by Demosthenes
[8] εἰ μὲν οὖν ἔξεστιν εἰρήνην ἄγειν τῇ πόλει καὶ ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν ἐστι τοῦτο, ἵν᾽ ἐντεῦθεν ἄρξωμαι, φήμ᾽ ἔγωγ᾽ ἄγειν ἡμᾶς δεῖν, καὶ τὸν ταῦτα λέγοντα γράφειν καὶ πράττειν καὶ μὴ φενακίζειν ἀξιῶ: εἰ δ᾽ ἕτερος τὰ ὅπλ᾽ ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν ἔχων καὶ δύναμιν πολλὴν περὶ αὑτὸν τοὔνομα μὲν τὸ τῆς εἰρήνης ὑμῖν προβάλλει, τοῖς δ᾽ ἔργοις αὐτὸς τοῖς τοῦ πολέμου χρῆται, τί λοιπὸν ἄλλο πλὴν ἀμύνεσθαι; φάσκειν δ᾽ εἰρήνην ἄγειν εἰ βούλεσθε, ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνος, οὐ διαφέρομαι.
[8] If indeed Athens can remain at peace and if the choice rests with us — to take that point first — I personally feel that we are bound to do so; and if anyone says that we can, I call upon him to move a resolution and to do something and to play us no tricks; but if there is another person concerned, with sword in hand and a mighty force at his back, who imposes on you with the name of peace but himself indulges in acts of war, what is left but to defend ourselves? If you choose to follow his example and profess that you are at peace, I raise no objection.
[9] εἰ δέ τις ταύτην εἰρήνην ὑπολαμβάνει, ἐξ ἧς ἐκεῖνος πάντα τἄλλα λαβὼν ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς ἥξει, πρῶτον μὲν μαίνεται, ἔπειτ᾽ ἐκείνῳ παρ᾽ ὑμῶν, οὐχ ὑμῖν παρ᾽ ἐκείνου τὴν εἰρήνην λέγει: τοῦτο δ᾽ ἐστὶν ὃ τῶν ἀναλισκομένων χρημάτων πάντων Φίλιππος ὠνεῖται, αὐτὸς μὲν πολεμεῖν ὑμῖν, ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν δὲ μὴ πολεμεῖσθαι.
[9] But if anyone mistakes for peace an arrangement which will enable Philip, when he has seized everything else, to march upon us, he has taken leave of his senses, and the peace that he talks of is one that you observe towards Philip, but not Philip towards you. That is the advantage which he is purchasing by all his expenditure of money — that he should be at war with you, but that you should not be at war with him.
[10] καὶ μὴν εἰ μέχρι τούτου περιμενοῦμεν, ἕως ἂν ἡμῖν ὁμολογήσῃ πολεμεῖν, πάντων ἐσμὲν εὐηθέστατοι: οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀττικὴν αὐτὴν βαδίζῃ καὶ τὸν Πειραιᾶ, τοῦτ᾽ ἐρεῖ, εἴπερ οἷς πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους πεποίηκε δεῖ τεκμαίρεσθαι.
[10] If we are going to wait for him to acknowledge a state of war with us, we are indeed the simplest of mortals; for even if he marches straight against Attica and the Piraeus, he will not admit it, if we may judge from his treatment of the other states.
[11] τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ Ὀλυνθίοις, τετταράκοντ᾽ ἀπέχων τῆς πόλεως στάδια, εἶπεν ὅτι δεῖ δυοῖν θάτερον, ἢ ἐκείνους ἐν Ὀλύνθῳ μὴ οἰκεῖν ἢ αὑτὸν ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ, πάντα τὸν ἄλλον χρόνον, εἴ τις αὐτὸν αἰτιάσαιτό τι τοιοῦτον, ἀγανακτῶν καὶ πρέσβεις πέμπων τοὺς ἀπολογησομένους: τοῦτο δ᾽ εἰς Φωκέας ὡς πρὸς συμμάχους ἐπορεύετο, καὶ πρέσβεις Φωκέων ἦσαν οἳ παρηκολούθουν αὐτῷ πορευομένῳ, καὶ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν ἤριζον οἱ πολλοὶ Θηβαίοις οὐ λυσιτελήσειν τὴν ἐκείνου πάροδον.
