96. and when I rendered account of my service on that embassy, you, Demosthenes, preferred no charge, but you proceed against my conduct on this embassy, the embassy that was appointed to receive the oaths. As to this I will make a clear and just defence. For it serves you, as it does all liars, to confuse the dates, but it serves me to give the events in their order, beginning with our journey to receive the oaths.
96. καὶ ταύτης τῆς πρεσβείας οὐ κατηγόρεις μου διδόντος τὰς εὐθύνας, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ ταύτην ἥκεις τὴν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὅρκους, ὑπὲρ ἧς ἐγὼ σαφῶς καὶ δικαίως ἀπολογήσομαι. σοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἁρμόττει καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ψευδομένοις μεταφέρειν τοὺς χρόνους, ἐμοὶ δʼ ἐφεξῆς λέγειν, ἀναλαβόντι τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ λόγου ἀπὸ τῆς πορείας τῆς ἐπὶ τοὺς ὅρκους.
97. In the first place, of the ten ambassadors (or rather eleven, counting the representative of the allies, who was with us) not one was willing to mess with Demosthenes, when we set out on the second embassy, nor even to lodge at the same inn with him as we journeyed, whenever it could be avoided, for they had seen how he had plotted against them all on the previous embassy.
97. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ δέκα πρέσβεων ὄντων, ἑνδεκάτου δὲ τοῦ συμπεμφθέντος ἡμῖν ἀπὸ τῶν συμμάχων, οὐδεὶς αὐτῷ συσσιτεῖν, ὅτʼ ἐξῇμεν ἐπὶ τὴν ὑστέραν πρεσβείαν, ἤθελεν, οὐδὲ ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς, ὅπου δυνατὸν ἦν, εἰς ταὐτὸν πανδοκεῖον καταλύειν, ὁρῶντες αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ πρεσβείᾳ πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς ἐπιβεβουλευκότα.
98. Now not a word was said about making the journey along the Thracian coast; for the decree did not prescribe any such journey, but simply that we should receive the oaths and transact certain other business, nor could we have accomplished anything if we had gone, for Cersobleptes’ fate had already been decided, as you heard a moment ago; for there is not a word of truth in what he has said, but, at a loss for any true charge, he resorts to these prodigious lies.
98. περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς ἐπὶ Θρᾴκης ὁδοῦ οὐκ ἐγένετο μνεία· οὔτε γὰρ τὸ ψήφισμα τοῦθʼ ἡμῖν προσέταττεν, ἀλλʼ ἀπολαβεῖν μόνον τοὺς ὅρκους καὶ ἄλλʼ ἄττα, οὔτʼ ἐλθόντας πράττειν οὐδὲν ἐνεδέχετο, τῶν περὶ Κερσοβλέπτην ἤδη γεγενημένων, ὡς ἀρτίως ἠκούσατε, οὔθʼ οὗτος οὐδὲν ἀληθὲς εἶπεν, ἀλλὰ ψεύδεται καὶ κατηγορεῖν οὐδὲν ἀληθὲς ἔχων τερατεύεται.
99. On the journey two attendants followed him, carrying sacks of bedding; in one of the sacks, he assured us, was a talent of silver; so that his colleagues were reminded of those old nicknames of his; for the boys used to call him “Batalos,” he was so vulgar and obscene then when he was growing out of boyhood and was bringing against his guardians big lawsuits of ten talents each, he was called “Argas”; now, grown to manhood, he has got also the name that we apply to rascals in general, “Blackmailer.”
99. συνηκολούθουν δʼ αὐτῷ ἄνθρωποι δύο στρωματόδεσμα φέροντες· ἐν δὲ τῷ ἑτέρῳ τούτων, ὡς αὐτὸς ἔφη, τάλαντον ἐνῆν ἀργυρίου. ὥστε τοὺς συμπρέσβεις ἀναμιμνῄσκεσθαι τὰς ἀρχαίας ἐπωνυμίας αὐτοῦ· ἐν παισὶ μὲν γὰρ ὢν ἐκλήθη διʼ αἰσχρουργίαν τινὰ καὶ κιναιδίαν Βάταλος, ἐκ παίδων δὲ ἀπαλλαττόμενος καὶ δεκαταλάντους δίκας ἑκάστῳ τῶν ἐπιτρόπων λαγχάνων, Ἀργᾶς, ἀνὴρ δὲ γενόμενος προσείληφε τὴν τῶν πονηρῶν κοινὴν ἐπωνυμίαν, συκοφάντης.
100. and he was going with the intention of ransoming the captives, as he said, and as he has just now told you, although he knew that at no time during the war had Philip exacted ransom-money for any Athenian, and although he had heard all Philip’s friends say that he would release the rest also, if peace should be made. And he was carrying one talent for many unfortunates—sufficient ransom for one man, and not a very well to-do man at that!
100. ἐπορεύετο δὲ λυσόμενος τοὺς αἰχμαλώτους, ὡς ἔφη, καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀρτίως εἴρηκεν, εἰδὼς μὲν Φίλιππον ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ οὐδένα πώποτε Ἀθηναίων λύτρα πραξάμενον, ἀκούων δὲ τῶν ἐκείνου φίλων ἁπάντων, ὅτι καὶ τοὺς λοιπούς, ἐὰν εἰρήνη γένηται, ἀφήσει, πολλῶν δʼ ἠτυχηκότων τάλαντον φέρων, ἑνὸς ἀνδρός, οὐδὲ τούτου λίαν εὐπόρου, ἱκανὰ λύτρα.
101. But when we reached Macedonia and found Philip returned from Thrace, we held a meeting; the decree under which we were acting was read, and we went over the instructions that had been given us in addition to the business of receiving the oaths. But finding that no one mentioned the subjects that were most important, and all were dwelling on minor matters, I spoke words which I must repeat to you.
101. ὡς δʼ ἦμεν ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ καὶ συνήλθομεν εἰς ταὐτόν, καὶ Φίλιππον ἐκ Θρᾴκης παρόντα κατειλήφεμεν, ἀνεγνώσθη μὲν τὸ ψήφισμα καθʼ ὃ ἐπρεσβεύομεν, καὶ τὰ προστεταγμένα ἡμῖν πρὸς τῷ τοὺς ὅρκους ἀπολαβεῖν συνηριθμούμεθα· ὡς δὲ οὐδεὶς ὑπὲρ τῶν μεγίστων ἐμέμνητο, ἀλλὰ περὶ πραγμάτων ἐλαττόνων τὴν διατριβὴν ἐποιοῦντο, εἶπον ἐγὼ λόγους, οὓς ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι πρὸς ὑμᾶς ῥηθῆναι.
102. and in heaven’s name, gentlemen, even as you allowed my accuser to speak as he himself chose, pray so continue to listen quietly to the defence also, in the same manner in which from the beginning you have listened during all my speech thus far. Well, as I just now intimated, fellow citizens, at the meeting of the ambassadors I said that it seemed to me that we were strangely ignoring the most important matter that the people had entrusted to us.
102. καὶ πρὸς τῶν θεῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὥσπερ καὶ τῆς κατηγορίας ἠκούσατε ὡς αὐτὸς ὁ κατήγορος ἐβούλετο εἰπεῖν, οὕτω καὶ τῆς ἀπολογίας εὐτάκτως ἀκούσατε, καὶ τὸν αὐτόν μοι τρόπον διαμείνατε, ὅνπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐν τοῖς προειρημένοις ἤδη λόγοις ἠκροᾶσθε. ὅπερ γὰρ καὶ ἀρτίως ὑπεθέμην, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, εἶπον συνειλεγμένων τῶν πρέσβεων, ὅτι μοι δοκοῖεν τὸ μέγιστον πρόσταγμα τοῦ δήμου δεινῶς ἀγνοεῖν.
103. “The reception of the oaths, the discussion of the other questions, and the talk about the prisoners, all that sort of thing could have been done, I think, if the city had entrusted it to some of its petty servants and sent them. But to reach a right solution of the supreme question, so far as that is in our power or Philip’s, this is now a task for wise ambassadors. I mean,” said I, “the question of the expedition to Thermopylae, which you see in course of preparation. That I am not wide of the mark in this matter, I will show you by weighty considerations.”
