Delphi Complete Works of Demosthenes

by Demosthenes

[34] φοβοῦμαι δὴ μή, τῶν πρέσβεων σεσιωπηκότων ἐφ᾽ οἷς αὑτοῖς συνίσασι δεδωροδοκηκότες, τοῖς ἐπανορθοῦν τι πειρωμένοις τῶν διὰ τούτους ἀπολωλότων τῇ παρ᾽ ὑμῶν ὀργῇ περιπεσεῖν συμβῇ: ὁρῶ γὰρ ὡς τὰ πόλλ᾽ ἐνίους οὐκ εἰς τοὺς αἰτίους, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς τοὺς ὑπὸ χεῖρα μάλιστα τὴν ὀργὴν ἀφιέντας.

  [34] Yes, I am afraid that, since the ambassadors have kept silence about the services for which they know they have been bribed, those who are trying to repair some of the losses that these men have caused may chance to fall under your displeasure; for I observe that people vent their wrath as a rule, not on those who are to blame, but chiefly on those who are within their reach.

  [35] ἕως οὖν ἔτι μέλλει καὶ συνίσταται τὰ πράγματα καὶ κατακούομεν ἀλλήλων, ἕκαστον ὑμῶν καίπερ ἀκριβῶς εἰδόθ᾽ ὅμως ἐπαναμνῆσαι βούλομαι, τίς ὁ Φωκέας πείσας καὶ Πύλας προέσθαι, ὧν καταστὰς ἐκεῖνος κύριος τῆς ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀττικὴν ὁδοῦ καὶ τῆς εἰς Πελοπόννησον κύριος γέγονεν, καὶ πεποίηχ᾽ ὑμῖν μὴ περὶ τῶν δικαίων μηδ᾽ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἔξω πραγμάτων εἶναι τὴν βουλήν, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ καὶ τοῦ πρὸς τὴν Ἀττικὴν πολέμου, ὃς λυπήσει μὲν ἕκαστον, ἐπειδὰν παρῇ, γέγονεν δ᾽ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ.

  [35] Now therefore, while the danger is in the future and is gathering head, while we can still hear one another speak, I want to remind each one of you, however clearly he knows it, who it is that persuaded you to abandon the Phocians and Thermopylae, the command of which gave Philip the command also of the road to Attica and the Peloponnesus, and who it is that has forced you to take counsel, not for your rights and interests abroad, but for your possessions here at home and for the war in Attica, a war which will bring distress on every one of us, when it does come, but which really dates from that very day.

  [36] εἰ γὰρ μὴ παρεκρούσθητε τόθ᾽ ὑμεῖς, οὐδὲν ἂν ἦν τῇ πόλει πρᾶγμα: οὔτε γὰρ ναυσὶ δήπου κρατήσας εἰς τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἦλθεν ἄν ποτε στόλῳ Φίλιππος, οὔτε πεζῇ βαδίζων ὑπὲρ τὰς Πύλας καὶ Φωκέας, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ τὰ δίκαι᾽ ἂν ἐποίει καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην ἄγων ἡσυχίαν εἶχεν, ἢ παραχρῆμ᾽ ἂν ἦν ἐν ὁμοίῳ πολέμῳ δι᾽ ὃν τότε τῆς εἰρήνης ἐπεθύμησεν.

  [36] For if you had not been hoodwinked then, there would be no anxiety in Athens, because Philip could never, of course, have gained command of the sea and reached Attica with his fleet, nor could he have marched past Thermopylae and Phocis, but either he would have acted fairly and observed the Peace by keeping quiet, or he would have been instantly engaged in a war similar to that which made him so anxious for the Peace.

