Delphi Complete Works of Demosthenes

by Demosthenes

  [188] οὕτω τοίνυν αἰσχρὰ καὶ πολλὰ καὶ πάντα καθ᾽ ὑμῶν πεπρεσβευκὼς περιιὼν λέγει, ‘τί δ᾽ ἂν εἴποις περὶ Δημοσθένους, ὃς τῶν συμπρέσβεων κατηγορεῖ;’ νὴ Δί᾽, εἴτε βούλομαί γ᾽ εἴτε μή, παρ᾽ ὅλην μὲν τὴν ἀποδημίαν ὑπὸ σοῦ τοιαῦτ᾽ ἐπιβεβουλευμένος, δυοῖν δ᾽ αἱρέσεως οὔσης μοι νυνί, ἢ τοιούτων ὄντων τῶν πεπραγμένων δοκεῖν κοινωνεῖν ὑμῖν, ἢ κατηγορεῖν.

  [188] Although so many, indeed all, of his acts on embassy were so discreditable and unpatriotic, he goes about asking: “And what are we to say of Demosthenes, who denounces his own colleagues?” Yes, indeed; I do and must denounce them, willingly or unwillingly, having been the victim of your machinations throughout the expedition, and being now reduced to the alternative of appearing as either the accomplice or the accuser of your crimes.

  [189] ἐγὼ δ᾽ οὐδὲ συμπεπρεσβευκέναι φημί σοι, πρεσβεύειν μέντοι σὲ μὲν πολλὰ καὶ δεινά, ἐμαυτὸν δ᾽ ὑπὲρ τουτωνὶ τὰ βέλτιστα. ἀλλὰ Φιλοκράτης σοι συμπεπρέσβευκε, κἀκείνῳ σύ, καὶ Φρύνων: ὑμεῖς γὰρ ταὔτ᾽ ἐπράττετε, καὶ ταὐτὰ πᾶσιν ὑμῖν ἤρεσκεν. ‘ποῦ δ᾽ ἅλες; ποῦ τράπεζα; ποῦ σπονδαί;’ ταῦτα γὰρ τραγῳδεῖ περιιών, ὥσπερ οὐχὶ τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας τούτων ὄντας προδότας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς τὰ δίκαια ποιοῦντας.

  [189] I declare I was no colleague of yours; yours was an embassy of flagrant wrong, mine was an embassy of loyal service. Your colleague was Philocrates, and you and Phryno were his; for it was you and your friends who did these things and who approved of them. Hark to his melodramatic whine: “Where is the salt of friendship? where is the genial board? where is the cup of communion?” as if doers of justice, not doers of iniquity, were traitors to those symbols!

  [190] ἐγὼ δ᾽ οἶδ᾽ ὅτι πάντες οἱ πρυτάνεις θύουσιν ἑκάστοτε κοινῇ καὶ συνδειπνοῦσιν ἀλλήλοις καὶ συσπένδουσιν: καὶ οὐ διὰ ταῦθ᾽ οἱ χρηστοὶ τοὺς πονηροὺς μιμοῦνται, ἀλλ᾽ ἐὰν ἀδικοῦντα λάβωσί τιν᾽ αὑτῶν, τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ δηλοῦσιν. ἡ βουλὴ ταὐτὰ ταῦτα, εἰσιτητήρι᾽ ἔθυσε, συνειστιάθη, σπονδῶν, ἱερῶν ἐκοινώνησεν: οἱ στρατηγοί, σχεδὸν ὡς εἰπεῖν αἱ ἀρχαὶ πᾶσαι. ἆρ᾽ οὖν διὰ ταῦτα τοῖς ἀδικοῦσιν ἑαυτῶν ἔδωκαν ἄδειαν; πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ.

  [190] I know that the Presidents unite in a sacrificial service, dine together, and make libation together; but it does not follow that the honest men take their cue from the knaves; as soon as they detect one of themselves in misconduct, they lay information before the Council and the Assembly. In just the same way the Council holds its service of inauguration and its social banquet; the commanders unite in worship and libation; and so of all, or nearly all, the public authorities. Do they give impunity to delinquent colleagues on account of these observances? No, indeed!