103. τὸ μὲν γὰρ τοὺς ὅρκους ἀπολαβεῖν, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων διαλεχθῆναι, καὶ περὶ τῶν αἰχμαλώτων εἰπεῖν, κἂν εἰ τοὺς ὑπηρέτας ἔπεμψεν ἡ πόλις περιθεῖσα πίστιν αὐτοῖς, ἅπαντʼ ἂν πραχθῆναι νομίζω· τὸ δὲ ὑπὲρ τῶν ὅλων ὀρθῶς βουλεύσασθαι, ὅσα καθʼ ἡμᾶς ἐστιν ἢ Φίλιππον, τοῦτο ἤδη ἔργον ἐστὶ πρέσβεων φρονίμων. λέγω δέ, ἔφην ἐγώ, περὶ τῆς εἰς Πύλας στρατείας, ἣν ὁρᾶτε οὖσαν ἐν παρασκευῇ. ὅτι δὲ οὐ κακῶς στοχάζομαι περὶ τοῦ πράγματος, μεγάλα τούτων ὑμῖν σημεῖα δείξω.
104. “For ambassadors from Thebes are here, ambassadors from Lacedaemonia have arrived, and here are we with a decree of the people in which it stands written, ‘The ambassadors shall also negotiate concerning any other good thing that may be within their power.’ All Hellas is watching to see what is going to happen. If now our people had thought it wise to speak out plainly to Philip, bidding him strip the Thebans of their insolence, and rebuild the walls of the Boeotian towns, they would have asked this of him in the decree. But as it is, by the obscurity of their language they left open a way of retreat for themselves, in case they should fail to persuade him, and they thought best to take the risk its our persons.”
104. πάρεισι μὲν γὰρ Θηβαίων, ἥκουσι δὲ Λακεδαιμονίων πρέσβεις, ἀφίγμεθα δʼ ἡμεῖς ἔχοντες τοῦ δήμου ψήφισμα, ἐν ᾧ γέγραπται ʼπράττειν δὲ τοὺς πρέσβεις καὶ ἄλλʼ ὅ τι ἂν δύνωνται ἀγαθόν·ʼ ἅπαντες δὲ οἱ Ἕλληνες πρὸς τὸ μέλλον ἔσεσθαι βλέπουσιν. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἡγεῖτο ὁ δῆμος αὑτῷ καλῶς ἔχειν ἐξενεγκεῖν μετὰ παρρησίας πρὸς Φίλιππον, Θηβαίων μὲν περιελεῖν τὴν ὕβριν, Βοιωτῶν δὲ ἀναστῆσαι τὰ τείχη, ταῦτʼ ἂν ἠξίωσεν ἐν τῷ ψηφίσματι· νῦν δὲ αὑτοῖς μὲν κατέλιπον τὴν εἰς τὸ ἀφανὲς ἀναφοράν, ἂν μὴ πείθωσιν, ἐν ἡμῖν δὲ ἀποκινδυνεύειν ᾠήθησαν δεῖν.
105. “Men, therefore, who are ambitious to serve the state must not assume the function of other ambassadors whom the Athenians could have sent instead of us, and at the same time, on their own initiative, try to avoid stirring up the hostility of the Thebans. Epameinondas was a Theban, and he did not cower before the fame of the Athenians, but spoke right out in the Theban assembly, saying that they must remove the propylaea of the Acropolis of Athens and set it up at the entrance to the Cadmeia.”
105. δεῖ δὴ τοὺς πρὸς τὰ κοινὰ φιλοτιμουμένους μὴ κατέχειν μὲν ἑτέρων χώραν πρέσβεων, οὓς ἐξῆν πέμπειν ἀνθʼ ἡμῶν Ἀθηναίους, αὐτοὺς δὲ τὰς πρὸς Θηβαίους ἀπεχθείας φεύγειν, ὧν εἷς ὢν Ἐπαμεινώνδας, οὐχ ὑποπτήξας τὸ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἀξίωμα, εἶπε διαρρήδην ἐν τῷ πλήθει τῶν Θηβαίων, ὡς δεῖ τὰ τῆς Ἀθηναίων ἀκροπόλεως προπύλαια μετενεγκεῖν εἰς τὴν προστασίαν τῆς Καδμείας.
106. As I was in the midst of these words, Demosthenes protested with a loud voice, as all our colleagues know, for on top of all his other crimes he is for the Boeotians. At any rate words like these came from him: “This fellow is full of quarrelsomeness and rashness. For myself, I confess that I am timid, that I fear danger from afar, but I protest against embroiling the cities one with another; I hold it to be the wise course that we ambassadors refrain from meddlesome conduct.”
106. ταῦτα δʼ ἐμοῦ μεταξὺ λέγοντος, ἀναβοᾷ παμμέγεθες Δημοσθένης, ὡς ἴσασι πάντες οἱ συμπρέσβεις· καὶ γὰρ πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις κακοῖς βοιωτιάζει. ἦν δʼ οὖν παρʼ αὐτοῦ τοιαυτὶ τὰ λεγόμενα· ἅνθρωπος οὑτοσὶ ταραχῆς καὶ τόλμης ἐστὶ μεστός· ἐγὼ δὲ ὁμολογῶ μαλακὸς εἶναι καὶ τὰ δεινὰ πόρρωθεν δεδιέναι, ἀπαγορεύω μέντοι μὴ συνταράττειν ἡμᾶς πρὸς ἀλλήλας τὰς πόλεις, τὸ μὴ πολυπραγμονεῖν ἡμᾶς τοὺς πρέσβεις μηδέν, τοῦτʼ ἀγαθὸν ὑπολαμβάνων εἶναι.
107. “Philip is setting out for Thermopylae; I cover my eyes. No man is going to call me to account for the wars of Philip, but for what I say that I ought not to say, or what I do that I was not instructed to do.” The upshot of the matter was that the ambassadors, when asked for their opinion man by man, voted that each of us should say what he thought was to our interests. To show that I speak the truth, please call my colleagues and read their testimony.
107. πορεύεται Φίλιππος εἰς Πύλας, ἐγὼ δὲ ἐγκαλύπτομαι. οὐδείς με τῶν ὅπλων ἕνεκα τῶν Φιλίππου κρινεῖ, ἀλλʼ ὧν ἂν εἴπω τι μὴ δέον, ἢ πράξω τι τῶν μὴ προστεταγμένων. πέρας δὲ τοῦ πράγματος, ἐψηφίσαντο οἱ συμπρέσβεις, κατʼ ἄνδρα ἐπερωτώμενοι ἕκαστον ἡμῶν ὅ τι νομίζοι συμφέρειν, τοῦτο λέγειν. ὅτι δʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, κάλει μοι τοὺς συμπρέσβεις καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν αὐτῶν λέγε.
108. Testimony Accordingly, fellow citizens, when the ambassadors were assembled at Pella, and Philip had arrived, and the herald called the ambassadors of the Athenians, we came forward, not in the order of age, as in the former embassy—a procedure which found favour with some, and which seemed to be in accord with the orderly way of our city —but in the way that was dictated by the effrontery of Demosthenes. For he said that he was the youngest of all, but declared that he could not yield the position of first speaker, and would not permit a certain person—hinting at me—to take possession of Philip’s ears and leave the rest no chance to speak.
108. Μαρτυρία ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, συνελέγησαν μὲν εἰς Πέλλαν αἱ πρεσβεῖαι, παρῆν δὲ ὁ Φίλιππος, καὶ τοὺς Ἀθηναίων πρέσβεις ὁ κῆρυξ ἐκάλει, πρῶτον μὲν παρῇμεν οὐ καθʼ ἡλικίαν, ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ πρεσβείᾳ, ὃ παρά τισιν εὐδοκίμει καὶ κόσμος εἶναι τῆς πόλεως ἐφαίνετο, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν Δημοσθένους ἀναισχυντίαν. φάσκων γὰρ νεώτατος εἶναι πάντων, τὴν τάξιν τοῦ πρῶτος λέγειν οὐκ ἂν ἔφη παραλιπεῖν, οὐδʼ ἐπιτρέψειν τινί, αἰνιττόμενος εἰς ἐμέ, προκαταλαβόντα τὰ Φιλίππου ὦτα τοῖς ἄλλοις λόγον μὴ καταλιπεῖν.
