THE LIBRARY 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
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 LOS ANGELES
 
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 the 
 
 ORATIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 PRONOUNCED TO 
 
 EXCITE THE ATHENIANS AGAINST PHILIP, 
 KING OF MACEDON; 
 
 AND ON 
 
 OCCASIONS OF PUBLIC DELIBERATION. 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 THOMAS LELAND, D.D. 
 
 FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN. 
 
 COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY JONES & COMPANY, 
 
 TEMPLE OF THE MUSES, (LATE LACRINGTON'S,) 
 
 FINSBURY SQUARE. 
 
 1829.
 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Preface i 
 
 The Kiist Oration 01 Demosthenes against Philip 1 
 
 The First Olynthiac Oration 11 
 
 The Second Olynthiac Oration 16 
 
 The Third Olynthiac Oration 21 
 
 The Oration on the Peace M 
 
 The Seventh Oration against Philip, common- 
 ly called the Second 30 
 
 The Oration on the State of the Chersonesus.. 34 
 
 The Tenth Oration against Philip, commonly 
 
 called the Third 43 
 
 The Eleventh Oration against Philip, com- 
 monly called the Fourth 51 
 
 The Twelfth Oration against Philip, common- 
 ly called the Oration on the Letter 59 
 
 Philip's Letter to the Athenians 60 
 
 Conclusion .•#.•••.,................. 67 
 
 Pag:. 
 Preface to the Orations of Demosthenes on Oc - 
 
 casions of Public Deliberation ,. 63 
 
 The Oration on the Classes 71 
 
 The Oration for the Megalopolitans 81 
 
 The Oration for the Liberty of the Rhodians.. 88 
 
 The Oration on the Regulation of the State . . 95 
 
 The Oration on the Halonesus 101 
 
 The Oration on the Treaty with Alexander.. 107 
 
 The Oration of Dinarchus against Demosthenes 110 
 Account of the Exile and Death of Demosthenes. 
 
 [InaNote.] 121 
 
 The Orations of iEschines and Demosthenes on 
 
 the Crown 122 
 
 The Oration of iEscbines against Ctesiphon .. 124 
 
 The Oration of Demosthenes on the Crown . . 151 

 
 PREFACE. 
 
 VIEW OF THE PRINCIPAL STATES OF 
 fiREECE — CHARACTERS OF DEMADES, 
 HYPERIDES, LYCURGUS, AND .>ESCHI- 
 NES, THE ORATORS — CHARACTER OF 
 DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 To animate a people renowned for justice, 
 humanity, and valour, yet in many instances 
 degenerate and corrupted ; to warn them of 
 the dangers of luxury, treachery, and bri- 
 bery ; of the ambition and perfidy of a 
 powerful foreign enemy ; to recall the glory 
 of their ancestors to their thoughts ; and to 
 inspire them with resolution, vigour, and 
 unanimity ; to correct abuses, to restore 
 discipline, to revive and enforce the generous 
 sentiments of patriotism and public spirit : 
 — these were the great purposes for which 
 the following Orations were originally pro- 
 nounced. The subject therefore may pos- 
 sibly recommend them to a British reader, 
 even under the disadvantages of a transla- 
 tion, by no means worthy of the famous 
 original. His candour may pardon them ; 
 or sometimes, perhaps, they may escape him, 
 if he suffers ins imagination to be possessed 
 with that enthusiasm which our orator is, 
 of all others, most capable of inspiring ; 
 and will, for a while, interest himself in the 
 cause of Athens. 
 
 To the history of Greece, I must suppose 
 he is no stranger. Yet, though it may not 
 inform him, his memory may possibly 
 be assisted, by a summary review of the 
 affairs and interests of that country ; parti- 
 cularly of those divisions, which had a long 
 time subsisted between its principal states, 
 and on which Philip justly grounded his 
 hopes of success, in his attempts upon their 
 liberties. 
 
 These states were Lacedemon, Athens, 
 and Thebes. 
 
 The first, famous for her ancient kings, 
 had acquired new splendour under the reign 
 af Lycurgus. The wisdom of the consti- 
 tution wliich he established, and the exact 
 >bedience paid to his laws, preserved the 
 tate from those domestic divisions which 
 prevailed in other places ; and the remark- 
 able temperance of Sparta, the severity of 
 her discipline, her public spirit, and concern 
 for the liberty and happiness of other com- 
 munities, made her long revered as the 
 parent of Greece. Her constitution, how- 
 ever, was not without its faults. Her go- 
 vernment savoured of the humour of her 
 inhabitants, who extended the same harsh 
 severity to their allies, which they used 
 towards each other. Besides, they were 
 devoted to arms ; and their constitution 
 required continual wars for the preservation 
 of it. This made their government dis- 
 tasteful, and favoured the ambition of the 
 Athenians, their rivals, who, though a more 
 ancient people, had, for many years (through 
 
 their weakness or disorders) lived without 
 any thought of command. 
 
 Athens was originally governed by kings ; 
 the last of whom sacrificed his life to the 
 good of his country ; and, upon his death, 
 the Athenians took occasion to abolish the 
 royalty, and instituted their perpetual 
 archons, which were changed to a decennial, 
 and afterward to an annual, magistracy. 
 The state, however, was not completely 
 settled, until Solon, by his wise laws, restored 
 the love of labour and husbandry, opened 
 a way for commerce, taught his countrymen 
 to enrich themselves, and found means to 
 subdue their licentiousness by the rules of 
 justice, order, and discipline. Athens, thus 
 reformed, was in a fair way of growing great 
 and illustrious, when one of the citizens 
 found means to seize the supreme power. 
 The struggles of the Athenians for liberty, 
 against the successors of this man, was one 
 i occasion of the Persian war ; the glorious 
 exploits of which are too well known to 
 need a recital. The victories of Marathon, 
 Salamis, and Plataea, the chief honour of 
 which the Athenians assumed to them- 
 selves, determined the character of that 
 people, inspired them with the highest no- 
 tions of glory and honour, and at last 
 prompted them to set up for sovereign um- 
 pires of Greece. 
 
 Sparta was willing to resign to them the 
 command of the sea ; but they would be 
 absolute in all. And as they had delivered 
 Greece from the oppression of the barba- 
 rians, they thought themselves entitled to 
 oppress her in their turn. They called 
 themselves protectors of the Grecian cities, 
 but behaved like their lords; till at last, 
 Sparta, urged by the complaints of several 
 states against the violence of Athens, began 
 the famous Peloponnesian war, which was 
 carried on with various success twenty-seven 
 years. The unhappy expedition of the 
 Athenians into Sicily, first shook their 
 power ; and the victory of Lysander at 
 ^Egos-Potamos, entirely overthrew it. 
 
 By this event, however, Greece only 
 changed her masters. Sparta resumed the 
 superiority ; but her new reign lasted only 
 thirty years. The Spartans were possessed 
 with such a prejudice in favour of their own 
 form of government, that they attempted 
 to abolish democracy every where ; and 
 while they imposed their thirty tyrants upon 
 Athens, established a government of ten, 
 in other states, composed of men devoted 
 to their interest. Thus they became more 
 absolute, but at the same time more odious. 
 Their prosperity made them presume too 
 much upon their strength. Their forces 
 were lent to support ihe pretensions of the 
 younger Cyrus. Their king, Agesilaus, 
 was sent into Persia ; where the Great 
 King could not put a stop to his progress. 
 
 Li
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 but bs r bribing the Greeks an.! by that 
 means raising up enemies against Sparta. 
 
 The Greeks readily hearkened to his soli- 
 citations. The Athenians, at the head of 
 the malcontents, resolved to hazard every 
 thing for liberty ; and without reflecting on 
 their late miserable condition, presumed to 
 affront that state which had reduced them 
 to it. They knew so well to make a right 
 use of the oversight the Spartans had com- 
 mitted, in provoking the great king, that, 
 joining their force with the Persian fleet, 
 they defeated them, and rebuilt their walls : 
 nor did they lay down their arms, till the 
 Lacedemonians were obliged, by a solemn 
 treaty, to restore the Grecian cities to their 
 liberty. For although the Lacedemonians 
 pretended a voluntary generosity in this 
 affair, yet it appeared, by the consequence, 
 that fear only had obliged them to it ; as 
 they took an opportunity, some time after, 
 to oppress Thebes, though expressly com- 
 prehended in the treaty. This raised the 
 states of Greece against them. The Athe- 
 nians (who always harboured the most inve- 
 terate hatred and jealousy of them, and had 
 lately been particularly provoked by an at- 
 tempt of one of their generals to seize their 
 port ) set themselves once more at the head 
 of the confederacy, and took upon them- 
 selves the whole expense of the war; in 
 which their arms were crowned with victo- 
 ries by sea and land, at Corinth, Naxos, 
 Corcyra, and Leucas. Thus were the Spar- 
 tans obliged to renew the treaty, and the 
 cities of Greece again restored to an entire 
 independency. — These bold efforts of the 
 Athenians to reduce the Spartan power, and 
 to regain their former sovereignity, are fre- 
 quently extolled in the followmg Orations, 
 as the glorious effects of their concern for 
 the liberties of Greece. 
 
 And now the peace was just concluded, 
 and the Greeks had the fairest prospect of 
 enjoying it, when, on a sudden, the Thebans 
 started up, and asserted their claim to sove- 
 reign power. 
 
 Thebes had, from the earliest ages, been 
 ranked amongst the most considerable states. 
 The natural slowness and heaviness of the 
 inhabitants had, however, prevented them 
 from aiming at any pre-eminence. In the 
 Persian war, they even had the baseness to 
 join with the barbarians. And in order to 
 screen themselves from the resentment of 
 the Athenians on this account, they after- 
 ward attached themselves to Lacedemon ; 
 and continued firm, through the whole 
 course of the Peloponnesian war. They 
 shifted sides, however, some time after, and 
 had some contests with the Lacedemonians. 
 The seizing of their citadel, and the recovery 
 of it out of tlie hands of the Lacedemo- 
 nians by Pelopidas, had created a mutual 
 hatred between these two states. And the 
 Thebans naturally hardy and robust, and 
 grown experienced since the Peloponnesian 
 war (from which time their arms had been 
 constantly exercised), now at length began 
 to entertain thoughts of commanding. 
 They refused to accede to the treaty nego- 
 tiated by the Athenians, unless they were 
 
 acknowledged chief of Ecrotia. This re- 
 fusal not only exposed them to the resent- 
 ment of the king of Persia (who was at 
 that time particularly concerned that the 
 Greeks should be at peace), but raised 
 Athens, Sparta, and indeed all Greece 
 against them. The Lacedemonians declared 
 war; and thinking them an easy victory, 
 now that they were deserted by their allie's, 
 marched their forces a considerable way into 
 the Theban territory. Now it was, that 
 Epaminondas first shone out in all his lus- 
 tre. He put himself at the head of the 
 Thebans, and met the enemy at Leuctra, 
 where he gave them a total overthrow. He 
 then marched into Peloponnesus, and had 
 well-nigh made himself master of the city 
 of Sparta ; relieved some people who had 
 been oppressed by the Spartans ; and by his 
 justice and magnanimity, his extensive abili- 
 ties, and zealous concern for his country, 
 promised to raise the Thebans to the most 
 exalted degree of power and dignity ; when, 
 in another engagement with the Lacedemo- 
 nians at Mantinea, he fell, as it were, in the 
 arms of victory. 
 
 The death of Epaminondas, and the peace 
 which ensued, slackened the zeal of the 
 principal powers of Greece, and rendered 
 them too secure. The Athenians, particu- 
 larly (when they saw the fortune of Lace- 
 demon at the lowest ebb, and that, on the 
 part of Thebes, they were freed from all 
 apprehensions by the death of the general, 
 the soul of their counsels and designs), were 
 now no longer upon their guard, but aban- 
 doned themselves to ease and pleasure. 
 Festivals and public entertainments engaged 
 their attention, and a violent passion for the 
 stage banished all thoughts of business and 
 glory. Poets, players, singers, and dancers, 
 were received with that esteem and applause, 
 which were due to the commanders who 
 fought their battles. They were rewarded 
 extravagantly, and their performances exhi- 
 bited with a magnificence scarcely to be con- 
 ceived. The treasures which should have 
 maintained their armies, were applied to 
 purchase seats in their theatres. Instead of 
 that spirit and vigour which they exerted 
 against the Persian, they were possessed with 
 indolence and effeminacy ; they had no far- 
 ther concern about the affairs of war, than 
 just to keep a few foreign troops in pay : in 
 short, treachery, corruption, and degene- 
 racy, overspread the state. 
 
 But while they were sinking into this con- 
 dition, they found themselves unexpectedly 
 engaged with a very formidable enerm, 
 Philip, king of the Macedonians, a peop'le 
 hitherto obscure, and in a manner barba- 
 rous ; but now, by the courage, activity, and 
 consummate policy of their monarch, ready 
 to lay the foundation of a most extensive 
 empire. 
 
 Philip had been sent early into Thebes as 
 an hostage, where he was so happy as to im- 
 prove his natural anilities, by the instruc- 
 tions of Epaminondas. The news of his 
 brother Perdiccas being slain in a battle with 
 the Illyrians, determined him to fly to the 
 relief of his country : he eluded the vigi-
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 m 
 
 lance of his guards, and escaped privately 
 to Macedon ; where, taking advantage of 
 the people's consternation for the loss of their 
 king, and of the dangers they apprehended 
 from an infant reign, he first got himself 
 declared protector to his nephew, and soon 
 after king in his stead : and indeed the pre- 
 sent condition of the Macedonians required 
 a prince of his abilities. The Illyrians, 
 flushed with their late victory, were prepa- 
 ring to march against them ; the Paxmians 
 harassed them with perpetual incursions ; 
 and, at the same time, Pausanias and Ar- 
 gasus, two of the royal blood, pretended to 
 the crown ; the one supported by Thrace, 
 the other by Athens. 
 
 Under these circumstances, Philip's first 
 care was to gain the affections of his people, 
 to raise their spirits, to train and exercise 
 them, and to reform their military discipline. 
 And now he began to discover those abilities, 
 which afterward raised him to such a height 
 of power, and which were not to be expect- 
 ed in a prince of the age of twenty-two 
 years. 
 
 The chief motive of the Athenians, in 
 supporting the pretensions of Argaeus, was 
 the hopes of getting possession of Amphi- 
 polis, a city bordering on Macedon, which 
 they had long claimed as their colony. It 
 had sometimes been in their hands, some- 
 times subjected to Lacedemon, according to 
 the different changes of fortune of these 
 states. After the peace of Antalcidas, the 
 Greeks acknowledged the pretensions of the 
 Athenians ; and it was resolved, that they 
 should be put in possession of this city at 
 the common charge. Probably the people 
 of Amphipolis refused to submit to their old 
 masters : for the Athenians were obliged to 
 dispatch Iphicrates thither with forces. 
 But the kings of Macedon now began to 
 dispute it with them. Perdiccas made him- 
 self master of it;, and Philip would very 
 gladly have kept it in his own hands ; but 
 this could not be done without weakening 
 his army, and incensing the Athenians, 
 whom his present circumstances required 
 him rather to make his friends : on the other 
 hand, he could not think of suffering them 
 to possess it, as it was the key to that side 
 of his dominions. He therefore took a 
 middle course, and declared it a free city ; 
 thereby leaving the inhabitants to throw off 
 their dependance on their masters, and 
 making it appear to be their own act. At 
 the same time he disarms the Paeonians by 
 the force of presents and promises, and then 
 turns his arms against the Athenians, who 
 had marched to the assistance of Arga:us. 
 A battle ensued, in which Philip was victo- 
 rious. By the death of Argasus, who fell 
 in the action, he was freed from that dis- 
 pute : and bv his respectful care of the 
 Athenians, when he had them in his power, 
 he so far gained upon that people, that they 
 concluded a peace with him. He now found 
 himself strong enough to break with the 
 Paaonians, whom he subdued ; and having 
 gained a complete victory over the Illyrians, 
 he obliged them to restore aU their conquests 
 in Macedon. He also shut up the entrance 
 
 of his kingdom against Pausanias ; but ha- 
 ving provided for the security of it, in the 
 next place he thought of making it more 
 powerful and flourishing. 
 
 The reunion of Amphipolis he considered 
 as tlie principal means to this end ; and 
 therefore, under pretence of punishing some 
 wrongs, which he alleged against that city, 
 he laid siege to it. The moment they per- 
 ceived their danger, the people of Amphi- 
 polis sent two of their citizens to Athens, 
 to solicit succours : but, in order to prevent 
 any opposition on the part of the Athenians, 
 Philip gave them the strongest assurances, 
 that his sole design was to put them in pos- 
 session of it, the moment it was in his power : 
 they therefore suffered him to make a con- 
 quest of it. But, instead of performing his 
 promise, he proceeded to take from them 
 Pydna and Potidaea, with which he pur- 
 chased the friendship of the Olynthians, 
 whom it concerned him at that time to 
 oblige. The golden mines of Crenides fell 
 next into his hands, and contributed greatly 
 to his successes. 
 
 The Athenians could not but be alarmed 
 at the progress of this prince. His vigilance 
 and activity, his policy and insincerity, now 
 began to appear dangerous ; and counsels 
 were held to deliberate upon the measures 
 proper to be taken. But, although the 
 Athenians were possessed with delicacy and 
 sensibility, and entertained magnificent ideas 
 of virtue and its duties, yet *hey wanted 
 application, constancy, and perseverance. 
 The good qualities which had long been the 
 boast of that people, were now disappearing, 
 while their faults increased. Hence it was, 
 that they easily suffered themselves to be 
 lulled into a false security. Besides, they 
 had enough of difficulty to support their ju- 
 risdiction in other parts, and to bear up 
 against a considerable revolt of thfir allies. 
 
 This revolt produced the war called the 
 social war ; which lasted three years, and 
 was succeeded by the Phocian or sacred war, 
 so called, because begun from a motive of 
 religion. The Phocians had ploughed up 
 some ground adjoining to the temple of 
 Apollo at Delphos, which their neighbours 
 exclaimed against as sacrilege, and was so 
 judged by the council of Amphictyons,.that 
 venerable assembly composed of representa- 
 tives from the principal states of Greece, 
 who sat twice every year at Delphos and 
 Thermopylae. They laid a heavy fine upon 
 them ; but, instead of submitting to the 
 sentence, the Phocians alleged, that the 
 care and patronage of the temple belonged 
 anciently to them ; and, encouraged by 
 Philomelus, one of their principal citizens, 
 took up arms to assert their claim. The 
 several states of Greece took part in this 
 quarrel, as their interests and inclinations 
 directed. Athens and Sparta, with some 
 other of the Peloponnesians, declared for 
 the Phocians. The Thebans were then- 
 principal opposers ; and were assisted by the 
 Thessalians, Locrians, and other neigh- 
 bouring states. At first, Philomelus had 
 some success : but, in the second vear 
 of the war, the Thebans gave him a signal
 
 IV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 defeat, and he himself was killed in the 
 pursuit. 
 
 In the mean time, Philip took no part in 
 this war. He was well pleased that the par- 
 ties should exhaust their strength ; and also 
 had an opportunity of securing and extend- 
 ing his frontier without interruption, by 
 taking in such places as were either conve- 
 nient or troublesome to him. Of this latter 
 kind was the city of Methone, which, after 
 some resistance, he took and demolished, 
 annexing its lands to Macedon. During 
 the siege, he was in imminent danger of his 
 life, having lost one of his eyes by an arrow. 
 But it was not long before Philip had a fair 
 opportunity of engaging as a party in the 
 Phocian war. The Thessalians, a people 
 susceptible of all impressions, and incapable 
 of preserving any, equally forgetful of 
 benefits and injuries, ever ready to submit 
 to tyrants, and to implore the assistance of 
 their neighbours to free them from slavery 
 — had some time since been governed by 
 Alexander of Phera?, the most detestable 
 tyrant ever known in Greece. He was des- 
 patched by Tisiphonus, Lycophron, and Pi- 
 tholaus, who seized the government, and 
 became equally intolerable. So that the 
 nobility of Thessaly, with the Aleuadae, 
 descendants from Hercules, at their head, 
 declared against them, and implored the 
 assistance of Philip. This prince willingly 
 sacrificed the hopes of extending his con- 
 quests in Thrace to the honour of assisting 
 the Aleuada?, who were of the same race 
 with him ; and of imitating Pelopidas in 
 giving liberty to Thessaly. He had also 
 long wished to have the Macedonians con- 
 sidered as a Grecian people ; and, as he 
 thought no opportunity could be so honour- 
 able and favourable, as to effect an interest 
 of the affairs of Thessaly, he readily march- 
 ed against the tyrants, and soon divested 
 them of all their authority. 
 
 But Philip's apparent danger from the 
 wound which he received at Methone, em- 
 boldened Lycophron to resume the sovereign 
 power. The Phocians (who, after the death 
 of Philomelus, had renewed the war with 
 all imaginable vigour under Onomarchus) 
 espoused the cause of this tyrant, who had 
 engaged the Thessalians to observe a neu- 
 trality ; and they, in return, supported him 
 with all their power. Philip, therefore, now 
 became involved in the general quarrel. 
 At first, the Phocian general gained some 
 advantages over him ; but he afterward had 
 such success, as enlarged his views, and 
 inspired him with new hopes and expecta- 
 tions. He thought of nothing less than the 
 conquest of Greece ; and, under pretence of 
 marcliing against the Phocians, made a bold 
 attempt to seize the famous pass at Ther- 
 mopylae, which he justly called the key of 
 Greece. This roused the Athenians from 
 their lethargy. At the first news of his 
 march, they flew to the pass, and prevented 
 his design ; as he did not tliink it prudent 
 to force his way. 
 
 We may reasonably look on his retreat 
 from Thermopvls as the era of Philip's 
 hatred to the Athenians. He saw that they j 
 
 were the only people of Greece capable of 
 defeating his projects, or of giving him 
 uneasiness in his own kingdom : he there- 
 fore provided himself, with much diligence, 
 a fleet composed of light ships, which might 
 disturb their trade, and, at the same time, 
 enrich Ids subjects by bringing in prizes. 
 He also increased his army, and projected 
 the destruction of the Athenian colonies in 
 Thrace. At the same time, he practised 
 very successfully at Athens itself ; and, by 
 large appointments, secured some eminent 
 orators, to charm the people with delusive 
 hopes of peace, or to frighten them with 
 expensive estimates, while they pretended a 
 zeal for the defence of the state. 
 
 In a democratical government, like that 
 of Athens, Eloquence was the sure means 
 of recommending its possessor to the atten- 
 tion and regard of his fellow-citizens, and of 
 raising him to all public honours and advan- 
 tages. The gradual improvements of lite- 
 rature had introduced and perfected the arts 
 of moving and persuading ; and perhaps 
 the disorders of the state contributed to 
 make them more important, called forth a 
 greater number of public speakers, and 
 opened a larger field for their abi.ities. 
 Many of those orators, who, about that 
 time, took the lead in the Athenian assem- 
 blies, are lost to posterity. The characters, 
 however, of the most eminent have been 
 transmitted, or may be collected from the 
 writings of antiquity. 
 
 Demades, by his birth and education, 
 seemed destined to meanness and obscurity : 
 but as the Athenian assembly admitted per- 
 sons of all ranks and occupations to speak 
 their sentiments, his powers soon recom- 
 mended him to his countrymen, and raised 
 him from the low condition of a common 
 mariner, to the administration and direction 
 of public affairs. His private life was stain- 
 ed with those brutal excesses, which fre- 
 quently attend the want of early culture, 
 and an intercourse with the inferior and 
 least refined part of mankind. His conduct, 
 as a leader and minister, was not actuated by 
 the principles of delicate honour and inte- 
 grity ; and his eloquence seems to have re- 
 ceived a tincture from his original condition. 
 He appears to have been a strong, bold, and 
 what we call a blunt speaker, whose manner, 
 rude and daring, and sometimes bordering 
 on extravagance, had oftentimes a greater 
 effect than the more corrected style of other 
 speakers, who confined themselves within 
 the bounds of decorum and good-breeding. 
 
 Hyperides, on the contrary, was blessed 
 with all the graces of refinement : harmo- 
 nious, elegant, and polite, with a well-bred 
 festivity, and delicate irony; excellent in 
 panegyric, and of great natural abilities for 
 affecting the passions ; yet his eloquence 
 seems rather to have been pleasing than 
 persuasive. He is said to have been not so 
 well fitted for a popular assembly, and for 
 political debates, as for private causes, and 
 addressing a few select judges : and even 
 here, when he pleaded the cause of a woman 
 for whom he had the tenderest passion, he 
 was obliged to call the charms of his mis-
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 tress to the assistance of his eloquence, and 
 u as more indebted to these for his success 
 'than to his own powers. 
 
 Lycurgus had all the advantages which 
 birth and education could afford for forming 
 an orator. He was the hearer of Plato, and 
 the scholar of Isocrates. He seems to have 
 been particularly affected by the charms of 
 poetry and the polite arts ; nor was he less 
 remarkable for diligence and attention ; yet 
 his influence in the assembly seems, like 
 that of Phocion, to have arisen rather from 
 a respect to his character, and the general 
 opinion of his virtue and integrity, than 
 from his abilities as a speaker. 
 
 /Eschines was an orator, whose style was 
 full, diffusive, and sonorous. He was a 
 stranger to the glowing expressions and da- 
 ring figures of Demosthenes, which he treats 
 with contempt and ridicule. But, though 
 more simple, he is less affecting ; and, by 
 being less contracted, has not so much 
 strength and energy. Or, as Quintilian 
 expresses it, carnis plus habet, tacertortim 
 minus. But, if we would view his abilities 
 to the greatest advantage, we must not 
 compare them with those of his rival. 
 Then will his figures appear to want neither 
 beauty nor grandeur. His easy and natural 
 manner will then be thought highly plea- 
 sing ; and a just attention will discover a 
 good degree of force and energy in his style, 
 which, at first, appears only flowing and har- 
 monious. 
 
 But all the several excellences of his coun- 
 trymen and contemporaries were at least 
 equalled by Demosthenes. [1.] His own, 
 no age or nation could attain to. From 
 him, critics have formed their rules ; and 
 all the masters in his own art have thought 
 it an honour to imitate him. To enlarge 
 upon his character, would be to resume a 
 subject already exhausted by every critic, 
 both ancient and modern. Let it be suffi- 
 cient to say, that energy and majesty are his 
 peculiar excellencies. From the gravity of 
 Thucydides, the pomp and dignity of Plato, 
 the ease and elegance, the neatness and sim- 
 plicity of the Attic writers, he formed a 
 style and manner admirably fitted to his own 
 temper and genius, as well as that of his 
 hearers. His own severity determined him 
 to the more forcible methods of astonishing 
 and terrifying, rather than the gentle and 
 insinuating arts of persuasion ; nor did the 
 circumstances and dispositions of his coun- 
 trymen admit of any but violent impres- 
 sions. As many of those to whom he ad- 
 dressed himself were men of low rank and 
 occupations, his images and expressions are 
 sometimes familiar. As others of them 
 were themselves eminent in speaking, and 
 could readily see through all the common 
 artifices of oratory, these he affects to de- 
 spise ; appears only solicitous to be under- 
 stood ; yet, as it were without design, 
 raises the utmost admiration and delight ; 
 
 [1.] Nihil Lysias subtilitate cedit; nihil 
 argutiis et acumine Hyperidi ; nihil leni- 
 tate iEschini et splendore verborum. 
 
 Cic. lie Orat. 
 
 such delight as arises from the clearness 
 of evidence, and the fulness of conviction. 
 And, as all, even the lower part of his 
 hearers, were acquainted with the beauties 
 of poetry and the force of harmony, he 
 could not admit of any thing rude or 
 negligent, but with the strictest attention 
 laboured those compositions which appear 
 so natural and unadorned. They have 
 their ornaments, but these are austere and 
 manly, and such as are consistent with 
 freedom and sincerity. A full and regular 
 series of diffusive reasoning would have 
 been intolerable in an Athenian assembly. 
 He often contents himself with an imper- 
 fect hint : a sentence, a word, even his 
 silence, is sometimes pregnant with mean- 
 ing. And this quickness and vehemence 
 flattered a people who valued themselves 
 on their acuteness and penetration. The 
 impetuous torrent that in a moment bears 
 down all before it, the repeated flashes of 
 lightning, which spread universal terror, 
 and which the strongest eye dares not en- 
 counter, are the images by which the nature 
 of his eloquence hath been expressed. 
 
 As a statesman and as a citizen, his con- 
 duct was no less remarkable. If the fire 
 of his eloquence seems sometimes abated, 
 his judgment and accuracy and political 
 abilities are then conspicuous. The bravery 
 with which he opposed the passions and 
 prejudices of his countrymen, and the ge- 
 neral integrity of his character (to which 
 Philip himself bare witness) are deserving 
 of the highest honour ; and, whatever 
 weakness he betrayed in his military con- 
 duct, his death must be acknowledged truly 
 heroic. 
 
 The reader will observe, that the Oration 
 entitled, On the Halonesus, is not admitted 
 into the following collection. Some critics 
 ascribe it to Hegesippus, [2.] an Athenian 
 orator of inferior character. But, however 
 this may be, it is certainly entirely different 
 from those compositions of Demosthenes 
 which 3re confessedly genuine. That he 
 really wrote an oration so entitled, [3.] the 
 
 [2.] In the oration on the Halonesus, the 
 speaker takes notice of his having been the 
 manager of a prosecution against Calippus, 
 on account of an illegal motior mane by 
 this man in the assembly, relative to the 
 boundaries of Cardia. Hegesippus was the 
 person who conducted this prosecution ; and 
 this circumstance Libanius mentions as ha- 
 ving (together with the difference of style) 
 induced the critics to ascribe this oration, 
 not to Demosthenes, but to Hegesippus. 
 To this we may add another circumstance 
 of the like nature. The speaker observes 
 that ne went on an embassy to Macedon, in 
 order to obtain an explanation and amend- 
 ment of some articles in the treaty conclud- 
 ed between Philip and the Athenians. He- 
 gesippus was at the head of this embassy : 
 nor was Demosthenes at all concerned in it, 
 as appears from the oration of this latter 
 (7rept T?ir llapa7rp.) 
 
 [3.] yEschines, in his oration on the Em- 
 bassy, mentions two particulars in that of 
 B2
 
 Vl 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 authority of the ancient writers confirm, 
 I think, sufficiently. But one would be 
 
 Demosthenes on the Halonesus, neither of 
 which are found in the oration now extant. 
 The first is, that Demosthenes treated 
 Philip's ambassadors with great severity, 
 and insisted that they were really sent as 
 spies. The other, that he recommended to 
 the Athenians by no means to submit their 
 disputes with Philip to the decision of an 
 umpire ; for that no one impartial mediating 
 state could be found through Greece so 
 
 tempted to believe, that theTmssages 1 which 
 they have quoted, had been taken up by 
 some old scholiast, and inserted in a perfor- 
 mance of his own. 
 
 As to the translation now offered to the 
 public, the author has no doubt but that it 
 will meet with all due indulgence from the 
 ingenious and judicious reader. His sen- 
 tence must determine its fate, and to him it 
 is implicitly submitted. 
 
 totally were the minds of all men corrupted 
 by the Macedonian.
 
 THE 
 
 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 THE FIRST ORATION AGAINST PHILIP: 
 
 PRONOUNCED IN THE ARCHONSHIP OF ARISTODEMUS, IN THE FIRST YEAR OF TKU 
 HUNDRED AND SEVENTH OLYMPIAD, AND THE NINTH OF PHILIP'S REIGN. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 We have seen Philip opposed in his de- 
 sign of passing into Greece through Ther- 
 mopylae, and obliged to retire. The danger 
 they had thus escaped deeply affected the 
 Athenians. So daring an attempt, which 
 was, in effect, declaring his purposes, filled 
 them with astonishment ; and the view of 
 a power, which every day received new acces- 
 sions, drove them even to despair. Yet the 
 aversion to public business was still predo- 
 minant. They forgot that Philip might 
 renew his attempt, and thought they had 
 provided sufficiently for their security, by 
 posting a body of troops at the entrance of 
 Attica, under the command of Menelaus, a 
 foreigner. They then proceeded to convene 
 an assembly of the people, in order to con- 
 sider what measures were to be taken to 
 check the progress of Philip : on which 
 occasion Demosthenes, for the first time, 
 appeared against that prince, and displayed 
 those abilities which proved the greatest 
 obstacle to his designs. 
 
 At Athens, the whole power and manage- 
 ment of affairs were placed in the people. 
 It was their prerogative to receive appeals 
 from the courts of justice, to abrogate and 
 enact laws, to make what alterations in the 
 state they judged convenient : in short, all 
 matters, public or private, foreign or domes- 
 tic, civil, military, or religious, were deter- 
 mined by them. 
 
 Whenever there was occasion to deliberate, 
 the people assembled early in the morning, 
 sometimes in the forum or public place, 
 sometimes in a place called Pnyx, but most 
 frequently in the theatre of Bacchus. A 
 few days before each assembly, there was a 
 npofpa/j/jia or placard fixed on the statues 
 of some illustrious men erected in the 
 city, to give notice of the subject to be deba- 
 ted. As they refused admittance Into the 
 assembly to all persons who had not attain- 
 ed the necessary age, so they obliged all 
 others to attend. The Lexiarchs stretched 
 out a cord dyed with scarlet, and by it 
 pushed the people towards the place of 
 meeting. Such as received the stain were 
 fined ; the more diligent had a small pecu- 
 niary reward. These Lexiarchs were the 
 keepers of the register, in which were enrol- 
 
 led the names of such citizens as had a 
 right of voting. And all had this right who 
 were of age, and not excluded by a personal 
 fault. Undutiful children, cowards, brutal 
 debauchees, prodigals, debtors to the public, 
 were all excluded. Until the time of Cecrops, 
 women had a right of suffrage, which they 
 were said to have lost on account of their 
 partiality to Minerva, in her dispute with 
 Neptune about giving a name to the city. 
 
 In ordinary cases, all matters were first 
 deliberated in the senate of five hundred, 
 composed of fifty senators chosen out of 
 each of the ten tribes. Each tribe had its 
 turn of presiding, and the fifty senators in 
 office were called Prytanes. And according 
 to the number of the tribes, the Attic year 
 was divided into ten parts, the four first 
 containing thirty-six, the other thirty-five 
 days; in order to make the Lunar year 
 complete, which, according to their calcula- 
 tion, contained three hundred and fifty-four 
 days. During each of these divisions, ten, 
 of the fifty Prytanes governed for a week, 
 and were called Proedri : and of these he, 
 who in the course of the week presided for 
 one day, was called the Epistate ; three of 
 the Proedri being excluded from this office. 
 
 The Prytanes assembled the people ; the 
 Proedri declared the occasion; and the 
 Epistate demanded their voices. This was 
 the case in the ordinary assemblies: the 
 extraordinary were convened as well by the 
 generals as the Prytanes ; and sometimes ti.p 
 people met of their own accord, without 
 waiting the formalities. 
 
 The assembly was opened by a sacrifice ; 
 and the place was sprinkled with the blood 
 of the victim.— Then an imprecation was 
 pronounced, conceived hi these terms: 
 " May the gods pursue that man to destruc- 
 tion, with all his race, who shall act, speak, 
 or contrive, any thing against this state I" 
 This ceremony being finished, the Proedri 
 declared the occasion of the assembly, and 
 reported the opinion of the senate. If any 
 doubt arose, a herald by commission from 
 the Epistate, with a loud voice, invited any 
 citizen, first of those above the age of fifty, 
 to speak his or-iriion ; and then the rest ac- 
 cording to their ages. This right of pre- 
 cedence had been granted by a law of Solon 
 and the order of speaking determined en tire-
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. I. 
 
 ly by the difference of years. In the time 
 of Demosthenes, this law was not in force. 
 It is said to have been repealed about fifty 
 years before the date of this oration. Yet 
 the custom still continued, out of respect to 
 the reasonable and decent purpose for which 
 the law was originally enacted. When a 
 speaker had delivered his sentiments, he 
 generally called on an officer appointed for 
 that purpose, to read his motion, and pro- 
 pound it in form. He then sat down, or 
 resumed his discourse, and enforced his mo- 
 tion by additional arguments : and some- 
 times the speech was introduced by his mo- 
 tion thus propounded. When all the speakers 
 had ended, the people gave their opinion, by 
 stretching out their liands to him whose 
 proposal pleased them most. And Xenophon 
 reports, that, night having come on when 
 the people were engaged in an important 
 debate, they were obliged to defer their de- 
 termination till next day, for fear of confu- 
 sion, when their hands were to be raised. 
 
 " Porrexerunt manus," saith Cicero (pro 
 Flacco), " et Psephisma natum est." And, 
 to constitute this Psephisma or decree, six 
 thousand citizens at least were required. 
 When it was drawn up, the name of its 
 author, or that person whose opinion 
 had prevailed, was prefixed : whence, in 
 speaking of it, ithey called it his decree. 
 The date of it contained the name of the 
 Archon, that of the day and month, and 
 that of the tribe then presiding. The busi- 
 ness being over, the Prytanes dismissed the 
 assembly. 
 
 The reader who chooses to be more mi- 
 nutely informed in the customs, and manner 
 of procedure in the public assemblies of 
 Athens, may consult the Archaeologia of 
 Archbishop Potter, Sigonius, or the Concio- 
 natrices of Aristophanes. 
 
 PHILIPPIC THE FIRST. 
 
 Aristodemo, Archon — A. R. Philip. £— 
 Olympiad. UfJ. An. 1. 
 
 Had we been convened, Athenians ! on 
 some new subject of debate, I had waited 
 until most of the usual persons had declared 
 their opinions. If I had approved of any 
 thing proposed by them, I should have con- 
 tinued silent : if not, I had then attempted 
 to speak my sentiments. But since those 
 very points on which these speakers have 
 oftentimes been heard already, are at this 
 time to be considered ; though I have arisen 
 first, [l.j I presume I may expect your 
 
 n.] Though I have arisen first, &c] Demos- 
 1 nenes was at that time but thirty years old, 
 whit h made it necessary for him to apolo- 
 gize for his zeal in rising before the other 
 speakers ; and the ingenious turn which he 
 gives it, not only prevents any unfavourable 
 impression on the minds of his hearers, but 
 engages their affection, and excites their at- 
 tention, by the tacit promise of better coun- 
 sel than they had hitherto received. Tourreil. 
 
 pardon ; for if they on former occasions had 
 advised- the necessary measures, ye would 
 not have found it needful to consult at pre- 
 sent. 
 
 First, then, Athenians ! these our affairs 
 must not be thought desperate ; no, though 
 their situation seems entirely deplorable. 
 For the most shocking circumstance of all 
 our past conduct is really the most favoura- 
 ble to our future expectations. And what i> 
 this ? That our own total indolence hath 
 been the cause of all our present difficulties. 
 For were we thus distressed, in spite of 
 every vigorous effort which the honour of 
 our state demanded, there were then no hope 
 of a recovery. 
 
 In the next place, reflect (you who have 
 been informed by others, and you who can 
 yourselves remember), how great a power 
 [2.] the Lacedemonians not long sincepos- 
 sessed ; and with what resolution, with what 
 dignity, you disdained to act unworthy of 
 the state, but maintained the war against 
 them for the rights of Greece. Why do I 
 mention these things ? That ye may know, 
 that ye may see, Athenians ! that if duly 
 vigilant, ye cannot have any thing to fear ; 
 that if once remiss, not any thing can hap- 
 pen agreeable to your desires ; witness the 
 then powerful arms of Lacedemon, which a 
 just attention to your interests enabled you 
 to vanquish : and this man's late insolent 
 attempt, which our insensibility to all oar 
 great concerns hath made the cause of this 
 confusion. 
 
 If there be a man in this assembly who 
 thinks that we must find a formidable enemy 
 in Philip, while he views, on one hand, the 
 numerous armies [3.] which attend him; 
 and, on the other, the weakness of the state 
 thus despoiled of its dominions; he thinks 
 justly. Vet, let him reflect on ibis: there 
 was a time, Athenians ! when we possessed 
 Pydna, and Potidsea, and Methone, and all 
 that country round : when many of those 
 states, now subjected to him, were free and 
 
 [2.] How great a power, &c] It has been 
 already observed in the preface to these ora- 
 tions, that Demosthenes takes many occa- 
 sions of extolling the efforts of Athens to 
 reduce the Spartan power, and to regain 
 that sovereignty which they lost by the 
 victory of Lysander at -Egos-Potamos. 
 These" efforts he every where represents as 
 high instances of magnanimity and public 
 spirit : though revenge and jealousy had no 
 less share in diem. The victories which the 
 Athenians gained over Sparta at Corinth, 
 Naxos, &c. and which he here alludes to, 
 happened about twenty-four years before the 
 date of this oration : so that he might well 
 appeal to the memories of many persons 
 present. 
 
 [3.] The numerous armies, &c] The 
 number of Philip's forces at that time 
 amounted to twenty thousand foot and 
 three thousand horse: a great army com- 
 pared with those of the Greeks. At their 
 march to Marathon, the Athe?iians could not 
 assemble more than ten thousand forces 
 I Tourreil.
 
 ORAT. 1.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 independent, and more inclined to our alli- 
 ance than to his. Had then Philip reasoned 
 in the same manner—" How shall 1 dare to 
 attack the Athenians, whose garrisons com- 
 mand my territory, while I am destitute of 
 all assistance !"— he would not have engaged 
 in those enterprises which are now crowned 
 with success ; nor could he have raised him- 
 self to this pitch of greatness. No, Athe- 
 nians ! he knew this well, that all these 
 places are but prizes, [1.] laid between the 
 combatants, and readv for the conqueror : 
 that the dominions of the absent devolve 
 naturallv to those who are in the field ; the 
 possessions of the supine to the active and 
 intrepid. Animated by these sentiments, he 
 overturns whole countries ; he holds all peo- 
 ple in subjection : some, as by the right of 
 conquest ; others, under the title of allies 
 and confederates : for all are willing to con- 
 federate with those whom they see prepared 
 and resolved to exert themselves as they 
 ought. 
 
 And if you, my countrymen ! will now at 
 length be persuaded to entertain the like 
 sentiments : if each of you, renouncing all 
 evasions, will be ready to approve himself a 
 useful citizen, to the utmost that his station 
 and abilities demand : if the rich will be 
 ready to contribute, and the young to take 
 the held : in one word, if you will be your- 
 selves, and banish those vain hopes which 
 every single person entertains, — that while so 
 many others are engaged in public business, 
 his service will not be required ; you then 
 (if heaven so pleases) shall regain your do- 
 minions, recall those opportunities your 
 supineness hath neglected, and chastise the 
 insolence of this man. For you are not to 
 imagine, that, like a god, he is to enjoy his 
 present greatness for ever fixed and un- 
 changeable. No, Athenians ! there are who 
 hate him, who fear him, who envy him, even 
 among those seemingly the most attached to 
 his cause. These are passions common to 
 mankind ; nor must we think that his friends 
 only are exempted from them. It is true, 
 they lie concealed at present, as our indo- 
 lence deprives them of all resource. But 
 let us shake oft' this indolence ! for you see 
 how we are situated ; you see the outrageous 
 arrogance of this man, who does not leave it 
 to your choice whether you shall act, or re- 
 main quiet ; but braves you with his me- 
 naces ; and talks (as we are informed) [2.] 
 
 [1.] But prizes, &c] His hearers were of 
 all others most devoted to public games 
 and entertainments, and must therefore 
 have been particularly sensible of the beau- 
 ty of this image. 
 
 [2.] And taiks (as we are informed), &c] 
 The success which had hitherto attended 
 Philip's arms, must naturally have inspired 
 him with those designs which he afterward 
 executed against the Athenians : and resent- 
 ment of their late opposition at Thermo- 
 pyla; might have made him less careful to 
 conceal them, at least in his own court. 
 This the orator represents as arrogant and 
 extravagant menaces : not that a man who 
 had so ju«t a conception of the weakness of 
 
 in a str*In of the highest extravagance : 
 and is not able to rest satisfied with his pre- 
 sent acquisitions, but is ever in pursuit of 
 farther conquests ; and while we sit down 
 inactive and irresolute, encloses us on all 
 sides with his toils. 
 
 When, therefore, O my countrymen ! 
 when will you exert your vigour? When 
 roused by some event ? When forced by 
 some necessity ? What then are we to think 
 of our present condition ? To freemen, the 
 disgrace attending on misconduct, is, in my 
 opinion, the most urgent necessity. Or say, 
 is it your sole ambition to wander through 
 the public places, each inquiring of the other, 
 "What new advices?" Can any thing be 
 more new, than that a man of Macedon 
 should conquer the Athenians, and give law 
 to Greece?— "Is Philip dead ?"[3.]—" No, 
 but in great danger." — How are you concern- 
 ed in those rumours ? Suppose he should 
 meet some fatal stroke : you would soon raise 
 up another Philip, if your interests are thus 
 regarded. For it is not to his own strength 
 that he so much owes his elevation, as to 
 our supineness. And should some accident 
 [4.] affect him, should Fortune, who hath 
 ever been more careful of the state, than 
 we ourselves, now repeat her favours ; (and 
 may she thus crown them !)— be assured of 
 this, that by being on the spot, ready to 
 take advantage of the confusion, you will 
 
 the Athenian politics, and the vigour and 
 abilities of their enemy, could really believe 
 such designs extravagant and romantic. But 
 it was part of his address sometimes to avoid 
 shocking the national vanity of his country- 
 men. After all their losses, and amidst all 
 their indolence, they could not entertain a 
 thought so mortifying, as that the conque- 
 rors of Persia and the arbiters of Greece 
 could ever see their liberty essentially affect- 
 ed, or their power and glory entirely wrested 
 from them, by a king of Macedon. 
 
 [3.] Is Philip dead, &c] These rumours 
 and inquiries of the Athenians were occasi- 
 oned by the wound Philip received at Me- 
 thone, the year before, and which was fol- 
 lowed by a dangerous fit of sickness 
 
 Longinus quotes this whoiei passage as a 
 beautiful instance of those pathetic figures, 
 which give life, and force, and energy, to an 
 oration. Taurreil. 
 
 The English reader will find the remark 
 in Sect. 18 of Mr. Smith's translation. 
 
 [4.] Some accident, &c] — If he should 
 die. This is plainly the sense of it : but it 
 must be expressed covertly, as Demosthenes 
 has done, not. to transgress against that de- 
 corum which Cicero says this orator made 
 his first rule. For there were certain things 
 which the ancients presumed not to express 
 but in terms obscure and gentle; that they 
 might not pronounce what were called verba 
 male ominata. They did not dare to say to 
 any person, ' If you should be killed; If you 
 should die :" they concealed as much as possi. 
 ble the melancholy and odious idea of an 
 approaching, or even of a distant, death. 
 The Greeks said ei t< TriiOut : the Romans, 
 si quid humanitus contingut. Olivet,
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. I. 
 
 every where be absolute masters ; but in 
 your present disposition, even if a favoura- 
 ble juncture should present you with Am- 
 phipolis, [1.] you could not take possession 
 
 Tl.] Present you with Amphipolis, &c] 
 Tfiey had nothing more at heart than the 
 recovery of this city. So that the author 
 here gives the last and most heightening 
 stroke to his description of their indolence. 
 Tourreil. 
 
 And at the same time by artfully hinting 
 at such an event, as possible, he rouses 
 their attention, and enlivens their hopes and 
 expectations. 
 
 The Italian commentator illustrates this 
 passage in the following manner: " Monet 
 orator, quod, quamvis occidat ejusdem (scil. 
 Amphipolis) compotes fieri, ipsis tamen non 
 satis id fore ad turbandas res Macedonicas ; 
 cum aliis tot locis, qua? memoravimus, pri- 
 vati, ad tantam rerum molem parum opis 
 habere possint, ex una duntaxat civitate." 
 Accordingly, the passage before us hath been 
 rendered to this effect : If some favourable 
 conjuncture should deliver up Amphipolis 
 to you, &c. you could not receive the least 
 benefit from the possession, with respect to 
 Macedon. The assertion of the orator, as 
 expressed in the present translation, hath 
 been pronounced extraordinary, and the 
 argument inconclusive. The substance, 
 therefore, of the present argument, I shall 
 here endeavour to collect : You are all 
 earnest to be informed whether Philip be 
 dead or no. But, unless you change your 
 measures, his death or life can make no dif- 
 ference, or prove of any consequence. In- 
 deed, if some accident should take him off, 
 nothing more would be necessary to give the 
 full advantage of the confusion which such 
 an event must occasion, than to appear on 
 the frontier of Macedon with a powerful 
 force. This would make you absolute mas- 
 ters of the country. But in your present 
 circumstances, what would it avail, even if 
 such a favourable incident, as that of Philip's 
 death, should give you an opportunity of re- 
 covering Amphipolis ? So important an ac- 
 quisition (which would in a great measure 
 enable you to command all Macedon) must 
 still be lost ; unless you had your forces ready 
 you could not take possession of it. Whether 
 there be any thing unreasonable in this as- 
 sertion, or impertinent in this argument, 
 must be submitted to the reader. With 
 deference to this judgment, I must declare, 
 that it appears to me to have rather more 
 force, and to set the fatal consequence of the 
 indolence and Irresolution of the Athenians 
 in a stronger light, than the other interpre- 
 tation ; whose propriety may be at once de- 
 termined, by comparing the passage with 
 the sentence immediately preceding. In that 
 the orator declares, that in case of Philip's 
 death, the Athenians had no more to do, 
 but to appear on the frontier of Macedon, 
 in order to gain the absolute disposal of the af- 
 fairs of that kingdom^ "lot)' ot< irXriaiov /j.tv 
 c>vr«, iiTrairiv av T019 7rp'<7/iacri TeTapa-*- 
 
 oaiatic. We must, therefore, be at some 
 
 of it, while this suspense prevails in ycu. 
 designs and in your councils. 
 
 And now, as to the necessity of a general 
 vigour and alacrity, of this you must be 
 fully persuaded : this point therefore I shall 
 urge no farther. But the nature of the 
 armament, which, I think, will extricate 
 you from the present difficulties, the num- 
 bers to be raised, the subsidies required for 
 their support, and all the other necessaries ; 
 how they may (in my opinion) be best and 
 most expeditiously provided ; these things 
 I shall endeavour to explain. — But here I 
 make this request, Athenians ! that you 
 would not be precipitate, but suspend your 
 judgment till you have heard me fullv. And 
 if, at first, I seem to propose a new kind of 
 arrangement, let it not be thought that 1 
 am delaying your affairs. For it is not they 
 who cry out Instantly ! This moment ! 
 whose counsels suit the present juncture (as 
 it is not possible to repel violences already 
 committed, by any occasional detachment), 
 but he who will shew you, of what kind 
 that armament must be, how great, and how 
 supported, which may subsist until we yield 
 to peace, or till our enemies sink beneath 
 our arms ; for thus only can we be secured 
 from future dangers. — These things, I think, 
 I can point out : not that I would prevent 
 any other person from declaring his opinion. 
 — Thus far am I engaged : how I can acquit 
 myself, will immediately appear : to your 
 judgments I appeal. 
 
 First, then, Athenians ! I say that you 
 should fit out fifty ships of war : and then 
 resolve, that on the first emergency you will 
 embark yourselves. To these I insist that 
 you must add transport and other necessary 
 vessels sufficient for half our horse. Thus 
 far we should be provided against those sud- 
 den excursions from his own kingdom, to 
 Thermopylae, to the (Jhersonesus, [2.] to 
 
 pains to clear Demosthenes of the suspicion 
 of inconsistency, if the very next sentence 
 be understood as containing a declaration, 
 That although the Athenians should not 
 only appear upon the border of Macedon, 
 but there possess themselves of a post of 
 the utmost consequence, still they could 
 derive no advantage from their acquisition, 
 far from having the whole kingdom at their 
 disposal. What seems to have tempted the 
 Italian commentator to suggest this inter- 
 pretation is, the expression, Aioovtoiv iifuv 
 ™» Kaipu>v 'Afxij>iitu\iv, if some conjunc- 
 tures should give you Amphipolis, which he 
 takes in a literal sense. But the genius of 
 spirited eloquence, and of our orator in par- 
 ticular, fully warrants us to regard it only as 
 a lively figure, and to understand no more 
 by giving up, than affording a favourable 
 opportunity of gaining. 
 
 [2.] To the Chersonesus.] The year be- 
 fore, Cersobleptes, unable to defend this 
 country against Philip, had put the Athe- 
 nians hi possession of it. Cardia, one of the 
 chief cities, refused to acknowledge these 
 new sovereigns, and had recourse to the 
 protection of Philip, who, under pretence
 
 OUAT. I.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 Olynthus, [1.] to whatever places he thinks 
 >roper. For of this lie should necessarily 
 je persuaded , that possibly you may break 
 out from this immoderate indolence, and 
 fly to some scene of action : as you did to 
 Euboea, [2.] and formerly, as we are told. 
 
 I 
 
 of supporting them, carried his arms into 
 the Chersonesus. Tourreil. 
 
 [1.] To Olynthus.] Philip had already 
 committed some acts of hostility against 
 this state, but had not as yet formed the 
 siege of Olynthus, or taken any measures 
 tending to it : for in such a case Demos- 
 thenes woidd not have touched so lightly 
 upon an enterprise, which he afterward 
 dwells upon so often, and with so much 
 force. Tourreil. 
 
 [2.] To Euboea, &c] Mons. Tourreil 
 translates this passage thus : Et qu'il risque 
 de retrouver en vous ces memes Atheniens, 
 qu'il rencontra sur son chemin en Eubee, &c. 
 (for which there is no warrant in the origi- 
 nal): and taking for granted that all the 
 expeditions here mentioned were made 
 against Philip, he endeavours to settle the 
 date of this to Euboea bv conjecture. But 
 it does not appear from history that Philip 
 carried his arms into that island, before his 
 attempt on Thermopylae. In the three suc- 
 ceeding Olvnthiac orations, there is not the 
 least mention of such a thing, though there 
 is a particular recital of his expeditions in 
 the third, and though afterward the orator 
 inveighs loudly against his hostile attempts 
 in Euboea. I apprehend, therefore, that the 
 expedition hinted at in this place was that 
 which the Athenians made about seven years 
 before in favour of the Eubceans against 
 Thebes ; when in five days they brought an 
 army into Euboea, and in thirty obliged the 
 Thebans to come to terms, and evacuate 
 the island (according to j-Eschines.) — Demos- 
 thenes mentions this in other places ; parti- 
 cularly about the end of the oration on the 
 state of the Chersonesus ; where he quotes 
 part of the speech made by Timotheus to 
 encourage the Athenians to this expedition. 
 
 In the above note, I have endeavoured to 
 suggest some reasons why the expeditions, 
 here alluded to, could not have been made 
 against Philip. But it hath been affirmed 
 that, if this were so, it would be almost im- 
 pertinent in our orator to mention them. 
 That as facts, they must be found spiritless, 
 if taken in a gerteral sense, and, as argu- 
 ments, inconclusive. The translator can, 
 with sincerity, declare, that if any represen- 
 tation of his tends, in the least, to depreciate 
 the value of the great original, he readily 
 gives it up as utterly erroneous and indefen- 
 sible. But at the same time, he must 
 observe, that if it be a fault to make use of 
 such facts and such arguments, it is a fault 
 which Demosthenes has frequently com- 
 mitted. Thus he speaks of the vigorous 
 opposition of his countrymen to the Lace- 
 demonians ; of their marching against the 
 Corinthians and Megareans ; of their expel- 
 ling the Thebans from Euboea, &c. In the 
 second Philippic oration, he tells his coun- 
 trymen, that the Macedonian must regard 
 
 to Haliartus, [:».] and hut now, to Thermo- 
 pylae. But although we should not act with 
 all this vigour (which yet I must regard as 
 our indispensible duty), still the measures I 
 propose will have their use ; as his fears may 
 keep him quiet, when he knows we are pre- 
 pared (and this he will know, for there are 
 too many [4.] among ourselves, who inform 
 him of every thing): or if he should de- 
 spise our armament, his security may prove 
 fatal to him ; as it will be absolutely in our 
 
 them as the great and strenuous defenders 
 of Greece ; because he must be informed of 
 the spirit which their ancestors discovered 
 in the days of his predecessor Alexander. If 
 we are not to allow the orator to reason, 
 from the conduct of his contemporaries, on 
 former occasions, to the conduct which they 
 ought to pursue, or which may be expected 
 from them in their contest with Philip, what 
 shall we say of an argument deduced from 
 their ancestors in the heroic age of Athens ? 
 The truth seems to be, that although the 
 facts supposed to be alluded to in this pas- 
 sage, had been passed over by historians 
 (which I cannot admit); yet, we are not 
 from hence to conclude, that they had no 
 weight or importance in the Athenian as- 
 sembly. We are not to judge of the light 
 in which they appeared there, from the 
 obscurity into which distance of time and 
 place may have now cast them. The rea- 
 sons of this are obvious. 
 
 [3.] To Haliartus.] Tourreil refers this 
 to some action which he supposes might 
 have happened in Bceotia in the course of 
 the Phocian war, and in which the Athe- 
 nians might have had their share of the 
 honour. Sut from the text, it should seem 
 that the event alluded to must have hap- 
 pened at some considerable distance of time, 
 and have descended to the orator by tradi- 
 tion — About forty years before this oration, 
 when Thebes and Sparta began to quarrel, 
 Ljjsander, the Spartan general, threatened 
 the Thebans with a very dangerous war, and 
 began with laying siege to this city of Hali- 
 artus. The Thebans applied for aid to the 
 Athenians, which they readily granted 
 (though the Thebans had just before pressed 
 for the utter demolition of their state), and 
 obliged Pausanias to raise the siege, after 
 Lysander had been killed. I apprehend 
 that this is the expedition here alluded to. 
 It was the more remarkable, as the Athe- 
 nian power was then at the lowest ebb. 
 You, Athenians ! says Demosthenes in his 
 oration on the Crown, at a time when the 
 Lacedemonians had the absolute command 
 both at sea and land ; when Attica was quite 
 encompassed with their commanders and 
 their garrisons ; when Euboea, Tanagra, all 
 Boeotia, Megara, yEgina, Cleone, and the 
 other islands, were hi their possession ; when 
 the state had not one ship, not one wall, — 
 ye marched out to Haliartus, &c 
 
 [4.] Too many, Arc] He glances particu- 
 larly at Aristodemus and Neoptolemus. As 
 to yEschines, he had not been with Philip six 
 years after. Tourreil.
 
 6 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ouat. r. 
 
 power, at the first favourable juncture, to 
 make a descent upon his own coasts. 
 
 These, then, are the resolutions 1 propose, 
 — these the provisions it will become you to 
 make. And I pronounce it still necessary 
 to raise some other forces which may harass 
 him with perpetual incursions. Talk not 
 of your ten thousands, or twenty thousands, 
 of foreigners ; of those armies which [1.] 
 appear so magnificent on paper ; but let 
 them be the natural forces of the state : and 
 if you choose a single person, if a number, 
 if this particular man, or whomever you 
 appoint as general, let them be entirely 
 under his guidance and authority. I also 
 move you, that subsistence be provided for 
 them. But as to the quality, the numbers, 
 the maintenance of this body ; how are 
 these points to be settled ? — I now proceed 
 to speak of each of them distinctly. 
 
 The body of infantry, therefore, — but 
 here give me leave to warn you of an error, 
 which hath often proved injurious to you. 
 Think not that your preparations never can 
 be too magnificent : great and terrible in 
 your decrees ; in execution, weak and con- 
 temptible. Let your preparations, let your 
 supplies, at first be moderate ; and add to 
 these, if you find them not sufficient. — I 
 ,iay, then, that the whole body of infantry 
 should be two thousand : of these, that five 
 nundred should be Athenians, of such an 
 age as you shall think proper, and with a 
 stated time for service ; not long, but such 
 as that others mav have their turn of duty. 
 Let the rest be formed of foreigners. To 
 those you are to add two hundred horse, 
 fifty of them at least Athenians, to serve 
 in the same manner as the foot. For these 
 vou are to provide transports. — And now, 
 what farther preparations ?— Ten light gal- 
 leys. For, as he hath a naval power, [2. J 
 
 [1.] Those armies which, &o] In the 
 Greek it is eniaToKi/jiaiou? dwdfiets. — In- 
 stead of enumerating the various senses in 
 which the commentators interpret this ex- 
 
 Eression, I shall copy an observation on it 
 y the Abb£ D'Olivet, whose interpretation 
 I have followed : — I have, without any 
 refinement, chosen a plain expression, which 
 seems to hit the thought of Demosthenes 
 directly, and to paint strongly the bitter 
 ridicule of the passage. It was usual for 
 the Athenians, upon any emergency, to write 
 to all quarters to demand soldiers. They 
 were answered, that in such a place such a 
 number would be provided : from another 
 place, so many more might be expected. But 
 in the end it appeared, that these were by no 
 means so many effective men. There were 
 great abatements to be made from the num- 
 bers promised : and we find besides, from 
 this oration, that these foreigners were not 
 paid at all, or ill-paid ; so that these grand 
 armies were no where complete, but in the 
 letters written to demand them on one part, 
 and to promise them on the other. If I am 
 not mistaken, this is what Demosthenes calls 
 duvaiiei? fn-io-ToAi/jaioKf, armies which exist 
 only in letters. 
 [ 2.] As he hath a naval power.] In conse- 
 
 we must be provided with light vessels, 
 that our troops may have a secure convoy. 
 
 But whence are these forces to be subsis- 
 ted ? This I shall explain, when I have first 
 given rny reasons, why I think such num- 
 bers sufficient, and why I have advised that 
 we should serve in person. As to the num- 
 bers, Athenians ! my reason is this : it is 
 not at present in our power to provide a 
 force able to meet him in the open field ; but 
 we must harass him by depredations : thus 
 the war must be carried on at first. We 
 therefore cannot think of raising a prodigi- 
 ous army (for such we have neither pay nor 
 provisions), nor must our forces be absolutely 
 mean. And I have proposed that citizens 
 should join in the service, and help to man 
 our fleet ; because I am informed, that some 
 time since the state maintained a body of 
 auxiliaries at Corinth [3.] which Polystratus 
 commanded, [4.] and Iphicrates, arid Cha- 
 brias, and some others ; that you yourselves 
 served with them : and that the united 
 efforts of these auxiliary and domestic forces 
 gained a considerable victory over the Lace- 
 demonians. But ever since our armies have 
 been formed of foreigners alone, their victo- 
 ries have been over our allies and confede- 
 rates ; while our enemies have arisen to an 
 extravagance of power. And these armies, 
 with scarcely the slightest attention to the 
 service of the state, sail off to fight for 
 Artabazus, [5.] or any other person ; and 
 
 quence of his engagements with the Thes- 
 salians, he commanded their ports and 
 ships. 
 
 [3.] At Corinth.] This was in the same 
 war which he alludes to in the beginning of 
 the oration (Sect. 2.) Corinth was appoint- 
 ed as the place of general rendezvous 
 for the Greeks who confederated against 
 Sparta. 
 
 [4.] Which Polystratus commanded.] 
 Instead of Polystratus, which is a name 
 little known in history, Monsieur Tourreil 
 proposes to read Callistratus, who, accord- 
 ing to Xenophon and Diodorus, was col- 
 league to Iphicrates and Chabrias in the 
 war of Corcyra. But, as Mr. Mounteney 
 has observed, Polystratus is again mentioned 
 by Demosthenes, together with Iphicrates, 
 in the oration on the Immunities ; so that 
 it is probable this is the true reading. 
 
 [5.J To fight for Artabazus.] He here al- 
 ludes to an affair which had happened some 
 time before, and had occasioned great com- 
 motion. The Athenians had sent Chares 
 at the head of a powerful force to reduce 
 Byzantium, Cos, and Chios, which had 
 revolted from them. But this general, when 
 he had a prospect of success in that enter- 
 prise, suffered himself to be corrupted by 
 Artabazus, a rebellious satrap of Asia, and 
 assisted him against an amiy of seventy 
 thousand men. Chares received a reward 
 proportioned to the service ; but this action 
 raised the indignation of the Athenians, as 
 he had not only deserted the cause of the 
 republic, but also incensed the king o. 
 Persia. Demosthenes, however, here shifts 
 the 1 lame from Chares to his soidierj, who
 
 01! AT. I.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 their general follows them : nor should we 
 wonder at it ; for he cannot command, who 
 cannot pay his soldiers. What then do I 
 recommend ? that you should take away all 
 pretences both from generals and from sol-i 
 diers, by a regular payment of the army, 
 and by incorporating domestic forces with 
 the auxiliaries, to be as it were inspectors 
 into the conduct of the commanders. For 
 at present our manner of acting is even 
 ridiculous. If a man should ask, "Are you 
 at peace, Athenians ?" the answer would 
 immediately be, " By no means ! we are at 
 war with Philip. [l.J Have not we chosen 
 the usual generals and officers, [2.] both of 
 horse and foot ?" And of what use are all 
 these, except the single person whom you 
 send to the field ? the rest attend your priests 
 in their processions. So that, as if you 
 formed so many men of clay, you make 
 your officers for show, and not for service. 
 My countrymen ! should not all these gene- 
 rals have been chosen from your own body ; 
 all these several officers from your own body, 
 that our force might be really Athenian ? 
 and yet, for an expedition in favour of 
 Lemiios, [3.] the general must be a citizen, 
 
 refused to obey him (or rather to the people, 
 who took no care to provide for their pay.) 
 Tourreil. 
 
 [l.j We are at war with Philip.] So the 
 orator affects to speak. Though I apprehend 
 it does not appear from history that they were 
 at that time directly at war with him. They 
 had indeed joined with the Phocians, and 
 Philip was at the head of the opposite con- 
 federacy. Thus far they were engaged 
 against each other, though neither of them 
 as principals in the quarrel. The Athenians, 
 indeed, might have made some attempts to 
 recover Amphipolis ; they certainly made 
 some ineffectual preparations to relieve 
 Potidasa and Methone ; and, after Philip's 
 attempt on Thermopylae, did station some 
 forces upon their frontiers to oppose him, in 
 case he renewed his attack. But still the 
 war was not declared in form — But of this 
 1 shall speak more hereafter. 
 
 [2.] The usual officers.] In the text they 
 are mentioned particularly. Ten taxiarchs 
 (a-parnyoi or generals), and phylarchs, and 
 two hipparchs. Each of the ten tribes 
 chose a new general every year, and each of 
 these (originally, when all went to the field) 
 had the command for one day in his turn. 
 Philip was very pleasant on this number of 
 commanders. I never, said he, could find 
 but one general (meaning Parmenio,) but 
 the Athenians can get ten every year. An- 
 ciently, the people, upon extraordinary oc- 
 casions, chose a polemarch, to determine, 
 when the opinions of the generals were 
 equally divided. The taxiarch commanded 
 the infantry, the phylarch the cavalry, of 
 his tribe. The whole body of horse was di- 
 vided into two corps, each of which was 
 commanded by a general of horse, or hip- 
 parch. Tourreil. 
 
 [3. ] In favour of Lemnos.] When, in the 
 social war, the revolters invaded it with a 
 fleet of a hundred sail. Tourreil. 
 
 while troops engaged in defence of our own 
 territories are commanded by Menelaus. 
 [4.] I say not this to detract from his merit ; 
 but to whomsoever this command had been 
 n trusted, surely he should have derived it 
 from your voices. [5. J 
 
 Perhaps you are fully [6.] sensible of these 
 truths, but would rather hear me upon 
 another point, — that of the supplies ; wTiat 
 we are to raise, and from what funds. To 
 this I now proceed — The sum therefore 
 necessary for the maintenance of these forces, 
 that the soldiers may be supplied with grain, 
 is somewhat above ninety talents. [/.] To 
 the ten galleys, forty talents, that each ves- 
 sel may have a monthly allowance of twenty 
 minaj. To the two thousand foot, the same 
 sum, that each soldier may receive ten 
 drachma? a month for corn. To the two 
 hundred horse, for a monthly allowance of 
 thirty drachms each, twelve talents. And 
 iet it not be thought a small convenience, 
 that the soldiers are supplied with grain : 
 for I am clearly satisfied that if such a pro- 
 vision be made, the war itself will supply 
 them with every thing else, so as to com- 
 plete their appointment, and this without 
 any injury to the Greeks or allies : and; I 
 myself am ready to sail with them, and 
 to answer for the consequence with my 
 life, should it prove otherwise. From what 
 funds the sum which I propose may be sup- 
 plied, shall now be explained. * * * * 
 \_Here the secretary of the assembly reads 
 a scheme for raising the supplies, and 
 proposes it to the people in form, in the 
 name of (he orator.~\ 
 
 These are the supplies, [8.] Athenians ! in 
 
 |_4.] By Menelaus.] Monsieur Tourreil 
 says, that this Menelaus was the brother of 
 Philip, by another marriage. But though 
 Philip and his brother were not on good 
 terms, yet it is not likely that the Athenians 
 would have trusted one so nearly allied to 
 their enemy. Olivet. 
 
 [5.] From your voices.] The regular me- 
 thod of choosing all officers. However, the 
 choice was sometimes left to the comman- 
 der-in-chief. Tourreil. 
 
 [6.] Perhaps you are fully, &c] It is not 
 impossible but that the people might have 
 been struck with the freedom and candour 
 of the orator, and given some marks of their 
 approbation. 
 
 [7.] Ninety talents.] The Attic talent is 
 computed by Tourreil equal to 187/. Ms. ; 
 by Prideaux, to 188/. (is. ; by Arbuthnot, to 
 193/. 15*. It contained sixty minse, and each 
 mina, one hundred drachma?. By the com- 
 putation of the orator, it appears that the 
 provisions he recommends to be supplied 
 were to last one year. Muunteney. 
 
 [8.] These are the supplies, &c] Diony 
 sius of Halicarnassus gives us the rest of 
 this oration as a sixth Philippic, pronounced 
 in the archonship of Themistocles. But it 
 appears to me, as well as to the other inter- 
 preters, a natural conclusion of the first 
 Philippic ; and therefore I could not prevail 
 upon myself to separate them. Tourreil. 
 
 The scholiast is of the same opinion, and
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [OKAT. I. 
 
 cur power to raise. And when you come 
 
 to give your voices, determine upon some 
 
 . ual provision, [ 1 . ] that you may oppose 
 
 flatly accuses Dionysius of a mistake. Mr. 
 Motinteney has expressed greater deference 
 for this critic. He supposes that this second 
 part is not that which Dionysius quotes ; 
 but that there was another oration, since 
 lost, whicn began with the same words ; for 
 he observes, that the former part is plainly 
 imperfect of itself, and the two parts are 
 joined in all the copies and manuscripts, 
 and that naturally and consistently. 
 
 I must confess (with all submission to 
 these authorities), that although 1 could not 
 presume to separate them, ypt I am not 
 quite satisfied that these two parts are one 
 oration. In the first place, I cannot think 
 that the first Philippic would end abruptly, 
 if this second part was away : for we find in 
 the first part, all that the orator proposes to 
 speak to in the beginning ; and it concludes 
 ( not unlike a speech in parliament) with a 
 motion in form, for such and such subsidies 
 to be raised, for the maintenance of such 
 and such forces. And as to the manner in 
 which the second part begins, supposing it 
 a distinct oration, we cannot object to that; 
 as Dionysius quotes an oration beginning 
 exactly in the same manner : (see his letter 
 to Ammieus.) — It might also be observed, 
 that in the beginning of the oration, having 
 for some time exhorted the Athenians to 
 change their conduct, and act with vigour, 
 Demosthenes says expressly, that he intends 
 to speak no more on that subject ; and yet 
 this second part is entirely taken up with it ; 
 and lastly, there are some passages in the 
 second part, which I suspect do not agree to 
 the particular time when the first oration 
 against Philip was pronounced (and I imagine 
 that some editors were sensible of this, by 
 their placing the Olynthiac orations before 
 this, which is called the first Philippic): 
 these passages 1 shall take notice of as they 
 occur. 
 
 As to any similitude between the two 
 parts, I apprehend that is no more than 
 what runs through all these orations, and 
 may be accounted for from the similitude of 
 the subject, without joining them. — But if 
 this second part be really a distinct oration, 
 spoken after the destruction of Olynthus 
 (for this city was taken the year before the 
 archonship of Themistocles), how comes it 
 that this event is not mentioned in it ? — It 
 had just then thrown the Athenians into the 
 greatest consternation ; and as it was the 
 orator's business to encourage them, possibly 
 he might have kept it out of view on pur- 
 pose. Though perhaps he does hint at it 
 obscurely, and as far as was consistent with 
 prudence, as I shall observe by and by. 
 
 [l.j Effectual provision.] Iii Greek it is — 
 u ui' ifiiv up6<rM/ x ei P OTOl ' , l (TaTe — choose 
 ..hose things which' may be agreeable to you. 
 I own I do not see how their entering into 
 he resolution they liked best, would of con- 
 sequence enable them to oppose Philip ef- 
 fectually. Perhaps it might be of disser- 
 vice, for in other places the orator is ever 
 
 Philip, not by decrees and letters only, 
 but by actions. And, in my opinion, your 
 plan of operation, and every thing relating 
 to your armament, will be much more hap- 
 pily adjusted, if the situation of the coun- 
 try which is to be the scene of action be 
 taken into the account ; and if you reflect, 
 that the winds and seasons have greatly 
 contributed to the rapidity of Philip's 
 conquests ; that he watches the blowing of 
 the Etesians, [2.] and the severity of the 
 winter, and forms his sieges when it is im- 
 possible for us to bring up our forces. It is 
 your part then to consider this, and not to 
 carry on the war by occasional detachments 
 (they will ever arrive too late), but by a 
 regular army constantly kept up. And for 
 winter-quarters you may command Lemnos, 
 and Thassus, and Sciathus, and the adjacent 
 islands, in which there are ports and provi- 
 sions, and all things necessary for the sol- 
 diery in abundance. As to the season of 
 the year in which we may land our forces 
 with the greatest ease, and be in no danger 
 from the winds, either upon the coast to 
 which we are bound, or at the entrance of 
 those harbours where we may put in for 
 provisions — this will be easily discovered. 
 In what manner and at what time our forces 
 are to act, their general will determine, ac- 
 cording to the junctures of affairs. What 
 you are to perform, on your part, is con- 
 tained in the decree I have now proposed. 
 And if you will be persuaded, Athenians i 
 first, to raise these supplies which I have 
 recommended, then, to proceed to your 
 other preparations, your infantry, navy, 
 and cavalry ; and lastly, to confine your 
 forces, by a law, to that service which is 
 appointed to them ; reserving the care and 
 distribution of their money to yourselves, 
 and strictly examining into the conduct of 
 the general ; then, your time will be no 
 longer wasted in continual debates upon the 
 same subject, and scarcely to any purpose; 
 then, you will deprive him of the most con- 
 siderable of his revenues. For his arms are 
 now supported, by seining and making prizes 
 of those who pass the seas — But is this all ? 
 — No. — You shall also be secure from his 
 attempts : not as when some time since 
 [3.] he fell on Lemnns and Imbrus, and car- 
 
 cautioning them against following the bent 
 of their inclinations, — If we should make a 
 very small alteration in the text, and for 
 uptiTKi/ read uf>K <Ti;, those things which may 
 be sufficient for your purposes, I apprehend 
 the sense would be better and more agreea- 
 ble to Demosthenes. I have taken the liberty 
 to translate after this reading. 
 
 [2.] Of the Etesians.] Winds which blew 
 regularly every year at the rising of the 
 dog-star ; when the Greeks were obliged to 
 retire from action, on account of the exces- 
 sive heats ; and which, as they blew from 
 the north, of consequence opposed any at- 
 tempt of invading Macedon, or sending any 
 forces to those parts which were the seat of 
 Philip's wars at first. 
 
 [3. J Not as when sometime since, &c] If 
 this be a really a part of the first Philippic
 
 orat. i,] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 9 
 
 ried away your citizens in chains : not as 
 when he surprised your vessels at Gerastus, 
 and spoiled them of an unspeakable quanti- 
 ty of riches : not as when lately he made a 
 descent on the coast of Marathon, and car- 
 ried off our sacred galley: [1.] while you 
 could neither oppose these insults, nor de- 
 tach your forces at such junctures as were 
 thought convenient. 
 
 And now, Athenians ! what is the reason 
 (think ye), that the public festivals [2.] in 
 honour of Minerva and of Bacchus are al- 
 ways celebrated at the appointed time, whe- 
 ther the direction of them falls to the lot of 
 men of eminence, or of persons less distin- 
 guished (festivals which cost more treasure 
 than is usually expended upon a whole na- 
 vy ; and more numbers and greater prepara- 
 tions, than any one perhaps ever cost): while 
 your expeditions have been all too late, as 
 that to Methone, that to Pegasae, that to 
 Potidaea. The reason is this : every thing re- 
 lating to the former is ascertained by law ; 
 and every one of you knows long before, who 
 
 these hostilities must have preceded the 
 attempt on Thermopylae (else the orator 
 could not have distinguished them into 
 those which happened some time ago, and 
 that committed lately). Now I camiot tell 
 how to reconcile such open acts of hostility, 
 with the other parts of Philip's conduct at 
 that time. There was a peace subsisting 
 between him and the Athenians, which he 
 affected to observe ; and so far does he ap- 
 pear from making any open and professed 
 attack upon them, that in the taking of 
 Potidaea and Pydna, he would not act as 
 principal, but as ally to the Olynthians ; 
 and, when these cities were taken, dismissed 
 the Athenian garrisons with all imaginable 
 respect and honour ; and upon all occasions 
 courted and cajoled the Athenians. This 
 then is one of those passages which I sus- 
 pect do not agree to the particular time 
 when the first Philippic was spoken. But 
 if we suppose that this, which I call the 
 second part, is really the oration which 
 Dionysius quotes (and which was spoken to 
 engage the Athenians to defend the islanders 
 and the cities of the Hellespont against the 
 attempts of Philip), then all the difficulty 
 vanishes. The hostilities here mentioned 
 agree very well to a time of open war. Now 
 Diodorus'Siculus informs us, that it was af- 
 ter Olynthus was taken, that the Athenians 
 declared war against Philip in form ; and we 
 find that, immediately upon this, he at tack- 
 ed them and their tributary states with such 
 fury, that they were soon glad to sue for 
 peace. 
 
 [1.] Our sacred galley.] There were two of 
 these appropriated to religious ceremonies 
 (and all extraordinary emergencies and occa- 
 sions of the state), the Paralian and Salami- 
 nian. Harpocration understands here the Pa- 
 ralion. Tourreil. 
 
 [2.1 Festivals, &c] For the Panathena?a 
 and Dionysia (as these festivals are called in 
 the original), I refer the reader to Potter, 
 and other writers on the antiquities of 
 Greece. 
 
 is to conduct [3.] the several entertainments 
 in each tribe; what he is to receive, win I 
 and from whom, and what to perform. Not 
 one of these things is left uncertain, not one 
 undetermined. But in affairs of war, and 
 warlike preparations, there is no order, no 
 certainty, no regulation. So that, when any 
 accident alarms us, first we appoint onr tri- 
 erarchs; [4.] then we allow them the ex- 
 change; then the supplies are considered. 
 These points once settled, we resolve to 
 man our fleet with strangers [5.] and fo- 
 reigners; then find it necessary to supply 
 their place ourselves. In the midst of these 
 delays, what we are sailing to defend, the 
 enemy is already master of: for the time of 
 action, we spend hi preparing: and the junc- 
 tures of affairs will not wait our slow and 
 irresolute measures. These forces too, which 
 we think may be depended on, until the new 
 levies are raised, when put to the proof, plain- 
 ly discover their insufficiency. By these 
 means, hath he arrived to such a pitch of in- 
 solence as to send a letter to the Euboeans, 
 [b\] conceived in such terms as these. 
 
 [3.] To conduct, &c] In the original it is, 
 who is the choraegus (that is, the citizen who 
 provided the music, of which each trite 
 had a band), and the gymnasiarch (he who 
 presided over the wrestlers, and provided 
 what was necessary for that entertainment) 
 
 [4.] We appoint our trierarchs.] The rich 
 citizens, who were obliged not only to com- 
 mand, but to equip a vessel of war, at their 
 own expense (either severally or jointly) for 
 the service of the public. As this was an of- 
 fice of great expense, it was allowed to any 
 one who was nominated, to point out some 
 citizen richer than himself, and to desire he 
 might be substituted in his place, provided 
 he was willing to exchange fortunes with 
 that citizen, and then to take upon him the 
 office of trierarch. This is what Demosthe- 
 nes calls allowing the exchange, (which in its 
 nature must have occasioned confusion and 
 delay.) 
 
 For a fuller account of these trierarchs, 
 &c. I refer the reader to Potter's Archaeol. 
 
 [5.] We resolve to man our fleet with stran- 
 gers, &c] M6TOIKUI, which I translate stran- 
 gers, were those foreigners who were per- 
 mitted to sojourn at Athens, on certain 
 conditions. 
 
 This whole passage is an exact description 
 of the proceedings of the Athenians in de- 
 fence of Olynthus, and of the event. I had 
 it in view, when I observed that possibly we 
 might find some obscure allusions to that 
 affair. 
 
 [o\] A letter to the Eubceans,&c] This 
 letter has not descended to us. It is proba- 
 ble from the context, that he expressed in it 
 a contempt for the Athenian power, and in- 
 sisted how little dependance the Euboeans 
 could have on that state. And if this be so, 
 it confirms an observation, which I made 
 before (see a preceding note) viz. that the 
 Athenians had as yet given Philip no re- 
 markable opposition in Eubcea. The let- 
 ter must have been written when Philip be- 
 gan to raise commotions in that island, in
 
 10 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [OBAT. 
 
 [*** The Letter is read.'] 
 What hath now been read, is for the most 
 part true, Athenians ! too true ! but perhaps 
 not very agreeable in the recital. But if, by 
 suppressing things ungrateful to the ear, the 
 things themselves could be prevented, then 
 the sole concern of a public speaker should 
 be to please. If, on the contrary, these 
 unseasonably' pleasing speeches be really inju- 
 rious, it is shameful, Athenians ! to deceive 
 yourselves, and, by deferring the considera- 
 tion of every thing disagreeable, never once 
 to move until it be too late; and not to 
 apprehend that they who conduct a war with 
 prudence, are not to follow, but to direct 
 events ; to direct them with the same abso- 
 lute authority with which a general leads on 
 his forces : that the course of affairs may be 
 determined by them, and not determine their 
 measures. But you, Athenians ! although 
 possessed of the greatest power [1.] of all 
 kinds, ships, infantry, cavalry, and treasure ; 
 yet, to this day, have never employed any 
 of them seasonably, but are ever last in the 
 field. Just as baibarians [2.] engage at box- 
 ing, so you make war with Philip : for, when 
 one of these receives a blow, that blow en- 
 gages him ; if struck in another part, to that 
 part his hands are shifted : but to ward off 
 the blow, or to watch his antagonist— for 
 this, he hath neither skill nor spirit. Even 
 so, if you hear that Philip is in the Cherso- 
 nesus, you resolve to send forces thither; if 
 in Thermopylae, thither; if in any other 
 place, you hurry up and down.you follow his 
 standard. But no useful scheme for carry- 
 ing on the war, no wise provisions, [3.] are 
 ever thought of, until you hear of some en- 
 terprise in execution, or already crowned 
 with success. Tlds might formerly have been 
 pardonable, but now is the very critical mo- 
 ment, when it can by no means be admitted. 
 It seems to me, Athenians ! that some di- 
 vinity, who, from a regard to Athens, looks 
 down upon our conduct with indignation, 
 
 order to make himself master of it. I am 
 induced to think, both from histGry and De- 
 mosthenes, that he did not make any at- 
 tempts of this kind so early as the first Phi- 
 lippic, and therefore that this is no part of 
 that oration. 
 
 [1.] Possessed of the greatest power, &c] 
 They could then command three hundred 
 ships of war, and those capable of engaging 
 a navy of double that number; they had 
 twenty thousand foot, and two thousand 
 eight hundred horse : and their revenue 
 amounted to above twelve hundred talents. 
 Tourreil and Mounteney, 
 
 [2.] As barbarians, fee] The learned reader 
 will find a beautiful passage in Aulus Gellius, 
 (1. 3. c. 27.) where, on the contrary, a man 
 of true prudence, who engages in the busi- 
 ness and dangers of the world, is compared 
 to a skilful boxer, who is ever attentive 
 to defend himself and annoy his adversary. 
 Tourreil. 
 
 [3.] No wise provisions,&c.] I have fol- 
 lowed the reading which Mr. Mounteney 
 adopts n«pt tuiv iipa.~jncnw\i, &c. instead of 
 Xptl/idrojv, 
 
 hath inspired Philip with this resJless ambi 
 tion. For, were he to sit down in the quiet 
 enjoyment of his conquests and acquisitions, 
 without proceeding to any new attempts, 
 therearemenamongyou,who,I think, would 
 be unmoved at those transactions, [4.] which 
 have branded our state with the odious 
 marks of infamy, cowardice, and all that is 
 base. But as he still pursues his conquests, 
 as he is still extending his ambitious views, 
 possibly, he may at last call you forth, unless 
 you have renounced the name of Athenians. 
 To me it is astonishing.that none of you look 
 back to the beginning [5.] of this war, and 
 consider that we engaged in it to chastise 
 the insolence of Philip ; but that now it is 
 become a defensive war, to secure us from 
 his attempts. And that he will ever be re- 
 peating these attempts is manifest, unless 
 some power rises to oppose him. But if 
 we wait in expectation of this, if we 
 send out armaments composed of emp- 
 ty galleys, and those hopes with which 
 some speaker may have flattered jou ; can 
 you then think your interests well se- 
 cured ? Shall we not embark ? shall we not 
 sail, with at least a part of our domestic 
 force, now, since we have not hitherto? 
 But where shall we make our descent? — 
 Let us but engage in the enterprise, and the 
 war itself, Athenians ! will shew us where 
 he is weakest. But if we sit at home, listen- 
 ing to the mutual invectives and accusations 
 of our orators ; we cannot expect, no, not 
 the least success, in any one particular. 
 Wherever a part of our city is detached, 
 although the whole be not present, the 
 favour of the gods and the kindness of for- 
 tune attend to fight upon our side; but 
 when we send out a general, andan insignifi- 
 cant decree, and the hopes of our speakers, 
 misfortune and disappointment must ensue. 
 Such expeditions are to our enemies a sport, 
 
 [4.] At those transactions, &c] The taking 
 of Pydna, and Potidaea, and Amphipolis, 
 may warrant what the orator here says. Vet 
 I should choose to apply it to their suffer- 
 ing Olynthus, by their misconduct, to fall 
 under the power of Philip. 
 
 [5.J Look back to the beginning, &c.J I 
 shall trouble the reader but with one argu- 
 ment more, in favour of my suspicion, that 
 this is no part of the first "Philippic. The 
 passage I now quote, I cannot think, is appli- 
 cable to the transactions of the Athenians 
 and Philip, before his attempt on Thermo- 
 pylae : when (from the time of Argaeus's 
 deathl they acted against each other only 
 indirectly ; and instead of punishing Philip, 
 the Athenians could not even prevail upon 
 themselves to defend those dominions 
 which they claimed as their own — But it is 
 a very exact description of what happened 
 after their declaration of war against Philip, 
 which succeeded the taking of Olynthus : 
 for this declaration was made from a sense 
 of the danger of Philip's growing power, a 
 resentment of his infractions, and a resolu- 
 tion to reduce him : and yet they were 
 quickly obliged to defend themselves against 
 farther attempts.
 
 orat. ii.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATION'S. 
 
 II 
 
 but strike our allies with deadly apprehen- 
 sions. For it is not, it is not possible for 
 any one man to perform every thing you 
 desire. He may promise, and harangue, 
 and accuse this or that person : but to such 
 proceedings we owe the ruin of our affairs. 
 For when a general, who commanded a 
 wretched collection of unpaid foreigners, 
 hath been defeated ; when there are persons 
 here, who, in arraigning his conduct, dare to 
 advance falsehoods, and when you lightly 
 engage in any determination, just from 
 their suggestions; what must be the con- 
 sequence i How then shall these abuses be 
 removed? — By offering yourselves, Athe- 
 nians ! to execute the commands of your 
 general, to be witnesses of his conduct in 
 the field, and his judges at your return : so 
 as not only to hear how your affairs are 
 transacted, but to inspect them. But now, 
 so shamefully are we degenerated, that each 
 of our commanders is twice or thrice called 
 before you, to answer for his life, though 
 not one of them dared to hazard that life, 
 by once engaging his enemy. No ; they 
 choose the death of robbers and pilferers, 
 rather than to fall as becomes them. Such 
 malefactors should die by the sentence of 
 the law. Generals should meet their fate 
 bravely in the field. 
 
 Then, as to your own conduct — Some 
 wander about, crying, Philip hath joined 
 with the Lacedemonians, and they are con- 
 certing the destruction of Thebes,' and the 
 dissolution [1.] of some free states. Others as- 
 sure us he hath sent an embassy to the King : 
 r^.j others, that he is fortifying places in 
 lilyria. [3.] Thus we all go about framing 
 
 [I.] The dissolution, &c] Wherever the 
 Lacedemonians had power, they were always 
 for establishing oligarchies, as has been 
 observed in the preface to these orations. 
 
 12.] To the King.] So the king of Persia 
 was called. The intent of this embassy was 
 supposed to be to make such demands as 
 must produce a war with the Persian, which 
 Isocrates had exhorted him to very early. 
 
 [3.] He is fortifying places in lilyria.] Pos- 
 sibly theic rumours were spread by Philip's 
 
 our several tales. I do believe indeed, Athe- 
 nians ! he is intoxicated with his greatness, 
 and does ent' rtain his imagination with 
 many such visionary prospects, as he sees 
 no power rising to oppose him, and is elated 
 with his success. But I cannot be persuaded 
 that he hath so taken his measures, that 
 the weakest among us know what he is next 
 to do (for it is the weakest among us who 
 spread these rumours). — Let us disregard 
 them : let us be persuaded of this ; that he 
 is our enemy, that he hath spoiled us of 
 our dominions, that we have long been sub- 
 ject to his insolence, that whatever we 
 expected to be done for us by others, hath 
 proved against us, that all the resource left 
 is in ourselves, that if we are not inclined 
 to carry our arms abroad, we may be forced 
 to engage here — let us be persuaded of this, 
 and then we shall come to a proper deter- 
 mination, then shall we be freed from those 
 idle tales. For we are not to be solicitous 
 to know what particular events will hap- 
 pen ; we need but be convinced nothing 
 good can happen, unless you grant the due 
 attention to affairs, and be ready to act as 
 becomes Athenians. 
 
 I, on my part, have never upon any 
 occasion chosen to court your favour, by 
 speaking any thing but what I was con- 
 vinced would serve you. And on this occa- 
 sion I have freely declared my sentiments, 
 without art, and without reserve. It would 
 have pleased me indeed, that as it is for 
 your advantage to have your true interest 
 laid before you, so I might be assured that 
 he who layeth it before you, would share the 
 advantage : for then I had spoken with 
 greater alacrity. However, uncertain as is 
 the consequence with respect to me, I yet 
 determined to speak, because I was con- 
 vinced that these measures, it pursued, 
 must have their use. And, of all those 
 opinions which are offered to your accejv- 
 tance, may that be chosen which will best 
 advance the general weal ! 
 
 friends, to persuade the Athenians that his 
 views and schemes were removed to a great 
 distance from Athens. 
 
 THE FIRST OLYNTHIAC ORATION : 
 
 PRONOUNCED FOUR YEARS AFTER THE FIRST PHILIPPIC, IN THE ARCHONSHIP OF 
 
 CALLIMACHUS, THE FOURTH YEAR OF THE HUNDRED AND SEVENTH OLYMPIAD, 
 
 AND THE TWELFTH OF PHILIP'S REIGN. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The former oration doth not appear to 
 have any considerable effect. Philip had 
 his creatures hi the Athenian assembly, who 
 probably recommended less vigorous mea- 
 sures, and were but too favourably heard. 
 In the mean time, this prince pursued his 
 ambitious designs. When he found himself 
 shut out of Greece, he turned his arms to 
 such remote parts as he might reduce with- 
 out alarming the states of Greece ; and at 
 the same time he revenged himself upon 
 
 the Athenians, by making himself master of 
 some places which they laid claim to. At 
 length his success emboldened him to de- 
 clare those intentions which he had long 
 entertained secretly against the Olynthians. 
 Olvnthus (a citv of Thrace, possessed by 
 Greeks originallv' from Chalcis, — a town of 
 Eubcea, and colonv of Athens) commanded 
 a large tract called the Chalcidian region, in 
 which there were thiny-two cities. It had 
 arisen by degrees to such a pitch of gran- 
 deur, as to have frequent and remarkable 
 contests both with Athens and Lacedemon, 
 c 2.
 
 1: 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAL II. 
 
 Nor diil the Olvnthians shew great regard 
 to the friendship of Philip when he first 
 came to the throne, and was taking all mea- 
 sures to secure the possession of it ; for they 
 did not scruple to receive two of his brothers 
 by another marriage, who had fled to avoid 
 the effects of his jealousy, and endeavoured 
 to conclude an alliance with Athens against 
 him, which he, by secret practices, found 
 means to defeat. But as he was yet scarcely 
 secure upon his throne, instead of express- 
 ing his resentment, he courted, or rather 
 purchased, the alliance of the Olvnthians, 
 by the cession of Anthemus, a city which 
 the kings of Macedon had long disputed 
 with them ; and afterward by that of Pydna 
 and Potidaea, which their joint forces had 
 besieged and taken from the Athenians. 
 But the Olynthians could not be influenced 
 by gratitude towards such a benefactor. 
 The rapid progress of his arms, and his glar- 
 ing acts of perfidy, alarmed them exceed- 
 ingly. He had already made some inroads 
 on their territories, and now began to act 
 against them with less reserve. They there- 
 fore despatched ambassadors to Athens, to 
 propose an alliance, and request assistance 
 against a power which they were equally 
 concerned to oppose. 
 
 Philip affected the highest resentment at 
 this step, alleged their mutual engagements 
 to adhere to each other in war and peace, 
 inveighed against their harbouring his bro- 
 thers, whom he called the conspirators ; and 
 under pretence of punishing their infrac- 
 tions, pursued his hostilities with double 
 vigour, made himself master of some of 
 their cities, and threatened the capital wit!: 
 a siege. 
 
 In the mean time, the Olynthians pressed 
 the Athenians for immediate succours. 
 Their ambassadors opened their commission 
 in an assembly of the people, who had the 
 right either to agree to, or to reject, their 
 demand. As the importance of the occasion 
 increased the number of sneakers, the elder 
 orators had debated the affair before Demos- 
 thenes arose. In the following oration, there- 
 fore, he speaks as to a people already 
 informed, urges the necessity of joining 
 with the Olynthians, and confirms his opi- 
 nion by powerful arguments ; lays open the 
 designs and practices of Philip, and labours 
 to remove their dreadful apprehensions of 
 his power. He concludes with recommend- 
 ing to them to reform abuses, to restore 
 ancient discipline, and to put an end to all 
 domestic dissensions. 
 
 FIRST OLYNTHIAC ORATION. [1.] 
 
 Callimach. Archon A. R. Philip. 12. — 
 
 Olympiad. 11)7. An. 4. 
 
 In many instances (Athenians !) have the 
 gods, in my opinion, manifestly declared 
 their favour to this state ; nor is it least ob- 
 
 1.] I have disposed the Olynthiac orations 
 in the order pointed out by Dionysius of 
 Halicarnassus. And it plainly appears that 
 
 servable in this present juncture. For, that 
 an enemy should arise against Philip, on 
 the very confines of his kingdom, of no 
 inconsiderable power, and, what is of most 
 importance, so determined upon the war, 
 that they consider any accommodation with 
 him, first as insidious, next, as the down- 
 fal of their country : this seems no less than 
 the gracious interposition of heaven itself. 
 It must, therefore, be our care, (Athenians .) 
 that we ourselves may not frustrate this 
 goodness. For it must reflect disgrace, nay 
 the foulest infamy, upon us, if we appear to 
 have thrown away not those states and ter- 
 ritories only which we once commanded, but 
 those alliances and favourable incidents 
 which fortune hath provided for us. 
 
 To begin on this occasion with a display 
 of Philip's power, or to press you to exert 
 your vigour by motives, drawn from hence, 
 is, in my opinion, quite improper. And why ? 
 Because whatever may be offered on such a 
 subject, sets him in an honourable view, but 
 seems to me as a reproach to our conduct. 
 For the higher his exploits have arisen above 
 his former estimation, the more must the 
 world admire him ; while your disgrace hath 
 been the greater, the more your conduct 
 hath proved unworthy of your state. These 
 things therefore I shall pass over. He, in- 
 deed, who examines justly, must find 
 the source of his greatness here, not in him- 
 self. But the services he hath here received, 
 from those whose public administration 
 hath been devoted to his interest; those 
 services which you must punish, I do not 
 think it seasonable to display. There are 
 other points of more moment for you all to 
 l.ear, and which must excite the greatest 
 abhorrence of him in every reasonable mind. 
 — These I shall lay before you. 
 
 And now, should I call him perjured and 
 perfidious, and not point out the instances 
 of this his guilt, it might be deemed 
 the mere virulence of malice, and with jus- 
 tice. Nor will it engage too much of your 
 attention to hear him fully and clearly con- 
 victed, from a full and clear detail of all 
 his actions. And this I think useful up- 
 on two accounts : first, that he may ap- 
 pear, as he really is, treacherous and 
 false; and then, that they who are struck 
 with terror, as if Philip was something 
 more than human, may see that he has 
 exhausted all those artifices to which he 
 owes his present elevation, and that his 
 affairs are now ready to decline. For I my- 
 self (Athenians !) should think Philip really 
 to be dreaded and admired, if I saw him 
 raised by honourable means. But I find, 
 upon reflection, that at the time when cer- 
 tain persons drove out the Olynthians from 
 this assembly, when desirous of conferring 
 with you, he began with abusing our sim- 
 plicity by his promise of surrendering Am- 
 
 this should precede the others ; for in this, 
 Demosthenes solicits the immediate conclu- 
 sion of an alliance with Olynthus ; in the 
 others, he supposes the alliance already con- 
 cluded, and insists onlv on the necessity of 
 effectually fulfilling their engagements.
 
 ORAT. II.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' OllATIONS. 
 
 13 
 
 phipolis, and executing the secret article 
 [1.] of his treaty, then so much spoken of: 
 that, after this, he courted the friendship of 
 the Olynthians by seizing Potkkea, where 
 we were rightful sovereigns, despoiling us 
 his former allies, and giving them posses- 
 sion ; that, but just now, he gained the 
 Thessalians, by promising to give up Mag- 
 nesia; [2.] and for their ease, to take the 
 whole conduct of the Phocian war upon 
 himself. In a word, there are no people 
 who ever made the least use of him, but 
 have suffered by his subtlety ; his present 
 greatness being wholly owing to his deceiving 
 those who were unacquainted with him, and 
 making them the instruments of his success. 
 As these states therefore raised him, while 
 each imagined he was promoting some 
 interest of theirs; these states must also 
 reduce him to his former meanness, as it 
 now appears that his own private interest 
 was the end of all his actions. 
 
 Thus then, Athenians ! is Philip circum- 
 stanced. If not, let the man stand forth 
 who can prove to me, I should have said to 
 this assembly, that I have asserted these 
 things falsely ; or that they whom he hath 
 deceived in former instances, will confide 
 in Iiim for thefutuie; or that the Thes- 
 salians, who have been so basely, so un- 
 deservedly enslaved, [3.] would not gladly 
 embrace their freedom.— If there be any one 
 among vou who acknowledges all this, yet 
 thinks "that Philip will support his power, 
 as he hath secured places of strength, con- 
 venient ports, and other like advantages, he 
 is deceived. For when forces [4.J join in 
 
 [1.] The secret article, &o] When Philip 
 had declared Amphipolis a free city, the 
 Athenians, who were desirous of recover- 
 ing it, sent ambassadors to Philip to solicit 
 his assistance for that purpose ; and on this 
 condition promised to make him master of 
 Pvdna. But lest the people of Pydna, who 
 were averse to Philip's government, should 
 take the alarm, the whole r.egociation was 
 transacted secretly in the senate, without 
 being referred, as usual, to the assembly of 
 the people. This account Ulpian and Suidas 
 cite from Theopompus. 
 
 [2.] Magnesia.] He had made himself 
 master of this citv when he marched into 
 Thessaly against the tyrants. The Thessa- 
 lians remonstrated against this proceeding, 
 but suffered themselves to be amused by his 
 assurances that he would give it up ; while 
 he really determined to keep possession of 
 it. TourreU. 
 
 [3.] Enslaved.] When Philip had dispos- 
 sessed the tyrants of Thessaly, he began to 
 set himself up in their place ; but not by- 
 open force. He was so complete a master 
 of dissimulation, appeared so gentle, so 
 affable, so humane, so amiable, even to the 
 conquered, that the Thessalians gave them- 
 selves up to him with an entire confidence ; 
 which he knew how to take the advantage 
 Of. Tourteil. 
 
 [4.] For when forces, &c] I need not 
 take notice to the learned reader, how highly 
 this passage is ornamented in the original, 
 
 harmony and affection, and one common 
 interest unites the confederating powers, 
 then they share the toils with alacrity, they 
 endure the distresses, they persevere. But 
 when extravagant ambition, and lawless 
 power (as in his case), have aggrandized a 
 single person ; the first pretence, the slight- 
 est accident, overthrows him, and all his 
 greatness is dashed at once to the ground. 
 For it is not, no, Athenians ! it is not pos- 
 sible to found a lasting power upon injustice, 
 perjury, and treachery. These may perha]is 
 succeed for once, and borrow for a while, 
 from hope, a gay and flourishing appear- 
 ance. But time betrays their weakness, and 
 they fall into ruin of themselves. For as in 
 structures of every kind, the lower parts 
 should have the greatest firmness, so the 
 grounds and principles of actions should be 
 just and true. But these advantages are 
 not found in the actions of Philip. 
 
 I say then, that you should despatch suc- 
 cours to the Olynthians (and the more ho- 
 nourably and expeditiously this is proposed 
 to be done, the more agreeably to my senti- 
 ments) ; and send an embassy to the Thes- 
 salians, to inform some, and to enliven that 
 spirit already raised in others (for it hath ac- 
 tually been resolved to demand the restitution 
 of Pagasas, [5.] and to assert their claim to 
 Magnesia). And let it be your care, Athe- 
 nians ! that our ambassadors may not de- 
 pend only upon words, but give them some 
 action to display, by taking the field in a 
 manner worthy of the state, and engaging 
 in the war with vigour. For words, if not 
 accompanied by actions, must ever appear 
 vain and contemptible, and particularly 
 when they come from us, whose rompt 
 abilities, and well-known eminence in speak- 
 ing, make us to be always heard with the 
 greater suspicion. 
 
 Would you indeed regain attention and 
 confidence, your measures must be greatly 
 changed, vour conduct totally reformed ; 
 your fortunes, your persons, must appear 
 devoted to the common cause ; your utmost 
 efforts must be exerted. If you will act 
 thus, as your honour and your interest re- 
 quire ; then, Athenians ! you will not only 
 discover the weakness and insincerity of the 
 
 by the beauty of the metaphors, the gran- 
 deur of the composition, and the fineness of 
 the sentiment. The word iv exaircae, by 
 which he expresses the downfal of Philip, I 
 apprehend, is not to be rendered into our, or 
 perhaps any other language. It gives us the 
 idea of a generous steed, tossing its mane, 
 impatient of the bit, and casting his rider 
 to the ground ; which at once expresses the 
 subjection of the states conquered by Philip, 
 their impatience of his government, thejr 
 bold effort to regain their liberty, and the 
 downfal of their master. The change ot 
 tenses \uvtxairicre «ai dii\v<rev) adds greatly 
 to the force and oeauty ; it seems as if the 
 destruction of Philip was too quick for 
 words. . 
 
 [5.] Pagasa-.l A city of Thessaly, which 
 he had made himself master of five years 
 before. Tourreil.
 
 14 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [OR AT. 
 
 II. 
 
 confederates of Philip, but the ruinous con- 
 dition of his own kingdom will also be laid 
 open. The power and sovereignty of Mace- 
 don may have some weight indeed, when 
 joined with others. Thus, when you march- 
 ed against the Olynthians under the conduct 
 of Timotheus, it proved a useful ally ; when 
 united with the Olynthians against Potidaea, 
 it added something to their force ; just now, 
 when the Thessalians were in the midst of 
 disorder, sedition, and confusion, it aided 
 them against the family of their tyrants 
 (and in every case, any, even a small acces- 
 sion of strength, is, in my opinion, of consi- 
 derable effect). But of itself, unsupported, 
 it is infirm, it is totally distempered ; for, by 
 all those glaring exploits which have given 
 him this apparent greatness, his wars, his 
 expeditions, he hath rendered it yet weaker 
 than it was naturallv- For you are not to 
 imagine that the inclinations of his subjects 
 are the same with those of Philip. He 
 thirsts for glory ; this is his object, this he 
 eagerly pursues, through toils and dangers 
 of every kind, despising safety and life, when 
 compared with the honour of achieving such 
 actions as no other prince of Macedon could 
 ever boast of. But his subjects have no 
 part in this ambition. Harassed by those 
 various excursions he is ever making, they 
 groan under perpetual calamity ; torn from 
 their business and their families, and with- 
 out opportunity to dispose of that pittance 
 which their toils have earned ; as all com- 
 merce is shut out from the coasts of Macedon 
 by the war. 
 
 Hence, one may perceive how his subjects in 
 general are affected to Philip. But then his 
 auxiliaries, and the soldiers of his phalanx, 
 [1.] have the character of wonderful forces, 
 trained completely to war. And yet I can 
 affirm, upon the credit of a person from that 
 country, incapable of falsehood, that they 
 have no such superiority. For, as he assures 
 me, if any man of experience in military 
 affairs should be found among them, he 
 dismisses all such, from an ambition of hav- 
 ing every great action ascribed wholly to 
 himself (for, besides his other passions, the 
 man hath this ambition in the highest de- 
 gree). And if any person, from a sense of 
 decency, or other virtuous principle, betrays 
 a dislike of his daily intemperance, and 
 riotings, and obscenities, [2.] he loses all 
 favour and regard; so that none are left 
 about him but wretches, who subsist on 
 
 "1.] The soldiers of his phalanx.] In the 
 original, 7re£eTaipoi, fellow soldiers. A term 
 invented for the encouragement of this body, 
 and to reconcile them to all the severities of 
 their duty. Such kind of familiarities cost 
 but little, and are often of considerable 
 service to a prince. TourreiL 
 
 [2.] Obscenities.] In the original, nopZa- 
 KKTuoOi: Certain lascivious dances, so called 
 from the name of a satyr, said to have in- 
 vented them. Theophrastus mentions it as 
 a part of the character of a man utterly 
 abandoned, that when inflamed by wine he 
 is even capable of dancing the Chordax. 
 Tuurreil. 
 
 rapine and flattery, and who, when heated 
 with wine, do not scruple to descend to such 
 instances of revelry, as it would shock you 
 to repeat. Nor can the truth of this be 
 doubted ; for they whom we all conspired to 
 drive from hence, as infamous and abandon- 
 ed, Callias the public servant, [3.] and others 
 of the same stamp ; buffoons, composers of 
 lewd songs, in which they ridicule their 
 companions ; these are the persons whom he 
 entertains and caresses. And these things, 
 Athenians ! trifling as they may appear to 
 some, are to men of just discernment great 
 indications of the weakness both of his mind 
 and fortune. At present, his successes cast 
 a shade over them ; for prosperity hath 
 great power to veil such baseness from 
 observation. But let his arms meet with 
 the least disgrace, and all his actions will be 
 exposed. This is a truth, of which he 
 himself, Athenians ! will, in my opinion, 
 soon convince you, if the gods favour us, 
 and you exert your vigour. For, as in our 
 bodies, while a man is in health, he feels no 
 effect of any inward weakuess ; but when 
 disease attacks him, every thing becomes 
 sensible, in the vessels, in the joints, or in 
 whatever other part his frame may be disor- 
 dered ; so in states and monarchies, while 
 they carry on a war abroad, their defects 
 escape the general eye ; but when once it 
 approaches their own territory, then they 
 are all detected. 
 
 If here be.any one among you, who, from 
 Philip's good fortune, concludes that he 
 must prove a formidable enemy ; such rea- 
 soning is not unworthy a man of prudence. 
 Fortune hath great ' influence, nay, the 
 whole influence, in all human affairs ; but 
 then, were 1 to choose, I should prefer t'ne 
 fortune of Athens (if you yourselves will 
 assert your own cause with the least degree 
 of vigour), to this man's fortune. For we 
 have many better reasons to depend upon the 
 favour of heaven than this man. But our 
 present state is, in my opinion, a state of 
 total inactivity ; and he who will not exert 
 his own strength, cannot apply for aid, 
 either to his friends or to the gods. It is 
 not then surprising, that he, who is himself 
 ever amidst the dangers and labours of the 
 field ; who is every where ; whom no op- 
 portunity escapes ; to whom no season is 
 unfavourable; should be superior to you, 
 who are wholly engaged in contriving de- 
 lays, and framing decrees and inquiring 
 
 In this description of the dissolute man- 
 ners of Philip and his court, one would 
 imagine that the orator had aggravated a 
 little; yet we have the whole description 
 still more heightened in history. The 
 learned reader will find it in Athena;us, Book 
 6. Tuurreil' 
 
 [3.] The public servant.] One of those 
 public slaves who attended the Athenian 
 generals in the field. They chose slaves for 
 this business, that if there was occasion for 
 their evidence on any public inquiry into 
 the conduct of the war, they might be put 
 to the torture, from which free citizens were 
 exempted. Ulpian.
 
 on AT 
 
 II,] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 15 
 
 after news. I am not surprised at this, for 
 the contrary must have been surprising : if 
 we, who never act, in any single instance, as 
 becomes a state engaged in war, should con- 
 quer him, who, in every instance, acts with 
 an indefatigable vigilance. This indeed sur- 
 prises me, that you, who [1.] fought the cause 
 of Greece against Lacedemon, and gener- 
 ously declined all the many favourable op- 
 portunities of aggrandizing yourselves ; 
 who, to secure their property to others, 
 parted with your own by your own con- 
 tributions, and bravely exposed yourselves 
 in battle, should now decline the service of 
 the field, and delay the necessary supplies, 
 when called to the defence of your own 
 rights : that vou, in whom Greece in ge- 
 neral, and each particular state, hath often 
 found protection, should sit down quiet 
 spectators of your own private wrongs : 
 This, I say, surprises me: and one tiling 
 more ; that not a man among you can reflect 
 how long a time we have been at war with 
 Philip, and in what measures this time hath 
 all been wasted. You are not to be inform- 
 ed, that, in delaying, in hoping that others 
 would assert our cause, in accusing each 
 other, in impeaching, then again entertain- 
 ing hopes in such measures as are now pur- 
 sued, that time hath been entirely wasted. 
 And are you so devoid of apprehension, as 
 to imagine, when our state hath been re- 
 duced from greatness to wretchedness, that 
 the very same conduct will iaise us from 
 wretchedness to greatness ? No ! this is not 
 reasonable, it is not natural ; for it is much 
 easier to defend, than to acquire dominions. 
 But now, the war hath left us nothing to 
 defend : we must acquire. And to this 
 work you yourselves alone are equal. 
 
 This, then, is my opinion. Vou should 
 raise supplies : you should take the field 
 with alacrity. Prosecutions should be all 
 suspended until you have recovered your 
 affairs ; let each man's sentence be deter- 
 mined by his actions: honour those who 
 have deserved applause ; let the iniquitous 
 
 [1.] See note on Philip. I. page 5. 
 
 [2.] Lampsacus, Sigoeum, &c] Chares re- 
 ceived these two cities of Asia Minor, from 
 the Satrap Artabazus, in return for his 
 service (see note on Ph. I. p. 6.) This 
 general, instead of employing the fleet he 
 had been entrusted with, for the recovery 
 of Amphipolis, according to his instruc- 
 tions, joined with some pirates, and com- 
 mitted considerable outrages in the yEgean 
 Sea. He was accused of this at his return, 
 but escaped, by flying from public justice, 
 until his faction grew powerful enough to 
 reinstate turn in his former command. 
 Tourreil. 
 
 [3.] Classes, &c. [Su/j/jopicu.] Each of 
 the ten tribes elected one hundred and 
 twenty of the richer citizens, out of their 
 own body, who were obliged to perform 
 the public duties, and to raise supplies for 
 the exigencies of the state, out of their 
 private fortunes. The twelve hundred 
 persons thus chosen, were divided into two 
 parts, and each of these into ten classes, 
 
 meet their punishment : let there be no 
 pretences, no deficiencies on your part ; for 
 you cannot bring the actions of others to a 
 severe scrutiny, unless you have first been 
 careful of your own duty. What indeed 
 can be the reason, think ye, tnat every man 
 whom ye have sent out at the head of an 
 army, hath deserted your service, and 
 sought out some private expedition (if we 
 must speak ingenuously of these our gene- 
 rals also)? The reason is this: When en- 
 gaged in the service of the state, the prize 
 for which they fight is yours. Thus, should 
 Amphipolis be now taken, you instantly 
 possess yourselves of it : the commanders 
 have all the danger, the rewards they do 
 not share. But in their private enterprises 
 the dangers are less ; the acquisitions are all 
 shared by the generals and soldiers ; as were 
 Lampsacus, Sigceum,[2.] and those vessels 
 which they plundered. Thus are they all 
 determined by their private interest. And 
 when you turn your eyes to the wretched 
 state of your affairs, you bring your generals 
 to a trial ; you grant them leave to speak ; 
 you hear the necessities they plead, and 
 then acquit them. Nothing then remains 
 for us, but to be distracted with endless con- 
 tests and divisions (some urging these, some 
 those measures), and to feel the public 
 calamity. For in former times, Athenians, 
 you divided into classes, [3.] to raise sup- 
 plies. Now, the business of these classes is 
 to govern ; each hath an orator at its head, 
 andageneral.who ishis creature; theTHREE 
 hundred are assistants to these, and the 
 rest of you divide, some to this, some to 
 that party. You must leave the power of 
 speaking, of advising, and of acting, open 
 to every citizen. But if you suffer some 
 persons to issue out their mandates, as with 
 a royal authority ; [4.] if one set of men be 
 forced to fit out ships, to raise supplies, to 
 take up arms ; while others are only to 
 make decrees against them, without any 
 charge, any employment besides ; it is not 
 
 called avunopiai. These were again sub- 
 divided into two parts, according to the 
 estaies of those who composed them. And 
 thus, out of the ten first classes were ap- 
 pointed the THREE HUNDRED, that hi, 
 such a number of the wealthy citizens, who 
 were on all occasions to supply the common- 
 wealth with money ; and with the rest of 
 the twelve hundred to perform all extra- 
 ordinary duties in their turns. It seems, 
 however, that in the time of Demosthenes, 
 these classes sought pretences to avoid their 
 dutv, and contended for the power of throw- 
 ing "the whole weight of public business on 
 each other. 
 
 [4.] As with a royal, &c] Eubulus, Aiis- 
 tophon, Hyperides, and Lycurgus, govern- 
 ed every thing with an absolute power, in 
 the assemblies; the conduct of military 
 affairs was entirely engrossed by Diopithes, 
 Menestheus, Leosthenes, and Chares. Thus 
 the administration of affairs was shared a- 
 mong a few men as it were by lot ; so that 
 the popular government degenerated into 
 an oligarchy. See Plutar. in Phocion.
 
 : ; 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. hi. 
 
 possible, that any thing can be effected 
 seasonably and successfully : for the injured 
 party ever will desert you ; and then your 
 sole resource will be to make them feel 
 your resentment instead of your enemies. 
 
 To sum up all, my sentiments are these: 
 —That every man should contribute in 
 proportion to his fortune; that all should 
 take the field in their turns, until all have 
 served ; that whoever appears in this place 
 
 should be allowed to speak ; and that when 
 you gi\e your voices, your true interest 
 only should determine you, not the au- 
 thority of this or the other speaker. Pursue 
 this course, and then your applause will 
 not be lavished on some orator, the moment 
 he concludes ; you yourselves will share it 
 hereafter, when you find how greatly you 
 have advanced trie interests of your state. 
 
 THE SECOND OLYNTHIAC ORATION : 
 
 PRONOUNCED IN THE SAME YEAR. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 To remove the impression made on the 
 minds of the Athenians by the preceding 
 oration, Demades and other popular leaders 
 in the interest of Philip rose up, and op- 
 posed the propositions of Demosthenes with 
 all their eloquence. Their opposition, how- 
 ever, proved ineffectual ; for the assembly 
 decreed, that relief should be sent to the 
 Olynthians ; and thirty galleys and two 
 thousand forces were accordingly despatched 
 under the command of Chares. But these 
 succours, consisting entirely of mercenaries, 
 and commanded by a general of no great 
 reputation, could not be of considerable 
 service ; and were besides suspected, and 
 scarcely less dreaded by the Olynthians 
 than the Macedonians themselves. In the 
 mean time the progress of Philip's arms 
 could meet with little interruption. He re- 
 duced several places in the region of Chalcis ; 
 rased the fortress of Zeira; and having 
 twice defeated the Olynthians in the field, 
 at last shut them up in their city. In this 
 emergency, they again applied to the Athe- 
 nians, and pressed for fresh and effectual 
 succours. In the following oration, Demos- 
 thenes endeavours to support this petition ; 
 and to prove, that both the honour and the 
 interest of the Athenians demanded their 
 immediate compliance. As the expense of 
 the armament was the great point of diffi- 
 culty, he recommends the abrogation of 
 such laws as prevented the proper settle- 
 ment of the funds necessary for carrying on 
 a war of such importance — The nature of 
 these laws will come immediately to be ex- 
 plained. 
 
 It appears, from the beginning of this 
 oration, that other speakers had arisen be- 
 fore Demosthenes, and inveighed loudly 
 against Philip. Full of the national pre- 
 judices, or disposed to flatter the Athenians 
 in their notions of the dignity and import- 
 ance of their state, they breathed nothing 
 but indignation against the enemy, and 
 possibly with some contempt of his present 
 enteqirises, proposed to the Athenians to 
 correct his arrogance, by an invasion of his 
 own kingdom. Demosthenes, on the con- 
 trary, insists on the necessity of self-defence ; 
 endeavours to rouse his hearers from their 
 security, by the terror of impending danger ; 
 and affects to consider the defence of Olyn- 
 
 thus as the last and only means of preserving 
 the very being of Athens. 
 
 OLYNTHIAC THE SECOND. 
 
 Callimach. Archon.—A. R. Philip. 12 — 
 Olympiad. 1U7- An. 4. 
 
 I AM by no means affected in the same man- 
 ner, Athenians ! when I review the state of 
 our affairs, and when I attend to those 
 speakers, who have now declared their sen- 
 timents. They insist, that we should punish 
 Philip : but our affairs, situated as they now 
 appear, warn us to guard against the dangers 
 with which we ourselves are threatened. 
 Thus far, therefore, I must differ from 
 these speakers, that I apprehend they have 
 not proposed the proper object for your 
 attention. There was a time indeed, I know 
 it well, when the state could have possessed 
 her own dominions in security, and sent 
 out her armies to inflict chastisement on 
 Philip. I myself have seen that time, when 
 we enjoyed such power. But now, I am 
 persuaded we should confine ourselves to 
 the protection of our allies. When this is 
 once effected, then we may consider the 
 punishment his outrages have merited. Bnt 
 till the first great point be well secured, it 
 is weakness to debate about our more re- 
 mote concernments. 
 
 And now, Athenians ! if ever we stood in 
 need of mature deliberation and counsel, 
 the present juncture calls aloud for them. 
 To point out the course to be pursued on 
 this emergency, I do not think the greatest 
 difficulty : but I am in doubt in what man- 
 ner to propose my sentiments; for all that 
 I have observed, and all that I have heard, 
 convinces me, that most of your misfor- 
 tunes have proceeded from a want of incli- 
 nation to pursue the necessary measures ! 
 not from ignorance of them Let me en- 
 treat you, that, if I now speak with an un- 
 usual boldness, ye may bear it : considering 
 only, whether I speak truth, and with a 
 incere intention to advance your future 
 ;nterests: for you now see, that by some 
 orators, who study but to gain your favour, 
 our affairs have been reduced to the ex- 
 tremity of distress. 
 
 I think it necessary, in the first place.
 
 okat. in.] DEMOSTHENES' OKATIONS. 
 
 17 
 
 to recall some late transactions to your 
 thoughts. You may remember, Athenians ! 
 that, about three or four years since, you 
 received advice that Philip was in Thrace, 
 and had laid siege to the fortress ot Heroea. 
 It was then the month of November. [1.] 
 Great commotions and debates arose : It was 
 resolved to semi out forty galleys; that all 
 citizens under the age of five-and-forty [2.] 
 should themselves embark ; and that sixty 
 talents should be raised. Thus it was 
 agreed ; that year passed away ; then came 
 in the months July, [3.] August, September. 
 In this last month, with great difficulty, 
 when the mysteries had first been celebra- 
 ted, you sent out Charidemus,[4.] with 
 just ten vessels unmanned, and five talents 
 of silver. For when reports came of the 
 sickness and the death of Philip (both of 
 these were affirmed), you laid aside your 
 intended armament, imagining, that at such 
 a juncture there was no need of succours. 
 And vet this was the very critical moment : 
 for had they been despatched with the same 
 alacrity with which they were granted, Philip 
 would not have then escaped, to become 
 that formidable enemy he now appears. 
 
 But what was then done cannot be amend- 
 ed. Now we have the opportunity of another 
 war : that war, I mean, which hath induced 
 me to bring these transactions into view, 
 that vou mav not once more fall into the 
 same "errors. How then shall we improve this 
 opportunity ? This is the only question. 
 For if you "are not resolved to assist with all 
 the force you can command, you are really 
 serving under Philip, you are fighting on 
 his side. The Olynthians are a people whose 
 power was thought considerable. Thus were 
 the circumstances of affairs : Philip could 
 not confide in them : they looked with equal 
 suspicion upon Philip. We and they then 
 
 [1.] Of November.] The reducing the Attic 
 months to the Julian hath occasioned some 
 dispute among the learned. As 1 thought 
 it best to make use of Roman names in the 
 translation, I have followed the reduction 
 of Scaliger. 
 
 [2.] Under the age of five-and-forty, &c] 
 This expresses their zeal, and their appre- 
 hensions of the danger : for by the laws of 
 Athens a citizen was exempted from mili- 
 tary service at the age of forty, except on 
 some very urgent occasions. 
 
 [3.] July, &c] That is, the first months 
 of the next year ; for the reader is to ob- 
 serve, that the Attic year commenced on 
 that new-moon, whose full-moon imme- 
 diately succeeded the summer-solstice. 
 
 4. t'haridemus.] That is, the worst of 
 all your generals : a foreigner, a soldier of 
 :" irtune, who had sometimes fought against 
 you, sometimes betrayed your cause, and 
 who, <vn many occasions, had proved himself 
 unworthy of the confidence you reposed in 
 
 nim Monsieur Tourreil translates this 
 
 passage thus : " Ce fut en ce dernier mois, 
 qu' immediate.ment apres la celebration 
 des mystcres, vous dkpeschates d'ici Cha- 
 rideme," &e. Here there are two unfor- 
 tunate words which express haste and ex- 
 
 entered into mutual engagements of p v ■ 
 and alliance : this was a grievous embarras- 
 ment to Philip, that we should have a pow- 
 erful state confederated with us, spies upon 
 the incidents of his fortune. It was agreed 
 that we should by all means engage this 
 people in a war with him. And now, what 
 we all so earnestly desired is effected ; the 
 manner is of no moment. What then re- 
 mains for us, Athenians ! but to send imme- 
 diate and effectual succours, I cannot see. 
 For besides disgrace that must attend us, if 
 any of our interests are supinely disregarded, 
 I have no .f mall apprehensions of the con- 
 sequence (the Thebans [5.] affected as they 
 are towards us, and the Phocians exhausted 
 of their treasures), if Philip be left at full 
 liberty to lead his armies into these territo- 
 ries, when his present enterprises are accom- 
 plished. If any one among you can be so 
 far immersed in indolence, as to suffer this, 
 he must choose to be witness of the misery 
 of his own country, rather than to hear of 
 that which strangers suffer ; and to seek as- 
 sistance for himself, when it is now in his 
 power to grant assistance to others. T hat 
 this must be the consequence, if we do not 
 exert ourselves on the present occasion, 
 there can scarcely remain the least doubt 
 among us. 
 
 But as to the necessity of sending suc- 
 cours, this, it may be said," we are agreed in : 
 this is our resolution. But how shall we be 
 enabled ? that is the point to be explained. — 
 Be not surprised, Athenians ! if my senti- 
 ments on this occasion seem repugnant to 
 the general sense of this assembly. — Appoint 
 magistrates for [<!.] the inspection of your 
 law's : not in order to enact any new laws ; 
 you have already a sufficient number; but 
 to repeal those whose ill effects you now ex- 
 perience. I mean the laws relating to the 
 theatrical funds [7.] (thus openly I declare 
 
 pedition : whereas the description in the 
 original labours on in the slowest and 
 heaviest manner possible. Every single 
 word marks out the tediousness or the 
 meanness of their armament. 
 
 [5.] The Thebans, fltc.] They had a mor- 
 tal hatred to the Athenians, as they had 
 favoured Lacedemon after the battles of 
 Leuctra and Mantinea, and had lately taken 
 part with the Phocians against them, in the 
 sacred war. [And even before these times, 
 at the conclusion of the Peloponnesian war, 
 the Thebans strenuously contended for the 
 utter extirpation of Athens.] Tourreil. 
 
 [6.] Magistrates for, & -.J In the original 
 touoOfTot. So were those citizens called, 
 who were intrusted bv the people with the 
 regulation of their laws. Thev were chosen 
 by lot, to the number of 1001, that then- 
 votes might not be equal. Every citizen, at 
 certain times, and in certain assemblies, had 
 usually a right to complain of any law. The 
 president of the assembly proposed the com- 
 plaint to the people : five advocates were 
 allowed to plead in defence of the law ; and 
 after hearing them, the people referred the 
 affair to the Nomotheta?. 
 
 [7-] The theatrical funds, &o] The A the-
 
 ]f? 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [OUAT. III. 
 
 it) and some about the soldiery. [1.] By the 
 first, the soldier's pay goes as theatrical ex- 
 penses to the useless and inactive; the 
 others screen those from justice who decline 
 the service of the field, and thus damp the 
 ardour of those disposed to serve us. When 
 you have repealed these, and rendered it 
 consistent with safety to advise you justly, 
 then seek for some person to propose that 
 decree, which [2.] you all are sensible the 
 common good requires. But till this be 
 done, expect not that any man will urge 
 your true interest, when, for urging your 
 true interest, you repay him with destruc- 
 tion. Ye will never find such zeal, especially 
 since the consequence can be only thi> ; he 
 who offers his opinion, and moves for your 
 concurrence, sutlers some unmerited cala- 
 mity ; but your affairs are not in the least 
 advanced ; nay, this additional inconveni- 
 ence must arise, ttiat for the future it will 
 appear more dangerous to advise you than 
 even at present ; and the authors of these 
 laws should also be the authors of their re- 
 peal. For it is not just that the public 
 favour should be bestowed on them, who, 
 in framing these laws, have greatly injured 
 the community ; and that the odium should 
 fall on him whose freedom and sincerity are 
 of important service to us all — Until these 
 regulations be made, you are not to think 
 any man so great, that he may violate these 
 laws with impunity ; or so devoid of rea- 
 
 nians, as well as the other Greeks, were ever 
 passionately fond of the entertainments of 
 the theatre. Disputes for places soon be- 
 came remarkably inconvenient, and called 
 for a regulation. The magistrates therefore 
 ordered that a small price should be paid for 
 places, to reimburse the builders of the thea- 
 tre, which as yet knew not that magnifi- 
 cence which riches and luxury sfterward 
 introduced. This purchasing of places began 
 to be complained of by the poorer citizens ; 
 and therefore Pericles, out of a pretended 
 zeal for their interest, proposed, that a sum 
 of money (which had been deposited in the 
 treasurv", after the war of Egina, when they 
 had made a thirty years' peace with Lace- 
 demon, and was intended as a public resource 
 in case of any invasion of Attica) should be 
 distributed among the citizens, to defray 
 the expense of their entertainments in time 
 of peace only. The proposal and the re- 
 striction were both agreed to. But as all 
 indulgences of this kind degenerate, sooner 
 or later, into licentiousness, the people began 
 to consider this distribution as their un- 
 alienable property. And the very year of the 
 Olvnthiac orations, Eubulus, a popular lead- 
 er "of a party opposite to Demosthenes, pre- 
 vailed to have a law passed, which forbade 
 any man, upon pain of death, to make a 
 motion, or proposal of a decree, for restor- 
 ing what was now called the theatrical funds, 
 to the military, or any other public service. 
 This is the law which Demosthenes here 
 attacks. 
 
 [1.] About the soldiery.] The laws of Solon 
 exacted personal service from every citizen, 
 with the utmost rigour. Those which the 
 
 son, as to plunge himself into open and 
 foreseen destruction. 
 
 And be not ignorant of this, Athenians ! 
 that a decree is of no signification, unless 
 attended with resolution and alacrity to ex- 
 ecute it. For were decrees of themselves 
 sufficient to engage you to perform your 
 duty ; could they even execute the things 
 which they enact ; so many would not have 
 been made to so little, or rather to no good 
 purpose ; nor would the insolence of Philip 
 nave had so long a date. For if decrees can 
 puni<h, he hath long since felt all their fury. 
 But they have no such power : for though 
 proposing and resolving be first in order ; 
 vet, in force and efficacy, action is superior. 
 Let this then be your principal concern ; the 
 others you cannot want : for you have men 
 amongyou capable of advising, and you are 
 of all people most acute in apprehending : 
 now, let your interest direct you, and it will 
 be in your power to be as remarkable for 
 acting." What season indeed, what oppor- 
 tunity do you wait for, more favourable 
 than the present ? or when will you exert 
 your vigour, if not now, my countrymen ? 
 Hath not this man seized all those places 
 that were ours ? should he become master of 
 this country [3.] too, must we not sink into 
 the lowest state of infamy ? Are not they 
 whom we have promised to assist, whenever 
 they are engaged in war, now attacked them- 
 selves ? Is he not our enemy ? is he not m 
 possession of our dominions ? is he not a bar- 
 barian ? [4.] is he not every base thing words 
 
 orator complains of, must have been made 
 when the state began to be corrupted. 
 
 [2.1 That decree, which, &c.] A decree for 
 the alienation of the theatrical funds. While 
 Eubulus's law was in force, such a decree 
 could not be proposed. The usefulness and 
 necessity of it, however, the orator ventures 
 to insinuate ; for the penalty was not under- 
 stood as extending to a man's barely declar- 
 ing his sentiments, provided he did not make 
 the motion in form. In the latter part of 
 this oration, he seems to propose another 
 method of avoiding the ill consequences of 
 the law of Eubulus : and that is, that the 
 theatrical distributions should be still con- 
 tinued ; but that all those who were in pub- 
 lic offices, and who usually received their 
 several salaries and appointments, should 
 now serve the state without fee or reward. 
 The name only of these distributions would 
 have then remained. 
 
 [3.] Of this country, &c] That is the coun- 
 try of Chalcis, where Philip took two-and- 
 thirty cities, before he laid siege to Olyn- 
 thus. Tourreil. 
 
 [4.1 A barbarian ?] This was the term of 
 reproach which the Greeks applied to all 
 other nations : nor were the Macedonians 
 excepted. In the time of Xerxes, Alexan- 
 der king of Macedon could not be admitted 
 into the Olympic games, until he had proved 
 his descent to be originally from Argos. And 
 when he came over from the Persian camp, 
 to give the Greeks notice of the motions of 
 Mardonius, he justified his perfidy by his 
 ancient descent from Greece ; which he need-
 
 orat. in.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 19 
 
 ran express ? If we are insensible to all this, 
 if we almost aid his designs ; — Heavens ! can 
 we then ask to whom the consequences are 
 owing '! Yes, I know full well, we never will 
 impute them to ourselves. Just as in the 
 dangers of the field : not one of those who 
 fly will accuse himself; he will rather blame 
 the general, or his fellow-soldiers ; yet every 
 single[l.]man that tied was accessary to the 
 defeat : he who blames others might have 
 maintained his own post ; and had every 
 man maintained his, success must have en- 
 sued. Thus then, in the present case, is 
 there a man whose counsel seems liable to 
 objection ? let the next rise, and not inveigh 
 against him, but declare his own opinion. 
 Doth another offer some more salutary coun- 
 sel ? pursue it, in the name of Heaven ! — 
 But tnen it is not pleasing. — This is not the 
 fault of the speaker, unless in that he hath 
 [2.] neglected to express his affection in 
 prayers and wishes. To pray is easy, Athe- 
 nians ! and in one petition may be collected 
 as many instances of good fortune as we 
 please. To determine justly, when affairs 
 are to be considered, is not so easy. But 
 what is most useful, should ever be prefer- 
 red to that which is agreeable, where both 
 cannot be obtained. 
 
 But, if there be a man who will leave us 
 the theatrical funds, and propose other sub- 
 sidies for the service of the war, are we not 
 
 ed not to have had recourse to, if Macedon 
 had not then been considered as a part of 
 the barbarian world. Tourreil, 
 
 1 1.1 Yet every single, &c] The orator did 
 not foresee, that in ten years after, he him- 
 self would be guilty of this very crime ; 
 branded with the name of infamy, for cast- 
 ing away his shield at the battle of Cha?ronea, 
 and have nothing to oppose to the reproaches 
 of his enemies, but a weak and trifling plea- 
 santrv. Tourreil. 
 
 [2.] Unless in that he hath, &c] This pas- 
 sage, which is translated pretty exactly from 
 the original, seems, at first view, to have 
 something of a forced and unnatural air. 
 Indeed it is not possible for us to perceive 
 fully and clearly the strength and propriety 
 of every part of these orations. To this it 
 would be requisite to know the temper and 
 disposition of the hearers, at that particular 
 time when each of them was delivered ; and 
 also to have before us every thing said by 
 other speakers in the debate. In many 
 places, we find very plain allusions to the 
 speeches of other orators. And it is not un- 
 reasonable to think, that there are other 
 more obscure ones which escape our obser- 
 vation. If we suppose, for instance, that in 
 the present debate, before Demosthenes 
 arose, some other speaker had amused the 
 people with flattering hopes, with profes- 
 sions of zeal and affection, with passionate 
 exclamations, and prayers to the gods for 
 such and such instances of public success ; 
 while at the same time he neglected to point 
 out such measures as were fit to be pur- 
 sued, or perhaps recommended pernicious 
 measures ; — upon such a supposition, I say, 
 this passage, considered as an indirect re. 
 
 rather to attend to him? I grant it, Atheni- 
 ans ! if that man can be found. Hut I should 
 account it wonderful, if it ever did, if it ever 
 can happen to any man on earth, that, while 
 he lavishes his present possessions on unne- 
 cessary occasions, some future funds should 
 be procured, to supply his real necessities. 
 But such proposals find a powerful advocate 
 in the breast of every hearer. So that no- 
 thing is so easy as to "deceive one's self: for 
 what we wish, that we readily believe : but 
 such expectations are oftentimes inconsist- 
 ent with our affairs. On this occasion, there- 
 fore, let your affairs direct you ; then will 
 you be enabled to take the field ; then will 
 you have your full pay. And men, whose 
 judgments are well directed, and whose souls 
 are great, could not support the infamy 
 which must attend them, if obliged to desert 
 any of the operations of a war, from the 
 want of money : they could not, after snatch- 
 ing up their arms and marching against the 
 Corinthians [3.] and Megareans, [4.] suffer 
 Philip to enslave the states of Greece.through 
 the want of provisions for their forces. — I 
 say not this wantonly, to raise the resent- 
 ment of some among you. No ; I am not 
 so unhappily perverse, as to study to be 
 hated, when no good purpose can be answer- 
 ed by it : but it is my opinion, that every 
 honest speaker should prefer the interest of 
 the state to the favour of his hearers. This 
 
 proof of such a speaker, will perhaps appear 
 to have sufficient force and propriety. 
 
 [3.] The Corinthians.] This alludes to an 
 expedition that the Athenians had made 
 about an age before. Some time after the 
 Persian war, when the Greeks began to 
 quarrel among themselves, Corinth and 
 Megara had some dispute about their boun- 
 daries. The better to support their quar- 
 rel, the Megareans quitted the Lacedemo- 
 nians, and entered into an alliance with 
 Athens. But as this state was then engaged 
 both in Egypt and Egina, the Corinthians 
 imagined they would not be able to give 
 any assistance ; and therefore invaded the 
 territories of Megara. But the Athenians 
 came immediately to the assistance of their 
 allies, although they were obliged to com- 
 mit the defence of their city to their old 
 men and boys ; and the Corinthians were 
 repulsed. Tourreil. 
 
