---
title: "Letters · Δημοσθένους ἐπιστολαὶ"
author: "Demosthenes"
translator: "Norman W. DeWitt"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-letters/
cite: "Demosthenes, tr. Norman W. DeWitt, Letters · Δημοσθένους ἐπιστολαὶ. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-letters/"
---

# Letters · Δημοσθένους ἐπιστολαὶ

*Demosthenes, tr. Norman W. DeWitt*

Six letters, most from exile, to the Athenians and to friends.

> Greek: ed. William Rennie, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0014.tlg063, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Norman W. DeWitt, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0014.tlg063.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

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

## Contents

1. [Letters 1–3](https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-letters/1.md)
2. [Letters 3–6](https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-letters/2.md)

## 1. Letters 1–3

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-letters/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-letters/1/#p-N

[¶0] 1.1. For one who is about to take any serious step, whether in speech or action, I assume that the proper course is to take his beginning from the gods. Accordingly I entreat all the gods and goddesses that what is best for the democracy of the Athenians and for those who bear goodwill toward the democracy, both now and for time to come, I may myself be moved to write and the members of the Assembly to adopt. With this prayer, having hopes of good inspiration from the gods, I address this message.

> Greek: 1.1. παντὸς ἀρχομένῳ σπουδαίου καὶ λόγου καὶ ἔργου ἀπὸ τῶν θεῶν ὑπολαμβάνω προσήκειν πρῶτον ἄρχεσθαι. εὔχομαι δὴ τοῖς θεοῖς πᾶσι καὶ πάσαις, ὅ τι τῷ δήμῳ τῷ Ἀθηναίων ἄριστόν ἐστι καὶ τοῖς εὐνοοῦσι τῷ δήμῳ καὶ νῦν καὶ εἰς τὸν ἔπειτα χρόνον, τοῦτʼ ἐμοὶ μὲν ἐπὶ νοῦν ἐλθεῖν γράψαι, τοῖς δʼ ἐκκλησιάσασιν Ἀθηναίων ἑλέσθαι. εὐξάμενος δὲ ταῦτα, τῆς ἀγαθῆς ἐπινοίας ἐλπίδʼ ἔχων παρὰ τῶν θεῶν, τάδʼ ἐπιστέλλω.

[¶1] 1.2. Demosthenes to the Council and the Assembly sends greeting. Concerning the question of my return to my native land I always bear in mind that it will be for you as a body to decide; consequently I am writing nothing about it at the present moment. Observing, however, that the present occasion, if you but choose the right course, is capable of securing for you at one stroke glory and safety and freedom, not for yourselves alone but for all the rest of the Greeks as well, but that, if you act in ignorance or be led astray, it would not be easy to secure the same opportunity again, I thought I ought to place before the public the state of my opinion on these questions.

> Greek: 1.2. Δημοσθένης τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ χαίρειν. περὶ μὲν τῆς ἐμῆς οἴκαδʼ ἀφίξεως ἀεὶ νομίζω πᾶσιν ὑμῖν ἔσεσθαι βουλεύσασθαι, διόπερ νῦν οὐδὲν περὶ αὐτῆς γέγραφα· τὸν δὲ παρόντα καιρὸν ὁρῶν ἑλομένων μὲν ὑμῶν τὰ δέοντα ἅμα δόξαν καὶ σωτηρίαν καὶ ἐλευθερίαν δυνάμενον κτήσασθαι οὐ μόνον ὑμῖν ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασιν Ἕλλησιν, ἀγνοησάντων δʼ ἢ παρακρουσθέντων οὐ ῥᾴδιον αὖθις τὸν αὐτὸν ἀναλαβεῖν, ᾠήθην χρῆναι τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ γνώμην ὡς ἔχω περὶ τούτων εἰς μέσον θεῖναι.

[¶2] 1.3. It is a difficult thing, I know, for advice conveyed by letter to hold its ground, because you Athenians have a way of opposing many suggestions without waiting to understand them. In the case of a speaker, of course, it is possible to perceive what you want and easy to correct your misapprehensions; but the written page possesses no such aid against those who raise a clamor. In spite of this fact, if you will but consent to listen in silence and have the patience to learn all that I have to say, I think that,—to speak in the hope of divine favour—brief though the writing is, I shall myself be found to be doing my duty by you with all goodwill and that I shall demonstrate clearly where your interests lie.

> Greek: 1.3. ἔστι μὲν οὖν ἔργον ἐξ ἐπιστολῆς ἐμμεῖναι συμβουλῇ· πολλοῖς γὰρ εἰώθατʼ ἀπαντᾶν ὑμεῖς πρὸ τοῦ περιμεῖναι μαθεῖν. λέγοντι μὲν οὖν ἔστιν αἰσθέσθαι τί βούλεσθε καὶ διορθώσασθαι τἀγνοούμενα ῥᾴδιον· τὸ δὲ βιβλίον οὐδεμίαν ἔχει βοήθειαν τοιαύτην πρὸς τοὺς θορυβοῦντας. οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ἐὰν ἐθελήσητʼ ἀκοῦσαι σιγῇ καὶ περιμείνητε πάντα μαθεῖν, οἴομαι, ὡς σὺν θεοῖς εἰρῆσθαι, καίπερ βραχέων τῶν γεγραμμένων ὄντων, αὐτός τε φανήσεσθαι μετὰ πάσης εὐνοίας τὰ δέονθʼ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν πράττων καὶ τὰ συμφέρονθʼ ὑμῖν ἐμφανῆ δείξειν.

[¶3] 1.4. Not as supposing you were running short of speakers, or of those, either, who will say glibly and without real thought what happens to occur to them, did I decide to send the letter; but I desired, after putting plainly before those who like to make speeches all that I happen to know through experience and long association with public business, first, to furnish them with ample means of arriving at what I deem to be your interests, and second, to render easy for the people the choice of the best procedures. Such, then, were the considerations that prompted me to write the letter.

> Greek: 1.4. οὐχ ὡς ἀπορούντων δʼ ὑμῶν ῥητόρων, οὐδὲ τῶν ἄνευ λογισμοῦ ῥᾳδίως ὅ τι ἂν τύχωσιν ἐρούντων, ἔδοξέ μοι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν πέμπειν· ἀλλʼ ὅσα τυγχάνω διʼ ἐμπειρίαν καὶ τὸ παρηκολουθηκέναι τοῖς πράγμασιν εἰδώς, ταῦτʼ ἐβουλήθην τοῖς μὲν προαιρουμένοις λέγειν ἐμφανῆ ποιήσας ἀφθόνους ἀφορμὰς ὧν ὑπολαμβάνω συμφέρειν ὑμῖν δοῦναι, τοῖς δὲ πολλοῖς ῥᾳδίαν τὴν τῶν βελτίστων αἵρεσιν καταστῆσαι. ὧν μὲν οὖν ἕνεκʼ ἐπῆλθέ μοι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν γράφειν, ταῦτʼ ἐστίν.

[¶4] 1.5. First of all, men of Athens, it is necessary that you bring about harmony among yourselves for the common good of the State and drop all the contentions inherited from previous assemblies and, in the second place, that you all with one mind vigorously support your decisions, since the failure to follow either a uniform policy or to act consistently is not only unworthy of you and ignoble but, in addition, involves the greatest risks.

> Greek: 1.5. δεῖ δʼ ὑμᾶς, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, πρῶτον μὲν ἁπάντων πρὸς ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς ὁμόνοιαν εἰς τὸ κοινῇ συμφέρον τῇ πόλει παρασχέσθαι καὶ τὰς ἐκ τῶν προτέρων ἐκκλησιῶν ἀμφισβητήσεις ἐᾶσαι, δεύτερον δὲ πάντας ἐκ μιᾶς γνώμης τοῖς δόξασι προθύμως συναγωνίζεσθαι· ὡς τὸ μήθʼ ἓν μήθʼ ἁπλῶς πράττειν οὐ μόνον ἐστὶν ἀνάξιον ὑμῶν καὶ ἀγεννές, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς μεγίστους κινδύνους ἔχει.

[¶5] 1.6. Those things must not escape your attention either, which, though by themselves they are not sufficient to effect your purpose, yet when added to your military forces, will render all your aims much easier of accomplishment. To what, then, do I refer? Toward no city and toward none of the citizens in this or that city who have supported the existing order must you harbor any bitterness or bear a grudge.

> Greek: 1.6. δεῖ δὲ μηδὲ ταῦτα λαθεῖν ὑμᾶς, ἃ καθʼ αὑτὰ μὲν οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτάρκη κατασχεῖν πράγματα, προστεθέντα δὲ ταῖς δυνάμεσι πολλῷ πάντʼ εὐκατεργαστότερʼ ὑμῖν ποιήσει. τίνʼ οὖν ἐστιν ταῦτα; μήτε πόλει μηδεμιᾷ μήτε τῶν ⟨ἐν⟩ ἑκάστῃ τῶν πόλεων συνηγωνισμένων τοῖς καθεστηκόσι ⟨μηδενὶ⟩ μήτε πικραίνεσθαι μήτε μνησικακεῖν.

[¶6] 1.7. Because the fear of such animosity causes those who are conscious of guilt in their own hearts, because necessary to the existing order and facing a manifest danger, to be zealous supporters of it, but relieved of this fear they will all become more amenable, and this is of no slight usefulness. Now, to proclaim such intentions in the various cities would be foolish, or rather quite impossible, but in whatever spirit you shall be seen treating your own fellow-citizens, such will be the expectation you will create in the minds of each group concerning your feeling toward the rest also.

> Greek: 1.7. ὁ γὰρ τοιοῦτος φόβος τοὺς συνειδότας αὑτοῖς, ὡς ἀναγκαίοις τοῖς καθεστηκόσι καὶ κίνδυνον ἔχουσι πρόδηλον προθύμους συναγωνιστὰς ποιεῖ· ἀφεθέντες δὲ τοῦ δέους τούτου πάντες ἠπιώτεροι γενήσονται. τοῦτο δʼ οὐ μικρὰν ὠφέλειαν ἔχει. κατὰ μὲν δὴ πόλεις τὰ τοιαῦτʼ εὔηθες προλέγειν, μᾶλλον δʼ οὐδʼ ἐν δυνατῷ· ὡς δʼ ἂν ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς ὀφθῆτε χρώμενοι, τοιαύτην καὶ κατὰ τῶν ἄλλων προσδοκίαν παραστήσεθʼ ἑκάστοις.

[¶7] 1.8. Accordingly I say that in general you must not cast any blame or censure whatsoever upon any general or orator or private individual of the groups that are believed, at least previously, to have supported the existing order, but rather concede to all parties in the city that they have done their duty as public men, inasmuch as the gods, to whom be thanks, by saving the city have bestowed upon you the privilege of deciding afresh whatever you shall choose to do, and you must be of the opinion that, just as on board a ship, when some declare themselves for making good their escape by the sail and others by the oars, just as all proposals of both parties aim at salvation, so it is to meet a crisis created by the gods that the need has arisen.

> Greek: 1.8. φημὶ δὴ χρῆναι μήτε στρατηγῷ μήτε ῥήτορι μήτʼ ἰδιώτῃ μηδενὶ τῶν τὰ πρὸ τοῦ γε δοκούντων συνηγωνίσθαι τοῖς καθεστηκόσι μήτε μέμφεσθαι μήτʼ ἐπιτιμᾶν μηδένα μηδὲν ὅλως, ἀλλὰ συγχωρῆσαι πᾶσιν τοῖς ἐν τῇ πόλει πεπολιτεῦσθαι τὰ δέοντα, ἐπειδήπερ οἱ θεοί, καλῶς ποιοῦντες, σῴσαντες τὴν πόλιν ἀποδεδώκασιν ὑμῖν ὅ τι ἂν βούλησθʼ ἐξ ἀρχῆς βουλεύσασθαι, καὶ νομίζειν, ὥσπερ ἂν ἐν πλοίῳ τῶν μὲν ἱστίῳ, τῶν δὲ κώπαις ἀποφαινομένων κομίζεσθαι, λέγεσθαι μὲν ὑπʼ ἀμφοτέρων ἅπαντʼ ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ, γεγενῆσθαι δὲ τὴν χρείαν πρὸς τὰ συμβάντʼ ἀπὸ τῶν θεῶν.

[¶8] 1.9. If you shall have made up your minds to regard past events in this way, you will gain the confidence of all and play the part of good and honorable men; you will also further your own interests not a little and will cause your opponents in the various cities either to change their minds, all of them, or will cause only a certain very small number of them, the ringleaders themselves, to be left. Acquit yourselves, therefore, with magnanimity and statesmanship in the general interest of Greece and bear in mind your own interests as Athenians.

> Greek: 1.9. ἐὰν τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον περὶ τῶν παρεληλυθότων ἐγνωκότες ἦτε, καὶ πιστοὶ πᾶσι γενήσεσθε, καὶ καλῶν κἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν ἔργα πράξετε, καὶ τὰ πράγματʼ ὠφελήσετʼ οὐ μικρά, καὶ τοὺς ἐναντιωθέντας ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν ἢ μεταγνῶναι ποιήσετε πάντας ἢ κομιδῇ ὀλίγους τινὰς αὐτοὺς τοὺς αἰτίους καταλειφθῆναι. μεγαλοψύχως τοίνυν καὶ πολιτικῶς τὰ κοινῇ συμφέροντα πράττετε, καὶ τῶν ἰδίων ⟨μὴ⟩ μέμνησθε.

[¶9] 1.10. I urge you to this line of conduct, though I have not myself met with such generosity from certain persons but have been unjustly and in a spirit of faction tossed off for the gratification of others. I do not think, however, that I have the right while satisfying my private resentment to hurt the public interest, nor do I at all mix my private enmity with the general good. On the contrary, the conduct I urge upon the rest of men I think I ought to be myself the first to practise.

> Greek: 1.10. παρακαλῶ δʼ εἰς ταῦτʼ οὐ τυχὼν αὐτὸς τῆς τοιαύτης φιλανθρωπίας παρʼ ἐνίων, ἀλλʼ ἀδίκως καὶ στασιαστικῶς εἰς τὴν ἑτέρων χάριν προποθείς. ἀλλʼ οὔτε τὴν ἰδίαν ὀργὴν ἀποπληρῶν τὸ κοινῇ συμφέρον οἶμαι δεῖν βλάπτειν, οὔτε μείγνυμι τῆς ἰδίας ἔχθρας εἰς τὰ κοινῇ συμφέροντʼ οὐδέν, ἀλλʼ ἐφʼ ἃ τοὺς ἄλλους παρακαλῶ, ταῦτʼ αὐτὸς οἴομαι δεῖν πρῶτος ποιεῖν.

[¶10] 1.11. Now, the steps to be taken by way of preparation and the mistakes to be guarded against, and the measures by which one might, as human calculations go, most likely succeed, have been, for practical purposes, stated by me; but how to oversee our business from day to day and how to deal rightly with situations that arise unexpectedly, how to know the right moment for each action and to judge which of our objectives it is possible to attain through negotiation and which requires force in addition, these are the responsibility of the generals in charge.

> Greek: 1.11. αἱ μὲν οὖν παρασκευαὶ καὶ ἃ δεῖ φυλάξασθαι, καὶ ἃ πράττων τις ἂν κατʼ ἀνθρώπινον λογισμὸν μάλιστα κατορθοίη, σχεδὸν εἴρηταί μοι· τοῖς δὲ καθʼ ἡμέραν ἐπιστατῆσαι, καὶ τοῖς ἐκ τοῦ παραχρῆμα συμβαίνουσιν ὀρθῶς χρῆσθαι, καὶ γνῶναι τὸν ἑκάστου καιρόν, καὶ κρῖναι τί τῶν πραγμάτων ἐξ ὁμιλίας δυνατὸν προσαγαγέσθαι καὶ τί βίας προσδεῖται, τῶν ἐφεστηκότων [στρατηγῶν] ἔργον ἐστίν.

[¶11] 1.12. Therefore to give advice is to be in a very difficult position, because decisions that have been rightly taken and weighed with great care and pains are often spoiled through faulty execution on the part of those in authority.

> Greek: 1.12. διὸ καὶ χαλεπωτάτην τάξιν ἔχει τὸ συμβουλεύειν· τὰ γὰρ ὀρθῶς βουλευθέντα καὶ δοκιμασθέντα σὺν πολλῇ σπουδῇ καὶ πόνῳ πολλάκις τῷ τοὺς ἐπιστάντας ἄλλως χρήσασθαι διελυμάνθη.

