51. Philip, however, did send you two letters of summons. Yes, but not with the intention that you should take the field. That is certain; otherwise he would not have destroyed your opportunity of going out before he summoned you, nor would he have detained me when I wanted to sail home, nor ordered Aeschines to make statements calculated to deter you from going out. No, his object was that you, in the belief that he would do all that you wanted, should make no decree prejudicial to him, and the Phocians might not stand their ground and hold out in reliance upon hopes afforded by you, but might make unconditional surrender to him in sheer desperation. Read Philip’s actual letters. (The two Letters are read) These letters, then, do summon you,—yes, indeed, at last!
51. καίτοι καὶ ἐπιστολὰς ἔπεμψʼ ὁ Φίλιππος δύο καλούσας ὑμᾶς, οὐχ ἵνʼ ἐξέλθητε· πώμαλα· οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε τοὺς χρόνους ἀνελών, ἐν οἷς ἐδυνήθητʼ ἂν ἐξελθεῖν, τηνικαῦτʼ ἐκάλει· οὐδʼ ἂν ἐμέ, ἡνίκα δεῦρʼ ἀποπλεῖν ἐβουλόμην, κατεκώλυεν· οὐδὲ τοιαῦτα λέγειν τούτῳ προσέταττεν, ἐξ ὧν ἥκισθʼ ὑμεῖς ἐμέλλετʼ ἐξιέναι· ἀλλʼ ἵνα, ἃ ἐβούλεσθʼ οἰόμενοι πράξειν αὐτόν, μηδὲν ἐναντίον ψηφίσησθʼ αὐτῷ, μηδʼ ἀμύναιντο μηδʼ ἀντέχοιεν οἱ Φωκεῖς ἐπὶ ταῖς παρʼ ὑμῶν [ὑπέχοντες] ἐλπίσιν, ἀλλʼ ἀπογνόντες ἅπανθʼ αὑτοὺς ἐγχειρίσαιεν. λέγε δʼ αὐτοῖς αὐτὰς τὰς ἐπιστολὰς τὰς τοῦ Φιλίππου. ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΑΙ.
52. But if there had been any honesty in the letters, it was clearly the duty of these men to exhort you to take the field, and to propose that Proxenus, whom they knew to be in those parts, should at once march to the aid of Philip. Their actual policy was very different. Naturally; for they did not apply their minds to the phrasing of the letter; they were in the secret of the intention with which it was written, and with that intention they concurred and cooperated.
52. αἱ μὲν τοίνυν ἐπιστολαὶ καλοῦσιν αὗται, καὶ νὴ Δίʼ ἤδη γε· τούτοις δʼ, εἴπερ ἦν ὑγιές τι τούτων, τί ἄλλο προσῆκεν ἢ συνειπεῖν ὅπως ἐξέλθηθʼ ὑμεῖς, καὶ τὸν Πρόξενον ὃν περὶ τοὺς τόπους ᾔδεσαν ὄντα γράφειν εὐθέως βοηθεῖν; πάντα τοίνυν τἀναντία τούτων φαίνονται πεποιηκότες. εἰκότως· οὐ γὰρ οἷς ἐπέστελλε προσεῖχον τὸν νοῦν, ἀλλʼ ἃ φρονῶν ταῦτʼ ἔγραφεν συνῄδεσαν· τούτοις οὖν συνέπραττον καὶ τούτοις συνηγωνίζοντο.
53. When therefore the Phocians learned your policy from the proceedings of the Assembly, received the decree of Philocrates, and were informed of the report and promises of Aeschines, their ruin was complete. Just consider. There were some men in Phocis, sensible men, who had no confidence in Philip. They were induced to trust him. Why? Because they conceived that, though Philip had deceived them ten times over, he would never have dared to deceive Athenians and envoys of the Athenian people, that the report of Aeschines was true, and that destruction had overtaken not themselves but the Thebans.
53. οἱ μὲν τοίνυν Φωκεῖς, ὡς τὰ παρʼ ὑμῶν ἐπύθοντʼ ἐκ τῆς ἐκκλησίας καὶ τό τε ψήφισμα τοῦτʼ ἔλαβον τὸ τοῦ Φιλοκράτους καὶ τὴν ἀπαγγελίαν ἐπύθοντο τὴν τούτου καὶ τὰς ὑποσχέσεις, κατὰ πάντας τοὺς τρόπους ἀπώλοντο. σκοπεῖτε γάρ. ἦσαν ἀπιστοῦντές τινες αὐτόθι τῷ Φιλίππῳ καὶ νοῦν ἔχοντες· οὗτοι πιστεύειν ὑπήχθησαν. διὰ τί; ὅτι ἡγοῦντο, οὐδʼ εἰ δεκάκις Φίλιππος αὐτοὺς ἐξηπάτα, οὐδέποτʼ ἂν τούς γʼ Ἀθηναίων πρέσβεις Ἀθηναίους ἐξαπατᾶν τολμῆσαι, ἀλλʼ εἶναι ταῦτʼ ἀληθῆ ἃ οὗτος ἀπήγγελλε πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ τοῖς Θηβαίοις ἥκειν, οὐχ αὑτοῖς ὄλεθρον.
54. There were others who were ready at all hazards to hold out to the end; but even they were mollified by the persuasion that Philip was their friend, and that, if they refused compliance, you, from whom they were expecting succor, would turn against them. A third party supposed that you regretted your treaty of peace with Philip; but they were now informed that you had actually decreed an extension of the treaty to Philip’s descendants, and so they abandoned all hope of your assistance. And that is why these men packed all those provisions into one decree.
54. ἦσαν ἄλλοι τινὲς οἳ πάσχειν ὁτιοῦν καὶ ἀμύνεσθαι δεῖν ᾤοντο· ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτους μαλακοὺς ἐποίησε τὸ τὸν Φίλιππον ὑπάρχειν αὐτοῖς πεισθῆναι, καὶ τὸ ταῦτʼ εἰ μὴ ποιήσουσιν ὑμᾶς ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ἥξειν, οὓς βοηθήσειν αὑτοῖς ἤλπιζον ἐκεῖνοι. ἀλλὰ καὶ μεταμέλειν ὑμῖν ᾤοντό τινες πεποιημένοις τὴν πρὸς Φίλιππον εἰρήνην· τούτοις ὅτι καὶ τοῖς ἐγγόνοις τὴν αὐτὴν ἐψηφίσασθʼ ἐπέδειξαν, ὥστε πανταχῇ τὰ παρʼ ὑμῶν ἀπογνωσθῆναι. διόπερ ταῦτα πάντʼ εἰς ἓν ψήφισμα συνεσκεύασαν.
55. In my judgement they could not have done you a more grievous injury. To turn their treaty of peace with a mortal man, a mere potentate of occasion, into a covenant of immortal ignominy for the commonwealth; to strip their city of all she had, even of the largess of her good fortune; in the veriest extravagance of malice to heap injuries not only on the Athenians of today but upon all who shall hereafter be Athenians,—is not that an appalling iniquity?
55. ὃ καὶ μέγιστον ἔμοιγε δοκοῦσιν ἁπάντων ὑμᾶς ἠδικηκέναι· τὸ γὰρ πρὸς ἄνδρα θνητὸν καὶ διὰ καιρούς τινας ἰσχύοντα γράφοντας εἰρήνην ἀθάνατον συνθέσθαι τὴν κατὰ τῆς πόλεως αἰσχύνην, καὶ ἀποστερῆσαι μὴ μόνον τῶν ἄλλων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν παρὰ τῆς τύχης εὐεργεσιῶν τὴν πόλιν, καὶ τοσαύτῃ περιουσίᾳ χρήσασθαι πονηρίας ὥστε μὴ μόνον τοὺς ὄντας Ἀθηναίους, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ὕστερόν ποτε μέλλοντας ἔσεσθαι πάντας ἠδικηκέναι, πῶς οὐχὶ πάνδεινόν ἐστι;
56. Never would you have consented to add to the treaty by afterthought the words “and to his posterity,” but for your confidence in the promises alleged by Aeschines. In those promises the Phocians confided,—and perished! They surrendered themselves to Philip; of their own accord they put their cities at his mercy; and their treatment has exactly contradicted all the assurances of Aeschines.
56. τοῦτο τοίνυν οὐδέποθʼ ὑμεῖς ὑπεμείνατʼ ἂν [ὕστερον] προσγράψαι πρὸς τὴν εἰρήνην, τὸ καὶ τοῖς ἐγγόνοις, εἰ μὴ ταῖς παρʼ Αἰσχίνου ῥηθείσαις ὑποσχέσεσιν τότʼ ἐπιστεύσατε, αἷσπερ οἱ Φωκεῖς πιστεύσαντες ἀπώλοντο. καὶ γάρ τοι παραδόντες αὑτοὺς Φιλίππῳ καὶ ἑκόντες ἐγχειρίσαντες ἐκείνῳ τὰς πόλεις ἁπάντων τῶν ἐναντίων ὧν πρὸς ὑμᾶς οὗτος ἀπήγγειλʼ ἔτυχον.
