107. Do you think it was a trifling relief I gave to the poor, or a trifling sum that the rich would have spent to escape their obligation? I pride myself not only on my refusal of compromise and on my acquittal, but also on having enacted a beneficial law and proved it such by experience. During the whole war, while the squadrons were organized under my regulations, no trierarch made petition as aggrieved, or appeared as a suppliant in the dockyard temple, or was imprisoned by the Admiralty, and no ship was either abandoned at sea and lost to the state, or left in harbor as unseaworthy.
107. ἆρα μικρὰ βοηθῆσαι τοῖς πένησιν ὑμῶν δοκῶ, ἢ μίκρʼ ἀναλῶσαι ἂν τοῦ μὴ τὰ δίκαια ποιεῖν οἱ πλούσιοι; οὐ τοίνυν μόνον τῷ μὴ καθυφεῖναι ταῦτα σεμνύνομαι, οὐδὲ τῷ γραφεὶς ἀποφυγεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ συμφέροντα θεῖναι τὸν νόμον καὶ τῷ πεῖραν ἔργῳ δεδωκέναι. πάντα γὰρ τὸν πόλεμον τῶν ἀποστόλων γιγνομένων κατὰ τὸν νόμον τὸν ἐμόν, οὐχ ἱκετηρίαν ἔθηκε τριήραρχος οὐδεὶς πώποθʼ ὡς ἀδικούμενος παρʼ ὑμῖν, οὐκ ἐν Μουνιχίας ἐκαθέζετο, οὐχ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποστολέων ἐδέθη, οὐ τριήρης οὔτʼ ἔξω καταλειφθεῖσʼ ἀπώλετο τῇ πόλει, οὔτʼ αὐτοῦ ἀπελείφθη οὐ δυναμένη ἀνάγεσθαι.
108. Such incidents were frequent under the old regulations, because the public services fell upon poor men, and impossible demands were often made. I transferred the naval obligations from needy to well-to-do people, and so the duty was always discharged. I also claim credit for the very fact that all the measures I adopted brought renown and distinction and strength to the city, and that no measure of mine was invidious, or vexatious, or spiteful, or shabby and unworthy of Athens.
108. καίτοι κατὰ τοὺς προτέρους νόμους ἅπαντα ταῦτʼ ἐγίγνετο. τὸ δʼ αἴτιον, ἐν τοῖς πένησιν ἦν τὸ λῃτουργεῖν· πολλὰ δὴ τἀδύνατα συνέβαινεν. ἐγὼ δʼ ἐκ τῶν ἀπόρων εἰς τοὺς εὐπόρους μετήνεγκα τὰς τριηραρχίας· πάντʼ οὖν τὰ δέοντʼ ἐγίγνετο. καὶ μὴν καὶ κατʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτʼ ἄξιός εἰμʼ ἐπαίνου τυχεῖν, ὅτι πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα προῃρούμην πολιτεύματα, ἀφʼ ὧν ἅμα δόξαι καὶ τιμαὶ καὶ δυνάμεις συνέβαινον τῇ πόλει· βάσκανον δὲ καὶ πικρὸν καὶ κακόηθες οὐδέν ἐστι πολίτευμʼ ἐμόν, οὐδὲ ταπεινόν, οὐδὲ τῆς πόλεως ἀνάξιον.
109. You will find that I maintained the same character both in domestic and in Hellenic policy. At home I never preferred the gratitude of the rich to the claims of the poor; in foreign affairs I never coveted the gifts and the friendship of Philip rather than the common interests of all Greece.
109. ταὐτὸ τοίνυν ἦθος ἔχων ἔν τε τοῖς κατὰ τὴν πόλιν πολιτεύμασι καὶ ἐν τοῖς Ἑλληνικοῖς φανήσομαι· οὔτε γὰρ ἐν τῇ πόλει τὰς παρὰ τῶν πλουσίων χάριτας μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ τῶν πολλῶν δίκαιʼ εἱλόμην, οὔτʼ ἐν τοῖς Ἑλληνικοῖς τὰ Φιλίππου δῶρα καὶ τὴν ξενίαν ἠγάπησα ἀντὶ τῶν κοινῇ πᾶσι τοῖς Ἕλλησι συμφερόντων.
110. My remaining task, I think, is to speak of the proclamation and of the audit; for I hope that what I have already said has been sufficient to satisfy you that my policy was the best, and that I have been the people’s friend, and zealous in your service. Yet I pass by the most important of my public actions, first, because I conceive that my next duty is to submit my explanations in respect of the actual charge of illegality, secondly, because, though I say nothing further about the rest of my policy, your own knowledge will serve my purpose equally well.
110. ἡγοῦμαι τοίνυν λοιπὸν εἶναί μοι περὶ τοῦ κηρύγματος εἰπεῖν καὶ τῶν εὐθυνῶν· τὸ γὰρ ὡς τἄριστά τʼ ἔπραττον καὶ διὰ παντὸς εὔνους εἰμὶ καὶ πρόθυμος εὖ ποιεῖν ὑμᾶς, ἱκανῶς ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων δεδηλῶσθαί μοι νομίζω. καίτοι τὰ μέγιστά γε τῶν πεπολιτευμένων καὶ πεπραγμένων ἐμαυτῷ παραλείπω, ὑπολαμβάνων πρῶτον μὲν ἐφεξῆς τοὺς περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ παρανόμου λόγους ἀποδοῦναί με δεῖν, εἶτα, κἂν μηδὲν εἴπω περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν πολιτευμάτων, ὁμοίως παρʼ ὑμῶν ἑκάστῳ τὸ συνειδὸς ὑπάρχειν μοι.
111. As for Aeschines’ topsy-turvy miscellany of arguments about the statutes transcribed for comparison, I vow to Heaven that I do not believe that you understand the greater part of them, and I am sure they were quite unintelligible to me. I can only offer a plain, straightforward plea on the rights of the matter. So far from claiming, as he invidiously suggested just now, that I am not to be called to account, I fully admit that all my life long I have been accountable for all my official acts and public counsels;
111. τῶν μὲν οὖν λόγων, οὓς οὗτος ἄνω καὶ κάτω διακυκῶν ἔλεγε περὶ τῶν παραγεγραμμένων νόμων, οὔτε μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς ὑμᾶς οἶμαι μανθάνειν οὔτʼ αὐτὸς ἐδυνάμην συνεῖναι τοὺς πολλούς· ἁπλῶς δὲ τὴν ὀρθὴν περὶ τῶν δικαίων διαλέξομαι. τοσούτου γὰρ δέω λέγειν ὡς οὐκ εἴμʼ ὑπεύθυνος, ὃ νῦν οὗτος διέβαλλε καὶ διωρίζετο, ὥσθʼ ἅπαντα τὸν βίον ὑπεύθυνος εἶναι ὁμολογῶ ὧν ἢ διακεχείρικʼ ἢ πεπολίτευμαι παρʼ ὑμῖν.
112. but for the donations that I promised and gave at my own expense I do say that I am not accountable at any time— you hear that, Aeschines—nor is any other man, though he be one of the nine archons. Is there any law so compact of iniquity and illiberality that, when a man out of sheer generosity has given away his own money, it defrauds him of the gratitude he has earned, drags him before a set of prying informers, and gives them authority to hold an audit of his free donations? There is no such law. If he contradicts me, let him produce the law, and I will be satisfied and hold my peace.
112. ὧν μέντοι γʼ ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας οὐσίας ἐπαγγειλάμενος δέδωκα τῷ δήμῳ, οὐδεμίαν ἡμέραν ὑπεύθυνος εἶναί φημι (ἀκούεις Αἰσχίνη;) οὐδʼ ἄλλον οὐδένα, οὐδʼ ἂν τῶν ἐννέʼ ἀρχόντων τις ὢν τύχῃ. τίς γάρ ἐστι νόμος τοσαύτης ἀδικίας καὶ μισανθρωπίας μεστὸς ὥστε τὸν δόντα τι τῶν ἰδίων καὶ ποιήσαντα πρᾶγμα φιλάνθρωπον καὶ φιλόδωρον τῆς χάριτος μὲν ἀποστερεῖν, εἰς τοὺς συκοφάντας δʼ ἄγειν, καὶ τούτους ἐπὶ τὰς εὐθύνας ὧν ἔδωκεν ἐφιστάναι; οὐδὲ εἷς. εἰ δέ φησιν οὗτος, δειξάτω, κἀγὼ στέρξω καὶ σιωπήσομαι.
113. But no, the law does not exist, men of Athens; only this man, with his pettifogging spite, because, when I was in charge of the theatric fund, I added gifts of my own to that fund, says, “Ctesiphon gave him a vote of thanks before he had rendered his accounts.” Yes, but the vote of thanks did not concern the accounts which I had to render; it was for my own donations, you pettifogger! “But you were also a Commissioner of Fortifications.” Why, that is how I earned my vote of thanks: I made a present of the money I had spent, and did not charge it to the public account. The account requires an audit and checkers; the benefaction deserves gratitude and formal thanks, and that is the very reason for Ctesiphon’s proposition.
113. ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἔστιν, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἀλλʼ οὗτος συκοφαντῶν, ὅτι ἐπὶ τῷ θεωρικῷ τότʼ ὢν ἐπέδωκα τὰ χρήματα, ἐπῄνεσεν αὐτό φησίν ὑπεύθυνον ὄντα οὐ περὶ τούτων γʼ οὐδενὸς ὧν ὑπεύθυνος ἦν, ἀλλʼ ἐφʼ οἷς ἐπέδωκα, ὦ συκοφάντα. ἀλλὰ καὶ τειχοποιὸς ἦσθα καὶ διά γε τοῦτο ὀρθῶς ἐπῃνούμην, ὅτι τἀνηλωμένʼ ἔδωκα καὶ οὐκ ἐλογιζόμην. ὁ μὲν γὰρ λογισμὸς εὐθυνῶν καὶ τῶν ἐξετασόντων προσδεῖται, ἡ δὲ δωρειὰ χάριτος καὶ ἐπαίνου δικαία ἐστὶ τυγχάνειν· διόπερ ταῦτʼ ἔγραψεν ὁδὶ περὶ ἐμοῦ.
