by Demosthenes
[147] I shall not be surprised if he finds courage to tell you that we could not make an honorable peace, such as I required, because the generals mismanaged the war. If so, I beg that you will not forget to ask him whether he represented Athens or some other city. If another city, of which he can say that it had competent generals and has won the war, he has received bribes with some reason; but if he represented this city, how comes it that by terms of treaty the city that sent him has lost property and he has increased his property by his rewards? In common justice, the city and its representatives should have fared alike.
[148] ἔτι τοίνυν κἀκεῖνο σκέψασθ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί. πότερ᾽ οἴεσθε πλέον Φωκέας Θηβαίων ἢ Φίλιππον ὑμῶν κρατεῖν τῷ πολέμῳ; ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ εὖ οἶδ᾽ ὅτι Φωκεῖς Θηβαίων. εἶχόν γ᾽ Ὀρχομενὸν καὶ Κορώνειαν καὶ τὸ Τιλφωσαῖον, καὶ τοὺς ἐν Νέωσιν ἀπειλήφεσαν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ διακοσίους ἀπεκτόνεσαν ἐπὶ τῷ Ἡδυλείῳ, καὶ τρόπαιον εἱστήκει, καὶ ἱπποκράτουν, καὶ κακῶν Ἰλιὰς περιειστήκει Θηβαίους.
[148] Here is another point for your consideration, gentlemen of the jury. Who gained the greater advantage in the operations, the Phocians over the Thebans, or Philip over you? I reply, the Phocians over the Thebans. They held Orchomenus, and Coronea, and Tilphosaeum; they had kept within the walls the Theban garrison at Neon; they had slain two hundred and seventy Thebans at Hedyleum, and a trophy had been set up; they were superior in cavalry, and so an Iliad of woes encompassed the Thebans.
[149] ὑμῖν δὲ τοιοῦτο μὲν οὐδὲν οὔτ᾽ ἦν μήτε γένοιτο τοῦ λοιποῦ, τοῦτο δ᾽ ἦν τὸ δεινότατον τοῦ πρὸς Φίλιππον πολέμου: οὐκ ἐδύνασθε κακῶς ἡλίκ᾽ ἐβούλεσθε ποιεῖν ἐκεῖνον: τοῦ δὲ μὴ πάσχειν αὐτοὶ πᾶσαν ἄδειαν ἤγετε. τί ποτ᾽ οὖν ἐκ τῆς αὐτῆς εἰρήνης τοῖς μὲν Θηβαίοις, τοῖς τοσοῦτο κρατουμένοις τῷ πολέμῳ, καὶ τὰ ἑαυτῶν κομίσασθαι καὶ τὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν προσλαβεῖν γέγονε, τοῖς δ᾽ Ἀθηναίοις ὑμῖν, καὶ ἃ τῷ πολέμῳ διεσῴζετο, ταῦτ᾽ ἐπὶ τῆς εἰρήνης ἀπολωλεκέναι; ὅτι τἀκείνων μὲν οὐκ ἀπέδονθ᾽ οἱ πρέσβεις, τὰ δ᾽ ὑμέτερ᾽ οὗτοι πεπράκασιν. ἀλλὰ νὴ Δία τοὺς συμμάχους ἀπειρηκέναι φήσει τῷ πολέμῳ ... ὅτι γὰρ ταῦθ᾽ οὕτω πέπρακται, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐπιλοίπων ἔτι μᾶλλον εἴσεσθε.
[149] No such disaster ever befell, nor, I hope, ever will befall, you. The worst misfortune of your war with Philip was that you could not do him as much harm as you wished; against defeat you were absolutely secure. Then why did the same peace mean, for the Thebans, who were so badly worsted in the war, the recovery of their own possessions and the acquisition of possessions of their adversaries, and, for the Athenians, the loss in time of peace of advantages which were maintained in the war? The reason is that their ambassadors did not sell them, but these men have sold you. That my account is true, you will find further proof as we proceed.
[150] ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἡ μὲν εἰρήνη τέλος εἶχεν αὕτη, ἡ τοῦ Φιλοκράτους, ᾗ συνεῖπεν οὗτος, οἱ δὲ πρέσβεις ἀπήρκεσαν οἱ τοῦ Φιλίππου λαβόντες τοὺς ὅρκους （καὶ μέχρι τούτου γ᾽ οὐδὲν ἀνήκεστον ἦν τῶν πεπραγμένων, ἀλλ᾽ αἰσχρὰ μὲν ἡ εἰρήνη καὶ ἀναξία τῆς πόλεως, ἀντὶ δὲ τούτων δὴ τὰ θαυμάσι᾽ ἀγάθ᾽ ἡμῖν ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι）, ἠξίουν ὑμᾶς ἐγὼ καὶ τούτοις ἔλεγον πλεῖν τὴν ταχίστην ἐφ᾽ Ἑλλησπόντου, καὶ μὴ προέσθαι μηδ᾽ ἐᾶσαι κατασχεῖν Φίλιππον μηδὲν ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ χρόνῳ τῶν ἐκεῖ χωρίων.
