---
title: "On the Embassy · Περὶ τῆς παραπρεσβείας"
author: "Aeschines"
translator: "Charles Darwin Adams"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
section: 4 of 4
url: https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-on-the-embassy/4/
cite: "Aeschines, tr. Charles Darwin Adams, On the Embassy · Περὶ τῆς παραπρεσβείας, section 4. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-on-the-embassy/4/"
---

# On the Embassy · Περὶ τῆς παραπρεσβείας

*Aeschines, tr. Charles Darwin Adams*

Aeschines answers Demosthenes’ charge that he was bribed by Philip.

> Greek: ed. Charles Darwin Adams, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0026.tlg002, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Charles Darwin Adams, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0026.tlg002.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.

## 4. Sections 141–184

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-on-the-embassy/4/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/aeschines-on-the-embassy/4/#p-N

[¶0] 141. Then the people of Orchomenus were in exceeding fear, and had begged for peace, on condition that their lives should be spared and they be allowed to go forth from Boeotia; when the Theban ambassadors were standing by, and when it was plain that Philip was threatened with the hostility of the Thebans and Thessalians: then it was that the cause was lost not from any fault of mine, but thanks to your treachery, Demosthenes, and your hired service to Thebes. Of this I think I can furnish important confirmation from what has actually happened. For if there were any truth in these assertions of yours, the Boeotian fugitives, for whose expulsion I was responsible, and the Phocian exiles, whose restoration I prevented, would be accusing me now. But as a matter of fact they ignore the misfortunes that have come upon them, and satisfied with my loyalty to them, the Boeotian exiles have held a meeting and chosen men to speak in my behalf; and from the towns of Phocis have come ambassadors whose lives I saved when I was representing you before the Amphictyons on the third embassy; for when the representatives from Oetaea went so far as to say that they ought to cast the grown men over the cliffs, I brought the Phocians into the assembly of the Amphictyons and secured a hearing for them. For Phalaecus had made terms for himself and gone, and those who were guiltless were on the point of being put to death; but I pleaded for them, and their lives were spared.

> Greek: 141. μεγάλα δʼ οἶμαι τούτων ἔργῳ σημεῖα ἐπιδείξειν. εἰ γάρ τι τούτων ἀληθὲς ἦν ὧν σὺ λέγεις, κατηγόρουν ἄν μου Βοιωτῶν καὶ Φωκέων οἱ φεύγοντες, ὧν τοὺς μὲν ἐξεβεβλήκειν, τοὺς δʼ ἐκώλυσα κατελθεῖν· νῦν δʼ οὐχὶ τὰ συμβάντα λογιζόμενοι, ἀλλὰ τὴν εὔνοιαν τὴν ἐμὴν ἀποδεχόμενοι, συλλεγέντες οἱ φεύγοντες Βοιωτῶν ᾕρηνταί μοι συνηγόρους, ἥκουσι δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν Φωκεῦσι πόλεων πρέσβεις, οὓς ἐγὼ τὴν τρίτην πρεσβείαν τὴν ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἀμφικτύονας πρεσβεύων ἔσωσα, Οἰταίων ἐγχειρούντων λέγειν ὡς δεῖ τοὺς ἡβῶντας ὠθεῖν κατὰ τοῦ κρημνοῦ, καὶ παρήγαγον εἰς τοὺς Ἀμφικτύονας, ὥστε ἀπολογίας τυχεῖν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ Φάλαικος ὑπόσπονδος ἀφεῖτο, οἱ δὲ ἀναίτιοι ἀποθνῄσκειν ἔμελλον, συναγορεύοντος δʼ ἐμοῦ διεσώθησαν.

[¶1] 143. To prove that I speak the truth, please call Mnason the Phocian and those who have come with him, and call the delegates chosen by the Boeotian exiles. Come up to the platform, Liparus and Pythion, and do me the same service for the saving of my life that I did for you. Plea of the Boeotians and Phocians Would it not, then, be monstrous treatment for me if I should be convicted when my accuser is Demosthenes, the paid servant of Thebes and the wickedest man in Hellas, while my advocates are Phocians and Boeotians?

> Greek: 143. ὅτι δʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, κάλει μοι Μνάσωνα τὸν Φωκέα καὶ τοὺς συμπρέσβεις, καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν Βοιωτῶν φυγῆς ᾑρημένους. ἀνάβηθι δεῦρο, Λίπαρε καὶ Πυθίων, καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἀπόδοτέ μοι χάριν εἰς τὴν τοῦ σώματος σωτηρίαν, ἥνπερ ἐγὼ ὑμῖν. Συνητοπία Βοιωτῶν καὶ Φωκέων πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἂν δεινὰ πάθοιμι, εἰ κατηγοροῦντος μὲν Δημοσθένους τοῦ Θηβαιων προξένου καὶ πονηροτάτου τῶν Ἑλλήνων, συναγορευόντων δέ μοι Φωκέων καὶ Βοιωτῶν ἁλοίην;

[¶2] 144. But he dared to say that I am tripped up by my own words. For he says that when I was prosecuting Timarchus I said that his lewdness was a matter of common report, and that Hesiod, a good poet, says, “But Common Report dies never, the voice that tongues of many men do utter. She also is divine.” He says that this same god comes now and accuses me, for everybody says, according to him, that I have got money from Philip.

> Greek: 144. ἐτόλμησε δʼ εἰπεῖν ὡς ἐγὼ τοῖς ἐμαυτοῦ λόγοις περιπίπτω. φησὶ γάρ με εἰπεῖν, ὅτʼ ἔκρινον Τίμαρχον, ὅτι πάντες κατʼ αὐτοῦ τὴν τῆς πορνείας φήμην παρειλήφασι, τὸν δʼ Ἡσίοδον ποιητὴν ἀγαθὸν ὄντα λέγειν,
φήμη δʼ οὔτις πάμπαν ἀπόλλυται, ἥντινα λαοὶ
πολλοὶ φημίξωσι· θεός νυ τίς ἐστι καὶ αὐτή.
τὴν δʼ αὐτὴν ταύτην θεὸν ἥκειν νῦν κατηγοροῦσαν ἐμοῦ· πάντας γὰρ λέγειν ὡς χρήματα ἔχω παρὰ Φιλίππου.

[¶3] 145. But be assured, fellow citizens, there is the greatest difference between common report and slander. For common report has no affinity with malice, but malice is slander’s own sister. I will define each of them specifically: it is a case of common report when the mass of the people, on their own impulse and for no reason that they can give, say that a certain event has taken place; but it is slander when one person, insinuating an accusation in the minds of the people, calumniates a man in all the meetings of the assembly and before the senate. To Common Report we offer public sacrifice, as to a god, but the slanderer we prosecute, in the name of the people, as a scoundrel. Do not, therefore, join together the most honourable and the most shameful things.

> Greek: 145. εὖ δʼ ἴστε, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὅτι πλεῖστον διαφέρει φήμη καὶ συκοφαντία. φήμη μὲν γὰρ οὐ κοινωνεῖ διαβολῇ, διαβολὴ δὲ ἀδελφόν ἐστι συκοφαντία. διοριῶ δʼ αὐτῶν ἑκάτερον ἐγὼ σαφῶς. φήμη μέν ἐστιν, ὅταν τὸ πλῆθος τῶν πολιτῶν αὐτόματον ἐκ μηδεμιᾶς προφάσεως λέγῃ τινὰ ὡς γεγενημένην πρᾶξιν· συκοφαντία δʼ ἐστίν, ὅταν πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς εἷς ἀνὴρ αἰτίαν ἐμβαλών, ἔν τε ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ἁπάσαις πρός τε τὴν βουλὴν διαβάλλῃ τινά. καὶ τῇ μὲν φήμῃ δημοσίᾳ θύομεν ὡς θεῷ, τῶν δὲ συκοφαντῶν ὡς κακούργων δημοσίᾳ προβολὰς ποιούμεθα. μὴ οὖν σύναγε εἰς ταὐτὸν τὰ κάλλιστα τοῖς αἰσχίστοις.

[¶4] 146. At many of his charges I was indeed angry, but most of all when he accused me of being a traitor. For to bring such charges as those was to hold me up to public view as a brute, without natural affection, and chargeable in the past with many other sins. Now of my daily life and conduct I think you are competent judges. But facts that escape the public eye, yet are of greatest importance in the opinion of men of character, I will bring into court as my witnesses—facts very many in number and to my credit in the eyes of the law—in order that seeing them you may know what pledges I left at home when I set out for Macedonia on the embassy.