 [4.] And Megareans.] This war happened 
 twelve years after that mentioned in the 
 preceding note. The Megareans, after hav- 
 ing put an Athenian garrison to the sword, 
 that was stationed in their territory, joined 
 with Lacedemon, and even with Corinth, 
 their mortal enemy, against whom the Athe- 
 nians had espoused their quarrel. This state, 
 incensed at the ingratitude of their revolt, 
 determined to reduce them to reason. They 
 issued out a mandate, directing the Mega- 
 reans to abstain from cultivating a piece of 
 ground consecrated to Ceres and Proserpine; 
 and on their refusing to comply, published 
 an edict, to exclude them from all commerce 
 in Attica ; and bound their generals by an 
 oath to invade their territories once every 
 yea*. Tourreil. 
 
 D
 
 20 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. hi. 
 
 (I am assured, and perhaps you need not be 
 informed) was the principle which actuated 
 the public conduct of those of our ancestors 
 who spoke in this assembly : (men, whom 
 the present set of orators are ever ready to 
 applaud, but whose example they by no 
 means imitate :) such were Aristides, Nicias, 
 the former Demosthenes, and Pericles. 
 But since we have had speakers, who, be- 
 fore their public appearance, ask you : What 
 do you desire? what shall I propose ? how 
 can "I oblige you ? the interest of our country 
 hath been sacrificed to momentary pleasure 
 and popular favour. Thus have we been 
 distressed ; thus have these men risen to 
 greatness, and you sunk into disgrace. 
 
 And here let me entreat your attention to 
 a summary account of the conduct of your 
 ancestors, and of your own. I shall mention 
 but a few things, and these well known ; for 
 if you would pursue the way to happiness, 
 you need not look abroad for leaders ; our 
 own countrymen point it out. These our 
 ancestors, therefore, whom the orators never 
 courted, never treated with that indulgence 
 with which you are flattered, held the sove- 
 reignty of Greece, with general consent, five- 
 and-forty years ; [1.] deposited above ten 
 thousand talents in our public treasury ; 
 kept the king of this country in that subjec- 
 tion which a barbarian owes to Greeks ; 
 erected monuments of many and illustrious 
 actions, which they themselves achieved, 
 by land and sea : in a word, are the only 
 persons who have transmitted to posterity 
 such glory as is superior to envy. — Thus 
 great do they appear in the affairs of Greece. 
 — Let us now view them within the city, 
 both in their public and private conduct. 
 And, first, the edifices which their admini- 
 strations have given us, their decorations of 
 our temples, and the offerings deposited by 
 them, are so numerous and so magnificent, 
 that all the efforts of posterity cannot ex- 
 ceed them. Then, in private life, so exem- 
 plary was their moderation, their adherence 
 to the ancient manners so scrupulously exact, 
 that if any of you ever discovered the house 
 of Aristides, or Miltiades, or any of the 
 illustrious men of those times, he must 
 know that it was not distinguished by the 
 least extraordinary splendour. For they did 
 not so conduct the public business as to 
 
 [1.] Five-and-forty years. J In Wolfius's 
 edition, it is sixty-five. But this reading is 
 found in other copies, and is confirmed by 
 the parallel passage in the oration on Regu- 
 lating the Commonwealth. The orator com- 
 putes from the death of Pausanias, when 
 the supreme command was given to the 
 Athenians, to the beginning of the Pelopon- 
 nesian war. Add to this twenty-seven years 
 of that war, during which time the Atheni- 
 ans maintained their power, though not 
 with consent ; and the whole will be seventy- 
 two years complete, and part of the seventy- 
 third year. Agreeably to this last calculation, 
 Demosthenes says, in the third Philippic, 
 that the Athenians commanded in Greece 
 seventy-three years. These two accounts 
 are thus easily reconciled, by distinguishing 
 
 aggrandize themselves ; their sole great ob- 
 ject was to exalt the state. And thus by 
 their faithful attachment to Greece, by 
 their piety to the gods, and by that equality 
 which they maintained among themselves, 
 they were raised (and no wonder) to the 
 summit of prosperity. 
 
 Such was the state of Athens at that time, 
 when the men I have mentioned were in 
 power. But what is your condition, under 
 these indulgent ministers who now direct 
 us ? Is it the same, or nearly the same ? — 
 Other things I shall pass over, though I 
 might expatiate on them. Let it only be 
 observed, that we are now, as you all see, 
 left without competitors ; the Lacedemoni- 
 ans lost ; [2.] the Thebans engaged [3] at 
 home ; and not one of all the other states 
 of consequence sufficient to dispute the sove- 
 reignty with us. Yet, at a time when we 
 might have enjoyed our own dominions in 
 security, and been the umpires in all dis- 
 putes abroad, our territories have been 
 wrested from us ; we have expended above 
 one thousand five hundred talents to no 
 purpose; the allies [4.] which we gained in 
 war have been lost in time of peace ; and to 
 this degree of power have we raised an 
 enemy against ourselves. (For let the man 
 stand forth, who can shew whence Philip 
 hath derived his greatness, if not from us.) 
 
 Well ! if these affairs have but an un- 
 favourable aspect, yet those within the city 
 
 are much more flourishing than ever. 
 
 Where are the proofs of this? The walls 
 which have been whitened?— the ways we 
 have repaired ? — the supplies of water ; and 
 
 such trifles ? Turn your eyes to the men, 
 
 of whose administrations these are the fruits. 
 Some of whom, from the iowist state of 
 poverty, have arisen suddenly to affluence; 
 some from meanness to renown: others 
 have made their own private houses much 
 more magnificent than the public edifices. 
 Just as the state hath fallen, their private 
 fortunes have been raised. 
 
 And what cause can we assign for this? 
 How is it that our affairs were once so 
 flourishing, and now in such disorder ? Be- 
 cause, formerly, the people dared to take 
 up arms themselves ; were themselves mas- 
 ters of those in employment; disposers 
 themselves of all emoluments ; so that every 
 
 the times of the voluntary and the involun- 
 tary obedience of the Greeks. Tourreil. 
 
 [2. J The Lacedemonians lost.] The battles 
 of Leuctra and Mantinea had entirely des- 
 troyed their power. Tourreil. 
 
 [3.] Engaged, &c] In the Phocian war. 
 
 [4.] The allies, &c] Ulpian and Wolfius 
 understand this of the peace, by which the 
 Athenians consented that the people of 
 Chios, Rhodes, and Byzantium, and other 
 revolters, should all continue free. But it 
 seems more natural to apply it to some 
 prior events ; as the taking of Pydna and 
 Potidaea, and other cities of Thrace, that 
 were then subject to Athens, and which 
 Philip made himself master of, after he had 
 concluded a peace with the Athenians, in the 
 second year of his reign. Tourreil.
 
 orat.iv.] DEMOSTHENES* ORATIONS. 
 
 21 
 
 citizen thought himself happy to derive 
 honours and authority, and all advantages 
 whatever, from the people. But now, on the 
 contrary, favours are all dispensed, affairs 
 all transacted, by the ministers ; while you, 
 quite enervated, robbed of your riches, 
 your allies, stand in the mean rank of ser- 
 vants and assistants : happy if these men 
 grant you the theatrical appointments, and 
 send you scraps of the public meal. [1.] 
 And, what is of all most sordid, you hold 
 yourselves obliged to them for that which 
 is your own : while they confine you within 
 these walls, lead you on gently to their 
 purposes, and soothe and tame you to obe- 
 dience. Nor is it possible, that they, who 
 are engaged in low and grovelling pursuits, 
 can entertain great and generous sentiments. 
 No ! Such as their employments are, so 
 
 must their dispositions prove And now, I 
 
 call heaven to witness, that it will not sur- 
 prise me, if I suffer more, by mentioning 
 this your condition, than they who have 
 involved you in it ! Freedom ol speech you 
 do not allow on all occasions ; and that you 
 have now admitted it, excites my wonder. 
 
 But if you will at length be prevailed on 
 to change' your conduct ; if you will take 
 the field, and act worthy of Athenians ; if 
 these redundant sums which you receive at 
 home be applied to the advancement of 
 your affairs abroad ; perhaps, my country- 
 men ! perhaps some instance of consummate 
 good fortune may attend you, and ye may 
 become so happy as to despise those pit- 
 tances, which are like the morsels that a 
 physician allows his patient. For these do 
 not restore his vigour, but just keep him 
 from dying. So, your distributions can- 
 not serve any valuable purpose, but are 
 just sufficient to divert your attention from 
 all other things, and thus increase the indo- 
 lence of every one among you. 
 
 [l.J Of the public meal.] Demetrius Pha- 
 lereus records a saying of Demades, in ridi- 
 cule of the custom of distributing victuals 
 to the people. The state, said he, is now 
 became a feeble old woman, that sits at home 
 in her slippers, and sups up her ptisan. 
 
 But I shall be asked, What then ! is it 
 your opinion, that these sums should pay 
 our army '—And besides this, that the 
 state should be regulated in sucli a manner, 
 that every one may have his share of public 
 business, and approve himself a useful citi- 
 zen, on what occasion soever his aid may be 
 required ? Is it in his power to live in peace ? 
 He will live here with greater dignity, while 
 these supplies prevent him from being 
 tempted by indigence to any thing disho- 
 nourable. Is he called forth by an emer- 
 gency like the present ? Let him discharge 
 that sacred duty which he owes to his 
 country, by applying these sums to his 
 support in the held. Is there a man among 
 you past the age of service ? Let him, by 
 inspecting and conducting the public busi- 
 ness, regularly merit his share of the dis- 
 tributions which he now receives, without 
 any duty enjoined, or any return made to 
 the community. And thus, with scarcely 
 any alteration, either of abolishing or in- 
 novating, all irregularities are removed, 
 and the state completely settled, by appoint- 
 ing one general regulation, which shall 
 entitle our citizens to receive, and at the 
 same time oblige them to take arms, to 
 administer justice, to act in all cases as their 
 time of life and our affairs require. But it 
 never hath, nor could it have, been moved 
 by me, that the rewards of the diligent and 
 active should be bestowed on the useless 
 citizen ; or that you should sit here, supine, 
 languid, and irresolute, listening to the 
 exploits of some general's foreign troops 
 (for thus it is at present).— Not that I 
 would reflect on him who serves you in any 
 instance. But you yourselves, Athenians ! 
 should perform those services for which you 
 heap honours upon others ; and not recede 
 from that illustrious rank of virtue, the 
 price of all the glorious toils of your ances- 
 tors, and by them bequeathed to' you. 
 
 Thus have I laid before you the chief 
 points in which I think you interested. It 
 is your part to embrace that opinion which 
 the welfare of the state in general, and that 
 of every single member, recommends to 
 your acceptance. 
 
 THE THIRD OLYNTIIIAC ORATION: 
 
 PRONOUNCED IN THE SAME YEAR. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The preceding oration had no farther 
 effect upon the Athenians, than to prevail 
 on them to send orders to Charidemus, who 
 commanded for them at the Hellespont, to 
 make an attempt to relieve Olynthus. He 
 accordingly led some forces into Chalcis, 
 which, in conjunction with the forces of 
 Olynthus, ravaged Pallene, a peninsula of 
 Macedon, towards Thrace, and Bottia, a 
 country on the confines of Chalcis, which, 
 among other towns, contained Pella, the 
 capital of Macedon. 
 
 But these attempts could not divert Philip 
 from his resolution of reducing Olynthus, 
 which he had now publicly avowed. The 
 Olynthians, therefore, found it necessary to 
 have once more recourse to Athens ; and to 
 request, that they would send troops, com- 
 posed of citizens, animated with a sincere 
 ardour for their interest, their own glory, 
 and the common cause. 
 
 Demosthenes, in the following oration, 
 insists on thp importance of saving Olyn- 
 thus ; alarms his hearers with the appre- 
 hension of a war, which actually threatened 
 Attica, and even the capital ; urges th«
 
 22 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [OTtAT. IV. 
 
 necessity of personal service ; and returns 
 to his charge of the misapplication of the 
 public money, but in such a manner as 
 shewelh that his former remonstrances had 
 not the desired effect. 
 
 OLYNTHIAC THE THIRD. 
 
 Callimach. Archon. — A. R. Philip. 12. — 
 Olympiad. 107. An. 4. 
 
 I am persuaded, Athenians! that you 
 would account it less valuable to possess the 
 greatest riches, [1.] than to have the true 
 interest of the state, on this emergency, 
 clearly laid before you. It is your part, 
 therefore, readily and cheerfully to attend 
 to all who are disposed to offer their opini- 
 ons. For your regards need not to be con- 
 fined to those whose counsels are the effect 
 of premeditation : [2.] it is your good fortune 
 to have men among, you, who can at once 
 suggest many points of moment. From 
 opinions, therefore, of every kind, you may 
 easily choose that most conducive to your 
 interest. 
 
 And now, Athenians! the present juncture 
 calls upon us: we almost hear its voice, 
 declaring loudly that you yourselves must 
 engage in these affairs, "if you have the least 
 attention to your own security. You enter- 
 tain I know not what sentiments on this 
 occasion : my opinion is, that the reinforce- 
 ments should be instantly decreed ; that 
 they should be raised with all possible expe- 
 dition ; that so our succours may be sent 
 from this city, and all former inconveniences 
 be avoided ; and that you should send am- 
 bassadors to notify these things, and to 
 secure our interests by their presence. For 
 as he is a man of consummate policy, com- 
 plete in the art of turning every incident to 
 his own advantage, there is the utmost rea- 
 son to fear, that partly by concessions where 
 they may be seasonable, partly by menaces 
 (and his menaces may [3. J be believed), and 
 partly by rendering us and our absence sus- 
 pected, — he may tear from us something of 
 the last importance, and force it into his own 
 service. 
 
 [1.] The greatest riches.] Ulpian finds 
 out a particular propriety in this exordium. 
 He observes, that, as the orator intends to 
 recommend to them to give up their thea- 
 trical appointments, he prepares them for it 
 by this observation ; and, while he is endea- 
 vouring to persuade them to a just disregard 
 of money, appears as if he only spoke their 
 sentiments. 
 
 [2.] Premeditation.] Monsieur Tourreil 
 admires the greatness of mind of Demos- 
 thenes, who, though he gloried in the pains 
 and labour his orations cost him, was yet 
 superior to that low and malignant passion, 
 which oftentimes prompts us to decry those 
 talents which we do not possess. I suspect, 
 however, that this passage was occasioned 
 by some particular circumstance in the 
 debate. Perhaps some speaker, who i 
 
 Those very circumstances, however, wrr'ch 
 contribute to the power of Philip, are 
 happily the most favourable to us. For 
 that uncontrolled command with which he 
 governs all transactions, public and secret ; 
 his entire direction of his army, as theu 
 leader, their soverei<rn, and their treasurer ; 
 and his diligence, in giving life to every 
 part of it by his presence ; these things 
 greatly contribute to carrying on a war with 
 expedition and success, but are powerful 
 obstacles to that accommodation which he 
 would gladly make with the Olynthians. 
 For the Olynthians see plainly that they do 
 not now fight for glory, or for part of their 
 territory, but to defend their state from 
 dissolution and slavery. They know how 
 he rewarded those traitors of Amphipolls, 
 who made him master of that city, and 
 those of Pydna, who opened their gates to 
 him. In a word, free states, I think, must 
 ever look with suspicion on an absolute 
 monarchy, but a neighbouring monarchy 
 must double their apprehensions. 
 
 Convinced of what hath now been offered, 
 and possessed with every other just and 
 worthy sentiment, you must exert your 
 spirit,- you must apply to the war, now, if 
 ever ; your fortunes, your persons, your 
 whole powers, are now" demanded. There 
 is no excuse, no pretence left, for declining 
 the performance of your duty. For that 
 which you were all ever urging loudly, that 
 the Olynthians should be engaged in a war 
 with Philip, hath now happened of itself; 
 and this in a manner most agreeable to our 
 interest. For if they had entered into this 
 war at our persuasion, they must have been 
 precarious allies, without steadiness or reso- 
 lution ; but as their private injuries have 
 made them enemies to Philip, it is probable 
 that enmity will be lasting, both on account 
 of what they fear, and what they have 
 already suffered. My countrymen ! let not 
 so favourable an opportunity escape.you : do 
 not repeat that error which hath "been so 
 often fat-al to you. For when, at our return 
 from assisting the Eubreans, [4.] Hierax and 
 Stratocles, citizens of Amphipolis, mounted 
 this gallery, [5.] and pressed you to send out 
 your navy, and to take their city under your 
 protection, had we discovered that resolu- 
 tion in our own cause, which we exerted 
 
 sed Demosthenes, might have urged his 
 opinion somewhat dogmatically, as the 
 result of mature reflection and deliberation. 
 
 [3.] His menaces may, &c] Although his 
 promises could by no means be relied on. 
 
 [4.] The Eubceans.] This refers to the 
 expedition in favour of the Eubceans against 
 the Thebans, which is mentioned in the note 
 on Philip, l. page J. The Athenians pre- 
 pared for this expedition in three days, ac- 
 cording to Demosthenes ; hi five, according 
 to yEschines. And their success was as 
 sudden as their preparation. 
 
 [5.] This gallery.] In the original, tovto 
 - ' I -OlA. That eminence where all the 
 public speakers were placed, and from 
 whence the people were addressed on all 
 occasions.
 
 orat. iv.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS, 
 
 23 
 
 for the safety of Euboea, then had Amphi- 
 polis been yours, anil all those difficulties 
 hail been avoided, in which you have been 
 since involved. Again, when we received 
 advice of the sieves of l'ydna, Potidaa, 
 Methone, Pagasas, and other places (for I 
 would not detain vou with a particular reci- 
 tal), had we ourselves marched with a due 
 spirit and alacrity to the relief of the first 
 of these cities, we should now find much 
 more compliance, much more humility, in 
 Philip. But by still neglecting the present, 
 and imagining "our future interests will not 
 demand our care, we have aggrandized our 
 enemy, we have raised him to a degree of 
 eminence greater than any king of Macedon 
 had ever yet enjoyed. — Now we have 
 am ther opportunity. That which the 
 Olvnthians, of themselves, present to the 
 state ; one no less considerable than any of 
 the former. 
 
 And in my opinion, Athenians ! if a 
 man were to bring the dealings of the gods 
 towards us to a fair account, though many 
 things might appear not quite agreeable to 
 our wishes, yet he would acknowledge that 
 we had been highly favoured by them ; and 
 with great reason : for that many places had 
 been lost in the course of war is truly to be 
 charged to our own weak conduct. But 
 that the difficulties arisen from hence have 
 not long affected us, and that an alliance 
 now presents itself to remove them, if we 
 are disposed to make the just use of it ; this 
 I cannot but ascribe to the divine goodness. 
 But the same thing happens in this case as 
 in the use of riches. If a man be careful to 
 save those he hath acquired, he readily ac- 
 knowledges the kindness of fortune ; but if 
 bv his imprudence they be once lost, with 
 them he also loses the sense of gratitude. 
 So in political affairs, they who neglect to 
 improve their opportunities, forget the fa- 
 vours which the gods had bestowed ; for it 
 is the ultimate event which generally deter- 
 mines men's judgment of every thing pre- 
 cedent. And therefore all affairs hereafter 
 should engage your strictest care, that, by 
 correcting our errors, we may wipe off' the 
 
 [1.] Into Thrace. Here, while engaged, 
 &c] Thrace was inhabited by aninfinite num- 
 b?r of different people, whose names Herodo- 
 tus hath transmitted. And he observes, that 
 could they have united under a single chief, 
 or connected themselves by interest or sen- 
 timent, they would have formed a body in- 
 finitely superior to all their neighbours. 
 After Teres, the Thracians had divers kings. 
 This prince had two sons, Sitalces and Spa- 
 radocus, among whose decendants various 
 contests arose; till, after a series of usurpa- 
 tions and revolutions, Seuthes recovered part 
 of the territory of his father, Mareades, and 
 transmitted the succession peaceably to Cotis 
 the father of Cersobleptes (as Demosthenes 
 says, not his brother, as Diodorus). At the 
 death of Cotis, the divisions recommenced ; 
 and in the place of one king, Thrace had 
 three, Cersobleptes, Berisades, and Ama- 
 docus ; Cersobleptes dispossessed the other 
 two, and was himself dethroned by Philip 
 
 inglorious stain of past actions. Butshoul I 
 we be deaf to these men too, and should he 
 lie suffered to subvert Olynthus,— say, what 
 can prevent him from marching his forces 
 into whatever territory he pleases ? 
 
 Is there not a man among you, Athenians 
 who reflects by what steps Philip, from a 
 beginning so inconsiderable, hath mounted 
 to this height of power? First, he took Am- 
 phipolis: then he became master of Pydna; 
 then Potida?a fell ; then Methone : then came 
 his inroad into Tnessaly : after this, having 
 disposed affairs at Phera?, at Pegasae, at 
 Magnesia, entirely as he pleased, he.marched 
 into Thrace. [1.] Here, while engaged in ex- 
 pelling some, and establishing other princes, 
 lie fell sick. Again, recovering, he never 
 turned a moment from his course to ease 
 and indulgence, but instantly attacked the 
 Olynthians. His expeditions against the 
 Illvrians, the Pa»onians, against Arymbas, 
 [2.i I pass all over. — But I may be asked, 
 why this recital now ?— That you may know 
 and see your own error, in ever neglecting 
 some part of your affairs, as if beneath your 
 regard : and that active spirit with which 
 Philip pursueth his designs : which ever fires 
 him: and which never can permit him to 
 rest satisfied with those things he hath al- 
 ready accomplished. If then he determines 
 firmly and invariably to pursue nLs con- 
 quests; and if we are obstinately resolved 
 against every vigorous and effectual mea- 
 sure; think, what consequences may we ex- 
 pect ! In the name of Heaven, can any man 
 be so weak, as not to know, that by neglect- 
 ing this war, we are transferring it from 
 that country to our own ? And should this 
 happen, I fear, Athenians! that as they who 
 inconsiderately borrow money upon high in- 
 terest, after a short-lived affluence are de- 
 prived of their own fortunes: so we, by this 
 continued indolence, by consulting only our 
 ease and pleasure, may be reduced to the 
 grievous necessity of engaging in affairs 
 the most shocking and disagreeable, and of 
 exposing ourselves in the defence of this our 
 native territory. 
 
 Frontinus reports, that Alexander, when he 
 had conquered Thrace, brought the princes 
 of that country with him in his expedition 
 into Asia, to prevent their raising any com- 
 motions in his absence : a proof that Philip 
 and Alexander had established several petty 
 kings in Thrace, who were vassals to Mace- 
 don. Tourreil. 
 
 [2.] Arymbas.] He was the son of Alcetas, 
 king of Epirus, and brother to Neoptole- 
 mus, whose daughter Olympius Philip mar- 
 ried. About three years before the date of 
 this oration, the death of their father pro- 
 duced a dispute between the brothers about 
 the succession : Arymbas was the lawful 
 heir; vet Philip obliged him, by force of 
 arms, to divide the kingdom with Neojito- 
 lemus : and not contented with this, at the 
 death of Arymbas he found means, by his 
 intrigues and menaces, to prevail on the 
 Epirots to banish his son, and to constitute 
 Alexander, the son of Neoptolemus, so.c 
 monarch. Tuurreil. 
 
 D2
 
 24 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [OltAT. IV. 
 
 To cetsure, some one may tell me, is 
 easy, and in the power of every man : but 
 the true counsellor should point out that 
 conduct which the present exigence de- 
 mands Sensible as I am, Athenians ! that, 
 
 when your expectations have in any in- 
 stance been disappointed.your resentment fre- 
 quently falls not on those who merit it, but 
 on him who hath spoken last ; yet I cannot, 
 from a regard to my own safety, suppress 
 what I deem of moment to lay before you. 
 I say, then, this occasion calls for a twofold 
 armament. First, we are to defend the cities 
 of the Olynthians ; and for this purpose to 
 detach a body of forces ; in the next place, 
 in order to infest his kingdom, we are to 
 send out our navy manned with other levies. 
 If you neglect either of these, I fear your 
 expedition will be fruitless. For if you con- 
 tent yourselves with infesting his dominions, 
 this he will endure, until he is master of 
 Olynthus ; and then he can with ease repel 
 the invasion : or, if you only send succours 
 to the Olynthians, where he sees his own 
 kingdom free from danger, he will apply 
 with constancy and vigilance to the war, and 
 at length weary out the besieged to a sub- 
 mission. Your levies, therefore, must be 
 considerable enough to serve both pur- 
 poses These are my sentiments with respect 
 
 to our armament. 
 
 And now as to the expense of these pre- 
 parations. You are already provided for 
 the payment of your forces better than any 
 other people. This provision is distributed 
 among yourselves in the manner most agree- 
 able ; but if you restore it to the army, the 
 supplies will be complete without any addi- 
 tion ; if not, an addition will be necessary ; 
 or the whole, rather, will remain to be 
 raised. How then, I may be asked, do you 
 move for a decree to apply those funds to 
 the military service? By no means lit is 
 my opinion, indeed, that an army must be 
 raised ; that this money really belongs to 
 the army ; and that the same regulation 
 which entitles our citizens to receive, should 
 oblige them also to act. At present you 
 expend the sums on entertainments, with- 
 out regard to your affairs. It remains, then, 
 that a general contribution be raised : a 
 great one, if a great one be required : a small 
 one, if such may be sufficient. Money must 
 be found : without it nothing can be effected : 
 
 [1.] It is worthy, &c] Hitherto the orator 
 has painted Philip in all his terrors. He is 
 politic, and vigilant, and intrepid: he has 
 risen gradually to the highest pitch of power ; 
 and is now ready to appear before the walls 
 of Athens, if he is not instantly opposed. 
 But lest this description should dispirit the 
 Athenians, he is now represented hi a quite 
 different manner. His power is by no means 
 real and solid; his allies are prepared to 
 revolt ; his kingdom is threatened with war 
 and desolation ; and he is just ready to be 
 crushed ,by the very first effort that is made 
 r.o distress him. But as it was necessary 
 that the danger to which they were exposed 
 thoukl make the deepest impression upon 
 the minds of his hearers, he returns to his 
 
 various schemes are proposed by various 
 persons: do you make that choice which you 
 think most advantageous: and while you 
 have an opportunity, exert yourselves in 
 the care of your interests. 
 
 It is worthy LI.] your attention to' consider 
 how the affairs of Philip are at this time cir- 
 cumstanced. For they are by no means so 
 well disposed, so very flourishing, as an in- 
 attentive observer would pronounce. Nor 
 would he have engaged in this war at all, had 
 he thought he should have been obliged to 
 maintain it. He hoped that the moment he 
 appeared, all things would fall before him. 
 But these hopes are vain. And this disap- 
 pointment, in the first place, troubles and 
 dispirits him. Then the Thessalians alarm 
 him ; a people remarkable for their perfidy 
 [2.] on all occasions, and to all persons. Anil 
 just as they have ever proved, even so he 
 finds them now. For they have resolved u> 
 council to demand the restitution of Pagasa?, 
 and have opposed his attempt to fortify 
 Magnesia: and I am informed, that for the 
 future he is to be excluded from their ports 
 and markets, as these conveniences belong 
 to the states of Thessaly, and are not to be 
 intercepted by Philip. And should he bo 
 deprived of such a fund of wealth, he must 
 be greatly straitened to support his foreign 
 troops. Besides this, we must suppose that 
 the Paeonians and the Illyrians, and all the 
 others, would prefer freedom and indepen- 
 dence to a state of slavery. They are not 
 accustomed to subjection ; and the insolence 
 of this man, it is said, knows no bounds : 
 nor is this improbable, for great and unex- 
 pected success is apt to hurry weak minds 
 into extravagances. Hence it often proves 
 much more difficult to mam tain acquisitions, 
 than to acquire. It is your part, therefore, 
 to regard the time of his distress as your 
 most favourable opportunity : improve it to 
 the utmost; send out your embassies ; take 
 the field yourselves, and excite a general 
 ardour abroad ; ever considering how readily 
 Philip would attack us, if he were favoured 
 by any incident like this, if a war had broken 
 out on our borders. And would it not be 
 shameful to want the resolution to bring 
 that distress on him, which, had it been 
 equally in his power, he certainly would have 
 made you feel. 
 
 This to demands your attention, Atheni- 
 
 former description, and concludes with the 
 dreadful image of a formidable enemy, 
 ravaging their territory, and shutting them 
 up within their walls. 
 
 [2.] Their perfidy. This people had a bad 
 character from the earliest times, so as to 
 become even proverbial ; and Greece, and 
 Athens particularly, had experienced their 
 want of faith on very important occasions. 
 They invited Xerxes "into Greece, and weie 
 not ashamed to join Mardonius after the 
 battle of Salamis, and to serve him as guides 
 in his invasion of Attica ; and in the heat of 
 the battle between Athens and Sparta, they 
 on a sudden deserted their allies, the Athe- 
 nians, and joined the enemy. See Thucyii. 
 Book I. Tou/reil,
 
 ORAT. V.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 25 
 
 ans ! that you are now to determine whe- 
 ther it be most expedient to carry the war 
 into his country, or to fight him" here. If 
 Olynthus be defended, Macedon will be the 
 seat of war ; you may harass his kingdom, 
 and enjoy your own territories free from 
 apprehensions. Hut should that nation be 
 subdued by Philip, who will oppose his 
 inarching hither ? Will the Thcbans? Let it 
 not be thought severe, when I affirm that 
 they will join readily in the invasion. [1.] 
 Will the Phocians ? a people scarcely able 
 [2.] to defend their own country, without 
 your assistance. Will any others ? [3] — But, 
 Sir, cries some one, he would make no such 
 attempt. — This would be the greatest of ab- 
 surdities ; not to execute those threats, when 
 he hath full power, which, now when they 
 appear so idle and extravagant, he yet dares 
 to utter. And I think you are not yet to 
 learn how great would be the difference be- 
 tween our engaging him here, and there. 
 Were we to be only thirty days abroad, and 
 to draw all the necessaries of the camp from 
 our own lands, even were there no enemy to 
 ravage them, the damage would, in my opin- 
 
 [1.] Join readily in the invasion.] The 
 reasons of Thebes's hatred to Athens have 
 been already assigned. See note on Olynth. 
 II. p. 6". 
 
 T2.J Scarcely able, &cj The Phocians 
 were at this time reduced to a very low 
 state, by a continued series of ill success in 
 the sacred war. Philomelus and Onomar- 
 chus had perished ; Phayllus and Phalecus, 
 their successors, had been frequently defeat- 
 ed ; and the Thebans were continually gain- 
 
 ion, amount to more than the whole expense 
 of the late war. [4.] Add then the presence 
 of an enemy, and how greatly must the cala- 
 mity be increased ? but, farther, add the 
 infamy : and to those who judge rightly, no 
 distress can be more grievous than the scan- 
 dal of misconduct. 
 
 It is incumbent, therefore, upon us all 
 (justly influenced by these considerations), 
 to unite vigorously in the common cause, 
 and repel the danger that threatens this ter- 
 ritory. Let the rich exert themselves on 
 this occasion ; that, by contributing a small 
 portion of their affluence, they may secure 
 the peaceful possession of the rest. Let 
 those who are of the age for military duty ; 
 that by learning the art of war in Philip's 
 dominions, they may become formidable 
 defenders of their native land. Let our 
 orators ; that they may safely submit their 
 conduct to the public inspection. For your 
 judgment of their administrations will ever 
 be determined by the event of things. And 
 may we all contribute to render that fa- 
 vourable ! 
 
 ing advantages over them. Totirreil. 
 
 [3.] Will any others ? ] He avoids all men- 
 tion of the Thessalians ; because he had 
 just shewed that they were ill-affected to 
 Philip, and therefore might be supposed 
 willing to join with the Athenians. 
 
 [4.] Of the late war.] That is, their expe- 
 dition into Thrace, in order to recover Am- 
 phipolis, which, according to the calcula- 
 tion of jEschines, cost then 15UU talents. — 
 Tourreil. 
 
 THE ORATION ON THE PEACE: 
 
 PRONOUNCED IN THE ARCHONSHIT OF ARCHIAS, THREE YEARS AFTER THE 
 OLYNTHIAC ORATIONS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Athenians sent those succours to 
 Olynthus, which were recommended in the 
 preceding oration. But they could not de- 
 fend that state against its domestic ene- 
 mies : for the year following, two of its ci- 
 tizens, Lasthenes and Euthycrates, betray- 
 ed the city to Philip. He razed it, threw 
 part of the inhabitants in chains, sold an- 
 other part, and distinguished the two trai- 
 tors only by the cruelty of their death. His 
 two brothers, who had been harboured in 
 Olynthus, he also sacrificed to his jealousy 
 and revenge. 
 
 These events, no less than the repeated 
 instances of Demosthenes, prevailed on the 
 Athenians to declare war against Philip in 
 form. Hitherto he had kept some mea- 
 sures with them, and had sought various 
 pretences for glossing over his hostilities ; 
 but now he fell with the utmost fury upon 
 all their tributary states, and obliged De- 
 mosthenes to appear once more in the as- 
 sembly, to persuade the Athenians to de- 
 
 fend the Islanders, and their colonies which 
 lay upon the Hellespont. But scarcely had 
 the war been declared, when the vigour of 
 their enemy, and their own fickleness and 
 indolence, made them weary of it. Ctesi- 
 iihon and Phrynon were sent to sound Phi- 
 lip's dispositions towards a separate peace. 
 This was as he could wish. The Phocian 
 war was at present the object of his views : 
 and his arts had just regained the Thessali- 
 ans over to the confederacy, who had been 
 prevailed on to stand neuter. To the Athe- 
 nian ministers, therefore, he made such 
 professions, that Demosthenes and nine 
 others were sent to negotiate the peace ; 
 who proceeded as far as they were autho- 
 rized, and returned with Antipater, Par- 
 menio.and Eurylochus, on the part of Phi- 
 lip. Ambassadors were sent, soon after, 
 from Athens, with full powers to conclude 
 the treaty. In the first of these embassies, 
 Demosthenes had met with some Athenian 
 prisoners in Macedon, whom he promised 
 to redeem at his own expense, and took this 
 opportunity to perform it, while his col-
 
 2C 
 
 DEMOSTHENES" ORATIONS. 
 
 [OR.AT. 
 
 leagues, in the mean time, were to proceed 
 with all expedition, in order to conclude 
 with Philip. Three months elapsed, how- 
 ever, before they came tc an audience with 
 the king, who was all this time making 
 himself master of those places in Thrace, 
 which the Atnenian6 claimed as their right. 
 At last the terms of the treaty were agreed 
 to ; but by affected delays, and by corrupt- 
 ing the ambassadors, He found means to 
 defer the execution of it, until he had ad- 
 vanced his troops into Thessaly, in order 
 to proceed against the Phocians. He then 
 concluded the peace ; and on their return, 
 the ambassadors who had conducted the 
 treaty (and .'Eschines in particular) expa- 
 tiated upon his candour and sincerity. They 
 declared (at the very time when he was 
 giving Thebes the most solemn assurances 
 that he would exterminate the Phocians), 
 that his sole views were to screen this peo- 
 ple from the fury of their enemies, and to 
 control the insolence of the Thebans. They 
 also vouched for his performing several things 
 in favour of the state, not formally stipu- 
 lated in the treaty. Thus were the Athe- 
 nians amused, and' Philip suffered to pass 
 the straits of Thermopylae, and to pur- 
 sue his march into Phocis. 
 
 His reputation and approach struck such 
 a terror into the Phocians, that although 
 they received a reinforcement of a thou- 
 sand Spartans, they yet sent to treat, or 
 rather to submit. He allowed Phalecus with 
 eight thousand mercenaries to retire into 
 Peleponnesus ; but the rest, who were inha- 
 bitants of Phocis, were left at his mercy. The 
 disposal of these he referred to the Amphic- 
 tyons, from an affected regard to the autho- 
 rity of an assembly composed of the repre- 
 
 [1.] I shall here take the liberty to tran- 
 scribe a remark from the authors of the 
 Universal History. 
 
 Libanius and Photius had taken pains to 
 prove that the oration to which we refer 
 above ought not to be ascribed to Demos- 
 thenes. We might well enough defend our- 
 selves, by alleging, that it has been gene- 
 rally esteemed his, and, as such, has con- 
 stantly maintained its place in his works. 
 This would be sufficient for our purpose, 
 but, in truth, the arguments on which the 
 opposite sentiment is built, are so easily 
 overturned, that we might be justly blamed 
 for neglecting so favourable an occasion of 
 setting this point in a true light. Demos- 
 thenes (say those who will not allow this ora- 
 tion to be his,) charged ^-Eschines with betray- 
 ing his country.on account of his recommend- 
 ing warmly a peace with Philip ; they cannot 
 therefore think, that Demosthenes would 
 run openly into those measures which he 
 had so lately and so warmly decried; or 
 that he, who on every other occasion singly 
 opposed Philip, and ran all hazards to bring 
 him into odium with the people, should now 
 be single on the other side, and attempt to 
 cross the disposition of the Athenians, in 
 favour of peace and Philip. These objectors 
 forget that Demosthenes was a patriot as 
 wefi as an orator; that he did not pursue 
 
 sentatives of the states of Greece. They 
 thundered out the severest decrees against 
 this wretched people. Among other things, 
 it was enacted, that they should lose their 
 seat in the Amphictyonic council, and that 
 the double voice which they had enjoyed in 
 it should be transferred to Philip ; who, by 
 the same resolution, gained the superintend 
 dency of the Pythian games, which the Co- 
 rinthians forfeited by taking part with the 
 Phocians. 
 
 The Athenians had not been present at 
 Philip's election into this council ; and pro- 
 bably to avoid all opposition he had assem- 
 bled only such Amphictyons as were devoted 
 to his interest. He thought it proper, how- 
 ever, to send circular letters to the absent 
 states, inviting them to assemble at Del- 
 phos, and to ratify his election. 
 
 Athens, among others, received the invi- 
 tation ; and as Philip's ambitious designs 
 could be no longer concealed, many were for 
 violent measures. The proposal raised a 
 ferment in the assembly ; which seems to 
 have breathed nothing but indignation and 
 opposition. On this occasion, Demosthenes 
 thought it his duty to moderate their heat ; 
 and, in the following oration, endeavours 
 to prevent their being betrayed into any 
 rash and imprudent measures. 
 
 THE ORATION ON THE PEACE. [1. J 
 
 Archia, Archon A. R. Philip. 15. Olym- 
 piad. 108. An. 3. 
 
 Athenians ! I see that this debate must be 
 attended with many difficulties and great 
 
 Philip with implacable hatred, because he 
 was king of Macedon, but because he thought 
 him both wiling and able to obstruct the 
 designs of Athens, and even to reduce her, 
 from that splendid pre-eminence which she 
 now held in Greece, to the ordinary rank of 
 a state, in name free, but in truth dependant 
 upon him : this was the motive of Demos- 
 thenes' heat on other occasions ; and ths 
 motive to his coolness now was the strict 
 alliance between Philip and the other Grecian 
 states, which rendered it a thing impracti- 
 cable for Athens to contend with him and 
 them, alone. Besides, as he rightly observes 
 in the harangue, it would have been ridicu- 
 lous for those who refused to enter into an 
 equal war for rich cities and fertile pro- 
 vinces, to have rushed suddenly into an 
 unequal contest about an empty title, or, 
 as he emphatically expresses it, *to take 
 away the shadow of Delphos from him who 
 was master of Delphos itself.' We therefore 
 acknowledge this to be the oration of De- 
 mosthenes, because he was worthy of it. 
 
 It is scarcely worth while to take notice of 
 a small mistake in this remark. Libanius 
 does not deny that Demosthenes was the 
 author of this oration. He allows it to have 
 been written by him, but is of opinion that 
 he never ventured to pronounce it.
 
 orat. v.] DEMOSTHENES' OUATIONS. 
 
 27 
 
 commotion : not only because many of our 
 interests are already given up, and therefore 
 unnecessary to be now laid before you ; but 
 because it is impossible to agree on such ex- 
 pedients as may secure what yet remain : 
 but that a variety of clashing opinions must 
 divide the assembly. Then, to advise, is 
 naturally a difficult and distressing part. 
 But you, Athenians! have rendered it yet 
 more distressing : for all other people na- 
 turally seek counsel while affairs are yet de- 
 pending ; you deliberate, when the event 
 hath made it too late. Hence hath it hap- 
 pened, through the whole course of my 
 observation, that the man who arraigns your 
 conduct is heard with esteem, and his senti- 
 ments approved ; yet have your affairs ever 
 miscarried, and the objects of your delibera- 
 tion have all been lost. But although this 
 be too true, still I am persuaded (and from 
 this persuasion I arose to speak), that if you 
 will put an end to tumult and opposition, 
 and grant me that attention which becomes 
 those who are consulting for their country, 
 and upon so important an occasion ; I have 
 some points to urge, some measures to pro- 
 pose, which may serve our present interests, 
 and repair our past miscarriages. 
 
 Sensible as 1 am, Athenians ! that to ex- 
 patiate on tho'e counsels one hath formerly 
 given, and to speak of one's self, is the most 
 successful artifice of those who dare to 
 practise such artifice ; yet to me it is so 
 odious, so detestable, that although I see it 
 necessary, yet I loathe it. However, it will 
 assist your judgment, I presume, on this 
 occasion, if you recall to mind something 
 of what I formerly have mentioned. — You 
 may remember, that during the disorders of 
 Eubcea, when certain persons persuaded you 
 to assist Plutarchus, [1.] and to undertake 
 an inglorious and expensive war, I was the 
 first, the only one, who rose up to oppose it, 
 and scarcely escaped their fury, who, for a 
 
 [1.] To assist Plutarchus.] Philip had 
 long regarded Eubcea as very proper, by its 
 situation, to favour the designs he meditated 
 against Greece. He therefore took pains to 
 form a party in the island, and fomented 
 divisions and factions in the several states of 
 which it was composed. Plutarch, the go- 
 vernor of Eretria, one of the principal cities 
 of Eubcea, applied to the Athenians for as- 
 sistance against some attempts of Philip, 
 and obtained it ; but afterward (having pro- 
 bably been gained over to Philip's party) 
 he took up arms against the very auxiliaries 
 he had invited. But this perfidy did not 
 disconcert Phocion, who commanded them. 
 He gained a victory over the Macedonians, 
 and drove Plutarch out of Eretria. Phocion 
 was afterward recalled, and Molossus, his 
 successor in this war, was defeated and taken 
 prisoner by Philip. 
 
 [2.] Neoptolemus the player.] This Ne- 
 orptolemus was also a great tragic poet, 
 though the orator only mentions the less 
 honourable distinction. Not that the pro- 
 fession of a player was held in disesteem in 
 Greece. Players were the favourites of prin- 
 ces, and were raised to the highest en 
 
 trifling gain, were urging you to many highly 
 pernicious measures. In a little time, when 
 the load of infamy had fallen upon you, and 
 that you had suffered such treatment as no 
 people ever received from those they had 
 assisted, you were all made sensible of the 
 iniquity of your seducers, and the justness 
 and integrity of my counsels. Again, when 
 I saw Neoptolemus the player [2.] (in that 
 full security which his profession gave him) 
 involving the state in the greatest distress, 
 and in all his public conduct devoted to 
 Philip; I appeared, and warned you of the 
 danger ; and this from no secret motive, no 
 private enmity, [3.] no officious baseness, 
 as the event itself discovered. But it is not 
 the defenders of Neoptolemus that I accuse 
 (for he was not depending on a single one), 
 but you yourselves ; for had you been spec- 
 tators in the theatre, not engaged in affairs 
 of the highest and most intimate concern- 
 ment to the public, you could not have 
 heard him with more indulgence, nor me 
 with more resentment. And now you all 
 know, that he who then went over to the 
 enemy, pretending to collect some debts, 
 that he might bring them hither (as he said), 
 to enable him to serve the state ; that he 
 who was perpetually inveighing against the 
 cruelty of accusing a man tor thus transfer- 
 ring his effects from that country hiiher ; 
 the moment that a peace freed him from all 
 apprehensions, converted that estate [4.] 
 into money, which he acquired here, and 
 brought it off with him to Philip. 
 
 These two instances which I have pro- 
 duced, shew with what fidelity and truth I 
 spoke on those occasions. I shall mention 
 one, and but one more, and then proceed 
 to the point now to be debated. When we 
 had received the solemn ratification of the 
 treaty, and that the embassy returned home ; 
 when certain persons assured you, that Thes- 
 pia and Plataja were to be repeopled ; [5. J 
 
 ments in the state. This very man was 
 nominated, the year before, one of the ten 
 ambassadors that were to conclude the peace 
 with Philip. Tourreil. 
 
 [3.] No private enmity, &c] Probably 
 this is a repetition of the very words of 
 Neoptolemus' s party. 
 
 [4] That estate.] The text has it, oio-i'un 
 rpavepdv. The Athenians distinguished two 
 sorts of goods or estates : apparent, by which 
 they understood lands; and not apparent, 
 that is, money, slaves, moveables, &c 
 
 [5.] That Thespia and Platasa were to be 
 repeopled.] Thespia had been razed by the 
 Thebans, under Epaminondas. Plataea had 
 been twice destroyed by them ; once, when 
 Archidamus, king of Sparta, obliged the 
 Plata;ans to surrender at discretion, in the 
 fifth year of the Peloponnesian war. The 
 Thebans, who were then joined with Lace- 
 demon, insisted that they should be exter- 
 minated. The treaty of Antalcidas restored 
 them : but this did not last long; for, three 
 years before the battle of Leuctra, the The- 
 bans reduced them to their former wretched 
 state, because they refused to join with them 
 against the Lacedemonians. Tourreil.
 
 2B 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. 
 
 that, if Philip became master of the Pho- 
 cians, he would spare them : that Thebes 
 was to submit to his regulation ; [1.] that 
 Oropus [2.] was to be ours; that Eubcea 
 should be given up [3.] to us as an equivalent 
 for Amphipolis ; with other such insidious 
 promises, which, in spite of interest, of jus- 
 tice, and of honour, drove you to abandon 
 Phocis: I never attempted to deceive you ; 
 I was not silent ; no, vou must remember I 
 declared that I knew of none, that I expected 
 none of these things ; but thought that who- 
 ever mentioned them could scarcely be 
 serious. 
 
 And these instances of my superior fore- 
 sight I do by no means ascribe to any extra- 
 ordinary penetration ; I speak it not from 
 boasting or arrogance ; nor do I pretend to 
 any superiority but what arises from these 
 two causes: The first is fortune, which I 
 find more powerful than all the policy and 
 wisdom of man; the other, that- perfect dis- 
 interestedness with which my judgments 
 are ever formed : so that no man can hold 
 out any advantage to my view, to influence 
 my public conduct. Hence it is, that on all 
 occasions of debate, your true interest strikes 
 my eye directly. But when a bribe is, as it 
 were, cast into one scale, it then preponder- 
 ates, and forces down the judgment with 
 it ; so that it is not possible that a person, 
 thus influenced, can ever offer good and 
 salutary counsel. 
 
 And now, to give my sentiments on the 
 present occasion: — Whether subsidies, or 
 alliances, or whatever schemes are concert- 
 ing for the public good, one point must be 
 secured; the continuance of the present 
 peace. Not that it is so very excellent, or so 
 worthy of you ; but, of what kind soever it 
 may be, it were more for the interest of your 
 affairs that it had ?iever been concluded, 
 than that now, when it is concluded, you 
 should infringe it ; for we have suffered our- 
 selves to be deprived of many advantages, 
 which would have given our arms much 
 more security and strength. 
 
 [1.] That Thebes was to submit to his 
 regulation.] In the Greek it is&iomeTv, ' ad- 
 ministraturum.' Philip made use of this soft 
 expression, to persuade the Athenians that 
 he would reduce the Thebans to reason, and 
 put it out of their power to undertake any 
 act of outrage or injustice ; and at the same 
 time to avoid alarming the Thebans, or 
 alienating them from his party. Wolfius 
 thinks that d:o.Kieii/ is put for iiotniaeiv, 
 translates it * dissipaturum,' that he would 
 exterminate the Thebans. But I cannot 
 think that he would have expressed himself 
 "n a manner so harsh, and so likely to make 
 ihe Thebans his enemies. Tonrreil. 
 
 [2.] That Oropus, &c] This city had 
 been taken from the Athenians, the third 
 year of the 103d Olympiad, by Themision, 
 the tyrant of Eretria, and afterward put into 
 the hands of the Thebans. Their mutual 
 ptetensions to this city had oftentimes em- 
 broiled these two states. Tonrreil. 
 
 \ 3.] Euboea should be given up, &c] For 
 he had by this time gained a great authority 
 
 In the next place, we must be careful not 
 to drive those to extremities, who are now 
 assembled, and call themselves the council 
 of Amphictyons ; nor to afford them a pre- 
 tence for a general war against us. Were 
 we again engaged with Philip for Amphi- 
 polis, or any such private matter of dispute, 
 m which neither Thessalians, nor Argians, 
 nor Thebans, were concerned ; in my opin- 
 ion, none of these would join against us; 
 and, least of all, — let me be heard out with- 
 out interruption, — the Thebans : not that 
 they wish well to us, or would not willingly 
 recommend themselves to Philip ; but they 
 are perfectly sensible (however mean their 
 understandings may be thought), that were 
 they to engage in a war with you, the evils 
 would all fall on them ; [4.] the advantages 
 others would lie ready to intercept. They 
 would therefore never be betrayed in such a 
 quarrel, unless the cause were general. In 
 like manner, another war with the Thebans 
 for Oropus, or any such private cause, coidd 
 not, I think, distress us : for there are those 
 who would either join with us or them, to 
 repel an invasion, but in offensive measures 
 would concur with neither. This la the true 
 nature, the very spirit of alliances. There 
 are none so much attached to us or Thebes-, 
 as to desire that we should maintain our 
 own power and triumph over our compe- 
 titor. To be secure, they would all wish us 
 for their own sakes ; but that either of us 
 should reduce the other to subjection, and 
 so be enabled to give law to them, not one 
 would bear. 
 
 Where then lies the danger ? What are 
 you to guard against ? that general pretence 
 for uniting against us, which the war now 
 in agitation may afford the states. For if 
 the Argians, [5. J and the Messenians, and 
 the Megalopolitans, and such other of the 
 Peloponnesians as are in the same interest, 
 should make it a cause of quarrel, that we 
 have sought a treaty with the Lacedemo- 
 nians, and seem to have favoured their de- 
 signs : [6.] if the Thebans, incensed as they 
 
 in that island, and stationed his garrisons in 
 most of its cities. 
 
 [4.] The evils would all fall on them, &c] 
 Sparta only waited for this rupture, to as- 
 sert its power once more. And from Philip's 
 former conduct it appeared very plainly, 
 that he knew how to avail himself of such" a 
 quarrel. 
 
 [5.] For if the Argians, &c] When the 
 Spartan power was broken by Thebes, these 
 people, who had been dependant on Sparta, 
 asserted their freedom. This occasioned 
 some contests which still subsisted, and in 
 which the Spartans were favoured by Athens. 
 Tonrreil. 
 
 [U.] To have favoured their designs, &c.] 
 The designs of the Lacedemonians, of re- 
 ducing these people to their former subjec- 
 tion.— Tourreil translates kudexftif't to 
 approve. Suidas rentiers it stronger— to for- 
 ward, to promote; €Mtx*<rt)ai, 'significat 
 aliquid ab altera accipere, quod ipse delude 
 tractandum suscipias.' Wolfius applies i-Kti- 
 i/on to the Argians, <tc. and translates the
 
 OH AT. V.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 2!) 
 
 are said to be at present, should become yet 
 more incensed at our harbouring their exiles, 
 [1.] and taking every occasion of declaring 
 ourselves implacably averse to them ; if the 
 Thessalians should resent our reception ot 
 the fugitive Phocians, and Philip our op- 
 posing his admission into the council of 
 Amphictvons; I fear, that, to revenge these 
 private quarrels, thev may use the authority 
 of this council, to give sanction to a general 
 war against us ; and, in the violence of re- 
 sentment, forget even their own interest, as 
 it happened in the Phocian war. You are 
 not ignorant that the Thebans and Philip, 
 and the Thessalians, although they had by 
 no means the same views, have yet all con- 
 curred in the same scheme of conduct. The 
 Thebans, for instance, were not able to hin- 
 der Philip from passing, and becoming mas- 
 ter of Thermopyla?, nor from coming in 
 after all their toils, and depriving them of 
 the glory ; (for as to possessions, [2.] and the 
 acquisition of territories, the Thebans have 
 succeeded happily ; but in point of honour 
 and reputation they have suffered most 
 shamefully.) If Philip did not pass, they 
 were to expect nothing ; it was highly disa- 
 greeable to them ; yet, for the sake of Orcho- 
 menus and Coronea, [3.] which they greatly 
 desired, but were not able to take, they 
 chose to endure all this. And yet there are 
 persons who dare to assert that Philip did 
 not surrender these cities to the Thebans 
 freely, but was compelled. Away with such 
 pretences ! I am satisfied that this was 
 eoually his concern with the gaining the 
 Straits, the glory of the war, the honour of 
 deciding it, and the direction of the Pythian 
 games ; and these were the greatest objects 
 
 passage thus, ' propter acta quaedam sua im- 
 pedita.' But I have chosen the other inter- 
 pretation as the most natural. 
 
 [1.] At our harbouring their exiles.] Many 
 of the cities of Bceotia favoured the Phocians 
 in the sacred war. But when this war was 
 ended, and the Thebans became masters of 
 these cities, they treated the inhabitants 
 with great cruelty, and obliged them to take 
 shelter at Athens. 
 
 [2.] As to possessions, &c] All Ptiocis 
 was given up to them immediately after the 
 war. 
 
 [3.] Orchomenus and Coronea, &c] The 
 Phocians had taken these two cities from 
 them the year before. 
 
 [4.] A seat in the council, &c] Of which 
 they had been deprived by the Phocians 
 making themselves mas'ers of Delphos, 
 where this council assembled. 
 
 [5.] We «ufter the Cardians to be distin- 
 guished, &c] This is explained in the in- 
 troduction to the oration on the state of the 
 Chersonesus. 
 
 of his most earnest wishes. As to the Th 
 salians, they neither desired to see the The- 
 bans aggrandized, nor Philip (for in their 
 power they saw danger to themselves) ; but 
 two things they greatly desired, a seat in the 
 council [4.] of Amphictyons, and the wealth 
 of Delphos ; and thence they were induced 
 to join in the confederacy. Thus you may 
 observe that private interest oftentimes en- 
 gages men in measures quite opposite to 
 their inclinations. And therefore it is your 
 part to proceed with the utmost caution. 
 
 What then ! saith some one, shall these 
 apprehensions make us yield to his demands ? 
 is this your motion ? Not at all ! I only 
 mean to' shew you, how you may maintain 
 your dignity, avoid a war, and approve 
 your moderation and justice to the world. 
 As to those violent men who think we should 
 brave all dangers, nor foresee the diiliculties 
 attending upon arms, I wish them to con- 
 sider this. We allow the Thebans to possess 
 Oropus: were we asked the motive, we 
 should answer, To avoid a war. In like man- 
 ner, by the present treaty, we yield Amphi- 
 polis to Philip; we suffer the Cardians to 
 be distinguished [5.] from the other inhabi- 
 bitants of the Chersonesus ; the king of 
 Caria [6.] to possess Chios, and Cos, and 
 Rhodes ; and the Byzantines [7.] to cruise 
 for prizes : and this, because we think that 
 peace and tranquillity will produce more ad- 
 vantages than violence and contests about 
 these points. And if thus directed in our 
 conduct towards each particular state, and 
 where our interest is highly and intimately 
 concerned, it would be perfect weakness and 
 absurdity to provoke the resentment of 
 them all for a shadow. [8.] 
 
 [6.] The king of Caria.] Mausolus king 
 of that country, had assisted these islands 
 against Athens, in the social war ; and when, 
 at the conclusion of this war, the Athenians 
 were obliged to declare them free and inde- 
 pendent, their ally made himself master of 
 them. Upon the death of Mausolus, his 
 wife Artemisia maintained his dominion in 
 these new-conquered islands. She survived 
 her husband but two years, and was suc- 
 ceeded by her brother Hidrieas, who reigned 
 in Caria at the time that this oration was 
 pronounced. Tourreil. 
 
 [7.] And the Byzantines, &c] These 
 people had also revolted from the Athenians, 
 and joined with the islanders in the social r 
 war : — How far, or on what pretence, they 
 were suffered to commit those outrages upon 
 the seas, does not appear. Tourreil. 
 
 [!).] For a shadow.] In the Greek, rieo. 
 Tiit ev AeX$>oi9 <tkius, for a shadow in Del- 
 phos. That is, for an empty title of Am 
 phictyon, or of a protector of the temple of 
 Delphos,
 
 30 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. VI 
 
 THE SEVENTH ORATION AGAINST PHILIP: 
 
 Commonly called the Second. 
 
 PRONOUNCED IN THE ARCHONSHIP OF LYCfSCUS, TWO YEARS AFTER THE 
 ORATION ON THE PEACE. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Greeks thought it proper to confirm, 
 or at least not to oppose Philip's admission 
 into the council of Amphictyons, where he 
 immediately assumed a despotic power. In 
 every enterprise he armed himself with one 
 of their decrees, and, under pretence of exe- 
 cuting them, made a merit of oppressing 
 several states of Greece. 
 
 The Thebans opened him an entrance 
 into Peloponnesus, where, from their inve- 
 terate hatred to the Lacedemonians, they 
 were constantly fomenting divisions. They 
 solicited Philip to join with them, the Mes- 
 senians, and the Argians, to reduce the 
 power of Lacedemon, which, without any 
 right but that of the strongest, had erected 
 itself into a kind of sovereignty, to the pre- 
 judice of the neighbouring states. Philip 
 willingly listened to an overture which agreed 
 so well with his own views. He proposed, 
 or rather dictated a decree, to the Amphic- 
 tyons, that the Lacedemonians should suffer 
 Argos and Messeue to enjoy an absolute in- 
 dependence ; and, under the pretence of sup- 
 porting their authority, at the same time 
 marched a great body of forces towards 
 those parts. 
 
 The Lacedemonians, justly alarmen, ap- 
 plied to Athens for succour ; and strongly 
 urged, by their ambassadors, the conclusion 
 of "a league, which was necessary for their 
 common safety. All the powers interested 
 in crossing this league used their utmost 
 diligence to that end. Philip, by his minis- 
 ters, represented to the Athenians, that they 
 could not with justice declare against him; 
 and that if he had not come to a rupture 
 with the Thebans, he had in this done 
 nothing contrarv to his treaty with Athens. 
 And this indeed was true, with respect to 
 the public articles of the peace, whatever 
 private assurances he might have given their 
 ambassadors. The representatives of Thebes, 
 
 [1.] Humane and just.] An opposition to 
 the growing power of Macedon, the orator 
 ever affects to consider as the cause of liberty, 
 of justice, and of Greece. The interest of 
 the nation, that is, of the whole assemblage 
 of the Grecian states, was, professedly, the 
 first great object of regard to every member 
 of every communitv. This was their most 
 extensive affection. The distinction of Greek 
 and Barbarian precluded the rest of mankind 
 from a just share in their philanthropy. At 
 least, it was not generally considered as a 
 duty, to extend their benevolence farther 
 than the boundaries of their nation. These 
 included all that were really considered of 
 the same kind. And hence it is, as I conceive, 
 
 Argos, and Messene, pressed the Athenians 
 on their part, and reproached them with 
 having already too much favoured the Lace- 
 demonians, those enemies of Thebes, and 
 tyrants of Peloponnesus. The strength of 
 those remonstrances somewhat staggered the 
 Athenians. They were unwilling to break 
 with Philip; and then, on the other hand, 
 could not but see danger to themselves in 
 the rum of Lacedemon. They were there- 
 fore in doubt what answer to give to the 
 Lacedemonian ambassadors : on which oc- 
 casion Demosthenes pronounced the follow- 
 ing oration. 
 
 PHILIPPIC THE SECOND. 
 
 Lycisco Archon. — A. R. Philip. 17 Olym- 
 
 piad. 109. An. 1. 
 
 Athenians ! When the hostile attempts or' 
 Philip, and those outrageous violations of 
 the peace, which he is perpetually commit- 
 ting, are at any time the subject of our de- 
 bates, the speeches on your side I find hu- 
 mane and just ; [1.] and that the sentiments 
 of those who inveigh against Philip never 
 fail of approbation : but as to the necessary 
 measures ; to speak out plainly, not one 
 hath been pursued, nor any thing effected 
 even to reward the attention to these ha- 
 rangues. Nay, to such circumstances is our 
 state reduced, that the more fully and 
 evidently a man proves that Philip is acting 
 contrary to his treaty, and harbouring de- 
 signs against Greece, the greater is his dif- 
 ficulty in pointing out your duty. 
 
 The reason is this. They who aspire to 
 an extravagant degree of power, are to be 
 opposed by force and action, not by speeches : 
 and yet, in the first place, we public speakers 
 are unwilling to recommend or to propose 
 any thing to this purpose, from the fear of 
 
 that the love of their countrymen was called , 
 by the most extensive term, the love of 
 mankind. The word therefore, in the ori- 
 ginal (yiXavtiptoirom), which is rendered ' hu- 
 mane,' the translator understood as expres- 
 sive of a regard to the general welfare of 
 Greece. Nor was it owing to any design of 
 concealing his ignorance, that this explana- 
 tion was not orignally allowed a place in 
 the notes on this oration. What is, or is 
 imagined to be, clear to us, we are apt to 
 flatter ourselves must, at first glance, appear 
 to others exactly in the same light. Just as 
 we sometimes suppose that the difficulty we 
 ourselves cannot conquer, is, in itself, ab- 
 solutely insuperable.
 
 ORAT. VI.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 .1 
 
 vour displeasure; but confine ourselves to 
 general representations of the grievous, of 
 the outrageous nature of his conduct, and 
 the like. Then, you who attend, are better 
 qualified than Philip, either to plead the 
 justice of your cause, or to apprehend it, 
 when enforced by others : but as to any 
 effectual opposition to his present designs, in 
 this you are entirely inactive. You see then 
 the consequence, the necessary, the natural 
 consequence; each of you excels in that 
 which hath engaged your time and applica- 
 tion: he, in acting; you, in speaking. And 
 if, on this occasion, it be sufficient that we 
 speak with a superior force of truth and 
 justice, this may be done with the utmost 
 ease : but if we are to consider how to rectify 
 our present disorders, how to guard against 
 the danger of plunging inadvertently into 
 still greater ; against the progress of a power 
 which may at last bear down all opposition ; 
 then must our debates proceed in a different 
 manner ; and all they who speak, and all you 
 who attend, must prefer the best and most 
 salutary measures to the easiest and most 
 agreeable. 
 
 First, then, Athenians ! if there be a man 
 who feels no apprehensions at the view of 
 Philip's power, and the extent of his con- 
 quests ; who imagines that these portend 
 DO danger to the state, or that his designs 
 are not all aimed against you ; 1 am amazed ! 
 and must entreat the attention of you all, 
 while I explain those reasons briefly, which 
 induce me to entertain different expecta- 
 tions, and to regard Philip as our real ene- 
 my ; that if I appear to have looked forward 
 with the more penetrating eye, you may 
 join with me; if they, who are thus secure 
 and confident in this man, you may yield to 
 their direction. 
 
 In the first place, therefore, I consider 
 the acquisitions made by Philip when the 
 peace was just concluded : Thermopylae, 
 and the command of Phocis. What use did 
 he make of these ? — He chose to serve the 
 interest of Thebes, not that of Athens. And 
 why ? As ambition is his great passion, 
 universal empire the sole object of his views ; 
 not peace, not tranquillity, not any just pur- 
 pose; he knew this well, that neither our 
 
 [].] When Alexander, &c] The reader 
 may find the history here alluded to in the 
 eighth and ninth books of Herodotus. The 
 expressions in the original are as contemp- 
 tuous as possible, 6 toutou : or as some edi- 
 tions have it, 6 toi'twv Itpo-vovo?, the ances- 
 tor of these wretches the Macedonians ; and 
 then, not npo<7/ii/t , ambassador, but KHPYS, 
 herald or crier, the slave or menial officer of 
 his master Mardonius. Avec le titre d'am- 
 bassadeur (as Tourreil translates it) suggests 
 the honourable idea which Demosthenes 
 takes such pains to keep out of view. 
 
 [2.] The one, he knows, fought for the 
 Barbarian ; the others did not oppose him.] 
 The readiness with which the Thebans 
 granted earth and water, the tokens of sub- 
 mission, to the Persian, the regret with 
 which they joined Leonidas at Thermopylae, 
 their joining openly with Xerxes, when his 
 
 constitution nor our principles would admit 
 him to prevail upon you (by any thing he 
 could promise, by any" thing he could dot, 
 to sacrifice one state of Greece to your pri- 
 vate interest : but that, as you have the 
 due regard to justice, as you have an abhor- 
 rence of the least stain upon your honour, 
 and as you have that quick discernment 
 which nothing can escape; the moment his 
 attempt was made, you would oppose him 
 with the same vigour as if you yourselves 
 had been immediately attacked. The The- 
 bans, he supposed (and the event confirmed 
 his opinion), would, for the sake of any pri- 
 vate advantage, suffer him to act towards 
 others as he pleased ; and, far from opposing 
 or impeding his designs, would be ready at 
 his command to fight upon his side. From 
 the same persuasion he now heaps his favours 
 upon the Messenians and Argians. And this 
 reflects the greatest lustre upon you, my 
 countrymen ! for by these proceedings you 
 are declared the only invariable assertors of 
 the rights of Greece ; the only persons, whom 
 no private attachment, no views of interest, 
 can seduce from their affection to the Greeks. 
 And that it is with reason he entertains 
 these sentiments of you, and sentiments so 
 different of the Thebans and the Argians ; he 
 may be convinced, not from the present 
 only, but from a review of former times. 
 For he must have been informed, I presume, 
 he cannot but have heard, that your ances- 
 tors, when, by submitting to the King, they 
 might have purchased the sovereignty of 
 Greece, not only scorned to listen, when 
 Alexander, [1.] this man's ancestor, was 
 made the messenger of such terms, but 
 chose to abandon their city, encountered 
 every possible difficulty ; and, after all this, 
 performed such exploits, as men are ever 
 eager to recite, yet with the just force and 
 dignity no man ever could express: and 
 therefore it becomes me to be silent on this 
 subject : for in reality their actions are su- 
 perior to the power of words. As to the 
 ancestors of the Thebans and the Argians, 
 the one, he knows, fought for the Barba- 
 rian ; the others did not oppose him. [2.] 
 He knew then, that both these people would 
 attend but to their private interest, without 
 
 arms had the appearance of success, and 
 other circumstances, confirmed oy the united 
 testimony of historians, all warrant the as- 
 sertion of Demosthenes. The Argians were 
 engaged to a neutrality, by an artifice of the 
 Persians, who pretended to derive their 
 descent from Perseus, the son of Acrisius, 
 one of the kings of Argos. This pretence, 
 how gross soever, was sufficient for a people 
 who chose to be deceived ; and would not 
 reflect that this monarchy had not the title 
 of Persian till the reign of Cyrus. Their 
 infidelity to the cause of Greece they con- 
 cealed under the veil of ambition ; for they 
 professed themselves ready to concur in the 
 common defence, provided that they were 
 admitted to an equai share of the command 
 with Lacedemon : which proposal was re- 
 jected, as they desired. Tourreil. 
 E
 
 32 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT, 
 
 VI. 
 
 the least regard to the common cause of 
 Greece : should he choose you for allies, 
 you would serve him so far only as justice 
 would permit ; but if he attached himselt 
 to them, he gained assistants in all the 
 schemes of his ambition. This it is that 
 then determined him, this it is that now 
 determines him, to their side rather than to 
 yours : not that he sees they have a greater 
 naval force [1.] than we; or that, having 
 gained the sovereignty in the inland coun- 
 tries, he declines the command of the seas, 
 and the advantages of commerce ; or that 
 he hath forgotten those pretences, these 
 promises which obtained him the peace. 
 
 But I may be told, It is true, he did act 
 thus; but not from ambition, or from any 
 of those motives of which I accuse him ; but 
 as he thought the cause of Thebes more just 
 than ours.[2.] — This of all pretences he can- 
 not now allege. Can he, who commands the 
 Lacedemonians [3.] to quit their claim to 
 Messene, pretend that, in giving up Orcho- 
 menus and Coronea to the Thebans, he 
 acted from regard to justice ? But now 
 comes his last subterfuge. He was com- 
 pelled ; and yielded these places quite against 
 his inclinations, being encompassed by the 
 Thessalian horse and Theban infantry. 
 Fine pretence ! — Just so, they cry, he is 
 to entertain suspicions of the Thebans : and 
 some spread rumours of their own fra- 
 ming, that he is to fortify Elatea. [4.] 
 Yes ! these things are yet to be, and so will 
 they remain, in my opinion ; but his attack 
 on Lacedemon, in conjunction with the 
 Thebens and Argians, is not yet to be made. 
 No ! he is actually detaching forces ; sup- 
 plying money ; and is himself expected at 
 the head of a formidable army. The La- 
 cedemonians, therefore, the enemies of 
 Thebes, he now infests. And will he then 
 restore the Phocians, whom he hath but just 
 now ruined? Who can believe this? I, for 
 my part, can never think, if Philip had been 
 forced into those former measures, or if he 
 
 [1.] A greater naval force, fee] Athens, 
 as a maritime power, was superior to all the 
 other Greeks. At the battle of Salamis, of 
 the three hundred vessels which composed 
 the Grecian fleet, two hundred were Athe- 
 nian. Three hundred ships sailed from the 
 port of Athens upon the expedition of Sicily ; 
 and their fleet was afterward increased to 
 four hundred. Tourreil. 
 
 [2.1 The cause of Thebes more just than 
 ours.] The union of Philip with the Thebans 
 had a very plausible colour : that to espous- 
 ing the cause of Apollo, and punishing the 
 sacrilegious profaners of his temple. It was 
 not convenient to display this at large, and 
 therefore he cuts it short by one vague ex- 
 pression. For the art of an orator appears 
 no less in suppressing such things as may 
 prove unfavourable to his design, than in 
 dwelling on those points which may assist it. 
 Tourreil. 
 
 [3.] Can he, who commands the Lacede- 
 monians, &c] Because the pretensions of 
 each were of the same nature. Lacedemon as- 
 sumed the supreme power in Peloponnesus. 
 
 had now abandoned the Thebar.s, that he 
 would make this continued opposition to their 
 enemies. No ! his present measures prove 
 that all his past conduct was the effect of 
 choice ; and from all his actions it appears, 
 that all his actions are directly levelled 
 against this state. And there is in some sort 
 a necessity for this. Consider : he aims at 
 empire, and from you alone he expects op- 
 position. He hath long loaded us with in- 
 juries ; and of this he himself is most inti- 
 mately conscious ; for those of our posses- 
 sions which he hath reduced to his service, 
 he uses as a barrier to his other territories: 
 so that if he should give up Amphipolis and 
 Potida-a, he would not think himself secure 
 even in Macedon. He is therefore sensible, 
 that he entertains designs against you, and 
 that you perceive them. Then, as he thinks 
 highly of your wisdom, he concludes that 
 you must hold him in that abhorrence which 
 he merits : hence is he alarmed ; expecting 
 to feel some effects of your resentment (if you 
 have any favourable opportunity), unless he 
 prevents you by his attack. Hence is his 
 vigilance awakened ; his arm raised against 
 the state : he courts some of the Thebans, 
 and such of the Peloponnesians as have the 
 same views with him ; whom he deems too 
 mercenary to regard any thing but present 
 interest, and too perversely stupid to foresee 
 any consequences. And yet persons of but 
 moderate discernment may have some mani- 
 fest examples to alarm them, which I had 
 occasion to [5.] mention to the Messenians, 
 and to the Argians. Perhaps it may be pro- 
 per to repeat them here. 
 
 ' Messenians!' said I, 'how highly (think 
 ve) would the Olynthians have been offended, 
 if any man had spoken against Philip at 
 that time when he gave them up Anthe- 
 mus, [o'.j a city which the former kings of 
 Macedon had ever claimed ? when he drove 
 out the Athenian colony, and gave themPoti- 
 dsea ? when he took all our resentment on 
 himself, and left them to enjoy our domi- 
 
 Thebes affected the like power in Bceotia. 
 
 [4.] To fortify Elatea. J This was the 
 most considerable city in Phocis ; and, by 
 its situation, very well fitted to keep the 
 Thebans in awe. So that, some years after, 
 when Philip perceived that the Thebans 
 were growing cool to him, his first step was 
 to take possession of Elatea. Tourreil, 
 
 [5.] Which I had occasion to, &c] When 
 Philip first began to interest himself in the 
 disputes between these states and Lacede- 
 mon, the Athenians sent an embassy, to 
 endeavour to weaken his interest in Pelopon- 
 nesus, and to dissuade the Messenians and 
 Argians from accepting of his interposition. 
 On this occasion it was, that Demosthenes 
 made the oration from which he now quotes 
 this passage. 
 
 [fi.] Anthemus.] This city of Macedon 
 had been possessed by the ancestors of Phi- 
 lip from the earliest ages; for we learn from 
 Herodotus, (B. 5.) that about two hundred 
 years before, Amyntas made an offer of An- 
 themus to Hippias, the son of Pisistratus. 
 Tourreil*
 
 ORAT 
 
 VI.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 .<3 
 
 nions ? Did they expect to have suffered 
 thus ? had it been foretold, would they have 
 believed it ? you cannot think it ! Yet, after 
 a short enjoyment of the territories of others, 
 they have been for ever despoiled of their 
 own, by this man. Inglorious has been their 
 fall, not crnquered only, but betrayed and 
 sold by one another. For those intimate 
 correspondences with tyrants ever portend 
 mischief to free states. Turn your eyes,' 
 said I, ' to the Thessalians ! think ye, that 
 when he first expelled their tyrants, when 
 he then gave them up Nica^a [1.] and Mag- 
 nesia, that they expected ever to have been 
 subjected to those governors [2.] now im- 
 posed on them ? or that the man who re- 
 stored them to their seat in the Amphicty- 
 onic council, would have deprived them of 
 their own proper revenues ? yet that such 
 was the event, the world can testify. In 
 like manner, you now behold Philip lavish- 
 ing his gifts and promises upon you. If you 
 are wise, you will pray that he may never 
 appear to have deceived and abused you. 
 Various are the contrivances for the defence 
 and security of cities ; as battlements, and 
 walls, and trenches, and other kind of for- 
 tifications ; all which are the effects of la- 
 bour, and attended with continual expense. 
 But there is one common bulwark, with 
 which men of prudence are naturally pro- 
 vided, the guard and security of all people, 
 particularly of free states, against the as- 
 sault of tyrants. What is this ? Distrust 
 Of this be mindful : to this adhere : pre- 
 serve this carefully, and no calamity can 
 
 affect you What is it you seek ?' said I, 
 
 'Liberty? And do ye not perceive that 
 nothing can be more adverse to this than 
 the very titles of Philip ? every monarch, 
 every tyrant, is an enemy to liberty, and 
 the opposer of laws. Will ye not then be 
 careful, lest, while ye seek to be freed from 
 war, ye find yourselves his slaves ?' 
 
 But although they heard these things, 
 and loudly expressed their approbation ; 
 though the like points were frequently urged 
 by the ambassadors while I was present, and 
 probably were afterward repeated, yet still 
 they have no less dependance on the friend- 
 ship and the promises of Philip. But it is 
 not strange that the Messenians and some of 
 the Peloponnesians should act contrary to 
 
 [1.] Nicasa.] This city of Locris had been 
 given up to Philip, by Phalecus, at the con- 
 clusion of the sacred war. Tourreil, 
 
 p2.] Those governors, &c] The tyranny 
 said to have been imposed by Philip on the 
 Thessalians is, in the original of this passage, 
 called a government of ten : yet, in the third 
 Philippic, it is styled a tetrarchy, or govern- 
 ment of four. Hence there are grounds to 
 presume, that an error has crept into the 
 ancient copies. Unless it be supposed that 
 Philip divided the country of Thessaly into 
 four districts, and over each of those esta- 
 blished ten governors; if, by such a suppo- 
 sition, the authority of the copies may be 
 preserved. 
 
 T3.] Though none of our editors take no- 
 tice of it, in this place the proper officer 
 
 the dictates of nature, reason, and reflection. 
 Even you, who are yourselves fully sensible, 
 and constantly reminded by your public 
 speakers, that there are designs forming 
 against you, that the toils of your enemies 
 are surrounding you : will, I fear, lie plunged 
 by your supineness into all those dangers that 
 threaten you : so prevalent is the pleasure 
 and indulgence of a moment over all your 
 future interests. — But as to the course neces- 
 sary to be pursued, prudence requires, that 
 this be debated hereafter among yourselves. 
 At present, I shall propose such an answer 
 to these ministers, as may be worthy of your 
 concurrence [3.] 
 
 It would be just, Athenians ! to call the 
 men before you, who gave those promises 
 which induced you to conclude the peace. 
 For neither would I have undertaken the 
 embassy, nor would you (I am convinced) 
 have laid down your arms, had it been sus- 
 pected that Philip would have acted thus, 
 when he had obtained a peace. No ! the 
 assurances he then gave were quite different 
 from his present actions. There are others 
 also to be summoned. Who are these ? 
 — The men, who, at my return from the 
 second embassy, (sent for the ratification of 
 the treaty,) when I saw the state abused, 
 and warned you of your danger, and testified 
 the truth, and opposed with all my power 
 the giving up Thermopylae and Phocis; — 
 the men, I sav, who then cried out that I, 
 the water-drinker, was morose and peevish : 
 but that Philip, if permitted to pass, would 
 act agreeably to your desires ; would fortify 
 Thespia and Plataea ; restrain the insolence 
 of Thebes; cut through the Chersonesui 
 [4.] at his own expense ; and give you up 
 Euboea and Oropus, as an equivalent for 
 Amphipolis. — That all this was positively 
 affirmed, you cannot, I am sure, forget, 
 though not remarkable for remembering 
 injuries. And to complete the disgrace, you 
 have engaged your posterity to the same 
 treaty, in full dependance on those pro- 
 mises ; so entirely have you been seduced. 
 
 And now, to what purpose do I mention 
 this ? and why do I desire that these men 
 should appear ? — I call the gods to witness, 
 that without the least evasion I shall boldly 
 declare the truth ! — Not that, by breaking 
 out into invectives, [5.] I may expose myself 
 
 must have proposed the orator's motion in 
 form. Unless we suppose, that this oration 
 has descended to us imperfect : for as the 
 text now stands, there is a manifest want of 
 connexion between this sentence and what 
 follows. Olivet. 
 
 [■!.] Cut through the Chersonesus, &c] 
 When Cersobleptes had given up the Cher- 
 sonesus to the Athenians, it became perpe- 
 tually exposed to the incursions of Thrace. 
 The only way of putting a stop to them was 
 to cut through the Isthmus (for the Thra- 
 cians had no ships.) And this Philip pro- 
 mised to do in favour of the Athenians and 
 their colonies. Tourreih 
 
 [5.] Not that, by breaking out into invec- 
 tives.] Wolfius, whom the translator here 
 follows, hath been severely censured for this
 
 34 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. VII. 
 
 to the like treatment, and once more give 
 my old enemies an opportunity of receiving 
 
 Philip's gold ; nor yet that I may indulge an 
 impertinent vanity of haranguing. But I 
 apprehend the time must come, when Phi- 
 lip's actions will give you more concern than 
 at present. His designs, I see, are ripening : I 
 wish my apprehensions may not prove just ; 
 but I fear that time is not far off. And when 
 it will no longer be in your power to dis- 
 regard events ; when neither mine, nor any 
 other person's information, but your own 
 knowledge, your own senses, will assure you 
 of the impending danger ; then will your 
 severest resentment break forth. And as 
 your ambassadors have concealed certain 
 things, influenced (as they themselves are 
 conscious) by corruption ; I fear that they 
 who endeavour to restore what these men 
 have ruined, may feel the weight of your 
 displeasure : for there are some, I find, who 
 generally point their anger not at the deserv- 
 ing objects, but those most immediately at 
 their mercy. 
 
 While our affairs, therefore, remain not 
 absolutely desperate ; while it is yet in our 
 power to debate; give me leave to remind 
 you all of one thing, though none can be 
 
 interpretation by the Italian commentator, 
 who renders the former part of the sentence 
 thus : Eos non ideo vocari velim, ut qui olim 
 convitiis dehonestatus fui, a:que nunc mihi 
 a vobis famam conciliem. — Trap iViiV ought 
 not to be rendered a vobis, but apud vos : or, 
 as the translator, who follows Lucchesini's 
 authority, has justlv explained it in his note, 
 in your presence, But my objection to this 
 interpretation does not arise from gramma- 
 tical nicety, but from a regard to the context, 
 the surest comment. If Demosthenes, in- 
 stead of the disgraceful treatment he for- 
 merly received, both from the partisans of 
 Macedon and from the people, was now to 
 be received with applause, and to triumph 
 over his opposers, how could these have ano- 
 ther opportunity of receiving Philip's gold ? 
 Such wages were only paid when earned. 
 They were bestowed, not on ineffectual ef- 
 forts, but real services; and these his friends 
 could not perform, if disgraced and dis- 
 couraged by the assembly. The whole sen- 
 timent of the orator, as translated by Wol- 
 
 ignorant of it. — Who was the man [1.] that 
 persuaded you to give up Phocis and Ther- 
 mopylae ? which once gained, he also gained 
 free access for his troops to Attica and to 
 Peloponnesus ; and obliged us to turn our 
 thoughts from the rights of Greece, from all 
 foreign interests, to a defensive war, in these 
 very territories ; whose approach must be se- 
 verely felt by every one of us : and that very 
 day gave birth to it : for had we not been then 
 deceived, the state could have nothing to 
 apprehend. His naval power could not have 
 been great enough to attempt Attica by sea, 
 not could he have passed by land through 
 Thermopylae and Phocis. But he must have 
 either confined himself within the bounds of 
 justice, and lived in a due observance of his 
 treaty, or have instantly been involved in a 
 war, equal to that which obliged him to sue 
 for peace. 
 
 Thus much may be sufficient to recall past 
 actions to your view. May all the gods for- 
 bid, that the event should confirm my sus- 
 picions ! for I by no means desire that any 
 man should meet even the deserved punish- 
 ment of his crimes, when the whole com- 
 munity is in danger of being involved in his 
 destruction 
 
 fius, is this : * I do not wish that these men 
 may appear, in order to indulge my indigna- 
 tion and resentment against them, that so 
 they may retort my accusations with double 
 virulence, (as was the case when we first re- 
 turned from our embassy,) and thus, by once 
 more gaining your favour, and triumphing 
 over me, they may have an opportunity of 
 boasting their services to Philip, and obtain- 
 ing their reward.' The passage manifestly 
 alludes to the transactions of the assembly, 
 when the ten ambassadors returned, who had 
 been sent to treat with Philip about a peace : 
 and which are particularly described by De- 
 mosthenes, in his oration on the Embassy. 
 And we may safely appeal to the reader who 
 consults that oration, as to the propriety of 
 the present interpretation 
 
 [1.] Who was the man, &c] The person 
 pointed at is iEschines. These two states- 
 men accused each other, when the bad con- 
 sequences of this treaty came to be univer- 
 sally felt and acknowledged. 
 
 THE ORATION ON THE STATE OF THE CHERSONESUS: 
 
 PRONOUNCED IN THE ARCHONSHIP OF SOSIGENES, TWO YEARS AFTER THE SECOND 
 
 PHILIPPIC. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In the foregoing oration, the vehemence of 
 Demosthenes determined the Athenians to 
 oppose the attempts of Philip ; and his re- 
 presentations to the Argians and Messenians 
 inspired them with suspicion, and at length 
 detached them from all connexions with 
 Macedon. When Philip therefore found his 
 practices in Peloponnesus unsuccesful, he 
 
 began to turn his thoughts to other enter- 
 prises ; to pursue his conquests in Thrace, 
 and cross the Athenian interest in the C'her- 
 sonesus. This peninsula had, with some 
 little interruption, been for many years in 
 the hands of the Athenians. Cotys, as king 
 of the country, had lately wrested it from 
 them, and left it in succession to his son Cer- 
 sobleptes. But he, being unable to support 
 himself against the power of Philip, resigned
 
 orat. vii] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 35 
 
 it again to the Athenians; and they, accord- 
 in;; to custom, sent in a colony, which the 
 inhabitants received, and freely shared their 
 lands and habitations with their new guests. 
 The people of Cardia, the principal city, 
 however, still asserted their independence; 
 and when Diopithes, the commander of the 
 Athenian colony, would have reduced them 
 by force of arms, had recourse to Philip, 
 who immediately detached a body of forces 
 to their support. Diopithes considered this 
 proceeding as an act of hostility against 
 Athens ; and without waiting for instruc- 
 tions from his state, raised a considerable 
 force ; and while Philip was engaged in war 
 in the inland parts of Thrace, entered the 
 maritime parts (which were his territories) 
 with fire and sword, and brought off a great 
 booty, which he lodged safe in the Cherso- 
 nesus. Philip was not at leisure to repel 
 this insult : he therefore contented himself 
 with complaining by letters to the Athenians 
 of this conduct of their general. The pen- 
 sioners which he had at Athens immediately 
 exerted themselves for their master. They 
 inveighed loudly against Diopithes, accused 
 him of violating the peace which then sub- 
 sisted between them and Philip, of involving 
 the state in war, of exaction, rapine, and 
 piracy ; and pressed for his being recalled. 
 
 Demosthenes, judging that at such a junc- 
 ture the public interest was connected with 
 that of Diopithes, undertakes his defence in 
 the following oration ; throws the whole 
 blame of the exactions and piracies he is ac- 
 cused of, upon the Athenians themselves; 
 turns their attention to Philip and his hos- 
 tilities ; and concludes, that whoever opposes 
 or distresses him in any manner does a service 
 to the state ; and that, instead of disavowing 
 what Diopithes had done, or directing him 
 to dismiss his army, they should reinforce 
 him, and shew the king of Macedon, they 
 know how to protect their territories, and to 
 maintain the dignity of their country, as 
 well as their ancestors. 
 
 It appears, from the beginning of this ora- 
 tion, that before Demosthenes arose, the 
 affair had been violently contested in the 
 assembly. Possibly the heat of opposition 
 added to the natural fire of the orator. For 
 the style of the oration is (in my opinion) 
 remarkably animated: and we find an ex- 
 traordinary degree of severity and indigna- 
 tion breaking out in every part of it. 
 
 ORATION ON THE STATE OF THE 
 CHERSONESUS. 
 
 Sosigene Archon. — A. R. Philip. 19 
 
 Olympiad. 1U9. An. 3. 
 
 It were to be wished, Athenians ! that they 
 
 [1.] Hovering about the Hellespont.] By 
 the Hellespont we are to understand, not the 
 strait itself that separates Europe from Asia, 
 but the cities and countries all along the 
 coast. 
 
 [2.] In the senate.] Into which Demos- 
 
 who speak in public would, never suffer ha- 
 tred or affection to influence their counsels ; 
 but in all that they propose, be directed by 
 unbiassed reason ; particularly when affairs 
 of state, and those of highest moment, are 
 the object of our attention. But since there 
 are persons, whose speeches are partly dic- 
 tated by a spirit of contention, partly by 
 other like motives ; it is your duty, Athe- 
 nians ! to exert that power which your num- 
 bers give you : and m all your resolutions, 
 and in all your actions, to consider only the 
 interest of your country. 
 
 Our present concernment is about the 
 affairs of the Chersonesus, and Philip's ex- 
 pedition into Thrace, which hath now en- 
 gaged him eleven months : but most of our 
 orators insist upon the actions and designs 
 of Diopithes. As to crimes objected to those 
 men, whom our laws can punish when we 
 please ; I, for my part, think it quite indif- 
 ferent, whether they be considered now, or 
 at some other time ; nor is this a point to be 
 violently contested, by me or any other 
 speaker. But win n Philip, the enemy of our 
 country, is now actually hovering about the 
 Hellespont [1.] with a numerous army, and 
 making attempts on our dominions, which if 
 one moment neglected, the loss may be irre- 
 parable; here, our attention is instantly 
 demanded ; we should resolve, we should 
 prepare with all possible expedition, and not 
 run from our main concern, in the midst of 
 foreign clamours and accusations. 
 
 I have frequently been surprised at asser- 
 tions made in public ; but never more, than 
 when 1 lately heard it affirmed in the senate, 
 [2.] that there are but two expedients to be 
 proposed : either absolutely to declare war, 
 or to continue in peace. The point is this : 
 if Philip acts as one in amity with us ; if he 
 does not keep possession of our dominions, 
 contrary to his treaty ; if he be not every 
 where spiriting up enemies against us ; all 
 debates are at an end ; we are undoubtedly 
 obliged to live in peace, and I find it per- 
 fectly agreeable to you. But if the articles 
 of our treaty, ratified by the most solemn 
 oaths, remain upon record, open to public 
 inspection ; if it appears, that long before the 
 departure of Diopithes and his colony, who 
 are now accused of involving us in a war, 
 Philip had unjustly seized many of our pos- 
 sessions (for which I appeal to your own de- 
 crees) ; if, ever since that time, he has been 
 constantly arming himself with all the pow- 
 ers of Greeks and barbarians, to destroy us ; 
 what do these men mean, who affirm we are 
 either absolutely to declare war, or to ob- 
 serve the peace ! You have no choice at 
 all; you have but one just and necessary 
 measure to pursue, which they industriously 
 pass over. And what is this ? To repel force 
 by force. Unless they will affirm, that while 
 Philip keeps from Attica and the Pira?us, [3,] 
 
 thenes had been admitted, in the archonship 
 of Themistocles, a little after the taking of 
 Olynthus : and (if we may believe ./Eschines) 
 not in the regular manner, but by intrigue 
 and bribery. 
 f3.] The Piraeus.] This is the first time
 
 3G 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. 
 
 VII. 
 
 he does our state no injury, makes no war 
 against us. Tf it be thus they state the 
 bounds of peace and justice, we must all ac- 
 knowledge that their sentiments are incon- 
 sistent with the common rights of mankind, 
 with the dignity and the safety of Athens. 
 
 Besides, they themselves contradict their 
 own accusation of Diopithes. For, shall 
 Philip be left at full liberty to pursue all 
 his other designs, provided he keeps from 
 Attica ; and shall not Diopithes be permitted 
 to assist the Thracians ? and if he does, shall 
 we accuse him of involving us in a war? — 
 But this is their incessant cry, ' Our foreign 
 troops commit outrageous devastations on 
 the Hellespont : Diopithes, without regard 
 to justice, seizes and plunders vessels ! These 
 things must not be suffered !' Be it so : I 
 acquiesce ! but while they are labouring to 
 have our troops disbanded, by inveighing 
 against that man whose care and industry 
 support them (if they really speak from a 
 regard to justice) ; they should shew us, 
 that, if we yield to their remonstrances, 
 Philip's army also will be disbanded : else, it 
 is apparent that their whole aim is to reduce 
 the state to those circumstances which have 
 occasioned all the losses we have lately suffer- 
 ed. For be assured of this, that nothing 
 hath given Philip such advantage over us, as 
 his superior vigilance in improving all op- 
 portunities. For, as he is constantly sur- 
 rounded by his troops, and his mind perpe- 
 tually engaged in projecting his designs, he 
 can, in a' moment, strike the blow where he 
 pleases. But we wait till some event alarms 
 us : then we are in motion, then we prepare. 
 To this alone I can impute it, that the con- 
 quests he hath lately made, he now enjoys 
 in full security ; while all your efforts are too 
 late, all your vast expenses ineffectual : your 
 attempts have served only to discover your 
 enmity, and inclination to oppose him ; and 
 the cousequences of your misconduct are still 
 farther aggravated by the disgrace. 
 
 Know then, Athenians ! that all our ora- 
 tors allege at present is but words, but 
 idle pretences. Their whole designs, their 
 whole endeavours, are to confine you within 
 the city ; that while we have no forces 
 in the field, Philip may be at full liberty 
 
 the orator mentions this celebrated port of 
 Athens. It was at first detached from the 
 city, but afterward joined to it by two long 
 walls, which the Greeks called the Legs of 
 the Piraeus; and from that time, by the 
 advice of Themistocles, the Athenians made 
 this their principal harbour. It would con- 
 tain 4011 ships of war ; was well fortified, and 
 furnished with a market, to which all the 
 trading part of Greece resorted. Historians 
 call it the triple port, for it really contained 
 three : the first called Kuvt) aj»os> from a hero 
 of that name: the second 'Atppo&iaiov, from 
 two temples of Venus that were erected near 
 it: the third Ztu, because it was the mart 
 for corn. Tourreil. 
 
 [ 1 . ] I f there were a people in whom they less 
 confided, &c] In the third year of the 105th 
 Olympiad, the Byzantines entered into a 
 league with Chios, Cos, and Rhodes, against 
 
 to act as he pleases. Consider the present 
 posture of affairs. Philip is now stationed 
 in Thrace, at the head of a large army; 
 and (as we are here informed) sends for 
 reinforcements from Macedon and Thessaly. 
 Now, should he watch the blowing of the 
 Etesian winds, march his forces to Byzan- 
 tium, and invest it ; in the first place, can 
 you imagine that the Byzantines would 
 persist in their present folly ; or that they 
 would not have recourse to you for assist- 
 ance ? I cannot think it. No : if there were 
 a people in whom they less confided [1.] than 
 in us, they would receive even these into 
 their city, rather than give it up to him ; 
 unless prevented by the quickness of his 
 attack. And should we be unable to sail 
 thither, should there be no forces ready to 
 support them, nothing can prevent their 
 
 ruin But the extravagance and folly of 
 
 these men exceed all bounds. — I grant it. 
 Yet still they should be secured from dan- 
 ger; for this is the interest of our state. Be- 
 sides, it is by no means clear that he will not 
 march into the Chersonesus itself. On the con- 
 trary, if we may judge from the letter which 
 he sent to you," he is determined to oppose 
 us in that country. If then the forces sta- 
 tioned there be still kept up, we may defend 
 our own dominions, and infest those of our 
 enemv ; if they be once dispersed and broken, 
 what 'shall we do, if he attempt the Cherso- 
 nesus ? — Bring Diopithes to atrial. — And 
 how will that serve us ? — No: but we will 
 despatch succours from hence. — What if the 
 winds prevent us ? — But he will not turn his 
 arms thither — Who will be our surety for 
 this ? Consider, Athenians ! is not the season 
 of the year approaching, in which it is 
 thought by some, that you are to withdraw 
 your forces from the Hellespont, and aban- 
 don it to Philip .' But suppose (for this too 
 merits our attention), that, at his return 
 from Thrace, he should neither bend his 
 force against the Chersonesus, nor Byzan- 
 tium, but fall on Chalcis or Megara, as he 
 lately did upon Oreum ; [2.] which would 
 be the wiser course, to oppose him here, and 
 make Attica the seat of war, or to find him 
 employment abroad ? I think the latter. 
 Let these things sink deep into our minds ; 
 
 the Athenians, and withdrew themselves 
 from their dominion. This is what Demos- 
 thenes calls their folly and extravagance. 
 They had reason to think the Athenians 
 would regard them as rebellious subjects, 
 and treat them with the resentment of cf- 
 fencied sovereigns ;' however,' says the orator, 
 •if they were reduced to the alternative of 
 either submitting to Philip, or having re- 
 course to you for protection, they would 
 without hesitation choose the latter.' The 
 event confirmed his prediction. Philip be- 
 sieged Byzantium, the Byzantines had re- 
 course to the Athenians, and Phocion, at 
 the head of their army, obliged Philip to 
 raise the siege. Tourreil. 
 
 [2.] As he lately did upon Oreum.] In the 
 third Philippic, we shall find a particular 
 account of the manner in which he reduced 
 this city to bis obedience.
 
 ORAT. VII.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 37 
 
 ami let us not raise invidious clamours 
 against those forces which Diopithes is en- 
 deavouring to keep up for the service of his 
 country, or attempt to break them ; let us 
 rather prepare to reinforce them ; grant their 
 general the necessary supplies of money, 
 and in every other instance favour his designs 
 with a hearty zeal. Imagine this question 
 proposed to Philip : • Which would be most 
 agreeable to you, that the forces commanded 
 by Diopithes — (of whatever kind they be, 
 for I shall not dispute on that head) — should 
 continue in full strength and good esteem 
 at Athens, and be reinforced by detachments 
 from the city; or that the clamours and 
 invectives of certain persons should prevail 
 to have them broken and disbanded ?' 1 think 
 he would choose this latter. And are there 
 men among us labouring for that which 
 Philip would entreat the gods to grant him ? 
 and if so, is it still a question, whence our 
 distresses have arisen ? 
 
 Let me entreat you to examine the present 
 state of Athens, with an unbiassed freedom; 
 to consider how we are acting, and how our 
 affairs are conducted. We are neither willing 
 to raise contributions, nor do we dare to 
 take the field, nor do we spare the public 
 funds, nor do we grant supplies to Diopithes, 
 nor do we approve of those subsidies he hath 
 procured himself : but we malign him, we 
 pry into his designs, and watch his mo- 
 tions. Thus we proceed, quite regardless of 
 our interests ; and while in words we extol 
 those speakers who assert the dignity of 
 their country, our actions favour their op- 
 posers. It is usual, when a speaker rises, to 
 ask him, ' What are we to do ?' Give me leave 
 to propose the like question to you : * What 
 am 1 to say ?' For if you neither raise con- 
 tributions, nor take the field, nor spare the 
 
 [1.] But it is necessary to explain to some 
 of you the effect of this behaviour.] To the 
 same purpose hath the sentence been tran- 
 slated by Wolfius and Tourreil. But this 
 interpretation, which is acknowledged con- 
 sonant to grammatical rules of construction, 
 hath yet been stigmatized as a total perver- 
 sion of the author's reasoning, and the sense 
 of the context. Clamours had been raised 
 against an Athenian general, who had ex- 
 acted contributions from the islanders and 
 Grecian settlements along the coast of Asia. 
 Demosthenes appears as his advocate. He 
 
 Eroceeds, as it is observed, to shew, that it 
 ad ever been the custom of other comman- 
 ders to raise the like contributions. Hence 
 it is inferred, that the meaning of the phrase 
 here quoted must be, that ' the general is 
 warranted, by justice and custom, to act as 
 he had done.' The orator, indeed, doth pro- 
 ceed to give instances of this custom. But 
 this conclusion I cannot admit ; for what- 
 ever deference and respect the writers who 
 have adopted it may justly claim, a greater 
 deference and respect is due to the original, 
 where we find a conclusion of a different 
 nature, deduced in express terms. ' It hath 
 been the constant custom,' saith Demosthe- 
 nes, ' of all the commanders who have sailed 
 from this city (if I advance a falsehood, let 
 
 public funds, nor grant subsidies to Diopi- 
 thes, nor approve of those provisions he hath 
 made himself, nor take the due care of our 
 interests, I have nothing to say. If you 
 grant such unbounded licence to informers, 
 as even to listen to their accusations of a 
 man, for what they pretend he will do, before 
 it be yet done, what can one say ? — 
 
 But it is necessary to explain to some of 
 you the effect of this behaviour [1.] (I shall 
 speak with an undaunted freedom, for in no 
 other manner can I speak). — It has been the 
 constant custom of all the commanders who 
 have sailed from this city, (if I advance a 
 falsehood, let me feel the severest punish- 
 ment,) to take money from the Chians, and 
 from the Erythrians, and from any people 
 that would give it ; I mean, of the inha- 
 bitants of Asia. They who have but one or 
 two ships take a talent ; they who command 
 a greater force raise a larger contribution. 
 And the people who give this money, whe- 
 ther more or less, do not give it for nothing 
 (they are not so mad); no; it is the price 
 they pay to secure their trading vessels from 
 rapine and piracy, to provide them with the 
 necessary convoys, and the like ; however 
 they may pretend friendship and affection, 
 and dignify those payments with the name 
 of free gifts. It is therefore evident, that as 
 Diopithes is at the head of a considerable 
 power, the same contributions will be grant- 
 ed to him. Else, how shall he pay his sol- 
 diers? how shall he maintain them, who 
 receives nothing from you, and has nothing 
 of his own ? From the skies ? No ; but 
 from what he can collect, and beg, and bor- 
 row. So that the whole scheme of his accusers 
 is to warn all people to grant him nothing; 
 as he is to suffer punishment for crimes yet 
 to be committed, not for any he hath already 
 
 me feel the severest punishment,) to take 
 money from the Chians, and from the Eryth- 
 rians, and from any people that would 
 give it; I mean, of the inhabitants of Asia. 
 They who have but one or two ships take a 
 talent ; they who command a greater force 
 raise a larger contribution. And the people 
 who give this money, whether more or less, 
 do not give it for nothing (they are not so 
 mad) : no ; it is the price they pay to secure 
 their trading vessels from rapine and piracy, 
 to provide them with the necessary convoys, 
 and the like ; however they may pretend 
 friendship and affection, and dignify those 
 payments with the name of free gifts. It is 
 therefore evident, that, as Diopithes is at 
 the head of a considerable power, the same 
 contributions will be granted to him. Else, 
 how shall he pay his soldiers ; how shall he 
 maintain them, who receives nothing from 
 you, and has nothing of his own ? From the 
 skies ? No ; but from what he can collect, 
 and beg, and borrow.' Then follows the 
 conclusion from the whole : Oudiv OYN 
 aXXo KOtov&iV oi KarriyopouvTe? hv vutv tj 
 T-poXtyovmv airaiTi, &c So that the whole 
 scheme of his accusers (or the whole efl'ect of 
 their accusations) is to warn all people to 
 grant him nothing, &c. This is the meaning 
 (or this is the tendency) of their clamours.
 
 38 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [OHAT. VII. 
 
 committed, or in which he hath already as- 
 sisted. This is the meaning of their clamours. 
 ' He is going to form sieges ! he leaves the 
 Greeks exposed.' Have these men all this 
 tenderness for the Grecian colonies of Asia ? 
 They then prefer the interest of foreigners 
 to that of their own country. This must be 
 the case, if they prevail to have another 
 general sent to the Hellespont. If Diopithes 
 commit outrages, if he be guilty of piracy, 
 one single edict, [1.] Athenians ! a single 
 edict will put a stop to such proceedings 
 This is the voice of our laws ; that such 
 oftendeis should be impeached ;2.] and not 
 opposed [3.] with such vast preparations of 
 ships and money (this would be the height of 
 madness) : it is against our enemies, whom 
 the laws cannot touch, that we ought, we 
 
 [].] One single edict.] In the Greek 
 HtvaKiov, which in this place may either 
 signify the tablet which was fixed up in 
 public, containing a citation of the accused 
 party, and an account of the crimes of which 
 he was accused ; or that which was given to 
 the judges who sat on his trial, to write their 
 sentences upon. I have chosen the first of 
 these senses. 
 
 [2.] That such offenders should be im- 
 peached.] The Greek words E'urayfeWeiv, 
 and E«raxye/\ia, which I have translated ' to 
 impeach,' and ' impeachment,' are terms in 
 the Athenian judicature ; and relate to those 
 particular kind of actions, which were not 
 referred to any court of justice, but imme- 
 diately brought before the senate of 500, or 
 assembly of. the people, and sometimes be- 
 fore the Archon : and in which, both the ac- 
 cusation and defence were made by word of 
 mouth, without any written articles. 
 
 [3.] And not opposed, &c] The accusers 
 of Diopithes raised loud clamours against 
 his conduct. They insisted, that he had 
 committed depredations on the Grecian 
 colonies, and was meditating further hosti- 
 lities against them, contrary to his commis- 
 sion and instructions. They declared, that 
 a force should be despatched to defend them ; 
 which Demosthenes calls raising an army 
 against Diopithes. ' It is against our enemies,' 
 saith he, 'whom our laws cannot reach, that 
 we are to raise our forces ; when citizens 
 have offended, we can impeach them,' &c. 
 But this interpretation hath been loaded 
 with the heavy charge of absurdity. If the 
 translator had a right to pronounce so 
 peremptorily and so severely, he would de- 
 clare, that, by the same rule, every ardent 
 expression, every bold figure, every lively 
 image, in short, every thing in eloquence, 
 not literally and strictly consonant to meta- 
 physical truth, might be pronounced 
 equally absurd. The meaning of the passage 
 here quoted, is said to be, We are not to 
 protect the islanders by our armias, but to 
 employ them against our enemies. But why 
 were they to raise their armies against their 
 enemies? Because their enemies were not 
 punishable by the laws. Those, therefore, 
 against whom they were not to raise their 
 armies, must have been such as were pun- 
 ishable by the laws. This conclusion might, 
 
 must maintain our forces, send out our 
 navies, and raise our contributions. But 
 when citizens have offended, we can decrees 
 we can impeach, we can recall. [4.] These 
 are arms sufficient ; these are the measures 
 befitting men of prudence: they who would 
 raise disorder and confusion in the state, may 
 have recourse to such as these men propose. 
 But, dreadful as it is to have such men 
 among us, yet the most dreadful circum- 
 stance of all is this. You assemble here, with 
 minds so disposed, that if any one accuses 
 Diopithes, or Chares, [5.] or Aristo- 
 phon, [6.]or any citizen whatever, as thecause 
 of our misfortunes, you instantly break forth 
 into acclamations and applause. But if a man 
 stands forth, and thus declares the truth, 
 ' This is all trifling, Athenians ! It is to Philip 
 
 perhaps, be deemed natural and necessary, 
 even if the orator had not expressly pointed 
 out both those against whom they were, and 
 were not to raise their armies. 'E7ri tots 
 t'xCpoi'f, 'Against enemies.' And en-i 4' 
 iijiir avrow, but ' against yourselves,' i. e. 
 our own citizens. 
 
 [4.] We can recall.] In the original, we 
 have the IlapaXbs that is, the galley (called 
 so, from the hero Paralus, who with Theseus 
 signalized himself against the Thebans.) The 
 Athenians had two galleys, the Salaminian 
 and Paralian, appointed for the most press- 
 ing occasions of the state. In allusion to 
 this usage, Pericles was called the Salaminian 
 galley, because he affected to appear in public 
 only upon extraordinary emergencies. When 
 Lysander had beaten the Athenian fleet at 
 the Hellespont, the Paralian galley was des- 
 patched with the melancholy news to the 
 people. And when Alcibiades was recalled 
 from Sicily, to defend himself against the 
 charge of impiety, the Salaminian galley was 
 ordered to bring him home. Both the one 
 and the other were employed to recall such 
 generals as were superseded. Tourreil. 
 
 [5.] Or Chares.] This apology (says Mon- 
 sieur Tourreil) savours a little of faction and 
 cabal : their ill success might with great jus- 
 tice have been charged upon Chares. Indeed 
 what could have been expected from a gene- 
 ral no less incapable than luxurious, who 
 in all his military expeditions drew after him 
 a train of musicians, whom he kept in pay 
 at the expense of his troops ? accordingly, 
 his enterprises were unsuccessful ; and, to 
 crown all his miscarriages, he lost the battle 
 of Chaeronea. And yet this Chares was able 
 to support himself to the last, by the credit 
 of those orators who protected rum. 
 
 [6.] Or Aristophon.] Another Athenian 
 general. Aristotle (Rhet. 1. ii. c. 23.) men- 
 tions a smart answer made to him by Iphi- 
 crates. Aristophon accused him of having 
 betraved the fleet which he commanded, 
 lphicrates, with that confidence which an 
 established reputation inspires, asked -him, 
 Would you be guilty of such a piece of trea- 
 chery ? By no means, answered he. What ! 
 returned the other, can lphicrates have 
 committed what Aristophon would refuse 
 to do ?
 
 orat. vii.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 39 
 
 we owe our calamities : he hath plunged us 
 in these difficulties ; for had he observed his 
 treaty, our state would be in perfect tran- 
 quility :' this you cannot deny ; but you 
 hear it with the utmost grief, as if it were 
 the account of some dreadful misfortune. 
 The cause is this, (for when I am to urge the 
 interest of my country, let me speak boldly.) 
 Certain persons, who have been intrusted 
 with public affairs, have for a long time past 
 rendered you daring and terrible, in council ; 
 but, in all affairs of war, wretched and con- 
 temptible. Hence it is that if a citizen, 
 subject to your own power and jurisdiction, 
 be pointed out as the author of your mis- 
 fortunes, you hear the accusation with ap- 
 plause ; but if they are charged upon a man, 
 who must first be conquered before he can 
 be punished, then you are utterly discon- 
 certed : that truth is too severe to be borne. 
 Your ministers, Athenians ! should take 
 quite a contrary course. They should ren- 
 der you gentle and humane in council, where 
 the rights of citizens and allies come before 
 you : in military affairs, they should inspire 
 you with fierceness and intrepidity ; for here 
 you are engaged with enemies, with armed 
 troops. But now, by leading you gently on 
 to their purposes by the most abject com- 
 pliance with your humours, they have so 
 formed and moulded you, that in your as- 
 semblies you are delicate, and attend but to 
 flattery and entertainment; in your affairs, 
 you find yourselves threatened with extre- 
 mity of danger. 
 
 And now, in the name of Heaven, suppose 
 that the states of Greece should thus de- 
 mand [1.] an account of those opportunities 
 which your indolence hath lost. ' Men of 
 Athens ! you are ever sending embassies to 
 us; you assure us that Philip is projecting 
 our ruin, and that of all the Greeks ; you 
 warn us to guard against this man's design. 
 (And it is too true, we have done thus.) 
 But, O most wretched of mankind ! when this 
 man had been ten months detained abroad ; 
 when sickness, and the severity of winter, and 
 the armies of his enemies, rendered it impos- 
 sible for him to return home ; you neither 
 restored the liberty of Eubcea, nor recovered 
 any of your own dominions. But while you 
 sit at home in perfect ease and health, (if such 
 a state may be called health,) Eubcea is 
 commanded by his two tyrants ; [2 ] the one, 
 just opposite to Attica, to keep you perpe- 
 tually in awe ; the other to Scyathus. Yet 
 you have not attempted to oppose even this. 
 No; you have submitted; you have been 
 insensible to your wrong". ; you have fully 
 declared, that if Philip were ten times to die, 
 it would not inspire you with the least degree 
 
 [1.] Suppose that the states of Greece 
 should thus demand, &c] After the taking 
 of Olynthus, when the Athenians were at 
 last prevailed upon to declare war in form 
 against Philip, they sent embassies to all 
 the states of Greece, to represent the danger 
 of his growing power, and to engage "them 
 to join against him. From hence the orator 
 takes occasion to introduce this beautiful 
 prosopopoeia, by which he throws out the 
 
 of vigour. Why then these embassies, these 
 accusations, all this unnecessary trouble, to 
 us ?' — If they should say this, what could 
 we allege ? vvhat answer could we give ? I 
 know not ! 
 
 We have those amongst us, who think a 
 speaker fully confuted by asking, What then 
 is to be done ? To whom I answer, with the 
 utmost truth and justness, Not what we are 
 
 now doing But I shall be more explicit, 
 
 if they will be as ready to follow, as to ask 
 ailvice. 
 
 First then, Athenians ! be firmly convinced 
 of these truths : That Philip does commit 
 hostilities against us, and has violated the 
 peace, (and let us no longer accuse each other 
 of his crimes ;) — that he is the implacable 
 enemy of this whole city, of the ground on 
 which the city stands, of every inhabitant 
 within these walls ; even of those who 
 imagine themselves highest in his favour. If 
 they doubt this, let them think of Euthy- 
 crates and Lasthenes, the Olynthians. They 
 who seemed the nearest to his heart, the 
 moment they betrayed their country, were 
 distinguished only by the superior cruelty of 
 their death. But it is against our constitu- 
 tion that his arms are principally directed ; 
 nor, in all his schemes, in all his actions, 
 hath he any thing so immediately in view, as 
 to subvert it. And there is in some sort a ne- 
 cessity for this. He knows full well, that his 
 conquests, however great and extensive, can 
 never be secure, while you continue free ; 
 but that if once he meets with any accident, 
 (and every man is subject to many,) all 
 those whom he hath forced into his service 
 will instantly revolt, and fly to you for pro- 
 tection. For you are not naturally disposed 
 to grasp at empire yourselves ; but to frus- 
 trate the ambitious attempts of others ; to 
 be ever ready to oppose usurpation and 
 assert the liberty of mankind ; this is your 
 peculiar character. And therefore it is not 
 without regret that he sees, in your freedom, 
 a spy upon the incidents of his fortune. 
 Nor is this his I easoning weak Oi trivial. 
 
 In the first place, therefore, we are to con- 
 sider him as the enemy of our state, the im- 
 placable enemy of our free constitution. No- 
 thing but the deepest sense of this can give 
 you a true, vigorous, and active spirit. In 
 the next place, be assured, that every 
 thing he is now labouring, every thing he is 
 concerting", he is concerting against our 
 city ; and that wherever any man opposes 
 him, ho opposes an attempt against these 
 walls. For none of you can be weak enough 
 to imagine that Philip's desires are centred 
 in those paltry villages of Thrace (for what 
 name else can one give to Drongilus, and 
 
 bitterest reproaches against his countrymen, 
 so artfully, as not to give them offence, and 
 yet at the same time sets the shamefulncss 
 of their misconduct in the strongest light. 
 Tourreil. 
 
 [2.] By his two tyrants.] Philistides and 
 Clitarchus; the one fixed at Eretria, opposite 
 to Attica ; the other at Oreum, over against 
 Scyathus, an island subject to Athens.
 
 40 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. VII 
 
 Cabyle, and Mastira, [1.] and all those 
 places he is now reducing to his obedience ?) 
 that he endures the severity of toils and sea- 
 sons, and braves the utmost dangers, for 
 these; and has no designs upon the ports 
 and the arsenals, and the navies, and the 
 silver-mines, and all the other revenues of 
 Athens ; but that he will leave them for 
 you to enjoy ; while, for some wretched 
 hoards of grain in the cells of Thrace, he 
 takes up his winter quarters in the horrors of 
 a dungeon ? [2.] Impossible ! No ; these and 
 all his expeditions are really intended to 
 facilitate the conquest of Athens. 
 
 Let us then approve ourselves men of 
 wisdom; and, fully persuaded of these 
 truths, let us shake off our extravagant and 
 dangerous supineness. Let us supply the 
 necessary expenses; let us call upon our 
 allies ; let us take all possible measures for 
 keeping up a regular army : so tnat, as he 
 hath his force constantly prepared to injure 
 and enslave the Greeks, yours too may be ever 
 ready to protect and assist them. If you 
 depend upon occasional detachments, you 
 cannot ever expect the least degree of suc- 
 cess : you must keep an army constantly on 
 foot, provide for its maintenance, appoint 
 public treasurers, and by all possible means 
 secure your military funds : and while these 
 officers account for all disbursements, let 
 your generals be bound to answer for the 
 conduct of the war. Let these be your mea- 
 sures, these your resolutions, and you will 
 compel Philip to live in the real observance 
 of an equitable peace, and to confine himself 
 to his own kingdom, (which is most for our 
 interest, ) or we shall fight him on equal terms. 
 
 If any man thinks that the measures I 
 propose will require great expense, and be 
 attended with much toil and trouble, he 
 thinks justly. Yet, let him consider what 
 consequences must attend the state, if these 
 measures be neglected; and it will appear, 
 that we shall really be gainers, by engaging 
 heartily in this cause. Suppose some god 
 should be our surety, (for no mortal ought to 
 be relied on in an affair of such moment,) 
 that if wt continue quiet, and give up all 
 our interests, he will not at last turn his arms 
 against us ; it would yet be shameful ; it would 
 (I call all the powers of heaven to witness !) 
 be unworthy of you, unworthy the dignity 
 of your country, and the gloiy of your an- 
 cestors, to abandon the rest of Greece to 
 slavery, for the sake of private ease. I, for 
 my part, would die, rather than propose so 
 mean a conduct : however, if there be any 
 other person who will recommend it, be it so ; 
 neglect your defence ; give up your interests ! 
 But if there be no such counsellor; if, on 
 
 [1.] For what name else can one give to 
 Drongilus, and Cabyle, and Mastira, ic] 
 Drongilus and Cabyle, however the orator 
 affects' to treat them with contempt, are yet 
 mentioned in history. As to Mastira, it is 
 entirely unknown : hence Harpocration sug- 
 gested, that instead of Mastira we should 
 read Bastira, a town of Thrace of that name, 
 having been mentioned in the history of 
 Philip, written by Anaximenes, a work long 
 
 the contrary, we all foresee, that the farther 
 this man is suffered to extend his conquests, 
 the more formidable and powerful enemy 
 we must find in him ; why this reluctance ? 
 why do we delay i or when, my country, 
 men ! will we perform our duty ! Must some 
 necessity compel us ? What one may call the 
 necessity of freemen, not only presses us 
 now, but hath long since been felt : that of 
 slaves, it is to be wished, may never approach 
 us. And how do these differ ? to a freeman, 
 the disgrace of past misconduct is the most 
 urgent necessity ; to a slave, stripes and 
 bodily pains. Far be this from us ! It ought 
 not to be mentioned ! 
 
 I would now gladly lay before you tne 
 whole conduct of certain politicians ; but I 
 spare them. One thing only I shall observe : 
 The moment that Philip is mentioned, 
 there is still one ready to start up, and cry, 
 ' What a happiness to live in peace ! how 
 grievous the maintenance of a great army ! 
 certain persons have designs upon our trea- 
 sury !' Thus they delay your resolutions, 
 and give him full liberty to act as he pleases . 
 hence you gain ease and indulgence for the 
 present (which I fear may, at some time, 
 prove too dear a purchase;) and these men 
 recommend themselves to your favour, and 
 are well paid for their service. But in 
 my opinion there is no need to persuade 
 vou to peace, who sit down already tho- 
 roughly persuaded. Let it be recom- 
 mended to him who is committing hos- 
 tilities : if he can be prevailed on, you 
 are ready to concur. Nor should we think 
 those expenses grievous which our security 
 requires ; but the consequences which must 
 arise, if such expenses be denied. Then as 
 to plundering our treasury, this must be 
 prevented by intrusting it to proper guar- 
 dians, not by neglecting our affairs. For 
 my own part, Athenians ! I am filled with 
 indignation, when I find some persons ex- 
 pressing their impatience, as if our treasures 
 were exposed to plunderers ; and yet utterly 
 unaffected at the progress of Phinp, who is 
 successively plundering every state of Greece ; 
 and this, that he may at last fall with all his 
 fury upon you. 
 
 What then can be the reason, Athenians ! 
 that, notwithstanding all his manifest hos- 
 tilities, all his acts of violence, all the places 
 he hath taken from us, these men will not 
 acknowledge that he hath acted unjustly, 
 and that he is at war with us; but accuse 
 those of embroiling you in a war, who 
 call upon you to oppose him, and to check 
 his progress ? 1 shall tell you. That popular 
 resentment which may arise from any dis- 
 agreeable circumstances whh which a war 
 
 time lost. Tourre.il. 
 
 [2.] In the horrors of a dungeon.] In the 
 original it is, in a Barathrum. There was a 
 ditch or cavern in Athens of that name, into 
 whicn criminals were precipitated. So that 
 by this figure he not only represents the 
 dreadful and deadly nature of the country, 
 but at the same time sets Philip in the light 
 of a wicked wretch, who merited the vilest 
 and most ignominious fate. Tourreil.
 
 on.vr. vii.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES* ORATIONS. 
 
 41 
 
 may be attended, (and it is necessary, abso- 
 lutely necessary, that a war should be at- 
 tended with many such disagreeable circum- 
 stances,) they would cast upon your faithful 
 counsellors, that you may pass sentence 
 upon them, instead of opposing Philip ; 
 and they turn accusers, instead of meeting 
 the punishment due to their present prac- 
 tices. This is the meaning of their clamours, 
 that certain persons would involve you in a 
 war : hence have they raised all these cavils 
 and debates. I know full well, that before 
 any Athenian had ever moved you to declare 
 war against him, Philip had seized many of 
 our dominions : and hath now sent assistance 
 to the Cardians. If you are resolved to dis- 
 semble your sense of his hostilities, he would 
 be the weakest of mankind if he attempted 
 to contradict you. But suppose he marches 
 directly against us, what shall we say in that 
 case ? He will still assure us, that he is not 
 at war : such were his professions to the 
 people of Oreum, when his forces were in 
 the heart of their country ; and to those of 
 Pheras until the moment that he attacked 
 their walls; and thus he at first amused the 
 Olynthians, until he had marched his army 
 into their territory. And will you still insist, 
 even in such a case, that they who call upon 
 us to defend our country are embroiling us 
 in a war ? Then slavery is inevitable. There 
 is no other medium between an obstinate 
 refusal to take arms, on your part, and a 
 determined resolution to attack us, on the 
 part of our enemy. 
 
 Nor is the danger which threatens us the 
 same with that of other people. It is not 
 the conquest of Athens which Philip aims 
 at : no, it is our utter extirpation. He 
 knows full well, that slavery is a state you 
 would not, or, if you were inclined, you 
 could not sub mit to ; for sovereignty is be- 
 come habitua ) to you. Nor is he ignorant, 
 that, at any unfavourable juncture, you have 
 more power to obstruct his enterprises, than 
 the whole world besides. 
 
 Let us then be assured, that we are con- 
 tending for the very being of our state ; let 
 this inspire us with abhorrence of those who 
 have sold themselves to this man ; and let 
 them feel the severity of public justice : for 
 it is inot, it is not possible to conquer our 
 foreign enemy, until we have punished those 
 traitors who are serving him within our 
 walls. Else, while we strike on these, as so 
 many obstacles, our enemies must necessarily 
 prove superior to us — And whence is it that 
 the dares treat you with insolence, (I cannot 
 give his present conduct any other name,) 
 that he utters menaces against you, while 
 
 [1.] And even our ally Cersobleptes.] The 
 late treaty of peace, between Philip and 
 the Athenians, was concluded without giving 
 Cersobleptes (then in alliance with Athens) 
 an opportunity of acceding to it : nor was 
 any provision made by it for his security 
 and protection. By this means Philip found 
 himself at liberty to turn his arms against 
 him : and a few years after drove him from 
 his kingdom, and obliged him to become his 
 tributary. 
 
 on others he confers acts of kindness? (to 
 deceive them at least, if for no other pur- 
 pose!) Thus, by heaping favours on the 
 Thessalians, he hath reduced them to their 
 present slavery. It is not possible to recount 
 the various artifices bv which he abused the 
 wretched Olynthians, from his first insidious 
 gift of Potidasa. But now he seduced the 
 Thebans to his party, by making them mas- 
 ters of Boeotia, and easing them of a great 
 and grievous war. And thus, by being gra- 
 tified in some favourite point, these people 
 are either involved in calamities known to 
 the whole world, or wait with submission for 
 the moment when such calamities are to fall 
 upon them. 1 do not recount all that you 
 yourselves have lost, Athenians ! but in the 
 very conclusion of the peace, how have you 
 been deceived ? how have you been des- 
 poiled ? Was not Phocis, was not Thermo- 
 pylae, were not our Thracian dominions, 
 Doriscum, Serrium, and even our ally Cer- 
 sobleptes, [1.] all wrested from us? Is he 
 not at this time in possession of Cardia ? and 
 does he not avow it ? Whence is it, I say, 
 that he treats you in so singular a manner? 
 Because ours is the only state where there is 
 allowed full liberty to plead the cause of an 
 enemy ; and the man who sells his country 
 may harangue securely, at the very time that 
 you are despoiled of your dominions. It was 
 not safe to speak for Philip at Olynthus, 
 until the people of Olynthus had been gained 
 by the surrender of Potidaea. In Thessaly, 
 it was not safe to speak for Philip, until the 
 Thessalians had been gained by the expul- 
 sion of the tyrants, and the recovery of their 
 rank of Amphictyons; nor could it have 
 been safely attempted at Thebes, before he 
 had restored Bceotia, and extirpated the 
 Phocians. But at Athens, although he hath 
 robbed us of Amphipolis, and the territory 
 of Cardia ; though he awes us with his for- 
 tifications in Euboea ; though he he now 
 upon his march to Byzantium ; [2.] yet his 
 partisans may speak for Philip without any 
 danger. Hence some of them, from the 
 meanest poverty, have on a sudden risen to 
 affluence ; some, from obscurity and dis- 
 grace, to eminence and honour : while you, 
 on the contrary, from glory have sunk into 
 meanness ; from riches, to poverty : for the 
 riches of a state I take to be its allies, its 
 credit, its connexions ; in all which you are 
 poor. And by your neglect of these, by your 
 utter insensibility to your wrongs, he is be- 
 come fortunate and great, the terror of 
 Greeks and Barbarians ; and you abandoned 
 and despised : splendid indeed is the abun- 
 dance [3.] of your markets ; but as to any 
 
 [2.] To Byzantium.] See the introduction 
 to the following oration. 
 
 [3.] Splendid indeed is the abundance, 
 &c] They who opposed Philip's interest in 
 the Athenian assembly, were ever urging the 
 fallen condition of their country, and the 
 dishonour of suffering another power to 
 wrest that pre-eminence from her which had 
 been enjoyed for ages. The speakers on the 
 other side affected to despise the power of 
 Philip, or insisted on the sincerity and up-
 
 42 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. VII. 
 
 real provision for your security, ridiculously 
 deficient. 
 
 There are some orators, I find, who view 
 your interests and their own in a quite dif- 
 ferent light. They would persuade you to 
 continue quiet, whatever injuries are ottered 
 to you : they themselves cannot be quiet, 
 though no one otters them the least injury. 
 When one of these men rises, I am sure to 
 hear, ' What ! will you not propose your 
 decree ? will you not venture ? No ; you 
 are timid, you want true spirit.' — I own, 
 indeed, I am not, nor would I choose to 
 be, a bold, an importunate, an audacious 
 speaker. And yet, if I mistake not, I have 
 more real courage than they who manage 
 your affairs with this rash hardiness. For 
 he who, neglecting the public interests, is 
 engaged only in trials, in confiscations, in 
 rewarding, in accusing, doth not act from 
 any principle of courage ; but, as he never 
 speaks but to gain your favour, never pro- 
 poses measures that are attended with the 
 least hazard: in this he has a pledge of his 
 security, and therefore he is daring. But he 
 who, for his country's good, oftentimes op- 
 poses your inclinations ; who gives the most 
 salutary, though not always the most agree- 
 able counsel; who pursues those measures 
 whose success depends more on fortune than 
 on prudence, and is yet willing to be ac- 
 countable for the event ; this is the man of 
 courage, this is the true patriot ; not they 
 who, by flattering your passions, have lost 
 the most important interests of the state : 
 men whom I am so far from imitating, or 
 deeming citizens of worth, that should this 
 question be proposed to me, ' What services 
 have you done your country?' although I 
 might recount the galleys I have fitted out, 
 and the public entertainments I have exhi- 
 bited, [l.]and the contributions I have paid, 
 and the captives I have ransomed, [•?.] and 
 many like acts of benevolence, I would yet 
 pass them all by, and only say, that my 
 public conduct hath ever been directly op- 
 posite to theirs. I might, like them, have 
 turned accuser, have distributed rewards 
 and punishments : but this is a part I never 
 assumed : my inclinations were averse ; nor 
 could wealth or honours prompt me to it. 
 No; I confine myself to such counsels as 
 have sunk my reputation ; but, if pursued, 
 must raise the reputation of my country. 
 
 Tightness of his intentions. But now, when 
 the danger became too apparent, and his 
 designs too flagrant to be dissembled, it ap- 
 pears that they had recourse to other argu- 
 ments. They endeavoured to confine the 
 views of the Athenians to what passed within 
 their own walls ; displayed the advantages 
 of their trade, the flourishing state of their 
 commerce ; and perhaps recommended it 
 as their true policy, to attend only to these, 
 without making themselves a party in the 
 quarrels of others, or loading the state with 
 the expense of maintaining wars to support 
 the power and interest of foreigners. 
 
 [1.] The public entertainments I have ex- 
 hibited.] In the original it is, the offices of 
 Choregus tliat 1 have discharged. Each of 
 
 Thus much I may be allowed to say, with- 
 out exposing myself to envy. — I should not 
 have thought myself a good citizen, had 1 
 proposed such measures as would have made 
 me the first among my countrymen, but re- 
 duced you to the last of states: on the 
 contrary, the faithful minister should raise 
 the glory of his country ; and upon all oc- 
 casions, advise the most salutary, not the 
 easiest, measures. To these, nature itself 
 inclines ; those are not to be promoted, but 
 by the utmost efforts of a wise and faithful 
 counsellor. 
 
 I have heard it objected, * that indeed I 
 ever speak with reason; yet still this is no 
 more than words, that the state requires 
 something more effectual, some vigorous 
 actions.' Upon which I shall give my sen- 
 timents without the least reserve. The sole 
 business of a speaker is, in my opinion, to 
 propose the course you are to pursue. This 
 were easy to be proved. You know, that 
 when the great Timotheus moved you to 
 defend the Euboeans, against the tyranny of 
 Thebes, he addressed you thus : ' What, my 
 countrymen ! when the Thebans are actually 
 in the island, are you deliberatinf' what is 
 to be done ? what part to be taken ? Will 
 you not cover the seas with your navies ? 
 Why are you not at the Pira-us ? why are 
 you not embarked?' — Thus Timotheus ad- 
 vised ; thus you acted ; and success ensued. 
 But had he spoken with the same spirit, 
 and had your indolence prevailed, and his 
 advice been rejected, would the state have 
 had the same success ? By no means. And 
 so in the present case, vigour and execution 
 is your part; from your speakers you are 
 only to expect wisdom and integrity. 
 
 I shall just give the summary of my 
 opinion, and then descend. You should 
 raise supplies, you should keep up your 
 present forces, and reform whatever abuses 
 may be found in them , (not break them en- 
 tirely upon the first complaint.) You should 
 send ambassadors into all parts, to reform, 
 to remonstrate, to exert all their efforts in 
 the service of their state. But, above all 
 things, let those corrupt ministers feel the 
 severest punishment ; let them, at all times, 
 and in all places, be the objects of your ab- 
 horrence ; that wise and faithful counsellors 
 may appear to have consulted their own 
 interest as well as that of others. — If you 
 
 the ten tribes of Athens had their bands of 
 musicians to perform in the feasts of Bac- 
 chus, together with a poet, to compose the 
 hymns and other pieces ; and these bands 
 contended for a prize. The feasts were ex- 
 hibited with great magnificence; and in order 
 to defray the charges, they appointed the 
 richest citizen out of each tribe (or some- 
 times he ottered himself) to exhibit them at 
 his own cost. He was called the Choregus ; 
 and if his band gained the prize, his name 
 was inscribed, together with those of the 
 tribe and the poet, upon the vase ; which 
 was the reward of the conquerors. Tour- 
 teiL 
 
 [2.] The captives I have ransomed.] See 
 the preface to the Oration on the Peace.
 
 oiiat. vih.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 43 
 
 will act thus, if you will shake off this in- 
 dolence, perhaps, even yet perhaps, we may 
 promise ourselves some good fortune. But 
 if you only just exert yourselves in accla- 
 mations and applauses, and when any thing 
 
 is to be done, sink again into your supine- 
 ness, I do not see how all the wisdom in the 
 world can save the state from ruin, when 
 you deny your assistance. 
 
 THE TENTH ORATION AGAINST PHILIP : 
 Commonly called the Third. 
 
 PRONOUNCED tN THE SAME YEAR. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The former oration had its effect. For, 
 instead of punishing Diopithes, the Athe- 
 nians supplied him with money, in order to 
 put him in a condition of continuing his ex- 
 peditions. In the mean time, Philip pursued 
 his Thracian conquests, and made himself 
 master of several places, which, though of 
 little importance in themselves, yet opened 
 him a way to the cities of the Propontis, 
 and above all to Byzantium, which he had 
 always intended to annex to his dominions. 
 He had at first tried the way of negotiation, 
 in order to gain the Byzantines into the 
 number of his allies; but this proving in- 
 effectual, he resolved to proceed in another 
 manner. He had a party in the city, at 
 whose head was the orator Python, that en- 
 gaged to deliver him up one of the gates ; 
 but while he was on his march towards the 
 city, the conspiracy was discovered, which 
 immediately determined him to take another 
 route. His sudden counter-march, intended 
 to conceal the crime of Python, really served 
 to confirm it. He was brourht to trial; but 
 the credit and the present of Philip pre- 
 vailed to save him. 
 
 The efforts of the Athenians to support 
 their interests in Eubcea, and the power 
 which Philip had acquired there, and which 
 every day increased, had entirely destroyed 
 the tranquillity of this island. The people 
 of Oreum, divided by the Athenian and 
 Macedonian factions, were on the point of 
 breaking out into a civil war; when, under 
 pretence of restoring their peace, Philip sent 
 them a body of a thousand forces, under the 
 command of Hipponicus ; which soon deter- 
 mined the superiority to his side. Philistides, 
 a tyrant, who had grown old in factions and 
 public contests, was intrusted with the go- 
 vernment of Oreum, which he administered 
 with all possible severity and cruelty to those 
 in the Athenian interest; while the other 
 states of the island were also subjected to 
 other Macedonian governors. Callias, the 
 Chalcidian, whose inconstancy had made 
 him espouse the interests of Athens, of 
 Thebes, and Macedon, successively, now re- 
 turned to his engagements with Athens. He 
 ent deputies thither to desire assistance, and 
 to prevail on the Athenians to make some 
 vigorous attempt to regain their power in 
 Euboea. 
 In the mean time, the king of Persia, 
 
 [1.] Aliens and- slaves.] The Athenians 
 pi:pied themselves upon being the most in- 
 
 alarmed by the accounts of Philip's growing 
 power, made use of all the influence which 
 his gold could gain at Athens, to engage the 
 Athenians to act openly against an enemy 
 equally suspected by them both. This cir- 
 cumstance, perhaps, disposed them to give 
 the greater attention to the following oration. 
 
 PHILIPPIC THE THIRD. 
 
 Sosigenes Archon. — A. R. Philip. 19.— 
 Olympiad. 109. An. 3. 
 
 Though we have heard a great deal, Athe- 
 nians ! in almost every assembly, of those 
 acts of violence which Philip hath been com- 
 mitting, ever since his treaty, not against 
 ours only, but the other states of Greece • 
 though all (I am confident) are ready to ac- 
 knowledge, even they who fail in the per- 
 formance, that we should every one of us 
 exert our efforts, in council and in ac- 
 tion, to oppose and to chastise his insolence ; 
 yet to such circumstances are you reduced 
 by your supineness, that I fear (shocking as 
 it is to say, yet) that, had we all agreed to 
 propose, and you to embrace such measures, 
 as would most effectually ruin our affairs, 
 they could not have been more distressed 
 than at present. And to this, perhaps, a 
 variety or causes have conspired ; nor could 
 we have been thus affected by one or two. 
 But, upon a strict and just inquiry, you will 
 find it principally owing to those orators, who 
 study rather to gain your favour, than to 
 advance your interests. Some of whom (at- 
 tentive only to the means of establishing 
 their own reputation and power) never ex- 
 tend their thoughts beyond, the present mo- 
 ment, and therefore think that your views 
 are equally confined. Others, by their ac- 
 cusations and invectives against those at the 
 head of affairs, labour only to make the 
 state inflict severity upon itself; that, while 
 we are thus engaged, Philip may have full 
 power of speaking and of acting as he pleases. 
 Such are now the usual methods of our states- 
 men, and hence all our errors and disorders. 
 Let me entreat you, my countrymen, that 
 if I speak some truths with boldness, I may 
 not be exposed to your resentment. Con 
 sider this : on other occasions, you account 
 liberty of speech so general a privilege of 
 all within your walls, that aliens and slave's 
 [1.] are allowed to share it. So that many 
 
 dependent and most humane of all people 
 With them a stranger had liberty of speak. 
 
 F
 
 44 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [okat. viii. 
 
 domestics mav be found among you, speak- 
 ing their thoughts with 'ess reserve than 
 citizens in some other states. But from your 
 councils you have utterly banished it. And 
 the consequence is this : in your assemblies, 
 as you listen only to be pleased, you meet 
 with flattery and indulgence : in the circum- 
 stances of public affairs, you find yourselves 
 threatened with extremity of danger. If 
 you have still the same dispositions, I must 
 be silent : if you will attend to your true 
 interests, without expecting to be flattered, 
 I am ready to speak. For although our 
 affairs are wretchedly situated, though our 
 inactivity hath occasioned many losses, yet 
 by proper vigour and resolution you may 
 still repair them all. What I am now going 
 to advance may possibly appear incredible ; 
 yet it is a certain truth. The greatest of all 
 our past misfortunes is a circumstance the 
 most favourable to our future expectations. 
 And what is this ? That the present diffi- 
 culties are really owing to our utter disregard 
 of every thing which in any degree affected 
 our interests: for were we thus situated, 
 in spite of every effort which our duty 
 demanded, then we should regard our for- 
 tune as absolutely desperate. But now Philip 
 hath conquered ' your supineness and inac- 
 tivity : the state hehath not conquered. Nor 
 have you been defeated ; your force hath not 
 even "been exerted. 
 
