by Demosthenes
[265] But when some of them began to accept bribes, when the populace was so stupid, or, let us say, so unlucky, as to give more credence to those persons than to patriotic speakers, when Lasthenes had roofed his house with timber sent as a present from Macedonia, and Euthycrates was keeping a large herd of cattle for which he had paid nothing to anybody, when one man returned home with a flock of sheep and another with a stud of horses, when the masses, whose interests were endangered, instead of being angry and demanding the punishment of the traitors, stared at them, envied them, honored them, and thought them fine fellows, —
[266] ἐπειδὴ ταῦθ᾽ οὕτω προήγετο καὶ τὸ δωροδοκεῖν ἐκράτησε, χιλίους μὲν ἱππέας κεκτημένοι, πλείους δ᾽ ὄντες ἢ μύριοι, πάντας δὲ τοὺς περιχώρους ἔχοντες συμμάχους, μυρίοις δὲ ξένοις καὶ τριήρεσι πεντήκονθ᾽ ὑμῶν βοηθησάντων αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἔτι τῶν πολιτῶν τετρακισχιλίοις, οὐδὲν αὐτοὺς τούτων ἐδυνήθη σῶσαι, ἀλλὰ πρὶν μὲν ἐξελθεῖν ἐνιαυτὸν τοῦ πολέμου τὰς πόλεις ἁπάσας ἀπωλωλέκεσαν τὰς ἐν τῇ Χαλκιδικῇ προδιδόντες, καὶ Φίλιππος οὐκέτ᾽ εἶχεν ὑπακούειν τοῖς προδιδοῦσιν, οὐδ᾽ εἶχεν ὅ τι πρῶτον λάβῃ.
[266] when, I say, the business had gone so far as that, and corruption had won the day, then, though they numbered more than ten thousand and had a thousand cavalry, though all their neighbors were in alliance with them, though you came to their aid with ten thousand mercenaries, fifty war-galleys, and four thousand of your citizen-force, nothing could save them. Before the war had lasted a year they had lost every town in Chalcidice through treachery, and Philip could no longer pay any attention to the traitors, and hardly knew what to capture first.
[267] πεντακοσίους δ᾽ ἱππέας προδοθέντας ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν τῶν ἡγουμένων ἔλαβεν αὐτοῖς ὅπλοις ὁ Φίλιππος, ὅσους οὐδεὶς πώποτ᾽ ἄλλος ἀνθρώπων. καὶ οὔτε τὸν ἥλιον ᾐσχύνονθ᾽ οἱ ταῦτα ποιοῦντες οὔτε τὴν γῆν πατρίδ᾽ οὖσαν, ἐφ᾽ ἧς ἕστασαν, οὔθ᾽ ἱερὰ οὔτε τάφους οὔτε τὴν μετὰ ταῦτα γενησομένην αἰσχύνην ἐπὶ τοιούτοις ἔργοις: οὕτως ἔκφρονας, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ παραπλῆγας τὸ δωροδοκεῖν ποιεῖ. ὑμᾶς οὖν, ὑμᾶς εὖ φρονεῖν δεῖ τοὺς πολλούς, καὶ μὴ ἐπιτρέπειν τὰ τοιαῦτα, ἀλλὰ κολάζειν δημοσίᾳ. καὶ γὰρ ἂν καὶ ὑπερφυὲς εἴη, εἰ κατὰ μὲν τῶν Ὀλυνθίους προδόντων πολλὰ καὶ δείν᾽ ἐψηφίσασθε, τοὺς δὲ παρ᾽ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς ἀδικοῦντας μὴ κολάζοντες φαίνοισθε. λέγε τὸ ψήφισμα τὸ περὶ τῶν Ὀλυνθίων.”Ψήφισμα”
