, when Aeschines says +presently, in his speech to you, 'Demosthenes, if, as you say, you knew, from +the time when I supported Philocrates' proposal, that we were acting altogether +dishonestly, why did you go again as our colleague on the subsequent mission to +take the oaths, instead of entering a sworn excuse?' remember this, that I had +promised those whose freedom I had procured that I would bring them their +ransom, and deliver them to the best of my power. {172} It would have been a +wicked thing to break my word and abandon my fellow citizens in their +misfortune; while, on the other hand, if I had excused myself upon oath from +service, it would not have been altogether honourable, nor yet safe, to make a +tour there in a private capacity. For let destruction, utter and early, fall +upon me, if I would have joined in a mission with these men for a very large sum +of money, had it not been for my anxiety to rescue the prisoners. It is a proof +of this, that though you twice elected me to serve on the Third Embassy, I twice +swore an excuse. And all through the journey in question my policy was entirely +opposed to theirs. {173} All, then, that it was within my own power to decide in +the course of my mission resulted as I have described; but wherever in virtue of +their majority they gained their way, all has been lost. And yet, had there been +any who listened to me, all would have been accomplished in a manner congruous +with my own actions. For I was not so pitiful a fool as to give away money, when +I saw others receiving it, in my ambition to serve you, and yet not to desire +what could have been accomplished without expense, and would have brought far +greater benefits to the whole city. I desired it intensely, men of Athens; but, +of course, they had the advantage over me. + +{174} Come now and contemplate the proceedings of Aeschines and those of +Philocrates, by the side of my own; for the comparison will bring out their +character more vividly. Well, they first pronounced the exclusion from the Peace +of the Phocians and the people of Halus, and of Cersobleptes, contrary to your +decree and to the statements made to you. Then they attempted to tamper with and +alter the decree, which we had come there as ambassadors to execute. Then they +entered the Cardians as allies of Philip and voted against sending the dispatch +which I had written to you, sending in its stead an utterly unsound dispatch of +their own composition. {175} And then the gallant gentleman asserted that I had +promised Philip that I would overthrow your constitution, because I censured +these proceedings, not only from a sense of their disgracefulness, but also from +fear lest through the fault of these men I might have to share their ruin: while +all the time he was himself having incessant private interviews with Philip. +And, to pass over all besides, Dercylus (not I) watched him through the night at +Pherae, along with my slave who is here present; and as the slave came out of +Philip's tent he took him and bade him report what he had seen, and remember it +himself; and finally, this disgusting and shameless fellow was left behind with +Philip for a night and a day, when we went away. {176} And to prove that I am +speaking the truth, I will myself give evidence which I have committed to +writing,[n] so as to put myself in the position of a responsible witness; and +after that I call upon each of the other ambassadors, and I will compel them to +choose their alternative--either to give evidence, or to swear that they have no +knowledge of the matter. If they take the latter course, I shall convict them of +perjury beyond doubt. + +[_Evidence is read._] + +{177} You have seen now by what mischief and trouble I was hampered, throughout +our absence from home. For what must you imagine their conduct to have been +there, with their paymaster close at hand, when they act as they do before your +very eyes, though you have power either to confer honour or, on the other hand, +to inflict punishment upon them? + +I wish now to reckon up from the beginning the charges which I have made, in +order to show you that I have done all that I undertook to do at the beginning +of my speech. {178} I have proved that there was no truth in his report--that, +on the contrary, he deceived you--by the evidence not of words but of the actual +course of events. I have proved that he was the cause of your unwillingness to +hear the truth from my mouth, captivated as you were at the time by his promises +and undertakings; that he gave you advice which was the exact opposite of that +which he ought to have given, opposing the Peace which was suggested by the +allies, and advocating the Peace of Philocrates; that he wasted time, in order +that you might not be able to march to the aid of the Phocians, even if you +wished to do so; and that he has done many atrocious deeds during his absence +from home; for he has betrayed and sold everything, he has taken bribes, and has +left no form of rascality untried. These are the points which I promised at the +outset to prove, and I have proved them. {179} Observe, then, what follows; for +what I have now to say to you has already become a simple matter. You have sworn +that you will vote according to the laws and the decrees of the people and the +Council of Five Hundred. The defendant is proved, in all his conduct as +ambassador, to have acted in contravention of the laws, of the decrees, and of +justice. He ought, therefore, to be convicted in any court composed of rational +men. Even if there were no other crimes at his door, two of his actions are +sufficient to slay him; for he betrayed to Philip not only the Phocians but also +Thrace. {180} Two places in the whole world of greater value to Athens than +Thermopylae on land, and the Hellespont over sea, could not possibly be found; +and both these places these men have shamefully sold, and placed in Philip's +hands to be used against you. The enormity of this crime alone--the sacrifice of +Thrace and the Walls--apart from all the rest, might be proved in countless +ways,[n] and it is easy to point out how many men have been executed or fined +vast sums of money by you for such offences--Ergophilus,[n] Cephisodotus,[n] +Timomachus,[n] Ergocles[n] long ago, Dionysius, and others; all of whom +together, I may almost say, have done the city less harm than the defendant. +{181} But in those days, men of Athens, you still guarded against danger by +calculation and forethought; whereas now you overlook any danger which does not +annoy you from day to day, or cause you pain by its immediate presence, and then +pass such resolutions here as 'that Philip shall take the oath in favour of +Cersobleptes also,' 'that we will not take part in the proceedings of the +Amphictyons,' 'that we must amend the Peace.' But none of these resolutions +would have been required, had Aeschines then been ready to sail and to do what +was required. As it is, by urging us to go by land, he has lost all that we +could have saved by sailing; and by lying, all that could have been saved by +speaking the truth. + +{182} He intends, I am told, to express immediately his indignation that he +alone of all the speakers in the Assembly should have to render an account of +his words. I will not urge that all speakers would reasonably be called upon to +render such an account, if any of their words were spoken for money; I only say +this. If Aeschines in his private capacity has spoken wildly on some occasion or +committed some blunder, do not be over-strict with him, but let it pass and +grant him pardon: but if as your ambassador he has deliberately deceived you for +money, then do not let him go, or tolerate the plea that he ought not to be +called to account for what he _said_. {183} Why, for what, if not for his words, +is an ambassador to be brought to justice? Ambassadors have no control over +ships or places or soldiers or citadels--no one puts such things in their +hands--but over words and times. As regards times, if he did not cause the times of +the city's opportunities to be lost, he is not guilty; but if he did so, he has +committed crime. And as to his words, if the words of his report were true or +expedient, let him escape; but if they were at once false, venal, and +disastrous, let him be convicted. {184} No greater wrong can a man do you, than +is done by lying speeches. For where government is based upon speeches, how can +it be carried on in security, if the speeches are not true? and if, in +particular, a speaker takes bribes and speaks to further the interests of the +enemy, how can you escape real danger? For to rob you of your opportunities is +not the same thing as to rob an oligarchy or a tyrant. Far from it. {185} Under +such governments, I imagine, everything is done promptly at a word of command. +But with you the Council must first hear about everything, and pass its +preliminary resolution--and even that not at any time, but only when notice has +been given of the reception of heralds and embassies: then you must convoke an +Assembly, and that only when the time comes for one, as ordained by law: then +those who speak for your true good have to master and overcome those who, +through ignorance or wickedness, oppose them. {186} Besides all this, even when +a measure is resolved upon, and its advantages are already plain, time must be +granted to the impecuniosity of the majority, in which they may procure whatever +means they require in order to be able to carry out what has been resolved. And +so he who causes times so critical to be lost, in a state constituted as ours +is, has not caused you to lose times, but has robbed you absolutely of the +realization of your aims. + +{187} Now all those who are anxious to deceive you are very ready with such +expressions as 'disturbers of the city,' 'men who prevent Philip from conferring +benefits on the city.' In reply to these, I will use no argument, but will read +you Philip's letters, and will remind you of the occasion on which each piece of +deception took place, that you may know that Philip has got beyond this +exaggerated title of 'benefactor',[n] of which we are so sickened, in his +attempts to take you in by it. + +[_Philip's letters are read._] + +{188} Now although his work as ambassador has been so shameful, so detrimental +to you in many--nay, in all points, he goes about asking people what they think +of Demosthenes, who prosecutes his own colleagues. I prosecute you indeed, +whether I would or no, because throughout our entire absence from home you +plotted against me as I have said, and because now I have the choice of only two +alternatives: either I must appear to share with you the responsibility for such +work as yours, or I must prosecute you. {189} Nay, I deny that I was ever your +colleague in the Embassy. I say that your work as ambassador was an atrocious +work, while my own was for the true good of those present here. It is +Philocrates that has been your colleague, as you have been his, and Phrynon. For +your policy was the same as theirs, and you all approved of the same objects. +But 'where are the salt, the table, the libations that we shared?' So he asks +everywhere in his theatrical style--as though it were not the criminals, but the +upright, that were false to such pledges! {190} I am certain that though all the +Prytanes offer their common sacrifice on each occasion, and join one with +another in their meal and their libation, the good do not on this account copy +the bad; but if they detect one of their own number in crime they report the +fact to the Council and the people. In the very same way the Council offers its +inaugural sacrifice and feasts together, and joins in libations and sacred +rites. So do the generals, and, one may practically say, every body of +magistrates. Does that mean that they grant an indemnity to any of their number +who is guilty of crime? Very far from it. {191} Leon accuses Timagoras,[n] after +being his fellow ambassador for four years: Eubulus accuses Tharrex and +Smicythus, after sharing the banquet with them: the great Conon, the elder, +prosecuted Adeimantus,[n] though they were generals together. Which sinned +against the salt and the libation, Aeschines--the traitors and the faithless +ambassadors and the hirelings, or their accusers? Plainly those who violated, as +you have done, the sanctity, not of private libations, but of libations poured +in the name of the whole country. + +{192} That you may realize that these men have been the most worthless and +wicked not only of all who have ever gone to Philip in a public capacity, but +even of those who have gone as private persons, and indeed of all mankind, I ask +you to listen to me while I describe briefly an incident which falls outside the +story of this Embassy. When Philip took Olynthus he celebrated Olympian games, +and gathered together all the artists to the sacrifice and the festal gathering. +{193} And while he was entertaining them at a banquet, and crowning the victors, +he asked Satyrus, the well-known comic actor, why he alone requested no favour +of him. Did he see any meanness in him, or any dislike towards himself? Satyrus +answered (so the story goes) that he happened to stand in no need of the things +for which the rest were asking, but that the boon which he would like to ask was +a favour which it would be very easy indeed for Philip to bestow; only he was +afraid that he might fail to obtain it. {194} Philip bade him name his request, +declaring with some spirit that there was nothing that he would not do for him. +Satyrus is then said to have stated that Apollophanes of Pydna was formerly his +friend and guest-friend,[n] and that when he had perished by a treacherous +assassination, his kinsman had, in alarm, conveyed his daughters, then little +children, to Olynthus secretly. 'These girls,' said Satyrus, 'have been taken +prisoners at the capture of the city; they are with you, and they are now of +marriageable age. {195} It is these girls that I beg and entreat you to give to +me. But I should like you to hear and understand what sort of present you will +be giving me, if you really give it. I shall gain nothing by receiving it: I +shall give them in marriage, and a dowry with them, and shall not allow them to +suffer anything unworthy of us or of their father.' When those who were present +at the feast heard this, there was such applause and cheering and approbation on +all hands, that Philip was moved and granted the request, although the +Apollophanes who was spoken of was one of the murderers of Alexander, Philip's +brother. {196} Now let us examine side by side with this banquet of Satyrus, +that in which these men took part in Macedonia. Observe what likeness and +resemblance there is between the two! For these men were invited to the house of +Xenophron, the son of Phaedimus, who was one of the Thirty,[n] and went. I did +not go. But when it came to the time for wine, he brought in an Olynthian woman +--good-looking, but well-bred and modest, as the event proved. {197} At first, I +believe (according to the account which Iatrocles gave me the next day), they +only forced her to drink a little wine quietly and to eat some dessert; but as +the feast proceeded and they waxed warm, they bade her recline and even sing a +song. And when the poor creature, who was in great distress, neither would nor +could do as they bade her, Aeschines and Phrynon declared that it was an insult +and quite intolerable, that a captive woman--one of those god-forsaken devils +the Olynthians--should give herself airs. 'Call a slave,' they cried, 'and let +some one bring a strap.' A servant came with a lash; they had been drinking, I +imagine, and were easily annoyed; and as soon as she said something and burst +into tears, the servant tore open her dress and gave her a number of cuts across +the back. {198} Beside herself with the pain and the sense of her position, the +woman leaped up and fell before the knees of Iatrocles, overturning the table as +she did so. And had he not rescued her, she would have perished as the victim of +a drunken debauch; for the drunkenness of this abominable creature is something +horrible.[n] The case of this woman was also mentioned in Arcadia before the Ten +Thousand, and Diophantus reported to you what I shall now force him to testify; +for the matter was much talked of in Thessaly and everywhere. + +{199} Yet with all this on his conscience this unclean creature will dare to +look you in the face, and will very soon be speaking to you of the life he has +lived, in that magnificent voice of his. It chokes me to hear him! Does not the +jury know how at first you used to read over the books to your mother at her +initiations,[n] and wallow amid bands of drunken men at their orgies, while +still a boy? {200} and how you were afterwards under-clerk to the magistrates, +and played the rogue for two or three drachmae?[n] and how at last, in recent +days, you thought yourself lucky to get a parasitic living in the training-rooms +of others, as a third-rate actor? What then is the life of which you propose to +speak? Where have you lived it? For the life which you have really lived has +been what I have described. And how much does he take upon himself! He brought +another man to trial here for unnatural offences! But I leave this point for the +moment. (_To the clerk._) First, read me these depositions. + +[_The depositions are read._] + +{201} So many, then, and so gross, gentlemen of the jury, being the crimes +against you of which he stands convicted--and what wickedness do they not +include? he is corrupt, he is a minion, he is under the curse, a liar, a +betrayer of his own people; all the most heinous offences are there--he will not +defend himself against a single one of these charges, and will have no defence +to offer that is either just or straightforward. But the statement which, I am +told, he intends to make, borders on madness; though perhaps a man who has no +other plea to offer must contrive anything that he can. {202} For I hear that he +is to say that I, forsooth, have been a partner in everything of which I accuse +him; that at first I used to approve of his policy and to act with him; and that +I have suddenly changed my mind and become his accuser. As a defence of his +conduct such assertions are, of course, neither legitimate nor to the point, +though they do imply some kind of charge against myself; for, of course, if I +have acted thus, I am a worthless person. But the conduct itself is no better +for that. Far from it! {203} At the same time, I think it is proper for me to +prove to you both the points in question--first, that if he makes such an +assertion he will be lying; and secondly, what is the just line of defence. Now +a just and straightforward defence must show either that the acts charged +against him were not committed, or that having been committed, they are to the +advantage of the city. {204} But Aeschines cannot do either of these things. For +I presume that it is not possible for him to say that it is to the advantage of +the city that the Phocians have been ruined, that Thermopylae is in Philip's +hands, that Thebes is powerful, that there are soldiers in Euboea and plotting +against Megara, and that the Peace should not have been sworn to,[n] when on the +former occasion he announced the very contrary of all these things to you in the +guise of advantages, and advantages about to be realized? Nor will he be able to +persuade you that these things have not been done, when you yourselves have seen +them and know the facts well. {205} It remains for me, therefore, to show you +that I have had no share in any of their proceedings. Shall I then dismiss +everything else from consideration--all that I have said against them in your +presence, all my collisions with them during our absence, all my antagonism to +them from first to last--and produce my opponents themselves as witnesses to the +fact that my conduct and theirs have been absolutely contrary the one to the +other--that they have taken money to your detriment, and that I refused to +receive it? Then mark what I say. + +{206} Who, would you say, was of all men in Athens the most offensive, most +overflowing with effrontery and contemptuousness? I am sure that none of you, +even by mistake, would name any other than Philocrates. And who, would you say, +possessed the loudest voice and could enunciate whatever he pleased most +clearly? Aeschines the defendant, I am sure. Who is it then that these men +describe as cowardly and timid before a crowd, while I call him cautious? It is +myself; for I have never annoyed you or forced myself upon you against your +will. {207} Now at every meeting of the Assembly, as often as a discussion has +arisen upon these subjects, you hear me accusing and convicting these men, +declaring explicitly that they have taken money and have sold all the interests +of the city. And not one of them has ever to this day contradicted the +statement, when he heard it, or opened his mouth, or shown himself. {208} What +then is the reason, why the most offensive men in the city, the men with the +loudest voices, are so cowed before me, the timidest of men, whose voice is no +louder than any other? It is because Truth is strong; while to them, on the +other hand, the consciousness of having sold public interests is a source of +weakness. It is this that steals away the boldness of these men, this that binds +down their tongues and stops their mouths--chokes them, and makes them silent. +{209} You remember, of course, how at the recent meeting in the Peiraeus, when +you would not have him for your representative,[n] he was shouting that he would +impeach me and indict me, and crying, 'Oh! Oh!' But such steps are the beginning +of long and numerous trials and speeches; whereas the alternative was but to +utter perhaps two or three words, which even a slave purchased yesterday could +have pronounced--'Men of Athens, this is utterly atrocious. Demosthenes is +accusing me here of crimes in which he himself was a partner; he says that I +have taken money, when he has taken money, or shared it, himself.' {210} But no +such words, no such sound, did he utter, nor did one of you hear him do so; he +only uttered threats to a different effect. And why? Because he knew that he had +done what he was charged with doing; he was abjectly afraid to use any such +expressions; his resolution could not rise to them, but shrank back; for it was +in the grip of his conscience; whereas there was nothing to hinder him from +uttering irrelevant abuse and slander. {211} But here is the strongest proof of +all, and it consists not in words, but in fact. For when I was anxious to do +what it was right to do, namely, to make a second report to you, after serving a +second time as ambassador, Aeschines came before the Board of Auditors with a +number of witnesses, and forbade them to call me before the court, since I had +rendered my account already, and was no longer liable to give it. The incident +was extremely ridiculous. And what was the meaning of it? He had made his report +with reference to the First Embassy, against which no one brought any charge, +and did not wish to go before the court again with regard to the Second Embassy, +with reference to which he now appears before you, and within which all his +crimes fell. {212} But if I came before you twice, it became necessary for him +also to appear again; and so he tried to prevent them from summoning me. But +this action of his, men of Athens, plainly proves to you two things--first, that +he had so condemned himself that none of you can now acquit him without impiety; +and secondly, that he will not speak a word of truth about me. Had he anything +true to assert, he would have been found asserting it and accusing me then; he +would certainly not have tried to prevent my being summoned. {213} To prove the +truth of what I say, (_to the clerk_) call me the witnesses to the facts. + +But further, if he makes slanderous statements against me which have nothing to +do with the Embassy, there are many good reasons for your refusing to listen to +him. For I am not on my trial to-day, and when I have finished my speech I have +no further time allotted to me.[n] What can such statements mean, except that he +is bankrupt of legitimate arguments? For who that was on his trial and had any +defence to make, would prefer to accuse another? {214} And consider also this +further point, gentlemen of the jury. If I were on my trial, with the defendant +Aeschines for accuser and Philip for judge; and if, being unable to disprove my +guilt, I abused Aeschines and tried to sully his character, do you not think +that Philip would be indignant at the very fact of a man abusing _his_ +benefactors in his own presence? Do not _you_ then prove worse than Philip; but +force Aeschines to defend himself against the charges which are the subject of +the trial. (_To the clerk._) Read the deposition. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +{215} So for my part, because I had nothing on my conscience, I felt it my duty +to render an account and submit all the information that the laws required, +while the defendant took the opposite view. How then can his conduct and mine +have been the same? or how can he possibly assert against me now things of which +he has never even accused me before? It is surely impossible. And yet he will +assert these things, and, Heaven knows, it is natural enough. For you doubtless +know well that ever since the human race began and trials were instituted, no +one was ever convicted admitting his crime: they brazen it out, they deny it, +they lie, they make up excuses, they take every means to escape paying the +penalty. {216} _You_ must not let any of these devices mislead you to-day; your +judgement must be given upon the facts, in the light of your own knowledge; you +must not attend to words, whether mine or his, still less to the witnesses whom +he will have ready to testify anything, since he has Philip to pay his expenses +--you will see how glibly they will give evidence for him; nor must you care +whether his voice is fine and loud, or whether mine is poor. {217} For it is no +trial of orators or of speeches that you have to hold to-day, if you are wise +men. You have rather, in the name of a cause shamefully and terribly ruined, to +thrust off the present disgrace on to the shoulders of the guilty, after a +scrutiny of those results which are known to you all. {218} And these results, +which you know and do not require us to tell you of--what are they? If the +consequences of the Peace have been all that they promised you; if you admit +that you were so filled with an unmanly cowardice, that, though the enemy was +not in your land, though you were not blockaded by sea, though your city was +menaced by no other danger whatever, though, on the contrary, the price of corn +was low and you were in other respects as well off as you are to-day, {219} +though you knew beforehand on the information of these men that your allies were +about to be ruined and Thebes to become powerful, that Philip was about to +occupy the Thracian strongholds and to establish a basis of operations against +you in Euboea, and that all that has now happened was about to come to pass, you +nevertheless made peace cheerfully;--if that is so, then acquit Aeschines, and +do not add perjury to all your disgrace. For in that case he is guilty of no +crime against you; it is I that am mad and brainsick to accuse him now. {220} +But if what they told you was altogether the reverse of this, if it was a tale +of great generosity--of Philip's love for Athens, of his intention to save the +Phocians, to check the insolence of the Thebans, and beside all this (if he +obtained the Peace) to confer on you benefits that would more than compensate +for Amphipolis, and to restore to you Euboea and Oropus; if, I say, they stated +and promised all this, and have now totally deceived and cheated you, and have +all but robbed you of Attica itself, then condemn him, and do not, in addition +to all the outrages--I know not what other word to use--that you have suffered, +carry with you to your homes, through upholding their corruption, the curse and +the guilt of perjury. + +{221} Again, gentlemen of the jury, ask yourselves what reason I could have had +for choosing to accuse these men, if they had done no wrong? You will find none. +Is it pleasant to have many enemies? Pleasant? It is not even safe. Was there +any quarrel between me and Aeschines? None. What then? 'You were afraid for +yourself, and in your cowardice thought to save yourself this way:' for that, I +have heard, is what he says. What? I was afraid, when, according to your own +statement, there was nothing to be afraid of, and no crime had been committed? +If he repeats such an assertion, men of Athens, consider[n] what these men +themselves, the actual criminals, ought to suffer for their offences, if I, who +am absolutely guiltless, was afraid of being ruined owing to them. {222} But +what is my motive for accusing you? I am an informer, of course, and want to get +money out of you![n] And which was the easier course for me--to get money out of +Philip, who offered a large sum--to get as much as any of these men, and to have +not only Philip for my friend, but also my opponents (for they would assuredly +have been friends, had I been partner with them, since even now they have no +inherited quarrel against me, but only the fact that I refused to join in their +actions); or to beg them for a share of their gains, and be regarded with +hostility both by Philip and by them? Is it likely that when I was ransoming the +prisoners at such cost to myself, I should ask to receive a paltry sum from +these men, in a disgraceful manner and with their enmity accompanying it? {223} +Impossible! My report was true. I abstained from taking money for the sake of +justice and truth and my own future. For I thought, as others among you have +thought, that my own uprightness would receive its reward, and that I must not +barter my ambition to stand well with you for gain of any kind. And I abhor +these men, because I saw that they were vile and impious in the conduct of their +mission, and because I have been robbed of the objects of my own ambition, owing +to their corruption, now that you have come to be vexed with the Embassy as a +whole. And it is because I foresee what must happen that I now accuse him, and +appear to challenge his report; for I would have it decided here, in a trial +before a jury, that my conduct has been the opposite of his. {224} And I am +afraid--afraid, I say, for I will speak all my mind to you--that though when the +time comes you may drag me in spite of my entire innocence to the same ruin with +them, you are now utterly supine. For, men of Athens, you appear to me to be +altogether unstrung, waiting to suffer the horrors which others are suffering +before your eyes, and taking no precautions, no thought for the city, which for +so long has been exposed to destruction in many a dreadful form. {225} Is it +not, think you, dreadful and preternatural? For even where I had resolved upon +silence, I am driven to speak. You doubtless know Pythocles here, the son of +Pythodorus. I had been on very kindly terms with him, and to this day there has +been no unpleasantness between us. He avoids me now, when he meets me--ever +since he visited Philip--and if he is obliged to encounter me anywhere, he +starts away immediately, lest any one should see him talking with me. But with +Aeschines he walks all round the marketplace, discussing their plans. {226} Now +is it not a terrible and shocking thing, men of Athens, that those who have made +it their choice to foster Philip's interests should be able to rely upon so +accurate a discrimination on Philip's part, that all that any one of them does +here can no more be hid from Philip (so they believe) than if he were standing +by their side, and that his friends and foes alike are those that Philip +chooses; while those whose life is lived for _your_ good, who are greedy of +honour at _your_ hands, and have not betrayed you, should be met by such +deafness, such blindness, on your part, that to-day I have to wrestle with these +devils incarnate on equal terms, and that before you, who know the whole truth? +{227} Would you know or hear the cause of these things? I will tell you, and I +beg that none of you be angry with me for speaking the truth. It is, I imagine, +that Philip has but one body and one soul, and it is with all his heart that he +cherishes those who do him good and detests those who do him evil: whereas each +of you, in the first place, has no feeling that the good or the evil which is +being done to the city, is being done to himself; {228} other feelings are of +more consequence, and often lead you astray--pity, envy, anger, favour towards +the suppliant, and an infinite number of other motives: while if a man has +actually escaped all these, he will still not escape from those who do not want +such a man to exist at all. And so the error due to each of these single causes +steals on little by little, till the state is exposed to the whole accumulated +mischief. + +{229} Do not fall victims to any such error to-day, men of Athens: do not let +the defendant go, when he has done you all this wrong. For honestly, if you let +him go, what will be said of you? 'Certain men,' it will be said, 'went as +ambassadors to Philip yonder--Philocrates, Aeschines, Phrynon, and Demosthenes; +and, what happened? One of them not only gained nothing by his mission, but +ransomed the prisoners at his private expense; another, with the money for which +he sold the interests of his country, went about purchasing harlots and fish. +{230} One of them, the abominable Phrynon, sent his son to Philip before he had +registered him as an adult; the other did nothing unworthy of himself or his +city. One, though serving as choregus and trierarch,[n] felt it his duty +voluntarily to incur that further expense [to ransom the prisoners] rather than +see any of his fellow citizens suffering misfortune for want of means; the +other, so far from rescuing any of those who were already in captivity, joined +in bringing a whole district, and more than 10,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry +with them, the forces of the actual allies of his country, into captivity to +Philip. What followed? {231} When the Athenians got them into their hands (for +they had long known the truth) what did they do? They let go the men who had +received bribes and had disgraced themselves, and their city, and their +children; they thought that these were wise men, and that all was well[n] with +the city; and as for their accuser, they thought him thunderstruck--a man who +did not understand his country, and did not know where to fling his money away.' +{232} And who, men of Athens, with this example before his eyes, will be willing +to offer you his honest service? who will act as ambassador for nothing, if he +is not only to gain nothing by it, but is not to be more trustworthy in your +eyes than those who have taken money? You are not only trying these men to-day, +but you are laying down a law for all future time--a law which will declare +whether your ambassadors are to serve the enemy for a price, or to act +disinterestedly for your true good and to take no bribe? {233} On all the other +points you require no evidence; but to prove that Phrynon sent his son, (_to the +clerk_) call me the witnesses to the facts. + +Aeschines then did not prosecute Phrynon, for sending his own son to Philip for +a disgraceful purpose. But because a man, who in his youth was above the average +in appearance, did not foresee the suspicion which his good looks might entail, +and afterwards lived a somewhat fast life, he has prosecuted him for unnatural +offences. + +{234} Now let me speak of the banquet and the decree; for I had almost +overlooked what I was especially bound to tell you. In drawing up the resolution +of the Council with reference to the First Embassy, and again in addressing the +people, at the assemblies in which you were to discuss the question of peace, +not a single word or act of a criminal nature on the part of these men having so +far come to light, I followed the ordinary custom, and proposed to accord them a +vote of thanks, and to invite them to the Town Hall. {235} And I did, of course, +entertain Philip's ambassadors as well, and on a very splendid scale, men of +Athens. For when I saw that in their own country they prided themselves even on +things like these, as showing their prosperity and splendour, I thought that I +must begin by outdoing them in this respect, and displaying even greater +magnificence. These incidents Aeschines will shortly bring forward to prove that +'Demosthenes himself voted thanks to us, and gave a banquet to the ambassadors', +without telling you the precise time when the incidents occurred. {236} For +these things belong to a time before any injury had been done to the city, and +before it was evident that they had sold themselves. The ambassadors had only +just arrived on their first visit; the people had still to hear what they +proposed; and there was nothing as yet to show that Aeschines would support +Philocrates, or that Philocrates would make such proposals as he did. If, then, +Aeschines uses any such argument, remember that the dates of the incidents are +earlier than those of his crimes. But since then there has been no friendliness +between myself and them, and no common action. (_To the clerk._) Read the +deposition. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +{237} Now perhaps his brother Philochares will support him, and Aphobetus. There +is much that you may fairly urge in reply to both; and I am obliged, men of +Athens, to speak to you quite freely and without any reserve. You, Philochares, +are a painter of vase-cases and drums; your brothers are under-clerks and quite +ordinary men--not that there is any harm in these things, but at the same time +they do not qualify a man to be a general.[n] And yet, Aphobetus and +Philochares, we thought you worthy to be ambassadors and generals, and to +receive the highest honours; {238} so that even if none of you were guilty of +any crime, we should owe no gratitude to you; you would rather owe gratitude to +us for your preferment. For we passed by many others, more deserving of such +honours than you were, and exalted you instead. But if in the enjoyment of these +very honours one of you has actually committed crimes, and crimes of such a +nature, how much more deserving are you of execration than of acquittal? Much +more, I am sure. Perhaps they will force their claims upon you, for they are +loud-voiced and shameless, and they have taken to themselves the motto that 'it +is pardonable for brother to help brother'. {239} But you must not give way. +Remember that if it is right for them to think of Aeschines, it is for you to +think of the laws and the whole State, and, above all, of the oath which you +yourselves, who sit here, have taken. Yes, and if they have entreated some of +you to save the defendant, then ask yourselves whether you are to save him if he +is proved innocent of crime, or even if he is proved guilty. If they ask you to +do so, should he be innocent, I too say that you must acquit him. But if you are +asked to acquit him, whatever he has done, then they have asked you to commit +perjury. For though your vote is secret, it will not be hidden from the gods; +and the framer of our law [which enjoins secret voting] was absolutely right, +when he saw that though none of these men will know which of you has granted his +request, the gods will know, and the unseen powers, who has given the unjust +vote. {240} And it is better for a man to lay up, for his children and himself, +those good hopes which _they_ can bestow, by giving the decision that is just +and right, than to win credit from these men for a favour of whose reality they +can have no certain knowledge, and to acquit the defendant, when his own +testimony condemns him. For what stronger testimony can I produce, Aeschines, to +prove how terrible your work as ambassador has been, than your own testimony +against yourself? For when you thought it necessary to involve in so great and +dreadful a calamity one who wished to reveal some of your actions as ambassador, +it is plain that you expected your own punishment to be a terrible one, if your +countrymen learned what you had done. + +{241} That step, if you are wise, he will prove to have taken to his own +detriment; not only because it is an overwhelming proof of the nature of his +conduct as ambassador, but also because of those expressions which he used in +the course of the prosecution, and which are now at our disposal against +himself. For the principles of justice, as defined by you when you were +prosecuting Timarchus, must, I presume, be no less valid when used by others +against yourself. {242} His words to the jury on that occasion were these. +'Demosthenes intends to defend Timarchus, and to denounce my acts as ambassador. +And then, when he has led you off the point by his speech, he will brag of it, +and go about saying, "Well? what do you think?[2] Why I led the jury right away +from the point, and stole the case triumphantly out of their hands."' Then you +at least must not act thus, but must make your defence with reference to the +real points of your case, though, when you were prosecuting Timarchus on that +occasion, you permitted yourself to make any charges and assertions that you +chose. + +{243} But there were verses too, which you recited before the jury, in your +inability to produce any witness to the charges on which you were prosecuting +Timarchus:-- + + Rumour, the voice of many folk, not all + Doth die, for Rumour too a goddess is.[3] + +Well, Aeschines, all those who are present say that you have made money out of +your mission; and so it holds true against you, I suppose, that 'Rumour, the +voice of many folk, not all doth die'. {244} For observe how easily you can +ascertain how much larger a body of accusers appears in your case than in his. +Timarchus was not known even to all his neighbors; while there is not a man, +Hellene or foreigner, but says that you and your fellow ambassadors made money +out of your mission. And so, if the rumour is true, then the rumour which is the +voice of many folk is against you; and you have yourself laid down that such a +rumour is to be believed, that 'Rumour too a goddess is', and that the poet who +composed these lines was a wise man. + +{245} Then, you remember, he collected some iambic verses, and recited the whole +passage; for instance:-- + + Whoso in evil company delights + Of him I ne'er enquired, for well I trow, + As is his company, such is the man.[3] + +And 'when a man goes to the cockpit[n] and walks about with Pittalacus'--he +added more to the same effect--'surely,' said he, 'you know what to think of +him.' Well, Aeschines, these same verses will now exactly serve my turn against +you, and if I quote them to the jury, the quotation will be true and apposite. +'But whoso in the company delights' of Philocrates, and that when he is an +ambassador, 'Of him I ne'er enquired, for well I trow' that he has taken money, +as did Philocrates who does not deny it. + +{246} He attempts to insult others by labelling them hack-writers[n] and +sophists. He shall himself be proved liable to these very imputations. The +verses he quoted are derived from the _Phoenix_ of Euripides--a play which has +never to this day been acted either by Theodorus or Aristodemus, the actors +under whom Aeschines always played third-rate parts, though it was performed by +Molon, and no doubt by other actors of former times. But the _Antigone_ of +Sophocles has often been acted by Theodorus and often by Aristodemus; and in +this play there are some admirable and instructive verses, which he must know +quite well by heart, since he has often delivered them himself, but which he has +omitted to quote. {247} For you know, I am sure, that in every tragedy it is, as +it were, the special privilege of third-rate actors to play in the role of +tyrants and sceptred kings. Consider, then, these excellent lines, placed by the +poet in the mouth of our Creon-Aeschines in this play--lines which he neither +repeated to himself to guide him as an ambassador, nor yet quoted to the jury. +(_To the clerk._) Read the passage. + + _Verses from the 'Antigone' of Sophocles._ + + To learn aright the soul and heart and mind + Of any man--for that, device is none, + Till he be proved in government and law, + And so revealed. For he who guides the State, + Yet cleaves not in his counsels to the best, + But from some fear in prison locks his tongue, + Is in mine eyes, as he hath ever been, + Vilest of men. And him, who sets his friend + Before his land, I count of no esteem. + For I--be it known to God's all-viewing eye-- + Would ne'er keep silence, seeing the march of doom + Upon this city--doom in safety's stead, + Nor ever take to me as mine own friend + My country's foe.' For this I know, that she, + Our country, is the ship that bears us safe, + And safe aboard her, while she sails erect, + We make good friends. + +{248} None of these lines did Aeschines ever repeat to himself during his +mission. Instead of preferring his country he thought that to be friend and +guest-friend of Philip was much more important and profitable for himself, and +bade a long farewell to the wise Sophocles. He saw the 'march of doom' draw +near, in the campaign against the Phocians; but he gave no warning, no +announcement of what was to come. On the contrary, he helped to conceal it, he +helped to carry out the doom, he prevented those who would have given warning-- +{249} not remembering that 'Our country is the ship that bears us safe, and safe +aboard her' his mother with the help of her initiations and purifications and +the property of the clients, on whom she lived, reared up these sons of hers to +their destined greatness;[n] while his father, who kept an elementary school, as +I am told by my elders, near the temple of the Hero-Physician,[n] made a living, +such as he could indeed, but still on the same ship. The sons, who had received +money as under-clerks and servants in all the magistrates' offices, were finally +elected clerks by you, and for two years continued to get their living in the +Round Chamber;[n] and Aeschines was just now dispatched as your ambassador--from +this same ship. He regarded none of these things. {250} He took no care that the +ship should sail erect. Nay, he capsized her; he sank the ship; he did all that +he could to bring her into the power of the enemy. What then? Are you not a +sophist? Aye, and a villanous one. Are you not a hack? Aye, and one detested of +Heaven--for you passed over the scene which you had so often performed and knew +well by heart, while you sought out a scene which you had never acted in your +life, and produced the passage in the hope of injuring one of your fellow +citizens. + +{251} And now examine his speech about Solon. He told us that the statue of +Solon, with his hand concealed in the drapery of his robe, was erected as an +illustration of the self-restraint of the orators of that day. (This was in the +course of a scurrilous attack upon the impetuosity of Timarchus.) But the +Salaminians tell us that this statue was erected less than fifty years ago, +whereas some two hundred and forty years have passed between the time of Solon +and the present day; so that not only was the artist, who modelled him in this +attitude, not living in Solon's day, but even his grandfather was not. {252} +That then is what he told the jury, copying the attitude as he did so. But that +which it would have done his country far more good to see--the soul and the mind +of Solon--he did not copy. No, he did the very reverse. For when Salamis had +revolted from Athens and the death-penalty had been decreed against any one who +proposed to attempt its recovery, Solon, by singing, at the risk of his own +life,[n] a lay which he had composed, won back the island for his country, and +wiped out her disgrace: {253} while Aeschines, when the king and all the +Hellenes had decided that Amphipolis was yours, surrendered and sold it, and +supported Philocrates, who proposed the resolution for this purpose. It is +indeed worth his while (is it not?) to remember Solon! Nor was he content with +acting thus in Athens; for when he had gone to Macedonia, he did not even +mention the name of the place which it was the object of his mission to secure. +This, in fact, he reported to you himself, in words which doubtless you +remember: 'I too had something to say about Amphipolis; but in order that +Demosthenes might have an opportunity of speaking upon the subject, I left it to +him.' {254} Upon which I came forward and denied that Aeschines had left to me +anything which he was anxious to say to Philip; he would rather have given any +one a share in his lifeblood than in his speech. The truth is, I imagine, that +he had taken money; and as Philip had given him the money in order that he might +not have to restore Amphipolis, he could not speak in opposition to Philip's +case. Now (_to the clerk_) take this lay of Solon's and read it; and (_to the +jury_) then you will know how Solon used to hate all such men as this. + +{255} It is not when you are speaking, Aeschines, but when you are upon an +embassy, that you should keep your hand within your robe. But on the Embassy you +held out your hand, and held it open; you brought shame to your countrymen: and +do you here assume a solemn air and recite in those practised tones the +miserable phrases that you have learned by heart, and expect to escape the +penalty for all your heinous crimes--even if you do go round with a cap on your +head,[n] uttering abuse against me? (_To the clerk._) Read the verses. + + _Solon's Lay._ + + The Father's voice hath spoken, + Whose word is Destiny, + And the blest Gods have willed it, + The Gods who shall not die; + That ne'er shall the Destroyer + Prevail against our land; + The Dread Sire's valiant Daughter + Guards us with eye and hand. + Yet her own sons, in folly, + Would lay their country low, + For pelf; and in her leaders + An heart of sin doth grow. + For them--their pride's fell offspring-- + There waiteth grievous pain; + For sated still, they know not + Their proud lust to contain. + Not theirs, if mirth be with them, + The decent, peaceful feast; + To sin they yield, and sinning + Rejoice in wealth increased. + No hallowed treasure sparing, + Nor people's common store, + This side and that his neighbour + Each robs with havoc sore. + The holy law of Justice + They guard not. Silent she, + Who knows what is and hath been, + Awaits the time to be. + Then cometh she to judgement, + With certain step, tho' slow; + E'en now she smites the city, + And none may 'scape the blow. + To thraldom base she drives us, + From slumber rousing strife,-- + Fell war of kin, destroying + The young, the beauteous life. + The foemen of their country + In wicked bands combine, + Fit company; and stricken + The lovely land doth pine. + These are the Wrong, the Mischief, + That pace the earth at home; + But many a beggared exile + To other lands must roam-- + Sold, chained in bonds unseemly; + For so to each man's hall + Comes home the People's Sorrow, + And leaps the high fence-wall. + No courtyard door can stay it; + It follows to his side, + Flee tho' he may, and crouching + In inmost chamber hide. + Such warning unto Athens + My spirit bids me sound, + That Lawlessness in cities + Spreads evil all around; + But Lawfulness and Order + Make all things good and right, + Chaining Sin's hands in fetters, + Quenching the proud soul's light, + Smoothing the rough, the sated + Staying, and withering + The flowers, that, fraught with ruin, + From fatal seed upspring. + The paths of crooked justice + Are turned into straight; + The ways of Pride grow gentle, + The ways of Strife and Hate; + Then baleful Faction ceases, + Then Health prevails alway, + And Wisdom still increases, + Beneath Law's wholesome sway. + +{256} You hear, men of Athens, how Solon speaks of men like these, and of the +gods, who, he says, preserve the city. It is my belief and my hope that this +saying of his, that the gods preserve our city, is true at all times; but I +believe that all that has happened in connexion with the present examination is, +in a sense, a special proof of the goodwill of some unseen power towards the +city. {257} Consider what has happened. A man who as ambassador did a work of +great wickedness, and has surrendered countries in which the gods should have +been worshipped by yourselves and your allies, has disfranchised one who +accepted the challenge[n] to prosecute him. To what end? To the end that he +himself might meet with no pity or mercy for his own iniquities. Nay, more; +while prosecuting his victim he deliberately set himself to speak evil of me; +and again, before the People, he threatened to enter an indictment against me, +and said more to the same effect. And to what end? To the end that I, who had +the most perfect knowledge of all his acts of villany, and had followed them +closely throughout, might have your full indulgence in prosecuting him. {258} +Aye, and through postponing his appearance before you continually up to the +present moment, he has been insensibly brought to a time when, on account of +what is coming upon us, if for no other reason, it is neither possible nor safe +for you to allow him (after his corruption) to escape unscathed. For though, men +of Athens, you ought always to execrate and to punish those who are traitors and +corrupt, to do so at this time would be more than ever seasonable, and would +confer a benefit upon all mankind in common. {259} For a disease, men of Athens, +an awful disease has fallen upon Hellas--a disease hard to cope with, and +requiring abundant good fortune, and abundant carefulness on your own part. For +the most notable men in their several cities, the men who claim[n] to lead in +public affairs, are betraying their own liberty--unhappy men!--and bringing upon +themselves a self-chosen servitude, under the milder names of friendship and +companionship with Philip, and other such phrases; while the other citizens, and +the sovereign bodies in each city, however composed, whose duty it was to punish +these men and slay them out of hand, are so far from taking any such action, +that they admire and envy them, and every one would be glad to be in the same +case. {260} Yet it is from this very cause--it is through entertaining ambitions +like these--that the Thessalians, who up to yesterday or the day before had lost +thereby only their paramount position[n] and their dignity as a state, are now +already being stripped of their very liberty; for there are Macedonian garrisons +in some of their citadels. This same disease it is which has invaded the +Peloponnese and brought about the massacres in Elis, infecting the unhappy +people of that country with such insanity and frenzy, that in order to be lords +over one another and to gratify Philip, they murder their kinsmen and fellow +citizens. {261} Not even here has the disease been stayed: it has penetrated +Arcadia and turned it upside-down; and now many of the Arcadians, who should be +no less proud of liberty than yourselves--for you and they alone are indigenous +peoples--are declaring their admiration for Philip, erecting his image in +bronze, and crowning him; and, to complete the tale, they have passed a +resolution that, if he comes to the Peloponnese, they will receive him within +their walls. {262} The Argives have acted in exactly the same way. These events, +I say it in all solemnity and earnestness, call for no small precautions: for +this plague, men of Athens, that is spreading all around us, has now found its +way to Athens itself. While then we are still safe, ward it off, and take away +the citizenship of those who first introduced it. Beware lest otherwise you +realize the worth of the advice given you this day, only when there is no longer +anything that you can do. {263} Do you not perceive, men of Athens, how vivid +and plain an example has been afforded you by the unhappy Olynthians? The +destruction of those wretched men was due to nothing so much as to conduct like +that of which I speak. You can test this clearly if you review their history. +{264} For at a time when they possessed only 400 cavalry, and numbered not more +than 5,000 men in all, since the Chalcidians were not yet all united under one +government, the Spartans came against them with a large force, including both +army and fleet (for you doubtless remember that at that period the Spartans were +virtually masters both of land and sea); and yet, though this great force came +against them, the Olynthians lost neither the city nor any single fortress, but +won many battles, killed three of the enemy's commanders, and finally concluded +the war on their own terms.[n] {265} But when some of them began to take bribes, +and the people as a whole were foolish enough, or rather unfortunate enough, to +repose greater confidence in these men than in those who spoke for their own +good; when Lasthenes roofed his house with the timber which came from Macedonia, +and Euthycrates was keeping a large herd of cattle for which he had paid no one +anything; when a third returned with sheep, and a fourth with horses, while the +people, to whose detriment all this was being done, so far from showing any +anger or any disposition to chastise men who acted so, actually gazed on them +with envy, and paid them honour and regarded them as heroes--{266} when, I say, +such practices were gaining ground in this way, and corruption had been +victorious; then, though they possessed 1,000 cavalry and numbered more than +10,000 men; though all the surrounding peoples were their allies; though you +went to their assistance with 10,000 mercenaries and 50 ships, and with 4,000 +citizen-soldiers as well, none of these things could save them. Before a year of +the war had expired they had lost all the cities in Chalcidice, while Philip +could no longer keep pace with the invitations of the traitors, and did not know +which place to occupy first. {267} Five hundred horsemen were betrayed by their +own commanders and captured by Philip, with their arms--a larger number than +were ever before captured by any one. And the men who acted thus were not +ashamed to face the sun or the earth--the soil of their native land--on which +they stood, or the temples, or the sepulchres of the dead, or the disgrace which +was bound to follow upon such deeds afterwards. Such is the madness and +distraction which corruption engenders. So it is for you--for you, the People-- +to be wise, to refuse to suffer such things, and to visit them with public +chastisement. For it would be monstrous indeed, if, after the terrible +condemnation which you passed upon those who betrayed the Olynthians, it were +seen that you allowed the criminals who are in your very midst to go unpunished. +(_To the clerk._) Read the decree passed with reference to the Olynthians. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{268} This decree, gentlemen of the jury, is one which in the eyes of all, +Hellenes and foreigners alike, it was right and honourable in you to have passed +in condemnation of traitors and men detested of Heaven. And so, since the taking +of the bribe is the step which precedes such actions, and it is the bribe that +prompts the traitor's deeds, whenever, men of Athens, you find a man receiving a +bribe, you must count him a traitor as well. That one man betrays opportunities, +and another affairs of state, and another soldiers, means only, I imagine, that +each works mischief in the particular department over which he has control; but +there should be no distinction in your execration of all such men. {269} You, +men of Athens, are the only people in the world who can draw from your own +history examples which bear upon this matter, and who have those ancestors, whom +you rightly praise, to imitate in your actions. You may not be able, at the +present time, to imitate them in the battles, the campaigns, the perils in which +they distinguished themselves, since at the present moment you are at peace; but +at least you can imitate their wisdom. {270} For of wisdom there is need +everywhere; and a right judgement is no more laborious or troublesome a thing +than a wrong one. Each of you need sit here no longer, in order to judge and +vote on the question before him aright, and so to make his country's position a +better one, and worthy of our ancestors, than he must in order to judge and vote +wrongly, and so make it worse and unworthy of our ancestors. What then were +their sentiments on this matter? (_To the clerk._) Take this, clerk, and read +it: (_to the jury_) for I would have you see that the acts towards which you are +so indifferent are acts for which your forefathers voted death to the doers. +(_To the clerk._) Read. + +[_An inscription is read._] + +{271} You hear the inscription, men of Athens, declaring that Arthmius[n] of +Zeleia, son of Pythonax, is a foe and a public enemy to the people of Athens and +their allies--both he and all his house. And why? Because he brought the gold +from the foreigner to the Hellenes. Apparently, therefore, we may judge from +this, that your ancestors sought to ensure that no one, not even a stranger, +should work mischief against Hellas for money; whereas you do not even seek to +prevent any of your fellow citizens from injuring his own city. {272} 'But,' it +may be said, 'the inscription occupies a quite unimportant position.' On the +contrary, although all yonder Acropolis is sacred and there is no lack of space +upon it, this inscription stands on the right hand of the great bronze statue of +Athena, the prize of valour in the war against the barbarians, set up by the +State with funds which the Hellenes had presented to her. In those days, +therefore, uprightness was so sacred, and such merit was attached to the +punishment of actions like these, that the sentences passed upon such crimes +were thought to deserve the same position as the prize-statue of the goddess. +And now, unless you, in your turn, set a check upon this excess of licence, the +result must be ridicule, impunity, and shame.[5] {273} You would do well, I +think, men of Athens, to imitate your forefathers, not in this or that point +alone, but continuously, and in all that they did. Now I am sure that you have +all heard the story of Callias,[n] the son of Hipponicus, to whose diplomacy was +due the Peace which is universally celebrated, and which provided that the king +should not come down by land within a day's ride of the sea, nor sail with a +ship of war between the Chelidonian islands and the Cyanean rocks. He was +thought to have taken bribes on his mission; and your forefathers almost put him +to death, and actually fined him, at the examination of his report, a sum of 50 +talents. {274} True it is, that no more honourable peace can be mentioned than +this, of all which the city ever made before or afterwards. But it was not to +this that they looked. The nature of the Peace they attributed to their own +prowess and the glory of their city: but whether the transaction was +disinterested or corrupt, depended upon the character of the ambassador; and +they expected the character displayed by one who took part in public affairs to +be upright and incorruptible. {275} Your ancestors, then, regarded corruption as +so inimical, so unprofitable, to the state, that they would not admit it in +connexion with any single transaction or any single man; while you, men of +Athens, though you have seen that the Peace which has laid low the walls of your +own allies is building the houses of your ambassadors--that the Peace which has +robbed the city of her possessions has secured for them more than they had ever +before hoped for even in their dreams--you, I say, instead of putting them to +death of your own accord, need a prosecutor to assist you; and when all can see +their crimes in very deed, you are making their trial a trial of words. + +{276} It is not, however, by the citation of ancient history, nor by these +examples alone, that one may stimulate you to vengeance: for even within the +lifetime of yourselves, who are here and still living, many have paid the +penalty. All the rest of these I will pass over; but I will mention one or two +of those who were punished with death, on returning from a mission whose results +have been far less disastrous to the city than those of the present Embassy. +(_To the clerk._) Take then this decree and read it. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{277} In this decree, men of Athens, you passed sentence of death upon those +ambassadors, one of whom was Epicrates,[n] a good man, as I am told by my +elders, and one who had in many ways been of service to his country--one of +those who brought the people back from the Peiraeus,[n] and who was generally an +upholder of the democracy. Yet none of these services helped him, and rightly. +For one who claims to manage affairs of such magnitude has not merely to be half +honest; he must not secure your confidence and then take advantage of it to +increase his power to do mischief; he must do absolutely no wrong against you of +his own will. {278} Now if there is one of the things for which those men were +sentenced to death, that these men have not done, you may put me to death +without delay. Observe what the charges were. 'Since they conducted their +mission,' says the decree,[n] 'contrary to the terms of the resolution'--that is +the first of the charges. And have not these men contravened the terms of the +resolution? Does not the decree speak of peace 'for the Athenians and the allies +of the Athenians?' and did they not exclude the Phocians from the treaty? Does +not the decree bid them administer the oath to the magistrates in the several +cities? and did they not administer it to men sent to them by Philip? Does not +the resolution forbid them 'to meet Philip anywhere alone?' and did they not +incessantly do business with him privately? {279} Again I read, 'And some of +them have been convicted of making a false report before the Council.' But these +men have been convicted of doing so before the People as well. And convicted by +whom? for this is the splendid thing.[n] Convicted by the actual facts; for all +that has happened, as you know, has been the exact reverse of what they +announced. 'And,' the decree goes on, 'of not sending true dispatches.' Nor did +these men. 'And of accusing our allies falsely and taking bribes.' Instead of +'accusing falsely', say, 'of having utterly ruined'--surely a far more heinous +thing than a false accusation. And as for the charge of taking bribes, if it had +been denied, it would still have required proof; but since they admitted it, a +summary procedure was surely the proper one. {280} What then will you do, men of +Athens? You are the offspring of that generation, and some of you are actually +survivors from it; and will you endure it, that Epicrates, the benefactor of the +people, one of the men from the Peiraeus, should have been exiled and +punished;[n] that Thrasybulus, again, the son of the great Thrasybulus, the +People's friend, who brought the people back from Phyle, should recently have +been fined ten talents; and that the descendant of Harmodius,[n] and of those +who achieved for you the greatest of blessings, and whom, for the benefits which +they conferred upon you, you have caused to share in the libations and the bowls +outpoured, in every temple where sacrifice is offered, singing of them and +honouring them as you honour heroes and gods--{281} that all these, I say, +should have undergone the penalty ordained by the laws, and that no feeling of +compassion or pity, nor the tears of their children who bore the names of our +benefactors, nor aught else, should have availed them anything: and yet, when +you have to do with the son of Atrometus the schoolmaster, and Glaucothea, who +used to hold those meetings of the initiated, a practice for which another +priestess[n] was put to death--when you have in your hands the son of such +parents, a man who never did a single service to his country--neither himself, +nor his father, nor any of his house--will you let him go? {282} Where is the +horse, the trireme, the military service, the chorus, the burden undertaken[n] +for the state, the war-contribution, the loyal action, the peril undergone, for +which in all their lifetime the city has had to thank him or his? Aye, and even +if all these stood to his credit, and those other qualifications, of uprightness +and integrity in his mission, were not also to be found in him, it would surely +have been right that he should perish. But when neither the one nor the other +are to be found, will you not avenge yourselves upon him? {283} Will you not +call to mind his own words, when he was prosecuting Timarchus--that there was no +help for a city which had no sinews to use against the criminal, nor for a +constitution in which compassion and solicitation were more powerful than the +laws--that it was your duty not to pity the aged mother of Timarchus, nor his +children, nor any one else, but to attend solely to one point, namely, that if +you abandoned the cause of the laws and the constitution, you would look in vain +for any to have pity on yourselves. {284} Is that unhappy man to have lost his +rights as a citizen, because he witnessed the guilt of Aeschines, and will you +then suffer Aeschines to escape unscathed? On what ground can you do so? for if +Aeschines demanded so heavy a penalty from those whose sins were against their +own persons, what must be the magnitude of the penalty which _you_ should +require--you, the sworn judges of the case--from those who have sinned so +greatly against their country's interests, and of whom Aeschines is convincingly +proved to be one? {285} 'But,' we are told, 'that was a trial which will raise +the moral standard of our young men.' Yes, and this trial will raise that of our +statesmen, upon whose character the supreme interests of the city are staked. +For your care ought to extend to them also. But you must realize that his real +motive for ruining Timarchus himself was not, Heaven knows, to be found in any +anxiety for the virtue of your sons. Indeed, men of Athens, they are virtuous +even now; for I trust that the city will never have fallen so low, as to need +Aphobetus and Aeschines to reform the morals of the young. {286} No! the reason +was that Timarchus had proposed in the Council, that if any one was convicted of +conveying arms or fittings for ships of war to Philip, the penalty should be +death. And here is a proof. How long had Timarchus been in the habit of +addressing you? For a long time. Now throughout all this time Aeschines was in +Athens, and never showed any vexation or indignation at the fact of such a man +addressing you, until he had been to Macedonia and made himself a hireling. (_To +the clerk._) Come, take the actual decree which Timarchus proposed, and read it. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{287} So the man who proposed on your behalf the resolution which forbade, on +pain of death, the supply of arms to Philip during the war, has been ruined and +treated with contumely; while Aeschines, who had surrendered the arms of your +very allies to Philip, was his accuser, and charged him--I call Heaven and Earth +to witness--with unnatural offences, although two of his own kinsmen stood by +his side, the very sight of whom would call forth a cry of protest from you--the +disgusting Nicias, who went to Egypt and hired himself to Chabrias, and the +accursed Cyrebion,[n] who joins in processions, as a reveller,[n] without a +mask. Nay, why mention these things? His own brother Aphobetus was there before +his eyes! In very truth all the words that were spoken on that day about +unnatural offences were water flowing up stream.[n] + +{288} And now, to show you the dishonour into which the villainy and mendacity +of the defendant have brought our country, passing by all besides, I will +mention a fact known to you all. Formerly, men of Athens, all the other Hellenes +used to watch attentively, to see what had been resolved in your Assembly; but +now we are already going about and inquiring what others have decided--trying to +overhear what the Arcadians are doing, or the Amphictyons, or where Philip will +be next, and whether he is alive or dead. {289} We do this, do we not? But for +me the terrible question is not whether Philip is alive, but whether in this +city the habit of execrating and punishing criminals is dead. Philip has no +terrors for me, if your own spirit is sound; but the prospect that you may grant +security to those who wish to receive their wages from him--that they may be +supported by some of those whom you have trusted, and that those who have all +along denied that they were acting in Philip's interests may now mount the +platform in their defence--that is the prospect which terrifies me. {290} Tell +me, Eubulus, why it was, that at the recent trial of your cousin Hegesilaus,[n] +and of Thrasybulus, the uncle of Niceratus, when the primary question[n] was +before the jury, you would not even respond when they called upon you; and that +when you rose to speak on the assessment of the penalty,[n] you uttered not a +word in their defence, but only asked the jury to be indulgent to you? Do you +refuse to ascend the platform in defence of kinsmen and relations, {291} and +will you then do so in defence of Aeschines, who, when Aristophon was +prosecuting Philonicus, and in accusing him was denouncing your own acts, joined +with him in accusing you, and was found in the ranks of your enemies? You +frightened your countrymen here by saying that they must either march down to +the Peiraeus at once, and pay the war-tax, and convert the festival-fund into a +war-fund, or else pass the decree advocated by Aeschines and proposed by the +shameless Philocrates--{292} a decree, of which the result was that the Peace +became a disgraceful instead of a fair one, and that these men have ruined +everything by their crimes: and have you, after all this, become reconciled to +him? You uttered imprecations upon Philip, in the presence of the people, and +swore by the life of your children that you would be glad if perdition seized +him; and will you now come to the aid of Aeschines? How can perdition seize +Philip, when you are trying to save those who take bribes from him? {293} Why is +it that you prosecuted Moerocles for misappropriating 20 drachmae out of the +sums paid by each of the lessees of the mines, and indicted Ctesiphon for the +theft of sacred moneys, because he paid 7 minae into the bank three days too +late; and yet, when men have taken money and confess it, and are convicted, by +being caught in the very act, of having done so in order to bring about the ruin +of our allies, you do not prosecute them, but even command their acquittal? +{294} But the appalling character of these crimes and the great watchfulness and +caution that they call for, and the triviality of the offences for which you +prosecuted those other men, may further be seen in this way. Were there any men +in Elis who stole public funds? It is very likely indeed. Well, had any of them +anything to do with the overthrow of the democracy there? Not one of them. +Again, while Olynthus was standing, were there others of the same character +there? I am sure that there were. Was it then through them that Olynthus was +destroyed? No. Again, do you not suppose that in Megara there was someone who +was a thief and who embezzled public funds? There must have been. Well, has any +such person been shown to be responsible for the recent crisis there? {295} Not +one. But of what sort _are_ the men who commit crimes of such a character and +magnitude? They are those who count themselves worthy to be styled friends and +guest-friends of Philip, who would fain be generals, who claim[n] to be leaders, +who must needs be exalted above the people. Was not Perillus put on his trial +lately before the Three Hundred at Megara, because he went to Philip's court; +and did not Ptoeodorus, the first man in Megara in wealth, family, and +distinction, come forward and beg him off, and send him back again to Philip? +and was not the consequence that the one came back at the head of the +mercenaries, while the other was churning the butter[n] at home? {296} For there +is nothing, nothing, I say, in the world, which you must be so careful not to +do, as not to allow any one to become more powerful than the People. I would +have no man acquitted or doomed, to please any individual. Only let us be sure +that the man whose actions acquit or condemn him will receive from you the +verdict he deserves. {297} That is the true democratic principle. And further, +it is true that many men have come to possess great influence with you at +particular times--Callistratus, and again Aristophon, Diophantus, and others +before them. But where did each of these exercise his primacy? In the Assembly +of the People. But in the law-courts no man has ever, to this day, carried more +influence than the laws and the juror's oath. Do not then allow the defendant to +have such influence to-day. To prove to you that there is good reason for you +not to trust, but to beware of such influence, I will read you an oracle of the +gods, who always protect the city far better than do its foremost citizens. (_To +the clerk._) Read the oracles. + +[_The oracles are read._] + +{298} You hear, men of Athens, the warnings of the gods. If these responses were +given by them when you were at war, they mean that you must beware of your +generals, since in war it is the generals who are leaders; but if they were +uttered after you had made peace, they must refer to those who are at the head +of your government; for these are the leaders whom you obey, and it is by these +that you are in danger of being led astray. 'And hold the state together' [says +the oracle] 'until all are of one mind, and afford no joy to their foes.' {299} +Which event then, men of Athens, do you think would afford joy to Philip--the +acquittal of one who has brought about all this evil, or his punishment? His +acquittal, I am sure. But the oracle, you see, says that we should so act as not +to afford joy to our foes; and therefore, by the mouth of Zeus, of Dione,[n] and +of all the gods, is this exhortation given to us all, that with one mind we +chastise those who have done any service to our enemies. Without are those who +are plotting against us, within are their confederates. The part of the plotters +is to offer the bribe; that of their confederates is to receive it, and to save +from condemnation those who have received it. + +{300} And further, it needs no more than human reason to arrive at the +conclusion that nothing can be more hateful and dangerous than to allow your +first citizen to be intimate with those whose objects are not those of the +People. Consider by what means Philip has become master of the entire situation, +and by what means he has accomplished the greatest of his successes. It has been +by purchasing the opportunities for action from those who offered them for sale +--by corrupting and exciting the aspirations of the leaders of their several +cities. {301} These have been the means. Now both of these methods it is in your +power, if you wish it, to render futile to-day, if you will refuse to listen to +prominent persons who speak in defence of such practices, and will thus prove +that they have no power over you--for now they assert that they have you under +their control--while at the same time you punish the man who has sold himself, +and let all the world see what you have done. {302} For you would have reason +enough, men of Athens, for being angry with any man who had acted so, and had +betrayed your allies and your friends and your opportunities (for with these are +bound up the whole prosperity or adversity of every people), but with no one +more than with Aeschines, or with greater justice. After taking up a position as +one of those who mistrusted Philip--after being the first and the only man to +perceive that Philip was the common enemy of all the Hellenes--he deserted, he +betrayed you; he suddenly became Philip's supporter. Surely he deserves to die +many times over! {303} Nay, he himself will not be able to deny that these +things are so. For who was it that brought Ischander forward before you +originally, stating that he had come from the friends of Athens in Arcadia? Who +was it that cried out that Philip was organizing Hellas and the Peloponnese +against you, while you were asleep? Who was it that delivered those long and +noble orations to the people, that read to you the decrees of Miltiades and +Themistocles, and the oath of the young soldiers[n] in the temple of Aglaurus? +{304} Was it not the defendant? Who was it that persuaded you to send embassies +almost as far as the Red Sea, on the ground that Philip was plotting against +Hellas, and that it was for you to foresee this and not to sacrifice the +interests of the Hellenes? Was it not Eubulus who proposed the decree, while the +ambassador to the Peloponnese was the defendant Aeschines? What expressions he +used in his address to the people, after he arrived there, is best known to +himself: but I know you all remember what he reported to you. {305} Many a time +in the course of his speech he called Philip 'barbarian' and 'devil'; and he +reported the delight of the Arcadians at the thought that Athens was now waking +up and attending to public affairs. One thing he told us, which caused him, he +said, more distress than anything else. As he was leaving, he met Atrestidas, +who was travelling home from Philip's court, and with him were walking some +thirty women and children. Wondering at this, he asked one of the travellers who +the man was, and what this crowd was along with him; {306} and on hearing that +it was Atrestidas, who was on his way home, and that these with him were +captives from Olynthus whom Philip had given him as a present, he was struck +with the atrocity of the thing and burst into tears, and lamented the unhappy +condition of Hellas, that she should allow such tragedies to pass unnoticed. At +the same time he counselled you to send representatives to Arcadia to denounce +Philip's agents, saying that his friends told him that if Athens took notice of +the matter and sent envoys, Philip's agents would be punished. {307} Such, men +of Athens, was the tenor of his speeches then; and very noble they were, and +worthy of this city. But when he had been to Macedonia, and had seen the enemy +of himself and of the Hellenes, were his speeches couched any more in the same +or a similar tone? Far from it! He told you that you must neither remember your +forefathers nor mention your trophies, nor go to the aid of any one. He was +amazed, he said, at those who urged you to confer with the rest of the Hellenes +in regard to the Peace with Philip, as though there was any need to convince +some one else about a matter which was purely your own affair. {308} And as for +Philip, 'Why, good gracious!' said he, 'Philip is the most thorough Hellene in +the world, a most able speaker, and most friendly towards Athens: only there are +certain persons in Athens so unreasonable and so churlish, that they are not +ashamed to slander him and call him "barbarian".' Now is it possible that the +man who had formerly spoken as Aeschines did, should now have dared to speak in +such a way, if he had not been corrupted? What? {309} Is there a man who after +conceiving such detestation for Atrestidas, owing to those children and women +from Olynthus, could have endured to act in conjunction with Philocrates, who +brought freeborn Olynthian women here to gratify his lust, and is so notorious +for his abominable living, that it is unnecessary for me now to use any +offensive or unpleasant expression about him; for if I say that Philocrates +brought women here, the rest will be understood by all of you and of the +bystanders, and you will, I am sure, pity the poor unhappy creatures--though +Aeschines felt no pity for them, and shed no tears for Hellas at the sight of +them, or at the thought of the outrages they were suffering among their own +allies at the hands of our ambassadors. {310} No! he will shed tears on his own +behalf--he whose proceedings as ambassador have had such results--and perhaps he +will bring forward his children, and mount them upon the platform. But, +gentlemen of the jury, when you see the children of Aeschines, remember that the +children of many of your allies and friends are now vagabonds, wandering in +beggary, owing to the cruel treatment they have suffered in consequence of his +conduct, and that these deserve your compassion far more than those whose father +is a criminal and a traitor. Remember that your own children have been robbed +even of their hopes by these men, who inserted among the terms of the Peace the +clause which extended it to posterity. And when you see the tears of Aeschines, +remember that you have now before you a man who urged you to send +representatives to Arcadia to denounce the agents of Philip. {311} Now to-day +you need send no embassy to the Peloponnese; you need take no long journey; you +need incur no travelling expenses. Each of you need only come as far as this +platform, to deposit the vote which piety and justice demand of him, on behalf +of your country; and to condemn the man who--I call Earth and Heaven to +witness!--after originally delivering the speeches which I described, speaking +of Marathon and of Salamis, and of your battles and your trophies, suddenly--so +soon as he had set foot in Macedonia--changed his tone completely, and told you +that you must not remember your forefathers, nor recount your trophies, nor go +to the aid of any one, nor take common counsel with the Hellenes--who all but +told you that you must pull down your walls. {312} Never throughout all time, up +to this day, have speeches more shameful than these been delivered before you. +What Hellene, what foreigner, is so dense, or so uninstructed, or so fierce in +his hatred of our city, that if one were to put to him this question, and say, +'Tell me now; of all Hellas, as it now is--all this inhabited country--is there +any part which would have been called by this name, or inhabited by the Hellenes +who now possess it, unless those who fought at Marathon and Salamis, our +forefathers, had displayed that high prowess on their behalf?' Why, I am certain +that not one would answer 'Yes': they would say that all these regions must have +been conquered by the barbarians. {313} If then no single man, not even one of +our enemies, would have deprived them of these their panegyrics and praises, +does Aeschines forbid you to remember them--you their descendants--in order that +he himself may receive money? In all other blessings, moreover, the dead have no +share; but the praises which follow their noble deeds are the peculiar +possession of those who have died thus; for then even envy opposes them no +longer. Of these praises Aeschines would deprive them; and justly, therefore, +would he now be deprived of his privileges as as a citizen, and justly, in the +name of your forefathers, would you exact from him this penalty. Such words you +used, nevertheless, in the wickedness of your heart, to despoil and traduce the +deeds of our forefathers, and by your word you ruined all our interests in very +deed. {314} And then, as the outcome of this, you are a landed gentleman, and +have become a personage of consequence! For this, too, you must notice. Before +he had wrought every kind of mischief against the city he acknowledged that he +had been a clerk; he was grateful to you for having elected him, and behaved +himself modestly. But since he has wrought countless evils, he has drawn up his +eyebrows, and if any one speaks of 'Aeschines the late clerk', he is his enemy +at once, and declares that he has been insulted: he walks through the market- +place with his cloak trailing down to his ankles, keeping step with +Pythocles,[n] and puffing out his cheeks--already one of Philip's friends and +guest-friends, if you please--one of those who would be rid of the democracy, +and who regard the established constitution as so much tempestuous madness--he +who was once the humble servant of the Round Chamber. + +{315} I wish now to recapitulate to you summarily the ways in which Philip got +the better of you in policy, when he had taken these heaven-detested men to aid +him. It is well worth while to review and contemplate the course of his +deception as a whole. It began with his anxiety for peace; for his country was +being plundered, and his ports were closed, so that he could enjoy none of the +advantages which they afforded; and so he sent the messengers who uttered those +generous sentiments on his behalf--Neoptolemus, Aristodemus, and Ctesiphon. +{316} But so soon as we went to him as your ambassadors, he immediately hired +the defendant to second and co-operate with the abominable Philocrates, and so +get the better of those who wished to act uprightly; and he composed such a +letter to you as he thought would be most likely to help him to obtain peace. +{317} But even so, he had no better chance than before of effecting anything of +importance against you, unless he could destroy the Phocians. And this was no +easy matter. For he had now been reduced, as if by chance, to a position in +which he must either find it impossible to effect any of his designs, or else +must perforce lie and forswear himself, and make all men, whether Hellenes or +foreigners, witnesses of his own baseness. {318} For if, on the one hand, he +received the Phocians as allies, and administered the oath to them together with +yourselves, it at once became necessary for him to break his oaths to the +Thessalians and Thebans; for he had sworn to aid the latter in the reduction of +Boeotia, and the former in the recovery of their place in the Amphictyonic +Council; but if, on the other hand, he refused to receive them (as in fact he +did reject them), he thought that you would not let him cross the Pass, but +would rally to Thermopylae--and so you would have done, had you not been misled; +and if this happened, he calculated that he would be unable to march across. +{319} Nor had he to learn this from others; he had already the testimony of his +own experience. For on the occasion of his first defeat of the Phocians, when he +destroyed their mercenaries and their leader and general, Onomarchus, although +not a single human being, Hellene or foreigner, came to the aid of the Phocians, +except yourselves, so far was he from crossing the Pass and thereafter carrying +out any of his designs, that he could not even approach near it. {320} He +realized, I imagine, quite clearly, that at a time when the feelings of the +Thessalians were turning against him, and the Pheraeans (to take the first +instance) refused to accompany him--when the Thebans were being worsted and had +lost a battle, and a trophy had been erected to celebrate their defeat--it was +impossible for him to cross the Pass, if you rallied to its defence; and that if +he made the attempt he would regret it, unless some cunning could be called in +to aid him. How then, he asked, can I avoid open falsehood, and yet accomplish +all that I wish without appearing perjured? How can it be done? It can be done, +if I can get some of the Athenians to deceive the Athenians. In that case the +discredit no longer falls to my share. {321} And so Philip's own envoys first +informed you that Philip declined to receive the Phocians as allies; and then +these men took up the tale, and addressed you to the effect that it was +inconvenient to Philip to receive the Phocians as your allies openly, on account +of the Thebans and the Thessalians; but if he gets command of the situation, +they said, and is granted the Peace, he will do just what we should now request +him to promise to do. {322} So they obtained the Peace from you, by holding out +these seductive hopes, without including the Phocians. But they had still to +prevent the expedition to Thermopylae, for the purpose of which, despite the +Peace, your fifty ships were still lying ready at anchor, in order that, if +Philip marched, you might prevent him. {323} How then could it be done? what +cunning could be used in regard to this expedition in its turn? They must +deprive you of the necessary time, by bringing the crisis upon you suddenly, so +that, even if you wished to set out, you might be unable to do so. So this, it +appears, was what these men undertook to do; while for my part, as you have +often been told, I was unable to depart in advance of them, and was prevented +from sailing even when I had hired a boat for the purpose. {324} But it was +further necessary that the Phocians should come to believe in Philip and give +themselves up to him voluntarily, in order that there might be no delay in +carrying out the plan, and that no hostile decree whatever might issue from you. +'And therefore,' said he, 'the Athenian ambassadors shall announce that the +Phocians are to be preserved from destruction, so that even if any one persists +in distrusting me, he will believe them, and put himself in my hands. We will +summon the Athenians themselves, so that they may imagine that all that they +want is secured, and may pass no hostile decree: but the ambassadors shall make +such reports about us, and give such promises, as will prevent them from moving +under any circumstances.' {325} It was in this way, and by such trickery as +this, that all was ruined, through the action of these doomed wretches. For +immediately afterwards, as you know, instead of seeing Thespiae and Plataeae +repeopled, you heard that Orchomenus and Coroneia had been enslaved; instead of +Thebes being humbled and stripped of her insolence and pride, the walls of your +own allies were being razed, and it was the Thebans who were razing them--the +Thebans who, according to Aeschines' story, were as good as broken up into +villages. {326} Instead of Euboea being handed over to you in exchange for +Amphipolis, Philip is making new bases of operations against you in Euboea +itself, and is plotting incessantly against Geraestus and Megara. Instead of the +restoration of Oropus to you, we are making an expedition under arms to defend +Drymus and the country about Panactum[n]--a step which we never took so long as +the Phocians remained unharmed. {327} Instead of the restoration of the +ancestral worship in the temple, and the exaction of the debt due to the god, +the true Amphictyons are fugitives, who have been banished and their land laid +desolate; and Macedonians, foreigners, men who never were Amphictyons in the +past, are now forcing their way to recognition; while any one who mentions the +sacred treasures is thrown from the rocks, and our city has been deprived of her +right to precedence in consulting the oracle. {328} Indeed, the story of all +that has happened to the city sounds like a riddle. Philip has spoken no +falsehood, and has accomplished all that he wished: you hoped for the fulfilment +of your fondest prayers, and have seen the very opposite come to pass; you +suppose yourselves to be at peace, and have suffered more terribly than if you +had been at war; while these men have received money for all this, and up to +this very day have not paid the penalty. {329} For that the situation has been +made what it is solely by bribery, and that these men have received their price +for it all, has, I feel sure, long been plain to you in many ways; and I am +afraid that, quite against my will, I may long have been wearying you by +attempting to prove with elaborate exactness what you already know for +yourselves. {330} Yet this one point I ask you still to listen to. Is there, +gentlemen of the jury, one of the ambassadors whom Philip sent, whose statue in +bronze you would erect in the market-place? Nay, one to whom you would give +maintenance in the Town Hall, or any other of those complimentary grants with +which you honour your benefactors? I think not. And why? For you are of no +ungrateful or unfair or mean disposition. You would reply, that it is because +all that they did was done in the interest of Philip, and nothing in your own; +and the reply would be true and just. {331} Do you imagine then that, when such +are your sentiments, Philip's are not also such? Do you imagine that he gives +all these magnificent presents because your ambassadors conducted their mission +honourably and uprightly with a view to _your_ interest? Impossible. Think of +Hegesippus, and the manner in which he and the ambassadors who accompanied him +were received by Philip. To go no further, he banished Xenocleides, the well- +known poet, by public proclamation, because he received the ambassadors, his own +fellow citizens. For so it is that he behaves to men who honestly say what they +think on your behalf: while to those who have sold themselves he behaves as he +has to these men. Do we then need witnesses? do we need stronger proofs than +these to establish my conclusions? Will any one be able to steal these +conclusions from your minds? + +{332} Now I was told a most extraordinary thing just now by some one who +accosted me in front of the Court, namely, that the defendant is prepared to +accuse Chares, and that by such methods and such arguments as that, he hopes to +deceive you. I will not lay undue stress on the fact that Chares,[n] subjected +to every form of trial, was found to have acted on your behalf, so far as was in +his power, with faithfulness and loyalty, while his frequent shortcomings were +due to those who, for money, were cruelly injuring your cause. But I will go +much further. Let it be granted that all that the defendant will say of Chares +is true. {333} Even so it is utterly absurd that Aeschines should accuse him. +For I do not lay the blame on Aeschines for anything that was done in the course +of the war--it is the generals who have to account for all such proceedings--nor +do I hold him responsible for the city's having made peace. So far I acquit him +of everything. What then do I allege, and at what point does my accusation +begin? I accuse him of having supported Philocrates, at the time when the city +was making peace, instead of supporting those who proposed what was for your +real good. I accuse him of taking bribes, and subsequently, on the Second +Embassy, of wasting time, and of not carrying out any of your instructions. I +accuse him of cheating the city, and ruining everything, by the suggestion of +hopes that Philip would do all that we desired; and then I accuse him of +speaking afterwards in defence of one of whom[n] all warned him to beware, on +account of the great crimes of which he had been guilty. {334} These are my +charges, and these are what you must bear in mind. For a Peace that was honest +and fair, and men that had sold nothing and had told no falsehoods afterwards, I +would even have commended, and would have bidden you crown them. But the +injuries which some general may have done you have nothing to do with the +present examination. Where is the general who has caused the loss of Halus? or +of the Phocians? or of Doriscus? or of Cersobleptes? or of the Sacred Mountain? +or of Thermopylae? Who has secured Philip a road to Attica that leads entirely +through the country of allies and friends? who has given Coroneia and Orchomenus +and Euboea to others? who has all but given Megara to the enemy, only recently? +who has made the Thebans powerful? {335} Not one of all these heavy losses was +the work of the generals; nor does Philip hold any of these places because you +were persuaded to concede it to him by the treaty of peace. The losses are due +to these men and to their corruption. If then he evades these points, and tries +to mislead you by speaking of every other possible subject, this is how you must +receive his attempt. 'We are not sitting in judgement upon any general,' you +must say, 'nor are you on your trial for the things of which you speak. Do not +tell us whether some one else may not also be responsible for the ruin of the +Phocians: prove to us that no responsibility attaches to yourself. Why do you +tell us _now_ of the alleged iniquities of Demosthenes, instead of accusing him +when his report was under examination? For such an omission alone you deserve to +perish. {336} Do not speak of the beauty of peace, nor of its advantages. No one +holds you responsible for the city's having made peace. But show that it was not +a shameful and discreditable peace; that we have not since been deceived in many +ways; that all was not lost. It is for all these things that the responsibility +has been proved to be yours. And why, even to this hour, do you praise the man +who has done us all this evil?' If you keep a watch upon him thus, he will have +nothing to say; and then he will lift up his voice here, in spite of all his +vocal exercises, to no purpose. + +{337} And yet perhaps it is necessary for me to speak about his voice also. For +of this too, I am told, he is extremely proud, and expects to carry you away by +his declamation. But seeing that you used to drive him away and hiss him out of +the theatre and almost stone him, when he was performing the tragic story of +Thyestes or of the Trojan War, so that at last he gave up his third-rate +playing, you would be acting in the most extraordinary way if, now that he has +wrought countless ills, not on the stage, but in the most important affairs in +the public life of the state, you listened to him for his fine voice. {338} By +no means must you do this, or give way to any foolish sentiment. Rather reflect, +that if you were testing the qualifications of a herald, you would then indeed +look for a fine voice; but when you are testing those of an ambassador, or a man +who claims the administration of any public business, you must look for an +upright man--a man who bears himself proudly indeed, as your representative, but +seeks no more than equality with yourselves--as I myself refused to pay respect +to Philip, but did pay respect to the captives, whom I saved, and never for a +moment drew back; whereas Aeschines rolled at Philip's feet, and chanted his +paeans, while he looks down upon you. {339} And further, whenever you notice +that cleverness or a good voice or any other natural advantage has been given to +an honest and public-spirited man, you ought all to congratulate him and help +him to cultivate his gift; for the gift is an advantage in which you all share, +as well as he. But when the gift is found in a corrupt and villainous man, who +can never resist the chance of gain, then you should exclude him from your +presence, and give a harsh and hostile reception to his words: for villainy, +which wins from you the reputation of ability, is the enemy of the State. {340} +You see what great troubles have fallen upon the city, through those qualities +which have brought renown to Aeschines. But whereas all other faculties are more +or less independent, the gift of eloquence, when it meets with hostility from +you who listen, is a broken thing. Listen, then, to the defendant as you would +listen to a corrupt villain, who will not speak a single word of truth. + +{341} Observe also that the conviction of the defendant is in every way +expedient, not only on all other grounds, but even when you consider our +relations with Philip himself. For if ever Philip finds himself compelled to +give the city any of her rights, he will change his methods. As it is, he has +chosen to deceive the people as a whole, and to show his favours to a few +persons; whereas, if he learns that these men have perished, he will prefer for +the future to act in the interest of yourselves collectively, in whose hands all +power rests. {342} If, however, he intends to persist in his present domineering +and outrageous insolence, you will, by getting rid of these men, have rid the +city of those who would do anything in the world for him. For when they have +acted as they have done, with the expectation of having to pay the penalty in +their minds, what do you think they will do, if you relax your severity towards +them? Where is the Euthycrates,[n] or the Lasthenes, or the traitor of any +description, whom they will not outdo? {343} And who among all the rest will not +be a worse citizen, when he sees that, for those who have sold themselves, the +friendship of Philip serves, in consequence, for revenue, for reputation, and +for capital; while to those who have conducted themselves uprightly, and have +spent their own money as well, the consequences are trouble, hatred, and ill +will from a certain party. Let it not be so. It is not for your good--whether +you regard your reputation or your duty towards Heaven or your safety or any +other object, that you should acquit the defendant; but rather that you should +avenge yourselves upon him, and make him an example in the eyes of all your +fellow citizens and of the whole Hellenic world. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] This body was composed of life-members, the archons passing into it annually +at the conclusion of their term of office. A certain religious solemnity +attached to it, and it was generally respected as a public-spirited and high- +minded body. + +[2] [Greek: p_os: ti;]. + +[3] Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 761. + +[4] Euripides, _Phoenix_ fragment. + +[5] [Greek: adeia, aischuv_e.]. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Public Orations of Demosthenes, +volume 1, by Demosthenes + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PUBLIC ORATIONS OF *** + +This file should be named 7pbd110.txt or 7pbd110.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7pbd111.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7pbd110a.txt + +Anne Soulard, Jon Ingram and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Public Orations of Demosthenes, volume 1 + +Author: Demosthenes + +Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9060] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on September 2, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PUBLIC ORATIONS OF *** + + + + +Anne Soulard, Jon Ingram and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +THE PUBLIC ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES +IN TWO VOLUMES +VOL I + +TRANSLATED BY +ARTHUR WALLACE PICKARD + + + + +PREFACE + +The translations included in this volume were written at various times during +the last ten years for use in connexion with College Lectures, and a long +holiday, for which I have to thank the Trustees of the Balliol College Endowment +Fund, as well as the Master and Fellows of Balliol College, has enabled me to +revise them and to furnish them with brief introductions and notes. Only those +speeches are included which are generally admitted to be the work of +Demosthenes, and the spurious documents contained in the MSS. of the Speech on +the Crown are omitted. The speeches are arranged in chronological order, and the +several introductions to them are intended to supply an outline of the history +of the period, sufficient to provide a proper setting for the speeches, but not +more detailed than was necessary for this purpose. No discussion of conflicting +evidence has been introduced, and the views which are expressed on the character +and work of Demosthenes must necessarily seem somewhat dogmatic, when given +without the reasons for them. I hope, however, before long to treat the life of +Demosthenes more fully in another form. The estimate here given of his character +as a politician falls midway between the extreme views of Grote and Schäfer on +the one hand, and Beloch and Holm on the other. + +I have tried to render the speeches into such English as a political orator of +the present day might use, without attempting to impart to them any antique +colouring, such as the best-known English translations either had from the first +or have acquired by lapse of time. It is of the essence of political oratory +that it is addressed to contemporaries, and the translation of it should +therefore be into contemporary English; though the necessity of retaining some +of the modes of expression which are peculiar to Greek oratory and political +life makes it impossible to produce completely the appearance of an English +orator's work. The qualities of Demosthenes' eloquence sometimes suggest rather +the oratory of the pulpit than that of the hustings or that of Parliament and of +the law-courts. I cannot hope to have wholly succeeded in my task; but it seemed +to be worth undertaking, and I hope that the work will not prove to have been +altogether useless. + +I have made very little use of other translations; but I must acknowledge a debt +to Lord Brougham's version of the Speeches on the Chersonese and on the Crown, +which, though often defective from the point of view of scholarship and based on +faulty texts, are (together with his notes) very inspiring. I have also, at one +time or another, consulted most of the standard German, French, and English +editions of Demosthenes. I cannot now distinguish how much I owe to each; but I +am conscious of a special debt to the editions of the late Professor Henri Weil, +and of Sir J.E. Sandys, and (in the Speech on the Crown) to that of Professor +W.W. Goodwin. I also owe a few phrases in the earliest speeches to Professor +W.R. Hardie, whose lectures on Demosthenes I attended twenty years ago. My +special thanks are due to my friend Mr. P.E. Matheson of New College, for his +kindness in reading the proof-sheets, and making a number of suggestions, which +have been of great assistance to me. + +The text employed has been throughout that of the late Mr. S.H. Butcher in the +_Bibliotheca Classica Oxoniensis_. Any deviations from this are noted in their +place. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION i. 7 + +LIST OF SPEECHES TRANSLATED + +Traditional Order In this Edition +ORATION I. OLYNTHIAC I i. 87 + II. OLYNTHIAC II i. 99 + III. OLYNTHIAC III i. 109 + IV. PHILIPPIC I i. 68 + V. ON THE PEACE i. 120 + VI. PHILIPPIC II i. 133 + VIII. ON THE CHERSONESE ii. 3 + IX. PHILIPPIC III ii. 26 + XIV. ON THE NAVAL BOARDS i. 31 + XV. FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE RHODIANS i. 56 + XVI. FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS i. 45 + XVIII. ON THE CROWN ii. 47 + XIX. ON THE EMBASSY i. 144 + +NOTES ii. 149 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Demosthenes, the son of Demosthenes of Paeania in Attica, a rich and highly +respected factory-owner, was born in or about the year 384 B.C. He was early +left an orphan; his guardians mismanaged his property for their own advantage; +and although, soon after coming of age in 366, he took proceedings against them +and was victorious in the law-courts, he appears to have recovered comparatively +little from them. In preparing for these proceedings he had the assistance of +Isaeus, a teacher and writer of speeches who was remarkable for his knowledge of +law, his complete mastery of all the aspects of any case with which he had to +do, and his skill in dealing with questions of ownership and inheritance. +Demosthenes' speeches against his guardians show plainly the influence of +Isaeus, and the teacher may have developed in his pupil the thoroughness and the +ingenuity in handling legal arguments which afterwards became characteristic of +his work. + +Apart from this litigation with his guardians, we know little of Demosthenes' +youth and early manhood. Various stories have come down to us (for the most part +not on the best authority), of his having been inspired to aim at an orator's +career by the eloquence and fame of Callistratus; of his having overcome serious +physical defects by assiduous practice; of his having failed, nevertheless, +owing to imperfections of delivery, in his early appearances before the people, +and having been enabled to remedy these by the instruction of the celebrated +actor Satyrus; and of his close study of the _History_ of Thucydides. Upon the +latter point the evidence of his early style leaves no room for doubt, and the +same studies may have contributed to the skill and impressiveness with which, in +nearly every oration, he appeals to the events of the past, and sums up the +lessons of history. Whether he came personally under the influence either of +Plato, the philosopher, or of Isocrates, the greatest rhetorical teacher of his +time, and a political pamphleteer of high principles but little practical +insight, is much more doubtful. The two men were almost as different in +temperament and aims as it was possible to be, but Demosthenes' familiarity with +the published speeches of Isocrates, and with the rhetorical principles which +Isocrates taught and followed, can scarcely be questioned. + +In the early years of his manhood, Demosthenes undertook the composition of +speeches for others who were engaged in litigation. This task required not only +a very thorough knowledge of law, but the power of assuming, as it were, the +character of each separate client, and writing in a tone appropriate to it; and, +not less, the ability to interest and to rouse the active sympathy of juries, +with whom feeling was perhaps as influential as legal justification. This part, +however, of Demosthenes' career only concerns us here in so far as it was an +admirable training for his later work in the larger sphere of politics, in which +the same qualities of adaptability and of power both to argue cogently and to +appeal to the emotions effectively were required in an even higher degree. + +At the time when Demosthenes' interest in public affairs was beginning to take +an active form, Athens was suffering from the recent loss of some of her most +powerful allies. In the year 358 B.C. she had counted within the sphere of her +influence not only the islands of Lemnos, Imbros, and Scyros (which had been +guaranteed to her by the Peace of Antalcidas in 387), but also the chief cities +of Euboea, the islands of Chios, Cos, Rhodes, and Samos, Mytilene in Lesbos, the +towns of the Chersonese, Byzantium (a city of the greatest commercial +importance), and a number of stations on the south coast of Thrace, as well as +Pydna, Potidaea, Methone, and the greater part of the country bordering upon the +Thermaic Gulf. But her failure to observe the terms of alliance, laid down when +the new league was founded in 378, had led to a revolt, which ended in 355 or +354 in the loss to her of Chios, Cos, Rhodes, and Byzantium, and of some of the +ablest of her own commanders, and left her treasury almost empty. About the same +time Mytilene and Corcyra also took the opportunity to break with her. Moreover, +her position in the Thermaic region was threatened first by Olynthus, at the +head of the Chalcidic League, which included over thirty towns; and secondly by +Philip, the newly-established King of Macedonia, who seemed likely to displace +both Olynthus and Athens from their positions of commanding influence.[1] + +Nevertheless, Athens, though unable to face a strong combination, was probably +the most powerful single state in Greece. In her equipment and capacity for +naval warfare she had no rival, and certainly no other state could vie with her +in commercial activity and prosperity. The power of Sparta in the Peloponnese +had declined greatly. The establishment of Megalopolis as the centre of a +confederacy of Arcadian tribes, and of Messene as an independent city commanding +a region once entirely subject to Sparta, had seriously weakened her position; +while at the same time her ambition to recover her supremacy kept alive a +feeling of unrest throughout the Peloponnese. Of the other states of South +Greece, Argos was hostile to Sparta, Elis to the Arcadians; Corinth and other +less important cities were not definitely attached to any alliance, but were not +powerful enough to carry out any serious movement alone. In North Greece, +Thebes, though she lacked great leaders, was still a great power, whose +authority throughout Boeotia had been strengthened by the complete or partial +annihilation of Platacae, Thespiae, Orchomenus,[2] and Coroneia. In Athens the +ill feeling against Thebes was strong, owing to the occupation by the Thebans of +Oropus,[2] a frontier town which Athens claimed, and their treatment of the +towns just mentioned, towards which the Athenians were kindly disposed. The +Phocians, who had until recently been unwilling allies of Thebes, were now +hostile and not insignificant neighbours, and about this time entered into +relations with both Sparta and Athens. The subject of contention was the +possession or control of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, which the Phocians had +recently taken by force from the Delphians, who were supported by Thebes; and in +the 'Sacred War' to which this act (which was considered to be sacrilege) gave +rise in 355 B.C., the Thebans and Locrians fought against the Phocians in the +name of the Amphictyonic Council, a body (composed of representatives of tribes +and states of very unequal importance[3]) to which the control of the temple +traditionally belonged. Thessaly appears to have been at this time more or less +under Theban influence, but was immediately dominated by the tyrants of Pherae, +though the several cities seem each to have possessed a nominally independent +government. The Greek peoples were disunited in fact and unfitted for union by +temperament. The twofold desire, felt by almost all the more advanced Greek +peoples, for independence on the one hand, and for 'hegemony' or leadership +among other peoples, on the other, rendered any effective combination +impossible, and made the relations of states to one another uncertain and +inconstant. While each people paid respect to the spirit of autonomy, when their +own autonomy was in question, they were ready to violate it without scruple when +they saw their way to securing a predominant position among their neighbours; +and although the ideal of Panhellenic unity had been put before Greece by +Gorgias and Isocrates, its realization did not go further than the formation of +leagues of an unstable character, each subject, as a rule, to the more or less +tyrannical domination of some one member. + +Probably the power which was most generally feared in the Greek world was that +of the King of Persia. Several times in recent years (and particularly in 387 +and 367) he had been requested to make and enforce a general settlement of +Hellenic affairs. The settlement of 387 (called the King's Peace, or the Peace +of Antalcidas, after the Spartan officer who negotiated it) had ordained the +independence of the Greek cities, small and great, with the exception of those +in Asia Minor, which were to form part of the Persian Empire, and of Lemnos, +Imbros, and Scyros, which were to belong to Athens as before. The attempt to +give effect to the arrangement negotiated in 367 failed, and the terms of the +Peace of Antalcidas, though it was still appealed to, when convenient, as a +charter of liberty, also came to be disregarded. But there was always a sense of +the possibility or the danger of provoking the great king to exert his strength, +or at least to use his wealth, to the detriment of some or all of the Greek +states; though at the moment of which we are speaking (about 355) the Persian +Empire itself was suffering from recent disorders and revolutions, and the king +had little leisure for interfering in the affairs of Greece. + +It was to the department of foreign and inter-Hellenic affairs that Demosthenes +principally devoted himself. His earliest political speeches, however, were +composed and delivered in furtherance of prosecutions for the crime of proposing +illegal legislation. These were the speeches against Androtion (spoken by +Diodorus in 355) and against Leptines (in 354). Both these were written to +denounce measures which Demosthenes regarded as dishonest or unworthy of +Athenian traditions. In the former he displays that desire for clean-handed +administration which is so prominent in some of his later speeches; and in the +prosecution of Leptines he shows his anxiety that Athens should retain her +reputation for good faith. Both speeches, like those of the year 352 against +Timocrates (spoken by Diodorus), and against Aristocrates (spoken by Euthycles), +are remarkable for thoroughness of argument and for the skill which is displayed +in handling legal and political questions, though, like almost all Athenian +forensic orations, they are sometimes sophistical in argument. + +The first speech which is directly devoted to questions of external policy is +that on the Naval Boards in 354; and this is followed within the next two years +by speeches delivered in support of appeals made to Athens by the people of +Megalopolis and by the exiled democratic party of Rhodes. From these speeches it +appears that the general lines of Demosthenes' policy were already determined. +He was in opposition to Eubulus, who, after the disastrous termination of the +war with the allies, had become the leading statesman in Athens. The strength of +Eubulus lay in his freedom from all illusion as to the position in which Athens +stood, in his ability as a financier, and in his readiness to take any measures +which would enable him to carry out his policy. He saw that the prime necessity +of the moment was to recruit the financial and material strength of the city; +that until this should be effected, she was quite incapable of carrying on war +with any other power; and that she could only recover her strength through +peace. In this policy he had the support of the well-to-do classes, who suffered +heavily in time of war from taxation and the disturbance of trade. On the other +hand, the sentiments of the masses were imperialistic and militant. We gather +that there were plenty of orators who made a practice of appealing to the +glorious traditions of the past and the claim always made by Athens to +leadership among the Greek states. To buy off the opposition which his policy +might be expected to encounter, Eubulus distributed funds freely to the people, +in the shape of 'Festival-money', adopting the methods employed before him by +demagogues, very different from himself, in order that he might override the +real sentiments of the democracy; and in spite of the large amounts thus spent +he did in fact succeed, in the course of a few years, in collecting a +considerable sum without resorting to extraordinary taxation, in greatly +increasing the navy and in enlarging the dockyards. For the success of this +policy it was absolutely necessary to avoid all entanglement in war, except +under the strongest compulsion. The appeals of the Megalopolitans and the +Rhodians, to yield to which would probably have meant war with Sparta and with +Persia, must be rejected. Even in dealing with Philip, who was making himself +master of the Athenian allies on the Thermaic coast, the fact of the weakness of +Athens must be recognized, and all idea of a great expedition against Philip +must be abandoned for the present. At the same time, some necessary measures of +precaution were not neglected. It was essential to secure the route to the +Euxine, over which the Athenian corn-trade passed, if corn was not to be sold at +famine prices. For this purpose, therefore, alliance was made with the Thracian +prince, Cersobleptes; and when Philip threatened Heraeon Teichos on the +Propontis, an expedition was prepared, and was only abandoned because Philip +himself was forced to desist from his attempt by illness. Similarly, when Philip +appeared likely to cross the Pass of Thermopylae in 352, an Athenian force was +sent (on the proposal of Diophantus, a supporter of Eubulus) to prevent him. The +failure of Eubulus and his party to give effective aid to Olynthus against +Philip was due to the more pressing necessity of attempting to recover control +of Euboea: it had clearly been their intention to save Olynthus, if possible. +But when this had proved impossible, and the attempt to form a Hellenic league +against Philip had also failed, facts had once more to be recognized; and, since +Athens was now virtually isolated, peace must be made with Philip on the only +terms which he would accept--that each side should keep what it _de facto_ +possessed at the time. + +Demosthenes was generally in opposition to Eubulus and his party, of which +Aeschines (once an actor and afterwards a clerk, but a man of education and +great natural gifts) was one of the ablest members. Demosthenes was inspired by +the traditions of the past, but had a much less vague conception of the moral to +be drawn from them than had the multitude. Athens, for him as for them, was to +be the first state in Hellas; she was above all to be the protectress of +democracy everywhere, against both absolutism and oligarchy, and the leader of +the Hellenes in resistance to foreign aggression. But, unlike the multitude, +Demosthenes saw that this policy required the greatest personal effort and +readiness for sacrifice on the part of every individual; and he devotes his +utmost energies to the task of arousing his countrymen to the necessary pitch of +enthusiasm, and of effecting such reforms in administration and finance as, in +his opinion, would make the realization of his ideal for Athens possible. In the +speeches for the Megalopolitans and the Rhodians, the nature of this ideal is +already becoming clear both in its Athenian and in its Panhellenic aspects. But +so soon as it appeared that Philip, at the head of the half-barbarian +Macedonians, and not Athens, was likely to become the predominant power in the +Hellenic world, it was against Philip that all his efforts were directed; and +although in 346 he is practically at one with the party of Eubulus in his +recognition of the necessity of peace, he is eager, when the opportunity seems +once more to offer itself, to resume the conflict, and, when it is resumed, to +carry it through to the end. + +We have then before us the sharp antagonism of two types of statesmanship. The +strength of the one lies in the recognition of actual facts, and the avoidance +of all projects which seem likely, under existing circumstances, to fail. The +other is of a more sanguine type, and believes in the power of enthusiasm and +self-sacrifice to transform the existing facts into something better, and to win +success against all odds. Statesmen of the former type are always attacked as +unpatriotic and mean-spirited; those of the latter, as unpractical and reckless. +There is truth and falsehood in both accusations: but since no statesman has +ever combined all the elements of statesmanship in a perfect and just +proportion, and since neither prudence and clear-sightedness, nor enthusiastic +and generous sentiment, can ever be dispensed with in the conduct of affairs +without loss, a larger view will attach little discredit to either type. While, +therefore, we may view with regret some of the methods which both Demosthenes +and Aeschines at times condescended to use in their conflicts with one another, +and with no less regret the disastrous result of the policy which ultimately +carried the day, we need not hesitate to give their due to both of the +contending parties: nor, while we recognize that Eubulus and Phocion (his +sturdiest supporter in the field and in counsel) took the truer view of the +situation, and of the character of the Athenians as they were, need we (as it is +now fashionable to do) denounce the orator who strove with unstinting personal +effort and self-sacrifice to rouse the Athenians into a mood in which they could +and would realize the ideal to which they, no less than he, professed their +devotion. + +But the difficulties in the way of such a realization were wellnigh insuperable. +Neither the political nor the military system of Athens was adapted to such a +policy. The Sovereign Assembly, though capable of sensible and energetic action +at moments of special danger, was more likely to be moved by feeling and +prejudice than by businesslike argument, particularly at a time when the +tendency of the best educated and most intelligent men was to withdraw from +participation in public life; and meeting, as the Assembly did (unless specially +summoned), only at stated intervals, it was incapable of taking such rapid, +well-timed, and decisive action as Philip could take, simply because he was a +single man, sole master of his own policy, and personally in command of his own +forces. The publicity which necessarily attached to the discussions of the +Assembly was a disadvantage at a time when many plans would better have been +kept secret; and rapid modifications of policy, to suit sudden changes in the +situation, were almost impossible. Again, while no subjects are so unsuited +under any circumstances for popular discussion as foreign and military affairs, +the absence in Athens of a responsible ministry greatly increased the +difficulties of her position. It is true that the Controller of the Festival +Fund (whose office gradually became more and more important) was now appointed +for four years at a time, while all other offices were annual; and that he and +his friends, and their regular opponents, were generally ready to take the lead +in making proposals to the Council or the Assembly. But if they chose to remain +silent, they could do so;[4] no one was bound to make any proposal at all; and, +on the other hand, any one might do so. With such a want of system, far too much +was left to chance or to the designs of interested persons. Moreover, the +Assembly felt itself under no obligation to follow for any length of time any +lead which might be given to it, or to maintain any continuity or consistency +between its own decrees. In modern times, a minister, brought into power by the +will of the majority of the people, can reckon for a considerable period upon +the more or less loyal support of the majority for himself and his official +colleagues. In Athens the leader of the moment had to be perpetually adapting +himself afresh to the mood of the Assembly, and even to deceive it, in order +that he might lead at all, or carry out the policy which, in his opinion, his +country's need required. It is therefore a remarkable thing that both Eubulus +and Demosthenes succeeded for many years in maintaining a line of action as +consistent as that taken by practical men can ever be. + +The fact that the Council of Five Hundred, which acted as a standing committee +of the people, and prepared business for the Assembly and was responsible for +the details of measures passed by the Assembly in general form, was chosen by +lot and changed annually, as did practically all the civil and the military +officials (though the latter might be re-elected), was all against efficiency +and continuity of policy.[5] After the system of election by lot, the most +characteristic feature of the Athenian democracy was the responsibility of +statesmen and generals to the law-courts.[6] Any citizen might accuse them upon +charges nominally limited in scope, but often serving in reality to bring their +whole career into question. Had it been certain that the courts would only +punish incompetence or misconduct, and not failure as such, little harm would +have resulted. But although there were very many acquittals in political trials, +the uncertainty of the issue was so great, and the sentences inflicted upon the +condemned so severe (commonly involving banishment at least), that the liability +to trial as a criminal must often have deterred the statesman and the general +from taking the most necessary risks; while the condemnation of the accused had +usually the result of driving a really able man out of the country, and +depriving his fellow countrymen of services which might be urgently required +when they were no longer available. + +The financial system was also ill adapted for the purposes of a people +constantly liable to war. The funds required for the bare needs of a time of +peace seem indeed to have been sufficiently provided from permanent sources of +income (such as the silver mines, the rent of public lands, court fees and +fines, and various indirect taxes): but those needed for war had to be met by a +direct tax upon property, levied _ad hoc_ whenever the necessity arose, and not +collected without delays and difficulties. And although the equipment of ships +for service was systematically managed under the trierarchic laws,[7] it was +still subject to delays no less serious. There was no regular system of +contribution to State funds, and no systematic accumulation of a reserve to meet +military needs. The raising of money by means of loans at interest to the State +was only adopted in Greece in a few isolated instances:[8] and the practice of +annually distributing surplus funds to the people,[9] however necessary or +excusable under the circumstances, was wholly contrary to sound finance. + +An even greater evil was the dependence of the city upon mercenary forces and +generals, whose allegiance was often at the call of the highest bidder, and in +consequence was seldom reliable. There is no demand which Demosthenes makes with +greater insistence, than the demand that the citizens themselves shall serve +with the army. At a moment of supreme danger, they might do so. But in fact +Athens had become more and more an industrial state, and men were not willing to +leave their business to take care of itself for considerable periods, in order +to go out and fight, unless the danger was very urgent, or the interests at +stake of vital importance; particularly now that the length of campaigns had +become greater and the seasons exempted from military operations shorter. In +many minds the spread of culture, and of the ideal of self-culture, had produced +a type of individualism indifferent to public concerns, and contemptuous of +political and military ambitions. Moreover, the methods of warfare had undergone +great improvement; in most branches of the army the trained skill of the +professional soldier was really necessary; and it was not possible to leave the +olive-yard or the counting-house and become an efficient fighter without more +ado. But the expensiveness of the mercenary forces; the violent methods by which +they obtained supplies from friends and neutrals, as well as foes, if, as often +happened, their pay was in arrear; and the dependence of the city upon the +goodwill of generals and soldiers who could without much difficulty find +employment under other masters, were evils which were bound to hamper any +attempt to give effect to a well-planned and far-sighted scheme of action. + +It also resulted from the Athenian system of government that the general, while +obviously better informed of the facts of the military situation than any one +else could be, and at the same time always liable to be brought to trial in case +of failure, had little influence upon policy, unless he could find an effective +speaker to represent him. In the Assembly and in the law-courts (where the +juries were large enough to be treated in the same manner as the Assembly +itself) the orator who could win the people's ear was all powerful, and expert +knowledge could only make itself felt through the medium of oratory. + +A constitution which gave so much power to the orator had grave disadvantages. +The temptation to work upon the feelings rather than to appeal to the reason of +the audience was very strong, and no charge is more commonly made by one orator +against another than that of deceiving or attempting to deceive the people. It +is, indeed, very difficult to judge how far an Athenian Assembly was really +taken in by sophistical or dishonest arguments: but it is quite certain that +such arguments were continually addressed to it; and the main body of the +citizens can scarcely have had that first-hand knowledge of facts, which would +enable them to criticize the orator's statements. Again, the oration appealed to +the people as a performance, no less than as a piece of reasoning. Ancient +political oratory resembled the oratory of the pulpit at the present day, not +only because it appealed perpetually to the moral sense, and was in fact a kind +of preaching; but also because the main difficulty of the ancient orator and the +modern preacher was the same: for the Athenians liked being preached at, as the +modern congregation 'enjoys' a good sermon, and were, therefore, almost equally +immune against conversion. The conflicts of rival orators were regarded mainly +as an entertainment. The speaker who was most likely to carry the voting (except +when a great crisis had roused the Assembly to seriousness) was the one who +found specious and apparently moral reasons for doing what would give the +audience least trouble; and consequently one who, like Demosthenes, desired to +stir them up to action and personal sacrifices, had always an uphill fight: and +if he also at times 'deceived the people' or employed sophistical arguments in +order to secure results which he believed to be for their good, we must remember +the difficulty (which, in spite of the wide circulation of authentic +information, is at least equally great at the present day) of putting the true +reasons for or against a policy, before those who, whether from want of +education or from lack of training in the subordination of feeling to thought, +are not likely to understand or to listen to them. Nor, if we grant the +genuineness of Demosthenes' conviction as to the desirability of the end for +which he contended, can many statesmen be pointed out, who have not been at +least as guilty as he in their choice of means. That he did not solve the +problem, how to lead a democracy by wholly honest means, is the less to his +discredit, in that the problem still remains unsolved. + +It should be added that with an audience like the Athenian, whose aesthetic +sensitiveness was doubtless far greater than that of any modern assembly, +delivery counted for much. Aeschines' fine voice was a real danger to +Demosthenes, and Demosthenes himself spoke of delivery, or the skilled acting of +his part, as the all-important condition of an orator's success. But it is clear +that this can have been no advantage from the standpoint of the public interest. + +In the law-courts the drawbacks to which the commanding influence of oratory was +liable were intensified. In the Assembly a certain amount of reticence and self- +restraint was imposed by custom: an opponent could not be attacked by name or on +purely personal grounds; and an appearance of impartiality was commonly assumed. +But in the courts much greater play was allowed to feeling; and the arguments +were often much more disingenuous, not only because the personal interests at +stake made the speaker more unscrupulous, but also, perhaps, because the juries +ordinarily included a larger proportion of the poorer, the idler, and the less- +educated citizens than the Assembly. The legal question was often that to which +the jury were encouraged to pay least attention, and the condemnation or +acquittal of the accused was demanded upon grounds quite extraneous to the +indictment. (The two court-speeches contained in these volumes afford abundant +illustrations of this.) Personalities were freely admitted, of a kind which it +is difficult to excuse and impossible to justify. To attempt to blacken the +personal character of an opponent by false stories about his parentage and his +youth, and by the ascription to him and his relations of nameless immoralities, +is a very different thing from the assignment of wrong motives for his political +actions, though even in purely political controversy the ancients far exceeded +the utmost limits of modern invective. And this both Demosthenes and Aeschines +do freely. There is also reason to suspect that some of the tales which each +tells of the other's conduct, both while serving as ambassadors and on other +occasions, may be fabrications. The descriptive passages for which such +falsehoods gave an opening had doubtless their dramatic value in the oratorical +performance: possibly they were even expected by the listeners; but their +presence in the speeches does not increase our admiration either for the speaker +or for his audience. + +All the force of Demosthenes' oratory was unable to defeat the great antagonist +of his country. To Philip of Macedon failure was an inconceivable idea. Resident +during three impressionable years of his youth at Thebes, he had there learned, +from the example of Epaminondas, what a single man could do: and he proceeded to +each of the three great tasks of his life--the welding of the rough Macedonians +into one great engine of war, the unification of Greece under his own +leadership, and the preparation for the conquest of the East by a united Greece +and Macedonia--without either faltering in face of difficulties, or hesitating, +out of any scrupulosity, to use the most effective means towards the end which +he wished at the moment to achieve; though in fact the charges of bad faith made +against him by Demosthenes are found to be exaggerated, when they are +impartially examined. Philip intended to become master of Greece: Demosthenes +realized this early, and, with all the Hellenic detestation of a master, +resolved to oppose him to the end. Philip was, indeed, in spite of the barbarous +traits which revealed themselves in him at times, not only gracious and +courteous by nature, but a sincere admirer of Hellenic--in other words, of +Athenian--culture; the relations between his house and the people of Athens had +generally been friendly; and there was little reason to suppose that, if he +conquered Athens, he would treat her less handsomely than in fact he did. Yet +this could not justify one who regarded freedom as Demosthenes regarded it, in +making any concession not extorted by the necessities of the situation: his duty +and his country's duty, as he conceived it, was to defeat the enemy of Hellenic +independence or to fall in the attempt. Nor was it for him to consider (as +Isocrates might) whether or no Philip's plans had now developed into, or could +be transformed into, a beneficent scheme for the conquest of the barbarian world +by a united Hellas, if the union was to be achieved at the price of Athenian +liberty. It is because, in spite of errors and of the questionable methods to +which he sometimes stooped, Demosthenes devoted himself unflinchingly to the +cause of freedom, for Athens and for the Hellenes as a whole, that he is +entitled, not merely as an orator but as a politician, to the admiration which +posterity has generally accorded him. It is, above all, by the second part of +his career, when his policy of antagonism to Philip had been accepted by the +people, and he was no longer in opposition but, as it were, in office, that +Demosthenes himself claims to be justified; and Aeschines' attempt to invalidate +the claim is for the most part unconvincing. + +It is not easy to describe in a few paragraphs the characteristics of +Demosthenes as an orator. That he stands on the highest eminence that an orator +has ever reached is generally admitted. But this is not to say that he was +wholly free from faults. His contemporaries, as well as later Greek critics, +were conscious of a certain artificiality in his eloquence. It was, indeed, the +general custom of Athenian orators to prepare their speeches with great care: +the speakers who, like Aeschines and Demades, were able to produce a great +effect without preparation, and the rhetoricians who, like Alcidamas, thought of +the studied oration as but a poor imitation of true eloquence, were only a small +minority; and in general, not only was the arrangement of topics carefully +planned, but the greatest attention was paid to the sound and rhythm of the +sentences, and to the appropriateness and order of the words. The orator had +also his collections of passages on themes which were likely to recur +constantly, and of arguments on either side of many questions; and from these he +selected such passages as he required, and adapted them to his particular +purpose. The rhetorical teachers appear to have supplied their pupils with such +collections; we find a number of instances of the repetition of the same passage +in different speeches, and an abundance of arguments formed exactly on the model +of the precepts contained in rhetorical handbooks.