109. He began his speech with certain slanderous allusions to his colleagues, to the effect that not all of us had come with the same end in view, nor were we all of one mind; and then he proceeded to review his own previous services to Philip: first, his defence of Philocrates’ motion, when Philocrates, having moved that Philip be permitted to send ambassadors to the Athenians to discuss peace, was defendant on the charge of having made an unconstitutional proposal; secondly, he read the motion of which Demosthenes himself was author, to grant safe conduct to the herald and ambassadors from Philip; and thirdly, the motion that restricted the people’s discussion of peace to appointed days.
109. ἀρξάμενος δὲ τοῦ λέγειν, πρῶτον διαβολήν τινα ὑπειπὼν κατὰ τῶν συμπρέσβεων, ὡς οὐχ ἅπαντες ὑπὲρ τῶν αὐτῶν οὐδʼ ὅμοιοι ταῖς δόξαις ἥκοιμεν, διεξῄει τὰς ὑπηρεσίας τὰς ὑπηργμένας εἰς Φίλιππον αὐτῷ, πρώτην μὲν τὴν τῷ ψηφίσματι τῷ Φιλοκράτους συνηγορίαν, ὅτε ἔφευγε παρανόμων ἐξεῖναι γράψας Φιλίππῳ πρέσβεις πρὸς Ἀθηναίους ὑπὲρ εἰρήνης πέμπειν· δεύτερον δὲ ὑπανέγνω τὸ ψήφισμα ὃ γεγραφὼς αὐτὸς ἦν, σπείσασθαι τῷ κήρυκι καὶ τῇ παρὰ Φιλίππου πρεσβεία, τρίτον δὲ τὸ περὶ τοῦ βουλεύσασθαι τὸν δῆμον ὑπὲρ εἰρήνης ἐν τακταῖς ἡμέραις.
110. To the account he added a conclusion like this: that he had been the first to put a curb on those who were trying to block the peace; that he had done this, not by his words, but by fixing the dates. Then he brought up another motion, the one which provided that the people should discuss an alliance also; then, after that, the motion about assigning the front seats at the Dionysia to Philip’s ambassadors.
110. καὶ προσέθηκέ τι τοιοῦτον ἐνθύμημα τῷ λόγῳ, ὅτι πρῶτος ἐπιστομίσαι τοὺς τὴν εἰρήνην ἐκκλῄοντας, οὐ τοῖς λόγοις, ἀλλὰ τοῖς χρόνοις. ἔπειθʼ ἕτερον ἐπήγετο ψήφισμα, τὸ καὶ περὶ συμμαχίας βουλεύσασθαι τὸν δῆμον, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἤδη τὸ περὶ τῆς προεδρίας τῆς εἰς τὰ Διονύσια τοῖς πρέσβεσι τοῖς Φιλίππου ψήφισμα.
111. He alluded also to the special attention he had shown them: the placing of cushions, and certain watchings and vigils of the night, caused by men who were jealous of him and wished to bring insult upon his honourable name! And that utterly absurd story, whereat his colleagues covered their faces for shame, how he gave a dinner to the ambassadors of Philip; and how when they set out for home he hired for them some teams of mules, and escorted them on horseback. For he did not hide in the dark, as certain others do, but made an exhibition of his fawning conduct.
111. καὶ προσέθηκε τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν τὴν αὑτοῦ καὶ προσκεφαλαίων θέσιν καὶ φυλακάς τινας καὶ ἀγρυπνίας διὰ τοὺς φθονοῦντας καὶ βουλομένους εἰς τὴν αὑτοῦ φιλοτιμίαν ὑβρίσαι, καὶ τά γε δὴ καταγέλαστα παντελῶς, ἐφʼ οἷς οἱ συμπρέσβεις ἐνεκαλύψαντο, ὡς ἐξένισε τοὺς πρέσβεις τοὺς Φιλίππου, ὡς ἐμισθώσατʼ αὐτοῖς, ὅτʼ ἀπῄεσαν, ὀρεικὰ ζεύγη καὶ συμπαρῄει ἐφʼ ἵππου, οὐ καταδὺς εἰς τὸ σκότος, ὥσπερ ἕτεροί τινες, ἀλλὰ φανερῶς ἐπιδεικνύμενος τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων θεραπείαν.
112. And finally he carefully corrected those other statements: “I did not say that you are beautiful, for a woman is the most beautiful of all beings; nor that you are a wonderful drinker, for that is a compliment for a sponge, in my opinion; nor that you have a remarkable memory, for I think such praise belongs to the professional sophist.” But not to prolong the story, he said such things in the presence of the ambassadors from almost the whole of Hellas, that laughter arose such as you seldom hear.
112. ἐκεῖνα δʼ ἤδη καὶ σφόδρα διωρθοῦτο· οὐκ εἶπον, ὡς καλὸς εἶ· γυνὴ γὰρ τῶν ὄντων ἐστὶ κάλλιστον· οὐδʼ ὡς δεινὸς πιεῖν, σπογγιᾶς τὸν ἔπαινον ὑπολαμβάνων τοῦτον εἶναι· οὐδʼ ὡς μνημονικός, σοφιστοῦ τὰ τοιαῦτα νομίζων ἐργολαβοῦντος ἐγκώμια εἶναι. ἵνα δὲ μὴ μακρολογῶ, τοιαῦτʼ ἦν ἃ ἔλεγε παρόντων τῶν πρέσβεων ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν ἐξ ἁπάσης τῆς Ἑλλάδος, ἐφʼ οἷς γέλωτες οὐχ οἱ τυχόντες ἐγίγνοντο.
113. But when at last he stopped and there was silence, I was forced to speak—after such an exhibition of ill-breeding and such excess of shameful flattery. Necessarily, by way of preface, I made a brief reply to his insinuations against his colleagues, saying that the Athenians had sent us as ambassadors, not to offer apologies in Macedonia for ourselves, but as men adjudged by our life at home to be worthy of our city.
113. ἐπειδὴ δέ ποτʼ ἐπαύσατο καὶ σιωπὴ ἐγένετο, ἠναγκαζόμην ἐγὼ λέγειν μετὰ τοιαύτην ἀπαιδευσίαν καὶ κολακείας αἰσχρᾶς ὑπερβολήν. καὶ μικρὰ μὲν προεῖπον ἐξ ἀνάγκης πρὸς τὴν προειρημένην κατὰ τῶν συμπρέσβεων ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ διαβολήν, λέγων ὅτι μέμψειαν ἡμᾶς Ἀθηναῖοι πρέσβεις οὐκ ἀπολογησομένους ἐν Μακεδονία περὶ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν, ἀλλʼ οἴκοθεν ἐκ τοῦ βίου δεδοκιμασμένους ἀξίους τῆς πόλεως εἶναι.
114. Then after speaking briefly on the subject of the oaths for which we had come, I reviewed the other matters that you had entrusted to us. For the eminent Demosthenes, for all his exceeding eloquence, had not mentioned a single essential point. And in particular I spoke about the expedition to Thermopylae, and about the holy places, and Delphi, and the Amphictyons. I called on Philip to settle matters there, preferably not with arms, but with vote and verdict; but if that should be impossible (it was already evident that it was, for the army was collected and on the spot), I said that he who was on the point of deciding the fate of the holy places of our nation ought to give careful thought to the question of piety, and to give attention to those who undertook to give instruction as to our traditions.
