by Demosthenes
[14] For nature has not equipped you to seek aggrandizement and secure empire, but you are clever at thwarting another’s designs and wresting from him his gains, and quick to confound utterly the plots of the ambitious and vindicate the freedom of all mankind. Therefore he does not want to have the Athenian tradition of liberty watching to seize every chance against himself; nor is his reasoning here either faulty or idle.
[15] πρῶτον μὲν δὴ τοῦτο δεῖ, ἐχθρὸν ὑπειληφέναι τῆς πολιτείας καὶ τῆς δημοκρατίας ἀδιάλλακτον ἐκεῖνον, δεύτερον δ᾽ εἰδέναι σαφῶς ὅτι πάνθ᾽ ὅσα πραγματεύεται καὶ κατασκευάζεται νῦν, ἐπὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν πόλιν παρασκευάζεται. οὐ γὰρ οὕτως εὐήθης ὑμῶν ἐστὶν οὐδεὶς ὥσθ᾽ ὑπολαμβάνειν τὸν Φίλιππον τῶν μὲν ἐν Θρᾴκῃ κακῶν （τί γὰρ ἂν ἄλλο τις εἴποι Δρογγίλον καὶ Καβύλην καὶ Μάστειραν καὶ ἃ νῦν φασιν αὐτὸν ἔχειν;） τούτων μὲν ἐπιθυμεῖν καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ταῦτα λαβεῖν καὶ πόνους καὶ χειμῶνας καὶ τοὺς ἐσχάτους κινδύνους ὑπομένειν,
[15] This, then, is the first thing needful, to recognize in Philip the inveterate enemy of constitutional government and democracy; and your second need is to convince yourselves that all his activity and all his organization is preparing the way for an attack on our city. For none of you is so simple as to believe that though Philip covets these wretched objects in Thrace — for what else can one call Drongilus and Cabyle and Mastira and the other places he is said to be now holding ? — and though he endures toil and winter storms and deadly peril for the privilege of taking them,
[16] τῶν δ᾽ Ἀθηναίων λιμένων καὶ νεωρίων καὶ τριήρων καὶ τόπου καὶ δόξης, ὧν μήτ᾽ ἐκείνῳ μήτ᾽ ἄλλῳ γένοιτο μηδενὶ χειρωσαμένῳ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἡμετέραν κυριεῦσαι, οὐκ ἐπιθυμεῖν, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὑμᾶς ἐάσειν ἔχειν, ὑπὲρ δὲ τῶν μελινῶν καὶ τῶν ὀλυρῶν τῶν ἐν τοῖς Θρᾳκίοις σιροῖς ἐν τῷ βαράθρῳ χειμάζειν.
[16] yet he does not covet the Athenian harbours and dockyards and war-galleys and the place itself and the glory of it — and never may Philip or any other man make himself master of these by the conquest of our city! — but will allow you to retain them, while he winters in that purgatory for the sake of the rye and millet of the Thracian store-pits.
[17] οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖν᾽ ὑπὲρ τοῦ τούτων γίγνεσθαι κύριος καὶ τἄλλα πάντα πραγματεύεται. ταῦτα τοίνυν ἕκαστον εἰδότα καὶ γιγνώσκοντα παρ᾽ αὑτῷ δεῖ μὰ Δί᾽ οὐ γράψαι κελεύειν πόλεμον τὸν τὰ βέλτιστ᾽ ἐπὶ πᾶσι δικαίοις συμβουλεύοντα: τοῦτο μὲν γάρ ἐστι λαβεῖν ὅτῳ πολεμήσετε βουλομένων, οὐχ ἃ τῇ πόλει συμφέρει πράττειν.
[17] It is not so, but it is to win these prizes that he devotes his activities to all those other objects.
Therefore each must know and feel in his own mind the truth of this, but you must not, of course, call for a declaration of war from the statesman who is trying, in all honesty, to give you the best advice; for that would be the act of men who want to find someone to fight with, not of men who seek the interests of their state.