> Greek: 146. ἐπὶ πολλοῖς μὲν οὖν ἔγωγε τῶν κατηγορημένων ἠγανάκτησα, μάλιστα δὲ ἡνίκα ᾐτιᾶτό με εἶναι προδότην· ἅμα γὰρ ταῖς αἰτίαις ταύταις φανῆναί με ἔδει θηριώδη καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἄστοργον καὶ πολλοῖς ἑτέροις πρότερον ἁμαρτήμασι ἔνοχον. τοῦ μὲν οὖν ἐμοῦ βίου καὶ τῆς καθʼ ἡμέραν διαίτης ὑμᾶς δοκιμαστὰς ἱκανοὺς εἶναι νομίζω· ἃ δʼ ἐστὶ τοῖς μὲν πολλοῖς ἀσύνοπτα, τοῖς δὲ χρηστοῖς τὰς Ψυχὰς μέγιστα, τούτων ὑμῖν τὰ πλεῖστα καὶ καλῶς ἔχοντα ἐκ τῶν νόμων ὁρᾶν ἀναβιβῶμαι, ἵνʼ εἰδῆτε τὰς ἐμὰς παρακαταθήκας, ἃς οἴκοι καταλιπὼν εἰς Μακεδονίαν ἐπρέσβευσα.

[¶5] 147. For you, Demosthenes, fabricated these charges against me, but I will tell my story, as I was taught to do from childhood, truthfully. Yonder is my father, Atrometus; there are few older men among all the citizens, for he is now ninety-four years old. When he was a young man, before the war destroyed his property, he was so fortunate as to be an athlete; banished by the Thirty, he served as a soldier in Asia, and in danger he showed himself a man; by birth he was of the phratry that uses the same altars as the Eteobutadae, from whom the priestess of Athena Polias comes; and he helped in the restoration of the democracy, as I said a little while ago.

> Greek: 147. σὺ μὲν γάρ, Δημόσθενες, ταῦτα ἐπλάσω ἐπʼ ἐμέ, ἐγὼ δʼ ὡς ἐπαιδεύθην καὶ δικαίως ἐξηγήσομαι. οὑτοσὶ μέν ἐστί μοι πατὴρ Ἀτρόμητος, σχεδὸν πρεσβύτατος τῶν πολιτῶν· ἔτη γὰρ ἤδη βεβίωκεν ἐνενήκοντα καὶ τέτταρα· συμβέβηκε δὲ αὐτῷ νέῳ μὲν ὄντι, πρὶν τὴν οὐσίαν ἀπολέσαι διὰ τὸν πόλεμον, ἀθλεῖν τῷ σώματι, ἐκπεσόντι δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν τριάκοντα στρατεύεσθαι μὲν ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ, ἀριστεύειν δʼ ἐν τοῖς κινδύνοις, εἶναι δʼ ἐκ φρατρίας τὸ γένος ἣ τῶν αὐτῶν βωμῶν Ἐτεοβουτάδαις μετέχει, ὅθεν ἡ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς τῆς Πολιάδος ἐστὶν ἱέρεια, συγκατάγειν δὲ τὸν δῆμον, ὥσπερ καὶ ὀλίγῳ πρότερον εἶπον.

[¶6] 148. It is my good fortune, too, that all the members of my mother’s family are free-born citizens; and to-day I see her here before my eyes in anxiety and fear for my safety. And yet, Demosthenes, this mother of mine went out to Corinth an exile, with her husband, and shared the disasters of the democracy; but you, who claim to be a man—that you really are a man I should not venture to say—you were once indicted for desertion, and you saved yourself by buying off the man who indicted you, Nicodemus of Aphidna, whom afterward you helped Aristarchus to destroy; wherefore you are polluted, and have no right to be invading the market-place.

> Greek: 148. ἐλευθέρους δε μοι συμβέβηκεν εἶναι καὶ τοὺς πρὸς μητρὸς ἅπαντας, ἣ νῦν ἐμοὶ πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν προφαίνεται φοβουμένη περὶ τῆς ἐμῆς σωτηρίας καὶ διηπορημένη. καίτοι, Δημόσθενες, ἡ μὲν ἐμὴ μήτηρ ἔφυγε μετὰ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς εἰς Κόρινθον καὶ μετέσχε τῶν πολιτικῶν κακῶν· σὺ δὲ ὁ ἀμφισβητῶν ἀνὴρ εἶναι, οὐ γὰρ ἂν τολμήσαιμι εἰπεῖν ὡς ἀνὴρ εἶ, ἐγράφης λιποταξίου, καὶ τὸν γραψάμενον Νικόδημον τὸν Ἀφιδναῖον χρήμασι πείσας ἐσώθης, ὃν ὕστερον μετὰ Ἀριστάρχου συναπέκτεινας, καὶ οὐ καθαρὸς ὢν εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἐμβάλλεις.

[¶7] 149. Philochares yonder, our eldest brother, a man not of ignoble pursuits, as you slanderously assert, but a frequenter of the gymnasia, a one-time comrade of Iphicrates in the field, and a general now for the past three years, has come to beg you to save me. Our youngest brother, too, Aphobetus yonder, who as ambassador to the king of Persia has served you to the credit of the city, who administered your revenues honestly and well when you called him to the department of the treasury, who has gotten him children lawfully—not by putting his wife in Cnosion’s bed, as you, Demosthenes, did yours—he also is here, despite your slanders; for defamation goes no further than the ears.

> Greek: 149. Φιλοχάρης δʼ οὑτοσί, ὁ πρεσβύτατος ἀδελφὸς ἡμῶν, οὐκ ἀγεννεῖς διατριβάς, ὡς σὺ βλασφημεῖς, ἀλλʼ ἐν γυμνασίοις διατρίβων, καὶ μετὰ Ἰφικράτους συνεστρατευμένος, καὶ συνεχῶς ἔτος ἤδη τουτὶ τρίτον στρατηγῶν, ἥκει δεησόμενος ὑμῶν ἐμὲ σῶσαι. Ἀφόβητος δʼ οὑτοσί, ὁ νεώτατος ἡμῶν ἀδελφός, πεπρεσβευκὼς μὲν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἀξίως τῆς πόλεως πρὸς τὸν Περσῶν βασιλέα, καλῶς δὲ καὶ δικαίως τῶν ὑμετέρων προσόδων ἐπιμεληθείς, ὅτε αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν κοινὴν διοίκησιν εἵλεσθε, καὶ πεπαιδοποιημένος κατὰ τοὺς νόμους, ἀλλʼ οὐ Κνωσίωνι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γυναῖκα παρακατακλίνων, ὥσπερ σύ, πάρεστι καταφρονῶν τῶν σῶν λοιδοριῶν· τὸ γὰρ ψευδὲς ὄνειδος οὐ περαιτέρω τῆς ἀκοῆς ἀφικνεῖται.

[¶8] 150. But you dared to speak about my wife’s family also—so shameless you are and so inherently thankless, you that have neither affection nor respect for Philodemus, the father of Philon and Epicrates, the man by whose good offices you were enrolled among the men of your deme, as the elder Paeanians know. But I am amazed if you dare slander Philon, and that, too, in the presence of the most reputable men of Athens, who, having come in here to render their verdict for the best interest of the state, are thinkingmore about the lives we have lived than what we say.

> Greek: 150. ἐτόλμησας δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐμῶν κηδεστῶν εἰπεῖν· οὕτως ἀναιδὴς καὶ πόρρωθεν ἀχάριστος εἶ, ὃς Φιλόδημον τὸν Φίλωνος πατέρα καὶ Ἐπικράτους οὐκ ἀγαπᾶς οὐδὲ προσκυνεῖς, διʼ ὃν εἰς τοὺς δημότας ἐνεγράφης, ὡς ἴσασιν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι Παιανιέων. ἐκπέπληγμαι δέ, εἰ σὺ λοιδορεῖν Φίλωνα τολμᾷς, καὶ ταῦτα ἐν τοῖς ἐπιεικεστάτοις Ἀθηναίων, οἳ δεῦρο εἰσεληλύθασι δικάσοντες ἕνεκα τοῦ βελτίστου τῆς πόλεως, καὶ μᾶλλον προσέχουσι τοῖς βίοις ἡμῶν ἢ τοῖς λόγοις.

