by Demosthenes
Not only towards the Lacedaemonians have you so demeaned yourselves; but when the Thebans were trying to annex Euboea, you were not indifferent; you did not call to mind the injuries you had suffered from Themiso and Theodorus in the matter of Oropus; you carried aid even to them. That was in the early days of the volunteer trierarchs, of whom I was one; but I say nothing of that now.
[100] ἀλλ᾽ οὔπω περὶ τούτων. καὶ καλὸν μὲν ἐποιήσατε καὶ τὸ σῶσαι τὴν νῆσον, πολλῷ δ᾽ ἔτι τούτου κάλλιον τὸ καταστάντες κύριοι καὶ τῶν σωμάτων καὶ τῶν πόλεων ἀποδοῦναι ταῦτα δικαίως αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἐξημαρτηκόσιν εἰς ὑμᾶς, μηδὲν ὧν ἠδίκησθε ἐν οἷς ἐπιστεύθητε ὑπολογισάμενοι. μυρία τοίνυν ἕτερ᾽ εἰπεῖν ἔχων παραλείπω, ναυμαχίας, ἐξόδους πεζάς, στρατείας καὶ πάλαι γεγονυίας καὶ νῦν ἐφ᾽ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν, ἃς ἁπάσας ἡ πόλις τῆς τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων ἐλευθερίας καὶ σωτηρίας πεποίηται.
[100] Your deliverance of the island was a generous act, but still more generously, when you had their lives and their cities at your mercy, you restored them honestly to men who had sinned against you, forgetting your wrongs where you found yourselves trusted. I pass over ten thousand instances I could cite, — battles by sea, expeditions by land, campaigns of ancient date and of our own times, in all of which Athens engaged herself for the freedom and salvation of Greece.
[101] εἶτ᾽ ἐγὼ τεθεωρηκὼς ἐν τοσούτοις καὶ τοιούτοις τὴν πόλιν ὑπὲρ τῶν τοῖς ἄλλοις συμφερόντων ἐθέλουσαν ἀγωνίζεσθαι, ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς τρόπον τινὰ τῆς βουλῆς οὔσης τί ἔμελλον κελεύσειν ἢ τί συμβουλεύσειν αὐτῇ ποιεῖν; μνησικακεῖν νὴ Δία πρὸς τοὺς βουλομένους σῴζεσθαι, καὶ προφάσεις ζητεῖν δι᾽ ἃς ἅπαντα προησόμεθα. καὶ τίς οὐκ ἂν ἀπέκτεινέν με δικαίως, εἴ τι τῶν ὑπαρχόντων τῇ πόλει καλῶν λόγῳ μόνον καταισχύνειν ἐπεχείρησα; ἐπεὶ τό γ᾽ ἔργον οὐκ ἂν ἐποιήσαθ᾽ ὑμεῖς, ἀκριβῶς οἶδ᾽ ἐγώ: εἰ γὰρ ἐβούλεσθε, τί ἦν ἐμποδών; οὐκ ἐξῆν; οὐχ ὑπῆρχον οἱ ταῦτ᾽ ἐροῦντες οὗτοι;
[101] Having before my eyes the spectacle of a city in all those great enterprises ready to fight the battles of her neighbors, what advice was I to give and what policy to urge, when her deliberations in some measure concerned herself? To bear malice against men who were seeking deliverance? To search for excuses for deserting the common cause? Should I not have deserved death if even in word I had sought to tarnish our honor able traditions? In word, I say; for the deed you would never have done. Of that I am well assured, for if you so wished, what stood in your way? Was it not in your power? Were not Aeschines and his friends there to advise you?
