by Demosthenes
[4] I will, then, suggest a method by which you may nevertheless reach a just conclusion and give a righteous verdict today. By consideration among yourselves, gentlemen, you should form a true conception of what should be included in the vindication which the state requires of any ambassador. He is responsible then, in the first place, for the reports he has made; secondly, for the advice he has offered; thirdly, for his observance of your instructions; then there is the question of times and opportunities; and, to crown all, whether he has done his business corruptly or with integrity.
[5] τί δήποτε τούτων; ὅτι ἐκ μὲν τῶν ἀπαγγελιῶν τὸ βουλεύσασθαι περὶ τῶν πραγμάτων ὑμῖν ἐστίν: ἂν μὲν οὖν ὦσιν ἀληθεῖς, τὰ δέοντ᾽ ἔγνωτε, ἂν δὲ μὴ τοιαῦται, τἀναντία. τὰς δὲ συμβουλίας πιστοτέρας ὑπολαμβάνετ᾽ εἶναι τὰς τῶν πρέσβεων: ὡς γὰρ εἰδότων περὶ ὧν ἐπέμφθησαν ἀκούετε: οὐδὲν οὖν ἐξελέγχεσθαι δίκαιός ἐστιν ὁ πρεσβευτὴς φαῦλον οὐδ᾽ ἀσύμφορον ὑμῖν συμβεβουλευκώς.
[5] Why are these the topics of inquiry? Your conclusions are derived from the ambassador’s reports: you reach a right decision if they are true, a wrong decision if they are false. The advice of ambassadors you regard as the more trustworthy because it is given by men who presumably understand their own mission.
[6] καὶ μὴν περὶ ὧν γε προσετάξατ᾽ εἰπεῖν ἢ πρᾶξαι καὶ διαρρήδην ἐψηφίσασθε ποιῆσαι, προσήκει διῳκηκέναι. εἶεν: τῶν δὲ δὴ χρόνων διὰ τί; ὅτι πολλάκις, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, συμβαίνει πολλῶν πραγμάτων καὶ μεγάλων καιρὸν ἐν βραχεῖ χρόνῳ γίγνεσθαι, ὃν ἄν τις ἑκὼν καθυφῇ τοῖς ἐναντίοις καὶ προδῷ, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ὁτιοῦν ποιῇ πάλιν οἷός τ᾽ ἔσται σῶσαι.
[6] No ambassador, then, ought ever to be convicted of defective or mischievous counsels. Thirdly, when he has been expressly instructed what to say and what to do by resolution of the Assembly, it is his duty to conduct his business according to such instructions. Very well; but how does the question of time arise? Because, men of Athens, in important transactions opportunities are often short-lived: once willfully surrendered and betrayed to the enemy, they cannot be recovered, do what you will.
[7] ἀλλὰ μὴν ὑπέρ γε τοῦ προῖκ᾽ ἢ μή, τὸ μὲν ἐκ τούτων λαμβάνειν, ἐξ ὧν ἡ πόλις βλάπτεται, πάντες οἶδ᾽ ὅτι φήσαιτ᾽ ἂν εἶναι δεινὸν καὶ πολλῆς ὀργῆς ἄξιον: ὁ μέντοι τὸν νόμον τιθεὶς οὐ διώρισεν τοῦτο, ἀλλ᾽ ἁπλῶς εἶπε μηδαμῶς δῶρα λαμβάνειν, ἡγούμενος, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, τὸν ἅπαξ λαβόντα καὶ διαφθαρένθ᾽ ὑπὸ χρημάτων οὐδὲ κριτὴν ἔτι τῶν συμφερόντων ἀσφαλῆ μένειν τῇ πόλει.
[7] Next, as for the question of bribery or no bribery, of course you are agreed that it is a scandalous and abominable offence to accept money for acts injurious to the commonwealth. The author of the statute, however, made no such distinction; he forbade the acceptance of rewards absolutely, holding, as I suppose, that the man who takes them and is thereby corrupted can no longer be trusted by the state as a judge of sound policy.