[267] He took five hundred horsemen with all their equipment by the treason of their officers — a number beyond all precedent. The perpetrators of that infamy were not put to the blush by the sun that shone on their shame or by the soil of their native land on which they stood, by temples or by sepulchres, by the ignominy that waited on their deeds: such madness, men of Athens, such obliquity, does corruption engender! Therefore it behoves you, you the commonalty of Athens, to keep your senses, to refuse toleration to such practices, and to visit them with public retribution. For indeed it would be monstrous if, after passing so stern a decree of censure upon the men who betrayed the Olynthians, you should have no chastisement for those who repeat their iniquity in your own midst. Read the decree concerning the Olynthians.” Decree”
[268] ταῦθ᾽ ὑμεῖς, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ὀρθῶς καὶ καλῶς πᾶσιν Ἕλλησι καὶ βαρβάροις δοκεῖτ᾽ ἐψηφίσθαι κατ᾽ ἀνδρῶν προδοτῶν καὶ θεοῖς ἐχθρῶν. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν τὸ δωροδοκεῖν πρότερον τοῦ τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιεῖν ἐστι καὶ δι᾽ ἐκεῖνο καὶ τάδε πράττουσί τινες, ὃν ἄν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, δωροδοκοῦντ᾽ ἴδητε, τοῦτον καὶ προδότην εἶναι νομίζετε. εἰ δ᾽ ὁ μὲν καιρούς, ὁ δὲ πράγματα, ὁ δὲ στρατιώτας προδίδωσιν, ὧν ἂν ἕκαστος, οἶμαι, κύριος γένηται, ταῦτα διαφθείρει: μισεῖν δ᾽ ὁμοίως τοὺς τοιούτους πάντας προσήκει.
[268] Gentlemen of the jury, by the universal judgement of Greeks and barbarians alike, you acted well and righteously in passing this vote of censure upon traitors and reprobates. Therefore, inasmuch as bribe-taking is the forerunner of such treasons, and for the sake of bribes men commit them, whenever, men of Athens, you see any man taking bribes, you may be sure that he is also a traitor. If one man betrays opportunities, another negotiations, another soldiery, each one is making havoc of the business he controls, and all alike deserve your reprobation.
[269] ἔστι δ᾽ ὑμῖν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, περὶ τούτων μόνοις τῶν πάντων ἀνθρώπων οἰκείοις χρῆσθαι παραδείγμασι, καὶ τοὺς προγόνους, οὓς ἐπαινεῖτε δικαίως, ἔργῳ μιμεῖσθαι. καὶ γὰρ εἰ μὴ τὰς μάχας μηδὲ τὰς στρατείας μηδὲ τοὺς κινδύνους, ἐν οἷς ἦσαν ἐκεῖνοι λαμπροί, συμβαίνει καιρός, ἀλλ᾽ ἄγεθ᾽ ἡσυχίαν ὑμεῖς ἐν τῷ παρόντι, ἀλλὰ τό γ᾽ εὖ φρονεῖν αὐτῶν μιμεῖσθε.
[269] In dealing with them you, men of Athens, and you alone among the nations of the world, can find examples to imitate in your own history, and may emulate in act the forefathers whom you justly commend. For if at the present time you are at peace, and cannot emulate the battles, the campaigns, the hazards of war, in which they won renown, you may at least imitate their sound judgement.
