by Demosthenes
[186] “Furthermore, the People of Athens regard the people of Thebes as in no way alien either in race or in nationality. They remember the services rendered by their own ancestors to the ancestors of the Thebans, for, when the sons of Heracles were dispossessed by the Peloponnesians of their paternal dominion, they restored them, overcoming in battle those who were trying to oppose the descendants of Heracles; and we harbored Oedipus and his family when they were banished; and many other notable acts of kindness have we done to the Thebans.”
[187] διόπερ οὐδὲ νῦν ἀποστήσεται ὁ Ἀθηναίων δῆμος τῶν Θηβαίοις τε καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις Ἕλλησι συμφερόντων. συνθέσθαι δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς καὶ συμμαχίαν καὶ ἐπιγαμίαν ποιήσασθαι καὶ ὅρκους δοῦναι καὶ λαβεῖν. πρέσβεις Δημοσθένης Δημοσθένους Παιανιεύς, Ὑπερείδης Κλεάνδρου Σφήττιος, Μνησιθείδης Ἀντιφάνους Φρεάρριος, Δημοκράτης Σωφίλου Φλυεύς, Κάλλαισχρος Διοτίμου Κοθωκίδης.”
[187] “Therefore now also the people of Athens will not desert the cause of Thebes and the other Greeks. An alliance shall be arranged with them, and rights of intermarriage established, and oaths exchanged. — Ambassadors appointed: Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes, of Paeania, Hypereides, son of Cleander, of Sphettus, Mnesitheides, son of Antiphanes, of Phrearrii, Democrates, son of Sophilus, of Phlya, Callaeschrus, son of Diotimus, of Cothocidae.]”
[188] αὕτη τῶν περὶ Θήβας ἐγίγνετο πραγμάτων ἀρχὴ καὶ κατάστασις πρώτη, τὰ πρὸ τούτων εἰς ἔχθραν καὶ μῖσος καὶ ἀπιστίαν τῶν πόλεων ὑπηγμένων ὑπὸ τούτων. τοῦτο τὸ ψήφισμα τὸν τότε τῇ πόλει περιστάντα κίνδυνον παρελθεῖν ἐποίησεν ὥσπερ νέφος. ἦν μὲν τοίνυν τοῦ δικαίου πολίτου τότε δεῖξαι πᾶσιν, εἴ τι τούτων εἶχεν ἄμεινον, μὴ νῦν ἐπιτιμᾶν.
[188] Such was the first beginning and such the basis of our negotiations with Thebes; the first, I say, for hitherto the two cities had been dragged by these men into mutual enmity, hatred, and distrust. The decree was made, and the danger that environed the city passed away like a summer cloud. Then was the time therefore for an honest man to point, if he could, to a better way; now cavilling comes too late.
[189] ὁ γὰρ σύμβουλος καὶ ὁ συκοφάντης, οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων οὐδὲν ἐοικότες, ἐν τούτῳ πλεῖστον ἀλλήλων διαφέρουσιν: ὁ μέν γε πρὸ τῶν πραγμάτων γνώμην ἀποφαίνεται, καὶ δίδωσιν ἑαυτὸν ὑπεύθυνον τοῖς πεισθεῖσι, τῇ τύχῃ, τῷ καιρῷ, τῷ βουλομένῳ: ὁ δὲ σιγήσας ἡνίκ᾽ ἔδει λέγειν, ἄν τι δύσκολον συμβῇ, τοῦτο βασκαίνει.
[189] That is the salient difference between the statesman and the charlatan, who are indeed in all respects unlike one another. The statesman declares his judgement before the event, and accepts responsibility to his followers, to fortune, to the chances of the hour, to every critic of his policy. The charlatan holds his peace when he ought to speak, and then croaks over any untoward result.