[102] βούλομαι τοίνυν ἐπανελθεῖν ἐφ᾽ ἃ τούτων ἑξῆς ἐπολιτευόμην: καὶ σκοπεῖτ᾽ ἐν τούτοις πάλιν αὖ, τί τὸ τῇ πόλει βέλτιστον ἦν. ὁρῶν γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸ ναυτικὸν ὑμῶν καταλυόμενον καὶ τοὺς μὲν πλουσίους ἀτελεῖς ἀπὸ μικρῶν ἀναλωμάτων γιγνομένους, τοὺς δὲ μέτρι᾽ ἢ μικρὰ κεκτημένους τῶν πολιτῶν τὰ ὄντ᾽ ἀπολλύοντας, ἔτι δ᾽ ὑστερίζουσαν ἐκ τούτων τὴν πόλιν τῶν καιρῶν, ἔθηκα νόμον καθ᾽ ὃν τοὺς μὲν τὰ δίκαια ποιεῖν ἠνάγκασα, τοὺς πλουσίους, τοὺς δὲ πένητας ἔπαυσ᾽ ἀδικουμένους, τῇ πόλει δ᾽ ὅπερ ἦν χρησιμώτατον, ἐν καιρῷ γίγνεσθαι τὰς παρασκευὰς ἐποίησα.
[102] I will now return to my next ensuing public actions; consider them once again in relation to the best interests of the commonwealth. Observing that the navy was going to pieces, that the wealthy were let off with trifling contributions, while citizens of moderate or small means were losing all they had, and that as a result the government was missing its opportunities, I made a statute under which I compelled the wealthy to take their fair share of expense, stopped the oppression of the poor, and, by a measure of great public benefit, caused your naval preparations to be made in good time.
[103] καὶ γραφεὶς τὸν ἀγῶνα τοῦτον εἰς ὑμᾶς εἰσῆλθον καὶ ἀπέφυγον, καὶ τὸ μέρος τῶν ψήφων ὁ διώκων οὐκ ἔλαβεν. καίτοι πόσα χρήματα τοὺς ἡγεμόνας τῶν συμμοριῶν ἢ τοὺς δευτέρους καὶ τρίτους οἴεσθέ μοι διδόναι, ὥστε μάλιστα μὲν μὴ θεῖναι τὸν νόμον τοῦτον, εἰ δὲ μή, καταβάλλοντ᾽ ἐᾶν ἐν ὑπωμοσίᾳ; τοσαῦτ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὅσ᾽ ὀκνήσαιμ᾽ ἂν πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰπεῖν.
[103] Being indicted for this measure, I stood my trial before this court and was acquitted, the prosecutor not getting the fifth part of the votes. Now how much money do you think the first, second, and third classes of contributors on the Naval Boards offered me not to propose the measure, or, failing that, to put it on the list and then drop it on demurrer?b It was so large a sum, men of Athens, that I hardly like to name it.
[104] καὶ ταῦτ᾽ εἰκότως ἔπραττον ἐκεῖνοι. ἦν γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐκ μὲν τῶν προτέρων νόμων συνεκκαίδεκα λῃτουργεῖν, αὐτοῖς μὲν μικρὰ καὶ οὐδὲν ἀναλίσκουσι, τοὺς δ᾽ ἀπόρους τῶν πολιτῶν ἐπιτρίβουσιν, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ ἐμοῦ νόμου τὸ γιγνόμενον κατὰ τὴν οὐσίαν ἕκαστον τιθέναι, καὶ δυοῖν ἐφάνη τριήραρχος ὁ τῆς μιᾶς ἕκτος καὶ δέκατος πρότερον συντελής: οὐδὲ γὰρ τριηράρχους ἔτ᾽ ὠνόμαζον ἑαυτούς, ἀλλὰ συντελεῖς. ὥστε δὴ ταῦτα λυθῆναι καὶ μὴ τὰ δίκαια ποιεῖν ἀναγκασθῆναι, οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ ὅ τι οὐκ ἐδίδοσαν.
[104] It was natural that they should make this attempt. Under the former statutes they might discharge their public services in groups of sixteen, spending little or nothing themselves, but grinding down the needy citizens, whereas by my statute they had to return the full assessment according to their means, and a man who was formerly one of sixteen contributors to a single trireme — for they were dropping the term trierarch and calling themselves contributors-might have to furnish two complete vessels. They offered any amount to get the new rules abrogated and escape their just obligation.