57. To give you the clearest proof that that destruction was effected in this way by the contrivance of these men, I will submit a reckoning of the dates of the several transactions. If any of the defendants challenges my calculation, let him stand up and speak in the time allotted to me. Now the treaty was made on the nineteenth of Elaphebolion, and we were abroad receiving the oaths for three entire months. During the whole of that time the Phocians were safe.
57. ἵνα δʼ εἰδῆτε σαφῶς ὅτι ταῦθʼ οὕτω καὶ διὰ τούτους ἀπόλωλε, τοὺς χρόνους ὑμῖν λογιοῦμαι καθʼ οὓς ἐγίγνεθʼ ἕκαστα. περὶ ὧν δʼ ἄν τις ἀντιλέγῃ τούτων, ἀναστὰς ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ ὕδατι εἰπάτω. ἡ μὲν τοίνυν εἰρήνη ἐλαφηβολιῶνος ἐνάτῃ ἐπὶ δέκα ἐγένετο, ἀπεδημήσαμεν δʼ ἡμεῖς ἐπὶ τοὺς ὅρκους τρεῖς μῆνας ὅλους· καὶ τοῦτον ἅπαντα τὸν χρόνον ἦσαν οἱ Φωκεῖς σῷοι.
58. We returned from the oath-taking embassy on the thirteenth of Scirophorion, when Philip was already at Thermopylae and making promises to the Phocians which they were not disposed to believe. The proof of that is that otherwise they would not have resorted to you. Then the Assembly, at which these men brought the whole business to ruin with their lies and cajolery, was held on the sixteenth of Scirophorion.
58. ἥκομεν δὲ δεῦρʼ ἀπὸ τῆς πρεσβείας τῆς ἐπὶ τοὺς ὅρκους τρίτῃ ἐπὶ δέκα τοῦ σκιροφοριῶνος μηνός, καὶ παρῆν ὁ Φίλιππος ἐν Πύλαις ἤδη καὶ τοῖς Φωκεῦσιν ἐπηγγέλλετο ὧν οὐδὲν ἐπίστευον ἐκεῖνοι. σημεῖον δέ· οὐ γὰρ ἂν δεῦρʼ ἧκον ὡς ὑμᾶς. ἡ δʼ ἐκκλησία μετὰ ταῦτα, ἐν ᾗ πάντα τὰ πράγματʼ ἀπώλεσαν οὗτοι ψευσάμενοι καὶ φενακίσαντες ὑμᾶς, τῇ ἕκτῃ ἐπὶ δέκα ἐγίγνετο τοῦ σκιροφοριῶνος.
59. Now I calculate that the news from Athens reached the Phocians on the fourth day after that date, for there were Phocian envoys in the city, and they were interested in knowing what report these men would submit and what decree you would adopt. Therefore the twentieth was the day on which we reckon that the Phocians received the news, that is, the fourth day after the sixteenth. Then followed the twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third; and on the twenty-third the convention was made, and the fortunes of Phocis perished and came to an end.
59. ἀπὸ τοίνυν ταύτης πεμπταῖα λογίζομαι τὰ παρʼ ὑμῶν ἐν τοῖς Φωκεῦσι γενέσθαι· παρῆσαν γὰρ οἱ τῶν Φωκέων πρέσβεις ἐνθάδε, καὶ ἦν αὐτοῖς καὶ τί ἀπαγγελοῦσιν οὗτοι καὶ τί ψηφιεῖσθʼ ὑμεῖς ἐπιμελές. οὐκοῦν εἰκάς, ᾗ τίθεμεν πυθέσθαι τοὺς Φωκέας τὰ παρʼ ὑμῶν· ἀπὸ γὰρ τῆς ἕκτης εἰς ταύτην πέμπτη γίγνεται. ὑστέρα τοίνυν δεκάτη, ἐνάτη, ὀγδόη· ταύτῃ ἐγίγνονθʼ αἱ σπονδαί, καὶ πάντα τἀκεῖ πράγματʼ ἀπωλώλει καὶ τέλος εἶχεν.
60. How, then, is this date proved? On the twenty-seventh, when you were holding an assembly at Peiraeus to discuss dockyard business, Dercylus arrived from Chalcis with the intelligence that Philip had put the whole affair into the hands of the Thebans, and he computed that it was then the fourth day after the convention. Twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven: that makes it the fourth day. Therefore these dates, together with their own reports and decrees, all convict these men of having co-operated with Philip, and they share with him the guilt of the destruction of the Phocians.
60. τῷ τοῦτο δῆλον; τῇ τετράδι φθίνοντος ἠκκλησιάζετε μὲν τόθʼ ὑμεῖς ἐν Πειραιεῖ περὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς νεωρίοις, ἧκε δὲ Δερκύλος ἐκ Χαλκίδος καὶ ἀπήγγελλεν ὑμῖν ὅτι πάντα τὰ πράγματʼ ἐγκεχείρικε Θηβαίοις ὁ Φίλιππος, καὶ πέμπτην εἶναι ταύτην ἡμέραν [ἐλογίζετʼ] ἀφʼ οὗ γεγόνασιν αἱ σπονδαί. ὀγδόη τοίνυν, ἑβδόμη, ἕκτη, πέμπτη, τετράς· αὐτὸ συμβαίνει εἰς ταύτην εἶναι πέμπτην. οὐκοῦν τοῖς χρόνοις, οἷς ἀπήγγελλον, οἷς ἔγραφον, πᾶσιν ἐξελέγχονται συνηγωνισμένοι Φιλίππῳ καὶ συναίτιοι γεγονότες τοῦ τῶν Φωκέων ὀλέθρου.
61. Again, the consideration that not a city of the Phocians was taken forcibly, whether by blockade or assault, and yet that they were all brought to utter ruin under the convention, is a convincing proof that they perished because they had been persuaded through these men that Philip would deliver them; for about his character they had no illusions. Now give me our treaty with the Phocians, and the Amphictyonic decrees, under which they dismantled their defences. These documents will show you on what footing you stood with them, and what treatment they have received by the fault of these wicked men. Read. (The Treaty of Friendship between the Athenians and the Phocians is read) These are the relations that subsisted between you and them—friendship, alliance, succor.
61. ἔτι τοίνυν τὸ μηδεμίαν τῶν πόλεων τῶν ἐν Φωκεῦσιν ἁλῶναι πολιορκίᾳ μηδʼ ἐκ προσβολῆς κατὰ κράτος, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τοῦ σπείσασθαι πάντας ἄρδην ἀπολέσθαι, μέγιστόν ἐστι σημεῖον τοῦ διὰ τούτους πεισθέντας αὐτοὺς ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ Φιλίππου σωθήσονται ταῦτα παθεῖν· οὐ γὰρ ἐκεῖνόν γʼ ἠγνόουν. φέρε δή μοι καὶ τὴν συμμαχίαν τὴν τῶν Φωκέων καὶ τὰ δόγμαθʼ ὑφʼ ὧν καθεῖλον αὐτῶν τὰ τείχη, ἵνʼ εἰδῆθʼ οἵων ὑπαρχόντων αὐτοῖς παρʼ ὑμῶν οἵων ἔτυχον διὰ τούτους τοὺς θεοῖς ἐχθρούς. λέγε. ΣΥΜΜΑΧΙΑ ΦΩΚΕΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΑΘΗΝΑΙΩΝ.
62. Now hear what they have suffered through the man who thwarted the succor you owed them. Read. (The Convention between Philip and the Phocians is read) You hear it, men of Athens. A convention between Philip and the Phocians, it says, not between the Thebans and the Phocians, or the Thessalians and the Phocians, or the Locrians, or any other of the nationalities then present. Again, it says that the Phocians are to surrender their cities to Philip, not to the Thebans, or the Thessalians, or any other people.
62. ἃ μὲν τοίνυν ὑπῆρχε παρʼ ὑμῶν αὐτοῖς, ταῦτʼ ἐστί, φιλία, συμμαχία, βοήθεια· ὧν δʼ ἔτυχον διὰ τοῦτον τὸν βοηθῆσαι κωλύσαντα ὑμᾶς, ἀκούσατε. λέγε. ΟΜΟΛΟΓΙΑ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΦΩΚΕΩΝ. ἀκούετʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι. ὁμολογία Φιλίππου καὶ Φωκέων, φησίν, οὐχὶ Θηβαίων καὶ Φωκέων, οὐδὲ Θετταλῶν καὶ Φωκέων, οὐδὲ Λοκρῶν, οὐδʼ ἄλλου τῶν παρόντων οὐδενός· καὶ πάλιν παραδοῦναι δὲ τὰς πόλεις Φωκέας, φησί, Φιλίππῳ, οὐχὶ Θηβαίοις οὐδὲ Θετταλοῖς οὐδʼ ἄλλῳ οὐδενί.