[18] ὁρᾶτε γάρ. εἰ δι᾽ ἃ πρῶτα παρεσπόνδησε Φίλιππος ἢ δεύτερ᾽ ἢ τρίτα （πολλὰ γάρ ἐστιν ἐφεξῆς） ἔγραψέ τις αὐτῷ πολεμεῖν, ὁ δ᾽ ὁμοίως ὥσπερ νῦν, οὐ γράφοντος οὐδενὸς ὑμῶν πόλεμον, Καρδιανοῖς ἐβοήθει, οὐκ ἂν ἀνηρπασμένος ἦν ὁ γράψας, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πάντες ᾐτιῶντ᾽ ἂν αὐτὸν Καρδιανοῖς βεβοηθηκέναι;
[18] For consider. If for his first violation of the peace, or his second or third — for there was a long series of them — someone had proposed a declaration of war against him, and if Philip, just as he is doing now when no one proposes such a declaration, had gone to the help of the Cardians, would not the proposer have been suppressed, and blamed by everybody as the real author of Philip’s expedition?
[19] μὴ τοίνυν ζητεῖθ᾽ ὅντιν᾽ ἀνθ᾽ ὧν Φίλιππος ἐξαμαρτάνει μισήσετε καὶ τοῖς παρ᾽ ἐκείνου μισθαρνοῦσι διασπάσασθαι παραβαλεῖτε: μηδ᾽ αὐτοὶ χειροτονήσαντες πόλεμον βούλεσθε παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς ὑμῖν ἐρίζειν, εἰ δέον ἢ μὴ δέον ὑμᾶς τοῦτο πεποιηκέναι: ἀλλ᾽ ὃν ἐκεῖνος πολεμεῖ τρόπον, τοῦτον μιμεῖσθε, τοῖς μὲν ἀμυνομένοις ἤδη χρήματα καὶ τἄλλ᾽ ὅσων δέονται διδόντες, αὐτοὶ δ᾽ εἰσφέροντες, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ κατασκευαζόμενοι στράτευμα, τριήρεις ταχείας, ἵππους, ἱππαγωγούς, τἄλλ᾽ ὅσ᾽ εἰς πόλεμον:
[19] Then do not look about for a scapegoat for Philip’s sins, someone whom you can throw for his hirelings to rend limb from limb. Do not vote for war and then fall to disputing among yourselves whether you ought or ought not to have done so, but imitate his methods of warfare, supplying those who are now resisting him with money and whatever else they need, and raising a war-fund yourselves, Athenians, and providing an army, swift-sailing galleys, horses, cavalry-transports, and everything that war requires.
[20] ἐπεὶ νῦν γε γέλως ἔσθ᾽ ὡς χρώμεθα τοῖς πράγμασι, καὶ Φίλιππον δ᾽ αὐτὸν οὐδὲν ἂν ἄλλ᾽ οἶμαι μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς εὔξασθαι ποιεῖν τὴν πόλιν ἢ ταῦθ᾽ ἃ νῦν ποιεῖτε: ὑστερίζετε, ἀναλίσκετε: ὅτῳ παραδώσετε τὰ πράγματα ζητεῖτε, δυσχεραίνετε: ἀλλήλους αἰτιᾶσθε. ἀφ᾽ οὗ δὲ ταῦτα γίγνεται ἐγὼ διδάξω, καὶ ὅπως παύσεται λέξω.
[20] For at present our system is a mockery, and, by Heaven, I do not believe that even Philip himself would pray that Athens might act otherwise than she is acting. You are behind your time and waste your money; you look round for someone to manage the business and then quarrel with him; you throw the blame on one another. I will explain how this comes about and will tell you how to stop it.