[190] ἦν μὲν οὖν, ὅπερ εἶπον, ἐκεῖνος ὁ καιρὸς τοῦ γε φροντίζοντος ἀνδρὸς τῆς πόλεως καὶ τῶν δικαίων λόγων: ἐγὼ δὲ τοσαύτην ὑπερβολὴν ποιοῦμαι ὥστε, ἂν νῦν ἔχῃ τις δεῖξαί τι βέλτιον, ἢ ὅλως εἴ τι ἄλλ᾽ ἐνῆν πλὴν ὧν ἐγὼ προειλόμην, ἀδικεῖν ὁμολογῶ. εἰ γὰρ ἔσθ᾽ ὅ τι τις νῦν ἑόρακεν, ὃ συνήνεγκεν ἂν τότε πραχθέν, τοῦτ᾽ ἐγώ φημι δεῖν ἐμὲ μὴ λαθεῖν. εἰ δὲ μήτ᾽ ἔστι μήτ᾽ ἦν μήτ᾽ ἂν εἰπεῖν ἔχοι μηδεὶς μηδέπω καὶ τήμερον, τί τὸν σύμβουλον ἐχρῆν ποιεῖν; οὐ τῶν φαινομένων καὶ ἐνόντων τὰ κράτισθ᾽ ἑλέσθαι;
[190] That then, as I said, was the opportunity for any man who cared for Athens or for honest discussion. But I will make a large concession. If even now any man can point to a better way, nay, if any policy whatever, save mine, was even praticable, I plead guilty. If anyone has now discerned any course which might have been taken profitably then, I admit that I ought not to have missed it. But if there is none, if there never was any, if to this very day no one is able to name any, what was a statesman to do? Surely to choose the best policy among those that were visible and feasible.
[191] τοῦτο τοίνυν ἐποίησα, τοῦ κήρυκος ἐρωτῶντος, Αἰσχίνη, ‘τίς ἀγορεύειν βούλεται,’ οὐ ‘τίς αἰτιᾶσθαι περὶ τῶν παρεληλυθότων,’ οὐδὲ ‘τίς ἐγγυᾶσθαι τὰ μέλλοντ᾽ ἔσεσθαι’; σοῦ δ᾽ ἀφώνου κατ᾽ ἐκείνους τοὺς χρόνους ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις καθημένου, ἐγὼ παριὼν ἔλεγον. ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ οὐ τότε, ἀλλὰ νῦν δεῖξον. εἰπὲ τίς ἢ λόγος, ὅντιν᾽ ἐχρῆν εὐπορεῖν, ἢ καιρὸς συμφέρων ὑπ᾽ ἐμοῦ παρελείφθη τῇ πόλει; τίς δὲ συμμαχία, τίς πρᾶξις, ἐφ᾽ ἣν μᾶλλον ἔδει μ᾽ ἀγαγεῖν τουτουσί;
[191] That is what I did, Aeschines, when the marshal put the question, “Who wishes to speak?” He did not ask, “Who wishes to rake up old grievances?” or, “Who wishes to be answerable for the future?” In those days you sat speechless at every assembly; I came forward and spoke. You had nothing to say then; very well, — show us our duty now. Tell me what plan I ought to have discovered. Tell me what favorable opportunity was lost to the state by my default. Tell me of any alliance, or any negotiation, to which I ought by preference to have introduced the people.
[192] ἀλλὰ μὴν τὸ μὲν παρεληλυθὸς ἀεὶ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀφεῖται, καὶ οὐδεὶς περὶ τούτου προτίθησιν οὐδαμοῦ βουλήν: τὸ δὲ μέλλον ἢ τὸ παρὸν τὴν τοῦ συμβούλου τάξιν ἀπαιτεῖ. τότε τοίνυν τὰ μὲν ἔμελλεν, ὡς ἐδόκει, τῶν δεινῶν, τὰ δ᾽ ἤδη παρῆν, ἐν οἷς τὴν προαίρεσίν μου σκόπει τῆς πολιτείας, μὴ τὰ συμβάντα συκοφάντει. τὸ μὲν γὰρ πέρας ὡς ἂν ὁ δαίμων βουληθῇ πάντων γίγνεται: ἡ δὲ προαίρεσις αὐτὴ τὴν τοῦ συμβούλου διάνοιαν δηλοῖ.