63. Why? Because you had been assured by Aeschines that Philip had come to deliver the Phocians. In Aeschines they had confidence; to Aeschines they looked for aid; with Aeschines they were making their peace. Read the other documents. Now you shall see to what sufferings they were brought by that confidence. Does the story agree with, does it in any way resemble, those reports of Aeschines? Read. (The Decrees of the Amphictyonic Council are read) Men of Athens, nothing more awful or more momentous has befallen in Greece within living memory, nor, as I believe, in all the history of the past.
63. διὰ τί; ὅτι Φίλιππος ἀπηγγέλλετο πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὑπὸ τούτου ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν Φωκέων σωτηρίᾳ παρεληλυθέναι. τούτῳ δὴ πάντʼ ἐπίστευον, καὶ πρὸς τοῦτον πάντʼ ἐσκόπουν, πρὸς τοῦτον ἐποιοῦντο τὴν εἰρήνην. λέγε δὴ τἀπίλοιπα. καὶ σκοπεῖτε τί πιστεύσαντες τί ἔπασχον. ἆρά γʼ ὅμοιʼ ἢ παραπλήσιʼ οἷς οὗτος ἀπήγγελλεν; λέγε. ΔΟΓΜΑΤΑ ΑΜΦΙΚΤΥΟΝΩΝ.
64. Yet through the agency of these men all these great and terrible transactions have been dominated by a single individual, though the city of Athens is still in being, the city whose ancestral prerogative it was to stand forth as the champion of the Hellenic race, and declare that such things shall not be. In what fashion these unhappy Phocians have perished you may learn, not from the decrees alone, but from the deeds that have been wrought—a spectacle, men of Athens, to move us to terror and pity indeed!
64. τούτων, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, δεινότερʼ οὐ γέγονεν οὐδὲ μείζω πράγματʼ ἐφʼ ἡμῶν ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν, οἶμαι δʼ οὐδʼ ἐν τῷ πρόσθεν χρόνῳ. τηλικούτων μέντοι καὶ τοιούτων πραγμάτων κύριος εἷς ἀνὴρ [Φίλιππος] γέγονεν διὰ τούτους, οὔσης τῆς Ἀθηναίων πόλεως, ᾗ προεστάναι τῶν Ἑλλήνων πάτριον καὶ μηδὲν τοιοῦτον περιορᾶν γιγνόμενον. ὃν μὲν τοίνυν τρόπον οἱ ταλαίπωροι Φωκεῖς ἀπολώλασιν, οὐ μόνον ἐκ τῶν δογμάτων τούτων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἔργων ἃ πέπρακται, θέαμα δεινόν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ ἐλεινόν·
65. Not long ago, when we were travelling to Delphi, necessity compelled us to look upon that scene—homesteads levelled with the ground, cities stripped of their defensive walls, a countryside all emptied of its young men; only women, a few little children, and old men stricken with misery. No man could find words adequate to the woes that exist in that country today. And yet these are the people—you take the words out of my mouth—these are the people who in the day of our trial openly cast their vote against the Thebans, when the question was the enslavement of us all!
65. ὅτε γὰρ νῦν ἐπορευόμεθʼ εἰς Δελφούς, ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἦν ὁρᾶν ἡμῖν πάντα ταῦτα, οἰκίας κατεσκαμμένας, τείχη περιῃρημένα, χώραν ἔρημον τῶν ἐν ἡλικίᾳ, γύναια δὲ καὶ παιδάριʼ ὀλίγα καὶ πρεσβύτας ἀνθρώπους οἰκτρούς· οὐδʼ ἂν εἷς δύναιτʼ ἐφικέσθαι τῷ λόγῳ τῶν ἐκεῖ κακῶν νῦν ὄντων. ἀλλὰ μὴν ὅτι τὴν ἐναντίαν ποτὲ Θηβαίοις ψῆφον ἔθενθʼ οὗτοι περὶ ἡμῶν ὑπὲρ ἀνδραποδισμοῦ προτεθεῖσαν, ὑμῶν ἔγωγʼ ἀκούω πάντων.
66. Then what vote, what judgement, men of Athens, do you think that our forefathers would give, if they could recover consciousness, at the trial of the men who devised the destruction of the Phocians? I conceive that they would account even those who should stone them to death with their own hands to be free of all bloodguiltiness. For is it not an ignominy—or use a stronger word if such there be—that, by the fault of these men, the people who saved us at that crisis, and gave for us the verdict of deliverance, have received evil in requital of good, and have been abandoned to the endurance of afflictions such as no people of the Greeks has ever known? And who is the author of those wrongs? Who is the contriver of that deception? Who but Aeschines?
66. τίνʼ ἂν οὖν οἴεσθʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοὺς προγόνους ὑμῶν, εἰ λάβοιεν αἴσθησιν, ψῆφον ἢ γνώμην θέσθαι περὶ τῶν αἰτίων τοῦ τούτων ὀλέθρου; ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ οἶμαι κἂν καταλεύσαντας αὐτοὺς ταῖς ἑαυτῶν χερσὶν καθαροὺς ἔσεσθαι νομίζειν. πῶς γὰρ οὐκ αἰσχρόν, μᾶλλον δʼ εἴ τις ἔστιν ὑπερβολὴ τούτου, τοὺς σεσωκότας ἡμᾶς τότε καὶ τὴν σῴζουσαν περὶ ἡμῶν ψῆφον θεμένους, τούτους τῶν ἐναντίων τετυχηκέναι διὰ τούτους, καὶ περιῶφθαι τοιαῦτα πεπονθότας οἷʼ οὐδένες ἄλλοι τῶν Ἑλλήνων; τίς οὖν ὁ τούτων αἴτιος; τίς ὁ ταῦτα φενακίσας; οὐχ οὗτος;
67. Men of Athens, Philip has many claims to congratulation on his good fortune, but beyond them all he might well be especially congratulated for one thing, in which I solemnly declare that I can name no man of our time who has been equally fortunate. Such achievements as the capture of great cities and the subjugation of a vast territory are, I suppose, enviable, as they are undoubtedly imposing; yet we could mention many other men who have done the like.
67. πολλὰ τοίνυν ἄν τις, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, Φίλιππον εὐδαιμονίσας τῆς τύχης εἰκότως, τοῦτο μάλιστʼ ἂν εὐδαιμονίσειεν ἁπάντων, ὃ μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς καὶ τὰς θεὰς οὐκ ἔχω λέγειν ἔγωγʼ ἄλλον ὅστις ηὐτύχηκεν ἐφʼ ἡμῶν. τὸ μὲν γὰρ πόλεις μεγάλας εἰληφέναι καὶ χώραν πολλὴν ὑφʼ ἑαυτῷ πεποιῆσθαι καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα ζηλωτὰ μέν ἐστιν, οἶμαι, καὶ λαμπρά· πῶς γὰρ οὔ; ἔχοι δʼ ἄν τις εἰπεῖν πεπραγμένα καὶ ἑτέροις πολλοῖς.
68. But the stroke of good fortune I have in mind is peculiar to him and has befallen no other man. What is it? It is that, when he needed scoundrels for his purposes, he found bigger scoundrels than he wanted. For surely that is a fair description of the men who deceived you, hiring themselves out for lies which Philip, in spite of the great interests at issue, did not dare to tell on his own account, which he never wrote in any letter or put into the mouth of ambassadors of his own.
68. ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνʼ ἴδιον καὶ οὐδενὶ τῶν πάντων ἄλλῳ γεγονὸς εὐτύχημα. τὸ ποῖον; τὸ ἐπειδὴ πονηρῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰς τὰ πράγματʼ αὐτῷ ἐδέησεν, πονηροτέρους εὑρεῖν ἢ ἐβούλετο. πῶς γὰρ οὐχ οὗτοι τοιοῦτοι δικαίως ὑποληφθεῖεν ἄν, οἵ γε, ἃ ὑπὲρ αὑτοῦ Φίλιππος τηλικούτων ὄντων αὐτῷ τῶν διαφόρων οὐκ ἐτόλμα ψεύσασθαι, οὐδʼ ἔγραψεν οὔτʼ εἰς ἐπιστολὴν οὐδεμίαν, οὔτε πρεσβευτὴς οὐδεὶς εἶπε τῶν παρʼ ἐκείνου, ἐπὶ ταῦτα μισθώσαντες ἑαυτοὺς ὑμᾶς ἐξηπάτων;
69. Antipater and Parmenio, though they were in the service of a hard taskmaster, and though they were not likely to fall in with you again, nevertheless claimed exemption from serving as the agents of your beguilement; and yet citizens of Athens, the appointed envoys of the freest of all cities, men who must needs encounter you and look you in the face, who must live with you all the rest of their life, who would have to render you a strict account of their actions, accepted a commission to beguile you! Could any men be more wicked or more lost to all sense of shame?