[8] ἂν μὲν τοίνυν ἐξελέγξω καὶ δείξω σαφῶς Αἰσχίνην τουτονὶ καὶ μηδὲν ἀληθὲς ἀπηγγελκότα καὶ κεκωλυκότ᾽ ἐμοῦ τὸν δῆμον ἀκοῦσαι τἀληθῆ, καὶ πάντα τἀναντία τῶν συμφερόντων συμβεβουλευκότα, καὶ μηδὲν ὧν προσετάξατ᾽ ἐν τῇ πρεσβείᾳ πεποιηκότα, καὶ ἀνηλωκότα τοὺς χρόνους ἐν οἷς πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων πραγμάτων καιροὶ προεῖνται τῇ πόλει, καὶ πάντων τούτων δῶρα καὶ μισθοὺς εἰληφότα μετὰ Φιλοκράτους, καταψηφίσασθ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ δίκην ἀξίαν τῶν ἀδικημάτων λάβετε: ἂν δὲ μὴ δείξω ταῦτα, ἢ μὴ πάντα, ἐμὲ μὲν φαῦλον ἡγεῖσθε τοῦτον δ᾽ ἄφετε.
[8] If, then, I can establish by clear proofs that the reports of the defendant, Aeschines, were entirely untruthful, and that he prevented the Assembly from hearing the truth from me; that his counsels were totally opposed to your true interests; that he disobeyed all your instructions when on embassy; that by his waste of time many important opportunities were lost to the city; and finally that for all these delinquencies he, as well as Philocrates, accepted presents and rewards; pronounce him guilty and exact a penalty adequate to his crimes. But if I fail to prove all these five charges, or any one of them, then call me an impostor, and acquit him.
[9] πολλὰ δὲ καὶ δεινὰ κατηγορεῖν ἔχων ἔτι πρὸς τούτοις ἕτερ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἐξ ὧν οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ ὅστις ἂν οὐκ εἰκότως μισήσειεν αὐτόν, βούλομαι πρὸ πάντων ὧν μέλλω λέγειν μνημονεύοντας ὑμῶν οἶδ᾽ ὅτι τοὺς πολλοὺς ὑπομνῆσαι, τίνα τάξιν ἑαυτὸν ἔταξεν Αἰσχίνης ἐν τῇ πολιτείᾳ τὸ πρῶτον, καὶ τίνας λόγους κατὰ τοῦ Φιλίππου δημηγορεῖν ᾤετο δεῖν, ἵν᾽ εἰδῆθ᾽ ὅτι τοῖς ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ πεπραγμένοις καὶ δεδημηγορημένοις ἐν ἀρχῇ μάλιστ᾽ ἐξελεγχθήσεται δῶρ᾽ ἔχων.
[9] I have many further charges to add, such as must excite universal abhorrence; but, by way of preface, I will first remind you of what doubtless most of you remember, — of the party with which Aeschines at first ranged himself in politics, and of the speeches which he thought fit to make in opposition to Philip. In this way I hope to satisfy you that his early acts and speeches supply abundant proof of his present corruption.
[10] ἔστι τοίνυν οὗτος ὁ πρῶτος Ἀθηναίων αἰσθόμενος Φίλιππον, ὡς τότε δημηγορῶν ἔφη, ἐπιβουλεύοντα τοῖς Ἕλλησι καὶ διαφθείροντά τινας τῶν ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ προεστηκότων, καὶ ἔχων Ἴσχανδρον τὸν Νεοπτολέμου δευτεραγωνιστήν, προσιὼν μὲν τῇ βουλῇ, προσιὼν δὲ τῷ δήμῳ περὶ τούτων, καὶ πείσας ὑμᾶς πανταχοῖ πρέσβεις πέμψαι τοὺς συνάξοντας δεῦρο τοὺς βουλευσομένους περὶ τοῦ πρὸς Φίλιππον πολέμου,
[10] Aeschines, then, was the first man in Athens, as he claimed at the time in a speech, to perceive that Philip had designs against Greece, and was corrupting some of the magnates of Arcadia. It was he who, with Ischander, son of Neoptolemus, as his understudy, addressed the Council, and addressed the Assembly, on this subject, and persuaded them to send ambassadors to all the Greek states to convene a conference at Athens for the consideration of war with Philip.