[21] οὐδὲν πώποτ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν πραγμάτων ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐνεστήσασθ᾽ οὐδὲ κατεσκευάσασθ᾽ ὀρθῶς, ἀλλὰ τὸ συμβαῖνον ἀεὶ διώκετε, εἶτ᾽ ἐπειδὰν ὑστερίσητε παύεσθε: ἕτερον πάλιν ἂν συμβῇ τι παρασκευάζεσθε καὶ θορυβεῖσθε.
[21] Never yet, Athenians, have you instituted or organized a single plan of action properly at the start, but you always follow in the track of each event, and then, when you find yourselves too late, you give up the pursuit;
[22] τὸ δ᾽ οὐχ οὕτως ἔχει: οὐκ ἔνεστι βοηθείαις χρωμένους οὐδὲν τῶν δεόντων ποτὲ πρᾶξαι, ἀλλὰ κατασκευάσαντας δεῖ δύναμιν, καὶ τροφὴν ταύτῃ πορίσαντας καὶ ταμίας καὶ δημοσίους, καὶ ὅπως ἔνι τὴν τῶν χρημάτων φυλακὴν ἀκριβεστάτην γενέσθαι, οὕτω ποιήσαντας, τὸν �
�ὲν τῶν χρημάτων λόγον παρὰ τούτων λαμβάνειν, τὸν δὲ τῶν ἔργων παρὰ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ, καὶ μηδεμίαν πρόφασιν τοῦ πλεῖν ἄλλοσε ἢ πράττειν ἄλλο τι τῷ στρατηγῷ καταλείπειν.
[22] when the next event occurs, you are again in a bustle of preparation. But that is not the way. If you trust to occasional levies, you can never gain any of your essential objects; but you must first raise a force and provide for its maintenance, and appoint paymasters and clerks, and arrange that there shall be the strictest watch kept over your expenditure, and afterwards you must demand from your paymasters an account of their moneys, and from the general an account of his campaign, and you must leave the general no excuse for sailing elsewhere or engaging in any other business.
[23] ἂν οὕτω ποιήσητε καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἐθελήσηθ᾽ ὡς ἀληθῶς, ἄγειν εἰρήνην δικαίαν καὶ μένειν ἐπὶ τοῦ τόπου Φίλιππον ἀναγκάσετε, ἢ πολεμήσετ᾽ ἐξ ἴσου: καὶ ἴσως ἄν, ἴσως, ὥσπερ νῦν ὑμεῖς πυνθάνεσθε τί ποιεῖ Φίλιππος καὶ ποῖ πορεύεται, οὕτως ἂν ἐκεῖνος φροντίσαι ποῖ ποθ᾽ ἡ τῆς πόλεως ἀπῆρκεν δύναμις καὶ ποῦ φανήσεται.
[23] If you do this, and you are really in earnest about it, you will either compel Philip to keep the peace fairly and to stay in one place, or you will fight him on equal terms; and perhaps — perhaps, just as you are now inquiring what Philip is doing and where he is marching, so he may be anxious to know where the Athenian force is bound for, and in what quarter it will appear.