114. That this distinction is recognized both in the statutes and in your moral feelings I can prove by many instances. Nausicles, for example, has been repeatedly decorated by you for the money he spent out of his own pocket when serving as military commander. When Diotimus, and on another occasion Charidemus, had made a present of shields, they were crowned. Then there is our friend Neoptolemus, who has received distinctions for donations given by him as Commissioner for sundry public works. It would be quite intolerable that it should either be illegal for a man holding any office to make presents to the government, or that, when he has made them, instead of receiving thanks, he should be subjected to an audit.
114. ὅτι δʼ οὕτω ταῦτʼ οὐ μόνον ἐν τοῖς νόμοις, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς ὑμετέροις ἤθεσιν ὥρισται, ἐγὼ ῥᾳδίως πολλαχόθεν δείξω. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ Ναυσικλῆς στρατηγῶν ἐφʼ οἷς ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων προεῖτο πολλάκις ἐστεφάνωται ὑφʼ ὑμῶν· εἶθʼ ὅτε τὰς ἀσπίδας Διότιμος ἔδωκε καὶ πάλιν Χαρίδημος, ἐστεφανοῦντο· εἶθʼ οὑτοσὶ Νεοπτόλεμος πολλῶν ἔργων ἐπιστάτης ὤν, ἐφʼ οἷς ἐπέδωκε τετίμηται. σχέτλιον γὰρ ἂν εἴη τοῦτό γε, εἰ τῷ τινʼ ἀρχὴν ἄρχοντι ἢ διδόναι τῇ πόλει τὰ ἑαυτοῦ διὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν μὴ ἐξέσται, ἢ τῶν δοθέντων ἀντὶ τοῦ κομίσασθαι χάριν εὐθύνας ὑφέξει.
115. To prove the truth of my statement, please take and read the actual words of the decrees made in the cases I have cited. Read. (Sundry Decrees are read) “Archonship of Demonicus of Phlya, on the twenty-sixth day of Boedromion, with sanction of Council and People: Callias of Phrearrii proposed that the Council and People resolve to crown Nausicles, the commander of the infantry, because, when Philo, the official paymaster, was prevented by storms from sailing with pay for the two thousand Athenian infantry serving in Imbros to assist the Athenian residents in that island, he paid them from his private means, and did not send in a claim to the people; and that the crown be proclaimed at the Dionysia at the performance of the new tragedies.”
115. ὅτι τοίνυν ταῦτʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, λέγε τὰ ψηφίσματά μοι τὰ τούτοις γεγενημένʼ αὐτὰ λαβών. λέγε. ΨΗΦΙΣΜΑ. Ἄρχων Δημόνικος Φλυεύς, βοηδρομιῶνος ἕκτῃ μετʼ εἰκάδα, γνώμη βουλῆς καὶ δήμου, Καλλίας Φρεάρριος εἶπεν, ὅτι δοκεῖ τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ στεφανῶσαι Ναυσικλέα τὸν ἐπὶ τῶν ὅπλων, ὅτι Ἀθηναίων ὁπλιτῶν δισχιλίων ὄντων ἐν Ἴμβρῳ καὶ βοηθούντων τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν Ἀθηναίων τὴν νῆσον, οὐ δυναμένου Φίλωνος τοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς διοικήσεως κεχειροτονημένου διὰ τοὺς χειμῶνας πλεῦσαι καὶ μισθοδοτῆσαι τοὺς ὁπλίτας, ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας οὐσίας ἔδωκε καὶ οὐκ εἰσέπραξε τὸν δῆμον, καὶ ἀναγορεῦσαι τὸν στέφανον Διονυσίοις τραγῳδοῖς καινοῖς. ΕΤΕΡΟΝ ΨΗΦΙΣΜΑ.
116. “Proposed by Callias of Phrearrii, and put to vote by the presidents, with sanction of Council: that, whereas Charidemus, dispatched to Salamis in command of the infantry, and Diotimus, commanding the cavalry, when in the battle at the river some of the soldiers had been disarmed by the enemy, did at their own expense arm the younger men with eight hundred shields, it be resolved by the Council and People to crown Charidemus and Diotimus with a golden crown, and to proclaim it at the great Panathenaea during the gymnastic contest, and at the Dionysia at the performance of the new tragedies; and that the proclamation be entrusted to the judicial archons, the presidents, and the stewards of the festival.”
116. Εἶπε Καλλίας Φρεάρριος, πρυτάνεων λεγόντων, βουλῆς γνώμη· ἐπειδὴ Χαρίδημος ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν ὁπλιτῶν, ἀποσταλεὶς εἰς Σαλαμῖνα, καὶ Διότιμος ὁ ἐπὶ τῶν ἱππέων, ἐν τῇ ἐπὶ τοῦ ποταμοῦ μάχῃ τῶν στρατιωτῶν τινῶν ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων σκυλευθέντων, ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων ἀναλωμάτων καθώπλισαν τοὺς νεανίσκους ἀσπίσιν ὀκτακοσίαις, δεδόχθαι τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ στεφανῶσαι Χαρίδημον καὶ Διότιμον χρυσῷ στεφάνῳ, καὶ ἀναγορεῦσαι Παναθηναίοις τοῖς μεγάλοις ἐν τῷ γυμνικῷ ἀγῶνι καὶ Διονυσίοις τραγῳδοῖς καινοῖς· τῆς δὲ ἀναγορεύσεως ἐπιμεληθῆναι θεσμοθέτας, πρυτάνεις, ἀγωνοθέτας.
117. Every one of the persons mentioned, Aeschines, was liable to audit in respect of the office he held, but not of the services for which he was decorated. It follows that I am not liable; for, surely, I have the same rights under the same conditions as anybody else! I made donations. For those donations I am thanked, not being subject to audit for what I gave. I held office. Yes, and I have submitted to audit for my offices, though not for my gifts. Ah, but perhaps I was guilty of official misconduct? Well, the auditors brought me into court—and no complaint from you!
117. τούτων ἕκαστος, Αἰσχίνη, τῆς μὲν ἀρχῆς ἧς ἦρχεν ὑπεύθυνος ἦν, ἐφʼ οἷς δʼ ἐστεφανοῦτο οὐχ ὑπεύθυνος. οὐκοῦν οὐδʼ ἐγώ· ταὐτὰ γὰρ δίκαιʼ ἐστί μοι περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν τοῖς ἄλλοις δήπου. ἐπέδωκα· ἐπαινοῦμαι διὰ ταῦτα, οὐκ ὢν ὧν ἔδωχʼ ὑπεύθυνος. ἦρχον· καὶ δέδωκά γʼ εὐθύνας ἐκείνων, οὐχ ὧν ἐπέδωκα. νὴ Δίʼ, ἀλλʼ ἀδίκως ἦρξα. εἶτα παρών, ὅτε μʼ εἰσῆγον οἱ λογισταί, οὐ κατηγόρεις;
118. To prove that Aeschines himself testifies that I have been crowned for matters in which I was audit-free, take and read the whole of the decree that was drawn in my favor. The proof that his prosecution is vindictive will appear from those sentences in the provisional decree which he has not indicted. Read. (The Decree is read) “In the archonship of Euthycles, on the twenty-third day of Pyanepsion, the tribe Oeneis then holding the presidency, Ctesiphon, son of Leosthenes, of Anaphlystus, proposed that, whereas Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes, of Paeania, having been appointed superintendent of the repair of the fortifications, and having spent upon the works three talents from his private means, has made the same a benevolence to the people; and whereas, having been appointed treasurer of the Theatrical Fund, he gave to the representatives of all the tribes one hundred minas for sacrifices, it be resolved by the Council and People of Athens to commend the said Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes, of Paeania, for his merits and for the generosity which he has constantly displayed on every occasion towards the People of Athens, and to crown him with a golden crown, and to proclaim the crown in the theatre at the Dionysia at the performance of the new tragedies and that the proclamation be entrusted to the steward of the festival.”
118. ἵνα τοίνυν ἴδηθʼ ὅτι αὐτὸς οὗτός μοι μαρτυρεῖ ἐφʼ οἷς οὐχ ὑπεύθυνος ἦν ἐστεφανῶσθαι, λαβὼν ἀνάγνωθι τὸ ψήφισμʼ ὅλον τὸ γραφέν μοι. οἷς γὰρ οὐκ ἐγράψατο τοῦ προβουλεύματος, τούτοις ἃ διώκει συκοφαντῶν φανήσεται. λέγε. ΨΗΦΙΣΜΑ. ἐπὶ ἄρχοντος Εὐθυκλέους, πυανεψιῶνος ἐνάτῃ ἀπιόντος, φυλῆς πρυτανευούσης Οἰνῇδος, Κτησιφῶν Λεωσθένους Ἀναφλύστιος εἶπεν· ἐπειδὴ Δημοσθένης Δημοσθένους Παιανιεὺς γενόμενος ἐπιμελητὴς τῆς τῶν τειχῶν ἐπισκευῆς καὶ προσαναλώσας εἰς τὰ ἔργα ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας οὐσίας τρία τάλαντα ἐπέδωκε ταῦτα τῷ δήμῳ, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ θεωρικοῦ κατασταθεὶς ἐπέδωκε τοῖς ἐκ πασῶν τῶν φυλῶν θεωροῖς ἑκατὸν μνᾶς εἰς θυσίας, δεδόχθαι τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ τῷ Ἀθηναίων ἐπαινέσαι Δημοσθένην Δημοσθένους Παιανιέα ἀρετῆς ἕνεκα καὶ καλοκαγαθίας ἧς ἔχων διατελεῖ ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ εἰς τὸν δῆμον τὸν Ἀθηναίων, καὶ στεφανῶσαι χρυσῷ στεφάνῳ, καὶ ἀναγορεῦσαι τὸν στέφανον ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ Διονυσίοις τραγῳδοῖς καινοῖς· τῆς δὲ ἀναγορεύσεως ἐπιμεληθῆναι τὸν ἀγωνοθέτην.
