f * -'

RENAISSANCE EDITION

Limited to one thousand Copies

ef which this is

Number

THE WORLDS GREAT CLASSICS

RENAISSANCE EDITION

LIBKAR.Y COMMITTEE.

TIMOTHY DWIGHT D.D. LLD JVSTIN Me CARTHY RICHARD HENRY STODDARD PAVLVAN DYKE, D.D. ALBERT ELLERY BERGH

JVLIAN HAWTHORNE

LITERARY EDITOR.

CLARENCE COOK

ART EDITOR.

THE COLONIAL PRESS NEWYORK £> LONDON

DEMOSTHENES.

Photogravure from the marble bwi in tin Prado Galliry at Madrid.

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ORATIONS

PRONOUNCED TO EXCITE THE ATHENIANS AGAINST PHILIP, KING OF MACEDON; AND ON OCCASIONS OF PUBLIC DELIBERATION

WITH INTRODUCTIONS BY THE TRANSLATOR, THOMAS LELAND, D. D.

AND A SPECIAL INTRODUCTION BY

EPIPHAN1US WILSON, A.M.

FORMERLY PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN KING'S COLLEGE, WINDSOR, NOVA SCOTIA

REVISED EDITION

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COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY THE COLONIAL PRESS.

JUN 5 1956

SPECIAL INTRODUCTION

DEMOSTHENES, the most famous of Greek orators, was born in Attica in the deme or ward Paeania in the year 384 B.C. His father was a wealthy man, being a manu- facturer of swords, and owning also a furniture factory; he died when Demosthenes was a child of seven. For his early nurture and training Demosthenes was indebted to his mother Cleobule, and his inherited wealth was put in charge of three trustees, who however dishonestly squandered it, so that in- stead of yielding an income of three thousand dollars a year, it was found, when Demosthenes at length acquired it, to give but three hundred at the most.

The natural genius of Demosthenes was directed towards the study of oratory by the brilliant successes of Callistratus, and he was also anxious to prosecute at law his dishonest guardians, Aphobus, Demophon and Therippides. He accordingly put himself under the instruction of Isaeus, who is reckoned fifth among the ten Attic orators. Demosthenes, like Cicero, had to contend with serious physical disabilities in fitting himself for the contests of the bar and the public assembly. There are many stories told about the methods he adopted to acquire strength of lung and clearness of articulation. He is said, in his desire for solitary study and training, to have secluded him- self in a cave, shaving half his head so as to unfit himself for appearing in public; to have practised speaking with pebbles in his mouth; and to have harangued the roaring waves that he might learn to outclamor the noise of the assembly. Although, as is averred, he copied out Thucydides eight times for the pur- pose of acquiring a lofty style, he has little trace in his clear and perspicuous sentences of the rugged terseness of the Attic his- torian, from whom doubtless he learned many lessons in states-

iv SPECIAL INTRODUCTION

manship. Like Disraeli in the House of Commons, Demos- thenes made a grievous failure in his first public utterances. His style was ungraceful, his delivery bad. He was however encouraged by his friends to persevere, and his weak chest and stammering tongue were eventually remedied by his persistent and heroic efforts for self-improvement. He was successful as a writer of speeches for other people, and found it a profitable business. In his lawsuit against his father's estate he gained his . cause, but it is doubtful whether he ever recovered any con- 1 siderable portion of his wasted fortune.

His first notable speech seems to have been delivered in 355 B.C., when he opposed in the public assembly among the orators of the Pnyx the passing of the law of Leptines, which took away all special exemptions from public burdens. From this date up to his death, in 322 B.C., Demosthenes was the most conspicuous figure in Greek politics at Athens. He eclipsed every rival as much by his high integrity and exalted patriotism as by sheer force of logic and eloquence.

The career of Demosthenes naturally divides itself into two parts, that which preceded the battle of Chaeronea, and that which followed the downfall of Greek liberties. As Pericles was the orator of Athens at the meridian of Athenian greatness, when the victory over Persia had raised the city to be the foremost power in the Mediterranean, so Demosthenes was the orator of national decadence. He belongs to a distinct era in Greek annals, and to understand his life and work it is necessary to study the rise of Macedonian influence in the affairs of Greece. It is an interesting and instructive chapter of history, especially in the light of the Thucydidean axiom that history repeats itself.