[¶9] 151. Which think you would they pray heaven to give them, ten thousand hoplites like Philon, so fit in body and so sound of heart, or thrice ten thousand lewd weaklings like you? You try to bring into contempt the good breeding of Epicrates, Philon’s brother; but who ever saw him behaving in an indecent manner, either by day in the Dionysiac procession, as you assert, or by night? For you certainly could never say that he was unobserved, for he was no stranger.

> Greek: 151. πότερα γὰρ ἂν προσδοκᾷς αὐτοὺς εὔξασθαι μυρίους ὁπλίτας ὁμοίους. Φίλωνι γενέσθαι, καὶ τὰ σώματα οὕτω διακειμένους καὶ τὴν Ψυχὴν οὕτω σώφρονας, ἢ τρισμυρίους κιναίδους οἵους περ σύ; καὶ τὴν Ἐπικράτους εὐαγωγίαν, τοῦ Φίλωνος ἀδελφοῦ, ἐπανάγεις εἰς ὀνείδη. καὶ τίς αὐτὸν εἶδε πώποτε ἀσχημονήσαντα, ἢ μεθʼ ἡμέραν, ὡς σὺ φῄς, ἐν τῇ πομπῇ τῶν Διονυσίων, ἢ νύκτωρ; οὐ γὰρ ἂν τοῦτό γʼ εἴποις, ὡς ἔλαθεν· οὐ γὰρ ἠγνοεῖτο.

[¶10] 152. And I myself, gentlemen, have three children, one daughter and two sons, by the daughter of Philodemus, the sister of Philon and Epicrates; and I have brought them into court with the others for the sake of asking one question and presenting one piece of evidence to the jury. This question I will now put to you; for I ask, fellow citizens, whether you believe that I would have betrayed to Philip, not only my country, my personal friendships, and my rights in the shrines and tombs of my fathers, but also these children, the dearest of mankind to me. Do you believe that I would have held his friendship more precious than the safety of these children? By what lust have you seen me conquered? What unworthy act have I ever done for money? It is not Macedon that makes men good or bad, but their own inborn nature; and we have not come back from the embassy changed men, but the same men that you yourselves sent out.

> Greek: 152. ἐμοὶ δέ, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἐκ τῆς Φιλοδήμου θυγατρὸς καὶ Φίλωνος ἀδελφῆς καὶ Ἐπικράτους τρεῖς παῖδές εἰσι, μία μὲν θυγάτηρ, δύο δὲ υἱεῖς· οὓς ἐγὼ δεῦρο ἥκω μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων κομίζων, ἑνὸς ἐρωτήματος ἕνεκα καὶ τεκμηρίου πρὸς τοὺς δικαστάς, ὃ νῦν δὴ ἐρήσομαι. ἐρωτῶ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, εἰ δοκῶ ἂν ὑμῖν πρὸς τῇ πατρίδι καὶ τῇ τῶν φίλων συνηθείᾳ καὶ ἱερῶν καὶ τάφων πατρῴων μετουσίᾳ τουτουσὶ τοὺς πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἐμοὶ φιλτάτους προδοῦναι Φιλίππῳ, καὶ περὶ πλείονος τὴν ἐκείνου φιλίαν τῆς τούτων σωτηρίας ποιήσασθαι. ποίᾳ κρατηθεὶς ἡδονῇ; ἢ τί πώποτε ἄσχημον ἕνεκα χρημάτων πράξας; οὐ γὰρ ἡ Μακεδονία κακοὺς ἢ χρηστοὺς ποιεῖ, ἀλλʼ ἡ φύσις· οὐδʼ ἐσμὲν ἕτεροί τινες ἥκοντες ἀπὸ τῆς πρεσβείας, ἀλλʼ οἵους ὑμεῖς ἐξεπέμψατε.

[¶11] 153. But in public affairs I have become exceedingly entangled with a cheat and rascal, who not even by accident can speak a truthful word. No: when he is lying, first comes an oath by his shameless eyes, and things that never happened he not only presents as facts, but he even tells the day on which they occurred; and he invents the name of some one who happened to be there, and adds that too, imitating men who speak the truth. But we who are innocent are fortunate in one thing, that he has no intelligence with which to supplement the trickery of his character and his knack of putting words together. For think what a combination of folly and ignorance there must be in the man who could invent such a lie against me as that about the Olynthian woman, such a lie that you shut him up in the midst of his speech. For he was slandering a man who is the farthest removed from any such conduct, and that in the presence of men who know.

> Greek: 153. συμπέπλεγμαι δʼ ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν ἀνθρώπῳ γόητι καὶ πονηρῷ, ὃς οὐδʼ ἂν ἄκων ἀληθὲς οὐδὲν εἴποι. ἡγεῖται δέ, ὅταν τι Ψεύδηται, τῶν λόγων ὅρκος κατὰ τῶν ἀναισχύντων ὀφθαλμῶν, καὶ τὰ μὴ γεγενημένα οὐ μόνον ὡς ἔστι λέγει, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐν ᾗ φησι γενέσθαι· καὶ προστίθησίν τινος ὄνομα πλασάμενος, ὡς ἔτυχε παρών, μιμούμενος τοὺς τἀληθῆ λέγοντας. ἓν δὲ εὐτυχοῦμεν οἱ μηδὲν ἀδικοῦντες, ὅτι πρὸς τῇ τερατείᾳ τοῦ τρόπου καὶ τῇ τῶν ὀνομάτων συνθέσει νοῦν οὐκ ἔχει. σκέψασθε γὰρ ἀφροσύνην ἅμα καὶ ἀπαιδευσίαν τἀνθρώπου, ὃς τοιοῦτον ἐπλάσατο τὸ περὶ τὴν Ὀλυνθίαν γυναῖκα ψεῦδος κατʼ ἐμοῦ, ἐφʼ ᾧ μεταξὺ λέγων ὑφʼ ὑμῶν ἐξερρίφη· τὸν γὰρ πλεῖστον ἀφεστηκότα τῶν τοιούτων πρὸς τοὺς εἰδότας διέβαλλε.

[¶12] 154. But see how far back his preparations for this accusation go. For there is a certain Olynthian living here, Aristophanes by name. Demosthenes was introduced to him by some one, and having found out that he is an able speaker, paid extravagant court to him and won his confidence; this accomplished, he tried to persuade him to give false testimony against me before you, promising, namely, to give him five hundred drachmas on the spot, if he would consent to come into court and complain of me, and say that I was guilty of drunken abuse of a woman of his family, who had been taken captive; and he promised to pay him five hundred more when he should have given the testimony.

> Greek: 154. σκέψασθε δέ, ὡς πόρρωθεν ἐπὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ταύτην παρεσκευάζετο. ἔστι γάρ τις ἐπιδημῶν εἰς τὴν πόλιν Ἀριστοφάνης Ὀλύνθιος· τούτῳ συσταθεὶς ὑπό τινων καὶ πυθόμενος ὡς εἰπεῖν δύναται, ὑπερεκθεραπεύσας αὐτὸν καὶ προσαγαγόμενος, ἔπειθεν ἐμοῦ τὰ ψευδῆ καταμαρτυρεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, κἂν παρελθὼν ἐθελήσῃ σχετλιάσαι σαὶ καὶ λέγειν ὡς εἰς οἰκείαν αὑτοῦ γυναῖκα αἰχμάλωτον γεγενημένην πεπαρῴνηκα, πεντακοσίας μὲν ἤδη δραχμὰς ὑπισχνεῖτο αὐτῷ δώσειν, πεντακοσίας δʼ ἑτέρας, ἐπειδὰν καταμαρτυρήσῃ.

[¶13] 155. But Aristophanes answered him, as he himself told the story, that so far as his exile and present need were concerned, Demosthenes’ aim had not been wide of the mark—indeed no aim could have been closer—but that he had entirely misjudged his character; for he could do nothing of the sort. I will offer Aristophanes himself to testify to the truth of what I say. Please call Aristophanes the Olynthian, and read his testimony, and call those who heard his story and reported it to me—Dercylus, of the deme Hagnus, the son of Autocles, and Aristeides of Cephisia, the son of Euphiletus.