[11] For take the case of the Olynthians; when he was five miles from their city, he told them there must be one of two things, either they must cease to reside in Olynthus, or he in Macedonia, though on all previous occasions, when accused of hostile intentions, he indignantly sent ambassadors to justify his conduct. Again, when he was marching against the Phocians, he still pretended that they were his allies, and Phocian ambassadors accompanied him on his march, and most people here at Athens contended that his passage through Thermopylae2 would be anything but a gain to the Thebans.
[12] καὶ μὴν καὶ Φερὰς πρώην ὡς φίλος καὶ σύμμαχος εἰς Θετταλίαν ἐλθὼν ἔχει καταλαβών, καὶ τὰ τελευταῖα τοῖς ταλαιπώροις Ὠρείταις τουτοισὶ ἐπισκεψομένους ἔφη τοὺς στρατιώτας πεπομφέναι κατ᾽ εὔνοιαν: πυνθάνεσθαι γὰρ αὐτοὺς ὡς νοσοῦσι καὶ στασιάζουσιν, συμμάχων δ᾽ εἶναι καὶ φίλων ἀληθινῶν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις καιροῖς παρεῖναι.
[12] And then again quite lately, after entering Thessaly as a friend and ally, he seized Pherae and still retains it; and lastly, he informed those poor wretches, the people of Oreus, that he had sent his soldiers to pay them a visit of sympathy in all goodwill, for he understood that they were suffering from acute internal trouble, and it was the duty of true friends and allies to be at their side on such occasions.
[13] εἶτ᾽ οἴεσθ᾽ αὐτόν, οἳ ἐποίησαν μὲν οὐδὲν ἂν κακόν, μὴ παθεῖν δ᾽ ἐφυλάξαντ᾽ ἂν ἴσως, τούτους μὲν ἐξαπατᾶν αἱρεῖσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ προλέγοντα βιάζεσθαι, ὑμῖν δ᾽ ἐκ προρρήσεως πολεμήσειν, καὶ ταῦθ᾽ ἕως ἂν ἑκόντες ἐξαπατᾶσθε;
[13] And do you imagine that, while in the case of those who could have inflicted no harm, though they might perhaps have protected themselves against it, he preferred to deceive them rather than to crush them after due warning, in your case he will give warning of hostilities, especially when you are so eager to be deceived?
[14] οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα: καὶ γὰρ ἂν ἀβελτερώτατος εἴη πάντων ἀνθρώπων, εἰ τῶν ἀδικουμένων ὑμῶν μηδὲν ἐγκαλούντων αὐτῷ, ἀλλ᾽ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν τινὰς αἰτιωμένων, ἐκεῖνος ἐκλύσας τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἔριν ὑμῶν καὶ φιλονικίαν ἐφ᾽ αὑτὸν προείποι τρέπεσθαι, καὶ τῶν παρ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ μισθοφορούντων τοὺς λόγους ἀφέλοιτο, οἷς ἀναβάλλουσιν ὑμᾶς, λέγοντες ὡς ἐκεῖνός γ᾽ οὐ πολεμεῖ τῇ πόλει.
[14] Impossible! For indeed he would be the most fatuous man on earth if, when you, his victims, charge him with no crime, but throw the blame on some of your own fellow-citizens, he should compose your mutual differences and jealousies, and invite you to turn them against himself, and should deprive his own hirelings of the excuses with which they put you off, saying that at any rate it is not Philip who is making war on Athens.