114. βραχέα δʼ ὑπὲρ τῶν ὅρκων εἰπών, ἐφʼ οὓς ἥκομεν, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἃ προσετάξατε ὑμεῖς, διεξῄειν· ὁ γὰρ περιττὸς κἀν τοῖς λόγοις δεινὸς Δημοσθένης οὐδενὸς τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἐμνήσθη· καὶ δὴ καὶ περὶ τῆς εἰς Πύλας στρατείας εἶπον καὶ περὶ τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ περὶ Δελφῶν καὶ περὶ τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων, καὶ μάλιστα μὲν Φίλιππον ἠξίουν μὴ μεθʼ ὅπλων, ἀλλὰ μετὰ ψήφου καὶ κρίσεως τἀκεῖ καθιστάναι, εἰ δʼ ἄρα μὴ δυνατὸν εἴη, (τοῦτο δʼ ἦν πρόδηλον· τὸ γὰρ στρατόπεδον παρῆν καὶ συνήθροιστο·) εἶπον, ὅτι τὸν μέλλοντα ὑπὲρ Ἑλληνικῶν ἱερῶν βουλεύεσθαι πολλὴν προσήκει πρόνοιαν ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ἔχειν, καὶ τοῖς περὶ τῶν πατρίων ἐγχειροῦσι διδάσκειν προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν.
115. At the same time I reviewed from the beginning the story of the founding of the shrine, and of the first synod of the Amphictyons that was ever held; and I read their oaths, in which the men of ancient times swore that they would raze no city of the Amphictyonic states, nor shut them off from flowing water either in war or in peace; that if anyone should violate this oath, they would march against such an one and raze his cities; and if any one should violate the shrine of the god or be accessory to such violation, or make any plot against the holy places, they would punish him with hand and foot and voice, and all their power. To the oath was added a mighty curse.
115. ἅμα δʼ ἐξ ἀρχῆς διεξῆλθον τὴν κτίσιν τοῦ ἱεροῦ καὶ τὴν πρώτην σύνοδον γενομένην τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων, καὶ τοὺς ὅρκους αὐτῶν ἀνέγνων, ἐν οἷς ἔνορκον ἦν τοῖς ἀρχαίοις, μηδεμίαν πόλιν τῶν Ἀμφικτυονίδων ἀνάστατον ποιήσειν, μηδʼ ὑδάτων ναματιαίων εἴρξειν μήτʼ ἐν πολέμῳ μήτʼ ἐν εἰρήνῃ, ἐὰν δέ τις ταῦτα παραβῇ, στρατεύσειν ἐπὶ τοῦτον καὶ τὰς πόλεις ἀναστήσειν, καὶ ἐάν τις ἢ συλᾷ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, ἢ συνειδῇ τι, ἢ βουλεύσῃ τι κατὰ τῶν ἱερῶν, τιμωρήσειν καὶ χειρὶ καὶ ποδὶ καὶ φωνῇ καὶ πάσῃ δυνάμει· καὶ προσῆν τῷ ὅρκῳ ἀρὰ ἰσχυρά.
116. When I had read all this, I solemnly declared that in my opinion it was not right that we should overlook the fact that the cities in Boeotia were lying in ruins. To prove that they were Amphictyonic cities and thus protected by the oaths, I enumerated twelve tribes which shared the shrine: the Thessalians, Boeotians (not the Thebans only), Dorians, Ionians, Perrhaebi, Magnetes, Dolopians, Locrians, Oetaeans, Phthiotians, Malians, and Phocians. And I showed that each of these tribes has an equal vote, the greatest equal to the least: that the delegate from Dorion and Cytinion has equal authority with the Lacedaemonian delegates, for each tribe casts two votes; again, that of the Ionian delegates those from Eretria and Priene have equal authority with those from Athens and the rest in the same way.
116. τούτων δὲ ἀναγνωσθέντων ἀπεφηνάμην, ὅτι ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ δίκαιον εἶναι μὴ περιορᾶν κατεσκαμμένας τὰς ἐν Βοιωτοῖς πόλεις. ὅτι δʼ ἦσαν Ἀμφικτυονίδες καὶ ἔνορκοι, κατηριθμησάμην ἔθνη δώδεκα τὰ μετέχοντα τοῦ ἱεροῦ, Θετταλούς, Βοιωτούς, οὐ Θηβαίους μόνους, Δωριέας, Ἴωνας, Περραιβούς, Μάγνητας, Δόλοπας, Λοκρούς, Οἰταίους, Φθιώτας, Μαλιέας, Φωκέας. καὶ τούτων ἔδειξα ἕκαστον ἔθνος ἰσόψηφον γιγνόμενον, τὸ μέγιστον τῷ ἐλαχίστῳ, τὸν ἥκοντα ἐκ Δωρίου καὶ Κυτινίου ἴσον δυνάμενον Λακεδαιμονίοις, δύο γὰρ ψήφους ἕκαστον φέρει ἔθνος, πάλιν ἐκ τῶν Ἰώνων τὸν Ἐρετριᾶ καὶ Πριηνέα τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους κατὰ ταὐτά.
117. Now I showed that the motive of this expedition was righteous and just; but I said that the Amphictyonic Council ought to be convened at the temple, receiving protection and freedom to vote, and that those individuals who were originally responsible for the seizure of the shrine ought to be punished—not their cities, but the individuals who had plotted and carried out the deed; and that those cities which surrendered the wrongdoers for trial ought to be held guiltless. “But if you take the field and with your forces confirm the wrongdoing of the Thebans, you will receive no gratitude from those whom you help, for you could not possibly do them so great a service as the Athenians once did, and they have no memory for that; while you will be wronging those whom you leave in the lurch, and will find them, not your friends in the future, but all the more your enemies.”
117. τὴν μὲν οὖν ἀρχὴν τῆς στρατείας ταύτης ὁσίαν καὶ δικαίαν ἀπεφηνάμην εἶναι· συλλεγέντων δὲ τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν καὶ τυχόντων σωτηρίας καὶ ψήφου, τοὺς αἰτίους τῆς ἐξ ἀρχῆς καταλήψεως τοῦ ἱεροῦ δίκης ἠξίουν τυχεῖν, μὴ τὰς πατρίδας αὐτῶν, ἀλλʼ αὐτοὺς τοὺς χειρουργήσαντας καὶ βουλεύσαντας, τὰς δὲ πόλεις παρεχούσας εἰς κρίσιν τοὺς ἀδικήσαντας ἀζημίους εἶναι. εἰ δʼ ἐπεξελθὼν δυνάμει βεβαιώσεις τὰ Θηβαίων ἀδικήματα, παρʼ ὧν μὲν βοηθεῖς οὐκ ἀπολήψῃ χάριν· οὐ γὰρ ἂν δύναιο αὐτοὺς τηλικαῦτα εὐεργετῆσαι, ἡλίκα Ἀθηναῖοι πρότερον, ὧν οὐ μέμνηνται· οὓς δʼ ἐγκαταλείψεις, ἀδικήσεις, χρήσῃ δʼ ἐχθροῖς μείζοσιν, ἀλλʼ οὐ φίλοις.
118. But not to waste time in reciting to you now precisely what was spoken there, I will content myself with this brief summary of it all. Fortune and Philip were masters of the issue, but I, of loyalty to you and of the words spoken. My words were words of justice, and they were spoken in your interest; the issue was not according to our prayer, but according to Philip’s acts. Who, therefore, is it that deserves your approval? Is it the man who showed no desire to do any good thing whatever, or the man who left undone nothing that was in his power? But I now pass over many things for lack of time.
118. ἵνα δὲ μὴ διατρίβω τοὺς ἐκεῖ λόγους ῥηθέντας νυνὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀκριβῶς διεξιών, ἐν κεφαλαίῳ περὶ πάντων εἰπὼν παύσομαι. ἡ μὲν τύχη καὶ Φίλιππος ἦσαν τῶν ἔργων κύριοι, ἐγὼ δὲ τῆς εἰς ὑμᾶς εὐνοίας καὶ τῶν λόγων. παρʼ ἐμοῦ μὲν οὖν ἐρρήθη τὰ δίκαια καὶ τὰ συμφέροντα ὑμῖν, ἀπέβη δὲ οὐχ ὡς ἡμεῖς ηὐχόμεθα, ἀλλʼ ὡς Φίλιππος ἔπραξε. πότερον οὖν ὁ μηδὲν προθυμηθεὶς ἐργάσασθαι ἀγαθὸν δίκαιός ἐστιν εὐδοξεῖν, ἢ ὁ μηδὲν ὧν ἦν δυνατὸς ἐλλιπών; ἐν δὲ τῷ παρόντι νυνὶ πολλὰ διὰ τὸν καιρὸν παραλείπω.