[¶12] 1.13. Yet I hope that all will be well this time; for if any man has assumed that Alexander was fortunate because he always succeeded, let him reflect upon the fact that it was by doing and toiling and daring, not by sitting still, that he continued to be fortunate. Now, therefore, since Alexander is dead, Fortune is seeking some people with whom to co-operate, and you ought to become her choice.

> Greek: 1.13. νῦν μέντοι πάνθʼ ἕξειν καλῶς ἐλπίζω. καὶ γὰρ εἴ τις ὑπείληφεν εὐτυχῆ τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον τῷ πάντα κατορθοῦν, ἐκεῖνο λογισάσθω, ὅτι πράττων καὶ πονῶν καὶ τολμῶν, οὐχὶ καθήμενος ηὐτύχει. νῦν τοίνυν τεθνεῶτος ἐκείνου ζητεῖ τινας ἡ τύχη μεθʼ ὧν ἔσται.

[¶13] 1.14. As for your leaders, through whom your interests must necessarily be handled, place at the head of your forces men whose loyalty is the greatest available, and as for yourselves, let every man of you repeat to himself a solemn promise to perform whatever he in particular shall be able and shall elect to do. And see to it that he does not break this pledge or shirk his responsibility, saying that he was deceived or misled and overpersuaded, because you will never find others to make good the lack of those qualities in which you yourselves shall fall short; neither does it involve the same danger to change your minds often about matters wherein it will be in your power to do as you please as it does about matters over which war will arise; but in the case of the latter a change of mind means defeat of your purpose.

> Greek: 1.14. τούτους δʼ ὑμᾶς δεῖ γενέσθαι. τούς θʼ ἡγεμόνας, διʼ ὧν ἀνάγκη τὰ πράγματα πράττεσθαι, ὡς εὐνουστάτους ἐπὶ τὰς δυνάμεις ἐφίστατε· καὶ ὅ τι ποιεῖν αὐτὸς ἕκαστος ὑμῶν δυνήσεται καὶ βουλήσεται, τοῦτο πρὸς αὑτὸν εἰπάτω καὶ ὑποσχέσθω. καὶ τοῦθʼ ὅπως μὴ ψεύσεται, μηδʼ ἐξηπατῆσθαι μηδὲ πεισθῆναι παρακρουσθεὶς φήσας ἀναδύσεται.

[¶14] 1.15. So do nothing of this kind, but whatever you intend to execute honestly and promptly with your whole souls, vote for that, and once you have passed a decree, adopt as your leaders Zeus of Dodona and the rest of the gods, who have uttered in your interest many splendid, encouraging and true oracles, and summon them to your aid and after you have prayed to all of them for success with a vow of the fruits of victory, with good fortune attending you, proceed to liberate the Greeks.

> Greek: 1.15. ὡς τὴν ἔκδειαν ὧν ἂν ἐλλίπηθʼ ὑμεῖς, οὐχ εὑρήσετε τοὺς ἀναπληρώσοντας· οὐδὲ τὸν αὐτὸν ἔχει κίνδυνον, περὶ ὧν ἐφʼ ὑμῖν ἐστιν ὅπως ἂν βούλησθε πρᾶξαι μεταβουλεύεσθαι πολλάκις, καὶ περὶ ὧν ἂν ἐνστῇ πόλεμος· ἀλλʼ ἡ περὶ τούτων μετάγνωσις ἧττα τῆς προαιρέσεως γίγνεται. μὴ δὴ ποιήσητε τοιοῦτο μηδέν, ἀλλʼ ὅ τι πράξετε γενναίως καὶ ἑτοίμως ταῖς ψυχαῖς, τοῦτο χειροτονεῖτε, κἂν ἅπαξ ψηφίσησθε, τὸν Δία τὸν Δωδωναῖον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους θεούς, οἳ πολλὰς καὶ καλὰς κἀγαθὰς καὶ ἀληθεῖς ὑμῖν μαντείας ἀνῃρήκασιν, ἡγεμόνας ποιησάμενοι καὶ παρακαλέσαντες, καὶ κατὰ τῶν νικητηρίων ἅπασιν αὐτοῖς εὐξάμενοι, μετὰ τῆς ἀγαθῆς τύχης ἐλευθεροῦτε τοὺς Ἕλληνας.

[¶15] 1.16. Farewell.

> Greek: 1.16. εὐτυχεῖτε.

[¶16] 2.1. Demosthenes to the Council and the Assembly sends greeting I used to believe, because of my conduct in public life, that, as one who was guilty of no wrong toward you, I should not only never meet with such treatment as this but, even if I should have committed some slight offence, that I might meet with forgiveness. Since, however, it has turned out as it has, so long as I observed you, without any manifest proof or even a scrutiny of evidence on the part of the Council, condemning all the accused on the strength of the unrevealed information of that body, I chose to make the best of it, thinking that you were surrendering rights no less valuable than those of which I was being deprived. Because, for the jurors under oath to assent to whatever the Council should declare, without any proof having been cited, that was a surrender of a constitutional right.

> Greek: 2.1. Δημοσθένης τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δημῷ χαίρειν. ἐνόμιζον μὲν ἀφʼ ὧν ἐπολιτευόμην, οὐχ ὅπως μηδὲν ὑμᾶς ἀδικῶν τοιαῦτα πείσεσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ μέτριʼ ἐξαμαρτὼν συγγνώμης τεύξεσθαι. ἐπειδὴ δʼ οὕτως γέγονεν, ἕως μὲν ἑώρων ὑμᾶς, οὐδεμιᾶς ἀποδείξεως φανερᾶς οὐδʼ ἐλέγχου γιγνομένου παρὰ τῆς βουλῆς, πρὸς τὰ ταύτης ἀπόρρητα καταψηφιζομένους ἁπάντων, οὐδὲν ἐλαττόνων παραχωρεῖν ὑμᾶς ἡγούμενος ἢ ἐμαυτὸν ἀποστερεῖσθαι, στέργειν ᾑρούμην· τὸ γὰρ οἷς ἂν ἡ βουλὴ φήσῃ τοὺς ὀμωμοκότας δικαστὰς προστίθεσθαι μηδεμιᾶς ἀποδείξεως ῥηθείσης, τῆς πολιτείας παραχωρεῖν ἦν.

[¶17] 2.2. Since, however, you have happily become aware of the undue ascendancy. which certain members of the Council were contriving for themselves and since you are now deciding the cases in the light of the proofs and have found the secretiveness of these men deserving of censure, I think it is my right, with your consent, to enjoy the same acquittal as those who have incurred the like accusations, and not to be the only one to be deprived on a false charge of his fatherland, his property, and the company of those who are nearest and dearest to him.

> Greek: 2.2. ἐπειδὴ δὲ καλῶς ποιοῦντες ᾔσθησθε τὴν δυναστείαν ἥν τινες τῶν ἐν τῇ βουλῇ κατεσκευάζονθʼ ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἀποδείξεις τοὺς ἀγῶνας κρίνετε, τὰ δʼ ἀπόρρητα ⟨τὰ⟩ τούτων ἐπιτιμήσεως ἄξιʼ ηὑρήκατε, οἶμαι δεῖν, ἐὰν καὶ ὑμῖν βουλομένοις ᾖ, τῆς ὁμοίας τυχεῖν σωτηρίας τοῖς τῶν ὁμοίων αἰτιῶν τετυχηκόσιν, καὶ μὴ μόνος διʼ αἰτίαν ψευδῆ τῆς πατρίδος καὶ τῶν ὄντων καὶ τῆς τῶν οἰκειοτάτων συνηθείας ἀποστερηθῆναι.

[¶18] 2.3. And you would have good reason, men of Athens, to be concerned about my deliverance, not only for the reason that I have been outrageously treated, though guilty of doing you no wrong, but also for the sake of your good name abroad. For you must not imagine, just because no one reminds you of those times and occasions upon which I was of the greatest service to the city, that the rest of the Greeks are not aware of them or have forgotten what I have accomplished in your behalf. At the present moment I hesitate to write of these services in detail for two reasons; one reason is that I am afraid of jealousy, in the face of which it is useless to speak the truth; the second is this, that because of the cowardice of the rest of Greece we are now compelled to do many things that are below the standard of those services of mine.

> Greek: 2.3. εἰκότως δʼ ἂν ὑμῖν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, μέλοι τῆς ἐμῆς σωτηρίας οὐ μόνον κατὰ τοῦθʼ ὅτι οὐδὲν ὑμᾶς ἀδικῶν δεινὰ πέπονθα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις ἕνεκʼ εὐδοξίας. μὴ γάρ, εἰ μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς ἀναμιμνῄσκει τοὺς χρόνους μηδὲ τοὺς καιροὺς ἐν οἷς τὰ μέγιστʼ ἐγὼ χρήσιμος ἦν τῇ πόλει, τοὺς ἄλλους Ἕλληνας ἀγνοεῖν νομίζετε, μηδʼ ἐπιλελῆσθαι τῶν ἐμοὶ πεπραγμένων ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, ἃ ἐγὼ δυοῖν ἕνεκα νῦν ὀκνῶ γράφειν καθʼ ἕκαστον, ἑνὸς μέν, τὸν φθόνον δεδιώς, πρὸς ὃν οὐδέν ἐστιν προὔργου τἀληθῆ λέγειν, ἑτέρου δέ, ὅτι πολλὰ καὶ ἀνάξιʼ ἐκείνων διὰ τὴν τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων κακίαν νῦν πράττειν ἀναγκαζόμεθα.

[¶19] 2.5. In brief, however, the record upon which I passed scrutiny as your servant was of such a kind as to make you envied by all because of it and myself confident in the greatest rewards from you. And when Fortune, as irresistible as she was unkind, decided as she pleased, and not according to justice, the struggle for the liberty of Greece in which you engaged, not even in the times that followed did I retreat from my loyalty toward you, nor did I bargain for anything in place of it, no man’s favour, no hopes of preferment, nor wealth, nor power, nor personal safety.

> Greek: 2.5. ἐν κεφαλαίῳ δὲ τοιαῦτʼ ἐστὶν ἐφʼ οἷς ἐξηταζόμην ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐγώ, ὥσθʼ ὑμᾶς μὲν ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς ὑπὸ πάντων ζηλοῦσθαι, ἐμοὶ δʼ ἐλπίδα τῶν μεγίστων δωρεῶν προσδοκᾶσθαι παρʼ ὑμῶν. τῆς δʼ ἀναγκαίας μέν, ἀγνώμονος δὲ τύχης οὐχ ὡς δίκαιον ἦν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐβούλετο, κρινάσης τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐλευθερίας ἀγῶνα, ὃν ὑμεῖς ἠγωνίσασθε, οὐδʼ ἐν τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα χρόνοις ἀπέστην τῆς εἰς ὑμᾶς εὐνοίας, οὐδʼ ἀντηλλαξάμην ἀντὶ ταύτης οὐδέν, οὐ χάριν, οὐκ ἐλπίδας, οὐ πλοῦτον, οὐ δυναστείαν, οὐκ ἀσφάλειαν.

[¶20] 2.6. Yet I observed that all these prizes were accruing to those who chose to play the game of politics to your detriment.

> Greek: 2.6. καίτοι πάντα ταῦθʼ ἑώρων ὑπάρχοντα τοῖς καθʼ ὑμῶν βουλομένοις πολιτεύεσθαι.

[¶21] 2.7. Now one fact which is especially significant—although there are many significant facts which, it occurs to me, would justify me in speaking frankly—I shall not refrain from writing to you: although of men who are mentioned in history in all time, Philip had the most uncanny ability of all, whether through personal contact to persuade men to pay heed to his wishes or to corrupt with bribes the notable men in every one of the Greek cities, I was the only man who did not fall a victim to either of these methods, a fact that brings to you also cause for pride, and although I met Philip often and parleyed with him on those matters on which you sent me as envoy, yet I kept my hands off the substantial sums he offered me, as many men are aware who still live.

> Greek: 2.7. ὃ δέ, πολλῶν ὄντων καὶ μεγάλων ἐφʼ οἷς εἰκότως ἐπέρχεταί μοι παρρησιάζεσθαι, μέγιστον ἡγοῦμαι, οὐκ ὀκνήσω γράψαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ὅτι ἐν ἅπαντι τῷ αἰῶνι τῶν μνημονευομένων ἀνθρώπων δεινοτάτου γεγενημένου Φιλίππου καὶ διʼ ὁμιλίας πεῖσαι προσέχειν αὑτῷ τὸν νοῦν ὡς βούλοιτο, καὶ διαφθεῖραι χρήμασι τοὺς ἐν ἑκάστῃ τῶν Ἑλληνίδων πόλεων γνωρίμους, ἐγὼ μόνος οὐδετέρου τούτων ἡττήθην, ὃ κοινὴν ὑμῖν φιλοτιμίαν φέρει, πολλὰ μὲν ἐντυχὼν Φιλίππῳ καὶ διαλεχθεὶς ἐφʼ οἷς ὑμεῖς ἐπέμπετε πρεσβεύοντά με, πολλῶν δʼ ἀποσχόμενος χρημάτων διδόντος ἐκείνου, ἃ τῶν συνειδότων ἔτι πολλοὶ ζῶσιν.

[¶22] 2.8. Just ponder what opinion these men may reasonably entertain of you, for to have dealt this treatment to such a man, while for myself I am sure it would seem a misfortune, though no conviction of vice, yet on your part it would seem defiance of justice. I beg of you to change your verdict and cancel this imputation.

> Greek: 2.8. οὓς τίνα γνώμην ἔχειν περὶ ὑμῶν εἰκός, λογίσασθε· τὸ γὰρ τῷ τοιούτῳ τοῦτον κεχρῆσθαι τὸν τρόπον ἐμοὶ μὲν ἂν εὖ οἶδʼ ὅτι συμφορὰ φανείη, κακία δʼ οὐδεμία, ὑμετέρα δʼ ἀγνωμοσύνη· ἣν τῷ μεταγνῶναι λύσαιτε.

[¶23] 2.9. All the considerations which I have mentioned above, however, I consider of less importance than my conduct from first to last and every day in public life, in which I showed myself in action to be a statesman, never encouraging any nursing of a grudge or a feud or the grasping for unfair advantage, whether shared or for myself, never preferring false charges against either citizen or alien, never being over-clever to work in secret against your interests but always working for them, if occasion should arise, and above board, subject to public approval.

> Greek: 2.9. πάντα τοίνυν τὰ προειρημένʼ ἐλάττω νομίζω τῆς συνεχοῦς καὶ καθʼ ἡμέραν πολιτείας, ἐν ᾗ παρεῖχον ἐμαυτὸν ἐγὼ πολιτευόμενον, οὐδεμιᾶς ὀργῆς οὐδὲ δυσμενείας οὐδʼ ἀδίκου πλεονεξίας οὔτε κοινῆς οὔτʼ ἰδίας προϊστάμενος, οὐδὲ συκοφαντήσας οὐδένα πώποτʼ οὔτε πολίτην οὔτε ξένον, οὐδὲ καθʼ ὑμῶν ἰδίᾳ δεινὸς ὤν, ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, εἴ τι δεήσειεν, ἐξεταζόμενος δημοσίᾳ.

[¶24] 2.10. The older men would know—and in all fairness you ought to inform the younger ones—of the hearing granted Python of Byzantium before the Assembly when he arrived with the envoys from the Greeks, expecting to show that the city was acting unjustly, but went away with the tables turned against him after I, alone of those who spoke on that occasion, had brought out the rights of the matter in your defence. I forbear to mention all the embassies upon which I served in support of your interests, in which you were never worsted even in a single instance;

> Greek: 2.10. εἰδεῖεν δʼ ἂν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι, καὶ λέγειν τοῖς νεωτέροις ἐστὲ δίκαιοι τὴν πρὸς Πύθωνα τὸν Βυζάντιον ἐκκλησίαν, ὅτε τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἦλθε πρέσβεις ἔχων ὡς ἀδικοῦσαν δείξων τὴν πόλιν, ἀπῆλθε δὲ τἀναντία τούτων παθών, μόνου τῶν τότε ῥητόρων ἐξετάσαντος ἐμοῦ τὰ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν δίκαια. καὶ ἐῶ πρεσβείας ὅσας ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐπρέσβευσα, ἐν αἷς οὐδὲν ἠλαττώθητε πώποτʼ οὐδὲ καθʼ ἕν.

