by Demosthenes
[8] Again, the compact at the very beginning enjoins that the Greeks shall be free and independent. Is it not, then, the height of absurdity that the clause about freedom should stand first in the compact, and that one who has enslaved others should be supposed not to have acted contrary to the joint agreement? Therefore, men of Athens, if we are going to abide by our oaths and covenants and do what is just （for it is to this that these speakers, as I have said, are urging you）, it is our bounden duty to seize our arms and take the field against the transgressors with all who will join us.
[9] ἢ νομίζετε τὸν μὲν καιρόν ποτ᾽ ἰσχύειν καὶ ἄνευ τοῦ δικαίου τὸ συμφέρον πράττειν: νυνὶ δ᾽, ὅτ᾽ εἰς ταὐτὸν τὸ δίκαιον ἅμα καὶ ὁ καιρὸς καὶ τὸ συμφέρον συνδεδράμηκεν, ἄλλον ἄρα τινὰ χρόνον ἀναμενεῖτε τῆς ἰδίας ἐλευθερίας ἅμα καὶ τῆς τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων ἀντιλαβέσθαι;
[9] Or do you think that opportunity sometimes so prevails that men pursue expediency even apart from justice — and yet now, when justice and opportunity and expediency all concur, will you actually wait for some other season to claim your liberties and the liberties of all the Greeks?
[10] ἐπ᾽ ἄλλο δὲ δίκαιον ἔρχομαι τῶν κατὰ τὰς συνθήκας. ἔστι γὰρ γεγραμμένον, ἐάν τινες τὰς πολιτείας τὰς παρ᾽ ἑκάστοις οὔσας, ὅτε τοὺς ὅρκους τοὺς περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης ὤμνυσαν, καταλύωσι, πολεμίους εἶναι πᾶσι τοῖς τῆς εἰρήνης μετέχουσιν. σκέψασθε δ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὅτι Ἀχαιοὶ μὲν οἱ ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ ἐδημοκρατοῦντο, τούτων δ᾽ ἐν Πελλήνῃ νῦν καταλέλυκε τὸν δῆμον ὁ Μακεδὼν ἐκβαλὼν τῶν πολιτῶν τοὺς πλείστους, τὰ δ᾽ ἐκείνων τοῖς οἰκέταις δέδωκε, Χαίρωνα δὲ τὸν παλαιστὴν τύραννον ἐγκατέστησεν.
[10] I come to another claim sanctioned by the compact. For the actual words are, “If any of the parties shall overthrow the constitution established in the several states at the date when they took the oaths to observe the peace, they shall be treated as enemies by all the parties to the peace.” But just reflect, men of Athens, that the Achaeans in the Peloponnese enjoyed democratic government, and one of their democracies, that of Pellene, has now been overthrown by the Macedonian king, who has expelled the majority of the citizens, given their property to their slaves, and set up Chaeron, the wrestler, as their tyrant.
[11] ἡμεῖς δὲ τῆς εἰρήνης μετέχομεν τῆς προσταττούσης πολεμίους ἡγεῖσθαι τοὺς ταῦτα πράττοντας. ἐκ δὴ τούτων πότερα πειθόμεθα τοῖς κοινοῖς προστάγμασι πολεμίοις αὐτοῖς χρώμενοι, ἢ βδελυρεύσεταί τις οὐ φάσκων, τούτων τῶν μισθοφορούντων παρὰ τοῦ Μακεδόνος, τῶν καθ᾽ ὑμῶν πεπλουτηκότων;
[11] But we ourselves are parties to the peace, which instructs us to treat as enemies those who are guilty of such acts. Now in view of this, are we to obey these joint instructions and treat them as enemies, or will anyone be blackguard enough to say no — one of the hirelings in the pay of the Macedonian king, one of those who have grown rich at your expense?
[12] οὐ γὰρ δὴ λέληθέ γ᾽ αὐτοὺς οὐδὲν τούτων: ἀλλ᾽ εἰς τοῦθ᾽ ὕβρεως ἥκουσιν ὥστε δορυφορούμενοι τοῖς τοῦ τυράννου στρατοπέδοις ἐν μὲν τοῖς παραβεβασμένοις ὅρκοις ἐμμένειν ὑμῖν διακελεύονται, ὡς καὶ τῆς ἐπιορκίας αὐτοκράτορος ὄντος ἐκείνου, τοὺς δ᾽ ἰδίους ὑμᾶς νόμους ἀναγκάζουσι λύειν, τοὺς μὲν κεκριμένους ἐν τοῖς δικαστηρίοις ἀφιέντες, ἕτερα δὲ παμπληθῆ τοιαῦτα βιαζόμενοι παρανομεῖν.