 Were it generally acknowledged that Philip 
 was at war with the state, and had really 
 violated the peace, the only point to be con- 
 sidered would then be, how to oppose him 
 with the greatest ease and safety. But since 
 there are persons so strangely infatuated, 
 that although he be still extending his con- 
 quests, although he hath possessed himself 
 of a considerable part of our dominions, 
 although all mankind have suffered by his 
 injustice, they can yet hear it repeated in 
 this assemblv,' that it is some of us who are 
 embroiling the state in war. This sugges- 
 tion must first be guarded against; else there 
 is reason to apprehend, that the man who 
 moves you to oppose your adversary, may in- 
 cur the censure of being the author of the war. 
 
 And, first of all, I lay down this as certain: 
 if k were in our power to determine whether 
 we should be at peace or war ; if peace (that 
 I may begin with this) were wholly depen- 
 dent 'upon the option of the state, there is 
 no doubt but we should embrace it. And I 
 expect, that he who asserts it is, will, with- 
 out attempting to prevaricate, draw up his 
 decree in form, and propose it to your ac- 
 ceptance. But if the other party had drawn 
 the sword, and gathered his armies round 
 him ; if he amuse us with the name of peace, 
 while he really proceeds to all kinds of hos- 
 ing as he pleased, provided he let nothing 
 escape him against the government. So far 
 were thev from admitting him into their 
 public deliberations, that a citizen was not 
 permitted to touch on state affairs in the 
 presence of an alien. Their slaves enjoyed 
 a proportionable degree of indulgence. The 
 Saturnalia, when they were allowed to as- 
 sume the character of masters, was originally 
 an Athenian institution, and adopted at 
 
 tilities; what remains but to oppose him' 
 To make professions of peace, indeed, like 
 him ;— if this be agreeable to you, I acqui- 
 esce. But if anv man takes that for peace, 
 which is enabling him, after all his other 
 conquests, to lead his forces hither, his mind 
 must be disordered : at least, it is our con- 
 duct only towards him, not his towards us, 
 that must be called a peace. But this it is ft r 
 which all Philip's treasures are expended ; 
 that he should carry on the war against you, 
 but that you should make no war on him. 
 —Should "we continue thus inactive, till he 
 declares himself our enemy, we should be 
 the weakest of mortals. This he would not 
 do, although he were in the heart of Attica, 
 even at the Piraeus, if we may judge from 
 his behaviour to others. For it was not till 
 he came within a few miles [1.] of Olynthus 
 that he declared, that ' either the Olynthians 
 must quit their city, or he his kmgdom.' 
 Had he been accused of this at any time be- 
 fore, he would have resented it, and ambas- 
 sadors must have been despatched to justify 
 their master. In like manner, while he was 
 moving towards the Phocians, he still affec- 
 ted to regard them as allies and friends : nay, 
 there were actually ambassadors from Pho- 
 cis, who attended" him in his inarch; and 
 among us were many who insisted that tl.is 
 march portended no good to Thebes. Not 
 long since, when he went into Thessaly, with 
 all the appearance of amitv, he possessed 
 himself of Phera:. And it' is but now he 
 told the wretched people of Oreum, that he 
 had, in all affection, sent some forces to in- 
 spect their affairs : for that he heard they 
 laboured under disorders and seditions ; and 
 that true friends and allies should not be 
 absent upon such occasions. And can you 
 imagine, that he who chose to make use 
 of artifice rather than open force, against 
 enemies by no means able to distress him, 
 who at most could but have defended them- 
 selves against him ; that he will openly pro- 
 claim his hostile designs against you ; and 
 this when you yourselves obstinately shut 
 your eves against them ? Impossible ! He 
 would be the absurdest of mankind, if, while 
 his outrages pass unnoticed, while you are 
 wholly engaged in accusing some among 
 yourselves, and endeavouring to bring them 
 to a trial, he should put an end to your 
 private contests, warn you to direct all your 
 zeal against him, and so deprive his pen- 
 sioners of their most specious pretence for 
 suspending vour resolutions, that of his not 
 being at war with the state. Heavens ! is 
 there anv man of a right mind who would 
 judge of peace or war by words, and not 
 by actions ? Surelv, no man. To examine 
 then the actions of Philip — When the peace 
 
 Rome by Numa. At Sparta and Thessaly, 
 on the contrary, slaves were treated with 
 such severitv, as obliged them frequently to 
 revolt. Trie humanity of Athens had its 
 reward ; for their slaves did them consider- 
 able service on several occasions ; at Mara- 
 thi hi, in the war of Egina, and at Arginusa;. 
 T'litrreil, 
 
 [1.] A few miles, &c] In the original, 
 ' forty stadia,' about five miles.
 
 ORAT.vm.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 45 
 
 was just concluded, before ever Diopithes 
 had received his commission, or those in the 
 Chersonesus had been sent out, be possessed 
 himself of Serrium and Doriscum, and 
 obliged the forces our general had stationed 
 in the citadel of Serrium and the Sacred 
 Mount, to evacuate these places. From 
 these proceedings, what are we to judge of 
 him ? The peace he had ratified by the most 
 solemn oaths — And let it not be asked, [1.] 
 of what moment is all this? or how is the 
 t.tate affected by it ? Whether these things 
 be of no moment, or whether we are affected 
 by them or no, is a question of another 
 nature. Let the instance of violation be 
 great or small, the sacred obligation of faith 
 and justice is, in all instances, the same. 
 
 But farther : when he sends his forces into 
 the Chersonesus, which the King, which 
 every state of Greece acknowledged to be 
 ours ; when he confessedly assists our ene- 
 mies, and braves us with such letters, what 
 are his intentions ? for they say, he is not at 
 war with us. For my own part, so far am I 
 from acknowledging such conduct to be con- 
 sistent with his treaty, that I declare, that 
 by his attack of the Megareans, by his at- 
 tempts upon the liberty of Eubcea, by his 
 late incursion into Thrace, by his practices 
 in Peloponnesus, and by his constant re- 
 course to the power of arms, in all his trans- 
 actions, he has violated the treaty, and is at 
 war with you ; unless you will affirm, that 
 he who prepares to invest a city is still at 
 peace until the walls be actually assaulted. 
 You cannot, surely, affirm it ! He whoBe 
 designs, whose whole conduct, tends to re- 
 duce me to subjection, that man is at war 
 with me, though not a blow hath yet been 
 given, not one weapon drawn. And if any 
 accident should happen, to what dangers 
 must you be exposed ! The Hellespont will 
 be no longer yours ; your enemy will become 
 master of Megara and Eubcea : the Pelopon- 
 nesians will be gained over to his interest. 
 And shall I say, that the man who is thus 
 raising his engines, and preparing to storm 
 the city, that he is at peace with you ? No : 
 from that day in which Phocis fell beneath 
 his arms, I date his hostilities against you. 
 If you will instantly oppose him, 1 pro- 
 nounce you wise ; if you delay, it will not 
 be in your power when you are inclined. 
 And so far, Athenians ! do I differ from 
 some other speakers, that I think it now no 
 time to debate about the Chersonesus or 
 Byzantium ; but that we should immediately 
 send reinforcements, and guard these places 
 from all accidents, supply the generals sta- 
 tioned there with every thing they stand in 
 
 [1.] Let it not be asked, dec] The parti- 
 sans of Philip affected to speak with con- 
 tempt of these places. To deny the right of 
 Athens to them was dangerous and unpo- 
 pular ; they therefore endeavoured to repre- 
 sent them as beneath the public regard. 
 
 [2.] Seventy-three years.] See a note en 
 Olynth. II. p. 20. 
 
 [3.] Twenty-nine years.] That is, from 
 the destruction of Athens by Lysander, in 
 the last year of the 03d Olympiad, to the 
 
 need of, and extend our care to all the 
 Greeks, now in the greatest and most im- 
 minent danger. Let me intreat your atten- 
 tion, while I explain the reasons which in- 
 duce me to be apprehensive of this danger ; 
 that if they are just, you may adopt them, 
 and be provident of your own interests at 
 least, if those of others do not" affect you : 
 or if they appear frivolous and impertinent, 
 you may now, and ever hereafter, neglect 
 me as a man of an unsound mind. 
 
 That Philip, from a mean and inconsider- 
 able origin, hath advanced to greatness ; 
 that suspicion and faction divide ail the 
 Greeks ; that it is more to be admired that 
 he should become so powerful from what he 
 was, than that now, after such accessions of 
 strength, he should accomplish all his am- 
 bitious schemes: these, and other like points 
 which might be dwelt upon, 1 choose to pass 
 over. But there is one concession, which, 
 by the influence of your example, all men 
 have made to him, which hath heretofore 
 been the cause of all the Grecian wars. And 
 what is this ? an absolute power to act as he 
 pleases, thus to harass and plunder every 
 state of Greece successively, to invade and 
 to enslave their cities. You held the sove- 
 reignty of Greece seventy-three year-s : [2.] 
 the Lacedemonians commanded for the. 
 space of twenty-nine years : [3.] and in these 
 latter times, after the battle of Leuctra, the 
 Thebans were in some degree of eminence. 
 Yet neither to you, nor to the Thebans, 
 nor to the Lacedemonians, did the Greeks 
 ever grant this uncontrolled power : far 
 from it. On the contrary, when you, or 
 rather the Athenians of that age, seemed 
 to treat some persons not with due modera- 
 tion, it was universally resolved to take up 
 arms ; even they who had no private com- 
 plaints espoused the cause of the injured. 
 And when the Lacedemonians succeeded to 
 your power, the moment that they at- 
 tempted to enlarge their sway, and to make 
 such changes in affairs as betrayed their 
 ambitious designs, they were opposed by all, 
 even by those who were not immediately 
 affected by their conduct. But why do I 
 speak of others ? we ourselves and the Lace- 
 demonians, though from the first we could 
 allege no injuries against each other, yet, to 
 redress the injured, thought ourselves bound 
 to draw the sword. And all the faults of 
 the Lacedemonians in their thirty years, and 
 of our ancestors in their seventy years, do 
 not amount to the outrages which Philip 
 hath committed against the Greeks, within 
 less than thirteen years of power ; [4.] or, 
 rather, do not all make up the smallest 
 
 first war in which the Athenians, when re- 
 established by Conon, engaged against Spar- 
 ta, to free themselves and the other Greeks 
 from the Spartan yoke, in the last year of 
 the 101 ith Olympiad. Tourreil. 
 
 [4.] Thirteen years of power.] Philip had 
 now reigned nineteen years. But being at 
 first engaged in wars with his neighbours, 
 he did not begin to make any considerable 
 figure in Greece until the eighth year of his 
 reign, when, after the taking of Methone,
 
 4G 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. Lorat. viii. 
 
 part of them. This I shall easily prove in 
 a few words. 
 
 01ynthu6, and Methone, and Apollonia, 
 and the two-and-thirty cities of Thrace, I 
 pass all over ; every one of which felt such 
 severe effects of. his cruelty, that an observer 
 could not easily determine whether any of 
 them had ever been inhabited or no. The 
 destruction of the Phocians, a people so con- 
 siderable, shall also pass unnoticed. But 
 think on the condition of the Thessalians. 
 Hath he not subverted their states and cities ? 
 — hath he not established his tetrarchs over 
 them ; that not only single towns, but whole 
 countries, [1.] might pay him vassalage ? — 
 are not the states of Eubcea in the hands of 
 tyrants, and this in an island bordering on 
 Thebes and Athens ? — are not these the ex- 
 press words of his letters, ' they who are 
 willing to obey me may expect peace from 
 me ?' And he not only writes, but confirms 
 his menaces by actions. He marches direct- 
 ly to the Hellespont ; but just before he 
 attacked Ambracia; Elis, [2.] one of the 
 chief cities of Peloponnesus, is in his pos- 
 session ; not long since, he entertained de- 
 signs against Megara. All Greece, all the 
 barbarian world, is too narrow for this man's 
 ambition. And though we Greeks see and 
 hear all this, we send no embassies to each 
 other, we express no resentment : but into 
 such wretchedness are we sunk, (blocked up 
 within our several cities,) that even to this 
 day we have not been able to perform the 
 least part of that, which our interest or our 
 duty demanded ; to engage in any associa- 
 tions, or to form any confederacies ; but 
 look with unconcern upon this man's grow- 
 ing power, each fondly imagining, (as far as 
 I can judge,) that the time in which another 
 is destroyed is gained to him, without ever 
 consulting or acting for the cause of Greece ; 
 although no man can be ignorant, that, like 
 the regular periodic return of a fever, or 
 other disorder, he is coming upon those 
 who think themselves most remote from 
 danger. 
 
 You are also sensible, that whatever in- 
 juries the Greeks suffered by theLacedemo- 
 
 he expelled the tyrants of Thessaly, and 
 cut off the Phocian army commanded by 
 Onomarchus. From this period, Demos- 
 thenes begins his computation. Tourreil. 
 
 [1.] Whole countries, &c] The word 
 in the original signifies, a number of differ- 
 ent people dependent on one principal state 
 or city. 
 
 [2.] Elis, &c] He made himself master 
 of this place by treaty, not by force of arms. 
 Elis entered into the league of the Amphic- 
 tyons, by which Philip was acknowledged 
 as their chief : and maintained its freedom 
 till after the death of Alexander. Tourreil. 
 
 [3.] The Pithian games, &c.J To this 
 honour he was admitted by being made an 
 Amphictyon, and declared head of the sacred 
 league. By ' his slaves,' we are to under- 
 stand no more than his subjects ; for those 
 republicans affected to speak thus of the 
 subjects of every king or tyrant. Tourreil 
 and Olivet. 
 
 nians, or by us, they suffered by the true 
 sons of Greece. And one may consider it 
 in this light. Suppose a lawful heir, born 
 to an affluence of fortune, should, in some 
 instances, be guilty of misconduct ; he in- 
 deed lies open to thejustest censure and re- 
 proach ; yet it cannot be said, that he hath 
 lavished a fortune to which he had no claim, 
 no right of inheritance. But should aslave, 
 should a pretended son, waste those posses- 
 sions which really belonged to others, how 
 much more heinous would it be thought ! 
 how much more worthy of resentment ! 
 And shall not Philip and his actions raise 
 the like indignation ? he, who is not only no 
 Grc-ek, no way allied to Greece, but sprung 
 from a part of the barbarian world unwor- 
 thy to be named ; a vile Macedonian ! where 
 formerly we could not find a slave fit to pur- 
 chase ! And hath his insolence known any 
 bounds ? Besides the destruction of cities, 
 doth he not appoint the Pithian games, [3.] 
 the common entertainment of Greece; and, 
 if absent himself, send his slaves to preside ? 
 Is he not master of Thermopylae ? Are not 
 the passes into Greece possessed by his 
 guards and mercenaries ? Hath he rot as- 
 sumed the honours of the temple, [4.] in 
 opposition to our claim, to that of the Thes- 
 salians, that of the Doreans, and of the other 
 Amphictyons ; honours, to which even the 
 Greeks do not pretend ? Doth he not pre- 
 scribe to the Thessalians, how they shall be 
 governed ? Doth he not send out his forces, 
 some to Pothmus, to expel the Eretrian 
 colony : some to Oreum, to make Philis- 
 tides tyrant ? And yet the Greeks see all this 
 without the least impatience. Just as at the 
 fall of hail ; every one prays it may not 
 alight on his ground, but no one attempts 
 to fend himself against it : so they not only 
 suffer the general wrongs of Greece to pass 
 unpunished, but carry their insensibility to 
 the utmost, and are not roused even by their 
 private wrongs. Hath he not attacked Am- 
 bracia and Leucas, cities of the Corinthians ? 
 Hath he not wrested Naupactus from the 
 Achseans, [5.] and engaged by oath to deli- 
 ver it to the yEtolians ? Hath he not robbed 
 
 [4.] The honours of the temple, &c] 
 ripo/jai'Teioi', the right of precedency in 
 consulting the oracle of Delphos. This the 
 Phocians had enjoyed, as being in possession 
 of the temple : and Philip was invested with 
 it, as well as their other privileges. It was 
 thought of considerable consequence by the 
 Greeks, as appears from the first article of 
 a peace made between the Athenians and 
 the allies of Lacedemon. See Thucyd. B. 
 5. Tourreil. 
 
 [5.] Wrested Naupactus from the Acha?- 
 ans, &c] Naupactus was not a city of the 
 Acha?ans, but of the Locri Ozote. Possibly 
 Demosthenes speaks with the liberty of an 
 orator, and founds his assertion on some 
 alliance which Naupactus might have had 
 with the Achaeans against the ^Etolians, its 
 inveterate enemies. This city, thus deli- 
 vered up, remained ever after under the 
 jurisdiction of jEtolia, and is mentioned by 
 ' Livy and Polybius as the principal city of
 
 orat. viji.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 47 
 
 the Thebans of Echinus? [1.] Is he not 
 un his march against the Byzantines ? [2. J 
 And are they not our allies ? I shall only 
 add, that Cardia, the chief city of theCher- 
 sonesus, is in his possession. Yet these 
 things do not affect us : we are all languid 
 and irresolute: we watch the motions of 
 those about us, and regard each other with 
 suspicious eyes ; and this, when we are all 
 so manifestly injured. And if he behaves 
 with such insolence towards the general 
 body, to what extravagances, think ye, will 
 he proceed when master of each particular 
 state? 
 
 And now, what is the cause of all this ? 
 (for there must be some cause, some good 
 reason to be assigned, why the Greeks were 
 once so jealous of their liberty, and are 
 now ready to submit to slavery.) It is 
 this, Athenians ! Formerly, men's minds 
 were animated with that which they now feel 
 no longer, which conquered all the opulence 
 of Persia, maintained the freedom of Greece, 
 and triumphed over the powers of sea and 
 land : but now that it is lost, universal ruin 
 and confusion overspread the face of Greece. 
 What is this ? Nothing subtle or mysteri- 
 ous : nothing more than a unanimous ab- 
 horrence of all those who accepted bribes 
 from princes, prompted by the ambition of 
 subduing, or the bare intent of corrupting, 
 Greece. To be guilty of such practices was 
 accounted a crime of the blackest kind ; a 
 crime which called for all the severity of pub- 
 lic justice : no petitioning for mercy, no par- 
 don was allowed. So that neither orator nor 
 general could sell those favourable conjunc- 
 tures, with which fortune oftentimes assists 
 the supine against the vigilant, and renders 
 men, utterly regardless of their interests, 
 superior to those who exert their utmost 
 efforts.: nor were mutual confidence among 
 ourselves, distrust of tyrants and barba- 
 rians, and such like noble principles, subject 
 to the power of gold. But now are all these 
 exposed to sale, as in a public mart ; and, 
 in exchange, such things have been intro- 
 duced, as have affected the safety, the very 
 vitals, of Greece. What are these ? Envy, 
 when a man hath received a bribe ; laugh- 
 that country. Tourreil. 
 
 £1.] Echinus.] There were two places of 
 this name : the one in Acarnania ; the 
 other, which is here spoken of, founded by 
 the Thebans on the Maliac Gulf. Tourreil. 
 
 [2.] Against the Byzantines?] He had 
 threatened them already, but had not as yet 
 executed his threats : for we learn from his- 
 tory, that Philip, having for a considerable 
 time besieged Perinthus, raised the seige, in 
 order to march to that of Byzantium. If 
 the siege of Perinthus had preceded this 
 oration, Demosthenes could not have for- 
 gotten so memorable an expedition, in re- 
 counting the enterprises of Philip. Probably 
 this prince made a feint of marching to 
 Byzantium, in order to conceal his designs 
 against Perinthus. Tourreil. 
 
 In the introduction to this oration, the 
 reader has another account of Philip's first 
 march against Byzantium. 
 
 ter, if he confess it ; pardon, if he be con- 
 victed ; resentment at his being accused ; 
 and all the other appendages of corruption. 
 For as to naval power, troops.revenues, and 
 all kinds of preparations, every thing that 
 is esteemed the strength of a state, we are 
 now much better, and more amply provided, 
 than formerly : but they have lost all their 
 force, all their efficacy, all their value, by 
 means of these traffickers. 
 
 That such is our present state, you your- 
 selves are witnesses, and need not any testi- 
 mony from me. That our state, in former 
 times, was quite opposite to this, I shall now 
 convince you, not by any arguments of mine, 
 but by a decree of your ancestors, which 
 they inscribed upon a brazen column erected 
 in the citadel ; not with a view to their own 
 advantage, (they needed no such memorials 
 to inspire them with just sentiments;) but 
 that it might descend to you, as an example 
 of the great attention due to such affairs. 
 Hear then the inscription : ' Let Arthmius 
 [3.] of Zelia, the son of Pythonax, be ac- 
 counted infamous, and an enemy to the 
 Athenians and their allies, both he and all 
 his race.' Then comes the reason of his 
 sentence : ' Because he brought gold from 
 Media into Peloponnesus.' — Not to Athens. 
 This is the decree. And now, in the name 
 of all the gods, reflect on this ! think what 
 wisdom, what dignity, appeared in this ac- 
 tion of our ancestors ! one Arthmius of 
 Zelia, a slave of the King's, (for Zelia is a 
 city of Asia,) in obedience to his master, 
 brings gold, not into Athens, but Pelopon- 
 nesus. This man they declare an enemy to 
 them and their confederates, and that he and 
 his posterity shall be infamous. Nor was 
 this merely a mark of ignominy ; for how did 
 it concern this Zelite whether he was to be 
 received into the community of Athens or 
 no ? The sentence imported something 
 more: for, in the laws relating to capital 
 cases, it is enacted, that ' when the legal 
 punishment of a man's crime cannot be in- 
 flicted, he may be put to death.' And it was 
 accounted meritorious to kill him. * Let 
 not the infamous man,' saith the law, ' be 
 permitted to live.' Intimating, that he is 
 
 [3.] Let Arthmius, &c] This, in a few 
 words, was the occasion of publishing this 
 terrible decree against Arthmius, of which 
 Themistocles was the author. Egypt had 
 thrown oft' the yoke of Artaxerxes Longi- 
 manus. A formidable army marched to 
 reduce the rebels ; but failed of success, as 
 Athens had provided for their defence. 
 The resentment of Artaxerxes then turned 
 against the Athenians. He sent Megabyzus, 
 and other secret agents, into Peloponnesus, 
 to raise up enemies against them by the 
 force of bribery ; and to blow up the flame 
 of resentment and jealousy in Sparta, which 
 was ever ready to break out. But the at- 
 tempt was ineffectual. Arthmius probably 
 was one of the king of Persia's agents in 
 this affair; and Diodorus, who does not 
 name him, includes him however in the 
 general appellation of ' the emissaries ot 
 Artaxerxes.' Tourreil. 
 f2
 
 48 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. viii. 
 
 free from guilt who executes this sentence. 
 Our fathers, therefore, thought themselves 
 bound to extend their care to all Greece: 
 else they must have looked with unconcern 
 at the introduction of bribery into Pelopon- 
 nesus. But we find they proceeded to such 
 severity against all they could detect in it, 
 ns to raise monuments of their crimes. 
 Hence it was (and no wonder) that the 
 Greeks were a terror to the Barbarians, not 
 the Barbarians to the Greeks. But now it 
 is not so : for you do not shew the same 
 spirit, upon such or upon any other oc- 
 casions. How then do you behave ? you 
 need not be informed. Why should the 
 whole censure fall on you ? the conduct of 
 the rest of Greece is no less blamable. It is 
 my opinion, therefore, that the present state 
 of things demands the utmost care, and 
 most salutary counsel. What counsel ? Shall 
 I propose it ? and will ye not be offended ? 
 — Read this memorial. 
 [Here the secretary reads. And the speaker 
 
 resumes his discourse*] 
 And here I must take notice of one weak 
 argument made use of, to inspire us with 
 confidence: That Philip is not yet so power- 
 ful as the Lacedemonians once were, who 
 commanded by sea and land, were strength- 
 ened by the alliance of the King, [1.] were 
 absolute and uncontrolled ; and yet we made 
 a brave stand against them ; nor was all their 
 force able to crush our state. In answer to 
 
 [1.] Were strengthened by the alliance of 
 the King.] After the expedition into Sicily, 
 an expedition as unfortunate as it was im- 
 prudent, the Athenians might still have 
 supported themselves, if the king of Persia 
 had not concurred to precipitate their ruin. 
 Tissaphernes, the satrap of Darius Nothus, 
 conducted the first alliance between his 
 master and the Lacedemonians. This al- 
 liance had at that time no very great effect. 
 But when Cyrus the younger was sent, by 
 order of his father, to command in Asia 
 Minor, Lysander gained the affection of this 
 young prince, who soon made him able to 
 give law to Athens. It is this period which 
 Demosthenes points out. Tourreil. 
 
 [2.] I should say the national spirit, &c] 
 Circumstances peculiar to any people, sin- 
 gular customs, particular relations, and the 
 like, give rise to words and phrases, inca- 
 pable of being precisely rendtred into any 
 other language. And such 1 take to be the 
 word no\ninw?. Every particular state of 
 Greece was a member of a larger political 
 body, that of the nation, in which all the 
 several communities were united by national 
 laws, national customs, and a national re- 
 ligion. This I have explained at large, on 
 another occasion. (See Prelim. Dissert, to 
 the Life of Philip.) The word jroXix'KWi 
 therefore, I understand as expressive of that 
 duty which each state owed to the Helenic 
 Body, which prescribed bounds and laws to 
 their wars, and forbade their passions, con- 
 tests, and animosities against each other, to 
 break out into any excesses which might af- 
 fect the welfare, of the nation. They were 
 to fight not as inveterate foes, but compe- 
 
 this, I shall observe, that, amidst all the 
 alterations and improvements which have 
 happened in affairs of every kind, nothing 
 hath been more improved than the art of 
 war : for, in the first place, I am informed, 
 that at that time the Lacedemonians, and 
 all the other Greeks, used to keep the field 
 four or five months, just the convenient 
 season ; and having so long continued their 
 invasion, and infested the territories of their 
 enemy with their heavy-armed and domestic 
 forces, they retired into their own country. 
 Then, such was the simplicity, I should say 
 the national spirit [2.] of that age, that the 
 power of gold was never called to their assist- 
 ance : but all their wars were fair and open. 
 Nov/, on the contrary, we see most defeats 
 owing to treachery ; no formal engagements, 
 nothing left to the decision of arms. For 
 you find the rapid progress of Philip is not 
 owing to the force of regular troops, but 
 to armies composed of light horse and foreign 
 archers. With these he pours down upon 
 some people, already engaged by civil dis- 
 cord and commotions : and when none will 
 venture out in defence of their state, on ac- 
 count of their private suspicions, he brings 
 up his engines, and attacks their walls. Not 
 to mention his absolute indifference to heat 
 and cold, and that there is no peculiar season 
 which he gives to pleasure. Let these things 
 sink deep into all our minds : let us not suffer 
 his arms to approach these territories : let us 
 
 titors for power and honour. To recur to 
 bribery in order to defeat their antagonists, 
 was to be guilty of corrupting the morals, of 
 what, in an extensive sense, may be called 
 their country. In like manner, the word 
 ' civilis,' in Latin, is used in a sense some- 
 what analogous to this, as denoting the re- 
 gard which every citizen should pay to the 
 rights of others, in opposition to despotism, 
 pride, imperiousness, and all those passions 
 which are enemies to liberty and the general 
 good. Thus we find in Tacitus, 'Juveni 
 civile ingenium, mira comitas. Ann. 1. Silen- 
 tium ejus non civile, ut crediderat, sed in 
 superbiam accipiebatur.' Ann. G. And of 
 Tiberius, the historian says, ' Liberatus 
 metu, civilem se admoduminter initia, ac 
 paulo minus quam privatum egit.' I have 
 observed, in a note on the exordium of the 
 Second Philippic, that a regard to the in- 
 terest of Greece was generally the most ex- 
 tensive affection in the minds of its inhabit- 
 ants. And that the extensive social affections 
 were denoted by the Greek word no\nik>i. , 
 we learn from Cicero. Let the following 
 quotation, from the fifth book of his treatise 
 (ie Finibus, suffice on this occasion : ' Cum 
 sic hominis natura generata sit, ut habcat 
 quiddam innatum quasi civile et populare 
 quod Graxi noXtrtKov vocant, quicquid 
 aget quseque virtus, id a communitate, ct 
 ea quam exposui charitate, atque societate 
 humana, non abhorrebit.' The authority of 
 a writer, who devoted so much of his at- 
 tention to the moral and political learning 
 of the Greeks, and took so much pains to 
 explain it to his countrymen, may surely be 
 deemed decisive.
 
 orat. vni.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 49 
 
 not proudly [1.] depend on our strength, 
 by forming our judgments from the old 
 Lacedemonian war: but let us attend, with 
 all possible precaution, to our interests and 
 our armaments: and let this be our point ill 
 view ; to confine him to his own kingdom ; 
 not to engage him upon erjual terms in the 
 field. For, if you be satisfied with com- 
 mitting hostilities, their nature hath given 
 you many advantages [2.] (let us but do our 
 part.) The situation of his kingdom, for 
 instance, exposes it to all the fury of an 
 enemy ; not to speak of many other circum- 
 stances. But if we once come to a regular 
 engagement, there his experience must give 
 him the superiority. 
 
 But these are not the only points that re- 
 quire your attention : nor are you to oppose 
 him only by the arts of war. It is also ne- 
 cessary that reason and penetration should 
 inspire you with an abhorrence of those who 
 vilead his cause before you : ever bearing in 
 mind the absolute impossibility of conquer- 
 ing our foreign enemy, until we have pu- 
 nished those who are serving him within our 
 walls. But this, I call the powers of heaven 
 to witness, ye cannot, ye will not do ! No: 
 such is your infatuation, or madness, or — — 
 I know not what to call it, (for I am often- 
 times tempted to believe, that some power, 
 more than human, is driving us to ruin,) 
 that through malice, or envy, or a spirit of 
 ridicule, or some like motive, you command 
 hirelings to speak, (some of whom dare not 
 deny that they are hirelings,) and make their 
 calumnies serve your mirth. Yet, shocking 
 as this is, there is something still more 
 hocking : these men are allowed to direct 
 he public aflairs with greater security than 
 
 your faithful counsellors And now observe 
 
 the dreadful consequences of listening to 
 
 such wretches I shall mention facts well 
 
 known to vou all. 
 
 In Olynthus, the administration of aflairs 
 was divided between two parties. The one, 
 in the interest of Philip, entirely devoted to 
 him ; the other, inspired by true patriotism, 
 directed all their efforts to preserve the free- 
 dom of their country. To which of those 
 are we to charge the ruin of the state ? 
 or who betrayed the troops, and by that 
 treachery destroyed Olynthus? — The crea- 
 tures of Philip. Yet while their city stood, 
 these men pursued the advocates for li- 
 berty with such malicious accusations and 
 invectives, that an assembly of the people 
 was persuaded even to banish Apollomdes. 
 
 But this is not the only instance. The 
 same custom hath produced the same cala- 
 mities in other places. In Eretria, at the 
 departure of Plutarchus and the foreign 
 troops, when the people had possession of 
 the city and of Porthmus, some were in- 
 clined to seek our protection, some to sub- 
 mit to Philip. But being influenced by this 
 latter party, on most, or, rather, all occa- 
 
 [1.] Let us not proudly, &c] In the 
 original feKTpax>l^i"'(>>ii<ai, which, besides 
 the signification which Wolfius assigns it. is 
 frequently rendered ' insolescere, superbire.' 
 
 [2.] Many advantages.] Although the 
 
 sions, the poor unfortnate Eretrians were 
 at length persuaded to banish their faithful 
 counsellors. And the consequence was this : 
 Philip, their confederate and friend, de- 
 tached a thousand mercenaries under the 
 command of Ilipponicus, raised the fortifi- 
 cations of Porthmus, set three tyrants over 
 them, Hipparchus, Automedon, and Clitar- 
 chus ; and after that, when they discovered 
 some inclination to shake oft' the yoke, drove 
 them twice out of their territory ; once by 
 the forces commanded by Eurylochus ; and 
 again, by those under Parmemo. 
 
 To give but one instance more. In Oreum, 
 Philistides was the agent of Philip ; as were 
 Menippus and Socrates, and Thoas, and 
 Agapa'iis, the present masters of that city. 
 And this was universally known. But 
 there was one Euphraus, a man for some 
 time resident at Athens, who stood up 
 against captivity and slavery. Much might 
 be said of the injurious and contemptuous 
 treatment which he received from the peo- 
 ple of Oreum, upon other occasions. But 
 the year before the taking of the city, as he 
 saw through the traitorous designs of Phi- 
 listides and his accomplices, he brought a 
 formal impeachment against them. Imme- 
 diately, considerable numbers form them- 
 selves into a faction, (directed and supported 
 by Philip,) and hurry away Euphraus to 
 prison, as a disturber of the public peace. 
 The people of Oreum were witnesses of this ; 
 but, instead of defending him, and bringing 
 his enemies to condign punishment, shewed 
 no resentment towards them ; but approved, 
 and triumphed in his sufferings. And now 
 the faction, possessed of all the power they 
 wished for, laid their schemes for the ruin of 
 the city, and were carrying them into exe- 
 cution. Among the people, if any man 
 perceived this, he was silent; struck with 
 the remembrance of Euphrasus and his suf- 
 ferings. And to such dejection were they 
 reduced, that no one dared to express the 
 least apprehension of the approaching dan- 
 ger, until the enemy drew up before their 
 walls, and prepared for an assault. Then 
 some defended, others betrayed, their state. 
 When the city had thus been shamefully 
 and basely lost, the faction began to exer- 
 cise the most tyrannic power, having, either 
 by banishment or death, removed all those 
 who had deserted their own cause, and that 
 of Euphrseus ; and were still ready for any 
 noble enterprise. Euphrams himself put an 
 end to his own life : and thus gave proof, 
 that, in his opposition to Philip, he had 
 been actuated by a just and pure regard to 
 the interest of his country. 
 
 And now what could be the reason (you 
 may possibly ask with surprise) that the 
 people of Olynthus, and those of Eretria, 
 and those of Oreum, all attended with great- 
 er pleasure to the advocates of Philip than 
 to their own friends? 1'he same reason 
 
 Athenians had lost Amphipolis, Pydna, and 
 Potidaea, thev werp still in possession of 
 Thassus, Lemnos, and the adjacent islands, 
 from whence they might readily have at- 
 tempted a descent on Maccdon. TourreiL
 
 50 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. viii. 
 
 which prevails here. Because they, who 
 are engaged on the part of truth and justice, 
 can never, even if they were inclined, ad- 
 vance any thing to recommend themselves 
 to favour ; their whole concern is for the 
 welfare of the state. The others need but 
 to soothe and flatter, in order to second the 
 designs of Philip. The one press for sup- 
 plies ; the others insist that they are not 
 wanted : the one call their countrymen to 
 battle, and alarm them with apprehensions 
 of danger ; the others are ever recommend- 
 ing peace, until the toils come too near to 
 be escaped. And thus, on all occasions, 
 one set of men speak but to insinuate them- 
 selves into the affections of their fellow- 
 citizens ; the other to preserve them from 
 ruin : till, at last, the interests of the state 
 are given up; not corruptly or ignorantly, 
 but from a desperate purpose of yielding to 
 the fate of a constitution thought to be irre- 
 coverably lost. And, by the powers of hea- 
 ven! I dread, that this may prove your 
 case; when you find that reflection cannot 
 serve you ! And when I turn my eyes to 
 the men who have reduced vou to this, it is 
 not terror [1.] that 1 feel ; it is the utmost 
 detestation. For, whether they act through 
 design or ignorance, the distress to which 
 they are reducing us is manifest. But far be 
 this distress from us, Athenians ! It were 
 better to die ten thousand deaths, than to 
 be guilty of a servile complaisance to Philip, 
 and to abandon any of your faithful coun- 
 sellors ! The people of Oreum have now 
 met a noble return for their confidence in 
 Philip's creatures, and their violence to- 
 wards Euphraeus. The Eretrians are nobly 
 rewarded for driving out our ambassadors, 
 and committing their affairs to Clitarchus. 
 Captivity, and stripes, and racks, are their 
 reward. Great was his indulgence to the 
 Olynthians, for choosing Lasthenes their 
 general, and banishing Apollonides. It 
 were folly and baseness to be amused with 
 such false hopes as theirs, when neither our 
 counsels direct us, nor our inclinations 
 prompt us, to the pursuit of our true in- 
 terests ; and to suffer those who speak 
 for our enemies to persuade us that the 
 state is too powerful to be affected by 
 any accident whatever. It is shameful to 
 cry out, when some event hath surprised 
 us, 'Heavens! who could have expected 
 this ? We should have acted thus and 
 thus; and avoided these and these er- 
 rors.' There are many things the Olyn- 
 thians can now mention, which, if foreseen 
 in time, would have prevented their de- 
 struction. The people of Oreum can men- 
 tion manv : those of Phocis many : every 
 state that'hath been destroyed can mention 
 man- such things. But what doth it avail 
 them now ? While the vessel is safe, whe- 
 
 II.] It is not terror, &c] The word in the 
 original signifies the most abject fear and 
 dismay; and the whole passage seems to 
 have a particular reference or allusion. Pos- 
 sibly some of Philip's partisans might have 
 accused Demosthenes of being thus affected 
 at their sight; while they magnified their 
 
 ther it be great or small, the mariner, the 
 pilot, every person should exert himself in 
 his particular station, and preserve it from 
 being wrecked, either by villany or unskil- 
 fulness. But when the sea hath once bro- 
 ken in, all care is vain. And therefore, 
 Athenians ! while we are yet safe, possessed 
 of a powerful city, favoured with many re- 
 sources, our reputation illustrious What 
 
 are we to do ? (perhaps some have sat with 
 impatience to ask.)— I shall now give my 
 opinion, and propose it in form; that, if 
 approved, your voices may confirm it. 
 
 Having, in the first place, provided for 
 your defence, fitted out your navy, raised 
 your supplies, and arrayed your forces, (for al- 
 though all other people should submit to sla- 
 very, you should still contend for freedom ;) 
 having made such a provision, (1 say,) and 
 this in the sight of Greece, then wearetocall 
 others to their duty ; and, for this purpose, 
 to send ambassadors into all parts, to Pelo- 
 ponnesus, to Rhodes, to Chios, and even to 
 the KING, (for he is by no means uncon- 
 cerned in opposing the rapidity of this man's 
 progress.) If ye prevail, ye will have sha- 
 rers in the dangers and expense which may 
 arise ; at least you may gain some respite : 
 and as we are engaged against a single per- 
 son, and not the united powers of a com- 
 monwealth, this may be of advantage ; as 
 were those embassies of last year into Pelo- 
 ponnesus, and those remonstrances which 
 were made in several places by me, and Po- 
 lydatus, that true patriot, and Hegesippus, 
 and Clitomachus, and Lycurgus, and the 
 other ministers ; which checked his progress, 
 prevented his attack of Ambracia, and se- 
 cured Peloponnesus from an invasion. 
 
 I do not mean that we should endeavour 
 to raise that spirit abroad, which we our- 
 selves are unwilling to assume. It would 
 be absurd to neglect our own interests, and 
 yet pretend a regard to the common cause ; 
 or, while we are insensible to present dan- 
 gers, to think of alarming others with ap- 
 prehensions of futurity. No: let us pro- 
 vide the forces hi the Cnersonesus with mo- 
 ney, and every thing else that they de- 
 sire. Let us begin with vigour on our "part : 
 then call upon the other Greeks; convene, 
 instruct, exhort them. Thus it becomes a 
 state of such dignity as ours. If you think 
 the protection of Greece may be intrusted to 
 the Chalcidians and Megaraeans, and so 
 desert its cause, you do not think justly. It 
 will be well if they can protect themselves. 
 No: this is your province; this is that pre- 
 rogative transmitted from your ancestors, 
 the reward of all their many, and glorious, 
 and great dangers. If every man sits down 
 in ease and indulgence, and studies only to 
 avoid trouble, he will certainly find no one 
 to supply his place; and I am also appre- 
 
 own integrity and resolution, their true 
 discernment, and patriotic zeal for the in- 
 terest of their country : and possibly might 
 have called out for severe punishment on 
 the man who dared to utter the most bitter 
 invectives against a i owerful prince in alli- 
 ance with Athens.
 
 ORAT. IX] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES ORATIONS. 
 
 51 
 
 hensive, that we may be forced into all that 
 trouble to which we are so averse. Were 
 there persons to act in our stead, our in- 
 activity would have long since discovered 
 them : but there are really none. 
 
 You have now heard my sentiments. You 
 have heard the measures "I propose, and by 
 
 which I apprehend our affairs may be yet 
 
 retrieved. If any man can offer some mine 
 salutary course, let him arise, and declare 
 his opinion. And whatever be your reso- 
 lution, the gods grant that we may feel its 
 good effects. 
 
 THE ELEVENTH ORATION AGAINST PHILIP: 
 
 Commonly called the Fourth. 
 
 PRONOUNCED 
 
 IN THE ARCHONSHIP OF NICOMACH US, THE YIAR AFTER THE 
 FORMER ORATION. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Soon after the preceding oration, the 
 Athenian succours arrived at Euboca. De- 
 mosthenes had proposed the decree for 
 them ; and the command was given to Pho- 
 clon, whom the Athenians gladly employed 
 on all extraordinary emergencies, and who 
 was always ready to serve them, at the 
 same time that he highly condemned their 
 conduct. 
 
 Demosthenes attended Phocion, not in a 
 military character, but to endeavour to gain 
 over the people of Eubcea to the Athenian 
 interest ; in which he had some success : 
 while the general, on his part, acted with so 
 much conduct and resolution, that the 
 Macedonians were forced to abandon the 
 island; and the Eubceans entered into a 
 treaty of alliance with Athens. 
 
 In the mean time Philip marched along 
 the Hellespont, to support his fleet then in 
 view, and to prevent Diopithes from cutting 
 off his provisions. When he had crossed the 
 Isthmus of the Chersonesus, he returned, 
 and by a forced march arrived with the 
 choice "of his army at Cardia ; where he sur- 
 prised Diopithes, and defeated him in an 
 action in which that general fell. This he 
 affected to consider, not as an open breach of 
 his treaty, but only, as the consequence of 
 the protection he had granted to the Gar- 
 dians, and an act of particular revenge he 
 had determined to take on Diopithes. 
 
 Philip then joined his army, and encamp- 
 ed before Perinthus, a place considerable 
 by its commerce and situation, ever firm to 
 the Athenians, and consequently dreadful 
 and dangerous to Philip. The Perinthians 
 defended themselves with a courage almost 
 incredible, and which, it appeared, could 
 not be abated by danger or fatigue. Philip, 
 on his part, pressed them by all the methods 
 of assault ; and after many vigorous efforts 
 on each side, when the city was just on the 
 point of being taken by assault, or of being 
 
 [1.] We shall find in this oration many 
 things which occur in those that are prece- 
 dent ; and as it is on the same subject, al- 
 ready exhausted by so many orations, it was 
 in some sort necessary for the orator to make 
 u*e of repetitions. And it should seem, 
 that in such a case repetition is by no means a 
 fault, particularly as we may consider this 
 
 obliged to surrender at discretion, fortune 
 provided for it an unexpected succour. 
 
 The fame of Philip's arms having alarmed 
 the court of Persia, Ochus sent his letters 
 mandatory to the governors of the maritime 
 provinces, directing them to supply Perin- 
 thus with all things in their power ; in con- 
 sequence of which they filled it with troops 
 and provisions. While the Byzantines, justly 
 conceiving their own turn would be next, 
 sent into the city the flower of their youth, 
 with all other necessaries for an obstinate 
 defence. 
 
 The Perinthians, thus reinforced, resumed 
 their former ardour. And as all they suffered 
 was on account of Athens, they despatched 
 ambassadors thither, to demand the speedy 
 and effectual assistance of that state. On 
 this occasion Demosthenes pronounced the 
 following oration. 
 
 PHILIPPIC THE FOURTH. [1.] 
 
 Nicomachus, Archon. — A. R. Philip. 20. — 
 Olympiad. 109. An. 4. 
 
 As I am persuaded, Athenians' that you 
 are now convened about affairs of greatest 
 moment, such as affect the very being of 
 the state, I shall endeavour to speak to 
 them in the manner most agreeable to your 
 interests. 
 
 There are faults of no late origin, and 
 gradually increased to no inconsiderable 
 number, which have conspired to involve us 
 in the present difficulties. But, of all these, 
 what at this time most distresses us is this : 
 that your minds are quite alienated from 
 public affairs; that your attention is en- 
 gaged just while you are assembled, and 
 some new event related ; then each man 
 departs, and, far from being influenced by 
 what he hath heard, he does not even re- 
 member it. 
 
 The insolence and outrage with which 
 
 as a recapitulation of all the others; and 
 may in effect call it the ' peroration of the 
 Philippics.' In which the orator resumes 
 the arguments he had already made use of; 
 but, in resuming them, gives them new 
 | force, as well by the manner in which they 
 are disposed, as by the many additions with 
 which thev are heightened. ' Tourreil.
 
 52 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. IX. 
 
 Philip treats all mankind, are really as great 
 as you hear them represented. That it is 
 not possible to set bounds to these, by the 
 force of speeches and debates, no one can be 
 ignorant ; for if other arguments cannot 
 convince, let this be weighed: whenever we 
 have had occasion to plead in defence of our 
 rights, we have never failed of success, we 
 have never incurred the censure of injustice ; 
 but all places and all persons must acknow- 
 ledge that our arguments are irresistible. 
 Is he then distressed by this ? and are our 
 affairs advanced ? By no means ! For as 
 he proceeds to take up arms, leads out his 
 troops, and is ready to hazard his whole 
 empire in pursuit of his designs, while we 
 sit here, pleading, or attending to those who 
 plead the justness of our cause, the conse- 
 quence (and I think the natural consequence) 
 is this : actions prove superior to words ; 
 and men's regards are engaged, not by those 
 arguments which we have advanced, or may 
 now advance, how just soever, but by the 
 measures we pursue ; and these are by no 
 means fitted to protect any of the injured 
 states : to say more of them is unnecessary. 
 
 As, then, all Greece is now divided into 
 two parties; the one composed of those 
 who desire neither to exercise, nor to be 
 subject to arbitrary power, but to enjoy the 
 benefits of liberty, laws, and independence ; 
 the other, of those who, while they aim at 
 ail absolute command of their fellow-citizens, 
 are themselves the vassals of another person, 
 by whose means they hope to obtain their 
 purposes: his partisans, the affecters of ty- 
 ranny and despotism, are superior every 
 where. So that of all the popular constitu- 
 tions, I know not whether one be left firmly 
 established, except our own. And they who 
 in the several states have been raised by him 
 to the administration of affairs, have their 
 superiority secured by all the means which 
 can advance a cause. The first and prin- 
 cipal is this : When they would bribe those 
 who are capable of selling their integrity, 
 they have a person ever ready to supply 
 them. In the next place, (and it is of no less 
 moment,) at whatever season they desire it, 
 
 [1.] Like men reduced by some potion, 
 &c] In the original, ' like men who have 
 drank of mandragora ;' an herb ranked by 
 naturalists among those of a soporiferous 
 kind. It seems to have been a proverbial 
 phrase, to signify indolent and negligent 
 persons. Tourreil. 
 
 [2.] For the honour of commanding, 
 some about the place of conference.] In 
 all the confederate wars of the Greeks, that 
 state which was acknowledged the most 
 powerful had the honour of giving a com- 
 mander-in-chief, and of appointing the place 
 of general congress for concerting the ope- 
 rations. In the Persian war we find the 
 Lacedemonians and Athenians sometimes 
 contending for these points; which in ef- 
 fect was a dispute which of these states was 
 most respectable. 
 
 [3.] Phera?, the march to Ambracia, the 
 massacre of Elis.] An orator does not al- 
 ways pique himself on an exact adherence 
 
 theTe are forces at hand to overwhelm their 
 opposers: while we, Athenians! are not 
 only deficient in these particulars, but un- 
 able even to awaken from our indolence; 
 like men reduced by some potion [L] to a 
 lethargic state. In consequence of this, (for 
 1 hold it necessary to speak the truth,) we 
 are fallen into such contempt and infamy, 
 that, of the people immediately threatened 
 with danger, some contend with us for the 
 honour of commanding, some about the 
 place of conference ; [2.] while others deter- 
 mine rather to trust to their own strength 
 than to accept of your assistance. 
 
 And why am I thus particular in recount- 
 ing these things ? I call the gods to witness, 
 that I would not willingly incur your dis- 
 pleasure ; but I would have you know, and 
 see, that in public as well as in private af- 
 fairs, continued indolence and supineness, 
 though not immediately felt in every single 
 instance of omission, yet, in the end, must 
 affect the general welfare. You see this in 
 the instances of Serrium and Doriscum. 
 When the peace was made, we began with 
 neglecting these places. ' (Perhaps some of 
 you have never heard of them.) And these 
 places, thus abandoned and despised, lost 
 you Thrace and your ally Cersobleptes. 
 Again, when he saw that this did not rouse 
 you, and that you sent no assistance, he 
 razed Porthmus ; and to keep us in conti- 
 nual awe, erected a tyranny in Eubtea, over 
 against Attica. This was disregarded : and 
 his attempt upon Megara was well nigh suc- 
 cessful. Still ye were insensible, expressed 
 no impatience, no inclination to oppose him. 
 He purchased Antrona;; and soon after got 
 possession of Oreum. I pass over many 
 things ; Pheraj, the march to Ambracia, the 
 massacre of Elis, [3.] and thousands of the 
 like actions: for it is not my design to give 
 a detail of Philip's acts of outrage and in- 
 justice; but to convince you, that the pro- 
 perty and liberty of mankind will never be 
 secure from him, until he meets with some 
 effectual opposition. 
 
 There are persons who, before they heat 
 affairs debated, stop us with this question, 
 
 to history; but sometimes disguises facts, 
 or aggravates them, when it serves his pur- 
 pose. One would imagine that Philip had 
 committed some terrible outrages at Phera? ; 
 and yet he only restored the liberty of that 
 city, by expelling its tyrants. And as to 
 the massacre of Elis, it is not to be imputed 
 immediately to Philip. He had, indeed, 
 as chief of the allies in the sacred war, and 
 head of the Amphictyons, suggested the re- 
 solution of proscribing the Phocians, and 
 all the favourers of their impiety. Some 
 of these, who had fled into Crete with their 
 general Phalecus, joined with a body of 
 men who had been banished from Elis, 
 made an inroad into Peloponnesus, and at- 
 tempted an attack upon their countrymen ; 
 who, with the assistance of the Arcadians, 
 obliged this rebellious army to surrender at 
 discretion ; and, in obedience to the decree 
 of the Amphictyons, put it to the sword. 
 Tourreil,
 
 ORAT. IX.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 53 
 
 ' What is to be done ?' not that they may 
 do it, when informed, (for then they would 
 be the best citizens,) but to prevent the 
 trouble of attending. It is my part, how- 
 ever, to declare what we are now to do. 
 
 First, then, Athenians! be (irmly persuad- 
 ed of this : that Philip is committing hosti- 
 lities against us, and has really violated the 
 peace : that he has the most implacable en- 
 mity to this whole city; to the ground on 
 which this city stands ; to the very gods of 
 this city : (may their vengeance fall upon 
 him!) but against our constitution is his 
 force principally directed; the destruction 
 of this is, of all other things, the most im- 
 mediate object of his secret schemes and ma- 
 chinations. And there is, in some sort, a 
 necessity that it should be so. Consider ; 
 he aims at universal power ; and you he 
 regards as the only persons to dispute his 
 pretensions. He hath long injured you ; and 
 of this he himself is fully conscious ; for the 
 surest barriers of his other dominions are 
 those places which he hath taken from us: 
 so that if he should give up Amphipolis and 
 Potidasa, he would not think himself secure 
 in Macedon. He is then sensible, both 
 that he entertains designs against you, and 
 that you perceive them ; and, as lie thinks 
 highly of your wisdom, he judges that you 
 hold him in the abhorrence he deserves. "To 
 these things (and these of such importance) 
 add, that he is perfectly convinced, that al- 
 though he were master of all other places, 
 yet it is impossible for him to be secure, 
 while your popular government subsists : 
 but that if any accident should happen to 
 him, (and every man is subject to many,) all 
 those who now submit to force would seize 
 the opportunity, and fly to you for protec- 
 tion : for you are not naturally disposed to 
 grasp at power, or to usurp dominion ; but 
 to prevent usurpation, to wrest their unjust 
 acquisitions from the hands of others, to 
 curb the violence of ambition, and to pre- 
 serve the liberty of mankind, is vour pecu- 
 liar excellence. And therefore it is with 
 regret he sees, in that freedom you enioy, a 
 spy upon the incidents of his fortune: nor 
 is this his reasoning weak or trivial. First, 
 then, he is on this account to be regarded 
 as the implacable enemy of our free and po- 
 pular constitution. In the next place, we 
 should be fuliy persuaded that all those 
 things which now employ him, all that he 
 is now projecting, he is projecting against 
 this city. There can be none among you 
 weak enough to imagine, that the desires of 
 Philip are centred in those paltry villages [1.] 
 of Thrace ; (for what name else can we give 
 to Drongilus, and Cabyle, and Mastira, and 
 all those places now said to be in his posses- 
 sion ?) that he endures the severity of toils 
 and seasons, and exposes himself to the ut- 
 most dangers for these ; and has no designs 
 upon the ports, and the arsenals, and the 
 navies, and the silver-mines, and other re- 
 venues, and the situation, and the glory of 
 Athens, (which never may the conquest of 
 
 [1.] Those paltry villages, &c] See the 
 notes of the oration on the State of the 
 Chersonesus n. 40. 
 
 this citv give to him or any other !) but 
 will suffer us to enjoy these: while, for 
 those trifling hoards of grain he finds in the 
 cells of Thrace, he takes up his winter- 
 quarters in all the horrors of a dungeon. It 
 cannot be! Even in his march tjiither he 
 had these in view ; these are the chief ob- 
 jects of all his enterprises. 
 
 Thus must we all think of him. And let 
 us not oblige that man, who hath ever been 
 our most faithful counsellor, to propose 
 the war in form : that would be to seek a 
 pretence to avoid it, not to pursue the inte- 
 rest of our country. To yourselves I ap- 
 peal : if after the first, or the second, or the 
 third of Philip's infractions of his treaty, 
 (for there was a long succession of them",) 
 any man had moved you to declare hostili- 
 ties against him, and he had given the 
 same assistance to the Cardians, as now, 
 when no such motion came from any Athe- 
 nian, would not that man have been torn 
 to pieces ? would you not have cried out, 
 with one voice, that it was this which made 
 him ally to the Cardians ? Do not then seek 
 for some person whom you may hate for 
 Philip's faults, whom you may expose to 
 the fury of his hirelings. When your de- 
 cree for war hath once passed, let "there be 
 no dispute, whether it ought or ought not 
 to have been undertaken. Observe his 
 manner in attacking you : imitate it in your 
 opposition : supply those who are now op- 
 posing him with money, and whatever else 
 they want : raise your supplies ; prepare 
 your forces, galleys, horse, transports, and 
 all other necessaries of a war. At present 
 your conduct must expose you to derision. 
 Nay, I call the powers to witness, that 
 you are acting as if Philip's wishes were to 
 direct you. Opportunities escape you ; 
 your treasures are wasted; you shift the 
 weight of public business upon others ;. 
 break into passion ; criminate each other. — 
 I shall now shew whence these disorders 
 have proceeded, and point out the remedy. 
 
 You have never, Athenians ! made the 
 necessary dispositions in your affairs, or 
 armed yourselves in time, but have been 
 ever led by events. Then, when it proves 
 too late to act, you lay down your arms. 
 If another incident alarms you, your pre- 
 parations are resumed, and all is tumult 
 and confusion. But this is not the way. 
 It is impossible ever to secure the least suc- 
 cess by occasional detachments. No: you 
 must raise a regular army, provide for its 
 subsistence, appoint state-treasurers, and 
 guard the public money with the strictest 
 attention : oblige those treasurers to answer 
 for the sums expended, and your general 
 for his conduct in the field: and let this 
 general have no pretence [2.] to sail to any 
 other place, or engage in any other enter- 
 prise, than those prescribed. Let these be 
 your measures, these vour resolutions ; and 
 you will compel Philip to live in the real 
 observance of an equitable peace, and to 
 confine himself to his own territory, or you 
 
 [2.] Have no pretence, &c.l See note on 
 Phil. J. p. a
 
 54 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [OKAT. IX. 
 
 will engage him upon equal terms. And 
 perhaps, Athenians ! perhaps, as you now 
 sk, ' What is Philip doing ? whither is he 
 marching ?' so there may come a time when 
 he will be solicitous to know whither our 
 forces have directed their march, and where 
 they are to appear. 
 
 If it be objected, that these measures will 
 be attended with great expense, and many 
 toils and perplexities, I confess it. (It is 
 necessary, absolutely necessary, that a war 
 should be attended with many disagreeable 
 circumstances.) But let us consider what 
 consequences must attend the state, if we 
 refuse to take this course; and it will ap- 
 pear that we shall really be gainers by a 
 seasonable performance of our duty. Sup- 
 pose some god should be our surety, (for no 
 mortal could be depended on in an affair of 
 such moment,) that, although you arequite 
 inactive and insensible, yet he will not at 
 last lead his armies hither ; still it would be 
 ignominious, it would (I call every power 
 of Heaven to witness !) be beneath you, 
 beneath the dignity of your state, beneath 
 the glory of your ancestors, to abandon all 
 the rest of Greece to slavery, for the sake of 
 private ease. I, for my part, would rather 
 die, than propose such a conduct : if, how- 
 ever, there be any other person to recom- 
 mend it to you, be it so ; make no opposi- 
 tion ; abandon all affairs : but if there he 
 no one of this opinion ; if, on the contrary, 
 we all foresee, that the farther this man is 
 suffered to extend his conquests, the more 
 dangerous and powerful enemy we must 
 find in him ; why is our duty evaded ? why 
 do we delay ? or when will we be disposed 
 to exert ourselves, Athenians ? Must some 
 necessity press us ? What one may call the 
 necessity of freemen not only presseth us 
 now, but hath long since been felt ; that of 
 slaves, it is to be wished may never ap- 
 proach us. How do these differ ? To free- 
 men the most urgent necessity is dishonour; 
 a gTeater cannot, I think, be assigned : to 
 slaves, stripes and tortures. Far be this 
 from us ! It ought not to be mentioned ! 
 
 And now, the neglect of those things, to 
 which your lives and fortunes should be 
 devoted, it must be confessed is by no 
 means justifiable: far from it ! some pre- 
 tence, however, may be alleged in its ex- 
 cuse. But to refuse even to listen to those 
 things which demand your utmost atten- 
 tion, which are of the greatest moment to 
 be fully considered, this deserves the most 
 severe censure. And yet you never attend, 
 
 [1.] They whom the king regards, &c] 
 He probably means the Thebans, who had 
 given Ochus powerful assistance in the siege 
 of Pelusium ; and who were now much pro- 
 voked at Philip, on account of Echinus, 
 which he had taken from them. Tourreil. 
 
 [2.] The man who was, &c] As Philiji 
 seems to have already projected an expedi- 
 tion into Asia, he received with open arms 
 all the malcontents of Persia, and held se- 
 cret intelligence with the rebel satraps. 
 Hermias, the tyrant of Artana, a city of 
 aiysia, was of this number; and had been 
 
 but upon occasions like this, when the dan- 
 ger is actually present ; nor in time cf dis- 
 engagement, do you ever think of consult- 
 ing: but while he is preparing to distress 
 you, instead of making like preparations, 
 and providing for your defence, you are 
 sunk in inactivity : and if any one attempts 
 to rouse you, he feels your resentment. 
 But when advice is received that some place 
 is lost, or invested, then you attend, then 
 you prepare. The proper season for at- 
 tending and consulting, was then, when 
 you refused : now, when you are prevailed 
 upon to hear, you should be acting, and 
 applying your preparations. And by this 
 supineness is your conduct distinguished 
 from that of all other nations: they usually 
 deliberate before events: your consultations 
 
 follow them There is but one course 
 
 left, which should long since have been pur- 
 sued ; but still may be of service This I 
 
 shall lay before you. 
 
 There is nothing which the state is more 
 concerned to procure on this occasion than 
 money. And some very favourable oppor- 
 tunities present themselves, which, if wisely 
 improved, may possibly supply our demands. 
 In the first place, they whom the king re- 
 gards [1.] as his faithful and strenuous ad- 
 herents are the implacable enemies of Phi- 
 lip, and actually in arms against him. Then 
 the man who was [2. J Philip's assistant and 
 counsellor in all his designs against the 
 king, hath been lately seized, so that the 
 king will be informed of his practices, not 
 by our accusations, to which he might sup- 
 pose our private interest prompted us, but 
 by the very agent and conductor of them. 
 This will give weight to your assertions; 
 and there will be nothing left for your mi- 
 nisters to urge, but what the king will 
 gladly attend to : that we should unite to 
 chastise the man who hath injured us 
 equally : that Philip will be much more for- 
 midable to the king, if his first attack be 
 made on us : for that, if he should be per- 
 mitted to gain any advantage here, he will 
 then march against him free from all ap- 
 prehensions. For all these reasons, I think 
 you should send ambassadors to treat with 
 the king ; and lay aside those idle prejudices, 
 which have so often been injurious to your 
 interests ; ' that he is a barbarian, our com- 
 mon enemy, and the like.' For my own 
 part, when I find a man apprehending dan- 
 ger from a prince, whose residence is in 
 Susa and Ecbatana, and pronouncing him 
 the enemy of our state, who formerly rees- 
 
 in confidence with Philip. Mentor, the 
 Rhodian, general of the Persian army, 
 drew him to an interview by feigned pro- 
 mises, where he seized him, and sent him 
 in chains to Ochus. Instead of uvap7ra<rror, 
 some copies have uvaanacros, brought 
 back : in which case it must be understood 
 of Memnon or Artabazus, two rebellious sa- 
 traps, who had taken refuge in Philip's 
 court, but, by the mediation of Mentor, 
 were reconciled to the king of Persia. VI- 
 pian. Tourreil.
 
 OKAT. IX.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 tablished its power, [1.] and but now made 
 us [3J] such considerable offers, (if you re- 
 jected tliem, that was no fault of his,) and 
 yet speaking in another strain of one who is 
 at our gates, who is extending his conquests 
 in the very heart of Greece, the plunderer 
 of the Greeks, I am astonished : and re- 
 gard that man, whoever he is, as dangerous, 
 who doth not see danger in Philip. 
 
 There is another affair, wherein the pub- 
 lic hath been injured, which hath been at- 
 tacked most unjustly and indecently ; which 
 is the constant pretence of those who refuse 
 to perform their duty to the slate ; to which 
 you will find the blame of every omission, 
 which every man is guilty of, constantly 
 transferred. 1 cannot speak of it without 
 
 feat apprehensions. Vet I will speak : for 
 think I can serve my country, by advan- 
 
 fl.] Who formerly re-established its pow- 
 er.] That is, when Conon, by the assist- 
 ance of Artaxerxes Mnemon, beat the La- 
 cedemonian fleet at Cnidos, and restored 
 the liberty and splendour of his country. 
 
 [2.] And but now made us, &c] Artax- 
 erxes Ochus, in order to reduce Egypt, 
 which had revolted from him, solicited suc- 
 cours from the principal cities of Greece. 
 Argos and Thebes consented ; but from 
 Athens and Lacedemon he could obtain 
 only vain professions of friendship. He 
 had, without doubt, offered large advan- 
 tages to such people as would concur with 
 him. Demosthenes here insinuates an ac- 
 cusation of the imprudence of Athens, in 
 rejecting these offers. Tourreil. 
 
 [3. J Some things both in behalf of the 
 poor, &c] The theatrical distributions af- 
 forded a perpetual occasion of public con- 
 tests between the several orders of the state. 
 The poor were ever dissatisfied that the rich 
 citizens shared the largesses, which they con- 
 sidered as their own peculiar right : and the 
 rich beheld with impatience the dissipation 
 of the public funds, which threw the whole 
 weight of the supplies on them. But there 
 was still a greater cause of complaint. The 
 revenues of the state were always sufficient 
 to defray the immense expenses of feasts 
 and entertainments. And, in this case, some 
 factious leader, who was willing to gain po- 
 pularity, would propose to tax the rich ; or, 
 perhaps, by some infamous calumnies, would 
 raise a prosecution, which would bring in 
 a large pecuniary fine. The rich, it may be 
 imagined, were alarmed at such proceed- 
 ings : they inveighed loudly against the au- 
 thors of them, and sometimes ventured to 
 accuse them in form, and bring them to 
 trial. When their baseness and evil designs 
 were publickly exposed, the people were 
 ashamed to avow their intentions of sup- 
 porting such flagrant injustice. Their cla- 
 mours were loud against the person accused. 
 But as in all judicial processes they gave 
 their vote by ballot, they then had an op- 
 portunity of saving their friend. 
 
 All that the orator here says in defence 
 of the theatrical appointments, is expressed 
 with a caution and reserve quite opposite to 
 his usual openness and freedom ; and which 
 
 cine some things both in behalf of the poor 
 [3.] against the rich, and of the rich against 
 the necessitous; if we first banish those in- 
 vectives, unjustly thrown out against the 
 theatrical funds ; and those fears, that such 
 an appointment cannot subsist without some 
 dismal consequences; an appointment which, 
 above all others, may be most conducive 
 to our interests, and give the greatest strength 
 to the whole community. 
 
 Attend then, while I first plead for those 
 who are thought necessitous. There was a 
 time, not long since, when the state could 
 not raise more than one hundred and thirty 
 talents ; [4.] and yet none of those who were 
 to command, or to contribute to the equip- 
 ment of a galley, ever had recourse to the 
 pretence of poverty to be exempted from 
 their duty ; but vessels were sent out, mo- 
 
 plainly betray a consciousness of his being 
 inconsistent with his former sentiments. 
 How far he may be excused by the supposed 
 necessity of yielding to the violent preposses- 
 sions of the people, and giving up a favour- 
 ite point, I cannot pretend to determine. 
 But it certainly is not ;\ ery honourable to 
 Demosthenes, to suppose, (with Ulpian,) 
 that his former opposition was merely per- 
 sonal ; and that the death of Eubulus now 
 put an end to it. 
 
 [4.] The state could not raise more than 
 one hundred and thirty talents.] We must 
 understand this of those revenues raised out 
 of Attica only : for the contributions of the 
 allies, according to the taxation of Aristides, 
 amounted to four hundred and sixty talents 
 annually, and Pericles raised them yet higher. 
 In order to know the real value of their re- 
 venues, we should consider the prices of 
 things. In the time of Solon, an ox was 
 sold at Athens for five drachmae, as we leam 
 from Plutarch, in the Life of Solon. A hog 
 in the time of Aristophanes was worth three 
 drachma?, as appears from one of his come- 
 dies, called ' the Peace.' Olivet. 
 
 A drachma, according to Arbuthnot, was 
 equal to 73d- of our money. A hundred 
 drachma? made a mina, or 3!. is. 7rf. We 
 may also, from the same author, add to the 
 foregoing note these particulars. In the 
 time of Solon, corn was reckoned at a 
 drachma the medimnus, or 4s. 6d. per quar- 
 ter. In the time of Demosthenes it was 
 much higher, at five drachma? the medim- 
 nus, which makes it 17. 2s. 'id. per quarter. 
 In Solon's time, the price of a sheep was 7lrf. 
 A soldier's daily pay was a drachma. The 
 yearly salary of a common schoolmaster at 
 Athens was a mina. In the early times of 
 the republic, five hundred drachma? were 
 thought a competent fortune for a gentle- 
 woman, Wl. 2s. 11 A To Aristides's two 
 daughters, the Athenians gave three thou- 
 sand drachma?, 96/. 17s. 2d. The arts and 
 sciences were rated very high ; and though 
 the price of a seat in the theatre was no 
 more than two oboli, or 2id., yet the per- 
 formers were rewarded magnificently. 
 When Amcebajus sang in the theatre of 
 Athens, his pay per diem was a talent.
 
 oG 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. IX. 
 
 ney was supplied, and none of our affairs 
 neglected. After this (thanks to fortune!) 
 our revenues were considerably improved ; 
 and instead of one hundred, rose to four 
 hundred talents ; and this without any loss 
 to the wealthy citizens, but rather with ad- 
 vantage ; for they share the public affluence, 
 and justly share it. Why then do we re- 
 proach each other ? why have we recourse to 
 tuch pretences, to be exempted from our 
 duty ? unless we envy the poor that supply 
 with which fortune hath favoured them. I 
 do not, and I think no one should blame 
 them : for in private families I do not find 
 the young so devoid of respect to years, or 
 indeed any one so unreasonable and absurd, 
 as to refuse to do his duty, unless all others 
 do quite as much : such perverseness would 
 render a man obnoxious to the laws against 
 undutiful children ; for to nothing are we 
 more inviolably bound, than to a just and 
 cheerful discharge of that debt, in which 
 both nature and the laws engage us to our pa- 
 rents. And as we, each of us, have our par- 
 ticular parents, so all our citizens are to be 
 esteemed the common parents of the state : 
 and therefore, instead of depriving them of 
 what the state bestows, we ought, if there 
 were not this provision, to find out some 
 other means of supplying their necessities. If ' 
 the rich proceed upon these principles, they 
 will act agreeably, not to justice only, but 
 to good policy, for to rob some men of their 
 necessary subsistence, is to raise a number 
 of enemies to the commonwealth. 
 
 To men of lower fortunes I give this ad- 
 vice: that they should remove those griev- 
 ances of which' the wealthier members com- 
 plain so loudly and so justly, (for I now pro- 
 ceed in the manner I proposed, and shall not 
 scruple to offer such truths as may be fa- 
 vourable to the rich.) Look out, not 
 through Athens only, but every other state, 
 and, in my opinion, you will not find a man 
 of so cruel, so inhuman a disposition, as to 
 complain, when he sees poor men, men who 
 even want the necessaries of life, receiving 
 those appointments. Where then lies the 
 difficulty ? whence this animosity ? When 
 they behold certain [1.] persons charging 
 private fortunes with those demands which 
 { were usually answered by the public ; when 
 they behold the proposer of this imme- 
 diately rising in your esteem, and (as far as 
 your protection can make him) immortal ; 
 when they find your private votes entirely 
 different from your public clamours ; then 
 it is that their indignation is raised : for 
 justice requires, Athenians ! that the advan- 
 tages of society should be shared by all its 
 members. The rich should have their lives 
 and fortunes well secured ; that so, when any 
 danger threatens their country, their opu- 
 lence may be applied to its defence. Other 
 citizens should regard the public treasure as 
 it really is, the property of all, and be con- 
 tent with their just portion; but should 
 esteem all private fortunes as the inviolable 
 
 right of their possessors. Thus a small state 
 rises to greatness, a great one preserves its 
 power. 
 
 But it may be said, that possibly these are 
 the duties of our several citizens: yet that 
 t hey may be performed agTeeably to the laws, 
 
 some regulations must first be made The 
 
 causes of our present disorders are many in 
 number, and of long continuance. Grant 
 me your attention, and I shall trace them to 
 their origin. 
 
 You have departed, Athenians ! from 
 that plan of government which your ances- 
 tors laid down. You are persuaded by your 
 leaders, that to be the first among the Greeks, 
 to keep up your forces ready to redress the 
 injured, is ah unnecessary arid vain expense. 
 You are taught to think, that to lie down 
 in indolence, to be free from public cares, 
 to abandon all your interests one by one, a 
 prey to the vigilance and craft of others, is 
 to be perfectly secure, and surprisingly 
 happy. By these means, the station which 
 you should have maintained is now seized 
 by another, and he is become the successful, 
 the mighty potentate. And what else could 
 have been expected ? for as the Lacedemo- 
 nians were unfortunate, the Thebans en- 
 gaged in the Phocian war, and we quite 
 insensible ; he had no competitor for a prize 
 so noble, so great, so illustrious, which for 
 a long time engaged the most considerable 
 states of Greece in the severest contests. 
 Thus is he become formidable, strengthened 
 by alliances, and attended by his armies; 
 while all the Greeks are involved in so many 
 and so great difficulties, that it is hard to 
 say where they may find resources. But of 
 all the dangers of the several states, none 
 are so dreadful as those which threaten ours : 
 not only because Philip's designs aim prin- 
 cipally at us, but because we, of all others, 
 have been most regardless of our interests. 
 
 If, then, from the variety [1.1 of mer- 
 chandizes and plenty of provisions, you 
 flatter yourselves that the state is not in 
 danger, you judge unworthily and falsely. 
 Hence we might determine whether our 
 markets were well or ill supplied : but the 
 strength of that state, which is regarded by 
 all who aim at the sovereignty of Greece as 
 the sole obstacle to their designs, the well- 
 known guardian of liberty, is not surely to 
 be judged of by its vendibles. No : we 
 should inquire whether it be secure of the 
 affections of its allies ; whether it be power- 
 ful in arms. These are the points to be 
 considered: and in these, instead of being 
 well provided, you are totally deficient. To 
 be assured of this, you need but attend to 
 the following consideration. At what time 
 have the affairs of Greece been in the great- 
 est confusion? I believe it will not be af- 
 firmed, that they have ever been in greater 
 than at present. For in former times Greece 
 was always divided into two parties ; that 
 of the Lacedemonians, and ours. All the 
 several states adhered to one or the other of 
 
 [1.] When they behold certain, &c.j See 
 note on the preceding page. 
 |"2.] If then, from the variety, &c.] See 
 
 note on the oration on 
 Chersonesus, p. 41. 
 
 the State of the
 
 ORAT. IX.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 • r >7 
 
 these. The King, while he had no alliances 
 here, was equally suspected by all. By es- 
 pousing the cause of the vanquished, [1.] he 
 gained some credit, until he restored them 
 lo the same degree of power with their 
 adversaries; after that, he became no less 
 hated [2.] by those whom he had saved, 
 than by those whom he had constantly 
 opposed. But now, in the first place, the 
 King lives in amity with all the Greeks, (in- 
 deed without some immediate reformation 
 in our conduct, we must be excepted.) In 
 the next place there are several cities which 
 affect the characters of guardians and pro- 
 tectors. They are all possessed with a strong 
 passsion for pre-eminence; and some of 
 them (to their shame !) desert, and envy, 
 and distrust each other. In a word, the 
 Argians, Thebans, Corinthians, Lacedemo- 
 nians, Arcadians, and Athenians, have all 
 erected themselves into so many distinct 
 sovereignties. But among all these parties, 
 all these governing states, into which Greece 
 is broken, there is not one (if I may speak 
 freely) to whose councils [3.] fewer Grecian 
 affairs are submitted, than to ours : and no 
 wonder ; when neither love, nor confidence, 
 nor fear, can induce any people to apply to 
 you. It is not one single cause that hath 
 effected this, (in that case, the remedy were 
 easy ;) but many faults, of various natures 
 and of long continuance. Without entering 
 into a particular detail, I shall mention one 
 in which they all centre: — but I must first 
 entreat you not to be offended, if I speak 
 some bold truths without reserve. 
 
 Every opportunity which might have been 
 improved to your advantage hath been sold. 
 The ease and supineness in which you are 
 indulged have disarmed your resentment 
 against the traitors ; and thus others are 
 
 suffered to possess your honours But, at 
 
 present, I shall take notice only of what re- 
 lates to Philip. If he be mentioned, im- 
 mediately there is one ready to start up, 
 and cry, 'We should not act inconsider- 
 ately ; we should not involve ourselves in a 
 war.' Ar.d then he is sure not to forget the 
 great happiness of living in peace, the mis- 
 
 [1.] By espousing the cause of the van- 
 quished, &c.] Lacedemon first entered into 
 an alliance with Darius Nothus, by the 
 mediation of Tissaphernes ; which enabled 
 Lysander to conquer Athens. Conon ob- 
 tained from Artaxerxes Mnemon the suc- 
 cours necessary to revenge his country, and 
 to re-establish it. And it was with reason 
 that the kings of Persia attended to the 
 preservation of a due balance between the 
 Grecian states, lest the prevailing power 
 might turn its thoughts to Asia, and attempt 
 an invasion there. Tourreil. 
 
 [2.] He became no less hated, &c] Lace- 
 demon had no sooner subjected the Athe- 
 nians, by the help of Darius, but she ravaged 
 the Persian provinces in Asia Minor, and 
 joined with the rebellious satraps. And as 
 soon as the Athenians were delivered by 
 Artaxerxes from the Spartan yoke, they 
 espoused the quarrel of Evagoras, who had 
 revolted from Artaxerxes, and usurped a 
 
 fortune of being loaded with the mainte- 
 nance of a large army, the evil designs of 
 some persons against our treasures ; with 
 others of the like momentous truths. 
 
 But these exhortations to peace should 
 not be addressed to you : your conduct is 
 but too pacific: let them rather be addressed 
 to him who is in arms. If he can be pre- 
 vailed on, there will be no diiliculty on your 
 part. Then it cannot be thought a mis- 
 fortune to provide for our security at the 
 expense of some part of our possessions : 
 the consequences that must arise, if this 
 provision be neglected, rather deserve that 
 name. And as to the plundering of your 
 treasury, this must be prevented, by find- 
 ing some effectual means to guard it ; not 
 by neglecting your interests. Nor can I 
 but express the utmost indignation, when 
 I find some of you complaining that your 
 treasures are plundered, though it be in your 
 power to secure them, and to punish the 
 guilty ; and yet looking on with indifference, 
 while Philip is plundering every part of 
 Greece successively : and this, that he may 
 at last destroy you. 
 
 And what can be the reason, Athenians ! 
 that when Philip is guilty of such manifest 
 violations of justice, when he is actually 
 seizing our cities, yet none of these men will 
 acknowledge that he acts unjustly, or com- 
 mits hostilities ; but assert, that they who 
 rouse you from your insensibility, and urge 
 you to oppose these outrages, are involving 
 you in war ? This is the reason : that what- 
 ever accidents may happen in the course of 
 the war, (and there is a necessity, a melan- 
 choly necessity, that war should be attended 
 with many accidents,) they may lay the 
 whole blame upon your best and most faith- 
 ful counsellors. They know, that if with 
 a steady and unanimous resolution you op- 
 pose the insolent invader, he must be con- 
 quered and they deprived of a master, 
 whose pay was ever ready. But if the first 
 unhappy accident calls you off to private 
 trials and prosecutions, they need but ap- 
 pear as accusers, and two great points are 
 secured ; your favour, and Philip's gold : 
 
 great part of the kingdom of Cyprus. Bene- 
 fits could not bind these states. Interest 
 alone formed their engagements, and interest 
 dissolved them. The picture here exhibited 
 of the conduct of the Greeks towards the 
 kings of Persia, is by no means flattering, in 
 point of morals. But it is not in ancient 
 times only that we find morals must be 
 silent, when politics speak. Tourreil. 
 
 [3.] To whose councils, &c] The ruling 
 states of Greece accounted it their greatest 
 glory to see and hear a number of ambas- 
 sadors in their assemblies, soliciting their 
 protection and alliance. The conquests 
 which Philip made in Thrace had put an 
 end to many applications of this sort, which 
 had formerly been addressed to the Athe- 
 nians. And their indolence made people 
 decline any engagements with them. Foreign- 
 ers were persuaded, that they who were insen- 
 sible to their own interests," were not likely 
 to grant the due attention to those of others.
 
 58 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. IX. 
 
 while you discharge the vengeance due to 
 their perfidy against your faithful speakers. 
 These are their hopes ; these the grounds of 
 their complaints, that certain persons are 
 involving you in war. For my own part, 
 this I know perfectly, that although it hath 
 never been proposed by any Athenian to de- 
 clare war, yet Philip hath seized many of 
 our territories, and but just now sent suc- 
 cours to the Cardians. But if we will per- 
 suade ourselves that he is not committing 
 hostilities, he would be the most senseless of 
 mortals, should he attempt to undeceive us : 
 for when they who have received the injury 
 deny it, must the offender prove his guilt t 
 But when he marches directly hither, what 
 shall we then say ? He will still deny that 
 he is at war with us, (as he did to the people 
 of Oreum, until his forces were in the heart 
 of their dominions; as he did to those of 
 Phera?, until he was upon the point of storm- 
 ing their walls ; as he did to the Olynthians, 
 until he appeared in their territories at the 
 head of an army.) Shall we then say, 
 that they who urge us to defend our coun- 
 try are involving us in war ? if so we must 
 be slaves. There is no medium ! Nor 
 is your danger the same with that of 
 other states. Philip's design is not to en- 
 slave, but to extirpate, Athens. He knows, 
 that a state like yours, accustomed to com- 
 mand, will not, or, if it were inclined, can- 
 not, submit to slavery : he knows, that if 
 you have an opportunity, you can give him 
 more disturbance than any other people : 
 and therefore if ever he conquers us, we may 
 be sure of finding no degree of mercy. 
 
 Since, then, you are engaged in defence 
 of all that is dear to you, apply to the great 
 work with an attention equal to the import- 
 ance of it : let the wretches who have openly 
 sold themselves to this man, be the objects 
 of your abhorrence ; let them meet with the 
 utmost severity of public justice. For you 
 will not, you cannot conquer your foreign 
 enemies, until you have punished those that 
 lurk within your walls. No; they will ever 
 prove so many obstacles to impede our pro- 
 gress, and to give our enemies the supe- 
 riority. 
 
 And what can be the reason that he treats 
 you with insolence, (for I cannot call his 
 present conduct by another name;) that he 
 utters menaces against you, while he at least 
 condescends to dissemble with other people, 
 and to gain their confidence by good offices ? 
 Thus, by heaping favours upon the Thes- 
 salians, he led them insensibly into their 
 present slavery. It is not possible to enu- 
 merate all the various artifices he practised 
 against the wretched Olynthians, (such, 
 among others, was the putting them in pos- 
 session of Potidaea.) In his late transactions 
 with the Thebans, he enticed them to his 
 party, by yielding Bceotia to them, and by 
 freeing them from a tedious and distressing 
 war. And thus, after receiving their several 
 
 [1.] To you I speak, Aristodemus !] He 
 was by profession a player ; and was one of 
 the ten ambassadors which the Athenians 
 had sent to the court of Macedou, to treat 
 
 insidious favours, some of these people have 
 suffered calamities but too well known to 
 all ; others must submit to whatever may 
 befall them. What you yourselves have 
 formerly lost, I shall not mention ; but in 
 the very treaty of peace, in how many in- 
 stances have we been deceived ? how have 
 we been despoiled ? Did we not give up 
 Phocis and the Straits ? Did we not lose our 
 Thracian dominions, Doriscum, Serrium, 
 and even our ally Cersobleptes ? Is he not in 
 possession of Cardia ? and doth he not now 
 avow his usurpation ? Whence is it, then, 
 that his behaviour towards you is so differ- 
 ent from that towards others ? Because, of 
 all the Grecian states, ours is the only one 
 in which harangues in favour of enemies 
 are pronounced with impunity ; and the 
 venal wretch may utter his falsehoods with 
 security, even while you are losing your 
 dominions. It was not safe to speak for 
 Philip at Olynthus, until the people had 
 been gained by Potidaea. In Thessaly, it 
 was not safe to speak for Philip, until that 
 people had been gained by the expulsion 
 of their tyrants, and by being reinstated in 
 the council of Amphictyons. Nor could 
 it have been safely attempted at Thebes, 
 until he had given them up Bceotia, and ex- 
 terminated the Phocians. But at Athens, 
 without the least danger, may Philip be de- 
 fended, although he hath deprived us of 
 Amphipolis and the territory of Cardia; 
 although he threatens our city by his for- 
 tifications in Eubcea; although he is now 
 marching to Byzantium. Hence some of 
 his advocates have risen from penury to 
 affluence, from obscurity and contempt to 
 honour and eminence ; while, on the other 
 hand, you have sunk from glory to disgrace, 
 from wealth to poverty ; for the riches of a 
 state I take to be the number, fidelity, and 
 affection of its allies ; in all which you are 
 notoriously deficient. And by your total 
 insensibility, while your affairs are thus fall- 
 ing into ruin, he is become successful, great, 
 and formidable to all the Greeks, to all the 
 barbarians; and you, deserted and incon- 
 siderable ; sumptuous indeed in your mar- 
 kets, but in every thing relating to military 
 power, ridiculous. 
 
 There are some orators, I find, who view 
 your interests and their own in a quite dif- 
 ferent light. To you they urge the necessity 
 of continuing quiet, whatever injuries you 
 are exposed to ; they themslves find this im- 
 possible, though no one offers them the least 
 injury. To you I speak, Aristodemus ! [I.] 
 Suppose a person should, without severity, 
 ask you this question : ' How is it, that 
 you, who are sensible (for it is a well-known 
 truth) that the life of private men is serene 
 and easy, and free from danger; that of 
 statesmen, invidious and insecure, subject 
 to daily contests and disquiets ; should yet 
 prefer the life encompassed with dangers, to 
 that of peace and disengagement ?' What 
 
 about the peace. At his return Demosthenes 
 proposed a deciee for crowning this very man 
 for his good services, whom he here inveighs 
 against with so much bitterness.
 
 ORAT. X.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 b'J 
 
 could you say .' Suppose we admit the truth 
 of the very best answer you could make, 
 • that you were prompted by a desire of 
 honour and renown :' Is it possible, that you, 
 who engaged in such painful undertakings, 
 who despised all toils and dangers, for the 
 sake of these, should advise the state to give 
 them up for ease and indulgence? You 
 cannot surely say, that it was incumbent 
 upon you to maintain a degree of eminence 
 iu the city ; and that the city was not con- 
 cerned to maintain her eminence in Greece ! 
 Nor do I see how the public safety requires 
 that we should confine ourselves to our own 
 concerns, and yet, that an officious intrusion 
 into those of others should be necessary for 
 your safety. On the contrary, you are in- 
 volving yourself in the greatest dangers, by 
 being unnecessarily assiduous ; and the city 
 by being quite inactive. * But then you 
 have an illustrious reputation, derived from 
 your family, which it would be shameful 
 not to support; while on the contrary, 
 nothing has been transmitted from our 
 fathers, but obscurity and meanness.' This 
 is equally false. Your father was like you, 
 and therefore base and infamous. To the 
 honour of our ancestors, let all Greece bear 
 witness ; twice rescued, [1.] by their valour, 
 from the greatest dangers. 
 
 There are persons, then, who do not act 
 with the same firmness and integrity, in the 
 conduct of their own affairs and those of I 
 the st3te. Is not this the case, when some 
 
 of them, after escaping from prison, have 
 raised themselves so high, as to forget their 
 former condition ; and yet have reduced a 
 state, whose pre-eminence in Greece was but 
 now universally acknowledged, to the lowest 
 degree of infamy and meanness ? — I could 
 say more on these and other points, but I 
 forbear : for it is not want of good conn 
 sel that now distresses, or ever hath dis 
 tressed you. But when your true interests 
 have been laid before you, and that you 
 have been unanimous in your approbation, 
 you can, with equal patience, attend to 
 those who endeavour to discredit, to over 
 throw all that hath been advanced. Not 
 that you are ignorant of their characters, 
 (for you can, at first glance, distinguish 
 the hireling and agent of Philip from the 
 true patriot;) but that, by impeaching 
 your faithful friends, and by turning the 
 whole affair into ridicule and invective, you 
 may find a pretence for a general neglect of 
 your duty. 
 
 You have now heard truths of the highest 
 moment, urged with all freedom, simplicity, 
 and zeal. You have heard a speech not filled 
 with flattery, danger, and deceit ; calculated 
 to bring gold to the speaker, and to reduce 
 the state into the power of its enemies. It 
 remains, therefore, that the whole tenour of 
 your conduct be reformed ! if not, that ut- 
 ter desolation, which will be found in your 
 affairs, must be imputed wholly to your- 
 selves. 
 
 [I.] Twice rescued, &c] First, at Mara- I highest terms, but) here rather chooses to 
 thori, and atterward at Salamis. Isocrates ■ lessen the glory of his country, than to re- 
 mentions a third time, when they delivered I call an event which reflected on the Lacede- 
 Greece from the Spartan yoke. Demos- j monians, now in alliance with Athens. 
 thenes (frequently speaks of this in the I Tourreil. 
 
 THE TWELFTH ORATION AGAINST PHILIP: 
 
 Commonly called the Oration on the Letter. 
 
 PRONOUNCED IN THE ARCHONSHIP OP THEOPHRASTUS, THE YEAR AFTER THE 
 
 FOREGOING ORATION. 
 
 TO WHICH IS PREFIXED PHILIP'S LETTER TO THE ATHENIANS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The former oration inspired the Athe- 
 nians with the resolution to send succours 
 to all the cities that were threatened by 
 Philip's arms ; and their first step was to 
 despatch to the Hellespont a convoy with 
 provisions; which weighed anchor in view 
 of Selymbria, a city of the Propontis, then 
 besieged by the Macedonians, and was there 
 seized by Amyntas, Philip's admiral. The 
 ships were demanded by the Athenians, 
 and returned by Philip, but with declara- 
 tions sufficiently alarming. 
 
 The obstinate valour of the Perinthians 
 had forced Philip to turn the siege into a 
 blockade. He marched off with a consider- 
 able body of his army, to attack other 
 
 places ; and made an incursion into the ter- 
 ritories of Byzantium. The Byzantines shut 
 themselves up within their city, ami des- 
 I patched one of their citizens to Athens, to 
 desire the assistance of that state ; who, 
 with some difficulty, prevailed to have a 
 fleet of forty ships sent out, under the com- 
 mand of Chares. 
 
 As this general had not the same reputa- 
 tion in other places as at Athens, the cities 
 by which he was to pass refused to receive 
 him : so that he was obliged to wander for 
 some time along the coasts, extorting con- 
 tributions from the Athenian allies; des- 
 pised by the enemy, and suspected by the 
 whole world. He appeared at last before 
 Byzantium ; where he met with the same 
 mortifying treatment as in other places, 
 G 2
 
 GO 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [bEAT. 
 
 and was refused admission : and shortly af- 
 ter was defeated by Amyntas in a naval en- 
 gagement, in which a considerable part of 
 his fleet was either sunk or taken. 
 
 Philip had for some time perceived, that, 
 sooner or later, he must inevitably come to 
 a rupture with the Athenians. His parti- 
 sans were no longer able to lull them into 
 security. Their oppositions to his designs, 
 however imperfect and ineffectual, were yet 
 sufficient to alarm him. He therefore de- 
 termined to endeavour to abate that spirit 
 which now began to break through their in- 
 veterate indolence ; and for this purpose 
 sent them a letter, in which, with the ut- 
 most art, he laid open the causes of com- 
 plaint he had against them, and threatened 
 them with reprisals. This letter was not 
 received at Athens till after the news of 
 C'hares's defeat. 
 
 Philip had now laid siege to Byzantium ; 
 and exerted all his efforts to make himself 
 master of that city. On the other hand the 
 Athenians were disheartened by the ill success 
 of their commander, and began to repent of 
 having sent any succours ; when Phooion, 
 who always assumed the liberty of speaking 
 his sentiments freely, assured them that, 
 for once, they themselves had not been in 
 fault ; but that their general only was to 
 blame. He was immediately desired to take 
 on himself the charge of relieving Byzan- 
 tium ; and set sail with a numerous body of 
 forces. He was received with the greatest 
 demonstrations of joy ; and his whole con- 
 duct expressed the utmost wisdom and mo- 
 deration. Nor was his valour less conspi- 
 cuous : he sustained many assaults with an 
 intrepidity worthy of the early ages of the 
 commonwealth ; and at last obliged Philip 
 to raise the siege. 
 
 Phocion then departed amidst the general 
 acclamations of the people whom he had 
 saved. He proceeded to the relief of the 
 colonies of the Chersonesus, who were ever 
 exposed to the attacks of the Cardians. In 
 his way he took some vessels laden with 
 arms and provisions for the enemy : and 
 obliged the Macedonians, who had attempt- 
 ed Sestos, to abandon their enterprise, and 
 shut themselves up in Cardia. 
 
 [l.].This letter is a master-piece in the 
 original. It has a majestic and a persuasive 
 ■vivacity ; a force and justness of reasoning 
 sustained through the whole; a clear expo- 
 sition of facts, and each followed by its na- 
 tural consequence ; a delicate irony : in short 
 a noble and concise style, made for kings 
 who speak well, or have taste and discern- 
 ment at least to make choice of those who 
 can make them speak well. If Philip was 
 himself the author of this letter, as it is but 
 just to believe, since we have no proof to 
 the contrary, we may reasonably pronounce 
 of him, as was said of Caesar, ' that he 
 wrote with that spirit with which he fought. 
 Eodem animo dixit, quo bellavit. Quint. 
 Inst. 1. 10. c. 17-' Tourreil. 
 
 [2.] When Nicias the herald, &c. Pro- 
 bably he had been seized upon his journey 
 from Thrace to Macedon, by Diopithes, at 
 
 And thus, after various expeditions high- 
 ly honourable to himself and to his country, 
 Phocion returned home, where he found 
 the Athenians engaged in a debate on Phi- 
 lip's letter ; on which occasion Demosthenes 
 pronounced his last oration against Philip. 
 To have answered the letter particularly, 
 would have been very difficult : for though 
 Athens had the better cause, yet many irre- 
 gularities had really been committed ; which 
 Philip knew how to display in their full 
 force. The orator therefore makes use of 
 his art to extricate himself from the diffi- 
 culty ; avoids all former discussions of facts ; 
 and applies himself at once to raise the live- 
 ly passions : affects to consider this letter as 
 an open declaration of war; inflames the 
 imaginations of his hearers with this idea; 
 and speaks only of the means to support 
 their arms against so powerful an enemy. 
 
 PHILIP'S LETTER [1.] 
 ATHENIANS. 
 
 TO THE 
 
 Theophrastits, Archon. — A. R. Philip. 21 — 
 Olympiad. 110. An. 1. 
 
 Philip, to the Senate and People of Athens, 
 
 greeting : 
 As the embassies I have frequently sent, 
 to enforce those oaths and declarations by 
 which we stand engaged, have produced no 
 alteration in your conduct, 1 thought it ne- 
 cessary thus to lay before you the several 
 particulars in which I think myself ag- 
 grieved. Be not surprised at the length of 
 this letter; for as I have many causes of 
 complaint, it is necessary to explain them 
 all distinctly. 
 
 First then, when Nicias the herald [2.] 
 was forcibly taken out of my own territory ; 
 instead of punishing the author of this out- 
 rage, as justice required, you added to his 
 wrongs, by keeping him ten months in pri- 
 son : and the letters intrusted to him, by 
 us, [3.] you read publicly in your assembly. 
 Again; when the ports of Thassus were 
 open [4.] to the Byzantine galleys, nay, to 
 any pirates that pleased, you looked on with 
 
 the time of his invading Philip's Thracian 
 dominions, as mentioned in the preface to 
 the oration on the State of the Chersonesus. 
 Tourreil. 
 
 [3.] And the letters intrusted to him, by 
 us, &c] The Athenians hoped, by open- 
 ing this packet, to get some light into Phi- 
 lip's secret schemes and practices against 
 them. There were found in it some letters 
 dirrected to Olympias, Philip's queen, 
 which they treated with a most scrupulous 
 respect, and took care she should receive 
 them in the same condition in which they 
 had been intercepted. Tourreil. 
 
 [4.] When the ports of Thassus were open, 
 &c] The Athenians had engaged, by an 
 article of their treaty, that the Thassians, 
 who were their subjects, should not receive 
 any ships that committed piracies on the 
 subjects or allies of Philip. This article had
 
 OI'.AT. X.J 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 Gl 
 
 indifference ; although our treaties express- 
 ly say, that such proceedings shall be consi- 
 dered as an actual declaration of war. About 
 the same time it was that Diopithes made a 
 descent upon my dominions, carried off in 
 chains the inhabitants of Crobyle and Tiris- 
 tasis, [1.] ravaged all the adjacent parts of 
 Thrace, and at length proceeded to such a 
 pitch of lawless violence, as to seize Amphi- 
 lochus, [2.] who went, in quality of an am- 
 bassador, to treat about the f&nsom of 
 prisoners : whom, after he had reduced him 
 to the greatest dif lieu ties, he compelled to 
 purchase his freedom, at the rate of nine 
 talents. And this he did with the appro- 
 bation of his state. Yet the violation of 
 the sacred character of heralds and ambas- 
 sadors is accounted, by all people, the height 
 of impiety : nor have any expressed a deeper 
 sense of this, than you yourselves : for 
 when theMegareanshad put Anthemocritus 
 to death, [3.] the people proceeded so far as 
 to exclude them trom the mysteries; and 
 erected [4.] a statue before the gates, as a 
 monument of their crime. And is not this 
 shocking ; to be avowedly guilty of the very 
 
 not been strictly observed ; perhaps on ac- 
 count of Philip's own infidelity. Tourreit. 
 
 [1.] Crobyle and Tiristasis.J The first of 
 these places is quite unknown. Tiristasisis 
 placed by Pliny in the Thracian Chersonesus. 
 Tourreil. 
 
 [2.] As to seize Amphilochus.] It is im- 
 possible to save the honour of Diopithes, 
 but by denying the fact; at least in the 
 manner that Philip represents it. Tourreil. 
 
 [3. J For when the Megareans had put 
 Anthemocritus to death, &c] Philip, here, 
 beats the Athenians with their own weapons, 
 and cites, very much to the purpose, the ex- 
 ample of a memorable vengeance, which 
 they had taken about an age before, upon 
 the Megareans. They had accused this peo- 
 ple of favouring a revolt of their slaves, and 
 of profaning a tract of consecrated land ; 
 and upon this account excluded them from 
 all advantages of commerce in the ports and 
 markets of Athens. Thucydides stops here ; 
 but Pausanias adds, that Anthemocritus 
 ■went from Athens in quality of a herald, 
 to summon the Megareans to desist from 
 their sacrilege, and that for answer they put 
 him to death. The interest of the gods 
 served the Athenians for a pretence; but 
 the famous Aspasia, whom Pericles was so 
 violently in love with, was the true cause 
 of their rupture with Megara. Some young 
 Athenians, heated by wine, had taken away 
 from Megara a remarkable courtezan, called 
 Sima?tha ; and the Megareans, by way of re- 
 prisal, seized two Athenian ladies of the 
 same character, that were in Aspasia's train. 
 Pericles espoused his favourite's quarrel; 
 and, with the power which he then possessed, 
 easily persuaded the people to whatever he 
 pleased. They thundered out a decree 
 against the Megareans, forbidding all com- 
 merce with them upon pain of death : they 
 drew ap a new form of an oath, by which 
 every general obliged himself to invade the 
 territories of Megara twice every year. This 
 
 same crimes, for which your resentment 
 fell so severely upon others, when you your- 
 selves were aggrieved ? 
 
 In the next place, Callias, your general, 
 hath made himself master of all the towns 
 upon the bay of Pagasa; ; though compre- 
 hended in the tr. aty made with you, and 
 united in alliance to me. Not a vessel could 
 steer its course towards Macedon, but the 
 passengers were all treated by him as ene- 
 mies, and sold : and this his conduct hath 
 been applauded by the resolutions of your 
 council. So that I do not see how you can 
 proceed farther, if you actually declare war 
 against me. For when we were at open 
 hostilities, you did but send out your cor- 
 sairs, make prize of those who were sailing 
 to my kingdom, assist my enemies, and in- 
 fest my territories. Yet now, when we are 
 professedly at peace, so far have your in- 
 justice and rancour hurried you, that you 
 have sent ambassadors to the Persian [5.] 
 to persuade him to attack me; which must 
 appear highly surprising ; for before that 
 prince had subdued Egypt and Phoenicia, 
 it was resolved, [6.] that, if he attempted 
 
 decree kindled the first sparks of contention, 
 which at length flamed out in the Pelopon- 
 nesian war. It was the work of three cour- 
 tezans. The most illustrious events have 
 sometimes as shameful an origin. Tourreil. 
 
 [4.] To exclude them from the mysteries ; 
 and erected, &c] All the Greeks had, or- 
 dinarily, a right to be initiated into what 
 were called the lesser mysteries which the 
 Athenians celebrated at Eleusis, in honour 
 of Ceres and Proserpine. But upon the 
 death of Anthemocritus, the Megareans were 
 excluded ; and a statue or tomb erected in 
 honour of this herald, on the road leading 
 from Athens to Eleusis, near the gate called 
 Dipylon. According to Aristophanes, (in 
 Acharn. Act 2. Sc. 5.) the Megareans denied 
 this murder, and threw the whole blame of 
 it upon Aspasia and Pericles. Tourreil. 
 
 [5.] You have sent ambassadors to the 
 Persian, &c] Diodorus informs us, that 
 about this time the satraps of the lesser 
 Asia had obliged Philip to raise the siege of 
 Perinthus. The historian does not say that 
 the Athenians invited them; but Philip 
 complains of it here; and Pausanias ob- 
 serves, that in this expedition the Persian 
 forces were commanded by Apollodorus, 
 an Athenian general. We may observe, 
 with what disrespect Philip (whose ances- 
 tors, in their greatest prosperitv, never as- 
 pired higher than to the alliance of some 
 satrap) here speaks of the Great King—' The 
 Persian !' Tdvrreil. 
 
 [6.] Before that prince had subdued Egypt 
 and Phamicia, it was resolved, &c.J Artax- 
 erxes Ochus, who governed Persia at that 
 time, before his reduction of these revolted 
 provinces, had marched into the lesser Asia, 
 against Artadazus, a rebellious satrap. The 
 approach of tne Persians alarmed the Greeks : 
 and Athens conceived a design of attacking 
 them in their own country. This gave occa- 
 sion to the oration of Demosthenes, entitled, 
 Ilepi twv J.v/j.fj.opMv. Philip pretends that
 
 G2 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. X. 
 
 any new enterprises, you would invite me, 
 as well as all the other Greeks, to an associa- 
 tion against him. But now, with such 
 malice am I pursued, that you are, on the 
 contrary, confederating with him against 
 me. In former times, I am told, your an- 
 cestors objected it as an heinous crime to the 
 family [1.] of Pisistratus, that they had led 
 the Persian against the Greeks : and yet you 
 are not ashamed to commit the very same 
 action, for which you were continually in- 
 veighing against those tyrants. 
 
 But your injustice hath not stopped here. 
 Your decrees command me to permit Teres 
 and Cersobleptes to reign [2.] unmolested 
 In Thrace, as being citizens of Athens. — 
 I do not know that they were included in 
 our treaty, that their names are to be found 
 in the records of our engagements, or that 
 they are Athenians. But this I know, that 
 Teres served in my army against you ; and 
 that when Cersobleptes proposed to my am- 
 bassadors to take the necessary oaths, in 
 order to be particularly included in the 
 treaty, your generals prevented him, by de- 
 
 they had resolved to admit him into the 
 confederacy which was then forming in fa- 
 vour of the Greeks, with whom he affects to 
 rank, and by his expressions removes every 
 idea of foreigner and barbarian, which are 
 the representations that the orator frequently 
 makes of him. Tourreil. 
 
 [1.] Your ancestors objected it as an hei- 
 nous crime to the family, &c] The com- 
 parison which Philip makes here, between 
 the sons of Pisistratus and the orators who 
 advised an alliance with Persia, is founded 
 upon a history too well known to be enlarged 
 upon. It is undoubtedly by no means just : 
 for, in different conjunctures, the good citi- 
 zen may employ the same forces to save his 
 country, that the wicked one had formerly 
 employed to destroy it. However, the turn 
 he gives it was the fittest in the world to af- 
 fect the people, who thought it their greatest 
 honour to express an inveterate hatred to 
 the Persians. 
 
 [2.] To permit Teres and Cersobleptes to 
 reign, &c] History speaks only of Cersob- 
 leptes. They had suffered him to be over- 
 thrown by Philip : and, when they found 
 how neariy they themselves were affected by 
 his fall, employed those decrees to endeavour 
 to restore him. Tourreil. 
 
 [3.] When Sitalces was slain, &c] This 
 Sitalces was the grandfather of Cersobleptes. 
 In the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, 
 he rendered the Athenians such important 
 services, that they, by way of acknowledg- 
 ment, admitted his son Sadocus into the 
 number of their citizens. In the eighth 
 year of this war, Sitalces was killed in a 
 battle against the Triballi. His nephew 
 Seuthes seized the kingdom, in prejudice of 
 his children, and hence became suspected of 
 being the cause of his death. Philip argues, 
 from this suspicion, as if it were an un- 
 doubted truth. Tourreil. 
 
 [4.] You granted the rights of your com- 
 munity, &c.j What idea must we form of 
 the splendour of that city, where even kings 
 
 daring him an enemy to the Athenians. 
 And how is this equitable or just ? when it 
 serves your purposes, to proclaim him the 
 enemy of your state ; when I am to be 
 calumniated, to give him the title of your 
 citizen ; when Sitalces was slain, [3.] to 
 whom you granted the privileges of your 
 city, instantly to enter into an alliance with 
 his murderer ; yet to engage in a war with 
 me on account of Cersobleptes ? and this, 
 when you are sensible that not one of these 
 your adopted citizens have ever shewed the 
 least regard to your laws or determinations. 
 — But to bring this affair to a short issue. 
 You granted the rights of your community 
 [4.] to Evagoras of Cyprus, [5.] to Dionysius 
 the Syracusan, and to their descendants. 
 Prevail therefore upon the men who have 
 dispossessed each of these, to restore them 
 to their dominions, and you shall recover 
 from me all those territories of Thrace [6.] 
 which Teres and Cersobleptes commanded. 
 But if you have nothing to urge against 
 those who expelled them, and yet are inces- 
 santly tormenting me, am not I justly war- 
 
 solicited for the rank of private citizens ! 
 The other states of Greece affected the same 
 kind of grandeur. At a time when ambas- 
 sadors from Corinth were congratulating 
 Alexander on his victories, they made him 
 an offer of the freedom of their city, as the 
 greatest mark of honour possible Alexan- 
 der, now in the full splendour of his fortune, 
 disdained to return them any answer but a 
 contemptuous smile. This stung the am- 
 bassadors to the quick, and one of them was 
 bold enough to say, ' Know, Sir, that the 
 great Hercules and you, are the only persons 
 whom Corinth has ever deigned to dis- 
 tinguish in this manner.' This softened the 
 prince : he received them with all possible 
 marks of respect, and accepted of a title 
 which had been so dignified. Tourreil. 
 
 [5.] To Evagoras of Cyprus.] The Athe- 
 nians erected a statue to Evagoras, the 
 elder of that name, and declared him a 
 citizen of Athens, for having assisted Conon 
 in restoring their liberty. He caused Sa- 
 lamis to revolt from the Persians, and sub- 
 dued most part of the island of Cyprus ; 
 but was afterward reduced, and fell by the 
 hands of Nicocles. His son, Evagoras the 
 younger, however, asserted his claim to the 
 kingdom of Cyprus, and was supported by 
 the Athenians'against Protagoras, the suc- 
 cessor of Nicocles. But his attempts were 
 not successful. Protagoras supplanted him 
 at the court of Persia, where he had been in 
 full favour. He was cited to answer to some 
 heads of an accusation ; and, upon his jus- 
 tifying himself, he obtained a government in 
 Asia, well worth his little kingdom. But 
 his bad conduct soon obliged him to abdi- 
 cate, and fly into Cyprus ; where he perished 
 wretchedly. Tourreil. 
 
 [&] All those territories of Thrace.] In 
 the original, tJjk upunrw, onnv, &c. By the 
 ironical pomp of this expression, he sets 
 their dominions (which were really incon- 
 siderable) in the most contemptuous light. 
 Tourreil,
 
 ORAT. X. 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 e:i 
 
 ranted to oppose you ' — I might urge many 
 other arguments upon this head, but I 
 choose to pass them over. 
 
 The Cardians, [1] I freely declare, I am 
 determined to support, as my engagements 
 to them are prior to our treaty ; and as you 
 refused to submit your differences with 
 them to an arbitration, though frequently 
 urged by me : nor have they been want- 
 ing in the like solicitations. Should not I, 
 therefore, be the basest of mankind, to aban- 
 don my allies, and to shew greater regard 
 for you, my inveterate opposers, than for 
 my constant and assured adherents ? 
 
 Formerly, (for I cannot pass this in silence,) 
 you contented yourselves with remonstra- 
 ting upon the points above mentioned. But 
 lately, upon the bare complaint of the Pepa- 
 retliians, that they had been severely treated 
 by me, you proceeded to such outrage, as 
 to send orders to your general to revenge 
 their quarrel. Yet the punishment which 
 1 inflicted was no way equal to the heinous- 
 ness of then- crime : as they had, in time of 
 peace, seized Halonesus ; nor could be pre- 
 vailed upon, by all my solicitations, to give 
 up either the island or the garrison. The 
 injuries 1 received from the Peparethians 
 were never thought of, but their punish- 
 ment commanded all your attention, as it 
 afforded a pretence for accusing me, although 
 1 did not take the island either from them, 
 or from you, but from the pirate Sostratus. 
 If, then, "you confess that you delivered it 
 to Sostratrus, you confess yourselves guilty 
 of sending out pirates : if he siezed it with- 
 out your consent, how have I injured you 
 by taking possession of it, and by rendering 
 it a secure harbour ? Nay, so great was my 
 regard to your state, that I ottered to be- 
 stow on you this island : but this was not 
 agreeable to your orators : they [2.] would 
 not have it accepted, but resumed. So that 
 if I complied with their directions, I pro- 
 claimed myself a usurper : if I still kept 
 possession of the place, I became suspected 
 to the people. I saw through these ar- 
 tifices, and therefore proposed to bring 
 our differences to a judicial determination : 
 and if sentence was given for me, to pre- 
 sent you with the place ; if in your fa- 
 vour, to restore it to the people. This 
 I frequently desired : you would not have 
 it : the Peparethians seized the island. 
 What then was I to do ? Should I not pu- 
 
 [1.] The Cardians, &c] See the Preface 
 to the Oration on the State of the Cherso- 
 nesus. 
 
 [2.J But this was not agreeable to your 
 orators : they, &c] Demosthenes, in par- 
 ticular, opposed their receiving a restitution 
 under the name of a present. 
 
 [3.] By a decree of Polycrates.] This 
 orator had great credit at Athens, and on 
 many occasions favoured the designs of 
 Philip. Possibly he acted otherwise upon 
 this occasion, the better to conceal his at- 
 tachment, or that he might afterward sell 
 his integrity at a dearer rate. Tourreil. 
 
 [4.] Who compelled the Thassians and 
 Maronites, &c] The first of these people 
 
 nish the violators of oaths ? Was 1 tamely 
 to bear such an audacious insult ? If the 
 island was the property of the Peparethians, 
 what ;right have trie Athenians to demand 
 it ? If it be yours, why do you not resent 
 their usurpation ? 
 
 So far, hi short, have our animosities 
 been carried, that, when I had occasion to 
 despatch some vessels to the Hellespont, I 
 was obliged to send a body of forces througli 
 the Chersonesus, to defend them against 
 your colonies, who are authorized to attack 
 me by a decree of Polycrates, [3.] confirmed 
 by the resolutions of your council. Nay, 
 your general has actually invited the Byzan- 
 tines to join him ; and has every where pub- 
 licly declared, that he has your instructions 
 to commence hostilities at the first favour- 
 able opportunity. All this could not prevail 
 upon me to make any attempt upon your 
 city, or your navy, or your territories, al- 
 though I might have had success in most, or 
 even all of them. I chose rather to continue 
 my solicitations to have our complaints sub- 
 mitted to proper umpires. And which, 
 think ye, is the fittest decision, that of rea- 
 son or of the sword ? Who are to be judges 
 in your cause, yourselves or others ? What 
 can be more inconsistent, than that the peo- 
 ple of Athens, who compelled the Thassians 
 and Maronites [4.] to bring their pretensions 
 to the city of Stryma to a judicial decision, 
 should yet refuse to have their own disputes 
 with me determined in the same manner? 
 particularly as you are sensible that, if the 
 decree be against you, still you lose no- 
 thing; if in your favour, it puts you in 
 possession of my conquests. 
 
 But what appears to me most unaccount- 
 able is this : when I sent you ambassadors, 
 chosen from all the confederated powers, on 
 purpose to be witnesses of our transactions : 
 when I discovered the sincerest intentions 
 of entering into reasonable and just engage- 
 ments with you, in relation to the affairs of 
 Greece ; you even refused to hear these am- 
 bassadors on that head. It was then in your 
 power to remove all their apprehensions, 
 who suspected any danger from my designs, 
 or to have openly convicted me of consum- 
 mate baseness. This was the interest of the 
 people ; but the orators could not find their 
 account in it ; for they are a set of men, to 
 whom (if I may believe those that are ac- 
 quainted with your polity) peace is war, and 
 war is peace ; [o.] as they are always sure to 
 
 inhabited an island in the Egean sea : the 
 other, a maritime place in Thrace. The 
 Thassians had founded Stryma, according 
 to Herodotus ; but as it was in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Maronea, probably the Maron- 
 ites had, in quality of protectors, or bene- 
 factors, acquired some pretensions to it. 
 Tourreil, 
 
 [5.] Peace is war, and war is peace, &c] 
 Aristotle, in his Rhetor. 1. 3, c. 10, quotes 
 this [nearly] as an example of an agreeable 
 antithesis: which, joined to the force, and, 
 what is more, to the order of the arguments 
 contained in this letter, inclines me to think 
 that Aristotle was his secretary on this oc-
 
 61 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. 
 
 make a property of the generals, either by 
 aiding their designs, or by malicious prose- 
 cutions. Then they need but throw out 
 some scandalous invectives against persons 
 of worth and eminence, citizens or foreign- 
 ers, and they at once acquire the character 
 of patriots, among the many. I could have 
 easily silenced their clamours against me, by 
 a little gold ; and even have converted them 
 into praises : but I should blush to purchase 
 your friendship from such wretches. To 
 such insolence have they proceeded upon 
 other occasions, that they even dared to 
 dispute my title to Amphipolis ; which is 
 founded, I presume, upon reasons beyond 
 their power to invalidate : for if it is to be- 
 long to those who first conquered it, what 
 can be juster than our claim ? Alexander, 
 our ancestor, was the original sovereign ;[!.] 
 as appears from the golden statue [2.] which 
 he erected at Delphos, from the first fruits 
 of the Persian spoils taken there. But if 
 this admits of contest, and it is to continue 
 the property of those who were last in pos- 
 session, it is mine by this title too, (for I took 
 it from the Lacedemonian inhabitants, who 
 had dispossessed you :) [3.] and all cities are 
 held either by hereditary right or by the 
 right of conquest. And yet you, who neither 
 were the original possessors, nor are now in 
 possession, presume to lay claim to this city, 
 under pretence of having held it for some 
 short time ; and this, when you have your- 
 selves given the strongest testimony in my 
 
 casion. But my conjecture, whether well 
 or ill founded, does not detract from Philip, 
 in point of genius and spirit. The true 
 talent of a king is to know how to apply 
 the talents of others to the best advantage. 
 And we do not want other proofs of Philip's 
 abilities in writing: witness his letter to 
 Aristotle, on the birth of Alexander. Tour- 
 reil. 
 
 [1.] Alexander, our ancestor, was the 
 original sovereign.] Philip asserts boldly, 
 without giving himself much trouble even 
 to preserve probability : for in the time of 
 Alexander, the contemporary of Xerxes, 
 there was no citv, nor any fortified post, in 
 the place Amphipolis was afterward raised ; 
 nor was it till thirty years after the defeat 
 if the Persians that Agnon founded it. 
 Tourreil. 
 
 [2.] As appears from the golden statue, 
 &c] Herodotus speaks of this statue, and 
 places it near the colossal statue which the 
 Greeks raised, according to custom, out of 
 the Persian spoils. The proximity of these 
 statues serves Philip as a foundation for 
 giving his ancestors an honour which really 
 belonged to the Greeks. Solinus mentions, 
 that Alexander, a very rich prince, made an 
 offering of a golden statue of Apollo in the 
 temple of Delphos, and another of Jupiter 
 in the temple of Elis ; but not that the Per- 
 sian spoils were any part of these offerings. 
 — This Alexander, surnamed <t><XtXArii/, 
 ' friend of Greeks,' had the reputation 
 of an able politician, but not of a good 
 soldier, or great commander. He served 
 the Persians a long time, rather by force 
 
 favour: for I frequently wrote to you upon 
 this head ; and you as often acknowledged 
 me the rightful "sovereign : and by the ar- 
 ticles of our late treaty, the possession of 
 Amphipolis, and your alliance, were both 
 secured to me. What title therefore can be 
 better established? It descended to us from 
 our ancestors ; it is ours by conquest ; and, 
 lastlv, you yourselves have acknowledged 
 the justice of our pretensions; you who 
 are wont to assert your claim, even when it 
 is not supported by right. 
 
 1 have now laid before you the grounds 
 of my complaints. Since you have been 
 the first aggressors ; since my gentleness and 
 fear of offending have only served to increase 
 your injustice, and to animate you in your 
 attempts to distress me; I must now take 
 up arms : and I call the gods to witness to 
 the justice of my cause, and the necessity 
 of procuring for myself that redress which 
 you deny me. 
 
 THE ORATION ON THE LETTER. [4.] 
 
 Theophrastus, Archon — A. R. Philip.2\ — 
 Olympiad. 110. An. 1. 
 
 Now, Athenians ! it is fully evident to you 
 all, thac Philip made no real peace with us, 
 but only deferred hostilities. When he sur- 
 rendered Halus to the Pharsalians, [5.] 
 when he completed the ruin of Phocis, when 
 he overturned all Thrace, [6.] then did he 
 
 than inclination; and, before the battle of 
 Salamis, declared, of a sudden, for the 
 Greeks. Tourreil. 
 
 [3.] I took it from the Lacedemonian in- 
 habitants, who had dispossessed you, &c] 
 Brasidas, the Lacedemonian general, took 
 Amphipolis from the republic of Athens: 
 and by the assistance of Sparta, it afterward 
 maintained its independence, until it fell 
 into the power of Philip. Tourreil. 
 
 [4.] It must be confessed, that this oration 
 consists almost wholly of repetitions. This 
 great man seems to have thought himself 
 superior to all vain criticism; and, only 
 concerned for the safety of Athens, was in 
 no pain about his private glory. He speaks 
 as an orator, whose end is to persuade and 
 convince; not as a declaimer, who seeks 
 only to give pleasure and excite admiration. 
 He therefore resumes those topics he had 
 already made use of, and gives them new 
 force, by the close and lively manner m 
 which he delivers them. Tourreil. 
 
 [5.] When he surrendered Halus to the 
 Pharsalians, &c] Halus was a town of 
 Thessaly, upon the river Amphrysus. Par 
 menio besieged and took it; after which 
 Philip put the people of Pharsalia in posses- 
 sion of it. Tourreil. 
 
 [6.] When he overturned all Thrace, &c."] 
 This is the language of an orator, who, to 
 represent Philip's outrages with the greater 
 aggravation, takes the liberty of speaking 
 of a part of that country as of the whole. 
 Philip had indeed made himself master of
 
 ORAT. X.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 G5 
 
 really attack the state under the concealment 
 of fuse allegations and unjust pretensions; 
 but now he hath made a formal declaration 
 of war, by this his letter. That we are not 
 to look with horror upon his power; that, 
 on the other hand, we are not to be remiss 
 in our opposition, but to engage our persons, 
 our treasures, and our navies ; in one word, 
 our whole strength, freely, in the common 
 cause ; these are the points I would establish. 
 First then, Athenians ! the gods we may 
 justly regard as our strongest allies and as- 
 sistants ; since in this unjust violation of 
 his treaty, he hath trampled upon religion, 
 and despised the most solemn oaths. In the 
 next place, those secret practices to which 
 his greatness hath hitherto been owing, all 
 his arts of deceiving, all his magnificent 
 promises, are now quite exhausted. The 
 Perinthians, and the Byzantines, and their 
 confederates, [1.] have at length discovered, 
 that he intends to treat them as he formerly 
 treated the Olynthians. The Thessalians 
 are no longer ignorant that he affects to be 
 the master, and not the leader, of his allies. 
 The Thebans begin to see danger in his sta- 
 tioning a garrison at Nica?a, [i>.] his assum- 
 ing the rank of an Amphictyon, his bringing 
 into Macedon the embassies from Pelopon- 
 nesus, [3.] and his preventing them in seizing 
 the advantage of an alliance with the people 
 of that country. So that, of those who 
 have hitherto been his friends, some are now 
 irreconcilably at war with him ; others no 
 longer serve him with zeal and sincerity ; 
 and all have their suspicions and complaints. 
 Add to this, (and it is of no small moment,) 
 that the satraps of Asia have just now forced 
 him to raise the siege of Perinthus, by 
 throwing in a body of hired troops : and as 
 this must make him their enemy, [4.] and 
 as they are immediately exposed to danger, 
 
 the territories of Teres and Cersobleptes, 
 both kings in Thrace, and allies of the Athe- 
 nians. But Pausanias observes, that, before 
 the Romans, no one had ever made an entire 
 conquest of Thrace. Tourreil. 
 
 [1.] And their confederates.] The in- 
 habitants of Chios, Rhodes, and some other 
 places, joined to defeat Philip's designs upon 
 Perinthus and Byzantium. Tourreil. 
 
 [2.] At Nicaea.] This town was situated 
 near Thermopylae, and was counted among 
 the principal towns of the Locrians, (Epic- 
 nemidii,) the neighbours and allies of the 
 Boeotians and Thebans. Philip made himself 
 master of it at the time that he seized Ther- 
 mopylae, under pretence of putting an end 
 to the sacred war. Tourreil. 
 
 [3.] His bringing into Macedon the em- 
 bassies from Peloponnesus, &c] Probably 
 this was at the time when he interested him- 
 self in the disputes between Sparta and the 
 Argians and Messenians, as mentioned in 
 the preface to the Second Philippic Oration. 
 — Strabo mentions an application of the Ar- 
 gians and Messenians to Philip, to regulate 
 a contest between them and Lacedemon, 
 about their boundaries. And Pausanias de- 
 claims against the pride of Gallus, a Roman 
 senator, who thought it derogated from his 
 dignity to decide the differences of Lacede- 
 
 should he become master of Byzantium, 
 thev will not only readily unite their force 
 with ours, but prevail upon the king of 
 Persia to assist us with his treasure; who, 
 in this particular, far exceeds all other po- 
 tentates; and whose influence in Greece is 
 so great, that formerly, when we were en- 
 gaged in a war with Lacedemon, he never 
 failed to give the superiority to [5.] that 
 
 Earty which he espoused : and now, when 
 e unites with us, he will with ease subdue 
 the power of Philip. 
 
 I shall not mention, as a balance to these 
 so considerable advantages, that he hath 
 taken the opportunity of the peace to make 
 himself master of many of our territories, 
 our ports, and other like conveniences. 
 For it is observable, that where afi'ecti. in 
 joins, and one common interest animates 
 the confederating powers, there the alliance 
 is never to be shaken ; but where subtle 
 fraud, and passions insatiable, and perfidy 
 and violence have formed it, (and these are 
 the means which he hath used,) the least 
 pretence, the slightest accident, gives it the 
 fatal shock, and in an instant it is utterly 
 dissolved. And from repeated observations 
 I am convinced, Athenians ! that Philip 
 not only wants the confidence and affection 
 of his allies, but even in his own kingdom 
 he is by no means happy in that well-esta- 
 blished regularity, and those intimate at- 
 tachments, which might be expected. The 
 power of Macedon, indeed, as an ally, 
 may have some effect ; but if left to 
 itself, is insufficient ; and when compared 
 with his pompous enterprises, quite con- 
 temptible. And then his wars, his expe- 
 ditions, all those exploits which have given 
 him this splendour, are the very means of 
 rendering it yet weaker : for you are not to 
 imagine, Athenians! that Philip and his 
 
 mon and Argos ; and disdained* to meddle 
 with a mediation, which Philip had formerly 
 not only accepted, but courted. TourreiL 
 
 [4.] As this must make him their enemy.] 
 This proved an exact prediction of what 
 happened some time after. Alexander, in 
 his letter to Darius, alleges, as one of the 
 principal subjects of their rupture, the power- 
 ful succours which Perinthus received from 
 the Persian satraps. Arrian, 1. 1. TourreiL 
 
 [5.] He never failed to give the superiority 
 to, &c] History represents the king of 
 Persia as the supreme arbiter of the fate of 
 Athens, and Lacedemon, during the whole 
 time of their quarrels. Darius Nothus 
 joined with the Lacedemonians; and Ly- 
 sander, their general, destroyed Athens. 
 Artaxerxes Mnemon protected Conon, the 
 Athenian general ; and immediately Athens 
 resumed her former splendour. Lacedemon 
 afterward joined in alliance with the Great 
 King; and this intimidated the Athenians, 
 and obliged them to seek for peace. Artax- 
 erxes dictated the articles of it, threatening 
 to declare against those who should refuse 
 to subscribe to them. Athens instantly 
 obeyed. Thus it was that a foreign power 
 lorded it over the Greeks, and by means of 
 their divisions had the absolute command 
 of their fate. Tourreil.
 
 m 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [01!AT. X. 
 
 subjects have the same desires. He is pos- 
 sessed with the love of glory ; they wish 
 only for security. The object of his passion 
 must be attended with danger ; and they but 
 ill endure a banishment from their children, 
 parents, wives ; a life worn out with toils, 
 and exposed to continual perils in his cause. 
 Hence we may learn how his subjects in 
 general are affected to their prince. But 
 then his guards, and officers of his foreign 
 troops ; these, you will find, have some 
 military reputation : yet they live in greater 
 terrorsthan the obscure and mean. These 
 are exposed only to their avowed enemies ; 
 the others have more to fear from calumny 
 and flattery, than in the field. The one, 
 when engaged in battle, but share the com- 
 mon danger : the others, besides their part, 
 and this not the least of that danger, have 
 also their private apprehensions from the 
 temper of their prince. Among the many, 
 when one hath transgressed, his punishment 
 is proportioned to his crime : the others, 
 when they have most eminently distin- 
 guished themselves, are then, in open defi- 
 ance of all decency, treated with the greatest 
 insolence and disdain. 
 
 That these are incontestible truths, no 
 reasonable man can doubt: for they who 
 have lived with him assure us, that his am- 
 bition is so insatiable, that he will have the 
 flory of every exploit ascribed wholly to 
 imself ; and is much more incensed against 
 such commanders as have performed any 
 thing worthy of honour, than against those 
 whose misconduct hath ruined his enter- 
 prises. But if this be the case, how is it that 
 they have persevered so long in their attach- 
 ment to his cause? It is for this reason, 
 Athenians ! because success throws a shade 
 on all his odious qualities, (for nothing veils 
 men's faults from observation so effectually 
 as success:) but let any accident happen, 
 and they will be perfectly discovered. Just 
 as in our bodies; while we are in health, 
 our inward defects lie concealed ; but when 
 we are attacked by a disorder, then they are 
 all sensible, in the vessels, in the joints, or 
 wherever we are affected : so in kingdoms 
 and governments of every kind, while their 
 arms are victorious, their disorders escape 
 the common observation but a reverse of 
 fortune, (and this he must experience, as he 
 has taken up a burden much beyond his 
 strength,) never fails to lay them open to 
 every eye. 
 
 If there be a man among you, Athenians ! 
 who regards Philip as a powerful and for- 
 midable enemy, on account of his good 
 fortune, such cautious foresight bespeaks a 
 truly prudent mind. Fortune indeed does 
 greatly influence, or rather has the entire 
 direction of all human affairs : but there are 
 many reasons to expect much more from 
 the fortune of Athens, than that of Philip. 
 We can boast of an authority in Greece, 
 derived from our ancestors, not only before 
 his days, but before any one prince of Ma- 
 cedon. They all were tributaries of Athens : 
 Athens never paid that mark of subjection 
 to any people. In the next place, the more 
 inviolably we have adhered to piety and 
 j ustice. the greater may be our confidence in 
 
 the favour of the gods. But if this be the case, 
 how is it that, in the late war, his arms had 
 such superior fortune? This is the cause, 
 (for I will speak with undaunted freedom :) 
 he takes the field himself, endures its toils, 
 and shares its dangers : no favourable in- 
 cident escapes him, no season of the year 
 retards him. While we (for the truth must 
 not be concealed) are confined within our 
 walls, in perfect inactivity, delaying, and 
 voting, and wandering through the public 
 places, in search of news. Can any thing 
 better deserve the name of *new,' than that 
 one sprung from Macedon should insult. 
 Athens, and dare to send such letters as you 
 have just heard recited ? That he should 
 have his armies and his orators in pay ? 
 (Yes, I call Heaven to witness, there are 
 those among us, who do not blush to live 
 for Philip, who have not sense to perceive 
 that they are selling all the interests of the 
 state, all their own real interests, for a tri- 
 fling pittance !) — While we never once think 
 of preparing to oppose him ; are quite averse 
 to hiring troops, and want resolution to 
 take up arms ourselves. No wonder, there- 
 fore, that he had some advantage over us 
 in the late war : on the contrary, it is really 
 surprising that we, who are quite regardless 
 of all that concerns our cause, should expect 
 to conquer him, who leaves no means omii- 
 ted that may assure his success. 
 
 Let things be duly weighed, Athenians ! 
 and deeply impressed upon your minds. 
 Consider, that it is not at your option, whe- 
 ther to profess peace or no ; for he hath now 
 made a declaration of war, and hostilities 
 are commenced. Spare no expenses, public 
 or private : let a general ardour appear for 
 taking arms: appoint abler commanders 
 than you have hitherto chosen : for it must 
 not lie imagined, that the men who from 
 a state of prosperity have reduced us to 
 these difficulties, will again extricate us, 
 and restore us to our former splendour : nor 
 is it to be expected, that, if you continue 
 thus supine, your cause will find other as- 
 sertors. Think, how infamous it is, that 
 you, whose ancestors were exposed to such 
 incessant toils, and so great dangers, in the 
 war with Lacedemon, should refuse to en- 
 gage with resolution in defence of that right- 
 ful power which they transmitted to us ! 
 how shameful, that this Macedonian should 
 have a soul so daring, that, to enlarge his 
 empire, his whole body is covered with 
 wounds; and that the Athenians, they 
 whose hereditary character it is to yield to 
 none, but to give law to all their adversaries, 
 are now supine and enervated, insensible to 
 the glory of their fathers, and regardless of 
 the interests of their country ! ' 
 
 That I may not detain you, my sentence 
 is this : that we should instantly prepare for 
 war, and call upon the other states of Greece 
 to join in the common cause; not by words 
 but by actions ; for words, if not attended 
 with actions, are of no force. Our profes- 
 sions particularly have always had the less 
 weight, as we are confessedly superior to 
 the rest of Greece, in prompt address and 
 excellence of speaking.
 
 OltAT. X.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 07 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Having thus far traced the progress of 
 Philip's attempts on Greece, it may be no 
 improper conclusion to continue the ac- 
 count down to his final triumph over the 
 liberty of that country. 
 
 We have seen the Athenians, at last, ex- 
 erting themselves in a matter worthy of that 
 renowned people. And Philip, now return- 
 ing from his Scythian expedition, in which 
 he had engaged, when foiled in his attempts 
 on Perinthus and Byzantium, found himself 
 considerably distressed and harassed by the 
 hostilities of Athens. To extricate himself 
 from these difficulties, he formed a bold and 
 subtle project of entering Greece : and so 
 laid his scheme, as to make the Athenians 
 themselves the instruments of his designs. 
 
 By his intrigues he procured yEschines to 
 be sent as their deputy to the council of 
 Amphictyons. This was in reality of the 
 highest consequence : for no sooner had the 
 deputy taken his seat, but a question was 
 moved, Whether the Locrians of Amphissa 
 had not been guilty of sacrilege, in plough- 
 ing the fields of Cirrha, contiguous to the 
 temple of Delphos ? .Sentiments were di- 
 vided. iEschines proposed a view : this was 
 decreed : and when the Amphictyons came 
 to take it, the Locrians, jealous of their 
 property, and no doubt inflamed by those 
 who were in the secret of the whole design, 
 fell on those venerable persons, and obliged 
 them to consult their safety by flight. Such 
 an outrage was judged to demand the se- 
 verest punishment ; and it was decreed that 
 all Greece should join in inflicting it. But 
 when the army came to a place of rendez- 
 vous, their appearance gave no great pros- 
 pect of success. His agents and partisans 
 then arose, and by their artful representa- 
 tions, prevailed upon the Amphictyons to 
 declare Philip general of the Grecian forces, 
 and to invite him to execute their decrees. 
 As the event was expected, his army was 
 ready. He marched into Greece : but in- 
 stead of attacking the Locrians, he im- 
 mediately seized Elataca, a city of Phocis, 
 of the utmost moment, as it awed Boeotia, 
 and opened him a passage into Attica. 
 
 This step struck Greece with astonish- 
 ment. Athens particularly received the 
 news with inexpressible confusion. The 
 people ran dismayed to an assembly, and 
 
 called on their usual counsellors to give their 
 opinion in this critical juncture. Demos- 
 thenes arose ; and his eloquence was exert ed 
 to animate their drooping courage : by his 
 advice ambassadors were sent through 
 Greece, and particularly to Thebes, to en- 
 gage the states to rise at once to oppose the 
 Macedonian torrent before it bore down all. 
 Demosthenes himself headed the embassy 
 to the Thebans. He found a powerful an- 
 tagonist in Python, Philip's agent: yet, in 
 spite of his remonstrances, he so fired that 
 people, that they at once forgot all the 
 favours Philip had conferred on them, and 
 joined agaist liim with the most cordial zeal. 
 The confederates met at Eleusis. The Py- 
 thian priestess uttered the most terrible pre- 
 dictions, and threatened them with the 
 severest fate ; but Demosthenes took care to 
 prevent the effect of this, by treating her 
 oracles with contempt, which, he declared, 
 were dictated by Philip, and calculated to 
 serve his interests. 
 
 This prince now saw all his arts defeated ; 
 and therefore resolved upon an engagement, 
 as his last resource. He advanced to Che- 
 ronjea, in the neighbourhood of which city 
 the confederates were en'-aniped, under the 
 command of Chares and Lysicles, two 
 Athenian generals, by no means worthy of 
 commanding so illustrious an army. The 
 next day, by sun-rise, both armies were in 
 the field. Alexander, then but nineteen 
 years old, surrounded by a number of ex- 
 perienced officers, commanded the left wing 
 of the Macedonians. He began the onset : 
 and was bravely opposed by the Sacred Band 
 of the Thebans. On the right, Philip him- 
 self commanded, where the Athenians made 
 their attack with such vigour as obliged his 
 soldiers to give ground. The advantage 
 was pursued with the most imprudent and 
 intemperate heat. But while the Athenians 
 were rusliing on without any order, Philip 
 bore down upon them with his phalanx, and 
 obtained an easy, though a bloody victory. 
 At the same time, and with a like effusion 
 of blood, Alexander triumphed over the 
 Thebans. 
 
 Thus were the confederates totally over- 
 thrown, and the liberty of Greece lost for
 
 THE 
 
 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES, 
 
 On Occasions of Public Deliberation. 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED, 
 
 THE ORATION OF DINARCHUS AGAINST DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The public Orations of Demosthenes here 
 presented to the reader, are not indeed of 
 the same interesting nature with those of 
 the former part of this volume, but such as 
 have been always deemed well worthy the 
 regards of the learned. And if we may ever 
 hope to gain an attention to the remains of 
 this eloquent statesman, we must look for it 
 in Britain, where a love of liberty possesses 
 its inhabitants, and a freedom of debate (the 
 natural consequence of a freedom of consti- 
 tution) is held sacred and inviolable : where 
 opposite opinions, accidental abuses and cor- 
 ruptions, various plans of policy, conten- 
 tious for power, and many other causes, 
 conspire to animate its counsellors, and call 
 forth their abilities ; where a profusion of 
 guttering ornamjnt, gay flights of fancy, 
 and figurative eloquence, do by no means 
 form the character of national eloquence : 
 but simplicity and severity of reasoning, 
 force, and energy, eminently distinguish 
 the speakers of every kind, from those of 
 the neighbouring nations ; and where, above 
 all, a warm benevolence of heart, confessed- 
 ly the glory of its citizens, may, at some 
 times, engage their attention to the interests 
 and concerns of a people, who experienced 
 the vicissitudes of integrity and corruption, 
 happiness and misfortune ; who were dis- 
 graced or renowned, just as their councils 
 were weak or well directed. 
 