69. καὶ ὁ μὲν Ἀντίπατρος καὶ ὁ Παρμενίων, δεσπότῃ διακονοῦντες καὶ οὐ μέλλοντες ὑμῖν μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἐντεύξεσθαι, ὅμως τοῦθʼ εὕροντο, μὴ διʼ αὐτῶν ὑμᾶς ἐξαπατηθῆναι· οἱ δέ, Ἀθηναῖοι, τῆς ἐλευθερωτάτης πόλεως, πρέσβεις ταχθέντες ὑμᾶς, οἷς ἀπαντῶντας ἐμβλέπειν, οἷς συζῆν ἀνάγκη τὸν λοιπὸν βίον καὶ ἐν οἷς εὐθύνας ἔμελλον δώσειν τῶν πεπραγμένων, τούτους ἐξαπατᾶν ὑπέστησαν. πῶς ἂν ἄνθρωποι κακίους ἢ μᾶλλον ἀπονενοημένοι τούτων γένοιντο;
70. To show you that this man is already accursed by you, and that religion and piety forbid you to acquit one who has been guilty of such falsehoods,—recite the curse. Take and read it from the statute: here it is. (The Statutory Commination is read) This imprecation, men of Athens, is pronounced, as the law directs, by the marshal on your behalf at every meeting of the Assembly, and again before the Council at all their sessions. The defendant cannot say that he is not familiar with it, for, when acting as clerk to the Assembly and as an officer of the Council, he used to dictate the statute to the marshal.
70. ἵνα τοίνυν εἰδῆθʼ ὅτι καὶ κατάρατός ἐστιν ὑφʼ ὑμῶν, καὶ οὐδʼ ὅσιον ὑμῖν οὐδʼ εὐσεβές ἐστι τοιαῦτʼ ἐψευσμένον αὐτὸν ἀφεῖναι, λέγε τὴν ἀρὰν καὶ ἀνάγνωθι λαβὼν τὴν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου ταυτηνί. ΑΡΑ. ταῦθʼ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καθʼ ἑκάστην τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ὁ κῆρυξ εὔχεται νόμῳ προστεταγμένα, καὶ ὅταν ἡ βουλὴ καθῆται, παρʼ ἐκείνῃ πάλιν. καὶ ταῦτʼ οὐκ ἔνεστιν εἰπεῖν τούτῳ ὡς οὐκ εὖ ᾔδει· ὑπογραμματεύων γὰρ ὑμῖν καὶ ὑπηρετῶν τῇ βουλῇ αὐτὸς ἐξηγεῖτο τὸν νόμον τοῦτον τῷ κήρυκι.
71. Would you not have acted absurdly and preposterously if today, when the power is in your own hands, you should preclude yourselves from doing what you enjoin, or rather require, the gods to do on your behalf; if you should yourselves release a man whom you have implored them to extirpate along with his household and his kindred? Never! Leave the undetected sinner to the justice of the gods; but about the sinner whom you have caught yourselves, lay no further injunctions on them.
71. πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἄτοπον καὶ ὑπερφυὲς ἂν πεποιηκότες ὑμεῖς εἴητε, εἰ ἃ προστάττετε, μᾶλλον δʼ ἀξιοῦτε ποιεῖν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν τοὺς θεούς, ταῦτʼ αὐτοὶ κύριοι γεγενημένοι τήμερον μὴ ποιήσαιτε, ἀλλʼ ὃν ἐκείνοις εὔχεσθʼ ἐξώλη ποιεῖν αὐτὸν καὶ γένος καὶ οἰκίαν, τοῦτον ἀφείητʼ αὐτοί; μηδαμῶς· ὃς γὰρ ἂν ὑμᾶς λάθῃ, τοῦτον ἀφίετε τοῖς θεοῖς κολάζειν· ὃν δʼ ἂν αὐτοὶ λάβητε, μηκέτʼ ἐκείνοις περὶ τούτου προστάττετε.
72. I am informed that he has become so proficient in effrontery and hardihood that he will disavow all his acts—his reports, his promises, his deceptions of the city—as though he were not on trial before a jury that knows the whole truth, and that he will denounce first the Lacedaemonians, then the Phocians, and then Hegesippus. That is buffoonery, nay, barefaced impudence.
72. εἰς τοίνυν τοῦτʼ ἀναιδείας καὶ τόλμης αὐτὸν ἥξειν ἀκούω, ὥστε πάντων τῶν πεπραγμένων ἐκστάντα, ὧν ἀπήγγειλεν, ὧν ὑπέσχετο, ὧν πεφενάκικε τὴν πόλιν, ὥσπερ ἐν ἄλλοις τισὶ κρινόμενον καὶ οὐκ ἐν ὑμῖν τοῖς ἅπαντʼ εἰδόσι, πρῶτον μὲν Λακεδαιμονίων, εἶτα Φωκέων, εἶθʼ Ἡγησίππου κατηγορήσειν. ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα γέλως, μᾶλλον δʼ ἀναισχυντία δεινή.
73. Whatever he may say just now about the Phocians or the Lacedaemonians or Hegesippus,—that they did not receive Proxenus, that they are irreligious, that they are—anything he can say to their disadvantage,—surely all that was finished and done with before the return of the envoys to Athens, and therefore could not have stood in the way of the deliverance of the Phocians. Who says so? Why, Aeschines here, the defendant himself.
73. ὅσα γὰρ νῦν ἐρεῖ περὶ τῶν Φωκέων ἢ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἢ τοῦ Ἡγησίππου, ὡς Πρόξενον οὐχ ὑπεδέξαντο, ὡς ἀσεβεῖς εἰσίν, ὡς—ὅ τι ἂν δήποτʼ αὐτῶν κατηγορῇ, πάντα δήπου ταῦτα πρὸ τοῦ τοὺς πρέσβεις τούτους δεῦρʼ ἥκειν ἐπέπρακτο, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἐμποδὼν τῷ τοὺς Φωκέας σῴζεσθαι, ὡς τίς φησιν;
74. For he did not allege in his report that, but for the Lacedaemonians, but for their refusal to receive Proxenus, but for Hegesippus, but for this or that, the Phocians would have been delivered. He passed over all that, and declared explicitly that before his return he had persuaded Philip to deliver the Phocians, to repopulate Boeotia, and to put the whole business into your hands; that it would all be accomplished within two or three days, and that in revenge the Thebans had set a price upon his head.
74. Αἰσχίνης αὐτὸς οὑτοσί. οὐ γὰρ ὡς εἰ μὴ διὰ Λακεδαιμονίους, οὐδʼ ὡς εἰ μὴ Πρόξενον οὐχ ὑπεδέξαντο, οὐδʼ ὡς εἰ μὴ διʼ Ἡγήσιππον, οὐδʼ ὡς εἰ μὴ διὰ τὸ καὶ τὸ ἐσώθησαν ἂν οἱ Φωκεῖς, οὐχ οὕτω τότʼ ἀπήγγειλεν, ἀλλὰ πάντα ταῦθʼ ὑπερβὰς διαρρήδην ἥκειν πεπεικὼς ἔφη Φίλιππον Φωκέας σῴζειν, τὴν Βοιωτίαν οἰκίζειν, ὑμῖν τὰ πράγματʼ οἰκεῖα ποιεῖν· ταῦτα πεπράξεσθαι δυοῖν ἢ τριῶν ἡμερῶν· διὰ ταῦτα χρήμαθʼ ἑαυτῷ τοὺς Θηβαίους ἐπικεκηρυχέναι.
75. Do not, then, listen to anything that had been done by Lacedaemonians or Phocians before he made his report; do not let him talk about it; do not permit him to denounce the Phocians and call them rascals. You saved the Lacedaemonians in old time, and those accursed Euboeans lately, and many other peoples, not because they were virtuous, but because their safety profited Athens, as that of the Phocians would today. What transgression did the Phocians or the Lacedaemonians or you or anyone else commit after Aeschines’ speech, that the promises made by him to you then should not be fulfilled?