119. He said that I deceived you by saying that within a few days Thebes would be humbled; and that I told about the Euboeans, how I had frightened them, and that I led you on into empty hopes. But, fellow citizens, let me tell you what it is that he is doing. While I was with Philip I demanded—and when I returned to you I reported that I thought it right—that Thebes should be Boeotian, and not Boeotia, Theban. He asserts, not that I reported this, but that I promised it.
119. εἶπε δέ, ὡς ἐψευδολόγουν φάσκων ὀλίγων ἡμερῶν τὰς Θήβας ἔσεσθαι ταπεινάς, καὶ τοὺς Εὐβοέας ὡς ἐφόβουν, προάγων εἰς ἐλπίδας κενὰς ὑμᾶς. ὃ δὲ ποιεῖ, καταμάθετε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι. ἐγὼ γὰρ παρὰ Φιλίππῳ μὲν ὢν ἠξίωσα, πρὸς δʼ ὑμᾶς ἥκων ἀπήγγελλον, ὅτι τὰς Θήβας Βοιωτίαν δίκαιον ἡγοίμην εἶναι, καὶ μὴ τὴν Βοιωτίαν Θήβας. τοῦτο οὐκ ἀπαγγεῖλαι, ἀλλʼ ὑποσχέσθαι μέ φησιν.
120. And I told you that Cleochares of Chalcis said that he was surprised at the sudden agreement between you and Philip, especially when we had been instructed “to negotiate concerning any good thing that should be within our power.” For he said the people of the small states, like himself, were afraid of the secret diplomacy of the greater. Demosthenes asserts, not that I related this fact, but that I promised to hand over Euboea! But I had supposed that when the city was about to deliberate on matters of supreme importance, no statement from any Hellenic source ought to be ignored.
120. ἔλεγον δὲ πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ὅτι Κλεοχάρης ὁ Χαλκιδεὺς θαυμάζειν ὑμῶν καὶ Φιλίππου φαίη τὴν ἐξαίφνης ὁμόνοιαν, ἄλλως τε καὶ προστεταγμένον ἡμῖν, πράττειν ἀγαθὸν ὅ τι ἂν δυνώμεθα· τοὺς γὰρ μικροπολίτας, ὥσπερ αὐτός, φοβεῖν τὰ τῶν μειζόνων ἀπόρρητα. ταῦτα οὐ διηγήσασθαί με φησίν, ἀλλʼ ἐπηγγέλθαι τὴν Εὔβοιαν παραδώσειν. ἐγὼ δὲ ὑπειλήφειν δεῖν τὴν πόλιν τὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν ὅλων μέλλουσαν βουλεύεσθαι μηδενὸς λόγου Ἑλληνικοῦ ἀνήκοον εἶναι.
121. But he falsely declared that when he wished to report the truth, he was hindered by me, together with Philocrates—for he divided the responsibility in that case also. Now I should like to ask you this: Has any ambassador sent out from Athens ever been prevented from presenting to the people an official report of his conduct? And if one had suffered such treatment and had been repudiated by his colleagues, would he ever have made a motion that they be given a vote of thanks and invited to dinner? But Demosthenes on his return from the second embassy, in which he says that the cause of Hellas was ruined, moved the vote of thanks in his decree;
121. διέβαλλε δέ, κἀκεῖνον διαιρούμενος τὸν λόγον, ὡς ἀπαγγέλλειν τἀληθῆ βουλόμενος, ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ καὶ Φιλοκράτους κωλυθείη. ἐγὼ δʼ ὑμᾶς ἡδέως ἂν ἐροίμην, εἴ τις πώποτε Ἀθηναίων πρεσβευτὴς ἐκπεμφθείς, ἐφʼ οἷς πεπρέσβευκε κεκώλυται πρὸς τὸν δῆμον ἀπαγγέλλειν, καὶ ταῦτα παθὼν καὶ ἀτιμασθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν συμπρέσβεων, τούτους ἔγραψʼ ἂν ἐπαινέσαι καὶ καλέσαι ἐπὶ δεῖπνον. Δημοσθένης τοίνυν ἥκων ἀπὸ τῆς ὑστέρας πρεσβείας, ἐν ᾗ φησι τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων πράγματα ἀνατραπῆναι, οὐκ ἐν τῷ ψηφίσματι μόνον ἡμᾶς ἐπῄνει, ἀλλʼ ἀπαγγείλαντος πρὸς τὸν δῆμον ἐμοῦ τοὺς περὶ τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων λόγους καὶ Βοιωτῶν, οὐχ ὥσπερ νῦν συντέμνοντος οὐδʼ ἐπειγομένου, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐδυνάμην κατὰ ῥῆμα ἀκριβέστατα, καὶ τοῦ δήμου σφόδρα ἀποδεχομένου, παρακληθεὶς ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων συμπρέσβεων καὶ ἐρωτώμενος, εἰ τἀληθῆ καὶ ταὐτὰ ἀπαγγέλλω πρὸς Ἀθηναίους ἅπερ πρὸς Φίλιππον εἶπον, πάντων μαρτυρούντων καὶ ἐπαινούντων με τῶν συμπρέσβεων, ἐπαναστὰς ἐπὶ πᾶσιν οὐκ ἔφη με, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖ, οὕτως ἐν τῷ παρόντι λέγειν, ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖ διπλασίῳ ἄμεινον.
122. and not only that, but when I had reported to the people what I had said about the Amphictyons and Boeotians, not briefly and rapidly as now, but as nearly word for word as possible, and when the people heartily applauded, I called upon him together with the other ambassadors, and asked them whether my report was true, and identical with what I had said to Philip; and when all my colleagues had testified and praised me, after them all Demosthenes arose and said: No, I had not to-day been speaking as I spoke there, but that I spoke twice as well there. You who are going to give the verdict are my witnesses of this. and yet what better opportunity could he have had to convict me than to do it then and there, if I was in any wise deceiving the city? You say, Demosthenes, that while I was in a conspiracy against the city in the first embassy, you were not aware of it, but that on the second you found it out—the embassy in which we find you testifying to my services! And while accusing me for my conduct on the first embassy, you at the same time deny that you accuse me, and direct your accusations against the embassy that was sent to take the oaths. And yet if it is the peace you find fault with, it was you who moved to add the alliance to it. And if Philip did at any point deceive the city, his deception had to do with the peace, for he was maneuvering for the precise form of peace that would serve his own advantage. But it was the earlier embassy that offered the opportunity to accomplish this; the second took place after the thing was already done.
122. καὶ τούτων ὑμεῖς οἱ τὴν ψῆφον μέλλοντες φέρειν ἐστέ μοι μάρτυρες. καίτοι τίς ἂν αὐτῷ καλλίων καιρὸς ἐγένετο, ἢ τότʼ ἐξελέγχειν εὐθύς, εἴ τι τὴν πόλιν ἐξηπάτων; φῂς γάρ με ἐν μὲν τῇ προτέρᾳ πρεσβείᾳ λαθεῖν σαυτὸν συνεστηκότα ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν, ἐν δὲ τῇ ὑστέρᾳ αἰσθέσθαι, ἐν ᾗ συναγορεύων μοι φαίνῃ. κἀκείνης μὲν ἅμα κατηγορῶν οὐ φῂς κατηγορεῖν, τῆς δʼ ἐπὶ τοὺς ὅρκους κατηγορεῖς. καίτοι εἰ τὴν εἰρήνην ψέγεις, σὺ καὶ τὴν συμμαχίαν ἔγραψας· καὶ Φίλιππος εἴ τι τὴν πόλιν ἐξηπάτα, διὰ τοῦτο ἐψεύδετο, ὅπως τῆς εἰρήνης ἥπερ συνέφερεν αὐτῷ τύχοι. οὐκοῦν ἡ μὲν προτέρα πρεσβεία τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον εἶχεν, ἡ δʼ ὑστέρα ἐπὶ πεπραγμένοις ἐγίγνετο.
