by Demosthenes
[47] In consequence of this, a rival has stepped into the position that you ought to have filled, and it is he who has become prosperous and great and ruler over many things. And rightly so; for there is a prize, honorable, great, and glorious, a prize for which the greatest of our states once spent all their time in contending, but since misfortune has dogged the Lacedaemonians, and the Phocian War has left the Thebans no leisure, and we are heedless, he has grasped it without a struggle.
[48] τοιγάρτοι τὸ μὲν φοβεῖσθαι τοῖς ἄλλοις, τὸ δὲ συμμάχους πολλοὺς ἔχειν καὶ δύναμιν μεγάλην ἐκείνῳ περιγέγονε, καὶ τοσαῦτα πράγματα καὶ τοιαῦτ᾽ ἤδη περιέστηκε τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἅπαντας, ὥστε μηδ᾽ ὅ τι χρὴ συμβουλεύειν εὔπορον εἶναι.
[48] Therefore fear is the portion of the others, but his the possession of many allies and a mighty force; and such great and manifold troubles now encompass all the Greeks that it is not easy to advise what ought to be done.
[49] ὄντων δ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν παρόντων πραγμάτων πᾶσιν, ὡς ἐγὼ κρίνω, φοβερῶν, οὐδένες ἐν μείζονι κινδύνῳ τῶν πάντων εἰσὶν ὑμῶν, οὐ μόνον τῷ μάλισθ᾽ ὑμῖν ἐπιβουλεύειν Φίλιππον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ πάντων ἀργότατ᾽ αὐτοὶ διακεῖσθαι. εἰ τοίνυν τὸ τῶν ὠνίων πλῆθος ὁρῶντες καὶ τὴν εὐετηρίαν τὴν κατὰ τὴν ἀγοράν, τούτοις κεκήλησθ᾽ ὡς ἐν οὐδενὶ δεινῷ τῆς πόλεως οὔσης, οὔτε προσηκόντως οὔτ᾽ ὀρθῶς τὸ πρᾶγμα κρίνετε:
[49] Yet, men of Athens, perilous as is the present situation in my judgement, none of all the Greeks are in greater danger than you, not only because you are the chief object of Philip’s plots, but because you are the most disposed to inaction. If therefore, noting the abundance and cheapness of goods for sale in your markets, you have been beguiled by these things into the belief that the city is in no danger, your estimate of the situation is contrary to all right and reason.
[50] ἀγορὰν μὲν γὰρ ἄν τις καὶ πανήγυριν ἐκ τούτων ἢ φαύλως ἢ καλῶς παρεσκευάσθαι κρίνοι: πόλιν δ᾽ ἣν ὑπείληφεν, ὃς ἂν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἄρχειν ἀεὶ βούληται, μόνην ἂν ἐναντιωθῆναι καὶ τῆς πάντων ἐλευθερίας προστῆναι, οὐ μὰ Δί᾽ ἐκ τῶν ὠνίων, εἰ καλῶς ἔχει, δοκιμάζειν δεῖ, ἀλλ᾽ εἰ συμμάχων εὐνοίᾳ πιστεύει, εἰ τοῖς ὅπλοις ἰσχύει, ταῦθ᾽ ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως δεῖ σκοπεῖν: ἃ σφαλερῶς ὑμῖν καὶ †οὐδαμῶς ἅπαντ᾽† ἔχει.
[50] For a market or a fair might be judged on such evidence to be well or ill stocked; but a city, which every aspirant to the rule of Greece has regarded as his only possible opponent and as champion of the freedom of all, must surely not be tested by her market-stuff to see whether all is well with her, but by her ability to trust the loyalty of her allies, by her strength in ams — these are the qualities that you must look for in the city; and these in your case are all untrustworthy and unsound.
[51] γνοίητε δ᾽ ἄν, εἰ σκέψαισθ᾽ ἐκείνως. πότε μάλιστ᾽ ἐν ταραχῇ τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων γέγονε πράγματα; οὐδένα γὰρ χρόνον ἄλλον ἢ τὸν νυνὶ παρόντ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ἂν εἷς εἴποι. τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἄλλον ἅπαντ᾽ εἰς δύο ταῦτα διῄρητο τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων, Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ ἡμᾶς, τῶν δ᾽ ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων οἱ μὲν ἡμῖν, οἱ δ᾽ ἐκείνοις ὑπήκουον. βασιλεὺς δὲ καθ᾽ αὑτὸν μὲν ὁμοίως ἅπασιν ἄπιστος ἦν, τοὺς δὲ κρατουμένους τῷ πολέμῳ προσλαμβάνων, ἄχρι οὗ τοῖς ἑτέροις ἐξ ἴσου ποιήσαι, διεπιστεύετο, ἔπειτ᾽ οὐχ ἧττον αὐτὸν ἐμίσουν οὓς σώσειε τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ἐχθρῶν ἐξ ἀρχῆς.