119. Here, then, are my donations, in the decree—but not in your indictment. Your prosecution is directed to the rewards which the Council says that I ought to receive for them. Acceptance of gifts you admit to be legal; gratitude for gifts you indict for illegality. In Heaven’s name, what do we mean by dishonesty and malignity, if you are not dishonest and malignant?
119. οὐκοῦν ἃ μὲν ἐπέδωκα, ταῦτʼ ἐστὶν ὧν οὐδὲν σὺ γέγραψαι· ἃ δέ φησιν ἡ βουλὴ δεῖν ἀντὶ τούτων γενέσθαι μοι, ταῦτʼ ἔσθʼ ἃ διώκεις. τὸ λαβεῖν οὖν τὰ διδόμενʼ ὁμολογῶν ἔννομον εἶναι, τὸ χάριν τούτων ἀποδοῦναι παρανόμων γράφει. ὁ δὲ παμπόνηρος ἄνθρωπος καὶ θεοῖς ἐχθρὸς καὶ βάσκανος ὄντως ποῖός τις ἂν εἴη πρὸς θεῶν; οὐχ ὁ τοιοῦτος;
120. As for the proclamation in the Theatre, I will not insist that thousands of names have been a thousand times so proclaimed, nor that I myself have been crowned again and again before now. But, really now, are you so unintelligent and blind, Aeschines, that you are incapable of reflecting that a crown is equally gratifying to the person crowned wheresoever it is proclaimed, but that the proclamation is made in the Theatre merely for the sake of those by whom it is conferred? For the whole vast audience is stimulated to do service to the commonwealth, and applauds the exhibition of gratitude rather than the recipient; and that is the reason why the state has enacted this statute. Please take and read it. (The Statute is read “In cases where crowns are bestowed by any of the townships, the proclamation of the crown shall be made within the respective townships, unless the crown is bestowed by the People of Athens or by the Council, in which case it shall be lawful to proclaim it in the Theatre at the Dionysia.”
120. καὶ μὴν περὶ τοῦ γʼ ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ κηρύττεσθαι, τὸ μὲν μυριάκις μυρίους κεκηρῦχθαι παραλείπω καὶ τὸ πολλάκις αὐτὸς [ἐστεφανῶσθαι] πρότερον. ἀλλὰ πρὸς θεῶν οὕτω σκαιὸς εἶ καὶ ἀναίσθητος, Αἰσχίνη, ὥστʼ οὐ δύνασαι λογίσασθαι ὅτι τῷ μὲν στεφανουμένῳ τὸν αὐτὸν ἔχει ζῆλον ὁ στέφανος, ὅπου ἂν ἀναρρηθῇ, τοῦ δὲ τῶν στεφανούντων εἵνεκα συμφέροντος ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ γίγνεται τὸ κήρυγμα; οἱ γὰρ ἀκούσαντες ἅπαντες εἰς τὸ ποιεῖν εὖ τὴν πόλιν προτρέπονται, καὶ τοὺς ἀποδιδόντας τὴν χάριν μᾶλλον ἐπαινοῦσι τοῦ στεφανουμένου· διόπερ τὸν νόμον τοῦτον ἡ πόλις γέγραφεν. λέγε δʼ αὐτόν μοι τὸν νόμον λαβών. ΝΟΜΟΣ. Ὅσους στεφανοῦσί τινες τῶν δήμων, τὰς ἀναγορεύσεις τῶν στεφάνων ποιεῖσθαι ἐν αὐτοῖς ἑκάστους τοῖς ἰδίοις δήμοις, ἐὰν μή τινας ὁ δῆμος ὁ τῶν Ἀθηναίων ἢ ἡ βουλὴ στεφανοῖ· τούτους δʼ ἐξεῖναι ἐν τῷ θεάτρῳ Διονυσίοις … ἀκούεις, Αἰσχίνη, τοῦ νόμου λέγοντος σαφῶς, πλὴν ἐάν τινας ὁ δῆμος ἢ ἡ βουλὴ ψηφίσηται·
121. You hear, Aeschines, how the statute expressly makes an exception: “persons named in any decree of the Council or the Assembly always excepted. They are to be proclaimed.” Then why this miserable pettifogging? Why these insincere arguments? Why do you not try hellebore for your complaint? Are you not ashamed to prosecute for spite, not for crime; misquoting this statute, curtailing that statute, when they ought to be read in their entirety to a jury sworn to vote according to their direction?
121. τούτους δʼ ἀναγορευέτω τί οὖν, ὦ ταλαίπωρε, συκοφαντεῖς; τί λόγους πλάττεις; τί σαυτὸν οὐκ ἐλλεβορίζεις ἐπὶ τούτοις; ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ αἰσχύνει φθόνου δίκην εἰσάγων, οὐκ ἀδικήματος οὐδενός, καὶ νόμους μεταποιῶν, τῶν δʼ ἀφαιρῶν μέρη, οὓς ὅλους δίκαιον ἦν ἀναγιγνώσκεσθαι τοῖς γʼ ὀμωμοκόσιν κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ψηφιεῖσθαι;
122. And, while behaving like that, you treat us to your definition of all the qualities proper to a patriotic politician—as though you had bespoken a statue according to specification, and it had been delivered without the qualities specified! As though talk, not deeds and policy, were the criterion of patriotism! And then you raise your voice, like a clown at a carnival, and pelt me with epithets both decent and obscene, suitable for yourself and your kindred, but not for me.
122. ἔπειτα τοιαῦτα ποιῶν λέγεις πόσα δεῖ προσεῖναι τῷ δημοτικῷ, ὥσπερ ἀνδριάντʼ ἐκδεδωκὼς κατὰ συγγραφήν, εἶτʼ οὐκ ἔχονθʼ ἃ προσῆκεν ἐκ τῆς συγγραφῆς κομιζόμενος, ἢ λόγῳ τοὺς δημοτικούς, ἀλλʼ οὐ τοῖς πράγμασι καὶ τοῖς πολιτεύμασιν γιγνωσκομένους. καὶ βοᾷς ῥητὰ καὶ ἄρρητʼ ὀνομάζων, ὥσπερ ἐξ ἁμάξης, ἃ σοὶ καὶ τῷ σῷ γένει πρόσεστιν, οὐκ ἐμοί. καίτοι καὶ τοῦτʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι·
123. Here is another point, men of Athens. The difference between railing and accusation I take to be this: accusation implies crimes punishable by law; railing, such abuse as quarrelsome people vent upon one another according to their disposition. These law courts, if I am not mistaken, were built by our ancestors, not that we should convene you here to listen to us taunting one another with the secret scandal of private life, but that we should here bring home to the guilty offences against the public weal.
123. ἐγὼ λοιδορίαν κατηγορίας τούτῳ διαφέρειν ἡγοῦμαι, τῷ τὴν μὲν κατηγορίαν ἀδικήματʼ ἔχειν, ὧν ἐν τοῖς νόμοις εἰσὶν αἱ τιμωρίαι, τὴν δὲ λοιδορίαν βλασφημίας, ἃς κατὰ τὴν αὑτῶν φύσιν τοῖς ἐχθροῖς περὶ ἀλλήλων συμβαίνει λέγειν. οἰκοδομῆσαι δὲ τοὺς προγόνους ταυτὶ τὰ δικαστήριʼ ὑπείληφα, οὐχ ἵνα συλλέξαντες ὑμᾶς εἰς ταῦτα ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων κακῶς τἀπόρρητα λέγωμεν ἀλλήλους, ἀλλʼ ἵνʼ ἐξελέγχωμεν ἐάν τις ἠδικηκώς τι τυγχάνῃ τὴν πόλιν.
124. Aeschines knows that as well as I do; but he has a keener taste for scurrility than for accusation. However, even in that respect he deserves to get as good as he gives. I will come to that presently; meantime I will ask him just one question. Are we to call you the enemy of Athens, Aeschines, or my enemy? Mine, of course. Yet you let slip your proper opportunities of bringing me to justice on behalf of the citizens, if I had done wrong, by audit, by indictment, by any sort of legal procedure;
124. ταῦτα τοίνυν εἰδὼς Αἰσχίνης οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐμοῦ πομπεύειν ἀντὶ τοῦ κατηγορεῖν εἵλετο. οὐ μὴν οὐδʼ ἐνταῦθʼ ἔλαττον ἔχων δίκαιός ἐστιν ἀπελθεῖν. ἤδη δʼ ἐπὶ ταῦτα πορεύσομαι, τοσοῦτον αὐτὸν ἐρωτήσας. πότερόν σέ τις, Αἰσχίνη, τῆς πόλεως ἐχθρὸν ἢ ἐμὸν εἶναι φῇ; ἐμὸν δῆλον ὅτι. εἶθʼ οὗ μὲν ἦν παρʼ ἐμοῦ δίκην κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ὑπὲρ τούτων λαβεῖν, εἴπερ ἠδίκουν, ἐξέλειπες, ἐν ταῖς εὐθύναις, ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς, ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις κρίσεσιν·
125. but here, where I am invulnerable on every ground, by law, by lapse of time, by limitation, by many earlier judgements covering every point, by default of any previous conviction for any public offence, here, where the country must take her share in the repute or disrepute of measures that were approved by the people, here you have met me face to face. You pose as my enemy; are you sure you are not the enemy of the people?