Macedonia is a region separated from southern Greece and the area of Ionian civilization by the Cambunian Mountains. When Demosthenes was born most of the inhabitants of Mace- donia had not yet issued from the tribal state; they were wild mountaineers, hardy and half savage in their manners. There were a few cities, such as ^gse and Pella, where the nomad had been exchanged for the civil life. The Macedonians were Aryans, and kindred in race with the peoples of southern Greece, but they were separated by difference of language from Thebes, Athens and Lacedaemon, and were regarded by the Hellenes as barbarians. Yet the ruling race in Macedonia was

SPECIAL INTRODUCTION v

of pure Greek origin, and boasted descent from the royal house of Argos. Their claims were so far allowed that they had been permitted to contend in the Olympic games. As this was a privilege yielded to none but Greeks, the dominant families of Macedonia, being ambitious to emphasize their superiority, were studious in the pursuit of Greek culture. Their limited mon- archy resembled the same institution in the heroic age, and the government of Philip and Alexander was never developed be- yond the stage of military feudalism. Education, the love of letters and philosophy and a general refinement, were however in the fourth century before Christ gradually extending from the Greek cities of Chalcidice over the whole adjacent territories. But it was not until the reign of Philip II that Macedonia became a military and political power of sufficient importance to menace the tranquillity of Greece. Philip of Macedon, 382-336 B.C., appeared at a time when the three chief cities of Greece, Athens, Thebes and Sparta, were lying exhausted by their internecine struggles for the hegemony. The spirit of independence had been crushed at Athens by the victory of Sparta. Thebes in turn had broken the power of Sparta. There was no single state of sufficient energy, resource and genius in war to stand pre- eminent above the rest and take the lead in repelling a common foe. It was at this moment that Philip of Macedon, a man crafty as Themistocles in diplomacy, and as a general worthy of comparison with Hannibal or Napoleon, appeared on the hor- izon. He had spent some years of his boyhood as a hostage at Thebes, and had learned much from contact with Epaminondas, the first military commander and tactician in Greece. The Macedonian phalanx which gained the day at Chaeronea and became so celebrated in the Asiatic wars of Alexander, was sim- ply a development of the Theban phalanx, which had been the instrument of victory both at Leuctra and Mantinea.

Philip succeeded his father, Perdiccas, in the year 359, and began almost immediately to plot against the independence of Greece. He did not begin by open force to seize the Greek cities of Chalcidice, but by the exercise of diplomacy and the employment of bribery. The city of Amphipolis, which was the gate of Thrace, was the first object of his intrigue. It was a city coveted alike by the Athenians, and the inhabtants of Olynthus, the head of the Chalcidicean confederacy and an Athenian ally.

vi SPECIAL INTRODUCTION

But no one rose up to interrupt the designs of Philip, and in 358 B.C. he had made Amphipolis his prize.

This was the beginning of the struggle which was to end in the extinction of Greek liberties. The encroachments of the crafty Macedonian went on for six years; during which period he de- stroyed Potidaea and founded Philippi. He seized Abdera and Marone, on the coast of Thrace, and Methone, in Thessaly. He dictated terms of peace to the king of Propontis, and formed an alliance with Byzantium, the portal of Asiatic trade. Twice had he invaded Thessaly, and at last began to lay plans against the confederacy of Olynthus. The popular assembly at Athens had for six years been occupied with debates on the encroachments of Philip. The famous Philippics of Demosthenes were de- livered there between 351 B.C. and 341 B.C.; and seven other speeches of warning against Philip were spoken during the same period. In the first Philippic the orator urged the point that the time for barren talk was past; something must be done and done in a deliberate and systematic way against the invader. He compares his countrymen in their struggle with Philip to an untrained boxer engaged with a professional. He propounds a definite plan of campaign against the Macedonians.

This speech was followed in 349 B.C. by the first Olynthiac oration, in which the orator speaks with indignation of Athenian delay, but encourages his countrymen by the thought, better late than never. They must, he says, send to the defence of Olynthus, and at once attack Philip, so that the struggle may be confined to Macedonia, and not end in an invasion of Attica. In the second Olynthiac, delivered the same year, he tries to rouse Greece by declaring that Philip's only superiority consists in his promptness and energy in striking a blow. The Athenians have justice on their side and need only united effort to succeed. The third Olynthiac, 348 B.C., is a very practical and statesman- like speech, and gives financial and tactical details for a future campaign. He advises the diversion of the theoric fund for war expenses and urges the enlistment of native Athenians. It is the utterance of desperation, for the same year Philip had wiped out Olynthus and the Chalcidicean cities of the confederacy, thirty- two in all. The worst prophecies and warnings of the orator had become realized. In 343 B.C., five years after the delivery of the third Olynthiac, Demosthenes declared that men could

SPECIAL INTRODUCTION vii

walk over the sites of the once flourishing cities without being aware that walls and houses ever existed there.