  [191] λέων Τιμαγόρου κατηγόρει συμπεπρεσβευκὼς τέτταρ᾽ ἔτη, Εὔβουλος Θάρρηκος καὶ Σμικύθου συσσεσιτηκώς, Κόνων ὁ παλαιὸς ἐκεῖνος Ἀδειμάντου συστρατηγήσας. πότερ᾽ οὖν τοὺς ἅλας παρέβαινον καὶ τὰς σπονδάς, Αἰσχίνη, οἱ προδιδόντες καὶ οἱ παραπρεσβεύοντες καὶ οἱ δωροδοκοῦντες, ἢ οἱ κατηγοροῦντες; οἱ ἀδικοῦντες δηλονότι τὰς ὅλης γε τῆς πατρίδος σπονδάς, ὥσπερ σύ, οὐ μόνον τὰς ἰδίας.

  [191] Leon denounced Timagoras, his fellow-ambassador for four years; Eubulus his messmates, Tharrex and Smicythus; and long ago Conon denounced Adeimantus after serving with him as general. Who were untrue to their salt and to the cup of friendship, Aeschines? The traitors, the false ambassadors, and the bribe-takers, or their accusers? The evil-doers, like you, broke covenant not with their friends alone but with the whole nation.

  [192] ἵνα τοίνυν εἰδῆθ᾽ ὅτι οὐ μόνον τῶν δημοσίᾳ πώποτ᾽ ἐληλυθότων ὡς Φίλιππον ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἰδίᾳ καὶ πάντων οὗτοι φαυλότατοι καὶ πονηρότατοι γεγόνασι, μικρὸν ἀκούσατέ μου ἔξω τι τῆς πρεσβείας ταύτης. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ εἷλεν Ὄλυνθον Φίλιππος, Ὀλύμπι᾽ ἐποίει, εἰς δὲ τὴν θυσίαν ταύτην καὶ τὴν πανήγυριν πάντας τοὺς τεχνίτας συνήγαγεν.

  [192] To show you, then, that these men are the basest and most depraved of all Philip’s visitors, private as well as official, — yes, of all of them, — let me tell you a trifling story that has nothing to do with the embassy. After Philip had taken Olynthus, he was holding Olympian games, and had invited all sorts of artists to the religious celebration and the festival.

  [193] ἑστιῶν δ᾽ αὐτοὺς καὶ στεφανῶν τοὺς νενικηκότας ἤρετο Σάτυρον τουτονὶ τὸν κωμικὸν ὑποκριτήν, τί δὴ μόνος οὐδὲν ἐπαγγέλλεται; ἤ τιν᾽ ἐν αὐτῷ μικροψυχίαν ἢ πρὸς αὑτὸν ἀηδίαν ἐνεορακώς; εἰπεῖν δή φασι τὸν Σάτυρον ὅτι, ὧν μὲν οἱ ἄλλοι δέονται, οὐδενὸς ὢν ἐν χρείᾳ τυγχάνει, ἃ δ᾽ ἂν αὐτὸς ἐπαγγείλαιθ᾽ ἡδέως, ῥᾷστα μέν ἐστιν Φιλίππῳ δοῦναι καὶ χαρίσασθαι πάντων, δέδοικε δὲ μὴ διαμάρτῃ.

  [193] At the entertainment at which he crowned the successful competitors, he asked Satyrus, the comedian of our city, why he was the only guest who had not asked any favor; had he observed in him any illiberality or discourtesy towards himself? Satyrus, as the story goes, replied that he did not want any such gift as the others were asking; what he would like to ask was a favor which Philip could grant quite easily, and yet he feared that his request would be unsuccessful.

  [194] κελεύσαντος δ᾽ ἐκείνου λέγειν καί τι καὶ νεανιευσαμένου τοιοῦτον, ὡς οὐδὲν ὅ τι οὐ ποιήσει, εἰπεῖν φασιν αὐτὸν ὅτι ἦν αὐτῷ Ἀπολλοφάνης ὁ Πυδναῖος ξένος καὶ φίλος, ἐπειδὴ δὲ δολοφονηθεὶς ἐτελεύτησεν ἐκεῖνος, φοβηθέντες οἱ συγγενεῖς αὐτοῦ ὑπεξέθεντο τὰς θυγατέρας παιδί᾽ ὄντ᾽ εἰς Ὄλυνθον. ‘αὗται τοίνυν τῆς πόλεως ἁλούσης αἰχμάλωτοι γεγόνασι καὶ εἰσὶν παρὰ σοί, ἡλικίαν ἔχουσαι γάμου.