 The history of the wars, negotiations, go- 
 vernment, and policy, of the conquests and 
 defeats, of the progress and declension, of 
 all ancient states, is universally allowed to 
 be a study highly delightful aud interesting 
 to the ingenuous mind The harangues and 
 counsels of their statesmen are no inconsi- 
 derable part of this history. Nor can it be 
 deemed a useless or unaflectiug occupation 
 
 [1.] Volo hoc oratori contingat, ut cum 
 auditum sit eum esse dicturum, locus in 
 subselliis occupetur, compleatur tribunal ; 
 gratiosi scriba; sint in daudo et cedendo loco, 
 corona multiplex, judex erectus; cum sur- 
 git is qui dicturus sit, significetur a corona 
 silentium ; deinde cre'orae assentationes, 
 niulta; admirationes ; risus, cum velit ; cum 
 
 to inquire, what were the arguments used 
 in a free assembly, on any occasions where 
 the public interests were concerned ; what 
 were the topics urged to awaken the indo- 
 lence, or to check the violence of the people ; 
 to elevate their hopes, or to alarm their ap- 
 prehensions: to correct their prejudices, 
 and to reform their abuses : what schemes 
 of policy were proposed, what measures sug- 
 gested ; what artifices were used, what ar- 
 guments urged by contending parties, to es- 
 tablish their power and interest; what mo- 
 tives were proposed to engage the commu- 
 nity in war, or to inspire the people with 
 pacific dispositions; to prompt them to 
 form, or to dissolve alliances ; to extend 
 their views to the interests and concerns 
 of foreigners, or to confine their regards to 
 their own security. These, I say, and such 
 like, are by no means unworthy of atten- 
 tion ; and these we find in a translation of 
 an ancient orator, executed with any tolera- 
 ble care and fidebty, however it may be dis- 
 covered, by the learned reader, inferior to 
 the illustrious original, in dignity of expres- 
 sion, and excellence of style and composi- 
 tion. 
 
 Or if we consider the remains of an ancient 
 orator in a critical view, merely as the pro- 
 ductions of art and genius, it can be no un- 
 worthy curiosity to endeavour at gaining a 
 just, though faint idea of that excellence 
 which, we are told, had such wonderful ef- 
 fects. The appearance of a great public 
 speaker, and the power of his eloquence, are 
 so feelingly described by Cicero, that we 
 may be certain the piece was copied for him- 
 self, and from what he accounted his great- 
 est glory. [1. ] ' Give me the orator,' saith he, 
 ' who can produce the following effects. 
 When it is once known that he is to speak, 
 let there be the utmost impatience to secure 
 places in the court, which must be instantly 
 
 velit, fletus ; ut qui ha*c procul videat, 
 etiamsi, quid agatur nesciat, placere tamen, 
 et in scena esse Roscium intelligat. Hasc 
 cui contingant, eum scito Attice dicere : ut 
 de Pericle audivimus, ut de Hyperide, ut 
 de -'Eschine ; de ipso quidem Demosthene 
 maxime. Cic. in Brut.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 60 
 
 crowded ; let all be hurry and eagerness ; 
 the clerks and officers must fly up and down 
 « 1th an obliging solicitude, to provide seats 
 and accomodations for the assembly. The 
 auditors must press forward in a crowded cir- 
 cle. Let the judge be roused to the utmost 
 attention. When the speaker rises, the au- 
 dience must command silence, all must be 
 hushed, till some marks of approbation are 
 extorted, and expressions of wonder break 
 out at frequent intervals. If he would in- 
 spire them with mirth, the smile must be 
 universal; if with sorrow, their tears must 
 instantly flow. So that a person at a dis- 
 tance, though he does not know directly 
 what piece is acting, must yet be witness of 
 the powerful impression, and assured that 
 some great favourite actor is on the stage. 
 He that has such power, we may pronounce 
 the truly complete speaker. As we have 
 heard of Pericles, as of Hyperides, as of 
 /Eschines ; but chiefly of Demosthenes him- 
 self.' 
 
 And if Demosthenes appeared with so 
 great splendour in his judicial pleadings, his 
 speeches in public deliberations seem to 
 have been attended with circumstances still 
 more honourable, and with proofs of his 
 abilities still more forcible. He generally 
 acted in scenes of turbulence and public con- 
 fusion. The speakers of the opposite party 
 had first laboured to prepossess the people 
 against the sentiments he was to deliver : to 
 this their own corrupted inclinations con- 
 spired, and vengeance was denounced against 
 all that should dare to control them. In 
 the midst of clamour and commotion the 
 orator arises : his adversaries dread him, 
 and endeavour to drown his remonstrances 
 in tumult. By degrees he gains a patient 
 audience. Opposition is checked, dismayed, 
 and silenced. His countrymen hang on him 
 as on some oracle, that denounces destruc- 
 tion on their vices and misconduct, and 
 points out the only way to security. They 
 feel their own weakness and unworthiness, 
 they acknowledge the justice of his severity : 
 they resign themselves to his direction, and 
 rush enthusiastically forward to the danger- 
 ous field of glory which he points out to 
 them. Such were generally the immediate 
 impressions, though not always permanent 
 ami effectual. 
 
 At other times he appeared when a uni- 
 versal terror and dismay had seized the as- 
 sembly ; when the enemy seemed to be at 
 their gates ; when destruction appeared in- 
 evitable, and despair had buried the facul- 
 ties of those speakers in a mournful silence, 
 who in times of less danger were ever for- 
 ward to take the lead. Then did their coun- 
 try (as Demosthenes himself describes the 
 solemn scene) call on her sons, to aid and 
 support her by their counsels in this affect- 
 ing hour of distress. But in a case of ex- 
 treme difficulty, who can dare to propose 
 any measures whose event must be precari- 
 ous, where ill success may be imputed to the 
 first adviser, and be severely avenged as his 
 crime ? Neither the dangerous situation of 
 affairs, nor the well-known injustice and ca- 
 priciousness of his countrymen, could deter 
 
 Demosthenes. He is known on such occa- 
 sions to have arisen in the assembly, and, 
 by his appearance only, to have inspired his 
 countrymen with some confused expecta- 
 t ion of relief. He has awakened them from 
 their despair, and gradually calmed their 
 apprehensions ; he has dispelled the mist of 
 terror, and diffused bright hopes and cheer- 
 ful expectations through the assembly. Con- 
 fidence and resolution, magnanimity and 
 courage, indignation and martial rage, vi- 
 gorous efforts and generous contempt of 
 danger, have fully confessed the irresistible 
 force and energy of the speaker. 
 
 Such effects were a full reward for the pa- 
 tient assiduity with which Demosthenes la- 
 boured to qualify himself for a public speak- 
 er and leader ; not by weighing words, cul- 
 ling rhetorical flowers, and arranging pe- 
 riods ; but by collecting a large treasure of 
 political knowledge, with which his most 
 early performances appear to be enriched ; 
 by learning and habituating himself to strict 
 and solid reasoning, by studying the human 
 heai t, and the means of affecting it ; by ac- 
 quiring, from constant practice, a prompt- 
 ness which no difficulties could embarrass, 
 an acuteness which no opposition, however 
 subtle and unexpected, could disconcert ; 
 and a copiousness inexhaustible; prepared 
 for all emergencies ; ever flowing, and ever 
 abundantly supplied from its rich and boun- 
 tiful source. 
 
 * Eloquence,' saith an admired writer, [1.] 
 ' must flow like a stream that is fed by an 
 abundant spring, and not spout forth a lit- 
 tle frothy stream, on some gaudy day, and 
 remain dry for the rest of the year.' Such 
 was the eloquence of all those illustrious 
 ancients that history hath celebrated ; and 
 such, in every free state, must be the elo- . 
 quence which can really bring advantage to 
 the public, or honour to the possessor. The 
 voice may be tuned to the most musical 
 perfection : the action may be modelled to 
 the utmost grace and propriety ; expressions 
 may be chosen, of energy, delicacy, and ma- 
 jesty ; the period may be taught to flow 
 with all the ease and eloquence of harmo- 
 nious modulation : yet these are but inferior 
 parts of genuine eloquence ; by no means 
 the first and principal, much less the sole 
 objects of regard. The weapon of the ora- 
 tor should be bright and glittering indeed ; 
 but this should arise from the keenness of 
 its edge : it should be managed with grace ; 
 but with such a grace as is an indication of 
 consummate skill and strength. 
 
 We are told of a Grecian general, who, 
 when he travelled, and viewed the country 
 round him, revolved in his mind how an 
 army might be there drawn up to the great- 
 est advantage; how he could best defend 
 himself, if attacked from such a quarter ; 
 how advance with greatest security ; how 
 retreat with least danger. Something simi- 
 lar to this should be the practice and study 
 of a public speaker. And thus was Demos- 
 thenes, for the most part, employed, in his 
 days of retirement and severe application. 
 
 [1.] Lord Bolingbro^e, Spirit of Patriotism,
 
 70 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 It is indeed insinuated by his enemy, [1.] 
 that he was more solicitous about rounding 
 3 period, than preserving his country. But 
 this is an object fitted rather to the minute 
 regards of such a speaker as the noble author, 
 quoted above, describes with so just a con- 
 tempt; whose whole abilities consist in pro- 
 viding a slender fund for some particular 
 occasion, when, perhaps, a weak or wicked 
 cause is to be graced and ornamented ; who 
 lays on his thin covering, with the utmost 
 care and most scrupulous nicety; which 
 dazzles for a moment, till the first blast of 
 true forcible eloquence puffs away the flimsy 
 produce of his labours, and leaves all beneath 
 ui its native condition of deformity and 
 shame. 
 
 But to return from this digression. An- 
 cient eloquence in general, and that of De- 
 mosthenes in particular, we are told, had 
 wonderful effects. The impression was 
 strong and violent ; the consequences, some- 
 times, of the utmost moment. But by 
 reading the orator in a modern language, 
 how fully and justly soever it might be pos- 
 sible to express the genius and general spirit 
 of the original, or by consulting the original 
 itself, are we always affected with the like 
 impressions ; or, can we always trace the 
 artifice, or feel the force, which produced 
 effects so magnificently described ? By no 
 means ! And this is partly to be imputed 
 to the fault of the reader, partly to a differ- 
 ence of circumstances. 
 
 He who applies himself to the study of 
 Demosthenes, after a long intercourse with 
 writers of a different character ; who hath 
 been accustomed to pointed periods, phrases 
 of affected delicacy, fanciful allusions, figures 
 and images calculated to dazzle and delight 
 the eye, rather than to illuminate, and cast 
 the full glory of evidence round simple 
 truth ; he, I say, must throw by the author 
 in disgust, or labour through him in a cold 
 and lifeless progress, which must serve but 
 to fatigue and disappoint him. He whose 
 taste is ever so justly formed to relish sim- 
 plicity and true manly grace, must yet read 
 the orator to great disadvantage, if entirely 
 a stranger to the spirit of free uncontrolled 
 debate. Liberty (if we may so speak) hath 
 its own ideas and its own language, whose 
 force cannot always be felt, or even its 
 meaning rightly and thoroughly conceived 
 by strangers. 
 
 Tourrreil, the French interpreter of De- 
 mosthenes, and Lucchesini, the Italian com- 
 mentator, seem to have been instances of 
 what is here advanced. The first appears to 
 have had no just taste for the simplicity of 
 modest Attic elegance. He dressed out his 
 author in all that finery, to which he annex- 
 ed the notions of grace and beauty; and 
 presented him to his countrymen turgid and 
 inflated, encumbered and disgraced by ad- 
 ventitious ornaments. The latter lived 
 and wrote in a country where the voice of 
 liberty is but seldom and faintly heard; 
 where political transactions are of a confined 
 nature, and not generally discussed in bold 
 
 [1.] .Eschines in Ctesiph. 
 
 and spirited debate : where parties are seldom 
 formed, public dissensions seldom raised ; no 
 grand interests boldly asserted ; no political 
 measures freely censured. And the effect 
 seems to have been this : the commentator 
 appears shocked at the free, lively, and ani- 
 mated exertions of Demosthenes; he endea- 
 vours to reduce him within more sober 
 bounds : and is sometimes, perhaps misled by 
 trying his expressions by the rules of cold pre- 
 cision. Passages might be produced to war- 
 rant these observations : but 1 shall content 
 myself with just hinting at one, of which 
 notice hath been taken in this volume, [1.] 
 and which seems to prove what may be deem- 
 ed the boldest assertion, that Demosthenes 
 cannot be, always, even understood, but in 
 a country of liberty. ' I am sensible,' saith 
 the orator, ' that the Persian is the common 
 enemy of the Greeks.' To the Italian, this 
 assertion was strange and unaccountable, at 
 a time when the two nations were at peace, 
 and when treaties actually subsisted between 
 them. History was ransacked and tortured 
 for some plausible pretence or grounds for 
 this extraordinary declaration. But in Bri- 
 tain such pains were needless : there, no idea 
 is more familiar than that of a natural and 
 hereditary enemy. 
 
 The reader's taste, however, maybe strict- 
 ly just : he may be well acquainted with the 
 sentiments and language of liberty ; he may 
 be duly instructed in the history of an an- 
 cient people ; he may sutler their affairs and 
 interests to make a lively and forcible impres- 
 sion on his mind : yet still, though well pre- 
 pared for the perusal of an orator, he cannot 
 always perceive his whole force and artifice; 
 as, at this distance of time, facts may appear 
 trivial, and arguments inconclusive, which 
 fired every imagination, and silenced all op- 
 position, in the assembly to which they were 
 originally addressed. We know, in general, 
 the genius, character, and temper of a peo- 
 ple, whom the orator may have endeavoured 
 to effect : we can, therefore, in general, con- 
 ceive and must acknowledge his force and 
 delicacy, the propriety and energy of his 
 representations : they must please and sur- 
 prise us, and sometimes affect and warm us ; 
 and such impressions sufficiently reward our 
 attention. But, in particular passages, the 
 traces of excellence must be faint, or, per- 
 haps, totally effaced : where the art and 
 force of the speaker consist in a judicious 
 attention to particular circumstances of 
 times, occasions, conjunctures of affairs, and 
 dispositions of the auditors. A modern 
 reader is struck with some particular argu- 
 ment or topic ; he is, perhaps, disappointed 
 to find, that it is not extended and enlarged 
 on. But it is possible, nay very likely, that 
 the disposition of those who heard it, re- 
 quired but a single hint, and that a minute 
 detail would have tired and offended. We 
 read that such a particular stroke of elo- 
 quence had wonderful effects ; that such a 
 passage raised a general acclamation, affect- 
 ed, transported, or terrified : we examine 
 this passage by the general rules of criti- 
 
 [2] See Oration on the Classes.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 71 
 
 cism, and we pronounce it inadequate to the 
 wonderful effects ascribed to it. But here 
 we seem to confine our regards to our own 
 sentiments, our own passions, and our own 
 situations : we argue from our own feelings 
 to those of other persons, in circumstances 
 totally different. Cicero, by introducing 
 the mention of the battle of Pharsalia, and 
 the danger which Ca:sar there encountered, 
 (in a manner artful and lively indeed, but 
 such as by no means indicates a surprising 
 or singular elevation of genius,) is said to 
 have made this hero turn pale and tremble. 
 And why should we doubt of the reality of 
 these effects ? We can read of this battle of 
 Pharsalia without emotion ; but it was a 
 more important object to a Roman ; still 
 more affecting to the soldier who fought in 
 that famous field : but to the general who 
 there gained the victory, and by this 
 victory rescued himself from destruction, 
 and obtained the sovereignty of the world, 
 what object can be conceived more capable 
 of alarming his passions, and filling his mind 
 with the most turbulent emotions ? 
 
 But it may be said, that however true the 
 general position, yet the instance brought to 
 illustrate it, is but unhappily chosen: for 
 that, in this case, Caesar's emotion was but 
 pretended. [1.] He was himself an accom- 
 plished orator, and knew all the windings 
 of the art — he courted Cicero's friendship, 
 he saw where his vanity and his weakness 
 lay ; with perfect address, therefore, he 
 played back the orator's art upon himself ; 
 
 his concern was feigned With deference to 
 
 the author here quoted, I must declare that 
 I cannot think this suggestion well warrant- 
 ed ; no more than I can suppose that Oc- 
 tavia, the sister of Augustus, meant to pay 
 a compliment to the poet, and but pretended 
 concern, when she appeared to faint at the 
 recital of the famous passage in the sixth 
 Endd: 
 
 ' Heu miserande puer ! Si qua fata aspera 
 
 rumpas, 
 Tu Marcellus Eris.' 
 
 If Ca?sar, was too well acquainted with 
 thi arts of eloquence, and, of consequence, 
 too well armed against them, to receive 
 any real impression from the efforts of 
 Cicero; this orator, who was equally well 
 acquainted with those arts, the proper 
 occasions of exerting them, and the effects 
 to be expected from them, could not 
 well be deceived by any unnatural sem- 
 blance of emotion. I say unnatural sem- 
 blance ; because it is supposed, that such 
 emotion, in such a case, is contrary to reason 
 and the nature of things: and therefore 
 Cicero, amidst all his vanity, must have 
 seen and despised the injudicious artifice. 
 
 [1.] See Brown's Essay on Ridicule. 
 
 [2.' Cicero in Brut. 
 
 [3.] Vos enim jam Albani tumuli atque 
 luci, vos inquam imploro atque obtestor, 
 vosque Albanorum obrutae aras, sacrorum 
 populi Romani socia? et aequales, quas ille 
 praseeps amentia, ca?sis prostratisque sanc- 
 tissimis lucis, substructionum insanis mo- 
 bbus oppresserat ; vestrsc turn ara>, vestrae 
 
 The truth seems to be, that, in minds the 
 moot enlightened, the passions frequently 
 retain,-! 1'unsiderable degreeof strength; and 
 when kindled by some touch of the orator's 
 address, the combustion is too sudden, as 
 well as too violent, to be effectually suppress- 
 ed by reason. At least the ancients seem 
 persuaded of this; for whatever may be said 
 of eloquence being made for the multitude 
 and the forum, [i] yet when they addre ■ i 
 themselves, not to the populace, but to se- 
 lect and refined judges, they were by no 
 means (as Quintilian expresses it) quadam 
 eloquentia; frugalitate contenti, ac manum 
 semper intra pallium continentes. On the 
 contrary, some of the noblest and boldest ef- 
 forts of art were exerted, some of the sub- 
 limest flights of genius indulged, on such 
 occasions. To be convinced of this, wen i i 
 but turn to any of the judicial pleadings of 
 Cicero. Take the beautiful passage, in an 
 oration against Verres, quoted by Mr. 
 Hume, in his elegant Essay on Eloquence : 
 or read the following passage in the oration 
 fir Milo : [3.] ' On you, ye Albanian mounts 
 and groves, on you I call. Bear witness for 
 me, ye ruined altars of Alba (equal in sanc- 
 tity to the Roman shrines,) destroyed, and 
 buried under the profane edifices raised by 
 his outrageous sacrilege. Your influence, 
 your power it was which then prevailed. 
 Your divinity, then, triumphed, and com- 
 pleted its vengeance on all his profanations. 
 And thou, O holy Jove, didst then at length 
 look down from thy mount : then didst thou 
 execute thy justice on the wretch, whose 
 wickedness and abandoned impurity had so 
 often polluted thy lakes, thy groves, thy 
 boundaries. To thee, to thee, and in thy 
 presence, did he pay the late, but justly me- 
 rited, punishment.' — That the circumstances 
 of the trial contributed to animate the ora- 
 tor's style, is certain, as he himself informs 
 us. [4.J Yet, amidst all this enthusiasm, the 
 consummate master must have had a due 
 regard to propriety. He could not have for- 
 gotten that he addressed himself immedi- 
 ately to a few selected judges ; and if such 
 elevated strains of eloquence sometimes fail- 
 ed of success in select assemblies, and before 
 judges of penetration and refinement, the 
 same may be observed of sober, solid, and 
 just argument. Modern times are acquainted 
 with refined assemblies in which affairs of 
 highest moment are commonly discussed; 
 and if the spirited and impassioned orator 
 doth not, on all occasions, obtain a majority 
 in such assemblies, they do not always im- 
 pute it to the superior strength of reason, 
 that fortifies his hearers against the assaults 
 of eloquence. 
 
 In poetry the impression made upon the 
 
 religiones viguerunt, vestravisvaluit, quam 
 ille omni scelere polluerat ; tuque ex tuo 
 edito monte Latiari, sancte Jupiter, cujus 
 ille lacus, nemora, finesque saepe omni nefa- 
 rio stupro, et scelere macularat, aliquando 
 ad eum puniendum ocuios aperuisti ; vohis 
 ilia?, vobis, vestro in conspectu serae sod 
 justae tamen, et debitce poena; solutae sunt. 
 [4.] In Brut. 
 
 h 2
 
 72 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 hearer is so far from being lessened or de- 
 feated by his refinement and understanding, 
 that it is really heightened and increased in 
 proportion to the accuracy of his judgment 
 and the delicacy of his sentiments. And al- 
 though the man of sense, who, in this case, re- 
 signs himself up to the pleasing delusion, 
 guards and arms himself against all artifice, in 
 that of eloquence, it might not be difficult to 
 shew how this vigilance is sometimes defeated 
 and eluded. But the points which I am at pre- 
 sent concerned to establish, are no more than 
 these : That thewonderful effects ascribed to 
 ancient eloquence are not mistaken or exag- 
 gerated : That its force was really extraordi- 
 nary, and its impressions, in proportion, vio- 
 lent ; but that the reader who applies himself 
 to study the remains of an ancient orator, and 
 of Demosthenes in particular, may sometimes 
 be disappointed in his sanguine expectations 
 of delight, if he hath been long accustomed to 
 compositions of less intrinsic worth, though 
 of more glittering ornament ; if he is in ge- 
 neral unused to the energy of a free debate ; 
 if he is unacquainted with the history and 
 character of the people to whom the orator 
 addressed himself; or if he precipitately 
 judges of the real force and efficacy of his elo- 
 quence from his own sentiments and feelings, 
 without making the necessary allowance for 
 a difference of times, circumstances, pas- 
 sions, and dispositions. 
 
 He who will not acknowledge that some 
 particular traces of that exquisite skill which 
 our orator possessed, are now become faint 
 and obscure, pays him a veneration rather 
 too implicit. And he who does not still 
 perceive, and feel, his rapid harmony exactly 
 adjusted to the sense; his vehement reason- 
 ing without any appearance of art ; his 
 disdain, anger, boldness, freedom, involved 
 in a continued stream of argument, [1.] 
 may justly suspect his own deficiency in 
 point of taste : nor is it any indication of a 
 superior strength of reason, if he does not 
 sometimes accompany the orator in these 
 impetuous passions and exalted sentiments 
 which animate his compositions. 
 
 It is a common observation, how much an 
 orator is assisted by the charms of action or 
 pronunciation, which Demosthenes is said 
 to have regarded as the chief part, or rather 
 the whole, of his art ; and, how much the 
 loss of these must diminish his lustre. Yet 
 there are other advantages which such a 
 speaker derives from subjecting his works 
 to a private review, to a strict, dispassionate, 
 and reiterated study. The justness of his 
 reasoning, the soundness of his policy, the 
 worth and elevation of his sentiments, (and 
 these are the really valuable parts of an ora- 
 tor,) are thus brought to a new and severe 
 trial : and if, on such a trial, these excel- 
 lences preserve their weight and lustre, this 
 is an additional proof that they are real and 
 intrinsic What Longinus observes of the 
 sublime, is equally applicable to all the ex- 
 cellences of an orator; that, if they are 
 really genuine, we must form the higher 
 
 tentively they are considered ; and that the 
 true and indisputable proof of a writer's 
 value arises from the consenting approba- 
 tion of all ages, professions, and inclinations. 
 This last and final sanction our author's 
 merit hath received from private examina- 
 tion, though, at this time, but a part of his 
 merit can thus appear. And hence, again, 
 we may form a judgment of the force and 
 influence of his living eloquence. If he still 
 commands our approbation, and even warms 
 our hearts, how must the Rhodians have 
 been effected when yEschines read his cele- 
 brated performance to that people ! And if 
 they were strongly affected, how must the 
 speaker himself have shaken and transported 
 the souls of his hearers, in the Athenian 
 assembly ! 
 
 It may be said, that the excellence of this 
 author hi the original, is a point too plain to 
 require proof or illustration ; that it is uni- 
 versally acknowledged and has been the 
 subject of repeated praise; but that this 
 consummate excellence of the original ne- 
 cessarily inspires a prejudice against all at- 
 tempts* to copy it in another language; 
 that such attempts are presumptuous ; the 
 learned despise them, others are deceived by 
 them, and made to think with less honour 
 of the great author, than his own genuine 
 undisguised merit must ever obtain. 
 
 I could wish that this objection could be 
 easily eluded, and that I could persuade my- 
 self that the present work did not enforce 
 and confirm it. However, something I pre- 
 sume to say, hi apology for such attempts, 
 and for the manner in w hich they are ex- 
 cuted. 
 
 It hath been already observed, that the 
 sentiments and arguments of an ancient 
 orator may be conveyed to the reader in a 
 translation executed wrth tolerable care 
 and fidelity. To this we may add the 
 manner and order in which he arranges 
 his thoughts ; no inconsiderable part of his 
 address and artifice. And surely the atten- 
 tion of the reader unskilled in ancient lan- 
 guages, is rather liberally rewarded by these 
 advantages; although the learned may de- 
 spise the inglorious toil of the translator, 
 whose composition disgraces his noble origi- 
 nal. Yet, even in this point, should our 
 attempts be judged with some degree of can- 
 dour and indulgence. An ancient language, 
 even were it not superior to our own, must 
 ever be read with favourable prejudice. 
 Antiquity renders it respectable and vene- 
 rable. Its sounds and phrases are not de- 
 based by common and familiar use, but pre- 
 serve their dignity in a stately and solemn 
 retirement. Longinus speaks of sume vulgar 
 phrases to be found in Demosthenes; but 
 all such now lie concealed : and, unless the 
 image conveyed be low, nothing can appear 
 in the language humbled or debased; all 
 flows on in one equal course of decency, 
 grandeur, and dignity. But this is not the 
 case in our own language. Familiarity 
 tempts us to regard it with less reverence. 
 
 ideas" of them, the more frequently and at- I Its phrases and expressions are in constant 
 
 „„ I use ; and what we hear and pronounce every 
 
 fl.l See Hume's Essay on Eloquence. | day, cannot easily endure a comparison with
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 73 
 
 a language to whose very name we have 
 been long taught to annex the ideas of gran- 
 deur and excellence. If in our composition 
 we adhere scrupulously to the simple and 
 natural form, the pomp and dignity of the 
 original may'seem to be lost and degraded. 
 In order to avoid this extreme, we some- 
 times recur to a grave and laboured style, 
 transpositions unnatural, and periods dis- 
 torted ; an unpardonably awkward substi- 
 tute to ease and graceful majesty. And 
 scarcely can we steer our course so happily, 
 but that we must be in danger of touching, 
 or appearing to touch, on one or other of 
 these dangerous extremes. 
 
 But our difficulties appear stronger, and 
 our claim to indulgence more just, when the 
 real excellence of the ancient languages is 
 considered. The Greek, in particular, is 
 superior even to that of the Romans in point 
 of sweetness, delicacy, and copiousness. 
 This is the judgment of the great Roman 
 critic. [1.] And with him an English trans- 
 lator still may say, [2. J ' He that ex- 
 pects from us the grace and delicacy of the 
 Attic style, must give us the same sweetness, 
 and an equal copiousness of language.' To 
 acknowledge this inferiority m our own 
 language, is not to derogate from its real 
 merit. It is a weapon keen and forcible, if 
 carefully preserved, and wielded with due 
 skill. But he who should attempt to follow 
 the great writers of antiquity in every maze 
 and "winding, through which their advan- 
 tages enabled them, and their circumstances 
 obliged them, to direct their course ; he who 
 should labour through all the straits of a 
 minute and scrupulous imitation, to ex- 
 press their words, and dispose of their pe- 
 riods, exactly in the same form and order, 
 must be equally inattentive to the genius of 
 the language from which he copies, and to 
 that of his own ; equally inattentive to the 
 excellences of this, and to its comparative 
 defects. At least this is a state of subjection 
 to which the present translator thought it 
 by no means necessary to stoop . and if in 
 this he should be judged to have taken too 
 great a libertv, he flies for shelter to the 
 authority of Quintilian, [3.] who compares 
 the copy formed from the outward traces 
 and aspect of the original, to those airy 
 phantoms which were supposed by Epicurus 
 to issue from all bodies. If it may be 
 thought a violation of the Attic simplicity, 
 that he hath sometimes ventured on an 
 epithet, a metaphor, or some other figurative 
 
 [1.] Quintil. Inst. Orat. lib. xii. cap. 10. 
 
 [2. J Quare qui a Latinis exigit illam gra- 
 tiam sermonis Attici, uet mini in loquendo 
 eandem jucunditatem, et parem copiam. 
 
 T3.] Nee — sufficiat imaginem virtutis ef- 
 fingere, et solam ut sic dicerem cutem, vel 
 potius illas Epicun figuras quas e summis 
 
 form of speech, to express what is natural 
 and unadorned in the original, let it be re- 
 membered, that in this he confines himself 
 within much stricter bounds than the same- 
 great critic prescribes to those who translated 
 from the Greek into Latin. In such works 
 he tells us, ' Figuras — quibus maxime oma- 
 tur oratio, multas ac varias excogitandi 
 etiam necessitas quaedam est : quia plerum- 
 que a Gratis Romana dissentiunt. lib. x. 
 cap. 5.' And in imitations of every kind in 
 a language inferior to that of the original, 
 in order to supply the defect, his rule is this : 
 ' Oratio translationum nitore illuminanda. 
 lib. xii. cap. 10.' 
 
 To exhibit Demosthenes such as he would 
 have appeared in an English assembly sim- 
 ilar to that of Athens, should certainly be 
 the scope of his translator. Though he may 
 be unfortunate in his aim, a voluntary de- 
 viation would be unpardonable. And an 
 English Demosthenes would undoubtedly 
 attend to the genius of his language. To 
 express his dignity and majesty, he would 
 not assume a constrained, uncouth, and per- 
 plexed air. He would have confined himself 
 within the modest bounds of Atticism, but 
 of English Atticism, (if the expression may 
 be allowed.) He would have adopted a 
 greater share of ornament, because a greater 
 share of ornament would not be inconsistent 
 with neatness, decent elegance, and manly 
 dignity. 
 
 If it be still observed, that our language 
 has been corrupted, and the cause of learn- 
 ing disgraced by translation, it might be easy 
 to shew in what cases this has been, and 
 must be, the consequence ; and that an at- 
 tempt to copy the excellences of ancient 
 writers of renown, does not necessarily fall 
 under this censure. Or if the meanness and 
 insignificance of the employment should be 
 urged, a translator mignt observe, in the 
 fulness of his vanity, that the great Roman 
 orator himself thought it not beneath his 
 dignity to publish his translations from 
 Plato, Xenophon, and Demosthenes. But 
 as to the utility of this employment, it need 
 not be pointed out or defended, to the 
 learned. As to its dignity, the translator is 
 not at all solicitous to maintain it. He is 
 ready to acknowledge, that the pittance of 
 reputation to be acquired in this way is but 
 trifling and insignificant, if he is so fortu- 
 nate as to meet with that candour and indul- 
 gence which have hitherto favoured his 
 attempts. 
 
 corporibus dicit effluere. Hoc autem illis 
 accidit, qui non introspectis penitus virtuti- 
 bus, ad priinum se velut aspectium orationis 
 aptarunt, et, cum iis felicissime cessit im- 
 itatio, verbis atquenumeris sunt non multum 
 differentes. lib. x. cap. 2.
 
 74 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [okat. xt. 
 
 THE ORATION ON THE CLASSES: 
 
 PRONOUNCED IN THE ARCHONSHIP OF DIOTIMUS, THE THIRD YEAR OF THE 
 HUNDRED AND SIXTH OLYMPIAD. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The title of this oration is taken from one 
 particular part of it, in which the speaker 
 enlarges on the method of dividing the 
 citizens into lv/1/j.opku, or Classes, in order 
 to raise the supplies, and to answer the exi- 
 gencies of the state. The design of it was, 
 to allay an extravagant ferment which had* 
 been raised at Athens, and to recommend 
 caution and circumspection at a time when 
 danger was apprehended. Artaxerxes Ochus, 
 king of Persia, had been for some time em- 
 ployed in making preparations for war. 
 These were represented to the Athenians as 
 the effect of a design formed against Greece, 
 and against their state in particular. They 
 were conscious of having given this prince 
 sufficient umbrage, by the assistance which 
 their general, Chares, had afforded to some 
 of his rebellious subjects : they were entirely 
 possessed by the notions of their own im- 
 portance, and therefore readily listened to 
 their suggestions, who endeavoured to per- 
 suade them that some important blow was 
 meditated against their dominions. An as- 
 sembly of the people was convened ; and 
 the general temper both of the speakers and 
 auditors are distinctly marked out in several 
 passages of the oration. The bare mention 
 of a war with Persia, at once recalled to 
 their minds the glorious days of their an- 
 cestors, and the great actions of Athens and 
 her generals against the barbarians. These 
 were now displayed with all the address 
 and force of eloquence, and the people urged 
 to imitate the bright example of antiquity ; 
 to rise up in arms against the Persian, and 
 to send their ambassadors through Greece, 
 to summon all the states to unite with Athens 
 against the common enemy. To natter the 
 national vanity of their countrymen, was an 
 expedient which many speakers had found 
 
 [1.] That this oration was pronounced in 
 the third year of the hundred and sixth 
 Olympiad, we are assured by Dionysius, (in 
 Epist. ad Amma?um,) and that Demosthenes 
 was at this time in his twenty-eighth year. 
 Plutarch, indeed, (if he be the author of 
 the ' Lives of the Ten Orators,') places his 
 nativity in the fourth year of the ninety- 
 eighth Olympiad. But, not to mention the 
 inaccuracies in this tract, the orator himself 
 declares, in his oration against Midias, that 
 he was then in his thirty-second year. This 
 oration was epoken in the archonship of 
 Callimachus, that is (according to Diodorus) 
 in the fourth year of the hundred and seventh 
 Olympiad. And therefore, by calculating 
 from hence, the reader will find the authority 
 of Dionysius, as to the time of our orator's 
 
 birth, clearly and fully confirmed How 
 
 then came it to pass, that he was allowed to 
 speak on public affairs before the age of 
 
 effectual for establishing their power and 
 credit in the assembly. And possibly some 
 might have spoken, with a corrupt design of 
 diverting the attention of their countrymen, 
 from , those contests and dangers in which 
 they were more immediately concerned. 
 But however this may be, the impropriety 
 of those bold and precipitate measures which 
 they recommended, is urged with the ut- 
 most force in the following oration ; in 
 which we shall find the speaker moderating 
 the unseasonable zeal of his countrymen, 
 without absolutely shocking their prejudices. 
 Demosthenes is most generally known as an 
 orator, by the fire and energy with which he 
 louses his countrymen to arms. But the 
 delicacy of address and artifice, which he 
 displays in this and many of the following 
 orations, is a part of his character no less 
 worthy of attention. A youth of twenty- 
 eight years, thoroughly acquainted with the 
 constitution, interests, and connexions of his 
 country, rising for the first time in a debate 
 on public affairs, opposing himself with 
 boldness and resolution, and at the same 
 time with the utmost art and insinuation, 
 to the general bent of the assembly ; calm- 
 ing the turbulence of his countrymen, and 
 presenting their true interests to their view, 
 in the strongest and most striking colours ; 
 is an object truly pleasing and affecting. 
 
 ORATION ON THE CLASSES. [l.J 
 
 Diotimo, Archon. — Olympiad. IOC. An. 3. 
 
 The men who thus dwell upon the praises 
 of your ancestors, seem to me, ye Men of 
 Athens ! to have chosen a subject fitted 
 
 thirty years ? for in the Attic laws re- 
 specting public speakers, it is expressly en- 
 acted, Mj/ e\ae\ftetv riva e\ireiv }ii]in>3 rpui- 
 Kovra er»i ytfovoTw ' Let no man enter the 
 assembly to speak, who hath not yet at- 
 tained to the age of thirty.' The solution 
 of this difficulty by Lucchesini seems solid 
 and satisfactory. I know, saith he, there 
 are some who assert, that this, as well as 
 some other laws of Athens, fell into disuse j 
 but such a method of solving the difficulties 
 of antiquity, without any manner of proof 
 or authority, is unsafe and fallacious. Be- 
 sides, the assertion is contradicted by 
 ^Eschines, who, in his oration against Ti- 
 marchus, declares, That not only this, but 
 other severer laws, relative to public speak- 
 ers, were in full force. In my opinion, the 
 difficulty should rather be explained in this 
 manner": Among the other magistrates who 
 were chosen every year at Athens, there
 
 OltAT. XI.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 75 
 
 rather to gratify the assembly, than to do 
 the due honour to those on whom they 
 lavish their applause. As they attempt to 
 speak of actions which no words can worthily 
 describe, the illustrious subject adorns their 
 speech, and gives them the praise of elo- 
 quence; while their hearers are made to 
 think of the virtues of those heroes with 
 much less elevation than these virtues of 
 themselves inspire. To me, time itself 
 seems to be the noblest witness to their glory. 
 A series of so many years hath now passed 
 over, and still no men have yet appeared, 
 whose actions could surpass those patterns 
 of perfection. It shall be my part therefore, 
 solely to endeavour to point out the means 
 which may enable you most effectually to 
 prepare for war. For, in fact, were all our 
 
 were ten orators appointed by lot, whose 
 business it was to deliver their opinions in 
 the assemblies on all affairs that concerned 
 the state ; and for which they received the 
 gratuity of a drachma [seven pence three 
 farthings] from the treasury. To these only 
 must that law of Athens, which determines 
 the age of orators, be construed to extend. 
 As it was their duty to deliver their opinions 
 in the senate, they ought of course to be of 
 the senatorial age : but no person could be 
 admitted to the senate, who had not com- 
 - pleted his thirtieth year. But as for the law 
 of Solon, it excludes no citizen whatsoever 
 from the liberty of speaking, who might 
 attend the assembly, nor had the seniors 
 any other privilege than that of speaking 
 first. The law runs thus : ' Let the senior 
 first propose such measures as he thinks 
 most expedient for the republic, and after 
 him such other citizens as choose it, accord- 
 ing to the order of their age.' iEschines 
 cites it in the same words against Ctesiphon. 
 No mention is here made of thirty years. 
 Such of the citizens as were in their twen- 
 tieth year might attend the assembly, and 
 had their names enrolled. That they had a 
 share in the administration, and might speak 
 in public at this age, is confirmed by Lucian 
 in his Jupiter Tragcedus, where Momus 
 thus addresses Apollo : ' You are now be- 
 come a legal speaker, having long since left 
 the class of young men, and enrolled your 
 name in the books of the Duodecemviri.' 
 Now, that the citizens were considered as 
 having arrived at the age of manhood in 
 their eighteenth year, we learn from De- 
 mosthenes in his oration against Aphobus. 
 For his father died when he was but seven 
 years old, and he remained for ten years 
 under the care of his guardian; at which 
 time, being released from his hands, he 
 pleaded his own cause against him. Now 
 his father had given directions that he should 
 be under a guardian till he had arrived at 
 the age of manhood : and this he did, as 
 soon as as he had reached his eighteenth 
 year; all which is collected from his own 
 words. These circumstances considered, it 
 is very easy to suppose that Demosthenes 
 spoke in public, as he really did, in his eight- 
 and-twentieth year. Nor does any manner 
 of difiiculty arise from what he says himself 
 
 speakers to proceed in a pompous display of 
 their abilities, such parade and ostentation 
 could not possibly prove of the least advan- 
 tage to the public : but if any man whatever 
 will appear, and can explain to your full 
 satisfaction what kind ot armament, how 
 great, and how supported, may serve the 
 present exigencies of the state, then all these 
 alarms must instantly be dispelled. This I 
 shall endeavour to the utmost of my abili- 
 ties, having first briefly declared my opinion 
 of our situation with respect to the King. 
 
 I do regard the King as the common ene- 
 my; of all the Greeks. [1.] But I cannot, 
 for that reason, advise, that we should be 
 the only people to undertake a war against 
 him : for I do not find the Greeks [2.] them- 
 selves united to each other in sincere affec- 
 
 in his oration for the Crown: 'When the 
 Phocian war was raised, &c. for I had then 
 no hand in the administration :' that wax 
 being begun in the second year of the hun- 
 dred and sixth Olympiad, under the archon- 
 ship of Callistratus, at a time when our 
 orator was only in the twenty-seventh year 
 of his age. 
 
 [1.] The commentators who endeavour to 
 account for this assertion, by considering 
 the present state of Greece, or any late trans- 
 actions, with Persia, seem to examine the 
 orator too rigidly, and with two much cold- 
 ness and abstraction. It is by no means the 
 result of any recent events. It had been the 
 language of Greece for ages ; the language 
 of poets, historians, and orators. Even in 
 those times of corruption, the popular lead- 
 ers seldom ventured to use any other, par- 
 ticularly in an assembly where national va- 
 nity was so predominant as in that of Athens. 
 Whatever treaties had been made with the 
 king of Persia, however peace might have 
 now subsisted between him and the Greeks, 
 still he was their natural enemy. 
 
 [2.] The sacred war now raged in Greece. 
 The Phocians, Lacedemonians, and Athe- 
 nians were engaged on one side ; the Boeo- 
 tians, Thessalians, Locrians, and some 
 other inferior states on the other : each party 
 was harassed and exhausted by the war. 
 The Phocians had reason to complain of the 
 Athenians, who proved a useless and inactive 
 ally. Whatever connexions had lately sub- 
 sisted between Athens and Sparta, this lat- 
 ter state still hated its ancient rival, and 
 was impatient to recover its former splen- 
 dour and power. A prospect of assistance 
 from Persia must have at once determined 
 the Lacedemonians to detach themselves 
 from the confederacy, and to act against the 
 Athenians ; -particularly if any plausible pre- 
 tence could be 'alleged for uniting with the 
 Persian. The Phocians, who were not 
 always influenced by the most religious en- 
 gagements, might fairly be suspected of 
 making no scruple to accept effectual assis- 
 tance from the Great King, and at once re- 
 nouncing their alliance with the Athenians. 
 The Italian commentator supposes, that 
 the orator expresses his apprehensions only 
 of the Lacedemonians, and that they are 
 particularly pointed out, as the men who
 
 7G 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [OEAT. XI. 
 
 lion : nay, some among them seem to have 
 more confidence in him than in certain of 
 their own body. In such circumstances, I 
 account it of the utmost moment that we 
 should be strictly attentive to the origin of 
 this war, that it may be free from every im- 
 putation of injustice. Let our armament 
 be carried on with vigour ; but let us care- 
 fully adhere to the principles of equity. For 
 in iny opinion, Athenians ! the states of 
 Greece (if it be once evident and incontestible 
 that the king makes attempts against them) 
 will instantly unite, and express the most 
 ardent gratitude to those who arose before 
 them, who, with them, still stand faithfully 
 and bravely to repel these attempts. But 
 while this is yet uncertain, should you begin 
 hostilities, I fear we may be obliged to fight 
 against an enemy reinforced by those very 
 men for whose interests we were so forward 
 to express our zeal. Yes ! he will suspend 
 his designs, (if he hath really designs against 
 the Greeks;) his gold will be dispersed libe- 
 rally amongst them ; his promises of friend- 
 ship will be lavished upon them : while they, 
 distressed in their private wars, and atten- 
 tive only to support them, will disregard the 
 general welfare of the nation. 
 
 Into such confusion, into such weak mea- 
 sures, let us not precipitate the state. With 
 respect to the king, you cannot pursue the 
 same counsels with some others of the 
 Greeks. Of these, many might, without 
 the charge of inconsistency, neglect the rest 
 of Greece, while engaged in the pursuit of pri- 
 vate interest. But of you it would be unwor- 
 thy, even though directly injured, to inflict 
 so severe a punishment on the guilty, as to 
 abandon them to the power of the barbarian. 
 
 Thus are we circumstanced : and let us 
 then be careful that we do not engage in 
 this war upon unequal terms ; that he whom 
 we suppose to entertain designs against the 
 Greeks, may not recommend himself to 
 their confidence, so as to be deemed their 
 friend. And how shall these things be ef- 
 fected? By giving public proof that the 
 forces of this state are well appointed, and 
 complete for action; but that in this our 
 procedure we are determined to adhere in- 
 violably to justice. 
 
 Let the bold and hazardous, who are ve- 
 hement in urging you to war, attend to tins. 
 
 have more confidence in the Persian than in 
 their own brethren ; and who would sacrifice 
 every consideration to the support of their 
 wars with the Greeks. The Phocians, he 
 observes, could not possibly unite with the 
 Persians, on account of the former injuries 
 they had received from them, as well as of 
 their invariable union with Athens. But a 
 view of the politics of Greece, and indeed 
 of the politics of all ages and nations, may 
 convince us, that too much stress is not to 
 be laid on such an argument. Nor was there 
 less to fear from the confederates on the 
 other side. They fought with an inveterate 
 and implacable rancour ; and all their efforts 
 were scarcely sufficient to support the quar- 
 rel. Their strength was continually wasting, 
 and their treasuses were quite exhausted; 
 
 It is not difficult when an assembly is con- 
 vened, to acquire the reputation of courage : 
 no ; nor, when dangers are actually impend- 
 ing, to speak with an impassioned boldness. 
 But it is truly difficult, and it is our duty, 
 in the time of danger, to support the cha- 
 racter of superior bravery ; in our councils, 
 to display the same superiority of wisdom. 
 
 I, on my part, ye men of Athens ! think 
 that a war with the king may prove danger- 
 ous; in a battle, the consequence of such 
 a war, I see no danger. And why ? Because 
 wars of every kind require many advantages, 
 of naval force, of money, and of places. 
 Here he is superior to the state. In a bat- 
 tle, nothing is so necessary to ensure success 
 as valiant troops ; and of these, we and our 
 confederates caii boast the greater number. 
 For this reason, 1 earnestly recommend to 
 you, by no means to be the first to enter on 
 a war : but for an engagement, I think you 
 should be effectually prepared. Were there 
 one method of preparing to oppose barba- 
 rians, and another for engaging with Greeks, 
 then we might expect, with reason, that 
 any hostile intentions against the Persian 
 must be at once discovered. But as in every 
 armament the manner is the same, the ge- 
 neral provisions equally the same, whether 
 our enemies are to be attacked, or our allies 
 to be protected, and our rights defended ; 
 why, when we have avowed enemies, [1.] 
 should we seek for others? Shall we not 
 prepare against the one, and be ready to 
 oppose the other, should he attempt to in- 
 jure us ? Call now upon the Greeks to 
 
 unite with you. — But suppose ye should not 
 readily concur with them in all their mea- 
 sures, (as some are by no means favourably 
 inclined to this state,) can it be imagined 
 
 that they will obey your summons ? 
 
 ' Certainly : for we shall convince them that 
 the king forms designs against their interests, 
 which they do not foresee.' — Ye powers ! is 
 it possible, that you can be thus persuaded ? 
 Yes ; I know you are. But whatever ap- 
 prehensions you may raise, they must in- 
 fluence these Greeks less forcibly than their 
 disputes with you and with each other ; and 
 therefore the remonstrances of your ambas- 
 sadors will but appear like the tales of idle 
 wanderers. [2.] If on the other hand ye 
 pursue the measures now proposed, there is 
 
 the most favourable occasion for the Great 
 King to gain them to his purposes. The 
 speaker indeed declares, in another part of 
 this oration, that the Thebans would not 
 concur with the Persian in any design con- 
 fessedly formed against the nation of Greece. 
 Yet still they might, in their present cir- 
 cumstances, and in a cause which they af- 
 fected to consider as the cause of the nation, 
 accept of his assistance. They actually did 
 accept of it in the course of this war. 
 
 [1.] The Bceotians, Thessalians, &c. were 
 the avowed enemies of Athens, in conse- 
 quence of the attachment of this state b> 
 Phocis; and the king of Macedon, by his 
 invasions of their settlements in Thrace, 
 and other acts of hostility. 
 
 [2.] In the original oubo' ubn u\V n
 
 ohat. xi.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 77 
 
 not a single state of Greece that will hesitate 
 a moment to come in, and to solicit your al- 
 liance, when they see our thousand horse [1.] 
 our infantry as numerous as could be wished, 
 our three hundred ships ; an armanent which 
 they must regard as their surest refuge and 
 defence. Should you apply for their assist- 
 ance, you must appeal as supplicants: 
 should they refuse it, you incur the shame 
 of a repulse. But if, while your forces are 
 completed, you suspend your operations, 
 the protection you then grant to them must 
 appear as the consequence of their request : 
 and, be assured, they will all fly to you for 
 this protection. 
 
 With these and the like reflections deeply 
 impressed upon my mind, I have not la- 
 lxiured to prepare a bold, vain, tedious ha- 
 rangue. No, my fellow-citizens ! our pre- 
 parations have been the sole object of my 
 thoughts, and the manner of conducting 
 them with effect and expedition. Grant 
 me your attention ; and if my sentiments 
 be approved, confirm them by your voices. 
 
 It is then the first and most impor- 
 tant part of preparation, to possess your 
 minds with due resolution; so that every 
 citizen, when called to action, may exert 
 himself with alacrity and zeal. You know 
 that in every instance, where, having first 
 resolved on your designs in concert, every 
 single member deemed it incumbent on him 
 
 'PAH'niAHSOYilN oi 7rpia/Jei? srepitom-er. 
 It was urged by the speakers on the other 
 side, that ambassadors should be sent 
 through Greece, to represent the dangerous 
 designs of the Persian, and to exhort the 
 several states to suspend their private ani- 
 mosities, and to unite with the Athenians 
 against the common enemy. The orator, 
 who is endeavouring to represent the useless 
 and ineffectual nature of such a measure, 
 compares these ambassadors to the ancient 
 rhapsodists, or bards, whose lives were spent 
 in travelling, and amusing their entertainers 
 with songs and poems. And this similitude 
 seems to f.rise not only from their repeating 
 the same declarations, but from the circum- 
 stance of going from city to city, and ex- 
 citing curiosity by their speeches, without 
 any other effect. 
 
 [1.] At first sight it may appear extraordi- 
 nary that the orator should speak in high 
 terms of such a body as one thousand horse. 
 But we must consider that Attica was a 
 mountainous country, and therefore unfit 
 for breeding horses. In the infancy of the 
 state, when Athens was governed by kings, 
 their cavalry amounted to no more than 
 ninety-six, each vavxpapta, or twelfth part 
 of a tribe, furnishing two. But the number 
 of such divisions was then but forty-eight, 
 as the tribes were originally but four. This 
 small body was at first an object of derision 
 to the Persians, at Marathon ; but after- 
 ward proved formidable and dangerous. 
 After the defeat of the Persians, the city 
 began to increase in power, and was enabled 
 to raise a body of three hundred horse; 
 which, in the time of the Peloponnesian 
 war, was augmented to twelve hundred, (as 
 
 to labour vigorously in the execution, you 
 have never once proved unsuccessful. But 
 whenever we have first decreed, and then 
 each man hath turned his eyes on others, 
 fondly imagining that he himself need not 
 act, that his neighbour would do all ; our 
 designs have never once been executed. 
 
 With these sentiments, and these vigorous 
 resolutions, I recommend that you should 
 proceed to the appointment of your twelve 
 hundred ; and raise them to two thousand, 
 by a farther addition of eight hundred. 
 Thus, when all necessary deductions are 
 made, of those who by their condition [2.] 
 are excused from contributing, or by any 
 circumstances are unable to contribute, still 
 the original number of twelve hundred will 
 remain complete. These I would have 
 formed into twenty classes, each consisting 
 of sixty citizens, agreeably to the present 
 constitution. And it is my opinion, that of 
 these classes each should be divided into five 
 parts consisting of twelve persons ; ever at- 
 tending to a just and equal distribution of 
 the richer with the poorer. Thus should 
 our citizens be arranged: — the reason will 
 appear when the whole scheme of the regu- 
 lation hath been explained. 
 
 But our ships; how are they to be ap- 
 pointed ? Let their whole number be fixed 
 to three hundred, divided, by fifteenth parts 
 into twenty portions. Of the first hundred, 
 
 we learn from Thucyd. B. II. and jEschines 
 TlapaTt.) This was' the greatest body of 
 cavalry the Athenians ever possessed, which 
 seems, by the distresses of the state, to have 
 been reduced to a thousand in the time of 
 Demosthenes, as he mentions no greater 
 number, though it was his business rather 
 to magnify their force in this passage, than 
 to extenuate it. The Equestrian Order was 
 a rank of dignity at Athens, as among the 
 Romans. But iii latter times the citizens 
 were allowed to keep this rank, and to sub- 
 stitute others to serve in their stead. Luc- 
 chesinu 
 
 [2.] Those who by their condition, &c] 
 These are particularly specified in the origi- 
 nal, t7riK/\i;p on 'maiden heiresses;' bpipanwv, 
 'orphans of the other sex;' K\npoux"«W, 
 ' men appointed to form a colony ;' and 
 KoivavtKav, ' men incorporated into certain 
 societies, which were exempted from contri- 
 buting.' From whence it seems evident, 
 that the duty and honour of composing the 
 twelve hundred, who were to supply the 
 exigencies of the state, must have been an- 
 nexed to certain families: and continued to 
 them, when time and various circumstances 
 might have produced alterations of fortune 
 in many. The inconveniences which arose 
 from hence were partly removed by the 
 ai<Ti(56<reir, or exchanges of fortunes, (of 
 wliich, see note on Phil. I. p. 9.) and by 
 allowing exemptions to persons in certain 
 circumstances : yet both these expedients 
 must have occasioned delays, and retarded 
 the business of the public. Hence the ora- 
 tor recommends the appointment of the ad- 
 ditional eight hundred.
 
 78 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. xi. 
 
 let five [1. J such parts; of the second hun- 
 dred, five parts ; and of the third hundred, 
 five, be appointed to each class. Thus shall 
 a fifteenth of the whole be allotted to every 
 class : three ships to each subdivision. 
 
 When these establishments are made, I 
 propose, [2.] as the revenue arising from our 
 lands amounts to six thousand talents, that 
 in order to have our funds duly regulated, 
 this sum may be divided into a hundred 
 parts of sixty talents each : that five of these 
 parts may be assigned to each of the twenty 
 great classes ; which may thus give severally 
 to each of their divisions a single part of 
 sixty talents. [3.] So that, if we should 
 have occasion for a hundred ships, sixty ta- 
 lents may be granted to each, and twelve 
 trierarchs; if for two hundred, there may 
 be thirty talents assigned, and six trierarchs, 
 to each ; if for three hundred, twenty ta- 
 lents may be supplied for each and four 
 trierarchs. 
 
 In like manner, my fellow-citizens ! upon 
 a due estimate of the stores necessary for 
 our ships, I propose that, agreeably to the 
 present scheme, they should be divided into 
 twenty parts ; that one good and effectual 
 part should be assigned to each of the great 
 
 [1.] Of the first hundred, let five, &c] 
 It should seem from this passage, that each 
 century of the three hundred ships were to 
 be of a different rate and order, by this mi- 
 nute specification of ' five of the first hun- 
 dred, five of the second, &c.' 
 
 [2.] When, and in what manner, this esti- 
 mate of the lands was made we learn from 
 Polybius, lib. 2, whose words shall be quoted . 
 immediately. That the barren lands of At- 
 tica should produce such a revenue, 
 [amounting, according to Arbuthnot's com- 
 putation, to 1,162,50(1/.] seems wonderful ; 
 especially as the lower ranks of citizens held 
 their lands free from all taxation. The soil 
 of Athens itself was celebrated by Homer 
 for its fertility. But this is of little moment, 
 when the barrenness of the Attic territory 
 in general is considered. But what saith 
 Polybius? Ti's 7c'<p Wip 'AOnva'uiv oi>x 
 IcrropjiKe, iiori KaO' out Katpov? yutTci ©>]- 
 /3at(*>v et? rdv 7rp6? toi»? AaKedai[ioviov<; ui/e- 
 fiaivov TroXe/uof, Kai /uupiour /uti/ 6?eVe/i7rov 
 crpaTiuiTa?, etiaTov dt en\t]povv Tpo'/petr, 
 OT( totc KpiVavTes iwo Tijr ufi'at irottioQai 
 ray et? rov iroXe/jiov eia-^opas-, eTifitjaavro 
 rtjv Te \wpav, Kai t\]v 'Attik//v '('nrairav, Kai 
 rat oiKia?, 6/uoims ot Kai t>;k Xotnijv ovalav. 
 AW ofluis to ai'fXTTav Ttfitifxa Tris 1 u!;ias 
 €veXi7T€ twv t^aKtcxc\cov diaKotjioi? Ka't Trtr- 
 T>;Koi/Ta ToXunoit ; * What historian hath 
 not informed us, that the Athenians at the 
 time when they engaged in war, on the part 
 of Thebes, against the Lacedemonians, sent 
 ten thousand men to the field, and manned 
 a hundred ships; that the Athenians, I say, 
 in order to make a just estimate of the sub- 
 sidy they might properly grant for this war, 
 then proceeded to a general valuation of 
 their lands of the whole territory of Attica, 
 their houses, and all their effects. And yet 
 the whole valuation fell short of six thou- 
 
 classes, to be distributed among the small 
 divisions in the just proportion. Let the 
 twelve, in every such division, demand their 
 respective shares; and let them have those 
 ships which it is their lot to provide, tho- 
 roughly and expeditiously equipped. Thus 
 may our supplies, our ships, our trierarchs, 
 our stores, be best provided and supplied. 
 
 And now I am to lay before you a plain 
 
 and easy method of completing this scheme. 
 I say, then, that your generals should 
 proceed to mark out ten dock-yards, as con- 
 tiguous as may be to each other, and capa- 
 ble of containing thirty vessels each. When 
 this is done, they should assign two classes, 
 and thirty ships to each of these docks. 
 Among these, also, they should divide the 
 tribes and the respective trierarchs ; so that 
 two classes, thirty ships, and one tribe, may 
 be assigned to each. Let then each tribe 
 divide its allotted station into three parts, 
 and the ships in like mamier. Let these 
 third parts be distributed by lot. Thus 
 shall one tribe preside over one entire divi- 
 sion of your shipping ; and each third of a 
 tribe take care of one third of such division ; 
 and thus shall you know, at all times, first 
 where each tribe is stationed ; then, where 
 
 sand talents by two hundred and fifty .' 
 Which agrees pretty exactly with this pas- 
 sage of Demosthenes, hucchesini. 
 
 [3.] One hundred >hips seem to have been 
 the ordinary marine establishment at 
 Athens: and to this the ordinary revenue 
 seems to have been proportioned. When it 
 was necessary to fit out an extraordinary 
 number, the additional charge was answered 
 by an extraordinary taxation on the richer 
 members of the state. The passage before 
 us is indeed concisely expressed, as became 
 a speaker who addressed himself to persons 
 to whom the least hint was sufficient. But 
 the full meaning of it I take to be this : ' If 
 we have occasion but for a hundred ships, the 
 charge of furnishing each may be divided 
 among twelve trierarchs, who are to be sup- 
 plied, for the expense of this and other pre- 
 parations, with sixty talents. If for two hun- 
 dred, these twelve trierarchs must provide 
 two ships ; if for three hundred, three. In 
 every case the revenues of the state are to 
 be equally divided amongst them. But the 
 greater the force required, the greater must 
 be the burden on the trierarchs, who are to 
 he taxed for the additional expense, if any 
 such may be required, for fitting out the 
 fleet, and completing the other parts of the 
 intended armament.' This latter part, in- 
 deed, is not expressed or insinuated; but I 
 take it to be understood. But if my expla- 
 nation should not be entirely consonant to 
 the sentiments of the learned reader, who 
 may have the curiosity to examine this part 
 of the oration with accuracy, I must endea- 
 vour to screen myself from the severity of 
 his censure, by subscribing to the following 
 ingenious declaration of Wolfius : * What- 
 ever is here said of fleets, stores, armaments, 
 and supplies, must, to us, who never saw a 
 fleet or war, and never were conversant in 
 affairs of state, be attended with considerable 
 obscurity.'
 
 okat. xi.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 79 
 
 each third; then, who are the trierarchs ; 
 and lastly, the number of your ships. Let 
 affairs be once set in motion after this man- 
 ner, and, if any thing hath been omitted, (as 
 it is by no means easy to provide accurately 
 for every circumstance,) the execution will 
 Itself discover it. And thus may your whole 
 marine, and all its several parts, be uniform- 
 ly and exactly regulated. 
 
 And now, as to money, as to any imme- 
 diate supplies, sensible, as I am, that the 
 opinion I am now to declare must appear 
 extraordinary, yet I will declare it ; for I 
 trust that, when duly weighed, it will be 
 found the only one which reason can re- 
 commend ; and which must be approved by 
 the event. I say then, that at this time we 
 should not speak at all of money : we have 
 a fund, if occasions call for it ; a great, an 
 honourable, and an equitable fund. Should 
 you attempt to raise it now, far from suc- 
 ceeding in such an attempt, you could not 
 depend on gaining it when really wanted. 
 But suspend your inquiries, and you will 
 secure it. What fund is this which now 
 hath no being, yet will be found hereafter ? 
 This appears a kind of mystery ; but I shall 
 explain it. Cast your eyes round through 
 all this city. Within these walls, Athenians ! 
 there are treasures, I had almost said equal 
 to those of all other states. But such is the 
 disposition of their possessors, that if all 
 our speakers were to arise with the most 
 alarming declarations, ' That the king was 
 marching against us; that he was at our 
 gates ; that the danger did not admit of any 
 possibility of doubt :' If, with these speak- 
 ers, as many ministers of heaven were to 
 arise, and pronounce the same declarations 
 as the warning of the gods ; so far would 
 these men be from contributing, that they 
 would not even discover their riches ; they 
 would not acknowledge the possession of 
 them. But should it once appear, that all 
 those dangers, denounced with so much ter- 
 ror, were really and in fact impending; 
 where is the wretch that would not give 
 freely, that would not urge to be admitted 
 to contribute ' For, who would choose to 
 abandon his life and fortune to the fury of 
 an enemy, rather than give up a small por- 
 tion of his abundance, for the safety of him- 
 self and all the rest of his possessions ? Thus 
 shall we find treasures, when o< casions real- 
 ly demand them, but not till then. Let us 
 not therefore inquire for them now. Sup- 
 pose that we were now strictly to exact the 
 subsidies from all our citizens : the utmost 
 
 [1.] Whoever consults Herodotus will find 
 that Demosthenes is by no means exact in 
 his account either of the Athenian or Per- 
 sian fleets ; but we are not to expect histori- 
 cal precision from the orator. His repre- 
 sentations are suited to delight and animate 
 his hearers; and probably his success was 
 too great to give them leisure to attend to 
 any inaccuracy on his account. 
 
 [2.] It is just now, the orator hath repre- 
 sented the wealth of Athens as contemptible, 
 that of Persia as magnificent and great. 
 Now, on the contrary, the resources of Per- 
 
 we should raise would be more contemp- 
 tible than none. Imagine the experiment 
 made ; it is proposed to exact a hundredth 
 part of the revenue arising from our lands. 
 Well then ; this makes just sixty talent* 
 ' Nay, but we will raise a fiftieth part' 
 This doubles the sum: we have then one 
 hundred and twenty talents. But what is 
 this, to those hundreds, or those thousands 
 of camels, which they assure us are employ- 
 ed to carry the king's money ? But suppose 
 it were agreed to raise a twelfth part, 
 amounting to five hundred talents. This, 
 in the first place, would be too great a bur- 
 den ; and, if imposed, still the fund pro- 
 duced would be insufficient for the war. 
 Let then all our other preparations be com- 
 pleted ; but, as to money, let the possessors 
 keep it; and never can they keep it for a 
 nobler public service. When their country 
 calls for it, then shall they freely and zeal- 
 ously contribute. 
 
 This, my fellow-citizens ! is a practicable 
 scheme; a scheme highly Ihonourable and 
 advantageous, worthy of this state to be re- 
 ported to the king, and which must strike 
 him with no small terror. He knows, that by 
 three hundred vessels, [1.] of which one 
 hundred only were supplied by us, his an- 
 cestors lost a thousand ships. He will hear, 
 that now we have, ourselves, equipped three 
 hundred. He cannot, then, if he hath not 
 lost all reason, he cannot deem it a trivial 
 matter to make this state his enemy. If, 
 from a dependence on his treasures, he is 
 tempted to entertain proud thoughts, he 
 will find this but a vain dependence, when 
 compared with your resources. [2.] They tel! 
 us, he is coming with heaps of gold; but 
 when these are once dispersed, he will look 
 for new supplies. Not the richest streams, 
 not the deepest sources, but must, at length, 
 be totally exhausted, when we copiously and 
 constantly drain away their waters. But we, 
 he will be told, have a perpetual resource, 
 in our lands ; a fund of six thousand talents. 
 And with what spirit we defend these lands 
 against invaders, his ancestors, who fought 
 at Marathon, could best inform him. Let 
 us continue to conquer, and our treasures 
 cannot ever fail. 
 
 Nor yet do I think their errors justly 
 founded, who apprehend, that he may em- 
 ploy his gold in raising a large army of mer- 
 cenaries. I do indeed believe, that in an 
 expedition against Egypt, against Orontes, 
 [3.] or any other barbarians, there are many 
 of the Greeks that would gladly receive his 
 
 sia are neither solid nor permanent : the 
 riches of Athens great and inexhaustible. 
 Various are the instances of this artifice in 
 Demosthenes ; which the judicious reader 
 cannot fail to observe without the direction 
 of the annotator. 
 
 [3.] Two of this name are mentioned in 
 history. The first was put to death by the 
 younger Cyrus, on account of a conspiracy. 
 The other, whom Demosthenes points out, 
 was a satrap of Mvsia, and served in the 
 army which Artaxerxes sent against Cyprus, 
 under the command of Teribazus. On this
 
 8!) 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. XI. 
 
 pay : not from any zeal for aggrandizing 
 him; but each in order to obtain such a 
 supply, as might relieve their present neces- 
 sities. But I never can persuade myself, 
 that any one Greek would assist him to con- 
 quer Greece. Whither should he turn after 
 such an event ? Would he go and be a slave 
 in Phrygia? He [1.] must know, that, 
 when we take up arms against the Barba- 
 rian, we take them up for our country, for 
 our lives, for our customs, for our libertv, 
 and all such sacred rights. Who then could 
 be so base as to sacrifice himself, his parents, 
 the sepulchres of his ancestors, his country, 
 to a trifling pittance ? Surely, no man ! 
 
 Nor is it the interest of the Persian, that 
 his mercenaries should subdue the Greeks ; 
 for they who can conquer us, must first 
 prove superior to him. And it is by no means 
 his scheme, by destroying us, to lose his 
 own empire. His wishes are to command 
 all ; if this cannot be obtained, at least he 
 would secure his power over his own slaves. 
 
 If then it be imagined, that the Thebans 
 will unite with him ;— [2.] it is a hard part to 
 speak of Thebes in this assembly ; for such 
 is your aversion to this people, that you 
 will not hear the voice of truth itself, if it 
 seems at all to favour them. However, it 
 is the duty of those who debate on great 
 affairs, by no means, and on no pretence 
 whatever, to suppress any argument which 
 may prove of use. — I say, then, that so far are 
 the Thebans from ever, at any time, uniting 
 with the king against the Greeks, that they 
 would freely give the greatest treasures, 
 were they possessed of them, to purchase a 
 fair occasion of atoning for their ancient 
 mors with respect to Greece. But let the 
 Thebans be ever so unhappily disposed, still 
 we must all be sensible, that, if they unite 
 with him, their enemies must necessarily 
 unite with the Greeks. And I trust that 
 the cause of justice, and the friends to this 
 cause, will ever prove superior to traitors, 
 and to all the force of the Barbarian. Let 
 
 occasion he attempted to ruin the reputation 
 of his general, was detected and disgraced ; 
 and, in revenge, joined with the rebels of 
 Egypt, Caria, and Phrygia, and headed the 
 army they had raised against the King. 
 But, in hopes of recovering his credit at the 
 Persian court, and of gaining the command 
 of some maritime towns, he betrayed the 
 forces, &c. of the rebels into the hands of 
 the king's lieutenants. History speaks no 
 farther of this Orontes. But, as in this 
 year, the eighth from the time of his revolt, 
 Demosthenes mentions him as an enemy to 
 the Persian, we may conjecture, that his 
 last services had been disregarded, and that 
 he had again taken up arms. Lucchesini. 
 
 [1.] I cannot persuade myself that there is 
 occasion to point out to the reader the force 
 and pertinency of this argument, although 
 it be elliptically expressed. To be assured 
 of the true signification of the phrase Trpcr 
 T.iv Bap/3upov, we need but cast our eyes to 
 a sentence a little farther on, tK fiev -ye tusv 
 OPOZ Toi-9 tavrov -rrpoyovov? 7ro\6/i&n', 
 ' from the wars waged against his ancestors.' 
 
 us not then yield to these extravagant 
 alarms, nor rashly brave all consequences, 
 by being first to take up arms. 
 
 Nor do I think that any other of the 
 Grecian states should look upon this war 
 with terror. Is there a man among them, 
 who is not sensible, that, [3.] while they re- 
 garded the Persian as their common enemy, 
 and maintained a firm union with each 
 other, their fortune was completely happy ; 
 but when, by a fatal reliance on his friend- 
 ship, they were betrayed into contests and 
 dissensions among themselves, their cala- 
 mities were so great, as to exceed all the im- 
 precations which the most inveterate malice 
 could invent ? And shall that man, whom 
 fortune, whom heaven itself pronounces, 
 as a friend, unprofitable; as an enemy, of 
 advantage ; — shall he, I say, be feared ? By 
 no means. Yet, let us have the due regard 
 to ourselves ; let us have the due attention 
 to the disorders and suspicions of the rest of 
 Greece ; and let us not incur the charge of 
 injustice. Could we, indeed, with all the 
 Greeks united firmly on our side, attack 
 him single and unsupported, I would not 
 then suppose that you could be charged 
 with injustice. But, as this is not to be ex- 
 pected, let us be cautious : let us afford 
 him no pretence of appearing to assert the 
 rights of the other Greeks. If we continue 
 quiet, his applications to them will be sus- 
 picious : if we are the first to take up arms, 
 he will seem justified by our hostilities, in 
 his attempts to gain their friendship. 
 
 Do not then discover to the world the 
 melancholy state of Greece, by inviting 
 those to an alliance, whom you cannot 
 gain ; and by engaging in a war, which you 
 cannot support. Be quiet, be resolute, be 
 prepared. Let not the emissaries of Persia 
 report to their king, that Greece and Athens 
 are distracted in their councils, are con- 
 founded by their fears, are torn by dissen- 
 sions. No : let them rather tell him, that, 
 if it were not equally shameful, for the 
 
 [2.] The history of both nations accounts 
 for the detestation with which the Athe- 
 nians are supposed to hear the name of the 
 Thebans : and perhaps it were impossible, 
 that two nations, so different in genius and 
 manners, ever should entertain any senti- 
 ments of friendship and esteem for each 
 other. Our orator, however, was far su- 
 perior to national prejudices. He considered, 
 without partiality, the real interests of his 
 country, whose welfare should be a states- 
 man's passion. Vet, his regard for the peo- 
 ple of Thebes was numbered, by jEschines, 
 among his crimes. The error which, he 
 says, they would, if possible, redeem, was 
 their joining with Xerxes in his invasion or 
 Greece. Francis. ' 
 
 [3.] The well-known and great events de- 
 scribed in the history of Greece, confirm 
 these observations of the orator fully, with 
 respect to all the Grecian states. Yet we 
 may concur with the Italian commentator 
 in supposing, that they had the Lacede- 
 monians particularly in view ; to whoc" 
 they are, indeed, eminently applicable.
 
 OUAT. XII. 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 31 
 
 Greeks to violate their honour and their 
 oaths, as it is to him matter of triumph, 
 they would have long since marched against 
 him; and that, if vou do not march, you 
 are restrained solely by a regard to your 
 own dignity : that it is your prayer to all 
 the gods, that he may be seized with the 
 infatuation, which once possessed his an- 
 cestors : and then, he would find no defect 
 of vigour in your measures. He knows, 
 that by our wars with his ancestors, this 
 state became happy and powerful ; that, 
 by our peaceful demeanour before these 
 ■wars, we acquired a superiority over the 
 other Grecian states, never more observable 
 than at present. He knows, that the affairs 
 of Greece require some power to be either 
 voluntarily or accidentally the instrument of 
 a general peace ; he knows, that he himself 
 must prove that instrument, if he once at- 
 
 [1.] What effect this oration had on the 
 people, we may learn from a passage in the 
 oration for the Rhodians; of which the 
 following is a translation : ' There are some 
 among you who may remember, that at the 
 time when the affairs of Persia were the 
 subject of our consultations, I was the first, 
 the only, or almost the only one, to recom- 
 
 tempts to raise a war ; and therefore, these 
 informations will have their due weight 
 and credit. 
 
 That I may not longer abuse your pa- 
 tience, I shall repeat the sum of my advice, 
 ami then descend. 
 
 You should prepare your force against 
 your present enemies : you should use this 
 force against the king, against any power 
 that may attempt to injure you. But never 
 be the first to break through the bounds of 
 justice, either in council or in action. You 
 should be solicitous, not that our speeches, 
 but that our conduct may be worthy of our 
 illustrious descent. Act thus, and you will 
 serve not yourselves only, but the men who 
 oppose these measures ; for they will not 
 feel your resentment hereafter, if they be 
 not suffered to mislead you now. [1.] 
 
 mend it as the wisest measure, not to assign 
 your enmity to the king, as the motive of 
 your armament : to make your preparations 
 against your avowed adversaries, but to 
 employ them even against him, should he 
 attempt to injure you. Nor did I urge these 
 things without your full concurrence : they 
 were received with applause.' 
 
 THE ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS: 
 
 PRONOUNCED IN THE ARCHONSHIP OP EITDEMUS, THE FOURTH YEAR OF THE 
 HUNDRED AND SIXTH OLYMPIAD. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In order to prepare the reader for the peru- 
 sal of the following oration, it is necessary 
 to recall to his view some of the late im- 
 portant transactions in Greece. He is not 
 to be informed of the flourishing condition 
 of Sparta, after the famous Peloponnesian 
 war ; the immoderate ambition of that state, 
 and the war in which the Spartans were 
 consequently involved with Thebes. The 
 conduct and vigour of Epaminondas, the 
 Theban, proved fatal to Sparta, and the 
 battle of Leuctra put an end to the tyran- 
 nical dominion which this state had long 
 exercised in Peloponnesus. 
 
 Immediately after this battle, several of 
 the Peloponnesian states revolted from the 
 Lacedemonians. The Messenians, their an- 
 cient rivals, were restored to their original 
 settlement, by the Theban arms, after many 
 ages of dispersion. The Arcadians and 
 Argives asserted their independency, and, 
 assisted by the Thebans, took up arms 
 against their former sovereigns. The Spar- 
 tans now seemed on the point of having 
 their ruin completed ; they were reduced to 
 fortify their city, whose defenceless con- 
 dition had been so long their boast; they 
 armed six hundred of their slaves, and sent 
 a deputation to Athens, humbly to solicit 
 the assistance of their old rivals, in this 
 their state of extremity. 
 
 Ths Athenians, who began to conceive a 
 
 jealousy of the rising power of Thebes, 
 readily consented to join with the Lacede- 
 monians. Iphicrates was sent, with twelve 
 thousand men, to their relief; and, upon 
 advice received, that Epaminondas was 
 marching against Lacedemon, at the head of 
 the Thebans, Argives, and Arcadians, Cha- 
 brias was despatched, with another rein- 
 forcement, to join the Spartans and their 
 confederates. 
 
 It is not to the present purpose to mention 
 particularly the several events in the course 
 of this war. It is only necessary to observe, 
 that the Arcadians, in order the better to 
 secure that liberty for which they now con- 
 tended, determined to collect all their force 
 into one body, brought the detached settle- 
 ments of their countymen to a union ; and 
 fixed their common residence in a city built 
 by the adv ice and assistance of Epaminondas 
 (if we may believe Pausanias,) and called 
 Megalopolis, or the great city. This was 
 one considerable barrier against the Lacede- 
 monian power in Peloponnesus; which still 
 subsisted, together with the other equitable 
 regulations of Epaminondas, for securing 
 the liberty of the Peloponnesians. 
 
 These were considered, by the Lacedemo- 
 nians, as so many memorials of their dis- 
 grace. And the least respite from the cala- 
 mities of an unsuccessful war, was sufficient 
 to inspire them with ?n eamestdesire of re- 
 covering their ancient power and supe- 
 riority. Greece was now harassed by the
 
 82 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [ohat. xii. 
 
 Hatred war. Several cities of inferior note 
 had changed their masters, in the course of 
 this quarrel. The re-establishment of peace, 
 and a settlement of the whole nation of 
 Greece, were universally urged as objects 
 highly worthy of the general attention. 
 And now, Archidamus, the king of Sparta, 
 a subtle and designing prince, proposed a 
 plan for this purpose, in appearance advan- 
 tageous to the whole body, but, in effect, 
 only calculated to restore the superiority of 
 Sparta. He proposed, that, in order to re- 
 store the general tranquillity, the several 
 cities should be re-established in the same 
 condition as before the late wars. 
 
 This was a scheme which promised some 
 advantage to all the leading states. Oropus, 
 a city on the confines of Bceotia, once com- 
 manded by the Athenians, and still claimed 
 as their right, but now possessed by the 
 Thebans, must have returned to its ancient 
 masters. Thespia and Platsea, two eminent 
 cities in Boeotia that had felt the jealousy 
 and revenge of Thebes, and now lay sub- 
 verted and depopulated, were, by the same 
 plan, to be restored and fortified. The 
 Phocians were to give up two important 
 acquisitions, gained in the course of the 
 sacred war ; the cities of Orchomenus and 
 Coronsea. But these and theother Boeotian 
 cities, were only to acknowledge Thebes, as 
 the principal and leading city in Boeotia, 
 without any absolute submission or depen- 
 dence, and without any obedience to that 
 jurisdiction which the Thebans claimed and 
 had exercised over them. On the other 
 hand, Peloponnesus was to be reduced to its 
 former state of dependence; the cities of 
 Messene and Megalopolis were to be de- 
 stroyed, and their inhabitants dispersed ; 
 so as to restore the Spartans to the power of 
 resuming that tyrannical dominion, which 
 they had formerly exercised over their 
 neighbours. 
 
 Archidamus began with endeavouring to 
 regain that authority in Peloponnesus, to 
 which the Spartans aspired. A dispute was 
 soon raised between Sparta and Argos, about 
 the boundaries of their dominions. And 
 the king of Sparta, having in vain attempt- 
 ed to succeed, by practising secretly with 
 Nicostratus, the principal citizen of Argos, 
 determined to have recourse to arms. 
 
 The people of Megalopolis were equally 
 concerned in this quarrel. A war was on 
 the point of breaking out in Peloponnesus ; 
 each side was assiduous to gain over the 
 other states of Greece. And on this occa- 
 sion both the Megalopolitans and Lacede- 
 monians sent their ambassadors to Athens ; 
 the one to solicit for asssistance and support, 
 
 [1.] This heat and acrimony did not al- 
 ways proceed from conviction and zeal for 
 the public interest. Every city, or commu- 
 nity, that solicited any matter in the Athe- 
 nian assembly, first took care to secure 
 managers and advocates among the popular 
 speakers. If the interposition of these 
 pleaders proved successful, they were some- 
 times rewarded with a statue erected in the 
 city, whose interest they had supported ; 
 
 the other to prevail on the Athenians to con- 
 tinue neuter. 
 
 On this occasion was the assembly conven- 
 ed, in which the following oration was deli- 
 vered. Each state had its partisans in this 
 assembly, and the speakers, on both sides, 
 seem to have delivered their sentiments 
 with the utmost heat and animosity. 
 The orators who opposed the demands of 
 Megalopolis, urged the connexions of Athens 
 with the Lacedemonians, in the Theban 
 war, and the dishonour and inconsistency of 
 arming against their old fellow-soldiers. 
 They represented the old attachment of the 
 Megalopolitans to Thebes, in the most 
 odious and suspicious colours ; and declared, 
 that by supporting them and depressing 
 Lacedemon, they would in effect render the 
 Theban power highly formidable, if not ir- 
 resistible ; nor did they forget to urge, that 
 by acquiescing in the attempts of Lacedemon 
 to re-establish its power m Peloponnesus, 
 they themselves would be entitled to the 
 assistance of that state, in order to recover 
 the dominions which had been wrested from 
 them. Through this whole debate, the 
 Athenians seem to have been entirely influ- 
 enced by motives of policy and convenience. 
 And the reader will find these urged by De- 
 mosthenes, with the utmost address and 
 artifice, in favour of the people of Megalo- 
 polis, in the following oration. 
 
 That this oration was pronounced in the 
 archonship of Theodemus, or Eudemus, 
 we are informed by Dionysius of Halicar 
 nassus (in Epist. ad. Ammae.) And this 
 Eudemus was archon, according to Diodo- 
 rus, in the fourth year of the hundred and 
 sixth Olympiad. In the beginning of the 
 next year the Lacedemonians made their 
 irruption into Arcadia. So that it is pro- 
 bable, that the ambassadors were received 
 at Athens about the latter end of the year, 
 (i. e. a little before the summer solstice,) 
 when the Lacedemonians were just prepa- 
 ring to take the field, and the Arcadians 
 threatened with immediate danger. 
 
 THE ORATION 
 
 FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS. 
 Eudemo, Archon. — Olympiad. 106. An. 4. 
 
 The speakers on both sides seem to me, 
 ye men of Athens ! equally to blame : the 
 partisans of the Arcadians, and the advo- 
 cates for Lacedemon. Like the deputies of 
 these communities, not like your citizens, 
 to whom their deputations are addressed, 
 they excuse, they inveigh against each other. 
 [1.] This, I say, is to act likedeputies ; but 
 
 sometimes, and indeed more frequently, 
 with a sum of money. Agreements were 
 formally made, and, m some cases, securi- 
 ties given for the payment of this fee. In 
 the oration of jEschines against Ctesiphon, 
 we have one instance of a transaction of 
 this nature, between the city of Oreum, and 
 Demosthenes himself; where the stipulation 
 was so notorious as to appear upon the pub- 
 I lie records of this city ; and so firm and
 
 orat. xii.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 83 
 
 to speak with a true patriot spirit, to at- 
 tend entirely to the interest of the state, 
 free from all factious principles ; these are 
 their duties, who assume the character of 
 our counsellors. But now, were not their 
 persons known, did they not speak our 
 language, I should have taken manv of 
 them for two distinct people, the one of 
 Arcadia, the other of Lacedemon. 
 
 How hazardous a part it is to urge your 
 real interests, is to me apparent ; for in this 
 violence of opposition, where you are all 
 alike deceived, as well the favourers of this, 
 as the supporters of the opposite opinion, 
 should a man attempt to point out the just 
 mean between them, and should you prove 
 impatient of direction, he would gratify 
 neither party ; he would be calumniated by 
 both. Yet still, I freely choose, if such must 
 be my fate, rather to be thought weakly im- 
 pertinent, than to suffer any men to mislead 
 you from what I deem most advantageous 
 to the state. There are other points, of 
 which, if I have your permission, I shall 
 hereafter speak. I now proceed, from prin- 
 ciples acknowledged equally by all, to deduce 
 such truths as I think of greatest moment. 
 
 binding, as to oblige the people of Oreum, 
 in a time of their distress, to mortgage their 
 revenues to the orator, as a security for the 
 sum agreed on ; and to pay interest, month- 
 ly, until the principal could be discharged. 
 
 [1.] There is not a man, &c] Upon this 
 principle it is, that the orator founds all his 
 reasoning. The wars, which these three 
 leading states carried on against each other, 
 were either for acquiring, or supporting, or 
 recovering the sovereignty in Greece. A pas- 
 sion for this pre-eminence constituted the 
 principal part of national virtue and merit. 
 They talked, indeed, of the interest of the 
 whole body of Greece, of an extensive re- 
 gard and affection to this body, and of the 
 necessity of a just balance of power. Yet 
 in these days of degeneracy, at least, the 
 duty of aggrandizing their own community 
 ■was frequently made the great law of the 
 morality of statesmen. And this contri- 
 buted no less to the final ruin of the Grecian 
 states, than their luxury and corruption. 
 ' Grascise civitates dum imperare singula? 
 cupiunt, imperium omnes perdiderunt,' 
 saith Justin. A strict union with each other 
 was necessary, even to the being and support 
 of each. But for extensive dominion, the 
 constitution and circumstances even of the 
 most eminent of their communities were 
 by no means calculated. 
 
 [2.] There were two cities in Greece of 
 this name, the one in Arcadia, the other, of 
 which the orator here speaks, in Bceotia, an 
 ancient and illustrious city, to which Thebes 
 was tributary, in the heroic times, until 
 Hercules enabled it to assert its independence. 
 After the battlt of Leuctra, the Thebans 
 determined to reduce this rival city to their 
 obedience, but were restrained by the mode- 
 ration of Epaminondas, who prevailed on 
 his countrymen to admit the people of Or- 
 chomenus to their alliance, instead of re- 
 ducing- them to slavery. However, after the 
 
 There is not a man [1.] who can deny, 
 that it is for the interest of Athens, that 
 both the Lacedemonians, and the Thebans 
 also, should be weak. But, such is the pre- 
 sent state of things, (if any conjecture may 
 be formed from the discourses we so often 
 hear,) that, if Orchomenus, [2.] and Thes- 
 pia, and Platasa, be repeopled, the Thebans 
 must be weak ; that the Lacedemonians, if 
 Arcadia [3.] be reduced to their obedience, 
 and the great city tie possessed by them, 
 must once more become powerful. We are 
 therefore to be careful not to suffer these to 
 be great and formidable, before the others 
 are reduced ; nor to betray ourselves into 
 greater inconveniences by the strength of 
 Lacedemon, than can possibly be compen- 
 sated by the weakness of Thebes. Not that 
 we a6se"rt, that it is more eligible to have 
 the Lacedemonians our enemies than the 
 Thebans. This is not the point we would 
 support: but that neither of them should 
 have the power of injuring us in any in- 
 stance ; for thus only can our fears be re- 
 moved, and our security established. 
 
 But it will be said, ' Yes ! this is indeed a 
 point of utmost moment: Yet it is grievous 
 
 battle of Mantina?a, in which this general 
 fell, the Thebans found a pretence for exe- 
 cuting their former severe purposes against 
 Orchomenus. Three hundred Orchomenian 
 cavalry had joined with certain Theban 
 exiles, in a conspiracy to overturn the aris- 
 tocratical constitution of Thebes ; and weTe 
 betrayed by those whom they had agreed to 
 assist. The Thebans, not contented with 
 confining their vengeance to the guilty, 
 seized the city of Orchomenus, put the citi- 
 zens to the sword, and made slaves of then- 
 wives and children. Lucchesini. 
 
 Of Thespia and Plata?a, the reader wit 
 find some short account, in the note, p. 27. 
 on the oration on the Peace. The vicinity 
 of these three cities to Thebes, and theh 
 hatred to the Thebans, inspired by the re- 
 membrance of injuries never to be forgot- 
 ten, sufficiently explain the assertion cf 
 Demosthenes. 
 
 [3.] The subversion of the Lacedemonian 
 power seems to have been not so much the 
 effect of the defeat at Leuctra, as of the 
 revolt of their allies hi Peloponnesus, and 
 particularly of the Arcadians. It was not 
 difficult for a warlike nation to have reas- 
 sembled and reinforced its troops, after such 
 an engagement. Nor could the Thebans 
 have ventured to pursue their victory so 
 far, as even to threaten Sparta with slavery, 
 unless they had been assisted by the Arca- 
 dians. Hence, both the Thebans and Athe- 
 nians ever courted the alliance of the Pelo- 
 ponnesians, and cultivated their friendship 
 with the greatest assiduity. And hence the 
 orator is justly warranted to observe, that 
 the power of Lacedemon must rise to a for- 
 midable pitch, by the reduction of the Ar- 
 cadians, who, by the extent of their territory 
 and the strength of their towns, were, next 
 to Sparta, evidently the most considerable 
 of the Peloponnesiaii states. Luechetini. 
 
 I 2
 
 84 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. XII. 
 
 to make those our allies, against whom we 
 fought at Mantinsea; to unite with them 
 against the very men with whom we then 
 shared the dangers of the field.' Grievous, 
 I confess, it is: but let such delicacy gain 
 some attention among others. Let the par- 
 ties once agree to live in peace, and we shall 
 not, we need not, send support to the Me- 
 galopolitans : our swords shall not then be 
 drawn against our old fellow-soldiers. One 
 party (as they profess) are already in alliance 
 with us, the other are now soliciting our 
 alliance': what have we farther to desire? 
 But what if justice should be violated? if 
 war should be resolved on ? 
 
 If it be the sole object of debate, whether 
 we should give up the great city to the do- 
 minion of Lacedemon, or no ; let us give it 
 up : I do not contend against it, though it 
 be not just : let us not arm against those 
 who once shared with us the dangers of the 
 field. But as we are all convinced, that, if 
 once masters of this city, they will instantly 
 attack Messene ; let any one of those, who 
 have been so severe on the Megalopolitans, 
 arise and say, what conduct he would re- 
 commend to us on such an emergency. They 
 are silent. But you are not to be informed, 
 that whether they should urge us or dissuade 
 us, we should be obliged to send succours, 
 both by those sacred caths which engage us 
 to Messene, [1.] and by our interest, which 
 requires that this city should subsist. Con- 
 sider, therefore, with yourselves, which 
 would be the noblest and most benevolent 
 
 [1.] The Lacedemonians, mortified and 
 incensed at the re-establishment of Messene, 
 refused to include this state in the general 
 peace which was made after the battle of 
 Mantinsea; and when the Thebans were 
 once involved in the Phocian war, deter- 
 mined to seize the opportunity of oppressing 
 those Peloponnesians who had united with 
 their rivals. Hostilities were declared 
 against the Messenians : this people applied 
 for succour to the Athenians, who engaged 
 to defend them against invasions, though 
 they refused to assist them in any offensive 
 measures. This seems to have been the en- 
 gagement to which the orator refers. 
 
 [2.] The reasoning in this passage may 
 possibly deserve to be opened and illustrated 
 somewhat farther than can be done by a 
 simple detail of historical facts. It is one of 
 the numberless instances of our orator's ac- 
 commodating his style and manner of ad- 
 dress to the quickness and liveliness of his 
 countrymen ; and complimenting their un- 
 derstandings, by leaving something to be 
 ■supplied by them. The purport of his ar- 
 gument seems to be this • * Sooner or later 
 we must oppose the attempts of Lacedemon, 
 to extend our sovereignty. Our own inte- 
 rest requires it, as well as our regard to 
 equity, and the general interest of Greece. 
 To both we owe the due attention, and it 
 should be our care to make them coincide : 
 while the Arcadians are supported, the La- 
 cedemonians cannot be supposed sufficiently 
 powerful to become an object of terror : our 
 interposition, therefore, in favour of the 
 
 procedure, to begin your opposition to the 
 encroachments of Lacedemon, by the de 
 fence of the Megalopolitans, or that of the 
 Messenians. In the one case, you wrll ap- 
 pear attentive only to the safety of the Ar- 
 cadians, and to the solid establishment of 
 that tranquillity, for which you have ex- 
 posed yourselves to the dangers and the toils 
 of war. In the other, all mankind must see, 
 that in defending Messene, you act, not so 
 much from principles of equity, as from 
 your fears of Lacedemon. Our designs and 
 actions should be just ; but we should be 
 careful that, at the same time, they may also 
 prove conducive to our interest. [2.] 
 
 It is urged, by those who have spoken on 
 the other side, that we should endeavour to 
 regain Oropus. But, should we now make 
 those our enemies, who would assist us in 
 this design, we must forfeit all hopes of 
 their assistance. It is my opinion, too, that 
 we should attempt to regain Oropus. But, 
 that Lacedemon will now become our enemy, 
 if we unite with those Arcadians who sue 
 for our alliance ; they, of all men, never 
 should [3.] assert, who persuaded us to sup- 
 port the Lacedemonians in the time of their 
 distress. For, when the whole body of the 
 Peloponnesians was ready to unite with us ; 
 when they called on us to lead them against 
 the Lacedemonians, the very men, who now 
 urge this objection, persuaded you to reject 
 their overtures, [4.] (which forced them to 
 apply to Thebes, then their sole resource,) 
 and to expend your treasures, and endanger 
 
 Arcadians, will be regarded as the pure ef- 
 fect of public spirit. But, if the Lacede- 
 monians be first suffered to Teduce Arcadia, 
 and the Athenians then begin to oppose 
 their farther progress, the motives of equity 
 and public spirit may, indeed, still be plead- 
 ed, but those of self-interest must necessarily 
 be supposed to have had the greater influ- 
 ence.' 
 
 [3.] They, of all men, never should, &c] 
 Because these men then reasoned from the 
 necessity of preserving a due balance of 
 power, and preventing any one state from 
 becoming formidable. The resentment of 
 the party to be opposed, they then consider- 
 ed as of no weight against so cogent an argu- 
 ment. The same argument was now urged 
 with equal force and propriety, in favour of 
 the Arcadians. They could not, therefore, 
 urge an objection now, which, in a case 
 exactly parallel, they had affected to despise. 
 
 [4.] The history of this fact, as described 
 by Xenophon, does not exactly agree with 
 this passage, unless supplied and illustrated 
 by the narration of Diodorus. After the 
 battle of Leuctra, the Athenians offered li- 
 berty to all the states of Peloponnesus. The 
 Mantinaeans, thus encouraged, determined 
 to fortify their city, but where opposed by 
 the Lacedemonians, who first remonstrated 
 by their deputies, and then took up arms. 
 Many of the Arcadians themselves refused 
 to give up their authority over some of their 
 dependent cities. This produced a war be- 
 tween the Lacedemonians, Tegeans, and 
 their allies, on one part; and the Manti-
 
 orat. xii.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 85 
 
 /our persons, in defence of Lacedemon. — 
 Surely, you could not have acted with such 
 spirit, to save this people, had you been 
 fairly told, that, when once saved, no re- 
 straint must be prescribed to their desires, 
 no bounds to their injustice: else they 
 would retain no sense of that safety which 
 we gave them. Let it then be supposed, 
 that our forming an alliance with the Arca- 
 dians be ever so repugnant to the views of 
 the Lacedemonians : still, that gratitude 
 which they owe to this state for their pre- 
 servation, at a time when they were threat- 
 ened with the utmost dangers, should far 
 outweigh any resentment they may conceive, 
 from our opposing their injustice. And can 
 thev then deny us their assistance to regain 
 Oro'pus ? This would prove them the most 
 abandoned of mankind. No ! by the gods, 
 I cannot suspect them of such baseness ! 
 
 I hear it also urged, and am surprised at 
 the objection, that, by this alliance with the 
 Arcadians, and by the measures now pro- 
 posed, the state must contradict its former 
 conduct, and thus lose its credit. To me, 
 Athenians ! the very contrary seems mani- 
 fest And why ? Because it cannot be de- 
 nied, that, in defending the Lacedemonians, 
 in granting the like defence to Thebes, in 
 former times, and, lately, in saving the Eu- 
 bceans, [1.] and then admitting them to an 
 alliance, we have uniformly pursued one 
 and the same design. — And, what is this? 
 The protection of the injured. — And, if this 
 be so, the charge of inconsistency must be 
 urged, not against us, but those who refuse 
 to adhere to justice. Affairs have changed, 
 by means of those whose ambition is un- 
 bounded. This state hath not changed. 
 
 It appears to me, that the Lacedemonians 
 are now acting a subtle and insidious part. 
 They say, that the Eleans [2.] ought to have 
 a portion of Triphylia ; the Phliasians, Tri- 
 caranus ; some others of the Arcadians, the 
 territories which are theirs : and we, Oropus. 
 Not that they wish to see each of us in pos- 
 
 na?ans, and the principal Arcadian states on 
 the other. The Mantinaeans and Arcadians 
 were victorious: ' Yet still,' saith Diodorus, 
 (lib. 15. an. 4. Olym. 102.) • they dreaded the 
 weight of Sparta, and could not venture, 
 by themselves, to carry on the war. They, 
 therefore, gained over the Argians and 
 Eleans, and sent an embassy to the Athe- 
 nians, inviting them to unite in the confede- 
 racy against the Spartans. But, as they 
 could gain no attention at Athens, they 
 had recourse to the Thebans, and prevailed 
 on them to join in a league against Lacede- 
 mon.' This extract from Diodorus throws 
 sufficient light on the present passage. Luc- 
 ctiesini. 
 
 [1.] In saving the Eubceans.] At the time 
 when the Thebans had gained possession of 
 a part of the island, with an intent of de- 
 stroying the Athenian power in Eubcea. See 
 note, [1.] p. 5. on Phil. I. 
 
 T2.] That the Eleans, &c] Triphylia was 
 a district on the sea-coast, situated between 
 Elis and Messene. Certain Arcadian exiles 
 had seized Lassio, its principal city, and de- 
 
 session of our rightful dominions. Far from 
 it I Such public-spirited sentiments are new 
 to them. They but affect this zeal for the 
 support of all in the recovery of their several 
 interests; that, when they themselves 
 marched' against Messene, all may arm in 
 their cause, and cheerfully join with them ; 
 or else appear to act unjustly, who had their 
 concurrence in regaining their particular 
 claims ; and yet refuse to grant them the 
 like returns of friendship. It is my opinion 
 in the first place, that, without subjecting 
 any part of Arcadia to the power of the La- 
 cedemonians, Athens will regain Oropus: 
 that these people will themselves support 
 our claim, if they have the least regard to 
 justice: and, that there are others [3.] to 
 support it, who think that Thebes should 
 not be suffered to possess the rights of others. 
 But, were it evident, that unless we permit 
 the Lacedemonians to overturn all Pelopon- 
 nesus, we never can be able to obtain this 
 city, I should think it more eligible (if I 
 may so speak) absolutely to resign our pre- 
 tensions to Oropus, than to abandon Mes- 
 sene and Peloponnesus to the Lacedemoni- 
 ans. It is not in this particular alone, that 
 we are to attend to the conduct of Lacede- 
 mon. — But, I suppress those thoughts 
 which are now starting. I only say, we are, 
 in many instances, exposed to danger, 
 
 [4.] As to the actions of the Megalopoli- 
 tans against this state, during their connex- 
 ion with the Thebans, 'it is absurd to urge 
 these now as criminal. It is absurd, I say, 
 when they are inclined to form a strict union 
 with us, that so they may redeem their 
 former conduct, by doing us effectual service, 
 maliciously to seek for all pretences to de- 
 feat such favourable intentions ; and not to 
 consider, that the greater zeal and ardour 
 they are proved to nave discovered for the 
 interest of Thebes, the greater and the juster 
 should be your resentment against those 
 who deprived the state of such confederates. 
 (For your protection they first solicited, be- 
 
 livered it to the Eleans. This produced a 
 war, in which Triphylia so often changed 
 its masters, that the right to it became 
 doubtful. The Arcadians, however, pre- 
 vailed at length, and now possessed several 
 
 cities in this district. Tricaranus had 
 
 been taken from the Phliasians, by the Ar- 
 gives. some time after the battle of Leuctra. 
 
 [a] There are others, &c] The Phocians, 
 Thessalians, and Corinthians, who were 
 now engaged against the Thebans in the 
 sacred war. 
 
 [4.] The objections on the other side were : 
 ' Shall we arm 2gainst the Lacedemonians, 
 our fellow-soldiers in the Theban war ?' And 
 ' shall we assist the Arcadians, who drew 
 their swords against us at Mantinsca ?' Both 
 very popular, and likely to influence the as- 
 sembly. The speaker seems particularly to 
 dread the latter : he states it in gentle and 
 extenuating terms : his answer hath as much 
 art and liveliness as force ; and he appears 
 not at all inclined to dwell long, or particu- 
 larly, on this point.
 
 86 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [oeat. xii. 
 
 fore their application to the Thebans.) 
 These are the wretched arguments of men, 
 who wish that these people should unite 
 with other states. 
 
 From all the judgment I can form, on 
 the most mature reflection, I am persuaded, 
 (and there are many here who agree with 
 me in this opinion,) that, if the Lacedemo- 
 nians are once masters of Megalopolis, Mes- 
 sene must certainly be in danger. Should 
 they gain this city also, I say, we must form 
 an alliance with the Thebans. And, it will 
 be much more noble, much more advan- 
 tageous, at once to take those allies of the 
 Thebans to our protection, and vigorously 
 to oppose the ambition of Lacedemon ; than 
 to refuse them that protection, because al- 
 lies to the Thebans; to abandon them to 
 their oppressors ; and thus be forced to save 
 Thebes itself from ruin ; nay, to involve 
 this our own state in danger. For I cannot 
 think it a matter of no consequence to 
 Athens, that the Lacedemonians should be 
 masters of Megalopolis, and resume their 
 ancient greatness : while, even now, I see 
 them draw the sword, not to defend their 
 state from wrong, but to regain that sove- 
 reign power which they formerly enj >yed. 
 And what were their designs, [1.] when they 
 enjoyed this power, vou can better say than 
 I; and must, therefore, feel ttiejustei and 
 the stronger apprehensions. 
 
 I would gladly ask our speakers, those 
 who express such aversion to Thebes, and 
 those who declare themselves the enemies 
 of Lacedemon ; whether in these, their par- 
 ticular resentments, they be actuated by a 
 regard to you, and to your interests; or, 
 whether they severally hate the Thebans, 
 for the sake of the Lacedemonians ; and the 
 Lacedemonians, from their affection to the 
 Thebans. If, for their sakes, they have lost 
 their reason, and are each unworthy of our 
 attention : if for our interest ; whence this 
 unnecessary zeal for their favourite states ? 
 It is possible, very possible, to humble the 
 Thebans, without aggrandizing the Lacerte- 
 
 [1.] The sovereignty of Lacedemon is to 
 be dated from the destruction of Athens by 
 Lysander, in the first year of the ninety- 
 fourth Olympiad, a considerable time before 
 the birth of Demosthenes, but within the 
 memory of some citizens : at least, the con- 
 sequences of this important event must have 
 been remembered by numbers in the assem- 
 bly. 
 
 [2.] Our own affair.] That is, the reco- 
 very of Oropus. 
 
 [3.] The public monuments, &c] In the 
 original, T<ir 21 HAAS KatfeXeli/ -ras wow 9if- 
 fiaiuvs. It was the custom in Greece, that 
 the treaties of the several states, and the 
 conditions of these treaties, should be in- 
 scribed on columns, which were erected, 
 and, while the treaties subsisted, were pre- 
 served in the most public and frequented 
 places, as in the scenes of their great games, 
 where the whole nation was collected at par- 
 ticular seasons, and there had an opportu- 
 nity of being witnesses of the terms agreed 
 on. The observance of these was, in some 
 
 monians. This may be easily effected, as I 
 shall now endeavour to convince you. 
 
 It is well known that men are, to a certain 
 degree, obliged by shame, to adhere to jus- 
 tice, even where their inclinations are averse. 
 They affect to appear strenuous against 
 every injurious attempt; especially, when, 
 in any instance, they have suffered by such 
 attempts. Here we find the great cause of 
 all disorders, the origin of all calamities, in 
 this want of a sincere, disinterested regard 
 to justice. To avoid this danger, therefore, 
 in our attempts to reduce the power of 
 Thebes, let us declare, that Thespia, and 
 Orchomenus, and Plata?a, must be restored: 
 let us exert ourselves for this purpose, and 
 call on others to assist us. Thus shall our 
 true regard to equity, our real patriotic spi- 
 rit, be displayed in this generous concern 
 for the restoration of ancient cities. But, 
 at the same time, let us not abandon Messene 
 and Megalopolis to the power of their op- 
 pressors. Let us not, under the pretence of 
 serving the Thespians and Platseans, look 
 on with unconcern, whilst cities now in 
 being, already filled with inhabitants, are 
 rased to their foundations. If we shew this 
 equal regard to justice, there is net a state 
 in Greece but will readily unite with us, to 
 wrest from the Thebans their unjust acqui- 
 sition. If not, this people must necessarily 
 oppose our endeavours to restore the cities ; 
 an event which they must justly regard as 
 their own destruction : and, in our own af- 
 fair, [2.] the attempt must prove ineffectual. 
 And what, in truth, can be expected, if we 
 are ever suffering cities, now in being, to be 
 destroyed ; and demanding, that cities, long 
 since ruined, should be restored ? 
 
 It hath been urged in this debate, by those 
 who have spoken with the greatest appear- 
 ance of reason, that these people should take 
 down the public monuments [3.] of their 
 treaty with Thebes, if they mean to be real 
 allies to this state. On the other side, it is 
 alleged, that it is not such monuments, but 
 interest, which they regard as the essential 
 
 sort, a matter of national concern, and 
 came under the cognizance of the great 
 council of Amphictyons. That the con- 
 tracting powers themselves might have the 
 monuments of their public acts continually 
 in view, the like columns were erected in 
 the most conspicuous places of their cities. 
 Thus we learn from Thucydides, (1. 18.) 
 that, j when the Athenians and Lacedemo- 
 nians had concluded a truce for fifty years, in 
 the tenth year of the famous Feloponnesian 
 war, it was provided, that the columns on 
 which the treaty was inscribed, should be 
 erected in such places as have been mention- 
 ed. Z-r>'/Aa9 oe <n>iaai 'OXvfMiridtTi, Kai YlvOot, 
 Kai 'laOfMfi, Kai e v 'A0i]vais hv 7ro\ei, Kai ev 
 AaKiiaifiovc 'A^ukAcuu). Pausanias observes 
 that in his days, many bf these columns were 
 preserved in the Olympian temple, and par- 
 ticularly that which was the monument of 
 the treaty concluded between the Athenians, 
 Argians, and Mantina?ans, in the twelfth 
 year of the Peloponnesiau war.
 
 ORAT. XII.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 87 
 
 cause of friendship: that they must look 
 on those as their real allies, who will grant 
 them their assistance. 
 But, however sincerely they may thus 
 
 Srofess, this is my opinion : that you should 
 emand, both that these monuments be 
 taken down, and that Lacedemon be obliged 
 to peace. If either of these demands be re- 
 jected, we should then unite with that party 
 which hath acquiesced. For if, when they 
 are allowed to live unmolested, the Mega- 
 lopolitans should still adhere to their con- 
 nexions with the Thebans, they must then 
 discover to the world, that they were in- 
 fluenced by the hopes conceived from the 
 superiority of Thebes ; not by motives of 
 equity. If, on the other hand, when the 
 Megalopolitans have, with real faith and 
 sincerity, formed an alliance with us, the 
 Lacedemonians should still refuse to live in 
 peace, it must be manifest, that all this 
 their solicitude is not, that Thespia may be 
 restored, but that, while the Thebans are 
 embroiled in this war, they must seize the 
 opportunity of reducing all Peloponnesus. 
 
 I am surprised at some persons, who ex- 
 press dreadful apprehensions, at the allies 
 of Thebes becoming enemies to Lacedemon ; 
 yet, should Lacedemon subdue these people, 
 see no danger in such an event ; especially, 
 when we have the experience of past times 
 to assure us, that the Thebans have ever 
 used those allies [1.] against the Lacede- 
 monians; the Lacedemonians, when their 
 masters, have ever employed them against 
 us. It is, therefore, seriously to be consider- 
 ed, that should you now refuse to admit the 
 Megalopolitans to your alliance, they must 
 either be subverted and dispersed ; and then 
 
 [1.] By those allies, the orator undoubt- 
 edly means not the Arcadians only, but the 
 whole body of the Peloponnesian states. 
 And what he observes of these states, is 
 fully confirmed by history. To mention only 
 the more famous battles fought between the 
 Thebans and Athenians, it appears, that 
 the former were not assisted by the Pelo- 
 ponnesians in their first unsuccessful en- 
 gagement at Tanagra; (An. 4. O1.80.) in 
 the second, when they were victorious; 
 (An. 2. Ol. 83.) or in the third, when they 
 were again conquered ; (An. 1. Ol. 8!).) or in 
 their victory at Delium, in the following 
 year. On the other hand, after the battle 
 of Leuctra, the Thebans were joined by the 
 Arcadians in their invasion of Sparta, (An. 
 3. Ol. 102.) and the next year entered the 
 territory of Lacedemon, in conjunction with 
 the Arcadians, Argives, and Eleans. But 
 the Lacedemonians were assisted by their 
 Peloponnesian allies, in all their wars with 
 the Athenians. In the great Peloponnesian 
 war, ' the confederates of the Lacedemo- 
 nians were,' (said Thucydides, lib. II. 9.) 
 ' all the Peloponnesians that dwelt within 
 the Isthmus, except the Argives and Achse- 
 ans, who had attachments to each of the 
 contending parties.' Aanrfaijiunuiv jwv pi 
 
 the Lacedemonians, at once, become power- 
 ful ; or they must escape the danger, (as wi 
 sometimes see strange and unexpected 
 events;) and, then, with good reason, the} 
 must become firm associates to the Thebans : 
 but, if we accept of these their overtures, 
 they must then owe and acknowledge their 
 preservation to this state. 
 
 But let us turn our thoughts fiom their 
 fortunes and their dangers, and fix our at- 
 tention on the Thebans and Lacedemonians. 
 Should this war prove fatal to the Thebans, 
 (as our interest requires,) still the power of 
 the Lacedemonians will be duly circum- 
 scribed, whilst they have the Arcadians on 
 their borders, ever ready to arm against 
 them. But, suppose the Thebans should 
 prove superior to their dangers, should still 
 defend their country, and should not fall 
 before their enemies; yet, must they be the 
 less powerful, if on our side we be strength- 
 ened by allies, to whom we ourselves gave 
 being. At all events, therefore, the interest 
 of the state demands, that we should not 
 abandon the Arcadians ; that, if preserved, 
 they should not seem to owe their preserva- 
 tion to themselves ; they should not owe it 
 to any others ; but that it should be the act 
 of the Athenians. 
 
 And now, my fellow-citizens ! I call the 
 gods to witness, that I have spoken, not 
 from private affection, not from particular 
 resentment to either party, but from a re- 
 gard to what I deem the real interest of my 
 country. This, then, is my opinion; that 
 you should not abandon the people of Me- 
 galopolis ; no, nor any weaker state to the 
 power of the stronger. [2.] 
 
 ^i'fj.fj.axoi 3 UcXoTTOvvtjaioi /iev oi Ivtos 
 ladnou Trcti'Ter, 7rX>/v Ap^etwi, Kat > Ax^£« , v* 
 
 Toi'TOf? 6 Ep UfJL<f/07<-pOVS <pi\ta T]V* 
 
 Many other instances, to the same pur- 
 pose, might be produced from history. 
 But should it be objected to the assertion 
 of the orator, that, at the battle of Man- 
 tinfea, some of the Peloponnesians united 
 with the Thebans against the Athenian 
 powers, the answer is obvious, that the 
 Athenians were not the objects of this con- 
 federacy j that it was formed against the 
 Spartans, to whom Athens served but as an 
 auxiliary. Lttcchesini. 
 
 [2.] It does not appear from history that 
 this oration had the due effect. Whether 
 the prospect of recovering Oropus had 
 greater influence than the more liberal and 
 less confined policy of Demosthenes ; or, 
 whether the present circumstances and con- 
 nexions of the Athenians prevented them 
 from acting in favour of the Megalopolitans ; 
 certain it is, that they did not exert them- 
 selves on this occasion, in defence of the 
 liberty of Peloponnesus. The quarrel was 
 carried on, for some short time. The La- 
 cedemonians had generally the advantage ; 
 but soon found it necessary to end the war 
 by a truce with the people of Megalopolis.,
 
 88 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. XIII. 
 
 THE ORATION FOR THE LIBERTY OF THE RHODIANS: 
 
 rRONOUNCED IN THE ARCHON'SHIP OF THESSALUS, THE SECOND YEAR OF THE 
 HUNDRED AND SEVENTH OLYMPIAD. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 An attempt made (in the hundred and fifth 
 Olympiad) to reduce the states of Chios, 
 Cos, and Rhodes, to a dependency on 
 Athens, produced the war, well known by 
 the name of 'the social war ;' which was, 
 for three years, supported by the Athe- 
 nians, on one side; and on the other by 
 the Chians, Coans, and Rhodians, assisted 
 by the Byzantines, and by Mausolus, king 
 of Caria ; which prince, (or rather his wife 
 Artemisia, who governed in his name,) was 
 the principal agent in fomenting this quar- 
 rel. Their fears of the Persian arms obliged 
 the Athenians to give a peace to the confe- 
 derates, in which it was expressly stipulated, 
 that they should be free and independent. 
 So that, in effect, these states triumphed 
 over their adversary ; whose concessions 
 were extorted by necessity, and who, of 
 consequence, harboured all the resentment 
 of disappointed ambition against their op- 
 ponents. 
 
 The people of Rhodes, who had engaged 
 warmly in this confederacy, had formerly 
 been indebted to Athens for assistance, in 
 defence of their popular form of govern- 
 ment, against the favourers of aristocracy : 
 who, on their part, had been supported by 
 the Lacedemonians. The peace, now con- 
 cluded, promised to put an end to those 
 civil commotions and revolutions to which 
 the state of Rhodes had been exposed. But 
 the enterprising genius of Artemisia, who 
 now reigned in Caria, prompted her to at- 
 tempt the conquest of Rhodes. The king 
 of Persia favoured her design against an 
 island, which, by its situation, commanded 
 the jEgean sea, and rendered the passage 
 into Greece secure and easy ; and which he 
 justly expected to gain from the Carian 
 princess, by treaty, or by arms, with less 
 umbrage to the Greeks than any direct at- 
 tack would give. 
 
 As a step previously necessary to this de- 
 sign, the aristocratical faction was, partly 
 by the gradual influence of secret practices, 
 
 [1.] This exordium seems to have been 
 founded on some particular circumstances 
 of the assembly, or some difficulties, which 
 Demosthenes was obliged to encounter, be- 
 fore he could obtain an audience. The 
 assembly of the people at Athens was ne- 
 cessarily subject to the inconveniences at- 
 tending all popular meetings. Clamour, 
 tumult, and contention frequently disturbed 
 it ; especially, when the point in debate was 
 of an important kind ; or the popular lead- 
 ers divided ; and, by interest or principle, 
 prompted to support their different opinions 
 and parties, with zeal and ardour. Some- 
 times (as we learn from some passages in 
 
 and partly by force, established in the go- 
 vernment of Rhodes ; which they proceeded 
 to exercise in an oppressive and tyrannical 
 manner. The people, whose liberties were 
 thus overturned, saw no resource in their 
 distress, but to apply to the generosity of 
 Athens, their ancient protector. Ambas- 
 sadors were despatched to implore the as- 
 sistance of the great defenders of liberty ; 
 and, in the assembly convened on this occa- 
 sion, the following oration was delivered in 
 favour of the people of Rhodes. 
 
 Their cause laboured under many dif- 
 ficulties. They had defied the people whose 
 protection they were soliciting ; and were 
 now the objects of their resentment. — Their 
 late opposition was considered, at Athens, 
 as the effect, not of a zeal for liberty, but 
 of ingratitude and pride, of perverseness 
 and insolence, which were represented as a 
 part of their national character. No speaker 
 could venture to oppose these sentiments, 
 which afforded those who spoke against the 
 Rhodians ample matter for invective. It 
 was well known that the Persian king in- 
 terested himself in favour of the reigning 
 party at Rhodes. The danger of irritating 
 this prince had been, by Demosthenes him- 
 self, strongly urged upon other occasions. 
 So that, not only the passions and prejudices 
 of the assembly, but policy also, pleaded 
 powerfully against the present demand of 
 the Rhodians. In these circumstances, they 
 required an able, artful, and insinuating 
 advocate : and such they found in our orator 
 
 THE ORATION 
 
 FOR THE LIBERTY OF THE RHODIANS. 
 
 Thessalo, Archon. — Olympiad. 107. An. 2. 
 
 When affairs, like these, become the sub- 
 ject of our debates, it is my opinion, Athe- 
 nians, that a general liberty of speech 
 should be allowed to all in this assembly. [1.] 
 
 jEschines) the leaders on one side took 
 occasion to seize the gallery, from whence 
 the speakers addressed themselves to the 
 people, and, by open violence, prevented 
 any one from taking his place there, who 
 was not a friend to the measures which 
 they recommended. Sometimes the magis- 
 trates, who presided in the assembly, either 
 thought it necessary, for the preservation of 
 peace and order, or were induced by private 
 motives, to exert their authority, and to 
 circumscribe that liberty of speech, -for 
 which the constitution of Athens had so 
 scrupulously provided. Hence, frequently 
 arose a tumultuous mixture of acclamation,,
 
 obat.xiii.~i DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 89 
 
 Not that I have ever thought it difficult to 
 point out the measures fittest to he pursued ; 
 for (to speak my thoughts plainly) you 
 seem of yourselves sufficiently apprized of 
 these. But to prevail on you to pursue 
 them; there is the difficulty. For, when 
 any thing hath been resolved ; when it hath 
 been confirmed by your voices, we are just 
 as far from carrying it into execution, as if 
 it had never been resolved. 
 
 One particular there is, eminently dis- 
 tinguishable amongst all those favours 
 which we owe to Heaven. 1 mean, that 
 they who, not long since, prompted by 
 their insolence, appeared in arms against us, 
 now rest all their hopes of safety on this 
 state. An event which should inspire us 
 with the greatest satisfaction. For, by a 
 just and proper conduct upon this occasion, 
 we shall, by our actions, gloriously and 
 nobly refute the calumnies of our traducers. 
 The Chians, and the Byzantines, and the 
 Rhodians, accused us of dangerous designs 
 against them : and, from this pretence, 
 conspired to raise the late war against us. 
 But, it will now appear that Mausolus, [1.] 
 the great author and conductor of this war 
 — he who affected such zeal for the interest 
 of the Rhodians, — is the very person who 
 deprived them of their freedom : that the 
 Chians and the Byzantines, [2.] who then 
 professed to be their allies, have refused to 
 assist them when distressed : but that you, 
 the great objects of their apprehensions, 
 prove to be the people, of all others, to 
 
 opposition, loud and vehement command- 
 ing, and earnest expostulation, which form- 
 ed a scene fitted to discourage and terrify an 
 unexperienced or dastardly speaker : a scene 
 for which Demosthenes prepared himself, 
 by declaiming on the sea-shore, amidst the 
 roaring of the waves. 
 
 [1.] This passage seems to intimate that 
 measures had been taken to establish the 
 aristocracy at Rhodes, during the life-time 
 of Mausolus. The queen, who is said to 
 have directed and governed her husband, 
 probably recommended, and made some 
 progress in the execution of a design, which 
 was crowned with complete success in her 
 own reign. 
 
 [2.] It was, probably, the fear of Artemi- 
 sia's power which prevented the Chians and 
 Byzantines from assisting their friends the 
 Rhodians to overturn the usurpation. 
 Otherwise, the Chians, whose government 
 was republican, must have exerted them- 
 selves to secure the like constitution to 
 their allies. Lucchesini. 
 
 [3.] When Artaxerxes engaged in the war 
 with Nectanebus, king of Egypt, both 
 parties applied to the Greeks for assistance : 
 the Persian was refused ; but such numbers 
 of Grecian mercenaries engaged in the 
 service of Nectanebus, that he was enabled 
 to detach four thousand of these to the as- 
 sistance of the Sidonians. And probably 
 the greater part of these forces were Athe- 
 nians ; as the inveterate resentment of this 
 people to the Persians prompted them to 
 take all means of opposing them, which 
 
 whom alone they are indebted for protec- 
 tion. When this is once made manifest to 
 the world, such must be the sentiments 
 with which you shall inspire the people of 
 every community, that they will regard 
 your friendship as the pledge of their se- 
 curity. And surely you cannot enjoy greater 
 happiness than such a universal confidence 
 and affection. 
 
 It is with surprise I find the very persons 
 who urged us to oppose the king [3.J in de- 
 fence of the Egyptians, now deterring us, 
 by the apprehensions of his displeasure, 
 from engaging in the affairs of Rhodes: 
 and this, when it is well known that the 
 Rhodians are really Greeks ; the others, of 
 the number of this prince's subjects. 
 
 There are some among you who may re- 
 member that, at the time when the affairs 
 of Persia were the subject of our consulta- 
 tions, I was the first, I think the only, or 
 almost the only one, to recommend it as 
 the wisest measure, not to assign your en- 
 mity to the king, as the motive of your ar- 
 mament : to make your preparations against 
 your avowed adversaries; but to employ 
 them even against him, should he attempt 
 to injure you. Nor did I urge these things 
 without your full concurrence. You re- 
 ceived them with applause. [4.] On this pre- 
 sent occasion, my sentiments are exactly 
 consonant to what 1 then proposed. And 
 were I a subject to the king, were I called to 
 be his counsellor, to him I should suggest 
 the very measures I now recommend to you ; 
 
 were not absolutely inconsistent with treaties. 
 Lucchesin i. 
 
 [4.] The approbation of the people, he 
 afreets to consider as a full proof of the 
 justness of these his sentiments. ' If they 
 be then just, the king must adopt them ; 
 no other can be recommended to him. And 
 if his conduct is to be guided by such prin- 
 ciples, he cannot be provoked to take up 
 arms against the Athenians, by their inter- 
 position in favour of the liberty of Rhodes, 
 (a Grecian state.) It must be equally his 
 interest not to oppose the Athenians, where 
 his own kingdom is not immediately attack- 
 ed, as it is for the Athenians not to give un- 
 necessary umbrage to him. Such delicacy 
 and caution must be acknowledged just and 
 necessary, but are quite different from a 
 supine inattention to all his motions ; and 
 an abject concession of all the conquests he 
 may be prompted to make, however injuri- 
 ous to Greece. Such conduct would not only 
 be dishonourable but impolitic. While, on 
 the contrary, vigour and resolution prudent- 
 ly directed, instead of involving them in 
 war, must awe their enemies, and preserve 
 them in peace and security.' — This seems to 
 be the sum of the present argument. And 
 the judicious will probably forgive the at- 
 tempt to open and illustrate particular pas- 
 sages, as the sentiments, in this oration 
 especially, are delivered with such liveliness 
 and rapidity, that a reader, not strictly at- 
 tentive, is oftentimes in danger of losing 
 the full view of our orator.
 
 90 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. xiii. 
 
 to fight for his own dominions, if attacked 
 by any of the Greeks ; never to indulge an 
 extravagant ambition of making foreign 
 conquests. If, on your part, ye men of 
 Athens ! it be resolved to give up all those 
 cities to the king, which he may reduce to 
 his obedience, by surprising and deceiving 
 lome members of the several cities; it 
 is a resolution I can by no means praise. 
 But, if ye be persuaded, that, in the cause 
 of justice, ye should, on all occasions, bold- 
 ly draw the sword, and encounter every 
 difficulty ; in the first place, such occasions 
 will occur more rarely, the more you are 
 
 fiossessed with this persuasion ; and then, 
 t must be acknowledged, that such senti- 
 ments are worthy of this state. 
 
 That 1 recommend nothing new, in 
 moving you to give liberty to the Rhodians; 
 that you will do nothing new, if my coun- 
 sels should prevail ; may appear from one 
 instance of our former conduct, which 
 proved of important service. It may be re- 
 membered, Athenians ! that you once sent 
 out Timotheus, to assist Ariobarzanes. [1.] 
 It was expressly prescribed in his commis- 
 sion, that he should not proceed to any in- 
 fringement of our treaty with the king. 
 He saw that Ariobarzanes had openly revolt- 
 ed from his master. He saw that Samos 
 was held by Cyprothemes, and his Persian 
 garrison ; and that Tigranes, the king's own 
 lieutenant, had placed them in this city. 
 To Ariobarzanes, therefore, he refused as- 
 sistance: Samos he invested, and restored 
 to freedom. And to this day, we never were 
 involved in any war on this account. For 
 
 [1.1 The time and circumstances of this 
 expedition do not seem necessary for illus- 
 trating the argument of Demosthenes, as 
 he himself hath distinctly explained the 
 particulars necessary for his purpose. How- 
 ever, the reader whose curiosity may 
 prompt him to seek for farther information, 
 has here a fuller account from the Italian 
 commentator — There is no doubt, but that 
 Timotheus was sent on this expedition in 
 the second, or in the beginning of the third 
 year of the hundred and fourth Olympiad : 
 because, in this year, Ariobarzanes, together 
 with some other satraps on the sea-coast, 
 Mausolus, and Tachus king of Egypt, re- 
 volted from Artaxerxes. The rebellion of 
 Ariobarzanes was probably unknown to the 
 Athenians at this time. The design of the 
 expedition was, to establish this satrap in 
 the government of Phrygia, which he had 
 seized on the death of Mithridates, by his 
 own authority : though possibly he might 
 have assured the Athenians that he had 
 acted by the king's commission. Hence was 
 Timotheus sent to support him with in- 
 structions, however, to commit no infringe- 
 ment of the treaties subsisting between 
 Athens and the Persian. And as this gene- 
 ral could not, consistently with these in- 
 structions, pursue the intended expedition 
 in favour of Ariobarzanes, it was not with- 
 out good reason that he chose to employ his 
 forces in the relief of Samos ; which was 
 cinder Uip jurisdiction of Athens, and un- 
 
 there is a material difference between these 
 two motives for war; the enlargement of 
 dominion, and the defence of rightful pos- 
 sessions. When an invas ; on is to be repelled, 
 the contest is supported to the utmost; not 
 so for the objects of ambition. Men will, 
 indeed, attempt to gTatify thjs passion, if 
 permitted ; but, if opposed, they do not 
 charge the opposition as injurious. Nor do 
 I think that Artemisia will act contrary to 
 these principles, if the state should inter- 
 pose in the affairs of Rhodes. — Hear me for 
 a moment, and judge whether my reasons 
 be well-founded or invalid. 
 
 I think, then, that if all the king's at- 
 tempts in Egypt had been crowned with ef- 
 fectual success, Artemisia would have exert- 
 ed her utmost efforts to reduce Rhodes to 
 his subjection : not from an affection to the 
 king, but in order to bind him, by a signal 
 favour, should he extend his dominions to 
 her neighbourhood; that, in return, he 
 might admit her to the strictest connexions 
 of friendship. But, since he hath acted 
 [2.] — as fame reports ; since he hath been 
 unsuccessful in all his attempts ; she must 
 suppose (and it is in fact the case) that this 
 island can be of no other use to hira, but as 
 a citadel, to awe her kingdom, and to con- 
 trol her motions. So that, in my opinion, 
 she would rather that we were in possession 
 of the island, (provided that this did not 
 appear to be the act of Artemisia,) than that 
 he should gain it. Nor would she assist 
 him in such an attempt ; at least, not with 
 sincerity and vigour. As to the king, how 
 he may act on any emergency, 1 do not pre- 
 
 justly seized by the king's lieutenants, in 
 order to facilitate his operations against the 
 rebels on the sea-coast. Nor was it at 
 all prudent for the Athenians to suffer the 
 Persians to possess an island, from whence 
 they might readily pass over into Greece. 
 
 [2.] We learn from Diodorus, (lib. 16.) 
 that in the present year, when this oration 
 was delivered, Ochus had not penetrated as 
 far as Egjpt : but led his army against Sidon ; 
 which city being betrayed by Mentor, and 
 Tennes its king, was set on fire, and reduced 
 to ashes by the inhabitants. From hence 
 the Persians marched, the next year, into 
 Egypt, where they at first met with some 
 sinister accidents, (a considerable part of the 
 army being lost in morasses,) tnough in the 
 conclusion they were enabled to conquer 
 Nectanebus at Pelusium, and to reduce him 
 to the utmost extremity. Thus the asser- 
 tion of Demosthenes seems not reconcilable 
 to history. But it must not be forgotten, 
 that a passionate eagerness for intelligence 
 was a distinguishing part of the character of 
 the Athenians ; which, we must suppose, was 
 frequently gratified bv rumours and advices 
 invented to please them, and artfully or 
 credulously propagated. Something of this 
 kind might have happened at present : and 
 agreeable news from the Persian camp. 
 w-hether believed by the orator or no, might 
 have been assumed as certain, without anj 
 scruple, to answer the present purpose.
 
 orat. xiii.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 91 
 
 tend to say. But, that it highly imports 
 this state to have it known explicitly! 
 whether lie means to assert any claim to 
 Rhodes or no ; this 1 firmly maintain. If 
 he should, our consultations are not to be 
 confined to the Rhodians ; our conct rn must 
 be for ourselves, and for all the Greeks. 
 
 [1.] Yet, were these Rhodians, who now 
 possess the city, strong enough to maintain 
 their possession, I should not have advised 
 you to grant them aid: no, though the) 
 should make you the most magnificent pro- 
 mises. For f find, that in order to dissolve 
 the free government, they first seduced 
 some citizens to their party ; and then the 
 moment they had gained their purpose, 
 they drove out those very citizens. And 
 they who have been false to both parties, 
 cannot, I presume, prove faithful allies to 
 this state. 
 
 These things I never should have urged, 
 had I only considered the interest of Rhodes. 
 I have no public [2.] attachment to tiiis 
 state; no particular connexion with any 
 
 [1.] At first glance, it may occur to the 
 reader to ask, now it comes, that Demos- 
 thenes, who pleads for the restoration of the 
 popular state, here seems to speak in favour 
 of* the reigning party. And though the 
 commentators, &c. take no notice of any 
 difficulty in this passage, it may not be 
 deemed impertinent to endeavour to illus- 
 trate its purport and connexion — -Demos- 
 thenes hath endeavoured to prove that the 
 king, however he may favour or support 
 the aristocracy at Rhodes, yet will not con- 
 sider the interposition of the Athenians, 
 in defence of the liberty of that island, as 
 an act of hostility against him ; and that 
 neither he, nor Artemisia, will oppose them. 
 ' Not that I pretend,' saith the orator, ' to 
 ascertain what the king's designs are, or 
 what measures he may pursue. But if he 
 shouK assert any direct claim to the domi- 
 nion of Rhodes, his treaty with the Greeks 
 is broken : we and all Greece are threatened. 
 The question is no longer how the Rhodians 
 shall be governed : the island must be de- 
 fended for our own sake, whatever party 
 may prevail there. But, in such a case, it 
 is the interest of Greece, not that of the 
 aristocratical faction at Rhodes, which 
 should be considered ; and however war- 
 rantable, and just, and prudent, a vigorous 
 defence of the island would then be ; yet 
 still, nothing but necessity, nothing but the 
 certainty of its falling into the power of 
 the Persian, without our assistance, could 
 induce me to recommend the granting that 
 assistance. If the reigning party could by 
 themselves defend the island, they do not 
 merit, nor should they be favoured with, 
 our interposition ; but, if not, our own and 
 our nation's interests require, that we 
 should defeat the designs of the Persian 
 against Rhodes, even though this parly 
 should reap the immediate advantage. 
 
 [2.] 1 have no public, ic] The citizens 
 of the more eminent states in Greece had it 
 sometimes in their power to confer favours 
 on inferior communities ; and these in re- 
 
 I of its citizens; or, were I engaged by both 
 these ties, in this assembly 1 should be in- 
 fluenced only by the interest of my country. 
 As to those Rhodians, if one may so speak 
 who pleads for til i tion, 1 rejoice at 
 
 what hath happened: that the men who 
 could not bear that we should regain our 
 just rights, have now losl their own liberty : 
 that they, who might have united upon 
 terms of equality with the Greeks, and with 
 us, the best of Greeks, chose to admit barba- 
 rians [3.] and slaves into their citadel, and 
 to become their abject vassals. 1 had almost 
 said, that these things must prove of use to 
 them, if you vouchsafe your aid. In a 
 course of prosperity, I know not whether 
 they would ever have returned to reason; 
 for they are Rhodians. [4.J But now, taught 
 by experience that perverse folly is the cause 
 of numberless calamities, they may possibly 
 entertain sentiments more just and prudent 
 for the future. And this, I apprehend, 
 would be no small advantage to them. Let 
 us then endeavour to avert their ruin : let 
 
 turn expressed their gratitude by declaring 
 that such persons should, at any time during 
 their residence among them, be entitled to 
 entertainment at the .public expense. In 
 like manner, favours conferred and received 
 by particular persons entitled them to the 
 rights of private hospitality from each other. 
 These were declarations of the mort strict 
 and inviolable friendship ; and trie least 
 neglect or violation of this hospitality was 
 accounted a crime of the most heinous 
 nature. — The expressions in the original are 
 founded on these customs. 
 
 [3.] By Barbarians and slaves, he means 
 the forces of Artemisia, which she sent to 
 the assistance of the aristocratical faction ; 
 and which they kept in the citadel for their 
 defence. Lucchesini. — Tiie admission of 
 these forces into Rhodes is ascribed by Vi- 
 truvius to a stratagem of an extraordinary 
 nature. He tells us, the Rhodians held a 
 private intelligence in Halicamassus, the 
 capital of Cam ; and hoped that the inha- 
 bitants would willingly unite with them, in 
 order to shake off the yoke of a woman. In 
 these expectations they sent a fleet thither. 
 But Artemisia, having discovered the plot, 
 ordered the inhabitants to range themselves 
 under their walls, and to receive the Rho- 
 dians as their expected deliverers. Deceived 
 by this appearance, the Rhodians landed, 
 and left their ships deserted. They were 
 surrounded, and cut to pieces. Artemisia, 
 who had ordered her galleys to fall down 
 some canals which communicated with the 
 port, and to seize their ships, now set sail in 
 the Rhodian fleet, and appeared before their 
 island. It was supposed by the people of 
 Rhodes, that their own army was returned 
 victorious ; and the Carians were masters of 
 their fortress before the fatal mistake was 
 perceived. 
 
 [4.] They are Rhodians.] Homer calls the 
 Rhodians i/7rcpi>*«"«;-, insolent. And to 
 this day they are said to be distinguished by 
 the same fault, though now reduced to Cha 
 extremity of slavery. Lucchesini.
 
 02 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. XIII. 
 
 us not harbour ancient resentments : let it 
 be remembered that you yourselves have 
 oftentimes been deceived by those who en- 
 tertained designs against the state : and yet, 
 on none of these will ye confess that punish- 
 ment should be inflicted. 
 
 Let it also'be considered, that you, my fel- 
 low-citizens, have waged many wars against 
 states, both of popular and oligarchal 
 governments. Of this you are not to be in- 
 formed : but, perhaps, you have never once 
 reflected, what were the causes of your 
 several wars with each. With popular states 
 [1.] your wars arose from particular com- 
 plaints, which could not be decided in a 
 national council; or from disputes about 
 districts and boundaries ; or from the love 
 of glory or pre-eminence. But of your wars 
 with oligarchies, [2.] there were different 
 causes : with these you fought, for your con- 
 stitution, for your liberty. So that I should 
 not scruple to avow my opinion, that it 
 would be better for us to be at war with all 
 the states of Greece, provided [3.] that they 
 enjoyed a popular government, than. to be 
 in friendship with them all, if commanded 
 by oligarchies. For, with free states, I 
 should not think it difficult to conclude a 
 peace whenever ye were inclined ; but with 
 oligarchal governments, we could not even 
 
 [1.] 1 imagine that the orator had here in 
 view the expeditions against the Corinthians 
 and Syracusans. With the former, the 
 Athenians contended about boundaries and 
 territory; particular causes of complaint, 
 but especially ambition, prompted them to 
 wage w ar against the latter. And the govern- 
 ment both of Corinth and Syracuse was re- 
 gularly democratical. Luccliesini. 
 
 [2.] By oligarchies, the orator means the 
 Boeotians and Megareans, but principally the 
 Lacedemonians. Luccliesini. 
 
 [3.] With all the states of Greece, provid- 
 ed, &c] To this the orator subjoins a rea- 
 son, which makes the assertion appear less 
 extraordinary: 'If attacked by all, it is 
 true, the contest could not be supported, 
 yet no terms of accommodation would be 
 imposed that would alter or destroy our 
 constitution. But no peace could secure the 
 freedom of the only democratical state. The 
 enemies of liberty, however apparently recon- 
 ciled, must ever hate and fear, and at length 
 destroy it.'— As I have taken the liberty to 
 translate this passage in a manner different 
 from that of the commentators and interpre- 
 ters, it will be necessary fairly to quote the 
 original at large. "ilzre eya^e ovk av 
 uKvrjaaifit e'nrtiv /uaXXov tifelaOai cufi- 
 (jjtipetv, dr]fjiOKpaTOVfievov^ tov? "LW^i/a? 
 airavTas iroKefxtiv b\liv,n bWiyapxoviJ.tvovs 
 (piXovs etvat. — Ari/UoKpaxou/aevoe? tou? EX- 
 Xni/ac hath been generally taken as equi- 
 valent tO TOl'9 TlOV 'KA\jjl'WV 6t|/iOKpaTUU- 
 
 fjti/ouc, &c. and the original understood as 
 containing this assertion : ' It would be more 
 eligible that all the republics in Greece 
 should be at war with us, than that we 
 should be in alliance with all the oligarchies. 
 The learned in the Greek language will de- 
 termine whether, in order to warrant this 
 
 form a union, to be relied on. For, it is not 
 possible that the few can entertain a sincere 
 affection for the many ; or the friends of 
 arbitrary power, for the men who choose to 
 live in free equality. 
 
