by Demosthenes
That was a remarkable proceeding, but far stranger still was his behavior after his arrival in Macedonia. While you who are here and all other Athenians regarded the treatment of the Phocians as scandalous and outrageous, insomuch that you would not send any member of council or any judge to represent you at the Pythian games, but relinquished that time-honored delegation, Aeschines attended the service of thanksgiving which the Thebans and Philip held to celebrate their victory and their political success, was a guest at the banquet, and took part in the libations and doxologies with which Philip thanked Heaven for the destruction of the fortresses, the territory, and the armies of your allies. He even joined Philip in wearing garlands and singing the Hymn of Praise, and drank to his health in the loving-cup. [129]
Of these proceedings it is not possible for the defendant to give an account differing from mine. As for the affidavit of refusal, there is an entry in the record-office at the Temple of Demeter, of which the public caretaker is in charge, and a decree in which he is mentioned by name. As for his conduct over yonder, his own colleagues who were present, and from whom I got my information, will give evidence against him. I was not one of his colleagues, as I had declined on oath. [130] Read the decree and the records, and call the witnesses.” Decree ““ Records ““ Witnesses”
What do you imagine were the prayers offered by Philip when he made libation? Or by the Thebans? Surely they implored strength and victory for themselves and their allies, weakness and defeat for the allies of the Phocians. In that prayer Aeschines joined. He invoked a curse on his own fatherland. It is for you to make that curse recoil upon his own head. [131]
So, when he took his departure, he was breaking a law whose penalty is death; after his arrival, he is again proved guilty of conduct that deserves death; and his earlier misconduct of this business of the embassy had been bad enough to bring him to death. You have therefore to consider what punishment shall be rigorous enough to afford a retribution adequate to all these transgressions. [132] For assuredly, men of Athens, when all of you and the whole nation passed censure upon all the results of the peace, when you refused participation in the doings of the Amphictyonic Council, when your attitude towards Philip is still one of anger and suspicion, marking the whole of his conduct as sacrilegious and shameful, as well as unjust and injurious to yourselves, — it would be discreditable that you, who have entered this court to adjudicate at the scrutiny of those transactions, and have taken the judicial oath on behalf of the commonwealth, that you, I say, when the author of these wrongs has been placed in your power, caught red-handed after perpetrating such crimes, should return a verdict of acquittal. [133] Is there a man among your fellow-citizens, nay, in all Greece, who will not justly upbraid you if he sees you venting your wrath upon Philip, whose offence admits of much excuse — for he was making peace after war, and buying his ways and means from willing sellers — and acquitting this man, who made infamous traffic of your interests, in defiance of laws that visit such offences with the severest retribution? [134]
Perhaps some such argument as this will be addressed to you, — that, if you condemn the diplomatists who negotiated the peace, it will be the beginning of enmity with Philip. If that is true, I do not think I could bring any more damaging charge against the defendant. If the potentate who spent his money to get the peace has indeed become so powerful and formidable that you are to ignore justice and the oath you have sworn, and consider only how to oblige Philip, what penalty can be too severe for the authors of his aggrandizement? [135] However, I think I can satisfy you that their punishment will more probably sow the seed of a profitable friendship. Let me tell you, men of Athens, that Philip does not undervalue your city; it was not because he thought you less serviceable that he preferred the Thebans to you. But he was schooled by these men and was informed by them — I once told you this in Assembly, and none of them contradicted me — [136] that a democracy is the most unstable and capricious thing in the world, like a restless wave of the sea ruffled by the breeze as chance will have it. One man comes, another goes; no one attends to, or even remembers, the common weal. Philip, they said, ought to have friends at Athens, who would manage his business for him as it arose, and carry it through — the person speaking, for example; if that provision were made, he would easily accomplish here whatever he desired. [137] Now if he had heard that the persons who talked like that to him had been cudgelled to death immediately after their return home, I fancy he would have done what the King of Persia did. You remember what that was: the King had been