by Demosthenes
[20] For suppose someone should ask Philip, “Tell me, which would you prefer? That the troops now serving with Diopithes, whatever their character may be” — for I am not discussing that— “should prosper and win credit at Athens and grow in numbers with the co-operation of the government, or that a few accusers and detractors should cause them to be broken up and destroyed?” I think he would choose the latter. And what Philip would pray the gods to vouchsafe him, are some of us here trying to compass? And do you still ask how our interests are sacrificed everywhere?
[21] βούλομαι τοίνυν ὑμᾶς μετὰ παρρησίας ἐξετάσαι τὰ παρόντα πράγματα τῇ πόλει, καὶ σκέψασθαι τί ποιοῦμεν αὐτοὶ νῦν καὶ ὅπως χρώμεθ᾽ αὐτοῖς. ἡμεῖς οὔτε χρήματ᾽ εἰσφέρειν βουλόμεθα, οὔτ᾽ αὐτοὶ στρατεύεσθαι, οὔτε τῶν κοινῶν ἀπέχεσθαι δυνάμεθα, οὔτε τὰς συντάξεις Διοπείθει δίδομεν, οὔθ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἂν αὐτὸς αὑτῷ πορίσηται ἐπαινοῦμεν,
[21] I want therefore to examine frankly the present state of our affairs, and to find out what we are doing ourselves now and how we are dealing with the situation. We refuse to pay war-taxes or to serve in person; we cannot keep our hands off the public funds; we will not pay Diopithes the allowances agreed upon, nor sanction the sums that he raises for himself;
[22] ἀλλὰ βασκαίνομεν καὶ σκοποῦμεν πόθεν, καὶ τί μέλλει ποιεῖν, καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαυτί, οὔτ᾽, ἐπειδήπερ οὕτως ἔχομεν, τὰ ἡμέτερ᾽ αὐτῶν πράττειν ἐθέλομεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν μὲν τοῖς λόγοις τοὺς τῆς πόλεως λέγοντας ἄξι᾽ ἐπαινοῦμεν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς ἐναντιουμένοις τούτοις συναγωνιζόμεθα.
[22] but we grumble and criticize his methods, and ask what he intends to do, and all that sort of thing; and yet, while maintaining that attitude, we refuse to perform our own tasks; with our lips we praise those whose speeches are worthy of our city, but our actions serve only to encourage their opponents.
[23] ὑμεῖς μὲν τοίνυν εἰώθαθ᾽ ἑκάστοτε τὸν παριόντ᾽ ἐρωτᾶν, τί οὖν χρὴ ποιεῖν; ἐγὼ δ᾽ ὑμᾶς ἐρωτῆσαι βούλομαι, τί οὖν χρὴ λέγειν; εἰ γὰρ μήτ᾽ εἰσοίσετε, μήτ᾽ αὐτοὶ στρατεύσεσθε, μήτε τῶν κοινῶν ἀφέξεσθε, μήτε τὰς συντάξεις δώσετε, μήθ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἂν αὐτὸς αὑτῷ πορίσηται ἐάσετε, μήτε τὰ ὑμέτερ᾽ αὐτῶν πράττειν ἐθελήσετε, οὐκ ἔχω τί λέγω. οἱ γὰρ ἤδη τοσαύτην ἐξουσίαν τοῖς αἰτιᾶσθαι καὶ διαβάλλειν βουλομένοις διδόντες, ὥστε καὶ περὶ ὧν φασι μέλλειν αὐτὸν ποιεῖν, καὶ περὶ τούτων προκατηγορούντων ἀκροᾶσθαι, — τί ἄν τις λέγοι;
[23] Now, you have a habit of asking a speaker on every occasion, “What then must be done?”; but I prefer to ask you, “What then must be said?” Because, if you are not going to pay your contributions, nor serve in person, nor keep your hands off the public funds, nor grant Diopithes his allowances, nor sanction the sums that he raises for himself, nor consent to perform your own tasks, I have nothing to say. You who have gone so far in granting license to those whose object is fault-finding and calumny, that even about what they say he is going to do, even on that ground they accuse him in advance and you listen to them — what can anyone say?
