Delphi Complete Works of Demosthenes

by Demosthenes

  [75] εἰ δ᾽ ὃ βούλεται ζητῶν ἕκαστος καθεδεῖται, καὶ ὅπως μηδὲν αὐτὸς ποιήσει σκοπῶν, πρῶτον μὲν οὐδὲ μήποθ᾽ εὕρῃ τοὺς ποιήσοντας, ἔπειτα δέδοιχ᾽ ὅπως μὴ πάνθ᾽ ἅμ᾽ ὅσ᾽ οὐ βουλόμεθα ποιεῖν ἡμῖν ἀνάγκη γενήσεται.

  [75] But if every man sits idle, consulting his own pleasure and careful to avoid his own duty, not only will he find no one to do it for him, but I fear that those duties that we wish to shirk may all be forced upon us at once.

  [76] ἐγὼ μὲν δὴ ταῦτα λέγω, ταῦτα γράφω: καὶ οἴομαι καὶ νῦν ἔτ᾽ ἐπανορθωθῆναι ἂν τὰ πράγματα τούτων γιγνομένων. εἰ δέ τις ἔχει τούτων τι βέλτιον, λεγέτω καὶ συμβουλευέτω. ὅ τι δ᾽ ὑμῖν δόξει, τοῦτ᾽, ὦ πάντες θεοί, συνενέγκοι.

  [76] These are my views and these are my proposals, and if they are carried out, I believe that even now we may retrieve our fortunes. If anyone has anything better to propose, let him speak and advise. But whatever you decide, I pray heaven it may be to your advantage.

  κατὰ Φιλίππου Δ — FOURTH PHILIPPIC

  [1] κατὰ Φιλίππου Δ

  καὶ σπουδαῖα νομίζων, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, περὶ ὧν βουλεύεσθε, καὶ ἀναγκαῖα τῇ πόλει, πειράσομαι περὶ αὐτῶν εἰπεῖν ἃ νομίζω συμφέρειν. οὐκ ὀλίγων δ᾽ ὄντων ἁμαρτημάτων οὐδ᾽ ἐκ μικροῦ χρόνου συνειλεγμένων, ἐξ ὧν φαύλως ταῦτ᾽ ἔχει, οὐδέν ἐστιν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν πάντων δυσκολώτερον εἰς τὸ παρὸν ἢ ὅτι ταῖς γνώμαις ὑμεῖς ἀφεστήκατε τῶν πραγμάτων, καὶ τοσοῦτον χρόνον σπουδάζεθ᾽ ὅσον ἂν κάθησθ᾽ ἀκούοντες ἢ προσαγγελθῇ τι νεώτερον, εἶτ᾽ ἀπελθὼν ἕκαστος ὑμῶν οὐ μόνον οὐδὲν φροντίζει περὶ αὐτῶν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ μέμνηται.

  [1] The matters that you are debating, men of Athens, are to my mind so important and even vital to the State, that I will endeavour to offer you what I consider profitable advice on the subject. While the faults that have produced this unhappy state of things are neither few nor recently accumulated, there is nothing, men of Athens, more vexing at the present time than the way in which you detach your thoughts from affairs, and display an interest only so long as you sit here listening, or when some fresh item of news arrives; after that, each man goes home, and not only pays no attention to public business, but does not even recall it to mind.

  [2] ἡ μὲν οὖν ἀσέλγεια καὶ πλεονεξία, ᾗ πρὸς ἅπαντας ἀνθρώπους Φίλιππος χρῆται, τοσαύτη τὸ πλῆθος ὅσην ἀκούετε: ὅτι δ᾽ οὐκ ἔνι ταύτης ἐκεῖνον ἐπισχεῖν ἐκ λόγου καὶ δημηγορίας οὐδεὶς ἀγνοεῖ δήπου. καὶ γὰρ εἰ μηδ᾽ ἀφ᾽ ἑνὸς τῶν ἄλλων τοῦτο μαθεῖν δύναταί τις, ὡδὶ λογισάσθω. ἡμεῖς οὐδαμοῦ πώποτε, ὅπου περὶ τῶν δικαίων εἰπεῖν ἐδέησεν, ἡττήθημεν οὐδ᾽ ἀδικεῖν ἐδόξαμεν, ἀλλὰ πάντων πανταχοῦ κρατοῦμεν καὶ περίεσμεν τῷ λόγῳ.