[105] καί μοι λέγε πρῶτον μὲν τὸ ψήφισμα καθ᾽ ὃ εἰσῆλθον τὴν γραφήν, εἶτα τοὺς καταλόγους, τόν τ᾽ ἐκ τοῦ προτέρου νόμου καὶ τὸν κατὰ τὸν ἐμόν. λέγε.”Ψήφισμα
ἐπὶ ἄρχοντος Πολυκλέους, μηνὸς βοηδρομιῶνος ἕκτῃ ἐπὶ δέκα, φυλῆς πρυτανευούσης Ἱπποθωντίδος, Δημοσθένης Δημοσθένους Παιανιεὺς εἰσήνεγκε νόμον εἰς τὸ τριηραρχικὸν ἀντὶ τοῦ πρότερον, καθ᾽ ὃν αἱ συντέλειαι ἦσαν τῶν τριηράρχων: καὶ ἐπεχειροτόνησεν ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ὁ δῆμος: καὶ ἀπήνεγκε παρανόμω�
� Δημοσθένει Πατροκλῆς Φλυεύς, καὶ τὸ μέρος τῶν ψήφων οὐ λαβὼν ἀπέτεισε τὰς πεντακοσίας δραχμάς.”
[105] Read first the decree,.for which I was indicted and tried, and then the schedules as compiled under the old statute under my statute.”Decree
[In the archonship of Polycles, on the sixteenth of the month Boëdromion, the tribe Hippothontis holding the presidency, Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes, of Paeania, introduced a bill to amend the former law constituting the syndicates for the equipment of triremes. The bill was passed by the Council and the People, and Patrocles of Phlya indicted Demosthenes for a breach of the constitution, and, not obtaining the required proportion of votes, paid the fee of five hundred drachmas.]”
Now read that fine schedule.”Schedule
[The trierarchs to be called up, sixteen for each trireme, from the associations of joint contributors, from the age of twenty-five to that of forty, paying equal contributions to the public service.]”
[106] φέρε δὴ καὶ τὸν καλὸν κατάλογον.”Κατάλογος
Τοὺς τριηράρχους καλεῖσθαι ἐπὶ τὴν τριήρη συνεκκαίδεκα ἐκ τῶν ἐν τοῖς λόχοις συντελειῶν, ἀπὸ εἴκοσι καὶ πέντε ἐτῶν εἰς τετταράκοντα, ἐπὶ ἴσον τῇ χορηγίᾳ χρωμένους.”Φέρε δὴ παρὰ τοῦτον τὸν ἐκ τοῦ ἐμοῦ νόμου κατάλογον.”Κατάλογος
Τοὺς τριηράρχους αἱρεῖσθαι ἐπὶ τὴν τριήρη ἀπὸ τῆς οὐσίας κατὰ τίμησιν, ἀπὸ ταλάντων δέκα: ἐὰν δὲ πλειόνων ἡ οὐσία ἀποτετιμημένη ᾖ χρημάτων, κατὰ τὸν ἀναλογισμὸν ἕως τριῶν πλοίων καὶ ὑπηρετικοῦ ἡ λειτουργία ἔστω. κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν δὲ ἀναλογίαν ἔστω καὶ οἷς ἐλάττων οὐσία ἐστὶ τῶν δέκα ταλάντων, εἰς συντέλειαν συναγομένοις εἰς τὰ δέκα τάλαντα.”
[106] Now read for comparison the schedule under my statute.”Schedule
[The trierarchs to be chosen according to the assessment of their property at ten talents to a trireme; if the property be assessed above that sum, the public service shall be fixed proportionately up to three triremes and a tender. The same proportion shall be observed where those whose property is under ten talents form a syndicate to make up that sum.]”