inveigled by Timagoras, and had made him a present, as the story goes, of forty talents; but when he heard that the man had been put to death at Athens, and had not been competent to warrant his own life, much less to fulfil his undertaking, he realized that he had not paid the price to the man who could deliver the goods. The first result was that he again placed in subjection to you the city of Amphipolis, which he had put on his own list of friends and allies; and the second, that he nevermore gave money to anybody. [138] Philip would have done the same if he had seen any of these men brought to justice; and he will do the same, if he sees that sight now. But when he sees these men holding up their heads here, making speeches, bringing other people to trial — what is he to do? Is he to make a point of spending a great deal of money, when a little will do? Is he to try to humor all of us, instead of two or three? No; that would be folly. For even his policy of public benevolence to the Thebans was by no means of his own choosing; [139] he was persuaded by their ambassadors, and I will tell you how. Ambassadors came to him from Thebes at the same time that we were there from you. He offered them money — a very large sum, by their own account. The Theban ambassadors declined the overture, and would not take the bribe. Afterwards, at a sacrificial banquet, when Philip was drinking with them, and showing them much civility, he kept offering them presents, beginning with captives and the like, and ending with gold and silver goblets. All these gifts they rejected, and would on no account give themselves away. [140] At last Philo, one of the ambassadors, made a speech that deserved to have been spoken by your representatives, men of Athens, instead of by the spokesman of Thebes. He said that he was delighted and gratified to find Philip so courteously and generously inclined towards them; that they were already his friends and guests, without those gifts; would he be good enough to direct his benevolence to the public business on which he was engaged, and do something creditable both to himself and to the Thebans? If so, they could promise him the friendship of all Thebes as well as their own. [141] Now consider what the Thebans have gained in the end by this policy, and, in the light of actual truth, see what a fine thing it is to refuse to sell your country! The Thebans have gained, in the first place, peace, when they were in trouble, hard pressed by the war, and in danger of defeat; and secondly, the complete overthrow of their enemies, the Phocians, and the utter destruction of their strongholds and cities. Is that all? No, indeed; they have also gained Orchomenus, Coronea, Corsia, Tilphosaeum, and as much of the Phocian territory as they want. [142] Such is the outcome of the peace for the Theban people; and more they could not desire. And what have the ambassadors gained? Nothing at all — except the satisfaction of having achieved these results for their country. Ah, but that is worth having, men of Athens; a glorious reward, if you set any store by that honor and good repute which Aeschines and his friends bartered for a bribe.
Let us now set side by side the results of the peace to the commonwealth of Athens and to the ambassadors of Athens respectively, and you shall see whether there is any equivalence. [143] To the commonwealth the result has been the loss of all those possessions and all those allies, and a sworn promise to Philip that if any man shall at any time attempt to recover them, you will thwart him, and treat the man who would restore to you your own as an enemy and an adversary, and the man who robbed you as an ally and a friend. [144] Such are the terms that Aeschines supported and his accomplice Philocrates proposed. On the first day I had the upper hand and persuaded
you to confirm the decision of your allies and to summon Philip’s ambassadors, but Aeschines forced an adjournment to the following day, and then persuaded you to adopt Philocrates’ resolution, which included all these proposals and others still more objectionable. [145] That is what the peace has brought to the city: you could not easily invent anything more dishonorable. What has it brought to the ambassadors who contrived that dishonor? I say nothing of the wealth that lies before your eyes — houses, timber, grain; but in the country of our ruined allies there are estates and extensive farms bringing in a rental of a talent to Philocrates and half a talent to Aeschines. [146] Surely, men of Athens, it is strange and intolerable that the disasters of your allies have become the emolument of your envoys, and that one and the same peace should have brought, to the city sending ambassadors, the destruction of allies, dispossession of property, ignominy in exchange for honor, and to the ambassadors themselves who intrigued against the city, revenues, property, estates, and opulence in exchange for penury. To prove the truth of my statement, call the witnesses from Olynthus.” Witnesses “ [147]