75. μὴ τοίνυν ἃ πρὸ τοῦ τοῦτον ἀπαγγεῖλαι ταῦτʼ ἐπέπρακτʼ ἢ Λακεδαιμονίοις ἢ Φωκεῦσιν ἀκούετε μηδʼ ἀνέχεσθε, μηδὲ κατηγορεῖν ἐᾶτε Φωκέων ὡς πονηροί. οὐδὲ γὰρ Λακεδαιμονίους διὰ τὴν ἀρετὴν αὐτῶν ποτʼ ἐσώσατε, οὐδὲ τοὺς καταράτους Εὐβοέας τουτουσί, οὐδʼ ἄλλους πολλούς, ἀλλʼ ὅτι συμφέρον ἦν σῶς εἶναι τῇ πόλει, ὥσπερ Φωκέας νυνί. καὶ τί τῶν Φωκέων ἢ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἢ ὑμῶν ἢ ἄλλου τινὸς ἀνθρώπων μετὰ τοὺς παρὰ τούτου λόγους ἐξαμαρτόντος οὐκ ἀπέβη τὰ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὑπὸ τούτου τότε ῥηθέντα; τοῦτʼ ἐρωτᾶτε· οὐ γὰρ ἕξει δεῖξαι.
76. Ask him that question. He can point to none. For he made his lying report, you believed it, the Phocians heard of it, surrendered, and perished, all within a period of five days only. Hence it is clearly evident that the ruin of the Phocians was nothing but a concoction of deceit and artifice. For during the time when Philip was unable to march by reason of the peace, but was already laying his plans, he sent for the Lacedaemonians, promising to do everything for them, so that the Phocians might not, through your agency, secure their help.
76. πέντε γὰρ ἡμέραι γεγόνασι μόναι, ἐν αἷς οὗτος ἀπήγγειλε τὰ ψευδῆ, ὑμεῖς ἐπιστεύσατε, οἱ Φωκεῖς ἐπύθοντο, ἐνέδωκαν ἑαυτούς, ἀπώλοντο. ὅθεν οἶμαι καὶ δῆλόν ἐστι σαφῶς, ὅτι πᾶσʼ ἀπάτη καὶ τέχνη συνεσκευάσθη τοῦ περὶ Φωκέας ὀλέθρου. ὃν μὲν γὰρ χρόνον οὐχ οἷός τʼ ἦν ἐλθεῖν ὁ Φίλιππος διὰ τὴν εἰρήνην, ἀλλʼ ἦν ἐν παρασκευῇ, τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους μετεπέμπετο, πάντα τὰ πράγμαθʼ ὑποσχόμενος πράξειν ἐκείνοις, ἵνα μὴ διʼ ὑμῶν αὐτοὺς οἱ Φωκεῖς ὑποποιήσωνται.
77. But when he had reached Thermopylae, and when the Lacedaemonians, detecting the snare, had withdrawn, he sent Aeschines as his agent in advance for your deception, lest, when you discovered that he was acting in the interest of the Thebans, he should be involved once more in delays and fighting and waste of time with the Phocians resisting him, and you helping them. In this way he hoped to obtain complete mastery without a struggle. And so it fell out. Aeschines, then, must not escape punishment for deceiving you, merely because Philip deceived the Lacedaemonians and the Phocians. That would be unjust indeed.
77. ἐπειδὴ δʼ ἧκεν εἰς Πύλας, οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι δʼ αἰσθόμενοι τὴν ἐνέδραν ὑπεχώρησαν, τοῦτον αὖ προκαθῆκεν ἐξαπατᾶν ὑμᾶς, ἵνα μὴ πάλιν, ὑμῶν αἰσθομένων ὅτι Θηβαίοις τὰ πράγματα πράττει, εἰς χρόνους καὶ πόλεμον καὶ τριβὴν ἐμπέσῃ, τῶν μὲν Φωκέων ἀμυνομένων, ὑμῶν δὲ βοηθούντων, ἀλλʼ ἀκονιτεὶ πάνθʼ ὑφʼ ἑαυτῷ ποιήσηται· ὅπερ καὶ γέγονεν. μὴ οὖν ὅτι καὶ Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ Φωκέας ἐξηπάτησε Φίλιππος, διὰ ταῦθʼ ὧν ὑμᾶς οὗτος ἐξηπάτησε μὴ δότω δίκην· οὐ γὰρ δίκαιον.
78. If as an offset to the Phocians and Thermopylae and all our other losses he tells you that the city still retains the Chersonese, I adjure you not to accept that excuse. In addition to the wrongs he has done you by his embassy, you must not suffer him by his defence also to fasten upon the city the reproach that, while stealthily securing some of your own possessions, you made sacrifice of the safety of your allies. You did no such thing. Peace was concluded; the Chersonese was secure; and then for the four ensuing months the Phocians were not imperilled, until you were deceived, and the Phocians destroyed, by this man’s mendacity.
78. ἂν τοίνυν ἀντὶ Φωκέων καὶ Πυλῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν ἀπολωλότων Χερρόνησος ὡς περίεστι τῇ πόλει λέγῃ, πρὸς Διὸς καὶ θεῶν μὴ ἀποδέξησθʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, μηδʼ ὑπομείνητε, πρὸς οἷς ἐκ τῆς πρεσβείας ἠδίκησθε, καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἀπολογίας ὄνειδος προσκατασκευασθῆναι τῇ πόλει, ὡς ἄρʼ ὑμεῖς τῶν ἰδίων τι κτημάτων ὑπεξαιρούμενοι τὴν τῶν συμμάχων σωτηρίαν προήκασθε. οὐ γὰρ ἐποιήσατε τοῦτο, ἀλλʼ ἤδη τῆς εἰρήνης γεγονυίας καὶ τῆς Χερρονήσου σῴας οὔσης τέτταρας μῆνας ὅλους ἐσῴζονθʼ οἱ Φωκεῖς τοὺς ὕστερον, ἡ δὲ τούτου ψευδολογία μετὰ ταῦθʼ ὕστερον αὐτοὺς ἀπώλεσεν, ἐξαπατήσασʼ ὑμᾶς.
79. Moreover, you will find that the Chersonese is in greater danger now than then. When would it have been easier to punish Philip for wrongful aggression upon that country—before he forestalled us at Thermopylae, or today? Surely far easier then! What, then, does it profit us that we still retain the Chersonese, if the man, who would have invaded it if he could, is freed from the apprehensions and perils that deterred him?
79. εἶτα καὶ νῦν ἐν μείζονι κινδύνῳ τὴν Χερρόνησον οὖσαν εὑρήσετʼ ἢ τότε. πότερον γὰρ εὐπορώτερον ἂν δίκην ἔδωκε Φίλιππος ἐξαμαρτὼν εἰς αὐτὴν πρὶν τούτων τι τῆς πόλεως προλαβεῖν, ἢ νυνί; ἐγὼ μὲν οἶμαι, τότε πολλῷ. τίς οὖν ἡ ταύτης περιουσία, τῶν φόβων ἀφῃρημένων καὶ τῶν κινδύνων τῶν τοῦ βουληθέντος ἂν αὐτὴν ἀδικῆσαι;
80. I hear of another argument he will use: he will wonder why his accuser is Demosthenes and not one of the Phocians. I had better explain at once how the matter stands. The best and most respectable of the expatriated Phocians, being exiled and in distress, are living peaceably, and none of them would be willing to incur private animosity on account of the misfortunes of the nation, while those who might have done anything for a fee find that there is no one to pay it them.
80. ἔτι τοίνυν τοιοῦτό τι μέλλειν αὐτὸν ἀκούω λέγειν, ὅτι θαυμάζει τί δήποτε Δημοσθένης αὐτοῦ κατηγορεῖ, Φωκέων δʼ οὐδείς. ὡς δὴ τοῦτʼ ἔχει, βέλτιον προακοῦσαι παρʼ ἐμοῦ. Φωκέων τῶν ἐκπεπτωκότων οἱ μὲν οἶμαι βέλτιστοι καὶ μετριώτατοι φυγάδες γεγενημένοι καὶ τοιαῦτα πεπονθότες ἡσυχίαν ἄγουσι, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἂν αὐτῶν ἐθελήσειεν ὑπὲρ τῶν κοινῶν συμφορῶν ἰδίαν ἔχθραν ἀνελέσθαι· οἱ δʼ ὁτιοῦν ἂν ἀργυρίου ποιήσαντες τὸν δώσοντʼ οὐκ ἔχουσιν αὑτοῖς.
81. For I would never pay a man a farthing to stand here by my side and make an outcry about his sufferings, since truth and fact cry out loudly enough. Nay more, the commonalty of the Phocians are in such an evil and pitiable plight that there is no question with them of prosecuting at an Athenian scrutiny—only of living like slaves in mortal terror of Thebans and of Philip’s mercenaries, who are billeted on them after they have been disarmed and distributed among villages.
