by Demosthenes
[63] ὡς οὖν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐσχάτων ἐσομένου τοῦ ἀγῶνος, οὕτω προσήκει γιγνώσκειν, καὶ τοὺς πεπρακότας αὑτοὺς ἐκείνῳ φανερῶς ἀποτυμπανίσαι: οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν, οὐκ ἔστι τῶν ἔξω τῆς πόλεως ἐχθρῶν κρατῆσαι, πρὶν ἂν τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ πόλει κολάσητ᾽ ἐχθρούς, ἀλλ᾽ ἀνάγκη τούτοις ὥσπερ προβόλοις προσπταίσαντας ὑστερίζειν ἐκείνων.
[63] Therefore you must needs bear in mind that this will be a life-and-death struggle, and the men who have sold themselves to Philip must be publicly cudgelled to death; for it is impossible, impossible to quell the foes without, until you have punished the foes within your gates, but if you let these stand as stumbling-blocks in your path, you must fail against the others.
[64] πόθεν οἴεσθε νῦν αὐτὸν ὑβρίζειν ὑμᾶς （οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄλλ᾽ ἔμοιγε δοκεῖ ποιεῖν ἢ τοῦτο） καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους εὖ ποιοῦντα, εἰ μηδὲν ἄλλο, ἐξαπατᾶν, ὑμῖν δ᾽ ἀπειλεῖν ἤδη; οἷον Θετταλοὺς πολλὰ δοὺς ὑπηγάγετ᾽ εἰς τὴν νῦν παροῦσαν δουλείαν: οὐδ᾽ ἂν εἰπεῖν δύναιτ᾽ οὐδεὶς ὅσα τοὺς ταλαιπώρους Ὀλυνθίους πρότερον δοὺς Ποτείδαιαν ἐξηπάτησε καὶ πόλλ᾽ ἕτερα: Θηβαίους τὰ νῦν ὑπάγει τὴν Βοιωτίαν αὐτοῖς παραδοὺς καὶ ἀπαλλάξας πολέμου πολλοῦ καὶ χαλεποῦ:
[64] What do you imagine is his motive in outraging you now — I think no other term describes his conduct — or why is it that, in deceiving the others, he at least confers benefits upon them, but in your case he is resorting to threats? For example, the Thessalians were beguiled by his generosity into their present state of servitude; no words can describe how he formerly deceived the miserable Olynthians by his gift of Potidaea and many other places; the Thebans he is now misleading, having handed over Boeotia to them and relieved them of a long and trying war.
[65] ὥστε καρπωσάμενοί τιν᾽ ἕκαστοι τούτων πλεονεξίαν, οἱ μὲν ἤδη πεπόνθασιν ἃ δὴ πεπόνθασιν, οἱ δ᾽ ὅταν ποτὲ συμβῇ πείσονται. ὑμεῖς δ᾽ ὧν μὲν †ἀπεστέρησθε† σιωπῶ: ἀλλ᾽ ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ τὴν εἰρήνην ποιήσασθαι, πόσ᾽ ἐξηπάτησθε, πόσων ἀπεστέρησθε. οὐχὶ Φωκέας, οὐ Πύλας, οὐχὶ τἀπὶ Θρᾴκης, Δορίσκον, Σέρριον, τὸν Κερσοβλέπτην αὐτόν; οὐ νῦν Καρδίαν ἔχει καὶ ὁμολογεῖ;
[65] So each of these states has reaped some benefit from him, but while some have already paid the price by their sufferings, the others have yet to suffer whatever shall fall to their lot. As for you, I do not say how far you have been robbed, but in the actual making of the peace, how completely you were deceived, how grievously you were robbed! Were you not deceived about Phocis, Thermopylae, the Thrace-ward districts, Doriscus, Serrium, Cersobleptes himself? Is not Philip now holding the city of the Cardians, and admitting that he holds it?