  [194] Philip bade him speak out, declaring with the easy generosity of youth that there was nothing he would not do for him. Thereupon Satyrus told him that Apollophanes of Pydna had been a friend of his, and that after his death by assassination his kinsmen in alarm had secretly removed his daughters, who were then children, to Olynthus. These girls had been made captive when the town was taken, and were now in Philip’s hands, and of marriageable age.

  [195] ταύτας, αἰτῶ σε καὶ δέομαι, δός μοι. βούλομαι δέ σ᾽ ἀκοῦσαι καὶ μαθεῖν οἵαν μοι δώσεις δωρειάν, ἂν ἄρα δῷς: ἀφ᾽ ἧς ἐγὼ κερδανῶ μὲν οὐδέν, �
�ν λάβω, προῖκα δὲ προσθεὶς ἐκδώσω, καὶ οὐ περιόψομαι παθούσας οὐδὲν ἀνάξιον οὔθ᾽ ἡμῶν οὔτε τοῦ πατρός.’ ὡς δ᾽ ἀκοῦσαι τοὺς παρόντας ἐν τῷ συμποσίῳ, τοσοῦτον κρότον καὶ θόρυβον καὶ ἔπαινον παρὰ πάντων γενέσθαι ὥστε τὸν Φίλιππον παθεῖν τι καὶ δοῦναι. καίτοι τῶν ἀποκτεινάντων ἦν τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν ἀδελφὸν τὸν Φιλίππου οὗτος ὁ Ἀπολλοφάνης.

  [195] “I earnestly beg you,” he went on, “to bestow them on me. At the same time I wish you to understand what sort of gift you will be giving me, if you do give it. It will bring me no gain, for I shall provide them with dowries and give them in marriage; and I shall not permit them to suffer any treatment unworthy of myself or of their father.” It is said that, when the other guests heard this speech, there was such an outburst of applause and approval that Philip was strongly moved, and granted the boon. And yet Apollophanes was one of the men who had slain Philip’s own brother Alexander.

  [196] ἐξετάσωμεν δὴ πρὸς τὸ τοῦ Σατύρου τοῦτο συμπόσιον τὸ τούτων ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ γενόμενον, καὶ θεάσασθ᾽ ὡς παραπλήσιον τούτῳ καὶ ὅμοιον. κληθέντες γὰρ οὗτοι πρὸς Ξενόφρονα τὸν υἱὸν τὸν Φαιδίμου, τοῦ τῶν τριάκοντα, ᾤχοντο: ἐγὼ δ᾽ οὐκ ἐπορεύθην. ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ ἧκον εἰς τὸ πίνειν, εἰσάγει τιν᾽ Ὀλυνθίαν γυναῖκα, εὐπρεπῆ μέν, ἐλευθέραν δὲ καὶ σώφρονα, ὡς τὸ ἔργον ἐδήλωσεν.

  [196] Now let us compare the banquet of Satyrus with another entertainment which these men attended in Macedonia; and you shall see whether there is any sort of resemblance. These men had been invited to the house of Xenophron, a son of Phaedimus, who was one of the Thirty Tyrants, and off they went; but I declined to go. When the drinking began, Xenophron introduced an Olynthian woman, — a handsome, but a freeborn and, as the event proved, a modest girl.