125. οὗ δʼ ἐγὼ μὲν ἀθῷος ἅπασι, τοῖς νόμοις, τῷ χρόνῳ, τῇ προθεσμίᾳ, τῷ κεκρίσθαι περὶ πάντων πολλάκις πρότερον, τῷ μηδεπώποτʼ ἐξελεγχθῆναι μηδὲν ὑμᾶς ἀδικῶν, τῇ πόλει δʼ ἢ πλέον ἢ ἔλαττον ἀνάγκη τῶν γε δημοσίᾳ πεπραγμένων μετεῖναι τῆς δόξης, ἐνταῦθʼ ἀπήντηκας; ὅρα μὴ τούτων μὲν ἐχθρὸς ᾖς, ἐμοὶ δὲ προσποιῇ.
126. A righteous and conscientious verdict is now sufficiently indicated; but I have still, as it seems—not because I have any taste for railing, but because of his calumnies—to state the bare necessary facts about Aeschines, in return for a great many lies. I must let you know who this man, who starts on vituperation so glibly—who ridicules certain words of mine though he has himself said things that every decent man would shrink from uttering—really is, and what is his parentage.
126. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἡ μὲν εὐσεβὴς καὶ δικαία ψῆφος ἅπασι δέδεικται, δεῖ δέ μʼ, ὡς ἔοικε, καίπερ οὐ φιλολοίδορον ὄντα, διὰ τὰς ὑπὸ τούτου βλασφημίας εἰρημένας ἀντὶ πολλῶν καὶ ψευδῶν αὐτὰ τἀναγκαιότατʼ εἰπεῖν περὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ δεῖξαι τίς ὢν κἀκ τίνων ῥᾳδίως οὕτως ἄρχει τοῦ κακῶς λέγειν, καὶ λόγους τινὰς διασύρει, αὐτὸς εἰρηκὼς ἃ τίς οὐκ ἂν ὤκνησεν τῶν μετρίων ἀνθρώπων φθέγξασθαι;
127. Why, if my calumniator had been Aeacus, or Rhadamanthus, or Minos, instead of a mere scandalmonger, a market-place loafer, a poor devil of a clerk, he could hardly have used such language, or equipped himself with such offensive expressions. Hark to his melodramatic bombast: “Oh, Earth! Oh, Sun! Oh, Virtue,” and all that vaporing; his appeals to “intelligence and education, whereby we discriminate between things of good and evil report”—for that was the sort of rubbish you heard him spouting.
127. —εἰ γὰρ Αἰακὸς ἢ Ῥαδάμανθυς ἢ Μίνως ἦν ὁ κατηγορῶν, ἀλλὰ μὴ σπερμολόγος, περίτριμμʼ ἀγορᾶς, ὄλεθρος γραμματεύς, οὐκ ἂν αὐτὸν οἶμαι ταῦτʼ εἰπεῖν οὐδʼ ἂν οὕτως ἐπαχθεῖς λόγους πορίσασθαι, ὥσπερ ἐν τραγῳδίᾳ βοῶντα ὦ γῆ καὶ ἥλιε καὶ ἀρετὴ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα, καὶ πάλιν σύνεσιν καὶ παιδεία ἐπικαλούμενον, ᾗ τὰ καλὰ καὶ τὰ αἰσχρὰ διαγιγνώσκεται. ταῦτα γὰρ δήπουθεν ἠκούετʼ αὐτοῦ λέγοντος.
128. Virtue! you runagate; what have you or your family to do with virtue? How do you distinguish between good and evil report? Where and how did you qualify as a moralist? Where did you get your right to talk about education? No really educated man would use such language about himself, but would rather blush to hear it from others; but people like you, who make stupid pretensions to the culture of which they are utterly destitute, succeed in disgusting everybody whenever they open their lips, but never in making the impression they desire.
128. σοὶ δʼ ἀρετῆς, ὦ κάθαρμα, ἢ τοῖς σοῖς τίς μετουσία; ἢ καλῶν ἢ μὴ τοιούτων τίς διάγνωσις; πόθεν ἢ πῶς ἀξιωθέντι; ποῦ δὲ παιδείας σοὶ θέμις μνησθῆναι; ἧς τῶν μὲν ὡς ἀληθῶς τετυχηκότων οὐδʼ ἂν εἷς εἴποι περὶ αὑτοῦ τοιοῦτον οὐδέν, ἀλλὰ κἂν ἑτέρου λέγοντος ἐρυθριάσειε, τοῖς δʼ ἀπολειφθεῖσι μέν, ὥσπερ σύ, προσποιουμένοις δʼ ὑπʼ ἀναισθησίας τὸ τοὺς ἀκούοντας ἀλγεῖν ποιεῖν ὅταν λέγωσιν, οὐ τὸ δοκεῖν τοιούτοις εἶναι περίεστιν.
129. I am at no loss for information about you and your family; but I am at a loss where to begin. Shall I relate how your father Tromes was a slave in the house of Elpias, who kept an elementary school near the Temple of Theseus, and how he wore shackles on his legs and a timber collar round his neck? or how your mother practised daylight nuptials in an outhouse next door to Heros the bone-setter, and so brought you up to act in tableaux vivants and to excel in minor parts on the stage? However, everybody knows that without being told by me. Shall I tell you how Phormio the boatswain, a slave of Dio of Phrearrii, uplifted her from that chaste profession? But I protest that, however well the story becomes you, I am afraid I may be thought to have chosen topics unbecoming to myself.
129. οὐκ ἀπορῶν δʼ ὅ τι χρὴ περὶ σοῦ καὶ τῶν σῶν εἰπεῖν, ἀπορῶ τοῦ πρώτου μνησθῶ· πότερʼ ὡς ὁ πατήρ σου Τρόμης ἐδούλευε παρʼ Ἐλπίᾳ τῷ πρὸς τῷ Θησείῳ διδάσκοντι γράμματα, χοίνικας παχείας ἔχων καὶ ξύλον; ἢ ὡς ἡ μήτηρ τοῖς μεθημερινοῖς γάμοις ἐν τῷ κλεισίῳ τῷ πρὸς τῷ καλαμίτῃ ἥρῳ χρωμένη τὸν καλὸν ἀνδριάντα καὶ τριταγωνιστὴν ἄκρον ἐξέθρεψέ σε; ἀλλὰ πάντες ἴσασι ταῦτα, κἂν ἐγὼ μὴ λέγω. ἀλλʼ ὡς ὁ τριηραύλης Φορμίων, ὁ Δίωνος τοῦ Φρεαρρίου δοῦλος, ἀνέστησεν αὐτὴν ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς καλῆς ἐργασίας; ἀλλὰ νὴ τὸν Δία καὶ θεοὺς ὀκνῶ μὴ περὶ σοῦ τὰ προσήκοντα λέγων αὐτὸς οὐ προσήκοντας ἐμαυτῷ δόξω προῃρῆσθαι λόγους.
130. I will pass by those early days, and begin with his conduct of his own life; for indeed it has been no ordinary life, but such as is an abomination to a free people. Only recently— recently, do I say? Why it was only the day before yesterday when he became simultaneously an Athenian and an orator, and, by the addition of two syllables, transformed his father from Tromes to Atrometus, and bestowed upon his mother the high sounding name of Glaucothea, although she was universally known as the Banshee, a nickname she owed to the pleasing diversity of her acts and experiences—it can have no other origin.
130. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐάσω, ἀπʼ αὐτῶν δʼ ὧν αὐτὸς βεβίωκεν ἄρξομαι· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὧν ἔτυχεν ἦν, ἀλλʼ οἷς ὁ δῆμος καταρᾶται. ὀψὲ γάρ ποτε—ὀψὲ λέγω; χθὲς μὲν οὖν καὶ πρώην ἅμʼ Ἀθηναῖος καὶ ῥήτωρ γέγονεν, καὶ δύο συλλαβὰς προσθεὶς τὸν μὲν πατέρʼ ἀντὶ Τρόμητος ἐποίησεν Ἀτρόμητον, τὴν δὲ μητέρα σεμνῶς πάνυ Γλαυκοθέαν, ἣν Ἔμπουσαν ἅπαντες ἴσασι καλουμένην, ἐκ τοῦ πάντα ποιεῖν καὶ πάσχειν δηλονότι ταύτης τῆς ἐπωνυμίας τυχοῦσαν· πόθεν γὰρ ἄλλοθεν;
131. You were raised from servitude to freedom, and from beggary to opulence, by the favor of your fellow-citizens, and yet you are so thankless and ill-conditioned that, instead of showing them your gratitude, you take the pay of their enemies and conduct political intrigues to their detriment. I will not deal with speeches which, on a disputable construction, may be called patriotic, but I will recall to memory acts by which he was proved beyond doubt to have served your enemies.
131. ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὕτως ἀχάριστος εἶ καὶ πονηρὸς φύσει ὥστʼ ἐλεύθερος ἐκ δούλου καὶ πλούσιος ἐκ πτωχοῦ διὰ τουτουσὶ γεγονὼς οὐχ ὅπως χάριν αὐτοῖς ἔχεις, ἀλλὰ μισθώσας σαυτὸν κατὰ τουτωνὶ πολιτεύει. καὶ περὶ ὧν μὲν ἔστι τις ἀμφισβήτησις, ὡς ἄρʼ ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως εἴρηκεν, ἐάσω· ἃ δʼ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐχθρῶν φανερῶς ἀπεδείχθη πράττων, ταῦτʼ ἀναμνήσω.
132. You all remember Antiphon, the man who was struck off the register, and came back to Athens after promising Philip that he would set fire to the dockyard. When I had caught him in hiding at Peiraeus, and brought him before the Assembly, this malignant fellow raised a huge outcry about my scandalous and undemocratic conduct in assaulting citizens in distress and breaking into houses without a warrant, and so procured his acquittal.