[¶25] 2.11. for I shaped my policy, men of Athens, not with an eye to helping you get the better of one another, nor whetting the State against itself, but furthering measures from which I thought a reputation for magnanimity would redound to you. With such aspirations you should all be delighted, and especially the younger men, not looking for someone who will always play the lackey to win your favour in his public conduct—for of this type there will never be a dearth—but for one who, actuated by loyalty, will even rebuke you for your errors of judgement.

> Greek: 2.11. ἐπολιτευόμην γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, οὐχ ὅπως ἀλλήλων ὑμεῖς περιγενήσεσθε σκοπῶν, οὐδʼ ἐφʼ ἑαυτὴν ἀκονῶν τὴν πόλιν, ἀλλʼ ἀφʼ ὧν δόξαν καὶ μεγαλοψυχίαν ὑμῖν ὑπάρξειν ἐνόμιζον. ἐφʼ οἷς ἅπασι μέν, μάλιστα δὲ τοῖς νέοις, ἄγασθαι προσήκει, καὶ σκοπεῖν μὴ μόνον τὸν διακονήσοντα πρὸς χάριν πάντʼ ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ ʽτούτου μὲν γὰρ οὐδέποτʼ ἔστʼ ἀπορῆσαἰ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν ἐπʼ εὐνοίᾳ περὶ ὧν ἂν ἀγνοῆτʼ ἐπιτιμήσοντα.

[¶26] 2.12. Now I pass over many other considerations, on the strength of which a different kind of a man and with no other service to his credit would justly demand to obtain acquittal; I mean the equipping of choruses and triremes and the contributing of money on all occasions. In these duties I shall be found, not only to have been the first to do my own part, but also to have urged the rest to do theirs. Reviewing these services one by one, men of Athens, consider how undeserved is the calamity that has now befallen me.

> Greek: 2.12. ἔτι τοίνυν παραλείπω πολλά, ἐφʼ οἷς ἕτερος καὶ μηδὲν ἄλλο χρήσιμος γεγονὼς δικαίως ἂν ἠξίου τυγχάνειν σωτηρίας, χορηγίας καὶ τριηραρχίας καὶ χρημάτων ἐπιδόσεις ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς καιροῖς· ἐν οἷς ἐγὼ φανήσομαι οὐ μόνον αὐτὸς ἐξητασμένος πρῶτος, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους παρακεκληκώς. ὧν ἕκαστον, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, λογίσασθε, ὡς ἀνάξιόν ἐστι τῆς περιεστηκυίας νῦν ἐμοὶ συμφορᾶς.

[¶27] 2.13. Since my present troubles are so abundant I am at a loss to know what I shall bemoan first. Will it be my advanced age, at which, for the first time and contrary to my deserts, I am compelled to experience the hazards of a perilous exile? Or will it be the disgrace of having been convicted and ruined without any investigation or proof of guilt? Or will it be in disappointment of my hopes in place of which I have fallen heir to evils that rightfully belonged to others, since neither because of my previous political record was I deserving punishment nor had the charges been proved upon which I was being tried.

> Greek: 2.13. ἀφθόνων δʼ ὄντων, ἀπορῶ τί πρῶτον ὀδύρωμαι τῶν παρόντων κακῶν. πότερον τὴν ἡλικίαν ἐν ᾗ φυγῆς ἐπικινδύνου πειρᾶσθαι παρʼ ἔθος καὶ παρὰ τὴν ἀξίαν ἀναγκάζομαι; ἢ τὴν αἰσχύνην ἐφʼ ᾗ κατʼ οὐδένʼ ἔλεγχον οὐδʼ ἀπόδειξιν ἁλοὺς ἀπόλωλα; ἢ τὰς ἐλπίδας ὧν διαμαρτών, ὧν ἑτέροις προσῆκε κεκληρονόμηκα κακῶν;

[¶28] 2.14. For I shall never be shown to have been one of the friends of Harpalus, and among the decrees that were passed concerning him only those proposed by me have afforded the State a clean record. From all these facts it is clear that I was caught in an unfortunate conjuncture, not taken in wrongdoing, and that through coming first on the list into court I unjustly fell foul of the public rage against all those involved in those charges.

> Greek: 2.14. οὔτʼ ἐφʼ οἷς ἐπολιτεύθην πρότερον δίκην ὀφείλων δοῦναι, οὔτε τῶν ἐφʼ οἷς ἐκρινόμην ἐξελεγχθέντων· οὔτε γὰρ ἔγωγε τῶν Ἁρπάλου φίλων φανήσομαι γεγονώς, τῶν τε γραφέντων περὶ Ἁρπάλου μόνα τὰ ἐμοὶ πεπραγμένʼ ἀνέγκλητον πεποίηκε τὴν πόλιν. ἐξ ὧν πάντων δῆλόν ἐστιν ὅτι καιρῷ τινὶ ληφθεὶς καὶ οὐκ ἀδικήματι, τῇ πρὸς ἅπαντας τοὺς ἐν ταῖς αἰτίαις ὀργῇ περιπέπτωκʼ ἀδίκως τῇ πρῶτος εἰσιέναι.

[¶29] 2.15. Because, which of the just pleas that have saved those subsequently tried did not I myself advance? Or what proof did the Council allege against me? Or what proof could it now allege? There is none; for it is impossible to make facts out of what never happened. I refrain, however, from enlarging upon these topics, though there is plenty to write, for the consciousness of innocence has afforded me proof through experience that, while a feeble help in time of trouble, it is the most excruciating of all means of enhancing one’s suffering.

> Greek: 2.15. ἐπεὶ τί τῶν δικαίων οὐκ εἶπον ἐγὼ τῶν σεσῳκότων τοὺς ὕστερον κρινομένους; ἢ τίνʼ ἔλεγχον εἶπεν ἡ βουλὴ κατʼ ἐμοῦ; ἢ τίνα νῦν ἂν εἰπεῖν ἔχοι; οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν οὐδείς· τὰ γὰρ μὴ γενόμενʼ οὐκ ἔστι ποιῆσαι γεγενῆσθαι. ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τούτων παύομαι, πόλλʼ ⟨ἂν⟩ γράφειν ἔχων· τὸ γὰρ μηδὲν ἐμαυτῷ συνειδέναι πεῖράν μοι δέδωκεν εἰς μὲν ὠφέλειαν ἀσθενὲς ὄν, εἰς δὲ τὸ μᾶλλον λυπεῖσθαι πάντων ὀδυνηρότατον.

[¶30] 2.16. So, since, quite rightly, you have become reconciled with all others involved in these charges, be reconciled with me also, men of Athens for I have done no wrong against you, as I call upon the gods and heroes to bear testimony. My witness is the whole extent of time that has gone by, which has a juster claim upon your credence than the unsupported charge which has now been brought against me; nor shall I be found to be the worst or the least trustworthy of those who have been falsely accused.

> Greek: 2.16. ἐπειδὴ δὲ καλῶς ποιοῦντες πᾶσι τοῖς ἐν ταῖς αἰτίαις διήλλαχθε, κἀμοὶ διαλλάγητʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι· οὔτε γὰρ ἠδίκηχʼ ὑμᾶς οὐδέν, ὡς ἴστωσαν οἱ θεοὶ καὶ ἥρωες (μαρτυρεῖ δέ μοι πᾶς ὁ πρόσθεν παρεληλυθὼς χρόνος, ὃς δικαιότερον ἂν πιστεύοιθʼ ὑφʼ ὑμῶν τῆς ἀνελέγκτου νῦν ἐπενεχθείσης αἰτίας), οὔτʼ ἐγὼ χείριστος οὐδʼ ἀπιστότατος φανήσομαι τῶν διαβληθέντων.

[¶31] 2.17. And surely my departure from Athens would not afford you just grounds for resentment against me, for it was not because I had renounced allegiance to you nor because I was looking to another quarter for comfort that I changed my residence to another country, but because, in the first place, I was pained at contemplating the disgrace of imprisonment, and in the second, on account of my age I was in no condition to endure the bodily discomforts. Besides, I did not think that you, either, were averse to my getting beyond the reach of revilement which, without benefiting you, was breaking me down.

> Greek: 2.17. καὶ μὴν τό γʼ ἀπελθεῖν οὐκ ἂν εἰκότως ὀργὴν πρός με ποιήσειεν· οὐ γὰρ ἀπεγνωκὼς ὑμᾶς οὐδʼ ἑτέρωσε βλέπων οὐδαμοῖ μετέστην, ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν τοὔνειδος τῆς εἱρκτῆς χαλεπῶς τῷ λογισμῷ φέρων, εἶτα διὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν οὐκ ἂν οἷός τʼ ὢν τῷ σώματι τὴν κακοπαθίαν ὑπενεγκεῖν. ἔτι δʼ οὐδʼ ὑμᾶς ἐνόμιζον ἀβουλεῖν ἔξω με προπηλακισμοῦ γενέσθαι, ὃς οὐδὲν ὑμᾶς ὠφελῶν ἔμʼ ἀπώλλυεν.

[¶32] 2.18. For, as indications that it was on you my thoughts were centered and on no others, you may note many items of evidence; for instance, I did not go to a city in which I was likely to play an outstanding role myself, but to one where I knew our ancestors had gone when the Persian danger overtook them, and where I knew too there existed abundant goodwill toward yourselves.

> Greek: 2.18. ἐπεὶ ὅτι γʼ ὑμῖν προσεῖχον τὸν νοῦν καὶ οὐδέσιν ἄλλοις, πόλλʼ ἂν ἴδοιτε σημεῖα. εἴς τε γὰρ πόλιν ἦλθον, οὐκ ἐν ᾗ μέγιστα πράξειν αὐτὸς ἔμελλον, ἀλλʼ εἰς ἣν καὶ τοὺς προγόνους ἐλθόντας ᾔδειν, ὅθʼ ὁ πρὸς τὸν Πέρσην κατελάμβανεν αὐτοὺς κίνδυνος, καὶ παρʼ ᾗ πλείστην εὔνοιαν ὑπάρχουσαν ὑμῖν ἠπιστάμην (ἔστι δʼ ἡ Τροζηνίων αὕτη, ᾗ μάλιστα μὲν οἱ θεοὶ καὶ τῆς πρὸς ὑμᾶς εὐνοίας ἕνεκα καὶ τῆς εἰς ἔμʼ εὐεργεσίας εὖνοι πάντες εἴησαν, εἶτα κἀγὼ σωθεὶς ὑφʼ ὑμῶν δυνηθείην ἀποδοῦναι χάριτας)·

[¶33] 2.19. I refer to the city of Troezen, to which it is my chief prayer that all the gods may be propitious, both because of its goodwill to you and because of its kindness to me, and my second prayer is that, having been delivered from this exile by you, I may be enabled to make repayment for kindnesses. In this city, when certain persons, thinking to make themselves agreeable to me, ventured to censure you for your arbitrary action in my regard, I preserved all reticence, as was my duty, which I believe was the chief reason for their being moved to admiration of me and honoring me in the name of the city.

> Greek: 2.19. ἔν τε ταύτῃ τινῶν, ὡς ἐμοὶ χαριζομένων, ἐπιτιμᾶν ὑμῖν τι πειρωμένων τῇ κατʼ ἔμʼ ἀγνοίᾳ, ἐγὼ πᾶσαν εὐφημίαν, ὥσπερ ἐμοὶ προσῆκε, παρειχόμην· ἐξ ὧν καὶ μάλιστα νομίζω πάντας ἀγασθέντας μου δημοσίᾳ τιμῆσαι.

[¶34] 2.20. Observing, however, that though the goodwill of the men there was strong, yet the power of the city was insufficient for the present need, I changed my residence and now have my quarters in the sanctuary of Poseidon in Calauria, not only for the sake of my personal safety, which through the protection of the god I hope is assured—because I am not quite certain; for the fact that it is in the power of unfriendly people to deal with matters as they choose renders frail and unpredictable the safety of a man in danger—but also because from here I look across the sea every day to my native land, toward which I am conscious in my heart of feeling an attachment as strong as I pray that I may enjoy on your part.

> Greek: 2.20. ὁρῶν δὲ τὴν μὲν εὔνοιαν τῶν ἀνδρῶν μεγάλην, τὴν δʼ εἰς τὸ παρὸν δύναμιν καταδεεστέραν, μετελθὼν εἰς τὸ τοῦ Ποσειδῶνος ἱερὸν ἐν Καλαυρείᾳ κάθημαι, οὐ μόνον τῆς ἀσφαλείας ἕνεκα, ἣν διὰ τὸν θεὸν ἐλπίζω μοι ὑπάρχειν ʽοὐ γὰρ εὖ οἶδά γε· ἃ γὰρ ἐφʼ ἑτέροις ἐστὶν ὡς ἂν βούλωνται πρᾶξαι, λεπτὴν καὶ ἄδηλον ἔχει τῷ κινδυνεύοντι τὴν ἀσφάλειαν̓, ἀλλʼ ὅτι καὶ τὴν πατρίδʼ ἐντεῦθεν ἑκάστης ἡμέρας ἀφορῶ, εἰς ἣν τοσαύτην εὔνοιαν ἐμαυτῷ σύνοιδα, ὅσης παρʼ ὑμῶν εὔχομαι τυχεῖν.

[¶35] 2.21. In order, therefore, men of Athens, that I may no longer be held in the grip of these present miseries, enact for me those measures you have already voted for the benefit of certain others, so that neither shall anything unworthy of you become my lot nor I be compelled to become the suppliant of rival powers; for that would not be an honorable thing for you either. Because, if the differences between you and me remain irreconcilable, it were better for me to be dead.

> Greek: 2.21. ὅπως οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, μηκέτι πλείω χρόνον τοῖς παροῦσι κακοῖς συνέχωμαι, ψηφίσασθέ μοι ταῦθʼ ἃ καὶ ἄλλοις τισὶν ἤδη, ἵνα μήτʼ ἀνάξιον ὑμῶν μηδέν μοι συμβῇ, μήθʼ ἱκέτης ἑτέρων ἀναγκασθῶ γενέσθαι· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὑμῖν τοῦτο γένοιτʼ ἂν καλόν. ἐπεὶ εἴ γέ μοι τὰ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἀδιάλλακτα ὑπάρχει, τεθνάναι μοι κρεῖττον ἦν.

[¶36] 2.22. With good reason you may have confidence that I entertain this thought and that I am not now indulging in idle bluff. I placed my fate in your hands, and I faced the trial in order that I might neither be a traitor to the truth nor place myself beyond the reach of any one of you, but that you might deal with me as you pleased; for I thought that those from whom I had received all my blessings ought to possess the privilege even of erring against me if they chose.

> Greek: 2.22. εἰκότως δʼ ἄν μοι πιστεύοιτε ταύτην τὴν διάνοιαν ἔχειν καὶ μὴ νῦν μάτην θρασύνεσθαι· καὶ γὰρ ἐμαυτοῦ κυρίους ὑμᾶς ἐποίησα καὶ οὐκ ἔφυγον τὸν ἀγῶνα, ἵνα μήτε προδῶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν μήτʼ ἄκυρος ὑμῶν ἐμοῦ μηδεὶς γένηται, ἀλλʼ ὅ τι βούλοισθε, τοῦτο χρήσαισθε· παρʼ ὧν γὰρ ἁπάντων καλῶν κἀγαθῶν ἔτυχον, τούτους ᾠόμην δεῖν ἔχειν καὶ ἁμαρτεῖν, εἰ βούλοιντο, εἰς ἐμέ.

[¶37] 2.23. Since, however, a just Fortune—thanks be to her—prevailing over the unjust, has bestowed upon you the opportunity of deliberating twice on the same questions, no irremediable decree concerning my case having been passed, save me, men of Athens, and vote a verdict worthy both of your own selves and of me.

> Greek: 2.23. ἐπειδὴ δὲ καλῶς ποιοῦσʼ ἡ δικαία τύχη τῆς ἀδίκου κρατήσασα δὶς περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἀπέδωκεν ὑμῖν βουλεύσασθαι τῷ μηδὲν ἀνήκεστον ἐψηφίσθαι περὶ ἐμοῦ, σῴσατέ μʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ ψηφίσασθε καὶ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ἄξια καὶ ἐμοῦ.

[¶38] 2.24. You will not find me to have done wrong on the score of any of my measures, or a fit person to be deprived of my civic rights or destroyed, but a man who is as much devoted to your democracy as the best patriots—not to say anything invidious —who of all men now living has accomplished most in your behalf and of all men of my time has available the most signal tokens of devotion to you.

