---
title: "Against Ctesiphon · Κατά Κτησιφώντος"
author: "Aeschines"
translator: "Charles Darwin Adams"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/
cite: "Aeschines, tr. Charles Darwin Adams, Against Ctesiphon · Κατά Κτησιφώντος. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/"
---

# Against Ctesiphon · Κατά Κτησιφώντος

*Aeschines, tr. Charles Darwin Adams*

Aeschines attacks the proposal to crown Demosthenes, the case answered by On the Crown.

> Greek: ed. Charles Darwin Adams, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0026.tlg003, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Charles Darwin Adams, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0026.tlg003.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## Contents

1. [Sections 1–53](https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/1.md)
2. [Sections 54–105](https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/2.md)
3. [Sections 106–156](https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/3.md)
4. [Sections 158–206](https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/4.md)
5. [Sections 207–260](https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/5.md)

## 1. Sections 1–53

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/1/#p-N

[¶0] 1. You see, fellow citizens, how certain persons have been making their preparations for this case: how they have mustered their forces, and how they have gone begging up and down the market place, in the attempt to prevent the fair and orderly course of justice in the state. But I have come trusting first in the gods, then in the laws and in you, believing that with you no scheming preparation can override law and justice.

> Greek: 1. τὴν μὲν παρασκευὴν ὁρᾶτε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ τὴν παράταξιν ὅση γεγένηται, καὶ τὰς κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν δεήσεις, αἷς κέχρηνταί τινες ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὰ μέτρια καὶ συνήθη μὴ γίγνεσθαι ἐν τῇ πόλει· ἐγὼ δὲ πεπιστευκὼς ἥκω πρῶτον μὲν τοῖς θεοῖς, ἔπειτα τοῖς νόμοις καὶ ὑμῖν, ἡγούμενος οὐδεμίαν παρασκευὴν μεῖζον ἰσχύειν παρʼ ὑμῖν τῶν νόμων καὶ τῶν δικαίων.

[¶1] 2. I could wish, indeed, fellow citizens, that the Senate of Five Hundred and the assemblies of the people were properly conducted by those who preside over them, and the laws enforced which Solon enacted to secure orderly conduct on the part of public speakers; for then it would be permitted to the oldest citizen, as the law prescribes, to come forward to the platform first, with dignity, and, uninterrupted by shouting and tumult, out of his experience to advise for the good of the state and it would then be permitted to all other citizens who wished, one by one in turn, in order of age, to express their opinion on every question; for so, I think, the state would be best governed, and least litigation would arise.

> Greek: 2. ἐβουλόμην μὲν οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ τὴν βουλὴν τοὺς πεντακοσίους καὶ τὰς ἐκκλησίας ὑπὸ τῶν ἐφεστηκότων ὀρθῶς διοικεῖσθαι, καὶ τοὺς νόμους οὓς ἐνομοθέτησεν ὁ Σόλων περὶ τῆς τῶν ῥητόρων εὐκοσμίας ἰσχύειν, ἵνα ἐξῆν πρῶτον μὲν τῷ πρεσβυτάτῳ τῶν πολιτῶν, ὥσπερ οἱ νόμοι προστάττουσι, σωφρόνως ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα παρελθόντι ἄνευ θορύβου καὶ ταραχῆς ἐξ ἐμπειρίας τὰ βέλτιστα τῇ πόλει συμβουλεύειν, δεύτερον δʼ ἤδη καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν τὸν βουλόμενον καθʼ ἡλικίαν χωρὶς καὶ ἐν μέρει περὶ ἑκάστου γνώμην ἀποφαίνεσθαι· οὕτω γὰρ ἄν μοι δοκεῖ ἥ τε πόλις ἄριστα διοικεῖσθαι, αἵ τε κρίσεις ἐλάχισται γίγνεσθαι.

[¶2] 3. But now all our standards of orderly procedure have been set aside; there are men who do not hesitate to make illegal motions, and other men who are ready to put these motions to the vote—not men who have been chosen by right and lawful allotment to preside, but men who hold the position by trickery; and if any other senator does actually obtain the presidency by lot, and does honestly declare your votes, he is threatened with impeachment by men who no longer regard citizenship as a common right, but as their own private perquisite; men who are making slaves of the common people, and arrogating lordship to themselves;

> Greek: 3. ἐπειδὴ δὲ πάντα τὰ πρότερον ὡμολογημένα καλῶς ἔχειν νυνὶ καταλέλυται, καὶ γράφουσί τε τινὲς ῥᾳδίως παρανόμους γνώμας, καὶ ταύτας ἕτεροι τινες ἐπιψηφίζουσιν, οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ δικαιοτάτου τρόπου λαχόντες προεδρεύειν, ἀλλʼ ἐκ παρασκευῆς καθεζόμενοι, ἂν δέ τις τῶν ἄλλων βουλευτῶν ὄντως λάχῃ προεδρεύειν, καὶ τὰς ὑμετέρας χειροτονίας ὀρθῶς ἀναγορεύῃ, τοῦτον οἱ τὴν πολιτείαν οὐκέτι κοινήν, ἀλλʼ ἰδίαν αὑτῶν ἡγούμενοι, ἀπειλοῦσιν εἰσαγγελεῖν, καταδουλούμενοι τοὺς ἰδιώτας καὶ δυναστείας ἑαυτοῖς περιποιούμενοι, καὶ τὰς κρίσεις τὰς μὲν ἐκ τῶν νόμων καταλελύκασι, τὰς δʼ ἐκ τῶν ψηφισμάτων μετʼ ὀργῆς κρίνουσιν, σεσίγηται μὲν τὸ κάλλιστον καὶ σωφρονέστατον κήρυγμα τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει·

[¶3] 4. men who have set aside the lawful processes of the courts, and carry their verdicts in the assembly by appeal to passion. The result of all this is that we have ceased to hear that wisest and most judicious of all the proclamations to which the city was once accustomed, “Who of the men above fifty years of age wishes to address the people,” and then who of the other Athenians in turn. The disorder of the public men can no longer be controlled by the laws, nor by the prytanes, nor by the presiding officers, nor by the presiding tribe, the tenth part of the city.

> Greek: 4. τίς ἀγορεύειν βούλεται τῶν ὑπὲρ πεντήκοντα ἔτη γεγονότων; καὶ πάλιν ἐν μέρει τῶν ἄλλων Ἀθηναίων. τῆς δὲ τῶν ῥητόρων ἀκοσμίας οὐκέτι κρατεῖν δύνανται οὔθʼ οἱ πρυτάνεις οὔθʼ οἱ πρόεδροι οὔθʼ ἡ προεδρεύουσα φυλή, τὸ δέκατον μέρος τῆς πόλεως.

[¶4] 5. Under such circumstances, and in a political situation the gravity of which you yourselves understand, only one part of the constitution is left to us—if I too may lay claim to some discernment—the suits against illegal motions. But if you shall annul these also, or give way to those who are trying to annul them, I warn you that before you know it you will step by step have surrendered your rights to a faction.

> Greek: 5. τούτων δʼ ἐχόντων οὕτως, καὶ τῶν καιρῶν ὄντων τῇ πόλει τοιούτων ὁποίους τινὰς αὐτοὺς ὑμεῖς ὑπολαμβάνετε εἶναι, ἓν ὑπολείπεται μέρος τῆς πολιτείας, εἴ τι κἀγὼ τυγχάνω γιγνώσκων, αἱ τῶν παρανόμων γραφαί. εἰ δὲ καὶ ταύτας καταλύσετε ἢ τοῖς καταλύουσιν ἐπιτρέψετε, προλέγω ὑμῖν, ὅτι λήσετε κατὰ μικρὸν μικρὸν τῆς πολιτείας τισὶ παραχωρήσαντες.

[¶5] 6. There are, as you know, fellow-citizens, three forms of government in the world tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy. Tyrannies and oligarchies are administered according to the tempers of their lords, but democratic states according to their own established laws. Let no man among you forget this, but let each bear distinctly in mind that when he enters a court-room to sit as juror in a suit against an illegal motion, on that day he is to cast his vote for or against his own freedom of speech. This is why the lawgiver placed first in the jurors’ oath these words, “I will vote according to the laws.” For he well knew that if the laws are faithfully upheld for the state, the democracy also is preserved.

> Greek: 6. εὖ γὰρ ἴστε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὅτι τρεῖς εἰσὶ πολιτεῖαι παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις, τυραννὶς καὶ ὀλιγαρχία καὶ δημοκρατία· διοικοῦνται δʼ αἱ μὲν τυραννίδες καὶ ὀλιγαρχίαι τοῖς τρόποις τῶν ἐφεστηκότων, αἱ δὲ πόλεις αἱ δημοκρατούμεναι τοῖς νόμοις τοῖς κειμένοις. μηδεὶς οὖν ὑμῶν τοῦτʼ ἀγνοείτω, ἀλλὰ σαφῶς ἕκαστος ἐπιστάσθω, ὅτι ὅταν εἰσίῃ εἰς δικαστήριον γραφὴν παρανόμων δικάσων, ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ἡμέρα μέλλει τὴν ψῆφον φέρειν περὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ παρρησίας. διόπερ καὶ ὁ νομοθέτης τοῦτο πρῶτον ἔταξεν ἐν τῷ τῶν δικαστῶν ὅρκῳ, ψηφιοῦμαι κατὰ τοὺς νόμους, ἐκεῖνό γε εὖ εἰδώς, ὅτι ἂν διατηρηθῶσιν οἱ νόμοι τῇ πόλει, σῴζεται καὶ ἡ δημοκρατία.

[¶6] 7. This you ought always to remember, and to hate those who make illegal motions, and to hold no such offence as trivial, but every one as serious indeed. And you ought to let no man rob you of this right of yours, whether through the intercession of the generals, who by their cooperation with certain public men have this long time been outraging the constitution, or through petitions of foreigners, whom some bring in here, and so escape the courts, when their whole political career has been in defiance of the laws. But as each man of you would be ashamed to desert the post to which he had been assigned in war, so now you should be ashamed to desert the post to which the laws have called you, sentinels, guarding the democracy this day.

> Greek: 7. ἃ χρὴ διαμνημονεύοντας ὑμᾶς μισεῖν τοὺς τὰ παράνομα γράφοντας, καὶ μηδὲν ἡγεῖσθαι μικρὸν εἶναι τῶν τοιούτων ἀδικημάτων, ἀλλʼ ἕκαστον ὑπερμέγεθες, καὶ τοῦθʼ ὑμῶν τὸ δίκαιον μηδένα ἐᾶν ἀνθρώπων ἐξαιρεῖσθαι, μήτε τὰς τῶν στρατηγῶν συνηγορίας, οἳ ἐπὶ πολὺν ἤδη χρόνον συνεργοῦντές τισι τῶν ῥητόρων λυμαίνονται τὴν πολιτείαν, μήτε τὰς τῶν ξένων δεήσεις, οὓς ἀναβιβαζόμενοί τινες ἐκφεύγουσιν ἐκ τῶν δικαστηρίων, παράνομον πολιτείαν πολιτευόμενοι· ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ἂν ὑμῶν ἕκαστος αἰσχυνθείη τὴν τάξιν λιπεῖν ἣν ἂν ταχθῇ ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ, οὕτω καὶ νῦν αἰσχύνθητε ἐκλιπεῖν τὴν τάξιν ἣν τέταχθε ὑπὸ τῶν νόμων φύλακες τῆς δημοκρατίας τήνδε τὴν ἡμέραν.

[¶7] 8. And another thing you have to remember: today your fellow citizens as a body have put the city and the constitution into your hands as a solemn trust. Some of them are present, listening to this case; others are absent, busy with their personal affairs. Respect them therefore, and remember the oaths which you have sworn, and the laws; and if I convict Ctesiphon of having made a motion that is illegal, false, and injurious to the state, annul the illegal motion, fellow citizens; confirm the democratic government for our state; punish those whose policies are opposed to the laws and to your interests. If in this spirit you listen to the words which are about to be spoken, I am sure that your verdict will be just, faithful to your oath, and salutary alike to yourselves and to the commonwealth.

> Greek: 8. κἀκεῖνο δὲ χρὴ διαμνημονεύειν, ὅτι νυνὶ πάντες οἱ πολῖται παρακαταθέμενοι τὴν πόλιν ὑμῖν καὶ τὴν πολιτείαν διαπιστεύσαντες, οἱ μὲν πάρεισι καὶ ἐπακούουσι τῆσδε τῆς κρίσεως, οἱ δὲ ἄπεισιν ἐπὶ τῶν ἰδίων ἔργων· οὓς αἰσχυνόμενοι καὶ τῶν ὅρκων οὓς ὠμόσατε, μεμνημένοι καὶ τῶν νόμων, ἐὰν ἐξελέγξω Κτησιφῶντα καὶ παράνομα γεγραφότα καὶ ψευδῆ καὶ ἀσύμφορα τῆ πόλει, λύετε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὰς παρανόμους γνώμας, βεβαιοῦτε τῇ πόλει τὴν δημοκρατίαν, κολάζετε τοὺς ὑπεναντίως τοῖς νόμοις καὶ τῷ συμφέροντι τῷ ὑμετέρῳ πολιτευομένους. κἂν ταύτην ἔχοντες τὴν διάνοιαν ἀκούητε τῶν μελλόντων ῥηθήσεσθαι λόγων, εὖ οἶδʼ καὶ δίκαια καὶ εὔορκα καὶ συμφέροντα ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς ψηφιεῖσθε καὶ πάσῃ τῇ πόλει.

[¶8] 9. I hope now that what I have said is a sufficient introduction to my complaint as a whole but I wish to speak briefly about the laws themselves which govern the rendering of account by public officers, the laws which are in fact violated by Ctesiphon’s resolution. In former times certain men who held the highest offices and administered the revenues—yes, and betrayed their every trust for money—would attach to themselves the public speakers of the senate-house and the assembly, and thus anticipate their day of accounting long in advance, with votes of thanks and with proclamations. The result was that when the time came for them to render their account, those who had charges to prefer fell into very great embarrassment, and this was even more the case with the jurors.

> Greek: 9. περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς ὅλης κατηγορίας μετρίως μοι ἐλπίζω προειρῆσθαι· περὶ δὲ αὐτῶν τῶν νόμων οἳ κεῖνται περὶ τῶν ὑπευθύνων, παρʼ οὓς τὸ ψήφισμα τυγχάνει γεγραφὼς Κτησιφῶν, διὰ βραχέων εἰπεῖν βούλομαι. ἐν γὰρ τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν χρόνοις ἄρχοντές τινες τὰς μεγίστας ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς προσόδους διοικοῦντες, καὶ δωροδοκοῦντες περὶ ἕκαστα τούτων, προσλαμβάνοντες τούς τε ἐκ τοῦ βουλευτηρίου ῥήτορας καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ δήμου, πόρρωθεν προκατελάμβανον τὰς εὐθύνας ἐπαίνοις καὶ κηρύγμασιν, ὥστʼ ἐν ταῖς εὐθύναις εἰς τὴν μεγίστην μὲν ἀπορίαν ἀφικνεῖσθαι τοὺς κατηγόρους, πολὺ δὲ ἔτι μᾶλλον τοὺς δικαστάς.

[¶9] 10. For great numbers of those who were subject to audit, though they were caught in the very act of stealing the public funds, went out from the court-room acquitted. And no wonder! For the jurors were ashamed, I imagine, to see the same man in the same city one day proclaimed at the festival as crowned by the people with a golden crown because of his virtue and justice, and then a little later to see the same man come out of the auditors’ court convicted of theft. And so the jurors were forced to render, not the verdict that fitted the actual crime, but one that would avert the shame of the people.

> Greek: 10. πολλοὶ γὰρ πάνυ τῶν ὑπευθύνων, ἐπʼ αὐτοφώρῳ κλέπται τῶν δημοσίων χρημάτων ὄντες ἐξελεγχόμενοι, διεφύγγανον ἐκ τῶν δικαστηρίων, εἰκότως· ᾐσχύνοντο γὰρ οἶμαι οἱ δικασταί, εἰ φανήσεται ὁ αὐτὸς ἀνὴρ ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ πόλει, πρώην μέν ποτε ἀναγορευόμενος ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσιν, ὅτι στεφανοῦται ἀρετῆς ἕνεκα καὶ δικαιοσύνης ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου χρυσῷ στεφάνῳ, ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς ἀνὴρ μικρὸν ἐπισχὼν ἔξεισιν ἐκ τοῦ δικαστηρίου κλοπῆς ἕνεκα τὰς εὐθύνας ὠφληκώς· ὥστε ἠναγκάζοντο τὴν ψῆφον φέρειν οἱ δικασταί, οὐ περὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἀδικήματος, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ τῆς αἰσχύνης τοῦ δήμου.

[¶10] 11. Now some statesman who had observed this situation caused a law to be passed—and a most excellent law it is—which expressly forbids crowning men before they have passed their final accounting. And yet in spite of this wise provision of the framer of the law, forms of statement have been invented which circumvent the laws; and unless you are warned of them you will be taken unawares and deceived. For among those men who contrary to the laws crown officers who have not yet submitted their accounts, some, who at heart are orderly citizens—if any one is really orderly who proposes illegal measures—at any rate some do make an attempt to cloak their shame; for they add to their decrees the proviso that the man who is subject to audit shall be crowned “after he shall have rendered account and submitted to audit of his office.”

> Greek: 11. κατιδὼν δή τις ταῦτα νομοθέτης τίθησι νόμον καὶ μάλα καλῶς ἔχοντα, διαρρήδην ἀπαγορεύοντα τοὺς ὑπευθύνους μὴ στεφανοῦν. καὶ ταῦτα οὕτως εὖ προκατειληφότος τοῦ νομοθέτου, εὕρηνται κρείττονες λόγοι τῶν νόμων, οὓς εἰ μή τις ὑμῖν ἐρεῖ, λήσετε ἐξαπατηθέντες. τούτων γὰρ τῶν τοὺς ὑπευθύνους στεφανούντων παρὰ τοὺς νόμους οἱ μὲν φύσει μέτριοί εἰσιν, εἰ δή τις ἐστὶ μέτριος τῶν τὰ παράνομα γραφόντων, ἀλλʼ οὖν προβάλλονταί γέ τι πρὸ τῆς αἰσχύνης. προσγράφουσι γὰρ πρὸς τὰ ψηφίσματα στεφανοῦν τὸν ὑπεύθυνον ἐπειδὰν λόγον καὶ εὐθύνας τῆς ἀρχῆς δῷ.

[¶11] 12. The injury to the state is indeed no less, for the hearings for accounting are prejudiced by previous votes of thanks and crowns; but the man who makes the motion does show to the bearers that while he has made an illegal motion, he is ashamed of the wrong thing that he has done. But Ctesiphon, fellow citizens, overleaping the law that governs those who are subject to audit, and not deigning to resort to the pretext of which I have just spoken, has moved that before the accounting, before the auditing, you crown Demosthenes—in the midst of his term of office.

> Greek: 12. καὶ ἡ μὲν πόλις τὸ ἴσον ἀδίκημα ἀδικεῖται· προκαταλαμβάνονται γὰρ ἐπαίνοις καὶ στεφάνοις αἱ εὔθυναι· ὁ δὲ τὸ ψήφισμα γράφων ἐνδείκνυται τοῖς ἀκούουσιν, ὅτι γέγραφε μὲν παράνομα, αἰσχύνεται δὲ ἐφʼ οἷς ἡμάρτηκε. Κτησιφῶν δέ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὑπερπηδήσας τὸν νόμον τὸν περὶ τῶν ὑπευθύνων κείμενον, καὶ τὴν πρόφασιν ἣν ἀρτίως προεῖπον ὑμῖν ἀνελών, πρὶν λόγον πρὶν εὐθύνας δοῦναι γέγραφε μεταξὺ Δημοσθένην ἄρχοντα στεφανοῦν.

[¶12] 13. But, fellow citizens, in opposition to the statement of the case which I have just presented, they will urge a different argument; for they will say, forsooth, that whatever a man is called on to do under special enactment, this is not an “office,” but a sort of “commission” and “public service” and they will say that “offices” are those to which the Thesmothetae appoint men by lot in the Theseum, and those which are filled by popular election (the offices of general, cavalry commander, and associated offices); but that all others are “employment under special enactment.”

> Greek: 13. λέξουσι δέ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ ἕτερόν τινα λόγον ὑπεναντίον τῷ ἀρτίως εἰρημένῳ, ὡς ἄρα, ὅσα τις αἱρετὸς ὢν πράττει κατὰ ψήφισμα, οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα ἀρχή, ἀλλʼ ἐπιμέλειά τις καὶ διακονία· ἀρχὰς δὲ φήσουσιν ἐκείνας εἶναι ἃς οἱ θεσμοθέται ἀποκληροῦσιν ἐν τῷ Θησείῳ, κἀκείνας ἃς ὁ δῆμος χειροτονεῖ ἐν ἀρχαιρεσίαις, στρατηγοὺς καὶ ἱππάρχους καὶ τὰς μετὰ τούτων ἀρχάς, τὰ δʼ ἄλλα πάντα πραγματείας προστεταγμένας κατὰ ψήφισμα.

[¶13] 14. Well, to their arguments I will oppose your law, a law which you yourselves passed in the expectation of silencing such pretexts; for it expressly says “the elective offices,” including all in a single phrase, calling everything which is filled by popular election an “office,” and specifying “the superintendents of public works.” But Demosthenes is in charge of the construction of walls, superintendent of the greatest of the works; “and all who have charge of any business of the state for more than thirty days, and all to whom is given the presidency of a court”; but every superintendent of public works holds the presidency of a court.

> Greek: 14. ἐγὼ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς λόγους τοὺς τούτων νόμον ὑμέτερον παρέξομαι, ὃν ὑμεῖς ἐνομοθετήσατε λύσειν ἡγούμενοι τὰς τοιαύτας προφάσεις, ἐν ᾧ διαρρήδην γέγραπται, τὰς χειροτονητάς, φησίν, ἀρχάς, ἁπάσας ἑνὶ περιλαβὼν ὀνόματι, καὶ προσειπὼν ἀρχὰς ἁπάσας εἶναι ἃς ὁ δῆμος χειροτονεῖ, καὶ τοὺς ἐπιστάτας, φησί, τῶν δημοσίων ἔργων· ἔστι δὲ ὁ Δημοσθένης τειχοποιός, ἐπιστάτης τοῦ μεγίστου τῶν ἔργων· καὶ πάντας ὅσοι διαχειρίζουσί τι τῶν τῆς πόλεως πλέον ἢ τριάκονθʼ ἡμέρας, καὶ ὅσοι λαμβάνουσιν ἡγεμονίας δικαστηρίων· οἱ δὲ τῶν ἔργων ἐπιστάται πάντες ἡγεμονίᾳ χρῶνται δικαστηρίου.

[¶14] 15. What is it that the law commands these men to do? Not to “serve,” but “after approval by the court to hold office” (for even the officers who are selected by lot are not exempt from the scrutiny, but hold their office only after approval); “and to submit their accounts before the clerk and board of auditors,” precisely as other officers are required to do. As proof of the truth of my statement, the laws themselves shall be read to you.

> Greek: 15. τί τούτους κελεύει ποιεῖν; οὐ διακονεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἄρχειν δοκιμασθέντας ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ, ἐπειδὴ καὶ αἱ κληρωταὶ ἀρχαὶ οὐκ ἀδοκίμαστοι, ἀλλὰ δοκιμασθεῖσαι ἄρχουσι, καὶ λόγον ἐγγράφειν πρὸς τὸν γραμματέα καὶ τοὺς λογιστάς, καθάπερ καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἀρχάς. ὅτι δὲ ἀληθῆ λέγω, τοὺς νόμους ὑμῖν αὐτοὺς ἀναγνώσεται.

[¶15] 16. The Laws When, therefore, fellow citizens, what the lawgiver names “offices,” they call “employments” and “commissions,” it is your duty to remember the law, and to set it against their shamelessness, and to remind them that you refuse to accept a rascally sophist, who expects to destroy the laws with phrases; but that when a man has made an illegal motion, the more cleverly he talks, the more angry will he find you. For by right, fellow citizens, the orator and the law ought to speak the same language; but when the law utters one voice and the orator another, you ought to give your vote to the just demand of the law, not to the shamelessness of the speaker.

> Greek: 16. Νόμοι ὅταν τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἃς ὁ νομοθέτης ἀρχὰς ὀνομάζει, οὗτοι προσαγορεύωσι πραγματείας καὶ ἐπιμελείας, ὑμέτερον ἔργον ἐστὶν ἀπομνημονεύειν καὶ ἀντιτάττειν τὸν νόμον πρὸς τὴν τούτων ἀναίδειαν, καὶ ὑποβάλλειν αὐτοῖς, ὅτι οὐ προσδέχεσθε κακοῦργον σοφιστήν, οἰόμενον ῥήμασι τοὺς νόμους ἀναιρήσειν, ἀλλʼ ὅσῳ ἄν τις ἄμεινον λέγῃ παράνομα γεγραφώς, τοσούτῳ μείζονος ὀργῆς τεύξεται. χρὴ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸ αὐτὸ φθέγγεσθαι τὸν ῥήτορα καὶ τὸν νόμον· ὅταν δὲ ἑτέραν μὲν φωνὴν ἀφιῇ ὁ νόμος, ἑτέραν δὲ ὁ ῥήτωρ, τῷ τοῦ νόμου δικαίῳ χρὴ διδόναι τὴν ψῆφον, οὐ τῇ τοῦ λέγοντος ἀναισχυντίᾳ.

[¶16] 17. But now to “the irrefutable argument,” as Demosthenes calls it, I wish to reply briefly in advance. For he will say, “I am in charge of the construction of walls; I admit it; but I have made a present of a hundred minas to the state, and I have carried out the work on a larger scale than was prescribed; what then is it that you want to audit? unless a man’s patriotism is to be audited!” Now to this pretext hear my answer, true to the facts and beneficial to you. In this city, so ancient and so great, no man is free from the audit who has held any public trust.

> Greek: 17. πρὸς δὲ δὴ τὸν ἄφυκτον λόγον, ὅν φησι Δημοσθένης, βραχέα βούλομαι προειπεῖν. λέξει γὰρ οὗτος· τειχοποιός εἰμι· ὁμολογῶ· ἀλλʼ ἐπιδέδωκα τῇ πόλει μνᾶς ἑκατόν, καὶ τὸ ἔργον μεῖζον ἐξείργασμαι· τίνος οὖν εἰμι ὑπεύθυνος; εἰ μή τις ἐστὶν εὐνοίας εὔθυνα. πρὸς δὴ ταύτην τὴν πρόφασιν ἀκούσατέ μου λέγοντος καὶ δίκαια καὶ ὑμῖν συμφέροντα. ἐν γὰρ ταύτῃ πόλει, οὕτως ἀρχαίᾳ οὔσῃ καὶ τηλικαύτῃ τὸ μέγεθος, οὐδείς ἐστιν ἀνυπεύθυνος τῶν καὶ ὁπωσοῦν πρὸς τὰ κοινὰ προσεληλυθότων.

[¶17] 18. I will first cite cases where this would be least expected. For example, the law directs that priests and priestesses be subject to audit, all collectively, and each severally and individually—persons who receive perquisites only, and whose occupation is to pray to heaven for you; and they are made accountable not only separately, but whole priestly, families together, the Eumolpidae, the Ceryces, and all the rest.

> Greek: 18. διδάξω δʼ ὑμᾶς πρῶτον ἐπὶ τῶν παραδόξων. οἷον τοὺς ἱερέας καὶ τὰς ἱερείας ὑπευθύνους εἶναι κελεύει ὁ νόμος, καὶ συλλήβδην ἅπαντας καὶ χωρὶς ἑκάστους κατὰ σῶμα, τοὺς τὰ γέρα μόνον λαμβάνοντας καὶ τὰς εὐχὰς ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς εὐχομένους, καὶ οὐ μόνον ἰδίᾳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ κοινῇ τὰ γένη, Εὐμολπίδας καὶ Κήρυκας καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας.

[¶18] 19. Again, the law directs that the trierarchs be subject to audit, though they have had no public funds in their hands, and though they are not men who filch large sums from your treasury and pay out small ones, and not men who claim to be making donations when they are only paying back what is your own, but men who are acknowledged by all to have spent their family fortunes in their ambition to serve you. Furthermore, not the trierarchs alone, but also the highest bodies in the state, come under the verdict of the courts of audit.

> Greek: 19. πάλιν τοὺς τριηράρχους ὑπευθύνους εἶναι κελεύει ὁ νόμος, οὐ τὰ κοινὰ διαχειρίσαντας, οὐδʼ ἀπὸ τῶν ὑμετέρων πολλὰ μὲν ὑφαιρουμένους, βραχέα δὲ κατατιθέντας, οὐδʼ ἐπιδιδόναι μὲν φάσκοντας, ἀποδιδόντας δὲ ὑμῖν τὰ ὑμέτερα, ἀλλʼ ὁμολογουμένως τὰς πατρῴας οὐσίας εἰς τὴν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀνηλωκότας φιλοτιμίαν. οὐ τοίνυν μόνοι οἱ τριήραρχοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ μέγιστα τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει συνεδρίων ὑπὸ τὴν τῶν δικαστηρίων ἔρχεται ψῆφον.

[¶19] 20. For, first, the Senate of the Areopagus is required by the law to file its accounts with the Board of Auditors and to submit to their examination; yes, even those men, who sit with solemn aspect yonder as the court of highest competence, are brought under your verdict. Shall the Senate of the Areopagus, then, receive no crown? They shall not, for such is not the tradition of our fathers. Have they, then, no love of honor? Indeed they have! They so love honor that they are not satisfied with merely keeping free from guilt, but they punish their members even for mistakes. But your politicians are pampered. Further, the lawgiver has made the Senate of Five Hundred subject to audit.

> Greek: 20. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ τὴν βουλὴν τὴν ἐν Ἀρείῳ πάγῳ ἐγγράφειν πρὸς τοὺς λογιστὰς ὁ νόμος κελεύει λόγον καὶ εὐθύνας διδόναι, καὶ τὴν ἐκεῖ σκυθρωπὸν καὶ τῶν μεγίστων κυρίαν ἄγει ὑπὸ τὴν ὑμετέραν ψῆφον. οὐκ ἄρα στεφανωθήσεται ἡ βουλὴ ἡ ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου; οὐδὲ γὰρ πάτριον αὐτοῖς. οὐκ ἄρα φιλοτιμοῦνται; πάνυ γε, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἀγαπῶσιν, ἐάν τις παρʼ αὐτοῖς μὴ ἀδικῇ, ἀλλʼ ἐάν τις ἐξαμαρτάνῃ, κολάζουσιν· οἱ δὲ ὑμέτεροι ῥήτορες τρυφῶσι. πάλιν τὴν βουλὴν τοὺς πεντακοσίους ὑπεύθυνον πεποίηκεν ὁ νομοθέτης.

[¶20] 21. And so deep is his distrust of those who are subject to audit, that he says at the very beginning of the laws, “The officer who has not yet submitted his accounts shall not leave the country?” “Heracles!” some one may answer, “because I held an office may I not leave the country?” No, for fear you may make profit of the public money or the public acts, and then run away. Furthermore, the man who is subject to audit is not allowed to consecrate his property, or to make a votive offering, or to receive adoption, or to dispose of his property by will and he is under many other prohibitions. In a word, the lawgiver holds under attachment the property of all who are subject to audit, until their accounts shall have been audited.

> Greek: 21. καὶ οὕτως ἰσχυρῶς ἀπιστεῖ τοῖς ὑπευθύνοις, ὥστʼ εὐθὺς ἀρχόμενος τῶν νόμων, ἀρχὴν ὑπεύθυνον, φησί, μὴ ἀποδημεῖν· ὦ Ἡράκλεις, ὑπολάβοι ἄν τις, ὅτι ἦρξα, μὴ ἀποδημήσω; ἵνα γε μὴ προλαβὼν χρήματα τῆς πόλεως ἢ πράξεις δρασμῷ χρήσῃ. πάλιν ὑπεύθυνον οὐκ ἐᾷ τὴν οὐσίαν καθιεροῦν, οὐδὲ ἀνάθημα ἀναθεῖναι, οὐδʼ ἐκποίητον γενέσθαι, οὐδὲ διαθέσθαι τὰ ἑαυτοῦ, οὐδʼ ἄλλα πολλά· ἑνὶ δὲ λόγῳ ἐνεχυράζει τὰς οὐσίας ὁ νομοθέτης τὰς τῶν ὑπενθύνων, ἕως ἂν λόγον ἀποδῶσι τῇ πόλει.

[¶21] 22. “Yes, but there is a man who has received no public funds and spent none, but has simply had something to do with administrative matters.” He too is commanded to render account to the auditors. “And how shall the man who has received nothing and spent nothing render account to the state?” The law itself suggests and teaches what he is to write; for it commands him to file precisely this statement, “I have neither received nor spent any public funds.” There is nothing in all the state that is exempt from audit, investigation, and examination. As proof of what I say, hear the laws themselves.

> Greek: 22. ναί, ἀλλʼ ἔστι τις ἄνθρωπος ὃς οὔτʼ εἴληφεν οὐδὲν τῶν δημοσίων οὔτʼ ἀνήλωκε, προσῆλθε δὲ πρός τι τῶν κοινῶν. καὶ τοῦτον ἀποφέρειν κελεύει λόγον πρὸς τοὺς λογιστάς. καὶ πῶς ὅ γε μηδὲν λαβὼν μηδʼ ἀναλώσας ἀποίσει λόγον τῇ πόλει; αὐτὸς ὑποβάλλει καὶ διδάσκει ὁ νόμος ἃ χρὴ γράφειν· κελεύει γὰρ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ἐγγράφειν, ὅτι οὔτʼ ἔλαβον οὐδὲν τῶν τῆς πόλεως οὔτʼ ἀνήλωσα. ἀνυπεύθυνον δὲ καὶ ἀζήτητον καὶ ἀνεξέταστον οὐδέν ἐστι τῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει. ὅτι δὲ ἀληθῆ λέγω, αὐτῶν ἀκούσατε τῶν νόμων.

[¶22] 23. The Laws So when Demosthenes at the height of his impudence shall say that because the money was a gift he is not subject to audit, suggest this to him: was it not, then, your duty, Demosthenes, to allow the herald of the Board of Auditors to make this proclamation, sanctioned by law and custom, “Who wishes to prefer charges?” Let any citizen who wishes have the opportunity to claim that you have given nothing, but that from the large sums under your control you have spent a mere trifle on the repair of the walls, whereas you have received ten talents from the city for this work. Do not grab honor; do not snatch the jurors’ ballots from their hands; do not in your political career go before the laws, but follow them. For so is the democracy upheld.

> Greek: 23. Νόμοι ὅταν τοίνυν μάλιστα θρασύνηται Δημοσθένης, λέγων ὡς διὰ τὴν ἐπίδοσιν οὐκ ἔστιν ὑπεύθυνος, ἐκεῖνο αὐτῷ ὑποβάλλετε· οὐκ οὖν ἐχρῆν σε, ὦ Δημόσθενες, ἐᾶσαι τὸν τῶν λογιστῶν κήρυκα κηρύξαι τὸ πάτριον καὶ ἔννομον κήρυγμα τοῦτο, τίς βούλεται κατηγορεῖν; ἔασον ἀμφισβητῆσαί σοι τὸν βουλόμενον τῶν πολιτῶν, ὡς οὐκ ἐπέδωκας, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ πολλῶν ὧν ἔχεις εἰς τὴν τῶν τειχῶν οἰκοδομίαν μικρὰ κατέθηκας, δέκα τάλαντα εἰς ταῦτα τῆς πόλεως εἰληφώς. μὴ ἅρπαζε τὴν φιλοτιμίαν, μηδὲ ἐξαιροῦ τῶν δικαστῶν τὰς Ψήφους ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν, μηδʼ ἔμπροσθεν τῶν νόμων, ἀλλʼ ὕστερος πολιτεύου. ταῦτα γὰρ ὀρθοῖ τὴν δημοκρατίαν.

[¶23] 24. As an answer then to the empty pretexts that they will bring forward, let what I have said suffice. But that Demosthenes was in fact subject to audit at the time when the defendant made his motion, since he held the office of Superintendent of the Theoric Fund as well as the office of Commissioner for the Repair of Walls, and at that time bad not rendered to you his account and reckoning for either office, this I will now try to show you from the public records. Read, if you please, in what archonship and in what month and on what day and in what assembly Demosthenes was elected a Superintendent of the Theoric Fund. Enumeration of the Days If now I should prove nothing beyond this, Ctesiphon would be justly convicted, for it is not my complaint that convicts him, but the public records.

> Greek: 24. πρὸς μὲν οὖν τὰς κενὰς προφάσεις ἃς οὗτοι προφασιοῦνται, μέχρι δεῦρο εἰρήσθω μοι· ὅτι δὲ ὄντως ἦν ὑπεύθυνος ὁ Δημοσθένης, ὅθʼ οὗτος εἰσήνεγκε τὸ Ψήφισμα, ἄρχων μὲν τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ θεωρικὸν ἀρχὴν, ἄρχων δὲ τὴν τῶν τειχοποιῶν, οὐδετέρας δέ πω τῶν ἀρχῶν τούτων λόγον ὑμῖν οὐδʼ εὐθύνας δεδωκώς, ταῦτʼ ἤδη πειράσομαι ὑμᾶς διδάσκειν ἐκ τῶν δημοσίων γραμμάτων. καί μοι ἀνάγνωθι, ἐπὶ τίνος ἄρχοντος καὶ ποίου μηνὸς καὶ ἐν τίνι ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἐν ποίᾳ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἐχειροτονήθη Δημοσθένης τὴν ἀρχὴν τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ θεωρικόν. Διαλογισμὸς τῶν Ἡμερῶν οὐκοῦν εἰ μηδὲν ἔτι περαιτέρω δείξαιμι, δικαίως ἂν ἁλίσκοιτο Κτησιφῶν· αἱρεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸν οὐχ ἡ κατηγορία ἡ ἐμή, ἀλλὰ τὰ δημόσια γράμματα.

[¶24] 25. In earlier times, fellow citizens, the city used to elect a Comptroller of the Treasury, who every prytany made to the people a report of the revenues. But because of the trust which you placed in Eubulus, those who were elected Superintendents of the Theoric Fund held (until the law of Hegemon was passed) the office of Comptroller of the Treasury and the office of Receiver of Moneys; they also controlled the dockyards, had charge of the naval arsenal that was building, and were Superintendents of Streets; almost the whole administration of the state was in their hands.

> Greek: 25. πρότερον μὲν τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἀντιγραφεὺς ἦν χειροτονητὸς τῇ πόλει, ὃς καθʼ ἑκάστην πρυτανείαν ἀπελογίζετο τὰς προσόδους τῷ δήμῳ· διὰ δὲ τὴν πρὸς Εὔβουλον γενομένην πίστιν ὑμῖν οἱ ἐπὶ τὸ θεωρικὸν κεχειροτονημένοι ἦρχον μέν, πρὶν ἢ τὸν Ἡγήμονος νόμον γενέσθαι, τὴν τοῦ ἀντιγραφέως ἀρχήν, ἦρχον δὲ τὴν τῶν ἀποδεκτῶν, καὶ νεωρίων ἦρχον, καὶ σκευοθήκην ᾠκοδόμουν, ἦσαν δὲ καὶ ὁδοποιοί, καὶ σχεδὸν τὴν ὅλην διοίκησιν εἶχον τῆς πόλεως.

[¶25] 26. I say this, not to accuse or blame them, but because I wish to show you this: that while the lawgiver, in case any one is subject to audit for a single office—though it be the least—does not permit him to be crowned until lie has rendered his account and submitted to audit, Ctesiphon did not hesitate to move to crown Demosthenes, who was holding all the offices in Athens at once.

> Greek: 26. καὶ οὐ κατηγορῶν αὐτῶν οὐδʼ ἐπιτιμῶν λέγω, ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο ὑμῖν ἐνδείξασθαι βουλόμενος, ὅτι ὁ μὲν νομοθέτης, ἐάν τις μιᾶς ἀρχῆς τῆς ἐλαχίστης ὑπεύθυνος ᾖ, τοῦτον οὐκ ἐᾷ, πρὶν ἂν λόγου καὶ εὐθύνας δῷ, στεφανοῦν, Κτησιφῶν δὲ Δημοσθένην τὸν συλλήβδην ἁπάσας τὰς Ἀθήνησιν ἀρχὰς ἄρχοντα οὐκ ὤκνησε γράψαι στεφανῶσαι.

[¶26] 27. Furthermore I will present to you Demosthenes himself as witness to the fact that at the time when Ctesiphon made his motion, Demosthenes was holding the office of Commissioner for the Repair of Walls, and so was handling public funds, imposing fines like the other magistrates, and privileged to preside in court. For in the archonship of Chaerondas, on the last day but one of Thargelion, Demosthenes made a motion in the assembly that on the second and third days of Skirophorion assemblies of the tribes be held; and he directed in his decree that men be chosen from each tribe as superintendents and treasurers for the work upon the walls; and very properly, that the city might have responsible persons upon whom to call for an accounting of the money spent. Please read the decree.

> Greek: 27. ὡς τοίνυν καὶ τὴν τῶν τειχοποιῶν ἀρχὴν ἦρχεν, ὅθʼ οὗτος τὸ ψήφισμα ἔγραψε, καὶ τὰ δημόσια χρήματα διεχείριζε, καὶ ἐπιβολὰς ἐπέβαλλε, καθάπερ οἱ ἄλλοι ἄρχοντες, καὶ δικαστηρίων ἡγεμονίας ἐλάμβανε, τούτων ὑμῖν αὐτὸν Δημοσθένην μάρτυρα παρέξομαι. ἐπὶ γὰρ Χαιρώνδου ἄρχοντος, Θαργηλιῶνος μηνὸς δευτέρᾳ φθίνοντος, ἐκκλησίας οὔσης ἔγραψε Δημοσθένης ἀγορὰν ποιῆσαι τῶν φυλῶν Ξκιροφοριῶνος δευτέρα ἱσταμένου καὶ τρίτῃ, καὶ ἐπέταξεν ἐν τῷ ψηφίσματι ἑκάστης τῶν φυλῶν ἑλέσθαι τοὺς ἐπιμελησομένους τῶν ἔργων ἐπὶ τὰ τείχη καὶ ταμίας, καὶ μάλα ὀρθῶς, ἵνʼ ἡ πόλις ἔχοι ὑπεύθυνα σώματα παρʼ ὧν ἔμελλε τῶν ἀνηλωμένων λόγον ἀπολήψεσθαι. καί μοι λέγε τὸ ψήφισμα.

[¶27] 28. Decree Yes, but he immediately tries to wriggle out of this by saying that it was not the people who elected him, or appointed him by lot, as Commissioner of Walls. On this point Demosthenes and Ctesiphon will argue at length. But the law is brief and clear and it makes short work of their devices. I wish first to speak to you briefly about this.

> Greek: 28. Ψήφισμα ναί, ἀλλʼ ἀντιδιαπλέκει πρὸς τοῦτο εὐθὺς λέγων ὡς οὔτʼ ἔλαχε τειχοποιὸς οὔτʼ ἐχειροτονήθη ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου. καὶ περὶ τούτου Δημοσθένης μὲν καὶ Κτησιφῶν πολὺν ποιήσονται λόγον· ὁ δέ γε νόμος βραχὺς καὶ σαφὴς καὶ ταχὺ λύων τὰς τούτων τέχνας. μικρὰ δὲ ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν πρῶτον προειπεῖν βούλομαι.

[¶28] 29. There are, fellow citizens, three classes of public officers. The first and most obvious class are all who are appointed by lot or by election; the second class are those who administer some public business for more than thirty days, and the Commissioners of Public Works; but third it stands written in the law that if any others receive presidencies of courts, they also shall “hold office on passing their scrutiny.” Now when you subtract those officials who are chosen by popular election and those appointed by lot, there remain those whom the tribes, the trittyes, and the demes appoint from among their own number to administer public funds. This happens when, as in the present case, some work is assigned to the several tribes, like the digging of trenches or the building of triremes. That what I say is true, you shall learn from the laws themselves.

> Greek: 29. ἔστι γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν περὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς εἴδη τρία, ὧν ἓν μὲν καὶ πᾶσι φανερώτατον οἱ κληρωτοὶ καὶ οἱ χειροτονητοὶ ἄρχοντες, δεύτερον δὲ ὅσοι τι διαχειρίζουσι τῶν τῆς πόλεως ὑπὲρ τριάκοντα ἡμέρας καὶ οἱ τῶν δημοσίων ἔργων ἐπιστάται, τρίτον δʼ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ γέγραπται, καὶ εἴ τινες ἄλλοι τοῦτο δὲ γίγνεται, ὅταν, ὥσπερ νῦν, ἐπιταχθῇ τι ταῖς φυλαῖς, ἢ τάφρους ἐξεργάζεσθαι ἢ τριήρεις ναυπηγεῖσθαι. ὅτι δὲ ἀληθῆ λέγω, ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν νόμων μαθήσεσθε.

[¶29] 31. The Laws Recall now what has been said: the lawgiver directs that after approval in court those appointed by the tribes shall “hold office”; but the tribe Pandionis appointed Demosthenes an “officer,” a Builder of Walls; and he has received for this work from the general treasury nearly ten talents. Another law forbids crowning an official before he has rendered his accounts, and you have sworn to vote according to the laws; but yonder politician has moved to crown the man who has not yet rendered his accounts, and he has not added “when he shall have rendered account and submitted to audit” and I convict him of the unlawful act, bringing as my witnesses the laws, the decrees, and the defendants. How could one more clearly prove that a man has made an unlawful motion?

> Greek: 31. Νόμοι ἀναμνήσθητε δὴ τοὺς προειρημένους λόγους, ὅτι ὁ μὲν νομοθέτης τοὺς ἐκ τῶν φυλῶν ἄρχειν κελεύει δοκιμασθέντας ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ, ἡ δὲ Πανδιονὶς φυλὴ ἄρχοντα καὶ τειχοποιὸν ἀπέδειξε Δημοσθένην, ὃς ἐκ τῆς διοικήσεως εἰς ταῦτα ἔχει μικροῦ δεῖν δέκα τάλαντα, ἕτερος δʼ ἀπαγορεύει νόμος ἀρχὴν ὑπεύθυνον μὴ στεφανοῦν, ὑμεῖς δὲ ὀμωμόκατε κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ψηφιεῖσθαι, ὁ δὲ ῥήτωρ γέγραφε τὸν ὑπεύθυνον στεφανοῦν, οὐ προσθεὶς ἐπειδὰν δῷ λόγον καὶ εὐθύνας, ἐγὼ δὲ ἐξελέγχω τὸ παράνομον μάρτυρας ἅμα τοὺς νόμους καὶ τὰ ψηφίσματα καὶ τοὺς ἀντιδίκους παρεχόμενος. πῶς οὖν ἄν τις περιφανέστερον ἐπιδείξειεν ἄνθρωπον παράνομα γεγραφότα;

[¶30] 32. Furthermore, I will show you that the proclamation of the crown, as proposed in his decree, is to be made in an illegal manner. For the law expressly commands that if the Senate confer a crown, the crown shall be proclaimed in the senate-house, and if the people confer it, in the assembly, “and nowhere else.” Read me the law.

> Greek: 32. ὡς τοίνυν καὶ τὴν ἀνάρρησιν τοῦ στεφάνου παρανόμως ἐν τῷ ψηφίσματι κελεύει γίγνεσθαι, καὶ τοῦθʼ ὑμᾶς διδάξω. ὁ γὰρ νόμος διαρρήδην κελεύει, ἐὰν μέν τινα στεφανοῖ ἡ βουλή, ἐν τῷ βουλευτηρίῳ ἀνακηρύττεσθαι, ἐὰν δὲ ὁ δῆμος, ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, ἄλλοθι δὲ μηδαμοῦ. καί μοι λέγε τὸν νόμον.