The war up to this date had been kept out of Greece proper; but after the conquest of Chalcidice Philip by a bold stroke of diplomacy gained the right of voting in the affairs of Greece. It is not necessary to detail here the steps by which he won the place once occupied by the Phocians in the Amphictyonic coun- cil. This was at a time, 346 B.C., when the Macedonian party headed by Philocrates had succeeded in securing a treaty of peace between Athens and Philip. But the victory of Philip over the Phocians, 346 B.C, roused the anger of the Athenians, who clamored for a renewal of the war. Demosthenes saw that the state needed time to collect her strength, and make such preparations as were needed for the struggle. He advocated the maintenance of the peace in his speech delivered in the autumn of 346 B.C., for he asked, " If we go to war now, where shall we find allies to replace those conquered by Philip? "

The influence of Demosthenes in the councils of his country- men reached its climax in the eight years that elapsed between the peace of Philocrates and the battle of Chaeronea. His whole life was absorbed in his struggle against the growing power of Philip. Every word of his dreary predictions seemed to come true. His second Philippic was delivered 344 B.C., after a visit to the Peloponnesus made for the purpose of counteracting Macedonian influence. The daring effrontery of Philip had been shown by his action in lodging a formal complaint against Demosthenes for his public utterances, and in making protesta- tions of peace and good-will towards Athens, while all the time he was straining every nerve to make himself master of Greece. The second Philippic was the answer of Demosthenes, to whom the dissimulations of the Macedonian were perfectly transparent. " Is Philip the friend or the enemy of Greece? " he asks, and con- cludes that he is the enemy of Greece because so far all his pro- ceedings tend to his own benefit and to the detriment of the Greek states. In the third Philippic, delivered 341 B.C., the ora- tor speaks on the inspired voice not only of Athenian but of Hel- lenic patriotism. After Philip's seizure of Elatea Demosthenes hastened to Thebes, and made the last attempt to accomplish a union of Greece for the defence of independence. The disas- trous defeat of the allies at Chseronea was at least redeemed from

viii SPECIAL INTRODUCTION

complete disgrace by the sentiment which inspired the struggle. In his speech on the Crown Demosthenes has expressed this sentiment in his own inimitable way: "I maintain," he says, " that if the issue of this struggle had from the outset been mani- fest to the whole world, not even then ought Athens to have shrunk from it, if Athens had any regard for her own glory, her past history, or her future reputation."

This sentence gives the keynote of the life, character and career of Demosthenes.

Even after the defeat of Chaeronea, the responsibility for which his enemies laid to his charge, Demosthenes did not lose his public ascendancy. In 337 B.C. he was chosen as the foremost statesman of the city to deliver the funeral oration over those who fell at Chaeronea. He was intrusted with the repairs of the city fortifications and honored by being made chief of the sacred embassy at Olympia in 324 B.C. A golden crown had been voted to him by the Council in 326 B.C., but ^Eschines had op- posed the passage of the bill through the Assembly, and in 330 B.C. had uttered his speech " Against Ctesiphon," the proposer of the measure. Demosthenes replied by his oration on the Crown, 330 B.C., and won a decisive victory by the most lumi- nous, the most exalted and, at the same time, the most pathetic, speech to be found in the whole range of Greek oratory.

The final years of the orator's life were darkened by the perse- cution which he underwent from the dominant Macedonian party. As far as the obscure incidents attending the arraignment and imprisonment of Demosthenes can be made clear the facts are as follows: In 325 B.C. Harpalus, the treasurer of Alexander the Great, left the Macedonian king in Asia, and came to Athens with a plan for uniting Greece and Asia against the son of Philip. Harpalus brought with him seven hundred talents, about seven million dollars, and by every means in his power, not excepting a resort to lavish bribery, he attempted to rouse the warlike spirit of Athens.