> Greek: 155. ὁ δʼ αὐτῷ ἀπεκρίνατο, ὡς αὐτὸς διηγεῖτο, ὅτι τῆς μὲν φυγῆς καὶ τῆς παρούσης ἀπορίας αὐτῷ οὐ κακῶς, ἀλλʼ ὡς οἷόν τε ἄριστα στοχάζοιτο, τοῦ δὲ τρόπου πλεῖστον εἴη διημαρτηκώς· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἂν τοιοῦτον πρᾶξαι. ὅτι δὲ ἀληθῆ λέγω, αὐτὸν Ἀριστοφάνην μαρτυροῦντα παρέξομαι. κάλει μοι Ἀριστοφάνην Ὀλύθιον, καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἀναγίγνωσκε, καὶ τοὺς ἀκηκοότας αὐτοῦ καὶ πρὸς ἐμὲ ἀγγείλαντας, Δερκύλον Αὐτοκλέους Ἁγνούσιον καὶ Ἀριστείδην Εὐφιλήτου Κηφισιέα.

[¶14] 156. Testimony You hear the sworn testimony. But these wicked arts of rhetoric, which Demosthenes offers to teach our youth, and has now employed against me, his tears and groans for Hellas, and his praise of Satyrus the comic actor, because over the cups he begged of Philip the release of certain friends of his who were captives in chains, digging in Philip’s vineyard—you remember, do you not, how after this preface he lifted up that shrill and abominable voice of his and cried out, “How outrageous that when a man whose business it is to act the parts of a Carion or of a Xanthias showed himself so noble and generous, Aeschines, the counsellor of the greatest city, the adviser of the Ten Thousand of Arcadia, did not restrain his insolence, but in drunken heat, when Xenodocus, one of the picked corps of Philip, was entertaining us, seized a captive woman by the hair, and took a strap and flogged her!”

> Greek: 156. Μαρτυρίαι τῶν μὲν μαρτύρων διομνυμένων καὶ μαρτυρούντων ἀκούετε· τὰς δʼ ἀνοσίους ταύτας τῶν λόγων τέχνας, ἃς οὗτος πρὸς τοὺς νέους ἐπαγγέλλεται καὶ κέχρηται νυνὶ κατʼ ἐμοῦ, ἆρα μέμνησθε, ὡς ἐπιδακρύσας καὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα κατοδυράμενος, καὶ Σάτυρον τὸν κωμικὸν ὑποκριτὴν προσεπαινέσας, ὅτι ξένους τινὰς ἑαυτοῦ αἰχμαλώτους σκάπτοντας ἐν τῷ Φιλίππου ἀμπελουργείῳ καὶ δεδεμένους παρὰ πότον ἐξῃτήσατο παρὰ Φιλίππου, ταῦθʼ ὑποθεὶς ἐπεῖπεν ἐντεινάμενος ταύτην τὴν ὀξεῖαν καὶ ἀνόσιον φωνήν, ὡς δεινόν, εἰ ὁ μὲν τοὺς Καρίωνας καὶ Ξανθίας ὑποκρινόμενος οὕτως εὐγενὴς καὶ μεγαλόψυχος γένοιτο, ἐγὼ δʼ ὁ τῆς μεγίστης σύμβουλος πόλεως, ὁ τοὺς μυρίους Ἀρκάδων νουθετῶν, οὐ κατάσχοιμι τὴν ὓβριν, ἀλλὰ παραθερμανθείς, ὅθʼ ἡμᾶς εἱστία Ξενόδοκος τῶν ἑταίρων τις τῶν Φιλιππου, ἕλκοιμι τῶν τριχῶν καὶ λαβὼν ῥυτῆρα μαστιγοίην αἰχμάλωτον γυναῖκα.

[¶15] 158. If you had believed him, or Aristophanes had helped him out in his his against me, I should have been destroyed under shameful accusations. Will you therefore harbour longer in your midst guilt that is so fraught with doom to itself—God grant it be not to the city!—and will you, who purify your assembly, offer the prayers that are contained in your decrees on motion of this man, as you send your troops out by land or sea? You know the words of Hesiod:
“Ofttimes whole peoples suffer from one man”
“Whose deeds are sinful and whose purpose base.”

> Greek: 158. οὐκοῦν εἰ ὑμεῖς αὐτῷ ἐπιστεύσατε, ἢ Ἀριστοφάνης μου συγκατεψεύσατο, ἐπʼ αἰσχραῖς αἰτίαις ἀπωλόμην ἄν. ἐάσετε οὖν τὸ τοιοῦτον αὑτοῦ προστρόπαιον, μὴ γὰρ δὴ τῆς πόλεώς γε, ἐν ὑμῖν ἀναστρέφεσθαι; καὶ τὴν μὲν ἐκκλησίαν καθαίρετε, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ψηφίσμασι διὰ τούτου τὰς εὐχὰς ποιήσεσθε, καὶ στρατιὰν ἢ πεζὴν ἢ ναυτικὴν ἐκπέμψετε; καὶ μὴν ὅ γε Ἡσίοδος λέγει,
πολλάκι τοι ξύμπασα πόλις κακοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀπηύρα,
ὅς κεν ἀλιτραίνῃ καὶ ἀτάσθαλα μηχανάαται.

[¶16] 159. One thing more I wish to add to what I have said: if there is anywhere among mankind any form of wickedness in which I fail to show that Demosthenes is preeminent, let my death be your verdict. But I think many difficulties attend a defendant: his danger calls his mind away from his anger, to the search for such arguments as shall secure his safety, and it causes him earnest thought lest he overlook some one of the accusations which have been brought against him. I therefore invite you, and at the same time myself, to recall the accusations.

> Greek: 159. ἓν δὲ πρὸς τοῖς εἰρημένοις εἰπεῖν ἔτι βούλομαι. εἰ γάρ πού τις ἔστι κακία κατʼ ἀνθρώπους, ἂν μὴ πρωτεύοντα περὶ ταύτην ἀποδείξω Δημοσθένην, θανάτου τιμῶμαι. ἀλλʼ οἶμαι πολλὰ καὶ χαλεπὰ παρακολουθεῖ τῷ κρινομένῳ, καὶ μετακαλεῖ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ὀργῆς ὁ κίνδυνος ἐπὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς σωτηρίας λόγους, καὶ διαλογισμὸν παρίστησι, μή τι παραλίπῃ τῶν κατηγορημένων. ὥστε ἅμα μὲν ὑμᾶς, ἅμα δὲ ἐμαυτὸν εἰς ἀνάμνησιν τῶν κατηγορημένων ἀγαγεῖν βούλομαι.

[¶17] 160. Consider, then, one by one, fellow citizens, the possible grounds for my prosecution: what decree have I proposed, what law have I repealed, what law have I kept from being passed, what covenant have I made in the name of the city, what vote as to the peace have I annulled, what have I added to the terms of peace that you did not vote?

> Greek: 160. σκοπεῖτε γὰρ δὴ καθʼ ἕκαστον, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ποῖον ἐγὼ ψήφισμα γράψας κρίνομαι, ἢ ποῖον νόμον λύσας, ἢ ποῖον γενέσθαι κωλύσας, ἢ τίνας ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως συνθήκας ποιησάμενος, ἢ τί τῶν δεδογμένων περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης ἀπαλείψας, ἢ τί τῶν μὴ δοξάντων ὑμῖν προσγράψας.

[¶18] 161. The peace failed to please some of our public men. Then ought they not to have opposed it at the time, instead of putting me on trial now? Certain men who were getting rich out of the war from your war-taxes and the revenues of the state, have now been stopped; for peace does not feed laziness. Shall those, then, who are not wronged, but are themselves wronging the city, punish the man who was sponsor for the peace, 1 and will you, who are benefited by it, leave in the lurch men who have proved themselves useful to the commonwealth?