132. τίς γὰρ ὑμῶν οὐκ οἶδεν τὸν ἀποψηφισθέντʼ Ἀντιφῶντα, ὃς ἐπαγγειλάμενος Φιλίππῳ τὰ νεώριʼ ἐμπρήσειν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἦλθεν; ὃν λαβόντος ἐμοῦ κεκρυμμένον ἐν Πειραιεῖ καὶ καταστήσαντος εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν βοῶν ὁ βάσκανος οὗτος καὶ κεκραγώς, ὡς ἐν δημοκρατίᾳ δεινὰ ποιῶ τοὺς ἠτυχηκότας τῶν πολιτῶν ὑβρίζων καὶ ἐπʼ οἰκίας βαδίζων ἄνευ ψηφίσματος, ἀφεθῆναι ἐποίησεν.
133. Had not the Council of the Areopagus, becoming aware of the facts, and seeing that you had made a most inopportune blunder, started further inquiries, arrested the man, and brought him into court a second time, the vile traitor would have slipped out of your hands and eluded justice, being smuggled out of the city by our bombastic phrase-monger. As it was, you put him on the rack and then executed him, and you ought to have done the same to Aeschines.
133. καὶ εἰ μὴ ἡ βουλὴ ἡ ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου τὸ πρᾶγμʼ αἰσθομένη καὶ τὴν ὑμετέραν ἄγνοιαν ἐν οὐ δέοντι συμβεβηκυῖαν ἰδοῦσα ἐπεζήτησε τὸν ἄνθρωπον καὶ συλλαβοῦσʼ ἐπανήγαγεν ὡς ὑμᾶς, ἐξήρπαστʼ ἂν ὁ τοιοῦτος καὶ τὸ δίκην δοῦναι διαδὺς ἐξεπέπεμπτʼ ἂν ὑπὸ τοῦ σεμνολόγου τουτουί· νῦν δʼ ὑμεῖς στρεβλώσαντες αὐτὸν ἀπεκτείνατε, ὡς ἔδει γε καὶ τοῦτον.
134. In fact, the Council of the Areopagus knew well that Aeschines had been to blame throughout this affair, and therefore when, after choosing him by vote to speak in support of your claims to the Temple at Delos, by a misapprehension such as has often been fatal to your public interests, you invited the cooperation of that Council and gave them full authority, they promptly rejected him as a traitor, and gave the brief to Hypereides. On this occasion the ballot was taken at the altar, and not a single vote was cast for this wretch.
134. τοιγαροῦν εἰδυῖα ταῦθʼ ἡ βουλὴ ἡ ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου τότε τούτῳ πεπραγμένα, χειροτονησάντων αὐτὸν ὑμῶν σύνδικον ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τοῦ ἐν Δήλῳ ἀπὸ τῆς αὐτῆς ἀγνοίας ἧσπερ πολλὰ προΐεσθε τῶν κοινῶν, ὡς προσείλεσθε κἀκείνην καὶ τοῦ πράγματος κυρίαν ἐποιήσατε, τοῦτον μὲν εὐθὺς ἀπήλασεν ὡς προδότην, Ὑπερείδῃ δὲ λέγειν προσέταξε· καὶ ταῦτʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ βωμοῦ φέρουσα τὴν ψῆφον ἔπραξε, καὶ οὐδεμία ψῆφος ἠνέχθη τῷ μιαρῷ τούτῳ.
135. To prove the truth of my statement, please call the witnesses. (The Depositions are read) “We, Callias of Sunium, Zeno of Phlya, Cleon of Phalerum, Demonicus of Marathon, on behalf of all the councillors, bear witness for Demosthenes that, when the people elected Aeschines state-advocate before the Amphictyons in the matter of the temple at Delos, we in Council judged Hypereides more worthy to speak on behalf of the state, and Hypereides was accordingly commissioned.”
135. καὶ ὅτι ταῦτʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, κάλει τούτων τοὺς μάρτυρας. ΜΑΡΤΥΡΕΣ. Μαρτυροῦσι Δημοσθένει ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων οἵδε, Καλλίας Σουνιεύς, Ζήνων Φλυεύς, Κλέων Φαληρεύς, Δημόνικος Μαραθώνιος, ὅτι τοῦ δήμου ποτὲ χειροτονήσαντος Αἰσχίνην σύνδικον ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τοῦ ἐν Δήλῳ εἰς τοὺς Ἀμφικτύονας συνεδρεύσαντες ἡμεῖς ἐκρίναμεν Ὑπερείδην ἄξιον εἶναι μᾶλλον ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως λέγειν, καὶ ἀπεστάλη Ὑπερείδης.
136. Thus by rejecting this man from his spokesmanship, and giving the appointment to another, the Council branded him as a traitor and an enemy to the people. So much for one of his spirited performances. Is it not just like the charges he brings against me? Now let me remind you of another. Philip had sent to us Pytho of Byzantium in company with an embassy representing all his allies, hoping to bring dishonor upon Athens and convict her of injustice. Pytho was mightily confident, denouncing you with a full spate of eloquence, but I did not shrink from the encounter. I stood up and contradicted him, refusing to surrender the just claims of the commonwealth, and proving that Philip was in the wrong so conclusively that his own allies rose and admitted I was right; but Aeschines took Philip’s side throughout, and bore witness, even false witness, against his own country.
136. οὐκοῦν ὅτε τοῦτον τοῦ λέγειν ἀπήλασεν ἡ βουλὴ καὶ προσέταξʼ ἑτέρῳ, τότε καὶ προδότην εἶναι καὶ κακόνουν ὑμῖν ἀπέφηνεν. ἓν μὲν τοίνυν τοῦτο τοιοῦτο πολίτευμα τοῦ νεανίου τούτου, ὅμοιόν γε, οὐ γάρ; οἷς ἐμοῦ κατηγορεῖ· ἕτερον δʼ ἀναμιμνῄσκεσθε. ὅτε γὰρ Πύθωνα Φίλιππος ἔπεμψε τὸν Βυζάντιον καὶ παρὰ τῶν αὑτοῦ συμμάχων πάντων συνέπεμψε πρέσβεις, ὡς ἐν αἰσχύνῃ ποιήσων τὴν πόλιν καὶ δείξων ἀδικοῦσαν, τότʼ ἐγὼ μὲν τῷ Πύθωνι θρασυνομένῳ καὶ πολλῷ ῥέοντι καθʼ ὑμῶν οὐχ ὑπεχώρησα, ἀλλʼ ἀναστὰς ἀντεῖπον καὶ τὰ τῆς πόλεως δίκαιʼ οὐχὶ προὔδωκα, ἀλλʼ ἀδικοῦντα Φίλιππον ἐξήλεγξα φανερῶς οὕτως ὥστε τοὺς ἐκείνου συμμάχους αὐτοὺς ἀνισταμένους ὁμολογεῖν· οὗτος δὲ συνηγωνίζετο καὶ τἀναντίʼ ἐμαρτύρει τῇ πατρίδι, καὶ ταῦτα ψευδῆ.
137. Nor did that satisfy him. At a later date he was caught again in the company of the spy Anaxinus at the house of Thraso. Yet a man who secretly met and conversed with a spy sent by the enemy must have been himself a spy by disposition and an enemy of his country. To prove the truth of my statement, please call the witnesses. (The Depositions are read) “Teledemus, son of Cleon, Hypereides, son of Callaeschrus, Nicomachus, son of Diophantus, bear witness for Demosthenes, and have taken oath before the Generals that to their knowledge Aeschines, son of Atrometus, of Cothocidae, comes by night to the house of Thraso and holds communication with Anaxinus, who has been proved to be a spy from Philip. These depositions were lodged with Nicias on the third day of Hecatombaeon.”
137. καὶ οὐκ ἀπέχρη ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ πάλιν μετὰ ταῦθʼ ὕστερον Ἀναξίνῳ τῷ κατασκόπῳ συνιὼν εἰς τὴν Θράσωνος οἰκίαν ἐλήφθη. καίτοι ὅστις τῷ ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων πεμφθέντι μόνος μόνῳ συνῄει καὶ ἐκοινολογεῖτο, οὗτος αὐτὸς ὑπῆρχε τῇ φύσει κατάσκοπος καὶ πολέμιος τῇ πατρίδι. καὶ ὅτι ταῦτʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, κάλει μοι τούτων τοὺς μάρτυρας. ΜΑΡΤΥΡΕΣ. Τελέδημος Κλέωνος, Ὑπερείδης Καλλαίσχρου, Νικόμαχος Διοφάντου μαρτυροῦσι Δημοσθένει καὶ ἐπωμόσαντο ἐπὶ τῶν στρατηγῶν εἰδέναι Αἰσχίνην Ἀτρομήτου Κοθωκίδην συνερχόμενον νυκτὸς εἰς τὴν Θράσωνος οἰκίαν καὶ κοινολογούμενον Ἀναξίνῳ, ὃς ἐκρίθη εἶναι κατάσκοπος παρὰ Φιλίππου. αὗται ἀπεδόθησαν αἱ μαρτυρίαι ἐπὶ Νικίου, ἑκατομβαιῶνος τρίτῃ ἱσταμένου.
138. I omit thousands of stories that I could tell you about him. The fact is, I could cite many clear instances of his conduct at that time, helping the enemy and maligning me; only it is not your way to score up such offences for accurate remembrance and due resentment. You have a vicious habit of allowing too much indulgence to anyone who chooses by spiteful calumnies to trip up the heels of a man who gives you good advice. You give away a sound policy in exchange for the entertainment you derive from invective; and so it is easier and safer for a public man to serve your enemies and pocket their pay than to choose and maintain a patriotic attitude.