[66] τί ποτ᾽ οὖν ἐκείνως τοῖς ἄλλοις, καὶ ὑμῖν οὐ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον προσφέρεται; ὅτι ἐν μόνῃ τῶν πασῶν πόλεων τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ ἄδει᾽ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐχθρῶν λέγειν δέδοται, καὶ λαβόντα χρήματ᾽ αὐτὸν ἀσφαλές ἐστι λέγειν παρ᾽ ὑμῖν, κἂν ἀφῃρημένοι τὰ ὑμέτερ᾽ αὐτῶν ἦτε.
[66] Why then does he deal in that way with the other Greeks, but with you in this way? Because yours is the one city in the world where immunity is granted to plead on behalf of our enemies, and where a man who has been bribed can safely address you in person, even when you have been robbed of your own. It would not have been safe in Olynthus to plead Philip’s cause, unless the Olynthian democracy had shared in the enjoyment of the revenues of Potidaea.
[67] οὐκ ἦν ἀσφαλὲς λέγειν ἐν Ὀλύνθῳ τὰ Φιλίππου μὴ σὺν εὖ πεπονθότων τῶν πολλῶν Ὀλυνθίων τῷ Ποτείδαιαν καρποῦσθαι: οὐκ ἦν ἀσφαλὲς λέγειν ἐν Θετταλίᾳ μὴ σὺν εὖ πεπονθότος τοῦ πλήθους τοῦ Θετταλῶν τῷ τοὺς τυράννους ἐκβαλεῖν Φίλιππον αὐτοῖς καὶ τὴν Πυλαίαν ἀποδοῦναι: οὐκ ἦν ἐν Θήβαις ἀσφαλές, πρὶν τὴν Βοιωτίαν ἀπέδωκε καὶ τοὺς Φωκέας ἀνεῖλεν.
[67] It would not have been safe in Thessaly to plead Philip’s cause, if the commoners of Thessaly had not shared in the advantages that Philip conferred, when he expelled their tyrants and restored to them their Amphictyonic privileges. It would not have been safe at Thebes, until he gave them back Boeotia and wiped out the Phocians.
[68] ἀλλ᾽ Ἀθήνησιν, οὐ μόνον Ἀμφίπολιν καὶ τὴν Καρδιανῶν χώραν ἀπεστερηκότος Φιλίππου, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατασκευάζοντος ὑμῖν ἐπιτείχισμα τὴν Εὔβοιαν καὶ νῦν ἐπὶ Βυζάντιον παριόντος, ἀσφαλές ἐστι λέγειν ὑπὲρ Φιλίππου. καὶ γάρ τοι τούτων μὲν ἐκ πτωχῶν ἔνιοι ταχὺ πλούσιοι γίγνονται, καὶ ἐξ ἀνωνύμων καὶ ἀδόξων ἔνδοξοι καὶ γνώριμοι, ὑμεῖς δὲ τοὐναντίον ἐκ μὲν ἐνδόξων ἄδοξοι, ἐκ δ᾽ εὐπόρων ἄποροι:
[68] But at Athens, though Philip has not only robbed you of Amphipolis and the Cardian territory, but is also turning Euboea into a fortress to overawe us and is even now on his way to attack Byzantium, it is safe to speak on Philip’s behalf. Indeed, of these politicians, some who were beggars are suddenly growing rich, some unknown to name and fame are now men of honour and distinction; while you, on the contrary, have passed from honour to dishonour, from affluence to destitution.
[69] πόλεως γὰρ ἔγωγε πλοῦτον ἡγοῦμαι συμμάχους, πίστιν, εὔνοιαν, ὧν πάντων ὑμεῖς ἔστ᾽ ἄποροι. ἐκ δὲ τοῦ τούτων ὀλιγώρως ὑμᾶς ἔχειν καὶ ἐᾶν τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον φέρεσθαι, ὁ μὲν εὐδαίμων καὶ μέγας καὶ φοβερὸς πᾶσιν Ἕλλησι καὶ βαρβάροις, ὑμεῖς δ᾽ ἔρημοι καὶ ταπεινοί, τῇ μὲν κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν εὐετηρίᾳ λαμπροί, τῇ δ᾽ ὧν προσῆκε παρασκευῇ καταγέλαστοι.