[51] You will understand it if you look at it in this way. When have the affairs of Greece been in the greatest confusion? For no other occasion than the present could possibly be named by anyone. All during the past Greece was divided into two camps, the Lacedaemonians’ and ours, and of the other Greeks some took their orders from us, others from them. The king of Persia, in himself, was equally distrusted by all, but by taking up the cause of the losing side in the struggle, he retained their confidence until he could put them on an equality with the others; but thereafter he was no less hated by those he had saved than by those who had been his enemies from the beginning.
[52] νῦν δὲ πρῶτον μὲν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἅπασι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν οἰκείως ἔχει, †καὶ πάντων ἥκιστα δὴ† ἡμῖν, ἄν τι μὴ νῦν ἐπανορθωσώμεθα: ἔπειτα προστασίαι πολλαὶ καὶ πανταχόθεν γίγνονται, καὶ τοῦ πρωτεύειν ἀντιποιοῦνται μὲν πάντες, ἀφεστᾶσι δ᾽ ἔργῳ, καὶ φθονοῦσι καὶ ἀπιστοῦσιν αὑτοῖς, οὐχ οἷς ἔδει, καὶ γεγόνασι καθ᾽ αὑτοὺς ἕκαστοι, Ἀργεῖοι, Θηβαῖοι, Λακεδαιμόνιοι, Κορίνθιοι, Ἀρκάδες, ἡμεῖς.
[52] But in the first place, the king is now well-disposed to all the Greeks, and yet to us least of all, unless we can effect some immediate improvement. In the second place, many so-called “protectors” are springing up everywhere, and all states are rivals for the leadership, but unfortunately some hold aloof, in mutual jealousy and distrust, and so each state has isolated itself — Argives, Thebans, Lacedaemonians, Corinthians, Arcadians, ourselves.
[53] ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως εἰς τοσαῦτα μέρη καὶ τοσαύτας δυναστείας διῃρημένων τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν πραγμάτων, εἰ δεῖ τἀληθῆ μετὰ παρρησίας εἰπεῖν, τὰ παρ᾽ οὐδέσι τούτων ἀρχεῖα καὶ βουλευτήρι᾽ ἐρημότερ᾽ ἄν τις ἴδοι τῶν Ἑλληνικῶν πραγμάτων ἢ τὰ παρ᾽ ἡμῖν, εἰκότως: οὔτε γὰρ φιλῶν οὔτε πιστεύων οὔτε φοβούμενος οὐδεὶς ἡμῖν διαλέγεται.
[53] But yet, though Greek politics are split up into so many factions under so many powers, in no state, if I must speak the truth freely, would you find the government offices and the council chambers less occupied with Greek affairs than here at Athens; and naturally so, for neither through love nor trust nor fear does anyone hold communication with us.
[54] αἴτιον δὲ τούτων οὐχ ἕν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, （ῥᾴδιον γὰρ ἂν ἦν ὑμῖν μεταθεῖναι）, ἀλλὰ πολλὰ καὶ παντοδαπὰ ἐκ παντὸς ἡμαρτημένα τοῦ χρόνου, ὧν τὸ καθ᾽ ἕκαστον ἐάσας, εἰς ὃ πάντα τείνει λέξω, δεηθεὶς ὑμῶν, ἂν λέγω τἀληθῆ μετὰ παρρησίας, μηδὲν ἀχθεσθῆναί μοι. πέπραται τὰ συμφέροντ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ἑκάστου τῶν καιρῶν, καὶ μετειλήφαθ᾽ ὑμεῖς μὲν τὴν σχολὴν καὶ τὴν ἡσυχίαν, ὑφ᾽ ὧν κεκηλημένοι τοῖς ἀδικοῦσιν οὐ πικρῶς ἔχετε, ἕτεροι δὲ τὰς τιμὰς ἔχουσιν.
[54] And this is not due to a single cause, Athenians, or you might easily remedy it, but to many errors of every kind throughout the past. Without enumerating these, I will mention one on
which all the rest turn, only beseeching you not to be offended with me, if I speak the truth boldly. It is the selling of your interests at every opportunity; your share in the bargain is leisure and inaction, which charm you out of your resentment against your betrayers, but others reap the rewards.
[55] καὶ τὰ μὲν περὶ τἄλλ᾽ οὐκ ἄξιον ἐξετάσαι νῦν: ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδάν τι τῶν πρὸς Φίλιππον ἐμπέσῃ, εὐθὺς ἀναστάς τις λέγει ὡς οὐ δεῖ ληρεῖν οὐδὲ γράφειν πόλεμον, παραθεὶς εὐθέως ἑξῆς τὸ τὴν εἰρήνην ἄγειν ὡς ἀγαθὸν καὶ τὸ τρέφειν μεγάλην δύναμιν ὡς χαλεπόν, καὶ ‘διαρπάζειν τινὲς τὰ χρήματα βούλονται,’ καὶ ἄλλους λόγους ὡς οἷόν τ᾽ ἀληθεστάτους λέγουσιν.