81. οὐ γὰρ ἔγωγʼ ἂν ἔδωκʼ οὐδενὶ οὐδὲν ὥστε μοι παραστάντας ἐνταυθὶ βοᾶν οἷα πεπόνθασιν· ἡ γὰρ ἀλήθεια καὶ τὰ πεπραγμένʼ αὐτὰ βοᾷ. ἀλλὰ μὴν ὅ γε δῆμος ὁ τῶν Φωκέων οὕτω κακῶς καὶ ἐλεινῶς διάκειται ὥστε μὴ περὶ τοῦ κατηγορεῖν ἑκάστῳ τὰς Ἀθήνησιν εὐθύνας εἶναι τὸν λόγον, ἀλλὰ δουλεύειν καὶ τεθνάναι τῷ φόβῳ Θηβαίους καὶ τοὺς Φιλίππου ξένους, οὓς ἀναγκάζονται τρέφειν, διῳκισμένοι κατὰ κώμας καὶ παρῃρημένοι τὰ ὅπλα.
82. Do not allow this plea. No, Aeschines must prove either that the Phocians are not ruined, or that he did not promise that Philip would protect them. These are the questions for a scrutiny of an embassy: What has been accomplished? What did you report? If the truth,—go in peace; if falsehood,—take your punishment. What matter if the Phocians are not in court? You have played your part in reducing them to such straits that they can neither help their friends nor repel their enemies.
82. μὴ δὴ ταῦτα λέγειν αὐτὸν ἐᾶτε, ἀλλʼ ὡς οὐκ ἀπολώλασι Φωκεῖς δεικνύναι, ἢ ὡς οὐχ ὑπέσχετο σώσειν αὐτοὺς Φίλιππον. τοῦτο γάρ εἰσι πρεσβείας εὔθυναι, τί πέπρακται; τί ἀπήγγειλας; εἰ μὲν ἀληθῆ, σῴζου· εἰ δὲ ψευδῆ, δίκην δός. εἰ δὲ μὴ πάρεισι Φωκεῖς, τί τοῦτο; οὕτω γὰρ διέθηκας αὐτούς, οἶμαι, τὸ μέρος σύ, ὥστε μήτε τοῖς φίλοις βοηθεῖν μήτε τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἀμύνεσθαι δύνασθαι.
83. Moreover, apart from the discredit and infamy attached to these transactions, it is easy to show that they have involved the commonwealth in very serious perils. You all know that the prowess of the Phocians, and their control of the pass of Thermopylae, gave us security against the Thebans, and ensured that neither Philip nor the Thebans would invade either the Peloponnesus, or Euboea, or Attica.
83. καὶ μὴν ὅτι χωρὶς τῆς ἄλλης αἰσχύνης καὶ ἀδοξίας, ἣν τὰ πεπραγμένʼ ἔχει, καὶ μεγάλοι κίνδυνοι περιεστᾶσιν ἐκ τούτων τὴν πόλιν, ῥᾴδιον δεῖξαι. τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδεν ὑμῶν ὅτι τῷ Φωκέων πολέμῳ καὶ τῷ κυρίους εἶναι Πυλῶν Φωκέας ἥ τʼ ἀπὸ Θηβαίων ἄδειʼ ὑπῆρχεν ἡμῖν, καὶ τὸ μηδέποτʼ ἐλθεῖν ἂν εἰς Πελοπόννησον μηδʼ εἰς Εὔβοιαν μηδʼ εἰς τὴν Ἀττικὴν Φίλιππον [μηδὲ Θηβαίους];
84. But, overborne by the impostures and falsehoods of these men, you have flung away the security of position and circumstances which the city enjoyed. That security was fortified by arms and an unbroken front, by strongholds of our allies and a broad territory; and you have acquiesced in its devastation. Your former expedition to Thermopylae, made at a cost of more than two hundred talents, if you include the private expenses of the troops, has gone to waste; and so have all your hopes respecting the Thebans.
84. ταύτην μέντοι τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ τόπου καὶ τῶν πραγμάτων αὐτῶν ἀσφάλειαν ὑπάρχουσαν τῇ πόλει ταῖς τούτων ἀπάταις καὶ ψευδολογίαις πεισθέντες προήκασθʼ ὑμεῖς, καὶ τετειχισμένην ὅπλοις καὶ πολέμῳ συνεχεῖ καὶ πόλεσιν μεγάλαις συμμάχων ἀνδρῶν καὶ χώρᾳ πολλῇ περιείδετʼ ἀνασταθεῖσαν. καὶ ματαία μὲν ἡ πρότερον βοήθειʼ εἰς Πύλας ὑμῖν γέγονεν, ἣν μετὰ πλειόνων ἢ διακοσίων ταλάντων ἐποιήσασθε, ἂν λογίσησθε τὰς ἰδίας δαπάνας τὰς τῶν στρατευσαμένων, μάταιαι δὲ καὶ αἱ κατὰ Θηβαίων ἐλπίδες.
85. But of all the many shameful services rendered by Aeschines to Philip, let me mention the one that really implied the most insolent disdain of the city and of you all. Philip was resolved from the first to do for the Thebans all that he has done, but Aeschines by the perversions of his report revealed your repugnance, and so intensified both your hostility and Philip’s friendliness towards the Thebans. How could the man have treated you more arrogantly?
85. ὃ δέ, πολλῶν ὄντων καὶ δεινῶν ὧν οὗτος ὑπηρέτηκε Φιλίππῳ, πλείστην ὕβριν ὡς ἀληθῶς ἔχει κατὰ τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἁπάντων ὑμῶν, τοῦτʼ ἀκούσατέ μου, ὅτι τοῖς Θηβαίοις ἐγνωκότος ἐξ ἀρχῆς τοῦ Φιλίππου πάνθʼ ἃ πεποίηκε ποιεῖν, οὗτος ἀπαγγείλας τἀναντία καὶ φανεροὺς ἐπιδείξας ὑμᾶς οὐχὶ βουλομένους, ὑμῖν μὲν τὴν ἔχθραν τὴν πρὸς Θηβαίους μείζω, Φιλίππῳ δὲ τὴν χάριν πεποίηκεν. πῶς ἂν οὖν ὑβριστικώτερον ἄνθρωπος ὑμῖν ἐχρήσατο;
86. Now take and read the decrees of Diophantus and of Callisthenes. They will show you how, when you did your duty, you made it an occasion of services of praise and thanksgiving, both at Athens and abroad; but when you had been led astray by these men, you brought your wives and children in from the country, and ordered the festival of Heracles to be held within the walls, in time of peace. It makes me wonder whether you will release unpunished a man who has deprived even the gods of immemorial observances. Read the decree. (The Decree of Diophantus is read) So you decreed at that time, men of Athens, agreeably to your achievements. Now read the next. (The Decree of Callisthenes is read) That is the decree you then made; and you owe it to these men.
86. λέγε δὴ τὸ ψήφισμα λαβὼν τὸ τοῦ Διοφάντου καὶ τὸ τοῦ Καλλισθένους, ἵνʼ εἰδῆθʼ ὅτι, ὅτε μὲν τὰ δέοντʼ ἐποιεῖτε, θυσιῶν καὶ ἐπαίνων ἠξιοῦσθε παρʼ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις, ἐπειδὴ δʼ ὑπὸ τούτων παρεκρούσθητε, παῖδας καὶ γυναῖκας ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν κατεκομίζεσθε καὶ τὰ Ἡράκλειʼ ἐντὸς τείχους θύειν ἐψηφίζεσθε, εἰρήνης οὔσης. ὃ καὶ θαυμάζω, εἰ τὸν μηδὲ τοὺς θεούς, καθʼ ὃ πάτριον ἦν, τιμᾶσθαι ποιήσαντα, τοῦτον ἀτιμώρητον ἀφήσετε. λέγε τὸ ψήφισμα. ΨΗΦΙΣΜΑ. ταῦτα μὲν τότʼ ἄξιʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν πεπραγμένων ἐψηφίσασθε. λέγε δὴ τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα. ΨΗΦΙΣΜΑ.
87. It was not with such expectations that you either made the first draft of the peace and alliance, or subsequently consented to add the words, and to his posterity, but in the hope of marvellous benefits through their agency. Yes, and since then you all remember how many times you have been agitated by news of Philip’s army and auxiliaries at Porthmus or at Megara. True, he has not yet set foot in Attica; but you must not look only at that and abate your vigilance,—you must bear in mind that, thanks to these men, he has it in his power to do so whenever he chooses. You must keep that danger before your eyes, and abhor and punish the author and purveyor of that power.
