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AITHOR: 
 
 AESCHiNES 
 
 TITLE: 
 
 THE TWO ORATIONS ON 
 THE CROWN... 
 
 Ρ LA CE : 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
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The two Orations on the Crown. 
 
 ^SCHINES 
 
 AND 
 
 DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 A ΝΕΛν TRANSLATION. 
 
 BY 
 
 GEORGE W. BIDDLE. 
 
 V 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 J. B. LIPPIKCOTT & CO. 
 
 1881. 
 
ID 
 
 
 Copyright, 1881, by J. B. Ljppincott & Co. 
 
 
 c^i 
 
 5> 
 
 .fN 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Another translation of the Orations on the 
 Crown is here presented. Many English trans- 
 lations already exist, but an attempt is now made 
 to unite sufficient literal adherence to the oridnal 
 with what may be called the forensic tone of the 
 occasion. 
 
 This version is not incumbered with notes, nor 
 prefaced with an elaborate introduction. Atten- 
 tion is simply called to the political condition of 
 Greece, and to the principal circumstances of the 
 trial, and a slight comparison of the two orations 
 is made. The reader who desires more will find 
 all needed information in the introduction to Ken- 
 nedy's translation of the Oration of Demosthenes, 
 and in the editions of the Greek text of that 
 oration of T. K. Arnold and Arthur Holmes. 
 
 Ill 
 
 3911)6 
 
 *•««■# 
 
> 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Fkom the time that Demosthenes first entered 
 public life he regarded Philip with distrust. He 
 recognized his Avonderful abilities, and foresaw that 
 unless his policy was counteracted, the Grecian 
 States would one by one be swallowed up by him, 
 and that instead of free, autonomous, independent 
 States, they would all become members of a great 
 empire under the Macedonian hegemony. Athens, 
 which from the battle of Salamis had been the 
 leader of Greece, and which though now shorn of 
 much of her ancient power and authority was still 
 foremost among the leading States, would be com- 
 2)elled to descend from her pre-eminence as guar- 
 dian of the Hellenic liberties, and subside into a 
 subordinate j)osition. His patriotism shrank from 
 such a view, and he may be said to have been for 
 many years the leader of the anti-Macedonian 
 party, ever on the alert to watch, proclaim, and 
 oppose the designs of Philip, and to stir up the 
 
 V 
 
ii 
 
 VI 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Athenians to take active measures against him. 
 Probably a majority of tlie Athenians were on his 
 side; but the people were unwilling to undergo 
 the labors and to submit to the sacrifices which 
 the duty of opposing Philip's ambitious views de- 
 manded. They were moreover sustained in their 
 feelings of apathy by a considerable number of 
 respectable leaders. Among these the most promi- 
 nent were the virtuous Phocion, and ^schines. 
 The former honestly believed his fellow -citizens 
 were incapable of resisting the Macedonian ])ower; 
 the latter had perhaps become a member of the 
 pro-Macedonian party from interested motives. 
 The battle of Chaeronea, which took place in 
 August of the year 338 B.C., and which was prob- 
 ably precipitated by Demosthenes, put an end for- 
 ever to all hopes of successfully resisting Philip. 
 
 After this fatal battle Athens took hastily some 
 measures of defence, which the peace, concluded a 
 few days later, made unnecessary. One of these 
 measures, however, was not abandoned, namely, 
 the repair of the walls of Athens and of Pirseus, 
 a considerable Avork, which involved an expendi- 
 ture of one hundred talents, or about $120,000 
 of our money. 
 
 This w^as resolved upon early in the year 337, 
 
 IXTRODUCTION. 
 
 vu 
 
 i 
 
 upon the motion of Demosthenes, and a commis- 
 sion of ten citizens, one drawn from each tribe, 
 was appointed in the summer of the same year to 
 carry the resolution into effect. Demosthenes, 
 representing the tribe Pandion, was on this com- 
 mission, and took charge of a section of the work 
 forming about a tenth of the whole. 
 