[55] The other errors it is not worth while to investigate now, but whenever any question arises that concerns Philip, instantly up jumps someone and says there must be no nonsense talked, no declarationtion of war, and he at once goes on to add how good a thing it is to preserve peace, and what a bother it is to keep up a large army, and how “certain persons want to plunder your wealth”; and their other statements are as true as they can make them.
[56] ἀλλὰ δεῖ δήπου τὴν μὲν εἰρήνην ἄγειν οὐχ ὑμᾶς πείθειν, οἳ πεπεισμένοι κάθησθε, ἀλλὰ τὸν τὰ τοῦ πολέμου πράττοντα: ἂν γὰρ ἐκεῖνος πεισθῇ, τά γ᾽ ἀφ᾽ ὑμῶν ὑπάρχει: νομίζειν δ᾽ εἶναι χαλεπὰ οὐχ ὅσ᾽ ἂν εἰς σωτηρίαν δαπανῶμεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἃ πεισόμεθα, ἂν μὴ ταῦτ᾽ ἐθέλωμεν ποιεῖν, καὶ τὸ ‘διαρπασθήσεται τὰ χρήματα’ τῷ φυλακὴν εὑρεῖν δι᾽ ἧς σωθήσεται κωλύειν, οὐχὶ τῷ τοῦ συμφέροντος ἀποστῆναι.
[56] But surely it is not to you that they should recommend peace, for you have taken the advice and there you sit; it is to the man who is even now on the warpath; for if Philip can be won over, your share of the compact is ready to hand. Again, they should reflect that the irksome thing is not the expense of securing our safety, but the doom that will be ours if we shrink from that expense. As for the “plunder of your wealth,” they ought to prevent that by proposing some way of checking it and not by abandoning your interests.
[57] καίτοι ἔγωγ᾽ ἀγανακτῶ καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο, εἰ τὰ μὲν χρήματα λυπεῖ τινὰς ὑμῶν εἰ διαρπασθήσεται, ἃ καὶ φυλάττειν καὶ κολάζειν τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας ἐφ᾽ ὑμῖν ἐστι, τὴν δ᾽ Ἑλλάδα πᾶσαν ἐφεξῆς οὑτωσὶ Φίλιππος ἁρπάζων οὐ λυπεῖ, καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ὑμᾶς ἁρπάζων.
[57] And yet it is just this that rouses my indignation, that some of you should be distressed at the prospect of the plunder of your wealth, when you are quite competent to protect it and to punish any offender, but that you are not distressed at the sight of Philip thus plundering every Greek state in turn, the more so as he is plundering them to injure you.
[58] τί ποτ᾽ οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸν μὲν οὕτω φανερῶς ἀδικοῦντα καὶ πόλεις καταλαμβάνοντα οὐδεὶς πώποτε τούτων εἶπεν ὡς ἀδικεῖ καὶ πόλεμον ποιεῖ, τοὺς δὲ μὴ ἐπιτρέπειν μηδὲ προΐεσθαι ταῦτα συμβουλεύοντας, τούτους πόλεμον ποιεῖν φασίν; ὅτι τὴν αἰτίαν τῶν ἐκ τοῦ πολέμου συμβησομένων δυσχερῶν （ἀνάγκη γάρ, ἀνάγκη πολλὰ λυπηρὰ ἐκ τοῦ πολέμου γίγνεσθαι） τοῖς ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν τὰ βέλτιστα λέγειν εἰθισμένοις ἀναθεῖναι βούλονται.
[58] Why then, men of Athens, has none of these speakers ever admitted that Philip is violating rights and provoking war, when he is thus openly violating rights and subduing cities, but when others urge you not to give way to Philip nor submit to these losses, they say they are provoking war? It is because they want the blame for the sufferings that the war will entail — for it is inevitable, yes, inevitable that the war should cause much distress — to be laid at the doors of those who believe they are your wisest counsellors.
[59] ἡγοῦνται γάρ, ἂν μὲν ὑμεῖς ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐκ μιᾶς γνώμης Φίλιππον ἀμύνησθε, κἀκείνου κρατήσειν ὑμᾶς καὶ αὑτοῖς οὐκέτ᾽ ἔσεσθαι μισθαρνεῖν, ἂν δ᾽ ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων θορύβων αἰτιασάμενοί τινας πρὸς τὸ κρίνειν τράπησθε, αὐτοὶ μὲν τούτων κατηγοροῦντες ἀμφότερ᾽ ἕξειν, καὶ παρ᾽ ὑμῖν εὐδοκιμήσειν καὶ παρ᾽ ἐκείνου χρήματα λήψεσθαι, ὑμᾶς δ᾽ ὑπὲρ ὧν δεῖ παρὰ τούτων δίκην λαβεῖν, παρὰ τῶν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν εἰρηκότων λήψεσθαι.
