by Demosthenes
[120] καὶ τίς μου καταμαρτυρεῖ, φήσει, δῶρα λαβεῖν; τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ λαμπρόν. τὰ πράγματ᾽, Αἰσχίνη, ἅπερ πιστότατ᾽ ἐστὶν ἁπάντων, καὶ οὐκ ἔνεστ᾽ εἰπεῖν οὐδ᾽ αἰτιάσασθαι ὡς ἢ πεπεισμέν᾽ ἢ χαριζόμενά τῴ ἐστι τοιαῦτα, ἀλλ᾽ οἷάπερ αὐτὰ προδοὺς καὶ διαφθείρας σὺ πεποίηκας, τοιαῦτ᾽ ἐξεταζόμενα φαίνεται. πρὸς δὲ τοῖς πράγμασιν αὐτὸς αὐτίκα δὴ σὺ σαυτοῦ. ἀπόκριναι γὰρ δεῦρ᾽ ἀναστάς μοι. οὐ γὰρ δὴ δι᾽ ἀπειρίαν γ᾽ οὐ φήσεις ἔχειν ὅ τι εἴπῃς: ὃς γὰρ ἀγῶνας καινοὺς ὥσπερ δράματα, καὶ τούτους ἀμαρτύρους, πρὸς διαμεμετρημένην τὴν ἡμέραν αἱρεῖς διώκων, δῆλον ὅτι πάνδεινος εἶ τις.
[120] “What witness,” he will ask, “testifies that I have taken bribes?” A brilliant argument! Facts, Aeschines, the most credible of all witnesses. You cannot find fault with facts, and say that they are what they are in deference to somebody, or to oblige somebody. They are what your treachery and perversion have made them, and such they appear on examination. But I have another witness besides the facts. You shall this very moment give evidence against yourself. Come here: stand up and answer me! — Nothing to say? You cannot plead inexperience. You, who take up a new prosecution as easily as you study a new play, and convict your man without witnesses and under a time-limit, you must be an uncommonly clever speaker!
[121] πολλῶν τοίνυν καὶ δεινῶν ὄντων τῶν πεπραγμένων Αἰσχίνῃ τουτῳί, καὶ πολλὴν κακίαν ἐχόντων, ὡς καὶ ὑμῖν οἴομαι δοκεῖν, οὐδέν ἐστιν οὗ μέλλω λέγειν, ὡς ἐγὼ κρίνω, δεινότερον, οὐδ᾽ ὅ τι μᾶλλον ἐπ᾽ αὐτοφώρῳ δεδωροδοκηκότ᾽ αὐτὸν καὶ πεπρακότα πάντ᾽ ἐξελέγξει. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀπεστέλλετ᾽ αὖθις αὖ τὸ τρίτον τοὺς πρέσβεις ὡς τὸν Φίλιππον, ἐπὶ ταῖς καλαῖς καὶ μεγάλαις ἐλπίσι ταύταις αἷς οὗτος ὑπέσχητο, ἐχειροτονήσατε καὶ τοῦτον κἀμὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τοὺς πλείστους τοὺς αὐτούς.
[121] Among the many flagrant misdeeds committed by Aeschines, the singular baseness of which I think you all appreciate, there is none more flagrant, in my judgement, than the action I am about to relate, none that will more palpably prove him to have taken bribes and sold everything. When for the third time you sent your ambassadors to Philip, for the fulfilment of those magnificent expectations which Aeschines had guaranteed, you reappointed most of the former envoys, including Aeschines and me.
[122] ἐγὼ μὲν δὴ παρελθὼν ἐξωμοσάμην εὐθέως, καὶ θορυβούντων τινῶν καὶ κελευόντων βαδίζειν οὐκ ἂν ἔφην ἐλθεῖν: οὗτος δ᾽ ἐκεχειροτόνητο. ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ ἀνέστη μετὰ ταῦθ᾽ ἡ ἐκκλησία, συνελθόντες ἐβουλεύονθ᾽ οὗτοι τίν᾽ αὐτοῦ καταλείψουσιν. ἔτι γὰρ τῶν πραγμάτων ὄντων μετεώρων καὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος ἀδήλου, σύλλογοι καὶ λόγοι παντοδαποὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν ἐγίγνοντο τότε:
[122] I immediately declined the appointment on affidavit, and when certain persons were clamorous and insisted that I should go, I declared that I would not leave Athens; but the nomination of Aeschines was still valid. After the dispersal of the Assembly, the envoys met and discussed which of them should be left behind, for the whole business was still in the clouds, and the future uncertain, and all sorts of conferences and discussions were going on in the market-place.