[107] ἆρα μικρὰ βοηθῆσαι τοῖς πένησιν ὑμῶν δοκῶ, ἢ μίκρ᾽ ἀναλῶσαι ἂν τοῦ μὴ τὰ δίκαια ποιεῖν οἱ πλούσιοι; οὐ τοίνυν μόνον τῷ μὴ καθυφεῖναι ταῦτα σεμνύνομαι, οὐδὲ τῷ γραφεὶς ἀποφυγεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ συμφέροντα θεῖναι τὸν νόμον καὶ τῷ πεῖραν ἔργῳ δεδωκέναι. πάντα γὰρ τὸν πόλεμον τῶν ἀποστόλων γιγνομένων κατὰ τὸν νόμον τὸν ἐμόν, οὐχ ἱκετηρίαν ἔθηκε τριήραρχος οὐδεὶς πώποθ᾽ ὡς ἀδικούμενος παρ᾽ ὑμῖν, οὐκ ἐν Μουνιχίας ἐκαθέζετο, οὐχ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποστολέων ἐδέθη, οὐ τριήρης οὔτ᾽ ἔξω καταλειφθεῖσ᾽ ἀπώλετο τῇ πόλει, οὔτ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἀπελείφθη οὐ δυναμένη ἀνάγεσθαι.
[107] Do you think it was a trifling relief I gave to the poor, or a trifling sum that the rich would have spent to escape their obligation? I pride myself not only on my refusal of compromise and on my acquittal, but also on having enacted a beneficial law and proved it such by experience. During the whole war, while the squadrons were organized under my regulations, no trierarch made petition as aggrieved, or appeared as a suppliant in the dockyard temple, or was imprisoned by the Admiralty, and no ship was either abandoned at sea and lost to the state, or left in harbor as unseaworthy.
[108] καίτοι κατὰ τοὺς προτέρους νόμους ἅπαντα ταῦτ᾽ ἐγίγνετο. τὸ δ᾽ αἴτιον, ἐν τοῖς πένησιν ἦν τὸ λῃτουργεῖν: πολλὰ δὴ τἀδύνατα συνέβαινεν. ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἐκ τῶν ἀπόρων εἰς τοὺς εὐπόρους μετήνεγκα τὰς τριηραρχίας: πάντ᾽ οὖν τὰ δέοντ᾽ ἐγίγνετο. καὶ μὴν καὶ κατ᾽ αὐτὸ τοῦτ᾽ ἄξιός εἰμ᾽ ἐπαίνου τυχεῖν, ὅτι πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα προῃρούμην πολιτεύματα, ἀφ᾽ ὧν ἅμα δόξαι καὶ τιμαὶ καὶ δυνάμεις συνέβαινον τῇ πόλει: βάσκανον δὲ καὶ πικρὸν καὶ κακόηθες οὐδέν ἐστι πολίτευμ᾽ ἐμόν, οὐδὲ ταπεινόν, οὐδὲ τῆς πόλεως ἀνάξιον.
[108] Such incidents were frequent under the old regulations, because the public services fell upon poor men, and impossible demands were often made. I transferred the naval obligations from needy to well-to-do people, and so the duty was always discharged. I also claim credit for the very fact that all the measures I adopted brought renown and distinction and strength to the city, and that no measure of mine was invidious, or vexatious, or spiteful, or shabby and unworthy of Athens.
[109] ταὐτὸ τοίνυν ἦθος ἔχων ἔν τε τοῖς κατὰ τὴν πόλιν πολιτεύμασι καὶ ἐν τοῖς Ἑλληνικοῖς φανήσομαι: οὔτε γὰρ ἐν τῇ πόλει τὰς παρὰ τῶν πλουσίων χάριτας μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ τῶν πολλῶν δίκαι᾽ εἱλόμην, οὔτ᾽ ἐν τοῖς Ἑλληνικοῖς τὰ Φιλίππου δῶρα καὶ τὴν ξενίαν ἠγάπησα ἀντὶ τῶν κοινῇ πᾶσι τοῖς Ἕλλησι συμφερόντων.
[109] You will find that I maintained the same character both in domestic and in Hellenic policy. At home I never preferred the gratitude of the rich to the claims of the poor; in foreign affairs I never coveted the gifts and the friendship of Philip rather than the common interests of all Greece.
