by Demosthenes
[170] Nevertheless they will allege that both then and now they were acting in your interests. Will you then accept their exploits as due to zeal in your interests? Or will you indulgently tolerate the handiwork of their audacity and wickedness? No, men of Athens; you ought to abhor such men rather than liberate them. He who claims your indulgence as having acted for the good of the commonwealth must be shown to possess the spirit of the common wealth.
[171] τοῦτο δ᾽ ἐστὶ τί; τοὺς ἀσθενεῖς ἐλεεῖν, τοῖς ἰσχυροῖς καὶ δυναμένοις μὴ ἐπιτρέπειν ὑβρίζειν, οὐ τοὺς μὲν πολλοὺς ὠμῶς μεταχειρίζεσθαι, κολακεύειν δὲ τὸν ἀεί τι δύνασθαι δοκοῦντα. ὃ σὺ ποιεῖς, ὦ Τιμόκρατες: δι᾽ ἃ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἂν εἰκότως μὴ θελήσαντες ἀκοῦσαι σοῦ θάνατον καταψηφίσαινθ᾽ οὗτοι ἢ δι᾽ Ἀνδροτίων᾽ ἀφείησαν.
[171] That spirit is a spirit of compassion for the helpless, and of resistance to the intimidation of the strong and powerful; it does not inspire brutal treatment of the populace, and subservience to the potentates of the day. — And such is your conduct, Timocrates; and therefore the jury will have better reason to refuse you a hearing and condemn you to death than to acquit you for the sake of Androtion.
[172] ὅτι τοίνυν οὐδὲ τὴν εἴσπραξιν αὐτὴν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν πεποίηνται, καὶ τοῦτ᾽ αὐτίκα δὴ μάλ᾽ ὑμῖν δῆλον ποιήσω. εἰ γάρ τις ἔροιτ᾽ αὐτοὺς πότερ᾽ αὐτοῖς δοκοῦσ᾽ ἀδικεῖν μᾶλλον τὴν πόλιν οἱ γεωργοῦντες καὶ φειδόμενοι, διὰ παιδοτροφίας δὲ καὶ οἰκεῖ᾽ ἀναλώματα καὶ λῃτουργίας ἑτέρας ἐλλελοιπότες εἰσφοράν, ἢ οἱ τὰ τῶν ἐθελησάντων εἰσενεγκεῖν χρήματα καὶ τὰ παρὰ τῶν συμμάχων κλέπτοντες καὶ ἀπολλύντες, οὐκ ἂν εἰς τοῦτο δήπου τόλμης, καίπερ ὄντες ἀναιδεῖς, ἔλθοιεν, ὥστε φῆσαι τοὺς τὰ ἑαυτῶν μὴ εἰσφέροντας μᾶλλον ἀδικεῖν ἢ τοὺς τὰ κοίν᾽ ὑφαιρουμένους.
[172] However, I will make it quite clear to you without more ado that they did not carry out those exactions for your benefit. If they were asked whether, in their opinion, the greater injury is done to the commonwealth by tillers of the soil, who live frugally, but, because of the cost of maintaining their children, or of household expenses, or of other public burdens, are behindhand with their taxes, or by people who plunder and squander the money of willing taxpayers and the revenue that comes from our allies, I am sure that, for all their hardihood, they would never have the audacity to reply that those who fail to contribute their own money are worse transgressors than those who embezzle public money.