[¶31] 33. Law This, fellow citizens, is an excellent law. For it seems that it was the idea of the lawgiver that the public man ought not to be thinking of outsiders as he receives his honors, but to be well content with honor received in the city itself and from the people; and that he ought not to treat such proclamations as a source of revenue. So thought the lawgiver. But Ctesiphon how? Read his decree.

> Greek: 33. Νόμος οὗτος ὁ νόμος, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ μάλα καλῶς ἔχει. οὐ γὰρ οἶμαι ᾤετο δεῖν ὁ νομοθέτης τὸν ῥήτορα σεμνύνεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς ἔξωθεν, ἀλλʼ ἀγαπᾶν ἐν αὐτῇ πόλει τιμώμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου, καὶ μὴ ἐργολαβεῖν ἐν τοῖς κηρύγμασιν. ὁ μὲν οὖν νομοθέτης οὕτως· ὁ δὲ Κτησιφῶν πῶς; ἀναγίγνωσκε τὸ ψήφισμα.

[¶32] 34. Decree You hear, fellow citizens, how the lawgiver commands that the man who is crowned by the people be proclaimed among the people, on the Pnyx, at a meeting of the assembly, “and nowhere else”; but Ctesiphon, in the theater—not only overriding the laws but also changing the place; not when the Athenians are in assembly, but when tragedies are being performed; not in the presence of the people, but in the presence of the Hellenes, that they also may know what sort of man we honor.

> Greek: 34. Ψήφισμα ἀκούετε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὅτι ὁ μὲν νομοθέτης κελεύει ἐν τῷ δήμῳ ἐν Πυκνὶ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀνακηρύττειν τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου στεφανούμενον, ἄλλοθι δὲ μηδαμοῦ, Κτησιφῶν δὲ ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ, οὐ τοὺς νόμους μόνον ὑπερβάς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν τόπον μετενεγκών, οὐδὲ ἐκκλησιαζόντων Ἀθηναίων, ἀλλὰ τραγῳδῶν γιγνομένων, οὐδʼ ἐναντίον τοῦ δήμου, ἀλλʼ ἐναντίον τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ἵνʼ ἡμῖν συνειδῶσιν οἷον ἄνδρα τιμῶμεν.

[¶33] 35. Having, then, made a motion that is so manifestly illegal, he will call Demosthenes as his ally and bring up the artifices of rhetoric for the assault on the laws. These tricks I will reveal and of these I will forewarn you, lest you be taken unawares and deceived. They will not be able to deny that the laws forbid the man who is crowned by the people to be proclaimed outside the assembly, but they will present for their defence the Dionysiac law, and will use a certain portion of the law, cheating your ears.

> Greek: 35. οὕτω τοίνυν περιφανῶς παράνομα γεγραφώς, παραταχθεὶς μετὰ Δημοσθένους ἐποίσει τέχνας τοῖς νόμοις· ἃς ἐγὼ δηλώσω καὶ προερῶ ὑμῖν, ἵνα μὴ λάθητε ἐξαπατηθέντες. οὗτοι γάρ, ὡς μὲν οὐκ ἀπαγορεύουσιν οἱ νόμοι τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου στεφανούμενον μὴ κηρύττειν ἔξω τῆς ἐκκλησίας, οὐχ ἕξουσι λέγειν, οἴσουσι δὲ εἰς τὴν ἀπολογίαν τὸν Διονυσιακὸν νόμον, καὶ χρήσονται τοῦ νόμου μέρει τινὶ κλέπτοντες τὴν ἀκρόασιν ὑμῶν, καὶ παρέξονται νόμον οὐδὲν προσήκοντα τῇδε τῇ γραφῇ, καὶ λέξουσιν ὡς εἰσὶ τῇ πόλει δύο νόμοι κείμενοι περὶ τῶν κηρυγμάτων, εἷς μέν, ὃν νῦν ἐγὼ παρέχομαι, διαρρήδην ἀπαγορεύων τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου στεφανούμενον μὴ κηρύττεσθαι ἔξω τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἕτερον δʼ εἶναι νόμον φήσουσιν ἐναντίον τούτῳ, τὸν δεδωκότα ἐξουσίαν ποιεῖσθαι τὴν ἀνάρρησιν τοῦ στεφάνου τραγῳδοῖς ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ, ἐὰν Ψηφίσηται ὁ δῆμος·

[¶34] 36. For they will offer a law that has nothing to do with this case, and will say that the city has two laws governing proclamations: one, the law that I now offer in evidence, which expressly forbids the man who is crowned by the people to be proclaimed outside the assembly; but they will say that there is another law, contradictory to this, and that that law has given authority for the proclamation of the crown at the time of the tragedies in the theater, “if the people vote.” And so they will say that it is in accordance with that law that Ctesiphon has made his motion. Now against their tricks I will introduce your own laws as my advocates, as indeed I earnestly try to do throughout this whole prosecution. For if what they say is true, and such a custom has crept into your government that invalid laws stand written among the valid, and that there exist two laws concerning one and the same action, which contradict each other, how could any man longer call this a “government,” if in it the laws command to do and not to do one and the same thing?

> Greek: 36. κατὰ δὴ τοῦτον τὸν νόμον φήσουσι γεγραφέναι τὸν Κτησιφῶντα. ἐγὼ δὲ πρὸς τὰς τούτων τέχνας παρέξομαι συνηγόρους τοὺς νόμους τοὺς ὑμετέρους, ὅπερ διατελῶ σπουδάζων παρὰ πᾶσαν τὴν κατηγορίαν. εἰ γὰρ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἀληθές, καὶ τοιοῦτον ἔθος παραδέδυκεν ὑμῶν εἰς τὴν πολιτείαν, ὥστʼ ἀκύρους νόμους ἐν τοῖς κυρίοις ἀναγεγράφθαι, καὶ δύο περὶ μιᾶς πράξεως ὑπεναντίους ἀλλήλοις, τί ἂν ἔτι ταύτην εἴποι τις εἶναι πολιτείαν, ἐν ᾗ ταὐτὰ προστάττουσιν οἱ νόμοι ποιεῖν καὶ μὴ ποιεῖν;

[¶35] 38. But that is not the case. May you never reach the point where your laws are in such disorder as that! Nor was the lawgiver who established the democracy guilty of such neglect; he has expressly laid upon the Thesmothetae the duty of making an annual revision of the laws in the presence of the people, prescribing sharp investigation and examination, in order to determine whether any law stands written which contradicts another law, or an invalid law stands among the valid, or whether more laws than one stand written to govern each action.

> Greek: 38. ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἔχει ταῦθʼ οὕτως· μήθʼ ὑμεῖς ποτε εἰς τοσαύτην ἀταξίαν τῶν νόμων προβαίητε, οὔτε ἠμέληται περὶ τῶν τοιούτων τῷ νομοθέτῃ τῷ τὴν δημοκρατίαν καταστήσαντι, ἀλλὰ διαρρήδην προστέτακται τοῖς θεσμοθέταις καθʼ ἕκαστον ἐνιαυτὸν διορθοῦν ἐν τῷ δήμῳ τοὺς νόμους, ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάσαντας καὶ σκεψαμένους, εἴ τις ἀναγέγραπται νόμος ἐναντίος ἑτέρῳ νόμῳ, ἢ ἂκυρος ἐν τοῖς κυρίοις, ἢ που εἰσὶ νόμοι πλείους ἑνὸς ἀναγεγραμμένοι περὶ ἑκάστης πράξεως.

[¶36] 39. And if they find such a thing, they are required to write it out and post it on bulletins in front of the Eponymi; and the prytanes are required to call a meeting of the assembly, writing at the head of the call, “For Nomothetae”; and the chairman of the presiding officers must submit to vote the question of the removal of one set of laws and the retention of the other, in order that for each action there may be one law and no more. Please read the laws.

> Greek: 39. κἄν τι τοιοῦτον εὑρίσκωσιν, ἀναγεγραφότας ἐν σανίσιν ἐκτιθέναι κελεύει πρόσθεν τῶν ἐπωνύμων, τοὺς δὲ πρυτάνεις ποιεῖν ἐκκλησίαν ἐπιγράψαντας νομοθέταις, τὸν δʼ ἐπιστάτην τῶν προέδρων διαχειροτονίαν διδόναι τοὺς μὲν ἀναιρεῖν τῶν νόμων, τοὺς δὲ καταλείπειν, ὅπως ἂν εἷς ᾖ νόμος καὶ μὴ πλείους περὶ ἑκάστης πράξεως. καί μοι λέγε τοὺς νόμους.

[¶37] 40. Laws If now, fellow citizens, what they assert were true, and two laws had been in force governing proclamations, I think the Thesmothetae would necessarily have searched them out, and the prytanes would have referred them to the Nomothetae, and one or the other of the two laws would have been repealed, either the law that gave authority for the proclamation, or the law that forbade it. But seeing that no such thing has been done, surely what they say is demonstrated to be, not only false, but absolutely impossible.

> Greek: 40. Νόμοι εἰ τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἀληθὴς ἦν ὁ παρὰ τούτων λόγος, καὶ ἦσαν δύο κείμενοι νόμοι περὶ τῶν κηρυγμάτων, ἐξ ἀνάγκης οἶμαι τῶν μὲν θεσμοθετῶν ἐξευρόντων, τῶν δὲ πρυτάνεων ἀποδόντων τοῖς νομοθέταις ἀνῄρητʼ ἂν ὁ ἕτερος τῶν νόμων, ἤτοι ὁ τὴν ἐξουσίαν δεδωκὼς ἀνειπεῖν ἢ ὁ ἀπαγορεύων· ὁπότε δὲ μηδὲν τούτων γεγένηται, φανερῶς δή που ἐξελέγχονται οὐ μόνον Ψευδῆ λέγοντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ παντελῶς ἀδύνατα γενέσθαι.

[¶38] 41. But I will show you where they get this false assertion. First, however, I will tell the reason why the laws governing the proclamations in the theater were enacted. It frequently happened that at the performance of the tragedies in the city proclamations were made without authorization of the people, now that this or that man was crowned by his tribe, now that others were crowned by the men of their deme, while other men by the voice of the herald manumitted their household slaves, and made all Hellas their witness;

> Greek: 41. ὅθεν δὲ τὸ Ψεῦδος τοῦτο ἐπιφέρουσιν, ἐγὼ διδάξω ὑμᾶς, προειπὼν ὧν ἕνεκα οἱ νόμοι ἐτέθησαν οἱ περὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ κηρυγμάτων. γιγνομένων γὰρ τῶν ἐν ἄστει τραγῳδῶν ἀνεκήρυττόν τινες, οὐ πείσαντες τὸν δῆμον, οἱ μὲν ὅτι στεφανοῦνται ὑπὸ τῶν φυλετῶν, ἕτεροι δʼ ὅτι ὑπὸ τῶν δημοτῶν· ἄλλοι δέ τινες ὑποκηρυξάμενοι τοὺς αὑτῶν οἰκέτας ἀφίεσαν ἐλευθέρους, μάρτυρας τοὺς Ἕλληνας ποιούμενοι.

[¶39] 42. and, most invidious of all, certain men who had secured positions as agents of foreign states managed to have proclaimed that they were crowned—it might be by the people of Rhodes, or of Chios, or of some other state—in recognition of their merit and uprightness. And this they did, not like those who were crowned by your senate or by the people, by first obtaining your consent and by your decree, and after establishing large claims upon your gratitude, but themselves reaching out after the honor with no authorization from you.

> Greek: 42. ὃ δʼ ἦν ἐπιφθονώτατον, προξενίας εὑρημένοι τινὲς ἐν ταῖς ἔξω πόλεσι, διεπράττοντο ἀναγορεύεσθαι ὅτι στεφανοῖ αὐτοὺς ὁ δῆμος, εἰ οὕτω τύχοι, ὁ τῶν Ῥοδίων ἢ Χίων ἢ καί τινος ἄλλης πόλεως, ἀρετῆς ἕνεκα καὶ ἀνδραγαθίας. καὶ ταῦτʼ ἔπραττον, οὐχ ὥσπερ οἱ ὑπὸ τῆς βουλῆς τῆς ὑμετέρας στεφανούμενοι ἢ ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου, πείσαντες ὑμᾶς καὶ μετὰ Ψηφίσματος, πολλὴν χάριν καταθέμενοι, ἀλλʼ αὐτοὶ προελόμενοι, ἄνευ δόγματος ὑμετέρου.

[¶40] 43. The result of this practice was that the spectators, the choregi, and the actors alike were discommoded, and that those who were crowned in the theater received greater honors than those whom the people crowned. For the latter had a place prescribed where they must receive their crown, the assembly of the people, and proclamation “anywhere else” was forbidden; but the others were proclaimed in the presence of all the Hellenes; the one class with your consent, by your decree; the other, without decree.

> Greek: 43. ἐκ δὲ τούτου τοῦ τρόπου συνέβαινε τοὺς μὲν θεατὰς καὶ τοὺς χορηγοὺς καὶ τοὺς ἀγωνιστὰς ἐνοχλεῖσθαι, τοὺς δὲ ἀνακηρυττομένους ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ μείζοσι τιμαῖς τιμᾶσθαι τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου στεφανουμένων. τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἀπεδέδεικτο τόπος ἡ ἐκκλησία, ἐν ᾗ χρῆν στεφανοῦσθαι, καὶ ἀπείρητο ἄλλοθι μηδαμοῦ κηρύττεσθαι· οἱ δὲ ἀνηγορεύοντο ἐναντίον ἁπάντων τῶν Ἑλλήνων· κἀκεῖνοι μὲν μετὰ ψηφίσματος, πείσαντες ὑμᾶς, οὗτοι δʼ ἄνευ ψηφίσματος.

[¶41] 44. Now some legislator, seeing this, caused a law to be enacted which has nothing to do with the law concerning those who are crowned by our people, and did not supersede it. For it was not the assembly that was being disturbed, but the theater; and he was not enacting a law contradictory to the previously existing laws, for that may not be done; but a law governing those who, without your decree, are crowned by their tribe or deme, and governing the freeing of slaves, and also the foreign crowns. He expressly forbids the manumission of a slave in the theater, or the proclamation of a crown by the tribe or deme, “or by any one else,” he says, “and the herald who disobeys shall lose his civic rights.”

> Greek: 44. συνιδὼν δή τις ταῦτα νομοθέτης, τίθησι νόμον οὐδὲν ἐπικοινωνοῦντα τῷ περὶ τῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου στεφανουμένων νόμῳ, οὔτε λύσας ἐκεῖνον· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἡ ἐκκλησία ἠνωχλεῖτο, ἀλλὰ τὸ θέατρον· οὔτʼ ἐναντίον τοῖς πρότερον κειμένοις νόμοις τιθείς· οὐ γὰρ ἔξεστιν· ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν ἄνευ ψηφίσματος ὑμετέρου στεφανουμένων ὑπὸ τῶν φυλετῶν καὶ δημοτῶν, καὶ περὶ τῶν τοὺς οἰκέτας ἀπελευθερούντων, καὶ περὶ τῶν ξενικῶν στεφάνων, καὶ διαρρήδην ἀπαγορεύει μήτʼ οἰκέτην ἀπελευθεροῦν ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ, μήθʼ ὑπὸ τῶν φυλετῶν ἢ δημοτῶν ἀναγορεύεσθαι στεφανούμενον, μήθʼ ὑπʼ ἄλλου, φησί, μηδενός, ἢ ἄτιμον εἶναι τὸν κήρυκα.

[¶42] 45. When, therefore, the lawgiver designates, for those who are crowned by the senate, the senate-house as the place of proclamation, and, for those who are crowned by the people, the assembly, and when he forbids those who are crowned by the demes or tribes to be proclaimed at the tragedies—that no one may try to get spurious honor by begging crowns and proclamations, and when in the law he further forbids proclamation being made by any one else, senate, people, tribe, and deme being thus eliminated—when one takes these away, what is it that is left except the foreign crowns?

> Greek: 45. ὅταν οὖν ἀποδείξῃ τοῖς μὲν ὑπὸ τῆς βουλῆς στεφανουμένοις τὸ βουλευτήριον ἀναρρηθῆναι, τοῖς δʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, τοῖς δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν δημοτῶν καὶ φυλετῶν ἀπείπῃ μὴ κηρύττεσθαι τοῖς τραγῳδοῖς, ἵνα μηδεὶς ἐρανίζων στεφάνους καὶ κηρύγματα ψευδῆ φιλοτιμίαν κτᾶται, προσαπείπῃ δʼ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ μηδʼ ὑπὸ ἄλλου μηδενὸς ἀνακηρύττεσθαι, ἀπούσης βουλῆς καὶ δήμου καὶ φυλετῶν καὶ δημοτῶν,—ὅταν δέ τις ταῦτα ἀφέλῃ, τί τὸ καταλειπόμενόν ἐστι πλὴν οἱ ξενικοὶ στέφανοι;

[¶43] 46. For the truth of my assertion I will show you a strong argument derived from the laws themselves. For the golden crown itself which is proclaimed in the city theater the law takes from the man who is crowned, and commands that it be dedicated to Athena. And yet who among you would dare to charge the Athenian people with such illiberality? For certainly no state, nay, not even a private person—not one—would be so mean as to proclaim a crown and at the same moment demand back the gift which he himself had made. But I think it is because the crown is the gift of foreigners that the dedication is made, lest any one set a higher value upon the gratitude of a foreign state than upon that of his own country, and so become corrupted.

> Greek: 46. ὅτι δʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, σημεῖον ὑμῖν μέγα τούτου ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν νόμων ἐπιδείξω. αὐτὸν γὰρ τὸν χρυσοῦν στέφανον, ὃς ἂν ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ τῷ ἐν ἄστει ἀναρρηθῇ, ἱερὸν εἶναι τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς ὁ νόμος κελεύει, ἀφελόμενος τὸν στεφανούμενον. καίτοι τίς ἂν ὑμῶν τολμήσειε τοσαύτην ἀνελευθερίαν καταγνῶναι τοῦ δήμου τοῦ Ἀθηναίων; μὴ γὰρ ὅτι πόλις, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἂν ἰδιώτης οὐδὲ εἷς οὕτως ἀγεννὴς γένοιτο, ὥστε ὃν αὐτὸς ἔδωκε στέφανον ἅμα ἀνακηρύττειν καὶ ἀφαιρεῖσθαι. ἀλλʼ οἶμαι διὰ τὸ ξενικὸν εἶναι τὸν στέφανον καὶ ἡ καθιέρωσις γίγνεται, ἵνα μηδεὶς ἀλλοτρίαν εὔνοιαν περὶ πλείονος ποιούμενος τῆς πατρίδος χείρων γένηται τὴν ψυχήν.

[¶44] 47. But the other crown, the crown that is proclaimed in the assembly, no one dedicates, but he is permitted to keep it, that not only he, but also his descendants, having the memorial in their house, may never become disloyal to the democracy. And the reason why the lawgiver also forbade the proclamation of the foreign crown in the theater “unless the people vote,” is this: he would have the state that wishes to crown any one of your citizens send ambassadors and ask permission of the people, for so he who is proclaimed will be more grateful to you for permitting the proclamation than to those who confer the crown. But to show that my statements are true, hear the laws themselves.

> Greek: 47. ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀναρρηθέντα στέφανον οὐδεὶς καθιεροῖ, ἀλλʼ ἔξεστι κεκτῆσθαι, ἵνα μὴ μόνον αὐτός, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ ἐξ ἐκείνου, ἔχοντες ἐν τῇ οἰκία τὸ ὑπόμνημα, μηδέποτε κακοὶ τὴν ψυχὴν εἰς τὸν δῆμον γίγνωνται. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο προσέθηκεν ὁ νομοθέτης μὴ κηρύττεσθαι τὸν ἀλλότριον στέφανον ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ, ἐὰν μὴ ψηφίσηται ὁ δῆμος, ἵνʼ ἡ πόλις ἡ βουλομένη τινὰ τῶν ὑμετέρων στεφανοῦν πρέσβεις πέμψασα δεηθῇ τοῦ δήμου, καὶ ὁ κηρυττόμενος μείζω χάριν εἰδῇ τῶν στεφανούντων ὑμῖν, ὅτι κηρύξαι ἐπετρέψατε. ὅτι δʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, τῶν νόμων αὐτῶν ἀκούσατε.

[¶45] 48. Laws When, therefore, they try to deceive you, and say that it is added in the law that the bestowal of the crown is permitted “if the people vote,” do not forget to suggest to them, Yes, if it is another state that is crowning you; but if it is the Athenian people, a place is designated for you where the ceremony must be performed; it is forbidden you to be crowned outside the assembly. For you may spend the whole day in explaining the meaning of the words “and nowhere else”; you will never show that his motion is lawful.

> Greek: 48. Νόμοι ἐπειδὰν τοίνυν ἐξαπατῶντες ὑμᾶς λέγωσιν ὡς προσγέγραπται ἐν τῷ νόμῳ ἐξεῖναι στεφανοῦν, ἐὰν ψηφίσηται ὁ δῆμος, ἀπομνημονεύετε αὐτοῖς ὑποβάλλειν· ναί, εἴ γε σέ τις ἄλλη πόλις στεφανοῖ· εἰ δὲ ὁ δῆμος ὁ Ἀθηναίων, ἀποδέδεικταί σοι τόπος ὅπου δεῖ τοῦτο γίγνεσθαι, ἀπείρηταί σοι ἔξω τῆς ἐκκλησίας μὴ κηρύττεσθαι. τὸ γὰρ ἄλλοθι δὲ μηδαμοῦ ὅ τι ἐστίν, ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν λέγε· οὐ γὰρ ἀποδείξεις ὡς ἔννομα γέγραφεν.

[¶46] 49. But that part of my accusation remains upon which I lay greatest stress: the pretext upon which he claims that the crown is deserved. It reads thus in his motion: “And the herald shall proclaim in the theater in the presence of the Hellenes that the Athenian people crown him for his merit and uprightness,” and that monstrous assertion, “because he continually speaks and does what is best for the people.”

> Greek: 49. ἔστι δὲ ὑπόλοιπόν μοι μέρος τῆς κατηγορίας ἐφʼ ᾧ μάλιστα σπουδάζω· τοῦτο δέ ἐστιν ἡ πρόφασις διʼ ἣν αὐτὸν ἀξιοῖ στεφανοῦσθαι. λέγει γὰρ οὕτως ἐν τῷ ψηφίσματι· καὶ τὸν κήρυκα ἀναγορεύειν ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας, ὅτι στεφανοῖ αὐτὸν ὁ δῆμος ὁ Ἀθηναίων ἀρετῆς ἕνεκα καὶ ἀνδραγαθίας, καὶ τὸ μέγιστον· ὅτι διατελεῖ καὶ λέγων καὶ πράττων τὰ ἄριστα τῷ δήμῳ.

[¶47] 50. You see how entirely simple the remainder of our argument becomes, and how easy for you, my hearers, to weigh. For it is obviously incumbent upon me, the complainant, to show this to you, that the praise given to Demosthenes is false, and that he never began to “speak what was best,” nor now “continues to do what is good for the people.” If I show this, then Ctesiphon will doubtless lose his case, and justly; for all the laws forbid inserting falsehoods in the decrees of the people. But the defence must show the opposite of this. And you are to be the judges of our pleas.

> Greek: 50. ἁπλοῦς δὴ παντάπασιν ὁ μετὰ ταῦτα ἡμῖν λόγος γίγνεται, καὶ ὑμῖν ἀκούσασι κρῖναι εὐμαθής· δεῖ γὰρ δή που τὸν μὲν κατηγοροῦντα ἐμὲ τοῦθʼ ὑμῖν ἐπιδεικνύναι, ὡς εἰσὶν οἱ κατὰ Δημοσθένους ἔπαινοι ψευδεῖς, καὶ ὡς οὔτʼ ἤρξατο λέγειν τὰ βέλτιστα, οὔτε νῦν διατελεῖ πράττων τὰ συμφέροντα τῷ δήμῳ. κἂν τοῦτʼ ἐπιδείξω, δικαίως δή που τὴν γραφὴν ἁλώσεται Κτησιφῶν· ἅπαντες γὰρ ἀπαγορεύουσιν οἱ νόμοι μηδένα ψευδῆ γράμματα ἐγγράφειν ἐν τοῖς δημοσίοις ψηφίσμασι. τῷ δʼ ἀπολογουμένῳ τοὐναντίον τούτου δεικτέον ἐστίν. ὑμεῖς δʼ ἡμῖν ἔσεσθε τῶν λόγων κριταί.

[¶48] 51. The case is this: To review the private life of Demosthenes would, in my opinion, demand too long a speech. And why need I tell it all now? the story of what happened to him in the matter of the suit over the wound, when he summoned his own cousin, Demomeles of Paeania, before the Areopagus; and the cut on his head; or the story of the generalship of Cephisodotus, and the naval expedition to the Hellespont, when Demosthenes as one of the trierarchs carried the general on his ship, and shared his table, his sacrifices, and his libations and how after he had been thus honored because the general was an old friend of his father’s, he did not hesitate, when the general was impeached, and was on trial for his life, to become one of his accusers; or, again, that story about Meidias and the blow of the fist that Demosthenes got when he was choregus, in the orchestra, and how for thirty minas he sold both the insult to himself and the vote of censure that the people had passed against Meidias in the theater of Dionysus.

> Greek: 51. ἔχει δʼ οὕτως. ἐγὼ τὸν μὲν ἴδιον βίον τὸν Δημοσθένους ἐξετάζειν μακροτέρου λόγου ἔργον ἡγοῦμαι. τί γὰρ δεῖ νῦν ταῦτα λέγειν, ἢ τὰ περὶ τὴν τοῦ τραύματος γραφὴν αὐτῷ συμβεβηκότα, ὅτʼ ἐγράψατο εἰς Ἄρειον πάγον Δημομέλην τὸν Παιανιέα, ἀνεψιὸν ὄντα ἑαυτῷ, καὶ τὴν τῆς κεφαλῆς ἐπιτομήν· ἢ τὰ περὶ τὴν Κηφισοδότου στρατηγίαν καὶ τὸν τῶν νεῶν ἔκπλουν τὸν εἰς Ἑλλήσποντον, ὅτε εἷς ὢν τῶν τριηράρχων Δημοσθένης, καὶ περιάγων τὸν στρατηγὸν ἐπὶ τῆς νεώς, καὶ συσσιτῶν καὶ συνθύων καὶ συσπένδων, τούτων ἀξιωθεὶς διὰ τὸ πατρικὸς αὐτῷ φίλος εἶναι, οὐκ ὤκνησεν ἀπʼ εἰσαγγελίας αὐτοῦ κρινομένου περὶ θανάτου κατήγορος γενέσθαι· καὶ ταῦτα δὴ τὰ περὶ Μειδίαν καὶ τοὺς κονδύλους, οὓς ἔλαβεν ἐν τῇ ὀρχήστρᾳ χορηγὸς ὤν, καὶ ὡς ἀπέδοτο τριάκοντα μνῶν ἅμα τήν τε εἰς αὑτὸν ὕβριν καὶ τὴν τοῦ δήμου καταχειροτονίαν, ἣν ἐν Διονύσου κατεχειροτόνησε Μειδίου.

[¶49] 53. Now these incidents and all the others like them I think it is best to pass over; not that I would betray you, gentlemen of the jury, or politely yield this case to him, but because I fear that I shall encounter in you the feeling that, while all this is true, it is an old story, admitted by everybody. And yet, Ctesiphon, when a man’s utter shame is so credible to the hearers and so notorious that his accuser seems, not to be speaking what is false, but what is stale, and what everybody admits at the outset, ought that man to be crowned with a golden crown, or ought he to be censured? And you, who had the effrontery to make your false and unlawful motion, ought you to despise the courts, or ought you to give satisfaction to the city?

> Greek: 53. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν μοι δοκῶ καὶ τἆλλα τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια ὑπερβήσεσθαι, οὐ προδιδοὺς ὑμᾶς οὐδὲ τὸν ἀγῶνα καταχαριζόμενος, ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο φοβούμενος, μή μοι παρʼ ὑμῶν ἀπαντήσῃ τὸ δοκεῖν ἀληθῆ μὲν λέγειν, ἀρχαῖα δὲ καὶ λίαν ὁμολογούμενα. καίτοι, ὦ Κτησιφῶν, ὅτῳ τὰ μέγιστα τῶν αἰσχρῶν οὕτως ἐστὶ πιστὰ καὶ γνώριμα τοῖς ἀκούουσιν, ὥστε τὸν κατήγορον μὴ δοκεῖν ψευδῆ λέγειν, ἀλλὰ παλαιὰ καὶ λίαν προωμολογημένα, πότερα αὐτὸν δεῖ χρυσῷ στεφάνῳ στεφανωθῆναι, ἢ ψέγεσθαι; καὶ σὲ τὸν ψευδῆ καὶ παράνομα τολμῶντα γράφειν πότερα χρὴ καταφρονεῖν τῶν δικαστηρίων, ἢ δίκην τῇ πόλει δοῦναι;

## 2. Sections 54–105

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/2/#p-N

[¶0] 54. But concerning the crimes of his public life I will try to speak more explicitly. For I understand that when the defence are given opportunity to speak, Demosthenes will enumerate to you four periods in the history of the city as the periods of his own political activity. One of them, and the first, as I hear, he reckons as the time of our war with Philip over Amphipolis. He marks this off by the peace and alliance that were made on motion of Philocrates of Hagnus, and with the cooperation of Demosthenes himself, as I shall show.

> Greek: 54. περὶ δὲ τῶν δημοσίων ἀδικημάτων πειράσομαι σαφέστερον εἰπεῖν. καὶ γὰρ πυνθάνομαι μέλλειν Δημοσθένην, ἐπειδὰν αὐτοῖς ὁ λόγος ἀποδοθῇ, καταριθμεῖσθαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ὡς ἄρα τῇ πόλει τέτταρες ἤδη γεγένηνται καιροί, ἐν οἷς αὐτὸς πεπολίτευται. ὧν ἕνα μὲν καὶ πρῶτον, ὡς ἔγωγε ἀκούω, καταλογίζεται ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον ἐν ᾧ πρὸς Φίλιππον ὑπὲρ Ἀμφιπόλεως ἐπολεμοῦμεν· τοῦτον δʼ ἀφορίζεται τῇ γενομένῃ εἰρήνῃ καὶ συμμαχίᾳ ἣν Φιλοκράτης ὁ Ἁγνούσιος ἔγραψε καὶ αὐτὸς οὗτος μετʼ ἐκείνου, ὡς ἐγὼ δείξω.

[¶1] 55. And he says that the second period was the time while we kept the peace, doubtless up to that day on which this same orator put an end to the existing peace, by himself introducing the motion for war; and the third period, the period of war, up to the events of Chaeronea; and the fourth, the present period. When he has enumerated these, he intends, as I hear, to call me forward and ask me to tell him for which of these four periods I accuse him, and when it is that I say that his policy has not been for the best interests of the people. And if I refuse to answer, and cover my face and run away, he says he will come and uncover me and lead me to the platform, and force me to answer.

> Greek: 55. δεύτερον δέ φησι καιρὸν γενέσθαι, ὃν ἤγομεν χρόνον τὴν εἰρήνην, δηλονότι μέχρι τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης ἐν ᾗ καταλύσας τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν εἰρήνην τῇ πόλει, ὁ αὐτὸς οὗτος ῥήτωρ ἔγραψε τὸν πόλεμον· τρίτον δὲ ὃν ἐπολεμοῦμεν χρόνον μέχρι τῶν ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ, τέταρτον δὲ τὸν νῦν παρόντα καιρόν. ταῦτα δὲ καταριθμησάμενος, ὡς ἀκούω, μέλλει με παρακαλεῖν καὶ ἐπερωτᾶν, ὁποίου τούτων τῶν τεττάρων αὐτοῦ καιρῶν κατηγορῶ, καὶ πότε αὐτὸν οὐ τὰ βέλτιστά φημι τῷ δήμῳ πεπολιτεῦσθαι· κἂν μὴ θέλω ἀποκρίνασθαι, ἀλλʼ ἐγκαλύπτωμαι καὶ ἀποδιδράσκω, ἐκκαλύψειν μέ φησι προσελθὼν καὶ ἄξειν ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα καὶ ἀναγκάσειν ἀποκρίνασθαι.

[¶2] 56. In order, then, that he may lose his confidence, and that you may be instructed in advance, and that I may reply, in the presence of the jury, Demosthenes, and of all the other citizens who are standing there outside the bar, and of all the other Greeks who have taken the trouble to listen to this case—and I see that not a few are here, more in fact than have ever attended a public trial within the memory of any man—I answer you that for all the four periods which you enumerate I accuse you.

> Greek: 56. ἵνʼ οὖν μήθʼ οὗτος ἰσχυρίζηται ὑμεῖς τε προειδῆτε ἐγώ τε ἀποκρίνωμαι, ἐναντίον σοι τῶν δικαστῶν, Δημόσθενες, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν, ὅσοι δὴ ἔξωθεν περιεστᾶσι, καὶ Ἑλλήνων, ὅσοις ἐπιμελὲς γέγονεν ἐπακούειν τῆσδε τῆς κρίσεως· ὁρῶ δὲ οὐκ ὀλίγους παρόντας, ἀλλʼ ὅσους οὐδεὶς πώποτε μέμνηται πρὸς ἀγῶνα δημόσιον παραγενομένους· ἀποκρίνομαι, ὅτι ἁπάντων τῶν τεττάρων καιρῶν κατηγορῶ σου ὅσους διαιρῇ, κἂν ὅ τε θεοὶ θέλωσι καὶ οἱ δικασταὶ ἐξ ἴσου ἡμῶν ἀκούωσι κἀγὼ δύνωμαι ἀπομνημονεῦσαι ἅ σοι σύνοιδα, πάνυ προσδοκῶ ἐπιδείξειν τοῖς δικασταῖς τῆς μὲν σωτηρίας τῇ πόλει τοὺς θεοὺς αἰτίους γεγενημένους καὶ τοὺς φιλανθρώπως καὶ μετρίως τοῖς τῆς πόλεως πράγμασι χρησαμένους, τῶν δὲ ἀτυχημάτων ἁπάντων Δημοσθένην.

[¶3] 57. And if the gods permit, and the jurors give us an impartial hearing, and I am able to call to mind all that I know about you, I confidently expect to show to the jury that for the safety of the city it is the gods who are responsible, and the men who in the crisis have treated the city with humanity and moderation; but for all our misfortunes, Demosthenes. The order of my treatment shall be that which I understand he will follow; and I will speak first concerning the first period, second concerning the second, third concerning the next, and fourth concerning the present situation. So now I address myself to the peace which you and Philocrates formally proposed.

> Greek: 57. καὶ χρήσομαι τῇ τοῦ λόγου τάξει ταύτῃ ᾗ τοῦτον πυνθάνομαι μέλλειν, λέξω δὲ πρῶτον περὶ τοῦ πρώτου καιροῦ, καὶ δεύτερον περὶ τοῦ δευτέρου, καὶ τρίτου περὶ τοῦ ἐφεξῆς, καὶ τέταρτον περὶ τῶν νυνὶ καθεστηκότων πραγμάτων. καὶ δὴ ἐπανάγω ἐμαυτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν εἰρήνην ἣν σὺ καὶ Φιλοκράτης ἐγράψατε.

[¶4] 58. You could have made that former peace, fellow citizens, supported by the joint action of a congress of the Greek states, if certain men had allowed you to wait for the return of the embassies which at that crisis you had sent out among the Greeks, with the call to join you against Philip; and in the course of time the Greeks would of their own accord have accepted your hegemony again. Of this you were deprived, thanks to Demosthenes and Philocrates, and the bribes which they took in their conspiracy against the common weal.

> Greek: 58. ὑμῖν γὰρ ἐξεγένετʼ ἄν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὴν προτέραν ἐκείνην εἰρήνην ποιήσασθαι μετὰ κοινοῦ συνεδρίου τῶν Ἑλλήνων, εἴ τινες ὑμᾶς εἴασαν περιμεῖναι τὰς πρεσβείας ἃς ἦτε ἐκπεπομφότες κατʼ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα, παρακαλοῦντες ἐπὶ Φίλιππον, καὶ προϊόντος τοῦ χρόνου παρʼ ἑκόντων τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀπολαβεῖν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν· καὶ τούτων ἀπεστερήθητε διὰ Δημοσθένην καὶ Φιλοκράτην καὶ τὰς τούτων δωροδοκίας, ἃς ἐδωροδόκησαν συστάντες ἐπὶ τὸ δημόσιον τὸ ὑμέτερον.

[¶5] 59. But if such a statement as I have just made, falling suddenly on your ears, is too incredible to some of you, permit me to suggest how you ought to listen to the rest of my argument: When we take our seats to audit the accounts of expenditures which extend back a long time, it doubtless sometimes happens that we come from home with a false impression; nevertheless, when the accounts have been balanced, no man is so stubborn as to refuse, before he leaves the room, to assent to that conclusion, whatever it may be, which the figures themselves establish.

> Greek: 59. εἰ δέ τισιν ὑμῶν ἐξαίφνης ἀκούσασιν ἀπιστότερος προσπέπτωκεν ὁ τοιοῦτος λόγος, ἐκείνως τὴν ὑπόλοιπον ποιήσασθε ἀκρόασιν. ὥσπερ ὅταν περὶ χρημάτων ἀνηλωμένων διὰ πολλοῦ χρόνου καθεζώμεθα ἐπὶ τοὺς λογισμούς, ἐρχόμεθα δή που ἐνίοτε ψευδεῖς οἴκοθεν δόξας ἔχοντες· ἀλλʼ ὅμως ἐπειδὰν ὁ λογισμὸς συγκεφαλαιωθῇ, οὐδείς ἐστιν οὕτω δύσκολος τὴν φύσιν, ὅστις οὐκ ἀπέρχεται τοῦτο ὁμολογήσας ἀληθὲς εἶναι, ὅ τι ἂν ὁ λογισμὸς αἱρῇ·

[¶6] 60. I ask you to give a similar hearing now. If some of you have come from home with the opinion, formed in the past, that of course Demosthenes has never in conspiracy with Philocrates said a word in Philip’s interest—if any man of you is under such impression, let him decide nothing either way, aye or no, until he has heard; for that would not be fair. But if, as I briefly recall the dates, and cite the resolutions which Demosthenes moved in cooperation with Philocrates, the truthful audit of the facts shall convict Demosthenes of having moved more resolutions than Philocrates concerning the original peace and alliance, and of having flattered Philip and his ambassadors with a shamelessness which was beyond measure, and of being responsible to the people for the failure to secure the concurrence of a general congress of the Greek states in the making of the peace, and of having betrayed to Philip Cersobleptes, king of Thrace, a friend and ally of our city—if I shall clearly demonstrate all this to you, I shall make of you this modest request: in God’s name agree with me, that in the first of his four periods his policies have not been those of a good citizen.

> Greek: 60. οὕτω καὶ νῦν τὴν ἀκρόασιν ποιήσασθε. εἴ τινες ὑμῶν ἐκ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν χρόνων ἥκουσιν οἴκοθεν τοιαύτην ἔχοντες τὴν δόξαν, ὡς ἄρα ὁ Δημοσθένης οὐδὲν πώποτε εἴρηκεν ὑπὲρ Φιλίππου συστὰς μετὰ Φιλοκράτους,—ὅστις οὕτω διάκειται, μήτʼ ἀπογνώτω μηδὲν μήτε καταγνώτω πρὶν ἂν ἀκούσῃ· οὐ γὰρ δίκαιον. ἀλλʼ ἐάν, ἐμοῦ διὰ βραχέων ὑπομιμνῄσκοντος τοὺς καιροὺς καὶ τὰ ψηφίσματα παρεχομένου ἃ μετὰ Φιλοκράτους ἔγραψε Δημοσθένης, αὐτὸς ὁ τῆς ἀληθείας λογισμὸς καταλάβῃ τὸν Δημοσθένην πλείω μὲν γεγραφότα ψηφίσματα Φιλοκράτους τῆς ἐξ ἀρχῆς εἰρήνης καὶ συμμαχίας, καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν δὲ αἰσχύνης κεκολακευκότα Φίλιππον καὶ τοὺς παρʼ ἐκείνου πρέσβεις, αἴτιον δὲ γεγονότα τῷ δήμῳ τοῦ μὴ μετὰ κοινοῦ συνεδρίου τῶν Ἑλλήνων ποιήσασθαι τὴν εἰρήνην, ἔκδοτον δὲ πεποιηκότα Φιλίππῳ Κερσοβλέπτην τὸν Θρᾴκης βασιλέα, ἄνδρα φίλον καὶ σύμμαχον τῇ πόλει,—ἐὰν ταῦθʼ ὑμῖν σαφῶς ἐπιδείξω, δεήσομαι ὑμῶν μετρίαν δέησιν·

[¶7] 61. I will speak in a way that will enable you to follow me most easily. Philocrates made a motion that we permit Philip to send to us a herald and ambassadors to treat concerning peace. This motion was attacked in the courts as illegal. The time of the trial came. Lycinus, who had indicted him, spoke for the prosecution; Philocrates made answer for himself, and Demosthenes spoke in his behalf; Philocrates was cleared. After this came the archonship of Themistocles. Now Demosthenes came in as senator, not drawn by the lot either as a member of the senate or as a substitute, but through intrigue and bribery; the purpose of it was to enable him to support Philocrates in every way, by word and deed, as the event itself made evident.

> Greek: 61. ἐπινεύσατέ μοι πρὸς θεῶν τὸν πρῶτον τῶν τεττάρων καιρῶν μὴ καλῶς αὐτὸν πεπολιτεῦσθαι. λέξω δὲ ὅθεν μάλιστα παρακολουθήσετε. ἔγραψε Φιλοκράτης ἐξεῖναι Φιλίππῳ δεῦρο κήρυκα καὶ πρέσβεις πέμπειν περὶ εἰρήνης. τοῦτο τὸ ψήφισμα ἐγράφη παρανόμων. ἧκον οἱ τῆς κρίσεως χρόνοι· κατηγόρει μὲν Λυκῖνος ὁ γραψάμενος, ἀπελογεῖτο δὲ Φιλοκράτης, συναπελογεῖτο δὲ Δημοσθένης· ἀπέφυγε Φιλοκράτης· μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπῄει Θεμιστοκλῆς ἄρχων· ἐνταῦθʼ εἰσέρχεται βουλευτὴς Δημοσθένης, οὔτε λαχὼν οὔτʼ ἐπιλαχών, ἀλλʼ ἐκ παρασκευῆς πριάμενος, ἵνʼ εἰς ὑποδοχὴν ἅπαντα καὶ λέγοι καὶ πράττοι Φιλοκράτει, ὡς αὐτὸ ἔδειξε τὸ ἔργον.

[¶8] 63. For now Philocrates carries a second resolution, providing for the election of ten ambassadors, who shall go to Philip and ask him to send hither plenipotentiaries to negotiate peace. Of these ambassadors one was Demosthenes. On his return, Demosthenes was a eulogist of the peace, he agreed with the other ambassadors in their report, and he alone of the senators moved to give safe-conduct to Philip’s herald and ambassadors; and in this motion he was in accord with Philocrates, for the one had given permission to send a herald and ambassadors hither, the other gave safe-conduct to the embassy.

> Greek: 63. νικᾷ γὰρ ἕτερον ψήφισμα Φιλοκράτης, ἐν ᾧ κελεύει ἑλέσθαι δέκα πρέσβεις, οἵτινες ἀφικόμενοι ὡς Φίλιππον ἀξιώσουσιν αὐτὸν δεῦρο πρέσβεις αὐτοκράτορας ἀποστέλλειν στέλλειν ὑπὲρ εἰρήνης. τούτων εἷς ἦν Δημοσθένης. κἀκεῖθεν ἐπανήκων ἐπαινέτης ἦν τῆς εἰρήνης, καὶ ταὐτὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις πρέσβεσιν ἀπήγγελλε, καὶ μόνος τῶν βουλευτῶν ἔγραψε σπείσασθαι τῷ κήρυκι τῷ ἀπὸ Φιλίππου καὶ τοῖς πρέσβεσιν, ἀκόλουθα γράφων Φιλοκράτει· ὁ μέν γε τὴν ἐξουσίαν δέδωκε τοῦ δεῦρο κήρυκα καὶ πρέσβεις πέμπεσθαι, ὁ δὲ τῇ πρεσβείᾳ σπένδεται.

[¶9] 64. As to what followed, I beg you now to pay especial attention. For negotiations were entered into—not with the other ambassadors, who were slandered again and again by Demosthenes after he had changed face, but with Philocrates and Demosthenes (naturally, for they were at once ambassadors and authors of the motions)—first, that you should not wait for the ambassadors whom you had sent out with your summons against Philip, for they wished you to make the peace, not together with the Greeks, but by yourselves;

> Greek: 64. τὰ δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα ἤδη μοι σφόδρα προσέχετε τὸν νοῦν. ἐπράττετο γὰρ οὐ πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους πρέσβεις, τοὺς πολλὰ συκοφαντηθέντας ὕστερον ἐκ μεταβολῆς ὑπὸ Δημοσθένους, ἀλλὰ πρὸς Φιλοκράτην καὶ Δημοσθένην, εἰκότως, τοὺς ἅμα μὲν πρεσβεύοντας, ἅμα δὲ τὰ ψηφίσματα γράφοντας, πρῶτον μὲν ὅπως μὴ περιμενεῖτε τοὺς πρέσβεις οὓς ἦτε ἐκπεπομφότες παρακαλοῦντας ἐπὶ Φίλιππον, ἵνα μὴ μετὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ἀλλʼ ἰδίᾳ ποιήσαισθε τὴν εἰρήνην·

[¶10] 65. secondly, that you should vote, not only for peace, but also for alliance with Philip, in order that any states which were taking note of what the Athenian democracy was doing might fall into utter discouragement on seeing that, while you were summoning them to war, you had at home voted to make both peace and an alliance; and thirdly, that Cersobleptes, king of Thrace, should not be included in the oaths, nor share the alliance and peace—indeed, an expedition was already being levied against him.

> Greek: 65. δεύτερον δʼ ὅπως μὴ μόνον εἰρήνην, ἀλλὰ καὶ συμμαχίαν εἶναι ψηφιεῖσθε πρὸς Φίλιππον, ἵνα, εἴ τινες προσέχοιεν τῷ πλήθει τῷ ὑμετέρῳ, εἰς τὴν ἐσχάτην ἐμπέσοιεν ἀθυμίαν, ὁρῶντες ὑμᾶς αὑτοὺς μὲν παρακαλοῦντας ἐπὶ τὸν πόλεμον, οἴκοι δὲ μὴ μόνον εἰρήνην, ἀλλὰ καὶ συμμαχίαν ἐψηφισμένους ποιεῖσθαι· τρίτον δὲ ὅπως Κερσοβλέπτης ὁ Θρᾴκης βασιλεὺς μὴ ἔσται ἔνορκος, μηδέ μετέσται τῆς συμμαχίας καὶ τῆς εἰρήνης αὐτῷ. παρηγγέλλετο δʼ ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἤδη στρατεία.

[¶11] 66. Now the man who was buying such services was doing no wrong, for before the oaths had been taken and the agreements entered into, he could not be blamed for negotiating to his own advantage; but the men who sold, who admitted Philip into partnership in the control of the strongholds of the state, were deserving of your great indignation. For the man who now shouts, “Down with Alexander!” and in those days, “Down with Philip!” the man who throws in my face the friendship of Alexander, this man Demosthenes, stole away the opportunities of the city by making the motion that the prytanes call an assembly for the eighth day of Elaphebolion, the day of the sacrifice to Asclepius, and the introductory day of the festival —the sacred day—a thing that no man remembers ever to have been done before.

