by Demosthenes
[14] As for the pirates, he says that it is only fair that we should join him in clearing the sea of these depredators, who injure you as much as himself; which amounts to a claim that you should set him up as a maritime power and confess that without Philip’s help you cannot keep the high seas safe,
[15] ἔτι δὲ καὶ δοθῆναι αὐτῷ ταύτην τὴν ἄδειαν, περιπλέοντι καὶ ὁρμιζομένῳ εἰς τὰς νήσους ἐπὶ προφάσει τῇ τῶν λῃστῶν φυλακῇ διαφθείρειν τοὺς νησιώτας καὶ ἀφιστάναι ὑμῶν, καὶ μὴ μόνον τοὺς φυγάδας τοὺς παρ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ εἰς Θάσον κεκομικέναι διὰ τῶν ὑμετέρων στρατηγῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ἄλλας νήσους οἰκειώσασθαι, συμπέμπων τοὺς συμπλευσομένους μετὰ τῶν στρατηγῶν τῶν ὑμετέρων ὡς κοινωνήσοντας τῆς κατὰ θάλατταν φυλακῆς.
[15] and furthermore that he should have a free hand to cruise about and anchor off the different islands and, under pretence of protecting them from pirates, bribe the islanders to revolt from you. Not content with getting your commanders to carry refugees from Macedonia to Thasos, he claims the right to appropriate the other islands also, and sends agents to accompany your commanders, as if to share with you the task of policing the seas.
[16] καίτοι οὔ φασί τινες αὐτὸν προσδεῖσθαι τῆς θαλάττης. ὁ δ᾽ οὐδὲν δεόμενος τριήρεις κατασκευάζεται, καὶ νεωσοίκους οἰκοδομεῖται, καὶ ἀποστόλους ἀποστέλλειν βούλεται, καὶ δαπάνας οὐ μικρὰς δαπανᾶν εἰς τοὺς κατὰ θάλατταν κινδύνους, ὧν οὐδὲν προτιμᾷ.
[16] And yet some people say that he has no use for the sea! Why, this man who has no use for the sea is laying down war-ships and building docks, and is ready to send out fleets and incur considerable expense in facing risks at sea, and all for objects that he does not value!
[17] ταῦτ᾽ οἴεσθ᾽ ἄν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, Φίλιππον ἀξιῶσαι ὑμᾶς συγχωρῆσαι αὐτῷ, εἰ μὴ ὑμῶν μὲν κατεφρόνει, οὓς δ᾽ ἐνθάδε προῄρηται φίλους κεκτῆσθαι, τούτοις διεπίστευεν; οἳ οὐκ αἰσχύνονται Φιλίππῳ ζῶντες καὶ οὐ τῇ αὑτῶν πατρίδι, καὶ τὰς παρ᾽ ἐκείνου δωρειὰς λαμβάνοντες οἴονται οἴκαδε λαμβάνειν, τὰ οἴκοι πωλοῦντες.
[17] Men of Athens, do you suppose that Philip would insist on your making such concessions to him, if he did not despise you and put complete confidence in his friends here, whom he has made it his policy to conciliate? They are not ashamed to devote their lives to Philip rather than to their own country, and they think that when they take his gifts they are taking them home — though they are selling everything at home.
[18] περὶ δὲ τῆς ἐπανορθώσεως τῆς εἰρήνης, ἣν ἔδοσαν ἡμῖν οἱ πρέσβεις οἱ παρ᾽ ἐκείνου πεμφθέντες ἐπανορθώσασθαι, ὅτι ἐπηνωρθωσάμεθα, ὃ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ὁμολογεῖται δίκαιον εἶναι, ἑκατέρους ἔχειν τὰ ἑαυτῶν, ἀμφισβητεῖ μὴ δεδωκέναι μηδὲ τοὺς πρέσβεις ταῦτ᾽ εἰρηκέναι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, οὐδὲν ἀλλ᾽ ἢ πεπεισμένος ὑπὸ τούτων, οἷς χρῆται φίλοις, ὡς ὑμεῖς οὐ μνημονεύετε τὰ ἐν τῷ δήμῳ εἰρημένα.