[11] καὶ ἀπαγγέλλων μετὰ ταῦθ᾽ ἥκων ἐξ Ἀρκαδίας τοὺς καλοὺς ἐκείνους καὶ μακροὺς λόγους, οὓς ἐν τοῖς μυρίοις ἐν Μεγάλῃ πόλει πρὸς Ἱερώνυμον τὸν ὑπὲρ Φιλίππου λέγοντα ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ἔφη δεδημηγορηκέναι, καὶ διεξιὼν ἡλίκα τὴν Ἑλλάδα πᾶσαν, οὐχὶ τὰς ἰδίας ἀδικοῦσι μόνον πατρίδας οἱ δωροδοκοῦντες �
�αὶ χρήματα λαμβάνοντες παρὰ Φιλίππου.
[11] It was he who afterwards, on his return from Arcadia, gave a report of the fine long orations which he said he had delivered as your spokesman before the Ten Thousand at Megalopolis in reply to Philip’s champion Hieronymus, and he made a long story of the enormous harm which corrupt statesmen in the pay of Philip were doing not only to their own countries but to the whole of Greece.
[12] ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ταῦτα πολιτευομένου τούτου τότε καὶ τοῦτο τὸ δεῖγμ᾽ ἐξενηνοχότος περὶ αὑτοῦ, τοὺς περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης πρέσβεις πέμπειν ὡς Φίλιππον ἐπείσθητε ὑπ᾽ Ἀριστοδήμου καὶ Νεοπτολέμου καὶ Κτησιφῶντος καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν ἐκεῖθεν ἀπαγγελλόντων οὐδ᾽ ὁτιοῦν ὑγιές, γίγνεται τῶν πρέσβεων τούτων εἷς καὶ οὗτος, οὐχ ὡς τῶν ἀποδωσομένων τὰ ὑμέτερα, οὐδ᾽ ὡς τῶν πεπιστευκότων τῷ Φιλίππῳ, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς τῶν φυλαξόντων τοὺς ἄλλους: διὰ γὰρ τοὺς προειρημένους λόγους καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸν Φίλιππον ἀπέχθειαν ταύτην εἰκότως περὶ αὐτοῦ πάντες εἴχετε τὴν δόξαν.
[12] So on the strength of his policy at that time, and of the sample he had exhibited of his conduct, he was actually appointed as one of the ambassadors when you were induced by Aristodemus, Neoptolemus, Ctesiphon and others, who had brought entirely misleading reports from Macedonia, to send an embassy to negotiate peace with Philip. He was chosen, not as one who would make traffic of your interests, not as one who had any confidence in Philip, but as one of the party that was to keep an eye on the rest, for in view of his early speeches, and of his known hostility to Philip, it was natural that you should all have such an opinion of the man.
[13] προσελθὼν τοίνυν ἐμοὶ μετὰ ταῦτα συνετάττετο κοινῇ πρεσβεύειν, καὶ ὅπως τὸν μιαρὸν καὶ ἀναιδῆ φυλάξομεν ἀμφότεροι, τὸν Φιλοκράτην, πολλὰ παρεκελεύσατο. καὶ μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρ᾽ ἐπανελθεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης πρεσβείας ἐμὲ γοῦν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, διεφθαρμένος καὶ πεπρακὼς ἑαυτὸν ἐλάνθανε. χωρὶς γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων ὧν, ὅπερ εἶπον, εἰρήκει πρότερον, ἀναστὰς τῇ προτέρᾳ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἐν αἷς περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης ἐβουλεύεσθε, ἤρξατ᾽ ἀρχήν, ἣν ἐγὼ καὶ τοῖς ῥήμασιν οἶμαι τοῖς αὐτοῖς οἷσπερ οὗτος εἶπεν ἐν ὑμῖν ἀπομνημονεύσειν.