 I am surprised that none among you 
 should conceive, that if the Chians, and the 
 Mityleneans, [4.] and now the Rhodians, 
 are to be subjected to a few ; I had almost 
 said, if all mankind are to be thus enslaved ; 
 our constitution must be threatened with dan- 
 ger. It is surprising that none among you 
 should reflect, that if this form of policy be 
 established in every place, it is not possible 
 that our free government should be suffered 
 to continue. For it must then be certain, 
 that none others but the Athenians can arise 
 to restore affairs to their original state of 
 freedom. And those whom men regard as 
 dangerous, they must ever labour to destroy. 
 In every other case, they who act unjustly 
 are enemies only to those whom their injus- 
 tice hath immediately affected ; but they 
 who subvert free states, and reduce them to 
 the power of a few, are to be deemed the 
 common enemies of all the zealous friends 
 of liberty. And justice too demands, ye 
 men of Athens, that you, who enjoy a po- 
 pular government, should discover the same 
 concern for the misfortunes of other free 
 
 interpretation, the form of the sentence in 
 the original should not have been Tout o>i- 
 lioKpa-Tovixivovs "liAXtii'a?, instead of on/io- 
 KpaTovixtvvw; tow, &c. But, not to insist on 
 grammatical niceties, it is submitted to the 
 reader, who attends to the history and cir- 
 cumstances of Greece, whether to be at war 
 with the free states, that is, the states of 
 Peloponnesus, or to be in alliance with the 
 oligarchies, that is (principally) the states of 
 Lacedemon and Bceotia, be two particulars 
 so necessarily incompatible, as to oblige the 
 Athenians to choose one or the other. If it 
 be said that it is sufficient to suppose that 
 particular quarrels might arise, in which a 
 union with Sparta and Bceotia would pre- 
 vent the free states from attacking the Athe- 
 nians; and the rejecting this union might 
 encourage them to the attack ; in such case, 
 I suspect that the orator never could have 
 advised his countrymen to engage singly in 
 a war, as the most eligible measure, which, 
 by weakening each party, would render both 
 an easier prey to those who are supposed 
 (from the nature of their constitution) to be 
 their common enemies. And such advice 
 would still be more unaccountable, should it 
 be supposed, that in consequence of reject- 
 ing the alliance of Sparta and Bceotia, these 
 states would unite with the enemies of 
 Athens. 
 
 [4] From this passage it seems not impro- 
 bable, that the designs of the Persian had 
 extended farther than to Rhodes ; and that 
 he had by his power or influence lately made 
 alterations in the state and government of 
 these inferior islands, which the embarrassed 
 condition of the Athenians, anil their atten- 
 tion to the motions of the Macedonian 
 king, might have prevented them from op- 
 posing.
 
 orat. xiii.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 9a 
 
 states, which you yourselves would expect 
 from them, if at any time (which Heaven 
 avert!) the like misfortunes should oppress 
 you. It may be said, indeed, that the Hho- 
 diansare deservedly distressed: but this is 
 not a time for such objections. Let the pros- 
 perous ever show the tenderest solicitude 
 for the unhappy ; since none can say what 
 may be their own future fortune. 
 
 I have heard it frequently observed in this 
 assembly, that, when the state was in its 
 deepest distress, there were not wanting 
 friends to concert measures for its restora- 
 tion. Of this I shall, at present, briefly 
 mention but one instance, I mean that of 
 the Arrives. [1.] And I should be sorry that 
 we, whose distinguished character it is to 
 protect the wretched, should appear inferior 
 to the Argives in this particular. They, 
 though seated on the bordersof Lacedemon, 
 witnesses of the uncontrolled power of this 
 city, both by sea and land ; yet, could not 
 be diverted, could not be deterred from ex- 
 pressing their affection to the Athenians. 
 When ambassadors came from Lacedemon, 
 to demand some Athenian e-xiles who had 
 taken refuge at Argos, they declared by a 
 decree, that unless these ambassadors depart- 
 ed from their city, before the setting sun, 
 they should be accounted enemies. And 
 would it not be shameful, my countrymen, 
 that the populace of Argos should, in such 
 times as these, defy the terror of the Lacede- 
 monian power and sovereignty ; and yet, that 
 you, who are Athenians, should be terrified 
 by a barbarian ; nay, by a woman ? The 
 Argives might have justly pleaded, that they 
 had oftentimes been conquered by the Lace- 
 demonians. But you have frequently proved 
 victorious over the king ; never were once 
 defeated, either by his slaves or by himself. 
 Or, if the Persian boasts to have obtained 
 any advantage over us, he owes it to those 
 treasures which he lavished on the corrupt 
 traitors and hirelings of Greece. If ever he 
 hath prevailed, by these means hath he pre- 
 vailed. Nor have such successes proved of 
 real use. No : we find that, at the very 
 time when he was endeavouring to depress 
 this state, by the help of Lacedemon, [2.] 
 his own dominions were exposed to the dan- 
 gerous attempts of Clearchus and Cyrus. 
 Thus were his avowed attacks ever unsuc- 
 cessful ; his secret practices attended with no 
 real advantage. 
 
 There are men among you, who frequent- 
 ly affect a disregard of Philip, as if beneath 
 
 [1.] This instance of the magnanimity of 
 the Argives must have been particularly 
 agreeable to the assembly, as the form of 
 government at Argos was, like that of 
 Athens, republican. The memory of this 
 noble and generous act hath been passed over 
 by historians. But we have it here preserv- 
 ed, enlivened, and enforced, by the most 
 vivid colouring, and the utmost strength of 
 expression. Lucchesini. 
 
 is!.] In the first year of the 94th Olympiad, 
 the Lacedemonians became masters of 
 Athens, and there established the thirty ty- 
 rants. In the fourth year of the same 
 
 their attention, but of the king express the 
 most terrible apprehensions, as of. an enemv 
 truly dangerous to those whom he mav de- 
 termine to attack. If then we are never to 
 oppose the one, because weak, and to make 
 unbounded concessions to the other be- 
 cause formidable, against whom, my coun- 
 trymen, are we to draw our swords i ' 
 
 There are men, too, most powerful in 
 pleading for the rights of others, in oppo- 
 sition to your demands. To these I would 
 make one request ; that they should endea- 
 vour to display an equal ze.ll in the defence 
 of your rights, against your adversaries. 
 Thus shall they he the first to shew a real 
 regard to justice. It is absurd to urge its 
 precepts to you, if they themselves pay no 
 deference to its authority. And, surely, a 
 member of this state cannot pretend to a 
 regard for justice, who seeks mdustriously 
 for every argument against us, never for 
 those which may be urged in our favour. 
 Consider, I conjure you, why, among the 
 Byzantines, there is no man to inform them, 
 that they are not to seize Chalcedon, [3.j 
 which is really the king's ; which you some 
 time possessed ; but to which they have no 
 sort of claim : that they should not attempt 
 to reduce Sylembria to their subjection, a 
 city once united in alliance with us : that 
 in assuming a power of determining the 
 boundaries of the Sylembrian territory, the 
 Byzantines violate their oaths, they infringe 
 those treaties which say expressly, that this 
 people shall be governed by their own laws. 
 Why, during the life of Mausolus, or since 
 his death, hath no one been found to inform 
 Artemisia, that she is not to possess herself 
 of Cos, of Rhodes, of many other Grecian 
 states, which the king, who was master of 
 them, ceded by treaty to the Greeks; and 
 for which the Greeks of those days encoun- 
 tered many dangers, supported many noble 
 contests ? Or, were these things thus urged 
 to both ; that they would have any influ- 
 ence, is by no means probable. — I, on my 
 part, see no injustice in reinstating the peo- 
 ple of Rhodes; but, even if it were not 
 strictly just, yet, when I view the actions of 
 others, I think it my duty to recommend 
 this measure. And why ? Because, if all 
 others confined themselves within the bounds 
 of justice, it would be shameful, that you, 
 Athenians, should be the only people to 
 transgress. But, when every other state 
 seeks all opportunities of acting injuriously, 
 that you alone should give up every advan- 
 
 Olympiad, Cyrus took up arms against his 
 brother Artaxerxes. So that between these 
 two events, but a small interval of time in- 
 tervened; which sufficiently warrants the 
 assertion of the orator. Luceheainu 
 
 [3. J Chalcedon.] This city of Bithynia, 
 after various vicissitudes of fortune, had 
 been given up to the king of Persia, by the 
 peace of Antalcidas. But now it appears to 
 have been exposed in the invasions of the 
 Byzantines, as well as Sylembria, a maritime 
 town in the neighbourhood of Byzantium. 
 Lucchesintt
 
 94 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. xiii. 
 
 tage from pretended scruples, and nice dis- 
 tinctions of right ; this is not justice, but 
 cowardice. 
 
 In effect, indeed, we find men proportion 
 their claims of right to their present power. 
 Of this I shall mention one example, well 
 known to all. There are two treaties [1.] 
 on record, between the Greeks and the king ; 
 that which 'our state concluded, which is 
 the subject of universal praise ; and this lat- 
 ter, made by the Lacedemonians, which was 
 condemned as odious and dishonourable. 
 In these treaties, the rights of either party 
 were by no means defined in the same man- 
 ner ; ' and no wonder,' for, in civil society, 
 the rights of individuals are determined by 
 the laws, with the same equal and common 
 regard to the weak and to the strong. But, 
 in political and national transactions, the 
 powerful ever prescribe the bounds of rignt 
 to the weaker. You assume the character 
 of arbitrators and defenders of justice: be 
 careful then to preserve such power as may 
 give due weight and effect to your determi- 
 nations. And this will be done by shewing 
 that the Athenians are the general patrons 
 and protectors of liberty. 
 
 Sensible, indeed, I am, and with good 
 reason, that it is not without the utmost 
 difficulty that you can execute any purposes 
 of moment. All others have but one con- 
 test to maintain, that against their avowed 
 enemies: when thev have once conquered 
 these, they enjoy the fruits of their conquest 
 without farther opposition. But you, Athe- 
 nians ! have a double contest to support. 
 Like others, you have your open enemies ; 
 but you have enemies still more dangerous 
 and alarming ; vou have those of your own 
 citizens to subdue, who, in this assembly, 
 are engaged against the mterests of their 
 country. And, as they are ever strenuous 
 in their opposition to all useful measures, it 
 is no wonder that many of our designs are 
 
 [1. ] The passage, as here translated, plain- 
 ly points out the two most famous treaties 
 concluded between the Greeks and Persians ; 
 the one, by Cimon the Athenian (An. 3. 
 Olymp. 77) ; the other, by Antalcidas the 
 Lacedemonian (An. 2. Olymp. 98.) The first 
 was made immediately after the final over- 
 throw of the Persian forces, both by sea 
 and land. By this treaty it was provided, 
 that all the Grecian cities in Asia should be 
 free and independent ; and that no Persian 
 ship of war should presume to sail to the 
 westward of the Cyansean and Chelidonian 
 islands : that is, to approach so near as to 
 give the least umbrage or alarm to the 
 Greeks : terms, which plainly supposed the 
 superiority of Greece, and are, accordingly, 
 represented by historians as highly honour- 
 able to this nation. The latter treaty, on 
 the contrary, was dictated by the Persians, 
 and the weakness and disorders of the Greeks 
 obliged them to accept of it. By this, the 
 Grecian colonies of Asia, together with some 
 of the islands, were formally given up to 
 the power and jurisdiction of the Persian 
 king. And historians have not restrained 
 their indignation at the meanness and igno- 
 
 frustrated. Perhaps, those emoluments 
 which their corrupters hold forth to tempt 
 them, may be the inducement to many, 
 boldly to aspire to the rank of ministers anil 
 public counsellors. But still you yourselves 
 may be justly blamed. For it is your part, 
 Athenians ! to entertain the same sentiments 
 with regard to the rank of civil duty, as to 
 that of battle. And what are these senti- 
 ments ? He who deserts the post assigned 
 him by the general, you pronounce infa- 
 mous,[2.]and unworthy to share the common 
 rights of an Athenian citizen. In like man- 
 ner, he who, in our civil polity, abandons 
 the station assigned by our ancestors, and 
 attempts to establish the power of the few, 
 should be declared unworthy to speak in 
 this assembly. Do you think it necessary 
 to bind our allies by an oath, to have the 
 same friends and the same enemies with us, 
 in order to be assured of their attachment ? 
 And shall those ministers be deemed truly 
 loyal, who are certainly and evidently de- 
 voted to the service of our enemies ? 
 
 But, what might be urged in accusation 
 against them, what might be urged with se- 
 verity against you, it is by no means diffi- 
 cult to find. By what counsels, by what 
 conduct, the present disorders of our state 
 may be removed ; this is the great point of 
 difficulty. Nor is this, perhaps, the time 
 to enlarge on every particular. Exert your- 
 selves on the present occasion ; endeavour 
 to render your designs effectual, by an ad- 
 vantageous execution ; and then, your other 
 mterests may, perhaps, gradually wear a 
 fairer aspect. 
 
 It is, therefore, my opinion, that you 
 should engage in the affairs of this people 
 with the utmost vigour ; and act as becomes 
 the dignity of Athens. Think with what 
 joy you attend to those who praise your an- 
 cestors, who display their achievements, 
 and recount their trophies. And think, 
 
 miny of these concessions. 
 
 The interpreters and commentators have 
 indeed rendered this passage in another 
 manner. But, without entering into con- 
 troversy, the translator submits the perti- 
 nency and propriety of the present interpre- 
 tation to the judgment of the learned read- 
 er ; by no means confident, yet not without 
 hopes of his concurrence. And, should he 
 happen to be more fortunate, in some par- 
 ticular instance, than his predecessors or as- 
 sociates in the same labour, he esteems it a 
 matter which warrants no sort of triumph 
 or exultation. 
 
 [y..] In the Olynthiac orations, we find 
 Demosthenes complaining, that the severity 
 of the ancient military laws had been consi- 
 derably relaxed. And this passage furnishes 
 us with a remarkable instance of such relax- 
 ation. For, by the original laws and con- 
 stitutions of Athens, it was declared a capi- 
 tal offence for any citizen to fly, or to desert 
 from his post. Even he who cast away his 
 shield was punished with death. If any 
 man lost it by accidental neglect he was 
 bound to pay a fine of five hundred drachma;. 
 Luccheiini.
 
 orat. xiv.] DEMOSTHENES' OTtATIOXS. 
 
 95 
 
 t hat vour ancestors erected these trophies, 
 not tliat the view might barely strike you 
 with admiration; but that you might imi- 
 
 [1.] From the succeeding oration, we 
 learn, that the address and energy which 
 Demosthenes exerted in favour of the people 
 of Rhodes were by no means effectual. The 
 times in which he lived were distracted and 
 corrupted; his country not well disposed, 
 nor indeed possessed of force sufficient to 
 support the general cause of liberty. The 
 assembly in which he spoke was (if we ex- 
 cept some extraordinary cases of immediate 
 
 tate the virtues 
 them. [1.] 
 
 of the men who raised 
 
 danger; ever governed by party. The citi- 
 zens came together, not to deliberate on the 
 public interests, but to support a faction, 
 already determined, and resolved in what 
 manner to give their voices; and armed 
 against the power of truth. It is no wondl - . 
 therefore, that we find the most consuming 
 eloquence, the justest, the strongest, and 
 the most animated representations, in go 
 many instances unsuccessful. 
 
 THE ORATION ON THE REGULATION OF THE STATE: 
 
 PRONOUNCED IN THE ARCHONSHIP OF THEOPHRASTIIS, THE FIKST YF.AU OF 7IIK 
 HUNDRED AND TENTH OLYMPIAD. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The contests between the Macedonians 
 and Athenians (to which we owe the most 
 valuable remains of Demosthenes) have 
 been explained in the former volume of the 
 Philippic orations. The reader is not now 
 to be informed, at what time, and with 
 what success, king Philip attempted to re- 
 duce Perinthus and Byzantium. When he 
 found himself obliged to raise the siege of 
 Byzantium, he is said to have turned his 
 arms against Scythia. The Athenians, who 
 were elated by the least appearance of good 
 fortune, considered this as a flight. They 
 were fired with the imagination of an enemy, 
 that had so long proved formidable and suc- 
 cessful, defeated in his designs, and this, 
 principally, by the counsels and arms of 
 Athens ; retiring before their general Pho- 
 cion, and forced from all attempts on Greece, 
 to retrieve the honour of his arms, in parts 
 remote and barbarous. This they consider- 
 ed as the happy moment for pursuing their 
 advantages, and for reducing that ambition 
 to just and equitable bounds, which was now, 
 for the first time, severely mortified and dis- 
 appointed. 
 
 In order to render the hostilities now me- 
 ditated more formidable and effectual, the 
 Athenians began seriously to reflect on the 
 causes of past misfortunes, and seemed re- 
 solved to reform those corruptions and 
 abuses, which had disgraced their constitu- 
 tion, and weakened their power. 
 
 The oppressions and severe exactions, of 
 which their allies and dependant states had 
 lately found particular occasion to complain, 
 and to which the necessity of their affairs 
 had contributed, as well as the avarice of 
 their commanders, naturally determined 
 Ihem to reflect on the necessity of making 
 «ome effectual provision for the payment of 
 (heir armies: and this as naturally deter- 
 mined the honest and faithful counsellors 
 to resume the consideration of that old, 
 
 [1.] The fatal consequences of lavishing 
 the public revenues, on spectacles and en- 
 
 scandalous abuse, the ' Theatrical distribu- 
 tions.' Of these the reader hath been suffi- 
 ciently informed in the ' Notes' and 'Intro- 
 ductions' of the Olynthiac orations. 
 
 An assembly was therefore convened, to 
 consider of the most eligible methods to 
 provide for the public exigencies, in the 
 least burdensome and most effectual man- 
 ner ; and particularly to consider of the ex- 
 pediency of restoring their theatrical funds 
 to the service of the army ; a point which 
 their misguided decrees had rendered so 
 dangerous to be proposed. On this occa- 
 sion was the following oration delivered ; in 
 which the orator resumes his favourite sub- 
 ject, with his usual spirit, yet with sufficient 
 caution: points out the corruptions of his 
 countrymen, with their causes and conse- 
 quences : and describes both the ancient 
 and present state of Athens ; Athens uncor- 
 rupted, illustrious, and fortunate ; and the 
 same state degenerated and disgraced ; with 
 all the honest severity aud indignation of a 
 patriot. 
 
 In this oration no mention is made of 
 Philip or his designs, of the late transactions 
 in Greece, of the late advantages or disgraces 
 of the Athenian arms. The orator confines 
 himself entirely, and directs the attention 
 of his hearers, to the points immediately 
 under consideration. And we find that 
 these afforded him sufficient room for the 
 exertion of his abilities. 
 
 THE ORATION ON THE REGULA- 
 TION OF THE STATE. 
 
 Theophrastus, 
 
 Archon. — Olympiad. 
 An. I. 
 
 110. 
 
 Men of Athens ! 
 [1.] As to this money, and the 'affairs, at 
 this time, proposed to the assembly, it a]>- 
 
 tertainments, had l>een long and severely 
 
 experienced. Vet still numbers were found 
 
 K 2
 
 96 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. xiv. 
 
 pears to me, that a speaker may, without 
 dinger, espouse either side. By condemn- 
 ing those who thus distribute and exhaust 
 the public treasure, he may gain their es- 
 teem, who regard this custom as injurious 
 to the public; or, by assenting, and encou- 
 raging these distributions, he may recom- 
 mend himself to their favour, whose neces- 
 sities prompt them to demand these public 
 aids. By neither party is the interest of the 
 state considered. Their approbation, or 
 their condemnation of this custom, is in- 
 fluenced entirely by their several circum- 
 stances of indigence or affluence. I, on my 
 nart, shall neither oppose nor recommend 
 ft. But this I would entreat you seriously 
 and maturely to consider, that the money, 
 now the subject of debate, is of little mo- 
 ment ; but the custom which it hath pro- 
 duced, of great consequence. ' If, [1.] then, 
 these distributions be established, for those 
 who have first respectively discharged their 
 public offices ; far from injuring, you will 
 do the most essential service both to your 
 country and to yourselves. But if a feast, 
 or any other like pretence, be sufficient for 
 demanding these sums; if the mention of 
 any farther conditions be rejected with im- 
 patience ; beware, lest all your regulations, 
 how specious, how promising soever, may 
 hereafter prove erroneous. 
 
 This I now declare as my opinion (let 
 me not be interrupted by clamour; but 
 hear, and then determine") — That, as we 
 
 in the assembly, who, from private motives, 
 either of interest, or to recommend them- 
 selves to the lower part of the citizens, 
 pleaded in favour of this abuse, and found 
 plausible arguments to urge in its favour. 
 These, and their opposers, seem to have al- 
 ready debated the present point, with consi- 
 derable heat and violence; and to have been 
 supported by their respective partisans, not 
 with that decorum or temper which, perhaps, 
 are sometimes found in less numerous as- 
 semblies. Hence, the appearance of mode- 
 ration in this exordium : which, in the pre- 
 sent disposition of the people, was probably 
 necessary, in order to obtain the orator ail 
 audience. And it may, in general, beob- 
 1 served, that although the eloquence of De- 
 iinosthenes be commonly, and very justly, 
 compared to the irresistible lightning, storm, 
 or torrent; yet such similitudes are not to 
 be understood too strictly : for, on all ne- 
 cessary occasions, he appears a consummate 
 master of the gentle arts of insinuation. 
 He thunders and lightens indeed; yet, 
 sometimes (if the illusion be warrantable,) 
 ' half his strength he puts not forth.' Nor, 
 in effect, does he ever give a free and full 
 course to his energy, until he has prepared 
 his hearers to receive the impression. 
 
 [1.] I have here endeavoured to express 
 what I take to be the intent and meaning of 
 the orator, from comparing the passage with 
 others of the like import, in the Olynthiac 
 orations. To propose to the assembly that 
 the theatrical money (as it was called) should 
 be applied to other purposes, was, by the 
 law of Eubulus, declared a capital offence. 
 
 are now convened about receiving these 
 distributions, so should an assembly be ap- 
 pointed to consider of a general regulation 
 of the state, and particularly of a provision 
 for our military affairs ; and every citizen 
 should discover not only a just attention to 
 all useful measures, but a just alacrity to 
 carry them into execution ; that so, my 
 countrymen, our hopes of good success may 
 depend upon ourselves, instead of being 
 amused with reports of this or that man's 
 exploits. Let all the public treasures; let 
 all the funds for which private fortunes are 
 now so uselessly exhausted : let all those re- 
 sources, which our allies afford, be equita- 
 bly distributed, and effectually applied : by 
 the soldier, to his support in time of action ; 
 by the man who hath passed the age of 
 military duty, as a recompense for his ser- 
 vices in the administration of justice. Let 
 the duties of the field be discharged by your- 
 selves, duties too important to be intrusted 
 to others ; let your armies be composed of 
 citizens: thus let them be paid and pro- 
 vided. So shall they go on with vigour and 
 success: [2.] so shall your general really 
 command his forces ; and so shall your oc- 
 cupation be no longer to conduct the trials 
 of your officers, nor the result of all your 
 measures prove but this — an accuser, [3.] 
 an impeachment, and a criminal. 
 
 What then may be expected * from the 
 measures now proposed ?' First, that the 
 attachment of our allies will be secured, not 
 
 Demosthenes therefore advises, not that this 
 money should be alienated to the payment 
 of their armies ; but, that all citizens should 
 receive their distributions as usual ; yet, at 
 the same time, discharge all their respective 
 offices, whether civil or military, without 
 farther salary or pay : and, that such only 
 as had thus discharged, or were ready to 
 discharge, these offices, should be entitled 
 to the public distributions. The two pro- 
 posals are, in effect and reality, the same, 
 but different in form: and this difference 
 was sufficient for eluding the severity ot the 
 law. See Note 2. p. 18. Olynth. II. 
 
 [2.] In the Philippic orations we find 
 notice frequently taken of the misconduct 
 of the Athenian generals, in employing their 
 forces not conformably to their mstructions, 
 but in expeditions neither appointed nor ap- 
 proved by their country. This Demos- 
 thenes ever affects to ascribe principally to 
 disobedience and want of discipline in the 
 foreign forces, and to the necessities of the 
 general, which obliged him to procure, by 
 arms, that provision for his soldiers, which 
 the state neglected to supply. See note 4. 
 p. 6, on Philip. I. 
 
 [3.] An accuser, &c] In the original — 
 * Such a man, the son of such a man, hath 
 impeached such a person : "O cSeiVu rov oti- 
 vos, t6h Beiva elarfflei'Kev, Alluding to 
 the usual form of the bill or motion prefer- 
 red to the assembly, or to the judges, upon 
 such occasions. — I have here chosen to ad- 
 here to the interpretation of Wolfius; as 
 sufficiently warranted by the original, as 
 most pertinent, and certainly most spirited.
 
 Oil AT. 
 
 XIV.] 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 97 
 
 by garrisons, but by making their and our 
 interests the same ; then, that our generals, 
 attended by their troops of foreigners, will 
 [].] no longer harass our confederates by 
 their depredations, without once daring to 
 face the enemy (a conduct by which all 
 emoluments have centred in these generals, 
 but which hath loaded the state with odium 
 and disgrace.) On the contrary, by leading 
 out an army composed of citizens, they 
 shall inflict that severity on our enemies, 
 hitherto directed against our friends and 
 allies. 
 
 But, besides these, there are other affairs 
 which demand your personal service. A 
 war in our own country must certainly be 
 better supported by an army of our own 
 citizens : and for other purposes such an 
 army is absolutely necessary. Were it con- 
 sistent with your character, to sit down in- 
 active, without the least concern or interest 
 in the affairs of Greece, I should then use a 
 different language. But, now, you affect 
 the dignity of supreme commanders and 
 umpires in Greece : but yet, the forces to 
 defend and to preserve this superiority, you 
 have not yet prepared, nor are solicitous to 
 prepare. No ! by your indolence and in- 
 sensibility the people of Mitylene [2.] have 
 lost their liberty ; by your indolence and 
 insensibility the people of Rhodes have lost 
 their liberty. — But these, it may be said, 
 were our enemies — Yet we should regard 
 oligarchies as much more the objects of our 
 aversion (merely on account of their con- 
 stitution) than free states can be from any 
 cause. 
 
 But I have wandered from my purpose. 
 My advice is this : That you should be ar- 
 ranged in your classes ; and that, by one 
 and the same regulation, vou should be en- 
 titled to receive, and obliged to act. Of 
 these things I have spoken upon former 
 occasions ; and explained the manner in 
 which our infantry, our cavalry, in which 
 those who are exempt from military service, 
 may be all duly regulated, and all receive 
 their stipends fully. But, that which of all 
 things gives me the most melancholy appre- 
 
 [1.] 'When the Athenians sent to collect 
 their tribute from the dependant islands, 
 they frequently employed an admiral, at- 
 tended with such a navy as proved both a 
 burden and a terror to the islanders. When 
 Phocion was appointed to sail with twenty 
 ships on such an occasion, 'Why such a 
 force ?' said this humane Athenian ; ' If I 
 am to meet enemies, it is insufficient ; if I 
 am sent to friends, a single vessel will serve.' 
 And even those allies who found themselves 
 obliged to implore the assistance of the 
 Athenians against their enemies, frequently 
 experienced more miserable effects from the 
 oppression and rapine of their auxiliaries, 
 than from the arms of their assailants. So 
 notorious and odious was the avarice of 
 Chares, that when he led an army to the 
 relief of Byzantium (a little before the date 
 of this oration,) the Byzantines shut their 
 gates against him. 
 
 [2.] This change of the government at 
 
 hensions, I shall here declare without dis- 
 guise. Many, and noble, and important, 
 are the objects which should command your 
 attention. Vet no man hath the least re- 
 spect to any one of them ; all attend solely 
 to the wretched pittance [3.] you distribute. 
 Such a pittance then, they must confess, is 
 adequate to their desert. But a just atten- 
 tion to the objects I have mentioned, must 
 have consequences more valuable than all 
 the wealth of Persia : — the exact regulation 
 and appointment of a state like this, pos- 
 sessed of so great an infantry, of such a 
 navy, of such a cavalry, of such revenues. 
 
 But, wherefore do 1 mention these things ? 
 For this reason : There are men shocked 
 at the thoughts of obliging all our citizens 
 to serve in war ; but there are none, who do 
 not readily acknowledge, that it is of the 
 utmost moment to the state, to be duly 
 regulated and perfectly provided. It is your 
 put, therefore, to begin here; and to allow 
 a full freedom of speech to those who would 
 urge the importance of this point in its full 
 force. If you be convinced, that this is the 
 proper time for considering of the necessary 
 provisions, you may command them when 
 called to action. But, should you imagine 
 that such considerations may more properly 
 be deferred to some future occasion ; then 
 must ye be reduced to give up the time of 
 execution to the necessary preparations. 
 
 It may have been already asked, Athe- 
 nians ! (not by the majority of this assem- 
 bly, but by certain persons, who would 
 burst with vexation should these measures 
 be pursued,) ' What real advantage have 
 we derived from the speeches of Demos- 
 thenes ? He rises when he thinks proper : 
 he deafens us with his harangues : he de- 
 claims against the degeneracy of present 
 times : he tells us of the virtues of our an- 
 cestors : he transports us by his airy ex- 
 travagance: he puffs up our vanity; and 
 then sits down.'— But, could these my 
 speeches once gain in effectual influence 
 upon your minds, sc ,<reat would be the ad- 
 vantages conferred upon my country, that, 
 were I to attempt to speak them, they 
 
 Mitylene, as it could not convey any in- 
 struction to posterity, hath been passed 
 over in silence, by all the ancients except 
 Demosthenes : so that we are ignorant of 
 the manner in which it was effected. (And 
 how far the Athenians were really to blame 
 in not preventing it.) Lucchesini. 
 
 [3.] To the wretched pittance, &c] Lit- 
 erally, ' to the two oboli :' that is ' 2d. -2q. 
 the sum distributed to the poorer citizen; 
 for their support, and for the purchase of 
 their seats in the theatre. And small as this 
 largess was, yet, as the number of such 
 citizens was great, and as the distribution 
 seems to have been made daily, the treasury 
 must have been considerably exhausted by 
 it. Nor are we warranted to suppose, that 
 the people always confined their demands 
 to this sum. Entertainments, processions, 
 and religious ceremonies, afforded pretences 
 for still farther demands.
 
 98 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. XIV. 
 
 would appear to many as visionary. Yet, 
 still I must assume the' merit of doing some 
 service, by accustoming you to hear salutary 
 truths. And, if your counsellors be solici- 
 tous for any point of moment to their 
 country, let them first cure your ears, for 
 they are distempered; and this, from the 
 inveterate habit of listening to falsehoods, 
 to every thing rather than your real in- 
 terests. * 
 
 Thus it lately happened — (Let no man 
 interrupt me : let me have a patient hear- 
 ing,) — that some persons broke into the 
 treasury. The speakers all instantly ex- 
 claimed, ' Our free constitution is overturn- 
 ed: our laws are no more.' And now, ye 
 men of Athens ! judge, if I speak with 
 reason. They who are guilty of this crime, 
 justly deserve to die ; but, by such offenders, 
 our constitution is not overturned. Again, 
 some oars [1.] have been stolen from our 
 arsenal. — 'Stripes and tortures for the vil- 
 lain ; our constitution is subverted '.' This 
 is the general cry. But what is my opinion ? 
 This criminal, like the others, hath deserv- 
 ed to die: but, if some are criminal, our 
 constitution is not therefore subverted 
 There is no man who dares openly and bold- 
 ly to declare, in what case our constitution 
 is subverted. But I shall declare it. When 
 you, Athenians ! become a helpless rabble, 
 without conduct, without property, without 
 arms, without order, without unanimity; 
 when neither general, nor any other person, 
 hath the least respect for your decrees ; whe/i 
 no man dares to'inform you of this your con- 
 dition, to urge the necessary reformation, 
 much less to exert his efforts to effect it — 
 ' then is your constitution subverted.' And 
 this is now the case. 
 
 But, O my fellow-citizens ! a language of 
 a different nature hath poured in upon us ; 
 false, and highly dangerous to the state. 
 Such is that assertion, that in your tribu- 
 nals is your great security ; that your right 
 
 [1.] Some oars, &c] We cannot well 
 suppose, that the depredations made in 
 their naval stores were really so slight and 
 inconsiderable, as they are represented in 
 these extenuating terms. A design had 
 lately been concerted, of a very momentous 
 and alarming nature, and an attempt made 
 on the naval stores at Athens, which De- 
 mosthenes himself laboured, with the ut- 
 most zeal, to detect and punish. A man 
 named Antipho had been, for some time, 
 considered as an Athenian citizen; till, by 
 an examination of the registers, he was 
 found to be really a foreigner ; was accord- 
 ingly deprived of all the privileges of a 
 native, and driver., with some ignominy, 
 from the city. Enraged at this disgrace, he 
 went off to "Philip, and to him proposed to 
 steal privately into Athens, and to set fire 
 to the arsenal. The Macedonian, who was 
 neither delicate in the choice of his instru- 
 ments, nor in the means of distressi ng his 
 enemies, listened readily to the proposal of 
 this hireling, and by bribes and promises 
 encouraged him to the attempt. Antipho 
 repaired to Athens, and was lodged in the 
 
 of suffrage is the real bulwark of the con- 
 stitution. That these tribunals are our 
 common resource in all private contests, I 
 acknowledge : but, it is by arms we are to 
 subdue our enemies, by arms we are to de- 
 fend our state. It is not by our decrees that 
 we can conquer. To those, on the contrary, 
 who fight our battles with success, to those 
 we owe the power of decreeing, of transact- 
 ing all our affairs, without control or danger. 
 In arms, then, let us be tenible ; in our^ju- 
 dicial transactions, humane. 
 
 If it be observed, that these sentiments 
 are more elevated than might be expected 
 from my character, the observation, I con- 
 fess, is just. Whatever is said about a state 
 of such dignity, upon affairs of such impor- 
 tance, should appear more elevated than any 
 character. To your worth should it corres- 
 pond, not to that of the speaker. And now 
 I shall inform you why none of those, who 
 stand high in your esteem, speak in the same 
 manner. The candidates for office and em- 
 i-loyrr.ent go about soliciting your v> 
 the slaves of popular favour. To gain the 
 rank of general, is each man's great concern ; 
 not to fill this "station with true manlil: 
 trepidity. Courage, if he possesses i:, he 
 deems unnecessary ; for thus he reasons : he 
 has the honour, the renown of this city 
 to support him ; he finds himself free from 
 oppression and control; he needs but to 
 amuse you with fair hopes ; and thus he 
 secures a kind of inheritance iu vour emolu- 
 ments. And he reasons truly. But, do you 
 yourselves once assume the conduct of your 
 own affairs ; and then, as you take an equal 
 share of duty, so shall you" acquire an equal 
 share of glory. Now," your ministers and 
 public speakers, withoutone thought of di- 
 recting you faithfully to your true interests, 
 resign themselves entirely to these generals. 
 Formerly you divided [-•] into Classes, in 
 order to "raise the supplies : row the business 
 of the Classes is to gam the management of 
 
 port, ready to put his enterprise in execu- 
 tion, when Demosthenes, who received 
 timely intimation of this black design, flew 
 to the Pirseus, and seized and dragged the 
 delinquent before an assembly of the people. 
 Here the clamours of the Macedonian party 
 were so violent, that the accusation was 
 slighted, and Antipho dismissed without the 
 formality of a trial. He departed, triumph- 
 ing in his escape, to pursue his designs with 
 greater confidence and security. But the 
 court of Areopagus, whose peculiar province 
 it was, to take the cognisance of all matters 
 of treason against the state, caused him to 
 be again seized and examined. Torture 
 forced from him a full confession of his 
 guilt ; and sentence of death was passed and 
 executed upon him. — This account we have 
 from the oration on the Crown. And the 
 detection of so dangerous a design nught 
 have quickened the vigilance of the people, 
 and exasperated their resentment against 
 any the least attempts made on their mili- 
 tary stores. 
 
 Formerly vou divided, &c. See Note 
 3. on Olvnth. i,p, 15.
 
 okat. xiv.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS- 
 
 on 
 
 public affairs. The orator is the leader : the I 
 general seconds his attempts ; the Three ] 
 Hundred are the assistants on each side ; and 
 all ovhers take their parties, and serve to fill j 
 up the several factions. And you see the 
 consequences : this man gains a statue : this 
 amasses a fortune ; one or two command the ' 
 state ; while you sit down unconcerned wit- | 
 nesses of their success; and, for an uninter- 
 rupted course of ease and indolence, give | 
 them up those great and glorious advantages : 
 which really bel i 
 
 And now) consider - 
 of our ancestors in these particulars (for, if i 
 we would 1 >w to act withdL 
 
 we need not look to other countries fi 
 amples : we have had them in our own state) ' 
 To Themistocles, who commanded in the 
 sea-fight at Salamis ; [1.] to Miltiades, the 
 general at Marathon; to many others, who j 
 surely never did such services as our prt • 
 lis, they never or.ce erected a tn 
 statue. These men were never such da 
 favourites; never were deemed superior K> 
 their fellow-citizens, Xo, by the gods ! the j 
 
 Athenians of those days never would give 
 up their share in the honour of any noble 
 
 . Nor is there a man that will say, the 
 sea-fight of Themistocles, at Salamis, but of 
 the Athenians: not the engagement at Ma- 
 rathon, by Miltiades, but by the state. But 
 now we are perpetually told, that Timot' 
 I vk C ircyra : that Tphicratcs cut off the 
 
 iment ; that Chabtias gained the naval 
 -. Thus, you seem to resign 
 all your share in these actions, bv thos 
 travagant honours which you heap upon 
 your generals- 
 Such was the noble conduct of our an- 
 cestors in rewarding citizens; and such is 
 your mistaken conduct. But, of honouring 
 ers what have been the methods? 
 on the Pharsalian, who supplied 
 us with twelve talents of silver, in our war 
 
 d, near Amphipolis, and reinforced us 
 with two hundred horsemen, of his own de- 
 pendants, our ancestors never voted the 
 freedom of cur city, but only granted cer- 
 tain mimi: And hi earlier times, 
 
 fl.] Who commanded in the sea-fight at 
 Salamis, Arc] These are the very ej 
 sions of the original ; and although the 
 common metonymical phrase ["« Who gained 
 the victory at Salamis 1 ] might appear less 
 uncouth, and be more familiar to a modern 
 ear, yet I should have thought it unpardon- 
 able in the translation, as it is a mode of 
 speaking which Demosthenes studiouslv 
 avoids. And, indeed, had he been betraved 
 into it, he must have exposed himself to* all 
 the ridicule of his acute and observant 
 audience: for, in the very next sentence, he 
 condemns it as highly derogatory to the 
 honour of his cot: 
 
 2.[ This war at Eion, near Amphipolis, I 
 am bold t the same with that 
 
 so particularly described by Thucydi.i 
 the eighth, ninth, and tenth y. - 
 Pelopounc - when the" Lacedemo- 
 
 nians, under thecommand: IDDO- 
 
 sed the Athenians in this country ; although 
 the historian, who confined himself to the 
 transactions of _ lortance, makes 
 
 no mention of this assistance afforded to the 
 Athenians by Mencn the Pharsalian. This 
 •n I take to be the same with the Thes- 
 salian of that name, who, in the fourth 
 year of the ninety -fourth Olympiad, led a 
 body of forces to the assistance of Cyrus, 
 against his brother Artaxerxes, according to 
 Diodorus and Xenophon. The circum- 
 stances of his supplying the Athenians with 
 money, and giving "them a bodv of horse, 
 exactly agree to two particulars in the 
 character of that Menon whom Xenophon 
 describes : that it was his custom to court 
 the friendxh~p of the powerful, that they 
 might screen him from the punishment due 
 to his infamous practices ; and that he con- 
 stantly kept in his service a large bodv of 
 forcesready toactasheciire stint. 
 
 [&] Certain immunities.] A manner of 
 doing honour to these men, which, at the 
 same time, expressed a high sense of the 
 dignity of their own city. Por it supposed 
 
 that these eminent personages might find it 
 necessary to take up their residence for some 
 considerable time at Athens, as ' sojourners." 
 And, in order to understand the nature of 
 these immunities, we must attend la 
 situation of those Meroutoc, or so journers. 
 ers called, who settled 
 ens, by permissi(su of the Areopagus. 
 Here they were allowed to follow their occu- 
 pations, without disturbance; but had no 
 share in the government ; were not intrusted 
 public offices, nor voted in the assem- 
 bly. They were obliged to '.he performance 
 of certain duties ; asm the festival celebrated 
 in honour of Minerva, called Panathenaea, 
 the men were obliged to carry the trxa&ai, or 
 little - . ich were th'e.signs of their 
 foreiit: . ., while the women bore the 
 
 - : :els of water, and the 
 umbrellas, to defend the free-women from 
 the weather. This last custom, indeed, was 
 introduced in the insolence of the Athenian 
 prosperiry, after the defeat of the Persians. 
 Besides this, the men paid an annual tribute 
 of twelve drachmae The womec, who had 
 no sons, paii six. Such as had sons that 
 paid, were excused. And this tribute was 
 exacted not only of those that dwelt in 
 Athens, but of all" that settled themselves in 
 any town of Attica. This tribute, by the 
 interposition of Themistocles, was, for a 
 time, remitted ; but seems to have been 
 restored in consequence of his disgrace : and, 
 upon any failure of payment, the delinquent 
 was liable to be seized, and sold as a slave. 
 — Such of these sojourners as had been re- 
 maikably serviceable to the public, were 
 honoured, by edict, with an immunity from 
 all impositions and duties, except such as 
 were required of the free-born citizens. 
 Hence this honour was called 'IjortAem, 
 and' - the expression of the text.) 
 
 To foreigners of eminence, such immunities 
 might have exter.ied even to an exemption 
 from r , to w hich citizens them- 
 
 selves were obliged. For immunities of 
 this kind were frequently granted, so as to
 
 100 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat.xiv. 
 
 Perdiccas, who reigned in Macedon [1.] at 
 the time of the barbarian's invasion, who fell 
 on the barbarians in their retreat from the 
 slaughter of Plataea, and completed the ruin 
 of the king, they never voted the freedom 
 of the city ; they but granted him inmuni- 
 ties: thoroughly persuaded that the honour 
 of being a citizen of Athens was too exalted, 
 too illustrious, to be purchased by any ser- 
 vices. But now, my countrymen, it is ex- 
 posed to common sale : the most abandoned 
 of mankind, the slaves [2.] of slaves are ad- 
 mitted to pay down the price, and at once 
 obtain it. And such difference of conduct 
 doth not arise from this, that you are natu- 
 rally less excellent than your ancestors ; but 
 from those truly noble sentiments which 
 they were accustomed to entertain, and 
 which you have lost. For it is not possible 
 that men, engaged in low and grovelling 
 pursuits, can be possessed with great and 
 generous thoughts. Just as those, who act 
 with dignity and honour, cannot harbour 
 any mean and abject thought. Whatever 
 be their course of conduct, such must men's 
 sentiments ever prove. 
 
 And now, let us take one general view of 
 the actions performed by our ancestors, and 
 by ourselves; that, by such comparison, we 
 may learn to excel ourselves. Five-and- 
 forty years did they govern Greece, with 
 general consent. More than ten thousand 
 talents did they collect into our treasury. 
 Many and noble monuments did they erect, 
 of victories by land and sea, which are yet 
 the objects of our applause. And be as- 
 sured, that they erected these, not to be 
 viewed in silent wonder, but that you might 
 be excited to emulate the virtues of those 
 who raised them. Such was their conduct. 
 Say then, can we, though seated thus se- 
 curely above all opposition, boast of any 
 actions like these? Have we not lavished 
 more than one thousand five hundred talents 
 on every Grecian state that pleaded their 
 distress; and all to no purpose? Have we 
 not exhausted all our private fortunes, all 
 the revenues of our state, all we could exact 
 from our confederates ? The allies which 
 we gamed by arms, have they not been 
 given up in our treaties ? — Yes ! in these 
 particulars, it is granted, that our ancestors 
 excelled us ; but there are others in which 
 
 occasion complaints and remonstrances. 
 
 [1.] Perdiccas, who reigned in Macedon, 
 &c] According to Herodotus, Alexander, 
 the son of Amyntas, was king of Macedon 
 at the time of the Persian war. And there- 
 fore we may suppose, with the Italian com- 
 mentator, that this Perdiccas was one of 
 the royal family, and governed one of those 
 districts into which Macedon was divided in 
 the earlier times. Nor are we to wonder, 
 that this action of the Macedonian has been 
 passed over in silence by the historians, as 
 it was not very considerable, when compared 
 with the great events of the Persian war. 
 
 ("2.] The slaves, &c] The freedom of the 
 city was, by the constitution of Athens, con- 
 ferred only by the voices of the people ; nor 
 was their act valid, unless confirmed in a 
 
 we are superior.— Far from it !— Shall we 
 pursue the comparison ? The edifices they 
 have left to us, their decorations of our 
 city, of our temples, of our harbours, of all 
 our public structures, are so numerous and 
 so magnificent, that their successors can 
 make no addition. Look round you to 
 their vestibules, their arsenals, their porti- 
 coes, and all those honours of our city, 
 which they transmitted to us. Yet, were 
 the private habitations of the men of emi- 
 nence, in those times, so moderate, so con- 
 sonant to that equality, the characteristic of 
 our constitution, that, if any one of you 
 knows the house of Themistocles, of Cimon, 
 of Aristides, of Miltiades, or of any of the 
 then illustrious personages, he knows that it 
 is not distinguished by the least mark of 
 grandeur. But now, ye men of Athens ! as 
 to public works, the state is satisfied, if 
 roads be repaired, if water be supplied, if 
 walls be whitened, if any trifle be provided. 
 Not that I blame those who have executed 
 such works. No ! I blame you who can 
 think so meanly as to be satisfied with such 
 fruits of their administration. Then, in 
 private life, of the men who have conducted 
 our affairs, some have built houses, not 
 only more magnificent than those of other 
 citizens, but superior to our public edifices ; 
 others have purchased and improved an ex- 
 tent of land greater than all their dreams of 
 riches ever presented to their fancies. 
 
 And here lies the great source of these er- 
 rors. Formerly, all power and authority 
 were in the people. Happy was it for any 
 individual, if they vouchsafed him a share 
 of honours, employments, or emoluments. 
 But now, on the contrary, individuals are 
 the masters of all advantages, the directors 
 of all affairs ; whilst the people stand in the 
 mean rank of their servants and assistants ; 
 fully satisfied, if these men vouchsafe to 
 grant them some small share of their abun- 
 dance. 
 
 To such a state have we been reduced by 
 these means, that if a man were to peruse 
 your decrees, and then distmctly to examine 
 your actions, he could not persuade himself, 
 that the same people had been authors of 
 both. Witness the decrees you made against 
 the accursed Megareans, [3.] who had pos- 
 sessed themselves of the consecrated ground ; 
 
 subsequent "assembly by the votes of more 
 than six thousand Athenians, by ballot (as 
 we learn from the oration of Demosthenes 
 against Neasra ;) but now their poverty had 
 made them much less delicate. And we 
 learn from Athenaeus, that they had about 
 this .time conferred the freedom of their 
 city (this compliment, in former times, 
 scarcely vouchsafed to kings and potentates) 
 on two men whose only pretence of merit 
 was, that their father had been famous for 
 improving the art of cookery. Such a scan- 
 dalous prostitution of their honours fully 
 justifies all the severity of Demosthenes. 
 
 [3.] This instance of the impiety of the 
 Megareans, of whom Demosthenes here af- 
 fects to speak with so much detestation, 
 probably happened about the time, and was
 
 orat.xv.-j DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 101 
 
 that you would march out, that you would 
 oppose them, that you would not permit 
 such sacrilege. Witness your decrees about 
 the Phliasian exiles; [1.] that you would 
 support them ; that you would not abandon 
 them to their assassins ; that you would call 
 on those of the Peloponnesian's who were in- 
 clined to unite with you in their cause. These 
 were all noble declarations ; these were just ; 
 these were worthy of our state. Not so the 
 execution. Thus your decrees serve but to 
 discover your hostile dispositions ; your ene- 
 mies never feel their effects. The resolu- 
 tions of your assemblies fully express the 
 dignity of your country ; but that force, 
 which should attend these resolutions, you 
 do not possess. It is, in my opinion, your 
 only alternative (and let it not raise your 
 indignation) ; either to entertain sentiments 
 less elevated, and to confine your attention 
 to your own affairs, or to arm yourselves 
 with greater force. If this assembly were 
 composed of the inhabitants of some obscure 
 and contemptible islands, 1 should advise 
 you to think less highly. But, as you are 
 Athenians, I must urge you to increase 
 your force. For it is shameful, O my coun- 
 trymen ! it is shameful to desert that rank 
 
 the occasion of the embassy of Anthemoni- 
 tus, of whom mention is made in Philip's 
 letter to the Athenians. Lucchesini. 
 
 [1.] As this affair is not mentioned in his- 
 tory, and but slightly hinted at by Demos- 
 thenes, it requires some pains to investigate 
 it. The Phliasians had ever been hi open 
 or secret enmity with the Argives; while 
 the one endeavoured to support their inde- 
 pendency, the other, to reuuce their city, 
 which they regarded as part of their own 
 territory. In the third year of the hundred 
 and first Olympiad, certain Phliasians who 
 had been banished, formed a conspiracy 
 with some kinsmen who still continued in 
 the city, in order to betray it to the Argives. 
 It was attacked vigorously by night, and 
 the enemy, with the utmost difficulty, re- 
 pelled. This attempt exasperated each party, 
 and produced various quarrels and hostili- 
 ties. And whether these were suspended 
 or continued down to the date of this oration, 
 
 of magnanimity, in which our ancestors 
 have placed us. ' Could we descend to such 
 a thought, it would he impossible to with- 
 draw our attention from the affairs of 
 Greece. We have ever acted greatly and 
 nobly ; those who are our friends it would 
 be scandalous to desert ; our enemies we 
 cannot trust ; nor must we suffer them to 
 become powerful. In a word, we 'see in 
 this city, that the men who have engaged in 
 the public administration, even when they 
 wish to retire, cannot resign their charge. 
 This is your case ; you are the ministers in 
 Greece. 
 
 This, then, is the sum of what hath now 
 been offered. Your speakers never can 
 make you either bad or good ; you can 
 make them whatever you please. You arc- 
 not directed by their opinions; for they 
 have no opinion, but what your inclinations 
 dictate. It is your part, therefore, to be 
 careful that your inclinations be good and 
 honourable. Then shall all be well. Your 
 speakers either must never give pernicious 
 counsels ; or, must;, give them to no pur- 
 pose ; when such counsels have no longer 
 any influence in this assembly. [2.] 
 
 it seems to admit of no doubt, that the Ar- 
 gives and Arcadians, supported by the king 
 of Macedon, made war on the Phliasians, 
 restored the exiles, and drove out those citi- 
 zens who had opposed their interest ; and 
 that these citizens, thus oppressed and ex- 
 pelled, implored the assistance of the Athe- 
 nians, and received those magnificent pro- 
 mises and decrees which the orator here 
 mentions. Lucchesini. 
 
 [2.] These representations of Demosthenes 
 were so far successful, that, early in the fol- 
 lowing year, the assembly repealed that 
 scandalous law of Eubulus, which de- 
 nounced death against any person who 
 should propose the alienation of the thea- 
 trical appointments; and the orator himself 
 had the honour of introducing a decree for 
 applying them to the military service ; to 
 which the people consented, when it was 
 too late to derive any considerable advan- 
 tages from this reformation. 
 
 THE FIRST OF THE SUSPECTED ORATIONS; 
 
 ON THE HALONESUS. 
 
 PRONOUNCED 
 
 IN THE ARCHONSHIP OF SOSIGENES, THE THIRD YEAR OF THE 
 HUNDRED AND NINTH OLYMPIAD. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It was not originally my intention to have 
 translated either of the 'following orations: 
 nor is it from any alteration in my opinion, 
 but from a deference to that of others, that 
 I have presented this, ' on the Halonesus,' 
 to the English reader, in order to give him 
 
 an opportunity of comparing it with the 
 others, and of judging for himself, whether 
 it is to be admitted among the genuine re- 
 mains of our orator, or to be rejected as un- 
 worthy of his abilities, although apparently 
 received and quoted by the ancient critics. 
 
 This oration takes its title from an island 
 called Halonesus, which one bostratus, a
 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. xv, 
 
 j)irate, had some time since taken from the 
 Athenians, and which Philip, having driven 
 out this pirate, now claimed as his property. 
 This was regarded , at Athens, as an infrac- 
 tion of the treaty lately concluded (of which 
 some account hath been given in the Intro- 
 duction to the ' Oration on the Peace:) and, 
 together with some other transactions of 
 the Macedonian prince, produced complaints 
 and jealousies amongst the Athenians, 
 which were deemed, by their rival, of too 
 much consequence to be neglected. Python, 
 oneof his most able partisans, was despatched 
 to Athens, to obviate all objections to the 
 sincerity and integrity of Ins conduct. 
 
 In order to corroborate the representa- 
 tions of this ambassador, Philip found it ex- 
 pedient to write a letter to the Athenians; 
 which, although addressed immediately to 
 this people, was intended as a kind of mani- 
 festo to all Greece. This letter, among 
 other pieces of the same kind, which might 
 have done honour to the abilities of the Ma- 
 cedonian, is unhappily lost to posterity ; but 
 the general contents of it are distinctly 
 pointed out in the following oration, which 
 contains a regular and methodical answer to 
 this letter. 
 
 THE 
 
 ORATION ON THE HALONESUS. 
 
 Sosigenes, Archon. — Olympiad. 109. An. 3. 
 
 IIes of Athens ! [1.] it is by no means rea- 
 sonable, that the complaints, which Philip 
 urges against those speakers who assert your 
 rights, should deprive us of the liberty of 
 enforcing the true interests of our country. 
 Grievous, indeed, would be the case, if the 
 freedom of our public debates were to be at 
 
 [1.] The oration, as hath been already 
 observed, plainly points out to us the several 
 allegations, and apologies for Philip's con- 
 duct, contained in the letter which occa- 
 sioned the present debate. And this exor- 
 dium as plainly shews, that, to these allega- 
 tions, the writer added some strong remon- 
 strances, against the severity and indecency 
 with which some speakers in the assembly 
 had, on many occasions, treated the charac- 
 ter of the king of Macedon ; and demanded 
 that some restraint should be laid on theii 
 insolence. The author of the oration, art- 
 fully enough, considers this as an attempt 
 to control that freedom of speech and de- 
 bate, which was the sacred right of every, 
 even the meanest, citizen. It was the pri- 
 vilege, as we may call it, of the assembly ; 
 and therefore is with propriety asserted, 
 previous to the consideration of any other 
 particular. 
 
 [2.] Accept it, or resume it.] "A v tc Xi'tfiriTt, 
 av t cWoAii/iiire. This was a distinction 
 suggested and asserted by Demosthenes, as 
 we learn from a passage in the oration of 
 /Eschines against Ctesiphon, where it is ri- 
 diculed as frivolous and litigious. But (as 
 
 once destroyed by a letter sent from him. 
 It is my present purpose, first, to examine 
 the several allegations mentioned in this let- 
 ter : then shall we proceed to the other par- 
 ticulars urged by his ambassadors. 
 
 Philip begins with speaking of the Halo- 
 nesus : this island he declares, is his ; that 
 he presents it to us as a free gift ; that we 
 have no rightful claim to it ; nor hath he 
 injured our property, either in acquiring or 
 in keeping possession of it. Such were his 
 professions at the time when we were sent 
 on our embassy to Macedon ; that he had 
 won this island from the pirates who had 
 seized it, and was, therefore, justified in 
 keeping his acquisition. But, as this plea 
 hath no support from truth and justice, it 
 is not difficult to deprive him of it. The 
 places, seized by pirates, are ever the pro- 
 perty of some others ; these they fortify, 
 and from thence make their excursions. 
 But the man who punishes their outrages, 
 and drives them out, cannot reasonably al- 
 lege, that the possessions, which these pi- 
 rates unjustly wrested from the rightful pro- 
 prietors, must instantly devolve to him. If 
 this be suffered, then, if some pirates should 
 seize a part of Attica, or cf Lemnos, or af 
 Imbros, or of Scyros, and if any power 
 should cut them off, the places which they 
 had seized, though our undoubted property, 
 must continue in his possession, whose arms 
 chastised these pirates. Philip is himself 
 sensible of the weakness of this plea. There 
 are others equally sensible of this ; but it is 
 imagined easy to impose on you by means 
 of those who are administering our affairs 
 agreeably to the wishes of the Macedonian ; 
 who promised him, and are now performing 
 this service. Yet lie cannot but know, that 
 we must come into possession of this island, 
 in whatever terms our transaction may Ik; 
 expressed, whether you accept it, or resume 
 it. [2.] Why then 'should he not use the 
 
 Mons. Tourreil observes on that passage) 
 the Athenians had most important reasons 
 to examine which of these two terms 
 they used in their convention with Philip. 
 For, according to the choice of one or the 
 other term, their right to the Halonesus was 
 established or destroyed. The king of Mace- 
 don consented to put them in possession of 
 the island ; he declared that he would give 
 it to them. If then the Athenians were to 
 answer that they accepted of it (as a gift or 
 favour,) by this they must acknowledge, that 
 Philip was the rightful proprietor of the 
 island. It was therefore insisted that this 
 prince should declare that he restored it ; 
 while the Athenians, on their part, declared 
 that they resumed it ; which plainly implied 
 that the Macedonians had usurped tlieir right, 
 and that they were truly and justly entitled 
 to the Halonesus. Yet however reasonable 
 and necessary such precision may appear, 
 and particularly in transactions with a prince 
 of so much address and artifice as Philip, 
 yet the ridicule of ^Eschines had some effect. 
 And, ' a man who disputes about the words, 
 giving or restoring,' became a proverbial 
 plirase to express a person of an obstinate
 
 oftAT. xv.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 l:i3 
 
 fair and equitable term, and restore it ; 
 rather than adhere to that word which 
 proves his injustice, and pretend to present 
 it as a gift ? Not that he may be supposed 
 to confer a benefit upon us (such a 
 are ridiculous,) but that he may demonstrate 
 to all Greece, that the Athenians think 
 themselves happy in owing their maritime 
 dominions to the favour of the Macedonian. 
 O my countrymen ! let us not descend to 
 this. 
 
 As to his proposal of submitting this con- 
 test to umpires, it is the language of derision 
 and mockery. It supposes, in the first 
 place, that we, who are Athenians, could, 
 in our disputes, with one sprung from Pella, 
 descend to have our title to the islands de- 
 termined by arbitration. And if our own 
 power, that power to which Greece owes its 
 liberty, -'cannot secure us the possession of 
 these places ; if umpires are to be appointed, 
 if we are to commit our cause to them ; if 
 their votes are absolutely to decide our 
 rights, and if they are to secure to us these 
 islands (provided [1.] that they be influenced 
 by Philip's gold;) if such, 1 say, be your 
 conduct, do ye not declare, that ye have re- 
 signed all your power on the continent ? 
 Do ye not discover to the world, that no at- 
 tempt can possibly provoke you to oppose 
 him ; when for your maritime dominions, 
 whence Athens derives its greatest power, 
 you have not recourse to arms, but submit 
 to u mpires ? 
 
 He farther observes, that his commission- 
 ers have been sent hither to settle a cartel of 
 commerce ; [2.] and, that this shall be con- 
 firmed, not when it hath received the sanc- 
 tion of your tribunal, as the law directs, but 
 when it hath been returned to him. Thus 
 would he assume a power over your judica- 
 ture. His intention is to betray you into 
 unguarded concessions, to have it expressly 
 acknowledged in this cartel, that you do not 
 accuse him of injuring the state by his out- 
 rageous conduct, with respect to Potidaea ; 
 
 adherence to nice and frivolous distinctions. 
 The comic poets did not a little contribute 
 to introduce this proverb into fashion. 
 Athenaeus quotes a number of fragments, 
 in which we find that Alexis, Anaxilas, and 
 Timocles, employed it to heighten the hu- 
 mour and pleasantry of their performances : 
 and Athenaeus himself makes use of it, iu 
 the beginning of the sixth book. 
 
 [1.] Provided, &c] /Eschines asserts, in 
 the oration against Ctesiphon, that, in the 
 present debate, Demosthenes declared that 
 no impartial arbitrators could be found in 
 Greece, so general had been the influence of 
 
 corruption If Demosthenes was really the 
 
 author of this oration, we must suppose 
 that the assertion of his rival was founded 
 on the insinuation contained in the passage 
 here quoted. 
 
 [2.J A cartel of commerce.] The word 
 thus rendered {jjufifioXa], is explained by 
 lexicographers, as denoting (among many 
 other particulars) certain conventions [a-vv- 
 HljKaxl settled between two states, as a rule 
 for the decision of all differences which 
 
 that you confirm his right both of seizing 
 and possessing this city. And yet, those 
 Athenians who had settled in Potid.-ra, at a 
 tiros when they were not at war with Philip, 
 when they were united with him in alliance; 
 when the most solemn engagements subsist- 
 ed between them, when they had the utmost 
 reliance on Philip's oaths, were yet despoiled 
 by this prince of all their possessions. And 
 now, he would have you ratify this his ini- 
 quitous procedure, and declare thai you 
 have suffered no injury, that you have no 
 complaints to urge against him. For, that 
 the Macedonians have no need of any car- 
 tels in their commerce with the Athenians, 
 former times afford sufficient proof. Neither 
 Amyntas, the father of Vhilip, nor any of 
 the other kings of Macedon, ever made 
 these cartels with our state, although our 
 intercourse was much greater in those days 
 than now: for Macedon [3.] was then sub- 
 ject to us, it paid us tribute; and then, 
 much more than now, did we frequent their 
 markets, and they enjoy the advantages of 
 ours; nor were the tribunals to which af- 
 fairs of commerce might be brought, settled 
 in so regular a maimer as at present. As 
 these are opened once in each month, they 
 make all cartels between two countries, so 
 far removed from each other, quite unne- 
 cessary. And, as these were not agreeable 
 to ancient usage, it is by no means prudent 
 to establish them now ; and thus to subject 
 men to the inconvenience of a voyage from 
 Macedon to Athens, or from us to Macedon, 
 in order to obtain justice. The laws of 
 each country are open ; and they are suf- 
 ficient for the decision of all controversies. 
 Be assured, therefore, that, by this cartel, 
 he means but to betray you into a resigna- 
 tion of all your pretensions to Potida?a. 
 
 As to the pirates, he observes, that justice 
 requires that we should act iu concert with 
 him, in order to guard against those who 
 infest the seas. By this, he in effect desires, 
 that we should resign to him the sovereignty 
 
 might arise in their commercial intercourse 
 with each other. The particular nature, 
 force, effects, and consequences, of such con- 
 ventions, the translator cannot take on him 
 to explain distinctly ; nor, of consequence, 
 the force and propriety of the speaker's ar- 
 gument in this passage. 
 
 [3.] I do not remember to have met with 
 any particular account of Macedon being at 
 any time tributary to Athens, but in De- 
 mosthenes. Eurydace, the mother of Philip, 
 was indeed obliged to implore the protection 
 of Iphicrates the Athenian. Woljius. 
 
 Tourreii, in his notes on the second Olyn- 
 thiac oration, dates the period of the Mace- 
 donians being in this tributary state, from 
 the establishment of the Athenian colony at 
 Amphipolis, under Agnon the son of Nicias 
 (about forty-eight years before the Pelopon- 
 nesian war,) to the fifth or sixth year of 
 this war, when Brasidas, the Lacedemonian, 
 drove the Athenians from the frontiers of 
 Macedon. But this is no more than the 
 conjecture of the critic, founded ou the au- 
 thority of the present passage.
 
 10* 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [okat. xv. 
 
 of the seas, and acknowledge, that, without 
 Philip's aid, we are not able to secure a na- 
 vigation free and unmolested. Nor is this 
 his only scheme. He would have an uncon- 
 trolled liberty of sailing round, and visiting 
 the several islands, under the pretence of 
 defending them from pirates: that so he 
 may corrupt the inhabitants, and seduce 
 them from their allegiance to us. Not con- 
 tented with transporting his exiles to Tha- 
 sus, [1.] under the conduct of our com- 
 manders, he would gain possession of the 
 other islands, by sending out his fleets, to 
 sail in company with our admirals, as if 
 united with us in the defence of the seas. 
 There are some who say, that he hath no 
 occasion for a maritime power : yet he, who 
 hath no occasion to secure such a power, 
 prepares his ships for war, erects his arsenals, 
 concerts his naval expeditions, and, by the 
 vast expense bestowed upon his marine, 
 plainly shews that it is the grand object of 
 his attention. And can you think, ye men 
 of Athens ! that Philip could desire you to 
 yield to him this sovereignty of the seas, 
 unless he held you in contempt ? unless he 
 had firm reliance on the men whose services 
 he determined to purchase ? the men who, 
 insensible to shame, live for Philip, not for 
 their country ; who vainly fancy they have 
 enriched their families by the bribes re- 
 ceived from him; when these bribes are 
 n ally the prices for which they have sold 
 their families. 
 
 And now, with respect to the explanation 
 of the articles of the peace, which the am- 
 bassadors, commissioned by him, submitted 
 to our determination, (as we insisted only on 
 a point universally'acknowledged to be just, 
 that ' each party should enjoy their own do- 
 minions,') he denies, that ever his ambassa- 
 dors were commissioned to make, or ever did 
 make, such a concession ; so that his parti- 
 sans must have persuaded him, that you 
 have utterly forgotten the declarations made 
 publicly in the assembly. But these of all 
 things cannot possibly be forgotten. For, 
 ia the very same assembly, his ambassadors 
 arose, and made these declarations ; and, in 
 consequence of them, the decree was in- 
 stantly drawn up. As then the recital of 
 the decree immediately succeeded the 
 speeches of the ambassadors, it is not pos- 
 sible that you could have recited their de- 
 clarations falsely. This then is an insinua- 
 tion not against me, but against the assem- 
 bly ; as if you had transmitted a decree, 
 containing an answer to points never once 
 mentioned. But these ambassadors, whose 
 decbrations were thus falsified, at the time 
 
 [1.] This must have happened imme- 
 diately after their treaty with Macedon, 
 before they found any reason to complain 
 of the insidious conduct of Philip with re- 
 spect to this treaty. 
 
 [2.] An article, &c] That is, to give up 
 Amphipolis, which was claimed on each 
 side by virtue of that clause, which declared, 
 that the contracting powers should keep all 
 their several dominions. Philip was now 
 iu possession of this city The right of the 
 
 when we returned our answer hi form, and 
 invited them to a public entertainment) 
 never once rose up, never once ventured 
 say, ' Men of Athens, we have been j 
 represented ; you have made us say, what 
 we never said:' but acquiesced, and tie- 
 parted. 
 
 Recollect, I entreat you, the declarations 
 of python, who was at the head of this em- 
 bassy : the man, who then received the 
 public thanks of the assembly. They can- 
 not, I presume, have escaped your memory. 
 And they were exactly consonant to Philip's 
 present letter. He accused us of calumnia- 
 ting Philip ; he declared, that you your- 
 selves were to be blamed ; for, when his 
 master was endeavouring to do you service, 
 when he preferred your alliance to that of 
 any other of the Grecian states, you defeated 
 his kind intentions, by listening to syco- 
 phants ; who wished to receive his money, 
 and yet loaded him with invectives : that 
 when those speeches were repeated to him, 
 in which his reputation was so severely 
 treated, and which you heard with such 
 satisfaction, he naturally changed his de- 
 termination, as he found that he was re- 
 garded as devoid of faith, by those whom 
 he had resolved to oblige. He desired, that 
 the men who spoke in this assembly, should 
 not declaim against the peace; which cer- 
 tainly was not to be broken : but that, if 
 any article was amiss, it should be amended, 
 in which we might be assured of Philip's 
 entire concurrence. But that, if they con- 
 tinued their invectives, without proposing 
 any thing by which the treaty might be 
 confirmed, and all suspicions of his master 
 removed, then no attention should be given 
 to such men. You heard these declarations 
 of Python ; you assented ; you said that 
 they were just : and just they certainly were. 
 But, by these professions, it was by no 
 means intended to give up an article [2.] 
 of the treaty so essential to his interest ; to 
 give up what all his treasures had been ex- 
 pended to obtain : no ; he had been taught 
 by Ills instructors, of this place, that not a 
 man would dare to propose any thing con- 
 tradictory to that decree of Philocrates, by 
 which we lost Amphipolis. 1, on my part, 
 Athenians ! never have presumed to pro- 
 pose any thing illegal. I have, indeed, 
 ventured to speak against the decree of 
 Philocrates, because it was illegal. For 
 this decree, by which Amphipolis was lost, 
 contradicted former decrees, by which our 
 right to this territory was asserted. This 
 then was an illegal decree which Philocrates 
 proposed. And", therefore, he, who had the 
 
 Athenians had been at first asserted in the 
 congress held for settling the terms of the 
 peace; but this point was afterward given 
 up. Yet now we find it was revived ; at 
 least, that the speakers who opposed the 
 Macedonian interest, endeavoured to per- 
 suade the people, that the cession lately 
 made was illegal, and that the general clause 
 should be explained in favour of the Athe- 
 nian claim to Amphipolis.
 
 okat. xv.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 105 
 
 due regard to our laws in all that he pro- 
 posed, could not but contradict a decree so 
 inconsistent with our laws. By conforming 
 to the ancient legal acts of this assembly, 1 
 shewed the due attention to the laws, and, 
 at the same time proved that Philip was 
 deceiving you; that he had no intention of 
 amending any article of the treaty ; that his 
 sole purpose was to destroy the credit of 
 those speakers who asserted! the rights of 
 their country. 
 
 It is then manifest, that, having first 
 consented to this amendment of the treaty, 
 he now recalls his concession. He insists, 
 that Amphipolis is his ; that you have ac- 
 knowledged it to be his, by the very words 
 of your decree, which declare, that he shall 
 enjoy his own possessions. Such was, indeed, 
 your declaration : but not that Amphipolis 
 was Philip's. For a man may possess the 
 property of others ; nor can possession infer 
 a right, since it is frequently acquired by 
 unjust usurpation. So that his argument 
 is no more than an idle, sophistical equivo- 
 cation. He insists particularly on the decree 
 of Philocrates : but he forgets his letter to 
 this state, at the time when he laid siege to 
 Amphipolis ; in which, he directly acknow- 
 ledged that Amphipolis belonged to you, 
 and declared that his intention hi attacking 
 this city, was to wrest it from the then pos- 
 sessors, who had no claim to it, and to vest 
 it in the Athenians, who were the rightful 
 sovereigns. Well, then ! The men who were 
 in possession of this city before Philip's 
 conquest, usurped our right: but when 
 Philip had reduced it, did our right cease at 
 once ? Did he but recover his own do- 
 minions ? When he reduced Olynthus also, 
 when he subdued Apollonia, when he 
 gained Pallene, did he but recover his own 
 dominions? — When he makes use of such 
 evasion, can you think that he is at all so- 
 licitous to preserve a decent semblance of 
 reason and justice ? No ; he treats you 
 with contempt, in presuming to dispute 
 your title to a city, which the whole nation 
 of Greece, which the Persian king himself, 
 by the most authentic declarations, acknow- 
 ledged to be ours. 
 
 Another amendment of the treaty which 
 we contended for, was this ; that all the 
 Greeks, not included in the peace, should 
 enjoy their liberty and their laws : and that, 
 if invaded, they should be defended by all 
 the confederating parties. For this, I say, 
 we contended; sensible that justice and hu- 
 manity required, not only that we and our 
 allies, and Philip and his allies, should en- 
 jov the advantages of the peace, but that 
 those who were neither allies to Athens, nor 
 to Macedon, should by no means lie exposed 
 to the oppression of any powerful invader. 
 That they also should derive security from 
 the peace; and that we should in reality 
 
 [1.] This Alexander was the brother of 
 Olvmpias, Philip's wife, and had been 
 placed on the throne of Epirus by the in- 
 terest and power of the Macedonian. The 
 three cities here called Elean colonies, might 
 
 lay down our arms, and live in general 
 friendship and tranquillity^ This amend- 
 ment his letter confesses to be just: you 
 hear that he accepts it. And yet hath he 
 overturned the state of the Pheramns; he 
 hath introduced his garrison into the citadel; 
 certainly that they may enjoy their own 
 laws. His arms are directed against Am- 
 bracia. Three cities in Cassopia, Pandosia, 
 Bucheta, and Elatia, all Elean colonies, 
 hath he invaded with fire and sword, and 
 reduced to the vassalage of his kinsman 
 Alexander. [1.] Glorious proofs of his con- 
 cern for the liberty and independence of the 
 Greeks ! 
 
 As to those promises of great and impor- 
 tant service, which he was perpetually la- 
 vishing on the state, he now asserts, that I 
 have belied and abused him to the Greeks : 
 for that he never once made such promises. 
 So devoid of shame is he, who declared in 
 his letter, which still remains upon record, 
 that he would effectually silence his revilers, 
 when an accommodation was once obtained ; 
 by the number of good offices he would 
 confer upon us, and which should be par- 
 ticularly specified, whenever he was assured 
 of such an accommodation. These his fa- 
 vours, then, were all provided, and ready 
 to be granted to us when the peace should 
 be concluded ; but when this peace was 
 once concluded, all his favours vanished. 
 How great havoc hath been made in Greece, 
 you need not be informed. His letters as- 
 sure us of his gracious intentions to bestow 
 large benefits upon us. And now see the 
 effect of his promises. He refuses to restore 
 our dominions, he claims them as his own. 
 And, as to granting us any new dominions, 
 they must not be in this country. No ; the 
 Greeks might else be offended. Some other 
 country must be sought for, some foreign 
 land must furnish such grants. 
 
 As to those places which he seized in time 
 of peace, in open violation of his engage- 
 ments ; as he hath no pretence to urge, as 
 he stands convicted manifestly of injustice, 
 he says, that he is ready to submit these 
 points to the decision of an equal and com- 
 mon tribunal. But they are points, which, 
 of all others, need no decision. A fair com- 
 putation of time determines the cause at 
 once. We all know in what month, and on 
 what day, the peace was made. We all 
 know, too, in what month, and on what 
 day, Serrium, Ergiske, and the Sacred 
 Mount were taken. The nature and manner 
 of these transactions are no secret. Nor is 
 there need of a tribunal hi a point so evi- 
 dent as this, that the peace was made one 
 month before these places were seized. 
 
 He asserts, that he hath returned all your 
 prisoners that were taken. Yet there was 
 one prisoner, a man of Carystus, [2.] bound 
 to this city by all the strictest ties, for whose 
 
 the consent of Elis, where the power and 
 influence of Philip were in effect absolute. 
 
 [2.] Wolfius is inclined to think, that this 
 was the name of the prisoner. But I have 
 , chosen to translate the passage in this man- 
 have" possibly been thus disposed of, with ! ner, as there was a town in the island uf
 
 IOC 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 [ORAT. XV. 
 
 liberty we sent no less than three deputa- 
 tions. Such was Philip's desire to oblige 
 us, that he put this man to death : nay, 
 refused to restore his body for interment. 
 
 It is also worthy of attention to consider 
 what was the language of his letters with 
 respect to the Chersonesus, and to compare 
 it with his present actions. All that district 
 which lies beyond the Forum, he claims as 
 his own, in defiance of our pretensions, and 
 hath given the possession to Apollonides the 
 Cardian. And yet the Chersonesus is 
 bounded not by the Forum, but by the altar 
 of Jupiter of the Mountain, which lies in 
 mid-way between the elm, and the chalky 
 shore, where the line was traced, for cutting 
 through the Chersonesus. [1.] This is evi- 
 dent, from the inscription on the altar of 
 Jupiter of the Mountain, which is in these 
 terms : 
 
 Here, Jove's fair altar, rais'd by pious 
 
 hands, 
 Adorns, at once, and marks the neighb'ring 
 
 lands : 
 On this side, lo, yon chalky cliffs displayM ! 
 On that, the elmextends its awful shade; 
 Whilst, in mid way, e'en Heav'n's great 
 
 monarch deigns 
 To point the bound'ries, and divide the 
 
 plains. 
 
 This district then, whose extent is known 
 to many in this assembly, he claims as his 
 property : part of it he himself enjoys, the 
 rest he gives to his creatures : and thus he 
 deprives us of our most valuable possessions. 
 But he is not content with wresting from us 
 all the lands which lie beyond the Forum : 
 his letter directs us to come to a judicial 
 decision of any controversy we may have 
 with the Cardianswho lie on this side of the 
 Forum; with the Cardians, I say, who have 
 
 Euboea known by the name of Carystus. 
 The name or the country of this man are, 
 indeed, circumstances of no moment; and 
 should there be a mistake in the translation,, 
 the learned reader can scarcely find it worth 
 while to detect or to censure it. 
 
 [1.] A work which Philip had promised to 
 execute at his own expense (as is mentioned 
 in the second Philippic) for the convenience 
 and expedition of commerce, which was 
 frequently interrupted by the length of 
 time spent in doubling Mount Athos, and 
 sailing round the Chersonesus ; or by con- 
 trary winds. 
 
 [2.] The author of this oration affirms, 
 that Calippus was impeached by him of 
 violating the laws. But it is certain, that 
 Hegesippus, and not Demosthenes, was the 
 author of this impeachment. Libanins. 
 
 [3.1 This remarkable passage, which has 
 been so much censured by critics, is here 
 translated pretty exactly, without any at- 
 tempt to soften the boldness and severity of 
 the original. And it is left to the reader to 
 compare with the expressions of greatest 
 freedom, in those remains of Demosthenes 
 
 presumed to settle in our lands. We have, 
 indeed, a controversy with these men ; and 
 judge ye, whether the subject be inconsider- 
 able. The lands, where they have settled, 
 they claim as their just property, and deny 
 our title. The lands that we enjoy, they de- 
 clare are unlawfully usurped ; that they 
 themselves are the rightful proprietors; and 
 that their right was acknowledged by a decree 
 proposed by your own citizen Calippus, of 
 the Psenean tribe. He did, indeed, propose 
 such a decree ; for which he was, [2.] by me, 
 impeached of an illegal proceeding ; but 
 you suffer him to escape ; and thus was your 
 title to these lands rendered disputable and 
 precarious. But, if you can submit to a 
 judicial decision of your disputes with the 
 Cardians, what should prevent the other in- 
 habitants of the Chersonesus from demand- 
 ing the like trial ? 
 
 With such insolence doth he treat you, 
 that he presumes to say, that, if the Car- 
 dians refuse to be determined by a judicial 
 process, he will compel them. As if we were 
 not able to compel even the Cardians to do 
 us justice. An extraordinary instance this 
 of his regard to Athens. 
 
 Yet there are men among you who declare, 
 that tins letter is very reasonable ; men much 
 more deserving of your abhorrence than 
 Philip. His opposition to this state is actu- 
 ated by the love of glory and power ; but 
 citizens of Athens, who devote themselves, 
 not to their country, but to Philip, should 
 feel that vengeance which it must be your 
 part to inflict with all severity, unless your 
 brains have forsaken your heads, and de- 
 scended to your heels. [3.] It remains, that 
 I propose such an answer to this so rea- 
 sonable letter, and to the declarations of the 
 ambassadors, as may be just and advantage- 
 ous to the state. 
 
 ; may 
 '• [4.] 
 
 which are confessedly genuine. jEschir.es 
 has, indeed, recorded some expressions of 
 our author, equally rude and disgusting : 
 such was his threat, ' that he would sew up 
 Philip's mouth with a bull-rush, &c.' But 
 it is certain, that in all his addresses to the 
 assembly, even where he censures and in- 
 veighs with the greatest freedom and seve- 
 rity, he still discovers a remarkable attention 
 to decorum; and sometimes tempers his 
 reproof with the most artful and delicate 
 Mattery. 
 
 [4. J The deputies, who presented Philip's 
 letter, seem to have been dismissed without 
 any satisfactory answer. And, by the eager- 
 ness with which the people now listened to 
 the leaders who opposed the Macedonian in- 
 terest, it appeared plainly, that the influence 
 of Philip's partisans was declining. So that 
 Demosthenes judged it a favourable oppor- 
 tunity to prefer an accusation against his 
 rival jEschines, for fraud and corruption in 
 his late conduct of the treaty concluded with 
 Philip; which produced the two orations on 
 the subject of their embassy.
 
 orat. xvi.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 107 
 
 THE SECOND OF THE SUSPECTED ORATIONS : 
 
 Entitled, 
 On the Treaty with Alexander. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The death of Philip, kins of Macedon, was 
 an event, at first, judged fatal to the inter- 
 est of that kingdom ; which gave the Athe- 
 nians hopes of recovering their superiority, 
 and encouraged them to form some confe- 
 deracies against his successor, whose spirit 
 ai d abilities were not yet completely disco- 
 vered. 
 
 It is not here necessary to recount the 
 actions of this prince, on his accession to the 
 throne. It may he sufficient to observe, 
 that a treaty had been concluded by his 
 father with the Greeks, and was by him con- 
 firmed ; in which it was provided, that the 
 laws, privileges, and liberties, of the several 
 states, should be secured and confirmed. 
 But such engagements are seldom found 
 sufficient to restrain a violent youthful am- 
 bition. The Macedonian was soon embold- 
 ened to discover his contempt of this treaty, 
 by acting in several instances contrary to its 
 articles. The Athenians, who still retained 
 some remains of their ancient spirit, resent- 
 ed these his infractions. An assembly was 
 convened to take the treaty into consi- 
 deration, and to determine on the proper 
 method of procedure, in consequence of 
 Alexander's conduct. On this occasion was 
 the following oration delivered, which con- 
 tains a distinct specification of the several 
 instances of violation, now complained of. 
 
 Critics seem willing to ascribe this oration 
 to Hegesippus, or to Hyperides. It is ob- 
 served, that the style is diffuse, languid, and 
 disgraced by some affected phrases; and 
 that the whole composition by no means 
 breathes that spirit of boldness and freedom 
 which appears in the orations of Demos- 
 thenes. But these differences mav possibly 
 be accounted for, without ascribing it to 
 another author. Dejection and vexation, a 
 consciousness of the 4 fallen condition of his 
 country, despair and terror at the view of 
 the Macedonian power, might have natural- 
 ly produced an alteration in the style and 
 manner of the orator's address. A great 
 epic genius, when in its decline, is said, by 
 Longinus, to fall naturally into the fabu- 
 lous. In like manner, a great popular 
 speaker, when hopeless and desponding, 
 checked and controlled by his fears, may 
 find leisure to coin words, and naturally re- 
 cur to affected expressions, when the torrent 
 of his native eloquence is stopped. Nor is 
 the oration now before us entirely destitute 
 of force and spirit. It appears strong and 
 vehement, but embarrassed. The fire of 
 Demosthenes sometimes breaks forth 
 through all obstacles, but is instantly allay- 
 ed and suppressed, as if by fear and caution. 
 The author, as Ulpian expresses it, speaks 
 freely, and not freely : he encourages the 
 
 cili.'ens to war, and yet scruples to move for 
 war in i; rm ; as if his mind was distracted 
 between fear and confidence. 
 
 In a word, I regard the Oration on the 
 Treatv with Alexander, as the real work < I 
 Demosthenes, but of Demosthenes dejected 
 and terrified, willing to speak consistently 
 with himself, yet not daring to speak all that 
 he feels. It may be compared to the perfor- 
 mance of an eminent painter, necessarily 
 executed at a time when his hands or eyes 
 laboured under some disorder, in which we 
 find the traces of his genius and abilities ob- 
 scured by many marks of his present infir- 
 mity. 
 
 TREATY WITH ALEXANDER. 
 
 We should by all means, Athenians ! concur 
 with those who so strenuously recommeu d 
 an exact adherence to our oaths and treaties, 
 if they really speak their sentiments; for 
 nothing is so becoming t.ie character of free 
 states, as a strict attention to honesty and 
 justice. Let not these men, therefore, who 
 urge the necessity of this attention, embar- 
 rass our councils by harangues, which their 
 own actions contradict. Let them submit 
 to an examination ; if their sentiments are 
 approved, they will for the future influence 
 the assembly; if hot, let them give place to 
 those whose opinions of our rights may 
 seem more consonant to truth. Thus shall 
 you determine, either to submit quietly to 
 your wrongs, and esteem their author as 
 your friend ; or to prefer the cause of jti - 
 tice to all other considerations, and to make 
 such provisions for your interest, with speed 
 and vigour, as none can possibly condemn. 
 The very terms of our treaty, and of those 
 oaths by which the general peace was rati- 
 fied, must, upon the first inspection, shew 
 who are the transgressors. This I shall 
 briefly prove in the most essential articles. 
 
 Suppose this question asked, what event 
 Athenians, could most effectually excit - 
 your resentment ? You would answer, an 
 attempt to destroy your liberty. Should 
 ihe family of Pisistratus now revive ; and 
 should any man attempt to reinstate them 
 in their former power, ye would at once 
 take up arms, and brave all dangers, rather 
 than submit to these masters. Or, if you 
 should submit, you would be reduced to the 
 condition of purchased slaves ; nay, to a 
 worse condition: for no master wantonlv 
 kills his slave; but those who are under th ■ 
 power of tyrants we see every day destroyed 
 without the shadow of law, and exposed to 
 insults still worse than death, in the perso. * 
 of their wives and children. 
 l -1
 
 108 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [otiat. xvi. 
 
 Well, then, in open violation of his oaths, 
 of the express terms of the general peace, 
 hath Alexander reinstated the family of 
 Philiades in Messene. In this hath he acted 
 from a regard to justice ? or, from his own 
 arbitrary principles, in open contempt of 
 you, and of his engagements with the 
 Greeks ? — If, then, an attempt to introduce 
 arbitrary power into Athens would excite 
 your utmost indignation, would rouse you 
 to maintain the treaty; you ought not to 
 be indifl'erent, you ought not to neglect this 
 treaty, when, in equal violation of its sacred 
 purport, other states are oppressed by the 
 like power. Nor should they, who so stre- 
 nuously recommend to you to adhere to your 
 engagements, leave those uncontrolled, who 
 have, on their part, violated them in a man- 
 ner so notorious. Such violation cannot be 
 suffered, if you have the due regard to justice. 
 For it is expressly declared in our treaty, that 
 he who should act as Alexander hath now 
 done, should be deemed an enemy to all 
 included in the peace : that all should take 
 up arms against him, and against his domi- 
 nions. If then we have the least regard to 
 these our declarations, we are to consider 
 him as our enemy, who hath restored this 
 family. ' But,' say the favourers of these 
 tyrants, ' the sons of Philiades governed in 
 Messene before this treaty was concluded ; 
 and therefore were they restored by Alexan- 
 der.' This is a ridiculous allegation ; the 
 tyrants of Sestos, established long before 
 our treaty, were expelled from Antissa and 
 Eresus ; and this form of government de- 
 clared to be in itself unjust and oppressive. 
 It cannot then be a matter of indifference, 
 that Messene be exposed to the like oppres- 
 sion. 
 
 Besides, it is provided, in the very first 
 article of the treaty, that the ' Greeks shall 
 enjoy their freedom and their laws ; and 
 if their freedom and their laws were the 
 first point secured, what assertion can be 
 conceived more absurd, than that he, who 
 reduces them to slavery, is not guilty of any 
 violation of this treaty? If then, Athe- 
 nians ! you would adhere to your oaths and 
 your engagements, if you have a regard to 
 justice (and tins, as I have observed, is the 
 advice of your speakers,) it is incumbent 
 on you to take up arms, to collect your 
 allies, and to declare hostilities against those 
 who have really violated the peace. Have 
 you, when some fair occcasion offered, pur- 
 sued your interest with vigour, even though 
 not induced by the motive of supporting 
 justice ? And now, when justice, and a fair 
 occasion, and your own interest, all conspire 
 to rouse you, what other season do you wait 
 for, to assert your own liberty and that of 
 Greece ? 
 
 I am now come to another point of right, 
 resulting from this treaty. It is expressly 
 provided, that, if any persons should subvert 
 the constitutions subsisting in each state, at 
 the time of ratifying the peace, they should 
 be deemed enemies to all included in the 
 treaty. Consider then, Athenians ! that the 
 Artisans of Peloponnesus, at that time, 
 enjoyed democratical governments. Yet, of 
 
 these, the Macedonian hath subverted thr 
 constitution of Pellajne, by expelling most 
 of its citizens: their fortunes he distributed 
 among his domestics, and Chaeron, the 
 wrestler, the established tyrant of the city. 
 In this treaty were we included, which thus 
 directs, that they who act in this manner 
 shall be regarded as enemies. Shall we not 
 then regard them as enemies, pursuant to 
 the tenor of those engagements, by which 
 we are all equally obliged ? Or, can any of 
 those hirelings of the Macedonian, those 
 whose riches are the wages of their treason, 
 be so abandoned as to forbid it ? They 
 cannot plead ignorance of these things ; but, 
 to such a pitch of insolence have they ar- 
 rived, that, guarded, as it were by the 
 armies of the tyrant, they dare to call on 
 us to adhere to oaths already violated ; as if 
 perjury were his prerogative: they force 
 you to subvert your own laws, by releasing 
 those who stood condemned at our tribunals ; 
 and, in various other instances, drive you 
 to illegal measures. Nor is this surprising. 
 For they, who have sold themselves to the 
 enemies of their country, cannot have the 
 least regard to law, the least reverence for 
 oaths. The names of these, and but. the 
 names, serve them to impose on men who 
 come to this assembly for amusement, not 
 for business ; and never once reflect, that 
 their present indolence must prove the cause 
 of some strange and terrible disorders. 
 
 Here, then, I repeat what I at first assert- 
 ed, that we should agree with those who re- 
 commend an adherence to the general treaty. 
 Unless they suppose, that, in recommending 
 this adherence, they do not of consequence 
 declare, that no act of injustice should be 
 committed ; or, imagine it yet a secret, that 
 arbitrary power hath been established in the 
 place of popular governments, and that 
 many free constitutions have been subverted. 
 But, such a supposition is utterly ridiculous. 
 For these are the very terms of the treaty 
 ' the directors and guarantees, appointed for 
 the general security, shall take care that, in 
 the several states included in this peace, 
 there shall be no deaths or banishments con- 
 trary to the laws established in each society ; 
 no confiscations, no new divisions of land, 
 no abolition of debts, no granting freedom 
 to slaves, for the purposes of innovation.' 
 But, far from preventing these things, these 
 men themselves contribute to introduce 
 them. And what punishment can be equal 
 to their guilt, who are the contrivers of 
 these evils in the several states, which were 
 deemed of such consequence, as to demand 
 the united careof the whole body to prevent 
 them ? 
 
 I shall now mention another point, in 
 which this treaty is infringed. It is expressly 
 provided, that ' no flying parties shall make 
 excursions from any of the cities included 
 in the treaty, and commit hostilities on any 
 other of the confederated cities ; and that 
 whatever people should thus offend, are to 
 be excluded from the alliance.' But so little 
 doth the Macedonian scruple to commit 
 hostilities, that his hostilities are never sus- 
 pended; nor are any free from them, that
 
 onAT. xvi.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 he can possibly infest. And much more 
 flagrant are his later hostilities, as he hath, 
 by his edict, established tyrants in different 
 places ; in Sicyon, his master of exercises. 
 It", then, we shoidd conform to the treaty, 
 as these men insist, the cities guilty of 
 these actions should be excluded from the 
 confederacy. If the truth must be concealed, 
 I am not to declare, that these are the Ma- 
 cedonian cities. But if, in defiance of the 
 truth, those traitorous partizans of Macedon 
 persevere hi urging us to observe the general 
 treaty, let us concur with them, (their ad- 
 vice is just and equitable:) and, as this 
 treaty directs, let us exclude those from the 
 alliance, who have been thus guilty; and 
 consider of the measures necessary to be 
 pursued against people so insolent and as- 
 piring, whose schemes and actions are thus 
 invariably criminal, and who treat their 
 solemn engagements with contempt and 
 ridicule. Why 'will they not acknowledge 
 that these consequences are just ? Would 
 they have every article that opposes our 
 interest confirmed? every article that fa- 
 vours us erased ? Are these their notions 
 of justice ? If any part of our engagements 
 provides for the interest of our enemies, in 
 opposition to this state, are they to contend 
 for that ? But if, by any other part, our 
 rights and interests are secured agahist our 
 enemies, are all their utmost efforts to be 
 directed against this ? 
 
 To convince you still more clearly, that 
 none of the Greeks will accuse you of in- 
 fringing this treaty, but will acknowledge it 
 as an obligation, that you have arisen singly 
 to detect those who really infringed it, I 
 shall run over a few of its numerous articles. 
 One article is thus expressed : ' the uniting 
 parties shall all have the full liberty of the 
 seas. None shall molest them, or seize their 
 vessels, on pain of being regarded as the com- 
 mon enemy.' And now, my fellow-citizens, 
 it is notoriously evident to you all, that the 
 Macedonians have done these things. To 
 such a pitch of lawless insolence have they 
 proceeded, as to seize the ships of Pontus, 
 and send them into Tenedos. Every pre- 
 tence was invented to detain them; nor 
 were they at last released, before we had 
 decreed to equip one hundred ships, to send 
 them instantly to sea, and had actually ap- 
 pointed Menestheus to command them. 
 
 When such and so many are the outrages 
 committed by others, is it not absurd that 
 their friends in this assembly should not en- 
 deavour to prevail on them to change their 
 conduct, instead of advising us to adhere to 
 engagements so totally neglected on the 
 
 [1.] The maritime force of Macedon seems 
 to have been, even at this time, scarcely 
 greater than that of Athens, notwithstand- 
 ing all the attention of Philip to increase 
 and improve it. For we shall immediately 
 find the orator recommending to his country- 
 men, to maintain a superiority at sea. But 
 this sovereignty of the seas, which is here 
 acknowledged to belong to the Macedonians, 
 seems to have been the consequence of the 
 treaty made with Philip, immediately after 
 
 109 
 
 other side ? As if it were expressly provided, 
 that one party might transgress when they 
 pleased, and that the other should not re- 
 sist. And coukl the Macedonians have 
 acted a more lawless and a more senseless 
 part, than to have so far abandoned all 
 regard to their oaths, that they had well- 
 nigh forfeited their sovereignty of the seas ? 
 [1.] Nay, they have indisputably forfeited 
 this right to us, whenever we are disposed 
 to assert it. For they are not to expect, 
 that no penalty is to be incurred from vio- 
 lating theueaty, because they have, for some 
 time past, discontinued their violations. 
 No; they should rather be well pleased, 
 that they have hitherto enjoyed the advan- 
 tage of our indolence, and total aversion to 
 maintain our rights. 
 
 Can any thing be conceived more mor- 
 tifying, than that all other people, Greeks 
 and Barbarians, should dread our enmity ; 
 but that these men, of sudden affluence, 
 should make us contemptible, even to our- 
 selves, by seducing and forcing' us to their 
 purposes ? As if they had the conduct of 
 affairs at Abdera, or Maronaea, [2.J not at 
 Athens. But while they are depressing their 
 own country, and aggrandizing its enemies, 
 they do not consider, that, by prescribing 
 the rules of justice in a manner so totally 
 unjust, they, in effect, acknowledge that 
 their country is irresistible; for this is ta- 
 citly to confess, that, if we have a due at- 
 tention to our interests, we shall easily sub- 
 due our enemies. And in this they rightly 
 judge. For, let us take care to maintain a 
 superiority at sea ; let us but take care of 
 this, and we shall effectually secure noble 
 accessions to our present land force: es- 
 pecially, if fortune should so far favour us, 
 as to crush the men now guarded by the 
 armies of tyrants ; if some of them should 
 perish, and others discover their insignifi- 
 cance. 
 
 These then have been the infractions of 
 the Macedonian, with respect to maritime 
 affairs; besides the others already mention- 
 ed. But we have just now seen the most ex- 
 travagant instance of the pride and inso- 
 lence of his people, in daring to sail into the 
 Piraeus, manifestly contrary to the treaty 
 concluded with us. Nor, is this their in- 
 fraction the less criminal, because but one 
 ship of; war presumed to enter our harbour. 
 It plainly appears, that this was an experi- 
 ment, whether we might not prove so inat- 
 tentive, as to suffer them hereafter to come 
 in with more ; and that, in this, as well as 
 other instances, they renounce all regard to 
 decrees and conventions. For, that they 
 
 the battle of Chaeronea, in which the Athe- 
 nians were obliged to give up the dominion 
 of the islands, and Samos was declared the 
 bound of their territories and jurisdiction. 
 
 [2.J Abdera or Maronaa.] Two cities of 
 small consequence in Thrace. ' The under- 
 standing of an Abderite,' was a proverb to 
 express a remarkable deficiency in point of 
 genius and acuteness ; though this despised 
 city had produced Democritus, a philoso- 
 pher of no small reputation in Greece.
 
 110 
 
 ORATION OF DINARCHUS [orat. xvii. 
 
 meant gradually to introduce, and to habi- 
 tuate us to such encroachments, appears 
 from this, that he who then put in, with his 
 ship (which together with his convoy should 
 have been destroyed,) demanded liberty to 
 build small vessels in our port. For this 
 proves that their purpose was, not to obtain 
 the privilege of entering our harbour, but 
 to gain the absolute command of it. It 
 cannot be alleged, that this demand was 
 made, because the materials for building 
 ships are in plenty at Athens, (for they are 
 brought hither from great distances, and 
 procured with difficulty;) and, that they 
 are scarce at Macedon, (where they are sold 
 at the cheapest rates to any that will pur- 
 chase.) No : they were in hopes to gain the 
 power of building and loading vessels in our 
 port ; a power expressly denied by treaty ; 
 and thus gradually to proceed to other enor- 
 mities. In such contempt have they been 
 taught to hold you, by their instructors in 
 this city, who direct their whole conduct ; 
 and thus are they persuaded, that this state 
 
 is irrecoverably lost in indolence, incapable 
 of providing for its interest ; and utterly 
 regardless, whether the actions of a tyrant 
 be conformable to his treaty, or no. 
 
 To this treaty I advise you to adhere : in 
 that sense, I mean, which I before explained. 
 And the experience of my age warrants me 
 to assure you, that your rights will be thus 
 asserted, without the least offence to others ; 
 and the occasions, favourable to your in- 
 terests, most effectually improved. These 
 are the terms of the treaty ; we must act 
 thus, *^f we would be included.' They, 
 then, who act differently, are not to be in- 
 cluded. And, therefore, let us now, if ever, 
 refuse to pay an abject submission to the 
 directions of others. Else, must we re- 
 nounce the memory of those ancient and 
 illustrious honours, which we of all other 
 people can most justly boast — If you com- 
 mand me, Athenians! I shall now move 
 you in form, pursuant to the tenor of our 
 engagement, to declare war. against those 
 who have violated the treaty. 
 
 THE ORATION OF DINARCHUS AGAINST DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The reader is here presented with a trans- 
 lation of a performance which we find, in 
 some editions, annexed to the public ora- 
 tions of Demosthenes. It is an artful, 
 spirited, and virulent invective against him, 
 when, in the decline of life, he had fallen 
 into disgrace, and the displeasure of his 
 countrymen. The occasion of it is distinctly 
 recounted by Plutarch; who informs us, 
 that some time after the famous contest 
 about the crown, in which Demosthenes 
 gained so complete a triumph over his rival 
 .■Eschines, one Harpalus, who had been in 
 the service of Alexander, fled to Athens, 
 with the remains of an immense fortune, 
 which had been dissipated by his luxury ; 
 and there sought refuge from the anger of 
 his master, whose severity towards his 
 favourites alarmed and prompted him to 
 this flight. The orators received his money, 
 and laboured to gain him the protection of 
 tie state. Demosthenes, on the contrary, 
 urged to his countrymen the danger of ex- 
 posing themselves to an unnecessary and 
 unjustifiable war, by entertaining this fu- 
 gitive. Harpalus, however, found means 
 to soften his severity, by a present of a 
 magnificent vase, accompanied with twenty 
 talents. And, when it was expected that 
 Demosthenes would have exerted his abili- 
 ties, in the assembly, against Harpalus, he 
 pleaded indisposition, and was silent. This 
 is the sum of Plutarch's account. But Pau- 
 sanias, who seems to have conceived a more 
 favourable opinion of the integrity of De- 
 mosthenes, observes, as a proof of his in- 
 nocence, that an authentic account was sent 
 to Athens, after the death of Harpalus, of 
 all the sums distributed by him in this city, 
 and of the persons to whom each was paid ; 
 
 and that, in this account, no mention was 
 at all made of Demosthenes, although Phi- 
 loxenus, who procured it, was his particular 
 enemy, as well as Alexander. But, how- 
 ever this may be, the rumour of Harpalus's 
 practices, and the report of the corruption 
 of Demosthenes in particular, raised a con- 
 siderable ferment at Athens. Demosthenes 
 strenuously asserted his innocence, and pro- 
 posed, that the council of Areopagus should 
 proceed to a strict inquiry into this dis- 
 tribution, supposed to have been made by 
 Harpalus ; declaring his readiness to submit 
 to their sentence, whatever it might be. 
 Contrary to his expectations, the report of 
 the Areopagus condemned him. In vain 
 did he represent this report, as the effect of 
 the malicious practices and contrivance of 
 his enemies. He was brought to his trial ; 
 Stratocles managed the prosecution; in 
 which he was assisted by Dinarchus, who, 
 though he gave a favourable testimony ta 
 the character of Demosthenes on a subse- 
 quent occasion (in the oration against Aris- 
 togiton,) yet now inveighed against him, 
 with the utmost virulence, in the following " 
 oration. 
 
 THE ORATION 
 
 Op Dinarchus aoainst Demosthenes, 
 
 This your minister, Athenians! who hath 
 pronounced sentence of death upon himself, 
 should he be convicted of receiving any 
 thing from Harpalus ; this very man hath 
 been clearly convicted of accepting bribes 
 from those whom, in former times, he af- 
 fected to oppose with so much zeal. As 
 Stratocles hath spoken largely upon this
 
 oeat xvir.] AGAINST DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 Ill 
 
 subject, as many articles of accusation have 
 been anticipated, as the council of Areopa- 
 gus hath made a report on this inquiry, so 
 consonant to equity and truth; a report, 
 confirmed and enforced by Stratocles, who 
 hath produced the decrees enacted against 
 these crimes; it remains that we, who are 
 now to speak (who are engaged in a cause of 
 more importance than ever came before this 
 state,) should request the whole assembly, 
 first, that we obtain your pardon, if we 
 should repeat some things already urged, 
 (for here our purpose is, not to abuse your 
 patience, but to inflame your indignation ;) 
 and, secondly, that you may not give up 
 the general rights and laws of the commu- 
 nity, or exchange the general welfare, for 
 the speeches of the accused. You see that, 
 in this assembly, it is Demosthenes that is 
 tried : in all other places, your own trial is 
 depending. On you men turn their eyes, 
 and wait with eagerness, to see how far the 
 interest of your country will engage your 
 care : whether you are to take upon your- 
 selves the corruption and iniquity of these 
 men ; or, wl.ether you are to manifest to 
 the world a just resentment against those 
 who are bribed to betray the state. 
 
 This last is fully in your power. The as- 
 sembly hath made a i'air decree. [1.] The 
 citizens have discovered their desire to de- 
 tect those speakers, whoever they may be, 
 who, to the disgrace and detriment of the 
 community, have presumed to receive gold 
 from Harpalus. Add to this, that you your- 
 self, Demosthenes, and many others, have 
 moved in form, that the council, agreeably 
 to ancient usage, should enter into an in- 
 quiry whether any persons had been thus 
 guilty. The council hath made this inquiry ; 
 not that your instances were wanting to re- 
 mind them of their duty ; or, that they 
 wished to sacrifice the truth, the trust re- 
 posed in them, to you: but from a full 
 persuasion (as the Areopagites have expres- 
 sed) of the influence of such practices on all 
 our counsels and transactions ; and a firm 
 resolution never to plead the danger of 
 being exposed to calumny, when they were 
 to detect the man who attempted to bring 
 disgrace and danger on his country. 
 
 And, although the dignity and propriety 
 of this procedure have received the appro- 
 bation of the people, Demosthenes has re- 
 course to complaints, to appeals, to mali- 
 cious accusations, now that he finds himself 
 convicted of receiving twenty talents of 
 gold. Shall then this council, on whose 
 laith and justice we rely, even in the im- 
 portant case of premeditated murder; to 
 whom we commit the vengeance due to 
 this crime; who have an absolute power 
 over the persons and lives of our citizens ; 
 who can punish every violation of our laws, 
 either by exile or by death : shall this coun- 
 cil, I say, on an inquiry into a case of bribery, 
 at once loose all its authority ? ' Yes ; for 
 the Areopagus hath reported falsely of De- 
 mosthenes.' Extravagant and absurd ! 
 
 [1.] A fair decree.] That is, a decree 
 committing the cognisance of the crimes 
 
 What : report falsely of Demosthenes and 
 Deraades, against whom even the truth 
 seems scarcely to be declared with safety? 
 You, who have in former times moved that 
 thi< council should take cognisance of public 
 affairs, and have applauded their reports; 
 you, whom this whole city hath not been 
 able to restrain within the bounds of justice; 
 hath the council reported falsely against 
 you ? Why then did you declare to the 
 people, that you were ready to submit to 
 death, if condemned by the report of this 
 council ? Why have you availed yourself 
 of their authority, to take off so many of 
 your citizens ? Or, whither shall we have 
 recourse ; to whom shall we intrust the de- 
 tection of secret villany? if you, notwith- 
 standing all your affected regard to our po- 
 pular government, are to dissolve this coun- 
 cil; to whose protection our lives have been 
 intrusted; to whose protection our liberty 
 and our constitution have oftentimes been 
 intrusted ; by whose protection that person 
 of thine hath been preserved (for, as you 
 pretend, it hath frequently been attempted,) 
 to utter these calumnies against them ; to 
 whose care we have committed our secret 
 archives, on which the very being of our 
 state depends. 
 
 But it is just, it is just I say, that the 
 council should meet with those returns of 
 calumny. For I shall freely speak my sen- 
 timents. One of these two methods should 
 they have pursued : either instantly have 
 entered into the first inquiry relative to the 
 three hundred talents, sent hither by the 
 king of Persia, as the people directed ; and 
 then this monster would have been punish- 
 ed, his accomplices in corruption detected, 
 and all his traitorous practices, by which 
 Thebes was betrayed to ruin, being clearly 
 laid open, an ignominious death would 
 have freed us from him ; or, if you were 
 inclined to pardon this crime in Demos- 
 thenes, and thus to propagate the race of 
 corrupted hirelings within your city, this 
 discovery of your sentiments should have 
 determined them not to enter into any in- 
 quiry, or information of the money received 
 by Demosthenes. For now, when the 
 council of Areopagus had nobly and equit- 
 ably proceeded to a full detection of this 
 mail, and his accomplices; when, regardless 
 of the power of Demosthenes and Demades, 
 they have adhered inviolably to truth and 
 justice; still, Demosthenes goes round the 
 city, utters his invectives against this coun- 
 cil, and boasts of his services, in those 
 speeches which you shall hear him instantly 
 
 use, to deceive the assembly ' It was I who 
 
 gained you the alliance of Thebes !' — No ! 
 You it was who ruined the common interest 
 of both states. ' I drew out the forces of 
 Chseronea !' — No, you were the only person 
 who there fled from your post. — .* For you 
 have I engaged in several embassies.' And 
 what would he do, what would he demand, 
 had these his negotiations been successful ; 
 when, having ranged through the world. 
 
 alleged against Demosthenes, &c. 
 court of Areopagus. 
 
 to the
 
 112 
 
 ORATION OP DINAUCHUS [orat. xvii. 
 
 only to involve us in such calamities and 
 misfortunes, he expects to be rewarded with 
 a liberty of receiving bribes against his 
 country, and the privilege of speaking and 
 of acting in this assembly as ne pleases? 
 To Timotheus, who awed all Peloponnesus 
 by his fleet ; who gained the naval victory 
 at Corcyra over the Lacedemonians ; who 
 was the son of Conon, the man who restored 
 liberty to Greece ; who gained Samos, and 
 Methbne, and Pydna, and Potidaea, and, 
 besides these, twenty cities more ; you did 
 not admit those important benefits, which 
 he conferred upon us, to have any weight 
 against the integrity of your tribunals, 
 against those oaths by which ye were en- 
 gaged in pronouncing sentence. No : you 
 imposed on him a fine of one hundred 
 talents, because that he had, by his own 
 acknowledgement, received money from the 
 Chians and the Rhodians. And, shall not 
 this outcast, this Scythian [1.] (for my in- 
 dignation will not be restrained,) whom 
 not one man, but the whole body of the 
 Areopagus, hath, on full inquiry, declared 
 guilty of receiving bribes ; declared an hire- 
 ling, and fully proved to be a corrupted 
 traitor to his country ; shall he not be pu- 
 nished with that severity which may serve as 
 an example to others ? He, who hath not 
 only been detected in receiving money from 
 the king, but hath enriched himself with 
 the spoils of the state ; and, now, could not 
 even be restrained from sharing the vile 
 wages which Harpalus here distributed. 
 
 Andean the negotiations of Demosthenes, 
 at Thebes, be deemed equivalent to the 
 smallest part of the noble actions of Timo- 
 theus ? Who can refrain from laughter to 
 find you patiently attending, while he pre- 
 sumptuously displays his pretended services, 
 and dares to compare them with those of 
 Timotheus, and of Conon ? Actions worthy 
 of our state, worthy of the glory of our an- 
 cestors, disdain all comparison with those of 
 an abandoned wretch. Here 1 shall produce 
 the decree enacted against Timotheus, and 
 then return to my subject. — Read ! 
 
 The Decree. 
 
 Such was this citizen (Demosthenes) that 
 he might reasonably have expected pardon 
 and favour from his fellow-citizens of those 
 days. Not in words, but actions, did he 
 perform important services to his country. 
 His principles were steady, his conduct uni- 
 form, not various and changeable like yours. 
 He never made so unreasonable a request to 
 the people, as to be raised above the laws. 
 He never required that those who had 
 sworn to give sentence justly, should break 
 through that sacred tie; but submitted to 
 stand condemned, if such was the judg- 
 ment of his tribunal. He never pleaded the 
 necessity of times; nor thought in one 
 maimer, and harangued hi another. And 
 shall this miscreant live, who, besides his 
 
 [1.] A term of reproach, which the ene- 
 mies of Demosthenes frequently made use 
 of. His grandfather (by his mother's side) 
 
 o'her numerous and heinous crimes, hath 
 abandoned the state of Thebes to its de- 
 struction, when, for the preservation of that 
 state, he had received three hundred talents 
 from the king of Persia? For, when the 
 Arcadians marched to the Isthmus, refused 
 to treat witli the ambassadors of Antipater, 
 and received those of the unfortunate The- 
 bans, who, with difficulty, gamed access to 
 them by sea, appeared before them in the 
 form of wretched suppliants, declared that 
 their present motions were not intended to 
 dissolve their connexions with Greece, or to 
 oppose the interest of that nation ; but to 
 free themselves from the intolerable voke 
 of Macedonian tyranny, from slavery, from 
 the horrid insults to which freemen were 
 exposed ; when the Arcadians were disposed 
 to assist them, when they commiserated 
 their wretched state, when they discovered 
 that, by the necessities of the times alone, 
 they had been obliged to attend on Alex- 
 ander, but that their inclinations were in- 
 variably attached to Thebes, and to the 
 liberties of Greece; when Astylus, their 
 mercenary general, demanded (as Stratocles 
 hath informed you) ten talents for leading a 
 reinforcement to the Thebans, when the 
 ambassadors applied to this man, who they 
 well knew had received the king's money, 
 requested, besought him to grant such a 
 sum for the preservation of the state; — 
 then did this abandoned, this impious, this 
 sordid wretch (when there was so faira pros- 
 pect of saving Thebes,) refuse to part with 
 ten talents out of all the vast treasures 
 whicli he received ; insensible to the affect- 
 ing consideration, urged by Stratocles, that 
 there were those who would give as great a 
 sum to divert the Arcadians from this ex- 
 pedition, and to prevent them from assist- 
 ing Thebes. 
 
 Has then Greece but slight, but common 
 injuries to urge against Demosthenes, and 
 his sordid avarice ? Hath the man, so highly 
 criminal, the least pretence to mercy ? Do 
 not his late and former offences call for 
 the severest punishment ? The world will 
 hear the sentence you are this day to pro- 
 nounce. The eyes of all men are fixed upon 
 you, impatient to learn the fate of so noto- 
 rious a delinquent. You are they, who, 
 for crimes infinitely less heinous than his, 
 have heavily and inexorably inflicted punish- 
 ments on many. Menon was by you con- 
 demned to death, for having subjected a 
 free youth of Pallaene to his servile offices. 
 Themistius, the Amphidnaean, who had 
 abused a Rhodian woman, that performed 
 on the harp in the Eleusinian ceremonies, 
 was by you condemned to death. The same 
 sentence you pronounced upon Euthyma- 
 chus, for prostituting a maiden of Olynfhus. 
 And now hath this traitor furnished all the 
 tents of the barbarians with the children 
 and wives of the Thebans. A city of our 
 neighbours and our allies hath been torn 
 from the very heart of Greece. The plougher 
 
 had, in the time of his exile, married a 
 woman ot Scythia.
 
 obat. xvii.] AGAINST DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 113 
 
 and the sower now traverse the city of the 
 Thebans, who united with us in the war 
 against Philip. I say, the plougher and the 
 sower traverse their habitations; nor hath 
 this hardened wretch discovered the least 
 remorse at the calamities of a people, to 
 whom he was sent as our ambassador ; with 
 whom he lived, conversed, and enjoyed all 
 that hospitality could confer; whom he 
 pretends to have himself gained to our alli- 
 ance; whom he frequently visited in their 
 prosperity, hut basely betrayed in their 
 distress. Our elder citizens can inform us, 
 that, at a time when our constitution was 
 destroyed ; when Thrasybulus was collecting 
 our exiles in Thebes, in order to possess 
 himself of Phvle; when the Lacedemonians, 
 now in the height of power, issued out their 
 mandate, forbidding all states to receive the 
 Athenians, or to conduct them through their 
 territories; this people assisted our country- 
 men in their expedition; and published 
 their decree, so often recited in this assem- 
 bly, ' that they would not look on with 
 unconcern, should any enemy invade the 
 Athenian territory.' Far different was the 
 conduct of this man who affects such atten- 
 tion to the interests of our allies (as you 
 shall soon hear him boast.) The very money 
 which he received to preserve this people 
 from ruin, he refused to part with. Let 
 these things sink deep into your minds. 
 Think on the calamities which arise from 
 traitors; let the wretched fate of the Olyn- 
 thians and the Thebans teach you to make 
 the just provision for your own security. 
 Cut off the men, who are ever resdy to sell 
 the interests of their country for a bribe, 
 and rest your hopes of safety upon your- 
 selves, and the gods. These are the means, 
 Athenians, the only means of reforming 
 our city ; to bring offenders of eminence to 
 justice, and to inflict a punishment adequate 
 to their offences. Wher, common criminals 
 are detected, no one knows, no one inquires 
 their fate. But the punishment of great 
 delinquents commands men's attention ; and 
 a rigid adherence to justice, without regard 
 to persons, is sure to meet with due ap- 
 plause. — Read ;the decree of the Thebans — 
 Produce the testimonies — Read the letter. 
 
 Decree. The Testimonies. The Letter. 
 
 He is a corrupted traitor, Athenians; of 
 old a corrupted traitor! This is the man 
 who conducted Philip's ambassadors from 
 Thebes to this city ; who was the occasion 
 of putting an end to the former war ; who 
 was the accomplice of Philocrates, the au- 
 
 [1.] Is subscribed, &c.] That is, who 
 was the author of all those decrees which 
 were purposely contrived to bring on these 
 misfortunes. The name of the person who 
 proposed any \l/i]<piaixa, or decree, to the as- 
 sembly, was always affixed to it. And the 
 expression in the original is supposed to al- 
 lude to this custom. 
 
 [2.] This sentence, in the original, is 
 somewhat embarrassed ; but I have endea- 
 voured to express the general purport of it. 
 
 thor of the decree for making peace with 
 Philip, for which you banished him: the 
 man who hired carriages for the ambassadors 
 that came hither with Antipater; who en- 
 tertained them ; and introduced the custom 
 of paying obsequious flattery to the Mace- 
 donians. Do not, O Athenians ! do not suf- 
 fer this man, whose name is subscribed [1.] 
 to the misfortunes of this state, and of all the 
 states of Greece, to escape unpunished; 
 when Heaven hath been so tar favourable to 
 us, that one of those pests of our commu- 
 nity is driven from the city, the life of the 
 other forfeited to the state, let us not obsti- 
 nately reject these favours; let the men, 
 most eminently guilty, bear the load of our 
 offences ; so may we form happy presages of 
 our future fortune. For what occasi ;n 
 should we reserve this man ? When may 
 we hope that he will prove of advantage to 
 us ? I call on this assembly ; I call on all 
 those who attend this trial ; say, in what af- 
 fairs hath he engaged, either private or 
 public, that he hath not ruined. [2.] Did 
 he not enter the house of Aristarchus, and 
 there concert his designs ; and did he not 
 (the fact is well known) force this Aristar- 
 chus from the city, loaded with the infa- 
 mous imputation of contriving the murder 
 of Nicodemus ? And such a friend did he 
 find in Demosthenes, that he regarded him 
 as his evil genius, as the author of all his 
 misfortunes. But 1 must pass over his pri- 
 vate conduct, for the time will not admit of 
 a minute detail. From the moment that he 
 first began to direct our affairs, hath any 
 one instance of good fortune attended us ? 
 Hath not all Greece, and not this state alone, 
 been plunged in dangers, calamities, and 
 disgrace ? Many were the fair occasions 
 which occurred to favour his administration ; 
 and all these occasions, of such moment to 
 our interests, did he neglect. When any 
 friend to his country, any useful citizen, at- 
 tempted to do us service, so far was this 
 leader, who is impatient to boast of his great 
 actions, from co-operating with such men, 
 that he instantly infected them with the 
 contagion of his unhappy conduct. Chari- 
 demus went over to the king of Persia, re- 
 solved to approve himself our friend, not 
 by words, but actions; and to purchase se- 
 curity for us, and for the Greeks, by his own 
 dangers. This man went round the public 
 places, framed his speeches, and pretended 
 to a share in these transactions. Then came 
 the severe reverse of fortune ; all our expec- 
 tations were utterly defeated. Ephialtes 
 sailed out ; he hated Demosthenes : yet, 
 from necessity, admitted him to share in his 
 
 Nicodemus, a native of Aphidna, had been 
 found dead, with his eyes torn out. As he 
 was known to have been a friend to Eubulus, 
 who was in the party that opposed Demos- 
 thenes, the suspicion of this murder fell on 
 the orator, who was said to have persuaded 
 Aristarchus, a youth with whom he was 
 connected in friendship, to commit it. 
 A ristarcBus was publicly accused, and fled 
 to avoid the consequences. Dem. Orat. in 
 Mid.
 
 ii4 
 
 ORATION OF DINAUCHUS [oeat. xvh. 
 
 councils. — T)ie fortune of the state destroy- 
 ed him. Euthydicus assumed the conduct 
 of public affairs; he professed himself a 
 friend to Demosthenes. — He perished. You 
 know these things much better than I : 
 shall not then the experience of the past 
 direct your judgment of the future? Can 
 any services be expected from him ? Yes ; 
 the service of forming contrivances in fa- 
 vour of our enemies, on some critical emer- 
 gency. Such was the time when the Lace- 
 demonians had encamped, when the Eleans 
 united with them, when they were rein- 
 forced with ten thousand mercenaries; 
 Alexander said to be in India; all Greece 
 inflamed with indignation at the ignomini- 
 ous state to which traitors had reduced every 
 community ; impatient of distress, and 
 earnest for relief. In this conjuncture, who 
 was the man, Demosthenes, that had the 
 direction of our councils ? In this perilous 
 conjuncture (not to mention other like occa- 
 sions,) did you, whom we shall hear express- 
 ing the utmost indignation at the present 
 fallen state of Greece ; did you propose any 
 decree ? Did you assist us with your coun- 
 sels ? Did you supply us with your trea- 
 sures ? Not at all ! You were employed in 
 ranging through the city, providing your 
 whisperers, forging letters ; * * [1.] the dis- 
 grace of his illustrious country, was then 
 seen trimly decked with his rings, indulging 
 in effeminacy and luxury amidst the public 
 calamities; borne through our streets in 
 his sedan, and insulting the distresses of the 
 poor. And can we expect future services 
 from him, who hath neglected all past occa- 
 sions of serving us ? O goddess Minerva! 
 O Jupiter protector ! May our enemies ever 
 have such counsellors and leaders ! 
 
 Men of Athens ! do you yet remember the 
 actions of your ancestors ? They, when 
 the state was threatened with many and 
 great calamities, encountered dangers for 
 your safety, in a manner worthy of their 
 country, worthy of their free condition, 
 worthy of their reputation. I shall not 
 here engage in a long detail of our most 
 early times; of the actions of Aristides and 
 Themistocles, who fortified our city, and 
 brought in such immense tributes, the free 
 and voluntary contributions of the Greeks. 
 Let us confine ourselves to the actions per- 
 formed a little before our own days, the ac- 
 tions of Cephalus, of Thraso, of Heliodorus, 
 of other great men ; some of whom are yet 
 alive. When the citadel of Thebes was pos- 
 sessed by file Lacedemonian forces, [2.] they 
 assisted those exiles who attempted to rescue 
 their country ; they braved the dangers of 
 war, and gave liberty to a neighbouring 
 state that had long been subjected to slavery. 
 Cephalus was the man, whose decree roused 
 our fathers to this expedition ; who, in defi- 
 ance of the Lacedemonian power, of the 
 
 [1.] This passage is supposed to be imper- 
 fect in the copies. 
 
 [2.] See Plutarch, in the life of Pelopidas. 
 
 [3. j This was the law, of which Demos- 
 thenes speaks in the oration on the crown ; 
 by which every citizen was bound to contri- 
 
 hnzards of war, of the danger of advising 
 measures whose event was precarious, pro- 
 posed the resolution, that the Athenians 
 should march out, and support the exiles 
 who had now possessed themselves of 
 Thebes. And our fathers did issue forth: 
 in a few days the Spartan garrison was 
 forced out ; the liberty of Thebes restored ; 
 and the conduct of this state approved wor- 
 thy of our ancestors. These were counsel- 
 lors, Athenians ! these were leaders, worthy 
 of you and of your country : not such mis- 
 creants as those, who never did, never can 
 prove useful to the public ; attentive only 
 to the preservation of their own vile persons, 
 to amassing their sordid gains ; who render 
 their country more inglorious than them- 
 selves ; who now, when evidently convicted 
 of bribery, practise all their arts to deceive 
 you, and expect, amidst their baseness, to 
 find credit and security in the fruits of their 
 avarice. Let their long course of iniquity, 
 at length, meet the just punishment. Let 
 them die; their own sentence hath con- 
 demned them. 
 
 Is it not scandalous, Athenians ! that 
 your opinion of the guilt of Demosthenes 
 should depend only on our representations ? 
 Do you not know that he is a corrupted 
 traitor, a public robber, false to his friends, 
 and a disgrace to the state ? What decrees, 
 what laws have not been made subservient 
 to his gain ? There are men in this tribunal, 
 who were of the Three Hundred, when he 
 proposed the law relative to our trie- 
 rarchs. [3.] Inform those who stand near 
 you, how, for a bribe of three talents, he al- 
 tered and new modelled this law, in every 
 assembly ; and, just as he was feed, inserted 
 or erased clauses. Say, in the name of Hea- 
 ven ! Think ye, O men of Athens, that he 
 gained nothing by his decree, which gave 
 Diphilus the honours of public maintenance, 
 and a statue? Was he not paid for ob- 
 taining the freedom of our city to Cha>re- 
 philus, and Phidon, and Pamphilus, and 
 Philip, and such mean persons as Epigenes 
 and Conon? Was it for nothing he pro- 
 cured brazen statues to Berisades, and Saty- 
 rus, and Gorgippus, those detested tyrants ; 
 from whom he annually receives a thousand 
 bushels of corn ; although he is ready to la- 
 ment the distresses of his fortune ? Was it 
 for nothing he made Taurosthenes an Athe- 
 nian citizen, who enslaved his countrymen; 
 and, together with his brother Callias, be- 
 trayed all Euboea to Philip ? whom our laws 
 forbid to appear in Athens, on pain of suf- 
 fering the punishment of those who return 
 from exile. [4.] Such a man this friend to 
 our constitution enrolled amongst our citi- 
 zens. These and many other instances, in 
 which he hath prostituted our honours, can 
 be proved by authentic evidence. And 
 could he, who gladly descended to small 
 
 bute to the expense of the navy, in propor- 
 tion to his fortune, instead of just paying 
 one-sixteenth part of the expense of one 
 ship, whatever might be his circumstances. 
 [•1.] In the original, ' from banishment 
 by sentence of the Areopagus.'
 
 orat. xvii.] AGAINST DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 Rains, resist the temptation of so great a sum 
 as twenty talents? Six months hath the 
 Areopagus been engaged, in their inquiry 
 into the conduct of Demosthenes, Demades, 
 and Cephisophon. And was all this time 
 wasted only to make a false and unjust re- 
 port ? The whole body of our citizens, and 
 of the Greeks, now fixed their eyes upon 
 you (as I before observed,) impatient for 
 the result cf this day's business : earnest to 
 be informed whether corruption may expect 
 its just punishment, or fear no control ; 
 whether the authority of our tribunals is to 
 be confirmed, or destroyed, by the sentence 
 passed upon Demosthenes ; a man whose 
 public conduct hath long since called for se- 
 vere vengeance; who is obnoxious to all 
 the curses ever denounced within this city ; 
 who hath sworn ialsely by the tremendous 
 furies, and all the divinities whose names 
 are sacred in the Areopagus ; who hath been 
 devoted to destruction in every assembly, as 
 he is convicted of bribery, and hath dealt 
 insidiously with his country, in defiance of 
 the awful execration; [1.] whose declara- 
 tions are ever different from his private sen- 
 timents ; who gave to Aristarchus the most 
 shocking and nefarious advice. If there be 
 any punishment due to perjury and villany, 
 surely he must this day, this moment, feel 
 its utmost weight — Ye judges, hear the ex- 
 ecrations. 
 
 The Execrations. 
 
 And now, ye judges, so prone to false- 
 hood and absurdity is Demosthenes, so de- 
 void of shame, so insensible to his convic- 
 tion, to the awful purport of these execra- 
 tions, that, as I am informed, he presumes 
 to urge against me, that 1 was once con- 
 demned by the Areopagus, and that I am 
 guilty of ,the greatest inconsistency, in first 
 objecting to the authority of this council, 
 in my own case, and now founding my ac- 
 cusation against him on their authority. 
 Thus, in order to deceive certain persons, 
 hath he framed a tale utterly false and 
 groundless. But that he may not deceive 
 you by this insinuation, that you may be 
 assured that the Areopagus never did, never 
 can condemn me ; but that I was, indeed, 
 treated injuriously by one wicked man, on 
 whom you inflicted the just punishment of 
 his guilt; I shall first briefly state this affair, 
 and then return to my allegations against 
 Demosthenes. 
 
 There are two methods in which the 
 Areopagus may proceed to an indictment 
 against any person. And what are these ? 
 By entering into an inquiry, either of their 
 own mere motion and pleasure, or by direc- 
 tion of the popular assembly. There is no 
 other way. If, then, thou darest to assert, 
 monster as thou art, that the proceedings 
 against me were in consequence of the as- 
 
 lit 
 
 [1.] The awful execration.] Which was 
 pronounced by the herald, on the opening 
 of every assembly, against those who should 
 act or speak to the prejudice of the commu- 
 nity. 
 
 sembly's direction, produce the decree, 
 name rny accusers, as I have done in the 
 present case ; shewn the decree, by which 
 the council was directed to enter into this 
 inquiry, and produced the accusers chosen 
 by the people, who have so fully displayed 
 thy guilt. If this can be done in my case, I 
 am ready to submit to death. But if vou 
 allege, that the Areopagus proceeded against 
 me of its own motion, produce some mem- 
 bers of the council to attest this, as 1 shall 
 to attest the contrary. The man, like you, 
 an abandoned traitor, who so falsely charged 
 both meand the council, I impeached before 
 the five hundred, convicted of being su- 
 borned by Timocles to conduct the prosecu- 
 tion against me, and prevailed on his judges 
 
 to punish with due severity Take the 
 
 evidence which I produced i'n this cause, 
 whose truth and validity were never ques- 
 tioned, and which I shall now produce ; 
 read 
 
 The Evidence, 
 
 Nor is it at all wonderful, Athenians 
 that, when Pistias, a member of the Areo- 
 pagus, accused me of injustice; (falsely 
 charging both me and the council,) truth 
 should for a while be borne down ; and that 
 his malicious accusations should gain some 
 credit against a man whose infirmities and 
 retired life rendered him unable to make 
 the necessary defence. But now, when the 
 whole body of the Areopagus hath solemnly 
 pronounced, that Demosthenes hath been 
 guilty of accepting twenty talents, in con- 
 tempt of his duty, and the good of his coun- 
 try ; when this your popular leader, on 
 whom all your hopes were fixed, is convict- 
 ed of clandestinely receiving bribes ! shall 
 the laws, shall justice, shall truth, have less 
 weight than the speeches of Demosthenes ? 
 Shall the calumnies he utters against the 
 council prevail against the whole force of 
 evidence ? The council, saith he, hath fre- 
 quently indicted persons of illegal proceed- 
 ings, who have been acquitted on a fair 
 trial, and, in some cases, scarcely a fifth 
 part of the judges concurred with the Areo- 
 pagus. But such cases are easily accounted 
 for. This council takes cognisance of all 
 crimes whatever, which are either referred 
 to them by you, or belong immediately to 
 their own jurisdiction ; and, in such pro- 
 ceedings, they do not act like you (let not 
 my freedom give offence,) who are frequent- 
 ly influenced by pity, rather than directed 
 by justice; but, in whatever cases our laws 
 are violated, they consider only the evi- 
 dence, and indict the guilty ; well knowing 
 that if slight offences are neglected, men 
 will be habituated and imboldened to pro- 
 ceed to greater. Hence are their indict- 
 ments returned to you, against several de- 
 linquents [2.] of the inferior kind. These, 
 
 [2.] Particular instances of these are men- 
 tioned in the text; but, as they cannot be 
 interesting to the English reader, I have 
 chosen the general expression. The same 
 liberty hath been taken in this oration, in 
 M
 
 llfi 
 
 ORATION OF DTNATtCHUS [orat. xvir. 
 
 when brought to trial, you acquit ; not 
 from the least suspicion of this council's in- 
 tegrity, but because you are inclined to 
 mercy, rather than to rigour; and deem the 
 
 Jmnisliment prescribed by the letter of the 
 aw too great for their offences. In these 
 cases, Demosthenes, were the delarations of 
 the council false ? By no means! And yet, 
 in these and other cases, have you acquitted 
 those whom they declared guilty. Thus, 
 when the Areopagus was directed to inquire, 
 whether Polyeuctus had gone to Megara, 
 and held an intercourse with our exiles, and 
 to report their determination ; they reported 
 that he had gone thither. Accusers were 
 chosen : he was brought to a trial ; you ac- 
 quitted him, although he confessed that he 
 had gone to Megara, to Nicophanes, who 
 married his mother. For you thought it no 
 such heinous offence that he had held an 
 intercourse with his own father-in-law, 
 when in exile and distress, and had assisted 
 him to the utmost of his power. In this 
 case, Demosthenes, no objection lay to the 
 proceedings of the council : these were ac- 
 knowledged to be just. Vet was Polyeuctus 
 acquitted by his judges : for the Areopagus 
 is only to consider, and declare the fact ; 
 but the criminal, as I have observed, was 
 deemed worthy of the mercy of his tribunal. 
 And are we, from such cases, to conclude, 
 that no credit is due to the declarations of 
 the Areopagus, by which you and your ac- 
 complices are charged with corruption ? 
 Shew your judges, if you can, that your 
 case is at all similar to those I have hinted 
 at ; that the guilt of bribery deserves mercy ; 
 and. then, you may expect mercy. But 
 what saith the law? In other pecuniary 
 matters, it directs that the injurious party 
 shall be fined in twice the value of his frau- 
 dulent gains. In the case of bribery, two 
 different punishments are prescribed : the 
 first is death, that the example of the delin- 
 quent may serve as a terror to others ; the 
 second, a fine, tenfold of the bribe received, 
 that they who proceed to such enormities, 
 may be disappointed in their sordid hopes 
 of gain. 
 
 To this do you object, that all the persons, 
 thus declared guilty by the Areopagus, con- 
 fessed that their judgment was fair and 
 equitable, but that you have objected to 
 their determination ?'No : you are the only 
 person who have solicited to be judged by 
 their sentence. You yourself preferred the 
 decree, by which vou are now condemned : 
 you made the whole assembly a witness to 
 your concessions: you yourself directed that 
 death should be your punishment, if the 
 council declared that you had received any 
 
 Cart of those treasures which Harpalus 
 rought hither ; you yourself have moved, 
 in former cases, that the Areopagus should 
 have jurisdiction over all our citizens, should 
 proceed, agreeably to our ancient laws, to 
 punish all delinquents. To this council, 
 which you now call an oligarchical faction, 
 
 sometimes omitting names and circum- 
 stances, which could not give either light or 
 beaaty to the translation. 
 
 did you implicitly resign this whole city 
 By your decree, which acknowledged Its au- 
 thority, were two Athenians, the father and 
 the son, delivered to the executioner : by 
 your decree, was a descendant of our great 
 deliverer, Harmodius, cast into chains : the 
 decision of the Areopagus condemned An- 
 tipho[l.] to torture and death : in obedience 
 to its authority, and in execution of its just 
 sentence, did you banish Archinus from the 
 city as a traitor. And do you attempt to 
 invalidate this authority in your own case ? 
 Is this just ? Is this consonant to our laws ? 
 On you, ye judges, I denounce the ven- 
 geance of the tremendous goddesses who pos- 
 sess this land, of the heroes of our country, 
 of Minerva our patroness, of all our other 
 guardian divinities, if ye suffer this corrupt- 
 ed traitor to escape, whom the state hath 
 given into your hands ; whose counsels have 
 ruined our fortune, defeated our hopes, be- 
 trayed us to our assailants ; whom our ene- 
 mies wish to live, convinced that he must 
 prove our destruction ; whose death our 
 friends regard as the only event which can 
 raise us from this fallen state ; and for 
 whose just punishment they, therefore, 
 breathe their warmest wishes, their most 
 fervent prayers to the gods. To these gods 
 I too poor our my petitions, that they may 
 save the Athenians, who now see their chil- 
 dren, their wives, their honour, all that 
 they account valuable, exposed to danger. 
 
 What shall we say, ye judges, to those 
 who stand waiting the "event of this cause, 
 if, (which Heaven avert !) the craft of this 
 impostor should deceive you ? When we 
 depart from this tribunal, with what face 
 can each of you enter under his own roof, 
 if you dismiss this traitor, whose roof was 
 poiluted by his corrupt gains ? And, if you 
 pronounce that council void of credit and 
 authority, which we have hitherto regarded 
 as highly awful and august, what hopes my 
 countrymen (Oh! consider this,) what hopes 
 can we conceive, on any perilous emergency, 
 if we teach men to despise the danger of re- 
 ceiving bribes against their country ? and, 
 if an assembly, the guardians of their coun- 
 try on such emergencies, be branded with 
 disgrace ? 
 
 Let us suppose the case, that, agreeably 
 to the decree of Demosthenes, Alexander 
 should, by his ambassadors, demand the 
 gold which Harpalus brought hither: that, 
 to confirm the sentence of the Areopagus, 
 he should send back the slaves, and direct 
 us to extort the truth from them. What 
 should we then say ? would you, Demos- 
 thenes, then move for a declaration of war ? 
 you, who have so nobly conducted our 
 former wars? And, if such should be the 
 resolution of the assembly ; which would be 
 the fairer procedure, to take that money to 
 ourselves, which you secreted, in order to 
 support our war ; or to load our citizens 
 with taxes, to oblige our women to send in 
 their ornaments, to melt down our plate, 
 
 [1.] See note 1. Orat. XIV. p. 08, on the 
 Oration for the Regulation of the State.
 
 ouat. xvn.j AGAINST DEMOSTHENES 
 
 117 
 
 to strip our temples of their offerings, as 
 your decree directed? Though, from your 
 houses in the Pyncus, and in the city, you 
 yourself contributed just fifty drachma;: 
 ami nobly have your twenty talents repaid 
 such bounty. Or, would you move that 
 we should not declare war ; but that we 
 should, agreeably to your decree, return 
 the gold, conveyed hither, to Alexander? 
 In this case, the community must pay your 
 share. And, is this just, is this equal deal- 
 ing, is this constitutional, that our useful 
 citizens should be taxed to glut your ava- 
 rice? that men of avowed property should 
 contribute; while your property lies con- 
 cealed, notwithstanding you have received 
 one hundred and fifty talents, partly from 
 the king's, partly from Alexander's trea- 
 sure; all carefully secreted, as you justly 
 dread the consequences of your conduct ? 
 that our laws should direct that every pub- 
 lic speaker, every leader of our forces, 
 should recommend himself to the confidence 
 of the public, by educating children, and 
 by possessing land within our territory, nor 
 assume the direction of our affairs until he 
 had given these pledges of his fidelity ; and 
 that you should sell your patrimonial lands, 
 and adopt the children of strangers, to elude 
 the force of laws and oaths ? that you should 
 impose military service on others ? you who 
 basely fled from your own post ? 
 