 He added out of his own funds the sum of three 
 talents to the amount drawn from the public treas- 
 ury for this service, and moreover contributed lib- 
 erally from his private resources to the Theoric 
 Fund for the maintenance of public spectacles, of 
 which he was administrator. 
 
 The work Avas completed and the commission 
 executed in the year following, 336. Ctesiphon, a 
 member of the Council of Five Hundred, and a 
 friend of Demosthenes, then introduced a decree 
 that a crown of gold should be publicly bestowed 
 upon him* in the theatre, at the celebration of the 
 great Dionysiac festivals, the usual reward of pub- 
 lic services and functions honorably performed. 
 It was in the form of similar decrees, and provided 
 that proclamation should be made by the herald 
 that Demosthenes was crowned by the Athenian 
 people for the virtue and good-will always shewn 
 by him both in speech and action in his country's 
 
 » 
 
Vlll 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 behalf. Brief and simple as tins formula was, it 
 appeared to imi)ly, under the eircumstances, an 
 approval of Demosthenes's whole poHtical course, 
 and to be a protest against the Macedonian he- 
 gemony. 
 
 AVhen, therefore, this decree, after its passage 
 by the Five Hundred, was presented to the As- 
 sembly for concurrence, it was opjxised by ^Es- 
 chines on the ground of illegality both in form 
 and substance, and a prosecution was in conse- 
 quence instituted against Ctesiphon, styled the 
 Graphe Paranomon. The formal objections were 
 that no such decree could be passed while the ac- 
 counts of a public officer remained unsettled, and 
 as Demosthenes had not yet had his accounts 
 audited as a member of the AVall Conunission 
 and as Administrator of the Theoric Fund, the 
 proposed coronation was illegal. Furthermore, 
 the coronation as i)iOposed could not be made in 
 the theatre at all, but must be done at the Pnyx 
 during the holding of an Assembly. The ob- 
 jection of substance struck at the orator's whole 
 political life. It was contended that as nothing 
 untrue could be introduced into a public record, 
 and as it was false that Demosthenes had always 
 by speech and action done \ά\?ίί Avas best for the 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 IX 
 
 .1 
 
 1/ 
 
 i 
 
 interests of the people, the decree was illegal and 
 void, and its propounder guilty. 
 
 This occurred in the year 336, a few days before 
 Philip's death, but the trial remained suspended 
 for more than six years, and was not taken up 
 until the year 330. The cause of the delay has 
 not been explained. Perhaps the prosecutor 
 waited for the most favorable time to bring the 
 trial on, and Ctesiphon and his friends might 
 naturally not be averse to delay. 
 
 Be the reason what it might, nothing was done 
 until after the battles of Issus and Arbela, Avhen 
 Alexander, having conquered the Persians, was 
 preparing to advance to the Indus. The moment 
 was judged favorable, and the cause began before 
 a jury of five hundred dicasts, or jurors. 
 
 iEschines, on behalf of the prosecution, spoke 
 first, pronouncing the discourse which still sur- 
 vives. He presented the legal points with great 
 force and ability, and then launched into a violent 
 personal and political attack upon his rival. The 
 Λνΐιοΐβ public career of Demosthenes was harshly 
 examined, and it was endeavored to be shewn that 
 his policy had from the first been unfortunate for 
 the interests of Athens, until it culminated in the 
 iatal battle of Chseronea. On the other hand the 
 
χ INTRODUCTION. 
 
 moderation of both Philip and Alexander was 
 praised; and the speaker claimed merit for his 
 intimacy and friendship with them. 
 
 The most bitter personal assault was also made 
 upon Demosthenes, his parentage and his private 
 life and habits being grossly slandered, and cow- 
 ardice attributed to him on the day on which 
 Athens had need of the valor of all her sons. 
 ^Eschines even reproached his adversary with his 
 ill-fortune, and asserted that nothing ever con- 
 trived bv him had succeeded, since the Gods them- 
 selves were against him. 
 
 Ctesiphon defended himself in a few^ words, and 
 then Demosthenes arose and pronounced wliat by 
 universal acclaim is regarded as the most ])erfect 
 
 of orations. 
 