[24] ὅ τι τοίνυν δύναται ταῦτα ποιεῖν, ἐνίους μαθεῖν ὑμῶν δεῖ. λέξω δὲ μετὰ παρρησίας: καὶ γὰρ οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἄλλως δυναίμην. πάντες ὅσοι πώποτ᾽ ἐκπεπλεύκασι παρ᾽ ὑμῶν στρατηγοί （ἢ ‘γὼ πάσχειν ὁτιοῦν τιμῶμαι） καὶ παρὰ Χίων καὶ παρ᾽ Ἐρυθραίων καὶ παρ᾽ ὧν ἂν ἕκαστοι δύνωνται, τούτων τῶν τὴν Ἀσίαν οἰκούντων λέγω, χρήματα λαμβάνουσιν.
[24] Now, some of you ought to be told the possible result of all this. I shall speak freely, for indeed I could not speak otherwise. All the generals that have ever set sail from your land — if I am wrong, I submit myself to any penalty — raise money from the Chians, from the Erythraeans, from whatever people they can, I mean of the Greeks of Asia Minor.
[25] λαμβάνουσι δ᾽ οἱ μὲν ἔχοντες μίαν ἢ δύο ναῦς ἐλάττονα, οἱ δὲ μείζω δύναμιν πλείονα. καὶ διδόασιν οἱ διδόντες οὔτε τὰ μικρὰ οὔτε τὰ πολλὰ ἀντ᾽ οὐδενός （οὐ γὰρ οὕτω μαίνονται）, ἀλλ᾽ ὠνούμενοι μὴ ἀδικεῖσθαι τοὺς παρ᾽ αὑτῶν ἐκπλέοντας ἐμπόρους, μὴ συλᾶσθαι, παραπέμπεσθαι τὰ πλοῖα τὰ αὑτῶν, τὰ τοιαῦτα: φασὶ δ᾽ εὐνοίας διδόναι, καὶ τοῦτο τοὔνομ᾽ ἔχει τὰ λήμματα ταῦτα.
[25] Generals with only one or two ships raise less; those with a larger fleet raise more. Also those who pay do not pay the sum, be it large or small, for nothing; they are not such madmen. No, they purchase for the merchants sailing from their own harbors immunity from injury or robbery, or a safe conduct for their own ships, or something of that sort. They say that they are granting “benevolences.” That is the name for these exactions.
[26] καὶ δὴ καὶ νῦν τῷ Διοπείθει στράτευμ᾽ ἔχοντι σαφῶς ἐστι τοῦτο δῆλον ὅτι δώσουσι χρήματα πάντες οὗτοι: πόθεν γὰρ οἴεσθ᾽ ἄλλοθεν τὸν μήτε λαβόντα παρ᾽ ὑμῶν μηδὲν μήτ᾽ αὐτὸν ἔχονθ᾽ ὁπόθεν μισθοδοτήσει, στρατιώτας τρέφειν; ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ; οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα, ἀλλ᾽ ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἀγείρει καὶ προσαιτεῖ καὶ δανείζεται, ἀπὸ τούτων διάγει.
[26] And so too in this case, while Diopithes has a force with him, it is perfectly plain that all these people will pay up. For where else do you suppose that he looks for the maintenance of his troops, if he gets nothing from you and has no private fortune to furnish their pay? To the sky? No, indeed; it is from what he can collect or beg or borrow that he keeps things going.
[27] οὐδὲν οὖν ἄλλο ποιοῦσιν οἱ κατηγοροῦντες ἐν ὑμῖν ἢ προλέγουσιν ἅπασι μηδ᾽ ὁτιοῦν ἐκείνῳ διδόναι, ὡς καὶ τοῦ μελλῆσαι δώσοντι δίκην, μή τι ποιήσαντί γ᾽ ἢ καταπραξαμένῳ. τοῦτ᾽ εἰσὶν οἱ λόγοι: ‘μέλλει πολιορκεῖν,’ ‘τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐκδίδωσιν.’ μέλει γάρ τινι τούτων τῶν τὴν Ἀσίαν οἰκούντων Ἑλλήνων; ἀμείνους μέντἂν εἶεν τῶν ἄλλων ἢ τῆς πατρίδος κήδεσθαι.