 To what causes, Athenians ! is the pros- 
 perity or the calamity of a state to be as- 
 cribed? To none so eminently as to its 
 ministers and generals. Turn your eyes 
 to the state of Thebes. It subsisted once ; 
 it was once great ; it had its soldiers and 
 commanders. There was a time (our elder 
 citizens declare it, and on their authority 
 I speak,) when Pelopidas led the 'sacred 
 band ;' when Epaminondas and his col- 
 leagues commanded the army. Then did 
 the Thebans gain the victory at Leuctra ; 
 then did they pierce into the territories of 
 Lacedemon, before deemed inaccessible ; 
 then did they achieve many and noble deeds. 
 The Messenians they reinstated in their 
 citv, after a dispersion of four hundred 
 years. To the Arcadians they give freedom 
 and independence ; whilst the world viewed 
 their illustrious conduct with applause. On 
 the other hand, at what time did they act 
 ignobly, unworthy of their native magnani- 
 mity i When Timolaus called himself Phi- 
 lip's friend, and was corrupted by his gold ; 
 when the traitor Proxenus led the merce- 
 nary forces collected for the expedition to 
 Amphissa ; when Theagenes, wretched and 
 corrupt, like this man, was made command- 
 er of their band ; then did these three men 
 confound and utterly destroy the affairs of 
 that state, and of all Greece. So indisputa- 
 bly true it is, that leaders are the great 
 cause of all the good and all the evil that 
 can attend a community. We see this in 
 the instance of our own state : reflect, and 
 say, at what time was this city, gTeat and 
 eminent in Greece, worthy of our ancestors, 
 
 [I.] The word fyyefian seems to have been 
 sometimes used, by the orator, as a general 
 
 and of their illustrious actions? When 
 Conon (as our ancient citizens inform us) 
 gained the naval victory at Cnidosj when 
 Iphicrates cut off the detachment of the La- 
 cedemonians ; when Chabrias defeated the 
 .Spartan fleet at Naxos; when Timotheus 
 triumphed at the sea-fight near C'orcyra. 
 Then, Athenians ! then it was that the 'La- 
 cedemonians, whose wise and faithful lead- 
 ers [1.] whose adherence to their ancient in- 
 stitutions had rendered them illustrious, 
 were reduced so low, as to appear before us 
 like abject supplicants, and implore for 
 mercy. Our state, which they had subvert- 
 ed, by means of those who then conducted 
 our affairs, once more became the sovereign 
 of Greece: and no wonder, when the men, 
 now mentioned, were our generals ; and 
 Archinus and Cephalus our ministers. For 
 what is the great security of every state 
 and nation ? Good generals and able minis- 
 ters. 
 
 Let this be duly and attentively consider- 
 ed, and let us no longer suffer by the corrupt 
 and wretched conduct of Demosthenes. Let 
 it not be imagined, that we shall ever want 
 good men and faithful counsellors. With 
 all the generous severity of our ancestors, 
 let us exterminate the man whose bribery, 
 whose treason, are evidently detected ; who 
 could not resist the temptation of gold ; who 
 hath involved his country in calamities the 
 most grievous : let us destroy this pest of 
 Greece ; let not his contagion infect our city ; 
 then may we hope for some change of for- 
 tune, then may we expect that our affairs 
 will flourish. Attend, Athenians ! while 
 we read the decree proposed by Demosthe- 
 nes, this friend to liberty, in the midst of 
 our public disorders, immediately after the 
 engagement of Chasronea. Hear also the 
 Oracle of Dodona, the voice of Dodona?an 
 Jove himself (for long since have we been 
 warned to guard against leaders and minis- 
 ters.) — First read the Oracle. 
 
 The Oracle. 
 
 Now read this fine decree. 
 
 Part of the Decree. 
 
 He is a friend to liberty indeed, who issues 
 out his mandate for our citizens to take up 
 arms; himself, spiritless and dastardly; 
 who, if displeased at any of his country- 
 men, orders them to the post of toil and 
 labour; and assumes, in every instance, a 
 despotic power of acting as he pleases,— Now 
 read the rest 
 
 The Rest of the Decree. 
 
 You hear, ye judges, that the ambassadors 
 are all named in the decree. But the instant 
 this man was informed of the battle of Chse- 
 ronea, and that Philip was preparing to in- 
 vade us, he procured himself to be nominated 
 an ambassador, that he might fly from the 
 
 term, signifying not only commanders in 
 war, but popular leaders and ministers.
 
 118 
 
 ORATION OF DINARCHUS 
 
 [ORAT. XVII. 
 
 danger which threatened us; and, with a 
 shameless insensibility to the distresses of 
 his country, did he then secrete eight talents 
 of the public money, while other citizens 
 were freely contributing to the necessities of 
 the state from their own fortunes. Such 
 was this minister, and such the occasions, 
 the only occasions, he ever took of going 
 abroad : the first, immediately after the en- 
 gagement, when he fled from the danger of 
 his country ; the second, when, protected by 
 his office of chief inspector of the solemni- 
 ties, [1.] he went to Olympia, to confer 
 with Nicanor. A man worthy to be intrust- 
 ed with the interests of his country, worthy 
 to be regarded as our great resource in 
 time of danger ; who when his fellow-citi- 
 zens are called forth to meet their enemies, 
 flies from his post, and hides himself at 
 home ; when the danger is at home, and his 
 aid demanded here, pretends that he is an 
 ambassador and runs from the city. When 
 there was a real occasion for an embassy, 
 to induce Alexander to peace, he refused to 
 move one step from home ; but when it was 
 once reported that this prince was so favour- 
 ably disposed towards us, as to permit those 
 to return whom his power had banished, and 
 that Nicanor [2.] had come to Olympia, 
 then did he offer his services, as inspector of 
 the solemn rites. Such is this man's con- 
 duct : if we are to take the field, he is con- 
 fined at home; if this be the scene of duty, 
 he is an ambassador; if really sent on an 
 embassy, we find him a fugitive. [3.] 
 
 Attend to these decrees of Demosthenes, 
 which empower the Areopagus to inquire 
 into such corrupt practices, when he him- 
 self, and when other citizens were accused ; 
 and by comparing cases so exactly parallel, 
 convince yourselves of the infatuation of 
 Demosthenes. 
 
 A Decree. 
 
 Did you, Demosthenes, propose this 
 decree ? You did : it cannot be denied. 
 Was the report of the Areopagus decisive 
 in this case ? It was. Were the delinquents 
 punished with death ? They were : your 
 decree had its due weight : it cannot be de- 
 nied. Now, read that decree which Demos- 
 thenes preferred against Demosthenes. At- 
 tend, ye judges ! — He hath detected, he hath 
 informed against Demosthenes (this is the 
 fact, in one word:) and upon himself hath 
 he justly pronounced the sentence of death. 
 And now, when he is consigned over to you, 
 judges, selected from the body of our citi- 
 
 [l.j 'Apx'Cewpiaa. The name of their 
 office who went as deputies to offer sacrifi- 
 ces, &c. at the most famous temples, or (as 
 in the present case) to attend at the public 
 games. The scenes of such solemnities 
 were exempt from all hostilities, and the 
 persons of theOcupoi and 'Apx<Wtwpoi were 
 sacred and inviolable. 
 
 [2.] Nicanor was the agent of Alexander, 
 sent to the public games to proclaim his 
 master's kind intentions to the Greeks. 
 
 [3.] Plutarch informs us (in his Life of 
 
 zens, sworn to obey the laws and resolu- 
 tions of the assembly ; how will you pro- 
 ceed ? Will you impiously defy the ven- 
 geance of the gods? Will you \ioiate all that 
 is accounted just and sacred among men ? 
 O, no ! my countrymen ! by no means ! 
 Grievous and scandalous it would be, if 
 other citizens, not more unworthy, not 
 more criminal than Demosthenes, "should 
 be destroyed by his decrees; whilst he 
 himself, convicted by himself, and by his 
 own decree, should despise you and your 
 laws, and triumph in his impunity. This 
 very council, this place, these laws, this 
 very speaker, were the causes of all the 
 severity which hath been, or may be felt, by 
 other delinquents. The same speaker hath, 
 in the presence of the popular assembly, 
 committed the decision of his own cause to 
 the same council. You were witnesses 
 of this, of the compact which he made 
 with his country. He drew up the decree, 
 by which he is condemned : he depo- 
 sited it with the mother of the gods, the 
 guardian of all our public acts and laws. It 
 would be impious to rescind it ; to invoke 
 the gods as witnesses to the integrity of your 
 decisions; and to decide in opposition to 
 those facts which the gods have sanctified. 
 Neptune, when condemned by this council, 
 in his contest with Mars, submitted to its 
 decision. The tremendous Furies, wit- 
 nesses of its sentence in the cause of Orestes, 
 of the sanctity and integrity of its judgment, 
 have fixed their residence in this council. 
 And how will you proceed, you who affect 
 the character of consummate piety ? Shall 
 the wicked arts of Demosthenes prevail on 
 you to invalidate its authority ? No, Athe- 
 nians ! your wisdom cannot suffer it. You 
 are this day to give sentence, in no ordinary 
 or trivial cause. You are to determine the 
 safety of your country ; you are to pro- 
 nounce sentence on corruption, on those 
 wicked practices which involve the world in 
 calamity. If, then, you now exert yourselves 
 to the utmost, exterminate those criminals, 
 and correct the shameless eagerness of receiv- 
 ing bribes; then (if Heaven so pleases) you 
 shall enjoy prosperity; but if you permit 
 your public speakers to sell you, such negli- 
 gence must prove the ruin of your country. 
 In our popular assembly, Demosthenes 
 proposed (as a thing indispensibly required 
 by the rules of justice,) that all the treasure, 
 brought into Attica by Harpalus, should be 
 seized and kept for Alexander. But say, how 
 shall we keep this treasure, if you secrete 
 your twenty talents, if another secures his 
 
 Demosthenes) that the orator was appoint- 
 ed, with some other Athenians, to go on an 
 embassy to Alexander, immediately after 
 the destruction of Thebes, in order to con- 
 clude a treaty with this prince : and that, 
 when he had proceeded so far as Citheron, 
 he began to reflect seriously on the danger 
 of the Macedonian's resentment, and re- 
 turned home in a fit of terror. So far his 
 accuser's allegations are confirmed by his- 
 tory.
 
 orat. xvn.] AGAINST DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 119 
 
 sum, if Deraades is to have his ample por- 
 tion, if the rest are to possess their several 
 shares, as specified in the report ? Sixty- 
 four talents are declared to be the amount of 
 such distributions. And which is the nobler 
 and the juster procedure; to instrust the 
 whole to the state, until the people shall 
 have come to some fair determination ; or to 
 suffer our orators and some generals to divide 
 the spoil ? To intrust it to the public, must 
 in my opinion be universally acknowledged 
 just and reasonable ; that it should be pos- 
 sessed by private persons, can never be pre- 
 tended. 
 
 Many, and various, and inconsistent, are 
 the allegations, which you shall hear this 
 man urge, ve judges ! For he knows, that 
 heretofore you have always suffered him to 
 amuse you with airy hopes and false repre- 
 sentations; nor ever retained the memory 
 of his promises longer than whilst he was 
 delivering them. If, then, the state is to be 
 still loaded with the baseness and accursed 
 fortune of Demosthenes, I can only say, that 
 whatever may be the event, we must submit. 
 But, if we still retain the due regard to 
 our countrv, if we still retain the just ab- 
 horrence of wicked and corrupted men, if 
 we would redeem our fortune, and form 
 happy presages of futurity, we must be 
 deaf to the intreaties of this abandoned im- 
 postor ; we must not suffer his artful tears, 
 and insidious supplications, to prevail upon 
 us. Which of you, O Athenians ! is so cre- 
 dulous, who so inconsiderate, who so inex- 
 perienced in all past and present affairs, as 
 to expect, that a state, reduced from such 
 grandeur to its present ignoble condition 
 (from what cause or what fortune I shall not 
 say,) a state, that now finds its distresses 
 aggravated, and its dangers increased, by the 
 corrupt practices of its citizens, loaded with 
 odious imputations, obliged to justify his 
 conduct, to obviate the suspicion of having 
 received money which some individuals have 
 secreted ; that such a state, I say, can still 
 be saved, by the services of such a man ? 
 Why should I mention the numerous in- 
 stances of his false and inconsistent conduct f 
 How, at one time, he insisted and proposed, 
 that no divinity should be admitted, but such 
 as descended to us from ancient tradition ; 
 and the next moment declared, that the peo- 
 ple should not contend with Alexander, 
 about his claim of divine honours ? How, 
 when he himself was in danger of a trial, he 
 impeached Callimedon of conspiring with 
 the exiles at Megara to destroy our consti- 
 tution; and then, at once, withdrew his 
 impeachment ? How, in the assembly lately 
 convened, he procured and suborned a wit- 
 ness to testify, that a design was formed 
 against our stores, but never preferred a 
 decree ; only alarmed us with these informa- 
 tions, just to serve the present purpose ? — 
 Of all these things you have been witnesses. 
 He is, indeed, my countrymen, an impos- 
 tor and a profligate; no true Athenian ; as 
 
 all nis conduct and transactions declare. 
 What ships of war were provided for the 
 state, in nis administration, as in that of 
 Eubulus ? What conveniences or buildings 
 for our marine ? When did he, by any 
 decree, or any law, regulate our cavalry ? 
 What force, either by land or sea, did he 
 provide, when so many fair occasions offered, 
 after the fatal engagement at Chxronea? 
 What offerings did he deposit in our citadel, 
 to grace the shrine of our patroness? 
 What edifices hath he erected in our 
 port, in our city, or in our territory? 
 None. And shall this man, who, in war, 
 hath proved a coward, in his civil conduct, 
 useless ; who hath never once attempted to 
 oppose or control the traitorous enemies of 
 the state; who hath wavered, and changed, 
 and deserted the service of the people; shall 
 this man find mercy ? No. If you are wise, 
 if you have a generous regard for yourselves 
 and for your country, embrace this happy 
 opportunity ; deliver to the hand of justice 
 those public speakers whose corruption hath 
 disgraced the state, and guard against that 
 danger, which the gods, by their sacred 
 oracles, have frequently denounced; the 
 danger to be apprehended from leaders and 
 counsellors. Hear the words of this Oracle. 
 Read! 
 
 The Oracle. 
 
 [1.] But how can we have one mind, how 
 can we all conspire to the general interest, 
 if our ministers and leaders are suffered to 
 desert that interest for a bribe ? If you and 
 all the people are to see your native soil, 
 your religion, your children, your wives, 
 exposed to the danger of utter ruin ; while 
 they form their iniquitous schemes in con- 
 cert ; affect to be severe, and to inveigh 
 against each other in public ; but in private 
 all conspire and concur in one design, that 
 of deceiving and abusing your credulity ?— 
 What is really the conduct of a minister 
 true to the community, and sincerely an 
 enemy to those who act and speak against 
 its interest ? Or, what is said to have been 
 the regular tenor of their conduct who lived 
 before your time, Demosthenes and Poly- 
 euctes, when the state was involved in no 
 distress ? Did they not bring criminals to 
 justice ? Did they not impeach ? Did they 
 not prosecute them for illegal practices ? 
 Where is the instance, in which you have 
 imitated this conduct, you who affect such 
 veneration for the people, who tell us, that 
 our security depends wholly on their deter- 
 minations ? Did you commence any prose- 
 cutions against Demades, when his adminis- 
 tration had been so repeatedly and enor- 
 mously illegal? Did you endeavour to 
 control any of those his actions, purposely 
 calculated to oppose our interest? No; 
 not one ! Did you impeach him, when his 
 conduct had, in many instances, violated 
 our decrees and laws ? Never ! No ; you 
 
 [1.] It appears plainly, that this oracle 
 concluded with recommending unanimity, 
 so as to form a connexion with this passage, 
 
 in which, probably, the very words of the 
 oracle ai e repeated. 
 
 M 2
 
 120 
 
 ORATION OF DTNARCHUS [orat. xvii. 
 
 suffered his statue to be erected in our city ; 
 you suffered him to obtain the honour of 
 public maintenance, as if equal in merit to 
 the descendants of Harmodius and Aristo- 
 giton. On what occasion hath the people 
 ever experienced your affections ? When 
 have they felt the good effects of your force 
 and energy, as public speakers ? Is it then 
 you boast this energy, when you deceive 
 them, when you can gain their attention to 
 your servile flattery ? ' No resource can 
 vou find abroad : your only refuge is in 
 their kindness.' — First, you should have 
 approved yourselves zealous in opposing 
 those whose counsels are repugnant to the 
 people's interest; then might you expect 
 some credit, when you declare, that your 
 only refuge is in the "kindness of the people. 
 But your declarations are false; you have 
 secured your resources abroad, by vying 
 with each other in abject flattery of those 
 who, confessedly, devote themselves to the 
 service of Alexander: who, confessedly, 
 have shared those bribes which the council 
 hath thus detected and condemned. You, 
 Demosthenes, in particular, have had your 
 interview with Nicanor, in the presence of 
 all Greece: you have been at Olympia; you 
 have consulted the god. ' Thus it is plain 
 that you are in no danger from abroad.' 
 Yet you represent your condition as truly 
 pitiable, traitor anil hireling as you are, 
 vainly imagining that your wicked artifices 
 shall deceive ; and that you shall escape the 
 punishment due to your offences. Thus 
 nave you proved more shameless and aban- 
 doned than Demades himself. He, indeed, 
 did not disguise his guilt; he confessed that 
 he had received, and would receive, gold. 
 But then he did not presume to shew his 
 face in public ; he did not dare to object to 
 the report of the council : though he never 
 moved that the sentence of the council 
 should be decisive in his case; never con- 
 demned himself to die, if adjudged guilty 
 of bribery by the council. But such was 
 your dependance on your fair speeches, such 
 was your contempt of the simplicity of your 
 countrymen, that you thought it easy to 
 persuade your judges, that in your case only 
 the Areopagus had reported falsely ; against 
 you alone, their sentence had been unjust. 
 But who can admit of such a thought ? 
 
 And now, my fellow-citizens, consider 
 how you are to act. The people have re- 
 turned to you an information of a crime 
 lately committed. Demosthenes stands first 
 before you, to suffer the punishment de- 
 nounced against all whom this information 
 condemns. We have explained his guilt, 
 with an unbiassed attention to the laws. 
 Will you then discover a total disregard of 
 all these offences ? Will you, when intrust- 
 ed with so important a decision, invalidate 
 the judgment of the people, of the Areo- 
 pagus, of all mankind ? Will you take 
 upon vourselves the guilt of these men ? 
 Or, will you give the world an example of 
 that detestation in which this state holds trai- 
 tors and hirelings, that oppose our interests 
 for a bribe ? This entirely depends on you. 
 You, the fifteen hundred chosen judges, 
 
 have the safety of our country in your 
 hands. This day, this sentence you are now 
 to pronounce, must establish this city in 
 full security, if it be consonant to justice ; 
 or must entirely defeat all our hopes, if it 
 gives support to such iniquitous practices. 
 Let not the false tears of Demosthenes make 
 an impression on your minds ; nor sacrifice 
 our rights and laws to his supplications. 
 Necessity never forced him to receive his 
 share of this gold : he was more than suffi- 
 ciently enriched by your treasure. Neces- 
 sity hath not forced him, now, to enter on 
 his defence ; his crimes are acknowledged ; 
 his sentence pronounced by himself. The 
 sordid baseness, the guilt of all his past life, 
 have, at length, brought down vengeance 
 upon his head. Let not then his tears anil 
 lamentations move you. It is your country 
 that much more deservedly claims your 
 pity ; your country, which his practices 
 have exposed to danger; your country, 
 which now supplicates its sons, presents your 
 wives and children before you, beseeching 
 you to save them, by punishing this traitor : 
 that country, in which your ancestors, wjth 
 a generous zeal, encountered numberless 
 dangers, that they might transmit it free 
 to their posterity ; in which we find many 
 and noble examples of ancient virtue. Here 
 fix your attention. Look to your religion, 
 the sacred rites of antiquity, the sepulchres 
 of your fathers; and give sentence with an 
 unshaken integrity. When Demosthenes 
 attempts to deceive and abuse you, with 
 his tears and wailings, then turn your eyes 
 to the city, reflect upon its former glory, 
 and consider whether Demosthenes hath, 
 been reduced to greater wretchedness, by 
 the city ; or the city, by Demosthenes. 
 You will find that he, from the time that 
 he was intrusted with our affairs, rose, 
 from the condition of a writer of speeches, 
 and hired pleader for Ctesippus and Phor- 
 mio, to a state of affluence superior to all 
 his countrymen : from obscurity, from a 
 birth ennobled by no ancestry, he arose to 
 eminence : but, that the city hath been re- 
 duced to a condition utterly unworthy of 
 its ancient illustrious honours. 
 
 Despising then the entreaties, the false 
 artifices of this man, let justice and inte- 
 grity be your only objects. Consider the 
 good of your country, not that of Demos- 
 thenes. This is the part of honest upright 
 judges. And should any man arise to plead 
 in favour of Demosthenes, consider, that 
 such a man, if not involved in the same 
 guilt, is at least disaffected to the state ; as 
 he would screen those from justice who 
 have been bribed to betray its interests ; as 
 he would subvert the authority of the 
 Areopagus, on which our lives depend, and 
 confound and destroy all our laws and insti- 
 tutions. But should any orator or general 
 arise to defend him, in hopes to defeat an 
 indictment by which they themselves must 
 be attacked, suffer them not to speak : con- 
 sider that they have been accomplices in 
 entertaining and conveying Harpalus away. 
 Consider, that these men do really speak 
 against their country, and are the common
 
 orat. xvii.] AGAINST DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 121 
 
 enemies of our laws and constitution. 
 Silence such insiduous advocates. If the 
 facts alleged be false, let that be proved. 
 And, especially, let your indignation fall on 
 him who foolishly relies on his power of 
 speaking; who, when evidently convicted 
 of receiving bribes, adds to his guilt, by at- 
 tempting to practise his artifice upon you. 
 Inflict that punishment upon him, which 
 the honour of our country and your own 
 honour demands. Else, by one vote, by 
 one sentence, will you bring down all their 
 guilt upon yourselves and on the people, 
 who have, or may be convicted of corrup- 
 tion ; and you yourselves will condemn that 
 
 [1.] The former part of the Philippic ora- 
 tions was closed with a brief account of 
 the overthrow of Grecian liberty by the arms 
 of Macedon. The addition of the oration 
 of Dinarchus to the present collection, 
 affords an occasion of deducing the history 
 of our orator himself, from his public admi- 
 nistration, down to the fatal period of his 
 life. A short time before he had been load- 
 ed with the imputation of having suffer- 
 ed himself to be corrupted by Harpalus, he 
 had a fair occasion of explaining the general 
 tenor of his public conduct : and, on this 
 occasion (I mean his contest with yEschines 
 about the crown,) the people gave a full and 
 ample testimony to the wisdom and inte- 
 grity of his counsels, to his patriotic zeal, 
 and indefatigable ardour, in the service of 
 his country. 
 
 Yet his character, great and splendid as it 
 certainly was, had yet one fault, which ob- 
 scured and disgraced its lustre, that of too 
 passionate a regard for money. And the 
 indelicate means to which he descended, of 
 acquiring riches, diveited the attention of 
 severe observers from the noble purposes to 
 which he applied them. Faction must have 
 contributed to increase the clamour which 
 the suspicion of his avarice excited. And 
 both might have conspired to give credit to 
 the late accusation of his enemies. The 
 testimony of Pausanias (as mentioned 'in 
 the introduction to the oration of Dinar- 
 chus) affords a very strong presumption of 
 his innocence in this case. His own steady 
 appeal to the justice of his country, his 
 forwardness in promoting an inquiry into 
 the private practices of Harpalus, and the 
 zeal which he expressed for detecting those 
 who had been really guilty of receiving his 
 money, seem to be no indications of his own 
 guilt ; unless it be supposed, that he had 
 arrived to a pitch of consummate hypocrisy, 
 and even of folly. The sentence of the 
 Areopagus, indeed, condemned him ; but 
 this sentence would have had more weight, 
 had we any authentic evidence that, amidst 
 all the corruption and degeneracy of Athens, 
 this council still maintained its purity and 
 integrity. A private man (as Dinarchus 
 himself declares) found means to corrupt 
 one Areopagite. The Macedonian faction 
 might with equal ease have corrupted the 
 whole council; and, although the authority 
 of this council aflbrded a plausible and popu- 
 lar argument to our orator's accusers, yet 
 
 ill-judged lenity which now suffers them to 
 escape, when it is no longer in your power 
 to prevent the fatal consequences. 
 
 Thus have I endeavoured to discharge 
 my part of this prosecution. I have assist- 
 ed without regard to any consideration, but 
 that of justice, and the interest of the state. 
 I have not deserted the cause of my coun- 
 try, nor sacrificed the trust reposed in me 
 by the people, to private favour. I but re- 
 quest that your sentence may be directed by 
 the same principles. And now let those 
 speak, who are to succeed me in this prose- 
 cution. [1.] 
 
 the people did not always pay an implicit 
 deference to their authority. The other 
 persons who were, on this occasion, pronoun- 
 ced guilty by the Areopagus, were, when 
 brought to trial, acquitted by their judges, 
 though Demosthenes was condemned in the 
 first heat and violence of the public resent- 
 ment. 
 
 In consequence of his condemnation he 
 was committed to prison, until he should 
 pay the fine of fifty talents imposed upon 
 him. The disgrace of his sentence operated 
 so powerfully on his bodily frame, that he 
 grew impatient and unable to endure the 
 rigour of confinement, and, by the conni- 
 vance of his keepers, found means to escape, 
 and to fly from the city. He chose Traezene 
 for his residence; where he lived, for some 
 time, in a gloomy and dejected state of exile ; 
 frequently turning his face towards Attica 
 (saith Plutarch,) and bursting into tears, 
 and constantly warning the youth who visit- 
 ed him, not to meddle in political affairs. 
 
 Whilst Demosthenes continued in this 
 melancholy state, the Greeks, impatient of 
 subjection, and still possessed with hopes of 
 recovering their ancient glory, took the ad- 
 vantage of Alexander's absence, and began 
 to concert measures for reducing the Mace- 
 donian power and recovering their own in- 
 dependence. The satraps of Asia encou- 
 raged them in these dispositions ; and Leos- 
 thenes, an Athenian of eminence, was soon 
 made commander of a large body of forces 
 that had been dismissed from the service of 
 the Macedonians ; and was supplied by his 
 country with all necessaries for the vigorous 
 prosecution of war. In the midst of these 
 preparations, advice was received of Alex- 
 ander's death, which increased the hopes and 
 animated the efforts of the Greeks. The 
 Athenians in particular, dispatched their 
 ambassadors to the several states, to urge 
 them to embrace this happy opportunity, 
 and to take up arms for the recovery of their 
 liberty. The states paid the utmost attention 
 to these remonstrances, collected their forces, 
 marched under the command of Leosthenes, 
 gained some advantages over the Macedo- 
 nians, pressed forward into Thessaly, defeat- 
 ed Antipater, the governor of Macedon, and 
 blocked him up in Lamia, where their gene- 
 ral Leosthenes was unfortunately slain, as he 
 was visiting the works, and directing the 
 siege with the fairest prospect of success. 
 
 During these commotions in Greece, De-
 
 j 22 
 
 ORATION OF JESCHINES [ohat. xviii. 
 
 THE ORATIONS 
 
 OF iEsCHINES AN'D DEMOSTHENES ON THE CROWN. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Through the whole progress of that im- 
 portant contest which Athens maintained 
 against the Macedonians, Demosthenes and 
 
 mosthenes, though an exile, could not re- 
 main an unconcerned spectator. A zeal for 
 opposing the progress of the Macedonian 
 power had ever been his strongest passion. 
 He still retained the same violent impres- 
 sions ; and, transported to find his country- 
 men now full of that spirit which his life 
 had been spent in raising, he attended the 
 Athenian deputies from city to city, assist- 
 ing and supporting their remonstrances. He 
 was strenuously opposed by Pytheas, an 
 Athenian, who had revolted to Antipater. 
 These two partisans happened to meet in 
 Arcadia, where the heat of their opposition 
 was inflamed to a considerable degree of 
 passion and animosity. '.Whenever,' said 
 Pytheas, ' we see asses' milk brought into a 
 family, we conclude that it is distempered ; 
 just so, when Athenian ambassadors are in- 
 troduced into any city, we may presume 
 that it labours under disoiders.' ' True,' re- 
 plied Demosthenes, ' and as asses' milk is 
 ever brought into a family to restore its 
 health ; so the Athenians never send ambas- 
 sadors to any city, but to put an end to the 
 disorders which oppress it' 
 
 The livelineses of this answer had more 
 effect than all the pathetic remonstrances 
 and entreaties of Demosthenes. It delight- 
 ed the imaginations, and flattered the vanity 
 of his countrymen. We may well suppose, 
 that their condemnation had been violent and 
 precipitate, when so slight an incident was 
 sufficient to reconcile him to their favour. 
 He was instantly recalled ; a ship was des- 
 patched to convey him home ; and no sooner 
 did he land at the Piraeus, than he found 
 himself surrounded by the whole body of 
 his fellow-citizens, and congratulated by 
 their united acclamations. 
 
 The fine formerly imposed upon him, 
 could not indeed be remitted ; but an ex- 
 pedient was found to elude the law. It had 
 been usual to assign a sum of money to the 
 person who was intrusted to provide for 
 the celebration of a festival in honour of 
 Jupiter the Saver. To this office Demos- 
 thenes was appointed, and, for the perform- 
 ance of it, the people assigned him fifty 
 talents, the sum in which he had been con- 
 demned. 
 
 But Demosthenes did not long enjoy his 
 present triumph. A considerable reinforce- 
 ment, which Antipater received from Asia, 
 enabled him to prosecute the war with.new 
 vigour against the confederated Greeks, 
 whom he defeated at Cranon, in Thessaly. 
 Each state was now forced, by a prompt 
 submission, to recommend itself to the mer- 
 cy of the conqueror. The severest terms 
 
 jEschines had ever been distinguished by 
 their weight and influence in the assemblies 
 of their state. They had adopted different 
 systems of ministerial conduct, and stood 
 at the head of two opposite parties, each so 
 
 were imposed on the Athenians. Their 
 form of government was changed to an oli- 
 garchy ; they were obliged to receive a Ma- 
 cedonian garrison ; and Antipater demanded 
 that ten of their public speakers (in which 
 number Demosthenes was included,) should 
 be given up to his vengeance. Alexander 
 had made the like demand, and the Athe- 
 nians bravely refused to comply. But now 
 Demosthenes found them by no means in- 
 clined to protect him. He, therefore, fled 
 from the city ; and his fickle countrymen, 
 with a shameful servile adulation to the 
 conqueror, condemned him to death. He 
 gained Calauria, an obscure island ; and 
 there took sanctuary in the temple of Nep- 
 tune. But he was quickly pursued to the 
 place of his retirement, by Archias, one of 
 the principal instruments of Antipater's 
 revenge, attended by a party of soldiers. 
 This Archias, who had formerly been a tra- 
 gedian, appeared before Demosthenes, affect- 
 ed to commiserate his condition, and gave 
 him hopes of pardon and security. To 
 this he replied, with a cold contempt : 
 ' You never could affect me on the stage, 
 nor can your promises make the least im- 
 pression.' When Archias began to speak in 
 more peremptory and menacing terms ; 
 ' Now,' said Demosthenes, ' you pronounce 
 the very dictates of the Macedonian oracle ; 
 before, you but acted a part. I desire but 
 a moment's respite, that 1 may send some 
 directions to my family.' He then retired 
 and.seemed employed in writing for a while : 
 Archias and his soldiers drew near, and 
 found him with his head bowed down and 
 covered. They imputed his behaviour to 
 timidity and unmanly terror, and pressed 
 him to rise. The great Athenian had now 
 completely executed his fatal purpose ; and 
 perceiving that the poison he had taken, by 
 this time had seized his vitals, he uncovered 
 his head, and fixing his eyes on Archias, 
 ' Now,' said he, ' you need not scruple to 
 act the part of Creon in the tragedy, and 
 cast out this corpse unburied. (Alluding 
 to a speech in the Antigone, of Sophocles, 
 in which Creon orders that the body of Po- 
 lynices should be exposed to dogs and birds 
 of prey.) ' O gracious Neptune !' continued 
 Demosthenes ; * I will not defile thy tem- 
 ple ; while I yet live, I retire from this holy 
 place, which Antipater and the Macedonians 
 have not left unpolluted.' He then rose, 
 and desired to be supported ; but, as he 
 passed by the altar, in a feeble and trem- 
 bling pace, he sunk down and expired with 
 a groan. 
 Thus died Demosthenes, at the age of
 
 ORAT. XVIII.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 123 
 
 powerful as to prevail by turns, and to de- 
 feat the schemes of their antagonist. The 
 leaders had, on several occasions, avowed 
 their mutual opposition and animosity. 
 Demosthenes, in particular, had brought an 
 impeachment against his rival, and obliged 
 him to enter into a formal defence of his 
 conduct, during an embassy at the court of 
 Macedon. His resentment was confirmed 
 by this desperate attack ; and his success, 
 in bearing up against it, encouraged him to 
 watch some favourable opportunity for re- 
 torting on his accuser. 
 
 The defeat at Cha-ronea afforded this op- 
 portunity. The people in general were, 
 indeed, too equitable to withdraw their con- 
 fidence from Demosthenes, although his 
 measures had been unsuccessful. But fac- 
 tion, which judges, or affects to judge, 
 merely by events, was violent and clamo- 
 rous. The minister was reviled, his conduct 
 severely scrutinized, his errors aggravated, 
 his policy condemned, and he himself threat- 
 ened with inquiries, trials, and impeach- 
 ments. The zeal of his partisans, on the 
 other hand, was roused by this opposition ; 
 and they deemed it expedient to procure 
 some public solemn declaration in favour 
 of Demosthenes, as the most effectual means 
 to silence his accusers. 
 
 It was usual with the Athenians, and, in- 
 deed, with all the Greeks, when they would 
 express their sense of extraordinary merit, 
 to crown the person so distinguished with a 
 chaplet of olive interwoven with gold. The 
 ceremony was performed in some populous 
 assembly, convened either for business or 
 entertainment ; and proclamation was made 
 in due form, of the honour thus conferred, 
 and the services for which it was bestowed. 
 
 To procure such an honour for Demos- 
 thenes, at this particular juncture, was 
 thought the most effectual means to con- 
 found the clamour of his enemies. He had 
 lately been intrusted with the repair of the 
 fortifications of Athens, in which he expend- 
 ed a considerable sum of his own, over and 
 above the public appointment, and thus en- 
 larged the work beyond the letter of his in- 
 structions. It was therefore agreed, that 
 Ctesiphon, one of his zealous friends, should 
 take this occasion of moving the senate to 
 prepare a decree (to be ratified by the popu- 
 lar assembly) reciting this particular service 
 of Demosthenes, representing him as a citi- 
 zen of distinguished merit, and ordaining 
 that a ' golden crown' (as it was called I 
 should be conferred upon him. To give 
 this transaction the greater solemnity, it 
 was moved that the ceremony should be 
 
 sixty years. His countrymen, ever waver- 
 ing and inconsistent in their conduct, re- 
 gretted the death of that man whom they 
 had basely given up to destruction ; and, 
 by the honours which they paid to his me- 
 mory, seemed desirous to efface the stain of 
 their ingratitude. 
 
 Among other honours paid to their illus- 
 trious citizen, his statue was erected in the 
 city, with an inscription on its base, to the 
 following purport : 
 
 performed in the theatre of Bacchus, during 
 the festival hekl in honour of that god, 
 when not only the Athenians, but other 
 Greeks, from all parts of the nation, were 
 assembled to see the tragedies exhibited in 
 that festival. 
 
 The senate agTeed to the resolution. But, 
 before it could be referred to the popular 
 assembly for their confirmation, .-Eschines, 
 who had examined the whole transaction, 
 wiili all the severity that hatred and jea- 
 lousy could inspire, pronounced it hregular 
 aiid illegal, both in form and matter : and 
 without delay assumed the common pri\ i- 
 legeofan Athenian citizen, to commence a 
 suit against Ctesiphon, as the first mover 
 of a decree repugnant to the laws, a crime 
 of a very heinous nature in the Athenian 
 polity. 
 
 The articles on which he founds his accu- 
 sation are reduced to these three. 
 
 I. Whereas every citizen, who has borne 
 any magistracy, is obliged, by law, to lay a 
 full account of his administration before 
 the proper officers ; and that it is expressly 
 enacted, that no man shall be capable of 
 receiving any public honours, till this his 
 account hath been duly examined and ap- 
 proved ; Ctesiphon hath yet moved that 
 Demosthenes should receive a crown, pre- 
 viously to the examination of his conduct 
 in the office conferred upon him, and before 
 the passing of his accounts. 
 
 II. Whereas it is ordained that all crowns 
 conferred by the community of citizens shall 
 be presented and proclaimed in their assem- 
 bly, and in no other place whatsoever ; 
 Ctesiphon hath yet proposed that the crown 
 should be presented and proclaimed in the 
 theatre. 
 
 III. Whereas the laws pronounce it high- 
 ly penal for any man to insert a falsehood 
 in any motion or decree; Ctesiphon hath 
 yet expressly declared, as the foundation of 
 this his decree, that the conduct of Demos- 
 thenes hath been ever excellent, honourable, 
 and highly serviceable to the state ; a point 
 directly opposite to the truth. 
 
 The two former of these articles he endea- 
 vours to establish by an appeal to the laws 
 and ordinances of Athens. Here he was 
 obliged to be critical and copious, which 
 may render the first parts of his pleading 
 not so agreeable to an English reader, as 
 that in which he enters into the public tran- 
 sactions of his country, and the ministerial 
 conduct of his adversary. 
 
 The prosecution was commenced in the 
 
 If with a sage and martial soul inspir'd, 
 Thine arm had conquer'd, as thy counsels 
 
 fir'd, 
 Greece then had brav'd the Macedonian 
 
 sword, 
 Nor bow'd, submissive, to her conqu'ring 
 
 lord. 
 An inscription, which, possibly, may, with- 
 out presumption, be pronounced defective 
 in point of delicacy, as it professes to do ho- 
 nour to Demosthenes, but, at the same time, 
 keeps in full view the great and notoriously 
 exceptionable part of his character.
 
 124 
 
 ORATION OF JESCHINES [jrat. xviii. 
 
 year of the fatal battle of Clu-eronea. But 
 the final decision of the cause had been sus- 
 pended about eight years ; and this interval 
 was full of great events, to which each of 
 the speakers frequently alluded. 
 
 It was the first care of Alexander, on his 
 accession to the throne, to undeceive those 
 among the Greeks, who, like Demosthenes, 
 had affected to despise his youth. He in- 
 stantly marched into Peloponnesus, and de- 
 manded the people of that country to accept 
 him as commander of their forces against 
 Persia. The .Spartans alone sullenly refused. 
 The Athenians, on their part, were intimi- 
 dated, and yielded to his demand with greater 
 expressions of reverence and submission 
 than they had ever paid to his father. — He 
 returned to Macedon to hasten his prepara- 
 tions, where he found it necessary to march 
 against his barbarous neighbours, who were 
 meditating a descent upon his kingdom. 
 His conflicts with these people occasioned a 
 report to be spread through Greece, that the 
 young king had fallen in battle. The Ma- 
 cedonian faction were alarmed : their oppo- 
 sers industriously propagated the report, 
 and excited the Greeks to seize this oppor- 
 tunity to rise up against a power which had 
 reduced them to a state of ignominious sub- 
 jection. The Thebans, unhappily, yielded 
 to such instances, took arms, and slaugh- 
 tered the Macedonian garrison that had been 
 stationed in their citadel. 
 
 But this insolence and cruelty did not long 
 remain unpunished. Alexander suddenly 
 appeared before their gates, at the head of 
 his army, and in a few days became master 
 of their city, where he executed his ven- 
 geance with fire and sword. The miserable 
 state of desolation and captivity to which 
 the Thebans were thus reduced, is attributed, 
 in the following oration, to the pernicious 
 counsels and machinations of Demosthenes, 
 and displayed in the most lively and pathe- 
 tic terms. 
 
 Nor did this extraordinary instance of ri- 
 gour fail of its intended effect. The Greeks 
 were astonished and confounded. The 
 Athenians thought it expedient to send a 
 deputation of their citizens, to congratulate 
 the king of Macedon on his late successes. 
 Demosthenes was one of the persons chosen 
 to execute this commission ; but, conscious 
 of the resentment which his well known 
 zeal against the Macedonian interest must 
 have merited from Alexander, he deserte/1 
 the other deputies while they were on their 
 iourney, and returned precipitately to 
 Athens. Nor, indeed, were his apprehen- 
 sions groundless : for, although the address 
 was graciously received, yet the king took 
 this occasion of complaining, in a manner 
 which marked his superiority, of those fac- 
 tious leaders among the Athenians, to whom 
 he affected to impute all the calamities of 
 Greece, from the battle of Cha?ronea to the 
 destruction of Thebes. He demanded that 
 several of the public speakers, and Demos- 
 thenes among the rest, should be delivered 
 up to the power of the Amphictyonic coun- 
 cil, there to abide their trial, and to meet 
 the punishment due to their offences. This 
 
 was in effect to demand that they should be 
 delivered into his own hands. The Athe- 
 nians were in the utmost consternation; 
 but found means to deprecate his resent- 
 ment, and prevail upon him to be satisfied 
 with the banishment of Charidemus, one of 
 his most distinguished opposers : who ac- 
 cordingly repaired to the court of Darius, 
 where his sage counsel, that the Persian 
 should avoid an engagement with Alexan- 
 der, provoked the haughty and capricious 
 tyrant to put him to death. 
 
 During Alexander's famous expedition 
 into Asia, and the progress of his stupen- 
 dous victories, Greece enjoyed a sort of 
 calm, and the Athenians found leisure to 
 decide the contest between their rival states- 
 men. The parties now appeared before a 
 number of judges, probably not less than 
 five hundred, and these chosen from the ci- 
 tizens at large; men of lively and warm 
 imaginations, and of all others most suscep- 
 tible of the impressions made by the force 
 and artifice of popular eloquence. The par- 
 tisans of each side crowded round, to assist 
 and support their friend ; and the tribunal 
 was surrounded, not only by the citizens ot 
 Athens, but by vast numbers from all parts 
 of Greece, curious to hear two so celebrated 
 speakers, upon a subject so engaging as the 
 late national transactions, and to be wit- 
 nessess of the decision of a cause, which had 
 been, for some years, the object of general 
 attention and expectation. 
 
 THE ORATION 
 
 Of jEschines against Ctesiphon. 
 
 You see, Athenians ! what forces are pre- 
 pared, what numbers formed and arrayed, 
 what soliciting through the assembly, by a 
 certain party ; and all this, to oppose the 
 fair and ordinary course of justice in the 
 state. As to me, I stand here in firm reli- 
 ance, first on the immortal gods, next on 
 the laws, and you ; convinced that faction 
 never can have greater weight with you 
 than law and justice. 
 
 It were to be wished, indeed, that the 
 presidents of our senate, and of our popular 
 assembly, would attend with due care to 
 the order of their debates ; that the laws or- 
 dained by Solon, to secure the decency of 
 public speaking, might still preserve their 
 force ; that so, our elder citizens might first 
 arise in due and decent form (as these laws 
 direct,) without tumult or confusion ; and 
 each declare in order the salutary counsels 
 of his sage experience ; that, after these, 
 our other citizens who choose to speak, 
 might severally, and in order, according to 
 their ages, propose their sentiments on every 
 subject. Thus, in my opinion, would the 
 course of government be more exactly regu- 
 lated; anil thus would our assemblies be 
 less frequently engaged in trials. But now, 
 when these institutions, so confessedly ex- 
 cellent, have lost their force; when men 
 propose illegal resolutions, without reserve 
 or scruple : when others are found to put
 
 OUAT. XVIII.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPIION. 
 
 12: 
 
 them to the vote, not regularly chosen to 
 preside in our assemblies, but men who 
 
 nave raised themselves to this dignity by 
 intrigue ; when, if any of theother senators 
 on whom the lot of presidency bath fairly 
 fallen, should discharge his office faithfully, 
 and report your voices truly, there are men 
 who threaten to impeach him, men who in- 
 vade our rights, and regard the administra- 
 tion as their private property; who have 
 secured their vassals and raised themselves 
 to sovereignty ; who have suppressed such 
 judicial procedures as are founded on esta- 
 blished laws, anil, in the decision of those 
 appointed by temporary decrees, consult 
 their passions ; now, 1 say, that most sage 
 nnd virtuous proclamation is no longer 
 heard : ' Who is disposed to speak, of those 
 above fifty years old ?' and then, ' Who of 
 the other citizens in their turns ?' Nor is 
 the indecent licence of our speakers any 
 longer restrained by our laws, by our magis- 
 trates; [1.] no, nor by the presiding tribe, 
 which contains a full tenth part of the com- 
 munity. 
 
 If such be our situation, such the present 
 circumstances of the state, — and of this you 
 seem convinced ; one part alone of our po- 
 lity remains (as far as I may presume to 
 judge;) prosecutions [2.] of those who vio- 
 ate the laws. Should you suppress these ; 
 should you permit them to be suppressed ; 
 1 freely pronounce your fate ; that your 
 government must be gradually and imper- 
 ceptibly given up to the power of a few. 
 You are not to be informed, Athenians ! 
 that there are three different modes of go- 
 vernment established in the world ; the 
 monarchical, the government of the few, 
 and the free republic. In the two former, 
 the administration is directed by the plea- 
 sure of the ruling powers ; in free states, it 
 is regulated by established laws. It is then 
 a truth, of which none should be ignorant, 
 which every man should impress deeply on 
 his mind; that when he enters the tribunal, 
 to decide a case of violation of the laws, he 
 that day gives sentence on his own liberties. 
 Wisely therefore hath our legislator pre- 
 scribed this, as the first clause in the oath of 
 every judge : ' I will give my voice agree- 
 ably to the laws;' well knowing, that when 
 the laws are preserved sacred in every state, 
 the freedom of their constitution is most ef- 
 fectually secured. Let these things be ever 
 kept in memory, that your indignation may 
 
 [1.] By our magistrates.] In the original, 
 * by the Prytanes, nor by the Proedri. Of 
 which officers some account hath been al- 
 ready given, in the introduction to the first 
 Philippic Oration translated. 
 
 [2.] Prosecutions, &o] These any citi- 
 zen might commence against the author of 
 any decree or public resolution, which he 
 deemed of pernicious tendency, or repug- 
 nant to the established laws. The mover 
 of any new law was also liable to the like 
 prosecution. And this was necessary in a 
 constitution like that of Athens, where all 
 decisions were made in large and tumultous 
 assemblies. Here, a few leaders might easily 
 
 be kindled against all those whose decrees 
 have been illegal. Let not any of their of- 
 fences be deemed of little moment, but all 
 of the greatest importance; nor suffer your 
 rights to be wrested from you, by any 
 power; neither by the combinations of 
 your generals, who, by conspiring with our 
 public speakers, have frequently involved 
 the state in danger ; nor by the solicitations 
 of foreigners, who have been brought up to 
 screen some men from justice, whose admi- 
 nistration hath been notoriously illegal. 
 But as each man [3.] among you would be 
 ashamed to desert from his post in battle; 
 so think it shameful to abandon the post 
 this day assigned to you by the laws, that 
 of guardians of the constitution. 
 
 Let it also be remembered, that the whole 
 body of our citizens have now committed 
 their state, their liberties, into your hands. 
 Some of them are present, awaiting the 
 event of this trial ; others are called away 
 to attend on their private affairs. Shew 
 the due reverence to these ; remember your 
 oaths and your laws ; and if we convict 
 Ctesiphon of having proposed decress illegal, 
 false and detrimental to the state, reverse 
 these illegal decrees, assert the freedom of 
 your constitution, and punish those who 
 have administered your affairs in opposi- 
 tion to your laws, in contempt of your con- 
 stitution, and in total disregard of your in- 
 terest. If, with these sentiments impressed 
 upon your minds, you attend to what is 
 now to be proposed, you must, I am con- 
 vinced, proceed to a decision just and reli- 
 gious, a decision of the utmost advantage 
 to yourselves, and to the state. 
 
 As to the general nature of this prosecu- 
 tion, thus far have I premised, and, I trust, 
 without offence. Let me now request your 
 attention to a few words about the laws re- 
 lative to persons ' accountable' to the public, 
 which have been violated by the decree pro- 
 posed by Ctesiphon. 
 
 In former times there were found magis- 
 trates of the most distinguished rank, and 
 intrusted with the management of our re- 
 venues, who, in their several stations, were 
 guilty of the basest corruption, but who, 
 by forming an interest with the speakers in 
 tfie senate, and in the popular assembly, 
 anticipated their accounts by pubbc ho- 
 nours, and declarations of applause. Thus, 
 when their conduct came to a formal exa- 
 mination, their accusers were involved in 
 
 gain an absolute authority, and prevail upon 
 the giddy multitude to consent to any pro- 
 position whatever (if enforced by plausible 
 arguments,) unless they were restrained by 
 the fear of being called to account for the 
 motions they had made, and the resolutions 
 passed at their instances. 
 
 [3.] As each man, &c] To perceive the 
 whole force and artifice of this similitude, 
 the reader is to recollect, that, at the battle 
 of Cha'ronea, Demosthenes betrayed the ut- 
 most weakness and cowardice; a matter of 
 great triumph to his enemies, and a constant 
 subject of their ridicule.
 
 12U 
 
 OllATION OF ^SCHINES [okat. xviu. 
 
 great perplexity, their judges in still greater. 
 For many of the persons thus subject to ex- 
 amination, though convicted on the clear- 
 est evidence, of having defrauded the pub- 
 lic, were yet suffered to escape from justice ; 
 and no wonder. The judges were ashamed 
 that the same man, in the same city, possi- 
 bly in the same year, should be publicly ho- 
 noured in our festivals ; that proclamations 
 should be made, ' that the people had con- 
 ferred a golden crown upon him, on account 
 of his integrity and virtue;' that the same 
 man, I say, in a short time after, when his 
 conduct had been brought to an examina- 
 tion, should depart from the tribunal, con- 
 demned of fraud. In their sentence, there- 
 fore, the judges were necessarily obliged to 
 attend, not to the nature of those offences, 
 but to the reputation of the state. 
 
 Some of our magistrates [1.] observing 
 this, framed a law (and its excellence is un- 
 deniable,) expressly forbidding any man to 
 be honoured with a crown, whose conduct 
 had not yet been submitted to the legal ex- 
 amination. But, notwithstanding all the 
 precaution of the framers of this law, pre- 
 tences were still found of force sufficient to 
 defeat its intention. Of these you are to be 
 informed, lest you should be unwarily be- 
 trayed into error. Some of those who in 
 defiance of the laws have moved, that men 
 who yet stood accountable for their conduct 
 should be crowned, are still influenced by 
 some degree of decency (if this can with 
 propriety be said of men who propose reso- 
 lutions directly subversive of the laws :) they 
 still seek to cast a kind of veil upon their 
 shame. Hence are they sometimes careful 
 to express their resolutions in this manner, 
 ' that the man whose conduct is not yet 
 submitted to examination, shall be honour- 
 ed with a ciown, when his accounts have 
 first been examined and approved.' But 
 this is no less injurious to the state; for by 
 these crowns and public honours is his con- 
 duct prejudged, and his examination antici- 
 pated : while the author of such resolutions 
 demonstrates to his hearers, that his propo- 
 sal is a violation of the laws, and that he is 
 ashamed of his offence. But Ctesiphon (my 
 countrymen) hath at once broken through 
 the laws relative to the examination of our 
 
 [l.J In the original, V >M< 'GETHS rtt, i. e. 
 One of those who were appointed to revise 
 the laws, and to propose the amendment 
 or abrogation of such as were found incon- 
 venient, as well as such new laws as the 
 public interest seemed to demand. See 
 note 6. on the Second Olynthiac, p. 17. 
 
 [2.J The proper officers.] In the original, 
 rhesmotheta?, i. e. the six inferior archons, 
 who w-ere called by this .general name, 
 while each of the three first had his peculiar 
 title. 
 
 [3.] There was scarcely any Athenian at 
 all employed in public business, but had 
 some sort of jurisdiction annexed to his 
 office. Inferior suits and controversies were 
 t thus multiplied, and found perpetual em- 
 ployment for this lively meddling people ; 
 who were trained from their youth, and 
 
 magistrates ; he hath scorned to recur to 
 that subterfuge now explained : he hath 
 moved you to confer a crown upon Demos- 
 thenes, previously to any account, to any 
 examination of his conduct; at the Aery 
 time while he was yet employed in the dis- 
 charge of his magistracy. 
 
 But there is another evasion, of a different 
 kind, to which they are to recur. These 
 offices, say they, to which a citizen is elected 
 by an occasional decree, are by no means to 
 be accounted ' magistracies,' but ' commis- 
 sions' or ' agencies.' Those alone are ma- 
 gistrates, whom the proper officers [2.] ap- 
 point by lot in the temple of Theseus, or 
 the people elect by suffrage in their ordinary 
 assemblies ; such as generals of the aimy, 
 commanders of the cavalry, and such like; 
 all others are but commissioners, who are 
 but to execute a particular decree. To this 
 their plea I shall oppose your own law, a 
 law enacted from a firm conviction, that 
 it must at once put an end to all such eva- 
 sions. In this it is expressly declared, that 
 all offices whatever, appointed by the voices 
 of the people, shall be accounted magistra- 
 cies. In one general term the author of this 
 law hath included all. All hath he declared 
 ' magistrates,' whom the ' votes of the as- 
 sembly have appointed :' and particularly 
 ' the inspectors of public works.' — Now De- 
 mosthenes inspected the repair of our walls, 
 
 the most important of public works ' Those 
 
 who have been intrusted with any public 
 money for more than thirty days.' ' Those 
 who are entitled to preside in a tribunal.' 
 [5. J— But the inspectors of works are entitled 
 to this privilege. What then doth the law 
 direct ? That all such should assume, not 
 their 'commission,' but their 'magistracy,' 
 having first been judicially approved (for 
 even the magistrates appointed by lot are 
 not exempted from this previous inquiry, 
 but must be first approved, before they as- 
 sume their office.) These are also directed 
 by the law to submit the accounts of their 
 administration to the legal officers, as wpll 
 as every other magistrate. And for the 
 truth of what I now advance, to the laws 
 themselves do I appeal — Read. — 
 The Laws- 
 Here then you find that what these men 
 
 constantly exercised in the arts of managing 
 and conducting suits at law. This was their 
 favourite employment, and became the cha- 
 racteristic mark of an Athenian. ' I saw,' 
 saithLucian,(inIcaro-Menip.)' the Egyptian 
 tilling his ground, the Phoenician at his traf- 
 fic, the Cilician robbing, the Spartan under 
 the lash, and the Athenian at his lawsuit.' 
 — And this suggests the real value of that 
 compliment which Virgil is supposed to pay 
 this people, in that well-known passage, 
 ' Orabunt causas melius, &c.' Critics have 
 discovered in it ' dishonesty, affected con- 
 tempt' of eloquence, ' invidious detraction' 
 from the merit of Cicero, &c. And yet it 
 seems to amount to no more than an ac- 
 knowledgment of their superior skill in legal 
 forms and pleadings, and the arts of litiga- 
 tion.
 
 ORAT. XVIII.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 127 
 
 call commissions or agencies, are declared to 
 be magistracies. It is your part to bear this 
 in memory, to oppose the law to t luir pre- 
 sumption; to convince them that you are 
 not to he influenced by the wretched sophis- 
 tical artifice, that would defeat the force of 
 laws by words ; and that the greater their 
 address in defending their illegal proceedings, 
 the more severely must they feel your re- 
 sentment. Fox the public speaker should 
 ever use the same language with the law. 
 Should he at any time speak in one lan- 
 guage and the law pronounce another; to 
 the just authority of law should you grant 
 your voices, not to the shameless presump- 
 tion of the speaker. 
 
 To that argument on which Demosthenes 
 relies, as utterly unanswerable, I would now 
 
 briefly speak This man will say, *I am 
 
 director of the fortifications. I confess it. 
 But I have expended of my own money, for 
 the public service, an additional sum of one 
 hundred mine, and enlarged the work be- 
 yond my instructions ; for what then am 1 
 to account ? Unless a man is to be made 
 accountable for his own beneficence.' — To 
 this evasion you shall hear a just and good 
 reply — In this city, of so ancient an esta- 
 blishment, and a circuit so extensive, there 
 is not a man exempted from account, who 
 has the smallest part in the affairs of state. 
 This I shall shew, first in instances scarcely 
 credible. Thus, the priests and priestesses 
 are by the laws obliged to account for the 
 discharge of their office : all in general, and 
 each in particular ; although they have re- 
 ceived no more than an honorary pension, 
 and have had no other duty but of offering 
 up their prayers for us to the gods. And 
 this is not the case of single persons only, 
 but of whole tribes, as the ' Eumolpidae.* [1.] 
 the • Ceryces,' and all the others. Again, 
 the trierarchs [2.] are by the law made ac- 
 countable for their conduct ; although no 
 public money hath been committed to their 
 charge ; although they have not embezzled 
 large portions of their revenue, and account- 
 ed but for a small part ; although they have 
 not affected to confer bounties on you, 
 while they really but restored your own 
 property : no ; they confessedly expended 
 their paternal fortunes to approve their 
 zealous affection for your service; and not 
 our trierarchs alone, but the greatest assem- 
 blies in the state, are bound to submit to 
 the sentence of our tribunals. First, the 
 law directs, that the council of Areopagus 
 shall stand accountable to the proper officers, 
 and submit their august transactions to a 
 legal examination : thus our greatest judicial 
 body stands in perpetual dependance upon 
 your decisions. Shall the members of this 
 council then be precluded from the honour 
 of a crown ? — Such has been the ordinance 
 from times the most remote. — And have 
 they had no regard to public honour ? — So 
 scrupulous is their regard, that it is not 
 deemed sufficient that their conduct should 
 
 [1.] Eumolpidae, &o] Families (so called 
 from their founders, Eumolpus and Ceryx,) 
 who had an hereditary right of priesthood. 
 
 not be notoriously criminal, their least ir- 
 regularity is severely punished; a discipline 
 too rigorous for our delicate orators. Again : 
 our lawgiver directs that the senate of Five 
 1 1 undred shall be bound to account for their 
 con,! net : and so great diffidence doth he ex- 
 press of those who have not yet rendered 
 such an account, that in the very beginning 
 of the law it is ordained, ' that no magistrate 
 who hath not yet passed through the ordi- 
 nary examination, shall be permitted to go 
 abroad.' — But here a man may exclaim, 
 ' What ! In the name of Heaven, am I, be- 
 cause I have been in office, to be confined to 
 the city ? — Yes, and with good reason ;' lest, 
 when you have secreted the public money, 
 and betrayed your trust, you might enjoy 
 your perfidy by flight. Again ; the laws 
 forbid the man who hath not yet accounted 
 to the state, to dedicate any part of his ef- 
 fects to religious purposes, to deposit any 
 offering in a temple, to accept of any adop- 
 tion into any family, to make any alienation 
 of his property ; and to many other instances 
 is the prohibition extended. In one word, 
 our lawgiver hath provided that the fortunes 
 of such persons shall be secured as a pledge 
 to the community, until their accounts are 
 fairly examined and approved. Nay, far- 
 ther; suppose there be a man who hath 
 neither received nor expended any part of 
 the public money, but hath only been con- 
 cerned in some affairs relative to the state ; 
 even such a one is bound to submit his ac- 
 counts to the proper officers. 'But how can 
 the man, who hath neither received nor ex- 
 pended, pass such accounts ?' The law hath 
 obviated this difficulty, and expressly pre- 
 scribed the form of his accounts. It directs 
 that it shall consist of this declaration : ' I 
 have not received, neither have I disposed 
 of any public money.' To confirm the truth 
 of tins, hear the laws themselves. 
 
 The Laws. 
 
 When Demosthenes therefore shall exult 
 in his evasion, and insist that he is not to be 
 accountable for the additional sum which he 
 bestowed freely on the state, press him with 
 this reply ; ' It was, then your duty, De- 
 mosthenes, to have permitted the usual and 
 legal proclamation to be made: Who is dis- 
 posed to prosecute ? and to have given an 
 opportunity to every citizen that pleased to 
 have urged on his part, that you bestowed 
 no such additional sum ; but that, on the 
 contrary, having been intrusted with ten 
 talents for the repair of our fortifications, 
 you really expended but a small part of this 
 great sum. Do not assume an honour to 
 which you have no pretensions ; do not 
 wrest their suffrages from your judges; do 
 not act in presumptuous contempt of the 
 laws, but with due submission yield to their 
 guidance. Such is the conduct that must 
 secure the freedom of our constitution.' 
 
 As to the evasions on which these men 
 
 [2.] The trierarchs.] See note on Philip I 
 p. y.
 
 128 
 
 ORATION OF jESCHIXES [orat. xviii. 
 
 relv, I trust that I have spoken sufficiently. 
 That Demosthenes really stood accountable 
 to the state, at the time when the men pro- 
 posed his decree ; that he was really a ma- 
 gistrate, as manager of the theatrical funds ; 
 a magistrate, as inspector of the fortifica- 
 tions ; that his conduct in either of these 
 offices had not been examined, had not ob- 
 tained the legal approbation, I shall now en- 
 deavour to demonstrate from the public 
 records. Read, in whose archonship, in 
 what month, on what day, in what assem- 
 bly, Demosthenes was chosen into the office 
 of manager of the theatrical funds. So shall 
 it appear that, during the execution of this 
 office, the decree was made, which conferred 
 this crown upon him Read. — 
 
 The Computation of the Times. 
 
 If then I should here rest my cause, with- 
 out proceeding farther, Ctesiphon must 
 stand convicted ; convicted, not by the ar- 
 guments of his accuser, but by the public 
 records. In former times, Athenians, it 
 was the custom that the state should elect a 
 comptroller, who, in every presidency of 
 each tribe, was to return to the people an 
 exact state of the finances. But by the im- 
 
 E licit confidence which you reposed in Eu- 
 ulus, the men who were chosen to the 
 management of the theatrical money, exe- 
 cuted this office of comptroller (I mean be- 
 fore the law of Hegemon was enacted,) to- 
 gether with the offices of receiver, and of 
 inspector of our naval affairs ; they were 
 charged with the building of our arsenals, 
 with the repair of our roads; in a word, 
 they were intrusted with the conduct of 
 almost all our public business. I say not 
 this to impeach their conduct, or to arraign 
 their integrity ; I mean but to convince 
 you, that our laws have expressly directed, 
 that no man yet accountable for his conduct 
 in any one office, even of the smallest con- 
 sequence, shall be entitled to the honour of 
 a crown, until his accounts have been re- 
 gularly examined and approved : and that 
 Ctesiphon hath yet presumed to confer this 
 honour on Demosthenes, when engaged in 
 every kind of public magistracy. At the 
 time of this decree, he was a magistrate as 
 inspector of the fortifications, a magistrate 
 as intrusted with public money: and, like 
 other officers of the state, imposed fines, 
 and presided in tribunals. These things 1 
 shall prove by the testimony of Demos- 
 thenes and Ctesiphon themselves. For, in 
 the archonship of Cha?rondas, on the 22d 
 of the month Thargelion, was a popular 
 assembly held, in which Demosthenes ob- 
 tained a decree, appointing a convention of 
 the tribes on the second of the succeeding 
 month ; and on the third, his decree directed 
 still farther, that supervisors should be 
 chosen, and treasurers from each tribe, for 
 conducting the repairs of our fortifications. 
 And justly did he thus direct; that the 
 public might have the security of good and 
 responsible citizens, who might return a fair 
 account of all disbursements. — Read these 
 decrees. 
 
 Tlie Decrees- 
 Yes. — But vou will hear it urged in an- 
 swer, that to this office of inspector of the 
 works he was not appointed in the general 
 assembly, either by lot or suffrage. This 
 is an argument on which Demosthenes and 
 Ctesiphon will dwell with the utmost con- 
 fidence. My answer shall be easy, plain, 
 and brief; but first I would premise a few 
 things on this subject. Observe, Athenians ! 
 Of magistracy there are three kinds. First, 
 those appointed by lot or by election. Se- 
 condly, the men who have managed public 
 money for more than thirty days, or have 
 inspected public works. To these the law 
 adds another species, and expressly declares, 
 that all such persons as, in consequence of a 
 regular appointment, have enjoyed the 
 right of jurisdiction, shall, when approved, 
 be accounted magistrates. So that, should 
 we take away the magistrates appointed by 
 lot or suffrage, there yet remains the last 
 kind, of those appointed by the tribes, or 
 the thirds of tribe:, or by particular dis- 
 tricts, to manage public money ; all which 
 are declared to be magistrates from the time 
 of their appointment. And this happens 
 in cases like that before us, where it is a 
 direction to the tribes to make canals, or to 
 build ships of war. For the truth of this, 
 I appeal to the laws themselves. — Read — 
 
 The Law. 
 
 Let it be remembered, that, as I have al- 
 ready observed, the sentence of the law is 
 this ; that all those appointed to any office 
 by their tribes shall act as magistrates, when 
 first judicially approved. But the Pandio- 
 nian tribe hath made Demosthenes a magis- 
 trate, by appointing him an inspector of the 
 works ; and for this purpose be hath been 
 intrusted with public money to the amount 
 of near ten talents. Again, another law ex- 
 pressly forbids any magistrate, who yet 
 stands accountable for his conduct, to be 
 honoured with a crown. Vou have sworn 
 to give sentence according to the laws. Here 
 is a speaker who hath brought in a decree 
 for granting a crown to a man yet account- 
 able for his conduct. Nor hath he added 
 that saving clause, ' When his accounts 
 have first been passed.' I have proved the 
 point of illegality from the testimony of 
 your laws, from the testimony of your de- 
 crees, and from that of the opposite parties. 
 How then can any man support a prosecu- 
 tion of this nature with greater force and 
 clearness ? 
 
 But farther: I shall now demonstrate 
 that this decree is also a violation of the 
 law, by the manner in which it directs that 
 this crown shall be proclaimed. The laws 
 declare, in terms the most explicit, that, if 
 any man receives a crown from the senate, 
 the proclamation shall be made in the senate- 
 house ; if by the people, in the assembly : 
 never in any other place. Read this law. 
 
 The Law. 
 
 And this institution is just and excellent.
 
 ORA'i . XVIII.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPIION. 
 
 129 
 
 The author of this law seems to have been 
 persuaded, that a public speaker should not 
 ostentatiously display his merits before 
 foreigners ; that he should be contented 
 with the approbation of this city, of these 
 his fellow-citizens ; without practising vile 
 arts to procure a public honour. So thought 
 our lawgiver. What are the sentiments of 
 Ctesiphon- Read his decree. — 
 
 The Decree. 
 
 You have heard, Athenians, that the law 
 directs, in every case where a crown is grant- 
 ed by the people, that the proclamation 
 shall be made in presence of the people, 
 in the Pnyx, in full assembly : never in any 
 other place. Vet Ctesiphon hath appointed 
 proclamation to be made in the theatre : 
 not contented that the act itself should vio- 
 late our laws, he hath presumed to change 
 the scene of it. He confers this honour not 
 while the people are assembled, but while 
 the new tragedies are exhibiting; not in the 
 presence of the people, but of the Greeks ; 
 that they too may know on what kind of 
 man our honours are conferred. 
 
 And now when the illegal nature of this 
 decree is so incontestably established, the 
 author, assisted by his confederate Demos- 
 thenes, hath yet recourse to subtleties in 
 order to evade the force of justice. These 
 I must explain ; I must so guard you against 
 them, that you may not be surprised by their 
 pernicious influence. — These men can by no 
 means deny, that our laws expressly direct 
 that a crown conferred on any citizen by the 
 people shall be proclaimed in the assembly, 
 and in no other place. But, to defend their 
 conduct, they produce a law relative to our 
 festivals: of this they but quote a part, 
 that they may more effectually deceive you : 
 and thus recur to an ordinance by no means 
 applicable to the case before us. Accord- 
 ingly they will tell you, there are in this 
 state two laws enacted relative to proclama- 
 tions. One is, that which I have now pro- 
 duced, expressly forbidding the proclama- 
 tion of a crown granted by the people to be 
 issued in any other place but the assembly. 
 The other, say they, is contrary to this : it 
 allows the liberty of proclaiming a crown so 
 conferred, in the theatre, when the tragedies 
 are exhibited, ' provided always that the 
 people shall so determine by their voices.' 
 On this law it is (thus will they plead) that 
 Ctesiphon has founded his decree. To this 
 artifice I shall oppose your own laws, my 
 assistants, [1.] my constant reliance, through 
 the whole course of this prosecution. If this 
 be so : if such a custom hath been admitted 
 into our goverment ; that laws repealed are 
 still allowed to hold their place amidst those 
 in full force ; that two, directly contra- 
 dictory to each other, are enacted on the 
 same subject ; what shall we pronounce on 
 that polity, where the laws command and 
 
 [1.] My assistants.] The strict import of 
 the original expression is, ' my council,' or 
 ' my advocate.' So that, by a bold figure, 
 the laws are represented, as personally pre- 
 
 forbid the very same things ? But this is 
 by no means the case; and never may your 
 public acts be exposed to such disorder! 
 The great lawgiver to whom we owe our 
 constitution was not inattentive to guard 
 against such dangers. It is his express di- 
 rection, that, in every year, our body of 
 laws shall be adjusted by the legal inspectors, 
 in the popular assembly ; and if, after due 
 examination and inspection, it shall appear, 
 that a law hath been enacted contradictory 
 to a former law ; or that any one, when re- 
 pealed, shall still hold its place among those 
 actually in force; or that any more than 
 one have been enacted on the same subject ; 
 that, in all such cases, the laws shall be trans- 
 cribed and fixed up in public on the statues 
 of our heroes ; that the presidents shall con- 
 vene the assembly, shall specify the authors 
 of these several 'laws, and that the proper 
 officers shall propose the question to the 
 people, that they may by their voices repeal 
 some, and establish others; that so one 
 single law, and no more, may remain in 
 force on one subject. To prove this, — Head 
 the laws. — 
 
 Tlie Laivs. 
 
 If then the allegations of these men were 
 just ; and that in reality there were two 
 different laws relative to proclamations ; it 
 seems impossible but that the inspectors 
 must have detected this; the president of 
 the assembly must have returned them to 
 their respective authors; and the one or 
 other must have been repealed ; either that 
 which grants the power of proclaiming, or 
 that which denies it. But since nothing of 
 all this appears, these men must stand con- 
 victed of asserting what is not only false, 
 but absolutely impossible. 
 
 The source, from whence they derive this 
 falsehood, I shall here explain; when first 
 I have premised, on what occasion these 
 laws were enacted relative to proclamations 
 in the theatre — It hath been the custom in 
 this city, during the performance of the 
 tragedies, that certain persons made procla- 
 mation, not of an act ordained of the peo- 
 ple, but some, of a crown conferred upon 
 them by their tribe, or sometimes by their 
 district ; of others it was thus notified, that 
 they granted freedom to their slaves, to 
 which they called on the Greeks as witnesses, 
 and (which was the most invidious case) 
 some persons, who had obtained the honours 
 of hospitable reception in foreign states, 
 used their interest to gain a proclamation, 
 importing that such a coummunity, as that 
 of Rhodes for instance, or of Chios, confer- 
 red a crown upon them, on account of their 
 virtue and magnanimity. And this they 
 did, not as men honoured by the senate or 
 by the people, in consequence of your con- 
 cession, by virtue of your suffrage, and with 
 a due acknowledgement of your favour, but 
 
 sent, supporting the cause of jEschines, 
 pleading on his side, detecting the fallacy 
 and prevarication of his adversary. Tour- 
 reil.
 
 130 
 
 ORATION OF ^SCHINES 
 
 Torat. xvnr. 
 
 merely on their own authority, without any 
 decree of yours. By these means it hap- 
 pened, that the audience, and the managers, 
 and the performers, were disturbed : and 
 the men who obtained proclamations in the 
 theatre, were really more honoured than 
 those on whom the people conferred crowns. 
 These had a place assigned for receiving 
 these honours, the assembly; in no other 
 place could proclamation be made: the 
 others displayed their honours in the pre- 
 sence of all the Greeks. The one obtained 
 their crowns from your decree, by your per- 
 mission: the others, without any decree. 
 One of our statesmen, observing this, esta- 
 blished a law by no means interfering with 
 that which respects persons crowned by the 
 people ; by no means tending to render this 
 invalid : for it was not the assembly that 
 was disturbed, but the theatre: nor was it 
 his intention to contradict laws already es- 
 tablished: our constitution forbids this. 
 No : the law I mean solely regards those 
 who are crowned, without a decree of the 
 people, by their tribe or district ; those who 
 give freedom to their slaves; those who re- 
 ceive crowns from foreigners ; and it ex- 
 pressly provides, that no person shall make 
 their slaves free in the theatre; no person 
 shall be proclaimed as honoured with a crown 
 by their tribe, by their district, or by any 
 other people whatsoever, (these are the words 
 of this law,) on pain of infamy to the herald 
 who shall make such proclamation. 
 
 Since then it is provided, that those crown- 
 ed by the senate shall be proclaimed in the 
 senate-house: those by the people, in the 
 assembly: since it is expressly forbidden 
 that men crowned by their districts, or by 
 their tribes, shall have proclamation made 
 in the theatre; that no man may indulge 
 an idle vanity, by public honours thus clan- 
 destinely procured : since the law directs 
 still farther, that no proclamation shall be 
 made by any others, but by the senate, by 
 the people, by the tribes, or by the districts 
 respectively : if we deduct all these cases, 
 what will remain but crowns conferred by 
 foreigners? That I speak with truth, the 
 law itself affords a powerful argument. It 
 directs that the golden crown, conferred by 
 proclamation in the theatre, shall be taken 
 from the person thus honoured, and conse- 
 crated to Minerva. But who shall presume 
 to impute so illiberal a procedure to the 
 community of Athens ? Can the state, or 
 can a private person be suspected of a spirit 
 so sordid, that, when they themselves have 
 granted a crown, when it hath been just 
 proclaimed, they should take it back again 
 and dedicate it ? No. I apprehend that such 
 dedication is made, because the crown is 
 conferred by foreigners ; that no man by 
 valuing the affection of strangers at a higher 
 rate than that of his country, may suffer 
 coiTuption to steal into his heart. But 
 when a crown hath been proclaimed in the 
 assembly, is the person honoured bound to 
 dedicate it ? No, he is allowed to possess 
 it ; that not he alone, but his posterity, may 
 retain such a memorial in their family, and 
 never suffer their affections to be alienated 
 
 from their country. Hence hath the authoi 
 of the law farther provided, that no pro- 
 clamation shall be made in the theatre of 
 any foreign crown, unless the people shall 
 so direct by their decree ; so the community, 
 which is desirous of granting a crown to any 
 of our citizens, may be obliged to send am- 
 bassadors and solicit your permission, and 
 the person crowned shall owe less gratitude 
 to those who confer this honour, than to 
 you, by whose permission it is proclaimed. 
 For the truth of this, consult the laws them- 
 selves. 
 
 The Laws. 
 
 When these men therefore insidiously al- 
 leged, that the law hath declared it allowa- 
 ble to confer a crown, by virtue of a decree 
 of the assembly, remember to make this 
 reply : * True, if such a crown be offered by 
 any other state; but if it be the gift of the 
 Athenian people, the place of conferring it 
 is determined. No proclamation is to be 
 made but in the assembly.' Wrest and tor- 
 ture this clause, * and in no other place 
 whatever,' to the utmost; still you can 
 never prove that your decree hath not vio- 
 lated the laws. 
 
 There remains a part of this my accusa- 
 tion, on which I must enlarge with the 
 greatest care; that which respects the pre- 
 tence on which he hath pronounced this man 
 worthy of the crown. These are the words 
 of his decree : ' And the herald shall make 
 proclamation in the theatre, in presence of 
 the Greeks, that the community of Athena 
 hath crowned him, on account of his virtue 
 and magnanimity ; and (what is still strong- 
 er) for his constant and inviolable attach- 
 ment to the interest of the state, through 
 the course of all his counsels and adminis- 
 tration.' And, from henceforward, I have 
 but to lay before you a plain simple detail ; 
 such as can give you no trouble in forming 
 your determination. For it is my part, as 
 the prosecutor, to satisfy you in this single 
 point, that the praises here bestowed on 
 Demosthenes are false : that there never was 
 a time in which he commenced faithful 
 counsellor, far from persevering in any 
 course of conduct advantageous to the state. 
 If this be proved, Ctesiphon must at once 
 stand justly condemned ; for all our laws 
 declare, that no man is to insert any false- 
 hood in the public decrees. On the other 
 hand, it is incumbent on the defendant to 
 prove the contrary. You are to determine 
 on the several allegations. Thus then I 
 proceed. 
 
 To enter into a minute examination of 
 the life of Demosthenes, I fear might lead 
 me into a detail too tedious. And why 
 should I insist on such points, as the cir- 
 cumstances of the indictment for his wound, 
 brought before the Areopagus, against De- 
 momeles his kinsman, and the gashes he in- 
 flicted on his own head ? Or why should I 
 speak of the expedition under Cephisodotus, 
 and the sailing of our fleet to the Hellespont, 
 when Demosthenes acted as a trierarch ; en- 
 tertained the admiral on board his ship;
 
 ORAT. XVI II.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 131 
 
 made him partaker of his table, of His sacri- 
 fices and religious rites; confessed his just 
 right to all those instances of affection, as 
 an hereditary friend ; and yet when an im- 
 peachment had been brought against him 
 which affected his life, appeared as his accu- 
 ser? Why, again, should I take notice of 
 his affair with Midias; of the blows which 
 he received in his office of director of the 
 entertainments ; or, how, for the sum of 
 thirty mills, he compounded this insult, 
 as well as the sentence which the people 
 pronounced against Midias in the theatre ? 
 These and the like particulars, I determine 
 to pass over; not that I would betray the 
 cause of justice; not that I would recom- 
 mend myself to favour by an affected ten- 
 derness; but lest it should' be objected, that 
 I produce facts true indeed, but long since 
 acknowledged and notorious. Say then, 
 Ctesiphon ; when the most heinous in- 
 stances of this man's baseness are so incon- 
 testable evident, that his accuser exposes 
 himself to the censure not of advancing 
 falsehoods, but of recurring to facts so long 
 acknowledged and notorious; is he to be 
 publicly honoured, or to be branded with 
 infamy ? And shall you, who have presumed 
 to form decrees equally contrary to truth 
 and to the laws, insolently bid defiance to 
 the tribunal, or feel the weight of public 
 justice? 
 
 My objections to his public conduct shall 
 be more explicit. I am informed that De- 
 mosthenes, when admitted to his defence, 
 means to enumerate four different periods, 
 in which he was engaged in the administra- 
 tion of affairs. One, and the first of these 
 (as I am assured,) he accounts, that time in 
 which we were at war with Philip for Am- 
 phipolis. [1.] And this period he closes with 
 the peace and alliance which we concluded, 
 in consequence of the decree proposed by 
 Philocrates, in which Demosthenes had 
 equal share, as I shall immediately demon- 
 strate. The second period he computes 
 from the time in which we enjoyed this 
 peace, down to that day when he put an end 
 to a treaty that had, till then, subsisted; 
 and himself proposed the decree for war. 
 The third, from the time when hostilities 
 were commenced, down to the fatal battle of 
 Cha'ronea. The fourth is this present time. 
 
 After this particular specification, as I am 
 informed, he means to call upon me, and to 
 demand explicitly, on which of these four 
 periods I found "my prosecution ? and at 
 what particular time I object to his admi- 
 nistration, as inconsistent with the public 
 interest ? Should 1 refuse to answer, should 
 I attempt the least evasion or retreat, he 
 boasts that he will pursue me, and tear off 
 my disguise ; that he will haul me to the 
 tribunal, and compel me to reply. That I 
 may, then, at once confound this presump- 
 tion, and guard you against such artifice, I 
 
 [1.] Of the several periods, and, indeed, 
 all the political conduct of these contending 
 statesmen, the translator hath already given 
 the best account in his power, particularly 
 in the ' History of the Life and Reign of 
 
 thus explicitly reply; before these your 
 judges, before the other citizens, spectators 
 of this trial, before all the Greeks who have 
 been solicitous to hear the event of this cause 
 (and of these I see no small number, but 
 rather more than ever yet known to attend 
 on any public trial,) I thus reply, I say, that 
 on every one of these four periods, which 
 you have thus distinguished, is my accusa- 
 tion founded. And if the gods vouchsafe 
 me their assistance; if the judges grant me 
 an impartial hearing; and, if my memory 
 shall faithfully recall the several instances 
 of your guilt ; I am fully confident that I 
 shall demonstrate to this tribunal, that the 
 preservation of the state is to be ascribed to 
 the gods, and to those citizens who have 
 conducted our affairs with a truly patriot 
 and well tempered zeal; and, that all our 
 calamities are to lie imputed to Demosthenes 
 as their real author. And, in this charge, 
 I shall observe the very same method, which , 
 as I am informed, he intends to use. 1 shall 
 begin with speaking of his first period ; then 
 proceed to the second and the third hi order ; 
 and conclude with observations on present 
 affairs. To that peace then I now go back, 
 of which you Demosthenes and Philocrates 
 were the first movers. 
 
 You had the fairest opportunity (Athe- 
 nians) of concluding this first peace in con- 
 junction with the general assembly of the 
 Greeks, had certain persons suffered you to 
 wait the return of our ambassadors, at that 
 time sent through Greece to invite the states 
 to join in the general confederacy against 
 Philip; and, in the progress of these nego- 
 tiations, the Greeks would have freely ac- 
 knowledged you the leading state. Of these 
 advantages were you deprived by Demos- 
 thenes and Philocrates, and by the bribes 
 which they received in traitorous conspiracy 
 against your government. If, at first view, 
 this assertion should seem incredible to any 
 in this tribunal, let such attend to what is 
 now to be advanced, just as men set down to 
 the accounts of money a long time since ex- 
 pended. We sometimes come from home, 
 possessed with false opinions of the state of 
 such accounts. But when the several sums 
 have been exactly collected, there is no man 
 of a temper so obstinate as to dissemble, or 
 to refuse his assent to the truth of that 
 which the account itself exhibits. Hear me, 
 in the present cause, with dispositions of the 
 same kind. And if, with respect to past tran- 
 sactions, any one among you who hath come 
 hither possessed with an opinion, that De- 
 mosthenes never yet appeared as advocate 
 for the interests of Philip, in dark confe- 
 deracy with Philocjates; if any man, I say, 
 be so persuaded, let him suspend his judg- 
 ment, and neither assent nor deny, until he 
 hath heard, (for justice requires this.) And, 
 if I shall obtain your attention to a brief re- 
 cital of these periods, and to the decree which 
 
 Philip.' To attempt to illustrate the his- 
 torical transactions here mentioned or al- 
 luded to, by large notes, would only be to 
 repeat what he hath already laid before the 
 public.
 
 132 
 
 ORATION OF yESCHINES [orat. xviii. 
 
 Demosthenes and Philocrates jointly pro- 
 posed ; if the fair state of truth itself shall 
 convict Demosthenes of having proposed 
 many decrees in concert with Philocrates, 
 relative to the former peace and alliance ; 
 of having flattered Philip and his ambas- 
 sadors with a most abandoned and shame- 
 ful servility ; of having precipitated our ne- 
 gotiations without waiting the return of 
 our deputies ; and forced the people into a 
 separate peace, without the concurrence of 
 the general convention of the Greeks ; of 
 having betrayed Cersobleptes, king of 
 Thrace, the friend and ally of this state, 
 into the hands of Philip ; if I shall clearly 
 prove these points, I make but this reason- 
 able request, that in the name of Heaven, 
 you would concur with me, that, during 
 the first of these four periods, his adminis- 
 tration hath been by no means excellent. I 
 shall proceed in such a manner, that you 
 may accompany me without any difficulty. 
 Philocrates proposed a decree, by which 
 Philip was admitted to send hither his he- 
 ralds and ambassadors to treat about a peace 
 and an alliance. This decree was accused 
 as a violation of the law : the time of trial 
 came : Lvcinus, who had first moved for 
 this trial, now appeared as prosecutor : Phi- 
 locrates entered on his defence; in this he 
 was assisted by Demosthenes; and Philo- 
 crates escaped. Then came the time in 
 which Themistocles was archon. During 
 his magistracy, Demosthenes obtains a seat 
 in the senate, as a member of that body, 
 without any [l.j immediate right or any re- 
 versionary title, but by intrigue and bribery ; 
 and this 'in order to support Philocrates 
 with all his power and interest, as the event 
 itself discovered. For Philocrates prevailed 
 still farther, so as to obtain another decree, 
 by which it was resolved to choose ten de- 
 puties, who should repair to Philip, and re- 
 quire him to send hither ambassadors, with 
 full powers to conclude a peace. Of these 
 Demosthenes was one. At his return to the 
 city, he applauded the treaty ; his report 
 was exactly consonant with that of the other 
 deputies ; and he alone, of all the senators, 
 moved, that we should proceed to a solemn 
 ratification of the treaty with Philip's minis- 
 ters. 
 
 Thus did he complete the work which 
 Philocrates began. The one allows these 
 ministers to repair to Athens ; the other ra- 
 tifies the negotiation.— What I am now to 
 observe, demands your utmost attention. 
 Through the course of this treaty, the other 
 deputies (who, upon a change of affairs, 
 were exposed to all the malignity of Demos- 
 thenes,) had scarcely any transactions with 
 the ministers of Macedon. The great agents 
 weie Demosthenes and Philocrates, and 
 with good reason ; for they had not only 
 acted as deputies, but had also been authors 
 of the decrees which secured these impor- 
 tant points ; first, that you should not wait 
 
 [1.] Without any, &c. i. e.] Not chosen 
 by lot into the office of a senator, nor ap- 
 pointed conditionally, to fill the place of an- 
 other on whom the lot had fallen, but who 
 
 the return of the ambassadors, sent to unite 
 the Greeks against Philip ; that you should 
 conclude this treaty separately, and not in 
 conjunction with the Greeks : secondly, that 
 you should resolve not only to conclude a 
 peace, but an alliance with Philip ; that if 
 any of the states preserved a regard for us, 
 they might at once be confounded with de- 
 spair, when, at the very time that you were 
 prompting them to war, they found you 
 not only concluding a peace, but entering 
 into a strict alliance with the enemy : and, 
 lastly, that Cersobleptes should be excluded 
 from the treaty ; that he should be denied a 
 share in this alliance and this peace, at the 
 very time when his kingdom was threaten- 
 ed with an immediate invasion. 
 
 The prince, whose gold purchased these 
 important points, is by no means to be ac- 
 cused. Before the treaty was concluded, 
 and previously to his solemn engagements, 
 we cannot impute it as a crime, that he 
 pursued his own interest:. But the men, 
 who traitorously resigned into his hands the 
 strength and security of the state, should 
 justly feel the severest effects of your resent- 
 ment. He then, who now declares himself 
 the enemy of Alexander ; Demosthenes, 
 who at that time was the enemy of Philip ; 
 he, who objects to me my connexions of 
 friendship with Alexander, proposed a de- 
 cree utterly subversive of the regular and 
 gradual course of public business, by which 
 the magistrates were to convene an assem- 
 bly on the 8th of the month Elaphebolion, 
 a day destined to the sacrifices and religious 
 ceremonies in honour of jEsculapius, when 
 the rites were just preparing. And, what 
 was the pretence for choosing this solemn 
 festival, on which no assembly hath ever 
 been remembered ? ' In order,' saith he- 
 ' that if ambassadors should arrive from 
 Macedon, the people may, as soon as possi- 
 ble, deliberate on sending their deputies to 
 Philip.' Thus, before the ambassadors had 
 yet appeared, an assembly was secured to 
 favour them ; you were at once precluded 
 from all the advantages which time might 
 produce ; and your transactions fatally pre- 
 cipitated, that you might conclude this 
 treaty separately, not in conjunction with 
 the Greeks, on the return of your ambassa- 
 dors. After this, the ministers of Philip 
 arrived at Atheiis; ours were still abroad, 
 labouring to stir up the Greeks against Ma- 
 cedon. Then did Demosthenes obtain 
 another decree, by which it was resolved, 
 that you should take into consideration, 
 not only a peace, but an alliance; and this 
 (without waiting for the return of your am- 
 bassadors,) immediately after the festival 
 of Bacchus, on the 18th day of the month. 
 For the truth of this, I appeal to the de- 
 crees. 
 
 The Decrees. 
 
 After these festivals, our assemblies were 
 
 might die, or whose character might not be 
 approved, upon the scrutiny previously ne- 
 cessary to a citizen's entering into any pub- 
 lic office or station.
 
 ORAT. XVIII.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 133 
 
 accordingly convened. In the first was the 
 general resolution of our allies publicly read ; 
 the heads of whch I shall here briefly recite. 
 They, in the first place, resolved, that vou 
 should proceed to deliberate only about a 
 peace. ■ Of an alliance not one word was 
 mentioned; and this not from inattention, 
 but because they deemed even a peace itself 
 rather necessary than honourable. In the 
 next place, they wisely provided against the 
 fatal consequences of the corruption of De- 
 mosthenes ; for they expressly resolved still 
 farther, that ' it shall and may te lawful 
 for any of the Grecian states whatever, with- 
 in the space of three months, to accede in 
 due form to this treaty, to join in the same 
 solemn engagements, and to be included in 
 the same stipulations. Thus were two 
 most important points secured. First, an 
 interval of three months was provided for 
 the Greeks, a time sufficient to prepare 
 their deputations : and, then, the whole 
 collected body of the nation stood well af- 
 fected and attached to Athens ; that, if at 
 any time the treaty should be violated, we 
 might not ba involved in war single and un- 
 supported. These resolutions are them- 
 selves the amplest testimony to the truth of 
 my assertions. 
 
 The Resolutions of the Allies, 
 
 To these resolutions, I confess that I gave 
 my voice, as did all the speakers in the first 
 assembly. And the people in general rose 
 with a firm persuasion, that a peace indeed 
 should be concluded ; but that, as to an al- 
 liance, it would be most expedient to post- 
 pone the consideration of this, on account 
 of the invitations sent through Greece, as 
 this should be the act of the whole nation. 
 Night intervened ; and the next morning 
 we were again assembled. But now De- 
 mosthenes had taken care to secure the gal- 
 lery, and to exclude all those who might 
 speak against his measures : he declared, 
 that all the proceedings of the day before 
 must be utterly ineffectual, unless the Ma- 
 cedonian ministers could be persuaded to 
 concur ; that he, on his part, had no con- 
 ception of a peace distinct from an alliance ; 
 We ought not, said he (I well remember his 
 expression, which the odiousnes both of the 
 speaker and of the term itself hath im- 
 pressed deeply upon my mind, ) we ought 
 not to rend the alliance from the peace : we 
 ought not to wait the dilatory proceedings 
 of the Greeks; but at once determine either 
 to support the war alone, or to make a sepa- 
 rate peace. He concluded with calling up 
 Antipater to the gallery ; he proposed some 
 questions to him which had been previously 
 concerted between them, and to which he 
 instructed him in such a reply, as might ef- 
 fectually defeat the interest of the state. 
 Thus the deliberation ended, in the full es- 
 tablishment of those measures to which the 
 importunity of Demosthenes extorted your 
 consent, and which were confirmed in form 
 by the decree of Philocrates. 
 
 Nothing now remained, but to make an 
 
 [1.] And yet this, &c] The reader may 
 
 absolute resignation of Cersobleptes and the 
 Thradan territories. And this they affect- 
 ed on the 2(iih of the same month, before 
 that Demosthenes had proceeded on the se- 
 cond embassy appointed for the solemn rati- 
 fication of the treaty. Pol this hater of 
 Alexander, this foe' to Philip, this your 
 public speaker, went twice on an embassy 
 to Macedon, although he needed not have 
 once accepted of this charge: he who now 
 oiges you to spurn with contempt at the 
 Macedonians; he, I say, having taken his 
 place in the assembly, I mean, that which 
 was convened on the L'lith; he, whose in- 
 trigues procured him the dignity of a sena- 
 tor, Itetrayed Cersobleptes into the hands of 
 Philip, with the assistance of his confederate 
 Philocrates. For this Philocrates surrepti- 
 tiously inserted in his decree, that decree 
 which Demosthenes proposed in form, the 
 following clause among many others ; * that 
 the several representatives of the allies shall 
 be hound to enter into solemn ratifications 
 of the peace with the ministers of Philip on 
 this very day.' But Cersobleptes had no 
 representatives then present ; and therefore 
 he who moved that the representatives 
 should then swear to the treaty, by direct 
 consequence excluded Cersobleptes from the 
 treaty, who had not been at all represented 
 in this assembly. To prove the truth of 
 this, read the authors of this decree, and 
 the name of the president who proposed it. 
 
 The Decree, 
 
 THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 A noble institution this, a truly noble in- 
 stitution, Athenians, this exact preservation 
 of our public records. Thus they remain 
 unalterable, and never change from one to 
 the other party, with our variable politi- 
 cians; but, whenever we are pleased to re- 
 sort to them, afford us ample satisfaction 
 as to the real characters of those, who, after 
 a long course of baseness, affect to be thought 
 men of worth and excellence on any change 
 of circumstances. 
 
 It remains that I produce some instances 
 of his abandoned flattery. For one whole 
 year did Demosthenes enjoy the honour of 
 a senator ; and yet, in all that time, it never 
 appears that he moved to grant precedency 
 to any ministers : for the first, the only time, 
 he conferred this distinction on the ministers 
 of Philip; he servilely attended to accommo- 
 date them with his cushions and his carpets ; 
 by the dawn of day he conducted them to 
 the theatre; and, by his indecent and aban- 
 doned adulation, raised a universal uproar 
 of derision, when they were on their de- 
 parture towards Thebes, he hired three 
 teams of mules, and conducted them in 
 state into that city. Thus did he expose 
 his country to ridicule. But, that I may 
 confine myself to facts, read the decree re- 
 lative to tfc>e grant of precedency. 
 
 The Decree. 
 
 And yet this [l.J abject, this enor ■ 
 
 not be displeased with the following account
 
 134 
 
 ORATION OF iESCHINES [orat. xrm. 
 
 flatterer, when he had been the first that 
 received advice of Philip's death, from the 
 emissaries of Charidemus, pretended a 
 divine vision, and, with a shameless lie, de- 
 clared that this intelligence had been con- 
 veyed to him, not by Charidemus, but by 
 Jupiter and Minerva. Thus he dared to 
 boast, that these divinities, by whom he had 
 sworn falsely in the day, had condescended 
 to hold communication with him in the 
 night, and to inform him of futurity. Seven 
 days had now scarcely elapsed, since the 
 death of his daughter, when this wretch, 
 before he had performed the usual rites of 
 mourning, before he had duly paid her 
 funeral honours, crowned his head with a 
 chaplet, put on his white robe, made a 
 solemn sacrifice, in despite of law and de- 
 cency ; and this when he had lost his child, 
 the first, the only child that had ever called 
 him by the tender name of father. I say 
 not this to insult his misfortunes; I mean 
 but to display his real character. For he 
 who hates his children, he who is a bad pa- 
 rent, cannot possibly prove a good minister. 
 He who is insensible to that natural affection 
 which should engage his heart to those who 
 are most intimate and near to him, can never 
 feel a greater regard to your welfare than to 
 that of strangers. He who acts wickedly in 
 private life, cannot prove excellent in his 
 public conduct ; he who is base at home, 
 can never acquit himself with honour when 
 sent to a strange country in a public cha- 
 racter. For it is not the man, but the scene 
 that changes. 
 
 By what fortunate revolution he hath 
 been enabled to assume a new character (for 
 I now come to the second period ; ) whence 
 it is, that Philocrates, for the same conduct 
 in which he was equally concerned, hath 
 been impeached and condemned to exile, 
 while Demosthenes supports his station, 
 and maintains the power of impeaching 
 others ; and by what means this abandoned 
 wretch hath been enabled to plunge you 
 into such calamities ; these are points which 
 merit your peculiar attention. 
 
 When Philip, then, had possessed himself 
 of Thermopylae by surprise ; when, contrary 
 to all expectation, he had subverted the 
 
 of this transaction from Plutarch, together 
 with the reflections of the biographer. 
 
 ' Demosthenes, having received private 
 information of Philip's death, in order to 
 inspirit his countrymen, appeared in the se- 
 nate with an air of gaiety, pretending to 
 have seen a vision, which promised some 
 good fortune to the Athenians. Immediately 
 after, arrives an express with a full account 
 of this event. The people in a transport of 
 joy sacrifice to the gods, for the good tidings, 
 arid decree a crown to Pausanias. On this 
 occasion Demosthenes appeared in public 
 with a chaplet on his head, and in splendid 
 attire, although it was but the seventh day 
 from the death of his daughter, as zEschines 
 observes, who discovers his own want of 
 firmness and elevation, by reproaching him 
 on this account as devoid of natural affec- 
 tion. As if tears and lamentations were the 
 
 cities of the Phocians ; when he had raised 
 the state of Thebes to a degree of power too 
 great (as we then thought) for the times, or 
 for our interest ; when we were in such con- 
 sternation that our effects were all collected 
 from the country, and deposited within these 
 walls ; the severest indignation was expres- 
 sed against the deputies in general, who had 
 been employed in the negotiation of the 
 peace ; bnt principally, and above all others, 
 against Philocrates and Demosthenes ; be- 
 cause they had not only been concerned in 
 the deputation, but were the first movers 
 and authors of the decree for peace. It hap- 
 pened, at this juncture, that a difference 
 arose between Demosthenes and Philocrates, 
 nearly on the same occasion which you your- 
 selves suspected must produce animosities 
 between them. The ferment which arose 
 from hence, together with the natural dis- 
 temper of his mind, produced such counsels, 
 as nothing but an abject terror could dictate, 
 together with a malignant jealousy of the 
 advantages which Philocrates derived from 
 his corruption. He concluded, that by in- 
 veighing against his colleagues, and against 
 Philip, Philocrates must inevitably fall ; 
 that the other deputies must be in danger; 
 that he himself must gain reputation ; and, 
 notwithstanding his baseness and treachery 
 to his friends, lie must acquire the character 
 of a consummate patriot. The enemies of 
 our tranquillity perceived his designs ; they at 
 once invited him to the gallery, and extolled 
 him as the only man who disdained to betray 
 the public interest for a bribe. The moment 
 he appeared, he kindled up the flame of war 
 and confusion. He it was, Athenians, who 
 first found out the Serrian fort, and Doris- 
 kum, and Ergiske, and Murgiske, and Ga- 
 nos, and Ganides, places whose verv names 
 were hitherto utterly unknown; and such 
 was his power in perverting and perplexing, 
 that, if Philip declined to send his ministers 
 to Athens, he represented it as a contemp- 
 tuous insult on the state ; if he did send them, 
 they were spies, and not ministers; if he in- 
 clined to submit his disputes with us to so me 
 impartial mediating state, no equal umpire 
 could be found, he said, between us and 
 Philip. This prince gave us up the Halo- 
 infallible signs of tenderness and sensibility, 
 he objects to him that he bore his misfor- 
 tunes with composure. I do not say that it 
 was right to wear chaplets, and to offer 
 sacrifices, upon the death of a prince who 
 had used his good fortune with so much 
 moderation. It was rather base and un- 
 generous to pay him honours, and enroll 
 him among their citizens, when alive ; and, 
 when he had been killed, to break out into 
 such extravagances, to insult over his dead 
 body, and to sing hymns of joy, as if they 
 themselves "had performed some great ex- 
 ploit. But I can by no means condemn 
 Demosthenes, for leaving it to the women 
 to mourn over the misfortunes of his family, 
 and exerting himself in what he deemed the 
 service of his country upon tliis emergency.' 
 Vlut. in fit. Demosth.
 
 OUAT. XVIII.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 135 
 
 nesus. But he insisted that we should not 
 receive it, unless it was declared, not that 
 he ' resigned' but ' restored :' thus cavilling 
 about syllables. And, to crown all his con- 
 duct, by paying public honours to those who 
 had carried their arms into Thessaly and 
 Magnesia under the command of Aristode- 
 mus, in direct violation of the treaty, he 
 dissolved the peace, and prepared the way 
 for calamity and war. 
 
 Yes, but by the alliance of the Eubceans 
 and the Thebans, did he (for thus he boasts) 
 surround our city with walls of brass and 
 adamant. But the truth is, Athenians, 
 that in these transactions he committed no 
 less than three most enormous offences, of 
 which you are utterly uninformed. Although 
 1 am impatient to come to that grand article, 
 the alliance of the Thebans, yet, for the sake 
 of order, I must begin with that of the 
 Euboeans. 
 
 You, my countrymen ! had received 
 many and great injuries from Mnesar- 
 chus the Chaicidian, the father of O.luas 
 and Taurosthenes (the man whom he bath 
 now presumed, for the sake of a wretch- 
 ed bribe, to enroll among the citizens of 
 Athens,) and also from Themisan the Ere- 
 trian, who, in time of profound peace, 
 wrested Oropus from you. Yet you con- 
 sented to bury all this in oblivion, and, 
 when the Thebans had invaded Eubcea, in 
 order to enslave the cities, within five days 
 you appeared in their defence, with a power- 
 ful armament ; and, before thirty days had 
 yet elapsed, you obliged the Thebans to 
 capitulate, and to evacuate the island. Thus 
 absolute masters of Eubcea, you reinstated 
 its cities and communities in all their privi- 
 leges ; you generously and equitably relied 
 on their faith, and thought it highly unjust 
 to retain the memory of ancient animosities, 
 when they implicitly resigned themselves to 
 your honour. Yet to these important obli- 
 gations the people of Chalcis did by no 
 means make the due returns. On the con- 
 trary, when vou had passed into Eubcea, to 
 assist Plutarch, at first indeed you were re- 
 ceived with all the appearances of friendship ; 
 but when once we had advanced beyond 
 Tamynas, and passed the eminence named 
 Cotylaeum, Callias now perceiving that we 
 had encamped in a dangerous situation, 
 from whence it was impossible to disengage 
 ourselves but by a victory, and where we 
 could receive no reinforcement either by 
 sea or land; this Callias, I say, on whom 
 Demosthenes, having received his bribes, so 
 freely lavishes his applause, collected an 
 army from all quarters of Eubcea, which he 
 reinforced with a detachment sent in by 
 Philip : while his brother Taurosthenes, he 
 who so graciously salutes and smiles upon 
 every citizen, brought down his band of 
 
 [1.] In the race.] In the original, ' the 
 runner in the long race.' And whatever air 
 of ridicule the speaker affects to throw upon 
 this accomplishment, the foot-race, it is well 
 known, held a distinguished rank among the 
 athletic exercises of Greece. The common 
 course was a stadium, or C2.5 feet. Some- 
 
 mercenaries from Phocis, and both advanced 
 with a firm purpose to destroy us. And, 
 had not the same deity graciously inter- 
 posed to save our army, and had not all our 
 forces, both infantry and cavalry, performed 
 extraordinary acts of valour at the Hippo- 
 drome of Tamynas, and after a complete 
 victory obliged the enemy to lay down their 
 arms, the state must have been exposed to 
 a defeat the most disgraceful. For a defeat 
 is not of itself the greatest of calamities ; 
 but, when that defeat is the consequence of 
 an engagement with dishonourable enemies, 
 then the calamity is doubled. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding this treatment, you 
 were again reconciled to these people. And 
 Callias, now restored to your favour, pre- 
 served appearances for a little time, but 
 soon returned with extraordinary violence 
 to his natural dispositions. His pretence 
 was, to form a convention of the Eubcean 
 states at Chalcis ; his real design, to fortify 
 the island against us, and to secure to him- 
 self a sovereignty of peculiar importance. 
 And, hoping to prevail on Philip to assist 
 him in this design, he went over to Mace- 
 don; was constantly in Philip's train, and 
 came to be regarded as one of those who are 
 styled his companions. But, having forfeit- 
 ed this prince's favour by his offences, he 
 was obliged to fly and, having rendered 
 himself obnoxious at Thebes, he retired 
 from that city also ; and thus his course of 
 conduct, more uncertain and variable than 
 the Euripus that flows by his native habita- 
 tion, involved him in the resentment both 
 of the Thebans and of Philip. In the 
 midst of his confusion and perplexity, when 
 an army was actually preparing to march 
 against him, he saw but one resource left, 
 and this was to prevail on the Athenians, 
 by acknowledging him as their confederate, 
 to enter into solemn engagements to defend 
 him if attacked, by anv enemy : and it was 
 evident he must he attacked, unless you 
 were to prevent it. Possessed with this 
 design he sent hither his deputies, Glaucetes 
 Empedon, and Diodorus, so distinguished 
 in the race, [1.] who came with airy hopes 
 for the people, but with monev for Demos- 
 thenes and his associates. And three mate- 
 rial points there were, for all of which he 
 then bargained : first, that he should not be 
 disappointed of our alliance: for if the 
 Athenians were to remember his former of- 
 fences, and to reject him as a confederate, 
 he had but one melancholy alternative, 
 either to fly from Chalcis, or to sutler him- 
 self to be taken and put to death : with such 
 formidable powers were both Philip and the 
 Thebans now preparing to surround him. In 
 the second place, the manager and mover of 
 this alliance was to contrive (and for this gold, 
 was liberally bestowed) that the Chalcidians 
 
 times the racers returned back again, per- 
 forming .what was called olauXos, or the 
 ' double course.' But the &o\ixo0p6/xo<: (as 
 Diodorus is here styled) was the man who 
 could continue his career for twelve stadia or 
 more.
 
 130 
 
 ORATION OF /ESCHINES [orat. xviii. 
 
 should not be obliged to attend the conven- 
 tion held at Athens. The third point was, 
 that they should be excused from paying 
 their contributions. Nor was Callias defeated 
 in any one of these schemes. No. [1.] This 
 Demosthenes, this foe to tyrants, as he calls 
 himself, this man whom Ctesiphon declares 
 a faithful minister, betrayed the most criti- 
 cal interests of the state, and by his decree 
 obliged us to take up arms, on every occasion, 
 in defence of the Chalcidians. This was the 
 purport, though not the formal style of the 
 decree : to secure his point in the most deli- 
 cate and least offensive manner, he artfully 
 changed a single phrase, and ordained that 
 the Chalcidians should take up arms, if on 
 any occasion the Athenians should be at- 
 tacked. But as to the acknowledgement of 
 our superiority in the general convention ; 
 as to obliging the confederates to pay their 
 subsidies, the great support of war ; these 
 articles he entirely gave up : he who dis- 
 guises the basest actions by the most ho- 
 nourable names : whose importunity oblig- 
 ed you to declare, that you were resolved to 
 send assistance to any of the Greeks that 
 needed it : but that you must suspend all 
 farther engagements of alliance; which 
 should be formed only with those whose good 
 offices you at first had experienced. To 
 prove the truth of my assertions, I produce 
 the instrument of Callias, the treaty of al- 
 liance, and the decree. 
 
 The Decree. 
 
 Nor is it his most heinous offence, that he 
 hath sold our interests, our rights of prece- 
 dency, and our subsidies; what 1 have now 
 to produce must be acknowledged still more 
 enormous. For to such a pitch of insolence 
 and extravagance did Callias proceed, and 
 to such sordid corruption did Demosthenes 
 descend, he whom Ctesiphon hath thus ap- 
 plauded, that they contrived, in your pre- 
 sence, in your view, in the midst of your 
 attention, to defraud you of the contribu- 
 tions from Oreum, and of those from Ere- 
 tria, to the amount of ten talents. And, 
 when the representatives of these states had 
 appeared in Athens, they sent them back to 
 Chalcis, to assist in what was called the 
 convention of Eubcea. By what means, 
 and by what iniquitous practices, they effect- 
 ed this, will deserve your serious regard. 
 
 I am then to inform you, that Callias was 
 now no longer satisfied to negotiate with us 
 by his emissaries: he appeared in person: 
 he rose up and addressed himself to the as- 
 sembly, in a speech concerted by Demos- 
 thenes'. He told us that he was just arrived 
 from Peloponnesus, where he had been late- 
 ly employed in settling the subsidies which 
 each city was to pay, in order to support a 
 war against Philip ; the whole amounting to 
 a hundred talents. He distinguished the 
 sums to be paid by each state. The contri- 
 butions of all the Artisans and Megaraans he 
 rated at sixty, those of the cities of Eubcea 
 
 [1.] See History"oF~theLife of Philip, 
 book iv. sec. 2. 
 
 at forty talents ; a sum, as he observed, 
 sufficient to maintain a formidable arma- 
 ment, both by sea and land. Many other 
 Grecian states were ready to join in this 
 supply, so that there would be no deficiency 
 either in money or in forces. These were 
 the effects of his public negotiations : but 
 he had besides carried on some secret trans- 
 actions which were not to be explained : of 
 these some of our own citizens were wit- 
 nesses : and then he called on Demosthenes 
 by name, and required him to confirm this 
 by his testimony. With a face of gravity 
 and importance, Demosthenes then arose; 
 bestowed the most extravagant applause on 
 Callias ; and pretended to be well acquaint- 
 ed with his secret transactions. He declared 
 himself ready to report the success of his 
 own embassy to Peloponnesus, and of that 
 to Acarnania. The sum of all was this, 
 that, by his means, the whole body of the 
 Pelopohnesians, and all the Acarnanians, 
 were ready to march against Philip ; that 
 the amount of their several contributions 
 would be sufficient to complete an arma- 
 ment of one hundred ships of war, ten 
 thousand infantry, and one thousand horse: 
 that to these were to be added the domestic 
 forces of each state : from Peloponnesus 
 more than two thousand heavy-armed foot, 
 and from Acarnania the same number : that 
 all these states had freely resigned the chief 
 command to you ; and that their prepara- 
 tions were not" fixed to some distant time, 
 but were to be completed by the 16th*of the 
 month Anthesterion, as by his direction and 
 appointment, the states were to hold their 
 convention at Athens, at the time of full 
 moon. For in these cases the man acts a 
 distinguished and peculiar part. Other 
 boasters, when they advance their falsehoods, 
 are careful to express themselves in vague 
 and obscure terms, from a just dread of being 
 detected. But Demosthenes, when he would 
 obtrude his impostures, first adds an oath to 
 his lie, and imprecates all the vengeance of 
 Heaven on his own head. And then, if he 
 is to assure us of events, which he knows 
 will never be, he has the hardiness to assign 
 their particular times ; if to persuade us 
 that he has negotiated with those he never 
 saw, he enters into a distinct detail of their 
 names ; thus insinuating himself into your 
 confidence, and imitating the natural and 
 explicit manner of those who speak truth; 
 so that he is doubly an object of detestation, 
 as he is base and false, and as he would 
 confound all the marks of truth and ho- 
 nesty. 
 
 When he had finished, he presented a de- 
 cree to the secretary, longer than the Iliad, 
 more frivolous than the speeches which he 
 usually delivers, or than the Ufe which he 
 hath led ; filled with hopes never to be grati- 
 fied, and with armaments never to be raised. 
 And while he diverted your attention from 
 his fraud, while he kept you in suspense 
 by his flattering assurances, he seized the 
 favourable moment to make his grand at- 
 tack, and moved, that ambassadors should 
 be sent to Eretria, who should entreat the 
 Eretrians (because such entreaties were
 
 ORAT. XVIII.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 137 
 
 mighty necessary) not to send their contri- 
 butions of five talents to Athens, but to in- 
 trust it to Callias : again he ordained, that 
 ambassadors should be appointed to repair 
 to Oreum, and to prevail on that state to 
 unite with Athens in strict confederacy. 
 And now it appeared, that through this 
 whole transaction he had been influenced 
 by a traitorous motive; for these ambassa- 
 dors were directed to solicit the people of 
 Oreum also, to pay their five talents, not to 
 you, but to Callias. To prove the truth of 
 this, read the decree, — not all the pompous 
 preamble, the magnificent account of na- 
 vies, the parade and ostentation ; but confine 
 yourself to the point of fraud and circum- 
 vention, which were practised with too much 
 success by this impious and abandoned 
 wretch, whom the decree of Ctesiphon de- 
 clares to have persevered, through the course 
 of all his public conduct, in an inviolable 
 attachment to the state. 
 
 The Decree. 
 
 Here is a grand account of ships and of 
 levies, of the full moon, and of conventions. 
 Thus were you amused by words ; while, in 
 fact, you lost the contributions of your allies, 
 you were defrauded of ten talents. 
 
 It remains that I inform you of the real 
 motive which prompted Demosthenes to 
 procure this decree ; and that was a bribe 
 of three talents ; one received from Chalcis 
 by the hands of Callias ; another from Ere- 
 triaby Clitarchus, the sovereign of this state; 
 the third paid by Oreum : by which means 
 the stipulation was discovered ; for, as 
 Oreum is a free state, all things are there 
 transacted by a public decree. And as the 
 people of this city had been quite exhausted 
 in the war with Philip, and reduced to the 
 utmost indigence, they sent over Gnosi- 
 demus, who had once been their sovereign, 
 to entreat Demosthenes to remit the talent ; 
 promising, on this condition, to honour him 
 with a statue of bronze, to be erected in 
 their city. He answered their deputy, that 
 he had not the least occasion for their paltry 
 brass ; that he insisted on his stipulation ; 
 which Callias should prosecute. The peo- 
 ple of Oreum, thus pressed by their credi- 
 tor, and not prepared to satisfy him, mortga- 
 ged their public revenues to Demosthenes 
 for this talent, and paid him interest at the 
 rate of one drachma [1.] a month for each 
 rnina, until they were enabled to discharge 
 the principal. And to prove this, I produce 
 the decree of the Oreitans. Read.— 
 
 The Decree. 
 
 Here is a decree, Athenians, scandalous to 
 our country. It is no small indication of 
 the general conduct of Demosthenes, and it 
 is an evidence of the most flagrant kind, 
 
 [1.] At the rate of one drachma, &c] 
 
 i. e. at the rate of about twelve per cent. 
 
 per ann. See Life of Philip, b. iv. sect. 2. 
 
 2.1 The reader will find a detail of this 
 
 which must condemn Ctesiphon at once. 
 For it i> not possible, that he who hath de- 
 scended to such sordid bribery can be that 
 man of consummate virtue, which Ctesiphon 
 hath presumed to represent him in his 
 decree. 
 
 [->.] And now I proceed to the third of 
 these rjeriods; which was indeed the fatal 
 period, distinguished by, the calamities in 
 which Demosthenes involved all Greece as 
 well as his own city by his impious profana- 
 tion of the Delphian temple, and by the ini- 
 quitous and oppressive treaty in which he 
 engaged us with the Thebans. But first 1 
 must speak of his offences towards the god?. 
 
 There is a plain, Athenians, well known 
 by the name of Cyrrha, and a port now 
 called the devoted and accursed. This tract 
 the Cyrrha?ans and Acragallida? inhabited, a 
 lawless people, whose sacrilegious violence 
 profaned the shrine of Delphi and the ofter- 
 ings there deposited, and who presumed to 
 rebel against the Amphictyonic council. 
 The Amphictyons in general, and your 
 ancestors in particular (as tradition hath 
 informed us,) conceived the justest resent- 
 ment, and addressed themselves to the ora- 
 cle, in order to be informed by what punish- 
 ment they might suppress these outrages. 
 The priestess pronounced her answer, that 
 they were to wage perpetual war against the 
 Cyrrhasans and Acragallida?, without the 
 least intermission, either by day or night ; 
 that they were to lay waste their lands, and 
 to reduce their persons to slavery ; that then- 
 possessions were to be set apart from all 
 worldly purposes, and dedicated to the 
 Pythian Apollo, to Diana, to Latona, and 
 to Minerva ; and that they were not to cul- 
 tivate their lands, nor to suffer them to be 
 cultivated. In consequence of this oracle, 
 the Amphictyons decreed, and Solon the 
 Athenian was the first mover of this decree 
 (the man so eminent for making laws, and 
 so conversant in the arts of poesy and phi- 
 losophy,) that they should take up arms 
 against these impious men, in obedience to 
 the divine commands of the oracle. A suffi- 
 cient force being accordingly raised by the 
 Amphictyons, they reduced these men to 
 slavery, demolished their harbour, rased 
 their city, and consecrated their district, as 
 the oracle directed. And to confirm these 
 proceedings, they bound themselves by an 
 oath, that they would never cultivate this 
 consecrated land, nor suffer others to culti- 
 vate it ; but that they would support the 
 rights of the god, and defend this district 
 thus consecrated, with their persons and all 
 their power. Nor were they contented to 
 bind themselves by an oath conceived in the 
 usual form ; they enforced it by the addition 
 of a most tremendous imprecation. Thus 
 it was expressed : ' If any shall violate this 
 engagement, whether city, or private person, 
 or community, may such violators be devot- 
 ed to the vengeance of Apollo, of Diana, 
 
 whole important transaction, and of its 
 momentous consequences on the interest of 
 Greece, in the fifth book and first section of 
 the history above mentioned.
 
 J 38 
 
 ORATION OF JESCHINES [orat. xviii. 
 
 of Latona, and of Minerva; may their 
 lands never yield their fruits; may their 
 women never bring forth children of the 
 human form, but hideous monsters ; may 
 their herds be accursed with unnatural bar- 
 renness ; may all their attempts in war, all 
 their transactions in peace, be ever unsuc- 
 cessful ! may total ruin for ever pursue 
 them, their families, and their descendants ! 
 and may they never (these are the very 
 terms) appease the offended deities, either 
 Apollo, or Diana, or Latona, or Minerva; 
 but may all their sacrifices be for ever re- 
 jected !'"To confirm the truth of this, let the 
 oracle be read ; listen to the imprecations, 
 and call to mind the oath by which your 
 ancestors were engaged, in conjunction with 
 the other Amphictyons. 
 
 The Oracle. 
 
 Still shall these tow'rs their ancient pride 
 
 maintain ; 
 Nor force, nor valour, e'er their rampart 
 
 gain ; 
 Till Amphitnte, queen of azure waves, 
 The hallow'd lands of sov'reign Phoebus 
 
 laves ; 
 Till, round his seat, her threat'ning surges 
 
 roar, 
 And burst tumult'ous on the sacred shore. 
 
 The Oath. 
 
 THE IMPRECATION. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding these imprecations, 
 notwithstanding the solemn oath, and the 
 oracle, which to this day remain upon re- 
 cord, did the Locrians and the Amphissaeans, 
 or to speak more properly, their magistrates, 
 lawless and abandoned men, once more 
 cultivate this district, restore the devoted 
 and accursed harbour, erect buildings there, 
 exact taxes from all ships that put into 
 this harbour, and, by their bribes, corrupt 
 some of the pylagorae who had been sent to 
 Delphi, of which number Demosthenes was 
 one. For, being chosen into this office, he 
 received a thousand drachmae from the 
 Amphissaeans, to take no notice of their 
 transactions, in the Amphictyonic council. 
 And it was stipulated still farther, that, for 
 the time to come, they should pay him at 
 Athens an annual sum of twenty minae, out 
 of their accursed and devoted revenues ; 
 for which he was to use his utmost efforts, 
 on every occasion, to support the interest 
 of the Amphissaeans in this city ; a transac- 
 tion which served but to give still farther 
 evidence to this melancholy truth, that, 
 whenever he hath formed connexions with 
 any people, any private persons, any sove- 
 reign magistrates, or any free communities, 
 he hath never failed to involve them in ca- 
 lamities the most deplorable. For, now, 
 behold how Heaven and fortune asserted 
 their superior power against this impiety of 
 the Amphissaeans ! 
 
 In the archonship of Theophrastus, when 
 Diognetus was ieromnemon, you chose, 
 for pylagorae, Midias (that man, who on 
 
 many accounts I wish were still alive,) and 
 Thrasycles ; and with these was I joined in 
 commission. On our arrival at Delphi, it 
 happened, that the ieromnemon Diognetus 
 was instantly seized with a fever, and that 
 Midias also shared the same misfortune. 
 The other Amphictyons assembled : when 
 some persons, who wished to approve them- 
 selves the zealous friends of this state, in- 
 formed us, that the Amphissaeans, now ex- 
 posed to the power of the Thebans, and 
 studious to pay them the most servile adu- 
 lation, had introduced a decree against this 
 city, by which a fine of fifty talents was to 
 be imposed on the community of Athens, 
 because we had deposited some golden shields 
 in the new temple, before it had been com- 
 pletely finished, which bore the following, 
 and a very just inscription : 
 
 •By the Athenians: taken from the 
 Medes and Thebans, when they fought 
 against the Greeks.' 
 
 The ieromnemon sent for me, and de- 
 sired that I should repair to the Amphic- 
 tvons, and speak in defence of the city, 
 which I had myself determined to do. But, 
 scarcely had I begun to speak, on my first 
 appearance in the assembly, (where I rose 
 with some warmth as the absence of the 
 other deputies increased my solicitude,) 
 when I was interrupted by the clamours of 
 an Amphissaean, a man of outrageous inso- 
 lence, who seemed a total stranger to polite- 
 ness, and was perhaps driven to this ex- 
 travagance by some evil genius. He began 
 thus : — ' Ye Greeks, were ye possessed with 
 the least degree of wisdom, ye would not 
 suffer the name of the Athenians to be men- 
 tioned at this time; ye would drive them 
 from the temple, as the objects of divine 
 wrath ' He then proceeded to take notice 
 of our alliance with the Phocians, which 
 the decree of Crobylus had formed; and 
 loaded the state with many other odious 
 imputations, which I then could not hear 
 with temper, and which I cannot now re- 
 collect but with pain. His speech inflamed 
 me to a degree of passion, greater than I 
 had ever felt through my whole life. Among 
 other particulars, on which I shall not now 
 enlarge, it occurred to me to take notice of 
 the impiety of the Amphissaeans, with re- 
 spect to the consecrated land which I pointed 
 out to the Amphictyons, from the place 
 where I then stood, as the temple rose 
 above the Cyrrhaean plain, and commanded 
 the whole prospect of that district. ' You 
 see,' said I, 'ye Amphictyons, how this tract 
 hath been occupied by the people of Am- 
 phissa : you see the houses and factories 
 they have there erected. Your own eyes 
 are witnesses, that this accursed and devoted 
 harbour is completely furnished with build- 
 ings. You yourselves know, and need not 
 any testimony, that they have exacted du- 
 ties, and raised large sums of wealth, from 
 this harbour.' I then produced the oracle, 
 the oath of our ancestors, and the impreca- 
 tion by which it was confirmed ; and made 
 a solemn declaration, that, ' for the people 
 of Athens, for myself, for my children, and
 
 on AT. XVIII.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 139 
 
 for my family, I would support the rights 
 of the god, and maintain the consecrated 
 land, with all my might and power: and 
 thus rescue my country from the guilt of 
 sacrilege.— Do you, ye Greeks,' thus did I 
 proceed, ' determine for yourselves as ye 
 judge proper. Your sacred rites are DOW 
 prepared; your victims stand before the 
 altars; you are ready to offer up your so- 
 lemn prayers for blessings on yourselves and 
 on your countries; — but, O ! consider with 
 what voice, with what front, with what confi- 
 dence can you breathe out your petitions, if 
 ye sufler these sacrilegious men, thus devoted 
 and accursed, to escape with impunity. The 
 imprecation is not conceived ill dark or doubt- 
 ful terms. No: the curse extends not only 
 to these impious profaners, but to all those 
 whosuffer their profanation to pass unreveng- 
 ed. These are the very words with which the 
 awful and affecting form is closed : Ma; 
 they, who permit them to escape unpunish- 
 ed, never oti'er up an acceptable sacrifice to 
 Apollo, or to Diana, or to Latona, or to 
 Minerva; but may all their devotions be 
 rejected and abhorred !' 
 
 When I had urged these and many other 
 particulars, I retired from the assembly : 
 when a considerable clamour and tumult 
 arose among the Amphictyons ; and the 
 debate was now no longer about the shields 
 which we had dedicated, but about the pu- 
 nishment due to the Amphissseans. Thus 
 was a considerable part of that day wasted, 
 when at length a herald arose, and made 
 proclamation, That all the inhabitants of 
 Delphi, above the age of sixteen, both slaves 
 and freemen, should the next morning, by 
 sunrise, assemble in the adjoining plain, 
 called ' the plain of victims,' with spades 
 and mattocks ; and by another proclama- 
 tion it was ordained, that the representatives 
 of the several states should repair to the 
 same place, to support the rights of the god, 
 and the consecrated land ; and that, if any 
 representatives should disobey this sum- 
 mons, their state was to be excluded from 
 the temple, as sharing in the sacrilege, and 
 involved in the imprecation. The next day 
 we accordingly repaired to the place ap- 
 pointed, from whence we went down to the 
 Cyrrhaean plain ; and having there demo- 
 lished the harbour, and set fire to the build- 
 ings, we retired. During these transactions, 
 the Locrians of Amphissa, who are settled 
 at the distance of sixty stadia from Delphi, 
 assembled in arms, and fell upon us with 
 their whole force ; and, had we not with 
 difficulty gained the town, by a precipitate 
 flight, we must have been in danger of total 
 destruction. On the succeeding day, Catty- 
 phus, who acted as president of the council, 
 summoned a * convention' of the Amphic- 
 tyons ; so they call an assembly formed not 
 only of the representatives, but of all who 
 came to offer sacrifice, or consult the oracle. 
 In this convention, many accusations were 
 urged against the Amphissseans, and much 
 applause bestowed on our state. The whole 
 debate was closed with a resolution, by 
 which the ieromnemons were directed to 
 repair to Thermopylae, at a time appointed, 
 
 previously to the next ordinary assembly, 
 with a decree prepared for inflicting the due 
 punishment on the AmphJsssans, for their 
 sacrilegious offences against the god and the 
 consecrated land, and for their outrage on 
 the Amphictyons. To prove the truth of 
 this, I produce the resolution itself. 
 
 The Resolution. 
 
 And when at our return we reported this 
 resolution, first in the senate, and then in 
 the assembly of the people ; when we had 
 made a full relation of all our transactions 
 to the people, and the whole state deter- 
 mined to act agreeably to the dictates of 
 piety; when Demosthenes, from his private 
 connexions with Amphissa, laboured to de- 
 feat this purpose, and his iniquitous prac- 
 tices were by me clearlv detected, in vour 
 presence; when he found it impossible to 
 defeat the interests of his country by a pub- 
 lic opposition, he had recourse to secret 
 management in the senate. There, having 
 first taken care to exclude all private citi- 
 zens, he gained a resolution (by taking ad- 
 vantage of his inexperience who moved it,) 
 which he produced to the popular assembly ; 
 and this resolution he contrived to be con- 
 firmed by the voices of the people, and to 
 be made their decree, at a time when the 
 assembly was actually adjourned, when I 
 was absent (else I never should have suffered 
 it,) and when the people were dismissed 
 from their attendance. The purport of the 
 resolution was this : ' That the ieromnemon 
 and pylagora?, who should at any time be 
 deputed by the Athenians to execute these 
 offices, should repair to Thermopylae and 
 to Delphi, at the times appointed by our 
 ancestors.' This was speciously expressed, 
 but it concealed the basest purpose, which 
 was, to prevent our deputies from attending 
 the extraordinary council at Thermopylae, 
 necessary to be held before the next stated 
 day of assembly. 
 
 But there was another clause in this reso- 
 lution, still plainer and more virulent. It 
 directed, that the ieromnemon and pylago- 
 ra?, who should, at any time, be appointed 
 by the Athenians, were to have no sort of 
 intercourse with this extraordinary council, 
 either in word, or deed, or decree, or any 
 transaction whatever. ' To have no sort of 
 intercourse.' What is the intent of this ? 
 Shall I declare the truth, or shall I speak to 
 please you ? The truth by all means ; for, 
 by consulting only your gratification, in all 
 that is here delivered, hath the state been 
 reduced to its present condition. The real 
 purpose, therefore, of this clause is; that 
 we should renounce all regard to the oath by 
 which our ancestors were engaged, to the 
 awful imprecation, and to the oracles of 
 the god. 
 
 Agreeably to this resolution, we stayed at 
 home, while all the other deputies assembled 
 at Thermopylae except those of one people, 
 whose name I cannot bear to mention ; (and 
 never may any Grecian state suffer calami- 
 ties in the least like theirs !) In this assem- 
 bly, it was resolved to undertake a war 
 o
 
 140 
 
 ORATION OF ^SCHINES [orat. xviii. 
 
 against the Amphissseans; and Cattyphus, 
 the Pharsalian, who then presided in the 
 assembly, was appointed general. Nor was 
 Philip, at this time, in Macedon, no, nor in 
 any part of Greece, but removed as far as 
 Scythia, he who, Demosthenes presumes to 
 say, was by me brought down upon the 
 Greeks. In the first expedition, when the 
 Amphissseans were at their mercy, they 
 treated them with the utmost moderation ; 
 and, for their most heinous offences, they 
 only imposed a fine, which was to be paid 
 to the god by a time appointed ; removed 
 the most notoriously criminal and principal 
 authors of the sacrilege ; and restored those 
 who had been banished on account of their 
 scrupulous regard to religion. But, when 
 this fine was not discharged ; when the 
 principal offenders were recalled home ; and 
 the innocent and rdigious men, whom the 
 Amphictyons had restored, were once more 
 expelled; then was the second expedition 
 made against the Amphissaeans, a considera- 
 ble time after, when Philip was on his re- 
 turn from the Scythian expedition. And 
 now, when the gods presented you with the 
 sovereign command in this holy war, by the 
 corruption of Demosthenes were you de- 
 prived of that honour. 
 
 And did not the gods warn us of our dan- 
 ger ? did they not urge the necessity of vi- 
 gilance, in a language scarcely less explicit 
 than that of man ? Surely never was a state 
 more evidently protected by the gods, and 
 more notoriously ruined by its popular 
 leaders. Were we not sufficiently alarmed 
 by that portentous incident in the mysteries, 
 the sudden death of the initiated ? Did not 
 Amyniades still farther warn us of our dan- 
 ger, and urge us to send deputies to Delphi 
 to consult the god? And aid not Demos- 
 thenes oppose this design? Did he not say, 
 the Pythian priestess was inspired [1.] by 
 Philip, rude and brutal as he is, insolently 
 presuming on that full power to which your 
 favour raised him ? And did he not at last, 
 without one propitious sacrifice, one favour- 
 able omen to assure us of success, send 
 out our armies to manifest and inevitable 
 danger ? Yet, he lately presumed to say, 
 that Philip did not venture to march into 
 our territories, for this very reason, because 
 his sacrifices had not been very propitious. 
 What punishment, therefore, is due to thy 
 offences, thou pest of Greece ? If the con- 
 queror was prevented from invading the 
 territories of the vanquished by unpropitious 
 sacrifices, shouldst thou, who, without the 
 least attention to futurity, without one fa- 
 vourable omen, hast sent our armies to the 
 field, shouldst thou be honoured with a 
 crown for those calamities, in which thou 
 hast involved the state, or driven from our 
 borders with ignominy ? 
 
 And, what can be conceived surprising or 
 extraordinary, that we have not expe- 
 rienced ? Our lives have not passed in the 
 usual and natural course of human affairs ; 
 
 [1.] Was inspired, ic] Demosthenes 
 expressed this by an artificial phrase (the 
 priestess Philippized,) on which the adver- I 
 
 no, we were bom to be an object of asto- 
 nishment to posterity. Do we not see the 
 king of Persia, he who opened a passage for 
 his navy through mount Athos, who 
 stretched his bridge across the Hellespont, 
 who demanded earth and water from the 
 Greeks ; he who, in his letters, presumed 
 to style himself sovereign of mankind, from 
 the rising to the setting sun ; now no longer 
 contending to be lord over others, but to se- 
 cure his personal safety ? Do not we see 
 those crowned with honour and ennobled 
 with the command of the war against Persia, 
 who rescued the Delphian temple from sa- 
 crilegious hands? Hath not Thebes, our 
 neighbouring state, been in one day torn 
 from the midst of Greece? And, although 
 this calamity may justly be imputed to her 
 own pernicious counsels, yet we are not to 
 ascribe such infatuation to any natural 
 causes, but to the fatal influence of some 
 evil genius. Are not the Lacedemonians, 
 those wretched men, who had but once 
 slightly interfered in the sacrilegious outrage 
 on the temple ; who, in their day of power, 
 aspired to the sovereignty of Greece ; now 
 reduced to display their wretchedness to the 
 world, by sending hostages to Alexander, 
 ready to submit to that fate which he shall 
 pronounce upon themselves and on their 
 country ; to those terms which a conqueror, 
 and an incensed conqueror, shall vouchsafe 
 to grant ? And, is not this our state, the 
 common refuge of the Greeks, once the 
 great resort of all the ambassadors from the 
 several cities, sent to implore our protection 
 as their sure resource, now obliged to con- 
 tend, not for sovereign authority, but for 
 our native land ? And, to these circum- 
 stances have we been gradually reduced from 
 that time when Demosthenes first assumed 
 the administration. Well doth the poet 
 Hesiod pronounce on such men, in one part 
 of his works, where he points out the duty 
 of citizens, and warns all societies to guard 
 effectually against evil ministers. I shall 
 repeat his words ; for I presume we trea- 
 sured up the sayings of poets in our memory 
 when young, that, in our riper years, we 
 might apply them to advantage. 
 
 When one man's crimes the wrath of Heav'n 
 provoke, 
 
 Oft hath a nation felt the fatal stroke. 
 
 Contagion's blast destroys, at Jove's com- 
 mand, 
 
 And wasteful famine desolates the land. 
 
 Or, in the field of war, her boasted pow'rs 
 
 Are lost ; and earth receives her prostrate 
 tow'rs. 
 
 In vain in gorgeous state her navies ride : 
 
 Dash'd, wreck'd, and bury'd in the boist'r- 
 ous tide. 
 
 Take away the measure of these verses, 
 consider only the sentiment, and you will 
 fancy that you hear, not some part of He- 
 siod, but a prophecy of the administration 
 of Demosthenes : for true it is, that both 
 
 sarv founds his charge of rudeness and bru- 
 tality.
 
 Oi'.AT. XVIII.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 141 
 
 fleets and armies, and whole cities, have 
 been completely destroyed by his adminis- 
 tration; and, in my opinion, neither l'hry- 
 rondas, nor Eurybatus, nor any of those 
 most distinguished by their villanies in 
 former times, have been equal to this man 
 in the arts of imposture and deceit: this 
 man, who (hear it, (J earth ; hear it, all ye 
 gods, and all of human race who have the 
 least regard to truth !) dares to meet the 
 eyes of his fellow-citizens, and shamelessly 
 assert, that the Thebans were induced to 
 the confederacy with us, not by the con- 
 juncture of their affairs, not by the terror 
 which possessed them, nor yet by our re- 
 putation ; but by the negotiations of De- 
 mosthenes. True it is, that before this 
 time we sent many ambassadors to Thebes, 
 all of them united with that state in the 
 strictest connexions. First we sent our ge- 
 neral Thrasybulus, a man highest above all 
 others in the confidence of the Thebans : 
 after him, Thraso, on whom the Thebans 
 conferred the honours of hospitality : then 
 again, Leodamas, nothing inferior to De- 
 mosthenes in the powers of eloquence, and 
 in my opinion a much more pleasing speak- 
 er : Arcnidemus, another powerful speaker, 
 whose attachment to Thebes had exposed 
 him to considerable danger: Aristophon, 
 the popular leader, who had long incurred 
 the censure of being in his heart a Bceotian. 
 Add to these, Pyrandrus, the public speaker, 
 who is yet alive. And yet not one of these 
 was ever able to prevail on them to unite 
 in alliance with our state. I know the 
 cause : but 1 must not insult their calami- 
 ties. — The truth is (as I conceive,) that 
 when Philip had wrested Nica?a from them, 
 and delivered it to the Thessalians ; when 
 he had transferred the war from Phocis to 
 the very walls of Thebes, that war which 
 he had before repelled, from the territories 
 of Bceotia ; and when, to crown all, he had 
 seized, and fortified, and fixed his garrison 
 in Elataea, then did their fears of approach- 
 ing ruin force them to apply to Athens : 
 and then did you march out and appear at 
 Thebes with all your power, both of infan- 
 try and cavalry, before Demosthenes had 
 ever proposed one syllable about an alliance. 
 For it was the times, present terror, and the 
 necessity of uniting with you, which then 
 brought you to Thebes ; not Demosthenes. 
 And let it be observed, that in these his 
 negotiations he committed three capital of- 
 fences against the state. In the first place, 
 when Philip made war on us, only in name, 
 but in reality pointed all his resentment 
 against Thebes (as appears sufficiently from 
 the event, and needs not any farther evi- 
 dence,) he insidiously concealed this, of 
 which it so highly concerned us to be in- 
 formed ; and pretending that the alliance 
 now proposed was not the effect of the pre- 
 sent conjuncture, but of his negotiations, 
 he first prevailed on the people not to de- 
 bate about conditions, but to be satisfied 
 that the alliance was formed on any terms : 
 and, having secured this point, he gave up 
 all Boeotia to the power of Thebes, by in- 
 serting this clause in the decree, that, if 
 
 any city should revolt from the Thebans, 
 the Athenians would grant their assistance 
 to such of the Boeotians only as should be 
 resident in Thebes: thus concealing his 
 fraudulent designs in specious terms, and 
 betraying us into his real purposes, accord- 
 ing to his usual practice ; as if the Bceotians, 
 who had really laboured under the most 
 grievous oppression, were to be fully satis- 
 fied with the fine periods of Demosthenes, 
 and to forget all resentment of the wrongs 
 
 which thev had suffered Then, as to the 
 
 expenses of the war, two thirds of these he 
 imposed on us who were the farthest re- 
 moved from danger, and one third only on 
 the Thebans ; for which, as well as all his 
 other measures, he was amply bribed. And 
 with respect to the command, that of the 
 fleet, he indeeddivided between us; the ex- 
 pense he imposed entirely on Athens, and 
 that of the land-forces (if I am to speak se- 
 riouslv, I must insist upon it,) he absolutely 
 transferred to the Thebans ; so that, during 
 this whole war, our general Stratocles had 
 not so much authority as might enable him 
 to provide for the security of his soldiers. 
 And here I do not urge offences too trivial 
 for the regard of other men. No. I speak 
 them freely ; all mankind condemns them ; 
 and you yourselves are conscious of them : 
 yet will riot be roused to resentment. For 
 so completelv hath Demosthenes habituated 
 you to his offences, that you now hear them 
 without emotion or surprise. But this 
 should not be: they should excite your ut- 
 most indignation, and meet their just pu- 
 nishment, if you would preserve those re- 
 mains of fortune which are still left to 
 Athens. 
 