[13] Then he came to me and proposed that we should act together on the embassy, being especially urgent that we should jointly keep watch upon that infamous scoundrel Philocrates. And until after our return from the first embassy I at least, men of Athens, had no suspicion that he was corrupt and had already sold himself. For apart from the speeches which, as I said, he had made on former occasions, he rose at the first of the two assemblies at which you discussed terms of peace, and began with an exordium which I believe I can repeat to you in the very words he used:
[14] ‘εἰ πάνυ πολὺν’ ἔφη ‘χρόνον ἐσκόπει Φιλοκράτης, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, πῶς ἂν ἄριστ᾽ ἐναντιωθείη τῇ εἰρήνῃ, οὐκ ἂν αὐτὸν ἄμεινον εὑρεῖν οἶμαι ἢ τοιαῦτα γράφοντα. ἐγὼ δὲ ταύτην μὲν τὴν εἰρήνην, ἕως ἂν εἷς Ἀθηναίων λείπηται, οὐδέποτ᾽ ἂν συμβουλεύσαιμι ποιήσασθαι τῇ πόλει, εἰρήνην μέντοι φημὶ δεῖν ποιεῖσθαι.’ καὶ τοιούτους τινὰς εἶπε βραχεῖς καὶ μετρίους λόγους.
[14] “If Philocrates, men of Athens, had given many days to studying how best he could thwart the peace, I do not think he could have found a better way than the present proposal. Such a peace as this I for one will never advise the city to make, so long as a single Athenian remains alive; yet I do say that we ought to make peace.” In such terms he spoke, concisely and with moderation.
[15] ὁ δὲ ταῦτ᾽ εἰπὼν τῇ προτεραίᾳ πάντων ἀκουόντων ὑμῶν, εἰς τὴν ὑστεραίαν, ἐν ᾗ τὴν εἰρήνην ἔδει κυροῦσθαι, ἐμοῦ τῷ τῶν συμμάχων συνηγοροῦντος δόγματι καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην ὅπως ἴση καὶ δικαία γενήσεται πράττοντος, καὶ ὑμῶν βουλομένων ταῦτα καὶ οὐδὲ φωνὴν ἐθελόντων ἀκούειν τοῦ καταπτύστου Φιλοκράτους, ἀναστὰς ἐδημηγόρει καὶ συνηγόρει ‘κείνῳ πολλῶν ἀξίους,
[15] And then on the next day, when the peace was to be ratified, when I supported the resolutions of our allies, and did what I could to secure fair and equitable terms, and when the people sympathized with my purpose and refused to hear a word from the contemptible Philocrates, up jumped the very man who had made the speech I have quoted in the head of all of you only the day before, and addressed you in support of Philocrates,
[16] ὦ Ζεῦ καὶ πάντες θεοί, θανάτων λόγους, ὡς οὔτε τῶν προγόνων ὑμᾶς μεμνῆσθαι δέοι οὔτε τῶν τὰ τρόπαια καὶ τὰς ναυμαχίας λεγόντων ἀνέχεσθαι, νόμον τε θήσειν καὶ γράψειν μηδενὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὑμᾶς βοηθεῖν, ὃς ἂν μὴ πρότερος βεβοηθηκὼς ὑμῖν ᾖ. καὶ ταῦθ᾽ ὁ σχέτλιος καὶ ἀναιδὴς οὗτος ἐτόλμα λέγειν ἐφεστηκότων τῶν πρέσβεων καὶ ἀκουόντων, οὓς ἀπὸ τῶν Ἑλλήνων μετεπέμψασθε ὑπὸ τούτου πεισθέντες, ὅτ᾽ οὔπω πεπρακὼς αὑτὸν ἦν.