[192] Bygones are bygones, all the world over. No one proposes deliberation about the past; it is the present and the future that call the statesman to his post. And at that time, as we all thought, there were future perils and there were present perils. Look at the policy I chose in the light of those perils; do not carp at results. The issue depends on the will of a higher Power; the mind of the statesman is manifested in his policy.
[193] μὴ δὴ τοῦθ᾽ ὡς ἀδίκημ᾽ ἐμὸν θῇς, εἰ κρατῆσαι συνέβη Φιλίππῳ τῇ μάχῃ: ἐν γὰρ τῷ θεῷ τὸ τούτου τέλος ἦν, οὐκ ἐμοί. ἀλλ᾽ ὡς οὐχ ἅπανθ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἐνῆν κατ᾽ ἀνθρώπινον λογισμὸν εἱλόμην, καὶ δικαίως ταῦτα καὶ ἐπιμελῶς ἔπραξα καὶ φιλοπόνως ὑπὲρ δύναμιν, ἢ ὡς οὐ καλὰ καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἄξια πράγματ᾽ ἐνεστησάμην καὶ ἀναγκαῖα, ταῦτά μοι δεῖξον, καὶ τότ᾽ ἤδη κατηγό
ρει μου.
[193] You must not accuse me of crime, because Philip happened to win the battle; for the event was in God’s hands, not mine. Show me that I did not adopt, as far as human calculation could go, all the measures that were practicable, or that I did not carry them out with honesty and diligence, and with an industry that overtaxed my strength; or else show me that the enterprises I initiated were not honor able, worthy of Athens, and inevitable. Prove that, and then denounce me; but not till then.
[194] εἰ δ᾽ ὁ συμβὰς σκηπτὸς ἢ χειμὼν μὴ μόνον ἡμῶν ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντων τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων μείζων γέγονε, τί χρὴ ποιεῖν; ὥσπερ ἂν εἴ τις ναύκληρον πάντ᾽ ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ πράξαντα καὶ κατασκευάσαντα τὸ πλοῖον ἀφ᾽ ὧν ὑπελάμβανε σωθήσεσθαι, εἶτα χειμῶνι χρησάμενον καὶ πονησάντων αὐτῷ τῶν σκευῶν ἢ καὶ συντριβέντων ὅλως, τῆς ναυαγίας αἰτιῷτο. ἀλλ᾽ οὔτ᾽ ἐκυβέρνων τὴν ναῦν, φήσειεν ἄν （ὥσπερ οὐδ᾽ ἐστρατήγουν ἐγώ）, οὔτε τῆς τύχης κύριος ἦν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκείνη τῶν πάντων.
[194] If the hurricane that burst upon us has been too strong, not for us alone, but for every Hellenic state, — what then? As if a shipowner, who had done everything in his power for a prosperous voyage, who had equipped his craft with every appliance he could think of to ensure her safety, should encounter a great storm, and then, because his tackle was overstrained or even shattered, should be accused of the crime of shipwreck! “But,” he might say, “I was not at the helm” — nor was I in command of the army— “and I could not control fortune, but fortune controls all.”