[123] ἐφοβοῦντο δὴ μὴ σύγκλητος ἐκκλησία γένοιτ᾽ ἐξαίφνης, εἶτ᾽ ἀκούσαντες ὑμεῖς ἐμοῦ τἀληθῆ ψηφίσαισθέ τι τῶν δεόντων ὑπὲρ τῶν Φωκέων, καὶ τὰ πράγματ᾽ ἐκφύγοι τὸν Φίλιππον. εἰ γὰρ ἐψηφίσασθε μόνον καὶ μικρὰν ὑπεφήνατ᾽ ἐλπίδ᾽ ἡντινοῦν αὐτοῖς, ἐσώθησαν ἄν. οὐ γὰρ ἐνῆν, οὐκ ἐνῆν μὴ παρακρουσθέντων ὑμῶν μεῖναι Φιλίππῳ. οὔτε γὰρ σῖτος ἦν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ, ἀσπόρῳ διὰ τὸν πόλεμον γεγονυίᾳ, οὔθ᾽ ἡ σιτοπομπία δυνατὴ τριήρων οὐσῶν ὑμετέρων ἐκεῖ καὶ τῆς θαλάττης κρατουσῶν, αἵ τε πόλεις πολλαὶ καὶ χαλεπαὶ λαβεῖν αἱ τῶν Φωκέων, μὴ οὐ χρόνῳ καὶ πολιορκίᾳ: εἰ γὰρ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ πόλιν ᾕρει, δύο καὶ εἴκοσίν εἰσιν ἀριθμῷ.
[123] They were afraid that an extraordinary meeting of the Assembly might suddenly be convened, and that then, on hearing the truth from me, you might adopt some acceptable resolution in favor of the Phocians, and that so Philip might lose control. One friendly resolution, one gleam of hope, and the Phocians might have been saved. If you had not fallen into the trap, it was impossible — yes, impossible — for Philip to remain at Thermopylae. There was no corn in the country, as the war had prevented sowing; and the conveyance of corn was impossible so long as your fleet was there and commanded the sea. The Phocian cities were numerous, and not easy of capture, unless by protracted siege. Even if Philip had taken a city a day, there were twenty-two of them.
[124] διὰ δὴ ταῦτα πάντα, ἵνα μηδὲν μετάθησθ᾽ ὧν ἐξηπάτησθε, τοῦτον αὐτοῦ κατέλιπον. ἐξομόσασθαι μὲν δὴ μὴ μετ᾽ αἰτίας τινὸς δεινὸν ἦν καὶ ὑποψία μεγάλη: ‘τί λέγεις; ἐπὶ τηλικαῦτα καὶ τοιαῦτ᾽ ἀγαθὰ οὐχὶ βαδίζεις ἀπαγγείλας οὐδὲ πρεσβεύεις;’ ἔδει δὲ μένειν. πῶς οὖν; ἀρρωστεῖν προφασίζεται, καὶ λαβὼν Ἐξήκεστον τὸν ἰατρὸν ἁδελφὸς αὐτοῦ καὶ προσελθὼν τῇ βουλῇ ἐξώμοσεν ἀρρωστεῖν τουτονὶ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐχειροτονήθη.
[124] For all these reasons they left Aeschines at home, fearing that you might be undeceived and change your policy. Now to decline an appointment on affidavit with no reason alleged was a strange move and very suspicious. “What do you mean? Are you declining the embassy? Are you not going to Macedonia to realize all those grand benefits which you announced yourself?” However, he had to remain. What was to be done? He pleaded ill-health; and his brother, taking Execestus the physician with him, repaired to the council-house, made affidavit of the illness, and received the appointment himself.