[12] For you may be sure they are not ignorant of these facts; but they have grown so insolent, with the tyrant’s troops for their bodyguard, that they insist on your observing the already violated oaths, as if Alexander’s absolute sovereignty extended over perjury also; and they compel you to rescind your own laws, releasing men who have been condemned in your courts and forcing you to sanction numberless other illegalities.
[13] εἰκότως: τοῖς γὰρ πεπρακόσιν ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τἀναντία τοῖς τῇ πατρίδι συμφέρουσιν οὐκ ἔνι μέλειν νόμων οὐδ᾽ ὅρκων: τοῖς δ᾽ ὀνόμασι μόνον αὐτῶν ἀποχρώμενοι παρακρούονται τοὺς παρέργως ἐνταυθὶ ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐξεταστικῶς ἐκκλησιάζοντας, καὶ νομίζοντας τὴν παραυτίχ᾽ ἡσυχίαν οὐκ ἔσεσθαί ποτ᾽ αἰτίαν ταραχῆς ἀτόπου μεγάλης.
[13] And their conduct is natural; for men who have sold themselves to a policy antagonistic to the interests of their country cannot trouble themselves about laws and oaths; they are to them mere terms which they employ to lead astray the citizens who come to the Assembly for diversion and not for careful inquiry, and who forget that present inaction will some day result in wild confusion.
[14] κελεύω δ᾽ ἔγωγε, καθάπερ ἐν ἀρχῇ προεῖπον, πείθεσθαι τούτοις τοῖς φάσκουσι δεῖν ἐν ταῖς κοιναῖς ὁμολογίαις ἐμμένειν, εἰ μὴ ἐκεῖνο νομίζουσιν, ὅταν μὲν λέγωσιν ὡς ἐμμενετέον τοῖς ὅρκοις, οὐ λέγειν αὐτοὺς τὸ μηδὲν ἀδικεῖσθαι, οὐδένα δ᾽ οἴονται αἰσθήσεσθαι, τυραννίδων ἀντὶ δημοκρατιῶν καθισταμένων καὶ τῶν πολιτειῶν καταλυομένων.
[14] My own advice, as I said at the start, is to believe them when they say that we ought to abide by the joint agreement, unless, when they insist on our abiding by the oaths, they interpret them as not forbidding any act of injustice, or imagine that no one will be sensible of the change from democracy to tyranny or of the overthrow of a free constitution.
[15] τὸ δ᾽ ἔτι καταγελαστότερον: ἔστι γὰρ ἐν ταῖς συνθήκαις ἐπιμελεῖσθαι τοὺς συνεδρεύοντας καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τῇ κοινῇ φυλακῇ τεταγμένους ὅπως ἐν ταῖς κοινωνούσαις πόλεσι τῆς εἰρήνης μὴ γίγνωνται θάνατοι καὶ φυγαὶ παρὰ τοὺς κειμένους ταῖς πόλεσι νόμους, μηδὲ χρημάτων δημεύσεις, μηδὲ γῆς ἀναδασμοί, μηδὲ χρεῶν ἀποκοπαί, μηδὲ δούλων ἀπελευθερώσεις ἐπὶ νεωτερισμῷ. οἱ δὲ τοσούτου δέουσι τούτων τι κωλύειν ὥστε καὶ συγκατασκευάζουσιν: οὓς πῶς οὐ προσήκει ἀπολωλέναι; οἳ τηλικαύτας συμφορὰς παρασκευάζουσιν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν, ἃς διὰ τὸ μέγεθος αὐτοῖς τοσούτοις οὖσι μὴ περιορᾶν ἐπέταξαν.
[15] Now for a still greater absurdity. For it is provided in the compact that it shall be the business of the delegates at the Congress and those responsible for public safety to see that in the states that are parties to the peace there shall be no executions and banishments contrary to the laws established in those states, no confiscation of property, no partition of lands, no cancelling of debts, and no emancipation of slaves for purposes of revolution. But these spea
kers are so far from seeking to prevent any of these evils, that they join in promoting them. And do they not then deserve death — the men who promote in the various states those terrible calamities which, because they are so serious, this important body has been commissioned to prevent
[16] ἔτι δ᾽ ἕτερον δείξω τὸ λελυκὸς τὰς συνθήκας. ἔστι γὰρ γεγραμμένον, ἐκ τῶν πόλεων τῶν κοινωνουσῶν τῆς εἰρήνης μὴ ἐξεῖναι φυγάδας ὁρμήσαντας ὅπλ᾽ ἐπιφέρειν ἐπὶ πολέμῳ ἐπὶ μηδεμίαν πόλιν τῶν μετεχουσῶν τῆς εἰρήνης: εἰ δὲ μή, ἔκσπονδον εἶναι τὴν πόλιν ἐξ ἧς ἂν ὁρμήσωσιν. οὕτω τοίνυν ῥᾳδίως ἐπήνεγκε τὰ ὅπλ᾽ ὁ Μακεδὼν ὥστ᾽ οὐδὲ κατέθετο πώποτε, ἀλλ᾽ ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἔχων περιέρχεται καθ᾽ ὅσον δύναται, καὶ τοσούτῳ νῦν μᾶλλον ἢ πρότερον, ὅσῳ ἐκ προστάγματος ἄλλους θ᾽ ἑτέρωσε καὶ τὸν παιδοτρίβην εἰς Σικυῶνα κατήγαγεν.