[270] τούτου γὰρ πανταχοῦ χρεία, καὶ οὐδέν ἐστι πραγματωδέστερον οὐδ᾽ ὀχληρότερον τὸ καλῶς φρονεῖν τοῦ κακῶς, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῷ ἴσῳ χρόνῳ νυνὶ καθήμενος ὑμῶν ἕκαστος, ἂν μὲν ἃ χρὴ γιγνώσκῃ περὶ τῶν πραγμάτων καὶ ψηφίζηται, βελτίω τὰ κοινὰ ποιήσει τῇ πόλει καὶ ἄξια τῶν προγόνων πράξει, ἂν δ᾽ ἃ μὴ δεῖ, φαυλότερα, καὶ ἀνάξια τῶν προγόνων ποιήσει. τί οὖν ἐκεῖνοι περὶ τούτων ἐφρόνουν; ταυτὶ λαβὼν ἀνάγνωθι, γραμματεῦ: δεῖ γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἰδεῖν ὅτι ἐπὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις ἔργοις ῥᾳθυμεῖτε, ὧν θάνατον κατεγνώκασιν οἱ πρόγονοι. λέγε.”Στήλη”
[270] That is wanted in all circumstances; and an honest judgement costs you no more pains and vexation than a vicious judgement. Each of you will sit in this court for just as long a time, whether, by reaching a right decision and giving a right verdict upon this case, he amends the condition of the commonwealth and does credit to his ancestry, or, by a wrong decision, impairs that condition and dishonors that ancestry. What, then, was their judgement in such a case? — Clerk, take this and read it. — For I would have you know that you are treating with indifference offences such as your forefathers once punished with death.” Stela Inscription”
[271] ἀκούετ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν γραμμάτων λεγόντων Ἄρθμιον τὸν Πυθώ
νακτος τὸν Ζελείτην ἐχθρὸν εἶναι καὶ πολέμιον τοῦ δήμου τοῦ Ἀθηναίων καὶ τῶν συμμάχων αὐτὸν καὶ γένος πᾶν. διὰ τί; ὅτι τὸν χρυσὸν τὸν ἐκ τῶν βαρβάρων εἰς τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἤγαγεν. οὐκοῦν ἔστιν, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἐκ τούτων ἰδεῖν ὅτι οἱ πρόγονοι μὲν ὑμῶν, ὅπως μηδ᾽ ἄλλος ἀνθρώπων μηδεὶς ἐπὶ χρήμασι μηδὲν ἐργάσεται κακὸν τὴν Ἑλλάδα, ἐφρόντιζον, ὑμεῖς δ᾽ οὐδὲ τὴν πόλιν αὐτὴν ὅπως μηδεὶς τῶν πολιτῶν ἀδικήσει προορᾶσθε.
[271] You hear, men of Athens, the record which declares Arthmius, son of Pythonax, of Zelea, to be enemy and foeman of the Athenian people and their allies, him and all his kindred. His offence was conveying gold from barbarians to Greeks. Hence, apparently, we may conclude that your ancestors were anxious to prevent any man, even an alien, taking rewards to do injury to Greece; but you take no thought to discountenance wrongs done by your own citizens to your own city.
[272] νὴ Δί᾽, ἀλλ᾽ ὅπως ἔτυχεν ταῦτα τὰ γράμμαθ᾽ ἕστηκεν. ἀλλ᾽ ὅλης οὔσης ἱερᾶς τῆς ἀκροπόλεως ταυτησὶ καὶ πολλὴν εὐρυχωρίαν ἐχούσης, παρὰ τὴν χαλκῆν τὴν μεγάλην Ἀθηνᾶν ἐκ δεξιᾶς ἕστηκεν, ἣν ἀριστεῖον ἡ πόλις τοῦ πρὸς τοὺς βαρβάρους πολέμου, δόντων τῶν Ἑλλήνων τὰ χρήματα ταῦτα, ἀνέθηκεν. τότε μὲν τοίνυν οὕτω σεμνὸν ἦν τὸ δίκαιον καὶ τὸ κολάζειν τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιοῦντας ἔντιμον, ὥστε τῆς αὐτῆς ἠξιοῦτο στάσεως τό τ᾽ ἀριστεῖον τῆς θεοῦ καὶ αἱ κατὰ τῶν τὰ τοιαῦτ᾽ ἀδικούντων τιμωρίαι: νῦν δὲ γέλως, ἄδεια, εἰ μὴ τὴν ἄγαν ταύτην ἐξουσίαν σχήσετε νῦν ὑμεῖς.
[272] Does anyone say that this inscription has been set up just anywhere? No; although the whole of our citadel is a holy place, and although its area is so large, the inscription stands at the right hand beside the great brazen Athene which was dedicated by the state as a memorial of victory in the Persian war, at the expense of the Greeks. In those days, therefore, justice was so venerable, and the punishment of these crimes so meritorious, that the retribution of such offenders was honored with the same position as Pallas Athene’s own prize of victory. Today we have instead — mockery, impunity, dishonor, unless you restrain the licence of these men.