 He began by demanding of his judges the right 
 to arrange and present his arguments in the order 
 which he deemed most convenient, and after a 
 solemn invocation to his country's Gods to inspire 
 his hearers to listen to him with the same benevo- 
 lence they had ever shewn him, he gave a rapid 
 but masterly sketch of the condition of Athens at 
 the time peace was concluded in the year 347, 
 proving that the venality of iEschines and his fel- 
 lows had helped Philip in his attempt to get the 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XI 
 
 i\ 
 
 control of Greece. He next touched briefly but 
 emphatically the technical points of the cause; 
 and after replying with great severity to the per- 
 sonal assaults made upon him, contrasting the pri- 
 vate life and fortune of iEschines with his own, 
 he finally passed in review before the jury his 
 whole political life. His policy it is true had not 
 succeeded, Athens had succumbed and the Mace- 
 donian was triumphant. But had the City com- 
 mitted a mistake in striving to repress Philip's 
 ambitious efforts, and to preserve her leadership in 
 Greece ? As he warmed up he even asserted that 
 had the result been foreknown to all, Athens must 
 still have acted as she had, having due regard for 
 herself, her ancestors, and posterity. The issue 
 had been decided against her, but her glories 
 thougli dimmed were still preserved. 
 
 The trial was one of the greatest ever known. 
 It was in reality the conflict betw^een the advocates 
 of independence on the one hand and the uphold- 
 ers of submission on the other. All Greece was 
 present and pressed round the platform from which 
 the orators declaimed. The result was creditable 
 to the sense of justice of the Athenians, and shed 
 a dying ray of light upon the City which dared, 
 in spite of the insolence of power, to give a verdict 
 
Xll 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in accordance with truth and honor. Ctesiphon 
 was acquitted by an immense majority, ^^schines 
 not obtaining a fifth i)art of the votes, which was 
 necessary to protect him from fine. lie went into 
 vohnitary exile, and it is said his rival aided him 
 from his own purse when he left the City. 
 
 Impaitial criticism will, it is thought, regard 
 Demosthenes as single-minded, pure, and patriotic 
 in the course which he advocated. And it may 
 be asserted that this course was by no means the 
 unwise one which Phocion believed it to be, and 
 which ^scliines asserted it w^as. Had the Athe- 
 nians had a general such as Epaminondas, or had 
 Phocion himself commanded at Chseronea, the re- 
 sult w ould probably have been different, the power 
 of Philip might have been broken, and the de- 
 cline of Athens for a long time stayed. We need 
 not however speculate further as to this, \\liat 
 we are concerned with here is the political char- 
 acter of the great orator, and the manner of 
 his defence of himself. Mr. Orote* believes that 
 Demosthenes was incorrupt, and not at all vision- 
 ary or unpractical in his jiolitical views. His 
 conduct during the remainder of his life is cer- 
 tainly, >vhen fairly considered, in harmony with 
 
 * Grote's Greece, vol. xii. ch. xcv., Part II. 
 
 INTKODUCTION. 
 
 XUl 
 
 all his previous course, and it is evident those who 
 knew him best regarded him as a sincere patriot. 
 
 That he deserved the civic triumph which he 
 achieved in his contest with ^schines, no one who 
 studies the tw^o orations will fairly doubt ; and it 
 may not be out of place to present here some views 
 upon their comparative merits. 
 
 Ingenuity, ability, and vigor of treatment, es- 
 pecially of the teclinical points of the prosecution, 
 must be accorded to ^i^schines. He even rises at 
 times to a high and sustained tone of rhetorical 
 power. The description of the ideal patriot, the 
 contrast between the treatment by the republic in 
 the olden time of its public men with that of his 
 own day, the paucity of public honors then be- 
 stowed with their present profusion, and the effect 
 of each course upon the public service, the simple 
 grandeur of the ancient worthies, the sordid huck- 
 stering for honoi-s by the modern statesmen, and 
 the peroration in which Solon and Aristides are 
 heard to utter their mournful protests against the 
 prostitution of the State's honors to unworthy 
 men, — all these passages justify very high com- 
 mendation, and must excite our admiration for the 
 talents of the man who seems even in advance to 
 feel the pressure of the cause he is sustaining. 
 