[69] For a city’s wealth I hold to be allies, credit, goodwill, and of all these you are destitute. And it is because you are indifferent to these things and allow them to be taken from you in this way, that Philip is prosperous and powerful and formidable to Greeks and barbarians alike, while you are deserted and humiliated, famous for your well-stocked markets, but in provision for your proper needs, contemptible.
[70] οὐ τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον περί θ᾽ ὑμῶν καὶ περὶ αὑτῶν ἐνίους τῶν λεγόντων ὁρῶ βουλευομένους: ὑμᾶς μὲν γὰρ ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν φασὶ δεῖν, κἄν τις ὑμᾶς ἀδικῇ, αὐτοὶ δ᾽ οὐ δύνανται παρ᾽ ὑμῖν ἡσυχίαν ἄγειν οὐδενὸς αὐτοὺς ἀδικοῦντος. καίτοι λοιδορίας εἴ τις χωρὶς ἔροιτο ‘εἰπέ μοι, τί δὴ γιγνώσκων ἀκριβῶς, Ἀριστόμηδες, （οὐδεὶς γὰρ τὰ τοιαῦτ᾽ ἀγνοεῖ） τὸν μὲν τῶν ἰδιωτῶν βίο
ν ἀσφαλῆ καὶ ἀπράγμονα καὶ ἀκίνδυνον ὄντα, τὸν δὲ τῶν πολιτευομένων φιλαίτιον καὶ σφαλερὸν καὶ καθ᾽ ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἀγώνων καὶ κακῶν μεστόν, οὐ τὸν ἡσύχιον, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐν τοῖς κινδύνοις αἱρεῖ;’
[70] Yet I observe that some of our speakers do not urge the same policy for you as for themselves; for you, they say, ought to remain quiet even when you are wronged; themselves cannot remain quiet among you, though no one does them wrong. And yet, raillery apart, suppose someone should ask, “Tell me, Aristomedes, why, when you know perfectly well — for no one is ignorant of such matters — that a private station is secure and free from risk, but the life of a politician is precarious, open to attack, and full of trials and misfortunes every day, why do you not choose the quiet, sequestered life instead of the life of peril?” What would you reply?
[71] τί ἂν εἴποις; εἰ γὰρ ὃ βέλτιστον εἰπεῖν ἂν ἔχοις, τοῦτό σοι δοίημεν ἀληθὲς λέγειν, ὡς ὑπὲρ φιλοτιμίας καὶ δόξης ταῦτα πάντα ποιεῖς, θαυμάζω τί δήποτε σαυτῷ μὲν ὑπὲρ τούτων ἅπαντα ποιητέον εἶναι νομίζεις καὶ πονητέον καὶ κινδυνευτέον, τῇ πόλει δὲ προέσθαι ταῦτα μετὰ ῥᾳθυμίας συμβουλεύεις. οὐ γὰρ ἐκεῖνό γ᾽ ἂν εἴποις, ὡς σὲ μὲν ἐν τῇ πόλει δεῖ τινὰ φαίνεσθαι, τὴν πόλιν δ᾽ ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησι μηδενὸς ἀξίαν εἶναι.
[71] For if we should grant the truth of what would be your best possible answer, that you do all this for love of glory and renown, I wonder what earthly reason you have for thinking that you yourself ought for that object to make every exertion, facing toil and danger, whereas you advise the State to abandon such efforts in sheer indifference. For this you cannot say — that it is your duty to make a figure in the State, but that the State is of no importance in the Greek world.
[72] καὶ μὴν οὐδ᾽ ἐκεῖνό γ᾽ ὁρῶ, ὡς τῇ μὲν πόλει ἀσφαλὲς τὸ τὰ αὑτῆς πράττειν, σοὶ δὲ κίνδυνος, εἰ μηδὲν τῶν ἄλλων πλέον περιεργάσει, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον σοὶ μὲν ἐξ ὧν ἐργάζει καὶ περιεργάζει τοὺς ἐσχάτους ὄντας κινδύνους, τῇ πόλει δ᾽ ἐκ τῆς ἡσυχίας.