[110] ἡγοῦμαι τοίνυν λοιπὸν εἶναί μοι περὶ τοῦ κηρύγματος εἰπεῖν καὶ τῶν εὐθυνῶν: τὸ γὰρ ὡς τἄριστά τ᾽ ἔπραττον καὶ διὰ παντὸς εὔνους εἰμὶ καὶ πρόθυμος εὖ ποιεῖν ὑμᾶς, ἱκανῶς ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων δεδηλῶσθαί μοι νομίζω. καίτοι τὰ μέγιστά γε τῶν πεπολιτευμένων καὶ πεπραγμένων ἐμαυτῷ παραλείπω, ὑπολαμβάνων πρῶτον μὲν ἐφεξῆς τοὺς περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ παρανόμου λόγους ἀποδοῦναί με δεῖν, εἶτα, κἂν μηδὲν εἴπω περὶ τῶν λοιπῶν πολιτευμάτων, ὁμοίως παρ᾽ ὑμῶν ἑκάστῳ τὸ συνειδὸς ὑπάρχειν μοι.
[110] My remaining task, I think, is to speak of the proclamation and of the audit; for I hope that what I have already said has been sufficient to satisfy you that my policy was the best, and that I have been the people’s friend, and zealous in your service. Yet I pass by the most important of my public actions, first, because I conceive that my next duty is to submit my explanations in respect of the actual charge of illegality, secondly, because, though I say nothing further about the rest of my policy, your own knowledge will serve my purpose equally well.
[111] τῶν μὲν οὖν λόγων, οὓς οὗτος ἄνω καὶ κάτω διακυκῶν ἔλεγε περὶ τῶν παραγεγραμμένων νόμων, οὔτε μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς ὑμᾶς οἶμαι μανθάνειν οὔτ᾽ αὐτὸς ἐδυνάμην συνεῖναι τοὺς πολλούς: ἁπλῶς δὲ τὴν ὀρθὴν περὶ τῶν δικαίων
διαλέξομαι. τοσούτου γὰρ δέω λέγειν ὡς οὐκ εἴμ᾽ ὑπεύθυνος, ὃ νῦν οὗτος διέβαλλε καὶ διωρίζετο, ὥσθ᾽ ἅπαντα τὸν βίον ὑπεύθυνος εἶναι ὁμολογῶ ὧν ἢ διακεχείρικ᾽ ἢ πεπολίτευμαι παρ᾽ ὑμῖν.
[111] As for Aeschines’ topsy-turvy miscellany of arguments about the statutes transcribed for comparison, I vow to Heaven that I do not believe that you understand the greater part of them, and I am sure they were quite unintelligible to me. I can only offer a plain, straightforward plea on the rights of the matter. So far from claiming, as he invidiously suggested just now, that I am not to be called to account, I fully admit that all my life long I have been accountable for all my official acts and public counsels;
[112] ὧν μέντοι γ᾽ ἐκ τῆς ἰδίας οὐσίας ἐπαγγειλάμενος δέδωκα τῷ δήμῳ, οὐδεμίαν ἡμέραν ὑπεύθυνος εἶναί φημι （ἀκούεις Αἰσχίνη;） οὐδ᾽ ἄλλον οὐδένα, οὐδ᾽ ἂν τῶν ἐννέ᾽ ἀρχόντων τις ὢν τύχῃ. τίς γάρ ἐστι νόμος τοσαύτης ἀδικίας καὶ μισανθρωπίας μεστὸς ὥστε τὸν δόντα τι τῶν ἰδίων καὶ ποιήσαντα πρᾶγμα φιλάνθρωπον καὶ φιλόδωρον τῆς χάριτος μὲν ἀποστερεῖν, εἰς τοὺς συκοφάντας δ᾽ ἄγειν, καὶ τούτους ἐπὶ τὰς εὐθύνας ὧν ἔδωκεν ἐφιστάναι; οὐδὲ εἷς. εἰ δέ φησιν οὗτος, δειξάτω, κἀγὼ στέρξω καὶ σιωπήσομαι.