XIV 
 
 INTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XV 
 
 But spleiulicl as these and other parts of the ora- 
 tion of ^Eschines are, they are as nothing along- 
 side of the perfection of his great rivaFs reply. 
 In atteni])ting a comparison between them we are 
 struck iii-st of all with this. There is a constraint 
 and artificiality with ^schines after he quits the 
 legal points of the prosecution. W^hile he divides 
 the public life of his rival into four i)arts and 
 pours out bitter invective upon him as to each, 
 there is a want of clearness and of continuity in 
 his treatment of the facts. You feel, more than 
 once, that accusations are made on forced and im- 
 probable grounds, and that they may be, as they 
 seem to be, the results of private enmity and per- 
 sonal hostility. Sometimes the attack is for a 
 matter which when fairly looked at should be the 
 subject of eulogy instead of dispraise, as the con- 
 duct of Demosthenes upon hearing the news of 
 Philip's assassination. He is really the patriot 
 subduing or veiling his ])rivate sorrow^, upon the 
 happening of an event which he believed gave 
 promise of relief to his oppressed country, and not 
 the hard-hearted man callous to all the parent's 
 feelings. Again, many of the most rhetorical por- 
 tions of this speech have the appearance of being 
 worked up and introduced for effect, instead of 
 
 1^ 
 
 
 flowing freely from the main current of the dis- 
 course. There is visible more of the display of 
 the rhetorician than the outburst of the earnest 
 speaker, whose words are the impassioned utter- 
 ances of one who is compelled to give vent to 
 his pent-up feelings. With Demosthenes all is 
 unforced, well arranged, faultless in method, 
 and, if we except the personalities indulged in, 
 faultless in manner. The fine description of 
 Pliilip's attempt to obtain the leadership of Greece 
 in s[)ite of the injuries which Fortune had in- 
 flicted upon him follows naturally from the state- 
 ment of the duty of Athens and of Demosthenes 
 as its counsellor to strive to maintain the high place 
 in Grecian affairs which the City had hitherto en- 
 joyed. The picture of the traitors themselves be- 
 trayed and thrown aside after being used, seems 
 to be an essential part of the historical narrative 
 wliich is being given of the events under consider- 
 ation. The matchless sublimity of the invocation 
 of the spirits of the men who had faced death at 
 Marathon and Platiea, who had fought at Salamis 
 and Artemisium, is necessary to the orator's ar- 
 gument that his country had not failed in duty 
 but had simply suffered from the injustice of 
 Fortune, and serves to point the political truth 
 
'•■4" 
 
 XVI 
 
 IXTRODUCTIOX. 
 
 Demosthenes had been insisting upon when he as- 
 serted that the City must have undertaken what she 
 had, having due consideration of her real phice in 
 Greece. Everything is harmonious, easy, and con- 
 sistent ; and we feel that without those magnificent 
 illustrations the lessons which are being expounded 
 would have fallen short of their full effect, and 
 would have failed to reach the comi)rehension of 
 many who were carried away by the grandeur of 
 the sentiments when thus presented. 
 
 That Demosthenes was master of every rhe- 
 torical resource, although abstemious in the use of 
 ornament, is also verv manifest. He never used it 
 for its own sake it is true, but where the picture 
 could be more completely set oif by the accessories 
 of adornment they were adopted. What more 
 dramatic description of the consternation and pa- 
 ralysis which overtake a State when the unexpected 
 tidings of disaster fall ui)on it, than the account of 
 the capture of Elatea and its effect upon Athens! 
 How truly pathetic his account of his own efforts 
 when contrasted with the course of other orators 
 who reserved for themselves some means of re- 
 covery in case of ultimate disaster! The nppar- 
 ent egotism disappears in your full pei-suasion, with 
 Demosthenes himself, that he was straining every 
 
 I 
 
 Lli f 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 XVU 
 
 nerve to assist his country in her hour of peril. 
 How inexpressibly touching, in the closing para- 
 graphs of this great harangue, is his account of 
 himself in the . time of his country's adversity, 
 when poor and broken he Avas still her steadfast 
 friend ! How awful the final imprecation upon 
 the concealed enemies of the City who were fawn- 
 ing upon the Stranger, whilst they were belittling 
 Athens ! 
 