[173] τίνος οὖν ἕνεκ᾽, ὦ Τιμόκρατες καὶ Ἀνδροτίων, ἐτῶν ὄντων πλειόνων ἢ τριάκοντ᾽ ἀφ᾽ οὗ ὅ γ᾽ ἕτερος ὑμῶν πολιτεύεται, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χρόνῳ πολλῶν μὲν στρατηγῶν ἠδικηκότων τὴν πόλιν, πολλῶν δὲ ῥητόρων, οἳ παρὰ τουτοισὶ κέκρινται, ὧν οἱ μὲν τεθνᾶσιν ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἠδίκουν, οἱ δ᾽ ὑποχωρήσαντες ᾤχοντο καταγνόντες αὑτῶν, οὐδενὸς πώποτε τούτων ἐξητάσθη κατήγορος ὑμῶν οὐδέτερος, οὐδ᾽ ἀγανακτῶν ὤφθη ὑπὲρ ὧν ἡ πόλις πάσχει, ἀλλ᾽ ἐνταῦθ᾽ ἐφάνηθ᾽ ἡμῶν κηδόμενοι οὗ πολλοὺς ἔδει κακῶς ποιῆσαι;
[173] — What then is the reason, Timocrates and Androtion, that, though one of you has taken part in public life for more than thirty years, though during that time many commanders have defrauded the commonwealth, and many politicians as well, who have been tried in this court, and though some of them have suffered death for their crimes, and others have condemned themselves by slipping away and disappearing altogether, neither of you ever once appeared as prosecutor of those offenders, or expressed any indignation at the wrongs of the city, but made your first exhibition of anxiety for our welfare in an affair which involved harsh treatment of a great many people?
[174] βούλεσθ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸ τούτων αἴτιον ἐγὼ ὑμῖν εἴπω; ὅτι τούτων μὲν μετέχουσιν ὧν ἀδικοῦσιν ὑμᾶς τινες, ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν εἰσπραττομένων ὑφαιροῦνται: δι᾽ ἀπληστίαν δὲ τρόπων διχόθεν καρποῦνται τὴν πόλιν. οὔτε γὰρ ῥᾷον πολλοῖς καὶ τὰ μίκρ᾽ ἀδικοῦσιν ἀπεχθάνεσθαι ἢ ὀλίγοις καὶ μεγάλα, οὔτε δημοτικώτερον δήπου τὰ τῶν πολλῶν ἀδικήμαθ᾽ ὁρᾶν ἢ τὰ τῶν ὀλίγων.
[174] — Do you wish me to tell you the reason, men of Athens? These men share in the frauds that certain persons practise on you, and they also get their pickings from the collection of revenue. In their insatiable greed they reap a double harvest from the State. For it is not an easier matter to make enemies of a multitude of petty offenders than of a few big offenders; neither of course is it a more popular thing to have an eye for the sins of the many than for the sins of the few.
[175] ἀλλὰ τοῦτ᾽ αἴτιον οὑγὼ λέγω. δεῖ τοίνυν ὑμᾶς ταῦτα λογιζομένους, καὶ μεμνημένους ὧν ἂν ἕκαστος ἁμάρτῃ, κολάζειν, ὅταν λάβητέ τινα, καὶ μὴ τὸν χρόνον εἰ πολύς ἐστ᾽ ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνου σκοπεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰ ταῦτ᾽ ἐποίουν. ὡς εἰ νῦν πράως οἴσετ᾽ ἐφ᾽ οἷς τότ᾽ ἠγανακτεῖτε, δόξετ᾽ ὀργιζόμενοι κατεγνωκέναι τὰ χρήματα τούτων, οὐκ ἀδικούμενοι. τῶν μὲν γὰρ ὀργιζομένων ἐστὶν ὀξέως τι κακὸν τὸν λελυπηκότ᾽ ἐργάσασθαι, τῶν δ᾽ ἀδικουμένων, ὅταν ποθ᾽ ὑφ᾽ αὑτοῖς λάβωσι τὸν ἠδικηκότα, τότε τιμωρήσασθαι. οὔκουν δεῖ δοκεῖν, νῦν μαλακισθέντας, τότε τῶν ὀμωμοσμένων ὅρκων ἀμελήσαντας ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς χαρίσασθαι παρὰ τὸ δίκαιον, ἀλλὰ μισεῖν καὶ μηδ᾽ ἀνέχεσθαι φωνὴν μήτε τούτου μήτ᾽ ἐκείνου, τοιαῦτα πεπολιτευμένων.