Demosthenes, who saw that war with Alexander would be folly, opposed his plans. At this juncture Antipater, the viceroy of Macedonia, and Olympias, the mother of Alexander, de- manded the surrender of Harpalus, who was eventually impris- oned and his treasure deposited in the Parthenon until Alexan- der should claim it. When the treasure was counted it was

SPECIAL INTRODUCTION ix

found to consist of three hundred and fifty instead of seven hun- dred talents, and Demosthenes induced the Areopagus to inquire into the deficiency. After a trial of six months nine persons were inculpated, and the name of Demosthenes was first on the list of the accused. There can be no doubt that he was perfectly innocent of receiving bribes from Harpalus. He was neverthe- less condemned and fined fifty talents. In default of payment he was imprisoned, but escaped to ^Egina, and eventually he took up his residence at Troezen. A year afterwards Alexander died, and the voice of Demosthenes was raised once more in an appeal to Greece. Now was the time to strike for liberty. The battle of Cranon, 322 B.C., in which Greece was finally defeated, riveted her chains. Antipater demanded as the sole condition on which he would spare Athens that the leading statesmen should be delivered into his hands. Demosthenes and others were then condemned to death as traitors by a decree of the assembly, and fled to J&gina. From there the orator was pur- sued by the emissaries of Antipater, came to the little island of Calauria, off the coast of Argolis, and taking refuge in a temple of Poseidon, drank the poison from which he died. It is evi- dent that Plutarch's circumstantial and highly colored account of this last scene is suggested by Plato's description of the death of Socrates. But the fame of Demosthenes lingered at Calauria long after his death, for the inhabitants of the island erected a statue to him within the precincts of the temple and paid him divine honors.

There are two points which arrest our attention on studying the life of Demosthenes. The first is his political charcter as a statesman of keen sagacity and unblemished honor. At a period of Athenian history when public spirit seemed absolutely dead, when patriotic enthusiasm had become extinct and warlike energy exhausted, Demosthenes represented the Greek spirit of the age of Pericles, and the intense earnestness of the appeals he made to his countrymen actually roused in them something of their ancient ardor. Athens was made better by the presence in her council of such a man, whose courage and determination were equalled by the clear-sightedness with which he saw through the pretexts of the Macedonian. His eloquence is of unique power, because it is of unique simplicity. It is the intel- lectual grasp, the trenchant vehemence, the force and vigor of

x SPECIAL INTRODUCTION

the orator that affect us. He has none of the elaborate diffuse- ness of Cicero, and he scorns the mere ornaments of rhetorical finish. Yet his language has all the living glow, all the purity, all the transparency that belong to the best age of Attic Greek, and even through the medium of a translation we can see and feel the transcendent spell such a speaker could cast over the most cultured and acute of audiences, and we can understand how the most genuine, the most unaffected, the most powerful of ancient orators roused his degenerate countrymen to the final struggle of Chaeronea.

Thomas Leland, who translated the orations of Demosthenes, was born in Ireland in 1722. He was educated at Trinity Col- lege, Dublin, where he was elected Professor of Poetry in 1763. He died in 1785. Among his other works are a " History of the Life and Reign of Philip of Macedon " and a " History of Ire- land." His translation of Demosthenes is remarkable for its clearness and dignity of style. The introductions which he ap- pended to all the orations, excepting that on the Crown, a de- ficiency which the present writer has supplied, are valuable aids to the understanding of the orations, and the circumstances in the history of Greece which gave rise to them. Attention is drawn to the notes of Dr. Leland appended to each oration. They serve admirably in the way of comment, and elucidation, and deserve careful study.