[18] With regard to the amendment of the peace, Philip’s ambassadors conceded to us the right to amend it, and our amendment, universally admitted to be fair, was that each side should retain its own possessions. But he now contends that he never agreed to this, and that his ambassadors never even raised the point. This simply means that his friends here have persuaded him that you have no memory for what has been stated publicly in the Assembly.
[19] μόνον δὲ τοῦτο οὐχ οἷόν τε ὑμῖν ἐστιν ἀμνημονῆσαι: ἐν γὰρ τῇ αὐτῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ οἱ πρέσβεις ὑμῖν οἱ παρ᾽ ἐκείνου ἥκοντες διελέγοντο καὶ τὸ ψήφισμα ἐγράφη. ὥστ᾽ οὐχ οἷόν τε, παραχρῆμα τῶν λόγων εἰρημένων καὶ εὐθὺς τοῦ ψηφίσματος ἐπαναγιγνωσκομένου, τὴν καταψευδομένην γνώμην τῶν πρέσβεων, ταύτην ὑμᾶς χειροτονῆσαι: ὥστε τοῦτο μὲν οὐ κατ᾽ ἐμοῦ, ἀλλὰ καθ᾽ ὑμῶν ἐπέσταλκεν, ὡς ὑμεῖς περὶ ὧν οὐκ ἠκούσατε, περὶ τούτων ἀποκρινάμενοι τὴν γνώμην ἀπεστείλατε.
[19] But that is just the one thing that you cannot have forgotten; for at the same meeting of the Assembly Philip’s ambassadors put his case before you and the decree was duly proposed, so that, as the decree was recited immediately after the conclusion of the speeches, it was impossible for you to pass at once a resolution which gives the lie to the ambassadors. So it is not against me but against you that his letter is aimed, alleging that you have sent back to him your decision on questions that were never put before you.
[20] καὶ οἱ μὲν πρέσβεις αὐτοί, ὧν κατεψεύδετο τὸ ψήφισμα, ὅτ᾽ ἀπεκρίνεσθε αὐτοῖς ἀναγιγνώσκοντες καὶ ἐπὶ ξένια αὐτοὺς ἐκαλεῖτε, οὐκ ἐτόλμησαν παρελθεῖν, οὐδ᾽ εἰπεῖν ὅτι ‘καταψεύδεσθε ἡμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ φατὲ ἡμᾶς εἰρηκέναι ἃ οὐκ εἰρήκαμεν,’ ἀλλὰ σιωπῇ ἀπιόντες ᾤχοντο. βούλομαι δ᾽ ὑμᾶς, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι （καὶ γὰρ ηὐδοκίμησεν ὁ Πύθων παρ᾽ ὑμῖν ἐν τῇ δημηγορίᾳ, ὁ τότε πρεσβεύων）, αὐτοὺς τοὺς λόγους οὓς ἔλεγεν ὑπομνῆσαι: οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι μέμνησθε.
[20] Why, the ambassadors themselves, whom your resolution flatly contradicted, when you read them your answer and offered them hospitality, did not venture to come forward and say, “You misrepresent us, men of Athens; you say we have said something that we never did say.” No; they held their tongues and took their leave. But I want, men of Athens — for Pytho, who was one of the ambassadors, made an excellent impression on you by his address — I want to recall to you the exact words he used, for I am sure you must remember them.