> Greek: 66. καὶ ταῦθʼ ὁ μὲν ἐξωνούμενος οὐκ ἠδίκει, πρὸ γὰρ τῶν ὅρκων καὶ τῶν συνθηκῶν ἀνεμέσητον ἦν αὐτῷ πράττειν τὰ συμφέροντα, οἱ δʼ ἀποδόμενοι καὶ κατακοινωνήσαντες τὰ τῆς πόλεως ἰσχυρὰ μεγάλης ὀργῆς ἦσαν ἄξιοι. ὁ γὰρ μισαλέξανδρος νυνὶ φάσκων εἶναι, καὶ τότε μισοφίλιππος, Δημοσθένης, ὁ τὴν ξενίαν ἐμοὶ προφέρων τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου, γράφει ψήφισμα, τοὺς καιροὺς τῆς πόλεως ὑφαιρούμενος, ἐκκλησίαν ποιεῖν τοὺς πρυτάνεις τῇ ὀγδόῃ ἱσταμένου τοῦ Ἐλαφηβολιῶνος μηνός, ὅτʼ ἦν τῷ Ἀσκληπιῷ ἡ θυσία καὶ ὁ προαγών, ἐν τῇ ἱερᾷ ἡμέρᾳ, ὃ πρότερον οὐδεὶς μέμνηται γεγονός, τίνα πρόφασιν ποιησάμενος;

[¶12] 67. And what was his pretext? “In order,” he says, “that if Philip’s ambassadors shall by that time have arrived, the people may most speedily deliberate on their relations with Philip.” He thus appropriates the assembly for the ambassadors in advance, before their arrival, cutting short your time, and hurrying on the whole business; and this was in order that you might make the peace, not in cooperation with the other Greeks, on the return of your ambassadors, but alone.

> Greek: 67. ἵνα, φησίν, ἐὰν παρῶσιν ἤδη οἱ Φιλίππου πρέσβεις, βουλεύσηται ὁ δῆμος ὡς τάχιστα περὶ τῶν πρὸς φίλιππον, τοῖς οὔπω παροῦσι πρέσβεσι προκαταλαμβάνων τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ τοὺς χρόνους ὑμῶν ὑποτεμνόμενος καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα κατασπεύδων, ἵνα μὴ μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων, ἐπανελθόντων τῶν ὑμετέρων πρέσβεων, ἀλλὰ μόνοι ποιήσησθε τὴν εἰρήνην.

[¶13] 68. After this, fellow citizens, Philip’s ambassadors arrived but yours were absent, summoning the Greeks against Philip. Thereupon Demosthenes carries another resolution, in which he provides that we take counsel, not only regarding peace, but on the subject of an alliance also; and that we should do this without waiting for your ambassadors to return, but immediately after the City Dionysia, on the 18th and 19th of the month. As proof of the truth of what I say, hear the resolutions.

> Greek: 68. μετὰ ταῦτα, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἧκον οἱ φιλίππου πρέσβεις· οἱ δὲ ὑμέτεροι ἀπεδήμουν, παρακαλοῦντες τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐπὶ Φίλιππον. ἐνταῦθʼ ἕτερον νικᾷ ψήφισμα Δημοσθένης, ἐν ᾧ γράφει μὴ μόνον ὑπὲρ εἰρήνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ συμμαχίας βουλεύσασθαι, μὴ περιμείναντας τοὺς πρέσβεις τοὺς ὑμετέρους, ἀλλʼ εὐθὺς μετὰ τὰ Διονύσια τὰ ἐν ἄστει, τῇ ὀγδόῃ καὶ ἐνάτῃ ἐπὶ δέκα. ὅτι δʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, τῶν ψηφισμάτων ἀκούσατε.

[¶14] 69. Resolutions When now, fellow citizens, the Dionysia were past and the assemblies took place, in the first assembly a resolution of the synod of the allies was read, the substance of which I will give briefly before having it read to you. First, they provided only that you should take counsel regarding peace, and omitted the word “alliance”—and that not inadvertently, but because they looked upon even the peace as necessary, rather than honorable; secondly, they met Demosthenes’ bribery with a well-chosen remedy, by adding in their resolution that any Greek state that wished should be permitted within the space of three months to have its name inscribed with the Athenians on the same stone, and to share the oaths and agreements.

> Greek: 69. Ψηφίσματα ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, παρεληλύθει τὰ Διονύσια, ἐγίγνοντο δὲ αἱ ἐκκλησίαι, ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἀνεγνώσθη δόγμα κοινὸν τῶν συμμάχων, οὗ τὰ κεφάλαια διὰ βραχέων ἐγὼ προερῶ. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ἔγραψαν ὑπὲρ εἰρήνης ὑμᾶς μόνον βουλεύσασθαι, τὸ δὲ τῆς συμμαχίας ὄνομα ὑπερέβησαν, οὐκ ἐπιλελησμένοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην ἀναγκαιοτέραν ἢ καλλίω ὑπολαμβάνοντες εἶναι· ἔπειτα ἀπήντησαν ὀρθῶς ἰασόμενοι τὸ Δημοσθένους δωροδόκημα, καὶ προσέγραψαν ἐξεῖναι τῷ βουλομένῳ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐν τρισὶ μησὶν εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν στήλην ἀναγράφεσθαι μετʼ Ἀθηναιων καὶ μετέχειν τῶν ὅρκων καὶ τῶν συνθηκῶν, δύο τὰ μέγιστα προκαταλαμβάνοντες, πρῶτον μὲν τὸν χρόνον τὸν τῆς τριμήνου ταῖς τῶν Ἑλλήνων πρεσβείαις ἱκανὸν παραγενέσθαι κατασκευάζοντες, ἔπειτα τὴν τῶν Ἑλλήνων εὔνοιαν τῇ πόλει μετὰ κοινοῦ συνεδρίου κτώμενοι, ἵνʼ εἰ παραβαίνοιντο αἱ συνθῆκαι, μὴ μόνοι μηδʼ ἀπαράσκευοι πολεμήσαιμεν, ὃ νῦν ἡμῖν παθεῖν συνέβη διὰ Δημοσθένην.

[¶15] 70. In this way they were taking two precautions, and those of the greatest importance; for first, they provided the period of three months, a sufficient time for the ambassadors of the Greek states to arrive; and secondly, they sought to secure to the city the good-will of the Greeks, by the provision for a general congress, in order that in case the agreements should be violated, we might not enter upon the war unprepared and alone—the misfortune that actually came upon us, thanks to Demosthenes. Now that what I say is true, you shall learn by hearing the resolution itself. The Resolution of the Allies I acknowledge that I supported this resolution, as did all who spoke in the first of the two assemblies; and the people left the assembly with substantially this supposition, that peace would be made (that, however, it was better not to discuss an alliance, because of our summons to the Greeks), and that the peace would be shared by all the Greeks. Night intervened. We came the next day to the assembly. Then it was that Demosthenes, hastening to get possession of the platform, and leaving no other man an opportunity to speak, said that the propositions of yesterday were utterly useless unless Philip’s ambassadors could be persuaded to assent to them. He further said that he could not conceive of peace without alliance.

> Greek: 70. ὅτι δʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ δόγματος ἀκούσαντες μαθήσεσθε. Δόγμα Συμμάχων τούτῳ τῷ δόγματι συνειπεῖν ὁμολογῶ, καὶ πάντες οἱ ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν δημηγοροῦντες· καὶ ὁ δῆμος ἀπῆλθε τοιοῦτόν τι ὑπειληφώς, ὡς ἔσται μὲν ἡ εἰρήνη [περὶ δὲ συμμαχίας οὐκ ἄμεινον εἴη διὰ τὴν τῶν Ἑλλήνων παράκλησιν βουλεύσασθαι], ἔσται δὲ κοινῇ μετὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἁπάντων. νὺξ ἐν μέσῳ, καὶ παρῆμεν τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. ἐνταῦθα δὴ προκαταλαβὼν Δημοσθένης τὸ βῆμα, οὐδενὶ τῶν ἄλλων παραλιπὼν λόγον, οὐδὲν ὄφελος ἔφη τῶν χθὲς εἰρημένων εἶναι λόγων, εἰ ταῦθʼ οἱ Φιλίππου μὴ συμπεισθήσονται πρέσβεις, οὐδὲ γιγνώσκειν ἔφη τὴν εἰρήνην ἀπούσης συμμαχίας.

[¶16] 72. For he said we must not—I remember the expression he used, for the word was as odious as the man—he said we must not “rip off” the alliance from the peace, nor wait for the slow decisions of the other Greeks, but we must either fight ourselves, or by ourselves make the peace. And finally he called Antipater to the platform, and proceeded to ask him a certain question—he had previously told him what he gas going to ask, and had instructed him what he was to answer, to the injury of the state. Finally this thing prevailed, Demosthenes forcing you to it by his talk, and Philocrates moving the resolution.

> Greek: 72. οὐ γὰρ ἔφη δεῖν, καὶ γὰρ τὸ ῥῆμα μέμνημαι ὡς εἶπε, διὰ τὴν ἀηδίαν τοῦ λέγοντος ἅμα καὶ τοῦ ὀνόματος, ἀπορρῆξαι τῆς εἰρήνης τὴν συμμαχίαν, οὐδὲ τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀναμένειν μελλήματα, ἀλλʼ ἢ πολεμεῖν αὐτούς, ἢ τὴν εἰρήνην ἰδίᾳ ποιεῖσθαι. καὶ τελευτῶν ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα παρακαλέσας Ἀντίπατρον ἐρώτημά τι ἠρώτα, προειπὼν μὲν ἃ ἐρήσεται, προδιδάξας δὲ ἃ χρὴ κατὰ τῆς πόλεως ἀποκρίνασθαι. καὶ τέλος ταῦτʼ ἐνίκα, τῷ μὲν λόγῳ προσβιασαμένου Δημοσθένους, τὸ δὲ ψήφισμα γράψαντος Φιλοκράτους.

[¶17] 73. One thing remained now for them to do—to betray Cersobleptes and the Thracian coast. This they accomplished on the 25th of Elaphebolion, before Demosthenes set out on the second embassy, the embassy for the ratification of the oaths (for this orator of ours, this man who shouts “Down with Alexander!” and “Down with Philip!” has twice been an ambassador to Macedonia, when he need not have gone once—the man who now bids you spit on the Macedonians). Presiding over the assembly on the 25th, for he had gained a seat in the senate by intrigue, he, with the help of Philocrates, betrayed Cersobleptes;

> Greek: 73. ὃ δὲ ἦν ὑπόλοιπον αὐτοῖς, Κερσοβλέπτην καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης τόπον ἔκδοτον ποιῆσαι, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἔπραξαν ἕκτῃ φθίνοντος τοῦ Ἐλαφηβολιῶνος, πρὶν ἐπὶ τὴν ὑστέραν ἀπαίρειν πρεσβείαν τὴν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὅρκους Δημοσθένην· ὁ γὰρ μισαλέξανδρος καὶ μισοφίλιππος ἡμῖν οὑτοσὶ ῥήτωρ δὶς ἐπρέσβευσεν εἰς Μακεδονίαν, ἐξὸν μηδὲ ἅπαξ, ὁ νυνὶ κελεύων τῶν Μακεδόνων καταπτύειν. εἰς δὲ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τὴν τῇ ἕκτῃ προκαθεζόμενος βουλευτὴς ὢν ἐκ παρασκευῆς, ἔκδοτον Κερσοβλέπτην μετὰ Φιλοκράτους ἐποίησε.

[¶18] 74. for Philocrates unobserved slipped this clause in among the provisions of his resolution, and Demosthenes put it to the vote, that “The members of the synod of the allies do on this day give their oaths to the ambassadors from Philip.” But no representative of Cersobleptes had a seat in the synod and so in providing that those who were sitting in the synod should give oath, he excluded Cersobleptes from the oaths, for he had no place in the synod.

> Greek: 74. λανθάνει γὰρ ὁ μὲν Φιλοκράτης ἐν ψηφίσματι μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων παρεγγράψας, ὁ δʼ ἐπιψηφίσας, Δημοσθένης, ἀποδοῦναι δὲ τοὺς ὅρκους τοῖς πρέσβεσι τοῖς παρὰ Φιλίππου ἐν τῇδε τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τοὺς συνέδρους τῶν συμμάχων. παρὰ δὲ Κερσοβλέπτου σύνεδρος οὐκ ἐκάθητο· γράψας δὲ τοὺς συνεδρεύοντας ὀμνύναι, τὸν Κερσοβλέπτην οὐ συνεδρεύοντα ἐξέκλῃσε τῶν ὅρκων.

[¶19] 75. As proof that I am speaking the truth, read, if you please, who it was that made this motion, and who it was that put it to vote. The Resolution An excellent thing, fellow citizens, an excellent thing is the preservation of the public acts. For the record remains undisturbed, and does not shift sides with political turncoats, but whenever the people desire, it gives them opportunity to discern who have been rascals of old, but have now changed face and claim to be honorable men.

> Greek: 75. ὅτι δʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, ἀνάγνωθί μοι, τίς ἦν ὁ ταῦτα γράψας, καὶ τίς ὁ ἐπιψηφίσας. Ψήφισμα καλόν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καλὸν ἡ τῶν δημοσίων γραμμάτων φυλακή· ἀκίνητον γάρ ἐστι, καὶ οὐ συμμεταπίπτει τοῖς αὐτομολοῦσιν ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ, ἀλλʼ ἀπέδωκε τῷ δήμῳ, ὁπόταν βούληται, συνιδεῖν τοὺς πάλαι μὲν πονηρούς, ἐκ μεταβολῆς δʼ ἀξιοῦντας εἶναι χρηστούς.

[¶20] 76. It remains for me to describe his flattery. For Demosthenes, fellow citizens, was senator for a year, yet he will be found never to have invited any other embassy to the seat of honor —nay, that was the first and the only time; and he placed cushions and spread rugs; and at daybreak he came escorting the ambassadors into the theater, so that he was actually hissed for his unseemly flattery. And when they set out on their return journey, he hired for them three span of mules, and escorted the ambassadors as far as Thebes, making the city ridiculous. But that I may not wander from my subject, please take the resolution concerning the seats of honor.

> Greek: 76. ὑπόλοιπον δʼ ἐστί μοι τὴν κολακείαν διεξελθεῖν. Δημοσθένης γὰρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἐνιαυτὸν βουλεύσας, οὐδεμίαν πώποτε φανήσεται πρεσβείαν εἰς προεδρίαν καλέσας, ἀλλὰ τότε μόνον καὶ πρῶτον· καὶ προσκεφάλαια ἔθηκε, καὶ φοινικίδας περιεπέτασε, καὶ ἅμα τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἡγεῖτο τοῖς πρέσβεσιν εἰς τὸ θέατρον, ὥστε καὶ συρίττεσθαι διὰ τὴν ἀσχημοσύνην καὶ κολακείαν. καὶ ὅτʼ ἀπῄεσαν, ἐμισθώσατο αὐτοῖς τρία ζεύγη ὀρεικὰ καὶ τοὺς πρέσβεις προὔπεμψεν εἰς Θήβας, καταγέλαστον τὴν πόλιν ποιῶν. ἵνα δʼ ἐπὶ τῆς ὑποθέσεως μείνω, λαβέ μοι τὸ ψήφισμα τὸ περὶ τῆς προεδρίας.

[¶21] 77. Resolution Now this man it was, fellow citizens, this past master of flattery, who, when informed through scouts of Charidemus that Philip was dead, before any one else had received the news, made up a vision for himself and lied about the gods, pretending that he had received the news, not from Charidemus, but from Zeus and Athena, the gods by whose name he perjures himself by day, and who then converse with him in the night, as he says, and tell him of things to come. And though it was but the seventh day after the death of his daughter, and though the ceremonies of mourning were not yet completed, he put a garland on his head and white raiment on his body, and there he stood making thank-offerings, violating all decency—miserable man, who had lost the first and only one who ever called him “father”!

> Greek: 77. Ψήφισμα οὗτος τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὁ τηλικοῦτος τὸ μέγεθος κόλαξ, πρῶτος διὰ τῶν κατασκόπων τῶν παρὰ Χαριδήμου πυθόμενος τὴν Φιλίππου τελευτήν, τῶν μὲν θεῶν συμπλάσας ἑαυτῷ ἐνύπνιον κατεψεύσατο, ὡς οὐ παρὰ Χαριδήμου τὸ πρᾶγμα πεπυσμένος, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τοῦ Διὸς καὶ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς, οὓς μεθʼ ἡμέραν ἐπιορκῶν νύκτωρ φησὶν ἑαυτῷ διαλέγεσθαι καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα ἔσεσθαι προλέγειν, ἑβδόμην δʼ ἡμέραν τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτῷ τετελευτηκυίας, πρὶν πενθῆσαι καὶ τὰ νομιζόμενα ποιῆσαι, στεφανωσάμενος καὶ λευκὴν ἐσθῆτα λαβὼν ἐβουθύτει καὶ παρενόμει, τὴν μόνην ὁ δείλαιος καὶ πρώτην αὐτὸν πατέρα προσειποῦσαν ἀπολέσας.

[¶22] 78. Not that I reproach him for his misfortune, but I am probing his character. For the man who hates his child and is a bad father could never become a safe guide to the people; the man who does not cherish the persons who are nearest and dearest to him, will never care much about you, who are not his kinsmen; the man who is wicked in his private relations would never be found trustworthy in public affairs; and the man who is base at home was never a good and honorable man in Macedonia, for by his journey he changed his position, not his disposition.

> Greek: 78. καὶ οὐ τὸ δυστύχημα ὀνειδίζω, ἀλλὰ τὸν τρόπον ἐξετάξω. ὁ γὰρ μισότεκνος καὶ πατὴρ πονηρὸς οὐκ ἄν ποτε γένοιτο δημαγωγὸς χρηστός, οὐδὲ ὁ τὰ φίλτατα καὶ οἰκειότατα σώματα μὴ στέργων οὐδέποθʼ ὑμᾶς περὶ πολλοῦ ποιήσεται τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους, οὐδέ γε ὁ ἰδία πονηρὸς ἄν ποτε γένοιτο δημοσίᾳ χρηστός, οὐδʼ ὅστις ἐστὶν οἴκοι φαῦλος, οὐδέποτʼ ἦν ἐν Μακεδονία καλὸς κἀγαθός· οὐ γὰρ τὸν τρόπον, ἀλλὰ τὸν τόπον μετήλλαξεν.

[¶23] 79. Now how it was that he came to reverse his policies (for this is the second period), and what is the reason that policies identical with those of Demosthenes led to the impeachment and exile of Philocrates, while Demosthenes suddenly stood forth as accuser of the rest, and how it is that the pestilential fellow has plunged you into misfortune, this you ought now especially to hear.

> Greek: 79. πόθεν οὖν ἐπὶ τὴν μεταβολὴν ἦλθε τῶν πραγμάτων, οὗτος γάρ ἐστιν ὁ δεύτερος καιρός, καὶ τί ποτʼ ἐστὶ τὸ αἴτιον, ὅτι Φιλοκράτης μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν πολιτευμάτων Δημοσθένει φυγὰς ἀπʼ εἰσαγγελίας γεγένηται, Δημοσθένης δὲ ἐπέστη τῶν ἄλλων κατήγορος, καὶ πόθεν ποθʼ ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν ἀτυχίαν ὁ μιαρὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐμβέβληκε, ταῦτʼ ἤδη διαφερόντως ἄξιόν ἐστιν ἀκοῦσαι.

[¶24] 80. For as soon as Philip had come this side Thermopylae, and contrary to all expectation had destroyed the cities of Phocis, and strengthened the Thebans beyond what was seasonable and advantageous for you, as you then thought, and when you in alarm had brought in your movable property from the country districts, and the ambassadors who had negotiated the peace were under the gravest accusation—Philocrates and Demosthenes far beyond all the rest, because they not only had been ambassadors, but were also the authors of the resolutions, and when it happened at the same time that Demosthenes and Philocrates had a falling out—you were able to guess the reasons without much difficulty—when all this disturbance had arisen, then Demosthenes proceeded to take counsel as to his future course, consulting his own innate corruption, his cowardice, and his jealousy of Philocrates’ bribes; and he came to the conclusion that if he should step forward as the accuser of his colleagues on the embassy and of Philip, Philocrates would surely be ruined, his other colleagues would be put in jeopardy, and he himself would gain favour, and—scoundrel and traitor to his friends—would appear to be a faithful servant of the people.

> Greek: 80. ὡς γὰρ τάχιστα εἴσω Πυλῶν Φίλιππος παρῆλθε, καὶ τάς τε ἐν Φωκεῦσι πόλεις παραδόξως ἀναστάτους ἐποίησε, Θηβαίους τε, ὡς τόθʼ ὑμῖν ἐδόκει, περαιτέρω τοῦ καιροῦ καὶ τοῦ ὑμετέρου συμφέροντος ἰσχυροὺς κατεσκεύασεν, ὑμεῖς τε ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν φοβηθέντες ἐσκευαγωγήσατε, ἐν ταῖς μεγίσταις δʼ ἦσαν αἰτίαις οἱ πρέσβεις οἱ τὴν εἰρήνην πρεσβεύσαντες, πολὺ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων διαφερόντως Φιλοκράτης καὶ Δημοσθένης, διὰ τὸ μὴ μόνον πρεσβεύειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ ψηφίσματα γεγραφέναι, συνέβη τε ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς χρόνοις διαφέρεσθαί τι Δημοσθένην καὶ Φιλοκράτην σχεδὸν ὑπὲρ τούτων ὑπὲρ ὧν καὶ ὑμεῖς ὑπωπτεύσατε· τοιαύτης ἐμπιπτούσης ταραχῆς, μετὰ τῶν συμφύτων αὐτῷ νοσημάτων ἤδη τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐβουλεύετο, μετὰ δειλίας καὶ τῆς πρὸς Φιλοκράτην ὑπὲρ τῆς δωροδοκίας ζηλοτυπίας, καὶ ἡγήσατο, εἰ τῶν συμπρεσβευόντων καὶ τοῦ Φιλίππου κατήγορος ἀναφανείη, τὸν μὲν Φιλοκράτην προδήλως ἀπολεῖσθαι, τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους συμπρέσβεις κινδυνεύσειν, αὐτὸς δʼ εὐδοκιμήσειν, καὶ προδότης ὢν τῶν φίλων καὶ πονηρός, πιστὸς τῷ δήμῳ φανήσεσθαι.

[¶25] 82. Now when the men who are always the foes of public tranquillity caught sight of him, they were delighted, and repeatedly called him to the platform, and named him our sole and only incorruptible citizen; and he as often came forward and furnished them with the sources of disturbance and war. He it is, fellow citizens, who first discovered Serrhium-Teichus and Doriscus and Ergisca and Myrtisca and Ganus and Ganias; for before that we did not even know the names of these places. And he put such forced and perverse interpretation upon what was done, that, if Philip did not send ambassadors, Demosthenes said that Philip was treating the city with contempt; and if he did send them, that he was sending spies, not ambassadors;

> Greek: 82. κατιδόντες δʼ αὐτὸν οἱ τῇ τῆς πόλεως προσπολεμοῦντες ἡσυχίᾳ, ἄσμενοι παρεκάλουν ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα, τὸν μόνον ἀδωροδόκητον ὀνομάζοντες τῇ πόλει· ὁ δὲ παριὼν ἀρχὰς αὐτοῖς ἐνεδίδου πολέμου καὶ ταραχῆς. οὗτός ἐστιν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὁ πρῶτος ἐξευρὼν Σέρριον τεῖχος καὶ Δορίσκον καὶ Ἐργίσκην καὶ Μυρτίσκην καὶ Γάνος καὶ Γανιάδα, χωρία ὧν οὐδὲ τὰ ὀνόματα ᾔδεμεν πρότερον. καὶ εἰς τοῦτο φέρων περιέστησε τὰ πράγματα, ὥστʼ εἰ μὲν μὴ πέμποι πρέσβεις Φίλιππος, καταφρονεῖν αὐτὸν ἔφη τῆς πόλεως, εἰ δὲ πέμποι, κατασκόπους πέμπειν, ἀλλʼ οὐ πρέσβεις.

[¶26] 83. and if Philip was willing to refer our differences to some state as an equal and impartial arbiter, he said that between Philip and us there was no impartial arbiter. Philip offered to give us Halonnesus; Demosthenes forbade us to accept it if he “gave it,” instead of “giving it back,” quarrelling over syllables. And finally, by bestowing crowns of honor on the embassy which Aristodemus led to Thessaly and Magnesia contrary to the provisions of the peace, he violated the peace and prepared the final disaster and the war.

> Greek: 83. εἰ δὲ ἐπιτρέπειν ἐθέλοι πόλει τινὶ ἴσῃ καὶ ὁμοίᾳ περὶ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων, οὐκ εἶναι κριτὴν ἴσον ἡμῖν ἔφη καὶ Φιλίππῳ. Ἁλόννησον ἐδίδου· ὁ δʼ ἀπηγόρευε μὴ λαμβάνειν, εἰ δίδωσιν, ἀλλὰ μὴ ἀποδίδωσι, περὶ συλλαβῶν διαφερόμενος. καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον στεφανώσας τοὺς μετὰ Ἀριστοδήμου εἰς Θετταλίαν καὶ Μαγνησίαν παρὰ τὰς τῆς εἰρήνης συνθήκας πρεσβεύσαντας, τὴν μὲν εἰρήνην διέλυσε, τὴν δὲ συμφορὰν καὶ τὸν πόλεμον κατεσκεύασεν.

[¶27] 84. Yes, but with walls of brass and steel, as he himself says, he fortified our land, by the alliance with Euboea and Thebes. Nay, fellow citizens, it is just here that you have been most wronged and most deceived. But eager as I am to speak about that wonderful alliance with Thebes, I will speak first about the Euboeans, that I may follow the events in their order.

> Greek: 84. ναί, ἀλλὰ χαλκοῖς καὶ ἀδαμαντίνοις τείχεσιν, ὡς αὐτός φησι, τὴν χώραν ἡμῶν ἐτείχισε, τῇ τῶν Εὐβοέων καὶ Θηβαίων συμμαχίᾳ. ἀλλά, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, περὶ ταῦτα καὶ μέγιστα ἠδίκησθε καὶ μάλιστα ἠγνοήκατε. σπεύδων δʼ εἰπεῖν περὶ τῆς θαυμαστῆς συμμαχίας τῆς τῶν Θηβαίων, ἵνʼ ἐφεξῆς λέγω, περὶ τῶν Εὐβοέων πρῶτον μνησθήσομαι.

[¶28] 85. You, fellow citizens, had suffered many serious injuries at the hands of Mnesarchus of Chalcis, father of Callias and Taurosthenes, men whom Demosthenes now for gold dares to propose for enrollment as Athenian citizens; and again at the hands of Themison of Etretria, who in time of peace robbed us of Oropus; but you were willing to overlook these wrongs, and when the Thebans had crossed over into Euboea in an attempt to enslave its cities, in five days you went to their rescue with fleet and troops, and before thirty days had passed you brought the Thebans to terms and sent them home; and being now yourselves in complete control of Euboea, you righteously and justly restored the cities themselves and their constitutions to those who had entrusted them to you; for you felt that it was not right to cherish your anger, now that they had put faith in you.

> Greek: 85. ὑμεῖς γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα ἠδικημένοι ὑπὸ Μνησάρχου τοῦ Χαλκιδέως, τοῦ Καλλίου καὶ Ταυροσθένους πατρός, οὓς οὗτος νυνὶ μισθὸν λαβὼν Ἀθηναίους εἶναι τολμᾷ γράφειν, καὶ πάλιν ὑπὸ Θεμίσωνος τοῦ Ἐρετριέως, ὃς ἡμῶν εἰρήνης οὔσης Ὠρωπὸν ἀφείλετο, τούτων ἑκόντες ἐπιλαθόμενοι, ἐπειδὴ διέβησαν εἰς Εὔβοιαν Θηβαῖοι καταδουλώσασθαι τὰς πόλεις πειρώμενοι, ἐν πέντε ἡμέραις ἐβοηθήσατε αὐτοῖς καὶ ναυσὶ καὶ πεζῇ δυνάμει, καὶ πρὶν τριάκονθʼ ἡμέρας διελθεῖν ὑποσπόνδους Θηβαίους ἀφήκατε, κύριοι τῆς Εὖβοίας γενόμενοι, καὶ τάς τε πόλεις αὐτὰς καὶ τὰς πολιτείας ἀπέδοτε ὀρθῶς καὶ δικαίως τοῖς παρακαταθεμένοις, οὐχ ἡγούμενοι δίκαιον εἶναι τὴν ὀργὴν ἀπομνημονεύειν ἐν τῷ πιστευθῆναι.

[¶29] 86. After receiving such benefits at your hands, the Chalcidians did not requite you with like treatment, but as soon as you had crossed over to Euboea to help Plutarchus, while at first they did pretend to be friends to you, yet as soon as we had come to Tamynae and had crossed the mountain called Cotylaeum, then Callias the Chalcidian, who had been the object of Demosthenes’ hired praises, seeing the troops of our city shut up in a place which was difficult and dangerous, from which there was no withdrawal unless we could win a battle, and where there was no hope of succor from land or sea, collected troops from all Euboea, and sent to Philip for reinforcements, while his brother, Taurosthenes, who nowadays shakes hands with us all and smiles in our faces, brought over the mercenaries from Phocis, and together they came upon us to destroy us.

> Greek: 86. καὶ τηλικαῦθʼ ὑφʼ ὑμῶν εὖ πεπονθότες οἱ Χαλκιδεῖς οὐ τὰς ὁμοίας ὑμῖν ἀπέδοσαν, ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ διέβητε εἰς Εὔβοιαν Πλουτάρχῳ βοηθήσοντες, τοὺς μὲν πρώτους χρόνους ἀλλʼ οὖν προσεποιοῦνθʼ ὑμῖν εἶναι φίλοι, ἐπειδὴ δὲ τάχιστα εἰς Ταμύνας παρήλθομεν, καὶ τὸ Κοτύλαιον ὀνομαζόμενον ὄρος ὑπερεβάλομεν, ἐνταῦθα Καλλίας ὁ Χαλκιδεύς, ὃν Δημοσθένης μισθαρνῶν ἐνεκωμίαζεν, ὁρῶν τὸ στρατόπεδον τὸ τῆς πόλεως εἰς δεινὰς δυσχωρίας κατακεκλῃμένον, ὅθεν μὴ νικήσασι μάχην οὐκ ἦν ἀναχώρησις, οὐδὲ βοηθείας ἐλπὶς οὔτʼ ἐκ γῆς οὔτʼ ἐκ θαλάττης, συναγείρας ἐξ ἁπάσης τῆς Εὐβοίας στρατόπεδον, καὶ παρὰ Φιλίππου δύναμιν προσμεταπεμψάμενος, ὅ τʼ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ Ταυροσθένης, ὁ νυνὶ πάντας δεξιούμενος καὶ προσγελῶν, τοὺς Φωκικοὺς ξένους διαβιβάσας, ἦλθον ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς ὡς ἀναιρήσοντες.

[¶30] 88. And had not, in the first place, some god saved the army, and had not then your soldiers, horse and foot, showed themselves brave men, and conquered the enemy in a pitched battle by the hippodrome at Tamynae, and brought them to terms and sent them back, our city would have been in danger of the greatest disaster. For it is not ill fortune in war that is the greatest calamity, but when one hazards success against unworthy foes and then fails, the misfortune is naturally twofold. But yet, even after such treatment as that, you became reconciled to them again; and Callias of Chalcis, obtaining pardon from you, soon made haste to return to his natural disposition, and tried ostensibly to assemble a Euboean congress at Chalcis, but in fact to strengthen Euboea thoroughly against you, and to win the position of tyrant as his own personal reward.

> Greek: 88. καὶ εἰ μὴ πρῶτον μὲν θεῶν τις ἔσωσε τὸ στρατόπεδον, ἔπειθʼ οἱ στρατιῶται οἱ ὑμέτεροι καὶ οἱ πεζοὶ καὶ οἱ ἱππεῖς ἄνδρες ἐγένοντο ἀγαθοί, καὶ παρὰ τὸν ἱππόδρομον τὸν ἐν Ταμύναις ἐκ παρατάξεως μάχῃ κρατήσαντες ὑποσπόνδους ἀφεῖσαν τοὺς πολεμίους, ἐκινδύνευσεν ἂν ἡ πόλις αἴσχιστα παθεῖν· οὐ γὰρ τὸ δυστυχῆσαι κατὰ πόλεμον μέγιστόν ἐστι κακόν, ἀλλʼ ὅταν τις πρὸς ἀνταγωνιστὰς ἀναξίους διακινδυνεύων ἀποτύχῃ, διπλασίαν εἰκὸς εἶναι τὴν συμφοράν. ἀλλʼ ὅμως ὑμεῖς τοιαῦτα πεπονθότες πάλιν διελύσασθε πρὸς αὐτούς. τυχὼν δὲ συγγνώμης παρʼ ὑμῶν Καλλίας ὁ Χαλκιδεύς, μικρὸν διαλιπὼν χρόνον πάλιν ἧκε φερόμενος εἰς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φύσιν, Εὐβοϊκὸν μὲν τῷ λόγῳ συνέδριον εἰς Χαλκίδα συνάγων, ἰσχυρὰν δὲ τὴν Εὔβοιαν ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς ἔργῳ κατασκευάζων, ἐξαίρετον δʼ αὑτῷ τυραννίδα περιποιούμενος.

[¶31] 89. Then, hoping to get Philip’s help, he went to Macedonia, and travelled about with him, and was named a “comrade.”

> Greek: 89. κἀνταῦθα ἐλπίζων συναγωνιστὴν Φίλιππον λήψεσθαι, ἀπῆλθεν εἰς Μακεδονίαν καὶ περιῄει μετὰ Φιλίππου, καὶ τῶν ἑταίρων εἷς ὠνομάζετο.

[¶32] 90. But having wronged Philip and run away from thence, he made haste to throw himself at the feet of the Thebans. Then abandoning them also, and making more twists and turns than the Euripus, by whose shores he used to live, he falls between the hatred of the Thebans and of Philip. At his wits’ end what to do, when an expedition had already been called out against him, he saw one gleam of hope for safety left—to get the Athenian people solemnly bound, under the name of allies, to aid him if any one should attack, a thing that was sure to happen unless you should prevent it.

> Greek: 90. ἀδικήσας δὲ Φίλιππον κἀκεῖθεν ἀποδράς, ὑπέβαλεν ἑαυτὸν φέρων Θηβαίοις. καταλιπὼν δὲ κἀκείνους, καὶ πλείους τραπόμενος τροπὰς τοῦ Εὐρίπου, παρʼ ὃν ὤκει, εἰς μέσον πίπτει τῆς τε Θηβαίων ἔχθρας καὶ τῆς Φιλίππου. ἀπορῶν δʼ ὅ τι χρήσαιτο αὑτῷ, καὶ παραγγελλομένης ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἤδη στρατείας, μίαν ἐλπίδα λοιπὴν κατεῖδε σωτηρίας, ἔνορκον λαβεῖν τὸν Ἀθηναίων δῆμον, σύμμαχον ὀνομασθέντα, βοηθήσειν, εἴ τις ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἴοι· ὃ πρόδηλον ἦν ἐσόμενον, εἰ μὴ ὑμεῖς κωλύσετε.

[¶33] 91. With this plan in view Callias sent ambassadors hither, Glaucetes, Empedon, and Diodorus the long distance runner, who brought to the people empty hopes, but silver to Demosthenes and his following. And he was buying three things at once: first, to be assured of your alliance, for he had no alternative if the people, remembering his past crimes, should refuse the alliance, since one of two things was sure, that he would be banished from Chalcis, or be caught and put to death—such were the forces that were moving against him, the combined power of Philip and the Thebans; and the second service for which the pay came to the man who was to move the alliance, was to provide that the Chalcidians should not sit in the synod at Athens; and the third was that they should pay no contributions to the league. Now in not one of these plans did Callias fail;

> Greek: 91. ταῦτα διανοηθείς, ἀποστέλλει δεῦρο πρέσβεις Γλαυκέτην καὶ Ἐμπέδωνα καὶ Διόδωρον τὸν δολιχοδρομήσαντα, φέροντας τῷ μὲν δήμῳ κενὰς ἐλπίδας, Δημοσθένει δʼ ἀργύριον καὶ τοῖς περὶ τοῦτον. τρία δʼ ἦν ἃ ἅμα ἐξεωνεῖτο, πρῶτον μὲν μὴ διασφαλῆναι τῆς πρὸς ὑμᾶς συμμαχίας· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἦν τὸ μέσον, εἰ μνησθεὶς τῶν προτέρων ἀδικημάτων ὁ δῆμος μὴ προσδέξαιτο τὴν συμμαχίαν, ἀλλʼ ὑπῆρχεν αὐτῷ ἢ φεύγειν ἐκ Χαλκίδος, ἢ τεθνάναι ἐγκαταληφθέντι· τηλικαῦται δυνάμεις ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἐπεστράτευον, ἥ τε Φιλίππου καὶ Θηβαίων. δεύτερον δʼ ἧκον οἱ μισθοὶ τῷ γράψοντι τὴν συμμαχίαν ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ συνεδρεύειν Ἀθήνησι Χαλκιδέας, τρίτον δὲ ὥστε μὴ τελεῖν συντάξεις.

[¶34] 92. and Demosthenes, the tyrant-hater, as he pretends to be, who, Ctesiphon says, “speaks what is best,” bartered away the opportunities of the city, and in his motion for the alliance provided that we were to aid the Chalcidians, stipulating in return for this a mere phrase; for he added, to make it sound well, “The Chalcidians on their part are to bring aid if any one shall come against Athens”;

> Greek: 92. καὶ τούτων τῶν προαιρέσεων οὐδεμιᾶς ἀπέτυχε Καλλίας, ἀλλʼ ὁ μισοτύραννος Δημοσθένης, ὡς αὐτὸς προσποιεῖται, ὅν φησι Κτησιφῶν τὰ βέλτιστα λέγειν, ἀπέδοτο μὲν τοὺς καιροὺς τοὺς τῆς πόλεως, ἔθαψε δʼ ἐν τῇ συμμαχίᾳ βοηθεῖν ἡμᾶς Χαγκιδεῦσι, ῥῆμα μόνον ἀντικαταλλαξάμενος ἀντὶ τούτων, εὐφημίας ἕνεκα προσγράψας καὶ Χαλκιδέας βοηθεῖν, ἐάν τις ἴῃ ἐπʼ Ἀθηναίους·

[¶35] 93. but the membership in the synod and the contributions of money, the sources of strength for the coming war, he sold completely, in fairest words proposing most shameful deeds, and leading you on by his talk, telling how our city must first furnish aid to any Greeks who might need it from time to time, but provide for their alliance afterward, after giving them aid. But that you may be sure that I am speaking the truth, please take the motion for the alliance proposed for the benefit of Callias. Read the resolution.

> Greek: 93. τὰς δὲ συνεδρίας καὶ τὰς συντάξεις, ἐξ ὧν ἰσχύσειν ὁ πόλεμος ἔμελλεν, ἄρδην ἀπέδοτο, καλλίστοις ὀνόμασιν αἰσχίστας πράξεις γράφων, καὶ τῷ λόγῳ προσβιβάζων ὑμᾶς, τὰς μὲν βοηθείας ὡς δεῖ τὴν πόλιν πρότερον ποιεῖσθαι τοῖς ἀεὶ δεομένοις τῶν Ἑλλήνων, τὰς δὲ συμμαχίας ὑστέρας μετὰ τὰς εὐεργεσίας. ἵνα δʼ εὖ εἰδῆτε ὅτι ἀληθῆ λέγω, λαβέ μοι τὴν Καλλία γραφεῖσαν συμμαχίαν. ἀνάγνωθι τὸ ψήφισμα.

[¶36] 94. Resolution But this was only the beginning of outrage—this actual selling of such opportunities and accessions to the league and contributions of money for that which I am about to relate was far worse, as you shall see. For Callias was led on to such a pitch of insolence and arrogance, and Demosthenes—whom Ctesiphon praises—to such a pitch of rapacity for bribes, that, while you still had life and sight and senses, they succeeded in stealing away from you the contributions of Oreus and Eretria, ten talents in all, and they detached from you the delegates from those cities, and carried them back to Chalcis, uniting them in the so-called Euboean Congress. But how they did it and by what crimes, it is high time for you to hear.

> Greek: 94. Ψήφισμα οὔπω τοίνυν τοῦτʼ ἐστὶ δεινόν, εἰ καιροὶ τηλικοῦτοι πεπραμένοι τυγχάνουσιν καὶ συνεδρίαι καὶ συντάξεις, ἀλλὰ πολὺ τούτου δεινότερον φανήσεται ὃ μέλλω λέγειν. εἰς γὰρ τοῦτο προήχθη Καλλίας μὲν ὕβρεως καὶ πλεονεξίας, Δημοσθένης δέ, ὃν ἐπαινεῖ Κτησιφῶν, δωροδοκίας, ὥστε τὰς ἐξ Ὠρεοῦ συντάξεις καὶ τὰς ἐξ Ἐρετρίας, τὰ δέκα τάλαντα, ζώντων φρονούντων βλεπόντων ἔλαθον ὑμῶν ὑφελόμενοι, καὶ τοὺς ἐκ τῶν πόλεων τούτων συνέδρους παρʼ ὑμῶν μὲν ἀνέστησαν, πάλιν δὲ εἰς Χαλκίδα καὶ τὸ καλούμενον Εὐβοϊκὸν συνέδριον συνήγαγον. ὃν δὲ τρόπον καὶ διʼ οἵων κακουργημάτων, ταῦτʼ ἤδη ἄξιόν ἐστιν ἀκοῦσαι.

[¶37] 95. Callias, depending no longer on messengers, came himself to you, and coming forward in your assembly repeated a speech that Demosthenes had prepared for him. He said that he had just come from the Peloponnesus, and that he had made arrangements for contributions which would yield a revenue of not less than one hundred talents for use against Philip; and he counted off what each state was to pay: the united Achaeans and the Megarians sixty talents, and the united cities in Euboea, forty.

> Greek: 95. ἀφικνεῖται γὰρ πρὸς ὑμᾶς οὐκέτι διʼ ἀγγέλων, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς ὁ Καλλίας, καὶ παρελθὼν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν λόγους διεξῆλθε κατεσκευασμένους ὑπὸ Δημοσθένους. εἶπε γὰρ ὡς ἥκοι ἐκ Πελοποννήσου νεωστὶ σύνταγμα συντάξας εἰς ἑκατὸν ταλάντων πρόσοδον ἐπὶ Φίλιππον, καὶ διελογίζετο ὅσον ἑκάστους ἔδει συντελεῖν, Ἀχαιοὺς μὲν πάντας καὶ Μεγαρέας ἑξήκοντα τάλαντα, τὰς δʼ ἐν Εὐβοία πόλεις ἁπάσας τετταράκοντα·

[¶38] 96. From this fund he said we could be sure of forces by land and sea, adding that there were many other Greeks who wished to share in contributing, so that there would be no lack of money or men. So much was openly told; but he said that he had also conducted other negotiations in secret, and that certain of our citizens were witnesses of them; finally he called on Demosthenes by name and bade him confirm his statements.

> Greek: 96. ἐκ δὲ τούτων τῶν χρημάτων ὑπάρξειν καὶ ναυτικὴν καὶ πεζὴν δύναμιν· εἶναι δὲ πολλοὺς καὶ ἄλλους τῶν Ἑλλήνων οὓς βούλεσθαι κοινωνεῖν τῆς συντάξεως, ὥστε οὔτε χρημάτων οὔτε στρατιωτῶν ἀπορίαν ἔσεσθαι. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν τὰ φανερά· ἔφη δὲ καὶ πράξεις πράττειν ἑτέρας διʼ ἀπορρήτων, καὶ τούτων εἶναί τινας μάρτυρας τῶν ἡμετέρων πολιτῶν, καὶ τελευτῶν ὀνομαστὶ παρεκάλει Δημοσθένην καὶ συνειπεῖν ἠξίου.

[¶39] 97. Demosthenes came forward with a most solemn air, praised Callias above measure, and pretended to know the secret business; but he said that he wished to report to you his own recent mission to the Peloponnesus and Acarnania. The sum of what he said was that all Peloponnesus could be counted on, and that he had brought all the Acarnanians into line against Philip; that the contributions of money were sufficient to provide for the manning of one hundred swift ships, and to employ ten thousand foot soldiers and a thousand cavalry;

> Greek: 97. ὁ δὲ σεμνῶς πάνυ παρελθών, τόν τε Καλλίαν ὑπερεπῄνει, τό τε ἀπόρρητον προσεποιήσατο εἰδέναι· τὴν δʼ ἐκ Πελοποννήσου πρεσβείαν ἣν ἐπρέσβευσε, καὶ τὴν ἐξ Ἀκαρνανίας ἔφη βούλεσθαι ὑμῖν ἀπαγγεῖλαι. ἦν δʼ αὐτῷ κεφάλαιον τῶν λόγων, πάντας μὲν Πελοποννησίους ἐπὶ Φίλιππον ὑφʼ ἑαυτοῦ, εἶναι δὲ τὸ σύνταγμα χρημάτων μὲν εἰς ἑκατὸν νεῶν ταχυναυτουσῶν πληρώματα καὶ εἰς πεζοὺς στρατιώτας μυρίους καὶ ἱππέας χιλίους, ὑπάρξειν δὲ πρὸς τούτοις καὶ τὰς πολιτικὰς δυνάμεις, ἐκ Πελοποννήσου μὲν πλέον ἢ δισχιλίους ὁπλίτας, ἐξ Ἀκαρνανίας δὲ ἑτέρους τοσούτους·

[¶40] 98. and that in addition to these forces the citizen troops would be ready, from the Peloponnesus more than two thousand hoplites, and as many more from Acarnania that the leadership of them all was given to you, and that all this was going to be done, not after a long interval, but by the 16th of Anthesterion; for he himself had given notice in the cities, and invited all the delegates to come to Athens by the time of the full moon to take part in a congress. For this is Demosthenes’ personal and peculiar way of doing things:

> Greek: 98. δεδόσθαι δὲ ἁπάντων τούτων τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ὑμῖν· πραχθήσεσθαι δὲ ταῦτα οὐκ εἰς μακράν, ἀλλʼ εἰς τὴν ἕκτην ἐπὶ δέκα τοῦ Ἀνθεστηριῶνος μηνός· εἰρῆσθαι γὰρ ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν ὑφʼ αὑτοῦ καὶ παρηγγέλθαι πάντας ἥκειν συνεδρεύσοντας Ἀθήναξε εἰς τὴν πανσέληνον. καὶ γὰρ τοῦτο ἅνθρωπος ἴδιον καὶ οὐ κοινὸν ποιεῖ.

[¶41] 99. other deceivers, when they are lying, try to speak in vague and ambiguous terms, afraid of being convicted; but Demosthenes, when he is cheating you, first adds an oath to his lie, calling down destruction on himself; and secondly, predicting an event that he knows will never happen, he dares to tell the date of it; and he tells the names of men, when he has never so much as seen their faces, deceiving your ears and imitating men who tell the truth. And this is, indeed, another reason why he richly deserves your hatred, that he is not only a scoundrel himself, but destroys your faith even in the signs and symbols of honesty.