87. ταῦτα τότʼ ἐψηφίζεσθʼ ὑμεῖς διὰ τούτους, οὐκ ἐπὶ ταύταις ταῖς ἐλπίσιν οὔτε κατʼ ἀρχὰς ποιησάμενοι τὴν εἰρήνην καὶ τὴν συμμαχίαν, οὔθʼ ὕστερον ἐγγράψαι πεισθέντες ⟨εἰς⟩ αὐτὴν καὶ τοῖς ἐγγόνοις, ἀλλʼ ὡς θαυμάσιʼ ἡλίκα πεισόμενοι διὰ τούτους ἀγαθά. καὶ μὴν καὶ μετὰ ταῦθʼ ὁσάκις πρὸς Πορθμῷ ἢ πρὸς Μεγάροις ἀκούοντες δύναμιν Φιλίππου καὶ ξένους ἐθορυβεῖσθε, πάντες ἐπίστασθε. οὐ τοίνυν εἰ μήπω τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐπιβαίνει, δεῖ σκοπεῖν οὐδὲ ῥᾳθυμεῖν, ἀλλʼ εἰ διὰ τούτους ἐξουσία γέγονεν αὐτῷ τοῦθʼ ὅταν βούληται ποιῆσαι, τοῦθʼ ὁρᾶν, καὶ πρὸς ἐκεῖνο τὸ δεινὸν βλέπειν, καὶ τὸν αἴτιον καὶ παρασκευάσαντα τὴν ἐξουσίαν ταύτην ἐκείνῳ μισεῖν καὶ τιμωρεῖσθαι.
88. No doubt Aeschines will eschew a direct reply to the charges alleged, and in his desire to lead you as far as possible away from the facts, he will dilate on the great blessings that peace brings to the world and set against them the evils of war. He will eulogize peace in general terms, and that will be his defence. But all those considerations tell against him. For, if peace, which brings blessings to others, has brought so much vexation and bewilderment to you, what are we to say except that these men with their bribe-taking have perverted to evil a thing in itself excellent? What next?
88. οἶδα τοίνυν ὅτι τοὺς μὲν ὑπὲρ τῶν κατηγορημένων αὐτῶν λόγους Αἰσχίνης φεύξεται, βουλόμενος δʼ ὑμᾶς ὡς πορρωτάτω τῶν πεπραγμένων ἀπάγειν διέξεισιν ἡλίκα πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἀγάθʼ ἐκ τῆς εἰρήνης γίγνεται καὶ τοὐναντίον ἐκ τοῦ πολέμου κακά, καὶ ὅλως ἐγκώμιʼ εἰρήνης ἐρεῖ, καὶ τοιαῦτʼ ἀπολογήσεται. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ταῦτα κατηγορήματα τούτου. εἰ γὰρ ἡ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀγαθῶν αἰτία τοσούτων πραγμάτων καὶ ταραχῆς ἡμῖν αἰτία γέγονε, τί τις εἶναι τοῦτο φῇ πλὴν ὅτι δῶρα λαβόντες οὗτοι καλὸν πρᾶγμα φύσει κακῶς διέθηκαν;
89. Perhaps he will ask: “Do you not retain, and shall you not retain through the peace, three hundred war-galleys with stores and money for them?” In reply to that, you have to reflect that Philip also has greatly strengthened his position owing to the peace, as regards his material resources in arms, in territory, in revenues, which last have increased largely.
89. τί δʼ; οὐ τριήρεις τριακόσιαι καὶ σκεύη ταύταις καὶ χρήμαθʼ ὑμῖν περίεστι καὶ περιέσται διὰ τὴν εἰρήνην; ἴσως ἂν εἴποι. πρὸς δὴ ταῦτʼ ἐκεῖνʼ ὑμᾶς ὑπολαμβάνειν δεῖ, ὅτι καὶ τὰ Φιλίππου πράγματʼ ἐκ τῆς εἰρήνης γέγονεν εὐπορώτερα πολλῷ, καὶ κατασκευαῖς ὅπλων καὶ χώρας καὶ προσόδων αἳ γεγόνασιν ἐκείνῳ μεγάλαι.
90. And so indeed have ours, to some extent. But as to those other resources, of policy and of alliance,—and it is by them that all nations hold advantages for themselves or for stronger states—in our case, bartered away by these men, they have perished, or at least deteriorated: his are now formidable and far greater. It is surely unfair that, while Philip, thanks to these men, enjoys extended alliances and increased revenues, the advantages that we should in any case have gained from the peace should be reckoned by them as a set-off against those that they have sold. For our gains are not a compensation for our losses; far from it! No; what we now have would equally have been ours, and what we have not would have been added to us, but for these men.
90. γεγόνασι δὲ καὶ ἡμῖν τινές. ἡ δέ γε τῶν πραγμάτων κατασκευὴ καὶ τῶν συμμάχων, διʼ ἣν ἢ αὑτοῖς ἢ τοῖς κρείττοσι τἀγαθὰ πάντες κέκτηνται, ἡ μὲν ἡμετέρα πραθεῖσʼ ὑπὸ τούτων ἀπόλωλε καὶ γέγονεν ἀσθενής, ἡ δʼ ἐκείνου φοβερὰ καὶ μείζων πολλῷ. οὐ δὴ δίκαιον ἐκείνῳ μὲν ἀμφότερʼ ηὐξῆσθαι διὰ τούτους καὶ τὰ τῶν συμμάχων καὶ τὰ τῶν προσόδων, ἃ δʼ ἡμῖν καὶ ὣς ἂν ὑπῆρχεν ἐκ τῆς εἰρήνης, ταῦτʼ ἀνθʼ ὧν ἀπέδοντʼ αὐτοὶ λογίζεσθαι. οὐ γὰρ ταῦτʼ ἀντʼ ἐκείνων γέγονεν, οὐδὲ πολλοῦ δεῖ, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἦν ἂν ὁμοίως ἡμῖν, ἐκεῖνα δὲ τούτοις ἂν προσῆν εἰ μὴ διὰ τούτους.
91. Speaking generally, men of Athens, you will doubtless agree that, however many misfortunes have befallen the city, if Aeschines had no hand in them, they ought not to be visited upon him. On the other hand, if the right policy has been taken by others, it is not fair that their success should save him. Take into account everything to which he contributed; requite him with gratitude, if he deserves it, with resentment, if his conduct provokes resentment.
91. ὅλως δʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, δίκαιον δήπου φήσαιτʼ ἂν εἶναι, μήτʼ εἰ πολλὰ καὶ δεινὰ τὰ συμβεβηκότʼ ἐστὶ τῇ πόλει, μηδενὸς δʼ Αἰσχίνης αἴτιος τούτων, εἰς τοῦτον ἐλθεῖν τὴν ὀργήν, μήτʼ εἴ τι τῶν δεόντων πέπρακται διʼ ἄλλον τινά, τοῦτο σῶσαι τουτονί· ἀλλʼ ὅσων οὗτος αἴτιος σκεψάμενοι καὶ χάριν, ἂν ταύτης ἄξιος ᾖ, καὶ τοὐναντίον ὀργήν, ἂν τοιαῦτα φαίνηται, ποιεῖσθε.
92. How then will you reach a right conclusion? Do not allow him to make a hotch-potch of the faults of the generals, the war with Philip, the blessings of peace; but consider one thing at a time. For example, we were at war with Philip. True. Does anyone blame Aeschines for that? Does anyone wish to arraign him for the events of the war? Not a single man. Then so far he is acquitted; he need not say a word. A defendant should adduce witnesses and submit proofs on the issues in dispute, not mislead the jury by addressing his defence to points of agreement. You are not to say anything about the war, Aeschines. No one blames you for that.
92. πῶς οὖν εὑρήσετε ταῦτα δικαίως; ἐὰν μὴ πάνθʼ ἅμʼ ἐᾶτε ταράττειν αὐτόν, τὰ τῶν στρατηγῶν ἀδικήματα, τὸν πόλεμον τὸν πρὸς Φίλιππον, τἀπὸ τῆς εἰρήνης ἀγαθά, ἀλλʼ ἕκαστον ἐφʼ αὑτοῦ σκοπῆτε. οἷον, ἦν ἡμῖν πόλεμος πρὸς Φίλιππον; ἦν. ἐνταῦθʼ ἐγκαλεῖ τις Αἰσχίνῃ; βούλεταί τις τούτου κατηγορεῖν περὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ πραχθέντων; οὐδὲ εἷς. οὐκοῦν περὶ τούτων γʼ ἀφεῖται καὶ οὐδὲν αὐτὸν δεῖ λέγειν· περὶ γὰρ τῶν ἀμφισβητουμένων καὶ τοὺς μάρτυρας παρέχεσθαι καὶ τὰ τεκμήρια δεῖ λέγειν τὸν φεύγοντα, οὐ τὰ ὁμολογούμενʼ ἀπολογούμενον ἐξαπατᾶν. ὅπως τοίνυν περὶ τοῦ πολέμου μηδὲν ἐρεῖς· οὐδεὶς γὰρ οὐδὲν αἰτιᾶται περὶ αὐτοῦ σε.