[24] εἰ δέ τῳ δοκεῖ ταῦτα καὶ δαπάνης πολλῆς καὶ πόνων πολλῶν καὶ πραγματείας εἶναι, καὶ μάλ᾽ ὀρθῶς δοκεῖ: ἀλλ᾽ ἐὰν λογίσηται τὰ τῇ πόλει μετὰ ταῦτα γενησόμενα, ἐὰν ταῦτα μὴ ἐθέλῃ ποιεῖν, εὑρήσει λυσιτελοῦν τὸ ἑκόντας ποιεῖν τὰ δέοντα. εἰ μὲν γάρ ἐστί τις ἐγγυητὴς ὑμῖν θεῶν （οὐ γὰρ ἀνθρώπων γ᾽ οὐδεὶς ἂν γένοιτ᾽ ἀξιόχρεως τηλικούτου πράγματος） ὡς, ἐὰν ἄγηθ᾽ ἡσυχίαν καὶ ἅπαντα προῆσθε,
[24] But if anyone thinks that all this means great expense and much toil and worry, he is quite correct, but if he reckons up what will hereafter be the result to Athens if she refuses to act, he will conclude that it is to our interest to perform our duty willingly. For if you have the guarantee of some god, since no mere mortal could be a satisfactory surety for such an event, that if you remain inactive and abandon everything, Philip will not in the end march against yourselves,
[25] οὐκ ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς ὑμᾶς τελευτῶν ἐκεῖνος ἥξει, αἰσχρὸν μὲν νὴ τὸν Δία καὶ πάντας θεοὺς καὶ ἀνάξιον ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων τῇ πόλει καὶ πεπραγμένων τοῖς προγόνοις, τῆς ἰδίας ῥᾳθυμίας ἕνεκα τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας Ἕλληνας εἰς δουλείαν προέσθαι, καὶ ἔγωγε αὐτὸς μὲν τεθνάναι μᾶλλον ἂν ἢ ταῦτ᾽ εἰρηκέναι βουλοίμην:
[25] by Zeus and all the other gods, it would be disgraceful and unworthy of you and of the resources of your city and the record of your ancestors to abandon all the other Greeks to enslavement for the sake of your own ease, and I for one would rather die than be guilty of proposing such a policy.
[26] οὐ μὴν ἀλλ᾽ εἴ τις ἄλλος λέγει καὶ ὑμᾶς πείθει, ἔστω, μὴ ἀμύνεσθε, ἅπαντα πρόεσθε. εἰ δὲ μηδενὶ τοῦτο δοκεῖ, τοὐναντίον δὲ πρόϊσμεν ἅπαντες ὅτι, ὅσῳ ἂν πλειόνων ἐάσωμεν ἐκεῖνον γενέσθαι κύριον, τοσούτῳ χαλεπωτέρῳ καὶ ἰσχυροτέρῳ χρησόμεθ᾽ ἐχθρῷ, ποῖ ἀναδυόμεθα, ἢ τί μέλλομεν; ἢ πότ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὰ δέοντα ποιεῖν ἐθελήσομεν; ὅταν νὴ Δί᾽ ἀναγκαῖον ᾖ.
[26] All the same, if someone does propose it and wins your assent, so be it; offer no resistance, sacrifice everything. But if no one approves of this, and if on the contrary we all of us foresee that the more we allow him to extend his power, the stronger and more formidable we shall find him in war, what escape is open to us, or why do we delay? When, men of Athens, shall we consent to do our duty?
[27] ἀλλ᾽ ἣν μὲν ἄν τις ἐλευθέρων ἀνθρώπων ἀνάγκην εἴποι, οὐ μόνον ἤδη πάρεστιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάλαι παρελήλυθε, τὴν δὲ τῶν δούλων ἀπεύχεσθαι δήπου μὴ γενέσθαι δεῖ. διαφέρει δὲ τί; ὅτι ἐστὶν ἐλευθέρῳ μὲν ἀνθρώπῳ μεγίστη ἀνάγκη ἡ ὑπὲρ τῶν γιγνομένων αἰσχύνη, καὶ μείζω ταύτης οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ἥντιν᾽ ἂν εἴποι τις: δούλῳ δὲ πληγαὶ χὠ τοῦ σώματος αἰκισμός, ὃ μήτε γένοιτο οὔτε λέγειν ἄξιον.
[27] “Whenever it is necessary,” you will say. But what any free man would call necessity is not merely present now, but is long ago past, and from the necessity that constrains a slave we must surely pray to be delivered. Do you ask the difference? The strongest necessity that a free man feels is shame for his own position, and I know not if we could name a stronger; but for a slave necessity means stripes and bodily outrage, unfit to name here, from which Heaven defend us!