 A second and a much more grievous of- 
 fence did he commit in clandestinely taking 
 away all authority of our senate, all the ju- 
 risdiction of our popular assembly, and 
 transferring them from Athens to the cita- 
 del of Thebes, by virtue of that clause which 
 gave the magistrates of Bceotia a share in 
 all councils and transactions. And such an 
 uncontrolled power did he assume, that he 
 rose publicly in the assembly, and declared 
 that he would go as ambassador whither he 
 himself thought proper, although not au- 
 thorized by your commission ; and, if any 
 of the generals should attempt to control 
 him, he declared (as a warning to our ma- 
 gistrates to acknowledge his sovereign pow- 
 er, and as a means of accustoming them to 
 implicit submission) that he would ' com- 
 mence a suit for establishing the pre-emi- 
 nence of the speaker's gallery over the gene- 
 ral's pavilion ;' for that the state had derived 
 more advantages from him in this gallery, 
 than ever it had gained from the generals in 
 their pavilions. Then, by his false musters 
 in the contract for the foreign troops, he 
 was enabled to secrete large sums of the 
 money destined to the military service. 
 And by hiring ten thousand of these troops 
 of the Amphissaeans, in spite of all my re- 
 monstrances, all my earnest solicitations in 
 the assembly, he involved the state in the 
 most perilous difficulties, at a time when 
 the loss of f hese foreign troops had left us
 
 142 
 
 ORATION OF jESCHINES [orat. xviii. 
 
 unprepared to encounter dangers. What 
 think you was at this time the object of 
 Philip's most ardent wishes ? Was it not 
 that he might attack our domestic forces 
 separately, and our foreign troops at Am- 
 phissa separately, and thus take advantage 
 of the general despair into which the Greeks 
 must sink at such an important blow ? And 
 now Demosthenes, the great author of these 
 evils, is not contented that he escapes from 
 justice; but if he be denied the honour of a 
 crown, expresses the highest indignation: 
 nor is he satisfied that this crown should be 
 proclaimed in your presence ; but, unless 
 all Greece be made witness of his honours, 
 he complains of th'e grievous injury. And 
 thus we find, that, when a disposition, natu- 
 rally base, hath obtained any considerable 
 share of power, it never fails to work the 
 ruin of a state. 
 
 I am now to speak of a third offence, and 
 this still more heinous than the others. 
 Philip by no means despised the Greeks : 
 was by no means ignorant (for he was not 
 devoid of all sense) that by a general engage- 
 ment he must set his whole power to the 
 hazard of a day; he was well inclined to 
 treat about an accommodation, and was on 
 the point of sending deputies for this pur- 
 pose, while the Theban magistrates, on their 
 parts, were alarmed at the approaching dan- 
 ger, with good reason. For it was not a 
 dastardly speaker, who fled from his post in 
 battle, that presented it to their thoughts, 
 but the Phocian war, that dreadful contest 
 of ten years, which taught them a lesson 
 nevei to be forgotten. Such was the state 
 of his affairs, and Demosthenes perceived 
 it : he suspected that the Boeotian chiefs,were 
 on the point of making a separate peace, 
 and would receive Philip's gold without ad- 
 mitting him to a share: and deeming it 
 worse than death to be thus excluded from 
 any scheme of corruption, he started up in 
 the assembly, before any man had declared 
 his opinion that a peace should, or should 
 not, be concluded with Philip, but with an 
 intent of warning the Bceotian chiefs, by a 
 kind of public proclamation, that they were 
 to allow him his portion of their bribes : he 
 swore by Minerva (whom it seems Phidias 
 made for the use of Demosthenes, in his 
 vile trade of fraud and perjury) that, if any 
 man should utter one word of making peace 
 with Philip, he himself with his own hands, 
 would drag him by the hair to prison ; imi- 
 tating in this the conduct of Cleophon, who 
 in the war with Lacedemon, as we are in- 
 formed, brought destruction upon the state. 
 [1.] But when the magistrates of Thebes 
 paid him no attention, but, on the contrary, 
 had countermanded their troops when on 
 
 [1.] Destruction upon the state.] After 
 the battle of Gyzicum, the Spartans offered 
 to conclude a *p eace with Athens. Their 
 ambassador proposed fair and equitable 
 terms ; and the moderate part of the state 
 inclined to an accommodation. But the 
 violent and factious leaders, among whom 
 this Cleophon was distingushed, inflamed 
 the people's vanity by a magnificent display 
 
 their march, and proposed to vou to consult 
 about a peace, then was he absolutely 
 frantic : he rose up in the assembly ; he 
 called the Bceotian chiefs traitors to C ireece ; 
 and declared that he himself would move 
 (he who never dared to meet the face of an 
 enemy) that you should send ambassadors 
 to the Thebans, to demand a passage 
 through their territory, for your forces, in 
 their march against Philip. And thus 
 through shame, and fearing that they might 
 really be thought to have betrayed Greece, 
 were the magistrates of Thebes diverted 
 from all thoughts of peace, and hurried at 
 once to the field of battle. [2.] 
 
 And here let us recall to mind those gal- 
 lant men, whom he forced out to manifest 
 destruction, without one sacred rite happily 
 performed, one propitious omen to assure 
 them of success; and yet, when they had 
 fallen in battle, presumed to ascend their 
 monument with those coward feet that fled 
 from their post, and pronounced his enco- 
 miums on their merit. But O thou, who, 
 on every occasion of great and important 
 action, hast proved of all mankind the most 
 worthless, in the insolence of language the 
 most astonishing, canst thou attempt, in 
 the face of these thy fellow-citizens, to claim 
 the honour of a crown, for the misfortunes 
 in which thou hast plunged thy city ? Or, 
 should he claim it, can you restrain your 
 indignation, and hath the memory of your 
 slaughtered countrymen perished with them ? 
 Indulge me for a moment, and imagine 
 that you are now not in this tribunal, but 
 in the theatre; imagine that you see the 
 herald approaching, and the proclamation 
 prescribed in this decree, on the point of 
 being delivered : and then consider, whether 
 will the friends of the deceased shed more 
 tears at the tragedies, at the pathetic stories 
 of the great characters to be presented on 
 the stage, or at the insensibility of their 
 country? What inhabitant of Greece, 
 what human creature, who hath imbibed 
 the least share of liberal sentiments, 
 must not feel the deepest sorrow, when he 
 reflects on one transaction which he must 
 have seen in the theatre ; when he remem- 
 bers, if he remembers nothing else, that 
 on festivals like these, when the tragedies 
 were to be presented, in those times 
 when the state was well governed, and di- 
 rected by faithful ministers ; a herald ap- 
 peared, and introducing those orphans whose 
 fathers had died in battle, now arrived at 
 | maturity, and dressed in complete armour, 
 I made a proclamation the most noble, and 
 the most effectual to excite the :nmd to glo- 
 rious actions : ' That these youths, whose 
 fathers lost their lives in fighting bravely 
 
 of their late success (as if Fortune, saith 
 Diodorus, had, contrary to her usual course, 
 determined to confine her favours to one 
 party.) And thus the majority were pre- 
 vailed upon to declare for war. And the 
 event proved fatal. 
 
 [2.] See History of Philip, b. v. sect. 2. 
 p. 263.
 
 orat. xviii.] AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 143 
 
 for their country, the people had maintain- 
 ed to this their age of maturity. That now, 
 having furnished them with complete suits 
 of armour, they dismiss them (with prayers 
 for their prosperity) to attend to their re- 
 spective affairs ; and invite them to aspire 
 to the highest offices of the state. 
 
 Such were the proclamations in old times. 
 But such are not now heard. And, were 
 the herald to introduce the person who had 
 made these children orphans, what could he 
 say, or what could he proclaim ? Should 
 he speak in the form prescribed in this de- 
 cree, yet the odious truth would still force 
 itself upon you, it would seem to strike 
 your ears with a language different from 
 that of the herald. It would tell you, that 
 • the Athenian people crowned this man, 
 who scarcely deserves the name of a man, 
 on account of his virtue, though a wretch 
 the most abandoned ; and on account of his 
 magnanimity, though a coward and de- 
 serter of his post.' Do not, Athenians, I 
 conjure you by all the powers of Heaven, 
 do not erect a trophy in your theatre, to 
 perpetuate your own disgrace ; do not ex- 
 j)ose the weak conduct of your country, in 
 the presence of the Greeks : do not recall all 
 their grievous and desperate misfortunes 
 to the minds of the wretched Thebans; 
 who, when driven from their habitations 
 by this man, were received within these 
 walls ; whose temples, whose children, 
 whose sepulchral monuments were destroyed 
 by the corruption of Demosthenes, and the 
 Macedonian gold. 
 
 Since you were not personal spectators of 
 their calamities, represent them to your 
 imaginations ; think that you behold their 
 city stormed, their walls levelled with the 
 ground, their houses in flames, their wives 
 and children dragged to slavery, their hoary 
 citizens, their ancient matrons, un-learning 
 liberty in their old age, pouring out their 
 tears, and crying to you for pity ; expressing 
 their resentment, not against the instru- 
 ments, but the real authors of their calami- 
 ties; importuning you by no means to grant 
 a crown to this pest of Greece, but rather to 
 guard against that curse, that fatal genius 
 which evermore pursues him. For never 
 did any state, never did any private persons, 
 conduct their affairs to a happy issue,, that 
 were guided by the counsels of Demosthe- 
 nes. And is it not shameful, my country- 
 men, that, in the case of those mariners 
 who transport men over to Salamis, it should 
 be enacted by a law, that whoever shall 
 overset his vessel in this passage, even inad- 
 vertently, shall never be again admitted to 
 the same employment (so that no one may 
 be suffered to expose the persons of the 
 Greeks to careless hazard,) and yet, that 
 this man, who hath quite overset all Greece, 
 
 [1.] A Margites, i. e. a contemptible idiot. J 
 Immediately after the death of Philip, saith 
 Plutarch, the states began to form a confede- 
 racy, at the instigation of Demosthenes. 
 The Thebans, whom he supplied with arms, 
 attacked the Macedonian garrison, and cut 
 off numbers of them. The Athenians pre- 
 
 as well as this state, should be still intra 
 with the helm of government ? 
 
 That I may now speak of the fourth 
 period, and thus proceed to the present 
 times, I must recall one particular to your 
 thoughts : I bat Demosthenes not only desert- 
 ed from his post in battle, but fled from his 
 duty in the city, under the pretence of em- 
 ploying some of our ships in collecting con- 
 tributions from the Greeks. But when, 
 contrary to expectation, the public dangers 
 seemed to vanish, he again returned. At 
 first he appeared a timorous and dejected 
 creature; he rose in the assembly, scarcely 
 half alive, and desired to be appointed a 
 commissioner for settling and establishing 
 the treaty. But, during the first progress ot 
 these transactions, you did not even allow 
 the name of Demosthenes to be subscribed 
 to your decrees, but appointed Nausicles 
 your principal agent. Vet now he has the 
 presumption to demand a crown. When 
 Philip died, and Alexander succeeded to the 
 kingdom, then did he once more practise 
 his impostures. He raised altars to Pausa- 
 nias, and loaded the senate with the odium 
 of offering sacrifices and public thanksgiv- 
 ings upon this occasion. He called Alexan- 
 der a Margites, [1.] and had the presump- 
 tion to assert that he would never stir from 
 Macedon ; for that he would be satisfied 
 with parading through his capital, and there 
 tearing up his victims in the search of 
 happy omens. And this, said he, I declare, 
 not from conjecture, but from a clear con- 
 viction of this great truth, that glory is not 
 to be purchased but by blood :— The wretch ! 
 whose veins have no blood ; who judged of 
 Alexander, not from the temper of Alexan- 
 der, but from his own dastardly soul. 
 
 But when the Thessalians had taken up 
 arms against us, and the young prince at 
 first expressed the warmest resentment, and 
 not without reason; when an army had 
 actually invested Thebes, then was he chosen 
 our ambassador ; but, when he had proceed- 
 ed as far as Cithteron, he turned and ran 
 back to Athens. Thus hath he proved 
 equally worthless, both in peace and in war. 
 But, what is most provoking, you refused 
 to give him up to justice; nor would you 
 suffer him to be tried in the general council 
 of the Greeks. And, if that be true which 
 is reported, he hath now repaid your indul- 
 gence by an act of direct treason. For the 
 mariners of the Paralian galley, and the am- 
 bassadors sent to Alexander, report (and 
 with great appearance of truth) that there 
 is one Aristion, a Platasan, the son of Aris- 
 tobulus the apothecary (if any of you know 
 the man.) This youth, who was distinguish- 
 ed by the beauty of his person, lived a long 
 time in the house of Demosthenes. How 
 he was there employed, or to what purposes 
 
 pared to join with Thebes. Their assem- 
 blies were directed solely by Demosthenes, 
 who sent dispatches to the king's lieutenants 
 in Asia, to prevail upon them to rise against 
 Alexander,' whom he called a boy, and a 
 Margites. Plut. in Demost. 
 
 O •!
 
 144 
 
 ORATION OF jESCHINES [o raT - xvni - 
 
 he served, is a matter of doubt, and which 
 it might not be decent to explain particu- 
 larly. And, as I am informed, he afterward 
 contrived (as his birth and course of life was 
 a secret to the world) to insinuate himself 
 into the favour of Alexander, with whom 
 he rived with some intimacy. This man 
 Demosthenes employed to deliver letters to 
 Alexander, which served in some sort to 
 dispel his fears, and effected his reconcilia- 
 tion with the prince ; which he laboured to 
 confirm by the most abandoned flattery. 
 
 And now observe how this account agrees 
 with the facts which I allege against him. 
 For if Demosthenes had been sincere in his 
 professions ; had he really been that mortal 
 foe to Alexander ; there were three most 
 fortunate occasions for an opposition, not 
 one of which he appears to have improved. 
 The first was, when this prince had but 
 just ascended the throne; and, before his 
 own affairs were duly settled, passed over 
 into Asia ; when the king of Persia was in 
 the height of all his power, amply furnished 
 with ships, with money, and with forces, 
 and extremely desirous of admitting us to 
 his alliance, on account of the danger which 
 then threatened his dominions. Did you then 
 utter one word, Demosthenes ? Did you 
 rise up to move for any one resolution ? 
 Am I to impute your silence to terror ; to 
 the influence of your natural timidity ? 
 But the interest of the state cannot wait 
 the timidity of the public speaker. Again, 
 when Darius had taken the field with all his 
 forces, when Alexander was shut up in the 
 defiles of Cilicia, and, as you pretended, 
 destitute of necessaries ; when he was upon 
 the point of being trampled down by the 
 Persian cavalry (this was your language;) 
 when your insolence was insupportable to 
 the whole city ; when you marched about 
 in state with your letters in your hands, 
 pointing me out to your creatures as a trem- 
 bling and desponding wretch, calling me the 
 • gilded victim,' and declaring that I was to 
 be crowned for sacrifice, if any accident 
 should happen to Alexander; still were you 
 totally inactive; still you reserved yourself 
 
 for some fairer occasion But to pass over 
 
 all these things, and to come to late tran- 
 sactions. The Lacedemonians, in conjunc- 
 tion with their foreign troops, had gained a 
 victory, and cut to pieces the Macedonian 
 forces near Corragus ; the Eleans had gone 
 over to their party, and all the Achaeans, 
 except the people of Pellene ; all Arcadia 
 also, except the 'great city;' and this was 
 besieged, and every day expected to be taken. 
 Alexander was at a distance farther than the 
 pole ; almost beyond the limits of the habit- 
 able world; Antipater had been long em- 
 ployed in collecting his forces ; and the 
 event was utterly uncertain. In this junc- 
 ture, say, Demosthenes, what were your 
 actions ? what were your speeches ? If you 
 please, I will come down, and give you an 
 opportunity of informing us. But you are 
 silent. Well, then, I will'shew some tender- 
 ness to your hesitation, and I myself will 
 tell the assembly how you then spoke. And 
 do you not remember his strange and mon- 
 
 strous expressions ? Which you (O asto- 
 nishing insensibility !) could eiidure to hear. 
 He rose up and cried, Some men are ' pru- 
 ning' the city ; they are ' lopping" the ' ten- 
 drils' of the state ; they ' cut through the 
 sinews' of our affairs; we are 'packed up' 
 and 'matted ;' they ' thread' us ' like needles.' 
 — Thou abandoned wretch ! What lan- 
 guage is this ? Is it natural or monstrous ? 
 — Again, you writhed and twisted your 
 body round the gallery ; and cried out as if 
 you really exerted all your zeal against Alex- 
 ander, ' I confess that I prevailed on the 
 Lacedemonians to revolt; that I brought 
 over the Thessalians and Perrhibaeans.' 
 Influence the Thessalians! Could you in- 
 fluence a single village ; you, who in time 
 of danger never venture to stir from the 
 city, no, not from your own house ? In- 
 deed, where any money is to be obtained, 
 there you are ever ready to seize your prey ; 
 but utterly incapable of any action worthy 
 of a man. If fortune favours us with some 
 instances of success, then, indeed, he as- 
 sumes the merit to himself; he ascribes it to 
 his own address ; if some danger alarms us, 
 he flies ; if our fears are quieted, he de- 
 mands rewards, he expects golden crowns. 
 
 'But all this is granted.' Yet he is a 
 zealous friend to our free constitution. If 
 you consider only his fair and plausible dis- 
 courses, you may be deceived in this, as you 
 have been in other instances. But look into 
 his real nature and character, and you can- 
 not be deceived. Hence it is that you are 
 to form your judgement. And here I shall 
 recount the several particulars necessary to 
 form the character of a faithful citizen, and 
 a useful friend to liberty. On the other 
 hand, I shall describe the man who is likely 
 to prove a bad member of society, and a 
 favourer of the arbitrary power of a few. 
 Do you apply these two descriptions to him, 
 and consider not what he alleges, but what 
 he really is. 
 
 I presume, then, it must be universally 
 acknowledged, that these are the character- 
 istics of a friend to a free constitution. 
 First, he must be of a liberal descent, both 
 by father and mother, lest the misfortune of 
 his birth should inspire him with a prejudice 
 j against the laws which secure our freedom. 
 i Secondly, he must be descended from such 
 | ancestors as have done service to the people, 
 at least, from such as have not lived in en- 
 mity with them : this is indispensably ne- 
 cessary, lest he should be prompted to do 
 the state some injury, in order to revenge 
 the quarrel of his ancestors. Thirdly, he 
 must be discreet and temperate in his course 
 i of life, lest a luxurious dissipation of his 
 fortune might tempt him to receive a bribe 
 in order to betray his country. Fourthly, 
 he must have integrity united with a power- 
 ful elocution: for it is the perfection of a 
 statesman to possess that goodness of mind, 
 which may ever direct him to the most salu- 
 tary measures, together with a skill and 
 power of speaking, which may effectually 
 recommend them to his hearers. Yet, of 
 the two, integrity is to be preferred to elo- 
 quence. Fifthly, he must have a manly
 
 ORAT. XVIII.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 145 
 
 spirit, that in war and danger he may not 
 desert his country. It may be sufficient to 
 say, without farther repetition, that a friend 
 to the arbitrary power of a few is distin- 
 guished by the characteristics directly op- 
 posite to these. 
 
 And now consider which of them agree to 
 Demosthenes. Let us state the account 
 with the most scrupulous regard to justice. 
 This man's father was Demosthenes of the 
 Paeanian tribe, a citizen of repute (for I 
 shall adhere strictly to truth.) But how he 
 stands as to family, with respect to his mo- 
 ther and her father, I must now explain. 
 There was once in Athens a man called Gy- 
 lon ; who by betraying Nymphamm in 
 Pontus to the enemy, a city then possessed 
 by us, was obliged to fly from his country 
 in order to escape the sentence of death 
 denounced against him, and settled on 
 the Bosphorus, where he obtained, from 
 the neighbouring princes, a tract of land 
 called ' the Gardens ;' and married a wo- 
 man, who indeed brought him a consider- 
 able fortune, but was by birth a Scythian. 
 By her he had two daughters, whom he 
 sent hither with a great quantity of wealth; 
 one of them he settled, I shall not men- 
 tion [1.] with whom, that I may not pro- 
 voke the resentment of too many; the 
 other Demosthenes, the Pa?anian married 
 in defiance of our laws, and from her is the 
 present Demosthenes sprung ; our turbulent 
 and malicious informer. So that by his 
 grandfather, in the female line, he is an 
 enemy to the state, for his grandfather was 
 condemned to death by your ancestors. 
 And by his mother he is a Scythian, one 
 who assumes the language of Greece, but 
 whose abandoned principles betray his bar- 
 barous descent. 
 
 And what hath been his course of life ? — 
 He first assumed the office of a trierarch ; 
 and having exhausted his paternal fortune 
 by his ridiculous vanity, he descended to 
 the profession of a hired advocate : but 
 having lost all credit in this employment, 
 by betraying the secrets of his clients to their 
 antagonists, he forced his way into the gal- 
 lery, and appeared a popular speaker. When 
 those vast sums, of which he had defrauded 
 the public, were just dissipated, a sudden 
 tide of Persian gold poured into his exhaus- 
 ted coffers; nor was all this sufficient; for 
 no fund whatever can prove sufficient for 
 the profligate and corrupt. In a word, he 
 supported himself, not by a fortune of his 
 own, but by your perils. But how doth he 
 appear with respect to integrity, and force 
 <ji' elocution ? Powerful in speaking ; aban- 
 
 [1.] I shall not mention, &c] The name, 
 which /Eschines suppresses from motives of 
 policy, Demosthenes hath himself discovered 
 in his oration against Aphobus ; where he 
 declares that his mother was daughter to 
 this Gylon, and that her sister married De- 
 mochares. This passage must have escaped 
 Plutarch ; as he expresses a doubt whether 
 the account here given of the family of De- 
 mosthenes be true or false. Town eil. 
 
 [2.] From all share, &c] The original 
 
 doned in his manners. Of such unnatural 
 depravity in his sensual gratifications, that 
 I cannot describe his practices; I cannot 
 offend that delicacy to which such shock- 
 ing descriptions are always odious. And 
 how hath he served the public? His 
 speeches have been plausible ; his actions 
 traitorous. 
 
 As to his courage, I need say but little on 
 that head. Did he himself deny that he is 
 a coward ? Were you not sensible of it, I 
 should think it necessary to detain you by a 
 formal course of evidence. But as he hath 
 publicly confessed it in our assemblies, and 
 as you have been witnesses of it, it remains 
 only that I remind you of the laws enacted 
 against such crimes. It was the determina- 
 tion of Solon, our old legislator, that he who 
 evaded his duty in the field, or left his post 
 in battle, should be subject to the same 
 penalties with the man directly convicted 
 of cowardice. For there are laws enacted 
 against cowardice. It may perhaps seem 
 wonderful, that the law should take cogni- 
 zance of a natural infirmity. But such is 
 the fact. And why ? That every one of 
 us may dread the punishment denounced by 
 law, more than the enemy ; and thus prove 
 the better soldier in the cause of his country. 
 The man, then, who declines the service of 
 the field, the coward, and he who leaves his 
 post in battle, are, by our lawgiver, excluded 
 from all share [2.] in public deliberations, 
 rendered incapable of receiving the honour 
 of a crown, and denied admission to the re- 
 ligious rites performed by the public. But 
 you direct us to crown a person, whom the 
 laws declare to be kicapable of receiving a 
 crown ; and by your decree you introduce a 
 man into the theatre, who is disqualified 
 from appearing there ; you call him into a 
 place sacred to Bacchus, who by his coward- 
 ice hath betrayed all our sacred places — But, 
 that I may not divert you from the great 
 point, remember this. When Demosthenes 
 tells you that he is a friend to liberty, ex- 
 amine not his speeches but his actions ; and 
 consider not what he professes to be, but 
 what he really is. 
 
 And, now that I have mentioned crowns 
 and public honours, while it yet rests upon 
 my mind, let me recommend this precaution. 
 It must be your part, Athenians, to put an 
 end to this frequency of public honours, 
 these precipitate grants of crowns ; else they 
 who obtain them will owe you no acknow- 
 ledgment, nor shall the state receive the 
 least advantage: for you never can make 
 bad men better ; and those of real merit 
 must be cast into the utmost dejection. 
 
 expression imports, ' from the lustral vessels 
 of our public place of assembling.' These 
 vessels of hallowed water were placed at the 
 entrance of their temples, and the avenues 
 of their forum, for the same purpose to 
 which they are at this day applied in Po- 
 pish churches. And it was a part of the 
 religious ceremonies performed in their 
 public assembles, previously to all delibera- 
 tion, to sprinkle the place, and the people, 
 from those vessels.
 
 146 
 
 ORATION OF jESCHINES 
 
 [ORAT. XVIII. 
 
 Of this truth I shall convince you by the 
 most powerful arguments. Suppose a man 
 should ask, At what time this state sup- 
 ported the most illustrious reputation ! in 
 the present days, or in those of our ances- 
 tors? With one voice you would reply, ' In 
 the days of our ancestors.' At what time 
 did our citizens display the greatest merit ? 
 then, or now ? They were then eminent ; 
 now much less distinguished. At what 
 time were rewards, crowns, proclamations, 
 and public honours of every kind most fre- 
 quent ? then, or now ? Then they were 
 rare, and truly valuable ; then the name of 
 merit bore the highest lustre: but now, it 
 is tarnished and effaced; while your ho- 
 nours are conferred by course and custom, 
 not with judgment and distinction. 
 
 It may possibly seem unaccountable, that 
 rewards are now more frequent, yet that 
 public affairs were then more flourishing ; 
 that our citizens are now less worthy, but 
 were then of real eminence. This is a diffi- 
 culty which I shall endeavour to obviate. Do 
 you imagine, Athenians, that any man what- 
 ever would engage in the games held on our 
 festivals, or in any others, where the victors 
 receive a crown, in the exercises of wrestling, 
 or in any of the several athletic contests, 
 if the crown was to be conferred, not on the 
 most worthy, but on the man of greatest in- 
 terest ? Surely no man would engage. But 
 now, as the reward of such their victory is 
 rare, hardly to be obtained, truly honour- 
 able, and never to be forgotten ; there are 
 champions found, ready to submit to the 
 severest preparatory discipline, and to en- 
 counter all the dangers of the contest. Ima- 
 gine, then, that political merit is a kind of 
 game, which you are appointed to direct : 
 and consider that, if you grant the prizes to 
 a few, and those the most worthy, and on 
 such conditions as the laws prescribe, you 
 will have many champions in this contest of 
 merit. But, if you gratify any man that 
 pleases, or those who can secure the strong- 
 est interest, you will be the means of cor- 
 rupting the very best natural dispositions. 
 
 That you may conceive the force of what 
 I here advance," I must explain myself still 
 more clearly. — Which, think ye, was the 
 more worthy citizen ; Themistocles, who 
 commanded "your fleet, when you defeated 
 the Persian in the sea-fight at Salamis ; or 
 this Demosthenes, who deserted from his 
 post ? Miltiades, who conquered the bar- 
 barians at Marathon, or this man ? The 
 chiefs who led back the people from 
 Phyle?[l.] Aristides, sumamed the Just, 
 a title quite different from that of Demos- 
 thenes? — No; by the powers of Heaven, I 
 deem the names of these heroes too noble to 
 be mentioned in the same day with that of 
 this savage. And let Demosthenes shew, 
 when he comes to his reply, if ever a decree 
 was made for granting a golden crown to 
 them. Was then the state ungrateful ? 
 No : but she thought highly of her own dig- 
 nity. And these citizensj who were not 
 
 [1.] From Phyle, i. e.] when Thrasybulus 
 had expelled the thirty tyrants, established 
 
 thus honoured, appear to have been truly 
 worthy of such a state ; for they imagined 
 that they were not to be honoured by pub- 
 lic records, but by the memories of those 
 they had obliged ; and their honours have 
 there remained, from that time down tc 
 this day, in characters indelible and immor- 
 tal. There were citizens in those days, who 
 being stationed at the river Strymon, there 
 patiently endured a long series of toils and 
 dangers, and, at length, gained a victory 
 over the Medes. At their return, they pe- 
 titioned the people for a reward ; and a re- 
 ward was conferred upon them (then deem- 
 ed of great importance,) by erecting three 
 Mercuries of stone in the usual portico, on 
 which, however, their names were not in- 
 scribed, lest this might seem a monument 
 erected to the honour of the commanders, 
 not to that of the people. For the truth of 
 this I appeal to the inscriptions. That on 
 the first statue was expressed thus : — 
 
 Great souls! who fought near fitrymon's 
 
 rapid tide ; 
 And brav'd the invader's arm, and quell'd 
 
 his pride. 
 Eton's high tow'rs confessed the glorious 
 
 deed ; 
 And saw dire famine waste the vanquish'd 
 
 Mede. 
 Such was our vengeance on the barb'rous 
 
 host; 
 And such the gen'rous toils our heroes boast. 
 
 This was the inscription on the second : — 
 
 This, the reward which grateful Athens 
 
 gives ! 
 Here still the patriot and the hero lives ! 
 Here, let the rising age with rapture gaze, 
 And emulate the glorious deeds they praise. 
 
 On the third was the inscription thus : — 
 
 Menestheus, hence, led forth his chosen 
 
 train, 
 And pour'd the war o'er hapless Ilion's plain. 
 'Twas his (so speaks the bard's immortal 
 
 lay,) 
 To form th' embody'd host in firm array. 
 Such were our sons Nor yet shall Athens 
 
 yield 
 The first bright honours of the sanguine 
 
 field. 
 Still, nurse of heroes ! still the praise is 
 
 thine, 
 Of ev'ry glorious toil, of ev'ry act divine. 
 
 In these do we find the name of the gene- 
 ral ? No ; but that of the people. F ancy 
 yourselves transported to the grand portico ; 
 for, in this your place of assembling, the 
 monuments of all great actions are erected 
 full in view. There we find a picture of the 
 battle of Marathon. Who was the general 
 in this battle ? To this question you would 
 all answer, Miltiades. And yet his name is 
 not inscribed. How ? Did he not petition 
 for such an honour? He did petition: but 
 the people refused to grant it. Instead of 
 inscribing his name they consented that he 
 
 by the Lacedemonians in Athens, at 
 conclusion of the Peloponessian war. 
 
 the
 
 ORAT. XVIII.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 147 
 
 should be drawn in the foreground, encou- 
 raging his soldiers. In like manner, in the 
 temple of the Great Mother, adjoining to 
 the senate-house, you may see the honours 
 paid to those who brought our exiles back 
 from Phvle. The decree for these honours 
 was solicited and obtained bv Archines, one 
 of those whom they restored to the citizens. 
 And this decree directs, first, that a thou- 
 sand drachma? shall be given to them, for 
 sacrifices and ofl'erings ; a sum which allow- 
 ed not quite ten drachma- to each. In the 
 next place, it ordains, that each shall be 
 crowned with a wreath of olive not of gold. 
 For crowns of olive were then deemed high- 
 ly honourable ; now, those of gold are re- 
 garded with contempt. Nor was even this 
 to be granted precipitately, but after an ex- 
 act previous examination, by the senate, 
 into the numbers of those who ;had main- 
 tained their post at Phyle, when the Lace- 
 demonians and the thirty had marched to 
 attack them, not of those who had (led from 
 their post at Chasronea, on the first appear- 
 ance of an enemy. And for the truth of 
 this let the decree be read. 
 
 The Decree for honouring those who had 
 been at Phyle. 
 
 Compare this with the decree proposed by 
 Ctesiphon in favour of Demosthenes, the 
 author of our most grievous calamities. — 
 Read 
 
 Tlte Decree of Ctesiphon. 
 
 By this decree are the honours granted to 
 those who restored our exiles utterly effaced. 
 If to confer the one was laudable, to grant 
 the other must be scandalous. It' they were 
 worthy of their public honours, he must be 
 utterly unworthy of this crown — But it is 
 his purpose to allege ^as I am informed) 
 that I proceed without candour or justice, 
 in comparing his actions with those of our 
 ancestors. In the Olympic games, saith he, 
 Philamon is not crowned because he hath 
 excelled Glaucus the ancient wrestler, but 
 because he hath conquered his own antago- 
 nists. As if you did not know that, in these 
 games, the contest is between the immediate 
 combatants ; but where political merit is to 
 be honoured, the contest is with merit it- 
 self; nor can the herald at all deviate from 
 truth, when he is to make proclamation in 
 the presence of the Greeks. Do not then 
 pretend to say you have served the state 
 better than Pataecion ; prove that you have 
 attained to true and perfect excellence ; and 
 then demand honours from the people. 
 But, that I may not lead you too far from 
 the subject, let the secretary read the inscrip- 
 tion in honour of those who brought back 
 the people from Phyle. 
 
 THE INSCRIPTION. 
 
 Those wreaths Athenian gratitude bestows 
 On the brave chiefs, who first, for freedom, 
 
 rose, 
 Drove the proud tyrants from their lawless 
 
 state, 
 And bade the rescu'd land again be great. 
 
 That they had overturned a government 
 repugnant to the laws ; this is the very rea- 
 son here assigned for their public honours. 
 For such was the universal reverence foi 
 the laws, at that time, that men's ears were 
 perpetually ringing with this maxim, that, 
 by defeating Impeachments against illegal 
 practices, oiir constitution was instantly sub- 
 verted. So have I been informed by my 
 father, who died at the age of ninety-five, 
 after sharing all the distresses of his country. 
 Such were the principles he repeatedly in- 
 culcated, in his hours of disengagement. 
 By him have I been assured that, at the 
 time when our freedom was just restored, 
 the man who stood arraigned for any viola- 
 tion of the laws received the punishment 
 due to his offence, without lespite or mercy. 
 And what offence can be conceived more 
 impious than an infringement of the laws 
 either by word or action ? — At that time, 
 said he, such causes were not heard in the 
 same manner as at present. 'The judges 
 exerted more severity against those who 
 stood impeached, than even the prosecutor. 
 It was then usual for them to interrupt the 
 secretary, to oblige him again to read the 
 laws, and to compare them with the decree 
 impeached : and to pronounce the sentence 
 of condemnation, not on those only who 
 had been convicted of violating the whole 
 tenor of the laws, but even on those only 
 who had deviated from them in one single 
 particle. But the present course of proce- 
 dure is even ridiculous. The officer reads 
 the indictment ; but, as if it were an idle 
 song, or some trivial matter of no concern- 
 ment to them, the judges turn their atten- 
 tion to some other subject. And thus, se- 
 duced by the wiles of Demosthenes, you 
 have admitted a shameful practice into your 
 tribunals; and public justice is perverted : 
 the prosecutor is obliged to appear as the 
 defendant ; while the person accused com- 
 mences prosecutor : the judges sometimes 
 forget the points to which their right of ju- 
 dicature extends, and are forced to give sen- 
 tence on matters not fairly cognizable on 
 their tribunals ; and, if the impeached par- 
 ty ever deigns to enter on his defence, his 
 plea is, not that'he is innocent of the charge, 
 but that some other person, equally guilty, 
 hath on some former occasion been suffered 
 to escape. And on this plea Ctesiphon re- 
 lies with greatest confidence, as I am in- 
 formed. 
 
 Your citizen Aristophon once dared to 
 boast, that fiftv-five times had he been pro- 
 secuted for illegal decrees, and as many 
 times had he escaped. Not so Cephalus, 
 our old minister, he whom we deemed the 
 most zealously attached to the constitution. 
 He, on the contrary, accounted it his great- 
 est glory, that, although he had proposed 
 more decrees than anv other citizen, yet 
 had he been not once obliged to defend him- 
 self against an impeachment And this was 
 really matter of triumph ; for, in his days, 
 prosecutions were commenced, not by the 
 partisans of opposite factions against each 
 other, but by friends against friends, in 
 every case in which the state was injured.
 
 148 
 
 ORATION OF JESCHINES [orat. xvin. 
 
 To produce an instance of this. Archimus 
 commenced a prosecution against Thrasy- 
 bulus, on account of a decree for crowning 
 one of those who had returned from Phyle, 
 which, in some circumstances, was repug- 
 nant to the laws ; and notwithstanding his 
 late important services, sentence was pro- 
 nounced against him. These were not at 
 all regarded by the judges. It was their 
 principle, that, as Thrasybulus had once 
 restored our exiles, so he in effect drove his 
 fellow-citizens into exile, by proposing any 
 one act repugnant to the laws. But now 
 we have quite different sentiments. Now 
 our generals of character, our citizens whose 
 services have been rewarded by public main- 
 tenance, [1.] exert their interest to suppress 
 impeachments ; and in this they must be 
 deemed guilty of the utmost ingratitude. 
 For the man who hath been honoured by 
 the state, a state which owes its being only 
 to the gods and to the laws, and yet presumes 
 to support those who violate the laws, in 
 effect subverts that government by which his 
 honours were conferred. 
 
 Here then I shall explain, how far a citi- 
 zen may honestly and regularly proceed in 
 pleading for an offender. When an im- 
 peachment for illegal practices is to be tried 
 in the tribunal, the day of hearing is divided 
 into three parts ; the first part is assigned to 
 the prosecutor, to the laws, and to the consti- 
 tution ; the second is»granted to the accused, 
 and to his assistants. If then sentence of 
 acquittal be not passed on the first question, 
 a third portion is assigned for the considera- 
 tion of the fine, and for adjusting the decree 
 of your resentment. He then who petitions 
 for your vote, when the fine is to be consi- 
 dered, petitions only against the rigour of 
 your resentment. But he who petitions for 
 your vote upon the first question, petitions 
 you to give up your oath, to give up the 
 law, to give up the constitution ; a favour 
 which it is impious to ask ; which, if asked, 
 it is impious to grant. Tell these interce- 
 ders, then, that they are to leave you at full 
 liberty to decide the first question agreea- 
 bly to the laws: let them reserve their 
 eloquence for the question relative to the 
 fine. 
 
 Upon the whole, Athenians, I am almost 
 tempted to declare, that a law should be 
 enacted solely respecting impeachments for 
 illegal proceedings ; that neither the prose- 
 cutor, nor the accused, should ever be allow- 
 ed the assistance of advocates : for the 
 merits of such causes are not vague and un- 
 determined. No; they are accurately de- 
 fined by your laws. As in architecture, 
 when we would be assured whether any part 
 stand upright or no, we apply the rule by 
 which it is ascertained ; so in these impeach- 
 ments we have a rule provided in the record 
 of the prosecution, in the decree impeached, 
 and in the laws with which it is compared. 
 Shew, then, in the present case, that these 
 last are consonant to each other, and that 
 
 [1.] By public maintenance.] In the ori- 
 ginal, ' some of those who have their table 
 in the Prytanaeum' — the greatest honour 
 
 you are at once acquitted. What need you 
 call upon Demosthenes? But if you evade 
 the equitable method of defence, and call to 
 your assistance a man practised in craft, in all 
 the wiles of speaking, you then abuse the 
 attention of your judges, you injure the 
 state, you subvert the constitution. 
 
 It must be my part effectually to guard 
 you against such evasion. When Ctesiphon 
 rises up, and begins with repeating the fine 
 introduction composed for him; when he 
 winds through his solemn periods without 
 ever coming to the great point of his de- 
 fence; then remind him calmly and quietly 
 to take up the record of his impeachment, 
 and compare his decree with the laws. 
 Should he pretend not to hear you, do you 
 too refuse to hear him : for you are here 
 convened to attend, not to those who would 
 evade the just methods of defence, but to 
 the men who defend their cause fairly and 
 regularly. And should he still decline the 
 legal and equitable defence, and call on 
 Demosthenes to plead for him, my first re- 
 quest is, that you would not at all admit an 
 insidious advocate, who thinks to subvert 
 the laws by his harangues : that, when 
 Ctesiphon asks whether he shall call Demos- 
 thenes, no man should esteem it meritorious 
 to be the first to cry, * Call him, call him !' 
 If you call him, against yourselves you 
 call' him, against the laws you call him, 
 against the constitution you call him. Or, 
 if you resolve to hear him, I then request 
 that Demosthenes may be confined to the 
 same method in his defence, which I have 
 pursued in this my charge. And what me- 
 thod have I pursued ? That I may assist 
 your memories, observe, that I have not 
 begun with the private life of Demosthe- 
 nes ; that I have not introduced my prose- 
 cution with a detail of misdemeanours in his 
 public conduct ; although I could not want 
 various and numberless instances to urge, 
 unless I were totally inexperienced in affairs. 
 Instead of this, I first produced the laws 
 which directly forbid any man to be crowned, 
 whose accounts are not yet passed : I then 
 proved that Ctesiphon had proposed a decree 
 for granting a crown to Demosthenes, while 
 his accounts yet remained to be passed ; 
 without any qualifying clause, or any such 
 addition, as, ' when his accounts shall first 
 have been approved :' but in open and 
 avowed contempt of you and of the laws. 
 I mentioned also the pretences to be alleged 
 for this procedure, and then recited the 
 laws relative to proclamations, in which it 
 is directly enacted, that no crown shall be 
 proclaimed in any other place but in the as- 
 sembly only. So that the defendant has not 
 onlv proposed a decree repugnant in general 
 to the laws, but has transgressed in the cir- 
 cumstances of time and place, by directing 
 the proclamation to be made, not in the 
 assembly, but in the theatre ; not when the 
 people were convened, but when the trage- 
 dies were to be presented. From these 
 
 which a citizen could receive for his public 
 service*. Such persons then had a natural 
 authority and influence in public assemblies.
 
 oiiAT. xviii.] AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 points I proceeded to take some notice of 
 his private life : but chiefly I insist upon 
 his public offences. 
 
 It is your part to oblige Demosthenes to 
 the same method in his defence. First, let 
 him speak of the laws relative to magistrates 
 yet accountable to the public ; then of 
 those which regard proclamations; and, 
 thirdly, which is the point of greatest mo- 
 ment, "let him prove, that he is worthy of 
 this honour. And should he supplicate to 
 be allowed his own method, and should he 
 promise to conclude his defence with obvi- 
 ating the charge of illegality, grant him not 
 this indulgence; know that, in this, he 
 means to engage in a trial of skill with his 
 tribunal. It is not his intention to return 
 at any time to this great point; but as it 
 is a point he can by no means obviate by any 
 equitable plea, he would divert your atten- 
 tion to other matters, that so you may for- 
 get the grand article of this impeachment, 
 ut as, in athletic contests, you see the 
 wrestlers struggling with each other for the 
 advantage of situation ; so, in this contest 
 for the state, and for the method of his 
 pleading, exert the most incessant and obsti- 
 nate efforts. Surfer him not to wander from 
 the great article of illegality ; confine him, 
 watch him, drive him to the point in ques- 
 tion; and be strictly guarded against the 
 evasive windings of liis harangue. 
 
 Should you decline this strict and regular 
 examination of the cause, it is but just 
 that I warn you of the consequences. The 
 impeached party will produce that vile im- 
 postor, that robber, that plunderer of the 
 public. He can weep with greater ease than 
 others laugh ; and, for perjury, is of all 
 mankind the most ready. Nor shall I be 
 surprised if he should suddenly change his 
 wailings to the most virulent abuse of those 
 who attend the trial ; if he should declare, 
 that the notorious favourers of oligarchal 
 power are, to a man, ranged on the side of 
 the accuser, and that the, friends of liberty 
 appear as friends to the defendant. But, 
 should he thus allege, his seditious insolence 
 may beat once confounded by the following 
 reply : ' If those citizens who brought back 
 the people from their exile in Phyle, had 
 been like you, Demosthenes, our free consti- 
 tution had never been established : but they, 
 when the most dreadful calamities were im- 
 pending, saved the state by pronouncing one 
 single word, an amnesty (that noble word, 
 the genuine dictate of wisdom :) while you 
 tear open the wounds of your country, and 
 discover more solicitude for the composition 
 of your harangues than for the interest of 
 the" state.' 
 
 When this perjured man comes to demand 
 credit to his oaths, remind him of this ; that 
 he who hath frequently sworn falsely, and 
 yet expects to be believed upon his oath, 
 should be favoured by one of these two 
 circumstances, of which Demosthenes finds 
 neither: : his gods must be new, or his audi- 
 tors different. As to his tears, as to his pas- 
 sionate exertions of voice, when he cries 
 out, ' Whither shall I fly, ye men of Athens ' 
 You banish me from the' city, and, alas ! I 
 
 1-19 
 
 have no place of refuge ? Let this be your 
 reply : And where shall the people find re- 
 fuge? What provision of allies? What trea- 
 sures are prepared ? What resources hath your 
 administration secured ? We all see what 
 precautions you have taken for your own 
 security : you who have left the city, not, as 
 you pretend, to take up your residence in the 
 Piraus, but to seize the first favourable mo- 
 ment flying from your country : you who, to 
 quiet all your dastardly fears, have ample 
 provisions secured in the gold of Persia, and 
 all the bribes of your administration.' But, 
 after all, why these tears? Why these ex- 
 clamations? Why this vehemence? Is it 
 not Ctesiphon who stands impeached ? 
 And, in a cause where judges are at liberty 
 to moderate his punishment. You are not 
 engaged in any suit, by which either your 
 fortune, or your'person, or your reputation, 
 may be effected. For what then doth he 
 express all this solicitude? For golden 
 crowns ; for proclamations in the theatre, 
 expressly forbidden by the law. The man, 
 who, if the people could be so infatuated, 
 if they coidd have so completely lost all 
 memory, as to grant him any such honour, 
 at a season so improper, should rise in the 
 assembly and say, ' Yemen of Athens, I ac- 
 cept the crown, but approve not of the 
 time appointed for the proclamation. While 
 the city wears the habit of a mourner, let 
 not me be crowned for the causes of her 
 sorrow.' This would be the language of a 
 truly virtuous man: — you speak the senti- 
 ments of an accursed wretch, the malignant 
 enemy of all goodness. And, let no man 
 conceive the least fear; (no, by Hercules, 
 it is not to be feared !) that this Demosthe- 
 nes, this generous spirit, this distingusheu 
 hero in war, if disappointed of these ho- 
 nours, shall retire and dispatch himself. 
 He, who holds your esteem in such sove- 
 reign contempt, that he hath a thousand 
 
 | times gashed that accursed head, that head 
 which yet stands accountable to the state, 
 which this man hath proposed to crown in 
 
 , defiance of all law. He, who hath made a 
 trade of such practices, by commencing 
 
 1 suits for wounds inflicted by himself; who 
 is so completely battered, that the fury of 
 Midias still remains imprinted on his head; 
 —head did I call it ? No, it is his estate. 
 
 With respect to Ctesiphon, the author of 
 this decree, let me but mention some few par- 
 ticulars. I pass over many things that might 
 be urged, proposedly to try, whether you 
 can of yourselves, and without direction, 
 mark out the men of consummate iniquity. 
 
 i I then confine mvself to such points a3 
 equally affect them' both, and may be urged 
 with equal justice against the one and the 
 other. Thev go round the public places, 
 each possessed with the justest notions of 
 his associate, and each declaring truths which 
 cannot be denied. Ctesiphon says, that for 
 
 I himself he has no fears : he hopes to be con- 
 sidered as a man of weakness and inexperi- 
 ence: but that his fears are all for the cor- 
 ruption of Demosthenes, his timidity and 
 cowardice. Demosthenes, on the other 
 
 I hand, declares, that with respect to himself
 
 loO 
 
 ORATION OF /ESCHINES 
 
 [ottAT.XVIH. 
 
 he hath full confidence, but that he feels the 
 utmost apprehensions from the iniquity of 
 Ctesiphon and his abandoned debauchery. 
 When these, therefore, pronounce each other 
 guilty, do you, their common judges, by no 
 means suffer their offences to remain un- 
 punished. 
 
 As to the calumnies with which I am at- 
 tacked, I would prevent their effect by a 
 few observations. I am informed that De- 
 mosthenes is to urge, that the state hath 
 received services from him, but in many in- 
 stances hath been injured by me : the tran- 
 sactions of Philip, the conduct of Alexander, 
 all the crimes by them committed, he means 
 to impute to me. And so much doth he 
 rely upon his powerful abilities in the art of 
 speaking, that he does not confine his accu- 
 sations to any point of administration, in 
 which I may have been concerned ; to any 
 counsels, which I may have publicly sug- 
 gested : he traduces the retired part of my 
 life, he imputes my silence as a crime. And, 
 that no one topic may escape his officious 
 malice, he extends his accusations even to 
 my conduct, when associated with my young 
 companions in our schools of exercise. The 
 very introduction of his defence is to con- 
 tain a heavy censure of this suit. I have 
 commenced the prosecution, he will say, not 
 to serve the state, but to display my zeal to 
 Alexander, and to gratify the resentment of 
 this prince against him. And (if I am truly- 
 informed) he means to ask why I now con- 
 demn the whole of his administration, al- 
 though I never opposed, never impeached, 
 any one part of it separately; and why, 
 after a long course of time, in which I 
 scarcely ever was engaged in public business, 
 I now return to conduct this prosecution. 
 
 I, on my part, am by no means inclined 
 to emulate that course of conduct which 
 Demosthenes hath pursued : nor am I asha- 
 med of my own. Whatever speeches I have 
 made I do not wish them unsaid ; nor, had 
 I spoken like Demosthenes, could I support 
 my being. My silence, Demosthenes, hath 
 been occasioned by my life of temperance. 
 I am contented with a little : nor do I desire 
 any accession which must be purchased by 
 iniquity. My silence, therefore, and my 
 speaking, are the result of reason, not ex- 
 torted by the demands of inordinate pas- 
 sions. But you are silent, when you have 
 received your bribe; when you have spent 
 it, you exclaim. And you speak, not at 
 such times as you think fittest, not your 
 own sentiments ; but whenever you are 
 ordered, and whatever is dictated by those 
 masters whose pay you receive. So that, 
 without the least sense of shame, you boldly 
 assert what in a moment after is proved to be 
 absolutely false. This impeachment, for in- 
 instance, which is intended not to serve the 
 state, but to display my officious zeal to 
 Alexander, was actually commenced while 
 Philip was yet alive, before ever Alexander 
 had ascended the throne, before you had 
 seen the vision about Pausanias, and before 
 you had held your nocturnal interviews 
 with Minerva and Juno. How then could 
 
 1 have displayed my zeal to Alexander, un- 
 less we had all seen the same visions with 
 Demosthenes ? 
 
 You object to me that I speak in public 
 assemblies, not regularly, but after inter- 
 vals of retirement. And you imagine it a 
 secret that this objection "is founded on a 
 maxim, not of demociatical, but of a dif- 
 ferent form of government. For in oligar- 
 chies it is not any man who pleases, but the 
 man of most power, that appears as prose- 
 cutor : in democracies, every man that 
 pleases, and when he pleases. To speak 
 only on particular occasions, is a proof that a 
 man engages in public affairs, as such occa- 
 sions, and as the interests of the public, re- 
 quire : to speak from day to day shews, that 
 he makes a trade, and labours for the profit, 
 of such an occupation. As to the objection 
 that you have never yet been prosecuted by 
 me, never brought to justice for your of- 
 fences ; when you fly for refuge to such eva- 
 sions, surely you must suppose that this 
 audience hath lost all memory, or you must 
 have contrived to deceive yourself. Your 
 impious conduct with respect to the Am- 
 phissa?ans, your corrupt practices in the af- 
 fairs of Euboea ; — some time hath now elap- 
 sed since I publicly convicted you of these, 
 and therefore you may perhaps flatter your- 
 self that it is forgotten. But what time can 
 possibly erase from our memory, that, when 
 you had introduced a resolution for the 
 equipment of three hundred ships of war, 
 when you had prevailed in the city to intrust 
 you with the direction of this armament, I 
 evidently proved your fraud, in depriving 
 us of sixty-five ships of this number; by 
 which the state lost a greater naval force 
 than that which gained the victory of Naxos 
 over the Lacedemonians and their general 
 Pollis ? Yet so effectual were your artful 
 recriminations to secure you against justice, 
 that the danger fell, not on you, the true 
 delinquent, but on the prosecutors. To 
 this purpose served your perpetual clamours 
 against Alexander aiid Philip ; for this you 
 inveighed against men who embarrassed the 
 affairs of government : — you, who on every 
 fair occasion have defeated our present in- 
 terests, and, for the future, amused us with 
 promises. In that my last attempt to bring 
 an impeachment against you, did you not 
 recur to the contrivance of seizing Anaxilus, 
 the citizen of Oreum, the man who was en- 
 gaged in some commercial transactions with 
 Olympias ? Did not your own hand inflict 
 the torture upon him, and your own decree 
 condemn him to suffer death ? And this 
 was he, under whose roof you had been re- 
 ceived; at whose table you ate and drank, 
 and poured out your libations ; whose right 
 hand you clasped in yours ; and whom you 
 pronounced your friend and host. This 
 very man you slew; and when all these 
 points were' fully proved by me, in presence 
 of the whole city ; when I called you mur- 
 derer of your host, — you never attempted 
 to deny your impiety : no ; you made an 
 answer that raised a "shout of indignation 
 from the people and all the strangers in the
 
 oxat. xvin.l AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 151 
 
 assembly. You said that you esteemed [1.] 
 trie salt of Athens more than the tables of 
 foreigners. 
 
 I pass over the counterfeited letters, the 
 seizing of spies, the tortures for fictitious 
 crimes, all to load me with the odium of 
 uniting with a faction, to introduce innova- 
 tions in the state. Yet still he means to ask 
 me, as I am informed, what would be 
 thought of that physician, who, while the 
 patient laboured under his disorder, never 
 should propose the least advice; but when 
 he had expired, should attend his funeral, 
 and there enlarge upon those met hods, which, 
 if pursued, would have restored his health. 
 But you do not ask yourself what must be 
 thought of such a minister as could amuse 
 his countrymen with flattery, while he be- 
 trayed their interest at such junctures as 
 might have been improved to their security ; 
 while his clamours prevented their true 
 friends from speaking in their cause; who 
 should basely fly from danger, involve the 
 state in calamities the most desperate, yet 
 demand the honour of a crown for his merit, 
 though author of no one public service, but 
 the cause of all our misfortunes ; who should 
 insult those men, whom his malicious pro- 
 secutions silenced in those times when we 
 might have been preserved, by asking why 
 they did not oppose his misconduct. If this 
 still remains to be answered, they may ob- 
 serve, that, at the time of the fatal battle, 
 we had no leisure for considering the punish- 
 ment due to your offences : we were entirely 
 engaged hi negotiations, to avert the ruin of 
 the state. But after this, when you, not 
 contented with escaping from justice, dared 
 to demand honours ; when you attempted to 
 render your country ridiculous to Greece; 
 then did I arise, and commence this prose- 
 cution. 
 
 But, O ye gods ! how can I restrain my 
 indignation at one thing, which Demosthe- 
 nes means to urge (as I have been told,) 
 and which I shall explain? He compares 
 me to the Sirens, whose purpose is not to 
 delight their hearers, but to destroy them. 
 Even so, if we are to believe him, my 
 abilities in speaking, whether acquired by 
 exercise, or given by nature, all tend to the 
 detriment of those who grant me their at- 
 tention. I am bold to say, that no man hath 
 a right to urge an allegation of this nature 
 against me ; for it is shameful in an accuser 
 not to be able to establish his assertions with 
 full proof. But, if such much be urged, surely 
 it should not come from Demosthenes ; it 
 should be the observation of some military 
 man, who had done important services, but 
 was unskilled in speech ; who repined at the 
 abilities of his antagonist, conscious that he 
 could not display his own actions, and sen- 
 sible that his accuser had the art of per- 
 suading his audience to impute such actions 
 
 [1.] You esteemed, &c] The expressions 
 ' salt' and ' tables' were symbols of friend- 
 ship, familiarity, and affection. So that this 
 declaration imported no more, than that any 
 connexions he had formed abroad were not 
 to interfere with his duty and attachment 
 
 to him as he never had committed. But 
 when a man composed entirely of words, 
 and these the bitterest and most pompously 
 laboured ; when he recurs to simplicity, to 
 artless facts, who can endure it? He who 
 is but an instrument, take away his tongue, 
 and he is nothing. 
 
 I am utterly at a loss to conceive, and 
 would gladly be informed, Athenians, upon 
 what grounds you can possibly give sentence 
 for the defendant. Can it be because this 
 decree is not illegal ? No public act was 
 ever more repugnant to the laws. Or be- 
 cause the author of this decree is not a pro- 
 per object of public justice? All your ex- 
 aminations of mens' conduct are no more, 
 if this man be suffered to escape. And is 
 not this lamentable, that formerly your 
 stage was filled with crowns of gold, con- 
 ferred by the Greeks upon the people (as the 
 season of our public entertainments was as- 
 signed for the honours granted by foreign- 
 ers;) but now, by the ministerial conduct 
 of Demosthenes, you should lose all crowns, 
 all public honours, while he enjoys them in 
 full pomp ? Should any of these tragic 
 poets, whose works are to succeed our public 
 proclamations, represent Thersites crowned 
 by the Greeks, no man could endure it, be- 
 cause Homer marks him as a coward and a 
 sycophant ; and can you imagine that you 
 yourselves will not be the derision of all 
 Greece, if this man be permitted to receive 
 his crown ? In former times, your fathers 
 ascribed every thing glorious and illustrious 
 in the public fortune, to the people ; trans- 
 ferred the blame of every thing mean and 
 dishonourable to bad ministers. But, now, 
 Ctesiphon would persuade you to divest 
 Demosthenes of his ignominy, and to cast it 
 on the state. You acknowledge that you 
 are favoured by Fortune; and justly, for 
 you are so favoured ; and will you now de- 
 clare by your sentence that Fortune hath 
 abandoned you ; that Demosthenes hath 
 been your only benefactor ? Will you pro- 
 ceed to the last absurdity, and, in the very 
 same tribunals, condemn those to infamy, 
 whom you have detected in corruption ; and 
 yet confer a crown on him whose whole ad- 
 ministration you are sensible hath been one 
 series of corruption. In our public specta- 
 cles, the judges of our common dancers are 
 at once fined, if they decide unjustly ; and 
 will you, who are appointed judges, not of 
 dancing, but of the laws, and of public vir- 
 tue, confer honours not agreeably to the 
 laws, not on a few, and those most eminent 
 in merit, but on any man who can establish 
 his influence by intrigue? A judge who 
 can descend to this leaves the tribunal, after 
 having reduced himself to a state of weak- 
 ness, and strengthened the power of an ora- 
 tor. For, in a democratical state, every man 
 hath a sort of kingly power, founded on the 
 
 to the state : a declaration which might well 
 be justified. But his hearers either suspected 
 his sincerity, or were violently transported 
 by that habitual horror which they enter- 
 tained of every violation of the rights of 
 hospitality.
 
 152 
 
 ORATION OF iESCHINES [orat. xviii. 
 
 laws, and on our public acts ; but when he 
 resigns these into the hands of another, he 
 himself subverts his own sovereignty. And 
 then the consciousness of that oath, by 
 which his sentence was to have been direct- 
 ed, pursues him with remorse. In the vio- 
 lation of that oath, consists his great guilt ; 
 while the obligation he confers is a secret to 
 the favoured party, as his sentence is given 
 by private ballot. 
 
 It appears to me, Athenians, that our im- 
 prudent measures have been attended with 
 some degree of lucky fortune, as well as no 
 small danger to the state. For that you, 
 the majority, have, in these times, resigned 
 the whole strength of your free government 
 into the hands of a few, I by no means ap- 
 prove. But that we have not been over- 
 whelmed by a torrent of bold and wicked 
 speakers, is a proof of our good fortune. In 
 former times the state produced such spirits, 
 as found it easy to subvert the government, 
 while they amused their fellow-citizens with 
 flattery. And thus was the constitution de- 
 stroyed, not by the men we most feared, but 
 by those in whom we most confided. Some 
 of them united publicly with the ' Thirty,' 
 and put to death more than fifteen hundred 
 of our citizens, without trial; without suf- 
 fering them to know the crimes for which 
 they were thus condemned ; without admit- 
 ting their relations to pay the common rites 
 of interment to their bodies. Will you not 
 then keep your ministers under your own 
 power ? Shall not the men, now so extrava- 
 gantly elated, be sent away duly humbled ? 
 And can it be forgotten, that no man ever 
 hath attempted to destroy our constitution, 
 until he had first made hm.iielf superior to 
 our tribunals ? 
 
 And here, in your presence, would I glad- 
 ly enter into a discussion with the author of 
 thisdecree, as to the nature of those services, 
 for which he desires that Demosthenes should 
 be crowned. If you allege, agreeably to the 
 first clause of the decree, that he hath sur- 
 rounded our walls with an excellent intrench- 
 ment ; I must declare my surprise. Surely 
 the guilt of having rendered such a work 
 necessary, far outweighs the merits of its 
 execution. It is not he who hath strengthen- 
 ened our fortifications, who hath digged our 
 intrenchments.who hath disturbed the tombs 
 of our ancestors, [1.] that should demand the 
 honours of a patriot minister, but he who hath 
 procured some intrinsic services to the state. 
 If you have recourse ot the second clause, 
 where you presume to say that he is a good 
 man, and hath ever persevered in speaking 
 and acting for the interest of the people, 
 strip your decree of its vain-glorious pomp ; 
 adhere to facts; and prove what you have 
 asserted. I shall not press you with the in- 
 
 [1.] The tombs of our ancestors, &c] To 
 understand this, it must be observed that 
 Themistocles, who built these walls, of 
 which Demosthenes was charged with the 
 repair, had ordered that the materials should 
 be instantly collected from all places without 
 distinction, public or private, profane or 
 sacred. ' Quo factum est,' saith Cornelius 
 
 stances of his corruption, in the affairs of 
 Amphissa and Eubcea. But, if you attempt 
 to transfer the merit of the Theban alliance 
 to Demosthenes, you but impose on the men 
 who are strangers to affairs, and insult those 
 who are acquainted with them, and see 
 through your falsehood. By suppressing 
 all mention of the urgent juncture, of the 
 illustrious reputation of these our fellow- 
 citizens, the real causes of this alliance, you 
 fancy that you have effectually concealed 
 your fraud, in ascribing a merit to Demos- 
 thenes, which really belongs to the state. 
 And now I shall endeavour to explain the 
 greatness of this arrogance, by one striking 
 example. The king of Persia, not long be- 
 fore the descent of Alexander into Asia, dis- 
 patched a letter to the state, expressed in 
 all the insolence of a barbarian. His shock- 
 ing and unmannered licence appeared in 
 every part ; but in the conclusion particu- 
 larly, he expressed himself directly, thus: 
 ' I will not grant you gold : trouble me not 
 with your demands ; they shall not be grati- 
 fied.' And yet this man, when he found 
 himself involved in all his present difficul- 
 ties, without any demand from Athens, but 
 freely, and of himself, sent thirty talents to 
 the state, which were most judiciously re- 
 jected. It was the juncture of affairs, and 
 his terrors, and his pressing want of an al- 
 liance, which brought this sum ; the very 
 causea which effected the alliance of Thebes. 
 You are ever sounding in our ears the name 
 of Thebes, you are ever teasing us with the 
 repetition of that unfortunate alliance : but 
 not one word is ever suffered to escape, of 
 those seventy talents of Persian gold, which 
 you diverted from the public service into 
 your own coffers. Was it not from the want 
 of money, from the want of only five talents, 
 that the foreign troops refused to give up 
 the citadel to the Thebans? Was it not 
 from the want of nine talents of silver, that, 
 when the Arcadians were drawn out, and all 
 the leaders prepared to march, the whole 
 expedition was defeated ? But you are in 
 the midst of affluence, you have treasures 
 to satisfy vour sensuality, — and to crown 
 all — while he enjoys the royal wealth, the 
 dangers all devolve on you. 
 
 The absurdity of these men well deserves 
 to be considered. Should Ctesiphon presume 
 to call upon Demosthenes to speak before 
 you, and should he rise and lavish his praises 
 upon himself, to hear him would be still 
 more painful than all you have suffered by 
 his conduct. Men of real merit, men of 
 whose numerous and glorious services we 
 are clearly sensible, are not yet endured 
 when they speak their own praises. But 
 when a man, the scandal of his country, 
 sounds his own encomium, who can hear 
 
 Nepos, ' ut Atheniensium muri ex sacellis 
 sepulcrisque constarent.' Thus the speaker 
 had a fair opportunity not only for detracting 
 from the merit of his rival, but for conver- 
 ting it into an heinous crime; no less than 
 that of violating those tombs of their an- 
 cestors, which had made part of their forti- 
 fications.
 
 OHAT. XVIII.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 153 
 
 such arrogance with any temper ? No, Ctesi- 
 phon, if you have sense, avoid so shameless 
 a procedure ; make your defence in person. 
 You cannot recur to the pretence of any in- 
 ability for speaking. It would be absurd, 
 that you, who suffered yourself to be chosen 
 ambassador to Cleopatra, Philip's daughter, 
 in order to present our condolements on the 
 death of Alexander, king of the Molossi, 
 should now plead such an inability. If you 
 were capable of consoling a woman of 
 another country, in the midst of her grief, 
 can you decline the defence of a decree for 
 which you are well paid ? Or is he to whom 
 you grant this crown, such a man as must 
 be totally unknown, even to those on whom 
 he hath conferred his services, unless you 
 have an advocate to assist you ? Ask the 
 judges, whether they know Chabrias, and 
 Iphicrates, and Timotheus. Ask for what 
 reason they made them presents, and raised 
 them statues. With one voice they will in- 
 stantly reply, that to Chabrias they granted 
 these "honours, on account of the sea-fight 
 at Naxos ; to Iphicrates, because he cut off 
 the detachment of Lacedemonians ; toTimo- 
 theus, on account of his expedition to Cor- 
 cyra ; and to others, as the reward of those 
 many and glorious services which each per- 
 formed in war. Ask them again, why they 
 refuse the like honours to Demosthenes ; 
 they will answer, because he is a corrupted 
 hireling, a coward and a deserter. Crown 
 him ! would this be to confer an honour on 
 Demosthenes ? Would it not rather be to 
 disgrace yourselves, and those brave men 
 who fell in battle for their country ? Ima- 
 gine that you see these here, roused to in- 
 dignation, at the thoughts of granting him 
 a crown. Hard, indeed, would be the case, 
 if we remove [I.] speechless and senseless 
 beings from our borders, such as blocks and 
 stones, when by accident they have crushed 
 a citizen to death ; if, in the case of self- 
 murder, we bury the hand that committed 
 the deed separate from the rest of the body ; 
 and yet that we should confer honours on 
 Demosthenes, on him who was the author 
 of the late expedition, the man who betrayed 
 our citizens to destruction. This would be 
 to insult the deau, and to damp the ardour 
 of the living, when they see that the prize 
 of all their virtue is dead, and that their 
 memory must perish. 
 
 But to urge the point of greatest moment : 
 should any of your sons demand by what 
 examples they are to form their lives, how 
 would you reply ? For you well know that 
 it is not only by bodily exercises, by semi- 
 naries of learning, or by instructions in mu- 
 sic, that our youth is trained, but much 
 more effectually by public examples. Is it 
 proclaimed in the theatre that a man is ho- 
 noured with a crown, for his virtue, his mag- 
 nanimity, and his patriotism, who yet proves 
 
 [1.] If we remove, &o] Draco the law- 
 giver had enacted this law for exterminating 
 even such inanimate beings as had occasion- 
 ed the death of a citizen, in order (as it 
 seems) to inspire a peculiar horror of homi- 
 cide (the crime most to be guarded against | 
 
 to be abandoned and profligate in his life? 
 The youth who sees this is corrupted. Is 
 public justice inflicted on a man of base and 
 scandalous vices, like Ctesiphon? This af- 
 fords excellent instruction to others. Doth 
 the judge who has given a sentence repug- 
 nant to honour and to justice, return home 
 and instruct his son ? That son is well war- 
 ranted to reject his instruction. Advice in 
 such a case may well be called impertinence. 
 Not then as judges only, but as guardians 
 of the state, give your voices in such a man- 
 ner, that you may approve your conduct to 
 those absent citizens who may inquire what 
 hath been the decision. You are not to be 
 informed, Athenians, that the reputation of 
 our country must be such as theirs who re- 
 ceive its honours. And surely it must be 
 scandalous to stand in the same point of 
 view, not with our ancestors, but with the 
 unmanly baseness of Demosthenes. 
 
 How then may such infamy be avoided? 
 By guarding against those, who affect the 
 language of patriotism and public spirit, 
 but whose real characters are traitorous. 
 Loyalty, and the love of liberty, are words 
 that lie ready for every man. And they are 
 more prompt to seize them, whose actions 
 are the most repugnant to such principles. 
 Whenever, therefore, you have found a man 
 solicitous for foreign crowns, and proclama- 
 tions of honours, granted by the Greeks, 
 oblige him to have recourse to that conduct 
 which the law prescribes ; to found his pre- 
 tensions and proclamations on the true basis, 
 the integrity of his life, and the exact regu- 
 lation of his manners. Should he not pro- 
 duce this evidence of his merit, refuse your 
 sanction to his honours ; support the free- 
 dom of your constitution, which is now fal- 
 ling from you. Can you reflect without 
 indignation, that our senate and our assem- 
 bly are neglected with contempt, while letters 
 and deputations are sent to private houses, 
 not from inferior personages, but from the 
 highest potentates in Asia and in Europe, 
 and for purposes declared capital by the 
 laws ? That there are men who are at no 
 pains to conceal their part in such transac- 
 tions ; who avow it in the presence of the 
 people ; who openly compare the letters ; 
 some of whom direct you to turn your eyes 
 on them, as the guardians of their consti- 
 tution ; others demand public honours as 
 the saviours of their country ? While the 
 people reduced by a series of dispiriting 
 events, as it were to a state of dotage, or 
 struck with infatuation, regard only the 
 name of freedom, but resign all real power 
 into the hands of others. So that you re- 
 tire from the assembly, not as from a public 
 deliberation, but as from an entertainment, 
 where each man hath paid his club, and re- 
 ceived his share. 
 
 That this is a serious truth, let me offer 
 
 among a people not yet completely civilized.) 
 And it my be proper to observe, that Solon 
 who abolished the laws of Draco, as too se- 
 vere, meddled not with those which related 
 to homicide, but left them in full force. 
 Tourreil.
 
 154 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 fORAT XIX. 
 
 something to convince you. There was a 
 man (it grieves me to dwell so often on the 
 misfortunes of the state) of a private sta- 
 tion, who, for the bare attempt of making 
 a voyage to Samos, was, as a traitor to his 
 country, put instantly to death by the coun- 
 cil of Areopagus. Another private man, 
 whose timid spirit, unable to support the 
 general consternation, had driven him to 
 Rhodes, was not long since impeached , and 
 escaped only by the equality of voices : had 
 but one vote more been given for his con- 
 demnation, banishment or death must have 
 been his fate. To these let us oppose the 
 case now before us. A popular orator, the 
 cause of all our calamities, is found guilty 
 of desertion in the field. This man claims 
 a crown, and asserts his right to the honour 
 of a proclamation. And shall not this 
 wretch, the common pest of Greece, be 
 driven from our borders ? or shall we not 
 seize and drag to execution this public plun- 
 derer, whose harangues enable him to steer 
 his piratical course through our govern- 
 ment ? Think on this critical season, in 
 which you are to give your voices. In a 
 few days, the Pythian games are to be cele- 
 brated, and the convention of Grecian states 
 to be collected. There shall our state be 
 severely censured, on account of the late 
 measures of Demosthenes. Should you 
 crown him, you must be deemed accesso- 
 ries to those who violated the general peace. 
 If, on the contrary, you reject the demand, 
 you will clear the state from all imputation. 
 Weigh this cause maturely, as the interest 
 not of a foreign state, but of your own : 
 and do not lavish your honours inconside- 
 rately : confer them with a scrupulous deli- 
 cacy; and let them be the distinctions of 
 exalted worth and merit. Nor be contented 
 to hear, but look round you, where your 
 own interest is so Intimately concerned, and 
 see who are the men that support Demos- 
 thenes. Are they his former companions 
 in the chase, his associates in the manly 
 exercises of his youth ? No, by the Olym- 
 pian God ; he never was employed in rous- 
 ing the wild boar, or in any such exercises 
 as render the body vigorous : he was solely 
 engaged in the sordid arts of fraud and cir- 
 cumvention. 
 
 And, let not his arrogance escape your at- 
 tention when he tells vou, that, by his em- 
 bassy, he wrested Byzantium from the hands 
 of Philip; that his eloquence prevailed on 
 the Acarnanians to revolt; his eloquence 
 transported the souls of the Thebans. He 
 
 thinks that you are sunk to such a degree 
 of weakness, that he may prevail on you to 
 believe that you harbour the very genius of 
 persuasion in your city, and not a vile syco- 
 phant. And when, at the conclusion of his 
 defence, he calls up his accomplices in cor- 
 ruption as his advocates, then imagine that 
 you see the great benefactors of your coun- 
 try, in this place from whence I speak, ar- 
 rayed against the villany of those men : So- 
 lon, the man who adorned our free consti- 
 tution with the noblest laws, the philoso- 
 pher, the renowned legislator, entreating 
 you, with that decent gravity which distin- 
 guished his character, by no means to pay 
 a greater regard to the speeches of Demos- 
 thenes than to your oaths and laws : Aris- 
 tides, who was suffered to prescribe to the 
 Greeks their several subsidies, whose daugh- 
 ters received their portions from the people 
 at his decease; roused to indignation at this 
 insult on public justice, and asking whether 
 you are not ashamed that, when your fa- 
 thers banished Arthmius [1.] the Zelian, 
 who brought in gold from Persia; when 
 they were scarcely restrained from killing a 
 man connected with the people in (he most 
 sacred ties, and, by public proclamation, 
 forbade him to appear in Athens, or in any 
 part of the Athenian territory,— yet you are 
 going to crown Demosthenes with a golden 
 crown, who did not bring in gold from Per- 
 sia, but received bribes himself, and still 
 possesses them. And can you imagine but 
 that Themistocles, and those who fell at 
 Marathon, and those who died at Plata?a, 
 and the very sepulchres of our ancestors, 
 must groan, if you confer a crown on this 
 man, who confessedly united with the bar- 
 barians against the Greeks ? 
 
 And, now, bear witness for me, thou 
 Earth, thou Sun, O Virtue and Intelligence,- 
 and thou, O Erudition, which teacheth us 
 the just distinction between vice and good- 
 ness, I have stood up, I have spoken in the 
 cause of justice. If I have supported .my 
 prosecution with a dignity befitting its im- 
 portance, I have spoken as my wishes dic- 
 tated ; if too deficiently, — as my abilities ad- 
 mitted. Let what hath now been offered, 
 and what your own thoughts must supply, 
 be duly weighed, and pronounce such a sen- 
 tence as justice and the interests of the state 
 demand. 
 
 [1.] Arthmius, &c] 
 Philippic the Third. 
 
 See note 3, p. 47, on 
 
 THE ORATION OF DEMOSTHENES ON THE CROWN. 
 
 In the first place, ye men of Athens, I make 
 my prayer to all the powers of heaven, that 
 such affection as I have ever invariably dis- 
 covered to this state and all its citizens, you 
 now may entertain for me, upon this pre- 
 sent trial. And (what concerns you nearly, 
 what essentially concerns your religion and 
 your honour,) — that the gods may so dis- 
 pose your minds, as to admit me to proceed 
 
 in my defence, not as directed by my adver- 
 sary (that would be severe indeed !) but by 
 the laws, and by your oath; in which, to all 
 the other equitable clauses, we find this ex- 
 pressly added — ' each party shall have equal 
 audience.' This imports not merely, that 
 you shall not prejudge, not merely that the 
 same impartiality shall be shewn to both ; 
 but still farther, that the contending parties
 
 or at. xix.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 155 
 
 shall each be left at full liberty to ar- 
 range, [1.] and to conduct his pleading, as 
 his choice or judgment may determine. 
 
 In many instances hath .<Eschines the en- 
 tire advantage in this cause. Two there are 
 of more especial moment. First, as to our 
 interests in the contest, we are on terms ut- 
 terly unequal ; for they are by no means 
 points of equal import, for me to be depriv- 
 ed of your affections, and for him to be de- 
 feated in his prosecution. As to me — but, 
 when I am entering on my defence, let me 
 suppress every thing ominous, sensible as I 
 must be ot this, the advantage of my adver- 
 sary In the next place, such is the natural 
 
 disposition of mankind, that invective and 
 accusation are heard with pleasure, while 
 they who speak their own praises are receiv- 
 ed with impatience. His, then, is the part 
 which commands a favourable acceptance ; 
 that which must prove offensive to every 
 single hearer, is reserved for me. If, to 
 guard against this disadvantage, I should 
 decline all mention of my own actions, I 
 know not by what means I could refute the 
 charge, or establish my pretensions to this 
 honour. If, on the other hand, I enter into 
 a detail of my whole conduct, private and 
 political, I must be obliged to speak perpe- 
 tually of myself. Here, then, I shall en- 
 deavour to preserveall possible moderation ; 
 and, what the circumstances of the case ne- 
 cessarily extort from me must, injustice, 
 be imputed to him who first moved a prose- 
 cution so extraordinary. 
 
 I presume, ye judges, ye will all acknow- 
 ledge, that in this cause Ctesiphon and I 
 are equally concerned ; that it calls for my 
 attention no less than his. For, in every 
 case, it is grievous and severe to be deprived 
 of our advantages; and especially when they 
 are wrested from us by an enemy. But to 
 be deprived of your favour and affections, 
 is a misfortune the most severe, as these 
 are advantages the most important. And if 
 such be the object of the present contest, I 
 hope, and it is my general request to this 
 tribunal, that, while I endeavour to defend 
 myself fairly and equitably against this 
 charge, ye will hear me as the laws direct, 
 those laws, which their first author, Solon, 
 the man so tender of our interests, so true a 
 friend to liberty, secured not by enacting 
 only, but by the additional provision of that 
 oath imposed on you, ye judges, not, as I 
 conceive, from any suspicion of your inte- 
 grity, but from a clear conviction, that, as 
 the prosecutor, who is first to speak, hath 
 the advantage of loading his adversary with 
 
 [1.] To arrange, &c] This is a liberty 
 the orator hath accordingly assumed, and 
 most artfully and happily. Under the pre- 
 tence of guarding against all prepossessions, 
 he first enters into a full detail of public af- 
 fairs, and sets his own services in the fairest 
 point of view. Having thus gained the 
 hearts of his hearers, then he ventures on 
 the points of law relative to his accounts, 
 &c. And these he soon dismisses, with an 
 affected contempt of his adversary, and a 
 perfect confidence in the merits of his own 
 
 invectives and calumnies, the defendant 
 could not possibly prevail against them, un- 
 less each of you, who are to pronounce sen- 
 tence, should, with a reverend attention to 
 that duty which you owe to heaven, fa- 
 vourably admit the just defence of him who 
 is to answer, vouchsafe an impartial and 
 equal audience to both parties, and thus 
 form your decision on all that hath been 
 urged by both. 
 
 As I am, on this day, to enter into an ex- 
 act detail of all my conduct, Ixrth in private 
 life, and in my public administration, here 
 permit me to repeat those supplications to 
 the gods with which I first began, and, in 
 your presence, to offer up my prayers, first, 
 that I may be received by you, on this oc- 
 casion, with the same affection which I 
 have ever felt for this state and all its citi- 
 zens ; and, in the next place, that heaven 
 may direct your minds to that determina- 
 tion which shall prove most conducive to 
 the general honour of all, and most exactly 
 consonant to the religious engagements of 
 each individual. 
 
 Had ^Eschines confined his accusation to 
 those points only on which he founded his 
 impeachment, 1 too should have readily pro- 
 ceeded to support the ' legality' of the de- 
 cree. But, as he hath been no less copious 
 upon other subjects, as he hath pressed me 
 with various allegations, most of them the 
 grossest falsehoods, I deem it necessary, 
 and it is but just, that I first speak a few 
 words of these, that none of you may be 
 influenced by matters foreign to the cause, 
 and no prepossessions conceived against me 
 when I come to the chief point of my de- 
 fence. 
 
 As to all that scandalous abuse which he 
 hath vented against my private character, 
 mark, on what a plain and equitable issue 
 I rest the whole. If you know me to lie 
 such a man as he alleges (for I am no stran- 
 ger, my life hath been spent among you,) 
 sutler me not to speak, no, though my pub- 
 lic administration may have had the most 
 transcendent merit; rise up at once, and 
 pronounce my condemnation. But if yon 
 have ever esteemed, if you have known me 
 to be much superior to him, of a family 
 more reputable; inferior to no citizen of 
 common rank, either in character or birth 
 (to say more might seem arrogant and of- 
 fensive,) then let him be denied all confi- 
 dence in other matters ; for here is a plain 
 proof that he hath equally been false in all ; 
 and let me be now favoured with the same 
 regard which I have experienced on many 
 
 cause. Then come his objections to the 
 character of the prosecutor, which naturally 
 led him round again to the history of his 
 own administration, the point on which he 
 chiefly relied; and where he had the finest 
 occasions of displaying his own merits, and 
 of loading jEschines and his adherents with 
 the heaviest imputations, as traitors to the 
 state, and malicious enemies to those who 
 were distinguished by their zeal in support 
 of their rights and dignity. 
 
 p 2
 
 loC 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. xix. 
 
 former trials. — Yes, .Eschines ! depraved 
 as is your heart, your understanding here 
 appears equally depraved ! To imagine that 
 I could be diverted from the account of all 
 my political transactions, by turning aside 
 to these your personal scurrilities : I shall 
 not proceed thus : I am not so infatuated ; 
 no, I shall first examine all that falsehood 
 and virulence with which you have loaded 
 my administration; and then proceed to 
 those calumnies with which he hath so li- 
 centiously abused my private character, if 
 this audience can endure the odious detail. 
 [1.] To proceed then to the articles on 
 which I am accused. These are many and 
 grievous ; some of that kind, against which 
 the laws denounce severe, nay the utmost, 
 punishments. But the whole scheme of 
 this prosecution discovers all the rancour of 
 enmity, all the extravagance, and virulence, 
 and insolence of malice ; which, I call the 
 gods to witness, is neither right, nor consti- 
 tutional, nor just. True it is, that no man 
 should be denied-the privilege of appearing 
 and speaking before the people ; but this 
 privilege never should be perverted to the 
 purposes of animosity and envy. ' Yet thus 
 hath he abused it.' For, had he really 
 been witness of my crimes against the state, 
 and of crimes so heinous, as he hath now 
 set forth with such theatrical solemnity, he 
 might have resorted to the legal punish- 
 ments, while the facts were recent ; had he 
 seen me acting so as to merit an impeach- 
 ment, he might have impeached ; had I 
 proposed illegal decrees, he might in due 
 form have accused me of illegal decrees ; or 
 whatever other crimes his malice hath now 
 falsely urged against me, whatever other 
 instances of guilt he had discovered in my 
 conduct; there are laws against them all, 
 there are punishments, there are legal fonns 
 of procedure, which might have condemned 
 me to the severest penalties. Here was his 
 resource. And, did it appear, that he had 
 proceeded thus, that he had thus embraced 
 the legal advantages against me, then had 
 he been consistent in the present prosecu- 
 tion. But now, as he hath deviated from 
 the regular and equitable method ; as he 
 hath declined all attempts to convict me, 
 while the facts were recent ; and, after so 
 long an interval, hath collected such a heap 
 of calumny, of ribaldry, and scandal; it is 
 evident he but acts a part; while I am the 
 person really accused, he affects the form of 
 proceeding only against this man: while, 
 on the very face of the prosecution, there 
 appears a malicious design against me, he 
 dares not point his malice at the real object, 
 but labours to destroy the reputation of 
 another. So that, to all the other argu- 
 ments, obvious to be urged, with all the 
 force of truth, in defence of Ctesiphon, I 
 might fairly add one more : That, whatever 
 be our particular quarrels, justice requires 
 that they should be discussed between our- 
 selves ; that we ourselves, I say, should sup- 
 port the contest, and not seek for some fo- 
 
 ri.] In the common editions of the origi- 
 nal, this whole passage is embarrassed and 
 
 nocent victim to sacrifice to our animosities. 
 This is the severest injustice. No! he can- 
 not pursue Ctesiphon on my account ; and 
 that he hath not directed his impeachment 
 against me, can proceed but from a consci- 
 ousness that such impeachment could not 
 be supported. 
 
 Here then I may rest my cause ; as it is 
 natural to conclude from what hath now 
 been offered, that all the several articles of 
 his accusation must be equally unjust, and 
 equally devoid of truth. But it is my pur- 
 pose to examine them distinctly, one by 
 one; and especially his injurious falsehoods 
 relative to the ' peace' and ' embassy,' where 
 he would transfer the guilt of those actions 
 upon me, which he himself committed, in 
 conjunction with Philocrates. And -here, 
 my fellow-citizens, it is necessary, nor is it 
 foreign to the purpose, to recall to your re- 
 membrance the state of our affairs in those 
 times: that, together with each conjunc- 
 ture, ye may have a clear view of each par- 
 ticular transaction. 
 
 At that period, then, when the Phocian 
 war broke out (not by my means, for I had 
 no share in public business at that time,) 
 such were, in the first place, the dispositions 
 of this state, that we wished the safety of 
 the Phocians, although we saw the injustice 
 of their conduct ; and what calamity soever 
 the Thebans might have suffered would 
 have given us pleasure, as we were incensed, 
 and not without reason and justice, against 
 this people : indeed they had not used their 
 success at Leuctra with moderation. Then 
 Peloponnesus was all divided : those who 
 hated the Lacedemonians were not strong 
 enough to destroy them ; nor could the go- 
 vernors, appointed by Lacedemon, maintain 
 their authority in the several cities : but 
 they, and all, were every where involved in 
 desperate contention and disorder. Philip, 
 perceiving this (for it was no secret,) and 
 lavishing his gold on the traitors in the se- 
 veral states, aided the confusion, and in- 
 flamed them stil more violently against 
 each other. Thus did he contrive to make 
 the faults and errors of other men subser- 
 vient to his own interests, so as to rise to 
 that height of power which threatened all 
 Greece. And now, when men began to sink 
 under the calamity of a long-protracted war ; 
 when the then insolent, but now unhappy 
 Thebans, were on the point of being com- 
 pelled, in the face of Greece, to fly to you 
 for protection ; Philip, to prevent this, to 
 keep the states from uniting, promised a 
 peace to you ; to them a reinforcement. 
 What was it, then, which so far conspired 
 with his designs, that you fell into the snare 
 by an error almost voluntary ? The coward- 
 ice shall I call it ? Or the ignorance of the 
 other Greeks ? Or rather a combination of 
 both ? Who, while you were maintaining a 
 tedious and incessant war, and this in the 
 common cause (as was evident in fact,) 
 never once provided for your support, 
 either by money, or by troops, or by any 
 
 confused. The translator hath followed 
 the arrangement of Dr. Taylor.
 
 hat. sax.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 lo7 
 
 assistance whatever. This conduct yon re- 
 ceived with a just and a becoming resent- 
 ment, and readily listened to the overtures 
 of Philip. Hence were you prevailed on to 
 grant the peace, not by any promises of 
 mine, as he hath falsely asserted. And, it 
 must appear, upon a fair examination, that 
 the iniquity and corruption of these men, 
 in the course of that treaty, have been the 
 real cause of all our present difficulties. 
 But I shall now proceed to a faithful and 
 exact detail of this whole transaction ; con- 
 scious, that, if any instances of guilt ever 
 so heinous should appear in it, not one can 
 be fairlv charged on me. 
 
 The first who [I.] ever moved or mention- 
 ed a peace was Aristodemus the player. The 
 man who seconded his instances, and pro- 
 posed the decree, and who, with him, had 
 hired out his services on this occasion, was 
 Philocrates, your accomplice, j95schines, not 
 wine ; no ! though you roar out your false- 
 hoods till you burst They who united with 
 
 them in support of this measure (from what 
 motives I shall not now inquire,) where Eu- 
 bulus and Cephisophon. I had no part in it 
 at all. And though this be really the fact, 
 though it be proved by the evidence of truth 
 itself, yet so abandoned is he to all sense of 
 •ihame, as to dare not only to assert that I was 
 the author of this peace, but that I prevent- 
 ed the state from concluding it in conjunc- 
 tion with the general assembly of the Greeks. 
 
 O thou— by what name can I properly 
 
 all thee ? When thou wert present, when 
 thou sawest me depriving the state of an inte- 
 rest so important, a conjunction of such mo- 
 ment, as thou now describest with so much 
 £omp, didst thou express thy indignation ? 
 lidst thou rise up, to explain, to enforce, 
 that guilt of which thou now accusest me ? 
 And, had Philip purchased this my impor- 
 tant service of preventing the union of the 
 Greeks, surelv it was not thy part to be si- 
 lent, but to cfy aloud, to testify, to inform 
 these thy fellow-citizens. But this was 
 never done : thy voice was never once heard 
 on this occasion. — And, in fact, no embassy 
 was at that time sent to any of the Grecian 
 states; thev had all discovered their senti- 
 ments long "before:— such is the absurdity 
 of his assertions. And, what is still worse, 
 these his falsehoods are principally directed 
 against the honour of our state. For, if 
 you called on the other Greeks to take up 
 arms, and at the same time sent out your 
 ministers to Philip to treat for peace, this 
 was the act of an Eurybatus, not the part 
 of this city, not the procedure of honest 
 men. But this is not the fact: no! For 
 what purpose could ye have sent to them at 
 that period ? For a peace ? They were all 
 at peace. For a war ? We were then ac- 
 tually deliberating about the treaty. Upon 
 the whole, therefore, it doth not appear 
 that I was at all the agent, or at all the author, 
 of this first peace : nor can he produce the 
 least reasonable evidence to support those 
 other falsehoods he hath urged against me. 
 
 [].] The first w'ho, &c] The particulars 
 of this whole negotiation are related at large 
 
 Again, from the time when this state had 
 agreed to peace, examine fairly, what course 
 of conduct each of us adopted. Thus you 
 will clearly see who was Philip's agent upon 
 every occasion ; who acted for you, and 
 sought the real interest of his country. 
 
 I, on my part, proposed a decree in the 
 senate, that our ambassadors should em- 
 bark, with all expedition, for such place as 
 they were informed was the present resi- 
 dence of Philip, and receive his oaths of ra- 
 tification. But they, even after my decree 
 had passed, declined to pay the due obe- 
 dience. And here, Athenians ! I must ex- 
 plain the import and moment of this my 
 decree. It was the interest of Philip, that 
 the interval between our acceding and his 
 swearing to the treaty should be as long, 
 yours, that it should be as short, as possible. 
 And why ? You had abandoned all warlike 
 preparations, not only from the day when 
 you had sworn to the peace, but from the 
 moment you had first conceived an expecta- 
 tion of it : he, on the contrary, redoubled 
 his attention to all military affairs, through 
 the whole intervening period; concluding 
 (and it proved a just conclusion, I that what- 
 ever places he could wrest from us, previ- 
 ously to his oaths of ratification, he might 
 retain them all securely, and that no one 
 could think of rescinding the treaty upon 
 that account. This I foresaw; I weighed 
 it maturely, and hence proposed this decree, 
 that they should repair to Philip, and re- 
 ceive his oaths, with all expedition ; that 
 so he should be obliged to ratify the treaty, 
 while the Thracians, your allies, yet kept 
 possession of those places, the object of this 
 man's ridicule, Serrium, Myrtium, and 
 Ergyskfe: not that Philip, by seizing such 
 of them as were most convenient to his pur- 
 poses, should become master of all Thrace ; 
 not that he should acquire vast treasures ; 
 not that he should gain large reinforcements, 
 and thus execute all his future schemes with 
 
 ease. Here is a decree which jEschines 
 
 hath never mentioned, never quoted. But, 
 because I moved in the senate, that the am- 
 bassadors of Macedon should be introduced, 
 he inveighs against me as highly criminal. 
 What should I have done ? Was I to move, 
 that they should not be introduced ? The 
 men who came purposely to treat with us ! 
 Was I to forbid, that any seats should be 
 appointed for them in the theatre ? Why, 
 they might have purchased seats at the 
 common trifling price ! Was 1 to shew my 
 concern for Athens by such minute savings, 
 while, like him and his accomplices, I sold 
 
 our capital interests to Philip ? No ! 
 
 Take my decree, which he, though well ac- 
 quainted with it, hath passed over in si- 
 lence. Read ! 
 
 The Decree. 
 
 " In the archonship of Mnesiphilus, on 
 the 19th day of the month Ecatombaeon, 
 the Pandionian tribe presiding,— Demos- 
 
 in the third book of the History of the Life 
 of Philip.
 
 158 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. xix. 
 
 thenes, son of Demosthenes of the Paeanian 
 tribe, proposed the following decree: 
 
 " Whereas Philip, by his ambassadors 
 sent to Athens to confer about a peace, hath 
 agreed and concluded on the terms : it is 
 resolved bv the senate and people of Athens, 
 in order to' the final execution of this treaty, 
 agTeeablv to the resolutions and conventions 
 of a former assembly, that five ambassadors 
 be chosen from the community of Athens : 
 which ambassadors thus chosen shall depart, 
 and without delay repair to such place as 
 they shall be informed is the place of Philip's 
 residence, and, with all possible expedition, 
 mutually receive and take the oaths neces- 
 sary for ratification of the treaty concluded, 
 as aforesaid, with the people of Athens, in- 
 cluding the allies on each side.— The persons 
 chosen into this commission are Eubulus, 
 vEschines, Cephisophon, Democrates, and 
 aeon." 
 
 When, by this decree, I had approved my 
 attachment to the state, not to the interest 
 of Philip, our excellent ambassadors sat 
 down in perfect indifference, three whole 
 months, in Macedon, although, within the 
 space of ten, or rather of three, or four 
 days, they might have arrived at the Helles- 
 I>ont, tendered the oaths, and thus saved 
 the towns before he had reduced them — 
 For he would not have attempted the least 
 hostility in our presence ; or, if he had, we 
 might have refused his ratification, and dis- 
 appointed his hopes of peace : for he could 
 not have enjoyed both ; a peace and his con- 
 quests also. 
 
 Such was the first instance of Philip's ar- 
 tifice in this negotiation, and of the corrup- 
 tion of these wicked men; for which I 
 then denounced, and now and ever must de- 
 nounce, perpetual war and opposition against 
 these enemies of heaven. — I proceed to point 
 out another, and a still more flagrant instance 
 
 of iniquity When Philip had, in due form, 
 
 acceded to the treaty, having first possessed 
 himself of Thrace, by means of those mi- 
 nisters who refused obedience to my decree, 
 he bribed them once again not to depart 
 from Macedon, until he had completed 
 his armament against the Phocians ; lest a 
 fair report of his designs and preparations 
 should prompt you to issue forth, steer 
 your course to Thermopylae, as on a for- 
 mer [1.] occasion; and block up the straits 
 of Eubcea with your navy. He resolved that 
 the news of his preparations, and his passage 
 through the straits, should arrive together. 
 And such were his apprehensions, such the 
 violence of his terror, lest, when he had 
 gained the straits, before he had completed 
 the destruction of Phocis, ye should be in- 
 formed of his motions, resolve to assist this 
 state, and thus defeat his grand design ; 
 that he again bribed this wretch, not in 
 conjunction with the other deputies, but 
 now apart, and by himself, to make such 
 representations, and to give you such as- 
 surances as effectually ruined all our in- 
 terests. 
 
 [I.] As on a former, &c] 
 duction to Philippic I. 
 
 See the Intro- 
 
 And here, my fellow-citizens, I desire, 1 
 beseech you to bear in mind, through the 
 whole course of this dispute, that, if jEs- 
 chines had urged nothing against me foreign 
 to his cause, I too should have confined my- 
 self to the great point in contest. But as he 
 hath recurred to every charge, every invec- 
 tive which malice could suggest, it becomes 
 necessary for me to make some short reply 
 to all the several crimes alleged against me. 
 
 What then were the declarations which he 
 made at this juncture, and which proved so 
 fatal to our interests ? That you ought not 
 to be violently alarmed at Philip's passage 
 through the straits ; that the event would 
 answer to your most sanguine wishes, if you 
 but continued quiet : that in two or three 
 days you should hear that he had entered 
 into strict friendship with those who seemed 
 the object of his hostilities, and that he had 
 become their enemy, with whom he now 
 united. ' For it is not words,' said he in 
 all the solemnity of language, ' that form 
 the strict band of friendship, but a simila- 
 rity of interests. And it is equally the inte- 
 rest of all, of Philip, of the Phocians, and 
 of Athens, to be relieved from the insolence 
 and stupidity of the Thebans.' — And what 
 were the immediate consequences ? The un- 
 happy Phocians were speedily destroyed, 
 and their cities rased to their foundations : 
 you, who had relied on his assurances, and 
 continued quiet, were shortly obliged to 
 leave your lands desolate, and collect your 
 property within these walls, while he receiv- 
 ed his gold. And, still farther, the invete- 
 rate hatred of the Thebans and Thessalians 
 fell, with all its weight, on Athens, while 
 Philip's conduct was attended with applause 
 and popularity. To prove these things, 
 read the decree of Callisthenes, and the let- 
 ter received from Philip. They both con- 
 firm the truth of my assertions — Read ! 
 
 The Decree. 
 
 " In the archonship of Mnesiphilus, or. 
 the 21st day of the month of Maemacterion, 
 in an assembly extraordinary, convened by 
 authority of the generals, prytanes, and 
 senate, at the motion of Callisthenes, it is 
 
 " Resolved, 
 " That no citizen of Athens be permitted, 
 on any pretence whatever, to pass the night 
 in the country : but that every man shall 
 confine himself within the city, or the pre- 
 cincts of the Piraeus, excepting only such 
 persons as may be appointed to the defence 
 of some post. That every such person shall 
 be obliged to maintain his station, without 
 presuming to absent himself, either by night 
 or day. That whoever refuses to pay due 
 obedience to this resolution and decree, shall 
 incur the penalties ordained for traitors, un- 
 less he can allege some necessary cause, to be 
 approved of by the general immediately in 
 command, the treasurer, and the secretary 
 of the senate, who shall have the sole power 
 of judging of such allegations. That ail 
 effects now in the country shall be instantly 
 removed ; those within "the distance of a 
 hundred and twenty stadia, into the city or
 
 ouat.xix.] DEMOSTHENES' OKATIONS. 
 
 159 
 
 Piraeus; those at any greater distance, to 
 Eleusis, Phyle, Aphidna, Rhamnusiura, and 
 Suniura." 
 
 Were these the hopes which induced you 
 to conclude the peace? Were these the pro- 
 mises, with which this hireling amused you ? 
 — Now read the letter soon afterward receiv- 
 ed from Philip. 
 
 The Letter. 
 
 " Philip, kins; of Macedon, to the senate 
 and people of Athens, health. 
 
 " Know ye, that we have passed the straits 
 of ThermopyUe, and reduced Phocis. We 
 have stationed our garrisons in such towns 
 as have submitted and acknowledged our 
 authority. Those which have presumed to 
 resist our force, we have taken by assault, 
 reduced the inhabitants to slavery, and rased 
 their habitations to the ground. But, being 
 informed that you are making dispositions 
 for the support of these people, we, by these 
 presents, recommend to you to spare your- 
 selves the pains of such an ineffectual at- 
 tempt. Your conduct must certainly ap- 
 pear extremely inequitable and extravagant, 
 in arming against us, with whom you have 
 so lately concluded a treaty. If you have 
 determined to shew no regard to your en- 
 gagements, we shall only wait for the com- 
 mencement of hostilities, to exert a resolu- 
 tion on our part, no less vigorous and for- 
 midable." 
 
 You hear how he announces his intention 
 in this letter: how explicitly he declares to 
 his allies, ' 1 have taken these measures in de- 
 spite of the Athenians, and to their eternal 
 mortification. If ye are wise, then, ye The- 
 bansand Thessalians, ye will regard them as 
 enemies, and submit to me with an entire 
 confidence.' These are not his words, indeed ; 
 but thus he would gladly be understood. 
 And by these means did he acquire such an 
 absolute dominion over their affections, that, 
 blind and insensible to all consequences, they 
 suffered him to execute the utmost schemes 
 of his ambition. Hence, all the calamities 
 which the wretched Thebans experience at 
 this day. While he, who was the great 
 agent and coadjutor in procuring this impli- 
 cit confidence; he, who in this place uttered 
 his falsehoods, and deceived you by his 
 flattering assurances ; he it is, who affects a 
 deep concern at the misfortunes of Thebes, 
 who displays them in such pathetic terms ; 
 although he himself be the real author both 
 of these and the calamities of Phocis, and 
 of all others which the Greeks have suffered. 
 Yes, jEschines, you must be affected deeply 
 with these events, you must indeed feel 
 compassion for the Thebans : you who have 
 acquired possessions in Bceotia, you who en- 
 joy the fruits of their lands: and I must 
 surely rejoice at their misery ; I who was 
 instantly demanded by the man who had 
 inflicted it. 
 
 But I have been led insensibly to some 
 particulars, which I may shortly introduce 
 with more propriety. I now return to the 
 proof of my assertion, that the corruption 
 and iniquity of these men have been the 
 
 real cause of our present difficulties. When 
 Philip had contrived to deceive you so effec- 
 tually, by means of those who, during their 
 embassy,' had sold themselves to this prince, 
 and never reported one word of truth to your 
 assemblies; when the wretched Phocians also 
 had been betrayed, and their cities levelled 
 to the ground ; — what followed ? The mis- 
 creant Thessalians, and the stupid Thebans, 
 regarded Philip as their friend, their benefac- 
 tor, their saviour: he was every thing with 
 them : nor could they bear a word which 
 tended to oppose these sentiments. On your 
 part, although ye looked with a just suspi- 
 cion on the progress of affairs, although ye 
 felt the utmost indignation, yet still ye ad- 
 hered to the treaty : for it was not possible 
 to act, single as ye were. The other Greeks 
 too, equally abused with you, and equally 
 disappointed in their hopes, were yet deter- 
 mined to the same pacific conduct, though 
 Philip, in effect, had long since made war 
 upon them. For when, in the circuit of his 
 expedition, he had destroyed the lllyrians, 
 and the Triballians, and even some Grecian 
 states ; when a certain set of men had seized 
 the opportunity of a peace, issued forth from 
 the several cities, and, repairing to Macedon, 
 had there received his bribes (of which num- 
 ber jEschines was one, ) then were the real 
 objects of his hostilities discovered, and then 
 was the attack made on the several states. 
 Whether they yet perceived this attack, or 
 no, is another question : a question which 
 concerns not me : I was ever violent in fore- 
 warning, in denouncing the danger here, and 
 in every place to which I was deputed. But, 
 in fact, the states were all unsound. Those 
 who had the conduct and administration of 
 affairs, had been gained by gold : while 
 their private citizens and popular assemblies 
 were either blind to all consequences, or 
 caught by the fatal bait of temporary ease 
 and quiet. And such was the general infa- 
 tuation that each community conceived, 
 that they alone were to be exempted from 
 the common calamity ; nay, that they could 
 derive their own security from the public 
 danger. To this I must impute it, that the 
 many found their inordinate and ill-timed 
 indolence exchanged for slavery : while their 
 statesmen, who imagined that they were 
 selling every thing but themselves, found at 
 length that "they had first sold themselves. 
 Instead of friends and guests (so were they 
 styled, while they were receiving their 
 bribes,) now they were called flatterers, ene- 
 mies to Heaven, and every other odious 
 name so justly merited. For it is not the 
 interest of the traitor that is at all regarded 
 by the man who bribes him ; nor, when the 
 purchased service hath been once obtained, 
 is the traitor ever admitted into his future 
 confidence. If he were, no man could be 
 happier than the traitor. But this is not 
 the case, my fellow-citizens ! How should 
 it ? No ! Impossible ! When the votary 
 of ambition hath once obtained his object, 
 he also becomes master of his vile agents : 
 and, as he knows their baseness, then, then 
 he detests them ; he keeps them at a wary 
 distance ; he spurns them from him. Re-
 
 160 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. xix. 
 
 fleet on former events : their time indeed is 
 passed : but men of sense may always find a 
 time to derive instruction from them. Las- 
 thenes was called the friend of Philip, until 
 he had betrayed Olynthus ; Timolaus, un- 
 til he had destroyed "the Thebans; Eudicus 
 and Simo, until they had given him the 
 dominion of Thessaly; then were they dri- 
 ven away with scorn ; then were they loaded 
 with every kind of wretchedness ; and trai- 
 tors in disgrace were dispersed through the 
 whole nation. How was Aristratus received 
 at Sicyon ? How Perilaus at Megara ? Are 
 they not in abject infamy ? And hence it 
 evidently appears, that he who is most vigi- 
 lant in defence of his country, and most 
 zealous in his opposition to such men, is 
 really a friend to you, ^Eschines, and your 
 venal, traitorous faction (as his conduct 
 makes it necessary to bribe you;) and that 
 your safety and your gain* depend entirely 
 on the number of such patriots, and their 
 obstinate aversion to your counsels. If 
 left to yourselves, ye must have long since 
 perished. 
 
 And now, as to the transactions of those 
 times, I might say more ; but I have already 
 said what I deem more than sufficient. To 
 him must it be imputed, who hath disgorged 
 all the foulness of his own iniquity upon me, 
 which it was necesssary to wipe away, for 
 the sake of those who were born since the 
 events I speak of. To you, ye judges, the 
 detail must be tedious and disgusting. Be- 
 fore I had uttered one word, you were well 
 informed of his prostitution. He calls it 
 friendship and intimate connexion. Thus 
 hath he just now expressed it — ' He who re- 
 proaches me with the intimacy of Alexan- 
 der !' I reproach thee with the intimacy of 
 Alexander ! How couldst thou obtain it ? 
 How couldst thou aspire to it ? I could 
 never call thee the friend of Philip ; no, nor 
 the intimate of Alexander. I am not so 
 mad. Unless we are to call those menial 
 servants, who labour for their wages, the 
 friends and intimates of those who hire 
 them. But how can this be ? Impossible ! 
 No ! I formerly called you the hireling of 
 Philip ; I now call you the hireling of 
 Alexander; and so do all these our fellow- 
 citizens. If you doubt it, ask them; or I 
 shall ask them for you. Ye citizens of 
 
 [1.] You hear their answer.] Commenta- 
 tors seem surprised at the boldness and the 
 success of this appeal. Some tell us, that 
 the speaker was hurried into the hazardous 
 question by his impetuosity. Some that his 
 friend Menander was the only person who 
 returned the answer he desired. Others, 
 again , that he pronounced falsely on purpose, 
 and that the assembly intended but to cor- 
 rect his pronunciation, when they echoed 
 back the word Mio-tfaiTor, hireling. But 
 the truth is, he was too much interested in 
 the present contest, to suffer himself to be 
 really transported beyond the strictest 
 bounds of prudence and caution ; he was 
 too well supported to rely upon a single 
 voice, if such could be at ail heard in the as- 
 sembly ; and he had too much good sense to 
 
 Athens, do you account -^schines the hire- 
 ling, or the intimate, of Alexander? You 
 hear their answer. [1.] 
 
 I now proceed to my defence against the 
 several articles of his impeachment, and to 
 the particulars of my ministerial conduct, 
 that vEschines (although he knows them 
 well) may hear the reasons on which I justly 
 claim the honour of this decree, and might 
 claim still greater honours. Take the im- 
 peachment. Read it. 
 
 The Impeachment. 
 
 "In the archonship of Chserondas, on 
 the 6th day of the month Elapha?bolion, 
 jEschines, son of Atrometus, of the Cotho- 
 cidian tribe, impeached Ctesiphon, son of 
 Leosthenes, of the Anaphlystian tribe, be- 
 fore the archon, of a violation of the laws. 
 
 " Forasmuch as he hath been author of 
 an illegal decree, importing, that a golden 
 crown should be conferred on Demosthenes, 
 son of Demosthenes, of the Pajanian tribe ; 
 and that proclamation should be made in 
 the theatre, during the grand festival of 
 Bacchus, and the exhibition of the new tra- 
 gedies, that the people of Athens had con- 
 ferred this golden crown upon the said De- 
 mosthenes, on account of his virtue, and 
 affectionate attachment to Greece in general, 
 and to Athens in particular ; as also, on ac- 
 count of that magnanimity and steady zeal in 
 speaking and acting for the interests of this 
 state, which he hath ever discovered, and 
 still discovers, upon every occasion, to the 
 utmost of his power. All which clauses are 
 false, and repugnant to our. laws. As it is 
 enacted, 
 
 " First, that no man shall enter false al- 
 legations into our public acts. 
 
 " Secondly, that no man, yet accountable 
 for any office of trust, shall receive a crown : 
 whereas, Demosthenes was director of the 
 fortifications, and manager of the theatrical 
 funds. 
 
 '* Lastly, that no crown shall be proclaim- 
 ed in the theatre during the festival, or dra- 
 matic entertainments, but in the senate- 
 house, if the crown be granted by the senate ; 
 if by the commons, in the Pnyx, and in full 
 assembly. 
 
 "The penalty, [2.] fifty talents. The 
 
 recur to a ridiculous and childish artifice. 
 The assembly, to which he addressed him- 
 self, was of a quite different kind from one 
 of our modern courts of law, where order 
 and decorum are maintained. The audience 
 were not at all concerned to suppress the 
 emotions raised in them by the speaker. And 
 Demosthenes had a large party present, who, 
 he was well assured, would rerurn the pro- 
 per answer loudly. 
 
 [2.] The penalty, &c] The damages, if 
 we may so call them, were laid at such a vast 
 sum as Ctesiphon, if condemned, could by 
 no means discharge : in which case he must 
 have been banished, or branded with infamy : 
 and Demosthenes must probably have shared 
 the same fate ; against whom, no doubt, 
 jEschines would have immediately com-
 
 orat. xix.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 1CI 
 
 agents, [1 ] Cephisophon and Clcon." 
 Here, you have the several articles of the 
 decree, on which he founds his prosecution. 
 And on these very articles I mean to rest the 
 justice Of my cause. I shall take them in the 
 order of this impeachment, and speak to 
 them one by one, without any voluntary 
 omission — As to the clause of ' that steady 
 zeal in speaking and acting for the interest 
 of this state, which I have ever discovered, 
 and still discover upon every occasion, to the 
 utmost of my power,' and the honours ap- 
 pointed to me on this account, the decision 
 must depend on my ministerial conduct. 
 From this conduct, duly considered, it will 
 appear whether Ctesiphon hath adhered to 
 truth and propriety in these assertions, or 
 
 whether they be false As to the omission 
 
 of conferring the crown * when my accounts 
 of office should be first passed,' and the ap- 
 pointment of the theatre as the place of pro- 
 clamation ; these points too might be de- 
 termined by my administration, this might 
 decide whether I be worthy of such an ho- 
 nour and such a publication. Vet I deem it 
 incumbent on me to produce the laws, by 
 which these clauses are fully warranted. So 
 upright and so plain is the scheme of my 
 defence. 
 
 I proceed, then, to the particular measures 
 of my administration. And let no man think 
 that I am suspending the discussion of this 
 cause, if I enter into the affairs and counsels 
 of Greece. He who hath attacked this as- 
 sertion, that ' I have ever spoken and acted 
 for the general interest ;' he who expressly 
 accuses it of falsehood ; he it is, who makes 
 the account of all my public conduct, all my 
 whole system of administration, immediate- 
 ly pertinent and necessary to this suit. Be- 
 sides, among the different departments of 
 those who engage in public business, mine 
 was of that nature which attached me more 
 immediately to the interest of Greece. From 
 these I must, therefore, be allowed to deduce 
 my evidence. 
 
 As to those conquests and acquisitions 
 which Philip had obtained before 1 had en- 
 gaged in the administration, before my ap- 
 pearance as a popular leader, I shall pass 
 them over ; for they, by no means (as I con- 
 ceive,) affect the merits of my cause. As to 
 those various instances in which he found 
 his ambition most effectually restrained, 
 from the very day on which I first entered 
 upon public business, these shall I recall to 
 your thoughts, and freely submit to your 
 judgments. But let this be first premised: 
 one advantage did our adversary enjoy, and 
 this (my fellow-citizens !) of great impor- 
 tance. It was the unhappy fortune of the 
 several Grecian states, not of some only, 
 but equally of all, to supply so vast a pro- 
 vision of traitors, of hirelings, of men de- 
 voted by the gods, as was not known in the 
 memory of man. These did Philip engage 
 as his agents and coadjutors, and, by their 
 
 menced a second prosecution, with the fair- 
 est prospect of success. 
 
 [T.] The Agents, &c] These were usually 
 some friends of the contending party, who 
 
 means, inflamed the animosities which had 
 already torn and distracted the Greeks. 
 Some he deceived; some he gained by 
 bribes ; on others he employed all his en- 
 gines of seduction ; and thus rent the nation 
 into many different parties, although all 
 were alike engaged in one common cause, 
 that of uniting against the progress of his 
 power. In such a general distention of the 
 Grecian states, in such a general blindness, 
 both to the present and to the rising evil, 
 consider, Athenians, what were the mea- 
 sures, what was the conduct, which became 
 this state ? And for these let me be brought 
 to a strict account ; for I am the man who 
 advised and directed them. 
 
 Say then, .-Eschines, was it our part, in 
 despite of every generous sentiment, every 
 consideration of our dignity, to have taken 
 our station with the Thessalians and Dolo- 
 pians, to have ranged ourselves on the side 
 of Philip, in order to subvert the dominion 
 of the Greeks, the honours and the conquests 
 of our ancestors ? Or, if we were to reject 
 such conduct (and surely none could be more 
 shameful,) was it our part, ours, who had 
 foreseen, who seemed perfectly convinced of 
 the consequences which must arise, unless 
 seasonably prevented, to have proved indif- 
 ferent spectators, when these consequences 
 had really arisen ? Yes ! I would gladly ask 
 the man who appears most severe in his 
 censure of our measures, what, in his opi- 
 nion, was our proper part. Was it the part 
 of those, who were the immediate cause of 
 all the misfortunes and calamities which fell 
 upon the Greeks, as the Thessalians and 
 their associates ? or of those who affected an 
 indifference to all events from views of pri- 
 vate interest, as the Arcadians, the Messe- 
 nians, and the Argives '—And yet most of 
 these have, in the event, proved greater 
 sufferers than we. 
 
 I shall suppose that, after Philip had made 
 all his conquests, he had retired to his king- 
 dom, and there lived in peace, without at- 
 tempting to molest either his own allies or 
 the other Greeks. Even in this case, some 
 share of censure and reproach must have 
 fallen on those who had refused to arm 
 against him. But when his assaults were 
 equally directed against the dignity, the 
 sovereignty, and the liberty of our whole 
 nation ; nay, against the very being of those 
 states more immediately exposed to his pow- 
 er ; what measures could have been devised 
 more glorious than those which you em- 
 braced, and I suggested ? 
 
 But let me not wander from my point. 
 What conduct, yEschines, did the dignity of 
 this state demand, when we beheld Philip 
 aiming at the conquest and sovereignty of 
 Greece ? Or what advice should I , her coun- 
 sellor, have given ; what resolutions should 
 I have proposed : and this, in an assembly 
 of Athenians, the circumstance of most im- 
 portance ? I, who well knew, that, from 
 
 were employed in summoning the accused, 
 citing witnesses, and other matteis Oi lorm 
 and legal procedure.
 
 1G2 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. xix. 
 
 earliest times down to the very day on which 
 I first spoke in public, my country had been 
 incessantly contending for pre-eminence, for 
 honour, and renown ? had expended more 
 blood and treasure, for glory and the in- 
 terests of Greece, than all the other Grecian 
 states ever had expended for their several 
 private interests? I, who saw this very 
 prince, with whom we fought for power 
 and empire, with one eye torn out, his neck 
 dislocated, pierced in his arm, maimed in 
 his leg, freely and cheerfully resigning any 
 part of his body which fortune pleased to 
 take, so that he might enjoy the rest with 
 renown and glory f And let no man pre- 
 sume to say that such elevated sentiments 
 became him who was bred at Pella (a place 
 at that time ignoble and obscure,) as to as- 
 pire to the sovereignty of Greece, or to en- 
 tertain a thought of such a daring purpose ; 
 and yet, that you, the citizens of Athens, 
 you who in every assembly, in every thea- 
 trical entertainment, find perpetual memo- 
 rials of the virtue of your ancestors, might 
 descend to such abject meanness, as to re- 
 sign the liberty of Greece, freely and volun- 
 tarily, into the hands of Philip. No ! let 
 not the presumptuous assertion be once 
 heard. 
 
 The only course then left, and the neces- 
 sary course, was this ; to defend your just 
 rights against all his injurious attempts. 
 This course did you instantly pursue, with 
 good reason, and becoming dignity. And 
 in this, I was your counsellor, I was the first 
 mover, during my administration. I con- 
 fess it. And how should I have acted ? Say, 
 iEschines : I call on you — Let all former 
 transactions be forgotten : Amphipolis, Pyd- 
 na, Potidaea, Halonesus, I speak not of 
 them. Serrium and Doriscum too, and the 
 storming of Peparethus, and all the other 
 instances in which the state was injured ; 
 let the memory of them be effaced. You 
 say, indeed, that I dwelt invidiously upon 
 them, in order to embroil my country in a 
 war: although the decrees respecting these 
 several places were proposed by Eubulus, 
 and Aristophon, and Diopithes : not by me. 
 No, thou prompt slanderer ! nor do 1 now 
 dwell upon them. But when he had de- 
 prived us of Eubcea, when he had erected 
 his fortress to command our whole territory, 
 when he had attacked the Megarians, and 
 possessed himself of Oreum, and rased 
 Porthmus ; when he had distributed his go- 
 vernors through the cities, established Plii- 
 listides in Oreum ; Clitarchus, in Eretria: 
 when he had reduced the whole Hellespont 
 to his obedience, and laid siege to Byzan- 
 tium ; when the Grecian cities had, some 
 of them, been subverted by his arms, others 
 forced to received their exiles ; in these in- 
 stances did he act unjustly .' did he violate 
 the treaty, or did he not ? Was it incum- 
 bent on some state to rise up against these 
 attempts, or was it not ? If not ; if Greece 
 
 [1.] For Mysians, i.e. to the weakest of 
 all people The proverb is said to have 
 arisen from the distresses of the Mysians in 
 the absence of their king, Telepnus, and 
 
 was to have proved a prey for Mysians [1.] 
 (according to the proverb,) and this, while 
 Athens yet existed, and was witness of her 
 fall ; then was I officious in remonstrating 
 against these transactions ; then was the 
 state officious in yielding to my remon- 
 strances • mine was then the guilt and error 
 of every measure we pursued. But, if the 
 progress of his arms demanded a vigorous 
 opposition, what community but that of 
 Athens should have risen at the call of ho- 
 nour ? — This was the great principle of my 
 administration. I saw the man aspiring to 
 universal dominion — I opposed him : I 
 warned my fellow-citizens: I taught them 
 to rise against the ambition of the Macedo- 
 nian — And yet the formal commencement 
 of hostilities did not proceed from us. No, 
 jEschines, but from Philip, by his capture 
 of our ships. Produce the decrees, and the 
 letter received from Philip. Read each in 
 order. These, when duly weighed, will en- 
 able us to give each transaction to its pro- 
 per author. Read ! 
 
 The Decree. 
 
 "In the archonship of Neocles: an as- 
 sembly extraordinary being convened by the 
 generals, in the moi th of Boedromion ; 
 Eubulus, son of Mnesitheus, of the Cyprian 
 tribe, proposed the following Decree : 
 
 " Whereas the generals have reported to 
 the assembly, that Leodarnas, our admiral, 
 together with twenty ships sent under his 
 command to import corn from the Helles- 
 pont, has been taken and brought into Ma- 
 ctdon by Amyntas, a commander in the 
 service of King Philip ; it is decreed, that 
 it shall be the care of the prytanes and ge- 
 nerals, that the senate be convened, and am- 
 bassadors chosen, who shall repair to Philip, 
 and demand the dismission of the admiral, 
 the vessels, and the soldiers ; that they be 
 instructed to declare, that if Amyntas hath 
 in this acted through ignorance, the state ot 
 Athens hath no complaints to urge against 
 him ; that, if their officer hath in any wise 
 exceeded his commission, they are ready to 
 take cognizance of his offence ; and to pu 
 nish him, as his inadvertence may have 
 merited : but if neither of these be the case, 
 but that this outrage be avowed either by 
 the person who gave, or who received, the 
 commission, that the ambassadors shall de- 
 mand an explanation, and report the same, 
 that the state may determine on proper 
 measures." 
 
 And this decree did Eubulus frame ; not I. 
 Aristophon proposed the next : then did 
 Hegesippus move for his : then Aristophon 
 again : then Philocrates ; then C'epl.isophon : 
 and then the other speakers : 1 had no con- 
 cern in any. — Read the next. 
 
 The Decree. 
 
 " In the archonship of Neocles, on the 
 
 their helpless state of oppression, when all 
 their neighbours fell upon them, and pil- 
 laged the miserable and defenceless people 
 without mercy.
 
 orat. xix] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 1S3 
 
 last day of the month Bocdromon, by a re- 
 solution of the senate. 
 
 " The prytanes ami generals having re- 
 ported the decree of the general assembly, 
 that ambassadors be sent to Philip to de- 
 mand the restoration of the ships, and that 
 the said ambassadors be furnished witli par- 
 ticular instructions, together with a copy of 
 the decree of the assembly : 
 
 " The persons hereby chosen into this 
 commission are, Cephisophon, Democritus, 
 and Polycrates. Aristophon the Cothocy- 
 dian moved this resolution, in the presiden- 
 cy of the tribe Hippothoontis." 
 
 As I produce these decrees, so, ^Eschines, 
 do you produce that particular decree of 
 mine which makes me author of the war. 
 You have not one to shew : if you had, it 
 must have made vour first and favourite 
 charge. Nay, Philip himself, amidst all his 
 insinuations against others, never once ac- 
 cuses me. Read his own letter to the State. 
 
 The Letter. 
 
 " Philip, king of Macedon, to the senate 
 and people of Athens, health ! 
 
 " I have received three of your citizens in 
 quality of ambassadors, who have conferred 
 with me about the dismission of certain ships 
 commanded by Leodamas. I cannot but 
 consider it as an extraordinary instance of 
 weakness, to imagine that I can possibly 
 believe that these ships were destined to im- 
 port corn from the Hellespont for Lemnos ; 
 and that they were not really sent to the 
 relief of the Selymbrians, now besieged by 
 me, and who are by no means included in 
 the treaty of pacification, by which we stand 
 mutually engaged. Such were the orders 
 your officer received, not from the people 
 of Athens, but from certain magistrates, 
 and others in no private station, who are by 
 all means solicitous to prevail on the people 
 to violate their engagements, and to com- 
 mence hostilities against me. This they 
 have much more at heart than the relief of 
 Selymbria, fondly imagining that they 
 may derive advantages from such a rupture. 
 Persuaded as I am, that our mutual interest 
 requires us to frustrate their wicked schemes, 
 1 have given orders that the vessels brought 
 in to us be immediately released. For the 
 future let it be your part to remove those 
 l>ernicious counsellors from the administra- 
 tion of your affairs ; and to let them feel the 
 severity of your justice ; and I shall endea- 
 vour to adhere inviolably to my treaty. 
 Farewell !" 
 
 Here is no mention [1.] of Demosthenes, 
 no charge against me. And whence is it, 
 that in all his acrimony against others, he 
 takes not the least notice of my conduct ? 
 Because he must have brought his own usur- 
 pations full into view, had he mentioned 
 me. On these I fixed, and these I obstinate- 
 ly opposed. I instantly moved for an em- 
 
 [1.] Here is no mention, <&c] There is 
 indeed no express specification of any person 
 in this letter. But those alluded to were 
 well known. And probably they were the 
 
 bassy to Peloponnesus, the moment he en- 
 tered Peloponnesus. I then moved for an 
 embassy to Eubcea, as soon as he had landed 
 in Euboea. Then did I propose the expe- 
 dition (not an embassy) to Oreum, and that 
 to Eretria, as soon as he had stationed his 
 governors in these cities. After this, did I 
 send out those armaments which saved the 
 Chersonesus, and Byzantium, and all our 
 confederates, from which this state derived 
 the noblest consequences, applause, glory, 
 honours, crowns, thanks, from those who 
 had received such important services. And, 
 even of those who had injured us, such as, 
 on this occasion, yielded to your remon- 
 strances, found effectual security ; they who 
 neglected them, had only the sad remem- 
 brance of your repeated warnings, and the 
 conviction that ye were not only their best 
 friends, but men of true discernment, of a 
 prophetic spirit ; for in every instance the 
 event proved exactly consonant to your pre- 
 dictions. 
 
 That Philistides would have gladly given 
 the greatest sums to have kept Oreum ; that 
 Clitarchus would have given largely to have 
 kept Eretria; that Philip himself would 
 have given largely, that he might possess 
 stations so convenient for annoying us, and 
 that all his other actions should pass unno- 
 ticed, all his injurious proceedings unim- 
 peached, cannot be a secret to any man ; 
 but least of all to you. You, .^schines, 
 received the deputies sent hither by Clitar- 
 chus and Philistides : by you were they en- 
 tertained. Those whom we drove from us 
 as enemies, as men whose overtures were 
 neither consistent with justice nor with the 
 interest of Athens, were your dearest friends. 
 How false and groundless then are your ma- 
 licious accusations ! You, who say that I 
 am silent when I get my bribe, clamorous 
 when I have spent it — Your case is differ- 
 ent: you are clamorous when you receive 
 your bribe; and your clamours can never 
 cease: unless this day's decision should si- 
 lence them effectually by the justly-merited 
 infamy. 
 
 And when you rewarded these mv services 
 with a crown, when Aristonicus proposed his 
 decree, conceived precisely in the very words 
 of this which Ctesiphon hath framed, when 
 proclamation of the honour thus conferred 
 upon me was made in the theatre (for this 
 is the second time I have been thus distin- 
 guished,) j^Eschines, though present, never 
 made the least opposition, never attempted 
 an impeachment — Take the decree Read ! 
 
 The Decree. 
 
 " In the archonship of Chrerondas, son of 
 Hegemon, on the 2.5th of the month Game- 
 lion, the Leontidian tribe then presiding, at 
 the motion of Aristonicus, the following 
 decree was made : 
 
 " Whereas Demosthenes, son of Demos- 
 persons who had been most active in moving 
 the assembly to exert themselves on this oc- 
 casion; Eubulus, Aristophon, Philocrates, 
 and Cephisophon. 
 
 Q
 
 104 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. xix. 
 
 thenes of the Paanian tribe, hath at many 
 times done various and eminent services to 
 the community of Athens, and to many of 
 our confederates ; and, at this time, hath 
 by his counsels secured the interests of the 
 state, and particularly restored the liberties 
 of certain cities in Eubcea ; as he hath ever 
 uniformly persevered in an unalterable at- 
 tachment to the state of Athens, and both 
 by words and actions exerted himself to the 
 utmost of his power, in the service of the 
 Athenians and the other Greeks; Be it en- 
 acted by the senate and the popular assem- 
 bly, that public honours shall be paid to the 
 aforesaid Demosthenes ; and that he shall 
 be crowned with a golden crown ; that the 
 crown shall be proclaimed in the theatre, on 
 the feast of Bacchus, at the time of the per- 
 formance of the new tragedies ; and that the 
 making this proclamation shall be given in 
 charge to the presiding tribe, and to the 
 director of the public entertainments. — This 
 is the motion of Aristonicus of the Phrserian 
 tribe." 
 
 And is there a man can say, that this de- 
 cree brought any of that disgrace upon the 
 state, any of that derision and contempt, 
 which he affirms must happen, if I should 
 obtain this crown ? When actions are recent 
 and notorious, if good, they are received 
 with applause ; if bad, they meet their pu- 
 nishment. But it is well known, that on this 
 occasion I received marks of public favour ; 
 never was censured, never punished. And 
 the consequense is obvious. Down to the 
 period of these transactions, I must have 
 invariably acted for the true interest of the 
 state; for, in all your consultations, my 
 opinions and my measures ever were adopt- 
 ed. These measures I conducted to effectual 
 execution: they were attended with crowns 
 to the state, to me, and to you all; with 
 sacrifices to the gods, and solemn proces- 
 sions, as instances of great success. 
 
 And now, when Philip had been driven 
 from Eubcea (yours was the military glory, 
 but the policy, the counsels, — yes! though 
 these my enemies should burst with envy, 
 — were mine,) he raised another engine 
 against this state. He saw that we, of all 
 people, used the greatest quantities of im- 
 ported grain. Determined to secure this 
 branch of commerce to himself, he passed 
 over into Thrace, and, applying to the By- 
 zantines, then in alliance with him, he first 
 req uired them to join in a war against us. 
 But when thev refused, when they told him 
 (and they told him truth,) that they had 
 not en gaged in his alliance for such purposes, 
 he instantly prepared his works, erected his 
 machines, and besieged their city. I shall 
 not say what conduct became us upon this 
 emergency. It is manifest. Who then sup- 
 ported the By zantines ? Who rescued them 
 from destruction ? Who prevented the Hel- 
 lespont from falling under a foreign power 
 upon this occasion ? You, my countrymen. 
 But when I say vou, I mean the state. Who 
 spake ? Who framed the decrees ? Who 
 acted for the state? Who devoted all his 
 power-s, wholly and freely, to the public 
 interests ? I !— And how essentially the pub- 
 
 lic interests were advanced by these mea- 
 sures, there need no words to prove. Vou 
 have facts, you have experience, to convince 
 you. For the war in which we then engaged 
 (besides the glory which attended your 
 arms,) supplied you with all the necessaries 
 of life, in greater plenty, and at cheaper 
 rates, than the present peace, maintained by 
 these good citizens, in opposition to the in- 
 terests of their country, from their hopes of 
 private advantage. Confounded be their 
 hopes! Never may they share in these 
 blessings, for which your prayers, ye true 
 friends of Athens, are offered up to Heaven ! 
 And O, never may they involve you in the 
 fatal consequences of their machinations ! 
 Let them hear the crowns conferred by By- 
 zantium, and those by Perinthus with which 
 our state was honoured upon this occasion. 
 
 The Decree of the Byzantines. 
 
 " Bosphoricus being ieromnemon, Dema- 
 getus, by permission of the senate, drew up 
 the following resolution : 
 
 "Whereas the people of Athens have, 
 from the earliest times, persevered in an 
 unalterable affection to the Byzantines, and 
 to their confederates, kinsmen, and the Pe- 
 rinthians ; and have lately, when Philip of 
 Macedon invaded and laid waste their terri- 
 tories with fire and sword, and attacked 
 their cities, done them many and signal ser- 
 vices ; and by a reinforcement of one hun- 
 dred and twenty ships, with provisions, 
 arms, and soldiers, have extricated us from 
 the utmost dangers, restored our ancient 
 constitution, our laws, and the sepulchres 
 of our fathers ; it is therefore resolved, by 
 the people of Byzantium and Perinthus, to 
 grant to the Athenians the right of inter- 
 marriage, the freedom of our states, the 
 power of purchasing lands, and the first and 
 most honourable seats in all our public en- 
 tertainments, in the tholus, in the senate, 
 and in the popular assembly. And that 
 whatever Athenian shall choose to reside in 
 our respective cities, shall enjoy a perfect 
 immunity and exemption from all taxes. 
 And it is 'farther resolved, that three statues, 
 sixteen cubits high, shall be erected in the 
 port of Byzantium, representing the com- 
 munity of Athens crowned by the Byzan- 
 tines and Perinthians. And that honorary 
 presents shall be sent to the several general 
 assemblies of Greece, the Isthmian, Nemae- 
 an, Olympic, and Pythian, where procla- 
 mation shall be duly made of that crown, 
 now by us conferred on the people of Athens ; 
 that all Greece may be informed of the mag- 
 nanimity of Athens, and the gratitude of 
 the Byzantines and Perinthians." 
 
 Read, too, the crowns conferred by the 
 inhabitants of Chersonesus. 
 
 The Decree of the Chersonesites. 
 
 " The Chersonesites, inhabitants of Ses- 
 tos, Eleus, Madytus, and Halonesus, do 
 crown the senate and people of Athens with 
 a golden orown of sixty talents. They also 
 consecrate an altar to Gratitude and the
 
 okat. xix.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 165 
 
 Athenians, on account of the important ser- 
 vices conferred bv this people on the inha- 
 bitants of the Chersonesus, in delivering 
 them from the power of Philip, and in re- 
 storing their country, their laws, their liber- 
 ties, and their religion. Of which the Cher- 
 sonesites shall ever retain a just and grateful 
 sense, and be ever ready, to the utmost of 
 their power, to return the important obliga- 
 tion — Thus it was resolved in a full assembly 
 of the senate." 
 
 And thus, the measures I concerted, the 
 conduct I pursued, not only saved the Cher- 
 sonesus and Byzantium, not only foiled the 
 Macedonian in his scheme of commanding 
 the Hellespont, not only gained these public 
 honours to the state, but displayed to all the 
 world the generous sentiments of Athens, 
 and the base perfidiousness of Philip. He, 
 the friend, the ally of the Byzantines, in the 
 face of Greece, besieged their city, (can we 
 conceive a baser, a more abandoned out- 
 rage!) You, justly, repeatedly, incensed 
 against them, by injuries received in former 
 times, not only forgot all your wrongs, not 
 only refused to look with indifference upon 
 their danger, but appeared their great deli- 
 verers ; and, by such transcendent genero- 
 sity, acquired universal love and glory 
 
 That you have frequently honoured those 
 with crowns, to whom the conduct of your 
 affairs hath been intrusted, is full well 
 known ; but name the citizen if you can, 1 
 mean the minister or public speaker, except 
 myself, by whose means the state hath been 
 thus honoured. 
 
 I am now to shew that all those virulent 
 invectives which he hath thrown out against 
 the Eubceans and Byzantines (invidiously 
 recalling to your view every instance of their 
 former offences,) are merely the effect of 
 malice ; not only as his representations have 
 been false (of this I presume there can be no 
 doubt;) but because we might admit them 
 to be true : and even upon this supposition 
 it will appear that my measures were the 
 measures which your interests demanded. 
 For this purpose, permit me to lay before 
 you, in a few words, one or two instances of 
 the noble conduct of this state. By the most 
 illustrious of their former actions it is, that 
 private men, or public bodies, should model 
 their succeeding conduct. 
 
 There was [1.] a time, then, my fellow- 
 citizens ! when the Lacedemonians were 
 sovereign masters, both by sea and land : 
 when their troops and forts surrounded the 
 entire circuit of Attica : when they possessed 
 Eubcea, Tanagra, the whole Boeotian dis- 
 trict, Megara, jEgina, Cleone, and the other 
 islands; while this state had but one ship, 
 not one wall. Then did you march to Ha- 
 liartus ; and, not many days after, were your 
 forces once more led to Corinth. And yet 
 the Athenians of these days had many in- 
 juries to resent, both from Corinth and from 
 Thebes, by their conduct during the De- 
 celian war. But far were they from harbour- 
 ing such resentment. Observe then, ^Eschi- 
 
 [1.] There was, &c] 
 on Philippic I. 
 