> Greek: 2.24. ἐπʼ οὐδενὶ γὰρ τῶν πεπραγμένων ἠδικηκότα μʼ εὑρήσετε, οὐδʼ ἐπιτήδειον ἄτιμον εἶναι οὐδʼ ἀπολωλέναι, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὔνουν τῷ πλήθει τῷ ὑμετέρῳ τοῖς μάλισθʼ ὁμοίως, ἵνα μηδὲν ἐπίφθονον γράψω, καὶ πλεῖστα πεπραγματευμένον τῶν νυνὶ ζώντων ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, καὶ μέγισθʼ ὑπάρχοντά μοι κατʼ ἐμαυτὸν σύμβολʼ εὐνοίας πρὸς ὑμᾶς.

[¶39] 2.25. Let not one of you think, men of Athens, that through lack of manhood or from any other base motive I give way to my grief from the beginning to the end of this letter. Not so, but every man is ungrudgingly indulgent to the feelings of the moment, and those that now beset me—if only this had never come to pass—are sorrows and tears, longing both for my country and for you, and pondering over the wrongs I have suffered, all of which cause me to grieve. If you but scan this record fairly, in none of the political actions taken by me in your behalf will you find softness or lack of manhood attaching to me.

> Greek: 2.25. μηδεὶς δʼ ὑμῶν ἡγείσθω μʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, μήτʼ ἀνανδρίᾳ μήτʼ ἄλλῃ προφάσει φαύλῃ μηδεμιᾷ παρʼ ὅλην τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ὀδύρεσθαι. ἀλλὰ τοῖς παροῦσιν ἕκαστος ἀφθόνως χρῆται, ἐμοὶ δὲ ταῦτα νῦν πάρεστιν, ὡς μήποτʼ ὤφελεν, λῦπαι καὶ δάκρυα καὶ τῆς πατρίδος καὶ ὑμῶν πόθος καὶ ὧν πέπονθα λογισμός, ἃ πάντα ποιεῖ μʼ ὀδύρεσθαι· ἃ ἐπισκοποῦντες δικαίως, ⟨ὡς⟩ ἐν οὐδενὶ τῶν πεπολιτευμένων ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, οὔτε μαλακίαν οὔτʼ ἀνανδρίαν προσοῦσαν εὑρήσετέ μοι.

[¶40] 2.26. Now thus far I am appealing to you all, but for those in particular who are attacking me in your presence I wish to say a word: so far as concerns all that they were doing in pursuance of the decrees passed by you in disregard of the truth, let it be allowed that these actions have been taken by them as your agents, and I lodge no complaint. Since, however, you have yourselves come to recognize these decrees for what they are, if they will yield in my case, just as they are allowing the prosecution to be dropped in the case of the other defendants, they shall have my thanks; but if they attempt to continue malicious, I appeal to you all to rally to my aid and not allow the enmity of these men to prevail. over the gratitude due to me from you. Farewell.

> Greek: 2.26. πρὸς μὲν δὴ πάντας ὑμᾶς τοσαῦτα· ἰδίᾳ δὲ τοῖς ἐμοὶ προσκρούουσιν ἐναντίον ὑμῶν βούλομαι διαλεχθῆναι. ὅσα μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ὑφʼ ὑμῶν ἀγνοηθεῖσιν ὑπηρετοῦντες ἐποίουν, ἔστω διʼ ὑμᾶς αὐτοῖς πεπρᾶχθαι, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐγκαλῶ. ἐπειδὴ δʼ ἐγνώκαθʼ ὑμεῖς οἷα ταῦτʼ ἐστίν, ἐὰν μέν, ὥσπερ ὑπὲρ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐῶσι, καὶ ἐμοὶ συγχωρήσωσι, καλῶς ποιήσουσιν· ἐὰν δʼ ἐπηρεάζειν ἐγχειρῶσιν, ὑμᾶς ἀξιῶ μοι βοηθεῖν ἅπαντας, καὶ μὴ κυριωτέραν τὴν τούτων ἔχθραν τῆς παρʼ ὑμῶν χάριτός μοι γενέσθαι. εὐτυχεῖτε.

[¶41] 3.1. Demosthenes to the Council and the Assembly sends greeting. I sent you the previous letter about matters that concern myself, stating what steps I thought in justice ought to be taken by you; in regard to these you will take favorable action when it seems good to you. The message I now address to you I should not like you to overlook or to hear it in a spirit of contentiousness, but with due regard to the justness of it. For it happens that, although sojourning in an out-of-the-way place, I hear many people censuring you for your treatment of the sons of Lycurgus.

> Greek: 3.1. Δημοσθένης τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δημῷ χαίρειν. περὶ μὲν τῶν κατʼ ἐμαυτόν, ἅ μοι παρʼ ὑμῶν ἐνόμιζον δίκαιον εἶναι γενέσθαι, τὴν προτέραν ἐπιστολὴν ἔπεμψα πρὸς ὑμᾶς· ὑπὲρ ὧν, ὅταν ὑμῖν δοκῇ, τότε συγχωρήσετε. περὶ δʼ ὧν νῦν ἐπέσταλκα, βουλοίμην ἂν ὑμᾶς μὴ παριδεῖν, μηδὲ πρὸς φιλονικίαν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ δίκαιον ἀκοῦσαι. συμβαίνει γάρ μοι, καίπερ ἐκποδὼν διατρίβοντι, πολλῶν ἀκούειν ἐπιτιμώντων ὑμῖν τοῖς περὶ τοὺς Λυκούργου παῖδας γιγνομένοις.

[¶42] 3.2. Now I should have sent you the letter merely out of regard for those services that Lycurgus performed during his lifetime, for which you would all, like myself, be in justice grateful if you would but do your duty. For Lycurgus, having taken a post in the financial department of the government at the outset of his career and not being at all accustomed to draft documents pertaining to the general affairs of the Greeks and their relations with their allies, only when the majority of those who pretended to be the friends of democracy were deserting you, began to devote himself to the principles of the popular party, not because from this quarter opportunity was offering to secure gifts and emoluments, since all such prizes were coming from the opposite party, nor yet because he observed this policy to be the safer one, since there were many manifest dangers which a man was bound to incur who chose to speak on behalf of the people, but because he was truly democratic and by nature an honest man.

> Greek: 3.2. ἐπέστειλα μὲν οὖν ἂν τὴν ἐπιστολὴν καὶ τῶν ἐκείνῳ ζῶντι πεπραγμένων ἕνεκα, ὧν ὁμοίως ἐμοὶ πάντες ἂν αὐτῷ δικαίως ἔχοιτε χάριν, εἰ τὰ προσήκοντα βούλοισθε ποιεῖν. ἐκεῖνος γὰρ αὑτὸν ἐν τῷ περὶ τὴν διοίκησιν μέρει τάξας τῆς πολιτείας τὸ κατʼ ἀρχάς, καὶ περὶ τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν καὶ συμμαχικῶν οὐδὲν εἰωθὼς γράφειν, ὅτε καὶ τῶν δημοτικῶν εἶναι προσποιουμένων οἱ πολλοὶ κατέλειπον ὑμᾶς, τότε ταῖς τοῦ δήμου προαιρέσεσιν προσένειμεν ἑαυτόν, οὐχ ὅτι δωρεὰς καὶ προσόδους ἐκ τούτων ὑπῆρχε λαμβάνειν ʽἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν ἐναντίων πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτʼ ἐγίγνετὀ, οὐδʼ ὅτι ταύτην ἀσφαλεστέραν τὴν προαίρεσιν οὖσαν ἑώρα ʽπολλοὺς γὰρ καὶ προδήλους εἶχε κινδύνους, οὓς ἀναγκαῖον ἦν ὑπομεῖναι τὸν ὑπὲρ τοῦ δήμου λέγειν προαιρούμενον̓, ἀλλʼ ὅτι δημοτικὸς καὶ φύσει χρηστὸς ἀνὴρ ἦν.

[¶43] 3.4. And yet before his very eyes he observed those who might have assisted the cause of the people growing weak with the drift of events and their adversaries gaining strength in every way. None the less for all that, this brave man continued to adhere to such measures as he thought were in the people’s interest and subsequently he continued to perform his duty unfalteringly in word and deed, as was clear to see. As a consequence his surrender was straightway demanded, as all men are aware.

> Greek: 3.4. καίτοι παρὼν ἑώρα τοὺς μὲν βοηθήσαντας ἂν τῷ δήμῳ ἀσθενεῖς ἐπὶ τοῖς συμβεβηκόσιν ὄντας, τοὺς δὲ τἀναντία πράττοντας κατὰ πάντʼ ἐρρωμένους. ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐκεῖνος εἵλεθʼ ἃ συμφέρειν ἡγεῖτο τῷ δήμῳ, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἀόκνως καὶ λέγων καὶ πράττων ἃ προσῆκεν ἦν φανερός, ἐφʼ οἷς εὐθὺς ἐξῃτεῖτο, ὡς ἅπαντες ἴσασιν.

[¶44] 3.5. Now I would have written this letter, as I said at the outset, for the sake of Lycurgus alone, but over and above that, believing it to be to your interest to know the criticisms being circulated among those who go abroad, I became all the more eager to dispatch the letter. I beg of those who for private reasons were at odds with Lycurgus to endure to hear what in truth and justice may be said in his behalf; for be well assured, men of Athens, that, as things now are, the city is acquiring an evil reputation because of the way his sons have been treated.

> Greek: 3.5. ἐπέστειλα μὲν οὖν ἄν, ὥσπερ εἶπον ἐν ἀρχῇ, καὶ διὰ τὴν ἐκείνου χάριν· οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑμῖν νομίζων συμφέρειν τὰς παρὰ τοῖς ἔξω γιγνομένας ἐπιτιμήσεις εἰδέναι, πολλῷ προθυμότερον πρὸς τὸ πέμψαι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἔσχον. παραιτοῦμαι δὲ τοὺς ἰδίᾳ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἔχοντας δυσκόλως, ὑπομεῖναι τἀληθῆ καὶ τὰ δίκαιʼ ἀκούειν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ. εὖ γὰρ ἴστʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὅτι νῦν ἐκ τῶν περὶ τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ γεγενημένων φαύλην δόξαν ἡ πόλις λαμβάνει.

[¶45] 3.6. For none of the Greeks is ignorant that during the lifetime of Lycurgus you honored him extraordinarily, and, though many charges were brought against him by those who were envious of him, you never found a single charge to be true, and you so trusted him and believed him to be truly democratic beyond all others that you decided many points of justice on the ground that “Lycurgus said so,” and that sufficed for you. This would certainly not have happened unless it had seemed to you that he was so honest.

> Greek: 3.6. οὐδεὶς γὰρ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀγνοεῖ ὅτι ζῶντα Λυκοῦργον ἐτιμᾶθʼ ὑμεῖς εἰς ὑπερβολήν, καὶ πολλῶν αἰτιῶν ἐπενεχθεισῶν ὑπὸ τῶν φθονούντων αὐτῷ οὐδεμίαν πώποθʼ ηὕρετʼ ἀληθῆ, οὕτω δʼ ἐπιστεύετʼ αὐτῷ καὶ δημοτικὸν παρὰ πάντας ἡγεῖσθε, ὥστε πολλὰ τῶν δικαίων ἐν τῷ φῆσαι Λυκοῦργον ἐκρίνετε καὶ τοῦθʼ ὑμῖν ἐξήρκει· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἦν τοιοῦτον μὴ δοκοῦν ὑμῖν.

[¶46] 3.7. Today, therefore, all men, upon hearing that his sons are in prison, while pitying the dead man, sympathize with the children as innocent sufferers, and reproach you bitterly after a manner that I, for one, should not dare to write down for, touching the reports which make me vexed at those who utter them, and which I contradict as best I can, trying to come to your defence, I have written these only to the extent of making it clear to you that many people are blaming you, since I believe it to be to your interest to know this, though to quote their words verbatim I judge would be offensive.

> Greek: 3.7. νῦν τοίνυν ἅπαντες ἀκούοντες τοὺς υἱεῖς αὐτοῦ δεδέσθαι τὸν μὲν τεθνεῶτʼ ἐλεοῦσιν, τοῖς παισὶν δʼ ὡς ἀνάξια πάσχουσιν συνάχθονται, ὑμῖν δʼ ἐπιτιμῶσιν πικρῶς, ὡς οὐκ ἂν τολμήσαιμι γράφειν ἐγώ· ἃ γὰρ ἄχθομαι τοῖς λέγουσι καὶ ἀντιλέγω καθʼ ὅσον δύναμαι βοηθῶν ὑμῖν, ταῦτʼ ἄχρι μὲν τοῦ δῆλον ὑμῖν ποιῆσαι ὅτι πολλοὶ μέμφονται, συμφέρειν ὑμῖν νομίζων εἰδέναι, γέγραφα, ἀκριβῶς δὲ διεξιέναι δυσχερὲς κρίνω.

[¶47] 3.8. Apart from mere abuse, however, I shall reveal all that certain people say and which I believe it to your advantage to have heard. For, after all, no one has supposed that you laboured under a misunderstanding and deception concerning the truth so far as Lycurgus himself is concerned, for the length of time during which, where subject to scrutiny, he never was found guilty of any wrong toward you in either thought or deed and the fact that no human being could ever have accused you of indifference to any other action of his naturally eliminate the pretext of ignorance.

> Greek: 3.8. ὅσα μέντοι λοιδορίας χωρίς ἐστιν ὧν λέγουσίν τινες, καὶ ἀκηκοέναι συμφέρειν ὑμῖν ἡγοῦμαι, ταῦτα δηλώσω. οὐδεὶς γὰρ ὑπείληφεν ὡς ἄρʼ ἠγνοήκατε καὶ διεψεύσθητε τῆς ἀληθείας περὶ αὐτοῦ Λυκούργου. τό τε γὰρ τοῦ χρόνου πλῆθος, ὃν ἐξεταζόμενος οὐδὲν πώποθʼ ηὑρέθη περὶ ὑμᾶς οὔτε φρονῶν οὔτε ποιῶν ἄδικον, καὶ τὸ μηδένʼ ἀνθρώπων εἰς μηδὲν τῶν ἄλλων ἀναισθησίαν ὑμῶν καταγνῶναι, εἰκότως ἀναιρεῖ τὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀγνοίας σκῆψιν.

[¶48] 3.9. So the explanation is left—what all would declare the conduct of vile men—that so long as you have use for each official you seem to be concerned for him but after that feel no obligation; for where else is one to expect that the gratitude due from you to the dead will be shown, when he observes the opposite treatment meted out to his children and his good name, which are the sole concerns of all men when facing death, that it may continue to be well with them?

> Greek: 3.9. λείπεται τοίνυν ὃ πάντες ἂν εἶναι φαύλων ἀνθρώπων [ἔργον] φήσαιεν, ὅσον ἂν χρῆσθε χρόνον, τοσοῦτον ἑκάστου φροντίζειν δοκεῖν, μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ μηδένʼ ἔχειν λόγον. εἰς τί γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων χρὴ προσδοκᾶν τῷ τετελευτηκότι τὴν παρʼ ὑμῶν ἔσεσθαι χάριν, ὅταν εἰς τοὺς παῖδας καὶ τὴν εὐδοξίαν τἀναντίʼ ὁρᾷ τις γιγνόμενα, ὧν μόνων καὶ τελευτῶσι πᾶσιν ὅπως ἕξει καλῶς μέλει;

[¶49] 3.10. And assuredly, to appear to do these things for the sake of money is also unworthy of truly honorable men, for it would be clearly inconsistent either with your magnanimity or with your general principles of conduct. For instance, if it were necessary to ransom the children from foreign captors by giving this sum out of the revenues, I believe you would all be eager to do it; but when I observe you reluctant to remit a fine which was imposed because of mere talk and envy, I do not know what judgement I can pass unless it be that you have launched upon a course of utterly bitter and truculent hostility toward the members of the popular party. If this be the case, you have made up your minds to deliberate neither righteously nor in the public interest.