[27] So those who denounce him to you are simply warning everybody not to grant him a penny, because he will be punished for what he intends to do, apart from what he has done or what he has acquired for himself. That is what they mean when they cry, “He intends to besiege the towns! He is betraying the Greeks!” Do any of these gentlemen really care about the Asiatic Greeks? — and yet they would, I expect, be better champions of other countries than of their own.
[28] καὶ τό γ᾽ εἰς τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον εἰσπέμπειν ἕτερον στρατηγὸν τοῦτ᾽ ἐστίν. εἰ γὰρ δεινὰ ποιεῖ Διοπείθης καὶ κατάγει τὰ πλοῖα, μικ
ρόν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, μικρὸν πινάκιον ταῦτα πάντα κωλῦσαι δύναιτ᾽ ἄν, καὶ λέγουσιν οἱ νόμοι, ταῦτα τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας εἰσαγγέλλειν, οὐ μὰ Δί᾽ οὐ δαπάναις καὶ τριήρεσιν τοσαύταις ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς φυλάττειν, ἐπεὶ τοῦτό γ᾽ ἐστὶν ὑπερβολὴ μανίας:
[28] That, too, is the meaning of the dispatch of a second general to the Hellespont. For if Diopithes is acting outrageously in detaining the merchantmen, a note, men of Athens, a brief note, could put a stop to all this at once; and there are the laws, which direct us to impeach such offenders, but not, of course, to mount guard over ourselves, at such a cost and with so large a fleet; for that would be the height of madness.
[29] ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ μὲν τοὺς ἐχθρούς, οὓς οὐκ ἔστι λαβεῖν ὑπὸ τοῖς νόμοις, καὶ στρατιώτας τρέφειν καὶ τριήρεις ἐκπέμπειν καὶ χρήματ᾽ εἰσφέρειν δεῖ καὶ ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν, ἐπὶ δ᾽ ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς ψήφισμα, εἰσαγγελία, πάραλος ταῦτ᾽ ἔστιν. ταῦτ᾽ ἦν εὖ φρονούντων ἀνθρώπων, ἐπηρεαζόντων δὲ καὶ διαφθειρόντων τὰ πράγμαθ᾽ ἃ νῦν οὗτοι ποιοῦσιν.
[29] No, against our enemies, who are not amenable to the laws, it is right and necessary to maintain troops, to send out fleets, and to raise funds; but against ourselves we have these resources, a decree, an impeachment, and a dispatch-boat. Those are what right-minded citizens would employ; malignants, bent on the ruin of the State, would do as these men are doing.
[30] καὶ τὸ μὲν τούτων τινὰς εἶναι τοιούτους, δεινὸν ὂν οὐ δεινόν ἐστιν: ἀλλ᾽ ὑμεῖς οἱ καθήμενοι οὕτως ἤδη διάκεισθε, ὥστ᾽, ἂν μέν τις εἴπῃ παρελθὼν ὅτι Διοπείθης ἐστὶ τῶν κακῶν πάντων αἴτιος, ἢ Χάρης ἢ Ἀριστοφῶν ἢ ὃν ἂν τῶν πολιτῶν εἴπῃ τις, εὐθέως φατὲ καὶ θορυβεῖθ᾽ ὡς ὀρθῶς λέγει:
[30] And that there are some men of this type among you, though bad enough, is not the real evil; but you who sit here are by now in such a mood that if anyone comes forward and asserts that the cause of all our evil is Diopithes or Chares or Aristophon, or any other citizen that he happens to name, you at once agree and applaud the truth of the remark.