> Greek: 161. οὐκ ἤρεσκέ τισι τῶν ῥητόρων ἡ εἰρήνη· ἔπειτα οὐ τότε ἀντιλέγειν αὐτοὺς ἐχρῆν, ἀλλὰ μὴ νῦν ἐμὲ κρίνειν; ἐπλούτουν τινὲς ἐκ τοῦ πολέμου, ἀπὸ τῶν ὑμετέρων εἰσφορῶν καὶ τῶν δημοσίων προσόδων, νῦν δὲ πέπαυνται· εἰρήνη γὰρ ἀργίαν οὐ τρέφει· ἔπειτα οἱ μὲν οὐκ ἀδικούμενοι, ἀλλʼ ἀδικοῦντες τὴν πόλιν, τιμωρήσονται τὸν προστάντα τῆς εἰρήνης, οἱ ὠφελούμενοι τοὺς χρησίμους εἰς τὰ κοινὰ γενομένους ἐγκαταλείψετε;

[¶19] 162. Yes, my accuser says, because I joined Philip in singing paeans when the cities of Phocis had been razed. What evidence could be sufficient to prove that charge? I was, indeed, invited to receive the ordinary courtesies, as were my colleagues in the embassy. Those who were invited and were present at the banquet, including the ambassadors from other Hellenic states, were not less than two hundred. And so it seems that among all these I was conspicuous, not by my silence, but by joining in the singing—for Demosthenes says so, who was not there himself, and presents no witness from among those who were.

> Greek: 162. συνῇδον γὰρ τοὺς παιᾶνας Φιλίππῳ, κατεσκαμμένων τῶν ἐν Φωκεῦσι πόλεων, ὥς φησιν ὁ κατήγορος. καὶ ποίῳ δύναιτʼ ἄν τις τεκμηρίῳ τοῦτο σαφῶς ἐπιδεῖξαι; ἐκλήθην μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ τὰ ξένια μετὰ τῶν συμπρέσβεων, ἦσαν δʼ οἱ κλητοὶ καὶ συνδειπνοῦντες σὺν ταῖς ἀπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων πρεσβείαις οὐκ ἐλάττους ἢ διακόσιοι. ἐν δὲ τούτοις ὡς ἔοικεν ἐγὼ διαφανὴς ἦν οὐχ ὑποσιγῶν, ἀλλὰ συνᾴδων, ὥς φησι Δημοσθένης, οὔτʼ αὐτὸς παρών, οὔτε τῶν ἐκεῖ παρόντων οὐδένα παρασχόμενος μάρτυρα.

[¶20] 163. Who would have noticed me, unless I was a sort of precentor and led the chorus? Therefore if I was silent, your charge is false; but if, with our fatherland safe and no harm done to my fellow citizens, I joined the other ambassadors in singing the paean when the god was being magnified and the Athenians in no wise dishonored, I was doing a pious act and no wrong, and I should justly be acquitted. Am I, forsooth, because of this to be considered as a man who knows no pity, but you a saint, you, the accuser of men who have shared your bread and cup?

> Greek: 163. καὶ τῷ δῆλος ἦ, εἰ μή γε ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς χοροῖς προῇδον; οὐκοῦν εἰ μὲν ἐσίγων, ψευδῆ μου κατηγορεῖς· εἰ δὲ ὀρθῆς ἡμῖν τῆς πατρίδος οὔσης, καὶ τῶν πολιτῶν κοινῇ μηδὲν ἀτυχούντων, συνῇδον μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων πρέσβεων τὸν παιᾶνα, ἡνίκα ὁ θεὸς μὲν ἐτιμᾶτο, Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ μηδὲν ἠδόξουν, εὐσέβουν, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἠδίκουν, καὶ δικαίως ἂν σῳζοίμην. ἔπειτα ἐγὼ μὲν διὰ ταῦτα ἀνηλεής τις εἰμὶ ἄνθρωπος, σὺ δὲ εὐσεβὴς ὁ τῶν ὁμοσπόνδων καὶ συσσίτων κατήγορος;

[¶21] 164. But you have also reproached me with inconsistency in my political action, in that I have served as ambassador to Philip, when I had previously been summoning the Greeks to oppose him. And yet, if you choose, you may bring this charge against the rest of the Athenian people as a body. You, gentlemen, once fought the Lacedaemonians, and then after their misfortune at Leuctra you aided the same people. You once restored Theban exiles to their country, and again you fought against them at Mantineia. You fought against Themison and the Eretrians, and again you saved them. And you have before now treated countless others of the Hellenes in the same way. For in order to attain the highest good the individual, and the state as well, is obliged to change front with changing circumstances.

> Greek: 164. ὠνείδισας δέ μοι καὶ πολιτείας ἐμπληξίαν, εἰ πεπρέσβευκα πρὸς Φίλιππον, πρότερον παρακαλῶν ἐπʼ ἐκεῖνον τοὺς Ἕλληνας. καίτοι ταύτην, εἰ βούλει, τὴν κατηγορίαν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ἀθηναίων δημοσίᾳ κατηγορήσεις. ἐπολεμεῖτε Λακεδαιμονίοις, καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐν Λεύκτροις συμφορὰν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἐβοηθεῖτε· κατηγάγετε εἰς τὴν πατρίδα φεύγοντας Θηβαίους, καὶ πάλιν τούτοις ἐμαχέσασθε ἐν Μαντινείᾳ· ἐπολεμήσατε Ἐρετριεῦσι καὶ Θεμίσωνι, καὶ πάλιν αὐτοὺς ἐσώσατε. καὶ μυρίοις ἄλλοις ἤδη τῶν Ἑλλήνων οὕτω κέχρησθε· τοῖς γὰρ καιροῖς συμπεριφέρεσθαι ἀνάγκη πρὸς τὸ κράτιστον καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τὴν πόλιν.

[¶22] 165. But what is the good counsellor to do? Is he not to give the state the counsel that is best in view of each present situation? And what shall the rascally accuser say? Is he not to conceal the occasion and condemn the act? And the born traitor—how shall we recognize him? Will he not imitate you, Demosthenes, in his treatment of those whom chance throws in his way and who have trusted him? Will he not take pay for writing speeches for them to deliver in the courts, and then reveal the contents of these speeches to their opponents? You wrote a speech for the banker Phormion and were paid for it: this speech you communicated to Apollodorus, who was bringing a capital charge against Phormion.

> Greek: 165. τὸν δὲ ἀγαθὸν σύμβουλον τί χρὴ ποιεῖν; οὐ τῇ πόλει πρὸς τὸ παρὸν τὰ βέλτιστα συμβουλεύειν; τὸν δὲ πονηρὸν κατήγορον τί; οὐ τοὺς καιροὺς ἀποκρυπτόμενον τῆς πράξεως κατηγορεῖν; τὸν δὲ ἐκ φύσεως προδότην πῶς χρὴ θεωρεῖν; ἆρά γε οὐχ ὡς σὺ τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι καὶ πιστεύσασι κέχρησαι, λόγους εἰς δικαστήρια γράφοντα μισθοῦ, τούτους ἐκφέρειν τοῖς ἀντιδίκοις; ἔγραψας λόγον Φορμίωνι τῷ τραπεζίτῃ χρήματα λαβών· τοῦτον ἐξήνεγκας Ἀπολλοδώρῳ τῷ περὶ τοῦ σώματος κρίνοντι Φορμίωνα.

[¶23] 166. You entered a happy home, that of Aristarchus the son of Moschus; you ruined it. You received three talents from Aristarchus in trust as he was on the point of going into exile; you cheated him out of the money that was to have aided him in his fight, and were not ashamed of the reputation to which you laid claim, that of being a wooer of the young man’s bodily charms—an absurd story, of course, for genuine love has no place for rascality. That conduct, and conduct like that, defines the traitor.

> Greek: 166. εἰσῆλθες εἰς εὐδαιμονοῦσαν οἰκίαν τὴν Ἀριστάρχου τοῦ Μόσχου· ταύτην ἀπώλεσας. Προὔλαβες τρία τάλαντα παρʼ Ἀριστάρχου προσεποιήσω, ζηλωτὴς εἶναι τῆς ἡλικίας τοῦ μειρακίου. οὐ γὰρ δὴ τῇ γε ἀληθείᾳ· οὐ γὰρ προσδέχεται δίκαιος ἔρως πονηρίαν. ταῦτʼ ἐστὶν ὁ προδότης καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια.

[¶24] 167. But he spoke, I believe, about service in the field, and named me “the fine soldier.” But I think, in view of my present peril rather than of his slander, I may without offence speak of these matters also. For where, or when, or to whom, shall I speak of them, if I led this day go by? As soon as I passed out of boyhood I became one of the frontier guards of this land for two years. As witnesses to this statement, I will call my fellow cadets and our officers.

