by Demosthenes
[18] I came forward and reported the whole truth to the Council. I denounced these men, and told the whole story, point by point, beginning with those earlier hopes created by the reports of Ctesiphon and Aristodemus, going on to the more recent orations of Aeschines at the approval of the peace, and showing to what straits they had reduced the city. There remained the question of the Phocians and Thermopylae, and we must not — such was my advice — we must not repeat our experience, and throw them overboard, and so, in reliance upon a succession of idle hopes and assurances, allow ourselves to fall into the last extremity of disaster. I convinced the Council;
[19] ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ ἧκεν ἡ ἐκκλησία καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔδει λέγειν, παρελθὼν Αἰσχίνης οὑτοσὶ πρῶτος ἡμῶν ἁπάντων （καὶ πρὸς Διὸς καὶ θεῶν πειρᾶσθε συνδιαμνημονεύειν ἂν ἀληθῆ λέγω: τὰ γὰρ πάντα τὰ πράγματα λυμηνάμεν᾽ ὑμῶν καὶ διαφθείρανθ᾽ ὅλως ταῦτ᾽ ἐστὶν ἤδη） τοῦ μὲν ἀπαγγέλλειν τι τῶν πεπρεσβευμένων ἢ περὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ βουλῇ ῥηθέντων, εἰ ἄρ᾽ ἠμφεσβήτει μὴ ἀληθῆ λέγειν ἐμέ, μνησθῆναι πάμπληθες ἀπέσχεν, εἶπε δὲ τοιούτους λόγους καὶ τηλικαῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτ᾽ ἔχοντας ἀγαθά, ὥσθ᾽ ἅπαντας ὑμᾶς λαβὼν ᾤχετο.
[19] but when the Assembly met, and we had to address the whole body of citizens, Aeschines took the first turn of all of us. And here I most earnestly entreat you to verify my account by your own recollections; for I am now relating transactions which ultimately brought your affairs to complete and final ruin. He utterly ignored the duty of giving a report of the doings of the embassy. He never mentioned the speeches made to the Council, or told you whether he disputed the truth of my statement. But he made such a fine speech, so full of big promises, that he carried you all away with him.
[20] ἔφη γὰρ ἥκειν πεπεικὼς Φίλιππον ἅπανθ᾽ ὅσα συμφέρει τῇ πόλει, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐν Ἀμφικτύοσι καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων, καὶ διεξῆλθε λόγον μακρὸν ὑμῖν, ὃν κατὰ Θηβαίων εἰπεῖν πρὸς Φίλιππον ἔφη, καὶ τὰ κεφάλαι᾽ ἀπήγγελλε πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ ἀπελογίζετ᾽ ἐκ τῶν αὑτῷ πεπρεσβευμένων δυοῖν ἢ τριῶν ἡμερῶν ὑμᾶς, μένοντας οἴκοι καὶ οὐ στρατευομένους οὐδ᾽ ἐνοχλουμένους, Θήβας μὲν πολιορκουμένας αὐτὰς καθ᾽ αὑτὰς χωρὶς τῆς ἄλλης Βοιωτίας ἀκούσεσθαι,
[20] For he declared that he had completely converted Philip to the interests of Athens in respect of the Amphictyonic question and of everything else. He went through a long diatribe against the Thebans, which he said he had addressed to Philip himself, recapitulating the main points. He offered you a calculation that, thanks to his diplomacy, without leaving your homes, without any campaigning or worry, within two or three days you would hear the news of the beleaguerment of Thebes, independently of the rest of Boeotia,
[21] Θεσπιὰς δὲ καὶ Πλαταιὰς οἰκιζομένας, τῷ θεῷ δὲ τὰ χρήματ᾽ εἰσπραττόμεν᾽ οὐ παρὰ Φωκέων, ἀλλὰ παρὰ Θηβαίων τῶν βουλευσάντων τὴν κατάληψιν τοῦ ἱεροῦ: διδάσκειν γὰρ αὐτὸς ἔφη τὸν Φίλιππον ὅτι οὐδὲν ἧττον ἠσεβήκασιν οἱ βεβουλευκότες τῶν ταῖς χερσὶ πραξάντων, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο χρήμαθ᾽ ἑαυτῷ τοὺς Θηβαίους ἐπικεκηρυχέναι.