  [2] Now the extent of the recklessness and rapacity that Philip shows in his dealings with all men is indeed as great as it has been described to you; but how impossible it is to stay him in this career by argument and declamation, assuredly no one is ignorant. For indeed, if no single thing else can teach a man the truth of that, let him weigh the following consideration. When we have had to speak in defence of our rights, we have never yet been defeated or proved in the wrong, but in every case we vanquish all our opponents and have the best of it in argument.

  [3] ἆρ᾽ οὖν διὰ τοῦτ᾽ ἐκείνῳ φαύλως ἔχει τὰ πράγματα, ἢ τῇ πόλει καλῶς; πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ: ἐπειδὰν γὰρ ὁ μὲν λαβὼν μετὰ ταῦτα βαδίζῃ τὰ ὅπλα, πᾶσιν τοῖς οὖσιν ἑτοίμως κινδυνεύσων, ἡμεῖς δὲ καθώμεθ᾽ εἰρηκότες τὰ δίκαια, οἱ δ᾽ ἀκηκοότες, εἰκότως, οἶμαι, τοὺς λόγους τἄργα παρέρχεται, καὶ προσέχουσιν ἅπαντες οὐχ οἷς εἴπομέν ποθ᾽ ἡμεῖς δικαίοις ἢ νῦν ἂν εἴποιμεν, ἀλλ᾽ οἷς ποιοῦμεν. ἔστι δὲ ταῦτ᾽ οὐδένα τῶν ἀδικουμένων σῴζειν δυνάμενα: οὐδὲν γὰρ δεῖ πλείω περὶ αὐτῶν λέγειν.

  [3] Is, then, Philip any the worse off for that, or Athens any the better? Far from it; for afterwards, when he takes up arms and marches to battle, ready to risk all he has, and we sit idle, alike those who have pleaded our cause and those who have been listening to them, then, naturally enough, deeds outweigh words, and the world in general gives heed, not to what we once said with justice or might now say, but to what we do. And what we do is insufficient to protect any of the victims of injustice; in fact, I need say no more about it.

  [4] τοιγάρτοι διεστηκότων εἰς δύο ταῦτα τῶν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι, τῶν μὲν εἰς τὸ μήτ᾽ ἄρχειν βίᾳ βούλεσθαι μηδενὸς μήτε δουλεύειν ἄλλῳ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ἐλευθερίᾳ καὶ νόμοις ἐξ ἴσου πολιτεύεσθαι, τῶν δ᾽ εἰς τὸ ἄρχειν μὲν τῶν πολιτῶν ἐπιθυμεῖν, ἑτέρῳ δ᾽ ὑπακούειν, δι᾽ ὅτου ποτ᾽ ἂν οἴωνται τοῦτο δυνήσεσθαι ποιῆσαι, οἱ τῆς ἐκείνου προαιρέσεως, οἱ τυραννίδων καὶ δυναστειῶν ἐπιθυμοῦντες, κεκρατήκασι πανταχοῦ, καὶ πόλις δημοκρατουμένη βεβαίως οὐκ οἶδ᾽ εἴ τίς ἐστι τῶν πασῶν λοιπὴ πλὴν ἡ ἡμετέρα.

  [4] Therefore, as the Greeks in every city are divided into these two parties — the one desiring neither to rule others by force nor to be slaves to any man, but to enjoy liberty and equality under a free constitution; the other eager to rule their fellow-countrymen, but to take their orders from some third person, who they think will enable them to compass their ends — Philip’s faction, those who hanker after tyrannies and oligarchies, have everywhere gained the supremacy, and I doubt whether of all the states there is any stable democracy left except our own.