> Greek: 167. ἐμνήσθη δέ που περὶ στρατείας, καὶ καλὸν στρατιώτην ἐμὲ ὠνόμασεν. ἐγὼ δὲ οὐχ ἕνεκα τῆς τούτου βλασφημίας, ἀλλὰ τοῦ παρόντος κινδύνου προνοούμενος, καὶ περὶ τούτων ἀνεπίφθονον λέγειν εἶναί μοι νομίζω· ποῦ γὰρ ἢ πότε αὐτῶν ἢ πρὸς τίνας, παραλιπὼν τήνδε τὴν ἡμέραν, μνησθήσομαι; ἐκ παίδων μὲν γὰρ ἀπαλλαγεὶς περίπολος τῆς χώρας ταύτης ἐγενόμην δύʼ ἔτη, καὶ τούτων ὑμῖν τοὺς συνεφήβους καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας ἡμῶν μάρτυρας παρέξομαι·

[¶25] 168. My first experience in the field was in what is called “division service,” when I was with the other men of my age and the mercenary troops of Alcibiades, who convoyed the provision train to Phleius. We fell into danger near the place known as the Nemean ravine, and I so fought as to win the praise of my officers. I also served on the other expeditions in succession, whether we were called out by age-groups or by divisions. I fought in the battle of Mantineia, not without honour to myself or credit to the city. I took part in the expeditions to Euboea, and at the battle of Tamynae as a member of the picked corps I so bore myself in danger that I received a wreath of honour then and there, and another at the hands of the people on my arrival home; for I brought the news of the Athenian victory, and Temenides, taxiarch of the tribe Pandionis, who was despatched with me from camp, told here how I had borne myself in the face of the danger that befell us.

> Greek: 168. πρώτην δʼ ἐξελθὼν στρατείαν τὴν ἐν τοῖς μέρεσι καλουμένην, καὶ συμπαραπέμπων μετὰ τῶν ἡλικιωτῶν καὶ τῶν Ἀλκιβιάδου ξένων τὴν εἰς Φλειοῦντα παραπομπήν, κινδύνου συμβάντος ἡμῖν περὶ τὴν Νεμεάδα καλουμένην χαράδραν, οὕτως ἠγωνισάμην, ὥστε ὑπὸ τῶν ἡγεμόνων ἐπαινεῖσθαι· καὶ τὰς ἄλλας τὰς ἐκ διαδοχῆς ἐξόδους τὰς ἐν τοῖς ἐπωνύμοις καὶ τοῖς μέρεσιν ἐξῆλθον, καὶ τὴν ἐν Μαντινείᾳ μάχην συνεμαχεσάμην οὐκ αἰσχρῶς οὐδʼ ἀναξίως τῆς πόλεως, καὶ τὰς εἰς Εὔβοιαν στρατείας ἐστρατευσάμην, καὶ τὴν ἐν Ταμύναις μάχην ἐν τοῖς ἐπιλέκτοις οὕτως ἐκινδύνευσα, ὥστε κἀκεῖ στεφανωθῆναι καὶ δεῦρο ἥκων πάλιν ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου, τήν τε νίκην τῆς πόλεως ἀπαγγείλας, καὶ Τεμενίδου τοῦ τῆς Πανδιονίδος ταξιάρχου καὶ συμπρεσβεύσαντος ἀπὸ στρατοπέδου μοι δευρὶ περὶ τὸν γενόμενον κίνδυνον οἷος ἦν ἀπαγγείλαντος.

[¶26] 170. But to prove that I am speaking the truth, please take this decree, and call Temenides and those who were my comrades in the expedition in the service of the city, and call Phocion, the general, not yet to plead for me, if it please the jury, but as a witness who cannot speak falsely without exposing himself to the libellous attacks of my prosecutor.

> Greek: 170. ὅτι δὲ ἀληθῆ λέγω, λαβέ μοι τοῦτο τὸ ψήφισμα, καὶ κάλει τὸν Τεμενίδην καὶ τοὺς συνεστρατευμένους μοι τὰς ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως στρατείας καὶ Φωκίωνα τὸν στρατηγόν, μήπω συνήγορον, ἂν τούτοις συνδοκῇ, ἀλλʼ ὑπεύθυνον τῷ συκοφάντῃ μάρτυρα, ἐὰν ψεύδηται.

[¶27] 171. Decree. Testimony Since, then, it was I who brought you the first news of the victory of the city and the success of your sons, I ask of you this as my first reward, the saving of my life. For I am not a hater of the democracy, as my accuser asserts, but a hater of wickedness; and I am not one who forbids your “imitating the forefathers” of Demosthenes —for he has none—but one who calls upon you to emulate those policies which are noble and salutary to the state. Those policies I will now review somewhat more specifically, beginning with early times.

> Greek: 171. Ψήφισμα. Μαρτυρίαι ἀγγείλας τοίνυν πρῶτος τὴν τῆς πόλεως νίκην ὑμῖν καὶ τὴν τῶν παίδων τῶν ὑμετέρων κατόρθωσιν, πρώτην ταύτην ὑμᾶς ἀπαιτῶ χάριν, τὴν τοῦ σώματος σωτηρίαν, οὐ μισόδημος ὤν, ὥς φησιν ὁ κατήγορος, ἀλλὰ μισοπόνηρος, οὐδὲ τοὺς Δημοσθένους ὑμᾶς οὐκ ἐῶν προγόνους μιμεῖσθαι, οὐ γὰρ εἰσίν, ἀλλὰ τῶν καλῶν καὶ τῇ πόλει σωτηρίων βουλευμάτων ζηλωτὰς εἶναι παρακαλῶν. νῦν δʼ αὐτὰ πόρρωθεν ἀρξάμενος μικρῷ δίειμι σαφέστερον.

[¶28] 172. In former days, after the battle of Salamis, our city stood in high repute, and although our walls had been thrown down by the barbarians, yet so long as we had peace with the Lacedaemonians we preserved our democratic form of government. But when certain men had stirred up trouble and finally caused us to become involved in war with the Lacedaemonians, then, after we had suffered and inflicted many losses, Miltiades, the son of Cimon, who was proxenus of the Lacedaemonians, negotiated with them, and we made a truce for fifty years, and kept it thirteen years.

> Greek: 172. πρότερον ἡ πόλις ἡμῶν εὐδόξησε μετὰ τὴν ἐν Σαλαμῖνι ναυμαχίαν, καὶ τῶν τειχῶν ὑπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων πεπτωκότων, εἰρήνης δʼ ὑπαρχούσης πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους, διέμεινεν ἡμῖν τὸ τῆς δημοκρατίας πολίτευμα. συνταραχθέντες δὲ ὑπό τινων, καὶ καταστάντες πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους εἰς πόλεμον, πολλὰ καὶ παθόντες κακὰ καὶ ποιήσαντες, Μιλτιάδου τοῦ Κίμωνος προκηρυκευσαμένου πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους, ὄντος προξένου, σπονδὰς πεντηκονταετεῖς ἐποιησάμεθα, ἐχρησάμεθα δὲ ἔτη τριακαίδεκα.

[¶29] 173. During this period we fortified the Peiraeus and built the north wall; we added one hundred new triremes to our fleet; we also equipped three hundred cavalrymen and bought three hundred Scythians; and we held the democratic constitution unshaken. But meanwhile men who were neither free by birth nor of fit character had intruded into our body politic, and finally we became involved in war again with the Lacedaemonians, this time because of the Aeginetans.

> Greek: 173. ἐν δὲ τούτῳ τῷ χρόνῳ ἐτειχίσαμεν μὲν τὸν Πειραιᾶ καὶ τὸ βόρειον τεῖχος ᾠκοδομήσαμεν, ἑκατὸν δὲ τριήρεις πρὸς ταῖς ὑπαρχούσαις ἐναυπηγησάμεθα, τριακοσίους δʼ ἱππέας προσκατεσκευασάμεθα, καὶ τριακοσίους Σκύθας ἐπριάμεθα, καὶ τὴν δημοκρατίαν βεβαίως εἴχομεν. Παρεμπεσόντων δʼ εἰς τὴν πολιτείαν ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐλευθέρων ἀνθρώπων καὶ τοῖς τρόποις οὐ μετρίων, πάλιν πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους διʼ Αἰγινήτας εἰς πόλεμον κατέστημεν, κἀνταῦθα οὐκ ὀλίγα βλαβέντες, τῆς μὲν εἰρήνης ἐπεθυμήσαμεν, Ἀνδοκίδην δʼ ἐκπέμψαντες πρὸς τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ τοὺς συμπρέσβεις, εἰρήνην ἔτη τριάκοντα ἠγάγομεν, ἣ τὸν δῆμον ὑψηλὸν ἦρεν·

[¶30] 174. In this war we received no small injury, and became desirous of peace. We therefore sent Andocides and other ambassadors to the Lacedaemonians and negotiated a peace, which we kept for thirty years. This peace brought the democracy to the height of its prosperity. For we deposited on the Acropolis a thousand talents of coined money we built one hundred additional triremes, and constructed dockyards; we formed a corps of twelve hundred cavalry and a new force of as many bowmen, and the southern long wall was built; and no man undertook to overthrow the democratic constitution.