  [37] ταῦτ᾽ οὖν, ὡς μὲν ὑπομνῆσαι, νῦν ἱκανῶς εἴρηται, ὡς δ᾽ ἂν ἐξετασθείη μάλιστ᾽ ἀκριβῶς, μὴ γένοιτ᾽, ὦ πάντες θεοί: οὐδένα γὰρ βουλοίμην ἔγωγ᾽ ἄν, οὐδ᾽ εἰ δίκαιός ἐστ᾽ ἀπολωλέναι, μετὰ τοῦ πάντων κινδύνου καὶ τῆς ζημίας δίκην ὑποσχεῖν.

  [37] Enough has now been said by way of reminder. May all the gods forbid that my warnings should ever be brought to the sternest test! For I would not willingly see one man suffer, even though he deserve to perish, if his punishment involves the danger and the damage of all.

  περὶ Ἁλοννήσου — ON HALONNESUS

  [1] ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως αἱ αἰτίαι, ἃς Φίλιππος αἰτιᾶται τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῶν δικαίων πρὸς ὑμᾶς λέγοντας, κωλύσουσι συμβούλους ἡμᾶς γίγνεσθαι ὑπὲρ τῶν ὑμῖν συμφερόντων: δεινὸν γὰρ ἂν εἴη, εἰ τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος παρρησίαν αἱ παρ᾽ ἐκείνου πεμπόμεναι ἐπιστολαὶ ἀνέλοιεν. ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὑμῖν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, βούλομαι πρῶτον μὲν περὶ ὧν Φίλιππος ἐπέσταλκε, περὶ τούτων διεξελθεῖν: ὕστερον δέ, περὶ ὧν οἱ πρέσβεις λέγουσι, καὶ ἡμεῖς λέξομεν.

  [1] Men of Athens, the charges that Philip brings against the speakers who here uphold your claims shall never deter us from offering our advice on what concerns your interests; for it would be monstrous if the freedom of utterance which is the privilege of this platform should be stifled by dispatches from him. But for myself, men of Athens, I wish first to touch upon the different points of his letter, and then to add my comments on the speeches of his ambassadors.

  [2] Φίλιππος γὰρ ἄρχεται μὲν περὶ Ἁλοννήσου λέγων ὡς ὑμῖν δίδωσιν ἑαυτοῦ οὖσαν, ὑμᾶς δὲ οὔ φησι δικαίως αὐτὸν ἀπαιτεῖν: οὐ γὰρ ὑμετέραν οὖσαν οὔτε λαβεῖν οὔτε νῦν ἔχειν. ἔλεγε δὲ καὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοιούτους λόγους, ὅτε πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπρεσβεύσαμεν, ὡς λῃστὰς ἀφελόμενος ταύτην τὴν νῆσον κτήσαιτο, καὶ προσήκειν αὐτὴν ἑαυτοῦ εἶναι.

  [2] Philip begins by saying that he offers you Halonnesus as his own property, but that you have no right to demand it of him, because it was not yours when he took it, and is not yours now that he holds it. Moreover, when we ambassadors visited him, he used similar language, to the effect that he had captured the island from pirates and that therefore it belonged absolutely to him.

  [3] τοῦτον δὲ τὸν λόγον, ὡς οὐκ ἔστι δίκαιος, οὐ χαλεπόν ἐστιν αὐτοῦ ἀφελέσθαι. ἅπαντες γὰρ οἱ λῃσταὶ τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους τόπους καταλαμβάνοντες καὶ τούτους ἐχυροὺς ποιούμενοι, ἐντεῦθεν τοὺς ἄλλους κακῶς ποιοῦσιν. ὁ δὴ τοὺς λῃστὰς τιμωρησάμενος καὶ κρατήσας οὐκ ἂν δήπου εἰκότα λέγοι, εἰ φαίη, ἃ ἐκεῖνοι ἀδίκως καὶ ἀλλότρια εἶχον, ταῦθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ γίγνεσθαι.

  [3] It is not difficult to refute this claim on the ground of its unfairness. For all pirates seize places belonging to others and turn them into strongholds from which to harry their neighbors. But a man who should defeat and punish pirates would surely be unreasonable, if he said that the stolen property wrongfully held by them passed thereby into his own possession.