> Greek: 99. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι ἀλαζόνες, ὅταν τι ψεύδωνται, ἀόριστα καὶ ἀσαφῆ πειρῶνται λέγειν, φοβούμενοι τὸν ἔλεγχον· Δημοσθένης δʼ ὅταν ἀλαζονεύηται, πρῶτον μὲν μεθʼ ὅρκου ψεύδεται, ἐξώλειαν ἐπαρώμενος ἑαυτῷ, δεύτερον δέ, ἃ εὖ οἶδεν οὐδέποτε ἐσόμενα, τολμᾷ λέγειν εἰς ὁπότʼ ἔσται, καὶ ὧν τὰ σώματα οὐχ ἑώρακε, τούτων τὰ ὀνόματα λέγει, κλέπτων τὴν ἀκρόασιν καὶ μιμούμενος τοὺς τἀληθῆ λέγοντας. διὸ καὶ σφόδρα ἄξιός ἐστι μισεῖσθαι, ὅτι πονηρὸς ὢν καὶ τὰ τῶν χρηστῶν σημεῖα διαφθείρει.

[¶42] 100. But now when he had said this, he gave the clerk a resolution to read, longer than the Iliad, but more empty than the speeches that he is accustomed to deliver and the life that he has lived. Empty did I say? Nay, full of hopes that were not to be realized and of armies that were never to be assembled. And leading you off out of sight of his fraud, and suspending you on hopes, at last he gathers all up in a motion that you choose ambassadors to go to Eretria and beg the Eretrians—of course it was necessary to beg!—no longer to pay their contribution of five talents to you, but to Callias; and further, that you choose other ambassadors to go to Oreus to beg the people of that city to make common cause with the Athenians.

> Greek: 100. ταῦτα δʼ εἰπὼν δίδωσιν ἀναγνῶναι ψήφισμα τῷ γραμματεῖ μακρότερον μὲν τῆς Ἰλιάδος, κενότερον δὲ τῶν λόγων οὓς εἴωθε λέγειν, καὶ τοῦ βίου ὃν βεβίωκε, μεστὸν δʼ ἐλπίδων οὐκ ἐσομένων καὶ στρατοπέδων οὐδέποτε συλλεγησομένων. ἀπαγαγὼν δʼ ὑμᾶς ἄπωθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ κλέμματος καὶ ἀνακρεμάσας ἀπὸ τῶν ἐλπίδων, ἐνταῦθʼ ἤδη συστρέψας γράφει, ἑλέσθαι πρέσβεις εἰς Ἐρέτριαν, οἵτινες δεήσονται τῶν Ἐρετριέων, πάνυ γὰρ ἔδει δεηθῆναι, μηκέτι διδόναι τὴν σύνταξιν ὑμῖν, τὰ πέντε τάλαντα, ἀλλὰ Καλλίᾳ, καὶ πάλιν ἑτέρους εἰς Ὠρεόν, οἵτινες δεήσονται τὸν αὐτὸν Ἀθηναίοις καὶ φίλον καὶ ἐχθρὸν νομίζειν.

[¶43] 101. Here again, in this resolution, you see how entirely absorbed he is in his thievery, for he also moves that your ambassadors ask the people of Oreus to give their five talents, not to you, but to Callias. But to prove that I am speaking the truth, read—leave out the grandiloquence and the triremes and the pretence, and come to the trick worked on us by the vile and wicked man, who, according to Ctesiphon’s motion which we are discussing, “constantly speaks and does what is best for the people of Athens.”

> Greek: 101. ἔπειτα ἀναφαίνεται παρʼ ἅπαντʼ ὢν ἐν τῷ ψηφίσματι πρὸς τῷ κλέμματι, γράψας καὶ τὰ πέντε τάλαντα τοὺς πρέσβεις ἀξιοῦν τοὺς Ὠρείτας μὴ ὑμῖν, ἀλλὰ Καλλίᾳ διδόναι. ὅτι δʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, ἀφελὼν τὸν κόμπον καὶ τὰς τριήρεις καὶ τὴν ἀλαζονείαν ἀνάγνωθι· τοῦ κλέμματος ἅψαι, ὃ ὑφείλετο ὁ μιαρὸς καὶ ἀνόσιος ἄνθρωπος, ὅν φησι Κτησιφῶν ἐν τῷδε τῷ ψηφίσματι διατελεῖν λέγοντα καὶ πράττοντα τὰ ἄριστα τῷ δήμῳ τῷ Ἀθηναίων.

[¶44] 102. Resolution So then the triremes and the land forces and the full moon and the congress were so much talk for your ears, but the contributions of the allies, those ten talents, were very real, and you lost them.

> Greek: 102. Ψήφισμα οὐκοῦν τὰς μὲν τριήρεις καὶ τὴν πεζὴν στρατιὰν καὶ τὴν πανσέληνον καὶ τοὺς συνέδρους λόγῳ ἠκούσατε, τὰς δὲ συντάξεις τῶν συμμάχων, τὰ δέκα τάλαντα, ἔργῳ ἀπωλέσατε.

[¶45] 103. It remains for me to say that Demosthenes was paid three talents for making this motion: a talent from Chalcis, paid over by Callias, a talent from Eretria, paid by the tyrant Cleitarchus, and a talent from Oreus. And it was this last by means of which he was found out; for the government of Oreus is a democracy, and everything is done there by popular vote. Now they, exhausted by the war and entirely without means, sent to him Gnosidemus, son of Charigenes, a man who had once been powerful in Oreus, to ask him to release the city from paying the talent, and to offer him a statue of bronze to be set up in Oreus.

> Greek: 103. ὑπόλοιπον δʼ εἰπεῖν ἐστί μοι, ὅτι λαβὼν τρία τάλαντα μισθὸν τὴν γνώμην ταύτην ἔγραψε Δημοσθένης, τάλαντον μὲν ἐκ Χαλκίδος παρὰ Καλλίου, τάλαντον δʼ ἐξ Ἐρετρίας παρὰ Κλειτάρχου τοῦ τυράννου, τάλαντον δὲ ἐξ Ὠρεοῦ, διʼ ὃ καὶ καταφανὴς ἐγένετο, δημοκρατουμένων τῶν Ὠρειτῶν καὶ πάντα πραττόντων μετὰ ψηφίσματος. ἐξανηλωμένοι γὰρ ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ καὶ παντελῶς ἀπόρως διακείμενοι, πέμπουσι πρὸς αὐτὸν Γνωσίδημον τὸν Χαριγένους υἱὸν τοῦ δυναστεύσαντός ποτε ἐν Ὠρεῷ, δεησόμενον τὸ μὲν τάλαντον ἀφεῖναι τῇ πόλει, ἐπαγγελούμενον δʼ αὐτῷ χαλκῆν εἰκόνα σταθήσεσθαι ἐν Ὠρεῷ.

[¶46] 104. But he replied to Gnosidemus that the last thing that he was in need of was bronze, and he tried to collect the talent through Callias. Now the people of Oreus, pressed for payment and without means, mortgaged to him the public revenues as security for the talent, and paid Demosthenes interest on the fruit of his bribery at the rate of a drachma per month on the mina, until they paid off the principal.

> Greek: 104. ὁ δὲ ἀπεκρίνατο τῷ Γνωσιδήμῳ, ὅτι ἐλάχιστα χαλκοῦ δέοιτο, τὸ δὲ τάλαντον διὰ τοῦ Καλλίου εἰσέπραττεν. ἀναγκαζόμενοι δὲ οἱ Ὠρεῖται καὶ οὐκ εὐποροῦντες, ὑπέθεσαν αὐτῷ τοῦ ταλάντου τὰς δημοσίας προσόδους, καὶ τόκον ἤνεγκαν Δημοσθένει τοῦ δωροδοκήματος δραχμὴν τοῦ μηνὸς τῆς μνᾶς, ἕως τὸ κεφάλαιον ἀπέδοσαν.

[¶47] 105. This was done by vote of the people. To prove that what I am telling you is true, please take the decree of the people of Oreus. Decree This is the decree, fellow citizens, a disgrace to our city, no slight exposure of Demosthenes’ policies, and a clear accusation against Ctesiphon as well. For the man who so shamelessly received bribes cannot have been the good man that Ctesiphon has dared to set forth.

> Greek: 105. καὶ ταῦτʼ ἐπράχθη μετὰ ψηφίσματος τοῦ δήμου. ὅτι δὲ ἀληθῆ λέγω, λαβέ μοι τὸ ψήφισμα τῶν Ὠρειτῶν. Ψήφισμα τοῦτʼ ἐστὶ τὸ ψήφισμα, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, αἰσχύνη μὲν τῆς πόλεως, ἔλεγχος δὲ οὐ μικρὸς τῶν Δημοσθένους πολιτευμάτων, φανερὰ δὲ κατηγορία Κτησιφῶντος· τὸν γὰρ οὕτως αἰσχρῶς δωροδοκοῦντα οὐκ ἔστιν ἄνδρα γεγονέναι ἀγαθόν, ὃ τετόλμηκεν οὗτος γράψαι.

## 3. Sections 106–156

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/3/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/3/#p-N

[¶0] 106. I come now to the third period, or rather to that bitterest period of all, in which Demosthenes brought ruin upon our state and upon all Hellas by his impiety toward the shrine at Delphi, and by moving the alliance with Thebes—an unjust alliance and utterly unequal. But I will begin with his sins against the the gods.

> Greek: 106. ἐνταῦθʼ ἤδη τέτακται καὶ ὁ τρίτος τῶν καιρῶν, μᾶλλον δʼ ὁ πάντων πικρότατος χρόνος, ἐν ὧ Δημοσθένης ἀπώλεσε τὰς τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ τῆς πόλεως πράξεις, ἀσεβήσας μὲν εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖς, ἄδικον δὲ καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἴσην τὴν πρὸς Θηβαίους συμμαχίαν γράψας. ἄρξομαι δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν εἰς τοὺς πλημμελημάτων λέγειν.

[¶1] 107. There is, fellow citizens, a plain, called the plain of Cirrha, and a harbor, now known as “dedicate and accursed.” This district was once inhabited by the Cirrhaeans and the Cragalidae, most lawless tribes, who repeatedly committed sacrilege against the shrine at Delphi and the votive offerings there, and who transgressed against the Amphictyons also. This conduct exasperated all the Amphictyons, and your ancestors most of all, it is said, and they sought at the shrine of the god an oracle to tell them with what penalty they should visit these men.

> Greek: 107. ἔστι γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸ Κιρραῖον ὠνομασμένον πεδίον καὶ λιμὴν ὁ νῦν ἐξάγιστος καὶ ἐπάρατος ὠνομασμένος. ταύτην ποτὲ τὴν χώραν κατῴκησαν Κιρραῖοι καὶ Κραγαλίδαι, γένη παρανομώτατα, οἳ εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖς καὶ περὶ τὰ ἀναθήματα ἠσέβουν, ἐξημάρτανον δὲ καὶ εἰς τοὺς Ἀμφικτύονας. ἀγανακτήσαντες δʼ ἐπὶ τοῖς γιγνομένοις μάλιστα μέν, ὡς λέγονται, οἱ πρόγονοι οἱ ὑμέτεροι, ἔπειτα καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι Ἀμφικτύονες, μαντείαν ἐμαντεύσαντο παρὰ τῷ θεῷ, τίνι χρὴ τιμωρίᾳ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τούτους μετελθεῖν.

[¶2] 108. The Pythia replied that they must fight against the Cirrhaeans and the Cragalidae day and night, bitterly ravage their country, enslave the inhabitants, and dedicate the land to the Pythian Apollo and Artemis and Leto and Athena Pronaea, that for the future it lie entirely uncultivated; that they must not till this land themselves nor permit another. Now when they had received this oracle, the Amphictyons voted, on motion of Solon of Athens, a man able as a law-giver and versed in poetry and philosophy, to march against the accursed men according to the oracle of the god.

> Greek: 108. καὶ αὐτοῖς ἀναιρεῖ ἡ Πυθία πολεμεῖν Κιρραίοις καὶ Κραγαλίδαις πάντʼ ἤματα καὶ πάσας νύκτας, καὶ τὴν χώραν αὐτῶν ἐκπορθήσαντας καὶ αὐτοὺς ἀνδραποδισαμένους ἀναθεῖναι τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι τῷ Πυθίῳ καὶ τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι καὶ τῇ Λητοῖ καὶ Ἀθηνᾷ Προναίᾳ ἐπὶ πάσῃ ἀεργίᾳ, καὶ ταύτην τὴν χώραν μήτʼ αὐτοὺς ἐργάζεσθαι μήτʼ ἄλλον ἐᾶν. λαβόντες δὲ τὸν χρησμὸν τοῦτον οἱ Ἀμφικτύονες ἐψηφίσαντο Σόλωνος εἰπόντος Ἀθηναίου τὴν γνώμην, ἀνδρὸς καὶ νομοθετῆσαι δυνατοῦ καὶ περὶ ποίησιν καὶ φιλοσοφίαν διατετριφότος, ἐπιστρατεύειν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐναγεῖς κατὰ τὴν μαντείαν τοῦ θεοῦ·

[¶3] 109. Collecting a great force of the Amphictyons, they enslaved the men, destroyed their harbor and city, and dedicated their land, as the oracle had commanded. Moreover they swore a mighty oath, that they would not themselves till the sacred land nor let another till it, but that they would go to the aid of the god and the sacred land with hand and foot and voice, and all their might.

> Greek: 109. καὶ συναθροίσαντες δύναμιν πολλὴν τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων, ἐξηνδραποδίσαντο τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ τὸν λιμένα καὶ τὴν πόλιν αὐτῶν κατέσκαψαν καὶ τὴν χώραν καθιέρωσαν κατὰ τὴν μαντείαν. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις ὅρκον ὤμοσαν ἰσχυρόν, μήτʼ αὐτοὶ τὴν ἱερὰν γῆν ἐργάσεσθαι μήτʼ ἄλλῳ ἐπιτρέψειν, ἀλλὰ βοηθήσειν τῷ θεῷ καὶ τῇ γῇ τῇ ἱερᾷ καὶ χειρὶ καὶ ποδὶ καὶ φωνῇ καὶ πάσῃ δυνάμει.

[¶4] 110. They were not content with taking this oath, but they added an imprecation and a mighty curse concerning this; for it stands thus written in the curse: “If any one should violate this,” it says, “whether city or private man, or tribe, let them be under the curse,” it says, “of Apollo and Artemis and Leto and Athena Pronaea.”

> Greek: 110. καὶ οὐκ ἀπέχρησεν αὐτοῖς τοῦτον τὸν ὅρκον ὀμόσαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ προστροπὴν καὶ ἀρὰν ἰσχυρὰν ὑπὲρ τούτων ἐποιήσαντο. γέγραπται γὰρ οὕτως ἐν τῇ ἀρᾷ, εἴ τις τάδε, φησί, παραβαίνοι ἢ πόλις ἤ ἰδιώτης ἢ ἔθνος, ἐναγής, φησίν, ἔστω τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος καὶ τῆς Λητοῦς καὶ Ἀθηνᾶς Προναίας.

[¶5] 111. The curse goes on: That their land bear no fruit; that their wives bear children not like those who begat them, but monsters; that their flocks yield not their natural increase; that defeat await them in camp and court and market-place, and that they perish utterly, themselves, their houses, their whole race; “And never,” it says, “may they offer pure sacrifice unto Apollo, nor to Artemis, nor to Leto, nor to Athena Pronaea, and may the gods refuse to accept their offerings.”

> Greek: 111. καὶ ἐπεύχεται αὐτοῖς μήτε γῆν καρποὺς φέρειν, μήτε γυναῖκας τέκνα τίκτειν γονεῦσιν ἐοικότα, ἀλλὰ τέρατα, μήτε βοσκήματα κατὰ φύσιν γονὰς ποιεῖσθαι, ἧτταν δὲ αὐτοῖς εἶναι πολέμου καὶ δικῶν καὶ ἀγορᾶς, καὶ ἐξώλεις εἶναι καὶ αὐτοὺς καὶ οἰκίας καὶ γένος ἐκείνων. καὶ μήποτε, φησίν, ὁσίως θύσειαν τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι μηδὲ τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι μηδὲ τῇ Λητοῖ μηδʼ Ἀθηνᾷ Προναίᾳ, μηδὲ δέξαιντο αὐτοῖς τὰ ἱερά.

[¶6] 112. As a proof of this, let the oracle of the god be read; hear the curse; call to mind the oaths that your fathers swore together with all the other Amphictyons.
The Oracle
[Ye may not hope to capture town nor tower,
Till dark-eyed Amphitrite’s waves shall break
And roar against Apollo’s sacred shore.]

> Greek: 112. ὅτι δʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, ἀνάγνωθι τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ μαντείαν. ἀκούσατε τῆς ἀρᾶς. ἀναμνήσθητε τῶν ὅρκων, οὓς ὑμῶν οἱ πρόγονοι μετὰ τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων συνώμοσαν.
Μαντεία
[οὐ πρὶν τῆσδε πόληος ἐρείψετε πύργον ἑλόντες,
πρίν γε θεοῦ τεμένει κυανώπιδος Ἀμφιτρίτης
κῦμα ποτικλύζῃ κελαδοῦν ἱεραῖσιν ἐπʼ ἀκταῖς.]
υνκνοων Ὅρκοι.

[¶7] 113. The Oaths. The Curse This curse, these oaths, and this oracle stand recorded to this day; yet the Locrians of Amphissa, or rather their leaders, most lawless of men, did till the plain, and they rebuilt the walls of the harbor that was dedicate and accursed, and settled there and collected port-dues from those who sailed into the harbor and of the deputies who came to Delphi they corrupted some with money, one of whom was Demosthenes.

> Greek: 113. Ἀρά ταύτης τῆς ἀρᾶς καὶ τῶν ὅρκων καὶ τῆς μαντείας ἀναγεγραμμένων ἔτι καὶ νῦν, οἱ Λοκροὶ οἱ Ἀμφισσεῖς, μᾶλλον δὲ οἱ προεστηκότες αὐτῶν, ἄνδρες παρανομώτατοι, ἐνηργάζοντο τὸ πεδίον, καὶ τὸν λιμένα τὸν ἐξάγιστον καὶ ἐπάρατον πάλιν ἐτείχισαν καὶ συνῴκισαν, καὶ τέλη τοὺς καταπλέοντας ἐξέλεγον, καὶ τῶν ἀφικνουμένων εἰς Δελφοὺς πυλαγόρων ἐνίους χρήμασι διέφθειρον, ὧν εἷς ἦν Δημοσθένης.

[¶8] 114. For after he had been elected your deputy, he received two thousand drachmas from the Amphissians, in return for which he was to see that no mention of them should he made in the assembly of the Amphictyons. And it was agreed with him that thereafter twenty minas of the accursed and abominable money should he sent to Athens to him yearly, on condition that he at Athens aid the Amphissians in every way. In consequence of this it has come to pass even more than before, that whatsoever he touches, be it private citizen, or ruler, or democratic state, becomes entangled, every one, in irreparable misfortune.

> Greek: 114. χειροτονηθεὶς γὰρ ὑφʼ ὑμῶν πυλάγορος, λαμβάνει δισχιλίας δραχμὰς παρὰ τῶν Ἀμφισσέων, τοῦ μηδεμίαν μνείαν περὶ αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς Ἀμφικτύοσι ποιεῖσθαι. διωμολογήθη δʼ αὐτῷ καὶ εἰς τὸν λοιπὸν χρόνον ἀποστέλλεσθαι Ἀθήναζε τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἑκάστου μνᾶς εἴκοσιν ἐκ τῶν ἐξαγίστων καὶ ἐπαράτων χρημάτων, ἐφʼ ᾧτε βοηθήσει τοῖς Ἀμφισσεῦσιν Ἀθήνησι κατὰ πάντα τρόπον· ὅθεν ἔτι μᾶλλον ἢ πρότερον συμβέβηκεν αὐτῷ, ὅτου ἂν προσάψηται, ἢ ἀνδρὸς ἰδιώτου ἢ δυνάστου ἢ πόλεως δημοκρατουμένης, τούτων ἑκάστους ἀνιάτοις συμφοραῖς περιβάλλειν.

[¶9] 115. Now behold how providence and fortune triumphed over the impiety of the Amphissians. It was in the archonship of Theophrastus; Diognetus of Anaphlystus was our hieromnemon; as pylagori you elected Meidias of Anagyrus, whom you all remember—I wish for many reasons he were still living —and Thrasycles of Oeum; I was the third. But it happened that we were no sooner come to Delphi than Diognetus, the hieromnemon, fell sick with fever; the same misfortune had befallen Meidias already.

> Greek: 115. σκέψασθε δὴ τὸν δαίμονα καὶ τὴν τύχην, ὅσῳ περιεγένετο τῆς τῶν Ἀμφισσέων ἀσεβείας. ἐπὶ γὰρ Θεοφράστου ἄρχοντος, ἱερομνήμονος ὄντος Διογνήτου Ἀναφλυστίου, πυλαγόρους ὑμεῖς εἵλεσθε Μειδίαν τε ἐκεῖνον τὸν Ἀναγυράσιον, ὃν ἐβουλόμην ἂν πολλῶν ἕνεκα ζῆν, καὶ Θρασυκλέα τὸν ἐξ Οἴου, καὶ τρίτον μετὰ τούτων ἐμέ. συνέβη δʼ ἡμῖν ἀρτίως μὲν εἰς Δελφοὺς ἀφῖχθαι, παραχρῆμα δὲ τὸν ἱερομνήμονα Διόγνητον πυρέττειν· τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο συνεπεπτώκει καὶ τῷ Μειδίᾳ. οἱ δʼ ἄλλοι συνεκάθηντο Ἀμφικτύονες.

[¶10] 116. The other Amphictyons took their seats. Now it was reported to us by one and another who wished to show friendship to our city, that the Amphissians, who were at that time dominated by the Thebans and were their abject servants, were in the act of bringing in a resolution against our city, to the effect that the people of Athens be fined fifty talents, because we had affixed gilded shields to the new temple and dedicated them before the temple had been consecrated, and had written the appropriate inscription, “The Athenians, from the Medes and Thebans when they fought against Hellas.” The hieromnemon sent for me and asked me to go into the council and speak to the Amphictyons in behalf of our city—indeed I had already determined of myself so to do.

> Greek: 116. ἐξηγγέλλετο δʼ ἡμῖν παρὰ τῶν βουλομένων εὔνοιαν ἐνδείκνυσθαι τῇ πόλει, ὅτι οἱ Ἀμφισσεῖς ὑποπεπτωκότες τότε καὶ δεινῶς θεραπεύοντες τοὺς Θηβαίους εἰσέφερον δόγμα κατὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας πόλεως, πεντήκοντα ταλάντοις ζημιῶσαι τὸν δῆμον τὸν Ἀθηναίων, ὅτι χρυσᾶς ἀσπίδας ἀνέθεμεν πρὸς τὸν καινὸν νεὼν πρὶν ἐξαρέσασθαι, καὶ ἐπεγράψαμεν τὸ προσῆκον ἐπίγραμμα, Ἀθηναῖοι ἀπὸ Μήδων καὶ Θηβαίων, ὅτε τἀναντία τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐμάχοντο. μεταπεμψάμενος δʼ ἐμὲ ὁ ἱερομνήμων ἠξίου εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸ συνέδριον καὶ εἰπεῖν τι πρὸς τοὺς Ἀμφικτύονας ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως, καὶ αὐτὸν οὕτω προῃρημένον.

[¶11] 117. When I had entered the council, perhaps a little too impetuously—the other pylagori had withdrawn —and when I was just beginning to speak, one of the Amphissians, a scurrilous fellow, and, as I plainly saw, a man of no education whatever, but perhaps also led on to folly by some divine visitation, cried out, “O Greeks, if you were in your right mind, you would not have so much as named the name of the people of Athens in these sacred days, hut you would have debarred them from the shrine, as men polluted.”

> Greek: 117. ἀρχομένου δέ μου λέγειν καὶ προθυμότερόν πως εἰσεληλυθότος εἰς τὸ συνέδριον, τῶν ἄλλων πυλαγόρων μεθεστηκότων, ἀναβοήσας τις τῶν Ἀμφισσέων, ἄνθρωπος ἀσελγέστατος καὶ ὡς ἐμοὶ ἐφαίνετο οὐδεμιᾶς παιδείας μετεσχηκώς, ἴσως δὲ καὶ δαιμονίου τινὸς ἐξαμαρτάνειν προαγομένου, ἀρχὴν δέ γε, ἔφη, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἕλληνες, εἰ ἐσωφρονεῖτε, οὐδʼ ἂν ὠνομάζετε τοὔνομα τοῦ δήμου τοῦ Ἀθηναίων ἐν ταῖσδε ταῖς ἡμέραις, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐναγεῖς ἐξείργετʼ ἂν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ.

[¶12] 118. And at the same time he reminded them of your alliance with the Phocians, proposed by that man whom we used to call “Top-knot”; and he went through a long list of vexatious charges against our city, which angered me almost beyond endurance as I listened to them then, and which it is no pleasure to recall now. For as I listened, I was exasperated as never before in my life. I will pass over the rest of what I said, but this occurred to me, to call attention to the impiety of the Amphissians in relation to the sacred land; and from the very spot where I was standing I pointed it out to the Amphictyons for the plain of Cirrha lies just below the shrine and is clearly visible.

> Greek: 118. ἅμα δὲ ἐμέμνητο τῆς τῶν Θωκέων, συμμαχίας, ἣν ὁ Κρωβύλος ἐκεῖνος ἔγραψε, καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ καὶ δυσχερῆ κατὰ τῆς πόλεως διεξῄει, ἃ ἐγὼ οὔτε τότʼ ἐκαρτέρουν ἁκούων, οὔτε νῦν ἡδέως μέμνημαι αὐτῶν. ἀκούσας δὲ οὕτω παρωξύνθην, ὡς οὐδεπώποτʼ ἐν τῷ ἐμαυτοῦ βίῳ. καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους λόγους ὑπερβήσομαι· ἐπῄει δʼ οὖν μοι ἐπὶ τὴν γνώμην μνησθῆναι τῆς τῶν Ἀμφισσέων περὶ τὴν γῆν τὴν ἱερὰν ἀσεβείας, καὶ αὐτόθεν ἑστηκὼς ἐδείκνυον τοῖς Ἀμφικτύοσιν· ὑπόκειται γὰρ τὸ Κιρραῖον πεδίον τῷ ἱερῷ καὶ ἔστιν εὐσύνοπτον.

[¶13] 119. “You see,” I said, “O Amphictyons, the plain yonder tilled by the Amphissians, and pottery works and farm buildings erected there. You see with your own eyes the dedicated and accursed harbor walled again. You know of your own knowledge, and have no need of other witness, how these men have farmed out port-dues, and how they are making money from the sacred harbor.” At the same time I called for the reading of the oracle of the god, the oath of our fathers, and the curse that was proclaimed. And I made this declaration:

> Greek: 119. ὁρᾶτε, ἔφην ἐγώ, ὦ ἄνδρες τῶν Ἀμφικτύονες, ἐξειργασμένον τουτὶ τὸ πεδίον ὑπὸ τῶν Ἀμφισσέων, καὶ κεραμεῖα ἐνῳκοδομημένα καὶ αὔλια· ὁρᾶτε τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τὸν ἐξάγιστον καὶ ἐπάρατον λιμένα τετειχισμένον· ἴστε τούτους αὐτοί, καὶ οὐδὲν ἑτέρων δεῖσθε μαρτύρων, τέλη πεπρακότας καὶ χρήματα λαμβάνοντας ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ λιμένος. ἅμα δὲ ἀναγιγνώσκειν ἐκέλευον αὐτοῖς τὴν μαντείαν τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸν ὅρκον τῶν προγόνων, τὴν ἀρὰν τὴν γενομένην, καὶ διωριζόμην ὅτι ἐγὼ μὲν ὑπὲρ τοῦ δήμου τοῦ Ἀθηναίων καὶ τοῦ σώματος καὶ τῶν τέκνων καὶ οἰκίας τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ βοηθῶ κατὰ τὸν ὅρκον καὶ τῷ θεῷ καὶ τῇ γῇ τῇ ἱερᾷ καὶ χειρὶ καὶ ποδὶ καὶ φωνῇ καὶ πᾶσιν οἷς δύναμαι, καὶ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἡμετέραν τὰ πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς ἀφοσιῶ·

[¶14] 120. “I, in behalf of the people of Athens, in my own behalf, and in behalf of my children and my house, do come to the help of the god and the sacred land according unto the oath, with hand and foot and voice, and all my powers and I purge our city of this impiety. As for you, now make your own decision. The sacred baskets are prepared; the sacrificial victims stand ready at the altars and you are about to pray to the gods for blessings on state and hearth.” “Consider then with what voice, with what spirit, with what countenance, possessed of what effrontery, you will make your supplications, if you let go unpunished these men, who stand under the ban of the curse. For not in riddles, but plainly is written the penalty to be suffered by those who have been guilty of impiety, and for those who have permitted it; and the curse closes with these words: ‘May they who fail to punish them never offer pure sacrifice unto Apollo, nor to Artemis, nor to Leto, nor to Athena Pronaea, and may the gods refuse to accept their offerings.’”

> Greek: 120. ὑμεῖς δʼ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ἤδη βουλεύεσθε. ἐνῆκται μὲν τὰ κανᾶ, παρέστηκε δὲ τὰ θύματα τοῖς βωμοῖς, μέλλετε δʼ αἰτεῖν τοὺς θεοὺς τἀγαθὰ καὶ κοινῇ καὶ ἰδία. σκοπεῖτε δή, ποίᾳ φωνῇ, ποίᾳ ψυχῇ, ποίοις ὄμμασι, τίνα τόλμαν κτησάμενοι τὰς ἱκετείας ποιήσεσθε, τούτους παρέντες ἀτιμωρήτους τοὺς ἐναγεῖς καὶ ταῖς ἀραῖς ἐνόχους. οὐ γὰρ διʼ αἰνιγμῶν, ἀλλʼ ἐναργῶς γέγραπται κατά τε τῶν ἀσεβησάντων, ἃ χρὴ παθεῖν αὐτούς, καὶ κατὰ τῶν ἐπιτρεψάντων, καὶ τελευταῖον ἐν τῇ ἀρᾷ γέγραπται, μηδʼ ὁσίως, φησί, θύσειαν οἱ μὴ τιμωροῦντες τῷ Ἀπόλλωνι μηδὲ τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι μηδὲ τῇ Λητοῖ μηδʼ Ἀθηνᾷ Προναία, μηδὲ δέξαιντο αὐτοῖς τὰ ἱερά.

[¶15] 122. These words I spoke, and many more. And when now I had finished and gone out from the council, there was great outcry and excitement among the Amphictyons, and nothing more was said about the shields that we had dedicated, but from now on the subject was the punishment of the Amphissians. As it was already late in the day, the herald came forward and made proclamation that all the men of Delphi who were of full age, slaves and free men alike, should come at daybreak on the morrow with shovels and mattocks to the place that is there called the Thyteion. And again the same herald proclaimed that all the hieromnemons and the pylagori should come to the same place to the aid of the god and the sacred land; “And whatever city shall fail to appear, shall he debarred from the shrine and shall be impure and under the curse.”

> Greek: 122. ταῦτα καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ἕτερα πολλὰ διεξελθόντος ἐμοῦ, ἐπειδή ποτε ἀπηλλάγην καὶ μετέστην ἐκ τοῦ συνεδρίου, κραυγὴ πολλὴ καὶ θόρυβος ἦν τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν οὐκέτι περὶ τῶν ἀσπίδων ἃς ἡμεῖς ἀνέθεμεν, ἀλλʼ ἤδη περὶ τῆς τῶν Ἀμφισσέων τιμωρίας. ἤδη δὲ πόρρω τῆς ἡμέρας ὄν, προελθὼν ὁ κῆρυξ ἀνεῖπε, Δελφῶν ὅσοι ἐπὶ δίετες ἡβῶσι, καὶ δούλους καὶ ἐλευθέρους, ἥκειν αὔριον ἅμα τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἔχοντας ἄμας καὶ δικέλλας πρὸς τὸ Θυτεῖον ἐκεῖ καλούμενον· καὶ πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς κῆρυξ ἀναγορεύει τοὺς ἱερομνήμονας καὶ τοὺς πυλαγόρους ἅπαντας ἥκειν εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν τόπον βοηθήσοντας τῷ θεῷ καὶ τῇ γῇ τῇ ἱερᾷ· ἥτις δʼ ἂν μὴ παρῇ πόλις, εἴρξεται τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ ἐναγὴς ἔσται καὶ τῇ ἀρᾷ ἔνοχος.

[¶16] 123. The next morning we came to the designated spot, and descended to the Cirrhaean plain. And when we had despoiled the harbor and burned down the houses, we set out to return. But meanwhile the Locrians of Amphissa, who lived sixty stadia from Delphi, came against us, armed and in full force; and it was only by running that we barely got back to Delphi in safety, for we were in peril of our lives.

> Greek: 123. τῇ δὲ ὑστεραίᾳ ἥκομεν ἕωθεν εἰς τὸν προειρημένον τόπον, καὶ κατέβημεν εἰς τὸ Κιρραῖον πεδίον, καὶ τὸν λιμένα κατασκάψαντες καὶ τὰς οἰκίας ἐμπρήσαντες ἀνεχωροῦμεν. ταῦτα δὲ ἡμῶν πραττόντων οἱ Λοκροὶ οἱ Ἀμφισσεῖς, ἑξήκοντα στάδια ἄπωθεν οἰκοῦντες Δελφῶν, ἦλθον ἐφʼ ἡμᾶς μεθʼ ὅπλων πανδημεί· καὶ εἰ μὴ δρόμῳ μόλις ἐξεφύγομεν εἰς Δελφούς, ἐκινδυνεύσαμεν ἂν ἀπολέσθαι.

[¶17] 124. Now on the next day Cottyphus, the presiding officer, called an “assembly” of the Amphictyons (they call it an “assembly” when not only the pylagori and hieromnemons are called together, but with them those who are sacrificing and consulting the god). Then immediately one charge after another was brought against the Amphissians, and our city was much praised. As the outcome of all that was said, they voted that before the next Pylaea the hieromnemons should assemble at Thermopylae at a time designated, bringing with them a resolution for the punishment of the Amphissians for their sins against the god and the sacred land and the Amphictyons. As proof of what I say, the clerk shall read the decree to you.

> Greek: 124. τῇ δὲ ἐπιούσῃ ἡμέρᾳ Κόττυφος ὁ τὰς γνώμας ἐπιψηφίξων ἐκκλησίαν ἐποίει τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων· ἐκκλησίαν γὰρ ὀνομάζουσιν, ὅταν τις μὴ μόνον τοὺς πυλαγόρους καὶ τοὺς ἱερομνήμονας συγκαλέσῃ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς θύοντας καὶ τοὺς χρωμένους τῷ θεῷ. ἐνταῦθʼ ἤδη πολλαὶ μὲν τῶν Ἀμφισσέων ἐγίγνοντο κατηγορίαι, πολὺς δʼ ἔπαινος ἦν κατὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας πόλεως· τέλος δὲ παντὸς τοῦ λόγου ψηφίξονται ἥκειν τοὺς ἱερομνήμονας πρὸ τῆς ἐπιούσης πυλαίας ἐν ῥητῷ χρόνῳ εἰς Πύλας, ἔχοντας δόγμα καθʼ ὅ τι δίκας δώσουσιν οἱ Ἀμφισσεῖς ὑπὲρ ὧν εἰς τὸν θεὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν τὴν ἱερὰν καὶ τοὺς Ἁμφικτύονας ἐξήμαρτον. ὅτι δὲ ἀληθῆ λέγω, ἀναγνώσεται τὸ ψήφισμα ὑμῖν ὁ γραμματεύς.

[¶18] 125. Decree Now when we had reported this decree to our senate, and then to the assembly, and when the people had approved our acts, and the whole city was ready to choose the righteous course, and when Demosthenes had spoken in opposition—he was earning his retaining-fee from Amphissa—and when I had clearly convicted him in your presence, thereupon the fellow, unable to frustrate the city by open means, goes into the senate chamber, expels all listeners, and from the secret session brings out a bill to the assembly, taking advantage of the inexperience of the man who made the motion.

> Greek: 125. Ψήφισμα τοῦ δόγματος τούτου ἀποδοθέντος ὑφʼ ἡμῶν ἐν τῇ βουλῇ καὶ πάλιν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησία, καὶ τὰς πράξεις ἡμῶν ἀποδεξαμένου τοῦ δήμου, καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἁπάσης προαιρουμένης εὐσεβεῖν, καὶ Δημοσθένους ὑπὲρ τοῦ μεσεγγυήματος τοῦ ἐξ Ἀμφίσσης ἀντιλέγοντος, καὶ ἐμοῦ φανερῶς ἐναντίον ὑμῶν ἐξελέγχοντος, ἐπειδὴ ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ τὴν πόλιν ἅνθρωπος οὐκ ἐδύνατο σφῆλαι, εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸ βουλευτήριον καὶ μεταστησάμενος τοὺς ἰδιώτας, ἐκφέρεται προβούλευμα εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, προσλαβὼν τὴν τοῦ γράψαντος ἀπειρίαν·

[¶19] 126. And he managed to have this same bill put to vote in the assembly and passed by the people, at the moment when the assembly was on the point of adjourning, when I had already left the place—for I would never have allowed it—and when most of the people had dispersed. Now the substance of the bill was this: “The hieromnemon of the Athenians,” it says, “and the pylagori who are at the time in office, shall go to Thermopylae and Delphi at the times appointed by our fathers”; fine in sound, shameful in fact; for it prevents attendance on the special meeting at Thermopylae, which had to be held before the date of the regular meeting.

> Greek: 126. τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησία διεπράξατο ἐπιψηφισθῆναι καὶ γενέσθαι δήμου ψήφισμα, ἐπʼ ἀναστάσει τῆς ἐκκλησίας οὔσης, ἀπεληλυθότος ἐμοῦ, οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε ἐπέτρεψα, καὶ τῶν πολλῶν διαφειμένων· οὗ τὸ κεφάλαιόν ἐστι, τὸν ἱερομνήμονα, φησί, τὸν Ἀθηναίων καὶ τοὺς πυλαγόρους τοὺς ἀεὶ πυλαγοροῦντας πορεύεσθαι εἰς Πύλας καὶ εἰς Δελφοὺς ἐν τοῖς τεταγμένοις χρόνοις ὑπὸ τῶν προγόνων, εὐπρεπῶς γε τῷ ὀνόματι, ἀλλὰ τῷ ἔργῳ αἰσχρῶς· κωλύει γὰρ εἰς τὸν σύλλογον τὸν ἐν Πύλαις ἀπαντᾶν, ὃς ἐξ ἀνάγκης πρὸ τοῦ καθήκοντος ἔμελλε χρόνου γίγνεσθαι.

[¶20] 127. Again in the same decree he writes much more explicitly and malignantly; “The hieromnemon of the Athenians,” he says, “and the pylagori who are at the time in office, shall take no part with those assembled there, in word or deed or decree, or in any act whatsoever.” But what does it mean to “take no part”? Shall I tell you the truth, or what is most agreeable for your ears? I will tell you the truth, for it is the universal habit of speaking to please you that has brought the city to such a pass. It means that you are forbidden to remember the oaths which our fathers swore, or the curse, or the oracle of the god.

> Greek: 127. καὶ πάλιν ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ψηφίσματι πολὺ καὶ σαφέστερον καὶ πικρότερον γράφει, τὸν ἱερομνήμονα, φησί, τὸν Ἀθηναίων καὶ τοὺς πυλαγόρους τοὺς ἀεὶ πυλαγοροῦντας μὴ μετέχειν τοῖς ἐκεῖσε συλλεγομένοις μήτε λόγου μήτε ἔργου μήτε δόγματος μήτε πράξεως μηδεμιᾶς. τὸ δὲ μὴ μετέχειν τί ἐστι; πότερα τἀληθὲς εἴπω, ἢ τὸ ἥδιστον ἀκοῦσαι; τἀληθὲς ἐρῶ· τὸ γὰρ ἀεὶ πρὸς ἡδονὴν λεγόμενον οὑτωσὶ τὴν πόλιν διατέθηκεν. οὐκ ἐᾷ μεμνῆσθαι τῶν ὅρκων, οὓς ἡμῶν ὤμοσαν οἱ πρόγονοι, οὐδὲ τῆς ἀρᾶς, οὐδὲ τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ μαντείας.

[¶21] 128. And so, fellow citizens, we stayed at home because of this decree, while the other Amphictyons assembled at Thermopylae—all but one city, whose name I would not mention; I pray that misfortune like unto hers may come upon no city of Hellas. And when they were assembled they voted to march against the Amphissians. As general they chose Cottyphus of Pharsalus, who was at the time president of the Amphictyons. Philip was not in Macedonia at that time, nor in Hellas, but in Scythia—so far away as that! And yet presently Demosthenes will dare to say that it was I who brought him against Hellas!

> Greek: 128. ἡμεῖς μὲν οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, κατεμείναμεν διὰ τοῦτο τὸ ψήφισμα, οἱ δʼ ἄλλοι Ἀμφικτύονες συνελέγησαν εἰς Πύλας πλὴν μιᾶς πόλεως, ἧς ἐγὼ οὔτʼ ἂν τοὔνομα εἴποιμι, μήθʼ αἱ συμφοραὶ παραπλήσιοι γένοιντο αὐτῆς μηδενὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων. καὶ συνελθόντες ἐψηφίσαντο ἐπιστρατεύειν ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἀμφισσέας, καὶ στρατηγὸν εἵλοντο Κόττυφον τὸν Φαρσάλιον τὸν τότε τὰς γνώμας ἐπιψηφίζοντα, οὐκ ἐπιδημοῦντος ἐν Μακεδονία Φιλίππου, οὐδʼ ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι παρόντος, ἀλλʼ ἐν Σκύθαις οὕτω μακρὰν ἀπόντος· ὃν αὐτίκα μάλα τολμήσει λέγειν Δημοσθένης ὡς ἐγὼ ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐπήγαγον.

[¶22] 129. Now when they had come through the pass in the first expedition, they dealt very leniently with the Amphissians, for as penalty for their monstrous crimes, they laid a money fine upon them, and ordered them to pay it at the temple within a stated time; and they removed the wicked men who were responsible for what had been done, and restored others, whose piety had forced them into exile. But when the Amphissians failed to pay the money to the god, and had restored the guilty men, and banished those righteous men who had been restored by the Amphictyons, under these circumstances at last the second campaign was made, a long time afterward, when Philip had now returned from his Scythian expedition. It was to us that the gods had offered the leadership in the deed of piety, but Demosthenes’ taking of bribes had prevented us.

> Greek: 129. καὶ παρελθόντες τῇ πρώτῃ στρατεία καὶ μάλα μετρίως ἐχρήσαντο τοῖς Ἀμφισσεῦσιν· ἀντὶ γὰρ τῶν μεγίστων ἀδικημάτων χρήμασιν αὐτοὺς ἐζημίωσαν, καὶ ταῦτʼ ἐν ῥητῷ χρόνῳ προεῖπον τῷ θεῷ καταθεῖναι, καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἐναγεῖς καὶ τῶν πεπραγμένων αἰτίους μετέστησαν, τοὺς δὲ διʼ εὐσέβειαν φεύγοντας κατήγαγον. ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὔτε τὰ χρήματα ἐξέτινον τῷ θεῷ, τούς τʼ ἐναγεῖς κατήγαγον, καὶ τοὺς εὐσεβεῖς καὶ κατελθόντας διὰ τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων ἐξέβαλον, οὕτως ἤδη τὴν δευτέραν στρατείαν ἐποιήσαντο, πολλῷ χρόνῳ ὕστερον, ἐπανεληλυθότος Φιλίππου ἐκ τῆς ἐπὶ τοὺς Σκύθας στρατείας, τῶν μὲν θεῶν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τῆς εὐσεβείας ἡμῖν παραδεδωκότων, τῆς δὲ Δημοσθένους δωροδοκίας ἐμποδὼν γεγενημένης.

[¶23] 130. But did not the gods forewarn us, did they not admonish us, to be on our guard, all but speaking with human voice? No city have I ever seen offered more constant protection by the gods, but more inevitably ruined by certain of its politicians. Was not that portent sufficient which appeared at the Mysteries—the death of the celebrants? In view of this did not Ameiniades warn you to be on your guard, and to send messengers to Delphi to inquire of the god what was to he done? And did not Demosthenes oppose, and say that the Pythia had gone over to Philip? Boor that he was, gorged with his feast of indulgence from you!

> Greek: 130. ἀλλʼ οὐ προύλεγον, οὐ προεσήμαινον οἱ θεοὶ φυλάξασθαι, μόνον γε οὐκ ἀνθρώπων φωνὰς προσκτησάμενοι; οὐδεμίαν τοι πώποτε ἔγωγε μᾶλλον πόλιν ἑώρακα ὑπὸ μὲν τῶν θεῶν σῳζομένην, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν ῥητόρων ἐνίων ἀπολλυμένην. οὐχ ἱκανὸν ἦν τὸ τοῖς μυστηρίοις φανὲν σημεῖον, ἡ τῶν μυστῶν τελευτή; οὐ περὶ τούτων Ἀμεινιάδης μὲν προύλεγεν εὐλαβεῖσθαι καὶ πέμπειν εἰς Δελφοὺς ἐπερησομένους τὸν θεὸν ὅ τι χρὴ πράττειν, Δημοσθένης δὲ ἀντέλεγε, φιλιππίζειν τὴν Πυθίαν φάσκων, ἀπαίδευτος ὢν καὶ ἀπολαύων καὶ ἐμπιμπλάμενος τῆς δεδομένης ὑφʼ ὑμῶν αὐτῷ ἐξουσίας;

[¶24] 131. And did he not at last from smouldering and ill-omened sacrifices send forth our troops into manifest danger? And yet it was but yesterday that he dared to assert that the reason why Philip did not advance against our country was that the omens were not favorable to him. What punishment, then, do you deserve, you curse of Hellas! For if the conqueror refrained from entering the land of the conquered because the omens were not favorable to him, whereas you, ignorant of the future, sent out our troops before the omens were propitious, ought you to be receiving a crown for the misfortunes of the city, or to have been thrust already beyond her borders?

> Greek: 131. οὐ τὸ τελευταῖον ἀθύτων καὶ ἀκαλλιερήτων ὄντων τῶν ἱερῶν ἐξέπεμψε τοὺς στρατιώτας ἐπὶ τὸν πρόδηλον κίνδυνον; καίτοι πρώην γέ ποτε ἀπετόλμα λέγειν ὅτι παρὰ τοῦτο Φίλιππος οὐκ ἦλθεν ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τὴν χώραν, ὅτι οὐκ ἦν αὐτῷ καλὰ τὰ ἱερά. τίνος οὖν σὺ ζημίας ἄξιος εἶ τυχεῖν, ὦ τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἀλειτήριε; εἰ γὰρ ὁ μὲν κρατῶν οὐκ ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν τῶν κρατουμένων χώραν, ὅτι οὐκ ἦν αὐτῷ καλὰ τὰ ἱερά, σὺ δʼ οὐδὲν προειδὼς τῶν μελλόντων ἔσεσθαι, πρὶν καλλιερῆσαι τοὺς στρατιώτας ἐξέπεμψας, πότερα στεφανοῦσθαι σε δεῖ ἐπὶ ταῖς τῆς πόλεως ἀτυχίαις, ἢ ὑπερωρίσθαι;

[¶25] 132. Wherefore what is there, strange and unexpected, that has not happened in our time! For it is not the life of men we have lived, but we were born to be a tale of wonder to posterity. Is not the king of the Persians—he who channelled Athos, he who bridged the Hellespont, he who demanded earth and water of the Greeks, he who dared to write in his letters that he was lord of all men from the rising of the sun unto its setting—is he not struggling now, no longer for lordship over others, but already for his life? And do we not see this glory and the leadership against the Persians bestowed on the same men who liberated the temple of Delphi?