138. μυρία τοίνυν ἕτερʼ εἰπεῖν ἔχων περὶ αὐτοῦ παραλείπω. καὶ γὰρ οὕτω πως ἔχει. πόλλʼ ἂν ἐγὼ ἔτι τούτων ἔχοιμι δεῖξαι, ὧν οὗτος κατʼ ἐκείνους τοὺς χρόνους τοῖς μὲν ἐχθροῖς ὑπηρετῶν, ἐμοὶ δʼ ἐπηρεάζων εὑρέθη. ἀλλʼ οὐ τίθεται ταῦτα παρʼ ὑμῖν εἰς ἀκριβῆ μνήμην οὐδʼ ἣν προσῆκεν ὀργήν, ἀλλὰ δεδώκατʼ ἔθει τινὶ φαύλῳ πολλὴν ἐξουσίαν τῷ βουλομένῳ τὸν λέγοντά τι τῶν ὑμῖν συμφερόντων ὑποσκελίζειν καὶ συκοφαντεῖν, τῆς ἐπὶ ταῖς λοιδορίαις ἡδονῆς καὶ χάριτος τὸ τῆς πόλεως συμφέρον ἀνταλλαττόμενοι· διόπερ ῥᾷόν ἐστι καὶ ἀσφαλέστερον ἀεὶ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ὑπηρετοῦντα μισθαρνεῖν ἢ τὴν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἑλόμενον τάξιν πολιτεύεσθαι.
139. Though it was a scandalous shame enough, God knows, openly to take Philip’s side against his own country even before the war, make him a present, if you choose, make him a present of that. But when our merchantmen had been openly plundered, when the Chersonese was being ravaged, when the man was advancing upon Attica, when there could no longer be any doubt about the position, but war had already begun—even after that this malignant mumbler of blank verse can point to no patriotic act. No profitable proposition, great or small, stands to the credit of Aeschines. If he claims any, let him cite it now, while my hour-glass runs. But there is none. Now one of two things: either he made no alternative proposal because he could find no fault with my policy, or he did not disclose his amendments because his object was the advantage of the enemy.
139. καὶ τὸ μὲν δὴ πρὸ τοῦ πολεμεῖν φανερῶς συναγωνίζεσθαι Φιλίππῳ δεινὸν μέν, ὦ γῆ καὶ θεοί, πῶς γὰρ οὔ; κατὰ τῆς πατρίδος· δότε δʼ, εἰ βούλεσθε, δότʼ αὐτῷ τοῦτο. ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ φανερῶς ἤδη τὰ πλοῖʼ ἐσεσύλητο, Χερρόνησος ἐπορθεῖτο, ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἐπορεύεθʼ ἅνθρωπος, οὐκέτʼ ἐν ἀμφισβητησίμῳ τὰ πράγματʼ ἦν, ἀλλʼ ἐνειστήκει πόλεμος, ὅ τι μὲν πώποτʼ ἔπραξʼ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ὁ βάσκανος οὗτος ἰαμβειοφάγος, οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι δεῖξαι, οὐδʼ ἔστιν οὔτε μεῖζον οὔτʼ ἔλαττον ψήφισμʼ οὐδὲν Αἰσχίνῃ περὶ τῶν συμφερόντων τῇ πόλει. εἰ δέ φησι, νῦν δειξάτω ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ ὕδατι. ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἔστιν οὐδέν. καίτοι δυοῖν αὐτὸν ἀνάγκη θάτερον, ἢ μηδὲν τοῖς πραττομένοις ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ τότʼ ἔχοντʼ ἐγκαλεῖν μὴ γράφειν παρὰ ταῦθʼ ἕτερα, ἢ τὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν συμφέρον ζητοῦντα μὴ φέρειν εἰς μέσον τὰ τούτων ἀμείνω.
140. Did he then refrain from speech as well as from moving resolutions, when there was any mischief to be done? Why, no one else could get in a word! Apparently the city could stand, and he could do without detection, almost anything; but there was one performance of his that really gave the finishing touch to his earlier efforts. On that he has lavished all his wealth of words, citing in full the decrees against the Amphissians of Locri, in the hope of distorting the truth. But he can never disguise it. No, Aeschines, you will never wash out that stain; you cannot talk long enough for that!
140. ἆρʼ οὖν οὐδʼ ἔλεγεν, ὥσπερ οὐδʼ ἔγραφεν, ἡνίκʼ ἐργάσασθαί τι δέοι κακόν; οὐ μὲν οὖν ἦν εἰπεῖν ἑτέρῳ. καὶ τὰ μὲν ἄλλα καὶ φέρειν ἐδύναθʼ, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἡ πόλις καὶ ποιῶν οὗτος λανθάνειν· ἓν δʼ ἐπεξειργάσατʼ, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοιοῦτον ὃ πᾶσι τοῖς προτέροις ἐπέθηκε τέλος· περὶ οὗ τοὺς πολλοὺς ἀνήλωσε λόγους, τὰ τῶν Ἀμφισσέων [τῶν Λοκρῶν] διεξιὼν δόγματα, ὡς διαστρέψων τἀληθές. τὸ δʼ οὐ τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· πόθεν; οὐδέποτʼ ἐκνίψει σὺ τἀκεῖ πεπραγμένα σαυτῷ· οὐχ οὕτω πόλλʼ ἐρεῖς.
141. In your presence, men of Athens, I now invoke all the gods and goddesses whose domain is the land of Attica. I invoke also Pythian Apollo, the ancestral divinity of this city, and I solemnly beseech them all that, if I shall speak the truth now, and if I spoke truth to my countrymen when first I saw this miscreant putting his hand to that transaction—for I knew it, I knew it instantly—they may grant to me prosperity and salvation. But if with malice or in the spirit of personal rivalry I lay against him any false charge, I pray that they may dispossess me of everything that is good.
141. καλῶ δʼ ἐναντίον ὑμῶν, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοὺς θεοὺς πάντας καὶ πάσας ὅσοι τὴν χώραν ἔχουσι τὴν Ἀττικήν, καὶ τὸν Ἀπόλλω τὸν Πύθιον, ὃς πατρῷός ἐστι τῇ πόλει, καὶ ἐπεύχομαι πᾶσι τούτοις, εἰ μὲν ἀληθῆ πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἴποιμι καὶ εἶπον καὶ τότʼ εὐθὺς ἐν τῷ δήμῳ, ὅτε πρῶτον εἶδον τουτονὶ τὸν μιαρὸν τούτου τοῦ πράγματος ἁπτόμενον (ἔγνων γάρ, εὐθέως ἔγνων), εὐτυχίαν μοι δοῦναι καὶ σωτηρίαν, εἰ δὲ πρὸς ἔχθραν ἢ φιλονικίας ἰδίας ἕνεκʼ αἰτίαν ἐπάγω τούτῳ ψευδῆ, πάντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀνόνητόν με ποιῆσαι.
142. This imprecation I address to Heaven, and this solemn averment I now make, because, though I have letters, deposited in the Record Office, enabling me to offer absolute proof, and though I am sure that you have not forgotten the transaction, I am afraid that his ability may be deemed inadequate for such enormous mischief. That mistake was made before, when by his false reports he contrived the destruction of the unhappy Phocians.
142. τί οὖν ταῦτʼ ἐπήραμαι καὶ διετεινάμην οὑτωσὶ σφοδρῶς; ὅτι καὶ γράμματʼ ἔχων ἐν τῷ δημοσίῳ κείμενα, ἐξ ὧν ταῦτʼ ἐπιδείξω σαφῶς, καὶ ὑμᾶς εἰδὼς τὰ πεπραγμένα μνημονεύοντας, ἐκεῖνο φοβοῦμαι, μὴ τῶν εἰργασμένων αὐτῷ κακῶν οὗτος ἐλάττων ὑποληφθῇ· ὅπερ πρότερον συνέβη, ὅτε τοὺς ταλαιπώρους Φωκέας ἐποίησʼ ἀπολέσθαι τὰ ψευδῆ δεῦρʼ ἀπαγγείλας.
143. The war at Amphissa, that is, the war that brought Philip to Elatea, and caused the election, as general of the Amphictyons, of a man who turned all Greece upside down, was due to the machinations of this man. In his own single person he was the author of all our worst evils. I protested instantly; I raised my voice in Assembly; I cried aloud, “You are bringing war into Attica, Aeschines, an Amphictyonic war;” but a compact body of men, sitting there under his direction, would not let me speak, and the rest were merely astonished and imagined that I was laying an idle charge in private spite.
143. τὸν γὰρ ἐν Ἀμφίσσῃ πόλεμον, διʼ ὃν εἰς Ἐλάτειαν ἦλθε Φίλιππος καὶ διʼ ὃν ᾑρέθη τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων ἡγεμών, ὃς ἅπαντʼ ἀνέτρεψε τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ συγκατασκευάσας καὶ πάντων εἷς ἀνὴρ μεγίστων αἴτιος κακῶν. καὶ τότʼ εὐθὺς ἐμοῦ διαμαρτυρομένου καὶ βοῶντος ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ πόλεμον εἰς τὴν Ἀττικὴν εἰσάγεις, Αἰσχίνη, πόλεμον Ἀμφικτυονικόν οἱ μὲν ἐκ παρακλήσεως συγκαθήμενοι οὐκ εἴων με λέγειν, οἱ δʼ ἐθαύμαζον καὶ κενὴν αἰτίαν διὰ τὴν ἰδίαν ἔχθραν ἐπάγειν μʼ ὑπελάμβανον αὐτῷ.
144. Men of Athens, you were not allowed to hear me then; but now you must and shall hear what was the real nature of that business, what was the purpose of the conspiracy, and how it was accomplished. You will see how skilfully it was contrived; you will get the benefit of new insight into your own politics and you will form an idea of the supreme craftiness of Philip.
144. ἥτις δʼ ἡ φύσις, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, γέγονεν τούτων τῶν πραγμάτων, καὶ τίνος εἵνεκα ταῦτα συνεσκευάσθη καὶ πῶς ἐπράχθη, νῦν ἀκούσατε, ἐπειδὴ τότʼ ἐκωλύθητε· καὶ γὰρ εὖ πρᾶγμα συντεθὲν ὄψεσθε, καὶ μεγάλʼ ὠφελήσεσθε πρὸς ἱστορίαν τῶν κοινῶν, καὶ ὅση δεινότης ἦν ἐν τῷ Φιλίππῳ θεάσεσθε.