[195] ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνο λογίζου καὶ ὅρα: εἰ μετὰ Θηβαίων ἡμῖν ἀγωνιζομένοις οὕτως εἵμαρτο πρᾶξαι, τί χρῆν προσδοκᾶν εἰ μηδὲ τούτους ἔσχομεν συμμάχους ἀλλὰ Φιλίππῳ προσέθεντο, ὑπὲρ οὗ τότ᾽ ἐκεῖνος πάσας ἀφῆκε φωνάς; καὶ εἰ νῦν τριῶν ἡμερῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ὁδὸν τῆς μάχης γενομένης τοσοῦτος κίνδυνος καὶ φόβος περιέστη τὴν πόλιν, τί ἄν, εἴ που τῆς χώρας ταὐτὸ τοῦτο πάθος συνέβη, προσδοκῆσαι χρῆν; ἆρ᾽ οἶσθ᾽ ὅτι νῦν μὲν στῆναι, συνελθεῖν, ἀναπνεῦσαι, πολλὰ μί᾽ ἡμέρα καὶ δύο καὶ τρεῖς ἔδοσαν τῶν εἰς σωτηρίαν τῇ πόλει, τότε δ᾽ — οὐκ ἄξιον εἰπεῖν, ἅ γε μηδὲ πεῖραν ἔδωκε θεῶν τινὸς εὐνοίᾳ καὶ τῷ προβαλέσθαι τὴν πόλιν ταύτην τὴν συμμαχίαν, ἧς σὺ κατηγορεῖς.
[195] Here is another point for your consideration. If we were destined to disaster when we fought with the Thebans at our side, what were we to expect if we had lacked even that alliance, and if they had joined Philip, a union for which he exerted all his powers of appeal? And if, after a battle fought three days’ march from the frontier, such danger and such alarm beset the city, what must we have expected after suffering the same defeat within our own borders? Do you not see that, as it was, one, or two, or three days gave the city time for resistance, concentration, recovery, for much that made for deliverance; as it might have been — but I will not mention an experience that we were spared by divine favor, and by the protection of that very alliance which you denounce.
[196] ἔστι δὲ ταυτὶ πάντα μοι, τὰ πολλά, πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ τοὺς περιεστηκότας ἔξωθεν καὶ ἀκροωμένους, ἐπεὶ πρός γε τοῦτον τὸν κατάπτυστον βραχὺς καὶ σαφὴς ἐξήρκει λόγος. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἦν σοὶ πρόδηλα τὰ μέλλοντ᾽, Αἰσχίνη, μόνῳ τῶν ἄλλων, ὅτ᾽ ἐβουλεύεθ᾽ ἡ πόλις περὶ τούτων, τότ᾽ ἔδει προλέγειν: εἰ δὲ μὴ προῄδεις, τῆς αὐτῆς ἀγνοίας ὑπεύθυνος εἶ τοῖς ἄλλοις, ὥστε τί μᾶλλον ἐμοῦ σὺ ταῦτα κατηγορεῖς ἢ ἐγὼ σοῦ;
[196] Gentlemen of the jury, all this long story is intended for you, and for that circle of hearers outside the barrier. For this contemptible fellow, I have a short, plain, and sufficient answer. Aeschines, if the future was revealed to you and to nobody else, you should have given us the benefit of your predictions when we were deliberating; if you had no foreknowledge, you are open to the charge of ignorance just like the rest of us. Then what better right have you to denounce me than I to denounce you?
[197] τοσοῦτον γὰρ ἀμείνων ἐγὼ σοῦ πολίτης γέγον᾽ εἰς αὐτὰ ταῦθ᾽ ἃ λέγω （καὶ οὔπω περὶ τῶν ἄλλων διαλέγομαι）, ὅσον ἐγὼ μὲν ἔδωκ᾽ ἐμαυτὸν εἰς τὰ πᾶσι δοκοῦντα συμφέρειν, οὐδένα κίνδυνον ὀκνήσας ἴδιον οὐδ᾽ ὑπολογισάμενος, σὺ δ᾽ οὔθ᾽ ἕτερ᾽ εἶπες βελτίω τούτων （οὐ γὰρ ἂν τούτοις ἐχρῶντο）, οὔτ᾽ εἰς ταῦτα χρήσιμον οὐδὲν σαυτὸν παρέσχες, ὅπερ δ᾽ ἂν ὁ φαυλότατος καὶ δυσμενέστατος ἄνθρωπος τῇ πόλει, τοῦτο πεποιηκὼς ἐπὶ τοῖς συμβᾶσιν ἐξήτασαι, καὶ ἅμ᾽ Ἀρίστρατος ἐν Νάξῳ καὶ Ἀριστόλεως ἐν Θάσῳ, οἱ καθάπαξ ἐχθροὶ τῆς πόλεως, τοὺς Ἀθηναίων κρίνουσι φίλους καὶ Ἀθήνησιν Αἰσχίνης Δημοσθένους κατηγορεῖ.