[175] However, the reason is what I am telling you. You must, therefore, take these facts into account, and, bearing in mind their several misdeeds, punish every one of them as soon as you have caught him. Never mind how long ago the offence was committed; consider only whether they committed it. If you are indulgent today to crimes that aroused your indignation then, it will look as though you sentenced them to repay the money because you were angry, not because you suffered any wrong. For to do something spiteful on the spur of the moment to the man who has hurt you is a symptom of anger; if you are really aggrieved, you wait till you have the malefactor at your mercy, and then punish him. You must not let it be inferred from your placability today that you disregarded your oaths and gratified an unjust passion then. You ought to detest them; you ought to be impatient of the sound of the voice of either of those two men, whose public conduct has been what I describe.
[176] ἀλλὰ νὴ Δία ταῦτα μὲν τοιοῦτοι γεγόνασιν ἐν οἷς πεπολίτευνται, ἄλλα δ᾽ ἔσθ᾽ ἃ καλῶς διῳκήκασιν. ἀλλὰ καὶ τἄλλ᾽ οὕτω προσεληλύθασι πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὥσθ᾽ ἥκιστ᾽ ἐν ο�
�ς ἀκηκόατ᾽ ἄξιόν ἐστι μισεῖν αὐτούς. τί γὰρ βούλεσθ᾽ εἴπω; τὰ πομπεῖ᾽ ὡς ἐπεσκευάκασι, καὶ τὴν τῶν στεφάνων καθαίρεσιν, ἢ τὴν τῶν φιαλῶν ποίησιν τὴν καλήν;
[176] Yes, but, in spite of those public delinquencies, there was, it may be said, other business which they managed with credit. On the contrary, in every respect their behavior towards their fellow-citizens has been such that the story you have heard is the least of the reasons you have for hating them. What do you wish me to mention? How they repaired the processional ornaments? How they broke up the crowns? Their success as manufacturers of saucers?
[177] ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τούτοις γε, εἰ μηδὲν ἄλλ᾽ ἠδίκουν τὴν πόλιν, τρίς, οὐχ ἅπαξ τεθνάναι δικαίως ἄν μοι δοκοῦσιν: καὶ γὰρ ἱεροσυλίᾳ καὶ ἀσεβείᾳ καὶ κλοπῇ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς δεινοτάτοις εἴσ᾽ ἔνοχοι. τὰ μὲν οὖν πόλλ᾽ ὧν λέγων ἐφενάκιζεν ὑμᾶς Ἀνδροτίων, παραλείψω: φήσας δ᾽ ἀπορρεῖν τὰ φύλλα τῶν στεφάνων καὶ σαπροὺς εἶναι διὰ τὸν χρόνον, ὥσπερ ἴων ἢ ῥόδων ὄντας, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ χρυσίου, συγχωνεύειν ἔπεισεν. αἱρεθεὶς δ᾽ ἐπὶ ταῦτα προσείλετο τοῦτον τὸν πάντων τῶν κακῶν κοινωνόν.
[177] Why, for those performances alone, though they had committed no other fraud on the City, it seems to me that they deserve not one but three sentences of death; for they are guilty of sacrilege, of impiety, of embezzlement, of every monstrous crime. The greater part, then, of the speech by which Androtion threw dust in your eyes I will leave unnoticed; but, by alleging that the leaves of the crowns were rotten with age and falling off, — as though they were violet-leaves or rose-leaves, not leaves made of gold — he persuaded you to melt them down. Being appointed to perform that operation, he chose as his assistant Timocrates, the constant partner of his misdeeds.
[178] κᾆτ᾽ ἐπὶ μὲν ταῖς εἰσφοραῖς τὸν δημόσιον παρεῖναι προσέγραψεν ὡς δὴ δίκαιος ὤν, ὧν ἕκαστος ἀντιγραφεὺς ἔμελλεν ἔσεσθαι τῶν εἰσενεγκόντων: ἐπὶ τοῖς στεφάνοις δ᾽ οὓς κατέκοπτεν οὐχὶ προσήγαγεν ταὐτὸ δίκαιον τοῦτο, ἀλλ᾽ αὑτὸς ῥήτωρ, χρυσοχόος, ταμίας, ἀντιγραφεὺς γέγονεν.
[178] And then, in providing for the collection of taxes, he had put in a clause that the public accountant should attend. That was very honest of him; only every taxpayer was certain to check the accounts. But in dealing with the crowns that he was to break up, he left out that very proper regulation; he was himself orator, goldsmith, business-manager, and auditor of accounts.