145. For Philip there could be no end or quittance of hostilities with Athens unless he should make the Thebans and Thessalians her enemies. Now, aIthough your commanders were conducting the war against him without ability and without success, he was vastly distressed both by the campaign and by the privateers; for he could neither export the products of his own country, nor import what he needed for himself.
145. οὐκ ἦν τοῦ πρὸς ὑμᾶς πολέμου πέρας οὐδʼ ἀπαλλαγὴ Φιλίππῳ, εἰ μὴ Θηβαίους καὶ Θετταλοὺς ἐχθροὺς ποιήσειε τῇ πόλει· ἀλλὰ καίπερ ἀθλίως καὶ κακῶς τῶν στρατηγῶν τῶν ὑμετέρων πολεμούντων αὐτῷ, ὅμως ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ πολέμου καὶ τῶν λῃστῶν μυρίʼ ἔπασχε κακά. οὔτε γὰρ ἐξήγετο τῶν ἐκ τῆς χώρας γιγνομένων οὐδὲν οὔτʼ εἰσήγεθʼ ὧν ἐδεῖτʼ αὐτῷ·
146. At that time he had no supremacy at sea, nor could he reach Attica by land unless the Thessalians followed his banner and the Thebans gave him free passage. In spite of his successes against the commanders you sent out, such as they were—I have nothing to say of their failure—he found himself in trouble by reason of conditions of locality and of the comparative resources of the two combatants.
146. ἦν δʼ οὔτʼ ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ τότε κρείττων ὑμῶν οὔτʼ εἰς τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἐλθεῖν δυνατὸς μήτε Θετταλῶν ἀκολουθούντων μήτε Θηβαίων διιέντων· συνέβαινε δʼ αὐτῷ τῷ πολέμῳ κρατοῦντι τοὺς ὁποιουσδήποθʼ ὑμεῖς ἐξεπέμπετε στρατηγούς (ἐῶ γὰρ τοῦτό γε) αὐτῇ τῇ φύσει τοῦ τόπου καὶ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ἑκατέροις κακοπαθεῖν.
147. Now, if he should invite the Thebans or the Thessalians to take up his private quarrel and march against you, he could expect no attention; but if he should espouse their joint grievances and be chosen as their leader, he might hope to succeed by a mixture of deception and persuasion. Very well; he sets to work—and observe how cleverly he managed it—to throw the Pylaean Congress into confusion and to implicate the Amphictyonic Council in warfare, feeling certain that they would immediately beg him to deal with the situation.
147. εἰ μὲν οὖν τῆς ἰδίας ἕνεκʼ ἔχθρας ἢ τοὺς Θετταλοὺς ἢ τοὺς Θηβαίους συμπείθοι βαδίζειν ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς, οὐδένʼ ἡγεῖτο προσέξειν αὐτῷ τὸν νοῦν· ἐὰν δὲ τὰς ἐκείνων κοινὰς προφάσεις λαβὼν ἡγεμὼν αἱρεθῇ, ῥᾷον ἤλπιζε τὰ μὲν παρακρούσεσθαι, τὰ δὲ πείσειν. τί οὖν; ἐπιχειρεῖ, θεάσασθʼ ὡς εὖ, πόλεμον ποιῆσαι τοῖς Ἀμφικτύοσι καὶ περὶ τὴν Πυλαίαν ταραχήν· εἰς γὰρ ταῦτʼ εὐθὺς αὐτοὺς ὑπελάμβανεν αὑτοῦ δεήσεσθαι.
148. If, however, the question should be introduced by any of the commissioners of religion sent by him or by any allies of his, the Thebans and Thessalians, as he expected, would be suspicious and all on their guard; but, if the operator should be an Athenian, representing his opponents, he conceived that he would easily escape detection. And such was the actual result.
148. εἰ μὲν τοίνυν τοῦτʼ ἢ τῶν παρʼ ἑαυτοῦ πεμπομένων ἱερομνημόνων ἢ τῶν ἐκείνου συμμάχων εἰσηγοῖτό τις, ὑπόψεσθαι τὸ πρᾶγμʼ ἐνόμιζε καὶ τοὺς Θηβαίους καὶ τοὺς Θετταλοὺς καὶ πάντας φυλάξεσθαι, ἂν δʼ Ἀθηναῖος ᾖ καὶ παρʼ ὑμῶν τῶν ὑπεναντίων ὁ τοῦτο ποιῶν, εὐπόρως λήσειν· ὅπερ συνέβη. πῶς οὖν ταῦτʼ ἐποίησεν; μισθοῦται τουτονί.
149. How did he manage it? By hiring Aeschines. Nobody, of course, had any inkling; nobody was watching— according to your usual custom! Aeschines was nominated for the deputation to Thermopylae; three or four hands were held up, and he was declared elected. He repaired to the Council, invested with all the prestige of Athens, and at once, putting aside and disregarding everything else, addressed himself to the business for which he had taken pay. He concocted a plausible speech about the legendary origin of the consecration of the Cirrhaean territory, and by this narration induced the commissioners, men unversed in oratory and unsuspicious of consequences, to vote for a tour of survey of the land which the Amphissians said they were cultivating because it belonged to them, while Aeschines accused them of intruding on consecrated ground.
149. οὐδενὸς δὲ προειδότος, οἶμαι, τὸ πρᾶγμʼ οὐδὲ φυλάττοντος, ὥσπερ εἴωθε τὰ τοιαῦτα παρʼ ὑμῖν γίγνεσθαι, προβληθεὶς πυλάγορος οὗτος καὶ τριῶν ἢ τεττάρων χειροτονησάντων αὐτὸν ἀνερρήθη. ὡς δὲ τὸ τῆς πόλεως ἀξίωμα λαβὼν ἀφίκετʼ εἰς τοὺς Ἀμφικτύονας, πάντα τἄλλʼ ἀφεὶς καὶ παριδὼν ἐπέραινεν ἐφʼ οἷς ἐμισθώθη,καὶ λόγους εὐπροσώπους καὶ μύθους, ὅθεν ἡ Κιρραία χώρα καθιερώθη, συνθεὶς καὶ διεξελθὼν ἀνθρώπους ἀπείρους λόγων καὶ τὸ μέλλον οὐ προορωμένους, τοὺς ἱερομνήμονας, πείθει ψηφίσασθαι περιελθεῖν τὴν χώραν, ἣν οἱ μὲν Ἀμφισσεῖς σφῶν αὐτῶν οὖσαν γεωργεῖν ἔφασαν, οὗτος δὲ τῆς ἱερᾶς χώρας ᾐτιᾶτʼ εἶναι, οὐδεμίαν δίκην τῶν Λοκρῶν ἐπαγόντων ἡμῖν, οὐδʼ ἃ νῦν προφασίζεται λέγων οὐκ ἀληθῆ.
150. It is not true that these Locrians w ere meditating any suit against Athens, or any other action such as he now falsely alleges in excuse. You will find a proof of his falsehood in this argument:—Of course it was not competent for the Locrians to take proceedings against Athens without serving a summons. Well, who served it? From what office was it issued? Name anyone who knows; point him out. You cannot; it was a false and idle pretext of yours.
150. γνώσεσθε δʼ ἐκεῖθεν. οὐκ ἐνῆν ἄνευ τοῦ προσκαλέσασθαι δήπου τοῖς Λοκροῖς δίκην κατὰ τῆς πόλεως τελέσασθαι. τίς οὖν ἐκλήτευσεν ἡμᾶς; ἐπὶ ποίας ἀρχῆς; εἰπὲ τὸν εἰδότα, δεῖξον. ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἂν ἔχοις, ἀλλὰ κενῇ προφάσει ταύτῃ κατεχρῶ καὶ ψευδεῖ.
151. With Aeschines as their trusty guide, the Amphictyons began their tour of the territory; but the Locrians fell upon them, were within an ace of spearing the whole crowd, and did actually seize and carry off the sacred persons of several commissioners. Complaints were promptly laid, and so war against the Amphissians was provoked. At the outset Cottyphus was commander of an army composed of Amphictyons; but some divisions never joined, and those who joined did nothing at all. The persons engaged in the plot, mostly scoundrels of old standing from Thessaly and other states, prepared to put the war into Philip’s hands at the next congress.
151. περιιόντων τοίνυν τὴν χώραν τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων κατὰ τὴν ὑφήγησιν τὴν τούτου, προσπεσόντες οἱ Λοκροὶ μικροῦ κατηκόντισαν ἅπαντας, τινὰς δὲ καὶ συνήρπασαν τῶν ἱερομνημόνων. ὡς δʼ ἅπαξ ἐκ τούτων ἐγκλήματα καὶ πόλεμος πρὸς τοὺς Ἀμφισσεῖς ἐταράχθη, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὁ Κόττυφος αὐτῶν τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων ἤγαγε στρατιάν, ὡς δʼ οἱ μὲν οὐκ ἦλθον, οἱ δʼ ἐλθόντες οὐδὲν ἐποίουν, εἰς τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν πυλαίαν ἐπὶ τὸν Φίλιππον εὐθὺς ἡγεμόνʼ ἦγον οἱ κατεσκευασμένοι καὶ πάλαι πονηροὶ τῶν Θετταλῶν καὶ τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις πόλεσι.
152. They found a plausible pretext: you must either, they said, pay contributions to a war-chest, maintain mercenary forces, and levy a fine on all recusants, or else elect Philip as commander-in-chief: and so, to cut a long story short, elected he was on this plea. He lost no time, collected his army, pretended to march to Cirrha, and then bade the Cirrhaeans and the Locrians alike good-bye and good luck, and seized Elatea.