CONTENTS

PACK

INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST PHILIPPIC 3

THE FIRST PHILIPPIC . 7

NOTES 19

INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST OLYNTHIAC ORATION 31

THE FIRST OLYNTHIAC ORATION 33

NOTES 41

INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND OLYNTHIAC ORATION 45

THE SECOND OLYNTHIAC ORATION 47

NOTES 55

INTRODUCTION TO THE THIRD OLYNTHIAC ORATION 61

THE THIRD OLYNTHIAC ORATION 63

NOTES 71

INTRODUCTION TO THE ORATION ON THE PEACE 75

THE ORATION ON THE PEACE 79

NOTES 85

INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND PHILIPPIC 91

THE SECOND PHILIPPIC 93

NOTES 101

INTRODUCTION TO THE ORATION ON THE STATE OF THE

CHERSONESUS 107

THE ORATION ON THE STATE OF THE CHERSONESUS 109

NOTES 123

INTRODUCTION TO THE THIRD PHILIPPIC 129

THE THIRD PHILIPPIC 131

NOTES 147

INTRODUCTION TO THE FOURTH PHILIPPIC 153

THE FOURTH PHILIPPIC. 155

NOTES 171

xi

xii CONTENTS

PAGB

INTRODUCTION TO PHILIP'S LETTER TO THE ATHENIANS AND

THE ORATION ON THE LETTER 177

PHILIP'S LETTER TO THE ATHENIANS 181

NOTES 187

THE ORATION ON THE LETTER 191

NOTES 197

INTRODUCTION TO THE ORATION ON THE CLASSES 201

THE ORATION ON THE CLASSES 203

NOTES 213

INTRODUCTION TO THE ORATION FOR THE LIBERTY OF THE

RHODIANS 221

THE ORATION FOR THE LIBERTY OF THE RHODIANS 223

NOTES 233

INTRODUCTION TO THE ORATION ON THE REGULATION OF

THE STATE 241

THE ORATION ON THE REGULATION OF THE STATE 243

NOTES 253

INTRODUCTION TO THE ORATION ON THE TREATY WITH ALEX- ANDER 261

THE ORATION ON THE TREATY WITH ALEXANDER 263

NOTES 271

INTRODUCTION TO THE ORATION OF ^ESCHINES AGAINST

CTESIPHON 275

THE ORATION OF ^SCHINES AGAINST CTESIPHON 281

NOTES 351

INTRODUCTION TO THE ORATION ON THE CROWN 357

THE ORATION ON THE CROWN 365

NOTES 445

ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGB

DEMOSTHENES ....... Frontispiece

Photogravure from a marble bust

DEMOSTHENES . 44

Photogravure from a marble statue

ZEUS . . . . . . . . . . .150

Photo-engraving from a marble mask

ATHENA PARTHENOS 218

Photo-engraving from a marble statuette

PART OF A PAGE OF THE ETYMOLOGICON MAGNUM . .272

Fac-simile of Printing and Engraving in the Fifteenth Century

THE FIRST PHILIPPIC

INTRODUCTION

To the First Philippic

WE know that Philip was opposed in his design of passing into Greece through Thermopylae, and obliged to re- tire. The danger they had thus escaped deeply affect- ed the Athenians. So daring an attempt, which was in effect de- claring his purposes, filled them with astonishment; and the view of a power which every day received new accessions drove them even to despair. Yet their aversion to public business was still predominant. They forgot that Philip might renew his attempt, and thought they had provided sufficiently for their security by posting a body of troops at the entrance of Attica, under the command of Menelaus, a foreigner. They then proceeded to convene an assembly of the people, in order to consider what measures were to be taken to check the progress of Philip; on which occasion Demosthenes, for the first time, appeared against that prince, and displayed those abilities which proved the great- est obstacle to his designs.

At Athens the whole power and management of affairs were placed in the people. It was their prerogative to receive appeals from the courts of justice, to abrogate and enact laws, to make what alterations in the state they judged convenient; in short, all matters, public or private, foreign or domestic, civil, military, or religious, were determined by them.

Whenever there was occasion to deliberate the people assent bled early in the morning, sometimes in the forum or public place, sometimes in a place called Pnyx, but most frequently in the theatre of Bacchus. A few days before each assembly there was a Trpoypafipa or placard fixed on the statues of some illustri- ous men erected in the city, to give notice of the subject to be de- bated. As they refused admittance into the assembly to all persons who had not attained the necessary age, so they obliged

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4 DEMOSTHENES

all others to attend. The lexiarchs stretched out a cord dyed with scarlet, and by it pushed the people towards the place of meeting. Such as received the stain were fined ; the more dili- gent had a small pecuniary reward. These lexiarchs were the keepers of the register in which were enrolled the names of such citizens as had a right of voting; and all had this right who were of age, and not excluded by a personal fault. Undutiful chil- dren, cowards, brutal debauchees, prodigals, debtors to the pub- lic, were all excluded. Until the time of Cecrops women had a right of suffrage, which they were said to have lost on account of their partiality to Minerva in her dispute with Neptune about giving a name to the city.

In ordinary cases all matters were first deliberated in the Sen- ate of five hundred, composed of fifty senators chosen out of each of the ten tribes. Each tribe had its turn of presiding, and the fifty senators in office were called pry tanes ; and, according to the number of the tribes, the Attic year was divided into ten parts, the first four containing thirty-six, the other thirty-five days, in order to make the lunar year complete, which, accord- ing to their calculation, contained three hundred and fifty-four days. During each of these divisions ten of the fifty prytanes governed for a week, and were called proedri ; and of these he who in the course of the week presided for one day was called the epistate ; three of the proedri being excluded from this office.