[10] Yet with all this art +nothing was more necessary than that a speech should appear to be spontaneous +and innocent of guile. There was a general mistrust of the 'clever speaker', who +by study or rhetorical training had learned the art of arguing to any point, and +making the worse cause appear the better. To have studied his part too +carefully--even to have worked up illustrations from history and poetry--might +expose the orator to suspicion.[11] Demosthenes, in spite of his frequent +attempts to deprecate such suspicion, did not succeed wholly in keeping on the +safe side. Aeschines describes him as a wizard and a sophist, who enjoyed +deceiving the people or the jury. Another of his opponents levelled at him the +taunt that his speeches 'smelt of the lamp'. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, one of +the best of the ancient critics, says that the artificiality of Demosthenes and +his master Isaeus was apt to excite suspicion, even when they had a good case. +Nor can a modern reader altogether escape the same impression. Sometimes, +especially in the earlier speeches to the Assembly, the argument seems unreal, +the joints between the previously prepared commonplaces or illustrations and +their application to the matter in hand are too visible, the language is +artificially phrased, and wanting in spontaneity and ease. There are also parts +of the court speeches in which the orator seems to have calculated out all the +possible methods of meeting a particular case, and to be applying them in turn +with more ingenuity than convincingness. An appearance of unreality also arises +at times (again principally in the earlier speeches) from a certain want of +imagination. He attributes feelings and motives to others, which they were +really most unlikely to have entertained, and argues from them. Some of the +sentiments which he expects Artaxerxes or Artemisia to feel (in the Speeches on +the Naval Boards and for the Rhodians) were certainly not to be looked for in +them. Similar misconceptions of the actual or possible sentiments of the +Spartans appear in the Speech for the Megalopolitans, and of those of the +Thebans in the Third Olynthiac (§ 15). The early orations against Philip also +show some misunderstanding of his character. And if, in fact, Demosthenes lived +his early years largely in solitary studiousness and was unsociable by +disposition, this lack of a quick grasp of human nature and motives is quite +intelligible. But this defect grew less conspicuous as his experience increased; +and though even to the end there remained something of the sophist about him, as +about all the disciples of the ancient rhetoric, the greatness of his best work +is not seriously affected by this. For, in his greatest speeches, and in the +greatest parts of nearly all his speeches, the orator is white-hot with genuine +passion and earnestness; and all his study and preparation resulted, for the +most part, not in an artificial product, but in the most convincing expression +of his real feeling and belief; so that it was the man himself, and not the +rhetorical practitioner that spoke. + +The lighter virtues of the orator are not to be sought for in him. In +gracefulness and humour he is deficient: his humour, indeed, generally takes the +grim forms of irony and satire, or verges on personality and bad taste. Few of +his sentences can be imagined to have been delivered with a smile; and something +like ferocity is generally not far below the surface. Pathos is seldom in him +unmixed with sterner qualities, and is usually lost in indignation. But of +almost every other variety of tone he has a complete command. The essential +parts of his reasoning (even when it is logically or morally defective) are +couched, as a rule, in a forcible and cogent form;[12] and he has a striking +power of close, sustained, and at the same time lucid argumentation. His matter +is commonly disposed with such skill that each topic occurs where it will tell +most powerfully; and while one portion of a speech affords relief to another +(where relief is needed, and particularly in the longer orations) all alike bear +on the main issue or strengthen the orator's position with his audience. +Historical allusions are not (as they often are by Aeschines and Isocrates) +enlarged out of proportion to their importance, but are limited to what is +necessary, in order to illustrate the orator's point or drive his lesson home. +Add to these qualities his combination of political idealism with absolute +mastery of minute detail; the intensity of his appeal to the moral sense and +patriotism of his hearers; the impressiveness of his denunciation of political +wrong; the vividness of his narrative, the rapid succession of his impassioned +phrases, and some part of the secret of his power will be explained. For the +rest, while there is in his writing every degree of fullness or brevity, there +is no waste of words, no 'fine language' out of place. His language, indeed, is +ordinarily simple--sometimes even colloquial; though in the arrangement of his +words in their most telling order he shows consummate art, and his metaphors are +often bold and sometimes even violent. In the use of the 'figures of speech' he +excels; above all, in the use of antitheses (whether for the purpose of vivid +contrast or of precise logical expression), and of the rhetorical question, used +now in indignation, now in irony, now in triumphant conclusion of an argument: +and at times there are master-strokes of genius, which defy all analysis, such +as the great appeal to the men of Marathon in the Speech on the Crown.[13] He +does not as a rule (and this is particularly true of the Speech on the Crown) +cover the whole of the ground with the same adequacy; but so concentrates all +his forces upon certain points as to be irresistible, and thus 'with thunder and +lightning confounds'[14] the orators who oppose him. It is no wonder that some +of the greatest of English orators, and notably of those of the eighteenth and +early nineteenth centuries, borrow from him not only words and phrases, but +inspiration and confidence in their cause, and look upon him as a model whom +they may emulate, but cannot excel. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] See Introduction to First Philippic. + +[2] See notes on Speech for the Megalopolitans. + +[3] See note on Speech on the Crown, § 140. + +[4] See Speech on the Crown, §§ 170 ff. + +[5] See Zimmern, _The Greek Commonwealth_, pp. 159 ff., for an excellent short +account of the constitution and functions of the Council. That the councillors +themselves sat (for administrative purposes) in relays, changing ten times a +year, was also against continuity. + +[6] See Speech on Embassy, § 2 n. + +[7] See Introduction to Speech on Naval Boards, and Philippic I, §§ 36, 37. + +[8] See Zimmern, _The Greek Commonwealth_, p. 205. + +[9] See Zimmern, _The Greek Commonwealth_, p. 205. + +[10] The 'Art' of Anaximenes is an interesting extant example of a fourth- +century handbook for practical orators. The Rhetoric of Aristotle stands on a +higher plane, but probably follows the lines laid down by custom in the +rhetorical schools. + +[11] See Speech on Embassy, § 246, and note. + +[12] He is especially fond of the dilemma, which is not indeed cogent in strict +logic, but is peculiarly telling and effective in producing conviction in large +audiences. + +[13] See [Longinus] 'On the Sublime', especially chap, xvi-xviii (English +translation by A. O. Prickard in this series). This treatise should be read by +all students of Demosthenes, especially chap. xii, xvi-xviii, xxxii, xxxiv, +xxxix. + +[14] 'On the Sublime', chap. xxxiv. + + + + +[TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: The text for all notes marked [n] will be found at the end +of the second volume.] + + + + +ON THE NAVAL BOARDS (OR. XIV) + + +[_Introduction_. The speech was delivered in 354 B.C. News had been brought to +Athens that the Persian King Artaxerxes Ochus was making great military and +naval preparations, and though these were, in fact, directed against his own +rebellious subjects in Egypt, Phoenicia, and Cyprus, the Athenians had some +ground for alarm: for, two years before this, Chares, in command of an Athenian +fleet, had given assistance to Artabazus, Satrap of Ionia, who was in revolt +against the king. The king had made a protest, and (late in 355) Athens had +ordered Chares to withdraw his aid from Artabazus. A party in Athens now wished +to declare war on Persia, and appealed strongly to Athenian traditions in favour +of the proposal. Demosthenes opposes them, on the ground that it was not certain +that the king was aiming at Athens at all, and that the disunion of the Hellenic +peoples would render any such action unsafe: Athens had more dangerous enemies +nearer home, and her finances were not in a condition for such a campaign. But +he takes advantage of the interest aroused, to propose a reform of the +trierarchic system, designed to secure a more efficient navy, and to remedy +certain abuses in the existing method of equipping vessels for service. + +In earlier times, the duty of equipping and commanding each trireme was laid +upon single citizens of means, the hull and certain fittings being found by the +state. When, early in the fourth century, the number of wealthy men had +diminished, each ship might be shared by two citizens, who commanded in turn. In +357 a law was passed, on the proposal of Periander, transferring the +responsibility from individuals to 'Symmories' or Boards. (The system had been +instituted in a slightly different form for the collection of the war-tax in the +archonship of Nausinicus, 378-7 B.C.) The collection of the sums required became +the work of twenty Boards, formed by the subdivision of the 1,200 richest +citizens: each contributor, whatever his property, paid the same share. The +richer men thus got off with the loss of a very small proportion of their +income, as compared with the poorer members of the Boards,[1] and in managing +the business of the Boards they sometimes contrived to exact the whole sum from +their colleagues, and to escape payment themselves. At the same time the duties +of the several Boards and their members were not allocated with sufficient +precision to enable the responsibility to be brought home in case of default; +and the nominal Twelve Hundred had fallen to a much smaller number, on whom the +burden accordingly fell with undue weight. Demosthenes' proposal provided for +the distribution of the responsibility of equipping the vessels and providing +the funds, in the most detailed manner, with a view to preventing all evasion; +but it was not carried. In fact, it was not until 340 that he succeeded in +reforming the trierarchy, and he then made the burden vary strictly with +property. The proposal, however, to declare war upon Persia went no further. + +While, in this speech, Demosthenes is in accord with the policy of Eubulus, so +far as concerns the avoidance of war with Persia, his proposals of financial +reform would not be viewed with favour by the wealthy men who were Eubulus' firm +supporters. Some of the themes which recur continually in later speeches are +prominent in this--the futility of rhetorical appeals to past glories, without +readiness for personal service, and the need of a thorough organization of the +forces. While the speech shows rather too strongly the marks of careful +preparation, and seldom rises to eloquence--the style, indeed, is often rather +cramped and stiff, and the sentiments, especially at the beginning, artificially +phrased--it is moderate and practical in tone, and shows a characteristic +mastery of minute detail.] + + +{1} Those who praise your forefathers,[n] men of Athens, desire, no doubt, to +gratify you by their speeches; and yet I do not think that they are acting in +the interests of those whom they praise. For the subject on which they attempt +to speak is one to which no words can do justice; and so, although they thus win +for themselves the reputation of capable speakers, the impression which they +convey to their hearers of the merit of our forefathers is not adequate to our +conception of it. For my part I believe that their highest praise is constituted +by Time: for the time that has passed has been long, and still no generation has +arisen, whose achievements could be compared with advantage to theirs. {2} As +for myself, I shall attempt to point out the way in which, in my opinion, you +can best make your preparations. For the truth is, that if all of us who propose +to address you were to succeed in proving to you our rhetorical skill, there +would not be the slightest improvement in your condition--I am sure of it; but +if a single speaker were to come forward, whoever he might be, who could +instruct and convince you as to the nature of the preparations which would meet +the city's need, as to their extent, and the resources upon which we can draw +for them, your present fears would instantly be dissolved. This I will attempt +to do--if indeed it is in my power. But first I must briefly express my views as +to our relations with the king. + +{3} I hold the king to be the common enemy of all the Hellenes; and yet I should +not on that account urge you, alone and unsupported, to raise war against him. +For I observe that there is no common or mutual friendship even among the +Hellenes themselves: some have more faith in the king than in some other +Hellenes. When such are the conditions, your interest requires you, I believe, +to see to it that you only begin war from a fair and just cause, and to make all +proper preparations: this should be the basis of your policy. {4} For I believe, +men of Athens, that if it were made plain to the eyes and understandings of the +Hellenes, that the king was making an attempt upon them, they would both fight +in alliance with those who undertook the defence for them and with them, and +would feel very grateful to them. But if we quarrel with him prematurely, while +his intentions are still uncertain, I am afraid, men of Athens, that we may be +forced to fight not only against the king, but also against those for whose +benefit we are exercising such forethought. {5} For he will pause in the +execution of his project, if indeed he has really resolved to attack the +Hellenes, and will bribe some of them with money and offers of friendship; while +they, desirous of bringing their private wars to a successful end, and animated +only by such a spirit, will disregard the common safety of all. I urge you then, +not to hurl the city needlessly into the midst of any such chaos of selfish +passions. {6} Moreover, I see that the question of the policy to be adopted +towards the king does not even stand on the same footing for the other Hellenes +as for you. It is open, I think, to many of them to manage certain of their own +interests as they please, and to disregard the rest of the Hellenes. But for you +it is not honourable, even if you are the injured party, and are dealing with +those who have injured you, to punish them so severely as to leave some of them +to fall under the domination of the foreigner: {7} and this being so, we must +take care, first, that we do not find ourselves involved in an unequal war, and +secondly, that he, whom we believe to be plotting against the Hellenes, does not +gain credit from the supposition that he is their friend. How then can this be +achieved? It will be achieved if it is manifest to all that the forces of Athens +have been overhauled and put in readiness, and if her intentions in regard to +their use are plainly righteous. {8} But to those who take a bold line, and urge +you, without any hesitation whatever, to go to war, my reply is this--that it is +not difficult to win a reputation for bravery, when the occasion calls for +deliberation; nor to prove yourself an accomplished orator, when danger is at +the door: but to display your courage in the hour of danger, and, in debate, to +have wiser advice to offer than others--that is the hard thing, and that is what +is required of you. {9} For my part, men of Athens, I consider that the proposed +war with the king would be a difficult undertaking for the city; while the +decisive conflict in which the war would result would be an easier matter, and +for this reason. Every war, I suppose, necessarily requires ships and money and +the command of positions. All such advantages the king, I find, possesses more +abundantly than we. But a conflict of forces requires nothing so much as brave +men; and of these, I believe, the larger number is with us, and with those who +share our danger. {10} For this reason I exhort you not to be the first, in any +way whatever, to take up the war; but for the decisive struggle I think you +ought to be ready and your preparations made. And further, if the forces[n] with +which foreigners and Hellenes could respectively be repelled were really +different in kind, the fact that we were arraying our forces against the king +would naturally, it may be, admit of no concealment. {11} But since all military +preparations are of the same character, and the main points of a force must +always be the same--the means to repel enemies, to help allies, and to retain +existing advantages--why, when we have our acknowledged foes,[n] do we seek to +procure others? Let us rather prepare ourselves to meet the enemies whom we +have, and we shall then repel the king also, if he takes the aggressive against +us. {12} Suppose that you yourselves summon the Hellenes to your side now. If, +when the attitude of some of them towards you is so disagreeable, you do not +fulfil their demands, how can you expect that any one will listen to you? 'Why,' +you say, 'we shall tell them that the king is plotting against them.' Good +Heavens! Do you imagine that they do not foresee this themselves? Of course they +do. But their fear of this does not yet outweigh the quarrels which some of them +have against you and against each other. And so the tour of your envoys will end +in nothing but their own rhapsodies.[n] {13} But if you wait, then, if the +design which we now suspect is really on foot, there is not one of the Hellenes +who stands so much upon his dignity that he will not come and beg for your aid, +when he sees that you have a thousand cavalry, and infantry as many as any one +can desire, and three hundred ships: for he will know that in these lies his +surest hope of deliverance. Appeal to them now, and we shall be suppliants, and, +if unsuccessful, rejected suppliants. Make your own preparations and wait, and +then they will be the suppliants and we their deliverers; and we may rest +assured that they will all come to us for help. + +{14} In thinking out these points and others like them, men of Athens, my object +was not to devise a bold speech,[n] prolonged to no purpose: but I took the +greatest pains to discover the means by which our preparations could be most +effectively and quickly made; and therefore, if my proposal meets with your +approval, when you have heard it, you ought, I think, to pass it. Now the first +element in our preparation, men of Athens (and it is the most important), must +be this: your minds must be so disposed, that every one of you will perform +willingly and heartily any service that is required of him. {15} For you see, +men of Athens, that whenever you have unanimously desired any object, and the +desire has been followed by a feeling on the part of every individual, that the +practical steps towards it were for himself to take, the object has never yet +slipped from your grasp: but whenever the wish has had no further result than +that each man has looked to his neighbour, expecting his neighbour to act while +he himself does nothing, the object has never yet been attained. {16} But +supposing you to be filled with the keenness that I have described, I am of +opinion that we should make up the Twelve Hundred to their full number, and +increase it to 2,000, by the addition of 800. For if you can display this total, +then, when you have allowed for the unmarried heiresses and orphans,[n] for +property outside Attica,[n] or held in partnership, and for any persons who may +be unable to contribute,[n] you will, I believe, actually have the full 1,200 +persons available. {17} These you must divide into twenty boards, as at present, +with sixty persons to each board; and each of these boards you must divide into +five sections of twelve persons each, taking care in every case to associate +with the richest man the poorest men,[n] to maintain the balance. Such is the +arrangement of persons which I recommend, and my reason you will know when you +have heard the nature of the entire system. {18} I pass to the distribution of +the ships. You must provide a total complement of 300 ships, forming twenty +divisions of fifteen ships apiece, and including in each division five of the +first hundred vessels,[n] five of the second hundred, and five of the third +hundred. Next, you must assign by lot[n] to each board of persons its fifteen +ships, and each board must assign three ships to each of its sections. {19} This +done, in order that you may have the payments also systematically arranged, you +must divide the 6,000 talents (for that is the taxable capital[n] of the +country) into 100 parts of sixty talents each. Five of each of these parts you +must allot to each of the larger boards--the twenty--and each board must assign +one of these sums of sixty talents to each of its sections; {20} in order that, +if you need 100 ships,[n] there may be sixty talents to be taxed for the expense +of each ship, and twelve persons responsible for it; if 200, thirty talents will +be taxed to make up the cost, and six persons will be responsible; if 300, then +twenty talents must be taxed to defray the expense, and four persons will be +responsible. {21} In the same way, men of Athens, I bid you make a valuation +according to the register of all those fittings of the ships which are in +arrear,[n] divide them into twenty parts, and allot to each of the large boards +one-twentieth of the debtors: these must then be assigned by each board in equal +numbers to each of its sections, and the twelve persons composing each section +must call up their share of the arrears, and provide, ready-equipped, the ships +which fall to them. {22} Such is the plan by which, in my opinion, the expense, +the ships, the trierarchs, and the recovery of the fittings could best be +provided for and put into working order. I proceed to describe a simple and easy +scheme for the manning of the vessels. I recommend that the generals should +divide the whole space of the dockyards into ten, taking care to have in each +space thirty slips for single vessels close together. This done they should +apportion to each space two of the boards and thirty ships; and should then +assign a tribe to each space by lot. {23} Each captain should divide into three +parts the space which falls to his tribe, with the corresponding ships, and +should allot these among the three wards[n] of each tribe, in such a way that if +each tribe has one division of the entire docks, each ward will have a third of +one of these divisions; and you will know, in case of need, first the position +assigned to the tribe; next, that of the ward; and then the names of the +trierarchs and their ships; each tribe will be answerable for thirty, and each +ward for ten ships. If this system is put in train, circumstances as they arise +will provide for anything that I may have overlooked to-day (for perhaps it is +difficult to think of everything), and there will be a single organization for +the whole fleet and every part of it. + +{24} But what of funds? What resources have we immediately at our command? The +statement which I am about to make on this subject will no doubt be astonishing; +but I will make it nevertheless; for I am convinced that upon a correct view of +the facts, this statement alone will be proved true, and will be justified by +the event. I say then, that this is not the time to discuss the financial +question. We have large resources upon which, in case of necessity, we may +honourably and rightly draw: but if we inquire for them now, we shall not +believe that we can rely upon them even against the hour of need; so far shall +we be from supplying them now. 'What then,' you will ask me, 'are these +resources, which are non-existent now, but will be ours then? This is really +like a riddle.' I will tell you. {25} Men of Athens, you see all this great +city.[n] In this city there is wealth which will compare, I had almost said, +with the united wealth of all other cities. But such is the disposition of those +who own it, that if all your orators were to raise the alarm that the king was +coming--that he was at the doors--that there was no possible escape; and if with +the orators an equal number of prophets foretold the same thing; even then, far +from contributing funds, they would show no sign[2] [and make no +acknowledgement] of their possession of them. {26} If, however, they were to see +in course of actual realization all the terrors with which at present we are +only threatened in speeches, not one of them is so blind that he would not both +offer his contribution, and be among the first to pay the tax. For who will +prefer to lose his life and property, rather than contribute a part of his +substance to save himself and the remainder of it? Funds, then, we can command, +I am certain, if there is a genuine need of them, and not before; and +accordingly I urge you not even to look for them now. For all that you would +provide now, if you decided upon a levy, would be more ludicrous than nothing at +all. {27} Suppose that we are told to pay 1 per cent. now; that gives you sixty +talents. Two per cent. then--double the amount; that makes 120 talents. And what +is that to the 1,200 camels which (as these gentlemen tell us) are bringing the +king's money for him? Or would you have me assume a payment of one-twelfth, 500 +talents? Why, you would never submit to this; and if you paid the money down, it +would not be adequate to the war. {28} You must, therefore, make all your other +preparations, but allow your funds to remain for the present in the hands of +their owners--they could nowhere be more safely kept for the use of the State; +and then, if ever the threatened crisis arises, you will receive them as the +voluntary gift of their possessors. This, men of Athens, is not only a possible +course of action, but a dignified and a politic one. It is a course of action +which is worthy to be reported to the ears of the king, and which would inspire +him with no slight apprehension. {29} For he well knows that by two hundred +ships, of which one hundred were Athenian,[n] his ancestors were deprived of one +thousand; and he will hear that Athens alone has now equipped three hundred; so +that, however great his infatuation, he could certainly not imagine it a light +thing to make this country his foe. But if it is his wealth that suggests proud +thoughts to his mind, he will find that in this respect too his resources are +weaker than ours. {30} It is true that he is said to be bringing a great +quantity of gold with him. But if he distributes this, he must look for more: +for just so it is the way of springs and wells to give out, if large quantities +are drawn from them all at once; whereas we possess, as he will hear, in the +taxable capital of the country, resources which we defend against attack in a +way of which those ancestors of his who sleep at Marathon can best tell him: and +so long as we are masters of the country there is no risk of our resources being +exhausted. + +{31} Nor again can I see any grounds for the fear, which some feel, lest his +wealth should enable him to collect a large mercenary force. It may be that many +of the Hellenes would be glad to serve under him against Egypt,[n] against +Orontas,[n] or against certain other foreign powers--not from a wish that the +king should conquer any such enemies, but because each desires individually to +obtain some private means to relieve his present poverty. But I cannot believe +that any Hellene would march against Hellas. Whither will he turn afterwards? +Will he go to Phrygia and be a slave? {32} For the war with the foreigner is a +war for no other stake than our country, our life, our habits, our freedom, and +all that we value. Where is the wretch who would sacrifice self, parents, +sepulchres, fatherland, for the sake of some short-lived gain? I do not believe +that he exists. And indeed it is not even to the king's own interest to conquer +the Hellenes with a mercenary force; for an army which has conquered us is, even +more certainly,[n] stronger than he; and his intention is not to destroy us only +that he may fall into the power of others: he wishes to rule, if it may be, over +all the world; but if not, at least over those who are already his slaves. + +{33} It may be supposed that the Thebans will be on the king's side. Now this +subject is one upon which it is hard to address you. For such is your hatred of +them, that you cannot hear a good word about them, however true, without +displeasure. And yet those who have grave questions to consider must not on any +pretext pass over any profitable line of argument. {34} I believe, then, that so +far are the Thebans from being likely ever to march with him against the +Hellenes, that they would give a great deal, if they had it to give, for an +opportunity of cancelling their former sins against Hellas.[n] But if any one +does believe that the Thebans are so unhappily constituted, at least you are all +aware, I presume, that if the Thebans take the part of the king, their enemies +must necessarily take the part of the Hellenes. + +{35} My own belief is that our cause, the cause of justice, and its supporters, +will prove stronger in every emergency than the traitor and the foreigner. And +therefore I say that we need feel no excessive apprehension, and that we must +not be led on into taking the first step towards war. Indeed, I cannot even see +that any of the other Hellenes has reason to dread this war. {36} Are they not +all aware, that so long as they thought of the king as their common foe, and +were at unity with one another, they were secure in their prosperity; but that +ever since they imagined that they could count upon the king as their friend, +and fell to quarrelling over their private interests, they have suffered such +evils as no malediction could have devised for them? Must we then dread a man +whose friendship, thanks to Fortune and Heaven, has proved so unprofitable, and +his enmity so advantageous? By no means! Let us not, however, commit any +aggression, in view of our own interests, and of the disturbed and mistrustful +spirit which prevails among the rest of the Hellenes. {37} Were it possible, +indeed, to join forces with them all, and with one accord to attack the king in +his isolation, I should have counted it no wrong even were we to take the +aggressive. But since this is impossible, we must be careful to give the king no +pretext for trying to enforce the claims of the other Hellenes against us. If +you keep the peace, any such step on his part would arouse suspicion; but if you +are the first to begin war, his hostility to you would make his desire to +befriend your rivals appear natural enough. {38} Do not then lay bare the evil +condition of Hellas, by calling the powers together when they will not obey, or +undertaking a war which you will be unable to carry on. Keep the peace; take +courage, and make your preparations. Resolve that the news which the king hears +of you shall certainly not be that all Hellas, and Athens with it, in distress +or panic or confusion. Far from it! {39} Let him rather know that if falsehood +and perjury were not as disgraceful in Hellenic eyes as they are honourable in +his, you would long ago have been on the march against him: and that though, as +it is, your regard for yourselves forbids you to act thus, you are praying to +all the gods that the same madness may seize him as once seized his ancestors. +And if it occurs to him to reflect upon this, he will find that your +deliberations are not conducted in any careless spirit. {40} He at least shares +the knowledge that it was your wars with his own ancestors that raised Athens to +the summit of prosperity and greatness; while the peaceful policy which she +previously pursued never gave her such a superiority as she now enjoys over any +single state in Hellas. Aye, and he sees that the Hellenes are in need of one +who, whether intentionally or not, will reconcile them one to another; and he +knows that if he were to stir up war, he himself would assume that character in +relation to them; so that the news which he will hear of you will be +intelligible and credible to him. + +{41} But I do not wish to trouble you, men of Athens, by unduly prolonging my +speech. I will therefore recapitulate my advice and retire. I bid you prepare +your forces with a view to the enemies whom you have. If the king or any other +power attempts to do you injury, you must defend yourselves with these same +forces. But you must not take the aggressive by word or deed; and you must take +care that it is your deeds, and not your platform speeches, that are worthy of +your forefathers. If you act thus, you will be consulting both your own +interests and those of the speakers who are opposing me; since you will have no +cause to be angry with them afterwards, because you have decided wrongly to-day. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] See Speech on Crown, §§ 102 ff. and notes. + +[2] See Speech on Crown, §§ 102 ff. and notes. + + + + +FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS (OR. XVI) + +[_Introduction_. In 371 B.C. the Thebans under Epaminondas defeated the Spartans +at Leuctra, and, assisted by Thebes, the Arcadians and Messenians threw off the +Spartan yoke. The former founded Megalopolis as their common centre, the latter +Messene. But after the death of Epaminondas in 362, Thebes was left without a +leader; and when, in 355, she became involved in the 'Sacred War' with the +Phocians, the new Peloponnesian states turned towards Athens, and Messene +received a solemn promise of Athenian assistance, if ever she was attacked by +Sparta. In 353 Thebes was suffering considerably from the Sacred War, and the +Spartans made an ingenious attempt to recover their power, in the form of a +proposal for the restoration of territory to its original owners. This meant +that Athens would recover Oropus, which had been in the hands of Thebes since +366, and had previously been the subject of a long-standing dispute; that +Orchomenus, Thespiae, and Plataeae, which had all been overthrown by Thebes, +would be restored; and that Elis and Phlius would also recover certain lost +possessions. All these states would then be morally bound (so the Spartans +thought) to help Sparta to reconquer Arcadia and Messenia. + +On the occasion of this speech (delivered in 353) the Megalopolitans had +appealed to Athens, and an Arcadian and a Spartan embassy had each had an +audience of the Assembly, and had each received strong support from Athenian +speakers. The principal motives of the supporters of Sparta were their hostility +to Thebes, and their desire not to break with the Spartans, whom Athens had +assisted at Mantineia in 362 against the Thebans and Megalopolitans. Demosthenes +supports the Arcadians, and lays great stress on the desirability of maintaining +a balance of power between Sparta and Thebes, so that neither might become too +strong. To allow Sparta to reconquer Arcadia, and, as the next step, Messenia, +would be to render her too formidable; and to reject the proposal of Sparta +would not preclude Athens from recovering Oropus and demanding the restoration +of the Boeotian towns. But the promise of assistance to the Arcadians should be +accompanied by a request for the termination of their alliance with Thebes. + +Demosthenes' advice was not followed. In fact Athens was hardly in a position to +risk becoming entangled in a war with Sparta, particularly in view of the danger +to her northern possessions from Philip. She therefore remained neutral, while +the Thebans, relieved from the pressure of the Sacred War owing to the defeat of +the Phocian leader Onomarchus by Philip, were able to send aid to Megalopolis. A +truce between Sparta and Megalopolis was made about 350. It was, however, a +result of the neutrality of Athens, that she was unable, a few years later, to +secure the support of the Arcadians against Philip, whose allies they +subsequently became. + +Lord Brougham describes the oration as 'one of extraordinary subtlety and +address in handling delicate topics'; and, after quoting the passage in which +Demosthenes urges the necessity of maintaining a balance of power between rival +states, adds that 'this is precisely the language of modern policy'. At the same +time, the speech has in places a somewhat academic and theoretical air: it is +much occupied with the weighing of hypothetical considerations and obligations +against one another: and though it enunciates some plain and reasonable +political principles, and makes an honest attempt to satisfy those who wished to +help the Arcadians, but at the same time desired to regain ground against +Thebes, it is not always convincing, and the tone is more frankly opportunist +than is usually the case with Demosthenes.] + + {1} I think, men of Athens, that those who have spoken on the Arcadian side and +those who have spoken on the Spartan, are alike making a mistake. For their +mutual accusations and their attacks upon one another would suggest that they +are not, like yourselves, Athenians, receiving the two embassies, but actually +delegates of the two states. Such attacks it was for the two deputations to +make. The duty of those who claim to advise you here was to discuss the +situation impartially, and to inquire, in an uncontentious spirit, what course +is best in your interests. {2} As it is, if one could alter the fact that they +are known to us, and that they speak the dialect of Attica, I believe that many +would imagine that those on the one side actually were Arcadians, and those on +the other, Spartans. For my part, I see plainly enough the difficulty of +offering the best advice. For you, like them, are deluded, in your desire for +one extreme or the other: and one who endeavours to propose an intermediate +course, which you will not have the patience to understand, will satisfy neither +side and will forfeit the confidence of both. {3} But in spite of this, I shall +prefer, for my own part, to risk being regarded as an idle chatterer (if such is +really to be my lot), rather than to abandon my conviction as to what is best +for Athens, and leave you to the mercy of those who would deceive you. And while +I shall deal with all other points later, by your leave, I shall take for my +starting-point, in explaining the course which I believe to be best, those +principles which are admitted by all. + +{4} There can be no possible question that it is to the interest of the city +that both the Spartans and these Thebans should be weak; and the present +situation, if one may judge at all from what has constantly been asserted in +your presence, is such, that if Orchomenus, Thespiae, and Plataeae[n] are re- +established, Thebes becomes weak; and that if the Spartans can reduce Arcadia to +subjection and destroy Megalopolis, Sparta will recover her former strength. {5} +We must, therefore, take care not to allow the Spartans to attain a formidable +degree of strength, before the Thebans have become insignificant, lest there +should take place, unobserved by us, such an increase in the power of Sparta as +would be out of proportion to the decrease in the power of Thebes which our +interests demand. For it is, of course, out of the question that we should +desire merely to substitute the rivalry of Sparta for that of Thebes: that is +not the object upon which we are bent. Our object is rather that neither people +shall be capable of doing us any injury. That is what will best enable us to +live in security. + +{6} But, granted that this is what ought to be, still, we are told, it is a +scandalous thing to choose for our allies the men against whom we were arrayed +at Mantineia, and further, to help them against those whose perils we shared +that day. I agree; but I think that we need to insert the condition, 'provided +that the two parties are willing to act rightly.' {7} For if all alike prove +willing to keep the peace, we shall not go to the aid of the Megalopolitans, +since there will be no need to do so; and so there will be no hostility whatever +on our part towards our former comrades in battle. They are already our allies, +as they tell us; and now the Arcadians will become our allies as well. What more +could we desire? {8} But suppose they act wrongfully and think fit to make war. +In that case, if the question before us is whether we are to abandon Megalopolis +to Sparta or not, then I say that, wrong though it is, I will acquiesce in our +permitting this, and declining to oppose our former companions in danger. But if +you all know that, after capturing Megalopolis, they will march against Messene, +let me ask any of those who are now so harshly disposed towards Megalopolis to +say what action he will _then_ advise. No answer will be given. {9} In fact you +all know that, whether they advise it or not, we _must_ then go to the rescue, +both because of the oath which we have sworn to the Messenians, and because our +interests demand the continued existence of that city. Ask yourselves, then, on +which occasion you can most honourably and generously interpose to check the +aggressions of Sparta--in defence of Megalopolis, or in defence of Messene? {10} +On the present occasion it will be understood that you are succouring the +Arcadians, and are anxious that the Peace, which you fought for and risked your +lives to win, may be secure. But if you wait, all the world will see plainly +that it is not in the name of right that you desire the existence of Messene, +but because you are afraid of Sparta. And while we should always seek and do the +right, we should at the same time take good care that what is right shall also +be advantageous. + +{11} Now an argument is used by speakers on the other side to the effect that we +ought to attempt to recover Oropus,[n] and that if we make enemies of those who +might come to our assistance against it we shall have no allies. I too say that +we should try to recover Oropus. But the argument that the Spartans will be our +enemies now, if we make alliance with those Arcadians who desire our friendship, +is an argument which no one has less right even to mention, than those who +induced you to help the Spartans when they were in danger. {12} Such was not +their argument, when all the Peloponnesians came to you,[n] entreating you to +support them in their campaign against Sparta, and they persuaded you to reject +the entreaty, with the result that the Peloponnesians took the only remaining +course and applied to Thebes--when they bade you contribute funds and imperil +your lives for the deliverance of the Spartans. Nor, I presume, would you have +been willing to protect them, had they warned you that you must expect no +gratitude for their deliverance, unless, after saving them, you allowed them +once more to do as they pleased and commit fresh aggressions. {13} And further, +however antagonistic it may be to the designs of the Spartans, that we should +make the Arcadians our allies, they are surely bound to feel a gratitude towards +us for saving them when they were in the utmost extremity, which will outweigh +their vexation at our preventing their present wrongdoing. Must they not then +either assist us to recover Oropus, or else be regarded as the basest of +mankind? For, by Heaven, I can see no other alternative. + +{14} I am astonished, also, to hear it argued that if we make the Arcadians our +allies, and carry out my advice, it will seem as though Athens were changing her +policy, and were utterly unreliable. I believe that the exact reverse of this is +the case, men of Athens, and I will tell you why. I suppose that no one in the +world can deny that when this city saved the Spartans,[n] and before them the +Thebans,[n] and finally the Euboeans,[n] and subsequently made them her allies, +she had one and the same end always in view. {15} And what was this? It was to +deliver the victims of aggression. And if this is so, it is not we that should +be changing, but those who refuse to adhere to the right; and it will be +manifest that, although circumstances change from time to time with the +ambitious designs of others, Athens does not change. + +{16} I believe that the Spartans are playing a very unscrupulous part. At +present they tell us that the Eleans are to recover part of Triphylia,[n] and +the Phliasians, Tricaranum;[n] other Arcadians are to recover their own +possessions, and we ourselves are to recover Oropus--not that they have any +desire to see every state enjoying its own--far from it!-- such generosity on +their part would be late indeed in showing itself. {17} They wish rather to +present the appearance of co-operating with each separate state in the recovery +of the territory that it claims, in order that when they themselves march +against Messene, all may take the field with them, and give them their hearty +assistance, on pain of seeming to act unfairly, in refusing to return an +equivalent for the support which each of them received from Sparta in regard to +their own several claims. {18} My own view is that, even without the tacit +surrender of some of the Arcadians to Sparta, we can recover Oropus, aided not +only by the Spartans, if they are ready to act honourably, but by all who +disapprove of allowing Thebes to retain what is not her own. But even if it were +made quite plain to us, that without allowing Sparta to subdue the Peloponnese, +we should not be able to take Oropus, I should still think it preferable, if I +may dare to say so, to let Oropus go, rather than sacrifice Messene and the +Peloponnese to Sparta. For our quarrel with them would not, I believe, be +confined to this; since--I will not say what occurs to me; but there are many +risks which we should run. + +{19} But, to pass on, it is a monstrous thing to use the hostile actions which, +they say, the Megalopolitans committed against us, under the influence of +Thebes, as a ground of accusation against them to-day; and, when they wish to be +friends and so atone for their action by doing us good, to look askance at them, +to seek for some way of avoiding their friendship, to refuse to recognize that +in proportion to the zeal which my opponents can prove the Megalopolitans to +have shown in supporting Thebes will be the resentment to which my opponents +themselves will deservedly be exposed, for depriving the city of such allies as +these, when they have appealed to you before appealing to Thebes. {20} Such a +policy is surely the policy of men who wish to make the Arcadians for the second +time the allies of others. And so far as one can forecast the future by +calculation, I am sure, and I believe that most of you will agree with me, that +if the Spartans take Megalopolis, Messene will be in peril; and if they take +Messene also, then I predict that we shall find ourselves allies of Thebes.[n] +{21} It is a far more honourable, a far better, course that we should ourselves +take over the Theban confederacy,[n] refusing to leave the field open to the +cupidity of the Spartans, than that we should be so afraid of protecting the +allies of Thebes, as first to sacrifice them, and then to save Thebes itself; +and, in addition, to be in a state of apprehension for our own safety. {22} For +if the Spartans capture Megalopolis and become a great power once more, the +prospect, as I conceive it, is not one which this city can view without alarm. +For I can see that even now they are determining to go to war, not to prevent +any evil which threatens them, but to recover their own ancient power: and what +their aims were when they possessed that power, you, I think, know[n] perhaps +better than I, and with that knowledge may well be alarmed. + +{23} Now I should be glad if the speakers who profess their hatred for Thebes on +the one side, or for Sparta on the other, would tell me if their professed +hatred is based on consideration for you and your interests, or whether the one +party hates Thebes from an interest in Sparta, and the other Sparta from an +interest in Thebes. If the latter is the case, you should not listen to either, +but treat them as insane: but if the former, why this inordinate exaltation of +one side or the other? {24} For it is possible, perfectly possible, to humiliate +Thebes without rendering Sparta powerful. Indeed, it is by far the easier +course; and I will try to tell you how it can be done. We all know that, however +unwilling men may be to do what is right, yet up to a certain point they are +ashamed not to do so, and that they withstand wrongdoers openly, particularly if +there are any who receive damage through the wrong done: and we shall find that +what ruins everything and is the source of all evil is the unwillingness to do +what is right without reserve. {25} Now in order that no such obstacle may stand +in the way of the humiliation of Thebes, let us demand the re-establishment of +Thespiae, Orchomenus, and Plataeae, co-operating with their citizens ourselves, +and requiring others to do so; for the principle of refusing to allow ancient +cities to lie desolate is a right and honourable one. But let us at the same +time decline to abandon Megalopolis and Messene to the aggressors, or to suffer +the destruction of existing and inhabited cities, on the pretext of restoring +Plataeae and Thespiae. {26} Then, if our policy is made plain to all, there is +no one who will not wish to terminate the Thebans' occupation of territory not +their own. But if it is not, not only will our designs be opposed by the +Arcadians, in the belief that the restoration of these towns carries with it +their own ruin, but we shall have troubles without end. For, honestly, where can +we expect to reach an end, when we permit the annihilation of existing cities, +and require the restoration of those that have been annihilated? + +{27} It is demanded by those whose speeches display the strongest appearance of +fairness, that the Megalopolitans shall take down the pillars[n] which +commemorate their alliance with Thebes, if they are to be trustworthy allies of +Athens. The Megalopolitans reply that for them it is not pillars, but interest, +that creates friendship; and that it is those who help them, that they consider +to be their allies. Well, that may be their attitude. Nevertheless, my own view +is, roughly speaking, this:--I say that we should simultaneously require the +Megalopolitans to take down the pillars, and the Spartans to keep the peace: and +that in the event of either side refusing to fulfil our request, we should at +once take the part of those who are willing to fulfil it. {28} For if the +Megalopolitans obtain peace, and yet adhere to the Theban alliance, it will be +clear to all that they prefer the grasping policy of Thebes to that which is +right. If, on the other hand, Megalopolis makes alliance frankly with us, and +the Spartans then refuse to keep the peace, it will surely be clear to all that +what the Spartans desire so eagerly is not the re-establishment of Thespiae, but +an opportunity of subduing the Peloponnese while the Thebans are involved in the +war.[n] {29} And I am surprised to find that there are some who are alarmed at +the prospect of the enemies of Sparta becoming allies of Thebes, and yet see +nothing to fear in the subjugation of these enemies by Sparta herself; whereas +the experience of the past can teach us that the Thebans always use such allies +against Sparta, while, when Sparta had them, she used to use them against us. + +{30} There is another point which I think you should consider. Suppose that you +reject the overtures of the Megalopolitans. If they are annihilated and +dispersed, Sparta can recover her power at once. If they actually survive--for +things have happened before now beyond all hope--they will quite rightly be the +firm allies of Thebes. But suppose you receive them. Then the immediate result, +so far as they are concerned, is that they are saved by you: and as to the +future, let us now transfer our calculation of possible risks to the case of the +Thebans and Spartans. {31} If the Thebans are crushed, as they ought to be, the +Spartans will not be unduly powerful, for they will always have these Arcadians +at their doors to hold them in check. But if the Thebans actually recover and +survive the attack, they will at least be weaker; for the Arcadians will have +become our allies, and will owe their preservation to us. Thus on every ground +it is to our interest not to sacrifice the Arcadians, nor to let them think that +their deliverance, if they are really saved, is due to themselves, or to any +other people than you. + +{32} And now, men of Athens, I solemnly declare that what I have said has been +prompted by no personal feeling, friendly or hostile, towards either side. I +have told you only what I believe to be expedient for you; and I exhort you not +to sacrifice the people of Megalopolis, and to make it your rule, never to +sacrifice a smaller power to a greater. + + + + +FOR THE FREEDOM OF THE RHODIANS (OR. XV) + + +[_Introduction_. Dionysius of Halicarnassus places the speech in 351 B.C. He is +not always accurate, and the internal evidence has been thought by some to +suggest a date perhaps two years earlier. The reasons, however, for this are not +strong, and there has recently been a disposition to accept Dionysius' date. + +As the result of the Social War, Chios, Cos, Rhodes, and Byzantium had made +themselves independent of Athens. They had been assisted by Mausolus, King of +Caria, a vassal of Persia. After the termination of the war, a Carian garrison +occupied Cos and Rhodes; the democratic constitution of Rhodes was overthrown +and the democratic party driven into banishment, as the result of an oligarchic +plot, which Mausolus had fostered. In 353 Mausolus died, and was succeeded by +Artemisia, his sister and wife. The exiles appealed to Athens for restoration, +and for the liberation of Rhodes from the Carian domination. It is evident that +the feeling in Athens against the Rhodians was very strong, owing to their part +in the late war, for which the democratic party had been responsible; and there +was some fear of the possible consequences of offending Artemisia and perhaps +becoming involved in war with Persia. Demosthenes, nevertheless, urges the +people to assist them, and to forget their misconduct. He appeals to the +traditional policy of Athens, as the saviour of the oppressed and protectress of +democracies, and warns them of the danger which would threaten Athens herself, +if the conversion of free constitutions into oligarchies were allowed to go +unchecked. He takes a different view from that of his opponents of the probable +attitude of Artemisia, and utters an impressive warning against corrupt and +unpatriotic statesmen, which foreshadows his more vehement attacks in the +orations against Philip. + +The appeal was unsuccessful, for in the speech on the Peace (§ 25) Demosthenes +speaks of Cos and Rhodes as still subject to Caria. + +The speech is more eloquent than the last, and more outspoken. Political +principles and ideals are enunciated with some confidence, and illustrated by +striking examples from history. But there also appears for the first time that +sense of the difficulty of rousing the Athenians to action of any kind, which is +so strongly expressed in later speeches.] + + +{1} It is, I think, your duty, men of Athens, when you are deliberating upon +affairs of such importance, to grant freedom of speech to every one of your +advisers. And for my part, I have never yet felt any difficulty in pointing out +to you the best course; for I believe that, broadly speaking, you all know from +the first what this is. My difficulty is to persuade you to act upon your +knowledge. For when a measure is approved and passed by you, it is as far from +execution as it was before you resolved upon it. {2} Well, you have to render +thanks to Heaven for this, among other favours--that those who went to war with +you not long ago, moved by their own insolent pride, now place their own hopes +of preservation in you alone. Well may we rejoice at our present opportunity! +For if your decision in regard to it is what it should be, you will find +yourselves meeting the calumnies of those who are slandering this city with a +practical and a glorious refutation. {3} For the peoples of Chios, Byzantium, +and Rhodes accused us of entertaining designs against them; and on this ground +they combined against us in the recent war. But now it will be seen[n] that, +while Mausolus, who under the pretence of friendship towards Rhodes, directed +and instigated their efforts, in reality robbed the Rhodians of their freedom; +while their declared allies, Chios and Byzantium, never came to aid them in +their misfortunes; {4} you, of whom they were afraid, and you alone, have been +the authors of their salvation. And because all the world will have seen this, +you will cause the popular party in every city to consider your friendship a +guarantee of their own safety; nor could you reap any greater blessing than the +goodwill which will thus be offered to you, spontaneously and without +misgivings, upon every hand. + +{5} I notice, to my surprise, that those who urge us to oppose the king in the +interest of the Egyptians,[n] are the very persons who are so afraid of him when +it is the interest of the popular party in Rhodes that is in question. And yet +it is known to every one that the Rhodians are Hellenes, while the Egyptians +have a place assigned them in the Persian Empire. {6} I expect that some of you +remember that, when you were discussing our relations with the king, I came +forward and was the first to advise you[n] (though I had, I believe, no +supporters, or one at the most), that you would show your good sense, in my +opinion, if you did not make your hostility to the king the pretext of your +preparations, but prepared yourselves against the enemies whom you already had; +though you would resist him also, if he attempted to do you any injury. {7} Nor, +when I spoke thus, did I fail to convince you, but you also approved of this +policy. What I have now to say is the sequel to my argument on that occasion. +For if the king were to call me to his side and make me his counsellor, I should +give him the same advice as I gave you--namely, that he should fight in defence +of his own possessions, if he were opposed by any Hellenic power, but should +absolutely forego all claim to what in no way belongs to him. {8} If, therefore, +you have made a general resolve, men of Athens, to retire from any place of +which the king makes himself master, either by surprise or by the deception of +some of the inhabitants, you have not resolved well, in my judgement: but if you +are prepared, in defence of your rights, even to fight, if need be, and to +endure anything that may be necessary, not only will the need for such a step be +less, the more firmly your minds are made up, but you will also be regarded as +showing the spirit which you ought to show. + +{9} To prove to you that I am not suggesting anything unprecedented in bidding +you liberate the Rhodians, and that you will not be acting without precedent, if +you take my advice, I will remind you of one of those incidents in the past +which have ended happily for you. You once sent out Timotheus, men of Athens, to +assist Ariobarzanes,[n] adding to your resolution the provision that he must not +break our treaty with the king; and Timotheus, seeing that Ariobarzanes was now +openly in revolt against the king, but that Samos was occupied by a garrison +under Cyprothemis, who had been placed there by Tigranes, the king's viceroy, +abandoned his intention of helping Ariobarzanes, but sat down before Samos, +relieved it, and set it free. {10} And to this day no war has ever arisen to +trouble you on account of this. For to enter upon a war for the purpose of +aggrandizement is never the same thing as to do so in defence of one's own +possessions. Every one fights his hardest to recover what he has lost; but when +men endeavour to gain at the expense of others, it is not so. They desire to do +this, if it is allowed them; but if they are prevented, they do not consider +that their opponents have done them any wrong. + +{11} Now listen for a moment, and consider whether I am right or wrong, when I +conclude that if Athens were actively at work, Artemisia herself would now not +even oppose our action. If the king effects in Egypt all that he is bent upon, I +believe that Artemisia would make every attempt to secure for him the continued +possession of Rhodes--not from any goodwill towards him, but from the desire to +be credited with a great service to him, while he is still in her +neighbourhood,[n] and so to win from him as friendly a reception as possible. +{12} But if he is faring as we are told, if all his attempts have failed, she +will consider, and rightly, that the island can be of no further use to the +king, except as a fortified post to command her own dominions--a security +against any movement on her part. Accordingly she would prefer, I believe, that +you should have it, without her openly surrendering it to you, rather than that +he should occupy it. I think, therefore, that she would not even make an attempt +to save it; or that if she actually did so, it would be but weakly and +ineffectively. {13} For although I cannot, of course, profess to know what the +king will do, I must insist that it is high time that it should be made clear, +in the interests of Athens, whether he intends to lay claim to Rhodes or not: +for if he does so, we have then to take counsel, not for the Rhodians alone, but +for ourselves and for the Hellenes as a whole. + +{14} At the same time, even if the Rhodians who are now in possession[n] of the +town held it by their own strength, I should never have urged you to take them +for your allies, for all the promises in the world. For I observe that they took +to their side some of their fellow citizens, to help them overthrow the +democracy, and that, having done this, they turned and expelled them: and I do +not think that men who failed to keep faith with either party would ever be +trustworthy allies for yourselves. {15} And further, I should never have made my +present proposal, had I been thinking only of the interests of the popular party +in Rhodes. I am not their official patron,[n] nor have I a single personal +friend among them; and even if both these things were otherwise, I should not +have made this proposal, had I not believed it to be for your advantage. For as +for the Rhodians, if I may use such an expression when I am pleading with you to +save them, I share your joy[1] at what has happened to them. For it is because +they grudged you the recovery of your rights that they have lost their own +freedom; and that, instead of the equal alliance which they might have had with +Hellenes, better than themselves, they are in bondage to foreigners and slaves, +whom they have admitted to their citadels. {16} Indeed, if you resolve to go to +their aid, I may almost say that this calamity has been good for them; for, +Rhodians as they are, I doubt if they would ever have come to their right mind +in prosperity; whereas actual experience has now taught them that folly +generally leads to manifold adversities; and perhaps they will be wiser for the +future. This lesson, I feel sure, will be no small advantage to them. I say then +that you should endeavour to save these men, and should bear no malice, +remembering that you too have been greatly deceived by conspirators against you, +and yet would not admit that you deserved yourselves to suffer for such +mistakes. + +Observe this also, men of Athens. {17} You have waged many wars both against +democracies and against oligarchies; and of this no doubt you are as well aware +as I. But I doubt whether any of you considers for what objects you are fighting +in each case. What then are these objects? In fighting against a democracy, you +are fighting either over some private quarrel, when the parties have failed to +settle their disputes by the means publicly provided;[n] or you are contending +for a piece of territory, or about a boundary, or for a point of honour, or for +paramountcy. But in fighting against an oligarchy, it is not for any such +objects--it is your constitution and your freedom that are at stake. {18} And +therefore I should not hesitate to say that I believe it would be better for +you, that all the Hellenic peoples should be democracies, and be at war with +you, than that they should be governed by oligarchies, and be your friends. For +with a free people you would have no difficulty, I believe, in making peace +whenever you desired: but with an oligarchical State friendship itself cannot be +safe. For there can be no goodwill between Few and Many--between those who seek +for mastery, and those who have chosen the life of political equality. + +{19} It surprises me also that though Chios and Mytilene are ruled by +oligarchies, and though now the Rhodians and all mankind, I may almost say, are +being brought into the same bondage, no one considers that any danger threatens +our own constitution also, or reflects that if every State is organized upon an +oligarchic basis, it is not possible that your own democracy should be suffered +to remain. For they know that no people but you could ever bring them forth into +a state of liberty again; and they will wish to put an end to so likely a source +of trouble to themselves. {20} As a rule we may regard wrongdoers as enemies +only to those whom they have wronged. But when men destroy free constitutions +and convert them into oligarchies, I say that you must think of them as the +common enemies of all whose hearts are set on freedom. {21} Again, men of +Athens, it is only right that you, a democracy yourselves, should show towards +other democracies in distress the same spirit as you would expect them to show +towards you, if any such calamity (which God forbid!) should happen to you. It +may be said that the Rhodians are justly punished. If so, this is not the time +to exult over them. When men are prosperous they should always be found taking +thought how best to help the distressed; for the future is unknown to all men. + +{22} I have often heard it stated here in your presence, that when our democracy +had met with disaster,[n] you were joined by certain others in your anxiety for +its preservation. Of these I will only refer on the present occasion to the +Argives, and that briefly. For I cannot desire that you, who enjoy the +reputation of being always the saviours of the distressed, should prove inferior +to the Argives in that work. These Argives, though their territory borders on +that of the Spartans, whom they saw to be masters by land and sea, neither +hesitated nor feared to display their goodwill towards you; but when envoys came +from Sparta (so the story goes) to demand the persons of certain Athenian +refugees, they even voted that unless the envoys departed before sunset, they +should be adjudged public enemies. {23} If then the democracy of Argos in those +days showed no fear of the might of the Spartan Empire, will it not be a +disgrace if you, who are Athenians, are afraid of one who is a barbarian--aye, +and a woman?[n] The Argives, moreover, could point to many defeats sustained at +the hands of Sparta, while you have often defeated the king, and have not once +proved inferior either to his servants or to himself. For if ever the king has +gained any success against Athens, it has been by bribing the basest of the +Hellenes to betray their countrymen; in no other way has he ever succeeded. {24} +Indeed, even such success has done him no good. You will find that no sooner had +he rendered Athens weak,[n] by the help of the Spartans, than he had to fight +for his own kingdom against Clearchus and Cyrus. His successes, therefore, have +not been won in the open field, nor have his plots brought him any good. Now +some of you, I notice, are in the habit of speaking contemptuously of Philip, as +though he were not worth reckoning with; while you dread the king, as a powerful +enemy to any whom he chooses to oppose. But if we are not to defend ourselves +against Philip, because he is so mean a foe, and are to give way in everything +to the king, because he is so formidable, who is there, men of Athens, against +whom we shall ever take the field? + +{25} Men of Athens, you have among you those who are particularly skilful in +pleading with you the rights of the rest of the world; and I should be glad to +give them this single piece of advice--that they should seek to plead your +rights with the rest of the world,[n] and so set an example of duty. It is +monstrous to instruct you about rights, without doing right oneself; and it is +not right that a fellow citizen of yours should have studied all the arguments +against you and none of those in your favour. {26} Ask yourselves, in God's +name, why it is that there is no one in Byzantium to tell the Byzantines that +they must not occupy Chalcedon,[n] which belongs to the king and formerly +belonged to you, but upon which they had no sort of claim; or that they must not +make Selymbria, once your ally, a contributory portion of the Byzantine state; +or include the territory of Selymbria[n] within the Byzantine frontier, in +defiance of the sworn treaty which ordains the independence of the cities? {27} +Why was there no one to tell Mausolus, while he lived, and Artemisia after his +death, that they must not occupy Cos and Rhodes and other Hellenic cities as +well, which the king their master ceded to the Hellenes by the treaty,[n] and +for the sake of which the Hellenes of those days faced many a peril and fought +many a gallant fight? Even if there actually are such advisers[n] in both cases, +at least it is not likely that they will find listeners. {28} For my part I +believe that it is right to restore the exiled democracy of Rhodes. But even if +it were not right, I think it would be proper to urge you to do it, when I +consider the course taken by such speakers as these; and for this reason. If all +the world, men of Athens, were bent upon doing right, it would be a disgrace to +us if we alone were unwilling to do so: but when all the world is preparing +itself in order to be able to commit wrong, then for us alone to abstain from +every enterprise, on the plea of right, is no righteousness, to my mind, but +cowardice. For I observe that the extent to which rights are admitted is always +in proportion to the claimant's power at the moment. {29} I can illustrate this +by an instance familiar to all of you. There are two treaties[n] between the +Hellenes and the king. The first was made by our own city, and all men praise +it; the second by the Spartans, and it is denounced by all. The rights defined +in these two treaties are not the same. For whereas a common and equal share of +private rights is given by law to weak and strong alike, in a settlement of +international rights it is the stronger who legislate for the weaker. + +Well, you already know what the right course is.