[125] ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ ἀπωλώλεσαν οἱ Φωκεῖς ὕστερον ἡμέραις πέντ᾽ ἢ ἕξ, καὶ τέλος εἶχε τὸ μίσθωμ᾽ ὥσπερ ἂν ἄλλο τι τούτῳ, καὶ ὁ Δερκύλος ἐκ τῆς Χαλκίδος ἧκεν ἀναστρέψας καὶ ἀπήγγειλεν ὑμῖν ἐκκλησιάζουσιν ἐν Πειραιεῖ ὅτι Φωκεῖς ἀπολώλασι, καὶ ὑμεῖς, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ταῦτ᾽ ἀκούσαντες εἰκότως κἀκείνοις συνήχθεσθε καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐξεπέπληχθε, καὶ παῖδας καὶ γυναῖκας ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν κατακομίζειν ἐψηφίζεσθε καὶ τὰ φρούρι᾽ ἐπισκευάζειν καὶ τὸν Πειραιᾶ τειχίζειν καὶ τὰ Ἡράκλει᾽ ἐν ἄστει θύειν,
[125] But
afterwards, when within five or six days the Phocians were destroyed, when Aeschines’ wages stopped as such things do, when Dercylus had returned from Chalcis and had informed you, at the assembly held at Peiraeus, of the destruction of the Phocians, when that news filled you with indignation on their account and alarm on your own, when you were resolving to bring in your women and children from the country, to reinstate the frontier fortresses, to fortify the Peiraeus, and to hold the festival of Heracles within the walls, —
[126] — ἐπειδὴ ταῦτ᾽ ἦν καὶ τοιαύτη ταραχὴ καὶ τοιοῦτος θόρυβος περιειστήκει τὴν πόλιν, τηνικαῦθ᾽ ὁ σοφὸς καὶ δεινὸς οὗτος καὶ εὔφωνος, οὔτε βουλῆς οὔτε δήμου χειροτονήσαντος αὐτόν, ᾤχετο πρεσβεύων ὡς τὸν ταῦτα πεποιηκότα, οὔτε τὴν ἀρρωστίαν ἐφ᾽ ᾗ τότ᾽ ἐξωμόσαθ᾽ ὑπολογισάμενος, οὔθ᾽ ὅτι πρεσβευτὴς ἄλλος ᾕρητ᾽ ἀνθ᾽ αὑτοῦ, οὔθ᾽ ὅτι τῶν τοιούτων ὁ νόμος θάνατον τὴν ζημίαν εἶναι κελεύει,
[126] then at last, at that crisis, when the city was encompassed with confusion and terror, off marched this wise, clever, smooth-tongued gentleman, without waiting for Council or Assembly to reappoint him, on his embassy to the court of the chief malefactor. He forgot that he had sworn that he was too ill to travel; forgot that another ambassador had been chosen in his stead, and that the law visits such conduct with death; forgot that, with the Thebans not only holding all Boeotia but in possession of the territory of Phocis,
[127] οὔθ᾽ ὅτι πάνδεινόν ἐστιν ἀπηγγελκόθ᾽ ὡς ἐπικεκήρυκται χρήματ᾽ αὐτῷ ἐν Θήβαις, ἐπειδὴ Θηβαῖοι πρὸς τῷ τὴν Βοιωτίαν ἅπασαν ἔχειν καὶ τῆς Φωκέων χώρας ἐγκρατεῖς γεγόνασι, τηνικαῦτ᾽ εἰς μέσας τὰς Θήβας καὶ τὸ τῶν Θηβαίων στρατόπεδον βαδίζειν: ἀλλ᾽ οὕτως ἔκφρων ἦν καὶ ὅλος πρὸς τῷ λήμματι καὶ τῷ δωροδοκήματι ὥστε πάντα ταῦτ᾽ ἀνελὼν καὶ παριδὼν ᾤχετο.
[127] it was a very odd thing for a man, who had solemnly announced that the Thebans had set a price upon his head, to walk straight into the middle of Thebes and the Theban encampment. Nevertheless, he was so excited, his appetite for moneymaking and bribe-taking was so keen, that he put aside and ignored all these obstacles, and off he went.