> Greek: 3.10. καὶ μὴν οὐδὲ χρημάτων ποιεῖν ἕνεκα ταῦτα δοκεῖν τῶν καλῶν [κἀγαθῶν] ἐστιν. οὔτε γὰρ τῆς μεγαλοψυχίας οὔτε τῆς ἄλλης προαιρέσεως τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀκόλουθον ἂν φανείη. εἰ γὰρ ὑμᾶς λύσασθαι παρʼ ἑτέρων ἔδει δόντας ἐκ τῶν προσιόντων τὰ χρήματα ταῦτα, πάντας ἂν ἡγοῦμαι προθύμους εἶναι· τίμημα δʼ ὁρῶν ὀκνοῦντας ἀφεῖναι, ὃ λόγῳ καὶ φθόνῳ γέγονεν, οὐκ ἔχω τί καταγνῶ, εἰ μὴ ὅλως πικρῶς καὶ ταραχωδῶς ἔχειν πρὸς τοὺς δημοτικοὺς ὡρμήκατε. εἰ δὲ τοῦτʼ ἔστιν, οὔτʼ ὀρθῶς οὔτε συμφερόντως [βουλεύεσθαι] ἐγνώκατε.

[¶50] 3.11. I am amazed if none of you thinks that it is a disgraceful thing for the people of Athens, who are supposed to be superior to all men in understanding and culture and have also maintained here for the unfortunate a common refuge in all ages, to show themselves less considerate than Philip, who, although naturally subject to no correction, nursed as he was, in licence, still thought that at the moment of his greatest good fortune he ought to be seen acting with the greatest humanity and did not venture to cast into chains the men who had faced him in the battle line, against whom he had staked his all, nor demand to know, “Whose sons are they and what are their names?”

> Greek: 3.11. θαυμάζω δʼ εἰ μηδεὶς ὑμῶν ἐννοεῖ, ὅτι τῶν αἰσχρῶν ἐστιν τὸν δῆμον τὸν Ἀθηναίων, συνέσει καὶ παιδείᾳ πάντων προέχειν δοκοῦντα, ὃς καὶ τοῖς ἀτυχήσασιν ἀεὶ κοινὴν ἔχει καταφυγήν, ἀγνωμονέστερον φαίνεσθαι Φιλίππου, ὃς ἀνουθέτητος ὢν εἰκότως, τραφείς γʼ ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ, ὅμως ᾤετο δεῖν, ἡνίκʼ ηὐτύχησεν μάλιστα, τότʼ ἀνθρωπινώτατα πράττων φαίνεσθαι, καὶ τοὺς παραταξαμένους, πρὸς οὓς περὶ τῶν ὅλων διεκινδύνευσεν, οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν δῆσαι τὸ τίνων καὶ τίνες εἰσὶν ἐξετάσας·

## 2. Letters 3–6

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-letters/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/demosthenes-letters/2/#p-N

[¶0] 3.12. For unlike some of your orators, as it appears, he did not consider it would be either just or creditable to take the same action against all, but, taking into his reckoning the additional factor of station in life, he assorted his verdicts accordingly.

> Greek: 3.12. οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἔοικεν ὁμοίως τῶν παρʼ ὑμῖν ῥητόρων ἐνίοις οὔτε δίκαιʼ ἂν εἶναι πρὸς ἅπαντας ταὔτʼ οὔτε κάλʼ ἡγεῖτο, ἀλλὰ τὴν τῆς ἀξίας προσθήκην συλλογιζόμενος τὰ τοιαῦτʼ ἐπέκρινεν.

[¶1] 3.13. You, however, though Athenians and partners in a culture which is thought capable of making even stupid people tolerable, in the first place—and of all your actions this is the most heartless—hold the sons in chains as a penalty for offences which certain parties allege against the father; in the next place, you claim this action to be equality before the law, just as if you were inspecting equality in the field of weights or measures and not deliberating about men’s ethical and political principles.

> Greek: 3.13. ὑμεῖς δέ, ὄντες Ἀθηναῖοι καὶ ἐν παρρησίᾳ ζῶντες ἣ καὶ τοὺς ἀναισθήτους ἀνεκτοὺς ποιεῖν δοκεῖ δύνασθαι, πρῶτον μέν, ὃ πάντων ἀγνωμονέστατόν ἐστιν, ὑπὲρ ὧν τὸν πατέρʼ αἰτιῶνταί τινες, τοὺς υἱεῖς δεδέκατε, εἶτα τὸ ταῦτα ποιεῖν ἴσον εἶναί φατε, ὥσπερ ὑπὲρ σταθμῶν ἢ μέτρων τὸ ἴσον σκοπούμενοι, ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὑπὲρ ἀνδρῶν προαιρέσεως καὶ πολιτείας βουλευόμενοι, ἐν οἷς ἐξεταζομένοις εἰ μὲν χρηστὰ καὶ δημοτικὰ καὶ ἐπʼ εὐνοίᾳ τὰ Λυκούργῳ πεπραγμένα φαίνεται, μηδενὸς κακοῦ ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ δίκαιόν ἐστιν τυγχάνειν παρʼ ὑμῶν·

[¶2] 3.14. In testing these, if the actions of Lycurgus seem honest and public-spirited and inspired by loyalty, then it is justice that his sons should not only meet with no harm at your hands, but with all the benefits imaginable; yet if his actions seem quite the opposite, he ought to have been punished while he lived, and these children should not thus incur your anger on the ground of charges someone prefers against the father, because for all men death is an end of responsibility for all their offences.

> Greek: 3.14. εἰ δὲ τἀναντία τούτων, ἐκεῖνον, ὅτʼ ἔζη, ἔδει δίκην διδόναι, τούτους δὲ μηδʼ οὕτως, ἐφʼ οἷς ἐκείνῳ τις ἐγκαλεῖ, τυγχάνειν ὀργῆς· πᾶσι γὰρ πάντων τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ὅρος ἐστὶ τελευτή.

[¶3] 3.15. Consequently, if you are going to be so minded that those who have conceived some grudge against those who espouse the cause of the people will not be reconciled even with dead men, but will persist in maintaining their enmity against the children, and if the people, in whose cause every friend of democracy labours, shall remember their gratitude only so long as they can use a man in the flesh and thereafter shall feel no concern, then nothing will be more miserable than to choose the post of champion of the people.

> Greek: 3.15. ἐπεὶ εἴ γʼ οὕτως ἕξετε, ὥσθʼ οἱ μὲν ἀχθεσθέντες τι τοῖς ὑπὲρ τοῦ δήμου πολιτευομένοις μηδὲ πρὸς τελευτήσαντας διαλλαγήσονται, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς παισὶ τὴν ἔχθραν διαφυλάξουσιν, ὁ δὲ δῆμος, ᾧ συναγωνίζεται τῶν δημοτικῶν ἕκαστος, μέχρι τοῦ παρόντι χρῆσθαι μνημονεύσει τὰς χάριτας, μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ μηδὲν φροντιεῖ, οὐδὲν ἀθλιώτερον ἔσται τοῦ τὴν ὑπὲρ τοῦ δήμου τάξιν αἱρεῖσθαι.

[¶4] 3.16. If Moerocles replies that this view is too subtle for his understanding, and that, to prevent them from running away, he put them in chains upon his own responsibility, demand of him why in the world he did not see the justice of this proceeding when Taureas, Pataecus, Aristogeiton and himself, though they had been committed to prison, were not only not in chains but would even address the Assembly.

> Greek: 3.16. εἰ δὲ Μοιροκλῆς ἀποκρίνεται ταῦτα μὲν σοφώτερʼ ἢ καθʼ ἑαυτὸν εἶναι, ἵνα δὲ μὴ ἀποδρῶσιν, αὐτὸς αὐτοὺς δῆσαι, ἐρωτήσατʼ αὐτόν, ἡνίκα Ταυρέας καὶ Πάταικος καὶ Ἀριστογείτων καὶ αὐτὸς εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον παραδοθέντες οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐδέδεντο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐδημηγόρουν, τί δήποτʼ οὐχ ἑώρα τὰ δίκαια ταῦτα.

[¶5] 3.17. If, on the other hand, he shall say that he was not then archon, he had no right to speak, at any rate according to the laws. Accordingly, how can it be equal justice when some men are in office who have no right even to speak and others are in fetters whose father was useful to you in numerous ways? I certainly cannot figure it out unless you mean to demonstrate this fact officially—that blackguardism, shamelessness and deliberate villainy are strong in the State and enjoy a better prospect of coming off safely, and that, if such men happen to get into a tight place, a way out is discovered, but to elect to live in honesty of principle, sobriety of life and devotion to the people will be hazardous and, if some false step is made, the consequences will be inescapable.

> Greek: 3.17. εἰ δὲ μὴ φήσει τότʼ ἄρχειν, οὐδὲ λέγειν ἔκ γε τῶν νόμων αὐτῷ προσῆκεν. ὥστε πῶς ἴσον ἐστὶν τοὺς μὲν ἄρχειν, οἷς μηδὲ λέγειν ἔξεστιν, τοὺς δὲ δεδέσθαι, ὧν πολλὰ χρήσιμος ἦν ὑμῖν ὁ πατήρ; ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ ἔχω συλλογίσασθαι, εἰ μὴ τοῦτο δεῖξαι δημοσίᾳ βούλεσθε, ὅτι βδελυρία καὶ ἀναίδεια καὶ προαίρεσις πονηρίας ἐν τῇ πόλει ἰσχύει καὶ διασωθῆναι πλείω προσδοκίαν ἔχει, κἄν τι συμβῇ χαλεπὸν τοῖς τοιούτοις, ἀπόλυσις γίγνεται, ἐν δὲ προαιρέσει χρηστῇ καὶ βίῳ σώφρονι καὶ δημοτικῷ προελέσθαι ζῆν σφαλερόν, κἄν τι γένηται πταῖσμα, ἄφυκτον ἔσται.

[¶6] 3.19. Furthermore, the fact that it is unjust to entertain concerning Lycurgus the opposite opinion to the one you held while he lived, and that justice demands that you should have more regard for the dead than for the living, and all such considerations I shall pass over, for I assume them to be universally agreed upon. Of the children of others, however, whom you recompensed for their fathers’ good services I would gladly see you reminded; for instance, the descendants of Aristeides, Thrasybulus, Archinus and many others.

> Greek: 3.19. ἔτι τοίνυν τὸ μὲν μὴ δίκαιον εἶναι τὴν ἐναντίαν δόξαν ἔχειν ὧς περὶ ζῶντος εἴχετʼ ἐκείνου, καὶ τὸ τῶν τετελευτηκότων ἢ τῶν παρόντων πλείω ποιεῖσθαι λόγον δίκαιον εἶναι, καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἐάσω· παρὰ γὰρ πᾶσιν ὁμολογεῖσθαι ταῦθʼ ὑπείληφα· ὅσοις μέντοι πατρικὰς εὐεργεσίας ἀπεμνημονεύσατε τῶν ἄλλων, ἡδέως ἂν ἴδοιμʼ ὑμᾶς ἀναμνησθέντας, οἷον τοῖς Ἀριστείδου καὶ τοῖς Θρασυβούλου καὶ τοῖς Ἀρχίνου καὶ πολλῶν ἑτέρων ἀπογόνοις.

[¶7] 3.20. Not by way of censure have I cited these examples, for so far am I from censuring as to declare it my belief that such repayments are in the highest degree in the interest of the State, because you challenge all men by such conduct to be champions of the people, when they observe that, even if during their own lives envy shall stand in the way of their receiving merited honors, yet their children, at any rate, will be sure to receive their due rewards at your hands.

> Greek: 3.20. οὐχ ὡς ἐπιτιμῶν δὲ ταῦτα παρήνεγκα. τοσούτου γὰρ δέω τοῦτο ποιεῖν ὥστε συμφέρειν μάλιστα τῇ πόλει τὰ τοιαῦτα κρίνω· προκαλεῖσθε γὰρ πάντας ἐκ τούτων δημοτικοὺς εἶναι, ὁρῶντας ὅτι κἂν ἐν τῷ καθʼ ἑαυτοὺς βίῳ ταῖς προσηκούσαις αὐτῶν τιμαῖς ὁ φθόνος ἀντιστῇ, τοῖς γε παισὶν ὑπάρξει τὰ προσήκοντα παρʼ ὑμῶν κομίσασθαι.

[¶8] 3.21. Is it not absurd, therefore, or rather even disgraceful, toward certain other men to keep alive the goodwill justly due them, in spite of the fact that the times of their usefulness are long past and after this interval you learn of their good deeds by hearsay and have not assumed them from things of which you have been eye-witnesses, but toward Lycurgus, whose political career and death are so recent, you do not show yourselves so ready to display even pity and kindness as you were at all other times toward men whom you never knew and by whom you used to be wronged, and, worse still, your vengeance is visited upon his children, whom even an enemy, if only he were fair-minded and capable of reason, would pity?

> Greek: 3.21. πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἄτοπον, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ αἰσχρόν, τῶν μὲν ἄλλων τισί, καὶ παλαιῶν ὄντων τῶν χρόνων καθʼ οὓς ἐγένοντο χρήσιμοι, καὶ διʼ ὧν ἀκούετε τὰς εὐεργεσίας, οὐκ ἐξ ὧν ἑοράκαθʼ ὑπειληφότας, ὅμως τὴν δικαίαν εὔνοιαν διασῴζειν, Λυκούργῳ δʼ οὕτως ὑπογύου καὶ τῆς πολιτείας καὶ τῆς τελευτῆς γεγονυίας, μηδʼ εἰς ἃ καὶ τοῖς ἀγνῶσιν καὶ ὑφʼ ὧν ἀδικοῖσθʼ ἕτοιμοι τὸν ἄλλον ἦτε χρόνον, εἰς ἔλεον καὶ φιλανθρωπίαν, μηδʼ εἰς ταῦθʼ ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς ὁμοίους παρέχειν, καὶ ταῦτʼ εἰς τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ γιγνομένης τῆς τιμωρίας, οὓς κἂν ἐχθρός, εἴπερ μέτριος εἴη καὶ λογισμὸν ἔχων, ἐλεήσαι;

[¶9] 3.23. Moreover, I am amazed if any one of you is ignorant of this fact also, that it is not to the interest of our political life, either, for this to become public knowledge, that those who have established friendship in a certain other quarter are sure to prosper in all things and fare better and, if some mishap occurs, the ways of escape are easier, but those who have attached themselves to the cause of the people will not only fare worse in other respects but for them alone of all men calamities will remain irremediable. Yet it is easy to demonstrate the truth of this, for who of you does not know the incident of Laches the son of Melanopus, whose lot it was to be convicted in a court of law precisely as the sons of Lycurgus in the present instance, but his entire fine was remitted when Alexander requested it by letter?

> Greek: 3.23. θαυμάζω τοίνυν καὶ τοῦτʼ εἴ τις ὑμῶν ἀγνοεῖ, ὡς οὐδὲ τοῦτο συμφέρει τῇ πολιτείᾳ φανερὸν γιγνόμενον, ὅτι τοῖς μὲν ἄλλην τινὰ κτησαμένοις φιλίαν καὶ κατορθοῦσιν ἐν πᾶσιν πλεονεκτεῖν ὑπάρχει, κἂν ἀτυχήσωσίν τι, ῥᾳδίους εἶναι τὰς λύσεις, τοῖς δʼ εἰς τὸν δῆμον ἀναρτήσασιν ἑαυτοὺς οὐ μόνον κατὰ τἄλλʼ ἔλαττον ἔχειν ὑπάρξει, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς συμφορὰς βεβαίους τούτοις μόνοις τῶν ἄλλων μένειν. ἀλλὰ μὴν ὅτι τοῦθʼ οὕτως γίγνεται ῥᾴδιον δεῖξαι.

[¶10] 3.24. And again, that it happened to Mnesibulus of Acharnae to be similarly convicted, the court condemning him just as it has the sons of Lycurgus, and to have the fine remitted, and rightly too, for the man was deserving?

> Greek: 3.24. τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδεν ὑμῶν Λάχητι τῷ Μελανώπου ἁλῶναι μὲν ὁμοίως ἐν δικαστηρίῳ συμβὰν ὡς καὶ νῦν τοῖς Λυκούργου παισίν, ἀφεθῆναι δὲ πᾶν τὸ ὄφλημʼ ἐπιστείλαντος Ἀλεξάνδρου; καὶ πάλιν Μνησιβούλῳ τῷ Ἀχαρνεῖ ἁλῶναι μὲν ὁμοίως καταγνόντος αὐτοῦ τοῦ δικαστηρίου ὥσπερ καὶ τῶν Λυκούργου παίδων, ἀφεῖσθαι δὲ καλῶς ποιοῦντι;

[¶11] 3.25. And none of those who are now making such an outcry declared that by these actions the laws were being nullified. Quite rightly so, for they were not being nullified, if it be true that all our laws are enacted for the sake of just men and for the preservation of honest men, and that it is expedient neither to render the calamities of the unfortunate perpetual nor for men to show themselves void of gratitude.