[n] {30} It remains to inquire +how you can carry out your knowledge into action; and this will be possible, if +you come to be regarded as public champions of universal liberty. But the great +difficulty which you find in doing your duty is, to my mind, natural enough. All +other men have only one conflict to face--the conflict with their declared foes; +and when these are subdued, there is no further obstacle to their secure +enjoyment of their happiness. {31} But for you there is a double conflict. In +addition to that to which all men are liable, there is another which is harder, +and which must be faced first: for you have to win the victory in your councils +over those who are deliberately working in your midst against the interests of +the city; and because, thanks to them, you can effect nothing that is demanded +of you without a struggle, it is natural that you should often miss your mark. +{32} The chief reason for the fearless adoption of such a course in public life +by so many men is perhaps to be found in the benefits which they obtain from +those who hire them. Yet at the same time, some of the blame may fairly be laid +at your own doors. For you ought, men of Athens, to think of a man's post in +public life as you think of his post in the army in the field. And how do you +think of this? If a man leaves the post assigned to him by his general, you +think that he deserves to be disfranchised and to lose all share in the +privileges of a citizen. {33} And so when men desert the post of civil duty, +committed to them by our forefathers, and follow an oligarchical[n] policy, they +should forfeit the privilege of acting as advisers to yourselves. As it is, +while you believe that those of your allies are best disposed towards you, who +have sworn to have the same friends and foes as yourselves, the politicians in +whom you place most faith are those whom you well know to have chosen the side +of the enemies of Athens. + +{34} It is easy enough, however, to find reasons for accusing them and +reproaching all of you. But to find words or actions which will enable us to +rectify what is now amiss with us, is a task indeed. Moreover, the present is +not, perhaps, the time for entering into every point: but if only you can +confirm the policy which you have chosen by some suitable action, it may be that +other conditions will each in turn show some improvement. {35} I think, +therefore, that you ought to take this enterprise in hand with vigour, and to +act worthily of your country. Remember with what delight you listen to the +praises of your forefathers,[n] the recital of their deeds, the enumeration of +their trophies. Consider then that your forefathers dedicated these trophies, +not that you might gaze at them in idle wonder, but that you might imitate the +actions of those who placed them there. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] [Greek: humin sygchair_o]. + + + + +THE FIRST PHILIPPIC (OR. IV) + + +[_Introduction_. Philip became King of Macedonia in 359 B.C. Being in great +difficulties both from external enemies and from internal division, he made +peace with the Athenians, who were supporting the pretensions of Argaeus to the +throne, in the hope of recovering (by agreement with Argaeus) the colony of +Amphipolis on the Strymon, which they had lost in 424. Philip acknowledged the +title of Athens to Amphipolis, and sent home the Athenian prisoners, whom he had +captured among the supporters of Argaeus, without ransom. The Athenians, +however, neglected to garrison Amphipolis. In 358 (the year in which Athens +temporarily recovered her hold over Euboea, by compelling the Thebans to +evacuate the island), Philip carried on a successful campaign against the +Paeonian and Illyrian tribes, who were standing enemies of Macedonia. For the +next three years Athens was kept occupied by the war with her allies, and Philip +saw his opportunity. He besieged Amphipolis: when the citizens sent Hierax and +Stratocles to ask Athens for help, he dispatched a letter promising the +Athenians that he would give them Amphipolis when he had taken it; and a secret +understanding was arrived at between Philip and the Athenian envoys sent to him, +that Athens should give him Pydna (once a Macedonian town, but now an ally of +Athens) in exchange. Athens, therefore, listened neither to Amphipolis nor to +Olynthus, which had also made overtures to her. The Olynthians in consequence +made a treaty with Philip, who gave them Anthemus and promised to help them +against their old rival Poteidaea, a town in alliance with Athens. The +Olynthians on their part agreed not to make peace with Athens except in +conjunction with him. But Philip, when he had captured Amphipolis by a +combination of siege and intrigue, did not give it up to Athens, and instead of +waiting to receive Pydna from Athens, besieged and took it, aided once more by +treachery from within. In 356 he took Poteidaea (in conjunction with the +Olynthians, to whom he gave the town), the Athenians arriving too late to +relieve it; and then pursued his conquests along the Thracian coast. Further +inland he expelled the Thasians (allies of Athens) from Crenides and founded +Philippi on the site, in the centre of the gold-mines of Mount Pangaeus, from +which he henceforward derived a very large revenue; while the forests of the +district provided him with timber for ship-building, of which he took full +advantage: for in the next few years his ships made descents upon the Athenian +islands of Lemnos and Imbros, plundered the Athenian corn-vessels off the coast +of Euboea, and even landed a force at Marathon. In the latter part of 356 and in +355 he was occupied with the conquest of the Paeonians and Illyrians, with whom +Athens had made an alliance in 356. At the end of 355 he laid siege to Methone, +the last Athenian port on the Thermaic gulf, and captured it in 354. (Some place +the siege and capture of Methone in 354-3, but an inscription, C.I.G. II. 70, +makes it at least probable that the siege had begun by the last month of 355.) +In 353 Philip made his way to the Thracian coast, and conquered Abdera and +Maroneia. At Maroneia we find him in company with Pammenes (his former host at +Thebes), who had been sent by the Thebans to assist Artabazus in his revolt +against the Persian king; and at the same place he received Apollonides of +Cardia, the envoy of the Thracian prince Cersobleptes. On his way home his ships +escaped from Chares, off Neapolis, by a ruse. In the same year he interfered in +the affairs of Thessaly, where the Aleuadae of Larissa had invited his +assistance against Lycophron and Peitholaus of Pherae, who had invoked the aid +of the Phocians. (In opposing the Phocians, the antagonists of the Thebans in +the Sacred War, Philip was also helping the Thebans themselves, and gaining +credit as the opponent of the plunderers of the temple of Apollo at Delphi.) +Onomarchus, the Phocian leader, twice defeated Philip, but was overthrown and +slain in 352. Philip took Pherae and Pagasae (its port), occupied Magnesia, and, +by means of promises, obtained financial aid from the Thessalians. The +expedition sent by Athens to relieve Pagasae arrived too late; but when Philip, +after putting down the tyrants of Pherae and arranging matters in Thessaly, +advanced towards the Pass of Thermopylae, an Athenian force, sent on the advice +of Diophantus and Eubulus, appeared in time to oblige him to retire to +Macedonia. Late in the autumn of 352 we find him once more in Thrace. It was +probably now that he assisted the peoples of Byzantium and Perinthus, together +with Amadocus, a rival of Cersobleptes, against the latter; with the result that +Cersobleptes was obliged to give up his son to Philip as a hostage. Philip had +also made alliance with Cardia, which, like Byzantium, was on bad terms with +Athens. He now laid siege to Heraeon Teichos, a fortress on the Propontis, but +illness obliged him to suspend operations, and the rumour of his death prevented +the Athenians from sending against him the expedition which they had resolved +upon. (The retention of her influence in this region was essential for Athens, +if her corn-supply was to be secure.) In 351, on recovering from his illness, he +entered the territory of Olynthus, which, contrary to the agreement with him, +had made peace with Athens in the previous year, apart from himself: but he did +not at present pursue the invasion further. In October 351 Athens sent +Charidemus to the Hellespont with ten ships, but no soldiers and little money. +If these are the ships alluded to in § 43 of the present Speech, the Speech must +have been delivered after that date. Otherwise any date after Philip's incursion +into the territory of Olynthus would suit the contents of the Speech, and many +writers place it earlier in the year. The question of the relations of Athens +with Philip had been brought forward; and Demosthenes, who had risen first to +speak, proposes the creation of a large permanent fleet, and of a smaller force +for immediate action, laying great stress on the necessity of sending Athenian +citizens both to command and to form a substantial proportion of the troops, +which, had so far been mostly mercenaries. The scheme was worked out in detail, +both in its military and in its financial aspects, and supported with an +eloquence and an earnestness which are far in advance of those displayed in the +earlier speeches. + +The statement of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, that the Speech as we have it, is +really a conflation of two speeches, of which the second (beginning at § 30) was +delivered in 347, is generally (and rightly) discredited.] + + +{1} If some new subject were being brought before us, men of Athens, I would +have waited until most of your ordinary advisers had declared their opinion; and +if anything that they said were satisfactory to me, I would have remained +silent, and only if it were not so, would I have attempted to express my own +view. But since we find ourselves once more considering a question upon which +they have often spoken, I think I may reasonably be pardoned for rising first of +all. For if their advice to you in the past had been what it ought to have been, +you would have had no occasion for the present debate. + +{2} In the first place, then, men of Athens, we must not be downhearted at our +present situation, however wretched it may seem to be. For in the worst feature +of the past lies our best hope for the future-in the fact, that is, that we are +in our present plight because you are not doing your duty in any respect; for if +you were doing all that you should do, and we were still in this evil case, we +could not then even hope for any improvement. {3} In the second place, you must +bear in mind (what some of you have heard from others, and those who know can +recollect for themselves), how powerful the Spartans were, not long ago, and yet +how noble and patriotic your own conduct was, when instead of doing anything +unworthy of your country you faced the war with Sparta [n] in defence of the +right. [n] Now why do I remind you of these things? It is because, men of +Athens, I wish you to see and to realize, that so long as you are on your guard +you have nothing to fear; but that if you are indifferent, nothing can be as you +would wish: for this is exemplified for you both by the power of Sparta in those +days, to which you rose superior because you gave your minds to your affairs; +and by the insolence of Philip to-day, which troubles us because we care nothing +for the things which should concern us. {4} If, however, any of you, men of +Athens, when he considers the immense force now at Philip's command, and the +city's loss of all her strongholds, thinks that Philip is a foe hard to conquer, +I ask him (right though he is in his belief) to reflect also that there was a +time when we possessed Pydna and Poteidaea and Methone; when all the surrounding +country was our own, and many of the tribes [n] which are now on his side were +free and independent, and more inclined to be friendly to us than to him. {5} +Now if in those days Philip had made up his mind that it was a hard thing to +fight against the Athenians, with all their fortified outposts on his own +frontiers, while he was destitute of allies, he would have achieved none of his +recent successes, nor acquired this great power. But Philip saw quite clearly, +men of Athens, that all these strongholds were prizes of war, displayed for +competition. He saw that in the nature of things the property of the absent +belongs to those who are on the spot, and that of the negligent to those who are +ready for toil and danger. {6} It is, as you know, by acting upon this belief, +that he has brought all those places under his power, and now holds them--some +of them by right of capture in war, others in virtue of alliances and friendly +understandings; for every one is willing to grant alliance and to give attention +to those whom they see to be prepared and ready to take action as is necessary. +{7} If then, men of Athens, you also will resolve to adopt this principle to- +day--the principle which you have never observed before--if each of you can +henceforward be relied upon to throw aside all this pretence of incapacity, and +to act where his duty bids him, and where his services can be of use to his +country; if he who has money will contribute, and he who is of military age will +join the campaign; if, in one plain word, you will resolve henceforth to depend +absolutely on yourselves, each man no longer hoping that he will need to do +nothing himself, and that his neighbour will do everything for him; then, God +willing, you will recover your own; you will take back all that your indolence +has lost, and you will have your revenge upon Philip. {8} Do not imagine that +his fortune is built to last for ever, as if he were a God. He also has those +who hate him and fear him, men of Athens, and envy him too, even among those who +now seem to be his closest friends. All the feelings that exist in any other +body of men must be supposed to exist in Philip's supporters. Now, however, all +such feelings are cowed before him: your slothful apathy has taken away their +only rallying point; and it is this apathy that I bid you put off to-day. {9} +Mark the situation, men of Athens: mark the pitch which the man's outrageous +insolence has reached, when he does not even give you a choice between action +and inaction, but threatens you, and utters (as we are told) haughty language: +for he is not the man to rest content in possession of his conquests: he is +always casting his net wider; and while we procrastinate and sit idle, he is +setting his toils around us on every side. {10} When, then, men of Athens, when, +I say, will you take the action that is required? What are you waiting for? 'We +are waiting,' you say, 'till it is necessary.' But what must we think of all +that is happening at this present time? Surely the strongest necessity that a +free people can experience is the shame which they must feel at their position! +What? Do you want to go round asking one another, 'Is there any news?' Could +there be any stranger news than that a man of Macedonia is defeating Athenians +in war, and ordering the affairs of the Hellenes? {11} 'Is Philip dead?' 'No, +but he is sick.' And what difference does it make to you? For if anything should +happen to him, you will soon raise up for yourselves a second Philip, if it is +thus that you attend to your interests. Indeed, Philip himself has not risen to +this excessive height through his own strength, so much as through our neglect. +I go even further. {12} If anything happened to Philip--if the operation of +Fortune, who always cares for us better than we care for ourselves, were to +effect this too for us--you know that if you were at hand, you could descend +upon the general confusion and order everything as you wished; but in your +present condition, even if circumstances offered you Amphipolis, you could not +take it; for your forces and your minds alike are far away. + +{13} Well, I say no more of the obligation which rests upon you all to be +willing and ready to do your duty; I will assume that you are resolved and +convinced. But the nature of the armament which, I believe, will set you free +from such troubles as these, the numbers of the force, the source from which we +must obtain funds, and the best and quickest way, as it seems to me, of making +all further preparations--all this, men of Athens, I will at once endeavour to +explain when I have made one request of you. {14} Give your verdict on my +proposal when you have heard the whole of it; do not prejudge it before I have +done; and if at first the force which I propose appears unprecedented, do not +think that I am merely creating delays. It is not those whose cry is 'At once', +'To-day', whose proposals will meet our need; for what has already happened +cannot be prevented by any expedition now. {15} It is rather he who can show the +nature, the magnitude, and the financial possibility of a force which when +provided will be able to continue in existence either until we are persuaded to +break off the war, or until we have overcome the enemy; for thus only can we +escape further calamity for the future. These things I believe I can show, +though I would not stand in the way of any other speaker's professions. It is no +less a promise than this that I make; the event will soon test its fulfilment, +and you will be the judges of it. + +First then, men of Athens, I say that fifty warships must {16} at once be got in +readiness: and next, that you must be in such a frame of mind that, if any need +arises, you will embark in person and sail. In addition, you must prepare +transports for half our cavalry, and a sufficient number of boats. {17} These, I +think, should be in readiness to meet those sudden sallies of his from his own +country against Thermopylae, the Chersonese, Olynthus, and any other place which +he may select. For we must make him realize that there is a possibility of your +rousing yourselves out of your excessive indifference, just as when once you +went to Euboea,[n] and before that (as we are told) to Haliartus,[n] and +finally, only the other day, to Thermopylae. {18} Such a possibility, even if +you are unlikely to make it a reality, as I think you ought to do, is not one +which he can treat lightly; and you may thus secure one of two objects. On the +one hand, he may know that you are on the alert--he will in fact know it well +enough: there are only too many persons, I assure you, in Athens itself, who +report to him all that happens here: and in that case his apprehensions will +ensure his inactivity. But if, on the other hand, he neglects the warning, he +may be taken off his guard; for there will be nothing to hinder you from sailing +to his country, if he gives you the opportunity. {19} These are the measures +upon which I say you should all be resolved, and your preparations for them +made. But before this, men of Athens, you must make ready a force which will +fight without intermission, and do him damage. Do not speak to me of ten +thousand or twenty thousand mercenaries. I will have none of your paper-armies. +[n] Give me an army which will be the army of Athens, and will obey and follow +the general whom you elect, be there one general or more, be he one particular +individual, or be he who he may. {20} You must also provide maintenance for this +force. Now what is this force to be? how large is it to be? how is it to be +maintained? how will it consent to act in this manner? I will answer these +questions point by point. The number of mercenaries--but you must not repeat the +mistake which has so often injured you, the mistake of, first, thinking any +measures inadequate, and so voting for the largest proposal, and then, when the +time for action comes, not even executing the smaller one; you must rather carry +out and make provision for the smaller measure, and add to it, if it proves too +small--{21} the total number of soldiers, I say, must be two thousand, and of +these five hundred must be Athenians, beginning from whatever age you think +good: they must serve for a definite period--not a long one, but one to be fixed +at your discretion--and in relays. The rest must be mercenaries. With these must +be cavalry, two hundred in number, of whom at least fifty must be Athenians, as +with the infantry; and the conditions of service must be the same. {22} You must +also find transports for these. And what next? Ten swift ships of war. For as he +has a fleet, we need swift-sailing warships too, to secure the safe passage of +the army. And how is maintenance to be provided for these? This also I will +state and demonstrate, as soon as I have given you my reasons for thinking that +a force of this size is sufficient, and for insisting that those who serve in it +shall be citizens. + +{23} The size of the force, men of Athens, is determined by the fact that we +cannot at present provide an army capable of meeting Philip in the open field; +we must make plundering forays, and our warfare must at first be of a predatory +nature. Consequently the force must not be over-big--we could then neither pay +nor feed it--any more than it must be wholly insignificant. {24} The presence of +citizens in the force that sails I require for the following reasons. I am told +that Athens once maintained a mercenary force in Corinth,[n] under the command +of Polystratus, Iphicrates, Chabrias and others, and that you yourselves joined +in the campaign with them; and I remember hearing that these mercenaries, when +they took the field with you, and you with them, were victorious over the +Spartans. But even since your mercenary forces have gone to war alone, it is +your friends and allies that they conquer, while your enemies have grown more +powerful than they should be. After a casual glance at the war to which Athens +has sent them, they sail off to Artabazus,[n] or anywhere rather than to the +war; and the general follows them naturally enough, for his power over them is +gone when he can give them no pay. You ask what I bid you do. {25} I bid you +take away their excuses both from the general and the soldiers, by supplying pay +and placing citizen-soldiers at their side as spectators of these mysteries of +generalship;[n] for our present methods are a mere mockery. Imagine the question +to be put to you, men of Athens, whether you are at peace or no. 'At peace?' you +would say; 'Of course not! We are at war with Philip.' {26} Now have you not all +along been electing from among your own countrymen ten captains and generals,[n] +and cavalry-officers, and two masters-of-the-horse? and what are they doing? +Except the one single individual whom you happen to send to the seat of war, +they are all marshalling your processions for you with the commissioners of +festivals. You are no better than men modelling puppets of clay. Your captains +and your cavalry-officers are elected to be displayed in the streets, not to be +sent to the war. {27} Surely, men of Athens, your captains should be elected +from among yourselves, and your master-of-the-horse from among yourselves; your +officers should be your own countrymen, if the force is to be really the army of +Athens. As it is, the master-of-the-horse who is one of yourselves has to sail +to Lemnos; while the master-of-the-horse with the army that is fighting to +defend the possessions of Athens is Menelaus.[n] I do not wish to disparage that +gentleman; but whoever holds that office ought to have been elected by you. + +{28} Perhaps, however, while agreeing with all that I have said, you are mainly +anxious to hear my financial proposals, which will tell you the amount and the +sources of the funds required. I proceed, therefore, with these at once. First +for the sum. The cost of the bare rations for the crews, with such a force, will +be 90 talents and a little over--40 talents for ten swift ships, and 20 minae a +month for each ship; and for the soldiers as much again, each soldier to receive +rations to the value of 10 drachmae a month; and for the cavalry (two hundred in +number, each to receive 30 drachmae a month) twelve talents. {29} It may be said +that the supply of bare rations to the members of the force is an insufficient +initial provision; but this is a mistake. I am quite certain that, given so +much, the army will provide everything else for itself from the proceeds of war, +without injury to a single Hellene or ally of ours, and that the full pay will +be made up by these means. I am ready to sail as a volunteer and to suffer the +worst, if my words are untrue. The next question then is of ways and means, in +so far as the funds are to come from yourselves. I will explain this at once. + +[_A schedule of ways and means is read_.] + +{30} This, men of Athens, is what we have been able to devise; and when you put +our proposals to the vote, you will pass them, if you approve of them; that so +your war with Philip may be a war, not of resolutions and dispatches, but of +actions. + +{31} I believe that the value of your deliberations about the war and the +armament as a whole would be greatly enhanced, if you were to bear in mind the +situation of the country against which you are fighting, remembering that most +of Philip's plans are successfully carried out because he takes advantage of +winds and seasons; for he waits for the Etesian winds[n] or the winter-season, +and only attacks when it would be impossible for us to effect a passage to the +scene of action. {32} Bearing this in mind, we must not carry on the war by +means of isolated expeditions; we shall always be too late. We must have a +permanent force and armament. As our winter-stations for the army we have +Lemnos, Thasos, Sciathos, and the islands in that region, which have harbours +and corn, and are well supplied with all that an army needs. And as to the time +of year, whenever it is easy to approach the shore and the winds are not +dangerous, our force can without difficulty lie close to the Macedonian coast +itself, and block the mouths of the ports. + +{33} How and when he will employ the force is a matter to be determined, when +the time comes, by the commander whom you put in control of it. What must be +provided from Athens is described in the scheme which I have drafted. If, men of +Athens, you first supply the sum I have mentioned, and then, after making ready +the rest of the armament--soldiers, ships, cavalry--bind the whole force in its +entirety,[n] by law, to remain at the seat of war; if you become your own +paymasters, your own commissioners of supply, but require your general to +account for the actual operations; {34} then there will be an end of these +perpetual discussions of one and the same theme, which end in nothing but +discussion: and in addition to this, men of Athens, you will, in the first +place, deprive him of his chief source of supply. For what is this? Why, he +carries on the war at the cost of your own allies, harrying and plundering those +who sail the seas! And what will you gain besides this? You will place +yourselves out of reach of disaster. It will not be as it was in the past, when +he descended upon Lemnos and Imbros, and went off, with your fellow-citizens as +his prisoners of war, or when he seized the vessels off Geraestus,[n] and levied +an enormous sum from them; or when (last of all) he landed at Marathon, seized +the sacred trireme,[n] and carried it off from the country; while all the time +you can neither prevent these aggressions, nor yet send an expedition which will +arrive when you intend it to arrive. {35} But for what reason do you think, men +of Athens, do the festival of the Panathenaea and the festival of the +Dionysia[n] always take place at the proper time, whether those to whom the +charge of either festival is allotted are specially qualified persons or not-- +festivals upon which you spend larger sums of money than upon any armament +whatsoever, and which involve an amount of trouble[n] and preparation, which are +unique, so far as I know, in the whole world--; and yet your armaments are +always behind the time--at Methone, at Pagasae, at Potidaea? {36} It is because +for the festivals all is arranged by law. Each of you knows long beforehand who +is to supply the chorus,[n] and who is to be steward of the games,[n] for his +tribe: he knows what he is to receive, and when, and from whom, and what he is +to do with it. No detail is here neglected, nothing is left indefinite. But in +all that concerns war and our preparation for it, there is no organization, no +revision, no definiteness. Consequently it is not until the news comes that we +appoint our trierarchs and institute exchanges of property for them, and inquire +into ways and means. When that is done, we first resolve that the resident +aliens and the independent freedmen[n] shall go on board; then we change our +minds and say that citizens shall embark; then that we will send substitutes; +and while all these delays are occurring, the object of the expedition is +already lost. {37} For we spend on preparation the time when we should be +acting, and the opportunities which events afford will not wait for our slothful +evasions; while as for the forces on which we think we can rely in the meantime, +when the critical moment comes, they are tried and found wanting. And Philip's +insolence has reached such a pitch, that he has sent such a letter as the +following to the Euboeans. + +[_The letter is read_.] + +{38} The greater part of the statements that have been read are true, men of +Athens; and they ought not to be true! but I admit that they may possibly be +unpleasant to hear; and if the course of future events would pass over all that +a speaker passes over in his speech, to avoid giving pain, we should be right in +speaking with a view to your pleasure. But if attractive words, spoken out of +season, bring their punishment in actual reality, then it is disgraceful to +blind our eyes to the truth, to put off everything that is unpleasant, {39} to +refuse to understand even so much as this, that those who conduct war rightly +must not follow in the wake of events, but must be beforehand with them: for +just as a general may be expected to lead his army, so those who debate must +lead the course of affairs, in order that what they resolve upon may be done, +and that they may not be forced to follow at the heels of events. {40} You, men +of Athens, have the greatest power in the world-warships, infantry, cavalry, +revenue. But none of these elements of power have you used as you ought, down to +this very day. The method of your warfare with Philip is just that of barbarians +in a boxing-match. Hit one of them, and he hugs the place; hit him on the other +side, and there go his hands; but as for guarding, or looking his opponent in +the face, he neither can nor will do it. {41} It is the same with you. If you +hear that Philip is in the Chersonese, you resolve to make an expedition there; +if he is at Thermopylae, you send one there; and wherever else he may be, you +run up and down in his steps. It is he that leads your forces. You have never of +yourselves come to any salutary decision in regard to the war. No single event +do you ever discern before it occurs--before you have heard that something has +happened or is happening. Perhaps there was room for this backwardness until +now; but now we are at the very crisis, and such an attitude is possible no +longer. {42} Surely, men of Athens, it is one of the gods--one who blushes for +Athens, as he sees the course which events are taking--that has inspired Philip +with this restless activity. If he were content to remain at peace, in +possession of all that he has won by conquest or by forestalling us--if he had +no further plans--even then, the record against us as a people, a record of +shame and cowardice and all that is most dishonourable, would, I think, seem +complete enough to some of you. But now he is always making some new attempt, +always grasping after something more; and unless your spirit has utterly +departed, his conduct will perhaps bring you out into the field. {43} It amazes +me, men of Athens, that not one of you remembers with any indignation, that this +war had its origin in our intention to punish Philip; and that now, at the end +of it, the question is, how we are to escape disaster at his hands. But that he +will not stay his progress until some one arrests it is plain enough. Are we +then to wait for that? Do you think that all is right, when you dispatch nothing +but empty ships and somebody's hopes? Shall we not embark? {44} Shall we not +now, if never before, go forth ourselves, and provide at least some small +proportion of Athenian soldiers? Shall we not sail to the enemy's country? But I +heard the question, 'At what point on his coast are we to anchor?' The war +itself, men of Athens, if you take it in hand, will discover his weak points: +but if we sit at home listening to the mutual abuse and recriminations of our +orators, you can never realize any of the results that you ought to realize. +{45} I believe that whenever any portion of Athens is sent with the forces, even +if the whole city does not go, the favour of Heaven and of Fortune fights on our +side. But whenever you dispatch anywhere a general with an empty resolution and +some platform-hopes to support him, then you achieve nothing that you ought to +achieve, your enemies laugh at you, and your allies are in deadly fear of all +such armaments. {46} It is impossible, utterly impossible, that any one man +should be able to effect all that you wish for you. He can give undertakings and +promises;[n] he can accuse this man and that; and the result is that your +fortunes are ruined. For when the general is at the head of wretched, unpaid +mercenaries, and when there are those in Athens who lie to you light-heartedly +about all that he does, and, on the strength of the tales that you hear, you +pass decrees at random, what _must_ you expect? + +{47} How then can this state of things be terminated? Only, men of Athens, when +you expressly make the same men soldiers, witnesses of their general's actions, +and judges at his examination[n] when they return home; for then the issue of +your fortunes will not be a tale which you hear, but a thing which you will be +on the spot to see. So shameful is the pass which matters have now reached, that +each of your generals is tried for his life before you two or three times, but +does not dare to fight in mortal combat with the enemy even once. They prefer +the death of kidnappers and brigands to that of a general. {48} For it is a +felon's death, to die by sentence of the court: the death of a general is to +fall in battle with the enemy. Some of us go about saying that Philip is +negotiating with Sparta[n] for the overthrow of the Thebans and the breaking up +of the free states; others, that he has sent ambassadors to the king;[n] others, +that he is fortifying cities in Illyria. {49} We all go about inventing each his +own tale. I quite believe, men of Athens, that he is intoxicated with the +greatness of his successes, and entertains many such visions in his mind; for he +sees that there are none to hinder him, and he is elated at his achievements. +But I do not believe that he has chosen to act in such a way that the most +foolish persons in Athens can know what he intends to do; for no persons are so +foolish as newsmongers. {50} But if we dismiss all such tales, and attend only +to the certainty--that the man is our enemy, that he is robbing us of our own, +that he has insulted us for a long time, that all that we ever expected any one +to do for us has proved to be against us, that the future is in our own hands, +that if we will not fight him now in his own country we shall perhaps be obliged +to do so in ours--if, I say, we are assured of this, then we shall have made up +our minds aright, and shall be quit of idle words. For you have not to speculate +what the future may be: you have only to be assured that the future must be +evil, unless you give heed and are ready to do your duty. + +{51} Well, I have never yet chosen to gratify you by saying anything which I +have not felt certain would be for your good; and to-day I have spoken freely +and without concealment, just what I believe. I could wish to be as sure of the +good that a speaker will gain by giving you the best advice as of that which you +will gain by listening to him. I should then have been far happier than I am. As +it is, I do not know what will happen to me, for what I have said: but I have +chosen to speak in the sure conviction that if you carry out my proposals, it +will be for your good; and may the victory rest with that policy which will be +for the good of all! + + + + +THE OLYNTHIAC ORATIONS (OR. I-III) + + +[_Introduction_. It has already been noticed that when Philip took Amphipolis in +357 B.C., the Olynthians made overtures to the Athenians, with whom they had +been at war for some years, and that, being rejected, they became allies of +Philip, who gave them Anthemus and Poteidaea. In 352, alarmed at Philip's +growing power, they once more applied to Athens. Peace was made, and +negotiations began with regard to an alliance. In 351 Philip appeared in the +territory of Olynthus. He did not, however, at once carry the invasion further, +but took pains, during this year and the next, to foster a Macedonian party in +the town. In 349 Philip virtually declared war on the Olynthians by demanding +the surrender of his step-brother Arrhidaeus, who had taken refuge with them. +The Olynthians again appealed to Athens; an alliance was made; Chares was sent +with thirty ships and 2,000 mercenaries, but seems to have mismanaged the war by +misfortune or by design. Probably he had been badly supplied with funds, and +instead of helping Olynthus, resorted to acts of piracy to satisfy his men. The +Macedonian troops proceeded to take Stageira and other towns of the Olynthian +League, though Philip still professed to have no hostile intentions against +Olynthus (see Phil. III, § ii). Chares was recalled and put on his trial; and, +probably in response to a further message from Olynthus, Charidemus was +transferred thither from the Hellespont. With a considerable mercenary force at +his disposal, Charidemus overran Pallene and Bottiaea, and did some damage to +Philip's territory, but afterwards gave himself up to dissipation in Olynthus. +In the meantime, some of the Thessalians had become restless under Philip's +supremacy (see Olynth. I, § 22, II, § ii), and he was obliged to undertake an +expedition to suppress the revolt, and to put down Peitholaus (who had +apparently become tyrant of Pherae once more, though he had been expelled in +352). But early in 348 he appeared in person in Chalcidice, and took one after +another of the towns of the League, including Mecyberna the port of Olynthus, +and Torone. He thrice defeated the Olynthians in battle, and at last obtained +possession of Olynthus itself by the treachery of Euthycrates and Lasthenes, the +commanders of the Olynthian cavalry. + +Athens had probably been occupied during the early part of the year [1] with an +expedition which she sent (against the advice of Demosthenes) to help Plutarchus +of Eretria to repel attacks which were partly, at least, instigated by Philip; +and in consequence she had done little for Olynthus, though on a request of the +Olynthians for cavalry, she had ordered some of those which had been sent to +Euboea to go to Olynthus, and these may have been the Athenians whom Philip +captured in that city. The seventeen ships, 2,000 infantry, and 300 cavalry (all +citizens), which Athens dispatched under Chares in response to a last urgent +appeal from Olynthus, were delayed by storms and arrived too late. Philip +entirely destroyed Olynthus and thirty-two other towns, sold their inhabitants +into slavery, brought the whole of Chalcidice within the Macedonian Empire, and +celebrated his conquests by a festival in honour of the Olympian Zeus at Dium. + +The First Olynthiac Oration was delivered before Olynthus itself was attacked or +any other towns actually taken (Olynth. I, § 17); and both the First and Second +before the discontent with Philip in Thessaly had taken an active form (I, § 22, +II, § 7). Both, that is, belong to the summer of 349, and the situation implied +is very much the same in both. The First was perhaps spoken when the Olynthians +first appealed to Athens in that year, before the mission of Chares; the Second, +to counteract the effect of something which had caused despondency in Athens +(possibly the conduct of the Athenian generals, or the account given by other +orators of Philip's power). In both Demosthenes urges the importance of +resisting Philip while he is still far away, and of sending, not mercenaries, +but a citizen-army; and while hinting at what he regards as the true solution of +the financial difficulty, proposes a special war-tax. The solution which he +thinks the right one is more explicitly described in the Third Olynthiac, spoken +(probably [Footnote: See note on Olynth. III, Section 4]) in the autumn of the +same year, and certainly at a time when the situation had become much more +grave. The root of the financial difficulty lay in the existence of a law which +prohibited (evidently under severe penalties, Olynth. III, Section 12) any +proposal to devote to military purposes that portion of the revenues which +constituted the 'Festival' or 'Theoric Fund', and was for the most part +distributed to the citizens to enable them to take part in the public festivals, +and so join in fulfilling what was no doubt a religious duty as well as a +pleasure. This particular form of expenditure is stated to have been introduced +by the demagogue Agyrrhius in 394, when it revived in an extended form a +distribution of theatre money instituted late in the fifth century by Cleophon; +but the special law in question appears to have been of recent date (Olynth. +III, Section 12), and was almost certainly the work of Eubulus and his party. +Demosthenes himself proposes an extraordinary Legislative Commission, to repeal +the mischievous laws and leave the way clear for financial reform. At the same +time he attacks the whole policy of Eubulus, charging him with distributing +doles without regard to public service, adding to the amenities of Athens +instead of maintaining her honour in war, and enriching her politicians while +degrading her people. The main object of the speech was unsuccessful; and just +about this time (though whether before or after the speech is disputed) +Apollodorus proposed that the people should decide whether the surplus revenues +should go to the Festival Fund, or be applied to military purposes, and was +heavily fined for the illegality of the proposal. + +The Three Olynthiacs rank high among the Orations of Demosthenes. Some passages, +indeed, show that he had hardly as yet appreciated the genius of Philip, or the +unlikelihood of his making a false move either through over-confidence or +because he had come to the end of his resources. But the noble patriotism of the +speaker, the lofty tone of his political reflections, the clearness of his +diagnosis of the evils of his time, and the fearlessness of his appeal for loyal +and united self-sacrifice, are nowhere more conspicuous.] + + +THE FIRST OLYNTHIAC + +{1} I believe, men of Athens, that you would give a great sum to know what +policy, in reference to the matter which you are now considering, will best +serve the interests of the city, and since that is so, you ought to be ready and +eager to listen to those who desire to give you their advice. For not only can +you hear and accept any useful proposals which a speaker may have thought out +before he came here; but such, I conceive, is your fortune, that the right +suggestion will often occur to some of those present on the spur of the moment; +and out of all these suggestions it should be easy for you to choose the most +advantageous course. + +{2} The present time, men of Athens, seems almost to cry aloud that you must +take matters into your own hands yonder, if you have any interest in a +successful termination of the crisis: and yet our attitude appears to be--I do +not know what. My own opinion, at all events, is that you should at once resolve +to send this assistance; that you should prepare for the departure of the +expedition at the first possible moment--you must not fall victims to the same +error as before--and that you should dispatch an embassy to announce our +intention, and to be present at the scene of action. {3} For what we have most +to fear is this--that he, with his unscrupulous cleverness in taking advantage +of circumstances--now, it may be, by making concessions; now by uttering +threats, which he may well seem likely to fulfil; now by misrepresenting +ourselves and our absence from the scene--may turn and wrest to his own +advantage some of the vital elements of our power. {4} And yet it may fairly be +said, men of Athens, that our best hope lies in that very circumstance which +renders Philip's power so hard to grapple with. The fact that the entire control +over everything, open or secret,[n] is concentrated in the hands of a single +man; that he is at one and the same time general, master, and treasurer; that he +is always present in person with his army--all this is a great advantage, in so +far as military operations must be prompt and well-timed. But as regards the +compact which he would so gladly make with the Olynthians, the effect is just +the reverse. {5} For the Olynthians know well that they are not fighting now for +honour and glory, nor for a strip of territory, but to avert the devastation and +enslavement of their country. They know how he treated[n] those who betrayed to +him their city at Amphipolis, and those who received him at Pydna; and it is, I +imagine, universally true that tyranny is a faithless friend to a free state, +and that most of all, when they occupy adjoining territories. {6} With this +knowledge, men of Athens, and with all the reflections that the occasion calls +for in your minds, I say that now, if ever before, you must make your resolve, +rouse all your energies, and give your minds to the war: you must contribute +gladly, you must go forth in person, you must leave nothing undone. There is no +longer any reason or excuse remaining, which can justify you in refusing to do +your duty. {7} For every one was but recently harping on the desirability of +exciting Olynthus to war with Philip; and this has now come to pass of itself, +and in the way which most completely suits your interests. Had they taken up the +war because you had persuaded them to do so, their alliance might perhaps have +been precarious, and their resolution might only have carried them a certain +way. But now their detestation of Philip is based upon grievances which affect +themselves; and we may suppose that a hostility which is occasioned by their own +fears and sufferings will be a lasting one. {8} Since, therefore, men of Athens, +such an opportunity has been thrown in your way, you must not let it go, nor +fall victims to the mistake from which you have often suffered before. If, for +instance, when we had returned from our expedition in aid of the Euboeans,[n] +and Hierax and Stratocles came from Amphipolis and stood upon this platform and +urged us to sail and take over the city; if, I say, we had continued to display +in our own interest the eagerness which we displayed in the deliverance of the +Euboeans, you would have kept Amphipolis then, and we should have been free from +all the trouble that we have had since. {9} And again, when news kept coming of +the investment of Pydna, Poteidaea, Methone, Pagasae, and all the other places-- +I will not stay to enumerate them all--if we had acted at once, and had gone to +the rescue of the first place attacked, with the energy which we ought to have +shown, we should now have found Philip much less proud and difficult to deal +with. As it is, we are always sacrificing the present, always fancying that the +future will turn out well of itself; and so we have raised Philip to a position +of such importance as no king of Macedonia has ever before attained. {10} And +now an opportunity has come to Athens, in this crisis at Olynthus, as great as +any of those former ones: and I believe, men of Athens, that one who was to draw +up a true account of the blessings which have been given us by the gods, would, +in spite of much that is not as it should be, find great cause for thankfulness +to them; and naturally so. For our many losses in the war must in fairness be +set down to our own indifference; but that we did not suffer such losses long +ago, and that an alliance has presented itself to us, which, if we will only +take advantage of it, will act as a counterpoise to them--all this I, for one, +should set down as a favour due to their goodness towards us. But it is, I +imagine, in politics, as it is in money-making. {11} If a man is able to keep +all that he gets, he is abundantly grateful to Fortune; but if he loses it all +before he is aware, he loses with it his memory of Fortune's kindness. So it is +in politics. When men have not made a right use of their opportunities, they do +not remember any good that heaven may actually have granted them: for it is by +the ultimate issue that men estimate all that they have enjoyed before. +Therefore, men of Athens, you must pay the very utmost heed to the future, that +by the better use you make of it, you may wipe out the dishonour of the past. +{12} But if you sacrifice these men also, men of Athens, and Philip in +consequence reduces Olynthus to subjection, I ask any of you to tell me what is +to prevent him from marching where he pleases. Is there a man among you, men of +Athens, who considers or studies the steps by which Philip, weak enough at +first, has become so strong? First he took Amphipolis, next Pydna, then again +Poteidaea, and then Methone. Next he set foot in Thessaly. {13} Then when +Pherae, Pagasae, Magnesia[n] were secured for his purposes, just as it suited +him, he departed to Thrace. In Thrace, after expelling one prince and setting up +another, he fell ill. When he grew easier again, he showed no inclination to +take things easily, but at once attacked the Olynthians[n]--and I am passing +over his campaigns against the Illyrians and the Paeonians, against Arybbas,[n] +and in every possible direction. + +{14} Why, I may be asked, do I mention these things at the present moment? I +wish you to understand, men of Athens, and to realize these two points: first, +the unprofitableness of perpetually sacrificing your interests one by one; and, +secondly, the restless activity which is a part of Philip's very being, and +which will not allow him to content himself with his achievements and remain at +peace. For if it is to be his fixed resolve, that he must always be aiming at +something greater than he has yet attained; and ours, that we will never set +ourselves resolutely to work; ask yourselves what you can expect to be the end +of the matter. {15} In God's name, is there one of you so innocent as not to +know that the war will be transferred from Olynthus to Attica, if we pay no +heed? But if that happens, men of Athens, I fear that we shall be like men who +light-heartedly borrow at a high rate of interest, and after a brief period of +affluence, lose even their original estate; that like them we shall find that +our carelessness has cost us dear; that through making pleasure our standard in +everything, we shall find ourselves driven to do many of those unpleasant things +which we wished to avoid, and shall find our position even in our own country +imperilled. + +{16} I may be told that it is easy to criticize--any one can do that; but that a +political adviser is expected to offer some practical proposal to meet the +existing situation. Now I am well aware, men of Athens, that in the event of any +disappointment, it is not upon those who are responsible that your anger falls, +but upon those who have spoken last upon the subject in question. Yet I do not +think that consideration for my own safety should lead me to conceal my +conviction as to the course which your interests demand. {17} I say then that +there are two things which you must do to save the situation. You must rescue +these towns [n] for the Olynthians, and send troops to accomplish this: and you +must damage Philip's country with your ships and with a second body of troops. +{18} If you neglect either of these things, our campaign, I greatly fear, will +be in vain. For suppose that you inflict damage on his country, and that he +allows you to do so, while he reduces Olynthus; he will have no difficulty in +repelling you when he returns. Suppose, on the other hand, that you only go to +the help of Olynthus; he will see that he has nothing to fear at home, and so he +will sit down before the town and remain at his task, until time enables him to +get the better of the besieged. The expedition, therefore, must be large, and it +must be in two parts. + +Such is my view with regard to the expedition. {19} As to the sources of supply, +you have funds, men of Athens--funds larger than any one else in the world; but +you appropriate these without scruple, just as you choose. Now if you will +assign these to your troops, you need no further supplies: otherwise, not only +do you need further supplies--you are destitute of supplies altogether. 'Well' +(does someone say?), 'do you move that this money should form a war-fund?' I +assure you that I make no such motion. {20} For while I do indeed believe that a +force ought to be made ready [and that this money should form a war-fund], and +that the receipt of money should be connected, as part of one and the same +system, with the performance of duty; you, on the contrary, think it right to +take the money, after your present fashion, for your festivals, and spare +yourselves trouble. And therefore, I suppose, our only resource is a general +tax--larger or smaller, according to the amount required. In any case, we need +funds, and without funds nothing can be done that we ought to do. Various other +sources of supply are suggested by different persons. Choose whichever you think +best of these, and get to work, while you have the opportunity. + +{21} It is worth while to remember and to take into account the nature of +Philip's position at this moment. For neither are his affairs at present in such +good order, or in so perfectly satisfactory a state, as might appear to any but +a careful observer; nor would he ever have commenced this present war, if he had +thought that he would really have to fight. He hoped at first that by his mere +advance he would carry all before him; and he has since discovered his mistake. +This disappointment, then, is the first thing which disturbs him and causes him +great despondency: {22} and next there is the disposition of the Thessalians, +naturally inconstant as we know it has always been found by all men; and what it +has always been, that, in the highest degree, Philip finds it now. For they have +formally resolved to demand from him the restitution of Pagasae; they have +prevented him from fortifying Magnesia, and I myself heard it stated that they +intend even to refuse him the enjoyment of their harbour and market dues for the +future. These, they say, should go to maintain the public administration of +Thessaly, instead of being taken by Philip. But if he is deprived of these +funds, the resources from which he must maintain his mercenaries will be reduced +to the narrowest limits. {23} Nay, more: we must surely suppose that the +chieftains of the Paeonians and Illyrians, and in fact all such personages-- +would prefer freedom to slavery; for they are not accustomed to obey orders, and +the man, they say, is a bully. Heaven knows, there is nothing incredible in the +statement. Unmerited success is to foolish minds a fountain-head of perversity, +so that it is often harder for men to keep the good they have, than it was to +obtain it. {24} It is for you then, men of Athens, to regard his difficulty as +your opportunity, to take up your share of the burden with readiness, to send +embassies to secure all that is required, to join the forces yourselves, and to +stir up every one else to do so. Only consider what would happen, if Philip got +such an opportunity to strike at us, and there was war on our frontier. Can you +not imagine how readily he would march against us? Does it arouse no shame in +you, that, when you have the opportunity, you should not dare to do to him even +as much as you would have to suffer, were he able to inflict it? + +{25} There is a further point, men of Athens, which must not escape you. I mean +that you have now to choose whether you are to carry on war yonder, or whether +he is to do so in your own country. If the resistance of Olynthus is maintained, +you will fight there and will inflict damage on Philip's territory, while you +remain secure in the enjoyment of this land of your own which you now possess. +But if Philip captures Olynthus, who is to hinder him from marching to Athens? +The Thebans? {26} It seems, I fear, too bitter a thing to say; but they will be +glad to join him in the invasion. The Phocians? They cannot protect their own +country, unless you go to their aid, or some other power. 'But, my good Sir,'[n] +you say, 'he will not want to march here.' And yet it would be one of the +strangest things in the world, if, when he has the power, he does not carry out +the threats, which he now blurts out in spite of the folly that they show. {27} +But I suppose that I need not even point out how vast is the difference between +war here and war in his country. For had you to camp outside the walls +yourselves, for only thirty days, and to take from the country such things as +men in camp must have--and I am assuming that there is no enemy in the country-- +I believe that the loss your farmers would suffer would exceed your whole +expenditure on the war up to the present time. What then must we think will be +the extent of our loss, if ever war comes to our doors? And besides the loss +there is his insolence, and the shame of our position, which to right-minded men +is as serious as any loss. + +{28} When you take a comprehensive view of these things you must all go to the +rescue and stave the war off yonder; you who are well-to-do, in order that, with +a small expense in defence of the great fortunes which you quite rightly enjoy, +you may reap the benefit of the remainder without fear; you who are of military +age, that you may gain your experience of war in Philip's country, and so become +formidable guardians of a fatherland unspoiled; and your orators, that they may +find it easy to render an account of their public life; for your judgement upon +their conduct will itself depend upon the position in which you find yourselves. +And may that be a happy one, on every ground! + + +THE SECOND OLYNTHIAC + +{1} Many as are the occasions, men of Athens, on which we may discern the +manifestation of the goodwill of Heaven towards this city, one of the most +striking is to be seen in the circumstances of the present time. For that men +should have been found to carry on war against Philip; men whose territory +borders on his and who possess some power; men, above all, whose sentiments in +regard to the war are such that they think of the proposed compact with him, not +only as untrustworthy, but as the very ruin of their country--this seems to be +certainly the work of a superhuman, a divine, beneficence. {2} And so, men of +Athens, we must take care that we do not treat ourselves less well than +circumstances have treated us. For it is a shameful thing--nay, it is the very +depth of shame--to throw away openly, not only cities and places which were once +in our power, but even the allies and the opportunities which have been provided +for us by Fortune. + +{3} Now to describe at length the power of Philip, men of Athens, and to incite +you to the performance of your duty by such a recital, is not, I think, a +satisfactory proceeding; and for this reason--that while all that can be said on +this subject tends to Philip's glory, it is a story of failure on our part. For +the greater the extent to which his success surpasses his deserts, the greater +is the admiration with which the world regards him; while, for your part, the +more you have fallen short of the right use of your opportunities, the greater +is the disgrace that you have incurred. {4} I will therefore pass over such +considerations. For any honest inquirer must see that the causes of Philip's +rise to greatness lie in Athens, and not in himself. Of the services for which +he has to thank those whose policy is determined by his interest--services for +which you ought to require their punishment--the present is not, I see, the +moment to speak. But apart from these, there are things which may be said, and +which it is better that you should all have heard--things which (if you will +examine them aright) constitute a grave reproach against him; and these I will +try to tell you. + +{5} If I called him perjured and faithless, without giving his actions in +evidence, my words would be treated as idle abuse, and rightly: and it happens +that to review all his actions up to the present time, and to prove the charge +in every case, requires only a short speech. It is well, I think, that the story +should be told, for it will serve two purposes; first, to make plain the real +badness of the man's character; and secondly, to let those who are over-alarmed +at Philip, as if he were invincible, see that he has come to the end of all +those forms of deceit by which he rose to greatness, and that his career is +already drawing to its close. {6} For I, too, men of Athens, should be regarding +Philip with intense fear and admiration, if I saw that his rise was the result +of a righteous policy. {7} But when I study and consider the facts, I find that +originally, when certain persons wished to drive from your presence the +Olynthians who desired to address you from this place, Philip won over our +innocent minds by saying that he would deliver up Amphipolis to us, and by +inventing the famous secret understanding; that he afterwards conciliated the +Olynthians by seizing Poteidaea, which was yours, and injuring their former +allies by handing it over to themselves; and that, last of all, he recently won +over the Thessalians, by promising to give up Magnesia to them, and undertaking +to carry on the war with the Phocians on their behalf. There is absolutely no +one who has ever had dealings with him that he has not deluded; and it is by +deceiving and winning over, one after another, those who in their blindness did +not realize what he was, that he has risen as he has done. {8} And therefore, +just as it was by these deceptions that he rose to greatness, in the days when +each people fancied that he intended to do some service to themselves; so it is +these same deceptions which should drag him down again, now that he stands +convicted of acting for his own ends throughout. Such, then, is the crisis, men +of Athens, to which Philip's fortunes have now come. If it is not so, let any +one come forward and show me (or rather you) that what I say is untrue; or that +those who have been deceived at the outset trust him as regards the future; or +that those who have been brought into unmerited bondage would not gladly be +free. + +{9} But if any of you, while agreeing with me so far, still fancies that Philip +will maintain his hold by force, because he has already occupied fortified posts +and harbours and similar positions, he is mistaken. When power is cemented by +goodwill, and the interest of all who join in a war is the same, then men are +willing to share the labour, to endure the misfortunes, and to stand fast. But +when a man has become strong, as Philip has done, by a grasping and wicked +policy, the first excuse, the least stumble, throws him from his seat and +dissolves the alliance. {10} It is impossible, men of Athens, utterly +impossible, to acquire power that will last, by unrighteousness, by perjury, and +by falsehood. Such power holds out for a moment, or for a brief hour; it +blossoms brightly, perhaps, with fair hopes; but time detects the fraud, and the +flower falls withered about its stem. In a house or a ship, or any other +structure, it is the foundations that must be strongest; and no less, I believe, +must the principles, which are the foundation of men's actions, be those of +truth and righteousness. Such qualities are not to be seen to-day in the past +acts of Philip. + +{11} I say, then, that we should help the Olynthians; and the best and quickest +method which can be proposed is the method which I approve. Further, we should +send an embassy to the Thessalians--to some, to inform them of our intention; to +others, to spur them on; for even now they have resolved to demand the +restitution of Pagasae, and to make representations in regard to Magnesia. {12} +Take care, however, men of Athens, that our envoys may not only have words to +speak, but also actions of yours to point to. Let it be seen that you have gone +forth in a manner that is worthy of Athens, and are already in action. Words +without the reality must always appear a vain and empty thing, and above all +when they come from Athens; for the more we seem to excel in the glib use of +such language, the more it is distrusted by every one. {13} The change, then, +which is pointed out to them must be great, the conversion striking. They must +see you paying your contributions, marching to war, doing everything with a +will, if any of them is to listen to you. And if you resolve to accomplish all +this in very deed, as it should be accomplished, not only will the feeble and +untrustworthy nature of Philip's alliances be seen, but the weakness of his own +empire and power will also be detected. + +{14} The power and empire of Macedonia is, indeed, to speak generally, an +element which tells considerably as an addition to any other power. You found it +so when it helped you against the Olynthians in the days of Timotheus;[n] the +Olynthians in their turn found its help of some value, in combination with their +own strength, against Poteidaea; and it has recently come to the aid of the +Thessalians, in their disordered and disturbed condition, against the ruling +dynasty: and wherever even a small addition is made to a force, it helps in +every way. {15} But in itself the Macedonian Empire is weak and full of manifold +evils. Philip has in fact rendered his own tenure of it even more precarious +than it naturally was, by these very wars and campaigns which might be supposed +to prove his power. For you must not imagine, men of Athens, that Philip and his +subjects delight in the same things. Philip has a passion for glory--that is his +ambition; and he has deliberately chosen to risk the consequences of a life of +action and danger, preferring the glory of achieving more than any King of +Macedonia before him to a life of security. {16} But his subjects have no share +in the honour and glory. Constantly battered about by all these expeditions, up +and down, they are vexed with incessant hardships: they are not suffered to +pursue their occupations or attend to their own affairs: for the little that +they produce, as best they can, they can find no market, the trading stations of +the country being closed on account of the war. {17} From these facts it is not +difficult to discover the attitude of the Macedonians in general towards Philip; +and as for the mercenaries and Infantry of the Guard who surround him, though +they have the reputation of being a fine body of well-drilled warriors, I am +told by a man who has been in Macedonia, and who is incapable of falsehood, that +they are no better than any other body of men. {18} Granted that there may be +experienced campaigners and fighters among them; yet, he tells me, Philip is so +jealous of honour, that he thrusts all such men away from him, in his anxiety to +get the credit of every achievement for himself; for in addition to all his +other qualities, his jealousy is insurpassable. On the other hand, any generally +temperate or upright man, who cannot endure the dissolute life there, day by +day, nor the drunkenness and the lewd revels, is thrust on one side and counts +for nothing. {19} Thus he is left with brigands and flatterers, and men who, +when in their cups, indulge in dances of a kind which I shrink from naming to +you now. And it is evident that this report is true; for men whom every one +tried to drive out of Athens, as far viler than even the very juggler in the +street--Callias the public slave and men like him, players of farces, composers +of indecent songs, written at the expense of their companions in the hope of +raising a laugh--these are the men he likes and keeps about him. {20} You may +think that these are trivial things, men of Athens: but they are weighty, in the +judgement of every right-minded man, as illustrations of the temper with which +Philip is cursed. At present, I suppose, these facts are overshadowed by his +continual prosperity. Success has a wonderful power of throwing a veil over +shameful things like these. But let him only stumble, and then all these +features in his character will be displayed in their true light. And I believe, +men of Athens, that the revelation is not far off, if Heaven be willing and you +desirous of it. {21} So long as a man is in good health, he is unconscious of +any weakness; but if any illness comes upon him, the disturbance affects every +weak point, be it a rupture or a sprain or anything else that is unsound in his +constitution. And as with the body, so it is with a city or a tyrant. So long as +they are at war abroad, the mischief is hidden from the world at large, but the +close grapple of war on the frontier brings all to light. + +{22} Now if any of you, men of Athens, seeing Philip's good fortune, thinks that +this makes him a formidable enemy to fight against, he reasons like a sensible +man: for fortune weighs heavily in the scale--nay, fortune is everything, in all +human affairs. And yet, if I were given the