The prytanes assembled the people ; the proedri declared the occasion, and the epistate demanded their voices. This was the case in the ordinary assemblies: the extraordinary were con- vened as well by the generals as the prytanes; and sometimes the people met of their own accord, without waiting the formali- ties.

The assembly was opened by a sacrifice, and the place was sprinkled with the blood of the victim. Then an imprecation was pronounced, conceived in these terms : " May the gods pur- sue that man to destruction with all his race, who shall act, speak, or contrive anything against this state ! " This ceremony being finished, the proedri declared the occasion of the assembly, and reported the opinion of the Senate. If any doubt arose, a herald, by commission from the epistate, with a loud voice, in- vited any citizen, first of those above the age of fifty, to speak his opinion; and then the rest according to their ages. This right

INTRODUCTION TO FIRST PHILIPPIC 5

of precedence had been granted by a law of Solon, and the order of speaking determined entirely by the difference of years. In the time of Demosthenes this law was not in force. It is said to have been repealed about fifty years before the date of this ora- tion. Yet the custom still continued out of respect to the reason- able and decent purpose for which the law was originally enacted. When a speaker had delivered his sentiments he generally called on an officer, appointed for that purpose, to read his motion, and propound it in form. He then sat down, or resumed his dis- course, and enforced his motion by additional arguments: and sometimes the speech was introduced by his motion thus pro- pounded. When all the speakers had ended the people gave their opinion, by stretching out their hands to him whose pro- posal pleased them most: and Xenophon reports, that, night having come on when the people were engaged in an important debate, they were obliged to defer their determination till next day, for fear of confusion when their hands were to be raised.

" Porrexerunt manus," saith Cicero (pro Flacco), " et pse- phisma natum est" And to constitute this psephisma or decree, six thousand citizens at least were required. When it was drawn up, the name of its author, or that person whose opinion had prevailed, was prefixed: whence, in speaking of it, they called it his decree. The date of it contained the name of the archon, that of the day and month, and that of the tribe then presiding. The business being over, the prytanes dismissed the assembly.

THE FIRST PHILIPPIC

Pronounced in the Archonship of Aristodemus, in the first year of the Hundred and Seventh Olympiad, and the ninth of Philip's Reign

HAD we been convened, Athenians! on some new sub- ject of debate, I had waited until most of the usual persons had declared their opinions. If I had ap- proved of anything proposed by them, I should have continued silent: if not, I had then attempted to speak my sentiments. But since those very points on which these speakers have often- times been heard already, are at this time to be considered; though I have arisen first,1 I presume I may expect your par- don ; for if they on former occasions had advised the necessary measures, ye would not have found it needful to consult at present.

First, then, Athenians ! these our affairs must not be thought desperate ; nojthough their situation seems entirely deplorableW% For the most Shocking circumstance of all our past conduct is^ really the most favorable to our future expectations. And what is this ? That our own total indolence hath been the cause! of all our present difficulties. For were we thus distressed, inj spite of every vigorous effort which the honor of our state demanded, there were then no hope of a recovery.

In the next place, reflect (you who have been informed by others, and you who can yourselves remember) how great a power 2 the Lacedaemonians not long since possessed; and with what resolution, with what dignity, you disdained to act un- worthy of the state, but maintained the war against them for; the rights of Greece. Why do I mention these things ? Thati ye may know, that ye may see, Athenians ! that if duly vigilant^ ye cannot have anything to fear; that if once remiss, not any-^ thing can happen agreeable^ to your desires; witness the then

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8 DEMOSTHENES

powerful arms of Lacedaemon, which a just attention to your interests enabled you to vanquish : and this man's late insolent attempt, which our insensibility to all our great concerns hath made the cause of this confusion.

If there be a man in this assembly who thinks that we must find a formidable enemy in Philip, while he views, on one hand, the numerous armies 3 which attend him ; and, on the other, the weakness of the state thus despoiled of its dominions : he thinks justly si. Yet, let him reflect on this jihere was a time, Atheni- ans! when we possessed Pydna, and Potidaea, and Methone, and all that country round: when many of those states, now subjected to him, were free and independent, and more inclined to our alliance than to his. Had then Philip reasoned in the same manner — " How shall I dare to attack the Athenians, whose garrisons command my territory, while I am destitute of all assistance ! " — he would not have engaged in those enter- prises which are now crowned with success ; nor could he have raised himself to this pitch of greatness. No, Athenians ! he knew this well, that all these places are but prizes,* laid between the combatants, and ready for the conqueror: that the do- minions of the absent devolve naturally to those who are in the field; the possessions of the supine to the active and intrepid. Animated by these sentiments, he overturns whole countries; he holds all people in subjection : some, as by the right of con- 0 ' quest ; others, under the title of allies and conf e'derates : for all are willing to confederate with those whom they see prepared and resolved to exert themselves as they ought.