[21] παραπλήσιοι δ᾽ ἦσαν οἷς καὶ νῦν ἐπέσταλκε Φίλιππος: ἐγκαλῶν γὰρ ἡμῖν τοῖς διαβάλλουσι τὸν Φίλιππον, καὶ ὑμῖν ἐμέμφετο ὅτι ὡρμηκότος αὐτοῦ εὖ ποιεῖν ὑμᾶς καὶ προῃρημένου μάλιστα τῶν Ἑλλήνων φίλους κεκτῆσθαι αὐτοὶ κωλύετε, ἀποδεχόμενοι τοὺς λόγους τῶν συκοφαντούντων καὶ χρήματα ἐκεῖνον αἰτούντων καὶ διαβαλλόντων: τοὺς γὰρ τοιούτους λόγους, ὅταν ἀπαγγελλόντων ἀκούῃ, ὅτι κακῶς ἤκουεν, ὑμεῖς δ᾽ ἀπεδέχεσθε, μεταβάλλειν αὐτοῦ τὴν γνώμην, ὅταν ἄπιστος φαίνηται τούτοις ὧν προῄρηται εὐεργέτης εἶναι.
[21] His language was pretty much that of Philip’s present letter. For while accusing those of us who misrepresent Philip, he at the same time blamed you because, though Philip is eager to benefit you and prefers your friendship to that of any other state, you constantly thwart him, lending an ear t
o false accusers, who both beg money of him and slander him; for tales of that sort, when he is told that he was traduced and that you believed what was said, make him change his mind, since he finds himself distrusted by the very people whom it has been his aim to benefit.
[22] ἐκέλευεν οὖν τοὺς λέγοντας ἐν τῷ δήμῳ τῇ μὲν εἰρήνῃ μὴ ἐπιτιμᾶν: οὐ γὰρ ἄξιον εἶναι εἰρήνην λύειν: εἰ δέ τι μὴ καλῶς γέγραπται ἐν τῇ εἰρήνῃ, τοῦτ᾽ ἐπανορθώσασθαι, ὡς ἅπαντα Φίλιππον ποιήσοντα ὅσ᾽ ἂν ὑμεῖς ψηφίσησθε. ἂν δὲ διαβάλλωσι μέν, αὐτοὶ δὲ μηδὲν γράφωσι δι᾽ οὗ ἡ μὲν εἰρήνη ἔσται, παύσεται δ᾽ ἀπιστούμενος ὁ Φίλιππος, μὴ προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἀνθρώποις.
[22] Pytho therefore urged public speakers not to attack the peace, because it was not good policy to rescind it, but to amend any unsatisfactory clause, on the understanding that Philip was prepared to fall in with your suggestions. If, however, the speakers confined themselves to abusing Philip without drafting any proposals which, while preserving the terms of peace, might clear Philip of suspicion, he asked you to pay no attention to such fellows.
[23] καὶ τούτους τοὺς λόγους ὑμεῖς ἀκούοντες ἀπεδέχεσθε, καὶ δίκαια ἔφατε τὸν Πύθωνα λέγειν: καὶ ἦν δίκαια. ἔλεγε δὲ τούτους τοὺς λόγους, οὐχ ὅπως λυθείη ἐκ τῆς εἰρήνης ἃ ἦν ἐκείνῳ συμφέροντα καὶ ὧν πολλὰ χρήματα ἀνηλώκει ὥστε γενέσθαι, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν ἐνθάδε διδασκάλων προδεδιδαγμένος, οἳ οὐκ ᾤοντο εἶναι τὸν γράψοντα ἐναντία τῷ Φιλοκράτους ψηφίσματι, τῷ ἀπολλύντι Ἀμφίπολιν.
[23] And you approved these arguments and said that Pytho was right, as indeed he was. He made these statements, however, not in order that all those advantages that Philip had paid so much money to secure might be struck out of the treaty, but because he had been so instructed by his schoolmasters here in Athens, who did not imagine that anyone would propose to annul the decree of Philocrates, which lost us Amphipolis.