[150] When the peace of Philocrates, which Aeschines supported in a speech, had been concluded, Philip’s ambassadors accepted the oaths, and departed. So far no fatal mischief had been done. The peace was, indeed, discreditable and unworthy of Athens — but then we were going to get those wonderful advantages in exchange. I at once called upon you, and told the envoys, to sail for the Hellespont as speedily as possible, and not to abandon, or allow Philip to seize and hold, any of the positions there in the meantime;
[151] ᾔδειν γὰρ ἀκριβῶς ὅτι πάνθ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἂν ἐκ πολέμου γιγνομένης εἰρήνης προεθῇ, ταῦτα τοῖς ἀμελήσασιν ἀπόλλυται: οὐδεὶς γὰρ πώποθ᾽ ὑπὲρ τῶν ὅλων πεισθεὶς εἰρήνην ἄγειν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐγκαταλειφθέντων ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἠθέλησεν πολεμεῖν, ἀλλὰ ταῦθ᾽ οἱ προλαβόντες ἔχουσιν. χωρὶς δὲ τούτων δυοῖν χρησίμοιν οὐ διαμαρτήσεσθαι τὴν πόλιν ἡγούμην πλευσάντων ἡμῶν: ἢ γὰρ παρόντων καὶ κατὰ τὸ ψήφισμ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐξορκωσάντων, ἃ μὲν εἰλήφει τῆς πόλεως, ἀποδώσειν, τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν ἀφέξεσθαι,
[151] for well I knew that indolent people lose for ever anything that they let slip in the transition from war to peace. No one, who has been induced by general considerations to sheathe the sword, is ever inclined to begin war over again for the recovery of his losses; and so the appropriator retains possession. Apart from these considerations, I conceived that, if we sailed at once, the city would gain one of two advantages. For when we were on the spot and had accepted his oath according to the decree, either he would restore the places he had taken from Athens and keep his hands off the rest,
[152] ἢ μὴ ποιοῦντος ταῦτα ἀπαγγελεῖν ἡμᾶς εὐθέως δεῦρο, ὥστ᾽ ἐν ἐκείνοις τοῖς πόρρω καὶ ἐλάττοσι τὴν πλεονεξίαν καὶ τὴν ἀπιστίαν ἰδόντας ὑμᾶς περὶ τῶνδε τῶν ἐγγὺς καὶ μειζόνων, λέγω δὲ Φωκέων καὶ Πυλῶν, οὐ προήσεσθαι: μὴ προλαβόντος δ᾽ ἐκείνου ταῦτα μηδ᾽ ὑμῶν ἐξαπατηθέντων ἅπαντ᾽ ἐν ἀσφαλεῖ τὰ πράγμαθ᾽ ὑμῖν ἔσεσθαι, καὶ παρ᾽ ἑκόντος ὑπάρξειν αὐτοῦ τὰ δίκαια.
[152] or, if he refused, we could promptly report his refusal. In that case you, observing his grasping spirit and perfidy in those distant and comparatively unimportant places, would no longer be negligent of the more important concerns that lay nearer home — I mean the Phocians and Thermopylae. If he had not seized the positions, and if there had been no deception of you, all your interests were safe enough, and you would get fair treatment from him without compulsion.
[153] καὶ ταῦτ᾽ εἰκότως οὕτως ὑπελάμβανον ἕξειν. εἰ γὰρ ἦσαν, ὡς ἦσαν τότε, Φωκεῖς σῷοι καὶ Πύλας εἶχον, ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὐδὲν ἂν ὑμῖν εἶχ᾽ ἀνατείνασθαι φοβερόν, δι᾽ ὃ τῶν δικαίων ἄν τι παρείδετε: οὔτε γὰρ κατὰ γῆν παρελθὼν οὔτε ναυσὶ κρατήσας εἰς τὴν Ἀττικὴν ἥξειν ἔμελλεν: ὑμεῖς δ᾽ ἐκείνου παραχρῆμα, εἰ μὴ τὰ δίκαια ποιοίη, κλείσειν τὰ ἐμπόρια, καὶ χρημάτων τ᾽ ἐν σπάνει καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐν πολιορκίᾳ πάλιν
αὐτὸν καταστήσειν, ὥστ᾽ ἐκεῖνος ὁ δουλεύσων ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς εἰρήνης λυσιτελοῦσιν, οὐχ ὑμεῖς.