 It is to be remarked that ^'Eschines oftentimes 
 anticipates what his opponent was going to say, 
 and endeavors to meet and answer it. Whether 
 this is only the result of the final retouching of 
 hio si^eech for publication after both had been de- 
 livered, or whether the heads of each oration had 
 been nuitually exchanged beforehand, or carried 
 from one to the other by their respective partisans, 
 is not known. But in some instances Demosthe- 
 nes makes no reference to matters which his rival 
 speaks of in advance as being in the intended line 
 of his reply. The reader by having the tw^o ol'a- 
 tions side by side can the better make his own 
 comparisons and draw his own conclusions. 
 
 The authenticity of many, indeed of most, of 
 the documents given in the speech of Demosthenes 
 has been denied, and it is believed upon suflBcient 
 
 Λ 
 
XVlll 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 grounds found in the names of the archons, and 
 the style of the })ieces themselves. It is thought, 
 however, that they should not be rejected alto- 
 gether, but tliat their substance is probably near 
 the truth. In the oration of ^Eschines we do not 
 find the text of any of the documents cited. 
 
 V 
 
 ^SCHINES 
 
 AGAINST 
 
 CTESIPHON 
 

 i 
 
 J.SCHINES AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 4 
 
 You see, Athenians, what preparations are on foot, 
 wliat forces are arrayed, what appeals to the As- 
 sembly are being made by certain persons to prevent 
 the proper and ordinary course of justice from having 
 its effect in the City. For myself I come before you, 
 first, with a firm belief in the immortal Gods, next, 
 with an-abidini? confidence in the laΛvs and in you, 
 convinced that intrigues Λvill not more avail Λvith you 
 than these laws and the cause of justice. 
 
 I could indeed have fain desired that both in the 
 Council of Five Hundred, and in the Assembly, the 
 presiding ofiicers had compelled conformity to estab- 
 lished rules of debate, and that the laws had been in- 
 forced concerning the orderly deportment of public 
 speakers which were laid down by Solon. It should 
 thus have been permitted to the oldest citizens, as the 
 laws prescribe, to ascend the platform decorously, and 
 without tumult or annoyance according to their ex- 
 perience express their opinions upon what they re- 
 garded most advantageous to the City. Afterwards, 
 each citizen in order of seniority should have in turn 
 
•i- 
 
 4 ^SCHINES 
 
 presented his independent views upon everv question. 
 In this way it seems to me Avouhl the affairs of the 
 Cit\' have been best conducted, and prosecutions liave 
 been reduced within the smallest compass. Since 
 however the old recognized rules of procedure liave 
 been swept away, and certain men recklessly intro- 
 duce illegal propositions, and certain otliers put them 
 to the vote, — men λυΙιο have managed to secure the 
 presidency, not by just and proper means, but taking 
 possession of it by contrivance, — it is brought to pass 
 that if any other senator shall succeed in reacliingthe 
 first place in due course of law and shall then attempt 
 to obtain the result of your votes properly, such an 
 one is denounced and impeached by the men wlio 
 rei^ard our s^overnment as no Ioniser a common in- 
 heritance but as their own peculiar property. And 
 Λνίκηι in this way by reducing private citizens to ser- 
 vitude and by securing absolute power to themselves 
 they have overtlirown established legal judgments, 
 and have passed decrees according to the dictates of 
 their passions, there shall be lieard no longer that 
 most beautiful and proper invitation of the herald, 
 " AVho desires to express his opinion, of citizens of 
 fifty years of age and upwards, and afterwards, of all 
 others in rotation ?" Thus neitlier the laws, nor the 
 senators, nor the presidents, nor the presiding tribe 
 itself a tenth part of the City, can control the in- 
 decent conduct of these orators. 
 