> Greek: 174. χίλια μὲν γὰρ τάλαντα ἀνηνέγκαμεν νομίσματος εἰς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν, ἑκατὸν δὲ τριήρεις ἑτέρας ἐναυπηγησάμεθα καὶ νεωσοίκους ᾠκοδομήσαμεν, χιλίους δὲ καὶ διακοσίους ἱππέας κατεστήσαμεν καὶ τοξότας ἑτέρους τοσούτους, καὶ τὸ μακρὸν τεῖχος τὸ νότιον ἐτειχίσθη, καὶ τὸν δῆμον οὐδεὶς ἐνεχείρησε καταλῦσαι.

[¶31] 175. But again we were persuaded to go to war, now because of the Megarians. Having given up our land to be ravaged, and suffering great privations, we longed for peace, and finally concluded it through Nicias, the son of Niceratus. In the period that followed we again deposited treasure in the Acropolis, seven thousand talents, thanks to this peace, and we acquired triremes, seaworthy and fully equipped, no fewer than three hundred in number; a yearly tribute of more than twelve hundred talents came in to us; we held the Chersonese, Naxos, and Euboea, and in these years we sent out a host of colonies.

> Greek: 175. πάλιν δὲ εἰς πόλεμον διὰ Μεγαρέας πεισθέντες καταστῆναι, καὶ τὴν χώραν τμηθῆναι προέμενοι καὶ πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν στερηθέντες, εἰρήνης ἐδεήθημεν, καὶ ἐποιησάμεθα διὰ Νικίου τοῦ Νικηράτου. καὶ πάλιν ἐν τῷ χρόνῳ τούτῳ ἑπτακισχίλια τάλαντα ἀνηνέγκαμεν εἰς τὴν ἀκρόπολιν διὰ τὴν εἰρήνην ταύτην, τριήρεις δʼ ἐκτησάμεθα πλωίμους καὶ ἐντελεῖς οὐκ ἐλάττους ἢ τριακοσίας, φόρος δʼ ἡμῖν κατʼ ἐνιαυτὸν προσῄει πλέον ἢ χίλια καὶ διακόσια τάλαντα, καὶ Χερρόνησον καὶ Νάξον καὶ Εὔβοιαν εἴχομεν, πλείστας δʼ ἀποικίας ἐν τοῖς χρόνοις τούτοις ἀπεστείλαμεν.

[¶32] 176. Though the blessings we were enjoying were so great, we again brought war against the Lacedaemonians, persuaded by the Argives; and at last, in consequence of the eagerness of our public men for war, we sank so low as to see a Spartan garrison in our city, and the Four Hundred, and the impious Thirty; and it was not the making of peace that caused this, but we were forced by orders laid upon us. But when again a moderate government had been established, and the exiled democracy had come back from Phyle, with Archinus and Thrasybulus as the leaders of the popular party, we took the solemn oath with one another “to forgive and forget” an act which, in the judgment of all men, won for our state the reputation of the highest wisdom. The democracy then took on new life and vigour. But now men who have been illegally registered as citizens, constantly attaching to themselves what ever element in the city is corrupt, and following a policy of war after war, in peace ever prophesying danger, and so working on ambitious and over excitable minds, yet when war comes never touching arms themselves, but getting into office as auditors and naval commissioners—men whose mistresses are the mothers of their offspring, and whose slanderous tongues ought to disfranchise them—these men are bringing the state into extreme peril, fostering the name of democracy, not by their character, but by their flatteries, trying to put an end to the peace, wherein lies the safety of the democracy, and in every way fomenting war, the destroyer of popular government.

> Greek: 176. καὶ τοσαῦτʼ ἔχοντες τἀγαθά, πάλιν πόλεμον πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους ἐξηνέγκαμεν πεισθέντες ὑπʼ Ἀργείων, καὶ τελευτῶντες ἐκ τῆς τῶν ῥητόρων ἁψιμαχίας εἰς φρουρὰν τῆς πόλεως καὶ τοὺς τετρακοσίους καὶ τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς τριάκοντα ἐνεπέσομεν, οὐκ εἰρήνην ποιησάμενοι, ἀλλʼ ἐκ προσταγμάτων ἠναγκασμένοι. πάλιν δὲ σωφρόνως πολιτευθέντες, καὶ τοῦ δήμου κατελθόντος ἀπὸ Φυλῆς, Ἀρχίνου καὶ Θρασυβούλου προστάντων τοῦ δήμου, καὶ τὸ μὴ μνησικακεῖν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἔνορκον ἡμῖν καταστησάντων, ὅθεν σοφωτάτην ἅπαντες τὴν πόλιν ἡγήσαντο εἶναι, κἀνταῦθα ἀναφύντος τοῦ δήμου καὶ πάλιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἰσχύσαντος, ἄνθρωποι παρέγγραπτοι γεγενημένοι πολῖται, καὶ τὸ νοσοῦν τῆς πόλεως ἀεὶ προσαγόμενοι, καὶ πόλεμον ἐκ πολέμου πολιτευόμενοι, ἐν μὲν εἰρήνῃ τὰ δεινὰ τῷ λόγῳ προορώμενοι, καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς τὰς φιλοτίμους καὶ λίαν ὀξείας ἐρεθίζοντες, ἐν δὲ τοῖς πολέμοις ὅπλων οὐχ ἁπτόμενοι, ἐξετασταὶ δὲ καὶ ἀποστολεῖς γιγνόμενοι, παιδοποιούμενοι δὲ ἐξ ἑταιρῶν, ἄτιμοι δʼ ἐκ συκοφαντίας, εἰς τοὺς ἐσχάτους κινδύνους τὴν πόλιν καθιστᾶσι, τὸ μὲν τῆς δημοκρατίας ὄνομα οὐ τοῖς ἤθεσιν, ἀλλὰ τῇ κολακείᾳ θεραπεύοντες, καταλύοντες δὲ τὴν εἰρήνην, ἐξ ἧς ἡ δημοκρατία σῴζεται, συναγωνιζόμενοι δὲ τοῖς πολέμοις, ἐξ ὧν ὁ δῆμος καταλύεται.

[¶33] 178. These are the men who now are making a concerted attack on me; they say that Philip bought the peace, that he overreached us at every point in the articles of agreement, and that the peace which he contrived for his own interests, he himself has violated. And they put me on trial, not as an ambassador, but as a surety for Philip and the peace; the man who had nothing but words under his control they call to account for deeds—deeds that existed only in their own imagination. And the very man whom I exhibit to you as my eulogist in the public decrees, I have found as my accuser in the court-room. And although I was but one of ten ambassadors, I alone am made to give account.

> Greek: 178. οὗτοι νῦν ἐπʼ ἐμὲ συστραφέντες ἥκουσι, καὶ φασὶ μὲν τὸν Φίλιππον τὴν εἰρήνην πρίασθαι, καὶ προλαβεῖν ἡμῶν ἐν ταῖς συνθήκαις ἅπαντα, ἣν δʼ αὐτὸς εὗρεν εἰρήνην αὑτῷ συμφέρουσαν, ταύτην παραβεβηκέναι. ἐμὲ δʼ οὐχ ὡς πρεσβευτὴν κρίνουσιν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐγγυητὴν Φιλίππου καὶ τῆς εἰρήνης· καὶ τὸν τῶν λόγων κύριον τὰς τῶν ἔργων προσδοκίας ἀπαιτοῦσι. τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ ἐν μὲν τοῖς ψηφίσμασιν ἐπαινέτην ἐπιδείκνυμι, ἐν δὲ τῷ δικαστηρίῳ κατηγόρῳ κέχρημαι. δέκατος δʼ αὐτὸς πρεσβεύσας, μόνος τὰς εὐθύνας δίδωμι.