choice, it is the fortune of Athens +that I should choose, rather than that of Philip, provided that you yourselves +are willing to act even to a small extent as you should act. For I see that +there are far more abundant grounds for expecting the goodwill of Heaven on your +side than on his. {23} But here, of course, we are sitting idle; and one who is +a sluggard himself cannot require his friends to help him, much less the gods. +It is not to be wondered at that Philip, who goes on campaigns and works hard +himself, and is always at the scene of action, and lets no opportunity go, no +season pass, should get the better of us who delay and pass resolutions and ask +for news; nor do I wonder at it. It is the opposite that would have been +wonderful--if we, who do nothing that those who are at war ought to do, were +successful against one who leaves nothing undone. {24} But this I do wonder at, +that you who once raised your hand against Sparta, in defence of the rights of +the Hellenes--you, who with opportunities often open to you for grasping large +advantages for yourselves, would not take them, but to secure for others their +rights spent your own fortunes in war-contributions, and always bore the brunt +of the dangers of the campaign--that you, I say, are now shrinking from +marching, and hesitating to make any contribution to save your own possessions; +and that, though you have often saved the rest of the Hellenes, now all together +and now each in their turn, you are sitting idle, when you have lost what was +your own. {25} I wonder at this; and I wonder also, men of Athens, that none of +you is able to reckon up the time during which you have been fighting with +Philip, and to consider what you have been doing while all this time has been +going by. Surely you must know that it is while we have been delaying, hoping +that some one else would act, accusing one another, bringing one another to +trial, hoping anew--in fact, doing practically what we are doing now--that all +the time has passed. {26} And have you now so little sense, men of Athens, as to +hope that the very same policy, which has made the position of the city a bad +one instead of a good, will actually make it a good one instead of a bad? Why, +it is contrary both to reason and to nature to think so! It is always much +easier to retain than to acquire. But now, owing to the war, none of our old +possessions is left for us to retain; and so we must needs acquire. {27} This, +therefore, is our own personal and immediate duty; and accordingly I say that +you must contribute funds, you must go on service in person with a good will, +you must accuse no one before you have become masters of the situation; and then +you must honour those who deserve praise, and punish the guilty, with a +judgement based upon the actual facts. You must get rid of all excuses and all +deficiencies on your own part; you cannot examine mercilessly the actions of +others, unless you yourselves have done all that your duty requires. {28} For +why is it, do you think, men of Athens, that all the generals whom you dispatch +avoid this war,[n] and discover private wars of their own--if a little of the +truth must be told even about the generals? It is because in this war the prizes +for which the war is waged are yours, and if they are captured, you will take +them immediately for your own; but the dangers are the personal privilege of +your commanders, and no pay is forthcoming: while in those wars the dangers are +less, and the profits--Lampsacus, Sigeum, and the ships which they plunder--go +to the commanders and their men. Each force therefore takes the road that leads +to its own advantage. {29} For your part, when you turn your attention to the +serious condition of your affairs, you first bring the commanders to trial; and +then, when you have given them a hearing, and have been told of the difficulties +which I have described, you acquit them. The result, therefore, is that while +you are quarrelling with one another and broken into factions-one party +persuaded of this, another of that--the public interest suffers. You used, men +of Athens, to pay taxes by Boards:[n] to-day you conduct your politics by +Boards. On either side there is an orator as leader, and a general under him; +and for the Three Hundred, there are those who come to shout. The rest of you +distribute yourselves between the two parties, some on either side. {30} This +system you must give up: you must even now become your own masters; you must +give to all alike their share in discussion, in speech and in action. If you +assign to one body of men the function of issuing orders to you, like tyrants; +to another, that of compulsory service as trierarchs or tax-payers or soldiers; +and to another, only that of voting their condemnation, without taking any share +in the labour, nothing that ought to be done will be done in time. For the +injured section will always be in default, and you will only have the privilege +of punishing them instead of the enemy. {31} To sum up, all must contribute, +each according to his wealth, in a fair proportion: all must go on active +service in turn, until you have all served: you must give a hearing to all who +come forward, and choose the best course out of all that you hear--not the +course proposed by this or that particular person. If you do this, you will not +only commend the proposer of that course at the time, but you will commend +yourselves hereafter, for the whole position of your affairs will be a better +one. + + +THE THIRD OLYNTHIAC + +{1} Very different reflections suggest themselves to my mind, I men of Athens, +when I turn my eyes to our real situation, and when I think of the speeches that +I hear. For I observe that the speeches are all concerned with the taking of +vengeance upon Philip; whereas in reality matters have gone so far, that we have +to take care that we are not ourselves the first to suffer: so that those who +speak of vengeance are actually, as it seems to me, suggesting to you a false +conception of the situation which you are discussing. {2} That there was a time +when the city could both keep her own possessions in safety, and punish Philip, +I am very well aware. For it was not long ago, but within my own lifetime, that +both these things were so. But I am convinced that it is now quite enough for us +as a first step to make sure of the preservation of our allies. If this is +safely secured, we shall then be able to consider upon whom vengeance is to +fall, and in what way. But until the first step is properly conceived, I +consider it idle to say anything whatever about the last. + +{3} If ever the most anxious deliberation was required, it is required in the +present crisis; and my greatest difficulty is not to know what is the proper +advice to give you in regard to the situation: I am at a loss rather to know, +men of Athens, in what manner I should address you in giving it. For I am +convinced by what I have heard with my own ears in this place that, for the most +part, the objects of our policy have slipped from our grasp, not because we do +not understand what our duty is, but because we will not do it; and I ask you to +suffer me, if I speak without reserve, and to consider only whether I speak +truly, and with this object in view--that the future may be better than the +past. For you see that it is because certain speakers make your gratification +the aim of their addresses, that things have gone on getting worse, till at last +the extremity has been reached. + +{4} I think it necessary, first, to remind you of a few of the events which have +taken place. You remember, men of Athens, that two or three years ago[n] the +news came that Philip was in Thrace, besieging Heraeon Teichos. That was in the +month of November. Amidst all the discussion and commotion which took place in +this Assembly, you passed a resolution that forty warships should be launched, +that men under forty-five years of age should embark in person, and that we +should pay a war-tax of 60 talents. {5} That year came to an end, and there +followed July, August, September. In the latter month, after the Mysteries,[n] +and with reluctance, you dispatched Charidemus[n] with ten ships, carrying no +soldiers, and 5 talents of silver. For so soon as news had come that Philip was +sick or dead--both reports were brought--you dismissed the armament, men of +Athens, thinking that there was no longer any occasion for the expedition. But +it was the very occasion; for had we then gone to the scene of action with the +same enthusiasm which marked our resolution to do so, Philip would not have been +preserved to trouble us to-day. {6} What was done then cannot be altered. But +now a critical moment in another campaign has arrived; and it is in view of +this, and to prevent you from falling into the same error, that I have recalled +these facts. How then shall we use this opportunity, men of Athens? For unless +you will go to the rescue 'with might and main to the utmost of your power',[n] +mark how in every respect you will have served Philip's interest by your conduct +of the war. {7} At the outset the Olynthians possessed considerable strength, +and such was the position of affairs, that neither did Philip feel safe against +them, nor they against Philip. We made peace with them, and they with us. It was +as it were a stumbling-block in Philip's path, and an annoyance to him, that a +great city which had made a compact with us should sit watching for any +opportunity he might offer. We thought that we ought to excite them to war with +him by every means; and now this much-talked-of event has come to pass--by what +means, I need not relate. {8} What course then is open to us, men of Athens, but +to go to their aid resolutely and eagerly? I can see none. Apart from the shame +in which we should be involved, if we let anything be lost through our +negligence, I can see, men of Athens, that the subsequent prospect would be +alarming in no small degree, when the attitude of the Thebans towards us is what +it is, when the funds of the Phocians are exhausted,[n] and when there is no one +to prevent Philip, so soon as he has made himself master of all that at present +occupies him, from bringing his energies to bear upon the situation further +south. {9} But if any of you is putting off until then his determination to do +his duty, he must be desirous of seeing the terrors of war close at hand, when +he need only hear of them at a distance, and of seeking helpers for himself, +when now he can give help to others. For that this is what it must come to, if +we sacrifice the present opportunity, we must all, I think, be fairly well +aware. + +{10} 'But,' some one may say, 'we have all made up our minds that we must go to +their aid, and we will go. Only tell us how we are to do it.' Now do not be +surprised, men of Athens, if I give an answer which will be astonishing to most +of you. You must appoint a Legislative Commission.[n] But when the commissioners +meet, you must not enact a single law--you have laws enough--you must cancel +the laws which, in view of present circumstances, are injurious to you. {11} I +mean the laws which deal with the Festival Fund--to put it quite plainly--and +some of those which deal with military service: for the former distribute your +funds as festival-money to those who remain at home; while the latter give +immunity to malingerers,[n] and thereby also take the heart out of those who +want to do their duty. When you have cancelled these laws, and made the path +safe for one who would give the best advice, then you can look for some one to +propose what you all know to be expedient. {12} But until you have done this, +you must not expect to find a man who will be glad to advise you for the best, +and be ruined by you for his pains; for you will find no one, particularly when +the only result will be that some unjust punishment will be inflicted on the +proposer or mover of such measures, and that instead of helping matters at all, +he will only have made it even more dangerous in future than it is at present to +give you the best advice. Aye, and you should require the repeal of these laws, +men of Athens, from the very persons who proposed them.[n] {13} It is not fair +that those who originally proposed them should enjoy the popularity which was +fraught with such mischief to the whole State, and that the unpopularity, which +would lead to an improvement in the condition of us all, should be visited to +his cost upon one who now advises you for the best. Until you have thus prepared +the way, men of Athens, you must entertain no expectation whatever that any one +will be influential enough here to transgress these laws with impunity, or +senseless enough to fling himself to certain ruin. + +{14} At the same time, men of Athens, you must not fail to realize this further +point. No resolution is worth anything, without the willingness to perform at +least what you have resolved, and that heartily. For if decrees by themselves +could either compel you to do what you ought, or could realize their several +objects unaided, you would not be decreeing many things and performing few--nay, +none--of the things that you decree, nor would Philip have insulted you so long. +{15} If decrees could have done it, he would have paid the penalty long ago. But +it is not so. Actions come later than speeches and voting in order of procedure, +but in effectiveness they are before either and stronger than either. It is +action that is still needed; all else you already have. For you have those among +you, men of Athens, who can tell you what your duty is; and no one is quicker +than you are to understand the speaker's bidding. Aye, and you will be able to +carry it out even now, if you act aright. {16} What time, what opportunity, do +you look for, better than the present? When, if not now, will you do your duty? +Has not the man seized every position from us already? If he becomes master of +this country too, will not our fate be the most shameful in the world? And the +men whom we promised to be ready to save, if they went to war--are they not now +at war? {17} Is he not our enemy? Are not our possessions in his hands? Is he +not a barbarian? Is he not anything that you choose to call him? In God's name, +when we have let everything go, when we have all but put everything into his +hands, shall we then inquire at large who is responsible for it all? That we +shall never admit our own responsibility, I am perfectly sure. Just so amid the +perils of war, none of those who have run away accuses himself; he accuses his +general, his neighbour--any one but himself; and yet, I suppose, all who have +run away have helped to cause the defeat. He who now blames the rest might have +stood fast; and if every one had done so, the victory would have been theirs. +{18} And so now, if a particular speaker's advice is not the best, let another +rise and make a proposal, instead of blaming him; and if some other has better +advice to give, carry it out, and good fortune be with you. What? Is the advice +disagreeable? That is no longer the speaker's fault--unless, of course, he +leaves out the prayer that you expect of him. There is no difficulty in the +prayer, men of Athens; a man need only compress all his desires into a short +sentence. But to make his choice, when the question for discussion is one of +practical policy, is by no means equally easy. _Then_ a man is bound to choose +what is best, instead of what is pleasant, if both are not possible at once. +{19} But suppose that some one is able, without touching the Festival Fund, to +suggest other sources of supply for military purposes--is not he the better +adviser? Certainly, men of Athens--if such a thing _is_ possible. But I should +be surprised if it ever has happened or ever should happen to any one to find, +after spending what he has upon wrong objects, that what he has _not_ is wealth +enough to enable him to effect right ones. Such arguments as these find, I +think, their great support in each man's personal desire, and, for that reason, +nothing is easier than to deceive oneself; what a man desires, he actually +fancies to be true. {20} But the reality often follows no such principle. +Consider the matter, therefore, men of Athens, after this fashion; consider in +what way our objects can be realized under the circumstances, and in what way +you will be able to make the expedition and to receive your pay. Surely it is +not like sober or high-minded men to submit light-heartedly to the reproach +which must follow upon any shortcomings in the operations of the war through +want of funds--to seize your weapons and march against Corinthians and +Megareans,[n] and then to allow Philip to enslave Hellenic cities, because you +cannot find rations for your troops. + +{21} These words do not spring from a wanton determination to court the ill-will +of any party among you. I am neither so foolish nor so unfortunate as to desire +unpopularity when I do not believe that I am doing any good. But a loyal citizen +ought, in my judgement, to care more for the safety of his country's fortunes +than for the popularity of his utterances. Such, I have heard, and perhaps you +have heard it also, was the principle which the orators of our forefather's time +habitually followed in public life--those orators who are praised by all who +rise to address you, though they are far from imitating them--the great +Aristides, and Nicias, and my own namesake, and Pericles. {22} But ever since +these speakers have appeared who are always asking you, 'what would you like?' +'what may I propose for you?' 'what can I do to please you?' the interests of +the city have been wantonly given away for the sake of the pleasure and +gratification of the moment; and we see the consequences--the fortunes of the +speakers prosper, while your own are in a shameful plight. {23} And yet +consider, men of Athens, the main characteristics of the achievements of your +forefathers' time, and those of your own. The description will be brief and +familiar to you; for you need not have recourse to the history of others, when +your own will furnish examples, by following which you may achieve prosperity. +{24} Our forefathers, who were not courted and caressed by their politicians as +you are by these persons to-day, were leaders of the Hellenes, with their +goodwill, for forty-five years;[n] they brought up into the Acropolis more than +10,000 talents; the king[n] who then ruled Macedonia obeyed them as a foreigner +ought to obey a Hellenic people; serving in person, they set up many glorious +trophies for victories by land and sea; and alone of all mankind they left +behind them, as the crown of their exploits, a fame that is beyond the reach of +envy. {25} Such was the part they played in the Hellenic world: and now +contemplate the manner of men they were in the city, both in public and in +private life. As public men, they gave us buildings and objects of such beauty +and grandeur, in the temples which they built and the offerings which they +dedicated in them, that no room has been left for any of those that come after +to surpass them: while in private life they were so modest, {26} so intensely +loyal to the spirit of the constitution, that if any one actually knows what the +house of Aristides, or Miltiades, or any other of the glorious men of that day, +is like, he can see that it is no more imposing than those of their neighbours. +For it was not to win a fortune that they undertook affairs of State; but each +thought it his duty to add to the common weal. And thus, acting in a spirit of +good faith towards the Hellenes, of piety towards the gods, and of equality +towards one another, they naturally attained great prosperity. {27} Such was the +national life of those times, when those whom I have mentioned were the foremost +men in the State. How do matters stand to-day, thanks to these worthy persons? +Is there any likeness, any resemblance, to old times? Thanks to them (and though +I might say much, I pass over all but this), when we had the field, as you see, +completely open to us--when the Spartans had been ruined,[n] and the Thebans had +their hands full,[n] and no other power could seriously dispute the supremacy +with us on the field of battle--when we could have retained our own possessions +in safety, and have stood as umpires of the rights of others--we have been +deprived of our own territory; {28} we have spent more than 1,500 talents to no +good purpose; the allies whom we had gained in the war,[n] these persons have +lost in time of peace; and we have trained Philip to be the powerful enemy to us +that he is. Let any one rise and tell me how Philip has grown so strong, if we +ourselves are not the source of his strength. {29} 'But, my good Sir,' you say, +'if we are badly off in these respects, we are at any rate better off at home.' +And where is the proof of this? Is it in the whitewashing of the battlements, +the mending of the roads, the fountains, and all such trumperies? Look then at +the men whose policy gives you these things. Some of them who were poor have +become rich; others, who were unknown to fame, have risen to honour; some of +them have provided themselves with private houses more imposing than our public +buildings; and the lower the fortunes of the city have fallen, the higher theirs +have risen. + +{30} What is the cause of all these things? Why is it that all was well then, +and all is amiss to-day? It is because then the people itself dared to act and +to serve in the army; and so the people was master of its politicians; all +patronage was in its own hands; any separate individual was content to receive +from the people his share of honour or office or other emolument. The reverse is +now the case. {31} All patronage is in the hands of the politicians, while you, +the people, emasculated, stripped of money and allies, have been reduced to the +position of servile supernumeraries, content if they give you distributions of +festival-money, or organize a procession at the Boedromia;[n] and to crown all +this bravery, you are expected also to thank them for giving you what is your +own. They pen you up closely in the city; they entice you to these delights; +they tame you till you come to their hand. {32} But a high and generous spirit +can never, I believe, be acquired by men whose actions are mean and poor; for +such as a man's practice is, such must his spirit be. And in all solemnity I +should not be surprised if I suffered greater harm at your hands for telling you +the things that I have told you, than the men who have brought them to pass. +Even freedom of speech is not possible on all subjects in this place, and I +wonder that it has been granted me to-day. + +{33} If, even now, you will rid yourselves of these habits, if you will resolve +to join the forces and to act worthily of yourselves, converting the +superfluities which you enjoy at home into resources to secure our advantage +abroad, then it may be, men of Athens, it may be, that you will gain some great +and final good, and will be rid of these your perquisites, which are like the +diet that a physician gives a sick man--diet which neither puts strength into +him nor lets him die. For these sums which you now share among yourselves are +neither large enough to give you any adequate assistance, nor small enough to +let you renounce them and go about your business; but these it is that[2] +increase the indolence of every individual among you. {34} 'Is it, then, paid +service that you suggest?'[n] some one will ask. I do, men of Athens; and a +system for immediate enforcement which will embrace all alike; so that each, +while receiving his share of the public funds may supply whatever service the +State requires of him.[3] If we can remain at peace, then he will do better to +stay at home, free from the necessity of doing anything discreditable through +poverty. But if a situation like the present occurs, then supported by these +same sums, he will serve loyally in person, in defence of his country. If a man +is outside the military age, then let him take, in his place among the rest, +that which he now receives irregularly and without doing any service, and let +him act as an overseer and manager of business that must be done. {35} In short, +without adding or subtracting anything,[n] beyond a small sum, and only removing +the want of system, my plan reduces the State to order, making your receipt of +payment, your service in the army or the courts, and your performance of any +duty which the age of each of you allows, and the occasion requires, all part of +one and the same system. But it has been no part of my proposal that we should +assign the due of those who act to those who do nothing; that we should be idle +ourselves and enjoy our leisure helplessly, listening to tales of victories won +by somebody's mercenaries;[n] for this is what happens now. {36} Not that I +blame one who is doing some part of your duty for you; but I require you to do +for yourselves the things for which you honour others, and not to abandon the +position which your fathers won through many a glorious peril, and bequeathed to +you. + +I think I have told you all that, in my belief, your interest demands. May you +choose the course which will be for the good of the city and of you all! + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] See notes to Speech on the Peace, § 5. Some date the Euboean expedition and +the sending of the cavalry one or two years earlier, and the whole chronology is +much disputed; but there are strong arguments for the date (348) given in the +text. + +[2] [Greek: esti tauta ta]. + +[3] [Greek: touto parechae]. + + + + +ON THE PEACE (OR. V) + + +[_Introduction_. After the fall of Olynthus in 348, the Athenians, on the +proposal of Eubulus, sent embassies to the Greek States in the Peloponnese and +elsewhere, to invite them to join in a coalition against Philip. Aeschines went +for this purpose to Megalopolis, and did his best to counteract Philip's +influence in Arcadia. When the embassies proved unsuccessful, it became clear +that peace must be made on such terms as were possible. Philip himself was +anxious for peace, since he wished to cross the Pass of Thermopylae without such +opposition from Athens as he had encountered in 352, and to be free from the +attacks of hostile ships upon his ports. Even before the fall of Olynthus, +informal communications passed between himself and Athens (see Speech on +Embassy, §§ 12, 94, 315); and in consequence of these, Philocrates proposed and +the Assembly passed a decree, under which ten ambassadors were appointed to go +to Philip and invite him to send plenipotentiaries to Athens to conclude a +peace. Demosthenes (who had strongly supported Philocrates) was among the ten, +as well as Aeschines and Philocrates himself. Delighted with Philip's reception +of them, and greatly attracted by his personality, the ambassadors returned with +a letter from him, promising in general terms to confer great benefits upon +Athens, if he were granted alliance as well as peace: in the meantime he +undertook not to interfere with the towns allied to Athens in the Chersonese. +Demosthenes proposed (in the Council, of which he was a member in the year 347- +346) the usual complimentary resolution in honour of the ambassadors, and on his +motion it was resolved to hold two meetings of the Assembly, on the 18th and +19th of the month Elaphebolion (i.e. probably just after the middle of April +346), when Philip's envoys would have arrived, to discuss the terms of peace. +The envoys--Antipater, Parmenio, and Eurylochus--reached Athens shortly after +this; and before the first of the two meetings was held, the Synod of the allies +of Athens, now assembled in the city, agreed to peace on such terms as the +Athenian people should decide, but added a proposal that it should be permitted +to any Greek State to become a party to the Peace within three months. They said +nothing of alliance. Of the two meetings of the Assembly, in view of the +conflicting statements of Demosthenes and Aeschines, only a probable account can +be given. At the first, Philocrates proposed that alliance as well as peace +should be made by Athens and her allies with Philip and his allies, on the +understanding that both parties should keep what they _de facto_ possessed--a +provision entailing the renunciation by Athens of Amphipolis and Poteidaea; but +that the Phocians and the people of Halus should be excluded. Aeschines opposed +this strongly; and both he and Demosthenes claim to have supported the +resolution of the allies, which would have given the excluded peoples a chance +of sharing the advantage of the Peace. The feeling of the Assembly was with +them, although the Phocians had recently insulted the Athenians by declining to +give up to Proxenus (the Athenian admiral) the towns guarding the approaches to +Thermopylae, which they had themselves offered to place in the hands of Athens. +But Philocrates obtained the postponement of the decision till the next day. On +the next day, if not before, it became plain that Philip's envoys would not +consent to forgo the exclusion of the Phocians and Halus; but in order that the +Assembly might be induced to pass the resolution, the clause expressly excluding +them was dropped, and peace and alliance were made between Athens and Philip, +each with their allies.[n] Even this was not secured before Aeschines and his +friends had deprecated rash attempts to imitate the exploits of antiquity by +continuing the war, and had explained that Philip could not openly accept the +Phocians as allies, but that when the Peace was concluded, he would satisfy all +the wishes of the Athenians in every way; while Eubulus threatened the people +with immediate war, involving personal service and heavy taxation, unless they +accepted Philocrates' decree. A few days afterwards the Athenians and the +representatives of the allies took the oath to observe the Peace: nothing was +said about the Phocians and Halus: Cersobleptes' representative was probably not +permitted to swear with the rest. The same ten ambassadors as before were +instructed to receive Philip's oath, and the oaths of his allies, to arrange for +the ransom of prisoners, and generally to treat with Philip in the interests of +Athens. Demosthenes urged his colleagues (and obtained an instruction from the +Council to this effect) to sail at once, in order that Philip, who was now in +Thrace, might not make conquests at the expense of Athens before ratifying the +Peace; but they delayed at Oreus, went by land, instead of under the escort of +Proxenus by sea, and only reached Pella (the Macedonian capital) twenty-three +days after leaving Athens. Philip did not arrive for twenty-seven days more. By +this time he had taken Cersobleptes prisoner, and captured Serrhium, Doriscus, +and other Thracian towns, which were held by Athenian troops sent to assist +Cersobleptes. Demosthenes was now openly at variance with his colleagues. He had +no doubt realized the necessity of peace, but probably regarded the exclusion of +the Phocians as unwarrantable, and thought that the policy of his colleagues +must end in Philip's conquest of all Greece. At Pella he occupied himself in +negotiations for the ransom of prisoners. After taking the oath, Philip kept the +ambassadors with him until he had made all preparations for his march southward, +and during this time he played with them and with the envoys from the other +Greek States who were present at the same time. His intention of marching to +Thermopylae was clear; but he seems to have led all alike to suppose that he +would fulfil their particular wishes when he had crossed the Pass. The +ambassadors accompanied him to Pherae, where the oath was taken by the +representatives of Philip's allies; the Phocians, Halus, and Cersobleptes were +excluded from the Peace. (Halus was taken by Philip's army shortly afterwards.) +The ambassadors of Athens then returned homewards, bearing a letter from Philip, +but did not arrive at Athens before Philip had reached Thermopylae. On their +return Demosthenes denounced them before the Council, which refused them the +customary compliments, and (on Demosthenes' motion) determined to propose to the +people that Proxenus with his squadron should be ordered to go to the aid of the +Phocians and to prevent Philip from crossing the Pass. When the Assembly met on +the 16th of Scirophorion (shortly before the middle of July), Aeschines rose +first, and announced in glowing terms the intention of Philip to turn round upon +Thebes and to re-establish Thespiae and Plataeae; and hinted at the restoration +to Athens of Euboea and Oropus. Then Philip's letter was read, containing no +promises, but excusing the delay of the ambassadors as due to his own request. +The Assembly was elated at the promises announced by Aeschines; Demosthenes' +attempt to contradict the announcement failed; and on Philocrates' motion, it +was resolved to extend the Peace and alliance with Philip to posterity, and to +declare that if the Phocians refused to surrender the Temple of Delphi to the +Amphictyons, Athens would take steps against those responsible for the refusal. +Demosthenes refused to serve on the Embassy appointed to convey this resolution +to Philip: Aeschines was appointed, but was too ill to start. The ambassadors +set out, but within a few days returned with the news that the Phocian army had +surrendered to Philip (its leader, Phalaecus, and his troops being allowed to +depart to the Peloponnese). The surrender had perhaps been accelerated by the +news of the Athenian resolution. The Assembly, in alarm lest Philip should march +southwards, now resolved to take measures of precaution and defence, and to send +the same ambassadors to Philip, to do what they could. They went, Aeschines +among them, and arrived in the midst of the festivities with which Philip was +celebrating the success of his plans. The invitation which Philip sent to +Athens--to send a force to join his own, and to assist in settling the affairs +of Phocis--was (on Demosthenes' advice) declined by the Assembly; and soon +afterwards another letter from Philip expressed surprise at the unfriendly +attitude taken up by the Athenians towards him. Philip next summoned the +Amphictyonic Council (the legitimate guardians of the Delphian Temple, on whose +behalf the Thebans and Thessalians, aided by Philip, were now at war with the +Phocians): and the Council, in the absence of many of its members, resolved to +transfer the votes of the Phocians in the Council-meeting to Philip, to break up +the Phocian towns into villages, disarming their inhabitants and taking away +their horses, to require them to repay the stolen treasure to the temple by +instalments, and to pronounce a curse upon those actually guilty of sacrilege, +which would render them liable to arrest anywhere. The destructive part of the +sentence was rigorously executed by the Thebans. In order to punish the former +supporters of the Phocians, the right to precedence in consulting the oracle was +transferred from Athens to Philip, by order of the Council, and the Spartans +were excluded from the temple: Orchomenus and Coroneia were destroyed and their +inhabitants enslaved; and Thebes became absolute mistress of all Boeotia. The +Pythian games (at Delphi) in September 346 were celebrated under Philip's +presidency; but both Sparta and Athens refused to send the customary deputation +to them, and Philip accordingly sent envoys to Athens, along with +representatives of the Amphictyons, to demand recognition for himself as an +Amphictyonic power. Aeschines supported the demand, his argument being +apparently to the effect that Philip had been forced to act as he had done by +the Thebans and Thessalians; but the Assembly was very angry at the results (as +they seemed to be) of Aeschines' diplomacy and the calamities of the Phocians; +and it was only when Demosthenes, in the Speech on the Peace, advised +compliance, that they were persuaded to give way. To have refused would have +brought the united forces of the Amphictyonic States against Athens: and these +she could not have resisted. It was therefore prudent to keep the Peace, though +Demosthenes evidently regarded it only as an armistice.] + + +{1} I see, men of Athens, that our present situation is one of great perplexity +and confusion, for not only have many of our interests been sacrificed, so that +it is of no use to make eloquent speeches about them; but even as regards what +still remains to us, there is no general agreement in any single point as to +what is expedient: some hold one view, and some another. {2} Perplexing, +moreover, and difficult as deliberation naturally is, men of Athens, you have +made it far more difficult. For while all the rest of mankind are in the habit +of resorting to deliberation before the event, you do not do so until +afterwards: and consequently, during the whole time that falls within my memory, +however high a reputation for eloquence one who upbraids you for all your errors +may enjoy, the desired results and the objects of your deliberation pass out of +your grasp. {3} And yet I believe--and it is because I have convinced myself of +this that I have risen--that if you resolve to abandon all clamour and +contention, as becomes men who are deliberating on behalf of their country upon +so great an issue, I shall be able to describe and recommend measures to you, by +which the situation may be improved, and what we have sacrificed, recovered. + +{4} Now although I know perfectly well, men of Athens, that to speak to you +about one's own earlier speeches, and about oneself, is a practice which is +always extremely repaying, I feel the vulgarity and offensiveness of it so +strongly, that I shrink from it even when I see that it is necessary. I think, +however, that you will form a better judgement on the subject on which I am +about to speak, if I remind you of some few of the things which I have said on +certain previous occasions. {5} In the first place, men of Athens, when at the +time of the disturbances in Euboea[n] you were being urged to assist Plutarchus, +and to undertake an inglorious and costly campaign, I came forward first and +unsupported to oppose this action, and was almost torn in pieces by those who +for the sake of their own petty profits had induced you to commit many grave +errors: and when only a short time had elapsed, along with the shame which you +incurred and the treatment which you received--treatment such as no people in +the world ever before experienced at the hands of those whom they went to +assist--there came the recognition by all of you of the baseness of those who +had urged you to this course, and of the excellence of my own advice. {6} Again, +men of Athens, I observed that Neoptolemus[n] the actor, who was allowed freedom +of movement everywhere on the ground of his profession, and was doing the city +the greatest mischief, was managing and directing your communications with +Philip in Philip's own interest: and I came forward and informed you; and that, +not to gratify any private dislike or desire to misrepresent him, as subsequent +events have made plain. {7} And in this case I shall not, as before, throw the +blame on any speakers or defenders of Neoptolemus--indeed, he had no defenders; +it is yourselves that I blame. For had you been watching rival tragedies in the +theatre, instead of discussing the vital interests of a whole State, you could +not have listened with more partiality towards him, or more prejudice against +me. {8} And yet, I believe, you have all now realized that though, according to +his own assertion, this visit to the enemy's country was paid in order that he +might get in the debts owing to him there, and return with funds to perform his +public service[n] here; though he was always repeating the statement that it was +monstrous to accuse those who were transferring their means from Macedonia to +Athens; yet, when the Peace had removed all danger, he converted his real estate +here into money, and took himself off with it to Philip. {9} These then are two +events which I have foretold--events which, because their real character was +exactly and faithfully disclosed by me, are a testimony to the speeches which I +have delivered. A third, men of Athens, was the following; and when I have given +you this one instance, I will immediately proceed to the subject on which I have +come forward to speak. When we returned from the Embassy, after receiving from +Philip his oath to maintain the Peace, {10} there were some[n] who promised that +Thespiae and Plataeae[n] would be repeopled, and said that if Philip became +master of the situation, he would save the Phocians, and would break up the city +of Thebes into villages; that Oropus would be yours, and that Euboea would be +restored to you in place of Amphipolis--with other hopes and deceptions of the +same kind, by which you were seduced into sacrificing the Phocians in a manner +that was contrary to your interest and perhaps to your honour also. But as for +me, you will find that neither had I any share in this deception, nor yet did I +hold my peace. On the contrary, I warned you plainly, as, I know you remember, +that _I_ had no knowledge and no expectations of this kind, and that I regarded +such statements as nonsense. + +{11} All these plain instances of superior foresight on my part, men of Athens, +I shall not ascribe to any cleverness, any boasted merits, of my own. I will not +pretend that my foreknowledge and discernment are due to any causes but such as +I will name; and they are two. The first, men of Athens, is that good fortune, +which, I observe, is more powerful than all the cleverness and wisdom on earth. +{12} The second is the fact that my judgement and reasoning are disinterested. +No one can point to any personal gain in connexion with my public acts and +words: and therefore I see what is to our interest undistorted, in the light in +which the actual facts reveal it. But when you throw money into one scale of the +balance, its weight carries everything with it; your judgement is instantly +dragged down with it, and one who has acted so can no longer think soundly or +healthily about anything. + +{13} Now there is one primary condition which must be observed by any one who +would furnish the city with allies or contributions or anything else--he must do +it without breaking the existing Peace: not because the Peace is at all +admirable or creditable to you, but because, whatever its character, it would +have been better, in the actual circumstances, that it should never have been +made, than that having been made, it should now be broken through our action. +For we have sacrificed many advantages which we possessed when we made it, and +which would have rendered the war safer and easier for us then than it is now. +{14} The second condition, men of Athens, is that we shall not draw on these +self-styled Amphictyons,[n] who are now assembled, until they have an +irresistible or a plausible reason for making a united war against us. My own +belief is that if war broke out again between ourselves and Philip about +Amphipolis or any such claim of our own, in which the Thessalians and Argives +and Thebans had no interest, none of these peoples would go to war against us, +least of all--{15} and let no one raise a clamour before he hears what I have to +say--least of all the Thebans; not because they are in any pleasant mood towards +us; not because they would not be glad to gratify Philip; but because they know +perfectly well, however stupid one may think them,[n] that if war springs up +between themselves and you, _they_ will get all the hardships of war for their +share, while another will sit by, waiting to secure all the advantages; and they +are not likely to sacrifice themselves for such a prospect, unless the origin +and the cause of the war are such as concern all alike. {16} Nor again should +we, in my opinion, suffer at all, if we went to war with Thebes on account of +Oropus[n] or any other purely Athenian interest. For I believe that while those +who would assist ourselves or the Thebans would give their aid if their ally's +own country were invaded, they would not join either in an offensive campaign. +For this is the manner of alliances--such, at least, as are worth considering; +and the relationship is naturally of this kind. {17} The goodwill of each ally-- +whether it be towards ourselves or towards the Thebans--does not imply the same +interest in our conquest of others as in our existence. Our continued existence +they would all desire for their own sakes; but none of them would wish that +through conquest either of us should become their own masters. What is it then +that I regard with apprehension? What is it that we must guard against? I fear +lest a common pretext should be supplied for the coming war, a common charge +against us, which will appeal to all alike. {18} For if the Argives[n] and +Messenians and Megalopolitans, and some of the other Peloponnesians who are in +sympathy with them, adopt a hostile attitude towards us owing to our +negotiations for peace with Sparta, and the belief that to some extent we are +giving our approval to the policy which the Spartans have pursued: if the +Thebans already (as we are told) detest us, and are sure to become even more +hostile, because we are harbouring those whom they have exiled,[n] and losing no +opportunity of displaying our ill-will towards them; {19} and the Thessalians, +because we are offering a refuge to the Phocian fugitives;[n] and Philip, +because we are preventing his admission to Amphictyonic rank; my fear is that, +when each power has thus its separate reasons for resentment, they may unite in +the war against us, with the decrees of the Amphictyons for their pretext: and +so each may be drawn on farther than their several interests would carry them, +just as they were in dealing with the Phocians. {20} For you doubtless realize +that it was not through any unity in their respective ambitions, that the +Thebans and Philip and the Thessalians all acted together just now. The Thebans, +for instance, could not prevent Philip from marching through and occupying the +passes, nor even from stepping in at the last moment to reap the credit of all +that they themselves had toiled for.[n] {21} For, as it is, though the Thebans +have gained something so far as the recovery of their territory is concerned, +their honour and reputation have suffered shamefully, since it now appears as +though they would have gained nothing, unless Philip had crossed the Pass. This +was not what they intended. They only submitted to all this in their anxiety to +obtain Orchomenus and Coroneia, and their inability to do so otherwise. {22} And +as to Philip, some persons,[n] as you know, are bold enough to say that it was +not from any wish to do so that he handed over Orchomenus and Coroneia to +Thebes, but from compulsion; and although I must part company with them there, I +am sure that at least he did not want to do this _more_ than he desired to +occupy the passes, and to get the credit of appearing to have determined the +issue of the war, and to manage the Pythian games by his own authority. These, I +am sure, were the objects which he coveted most greedily. {23} The Thessalians, +again, did not desire to see either the Thebans or Philip growing powerful; for +in any such contingency they thought that they themselves were menaced. But they +did desire to secure two privileges--admission to the Amphictyonic meeting, and +the recovery of rights at Delphi;[n] and in their eagerness for these +privileges, they joined Philip in the actions in question. Thus you will find +that each was led on, for the sake of private ends, to take action which they in +no way desired to take. But this is the very thing against which we have now to +be on our guard. + +{24} 'Are we then, for fear of this, to submit to Philip? and do _you_ require +this of us?' you ask me. Far from it. Our action must be such as will be in no +way unworthy of us, and at the same time will not lead to war, but will prove to +all our good sense and the justice of our position: and, in answer to those who +are bold enough to think that we should refuse to submit to anything +whatever,[n] [2] and who cannot foresee the war that must follow, I wish to urge +this consideration. We are allowing the Thebans to hold Oropus; and if any one +asked us to state the reason honestly, we should say that it was to avoid war. +{25} Again, we have just ceded Amphipolis to Philip by the Treaty of Peace;[n] +we permit the Cardians[n] to occupy a position apart from the other colonists in +the Chersonese; we allow the Prince of Caria[n] to seize the islands of Chios, +Cos, and Rhodes, and the Byzantines to drive our vessels to shore[n]--obviously +because we believe that the tranquillity afforded by peace brings more blessings +than any collision or contention over these grievances would bring: so that it +would be a foolish and an utterly perverse policy, when we have behaved in this +manner towards each of our adversaries individually, where our own most +essential interests were concerned, to go now to war with all of them together, +on account of this shadow at Delphi.[n] + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] The term 'the allies of Athens' was ambiguous. It might be taken (as it was +taken by Philip and his envoys) to include only the remaining members of the +League (see p. 9), who were represented by the Synod then sitting, and whose +policy Athens could control. But it was evidently possible to put a wider +interpretation upon it, as the Assembly probably did and as Demosthenes often +does (e.g. Speech on Embassy, § 278), and to understand it as including the +Phocians and others (such as Cersobleptes) with whom Athens had a treaty of +alliance. Much of the trouble which followed arose out of this ambiguity. + +[2] [Greek: oud hotioun]. + + + + +THE SECOND PHILIPPIC (OR. VI) + + +[_Introduction_. After settling affairs at Delphi in 346, Philip returned to +Macedonia. During a considerable part of 345 and in the early months of 344 he +was occupied with campaigns against the Illyrians, Dardani, and Triballi. But in +the summer (probably) of 344 he resumed his activities in Greece, garrisoning +Pherae and other towns of Thessaly with Macedonians, appropriating the revenues +derived from the Thessalian ports, and establishing oligarchical governments +throughout the country. At the same time negotiations were going on between +himself and Athens with regard to the Thracian strongholds which he had captured +in 346. He refused to give these up, though he offered to cut a canal across the +Chersonese, for the protection of the Athenian allies there from the attacks of +the Thracians. He also sent money and mercenaries to help the Messenians and +Argives, who, like the Megalopolitans, were anxious to secure their independence +of Sparta. Athens, which was on friendly terms with Sparta, sent envoys to the +Peloponnesian states to counteract Philip's influence, and of these Demosthenes +was one. In return, Argos and Messene complained to Athens of her interference +with their attempt to secure freedom, and Philip sent envoys to deprecate the +charges made against him by the Athenian ambassadors in the Peloponnese. He +pointed out that he had not broken any promises made to Athens at the time of +the Peace, for he had made none. (In fact, if Demosthenes' account is correct, +he had confined himself to vague expressions of goodwill; the promises had been +made by Aeschines.) The Second Philippic, spoken late in 344, proposes a reply +to Philip, the text of which has unfortunately not come down to us. The +Peloponnesian envoys appear also to have been in Athens at the time; and +Philip's supporters had put forward various explanations of his conduct at the +time when the Peace was made. To these also Demosthenes replies.] + + +{1} In all our discussions, men of Athens, with regard to the acts of violence +by which Philip contravenes the terms of the Peace, I observe that, although the +speeches on our side are always manifestly just and sympathetic,[n] and although +those who denounce Philip are always regarded as saying what ought to be said, +yet practically nothing is done which ought to be done, or which would make it +worth while to listen to such speeches. {2} On the contrary, the condition of +public affairs as a whole has already been brought to a point at which, the more +and the more evidently a speaker can convict Philip both of transgressing the +Peace which he made with you and of plotting against all the Hellenes, the +harder it is for him to advise you how you should act. {3} The responsibility +for this rests with us all, men of Athens. It is by deeds and actions, not by +words, that a policy of encroachment must be arrested: and yet, in the first +place, we who rise to address you will not face the duty of proposing or +advising such action, for fear of unpopularity with you, though we dilate upon +the character of Philip's acts, upon their atrocity, and so forth; and, in the +second place, you who sit and listen, better qualified though you doubtless are +than Philip for using the language of justice and appreciating it at the mouths +of others, are nevertheless absolutely inert, when it is a question of +preventing him from executing the designs in which he is now engaged. {4} It +follows as the inevitable and perhaps reasonable consequence, that you are each +more successful in that to which your time and your interest is given--he in +actions, yourselves in words. Now if it is still enough for you, that your words +are more just than his, your course is easy, and no labour is involved in it. +{5} But if we are to inquire how the evil of the present situation is to be +corrected; if its advance is not still to continue, unperceived, until we are +confronted by a power so great that we cannot even raise a hand in our own +defence; then we must alter our method of deliberation, and all of us who speak, +and all of you who listen, must resolve to prefer the counsels which are best, +and which can save us, to those which are most easy and most attractive. + +{6} I am amazed, men of Athens, in the first place, that any one who sees the +present greatness of Philip and the wide mastery which he has gained, can be +free from alarm, or can imagine that this involves no peril to Athens, or that +it is not against you that all his preparations are being made. And I would beg +you, one and all, to listen while I put before you in a few words the reasoning +by which I have come to entertain the opposite expectation, and the grounds upon +which I regard Philip as an enemy; that so, if my own foresight appears to you +the truer, you may believe me; but if that of the persons who have no fears and +have placed their trust in him, you may give your adhesion to them. {7} Here +then, men of Athens, is my argument. Of what, in the first place, did Philip +become master, when the Peace was concluded? Of Thermopylae, and of the +situation in Phocis. Next, what use did he make of his power? He deliberately +chose to act in the interests of Thebes, not in those of Athens. And why? He +scrutinized every consideration in the light of his own ambition and of his +desire for universal conquest: he took no thought for peace, or tranquillity, or +justice; {8} and he saw quite correctly that our state and our national +character being what they are, there was no attraction that he could offer, +nothing that he could do, which would induce you to sacrifice any of the other +Hellenes to him for your own advantage. He saw that you would take account of +what was right; that you would shrink from the infamy attaching to such a +policy; that you would exercise all the foresight which the situation demanded, +and would oppose any such attempt on his part, as surely as if you were at open +war with him. {9} But the Thebans, he believed--and the event proved that he was +right--in return for what they were getting would let him do as he pleased in +all that did not concern them; and far from acting against him, or preventing +him effectively, would even join him in his campaign, if he bade them. His +services to the Messenians and the Argives at the present moment are due to his +having formed the same conception of them. And this, men of Athens, is the +highest of all tributes to yourselves: {10} for these actions of his amount to a +verdict upon you, that you alone of all peoples would never, for any gain to +yourselves, sacrifice the common rights of the Hellenes, nor barter away your +loyalty to them for any favour or benefit at his hands. This conception of you +he has naturally formed, just as he has formed the opposite conception of the +Argives and the Thebans, not only from his observation of the present, but also +from his consideration of the past. {11} He discovers, I imagine, and is told, +how when your forefathers might have been rulers of the rest of the Hellenes, on +condition of submitting to the king themselves, they not only refused to +tolerate the suggestion, on the occasion when Alexander [n], the ancestor of the +present royal house, came as his herald to negotiate, but chose rather to leave +their country and to face any suffering which they might have to endure; and how +they followed up the refusal by those deeds which all are so eager to tell, but +to which no one has ever been able to do justice; and for that reason, I shall +myself forbear to speak of them, and rightly; for the grandeur of their +achievements passes the power of language to describe. He knows, on the other +hand, how the forefathers of the Thebans and Argives, in the one case, joined +the barbarian army, in the other, offered no resistance to it. {12} He knows, +therefore, that both these peoples will welcome what is to their own advantage, +instead of considering the common interests of the Hellenes: and so he thought +that, if he chose you for his allies, he would be choosing friends who would +only serve a righteous cause; while if he joined himself to them, he would win +accomplices who would further his own ambitions. That is why he chose them, as +he chooses them now, in preference to you. For he certainly does not see them in +possession of more ships than you; nor has he discovered some inland empire, and +withdrawn from the seaboard and the trading-ports; nor does he forget the words +and the promises, on the strength of which he was granted the Peace. + +{13} But some one may tell us, with an air of complete knowledge of the matter, +that what then moved Philip to act thus was not his ambition nor any of the +motives which I impute to him, but his belief that the demands of Thebes were +more righteous than your own. I reply, that this statement, above all others, is +one which he cannot possibly make _now_. How can one who is ordering Sparta to +give up Messene put forward his belief in the righteousness of the act, as his +excuse for handing over Orchomenus and Coroneia to Thebes? + +{14} 'But,' we are told (as the last remaining plea), 'he was forced to make +these concessions, and did so against his better judgement, finding himself +caught between the cavalry of Thessaly and the infantry of Thebes.' Admirable! +And so, we are informed, he intends henceforth to be wary of the Thebans, and +the tale goes round that he intends to fortify Elateia [n]. 'Intends,' indeed! +and I expect that it will remain an intention! {15} But the help which he is +giving to the Messenians and Argives is no 'intention'; for he is actually +sending mercenaries to them and dispatching funds, and is himself expected to +arrive on the spot with a great force. Is he trying to annihilate the Spartans, +the existing enemies of Thebes, and at the same time protecting the Phocians, +whom he himself has ruined? Who will believe such a tale? {16} For if Philip had +really acted against his will and under compulsion in the first instance--if he +were now really intending to renounce the Thebans--I cannot believe that he +would be so consistently opposing their enemies. On the contrary, his present +course plainly proves that his former action also was the result of deliberate +policy; and to any sound observation, it is plain that the whole of his plans +are being organized for one end--the destruction of Athens. {17} Indeed, this +has now come to be, in a sense, a matter of necessity for him. Only consider. It +is empire that he desires, and you, as he believes, are his only possible rivals +in this. He has been acting wrongfully towards you for a long time, as he +himself best knows; for it is the occupation of your possessions that enables +him to hold all his other conquests securely, convinced, as he is, that if he +had let Amphipolis and Poteidaea go, he could not dwell in safety even at home. +{18} These two facts, then, he well knows--first, that his designs are aimed at +you, and secondly, that you are aware of it: and as he conceives you to be men +of sense, he considers that you hold him in righteous detestation: and, in +consequence, his energies are roused: for he expects to suffer disaster, if you +get your opportunity, unless he can anticipate you by inflicting it upon you. +{19} So he is wide awake; he is on the alert; he is courting the help of others +against Athens--of the Thebans and those Peloponnesians who sympathize with +their wishes; thinking that their desire of gain will make them embrace the +immediate prospect, while their native stupidity will prevent them from +foreseeing any of the consequences. Yet there are examples, plainly visible to +minds which are even moderately well-balanced[n]--examples which it fell to my +lot to bring before Messenian and Argive audiences, but which had better, +perhaps, be laid before yourselves as well. + +{20} 'Can you not imagine,' I said, 'men of Messenia, the impatience with which +the Olynthians used to listen to any speeches directed against Philip in those +times, when he was giving up Anthemus to them--a city claimed as their own by +all former Macedonian kings; when he was expelling the Athenian colonists from +Poteidaea and presenting it to the Olynthians; when he had taken upon his own +shoulders their quarrel with Athens, and given them the enjoyment of that +territory? Did they expect, do you think, to suffer as they have done? if any +one had foretold it, would they have believed him? {21} And yet,' I continued, +'after enjoying territory not their own for a very short time, they are robbed +of their own by him for a great while to come; they are foully driven forth--not +conquered merely, but betrayed by one another and sold; for it is not safe for a +free state to be on these over-friendly terms with a tyrant. {22} What, again, +of the Thessalians? Do you imagine,' I asked, 'that when he was expelling their +tyrants, or again, when he was giving them Nicaea and Magnesia, they expected to +see the present Council of Ten[n] established in their midst? Did they expect +that the restorer of their Amphictyonic rights would take their own revenues +from them for himself? Impossible! And yet these things came to pass, as all men +may know. {23} You yourselves,' I continued, 'at present behold only the gifts +and the promises of Philip. Pray, if you are really in your right minds, that +you may never see the accomplishment of his deceit and treachery. There are, as +you know well,' I said, 'all kinds of inventions designed for the protection and +security of cities--palisades, walls, trenches, and every kind of defence. {24} +All these are made with hands, and involve expense as well. But there is one +safeguard which all sensible men possess by nature--a safeguard which is a +valuable protection to all, but above all to a democracy against a tyrant. And +what is this? It is distrust. Guard this possession and cleave to it; preserve +this, and you need never fear disaster. {25} What is it that you desire?' I +said. 'Is it freedom? And do you not see that the very titles that Philip bears +are utterly alien to freedom? For a king, a tyrant, is always the foe of freedom +and the enemy of law. Will you not be on your guard,' I said, 'lest in striving +to be rid of war, you find yourselves slaves?'