JAnd if you, my countrymen ! will now at length be persuaded to entertain the like sentiments : if each of you, renouncing all evasions, will be ready to approve himself a useful citizen, to the utmost that his station and abilities demand : if the rich will be ready to contribute, and the young to take the field : in one word, if you will be yourselves, and banish those vain hopes which every single person entertains — that while so many oth- ers are engaged in public business, his service will not be re- j quired; you then (if heaven so pleases) shall regain your [dominions, recall those opportunities your supineness hath neg- Jected, and chastise the insolence of this man. For you are not X to imagine that, like a god, he is to enjoy his present greatness forever fixed and unchangeable. No, Athenians! there are

THE FIRST PHILIPPIC 9

who hate him, who fear him, who envy him, even among those seemingly the most attached to his cause. These are passions common to mankind; nor must we think that his friends only are exempted from them. It is true, they lie concealed at pres- ent, as our indolence deprives them of all resource. But let us shake off this indolence llfor you see how we are situated ; you see the outrageous arrogance of this man, who does not leave it to your choice whether you shall act, or remain quiet ; but braves you with his menaces; and talks (as we are in- formed)5 in a strain of the highest extravagance: and is not able to rest satisfied with his present acquisitions, but is ever in pursuit of farther conquests ; and while we sit down inactive and irresolute, encloses us on all sides with his toils.

When, therefore, O my countrymen! when will you exert your vigor ? When roused by some event ? When forced by some necessity? What then are we to think of our present condition? To freemen, the disgrace attending on miscon- duct is, in my opinion, the most urgent necessity. Or say, is it your sole ambition to wander through the public places, each inquiring of the other, " What new advices ? " Can anything be more new than that a man of Macedon should conquer the Athenians, and give law to Greece? — " Is Philip dead? "6 — " No, but in great danger." — How are you concerned in those rumors ? Suppose he should meet some fatal stroke: you would soon raise up another Philip, if your interests are thus regarded. For it is not to his own strength that he so much owes his ele- vation as to our supineness. And should some accident 7 affect him, should Fortune, who hath ever been more careful of the state than we ourselves, now repeat her favors ; (and may she thus crown them!) — be assured of this, that by being on the spot, ready to take advantage of the confusion, you will every- where be absolute masters ; but in your present disposition, even if a favorable juncture should present you with Amphipolis,8 you could not take possession of it, while this suspense prevails in your designs and in your councils.

And now, as to the necessity of a general vigor and alacrity, of this you must be fully persuaded : this point therefore I shall urge no farther. But the nature of the armament, which, I think, will extricate you from the present difficulties, the num- bers to be raised, the subsidies required for their support, and

io DEMOSTHENES

all the other necessaries; how they may (in my opinion) be best and most expeditiously provided ; these things I shall en- deavor to explain. — But here I make this request, Athenians ! that you would not precipitate, but suspend your judgment till you have heard me fully. And if, at first, I seem to propose a new kind of arrangement, let it pot be thought that I am de- laying your affairs. For it is not they who cry out, Instantly ! This moment! whose counsels suit the present juncture (as it is not possible to repel violences already committed, by any occasional detachment), but he who will show you of what kind that armament must be, how great, and how supported, which may subsist until we yield to peace, or till our enemies sink beneath our arms ; for thus only can we be secured from future dangers. — These things, I think, I can point out: not that I would prevent any other person from declaring his opin- ion.— Thus far am I engaged: how I can acquit myself will immediately appear: to your judgments I appeal.

First, then, Athenians! I say that you should fit out fifty ships of war : and then resolve that on the first emergency you will embark yourselves. To these I insist that you must add transport and other necessary vessels sufficient for half our horse. Thus far we should be provided against those sudden excursions from his own kingdom, to Thermopylae, to the Cher- sonesus,0 to Olynthus,10 to whatever places he thinks proper. For of this he should necessarily be persuaded that possibly you may break out from this immoderate indolence, and fly to some scene of action : as you did to Eubcea,11 and formerly, as we are told, to Haliartus,12 and but now, to Thermopylae. But although we should not act with all this vigor (which yet I must regard as our indispensable duty), still the measures I propose will have their use ; as his fears may keep him quiet, when he knows we are prepared (and this he will know, for there are too many 13 among ourselves, who inform him of everything) : or if he should despise our armament, his security may prove fatal to him ; as it will be absolutely in our power, at the first favorable juncture, to make a descent upon his own coasts.