[59] For they are convinced that if you offer a whole-hearted and unanimous opposition to Philip, you will beat him and they will have no further chance of earning his pay, but that if at the first alarm of war you throw the blame on certain persons and devote your energies to bringing them to trial, they themselves by accusing them will gain both their ends — reputation with you and money from him, while you will punish the men who have spoken in your interests for the faults which you ought to punish in their accusers.
[60] αἱ μὲν ἐλπίδες αἱ τούτων αὗται καὶ τὸ κατασκεύασμα τὸ τῶν αἰτιῶν, ὡς ἄρα βούλονταί τινες πόλεμον ποιῆσαι. ἐγὼ δ᾽ οἶδ᾽ ἀκριβῶς ὅτι, οὐ γράψαντος Ἀθηναίων οὐδενὸς πόλεμον, πολλὰ Φίλιππος ἔχει τῶν τῆς πόλεως καὶ νῦν εἰς Καρδίαν πέπομφε βοήθειαν. εἰ μέντοι βουλόμεθ᾽ ἡμεῖς μὴ προσποιεῖσθαι πολεμεῖν ἡμῖν ἐκεῖνον, ἀνοητότατος πάντων ἂν εἴη, εἰ τοῦτ᾽ ἐξελέγχοι: ὅταν γὰρ οἱ ἀδικούμενοι ἀρνῶνται, τί τῷ ἀδικοῦντι προσήκει;
[60] Such are their hopes, and such is the design of the accusation that “certain persons wish to provoke war.” But I am absolutely certain that, without waiting for any Athenian to propose a declaration of war, Philip is in possession of much of our territory and has just dispatched a force against Cardia. If, however, we like to pretend that he is not at war with us, he would be the greatest fool alive if he tried to disprove that; for when the victims deny the wrong, what should the malefactor do?
[61] ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὰν ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς ἴῃ, τί φήσομεν τότε; ἐκεῖνος μὲν γὰρ οὐ πολεμεῖν, ὥσπερ οὐδ᾽ Ὠρείταις, τῶν στρατιωτῶν ὄντων ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ, οὐδὲ Φεραίοις πρότερον, πρὸς τὰ τείχη προσβάλλων, οὐδ᾽ Ὀλυνθίοις ἐξ ἀρχῆς, ἕως ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ χώρᾳ τὸ στράτευμα παρῆν ἔχων. ἢ καὶ τότε τοὺς ἀμύνεσθαι κελεύοντας πόλεμον ποιεῖν φήσομεν; οὐκοῦν ὑπόλοιπον δουλεύειν: οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄλλο γ᾽ οὐδὲν ἔνι.
[61] But when our turn comes, what shall we say then? For of course he will deny that he is attacking us, just as he denied that he was attacking the men of Oreus, when his troops were already in their territory, or the Pheraeans before that, when he was actually assaulting their walls, or the Olynthians at the start, until he was inside their frontier with his army. Or shall we say, even
at that hour, that those who bid us repel him are provoking war? If so, there is nothing left but slavery, for there is no other alternative.
[62] καὶ μὴν οὐχ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἴσων ὑμῖν καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἔσθ᾽ ὁ κίνδυνος: οὐ γὰρ ὑφ᾽ αὑτῷ ποιήσασθαι τὴν πόλιν βούλεται Φίλιππος ὑμῶν, οὔ, ἀλλ᾽ ὅλως ἀνελεῖν. οἶδε γὰρ ἀκριβῶς ὅτι δουλεύειν μὲν ὑμεῖς οὔτ᾽ ἐθελήσετε, οὔτ᾽, ἐὰν ἐθέλητε, ἐπιστήσεσθε （ἄρχειν γὰρ εἰώθατε）, πράγματα δὲ παρασχεῖν αὐτῷ, ἂν καιρὸν λάβητε, πλείω τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων δυνήσεσθε. διὰ ταῦθ᾽ ὑμῶν οὐχὶ φείσεται, εἴπερ ἐγκρατὴς γενήσεται.
[62] Moreover, you have not the same interests at stake as some of the others, for it is not your subjection that Philip aims at; no, but your complete annihilation. For he is well assured that you will not consent to be slaves; or, if you consent, will never learn how to be slaves, for you are accustomed to rule others; but that you will be able, if you seize your chances, to cause him more trouble than all the rest of the world. For that reason he will not spare you, if he gets you in his power.