[n] + +{26} My audience heard these words and received them with a tumult of +approbation, as well as many other speeches from the envoys, both when I was +present and again later. And yet, it seems, there is still no better prospect of +their keeping Philip's friendship and promises at a distance. {27} In fact, the +extraordinary thing is not that Messenians and certain Peloponnesians should act +against their own better judgement, but that you who understand for yourselves, +and who hear us, your orators, telling you, that there is a design against you, +and that the toils are closing round you--that you, I say, by always refusing to +act at once, should be about to find (as I think you will) that you have exposed +yourselves unawares to the utmost peril: so much more does the pleasure and ease +of the moment weigh with you, than any advantage to be reaped at some future +date. + +{28} In regard to the practical measures which you must take, you will, if you +are wise, deliberate by yourselves[n] later. But I will at once propose an +answer which you may make to-day, and which it will be consistent with your duty +to have adopted. + +[_The answer is read._] + +Now the right course, men of Athens, was to have summoned before you those who +conveyed the promises[n] on the strength of which you were induced to make the +Peace. {29} For I could never have brought myself to serve on the Embassy, nor, +I am sure, would you have discontinued the war, had you imagined that Philip, +when he had obtained peace, would act as he has acted. What we were then told +was something very different from this. And there are others, too, whom you +should summon. You ask whom I mean? After the Peace had been made, and I had +returned from the Second Embassy, which was sent to administer the oaths, I saw +how the city was being hoodwinked, and I spoke out repeatedly, protesting and +forbidding you to sacrifice Thermopylae and the Phocians: {30} and the men to +whom I refer were those who then said that a water-drinker[n] like myself was +naturally a fractious and ill-tempered fellow; while Philip, if only he crossed +the Pass, would fulfil your fondest prayers; for he would fortify Thespiae and +Plataeae; he would put an end to the insolence of the Thebans; he would cut a +canal through the Chersonese at his own charges, and would repay you for +Amphipolis by the restoration of Euboea and Oropus. All this was said from this +very platform, and I am quite sure that you remember it well, though your memory +of those who injure you is but short. {31} To crown your disgrace, with nothing +but these hopes in view, you resolved that this same Peace should hold good for +your posterity also; so completely had you fallen under their influence. But why +do I speak of all this now? why do I bid you summon these men? By Heaven, I will +tell the truth without reserve, and will hold nothing back. {32} My object is +not to give way to abuse, and so secure myself as good a hearing[n] as others in +this place, while giving those who have come into collision with me from the +first an opportunity for a further claim[n] upon Philip's money. Nor do I wish +to waste time in empty words. {33} No; but I think that the plan which Philip is +pursuing will some day trouble you more than the present situation does; for his +design is moving towards fulfilment, and though I shrink from precise +conjecture, I fear its accomplishment may even now be only too close at hand. +And when the time comes when you can no longer refuse to attend to what is +passing; when you no longer hear from me or from some other that it is all +directed against you, but all alike see it for yourselves and know it for a +certainty; then, I think, you will be angry and harsh enough. {34} And I am +afraid that because your envoys have withheld from you the guilty secret of the +purposes which they have been bribed to forward, those who are trying to remedy +in some degree the ruin of which these men have been the instruments will fall +victims to your wrath. For I observe that it is the general practice of some +persons to vent their anger, not upon the guilty, but upon those who are most +within their grasp. {35} While then the trouble is still to come, still in +process of growth, while we can still listen to one another's words, I would +remind each of you once more of what he well knows--who it was that induced you +to sacrifice the Phocians and Thermopylae, the control of which gave Philip +command of the road to Attica and the Peloponnesus; who it was, I say, that +converted your debate about your rights and your interests abroad into a debate +about the safety of your own country, and about war on your own borders--a war +which will bring distress to each of us personally, when it is at our doors, but +which sprang into existence on that day. {36} Had you not been misled by them, +no trouble would have befallen this country. For we cannot imagine that Philip +would have won victories by sea which would have enabled him to approach Attica +with his fleet, or would have marched by land past Thermopylae and the Phocians; +but he would either have been acting straightforwardly--keeping the Peace and +remaining quiet; or else he would have found himself instantly plunged into a +war no less severe than that which originally made him desirous of the Peace. +{37} What I have said is sufficient by way of a reminder to you. Heaven grant +that the time may not come when the truth of my words will be tested with all +severity: for I at least have no desire to see any one meet with punishment, +however much he may deserve his doom, if it is accompanied by danger and +calamity to us all. + + + + +ON THE EMBASSY (OR. XIX) + + +[_Introduction_. The principal events with which a reader of this Speech ought +to be acquainted have already been narrated (see especially the Introductions to +the last two Speeches). The influence of the anti-Macedonian party grew +gradually from the time of the Peace onwards. In 346, within a month after the +return of the Second Embassy, the ambassadors presented their reports before the +Logistae or Board of Auditors (after a futile attempt on the part of Aeschines +to avoid making a report altogether); and Timarchus, supported by Demosthenes, +there announced his intention of taking proceedings against Aeschines for +misconduct on the Second Embassy. But Timarchus' own past history was not above +reproach: he was attacked by Aeschines for the immoralities of his youth, which, +it was stated, disqualified him from acting as prosecutor, and though defended +by Demosthenes, was condemned and disfranchised (345 B.C.). But early in 343 +Hypereides impeached Philocrates for corruption as ambassador, and obtained his +condemnation to death--a penalty which he escaped by voluntary exile before the +conclusion of the trial; and, later in the same year, Demosthenes brought the +same charge against Aeschines. + +In the meantime (since the delivery of Demosthenes' Second Philippic) Philip had +been making fresh progress. The Arcadians and Argives (for the Athenian envoys +to the Peloponnese in 344 seem to have had little success) were ready to open +their gates to him. His supporters in Elis massacred their opponents, and with +them the remnant of the Phocians who had crossed over to Elis with Phalaecus. At +Megara, Perillus and Ptoeodorus almost succeeded in bringing a force of Philip's +mercenaries into the town, but the attempt was defeated, by the aid of an +Athenian force under Phocion. In Euboea Philip's troops occupied Porthmus, where +the democratic party of Eretria had taken refuge, owing to an overthrow of the +constitution (brought about by Philip's intrigues) which resulted in the +establishment of Cleitarchus as tyrant. In the course of the same year (343) +occurred two significant trials. The first was that of Antiphon, who had made an +offer to Philip to burn the Athenian dockyards at the Peiraeus. He was summarily +arrested by order of Demosthenes (probably in virtue of some administrative +office): Aeschines obtained his release, but he was re-arrested by order of the +Council of Areopagus[1] and condemned to death. The other trial was held before +the Amphictyonic Council on the motion of the people of Delos, to decide whether +the Athenians should continue to possess the right of managing the Temple of +Delos. The Assembly chose Aeschines as counsel for Athens; but the Council of +Areopagus, which had been given power to revise the appointment, put Hypereides +in his place. Hypereides won the case. Early in 343 (or at all events before the +middle of the year), Philip sent Python of Byzantium to complain of the language +used about him by Athenian orators, and to offer to revise and amend the terms +of the Peace of Philocrates. In response, an embassy was sent, headed by +Hegesippus, a violent opponent of Macedonia, to propose to Philip (1) that +instead of the clause 'that each party shall retain possession of what they +have', a clause, 'that each party shall possess what is their own,' should be +substituted; and (2) that all Greek States not included in the Treaty of Peace +should be declared free, and that Athens and Philip should assist them, if they +were attacked. These proposals, if sanctioned, would obviously have reopened the +question of Amphipolis, Pydna, and Poteidaea, as well as of Cardia and the +Thracian towns taken by Philip in 346. Hegesippus, moreover, was personally +objectionable, and the embassy was dismissed with little courtesy by Philip, who +even banished from Macedonia the Athenian poet Xenocleides for acting as host to +the envoys. The feeling against Philip in Athens was evidently strong, when the +prosecution of Aeschines by Demosthenes took place. + +The trial was held before a jury (probably consisting of 1,501 persons), +presided over by the Board of Auditors. Demosthenes spoke first, and Aeschines +replied in a speech which is preserved. There is no doubt, on a comparison of +the two speeches, that each, before it was published, received alterations and +insertions, intended to meet the adversary's points, or to give a better colour +to passages which had been unfavourably received. Probably not all the +refutations 'in advance' were such in reality. But there is no sufficient reason +to doubt that the speeches were delivered substantially as we have them. +Aeschines was acquitted by thirty votes. + +The question of the guilt or innocence of Aeschines will probably never be +finally settled. A great part of his conduct can be explained as a sincere +attempt to carry out the policy of Eubulus, or as the issue of a genuine belief +that it was best for Athens to make terms with Philip and stand on his side. +Even so the wisdom and the veracity of certain speeches which he had made is +open to grave question; but this is a different thing from corruption. Moreover, +to some of Demosthenes' arguments he has a conclusive reply. It is more +difficult to explain his apparent change of opinion between the 18th and 19th of +Elaphebolion, 346 (if Demosthenes' report of the debates is to be trusted); and +some writers are disposed to date his corruption from the intervening night. Nor +is it easy to meet Demosthenes' argument that if Aeschines had really been taken +in by Philip, and believed the promises which he announced, or if he had +actually heard Philip make the promises, he would have regarded Philip +afterwards as a personal enemy, and not as a friend. But even on these points +Aeschines might reply (though he could not reply so to the Athenian people or +jury) that though he did not trust the promises, he regarded the interest of +Athens as so closely bound up with the alliance with Philip, that he considered +it justifiable to deceive the people into making the alliance, or at least to +take the risk of the promises which he announced proving untrue. In any case +there is no convincing evidence of corruption; and it may be taken as +practically certain that he was not bribed to perform particular services. It is +less certain that he was not influenced by generous presents from Philip in +forming his judgement of Philip's character and intentions. The standard of +Athenian public opinion in regard to the receipt of presents was not that of the +English Civil Service; and the ancient orators accuse one another of corruption +almost as a matter of course. (We have seen that Demosthenes began the attack +upon Eubulus' party in this form as early as the Speech for the Rhodians; it +appears in almost every subsequent oration: and in their turn, his opponents +make the same charge against him.) It is, in any case, remarkable that at a time +when the people was plainly exasperated with the Peace and its authors, and very +ill-disposed towards Philip, a popular jury nevertheless acquitted Aeschines; +and the verdict is not sufficiently explained either by the fact that Eubulus +supported Aeschines or by the jurors' memory of Demosthenes' own part in the +earlier peace-negotiations, though this must have weakened the force of his +attack. That Demosthenes himself believed Aeschines to have been bribed, and +could himself see no other explanation of his conduct, need not be doubted; and +although the speech contains some of those misrepresentations of fact and +passages of irrelevant personal abuse which deface some of his best work, it +also contains some of his finest pieces of oratory and narrative. + +The second part of the speech is more broken up into short sections and less +clearly arranged than the first; earlier arguments are repeated, and a few +passages may be due (at least in their present shape) to revision after the +trial: but the latter part even as it stands is successful in leaving the points +of greatest importance strongly impressed upon the mind. + +The following analysis of the speech may enable the reader to find his way +through it without serious difficulty:-- + + +INTRODUCTION (§§ 1-28) + +(i) _Exordium_ (§§ 1, 2). Impartiality requested of the jury, in view of +Aeschines' attempt to escape by indirect means. + +(ii) _Points of the trial_ (§§ 3-8). An ambassador must (1) give true reports; +(2) give good advice; (3) obey his instructions; (4) not lose time; (5) be +incorruptible. + +(iii) _Preliminary exposition of the arguments_ (§§ 9-28). + + (1) The previous anti-Macedonian zeal of Aeschines suddenly collapsed + after the First Embassy. + + (2) In the deliberations on the Peace, Aeschines supported + Philocrates. + + (3) After the Second Embassy, Aeschines prevented Athens from guarding + Thermopylae and saving the Phocians, by false reports and + promises. + + (4) Such a change of policy is only explicable by corruption. + +PART 1 (§§ 29-178) + +The five points of Introduction (ii) are treated as three, or in three groups. + +(i) The reports made by Aeschines on his return from the Second Embassy, and his +advice, especially as to the ruin of the Phocians (§§ 29-97). + + (1) The reports (a) to the Senate, (b) to the People, and their + reception (§§ 29-46). + + (2) Evidence that Aeschines conspired with Philip against the + Phocians, whose ruin is described (§§ 47-71). + + (3) Refutation of three anticipated objections, beginning at § 72, § + 78, § 80 respectively (§§ 72-82). + + (4) The danger to Athens from Aeschines' treachery (§§ 83-7). + + (5) Request to confine the trial strictly to relevant points + (§§ 88-97). + +(ii) The corruption of Aeschines by the bribes of Philip (§§ 98-149). + + (1) Arguments (beginning § 102, § 111, § 114, § 116) showing the + corruption of Aeschines (§§ 98-119). + + (2) Refutation of anticipated objections (beginning at § 120, § 134, + § 147) (§§ 120-49). + +(iii) Aeschines' loss of time, by which Philip profited, and disobedience +to his instructions (§§ 150-77). + + (1) Narrative of the Second Embassy (§§ 150-62). + + (2) Comparison of the two Embassies (§§ 163-5). + + (3) Comparison of Demosthenes' own conduct with that of the other + ambassadors (§§ 167-77). Recapitulation of the points established + (§§ 177, 178). + +PART II (§§ 179-343) + +(i) The injury done to Athens-- + + (a) by the loss of Thrace and the Hellespont; + + (b) generally, by false reports from ambassadors (§§ 179-86). + +(ii) Refutation of anticipated objections-- + + (a) 'It is not Philip's fault that he has not satisfied Athens' + (§ 187). + + (b) 'Demosthenes has no right to prosecute' (§§ 188-220): including a + digression (§§ 192-200) on Aeschines' character and incidents in + his life. + +(iii) Demosthenes' object in prosecuting, passing into reproof of the laxity of +Athens towards traitors (§§ 221-33). + +(iv) Warning against any attempt by Aeschines to confuse the dates and incidents +of the two Embassies (§§ 234-6.) + +(v) Criticism of Aeschines' brothers and his prosecution of Timarchus +(§§ 237-58). + +(vi) The increasing danger from traitors, and the traditional attitude +of Athens towards them (§§ 259-87). + +(vii) Attack upon Eubulus for defending Aeschines (§§ 288-99). + +(viii) Philip's policy and methods; proofs of Aeschines' complicity +repeated (§§ 300-31). + +(ix) Warnings to the jury against Aeschines' attempts to mislead them; and +conclusion (§§ 331-43).] + + +{1} How much interest this case has excited, men of Athens, and how much +canvassing has taken place, must, I feel sure, have become fairly evident to you +all, after the persistent overtures just now made to you, while you were drawing +your lots.[n] Yet I will make the request of you all--a request which ought to +be granted even when unasked--that you will not allow the favour or the person +of any man to weigh more with you than justice and the oath which each of you +swore before he entered the court. Remember that what I ask is for your own +welfare and for that of the whole State; while the entreaties and the eager +interest of the supporters of the accused have for their aim the selfish +advantage of individuals: and it is not to confirm criminals in the possession +of such advantages that the laws have called you together, but to prevent their +attainment of them. {2} Now I observe that while all who enter upon public life +in an honest spirit profess themselves under a perpetual responsibility, even +when they have passed their formal examination, the defendant Aeschines does the +very reverse. For before entering your presence to give an account of his +actions, he has put out of the way one of those[n] who appeared against him at +his examination; and others he pursues with threats, thus introducing into +public life a practice which is of all the most atrocious and most contrary to +your interests. For if one who has transacted and managed any public business is +to render himself secure against accusation by spreading terror round him, +rather than by the justice of his case, your supremacy[n] must pass entirely out +of your hands. + +{3} I have every confidence and belief that I shall prove the defendant guilty +of many atrocious crimes, for which he deserves the extreme penalty of the law. +But I will tell you frankly of the fear which troubles me in spite of this +confidence. It seems to me, men of Athens, that the issue of every trial before +you is determined as much by the occasion as by the facts; and I am afraid that +the length of time which has elapsed since the Embassy may have caused you to +forget the crimes of Aeschines, or to be too familiar with them. {4} I will tell +you therefore how, in spite of this, you may yet, as I believe, arrive at a just +decision and give a true verdict to-day. You have, gentlemen of the jury, to +inquire and to consider what are the points on which it is proper to demand an +account from an ambassador. He is responsible first for his report; secondly, +for what he has persuaded you to do; thirdly, for his execution of your +instructions; next, for dates; and, besides all these things, for the integrity +or venality of his conduct throughout. {5} And why is he responsible in these +respects? Because on his report must depend your discussion of the situation: if +his report is true, your decision is a right one: if otherwise, it is the +reverse. Again, you regard the counsels of ambassadors as especially +trustworthy. You listen to them in the belief that they have personal knowledge +of the matter with which they were sent to deal. Never, therefore, ought an +ambassador to be convicted of having given you any worthless or pernicious +advice. {6} Again, it is obviously proper that he should have carried out your +instructions to him with regard to both speech and action, and your express +resolutions as to his conduct. Very good. But why is he responsible for dates? +Because, men of Athens, it often happens that the opportunity upon which much +that is of great importance depends lasts but for a moment; and if this +opportunity is deliberately and treacherously surrendered to the enemy, no +subsequent steps can possibly recover it. {7} But as to the integrity or +corruption of an ambassador, you would all, I am sure, admit that to make money +out of proceedings that injure the city is an atrocious thing and deserves your +heavy indignation. Yet the implied distinction was not recognized by the framer +of our law. He absolutely forbade _all_ taking of presents, thinking, I believe, +that a man who has once received presents and been corrupted with money no +longer remains even a safe judge of what is to the interest of the city. {8} If +then I can convict the defendant Aeschines by conclusive proofs of having made a +report that was utterly untrue, and prevented the people from hearing the truth +from me; if I prove that he gave advice that was entirely contrary to your +interests; that on his mission he fulfilled none of your instructions to him; +that he wasted time, during which opportunities for accomplishing much that was +of great importance were sacrificed and lost to the city; and that he received +presents in payment for all these services, in company with Philocrates; then +condemn him, and exact the penalty which his crimes deserve. If I fail to prove +these points, or fail to prove them all, then regard me with contempt, and let +the defendant go. + +{9} I have still to charge him, men of Athens, with many atrocious acts in +addition to these--acts which would naturally call forth the execration of every +one among you. But I desire, before all else that I am about to say, to remind +you (though most of you, I know, remember it well) of the position which +Aeschines originally took up in public life, and the speeches which he thought +it right to address to the people against Philip; for I would have you realize +that his own actions, his own speeches at the beginning of his career, are the +strongest evidence of his corruption. {10} According to his own public +declaration at that time, he was the first Athenian to perceive that Philip had +designs against the Hellenes and was corrupting certain leading men in Arcadia. +With Ischander, the son of Neoptolemus, to second him in his performance, he +came before the Council and he came before the people, to speak on the subject: +he persuaded you to send envoys in all directions to bring together a congress +at Athens to discuss the question of war with Philip: {11} then, on his return +from Arcadia, he reported to you those noble and lengthy speeches which, he +said, he had delivered on your behalf before the Ten Thousand[n] at Megalopolis, +in reply to Philip's spokesman, Hieronymus; and he described at length the +criminal wrong that was done, not only to their own several countries, but to +all Hellas, by men who took bribes and received money from Philip. {12} Such +was his policy at that time, and such the sample which he displayed of his +sentiments. Then you were induced by Aristodemus, Neoptolemus, Ctesiphon, and +the rest of those who brought reports from Macedonia in which there was not an +honest word, to send ambassadors to Philip and to negotiate for peace. Aeschines +himself is appointed one of them, in the belief, not that he was one of those +who would sell your interests, or had placed confidence in Philip, but rather +one who would keep an eye on the rest. The speeches which he had already +delivered, and his antipathy to Philip, naturally led you to take this view of +him. {13} Well, after this he came to me[n] and tried to make an agreement by +which we should act in concert on the Embassy, and urged strongly that we should +both keep an eye upon that abominable and shameless man Philocrates; and until +we returned to Athens from the First Embassy, I at least, men of Athens, had no +idea that he had been corrupted and had sold himself. For (not to mention the +other speeches which, as I have told you, he had made on former occasions) at +the first of the assemblies in which you debated about the Peace, he rose and +delivered an exordium which I think I can repeat to you word for word as he +uttered it at the meeting. {14} 'If Philocrates,' he said, 'had spent a very +long time in studying how he could best oppose the Peace, I do not think he could +have found a better device than a motion of this kind. The Peace which he +proposes is one which I can never recommend the city to make, so long as a +single Athenian remains alive. Peace, however, we ought, I think, to make.' {15} +And he made a brief and reasonable speech in the same tone. But though he had +spoken thus at the first meeting, in the hearing of you all, yet at the second +meeting, when the Peace was to be ratified; when I was upholding the resolution +of the allies and working for a Peace on just and equitable terms; when you in +your desire for such a Peace would not even listen to the voice of the despicable +Philocrates; then, I say, Aeschines rose and spoke in support of him, using +language for which he deserves, God knows, to die many deaths, {16} saying that +you must not remember your forefathers, nor tolerate speakers who recalled your +trophies and your victories by sea; and that he would frame and propose a law, +that you should assist no Hellene who had not previously assisted you. These +words he had the callous shamelessness to utter in the very presence and hearing +of the ambassadors[n] whom you had summoned from the Hellenic states, in +pursuance of the advice which he himself had given you, before he had sold +himself. + +{17} You elected him again, men of Athens, to receive the oaths. How he +frittered away the time, how cruelly he injured all his country's interests, and +what violent mutual enmity arose between myself and him in consequence of his +conduct and of my desire to prevent it, you shall hear presently. But when we +returned from this Embassy which was sent to receive the oaths, and the report +of which is now under examination; when we had secured nothing, either small or +great, of all that had been promised and expected when you were making the +Peace, but had been totally deceived; when they had again acted without regard +to their instructions,[n] and had conducted their mission in direct defiance of +your decree; we came before the Council: and there are many who have personal +knowledge of what I am about to tell you, for the Council-Chamber was crowded +with spectators. {18} Well, I came forward and reported to the Council the whole +truth: I denounced these men: I recounted the whole story, beginning with those +first hopes, aroused in you by the report of Ctesiphon and Aristodemus, and +going on to the speeches which Aeschines delivered during the time of the Peace- +negotiations, and the position into which they had brought the city: as regards +all that remained to you--I meant the Phocians and Thermopylae--I counselled you +not to abandon these, not to be victims once more of the same mistake, not to +let yourselves be reduced to extremities through depending upon a succession of +hopes and promises: and I carried the Council with me. {19} But when the day of +the Assembly came, and it was our duty to address you, the defendant Aeschines +came forward before any of his colleagues--and I entreat you, in God's name, to +follow me, and try to recollect whether what I tell you is true; for now we have +come to the very thing which so cruelly injured and ruined your whole cause. He +made not the remotest attempt to give any report of the results of the Embassy-- +if indeed he questioned the truth of my allegations at all--but instead of this, +he made statements of such a character, promising you benefits so numerous and +so magnificent, that he completely carried you away with him. {20} For he said +that,[n] before his return, he had persuaded Philip upon all the points in which +the interests of the city were involved, in regard both to the Amphictyonic +dispute and to all other matters: and he described to you a long speech which he +professed to have addressed to Philip against the Thebans, and of which he +reported to you the substance, calculating that, as the result of his own +diplomacy, you would within two or three days, without stirring from home or +taking the field or suffering any inconvenience, hear that Thebes was being +blockaded, alone and isolated from the rest of Boeotia, {21} that Thespiae and +Plataeae were being repeopled, and that the debt due to the god[n] was being +exacted not from the Phocians, but from the Thebans who had planned the seizure +of the temple. For he said that he gave Philip to understand that those who +planned the act were no less guilty of impiety than those whose hands executed +the plan; and that on this account the Thebans had set a price upon his head. +{22} Moreover, he said that he heard some of the Euboeans, who had been thrown +into a state of panic and confusion by the friendly relations established +between Athens and Philip, saying to the ambassadors, 'You have not succeeded, +gentlemen, in concealing from us the conditions on which you have made your +Peace with Philip; nor are we unaware that while you have given him Amphipolis, +he has undertaken to hand over Euboea to you.' There was, indeed, another matter +which he had arranged as well, but he did not wish to mention this at present, +since even as it was some of his colleagues were jealous of him. {23} This was +an enigmatical and indirect allusion to Oropus. These utterances naturally +raised him high in your estimation; he seemed to be an admirable speaker and a +marvellous man; and he stepped down with a very lofty air. Then I rose and +denied all knowledge of these things, and at the same time attempted to repeat +some part of my report to the Council. But they now took their stand by me, one +on this side, one on that--the defendant and Philocrates; they shouted, they +interrupted me, and finally they jeered, while you laughed. {24} You would not +hear, and you did not wish to believe anything but what Aeschines had reported. +Heaven knows, your feelings were natural enough; for who, that expected all +these marvellous benefits, would have tolerated a speaker who said that the +expectation would not be realized, or denounced the proceedings of those who +made the promise? All else, of course, was of secondary importance at the time, +in comparison with the expectations and the hopes placed before you; any +contradiction appeared to be nothing but sheer obstruction and malignity, while +the proceedings described seemed to be of incredible importance and advantage to +the city. + +{25} Now with what object have I recalled these occurrences to you before +everything else, and described these speeches of his? My first and chief object, +men of Athens, is that none of you, when he hears me speak of any of the things +that were done and is struck by their unparalleled atrocity, may ask in surprise +why I did not tell you at once and inform you of the facts; {26} but may +remember the promises which these men made at each critical moment, and by which +they entirely prevented every one else from obtaining a hearing; and that +splendid pronouncement by Aeschines; and that you may realize that in addition +to all his other crimes, you have suffered this further wrong at his hands--that +you were prevented from learning the truth instantly, when you ought to have +learned it, because you were deluded by hopes, deceits and promises. {27} That +is my first and, as I have said, my chief object in recalling all these +occurrences. But there is a second which is of no less importance than the +first, and what is this? It is that you may remember the policy which he adopted +in his public life, when he was still uncorrupted--his guarded and mistrustful +attitude towards Philip; and may consider the sudden growth of confidence and +friendship which followed; {28} and then, if all that he announced to you has +been realized, if the results achieved are satisfactory, you may believe that +all has been done out of an honest interest in the welfare of Athens; but if, on +the other hand, the issue has been exactly the opposite of that which he +predicted: if his policy has involved the city in great disgrace and in grave +perils, you may then be sure that his conversion was due to his own base +covetousness and to his having sold the truth for money. + +{29} And now, since I have been led on to this subject, I desire to describe to +you, before everything else, the way in which they took the Phocian question +entirely out of your hands. And let none of you, gentlemen of the jury, when he +looks at the magnitude of the transactions, imagine that the crimes with which +the defendant is charged are on a grander scale than one of his reputation could +compass. You have rather to observe that any one whom you would have placed in +such a position as this--a position in which, as each critical moment arrived, +the decision would be in his hands--could have brought about disasters equal to +those for which Aeschines is responsible, if, like Aeschines, he had wished to +sell his services, and to cheat and deceive you. {30} For however +contemptible[n] may be the men whom you frequently employ in the public service, +it does not follow that the part which the world expects this city to play is a +contemptible one. Far from it! And further, though it was Philip, of course, who +destroyed the Phocian people, it was Aeschines and his party who seconded +Philip's efforts. And so what you have to observe and consider is whether, so +far as the preservation of the Phocians came within the scope of their mission, +these men deliberately destroyed and ruined that whole cause. You have not to +suppose that Aeschines ruined the Phocians by himself. How could he have done +so? + +{31} (_To the clerk._) Now give me the draft-resolution which the Council passed +in view of my report, and the deposition of the clerk who wrote it. (_To the +jury._) For I would have you know that I am not repudiating to-day transactions +about which I held my peace at the time, but that I denounced them at once, with +full prevision of what must follow; and that the Council, which was not +prevented from hearing the truth from me, neither voted thanks to the +ambassadors, nor thought fit to invite them to the Town Hall.[n] From the +foundation of the city to this day, no body of ambassadors is recorded to have +been treated so; nor even Timagoras,[n] whom the people condemned to death. {32} +But these men have been so treated. (_To the clerk._) First read them the +deposition, and then the resolution. + +[_The deposition and resolution are read._] + +Here is no expression of thanks, no invitation of the ambassadors to the Town +Hall by the Council. If Aeschines asserts that there is any, let him point it +out and produce it, and I give way to him. But there is none. Now on the +assumption that we all fulfilled our mission in the same way, the Council had +good reason not to thank any of us, for the transactions of all alike were in +that case atrocious. But if some of us acted uprightly, while others did the +reverse, it must, it seems, have been owing to the knavery of their colleagues +that the virtuous were forced to take their share of this dishonour. {33} How +then can you all ascertain without any difficulty who is the rogue? Recall to +your minds who it is that has denounced the transaction from the outset. For it +is plain that it must have been the guilty person who was well content to be +silent, to stave off the day of reckoning for the moment, and to take care for +the future not to present himself to give an account of his actions; while it +must have been he whose conscience was clear to whom there occurred the thought +of the danger, lest through keeping silence he might be regarded as a partner in +such atrocious villany. Now it is I that have denounced these men from the +outset, while none of them has accused me. {34} Such then was the resolution of +the Council. The meeting of the Assembly took place when Philip was already at +Thermopylae: for this was the first of all their crimes, that they placed Philip +in command of the situation, so that, when you ought first to have heard the +facts, then to have deliberated, and afterwards to have taken such measures as +you had resolved upon, you in fact heard nothing until he was on the spot, and +it was no longer easy to say what steps you ought to take. {35} In addition to +this, no one read the resolution of the Council to the people, and the people +never heard it; but Aeschines rose and delivered the harangue which I just now +described to you, recounting the numerous and important benefits which he said +he had, before his return, persuaded Philip to grant, and on account of which +the Thebans had set a price upon his head. In consequence of this, appalled +though you were at first at the proximity of Philip, and angry with these men +for not having warned you of it, you became as mild as possible, having now +formed the expectation that all your wishes would be realized; and you would not +hear a word from me or from any one else. {36} After this was read the letter +from Philip, which Aeschines had written[n] when we had left him behind, a +letter which was nothing less than a direct and express defence in writing of +the misconduct of the ambassadors. For in it is stated that Philip himself +prevented them, when they were anxious to go to the several cities and receive +the oaths, and that he retained them in order that they might help him to effect +a reconciliation between the peoples of Halus and Pharsalus. He takes upon his +own shoulders the whole of their misconduct, and makes it his own. {37} But as +to the Phocians and Thespiae, and the promises contained in Aeschines' report to +you--why, there is not the slightest mention of them! And it was no mere +accident that the proceedings took this form. For the failure of the ambassadors +to carry out or give effect to any of the instructions imposed upon them by your +resolution--the failure for which you were bound to punish them--Philip makes +himself responsible in their stead, and says that the fault was his; for you +were not likely, of course, to be able to punish _him_. {38} But the points in +regard to which Philip wished to deceive you and to steal a march upon the city +were made the subject of the defendant's report, in order that you might be able +to find no ground of accusation or reproach against Philip, since these points +were not mentioned either in his letter or in any other part of the +communications received from him. But (_to the clerk_) read the jury the actual +letter--written by Aeschines, sent by Philip; and (_to the jury_) do you observe +that it is such as I have described. (_To the clerk._) Read on. + +[_The letter is read._] + +{39} You hear the letter, men of Athens; you hear how noble and generous it is. +But about the Phocians or the Thebans or the other subjects of the defendant's +report--not a syllable. Indeed, in this letter there is not an honest word, as +you will very shortly see for yourselves. He says that he retained the +ambassadors to help him reconcile the people of Halus: and such is the +reconciliation that they have obtained, that they are exiles from their country, +and their city is laid waste. And as to the prisoners, though he professed to be +wondering what he could do to gratify you, he says that the idea of procuring +their release had not occurred to any one. {40} But evidence has, as you know, +been laid before you many times in the Assembly, to the effect that I myself +went to ransom them, taking a talent[n] for the purpose; and it shall now be +laid before you once more. It follows, therefore, that it was to deprive me of +my laudable ambition[n] that Aeschines persuaded Philip to insert this +statement. But the strongest point of all is this. In his former letter--the +letter which we brought back--he wrote, 'I should have mentioned expressly the +great benefits that I propose to confer upon you, if I felt sure that you would +grant me the alliance as well.' And yet when the alliance has been granted, he +says that he does not know what he can do to gratify you. He does not even know +what he had himself promised! Why, he must obviously have known that, unless he +was trying to cheat you! To prove that he did write thus and in these terms, +(_to the clerk_) take his former letter, and read the very passage, beginning at +this point. Read on. + +[_An extract from the letter is read._] + +{41} Thus, before he obtained the Peace, he undertook to set down in writing the +great benefits he would confer on the city, in the event of an alliance also +being granted him. But as soon as he had obtained both his wishes, he says that +he does not know what he can do to gratify you, but that if you will inform him, +he will do anything that will not involve any disgrace or stigma upon himself. +Such are the excuses in which he takes refuge, to secure his retreat, in case +you should actually make any suggestion or should be induced to ask any favour. + +{42} It would have been possible to expose this whole proceeding at the time-- +and a great deal more--without delay; to inform you of the facts, and to prevent +you from sacrificing your cause, had not the thought of Thespiae and Plataeae, +and the idea that the Thebans were on the very point of paying the penalty, +robbed you of the truth. While, however, there was good reason for mentioning +these prospects, if the city was to hear of them and then be cheated, it would +have been better, if their realization was actually intended, that nothing +should have been said about them. For if matters had already reached a stage at +which the Thebans would be no better off, even if they perceived the design +against them, why was the design not fulfilled? But if its fulfilment was +prevented because they perceived it in time, who was it that betrayed the +secret? {43} Must it not have been Aeschines? Its fulfilment, however, was not +in fact intended, nor did the defendant either desire or expect it; so that he +may be relieved of the charge of betraying the secret. What was intended was +that you should be hoodwinked by these statements, and should refuse to hear the +truth from me; that you should not stir from home, and that such a decree should +carry the day as would involve the destruction of the Phocians. Hence this +prodigality in promises, and their proclamation in his speech to the people. + +{44} When I heard Aeschines making all these magnificent promises, I knew +perfectly well that he was lying; and I will tell you how I knew. I knew it +first, because when Philip was about to take the oath in ratification of the +Peace, the Phocians were openly excluded from it. This was a point which it +would have been natural to pass over in silence, if the Phocians were really to +be saved. And secondly, I knew it because the promises were not made by Philip's +ambassadors or in Philip's letter, but by the defendant. {45} Accordingly, +drawing my conclusions from these facts, I rose and came forward and attempted +to contradict him; but as you were not willing to hear me, I held my peace, with +no more than these words of solemn protest, which I entreat you, in Heaven's +name, to remember. 'I have no knowledge of these promises,' I said, 'and no +share in making them; and,' I added, 'I do not believe they will be fulfilled.' +This last expression roused your temper, and I proceeded, 'Take care, men of +Athens, that if any of these things comes to pass, you thank these gentlemen for +it, and give your honours and crowns to them, and not to me. If, however, +anything of an opposite character occurs, you must equally vent your anger on +them: I decline all responsibility.' {46} 'No, no!' interrupted Aeschines, 'do +not decline responsibility now! Take care rather that you do not claim credit, +when the time comes.' 'Indeed, it would be an injustice if I did so,' I replied. +Then Philocrates arose with a most insolent air, and said, 'It is no wonder, men +of Athens, that I and Demosthenes should disagree; for he drinks water, I drink +wine.' And you laughed. + +{47} Now consider the decree which Philocrates proposed and handed in.[n] An +excellent resolution it sounds, as you hear it now. But when you take into +account the occasion on which it was proposed, and the promises which Aeschines +was then making, you will see that their action amounts to nothing less than a +surrender of the Phocians to Philip and the Thebans, and that, practically, with +their hands tied behind their backs. (_To the clerk._) Read the decree. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{48} There, men of Athens, is the decree, overflowing with expressions of +gratitude and auspicious language. 'The Peace,' it says, 'which is granted to +Philip shall be granted on the same terms to his descendants, and also the +alliance.' Again, we are 'to thank Philip for his promised acts of justice'. Yet +Philip made no promises: so far was he from making promises that he said he did +not know what he could do to gratify you. {49} It was Aeschines who spoke in his +name, and made the promises. Then Philocrates took advantage of the enthusiasm +which Aeschines' words aroused in you, to insert in the decree the clause, 'and +unless the Phocians act as they are bound, and surrender the temple to the +Amphictyons, the Athenian people will render their assistance against those who +still stand in the way of such surrender.' {50} Thus, men of Athens, at a time +when you were still at home and had not taken the field, when the Spartans had +foreseen the deception and retired, and when none of the Amphictyons were on the +spot but the Thessalians and Thebans, he proposes in the most innocent-sounding +language in the world that they shall deliver up the temple to these. For he +proposes that they shall deliver it up to the Amphictyons. But what Amphictyons? +for there were none there but the Thessalians and Thebans. He does not propose +that the Amphictyons should be convoked, or that they should wait until the +Amphictyons met or that Proxenus should render assistance in Phocis, or that the +Athenians should take the field, or anything of the sort. {51} Philip did indeed +actually send two letters to summon you.[n] But he did not intend you really to +march from Athens. Not a bit of it! For he would not have waited to summon you +until he had seen the time go by in which you could have set out; nor would he +have tried to prevent me, when I wished to set sail and return hither; nor would +he have instructed Aeschines to speak to you in the terms which would be least +likely to cause you to march. No! he intended that you should fancy that he was +about to fulfil your desires, and in that belief should abstain from any +resolution adverse to him; and that the Phocians should, in consequence, make +no defence or resistance, in reliance upon any hopes inspired by you, but should +put themselves into his hands in utter despair. (_To the clerk._) Read to the +jury the letters of Philip. + +[_The letters are read._] + +{52} Now these letters summon you, and that, forsooth, instantly; and it was +surely for Aeschines and his party, if the proceeding was in any way genuine, to +support the summons, to urge you to march, and to propose that Proxenus, whom +they knew to be in those parts, should render assistance at once. Yet it is +plain that their action was of precisely the opposite character; and naturally +so. For they did not attend to the terms of the letter, but to the intention +with which Philip wrote it. {53} With this intention they co-operated, and to +this they strove to give effect. As soon as the Phocians had learned the news of +your proceedings in the Assembly, and had received this decree of Philocrates, +and heard the defendant's announcement and his promises, everything combined to +effect their doom. Consider the circumstances. There were some of them who had +the wisdom to distrust Philip. These were induced to trust him. And why? Because +they believed that even if Philip were trying to deceive them ten times over, +the ambassadors of Athens, at least, would never dare to deceive their own +countrymen. This report which Aeschines had made to you must therefore be true: +it was the Thebans, and not themselves, whose hour had come. {54} There were +others who advocated resistance at all hazards; but these too were weakened in +their resolution, now that they were persuaded that they could count upon +Philip's favour, and that, unless they did as they were bidden, you, whose +assistance they were hoping for, would march against them. There was also a +third party, who thought that you repented of having made the Peace with Philip; +but to these they pointed out that you had decreed that the same Peace should +hold good for posterity also; so that on every ground, all assistance from you +was despaired of. That is why they crowded all these points into one decree. +{55} And in this lies, I think, the very greatest of all their crimes against +you. To have made a Peace with a mortal man, whose power was due to the +accidents of the moment--a Peace, whereby they covenanted that the disgrace +brought upon the city should be everlasting; to have robbed the city, not only +of all beside, but even of the benefits that Fortune might hereafter bestow: to +have displayed such superabundant villany as to have done this wicked wrong not +only to their countrymen now living, but also to all those who should ever +thereafter be born--is it not utterly atrocious? {56} And this last clause, by +which the Peace was extended to your descendants, you would certainly never have +allowed to be added to the conditions of peace had you not then placed your +trust in the promises announced by Aeschines, as the Phocians placed their trust +in them and perished. For, as you know, they delivered themselves up to Philip; +they gave their cities into his hands; and the consequences which befell them +were the exact opposite of all that Aeschines had predicted to you. + +{57} That you may realize plainly that this calamity was brought about in the +manner that I have described, and that they are responsible for it, I will go +through the dates at which each separate event occurred; and if any one can +contradict me on any point, I invite him to rise and speak in the time allotted +to me. The Peace was made on the 19th of Elaphebolion, and we were away on the +mission which was sent to receive the oaths three whole months. {58} All this +time the Phocians remained unharmed. We returned from that mission on the 13th +of Scirophorion. Philip had already appeared at Thermopylae, and was making +promises to the Phocians, none of which they believed--as is proved, when you +consider that otherwise they would not have appealed to you. Then followed the +Assembly, at which, by their falsehoods and by the deception which they +practised upon you, Aeschines and his party ruined the whole cause. {59} That +was on the 16th of Scirophorion. Now I calculate that it was on the fifth day +that the report of your proceedings reached the Phocians: for the Phocian envoys +were here on the spot, and were deeply concerned to know what report these men +would make, and what your resolution would be. That gives us the 20th as the +date on which, as we calculate, the Phocians heard of your proceedings; for, +counting from the 16th, the 20th is the fifth day. Then followed the 21st, the +22nd, and the 23rd. {60} On the latter day the truce was made, and the ruin of +the Phocians was finally sealed. This can be proved as follows. On the 27th you +were holding an Assembly in the Peiraeus, to discuss the business connected with +the dockyards, when Dercylus arrived from Chalcis with the news that Philip had +put everything into the hands of the Thebans, and that this was the fifth day +since the truce had been made. 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th--the 27th is the +fifth day precisely. Thus the dates, and their reports and their proposals-- +everything, in short, convicts them of having co-operated with Philip, and of +sharing with him the responsibility for the overthrow of the Phocians. {61} +Again, the fact that none of the towns in Phocis was taken by siege or by an +attack in force, and that the utter ruin of them all was the direct consequence +of their truce with Philip, affords the strongest evidence that it was the +belief inspired in the Phocians by these men, that they would be preserved from +destruction by Philip, which was the cause of their fate. Philip himself they +knew well enough. (_To the clerk._) Bring me our treaty of alliance with the +Phocians, and the decrees under which they demolished their walls. (_To the +jury._) You will then realize what were the relations between themselves and +you, upon which they relied, and what nevertheless was the fate which befell +them through the action of these accursed men. (_To the clerk._) Read. + +[_The Treaty of Alliance between the Athenians and Phocians is read._] + +{62} These, then, were the things for which they relied upon you--friendship, +alliance, and assistance. Now listen to what befell them, because Aeschines +prevented your going to their assistance. (_To the clerk._) Read. + + [_The Agreement between Philip and the Phocians is read._] + +You hear it, men of Athens. 'An Agreement between Philip and the Phocians,' it +runs--not between the Thebans and the Phocians, nor the Thessalians and the +Phocians, nor the Locrians, nor any one else who was there. Again, 'the Phocians +shall deliver up their cities to Philip'--not to the Thebans or Thessalians or +any one else. {63} And why? Because the defendant's report to you was that +Philip had crossed the Pass with a view to the preservation of the Phocians. +Thus it was Aeschines in whom all their trust was placed; it was with him in +their minds that they considered the whole situation; it was with him in their +minds that they made the Peace. (_To the clerk._) Now read the remainder. (_To +the jury._) And do you observe for what they trusted him, and what treatment +they received. Does it show any resemblance or similarity to what Aeschines +predicted in his report? (_To the clerk._) Read on. + +[_The decrees of the Amphictyons are read._] + +{64} Men of Athens, the horror and the immensity of this calamity have never +been surpassed in our day in the Hellenic world, nor even, I believe, in the +time before us. Yet these great and dreadful events a single man has been given +power to bring about, by the action of these men, while the city of Athens was +still in being--Athens, whose traditional policy is to stand as the champion of +the Hellenic peoples, and not to suffer anything like this to take place. The +nature of the ruin which the unhappy Phocians have suffered may be seen, not +only from these decrees, but also from the actual results of the action taken, +and an awful and piteous sight it is, men of Athens. {65} For when recently we +were on our way to Delphi[n] we could not help seeing it all--houses razed to +the ground, cities stripped of their walls, the land destitute of men in their +prime--only a few poor women and little children left, and some old men in +misery. Indeed, no words can describe the distress now prevailing there. Yet +this was the people, I hear you all saying, that once gave its vote against the +Thebans,[n] when the question of your enslavement was laid before them. {66} +What then, men of Athens, do you think would be the vote, what the sentence, +that your forefathers would give, if they could recover consciousness, upon +those who were responsible for the destruction of this people? I believe that if +they stoned them to death with their own hands, they would hold themselves +guiltless of blood. Is it not utterly shameful--does it not, if possible, go +beyond all shame--that those who saved us then, and gave the saving vote for us, +should now have met with the very opposite fate through these men, suffering as +no Hellenic people has ever suffered before, with none to hinder it? Who then is +responsible for this crime? Who is the author of this deception? Who but +Aeschines? + +{67} Of all the many reasons for which Philip might be congratulated with good +cause upon his fortune, the chief ground of congratulation is a piece of good +fortune, to which, by every Heavenly Power, I cannot find any parallel in our +days. To have captured great cities, to have reduced a vast expanse of territory +to subjection, and all similar actions, are, of course, enviable and brilliant +achievements--undeniably so. But many other persons might be mentioned who had +achieved as much. {68} The good fortune of which I am about to speak is peculiar +to Philip, and has never been given to any other. It is this--that when he +needed scoundrels to do his work for him, he found even greater scoundrels than +he wanted. For as such we have surely good reason to think of them. For when +there were falsehoods which Philip himself, in spite of the immense interests +which he had at stake, did not dare to utter on his own behalf--which he did not +set down in any of his letters, and which none of his envoys uttered--these men +sold their services for the purpose, and undertook your deception. {69} +Antipater and Parmenio, servants of a master as they were, and unlikely ever to +find themselves in your presence again, none the less secured for themselves +that _they_ should not be the instruments in your deception, while these men, +who were Athenians, citizens of the most free city, and held an official +position as your ambassadors--though they would have to meet you and look you +in the face, and pass the remainder of their lives among you, and render before +you an account of their actions--they, I say, undertook the task of deceiving +you. How could vileness or desperation go further than this? + +{70} But I would have you understand further that he is under your curse, and +that you cannot, without violation of religion and piety, acquit him, when he +has thus lied to you. (_To the clerk._) Recite the Curse. Take it from me, and +read it out of the law. + +[_The Curse is read._] + +This imprecation is pronounced in your name, men of Athens, by the herald, at +every meeting of the Assembly, as the law appoints; and when the Council sits, +it is pronounced again there. Nor can Aeschines say that he did not know it +well. He was your under-clerk and servant to the Council, and used himself to +read this law over[n] to the herald. {71} Surely, then, you will have done a +strange and monstrous thing, men of Athens, if to-day, when you have it in your +power, you should fail to do for yourselves the thing which you enjoin upon the +gods, or rather claim from them as your due; and should acquit a man whom you +pray to the gods to destroy utterly--himself, his race and his house. You must +not do this. You may leave it to the gods to punish one whom you cannot +yourselves detect; but when you have yourselves caught the criminal, you must no +longer lay the task of punishing him upon the gods. + +{72} Now I am told that he intends to carry his shamelessness and impudence so +far, as to avoid all mention of his own proceedings--his report, his promises, +the deception he has practised upon the city--as though his trial were taking +place before strangers, instead of before you, who know all the facts; and that +he intends to accuse first the Spartans,[n] then the Phocians,[n] and then +Hegesippus.[n] {73} That is mere mockery; or rather, it is atrocious +shamelessness. For all that he will allege to-day against the Phocians or the +Spartans or Hegesippus--their refusal to receive Proxenus, their impiety--let +him allege what he will--all these allegations refer, as you know, to actions +which were already past when these ambassadors returned to Athens, and which +were no obstacle to the preservation of the Phocians--the admission is made by +whom? By the defendant Aeschines himself. For what was his report on that +occasion? {74} Not that if it had not been for their refusal to receive +Proxenus, nor that if it had not been for Hegesippus, nor that if it had not +been for such and such things, the Phocians would have been saved. No! he +discarded all such qualifications, and stated expressly that before he returned +he had persuaded Philip to save the Phocians, to repeople Boeotia, and to +arrange matters to suit your convenience; that within two or three days these +things would be accomplished facts, and that for this reason the Thebans had set +a price upon his head. {75} Refuse then, to hear or to tolerate any mention of +what had already been done, either by the Spartans or by the Phocians, before he +made his report; and do not let him denounce the rascality of the Phocians. It +was not for their virtue that you once saved the Spartans, nor the Euboeans, +that accursed people! nor many others; but because the interests of the city +demanded their preservation, as they demanded that of the Phocians just now. And +what wrong was done either by the Phocians or by the Spartans, or by yourselves, +or by any one else in the world after he made those declarations, to prevent the +fulfilment of the promises which he then made? Ask him that: for that is what he +will {76} not be able to show you. It was within five days--five days and no +more--that Aeschines made his lying report, that you believed him, that the +Phocians heard of it, surrendered themselves and perished. This, I think, makes +it as plain as it can possibly be, that the ruin of the Phocians was the result +of organized deceit and trickery, and of nothing else.[n] For so long as Philip +was unable to proceed to Phocis on account of the Peace,[n] and was only waiting +in readiness to do so, he kept sending for the Spartans, promising to do all +that they wished,[n]in order that the Phocians might not win {77} them over to +their side by your help. But when he had arrived at Thermopylae, and the +Spartans had seen the trap and retired, he now sent Aeschines in advance to +deceive you, in order that he might not, owing to your perceiving that he was +playing into the hands of the Thebans, find himself once more involved in loss +of time and war and delay, through the Phocians defending themselves and your +going to their assistance, but might get everything into his power without a +struggle; and this is what has in fact happened. Do not, then, let the fact that +Philip deceived the Spartans and Phocians as well as yourselves enable Aeschines +to escape his punishment for deceiving you. That would not be just. + +{78} But if he tells you that, to compensate for the Phocians and Thermopylae +and all your other losses, you have retained possession of the Chersonese, do +not, in Heaven's name, accept the plea! Do not tolerate the aggravation of all +the wrong that you have suffered through his conduct as ambassador, by the +reproach which his defence would bring upon the city--the reproach of having +sacrificed the existence of your allies, in an underhand attempt to save part of +your own possessions! You did not act thus; for when the Peace had already been +made, and the Chersonese was no longer in danger, there followed four whole +months[n] during which the Phocians remained unharmed; and it was not until +after this that the lying statements of Aeschines brought about their ruin by +deceiving you. {79} And further, you will find that the Chersonese is in much +greater danger now than it was then. For when do you think that we had the +greater facilities for punishing Philip for any trespass against the +Chersonese?--before he stole any of these advantages from the city, or now? For +my part, I think we had far greater facilities then. What, then, does this +'retention of the Chersonese' amount to, when all the fears and the risks which +attended one who would have liked to attack it have been removed? + +{80} Again, I am told that he will express himself to some such effect as this-- +that he cannot think why he is accused by Demosthenes, and not by any of the +Phocians. It is better that you should hear the true state of the case from me +beforehand. Of the exiled Phocians, the best, I believe, and the most +respectable, after being driven into banishment and suffering as they have +suffered, are content to be quiet, and none of them would consent to incur an +enmity which would fall upon himself, on account of the calamities of his +people: while those who would do anything for money have no one to give it to +them. {81} For assuredly _I_ would never have given any one anything whatever to +stand by my side here and cry aloud how cruelly they have suffered. The truth +and the deeds that have been done cry aloud of themselves. And as for the +Phocian people,[n] they are in so evil and pitiable a plight, that there is no +question for them of appearing as accusers at the examination of every +individual ambassador in Athens. They are in slavery, in mortal fear of the +Thebans and of Philip's mercenaries, whom they are compelled to support, broken +up into villages as they are and stripped of their arms. {82} Do not, then, +suffer him to urge such a plea. Make him prove to you that the Phocians are not +ruined, or that he did not promise that Philip would save them. For the +questions upon which the examination of an ambassador turns are these: 'What +have you effected? What have you reported? If the report is true, you may be +acquitted; if it is false, you must pay the penalty.' How can you plead the non- +appearance of the Phocians, when it was you yourself, I fancy, that brought +them, so far as it lay in your power, into such a condition that they could +neither help their friends nor repel their enemies. + +{83} And further, apart from all the shame and the dishonour in which also these +proceedings are involved, it is easy to show that in consequence of them the +city has been beset with grave dangers as well. Every one of you knows that it +was the hostilities which the Phocians were carrying on, and their command of +Thermopylae, that rendered us secure against Thebes, and made it impossible that +either Philip or the Thebans should ever march into the Peloponese or into +Euboea or into Attica. {84} But this guarantee of safety which the city +possessed, arising out of the position of Thermopylae and the actual +circumstances of the time, you were induced to sacrifice by the deceptions and +the lying statements of these ambassadors--a guarantee, I say, fortified by +arms, by a continuous campaign, by great cities of allies, and by a wide tract +of territory; and you have looked on while it was swept away. Fruitless has your +first expedition to Thermopylae become--an expedition made at a cost of more +than two hundred talents, if you include the private expenditure of the +soldiers--and fruitless your hopes of triumph over Thebes! {85} But of all the +wicked services which he has done for Philip, let me tell you of that which is +in reality the greatest outrage of all upon Athens and upon you all. It is this +--that when Philip had determined from the very first to do for the Thebans all +that he has done, Aeschines, by reporting the exact opposite to you, and so +displaying to the world your antagonism to Philip's designs, has brought about +for you an increase in the enmity between yourselves and the Thebans, and for +Philip an increase in their gratitude. How could a man have treated you more +outrageously than this? + +(_To the clerk._) {86} Now take and read the decrees of Diophantus[n] and +Callisthenes[n]; (_to the jury_) for I would have you realize that when you +acted as you ought, you were thought worthy to be honoured with public +thanksgivings and praises, both at home and abroad; but when once you had been +driven astray by these men, you had to bring your children and wives in from the +country, and to decree that the sacrifice to Heracles[n] should take place +within the walls, though it was a time of peace. And in view of this it is an +amazing idea, that you should dismiss unpunished a man who even prevented the +gods from receiving their worship from you after the manner of your fathers. +(_To the clerk._) Read the decree. + +[_The decree of Diophantus is read._] + +This decree, men of Athens, was one which your conduct nobly deserved. (_To the +clerk._) Now read the next decree. + +[_The decree of Callisthenes is read._] + +{87} This decree you passed in consequence of the action of these men. It was +not with such a prospect in view that you made the Peace and the alliance at the +outset, or that you were subsequently induced to insert the words which extended +them to your posterity. You expected their action to bring you benefits of +incredible value. Aye, and besides this, you know how often, after this, you +were bewildered by the report that Philip's forces and mercenaries were +threatening Porthmus or Megara. You have not then to reflect contentedly that +Philip has not yet set foot in Attica. You have rather to consider whether their +action has not given him power to do so when he chooses. It is that danger that +you must keep before your eyes, and you must execrate and punish the man who is +guilty of putting such power into Philip's hands. + +{88} Now I am aware that Aeschines will eschew all defence of the actions with +which he is charged, and that, in his desire to lead you as far away as possible +from the facts, he will enumerate the great blessings which Peace brings to all +mankind, and will set against them the evils that follow in the train of war. +His whole speech will be a eulogy of peace, and in that will consist his +defence. But such an argument actually incriminates the defendant further. If +peace, which brings such blessings to all other men, has been the source of such +trouble and confusion to us, what explanation can be found, except that they +have taken bribes and have cruelly marred a thing by nature so fair? {89} +'What?' he may say, 'have you not to thank the Peace for three hundred ships, +with their fittings, and for funds which remain and will remain yours?' In +answer to this, you are bound to suppose that, thanks to the Peace, Philip's +resources too have become far more ample--aye, and his command of arms, and of +territory, and of revenues, which have accrued to him to such large amounts. +{90} We, too, have had some increase of revenue. But as for power and alliances, +by the establishment of which all men retain their advantages, either for +themselves or their masters, ours have been sold by these men--ruined and +enfeebled; while Philip's have become more formidable and extensive by far. Thus +it is not fair that while Philip has been enabled by their action to extend both +his alliances and his revenue, all that would in any case have been ours, as the +result of the Peace, should be set off against what they themselves sold to +Philip. The former did not come to us in exchange for the latter. Far from it! +For had it not been for them, not only should we have had the former, as we have +now, but we should have had the latter as well. + +{91} You would doubtless admit, men of Athens, in general terms, that, on the +one hand, however many and terrible the disasters that have befallen the city, +your anger cannot justly be visited upon Aeschines, if none of them has been +caused by him; and that, on the other hand, Aeschines is not entitled to be +acquitted on account of any satisfactory results that may have been accomplished +through the action of others. You must examine the acts of Aeschines himself, +and then show him your favour if he is worthy of it, or your resentment, on the +other hand, if his acts prove to be deserving ing of that. {92} How, then, can +you solve this problem fairly? You will do so if, instead of allowing him to +confound all questions with one another--the criminal conduct of the generals, +the war with Philip, the blessings that flow from peace--you consider each +point by itself. For instance, were we at war with Philip? We were. Does any one +accuse Aeschines on that ground? Does any one wish to bring any charge against +him in regard to things that were done in the course of the war? No one +whatever. He is therefore acquitted in regard to such matters, and must not say +anything about them; for the witnesses and the proofs which a defendant produces +must bear upon the matters which are in dispute; he must not deceive you by +offering a defence upon points which are not disputed. Take care, then, that you +say nothing about the war; for no one charges you with any responsibility for +that. {93} Later on we were urged by certain persons to make peace. We +consented; we sent ambassadors; and the ambassadors brought commissioners to +Athens who were to conclude the Peace. Once more, does any one blame Aeschines +for this? Does any one allege that Aeschines introduced the proposal of peace, +or that he committed any crime in bringing commissioners here to make it? No one +whatever. He must therefore say nothing in regard to the fact that the city made +peace; for he is not responsible for that. {94} 'Then what _is_ your assertion, +sir?' I may be asked. 