[28] τὸ μὲν τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτ᾽ ὀκνηρῶς διακεῖσθαι, ἃ δεῖ τοῖς σώμασι καὶ ταῖς οὐσίαις λῃτουργῆσαι ἕκαστον, ἐστὶ μὲν οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἔχον, οὐδὲ πολλοῦ δεῖ, οὐ μὴν ἀλλ᾽ ἔχει τινὰ πρόφασιν ὅμως: τὸ δὲ μηδ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἀκοῦσαι δεῖ μηδ᾽ ὅσα βουλεύσασθαι προσήκει, μηδὲ ταῦτ᾽ ἐθέλειν ἀκούειν, τοῦτ᾽ ἤδη πᾶσαν ἐπιδέχεται κατηγορίαν.
[28] Now, men of Athens, with regard to such public services as it is the duty of everyone to discharge, both with person and with property, that there should be a disposition to avoid them is not right — indeed, far from it — but still it does admit of some excuse notwithstanding; but to refuse even to listen to all that you ought to hear and all that you are bound to decide deserves, at such a time as this, absolute condemnation.
[29] ὑμεῖς τοίνυν οὐκ ἀκούειν, πρὶν ἂν ὥσπερ νῦν αὐτὰ παρῇ τὰ πράγματα, οὐχὶ βουλεύεσθαι περὶ οὐδενὸς εἰώθατ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἡσυχίας, ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν μὲν ἐκεῖνος παρασκευάζηται, ἀμελήσαντες τοῦ ποιεῖν ταὐτὸ καὶ ἀντιπαρασκευάζεσθαι ῥᾳθυμεῖτε, καὶ ἄν τι λέγῃ τις, ἐκβάλλετε, ἐπειδὰν δ᾽ ἀπολωλὸς ἢ πολιορκούμενόν τι πύθησθε, ἀκροᾶσθε καὶ παρασκευάζεσθε:
[29] Your habit, then, is not to listen until, as now, the events themselves are upon you, and not to discuss any question at your leisure but whenever Philip makes his preparations, you neglect the chance of doing the same, and you are too remiss to make counter-preparations; and if anyone speaks out, you drive him from the platform, but when you learn of the loss of this place or the siege of that, then you pay attention and begin to prepare.
[30] ἦν δ᾽ ἀκηκοέναι μὲν καὶ βεβουλεῦσθαι τότε καιρός, ὅθ᾽
ὑμεῖς οὐκ ἠθέλετε, πράττειν δὲ καὶ χρῆσθαι τοῖς παρεσκευασμένοις νῦν, ἡνίκ᾽ ἀκούετε. τοιγαροῦν ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων ἐθῶν μόνοι τῶν πάντων ἀνθρώπων ὑμεῖς τοῖς ἄλλοις τοὐναντίον ποιεῖτε: οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι πρὸ τῶν πραγμάτων εἰώθασι χρῆσθαι τῷ βουλεύεσθαι, ὑμεῖς δὲ μετὰ τὰ πράγματα.
[30] But the time to have listened and made your decision was just then, when you would not do it; now, when you are listening, is the time to act and put your preparations to use. Therefore in consequence of these bad habits you alone reverse the general practice of mankind; for other people deliberate before the event, but you after the event.
[31] ὃ δὴ λοιπόν ἐστι, καὶ πάλαι μὲν ἔδει, διαφεύγει δ᾽ οὐδὲ νῦν, τοῦτ᾽ ἐρῶ. οὐδενὸς τῶν πάντων οὕτως ὡς χρημάτων δεῖ τῇ πόλει πρὸς τὰ νῦν ἐπιόντα πράγματα. συμβέβηκε δ᾽ εὐτυχήματ᾽ ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου, οἷς ἂν χρησώμεθ᾽ ὀρθῶς, ἴσως ἂν γένοιτο τὰ δέοντα. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ οἷς βασιλεὺς πιστεύει καὶ εὐεργέτας ὑπείληφεν ἑαυτοῦ, οὗτοι μισοῦσι καὶ πολεμοῦσι Φίλιππον.