[179] καὶ μὴν εἰ μὲν ἅπαντ᾽ ἠξίους, ὅσα πράττεις τῇ πόλει, σαυτῷ πιστεύειν, οὐκ ἂν ὁμοίως κλέπτης ὢν ἐφωρῶ: νῦν δ᾽ ἐπὶ ταῖς εἰσφοραῖς ὃ δίκαιόν ἐσθ᾽ ὁρίσας, μὴ σοὶ πιστεύειν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς αὑτῆς δούλοις τὴν πόλιν, ὁπότ᾽ ἄλλο τι πράττων καὶ χρήματα κινῶν ἱερά, ὧν ἔνι᾽ οὐδ᾽ ἐπὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας γενεᾶς ἀνετέθη, μὴ προσγραψάμενος τὴν αὐτὴν φυλακὴν ἥνπερ ἐπὶ τῶν εἰσφορῶν φαίνει, οὐκ ἤδη δῆλον δι᾽ ὃ τοῦτ᾽ ἐποίησας; ἐγὼ μὲν οἶμαι.
[179] — Now if you, sir, had claimed our entire confidence in all your public business, your dishonesty would not have been equally manifest; but, seeing that in the matter of the taxes you laid down the just principle that the City must trust, not you, but her own servants, and then, when you took up another job, and were tampering with the consecrated plate, some of it dedicated before we were born, you forgot to provide the precaution that was taken at your own instance in respect of the tax-collection, is it not perfectly clear what you were aiming at? Of course it is.
[180] καὶ μήν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ κατὰ παντὸς τοῦ χρόνου σκέψασθ᾽ ὡς καλὰ καὶ ζηλώτ᾽ ἐπιγράμματα τῆς πόλεως ἀνελὼν ὡς ἀσεβῆ καὶ δείν᾽ ἀντεπέγραψεν. οἶμαι γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἅπαντας ὁρᾶν ὑπὸ τῶν στεφάνων ταῖς χοινικίσιν κάτωθεν γεγραμμένα ‘οἱ σύμμαχοι τὸν δῆμον ἀνδραγαθίας εἵνεκα ἐστεφάνωσαν καὶ δικαιοσύνης,’ ἢ ‘οἱ σύμμαχοι ἀριστεῖον τῇ Ἀθηναίᾳ ἀνέθεσαν,’ ἢ κατὰ πόλεις ‘οἱ δεῖνες τὸν δῆμον ἐστεφάνωσαν σωθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου,’ οἷον ‘Εὐβοεῖς ἐλευθερωθέντες ἐστεφάνωσαν τὸν δῆμον ἐπεγέγραπτό που,’ πάλιν ‘Κόνων ἀπὸ τῆς ναυμαχίας τῆς πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους,’ ‘Χαβρίας ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν Νάξῳ ναυμαχίας:’ τοιαῦτα γὰρ ἦν τὰ τῶν στεφάνων ἐπιγράμματα.
[180] Again, men of Athens, consider those glorious and much-admired inscriptions that he has obliterated for all time, and the strange and blasphemous inscriptions that he has written in their stead. You all, I suppose, used to see the words written under the circlets of the crowns: “The Allies crowned the People for valor and righteousness,” or “The Allies dedicated to the Goddess of Athens a prize of victory”; or, from the several states of the Alliance, “Such-and-such a city crowned the People by whom they were delivered,” or “The liberated Euboeans,” for example, “crowned the People,” or again “Conon from the sea-fight with the Lacedaemonians,” “Chabrias from the sea-fight off Naxos.”