I shall not be surprised if he finds courage to tell you that we could not make an honorable peace, such as I required, because the generals mismanaged the war. If so, I beg that you will not forget to ask him whether he represented Athens or some other city. If another city, of which he can say that it had competent generals and has won the war, he has received bribes with some reason; but if he represented this city, how comes it that by terms of treaty the city that sent him has lost property and he has increased his property by his rewards? In common justice, the city and its representatives should have fared alike. [148]
Here is another point for your consideration, gentlemen of the jury. Who gained the greater advantage in the operations, the Phocians over the Thebans, or Philip over you? I reply, the Phocians over the Thebans. They held Orchomenus, and Coronea, and Tilphosaeum; they had kept within the walls the Theban garrison at Neon; they had slain two hundred and seventy Thebans at Hedyleum, and a trophy had been set up; they were superior in cavalry, and so an Iliad of woes encompassed the Thebans. [149] No such disaster ever befell, nor, I hope, ever will befall, you. The worst misfortune of your war with Philip was that you could not do him as much harm as you wished; against defeat you were absolutely secure. Then why did the same peace mean, for the Thebans, who were so badly worsted in the war, the recovery of their own possessions and the acquisition of possessions of their adversaries, and, for the Athenians, the loss in time of peace of advantages which were maintained in the war? The reason is that their ambassadors did not sell them, but these men have sold you. That my account is true, you will find further proof as we proceed. [150]
When the peace of Philocrates, which Aeschines supported in a speech, had been concluded, Philip’s ambassadors accepted the oaths, and departed. So far no fatal mischief had been done. The peace was, indeed, discreditable and unworthy of Athens — but then we were going to get those wonderful advantages in exchange. I at once called upon you, and told the envoys, to sail for the Hellespont as speedily as possible, and not to abandon, or allow Philip to seize and hold, any of the positions there in the meantime; [151] for well I knew that indolent people lose for ever anything that they let slip in the transition from war to peace. No one, who has been induced by general considerations to sheathe the sword, is ever inclined to begin war over again for the recovery of his losses; and so the appropriator retains possession. Apart from these considerations, I conceived that, if we sailed at once, the city would gain one of two advantages. For when we were on the spot and had accepted his oath according to the decree, either he would restore the places he had taken from Athens and keep his hands off the rest, [152] or, if he refused, we could promptly report his refusal. In that case you, observing his grasping spirit and perfidy in those distant and comparatively unimportant places, would no longer be negligent of the more important concerns that lay nearer home — I mean the Phocians and Thermopylae. If he had not seized the positions, and if there had been no deception of you, all your interests were safe enough, and you would get fair treatment from him without compulsion. [153] This was a reasonable expectation; for so long as the Phocians were safe, as they were at the time, and in possession of Thermopylae, there was no menace which Philip could have brandished in your face to make you disregard any of your just claims. He could not reach Attica either by a march across country or by getting command of the seas. If he refused justice, you could forthwith close his ports, stop his supply of money, and otherwise reduce him to a state of blockade; and so he, and not you, would be wholly dependent on the contingent benefits of the peace. [154] I will now prove to you that I am not making up a story or claiming merit after the event, but that I formed my judgement, kept my eye on your interests, and told the envoys, without any delay. Finding that you had got to the end of the regular Assemblies, and that there was no meeting left, and observing that the envoys were still wasting time at Athens instead of starting at once, I proposed a decree as a member of the Council, to which the Assembly had given authority, directing the envoys to sail immediately, and the general Proxenus to convey them to any place in which he should ascertain that Philip was to be found. I drafted it, as I now read it, in those express terms. Please take and read the decree.” Decree “ [155]