93. Afterwards certain persons advised us to make peace; we took their advice; we sent ambassadors; and they brought back to Athens envoys authorized to conclude peace. Here again no one blames Aeschines. Does anyone allege that he broached the question of peace? Or that he acted wrongly when he brought the delegates here? Not a single man. Then about the mere fact that the city made peace he need not say a word; for that he is not chargeable.
93. μετὰ ταῦτʼ εἰρήνην τινὲς ἡμᾶς ἔπειθον ποιήσασθαι· ἐπείσθημεν· πρέσβεις ἐπέμψαμεν· ἤγαγον οὗτοι δεῦρο τοὺς ποιησομένους τὴν εἰρήνην. πάλιν ἐνταῦθα περὶ τούτου μέμφεταί τις Αἰσχίνην; φησί τις εἰσηγήσασθαι τοῦτον εἰρήνην, ἢ ἀδικεῖν ὅτι δεῦρʼ ἤγαγε τοὺς ποιησομένους; οὐδὲ εἷς. οὔκουν οὐδʼ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ποιήσασθαι τὴν πόλιν εἰρήνην οὐδὲν αὐτῷ λεκτέον· οὐ γὰρ οὗτος αἴτιος.
94. Suppose I am asked: “What do you mean, sir? At what point do you begin your accusations?” I begin at this point, men of Athens—at the time when you were deliberating, not whether peace should or should not be made—that question was already decided—but what sort of peace. Then he contradicted men who spoke honestly, and he supported the mover of a venal resolution, being himself bribed. Afterwards, when appointed to receive the oaths of ratification, he disobeyed every one of your instructions; he brought to ruin allies of ours whose safety had never been imperilled in time of war; and he told lies which both in quantity and quality exceed all records of human mendacity before or since. At the outset, until Philip got a hearing on the question of peace, Ctesiphon and Aristodemus undertook the first initiation of the imposture, but, when the business was ripe for action, they passed it on to Philocrates and the defendant, who took it over, and completed the enterprise of destruction.
94. τί οὖν, ἄνθρωπε, λέγεις, εἴ τις ἔροιτό με, καὶ πόθεν ἄρχει κατηγορεῖν; ὅθεν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, βουλευομένων ὑμῶν, οὐ περὶ τοῦ εἰ ποιητέον εἰρήνην ἢ μή (ἐδέδοκτο γὰρ ἤδη τοῦτό γε) ἀλλʼ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ποίαν τινά, τοῖς τὰ δίκαια λέγουσιν ἀντειπὼν τῷ μισθοῦ γράφοντι συνεῖπε δῶρα λαβών, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἐπὶ τοὺς ὅρκους αἱρεθείς, ὧν μὲν ὑμεῖς προσετάξατε, οὐδʼ ὁτιοῦν ἐποίησε, τοὺς δʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ πολέμου διασωθέντας ἀπώλεσε τῶν συμμάχων, καὶ τηλικαῦτα καὶ τοιαῦτʼ ἐψεύσαθʼ ἡλίκʼ οὐδεὶς πώποτʼ ἄλλος ἀνθρώπων οὔτε πρότερον οὔθʼ ὕστερον. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἄχρι τοῦ λόγου τυχεῖν Φίλιππον ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰρήνης, Κτησιφῶν καὶ Ἀριστόδημος τὴν πρώτην ἔφερον τοῦ φενακισμοῦ, ἐπειδὴ δʼ εἰς τὸ πράττειν ἤδη τὰ πράγμαθʼ ἧκεν, Φιλοκράτει καὶ τούτῳ παρέδωκαν, δεξάμενοι δʼ οὗτοι πάντʼ ἀπώλεσαν.
95. And now that he is answerable for his misdeeds, and must stand his trial, being as he is a knave, a scoundrel, and—a government clerk, he will conduct his defence as if he were on trial for the peace, not to make his justification broader than his indictment—that would be folly—but because he can see in his own acts nothing that is good, nothing that is not criminal, while a defence of the peace, if it has no other merit, will enable him to pose as a Friend of Humanity.
95. εἶτʼ ἐπειδὴ δεῖ λόγον καὶ δίκην ὑπέχειν τῶν πεπραγμένων, ὤν, οἶμαι, πανοῦργος οὗτος καὶ θεοῖς ἐχθρὸς καὶ γραμματεύς, ὡς ὑπὲρ εἰρήνης κρινόμενος ἀπολογήσεται, οὐχ ἵνα πλειόνων ἢ κατηγορεῖ τις αὐτοῦ δῷ λόγον· μανία γὰρ τοῦτό γε· ἀλλʼ ὁρᾷ τοῦθʼ ὅτι ἐν μὲν τοῖς ὑφʼ αὑτοῦ πεπραγμένοις ἀγαθὸν μὲν οὐδέν ἐστιν, ἅπαντα δὲ τἀδικήματα, ἡ δʼ ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰρήνης ἀπολογία, καὶ εἰ μηδὲν ἄλλο, τοὔνομα γοῦν ἔχει φιλάνθρωπον.
96. Speaking of the peace, I fear, men of Athens, I sadly fear that we are unconsciously enjoying it like men who borrow money at a high rate of interest. For these men have betrayed the security and guarantee of the peace—the Phocians and Thermopylae. Anyhow, we have not to thank the defendant for peace. What I am going to say is strange, but quite true. If any man is really pleased with the peace, let him be grateful to those generals whom everyone denounces. For, had they fought to your satisfaction, you would have scorned the very name of peace.
96. ἣν δέδοικα μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, δέδοικα, μὴ λελήθαμεν ὥσπερ οἱ δανειζόμενοι ἐπὶ πολλῷ ἄγοντες· τὸ γὰρ ἀσφαλὲς αὐτῆς καὶ τὸ βέβαιον οὗτοι προὔδοσαν, Φωκέας καὶ Πύλας· οὐ μὴν διὰ τοῦτόν γʼ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐποιησάμεθα, ἀλλʼ ἄτοπον μέν ἐστιν ὃ μέλλω λέγειν, ἀληθὲς δὲ πάνυ· εἰ γάρ τις ὡς ἀληθῶς χαίρει τῇ εἰρήνῃ, τοῖς στρατηγοῖς, ὧν κατηγοροῦσιν ἅπαντες, χάριν αὐτῆς ἐχέτω· εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι ὡς ὑμεῖς ἐβούλεσθʼ ἐπολέμουν, οὐδʼ ὄνομʼ εἰρήνης ἂν ὑμεῖς ἠνέσχεσθε.
97. Peace, then, we owe to the generals; a perilous, insecure, and precarious peace to these men and their venality. Put a stop, then, to his eloquence about the peace. Make him address himself to his own performances. Aeschines is not on trial for the peace; the peace is discredited through Aeschines. That is easily proved. Suppose that the peace had been concluded, and that you had not thereafter been deluded, and none of your allies destroyed—what human being would the peace have aggrieved? I mean, apart from the consideration that it was not a glorious peace. For that fault Aeschines is indeed partly to blame, as he supported Philocrates. However, in the case supposed, no incurable mischief would have been done. As the case stands, he is answerable for a great deal.
97. εἰρήνη μὲν οὖν διʼ ἐκείνους, ἐπικίνδυνος δὲ καὶ σφαλερὰ καὶ ἄπιστος διὰ τούτους γέγονεν δωροδοκήσαντας. εἴργετʼ οὖν, εἴργετʼ αὐτὸν τῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰρήνης λόγων, εἰς δὲ τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῶν πεπραγμένων ἐμβιβάζετε. οὐ γὰρ Αἰσχίνης ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰρήνης κρίνεται, οὔ, ἀλλʼ ἡ εἰρήνη διʼ Αἰσχίνην διαβέβληται. σημεῖον δέ· εἰ γὰρ ἡ μὲν εἰρήνη ἐγεγόνει, μηδὲν δʼ ὕστερον ἐξηπάτησθʼ ὑμεῖς μηδʼ ἀπωλώλει τῶν συμμάχων μηδείς, τίνʼ ἀνθρώπων ἐλύπησεν ἂν ἡ εἰρήνη, ἔξω τοῦ ἄδοξος γεγενῆσθαι; καίτοι καὶ τούτου συναίτιος οὗτος συνειπὼν Φιλοκράτει. ἀλλʼ ἀνήκεστόν γʼ οὐδὲν ἂν ἦν γεγονός. νῦν δʼ, οἶμαι, πόλλʼ, ὧν αἴτιος οὗτος.