'At what point _do_ your charges begin?' They begin, men +of Athens, from the time when the question before you was not whether you should +make peace or not (for that had already been settled), but what sort of peace +you should make--when Aeschines opposed those who took the side of justice, +supported for a bribe the hireling mover of the decree, and afterwards, when he +had been chosen to receive the oaths, failed to carry out every one of your +instructions, destroyed those of your allies who had passed unscathed through +the war, and told you falsehoods whose enormity and grossness has never been +surpassed, either before or since. At the outset, before Philip was given a +hearing in regard to the Peace, Ctesiphon and Aristodemus took the leading part +in the work of deception; but when the time had come for action, they +surrendered their rôle to Philocrates and Aeschines, who took it up and ruined +everything. {95} And then, when he is bound to answer for his actions and to +give satisfaction for them--like the unscrupulous God-forsaken clerk that he +is--he will defend himself as though it were the Peace for which he was being +tried. Not that he wishes to account for more than is charged against him--that +would be lunacy. No! He sees rather that in all his own proceedings no good can +be found--that his crimes are his whole history; while a defence of the Peace, +if it has no other merits, has at least the kindly sound of the name to +recommend it. {96} I fear, indeed, men of Athens, I fear that, unconsciously, we +are enjoying this Peace like men who borrow at heavy interest. The guarantees of +its security--the Phocians and Thermopylae--they have betrayed. But, be that as +it may, it was not through _Aeschines_ that we originally made it; for, +paradoxical as it may seem, what I am about to say is absolutely true--that if +any one is honestly pleased at the Peace, it is the generals, who are +universally denounced, that he must thank for it: for had they been conducting +the war as you desired them to do, {97}you would not have tolerated even the +name of peace. For peace, then, we must thank the generals; but the perilous, +the precarious, the untrustworthy nature of the Peace is due to the corruption +of these men. Cut him off, then, cut him off, I say, from all arguments in +defence of the Peace! Set him to defend his own actions! Aeschines is not being +tried on account of the Peace. On the contrary, the Peace stands discredited +owing to Aeschines. And here is evidence of the fact:--if the Peace had been +made, and if no subsequent deception had been practised upon you, and none of +your allies had been ruined, who on earth would have been hurt by the Peace, +except in so far as it was inglorious? And for its inglorious character the +defendant in fact shares the responsibility, for he spoke in support of +Philocrates. At least no irreparable harm would have been done; whereas now, I +believe, much has been done, and the guilt rests with the defendant. {98} That +these men have been the agents in this shameful and wicked work of ruin and +destruction, I think you all know. Yet so far am I, gentlemen of the jury, from +putting any unfair construction upon these facts or asking you to do so, that if +it has been through stupidity or simplicity, or ignorance in any form whatever, +that such results have been so brought about, I acquit Aeschines myself, and I +{99} recommend you also to acquit him. At the same time none of these excuses is +either constitutional[n] or justifiable. For you neither command nor compel any +one to undertake public business; but when any one has satisfied himself of his +own capacity and has entered political life, then, like good-hearted, kindly +men, you welcome him in a friendly and ungrudging manner, and even elect him to +office and place your own interests in his hands. {100} Then, if a man succeeds, +he will receive honour and will so far have an advantage over the crowd. But if +he fails, is he to plead palliations and excuses? That is not fair. It would not +satisfy our ruined allies, or their children, or their wives, or the rest of the +victims, to know that it was through my stupidity--not to speak of the stupidity +of the defendant--that they had suffered such a fate. Far from it! {101} +Nevertheless, I bid you forgive Aeschines for these atrocious and unparalleled +crimes if he can prove that it was simplicity of mind, or any form of ignorance +whatever, which led him to work such ruin. But if it was the rascality of a man +who had taken money and bribes--if he is plainly convicted of this by the very +facts themselves--then, if it be possible, put him to death; or if not, make +him, while he lives, an example to others. + +And now give your thoughts to the proof by which he is convicted on these +points, and observe how straightforward it will be. + +{102} If the defendant Aeschines was not deliberately deceiving you for a price, +he must necessarily, I presume, have had one of two reasons for making the +statements in question to you, in regard to the Phocians and Thespiae and +Euboea. Either he must have heard Philip promise in express terms that such +would be his policy and the steps he would take; or else he must have been so +far bewitched and deluded by Philip's generosity in all other matters as to +conceive these further hopes of him. There is no possible alternative besides +these two. {103} Now in both these cases he, more than any living man, ought to +detest Philip. And why? Because, so far as Philip could bring it about, all that +is most dreadful and most shameful has fallen upon him. He has deceived you; his +reputation is gone [he is rightly ruined]; he is on his trial; aye, and were the +course of the proceedings in any way that which his conduct called for, he would +long ago have been impeached;[n] {104-109} whereas now, thanks to your innocence +and meekness, he presents his report, and that at the time which suits his own +wishes. I ask, then, if there is one among you who has ever heard Aeschines +raise his voice in denunciation of Philip--one, I say, who has seen Aeschines +exposing him or saying a word against him? Not one! All Athens denounces Philip +before Aeschines does so. Every one whom you meet does so, though not one of +them has been injured by him--I mean, of course, personally. On the assumption +that Aeschines had not sold himself, I should have expected to hear him use some +such expressions as these--'Men of Athens, deal with _me_ as you will. I trusted +Philip; I was deceived; I was wrong; I confess my error. But beware of _him_, +men of Athens. He is faithless--a cheat, a knave. Do you not see how he has +treated me? how he has deceived me?' {110} But I hear no such expressions fall +from him, nor do you. And why? Because he was _not_ misled; he was _not_ +deceived; he made these statements, he betrayed all to Philip, because he had +sold his services and received the money for them; and gallantly and loyally has +he behaved--as Philip's hireling. But as your ambassador, as your fellow +citizen, he is a traitor who deserves to die, not once, but thrice. + +{111} This is not the only evidence which proves that all those statements of +his were made for money. For, recently, the Thessalians came to you, and with +them envoys from Philip, demanding that you should decree the recognition of +Philip as one of the Amphictyons. Who then, of all men, should naturally have +opposed the demand? The defendant Aeschines. And why? Because Philip had acted +in a manner precisely contrary to the announcement which Aeschines had made to +you. {112} Aeschines declared that Philip would fortify Thespiae and Plataeae; +that he intended, not to destroy the Phocians, but to put down the insolence of +Thebes. But in fact Philip has raised the Thebans to an undue height of power, +while he has utterly destroyed the Phocians; and instead of fortifying Thespiae +and Plataeae, he has brought Orchomenus and Coroneia into the same bondage with +them. How could any contradiction be greater than this? Aeschines did not oppose +the demand. He neither opened his lips nor uttered a sound in opposition to it. +{113} But even this, monstrous as it is, is not yet the worst. For he, and he +alone, in all Athens, actually supported the demand. This not even Philocrates +dared to do, abominable as he was; it was left for the defendant Aeschines. And +when you raised a clamour and would not listen to him, he stepped down from the +platform, and, showing off before the envoys who had come from Philip, told them +that there were plenty of men who made a clamour, but few who took the field +when it was required of them--you remember the incident, no doubt--being +himself, of course, a marvellous soldier, God knows! + +{114} Again, if we had been unable to prove that any of the ambassadors had +received anything--if the fact were not patent to all--we might then have +resorted to examination by torture,[n] and other such methods. But if +Philocrates not only admitted the fact frequently in your presence at the +Assembly, but used actually to make a parade of his guilt--selling wheat, +building houses, saying that he was going[n] whether you elected him or not, +importing timber, changing Macedonian gold openly at the bank--it is surely +impossible for _him_ to deny that he received money, when he himself confesses +and displays his guilt. {115} Now, is any human being so senseless or so ill- +starred that, in order that Philocrates might receive money, while he himself +incurred infamy and disgrace, he would want to fight against those upright +citizens in whose ranks he might have stood, and to take the side of Philocrates +and face a trial? I am sure that there is no such man; but in all these +considerations, if you examine them aright, you will find strong and evident +signs of the corruption of the defendant. + +{116} Consider next an incident which occurred last in order of time, but which +is second to none as an indication that Aeschines had sold himself to Philip. +You doubtless know that in the course of the recent impeachment of Philocrates +by Hypereides, I came forward and expressed my dissatisfaction with one feature +of the impeachment--namely, the idea that Philocrates alone had been responsible +for all these monstrous crimes, and that the other nine ambassadors had no share +in them. I said that it was not so, for Philocrates by himself would have been +nowhere, had he not had some of them to co-operate with him. {117} 'And +therefore,' I said, 'in order that I may not personally acquit or accuse any +one, and that the guilty may be detected, and those who have had no share in the +crime acquitted by the evidence of their own conduct, let any one who wishes to +do so rise and come forward into your midst, and let him declare that he has no +share in it, and that the actions of Philocrates are displeasing to him. Any one +who does this,' I said, 'I acquit.' You remember the incident, I am sure. {118} +Well, no one came forward or showed himself. Each of the others has some excuse. +One was not liable to examination; another, perhaps, was not present; a third is +related to Philocrates. But Aeschines has no such excuse. No! So completely has +he sold himself, once for all--so plain is it that his wages are not for past +services only, but that, if he escapes now, Philip can equally count upon his +help against you in the future--that to avoid letting fall even a word that +would be unfavourable to Philip, he does not accept his discharge[n] even when +you offer to discharge him, but chooses to suffer infamy, to stand his trial and +to endure any treatment in this court, rather than to take a step that would not +please Philip. {119} But what is the meaning of this partnership, this careful +forethought for Philocrates? For if Philocrates had by his diplomacy +accomplished the most honourable results and achieved all that your interest +required, and yet admitted (as he did admit) that he had made money by his +mission, this very fact was one by which an uncorrupted colleague should have +been repelled and set him on his guard, and led to protest to the best of his +power. Aeschines has not acted in this way. Is it not all clear, men of Athens? +Do not the facts cry aloud and tell you that Aeschines has taken money, that he +is a rascal for a price, and that consistently--not through stupidity, or +ignorance, or bad luck? {120} 'But where is the witness who testifies to my +corruption?' he asks. Why, this is the finest thing of all![n] The witnesses, +Aeschines, are facts; and they are the surest of all witnesses: none can assert +or allege against them, that they are influenced by persuasion or by favour to +any one: what your treachery and mischief have made them, such, when examined, +they must appear. But, besides the facts, you shall at once bear witness against +yourself. Come, stand up[n] and answer me! Surely you will not plead that you +are so inexperienced as not to know what to say. For when, under the ordinary +limitations of time, you prosecute and win cases that have all the novelty of a +play[n]--cases, too, that have no witness to support them--you must plainly be a +speaker of tremendous genius. + +{121} Many and atrocious as are the crimes of the defendant Aeschines, and great +as is the wickedness which is implied by them (as I am sure you also feel) there +is none which is more atrocious than that of which I am about to speak to you, +and none which will afford more palpable proof that he has taken bribes and sold +everything. For when once more, for the third time, you sent the ambassadors to +Philip on the strength of those high and noble expectations which the +defendant's promises had roused, you elected both Aeschines and myself, and most +of those whom you had previously sent. {122} For my part I came forward and +declined upon oath to serve;[n] and though some raised a clamour and bade me go, +I declared that I would not; but the defendant had already been elected. +Afterwards, when the Assembly had risen, he and his party met and discussed whom +they should leave behind in Athens. For while everything was still in suspense, +and the future doubtful, there were all kinds of gatherings and discussions in +the market-place. {123} They were afraid, no doubt, that a special meeting of +the Assembly might suddenly be called, and that you might then hear the truth +from me, and pass some of the resolutions which it was your duty to pass in the +interest of the Phocians, and that so Philip's object might slip from his grasp. +For had you merely passed a resolution and shown them the faintest ray of hope +of any kind, the Phocians would have been saved. It was absolutely impossible +for Philip to stay where he was, unless you were misled. There was no corn in +the country, for, owing to the war, the land had not been sown; and to import +corn was impossible so long as your ships were there and in command of the sea; +while the Phocian towns were many in number, and difficult to take except by a +prolonged siege. Even assuming that he were taking a town a day, there are two +and twenty of them. {124} For all these reasons they left Aeschines in Athens, +to guard against any alteration of the course which you had been deluded into +taking. Now to decline upon oath to serve, without any cause, was a dangerous +and highly suspicious proceeding. 'What?' he would have been asked, 'are you not +going on the mission which is to secure all those wonderful good things which +you have foretold?' Yet he was bound to remain. How could it be done? He pleads +illness. His brother took with him Execestus the physician, came before the +Council, swore that Aeschines was too ill to serve, and was himself elected in +his place. {125} Five or six days later the ruin of the Phocians had been +accomplished, and Aeschines' contract--a mere matter of business--had been +fulfilled. Dercylus turned back, and on his arrival here from Chalcis announced +to you the destruction of the Phocians, while you were holding an Assembly in +the Peiraeus. On hearing the news you were naturally struck with sympathy for +them, and with terror for yourselves. You passed resolutions to bring in your +children and wives from the country, to repair the garrison-forts, to fortify +the Peiraeus, and to celebrate the sacrifice to Heracles within the city walls: +{126} and in the midst of all this, in the midst of the confusion and the tumult +which had fallen upon the city, this learned and able speaker, so loud of voice, +though not elected[n] either by the Council or by the people, set off as +ambassador to the man who had wrought the destruction, taking no account of the +illness which he had previously made his excuse, upon oath, for not serving, nor +of the election of another ambassador in his place, nor of the law which imposes +the penalty of death for such offences; {127} nor yet reflecting how utterly +atrocious it was, that after announcing that the Thebans had placed a price on +his head, he should choose the moment when the Thebans had (in addition to all +Boeotia, which they already possessed) become masters of the territory of the +Phocians as well, to go into the very midst of Thebes, and into the very camp of +the Thebans. But so beside himself was he, so utterly bent upon his profits and +his bribe, that he ruled out and overlooked all such considerations, and took +his departure. + +{128} Such was the nature of this transaction; and yet his proceedings when he +arrived at his destination are far worse. All of you who are present, and all +other Athenians as well, thought the treatment of the unhappy Phocians so +atrocious and so cruel that you sent to the Pythian games neither the official +deputation from the Council, nor the Thesmothetae,[n] but abandoned that ancient +representation of yourselves at the festival. But Aeschines went to the +triumphal feast[n] with which the Thebans and Philip were celebrating the +victory of their cause and their arms. He joined in the festival: he shared in +the libations and the prayers which Philip offered over the ruined walls and +country and arms of your allies: with Philip he set garlands on his head, and +raised the paean, and drank the loving-cup. {129} Nor is it possible for the +defendant to give a different version of the facts from that which I have given. +As regards his sworn refusal to serve, the facts are in your public records in +the Metroon,[n] guarded by your officer; and a decree stands recorded with +express reference to the name of Aeschines.[n] And as for his conduct there, his +fellow ambassadors, who were present, will bear witness against him. They told +me the story; for I was not with them on this Embassy, having entered a sworn +refusal to serve. + +(_To the clerk._) {130} Now read me the resolution [and the record], and call +the witnesses. + +[_The decree is read, and the witnesses called._] + +What prayers, then, do you imagine Philip offered to the gods, when he poured +his libation, or the Thebans? Did they not ask them to give success in war, and +victory, to themselves and their allies, and the contrary to the allies of the +Phocians? In these prayers, therefore--in these imprecations upon his own +country--Aeschines joined. It is for you to return them upon his own head to- +day. + +{131} His departure, then, was a contravention of the law which imposes the +penalty of death for the offence, and it has been shown that on his arrival he +acted in a manner for which he deserves to die again and again, while his former +proceedings and the work which he did as ambassador, in their interest,[n] would +justly slay him. Ask yourselves what penalty can be found, which will adequately +atone for all these crimes? {132} It would surely be shameful, men of Athens, +that while all of you, and the whole people, denounce publicly all the +consequences of the Peace; while you decline to take part in the business of the +Amphictyons; while your attitude towards Philip is one of vexation and mistrust, +because the deeds that have been done are impious and atrocious, instead of +righteous and advantageous to you; that nevertheless, when you have come into +court as the sworn representatives of the State, to sit in judgement upon the +report of these proceedings, you should acquit the author of all the evil, when +you have taken him red-handed in actions like these. {133} Who is there of all +your fellow citizens--nay, who of all the Hellenes--that would not have good +cause for complaint against you, when he saw that though you were enraged +against Philip, who in making peace after war was merely purchasing the means to +his end from those who offered them for sale--a very pardonable transaction--you +were yet acquitting Aeschines, who sold your interests in this shameful manner, +notwithstanding the extreme penalties which the laws appoint for such conduct? + +{134} Now it is possible that an argument may also be used by the other side to +some such effect as this--that the condemnation of those whose diplomacy brought +about the Peace will mean the beginning of enmity with Philip. If this is true, +then, I can imagine, upon consideration, no more serious charge that I could +bring against the defendant, than this. If Philip, who spent his money on the +Peace which he wished to obtain, has become so formidable, so powerful, that you +have already ceased to regard your oaths and the justice of the case, and are +seeking how you can gratify Philip, what penalty, that those who are responsible +for this could suffer, would be adequate to the offence? {135} I believe, +however, that I shall actually show you that it would more probably mean the +beginning of a friendship, advantageous to you. For you must be well assured, +men of Athens, that Philip does not despise your city; nor was it because he +regarded you as less serviceable than the Thebans, that he preferred them to +you. No! {136} He had been instructed by these men and had heard from them, what +I once told you in the Assembly, without contradiction from any of them, that +the People is the most unstable thing in the world, and the most incalculable, +inconstant as a wave of the sea, stirred by any chance wind. One comes, another +goes; but no one cares for the public interest, or remembers it. Philip needs +(he is told) friends upon whom he can rely to execute and manage his business +with you--such friends, for instance, as his informant.[n] If this were secured +for him, he would easily effect all that he desired in Athens. {137} Now if he +heard that those who had used such language to him had immediately upon their +return been beaten to death, he would doubtless have behaved as the Persian king +did. And how was this? He had been deceived by Timagoras,[n] and had given him, +it is said, forty talents; but when he heard that Timagoras had been put to +death here, and had not even power to secure his own life, much less to carry +out the promises he had made to him, he recognized that he had not paid the +price to the man who had the power to effect his object. For first, as you know, +he sent a dispatch, acknowledging once more your title to Amphipolis, which he +had previously described as in alliance and friendship with himself; and +secondly, he thenceforward wholly abstained from giving money to any one. {138} +This is exactly what Philip would have done, if he had seen that any of these +men had paid the penalty, and what, if he sees it, he will still do. But when he +hears that they address you, and enjoy a high reputation with you, and prosecute +others, what is he to do? Is he to seek to spend much, when he can spend less? +or to desire to court the favour of all, when he need but court two or three? +That would be madness. For even those public benefits which Philip conferred +upon the Thebans he conferred not from choice-- far from it--but because he was +induced to do so by their ambassadors; and I will tell you how. {139} +Ambassadors came to him from Thebes just at the time when we were there upon our +mission from you. Philip wished to give them money, and that (so they said) in +very large amounts. The Theban ambassadors would not accept or receive it. After +that, while drinking at a sacrificial banquet and displaying his generosity +towards them, Philip offered, as he drank to them, presents of many kinds-- +captives and the like--and finally he offered them goblets of gold and silver. +All these they steadily refused, declining to put themselves in his power in any +way. {140} At last Philo, one of the ambassadors, made a speech, men of Athens, +which was worthy to be made in the name, not of Thebes, but of yourselves. For +he said that it gave them pleasure and delight to see the magnanimous and +generous attitude of Philip towards them; but for their own personal part, they +were already his good friends even without these presents; and they begged him +to apply his generosity to the existing political situation of their country, +and to do something worthy of himself and Thebes, promising that, if he did so, +their whole city, as well as themselves, would become attached to him. {141} And +now observe what the Thebans have gained by this, and what consequences have +followed; and contemplate in a real instance the advantages of refusing to sell +your country's interests. First of all, they obtained peace when they were +already distressed and suffering from the war, in which they were the losing +side. Next, they secured the utter ruin of their enemies, the Phocians, and the +complete destruction of their walls and towns. And was this all? No, indeed! For +besides all this they obtained Orchomenus, Coroneia, Corsia, the Tilphossaeum, +and as much of the territory of the Phocians as they desired. {142} This then +was what the Thebans gained by the Peace; and surely no more could they have +asked even in their prayers. And the ambassadors of Thebes gained--what? Nothing +but the credit of having brought this good fortune to their country; and a noble +reward it was, men of Athens, a proud record on the score of merit and honour-- +that honour which Aeschines and his party sold for money. Let us now set against +one another the consequences of the Peace to the city of Athens and to the +Athenian ambassadors respectively; and then observe whether its effects have +been similar in the case of the city and of these men personally. {143} The city +has surrendered all her possessions and all her allies; she has sworn to Philip +that even if another approaches them to preserve them for her, you will prevent +him; that you will consider any one who wishes to give them up to you as your +enemy and foe, and the man who has robbed you of them as your ally and friend. +{144} That is the resolution which Aeschines supported, and which was moved by +his accomplice Philocrates; and although on the first day I was successful, and +had persuaded you to ratify the decree of the allies and to summon Philip's +envoys,[n] the defendant forced an adjournment of the question till the next +day, and persuaded you to adopt the resolution of Philocrates, in which these +proposals, and many others even more atrocious, are made. {145} These were the +consequences of the Peace to Athens. It would not be easy to devise anything +more shameful. What were the consequences to the ambassadors who brought these +things about? I say nothing of all that you have seen for yourselves--the +houses, the timber, the wheat. But they also possess properties and extensive +estates in the country of your ruined allies, bringing in incomes of a talent to +Philocrates and thirty minae to the defendant. {146} Yet surely, men of Athens, +it is an atrocious and a monstrous thing, that the calamities of your allies +should have become sources of revenue to your ambassadors, and that the same +Peace which to the city that sent them meant the ruin of her allies, the +surrender of her possessions, and shame in the place of honour, should have +created for the ambassadors who brought these things to pass against their +country, revenue, affluence, property, and wealth, in the place of abject +poverty. To prove, however, that what I am telling you is true (_to the clerk_) +call me the witnesses from Olynthus. + +[_The witnesses are called._] + +{147} Now I should not wonder if he even dared to make some such statement as +this--that the Peace which we were making could not have been made an honourable +one, or such as I demanded, because our generals had mismanaged the war. If he +argues thus, then remember, in Heaven's name, to ask him whether[n] it was from +some other city that he went as ambassador, or from this city itself? If it was +from some other, to whose success in war and to whose excellent generals he can +point, then it was natural for him to take Philip's money: but if it was from +Athens itself, why do we find him taking presents as part of a transaction which +involved the surrender of her possessions by the city which sent him? For in any +honest transaction the city that sent the ambassadors ought to have shared the +same fortune as the ambassadors whom she sent. {148} Consider also this further +point, men of Athens. Do you think that the successes of the Phocians against +the Thebans in the war, or the successes of Philip against you, were the more +considerable? Those of the Phocians against the Thebans, I am quite certain. At +least, they held Orchomenus and Coroneia and the Tilphossaeum;[n] they had +intercepted the Theban garrison at Neones;[n] they had slain two hundred of them +on Hedyleum;[n] a trophy had been raised, their cavalry were victorious, and a +whole Iliad of misfortunes had beset the Thebans. You were in no such position +as this, and may you never be so in the future! Your most serious disadvantage +in your hostilities with Philip was your inability to inflict upon him all the +damage that you desired; you were completely secure against suffering any harm +yourselves. How is it then that, as the result of one and the same Peace, the +Thebans, who were being so badly worsted in the war, have recovered their own +possessions and, in addition, have gained those of their enemies; while you, the +Athenians, have lost under the Peace even what you retained safely through the +war? It is because their ambassadors did not sell their interests, while these +men have sold yours. [Ah! he will say,[n] but the allies were exhausted by the +war....]. That this is how these things were accomplished, you will realize +still more clearly from what I have yet to say. + +{150}For when this Peace was concluded--the Peace of Philocrates, which +Aeschines supported--and when Philip's envoys had set sail, after receiving the +oaths from us--and up to this time nothing that had been done was irreparable, +for though the Peace was disgraceful and unworthy of Athens, still we were to +get those marvellous good things in return--then I say, I asked and told the +ambassadors to sail as quickly as possible to the Hellespont, and not to +sacrifice any of our positions there, nor allow Philip to occupy them in the +interval. {151} For I knew very well that everything that is sacrificed when +peace is in process of being concluded after war, is lost to those who are so +neglectful; since no one who had been induced to make peace with regard to the +situation as a whole ever yet made up his mind to fight afresh for the sake of +possessions which had been left unsecured; such possessions those who first take +them keep. And, apart from this, I thought that, if we sailed, the city could +not fail to secure one of two useful results. Either, when we were there and had +received Philip's oath according to the decree, he would restore the possessions +of Athens which he had taken, and keep his hands off the rest; {152} or, if he +did not do so, we should immediately report the fact to you here, and so, when +you saw his grasping and perfidious disposition in regard to those your remoter +and less important interests, you would not in dealing with greater matters +close at hand--in other words, with the Phocians and Thermopylae--let anything +be lost. If he failed to forestall you in regard to these, and you were not +deceived, your interests would be completely secured, and he would give you your +rights without hesitation. {153} And I had good reason for such expectations. +For if the Phocians were still safe and sound, as they then were, and were in +occupation of Thermopylae, Philip would have had no terror to brandish before +you, which could make you overlook any of your rights. For he was not likely +either to make his way through by land, or to win a victory by sea, and so reach +Attica; while if he refused to act as was right, you would instantly close his +ports, reduce him to straits for money and other supplies, and place him in a +state of siege; and in that case it would be he, and not you, to whom the +advantages of peace would be the overmastering consideration. {154} And that I +am not inventing this or claiming wisdom after the event--that I knew it at +once, and, with your interest in view, foresaw what must happen and told my +colleagues--you will realize from the following facts. When there was no longer +any meeting of the Assembly available (since you had used up all the appointed +days) and still the ambassadors did not depart, but wasted time here, I proposed +a decree as a member of the Council, to which the people had given full powers, +that the ambassadors should depart directly, and that the admiral Proxenus +should convey them to any district in which he should ascertain Philip to be. My +proposal was just what I now tell you, couched expressly in those terms. (_To +the clerk_.) Take this decree and read it. + +[_The decree is read_.] + +{155} I brought them away, then, from Athens, sorely against their will, as you +will clearly understand from their subsequent conduct. When we reached Oreus and +joined Proxenus, instead of sailing and following their instructions, they made +a circuitous journey by land, and before we reached Macedonia we had spent three +and twenty days. All the rest of the time, until Philip's arrival, we were +sitting idle at Pella; and this, with the journey, brought the time up to fifty +days in all. {156} During this interval, in a time of peace and truce, Philip +was taking Doriscus,[n] Thrace, the district towards the Walls, the Sacred +Mountain--everything, in fact, and making his own arrangements there; while I +spoke out repeatedly and insistently, first in the tone of a man giving his +opinion to his colleagues, then as though I were informing the ignorant, till at +last I addressed them without any concealment as men who had sold themselves and +were the most impious of mankind. {157} And the man who contradicted me openly +and opposed everything which I urged and which your decree enjoined, was +Aeschines. Whether his conduct pleased all the other ambassadors as well, you +will know presently; for as yet I allege nothing about any of them, and make no +accusation: no one of them need appear an honest man to-day because I oblige him +to do so, but only of his own free will, and because he was no partner in +Aeschines' crimes. That the conduct in question was disgraceful, atrocious, +venal, you have all seen. Who were the partners in it, the facts will show. + +{158} 'But of course, during this interval they received the oaths from Philip's +allies, or carried out their other duties.' Far from it! For though they had +been absent from home three whole months, and received 1,000 drachmae from you +for their expenses, they did not receive the oaths from a single city, either on +their journey to Macedonia, or on the way back. It was in the inn before the +temple of the Dioscuri--any one who has been to Pherae will understand me--when +Philip was already on the march towards Athens at the head of an army, that the +oaths were taken, in a fashion which was disgraceful, men of Athens, and +insulting to you. {159} To Philip, however, it was worth anything that the +transaction should have been carried out in this form. These men had failed in +their attempt to insert among the terms of the Peace the clause which excluded +the people of Halus and Pharsalus; Philocrates had been forced by you to expunge +the words, and to write down expressly 'the Athenians and the allies of the +Athenians'; and Philip did not wish any of his own allies to have taken such an +oath; for then they would not join him in his campaign against those possessions +of yours which he now holds, but would plead their oaths in excuse; {160} nor +did he wish them to be witnesses of the promises on the strength of which he was +obtaining the Peace. He did not wish it to be revealed to the world that the +city of Athens had not, after all, been defeated in the war, and that it was +Philip who was eager for peace, and was promising to do great things for Athens +if he obtained it. It was just to prevent the revelation of these facts that he +thought it inadvisable that the ambassadors should go to any of the cities; +while for their part, they sought to gratify him in everything, with +ostentatious and extravagant obsequiousness. {161} But when all this is proved +against them--their waste of time, their sacrifice of your position in Thrace, +their complete failure to act in accordance either with your decree or your +interests, their lying report to you--how is it possible that before a jury of +sane men, anxious to be true to their oath, Aeschines can be acquitted? To +prove, however, that what I say is true (_to the clerk_), first read the decree, +under which it was our duty to exact the oaths, then Philip's letter, and then +the decree of Philocrates and that of the people. + +[_The decrees and letter are read._] + +{162} And now, to prove that we should have caught Philip in the Hellespont, had +any one listened to me, and carried out your instructions as contained in the +decrees, (_to the clerk_) call the witnesses who were there on the spot. + +[_The witnesses are called._] + +(_To the clerk._) Next read also the other deposition--Philip's answer to +Eucleides,[n] who is present here, when he went to Philip afterwards. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +{163} Now listen to me, while I show that they cannot even deny that it was to +serve Philip's interest that they acted as they did. For when we set out on the +First Embassy--that which was to discuss the Peace--you dispatched a herald in +advance to procure us a safe conduct. Well, on that occasion, as soon as ever +they had reached Oreus, they did not wait for the herald, or allow any time to +be lost; but though Halus was being besieged, they sailed there direct, and +then, leaving the town again, came to Parmenio, who was besieging it, set out +through the enemy's camp to Pagasae, and, continuing their journey, only met the +herald at Larissa: with such eager haste did they proceed. {164} But at a time +when there was peace and they had complete security for their journey and you +had instructed them to make haste, it never occurred to them either to quicken +their pace or to go by sea. And why? Because on the former occasion Philip's +interest demanded that the Peace should be made as soon as possible; whereas now +it required that as long an interval as possible should be wasted before the +oaths were taken. {165} To prove that this is so, (_to the clerk_) take and read +this further deposition. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +How could men be more clearly convicted of acting to serve Philip's interest +throughout, than by the fact that they sat idle, when in your interest they +ought to have hurried, on the very same journey over which they hastened onward, +without even waiting for the herald, when they ought not to have moved at all? + +{166} Now observe how each of us chose to conduct himself while we were there, +sitting idle at Pella. For myself, I chose to rescue and seek out the captives, +spending my own money and asking Philip to procure their ransom[n] with the sums +which he was offering us in the form of presents. How Aeschines passed his whole +time you shall hear presently. {167} What then was the meaning of Philip's +offering money to us in common? He kept sounding us all--for this too I would +have you know. And how? He sent round privately to each of us, and offered us, +men of Athens, a very large sum in gold. But when he failed in a particular case +(for I need not mention my own name myself, since the proceedings and their +results will of themselves show to whom I refer), he thought that we should all +be innocent enough to accept what was given to us in common; and then, if we all +alike had a share, however small, in the common present, those who had sold +themselves privately would be secure. {168} Hence these offers, under the guise +of presents to his guest-friends. And when I prevented this, my colleagues +further divided among themselves the sum thus offered. But when I asked Philip +to spend this sum on the prisoners, he could neither, without discredit, +denounce my colleagues, and say, 'But So-and-so has the money, and So-and-so,' +nor yet evade the expense. So he gave the promise, but deferred its fulfilment, +saying that he would send the prisoners home in time for the Panathenaea. (_To +the clerk._) Read the evidence of Apollophanes, and then that of the rest of +those present. + +[_The evidence is read._] + +{169} Now let me tell you how many of the prisoners I myself ransomed. For while +we were sitting waiting there at Pella, before Philip's arrival, some of the +captives--all, in fact, who were out on bail--not trusting, I suppose, my +ability to persuade Philip to act as I wished, said that they wished to ransom +themselves, and to be under no obligation to Philip for their freedom: and they +borrowed, one three minae, another five, and another--whatever the amount of the +ransom was in each case. {170} But when Philip had promised that he would ransom +the rest, I called together those to whom I had advanced the money; I reminded +them of the circumstances; and, lest they should seem to have suffered by their +impatience, and to have been ransomed at their own cost, poor men as they were, +when all their comrades expected to be set free by Philip, I made them a present +of their ransom. To prove that I am speaking the truth, (_to the clerk_) read +these depositions. + +[_The depositions are read._] + +{171} These, then, are the sums which I excused them, and gave as a free gift to +fellow citizens who had met with misfortune. And so, when Aeschines says +presently, in his speech to you, 'Demosthenes, if, as you say, you knew, from +the time when I supported Philocrates' proposal, that we were acting altogether +dishonestly, why did you go again as our colleague on the subsequent mission to +take the oaths, instead of entering a sworn excuse?' remember this, that I had +promised those whose freedom I had procured that I would bring them their +ransom, and deliver them to the best of my power. {172} It would have been a +wicked thing to break my word and abandon my fellow citizens in their +misfortune; while, on the other hand, if I had excused myself upon oath from +service, it would not have been altogether honourable, nor yet safe, to make a +tour there in a private capacity. For let destruction, utter and early, fall +upon me, if I would have joined in a mission with these men for a very large sum +of money, had it not been for my anxiety to rescue the prisoners. It is a proof +of this, that though you twice elected me to serve on the Third Embassy, I twice +swore an excuse. And all through the journey in question my policy was entirely +opposed to theirs. {173} All, then, that it was within my own power to decide in +the course of my mission resulted as I have described; but wherever in virtue of +their majority they gained their way, all has been lost. And yet, had there been +any who listened to me, all would have been accomplished in a manner congruous +with my own actions. For I was not so pitiful a fool as to give away money, when +I saw others receiving it, in my ambition to serve you, and yet not to desire +what could have been accomplished without expense, and would have brought far +greater benefits to the whole city. I desired it intensely, men of Athens; but, +of course, they had the advantage over me. + +{174} Come now and contemplate the proceedings of Aeschines and those of +Philocrates, by the side of my own; for the comparison will bring out their +character more vividly. Well, they first pronounced the exclusion from the Peace +of the Phocians and the people of Halus, and of Cersobleptes, contrary to your +decree and to the statements made to you. Then they attempted to tamper with and +alter the decree, which we had come there as ambassadors to execute. Then they +entered the Cardians as allies of Philip and voted against sending the dispatch +which I had written to you, sending in its stead an utterly unsound dispatch of +their own composition. {175} And then the gallant gentleman asserted that I had +promised Philip that I would overthrow your constitution, because I censured +these proceedings, not only from a sense of their disgracefulness, but also from +fear lest through the fault of these men I might have to share their ruin: while +all the time he was himself having incessant private interviews with Philip. +And, to pass over all besides, Dercylus (not I) watched him through the night at +Pherae, along with my slave who is here present; and as the slave came out of +Philip's tent he took him and bade him report what he had seen, and remember it +himself; and finally, this disgusting and shameless fellow was left behind with +Philip for a night and a day, when we went away. {176} And to prove that I am +speaking the truth, I will myself give evidence which I have committed to +writing,[n] so as to put myself in the position of a responsible witness; and +after that I call upon each of the other ambassadors, and I will compel them to +choose their alternative--either to give evidence, or to swear that they have no +knowledge of the matter. If they take the latter course, I shall convict them of +perjury beyond doubt. + +[_Evidence is read._] + +{177} You have seen now by what mischief and trouble I was hampered, throughout +our absence from home. For what must you imagine their conduct to have been +there, with their paymaster close at hand, when they act as they do before your +very eyes, though you have power either to confer honour or, on the other hand, +to inflict punishment upon them? + +I wish now to reckon up from the beginning the charges which I have made, in +order to show you that I have done all that I undertook to do at the beginning +of my speech. {178} I have proved that there was no truth in his report--that, +on the contrary, he deceived you--by the evidence not of words but of the actual +course of events. I have proved that he was the cause of your unwillingness to +hear the truth from my mouth, captivated as you were at the time by his promises +and undertakings; that he gave you advice which was the exact opposite of that +which he ought to have given, opposing the Peace which was suggested by the +allies, and advocating the Peace of Philocrates; that he wasted time, in order +that you might not be able to march to the aid of the Phocians, even if you +wished to do so; and that he has done many atrocious deeds during his absence +from home; for he has betrayed and sold everything, he has taken bribes, and has +left no form of rascality untried. These are the points which I promised at the +outset to prove, and I have proved them. {179} Observe, then, what follows; for +what I have now to say to you has already become a simple matter. You have sworn +that you will vote according to the laws and the decrees of the people and the +Council of Five Hundred. The defendant is proved, in all his conduct as +ambassador, to have acted in contravention of the laws, of the decrees, and of +justice. He ought, therefore, to be convicted in any court composed of rational +men. Even if there were no other crimes at his door, two of his actions are +sufficient to slay him; for he betrayed to Philip not only the Phocians but also +Thrace. {180} Two places in the whole world of greater value to Athens than +Thermopylae on land, and the Hellespont over sea, could not possibly be found; +and both these places these men have shamefully sold, and placed in Philip's +hands to be used against you. The enormity of this crime alone--the sacrifice of +Thrace and the Walls--apart from all the rest, might be proved in countless +ways,[n] and it is easy to point out how many men have been executed or fined +vast sums of money by you for such offences--Ergophilus,[n] Cephisodotus,[n] +Timomachus,[n] Ergocles[n] long ago, Dionysius, and others; all of whom +together, I may almost say, have done the city less harm than the defendant. +{181} But in those days, men of Athens, you still guarded against danger by +calculation and forethought; whereas now you overlook any danger which does not +annoy you from day to day, or cause you pain by its immediate presence, and then +pass such resolutions here as 'that Philip shall take the oath in favour of +Cersobleptes also,' 'that we will not take part in the proceedings of the +Amphictyons,' 'that we must amend the Peace.' But none of these resolutions +would have been required, had Aeschines then been ready to sail and to do what +was required. As it is, by urging us to go by land, he has lost all that we +could have saved by sailing; and by lying, all that could have been saved by +speaking the truth. + +{182} He intends, I am told, to express immediately his indignation that he +alone of all the speakers in the Assembly should have to render an account of +his words. I will not urge that all speakers would reasonably be called upon to +render such an account, if any of their words were spoken for money; I only say +this. If Aeschines in his private capacity has spoken wildly on some occasion or +committed some blunder, do not be over-strict with him, but let it pass and +grant him pardon: but if as your ambassador he has deliberately deceived you for +money, then do not let him go, or tolerate the plea that he ought not to be +called to account for what he _said_. {183} Why, for what, if not for his words, +is an ambassador to be brought to justice? Ambassadors have no control over +ships or places or soldiers or citadels--no one puts such things in their +hands--but over words and times. As regards times, if he did not cause the times of +the city's opportunities to be lost, he is not guilty; but if he did so, he has +committed crime. And as to his words, if the words of his report were true or +expedient, let him escape; but if they were at once false, venal, and +disastrous, let him be convicted. {184} No greater wrong can a man do you, than +is done by lying speeches. For where government is based upon speeches, how can +it be carried on in security, if the speeches are not true? and if, in +particular, a speaker takes bribes and speaks to further the interests of the +enemy, how can you escape real danger? For to rob you of your opportunities is +not the same thing as to rob an oligarchy or a tyrant. Far from it. {185} Under +such governments, I imagine, everything is done promptly at a word of command. +But with you the Council must first hear about everything, and pass its +preliminary resolution--and even that not at any time, but only when notice has +been given of the reception of heralds and embassies: then you must convoke an +Assembly, and that only when the time comes for one, as ordained by law: then +those who speak for your true good have to master and overcome those who, +through ignorance or wickedness, oppose them. {186} Besides all this, even when +a measure is resolved upon, and its advantages are already plain, time must be +granted to the impecuniosity of the majority, in which they may procure whatever +means they require in order to be able to carry out what has been resolved. And +so he who causes times so critical to be lost, in a state constituted as ours +is, has not caused you to lose times, but has robbed you absolutely of the +realization of your aims. + +{187} Now all those who are anxious to deceive you are very ready with such +expressions as 'disturbers of the city,' 'men who prevent Philip from conferring +benefits on the city.' In reply to these, I will use no argument, but will read +you Philip's letters, and will remind you of the occasion on which each piece of +deception took place, that you may know that Philip has got beyond this +exaggerated title of 'benefactor',[n] of which we are so sickened, in his +attempts to take you in by it. + +[_Philip's letters are read._] + +{188} Now although his work as ambassador has been so shameful, so detrimental +to you in many--nay, in all points, he goes about asking people what they think +of Demosthenes, who prosecutes his own colleagues. I prosecute you indeed, +whether I would or no, because throughout our entire absence from home you +plotted against me as I have said, and because now I have the choice of only two +alternatives: either I must appear to share with you the responsibility for such +work as yours, or I must prosecute you. {189} Nay, I deny that I was ever your +colleague in the Embassy. I say that your work as ambassador was an atrocious +work, while my own was for the true good of those present here. It is +Philocrates that has been your colleague, as you have been his, and Phrynon. For +your policy was the same as theirs, and you all approved of the same objects. +But 'where are the salt, the table, the libations that we shared?' So he asks +everywhere in his theatrical style--as though it were not the criminals, but the +upright, that were false to such pledges! {190} I am certain that though all the +Prytanes offer their common sacrifice on each occasion, and join one with +another in their meal and their libation, the good do not on this account copy +the bad; but if they detect one of their own number in crime they report the +fact to the Council and the people. In the very same way the Council offers its +inaugural sacrifice and feasts together, and joins in libations and sacred +rites. So do the generals, and, one may practically say, every body of +magistrates. Does that mean that they grant an indemnity to any of their number +who is guilty of crime? Very far from it. {191} Leon accuses Timagoras,[n] after +being his fellow ambassador for four years: Eubulus accuses Tharrex and +Smicythus, after sharing the banquet with them: the great Conon, the elder, +prosecuted Adeimantus,[n] though they were generals together. Which sinned +against the salt and the libation, Aeschines--the traitors and the faithless +ambassadors and the hirelings, or their accusers? Plainly those who violated, as +you have done, the sanctity, not of private libations, but of libations poured +in the name of the whole country. + +{192} That you may realize that these men have been the most worthless and +wicked not only of all who have ever gone to Philip in a public capacity, but +even of those who have gone as private persons, and indeed of all mankind, I ask +you to listen to me while I describe briefly an incident which falls outside the +story of this Embassy. When Philip took Olynthus he celebrated Olympian games, +and gathered together all the artists to the sacrifice and the festal gathering. +{193} And while he was entertaining them at a banquet, and crowning the victors, +he asked Satyrus, the well-known comic actor, why he alone requested no favour +of him. Did he see any meanness in him, or any dislike towards himself? Satyrus +answered (so the story goes) that he happened to stand in no need of the things +for which the rest were asking, but that the boon which he would like to ask was +a favour which it would be very easy indeed for Philip to bestow; only he was +afraid that he might fail to obtain it. {194} Philip bade him name his request, +declaring with some spirit that there was nothing that he would not do for him. +Satyrus is then said to have stated that Apollophanes of Pydna was formerly his +friend and guest-friend,[n] and that when he had perished by a treacherous +assassination, his kinsman had, in alarm, conveyed his daughters, then little +children, to Olynthus secretly. 'These girls,' said Satyrus, 'have been taken +prisoners at the capture of the city; they are with you, and they are now of +marriageable age. {195} It is these girls that I beg and entreat you to give to +me. But I should like you to hear and understand what sort of present you will +be giving me, if you really give it. I shall gain nothing by receiving it: I +shall give them in marriage, and a dowry with them, and shall not allow them to +suffer anything unworthy of us or of their father.' When those who were present +at the feast heard this, there was such applause and cheering and approbation on +all hands, that Philip was moved and granted the request, although the +Apollophanes who was spoken of was one of the murderers of Alexander, Philip's +brother. {196} Now let us examine side by side with this banquet of Satyrus, +that in which these men took part in Macedonia. Observe what likeness and +resemblance there is between the two! For these men were invited to the house of +Xenophron, the son of Phaedimus, who was one of the Thirty,[n] and went. I did +not go. But when it came to the time for wine, he brought in an Olynthian woman +--good-looking, but well-bred and modest, as the event proved. {197} At first, I +believe (according to the account which Iatrocles gave me the next day), they +only forced her to drink a little wine quietly and to eat some dessert; but as +the feast proceeded and they waxed warm, they bade her recline and even sing a +song. And when the poor creature, who was in great distress, neither would nor +could do as they bade her, Aeschines and Phrynon declared that it was an insult +and quite intolerable, that a captive woman--one of those god-forsaken devils +the Olynthians--should give herself airs. 'Call a slave,' they cried, 'and let +some one bring a strap.' A servant came with a lash; they had been drinking, I +imagine, and were easily annoyed; and as soon as she said something and burst +into tears, the servant tore open her dress and gave her a number of cuts across +the back. {198} Beside herself with the pain and the sense of her position, the +woman leaped up and fell before the knees of Iatrocles, overturning the table as +she did so. And had he not rescued her, she would have perished as the victim of +a drunken debauch; for the drunkenness of this abominable creature is something +horrible.[n] The case of this woman was also mentioned in Arcadia before the Ten +Thousand, and Diophantus reported to you what I shall now force him to testify; +for the matter was much talked of in Thessaly and everywhere. + +{199} Yet with all this on his conscience this unclean creature will dare to +look you in the face, and will very soon be speaking to you of the life he has +lived, in that magnificent voice of his. It chokes me to hear him! Does not the +jury know how at first you used to read over the books to your mother at her +initiations,[n] and wallow amid bands of drunken men at their orgies, while +still a boy? {200} and how you were afterwards under-clerk to the magistrates, +and played the rogue for two or three drachmae?[n] and how at last, in recent +days, you thought yourself lucky to get a parasitic living in the training-rooms +of others, as a third-rate actor? What then is the life of which you propose to +speak? Where have you lived it? For the life which you have really lived has +been what I have described. And how much does he take upon himself! He brought +another man to trial here for unnatural offences! But I leave this point for the +moment. (_To the clerk._) First, read me these depositions. + +[_The depositions are read._] + +{201} So many, then, and so gross, gentlemen of the jury, being the crimes +against you of which he stands convicted--and what wickedness do they not +include? he is corrupt, he is a minion, he is under the curse, a liar, a +betrayer of his own people; all the most heinous offences are there--he will not +defend himself against a single one of these charges, and will have no defence +to offer that is either just or straightforward. But the statement which, I am +told, he intends to make, borders on madness; though perhaps a man who has no +other plea to offer must contrive anything that he can. {202} For I hear that he +is to say that I, forsooth, have been a partner in everything of which I accuse +him; that at first I used to approve of his policy and to act with him; and that +I have suddenly changed my mind and become his accuser. As a defence of his +conduct such assertions are, of course, neither legitimate nor to the point, +though they do imply some kind of charge against myself; for, of course, if I +have acted thus, I am a worthless person. But the conduct itself is no better +for that. Far from it! {203} At the same time, I think it is proper for me to +prove to you both the points in question--first, that if he makes such an +assertion he will be lying; and secondly, what is the just line of defence. Now +a just and straightforward defence must show either that the acts charged +against him were not committed, or that having been committed, they are to the +advantage of the city. {204} But Aeschines cannot do either of these things. For +I presume that it is not possible for him to say that it is to the advantage of +the city that the Phocians have been ruined, that Thermopylae is in Philip's +hands, that Thebes is powerful, that there are soldiers in Euboea and plotting +against Megara, and that the Peace should not have been sworn to,[n] when on the +former occasion he announced the very contrary of all these things to you in the +guise of advantages, and advantages about to be realized? Nor will he be able to +persuade you that these things have not been done, when you yourselves have seen +them and know the facts well. {205} It remains for me, therefore, to show you +that I have had no share in any of their proceedings. Shall I then dismiss +everything else from consideration--all that I have said against them in your +presence, all my collisions with them during our absence, all my antagonism to +them from first to last--and produce my opponents themselves as witnesses to the +fact that my conduct and theirs have been absolutely contrary the one to the +other--that they have taken money to your detriment, and that I refused to +receive it? Then mark what I say. + +{206} Who, would you say, was of all men in Athens the most offensive, most +overflowing with effrontery and contemptuousness? I am sure that none of you, +even by mistake, would name any other than Philocrates. And who, would you say, +possessed the loudest voice and could enunciate whatever he pleased most +clearly? Aeschines the defendant, I am sure. Who is it then that these men +describe as cowardly and timid before a crowd, while I call him cautious? It is +myself; for I have never annoyed you or forced myself upon you against your +will. {207} Now at every meeting of the Assembly, as often as a discussion has +arisen upon these subjects, you hear me accusing and convicting these men, +declaring explicitly that they have taken money and have sold all the interests +of the city. And not one of them has ever to this day contradicted the +statement, when he heard it, or opened his mouth, or shown himself. {208} What +then is the reason, why the most offensive men in the city, the men with the +loudest voices, are so cowed before me, the timidest of men, whose voice is no +louder than any other? It is because Truth is strong; while to them, on the +other hand, the consciousness of having sold public interests is a source of +weakness. It is this that steals away the boldness of these men, this that binds +down their tongues and stops their mouths--chokes them, and makes them silent. +{209} You remember, of course, how at the recent meeting in the Peiraeus, when +you would not have him for your representative,[n] he was shouting that he would +impeach me and indict me, and crying, 'Oh! Oh!' But such steps are the beginning +of long and numerous trials and speeches; whereas the alternative was but to +utter perhaps two or three words, which even a slave purchased yesterday could +have pronounced--'Men of Athens, this is utterly atrocious. Demosthenes is +accusing me here of crimes in which he himself was a partner; he says that I +have taken money, when he has taken money, or shared it, himself.' {210} But no +such words, no such sound, did he utter, nor did one of you hear him do so; he +only uttered threats to a different effect. And why? Because he knew that he had +done what he was charged with doing; he was abjectly afraid to use any such +expressions; his resolution could not rise to them, but shrank back; for it was +in the grip of his conscience; whereas there was nothing to hinder him from +uttering irrelevant abuse and slander. {211} But here is the strongest proof of +all, and it consists not in words, but in fact. For when I was anxious to do +what it was right to do, namely, to make a second report to you, after serving a +second time as ambassador, Aeschines came before the Board of Auditors with a +number of witnesses, and forbade them to call me before the court, since I had +rendered my account already, and was no longer liable to give it. The incident +was extremely ridiculous. And what was the meaning of it? He had made his report +with reference to the First Embassy, against which no one brought any charge, +and did not wish to go before the court again with regard to the Second Embassy, +with reference to which he now appears before you, and within which all his +crimes fell. {212} But if I came before you twice, it became necessary for him +also to appear again; and so he tried to prevent them from summoning me. But +this action of his, men of Athens, plainly proves to you two things--first, that +he had so condemned himself that none of you can now acquit him without impiety; +and secondly, that he will not speak a word of truth about me. Had he anything +true to assert, he would have been found asserting it and accusing me then; he +would certainly not have tried to prevent my being summoned. {213} To prove the +truth of what I say, (_to the clerk_) call me the witnesses to the facts. + +But further, if he makes slanderous statements against me which have nothing to +do with the Embassy, there are many good reasons for your refusing to listen to +him. For I am not on my trial to-day, and when I have finished my speech I have +no further time allotted to me.[n] What can such statements mean, except that he +is bankrupt of legitimate arguments? For who that was on his trial and had any +defence to make, would prefer to accuse another? {214} And consider also this +further point, gentlemen of the jury. If I were on my trial, with the defendant +Aeschines for accuser and Philip for judge; and if, being unable to disprove my +guilt, I abused Aeschines and tried to sully his character, do you not think +that Philip would be indignant at the very fact of a man abusing _his_ +benefactors in his own presence? Do not _you_ then prove worse than Philip; but +force Aeschines to defend himself against the charges which are the subject of +the trial. (_To the clerk._) Read the deposition. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +{215} So for my part, because I had nothing on my conscience, I felt it my duty +to render an account and submit all the information that the laws required, +while the defendant took the opposite view. How then can his conduct and mine +have been the same? or how can he possibly assert against me now things of which +he has never even accused me before? It is surely impossible. And yet he will +assert these things, and, Heaven knows, it is natural enough. For you doubtless +know well that ever since the human race began and trials were instituted, no +one was ever convicted admitting his crime: they brazen it out, they deny it, +they lie, they make up excuses, they take every means to escape paying the +penalty. {216} _You_ must not let any of these devices mislead you to-day; your +judgement must be given upon the facts, in the light of your own knowledge; you +must not attend to words, whether mine or his, still less to the witnesses whom +he will have ready to testify anything, since he has Philip to pay his expenses +--you will see how glibly they will give evidence for him; nor must you care +whether his voice is fine and loud, or whether mine is poor. {217} For it is no +trial of orators or of speeches that you have to hold to-day, if you are wise +men. You have rather, in the name of a cause shamefully and terribly ruined, to +thrust off the present disgrace on to the shoulders of the guilty, after a +scrutiny of those results which are known to you all. {218} And these results, +which you know and do not require us to tell you of--what are they? If the +consequences of the Peace have been all that they promised you; if you admit +that you were so filled with an unmanly cowardice, that, though the enemy was +not in your land, though you were not blockaded by sea, though your city was +menaced by no other danger whatever, though, on the contrary, the price of corn +was low and you were in other respects as well off as you are to-day, {219} +though you knew beforehand on the information of these men that your allies were +about to be ruined and Thebes to become powerful, that Philip was about to +occupy the Thracian strongholds and to establish a basis of operations against +you in Euboea, and that all that has now happened was about to come to pass, you +nevertheless made peace cheerfully;--if that is so, then acquit Aeschines, and +do not add perjury to all your disgrace. For in that case he is guilty of no +crime against you; it is I that am mad and brainsick to accuse him now. {220} +But if what they told you was altogether the reverse of this, if it was a tale +of great generosity--of Philip's love for Athens, of his intention to save the +Phocians, to check the insolence of the Thebans, and beside all this (if he +obtained the Peace) to confer on you benefits that would more than compensate +for Amphipolis, and to restore to you Euboea and Oropus; if, I say, they stated +and promised all this, and have now totally deceived and cheated you, and have +all but robbed you of Attica itself, then condemn him, and do not, in addition +to all the outrages--I know not what other word to use--that you have suffered, +carry with you to your homes, through upholding their corruption, the curse and +the guilt of perjury. + +{221} Again, gentlemen of the jury, ask yourselves what reason I could have had +for choosing to accuse these men, if they had done no wrong? You will find none. +Is it pleasant to have many enemies? Pleasant? It is not even safe. Was there +any quarrel between me and Aeschines? None. What then? 'You were afraid for +yourself, and in your cowardice thought to save yourself this way:' for that, I +have heard, is what he says. What? I was afraid, when, according to your own +statement, there was nothing to be afraid of, and no crime had been committed? +If he repeats such an assertion, men of Athens, consider[n] what these men +themselves, the actual criminals, ought to suffer for their offences, if I, who +am absolutely guiltless, was afraid of being ruined owing to them. {222} But +what is my motive for accusing you? I am an informer, of course, and want to get +money out of you![n] And which was the easier course for me--to get money out of +Philip, who offered a large sum--to get as much as any of these men, and to have +not only Philip for my friend, but also my opponents (for they would assuredly +have been friends, had I been partner with them, since even now they have no +inherited quarrel against me, but only the fact that I refused to join in their +actions); or to beg them for a share of their gains, and be regarded with +hostility both by Philip and by them? Is it likely that when I was ransoming the +prisoners at such cost to myself, I should ask to receive a paltry sum from +these men, in a disgraceful manner and with their enmity accompanying it? {223} +Impossible! My report was true. I abstained from taking money for the sake of +justice and truth and my own future. For I thought, as others among you have +thought, that my own uprightness would receive its reward, and that I must not +barter my ambition to stand well with you for gain of any kind. And I abhor +these men, because I saw that they were vile and impious in the conduct of their +mission, and because I have been robbed of the objects of my own ambition, owing +to their corruption, now that you have come to be vexed with the Embassy as a +whole. And it is because I foresee what must happen that I now accuse him, and +appear to challenge his report; for I would have it decided here, in a trial +before a jury, that my conduct has been the opposite of his. {224} And I am +afraid--afraid, I say, for I will speak all my mind to you--that though when the +time comes you may drag me in spite of my entire innocence to the same ruin with +them, you are now utterly supine. For, men of Athens, you appear to me to be +altogether unstrung, waiting to suffer the horrors which others are suffering +before your eyes, and taking no precautions, no thought for the city, which for +so long has been exposed to destruction in many a dreadful form. {225} Is it +not, think you, dreadful and preternatural? For even where I had resolved upon +silence, I am driven to speak. You doubtless know Pythocles here, the son of +Pythodorus. I had been on very kindly terms with him, and to this day there has +been no unpleasantness between us. He avoids me now, when he meets me--ever +since he visited Philip--and if he is obliged to encounter me anywhere, he +starts away immediately, lest any one should see him talking with me. But with +Aeschines he walks all round the marketplace, discussing their plans. {226} Now +is it not a terrible and shocking thing, men of Athens, that those who have made +it their choice to foster Philip's interests should be able to rely upon so +accurate a discrimination on Philip's part, that all that any one of them does +here can no more be hid from Philip (so they believe) than if he were standing +by their side, and that his friends and foes alike are those that Philip +chooses; while those whose life is lived for _your_ good, who are greedy of +honour at _your_ hands, and have not betrayed you, should be met by such +deafness, such blindness, on your part, that to-day I have to wrestle with these +devils incarnate on equal terms, and that before you, who know the whole truth? +{227} Would you know or hear the cause of these things? I will tell you, and I +beg that none of you be angry with me for speaking the truth. It is, I imagine, +that Philip has but one body and one soul, and it is with all his heart that he +cherishes those who do him good and detests those who do him evil: whereas each +of you, in the first place, has no feeling that the good or the evil which is +being done to the city, is being done to himself; {228} other feelings are of +more consequence, and often lead you astray--pity, envy, anger, favour towards +the suppliant, and an infinite number of other motives: while if a man has +actually escaped all these, he will still not escape from those who do not want +such a man to exist at all. And so the error due to each of these single causes +steals on little by little, till the state is exposed to the whole accumulated +mischief. + +{229} Do not fall victims to any such error to-day, men of Athens: do not let +the defendant go, when he has done you all this wrong. For honestly, if you let +him go, what will be said of you? 