[15] ἀλλ᾽ ἔστιν, ὦ πρὸς τοῦ Διός, ὅστις εὖ φρονῶν ἐκ τῶν ὀνομάτων μᾶλλον ἢ τῶν πραγμάτων τὸν ἄγοντ᾽ εἰρήνην ἢ πολεμοῦνθ᾽ αὑτῷ σκέψαιτ᾽ ἄν; οὐδεὶς δήπου. ὁ τοίνυν Φίλιππος ἐξ ἀρχῆς, ἄρτι τῆς εἰρήνης γεγονυίας, οὔπω Διοπείθους στρατηγοῦντος οὐδὲ τῶν ὄντων ἐν Χερρονήσῳ νῦν ἀπεσταλμένων, Σέρριον καὶ Δορίσκον ἐλάμβανε καὶ τοὺς ἐκ Σερρείου τείχους καὶ Ἱεροῦ ὄρους στρατιώτας ἐξέβαλλεν, οὓς ὁ ὑμέτερος στρατηγὸς κατέστησεν.
[15] But, in heaven’s name, is there any intelligent man who would let words rather than deeds decide the question who is at peace and who is at war with him? Surely no one. Now it was Philip who at the very start, as soon as peace was concluded, before Diopithes was appointed ge
neral, before the force now in the Chersonese had been dispatched, proceeded to occupy Serrium and Doriscus and expelled from the Fort Serreum and the Sacred Mount the garrison which your own general had posted there.
[16] καίτοι ταῦτα πράττων τί ἐποίει; εἰρήνην μὲν γὰρ ὠμωμόκει. καὶ μηδεὶς εἴπῃ, ‘τί δὲ ταῦτ᾽ ἐστίν, ἢ τί τούτων μέλει τῇ πόλει;’ εἰ μὲν γὰρ μικρὰ ταῦτα, ἢ μηδὲν ὑμῖν αὐτῶν ἔμελεν, ἄλλος ἂν εἴη λόγος οὗτος: τὸ δ᾽ εὐσεβὲς καὶ τὸ δίκαιον, ἄν τ᾽ ἐπὶ μικροῦ τις ἄν τ᾽ ἐπὶ μείζονος παραβαίνῃ, τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχει δύναμιν. φέρε δὴ νῦν, ἡνίκ᾽ εἰς Χερρόνησον, ἣν βασιλεὺς καὶ πάντες οἱ Ἕλληνες ὑμετέραν ἐγνώκασιν εἶναι, ξένους εἰσπέμπει καὶ βοηθεῖν ὁμολογεῖ καὶ ἐπιστέλλει ταῦτα, τί ποιεῖ;
[16] Yet what did that move of his mean? For it was peace that he had sworn3 to observe; and let no one say, “What of all this? How do any of these things concern Athens?” For whether they were small things, or whether they were no concern of yours, may be another question. But religion and justice, whether a man violates them in a small matter or in a great, have the same importance. Tell me now: when he sends mercenaries to the Chersonese, your claim to which has been recognized by the king of Persia and by all the Greeks, when he admits that he is helping the Cardians and writes to tell you so, what does he mean? For he says that he is not at war,
[17] φησὶ μὲν γὰρ οὐ πολεμεῖν, ἐγὼ δὲ τοσούτου δέω ταῦτα ποιοῦντ᾽ ἐκεῖνον ἄγειν ὁμολογεῖν τὴν πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰρήνην, ὥστε καὶ Μεγάρων ἁπτόμενον κἀν Εὐβοίᾳ τυραννίδα κατασκευάζοντα καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ Θρᾴκην παριόντα καὶ τἀν Πελοποννήσῳ σκευωρούμενον καὶ πάνθ᾽ ὅσα πράττει μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως ποιοῦντα, λύειν φημὶ τὴν εἰρήνην καὶ πολεμεῖν ὑμῖν, εἰ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τὰ μηχανήματ᾽ ἐφιστάντας εἰρήνην ἄγειν φήσετε, ἕως ἂν αὐτὰ τοῖς τείχεσιν ἤδη προσαγάγωσιν. ἀλλ᾽ οὐ φήσετε: ὁ γὰρ οἷς ἂν ἐγὼ ληφθείην, ταῦτα πράττων καὶ κατασκευαζόμενος, οὗτος ἐμοὶ πολεμεῖ, κἂν μήπω βάλλῃ μηδὲ τοξεύῃ.