> Greek: 3.25. ἄξιος γὰρ ἁνήρ. καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐπὶ τούτοις τοὺς νόμους ἔφη καταλύεσθαι τῶν νῦν βοώντων. εἰκότως· οὐδὲ γὰρ κατελύοντο, εἴπερ ἅπαντες οἱ νόμοι τῶν δικαίων εἵνεκα καὶ σωτηρίας τῶν χρηστῶν ἀνθρώπων τίθενται, καὶ μήτʼ ἀϊδίους τοῖς ἀτυχήσασι καθιστάναι τὰς συμφορὰς συμφέρει, μήτʼ ἀχαρίστους ὄντας φαίνεσθαι.

[¶12] 3.26. And furthermore, if it is expedient for these principles to hold true, as we would declare, not only were you not nullifying the laws where you released those men, but you were preserving the lifework of those men who enacted the laws, first, by releasing Laches in compliance with the request of Alexander and, secondly, by restoring Mnesibulus to his rights because of the sobriety of his life.

> Greek: 3.26. ἀλλὰ μὴν εἴ γε ταῦθʼ οὕτως, ὥσπερ ἂν φήσαιμεν, ἔχειν συμφέρει, οὐ μόνον τοὺς νόμους οὐ κατελύετε, ἡνίκʼ ἐκείνους ἀφίετε, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς λογισμοὺς ἐσῴζετε τῶν τοὺς νόμους θεμένων ἀνθρώπων, Λάχητα μὲν πρὸς χάριν δεηθέντος Ἀλεξάνδρου ἀφέντες, Μνησίβουλον δὲ τῇ τοῦ βίου σωφροσύνῃ σῴσαντες.

[¶13] 3.27. Beware of demonstrating, therefore, that to acquire some outside friendship is more profitable than to give one’s self in trust to the people and that it is better to remain in the ranks of the unknown than to become known as a man who in public life consults the interests of you, the majority. For although it is impossible for one who recommends policies and administers the commonwealth to please everyone, yet if a man, actuated by loyalty, has at heart the same interests as the people, he has a right to security of person. Otherwise you will teach everyone to serve the interests of others rather than those of the people and to shun recognition for doing any of those things that are to your advantage.

> Greek: 3.27. μὴ τοίνυν τὸ κτήσασθαί τινʼ ἔξωθεν φιλίαν λυσιτελέστερον δείκνυτʼ ἢ τὸ τῷ δήμῳ παρακαταθέσθαι ἑαυτόν, μηδὲ τὸ τῶν ἀγνώτων εἶναι κρεῖττον ἢ τοῖς πολλοῖς ὑμῖν τὰ συμφέροντα πολιτευόμενον γιγνώσκεσθαι. τὸ μὲν γὰρ πᾶσιν ἀρέσκειν τὸν συμβουλεύοντα καὶ τὰ κοινὰ πράττοντʼ ἀδύνατον· ἐὰν δʼ ἐπʼ εὐνοίᾳ ταὐτὰ τῷ δήμῳ τις φρονῇ, δίκαιός ἐστιν σῴζεσθαι. εἰ δὲ μή, καὶ θεραπεύειν ἑτέρους μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν δῆμον ἅπαντας διδάξετε, καὶ φεύγειν τὸ τῶν ὑμῖν συμφερόντων ποιοῦντά τι γνωσθῆναι.

[¶14] 3.28. In short, it is a reproach common to all citizens, men of Athens, and a misfortune of the State as a whole, that envy should be thought to be stronger among you than the grace of gratitude for services performed, and the more so because envy is a disease but the Graces have been assigned a place among the gods.

> Greek: 3.28. ὅλως δὲ κοινόν ἐστιν ὄνειδος ἁπάντων, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ ὅλης τῆς πόλεως συμφορά, τὸν φθόνον δοκεῖν μεῖζον ἰσχύειν παρʼ ὑμῖν ἢ τὰς τῶν εὐεργεσιῶν χάριτας, καὶ ταῦτα τοῦ μὲν νοσήματος ὄντος, τῶν δʼ ἐν τοῖς θεοῖς ἀποδεδειγμένων.

[¶15] 3.29. Furthermore, I am not going to omit the case of Pytheas either, who was a friend of the people down to his entrance into public life but after that was ready to do anything to injure you. For who does not know that this man, when, under the obligation to serve you, he was entering upon public life, was being hounded as a slave and was under indictment as an alien usurping the rights of a citizen and came near being sold by these men whose servant he now is and for whom he used to write the speeches against me, but since he is himself now practising what he then accused others of doing, is in such easy circumstances as to keep two mistresses, who have escorted him—and kind it is of them—on the way to death by consumption, and to be able to discharge a debt of five talents more easily than he could have produced five drachmas previously, and besides all this, with the permission of you, the people, not only participates in the government, which is a common reproach to all, but also performs on your behalf the ancestral sacrifices at Delphi?

> Greek: 3.29. καὶ μὴν οὐδὲ τὸν Πυθέαν παραλείψω τὸν μέχρι τῆς παρόδου δημοτικόν, μετὰ ταῦτα δʼ ἕτοιμον εἰς τὰ καθʼ ὑμῶν πάντα. τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδεν τοῦτον, ὅτε μὲν τὴν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν τάξιν ἔχων εἰς τὸ πολιτεύεσθαι παρῄει, ὡς δοῦλον ἐλαυνόμενον καὶ γραφὴν ξενίας φεύγοντα καὶ μικροῦ πραθένθʼ ὑπὸ τούτων οἷς νῦν ὑπηρετῶν τοὺς κατʼ ἐμοῦ λόγους ἔγραφεν, ἐπειδὴ δʼ ἃ κατηγόρει τότε τῶν ἄλλων, νῦν αὐτὸς πράττει, εὐποροῦντα μὲν οὕτως ὥστε δύʼ ἔχειν ἑταίρας, αἳ μέχρι φθόης καλῶς ποιοῦσαι προπεπόμφασιν αὐτόν, πέντε τάλαντα δʼ ὀφλόντα ῥᾷον ἐκτεῖσαι ἢ πέντε δραχμὰς ἂν ἔδειξε πρότερον, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις παρʼ ὑμῶν, τοῦ δήμου, οὐ μόνον τῆς πολιτείας μετειληφότα, ὃ κοινὸν ὄνειδός ἐστιν ἅπασιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ θύονθʼ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν τὰς πατρίους θυσίας ἐν Δελφοῖς;

[¶16] 3.31. So, when it is possible for all to behold object-lessons of such a kind and on such a scale, from which everyone would conclude that it does not pay to espouse the cause of the people, I begin to fear that some day you may become destitute of men who will speak on your behalf, especially when of the friends of the people some are being taken away by man’s natural destiny, by accident, and by the lapse of time, such as Nausicles, Chares, Diotimus, Menestheus, and Eudoxus, and also Euthydicus, Ephialtes and Lycurgus, and others you citizens have cast forth, such as Charidemus, Philocles and myself, men to whom not even you yourselves believe others to be superior in loyalty, though if you think certain others are equally loyal I feel no jealousy, and it would be my desire, provided only that you will deal fairly with them and that they shall not meet with the treatment accorded us, that their number may be legion.

> Greek: 3.31. ὅταν οὖν τοιαῦτα καὶ τηλικαῦτα πᾶσιν ἰδεῖν ᾖ παραδείγματα, ἀφʼ ὧν ἃ λυσιτελεῖ προελέσθαι πᾶς τις ἂν κρίναι, φοβοῦμαι μήποτʼ ἔρημοι τῶν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἐρούντων γένησθε, ἄλλως τε καὶ ὅταν τῶν δημοτικῶν τοὺς μὲν ἡ καθήκουσα μοῖρα καὶ ἡ τύχη καὶ ὁ χρόνος παραιρῆται, οἷον Ναυσικλέα καὶ Χάρητα καὶ Διότιμον καὶ Μενεσθέα καὶ Εὔδοξον, ἔτι δʼ Εὐθύδικον καὶ Ἐφιάλτην καὶ Λυκοῦργον, τοὺς δʼ ὑμεῖς προῆσθε, ὥσπερ Χαρίδημον καὶ Φιλοκλέα καὶ ἐμέ.

[¶17] 3.32. When however, you give the public such object-lessons as the present, who is there who will be willing to give himself to this line of duty with sincere intentions toward you? Yet surely you will find no dearth of those who will at least pretend to do so, for in the past there has been none. Heaven forbid that I should live to see them unmasked like those men, who, though now openly pursuing policies they then repudiated, feel before none of you either fear or shame! You should ponder these facts, men of Athens, and not treat loyal men with disdain nor be persuaded by those who are leading the country on the way to bitter hatreds and cruelty.

> Greek: 3.32. ὧν ἑτέρους εὐνουστέρους οὐδʼ αὐτοὶ νομίζετε· εἰ δʼ ὁμοίους τινάς, οὐ φθονῶ, βουλοίμην δʼ ἄν, εἴπερ ὑμεῖς δικαίως αὐτοῖς προσοίσεσθε καὶ μὴ ταὔθʼ ἅπερ ἡμεῖς πείσονται, ὡς πλείστους αὐτοὺς γενέσθαι. ἀλλʼ ὅταν γε τοιαῦθʼ οἷα τὰ νῦν, παραδείγματʼ ἐκφέρητε, τίς ἔστιν ὅστις εἰς ταύτην τὴν τάξιν ἑαυτὸν γνησίως ὑμῖν ἐθελήσει δοῦναι; ἀλλὰ μὴν τῶν γε προσποιησομένων οὐκ ἀπορήσετε· οὐδὲ γὰρ πρότερον. μὴ γένοιτο δʼ ἰδεῖν ἐξελεγχθέντας αὐτοὺς ὁμοίως ἐκείνοις, οἳ φανερῶς ἃ τότʼ ἠρνοῦντο νῦν πολιτευόμενοι οὐδένʼ ὑμῶν οὔτε δεδοίκασιν οὔτʼ αἰσχύνονται. ἃ χρὴ λογιζομένους, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, μήτε τῶν εὔνων ὀλιγωρεῖν μήτε τοῖς προάγουσιν ἐς πικρίαν καὶ ὠμότητα τὴν πόλιν πείθεσθαι.

[¶18] 3.34. For our present difficulties require goodwill and humanity far more than dissension and malice, an excess of which certain persons turn to their advantage, pursuing their business to your detriment with the expectation of returns, of which I pray that their calculations may cheat them. If any one of you ridicules these warnings he must be filled with a profound simplicity. For if, observing that things have happened which no one could have expected, he imagines things could not happen now which have happened already before now, when the people were set at variance with those who spoke in their behalf by men suborned for the purpose, has he not taken leave of his senses?

> Greek: 3.34. πολὺ γὰρ μᾶλλον εὐνοίας καὶ φιλανθρωπίας τὰ παρόντα πράγματα δεῖται ἢ ταραχῆς καὶ δυσμενείας, ὧν ὑπερβολῇ χρώμενοί τινες ἐργολαβοῦσι καθʼ ὑμῶν εἰς ὑποδοχὴν πραγμάτων, ὧν διαψεύσειεν αὐτοὺς ὁ λογισμός. εἰ δέ τις ὑμῶν διασύρει ταῦτα, πολλῆς ἐστιν εὐηθείας μεστός. εἰ γάρ, ἃ μηδεὶς ἂν ἤλπισεν, ὁρῶν γεγενημένα, ἃ καὶ πρότερον γέγονε τοῦ δήμου πρὸς τοὺς ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ λέγοντας ὑπʼ ἀνθρώπων ἐγκαθέτων διαβληθέντος, νῦν μὴ ἂν οἴεται γενέσθαι, πῶς οὐ τετύφωται;

[¶19] 3.35. If I were present in person I should be trying to explain these matters to you by word of mouth, but since I am in such a plight as I pray may be the lot of anyone who has uttered falsehoods against me to my ruin, I have sent my message in the form of a letter, in the first place, having supreme regard for your honor and your advantage and, in the second, because the same goodwill that I felt toward Lycurgus during his lifetime I believe it right to show that I feel also toward his sons.

> Greek: 3.35. ταῦτʼ εἰ μὲν παρῆν, λέγων ἂν ὑμᾶς ἐδίδασκον· ἐπειδὴ δʼ ἐν τοιούτοις εἰμὶ ἐν οἷς, εἴ τις ἐμοῦ κατέψευσται ἐφʼ οἷς ἀπόλωλα, γένοιτο, γράψας ἐπέσταλκα, πρώτου μὲν καὶ πλεῖστον λόγον ποιούμενος τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ τοῦ συμφέροντος ὑμῖν, δεύτερον δʼ ὅτι τὴν αὐτὴν εὔνοιαν ἣν πρὸς ζῶντα Λυκοῦργον εἶχον, δίκαιον εἶναι νομίζω καὶ πρὸς τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ φαίνεσθαι ἔχων.

[¶20] 3.36. If it has occurred to anyone that I have a great abundance of troubles of my own, I should not hesitate to say to him that I am as much concerned to defend your interests and to forsake none of my friends as I am about my own deliverance. Therefore, it is not out of the abundance of my troubles that I do this, but, actuated by one and the same earnestness and conviction, I devote my efforts to furthering both these interests of mine and those of yours with a single purpose, and the abundance I possess is of such a kind as I pray may abound for those who plot any evil against you. And on these topics I have said enough.

> Greek: 3.36. εἰ δέ τῳ παρέστηκεν ὡς πολύ μοι περίεστιν τῶν ἐμαυτοῦ πραγμάτων, οὐκ ἂν ὀκνήσαιμι πρὸς τοῦτον εἰπεῖν ὅτι τῶν συμφερόντων ὑμῖν καὶ τοῦ μηδένα τῶν φίλων ἐγκαταλείπειν ὁμοίως ὥσπερ τῆς ἐμαυτοῦ σωτηρίας φροντίζω. οὔκουν ἐκ τοῦ περιόντος ταῦτα ποιῶ, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς σπουδῆς καὶ προαιρέσεως καὶ ταῦτα κἀκεῖνα μιᾷ γνώμῃ πραγματεύομαι. περίεστιν δέ μοι τοιαῦτα, οἷα τοῖς κακόν τι νοοῦσιν ὑμῖν περιγένοιτο. καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων ἱκανά.

[¶21] 3.37. This complaint, inspired by goodwill and affection, though now in outline only, I would gladly enlarge upon a little later in a long letter, which, if only I am alive, you may expect, unless justice shall be done me by you before that time, you who, O—what shall I say so as to seem neither to offend nor to fall short of the truth?—you all too unfeeling men, who neither before the rest of the world nor before yourselves feel shame, who upon the same charges upon which you acquitted Aristogeiton have banished Demosthenes, and the privileges which those who dare to set your authority at naught are permitted to have without your leave you do not grant to me, to enable me, if I can, by calling in the sums owing me and levying contributions upon my friends, to adjust my obligations to you and not, with old age and exile as the guerdon of my past toils in your behalf, be seen wandering from place to place on alien soil, a common reproach to all who have wronged me.

> Greek: 3.37. ἡδέως δʼ ἂν ὑμῖν ἐπʼ εὐνοίᾳ καὶ φιλίᾳ μέμψιν ποιησαίμην νῦν μὲν ἐν κεφαλαίῳ, μικρὸν δʼ ὕστερον διʼ ἐπιστολῆς μακρᾶς, ἣν ἐάνπερ ἐγὼ ζῶ προσδοκᾶτε, ἂν μὴ τὰ δίκαια γένηται μοι παρʼ ὑμῶν πρότερον· οἵτινες, ὦ ʽτί ἂν εἰπὼν μήθʼ ἁμαρτεῖν δοκοίην μήτε ψευσαίμην;ʼ λίαν ὀλίγωροι, οὔτε τοὺς ἄλλους οὔθʼ ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς αἰσχύνεσθε, ἐφʼ οἷς Ἀριστογείτονʼ ἀφείκατε, ἐπὶ τούτοις Δημοσθένην ἐκβεβληκότες, καὶ ἃ τοῖς τολμῶσιν μηδὲν ὑμῶν φροντίζειν μηδὲ λαβοῦσι παρʼ ὑμῶν ἔξεστιν ἔχειν, ταῦτʼ οὐ διδόντες ἐμοί, ἵνα, ἂν οἷός τʼ ὦ, τά τʼ ὀφειλόμενʼ εἰσπράξας καὶ τοὺς φίλους ἐρανίσας τὰ πρὸς ὑμᾶς διοικήσω, καὶ μὴ γῆρας καὶ φυγὴν ἐπίχειρα τῶν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν πεπονημένων ἔχων, κοινὸν ὄνειδος τῶν ἀδικησάντων, ἐπὶ ξένης περιιὼν ὁρῶμαι.