'Certain men,' it will be said, 'went as +ambassadors to Philip yonder--Philocrates, Aeschines, Phrynon, and Demosthenes; +and, what happened? One of them not only gained nothing by his mission, but +ransomed the prisoners at his private expense; another, with the money for which +he sold the interests of his country, went about purchasing harlots and fish. +{230} One of them, the abominable Phrynon, sent his son to Philip before he had +registered him as an adult; the other did nothing unworthy of himself or his +city. One, though serving as choregus and trierarch,[n] felt it his duty +voluntarily to incur that further expense [to ransom the prisoners] rather than +see any of his fellow citizens suffering misfortune for want of means; the +other, so far from rescuing any of those who were already in captivity, joined +in bringing a whole district, and more than 10,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry +with them, the forces of the actual allies of his country, into captivity to +Philip. What followed? {231} When the Athenians got them into their hands (for +they had long known the truth) what did they do? They let go the men who had +received bribes and had disgraced themselves, and their city, and their +children; they thought that these were wise men, and that all was well[n] with +the city; and as for their accuser, they thought him thunderstruck--a man who +did not understand his country, and did not know where to fling his money away.' +{232} And who, men of Athens, with this example before his eyes, will be willing +to offer you his honest service? who will act as ambassador for nothing, if he +is not only to gain nothing by it, but is not to be more trustworthy in your +eyes than those who have taken money? You are not only trying these men to-day, +but you are laying down a law for all future time--a law which will declare +whether your ambassadors are to serve the enemy for a price, or to act +disinterestedly for your true good and to take no bribe? {233} On all the other +points you require no evidence; but to prove that Phrynon sent his son, (_to the +clerk_) call me the witnesses to the facts. + +Aeschines then did not prosecute Phrynon, for sending his own son to Philip for +a disgraceful purpose. But because a man, who in his youth was above the average +in appearance, did not foresee the suspicion which his good looks might entail, +and afterwards lived a somewhat fast life, he has prosecuted him for unnatural +offences. + +{234} Now let me speak of the banquet and the decree; for I had almost +overlooked what I was especially bound to tell you. In drawing up the resolution +of the Council with reference to the First Embassy, and again in addressing the +people, at the assemblies in which you were to discuss the question of peace, +not a single word or act of a criminal nature on the part of these men having so +far come to light, I followed the ordinary custom, and proposed to accord them a +vote of thanks, and to invite them to the Town Hall. {235} And I did, of course, +entertain Philip's ambassadors as well, and on a very splendid scale, men of +Athens. For when I saw that in their own country they prided themselves even on +things like these, as showing their prosperity and splendour, I thought that I +must begin by outdoing them in this respect, and displaying even greater +magnificence. These incidents Aeschines will shortly bring forward to prove that +'Demosthenes himself voted thanks to us, and gave a banquet to the ambassadors', +without telling you the precise time when the incidents occurred. {236} For +these things belong to a time before any injury had been done to the city, and +before it was evident that they had sold themselves. The ambassadors had only +just arrived on their first visit; the people had still to hear what they +proposed; and there was nothing as yet to show that Aeschines would support +Philocrates, or that Philocrates would make such proposals as he did. If, then, +Aeschines uses any such argument, remember that the dates of the incidents are +earlier than those of his crimes. But since then there has been no friendliness +between myself and them, and no common action. (_To the clerk._) Read the +deposition. + +[_The deposition is read._] + +{237} Now perhaps his brother Philochares will support him, and Aphobetus. There +is much that you may fairly urge in reply to both; and I am obliged, men of +Athens, to speak to you quite freely and without any reserve. You, Philochares, +are a painter of vase-cases and drums; your brothers are under-clerks and quite +ordinary men--not that there is any harm in these things, but at the same time +they do not qualify a man to be a general.[n] And yet, Aphobetus and +Philochares, we thought you worthy to be ambassadors and generals, and to +receive the highest honours; {238} so that even if none of you were guilty of +any crime, we should owe no gratitude to you; you would rather owe gratitude to +us for your preferment. For we passed by many others, more deserving of such +honours than you were, and exalted you instead. But if in the enjoyment of these +very honours one of you has actually committed crimes, and crimes of such a +nature, how much more deserving are you of execration than of acquittal? Much +more, I am sure. Perhaps they will force their claims upon you, for they are +loud-voiced and shameless, and they have taken to themselves the motto that 'it +is pardonable for brother to help brother'. {239} But you must not give way. +Remember that if it is right for them to think of Aeschines, it is for you to +think of the laws and the whole State, and, above all, of the oath which you +yourselves, who sit here, have taken. Yes, and if they have entreated some of +you to save the defendant, then ask yourselves whether you are to save him if he +is proved innocent of crime, or even if he is proved guilty. If they ask you to +do so, should he be innocent, I too say that you must acquit him. But if you are +asked to acquit him, whatever he has done, then they have asked you to commit +perjury. For though your vote is secret, it will not be hidden from the gods; +and the framer of our law [which enjoins secret voting] was absolutely right, +when he saw that though none of these men will know which of you has granted his +request, the gods will know, and the unseen powers, who has given the unjust +vote. {240} And it is better for a man to lay up, for his children and himself, +those good hopes which _they_ can bestow, by giving the decision that is just +and right, than to win credit from these men for a favour of whose reality they +can have no certain knowledge, and to acquit the defendant, when his own +testimony condemns him. For what stronger testimony can I produce, Aeschines, to +prove how terrible your work as ambassador has been, than your own testimony +against yourself? For when you thought it necessary to involve in so great and +dreadful a calamity one who wished to reveal some of your actions as ambassador, +it is plain that you expected your own punishment to be a terrible one, if your +countrymen learned what you had done. + +{241} That step, if you are wise, he will prove to have taken to his own +detriment; not only because it is an overwhelming proof of the nature of his +conduct as ambassador, but also because of those expressions which he used in +the course of the prosecution, and which are now at our disposal against +himself. For the principles of justice, as defined by you when you were +prosecuting Timarchus, must, I presume, be no less valid when used by others +against yourself. {242} His words to the jury on that occasion were these. +'Demosthenes intends to defend Timarchus, and to denounce my acts as ambassador. +And then, when he has led you off the point by his speech, he will brag of it, +and go about saying, "Well? what do you think?[2] Why I led the jury right away +from the point, and stole the case triumphantly out of their hands."' Then you +at least must not act thus, but must make your defence with reference to the +real points of your case, though, when you were prosecuting Timarchus on that +occasion, you permitted yourself to make any charges and assertions that you +chose. + +{243} But there were verses too, which you recited before the jury, in your +inability to produce any witness to the charges on which you were prosecuting +Timarchus:-- + + Rumour, the voice of many folk, not all + Doth die, for Rumour too a goddess is.[3] + +Well, Aeschines, all those who are present say that you have made money out of +your mission; and so it holds true against you, I suppose, that 'Rumour, the +voice of many folk, not all doth die'. {244} For observe how easily you can +ascertain how much larger a body of accusers appears in your case than in his. +Timarchus was not known even to all his neighbors; while there is not a man, +Hellene or foreigner, but says that you and your fellow ambassadors made money +out of your mission. And so, if the rumour is true, then the rumour which is the +voice of many folk is against you; and you have yourself laid down that such a +rumour is to be believed, that 'Rumour too a goddess is', and that the poet who +composed these lines was a wise man. + +{245} Then, you remember, he collected some iambic verses, and recited the whole +passage; for instance:-- + + Whoso in evil company delights + Of him I ne'er enquired, for well I trow, + As is his company, such is the man.[3] + +And 'when a man goes to the cockpit[n] and walks about with Pittalacus'--he +added more to the same effect--'surely,' said he, 'you know what to think of +him.' Well, Aeschines, these same verses will now exactly serve my turn against +you, and if I quote them to the jury, the quotation will be true and apposite. +'But whoso in the company delights' of Philocrates, and that when he is an +ambassador, 'Of him I ne'er enquired, for well I trow' that he has taken money, +as did Philocrates who does not deny it. + +{246} He attempts to insult others by labelling them hack-writers[n] and +sophists. He shall himself be proved liable to these very imputations. The +verses he quoted are derived from the _Phoenix_ of Euripides--a play which has +never to this day been acted either by Theodorus or Aristodemus, the actors +under whom Aeschines always played third-rate parts, though it was performed by +Molon, and no doubt by other actors of former times. But the _Antigone_ of +Sophocles has often been acted by Theodorus and often by Aristodemus; and in +this play there are some admirable and instructive verses, which he must know +quite well by heart, since he has often delivered them himself, but which he has +omitted to quote. {247} For you know, I am sure, that in every tragedy it is, as +it were, the special privilege of third-rate actors to play in the rôle of +tyrants and sceptred kings. Consider, then, these excellent lines, placed by the +poet in the mouth of our Creon-Aeschines in this play--lines which he neither +repeated to himself to guide him as an ambassador, nor yet quoted to the jury. +(_To the clerk._) Read the passage. + + _Verses from the 'Antigone' of Sophocles._ + + To learn aright the soul and heart and mind + Of any man--for that, device is none, + Till he be proved in government and law, + And so revealed. For he who guides the State, + Yet cleaves not in his counsels to the best, + But from some fear in prison locks his tongue, + Is in mine eyes, as he hath ever been, + Vilest of men. And him, who sets his friend + Before his land, I count of no esteem. + For I--be it known to God's all-viewing eye-- + Would ne'er keep silence, seeing the march of doom + Upon this city--doom in safety's stead, + Nor ever take to me as mine own friend + My country's foe.' For this I know, that she, + Our country, is the ship that bears us safe, + And safe aboard her, while she sails erect, + We make good friends. + +{248} None of these lines did Aeschines ever repeat to himself during his +mission. Instead of preferring his country he thought that to be friend and +guest-friend of Philip was much more important and profitable for himself, and +bade a long farewell to the wise Sophocles. He saw the 'march of doom' draw +near, in the campaign against the Phocians; but he gave no warning, no +announcement of what was to come. On the contrary, he helped to conceal it, he +helped to carry out the doom, he prevented those who would have given warning-- +{249} not remembering that 'Our country is the ship that bears us safe, and safe +aboard her' his mother with the help of her initiations and purifications and +the property of the clients, on whom she lived, reared up these sons of hers to +their destined greatness;[n] while his father, who kept an elementary school, as +I am told by my elders, near the temple of the Hero-Physician,[n] made a living, +such as he could indeed, but still on the same ship. The sons, who had received +money as under-clerks and servants in all the magistrates' offices, were finally +elected clerks by you, and for two years continued to get their living in the +Round Chamber;[n] and Aeschines was just now dispatched as your ambassador--from +this same ship. He regarded none of these things. {250} He took no care that the +ship should sail erect. Nay, he capsized her; he sank the ship; he did all that +he could to bring her into the power of the enemy. What then? Are you not a +sophist? Aye, and a villanous one. Are you not a hack? Aye, and one detested of +Heaven--for you passed over the scene which you had so often performed and knew +well by heart, while you sought out a scene which you had never acted in your +life, and produced the passage in the hope of injuring one of your fellow +citizens. + +{251} And now examine his speech about Solon. He told us that the statue of +Solon, with his hand concealed in the drapery of his robe, was erected as an +illustration of the self-restraint of the orators of that day. (This was in the +course of a scurrilous attack upon the impetuosity of Timarchus.) But the +Salaminians tell us that this statue was erected less than fifty years ago, +whereas some two hundred and forty years have passed between the time of Solon +and the present day; so that not only was the artist, who modelled him in this +attitude, not living in Solon's day, but even his grandfather was not. {252} +That then is what he told the jury, copying the attitude as he did so. But that +which it would have done his country far more good to see--the soul and the mind +of Solon--he did not copy. No, he did the very reverse. For when Salamis had +revolted from Athens and the death-penalty had been decreed against any one who +proposed to attempt its recovery, Solon, by singing, at the risk of his own +life,[n] a lay which he had composed, won back the island for his country, and +wiped out her disgrace: {253} while Aeschines, when the king and all the +Hellenes had decided that Amphipolis was yours, surrendered and sold it, and +supported Philocrates, who proposed the resolution for this purpose. It is +indeed worth his while (is it not?) to remember Solon! Nor was he content with +acting thus in Athens; for when he had gone to Macedonia, he did not even +mention the name of the place which it was the object of his mission to secure. +This, in fact, he reported to you himself, in words which doubtless you +remember: 'I too had something to say about Amphipolis; but in order that +Demosthenes might have an opportunity of speaking upon the subject, I left it to +him.' {254} Upon which I came forward and denied that Aeschines had left to me +anything which he was anxious to say to Philip; he would rather have given any +one a share in his lifeblood than in his speech. The truth is, I imagine, that +he had taken money; and as Philip had given him the money in order that he might +not have to restore Amphipolis, he could not speak in opposition to Philip's +case. Now (_to the clerk_) take this lay of Solon's and read it; and (_to the +jury_) then you will know how Solon used to hate all such men as this. + +{255} It is not when you are speaking, Aeschines, but when you are upon an +embassy, that you should keep your hand within your robe. But on the Embassy you +held out your hand, and held it open; you brought shame to your countrymen: and +do you here assume a solemn air and recite in those practised tones the +miserable phrases that you have learned by heart, and expect to escape the +penalty for all your heinous crimes--even if you do go round with a cap on your +head,[n] uttering abuse against me? (_To the clerk._) Read the verses. + + _Solon's Lay._ + + The Father's voice hath spoken, + Whose word is Destiny, + And the blest Gods have willed it, + The Gods who shall not die; + That ne'er shall the Destroyer + Prevail against our land; + The Dread Sire's valiant Daughter + Guards us with eye and hand. + Yet her own sons, in folly, + Would lay their country low, + For pelf; and in her leaders + An heart of sin doth grow. + For them--their pride's fell offspring-- + There waiteth grievous pain; + For sated still, they know not + Their proud lust to contain. + Not theirs, if mirth be with them, + The decent, peaceful feast; + To sin they yield, and sinning + Rejoice in wealth increased. + No hallowed treasure sparing, + Nor people's common store, + This side and that his neighbour + Each robs with havoc sore. + The holy law of Justice + They guard not. Silent she, + Who knows what is and hath been, + Awaits the time to be. + Then cometh she to judgement, + With certain step, tho' slow; + E'en now she smites the city, + And none may 'scape the blow. + To thraldom base she drives us, + From slumber rousing strife,-- + Fell war of kin, destroying + The young, the beauteous life. + The foemen of their country + In wicked bands combine, + Fit company; and stricken + The lovely land doth pine. + These are the Wrong, the Mischief, + That pace the earth at home; + But many a beggared exile + To other lands must roam-- + Sold, chained in bonds unseemly; + For so to each man's hall + Comes home the People's Sorrow, + And leaps the high fence-wall. + No courtyard door can stay it; + It follows to his side, + Flee tho' he may, and crouching + In inmost chamber hide. + Such warning unto Athens + My spirit bids me sound, + That Lawlessness in cities + Spreads evil all around; + But Lawfulness and Order + Make all things good and right, + Chaining Sin's hands in fetters, + Quenching the proud soul's light, + Smoothing the rough, the sated + Staying, and withering + The flowers, that, fraught with ruin, + From fatal seed upspring. + The paths of crooked justice + Are turned into straight; + The ways of Pride grow gentle, + The ways of Strife and Hate; + Then baleful Faction ceases, + Then Health prevails alway, + And Wisdom still increases, + Beneath Law's wholesome sway. + +{256} You hear, men of Athens, how Solon speaks of men like these, and of the +gods, who, he says, preserve the city. It is my belief and my hope that this +saying of his, that the gods preserve our city, is true at all times; but I +believe that all that has happened in connexion with the present examination is, +in a sense, a special proof of the goodwill of some unseen power towards the +city. {257} Consider what has happened. A man who as ambassador did a work of +great wickedness, and has surrendered countries in which the gods should have +been worshipped by yourselves and your allies, has disfranchised one who +accepted the challenge[n] to prosecute him. To what end? To the end that he +himself might meet with no pity or mercy for his own iniquities. Nay, more; +while prosecuting his victim he deliberately set himself to speak evil of me; +and again, before the People, he threatened to enter an indictment against me, +and said more to the same effect. And to what end? To the end that I, who had +the most perfect knowledge of all his acts of villany, and had followed them +closely throughout, might have your full indulgence in prosecuting him. {258} +Aye, and through postponing his appearance before you continually up to the +present moment, he has been insensibly brought to a time when, on account of +what is coming upon us, if for no other reason, it is neither possible nor safe +for you to allow him (after his corruption) to escape unscathed. For though, men +of Athens, you ought always to execrate and to punish those who are traitors and +corrupt, to do so at this time would be more than ever seasonable, and would +confer a benefit upon all mankind in common. {259} For a disease, men of Athens, +an awful disease has fallen upon Hellas--a disease hard to cope with, and +requiring abundant good fortune, and abundant carefulness on your own part. For +the most notable men in their several cities, the men who claim[n] to lead in +public affairs, are betraying their own liberty--unhappy men!--and bringing upon +themselves a self-chosen servitude, under the milder names of friendship and +companionship with Philip, and other such phrases; while the other citizens, and +the sovereign bodies in each city, however composed, whose duty it was to punish +these men and slay them out of hand, are so far from taking any such action, +that they admire and envy them, and every one would be glad to be in the same +case. {260} Yet it is from this very cause--it is through entertaining ambitions +like these--that the Thessalians, who up to yesterday or the day before had lost +thereby only their paramount position[n] and their dignity as a state, are now +already being stripped of their very liberty; for there are Macedonian garrisons +in some of their citadels. This same disease it is which has invaded the +Peloponnese and brought about the massacres in Elis, infecting the unhappy +people of that country with such insanity and frenzy, that in order to be lords +over one another and to gratify Philip, they murder their kinsmen and fellow +citizens. {261} Not even here has the disease been stayed: it has penetrated +Arcadia and turned it upside-down; and now many of the Arcadians, who should be +no less proud of liberty than yourselves--for you and they alone are indigenous +peoples--are declaring their admiration for Philip, erecting his image in +bronze, and crowning him; and, to complete the tale, they have passed a +resolution that, if he comes to the Peloponnese, they will receive him within +their walls. {262} The Argives have acted in exactly the same way. These events, +I say it in all solemnity and earnestness, call for no small precautions: for +this plague, men of Athens, that is spreading all around us, has now found its +way to Athens itself. While then we are still safe, ward it off, and take away +the citizenship of those who first introduced it. Beware lest otherwise you +realize the worth of the advice given you this day, only when there is no longer +anything that you can do. {263} Do you not perceive, men of Athens, how vivid +and plain an example has been afforded you by the unhappy Olynthians? The +destruction of those wretched men was due to nothing so much as to conduct like +that of which I speak. You can test this clearly if you review their history. +{264} For at a time when they possessed only 400 cavalry, and numbered not more +than 5,000 men in all, since the Chalcidians were not yet all united under one +government, the Spartans came against them with a large force, including both +army and fleet (for you doubtless remember that at that period the Spartans were +virtually masters both of land and sea); and yet, though this great force came +against them, the Olynthians lost neither the city nor any single fortress, but +won many battles, killed three of the enemy's commanders, and finally concluded +the war on their own terms.[n] {265} But when some of them began to take bribes, +and the people as a whole were foolish enough, or rather unfortunate enough, to +repose greater confidence in these men than in those who spoke for their own +good; when Lasthenes roofed his house with the timber which came from Macedonia, +and Euthycrates was keeping a large herd of cattle for which he had paid no one +anything; when a third returned with sheep, and a fourth with horses, while the +people, to whose detriment all this was being done, so far from showing any +anger or any disposition to chastise men who acted so, actually gazed on them +with envy, and paid them honour and regarded them as heroes--{266} when, I say, +such practices were gaining ground in this way, and corruption had been +victorious; then, though they possessed 1,000 cavalry and numbered more than +10,000 men; though all the surrounding peoples were their allies; though you +went to their assistance with 10,000 mercenaries and 50 ships, and with 4,000 +citizen-soldiers as well, none of these things could save them. Before a year of +the war had expired they had lost all the cities in Chalcidice, while Philip +could no longer keep pace with the invitations of the traitors, and did not know +which place to occupy first. {267} Five hundred horsemen were betrayed by their +own commanders and captured by Philip, with their arms--a larger number than +were ever before captured by any one. And the men who acted thus were not +ashamed to face the sun or the earth--the soil of their native land--on which +they stood, or the temples, or the sepulchres of the dead, or the disgrace which +was bound to follow upon such deeds afterwards. Such is the madness and +distraction which corruption engenders. So it is for you--for you, the People-- +to be wise, to refuse to suffer such things, and to visit them with public +chastisement. For it would be monstrous indeed, if, after the terrible +condemnation which you passed upon those who betrayed the Olynthians, it were +seen that you allowed the criminals who are in your very midst to go unpunished. +(_To the clerk._) Read the decree passed with reference to the Olynthians. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{268} This decree, gentlemen of the jury, is one which in the eyes of all, +Hellenes and foreigners alike, it was right and honourable in you to have passed +in condemnation of traitors and men detested of Heaven. And so, since the taking +of the bribe is the step which precedes such actions, and it is the bribe that +prompts the traitor's deeds, whenever, men of Athens, you find a man receiving a +bribe, you must count him a traitor as well. That one man betrays opportunities, +and another affairs of state, and another soldiers, means only, I imagine, that +each works mischief in the particular department over which he has control; but +there should be no distinction in your execration of all such men. {269} You, +men of Athens, are the only people in the world who can draw from your own +history examples which bear upon this matter, and who have those ancestors, whom +you rightly praise, to imitate in your actions. You may not be able, at the +present time, to imitate them in the battles, the campaigns, the perils in which +they distinguished themselves, since at the present moment you are at peace; but +at least you can imitate their wisdom. {270} For of wisdom there is need +everywhere; and a right judgement is no more laborious or troublesome a thing +than a wrong one. Each of you need sit here no longer, in order to judge and +vote on the question before him aright, and so to make his country's position a +better one, and worthy of our ancestors, than he must in order to judge and vote +wrongly, and so make it worse and unworthy of our ancestors. What then were +their sentiments on this matter? (_To the clerk._) Take this, clerk, and read +it: (_to the jury_) for I would have you see that the acts towards which you are +so indifferent are acts for which your forefathers voted death to the doers. +(_To the clerk._) Read. + +[_An inscription is read._] + +{271} You hear the inscription, men of Athens, declaring that Arthmius[n] of +Zeleia, son of Pythonax, is a foe and a public enemy to the people of Athens and +their allies--both he and all his house. And why? Because he brought the gold +from the foreigner to the Hellenes. Apparently, therefore, we may judge from +this, that your ancestors sought to ensure that no one, not even a stranger, +should work mischief against Hellas for money; whereas you do not even seek to +prevent any of your fellow citizens from injuring his own city. {272} 'But,' it +may be said, 'the inscription occupies a quite unimportant position.' On the +contrary, although all yonder Acropolis is sacred and there is no lack of space +upon it, this inscription stands on the right hand of the great bronze statue of +Athena, the prize of valour in the war against the barbarians, set up by the +State with funds which the Hellenes had presented to her. In those days, +therefore, uprightness was so sacred, and such merit was attached to the +punishment of actions like these, that the sentences passed upon such crimes +were thought to deserve the same position as the prize-statue of the goddess. +And now, unless you, in your turn, set a check upon this excess of licence, the +result must be ridicule, impunity, and shame.[5] {273} You would do well, I +think, men of Athens, to imitate your forefathers, not in this or that point +alone, but continuously, and in all that they did. Now I am sure that you have +all heard the story of Callias,[n] the son of Hipponicus, to whose diplomacy was +due the Peace which is universally celebrated, and which provided that the king +should not come down by land within a day's ride of the sea, nor sail with a +ship of war between the Chelidonian islands and the Cyanean rocks. He was +thought to have taken bribes on his mission; and your forefathers almost put him +to death, and actually fined him, at the examination of his report, a sum of 50 +talents. {274} True it is, that no more honourable peace can be mentioned than +this, of all which the city ever made before or afterwards. But it was not to +this that they looked. The nature of the Peace they attributed to their own +prowess and the glory of their city: but whether the transaction was +disinterested or corrupt, depended upon the character of the ambassador; and +they expected the character displayed by one who took part in public affairs to +be upright and incorruptible. {275} Your ancestors, then, regarded corruption as +so inimical, so unprofitable, to the state, that they would not admit it in +connexion with any single transaction or any single man; while you, men of +Athens, though you have seen that the Peace which has laid low the walls of your +own allies is building the houses of your ambassadors--that the Peace which has +robbed the city of her possessions has secured for them more than they had ever +before hoped for even in their dreams--you, I say, instead of putting them to +death of your own accord, need a prosecutor to assist you; and when all can see +their crimes in very deed, you are making their trial a trial of words. + +{276} It is not, however, by the citation of ancient history, nor by these +examples alone, that one may stimulate you to vengeance: for even within the +lifetime of yourselves, who are here and still living, many have paid the +penalty. All the rest of these I will pass over; but I will mention one or two +of those who were punished with death, on returning from a mission whose results +have been far less disastrous to the city than those of the present Embassy. +(_To the clerk._) Take then this decree and read it. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{277} In this decree, men of Athens, you passed sentence of death upon those +ambassadors, one of whom was Epicrates,[n] a good man, as I am told by my +elders, and one who had in many ways been of service to his country--one of +those who brought the people back from the Peiraeus,[n] and who was generally an +upholder of the democracy. Yet none of these services helped him, and rightly. +For one who claims to manage affairs of such magnitude has not merely to be half +honest; he must not secure your confidence and then take advantage of it to +increase his power to do mischief; he must do absolutely no wrong against you of +his own will. {278} Now if there is one of the things for which those men were +sentenced to death, that these men have not done, you may put me to death +without delay. Observe what the charges were. 'Since they conducted their +mission,' says the decree,[n] 'contrary to the terms of the resolution'--that is +the first of the charges. And have not these men contravened the terms of the +resolution? Does not the decree speak of peace 'for the Athenians and the allies +of the Athenians?' and did they not exclude the Phocians from the treaty? Does +not the decree bid them administer the oath to the magistrates in the several +cities? and did they not administer it to men sent to them by Philip? Does not +the resolution forbid them 'to meet Philip anywhere alone?' and did they not +incessantly do business with him privately? {279} Again I read, 'And some of +them have been convicted of making a false report before the Council.' But these +men have been convicted of doing so before the People as well. And convicted by +whom? for this is the splendid thing.[n] Convicted by the actual facts; for all +that has happened, as you know, has been the exact reverse of what they +announced. 'And,' the decree goes on, 'of not sending true dispatches.' Nor did +these men. 'And of accusing our allies falsely and taking bribes.' Instead of +'accusing falsely', say, 'of having utterly ruined'--surely a far more heinous +thing than a false accusation. And as for the charge of taking bribes, if it had +been denied, it would still have required proof; but since they admitted it, a +summary procedure was surely the proper one. {280} What then will you do, men of +Athens? You are the offspring of that generation, and some of you are actually +survivors from it; and will you endure it, that Epicrates, the benefactor of the +people, one of the men from the Peiraeus, should have been exiled and +punished;[n] that Thrasybulus, again, the son of the great Thrasybulus, the +People's friend, who brought the people back from Phyle, should recently have +been fined ten talents; and that the descendant of Harmodius,[n] and of those +who achieved for you the greatest of blessings, and whom, for the benefits which +they conferred upon you, you have caused to share in the libations and the bowls +outpoured, in every temple where sacrifice is offered, singing of them and +honouring them as you honour heroes and gods--{281} that all these, I say, +should have undergone the penalty ordained by the laws, and that no feeling of +compassion or pity, nor the tears of their children who bore the names of our +benefactors, nor aught else, should have availed them anything: and yet, when +you have to do with the son of Atrometus the schoolmaster, and Glaucothea, who +used to hold those meetings of the initiated, a practice for which another +priestess[n] was put to death--when you have in your hands the son of such +parents, a man who never did a single service to his country--neither himself, +nor his father, nor any of his house--will you let him go? {282} Where is the +horse, the trireme, the military service, the chorus, the burden undertaken[n] +for the state, the war-contribution, the loyal action, the peril undergone, for +which in all their lifetime the city has had to thank him or his? Aye, and even +if all these stood to his credit, and those other qualifications, of uprightness +and integrity in his mission, were not also to be found in him, it would surely +have been right that he should perish. But when neither the one nor the other +are to be found, will you not avenge yourselves upon him? {283} Will you not +call to mind his own words, when he was prosecuting Timarchus--that there was no +help for a city which had no sinews to use against the criminal, nor for a +constitution in which compassion and solicitation were more powerful than the +laws--that it was your duty not to pity the aged mother of Timarchus, nor his +children, nor any one else, but to attend solely to one point, namely, that if +you abandoned the cause of the laws and the constitution, you would look in vain +for any to have pity on yourselves. {284} Is that unhappy man to have lost his +rights as a citizen, because he witnessed the guilt of Aeschines, and will you +then suffer Aeschines to escape unscathed? On what ground can you do so? for if +Aeschines demanded so heavy a penalty from those whose sins were against their +own persons, what must be the magnitude of the penalty which _you_ should +require--you, the sworn judges of the case--from those who have sinned so +greatly against their country's interests, and of whom Aeschines is convincingly +proved to be one? {285} 'But,' we are told, 'that was a trial which will raise +the moral standard of our young men.' Yes, and this trial will raise that of our +statesmen, upon whose character the supreme interests of the city are staked. +For your care ought to extend to them also. But you must realize that his real +motive for ruining Timarchus himself was not, Heaven knows, to be found in any +anxiety for the virtue of your sons. Indeed, men of Athens, they are virtuous +even now; for I trust that the city will never have fallen so low, as to need +Aphobetus and Aeschines to reform the morals of the young. {286} No! the reason +was that Timarchus had proposed in the Council, that if any one was convicted of +conveying arms or fittings for ships of war to Philip, the penalty should be +death. And here is a proof. How long had Timarchus been in the habit of +addressing you? For a long time. Now throughout all this time Aeschines was in +Athens, and never showed any vexation or indignation at the fact of such a man +addressing you, until he had been to Macedonia and made himself a hireling. (_To +the clerk._) Come, take the actual decree which Timarchus proposed, and read it. + +[_The decree is read._] + +{287} So the man who proposed on your behalf the resolution which forbade, on +pain of death, the supply of arms to Philip during the war, has been ruined and +treated with contumely; while Aeschines, who had surrendered the arms of your +very allies to Philip, was his accuser, and charged him--I call Heaven and Earth +to witness--with unnatural offences, although two of his own kinsmen stood by +his side, the very sight of whom would call forth a cry of protest from you--the +disgusting Nicias, who went to Egypt and hired himself to Chabrias, and the +accursed Cyrebion,[n] who joins in processions, as a reveller,[n] without a +mask. Nay, why mention these things? His own brother Aphobetus was there before +his eyes! In very truth all the words that were spoken on that day about +unnatural offences were water flowing up stream.[n] + +{288} And now, to show you the dishonour into which the villainy and mendacity +of the defendant have brought our country, passing by all besides, I will +mention a fact known to you all. Formerly, men of Athens, all the other Hellenes +used to watch attentively, to see what had been resolved in your Assembly; but +now we are already going about and inquiring what others have decided--trying to +overhear what the Arcadians are doing, or the Amphictyons, or where Philip will +be next, and whether he is alive or dead. {289} We do this, do we not? But for +me the terrible question is not whether Philip is alive, but whether in this +city the habit of execrating and punishing criminals is dead. Philip has no +terrors for me, if your own spirit is sound; but the prospect that you may grant +security to those who wish to receive their wages from him--that they may be +supported by some of those whom you have trusted, and that those who have all +along denied that they were acting in Philip's interests may now mount the +platform in their defence--that is the prospect which terrifies me. {290} Tell +me, Eubulus, why it was, that at the recent trial of your cousin Hegesilaus,[n] +and of Thrasybulus, the uncle of Niceratus, when the primary question[n] was +before the jury, you would not even respond when they called upon you; and that +when you rose to speak on the assessment of the penalty,[n] you uttered not a +word in their defence, but only asked the jury to be indulgent to you? Do you +refuse to ascend the platform in defence of kinsmen and relations, {291} and +will you then do so in defence of Aeschines, who, when Aristophon was +prosecuting Philonicus, and in accusing him was denouncing your own acts, joined +with him in accusing you, and was found in the ranks of your enemies? You +frightened your countrymen here by saying that they must either march down to +the Peiraeus at once, and pay the war-tax, and convert the festival-fund into a +war-fund, or else pass the decree advocated by Aeschines and proposed by the +shameless Philocrates--{292} a decree, of which the result was that the Peace +became a disgraceful instead of a fair one, and that these men have ruined +everything by their crimes: and have you, after all this, become reconciled to +him? You uttered imprecations upon Philip, in the presence of the people, and +swore by the life of your children that you would be glad if perdition seized +him; and will you now come to the aid of Aeschines? How can perdition seize +Philip, when you are trying to save those who take bribes from him? {293} Why is +it that you prosecuted Moerocles for misappropriating 20 drachmae out of the +sums paid by each of the lessees of the mines, and indicted Ctesiphon for the +theft of sacred moneys, because he paid 7 minae into the bank three days too +late; and yet, when men have taken money and confess it, and are convicted, by +being caught in the very act, of having done so in order to bring about the ruin +of our allies, you do not prosecute them, but even command their acquittal? +{294} But the appalling character of these crimes and the great watchfulness and +caution that they call for, and the triviality of the offences for which you +prosecuted those other men, may further be seen in this way. Were there any men +in Elis who stole public funds? It is very likely indeed. Well, had any of them +anything to do with the overthrow of the democracy there? Not one of them. +Again, while Olynthus was standing, were there others of the same character +there? I am sure that there were. Was it then through them that Olynthus was +destroyed? No. Again, do you not suppose that in Megara there was someone who +was a thief and who embezzled public funds? There must have been. Well, has any +such person been shown to be responsible for the recent crisis there? {295} Not +one. But of what sort _are_ the men who commit crimes of such a character and +magnitude? They are those who count themselves worthy to be styled friends and +guest-friends of Philip, who would fain be generals, who claim[n] to be leaders, +who must needs be exalted above the people. Was not Perillus put on his trial +lately before the Three Hundred at Megara, because he went to Philip's court; +and did not Ptoeodorus, the first man in Megara in wealth, family, and +distinction, come forward and beg him off, and send him back again to Philip? +and was not the consequence that the one came back at the head of the +mercenaries, while the other was churning the butter[n] at home? {296} For there +is nothing, nothing, I say, in the world, which you must be so careful not to +do, as not to allow any one to become more powerful than the People. I would +have no man acquitted or doomed, to please any individual. Only let us be sure +that the man whose actions acquit or condemn him will receive from you the +verdict he deserves. {297} That is the true democratic principle. And further, +it is true that many men have come to possess great influence with you at +particular times--Callistratus, and again Aristophon, Diophantus, and others +before them. But where did each of these exercise his primacy? In the Assembly +of the People. But in the law-courts no man has ever, to this day, carried more +influence than the laws and the juror's oath. Do not then allow the defendant to +have such influence to-day. To prove to you that there is good reason for you +not to trust, but to beware of such influence, I will read you an oracle of the +gods, who always protect the city far better than do its foremost citizens. (_To +the clerk._) Read the oracles. + +[_The oracles are read._] + +{298} You hear, men of Athens, the warnings of the gods. If these responses were +given by them when you were at war, they mean that you must beware of your +generals, since in war it is the generals who are leaders; but if they were +uttered after you had made peace, they must refer to those who are at the head +of your government; for these are the leaders whom you obey, and it is by these +that you are in danger of being led astray. 'And hold the state together' [says +the oracle] 'until all are of one mind, and afford no joy to their foes.' {299} +Which event then, men of Athens, do you think would afford joy to Philip--the +acquittal of one who has brought about all this evil, or his punishment? His +acquittal, I am sure. But the oracle, you see, says that we should so act as not +to afford joy to our foes; and therefore, by the mouth of Zeus, of Dione,[n] and +of all the gods, is this exhortation given to us all, that with one mind we +chastise those who have done any service to our enemies. Without are those who +are plotting against us, within are their confederates. The part of the plotters +is to offer the bribe; that of their confederates is to receive it, and to save +from condemnation those who have received it. + +{300} And further, it needs no more than human reason to arrive at the +conclusion that nothing can be more hateful and dangerous than to allow your +first citizen to be intimate with those whose objects are not those of the +People. Consider by what means Philip has become master of the entire situation, +and by what means he has accomplished the greatest of his successes. It has been +by purchasing the opportunities for action from those who offered them for sale +--by corrupting and exciting the aspirations of the leaders of their several +cities. {301} These have been the means. Now both of these methods it is in your +power, if you wish it, to render futile to-day, if you will refuse to listen to +prominent persons who speak in defence of such practices, and will thus prove +that they have no power over you--for now they assert that they have you under +their control--while at the same time you punish the man who has sold himself, +and let all the world see what you have done. {302} For you would have reason +enough, men of Athens, for being angry with any man who had acted so, and had +betrayed your allies and your friends and your opportunities (for with these are +bound up the whole prosperity or adversity of every people), but with no one +more than with Aeschines, or with greater justice. After taking up a position as +one of those who mistrusted Philip--after being the first and the only man to +perceive that Philip was the common enemy of all the Hellenes--he deserted, he +betrayed you; he suddenly became Philip's supporter. Surely he deserves to die +many times over! {303} Nay, he himself will not be able to deny that these +things are so. For who was it that brought Ischander forward before you +originally, stating that he had come from the friends of Athens in Arcadia? Who +was it that cried out that Philip was organizing Hellas and the Peloponnese +against you, while you were asleep? Who was it that delivered those long and +noble orations to the people, that read to you the decrees of Miltiades and +Themistocles, and the oath of the young soldiers[n] in the temple of Aglaurus? +{304} Was it not the defendant? Who was it that persuaded you to send embassies +almost as far as the Red Sea, on the ground that Philip was plotting against +Hellas, and that it was for you to foresee this and not to sacrifice the +interests of the Hellenes? Was it not Eubulus who proposed the decree, while the +ambassador to the Peloponnese was the defendant Aeschines? What expressions he +used in his address to the people, after he arrived there, is best known to +himself: but I know you all remember what he reported to you. {305} Many a time +in the course of his speech he called Philip 'barbarian' and 'devil'; and he +reported the delight of the Arcadians at the thought that Athens was now waking +up and attending to public affairs. One thing he told us, which caused him, he +said, more distress than anything else. As he was leaving, he met Atrestidas, +who was travelling home from Philip's court, and with him were walking some +thirty women and children. Wondering at this, he asked one of the travellers who +the man was, and what this crowd was along with him; {306} and on hearing that +it was Atrestidas, who was on his way home, and that these with him were +captives from Olynthus whom Philip had given him as a present, he was struck +with the atrocity of the thing and burst into tears, and lamented the unhappy +condition of Hellas, that she should allow such tragedies to pass unnoticed. At +the same time he counselled you to send representatives to Arcadia to denounce +Philip's agents, saying that his friends told him that if Athens took notice of +the matter and sent envoys, Philip's agents would be punished. {307} Such, men +of Athens, was the tenor of his speeches then; and very noble they were, and +worthy of this city. But when he had been to Macedonia, and had seen the enemy +of himself and of the Hellenes, were his speeches couched any more in the same +or a similar tone? Far from it! He told you that you must neither remember your +forefathers nor mention your trophies, nor go to the aid of any one. He was +amazed, he said, at those who urged you to confer with the rest of the Hellenes +in regard to the Peace with Philip, as though there was any need to convince +some one else about a matter which was purely your own affair. {308} And as for +Philip, 'Why, good gracious!' said he, 'Philip is the most thorough Hellene in +the world, a most able speaker, and most friendly towards Athens: only there are +certain persons in Athens so unreasonable and so churlish, that they are not +ashamed to slander him and call him "barbarian".' Now is it possible that the +man who had formerly spoken as Aeschines did, should now have dared to speak in +such a way, if he had not been corrupted? What? {309} Is there a man who after +conceiving such detestation for Atrestidas, owing to those children and women +from Olynthus, could have endured to act in conjunction with Philocrates, who +brought freeborn Olynthian women here to gratify his lust, and is so notorious +for his abominable living, that it is unnecessary for me now to use any +offensive or unpleasant expression about him; for if I say that Philocrates +brought women here, the rest will be understood by all of you and of the +bystanders, and you will, I am sure, pity the poor unhappy creatures--though +Aeschines felt no pity for them, and shed no tears for Hellas at the sight of +them, or at the thought of the outrages they were suffering among their own +allies at the hands of our ambassadors. {310} No! he will shed tears on his own +behalf--he whose proceedings as ambassador have had such results--and perhaps he +will bring forward his children, and mount them upon the platform. But, +gentlemen of the jury, when you see the children of Aeschines, remember that the +children of many of your allies and friends are now vagabonds, wandering in +beggary, owing to the cruel treatment they have suffered in consequence of his +conduct, and that these deserve your compassion far more than those whose father +is a criminal and a traitor. Remember that your own children have been robbed +even of their hopes by these men, who inserted among the terms of the Peace the +clause which extended it to posterity. And when you see the tears of Aeschines, +remember that you have now before you a man who urged you to send +representatives to Arcadia to denounce the agents of Philip. {311} Now to-day +you need send no embassy to the Peloponnese; you need take no long journey; you +need incur no travelling expenses. Each of you need only come as far as this +platform, to deposit the vote which piety and justice demand of him, on behalf +of your country; and to condemn the man who--I call Earth and Heaven to +witness!--after originally delivering the speeches which I described, speaking +of Marathon and of Salamis, and of your battles and your trophies, suddenly--so +soon as he had set foot in Macedonia--changed his tone completely, and told you +that you must not remember your forefathers, nor recount your trophies, nor go +to the aid of any one, nor take common counsel with the Hellenes--who all but +told you that you must pull down your walls. {312} Never throughout all time, up +to this day, have speeches more shameful than these been delivered before you. +What Hellene, what foreigner, is so dense, or so uninstructed, or so fierce in +his hatred of our city, that if one were to put to him this question, and say, +'Tell me now; of all Hellas, as it now is--all this inhabited country--is there +any part which would have been called by this name, or inhabited by the Hellenes +who now possess it, unless those who fought at Marathon and Salamis, our +forefathers, had displayed that high prowess on their behalf?' Why, I am certain +that not one would answer 'Yes': they would say that all these regions must have +been conquered by the barbarians. {313} If then no single man, not even one of +our enemies, would have deprived them of these their panegyrics and praises, +does Aeschines forbid you to remember them--you their descendants--in order that +he himself may receive money? In all other blessings, moreover, the dead have no +share; but the praises which follow their noble deeds are the peculiar +possession of those who have died thus; for then even envy opposes them no +longer. Of these praises Aeschines would deprive them; and justly, therefore, +would he now be deprived of his privileges as as a citizen, and justly, in the +name of your forefathers, would you exact from him this penalty. Such words you +used, nevertheless, in the wickedness of your heart, to despoil and traduce the +deeds of our forefathers, and by your word you ruined all our interests in very +deed. {314} And then, as the outcome of this, you are a landed gentleman, and +have become a personage of consequence! For this, too, you must notice. Before +he had wrought every kind of mischief against the city he acknowledged that he +had been a clerk; he was grateful to you for having elected him, and behaved +himself modestly. But since he has wrought countless evils, he has drawn up his +eyebrows, and if any one speaks of 'Aeschines the late clerk', he is his enemy +at once, and declares that he has been insulted: he walks through the market- +place with his cloak trailing down to his ankles, keeping step with +Pythocles,[n] and puffing out his cheeks--already one of Philip's friends and +guest-friends, if you please--one of those who would be rid of the democracy, +and who regard the established constitution as so much tempestuous madness--he +who was once the humble servant of the Round Chamber. + +{315} I wish now to recapitulate to you summarily the ways in which Philip got +the better of you in policy, when he had taken these heaven-detested men to aid +him. It is well worth while to review and contemplate the course of his +deception as a whole. It began with his anxiety for peace; for his country was +being plundered, and his ports were closed, so that he could enjoy none of the +advantages which they afforded; and so he sent the messengers who uttered those +generous sentiments on his behalf--Neoptolemus, Aristodemus, and Ctesiphon. +{316} But so soon as we went to him as your ambassadors, he immediately hired +the defendant to second and co-operate with the abominable Philocrates, and so +get the better of those who wished to act uprightly; and he composed such a +letter to you as he thought would be most likely to help him to obtain peace. +{317} But even so, he had no better chance than before of effecting anything of +importance against you, unless he could destroy the Phocians. And this was no +easy matter. For he had now been reduced, as if by chance, to a position in +which he must either find it impossible to effect any of his designs, or else +must perforce lie and forswear himself, and make all men, whether Hellenes or +foreigners, witnesses of his own baseness. {318} For if, on the one hand, he +received the Phocians as allies, and administered the oath to them together with +yourselves, it at once became necessary for him to break his oaths to the +Thessalians and Thebans; for he had sworn to aid the latter in the reduction of +Boeotia, and the former in the recovery of their place in the Amphictyonic +Council; but if, on the other hand, he refused to receive them (as in fact he +did reject them), he thought that you would not let him cross the Pass, but +would rally to Thermopylae--and so you would have done, had you not been misled; +and if this happened, he calculated that he would be unable to march across. +{319} Nor had he to learn this from others; he had already the testimony of his +own experience. For on the occasion of his first defeat of the Phocians, when he +destroyed their mercenaries and their leader and general, Onomarchus, although +not a single human being, Hellene or foreigner, came to the aid of the Phocians, +except yourselves, so far was he from crossing the Pass and thereafter carrying +out any of his designs, that he could not even approach near it. {320} He +realized, I imagine, quite clearly, that at a time when the feelings of the +Thessalians were turning against him, and the Pheraeans (to take the first +instance) refused to accompany him--when the Thebans were being worsted and had +lost a battle, and a trophy had been erected to celebrate their defeat--it was +impossible for him to cross the Pass, if you rallied to its defence; and that if +he made the attempt he would regret it, unless some cunning could be called in +to aid him. How then, he asked, can I avoid open falsehood, and yet accomplish +all that I wish without appearing perjured? How can it be done? It can be done, +if I can get some of the Athenians to deceive the Athenians. In that case the +discredit no longer falls to my share. {321} And so Philip's own envoys first +informed you that Philip declined to receive the Phocians as allies; and then +these men took up the tale, and addressed you to the effect that it was +inconvenient to Philip to receive the Phocians as your allies openly, on account +of the Thebans and the Thessalians; but if he gets command of the situation, +they said, and is granted the Peace, he will do just what we should now request +him to promise to do. {322} So they obtained the Peace from you, by holding out +these seductive hopes, without including the Phocians. But they had still to +prevent the expedition to Thermopylae, for the purpose of which, despite the +Peace, your fifty ships were still lying ready at anchor, in order that, if +Philip marched, you might prevent him. {323} How then could it be done? what +cunning could be used in regard to this expedition in its turn? They must +deprive you of the necessary time, by bringing the crisis upon you suddenly, so +that, even if you wished to set out, you might be unable to do so. So this, it +appears, was what these men undertook to do; while for my part, as you have +often been told, I was unable to depart in advance of them, and was prevented +from sailing even when I had hired a boat for the purpose. {324} But it was +further necessary that the Phocians should come to believe in Philip and give +themselves up to him voluntarily, in order that there might be no delay in +carrying out the plan, and that no hostile decree whatever might issue from you. +'And therefore,' said he, 'the Athenian ambassadors shall announce that the +Phocians are to be preserved from destruction, so that even if any one persists +in distrusting me, he will believe them, and put himself in my hands. We will +summon the Athenians themselves, so that they may imagine that all that they +want is secured, and may pass no hostile decree: but the ambassadors shall make +such reports about us, and give such promises, as will prevent them from moving +under any circumstances.' {325} It was in this way, and by such trickery as +this, that all was ruined, through the action of these doomed wretches. For +immediately afterwards, as you know, instead of seeing Thespiae and Plataeae +repeopled, you heard that Orchomenus and Coroneia had been enslaved; instead of +Thebes being humbled and stripped of her insolence and pride, the walls of your +own allies were being razed, and it was the Thebans who were razing them--the +Thebans who, according to Aeschines' story, were as good as broken up into +villages. {326} Instead of Euboea being handed over to you in exchange for +Amphipolis, Philip is making new bases of operations against you in Euboea +itself, and is plotting incessantly against Geraestus and Megara. Instead of the +restoration of Oropus to you, we are making an expedition under arms to defend +Drymus and the country about Panactum[n]--a step which we never took so long as +the Phocians remained unharmed. {327} Instead of the restoration of the +ancestral worship in the temple, and the exaction of the debt due to the god, +the true Amphictyons are fugitives, who have been banished and their land laid +desolate; and Macedonians, foreigners, men who never were Amphictyons in the +past, are now forcing their way to recognition; while any one who mentions the +sacred treasures is thrown from the rocks, and our city has been deprived of her +right to precedence in consulting the oracle. {328} Indeed, the story of all +that has happened to the city sounds like a riddle. Philip has spoken no +falsehood, and has accomplished all that he wished: you hoped for the fulfilment +of your fondest prayers, and have seen the very opposite come to pass; you +suppose yourselves to be at peace, and have suffered more terribly than if you +had been at war; while these men have received money for all this, and up to +this very day have not paid the penalty. {329} For that the situation has been +made what it is solely by bribery, and that these men have received their price +for it all, has, I feel sure, long been plain to you in many ways; and I am +afraid that, quite against my will, I may long have been wearying you by +attempting to prove with elaborate exactness what you already know for +yourselves. {330} Yet this one point I ask you still to listen to. Is there, +gentlemen of the jury, one of the ambassadors whom Philip sent, whose statue in +bronze you would erect in the market-place? Nay, one to whom you would give +maintenance in the Town Hall, or any other of those complimentary grants with +which you honour your benefactors? I think not. And why? For you are of no +ungrateful or unfair or mean disposition. You would reply, that it is because +all that they did was done in the interest of Philip, and nothing in your own; +and the reply would be true and just. {331} Do you imagine then that, when such +are your sentiments, Philip's are not also such? Do you imagine that he gives +all these magnificent presents because your ambassadors conducted their mission +honourably and uprightly with a view to _your_ interest? Impossible. Think of +Hegesippus, and the manner in which he and the ambassadors who accompanied him +were received by Philip. To go no further, he banished Xenocleides, the well- +known poet, by public proclamation, because he received the ambassadors, his own +fellow citizens. For so it is that he behaves to men who honestly say what they +think on your behalf: while to those who have sold themselves he behaves as he +has to these men. Do we then need witnesses? do we need stronger proofs than +these to establish my conclusions? Will any one be able to steal these +conclusions from your minds? + +{332} Now I was told a most extraordinary thing just now by some one who +accosted me in front of the Court, namely, that the defendant is prepared to +accuse Chares, and that by such methods and such arguments as that, he hopes to +deceive you. I will not lay undue stress on the fact that Chares,[n] subjected +to every form of trial, was found to have acted on your behalf, so far as was in +his power, with faithfulness and loyalty, while his frequent shortcomings were +due to those who, for money, were cruelly injuring your cause. But I will go +much further. Let it be granted that all that the defendant will say of Chares +is true. {333} Even so it is utterly absurd that Aeschines should accuse him. +For I do not lay the blame on Aeschines for anything that was done in the course +of the war--it is the generals who have to account for all such proceedings--nor +do I hold him responsible for the city's having made peace. So far I acquit him +of everything. What then do I allege, and at what point does my accusation +begin? I accuse him of having supported Philocrates, at the time when the city +was making peace, instead of supporting those who proposed what was for your +real good. I accuse him of taking bribes, and subsequently, on the Second +Embassy, of wasting time, and of not carrying out any of your instructions. I +accuse him of cheating the city, and ruining everything, by the suggestion of +hopes that Philip would do all that we desired; and then I accuse him of +speaking afterwards in defence of one of whom[n] all warned him to beware, on +account of the great crimes of which he had been guilty. {334} These are my +charges, and these are what you must bear in mind. For a Peace that was honest +and fair, and men that had sold nothing and had told no falsehoods afterwards, I +would even have commended, and would have bidden you crown them. But the +injuries which some general may have done you have nothing to do with the +present examination. Where is the general who has caused the loss of Halus? or +of the Phocians? or of Doriscus? or of Cersobleptes? or of the Sacred Mountain? +or of Thermopylae? Who has secured Philip a road to Attica that leads entirely +through the country of allies and friends? who has given Coroneia and Orchomenus +and Euboea to others? who has all but given Megara to the enemy, only recently? +who has made the Thebans powerful? {335} Not one of all these heavy losses was +the work of the generals; nor does Philip hold any of these places because you +were persuaded to concede it to him by the treaty of peace. The losses are due +to these men and to their corruption. If then he evades these points, and tries +to mislead you by speaking of every other possible subject, this is how you must +receive his attempt. 'We are not sitting in judgement upon any general,' you +must say, 'nor are you on your trial for the things of which you speak. Do not +tell us whether some one else may not also be responsible for the ruin of the +Phocians: prove to us that no responsibility attaches to yourself. Why do you +tell us _now_ of the alleged iniquities of Demosthenes, instead of accusing him +when his report was under examination? For such an omission alone you deserve to +perish. {336} Do not speak of the beauty of peace, nor of its advantages. No one +holds you responsible for the city's having made peace. But show that it was not +a shameful and discreditable peace; that we have not since been deceived in many +ways; that all was not lost. It is for all these things that the responsibility +has been proved to be yours. And why, even to this hour, do you praise the man +who has done us all this evil?' If you keep a watch upon him thus, he will have +nothing to say; and then he will lift up his voice here, in spite of all his +vocal exercises, to no purpose. + +{337} And yet perhaps it is necessary for me to speak about his voice also. For +of this too, I am told, he is extremely proud, and expects to carry you away by +his declamation. But seeing that you used to drive him away and hiss him out of +the theatre and almost stone him, when he was performing the tragic story of +Thyestes or of the Trojan War, so that at last he gave up his third-rate +playing, you would be acting in the most extraordinary way if, now that he has +wrought countless ills, not on the stage, but in the most important affairs in +the public life of the state, you listened to him for his fine voice. {338} By +no means must you do this, or give way to any foolish sentiment. Rather reflect, +that if you were testing the qualifications of a herald, you would then indeed +look for a fine voice; but when you are testing those of an ambassador, or a man +who claims the administration of any public business, you must look for an +upright man--a man who bears himself proudly indeed, as your representative, but +seeks no more than equality with yourselves--as I myself refused to pay respect +to Philip, but did pay respect to the captives, whom I saved, and never for a +moment drew back; whereas Aeschines rolled at Philip's feet, and chanted his +paeans, while he looks down upon you. {339} And further, whenever you notice +that cleverness or a good voice or any other natural advantage has been given to +an honest and public-spirited man, you ought all to congratulate him and help +him to cultivate his gift; for the gift is an advantage in which you all share, +as well as he. But when the gift is found in a corrupt and villainous man, who +can never resist the chance of gain, then you should exclude him from your +presence, and give a harsh and hostile reception to his words: for villainy, +which wins from you the reputation of ability, is the enemy of the State. {340} +You see what great troubles have fallen upon the city, through those qualities +which have brought renown to Aeschines. But whereas all other faculties are more +or less independent, the gift of eloquence, when it meets with hostility from +you who listen, is a broken thing. Listen, then, to the defendant as you would +listen to a corrupt villain, who will not speak a single word of truth. + +{341} Observe also that the conviction of the defendant is in every way +expedient, not only on all other grounds, but even when you consider our +relations with Philip himself. For if ever Philip finds himself compelled to +give the city any of her rights, he will change his methods. As it is, he has +chosen to deceive the people as a whole, and to show his favours to a few +persons; whereas, if he learns that these men have perished, he will prefer for +the future to act in the interest of yourselves collectively, in whose hands all +power rests. {342} If, however, he intends to persist in his present domineering +and outrageous insolence, you will, by getting rid of these men, have rid the +city of those who would do anything in the world for him. For when they have +acted as they have done, with the expectation of having to pay the penalty in +their minds, what do you think they will do, if you relax your severity towards +them? Where is the Euthycrates,[n] or the Lasthenes, or the traitor of any +description, whom they will not outdo? {343} And who among all the rest will not +be a worse citizen, when he sees that, for those who have sold themselves, the +friendship of Philip serves, in consequence, for revenue, for reputation, and +for capital; while to those who have conducted themselves uprightly, and have +spent their own money as well, the consequences are trouble, hatred, and ill +will from a certain party. Let it not be so. It is not for your good--whether +you regard your reputation or your duty towards Heaven or your safety or any +other object, that you should acquit the defendant; but rather that you should +avenge yourselves upon him, and make him an example in the eyes of all your +fellow citizens and of the whole Hellenic world. + + +FOOTNOTES + +[1] This body was composed of life-members, the archons passing into it annually +at the conclusion of their term of office. A certain religious solemnity +attached to it, and it was generally respected as a public-spirited and high- +minded body. + +[2] [Greek: p_os: ti;]. + +[3] Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 761. + +[4] Euripides, _Phoenix_ fragment. + +[5] [Greek: adeia, aischuv_e.]. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Public Orations of Demosthenes, +volume 1, by Demosthenes + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PUBLIC ORATIONS OF *** + +This file should be named 8pbd110.txt or 8pbd110.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8pbd111.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8pbd110a.txt + +Anne Soulard, Jon Ingram and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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