124. How he has deceived you—deceit is ever the mark of the charlatan—see from his own words. He says that I went down the Loedias river to Philip in a canoe by night, and that I wrote for Philip the letter which came to you. For Leosthenes, who had been exiled from Athens through the work of blackmailers, was not competent to write a clever letter—a man whom some do not hesitate to rank next to Callistratus of Aphidna as an able orator!
124. τίνες οὖν ἦσαν αἱ ἀπάται, ταῦτα γὰρ τοῦ γόητος ἀνθρώπου, ἐξ ὧν εἴρηκε λογίσασθε. εἰσπλεῖν μέ φησιν ἐν μονοξύλῳ πλοίῳ κατὰ τὸν Λοιδίαν ποταμὸν τῆς νυκτὸς ὡς Φίλιππον, καὶ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν τὴν δεῦρο ἐλθοῦσαν Φιλίππῳ γράψαι. ὁ μὲν γὰρ Λεωσθένης, ὁ φεύγων ἐνθένδε διὰ τοὺς συκοφάντας, οὐ δυνατὸς ἦν ἐπιδεξίως ἐπιστολὴν γράψαι, ὃν οὐκ ὀκνοῦσί τινες ἀποφαίνεσθαι μετὰ Καλλίστρατον τὸν Ἀφιδναῖον τῶν ἄλλων μάλιστα εἰπεῖν δύνασθαι·
125. and Philip himself was not competent, against whom Demosthenes was not able to hold his own when he tried to speak in your behalf! nor Python of Byzantium, a man who takes pride in his ability as a writer! but, as it seems, the thing required my help too! And you say that time and again I had private interviews with Philip in the daytime, but you accuse me of paddling down the river in the night—the need of a midnight letter was so urgent!
125. οὐδʼ αὐτὸς ὁ Φίλιππος, πρὸς ὃν ἀντειπεῖν Δημοσθένης ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν οὐκ ἠδυνήθη· οὐδʼ ὁ Βυζάντιος Πύθων, ἄνθρωπος ἐπὶ τῷ γράφειν μέγα φρονῶν· ἀλλʼ ὡς ἔοικε τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐμοῦ προσεδεῖτο. καὶ λέγεις μὲν ὅτι Φιλίππῳ μεθʼ ἡμέραν πολλάκις μόνος μόνῳ διελεγόμην, αἰτιᾷ δὲ εἰσπλεῖν με νύκτωρ κατὰ τὸν ποταμόν· οὕτω νυκτερινῆς ἐπιστολῆς τὸ πρᾶγμα ἐδεῖτο.
126. But there is no truth in your story, as those who messed with me have come to testify—Aglaocreon of Tenedos and latrocles the son of Pasiphon, with whom I slept every night during the whole time, from beginning to end; they know that I was never away from them a single night, nor any part of a night. We present also our slaves and offer them for torture; and I offer to interrupt my speech if the prosecution agree. The officer shall come in and administer the torture in your presence, gentlemen of the jury, if you so order. There is still time enough to do it, for in the apportionment of the day eleven jars of water have been assigned to my defence.
126. ὅτι δʼ οὐδὲν ἀληθὲς λέγεις, ἥκουσι μὲν μαρτυρήσοντες μεθʼ ὧν συνεσίτουν, Ἀγλαοκρέων ὁ Τενέδιος καὶ Ἰατροκλῆς ὁ Πασιφῶντος, μεθʼ ὧν ἑξῆς ἅπαντα τὸν χρόνον τὰς νύκτας ἀνεπαυόμην, οἳ συνίσασίν μοι μηδεμίαν πώποτε ἀπʼ αὐτῶν νύκτα ἀπογενομένῳ, μηδὲ μέρος νυκτός· ἄγομεν δὲ καὶ τοὺς οἰκέτας καὶ παραδίδομεν εἰς βάσανον. καὶ τὸν μὲν λόγον, εἰ συγχωρεῖ ὁ κατήγορος, καταλύω· παρέσται δὲ ὁ δημόσιος καὶ βασανιεῖ ἐναντίον ὑμῶν, ἂν κελεύητε. ἐνδέχεται δὲ τὸ λοιπὸν μέρος τῆς ἡμέρας ταῦτα πρᾶξαι· πρὸς ἕνδεκα γὰρ ἀμφορέας ἐν διαμεμετρημένῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ κρίνομαι.
127. If the slaves testify that I ever slept away from these messmates of mine, spare me not, fellow citizens, but rise up and kill me. But if you, Demosthenes, shall be convicted of lying, let this be your penalty—to confess in this presence that you are a hermaphrodite, and no free man. Please summon the slaves to the platform here, and read the testimony of my colleagues.
127. κἂν φῶσιν ἀπόκοιτόν με τουτωνὶ πώποτε τῶν συσσίτων γεγονέναι, μὴ φείσησθέ μου, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἀλλʼ ἀναστάντες ἀποκτείνατε. ἐὰν δʼ ἐξελεγχθῇς ψευδόμενος, Δημόσθενες, τοιαύτην δίκην δός· ὁμολόγησον ἀνδρόγυνος εἶναι καὶ μὴ ἐλεύθερος ἐναντίον τούτων. κάλει μοι τοὺς οἰκέτας δεῦρο ἐπὶ τὸ βῆμα, καὶ τὴν τῶν συμπρέσβεων ἀναγίγνωσκε μαρτυρίαν.
128. Testimony. Challenge Since now he does not accept the challenge, saying that he would not rest his case on the testimony of tortured slaves, please take this letter, which Philip sent. For a letter that kept us busy writing all night long must obviously be full of clever deception of the city.
128. Μαρτυρία. Πρόκλησις ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν οὐ δέχεται τὴν πρόκλησιν, οὐδʼ ἄν φησιν ἐν βασάνοις ἀνδραπόδων γενέσθαι, λαβέ μοι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ταύτην, ἣν ὁ Φίλιππος ἔπεμψε. δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι μεγάλα τὴν πόλιν παραλογίζεται, διʼ ἣν ἠγρυπνοῦμεν γράφοντες.
129. Letter You hear, gentlemen, what he wrote: “I gave my oath to your ambassadors”; and he has written the names of those of his allies who were present, both the names of the representatives themselves and of their states; and he says he will send to you those of his allies who were not there in time. Does it seem to you that it would have been beyond Philip’s ability to write that in the daytime, and without my help?
129. Ἐπιστολή ἀκούετε, ὦ ἄνδρες, ὅτι τοὺς ὅρκους ἀποδέδωκα, φησί, τοῖς ὑμετέροις πρέσβεσι, καὶ τῶν συμμάχων τῶν ἑαυτοῦ τοὺς παραγενομένους κατʼ ὄνομα γέγραφε, καὶ αὐτοὺς καὶ τὰς πόλεις αὐτῶν, τοὺς δʼ ὑστερήσαντας τῶν συμμάχων ἀποστελεῖν φησι πρὸς ὑμᾶς. ταῦτʼ οὖν οὐκ ἂν οἴεσθε δύνασθαι γράψαι Φίλιππον μεθʼ ἡμέραν ἄνευ ἐμοῦ;
130. But, by heaven, the only thing, apparently, that this man Demosthenes cares about, is to win applause while he is on the platform but whether or not a little later he will be considered the greatest scoundrel in Hellas, for that he appears to care not a whit. For how could one put any faith in a man who has undertaken to maintain that it was not Philip’s generalship, but my speeches, that enabled Philip to get this side Thermopylae! And he gave you a sort of reckoning and enumeration of the days during which, while I was making my report on the embassy, the couriers of Phalaecus, the Phocian tyrant, were reporting to him how matters stood in Athens, while the Phocians, putting their trust in me, admitted Philip this side Thermopylae, and surrendered their own cities to him.