  [4] εἰ γὰρ ταῦτα συγχωρήσετε, τί κωλύει, καὶ εἴ τινα τῆς Ἀττικῆς λῃσταὶ τόπον καταλάβοιεν ἢ Λήμνου ἢ Ἴμβρου ἢ Σκύρου, καί τινες τούτους τοὺς λῃστὰς ἐκκόψαιεν, εὐθὺς καὶ τὸν τόπον τοῦτον, οὗ ἦσαν οἱ λῃσταί, τὸν ὄντα ἡμέτερον, τῶν τιμωρησαμένων τοὺς λῃστὰς γίγνεσθαι;

  [4] For, that plea once granted, if some pirates seize a strip of Attic territory, or a part of Lemnos or Imbros or Scyros, and if someone dislodges these pirates, what is to prevent this place, where the pirates are established and which is really ours, from becoming the property of those who chastised them?

  [5] Φίλιππος δ᾽ οὐκ ἀγνοεῖ ταῦτ᾽ οὐ δίκαια λέγων, �
�λλ᾽ εἰ καί τις ἄλλος ἐπιστάμενος παρακρουσθῆναι ἂν ὑμᾶς οἴεται ὑπὸ τῶν τἀνταῦθα διοικήσειν, ὡς ἂν αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος βούληται, καὶ πρὶν ὑπεσχημένων, καὶ νῦν δὲ πραττόντων. ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδ᾽ ἐκεῖνό γε λανθάνει αὐτόν, ὅτι δι᾽ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν ὀνομάτων, ὁποτέρῳ ἂν χρῆσθε, ὑμεῖς ἕξετε τὴν νῆσον, ἄν τε λάβητε ἄν τ᾽ ἀπολάβητε.

  [5] Philip is quite aware that his claim is unjust, but, though he knows this as well as anyone, he thinks that you may be hoodwinked by the men who have engaged, and are now fulfilling their engagement, to direct Athenian policy in accordance with his own desires. Nor again does he fail to see that in either case, however you dub the transaction, the island will be yours, whether it is presented or restored to you.

  [6] τί οὖν αὐτῷ διαφέρει, μὴ τῷ δικαίῳ ὀνόματι χρησάμενον ἀποδοῦναι ὑμῖν, ἀλλὰ δωρεὰν δεδωκέναι, τῷ ἀδίκῳ; οὐχ ἵν᾽ εὐεργέτημά τι καταλογίσηται πρὸς ὑμᾶς （γελοῖον γὰρ ἂν εἴη τοῦτο τὸ εὐεργέτημα）, ἀλλ᾽ ἵν᾽ ἐνδείξηται ἅπασι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ὅτι Ἀθηναῖοι τὰ ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ χωρία ἀγαπῶσι παρὰ τοῦ Μακεδόνος λαμβάνοντες. τοῦτο δ᾽ ὑμῖν οὐ ποιητέον ἐστίν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι.

  [6] Then what does he gain by using the wrong term and making a present of it to you, instead of using the right term and restoring it? It is not that he wants to debit you with a benefaction received, for such a benefaction would be a farce; but that he wants all Greece to take notice that the Athenians are content to receive maritime strongholds from the man of Macedon. And that is just what you, men of Athens, must not do.

  [7] ὅταν δὲ λέγῃ περὶ τούτων ὡς ἐθέλει διαδικάσασθαι, οὐδὲν ἀλλ᾽ ἢ χλευάζει ὑμᾶς, πρῶτον μὲν ἀξιῶν Ἀθηναίους ὄντας πρὸς τὸν ἐκ Πέλλης ὁρμώμενον περὶ τῶν νήσων διαδικάζεσθαι, πότερ᾽ ὑμέτεραι ἢ ἐκείνου εἰσίν. ὁπότε γὰρ ἡ μὲν δύναμις ἡ ὑμετέρα, ἡ ἐλευθερώσασα τοὺς Ἕλληνας, μὴ δύναται ὑμῖν τὰ ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ χωρία σῴζειν, οἱ δὲ δικασταί, οἷς ἂν ἐπιτρέψητε, οἱ κύριοι τῆς ψήφου, οὗτοι ὑμῖν σώσουσιν, ἐὰν μὴ Φίλιππος αὐτοὺς πρίηται,