These, then, are the resolutions I propose — these the pro- visions it will become you to make. And I pronounce it still necessary to raise some other forces which may harass him with perpetual incursions. Talk not of your ten thousands, or

THE FIRST PHILIPPIC n

twenty thousands, of foreigners ; of those armies 14 which appear so magnificent on paper ; but let them be the natural forces of the state : and if you choose a single person, if a number, if this particular man, or whomever you appoint as general, let them be entirely under his guidance and authority. I also move you, that subsistence be provided for them. But as to the quality, the numbers, the maintenance of this body ; how are these points to be settled? — I now proceed to speak of each of them dis- tinctly.

The body of infantry, therefore — but here give me leave to warn you of an error, which hath often proved injurious to you. Think not that your preparations never can be too magnificent : great and terrible in your decrees ; in execution, weak and con- temptible. Let your preparations, let your supplies, at first be moderate ; and add to these, if you find them not sufficient. — I say, then, that the whole body of infantry should be two thou- sand : of these, that five hundred should be Athenians, of such an age as you shall think proper, and with a stated time for service ; not long, but such as that others may have their turn of duty. Let the rest be formed of foreigners. To those you are to add two hundred horse, fifty of them at least Athenians, to serve in the same manner as the foot. For these you are to provide transports. — And now, what farther preparations? — Ten light galleys. For, as he hath a naval power,15 we must be provided with light vessels, that our troops may have a secure convoy.

But whence are these forces to be subsisted? This I shall explain, when I have first given my reasons, why I think such numbers sufficient, and why I have advised that we should serve in person. As to the numbers, Athenians ! my reason is this : it is not at present in our power to provide a force able to meet him in the open field; but we must harass him by depreda- tions : thus the war must be carried on at first. We therefore cannot think of raising a prodigious army (for such we have neither pay nor provisions), nor must our forces be absolutely mean. And I have proposed that citizens should join in the service, and help to man our fleet ; because I am informed that some time since the state maintained a body of auxiliaries at Corinth 18 which Polystratus commanded,17 and Iphicrates, and Chabrias, and some others; that you yourselves served with

I2 DEMOSTHENES

them : and that the united efforts of these auxiliary and domes- tic forces gained a considerable victory over the Lacedaemoni- ans. But ever since our armies have been formed of foreigners alone, their victories have been over our allies and confeder- ates; while our enemies have arisen to an extravagance of power. And these armies, with scarcely the slightest attention to the service of the state, sail off to fight for Artabazus,18 or any other person; and their general follows them: nor should we wonder at it ; for he cannot command, who cannot pay his sol- diers. What then do I recommend ? that you should take away all pretences both from generals and from soldiers, by a regu- lar payment of the army, and by incorporating domestic forces with the auxiliaries, to be as it were inspectors into the conduct of the commanders. For at present our manner of acting is even ridiculous. If a man should ask, " Are you at peace, Athenians ? " the answer would immediately be, " By no means ! we are at war with Philip.19 Have not we chosen the usual generals and officers,20 both of horse and foot? " And of what use are all these, except the single person whom you send to the field ? the rest attend your priests in their processions. So that, as if you formed so many men of clay, you make your officers for show, and not for service. My countrymen ! should not all these generals have been chosen from your own body; all these several officers from your own body; that our force might be really Athenian? and yet, for an expedition in favor of Lemnos,21 the general must be a citizen, while troops engaged* in defence of our own territories are commanded by Menelaus.22 I say not this to detract from his merit ; but to whomsoever this command had been entrusted, surely he should have derived it from your voices.23

Perhaps you are fully 24 sensible of these truths, but would rather hear me upon another point — that of the supplies ; what we are to raise, and from what funds. To this I now proceed. — The sum therefore necessary for the maintenance of these forces, that the soldiers may be supplied with grain, is some- what above ninety talents.25 To the ten galleys, forty talents, that each vessel may have a monthly allowance of twenty minae. To the two thousand foot, the same sum, that each sol- dier may receive ten drachmae a month for