130. ἀλλʼ ἔμοιγε νὴ τοὺς θεοὺς οὗτος δοκεῖ τοῦτο μόνον λογίζεσθαι, ὅπως μεταξὺ λέγων εὐδοκιμήσει· εἰ δὲ μικρὸν ἐπισχὼν δόξει πονηρότατος τῶν Ἑλλήνων εἶναι, οὐδὲ μικρὸν φροντίζειν. τί γὰρ ἄν τις τοιούτῳ πιστεύσειεν ἀνθρώπῳ, ὃς ἐγκεχείρηκε λέγειν ὡς Φίλιππος, οὐ τοῖς αὑτοῦ στρατηγήμασιν, ἀλλὰ ταῖς ἐμαῖς δημηγορίαις, εἴσω Πυλῶν παρῆλθε; καὶ λογισμόν τινα ἡμερῶν συνηριθμεῖτο πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἐν αἷς ἐγὼ μὲν ἀπήγγελλον τὴν πρεσβείαν, οἱ δὲ Φαλαίκου τοῦ Φωκέων τυράννου δρομοκήρυκες τἀνθένδε ἐκεῖσε διήγγελλον, πιστεύσαντες δὲ οἱ Φωκεῖς ἐμοὶ εἴσω Πυλῶν αὐτὸν παρεδέξαντο καὶ τὰς πόλεις τὰς αὑτῶν παρέδοσαν.
131. Now all this is the invention of my accuser. It was fortune, first of all, that ruined the Phocians, and she is mistress of all things; and secondly, it was the long continuance of the ten years’ war. For the same thing that built up the power of the tyrants in Phocis, destroyed it also: they established themselves in power by daring to lay hands on the treasures of the shrine, and by the use of mercenaries they put down the free governments; and it was lack of funds that caused their overthrow, when they had spent all their resources on these mercenaries.
131. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὁ κατήγορος μεμηχάνηται, τὰ δʼ ἐν Φωκεῦσι διεφθάρη πράγματα πρῶτον μὲν διὰ τὴν τύχην, ἣ πάντων ἐστὶ κυρία, ἔπειτα διὰ τὸ μῆκος τοῦ χρόνου καὶ τὸν δεκέτη πόλεμον. τὸ γὰρ αὐτὸ ηὔξησέ τε τῶν ἐν Φωκεῦσι τυράννων τὰ πράγματα καὶ καθεῖλε· κατέστησαν μὲν γὰρ εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν τολμήσαντες τῶν ἱερῶν χρημάτων ἅψασθαι, καὶ διὰ ξένων τὰς πολιτείας μετέστησαν, κατελύθησαν δʼ ἀπορίᾳ χρημάτων, ἐπειδὴ κατεμισθοφόρησαν τὰ ὑπάρχοντα.
132. the third cause of their ruin was mutiny, such as usually attends armies which are poorly supplied with funds. The fourth cause was Phalaecus’ inability to foresee the future. For it was plain that the Thessalians and Philip were going to take the field; and shortly before the peace with you was concluded, ambassadors came to you from the Phocians, urging you to help them, and offering to hand over to you Alponus, Thronion, and Nicaea, the posts which controlled the roads to Thermopylae.
132. τρίτον δʼ αὐτοὺς καθεῖλεν ἡ τοῖς ἀπορουμένοις στρατοπέδοις συνήθως παρακολουθοῦσα στάσις, τέταρτον δʼ ἡ Φαλαίκου περὶ τῶν μελλόντων ἔσεσθαι πραγμάτων ἄγνοια. ἡ μὲν γὰρ Θετταλῶν καὶ Φιλίππου στρατεία πρόδηλος ἦν, οὐ πολλῷ δὲ χρόνῳ πρότερον πρὶν τὴν πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰρήνην γενέσθαι, πρέσβεις πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἦλθον ἐκ Φωκέων, βοηθεῖν αὑτοῖς κελεύοντες, καὶ ἐπαγγελλόμενοι παραδώσειν Ἀλπωνὸν καὶ Θρόνιον καὶ Νικαιαν, τὰ τῶν παρόδων τῶν εἰς Πύλας χωρία κύρια.
133. But when you had passed a decree that the Phocians should hand over these posts to your general Proxenus, and that you should man fifty triremes, and that all citizens up to the age of forty years should take part in the expedition, then instead of surrendering the Posts to Proxenus, the tyrants arrested those ambassadors of their own who had offered to hand over the garrison posts to you and when your heralds carried the proclamation of the sacred truce of the Mysteries, the Phocians alone in all Hellas refused to recognize the truce. Again, when Archidamus the Laconian was ready to take over those posts and guard them, the Phocians refused his offer, answering him that it was the danger from Sparta that they feared, not the danger at home.
133. ψηφισαμένων δʼ ὑμῶν παραδοῦναι Προξένῳ τῷ στρατηγῷ τοὺς Φωκέας ταῦτα τὰ χωρία, καὶ πεντήκοντα πληροῦν τριήρεις, καὶ τοὺς μέχρι τετταράκοντα ἐτῶν ἐξιέναι, ἀντὶ τοῦ παραδοῦναι τὰ χωρία Προξένῳ, ἔδησαν οἱ τύραννοι τοὺς πρέσβεις τοὺς ἐπηγγελμένους ὑμῖν παραδώσειν τὰ φυλακτήρια, καὶ τοῖς σπονδοφόροις τοῖς τὰς μυστηριώτιδας σπονδὰς ἐπαγγέλλουσι μόνοι τῶν Ἑλλήνων Φωκεῖς οὐκ ἐσπείσαντο. καὶ πάλιν Ἀρχιδάμου τοῦ Λάκωνος παραλαμβάνειν ὄντος ἑτοίμου τὰ χωρία καὶ φυλάττειν, οὐκ ἐπείσθησαν, ἀλλʼ ἀπεκρίναντο αὐτῷ τὰ τῆς Σπάρτης δεινὰ δεδιέναι καὶ μὴ τὰ παρʼ αὑτοῖς.
134. That was before you had come to terms with Philip; but on the very day when you were discussing the question of the peace, the letter of Proxenus was read to you, in which he said that the Phocians had failed to hand over the posts to him; and on the same day the heralds of the Mysteries reported to you that the Phocians alone in all Hellas had refused the sacred truce, and had, furthermore, arrested the ambassadors who had been here. To prove that I am speaking the truth, please call the heralds of the truce, and the envoys Callicrates and Metagenes, whom Proxenus our general sent to the Phocians, and let the letter of Proxenus be read.
134. κἀνταῦθα οὔπω διελέλυσθε Φιλίππῳ, ἀλλʼ ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ περί τε τῆς εἰρήνης ἐβουλεύεσθε, καὶ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς ἠκούετε τῆς Προξένου, ὅτι Φωκεῖς οὐ παραδεδώκασιν αὐτῷ τὰ χωρία, καὶ οἱ τὰ μυστήρια ἐπαγγέλλοντες μόνους τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων ἀπέφαινον Φωκέας οὐ δεδεγμένους τὰς σπονδάς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς δεῦρο ἐληλυθότας πρέσβεις δεδεκότας. ὅτι δὲ ἀληθῆ λέγω, κάλει μοι τοὺς σπονδοφόρους, καὶ τοὺς παρὰ Προξένου τοῦ στρατηγοῦ πρεσβεύσαντας εἰς Φωκέας, Καλλικράτην καὶ Μεταγένην, καὶ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς ἀκούσατε τῆς Προξένου.
135. Testimony. Letter The dates, fellow citizens, taken from the public archives, have been read and compared in your hearing, and you have heard the witnesses, who further testify that before I was elected ambassador, Phalaecus the Phocian tyrant distrusted us and the Lacedaemonians as well, but put his trust in Philip.
135. Μαρτυρίαι. Ἐπιστολή ἀκούετε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν χρόνων παραναγιγνωσκομένων ἐκ τῶν δημοσίων γραμμάτων, καὶ τῶν μαρτύρων ὑμῖν προσδιαμαρτυρούντων, ὅτι πρὶν ἐμὲ χειροτονηθῆναι πρεσβευτήν, Φάλαικος ὁ τῶν Φωκέων τύραννος ἡμῖν μὲν καὶ Λακεδαιμονίοις ἠπίστει, Φιλίππῳ δʼ ἐπίστευεν.