  [197] ταύτην τὸ μὲν πρῶτον οὑτωσὶ πίνειν ἡσυχῇ καὶ τρώγειν ἠνάγκαζον οὗτοί μοι δοκεῖ, ὡς διηγεῖτ᾽ Ἰατροκλῆς ἐμοὶ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ: ὡς δὲ προῄει τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ διεθερμαίνοντο, κατακλίνεσθαι καί τι καὶ ᾁδειν ἐκέλευον. ἀδημονούσης δὲ τῆς ἀνθρώπου καὶ οὔτ᾽ ἐθελούσης οὔτ᾽ ἐπισταμένης, ὕβριν τὸ πρᾶγμ᾽ ἔφασαν οὑτοσὶ καὶ ὁ Φρύνων καὶ οὐκ ἀνεκτὸν εἶναι, τῶν θεοῖς ἐχθρῶν, τῶν ἀλειτηρίων Ὀλυνθίων αἰχμάλωτον οὖσαν τρυφᾶν: καὶ ‘κάλει παῖδα,’ καὶ ‘ἱμᾶντά τις φερέτω.’ ἧκεν οἰκέτης ἔχων ῥυτῆρα, καὶ πεπωκότων, οἶμαι, καὶ μικρῶν ὄντων τῶν παροξυνόντων, εἰπούσης τι καὶ δακρυσάσης ἐκείνης περιρρήξας τὸν χιτωνίσκον ὁ οἰκέτης ξαίνει κατὰ τοῦ νώτου πολλάς.

  [197] At first, I believe, they only tried to make her drink quietly and eat dessert; so Iatrocles told me the following day. But as the carouse went on, and they became heated, they ordered her to sit down and give them a song. The poor girl was bewildered, for she did not wish, and she did not know how, to sing. Then Aeschines and Phryno declared that it was intolerable impertinence for a captive, — and one of those ungodly, pernicious Olynthians too, — to give herself such airs. “Call a servant,” they cried; “bring a whip, somebody.” In came a flunkey with a horsewhip, and — I suppose they were tipsy, and it did not take much to irritate them,when she said something and began to cry, he tore off her dress and gave her a number of lashes on the back.

  [198] ἔξω δ᾽ αὑτῆς οὖσ᾽ ὑπὸ τοῦ κακοῦ καὶ τοῦ πράγματος ἡ γυνή, ἀναπηδήσασα προσπίπτει πρὸς τὰ γόνατα τῷ Ἰατροκλεῖ, καὶ τὴν τράπεζαν ἀνατρέπει. καὶ εἰ μὴ ‘κεῖνος ἀφείλετο, ἀπώλετ᾽ ἂν παροινουμένη: καὶ γὰρ ἡ παροινία τοῦ καθάρματος τουτουὶ δεινή. καὶ περὶ ταύτης τῆς ἀνθρώπου καὶ ἐν Ἀρκαδίᾳ λόγος ἦν ἐν τοῖς μυρίοις, καὶ Διόφαντος ἐν ὑμῖν ἀπήγγελλεν ἃ νῦν μαρτυρεῖν αὐτὸν ἀναγκάσω, καὶ κατὰ Θετταλίαν πολὺς λόγος καὶ πανταχοῦ.

  [198] Maddened by these indignities, she jumped to her feet, upset the table, and fell at the knees of Iatrocles. If he had not rescued her, she would have perished, the victim of a drunken orgy, for the drunkenness of this blackguard is something terrible. The story of this girl was told even in Arcadia, at a meeting of the Ten Thousand; it was related by Diophantus at Athens in a report which I will compel him to repeat in evidence; and it was common talk in Thessaly and everywhere.

  [199] καὶ τοιαῦτα συνειδὼς αὑτῷ πεπραγμένα ὁ ἀκάθαρτος οὗτος τολμήσει βλέπειν εἰς ὑμᾶς, καὶ τὸν βεβιωμένον αὑτῷ βίον αὐτίκα δὴ μάλ᾽ ἐρεῖ λαμπρᾷ τῇ φωνῇ: ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἔγωγ᾽ ἀποπνίγομαι. οὐκ ἴσασιν οὗτοι τὸ μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τὰς βίβλους ἀναγιγνώσκοντά σε τῇ μητρὶ τελούσῃ, καὶ παῖδ᾽ ὄντ᾽ ἐν θιάσοις καὶ μεθύουσιν ἀνθρώποις καλινδούμενον;