[153] This was a reasonable expectation; for so long as the Phocians were safe, as they were at the time, and in possession of Thermopylae, there was no menace which Philip could have brandished in your face to make you disregard any of your just claims. He could not reach Attica either by a march across country or by getting command of the seas. If he refused justice, you could forthwith close his ports, stop his supply of money, and otherwise reduce him to a state of blockade; and so he, and not you, would be wholly dependent on the contingent benefits of the peace.
[154] καὶ ταῦθ᾽ ὅτι οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῖς συμβεβηκόσι νῦν πλάττομαι καὶ προσποιοῦμαι, ἀλλὰ τότ᾽ εὐθὺς ἐγνώκειν καὶ προεωρώμην ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καὶ τούτοις ἔλεγον, ἐκεῖθεν εἴσεσθε. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐκκλησία μὲν οὐκέτ᾽ ἦν ὑπόλοιπος οὐδεμία διὰ τὸ προκατακεχρῆσθαι, οὗτοι δ᾽ οὐκ ἀπῇσαν, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτοῦ διέτριβον, γράφω ψήφισμα βουλεύων, τὴν βουλὴν ποιήσαντος τοῦ δήμου κυρίαν, ἀπιέναι τοὺς πρέσβεις τὴν ταχίστην, τὸν δὲ στρατηγὸν Πρόξενον κομίζειν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τοὺς τόπους ἐν οἷς ἂν ὄντα Φίλιππον πυνθάνηται, γράψας ὥσπερ νῦν λέγω, τοῖς ῥήμασιν οὕτως ἄντικρυς. καί μοι λέγε τοῦτο τὸ ψήφὶσμα λαβών.”Ψήφισμα”
[154] I will now prove to you that I am not making up a story or claiming merit after the event, but that I formed my judgement, kept my eye on your interests, and told the envoys, without any delay. Finding that you had got to the end of the regular Assemblies, and that there was no meeting left, and observing that the envoys were still wasting time at Athens instead of starting at once, I proposed a decree as a member of the Council, to which the Assembly had given authority, directing the envoys to sail immediately, and the general Proxenus to convey them to any place in which he should ascertain that Philip was to be found. I drafted it, as I now read it, in those express terms. Please take and read the decree.” Decree”
[155] ἐνθένδε μὲν τοίνυν αὐτοὺς ἐξήγαγον οὕτως ἄκοντας, ὡς καθαρῶς οἷς μετὰ ταῦτ᾽ ἐποίουν εἴσεσθε. ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ ἀφικόμεθ᾽ εἰς Ὠρεὸν καὶ συνεμείξαμεν τῷ Προξένῳ, ἀμελήσαντες οὗτοι τοῦ πλεῖν καὶ τὰ προστεταγμένα πράττειν ἐπορεύοντο κύκλῳ, καὶ πρὶν εἰς Μακεδονίαν ἐλθεῖν, τρεῖς καὶ εἴκοσιν ἡμέρας ἀνηλώσαμεν: τὰς δ᾽ ἄλλας πάσας καθήμεθ᾽ ἐν Πέλλῃ, πρὶν Φίλιππον ἐλθεῖν, σὺν αἷς ἐπορεύθημεν ὁμοῦ πεντήκονθ᾽ ὅλας.
[155] So I got them away from Athens, but quite against their will, as you will easily learn from their subsequent behavior. When we had arrived at Oreus and joined Proxenus, instead of obeying their instructions and proceeding by sea, they started on a roundabout tour. We had wasted three-and-twenty days before we reached Macedonia; and all the rest of the time, making, with the time consumed by the journey, fifty days in all, until the arrival of Philip, we were dawdling at Pella.
[156] ἐν δὲ τούτῳ Δορίσκον, Θρᾴκην, τἀπὶ τειχῶν, Ἱερὸν ὄρος, πάντα τὰ πράγματα, ἐν εἰρήνῃ καὶ σπονδαῖς ᾕρει καὶ διῳκεῖθ᾽ ὁ Φίλιππος, πολλὰ λέγοντος ἐμοῦ καὶ θρυλοῦντος ἀεί, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὡς ἂν εἰς κοινὸν γνώμην ἀποφαινομένου, μετὰ ταῦτα δ᾽ ὡς ἀγνοοῦντας διδάσκοντος, τελευτῶντος δ᾽ ὡς ἂν πρὸς πεπρακότας αὑτοὺς καὶ ἀνοσιωτάτους ἀνθρώπους οὐδὲν ὑποστελλομένου.
[156] Throughout that period Philip was occupying and disposing of Doriscus, Thrace, the Thracian fortresses, the Sacred Mount, and so forth, in spite of the peace and armistice. All this time I did not spare words; I talked to them first as one communicating his opinion, then as instructing the ignorant, and finally in uncompromising language, as dealing with corrupt and profligate persons.