[16] I will point out a further breach of the compact. For it is laid down that it shall not be lawful for exiles to set out, bearing arms, from the states which are parties to the peace, with hostile intent against any of the states included in the peace; but if they do, then that city from which they set out shall be excluded from the terms of the treaty. Now the Macedonian king has been so unscrupulous about bearing arms that he has never yet laid them down, but even now goes about bearing arms, as far as is in his power, and more so indeed now than ever, inasmuch as he has reinstated the professional trainer at Sicyon by an edict, and other exiles elsewhere.
[17] οὐκοῦν εἰ δεῖ πείθεσθαι ταῖς κοιναῖς ὁμολογίαις, καθάπερ οὗτοί φασιν, ἔκσπονδοι ἡμῖν εἰσιν αὗται αἱ πόλεις αἱ ταῦτα διαπεπραγμέναι. εἰ μὲν οὖν δεῖ ἐπικρύπτεσθαι τἀληθῆ, οὐδὲν δεῖ λέγειν ὅτι εἰσὶν αἱ Μακεδονικαί: εἰ δ᾽ οὐκ ἀνιᾶσιν οἱ καθ᾽ ὑμῶν τῷ Μακεδόνι ὑπηρέται προστάττοντες πράττειν τὰ ἐν ταῖς κοιναῖς ὁμολογίαις, πεισθῶμεν αὐτοῖς, ἐπειδὴ τὰ δίκαια λέγουσι, καί, καθάπερ κελεύει ὁ ὅρκος, ἐκσπόνδους αὐτοὺς ποιήσαντες βουλευσώμεθα πῶς δεῖ χρῆσθαι τοῖς δεσποτικῶς καὶ ἀσελγῶς διακειμένοις καὶ διὰ τέλους τὰ μὲν ἐπιβουλεύουσι, τὰ δ᾽ ἐπιτάττουσι, καὶ καταγελῶσι τῆς κοινῆς εἰρήνης.
[17] Therefore if we are to keep this joint agreement, as these speakers say, the states that are guilty of these offences are excluded from our treaty. If, indeed, we ought to hush the matter up, we must never say that they are the Macedonian states; but if the men who are subservient to the Macedonian king against your interests never cease urging us to carry out the joint agreement, let us take them at their word, since their contention is just, and let us, as our oath demands, exclude the guilty parties from the treaty, and form a plan for dealing with men whose temper is so brutally dictatorial, and who are constantly either plotting or acting against us and mocking at the general peace.
[18] διὰ τί γὰρ οὐ φήσουσιν οὗτοι δεῖν ταῦθ᾽ οὕτως ἔχειν; ἢ ὁμολογίαν τὴν μὲν κατὰ τῆς πόλεως οὖσαν βεβαίαν ἀξιοῦσιν εἶναι, τὴν δὲ σῴζουσαν οὐ συγχωρήσουσιν; ἆρα δίκαιον ταῦτα γίγνεσθαι; κἂν μέν τι ᾖ πρὸς τῶν ἐχθρῶν κατὰ τῆς πόλεως ἐν τοῖς ὅρκοις, τοῦτο μὲν ἰσχυρὸν ἀεὶ ποιήσουσιν: ἐὰν δέ τι ἡμέτερον ᾖ κατ᾽ ἐκείνων ἅμα δίκαιον καὶ συμφέρον, πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ μαχομένους οὐδέποτε παύσασθαι οἰήσονται δεῖν ἑαυτούς;
[18] What, I ask you, can they urge against the correctness of this view? Will they claim that the agreement stands good as against our city, but demur to it where it protects our interests? Does it really seem fair that this should be so? And if there is anything in the treaty that favors our enemies against our city, will they always make the most of it, but if there is anything that tells the other way and is at once just and advantageous to us, will they think that unremitting opposition is their peculiar duty?