  [5] καὶ κεκρατήκασιν οἱ δι᾽ ἐκείνου τὰς πολιτείας ποιούμενοι πᾶσιν ὅσοις πράγματα πράττεται, πρώτῳ μὲν πάντων καὶ πλείστῳ τῷ τοῖς βουλομένοις χρήματα λαμβάνειν ἔχειν τὸν δώσονθ᾽ ὑπὲρ αὑτῶν, δευτέρῳ δὲ καὶ οὐδὲν ἐλάττονι τούτου τῷ δύναμιν τὴν καταστρεψομένην τοὺς ἐναντιουμένους αὐτοῖς ἐν οἷς ἂν αἰτήσωσι χρόνοις παρεῖναι.

  [5] Moreover, this supremacy of the constitution-mongers who rely on Philip’s support has been gained by all the devices usual in politics, first and foremost by providing a dispenser of wealth to such as covet it, secondly, and not less effectively, by having at their back a force capable of crushing their opponents on any occasion when they may call upon it.

  [6] ἡμεῖς δ᾽ οὐ μόνον τούτοις ὑπολειπόμεθ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ἀνεγερθῆναι δυνάμεθα, ἀλλὰ μανδραγόραν πεπ�
�κόσιν ἤ τι φάρμακον ἄλλο τοιοῦτον ἐοίκαμεν ἀνθρώποις: εἶτ᾽, οἶμαι, （δεῖ γάρ, ὡς ἐγὼ κρίνω, λέγειν τἀληθῆ） οὕτω διαβεβλήμεθα καὶ καταπεφρονήμεθ᾽ ἐκ τούτων ὥστε τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ κινδυνεύειν ὄντων οἱ μὲν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἡγεμονίας ἡμῖν ἀντιλέγουσιν, οἱ δ᾽ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ποῦ συνεδρεύσουσι, τινὲς δὲ καθ᾽ αὑτοὺς ἀμύνεσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐγνώκασιν.

  [6] But we, Athenians, are not only behindhand in this respect, but we cannot even rouse ourselves from sleep; we are like men who have drunk mandragora or some such drug. Hence, I believe — for I must speak the truth as I conceive it — we have been so discredited and despised that of those who are involved in actual danger some dispute with us about the right of leadership, others about the meeting-place for a congress, and some have made up their minds to defend themselves single-handed rather than with us.

  [7] τοῦ χάριν δὴ ταῦτα λέγω καὶ διεξέρχομαι; οὐ γὰρ ἀπεχθάνεσθαι μὰ τὸν Δία καὶ πάντας θεοὺς προαιροῦμαι. ἵν᾽ ὑμῶν ἕκαστος, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοῦτο γνῷ καὶ εἰδῇ, ὅτι ἡ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ῥᾳστώνη καὶ ῥᾳθυμία, ὥσπερ τοῖς ἰδίοις βίοις, οὕτω καὶ ταῖς πόλεσιν οὐκ ἐφ᾽ ἑκάστου τῶν ἀμελουμένων ποιεῖ τὴν αἴσθησιν εὐθέως, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τῷ κεφαλαίῳ τῶν πραγμάτων ἀπαντᾷ.

  [7] What is my object in treating this matter so fully? For I protest in Heaven’s name that I have no ambition to incur your hostility. It is that each one of you, Athenians, may know and realize this — that in state affairs, as well as in private life, daily indifference and carelessness do not make their result felt at once on each occasion when duty is neglected, but come home to us when the total result of our policy is seen.

  [8] ὁρᾶτε Σέρριον καὶ Δορίσκον: ταῦτα γὰρ πρῶτον ὠλιγωρήθη μετὰ τὴν εἰρήνην, ἃ πολλοῖς ὑμῶν οὐδὲ γνώριμ᾽ ἐστὶν ἴσως. ταῦτα μέντοι τότ᾽ ἐαθέντα καὶ παροφθέντ᾽ ἀπώλεσε Θρᾴκην καὶ Κερσοβλέπτην, σύμμαχον ὄνθ᾽ ὑμῶν. πάλιν ταῦτ᾽ ἀμελούμεν᾽ ἰδὼν καὶ οὐδεμιᾶς βοηθείας τυγχάνοντα παρ᾽ ὑμῶν κατέσκαπτε Πορθμόν, καὶ τυραννίδ᾽ ἀπαντικρὺ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐπετείχισεν ὑμῖν ἐν τῇ Εὐβοίᾳ.