[128] καὶ τοιούτου τοῦ πράγματος ὄντος, ἔτι πολλῷ δεινότερ᾽ ἐστὶν ἃ ἐκεῖσ᾽ ἐλθὼν διεπράξατο. ἁπάντων γὰρ ὑμῶν τουτωνὶ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ἀθηναίων οὕτω δεινὰ καὶ σχέτλι᾽ ἡγουμένων τοὺς ταλαιπώρους πάσχειν Φωκέας ὥστε μήτε τοὺς ἐκ τῆς βουλῆς θεωροὺς μήτε τοὺς θεσμοθέτας εἰς τὰ Πύθια πέμψαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἀποστῆναι τῆς πατρίου θεωρίας, οὗτος εἰς τἀπινίκια τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ τοῦ πολέμου, ἃ Θηβαῖοι καὶ Φίλιππος ἔθυον, εἱστιᾶτ᾽ ἐλθὼν καὶ σπονδῶν μετεῖχε καὶ εὐχῶν, ἃς ἐπὶ τοῖς τῶν συμμάχων τῶν ὑμετέρων τείχεσι καὶ χώρᾳ καὶ ὅπλοις ἀπολωλόσιν ηὔχετ᾽ ἐκεῖνος, καὶ συνεστεφανοῦτο καὶ συνεπαιώνιζεν Φιλίππῳ καὶ φιλοτησίας προὔπινεν.
[128] That was a remarkable proceeding, but far stranger still was his behavior after his arrival in Macedonia. While you who are here and all other Athenians regarded the treatment of the Phocians as scandalous and outrageous, insomuch that you would not send any member of council or any judge to represent you at the Pythian games, but relinquished that time-honored delegation, Aeschines attended the service of thanksgiving which the Thebans and Philip held to celebrate their victory and their political success, was a guest at the banquet, and took part in the libations and doxologies with which Philip thanked Heaven for the destruction of the fortresses, the territory, and the armies of your allies. He even joined Philip in wearing garlands and singing the Hymn of Praise, and drank to his health in the loving-cup.
[129] καὶ ταῦτ᾽ οὐκ ἔνεστιν ἐμοὶ μὲν οὕτω, τούτῳ δ᾽ ἄλλως πως εἰπεῖν: ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ μὲν τῆς ἐξωμοσίας ἐν τοῖς κοινοῖς τοῖς ὑμετέροις γράμμασιν ἐν τῷ μητρῴῳ ταῦτ᾽ ἐστίν, ἐφ᾽ οἷς ὁ δημόσιος τέτακται, καὶ ψήφισμ᾽ ἄντικρυς περὶ τούτου τοῦ ὀνόματος γέγραπται: ὑπὲρ δ᾽ ὧν ἐκεῖ διεπράξατο, οἱ συμπρεσβεύοντες καὶ παρόντες καταμαρτυρήσουσιν, οἵπερ ἐμοὶ ταῦτα διηγοῦντο: οὐ γὰρ ἔγωγ᾽ αὐτοῖς συνεπρέσβευσα, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξωμοσάμην.
[129] Of these proceedings it is not possible for the defendant to give an account differing from mine. As for the affidavit of refusal, there is an entry in the record-office at the Temple of Demeter, of which the public caretaker is in charge, and a decree in which he is mentioned by name. As for his conduct over yonder, his own colleagues who were present, and from whom I got my information, will give evidence against him. I was not one of his colleagues, as I had declined on oath.
[130] καί μοι λέγε τὸ ψήφισμα καὶ τὰ γράμματα, καὶ τοὺς μάρτυρας κάλει.”Ψήφισμα”“Μάρτυρες”
τίνας οὖν εὐχὰς ὑπολαμβάνετ᾽ εὔχεσθαι τοῖς θεοῖς τὸν Φίλιππον, ὅτ᾽ ἔσπενδεν, ἢ τοὺς Θηβαίους; ἆρ᾽ οὐ κράτος πολέμου καὶ νίκην αὑτοῖς καὶ τοῖς συμμάχοις διδόναι, καὶ τἀναντία τοῖς τῶν Φωκέων; οὐκοῦν ταῦτα συνηύχεθ᾽ οὗτος καὶ κατηρᾶτο τῇ πατρίδι, ἃ νῦν εἰς κεφαλὴν ὑμᾶς αὐτῷ δεῖ τρέψαι.