[¶22] 3.39. Although it was my wish that my return home might come about by way of an ordinance of gratitude and magnanimity on your part and that for myself I might secure a dismissal of the false charges unjustly lodged against me, asking only for immunity from imprisonment for such time as you have granted for the payment of the fine, yet these requests you do not grant and you demand, as it is reported to me, “Well, who is preventing him from being here and transacting this business?”

> Greek: 3.39. βουλομένου δέ μου ἐν μὲν ὑμετέρας χάριτος καὶ μεγαλοψυχίας τάξει τὴν οἴκαδέ μοι ἄφιξιν γενέσθαι, ἐμαυτῷ δὲ λύσιν τῆς γεγονυίας οὐ δικαίως βλασφημίας πορίσασθαι, καὶ μόνον αἰτοῦντος ἄδειαν ὅσονπερ χρόνον τὴν ἔκτεισιν δεδώκατε, ταῦτα μὲν οὐ συγχωρεῖτε, ἐρωτᾶτε δέ, ὡς ἀπαγγέλλεται πρὸς ἐμέ, "τίς οὖν αὐτὸν κωλύει παρεῖναι καὶ ταῦτα πράττειν;"

[¶23] 3.40. It is knowing how to feel shame, men of Athens, it is faring in a way unworthy of my public services in your behalf, and it is the loss of my property through those men on whose account I was persuaded in the first place to become surety for their payments in order that they might not have to pay double the sum of which they were unable to pay the original amount. From these men, could I but return with your goodwill, I might possibly recover part, even if not all, so as not to live sordidly the rest of my life, but if I come on such terms as those who talk in this way demand of me, I shall be the victim at one and the same time of ignominy, destitution and fear.

> Greek: 3.40. τὸ ἐπίστασθαι αἰσχύνεσθαι, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ τὸ ἀναξίως τῶν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν πεπολιτευμένων πράττειν, καὶ τὸ τὰ ὄντʼ ἀπολωλεκέναι διὰ τούτους ⟨οἷς⟩, ἵνα μὴ διπλᾶ καταθῶνται ἃ οὐκ ἠδύνανθʼ ἁπλᾶ, ἐπείσθην ὑπογράψασθαι ⟨πρὸς⟩ τὴν ἀρχὴν τὰς καταβολάς· παρʼ ὧν μετὰ μὲν τῆς ὑμετέρας εὐνοίας ἀφικόμενος μέρος, εἰ καὶ μὴ πάντα, ἴσως ἂν κομισαίμην, ὥστε μηδὲν ἀσχημονεῖν τὸ λοιπὸν τοῦ βίου, ἂν δʼ ὡς οἱ ταῦτα λέγοντες ἀξιοῦσί μʼ ἔλθω, ἅμʼ ἀδοξίᾳ καὶ ἀπορίᾳ καὶ φόβῳ συνέξομαι.

[¶24] 3.41. None of these considerations do you take into account but, grudging me the paltry words of a decree and an act of kindness, you will allow me to perish, if it so happen, through your inaction, for I could appeal to no others but you. In that day you will say that I have been shamefully mistreated, I know for a certainty, when it will do neither you nor myself any good, for assuredly you do not expect that I have funds apart from my real and personal property, from which I am separated; the rest of my assets I wish to assemble if in a spirit of humanity instead of spitefulness you will but give me leave to attend to this business unmolested.

> Greek: 3.41. ὧν οὐδὲν ὑμεῖς συλλογίζεσθε, ἀλλὰ ῥημάτων μοι καὶ φιλανθρωπίας φθονοῦντες, ἂν οὕτω τύχῃ, διʼ ὑμᾶς περιόψεσθʼ ἀπολόμενον· οὐ γὰρ ἂν δεηθείην ἄλλων ἢ ὑμῶν. καὶ τότε φήσετε δεινὰ πεπονθέναι με, ἀκριβῶς οἶδα, ὅτʼ οὔτʼ ἐμοὶ πλέον οὐδὲν οὔθʼ ὑμῖν ἔσται. οὐ γὰρ δὴ χρήματά γʼ εἶναι μοι προσδοκᾶτʼ ἔξω τῶν φανερῶν, ὧν ἀφίσταμαι. καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ βούλομαι συναγαγεῖν, ἐάν μοι μὴ φιλονίκως, ἀλλʼ ἀνθρωπίνως δῶτε τὸ πρὸς τούτοις ἀσφαλῶς εἶναι.

[¶25] 3.42. Neither will you ever show that I received money from Harpalus, for neither was I tried and proved guilty nor did I take money, and if you are looking for excuse to the notorious decision of the Council or to the Areopagus, recall to mind the trial of Aristogeiton and hide your heads in shame; because I have no milder injunction for those who have committed this offence against me.

> Greek: 3.42. οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ παρʼ Ἁρπάλου με λαβόντα δείξετε· οὔτε γὰρ ἠλέγχθην οὔτʼ ἔλαβον. εἰ δὲ τὸ περιφανὲς ἀξίωμα τῆς βουλῆς [ἢ τὸν Ἄρειον πάγον] προσβλέπετε, τῆς Ἀριστογείτονος κρίσεως ἀναμνησθέντες ἐγκαλύψασθε· οὐ γὰρ ἔχω τούτου πραότερον πρόσταγμα τοῖς τοιαῦτʼ ἐξημαρτηκόσιν εἰς ἐμέ.

[¶26] 3.43. For surely you will not claim it was just, after information was laid in the very same words by the same Council, for that man to be exonerated and me to be ruined; you are not so void of reason. For I do not deserve it; I am not that kind of a person nor worse than he, though I am unfortunate, thanks to you, I admit, for why not unfortunate when on top of my other calamities I must compare myself with Aristogeiton, and to make matters worse, a ruined man with one who has secured acquittal?

> Greek: 3.43. οὐ γὰρ δήπου τοῖς αὐτοῖς γε λόγοις ὑπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς βουλῆς ἀποφανθέντʼ ἐκεῖνον μὲν ἀφεῖσθαι δίκαιον εἶναι φήσετε, ἐμὲ δʼ ἀπολωλέναι· οὐχ οὕτως ὑμεῖς ἀλογίστως ἔχετε. οὔτε γὰρ ἄξιος οὔτʼ ἐπιτήδειος οὔτε χείρων, ἀτυχὴς μέντοι διʼ ὑμᾶς, ὁμολογῶ· πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἀτυχής, ᾧ πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις κακοῖς καὶ πρὸς Ἀριστογείτονʼ ἐμαυτὸν ἐξετάζειν συμβαίνει, καὶ ταῦτʼ ἀπολωλότι πρὸς σωτηρίας τετυχηκότα;

[¶27] 3.44. And do not assume from these words that it is anger that moves me, because I could not feel that way toward you. To those who are wronged, however, it brings a certain relief to tell their sorrows, just as it relieves those in pain to moan, because toward you I feel as much goodwill as I would pray you might have toward me. I have made this plain in everything and shall continue to do so, for I have been resolved from the beginning that it is the duty of every man in public life, if only he be a fair-minded citizen, so to feel toward all his fellow-citizens as children ought to feel toward their parents, and, while praying that he may find them perfectly reasonable, yet to bear with them in a spirit of kindliness as they are; because defeat under such circumstances is judged among right-minded men to be an honorable and befitting victory.

> Greek: 3.44. καὶ μή μʼ ὑπολαμβάνετʼ ὀργίζεσθαι τοῖς λόγοις τούτοις· οὐ γὰρ ἂν πάθοιμι τοῦτο πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐγώ· ἀλλʼ ἔχει τινὰ τις ἀδικουμένοις ῥᾳστώνην τὸ λέγειν ἃ πάσχουσιν, ὥσπερ τοῖς ἀλγοῦσι τὸ στένειν, ἐπεὶ τῇ γʼ εὐνοίᾳ οὕτως ἔχω πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὡς ὑμᾶς ἂν εὐξαίμην πρὸς ἐμέ. καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐν πᾶσιν πεποίηκα καὶ ποιήσω φανερόν.

[¶28] 3.45. Farewell. Demosthenes to the Council and the Assembly sends greeting. I hear that Theramenes has uttered various slanderous statements concerning me and in particular that he taunts me with being ill-fated. Now I am not astonished that this man should be ignorant that abusive language, which demonstrates no vice on the part of the one against whom it is spoken, carries no weight with fair-minded people. For if one who in his way of life is insolent, by birth is not a citizen, and was reared from childhood in a brothel, had even a faint perception in such matters, it would be more unintelligible than complete ignorance.

> Greek: 3.45. ἔγνωκα γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς παντὶ τῷ πολιτευομένῳ προσήκειν, ἄνπερ ᾖ δίκαιος πολίτης, ὥσπερ οἱ παῖδες πρὸς τοὺς γονέας, οὕτως πρὸς ἅπαντας τοὺς πολίτας ἔχειν, εὔχεσθαι μὲν ὡς εὐγνωμονεστάτων τυγχάνειν, φέρειν δὲ τοὺς ὄντας εὐμενῶς· ἡ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἧττα καλὴ καὶ προσήκουσα νίκη παρὰ τοῖς εὖ φρονοῦσι κρίνεται. εὐτυχεῖτε. Δημοσθένης τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δημῷ χαίρειν. ἀκούω περὶ ἐμοῦ Θηραμένην ἄλλους τε λόγους βλασφήμους εἰρηκέναι καὶ δυστυχίαν προφέρειν. τὸ μὲν οὖν τοῦτον ἀγνοεῖν ὅτι λοιδορίας, ἣ μηδεμίαν κακίαν, καθʼ ὅτου λέγεται, δείκνυσιν, οὐδέν ἐστʼ ὄφελος παρʼ εὖ φρονοῦσιν ἀνθρώποις, οὐχὶ θαυμάζω· τὸν γὰρ θρασὺν μὲν τῷ βίῳ, μὴ πολίτην δὲ τὴν φύσιν, ἐν ἐργαστηρίῳ δὲ τεθραμμένον ἐκ παιδός, αἰσθάνεσθαί τι τῶν τοιούτων ἀλογώτερον ἦν ἢ μὴ συνιέναι.

[¶29] 4.2. As for this man, If some day I return and am restored to my rights, I shall plan to have a talk with him about the drunken abuse he directs at me and at you, and I believe that, even if he is devoid of shame, I shall render him more self-restrained. To you, however, in the interest of the common good, I wish to make known by letter what statements I have to make about these matters. Listen to my words with all attention, for I think they are not only worth hearing but also worth remembering.

> Greek: 4.2. τούτῳ μὲν οὖν, ἐὰν ἀφίκωμαί ποτε καὶ σωθῶ, πειράσομαι διαλεχθῆναι περὶ ὧν εἰς ἐμὲ καὶ περὶ ὧν εἰς ὑμᾶς παροινεῖ, καὶ νομίζω, καίπερ οὐδὲν μετέχοντα τοῦ αἰσχύνεσθαι, μετριώτερον αὐτὸν ποιήσειν· ὑμῖν δὲ τοῦ κοινῇ συμφέροντος ἕνεκα βούλομαι διʼ ἐπιστολῆς, οὓς περὶ τούτων ἔχω λόγους, δηλῶσαι. οἷς πάνυ τὸν νοῦν προσέχοντες ἀκούσατε· οἴομαι γὰρ αὐτοὺς οὐκ ἀκοῆς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ μνήμης ἀξίους εἶναι.

[¶30] 4.3. As for me, I assume that your city is the most fortunate in the world and the dearest to the gods, and I know that Zeus of Dodona and Dione and the Pythian Apollo are always saying this in their oracles and confirming with the seal of their approval the opinion that good fortune has her abode in the city among you. Moreover, all that the gods reveal about coming events it is obvious that they prophesy; but the epithets based upon past events they apply to experiences of the past.

> Greek: 4.3. ἐγὼ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ὑμετέραν εὐτυχεστάτην πασῶν πόλεων ὑπολαμβάνω καὶ θεοφιλεστάτην, καὶ ταῦτʼ οἶδα καὶ τὸν Δία τὸν Δωδωναῖον καὶ τὴν Διώνην καὶ τὸν Ἀπόλλω τὸν Πύθιον ἀεὶ λέγοντας ἐν ταῖς μαντείαις καὶ προσεπισφραγιζομένους τὴν ἀγαθὴν τύχην ἐν τῇ πόλει εἶναι παρʼ ὑμῖν. ὅσα τοίνυν περὶ τῶν ἐπιόντων δηλοῦσιν οἱ θεοί, δῆλον ὡς προλέγουσιν· τὰς δʼ ἀπὸ τῶν παρεληλυθότων προσηγορίας ἐπὶ ταῖς γεγονυίαις πράξεσι τίθενται.

[¶31] 4.4. Now, what I have done as a public man among you belongs in the class of events already past, on the ground of which the gods have bestowed upon you the epithet fortunate. How, then, is it fair for those who followed advice to be denominated fortunate but the adviser to receive the opposite epithet? Unless someone should give this explanation, that for the common good fortune, of which I was the counsellor, it is the gods who vouch, and to think they lie would be sacrilege, but that the personal slander, which Theramenes has directed against me, it is an insolent, shameless and not even intelligent person who has uttered.

> Greek: 4.4. ἃ τοίνυν ἐγὼ πεπολίτευμαι παρʼ ὑμῖν, τῶν ἤδη γεγενημένων ἐστίν, ἀφʼ ὧν εὐτυχεῖς ὑμᾶς προσηγορεύκασιν οἱ θεοί. πῶς οὖν δίκαιον τοὺς μὲν πεισθέντας εὐτυχεῖς ὀνομάζεσθαι, τὸν δὲ πείσαντα τῆς ἐναντίας προσηγορίας τυγχάνειν; πλὴν εἰ τοῦτό τις εἴποι, τὴν μὲν κοινὴν εὐτυχίαν, ἧς ἐγὼ σύμβουλος, θεοὺς τοὺς λέγοντας εἶναι, οἷς οὐ θέμις ψεύδεσθαι, τὴν δʼ ἰδίαν βλασφημίαν, ᾗ κατʼ ἐμοῦ κέχρηται Θηραμένης, θρασὺν καὶ ἀναιδῆ καὶ οὐδὲ νοῦν ἔχοντʼ ἄνθρωπον εἰρηκέναι.

[¶32] 4.5. Now, it is not only by the words of the oracles coming from the gods that you will find the fortune you have enjoyed to be good but also by viewing it in the light of the facts themselves, if you will scan them rightly. For if as human beings you are willing to regard our affairs, you will find that our city, as a result of the policy I advised, has been very fortunate, but if you shall demand to receive those blessings which are reserved for the gods alone, you aim at the impossible.

> Greek: 4.5. οὐ τοίνυν μόνον ταῖς παρὰ τῶν θεῶν μαντείαις ἀγαθὴν οὖσαν εὑρήσεθʼ ᾗ κέχρησθε τύχῃ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων θεωροῦντες, ἂν ἐξετάζητʼ ὀρθῶς. ὑμεῖς γὰρ εἰ μὲν ὡς ἄνθρωποι τὰ πράγματα βούλεσθε θεωρεῖν, εὐτυχεστάτην εὑρήσετʼ ἀφʼ ὧν ἐγὼ συνεβούλευσα τὴν πόλιν γεγονυῖαν· εἰ δʼ ἃ τοῖς θεοῖς ἐξαίρεθʼ ὑπάρχει μόνοις, τούτων ἀξιώσετε τυγχάνειν, ἀδυνάτων ἐφίεσθε.

[¶33] 4.6. What, then, is reserved for gods but for men is impossible? To be in absolute control of all the blessings there are, both to possess them themselves and to bestow them upon others, and never in all eternity either to suffer anything bad or to look forward to suffering it. Next, these propositions having been laid down, as is proper, scan your blessings in comparison with those of the rest of mankind.

> Greek: 4.6. τί οὖν ἐστιν θεοῖς ἐξαίρετον, ἀνθρώποις δʼ οὐ δυνατόν; ἁπάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἐγκρατεῖς ὄντας κυρίους εἶναι καὶ αὐτοὺς ἔχειν καὶ δοῦναι τοῖς ἄλλοις, φλαῦρον δὲ μηδὲν μηδέποτʼ ἐν παντὶ τῷ αἰῶνι μήτε παθεῖν μήτε μελλῆσαι. καὶ μὴν ὑποκειμένων τούτων, ὥσπερ προσήκει, σκοπεῖτε τὰ ὑμέτερʼ αὐτῶν πρὸς τὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων.