[¶34] 179. To plead with you in my behalf are present my father, whom I beg of you not to rob of the hopes of his old age; my brothers, who would have no desire for life if I should be torn from them; my connections by marriage; and these little children, who do not yet realize their danger, but are to be pitied if disaster fall on us. For them I beg and beseech you to take earnest thought, and not to give them over into the hands of our enemies, or of a creature who is no man—no better in spirit than a woman.

> Greek: 179. κἀμοὶ συνδεησόμενοι πάρεισιν ὑμῶν πατὴρ μέν, οὗ τὰς τοῦ γήρως ἐλπίδας μὴ ἀφέλησθε, ἀδελφοὶ δέ, οἳ διαζυγέντες ἐμοῦ ζῆν οὐκ ἂν προέλοιντο, κηδεσταὶ δὲ καὶ ταυτὶ τὰ μικρὰ παιδία καὶ τοὺς μὲν κινδύνους οὔπω συνιέντα, ἐλεινὰ δέ, εἴ τι συμβήσεται ἡμῖν παθεῖν. ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐγὼ δέομαι καὶ ἱκετεύω πολλὴν πρόνοιαν ποιήσασθαι, καὶ μὴ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς αὐτοὺς μηδʼ ἀνάνδρῳ καὶ γυναικείῳ τὴν ὀργὴν ἀνθρώπῳ παραδοῦναι.

[¶35] 180. And first of all I pray and beseech the gods to save me, and then I beseech you, who hold the verdict in your hands, before whom I have defended myself against every one of the accusations, to the best of my recollection; I beg you to save me, and not give me over to the hands of the rhetorician and the Scythian. You who are fathers of children or have younger brother’s whom you hold dear, remember that to me they are indebted for a warning which they will not forget, admonished to live chastely through my prosecution of Timarchus.

> Greek: 180. παρακαλῶ δὲ καὶ ἱκετεύω σῶαί με πρῶτον μὲν τοὺς θεούς, δεύτερον δʼ ὑμᾶς τοὺς τῆς ψήφου κυρίους, οἷς ἐγὼ πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν κατηγορημένων εἰς μνήμην εἶναι τὴν ἐμὴν ἀπολελόγημαι, καὶ δέομαι σῶσαί με καὶ μὴ τῷ λογογράφῳ καὶ Σκύθῃ παραδοῦναι, ὅσοι μὲν ὑμῶν πατέρες εἰσὶ παίδων ἢ νεωτέρους ἀδελφοὺς περὶ πολλοῦ ποιεῖσθε, ἀναμνησθέντες, ὅτι τὴν τῆς σωφροσύνης παράκλησιν διὰ τῆς περὶ Τίμαρχον κρίσεως ἀειμνήστως παρακέκληκα, τοὺς δʼ ἄλλους ἅπαντας, οἷς ἐμαυτὸν ἄλυπον παρέσχημαι, τὴν μὲν τύχην ἰδιώτης ὢν καὶ τοῖς μετρίοις ὑμῶν ὅμοιος, ἐν δὲ τοῖς πολιτικοῖς ἀγῶσι μόνος τῶν ἄλλων ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς οὐ συνεστηκώς, αἰτῶ παρʼ ὑμῶν τὴν σωτηρίαν, μετὰ πάσης εὐνοίας τῇ πόλει πεπρεσβευκώς, καὶ μόνος ὑπομείνας τὸν τῶν συκοφαντῶν θόρυβον, ὃν ἤδη πολλοὶ τῶν τὰς ψυχὰς ἐν τοῖς πολέμοις λαμπρῶν οὐχ ὑπέστησαν.

[¶36] 181. And all the rest of you, toward whom I have conducted myself without offence, in fortune a plain citizen, a decent man like any one of you, and the only man who in the strife of politics has refused to join in conspiracy against you, upon you I call to save me. With all loyalty I have served the city as her ambassador, alone subjected to the clamour of the slanderers, which before now many a man conspicuously brave in war has not had the courage to face; for it is not death that men dread, but a dishonoured end. Is he not indeed to be pitied who must look into the sneering face of an enemy, and hear with his ears his insults? But nevertheless I have taken the risk, I have exposed my body to the peril. Among you I grew up, your ways have been my ways. No home of yours is the worse for my pleasures; no man has been deprived of his fatherland by accusation of mine at any revision of the citizen-lists, nor has come into peril when rendering account of his administration of an office.

> Greek: 181. οὐ γὰρ ὁ θάνατος δεινόν, ἀλλʼ ἡ περὶ τὴν τελευτὴν ὕβρις. πῶς δὲ οὐκ οἰκτρὸν ἰδεῖν ἐχθροῦ πρόσωπον ἐπεγγελῶντος, καὶ τοῖς ὠσὶ τῶν ὀνειδῶν ἀκοῦσαι; ἀλλʼ ὅμως τετόλμηται· δέδοται τὸ σῶμα τῷ κινδύνῳ. παρʼ ὑμῖν ἐτράφην, ἐν ταῖς ὑμετέραις διατριβαῖς βεβίωκα. οὐδεὶς ὑμῶν διὰ τὰς ἐμὰς ἡδονὰς κάκιον οἰκεῖ, οὐδὲ ἐστέρηται τῆς πατρίδος κατηγόρου τυχών, ὅτʼ ἦσαν αἱ διαψηφίσεις, οὐδʼ ὑπεύθυνος ὢν ἀρχῆς ἐκινδύνευσεν.

[¶37] 183. A word more and I have done. One thing was in my power, fellow citizens: to do you no wrong. But to be free from accusation, that was a thing which depended upon fortune, and fortune cast my lot with a slanderer, a barbarian, who cared not for sacrifices nor libations nor the breaking of bread together; nay, to frighten all who in time to come might oppose him, he has fabricated a false charge against us and come in here. If, therefore, you are willing to save those who have laboured together with you for peace and for your security, the common good will find champions in abundance, ready to face danger in your behalf.

> Greek: 183. μικρὰ δʼ ἔτι εἰπὼν ἤδη καταβαίνω. ἐγὼ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοῦ μὲν μηδὲν ἀδικεῖν ὑμᾶς κύριος ἦν, τοῦ δὲ μὴ ἔχειν αἰτίαν ἡ τύχη, ἣ συνεκλήρωσέ με ἀνθρώπῳ συκοφάντῃ καὶ βαρβάρῳ, ὃς οὔτε ἱερῶν οὔτε σπονδῶν οὔτε τραπέζης φροντίσας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς εἰς τὸν μέλλοντα αὑτῷ χρόνον ἀντεροῦντας ἐκφοβῶν, ἥκει ψευδῆ συντάξας καθʼ ἡμῶν κατηγορίαν. ἐὰν οὖν ἐθελήσητε σῴζειν τοὺς τῆς εἰρήνης καὶ τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀδείας συναγωνιστάς, πολλοὺς βοηθοὺς λήψεται τὸ τῆς πόλεως συμφέρον καὶ κινδυνεύειν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἑτοίμους.

[¶38] 184. To endorse my plea I now call Eubulus as a representative of the statesmen and all honourable citizens, and Phocion as a representative of the generals, preeminent also among us all as a man of upright character. From among my friends and associates I call Nausicles, and all the others with whom I have associated and whose pursuits I have shared. My speech is finished. This my body I, and the law, now commit to your hands.

> Greek: 184. παρακαλῶ δὲ Εὔβουλον μὲν ἐκ τῶν πολιτικῶν καὶ σωφρόνων ἀνδρῶν συνήγορον, Φοκίωνα δʼ ἐκ τῶν στρατηγῶν, ἅμα δὲ καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ διενηνοχότα πάντων, ἐκ δὲ τῶν φίλων καὶ τῶν ἡλικιωτῶν τῶν ἐμαυτοῦ Ναυσικλέα καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας, οἷστισιν ἐγὼ κέχρημαι καὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων μετέσχηκα. ὁ μὲν οὖν ἐμὸς λόγος εἴρηται, τὸ δὲ σῶμα ἤδη τουτὶ παραδίδωσιν ὑμῖν καὶ ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ νόμος.