[17] but for my part, so far from admitting that in acting thus he is not observing the peace with you, I assert that when he lays hands on Megara, sets up tyrannies in Euboea, makes his way, as now, into Thrace, hatches plots in the Peloponnese, and carries out all operations with his armed force, he is breaking the peace and making war upon you — unless you are prepared to say that men who bring up the siege-engines are keeping the peace until they actually bring them to bear on the walls. But you will not admit that; for he who makes and devises the means by which I may be captured is at war with me, even though he has not yet hurled a javelin or shot a bolt.
[18] τίσιν οὖν ὑμεῖς κινδυνεύσαιτ᾽ ἄν, εἴ τι γένοιτο; τῷ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον ἀλλοτριωθῆναι, τῷ Μεγάρων καὶ τῆς Εὐβοίας τὸν πολεμοῦνθ᾽ ὑμῖν γενέσθαι κύριον, τῷ Πελοποννησίους τἀκείνου φρονῆσαι. εἶτα τὸν τοῦτο τὸ μηχάνημ᾽ ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν ἱστάντα, τοῦτον εἰρήνην ἄγειν ἐγὼ φῶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς;
[18] In what then consists your danger, if anything should happen? In the alienation of the Hellespont, in the control of Megara and Euboea by one who is at war with you, and in the defection of the Peloponnesians to his side. Am I still to say that the man who brings this siege-engine to bear on your city is at peace with you?
[19] πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ, ἀλλ᾽ ἀφ᾽ ἧς ἡμέρας ἀνεῖλε Φωκέας, ἀπὸ ταύτης ἔγωγ᾽ αὐτὸν πολεμεῖν ὁρίζομαι. ὑμᾶς δ᾽, ἐὰν ἀμύνησθ᾽ ἤδη, σωφρονήσειν φημί, ἐὰν δ᾽ ἐάσητε, οὐδὲ τοῦθ᾽ ὅταν βούλησθε δυνήσεσθαι ποιῆσαι. καὶ τοσοῦτόν γ᾽ ἀφέστηκα τῶν ἄλλων, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν συμβουλευόντων, ὥστ᾽ οὐδὲ δοκεῖ μοι περὶ Χερρονήσου νῦν σκοπεῖν οὐδὲ Βυζαντίου, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπαμῦναι μὲν τούτοις,
[19] So far from saying that, I date his hostility from the very day when he wiped out the Phocians. I say that you will be wise if you defend yourselves now, but if you let the opportunity pass, you will not be able to act even when you desire to. I so far dissent, Athenians, from all you counsellors that I do not think you ought to trouble yourselves now about the Chersonese or Byzantium.
[20] καὶ διατηρῆσαι μή τι πάθωσι, καὶ τοῖς οὖσιν ἐκεῖ νῦν στρατιώταις πάνθ᾽ ὅσων ἂν δέωνται ἀποστεῖλαι, βουλεύεσθαι μέντοι περὶ πάντων τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὡς ἐν κινδύνῳ μεγάλῳ καθεστώτων. βούλομαι δ᾽ εἰπεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐξ ὧν ὑπὲρ τῶν πραγμάτων οὕτω φοβοῦμαι, ἵν᾽, εἰ μὲν ὀρθῶς λογίζομαι, μετάσχητε τῶν λογισμῶν καὶ πρόνοιάν τιν᾽ ὑμῶν γ᾽ αὐτῶν, εἰ μὴ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἄρα βούλεσθε, ποιήσησθε, ἂν δὲ ληρεῖν καὶ τετυφῶσθαι δοκῶ, μήτε νῦν μήτ᾽ αὖθις ὡς ὑγιαίνοντί μοι προσέχητε.
[20] Help them, if you will, guard them from harm [supply the troops already there with all that they require], but let your deliberations embrace all the Greek states and the great danger that besets them. But I wish to tell you the grounds for my alarm about our condition, so that if my reasoning is sound, you may adopt it as your own and take forethought for yourselves, even if you refuse to take it for the others also; but if I seem to you a driveler and a dotard, neither now nor at any other time pay any heed to me as if I were in my senses.