136. But was Phalaecus the only one who failed to discern what the outcome was going to be? How stood public opinion here? Were you not yourselves all expecting that Philip was going to humble the Thebans, when he saw their audacity, and because he was unwilling to increase the power of men whom he could not trust? And did not the Lacedaemonians take part with us in the negotiations against the Thebans, and did they not finally come into open collision with them in Macedonia and threaten them? Were not the Theban ambassadors themselves perplexed and alarmed? And did not the Thessalians laugh at all the rest and say that the expedition was for their own benefit?
136. ἀλλʼ οὗτος μόνος τὸ συμβησόμενον ἠγνόει; ὑμεῖς δὲ αὐτοὶ δημοσίᾳ πῶς διέκεισθε; οὐ πάντες προσεδοκᾶτε Φίλιππον ταπεινώσειν Θηβαίους, ὁρῶντά τʼ αὐτῶν τὴν θρασύτητα, καὶ τῷ μὴ βούλεσθαι δύναμιν ἀνθρώπων ἀπίστων ἐπαυξῆσαι; Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ οὐ μεθʼ ἡμῶν τἀναντία Θηβαίοις ἐπρέσβευον, καὶ τελευτῶντες προσέκρουον φανερῶς ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ καὶ διηπειλοῦντο; αὐτοὶ δὲ οὐκ ἠπόρουν καὶ ἐφοβοῦντο οἱ τῶν Θηβαίων πρέσβεις; Θετταλοὶ δὲ οὐ κατεγέλων τῶν ἄλλων, ὑπὲρ αὑτῶν φάσκοντες τὴν στρατείαν εἶναι;
137. Did not some of’ Philip’s companions say explicitly to some of us that Philip was going to reestablish the cities in Boeotia? Had not the Thebans already, suspicious of the situation, called out all their reserves and taken the field? And did not Philip, when he saw this, send a letter to you calling upon you to come out with all your forces in defence of the cause of justice? As for those who are now for war, and who call peace cowardice, did they not prevent your going out, in spite of the fact that peace and alliance had been made with Philip? And did they not say that they were afraid he would take your soldiers as hostages?
137. τῶν δʼ ἑταίρων τινὲς τῶν Φιλίππου οὐ διαρρήδην πρός τινας ἡμῶν ἔλεγον ὅτι τὰς ἐν Βοιωτοῖς πόλεις κατοικιεῖ Φίλιππος; Θηβαῖοι δʼ οὐκ ἐξεληλύθεσαν πανδημεί, ἀπιστοῦντες τοῖς πράγμασιν; ὑμῖν δὲ ταῦθʼ ὁρῶν οὐκ ἔπεμψεν ἐπιστολὴν ὁ Φίλιππος, ἐξιέναι πάσῃ τῇ δυνάμει βοηθήσοντας τοῖς δικαίοις; οἱ δὲ νῦν πολεμικοὶ καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην ἀνανδρίαν καλοῦντες, οὐ διεκώλυσαν ὑμᾶς ἐξελθεῖν εἰρήνης καὶ συμμαχίας γεγενημένης, δεδιέναι φάσκοντες μὴ τοὺς στρατιώτας ὑμῶν ὁμήρους λάβῃ Φίλιππος;
138. Was it I, therefore, who prevented the people from imitating our forefathers, or was it you, Demosthenes, and those who were in conspiracy with you against the common good? And was it a safer and more honourable course for the Athenians to take the field at a time when the Phocians were at the height of their madness and at war with Philip, with Alponus and Nicaea in their possession—for Phalaecus had not yet surrendered these posts to the Macedonians—and when those whom we were proposing to aid would not accept the truce for the Mysteries, and when we were leaving the Thebans in our rear: or after Philip had invited us, when we had already received his oaths and had an alliance with him, and when the Thessalians and the other Amphictyons were taking part in the expedition?
138. πότερον οὖν ἐγὼ τοὺς προγόνους ἐκώλυσα τὸν δῆμον μιμεῖσθαι, ἢ σὺ καὶ οἱ μετὰ σοῦ συνεστηκότες ἐπὶ τὰ κοινά; καὶ πότερον ἦν ἀσφαλεστέρα καὶ καλλίων Ἀθηναίοις ἡ ἔξοδος, ἡνίκα ἤκμαζον μὲν τῇ μανίᾳ Φωκεῖς, ἐπολέμουν δὲ Φιλίππῳ, εἶχον δὲ Ἀλπωνὸν καὶ Νίκαιαν, οὔπω παραδόντος Φαλαίκου Μακεδόσι, τὰς σπονδὰς δὲ οἷς ἐμέλλομεν βοηθεῖν τὰς μυστηριώτιδας οὐκ ἐδέχοντο, Θηβαίους δʼ ὄπισθεν κατελείπομεν, ἢ μεταπεμπομένου μὲν Φιλίππου, ὅρκων δʼ ἡμῖν καὶ συμμαχίας γεγενημένης, Θετταλῶν δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ἀμφικτυόνων στρατευόντων;
139. Was not the latter opportunity far better than the former? But at this later time, thanks to the combination of cowardice and envy in you, Demosthenes, the Athenians brought in their property from the fields, when I was already absent on the third embassy, and appearing before the assembly of the Amphictyons —that embassy on which you dare to say that I set out without having been elected, although, enemy as you are to me, you have never to this day been willing to prosecute me as having wrongly served on it; and we may safely assume that this is not because you begrudge me bodily pains and penalties.
139. οὐ πολλῷ καλλίων οὗτος ἦν ὁ καιρὸς ἐκείνου, ἐν ᾧ διὰ τὴν σὴν ἀνανδρίαν καὶ ἅμα φθόνον ἐσκευαγώγησαν ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν Ἀθηναῖοι, πρεσβεύοντος ἐμοῦ τὴν τρίτην ἤδη πρεσβείαν τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ κοινὸν τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων, ἐφʼ ἣν τολμᾶς με λέγειν ὡς οὐ χειροτονηθεὶς ᾠχόμην, ἐχθρὸς δʼ ὢν οὐδέπω καὶ τήμερον ἠθέληκάς με εἰσαγγεῖλαι παραπρεσβεύσασθαι; οὐ γὰρ δὴ φθονεῖς γέ μοι τῶν εἰς τὸ σῶμα τιμημάτων.
140. When, therefore, the Thebans were besieging him with their importunities, and our city was in confusion, thanks to you, and the Athenian hoplites were not with him; when the influence of the Thessalians had been added to that of the Thebans, thanks to your shortsightedness and because of the hostility to the Phocians which the Thessalians had inherited from that ancient time when Phocians seized and flogged the Thessalian hostages; and when, before my coming and that of Stephanus, Dercylus, and the rest of the ambassadors, Phalaecus already made terms and departed;
140. τοιγάρτοι Θηβαίων μὲν παρακαθημένων καὶ δεομένων, τῆς δʼ ἡμετέρας πόλεως διὰ σὲ τεθορυβημένης καὶ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ὁπλιτῶν οὐ παρόντων, Θετταλῶν δὲ Θηβαίοις προσθεμένων διὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀβουλίαν καὶ τὴν πρὸς Φωκέας ἔχθραν, ἣ προϋπῆρχε Θετταλοῖς ἐκ παλαιῶς χρόνων, ὅτε αὐτῶν τοὺς ὁμήρους λαβόντες Φωκεῖς κατηλόησαν, Φαλαίκου δὲ πρὶν ἐμὲ ἐλθεῖν καὶ Στέφανον καὶ Δερκύλον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους πρέσβεις ἀπεληλυθότος ὑποσπόνδου, Ὀρχομενίων δὲ περιφόβων ὄντων καὶ σπονδὰς τοῖς σώμασιν αἰτησάντων, ὥστε ἀπελθεῖν ἐκ τῆς Βοιωτίας, παρεστηκότων μὲν τῶν Θηβαίων πρέσβεων, ὑπολειπομένης δʼ ἔχθρας φανερᾶς Φιλίππῳ πρὸς Θηβαίους καὶ Θετταλούς, τότε ἀπώλοντο αἱ πράξεις οὐ διʼ ἐμέ, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν προδοσίαν καὶ τὴν πρὸς Θηβαίους προξενίαν.