152. καὶ προφάσεις εὐλόγους εἰλήφεσαν· ἢ γὰρ αὐτοὺς εἰσφέρειν καὶ ξένους τρέφειν ἔφασαν δεῖν καὶ ζημιοῦν τοὺς μὴ ταῦτα ποιοῦντας, ἢ ʼκεῖνον αἱρεῖσθαι. τί δεῖ τὰ πολλὰ λέγειν; ᾑρέθη γὰρ ἐκ τούτων ἡγεμών. καὶ μετὰ ταῦτʼ εὐθέως δύναμιν συλλέξας καὶ παρελθὼν ὡς ἐπὶ τὴν Κιρραίαν, ἐρρῶσθαι φράσας πολλὰ Κιρραίοις καὶ Λοκροῖς, τὴν Ἐλάτειαν καταλαμβάνει.
153. When the Thebans saw the trick, they promptly changed their minds and joined our side; otherwise the whole business would have descended upon Athens like a torrent from the hills. In fact, the Thebans checked him for the moment; and for that relief, men of Athens, you have first and chiefly to thank the kindness of some friendly god, but in a secondary degree, and so far as one man could help, you have to thank me. Hand me those decrees, with the dates of the several transactions. They will show you what a mass of trouble this consummate villain provoked; and yet he was never punished.
153. εἰ μὲν οὖν μὴ μετέγνωσαν εὐθέως, ὡς τοῦτʼ εἶδον, οἱ Θηβαῖοι καὶ μεθʼ ἡμῶν ἐγένοντο, ὥσπερ χειμάρρους ἂν ἅπαν τοῦτο τὸ πρᾶγμʼ εἰς τὴν πόλιν εἰσέπεσε· νῦν δὲ τό γʼ ἐξαίφνης ἐπέσχον ἐκεῖνοι, μάλιστα μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, θεῶν τινὸς εὐνοίᾳ πρὸς ὑμᾶς, εἶτα μέντοι καὶ ὅσον καθʼ ἕνʼ ἄνδρα, καὶ διʼ ἐμέ. δὸς δέ μοι τὰ δόγματα ταῦτα καὶ τοὺς χρόνους ἐν οἷς ἕκαστα πέπρακται, ἵνʼ εἰδῆθʼ ἡλίκα πράγμαθʼ ἡ μιαρὰ κεφαλὴ ταράξασʼ αὕτη δίκην οὐκ ἔδωκε.
154. Please read the decrees. (Sundry Resolutions of the Amphictyons are read) “In the priesthood of Cleinagoras, at the spring session, it was resolved by the Wardens and the Assessors of the Amphictyons, and by the General Synod of the Amphictyons, that, whereas Amphissians are encroaching upon the sacred territory and are sowing and grazing the same, the Wardens and Assessors shall attend and mark out the boundaries with pillars, and shall forbid the Amphissians hereafter to encroach.”
154. λέγε μοι τὰ δόγματα. ΔΟΓΜΑ ΑΜΦΙΚΤΥΟΝΩΝ. ἐπὶ ἱερέως Κλειναγόρου, ἐαρινῆς πυλαίας, ἔδοξε τοῖς πυλαγόροις καὶ τοῖς συνέδροις τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων καὶ τῷ κοινῷ τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων, ἐπειδὴ Ἀμφισσεῖς ἐπιβαίνουσιν ἐπὶ τὴν ἱερὰν χώραν καὶ σπείρουσι καὶ βοσκήμασι κατανέμουσιν, ἐπελθεῖν τοὺς πυλαγόρους καὶ τοὺς συνέδρους καὶ στήλαις διαλαβεῖν τοὺς ὅρους, καὶ ἀπειπεῖν τοῖς Ἀμφισσεῦσι τοῦ λοιποῦ μὴ ἐπιβαίνειν. ΕΤΕΡΟΝ ΔΟΓΜΑ.
155. “In the priesthood of Cleinagoras, at the spring session, it was resolved by the Wardens, Assessors, and General Synod that whereas the Amphissians who have occupied the sacred territory are tilling and grazing the same, and, when forbidden to do so, have appeared in arms and resisted the common assembly of the Greeks by force, and have actually wounded some of them, the general appointed by some of the Amphictyons, Cottyphus the Arcadian, shall go as an ambassador to Philip of Macedon and request him to come to the help of Apollo and the Amphictyons, that he may not suffer the god to be outraged by the impious Amphissians; he shall also announce that Philip is appointed General with full powers by the Greeks who are members of the Assembly of the Amphictyons.” Now read the dates of these transactions. They are all dates at which he was or spokesman at the Congress of Thermopylae. (The Record of Dates is read) “Archonship of Mnesitheides, on the sixteenth of the month Anthesterion.”
155. ἐπὶ ἱερέως Κλειναγόρου, ἐαρινῆς πυλαίας, ἔδοξε τοῖς πυλαγόροις καὶ τοῖς συνέδροις τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων καὶ τῷ κοινῷ τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων, ἐπειδὴ οἱ ἐξ Ἀμφίσσης τὴν ἱερὰν χώραν κατανειμάμενοι γεωργοῦσι καὶ βοσκήματα νέμουσι, καὶ κωλυόμενοι τοῦτο ποιεῖν ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις παραγενόμενοι τὸ κοινὸν τῶν Ἑλλήνων συνέδριον κεκωλύκασι μετὰ βίας, τινὰς δὲ καὶ τετραυματίκασι, [καὶ] τὸν στρατηγὸν τὸν ᾑρημένον τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων Κόττυφον τὸν Ἀρκάδα πρεσβεῦσαι πρὸς Φίλιππον τὸν Μακεδόνα, καὶ ἀξιοῦν ἵνα βοηθήσῃ τῷ τε Ἀπόλλωνι καὶ τοῖς Ἀμφικτύοσιν, ὅπως μὴ περιίδῃ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀσεβῶν Ἀμφισσέων τὸν θεὸν πλημμελούμενον· καὶ διότι αὐτὸν στρατηγὸν αὐτοκράτορα αἱροῦνται οἱ Ἕλληνες οἱ μετέχοντες τοῦ συνεδρίου τῶν Ἀμφικτυόνων. λέγε δὴ καὶ τοὺς χρόνους ἐν οἷς ταῦτʼ ἐγίγνετο· εἰσὶ γὰρ καθʼ οὓς ἐπυλαγόρησεν οὗτος. λέγε. ΧΡΟΝΟΙ. Ἄρχων Μνησιθείδης, μηνὸς ἀνθεστηριῶνος ἕκτῃ ἐπὶ δέκα.
156. Now hand me the letter which Philip dispatched to his Peloponnesian allies, when the Thebans disobeyed him. Even that letter will give you a clear proof that he was concealing the true reasons of his enterprise, namely his designs against Greece, and especially against Thebes and Athens, and was only pretending zeal for the national interests as defined by the Amphictyonic Council. But the man who provided him with that basis of action and those pretexts was Aeschines. Read.
156. δὸς δὴ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἥν, ὡς οὐχ ὑπήκουον οἱ Θηβαῖοι, πέμπει πρὸς τοὺς ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ συμμάχους ὁ Φίλιππος, ἵνʼ εἰδῆτε καὶ ἐκ ταύτης σαφῶς ὅτι τὴν μὲν ἀληθῆ πρόφασιν τῶν πραγμάτων, τὸ ταῦτʼ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ τοὺς Θηβαίους καὶ ὑμᾶς πράττειν, ἀπεκρύπτετο, κοινὰ δὲ καὶ τοῖς Ἀμφικτύοσιν δόξαντα ποιεῖν προσεποιεῖτο· ὁ δὲ τὰς ἀφορμὰς ταύτας καὶ τὰς προφάσεις αὐτῷ παρασχὼν οὗτος ἦν. λέγε. ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ.
157. (Philip’s Letter is read) “Philip, king of Macedonia, to the public officers and councillors of the allied Peloponnesians and to all his other Allies, greeting. Since the Ozolian Locrians, settled at Amphissa, are outraging the temple of Apollo at Delphi and come in arms to plunder the sacred territory, I consent to join you in helping the god and in punishing those who transgress in any way the principles of religion. Therefore meet under arms at Phocis with forty days’ provisions in the next month, styled Lous by us, Boedromion by the Athenians, and Panemus by the Corinthians. Those who, being pledged to us, do not join us in full force, we shall treat as punishable. Farewell.”
157. Βασιλεὺς Μακεδόνων Φίλιππος Πελοποννησίων τῶν ἐν τῇ συμμαχίᾳ τοῖς δημιουργοῖς καὶ τοῖς συνέδροις καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις συμμάχοις πᾶσι χαίρειν. ἐπειδὴ Λοκροὶ οἱ καλούμενοι Ὀζόλαι, κατοικοῦντες ἐν Ἀμφίσσῃ, πλημμελοῦσιν εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος τοῦ ἐν Δελφοῖς καὶ τὴν ἱερὰν χώραν ἐρχόμενοι μεθʼ ὅπλων λεηλατοῦσι, βούλομαι τῷ θεῷ μεθʼ ὑμῶν βοηθεῖν καὶ ἀμύνασθαι τοὺς παραβαίνοντάς τι τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐσεβῶν· ὥστε συναντᾶτε μετὰ τῶν ὅπλων εἰς τὴν Φωκίδα, ἔχοντες ἐπισιτισμὸν ἡμερῶν τετταράκοντα, τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος μηνὸς λῴου, ὡς ἡμεῖς ἄγομεν, ὡς δὲ Ἀθηναῖοι, βοηδρομιῶνος, ὡς δὲ Κορίνθιοι, πανήμου. τοῖς δὲ μὴ συναντήσασι πανδημεὶ χρησόμεθα τοῖς δὲ συμβούλοις ἡμῖν κειμένοις ἐπιζημίοις. εὐτυχεῖτε.