[21] of the repopulation of Thespiae and Plataea, and of the recovery of Apollo’s treasure, not from the Phocians, but from the Thebans, who had planned the seizure of the temple. It was himself, he added, who had instructed Philip that those who contrived the project were quite as sacrilegious as the men by whose hands it was executed; and therefore the Thebans had set a price on his head!
[22] ἀκούειν δὲ καὶ τῶν Εὐβοέων ἐνίων ἔφη πεφοβημένων καὶ τεταραγμένων τὴν πρὸς τὴν πόλιν οἰκειότητα Φιλίππῳ γεγενημένην, ὅτι ‘οὐ λελήθαθ᾽ ἡμᾶς, ὦ ἄνδρες πρέσβεις, ἐφ᾽ οἷς πεποίησθε τὴν εἰρήνην πρὸς Φίλιππον, οὐδ᾽ ἀγνοοῦμεν ὅτι ὑμεῖς μὲν Ἀμφίπολιν δεδώκατ᾽ ἐκείνῳ, Φίλιππος δ᾽ ὑμῖν Εὔβοιαν ὡμολόγηκεν παραδώσειν.’ εἶναι μέντοι τι καὶ ἄλλο διῳκημένον αὑτῷ, οὐ μήν πω τοῦτο βούλεσθαι λέγειν: καὶ γὰρ νῦν φθονεῖν τινὰς αὑτῷ τῶν συμπρέσβεων. ὑπῃνίττετο δ᾽ οὕτω καὶ παρεδήλου τὸν Ὠρωπόν.
[22] He had even heard some Euboeans, who were thoroughly frightened by the friendship that had been cemented between Philip and Athens, utter these very words: “Gentlemen of the Embassy, we know all about the terms on which you have concluded peace with Philip, and we are aware that you have given up Amphipolis to him, and that he has agreed to hand over Euboea to you.” He had also, he said, settled another matter, but he thought it better not to mention it just yet — some of his colleagues were already so jealous of him. This was a veiled allusion to Oropus.
[23] εὐδοκιμῶν δ᾽ ἐπὶ τούτοις εἰκότως, καὶ δοκῶν καὶ ῥήτωρ ἄριστος εἶναι καὶ ἀνὴρ θαυμαστός, κατέβη μάλα σεμνῶς. ἀναστὰς δ᾽ ἐγὼ ταῦτά τ᾽ οὐκ ἔφην εἰδέναι καὶ ἅμ᾽ ἐπειρώμην τι λέγειν τούτων ὧν εἰς τὴν βουλὴν ἀπήγγειλα. καὶ παραστὰς ὁ μὲν ἔνθεν, ὁ δ᾽ ἔνθεν, οὑτοσὶ καὶ Φιλοκράτης, ἐβόων, ἐξέκρουόν με, τελευτῶντες ἐχλεύαζον. ὑμεῖς δ᾽ ἐγελᾶτε, καὶ οὔτ᾽ ἀκούειν ἠθέλετ᾽ οὔτε πιστεύειν ἐβούλεσθ᾽ ἄλλα πλὴν ἃ οὗτος ἀπηγγέλκει.
[23] And so, in all the glory of these disclosures, with everybody regarding him as a grand speaker and a marvellous man, he descended from the tribune in his most majestic manner. Then I rose, and said that the whole story was news to me. I attempted to repeat the statement I had made to the Council; but Aeschines and Philocrates posted themselves one on either side of me — shouting, interrupting, and finally jeering. You were all laughing; you would not listen to me, and you did not want to believe anything except what Aeschines had reported.