[24] ἐγὼ δ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, παράνομον μὲν οὐδὲν ἐτόλμησα γράψαι, τῷ δὲ Φιλοκράτους ψηφίσματι οὐκ ἦν παράνομον τἀναντία γράφειν, ὡς ἐγὼ ἐπιδείξω: τὸ γὰρ ψήφισμα τὸ Φιλοκράτους, καθ᾽ ὃ ὑμεῖς ἀπώλλυτε Ἀμφίπολιν, ἐναντίον ἦν τοῖς προτέροις ψηφίσμασι, καθ᾽ ἃ ὑμεῖς ἐκτήσασθε ταύτην τὴν χώραν.
[24] As for me, men of Athens, I did not venture to propose anything that was unconstitutional, but it was not so to propose the direct contrary of Philocrates’ decree, as I can prove to you. For the decree of Philocrates, through which you lost Amphipolis, was itself contrary to the earlier decrees by which you claimed possession of that territory.
[25] τοῦτο μὲν οὖν παράνομον ἦν τὸ ψήφισμα, τὸ τοῦ Φιλοκράτους, καὶ οὐχ οἷόν τ᾽ ἦν τὸν τὰ ἔννομα γράφοντα ταὐτὰ τῷ παρανόμῳ ψηφίσματι γράφειν. ἐκείνοις δὲ τοῖς προτέροις ψηφίσμασι, τοῖς οὖσιν ἐννόμοις καὶ σῴζουσι τὴν ὑμετέραν χώραν, ταὐτὰ γράφων ἔννομά τ᾽ ἔγραψα καὶ ἐξήλεγχον τὸν Φίλιππον, ὅτι ἐξηπάτα ὑμᾶς καὶ οὐκ ἐπανορθώσασθαι ἐβούλετο τὴν εἰρήνην, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν λέγοντας ἀπίστους καταστῆσαι.
[25] So it was this decree of Philocrates that was unconstitutional, nor would it have been possible to draft a constitutional proposal in conformity with his unconstitutional decree. By drafting mine to agree with the earlier decrees, which were constitutional and which also kept your territory intact, I both kept within the constitution and was able to convict Philip of trying to deceive you and of wishing, not to amend the peace, but to bring discredit on those who were pleading your cause.
[26] καὶ ὅτι μὲν δοὺς τὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν νῦν ἔξαρνός ἐστιν, ἅπαντες ἴστε. φησὶ δ᾽ Ἀμφίπολιν ἑαυτοῦ εἶναι: ὑμᾶς γὰρ ψηφίσασθαι ἐκείνου εἶναι, ὅτ᾽ ἐψηφίζεσθε ἔχειν αὐτὸν ἃ εἶχεν. ὑμεῖς δὲ τὸ μὲν ψήφισμα τοῦτ᾽ ἐψηφίσασθε, οὐ μέντοι γ᾽ ἐκείνου εἶναι Ἀμφίπολιν: ἔστι γὰρ ἔχειν καὶ τἀλλότρια, καὶ οὐχ ἅπαντες οἱ ἔχοντες τὰ αὑτῶν ἔχουσιν, ἀλλὰ πολλοὶ καὶ ἀλλότρια κέκτηνται: ὥστε τοῦτό γε τὸ σοφὸν αὐτῷ ἠλίθιόν ἐστιν.
[26] You are all aware that, after conceding the right to amend the peace, he now denies it. He says that Amphipolis is his, because your decree that he should keep what he held confirmed his right. It is true that you passed that decree, but you never admitted his right to Amphipolis, for it is possible to “hold” what belongs to another, and it is not all “holders” who hold what is their own, but many are in possession of what is really another’s. So his clever quibble is merely foolish.
[27] καὶ τοῦ μὲν Φιλοκράτους ψηφίσματος μέμνηται, τῆς δ᾽ ἐπιστολῆς, ἣν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔπεμψεν ὅτ᾽ Ἀμφίπολιν ἐπολιόρκει, ἐπιλέλησται, ἐν ᾗ ὡμολόγει τὴν Ἀμφίπολιν ὑμετέραν εἶναι: ἔφη γὰρ ἐκπολιορκήσας ὑμῖν ἀποδώσειν, ὡς οὖσαν ὑμετέραν καὶ οὐ τῶν ἐχόντων.