> Greek: 132. τοιγάρτοι τί τῶν ἀνελπίστων καὶ ἀπροσδοκήτων ἐφʼ ἡμῶν οὐ γέγονεν; οὐ γὰρ βίον γε ἡμεῖς ἀνθρώπινον βεβιώκαμεν, ἀλλʼ εἰς παραδοξολογίαν τοῖς μεθʼ ἡμᾶς ἔφυμεν. οὐχ ὁ μὲν τῶν Περσῶν βασιλεύς, ὁ τὸν Ἄθω διορύξας, ὁ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον ζεύξας, ὁ γῆν καὶ ὕδωρ τοὺς Ἕλληνας αἰτῶν, ὁ τολμῶν ἐν ταῖς ἐπιστολαῖς γράφειν, ὅτι δεσπότης ἐστὶν ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων ἀφʼ ἡλίου ἀνιόντος μέχρι δυομένου, νῦν οὐ περὶ τοῦ κύριος ἑτέρων εἶναι διαγωνίζεται, ἀλλʼ ἤδη περὶ τῆς τοῦ σώματος σωτηρίας; καὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς ὁρῶμεν τῆς τε δόξης ταύτης καὶ τῆς ἐπὶ τὸν Πέρσην ἡγεμονίας ἠξιωμένους, οἳ καὶ τὸ ἐν Δελφοῖς ἱερὸν ἠλευθέρωσαν;

[¶26] 133. But Thebes! Thebes, our neighbor, has in one day been swept from the midst of Hellas—even though justly, for her main policy was wrong, yet possessed by an infatuate blindness and folly that were not of men, but a divine visitation. And the wretched Lacedaemonians, who barely touched these acts at their beginning in connection with the seizure of the temple, they who once claimed the right to lead the Greeks, are now about to be sent to Alexander to serve as hostages, and to make an exhibition of their misfortunes —destined, themselves and their country, to suffer whatever may please him; their fate dependent on the mercy of the man who has conquered them after receiving unprovoked injury at their hands.

> Greek: 133. Θῆβαι δέ, Θῆβαι, πόλις ἀστυγείτων, μεθʼ ἡμέραν μίαν ἐκ μέσης τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἀνήρπασται, εἰ καὶ δικαίως, περὶ τῶν ὅλων οὐκ ὀρθῶς βουλευσάμενοι, ἀλλὰ τήν γε θεοβλάβειαν καὶ τὴν ἀφροσύνην οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνως, ἀλλὰ δαιμονίως κτησάμενοι. Λακεδαιμόνιοι δʼ οἱ ταλαίπωροι, προσαψάμενοι μόνον τούτων τῶν πραγμάτων ἐξ ἀρχῆς περὶ τὴν τοῦ ἱεροῦ κατάληψιν, οἱ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ποτὲ ἀξιοῦντες ἡγεμόνες εἶναι, νῦν ὁμηρεύσοντες καὶ τῆς συμφορᾶς ἐπίδειξιν ποιησόμενοι μέλλουσιν ὡς Ἀλέξανδρον ἀναπέμπεσθαι, τοῦτο πεισόμενοι καὶ αὐτοὶ καὶ ἡ πατρίς, ὅ τι ἂν ἐκείνῳ δόξῃ, καὶ ἐν τῇ τοῦ κρατοῦντος καὶ προηδικημένου μετριότητι κριθησόμενοι.

[¶27] 134. And our city, the common refuge of the Greeks, to which in former days used to come the embassies of all Hellas, each city in turn to find safety with us, our city is now no longer contending for the leadership of Hellas, but from this time on for the soil of the fatherland. And this has come upon us from the time when Demosthenes came into political leadership. Well does the poet Hesiod speak concerning such men; for he says somewhere, instructing the people and advising the cities not to take to themselves corrupt politicians—but I will myself recite the verses;

> Greek: 134. ἡ δʼ ἡμετέρα πόλις, ἡ κοινὴ καταφυγὴ τῶν Ἑλλήνων, πρὸς ἣν ἀφικνοῦντο πρότερον ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος αἱ πρεσβεῖαι, κατὰ πόλεις ἕκαστοι παρʼ ἡμῶν τὴν σωτηρίαν εὑρησόμενοι, νῦν οὐκέτι περὶ τῆς τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἡγεμονίας ἀγωνίζεται, ἀλλʼ ἤδη περὶ τοῦ τῆς πατρίδος ἐδάφους. καὶ ταῦθʼ ἡμῖν συμβέβηκεν ἐξ ὅτου Δημοσθένης πρὸς τὴν πολιτείαν προσελήλυθεν. εὖ γὰρ περὶ τῶν τοιούτων Ἡσίοδος ὁ ποιητὴς ἀποφαίνεται. λέγει γάρ που, παιδεύων τὰ πλήθη καὶ συμβουλεύων ταῖς πόλεσι τοὺς πονηροὺς τῶν δημαγωγῶν μὴ προσδέχεσθαι·

[¶28] 135. for this is the reason, I think, that in our childhood we commit to memory the sentiments of the poets, that when we are men we may make use of them:
Ofttimes whole peoples suffer from one man,
Whose deeds are sinful, and whose purpose base.
From heaven Cromon launches on their heads
Dire woe of plague and famine joined; and all
The people waste away. Or else he smites
Their wide-camped host, or wall. Or wrath of Zeus
Far-thundering wrecks their ships upon the sea.

> Greek: 135. λέξω δὲ κἀγὼ τὰ ἔπη· διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ οἶμαι παῖδας ὄντας ἡμᾶς τὰς τῶν ποιητῶν γνώμας ἐκμανθάνειν, ἵνʼ ἄνδρες ὄντες αὐταῖς χρώμεθα·
πολλάκι δὴ ξύμπασα πόλις κακοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀπηύρα,
ὅς κεν ἀλιτραίνῃ καὶ ἀτάσθαλα μητιάαται.
τοῖσιν δʼ οὐρανόθεν μέγʼ ἐπήγαγε πῆμα Κρονίων,
λιμὸν ὁμοῦ καὶ λοιμόν, ἀποφθινύθουσι δὲ λαοί·
ἢ τῶν γε στρατὸν εὐρὺν ἀπώλεσεν ἢ ὅ γε τεῖχος,
ἢ νέας ἐν πόντῳ ἀποτείνυται εὐρύοπα Ζεύς.

[¶29] 136. If you disregard the poet’s meter and examine only his thought, I think this will seem to you to be, not a poem of Hesiod, but an oracle directed against the politics of Demosthenes. For by his politics army and navy and peoples have been utterly destroyed.

> Greek: 136. ἐὰν περιελόντες τοῦ ποιητοῦ τὸ μέτρον τὰς γνώμας ἐξετάζητε, οἶμαι ὑμῖν δόξειν οὐ ποιήματα Ἡσιόδου εἶναι, ἀλλὰ χρησμὸν εἰς τὴν Δημοσθένους πολιτείαν· καὶ γὰρ ναυτικὴ καὶ πεζὴ στρατιὰ καὶ πόλεις ἄρδην εἰσὶν ἀνηρπασμέναι ἐκ τῆς τούτου πολιτείας.

[¶30] 137. I think that not Phrynondas and not Eurybatus, nor any other of the traitors of ancient times ever proved himself such a juggler and cheat as this man, who, oh earth and heaven, oh ye gods and men—if any men of you will listen to the truth—dares to look you in the face and say that Thebes actually made the alliance with you, not because of the crisis, not because of the fear that was impending over them, not because of your reputation, but because of Demosthenes’ declamations!

> Greek: 137. ἀλλʼ οἶμαι οὔτε Φρυνώνδας οὔτε Εὐρύβατος οὔτʼ ἄλλος οὐδεὶς πώποτε τῶν πάλαι πονηρῶν τοιοῦτος μάγος καὶ γόης ἐγένετο, ὅς, ὦ γῆ καὶ θεοὶ καὶ δαίμονες καὶ ἄνθρωποι, ὅσοι βούλεσθε ἀκούειν τἀληθῆ, τολμᾷ λέγειν βλέπων εἰς τὰ πρόσωπα τὰ ὑμέτερα, ὡς ἄρα Θηβαῖοι τὴν συμμαχίαν ὑμῖν ἐποιήσαντο οὐ διὰ τὸν καιρόν, οὐ διὰ τὸν φόβον τὸν περιστάντα αὐτούς, οὐ διὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν δόξαν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὰς Δημοσθένους δημηγορίας.

[¶31] 138. And yet in other days many men who had stood in the closest relations with the Thebans had gone on missions to them; first, Thrasymachus of Collytus, a man trusted in Thebes as no other ever was; again, Thrason of Erchia, proxenus of the Thebans; Leodamas of Acharnae, a speaker no less able than Demosthenes, and more to my taste; Archedemus of Pelekes, a powerful speaker, and one who had met many political dangers for the sake of the Thebans; Aristophon of Azenia, who had long been subject to the charge of having gone over to the Boeotians; Pyrrhandrus of Anaphlystus, who is still living. Yet no one of these was ever able to persuade them to be friends with you. And I know the reason, but because of the present misfortune of Thebes, I have no desire to speak it.

> Greek: 138. καίτοι πολλὰς μὲν πρότερον πρεσβείας ἐπρέσβευσαν εἰς Θήβας οἱ μάλιστα οἰκείως ἐκείνοις διακείμενοι, πρῶτος μὲν Θρασύβουλος ὁ Κολλυτεύς, ἀνὴρ ἐν Θήβαις πιστευθεὶς ὡς οὐδεὶς ἕτερος, πάλιν Θράσων ὁ Ἑρχιεύς, πρόξενος ὢν Θηβαίοις, Λεωδάμας ὁ Ἀχαρνεύς, οὐχ ἧττον Δημοσθένους λέγειν δυνάμενος, ἀλλʼ ἔμοιγε καὶ ἡδίων, Ἀρχέδημος ὁ Πήληξ, καὶ δυνατὸς εἰπεῖν καὶ πολλὰ κεκινδυνευκὼς ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ διὰ Θηβαίους, Ἀριστοφῶν ὁ Ἀζηνιεύς, πλεῖστον χρόνον τὴν τοῦ βοιωτιάζειν ὑπομείνας αἰτίαν, Πύρρανδρος ὁ Ἀναφλύστιος, ὃς ἔτι καὶ νῦν ζῇ. ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὐδεὶς πώποτε αὐτοὺς ἐδυνήθη προτρέψασθαι εἰς τὴν ὑμετέραν φιλίαν. τὸ δʼ αἴτιον οἶδα μέν, λέγειν δʼ οὐδὲν δέομαι διὰ τὰς ἀτυχίας αὐτῶν.

[¶32] 140. But, I think, when Philip had taken Nicaea from them and given it to the Thessalians, and when he was now bringing back again upon Thebes herself through Phocis the same war that he had formerly driven from the borders of Boeotia, and when finally he had seized Elateia and fortified and garrisoned it, then, and not till then, it was, when the peril was laying hold on them, that they sent for the Athenians. You went out and were on the point of marching into Thebes under arms, horse and foot, before ever Demosthenes had moved one single syllable about an alliance.

> Greek: 140. ἀλλʼ οἶμαι, ἐπειδὴ Φίλιππος αὐτῶν ἀφελόμενος Νίκαιαν Θετταλοῖς παρέδωκε, καὶ τὸν πόλεμον, ὃν πρότερον ἐξήλασεν ἐκ τῆς χώρας τῆς Βοιωτῶν, τοῦτον πάλιν τὸν αὐτὸν πόλεμον ἐπῆγε διὰ τῆς Φωκίδος ἐπʼ αὐτὰς τὰς Θήβας, καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον Ἐλάτειαν καταλαβὼν ἐχαράκωσε καὶ φρουρὰν εἰσήγαγεν, ἐνταῦθʼ ἤδη, ἐπεὶ τὸ δεινὸν αὐτῶν ἥπτετο, μετεπέμψαντο Ἀθηναίους, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐξήλθετε καὶ εἰσῇτε εἰς τὰς Θήβας ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις διεσκευασμένοι, καὶ οἱ πεζοὶ καὶ οἱ ἱππεῖς, πρὶν περὶ συμμαχίας μίαν μόνον συλλαβὴν γράψαι Δημοσθένην.

[¶33] 141. What brought you into Thebes was the crisis and fear and need of alliance, not Demosthenes. For in this whole affair Demosthenes is responsible to you for three most serious mistakes. The first was this: when Philip was nominally making war against you, but really was far more the enemy of Thebes, as the event itself has proved (why need I say more?), Demosthenes concealed these facts, which were so important, and pretending that the alliance was to be brought about, not through the crisis, but through his own negotiations, first he persuaded the people to give up all consideration of the terms of the alliance, and to count themselves fortunate if only it were made; and when he had gained this point he betrayed all Boeotia to the Thebans by writing in the decree, “If any city refuse to follow Thebes, the Athenians shall aid the Boeotians in Thebes,” cheating with words and altering the facts, as he is wont to do; as though, forsooth, when the Boeotians should be suffering in fact, they would be content with Demosthenes’ fine phrases, rather than indignant at the outrageous way in which they had been treated;

> Greek: 141. ὁ δʼ εἰσάγων ἦν ὑμᾶς εἰς τὰς Θήβας καιρὸς καὶ φόβος καὶ χρεία συμμαχίας, ἀλλʼ οὐ Δημοσθένης. ἐπεὶ περὶ γε ταύτας τὰς πράξεις τρία πάντων μέγιστα Δημοσθένης εἰς ὑμᾶς ἐξημάρτηκε, πρῶτον μέν, ὅτι Φιλίππου τῷ μὲν ὀνόματι πολεμοῦντος ὑμῖν, τῷ δʼ ἔργῳ πολὺ μᾶλλον μισοῦντος Θηβαίους, ὡς αὐτὰ τὰ πράγματα δεδήλωκε, καὶ τί δεῖ τὰ πλείω λέγειν; ταῦτα μὲν τὰ τηλικαῦτα τὸ μέγεθος ἀπεκρύψατο, προσποιησάμενος δὲ μέλλειν τὴν συμμαχίαν γενήσεσθαι οὐ διὰ τοὺς καιρούς, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὰς αὑτοῦ πρεσβείας, πρῶτον μὲν συνέπεισε τὸν δῆμον μηκέτι βουλεύεσθαι ἐπὶ τίσι δεῖ ποιεῖσθαι τὴν συμμαχίαν, ἀλλʼ ἀγαπᾶν μόνον εἰ γίγνεται, τοῦτο δὲ προλαβὼν ἔκδοτον μὲν τὴν Βοιωτίαν ἅπασαν ἐποίησε Θηβαίοις, γράψας ἐν τῷ ψηφίσματι, ἐάν τις ἀφιστῆται πόλις ἀπὸ Θηβαίων, βοηθεῖν Ἀθηναίους Βοιωτοῖς τοῖς ἐν Θήβαις, τοῖς ὀνόμασι κλέπτων καὶ μεταφέρων τὰ πράγματα, ὥσπερ εἴωθεν, ὡς τοὺς Βοιωτοὺς ἔργῳ κακῶς πάσχοντας τὴν τῶν ὀνομάτων σύνθεσιν τῶν Δημοσθένους ἀγαπήσοντας, ἀλλʼ οὐ μᾶλλον ἐφʼ οἷς κακῶς ἐπεπόνθεσαν ἀγανακτήσοντας·

[¶34] 143. and, secondly, he laid two thirds of the costs of the war upon you, whose danger was more remote, and only one third on the Thebans (in all this acting for bribes); and the leadership by sea he caused to be shared equally by both; but all the expenditure he laid upon you and the leadership by land, if we are not to talk nonsense, he carried away bodily and handed it over to Thebes. The result was that in all the war that followed, Stratocles, your general, had no authority to plan for the safety of his troops.

> Greek: 143. δεύτερον δὲ τῶν εἰς τὸν πόλεμον ἀναλωμάτων τὰ μὲν δύο μέρη ὑμῖν ἀνέθηκεν, οἷς ἦσαν ἀπωτέρω οἱ κίνδυνοι, τὸ δὲ τρίτον μέρος Θηβαίοις, δωροδοκῶν ἐφʼ ἑκάστοις τούτων, καὶ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν τὴν μὲν κατὰ θάλατταν ἐποίησε κοινήν, τὸ δʼ ἀνάλωμα ἴδιον ὑμέτερον, τὴν δὲ κατὰ γῆν, εἰ μὴ δεῖ ληρεῖν, ἄρδην φέρων ἀνέθηκε Θηβαίοις, ὥστε παρὰ τὸν γενόμενον πόλεμον μὴ κύριον γενέσθαι Στρατοκλέα τὸν ὑμέτερον στρατηγὸν βουλεύσασθαι περὶ τῆς τῶν στρατιωτῶν σωτηρίας.

[¶35] 144. And it is not true that in this I alone accuse, while others are silent; nay, I speak, all men blame him, you know the facts—and are not angry! For this is your experience as regards Demosthenes: you have so long been accustomed to hear of his crimes that they no longer surprise you. But it ought not so to be; you ought to be indignant, and to punish him, if the city is to prosper in the future.

> Greek: 144. καὶ ταῦτʼ οὐκ ἐγὼ μὲν κατηγορῶ, ἕτεροι δὲ παραλείπουσιν, ἀλλὰ κἀγὼ λέγω καὶ πάντες ἐπιτιμῶσι καὶ ὑμεῖς σύνιστε—καὶ οὐκ ὀργίζεσθε. ἐκεῖνο γὰρ πεπόνθατε πρὸς Δημοσθένην· συνείθισθε ἤδη τἀδικήματα αὐτοῦ ἀκούειν, ὥστε οὐ θαυμάζετε. δεῖ δὲ οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλʼ ἀγανακτεῖν καὶ τιμωρεῖσθαι, εἰ χρὴ τὰ λοιπὰ τῇ πόλει καλῶς ἔχειν.

[¶36] 145. But he was guilty of a second and far greater crime; for he stole the senate-house of the city and the democracy outright and carried them off to Thebes, to the Cadmeia, by his agreement with the Boeotarchs for joint control. And he contrived such domination for himself that now he came forward to the platform and declared that he was going as ambassador wherever he chose, whether you sent him or not;

> Greek: 145. δεύτερον δὲ καὶ πολὺ τούτου μεῖζον ἀδίκημα ἠδίκησεν, ὅτι τὸ βουλευτήριον τὸ τῆς πόλεως καὶ τὴν δημοκρατίαν ἄρδην ἔλαθεν ὑφελόμενος, καὶ μετήνεγκεν εἰς Θήβας εἰς τὴν Καδμείαν, τὴν κοινωνίαν τῶν πράξεων τοῖς Βοιωτάρχαις συνθέμενος· καὶ τηλικαύτην αὐτὸς αὐτῷ δυναστείαν κατεσκεύασεν, ὥστʼ ἤδη παριὼν ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα πρεσβεύσειν μὲν ἔφη ὅποι ἂν αὑτῷ δοκῇ, κἂν ὑμεῖς ἐκπέμπητε, εἰ δέ τις αὐτῷ τῶν στρατηγῶν ἀντείποι, καταδουλούμενος τοὺς ἄρχοντας καὶ συνεθίζων μηδὲν αὑτῷ ἀντιλέγειν, διαδικασίαν ἔφη γράψειν τῷ βήματι πρὸς τὸ στρατήγιον·

[¶37] 146. and, treating your magistrates as his slaves, and teaching them to raise no word of opposition against him, he declared that if any of the generals should oppose him, he would bring suit to settle the claims of the speakers’ platform as against those of the war office; for he said you owed more benefits to him from the platform than to the generals from the war office. And by drawing pay for empty places in the mercenary force, by stealing the pay of the troops, and by hiring out those ten thousand mercenaries to the Amphissians against my repeated protests and complaints in the assembly—when the mercenaries had thus been carried off, he rushed the city all unprepared into the mist of peril.

> Greek: 146. πλείω γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἀγαθὰ ὑφʼ ἑαυτοῦ ἔφη ἀπὸ τοῦ βήματος πεπονθέναι ἢ ὑπὸ τῶν στρατηγῶν ἐκ τοῦ στρατηγίου. μισθοφορῶν δʼ ἐν τῷ ξενικῷ κεναῖς χώραις, καὶ τὰ στρατιωτικὰ χρήματα κλέπτων, καὶ τοὺς μυρίους ξένους ἐκμισθώσας Ἀμφισσεῦσι, πολλὰ διαμαρτυρομένου καὶ σχετλιάζοντος ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ἐμοῦ, προσέμειξε φέρων ἀναρπασθέντων τῶν ξένων τὸν κίνδυνον ἀπαρασκεύῳ τῇ πόλει.

[¶38] 147. What, think you, would Philip have prayed for at that crisis? Would it not have been that he might in one place fight against the city’s forces, and in another, in Amphissa, against the mercenaries, and thus close his hand upon the Greeks already discouraged by so great a disaster? And Demosthenes, who is responsible for such misfortunes as that, is not content with escaping punishment, but is miserable unless he shall he crowned with a golden crown! Nor is he satisfied that the crown shall be announced in your presence, but if it is not to he proclaimed before the Hellenes, he is miserable over that. So true it seems to be that a wicked nature, when it has laid hold on great license, works out public disaster.

> Greek: 147. τί γὰρ ἂν οἴεσθε Φίλιππον ἐν τοῖς τότε καιροῖς εὔξασθαι; οὐ χωρὶς μὲν πρὸς τὴν πολιτικὴν δύναμιν, χωρὶς δʼ ἐν Ἀμφίσσῃ πρὸς τοὺς ξένους διαγωνίσασθαι, ἀθύμους δὲ τοὺς Ἕλληνας λαβεῖν τηλικαύτης πληγῆς προγεγενημένης; καὶ τηλικούτων κακῶν αἴτιος γενόμενος, Δημοσθένης οὐκ ἀγαπᾷ εἰ μὴ δίκην δέδωκεν, ἀλλʼ εἰ μὴ καὶ χρυσῷ στεφάνῳ στεφανωθήσεται, ἀγανακτεῖ· οὐδʼ ἱκανόν ἐστιν αὐτῷ ἐναντίον ὑμῶν κηρύττεσθαι, ἀλλʼ εἰ μὴ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐναντίον ἀναρρηθήσεται, τοῦτʼ ἀγανακτεῖ. οὕτως ὡς ἔοικε πονηρὰ φύσις, μεγάλης ἐξουσίας ἐπιλαβομένη, δημοσίας ἀπεργάζεται συμφοράς.

[¶39] 148. But the third and greatest of the crimes that I have mentioned is that which I am about to describe. Philip did not despise the Greeks, and he was well aware (for he was not without understanding) that he was about to contend in a little fraction of a day for all that he possessed; for that reason he wished to make peace, and was on the point of sending envoys. The officials at Thebes also were frightened at the impending danger—naturally, for they had no run-away orator and deserter to advise them, but the ten years’ Phocian war had taught them a lesson not to be forgotten. Now when Demosthenes saw that such was the situation, suspecting that the Boeotarchs were about to conclude a separate peace and get gold from Philip without his being in it, and thinking that life was not worth living if he was to be left out of any act of bribery, he jumped up in the assembly, when no man was saying a word either in favour of making peace with Philip or against it; and with the idea of serving a sort of notice on the Boeotarchs that they must turn over to him his share of the gain, he swore by Athena (whose statue, it seems, Pheidias wrought expressly that Demosthenes might have it to perjure himself by and to make profit of) that if any one should say that we ought to make peace with Philip, he would seize him by the hair and drag him to prison—in this imitating the politics of Cleophon, who, they tell us, in the time of the war against the Lacedaemonians, brought ruin to the state.

> Greek: 148. τρίτον δὲ καὶ τῶν προειρημένων μέγιστόν ἐστιν ὃ μέλλω λέγειν. Φιλίππου γὰρ οὐ καταφρονοῦντος τῶν Ἑλλήνων, οὐδʼ ἀγνοοῦντος, οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἀσύνετος, ὅτι περὶ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ἀγαθῶν ἐν ἡμέρας μικρῷ μέρει διαγωνιεῖται, καὶ διὰ ταῦτα βουλομένου ποιήσασθαι εἰρήνην καὶ πρεσβείας ἀποστέλλειν μέλλοντος, καὶ τῶν ἀρχόντων τῶν ἐν Θήβαις φοβουμένων τὸν ἐπιόντα κίνδυνον—εἰκότως· οὐ γὰρ ῥήτωρ ἀστράτευτος καὶ λιπὼν τὴν τάξιν αὐτοὺς ἐνουθέτησεν, ἀλλʼ ὁ Φωκικὸς πόλεμος δεκέτης γεγονὼς ἀείμνηστον παιδείαν αὐτοὺς ἐπαίδευσε— τούτων ἐχόντων οὕτως αἰσθόμενος Δημοσθένης, καὶ τοὺς Βοιωτάρχας ὑποπτεύσας μέλλειν εἰρήνην ἰδίᾳ ποιεῖσθαι, χρυσίον ἄνευ αὑτοῦ παρὰ Φιλίππου λαβόντας, ἀβίωτον ἡγησάμενος εἶναι εἴ τινος ἀπολειφθήσεται δωροδοκίας, ἀναπηδήσας ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησία, οὐδενὸς ἀνθρώπων λέγοντος οὔθʼ ὡς δεῖ ποιεῖσθαι πρὸς Φίλιππον εἰρήνην οὔθʼ ὡς οὐ δεῖ, ἀλλʼ ὡς ᾤετο κήρυγμά τι τοῦτο τοῖς Βοιωτάρχαις προκηρύττων ἀναφέρειν αὑτῷ τὰ μέρη τῶν λημμάτων, διώμνυτο τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν,

[¶40] 150. But when the officials in Thebes would pay no attention to him, but even turned your soldiers back again when they had marched out, for they wished to give you an opportunity to deliberate concerning peace, then indeed he became frantic, and went forward to the platform and stigmatized the Boeotarchs as traitors to Hellas, and declared that he would move a decree—he, who never looked on the face of an enemy in arms!—that you should send ambassadors to Thebes to ask them to give you free passage through their country for the march against Philip.

> Greek: 150. ἣν ὡς ἔοικε Φειδίας ἐνεργολαβεῖν ἠργάσατο καὶ ἐνεπιορκεῖν Δημοσθένει, ἦ μήν, εἴ τις ἐρεῖ ὡς χρὴ πρὸς Φίλιππον εἰρήνην ποιήσασθαι, ἀπάξειν εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον ἐπιλαβόμενος τῶν τριχῶν, ἀπομιμούμενος τὴν Κλεοφῶντος πολιτείαν, ὃς ἐπὶ τοῦ πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους πολέμου, ὡς λέγεται, τὴν πόλιν ἀπώλεσεν. ὡς δʼ οὐ προσεῖχον αὐτῷ οἱ ἄρχοντες οἱ ἐν ταῖς Θήβαις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς στρατιώτας τοὺς ὑμετέρους πάλιν ἀνέστρεψαν ἐξεληλυθότας, ἵνα βουλεύσησθε περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης, ἐνταῦθʼ ἤδη παντάπασιν ἔκφρων ἐγένετο, καὶ παρελθὼν ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα προδότας τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀπεκάλει τοὺς Βοιωτάρχας, καὶ γράψειν ἔφη ψήφισμα, ὁ τοῖς πολεμίοις οὐδεπώποτʼ ἀντιβλέψας, πέμπειν ὑμᾶς πρέσβεις εἰς Θήβας αἰτήσοντας Θηβαίους δίοδον ἐπὶ Φίλιππον.

[¶41] 151. But the officials in Thebes, ashamed lest they should seem in reality to be traitors to Hellas, turned from the thought of peace, and threw themselves into the war.

> Greek: 151. ὑπεραισχυνθέντες δὲ οἱ ἐν Θήβαις ἄρχοντες, μὴ δόξωσιν ὡς ἀληθῶς εἶναι προδόται τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς εἰρήνης ἀπετράποντο, ἐπὶ δὲ τὴν παράταξιν ὥρμησαν.

[¶42] 152. Here indeed it is fitting that we should pay the tribute of memory to those brave men whom he, regardless of the smouldering and ill-omened sacrifices, sent forth into manifest danger—he who, when they had fallen, dared to set his cowardly and runaway feet upon their tomb and eulogize the valor of the dead. O man of all mankind most useless for great and serious deeds, but for boldness of words most wonderful, will you presently undertake to look this jury in the face and say that over the disasters of the city you must be crowned? And, gentlemen, if he does, will you endure it? Are we to believe that you and your memory are to die with the dead?

> Greek: 152. ἔνθα δὴ καὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἄξιόν ἐστιν ἐπιμνησθῆναι, οὓς οὗτος ἀθύτων καὶ ἀκαλλιερήτων ὄντων τῶν ἱερῶν ἐκπέμψας ἐπὶ τὸν πρόδηλον κίνδυνον, ἐτόλμησε τοῖς δραπέταις ποσὶ καὶ λελοιπόσι τὴν τάξιν ἀναβὰς ἐπὶ τὸν τάφον τὸν τῶν τελευτησάντων, ἐγκωμιάζειν τὴν ἐκείνων ἀρετήν. ὦ πρὸς μὲν τὰ μεγάλα καὶ σπουδαῖα τῶν ἔργων τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων ἀχρηστότατε, πρὸς δὲ τὴν ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τόλμαν θαυμασιώτατε, ἐπιχειρήσεις αὐτίκα μάλα, βλέπων εἰς τὰ τούτων πρόσωπα, λέγειν ὡς δεῖ σε ἐπὶ ταῖς τῆς πόλεως συμφοραῖς στεφανοῦσθαι; ἐὰν δʼ οὗτος λέγῃ, ὑμεῖς ὑπομενεῖτε, καὶ συναποθανεῖται τοῖς τελευτήσασιν ὡς ἔοικε καὶ ἡ ὑμετέρα μνήμη;

[¶43] 153. I ask you to imagine for a little time that you are not in the court-room, but in the theater, and to imagine that you see the herald coming forward to make the proclamation under the decree; consider whether you believe the relatives of the dead will shed more tears over the tragedies and the sufferings of the heroes soon afterward to be presented on the stage, or over the blindness of the city.

> Greek: 153. γένεσθε δή μοι μικρὸν χρόνον τὴν διάνοιαν μὴ ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ, ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ, καὶ νομίσαθʼ ὁρᾶν προϊόντα τὸν κήρυκα καὶ τὴν ἐκ τοῦ ψηφίσματος ἀνάρρησιν μέλλουσαν γίγνεσθαι, καὶ λογίσασθε πότερʼ οἴεσθε τοὺς οἰκείους τῶν τελευτησάντων πλείω δάκρυα ἀφήσειν ἐπὶ ταῖς τραγῳδίαις καὶ τοῖς ἡρωικοῖς πάθεσι τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἐπεισιοῦσιν, ἢ ἐπὶ τῇ τῆς πόλεως ἀγνωμοσύνῃ.

[¶44] 154. For what Greek, nurtured in freedom, would not mourn as he sat in the theater and recalled this, if nothing more, that once on this day, when as now the tragedies were about to be performed, in a time when the city had better customs and followed better leaders, the herald would come forward and place before you the orphans whose fathers had died in battle, young men clad in the panoply of war; and he would utter that proclamation so honorable and so incentive to valor; “These young men, whose fathers showed themselves brave men and died in war, have been supported by the state until they have come of age and now, clad thus in full armour by their fellow citizens, they are sent out with the prayers of the city, to go each his way and they are invited to seats of honor in the theater.”

> Greek: 154. τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἂν ἀλγήσειεν ἄνθρωπος Ἕλλην καὶ παιδευθεὶς ἐλευθερίως, ἀναμνησθεὶς ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ ἐκεῖνό γε, εἰ μηδὲν ἕτερον, ὅτι ταύτῃ ποτὲ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ μελλόντων ὥσπερ νυνὶ τῶν τραγῳδῶν γίγνεσθαι, ὅτʼ εὐνομεῖτο μᾶλλον ἡ πόλις καὶ βελτίοσι προστάταις ἐχρῆτο, προελθὼν ὁ κῆρυξ καὶ παραστησάμενος τοὺς ὀρφανοὺς ὧν οἱ πατέρες ἦσαν ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ τετελευτηκότες, νεανίσκους πανοπλίᾳ κεκοσμημένους, ἐκήρυττε τὸ κάλλιστον κήρυγμα καὶ προτρεπτικώτατον πρὸς ἀρετήν, ὅτι τούσδε τοὺς νεανίσκους, ὧν οἱ πατέρες ἐτελεύτησαν ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ ἄνδρες ἀγαθοὶ γενόμενοι, μέχρι μὲν ἥβης ὁ δῆμος ἔτρεφε, νυνὶ δὲ καθοπλίσας τῇδε τῇ πανοπλία, ἀφίησιν ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ τρέπεσθαι ἐπὶ τὰ ἑαυτῶν, καὶ καλεῖ εἰς προεδρίαν. τότε μὲν ταῦτʼ ἐκήρυττεν, ἀλλʼ οὐ νῦν, ἀλλὰ παραστησάμενος τὸν τῆς ὀρφανίας τοῖς παισὶν αἴτιον, τί ποτʼ ἀνερεῖ, ἢ τί φθέγξεται;

[¶45] 155. This was the proclamation then, but not today. For when the herald has led forward the man who is responsible for making the children orphans, what will he proclaim? What words will he utter? For if he shall recite the mere dictates of the decree, yet the truth, ashamed, will refuse to be silent, and we shall seem to hear it crying out in words which contradict the voice of the herald, “This man, if man he can be called, the Athenian people crown, the basest— ‘for his virtue’ and ‘for his nobility‘—the coward and deserter.”

> Greek: 155. καὶ γὰρ ἐὰν αὐτὰ διεξίῃ τὰ ἐκ τοῦ Ψηφίσματος προστάγματα, ἀλλʼ οὐ τό γʼ ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας αἰσχρὸν σιωπήσεται, ἀλλὰ τἀναντία δόξει τῇ τοῦ κήρυκος φωνῇ φθέγγεσθαι, ὅτι τόνδε τὸν ἄνδρα, εἰ δὴ καὶ οὗτος ἀνήρ, στεφανοῖ ὁ δῆμος ὁ Ἀθηναίων ἀρετῆς ἕνεκα—τὸν κάκιστον, καὶ ἀνδραγαθίας ἕνεκα—τὸν ἄνανδρον καὶ λελοιπότα τὴν τάξιν.

[¶46] 156. No! by Zeus and the gods, do not, my fellow citizens, do not, I beseech you, set up in the orchestra of Dionysus a memorial of your own defeat; do not in the presence of the Greeks convict the Athenian people of having lost their reason; do not remind the poor Thebans of their incurable and irreparable disasters, men who, exiled through Demosthenes’ acts, found refuge with you, when their shrines and children and tombs had been destroyed by Demosthenes’ taking of bribes and by the Persian gold. But since you were not present in person, yet in imagination behold their disaster; imagine that you see their city taken, the razing of their walls, the burning of their homes; their women and children led into captivity; their old men, their aged matrons, late in life learning to forget what freedom means; weeping, supplicating you, angry not so much at those who are taking vengeance upon them, as at the men who are responsible for it all and calling on you by no means to crown the curse of Hellas, but rather to guard yourselves against the evil genius and the fate that ever pursue the man.

> Greek: 156. μὴ πρὸς Διὸς καὶ θεῶν, ἱκετεύω ὑμᾶς, ὦ ἄνδρες Αθηναῖοι, μὴ τρόπαιον ἵστατε ἀφʼ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ τοῦ Διονύσου ὀρχήστρᾳ, μηδʼ αἱρεῖτε παρανοίας ἐναντίον τῶν Ἑλλήνων τὸν δῆμον τὸν Ἀθηναίων, μηδʼ ὑπομιμνῄσκετε τῶν ἀνιάτων καὶ ἀνηκέστων κακῶν τοὺς ταλαιπώρους Θηβαίους, οὓς φεύγοντας διὰ τοῦτον ὑποδέδεχθε τῇ πόλει, ὧν ἱερὰ καὶ τέκνα καὶ τάφους ἀπώλεσεν ἡ Δημοσθένους δωροδοκία καὶ τὸ βασιλικὸν χρυσίον· ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ τοῖς σώμασιν οὐ παρεγένεσθε, ἀλλὰ ταῖς γε διανοίαις ἀποβλέψατʼ αὐτῶν εἰς τὰς συμφοράς, καὶ νομίσαθʼ ὁρᾶν ἁλισκομένην τὴν πόλιν, τειχῶν κατασκαφάς, ἐμπρήσεις οἰκιῶν, ἀγομένας γυναῖκας καὶ παῖδας εἰς δουλείαν, πρεσβύτας ἀνθρώπους, πρεσβύτιδας γυναῖκας ὀψὲ μεταμανθάνοντας τὴν ἐλευθερίαν, κλαίοντας, ἱκετεύοντας ὑμᾶς, ὀργιζομένους οὐ τοῖς τιμωρουμένοις, ἀλλὰ τοῖς τούτων αἰτίοις, ἐπισκήπτοντας μηδενὶ τρόπῳ τὸν τῆς Ἑλλάδος ἀλειτήριον στεφανοῦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν δαίμονα καὶ τὴν τύχην τὴν συμπαρακολουθοῦσαν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ φυλάξασθαι.

## 4. Sections 158–206

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/4/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/4/#p-N

[¶0] 158. For there is no city, there is no private man—not one—that has ever come off safe after following Demosthenes’ counsel. You have passed a law, fellow citizens, governing the men who steer the boats across the strait to Salamis; if one of them by accident overturns a boat in the strait, your law permits him no longer to be a ferryman, in order that no man may be careless of Greek lives; are you not then ashamed if this man, who has utterly overturned the city and all Hellas, if this man is to be permitted again to pilot the ship of state?

> Greek: 158. οὔτε πόλις γὰρ οὔτʼ ἀνὴρ ἰδιώτης οὐδεὶς πώποτε καλῶς ἀπήλλαξε Δημοσένει συμβούλῳ χρησάμενος. ὑμεῖς δέ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθε, εἰ ἐπὶ μὲν τοὺς πορθμέας τοὺς εἰς Σαλαμῖνα πορθμεύοντας νόμον ἔθεσθε, ἐάν τις αὐτῶν ἄκων ἐν τῷ πόρῳ πλοῖον ἀνατρέψῃ, τούτῳ μὴ ἐξεῖναι πάλιν πορθμεῖ γενέσθαι, ἵνα μηδεὶς αὐτοσχεδιάζῃ εἰς τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων σώματα, τὸν δὲ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἄρδην ἀνατετροφότα, τοῦτον ἐάσετε πάλιν ἀπευθύνειν τὰ κοινά;

[¶1] 159. But that I may speak concerning the fourth period also, and the present situation, I wish to remind you of this fact, that Demosthenes not only deserted his post in the army, but his post in the city also; for he took possession of one of your triremes and levied money upon the Greeks. But when our unexpected safety had brought him hack to the city, during the first months the man was timid, and he came forward half-dead to the platform and urged you to elect him “preserver of the peace.” But as for you, you would not even let resolutions that were passed bear the name of Demosthenes as the mover, but gave that honor to Nausicles. And yet, to-day, here is Demosthenes actually demanding a crown!

> Greek: 159. ἵνα δʼ εἴπω καὶ περὶ τοῦ τετάρτου καιροῦ καὶ τῶν νυνὶ καθεστηκότων πραγμάτων, ἐκεῖνο ὑμᾶς ὑπομνῆσαι βούλομαι, ὅτι Δημοσθένης οὐ τὴν ἀπὸ στρατοπέδου μόνον τάξιν ἔλιπεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, τριήρη προσλαβὼν ὑμῶν, καὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἀργυρολογήσας, καταγαγούσης δʼ αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν πόλιν τῆς ἀπροσδοκήτου σωτηρίας, τοὺς μὲν πρώτους χρόνους ὑπότρομος ἦν ἅνθρωπος, καὶ παριὼν ἡμιθνὴς ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα, εἰρηνοφύλακα ὑμᾶς αὑτὸν ἐκέλευε χειροτονεῖν· ὑμεῖς δὲ οὐδʼ ἐπὶ τὰ ψηφίσματα εἰᾶτε τὸ Δημοσθένους ἐπιγράφειν ὄνομα, ἀλλὰ Ναυσικλεῖ τοῦτο προσετάττετε· νυνὶ δʼ ἤδη καὶ στεφανοῦσθαι ἀξιοῖ.

[¶2] 160. But when Philip was dead and Alexander had come to the throne, Demosthenes again put on prodigious airs and caused a shrine to he dedicated to Pausanias and involved the senate in the charge of having offered sacrifice of thanksgiving as for good news. And he nicknamed Alexander “Margites”; and had the effrontery to say that Alexander would never stir out of Macedonia, for he was content, he said, to saunter around in Pella, and keep watch over the omens; and he said this statement was not based on conjecture, but on accurate knowledge, for valor was to be purchased at the price of blood. For Demosthenes, having no blood himself, formed his judgment of Alexander, not from Alexander’s nature, but from his own cowardice.

> Greek: 160. ἐπειδὴ δʼ ἐτελεύτησε μὲν Φίλιππος, ἀλέξανδρος δʼ εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν κατέστη, πάλιν αὖ τερατευόμενος ἱερὰ μὲν ἱδρύσατο Παυσανίου, εἰς αἰτίαν δὲ εὐαγγελίων θυσίας τὴν βουλὴν κατέστησεν, ἐπωνυμίαν δʼ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ Μαργίτην ἐτίθετο, ἀπετόλμα δὲ λέγειν ὡς οὐ κινηθήσεται ἐκ Μακεδονίας· ἀγαπᾶν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐν Πέλλῃ περιπατοῦντα καὶ τὰ σπλάγχνα φυλάττοντα. καὶ ταυτὶ λέγειν ἔφη οὐκ εἰκάζων, ἀλλʼ ἀκριβῶς εἰδώς, ὅτι αἵματός ἐστιν ἡ ἀρετὴ ὠνία, αὐτὸς οὐκ ἔχων αἷμα, καὶ θεωρῶν τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον οὐκ ἐκ τῆς Αλεξάνδρου φύσεως, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ἀνανδρίας.

[¶3] 161. But when now the Thessalians had voted to march against our city, and the young Alexander was at first bitterly angry—naturally —and when the army was near Thebes, Demosthenes, who had been elected ambassador by you, turned back when halfway across Cithaeron and came running home—useless in peace and war alike! And worst of all: while you did not surrender him nor allow him to be brought to trial in the synod of the Greeks, he has betrayed you now, if current report is true.

> Greek: 161. ἤδη δʼ ἐψηφισμένων Θετταλῶν ἐπιστρατεύειν ἐπὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν πόλιν, καὶ τοῦ νεανίσκου τὸ πρῶτον παροξυνθέντος εἰκότως, ἐπειδὴ περὶ Θήβας ἦν τὸ στρατόπεδον, πρεσβευτὴς ὑφʼ ὑμῶν χειροτονηθείς, ἀποδρὰς ἐκ μέσου τοῦ Κιθαιρῶνος ἧκεν ὑποστρέψας, οὔτʼ ἐν εἰρήνη οὔτʼ ἐν πολέμῳ χρήσιμον ἑαυτὸν παρέχων. καὶ τὸ πάντων δεινότατον, ὑμεῖς μὲν τοῦτον οὐ προὔδοτε, οὐδʼ εἰάσατε κριθῆναι ἐν τῷ τῶν Ἑλλήνων συνεδρίῳ, οὗτος δʼ ὑμᾶς νυνὶ προδέδωκεν, εἴπερ ἀληθῆ ἐστιν ἃ λέγεται.

[¶4] 162. For, as the people of the Paralus say, and those who have been ambassadors to Alexander—and the story is sufficiently credible—there is one Aristion, a man of Plataean status, son of Aristobulus the apothecary, known perhaps to some of you. This young man, distinguished for extraordinary beauty of person, once lived a long time in Demosthenes’ house (what he used to do there or what was done to him, is a scandal that is in dispute, and the story is one that would be quite improper for me to repeat). Now I am told that this Aristion, his origin and personal history being unknown to the king, is worming himself into favour with Alexander and getting access to him. Through him Demosthenes has sent a letter to Alexander, and has secured a certain degree of immunity for himself, and reconciliation; and he has carried his flattery to great lengths.

> Greek: 162. ὡς γάρ φασιν οἱ Πάραλοι καὶ οἱ πρεσβεύσαντες πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον, καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα εἰκότως πιστεύεται, ἔστι τις Ἀριστίων Πλαταϊκός, ὁ τοῦ Ἀριστοβούλου τοῦ φαρμακοπώλου υἱός, εἴ τις ἄρα καὶ ὑμῶν γιγνώσκει. οὗτός ποτε ὁ νεανίσκος ἑτέρων τὴν ὄψιν διαφέρων γενόμενος ᾤκησε πολὺν χρόνον ἐν τῇ Δημοσθένους οἰκίᾳ, ὅ τι δὲ πάσχων ἢ πράττων, ἀμφίβολος ἡ αἰτία, καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα οὐδαμῶς εὔσχημον ἐμοὶ λέγειν. οὗτος, ὡς ἐγὼ ἀκούων, ἠγνοημένος ὅστις ποτʼ ἐστὶ καὶ πῶς βεβιωκώς, τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον ὑποτρέχει καὶ πλησιάζει ἐκείνῳ. διὰ τούτου γράμματα πέμψας Δημοσθένης ὡς Ἀλέξανδρον, ἄδειάν τινα εὕρηται καὶ καταλλαγάς, καὶ πολλὴν τὴν κολακείαν πεποίηται.

[¶5] 163. But see from the following how the facts tally with the charge. For if Demosthenes had been bent on war with Alexander, as he claims to have been, or had any thought of it, three of the best opportunities in the world have been offered to him, and, as you see, he has not seized one of them. One, the first, was when Alexander, newly come to the throne, and not yet fairly settled in his personal affairs, crossed into Asia. The king of Persia was at the height of his power then, with ships and money and troops, and he would gladly have received us into his alliance because of the dangers that were threatening him. But did you, Demosthenes, at that time say a word? Did you move a decree? Shall I assume that you followed your natural disposition and were frightened? And yet the public opportunity waits not for the orator’s fears.

> Greek: 163. ἐκεῖθεν δὲ θεωρήσατε ὡς ὅμοιόν ἐστι τὸ πρᾶγμα τῇ αἰτίᾳ. εἰ γάρ τι τούτων ἐφρόνει Δημοσθένης καὶ πολεμικῶς εἶχεν, ὥσπερ καὶ φησί, πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον, τρεῖς αὐτῷ καιροὶ κάλλιστοι παραγεγόνασιν, ὧν οὐδενὶ φαίνεται κεχρημένος. εἷς μὲν ὁ πρῶτος, ὅτʼ εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν οὐ πάλαι καθεστηκὼς Ἀλέξανδρος, ἀκατασκεύων αὐτῷ τῶν ἰδίων ὄντων, εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν διέβη, ἤκμαζε δʼ ὁ τῶν Περσῶν βασιλεὺς καὶ ναυσὶ καὶ χρήμασι καὶ πεζῇ στρατιᾷ, ἄσμενος δʼ ἂν ἡμᾶς εἰς τὴν συμμαχίαν προσεδέξατο διὰ τοὺς ἐπιφερομένους ἑαυτῷ κινδύνους. εἶπάς τινα ἐνταῦθα λόγον, Δημόσθενες, ἢ ἔγραψάς τι ψήφισμα; βούλει σε θῶ φοβηθῆναι καὶ χρήσασθαι τῷ σαυτοῦ τρόπῳ; καίτοι ῥητορικὴν δειλίαν δημόσιος καιρὸς οὐκ ἀναμένει.