  [8] Look at Serrium and Doriscus; for these were the places that were disregarded immediately after the peace, and many of you perhaps do not even know of their existence. Yet it was your neglect and abandonment of them that ruined Thrace and Cersobleptes, who was your ally. Again, Philip, seeing that these were overlooked and were receiving no help from you, proceeded to raze Porthmus to the ground and founded a tyranny in Euboea over against Attica as a menace to you.

  [9] ταύτης ὀλιγωρουμένης, Μέγαρ᾽ ἑάλω παρὰ μικρόν. οὐδὲν ἐφροντίσατ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ἐπεστράφητ᾽ οὐδὲν τούτων, οὐδ᾽ ἐνεδείξασθε τοῦθ᾽ ὅτι οὐκ ἐπιτρέψετε τοῦτο ποιεῖν αὐτῷ: Ἀντρῶνας ἐπρίατο καὶ μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺν χρόνον τὰ ἐν Ὠρεῷ πράγματ᾽ εἰλήφει.

  [9] Because we neglected Euboea, Megara was very nearly captured. You showed no concern nor anxiety about any of these proceedings, and gave no indication that you would not allow Philip to continue them; so he bought up Antrones and soon afterwards got Oreus under his control.

  [10] πολλὰ δὲ καὶ παραλείπω, Φεράς, τὴν ἐπ᾽ Ἀμβρακίαν ὁδόν, τὰς ἐν Ἤλιδι σφαγάς, ἄλλα μυρία: οὐ γὰρ ἵν᾽ ἐξαριθμήσωμαι τοὺς βεβιασμένους καὶ τοὺς ἠδικημένους ὑπὸ Φιλίππου, ταῦτα διεξῆλθον, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα τοῦθ᾽ ὑμῖν δείξω, ὅτι οὐ στήσεται πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἀδικῶν, τὰ δ᾽ ὑφ᾽ αὑτῷ ποιούμενος Φίλιππος, εἰ μή τις αὐτὸν κωλύσει.

  [10] I pass over many other instances, such as Pherae, the raid against Ambracia, the massacres at Elis, and countless others. I have gone into these details, not to give you a complete catalogue of the victims of Philip’s oppression and injustice, but to make it clear to you that he will never desist from molesting all of us and bringing us under his sway, unless someone restrains him.

  [11] εἰσὶν δέ τινες οἳ πρὶν ἀκοῦσαι τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῶν πραγμάτων λόγους εὐθέως εἰώθασιν ἐρωτᾶν ‘τί οὖν χρὴ ποιεῖν;’ οὐχ ἵν᾽ ἀκούσαντες ποιήσωσι （χρησιμώτατοι γὰρ ἂν ἦσαν ἁπάντων）, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα τοῦ λέγοντος ἀπαλλαγῶσιν. δεῖ δ᾽ ὅμως εἰπεῖν ὅ τι χρὴ ποιεῖν. πρῶτον μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοῦτο παρ᾽ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς βεβαίως γνῶναι, ὅτι τῇ πόλει Φίλιππος πολεμεῖ καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην λέλυκεν, καὶ κακόνους μέν ἐστι καὶ ἐχθρὸς ὅλῃ τῇ πόλει καὶ τῷ τῆς πόλεως ἐδάφει, προσθήσω δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἐν τῇ πόλει θεοῖς, οἵπερ αὐτὸν ἐξολέσειαν, οὐδενὶ μέντοι μᾶλλον ἢ τῇ πολιτείᾳ πολεμεῖ οὐδ᾽ ἐπιβουλεύει, καὶ σκοπεῖ μᾶλλον οὐδὲν τῶν πάντων ἢ πῶς ταύτην καταλύσει.