[27] Moreover he remembers the decree of Philocrates, but he has quite forgotten the letter sent to you when he was besieging Amphipolis, in which he admitted that Amphipolis was yours; for he said that when he had taken it he would “restore” it to you, implying that it was your property, and not that of the holders.
[28] κἀκεῖνοι μέν, ὡς ἔοικεν, οἱ πρότερον ἐν Ἀμφιπόλει οἰκοῦντες πρὶν Φίλιππον λαβεῖν, τὴν Ἀθηναίων χώραν εἶχον, ἐπειδὴ δὲ Φίλιππος αὐτὴν εἴληφεν, οὐ τὴν Ἀθηναίων χώραν ἀλλὰ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ἔχει: οὐδ᾽ Ὄλυνθόν γε οὐδ᾽ Ἀπολλωνίαν οὐδὲ Παλλήνην, οὐκ ἀλλοτρίας ἀλλὰ τὰς ἑαυτοῦ χώρας κέκτηται.
[28] Apparently those who inhabited Amphipolis, before Philip took it, were holding Athenian territory; but when he has taken it, it is no longer our territory, but his own, that he holds; and in the same way at Olynthus and Apollonia and Pallene he is in possession of his own property, not that of others.
[29] ἆρ᾽ ὑμῖν δοκεῖ πεφυλαγμένως ἅπαντα πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐπιστέλλειν, ὅπως ἂν φαίνηται καὶ λέγων καὶ πράττων ἃ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ὁμολογεῖται δίκαια εἶναι, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ σφόδρα καταπεφρονηκέναι, ὃς τὴν χώραν, ἣν οἱ Ἕλληνες καὶ βασιλεὺς ὁ Περσῶν ἐψηφίσαντο καὶ ὡμολογήκασιν ὑμετέραν εἶναι, ταύτην φησὶν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ οὐχ ὑμετέραν εἶναι;
[29] Do you not see that his letter to you is all carefully calculated, so that his words and his actions may appear to conform to the universal standard of justice, while he has really shown supreme contempt for it in claiming for himself and denying to you territory
which is yours by common consent and decree of the Greeks and of the King of Persia?
[30] περὶ δὲ τοῦ ἑτέρου ἐπανορθώματος, ὃ ὑμεῖς ἐν τῇ εἰρήνῃ ἐπανορθοῦσθε, τοὺς ἄλλους Ἕλληνας, ὅσοι μὴ κοινωνοῦσι τῆς εἰρήνης, ἐλευθέρους καὶ αὐτονόμους εἶναι, καὶ ἐάν τις ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς στρατεύῃ, βοηθεῖν τοὺς κοινωνοῦντας τῆς εἰρήνης,
[30] As for the other amendment which you propose to introduce, that all the Greeks who are not parties to the peace should remain free and independent, and that if they are attacked, the signatories should unite to defend them,
[31] ἡγούμενοι καὶ δίκαιον τοῦτο καὶ φιλάνθρωπον, μὴ μόνον ἡμᾶς καὶ τοὺς συμμάχους τοὺς ἡμετέρους καὶ Φίλιππον καὶ τοὺς συμμάχους τοὺς ἐκείνου ἄγειν τὴν εἰρήνην, τοὺς δὲ μήθ᾽ ἡμετέρους ὄντας μήτε Φιλίππου συμμάχους ἐν μέσῳ κεῖσθαι καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν κρειττόνων ἀπόλλυσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τούτοις διὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν εἰρήνην ὑπάρχειν σωτηρίαν, καὶ τῷ ὄντι εἰρήνην ἄγειν ἡμᾶς καταθεμένους τὰ ὅπλα,