[¶6] 164. But when Darius was come down to the coast with all his forces, and Alexander was shut up in Cilicia in extreme want, as you yourself said, and was, according to your statement, on the point of being trampled under the hoofs of the Persian horse, and when there was not room enough in the city to contain your odious demonstrations and the letters that you carried around, dangling them from your fingers, while you pointed to my face as showing my discouragement and consternation, and in anticipation of some mishap to Alexander you called me “gilded horn,” and said the garland was already on my head, not even then did you take one step, but deferred it all for some more favorable opportunity.

> Greek: 164. ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ πάσῃ τῇ δυνάμει Δαρεῖος κατεβεβήκει, ὁ δʼ Ἀλέξανδρος ἦν ἀπειλημμένος ἐν Κιλικίᾳ πάντων ἐνδεής, ὡς ἔφησθα σύ, αὐτίκα μάλα δʼ ἔμελλεν, ὡς ἦν ὁ παρὰ σοῦ λόγος, συμπατηθήσεσθαι ὑπὸ τῆς Περσικῆς ἵππου, τὴν δὲ σὴν ἀηδίαν ἡ πόλις οὐκ ἐχώρει καὶ τὰς ἐπιστολὰς ἃς ἐξηρτημένος ἐκ τῶν δακτύλων περιῄεις, ἐπιδεικνύων τισὶ τὸ ἐμὸν πρόσωπον ὡς ἐκπεπληγμένου καὶ ἀθυμοῦντος, καὶ χρυσόκερων ἀποκαλῶν καὶ κατεστέφθαι φάσκων, εἴ τι πταῖσμα συμβήσεται Ἀλεξάνδρῳ, οὐδʼ ἐνταῦθα ἔπραξας οὐδέν, ἀλλʼ εἴς τινα καιρὸν ἀνεβάλλου καλλίω.

[¶7] 165. But I will pass over all this, and speak of the most recent events. The Lacedaemonians and their mercenary force had been successful in battle and had destroyed the forces of Corrhagus; the Eleans and the Achaeans, all but the people of Pellene, had come over to them, and so had all Arcadia except Megalopolis, and that city was under siege and its capture was daily expected. Meanwhile Alexander had withdrawn to the uttermost regions of the North, almost beyond the borders of the inhabited world, and Antipater was slow in collecting an army; the whole outcome was uncertain. Pray set forth to us, Demosthenes, what in the world there was that you did then, or what in the world there was that you said. I will yield the platform to you, if you wish, until you have told us.

> Greek: 165. ὑπερβὰς τοίνυν ἅπαντα ταῦτα, ὑπὲρ τῶν νυνὶ καθεστηκότων λέξω. Λακεδαιμόνιοι μὲν καὶ τὸ ξενικὸν ἐπέτυχον μάχῃ, καὶ διέφθειραν τοὺς περὶ Κόρραγον στρατιώτας, Ἠλεῖοι δʼ αὐτοῖς συμμετεβάλοντο καὶ Ἀχαιοὶ πάντες πλὴν Πελληνέων, καὶ Ἀρκαδία πᾶσα πλὴν Μεγάλης πόλεως, αὕτη δὲ ἐπολιορκεῖτο καὶ καθʼ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἐπίδοξος ἦν ἁλῶναι, ὁ δʼ Ἀλέξανδρος ἔξω τῆς ἄρκτου καὶ τῆς οἰκουμένης ὀλίγου δεῖν πάσης μεθειστήκει, ὁ δὲ Ἀντίπατρος πολὺν χρόνον συνῆγε στρατόπεδον, τὸ δʼ ἐσόμενον ἄδηλον ἦν. ἐνταῦθʼ ἡμῖν ἀπόδειξιν ποίησαι, Δημόσθενες, τί ποτʼ ἦν ἃ ἔπραξας, ἢ τί ποτʼ ἦν ἃ ἔλεγες· καὶ εἰ βούλει, παραχωρῶ σοι τοῦ βήματος ἕως ἂν εἴπῃς.

[¶8] 166. You are silent. I can well understand your embarrassment. But what you said then, I myself will tell now. Do you not remember, gentlemen, his disgusting and incredible words? Ye men of iron, how had you ever the endurance to listen to them! When he came forward and said, “Certain men are pruning the city, certain men have trimmed off the tendrils of the people, the sinews of the state have been cut, we are being matted and sewed up, certain men are first drawing us like needles into tight places.”

> Greek: 166. ἐπειδὴ δὲ σιγᾶς, ὅτι μὲν ἀπορεῖς, συγγνώμην ἔχω σοι, ἃ δὲ τότʼ ἔλεγες, ἐγὼ νυνὶ λέξω. οὐ μέμνησθε αὐτοῦ τὰ μιαρὰ καὶ ἀπίθανα ῥήματα, ἃ πῶς ποθʼ ὑμεῖς, ὦ σιδηροῖ, ἐκαρτερεῖτε ἀκροώμενοι; ὅτʼ ἔφη παρελθών· ἀμπελουργοῦσί τινες τὴν πόλιν, ἀνατετμήκασί τινες τὰ κλήματα τὰ τοῦ δήμου, ὑποτέτμηται τὰ νεῦρα τῶν πραγμάτων, φορμορραφούμεθα, ἐπὶ τὰ στενά τινες πρῶτον ὥσπερ τὰς βελόνας διείρουσι.

[¶9] 167. What are these things, you beast? Are they words or monstrosities? And again when you whirled around in a circle on the platform and said, pretending that you were working against Alexander, “I admit that I organized the Laconian uprising, I admit that I am bringing about the revolt of the Thessalians and the Perrhaebi.” You cause a revolt of the Thessalians? What! Could you cause the revolt of a village? Would you actually approach—let us talk not about a city—would you actually approach a house, where there was danger? But if money is being paid out anywhere, you will lay siege to the place; a man’s deed you will never do. If any good-fortune come of itself, you will lay claim to it, and sign your name to the thing after it has been done; but if any danger approach, you will run away; and then if we regain confidence, you will call for rewards and crowns of gold.

> Greek: 167. ταῦτα δὲ τί ἐστιν, ὦ κίναδος; ῥήματα ἢ θαύματα; καὶ πάλιν ὅτε κύκλῳ περιδινῶν σεαυτὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος ἔλεγες, ὡς ἀντιπράττων Ἀλεξάνδρῳ· ὁμολογῶ τὰ Λακωνικὰ συστῆσαι, ὁμολογῶ Θετταλοὺς καὶ Περραιβοὺς ἀφιστάναι. σὺ Θετταλοὺς ἀφιστάναι; σὺ γὰρ ἂν κώμην ἀποστήσειας; σὺ γὰρ ἂν προσέλθοις μὴ ὅτι πρὸς πόλιν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς οἰκίαν, ὅπου κίνδυνος πρόσεστιν; ἀλλʼ εἰ μέν που χρήματα ἀναλίσκεται, προσκαθιζήσει, πρᾶξιν δὲ ἀνδρὸς οὐ πράξεις· ἐὰν δʼ αὐτόματόν τι συμβῇ, προσποιήσῃ καὶ σαυτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ γεγενημένον ἐπιγράψεις· ἂν δʼ ἔλθῃ φόβος τις, ἀποδράσῃ· ἂν δὲ θαρρήσωμεν, δωρεὰς αἰτήσεις καὶ χρυσοῦς στεφάνους.

[¶10] 168. Yes, but he is a friend of the people! If now you attend only to the plausible sound of his words, you will be deceived as in the past; but if you look at his character and the truth, you will not be deceived. Call him to account in this way: with your help I will reckon up what ought to be the inborn qualities of the “friend of the people” and the orderly citizen; and over against them I will set down what manner of man one would expect the oligarch and the worthless man to be. And I ask you to compare the two and to see to which class he belongs—not by his professions, but by his life.

> Greek: 168. ναί, ἀλλὰ δημοτικός ἐστιν. ἂν μὲν τοίνυν πρὸς τὴν εὐφημίαν αὐτοῦ τῶν λόγων ἀποβλέπητε, ἐξαπατηθήσεσθε, ὥσπερ καὶ πρότερον, ἐὰν δʼ εἰς τὴν φύσιν καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν, οὐκ ἐξαπατηθήσεσθε. ἐκείνως δὲ ἀπολάβετε παρʼ αὐτοῦ λόγον. ἐγὼ μὲν μεθʼ ὑμῶν λογιοῦμαι ἃ δεῖ ὑπάρξαι ἐν τῇ φύσει τῷ δημοτικῷ ἀνδρὶ καὶ σώφρονι, καὶ πάλιν ἀντιθήσω ποῖόν τινα εἰκός ἐστιν εἶναι τὸν ὀλιγαρχικὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ φαῦλον· ὑμεῖς δʼ ἀντιθέντες ἑκάτερα τούτων θεωρήσατʼ αὐτόν, μὴ ὁποτέρου τοῦ λόγου, ἀλλʼ ὁποτέρου τοῦ βίου ἐστίν.

[¶11] 169. I think you would all acknowledge that the following qualities ought to he found in the “friend of the people”: in the first place, he should be free-born, on both his father’s and his mother’s side, lest because of misfortune of birth he be disloyal to the laws that preserve the democracy. In the second place, he should have as a legacy from his ancestors some service which they have done to the democracy, or at the very least there must he no inherited enmity against it, lest in the attempt to avenge the misfortunes of his family he undertake to injure the city.

> Greek: 169. οἶμαι τοίνυν ἅπαντας ἂν ὑμᾶς ὁμολογῆσαι τάδε δεῖν ὑπάρξαι τῷ δημοτικῷ, πρῶτον μὲν ἐλεύθερον εἶναι καὶ πρὸς πατρὸς καὶ πρὸς μητρός, ἵνα μὴ διὰ τὴν περὶ τὸ γένος ἀτυχίαν δυσμενὴς ᾖ τοῖς νόμοις, οἳ σῴζουσι τὴν δημοκρατίαν, δεύτερον δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν προγόνων εὐεργεσίαν τινὰ αὐτῷ πρὸς τὸν δῆμον ὑπάρχειν, ἢ τό γʼ ἀναγκαιότατον μηδεμίαν ἔχθραν, ἵνα μὴ βοηθῶν τοῖς τῶν προγόνων ἀτυχήμασι κακῶς ἐπιχειρῇ ποιεῖν τὴν πόλιν.

[¶12] 170. Thirdly, he ought to be temperate and self-restrained in his daily life, lest to support his wanton extravagance he take bribes against the people. Fourthly, he ought to be a man of good judgment and an able speaker; for it is well that his discernment choose the wisest course, and his training in rhetoric and his eloquence persuade the hearers; but if he cannot have both, good judgment is always to be preferred to eloquence of speech. Fifthly, he ought to be a man of brave heart, that in danger and peril he may not desert the people. But the oligarch we should expect to have all the opposite qualities; why need I go over them again? Examine, then, and see what one of these qualities belongs to Demosthenes. And let the reckoning be made with all fairness.

> Greek: 170. τρίτον σώφρονα καὶ μέτριον χρὴ πεφυκέναι αὐτὸν πρὸς τὴν καθʼ ἡμέραν δίαιταν, ὅπως μὴ διὰ τὴν ἀσέλγειαν τῆς δαπάνης δωροδοκῇ κατὰ τοῦ δήμου. τέταρτον εὐγνώμονα καὶ δυνατὸν εἰπεῖν· καλὸν γὰρ τὴν μὲν διάνοιαν προαιρεῖσθαι τὰ βέλτιστα, τὴν δὲ παιδείαν τὴν τοῦ ῥήτορος καὶ τὸν λόγον πείθειν τοὺς ἀκούοντας· εἰ δὲ μή, τήν γʼ εὐγνωμοσύνην ἀεὶ προτακτέον τοῦ λόγου. πέμπτον ἀνδρεῖον εἶναι τὴν ψυχήν, ἵνα μὴ παρὰ τὰ δεινὰ καὶ τοὺς κινδύνους ἐγκαταλίπῃ τὸν δῆμον. τὸν δʼ ὀλιγαρχικὸν πάντα δεῖ τἀναντία τούτων ἔχειν· τί γὰρ δεῖ πάλιν διεξιέναι; σκέψασθε δή, τί τούτων ὑπάρχει Δημοσθένει· ὁ δὲ λογισμὸς ἔστω ἐπὶ πᾶσι δικαίοις.

[¶13] 171. His father was Demosthenes of Paeania, a free man, for there is no need of lying. But how the case stands as to his inheritance from his mother and his maternal grandfather, I will tell you. There was a certain Gylon of Cerameis. This man betrayed Nymphaeum in the Pontus to the enemy, for the place at that time belonged to our city. He was impeached and became an exile from the city, not awaiting trial. He came to Bosporus and there received as a present from the tyrants of the land a place called “the Gardens.”

> Greek: 171. τούτῳ πατὴρ μὲν ἦν Δημοσθένης ὁ Παιανιεύς, ἀνὴρ ἐλεύθερος· οὐ γὰρ δεῖ ψεύδεσθαι. τὰ δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς μητρὸς καὶ τοῦ πάππου τοῦ πρὸς μητρὸς πῶς ἔχει αὐτῷ, ἐγὼ φράσω. Γύλων ἦν ἐκ Κεραμέων. οὗτος προδοὺς τοῖς πολεμίοις Νύμφαιον τὸ ἐν τῷ Πόντῳ, τότε τῆς πόλεως ἐχούσης τὸ χωρίον τοῦτο, φυγὰς ἀπʼ εἰσαγγελίας ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἐγένετο, τὴν κρίσιν οὐχ ὑπομείνας, καὶ ἀφικνεῖται εἰς Βόσπορον, κἀκεῖ λαμβάνει δωρεὰν παρὰ τῶν τυράννων τοὺς ὠνομασμένους Κήπους, καὶ γαμεῖ γυναῖκα πλουσίαν μὲν νὴ Δία καὶ χρυσίον ἐπιφερομένην πολύ, Σκύθιν δὲ τὸ γένος, ἐξ ἧς αὐτῷ γίγνονται θυγατέρες δύο, ἃς ἐκεῖνος δεῦρο μετὰ πολλῶν χρημάτων ἀποστείλας, συνῴκισε τὴν μὲν ἑτέραν ὁτῳδήποτε, ἵνα μὴ πολλοῖς ἀπεχθάνωμαι·

[¶14] 172. Here he married a woman who was rich, I grant you, and brought him a big dowry, but a Scythian by blood. This wife bore him two daughters, whom he sent hither with plenty of money. One he married to a man whom I will not name—for I do not care to incur the enmity of many persons,—the other, in contempt of the laws of the city, Demosthenes of Paeania took to wife. She it was who bore your busy-body and informer. From his grandfather, therefore, he would inherit enmity toward the people, for you condemned his ancestors to death and by his mother’s blood he would be a Scythian, a Greek-tongued barbarian—so that his knavery, too, is no product of our soil.

> Greek: 172. τὴν δʼ ἑτέραν ἔγημε παριδὼν τοὺς τῆς πόλεως νόμους Δημοσθένης ὁ Παιανιεύς, ἐξ ἧς ὑμῖν ὁ περίεργος καὶ συκοφάντης γεγένηται. οὐκοῦν ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ πάππου πολέμιος ἂν εἴη τῷ δήμῳ, θάνατον γὰρ αὐτοῦ τῶν προγόνων κατέγνωτε, τὰ δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς μητρὸς Σκύθης, βάρβαρος ἑλληνίζων τῇ φωνῇ· ὅθεν καὶ τὴν πονηρίαν οὐκ ἐπιχώριός ἐστι.

[¶15] 173. But in daily life what is he? From being a trierarch he suddenly came forward as a hired writer of speeches, when he had disreputably squandered his patrimony. But when he had lost his reputation even in this profession, for he disclosed his clients’ arguments to their opponents, he vaulted on to the political platform. And though he made enormous profits out of politics, he laid up next to nothing. It is true that just now the Persian’s gold has floated his extravagance, but even that will not suffice, for no wealth ever yet kept up with a debauched character. And to sum it all up, he supplies his wants, not from his private income, but from your perils.

> Greek: 173. περὶ δὲ τὴν καθʼ ἡμέρων δίαιταν τίς ἐστιν; ἐκ τριηράρχου λογογράφος ἀνεφάνη, καταγελάστως τὰ πατρῷα προέμενος· ἄπιστος δὲ καὶ περὶ ταῦτα δόξας εἶναι καὶ τοὺς λόγους ἐκφέρων τοῖς ἀντιδίκοις, ἀνεπήδησεν ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα· πλεῖστον δʼ ἐκ τῆς πολιτείας εἰληφὼς ἀργύριον, ἐλάχιστα περιεποιήσατο. νῦν μέντοι τὸ βασιλικὸν χρυσίον ἐπικέκλυκε τὴν δαπάνην αὐτοῦ, ἔσται δʼ οὐδὲ τοῦθʼ ἱκανόν· οὐδεὶς γὰρ πώποτε πλοῦτος τρόπου πονηροῦ περιεγένετο. καὶ τὸ κεφάλαιον, τὸν βίον οὐκ ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων προσόδων πορίζεται, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῶν ὑμετέρων κινδύνων.

[¶16] 174. But as regards good judgment and power of speech, how does it stand with him? Eloquent of speech, infamous of life! For so licentious has been his treatment of his own body that I prefer not to describe his conduct; for before now I have seen people hated who recount too exactly the sins of their neighbors. Then again, what is the outcome for the city? His words are fine, his acts worthless.

> Greek: 174. περὶ δʼ εὐγνωμοσύνην καὶ λόγου δύναμιν πῶς πέφυκε; δεινὸς λέγειν, κακὸς βιῶναι. οὕτω γὰρ κέχρηται καὶ τῷ ἑαυτοῦ σώματι καὶ παιδοποιίᾳ, ὥστʼ ἐμὲ μὴ βούλεσθαι λέγειν ἃ τούτῳ πέπρακται· ἤδη γὰρ ποτε εἶδον μισηθέντας τοὺς τὰ τῶν πλησίον αἰσχρὰ λίαν σαφῶς λέγοντας. ἔπειτα τί συμβαίνει τῇ πόλει; οἱ μὲν λόγοι καλοί, τὰ δʼ ἔργα φαῦλα.

[¶17] 175. But as concerns his bravery little remains for me to say. For if he denied that he is a coward, or if you did not know it as well as he does himself, the account of it would have detained me. But since he admits it himself in the assembly, and you are perfectly aware of it, it remains only to remind you of the laws as to this matter. For Solon, the ancient lawgiver, thought it necessary to apply the same penalties to the coward as to the man who failed to take the field or the man who deserted his post. For there are such things as indictments for cowardice. Some of you may indeed be surprised to know that there are indictments for inborn defects. There are. To what end? In order that each man of us, fearing the punishment of the laws more than he fears the enemy, may become a better champion of his country.

> Greek: 175. πρὸς δὲ ἀνδρείαν βραχύς μοι λείπεται λόγος. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἠρνεῖτο μὴ δειλὸς εἶναι, ἢ ὑμεῖς μὴ συνῄδετε, διατριβὴν ὁ λόγος ἄν μοι παρεῖχεν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁμολογεῖ ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις, καὶ ὑμεῖς σύνιστε, λοιπὸν ὑπομνῆσαι τοὺς περὶ τούτων κειμένους νόμους. ὁ γὰρ Σόλων ὁ παλαιὸς νομοθέτης ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐπιτιμίοις ᾤετο δεῖν ἐνέχεσθαι τὸν ἀστράτευτον καὶ τὸν λελοιπότα τὴν τάξιν καὶ τὸν δειλὸν ὁμοίως· εἰσὶ γὰρ καὶ δειλίας γραφαί. καίτοι θαυμάσειεν ἄν τις ὑμῶν, εἰ εἰσὶ φύσεως γραφαί. εἰσίν. τίνος ἕνεκα; ἵνʼ ἕκαστος ἡμῶν τὰς ἐκ τῶν νόμων ζημίας φοβούμενος μᾶλλον ἢ τοὺς πολεμίους, ἀμείνων ἀγωνιστὴς ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος ὑπάρχῃ·

[¶18] 176. Therefore the man who fails to take the field, and the coward, and the man who has deserted his post are excluded by the lawgiver from the purified precincts of the Agora, and may not be crowned, nor take part in the sacred rites of the people. But you, Ctesiphon, command us to crown the man who by command of the laws is uncrowned; and by your decree you invite into the orchestra at the time of the tragedies the man who has no right to enter, and into the shrine of Dionysus the man who has betrayed all our shrines through cowardice. But that I may not lead you away from the subject, remember this when he says that he is the “friend of the people”; examine, not his speech, but his life; and consider, not who he says he is, but who he is.

> Greek: 176. ὁ μὲν τοίνυν νομοθέτης τὸν ἀστράτευτον καὶ τὸν δειλὸν καὶ τὸν λιπόντα τὴν τάξιν ἔξω τῶν περιραντηρίων τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἐξείργει, καὶ οὐκ ἐᾷ στεφανοῦσθαι, οὐδʼ εἰσιέναι εἰς τὰ ἱερὰ τὰ δημοτελῆ· σὺ δὲ τὸν ἀστεφάνωτον ἐκ τῶν νόμων κελεύεις ἡμᾶς στεφανοῦν, καὶ τῷ σαυτοῦ ψηφίσματι τὸν οὐ προσήκοντα εἰσκαλεῖς τοῖς τραγῳδοῖς εἰς τὴν ὀρχήστραν, εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Διονύσου τὸν τὰ ἱερὰ διὰ δειλίαν προδεδωκότα. ἵνα δὲ μὴ ἀποπλανῶ ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς ὑποθέσεως, ἐκεῖνο μέμνησθε, ὅταν φῇ δημοτικὸς εἶναι· θεωρεῖτʼ αὐτοῦ μὴ τὸν λόγον, ἀλλὰ τὸν βίον, καὶ σκοπεῖτε μὴ τίς φησιν εἶναι, ἀλλὰ τίς ἐστιν.

[¶19] 177. I have mentioned crowns and rewards. Let me, fellow citizens, while I still have the matter in mind, warn you that unless you put a stop to these prodigal gifts and these crowns thoughtlessly bestowed, neither those who receive honors from you will be grateful, nor will the prosperity of the city be restored. For you will never in the world reform those who are bad, and the good you will plunge into extreme discouragement. But I will present proofs which I think will convince you that what I say is true.

> Greek: 177. ἐπεὶ δὲ στεφάνων ἀνεμνήσθην καὶ δωρεῶν, ἕως ἔτι μέμνημαι, προλέγω ὑμῖν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, εἰ μὴ καταλύσετε τὰς ἀφθόνους ταύτας δωρεὰς καὶ τοὺς εἰκῇ διδομένους στεφάνους, οὔθʼ οἱ τιμώμενοι χάριν ὑμῖν εἴσονται, οὔτε τὰ τῆς πόλεως πράγματα ἐπανορθωθήσεται· τοὺς μὲν γὰρ πονηροὺς οὐ μή ποτε βελτίους ποιήσετε, τοὺς δὲ χρηστοὺς εἰς τὴν ἐσχάτην ἀθυμίαν ἐμβαλεῖτε. ὅτι δʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, μεγάλα τούτων οἶμαι σημεῖα δείξειν ὑμῖν.

[¶20] 178. If any one should ask you whether our city seems to you more glorious in our own time or in the time of our fathers, you would all agree, in the time of our fathers. And were there better men then than now? Then, eminent men; but now, far inferior. But rewards and crowns and proclamations, and maintenance in the Prytaneum—were these things more common then than now? Then, honors were rare among us, and the name of virtue was itself an honor. But now the custom is already completely faded out, and you do the crowning as a matter of habit, not deliberately.

> Greek: 178. εἰ γάρ τις ὑμᾶς ἐρωτήσειε, πότερον ὑμῖν ἐνδοξοτέρα δοκεῖ ἡ πόλις ἡμῶν εἶναι ἐπὶ τῶν νυνὶ καιρῶν ἢ ἐπὶ τῶν προγόνων, ἅπαντες ἂν ὁμολογήσαιτε, ἐπὶ τῶν προγόνων. ἄνδρες δὲ πότερον τότε ἀμείνους ἦσαν ἢ νυνί; τότε μὲν διαφέροντες, νυνὶ δὲ πολλῷ καταδεέστεροι. δωρεαὶ δὲ καὶ στέφανοι καὶ κηρύγματα καὶ σιτήσεις ἐν πρυτανείῳ πότερα τότε ἦσαν πλείους ἢ νυνί; τότε μὲν ἦν σπάνια τὰ καλὰ παρʼ ἡμῖν, καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀρετῆς ὄνομα τίμιον· νυνὶ δʼ ἤδη καταπέπλυται τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ τὸ στεφανοῦν ἐξ ἔθους, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐκ προνοίας, ποιεῖσθε.

[¶21] 179. Are you not therefore surprised, when you look at it in this light, that the rewards are now more numerous, but the city was then more prosperous? And that the men are now inferior, but were better then? I will try to explain this to you. Do you think, fellow citizens, that any man would ever have been willing to train for the pancratium or any other of the harder contests in the Olympic games, or any of the other games that confer a crown, if the crown were given, not to the best man, but to the man who had successfully intrigued for it? No man would ever have been willing.

> Greek: 179. οὐκ οὖν ἄτοπον οὑτωσὶ διαλογιζομένοις, τὰς μὲν δωρεὰς νυνὶ πλείους εἶναι, τὰ δὲ πράγματα τὰ τῆς πόλεως τότε μᾶλλον ἰσχύειν, καὶ τοὺς ἄνδρας νῦν μὲν χείρους εἶναι, τότε δʼ ἀμείνους; ἐγὼ δὲ τοῦθʼ ὑμᾶς ἐπιχειρήσω διδάσκειν. οἴεσθʼ ἄν ποτε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἐθελῆσαί τινα ἐπασκεῖν εἰς τὰ Ὀλύμπια, ἢ ἄλλον τινὰ τῶν στεφανιτῶν ἀγώνων, παγκράτιον ἢ καὶ ἄλλο τι τῶν βαρυτέρων ἄθλων, εἰ ὁ στέφανος ἐδίδοτο μὴ τῷ κρατίστῳ, ἀλλὰ τῷ διαπραξαμένῳ; οὐδεὶς ἄν ποτʼ ἠθέλησεν.

[¶22] 180. But as it is, because the reward is rare, I believe, and because of the competition and the honor, and the undying fame that victory brings, men are willing to risk their bodies, and at the cost of the most severe discipline to carry the struggle to the end. Imagine, therefore, that you yourselves are the officials presiding over a contest in political virtue, and consider this, that if you give the prizes to few men and worthy, and in obedience to the laws, you will find many men to compete in virtue’s struggle; but if your gifts are compliments to any man who seeks them and to those who intrigue for them, you will corrupt even honest minds.

> Greek: 180. νῦν δʼ οἶμαι διὰ τὸ σπάνιον καὶ τὸ περιμάχητον καὶ τὸ καλὸν καὶ τὸ ἀείμνηστον ἐκ τῆς νίκης ἐθέλουσίν τινες τὰ σώματα παραθέμενοι καὶ τὰς μεγίστας ταλαιπωρίας ὑπομείναντες διακινδυνεύειν. ὑπολάβετε τοίνυν ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς εἶναι ἀγωνοθέτας πολιτικῆς ἀρετῆς, κἀκεῖνο ἐκλογίσασθε, ὅτι, ἐὰν μὲν τὰς δωρεὰς ὀλίγοις καὶ ἀξίοις καὶ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους διδῶτε, πολλοὺς ἀγωνιστὰς ἕξετε τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἂν δὲ τῷ βουλομένῳ καὶ τοῖς διαπραξαμένοις χαρίζησθε, καὶ τὰς ἐπιεικεῖς φύσεις διαφθερεῖτε.

[¶23] 181. How true this is, I wish to teach you a little more explicitly. Does it seem to you that Themistocles, who was general when you conquered the Persian in the battle of Salamis, was the better man, or Demosthenes, who the other day deserted his post? Miltiades, who won the battle of Marathon, or yonder man? Further—the men who brought back the exiled democracy from Phyle? And Aristeides “the Just,” a title most unlike the name men give Demosthenes?

> Greek: 181. ὅτι δὲ ὀρθῶς λέγω, ἔτι μικρῷ σαφέστερον ὑμᾶς βούλομαι διδάξαι. πότερον ὑμῖν ἀμείνων ἀνὴρ εἶναι δοκεῖ Θεμιστοκλῆς, ὁ στρατηγήσας ὅτʼ ἐν τῇ περὶ Σαλαμῖνα ναυμαχίᾳ τὸν Πέρσην ἐνικᾶτε, ἢ Δημοσθένης, ὁ νυνὶ τὴν τάξιν λιπών; Μιλτιάδης δέ, ὁ τὴν ἐν Μαραθῶνι μάχην νικήσας, ἢ οὗτος; ἔτι δʼ οἱ ἀπὸ Φυλῆς φεύγοντα τὸν δῆμον καταγαγόντες; Ἀριστείδης δʼ ὁ δίκαιος, ὁ τὴν ἀνόμοιον ἔχων ἐπωνυμίαν Δημοσθένει;

[¶24] 182. But, by the Olympian gods, I think one ought not to name those men on the same day with this monster! Now let Demosthenes show if anywhere stands written an order to crown any one of those men. Was the democracy, then, ungrateful? No, but noble-minded, and those men were worthy of their city. For they thought that their honor should be conferred, not in written words, but in the memory of those whom they had served; and from that time until this day it abides, immortal. But what rewards they did receive, it is well to recall.

> Greek: 182. ἀλλʼ ἔγωγε μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς τοὺς Ὀλυμπίους οὐδʼ ἐν ταῖς αὐταῖς ἡμέραις ἄξιον ἡγοῦμαι μεμνῆσθαι τοῦ θηρίου τούτου κἀκείνων τῶν ἀνδρῶν. ἐπιδειξάτω τοίνυν Δημοσθένης εἴ που γέγραπταί τινα τούτων τῶν ἀνδρῶν στεφανῶσαι. ἀχάριστος ἄρʼ ἦν ὁ δῆμος; οὔκ, ἀλλὰ μεγαλόφρων, κἀκεῖνοί γε τῆς πόλεως ἄξιοι· οὐ γὰρ ᾤοντο δεῖν ἐν τοῖς γράμμασι τιμᾶσθαι, ἀλλʼ ἐν τῇ μνήμῃ τῶν εὖ πεπονθότων, ἣ ἀπʼ ἐκείνου τοῦ χρόνου μέχρι τῆσδε τῆς ἡμέρας ἀθάνατος οὖσα διαμένει. δωρεὰς δὲ τίνας ἐλάμβανον, ἄξιόν ἐστι μνησθῆναι.

[¶25] 183. There were certain men in those days, fellow citizens, who endured much toil and underwent great dangers at the river Strymon, and conquered the Medes in battle. When they came home they asked the people for a reward, and the democracy gave them great honor, as it was then esteemed—permission to set up three stone Hermae in the Stoa of the Hermae, but on condition that they should not inscribe their own names upon them, in order that the inscription might not seem to be in honor of the generals, but of the people.

> Greek: 183. ἦσάν τινες, ὦ ἄνδρες Αθηναῖοι, κατὰ τοὺς τότε καιρούς, οἳ πολὺν πόνον ὑπομείναντες καὶ μεγάλους κινδύνους ἐπὶ τῷ Στρυμόνι ποταμῷ ἐνίκων μαχόμενοι Μήδους· οὗτοι δεῦρο ἀφικόμενοι τὸν δῆμον ᾔτησαν δωρεάν, καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ὁ δῆμος τιμὰς μεγάλας, ὡς τότʼ ἐδόκει, τρεῖς λιθίνους Ἑρμᾶς στῆσαι ἐν τῇ στοᾷ τῇ τῶν Ἑρμῶν, ἐφʼ ᾧτε μὴ ἐπιγράφειν τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἑαυτῶν, ἵνα μὴ τῶν στρατηγῶν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ δήμου δοκῇ εἶναι τὸ ἐπίγραμμα.

[¶26] 184. That this is true, you shall learn from the verses themselves; for on the first of the Hermae stands written:
“Brave men and daring were they who once by the city of Eion,”
“Far off by Strymon’s flood, fought with the sons of the Medes.”
“Fiery famine they made their ally, and Ares on-rushing;”
“So they found helpless a foe stranger till then to defeat.”
and on the second:
“This, the reward of their labour, has Athens bestowed on her leaders;”
“Token of duty well done, honor to valor supreme.”
“Whoso in years yet to be shall read these Ls in the marble,”
“Gladly will toil in his turn, giving his life for the state.”

> Greek: 184. ὅτι δʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν ποιημάτων γνώσεσθε. ἐπιγέγραπται γὰρ ἐπὶ τῷ μὲν πρώτῳ τῶν Ἑρμῶν·
ἦν ἄρα κἀκεῖνοι ταλακάρδιοι, οἵ ποτε Μήδων
παισὶν ἐπʼ Ἠϊόνι, Στρυμόνος ἀμφὶ ῥοάς,
λιμόν τʼ αἴθωνα κρατερόν τʼ ἐπάγοντες Ἄρηα
πρῶτοι δυσμενέων εὗρον ἀμηχανίην.
υνκνοων
ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ δευτέρῳ·
ἡγεμόνεσσι δὲ μισθὸν Ἀθηναῖοι τάδʼ ἔδωκαν
ἀντʼ εὐεργεσίης καὶ μεγάλης ἀρετῆς.
μᾶλλόν τις τάδʼ ἰδὼν καὶ ἐπεσσομένων ἐθελήσει
ἀμφὶ ξυνοῖσι πράγμασι μόχθον ἔχειν.
υνκνοων ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ τρίτῳ ἐπιγέγραπται Ἑρμῇ·

[¶27] 185. And on the third of the Hermae stands written:
“Once from this city Menestheus, summoned to join the Atreidae,”
“Led forth an army to Troy, plain beloved of the gods.”
“Homer has sung of his fame, and has said that of all the mailed chieftains”
“None could so shrewdly as he marshal the ranks for the fight.”
“Fittingly then shall the people of Athens be honored, and called”
“Marshals and leaders of war, heroes in combat of arms.”
Is the name of the generals anywhere here? Nowhere; only the name of the people.

> Greek: 185. ἔκ ποτε τῆσδε πόληος ἅμʼ Ἀτρείδῃσι Μενεσθεὺς
ἡγεῖτο ζάθεον Τρωικὸν ἂμ πεδίον,
ὅν ποθʼ Ὅμηρος ἔφη Δαναῶν πύκα χαλκοχιτώνων
κοσμητῆρα μάχης ἔξοχον ἄνδρα μολεῖν.
οὕτως οὐδὲν ἀεικὲς Ἀθηναίοισι καλεῖσθαι
κοσμητὰς πολέμου τʼ ἀμφὶ καὶ ἠνορέης.
υνκνοων
ἔστι που τὸ τῶν στρατηγῶν ὄνομα; οὐδαμοῦ, ἀλλὰ τὸ τοῦ δήμου.

[¶28] 186. And now pass on in imagination to the Stoa Poecile; for the memorials of all our noble deeds stand dedicated in the Agora. What is it then, fellow citizens, to which I refer? The battle of Marathon is pictured there. Who then was the general? If you were asked this question you would all answer, “Miltiades.” But his name is not written there. Why? Did he not ask for this reward? He did ask, but the people refused it; and instead of his name they permitted that he should be painted in the front rank, urging on his men.

> Greek: 186. προέλθετε δὴ τῇ διανοίᾳ καὶ εἰς τὴν στοὰν τὴν ποικίλην· ἁπάντων γὰρ ἡμῖν τῶν καλῶν ἔργων τὰ ὑπομνήματα ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ ἀνάκειται. τί οὖν ἐστιν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὃ ἐγὼ λέγω; ἐνταῦθα ἡ ἐν Μαραθῶνι μάχη γέγραπται. τίς οὖν ἦν ὁ στρατηγός; οὑτωσὶ μὲν ἐρωτηθέντες ἅπαντες ἀποκρίναισθε ἄν, ὅτι Μιλτιάδης· ἐκεῖ δὲ οὐκ ἐπιγέγραπται. πῶς; οὐκ ᾔτησε ταύτην τὴν δωρεάν; ᾔτησεν, ἀλλʼ ὁ δῆμος οὐκ ἔδωκεν, ἀλλʼ ἀντὶ τοῦ ὀνόματος συνεχώρησεν αὐτῷ γραφῆναι πρώτῳ παρακαλοῦντι τοὺς στρατιώτας.

[¶29] 187. Again, in the Metroön you may see the reward that you gave to the band from Phyle, who brought the people back from exile. For Archinus of Coele, one of the men who brought back the people, was the author of the resolution. He moved, first, to give them for sacrifice and dedicatory offerings a thousand drachmas, less than ten drachmas per man; then that they be crowned each with a crown of olive (not of gold, for then the crown of olive was prized, but today even a crown of gold is held in disdain). And not even this will he allow to be done carelessly, but only after careful examination by the Senate, to determine who of them actually stood siege at Phyle when the Lacedaemonians and the Thirty made their attack, not those who deserted their post—as at Chaeroneia—in the face of the advancing enemy. As proof of what I say, the clerk shall read the resolution to you.

> Greek: 187. ἐν τοίνυν τῷ Μητρώῳ ἣν ἔδοτε δωρεὰν τοῖς ἀπὸ Φυλῆς φεύγοντα τὸν δῆμον καταγαγοῦσιν, ἔστιν ἰδεῖν. ἦν μὲν γὰρ ὁ τὸ ψήφισμα νικήσας Ἀρχῖνος ὁ ἐκ Κοίλης, εἷς τῶν καταγαγόντων τὸν δῆμον, ἔγραψε δὲ πρῶτον μὲν αὐτοῖς εἰς θυσίαν καὶ ἀναθήματα δοῦναι χιλίας δραχμάς, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἔστιν ἔλαττον ἢ δέκα δραχμαὶ κατʼ ἄνδρα, ἔπειτα στεφανῶσαι φαλλοῦ στεφάνῳ αὐτῶν ἕκαστον, ἀλλʼ οὐ χρυσῷ· τότε μὲν γὰρ ἦν ὁ τοῦ θαλλοῦ στέφανος τίμιος, νυνὶ δὲ καὶ ὁ χρυσοῦς καταπεφρόνηται. καὶ οὐδὲ τοῦτο εἰκῇ πρᾶξαι κελεύει, ἀλλʼ ἀκριβῶς τὴν βουλὴν σκεψαμένην, ὅσοι αὐτῶν ἐπὶ Φυλῇ ἐπολιορκήθησαν ὅτε Λακεδαιμόνιοι καὶ οἱ τριάκοντα προσέβαλλον, οὐχ ὅσοι τὴν τάξιν ἔλιπον ἐν Χαιρωνείᾳ τῶν πολεμίων ἐπιόντων. ὅτι δʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, ἀναγνώσεται ὑμῖν τὸ ψήφισμα.

[¶30] 188. Resolution as to the Reward of the Band from Phyle Now over against this read the resolution which Ctesiphon has proposed for Demosthenes, the man who is responsible for our greatest disasters. The Resolution By this resolution the reward of those who restored the democracy is annulled. If this resolution is good, the other was bad. If they were worthily honored, this man is unworthy of the crown that is proposed.

> Greek: 188. Ψήφισμα περὶ Δωρεὰς τοῖς ἀπὸ Φυλῆς παρανάγνωθι δὴ καὶ ὃ γέγραφε Κτησιφῶν Δημοσθένει τῷ τῶν μεγίστων αἰτίῳ κακῶν. Ψήφισμα τούτῳ τῷ ψηφίσματι ἐξαλείφεται ἡ τῶν καταγαγόντων δωρεά. εἰ τοῦτʼ ἔχει καλῶς, ἐκεῖνο αἰσχρῶς· εἰ ἐκεῖνοι κατʼ ἀξίαν ἐτιμήθησαν, οὗτος ἀνάξιος ὢν στεφανοῦται.

[¶31] 189. And yet I am told that he intends to say that I am unfair in holding up his deeds for comparison with those of our fathers. For he will say that Philammon the boxer was crowned at Olympia, not as having defeated Glaucus, that famous man of ancient days, but because he beat the antagonists of his own time; as though you did not know that in the case of boxers the contest is of one man against another, but for those who claim a crown, the standard is virtue itself; since it is for this that they are crowned. For the herald must not lie when he makes his proclamation in the theater before the Greeks. Do not, then, recount to us how you have been a better citizen than Pataecion, but first attain unto nobility of character, and then call on the people for their grateful acknowledgment.

> Greek: 189. καίτοι πυνθάνομαί γʼ αὐτὸν μέλλειν λέγειν, ὡς οὐ δίκαια ποιῶ παραβάλλων αὐτῷ τὰ τῶν προγόνων ἔργα· οὐδὲ γὰρ Φιλάμμωνα τὸν πύκτην Ὀλυμπίασι στεφανωθῆναι νικήσαντα Γλαῦκον τὸν παλαιὸν ἐκεῖνον, ἀλλὰ τοὺς καθʼ ἑαυτὸν ἀγωνιστάς, ὥσπερ ὑμᾶς ἀγνοοῦντας ὅτι τοῖς μὲν πύκταις ἐστὶν ὁ ἀγὼν πρὸς ἀλλήλους, τοῖς δʼ ἀξιοῦσι στεφανοῦσθαι πρὸς αὐτὴν τὴν ἀρετήν, ἧς καὶ ἕνεκα στεφανοῦνται. δεῖ γὰρ τὸν κήρυκα ἀψευδεῖν, ὅταν τὴν ἀνάρρησιν ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ ποιῆται πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας. μὴ οὖν ἡμῖν, ὡς Παταικίωνος ἄμεινον πεπολίτευσαι, διέξιθι, ἀλλʼ ἐφικόμενος τῆς ἀνδραγαθίας, οὕτω τὰς χάριτας τὸν δῆμον ἀπαίτει.

[¶32] 190. But lest I lead you away from the subject, the clerk shall read to you the epigram that is inscribed in honor of the band from Phyle, who restored the democracy.
Epigram
“These men, noble of heart, hath the ancient Athenian people”
“Crowned with an olive crown. First were they to oppose”
“Tyrants who knew not the laws, whose rule was the rule of injustice.”
“Danger they met unafraid, pledging their lives to the cause.”

> Greek: 190. ἵνα δὲ μὴ ἀποπλανῶ ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς ὑποθέσεως, ἀναγνώσεται ὑμῖν ὁ γραμματεὺς τὸ ἐπίγραμμα ὃ ἐπιγέγραπται τοῖς ἀπὸ Φυλῆς τὸν δῆμον καταγαγοῦσιν.
Ἐπίγραμμα
τούσδʼ ἀρετῆς ἕνεκα στεφάνοις ἐγέραιρε παλαίχθων
δῆμος Ἀθηναίων, οἵ ποτε τοὺς ἀδίκοις
θεσμοῖς ἄρξαντας πόλιος πρῶτοι καταπαύειν
ἦρξαν, κίνδυνον σώμασιν ἀράμενοι.
υνκνοων ὅτι τοὺς παρὰ τοὺς νόμους ἄρξαντας κατέλυσαν, διὰ τοῦτʼ αὐτούς φησιν ὁ ποιητὴς τιμηθῆναι.

[¶33] 191. Because they put down those who ruled unlawfully, for this cause the poet says they were honored. For then it was still in the ears of all men that the democracy was overthrown only after certain men had put out of the way the provision for the indictment of men who propose illegal measures. Yes, as I have heard my own father say, for he lived to be ninety-five years old, and had shared all the toils of the city, which he often described to me in his leisure hours—well, he said that in the early days of the re-established democracy, if any indictment for an illegal motion came into court, the word was as good as the deed. For what is more wicked than the man who speaks and does what is unlawful?

> Greek: 191. ἔναυλον γὰρ ἦν ἔτι τότε πᾶσιν, ὅτι τηνικαῦτα ὁ δῆμος κατελύθη, ἐπειδή τινες τὰς γραφὰς τῶν παρανόμων ἀνεῖλον. καὶ γὰρ τοι, ὡς ἐγὼ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ ἐμαυτοῦ ἐπυνθανόμην, ὃς ἔτη βιοὺς ἐνενήκοντα καὶ πέντε ἐτελεύτησεν, ἁπάντων μετασχὼν τῶν πόνων τῇ πόλει, οὓς πολλάκις πρὸς ἐμὲ διεξῄει ἐπὶ σχολῆς· ἔφη γὰρ, ὅτε ἀρτίως κατεληλύθει ὁ δῆμος, εἴ τις εἰσίοι γραφὴ παρανόμων εἰς δικαστήριον, εἶναι ὅμοιον τὸ ὄνομα καὶ τὸ ἔργον. τί γάρ ἐστιν ἀνοσιώτερον ἀνδρὸς παράνομα λέγοντος καὶ πράττοντος;

[¶34] 192. And in those days, so my father said, they gave no such hearing as is given now, but the jurors were far more severe toward the authors of illegal motions than was the accuser himself; and it frequently happened that they made the clerk stop, and told him to read to them the laws and the motion a second time; and they convicted a man of making an illegal motion, not in case he had overleaped all the laws together, but if one syllable only was contravened. But the process as it is conducted nowadays is ridiculous. The clerk reads the statement of the illegality which is charged, and the jurors, as though hearing an incantation, or some matter which is no concern of theirs, are attending to something else.

> Greek: 192. καὶ τὴν ἀκρόασιν, ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἀπήγγελλεν, οὐ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἐποιοῦντο ὥσπερ νῦν γίγνεται, ἀλλʼ ἦσαν πολὺ χαλεπώτεροι οἱ δικασταὶ τοῖς τὰ παράνομα γράφουσιν αὐτοῦ τοῦ κατηγόρου, καὶ πολλάκις ἀνεπόδιζον τὸν γραμματέα καὶ ἐκέλευον πάλιν ἀναγιγνώσκειν τοὺς νόμους καὶ τὸ ψήφισμα, καὶ ἡλίσκοντο οἱ τὰ παράνομα γράφοντες, οὐκ εἰ πάντας παραπηδήσειαν τοὺς νόμους, ἀλλʼ εἰ μίαν μόνον συλλαβὴν παραλλάξειαν. τὸ δὲ νυνὶ γιγνόμενον πρᾶγμα ὑπερκαταγέλαστόν ἐστιν· ὁ μὲν γὰρ γραμματεὺς ἀναγιγνώσκει τὸ παράνομον, οἱ δὲ δικασταὶ ὥσπερ ἐπῳδὴν ἢ ἀλλότριόν τι πρᾶγμʼ ἀκροώμενοι, πρὸς ἑτέρῳ τινὶ τὴν γνώμην ἔχουσιν.

[¶35] 193. And already as a result of the tricks of Demosthenes you have admitted a shameful custom into your courts; for you have allowed your legal procedure to become perverted: the accuser is on the defensive, and the defendant plays the part of accuser; and the jurors sometimes forget what they are to judge, and are forced to bring in a verdict on matters which were never committed to their decision; while the defendant, if by any chance he does touch on the question at issue, pleads, not that his motion was lawful, but that on some past occasion another man has made an equally unlawful motion and been acquitted; a plea in which I hear Ctesiphon now places great confidence.