[130] Read the decree and the records, and call the witnesses.” Decree ““ Records ““ Witnesses”
What do you imagine were the prayers offered by Philip when he made libation? Or by the Thebans? Surely they implored strength and victory for themselves and their allies, weakness and defeat for the allies of the Phocians. In that prayer Aeschines joined. He invoked a curse on his own fatherland. It is for you to make that curse recoil upon his own head.
[131] οὐκοῦν ᾤχετο μὲν παρὰ τὸν νόμον, ὃς θάνατον κελεύει τούτων τὴν ζημίαν εἶναι: ἐλθὼν δ᾽ ἐκεῖσε ἑτέρων θανάτων ἄξια ποιῶν πέφανται: τὰ δὲ πρόσθεν πεπραγμένα καὶ πεπρεσβευμέν᾽ ὑπὲρ τούτων ἀποκτείνειεν ἂν αὐτὸν δικαίως. σκοπεῖτε τοίνυν τί ἔσται τίμημα, ὃ ταύτην ἕξει τὴν ἀξίαν ὥστε τοσούτων πραγμάτων ἀξιόχρεων φαίνεσθαι.
[131] So, when he took his departure, he was breaking a law whose penalty is death; after his arrival, he is again proved guilty of conduct that deserves death; and his earlier misconduct of this business of the embassy had been bad enough to bring him to death. You have therefore to consider what punishment shall be rigorous enough to afford a retribution adequate to all these transgressions.
[132] πῶς γὰρ οὐκ αἰσχρόν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, δημοσίᾳ μὲν ἅπαντας ὑμᾶς καὶ ὅλον τὸν δῆμον πᾶσι τοῖς πεπραγμένοις ἐκ τῆς εἰρήνης ἐπιτιμᾶν, καὶ μήτε τῶν ἐν Ἀ
μφικτύοσι κοινωνεῖν ἐθέλειν, δυσκόλως τ᾽ ἔχειν καὶ ὑπόπτως πρὸς τὸν Φίλιππον, ὡς ἀσεβῶν καὶ δεινῶν ὄντων τῶν πεπραγμένων καὶ οὔτε δικαίων οὔθ᾽ ὑμῖν συμφερόντων, εἰς δὲ τὸ δικαστήριον εἰσελθόντας τὰς ὑπὲρ τούτων εὐθύνας δικάσοντας, ὅρκον ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ὀμωμοκότας, τὸν ἁπάντων τῶν κακῶν αἴτιον καὶ ὃν εἰλήφατ᾽ ἐπ᾽ αὐτοφώρῳ τοιαῦτα πεποιηκότα, τοῦτον ἀφεῖναι;
[132] For assuredly, men of Athens, when all of you and the whole nation passed censure upon all the results of the peace, when you refused participation in the doings of the Amphictyonic Council, when your attitude towards Philip is still one of anger and suspicion, marking the whole of his conduct as sacrilegious and shameful, as well as unjust and injurious to yourselves, — it would be discreditable that you, who have entered this court to adjudicate at the scrutiny of those transactions, and have taken the judicial oath on behalf of the commonwealth, that you, I say, when the author of these wrongs has been placed in your power, caught red-handed after perpetrating such crimes, should return a verdict of acquittal.
[133] καὶ τίς οὐ δικαίως ἂν ὑμῖν ἐγκαλέσειε τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν, μᾶλλον δ᾽ ἁπάντων τῶν Ἑλλήνων, ὁρῶν Φιλίππῳ μὲν ὑμᾶς ὀργιζομένους, ὃς ἐκ πολέμου ποιούμενος εἰρήνην παρὰ τῶν πωλούντων τὰς πράξεις ἐωνεῖτο, πρᾶγμα πολλὴν συγγνώμην ἔχον διαπραττόμενος, τουτονὶ δ᾽ ἀφιέντας, ὃς τὰ ὑμέτερ᾽ οὕτως αἰσχρῶς ἀπέδοτο, τῶν νόμων τὰ ἔσχατα ταττόντων ἐπιτίμια, ἐάν τις ταῦτα ποιῇ;