[157] ὁ δὲ τούτοις ἀντιλέγων φανερῶς καὶ ἅπασιν ἐναντιούμενος οἷς ἔλεγον μὲν ἐγώ, ἐψήφιστο δ᾽ ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν, οὗτος ἦν. εἰ δὲ καὶ πᾶσιν ἤρεσκε ταῦτα τοῖς ἄλλοις πρέσβεσιν, αὐτίκ᾽ εἴσεσθε. ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ οὐδέν πω λέγω περὶ οὐδενὸς οὐδ᾽ αἰτιῶμαι, οὐδ᾽ ἀναγκασθέντ᾽ αὐτῶν οὐδένα δεῖ δοκεῖν χρηστὸν εἶναι τήμερον, ἀλλὰ δι᾽ αὑτὸν καὶ τὸ μὴ κεκοινωνηκέναι τῶν ἀδικημάτων. ὅτι μὲν γὰρ αἰσχρὰ καὶ δεινὰ καὶ οὐ προῖκα τὰ πεπραγμένα, πάντες ὑμεῖς ἑοράκατε: οἵτινες δ᾽ οἱ τούτων μετεσχηκότες, αὐτὸ δηλώσει.
[157] The man who openly contradicted me, and set himself in opposition to my advice and your formal resolutions, was Aeschines. You will learn presently whether his conduct was agreeable to his colleagues. For the moment, I have nothing to say of them by way of fault-finding. They may all show themselves honest men today, not by compulsion but of their own free will, and as having no share in those iniquities. That the deeds done were disgraceful, monstrous, and venal, you have already discovered; let facts disclose who were the participators.
[158] ἀλλὰ νὴ Δί᾽ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χρόνῳ τοὺς ὅρκους ἔλαβον παρὰ τῶν συμμάχων, ἢ τἄλλ᾽ ἃ προσῆκεν ἐποίησαν. πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ, ἀλλὰ τρεῖς μῆνας ὅλους ἀποδημήσαντες καὶ χιλίας λαβόντες δραχμὰς ἐφόδιον παρ᾽ ὑμῶν, παρ᾽ οὐδεμιᾶς πόλεως, οὔθ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἐκεῖσ᾽ ἐπορεύοντο οὔθ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἐκεῖθεν δεῦρο, τοὺς ὅρκους ἔλαβον, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῷ πανδοκείῳ τῷ πρὸ τοῦ Διοσκορείου （εἴ τις ὑμῶν εἰς Φερὰς ἀφῖκται, οἶδ᾽ ὃ λέγω）, ἐνταῦθ᾽ ἐγίγνονθ᾽ οἱ ὅρκοι, ὅτε δεῦρ᾽ ἤδη τὸ στράτευμ᾽ ἄγων ἐβάδιζε Φίλιππος, αἰσχρῶς, ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ ἀναξίως ὑμῶν.
[158] But it may be urged that they spent all this time swearing in the allies, or discharging some other part of their duty. Not at all; though they were on their travels for three whole months, and received from you a thousand drachmas for journey-money, they did not get the oaths from any single city either on their outward journey or on their way home. The oaths were administered at the hostelry in front of the Temple of the Twins, — any of you who have been to Pherae will know the place I mean, — at the time when Philip was already on his march towards Athens with his army, and in a manner, men of Athens, that was thoroughly discreditable to the city.
[159] καίτοι τοῦτο Φίλιππος ἁπάντων ἂν ἐτιμήσατο πλείστου τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον πραχθῆναι. τήν τε γὰρ εἰρήνην οὐχὶ δυνηθέντων ὡς ἐπεχείρησαν οὗτοι, ‘πλὴν Ἁλέων καὶ Φωκέων,’ γράψαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἀναγκασθέντος ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν τοῦ Φιλοκράτους ταῦτ᾽ ἀπαλεῖψαι, γράψαι δ᾽ ἄντικρυς, ‘Ἀθηναίους καὶ τοὺ�
� Ἀθηναίων συμμάχους,’ οὐκ ἐβούλετο τοῦτον ὀμωμοκέναι τὸν ὅρκον οὐδένα τῶν αὑτοῦ συμμάχων （οὐ γὰρ αὐτῷ συστρατεύσειν ἐφ᾽ ἃ νῦν ἔχει τῶν ὑμετέρων ἔμελλον, ἀλλ᾽ ἕξειν πρόφασιν τοὺς ὅρκους）,
[159] Yet Philip would have paid any sum to have matters managed in this way. For when these men had failed to draw the treaty, as they first tried to do, with a clause excepting the Halians and the Phocians, and Philocrates had been compelled by you to erase those words and write expressly, “the Athenians and the Allies of the Athenians,” to the treaty so drawn Philip did not wish any of his allies to have sworn; for then they would have refused to join in his forcible occupation of those possessions of yours which he now holds, and the oath would have been their excuse.