 Such being the case, and such the position in Λvhich 
 
 [2-7.J 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 the City is placed, — and you must be convinced that 
 this is 80, — one part at least of the constitution, if 
 I know anything of the matter, still survives, — the 
 right of prosecution for proposing unconstitutional 
 measures. Should you destroy this right, or sur- 
 render it to those who will destroy it, I prophesy that 
 you will have unconsciously given away to a few men 
 almost our entire form of government. For you must 
 surely know, Athenians, that but three forms of gov- 
 ernment exist, monarchy, oligarcliy, and democracy : 
 the two former are administered accordins^ to the 
 feelings and opinions of those who are at the head 
 of affairs, but republics repose upon the authority of 
 law. Let no one of you therefore forget, but on the 
 contrary let him lay it carefully to lieart, that w^hen 
 he enters this tribunal for the trial of such an issue, 
 on that day he is called upon to cast his vote upon 
 liis own right of free speech. Therefore was it that 
 our old law-givers placed in the forefront of the 
 juror's oath these w^ords, " I will render a verdict ac- 
 cording to law," knowing well that when the laws 
 were jealously observed by the City, free institutions 
 were safe. 
 
 AVherefore it is that bearing these things in mind 
 you sliould hold in abhorrence all who commit un- 
 constitutional acts, and that you should look upon 
 no infraction of the constitution as small or unim- 
 portant, but treat all as of the gravest nature. Xor 
 should you suffer any man to deprive you of this 
 
β 
 
 ^ESCHINES 
 
 most vital right, — neither the persuasions of the gen- 
 erals who for a long time past have l)een at work 
 with certain of our orators to overthrow the consti- 
 tution, nor the solicitations of strangers whom those 
 whose administration has been illcijal have brouirht 
 up liither to screen them from justice ; but as each 
 one of you would l)lush to quit the ranks in which 
 he was stationed on the day of battle, so you should 
 now blush at the thought of abandoning the post in 
 which you are placed by the laws which are to-day 
 the guardians of our institutions. 
 
 You must further bear in mind that your fellow- 
 citizens have now intrusted to your keeping tlie City 
 itself in thus confiding the constitution to your charge; 
 not only those of them who are here present intent 
 upon the course of this trial, but those also who are 
 necessarily absent upon their private business. If 
 therefore holding in due regard these your fellow- 
 citizens, and remembering the oaths you have sworn 
 and the laws you are living under, you should con- 
 vict Ctesiphon for having introduced an unconstitu- 
 tional bill false in terms and injurious to the City, 
 overturn, Athenians, such unconstitutional enact- 
 ments, confirm our free institutions, and punish the 
 men who have been advising against the law, and 
 against the interests both of the State and of vour- 
 selves. If in this frame of mind you listen to the 
 Λvords which are about to be spoken, I well know 
 that your verdict will be in accordance with justice 
 
 ^ 
 
 α 
 
 [7-10.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 and right, and that it will redound to the credit of 
 yourselves and of the Avhole community. 
 
 I have thus far spoken about the general nature of 
 this prosecution, and, I hope, with sufficient flxirness. 
 I now desire to speak briefly about the laws which 
 have been passed in regard to persons who are ac- 
 countable to the State, against which the decree of 
 Ctesiphon offends. 
 