[24] καὶ νὴ τοὺς θεοὺς εἰκός τι παθεῖν ἔμοιγε δοκεῖτε: τίς γὰρ ἂν ἠνέσχετο, τηλικαῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτ᾽ ἔσεσθαι προσδοκῶν ἀγαθά, ἢ ταῦθ᾽ ὡς οὐκ ἔσται λέγοντός τινος, ἢ κατηγοροῦντος τῶν πεπραγμένων τούτοις; πάντα γὰρ τἄλλ᾽, οἶμαι, τότε δεύτερ᾽ ἦν τῶν ὑποκειμένων προσδοκιῶν καὶ τῶν ἐλπίδων, οἱ δ᾽ ἀντιλέγοντες ὄχλος ἄλλως καὶ βασκανία κατεφαίνετο, ταῦτα δὲ θαυμάσι᾽ ἡλίκα καὶ συμφέροντ᾽ ἐδόκει πεπρᾶχθαι τῇ πόλει.
[24] And I must say that your feeling was quite natural. For how could anyone, filled with anticipation of those wonderful benefits, be patient of a speaker who told you that you would never get them, and even denounced the conduct of the benefactors? At the moment, I imagine, everything else was thrown into the shade by the hopes and expectations that were suggested to you; contradiction seemed to be mere
annoyance and malice; and these great achievements were thought amazingly fine and most beneficial to the commonwealth.
[25] τοῦ χάριν δὴ ταῦθ᾽ ὑπέμνησα πρῶτα νῦν ὑμᾶς καὶ διεξῆλθον τούτους τοὺς λόγους; ἑνὸς μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, μάλιστα καὶ πρώτου, ἵνα μηδεὶς ὑμῶν, ἐπειδάν τι λέγοντος ἀκούῃ μου τῶν πεπραγμένων, καὶ δοκῇ δεινὸν αὐτῷ καὶ ὑπερβάλλον εἶναι, ‘εἶτα τότ᾽ οὐκ ἔλεγες παραχρῆμα ταῦτ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ἐδίδασκες ἡμᾶς;’
[25] Why have I begun by reviving these memories and quoting those old speeches? My first and chief object, men of Athens, is that, when you hear me relate some performance that seems to you atrocious and incredible, no one may ask in surprise: “Then why did you not speak out and give us this information instantly?”
[26] θαυμάζῃ, ἀλλὰ μεμνημένοι τὰς ὑποσχέσεις τὰς τούτων, ἃς ἐφ᾽ ἑκάστων ποιούμενοι τῶν καιρῶν ἐξέκλειον λόγου τυγχάνειν τοὺς ἄλλους, καὶ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τὴν τούτου ταύτην τὴν καλήν, εἰδῆθ᾽ ὅτι πρὸς ἅπασι τοῖς ἄλλοις καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἠδίκησθ᾽ ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ὅτι τἀληθῆ παραχρῆμα καὶ ἡνίκ᾽ ἔδει πυνθάνεσθαι διεκωλύθητ᾽ ἐλπίσι καὶ φενακισμοῖς καὶ ὑποσχέσεσιν ἐξαπατώμενοι.
[26] but that, by recalling the assurances by which on every occasion these men stopped others from getting your attention, and that magnificent promise of Aeschines, you may realize that you have to thank him for this crowning injury, — that you were precluded from learning the truth promptly and at the proper time, being cheated by hopes and impostures and vain assurances.