[273] νομίζω τοίνυν ὑμᾶς, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, οὐ καθ᾽ ἕν τι μόνον τοὺς προγόνους μιμουμένους ὀρθῶς ἂν ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ πάνθ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἔπραττον ἐφεξῆς. ἐκεῖνοι τοίνυν, ὡς ἅπαντες εὖ οἶδ᾽ ὅτι τὸν λόγον τοῦτον ἀκηκόατε, Καλλίαν τὸν Ἱππονίκου ταύτην τὴν ὑπὸ πάντων θρυλουμένην εἰρήνην πρεσβεύσαντα, ἵππου μὲν δρόμον ἡμέρας πεζῇ μὴ καταβαίνειν ἐπὶ τὴν θάλατταν βασιλέα, ἐντὸς δὲ Χελιδονίων καὶ Κυανέων πλοίῳ μακρῷ μὴ πλεῖν, ὅτι δῶρα λαβεῖν ἔδοξε πρεσβεύσας, μικροῦ μὲν ἀπέκτειναν, ἐν δὲ ταῖς εὐθύναις πεντήκοντ᾽ ἐπράξαντο τάλαντα.
[273] In my judgement, men of Athens, you will do well, not to emulate your forefathers in some one respect alone, but to follow their conduct step by step. I am sure you have all heard the story of their treatment of Callias, son of Hipponicus, who negotiated the celebrated peace under which the King of Persia was not to approach within a day’s ride of the coast, nor sail with a ship of war between the Chelidonian islands and the Blue Rocks. At the inquiry into his conduct they came near to putting him to death, and mulcted him in fifty talents, because he was said to have taken bribes on embassy.
[274] καίτοι καλλίω ταύτης εἰρήνην οὔτε πρότερον οὔθ᾽ ὕστερον οὐδεὶς ἂν εἰπεῖν ἔχοι πεποιημένην τὴν πόλιν. ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τοῦτ᾽ ἐσκόπουν. τούτου μὲν γὰρ ἡγοῦντο τὴν αὑτῶν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὴν τῆς πόλεως δόξαν αἰτίαν εἶναι, τοῦ δὲ προῖκ᾽ ἢ μὴ τὸν τρόπον τοῦ πρεσβευτοῦ: τοῦτον οὖν δίκαιον ἠξίουν παρέχεσθαι καὶ ἀδωροδόκητον τὸν προσιόντα τοῖς κοινοῖς.
[274] Yet no one can cite a more honorable peace made by the city before or since; but that is not what they regarded. They attributed the honorable peace to their own valor and to the high repute of their city, the refusal or acceptance of money to the character of the ambassador; and they expected an honest and incorruptible character in any man who entered the service of the state.
[275] ἐκεῖνοι μὲν τοίνυν οὕτως ἐχθρὸν ἡγοῦντο τὸ δωροδοκεῖν καὶ ἀλυσιτελὲς τῇ πόλει, ὥστε μήτ᾽ ἐπὶ πράξεως μηδεμιᾶς μήτ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἀνδρὸς ἐᾶν γίγνεσθαι: ὑμεῖς δ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὴν αὐτὴν εἰρήνην ἑορακότες τὰ μὲν τῶν συμμάχων τῶν ὑμετέρων τείχη καθῃρηκυῖαν, τὰς δὲ τῶν πρέσβεων οἰκίας οἰκοδομοῦσαν, καὶ τὰ μὲν τῆς πόλεως κτήματ᾽ ἀφῃρημένην, τούτοις δ᾽ ἃ μηδ᾽ ὄναρ ἤλπισαν πώποτε κτησαμένην, οὐκ αὐτοὶ τούτους ἀπεκτείνατε, ἀλλὰ κατηγόρου προσδεῖσθε, καὶ λόγῳ κρίνεθ᾽ ὧν ἔργῳ τἀδικήματα πάντες ὁρῶσιν.
[275] They held the taking of bribes to be too inimical and unprofitable to the state to be tolerated in any transaction or in any person; but you, men of Athens, having before you a peace which at once has pulled down the walls of your allies and is building up the houses of your ambassadors, which robbed the city of her possessions and earned for them wealth beyond the dreams of avarice, instead of putting them to death of your own accord, wait for the appearance of a prosecutor. You are giving them a trial of words with their evil deeds before your eyes.