[31] ἂν δὲ παρελθὼν λέγῃ τις τἀληθῆ, ὅτι ‘ληρεῖτ᾽, Ἀθηναῖοι: πάντων τῶν κακῶν καὶ τῶν πραγμάτων τούτων Φίλιππός ἐστ᾽ αἴτιος: εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἦγεν ἡσυχίαν, οὐδὲν ἂν ἦν πρᾶγμα τῇ πόλει,’ ὡς μὲν οὐκ ἀληθῆ ταῦτ᾽ ἐστὶν οὐκ ἔχετ᾽ ἀντιλέγειν, ἄχθεσθαι δέ μοι δοκεῖτε καὶ ὥσπερ ἀπολλύναι τι νομίζειν.
[31] But if anyone rises and tells you the real truth and says, “Nonsense, Athenians! The cause of all these evils and all these troubles is Philip, for if he had kept quiet, our city would have been free from trouble,” you cannot gainsay it, but you seem to me to be vexed and to feel that you are, as it were, losing something.
[32] αἴτιον δὲ τούτων （καί μοι πρὸς θεῶν, ὅταν εἵνεκα τοῦ βελτίστου λέγω, ἔστω παρρησία）: παρεσκευάκασιν ὑμᾶς τῶν πολιτευομένων ἔνιοι ἐν μὲν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις φοβεροὺς καὶ χαλεπούς, ἐν δὲ ταῖς παρασκευαῖς ταῖς τοῦ πολέμου ῥᾳθύμους καὶ εὐκαταφρονήτους. ἂν μὲν οὖν τὸν αἴτιον εἴπῃ τις ὃν ἴσθ᾽ ὅτι λήψεσθε παρ᾽ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς, φατὲ καὶ βούλεσθε: ἂν δὲ τοιοῦτον λέγῃ τις, ὃν κρατήσαντας τοῖς ὅπλοις, ἄλλως δ᾽ οὐκ ἔστιν κολάσαι, οὐκ ἔχετ᾽, οἶμαι, τί ποιήσετε, ἐξελεγχόμενοι δ᾽ ἄχθεσθε.
[32] But as to the reason for this — and in Heaven’s name, when I am pleading for your best interests, allow me to speak freely — some of our politicians have been training you to be threatening and intractable in the meetings of the Assembly, but in preparing for war, careless and contemptible. If, then, the culprit named is someone on whom you know you can lay hands in Athens, you agree and assent; but if it is someone whom you cannot chastise unless you overcome him by force of arms, you find yourselves helpless, I suppose, and to be proved so causes you annoyance.
[33] ἐχρῆν γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοὐναντίον ἢ νῦν ἅπαντας τοὺς πολιτευομένους ἐν μὲν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις πράους καὶ φιλανθρώπους ὑμᾶς ἐθίζειν εἶναι （πρὸς γὰρ ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς καὶ τοὺς συμμάχους ἐν ταύταις ἐστὶ τὰ δίκαια）, ἐν δὲ ταῖς παρασκευαῖς ταῖς τοῦ πολέμου φοβεροὺς καὶ χαλεποὺς ἐπιδεικνύναι: πρὸς γὰρ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς καὶ τοὺς ἀντιπάλους ἐκεῖνός ἐσθ᾽ ἁγών.
[33] For it ought to have been the reverse, men of Athens; all your politicians should have trained you to be gentle and humane in the Assembly, for there you are dealing with rights that concern yourselves and your allies, but in preparing for war they should have made you threatening and intractable, because there you are pitted against your enemies and rivals.