[27] πρώτου μὲν τούτου καὶ μάλισθ᾽, ὅπερ εἶπον, εἵνεκα ταῦτα διεξῆλθον, δευτέρου δὲ τίνος καὶ οὐδὲν ἐλάττονος ἢ τούτου; ἵνα τὴν ὅτ᾽ ἀδωροδόκητος ὑπῆρχε προαίρεσιν αὐτοῦ τῆς πολιτείας ἀναμνησθέντες, ὡς προβεβλημένη καὶ ἄπιστος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Φίλιππον, τὴν μετὰ ταῦτ᾽ ἐξαίφνης γεγονυῖαν πίστιν καὶ φιλίαν σκέψησθε,
[27] That, I say, is my first and main purpose in this narration. What is my second purpose? It is one of no less importance. I want you to remind yourselves of that policy of precaution and distrust of Philip which this man deliberately chose when he was still unbribed, and to compare the confidence and friendship that afterwards sprang up so suddenly;
[28] εἶτ᾽ εἰ μὲν ἐκβέβηκεν ὅσ᾽ ἀπήγγειλε πρὸς ὑμᾶς οὗτος καὶ καλῶς ἔχει τὰ πεπραγμένα, διὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν καὶ τὸ συμφέρον τῇ πόλει γεγενῆσθαι νομίσητε, εἰ δὲ πάντα τἀναντί᾽ ὧν οὗτος εἶπε πέπρακται, καὶ πολλὴν αἰσχύνην καὶ μεγάλους κινδύνους ταῦτ᾽ ἔχει τῇ πόλει, διὰ τὴν αἰσχροκέρδειαν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τὸ χρημάτων ἀποδόσθαι τἀληθῆ μεταβεβλημένον αὐτὸν εἰδῆτε.
[28] and then, if the fair reports he laid before you have really proved true, and if all the results have been fortunate, to admit the view that that friendship was formed for truth’s sake and in the best interests of the city; but, if the sequel has given the lie to all his predictions, if it has involved the city in much dishonor and in grievous perils, then be assured that his own sordid greed has prompted this change of front, because he has sold the truth for a bribe.
[29] βούλομαι δ᾽, ἐπειδήπερ εἰς τούτους προήχθην τοὺς λόγους, ὃν τρόπον τὰ περὶ τοὺς Φωκέας πράγμαθ᾽ ὑμῶν παρείλοντο, πρῶτον εἰπεῖν ἁπάντων. δεῖ δὲ μηδέν᾽ ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, εἰς τὸ τῶν πραγμάτων μέγεθος βλέψαντα μείζους τὰς κατηγορίας καὶ τὰς αἰτίας τῆς τούτου δόξης νομίσαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖν᾽ ὁρᾶν, ὅτι ὅντιν᾽ ἂν ὑμεῖς εἰς ταύτην τὴν τάξιν κατεστήσατε καὶ τῶν συμβάντων καιρῶν ἐποιήσατε κύριον, οὗτος, εἴπερ ὥσπερ οὗτος ἐβουλήθη μισθώσας αὑτὸν ἐξαπατᾶν ὑμᾶς καὶ φενακίζειν, τῶν ἴσων αἴτιος ἦν ἂν κακῶν ὅσωνπερ καὶ οὗτος.
[29] Having allowed myself to refer to those old speeches, I wish to relate first of all how these men took the business of the Phocians out of your hands. Gentlemen of the jury, I hope that none of you will regard my charges and accusations as too big for the calibre of the defendant, measuring him against the magnitude of the transactions. Reflect rather that, if any man soever, placed by you in the position he filled, and trusted to deal with the occasions that arose, had taken hire, and had sought to deceive and mislead you as Aeschines did, he would have brought about exactly the same disaster as Aeschines.
[30] οὐ γὰρ εἰ φαύλοις χρῆσθ᾽ ὑμεῖς εἰς τὰ κοινὰ πολλάκις ἀνθρώποις, καὶ τὰ πράγματ᾽ ἐστὶ φαῦλα ὧν ἡ πόλις ἀξιοῦται παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις, οὐδὲ πολλοῦ δεῖ. εἶτα καὶ Φωκέας ἀπολώλεκεν μέν, οἶμαι, Φίλιππος, συνηγωνίσαντο δ᾽ οὗτοι: τοῦτο δὴ δεῖ σκοπεῖν καὶ ὁρᾶν, εἰ ὅσα τῆς Φωκέων σωτηρίας ἐπὶ τὴν πρεσβείαν ἧκε, ταῦθ᾽ ἅπαντ᾽ ἀπώλεσαν οὗτοι καὶ διέφθειραν ἑκόντες, οὐχ ὡς ὅδε Φωκέας ἀπώλεσεν καθ᾽ ἑαυτόν. πόθεν;
[30] For though you often employ insignificant men for public business, it does not follow that those affairs are insignificant for which the rest of the world acknowledges our competence. Assuredly not. Again, it was Philip, of course, who really destroyed the Phocians; but these men co-operated. The question on which you are to fix your minds is whether they purposely wasted and threw away any chances that came to the embassy of saving the Phocians. I do not suggest that Aeschines destroyed the Phocians all by himself. How could he?