> Greek: 193. ἤδη δʼ ἐκ τῶν τεχνῶν τῶν Δημοσθένους αἰσχρὸν ἔθος ἐν τοῖς δικαστηρίοις παραδέδεχθε. μετενήνεκται γὰρ ὑμῖν τὰ τῆς πόλεως δίκαια· ὁ μὲν γὰρ κατήγορος ἀπολογεῖται, ὁ δὲ φεύγων τὴν γραφὴν κατηγορεῖ, οἱ δὲ δικασταὶ ἐνίοτε ὧν μέν εἰσι κριταὶ ἐπιλανθάνονται, ὧν δʼ οὐκ εἰσί, περὶ τούτων ἀναγκάζονται τὴν ψῆφον φέρειν. λέγει δὲ ὁ φεύγων, ἂν ἄρα ποθʼ ἅψηται τοῦ πράγματος, οὐκ ὡς ἔννομα γέγραφεν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἤδη ποτὲ καὶ πρότερον ἕτερος τοιαῦτα γράψας ἀπέφυγεν. ἐφʼ ᾧ καὶ νυνὶ μέγα φρονεῖν ἀκούω Κτησιφῶντα.

[¶36] 194. Once the famous Aristophon of Azenia dared in your presence to boast that he had been acquitted seventy-five times on charge of making illegal motions. Not so the venerable Cephalus, famous as the truest representative of democracy—not so, but he took pride in the very opposite fact, saying that although he had been the author of more measures than any other man, he had never once been indicted for an illegal motion; an honorable pride, I think. For indictments for illegal motions were in those times brought, not only by political rivals against one another, but by friend against friend, if one was responsible for any error toward the state. Yes, the following shall serve as an illustration:

> Greek: 194. ἐτόλμα δʼ ἐν ὑμῖν ποτε σεμνύνεσθαι Ἀριστοφῶν ἐκεῖνος ὁ Ἀζηνιεὺς λέγων ὅτι γραφὰς παρανόμων ἀπέφυγεν ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ πέντε. ἀλλʼ οὐχὶ Κέφαλος ὁ παλαιὸς ἐκεῖνος, ὁ δοκῶν δημοτικώτατος γεγονέναι, οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐναντίοις ἐφιλοτιμεῖτο, λέγων ὅτι πλεῖστα πάντων γεγραφὼς ψηφίσματα, οὐδεμίαν πώποτε γραφὴν πέφευγε παρανόμων, καλῶς οἶμαι σεμνυνόμενος. ἐγράφοντο γὰρ ἀλλήλους παρανόμων οὐ μόνον οἱ διαπολιτευόμενοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ φίλοι τοὺς φίλους, εἴ τι ἐξαμαρτάνοιεν εἰς τὴν πόλιν. ἐκεῖθεν δὲ τοῦτο γνώσεσθε.

[¶37] 195. Archinus of Coele brought an indictment for an illegal motion against Thrasybulus of Steiria, one of his own companions in the return from Phyle; and he convicted him and though his services were recent, the jurors did not take them into account; for they thought that, just as Thrasybulus had brought them back from exile then, so now when they had been restored, by making a motion which was against the laws he was driving them into exile again.

> Greek: 195. Ἀρχῖνος γὰρ ὁ ἐκ Κοίλης ἐγράψατο παρανόμων Θρασύβουλον τὸν Στειριέα γράψαντά τι παρὰ τοὺς νόμους, ἕνα τῶν ἀπὸ Φυλῆς αὐτῷ συγκατελθόντων, καὶ εἷλε, νεωστὶ γεγενημένων αὐτῷ τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν, ἃς οὐχ ὑπελογίσαντο οἱ δικασταί· ἡγοῦντο γάρ, ὥσπερ τότε αὐτοὺς φεύγοντας Θρασύβουλος κατήγαγεν, οὕτω νῦν μένοντας ἐξελαύνειν παρὰ τοὺς νόμους γράφοντά τι.

[¶38] 196. But it is not so today; the very opposite is done. For your worthy generals, and some of those who have received maintenance in the Prytaneum, beg men off who have been indicted for illegal motions. But you ought to regard them as ungrateful. For if any man who has been honored in a democracy, a government which owes its safety to the gods and to the laws, dares to aid men who make illegal motions, he is undermining the government from which he received his honors.

> Greek: 196. ἀλλʼ οὐ νῦν, ἀλλὰ πᾶν τοὐναντίον γίγνεται· οἱ γὰρ ἀγαθοὶ στρατηγοὶ ὑμῖν καὶ τῶν τὰς σιτήσεις τινὲς εὑρημένων ἐν τῷ πρυτανείῳ ἐξαιτοῦνται τὰς γραφὰς τῶν παρανόμων, οὓς ὑμεῖς ἀχαρίστους εἶναι δικαίως ἂν ὑπολαμβάνοιτε· εἰ γάρ τις ἐν δημοκρατίᾳ τετιμημένος, ἐν τοιαύτῃ πολιτείᾳ, ἣν οἱ θεοὶ καὶ οἱ νόμοι σῴζουσι, τολμᾷ βοηθεῖν τοῖς παράνομα γράφουσι, καταλύει τὴν πολιτείαν ὑφʼ ἧς τετίμηται.

[¶39] 197. But I will tell you what plea is in order from the honest advocate. When an indictment for an illegal motion is tried in court, the day is divided into three parts. The first water is poured in for the accuser, the laws, and the democracy the second water, for the defendant and those who speak on the question at issue; but when the question of illegality has been decided by the first ballot, then the third water is poured in for the question of the penalty and the extent of your anger.

> Greek: 197. τίς οὖν ἀποδέδεικται λόγος ἀνδρὶ δικαίῳ συνηγόρῳ, ἐγὼ λέξω. εἰς τρία μέρη διαιρεῖται ἡ ἡμέρα, ὅταν εἰσίῃ γραφὴ παρανόμων εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον. ἐγχεῖται γὰρ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὕδωρ τῷ κατηγόρῳ καὶ τοῖς νόμοις καὶ τῇ δημοκρατίᾳ, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον τῷ τὴν γραφὴν φεύγοντι καὶ τοῖς εἰς αὐτὸ τὸ πρᾶγμα λέγουσιν· ἐπειδὰν δὲ τῇ πρώτῃ ψήφῳ λυθῇ τὸ παράνομον, ἤδη τὸ τρίτον ὕδωρ ἐγχεῖται τῇ τιμήσει καὶ τῷ μεγέθει τῆς ὀργῆς τῆς ὑμετέρας.

[¶40] 198. Whoever therefore in the discussion on the penalty asks for your vote, is begging you to mitigate your anger; but he who in the first speech asks for your vote is asking you to surrender your oath, to surrender the law, to surrender the democratic constitution things which no man has a right to ask you to surrender, nor any man to grant another for his asking. Bid them, therefore, to allow you to cast your first ballot according to the laws, before they plead on the question of penalty.

> Greek: 198. ὅστις μὲν οὖν ἐν τῇ τιμήσει τὴν ψῆφον αἰτεῖ, τὴν ὀργὴν τὴν ὑμετέραν παραιτεῖται· ὅστις δʼ ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ λόγῳ τὴν ψῆφον αἰτεῖ, ὅρκον αἰτεῖ, νόμον αἰτεῖ, δημοκρατίαν αἰτεῖ, ὧν οὔτε αἰτῆσαι οὐδὲν ὅσιον οὐδενί, οὔτʼ αἰτηθέντα ἑτέρῳ δοῦναι. κελεύσατε οὖν αὐτούς, ἐάσαντας τὴν πρώτην ὑμᾶς ψῆφον κατὰ τοὺς νόμους διενεγκεῖν, ἀπαντᾶν εἰς τὴν τίμησιν.

[¶41] 199. In short, fellow citizens, for my part I am almost ready to say that we ought to pass a special law governing indictments for illegal motions, which shall forbid either accuser or defendant to call in advocates. For the question of right involved is not an indefinite one, but is defined by your own laws. For as in carpentry, when we wish to know what is straight and what is not, we apply the carpenters’ rule, which serves as our standard, so in indictments for illegal motions there lies ready to our hand as a rule of justice this tablet, containing the measure proposed and the laws which it transgresses.

> Greek: 199. ὅλως δʼ ἔγωγε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὀλίγου δέω εἰπεῖν ὡς καὶ νόμον δεῖ τεθῆναι ἐπὶ ταῖς γραφαῖς μόναις ταῖς τῶν παρανόμων, μὴ ἐξεῖναι μήτε τῷ κατηγόρῳ συνηγόρους παρασχέσθαι, μήτε τῷ τὴν γραφὴν φεύγοντι. οὐ γὰρ ἀόριστόν ἐστι τὸ δίκαιον, ἀλλʼ ὡρισμένον τοῖς νόμοις τοῖς ὑμετέροις. ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν τῇ τεκτονικῇ, ὅταν εἰδέναι βουλώμεθα τὸ ὀρθὸν καὶ τὸ μή, τὸν κανόνα προσφέρομεν, ᾧ διαγιγνώσκεται, οὕτω καὶ ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς ταῖς τῶν παρανόμων παράκειται κανὼν τοῦ δικαίου τουτὶ τὸ σανίδιον, τὸ ψήφισμα καὶ οἱ παραγεγραμμένοι νόμοι.

[¶42] 200. Show that these agree one with another, Ctesiphon, and then take your seat. Why need you call Demosthenes to your support? When you overleap the just defence and call forward a rascal and a rhetorician, you cheat the ears of the jury, you injure the city, you undermine the democracy.

> Greek: 200. ταῦτα συμφωνοῦντα ἀλλήλοις ἐπιδείξας κατάβαινε· καὶ τί δεῖ σε Δημοσθένην παρακαλεῖν; ὅταν δʼ ὑπερπηδήσας τὴν δικαίαν ἀπολογίαν παρακαλῇς κακοῦργον ἄνθρωπον καὶ τεχνίτην λόγων, κλέπτεις τὴν ἀκρόασιν, βλάπτεις τὴν πόλιν, καταλύεις τὴν δημοκρατίαν.

[¶43] 201. How you may avert speeches of that sort, fellow citizens, I will tell you. When Ctesiphon comes forward here and recites to you that introduction which has of course been composed for him, and when he then tries to kill time, and makes no answer to the charge, suggest to him, quietly, that he take the tablet and read the laws and his resolution side by side. If he pretends that he does not hear you, then do you refuse to hear him. For you have not come here to listen to men who dodge an honest defence, but to those who are willing to defend themselves with justice.

> Greek: 201. τίς οὖν ἐστιν ἀποτροπὴ τῶν τοιούτων λόγων, ἐγὼ προερῶ. ἐπειδὰν προελθὼν ἐνταυθοῖ Κτησιφῶν διεξέλθῃ πρὸς ὑμὰς τοῦτο δὴ τὸ συντεταγμένον αὐτῷ προοίμιον, ἔπειτʼ ἐνδιατρίβῃ καὶ μὴ ἀπολογῆται, ὑπομνήσατʼ αὐτὸν ἀθορύβῷ, τὸ σανίδιον λαβεῖν καὶ τοὺς νόμους τῷ ψηφίσματι παραναγνῶναι. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ προσποιῆται ὑμῶν ἀκούειν, μηδὲ ὑμεῖς ἐκείνου ἐθέλετε ἀκούειν· οὐ γὰρ τῶν φευγόντων τὰς δικαίας ἀπολογίας εἰσεληλύθατε ἀκροασόμενοι, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐθελόντων δικαίως ἀπολογεῖσθαι.

[¶44] 202. But if he shall overleap the just defence and call Demosthenes to the platform, the best course for you is to refuse to receive a sophist, who expects to overthrow the laws with words. And when Ctesiphon asks you if he shall call Demosthenes, let no man of you consider that he is doing a meritorious thing in being the first to cry, “Aye, call him, call him.” Against yourself you are calling him, against the laws you are calling him, against the constitution you are calling him. But if after all you decide to listen, demand that Demosthenes make his defence in the same way in which I have made the accusation. In what way have I made the accusation? Let me recall it to you.

> Greek: 202. ἐὰν δʼ ὑπερπηδήσας τὴν δικαίαν ἀπολογίαν παρακαλῇ Δημοσθένην, μάλιστα μὲν μὴ προσδέχεσθε σοφιστὴν οἰόμενον ῥήμασι τοὺς νόμους ἀναιρήσειν, μηδʼ ἐν ἀρετῇ τοῦθʼ ὑμῶν μηδεὶς καταλογιζέσθω, ὃς ἂν ἐπανερομένου Κτησιφῶντος, εἰ καλέσῃ Δημοσθένην, πρῶτος ἀναβοήσῃ κάλει, κάλει. ἐπὶ σαυτὸν καλεῖς, ἐπὶ τοὺς νόμους καλεῖς, ἐπὶ τὴν δημοκρατίαν καλεῖς. ἂν δʼ ἄρα ὑμῖν δόξῃ ἀκούειν, ἀξιώσατε τὸν Δημοσθένην τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἀπολογεῖσθαι ὅνπερ κἀγὼ κατηγόρηκα. ἐγὼ δὲ πῶς κατηγόρηκα; ἵνα καὶ ὑπομνήσω ὑμᾶς.

[¶45] 203. I did not at the beginning review the private life of Demosthenes, nor did I at the beginning call to mind a single one of his public crimes—though I certainly had great abundance of material, or else I must be the most helpless of mortals—but first I exhibited the laws which forbid crowning men who have not yet rendered their accounts, and then I convicted the orator of having moved to crown Demosthenes before he had rendered account, and that too without inserting the qualifying proviso, “When he shall have rendered account,” but in utter contempt of you and of your laws. And I told you what excuses they would offer for this, which I earnestly pray you to keep in mind.

> Greek: 203. οὔτε τὸν ἴδιον βίον τὸν Δημοσθένους πρότερον διεξῆλθον, οὔτε τῶν δημοσίων ἀδικημάτων οὐδενὸς πρότερον ἐμνήσθην, ἄφθονα δήπου καὶ πολλὰ ἔχων, ἢ πάντων γʼ ἂν εἴην ἀπορώτατος· ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν τοὺς νόμους ἐπέδειξα ἀπαγορεύοντας μὴ στεφανοῦν τοὺς ὑπευθύνους, ἔπειτα τὸν ῥήτορα ἐξήλεγξα γράψαντα Δημοσθένην ὑπεύθυνον ὄντα στεφανοῦν οὐδὲν προβαλόμενον, οὐδὲ προσγράψαντα ἐπειδὰν δῷ τὰς εὐθύνας, ἀλλὰ παντελῶς καὶ ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν νόμων καταπεφρονηκότα· καὶ τὰς ἐσομένας πρὸς ταῦτα προφάσεις εἶπον, ἃς ἀξιῶ καὶ ὑμᾶς διαμνημονεύειν.

[¶46] 204. Secondly, I recited to you the laws which govern proclamations, in which it is expressly forbidden that when one is crowned by the people the proclamation shall be made in any other place than in the assembly. But the politician who is the defendant in this case has not only transgressed the laws, but the time of proclamation, and the place of it; for he orders the proclamation to be made, not in the assembly, but in the theater, not when the Athenian assembly is in session, but when the tragedies are about to he performed. After saying this, I spoke briefly about his private life, but chiefly about his public crimes.

> Greek: 204. δεύτερον δʼ ὑμῖν διεξῆλθον τοὺς περὶ τῶν κηρυγμάτων νόμους, ἐν οἷς διαρρήδην ἀπείρηται τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου στεφανούμενον μὴ κηρύττεσθαι ἔξω τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὁ δὲ ῥήτωρ ὁ φεύγων τὴν γραφὴν οὐ τοὺς νόμους μόνον παραβέβηκεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς ἀναρρήσεως καὶ τὸν τόπον, κελεύων οὐκ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ τὴν ἀνάρρησιν γίγνεσθαι, οὐδʼ ἐκκλησιαζόντων Ἀθηναίων, ἀλλὰ μελλόντων τραγῳδῶν εἰσιέναι. ταῦτα δʼ εἰπὼν μικρὰ μὲν περὶ τῶν ἰδίων εἶπον, τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα περὶ τῶν δημοσίων ἀδικημάτων.

[¶47] 205. I insist, therefore, that you demand the same order of defence from Demosthenes; first, let him defend himself against the law of accountability, secondly, against the law which governs proclamations, and thirdly, and most important, let him show also that he is not unworthy of the reward. But if he asks you to indulge him as to the order of his speech, and solemnly promises that at the close of his defence he will clear away the matter of illegality, do not yield to him, and do not forget that this is an old trick of the court-room. For he would never of his own choice return to the defence against the illegality but because he has nothing to say which is just, he seeks by the insertion of extraneous matters to plunge you into forgetfulness of the charge.

> Greek: 205. οὕτω δὴ καὶ τὸν Δημοσθένην ἀξιώσατε ἀπολογεῖσθαι, πρὸς τὸν τῶν ὑπευθύνων νόμον πρῶτον, τὸν περὶ τῶν κηρυγμάτων δεύτερον, τρίτον δὲ τὸ μέγιστον, ὡς οὐδὲ ἀνάξιός ἐστι τῆς δωρεᾶς. ἐὰν δʼ ὑμῶν δέηται συγχωρῆσαι αὑτῷ περὶ τῆς τάξεως τοῦ λόγου, κατεπαγγελλόμενος ὡς ἐπὶ τῇ τελευτῇ τῆς ἀπολογίας λύσει τὸ παράνομον, μὴ συγχωρεῖτε, μηδʼ ἀγνοεῖθʼ ὅτι πάλαισμα τοῦτʼ ἔστι δικαστηρίου· οὐ γὰρ εἰσαῦθίς ποτε βούλοιτʼ ἂν πρὸς τὸ παράνομον ἀπολογεῖσθαι, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν ἔχων δίκαιον εἰπεῖν, ἑτέρων παρεμβολῇ πραγμάτων εἰς λήθην ὑμᾶς βούλεται τῆς κατηγορίας ἐμβαλεῖν.

[¶48] 206. As, therefore, in gymnastic contests you see the boxers contending with one another for position, so do you for the city’s sake fight with him the whole day long for position as regards argument; and do not let him set his feet outside the bounds of the illegality charged, but watch him and lie in wait for him as you listen, drive him into discussion of the illegality, and look out for the twists and turns of his speech.

> Greek: 206. ὥσπερ οὖν ἐν τοῖς γυμνικοῖς ἀγῶσιν ὁρᾶτε τοὺς πύκτας περὶ τῆς στάσεως ἀλλήλοις διαγωνιζομένους, οὕτω καὶ ὑμεῖς ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως περὶ τῆς στάσεως αὐτῷ τοῦ λόγου μάχεσθε, καὶ μὴ ἐᾶτε αὐτὸν ἔξω τοῦ παρανόμου περιίστασθαι, ἀλλʼ ἐγκαθήμενοι καὶ ἐνεδρεύοντες ἐν τῇ ἀκροάσει, εἰσελαύνετε αὐτὸν εἰς τοὺς τοῦ παρανόμου λόγους, καὶ τὰς ἐκτροπὰς αὐτοῦ τῶν λόγων ἐπιτηρεῖτε.

## 5. Sections 207–260

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/5/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-against-ctesiphon/5/#p-N

[¶0] 207. What, on the other hand, will surely be the result for you if you listen in the way that they propose, I ought now to forewarn you. For the defendant will call to his aid this juggler and cut-purse, a man who has torn the constitution to shreds. This man weeps more readily than other men laugh, and nothing is so easy for him as perjury. And I should not wonder if he should change his tactics and slander the listeners outside the bar, alleging that those whom truth herself has singled out and counted as oligarchs have come to the platform of the prosecution, but all the friends of the people to the platform of the defence.

> Greek: 207. ἀλλʼ ἃ δὴ συμβήσεται ὑμῖν, ἐὰν τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον τὴν ἀκρόασιν ποιήσησθε, ταῦθʼ ὑμῖν ἤδη δίκαιός εἰμι προειπεῖν. ἐπεισάξει γὰρ τὸν γόητα καὶ βαλλαντιοτόμον καὶ διατετμηκότα τὴν πολιτείαν. οὗτος κλάει μὲν ῥᾷον ἢ οἱ ἄλλοι γελῶσιν, ἐπιορκεῖ δὲ πάντων προχειρότατα· οὐκ ἂν θαυμάσαιμι δέ, εἰ μεταβαλόμενος τοῖς ἔξωθεν περιεστηκόσι λοιδορήσεται, φάσκων τοὺς μὲν ὀλιγαρχικοὺς ὑπʼ αὐτῆς τῆς ἀληθείας διηριθμημένους ἥκειν πρὸς τὸ τοῦ κατηγόρου βῆμα, τοὺς δὲ δημοτικοὺς πρὸς τὸ τοῦ φεύγοντος.

[¶1] 208. Now when he talks like that, in answer to such appeals to faction, make this suggestion to him: “Demosthenes, if the men of Phyle, who brought back the people from exile, had been like you, never had the democracy been reestablished. But as it was, they saved the city out of great disasters, and gave utterance to those words which are the fairest product of enlightened minds, ‘Forgive and forget.’ But as for you, you tear open old sores, and you care more for the words of the moment than for the safety of the state.” But when, perjurer that he is, he takes refuge in the confidence which you place in oaths, remind him of this, that when a man repeatedly perjures himself, and yet is continually demanding to be believed because of his oaths, one of two things ought to be true, either the gods ought to be new gods, or the hearers not the same.

> Greek: 208. ὅταν δὴ τὰ τοιαῦτα λέγῃ, πρὸς μὲν τοὺς στασιαστικοὺς λόγους ἐκεῖνο αὐτῷ ὑποβάλλετε· ὦ Δημόσθενες, εἰ ὅμοιοι ἦσαν σοὶ οἱ ἀπὸ Φυλῆς φεύγοντα τὸν δῆμον καταγαγόντες, οὐκ ἄν ποθʼ ἡ δημοκρατία κατέστη. νῦν δὲ ἐκεῖνοι μὲν μεγάλων κακῶν συμβάντων ἔσωσαν τὴν πόλιν τὸ κάλλιστον ἐκ παιδείας ῥῆμα φθεγξάμενοι, μὴ μνησικακεῖν· σὺ δὲ ἑλκοποιεῖς, καὶ μᾶλλόν σοι μέλει τῶν αὐθημερὸν λόγων, ἢ τῆς σωτηρίας τῆς πόλεως. ὅταν δʼ ἐπίορκος ὢν εἰς τὴν τῶν ὅρκων πίστιν καταφυγγάνῃ, ἐκεῖνο ἀπομνημονεύσατε αὐτῷ, ὅτι τῷ πολλάκις μὲν ἐπιορκοῦντι, ἀεὶ δὲ μεθʼ ὅρκων ἀξιοῦντι πιστεύεσθαι, δυοῖν θάτερον ὑπάρξαι δεῖ, ἢ τοὺς θεοὺς καινούς, ἢ τοὺς ἀκροατὰς μὴ τοὺς αὐτούς.

[¶2] 209. But in answer to his tears and the straining of his voice when he asks you, “Whither shall I flee, fellow citizens? You have compassed me about, I have not whither to take wings,” suggest to him, “But the Athenian people, Demosthenes, whither shall they flee? What allies have been made ready to receive them? What resources are prepared? What bulwark have you thrown up before the people by your policies? For we all see what provision you have made for yourself. You have left the upper city and the Peiraeus, as it seems, is not so much your home, as an anchorage for you, off the city’s coast. And you have provided as means for your cowardly flight, the King’s gold and the fruits of your political bribery.”

> Greek: 209. περὶ δὲ τῶν δακρύων καὶ τοῦ τόνου τῆς φωνῆς, ὅταν ὑμᾶς ἐπερωτᾷ. ποῖ καταφύγω, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι; περιεγράψατέ με· οὐκ ἔστιν ὅποι ἀναπτήσομαι, ἀνθυποβάλλετε αὐτῷ· ὁ δὲ δῆμος ὁ Ἀθηναίων ποῖ καταφύγῃ, Δημόσθενες; πρὸς ποίαν συμμάχων παρασκευήν; πρὸς ποῖα χρήματα; τί προβαλλόμενος ὑπὲρ τοῦ δήμου πεπολίτευσαι; ἃ μὲν γὰρ ὑπὲρ σεαυτοῦ βεβούλευσαι, πάντες ὁρῶμεν. ἐκλιπὼν μὲν τὸ ἄστυ οὐκ οἰκεῖς, ὡς δοκεῖς, ἐν Πειραιεῖ, ἀλλʼ ἐξορμεῖς ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, ἐφόδια δὲ πεπόρισαι τῇ σαυτοῦ ἀνανδρίᾳ τὸ βασιλικὸν χρυσίον καὶ τὰ δημόσια δωροδοκήματα.

[¶3] 210. But, after all, why these tears? Why all this noise? Why this straining of the voice? Is it not Ctesiphon who is the defendant? Is not the suit one in which the penalty is for the jury to determine? Is it not true that you are pleading neither for your person nor for your citizenship nor for your property? But what is this anxiety of his about? About crowns of gold and proclamations in the theater—against the laws.

> Greek: 210. ὅλως δὲ τί τὰ δάκρυα; τίς ἡ κραυγή; τίς ὁ τόνος τῆς φωνῆς; οὐχ ὁ μὲν τὴν γραφὴν φεύγων ἐστὶ Κτησιφῶν, ὁ δʼ ἀγὼν οὐκ ἀτίμητος, σὺ δʼ οὔτε περὶ τοῦ σώματος οὔτε περὶ τῆς ἐπιτιμίας οὔτε περὶ τῆς οὐσίας ἀγωνίζῃ; ἀλλὰ περὶ τίνος ἐστὶν αὐτῷ ἡ σπουδή; περὶ χρυσῶν στεφάνων καὶ κηρυγμάτων ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ παρὰ τοὺς νόμους·

[¶4] 211. Nay, but if the people gone mad, or forgetful of the existing situation, had actually wished to crown him at a time so unfitting, he ought to have come before the assembly and said, “Fellow citizens, I accept the crown, but I do not approve the time at which the proclamation is to be made. For events which have caused our city to shear her head in mourning are no fitting occasion for my head to receive a crown.” This I think a man would say whose life had been one of genuine virtue.

> Greek: 211. ὃν ἐχρῆν, εἰ μανεὶς ὁ δῆμος ἢ τῶν καθεστηκότων ἐπιλελησμένος, ἐπὶ τοιαύτης ἀκαιρίας ἐβούλετο στεφανοῦν αὐτόν, παρελθόντα εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν εἰπεῖν· ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸν μὲν στέφανον δέχομαι, τὸν δὲ καιρὸν ἀποδοκιμάζω ἐν ᾧ τὸ κήρυγμα γίγνεται· οὐ γὰρ δεῖ, ἐφʼ οἷς ἡ πόλις ἐκείρατο, ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐμὲ στεφανοῦσθαι. ἀλλʼ οἶμαι ταῦτα μὲν ἂν εἴποι ἀνὴρ ὄντως βεβιωκὼς μετʼ ἀρετῆς· ἃ δὲ σὺ λέξεις, εἴποι ἂν κάθαρμα ζηλοτυποῦν ἀρετήν.

[¶5] 212. But the words which you, Demosthenes, will speak, are the natural expression of a worthless scoundrel, with whom virtue is a pretence. One thing at any rate is sure, by Heracles; no one of you will feel any anxiety lest Demosthenes, a man high-spirited and distinguished in war, will, if he fails to receive the meed of valor, go back home and make away with himself—he who so despises honor in your eyes that on this pestilential and accountable head of his upon which Ctesiphon, in defiance of all the laws, proposes that you set a crown, he has inflicted a thousand gashes, and he has made money out of his wounds by bringing suit for malicious assault. And on one occasion he got such a smashing blow that I imagine he still carries the visible marks of Meidias’ knuckles. For it is not a head that the creature possesses, but an investment.

> Greek: 212. οὐ γὰρ δὴ μὰ τὸν Ἡρακλέα τοῦτό γε ὑμῶν οὐδεὶς φοβήσεται, μὴ Δημοσθένης, ἀνὴρ μεγαλόψυχος καὶ τὰ πολεμικὰ διαφέρων, ἀποτυχὼν τῶν ἀριστείων ἐπανελθὼν οἴκαδε ἑαυτὸν διαχρήσηται· ὃς τοσοῦτον καταγελᾷ τῆς πρὸς ὑμᾶς φιλοτιμίας, ὥστε τὴν μιαρὰν κεφαλὴν ταύτην καὶ ὑπεύθυνον, ἣν οὗτος παρὰ πάντας τοὺς νόμους γέγραφε στεφανῶσαι, μυριάκις κατατέτμηκε καὶ τούτων μισθοὺς εἴληφε τραύματος ἐκ προνοίας γραφὰς γραφόμενος, καὶ κατακεκονδύλισται, ὥστε αὐτὸν οἶμαι τὰ τῶν κονδύλων ἴχνη τῶν Μειδίου ἔχειν ἔτι φανερά· ὁ γὰρ ἄνθρωπος οὐ κεφαλήν, ἀλλὰ πρόσοδον κέκτηται.

[¶6] 213. Now I wish to speak briefly about Ctesiphon, the author of the motion; and I will pass over the greater part of what might be said, for I should like to test your ability, even when no one cautions you, to discern those men who are utter rascals. I will speak only of what is common to the pair of them, and what I can honestly report to you concerning both. For the opinion that each of them has of the other is true, and the things that each, as he goes about the market-place, says of the other are no falsehoods.

> Greek: 213. περὶ δὲ Κτησιφῶντος τοῦ γράψαντος τὴν γνώμην βραχέα βούλομαι εἰπεῖν, τὰ δὲ πολλὰ ὑπερβήσομαι, ἵνα καὶ πεῖραν λάβω, εἰ δύνασθε τοὺς σφόδρα πονηρούς, κἂν μή τις προείπῃ, διαγιγνώσκειν. ὃ δʼ ἐστὶ κοινὸν καὶ δίκαιον κατʼ ἀμφοτέρων αὐτῶν ἀπαγγεῖλαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, τοῦτʼ ἐρῶ. περιέρχονται γὰρ τὴν ἀγορὰν ἀληθεῖς κατʼ ἀλλήλων ἔχοντες δόξας καὶ λόγους οὐ ψευδεῖς λέγοντες.

[¶7] 214. For Ctesiphon says he is not afraid so far as he himself is concerned, since he hopes it will appear that he is but a plain citizen, but that what he does fear is Demosthenes’ corruption in his conduct of affairs, and his instability and cowardice. And Demosthenes says that when he looks at his own case only, he is confident, but that he is exceedingly anxious in view of Ctesiphon’s wickedness and licentiousness! Well, when men have thus condemned one another, you, the common judges of both, must surely not acquit them of the crimes they charge.

> Greek: 214. ὁ μὲν γὰρ Κτησιφῶν οὐ τὸ καθʼ ἑαυτόν φησι φοβεῖσθαι, ἐλπίζειν γὰρ δόξειν ἰδιώτης εἶναι, ἀλλὰ τὴν τοῦ Δημοσθένους ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ δωροδοκίαν καὶ τὴν ἐμπληξίαν καὶ δειλίαν· ὁ δὲ Δημοσθένης εἰς αὑτὸν μὲν ἀποβλέπων θαρρεῖν φησιν, τὴν δὲ τοῦ Κτησιφῶντος πονηρίαν καὶ πορνοβοσκίαν ἰσχυρῶς δεδιέναι. τοὺς δὴ κατεγνωκότας ἀλλήλων μηδαμῶς ὑμεῖς οἱ κοινοὶ κριταὶ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων ἀπολύσητε.

[¶8] 215. I wish also to caution you in a few words as to the slanders which they will utter against me. For I learn that Demosthenes will say that the city has been greatly benefited by him, but damaged by me and he will bring up against me Philip and Alexander, and the charges connected with them. And he is, as it seems, such a master-craftsman of words that he is not content to bring charges against whatever part I have taken in your political action, or whatever speeches I have delivered, but he actually attacks the very quietness of my life, and makes my silence an accusation, in order that no topic may be left untouched by his slanders. And he censures my frequenting of the gymnasia with the younger men. And at the very beginning of his speech he demurs against this legal process, saying that I instituted the suit, not in behalf of the city, but as a manifesto to Alexander because he hates Demosthenes.

> Greek: 215. περὶ δὲ τῶν εἰς ἐμαυτὸν λοιδοριῶν βραχέα βούλομαι προειπεῖν. πυνθάνομαι γὰρ λέξειν Δημοσθένην, ὡς ἡ πόλις ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ μὲν ὠφέληται πολλά, ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ δὲ καταβέβλαπται, καὶ τὸν Φίλιππον καὶ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον καὶ τὰς ἀπὸ τούτων αἰτίας ἀνοίσειν ἐπʼ ἐμέ. οὕτω δʼ ἐστὶν ὡς ἔοικε δεινὸς δημιουργὸς λόγων, ὥστε οὐκ ἀποχρῇ αὐτῷ, εἴ τι πεπολίτευμαι παρʼ ὑμῖν ἐγώ, ἢ εἴ τινας δημηγορίας εἴρηκα, τούτων κατηγορεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἡσυχίαν αὐτὴν τοῦ βίου διαβάλλει καὶ τῆς σιωπῆς μου κατηγορεῖ, ἵνα μηδεὶς αὐτῷ τόπος ἀσυκοφάντητος παραλείπηται, καὶ τὰς ἐν τοῖς γυμνασίοις μετὰ τῶν νεωτέρων μου διατριβὰς καταμέμφεται, καὶ κατὰ τῆσδε τῆς κρίσεως εὐθὺς ἀρχόμενος τοῦ λόγου φέρει τινὰ αἰτίαν, λέγων ὡς ἐγὼ τὴν γραφὴν οὐχ ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ἐγραψάμην, ἀλλʼ ἐνδεικνύμενος Ἀλεξάνδρῳ διὰ τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἔχθραν.

[¶9] 217. And, by Zeus, I understand that he proposes to ask me why I denounce his policy as a whole, but did not try to thwart it in detail, and did not prefer charges in the courts: and why I have brought suit at this late day without having steadily attacked his policy. But I have never in the past emulated the habits of Demosthenes, nor am I ashamed of my own, nor would I wish unsaid the words which I have spoken in your presence, nor would I care to live had my public speeches been like his.

> Greek: 217. καὶ νὴ Δία, ὡς ἐγὼ πυνθάνομαι, μέλλει με ἀνερωτᾶν, διὰ τί τὸ μὲν κεφάλαιον αὐτοῦ τῆς πολιτείας ψέγω, τὰ δὲ καθʼ ἕκαστον οὐκ ἐκώλυον οὐδʼ ἐγραφόμην, ἀλλὰ διαλείπων καὶ πρὸς τὴν πολιτείαν οὐ πυκνὰ προσιὼν ἀπήνεγκα τὴν γραφήν. ἐγὼ δὲ οὔτε τὰς Δημοσθένους διατριβὰς ἐζήλωκα, οὔτʼ ἐπὶ ταῖς ἐμαυτοῦ αἰσχύνομαι, οὔτε τοὺς εἰρημένους ἐν ὑμῖν λόγους ἐμαυτῷ ἀρρήτους ἂν εἶναι βουλοίμην, οὔτε τὰ αὐτὰ τούτῳ δημηγορήσας δεξαίμην ἂν ζῆν.

[¶10] 218. As to my silence, Demosthenes, it has been caused by the moderation of my life. For a little money suffices me, and I have no shameful lust for more. Both my silence and my speech are therefore the result of deliberation, not of the impulse of a spendthrift nature. But you, I think, are silent when you have gotten, and bawl aloud after you have spent; and you speak, not when your judgment approves, and not what you wish to speak, but whenever your pay-masters so order. And you are not ashamed of impostures in which you are instantly convicted of falsehood.

> Greek: 218. τὴν δʼ ἐμὴν σιωπήν, ὦ Δημόσθενες, ἡ τοῦ βίου μετριότης παρεσκεύασεν· ἀρκεῖ γάρ μοι μικρά, καὶ μειζόνων αἰσχρῶς οὐκ ἐπιθυμῶ, ὥστε καὶ σιωπῶ καὶ λέγω βουλευσάμενος, οὐκ ἀναγκαζόμενος ὑπὸ τῆς ἐν τῇ φύσει δαπάνης. σὺ δʼ οἶμαι λαβὼν μὲν σιγᾷς, ἀναλώσας δὲ κέκραγας· λέγεις δὲ οὐχ ὅταν σοι δοκῇ, οὐδʼ ἃν βούλῃ, ἀλλʼ ὅταν οἱ μισθοδόται σοι προστάττωσιν· οὐκ αἰσχύνῃ δὲ ἀλαζονευόμενος, ἃ παραχρῆμα ἐξελέγχῃ ψευδόμενος.

[¶11] 219. For my suit against this motion, which you say I instituted, not in the city’s behalf, but as a manifesto to Alexander, was instituted while Philip was still alive, before Alexander had come to the throne, before ever you had had that dream of yours about Pausanias, or ever had conversed with Athena and Hera in the night. How then could I have been already making a manifesto to Alexander? Unless, indeed, I and Demosthenes had the same dream!

> Greek: 219. ἀπηνέχθη γὰρ ἡ κατὰ τοῦδε τοῦ ψηφίσματος γραφή, ἣν οὐχ ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ τῆς πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον ἐνδείξεώς με φῂς ἀπενεγκεῖν, ἔτι Φιλίππου ζῶντος, πρὶν Ἀλέξανδρον εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν καταστῆναι, οὔπω σοῦ τὸ περὶ Παυσανίαν ἐνύπνιον ἑωρακότος, οὐδὲ πρὸς τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν καὶ τὴν Ἥραν νύκτωρ διειλεγμένου. πῶς ἂν οὖν ἐγὼ προενεδεικνύμην Ἀλεξάνδρῳ; εἴ γε μὴ ταὐτὸν ἐνύπνιον ἐγὼ καὶ Δημοσθένης εἴδομεν.

[¶12] 220. And you blame me if I come before the people, not constantly, but only at intervals. And you imagine that your bearers fail to detect you in thus making a demand which is no outgrowth of democracy, but borrowed from another form of government. For in oligarchies it is not he who wishes, but he who is in authority, that addresses the people; whereas in democracies he speaks who chooses, and whenever it seems to him good. And the fact that a man speaks only at intervals marks him as a man who takes part in politics because of the call of the hour, and for the common good; whereas to leave no day without its speech, is the mark of a man who is making a trade of it, and talking for pay.

> Greek: 220. ἐπιτιμᾷς δέ μοι, εἰ μὴ συνεχῶς, ἀλλὰ διαλείπων, πρὸς τὸν δῆμον προσέρχομαι, καὶ τὴν ἀξίωσιν ταύτην οἴει λανθάνειν μεταφέρων οὐκ ἐκ δημοκρατίας, ἀλλʼ ἐξ ἑτέρας πολιτείας. ἐν μὲν γὰρ ταῖς ὀλιγαρχίαις οὐχ ὁ βουλόμενος, ἀλλʼ ὁ δυναστεύων δημηγορεῖ, ἐν δὲ ταῖς δημοκρατίαις ὁ βουλόμενος, καὶ ὅταν αὐτῷ δοκῇ. καὶ τὸ μὲν διὰ χρόνου λέγειν σημεῖόν ἐστιν ἐπὶ τῶν καιρῶν καὶ τοῦ συμφέροντος ἀνδρὸς πολιτευομένου, τὸ δὲ μηδεμίαν παραλείπειν ἡμέραν ἐργαζομένου καὶ μισθαρνοῦντος.

[¶13] 221. But as to your never having been brought to trial by me, and never having been punished for your crimes—when you take refuge in assertions like that, either you think that your bearers are forgetful, or you are deceiving yourself. Your impiety in the case of the Amphissians and your corruption in the Euboean affair, of which you were clearly convicted by me, perhaps you hope the people have forgotten in the lapse of time;

> Greek: 221. ὑπὲρ δὲ τοῦ μήπω κεκρίσθαι ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ, μηδὲ τῶν ἀδικημάτων τιμωρίαν ὑποσχεῖν, ὅταν καταφεύγῃς ἐπὶ τοὺς τοιούτους λόγους, ἢ τοὺς ἀκούοντας ἐπιλήσμονας ὑπολαμβάνεις, ἢ σαυτὸν παραλογίζῃ. τὰ μὲν γὰρ περὶ τοὺς Ἀμφισσέας ἠσεβημένα σοι καὶ τὰ περὶ τὴν Εὔβοιαν δωροδοκηθέντα, ἐφʼ οἷς ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ φανερῶς ἐξηλέγχου, χρόνων ἐγγεγενημένων ἴσως ἐλπίζεις τὸν δῆμον ἀμνημονεῖν·

[¶14] 222. but what length of time could conceal your acts of plunder in the case of the triremes and the trierarchs? For when you had carried constitutional amendments as to the Three Hundred, and had persuaded the Athenians to make you Commissioner of the Navy, you were convicted by me of having stolen away trierarchs from sixty-five swift ships, making away with a greater naval force of the city than that with which the Athenians once defeated Pollis and the Lacedaemonians at Naxos.

> Greek: 222. τὰ δὲ περὶ τὰς τριήρεις καὶ τοὺς τριηράρχους ἁρπάγματα τίς ἂν ἀποκρύψαι χρόνος δύναιτʼ ἄν, ὅτε νομοθετήσας περὶ τῶν τριακοσίων, καὶ σαυτὸν πείσας Ἀθηναίους ἐπιστάτην τάξαι τοῦ ναυτικοῦ, ἐξηλέγχθης ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ ἑξήκοντα καὶ πέντε νεῶν ταχυναυτουσῶν τριηράρχους ὑφῃρημένος, πλέον τῆς πόλεως ἀφανίζων ναυτικὸν ἢ ᾧ ποτε Ἀθηναῖοι τὴν ἐν Νάξῳ ναυμαχίαν Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ Πόλλιν ἐνίκησαν;

[¶15] 223. And by your recriminations you so blocked the punishment which was your due that the danger came, not upon you, the wrong-doer, but upon those who attempted to proceed against you; for in your charges you everlastingly brought forward Alexander and Philip, and complained that certain persons were fettering the opportunities of the city—you who always ruin the opportunity of to-day, and guarantee that of to-morrow. And when at last you were on the point of being impeached by me, did you not contrive the arrest of Anaxinus of Oreus, who was making purchases for Olympias?

> Greek: 223. οὕτω δὲ ταῖς αἰτίαις ἐνέφραξας τὰς κατὰ σαυτοῦ τιμωρίας, ὥστε τὸν κίνδυνον εἶναι μὴ σοὶ τῷ ἀδικήσαντι, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἐπεξιοῦσι, πολὺν μὲν τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον καὶ τὸν Φίλιππον ἐν ταῖς διαβολαῖς φέρων, αἰτιώμενος δέ τινας ἐμποδίζειν τοὺς τῆς πόλεως καιρούς, ἀεὶ τὸ παρὸν λυμαινόμενος, τὸ δὲ μέλλον κατεπαγγελλόμενος. οὐ τὸ τελευταῖον εἰσαγγέλλεσθαι μέλλων ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ, τὴν Ἀναξίνου σύλληψιν τοῦ Ὠρείτου κατεσκεύασας, τοῦ τὰ ἀγοράσματα Ὀλυμπιάδι ἀγοράζοντος;

[¶16] 224. And you twice put to the torture with your own hand and moved to punish with death the same man in whose house you had been entertained at Oreus. The man with whom at the same table you had eaten and drunken and poured libations, the man with whom you had clasped hands in token of friendship and hospitality, that man you put to death! When I convicted you of this in the presence of all Athens, and charged you with being the murderer of your host, you did not deny the impious crime, but gave an answer that called forth a cry of protest from the citizens and all the foreigners who were standing about the assembly. For you said that you held the city’s salt as of more importance than the table of your foreign host.

> Greek: 224. καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἄνδρα δὶς στρεβλώσας τῇ σαυτοῦ χειρί, ἔγραψας αὐτὸν θανάτῳ ζημιῶσαι, καὶ παρὰ τῷ αὐτῷ ἐν Ὠρεῷ κατήγου, καὶ ᾧ ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς τραπέζης ἔφαγες καὶ ἔπιες καὶ ἔσπεισας, καὶ τὴν δεξιὰν ἐνέβαλες ἄνδρα φίλον καὶ ξένον ποιούμενος, τοῦτον ἀπέκτεινας. καὶ περὶ τούτων ἐν ἅπασιν Ἀθηναίοις ἐξελεγχθεὶς ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ καὶ κληθεὶς ξενοκτόνος, οὐ τὸ ἀσέβημα ἠρνήσω, ἀλλʼ ἀπεκρίνω ἐφʼ ᾧ ἀνεβόησεν ὁ δῆμος καὶ ὅσοι ξένοι περιέστασαν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν· ἔφησθα γὰρ τοὺς τῆς πόλεως ἅλας περὶ πλείονος ποιεῖσθαι τῆς ξενικῆς τραπέζης.

[¶17] 225. I say nothing of forged letters and the arrest of spies, and torture applied on groundless charges, on your assertion that I with certain persons was seeking a revolution. Furthermore, he intends, as I learn, to ask me what kind of a physician he would be who should give no advice to his patient in the course of his illness, but after his death should come to the funeral and tell over to the relatives by what course of treatment the man might have been cured.

> Greek: 225. ἐπιστολὰς δὲ σιγῶ ψευδεῖς καὶ κατασκόπων συλλήψεις καὶ βασάνους ἐπʼ αἰτίαις ἀγενήτοις, ὡς ἐμοῦ μετά τινων νεωτερίζειν βουλομένου. ἔπειτα ἐπερωτᾶν με, ὡς ἐγὼ πυνθάνομαι, μέλλει, τίς ἂν εἴη τοιοῦτος ἰατρός, ὅστις τῷ νοσοῦντι μεταξὺ μὲν ἀσθενοῦντι μηδὲν συμβουλεύοι, τελευτήσαντος δὲ ἐλθὼν εἰς τὰ ἔνατα διεξίοι πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους ἃ ἐπιτηδεύσας ὑγιὴς ἂν ἐγένετο.

[¶18] 226. But, Demosthenes, you fail to ask yourself in turn what kind of a statesman he would be who, having the power to cajole the people, should sell the opportunities for saving the city, and by his calumnies prevent patriots from giving advice; and when he had run away from danger and had entangled the city in misfortunes from which there was no escape, should demand that he be crowned for his virtue, when he had done nothing that was good, but was himself responsible for all the disasters; and should then ask those who had been driven out of public life by his slanders in those critical days when there was still a chance of safety, why they had not prevented his wrong doing;

> Greek: 226. σαυτὸν δʼ οὐκ ἀντερωτᾷς, τίς ἂν εἴη δημαγωγὸς τοιοῦτος, ὅστις τὸν μὲν δῆμον θωπεῦσαι δύναιτο, τοὺς δὲ καιροὺς ἐν οἷς ἦν σῴζεσθαι τὴν πόλιν, ἀποδοῖτο, τοὺς δʼ εὖ φρονοῦντας κωλύοι διαβάλλων συμβουλεύειν, ἀποδρὰς δʼ ἐκ τῶν κινδύνων καὶ τὴν πόλιν ἀνηκέστοις συμφοραῖς περιβαλὼν ἀξιοίη στεφανοῦσθαι ἐπʼ ἀρετῇ, ἀγαθὸν μὲν πεποιηκὼς μηδέν, πάντων δὲ τῶν κακῶν αἴτιος γεγονώς, ἐπερωτῴη δὲ τοὺς συκοφαντηθέντας ἐκ τῆς πολιτείας ἐπʼ ἐκείνων τῶν καιρῶν ὅτʼ ἐνῆν σῴζεσθαι, διὰ τί αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐκώλυσαν ἐξαμαρτάνειν, ἀποκρύπτοιτο δὲ τὸ πάντων τελευταῖον, ὅτι τῆς μάχης ἐπιγενομένης οὐκ ἐσχολάζομεν περὶ τὴν σὴν εἶναι τιμωρίαν, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ τῆς σωτηρίας τῆς πόλεως ἐπρεσβεύομεν.