[21] ὅτι μὲν δὴ μέγας ἐκ μικροῦ καὶ ταπεινοῦ τὸ κατ᾽ ἀρχὰς Φίλιππος ηὔξηται, καὶ ἀπίστως καὶ στασιαστικῶς ἔχουσι πρὸς αὑτοὺς οἱ Ἕλληνες, καὶ ὅτι πολλῷ παραδοξότερον ἦν τοσοῦτον αὐτὸν ἐξ ἐκείνου γενέσθαι ἢ νῦν, ὅθ᾽ οὕτω πολλὰ προείληφε, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ὑφ᾽ αὑτῷ ποιήσασθαι, καὶ πάνθ᾽ ὅσα τοιαῦτ᾽ ἂν ἔχοιμι διεξελθεῖν, παραλείψω.
[21] As for the fact, then, that Philip rose to greatness from small and humble beginnings, that the Greek states are mutually disloyal and factious, and that the increase of Philip’s power in the past was a far greater miracle than the completion of his conquests now that he has already gained so much, these and all such topics on which I might expatiate, I will pass over in silence.
[22] ἀλλ᾽ ὁρῶ συγκεχωρηκότας ἅπαντας ἀνθρώπους, ἀφ᾽ ὑμῶν ἀρξαμένους, αὐτῷ, ὑπὲρ οὗ τὸν ἄλλον ἅπαντα χρόνον πάντες οἱ πόλεμοι γεγόνασιν οἱ Ἑλληνικοί. τί οὖν ἐστι τοῦτο; τὸ ποιεῖν ὅ τι βούλεται, καὶ καθ᾽ ἕν᾽ οὑτωσὶ περικόπτειν καὶ λωποδυτεῖν τῶν Ἑλλήνων, καὶ καταδουλοῦσθαι τὰς πόλεις ἐπιόντα.
[22] I observe, however, that all men, and you first of all, have conceded to him something which has been
the occasion of every war that the Greeks have ever waged. And what is that? The power of doing what he likes, of calmly plundering and stripping the Greeks one by one, and of attacking their cities and reducing them to slavery.
[23] καίτοι προστάται μὲν ὑμεῖς ἑβδομήκοντ᾽ ἔτη καὶ τρία τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐγένεσθε, προστάται δὲ τριάκονθ᾽ ἑνὸς δέοντα Λακεδαιμόνιοι: ἴσχυσαν δέ τι καὶ Θηβαῖοι τουτουσὶ τοὺς τελευταίους χρόνους μετὰ τὴν ἐν Λεύκτροις μάχην. ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως οὔθ᾽ ὑμῖν οὔτε Θηβαίοις οὔτε Λακεδαιμονίοις οὐδεπώποτ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, συνεχωρήθη τοῦθ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ποιεῖν ὅ τι βούλοισθε, οὐδὲ πολλοῦ δεῖ:
[23] Yet your hegemony in Greece lasted seventy-five years, that of Sparta twenty-nine, and in these later times Thebes too gained some sort of authority after the battle of Leuctra. But neither to you nor to the Thebans nor to the Lacedaemonians did the Greeks ever yet, men of Athens, concede the right of unrestricted action, or anything like it.
[24] ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν ὑμῖν, μᾶλλον δὲ τοῖς τότ᾽ οὖσιν Ἀθηναίοις, ἐπειδή τισιν οὐ μετρίως ἐδόκουν προσφέρεσθαι, πάντες ᾤοντο δεῖν, καὶ οἱ μηδὲν ἐγκαλεῖν ἔχοντες αὐτοῖς, μετὰ τῶν ἠδικημένων πολεμεῖν: καὶ πάλιν Λακεδαιμονίοις ἄρξασι καὶ παρελθοῦσιν εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν δυναστείαν ὑμῖν, ἐπειδὴ πλεονάζειν ἐπεχείρουν καὶ πέρα τοῦ μετρίου τὰ καθεστηκότ᾽ ἐκίνουν, πάντες εἰς πόλεμον κατέστησαν, καὶ οἱ μηδὲν ἐγκαλοῦντες αὐτοῖς.