[72] And there is another thing I do not see — that it is safe for the State to mind its own business, but dangerous for you if you do not go beyond your fellow-citizens in meddling with affairs.
[73] ἀλλὰ νὴ Δία παππῴα σοι καὶ πατρῴα δόξ᾽ ὑπάρχει, ἣν αἰσχρόν ἐστιν ἐν σοὶ καταλῦσαι: τῇ πόλει δ᾽ ὑπῆρξεν ἀνώνυμα καὶ φαῦλα τὰ τῶν προγόνων. ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ τοῦθ᾽ οὕτως ἔχει: σοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἦν κλέπτης ὁ πατήρ, εἴπερ ἦν ὅμοιος σοί, τῇ πόλει δ᾽ ἡμῶν οὓς πάντες ἴσασιν οἱ Ἕλληνες ἐκ τῶν μεγίστων κινδύνων σεσωσμένοι.
[73] Nay, on the contrary, I do foresee the utmost danger, to you from your bustling and meddling, but to the State from its inactivity. But you may say that you have the honour of your grandfather and father to uphold, and it would be scandalous to subvert it in your person, but that the State has inherited only nameless and paltry exploits from our ancestors. But that too is untrue; for you had a thief for your father, if he was like you, but our fathers, as all the Greeks know, preserved them from the deadliest perils.
[74] ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐκ ἴσως οὐδὲ πολιτικῶς ἔνιοι τὰ καθ᾽ αὑτοὺς καὶ τὰ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν πολιτεύονται: πῶς γάρ ἐστιν ἴσον τούτων μέν τινας ἐκ τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου ἥκοντας ἑαυτοὺς ἀγνοεῖν, τὴν πόλιν δ᾽, ἣ προειστήκει τῶν Ἑλλήνων τέως καὶ τὸ πρωτεῖον εἶχε, νῦν ἐν ἀδοξίᾳ πάσῃ καὶ ταπεινότητι καθεστάναι;
[74] But indeed there are some whose management both of private and of public business is neither fair nor constitutional; for how is it fair that some of these men, just released from jail, should be ignorant of their own worth, while that state, which was once the champion of the rest and maintained the pre-eminence, should now be sunk in all dishonour and humiliation?
[75] πολλὰ τοίνυν ἔχων ἔτι καὶ περὶ πολλῶν εἰπεῖν παύσομαι: καὶ γὰρ οὐ λόγων ἐνδείᾳ μοι δοκεῖ τὰ πράγματ᾽ οὔτε νῦν οὔτ᾽ ἄλλοτε πώποτε φαύλως ἔχειν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν πάντ᾽ ἀκούσαντες ὑμεῖς τὰ δέοντα, καὶ ὁμογνώμονες ὡς ὀρθῶς λέγεται γενόμενοι, τῶν λυμαίνεσθαι καὶ διαστρέφειν ταῦτα βουλομένων ἐξ ἴσου κάθησθ᾽ ἀκροώμενοι, οὐκ ἀγνοοῦντες αὐτούς （ἴστε γὰρ εὐθὺς ἰδόντες ἀκριβῶς, τίς μισθοῦ λέγει καὶ τίς ὑπὲρ Φιλίππου πολιτεύεται, καὶ τίς ὡς ἀληθῶς ὑπὲρ τῶν βελτίστων）, ἀλλ᾽ ἵν᾽ αἰτιασάμενοι τούτους καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμ᾽ εἰς γέλωτα καὶ λοιδορίαν ἐμβαλόντες μηδὲν αὐτοὶ τῶν δεόντων ποιῆτε.