 See note 2, p. 5, 
 
 nes ; they acted thus, in both these instances, 
 not that they acted for their benefactors, not 
 that they saw no danger in these expeditions. 
 Such considerations never could induce them 
 to abandon those who fled to their protection. 
 No! from the nobler motives of glory and 
 renown, they devoted their services to the 
 distressed. And surely this their determi- 
 nation was just and generous. For death 
 must come to close the period of man's life, 
 into whatever corner one may shrink from 
 the inevitable blow : but the truly brave 
 should draw the sword on all occasions of 
 honourable danger, armed in fair hopes of 
 success, yet still resigned with an equal for- 
 titude to whatever may be decreed by Hea- 
 ven. Such was the conduct of our ancestors, 
 such the conduct of our elder citizens, who, 
 though the Lacedemonians had been no 
 friends, no benefactors to our state, but had 
 injured us in many and important instances; 
 yet, when the Thebans, flushed with their 
 success at Leuctra, had attempted to destroy 
 them, defeated the attempt; undismayed at 
 the then formidable power of Thebes ; de- 
 termined by the motive of glory, not by the 
 behav iour of those in whose cause they were 
 exposed. And by these actions did you de- 
 monstrate to the Greeks, that, whatever in- 
 juries Athens may receive, her resentment 
 is reserved only for the just occasion: when 
 the being, when the liberty of the injurious 
 party, is once in danger, her wrongs never 
 are remembered, never regarded. 
 
 Nor were these the only instances in which 
 such generous principles were displayed. 
 Again, when Thebes [2.] had seduced the 
 Eubceans from their attachment to the state, 
 far from abandoning the island to the con- 
 sequences of this revolt, far from remember- 
 ing the injuries received from Themison and 
 Theodorus, in the affair of Oropus, you 
 instantly armed for their relief. And on 
 this occasion did our trierarchs, for the first 
 time, engage voluntarily in the public ser- 
 vice; of which number I was one. — But of 
 this hereafter — And if you acted nobly in 
 thus rescuing the island ; still your succeed- 
 ing conduct was far more noble. When the 
 inhabitants were at your mercy, when you 
 were masters of their cities, you gave up all, 
 with strictest integrity, to the men who had 
 offended you. Nor were their offences once 
 regarded, when they had trusted implicitly 
 to our faith. I might recount ten thousand 
 instances of the same kind ; but 1 pass them 
 over: engagements at sea; expeditions by 
 land; the achievements of ancient times; 
 and our own illustrious actions ; all in de- 
 fence of the liberty and safety of other Gre- 
 cian states — And if I saw my country cheer- 
 fully engaging in so numerous and so peril- 
 ous contentions, for the interests of others, 
 when her own interests were in some sort 
 the object of debate, what should I have 
 advised? What measures should I have sug- 
 gested ? ' To cherish the remembrance of 
 their offences, when these men had accepted 
 our protection ? To seek pretences for aban- 
 
 [2.] When Thebes, &o] 
 p. 3, on Philippic I. 
 
 See note
 
 ICG 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 ORAT. XIX. 
 
 doning all our important interests '—Would 
 not the first brave arm have deservedly stab- 
 bed me to the heart, had I thus disgraced 
 the noble actions of my country, — even but 
 in words ? For that, in fact, you never could 
 have yielded to such disgrace, I cannot 
 doubt. Had you been in the least inclined, 
 where was the obstacle ? Had you not the 
 power ? Had you not advisers ? Were not 
 these men urgent in their applications? 
 
 But I must return to those parts of my 
 public conduct, which were subsequent to 
 this period. And, here again, consider what 
 the interest of the state really demanded. I 
 saw the wretched decay to which our marine 
 had been reduced ; I saw our richer citizens 
 purchase a total exemption from public 
 taxes, at the expense of a trifling contribu- 
 tion ; men of moderate or of small property 
 despoiled and ruined ; every opportunity of 
 action lost to the state. I proposed a law, 
 which obliged the rich to act fairly, relieved 
 the poor from their oppressions ; and, what 
 was of most consequence, provided for the 
 speedy and effectual execution of all our 
 military operations. I was indicted, on this 
 occasion, for an infringement of our esta- 
 blished laws : I appealed to your justice, as 
 my sole resource ; and my accuser had the 
 mortification to find not a fifth of the suf- 
 frages in his favour. What sums of mo- 
 ney, think ye, would our richer citizens 
 have given me, they who contribute most 
 largely to the public service, or even they 
 who contribute in the next degrees, not to 
 have proposed this law at all ; or, at least, 
 to have suffered it to be defeated by affected 
 cavil and delay ? Such sums, (my fellow-ci- 
 tizens !) as I am ashamed to mention. And 
 with good reason. By the former law, six- 
 teen of their number were to unite in the 
 discharge of one assessment; so that the 
 proportion of each was almost nothing : and 
 thus they loaded the poor with the public 
 burdens. But by my law, every individual 
 pays in proportion to his fortune ; so that 
 he must now equip two ships of war, who 
 by the former assessment was taxed but at 
 the sixteenth part of one. And accordingly 
 they styled themselves not ' trierarchs,' but 
 ' contributors.' They would therefore have 
 given any price, to have been disengaged 
 
 from the necessity of thus acting justly. 
 
 First read the ' Decree' relative to my in- 
 dictment. Then produce the ' Assessments,' 
 those of the former laws, and that prescrib- 
 ed by mine. 
 
 The Decree. 
 
 " Polycles being archon. On the 16th of 
 the month Boedromion. The tribe Hippo- 
 thois presiding. 
 
 " Whereas Demosthenes, son of Demos- 
 thenes the Paeanian, proposed a law relative 
 to the duty of trierarchs, to be substituted 
 in the place of former laws for regulating 
 assessments, for the navy : and whereas an 
 indictment was brought by Patrocles against 
 the said Demosthenes for an illegal propo- 
 sal : — Be it remembered, that the prosecutor, 
 not having a fifth of the suffrages in his fa- 
 
 vour, was condemned in the fine of five hun- 
 dred drachma;." 
 
 Produce now the first excellent assessment 
 " The Trierarchs shall unite in the equip- 
 ment of one ship, to the number of sixteen 
 men, from the age of twenty-five to forty 
 years. Each to contribute equally to the 
 expense." 
 
 Now compare this with the assessment 
 appointed by my law. — Read it. 
 
 " Trierarchs shall 'be taxed according to 
 their fortunes. He who is worth ten talents 
 by valuation, shall fit out one ship ; if his 
 fortune be rated higher, he shall be taxed, 
 agreeably to the same proportion, in a high- 
 er sum ; not exceeding the expense of three 
 ships and a tender. The same proportion 
 also shall be observed in the assessment of 
 those whose fortunes do not amount to ten 
 talents ; who are to unite in order to make 
 up the sum necessary for fitting out a ship." 
 
 And can this be thought a trivial service 
 to the poor ? Or would the rich have given 
 but a trivial sum, to have eluded this equit- 
 able mode of taxation ?— But I do not mag- 
 nify my integrity in conducting this trans- 
 action. I do not insist on my honourable 
 acquittal. My glory is, that I procured a 
 salutary law, a law approved by experience 
 as highly valuable. For, during the whole 
 course of our late war, in all the armaments 
 conducted agreeably to my regulation, not 
 one trierarch was ever known to petition 
 against the severity of his assessment ; not 
 one was known to have fled to sanctuary ; 
 not one ever was imprisoned ; not a vessel 
 did the state lose abroad ; not a vessel was 
 detained here, as unfit for service. But 
 while our former laws subsisted, we wero 
 perpetually exposed to all such inconve- 
 niences. And they proceeded from our 
 poorer citizens. These were insufficient for 
 the discharge of their assessments ; and we 
 were continually feeling the effects of such 
 insufficiency. But by my means were the 
 public burdens transferred from the poorer 
 to our richer citizens, and the business or" 
 the state conducted without the least inter- 
 ruption. Permit me, then, to claim some 
 praise on this account at least, that through 
 the course of my public administration, I 
 constantly pursued such measures as reflect- 
 ed glory on the state, exalted her renown, 
 and enlarged her power. No sordid envy, 
 no rancour, no malignity, have I ever disco- 
 vered ; no meanness, nothing unworthy of 
 my country. Such was the general tenor 
 of my administration, in the affairs of this 
 city, and in the national concerns of Greece. 
 And no wonder. Here I was never known 
 to prefer the favour of the great to the rights 
 of the people. And, in the affairs of Greece, 
 the bribes, the flattering assurances of 
 friendship which Philip lavished, never 
 were so dear to me, as the interests of the 
 nation. 
 
 The only articles, I presume, which now 
 remain for me to speak to, are those of the 
 ' proclamation' and the ' accounts.' For 
 that I have pursued the true interest of the
 
 orat.xix.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 107 
 
 state, that I have on all occasions discovered 
 a warm affection and zealous alacrity in your 
 service, I trust hath been established already , 
 with the clearest evidence. I have indeed 
 omitted the most important parts of my ad- 
 ministration, the greatest of my services ; 
 both because I deem it incumbent on me to 
 proceed to my defence against the charge of 
 violating the laws ; and because I am con- 
 vinced your own consciences must bear the 
 amplest testimony in my favour, although 
 I should be totally silent as to the other 
 parts of my conduct. 
 
 As to what he hath urged with such con- 
 fusion and embarrassment, about his au- 
 thentic transcripts of the laws, Heaven is 
 my witness, that I am convinced you could 
 not comprehend it : and, to me, it is, for 
 the most part, utterly unintelligible. But 
 my course shall be more ingenuous and di- 
 rect. I shall lay before you the plain dic- 
 tates of truth and equity. Far from assert- 
 ing that I am not ' accountable' to the pub- 
 lic, as he hath repeatedly insinuated and af- 
 firmed, I here declare, that through my 
 whole life, I must ever stand accountable 
 for every trust which I have executed, every 
 measure which 1 have directed. But, for 
 what I have freely expended of my private 
 fortune, in the service of the public, I cannot 
 at any time be liable to account : (observe 
 me, jEschines!) No! nor any other citizen, 
 were he the first of our magistrates. For, 
 where is that law so pregnant with injustice 
 and inhumanity, as to rob the man of all 
 his merit, whose fortune hath been expend- 
 ed for the state, whose public spirit and mu- 
 nificence have been displayed in some im- 
 portant instance ? To expose him to the 
 malice of informers ? To give them a pow- 
 er to scrutinize his bounty ? There can be 
 no such law ! If there be, let him produce 
 it ; and I shall submit in silence. No, my 
 countrymen ; he cannot ! 
 
 ' But,' saith this sycophant, ' the senate 
 hath conferred public nonours on him,' 
 while his accounts were yet to be approved, 
 * under the pretence of some additional dis- 
 bursements from his own fortune, when 
 manager of the theatrical funds.' — Not for 
 any part of that conduct which stood ' ac- 
 countable ;' but for those additional disburse- 
 ments; thou sycophant !—' But you were 
 director of our fortifications.' — Yes : and on 
 that occasion was entitled to my honours ; 
 for I expended more than the state had 
 granted, without charging this addition to 
 the public. Where a charge is made, the 
 accounts must be examined ; but where a 
 free gift is conferred, favour and applause 
 are the natural and just returns. This de- 
 cree of Ctesiphon in my favour is, therefore, 
 strictly warranted. It is a point determined, 
 not by the laws only, but by our constant 
 usage. This I shall readily demonstrate in 
 ■various instances. In the first place, Nau- 
 sicles, when at the head of our forces, was 
 frequently honoured with a crown, for his 
 bounty to the state. Then Diotimus, who 
 gave the arms, and Charidemus, also receiv- 
 ed their crowns. I have another instance be- 
 fore me : Neoptolemus. He was frequently 
 
 intrusted with public works, and received 
 honours for his additional disbursements. 
 For it would be hard indeed, if the man, In- 
 vested with some office of authority, should 
 either stand precluded by this office from 
 assisting the state with his private fortune, 
 or find his liberal assistance the object of ac- 
 count and scrutiny, instead of meeting the 
 due returns of gratitude. — To confirm what 
 I have now advanced, produce the decrees 
 made on these occasic-ns — Read ! 
 
 A Decree. 
 
 " In the archonship of Demonicus, the 
 26th of the month Boedromion, Callias thus 
 reported the resolution of the senate and 
 people. 
 
 " It is resolved, by the senate and people, 
 to confer a crown on Nausicles, the general 
 in command : in as much as when two thou- 
 sand regular forces of Athens were in Im- 
 brus, assisting the Athenian colony in that 
 island, and when by means of the severity 
 of the season, Phialon their agent could not 
 sail thither, and pay the soldiers ; the said 
 Nausicles made the necessary disbursements 
 from his own fortune, without any charge 
 
 to the public in his accounts And that 
 
 proclamation be made of the crown thus 
 granted, during the feast of Bacchus, and 
 the performances of the new tragedies." 
 A Decree. 
 
 " The motion of Callias : agreeably to 
 the report made of the resolution of the se- 
 nate. 
 
 " Whereas Charidemus, commander of 
 the infantry in the expedition to Salamis, 
 and Diotimus, general of horse, when in 
 the engagement at the river, some of our 
 forces had been stripped of their arms by 
 the enemy, at their own private expense 
 furnished the new levies with eight hundred 
 bucklers : it is resolved by the senate and 
 people, that golden crowns be conferred on 
 the said Charidemus and Diotimus: which 
 crowns shall be proclaimed in the grand fes- 
 tival of Minerva, during the gymnastic 
 games and new tragedies ; of which the ma- 
 gistrates and managers of the entertainments 
 are to take notice, and cause proclamation 
 to be duly made as aforesaid." 
 
 Each of these, iEschines, was bound tc 
 account for the office he enjoyed ; but the 
 action for which he was honoured, was by 
 no means subject to account. Then why 
 should mine be subject? Surely, I may 
 claim the same treatment with others, in 
 like circumstances. I gave my additional 
 contribution to the public: I was honoured 
 for it ; not as a man who stood accountabla 
 for this donation. I held a magisterial 
 office; I accounted for my conduct in this 
 office ; not for my free bounty. 
 
 ' True;— but you have acted iniquitons- 
 ly in vour office.'— If so, were you not pre- 
 sent when my accounts were passed ? And 
 why did you not impeach me ?— But, to 
 convince you that he himself is witness thnt 
 this crown is not conferred for any part of 
 my conduct reallv subject to account, take, 
 read this decree of Ctesiphon at large. The 
 1 i!2
 
 168 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' OEATIONS. [orat. xix. 
 
 clauses unimpeached will shew the malice of 
 his prosecution in those he hath attacked. — 
 Read ! 
 
 The Decree. 
 
 " In the archonship of Euthycles, the 
 20th of the month Pyanepsion : the Oenian 
 tribe presiding. The decree of Ctesiphon, 
 son of Leosthenes the Anaphylystian. 
 
 " Whereas Demosthenes, son of Demos- 
 thenes, of the Pa;anian tribe, in his office of 
 director of the fortifications, expended an 
 additional sum of three talents from his pri- 
 vate fortune, which he gave freely to the 
 public : and, when manager of the theatri- 
 cal funds, increased the general collection, 
 by a voluntary addition of one hundred 
 minae for sacrifices ; be it resolved, by the 
 senate and people of Athens, to grant pub- 
 lic honours to the said Demosthenes, on ac- 
 count of his virtue and nobleness of dispo- 
 sition, which he hath, on all occasions, in- 
 variably discovered towards the community 
 of Athens; and to crown him with a golden 
 crown : and that proclamation shall be made 
 of this crown thus conferred, in the theatre, 
 during the feast of Bacchus, and the exhi- 
 bition of the new tragedies ; of which the 
 directors of the theatre are to take notice, 
 and cause proclamation to be made as afore- 
 said." 
 
 My free grant of these additional sums is 
 the article not included in your indict- 
 ment : the honours decreed for this bounty 
 is that on which you found your charge. 
 
 You admit that to accept my bounty is 
 no infringement of the laws ; you insist that 
 to confer the due returns of favour, on this 
 account, is criminal and illegal. In the 
 name of heaven, what part could the most 
 abandoned, the malignant wretch, odious 
 to the gods, have acted upon this occasion ? 
 Must he not have acted thus? 
 
 As to the circumstance of making procla- 
 mation in the theatre, I shall not mention 
 that many times many thousands have been 
 granted such an honour, or that I myself 
 have been thus honoured on many former 
 occasions. But, is it possible, ye powers ! 
 Art thou, jEschines, indeed, so lost to all 
 sense and reason, as to be incapable of ap- 
 prehending that, to the party who receives 
 the honour, it comes with equal dignity, 
 wherever it be proclaimed ? That it is for 
 their sakes who grant it, that their theatre 
 is appointed for the proclamation. For, by 
 this means, the multitude who hear it, are 
 inspired with ardour to approve themselves 
 
 [1.] Your clamorous abuse, &c] In the 
 original, wtrwep tf u^iitm, as from a cart. 
 Some derive this proverbial expression from 
 the first rude state of ancient comedy, and 
 find a particular spirit in the allusion, as 
 containing a reflection on the theatrical cha- 
 racter of .Eschines. But the scholiasts on 
 Aristophanes and Suidas explain the proverb 
 in another manner. They tell us that the 
 Athenian women, when they went in their 
 carriages to the celebration of the Eleusinian 
 mysteries, usually took great liberties in their 
 
 zealous in the service of their country ; and 
 they who give this testimony of their grati- 
 tude, share more largely in the public ap- 
 plause, than those who receive it. On this 
 principle was our law enacted. Take up the 
 law itself !— Read it ! 
 
 The Law. 
 
 " In all cases, where a crown is conferred 
 on any person by a single district, proclama- 
 tion shall be made of the said crown, in the 
 particular district so conferring it. Provid- 
 ed always, that, where crowns are granted 
 by the people of Athens at large, or by the 
 senate, it shall and may be lawful to make 
 proclamation in the theatre during the fes- 
 tival of Bacchus." 
 
 vEschines ! Dost thou hear ? Are not 
 these the very words of our law ? ' Provid- 
 ed always, that, where crowns are granted 
 by the people or the senate,' proclamation 
 shall be made of these. Why then, unhappy 
 man, hath thy malice been thus restless? 
 Why this fictitious tale? Why notirecur to 
 medicine, to cure this disorder of thy mind ? 
 And feelest thou no shame at a prosecution 
 dictated by envy, not by justice ; supported 
 by false recitals of our laws, by imperfect 
 quotations of detached sentences; those 
 laws, which should have fairly and fully 
 been laid before our judges, as they have 
 sworn to decide agreeably to their true 
 tenor ? Hence you proceed to delineate the 
 character of a patriot statesman, as if you 
 were giving a model for a statue, and found 
 the piece not conformable to your model ; 
 as if words could mark out the patriot 
 statesman, and not his actions and adminis- 
 tration. Then comes your clamorous abuse, 
 [1.] vented without distinction or reserve, 
 but suited to you and to your family, not to 
 me. And this (Athenians !) I take to be the 
 true distinction between a vague invective, 
 and a regular prosecution. This is support- 
 ed by criminal facts, whose penalties the 
 laws have ascertained ; that is attended with 
 the rancour which enemies naturally throw 
 out against each other. Our ancestors, I 
 presume, erected these tribunals, not for 
 assembling to indulge our private and per- 
 sonal animosities in mutual scurrility ; but 
 to give us occasion of convicting that man 
 fairly, who hath injured the community in 
 any instance. This jEschines must know 
 as well as I. Yet, instead of establishing 
 his evidence, he hath discharged his viru- 
 lence against me. Nor is it just that he 
 should escape without the due returns of 
 severity on my part. But, before 1 am in- 
 
 abuse of each other, and hence the Greek 
 expression t« £k tov iifiafwv aKwixfiara, 
 to signify licentious and indecent ribaldry. 
 It is true the French translator is extremely 
 shocked at this interpretation, and cannot 
 persuade himself that the Athenian ladies 
 could so far forget the modesty and reserve 
 peculiar to their sex. But it is well if this 
 was the worst part of their conduct, or if 
 they were guilty of no greater transgression 
 of modesty in the course of their attendance 
 on these famous rites.
 
 orat. xix.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 169 
 
 volved in the odious task, let me ask him 
 one question. Say, jEschines, are we to 
 deem thee an enemy to Athens, or to me? 
 I presume, to me. And yet, on every occa- 
 sion, where you had all the advantage of 
 the law, in bringing me to justice (if 1 had 
 offended,) on passing my accounts, on mov- 
 ing my decrees on former trials, where my 
 conduct was impeached, you were silent. 
 But in a case where all the laws pronounced 
 me innocent, where the procedure hath been 
 regular, where numberless precedents are in 
 my favour, where my conduct, far from 
 discovering any thing of a criminal ten- 
 nency, appears, in every instance, to have 
 reflected a degree of honour upon my conn- 
 try ; in such a case, I say, hast thou chosen 
 toatttackme? Beware then, that, while I 
 am the pretended object of thy enmity, 
 thou prove not really the enemy of Athens. 
 Well then; [1.] since you are all deter- 
 mined on the truly religious and equitable 
 sentence, the virulence this man hath ut- 
 tered obliges me (I think,) though not na- 
 turally fond of invective, to retort his nu- 
 merous and false assertions, by some neces- 
 sary remarks upon his character ; by show- 
 ing who lie is, and of what family, who so 
 readily begins the hateful work of personal 
 abuse ; who presumes to censure some of 
 my expressions, though he himself hath 
 uttered what no man of modest merit could 
 have ventured to pronounce. No ! had one 
 of the awful judges of the shades impeach- 
 ed me, as an .'Eacus, or a Rhadamanthus, 
 or a Minos; and not this babbling syco- 
 phant, this wretched, hackneyed scrivener; 
 he could have tised no such language, he 
 could have searched for no such insolent 
 expressions, no such theatrical exclamations, 
 as you have now heard from this man. ' O 
 Earth! and thou Sun! O Virtue!' And 
 again, those pompous invocations, — ' Pru- 
 dence ! Erudition ! that teachest us the 
 just distinction between good and evil !' — 
 Virtue ! thou miscreant ! what communion 
 can virtue hold with thee or thine ? What 
 acquaintance hast thou with such things ? 
 How didst thou acquire it ? By what right 
 canst thou assume it? And what preten- 
 sions hast thou to speak of Erudition ? Not 
 a man of those who really possess it could 
 thus presume to speak of his own accom- 
 plishments. Nay, were they mentioned by 
 another, he would blush. But they who, 
 like you, are strangers to it, and yet so stu- 
 pid as to affect it, do but wound our ears 
 when they utter their presumption, but 
 never acquire the character for which they 
 labour. And here I hesitate, Hot for want 
 of matter to urge against you and your 
 family, but because I am in doubt where to 
 begin. Shall I first say, how your father 
 Tromes was loaded with his chain and log, 
 when a slave to Elpias, who taught gram- 
 
 mar at the temple of Theseus ? Or, how 
 your mother, by those marriages daily re- 
 peated in her cell near the hero [2.] Catami- 
 tes, maintained this noble figure, this ac- 
 complished actor of third characters ? Or, 
 how Phormio, the piper in our navy, the 
 slave of Dion, raised her up from this ho- 
 nourable employment ? No ! I call the 
 gods to witness, that I fear to mention what 
 is suited to your character, lest I should be be- 
 trayed into a language unbecoming my own. 
 Let these things be then buried in silence: 
 and let me proceed directly to the actions of 
 his own life ; for the person now before you 
 is not of ordinary rank, but eminent, — yes, 
 as an object of public execration. It is but 
 lately, — lately, I say, but yesterday, that he 
 commenced at once a citizen and a speaker. 
 3y the help of two additional syllables, he 
 transformed his father from Tromes to 
 Atrometus, and dignified his mother with 
 the stately name of Glaucothea. [3.] And 
 now, observe the ingratitude and malignity 
 of his nature. Though raised by your fa- 
 vour from slavery to freedom, from beggary 
 to affluence ; far from retaining the least af- 
 fection to his country, he hath hired him- 
 self to oppose our interests. As to those 
 parts of his conduct, where his disaffection 
 may be at all disputable, I pass them over ; 
 but what he evidently and mcontestably 
 committed, as an agent to our enemies, this 
 I must recall to view. 
 
 — Who knows not the banished Antipho ? 
 He who promised Philip to set fire to our 
 arsenal, and, for this purpose, came back to 
 Athens. And when I had seized him in his 
 concealment at the Piraeus, when I produced 
 him to the assembly, so effectual was the 
 violence of this railer, so prevalent were his 
 clamours, — that ' my actions were not to be 
 tolerated in a free government — I insulted 
 the misfortunes of my fellow-citizens — I 
 forced into their houses without authority ;' 
 — that this man was suffered to escape un- 
 sentenced. And, had not the court of Areo- 
 pagus been informed of the transaction ; had 
 they not perceived your error, an error so 
 dangerous on so critical an occasion ; had 
 they not pursued this man ; had they not 
 once more seized, and brought him before 
 you, criminal as he was, he must have been 
 snatched from justice, and instead of meet- 
 ing the punishment due to his offences 
 (thanks to this pompous speaker,) retired in 
 security. But, happily, you gave him the 
 torture, and you punished him with death ; 
 a punishment which this his advocate should 
 have suffered. And, so justly did the coun- 
 cil of Areopagus conceive of his conduct 
 upon this occasion, that, when influenced 
 by the same error which so often nroved af- 
 tal to your interests, you had appointed him 
 a pleader for your privileges in the temple 
 of Delos ; this council, to whom your ap- 
 
 [1.] Well then, &c] Here the speaker 
 evidently takes advantage of some accla- 
 mations in the assembly, which he affects 
 to regard as the general voice of his judge*. 
 
 [2.] The hero, &c] i. e. near the chapel 
 dedicated to this hero, or near the place 
 
 where his statue was erected. 
 
 [3.] Glaucothea.] The original adds, 'who 
 every one knows, was called Empusa, &c.' 
 [i. e. Hag or Spectre.] This, with the cause 
 assigned, iiath been purposely omitted in the 
 translation.
 
 170 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. xik. 
 
 pointment was referred, and who were to 
 ratify the nomination, instantly rejected 
 this man as a traitor, and appointed Hype- 
 rides to plead. On this occasion were their 
 suffrages given solemnly at the altar : and 
 not one suffrage could this miscreant obtain. 
 To prove this, call the witnesses. 
 
 The Witnesses. 
 
 " Callias, Zeno, Cleon, and Demonicus, 
 in the name of all the Areopagites, testify in 
 behalf of Demosthenes, that, at the time 
 when the people had chosen jEschines as ad- 
 vocate for the rights of Athens in the temple 
 of Delos, before the Amphictyons, we in 
 full council determined that Hyperides was 
 more worthy to speak for the state. And 
 Hyperides was accordingly commissioned." 
 
 Thus, by rejecting this man, when on the 
 point of proceeding on his commission, and 
 by substituting another, the council did in 
 effect declare him a traitor and an enemy to 
 Athens. Here then we have a fact which 
 clearly marks the public conduct of this 
 noble personage ; such a fact as differs wide- 
 ly from those he hath urged against me. 
 One more there is, not to be forgotten. 
 When Python the Pyzantine came on his 
 embassy from Philip ; and came attended 
 by commissioners from all the several powers 
 in league with Macedon ; as if to expose us, 
 .is if to bring witnesses of our injustice ; then 
 did I stand forth; and instead of submitting 
 to the insolence of Python, instead of yield- 
 ing to the torrent of his abuse against the 
 state, I retorted the charge; I supported 
 the rights of Athens. And with such power- 
 ful evidence did I demonstrate the injurious 
 conduct of our enemy, that his own confe- 
 derates were themselves forced to rise, and 
 to confess it. But .(Eschines was the great 
 coadjutor of this man. He gave testimony 
 against his country ; and falsely too. Nor 
 did he stop here. In some time after this 
 transaction, he held and was detected in his 
 intercourse with Anaxinus the spy, at the 
 house of Thraso. And surely the man who 
 holds his private interviews, who confers 
 with an agent of our enemies, is himself a 
 spy, and an enemy to his country. To 
 prove my allegations, call the witnesses. 
 
 The Witnesses. 
 
 " Celedemus, Cleon, and Hyperides, being 
 duly sworn, testify in behalf of Demosthe- 
 nes, that, to their knowledge, .(Eschines re- 
 paired to the house of Thraso, at an unsea- 
 sonable hour of the night, and there held 
 conference with Anaxinus, legally convicted 
 of being Philip's spy. This deposition was 
 signed in the archonship of Nicias, the 3rd 
 day of the month Hecatombaxm." 
 
 Numberless other articles I could urge 
 against him ; but 1 suppress them. For the 
 fact is this: 1 might display the many in- 
 stances in which his conduct, during these 
 periods, was equally calculated to serve our 
 enemies, and to indulge his malice against 
 ■me. Rut so slight are the impressions "which 
 
 such things make on your minds, that they 
 are not even remembered, much less receiv- 
 ed with due resentment. Nay so dangerous 
 a custom hath prevailed, that you have 
 granted full liberty to every man who plea- 
 sed, to supplant and to malign your faithful 
 counsellor : thus exchanging the real welfare 
 of your country for the pleasure of listen- 
 ing to personal abuse. Hence it is ever easier 
 and less dangerous for the servile tool of our 
 enemies to earn his bribes, than for him to 
 serve the state, who hath attached himself 
 to your interests. That he manifestly sup- 
 ported the cause of Philip, previous to the 
 commencement of hostilities, shocking as it 
 is (yes ! I call heaven and earth to witness ! 
 for it was an opposition to his country ;) yet 
 forgive him, if you please, forgive him triis. 
 But when this prince avowedly made prizes 
 of our ships, when the Chersonesus was 
 plundered by his troops, when he marched 
 in person into Attica, when affairs were no 
 longer doubtful, but the war raged at our 
 very gates ; then was this slanderer entirely 
 inactive ; no instance of his zeal can this 
 theatrical ranter shew, not one decree of any 
 import, great or small, was ever framed by 
 jEschines, in defence of your interests. If 
 he denies this, let him break in upon the 
 time allowed for my defence, and let him 
 produce such decree. No ; he cannot ! He 
 is therefore necessarily reduced to this alter- 
 native. He must acknowledge, either that 
 the measures 1 proposed on that occasion 
 were not liable to censure, as he himself 
 never offered to suggest any other measures ; 
 or that his attachment to our enemies pre- 
 vented him from directing us to some better 
 course. But was he thus silent, was hethiu 
 inactive, when there was an opportunity of 
 injuring his country ? On this occasion, no 
 man could be heard, but ^Eschines. 
 
 And, yet, the indulgence of the state may 
 possibly endure the other instances of his 
 clandestine conduct ; but one there is, my 
 countrymen ! one act of his, that crowns all 
 his former treasons. A subject on which he 
 hath exhausted his whole artifice, in a tedious 
 narrative of decrees about the Locrians of 
 Amphissa, as if to pervert the truth. But 
 this cannot be! impossible; no, nor shall 
 this profusion of words ever wash away the 
 stain of guilt from thy conduct upon this 
 occasion. And here, and in your presence, 
 ye Athenians ! I invoke all the deities of 
 heaven, all the divine guardians of our 
 country, and, above all, the Pythian Apollo, 
 tutelary god of Athens : 1 beseech these 
 powers to grant me safety and prosperity, 
 as I now speak the truth, as I at first pub- 
 licly spake the truth, from the moment 
 that I found the miscreant engaging in this 
 transaction. For he could not escape my 
 notice : no, I instantly detected him. But, 
 if to indulge my spleen, if from personal 
 animosity, I produce a false charge against 
 him ; may these gods blast my hopes of 
 happiness ! — But, why this solemnity of 
 imprecation ? AVhy all this vehemence ? — 
 The reason is this. We have the authentic 
 records in our archives, which prove mv 
 charge : you yourselves remember the tranj'.
 
 orat. xix.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 371 
 
 actions clearly : and, yet, I have my fears, 
 that he may be deemed an instrument too 
 mean for such great mischiefs as he hath 
 really effected. This was the case, when he 
 brought down ruin upon the wretched Pho- 
 cians, by the false assurances which he gave 
 in our assembly. For as to the Amphyssaian 
 war, which opened the gates of Elata?a to 
 our enemy, which gave him the command 
 of the Amphictyonic army, and at once 
 overturned the fortune of Greece; here 
 stands the great agent in this black design, 
 the sole cause of all the grievous calamities 
 we endured. When I attested this in the 
 assembly ; when I exclaimed with all my 
 powers, ' You are bringing an enemy to our 
 gates ; yes, jEschines, the whole Amphicty- 
 onic body to fall upon us;' his coadjutors at 
 once silenced me; while others stood con- 
 founded at the assertion, and regarded it as 
 a groundless charge, the effect of personal 
 animosity. But, since you were at that 
 time prevented from receiving the important 
 information, attend, now, my countrymen ! 
 hear the true nature of this whole transac- 
 tion; the secret motives which produced, 
 and the contrivance which effected it. So 
 shall you discover a scheme well concerted, 
 receive new and useful lights into the his- 
 tory of public affairs, and see what deep 
 designs the heart of Philip could conceive. 
 
 This prince saw no means of terminating 
 his war with Athens, no resource, unless he 
 were to arm the Thebans and Thessalians 
 against us. No resource, I say ; for although 
 the conduct of your generals had been scan- 
 dalous and unsuccessful, yet the war itself, 
 and the vigilance of our cruisers, had in- 
 volved him in numberless distresses ; as he 
 found it equally impracticable to export the 
 produce of this kingdom, and to supply his 
 own demands by importation. He was not, 
 at that time, superior to us at sea : nor 
 could he penetrate into Attica by land, while 
 the Thessalians refused to follow him, and 
 the Thebans denied him a passage through 
 their territory. Victorious, therefore, as he 
 proved against your generals (such as you 
 employed ;— of that I shall not speak ;) yet, 
 still, the situation of his kingdom, and the 
 circumstances, on each side, reduced him, 
 in the event, to great distress. He knew 
 that his private interest could not obtain the 
 least regard, either from Thebes or Thes- 
 saly, as a motive for engaging in hostilities 
 against us : but could he once be admitted 
 to lead their forces in some common cause 
 of theirs, he trusted to the united power of 
 fraud and flattery, and was confident of suc- 
 cess. His scheme, then, was this ; and ob- 
 serve how well it was concerted ; — to em- 
 broil the Amphictyons in a war, by raising 
 dissensions in their general assembly. For, 
 in sue! a war, he presumed that he should 
 soon be wanted. And, now, were he to 
 choose the instrument of this design, either 
 from his own deputies, or from those of his 
 confederates, this must awaken suspicion : 
 
 [1.] He seizes Elata>a, &c] Which by its 
 situation commanded the territory of Attica 
 and Bceotia, so as to awe both Thebes and 
 
 the Thebans, and Thessalians. and all the 
 states must be roused to strictest vigilance. 
 But could he obtain an Athenian for his 
 agent, a citizen of that stave which avowed- 
 ly opposed him, this must secure him from 
 detection. Thus he reasoned ; and thus was 
 the event. How then was this point gained ? 
 By bribing ^Eschmes. Herestands the man, 
 who seized the advantage of that inatten- 
 tion, that unsuspecting confidence, which 
 you too frequently discover upon such occa- 
 sions; was proposed as one of our repre- 
 sentatives ; and, by the few voices of a fac- 
 tion, confirmed in this commission. Thus 
 invested with the august authority of his 
 state, he repairs to the general council; and, 
 regardless of all other concerns, applies him- 
 self directly to the service for which he had 
 received his wages. He frames his specious 
 harangues, he delivers his legendary tale of 
 the Cyrrhsean plain, and its consecration ; 
 and prevails on the ieromnemons (men un- 
 experienced in the artifices of a speaker, 
 men, whose views never were extended be- 
 yond the present moment) to decree that a 
 survey should be had of this district, which 
 the people of Amphissa claimed and occu- 
 pied as their own ; but which this man now 
 asserted to be sacred ground : not provoked 
 by any insolence of the Locrians, by any 
 fine which they imposed upon our state; as 
 he now pretends ; — but falsely ; — as I shall 
 convince you by one undoubted proof. Un- 
 less citation had been regularly issued, it was 
 impossible for the Locrians to have com- 
 menced any suit against our state. Who 
 then cited you ? Produce the record of this 
 citation. Name the man who can inform 
 us of it : let him appear. No ; you cannot. 
 Your pretence therefore is false and ground- 
 less. 
 
 The Amphictyons, then, having proceeded 
 to the survey of this district, agreeably to 
 his direction, were assaulted by the Locri- 
 ans, with a violence which had well-nigh 
 proved fatal to them all. Some of the ierom- 
 nemons were even made prisoners. And 
 when the ferment became general, and war 
 was denounced against the Amphissaeans, 
 Cottyphus was at first chosen to lead the 
 Amphictyonic army. But when some states 
 refused to obey his summons, and those who 
 did obey, refused to act ; in the next general 
 council, Philip was appointed to the com- 
 mand. So effectual was the influence of his 
 agents, the old traitors of Thessaly, and 
 those of other states. Nor did their allega- 
 tions want a fair and specious colour. 
 ' Either we must raise a subsidy,' said they, 
 * maintain a mercenary army, and fine those 
 people who refuse their quota ; or we must 
 choose him general. Need I say more? 
 He was chosen. His forces were collected 
 with the utmost diligence : he marches, as 
 if towards Cyrrha. But now,— farewell, at 
 once, to all regard either to the Cyrrhamns 
 or the Locrians ! He seizes Elataea. [1.] 
 Had not the Thebans, then, instantly re- 
 
 Athens. But we shall immediately learn 
 the policy of this step from Demosthenes 
 himself; and the cause of that dreadfulcon-
 
 172 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' OltATIONS. [okat. xix. 
 
 pented, and united with our state, the whole 
 force of this invasion must have fallen, like 
 a thunder-storm, on Athens. But, in this 
 critical conjuncture, they started up and 
 stopped his progress : a blessing which you 
 owe to some gracious divinity, who then de- 
 fended us ; and, under him, "to me, as far as 
 one man could be the instrument of such a 
 blessing. Give me the decrees. Produce 
 the date of each transaction. Thus shall 
 you see what infinite confusion this aban- 
 doned wretch could raise, and yet escape un. 
 punished. Read the decrees. 
 
 The Decree of the Amphictyons. 
 
 "In the pontificate of Clinagoras. At 
 the general assembly of Amphictyons, held 
 in the spring, it is resolved by the Pylagora?, 
 and the assessors in the said assembly, that, 
 whereas the people of Amphissa continue to 
 profane the consecrated lands, and do at this 
 time actually occupy them by tillage and 
 pasture, — the Pylagora? and assessors shall 
 repair to the said lands, and determine the 
 boundaries by pillars ; strictly enjoining the 
 people of Amphissa to cease from such vio- 
 lation for the future." 
 
 Another Decree- 
 
 " In the pontificate of Clinagoras, at the 
 general assembly held in the spring. 
 Whereas the people of Amphissa have can- 
 toned out the consecrated lands, have oc- 
 cupied them by tillage and pasture ; and, 
 when summoned to desist from such profa- 
 nation, rose up in arms, and forcibly repel- 
 led the general council of Greece, wounding 
 some of the members, and particularly Cot- 
 typhus the Arcadian general of the Amphic- 
 tyons; — It is therefore resolved, by the 
 Pylagora?, the assessors, and the general as- 
 sembly, that a deputation shall be sent to 
 Philip, king of Macedon, inviting him to as- 
 sist Apollo and the Amphictyons, and to 
 repel the outrage of the wretched Amphis- 
 sseans ; and farther, to declare that he is 
 constituted, by all the Greeks, a member of 
 the council of Amphictyons, general and 
 commander of their forces, with full and 
 unlimited powers." 
 
 Read now the date of these transactions ; 
 for they correspond exactly with the time in 
 which he acted as our representative. 
 
 The Date. 
 
 " In the archonship of Mnesithides, the 
 sixteenth day of the month Anthesterion." 
 
 Give me the letter, which, when the The- 
 bans had refused to concur with him, Philip 
 sent to his confederates in Peloponnesus. 
 This will fully prove that the real motive of 
 this enterprise was studiously concealed I 
 mean his design against Greece, his schemes 
 against Thebes and Athens ; while he afl'ect- 
 
 sternation it raised in Athens, which the 
 speaker is just now to paint ill such lively 
 colours. 
 
 ed but to execute the orders of the Amphic- 
 tyonic council : a pretence for which he was 
 indebted to this man.— Read. 
 
 The Letter. 
 
 " Philip, king of Macedon, to the magis- 
 trates and counsellors of the confederated 
 people of Peloponnesus, health. 
 
 " Whereas the Locri, called Ozola?, inha- 
 bitants of Amphissa, profanely commit 
 outrages on the temple of Apollo in Delphi, 
 and in a hostile manner invade, and make 
 depredations in, the sacred territory ; know 
 ye, that we have resolved, in conjunction 
 with you, to assert the rights of the god, 
 and to oppose those impious wretches, who 
 have thus presumed to violate all that is ac- 
 counted sacred among men. Do you, there- 
 fore, meet me in arms at Phocis, with pro- 
 visions for forty days, within this present 
 month called by us Lous, by the Athenians, 
 Boedromion, and by the Corinthians Paue- 
 mus. Such as attend us shall be duly con- 
 sulted, and all measures pursued with their 
 concurrence ; they who refuse obedience to 
 these orders shall be punished. Farewell !" 
 You see with what caution he keeps his 
 real purpose concealed; how he flies for 
 shelter to the acts of the Amphictyrjns. And 
 who was the man that procured him this 
 subterfuge ? Who gave him such plausible 
 pretences? Who was the great author of 
 all our calamities ? Was it not this man ?— 
 Yet, mistake me not, Athenians ; when our 
 public calamities are the subject of your 
 conversation, say not that we owe them en- 
 tirely to a single person. No, not to one ; 
 let heaven and earth bear witness ! but to 
 many abandoned traitors in the several 
 states, in which number he stands distin- 
 guished : he, whom, if no regards controlled 
 me, I should not scruple to pronounce the 
 accursed destroyer of persons, places, cities 
 all that were involved in the general over- 
 throw. For the sower of the seed is surely 
 the author of the whole harvest of mischief. 
 Astonishing indeed it is, that you can behold 
 him, and not instantly turn away with hor- 
 ror from an object so detestable. But this 
 is the effect of that thick cloud, in which 
 the truth has lain concealed. 
 
 And thus, from touching slightly on the 
 designs which he pursued against his coun- 
 try, I am led naturally to those measures in 
 which I was myself engaged, in opposition 
 to such traitorous designs. These demand 
 our attention for various reasons ; chieflv 
 because it would be shameful, when I have 
 laboured in your service with indefatigable 
 zeal, to refuse to hear my services recounted. 
 —No sooner then did I perceive the The- 
 bans, I might have said the Athenians also, 
 deceived so effectually by those agents which 
 Philip's gold had secured in each state, as to 
 look with indifference upon an object equally 
 formidable to both, I mean the increasing 
 power of this prince : no sooner did I see 
 them resign all thoughts of guarding againsf 
 his progress ; and, in defiance of their com- 
 mon danger, ready to encounter each other, 
 in mutual enmity ; then I roused all my
 
 L orat. xix. DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 173 
 
 vigilance, exerted my incessant efforts, to , 
 prevent such rupture. This I considered as 
 a real service to my country ; and not upon 
 my own judgment only : I had the autho- 
 rity of Aristophon and Eubulus to confirm 
 me : men who had ever laboured to effect 
 this scheme of union between the two states, 
 (however violent their opposition upon other 
 points, in this they ever were agreed:) men 
 who, when living, were persecuted by thy 
 abject flattery ; yet now, when they are no 
 more, thou p'resumest to arraign their con- 
 duct. So lost art thou to shame! Yes, 
 thou scandal to humanity ! for whatever is 
 urged against me, with respect to Thebes, 
 affects their characters much more than 
 mine. They had declared loudly for this 
 alliance long before it was proposed by me. 
 —But I have digressed too far.— When . 
 jEschincs had effected this Amphissaean I 
 war: when his traitorous coadjutors had 
 possessed our minds with animosity against 
 the Thebans; the great secret of that con- 
 fusion raised amonc the states was now dis- 
 covered. Philip marched directly to attack 
 us. And had we not been suddenly awakened 
 to a vigorous exertion of our powers, the 
 danger must have overwhelmed us ; so far 
 had these men carried on their desperate 
 design. — But, to form a perfect judgement 
 of the terms on which we then stood with 
 Thebes, consult your own decrees, and the 
 answers received on this occasion. — Take 
 them — Read. 
 
 A Decree- 
 
 " In thearchonship of Heropy thus.on the 
 25th day of the month Elaphebolion, the 
 Erecthian tribe presiding, the senate and 
 generals came to the following resolution : 
 
 "Whereas Philip hath possessed himself 
 of some adjacent cities, and demolished 
 others, and is actually preparing to make an 
 inroad into Attica, (in manifest contempt of 
 his engagements,) and to rescind all his late 
 treaties and obligations, without the least 
 regard to public faith: it is resolved, that 
 ambassadors shall be sent to confer with him, 
 and to exhort him to preserve that harmony, 
 and to adhere to those engagements, which 
 have hitherto subsisted between us : at least, 
 that he may grant the same time to delibe- 
 rate, and make a truce, till the month Thar- 
 gelion. — Simus, Euthydemus, and Bulago- 
 ras, are elected from the senate for this com- 
 mission." 
 
 Another Decree, 
 
 "In the archonship of Heropythus, the 
 last day of the month Munichion; — at the 
 motion of the polemarch : 
 
 "Whereas Philip is exerting his most 
 strenuous efforts to alienate the Thebans 
 from us, and prepares to march with all his 
 army to the frontiers of Attica, in direct 
 violation of his treaty now subsisting be- 
 tween us : — It is resolved by the senate and 
 people of Athens, that a herald and ambas- 
 sadors be sent to him, who shall require and 
 demand a cessation of hostilities, that the 
 
 people may have an opportunity of delibera- 
 ting on this exigency ; as at present they are 
 inclined to judge that the honour of the state 
 cannot be supported but by an extraordinary 
 and vigorous opposition. Nearchus and 
 Polycrates are chosen for this commission 
 from the senate; and Eunomus from the 
 people, in quality of herald." 
 Now, read the answer. 
 
 Philip's Answer to the Athenians. 
 
 "Philip, king of Macedon, to the senate 
 and people of Athens, health. 
 
 " How you have been affected towards us 
 from the beginning, we are by no means 
 ignorant : nor of that assiduity with which 
 you have laboured to bring over to your 
 party the Thessalians, the Thebans, and 
 even the Boeotians. As these people had 
 just ideas of their real interests, and have 
 refused to submit to your direction, when 
 you find yourselves disappointed, you send 
 heralds and ambassadors to us, to nut us in 
 mind of former treaties ; and you demand a 
 truce, although you have in no one instance 
 felt the force of our arms. I, on my part, 
 have admitted your ambassadors to an au- 
 dience. I agree to your demands, and am 
 ready to grant the cessation which you re- 
 quire, provided that you remove your evil 
 counsellors, and brand them with the in- 
 famy which they so justly merit. Farewell !" 
 
 The Answer to the Thebans. 
 
 " Philip, king of Macedon, to the senate 
 and people of Thebes, health. 
 
 " I have received your letter, wherein you 
 take notice of the harmonv and peace sub- 
 sisting between us. I am informed that the 
 Athenians have been assiduous in their so- 
 licitations, to prevail upon you to comply 
 with them in those demands which thev 
 have lately made. I must confess, I formerly- 
 imagined that I had discovered some dispo- 
 sition in your' state, to be influenced by their 
 promises, and to acquiesce in their measures ; 
 but now I have received full assurances of 
 your attachment to us, and of your resolu- 
 tions to live in peace, rather than to submit 
 to the guidance of foreign counsels. I feel 
 the sincerest satisfaction, and highly applaud 
 your conduct ; and more particularly as, by 
 your adherence to us, you have in the most 
 effectual manner provided for your interests 
 and safety. Persevere ?in the same senti- 
 ments, and in a short time I hope you will 
 experience their good effects. Farewell !" 
 
 Thus, successful in confirming the mu- 
 tual separation of our states, and elevated 
 by these decrees and these replies, Philip 
 now leads his forces forward, and seizes Ela- 
 ta?a : presuming that, at all events, Athens 
 and Thebes never could unite. You are no 
 strangers to the confusion which this event 
 raised within these walls. Yet permit me 
 to relate some few striking circumstances of 
 our own consternation. — It was evening. 
 A courier arrived, and, repairing to the pre- 
 sidents of the senate, informed them that 
 Elataea was taken. In a moment some start-
 
 174 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS, orat. xix. 
 
 ed from supper; [l.J ran to the public place ; 
 'trove the traders from their stations, and 
 set fire to [2.] their sheds : Some sent round 
 to call the generals ; others clamoured for 
 the trumpeter. [3.] Thus was the city one 
 scene of tumult.— The next morning, by 
 dawn of day, the presidents summoned the 
 senate. The people were instantly collected ; 
 and, before any regular authority could con- 
 vene their assembly, the whole body of citi- 
 zens had taken their places above. Then 
 the senate entered ; the presidents reported 
 their advices, and produced the courier. He 
 repeated his intelligence. The herald then 
 asked in form, ' Who chooses to speak ?' All 
 was silence. The invitation was frequently 
 repeated: still no man rose; though the 
 generals, though the ordinary speakers, were 
 all present ; though the voice of Athens then 
 called on some man to speak and save her. 
 For surely the regular and legal proclamation 
 of the herald may be fairly deemed the voice 
 of Athens.— If an honest solicitude for the 
 preservation of the state had, on this occa- 
 sion, been sufficient to call forth a speaker ; 
 then, my countrymen, ye must have all arisen 
 and crowded to the gallery ; for well I know 
 this honest solicitude had full possession of 
 vour hearts. If wealth had obliged a man 
 to speak, the ' Three Hundred' [4.] must 
 have risen. If patriot zeal and wealth united 
 were the qualification necessary for the 
 speaker, then should we have heard those 
 generous citizens, whose beneficence was 
 afterward displayed so nobly in the service 
 of the state ; for their beneficence proceeded 
 from this union of wealth and patriot zeal. 
 But the occasion, the great day, it seems, 
 called not only for a well-affected and an 
 affluent citizen, but for the man who had 
 traced these affairs to their very source ; who 
 had formed the exactest judgment of Philip's 
 motives, of his secret intentions, in this his 
 conduct. He who was not perfectly inform- 
 ed of these, he who had not watched the 
 whole progress of his actions with consum- 
 mate vigilance; however zealously affected 
 to the state, however blest with wealth; 
 was in nowise better qualified to conceive or 
 to propose the measures, which your interest 
 demanded, on an occasion so critical. On that 
 day, then, I was the man who stood forth. 
 And the counsels I then proposed may now 
 merit vour attention, on a double account : 
 first, to" conv ince you that, of all your leaders 
 and ministers, I was the only one who main- 
 tained the post of a zealous patriot in your 
 extremity, whose words and actions were 
 devoted to your service, in the midst of 
 public consternation ; and, secondly, to ena- 
 ble you to judge more clearly of my other 
 
 fl.] From supper, i. e. from the table 
 provided at the expense of the public, for 
 such citizens as had been distinguished by 
 their services and merits. 
 
 [2.1 Set fire to, &c] Wolfius asks why? 
 and for what purpose ? The answer, I ap- 
 prehend, is obvious: To clear the place for 
 an assembly ; and in their confusion and im- 
 patience they took the speediest and most 
 violent method. 
 
 actions, by granting a little time to this.— 
 My speech then was thus : 
 
 '* They who are thrown into all this con- 
 fusion, from an opinion that the Thebans 
 are gained over to the interests of Philip, 
 seem to me entirely ignorant of the present 
 state of affairs. Were this the case, I am 
 convinced ye would now hear, not that he 
 was at Elata?a, but on our very frontier. 
 His intent (I clearly see it,) in seizing this 
 post, is to facilitate his schemes in Thebes. 
 Attend, and I shall now explain the circum- 
 stances of that state. Those of its citizens, 
 whom his gold could corrupt, or his artifice 
 deceive, are all at his devotion ; those who 
 at first opposed, and continue to oppose him, 
 he finds incapable of being wrought upon. 
 What then is his design? Why hath he 
 seized Elatea? — That, by drawing up his 
 forces, and displaying his powers upon the 
 borders of Thebes, he may inspire h's adhe- 
 rents with confidence and elevation, and 
 strike such terror into his adversaries, that 
 fear or force may drive them into those 
 measures they have hitherto opposed. If 
 then we are resolved, in this conjuncture, to 
 cherish the remembrance of every unkind^ 
 ness we may have received from the The- 
 bans ; if we regard them with suspicion, as_ 
 men who have ranged them on the side of 
 our enemy ; we shall, in the first place, act 
 agreeably to Philip's warmest wishes : and 
 then I am apprehensive, that the party who 
 now oppose him mav be brought over to his 
 interest, the whole city declare unanimously 
 in his favour, and Thebes and Macedon fall 
 with their united force on Attica. — Grant 
 the due attention to what I shall propose; 
 let it be calmly weighed, without dispute or 
 cavil ; and I doubt not but that my counsels 
 may direct you to the best and most salutary 
 measures, and dispel the dangers now im- 
 pending over the state. What then do I 
 propose ? — First, shake off that terror which 
 hath possessed your minds, and, instead of 
 fearing for yourselves, fear for the Thebans ; 
 they are more immediately exposed, and 
 must be the first to feel the "danger. In the 
 next place, let all those of the age for military 
 service, both infantry and cavalry, march 
 instantly to Eleusis, "that Greece may see 
 that you too are assembled in arms; and 
 your friends in Thebes be emboldened to 
 assert their rights: when they are assured, 
 that, as they who have sold their country to 
 the Macedonian, have a force at Elataea to 
 support them, you too stand prepared to 
 support their antagonists. I recommend it, 
 in the last place, that you nominate ten am- 
 bassadors, who, with the generals, shall have 
 full authority to determine the time and all 
 
 [3.] The trumpeter.] Possibly to sum- 
 mon the assembly on this extraordinary oc- 
 casion, when there was no leisure nor oppor- 
 tunity for the regular and usual method of 
 convening the citizens. 
 
 T4.] The • Three Hundred,' i. e. the body 
 of "richer citizens who were to advance money 
 for the exigencies of the state. See Note 1, 
 p. 13, on Olynthiac I.
 
 orat. xix.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 I 
 
 h> 
 
 other circumstances of this march. When 
 these ambassadors shall arrive at Thebes, 
 how are they to conduct this great affair ? 
 This is a point worthy your most serious 
 attention. — Make no demands at all of the 
 Thebans : at this juncture, it would be dis- 
 honourable. Assure them that your forces 
 are ready, and but wait their orders, to 
 march to their support : as you are deeply 
 affected by their danger, and have been so 
 happy as to foresee, and to guard against it. 
 If they are prevailed on to embrace these 
 overtures, we shall effectuate our great pur- 
 pose, and act with a dignity worthy of our 
 state: but, should it happen that we are not 
 so successful, whatever misfortunes they 
 may suffer, to themselves they shall be im- 
 puted : while your conduct shall appear, in 
 no one instance, inconsistent with the honour 
 and renown of Athens." 
 
 These and other like particulars did I sug- 
 gest. I came down amidst the universal ap- 
 plause of the assembly, without one word of 
 opposition or dissent.' Nor did I thus speak, 
 without proposing my decree in form ; nor 
 did I propose my decree, without proceeding 
 on the embassy ; nor did I proceed on the 
 embassy, without prevailing on the Thebans. 
 From first to last, my conduct was uni- 
 form, my perseverance invariable, my whole 
 powers entirely devoted to repel the dangers 
 then encompassing the state. Produce the 
 decree made on this occasion. Say, .Eschines, 
 what character are we to ascribe to you, on 
 that great day ? And, in what light am 1 
 to be considered ? As a Battalus, the odious 
 name your scorn and malice have given me ? 
 And you, a hero of no ordinary rank, a 
 dramatic hero, a Cresphontes, a Creon, or 
 an CEnomaus, the character in which your 
 vile performance was punished with such 
 heavy stripes ? On that day our country 
 had full proof that I, the Battalus, could 
 perform more worthy services than you, the 
 (Enomaus. You performed no services at 
 all : I discharged the duty of a faithful citi- 
 zen in the amplest manner. 
 
 The Decree- 
 
 " In thearchonship of Nausicles, the Aian- 
 tidian tribe presiding, on the sixteenth day 
 of the month Scirrophorion, Demosthenes, 
 the son of Demosthenes, of the Pa?anian 
 tribe, proposed this decree. 
 
 " Whereas, Philip, king of the Macedo- 
 nians, hath, in various times past, \ iolated 
 the treaty of peace subsisting between him 
 and the state of Athens, in open contempt 
 of his most solemn engagements, and of all 
 that is esteemed sacred in Greece ; possessing 
 himself of cities to which he had no claim or 
 pretensions, reducing some to slavery that 
 were under the Athenian jurisdiction; and 
 this, without any previous injury committed 
 on the part of Athens. And, whereas, he, 
 at this time, perseveres in his outrages and 
 cruelty, imposing his garrisons on the cities 
 of Greece, subverting their constitutions, 
 enslaving their inhabitants, and rasing their 
 walls ; in some, dispossessing the Greeks, 
 and establishing barbrrians ; abandoning the 
 
 temples and sepulchres to their inhuman 
 rage, (actions agreeable to his country and his 
 manners,) Insolent in his present fortune, 
 and forgetful of that mean origin from 
 whence he hath arisen to this unexpected 
 power. And, whereas, while the Athenian 
 people beheld him extending his dominion 
 over states and countries like his own, bar- 
 barous and detached from Greece, they 
 deemed themselves little affected or injured 
 by such conquests ; but now, when Grecian 
 cities are insulted by his arms, or totally 
 subverted, they justly conceive it would oe 
 unwarrantable and unworthy of the glory 
 of their illustrious ancestors to look on with 
 indifference, while the Greeks are thus re- 
 duced to slavery For these reasons, the 
 
 senate and people of Athens (with due ve- 
 neration to the gods and heroes, guardians 
 of the Athenian city and territory, whose 
 aid they now implore ; and with due atten- 
 tion to' the virtue of their ancestors, to 
 whom the general liberty of Greece was ever 
 dearer than the particular interest of their 
 own state,) have resolved : 
 
 " That a fleet of two hundred vessel 
 shall be sent to sea, (the admiral to cruise 
 within the streights of Thermopylae :) That 
 the generals and commanders, both of horse 
 and foot, shall march with their respective 
 forces to Eleusis: That ambassadors shall 
 be sent to the states of Greece ; and particu- 
 larly to the Thebans, as the present situa- 
 tion of Philip threatens their confines more 
 immediately : That these ambassadors shall 
 be instructed to exhort them, not to be ter- 
 rified by Philip, but to exert themselves in 
 defence of their own liberty, and that of 
 Greece; to assure them, that the people of 
 Athens, far from harbouring the least re- 
 sentment, on account of any former diffe- 
 rences which might have alienated their 
 states from each other, are ready to support 
 them with all their powers, their treasures, 
 their forces, and their arms ; well knowing 
 that, to contend for sovereignty among 
 themselves, is an honour to the Greeks ; but 
 to be commanded by a foreigner, or to suffer 
 him to wrest from them their superiority, 
 is unworthy of the Grecian dignity, and the 
 glorious actions of their ancestors : — To as- 
 sure them, that the Athenian people do not 
 look on those of Thebes as aliens, but as 
 kinsmen and countrymen; that the good 
 offices conferred on Thebes, by their proge- 
 nitors, are ever fresh in their memory, who 
 restored the descendants of Hercules to their 
 hereditary dominions, from which they had 
 been expelled by the Peloponnesians, and, 
 by force of arms, subdued all those who op- 
 posed themselves to that illustrious family ; 
 who kindly entertained CEdipus and his ad- 
 herents, in the time of their calamity ; and 
 who have transmitted many other monu- 
 ments of their affection and respect to 
 Thebes: — That the people of Athens, there- 
 fore, will not, at this conjuncture, desert 
 the cause of Thebes and Greece ; but are 
 ready to enter into engagements, defen- 
 sive and offensive, with the Thebans, ce- 
 mented and confirmed by a mutual liberty 
 of intermarriage, and by the oaths of each
 
 170 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [okat. xix. 
 
 even greater than my strength ; that the 
 conduct I pursued was not noble, was not 
 worth\ of the state, was not necessary : let 
 this be proved, and then accuse me. " But, 
 if a sudden clap of thunder, if a furious 
 tempest, burst at once upon us, and laid 
 prostrate not our state alone, but every 
 state in Greece -.—What then ? Am I to be 
 accused? With equal justice might the 
 trader, who sends out his vessel equipped 
 and furnished for a voyage, be deemed guil- 
 ty of her wreck, when she had encountered 
 a storm so violent, as to endamage, nay, to 
 tear down, her tackle. He nught plead thus, 
 ' 1 was not pilot in the voyage.' Nor was I 
 commander of your army ; nor I master of 
 Fortune. She it is who commands the 
 world. And let this be duly weighed : if, 
 when the Thebans engaged on our side, we 
 were yet fated to this calamity ; what were 
 we to expect, if they had not "only been de- 
 tached from us, but united with our enemy 
 in compliance with all his urgent solicita- 
 tions. If, when the armies fought at a dis- 
 tance of three days' march from Attica, such 
 danger and consternation fell on this city, 
 what if the defeat had happened in our ow ; n 
 territory? Think ye that we could have 
 stood ? That we could have assembled here ? 
 That we could have breathed ? The respite 
 of one day (at least of two or three) is often- 
 times of signal moment to the preservation 
 of a people — In the other case— But 1 can- 
 not bear to mention what we must have 
 suffered, if this state had not been protected 
 by the favour of some god, and the interpo- 
 sition of this alliance, the perpetual subject 
 (-Eschines!) of your clamorous malice. 
 
 All this particular discussion is addressed 
 to you, ye Judges, and to those auditors 
 who stand round the tribunal. As to this 
 miscreant, he needs but one short and plain 
 reply. If you, .-Eschines, were the only 
 man among us who foresaw the issue; it 
 was your duty to have foretold it to your 
 countrymen : if you did not foresee it, you 
 are as accountable for such ignorance as any 
 other citizen. What better rif ht then have 
 you to urge this as a crime against me, than 
 I to accuse you upon the same occasion ? 
 When, at this juncture, not to mention 
 others, I approved myself so far a better ci- 
 tizen than you, as 1 was entirely devoted to 
 what appeared the true interest of mv coun- 
 try; not nicely weighing, not once conside- 
 ring my private danger; while you never 
 proposed any better measures ; else we had 
 adopted these: nor, in the prosecution of 
 these, were we assisted by anv service of 
 yours. No ; the event discovered, that your 
 conduct had been such as the basest, the 
 most inveterate enemy to this state must 
 have pursued. And observable indeed it is, 
 that at the very time when Aristratus at 
 Naxus, and Aristoliius at Thassus, equally 
 the avowed foes of •Uhens, are harassing 
 the Athenian partisans by prosecutions; 
 here, Eschines hath brought his accusation 
 against Demosthenes. But the man who 
 derives his consequence from the calamities 
 of Greece, should rather meet his own pu- 
 nishment than stand up to prosecute ano- 
 
 party tendered and accepted with all due 
 solemnity. The ambassadors chosen on this 
 occasion are Demosthenes, Hyperides, Mne- 
 sithides, Democrates, and Callaeschrus." 
 
 Here was the foundation laid ; here was 
 the first establishment of our interest in 
 Thebes. Hitherto, the traitors had been 
 too successful; and all was animosity, aver- 
 sion, and suspicion, between the cities. 
 But, by thisdecree, that danger, which hung 
 lowering over our state, was in an instant 
 dissipated like a vapour. — And surely it was 
 the duty of an honest citizen, if he had any 
 better measures to propose, to have declared 
 them publicly, not to have cavilled now. 
 For the counsellor and the sycophant are 
 characters entirely different, in every parti- 
 cular; but in this are thev more especially 
 distinguished from each other, that the one 
 fairly declares his opinion previous to the 
 event ; and makes himself accountable to 
 those he hath influenced, to fortune, to the 
 times, to the world : while the other is si- 
 'ent when he ought to speak ; but when 
 some melancholy accident hath happened, 
 he dwells on this with the most invidious 
 censure. That was the time (I repeat it) for 
 a man sincerely attached to his country, 
 and to truth. Vet, such is my confidence 
 in the abundant merits of my cause, that if 
 any man can, now, point out abetter course, 
 nay. if there be any course at all, but that 
 which I pursued, I shall confess myself cri- 
 minal; for if any move expedient conduct 
 hath been now discovered, I allow that it 
 ought not to have escaped me. But if there 
 neither is, nor was, nor can be, such a con- 
 duct pointed out, no, not at this day, what 
 was the part of your minister ? was it not 
 to choose the best of such measures as oc- 
 curred ; of such as were really in his power ? 
 And this I did (.Eschines!) when the herald 
 asked, in due form, ' Who chooses to address 
 the people ?' Not • who will inveigh against 
 things past ?' Not ' who will answer for 
 things to come?' In this juncture you 
 kept your seat in the assembly without ut- 
 tering one word — I rose up "and spoke. — 
 Well, though you were then silent, yet, 
 now, explain your sentiments. Sav, what 
 expedient was' there, which I should have 
 devised ? What favourable juncture was 
 lost to the state, by my means? What al- 
 liance, what scheme of conduct was there, 
 to which I should have rather led mv fellow- 
 citizens ? Not that the time once elapsed is 
 ever made the subject of debate; for that 
 time, no man ever suggests expedients. It 
 is the coming or the present juncture which 
 demands the offices of a counsellor. And 
 in that juncture, when some of our misfor- 
 tunes, it seems, were coming on, some were 
 already present, consider my intention ; do 
 not point your malice at the event. The 
 final issue cf all human actions depends on 
 God. Do not then impute it as my offence, 
 that Philip was victorious in the battle. 
 This is an event determined by God, not 
 by me. Let it be proved that I did not take 
 every precaution which human prudence 
 could suggest ; that I did not exert myself 
 with integrity, with assiduity, with toil
 
 on.vr. xix.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 177 
 
 ther : the man whose interests are advanced 
 by conjunctures most favourable to those 
 of our public enemies, can never, surely, 
 be a friend to our country. And, thai this 
 is your case, your life, your actions, the 
 measures you have pursued, the measures 
 you have declined, all demonstrate. Is 
 there any thins effected, which promises 
 advantage to the state? ^Bschines is mute. 
 Are we crossed by an untoward accident! 
 jEschines arises. Just as our old sprains 
 and fractures again become sensible, when 
 any malady hath attacked our bodies. 
 
 But, since he hath insisted so much upon 
 the event, I shall hazard a bold assertion. 
 But, in the name of Heaven, let it not be 
 deemed extravagant: let it be weighed with 
 candour. I say then, that had we all known 
 what fortune was to attend our efforts ; had 
 we all foreseen the final issue ; had you 
 foretold it, jF.schines; had you bellowed 
 out your terrible denunciations (you, whose 
 voice was never heard ;) yet, even in such 
 a case, must this city have pursued the very 
 same conduct, if she had retained a thought 
 of glory, of her ancestors, or of future times. 
 For, thus, she could only have been deemed 
 unfortunate in her attempts: and misfor- 
 tunes are the lot of all men, whenever it 
 may please Heaven to inflict them. But if 
 that state which once claimed the first rank 
 in Greece had resigned this rank, in time of 
 danger, she had incurred the censure of be- 
 traying the whole nation to the enemy.— If 
 we had indeed given up those points with- 
 out one blow, for which our fathers encoun- 
 tered every peril, who would not have 
 spurned you with scorn ? ' you, the author 
 of such conduct,' not the state, or me? In 
 the name of Heaven, say with what face 
 could we have met those foreigners who 
 sometimes visit us, if such scandalous su- 
 pineness on our part had brought affairs to 
 their present situation ? If Philip had been 
 chosen general of the Grecian army, and 
 some other state had drawn the sword 
 against this insidious nomination ; and 
 fought the battle, unassisted by the Athe- 
 nians, that people, who, in ancient times, 
 never preferred inglorious security to ho- 
 nourable danger ; what part of Greece, 
 what part of the barbarian world, has not 
 heard, that the Thebans, in their period of 
 success ; that the Lacedemonians, whose 
 power was older and more extensive; that 
 the king of Persia, would have cheerfully 
 and joyfully consented that this state should 
 enjoy her own dominions, together with an 
 accession of territory ample as her wishes, 
 upon this condition, that she should receive 
 law, ana suffer another state to preside in 
 Greece ? But, to Athenians, this was a con- 
 dition unbecoming their descent, intolera- 
 ble to their spirit, repugnant to their na- 
 ture. Athens never was once known to live 
 in a slavish, though a secure, obedience to 
 unjust and arbitrary power. No: our 
 whole history is one series of noble contests 
 for pre-eminence: the whole period of our 
 existence hath been spent in braving dan- 
 gers, for the sake of glory and renown. 
 And so highly do you esteem such conduct, 
 
 so consonant to the Athenian character, that 
 those of your ancestors who were most dis- 
 tinguished in the pursuit of it, are ever the 
 most favourite objects of your praise. And 
 with reason. For who can reflect without 
 astonishment upon the magnanimity of 
 those men, who resigned their lands, gave 
 up their city, and embarked in their ships, 
 to avoid the odious state of subjection .' 
 AVho chose Themistocles, the adviser of this 
 conduct, to command their forces ; and, 
 when t'rysilus proposed that they should 
 yield to tile terms prescribed, stoned him to 
 death ? Nay, the public indignation was 
 not yet allayed. Your very wives inflicted 
 the same vengeance on his wife. For the 
 Athenians of that day looked out for no 
 speaker, no general, to procure them a state 
 of prosperous slavery. They had the spirit 
 to reject even life, unless they were allowed 
 to enjoy that life in freedom. For it was a 
 principle fixed deeply in every breast, that 
 man was not born to lus parents only, but 
 to his country. And mark the distinction. 
 He who regards himself as born only to his 
 parents, waits in passive submission for the 
 hour of his natural dissolution. He who 
 considers that he is the child of his country 
 also, is prepared to meet his fate freely, 
 rather than behold that country reduced to 
 vassalage : and thinks those insults and dis- 
 graces which he must meet, in a a state en- 
 slaved, much more terrible than death. 
 Should I then attempt to assert, that it was 
 I who inspired you with sentiments worthy 
 of your ancestors, I should meet the just 
 resentment of every hearer. No : it is my 
 point to shew, that such sentiments are pro- 
 perly your own ; that they were the senti- 
 ments of my country, long before mv days. 
 I claim but my share of merit, in having 
 acted on such principles, in every part of 
 my administration. He, then, who condemns 
 every part of my administration, he who 
 directs you to treat me with severity, as one 
 who hath involved the state in terrors and 
 dangers, while he labours to deprive me of 
 present honour, robs you of the applause of 
 all posterity. For if you now pronounce, 
 that, as my public conduct hath not been 
 right, Ctesiphon must stand condemned, it 
 must be thought that you yourselves have 
 acted wrong, not that you owe your present 
 state to the caprice of fortune — But it can- 
 not be ! No, my countrymen ! it cannot 
 be, that you have acted wrong, in encounter- 
 ing danger bravely, for the liberty and the 
 safety of all Greece. No ! by those generous 
 souls of ancient times, who were exposed at 
 Marathon ! By those who stood arrayed at 
 Plataea ! By those who encountered the 
 Persian fleet at Salamis, who fought at Ar- 
 temisium ! By all those illustrious sons of 
 Athens, whose remains lie deposited in the 
 public monuments ! All of whom received 
 the same honourable interment from their 
 country : not those only who prevailed, not 
 those only who were victorious — And with 
 reason. What was the part of gallant men, 
 they all performed ! their success was such 
 as the Supreme Director of the world dis- 
 pensed to each.
 
 178 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [ohat. xix. 
 
 —Well then, thou miscreant, thou abject 
 scrivener ; thou who, to rob me of the ho- 
 nours and the affections of these my coun- 
 trymen, talkest of battles, of trophies, of 
 brave deeds of old : and what are these, or 
 any of these, to the present cause? Say, 
 thou vile player, when I assumed the cha- 
 racter of a public counsellor, and on an ob- 
 ject so important as the natural pre-emi- 
 nence of my country, with what principles 
 should I have arisen to speak ? Those of 
 suggesting measures unworthy of my coun- 
 trvmen ? Then must I have met that 
 death I merited. And when the interests of 
 the state come before you, your minds, my 
 fellow-citizens, should be possessed with an 
 extraordinary degree of elevation, beyond 
 what is necessary in private causes. When 
 these are to be' decided, you have only to 
 consider the ordinary transactions of the 
 world, the tenor of your laws, and the na- 
 ture of private facts. But in questions of 
 state, you are to look up to your illustrious 
 ancestors ; and every judge is to suppose, 
 that, with the symbols of his authority, he 
 is also invested with the high character of 
 his country. Thus, and thus only, shall 
 he determine on such questions, in a man- 
 ner worthy of these his ancestors. 
 
 But I have been so transported by men- 
 tioning the acts of your predecessors, that 
 there are some decrees and some transac- 
 tions that have escaped me. I return, then, 
 to the points from whence I thus digressed. 
 Upon our arrival at Thebes, we there found 
 the ambassadors of Philip, those of the 
 Thessalians, and the other confederates, all 
 assembled ; our friends in terror, his party 
 elevated. That this is not asserted merely 
 to serve my present purpose, I appeal to 
 that letter which we, the ambassadors, in- 
 stantly despatched on this occasion. Yet, 
 so transcendent is the virulence of this man, 
 that, if in any instance our designs have 
 been effectual, he ascribes it to the juncture 
 of affairs, not to me; in every instance 
 where they have been defeated, he charges 
 all to me, and to my evil genius. It seems, 
 then, that I, the speaker and counsellor, 
 can claim no share of merit in such advan- 
 tages as have been gained by speaking and 
 by counsel ; but where our arms have been 
 unsuccessful, where the conduct of a war 
 hath been unfortunate, I am loaded with 
 the whole blame. Can we conceive a tem- 
 per more cruel, more execrable in its malice ? 
 —Read the letter. 
 
 The Letter is here read. 
 
 The assembly was now convened. The 
 deputies of Macedon were first admitted to 
 an audience, as they appeared in the charac- 
 ter of allies. They rose up and addressed 
 themselves to the people; lavishing their 
 praises upon Philip, urging many articles of 
 accusation against you, and dwelling upon 
 
 [1.] And in the two first engagements.] 
 These, wherever fought, have been consi- 
 dered by historians as of too little conse- 
 quence to be recorded. And the extrava- 
 
 every act of opposition which you had ever 
 made to Thebes. This was the sum of all : 
 they called upon the Thebans to make the 
 due return to the benefits conferred by Phi- 
 lip, and to inflict due vengeance for the in« 
 juries received from you : and for this they 
 had their option, either to allow the Mace- 
 donian a free passage through their territo- 
 ry, or to unite with him in the invasion of 
 Attica. It was clearly proved, as they af- 
 fected to suppose, that if their counsels 
 were embraced, the cattle, slaves, and all 
 the wealth of Attica, must be transferred to 
 Bceotia ; but that our overtures tended to 
 expose Bceotia to all the havoc of the war. 
 To these they added many other particulars, 
 all tending to the same purpose. And, now, 
 I should esteem it my greatest happiness to 
 lay before you the whole detail of what we 
 urged in reply. But you, I fear, are too 
 sensible, that these things are past, that 
 the torrent hath since broken in, and, as it 
 were, overwhelmed all our affairs ; and 
 therefore must think it useless and odious 
 to speak of these things at all. I shall 
 therefore confine myself to the resolutions 
 we obtained, and the answer returned to 
 you. Take them : read. 
 
 The Answer of the Thebans is here read. 
 
 In consequence of these their resolutions, 
 they called you forth ; they invited you in 
 due form. You marched, you came to their 
 support : and, with such affectionate confi- 
 dence were you received, (for I pass over the 
 intermediate transactions,) that, while their 
 army, both infantry and cavalry, were sta- 
 tioned without the walls, your forces were 
 admitted into their city, were received into 
 their houses, amidst their children, their 
 wives, all that they held most dear. And 
 thus, in one day, did the Thebans give three 
 the most public and most honourable testi- 
 monies to your merit ; one to your valour, 
 another to your justice, and a third to your 
 continence. * For, by determining to unite 
 their arms with yours, rather than to fight 
 against you, they declared their sense of 
 your superior valour, as well as the superior 
 justice of your cause; and, by intrusting to 
 your disposal what they and all mankind 
 are most solicitous to protect, their children 
 and their wives, they demonstrated an ab- 
 solute reliance ou your strict continence: 
 and your conduct confirmed these their sen- 
 timents in every particular ; for, from the 
 moment that our army appeared within 
 their walls, no man ever could complain of 
 any one instance of your injurious demean- 
 our; such purity of "manners did you dis- 
 play. And, in the two first engagements, [1.3 
 that of the river, and that fought in winter, 
 you approved yourselves not blameless only, 
 but worthy of admiration, in discipline, in 
 judgment, 'in alacrity. Hence, other states 
 were engaged in praises of your conduct, 
 
 gance of joy with which the accounts of 
 them were received, strongly mark the levi- 
 ty of the Athenian character.
 
 orat. xix.l DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 179 
 
 ours in sacrifices and religions processions. 
 — And here I would gladly ask jEschines 
 this question, Whether, in the course of 
 these cnents, when the city was one scene of 
 unbounded joy and acclamation, he took 
 his part in our religious rites, and shared in 
 the general festivity; or shut himself in 
 his chamber, grieved, afflicted, and provok- 
 ed at the successes of his country? If he 
 appeared, if he was then found among his 
 fellow-citizens, what injustice, nay, what 
 impiety, is this, when he had solemnly call- 
 ed Heaven to witness that he approved these 
 measures, to desire that you should condemn 
 them by your present sentence ; you who, 
 by your oath, have made as solemn an ap- 
 peal to Heaven ? If he did not appear, is 
 not that man worthy of a thousand deaths, 
 who looks with grief on those events which 
 fill his countrymen with joy ? — Read these 
 decrees ! 
 
 The Decrees relative to the Sacrifices are 
 here read. 
 
 Thus were we, then, engaged in sacrificing 
 to the gods ; the Thebans, in acknowledg- 
 ing that we had been their deliverers. Thus, 
 the people who had been reduced, by the 
 machinations of my adversary and his fac- 
 tion, to the condition of seeking assistance, 
 were raised, by my counsels, to that of 
 granting it to others. And what the style 
 was which Philip then adopted, what his 
 confusion at these events, you may learn 
 from his own letters sent to Peloponnesus. 
 Take them : read : thus shall you see, that 
 my perseverance, my journeys, my fatigues, 
 as well as my various decrees, now the ob- 
 ject of his malice, were by no means ineffec- 
 tual. And permit me to observe, that this 
 state afforded numbers of able and illustri- 
 ous speakers before my time. Such were 
 Callistratus, Aristophon, Cephalus, Thra- 
 sybulus, and a thousand others. And yet, 
 of all these, not one ever devoted his whole 
 powers, upon all occasions, to the service of 
 his country. He who moved the decree, 
 did not charge himself with the embassy ; 
 he who went ambassador, was not author of 
 the decree. Each reserved to himself a re- 
 spite from business, and, in case of accident, 
 a resource. But I may be asked, ' What ! 
 . are you so superior to other men in powers 
 and confidence, that you can do all yourself ?' 
 I say not so. But such and so alarming was 
 my sense of the danger then impending over 
 us, that I thought it no time for private 
 considerations, for entertaining any thought 
 of personal security, for conceiving any bet- 
 ter nopes than that all the powers cf every 
 citizen might possibly effect the necessary 
 service. As to myself, I was persuaded, not 
 perhaps on solid grounds, — yet I was per- 
 suaded, that no mover of decrees could 
 frame more useful decrees than I ; no agent 
 in the execution of them could execute 
 them more effectually ; no ambassador could 
 proceed on his embassy with greater vigour 
 and integrity. And hence did I assume all 
 .Jiese functions. Read Philip's letters. 
 
 The Letters are i 
 
 To such condescension did I reduce this 
 prince. Yes, .■Eschincs, b) me was he obli- 
 ged to use such language : he, who, on all 
 former occasions, treated this state with so 
 much insolence and arrogance. And my 
 fellow-citizens repaid these my services with 
 the honour of a crown. You were present, 
 yet acquiesced. Diondas, who traversed 
 this grant, could not obtain a fifth of the 
 suffrages. Read the decrees. 
 
 The Decrees are read. 
 
 Here are the decrees framed literally in 
 the same terms with those which Aristonicus 
 had before proposed, and that which Ctesi- 
 phon hath now moved : Decrees which Ma- 
 chines hath neither impeached, nor united 
 in the impeachment brought against their 
 author. And surely, if this his present ac- 
 cusation be justly founded, he might have 
 prosecuted Dememoles who proposed them, 
 and Hyperides, with much more reason than 
 Ctesiphon. And why ? Because Ctesiphon 
 can appeal to these men, and the decisions 
 of your courts in their case. He can plead 
 that ^Esehines never attempted to accuse 
 them, though their decrees were conceived 
 in the same terms with his. He can urge 
 the illegality of commencing a prosecution 
 on a case already decided. Not to mention 
 other reasons. Whereas, in the former suit, 
 the cause was to be supported only by its 
 merits, without any previous considerations 
 in its favour. But he could not then have 
 pursued his present method. He could not 
 have searched old chronicles, to support his 
 malicious charge : he could not have ran- 
 sacked our archives, for scraps of obsolete 
 decrees, never once thought of, never once- 
 conceived as in any degree applicable to the 
 present case : he could not have made up a 
 plausible harangue, by confounding dates, 
 and disguising facts, with all the arts of 
 falsehood, instead of stating them fairly. 
 No; he must have deduced all his argu- 
 ments from truths recent, from facts well 
 remembered ; all lying, as it were, before 
 you. Hence did he decline the immediate 
 discussion of these transactions ; but brings 
 his charge now, after so long an interval : 
 as if this were a contest in a school of rheto- 
 ric, not a real inquiry into public affairs. 
 Yes ; he must suppose that you are now to 
 judge of speeches, not of political transac- 
 tions. Then observe his sophistical craft. 
 He tells you, that whatever opinions you 
 had formed of us both, on coming hither 
 they must be forgotten ; that you are to 
 judge of what appears on this examination, 
 like men settling an account of money. 
 You may have conceived that a balance is yet 
 due ; but when you find the accounts clear- 
 ed, and that nothing remains, you must ac- 
 quiesce. And here you may observe how 
 dangerous it is to rely on any argument not 
 founded on truth : for by this subtle simili- 
 tude he hath confessed, that you came hi- 
 ther firmly persuaded that I have ever spi - 
 ken for my country; he, for Philip. For 
 he could not have attempted to alter vour 
 R 2
 
 180 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. xix. 
 
 persuasion, unless you had been thus per- 
 suaded, with respect to each. And, that he 
 is not justly warranted to demand such al- 
 teration, I shall now demonstrate ; not by 
 the help of figures, (for we are not counting 
 money,) but by a short summary of my 
 services, which I shall submit to you, my 
 hearers, both as examiners and as vouchers 
 of my account. 
 
 By my conduct, then, which he treats with 
 such severity.theThebans, instead of joining 
 with the Macedonian in an invasion of our 
 territory, as we all expected, united with us, 
 and prevented that invasion. The war, in- 
 stead of raging here in Attica, was confined 
 to the district of Bceotia, at a distance of 
 seventy stadia from the city. Our coast, 
 instead of being exposed to all the rapine of 
 the Eubcean corsairs, was preserved in tran- 
 quillity during the whole war. Instead of 
 Philip's becoming master of the Hellespont, 
 by the possession of Byzantium, the By- 
 zantines joined with us, and turned their 
 arms against him. Are we then to use 
 figures and accounts in examining transac- 
 tions, and shall these articles be erased from 
 the account ? Shall we not rather labour to 
 perpetuate their remembrance ? — I do not set 
 it down as an additional article, that the 
 cruelty which Philip was known to exercise 
 towards those he had reduced, was all felt 
 by other states, while we happily reaped 
 all the fruit of that humaneness which he 
 well knew how to assume, when some future 
 schemes were to be advanced. I do not in- 
 sist on this. 
 
 — But one thing I shall assert with less 
 reserve : That he who enters on a fair in- 
 quiry into the conduct of any minister, with- 
 out descending to a malicious prosecution, 
 must scorn the mean arts which you have 
 practised, of inventing metaphors, and 
 mimicking phrases and gestures. It essen- 
 tially concerns the interests of Greece, no 
 doubt, that I use this, and reject that, 
 phrase ; that I should move my arm this 
 way, and not to that side. No : the fair 
 inquirer would consider the state of facts : 
 would examine what resources, what powers 
 we possessed, when I first entered on af- 
 fairs ; what accessions I procured to these ; 
 and what were the circumstances of our ene- 
 mies. If I had really weakened the powers 
 of my country, such iniquitous conduct 
 should be detected : if I had considerably in- 
 creased them, yonr malice should not have 
 pursued me. But as you have avoided this 
 method, 1 shall adopt it. And to you, my 
 hearers, I appeal for the truth of what I now 
 deliver. 
 
 First, then, as to our powers at this junc- 
 ture: we commanded but the islands: and 
 not all of these ; only the weakest of them. 
 Neither Chios, nor Rhodes, nor Corcyra 
 were then ours. Of our finances, the 
 amount was forty-five talents : and even 
 this sum had been anticipa(ed. Of infantry 
 and cavalry, except those within our walls, 
 we had not any : and what was the circum- 
 stance most alarming, and most favour- 
 able to our enemies, their artifices had been 
 to effectual, that the adjacent states, Mega- 
 
 ra, Thebes, Euboea, were all inclined to 
 j hostilities, rather than an alliance with us. 
 \ Such was the situation of our affairs. It 
 cannot be denied ; it cannot be at all con- 
 troverted. And now consider those of Phi- 
 lip, our antagonist. In the first place, his 
 power over all his followers was absolute and 
 uncontrolled ; the first great necessary arti- 
 cle in war. Then, their arms were ever in 
 their hands. Again, his finances were In the 
 most flourishing condition. In all his mo- 
 tions, he consulted only with himself: he 
 did not announce them by decrees; he did 
 not concert them in a public assembly ; he 
 was not exposed to false accusers ; he was 
 not to guard against impeachments; he was 
 not to submit his conduct to examination ; 
 but was in all things absolutely lord, leader, 
 and governor. To this man was I opposed. 
 It is but just that you consider my circum- 
 stances. What did I command ? Nothing. 
 I had but the right of audience in our as- 
 semblies ; a right which you granted to his 
 hirelings equally with me. And, as often as 
 they prevailed against my remonstrances, 
 (and oftentimes did they thus prevail, on 
 various pretences,) were you driven to reso- 
 lutions highly favourable to the enemy. 
 Loaded with all these difficulties, I yet 
 brought over to your alliance the Eubceans, 
 Achaeans, Corinthians, Thebans, Megareans, 
 Leucadians, Corcyra?ans. And thus did we 
 collect fifteen hundred foot and two thousand 
 horse, exclusive of our own citizens. And 
 thus were our finances enlarged, by as ample 
 subsidies as I could raise. 
 
 If you insist on what contingents should 
 strictly have been required from the The- 
 bans, or from the Byzantines, or from the 
 Eubceans ; if you talk of dividing the bur- 
 den of the war in exact proportion ; I must, 
 in the first place, inform you, that, when 
 the united fleet was drawn out to defend the 
 interests of Greece, the whole number of 
 ships amounted to three hundred; and of 
 these two hundred were supplied by Athens: 
 nor did we think ourselves aggrieved; nor 
 did we prosecute those who had advised it ; 
 nor did we discover any marks of discon- 
 tent. That would have been shameful. 
 No : we thanked the gods, that when all 
 Greece was threatened with imminent dan- 
 ger, we were enabled to give twice as much 
 assistance to the common cause, as any 
 other state. And then — little is the public 
 favour which your malicious invectives 
 against me can gain. For why do you not 
 now tell us what we should have done ? 
 Were you not then in the city ? Were you 
 not in the assembly ? Why did you not pro- 
 pose your scheme, if it suited the circum- 
 stances of affairs ? For here was the point 
 to be considered ; what these circumstances 
 admitted, not what our wishes might sug- 
 gest. Had we once rejected the alliance of 
 any people, there was one ready to purchase 
 them, to bid much higher for them, to re- 
 ceive them with open arms. And, if my 
 conduct is now questioned, what if, by any 
 exact and scrupulous demands, in my stipu- 
 lations with the several states, they had 
 withdrawn their forces, and united with our
 
 orat. xix.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 181 
 
 enemy ; and thus, Philip had been master 
 of Euboea, Thebes, and Byzantium ? How 
 busy would these impious men have then 
 been, how violent in their clamours ! Must 
 they not have cried out, that we had rejected 
 these states? That we had driven them 
 from us, when they were courting our alli- 
 ance ? That Philip was confirmed sovereign 
 Of the Hellespont by the Byzantines ? That 
 the whole corn-trade of Greece was at his 
 disposal ? That Thebes had enabled him to 
 push the war to our very confines ? That 
 it had fallen with all its weight on Attica? 
 That the sea was impassable, for that cor- 
 sairs were perpetually issuing from Euboea? 
 — Should we not have heard all this, and 
 more ? — A false accuser, (my countrymen !) 
 is a monster, a dangerous monster, queru- 
 lous, and industrious in seeking pretences 
 of complaint. And such is the very nature 
 of this fox in human shape, a stranger to 
 every thing good and liberal; this theatri- 
 cal ape, this strolling player, this blunder- 
 ing haranguer ! For, of what use is this 
 your vehemence to the public ? — do you 
 waste it on transactions long since past ? — 
 Just as if a physician should visit his infirm 
 and distempered patients, should never 
 speak, never prescribe the means of expel- 
 ling their disorders ; but when one of them 
 had died, and the last offices were perform- 
 ing to his remains, to march after to the 
 grave, and there pronounce with all solem- 
 nity, ' If this man had proceeded thus, and 
 thus, he would not have died.' Infatuated 
 wretch ! and dost thou vouchsafe to speak 
 at last ? 
 
 As to the defeat, that incident in which you 
 so exult ! (accursed wretch ! who should ra- 
 ther mourn for it.) Look through my whole 
 conduct, and ye shall find nothing there that 
 brought down this calamity upon my coun- 
 try. Let it be considered, that there is no 
 one instance in which the ambassadors of 
 Macedon ever prevailed against me, in any 
 of those states where I appeared as the am- 
 bassador of Athens : not in Thessaly, nor 
 in Ambracia, nor in Illyria, nor among the 
 Thracian princes, nor in Byzantium ; in no 
 one place ; no, nor in the last debate at The- 
 bes. But whatever was thus acquired by 
 my superiority over the ambassadors of 
 Philip, their master soon recovered by force 
 ,of arms. And this is urged as my offence. 
 My adversary, even at the very time that he 
 affects to ridicule my weakness, is so shame- 
 less as to require, that I in my single person 
 should conquer all the powers of the Mace- 
 donian, and conquer them by words. What 
 else could I command? 1 had no power 
 over the life of any one citizen, over the 
 fortune of our soldiers, or the conduct of 
 our armies, for which thou art so absurd as 
 to call me to account. In every particular 
 where a minister is accountable, there let 
 your scrutiny be strict and severe. I never 
 shall decline it. And what are the duties 
 of a minister ? To watch the first rise of 
 every incident, to forewarn his fellow-citi- 
 zens. And this did I perform. To confine 
 those evils within the narrowest bounds, 
 which are natural and necessary to be en- 
 
 countered in every state; to restrain the 
 fatal influence of irresolution, supineness, 
 prejudice, anil animosity ; and, on the other 
 hand, to dispose the minds of men to con- 
 cord and unanimity, to rouse them to a vi- 
 gorous defence of their just rights. All this 
 did I perform ; nor can an instance be pro- 
 duced, in which I proved deficient. If a 
 man were asked, what were the means by 
 which Philip effected most of his designs ? 
 the answer is obvious : It was by his armies, 
 by his bribes, by corrupting those who 
 were at the head of affairs. As to his ar- 
 mies, I neither commanded nor directed 
 them. I am not therefore to account for 
 any of their motions. As to his bribes, I 
 rejected them. And in this I conquered 
 Philip : for, as the purchaser conquers, 
 when a man accepts his price, and sells him- 
 self ; so, the man who will not be sold, who 
 disdains to be corrupted, conquers the pur- 
 chaser. Well, then ! with respect to me, 
 this state remains still unconquered. 
 
 Thus have I produced such instances of 
 my conduct, as (not to mention many others) 
 justly authorize this decree of Ctesiphon in 
 my favour. And now I proceed to facts, 
 well known to all who hear me. No sooner 
 had the battle been decided, than the peo- 
 ple (and they had known and seen all my 
 actions,) in the midst of public consterna- 
 tion and distress, when it could not be sur- 
 prising if the multitude bad made me feel 
 some marks of their resentment, were direct- 
 ed by my counsels in every measure taken 
 for the defence of the city. Whatever was 
 done to guard against a siege, the disposi- 
 tion of our, garrison, our works, the repair 
 of our walls, the money to be raised for this 
 purpose, all was determined by decrees 
 framed by me. Then, when they were to 
 appoint a commissioner for providing corn, 
 the people elected me from their whole 
 body. Again, when persons, bent on my 
 destruction, had conspired against me; when 
 they had commenced prosecutions, inqui- 
 ries, impeachments, and I know not whiu, 
 at first not in their own names, but by such 
 agents as they thought best fitted to conceal 
 the real authors ; — yes, you all knew, you 
 all remember that, at the beginning of this 
 period, I was every day expised to some 
 judicial process ; nor was the despair of So- 
 sicles, nor the malice of Philocrates, nor 
 the madness of Diondas and Melanus, nor 
 any other engine left untried for my de- 
 struction : — I say then, that, at the time when 
 I was thus exposed to various assaults, next 
 to the gods, my first and great defenders, I 
 owed my deliverance to you, and all my 
 countrymen. And justice required that you 
 should support my cause ; for it was the 
 cause of truth, a cause which could never 
 fail of due regard from judges bound by 
 solemn oaths, and sensible of their sacred ob- 
 ligation. As you then gave sentence in my 
 favour, on all occasions where I had been im- 
 peached, as my prosecutor could not obtain 
 a fifth part of the voices, you, in effect, pro- 
 nounced that my actions had been excellent ; 
 as I was acquitted upon every trial for an in- 
 fringement of the laws, it was evident that
 
 182 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. xix. 
 
 my counsels and decrees had ever been conso- 
 nant to law ; and, as you ever passed and ap- 
 proved my accounts, you declared authenti- 
 cally, that I had transacted all your affairs 
 with strict and uncorrupted integrity. In 
 '.'.hat terms, then, could Ctesiphon have de- 
 scribed my conduct, agreeably to decency and 
 i ustice ? Was he not to use those which he 
 "found his country had employed, which the 
 sworn judges had employed, which truth it- 
 self had warranted upon all occasions ?— Yes ! 
 but I am told that it is the glory of Cephalus, 
 that he never had occasion to be acquitted 
 on a public trial. True ! and it is his good 
 fortune also. But where is the justice of re- 
 garding that man as a more exceptionable 
 character, who was oftentimes brought to 
 trial, and as often was acquitted; never once 
 condemned ?— Yet let it be observed (Athe- 
 nians !) that with respect to jEschines, I 
 stand in the very same point of glory with 
 Cephalus : for he never accused, never pro- 
 secuted me. Here, then, is a confession of 
 your own, that I am a citizen of no less 
 worth than Cephalus. 
 
 Among the various instances in which he 
 hath displayed his absurdity and malice, 
 that part of his harangue which contains his 
 sentiments on Fortune, is not the least 
 glaring. That a mortal should insult his 
 fellow-mortal, on account of fortune, is, in 
 my opinion, an absurdity the most extrava- 
 gant. He, whose condition is most prospe- 
 rous, whose fortune seems most favourable, 
 knows not whether it is to remain unchang- 
 ed even for a day. How then can he men- 
 tion this subject ? How can he urge it 
 against any man as his reproach? But, 
 since my adversary hath, on this occasion, 
 as on many others, given a free scope to his 
 insolence, hear what I shall offer upon the 
 same subject; and judge whether it be not 
 more consonant to truth, as well as to that 
 moderation which becomes humanity. 
 
 As to the fortune of this state, I must 
 pronounce it good. And this, I find, hath 
 been the sentence, both of the Dodonsean 
 Jove, and of the Pythian Apollo. As to 
 that of individuals, such as all experience 
 at this day, it is grievous and distressful. 
 Look through all Greece, through all the 
 barbarian world ; and where can we find 
 the man who doth not feel many calamities 
 in this present juncture ? But this I take 
 to be the happiness of our fortune as a 
 state, that we have pursued such measures 
 as are most honourable; that we have been 
 more prosperous than those states of Greece 
 who vainly hoped to secure their own hap- 
 piness by "deserting us. That we have en- 
 countered difficulties, that events have not 
 always corresponded with our wishes, in this 
 we have but shared that common lot which 
 other mortals have equally experienced. As 
 to the fortune of an individual, mine, and 
 that of any other, must be determined, I 
 presume, by the particular incidents of our 
 
 [1,] I have escaped, &c] This part of the 
 ceremonial alluded either to the improve- 
 ments made in human life by husbandry and 
 arts, which were commemorated in the mys- 
 
 lives. Such are my sentiments upon this 
 subject. And 1 think you must agree with 
 me, that they are founded upon truth and 
 equity. But my adversary declares, that 
 my fortune hath been greater than that of 
 the whole community. What ! a poor and 
 humble fortune, superior to one of excel- 
 lence and elevation ! How can this be ? 
 No, ./Eschines, if you are determined t > 
 examine into my fortune, compare it with 
 your own : and if you find mine superior, 
 let it be no longer the subject of your re- 
 proach. Let us trace this matter fully. And 
 here, in the name of all the gods, let me not 
 be censured, as betraying any indication of 
 a low mind. No man can be more sensible 
 than I, that he who insults poverty, and he 
 who, because he hath been bred in affluence, 
 assumes an air of pride and consequence, 
 are equally devoid of understanding. But 
 the virulence and restless malice of an in- 
 veterate adversary hath forced me upon 
 this topic, where I shall study to confine 
 myself within as strict bounds as the case 
 can possibly admit. 
 
 Know then, jEschines, it was my fortune, 
 when a youth, to be trained up in a liberal 
 course of education, supplied in such a 
 manner as to place me above the base temp- 
 tations of poverty : when a man, to act sui- 
 tably to such an education, to contribute, 
 in my full proportion, to all the exigencies 
 of the state; never to be wanting in any 
 honourable conduct, either in private or in 
 public life; but, on all occasions, to approve 
 myself useful to my country', and to my 
 friends. When I came into the administra- 
 tion of public affairs, I determined upon 
 such a course of conduct, as frequently 
 gained me the honour of a crown, both from 
 this and other states of Greece. Nor could 
 you, my enemies, attempt to say that I had 
 determined on a dishonourable course. Such 
 hath been the fortune of my life : a subject 
 on which I might enlarge : but I must re- 
 strain myself, lest I should give offence, by 
 an affectation of importance. 
 
 Come, then, thou man of dignity, thou 
 who spurnest at all others with contempt ; 
 examine thy own life ; say, of what kind 
 hath thy fortune been ?— She placed thee, 
 when a youth, in a state of abject poverty ; 
 an assistant to thy father in his school, em- 
 ployed in the menial services of preparing 
 his ink, washing down his benches and sweep- 
 ing his room ; like a slave rather than the 
 child of a citizen. When arrived at man- 
 hood we find thee dictating the forms of in- 
 itiation to thy mother, assisting in her trade, 
 every night employed with thy fawn-skin 
 and lustral bowls, purifying the noviciates, 
 and modelling their little figures of clay and 
 bran, then rousing them, and teaching them 
 to pronounce " I have escaped [1.] the bad ; 
 I have found the better ;" glorying in this 
 noble accomplishment of howling out such 
 jargon louder than the rest. And it is an 
 
 tic rites ; or to the hopes of enjoying gTeater 
 happiness in another world, in consequence 
 of initiation, with which the noviciates were 
 flattered.
 
 ORAT. XIX. 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' OUATIONS. 
 
 183 
 
 honour we must allow him. For, as he pleads 
 with so much vehemence, ye may conclude 
 that in hishowlings he was equally piercing 
 and clamorous. In the day-time, he led his 
 noble Bacchanals through the highways, 
 crowned with fennel and poplar, grasping 
 his serpents, and waving them above his 
 head, with his yell of Evoe, Saboe .' then 
 bounding, and roaring out 'Byes, Attes, 
 Attesy Ht/es ! — Leader ! — Conductor ! — Ivy- 
 bearer ! — Van-bearer ! These were his felicita- 
 tions from the old women : and his wages 
 were tart, biscuit, and new-baked crusts. 
 In such circumstances, surely we must con- 
 gratulate him on his fortune. 
 
 When you had obtained your enrolment 
 among our citizens, by what means I shall 
 not mention, but when you had obtained it, 
 you instantly chose out the most honour- 
 able of employments, that of under-scrive- 
 ner and assistant to the lowest of our public 
 officers. And, when you retired from this 
 station, where you had been guilty of all 
 those practices you charge on others, you 
 were careful not to disgrace any of the past 
 actions of your life. No, by the powers ! — 
 You hired yourself to Simmichus and So- 
 crates, those deep groaning tragedies, as they 
 were called,and acted third characters. You 
 pillaged the grounds of other men for figs, 
 grapes, and olives, like a fruiterer; which 
 cost you more blows than even your playing, 
 which was in effect playing for your life; 
 for there was an implacable, irreconcileable 
 war declared between you and the specta- 
 tors ; whose stripes you felt so often and so 
 severely, that you may well deride those as 
 cowards who are unexperienced in such 
 perils. — But I shall not dwell on such par- 
 ticulars as may be imputed to his poverty. 
 My objections shall be confined to his prin- 
 ciples Such were the measures you adopted 
 
 in your public conduct (for you at last con- 
 ceived the bold design of engaging in affairs 
 of state,) that, while your country prospered, 
 you led a life of trepidation and dismay, ex- 
 pecting every moment the stroke due to 
 those iniquities which stung your conscience: 
 when your fellow-citizens were unfortunate, 
 then were you distinguished by a peculiar 
 confidence. And the man who assumes this 
 confidence, when thousands of his country- 
 men have perished, — what should he justly 
 suffer from those who are left alive? — And 
 here I might produce many other particulars 
 of his character. But I suppress them. For 
 I am not to exhaust the odious subject of 
 his scandalous actions. I am confined to 
 those which it may not be indecent to repeat. 
 
 Take then the whole course of your life, 
 .Eschines, and of mine; compare them with- 
 out heat or acrimony. You attended on 
 your scholars : I was myself a scholar. You 
 served in the initiations: I was initiated. 
 You were a performer in our public enter- 
 tainments : I was the director. You took 
 notes of speeches: I was a speaker. You 
 were an under-player : I was spectator. You 
 failed hi your part: I hissed you. Your 
 public conduct was devoted to our enemies : 
 mine to my country. I shall only add, that 
 on this day I appear to be approved worthy 
 
 of a crown : the question is not whether I 
 have been merely blameless; this is a point 
 confessed. You appear as a false accuser : 
 and the question is, whether you are ever to 
 appear again in such a character ? You are 
 in danger of being effectually prevented, by 
 feeling the consequences of a malicious pro- 
 secution The fortune of your life, then, 
 
 hath been truly excellent; you see it. Mine 
 hath been mean; and you have reason to 
 reproach it. — Come then ! hear me while I 
 read the several attestations of those public 
 offices which 1 have discharged. And, in 
 return, do you repeat those verses which 
 you spoiled m the delivery. 
 
 " Forth from the deep abyss, behold I come ! 
 And the dread portal of the dusky gloom." 
 
 And, 
 
 "Know then, howe'er reluctant, I must 
 
 speak 
 Those evils — " 
 
 O, may the gods inflict 'those evils' upon 
 thee ! May these thy countrymen inflict 
 them to thy utter destruction ! thou enemy 
 to Athens, thou traitor, thou vile player ! 
 Read the attestations. 
 
 The Attestations are read. 
 
 Such hath been my public character. As 
 to my private conduct, if you be not all 
 satisfied that I have approved myself bene- 
 volent and humane ; ever ready to assist 
 those who needed ; I shall be silent ; 1 shall 
 not plead ; I shall not produce testimony of 
 these points : no, nor of the numbers of my 
 fellow-citizens I have redeemed from cap- 
 tivity; nor the sums I have contributed to 
 portioning their daughters ; nor of any like 
 actions. For my principles are such as lead 
 me naturally to suppose, that he who re, 
 ceives a benefit, must remember it for ever- 
 if he would approve his honesty ; but that 
 he who confers the benefit, should instantly 
 forget it, unless he would betray a sordid 
 and illiberal spirit. To remind men of his 
 bounty, to make it the subject of his dis- 
 course, is very little different from a direct 
 reproach: a fault which I am studious to 
 avoid; and therefore shall proceed no far- 
 ther ; content to acquiesce in your opinion 
 of my actions, whatever this may be. But 
 while I practise this reserve, with respect to 
 my private life, indulge me in enlarging 
 somewhat farther on my public conduct. 
 
 Of all the men beneath the sun, point out 
 the single person (>Eschines,) Greek or Bar- 
 barian, who hath not fallen under the power, 
 first of Philip, and now of Alexander; and 
 I submit : let everv thing be imputed to my 
 fortune (shall I call it?) or, if you please, 
 my evil genius. But if numbers who never 
 saw me, who never heard my voice, have 
 laboured under a variety of the most afflict- 
 ing calamities, I mean not only individuals! 
 but whole states and nations; how much 
 more consonant to truth and justice must it 
 be to ascribe the whole to that common fate 
 of mankind, that torrent of unhappy events 
 which bore down upon us with an irresistible 
 violence ? But you turn your eyes from the
 
 104 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat xix, 
 
 real cause, and lay the entire blame on mv 
 administration ; although you know, that, if 
 not the whole, a part at least of your viru- 
 lent abuse must thus fall upon your country, 
 and chiefly upon yourself. Had I, when 
 speaking in the assembly, been absolute and 
 independent master of" affairs, then your 
 other speakers might call me to account. 
 But if ye were ever present, if ye were all in 
 general invited to propose your sentiments, 
 if ye were all agreed that tlie measures then 
 suggested were really the best ; if you, 
 -<Eschines, in particular, were thus persuaded 
 (and it was no partial affection for me, that 
 prompted you to give me up the hopes, the 
 applause, the honours, which attended that 
 course I then advised, but the superior force 
 of truth, and your own utter inability to 
 point out any more eligible course;) — if this 
 was the case, I say, is it not highly cruel and 
 unjust to arraign those measures now, when 
 you could not then propose any better ? In 
 all other cases, we find mankind in general 
 perfectly agreed, and determining in every 
 particular with exact precision. Hath a 
 wilful injury been committed ? It is follow- 
 ed with resentment and punishment. Hath 
 a man erred unwillingly ? He meets with 
 pardon instead of punishment. Is there a 
 man who hath neither willingly nor inad- 
 vertently offended ; who hath devoted him- 
 self to what appeared the true interest of his 
 country, but in some instances hath shared 
 in the general disappointment ? Justice re- 
 quires, that, instead of reproaching and re- 
 viling such a man, we should condole with 
 him. These points are all manifest; they 
 need not the decision of laws ; they are de- 
 termined by nature, by the unwritten pre- 
 cepts of humanity. Mark then the extra- 
 vagance of that cruelty and malice which 
 jEschines hath discovered. The very events, 
 which he himself quotes as so many instances 
 of unhappy fortune, he would impute to me 
 as crimes. 
 
 Add to all this, that, as if he himself had 
 ever spoken the plain dictates of an honest 
 and ingenuous mind, he directs you to guard 
 against me, to be careful that I may not de- 
 ceive you, that I may not practise my arts 
 with too much success. — The vehement de- 
 claimed the subtle impostor, the artful 
 manager, — these are the appellations he be- 
 stows upon me. Thus hath he persuaded 
 himself that the man who is first to charge 
 his own qualities on others, must effectually 
 impose upon his hearers ; and that they can 
 never once discover who he is that urges this 
 charge — But you are no strangers to his 
 character, and must be sensible, I presume, 
 that all this is much more applicable to him 
 than me. — As to my own abilities in speak- 
 ing (for 1 shall admit this charge, although 
 experience hath convinced me, that what is 
 called the power of eloquence depends for 
 the most part upon the hearers, and that the 
 characters of public speakers are determined 
 by that degree of favour and attention which 
 you vouchsafe to each;) — if long practice, I 
 say, hath given me any proficiency in speak- 
 ing, you have ever found it devoted to my 
 country ; not to her enemies, not to my 
 
 private interest. His abilities, on the con- 
 trary, have not only been employed in plead- 
 ing for our adversaries, but in malicious at- 
 tacks upon those his fellow -citizens who have 
 ever in any degree offended or obstructed 
 him. The cause of justice, the cause of 
 Athens, he hath never once supported. And 
 surely the ingenuous and honest citizen 
 never could expect that his private quarrels, 
 his particular animosities, should be gratified 
 by judges who are to determine for the pub- 
 lic ; never could be prompted by such mo- 
 tives to commence his prosecution. No; 
 they are passions, which, if possible, never 
 should find a place in his nature; at least 
 should be restrained within the strictest 
 bounds. — On what occasions then is the 
 minister and public speaker to exert his 
 vehemence ? When the general welfare of 
 the state is in danger ; when his fellow-citi- 
 zens are engaged in some contest with a 
 foreign enemy. These are the proper occa- 
 sions ; for these are the proper subjects of a 
 truly generous and faithful zeal. But never 
 to have demanded justice against me, either 
 in the name of his country, or of his own ; 
 never to have impeached any part of my 
 public, or even of my private, conduct : yet 
 now, when 1 am to be crowned, when I am 
 to receive public honours, to commence a 
 prosecution, to exhaust his whole fund of 
 virulence in the attack ; — this surely is an 
 indication of private pique, of an envious 
 soul, of a depraved spirit; not of generous 
 and honest principles. And, to point this 
 attack not directly against me, but Ctesi- 
 phon, to make him the culprit, is surely the 
 very consummation of all baseness. 
 
 When I consider that profusion of words 
 which you havedavished on this prosecution, 
 I am tempted to believe that you engaged 
 in it to display the skilful management of 
 your voice, not to bring me to justice. But 
 it is not language, jEschines, it is not the 
 tone of voice, which reflects honour upon a 
 public speaker ; but such a conformity with 
 his fellow-citizens in sentiment aftid interest, 
 that both his enemies and friends are the 
 same with those of his country. He who is 
 thus affected, he it is who must ever speak 
 the genuine dictates of a truly loyal zeal. 
 But the man who pays his adulation to 
 those who threaten danger to the state, is 
 not embarked in the same bottom with his 
 countrymen, and therefore hath a different 
 
 dependance for his security. Mark me, 
 
 jEschines, I ever determined to share the 
 same fate with these our fellow-citizens. I 
 had no separate interest, no private re- 
 source : and has this been your case ? Im- 
 possible ! Yours ! who, when the battle was 
 once decided, instantly repaired as ambas- 
 sador to Philip, the author of all the cala- 
 mities your country at that time experi- 
 enced ; and this, when, on former occasions, 
 you had declared loudly against engaging in 
 any such commission ; as all these citizens 
 can testify. 
 
 —Whom are we to charge as the deceiver 
 of the state ? Is it not the man whose words 
 are inconsistent with his actions ? On whom 
 do the maledictions fall, usually pronounc-
 
 orat.xix.J DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 185 
 
 ed in our assemblies ? Is it not on this man ? 
 Can we point out a more enormous instance 
 of iniquity in any speaker, than this incon- 
 sistency between his words and actions ? 
 <\nd in this have you been detected. Can 
 you then presume to speak ; to meet the 
 looks of these citizens ? Can you persuade 
 yourself, that they are strangers to your 
 character ; all so profoundly sunk in sleep 
 and oblivion, as to forget those harangues, 
 in which, with horrid oaths and impreca- 
 tions, you disclaimed all connexion with 
 Philip ? You called it an imputation forged 
 by me, and urged from private pique, with- 
 out the least regard to truth. And yet no 
 sooner was the advice received of that fatal 
 battle, than your declarations were forgot- 
 ten, your connexion publicly avowed. You 
 affected to declare, that you were engaged 
 to this prince in the strictest bands of friend- 
 ship. Such was the title by which you 
 sought to dignify your prostitution. Was 
 the son of Glaucothea the minstrel, the in- 
 timate, or friend, or acquaintance of Philip ? 
 I profess myself unable to discover any just 
 and reasonable ground for such pretensions. 
 No : you were his hireling, indeed, bribed 
 to betray the interest of Athens ; and, al- 
 though you have been so clearly detected in 
 this traitorous correspondence; although 
 you have not scrupled, when the battle was 
 once decided, to give evidence of it against 
 yourself ; yet have you presumed to attack 
 me with all your virulence ; to reproach 
 me with crimes, for which, of all mankind, 
 I am least to be reproached. 
 
 Many noble and important schemes hath 
 my country formed, and happily effected 
 by my means : and, that these are retained 
 in memory, take this proof, ^Eschines. 
 When the people came to elect a person to 
 make the funeral oration over the slain, 
 immediately after the battle, they would 
 not elect you, although you were proposed, 
 although you are so eminent in speaking; 
 they would not elect Demades, who had 
 just concluded the peace, nor Hegemon, no, 
 nor any other of your faction. They elected 
 me. And when you and Pythocles rose up, 
 (let Heaven bear witness, with what aban- 
 doned impudence !) when you charged me 
 with the same crimes as now, when you 
 pursued me with the same virulence and 
 scurrility; all this served but to confirm 
 the people in their resolution of electing 
 me. You know too well the reason of this 
 
 preference; yet hear it from me They 
 
 were perfectly convinced, both of that faith- 
 ful zeal and alacrity with which I had con- 
 ducted their affairs, and of that iniquity 
 which you and your party had discovered, 
 by publicly avowing, at a time when your 
 country was unfortunate, what you had de- 
 
 [1.] Oi'<5e TruTpa? ti/e/ia <r0eTt'par, eif dijpiv 
 eOevTo 
 07r\a, Kai uvmruXiiiv vfipiv u7reaKe5affav. 
 Mapni/ievoi d' up£ T »iv Kai da/uaTOr ovk 
 
 Vvxav, u\\' 'Atdnv koivov H0CVTO fipdfinv, 
 
 nied with solemn oaths while her interests 
 flourished. And it was a natural conclusion, 
 that the men whom our public calamities 
 imboldened to disclose their sentiments, had 
 ever been our enemies, and now were our 
 declared enemies. Besides, they rightly 
 judged, that he who was to speak in [praise 
 of the deceased, to grace their noble actions, 
 could not, in decency, be the man who had 
 lived and conversed in strict connexion with 
 those who had fought against them ; that 
 they who, at Macedon, had shared in the 
 feast, and joined in the triumph over the 
 misfortunes of Greece, with those by whose 
 hands the slaughter had been committed, 
 should not receive a mark of honour on 
 their return to Athens. Nor did our fellow- 
 citizens look for men who could act the 
 part of mourners, but for one deeply and 
 sincerely affected. And such sincerity they 
 found in themselves and me ; not the least 
 degree of it in you. I was then appointed : 
 you and yout associates were rejected. Nor 
 was this the determination of the people 
 only ; those parents also, and brethren of 
 the deceased, who were appointed to attend 
 the funeral rites, expressed the same senti- 
 ments. For, as they were to give the ban- 
 quet, which, agreeably to ancient usage, 
 was to be held at his house who had been 
 most strictly connected with the deceased, 
 they gave it at my house ; and with reason ; 
 for, in point of kindred, each had his con- 
 nexions with some among the slain, much 
 nearer than mine ; but with the whole body 
 none was more intimately connected; for 
 he, who was most concerned in their safety 
 and success, must surely feel the deepest 
 sorrow at their unhappy and unmerited 
 
 misfortune Read the epitaph inscribed 
 
 upon their monument by public authority. 
 In this, jfechines, you will find a proof of 
 your absurdity, your malice, your aban- 
 doned baseness — -Read ! 
 
 The Epitaph. 
 
 1. 
 
 [1] These, for their country's sacred cause, 
 array'd 
 In arms tremendous, sought the fatal 
 plain : 
 Brav'd the proud foe with courage undis- 
 may'd, 
 And greatly scorn'd dishonour's abject 
 stain. 
 
 2. 
 
 Fair virtue led them to the arduous strife ; 
 
 Avenging terror menac'd in their eyes : 
 For freedom nobly prodigal of life, 
 
 Death they propos'd their common glori- 
 ous prize. 
 
 AoiAoffui^is ffTvyepuv u^j.<p'it Zxuhtu vftpiv. 
 Taia 06 7raTpi? t'x CI Ko\7rot? rwv irXeiaTa 
 
 KajUOVTOV 
 
 Sio/jot' • twei OvnruU ck Aioc fic5e KpiVit. 
 MijOey ajuapTeiV fcTTt tJewv, Kai ncivra Ku-rop- 
 Oovv 
 'Lv i$LQTi\' fiulpav d' o'lhi (pit^eiv e7ropec.
 
 18(5 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [okat. xix. 
 
 For never to tvrannic vile domain 
 Could they their generous necks ignobly 
 bend, 
 
 Nor see Greece drag the odious servile chain, 
 And mourn her ancient glories at an end. 
 
 4. 
 In the kind bosom of their parent-land, 
 Ceas'd are their toils, and peaceful is their 
 grave : — 
 So Jove decreed ; (and Jove's supreme com- 
 mand 
 Acts unresisted, to destroy, or save.) 
 
 5. 
 
 Chance to despise, and fortune to control, 
 
 Doth to th' immortal gods alone pertain : 
 Their joys, unchang'd, in endless currents 
 roll: 
 But mortals combat with their fate in 
 vain. 
 
 .Eschines ! hearest thou this ? it pertains 
 only to the gods to control fortune, and to 
 command success. Here, the power of as- 
 suring victory is ascribed, not to the minis- 
 ter, but to Heaven. Why then, accursed 
 wretch ! hast thou so licentiously reproach- 
 ed me upon this head ? Why hast thou de- 
 nounced against me, what I entreat the just 
 gods to discharge on thee and thy vile asso- 
 ciates ! 
 
 Of all the various instances of falsehood, 
 in this his prosecution, one there is which 
 most surprises me. In recalling the misfor- 
 tunes of that fatal period to our minds, he 
 hath felt no part of that sensibility, which 
 bespeaks a zealous or an honest citizen. He 
 never dropped one tear; never discovered 
 the least tender emotion. No ! his voice 
 was elevated, he exulted, he strained and 
 swelled, with all the triumph of a man who 
 had convicted me of some notorious offence. 
 But, in this, he hath given evidence against 
 himself, that he is not affected by our pub- 
 lic calamities in the same manner with his 
 fellow-citizens. And surely the man who, 
 like yEschines, affects an attachment to the 
 laws and constitution, should approve his 
 sincerity, if by no other means, at least by 
 this, by feeling joy and sorrow on the same 
 occasions with his countrymen; — not take 
 part with their enemies in his public con- 
 duct. And this part you have most evi- 
 dently taken ; you, who point at me as the 
 cause of all ; me, as the author of all our 
 present difficulties.— But was it my admi- 
 nistration, were they my instances which 
 first taught my country to rise in defence of 
 Greece ? If you gTant me this, if you make 
 me the author of our vigorous opposition to 
 that power which threatened the liberties 
 of our nation, you do me greater honour 
 than ever was conferred upon an Athenian. 
 But it is an honour I cannot claim : 1 should 
 injure my country : it is an honour, I well 
 know, ye would not resign. And surely, if 
 he had the least regard to justice, his pri- 
 vate enmity to me never could have driven 
 him to this base attempt to disgrace, to 
 
 deny you, the most illustrious part of your 
 character. 
 
 But why should I dwell on this, when 
 there are so manv more enormous instances 
 of his baseness arid falsehood ?— He who ac- 
 cuses me of favouring Philip !— Heavens 
 and earth ! what would not this man assert ? 
 But let us, in the name of all the gods, at- 
 tend to truth, to fact; let us lay aside all 
 private animosity ;— and who are really the 
 men on whom we can fairly and justly lay 
 the guilt of all misfortunes? The men 
 who, in their several states, pursued his 
 course (it is easy to point them out,) not 
 those • who acted like me : the men who, 
 while the power of Philip was yet in its 
 weak and infant state, when we frequently 
 warned them, when we alarmed them with 
 the danger, when we pointed out their best 
 and safest course ; vet sacrificed the interest 
 of their country to their own infamous gain, 
 deceived and corrupted the leading citizens 
 in each state, until they had enslaved them 
 all. Thus were the Thessalians treated by 
 Daochus, Cineas, and Thrasydsas; the 
 Arcadians, by Cersidas, Hieronymus, Eu- 
 calpidas ; the Argians, by Myrtes, Telade- 
 mus, Mnaseas ; Elis, by Euxitheus, Cleoti- 
 mus, Aristsechmus ; Messene, by the sons 
 of Philiades, that abomination of the gods, 
 by Neon, and Thrasylochus; Sicyon, by 
 Ari stratus and Epichares; Corinth, by Di- 
 narchus, Demaratus ; Megara, by Elixus, 
 Ptedorus, Perilaus ; Thebes, by Timolaus, 
 Theogiton, Anemaetas; Euboea, by Hip- 
 
 parchus, Clitarchus, Sosicrates The 
 
 whole day would be too short for the names 
 only of the traitors. And these were the 
 men who, in their several states, adopted 
 the same measures which this man pursued 
 at Athens. Wretches ! flatterers ! miscre- 
 ants ! tearing the vitals of their country, 
 and tendering its liberties, with a wanton 
 indifference, first to Phifip, now to Alexan- 
 der ! confined to the objects of a sordid and 
 infamous sensuality, as their only blessings ! 
 subverters of that freedom and independence 
 which the Greeks of old regarded as the test 
 and standard of true happiness !— Amidst 
 all this shamefully avowed corruption, this 
 confederacy, or (shall I call it by its true 
 name?) this traitorous conspiracy against 
 the liberty of Greece, my conduct preserved 
 the reputation of this state unimpeached 
 by the world ; while my character (Athe- 
 nians !) stood equally unimpeached by you. 
 Do you ask me then on what merits I claim 
 this "honour? Hear my answer. When. 'all 
 the popular leaders through Greece had 
 been taught by your example, and accepted 
 the wages of corruption, from Philip first, 
 and now from Alexander ; no favourable 
 moment was found to conquer my integrity ; 
 no insinuation of address, no magnificence 
 of promises, no hopes, no fears, no favour, 
 nothing could prevail upon me to resign 
 the least part of what I deemed the just 
 rights and interests of my country : nor, 
 when my counsels were demanded, was I 
 ever known, like you and your associates, 
 to lean to that side, where a bribe had been, 
 as it were, cast into the scale. No: my
 
 orat. xix.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 1»7 
 
 whole conduct was influenced bv a spirit of 
 rectitude, a spirit of justice and integrity ; 
 and, engaged as I was in affairs of greater 
 moment than any statesmen of my time, I 
 administered them all with a most exact 
 and uncorrupted faith These are the me- 
 rits on which I claim this honour. 
 
 As to those public works so much the ob- 
 ject of your ridicule, they undoubtedly de- 
 mand a due share of honour and applause : 
 ' but I rate them far beneath the great merits 
 of my administration. It is not with stones 
 nor bricks that I have fortified the city'. It 
 is not from works like these that I derive 
 my reputation. Would you know my me- 
 thods of fortifying ? Examine, and you will 
 find them, in the arms, the towns, the terri- 
 tories, the harbours, I have secured; the 
 navies, the troops, the armies, I have raised. 
 These are the works by which 1 defended 
 Attica, as far as human foresight could de- 
 fend it ; these are the fortifications I drew 
 round our whole territory, and not the circuit 
 of our harbour, or of our city only. In these 
 acts of policy, in these provisions for a war, 
 I never yielded to Philip. No ; it was our 
 generals and our confederate forces who 
 yielded to fortune. Would you know the 
 proofs of this ? They are plain and evident. 
 Consider : what was the part of a faithful 
 citizen ? of a prudent, an active, and an ho- 
 nest minister ? Was he not to secure Eubcea, 
 as our defence against all attacks by sea? 
 Was he not to make Bceotia our barrier on 
 the mid-land side ? The cities bordering on 
 Peloponnesus our bulwark, on that quarter ? 
 Was he not to attend with due precaution 
 to the importation of corn, that this trade 
 might be protected, through all its progress, 
 up to our own harbour? Was he not to 
 cover those districts which we commanded, 
 by seasonable detachments, as the Procone- 
 sus, the Chersonesus, and Tenedos ? to exert 
 himself in the assembly for this purpose ? 
 while with equal zeal he laboured to gain 
 others to our interest and alliance, as By- 
 zantium, Abydos, and Euboea ? Was he not 
 to cut off the best and most important re- 
 sources of our enemies, and to supply those 
 in which our country was defective ? — And 
 all this you gained by my counsels, and my 
 administration. Such counsels and such an 
 administration, as must appear, upon a fair 
 and equitable view, the result of strict inte- 
 grity ; such as left no favourable juncture 
 unimproved, through ignorance or treache- 
 ry ; such as ever had their due effect, as far 
 as the judgment and abilities of one man 
 could prove effectual. But, if some superior 
 beiDg, if the power of fortune, if the mis- 
 conduct of generals, if the iniquity of our 
 traitors, or if all these together broke in upon 
 us, and at length involved us in one general 
 devastation, now is Demosthenes to be 
 blamed ? Had there been a single man in 
 each Grecian state, to act the same part 
 which I supported in this city ; nay, had 
 but one such man been found in Thessaly, 
 and one in Arcadia, actuated by my princi- 
 ples, not a single Greek, either beyond or on 
 this side Thermopylae, could have expe- 
 rienced the misfortunes of this day. All had 
 
 then been free and independent, in perfect 
 tranquillity, security, and happiness, uncon- 
 trolled, in their several communities, by any 
 foreign power, and filled with gratitude to 
 you and to your state, the authors of these 
 blessings so extensive and so precious. And 
 all this by my means. — To convince you 
 that I have spoken much less than I could 
 justify by facts, that, in this detail, I have 
 studiously guarded against envy, take — read 
 the lists of our confederates, as they were 
 procured by my decrees. 
 
 The Lists — The Decrees — are here read. 
 
 These, and such as these, jEschines, are 
 the actions which become a noble-minded 
 honest citizen. Had they succeeded, heavens 
 and earth ! to what a pitch of glory must 
 they have raised you, and with justice raised 
 you ! yet, unsuccessful as they proved, still 
 they were attended with applause, and pre- 
 vented the least impeachment of this state, 
 or of her conduct. The whole blame was 
 charged on fortune, which determined the 
 event with such fatal cruelty. Thus, I say, 
 is the faithful citizen to act ; not to desert 
 his country, not to hire himself to her ene- 
 mies, and labour to improve their favoura- 
 ble exigencies, instead of those of his own 
 state; not to malign his fellow-citizen, who, 
 with a steady and persevering zeal, recom- 
 mends and supports such measures as are 
 worthy of his country ; not to cherish malice 
 and private animosity against him ; not to 
 live in that dishonest and insidious retire- 
 ment which you have often chosen. — For 
 there is, yes, there is a state of retirement, 
 honest, and advantageous to the public. 
 Such have you, my countrymen, frequently 
 enjoyed in artless integrity. But his retire- 
 ment is not of this kind. Far from it ! he 
 retires, that he may desert the public service 
 when he pleases, (and he too often pleases to 
 desert it.) Thus he lies watching the mo- 
 ment when you grow tired of a constant 
 speaker, or when fortune hath traversed 
 your designs, and involved you in some of 
 those various misfortunes incident to hu- 
 manity. This is his time. He at once be- 
 comes a speaker in the assembly : he rushes, 
 like a sudden gust of wind, from his retreat : 
 his voice is already exercised ; his words and 
 periods are prepared ; he delivers them with 
 force and volubility, but to no useful pur- 
 pose, with no effect of any real importance. 
 
 They serve but to involve some fellow- 
 citizen in distress ; and, to his country, they 
 
 are a disgrace But all this preparation 
 
 (iEschines,) all this anxiety of attention, if 
 the genuine dictates of loyal zeal, of true 
 patriot principles, must have produced fruits 
 of real worth and excellence, of general emo- 
 lument : — alliances, subsidies, extension of 
 commerce, useful laws for our internal se- 
 curity, effectual defence against our foreign 
 enemies. Such were the services which the 
 late times required ; such were the services 
 which a man of real worth and excellence 
 had various opportunities of performing. 
 But in all these you never took a part ; not 
 the first not the* second, not the third, not 
 s
 
 18C 
 
 DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. [orat. xix. 
 
 the fourth, not the fifth nor sixth, no, not 
 any part whatever ; for it would have served 
 your country. Say, what alliance did the 
 state gain by your management? What 
 additional forces ? What regard or rever- 
 ence ? What embassy of yours ? What in- 
 stance of your ministerial conduct ever ex- 
 alted the reputation of your country ? What 
 domestic interests, what national affairs, 
 what concerns of foreigners have prospered 
 under your direction ? What arms, what 
 arsenals, what fortifications, what forces, 
 what advantages of any kind have we re- 
 ceived from you ? What generous and 
 public-spirited effects have either rich or 
 poor experienced from your fortune ? None. 
 
 — But, here he replies, ' Though I have 
 not performed those services, I have been 
 well-disposed, and ready to perform them.' 
 — How? When? Abandoned wretch ! who, 
 when the being of his country was at stake, 
 when every speaker, who had ever appeared 
 in the assembly, made some voluntary con- 
 tribution to the state; when even Aristo- 
 nicus gave up that money which he had 
 saved to qualify him for public offices, [1.] 
 — never appeared, never once contributed 
 the smallest sum : and not from poverty : 
 no, he had just received a bequest of five 
 talents from his kinsman Philon; besides 
 the two talents collected for his services in 
 traversing the law relative to trierarchs. — 
 But I am in danger of being led off from 
 one point to another, so as to forget my 
 
 subject I say then, that it was not from 
 
 poverty that you refused your contribution, 
 but from the fear of opposing their interests, 
 who influenced all your public conduct. On 
 what occasion, then, are you spirited and 
 shining? When you are to speak against 
 your country. Then are we struck with the 
 brilliancy of your eloquence, the power of 
 your memory, the excellence with which 
 you act your part; — the excellence of a true 
 dramatic Theocrines. [2.] 
 
 We have heard his encomiums on the 
 great characters of former times : and they 
 are worthy of them. Yet it is by no means 
 just (Athenians !) to take advantage of your 
 predilection to the deceased, and to draw 
 the parallel between them and me who live 
 amongst you. Who knows not that all men, 
 while they yet live, must endure some share 
 of envy, more or less ? But the dead are not 
 hated even by their enemies. And, if this 
 be the usual and natural course of things, 
 shall I be tried, shall I be judged by a com- 
 parison with my predecessors ? No, iEschi- 
 nes, this would be neither just nor equitable. 
 Compare me with yourself, with any, the 
 very best, of your party, ana our ccntem- 
 
 [1.] For public offices.] Such as that of 
 general, trierarch, ambassador, and director 
 of the theatre, which could not be discharged 
 without advancing considerable sums. 
 
 [2.] Theocrines.] A maji of notorious 
 calumny. He had composed some pieces 
 for the" theatre, but soon exchanged this 
 profession for that of an informer ; in which 
 his virulence and malice rendered his name 
 proverbial. We le?jn from St. Jerome, that 
 
 poraries. Consider, whether it be nobler and 
 better for the state to make the benefits re- 
 ceived from our ancestors, great and exalted 
 as they are, beyond all expression great, a 
 pretence for treating present benefactors 
 with ingratitude and contempt ; or to grant 
 a due share of honour and regard to every 
 man, who, at any time, approves his attach- 
 ment to the public. — And yet, if I may ha- 
 zard the assertion, the whole tenor of my 
 conduct must appear, upon a fair inquiry, 
 similar to that which the famed characters 
 of old times pursued ; and founded on the 
 same principles : while you have as exactly 
 imitated the malicious accusers of tliese 
 great men. For it is well known, that, in 
 those times, men were found to malign all 
 living excellence, and to lavish their insidi- 
 ous praises on the dead, with the same base 
 artifice which you have practised. — You say, 
 then, that I do not in the least resemble 
 those great characters. And do you resemble 
 them ? Or your brother ? Do any of the 
 present speakers? I name none among 
 them : I urge but this : let the living, thou 
 man of candour, be compared with the 
 living, and with those of the same depart- 
 ment. Thus we judge, in every case, of 
 poets, of dancers, of vrrestlers. Philammon 
 doth not depart from the Olympian games 
 uncrowned, because he hath not equal 
 powers with Glaucus, or Karistius, or any 
 other wrestler of former times. No : as he 
 approves himself superior to those who enter 
 the lists with him, he receives his crown, 
 and is proclaimed victor. So do you oppose 
 me to the speakers of these times, to your- 
 self, to any, take your most favourite cha- 
 racter : still I assert my superiority. At that 
 period, when the state was free to choose the 
 measures best approved, when we were all 
 invited to engage in the great contest of 
 patriotism, then did I display the superior 
 excellence of my counsels, then were affairs 
 all conducted by my decrees, my laws, my 
 embassies; while not a man of your party 
 ever appeared, unless to vent his insolence. 
 But when we had once experienced this un- 
 merited reverse of fortune; when this be- 
 came the place, not for patriot ministers, 
 but for the slaves of power, for those who 
 stood prepared to sell their country for a 
 bribe, for those who coidd descend to cer- 
 tain [3.] prostituted compliments; then, 
 indeed, were you and your associates exalt- 
 ed ; then did you display your magnificence, 
 your state, your splendour, your equipage, 
 while I was depressed, I confess it : yet still 
 superior to you all, in an affectionate at- 
 tachment to my country. 
 There are two distinguishing qualities 
 
 the Pagans frequently gave this name to the 
 first Christians. Demosthenes adds an epi- 
 thet to it, calculated to keep the original 
 profession of his rival in view, to which he 
 indeed is particularly attentive through his 
 whole speech. Tourreil. 
 
 [3.] To certain, &o] He alludes to the 
 complimentary addresses sent to Alexauder, 
 which he insinuates were procured by Ms- 
 chines and his partv.
 
 ohat. xix.] DEMOSTHENES' ORATIONS. 
 
 189 
 
 I Athenians !) which the virtuous citizen 
 should ever possess, (I speak in genera) 
 terms, as the least invidious method fc do- 
 ing justice to to myself;) a zeal for the ho- 
 nour and pre-eminence of the state, in his 
 official conduct ; on all occasions, and in all 
 transactions, an affection for his country. 
 This nature can hestow. Abilities and suc- 
 cess depend upon another power. And in 
 this affection you find me firm and invaria- 
 ble. Not the solemn demand of my person, 
 not the vengeance of the Amphictyonic 
 council which they denounced against me, 
 not the terror of their threatenings, not the 
 flattery of their promises, no, nor the fury 
 of those accursed wretches whom they 
 roused like wild beasts against me, could 
 ever tear this affection from ray dreast. From 
 first to last, I have uniformly pursued the 
 iust and virtuous course of conduct ; assertor 
 of the honours, of the prerogatives, of the 
 glory of my country ; studious to support 
 them, zealous to advance them, my whole 
 being is devoted to this glorious cause. I 
 was never known to march through the 
 city, with a face of joy and exultation, at 
 
 [1.] The event of this contest was such as 
 might be expected from the superior abili- 
 ties of Demosthenes. His rival was con- 
 demned, and involved in the consequences 
 of a groundless and malicious prosecution. 
 Unable to pay the penalty, he was obliged 
 to submit to exile, and determined to take 
 up his residence at Rhodes ; where he open- 
 ed a school of eloquence. Here he read to 
 his hearers these two orations. His was re- 
 
 the success of a foreign power ; embracing 
 and announcing the joyful tidings to those 
 who, I supposed, would transmit it to the 
 proper place. I was never known to receive 
 the successes of my own country, with trem- 
 blings, with sighings, with eyes bending to 
 the earth, like those impious men, who are 
 the defamers of the state, as if by such con- 
 duct they were not defamers of themselves : 
 who look abroad ; and, when a foreign po- 
 tentate hath established his power on the ca- 
 lamities of Greece, applaud the event, and 
 tell us we should take every means to perpe- 
 tuate his power. 
 
 Hear me, ye immortal gods ! and let not 
 these their desires be ratified in heaven ! 
 Infuseabetter spirit into these men ! inspire 
 even their minds with pure sentiments ! — 
 This is my first prayer. Or, if their natures 
 are not to be reformed ; on them, on them 
 only discharge your vengeance ! Pursue 
 them even to destruction ! But, to us, dis- 
 play your goodness, in a speedy deliverance 
 from impending evils, and all the blessings 
 of protection and tranquillity ! [1.] 
 
 ceived with approbation, that of Demosthe- 
 nes with an extravagance of applause. 
 ' And how must you have been affected,' 
 said ^Eschines, with a generous acknow- 
 ledgement of his rival's merit, ' had you 
 heard him deliver it.' 
 
 It is said, that, as /Eschines was retiring 
 from the city, Demosthenes followed him, 
 and obliged him to accept of a large present 
 of money in his distress. 
 
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