[34] νῦν δὲ δημαγωγοῦντες ὑμᾶς καὶ χαριζόμενοι καθ᾽ ὑπερβολὴν οὕτω διατεθήκασιν, ὥστ᾽ ἐν μὲν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τρυφᾶν καὶ κολακεύεσθαι πάντα πρὸς ἡδονὴν ἀκούοντας, ἐν δὲ τοῖς πράγμασι καὶ τοῖς γιγνομένοις περὶ τῶν ἐσχάτων ἤδη κινδυνεύειν. φέρε γὰρ πρὸς Διός, εἰ λόγον ὑμᾶς ἀπαιτήσειαν οἱ Ἕλληνες ὧν νυνὶ παρείκατε καιρῶν διὰ ῥᾳθυμίαν,
[34] As it is, by persuasive arts and caresses they have brought you to such a frame of mind that in your assemblies you are elated by their flattery and have no ear but for compliments, while in your policy and your practice you are at this moment running the gravest risks. For tell me, in Heaven’s name, if the Greeks should call you to account for the opportunities that your carelessness has already thrown away, and should question you thus:
[35] καὶ ἔροινθ᾽ ὑμᾶς, ‘ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, πέμπεθ᾽ ὡς ἡμᾶς ἑκάστοτε πρέσβεις, καὶ λέγεθ᾽ ὡς ἐπιβουλεύει Φίλιππος ἡμῖν καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς Ἕλλησι, καὶ ὡς φυλάττεσθαι δεῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαυτί;’ ἀνάγκη φάσκειν καὶ ὁμολογεῖν: ποιοῦμεν γὰρ ταῦτα. ‘εἶτ᾽, ὦ πάντων ἀνθρώπων φαυλότατοι, δέκα μῆνας ἀπογενομένου τἀνθρώπου καὶ νόσῳ καὶ χειμῶνι καὶ πολέμοις ἀποληφθέντος ὥστε μὴ ἂν δύνασθαι ἐπανελθεῖν οἴκαδε,
[35] “Men of Athens, do you send us embassies on every occasion to explain how Philip is plotting against us and all the other Greeks, and how we must be on our guard against that man, and all that sort of thing?” — （we are bound to admit it and plead guilty, for that is just what we do）— “And yet, you most futile of mortals, when that man has been out of sight for ten months, cut off from all chance of returning home by disease, by winter, and by war,
[36] οὔτε τὴν Εὔβοιαν �
�λευθερώσατε, οὔτε τῶν ὑμετέρων αὐτῶν οὐδὲν ἐκομίσασθε, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνος μὲν ὑμῶν οἴκοι μενόντων, σχολὴν ἀγόντων, ὑγιαινόντων （εἰ δὴ τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιοῦντας ὑγιαίνειν φήσαιμεν）, δύ᾽ ἐν Εὐβοίᾳ κατέστησε τυράννους, τὸν μὲν ἀπαντικρὺ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐπιτειχίσας, τὸν δ᾽ ἐπὶ Σκίαθον,
[36] have you neither liberated Euboea nor regained any of your lost possessions? On the other hand, while you stay at home, at leisure and in health” — （if indeed they could say that men who behave thus are in health）— “Philip has set up two despots in Euboea, entrenching one right over against Attica and the other as a menace to Sciathus;
[37] ὑμεῖς δ᾽ οὐδὲ ταῦτ᾽ ἀπελύσασθε, εἰ μηδὲν ἄλλ᾽ ἐβούλεσθε, ἀλλ᾽ εἰάκατε; ἀφέστατε δῆλον ὅτι αὐτῷ, καὶ φανερὸν πεποιήκατε ὅτι οὐδ᾽ ἂν δεκάκις ἀποθάνῃ, οὐδὲν μᾶλλον κινήσεσθε. τί οὖν πρεσβεύετε καὶ κατηγορεῖτε καὶ πράγμαθ᾽ ἡμῖν παρέχετε;’ ἂν ταῦτα λέγωσι, τί ἐροῦμεν ἢ τί φήσομεν, Ἀθηναῖοι; ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ οὐχ ὁρῶ.
[37] but you — have you never cleared away these obstacles, even if you had no further ambitions, and have you tamely submitted? Undoubtedly you have stood aside from his path and made it abundantly clear that, were he to die ten times over, you at least will make no further move. Then why do you pester us with your embassies and your complaints?” If these are their words, what are we to say, Athenians? How are we to answer? For my part, I cannot tell.