[¶19] 227. and should conceal the final fact of all, that after the battle we had no time to attend to punishing you, but were engrossed in negotiations for the safety of the city. But when, not content with having escaped punishment, you were actually calling for rewards, making the city an object of ridicule in the eyes of all Hellas, then I interposed and brought my indictment.

> Greek: 227. ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐκ ἀπέχρη σοι δίκην μὴ δεδωκέναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ δωρεὰς ᾔτεις, καταγέλαστον ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησι τὴν πόλιν ποιῶν, ἐνταῦθʼ ἐνέστην καὶ τὴν γραφὴν ἀπήνεγκα.

[¶20] 228. And, by the Olympian gods, of all the things which I understand Demosthenes is going to say, I am most indignant at what I am now about to tell you. For he likens me in natural endowment to the Sirens, saying that it was not charm that the Sirens brought to those who listened to them, but destruction, and that therefore the Siren-song has no good repute; and that in like manner the smooth flow of my speech and my natural ability have proved the ruin of those who have listened to me. And yet I think no man in the world is justified in making such a statement about me. It is a shame to accuse a man and not to be able to show the ground for the accusation.

> Greek: 228. καὶ νὴ τοὺς θεοὺς Ὀλυμπίους, ὧν ἐγὼ πυνθάνομαι Δημοσθένην λέξειν, ἐφʼ ᾧ νυνὶ μέλλω λέγειν ἀγανακτῶ μάλιστα. ἀφομοιοῖ γὰρ μου τὴν φύσιν ταῖς Σειρῆσιν. καὶ γὰρ ὑπʼ ἐκείνων οὐ κηλεῖσθαί φησι τοὺς ἀκροωμένους, ἀλλʼ ἀπόλλυσθαι, διόπερ οὐδʼ εὐδοκιμεῖν τὴν τῶν Σειρήνων μουσικήν· καὶ δὴ καὶ τὴν τῶν ἐμῶν εὔροιαν λόγων καὶ τὴν φύσιν μου γεγενῆσθαι ἐπὶ βλάβῃ τῶν ἀκουόντων. καίτοι τὸν λόγον τοῦτον ὅλως μὲν ἔγωγε οὐδενὶ πρέπειν ἡγοῦμαι περὶ ἐμοῦ λέγειν· τῆς γὰρ αἰτίας αἰσχρὸν τὸν αἰτιώμενόν ἐστι τὸ ἔργον μὴ ἔχειν ἐπιδεῖξαι·

[¶21] 229. But if the charge really had to be made, it was not for Demosthenes to make it, but for some general who, although he had rendered distinguished services to the state, was not gifted with the power of speech, and for that reason was envious of the natural endowments of his opponents in court, because he knew that he had not the ability to describe one of all the things he had accomplished, but saw in his accuser a man able to set forth to the hearers in all detail how he had himself administered things which had not been done by him at all. But when a man who is made up of words, and those words bitter words and useless—when such a man takes refuge in “simplicity” and “the facts,” who could have patience with him? If you treat him as you might a clarinet, and take out his tongue, you have nothing left!

> Greek: 229. εἰ δʼ ἦν ἀναγκαῖον ῥηθῆναι, οὐ Δημοσθένους ἦν ὁ λόγος, ἀλλʼ ἀνδρὸς στρατηγοῦ μεγάλα μὲν τὴν πόλιν ἀγάθʼ εἰργασμένου, λέγειν δὲ ἀδυνάτου καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀντιδίκων διὰ τοῦτο ἐζηλωκότος φύσιν, ὅτι σύνοιδεν ἑαυτῷ μὲν οὐδὲν ὧν διαπέπρακται δυναμένῳ φράσαι, τὸν δὲ κατήγορον ὁρᾷ δυνάμενον καὶ τὰ μὴ πεπραγμένα ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ παριστάναι τοῖς ἀκούουσιν ὡς διῴκησεν. ὅταν δʼ ἐξ ὀνομάτων συγκείμενος ἄνθρωπος, καὶ τούτων πικρῶν καὶ περιέργων, ἔπειτα ἐπὶ τὴν ἁπλότητα καὶ τὰ ἔργα καταφεύγῃ, τίς ἂν ἀνάσχοιτο; οὗ τὴν γλῶτταν ὥσπερ τῶν αὐλῶν ἐάν τις ἀφέλῃ, τὸ λοιπὸν οὐδέν ἐστιν.

[¶22] 230. But for my part I am surprised at you, fellow citizens, and I ask under what possible consideration you could refuse to sustain this indictment. On the ground that Ctesiphon’s motion is lawful? Never was a more unlawful motion made. On the ground that he who moved the decree is not the sort of man to be punished? You give up the possibility of calling any man to account for his manner of life, if you let this man go. And is it not vexatious that whereas in former times the orchestra was piled with golden crowns with which the state was honored by the Hellenes, today in consequence of the policies of Demosthenes you the people go uncrowned and unproclaimed, but he is to be honored by the voice of the herald?

> Greek: 230. θαυμάζω δʼ ἔγωγε ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ ζητῶ, πρὸς τί ἂν ἀποβλέψαντες ἀποψηφίσαισθε τὴν γραφήν. πότερον ὡς τὸ ψήφισμά ἐστιν ἔννομον; ἀλλʼ οὐδεμία πώποτε γνώμη παρανομωτέρα γεγένηται. ἀλλʼ ὡς ὁ τὸ ψήφισμα γράψας οὐκ ἐπιτήδειός ἐστι δίκην δοῦναι; οὐκ ἄρʼ εἰσὶ παρʼ ὑμῖν εὔθυναι βίου, εἰ τοῦτον ἀφήσετε. ἐκεῖνο δʼ οὐ λυπηρόν, εἰ πρότερον μὲν ἐνεπίμπλατο ἡ ὀρχήστρα χρυσῶν στεφάνων, οἷς ὁ δῆμος ἐστεφανοῦτο ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ἐκ δὲ τῶν Δημοσθένους πολιτευμάτων ὑμεῖς μὲν ἀστεφάνωτοι καὶ ἀκήρυκτοι γίγνεσθε, οὗτος δὲ κηρυχθήσεται;

[¶23] 231. If any one of the tragic poets who are to bring on their plays after the crowning should in a tragedy represent Thersites as crowned by the Greeks, no one of you would tolerate it, for Homer says he was a coward and a slanderer; but when you yourselves crown such a man as this, think you not that you would be hissed by the voice of Hellas? Your fathers were wont to attribute to the people such deeds as were glorious and brilliant, but mean and unworthy acts they threw upon the incompetent politicians. But Ctesiphon thinks that you ought to take off from Demosthenes his ill-fame, and crown the people with it.

> Greek: 231. καὶ εἰ μέν τις τῶν τραγικῶν ποιητῶν τῶν μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπεισαγόντων ποιήσειεν ἐν τραγῳδίᾳ τὸν Θερσίτην ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων στεφανούμενον, οὐδεὶς ἂν ὑμῶν ὑπομείνειεν, ὅτι φησὶν Ὅμηρος ἄνανδρον αὐτὸν εἶναι καὶ συκοφάντην· αὐτοὶ δʼ ὅταν τὸν τοιοῦτον ἄνθρωπον στεφανῶτε, οὐκ ἂν οἴεσθε ἐν ταῖς τῶν Ἑλλήνων δόξαις συρίττεσθαι; οἱ μὲν γὰρ πατέρες ὑμῶν τὰ μὲν ἔνδοξα καὶ λαμπρὰ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀνετίθεσαν τῷ δήμῷ τὰ δὲ ταπεινὰ καὶ καταδεέστερα εἰς τοὺς ῥήτορας τοὺς φαύλους ἔτρεπον· Κτησιφῶν δʼ ὑμᾶς οἴεται δεῖν ἀφελόντας τὴν ἀδοξίαν ἀπὸ Δημοσθένους περιθεῖναι τῷ δήμῳ.

[¶24] 232. And while you assert that you are favorites of fortune—as indeed you are, thank heaven—will you declare by public resolution that you have been abandoned by fortune, but blessed by Demosthenes? And—strangest of all—in the same court-rooms do you disfranchise those who are convicted of receiving bribes, and then yourselves propose to crown a man who, to your own knowledge, has always been in politics for pay? If the judges at the Dionysiac festival are not honest in their award of the prize to the cyclic choruses, you punish them; but do you yourselves, who are sitting as judges, not of cyclic choruses, but of the laws and of integrity in public life, do you propose to bestow your rewards, not according to the laws, and not upon the rare and deserving, but upon the successful intriguer?

> Greek: 232. καὶ φατὲ μὲν εὐτυχεῖς εἶναι, ὡς καὶ ἐστὲ καλῶς ποιοῦντες, ψηφιεῖσθε δʼ ὑπὸ μὲν τῆς τύχης ἐγκαταλελεῖφθαι, ὑπὸ Δημοσθένους δὲ εὖ πεπονθέναι; καὶ τὸ πάντων ἀτοπώτατον, ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς δικαστηρίοις τοὺς μὲν τὰς τῶν δώρων γραφὰς ἁλισκομένους ἀτιμοῦτε, ὃν δʼ αὐτοὶ μισθοῦ πολιτευόμενον σύνιστε, στεφανώσετε; καὶ τοὺς μὲν κριτὰς τοὺς ἐκ τῶν Διονυσίων, ἐὰν μὴ δικαίως τοὺς κυκλίους χοροὺς κρίνωσι, ζημιοῦτε· αὐτοὶ δὲ οὐ κυκλίων χορῶν κριταὶ καθεστηκότες, ἀλλὰ νόμων καὶ πολιτικῆς ἀρετῆς, τὰς δωρεὰς οὐ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους οὐδʼ ὀλίγοις καὶ τοῖς ἀξίοις, ἀλλὰ τῷ διαπραξαμένῳ δώσετε;

[¶25] 233. Furthermore, a juror who so acts will go out from the court-room responsible for having made himself weak and the politician strong. For in a democracy the private citizen is a king by virtue of the constitution and his own vote; but when he hands these over to another man, he has by his own act dethroned himself. Still further, the oath that he has sworn before taking his seat haunts him and troubles him, for it was his oath, I think, that made his act a sin; and his service is unknown to the man whom he was trying to please, for the vote is cast in secret.

> Greek: 233. ἔπειτʼ ἔξεισιν ἐκ τοῦ δικαστηρίου ὁ τοιοῦτος κριτὴς ἑαυτὸν μὲν ἀσθενῆ πεποιηκώς, ἰσχυρὸν δὲ τὸν ῥήτορα. ἀνὴρ γὰρ ἰδιώτης ἐν πόλει δημοκρατουμένῃ νόμῳ καὶ ψήφῳ βασιλεύει· ὅταν δʼ ἑτέρῳ ταῦτα παραδῷ, καταλέλυκε τὴν αὐτὸς αὑτοῦ δυναστείαν. ἔπειθʼ ὁ μὲν ὅρκος ὃν ὀμωμοκὼς δικάζει, συμπαρακολουθῶν αὐτὸν λυπεῖ· διʼ αὐτὸν γὰρ οἶμαι γέγονε τὸ ἁμάρτημα· ἡ δὲ χάρις πρὸς ὃν ἐχαρίζετο ἄδηλος γεγένηται· ἡ γὰρ ψῆφος ἀφανὴς φέρεται.

[¶26] 234. But it seems to me, fellow citizens, that the political situation, while fortunate, is also perilous; for we are not wise. The fact that at the present time you, the people, give over the mainstays of the democracy to the few is to be deplored; but the fact that there has not sprung up to our hurt a crop of politicians both corrupt and daring is a gift of fortune. For in former times the state did bring forth such characters, and they made short work of putting down the democracy. For the people loved to be flattered, and in consequence were overthrown, not by the men whom they feared, but by those in whose hands they had placed themselves.

> Greek: 234. δοκοῦμεν δʼ ἔμοιγε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἀμφότερα καὶ κατορθοῦν καὶ παρακινδυνεύειν εἰς τὴν πολιτείαν, οὐ σωφρονοῦντες. ὅτι μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν νυνὶ καιρῶν οἱ πολλοὶ τοῖς ὀλίγοις προΐεσθε τὰ τῆς δημοκρατίας ἰσχυρά, οὐκ ἐπαινῶ· ὅτι δʼ οὐ γεγένηται φορὰ καθʼ ἡμᾶς ῥητόρων πονηρῶν ἅμα καὶ τολμηρῶν, εὐτυχοῦμεν. πρότερον μὲν γὰρ τοιαύτας φύσεις ἤνεγκε τὸ δημόσιον, αἳ ῥᾳδίως οὕτω κατέλυσαν τὸν δῆμον· ἔχαιρε γὰρ κολακευόμενος, ἔπειτʼ αὐτὸν οὐχ οὓς ἐφοβεῖτο, ἀλλʼ οἷς ἑαυτὸν ἐνεχείριζε, κατέλυσαν·

[¶27] 235. And some of them actually joined the Thirty, who killed more than fifteen hundred of the citizens without trial, before they had even heard the charges on which they were to be put to death, and who would not even allow the relatives to be present at the burial of the dead. Will you not hold the politicians under your control? Will you not humble and dismiss those who are now exultant? Will you not bear in mind that in the past no one has ever attempted the overthrow of the democracy until he has made himself stronger than the courts?

> Greek: 235. ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ τῶν τριάκοντα ἐγένοντο, οἳ πλείους ἢ χιλίους καὶ πεντακοσίους τῶν πολιτῶν ἀκρίτους ἀπέκτειναν, πρὶν καὶ τὰς αἰτίας ἀκοῦσαι ἐφʼ αἷς ἔμελλον ἀποθνῄσκειν, καὶ οὐδʼ ἐπὶ τὰς ἐκφορὰς τῶν τελευτησάντων εἴων τοὺς προσήκοντας παραγενέσθαι. οὐχ ὑφʼ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς ἕξετε τοὺς πολιτευομένους; οὐ ταπεινώσαντες ἀποπέμψετε τοὺς νῦν ἐπηρμένους; οὐ μεμνήσεσθʼ ὅτι οὐδεὶς πώποτε ἐπέθετο πρότερον δήμου καταλύσει πρὶν ἂν μεῖζον τῶν δικαστηρίων ἰσχύσῃ;

[¶28] 236. But I would like to reckon up in your presence, fellow citizens, with the author of this motion, the benefactions for which he calls on you to crown Demosthenes. For if, Ctesiphon, you propose to cite that which you made the beginning of your motion, that he did good work in excavating the trenches around the walls, I am astonished at you. For to have been responsible for the necessity of doing the work at all involves an accusation greater than is the credit for having done it well. Indeed, it is not for surrounding the walls with palisades, and not for tearing down the public tombs that the statesman of clean record ought to ask reward, but for having been responsible for some good to the city.

> Greek: 236. ἡδέως δʼ ἂν ἔγωγε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἐναντίον ὑμῶν ἀναλογισαίμην πρὸς τὸν γράψαντα τὸ ψήφισμα, διὰ ποίας εὐεργεσίας ἀξιοῖ Δημοσθένην στεφανῶσαι. εἰ μὲν γὰρ λέξεις, ὅθεν τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ ψηφίσματος ἐποιήσω, ὅτι τὰς τάφους τὰς περὶ τὰ τείχη καλῶς ἐτάφρευσε, θαυμάζω σου. τοῦ γὰρ ταῦτʼ ἐξεργασθῆναι καλῶς τὸ γεγενῆσθαι τούτων ἄτιον μείζω κατηγορίαν ἔχει· οὐ γὰρ περιχαρακώσαντα χρὴ τὰ τείχη, οὐδὲ τάφους δημοσίους ἀνελόντα τὸν ὀρθῶς πεπολιτευμένον δωρεὰς αἰτεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἀγαθοῦ τινος αἴτιον γεγενημένον τῇ πόλει.

[¶29] 237. But if you turn to the second part of your decree, in which you have had the effrontery to write that he is a good man, and “constantly speaks and does what is best for the Athenian people,” omit the pretence and the bombast of your decree, and take hold of the facts, and show us what you mean. I pass by his corruption in the case of the Amphissians and Euboeans; but when you give Demosthenes the credit for the alliance with Thebes, you deceive the ignorant and insult the sensible and well informed. For in failing to mention the crisis and the prestige of these your fellow citizens, which were the real reasons why the alliance was made, you think you prevent our seeing that you are crowning Demosthenes with the credit which belongs to the city.

> Greek: 237. εἰ δὲ ἥξεις ἐπὶ τὸ δεύτερον μέρος τοῦ ψηφίσματος, ἐν ᾧ τετόλμηκας γράφειν ὡς ἔστιν ἀνὴρ ἀγαθός, καὶ διατελεῖ λέγων καὶ πράττων τὰ ἄριστα τῷ δήμῳ τῷ Ἀθηναίων, ἀφελὼν τὴν ἀλαζονείαν καὶ τὸν κόμπον τοῦ ψηφίσματος ἅψαι τῶν ἔργων, ἐπίδειξον ἡμῖν ὅ τι λέγεις. τὰς μὲν γὰρ περὶ τοὺς Ἀμφισσέας καὶ τοὺς Εὐβοέας δωροδοκίας παραλείπω· ὅταν δὲ τῆς πρὸς Θηβαίους συμμαχίας τὰς αἰτίας ἀνατιθῇς Δημοσθένει, τοὺς μὲν ἀγνοοῦντας ἐξαπατᾷς, τοὺς δʼ εἰδότας καὶ αἰσθανομένους ὑβρίζεις. ἀφελὼν γὰρ τὸν καιρὸν καὶ τὴν δόξαν τὴν τούτων, διʼ ἣν ἐγένετο ἡ συμμαχία, λανθάνειν οἴει ἡμᾶς τὸ τῆς πόλεως ἀξίωμα Δημοσθένει περιτιθείς.

[¶30] 238. How great is this imposture, I will try to show you by a signal proof. Not long before Alexander crossed over into Asia, the king of the Persians sent to our people a most insolent and barbarous letter, in which everything was expressed in the most ill-mannered terms; and at the close he wrote, “I will not give you gold; stop asking me for it; you will not get it.”

> Greek: 238. ἡλίκον δʼ ἐστὶ τὸ ἀλαζόνευμα τοῦτο, ἐγὼ πειράσομαι μεγάλῳ σημείῳ διδάξαι. ὁ γὰρ τῶν Περσῶν βασιλεὺς οὐ πολλῷ χρόνῳ πρὸ τῆς Ἀλεξάνδρου διαβάσεως εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν κατέπεμψε τῷ δήμῳ καὶ μάλα ὑβριστικὴν καὶ βάρβαρον ἐπιστολήν, ἐν ᾗ τά τε δὴ ἄλλα καὶ μάλʼ ἀπαιδεύτως διελέχθη, καὶ ἐπὶ τελευτῆς ἐνέγραψεν, ἐγώ, φησίν, ὑμῖν χρυσίον οὐ δώσω· μή με αἰτεῖτε· οὐ γὰρ λήψεσθε.

[¶31] 239. But this same man, overtaken by the dangers which are now upon him, sent, not at the request of the Athenians, but of his own accord, three hundred talents to the people, which they were wise enough to refuse. Now what brought the gold was the crisis, and his fear, and his need of allies. And this same thing it was that brought about the alliance with Thebes. But you, Demosthenes, tire us out with your everlasting talk of Thebes and of that most ill-starred alliance, while you are silent as to the seventy talents of the king’s gold which you have seized and embezzled.

> Greek: 239. οὗτος μέντοι ὁ αὐτὸς ἐγκαταληφθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν νυνὶ παρόντων αὐτῷ κινδύνων, οὐκ αἰτούντων Ἀθηναίων, αὐτὸς ἑκὼν κατέπεμψε τριακόσια τάλαντα τῷ δήμῳ, ἃ σωφρονῶν οὐκ ἐδέξατο. ὁ δὲ κομίζων ἦν τὸ χρυσίον καιρὸς καὶ φόβος καὶ χρεία συμμάχων. τὸ δὲ αὐτὸ τοῦτο καὶ τὴν Θηβαίων συμμαχίαν ἐξηργάσατο. σὺ δὲ τὸ μὲν τῶν Θηβαίων ὄνομα καὶ τὸ τῆς δυστυχεστάτης συμμαχίας ἐνοχλεῖς ἀεὶ λέγων, τὰ δʼ ἑβδομήκοντα τάλαντα ὑποσιωπᾷς, ἃ προλαβὼν τοῦ βασιλικοῦ χρυσίου ἀπεστέρηκας.

[¶32] 240. Was it not for lack of money, nay, for lack of five talents, that the mercenaries failed to deliver up the citadel to the Thebans? And when all the Arcadians were mobilized and their leaders were ready to bring aid, did not the negotiations fail for want of nine talents of silver? But you are a rich man, you serve as choregus —to your own lusts. In a word, the king’s gold stays with Demosthenes, the dangers, fellow citizens, with you.

> Greek: 240. οὐ διʼ ἔνδειαν χρημάτων ἕνεκα μὲν πέντε ταλάντων οἱ ξένοι Θηβαίοις τὴν ἄκραν οὐ παρέδοσαν; διὰ ἐννέα δὲ τάλαντα ἀργυρίου πάντων Ἀρκάδων ἐξεληλυθότων καὶ τῶν ἡγεμόνων ἑτοίμων ὄντων βοηθεῖν, ἡ πρᾶξις οὐ γεγένηται; σὺ δὲ πλουτεῖς καὶ ταῖς ἡδοναῖς ταῖς σαυτοῦ χορηγεῖς. καὶ τὸ κεφάλαιον, τὸ μὲν βασιλικὸν χρυσίον παρὰ τούτῳ, οἱ δὲ κίνδυνοι παρʼ ὑμῖν.

[¶33] 241. But we may well consider their lack of good breeding also. For if Ctesiphon shall have the effrontery to call Demosthenes to the platform to speak to you, and he to come forward and praise himself, that will be even harder for you to hear than his deeds were to bear. We refuse to listen even to honest men when they speak their own praises, though we know full well how many noble deeds they have done; who, then, could endure to listen when a man who has made himself a disgrace to the city lauds himself?

> Greek: 241. ἄξιον δʼ ἐστὶ καὶ τὴν ἀπαιδευσίαν αὐτῶν θεωρῆσαι. εἰ γὰρ τολμήσει Κτησιφῶν μὲν Δημοσθένην παρακαλεῖν λέξοντα εἰς ὑμᾶς, οὗτος δʼ ἀναβὰς ἑαυτὸν ἐγκωμιάζειν, βαρύτερον τῶν ἔργων ὧν πεπόνθαμεν τὸ ἀκρόαμα γίγνεται. ὅπου γὰρ τοὺς ὄντως ἄνδρας ἀγαθούς, οἷς πολλὰ καὶ καλὰ σύνισμεν ἔργα, τοὺς καθʼ ἑαυτῶν ἐπαίνους ἐὰν λέγωσιν, οὐ φέρομεν, ὅταν ἄνθρωπος αἰσχύνη τῆς πόλεως γεγονὼς ἑαυτὸν ἐγκωμιάζῃ, τίς ἂν τὰ τοιαῦτα καρτερήσειεν ἀκούων;

[¶34] 242. From such shameless business as that, Ctesiphon, you will therefore withdraw, if you are wise, and make your defence in your own person. For surely you will not put forth this excuse, that you have not the ability to speak. It was only the other day that you allowed yourself to be elected as envoy to Cleopatra, the daughter of Philip, to condole with her over the death of Alexander, king of the Molossians; you would then be in a strange position today, if you should say that you have not the ability to speak. Have you, then, the ability to console a foreign woman in her grief, but when you have made a motion for pay, will you not speak in defence of it?

> Greek: 242. ἀπὸ μὲν οὖν τῆς ἀναισχύντου πραγματείας, ἐὰν σωφρονῇς, ἀποστήσῃ, ποιήσῃ δέ, ὦ Κτησιφῶν, διὰ σαυτοῦ τὴν ἀπολογίαν. οὐ γὰρ δή που τοῦτό γε σκήψῃ, ὡς οὐ δυνατὸς εἶ λέγειν. καὶ γὰρ ἂν ἄτοπόν σοι συμβαίνοι, εἰ πρώην μέν ποθʼ ὑπέμεινας πρεσβευτὴς ὡς Κλεοπάτραν τὴν Φιλίππου θυγατέρα χειροτονεῖσθαι, συναχθεσθησόμενος ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ Μολοττῶν βασιλέως Ἀλεξάνδρου τελευτῇ, νυνὶ δὲ οὐ φήσεις δύνασθαι λέγειν. ἔπειτα γυναῖκα μὲν ἀλλοτρίαν πενθοῦσαν δύνασαι παραμυθεῖσθαι, γράψας δὲ μισθοῦ ψήφισμα οὐκ ἀπολογήσῃ;

[¶35] 243. Or is the man whom you have moved to crown so obscure a man as not to be known by those whom he has served, unless some one shall help you to describe him? Pray ask the jury whether they knew Chabrias and Iphicrates and Timotheus, and inquire why they gave them those rewards and set up their statues. All will answer with one voice, that they honored Chabrias for the battle of Naxos, and Iphicrates because he destroyed a regiment of the Lacedaemonians, and Timotheus because of his voyage to Corcyra, and other men, each because of many a glorious deed in war.

> Greek: 243. ἢ τοιοῦτός ἐστιν ὃν γέγραφας στεφανοῦσθαι, οἷος μὴ γιγνώσκεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν εὖ πεπονθότων, ἂν μή τις συνείπῃ; ἐπερώτησον δὴ τοὺς δικαστάς, εἰ ἐγίγνωσκον Χαβρίαν καὶ Ἰφικράτην καὶ Τιμόθεον, καὶ πυθοῦ παρʼ αὐτῶν, διὰ τί τὰς δωρεὰς αὐτοῖς ἔδοσαν καὶ τὰς εἰκόνας ἔστησαν. ἅπαντες γὰρ ἅμα ἀποκρινοῦνται, ὅτι Χαβρία μὲν διὰ τὴν περὶ Νάξον ναυμαχίαν, Ἰφικράτει δὲ ὅτι μόραν Λακεδαιμονίων ἀπέκτεινε, Τιμοθέῳ δὲ διὰ τὸν περίπλουν τὸν εἰς Κέρκυραν, καὶ ἄλλοις, ὧν ἑκάστῳ πολλὰ καὶ καλὰ κατὰ πόλεμον ἔργα πέπρακται.

[¶36] 244. But ask them why Demosthenes is to be honored. Because he is a taker of bribes? Because he is a coward? Because he deserted his post? And will you in reality be honoring him, or leaving unavenged yourselves and those who died for you in the battle? In imagination see them expostulating against the crowning of this man. When sticks and stones and iron, voiceless and senseless things, fall on any one and kill him, we cast them beyond the borders, and when a man kills himself, the hand that did the deed is buried apart from the body;

> Greek: 244. Δημοσθένει δʼ ἀντεροῦ διὰ τί. ὅτι δωροδόκος, ὅτι δειλός, ὅτι τὴν τάξιν ἔλιπε; καὶ πότερον τοῦτον τιμήσετε, ἢ ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς ἀτιμωρήτους ἐάσετε καὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐν τῇ μάχῃ τελευτήσαντας; οὓς νομίσαθʼ ὁρᾶν σχετλιάζοντας, εἰ οὗτος στεφανωθήσεται. καὶ γὰρ ἂν εἴη δεινόν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, εἰ τὰ μὲν ξύλα καὶ τοὺς λίθους καὶ τὸν σίδηρον, τὰ ἄφωνα καὶ τὰ ἀγνώμονα, ἐάν τῳ ἐμπεσόντα ἀποκτείνῃ, ὑπερορίζομεν, καὶ ἐάν τις αὑτὸν διαχρήσηται, τὴν χεῖρα τὴν τοῦτο πράξασαν χωρὶς τοῦ σώματος θάπτομεν, Δημοσθένην δέ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸν γράψαντα μὲν τὴν πανυστάτην ἔξοδον, προδόν, προδόντα δὲ τοὺς στρατιώτας, τοῦτον ὑμεῖς τιμήσετε.

[¶37] 245. how outrageous, then, fellow citizens, if Demosthenes, who made the motion for that final campaign, and then betrayed the soldiers, is to receive honor from you! So are the dead insulted, and the living are disheartened, when they see that death is the prize of valor, while the memory of it fades away. And, most important of all, the younger men inquire of you after what example they ought to shape their lives.

> Greek: 245. οὐκοῦν ὑβρίζονται μὲν οἱ τελευτήσαντες, ἀθυμότεροι δὲ οἱ ζῶντες γίγνονται, ὁρῶντες τῆς ἀρετῆς ἆθλον μὲν τὸν θάνατον κείμενον, τὴν δὲ μνήμην ἐπιλείπουσαν· καὶ τὸ μέγιστον, ἐπερωτῶσιν ὑμᾶς οἱ νεώτεροι, πρὸς ὁποῖον χρὴ παράδειγμα αὐτοὺς τὸν βίον ποιεῖσθαι.

[¶38] 246. For be assured, fellow citizens, it is not our wrestling halls or the schools or our system of liberal studies alone that educate the young, but far more our public proclamations. It is proclaimed in the theater that one is crowned for virtue and nobility and patriotism, a man whose life is shameful and loathsome; a younger man, at sight of that, is corrupted. A man has been punished who is a rascal and libertine—like Ctesiphon; the rest have received instruction. A juror who has cast his vote against honor and justice goes home and proceeds to instruct his son; the boy refuses to obey, and with good reason, and he is surely justified thenceforth in calling exhortation vexation.

> Greek: 246. εὖ γὰρ ἴστε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὅτι οὐχ αἱ παλαῖστραι οὐδὲ τὰ διδασκαλεῖα οὐδʼ ἡ μουσικὴ μόνον παιδεύει τοὺς νέους, ἀλλὰ πολὺ μᾶλλον τὰ δημόσια κηρύγματα. κηρύττεταί τις ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ, ὅτι στεφανοῦται ἀρετῆς ἕνεκα καὶ ἀνδραγαθίας καὶ εὐνοίας, ἄνθρωπος ἀσχημονῶν τῷ βίῳ καὶ βδελυρός· ὁ δέ γε νεώτερος ταῦτʼ ἰδὼν διεφθάρη. δίκην τις δέδωκε πονηρὸς καὶ πορνοβοσκός, ὥσπερ Κτησιφῶν· οἱ δέ γε ἄλλοι πεπαίδευνται. τἀναντία τις Ψηφισάμενος τῶν καλῶν καὶ δικαίων, ἐπανελθὼν οἴκαδε παιδεύει τὸν υἱόν· ὁ δέ γε εἰκότως οὐ πείθεται, ἀλλὰ τὸ νουθετεῖν ἐνοχλεῖν ἤδη δικαίως ὀνομάζεται.

[¶39] 247. Cast your vote, then, not only as men who are rendering a verdict, but also as men who are in the public eye, to be called to account by the citizens who, though they are not now present, will nevertheless ask you what your verdict was. For be assured, fellow citizens, men will hold the city to be of like character with the man who is proclaimed. And it is a reproach for you to be likened, not to your fathers, but to the cowardice of Demosthenes. How then could you escape such disgrace?

> Greek: 247. ὡς οὖν μὴ μόνον κρίνοντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ θεωρούμενοι, οὕτω τὴν ψῆφον φέρετε, εἰς ἀπολογισμὸν τοῖς νῦν μὲν οὐ παροῦσι τῶν πολιτῶν, ἐπερησομένοις δὲ ὑμᾶς τί ἐδικάζετε. εὖ γὰρ ἴστε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὅτι τοιαύτη δόξει ἡ πόλις εἶναι, ὁποῖός τις ἂν ᾖ ὁ κηρυττόμενος· ἔστι δὲ ὄνειδος μὴ τοῖς προγόνοις ὑμᾶς, ἀλλὰ τῇ Δημοσθένους ἀνανδρίᾳ, προσεικασθῆναι. πῶς οὖν ἄν τις τὴν τοιαύτην αἰσχύνην ἐκφύγοι;

[¶40] 248. By guarding against those who arrogate to themselves the name of “patriot” and “benefactor,” but are untrustworthy in character. For loyalty and the name of friend of the people are prizes which are offered to us all, but for the most part those persons are the first to take refuge in them in speech who are farthest from them in conduct.

> Greek: 248. ἐὰν τοὺς προκαταλαμβάνοντας τὰ κοινὰ καὶ φιλάνθρωπα τῶν ὀνομάτων, ἀπίστους δʼ ὄντας τοῖς ἤθεσι, φυλάξησθε. ἡ γὰρ εὔνοια καὶ τὸ τῆς δημοκρατίας ὄνομα κεῖται μὲν ἐν μέσῳ, φθάνουσι δʼ ἐπʼ αὐτὰ καταφεύγοντες τῷ λόγῳ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ οἱ τοῖς ἔργοις πλεῖστον ἀπέχοντες.

[¶41] 249. When, therefore, you find a politician coveting crowns and proclamations in the presence of the Greeks, bid him bring his argument back to the proof of a worthy life and a sound character, precisely as the law commands a man to give security for property. But if he has no testimony to this, do not confirm to him the praises which he seeks let your thought be for the democracy, which is already slipping through your hands.

> Greek: 249. ὅταν οὖν λάβητε ῥήτορα στεφάνων καὶ κηρυγμάτων ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐπιθυμοῦντα, ἐπανάγειν αὐτὸν κελεύετε τὸν λόγον, ὥσπερ καὶ τὰς βεβαιώσεις τῶν κτημάτων ὁ νόμος κελεύει ποιεῖσθαι, εἰς βίον ἀξιόχρεων καὶ τρόπον σώφρονα. ὅτῳ δὲ ταῦτα μὴ μαρτυρεῖται, μὴ βεβαιοῦτε αὐτῷ τοὺς ἐπαίνους, καὶ τῆς δημοκρατίας ἐπιμελήθητε ἤδη διαφευγούσης ὑμᾶς.

[¶42] 250. Does it not seem to you to be an outrage if the senate-house and the people are coming to be ignored, while the letters and ambassadors come to private houses, sent hither not by ordinary men, but by the first men of Asia and Europe? And deeds the legal penalty for which is death, these deeds certain men do not deny, but acknowledge them before the people; and they read their letters to one another and compare them. And some of them bid you look into their faces as being guardians of the democracy, and others call for rewards as being saviours of the state.

> Greek: 250. ἢ οὐ δεινὸν ὑμῖν εἶναι δοκεῖ, εἰ τὸ μὲν βουλευτήριον καὶ ὁ δῆμος παρορᾶται, αἱ δʼ ἐπιστολαὶ καὶ αἱ πρεσβεῖαι ἀφικνοῦνται εἰς ἰδιωτικὰς οἰκίας, οὐ παρὰ τῶν τυχόντων ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τῶν πρωτευόντων ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ καὶ τῇ Εὐρώπῃ; καὶ ἐφʼ οἷς ἐστιν ἐκ τῶν νόμων ζημία θάνατος, ταῦτά τινες οὐκ ἐξαρνοῦνται πράττειν, ἀλλʼ ὁμολογοῦσιν ἐν τῷ δήμῳ, καὶ τὰς ἐπιστολὰς ἀλλήλοις παραναγιγνώσκουσιν· παρακελεύονται δʼ οἱ μὲν βλέπειν εἰς τὰ ἑαυτῶν πρόσωπα ὡς φύλακες τῆς δημοκρατίας, ἕτεροι δʼ αἰτοῦσι δωρεὰς ὡς σωτῆρες τῆς πόλεως ὄντες.

[¶43] 251. But the people, discouraged by what they have experienced, as though in very dotage or declared of unsound mind, lay claim only to the name of democracy, and have surrendered the substance to others. And so you go home from the meetings of your assembly, not as from a deliberative session, but as from some picnic, where you have been given the leavings as your share.

> Greek: 251. ὁ δὲ δῆμος ἐκ τῆς ἀθυμίας τῶν συμβεβηκότων ὥσπερ παραγεγηρακὼς ἢ παρανοίας ἑαλωκώς, αὐτὸ μόνον τοὔνομα τῆς δημοκρατίας περιποιεῖται, τῶν δʼ ἔργων ἑτέροις παρακεχώρηκεν. ἔπειτʼ ἀπέρχεσθε ἐκ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν οὐ βουλευσάμενοι, ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ ἐκ τῶν ἐράνων, τὰ περιόντα νειμάμενοι.

[¶44] 252. To prove that this is not mere talk, consider my statement in the light of the following facts: There came—it pains me to call it to mind repeatedly—there came a certain disaster to the city. At that time a certain private citizen who merely undertook to sail to Samos was on the same day punished with death by the Senate of the Areopagus, as a traitor to his country. Another private citizen, who sailed away to Rhodes, was only the other day prosecuted, because he was a coward in the face of danger. The vote of the jury was a tie, and if a single vote had been changed, he would have been cast outside our borders.

> Greek: 252. ὅτι δʼ οὐ ληρῶ, ἐκεῖθεν τὸν λόγον θεωρήσατε. ἐγένετό τις, ἄχθομαι δὲ πολλάκις μεμνημένος, ἀτυχία τῇ πόλει. ἐνταῦθʼ ἀνὴρ ἰδιώτης ἐκπλεῖν μόνον εἰς Σάμον ἐπιχειρήσας, ὡς προδότης τῆς πατρίδος αὐθημερὸν ὑπὸ τῆς ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου βουλῆς θανάτῳ ἐζημιώθη. ἕτερος δʼ ἐκπλεύσας ἰδιώτης εἰς Ῥόδον, ὅτι τὸν φόβον ἀνάνδρως ἤνεγκε, πρώην ποτὲ εἰσηγγέλθη, καὶ ἴσαι αἱ ψῆφοι αὐτῷ ἐγένοντο· εἰ δὲ μία ψῆφος μετέπεσεν, ὑπερώριστʼ ἄν.

[¶45] 253. Now with that let us compare what is taking place today. A politician, the man who is responsible for all our disasters, deserted his post in the field, and then ran away from the city: this man is calling for a crown, and he thinks he must be proclaimed. Away with the fellow, the curse of all Hellas! Nay, rather, seize and punish him, the pirate of politics, who sails on his craft of words over the sea of state.

> Greek: 253. ἀντιθῶμεν δὴ τὸ νυνὶ γιγνόμενον. ἀνὴρ ῥήτωρ, ὁ πάντων τῶν κακῶν αἴτιος, ἔλιπε μὲν τὴν ἀπὸ στρατοπέδου τάξιν, ἀπέδρα δʼ ἐκ τῆς πόλεως· οὗτος στεφανοῦσθαι ἀξιοῖ καὶ κηρύττεσθαι οἴεται δεῖν. οὐκ ἀποπέμψεσθε τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὡς κοινὴν τῶν Ἑλλήνων συμφοράν; ἢ συλλαβόντες ὡς λῃστὴν τῶν πραγμάτων, ἐπʼ ὀνομάτων διὰ τῆς πολιτείας πλέοντα, τιμωρήσεσθε;

[¶46] 254. And mark well the occasion on which you are casting your vote. A few days hence the Pythian games are to be celebrated and the synod of Hellas assembled. Our city is already the object of slander in consequence of the policies of Demosthenes in connection with the present critical situation. If you crown him, you will seem to be in sympathy with those who violate the general peace, whereas if you do the opposite, you will free the people from these charges.

> Greek: 254. καὶ τὸν καιρὸν μέμνησθε, ἐν ᾧ τὴν ψῆφον φέρετε. ἡμερῶν μὲν ὀλίγων μέλλει τὰ Πύθια γίγνεσθαι καὶ τὸ συνέδριον τὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων συλλέγεσθαι· διαβέβληται δʼ ἡ πόλις ἐκ τῶν Δημοσθένους πολιτευμάτων περὶ τοὺς νυνὶ καιρούς· δόξετε δέ, ἐὰν μὲν τοῦτον στεφανώσητε, ὁμογνώμονες εἶναι τοῖς παραβαίνουσι τὴν κοινὴν εἰρήνην, ἐὰν δὲ τοὐναντίον τούτου πράξητε, ἀπολύσετε τὸν δῆμον τῶν αἰτιῶν.

[¶47] 255. Deliberate, therefore, not as for some foreign state, but as for your own; treat your honors, not as favours to be bestowed, but as rewards of merit; reserve your crowns for better heads and more worthy men. Deliberate, not with the help of your ears alone, but with your eyes as well, looking sharply among yourselves to see who of your number they are who propose to aid Demosthenes; whether they are comrades of his youth in the hunting-field, or companions in the gymnasium—but no, by the Olympian Zeus, that cannot be, for his time has been spent, not in hunting wild boars, and not in cultivating vigor of body, but in practising his art of hunting down men of property.

> Greek: 255. μὴ οὖν ὡς ὑπὲρ ἀλλοτρίας, ἀλλʼ ὡς ὑπὲρ οἰκείας τῆς πόλεως βουλεύεσθε, καὶ τὰς φιλοτιμίας μὴ νέμετε, ἀλλὰ κρίνετε, καὶ τὰς δωρεὰς εἰς βελτίω σώματα καὶ ἄνδρας ἀξιολογωτέρους ἀπόθεσθε, καὶ μὴ μόνον τοῖς ὠσίν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ὄμμασι διαβλέψαντες εἰς ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς βουλεύσασθε, τίνες ὑμῶν εἰσιν οἱ βοηθήσοντες Δημοσθένει, πότερον οἱ συγκυνηγέται, ἢ οἱ συγγυμνασταὶ αὐτοῦ, ὅτʼ ἦν ἐν ἡλικία—ἀλλὰ μὰ τὸν Δία τὸν Ὀλύμπιον οὐχ ὗς ἀγρίους κυνηγετῶν, οὐδὲ τῆς τοῦ σώματος εὐεξίας ἐπιμελόμενος, ἀλλʼ ἐπασκῶν τέχνας ἐπὶ τοὺς τὰς οὐσίας κεκτημένους διαγεγένηται— ἀλλʼ εἰς τὴν ἀλαζονείαν ἀποβλέψαντες, ὅταν φῇ Βυζαντίους μὲν ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν πρεσβεύσας ἐξελέσθαι τῶν Φιλίππου, ἀποστῆσαι δὲ Ἀκαρνᾶνας, ἐκπλῆξαι δὲ Θηβαίους δημηγορήσας·

[¶48] 256. Yes, look at his imposture when he says that by his services as envoy he dragged Byzantium from Philip’s hands, and caused the revolt of the Acarnanians, and carried the Thebans away by his harangues. For he supposes that you have by this time come to such a pitch of folly that you will credit even this, as though it were the goddess Persuasion that you have been nurturing in your city, and not a slanderer!

> Greek: 256. οἴεται γὰρ ὑμᾶς εἰς τοσοῦτον εὐηθείας ἤδη προβεβηκέναι, ὥστε καὶ ταῦτα ἀναπεισθήσεσθαι, ὥσπερ Πειθὼ τρέφοντας, ἀλλʼ οὐ συκοφάντην ἄνθρωπον ἐν τῇ πόλει.

[¶49] 257. But when at last at the close of his speech he calls forward to support his cause the men who have shared his bribes, imagine that on the platform where now I am standing as I speak, you see, drawn up in array against the lawlessness of these men, the benefactors of the state: Solon, who equipped the democracy with the best of laws, a philosopher and a good lawgiver, begging you soberly, as he naturally would, by no means to hold the words of Demosthenes as more weighty than your oaths and the laws; and that man who assessed the tribute of the Greeks, and whose daughters our people dowered after his death, Aristeides, expressing his indignation at this mockery of justice, and asking you if you are not ashamed that whereas, when Arthmius of Zeleia transported the gold of the Medes into Hellas, although he had once resided in our city, and was proxenus of the Athenian people, your fathers were all but ready to kill him, and they warned him out of their city, and out of all the territory under Athenian control, you now propose to crown with a golden crown Demosthenes, a man who has not indeed “transported” the gold of the Medes, but has received it as a bribe, and keeps it to this day.

> Greek: 257. ὅταν δʼ ἐπὶ τελευτῆς ἤδη τοῦ λόγου συνηγόρους τοὺς κοινωνοὺς τῶν δωροδοκημάτων αὑτῷ παρακαλῇ, ὑπολαμβάνετε ὁρᾶν ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος, οὗ νῦν ἑστηκὼς ἐγὼ λέγω, ἀντιπαρατεταγμένους πρὸς τὴν τούτων ἀσέλγειαν τοὺς τῆς πόλεως εὐεργέτας, Σόλωνα μὲν τὸν καλλίστοις νόμοις κοσμήσαντα τὴν δημοκρατίαν, ἄνδρα φιλόσοφον καὶ νομοθέτην ἀγαθόν, σωφρόνως, ὡς προσῆκον αὐτῷ, δεόμενον ὑμῶν μηδενὶ τρόπῳ τοὺς Δημοσθένους λόγους περὶ πλείονος ποιήσασθαι τῶν ὅρκων καὶ τῶν νόμων, Ἀριστείδην δὲ τὸν τοὺς φόρους τάξαντα τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, οὗ τελευτήσαντος τὰς θυγατέρας ἐξέδωκεν ὁ δῆμος, σχετλιάζοντα ἐπὶ τῷ τῆς δικαιοσύνης προπηλακισμῷ, καὶ ἐπερωτῶντα, εἰ οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθε, εἰ οἱ μὲν πατέρες ὑμῶν Ἄρθμιον τὸν Ζελείτην κομίσαντα εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα τὸ ἐκ Μήδων χρυσίον, ἐπιδημήσαντα εἰς τὴν πόλιν, πρόξενον ὄντα τοῦ δήμου τοῦ Ἀθηναίων, παρʼ οὐδὲν μὲν ἦλθον ἀποκτεῖναι, ἐξεκήρυξαν δʼ ἐκ τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἐξ ἁπάσης ἧς ἄρχουσιν Ἀθηναῖοι,

[¶50] 259. Think you not that Themistocles and those who died at Marathon and at Plataea, and the very sepulchres of your fathers, will groan aloud, if the man who admits that he has negotiated with the barbarians against the Greeks shall receive a crown?

> Greek: 259. ὑμεῖς δὲ Δημοσθένην, οὐ κομίσαντα τὸ ἐκ Μήδων χρυσίον, ἀλλὰ δωροδοκήσαντα καὶ ἔτι καὶ νῦν κεκτημένον, χρυσῷ στεφάνῳ μέλλετε στεφανοῦν. Θεμιστοκλέα δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἐν Μαραθῶνι τελευτήσαντας καὶ τοὺς ἐν Πλαταιαῖς καὶ αὐτοὺς τοὺς τάφους τοὺς τῶν προγόνων οὐκ οἴεσθε στενάξειν, εἰ ὁ μετὰ τῶν βαρβάρων ὁμολογῶν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἀντιπράττειν στεφανωθήσεται;

[¶51] 260. Be ye my witnesses, O Earth and Sun, and virtue and Conscience, and Education, by which we distinguish the honorable and the base, that I have heard my country’s call, and have spoken. If I have presented the accusations well and in a manner commensurate with the crime, I have spoken according to my desire; if insufficiently, according to my ability. It remains for you, fellow citizens, in view both of what has been spoken and what is left unsaid, yourselves to give the verdict that is just and for the city’s good.

> Greek: 260. ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν, ὦ γῆ καὶ ἥλιε καὶ ἀρετὴ καὶ σύνεσις καὶ παιδεία, ᾗ διαγιγνώσκομεν τὰ καλὰ καὶ τὰ αἰσχρά, βεβοήθηκα καὶ εἴρηκα. καὶ εἰ μὲν καλῶς καὶ ἀξίως τοῦ ἀδικήματος κατηγόρηκα, εἶπον ὡς ἐβουλόμην, εἰ δὲ ἐνδεεστέρως, ὡς ἐδυνάμην. ὑμεῖς δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων λόγων καὶ ἐκ τῶν παραλειπομένων αὐτοὶ τὰ δίκαια καὶ τὰ συμφέροντα ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ψηφίσασθε.