  [7] But when he says that he is willing to arbitrate, he is merely mocking you. In the first place, he expects Athenians to refer to arbitration, as against this upstart from Pella, the question whether the islands are yours or his. If you cannot preserve your maritime possessions by your might that once saved Hellas, but rely on any jury to whom you refer it, and whose verdict is final, to preserve them for you, provided always that Philip does not buy their votes,

  [8] πῶς ὑμεῖς οὐχ ὁμολογουμένως, ὅταν ταῦτα διαπράττησθε, τῶν ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ ἁπάντων ἀφεστήκατε, καὶ ἐπιδείκνυτε ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις ὅτι οὐδὲ περὶ ἑνὸς αὐτῷ διαγωνιεῖσθε, εἴγε περὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ, οὗ φατὲ ἰσχύειν, μὴ διαγωνιεῖσθε, ἀλλὰ δικάσεσθε;

  [8] is it not an open confession, when you adopt this policy, that you have abandoned everything on the mainland, and are you not advertising to the world that there is not a single thing for the sake of which you will appeal to arms, if indeed for your possessions on the sea, where you say your strength lies, you shall appeal, not to arms, but to the law-courts?

  [9] ἔτι περὶ συμβόλων φησὶ πεπομφέναι πρὸς ὑμᾶς τοὺς ποιησομένους, ταῦτα δὲ κύρια ἔσεσθαι, οὐκ ἐπειδὰν ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ τῷ παρ᾽ ὑμῖν κυρωθῇ, ὥσπερ ὁ νόμος κελεύει, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὰν ὡς ἑαυτὸν ἐπανενεχθῇ, ἐφέσιμον τὴν παρ᾽ ὑμῶν γενομένην γνῶσιν ὡς ἑαυτὸν ποιούμενος. βούλεται γὰρ ὑμῶν τοῦτο προλαβεῖν καὶ ὁμολογούμενον ἐν τοῖς συμβόλοις καταστῆσαι, ὅτι τῶν περὶ Ποτείδαιαν γεγενημένων ἀδικημάτων οὐδὲν ἐγκαλεῖτε αὐτῷ ὡς ἀδικούμενοι, ἀλλὰ βεβαιοῦτε δικαίως αὐτὴν ἐκεῖνον καὶ λαβεῖν καὶ κεκτῆσθαι.

  [9] Then again he says that he has sent envoys to arrange with you an inter-state legal compact, and that this compact will be valid, not as soon as it is ratified by the body of Athenian jurors, as the law directs, but only after it has been referred to him, thus constituting himself a court of appeal from your decision. His object, of course, is to steal a march on you, and to insert in the compact an admission on your part that none of the wrongs committed at Potidaea are charged against him by you as the injured party, but that you confirm his seizure and retention of that city as lawful.

  [10] καίτοι Ἀθηναίων οἱ ἐν Ποτειδαίᾳ κατοικοῦντες, οὐκ ὄντος αὐτοῖς πολέμου πρὸς Φίλιππον, ἀλλὰ συμμαχίας, καὶ ὅρκων ὀμωμοσμένων, οὓς Φίλιππος τοῖς οἰκοῦσιν ἐν Ποτειδαίᾳ ὤμοσεν, ἀφῃρέθησαν ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὰ κτήματα. ταῦτα δὴ βούλεται τἀδικήματα πανταχῶς παρ᾽ ὑμῖν βεβαιώσασθαι, ὅτι οὔτ᾽ ἐγκαλεῖτε οὔθ᾽ ἡγεῖσθε ἀδικεῖσθαι:

  [10] Yet Athenians, settled at Potidaea, were robbed of their property by Philip, though they were not at war but in alliance with him, and though he had duly pledged his word to all the inhabitants of that city. Of course he wants to get his many illegal acts everywhere confirmed by a declaration on your part that you bring no charge against him and do not consider yourselves wronged;

  [11] ἐπεὶ ὅτι γε συμβόλων οὐδὲν δέονται Μακεδόνες πρὸς Ἀθηναίους, ὁ παρεληλυθὼς ὑμῖν χρόνος τεκμήριον γενέσθω: οὔτε γὰρ Ἀμύντας ὁ πατὴρ ὁ Φιλίππου οὔθ᾽ οἱ ἄλλοι βασιλεῖς οὐδεπώποτε σύμβολα ἐποιήσαντο πρὸς τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἡμετέραν.

  [11] for that Macedonians need no inter-state compact with Athenians let past history be your witness, since neither Amyntas, the father of Philip, nor the earlier kings ever made any such compact with our city,

  [12] καίτοι πλείους γε ἦσαν αἱ ἐπιμειξίαι τότε πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἢ νῦν εἰσίν: ὑφ᾽ ἡμῖν γὰρ ἦν ἡ Μακεδονία καὶ φόρους ἡμῖν ἔφερον, καὶ τοῖς ἐμπορίοις τότε μᾶλλον ἢ νῦν ἡμεῖς τε τοῖς ἐκεῖ κἀκεῖνοι τοῖς παρ᾽ ἡμῖν ἐχρῶντο, καὶ ἐμπορικαὶ δίκαι οὐκ ἦσαν, ὥσπερ νῦν, ἀκριβεῖς, αἱ κατὰ μῆνα, ποιοῦσαι μηδὲν δεῖσθαι συμβόλων τοὺς τοσοῦτον ἀλλήλων ἀπέχοντας.

  [12] though intercourse between the two nations was more frequent then than now. For Macedonia was under our sway and tributary to us, and we used each other’s markets more freely then than at present, and mercantile suits were not then, as now, settled strictly every month, making a formal compact between such distant parties unnecessary.

  [13] ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως οὐδενὸς τοιούτου ὄντος τότε, οὐκ ἐλυσιτ
έλει σύμβολα ποιησαμένους οὔτ᾽ ἐκ Μακεδονίας πλεῖν Ἀθήναζε δίκας ληψομένους, οὔθ᾽ ἡμῖν εἰς Μακεδονίαν, ἀλλ᾽ ἡμεῖς τε τοῖς ἐκεῖ νομίμοις ἐκεῖνοί τε τοῖς παρ᾽ ἡμῖν τὰς δίκας ἐλάμβανον. μὴ οὖν ἀγνοεῖτε ὅτι τὰ σύμβολα ταῦτα γίγνεται εἰς ὑποδοχὴν τοῦ μηδ᾽ ἀμφισβητῆσαι εὐλόγως ὑμᾶς ἔτι Ποτειδαίας.

  [13] However, there was no such compact, and it would not have paid to make one which would entail a voyage from Macedonia to Athens or from Athens to Macedonia in order to obtain satisfaction. Instead, we sought redress in Macedonia under their laws and they at Athens under ours. So do not forget that the real object of this proposed compact is to get your admission that you have no reasonable claim to Potidaea.

  [14] περὶ δὲ τῶν λῃστῶν δίκαιόν φησιν εἶναι κοινῇ φυλάττειν τοὺς ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ κακουργοῦντας ὑμᾶς τε καὶ αὑτόν, οὐδὲν ἀλλ᾽ ἢ τοῦτ᾽ ἀξιῶν, ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν εἰς τὴν θάλατταν κατασταθῆναι, καὶ ὁμολογῆσαι ὑμᾶς ὡς ἄνευ Φιλίππου οὐδὲ τὴν ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ φυλακὴν δυνατοί ἐστε φυλάττειν,