[276] οὐ τοίνυν τὰ παλαί᾽ ἄν τις ἔχοι μόνον εἰπεῖν καὶ διὰ τούτων τῶν παραδειγμάτων ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ τιμωρίαν παρακαλέσαι: ἀλλ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ὑμῶν τουτωνὶ τῶν ἔτι ζώντων ἀνθρώπων πολλοὶ δίκην δεδώκασιν, ὧν ἐγὼ τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους παραλείψω, τῶν δ᾽ ἐκ πρεσβείας, ἣ πολὺ ταύτης ἐλάττω κακὰ τὴν πόλιν εἴργασται, θανάτῳ ζημιωθέντων ἑνὸς ἢ δυοῖν ἐπιμνησθήσομαι. καί μοι λέγε τουτὶ τὸ ψήφισμα λαβών.”Ψήφισμα”
[276] Yet we need not restrict ourselves to bygone history, or rely upon those ancient precedents in our appeal to retributive justice. Within your own lifetime, in the time of the generation now living, not a few men have been tried and condemned. Passing by other instances, let me recall to your memory one or two men who have been punished by death after an embassy far less mischievous to the city. Please take and read this decree.” Decree”
[277] κατὰ τουτὶ τὸ ψήφισμ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν πρέσβεων ἐκείνων ὑμεῖς θάνατον κατέγνωτε, ὧν εἷς ἦν Ἐπικράτης, ἀνήρ, ὡς ἐγὼ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων ἀκούω, σπουδαῖος καὶ πολ�
�ὰ χρήσιμος τῇ πόλει, καὶ τῶν ἐκ Πειραιῶς καταγαγόντων τὸν δῆμον καὶ ἄλλως δημοτικός. ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως οὐδὲν αὐτὸν ὠφέλησε τούτων, δικαίως: οὐ γὰρ ἐφ᾽ ἡμισείᾳ χρηστὸν εἶναι δεῖ τὸν τὰ τηλικαῦτα διοικεῖν ἀξιοῦντα, οὐδὲ τὸ πιστευθῆναι προλαβόντα παρ᾽ ὑμῶν εἰς τὸ μείζω δύνασθαι κακουργεῖν καταχρῆσθαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἁπλῶς μηδὲν ὑμᾶς ἀδικεῖν ἑκόντα.
[277] By the terms of this decree, men of Athens, you condemned to death the ambassadors named. One of them was Epicrates, who, as I am informed by persons older than myself, was an honest, useful, and popular politician, and one of the men who marched from Peiraeus and restored the democracy. No such consideration availed him; and that was right, for a man who accepts so important a mission is not to be virtuous by halves. He must not use the public confidence he has earned as an opportunity for knavery; his duty is simply to do you no wilful wrong at all.
[278] εἰ τοίνυν τι τούτοις ἄπρακτόν ἐστι τούτων ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἐκείνων θάνατος κατέγνωσται, ἔμ᾽ ἀποκτείνατ᾽ ἤδη. σκοπεῖτε γάρ. ‘ἐπειδὴ παρὰ τὰ γράμματα’ φησὶν ‘ἐπρέσβευσαν ἐκεῖνοι.’ καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἔστι τῶν ἐγκλημάτων πρῶτον. οὗτοι δ᾽ οὐ παρὰ τὰ γράμματα; οὐ τὸ μὲν ψήφισμα ‘Ἀθηναίοις καὶ τοῖς Ἀθηναίων συμμάχοις,’ οὗτοι δὲ Φωκέας ἐκσπόνδους ἀπέφηναν; οὐ τὸ μὲν ψήφισμα ‘τοὺς ἄρχοντας ὁρκοῦν τοὺς ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν,’ οὗτοι δ᾽, οὓς Φίλιππος αὐτοῖς προσέπεμψε, τούτους ὥρκισαν; οὐ τὸ μὲν ψήφισμα ‘οὐδαμοῦ μόνους ἐντυγχάνειν Φιλίππῳ,’ οὗτοι δ᾽ οὐδὲν ἐπαύσαντ᾽ ἰδίᾳ χρηματίζοντες;