So I got them away from Athens, but quite against their will, as you will easily learn from their subsequent behavior. When we had arrived at Oreus and joined Proxenus, instead of obeying their instructions and proceeding by sea, they started on a roundabout tour. We had wasted three-and-twenty days before we reached Macedonia; and all the rest of the time, making, with the time consumed by the journey, fifty days in all, until the arrival of Philip, we were dawdling at Pella. [156] Throughout that period Philip was occupying and disposing of Doriscus, Thrace, the Thracian fortresses, the Sacred Mount, and so forth, in spite of the peace and armistice. All this time I did not spare words; I talked to them first as one communicating his opinion, then as instructing the ignorant, and finally in uncompromising language, as dealing with corrupt and profligate persons. [157] The man who openly contradicted me, and set himself in opposition to my advice and your formal resolutions, was Aeschines. You will learn presently whether his conduct was agreeable to his colleagues. For the moment, I have nothing to say of them by way of fault-finding. They may all show themselves honest men today, not by compulsion but of their own free will, and as having no share in those iniquities. That the deeds done were disgraceful, monstrous, and venal, you have already discovered; let facts disclose who were the participators. [158]
But it may be urged that they spent all this time swearing in the allies, or discharging some other part of their duty. Not at all; though they were on their travels for three whole months, and received from you a thousand drachmas for journey-money, they did not get the oaths from any single city either on their outward journey or on their way home. The oaths were administered at the hostelry in front of the Temple of the Twins, — any of you who have been to Pherae will know the place I mean, — at the time when Philip was already on his march towards Athens with his army, and in a manner, men of Athens, that was thoroughly discreditable to the city. [159] Yet Philip would have paid any sum to have matters managed in this way. For when these men had failed to draw the treaty, as they first tried to do, with a clause excepting the Halians and the Phocians, and Philocrates had been compelled by you to erase those words and write expressly, “the Athenians and the Allies of the Athenians,” to the treaty so drawn Philip did not wish any of his allies to have sworn; for then they would have refused to join in his forcible occupation of those possessions of yours which he now holds, and the oath would have been their excuse. [160] Nor did he desire witnesses of the promises on the strength of which he was obtaining the peace, nor any public disclosure of the fact that after all Athens had not been beaten in the war, and that it was Philip who was really eager for the peace, and was ready to make large promises to
the Athenians if he could get it. Therefore he disapproved of these men going anywhere, lest the facts that I am stating should become generally known; and they were ready to gratify him with ostentatious deference and extravagant adulation. [161] Yet, when they are convicted of all these delinquencies, of having squandered their time, thrown away the Thracian outposts, done nothing agreeable either to your instructions or to sound policy, and sent lying dispatches to Athens, how can this man possibly find a way of escape before an intelligent and conscientious jury? However, to prove the truth of my statements, read first the decree giving directions for the administration of the oath, then Philip’s letter, and then the decree of Philocrates, and the decree of the Assembly.” Decree ““ Letter ““ Decrees “ [162]
To prove, moreover, that we should have caught Philip at the Hellespont, if my advice had been taken and your directions obeyed in the terms of the decrees, call the witnesses who were there present.” Witnesses”
Now read the other deposition testifying to the answer made by Philip to Eucleides here, who arrived later.
（The Deposition is read）” Deposition “ [163]
Let me show you that there is no way of denying that they were acting in the interest of Philip. When we were setting out on the former embassy for peace, you sent forward a herald to arrange our safe-conduct. On that occasion, as soon as they reached Oreus, they wasted no time there waiting for the herald. Although Halus was beleaguered, they crossed the sea thither; then left the town and went to Parmenio, who was conducting the siege; set off through the enemies’ positions for Pagasae, and continued their journey till they met the herald at Larissa. Such was the energy and goodwill with which they travelled then; [164] but now, in time of peace, with complete security for travelling, and with your injunctions of haste, it never occurred to them to hasten their journey by land or to travel by sea. Why so? Because then it was to Philip’s advantage that peace should be concluded with all speed, but now that as much time as possible should be wasted before the administration of the oaths. [165] To prove that this statement also is true, take and read this deposition.” Deposition”