[31] δὸς δέ μοι τὸ προβούλευμα, ὃ πρὸς τὴν ἐμὴν ἀπαγγελίαν ἐψηφίσαθ᾽ ἡ βουλή, καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν τὴν τοῦ γράψαντος αὐτὸ τότε, ἵν᾽ εἰδῆθ᾽ ὅτι ἐγὼ μὲν οὐ τότε σιγήσας νῦν ἀφίσταμαι τῶν πεπραγμένων, ἀλλ᾽ εὐθὺς κατηγόρουν καὶ προεώρων τὰ μέλλοντα, ἡ βουλὴ δέ, ἡ μὴ κωλυθεῖσ᾽ ἀκοῦσαι τἀληθῆ παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ, οὔτ᾽ ἐπῄνεσε τούτους οὔτ᾽ εἰς τὸ πρυτανεῖον ἠξίωσεν καλέσαι. καίτοι τοῦτ᾽, ἀφ᾽ οὗ γέγονεν ἡ πόλις, οὐδεὶς πώποτέ φησι παθεῖν οὐδένας πρέσβεις, οὐδὲ Τιμαγόραν, οὗ θάνατον κατεχειροτόνησεν ὁ δῆμος.
[31] Give me the resolution which the Council adopted on my report, and the evidence of the member who moved it on that occasion. These documents will satisfy you that I did not hold my peace then, to run away from my actions now, — for I was laying my complaint, and trying to forecast results, at the first opportunity; and also that the Council, not being debarred from hearing the truth from me, did not give these men either a vote of thanks, or an invitation to the public dinner in the Town Hall. We are told that these compliments had never befo
re been withheld from any ambassadors since the foundation of Athens — not even from Timagoras, whom the Assembly condemned to death. These men, however, had to go without them.
[32] ἀλλ᾽ οὗτοι πεπόνθασιν. λέγε δ᾽ αὐτοῖς πρῶτον τὴν μαρτυρίαν, εἶτα τὸ προβούλευμα.”Μαρτυρία”“Προβούλευμα”
ἐνταῦθ᾽ οὔτ᾽ ἔπαινος οὔτε κλῆσις εἰς τὸ πρυτανεῖόν ἐστι τῶν πρέσβεων ὑπὸ τῆς βουλῆς. εἰ δέ φησιν οὗτος, δειξάτω καὶ παρασχέσθω, κἀγὼ καταβαίνω. ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἔστιν. εἰ μὲν τοίνυν ταὐτὰ πάντες ἐπρεσβεύομεν, δικαίως οὐδέν᾽ ἐπῄνεσεν ἡ βουλή: δεινὰ γὰρ τὰ πεπραγμένα πᾶσιν: εἰ δ᾽ οἱ μὲν τὰ δίκαι᾽ ἔπραττον ἡμῶν, οἱ δὲ τἀναντία, διὰ τοὺς πεπονηρευμένους, ὡς ἔοικε, τοῖς ἐπιεικέσι συμβεβηκὸς ἂν εἴη ταύτης τῆς ἀτιμίας μετεσχηκέναι.
[32] Read first the deposition, and then the resolution, to the jury.” Deposition ““ Resolutions”
Here is no commendation, no invitation from the Council to the ambassadors to dine in the Town Hall. If Aeschines says that such a thing exists, let him produce and exhibit it, and I will sit down. But no; there is none. Now, if all the envoys acted alike, the Council was right in thanking nobody, — for we had all in very truth behaved scandalously indeed. But if some acted rightly and others wrongly, the well-conducted, it would seem, must submit to a discourtesy provoked by those who had played the rogue.