  [199] With all this on his conscience the unclean scoundrel will dare to look you in the face, and before long he will be declaiming in sonorous accents about his blameless life. It makes me choke with rage. As if the jury did not know all about you: first the acolyte, reading the service-books while your mother performed her hocus-pocus, reeling and tumbling, child as you were, with bacchanals and tipsy worshippers;

  [200] μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ ταῖς ἀρχαῖς ὑπογραμματεύοντα καὶ δυοῖν ἢ τριῶν δραχμῶν πονηρὸν ὄντα; τὰ τελευταῖα δ᾽ ἔναγχος ἐν χορηγίοις ἀλλοτρίοις ἐπὶ τῷ τριταγωνιστεῖν ἀγαπητῶς παρατρεφόμενον; ποῖον οὖν ἐρεῖς βίον; ὃν ποῦ βεβίωκας; ἐπεὶ ὅ γε βεβιωμένος σοι τοιοῦτος φαίνεται. ἀλλὰ δὴ τὰ τῆς ἐξουσίας: οὗτος ἄλλον ἔκρινε παρ᾽ ὑμῖν ἐπὶ πορνείᾳ. ἀλλὰ μήπω ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ τὰς μαρτυρίας μοι λέγε πρῶτον ταυτασί.”Μαρτυρίαι”

  [200] then the junior clerk, doing the dirty work of public offices for a few shillings a month: and at last, not so long ago, the parasite of the greenrooms, eking out by sponging what you earned as a player of trumpery parts! What is the life you will claim, and where have you lived it, when such is too clearly the sort of life you really have lived? And then the assurance of the man! Bringing another man before this court on a charge of unnatural crime! However, I will let that go for the present. First read these depositions.” Depositions”

  [201] τοσούτων τοίνυν καὶ τοιούτων ὄντων, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ὧν ἀδικῶν ὑμᾶς ἐξελήλεγκται, ἐν οἷς τί κακὸν οὐκ ἔνι; δωροδόκος, κόλαξ, ταῖς ἀραῖς ἔνοχος, ψεύστης, τῶν φίλων προδότης, πάντ᾽ ἔνεστι τὰ δεινότατα: πρὸς ἓν οὐδ᾽ ὁτιοῦν τούτων ἀπολογήσεται, οὐδ᾽ ἕξει δικαίαν οὐδ᾽ ἁπλῆν εἰπεῖν ἀπολογίαν οὐδ
εμίαν. ἃ δ᾽ ἐγὼ πέπυσμαι μέλλειν αὐτὸν λέγειν, ἔστι μὲν ἐγγυτάτω μανίας, οὐ μὴν ἀλλ᾽ ἴσως τῷ μηδὲν ἔχοντι δίκαιον ἄλλ᾽ εἰπεῖν ἀνάγκη πάντα μηχανᾶσθαι.

  [201] Of all these heinous crimes against the commonwealth, gentlemen of the jury, he has been proved guilty. No element of baseness is lacking. Bribe-taker, sycophant, guilty under the curse, a liar, a traitor to his friends, — here are flagrant charges indeed! Yet he will not defend himself against any one of them; he has no honest and straightforward defence to offer. As for the topics on which, as I am informed, he intends to dwell, they border on insanity, — though, perhaps, a man devoid of any honest plea cannot help resorting to all manner of shifts.

  [202] ἀκούω γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐρεῖν ὡς ἄρ᾽ ἐγὼ πάντων ὧν κατηγορῶ κοινωνὸς γέγονα, καὶ συνήρεσκε ταῦτά μοι καὶ συνέπραττον αὐτῷ, ἔπειτ᾽ ἐξαίφνης μεταβέβλημαι καὶ κατηγορῶ. ἔστι δ᾽ ὑπὲρ μὲν τῶν πεπραγμένων οὔτε δικαία οὔτε προσήκουσ᾽ ἡ τοιαύτη ἀπολογία, ἐμοῦ μέντοι τις κατηγορία: ἐγὼ μὲν γάρ, εἰ ταῦτα πεποίηκα, φαῦλός εἰμ᾽ ἄνθρωπος, τὰ δὲ πράγματ᾽ οὐδὲν βελτίω διὰ τοῦτο, οὐδὲ πολλοῦ δεῖ.