[75] Therefore, though there is much that I could say on many topics, I will forbear; for indeed it is not, I think, lack of speeches either now or at any other time that is the cause of our distress, but when you have listened to the right sort of arguments, and when you are unanimous as to their validity, you sit on and give equal attention to those who wish to overthrow and distort them. It is not that you do not recognize these speakers, for as soon as you have seen them, you know exactly who is speaking for pay and acting as Philip’s agent, and who is sincerely defending your best interests; but your aim is to find fault with these latter and, by turning the subject into ridicule and raillery, to avoid doing any part of your own duty.
[76] ταῦτ᾽ ἐστὶ τἀληθῆ, μετὰ πάσης παρρησίας, ἁπλῶς εὐνοίᾳ τὰ βέλτιστ᾽ εἰρημένα, οὐ κολακείᾳ βλάβης καὶ ἀπάτης λόγος μεστός, ἀργύριον τῷ λέγοντι ποιήσων, τὰ δὲ πράγματα τῆς πόλεως τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἐγχειριῶν. ἢ οὖν παυστέον τούτων τῶν ἐθῶν, ἢ μηδέν᾽ ἄλλον αἰτιατέον τοῦ πάντα φαύλως ἔχειν ἢ ὑμᾶς αὐτούς.
[76] There you have the truth spoken with all freedom, simply in goodwill and for the best — no speech packed by flattery with mischief and deceit, and intended to put money into the speaker’s pocket and the control of the State into our enemies’ hands. Either, then, you must abandon these habits of yours, or you must throw the blame for all our failures on no one but yourselves.
πρὸς τὴν Ἐπιστολὴν τὴν Φιλίππου — ANSWER TO PHILIP’S LETTER
[1] ὅτι μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, Φίλιππος οὐκ ἐποιήσατο τὴν εἰρήνην πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἀλλ᾽ ἀνεβάλετο τὸν πόλεμον, πᾶσιν ὑμῖν φανερὸν γέγονεν: ἐπειδὴ γὰρ Φαρσαλίοις Ἅλον παρέδωκε καὶ τὰ περὶ Φωκέας διῳκήσατο καὶ τὴν Θρᾴκην κατεστρέψατο πᾶσαν, αἰτίας οὐκ οὔσας πλασάμενος καὶ προφάσεις ἀδίκους ἐξευρὼν τῷ μὲν ἔργῳ πάλαι πολεμεῖ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν, τῷ δὲ λόγῳ νῦν ὁμολογεῖ διὰ τ
ῆς ἐπιστολῆς ἧς ἔπεμψεν:
[1] It must now be clear to all of you, Athenians, that Philip never concluded a peace with you, but only postponed the war; for ever since he handed Halus over to the Pharsalians, settled the Phocian question, and subdued the whole of Thrace, coining false excuses and inventing hollow pretexts, he has been all the time practically at war with Athens, though it is only now that he confesses it openly in the letter which he has sent.
[2] ὅτι δὲ χρὴ μήτ᾽ ὀρρωδεῖν ὑμᾶς τὴν ἐκείνου δύναμιν μήτ᾽ ἀγεννῶς ἀντιταχθῆναι πρὸς αὐτόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ σώμασι καὶ χρήμασι καὶ ναυσὶ καὶ πᾶσιν ὡς ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν ἀφειδῶς ὁρμῆσαι πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον, ἐγὼ πειράσομαι διδάσκειν. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ εἰκός, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοὺς θεοὺς μεγίστους ὑμῖν ὑπάρχειν συμμάχους καὶ βοηθούς, ὧν ἐκεῖνος τὰς πίστεις ὑπεριδὼν καὶ τοὺς ὅρκους ὑπερβὰς λέλυκεν ἀδίκως τὴν εἰρήνην:
[2] I shall, however, try to prove to you that you must not quail before his power nor offer a half-hearted resistance, but must enter the war with an unsparing provision of men, money, and ships — in a word, with all your resources. For first, men of Athens, you may reasonably expect that your mightiest allies and supporters will be those gods whose sanction he has flouted and whose name he has taken in vain through his unjust violation of the peace.