[197] In respect of the business of which I am speaking — and at present I discuss nothing else — I am a better citizen than you, in so far as I devoted myself to a course of action that was unanimously approved, neither shirking nor even counting any personal danger. You made no more acceptable suggestion, otherwise mine would not have been adopted; and in carrying out mine you were not of the slightest use. You are proved after the event to have behaved throughout like a worthless and most unpatriotic citizen; and now, by a strange coincidence, those thorough-going enemies of Athens, Aristratus at Naxos and Aristolaus at Thasos, are bringing the friends of Athens to trial, while at Athens itself Aeschines is accusing Demosthenes.
[198] καίτοι ὅτῳ τὰ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἀτυχήματ᾽ ἐνευδοκιμεῖν ἀπέκειτο, ἀπολωλέναι μᾶλλον οὗτός ἐστι δίκαιος ἢ κατηγορεῖν ἑτέρου: καὶ ὅτῳ συνενηνόχασιν οἱ αὐτοὶ καιροὶ καὶ τοῖς τῆς πόλεως ἐχθροῖς, οὐκ ἔνι τοῦτον εὔνουν εἶναι τῇ πατρίδι. δηλοῖς δὲ καὶ ἐξ ὧν ζῇς καὶ ποιεῖς καὶ πολιτεύει καὶ πάλιν οὐ πολιτεύει. πράττεταί τι τῶν ὑμῖν δοκούντων συμφέρειν: ἄφωνος Αἰσχίνης. ἀντέκρουσέ τι καὶ γέγον᾽ οἷον οὐκ ἔδει: πάρεστιν Αἰσχίνης. ὥσπερ τὰ ῥήγματα καὶ τὰ σπάσματα, ὅταν τι κακὸν τὸ σῶμα λάβῃ, τότε κινεῖται.
[198] And yet he who built his reputation on the accumulated misfortunes of Greece deserves rather to perish himself than to prosecute his neighbor; and the man who has found his profit in the same emergencies as his country’s foes can make no claim to patriotism. You stand revealed in your life and conduct, in your public performances and also in your public abstinences. A project approved by the people is going forward. Aeschines is speechless. A regrettable incident is reported. Aeschines is in evidence. He reminds one
of an old sprain or fracture: the moment you are out of health it begins to be active.
[199] ἐπειδὴ δὲ πολὺς τοῖς συμβεβηκόσιν ἔγκειται, βούλομαί τι καὶ παράδοξον εἰπεῖν. καί μου πρὸς Διὸς καὶ θεῶν μηδεὶς τὴν ὑπερβολὴν θαυμάσῃ, ἀλλὰ μετ᾽ εὐνοίας ὃ λέγω θεωρησάτω. εἰ γὰρ ἦν ἅπασι πρόδηλα τὰ μέλλοντα γενήσεσθαι καὶ προῄδεσαν πάντες καὶ σὺ προὔλεγες, Αἰσχίνη, καὶ διεμαρτύρου βοῶν καὶ κεκραγώς, ὃς οὐδ᾽ ἐφθέγξω, οὐδ᾽ οὕτως ἀποστατέον τῇ πόλει τούτων ἦν, εἴπερ ἢ δόξης ἢ προγόνων ἢ τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος εἶχε λόγον.
[199] As he lays so much stress on results, let me venture on a paradox. If it seems extravagant, I beg that you will not be surprised, but that you will still give friendly consideration to what I am saying. Suppose that the future had been revealed to all of us, that every one had known what would happen, and that you, Aeschines, had predicted and protested, and shouted and stormed — though in fact you never opened your mouth — even then the city could not have departed from that policy, if she had any regard for honor, or for our ancestors, or for the days that are to come.