[¶34] 4.7. No one, for instance, is so foolish as to assert that what has befallen either the Spartans, whom I never advised, or the Persians, whom I never even visited, is preferable to your present lot. I pass over the Cappadocians, the Syrians, and the beings who inhabit the land of India toward the ends of the earth, all of whom have had the misfortune to suffer many terrible and grievous afflictions.

> Greek: 4.7. οὐδεὶς γὰρ οὕτως ἐστὶν ἀγνώμων, ὅστις ἂν ἢ τὰ Λακεδαιμονίοις συμβεβηκότα, οἷς οὐκ ἐγὼ συνεβούλευον, ἢ τὰ Πέρσαις, πρὸς οὓς οὐδʼ ἀφικόμην πώποτε, αἱρετώτερα φήσειεν εἶναι τῶν ὑμῖν παρόντων. καὶ ἐῶ Καππαδόκας καὶ Σύρους καὶ τοὺς τὴν Ἰνδικὴν χώραν κατοικοῦντας ἀνθρώπους ἐπʼ ἔσχατα γῆς· οἷς ἅπασι συμβέβηκε πολλὰ καὶ δεινὰ πεπονθέναι καὶ χαλεπά.

[¶35] 4.8. O yes, by Zeus, all will agree that you are faring better than these, but worse, they declare, than the Thessalians, Argives and Arcadians, or certain others, who had the luck to be in alliance with Philip. But you have come off far better than these, not only because you have not been reduced to slavery—and yet what blessing equals that?—but also because, while all those are thought to be responsible for the evils that have befallen the Greeks through Philip and their enslavement, in consequence of which they are hated with good reason, you are seen to have struggled in defence of the Greeks at the expense of your lives, your property, your city, your territory and all you possess, in return for which you are entitled to glory and undying gratitude from all lovers of justice.

> Greek: 4.8. ἀλλὰ νὴ Δία τούτων μὲν ἄμεινον ὑμᾶς πράττειν ἅπαντες ὁμολογήσουσι, Θετταλῶν δὲ καὶ Ἀργείων καὶ Ἀρκάδων χεῖρον, ἤ τινων ἄλλων, οἷς ἐν συμμαχίᾳ συνέβη γενέσθαι Φιλίππῳ. ἀλλὰ τούτων καὶ πολὺ βέλτιον ἀπηλλάχατε, οὐ μόνον τῷ μὴ δεδουλευκέναι ʽκαίτοι τί τηλικοῦθʼ ἕτερον;ʼ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ τοὺς μὲν πάντας αἰτίους εἶναι δοκεῖν τῶν τοῖς Ἕλλησι κακῶν συμβεβηκότων διὰ Φιλίππου καὶ τῆς δουλείας, ἐξ ὧν εἰκότως μισοῦνται, ὑμᾶς δʼ ὁρᾶσθαι ὑπὲρ τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ σώμασι καὶ χρήμασι καὶ πόλει καὶ χώρᾳ καὶ πᾶσιν ἠγωνισμένους, ἀνθʼ ὧν εὔκλειαν εἰκὸς ὑπάρχειν καὶ χάριν ἀθάνατον παρὰ τῶν τὰ δίκαια βουλομένων ποιεῖν.

[¶36] 4.9. Therefore, as a result of the counsels I gave, it has been the city’s good fortune to fare best of all the states that resisted Philip and there is the added gain of standing in higher repute than those who co-operated with him.

> Greek: 4.9. οὐκοῦν ἀφʼ ὧν ἐγὼ συνεβούλευσα, τῶν μὲν ἀντιστάντων ἄριστα πράττειν τῇ πόλει συμβέβηκεν, τῶν δὲ συνηγωνισμένων ἐνδοξοτέραν εἶναι περίεστιν.

[¶37] 4.10. On these grounds, therefore, the gods, while giving favorable oracles to you, are turning back the unjust slander upon the head of him who utters it, and any man would recognize the facts if he chose to examine the practices in which he spends his life. For instance, he does by preference the very things that one might invoke upon him as a curse.

> Greek: 4.10. τοιγαροῦν ἐπὶ τούτοις οἱ θεοὶ τὰς μὲν μαντείας τὰς ἀγαθὰς ὑμῖν διδόασι, τὴν δʼ ἄδικον βλασφημίαν εἰς κεφαλὴν τῷ λέγοντι τρέπουσιν. γνοίη δʼ ἄν τις, εἰ προέλοιτʼ ἐξετάσαι τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματʼ ἐν οἷς ζῇ.

[¶38] 4.11. He is an enemy to his own parents but a friend to Pausanias the whoremonger, and though he swaggers like a man he allows himself to be used like a woman. He lords it over his own father but submits to degenerates. He regales his fancy with things by which all are disgusted, with foul language and with stories by which his hearers are pained; yet he never ceases to talk, as if he were a simple fellow and the soul of frankness.

> Greek: 4.11. ἃ γὰρ ἂν καταράσαιτό τις αὐτῷ, ταῦτʼ ἐκ προαιρέσεως ποιεῖ. ἐχθρὸς μέν ἐστι τοῖς γονεῦσι, φίλος δὲ Παυσανίᾳ τῷ πόρνῳ· καὶ θρασύνεται μὲν ὡς ἀνήρ, πάσχει δʼ ὡς γυνή· καὶ τοῦ μὲν πατρός ἐστι κρείττων, τῶν δʼ αἰσχρῶν ἥττων· οἷς δʼ ὑπὸ πάντων δυσχεραίνεται, τούτοις τὴν διάνοιαν ἀγάλλεται, αἰσχρορρημοσύνῃ καὶ τῷ διηγεῖσθαι ταῦτʼ ἐφʼ οἷς ἀλγοῦσιν οἱ ἀκούοντες· ὁ δʼ, ὡς ἀφελὴς καὶ παρρησίας μεστός, οὐ παύεται.

[¶39] 4.12. I would not have written this had I not wished to stir in you the recollection of the vices that attach to him. For many terrible and shameful things, which a man would shrink from telling and would guard against mentioning in writing and, as I think, would be disgusted to hear of, each one of you, reminded by these words, knows to attach to this man, so that nothing indecent has been uttered by me and this man upon sight is a reminder to all of his own vices. Farewell.

> Greek: 4.12. καὶ ταῦτʼ οὐκ ἂν ἔγραψα, εἰ μὴ κινῆσαι τὴν ἐν ὑμῖν μνήμην τῶν προσόντων αὐτῷ κακῶν ἠβουλόμην. ἃ γὰρ εἰπεῖν ἄν τις ὀκνήσαι καὶ γράψαι φυλάξαιτʼ ἄν, οἶμαι δὲ κἂν ἀκούσαντα δυσχερᾶναι, ταῦτʼ ἀπὸ τούτων μνησθεὶς οἶδεν ἕκαστος ὑμῶν πολλὰ καὶ δεινὰ καὶ αἰσχρὰ τούτῳ προσόντα, ὥστʼ ἐμοί τε μηδὲν ἀναιδὲς εἰρῆσθαι, καὶ τοῦτον ὑπόμνημα τῶν ἑαυτοῦ κακῶν ὀφθέντα πᾶσιν εἶναι. εὐτυχεῖτε.

[¶40] 5.1. Demosthenes sends his good wishes to Heracleodorus. I am at a loss to know whether I ought to believe or disbelieve the news that Menecrates brings me. For he said that information had been laid against Epitimus, that Aratus had taken him to prison and that you were supporting the prosecution and were the most uncompromising of all toward him. I do beseech you in the name of Zeus the god of friendship and by all the gods not to get me involved in any disagreeable and embarrassing predicament.

> Greek: 5.1. Δημοσθένης Ἡρακλεοδώρῳ εὖ πράττειν. οὔθʼ ὅπως χρὴ πιστεύειν οἷς ἀπήγγελλέ μοι Μενεκράτης οὔθʼ ὅπως ἀπιστεῖν, ἔχω. ἔφη γὰρ Ἐπίτιμον ἐνδεδεῖχθαι μὲν καὶ ἀπῆχθαι ὑπʼ Ἀράτου, σὲ δʼ ἀγωνίζεσθαι καὶ ἁπάντων αὐτῷ χαλεπώτατον εἶναι. δέομαι δή σου πρὸς Διὸς ξενίου καὶ πάντων τῶν θεῶν, μή με καταστήσῃς ἀηδεῖ καὶ δεινῷ μηδενὶ περιπετῆ.

[¶41] 5.2. For be well assured that, apart from my concern for the safety of Epitimus and my belief that it will be a great misfortune if anything should happen to him and you should be partly responsible for it, I am ashamed to face people who are familiar with the reports I have been making to everybody concerning yourself. I was convinced that I spoke the truth, not because I possessed confirmation from having associated with you, but because I observed that, while gaining some renown, you were also glad to have an education, and that too in the school of Plato, the one that really has nothing to do with getting the better of people and the quackeries that concern themselves with this, but has been demonstrated to aim at the highest excellence and perfect justice in all things.

> Greek: 5.2. εὖ γὰρ ἴσθι, χωρὶς τοῦ μέλειν μοι τῆς Ἐπιτίμου σωτηρίας καὶ νομίσαι μεγάλην ἂν συμφοράν, εἴ τι πάθοι καὶ τούτου σὺ συναίτιος εἴης, αἰσχύνομαι τοὺς συνειδότας μοι τοὺς λόγους οὓς ἐγὼ περὶ σοῦ πρὸς ἅπαντας ἀνθρώπους ἔλεγον, πεπεικὼς ἐμαυτὸν ἀληθῆ λέγειν, οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ πεπλησιακέναι σοι πεῖραν ἔχων, ἀλλʼ ὁρῶν ὅτι δόξης ἐπιτυγχάνων καὶ παιδείαν ἀπεδέχου, καὶ ταῦτα τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς Πλάτωνος διατριβῆς, ἥπερ ἐστὶν ὡς ἀληθῶς τῶν μὲν πλεονεκτημάτων καὶ τῶν περὶ ταῦτα σοφισμάτων ἔξω, τοῦ βελτίστου δὲ καὶ τοῦ δικαιοτάτου πάνθʼ ἕνεκʼ ἐξητασμένη·

[¶42] 5.3. By the gods I swear that it is impious for a man who has shared in this instruction not to be free from all deception and honest in all dealings.

> Greek: 5.3. ἧς μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς τῷ μετασχόντι μὴ οὐχὶ ἀψευδεῖν καὶ πρὸς ἅπαντας ἀγαθῷ εἶναι οὐχ ὅσιον ἡγοῦμαι.

[¶43] 5.4. It would also be to me one of the most grievous disappointments if, after having started out to feel friendly toward you, I should be compelled to take the opposite decision instead, and if I assume that I have been slighted and deceived, even if I shall deny it, believe me, it will be so.

> Greek: 5.4. γένοιτο δʼ ἄν μοι κἀκεῖνο τῶν χαλεπωτάτων, εἰ παρωρμηκὼς ἐμαυτὸν εὐνοϊκῶς ἔχειν σοι τὴν ἐναντίαν γνώμην μεταλαβεῖν ἀναγκασθείην, οἷα δὴ ὑπολαμβάνων παρεωρᾶσθαι καὶ πεφενακίσθαι. κἂν μὴ φῶ, νόμιζέ μʼ οὕτως ἕξειν.

[¶44] 5.5. If you have looked down upon us because we are not yet among the foremost men, reflect that you too were once a young man of the same age as we are now, and that you have reached your present position through speech and action in public life. Such success may attend me also. For deliberative oratory I have mastered already and, with Fortune lending a hand, the practical experience also may follow.

> Greek: 5.5. εἰ δʼ ἡμῶν καταπεφρόνηκας ὅτι τῶν πρώτων οὐκ ἐσμέν πω, λόγισαι ὅτι καὶ σύ ποτʼ ἦσθα νέος καὶ τὴν ἡλικίαν εἶχες ἣν ἡμεῖς νῦν, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ συμβουλεύειν καὶ πράττειν γεγένησαι τηλικοῦτος. κἂν ἡμῖν τοῦτο συμβαίη. τὸ μὲν γὰρ εὖ βουλεύεσθαι πάρεστιν, τῆς δὲ τύχης συλλαμβανούσης καὶ τοὔργον γένοιτʼ ἄν. καλὸς οὖν ἔρανος χάρις δικαία· ἣν καὶ σὺ ποίησαι πρὸς ἐμέ.

[¶45] 5.6. Now a fine tribute, a just return. Please make me this recompense. Neither allow yourself to be led by one of those whose judgement is inferior to your own nor submit to them, but try to bring those men around to your way of thinking, and so conduct yourself that we may not have to give up any of our judgements of you that were assumed to be true, but that for Epitimus some deliverance may be found and release from his perils. I too shall be on hand at whatever time you shall say is the fitting moment. Send me a written message or rather command me as a friend. Farewell.

> Greek: 5.6. καὶ μηδʼ ὑφʼ ἑνὸς τῶν σοῦ φρονούντων χεῖρον ἄγου μηδʼ ἡττῶ, ἀλλʼ ἐκείνους ἄγʼ ἐπὶ τὰ σοὶ δοκοῦντα· καὶ πρᾶττε οὕτως ὅπως μηδενὸς τῶν ὁμολογηθέντων στερηθῶμεν, ἀλλʼ Ἐπιτίμῳ γένηται σωτηρία τις καὶ ἀπαλλαγὴ τῶν κινδύνων. παρέσομαι δʼ εἰς τὸν χρόνον κἀγώ, καθʼ ὃν ⟨ἂν⟩ σὺ φῇς καιρὸν εἶναι. γράψας δέ μοι πέμψον, ἢ καὶ ὡς φίλῳ ἐπίστελλε. εὐτύχει.

[¶46] 6.1. Demosthenes to the Council and the Assembly sends greeting. A letter has come from Antiphilus to the councillors of the allies, which, while satisfactorily phrased for those who wish to have good news in prospect, leaves many items unacceptable to those who toady to Antipater. These men, taking along with them the dispatch from Antipater that came to Corinth addressed to Deinarchus, have filled all the cities in the Peloponnesus with such reports as I pray that the gods may turn back upon their own heads.

> Greek: 6.1. Δημοσθένης τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δημῷ χαίρειν. ἦλθεν ἐπιστολὴ παρʼ Ἀντιφίλου πρὸς τοὺς τῶν συμμάχων συνέδρους, τοῖς μὲν βουλομένοις ἀγαθὰ προσδοκᾶν ἱκανῶς γεγραμμένη, τοῖς δʼ ὑπηρετοῦσιν Ἀντιπάτρῳ πολλοὺς καὶ δυσχερεῖς ἀπολείπουσα λόγους, οἳ παραλαβόντες τὰ παρʼ Ἀντιπάτρου γράμματα πρὸς Δείναρχον εἰς Κόρινθον ἐλθόντα, ἁπάσας τὰς ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ πόλεις τοιούτων λόγων ἔπλησαν οἵων εἰς κεφαλὴν αὐτοῖς τρέψειαν οἱ θεοί.

[¶47] 6.2. The man who now presents himself to you along with the bearer of this letter from me, having come from Polemaestus to the latter’s brother Epinicus, a man well disposed toward you and a friend of mine, was by him in turn brought to me. After I heard his story it seemed to me best to send him to you in order that, having heard a clear account of all that had happened in the camp from one who was present in the battle, you may be of good cheer for the present and assume that, the gods being willing, the final outcome will be as you wish. Farewell.

> Greek: 6.2. ἀφικομένου δὲ τοῦ νῦν ἥκοντος μετὰ τοῦ παρʼ ἐμοῦ φέροντος γράμματα παρὰ Πολεμαίστου πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἐπίνικον, ἄνδρʼ ὑμῖν εὔνουν καὶ ἐμοὶ φίλον, κἀκείνου πρὸς ἔμʼ ἀγαγόντος, ἀκούσαντί μοι ἃ ἔλεγεν ἐδόκει πρὸς ὑμᾶς αὐτὸν ἀποστεῖλαι, ὅπως πάντα σαφῶς ἀκούσαντες τὰ ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ γεγονότα τοῦ περὶ τὴν μάχην παραγεγενημένου τό τʼ εἰς τὸ παρὸν θαρρῆτε, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν θεῶν θελόντων ὡς βούλεσθʼ ἕξειν ὑπολαμβάνητε. εὐτυχεῖτε.