[181] ταῦτα μὲν τοίνυν, ἃ πρότερον ζῆλον πολὺν εἶχε καὶ φιλοτιμίαν ὑμῖν, ἠφάνισται καθαιρεθέντων τῶν στεφάνων: ἐπὶ ταῖς φιάλαις δ᾽ ἃς ἀντ᾽ ἐκείνων ἐποιήσαθ᾽ ὑμῖν ὁ πόρνος οὗτος, ‘Ἀνδροτίωνος ἐπιμελουμένου’ ἐπιγέγραπται, καὶ οὗ τὸ σῶμ᾽ ἡταιρηκότος οὐκ ἐῶσιν οἱ νόμοι εἰς τὰ ἱέρ᾽ εἰσιέναι, τούτου τοὔνομ᾽ ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἐπὶ τῶν φιαλῶν γεγραμμένον ἐστίν. ὅμοιόν γε, οὐ γάρ; τοῦτο τοῖς προτέροις ἐπιγράμμασιν, ἢ φιλοτιμίαν ἴσην ἔχον ὑμῖν.
[181] Such, I say, were the inscriptions on the crowns. They were tokens of emulation and honorable ambition; but now they have vanished with the destruction of the crowns, and the saucers which that lewd fellow has had made in their place bear the inscription “ Made by direction of Androtion.” And so our temples contain gold plate marked with the name of a man whom the laws forbid to enter those temples in person because of his filthy life. Just like the old inscriptions, — Is it not? — and the same incentive to your ambitions!
[182] τρία τοίνυν ἐκ τούτου τὰ δεινότατ᾽ ἄν τις ἴδοι πεπραγμέν᾽ αὐτοῖς. τὴν μὲν γὰρ θεὸν τοὺς στεφάνους σεσυλήκασιν: τῆς πόλεως δὲ τὸν ζῆλον ἠφανίκασιν τὸν ἐκ τῶν ἔργων, ὧν ὑπόμνημ᾽ ἦσαν ὄντες οἱ στέφανοι: τοὺς δ᾽ ἀναθέντας δόξαν οὐ μικρὰν ἀφῄρηνται, τὸ δοκεῖν ὧν ἂν εὖ πάθωσ᾽ ἐθέλειν μεμνῆσθαι. καὶ τοιαῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτα τὸ πλῆθος κάκ᾽ εἰργασμένοι εἰς τοῦτ᾽ ἀναισθησίας καὶ τόλμ
ης προεληλύθασιν, ὥσθ᾽ ὁ μὲν οἴεται δι᾽ ἐκεῖνον ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν σωθήσεσθαι, ὁ δὲ παρακάθηται καὶ οὐ καταδύεται τοῖς πεπραγμένοις.
[182] You may, then, mark three scandalous crimes committed by these persons. They have robbed the Goddess of her crowns. They have extinguished in the City that spirit of emulation that sprang from the achievements which the crowns, while in being, commemorated. They have deprived the donors of a great honor, — the credit of gratitude for benefits received. And after this long series of evil deeds they have grown so callous and so audacious that one of them expects you to acquit him for the sake of the other, and the other sits by his side and does not sink into the ground for shame at his conduct.
[183] οὕτω δ᾽ οὐ μόνον εἰς χρήματ᾽ ἀναιδής, ἀλλὰ καὶ σκαιός ἐστιν, ὥστ᾽ οὐκ οἶδεν ἐκεῖνο, ὅτι στέφανοι μέν εἰσ᾽ ἀρετῆς σημεῖον, φιάλαι δὲ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα πλούτου, καὶ στέφανος μὲν ἅπας, κἂν μικρὸς ᾖ, τὴν ἴσην φιλοτιμίαν ἔχει τῷ μεγάλῳ, ἐκπώματα δ᾽ ἢ θυμιατήρια ἢ τὰ τοιαῦτα κτήματα, ἐὰν μὲν ὑπερβάλλῃ τῷ πλήθει, πλούτου τινὰ δόξαν προσετρίψατο τοῖς κεκτημένοις, ἐὰν δ᾽ ἐπὶ μικροῖς σεμνύνηταί τις, τοσοῦτ᾽ ἀπέχει τοῦ τιμῆς τινος διὰ ταῦτα τυχεῖν ὥστ᾽ ἀπειρόκαλος πρὸς ἔδοξεν εἶναι. οὗτος τοίνυν ἀνελὼν τὰ τῆς δόξης κτήματα τὰ τοῦ πλούτου πεποίηται μικρὰ καὶ ἀνάξι᾽ ὑμῶν.