[19] ἵνα δ᾽ εἰδῆτ᾽ ἔτι σαφέστερον ὅτι οὐδεὶς ὑμῖν ἐγκαλεῖ ποτε τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὡς ἄρα παρέβητέ τι τῶν κοινῇ ὁμολογηθέντων, ἀλλὰ καὶ χάριν ἕξουσιν ὅτι μόνοι ἐξηλέγξατε τοὺς ταῦτα ποιοῦντας, μικρὰ ἐπιδραμοῦμαι περὶ αὐτῶν πολλῶν ὄντων. ἔστι γὰρ δήπου ἐν ταῖς συνθήκαις τὴν θάλατταν πλεῖν τοὺς μετέχοντας τῆς εἰρήνης, καὶ μηδένα κωλύειν αὐτοὺς μηδὲ κατάγειν πλοῖον μηδενὸς τούτων: ἐὰν δέ τις παρὰ ταῦτα ποιῇ, πολέμιον εἶναι πᾶσι τοῖς τῆς εἰρήνης μετέχουσιν.
[19] But to prove to you still more clearly that no Greeks will accuse you of transgressing any of the terms of the joint agreement, but will even be grateful to you for exposing the real transgressors, I will just touch upon a few of the many points that might be mentioned. For the compact, of course, provides that all the parties to the peace may sail the seas, and that none may hinder them or force a ship of any of them to come to harbor, and that anyone who violates this shall be treated as an enemy by all the parties to the peace.
[20] οὐκοῦν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἐναργέστατα ἑοράκατε τοῦθ᾽ ὑπὸ τῶν Μακεδόνων γεγενημένον: εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ ὑπεροψίας ἦλθον ὥστε εἰς Τένεδον ἅπαντα τὰ ἐκ τοῦ Πόντου πλοῖα κατήγαγον, καὶ σκευωρούμενοι περὶ αὐτὰ οὐ πρότερον ἀνεῖσαν, πρὶν ὑμεῖς ἐψηφίσασθε τριήρεις ἑκατὸν πληροῦν καὶ καθέλκειν εὐθὺς τότε, καὶ στρατηγὸν ἐπ᾽ αὐταῖς ἐτάξατε Μενεσθέα.
[20] Now, men of Athens, you have most distinctly seen this done by the Macedonians; for they have grown so arrogant that they forced all our ships coming from the Black Sea to put in at Tenedos, and under one pretence or another refused to release them until you passed a decree to man and launch a hundred war-galleys instantly, and you put Menestheus in command.
[21] πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἄτοπον τοσαῦτα μὲν εἶναι καὶ τηλικαῦτα τὰ ἡμαρτημέν᾽ ἑτέροις, τοὺς δ᾽ ἐνταῦθα φίλους αὐτῶν μὴ ἐκείνους ἀποτρέπειν τοὺς παραβαίνοντας, ἀλλ᾽ ὑμῖν συμβουλεύειν ἐμμένειν τοῖς οὕτως ὠλιγωρημένοις; ὥσπερ καὶ τούτου προσγεγραμμένου, τοῖς μὲν ἐξεῖναι πλημμελεῖν, τοῖς δὲ μηδ᾽ ἀμύνεσθαι.
[21] Is it not, then, absurd that others should be guilty of so many serious transgressions, but that their friends in Athens, instead of restraining the transgressors, should urge us to abide by the terms thus lightly regarded? As if there were a clause added, permitting some to violate them, but forbidding others even to defend their rights!
[22] πῶς δ᾽ οὐχ ἅμα τε παρενόμουν ἐκεῖνοι καὶ ἀναίσθητοι ἦσαν, οἵ γε τηλικοῦτον παρέβησαν τῶν ὅρκων, ὃ παρ᾽ ἐλάχιστον ἐ
ποίησεν αὐτοὺς ἀφαιρεθῆναι δικαίως τὴν κατὰ θάλατταν ἡγεμονίαν; καὶ νῦν ἔτι παραδεδώκασι τοῦτο τὸ δίκαιον ἀνεγκλήτως ἡμῖν, ὅταν βουληθῶμεν πράττειν: οὐ γὰρ ὅτι ἐπαύσαντ᾽ ἐξαμαρτάνοντες, ἧττόν τι δήπου παραβεβήκασι τὰς κοινὰς ὁμολογίας.
[22] But was not the conduct of the Macedonians as stupid as it was lawless, when they committed such a gross violation of their oaths as deservedly went near to cost them their right to command at sea? Even as it is, they have supplied us with this unquestionable claim against them, whenever we choose to press it. For surely their violation of the joint agreement is not lessened because they have now ceased to offend.