[16] using language for which, as Heaven is my witness, he deserves to die many times over. He told you that you ought to forget the achievements of your forefathers; that you should not tolerate all that talk about old trophies and sea-fights; and that he would draft and enact a law forbidding aid to any Greeks who had not previously brought aid to you. This speech the shameless reprobate found courage to make while the ambassadors, whom you summoned from the Greek cities at his own suggestion, before he had sold himself, were standing at his elbow and listening to what he said.
[17] ὃν μὲν οὖν τρόπον, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, χειροτονησάντων ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τοὺς ὅρκους αὐτὸν πάλιν τούς τε χρόνους κατέτριψε καὶ τὰ πράγματα πάντ᾽ ἐλυμήνατο τὰ τῆς πόλεως, καὶ ὅσαι περὶ τούτων ἐμοὶ πρὸς τοῦτον ἀπέχθειαι συνέβησαν βουλομένῳ κωλύειν, αὐτίκ᾽ ἀκούσεσθε. ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ πάλιν ἥκομεν ἐκ τῆς πρεσβείας ταύτης τῆς ἐπὶ τοὺς ὅρκους, ἧσπερ εἰσὶν αἱ νῦν εὔθυναι, οὔτε μικρὸν οὔτε μέγ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ὁτιοῦν εὑρημένοι τῶν ὅτε τὴν εἰρήνην ἐποιεῖσθε λεχθέντων καὶ προσδοκηθέντων, ἀλλὰ πάντ᾽ ἐξηπατημένοι, καὶ τούτων ἕτερ᾽ αὖθις αὖ πεπραχότων καὶ παρ᾽ αὐτὸ τὸ ψήφισμα πεπρεσβευκότων, προσῇμεν τῇ βουλῇ. καὶ ταυτὶ πολλοὶ συνίσασιν ἃ μέλλω λέγειν: τὸ γὰρ βουλευτήριον μεστὸν ἦν ἰδιωτῶν.
[17] Well, you appointed him a second time, men of Athens, a
s an envoy to receive the oath of ratification; and I shall shortly have to tell you how he again wasted time, mishandled all the affairs of the commonwealth, and repeatedly fell out with me in regard to them when I tried to stand in his way. However, by reason of the persistent misconduct of these men, and their disobedience to instructions, we came back from the embassy for the oaths — that is the embassy which is the subject of the present scrutiny — without having realized any single one, great or small, of the advantages which were promised or expected when you approved the peace, — with nothing but deception and disappointment. Then we repaired to the Council. There are many eye-witnesses of what I am about to relate, for the Council-house was thronged with spectators.
[18] παρελθὼν δ᾽ ἐγὼ πάντα τἀληθῆ πρὸς τὴν βουλὴν ἀπήγγειλα, καὶ κατηγόρησα τούτων, καὶ ἀνηριθμησάμην ἀπὸ τῶν πρώτων ἐλπίδων ἐκείνων ὧν ὁ Κτησιφῶν καὶ ὁ Ἀριστόδημος ἀπήγγειλαν πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα, ὅτε τὴν εἰρήνην ἐποιεῖσθε, ἃ οὗτος ἐδημηγόρησε καὶ εἰς ἃ προήχασι τὴν πόλιν, καὶ περὶ τῶν ὑπολοίπων （ταῦτα δ᾽ ἦν Φωκεῖς καὶ Πύλαι） μὴ προέσθαι συνεβούλευον, μηδὲ ταὐτὰ παθεῖν, μηδ᾽ ἀναρτωμένους ἐλπίσιν ἐξ ἐλπίδων καὶ ὑποσχέσεσιν εἰς τοὔσχατον ἐλθεῖν τὰ πράγματ᾽ ἐᾶσαι. καὶ ἔπεισα ταῦτα τὴν βουλήν.