  [11] But there are some who, without waiting to hear the speeches on these questions, are in the habit of asking at once, “What then ought we to do?” — not in order to do it, when they have heard it, for if so, they would be the most helpful of all citizens, but simply to get rid of the speaker. Nevertheless, you must be told what you ought to do. First, men of Athens, you must fix this firmly in your minds, that Philip is at war with us and has broken the peace, and that he is ill-disposed and hostile to the whole city and to the very soil on which the city stands, and, I will add, to the gods that dwell in it; and may those same gods complete his ruin! The chief object, however, of his arms and his diplomacy is our free constitution, and on nothing in the world is he more bent than on its destruction.

  [12] καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἐξ ἀνάγκης τρόπον τινὰ νῦν γε δὴ ποιεῖ. λογίζεσθε γάρ. ἄρχειν βούλεται, τούτου δ᾽ ἀνταγωνιστὰς μόνους ὑπείληφεν ὑμᾶς. ἀδικεῖ πολὺν χρόνον ἤδη, καὶ τοῦτ᾽ αὐτὸς ἄριστα σύνοιδεν αὑτῷ: οἷς γὰρ οὖσιν ὑμετέροις ἔχει χρῆσθαι, τούτοις ἅπαντα τἄλλα βεβαίως κέκτηται: εἰ γὰρ Ἀμφίπολιν καὶ Ποτείδαιαν προεῖτο, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ μένειν ἀσφαλῶς ἐδύνατο.

  [12] And it is in a way inevitable that he should now be acting thus. For observe! He wants to rule, and he has made up his mind that you, and you only, bar the way. He has long injured you; of nothing is he more conscious than of that. For it is by holding the cities that are really yours that he retains safe possession of all the rest;

  [13] ἀμφότερ᾽ οὖν οἶδε, καὶ αὑτὸν ὑμῖν ἐπιβουλεύοντα καὶ ὑμᾶς αἰσθανομένους: εὖ φρονεῖν δ᾽ ὑμᾶς ὑπολαμβάνων μισεῖν αὑτὸν ἡγεῖται. πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τοσούτοις οὖσιν οἶδεν ἀκριβῶς ὅτι, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἁπά
ντων τῶν ἄλλων γένηται κύριος, οὐδὲν ἔστ᾽ αὐτῷ βεβαίως ἔχειν, ἕως ἂν ὑμεῖς δημοκρατῆσθε, ἀλλ᾽ ἄν ποτε συμβῇ τι πταῖσμα （πολλὰ δ᾽ ἂν γένοιτ᾽ ἀνθρώπῳ）, ἥξει πάντα τὰ νῦν βεβιασμένα καὶ καταφεύξεται πρὸς ὑμᾶς.

  [13] and if he gave up Amphipolis and Potidaea, even Macedonia would be no safe place for him. He knows, then, these two facts — that he is intriguing against you and that you are aware of it. Assuming that you are intelligent, he concludes that you hate him. Besides these weighty considerations, he knows for certain that even if he masters all else, his power will be precarious as long as you remain a democracy, but if ever he meets with some mischance （and there are many to which mankind is liable）, all the forces that are now under restraint will be attracted to your side.

  [14] ἐστὲ γὰρ ὑμεῖς οὐκ αὐτοὶ πλεονεκτῆσαι καὶ κατασχεῖν ἀρχὴν εὖ πεφυκότες, ἀλλ᾽ ἕτερον λαβεῖν κωλῦσαι καὶ ἔχοντ᾽ ἀφελέσθαι καὶ ὅλως ἐνοχλῆσαι τοῖς ἄρχειν βουλομένοις καὶ πάντας ἀνθρώπους εἰς ἐλευθερίαν ἐξελέσθαι δεινοί. οὔκουν βούλεται τοῖς αὑτοῦ καιροῖς τὴν παρ᾽ ὑμῶν ἐλευθερίαν ἐφεδρεύειν, οὐ κακῶς οὐδ᾽ ἀργῶς ταῦτα λογιζόμενος.