 In former times it happened that men who had 
 exercised the highest employments and had been in- 
 trusted Λvith the management of the public revenues, 
 although guilty therein of the grossest corruption, 
 would by conniving with certain orators both in the 
 Senate and the General Assembly anticipate all ex- 
 amination into their accounts by means of votes of 
 conmiendation and proclamations of thanks in their 
 behalf. Xot only were citizens who attempted to 
 bring them to justice for the state of their accounts 
 in this Avay nmch perplexed, but the jurors them- 
 selves who were to try the cause were reduced to 
 a grave dilemma. And many of these officials, al- 
 though clearly proved to have embezzled public 
 moneys in the most flagrant way, were yet permitted 
 to leave the judgment-seat unpunished. And not un- 
 reasonably. For the jurors were ashamed, it seems 
 to me, that it should appear that the same man 
 in the same City, and perchance in the very same 
 year, who had been proclaimed in the Assemblies 
 as worthy of being honored Λvith a golden crown 
 
y 
 
 8 
 
 JESCHINES 
 
 by the people for his virtue and upriLrhtness, should 
 a short time afterwards be brought to trial, and go 
 forth from our courts of justice convicted of fraud 
 in his accounts. So that the jurors were compelled, 
 as it were, to give their verdict not so much upon 
 the crime Avhich Avas proven, as in regard to the 
 honor of the City itself And hence it was that 
 one of our law-givers provided for this very emer- 
 gency by propounding a law — and a most admirable 
 one it was — by \vhich the coronation of all persons 
 liable to account was distinctly forbidden. Notwith- 
 standing the passage of this law, evasions of it more 
 efficacious than the law itself have been invented, in 
 ignorance of which, unless they be explained to you, 
 you would be entirely deceived. Thus decrees for 
 the crowning of officials whilst they were still liable 
 to account were introduced contrary to law by men 
 not ill disposed by nature, — if any one can be well 
 disposed who thus acts illegally, — and by way of a 
 salvo to propriety they added to the propositions the 
 words, " after thev shall have rendered a correct ac- 
 count of their administration." The City, however, 
 was injured in the same way by this evasion, since 
 the accounting Avas equally forestalled by the pane- 
 gyrics and votes of crowns ; and the propounder of 
 the decree, by thus qualifying it, admitted to his 
 discredit that at the time of its proposal he Avas con- 
 scious of an intended infraction of the law. But this 
 fellow Ctesiphon, men of Athens, at one bound clears 
 
 .1 
 
 ,^ 
 
 [10—15.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 both law and qualification ; for by his decree he asks 
 that Demosthenes while actually in office, before he 
 has furnished any explanations or delivered in any 
 accounts, shall be crowned by the people. 
 
 Again, Athenians, they make use of another sub- 
 terfuge altogether different from the one just ad- 
 verted to. For they assert that an employment to 
 which one is called under a decree is not a public 
 charge, but a commission or agency. A public 
 charge, they contend, is such an one only as is desig- 
 nated by lot by the Archons in the temple of The- 
 seus, or such as the people themselves elect to in 
 their assemblies; such as those of generals, com- 
 manders of cavalry, and the like : all others, they 
 say, are but commissions injoined by virtue of a de- 
 cree. To all these subtleties I oppose the law itself 
 enacted bv vou Avith the declared intention of defeat- 
 ing such evasions. This law enacts in express terms 
 that " all charges conferred by the vote of the peo- 
 ple" — (for the framer of the law included in a single 
 word all charges and characterized them as all such 
 as were conferred by a vote of the people — ) " and," 
 it further says, " all persons set over public works," 
 — (now Demosthenes was commissioner to repair the 
 walls, thus set over the most important of all our 
 works, — ) ** all who shall handle public property for 
 more than thirty days, and all who shall preside over 
 a tribunal ;" — (and all persons who are set over 
 public works are entitled so to preside — .) AYhat 
 
10 
 
 .ESCHINES 
 
 then does the law direct all such to do? — To exer- 
 cise their charge, — not their commission, — after hav- 
 ing been qualified in a tribunal ; since even charges 
 conferred by lot cannot be exercised until they have 
 been judicially confirmed. And the law compels 
 all such, as Λvell as all others Λνΐιο exercise a public 
 charge, to submit their accounts to the controller 
 and the public auditors. That I have stated this 
 accurately the laws Avhich will now be read to you 
 
 will show. 
 
 LAWS. 
 
 When therefore, Athenians, Λvhat the law calls a 
 public charge, these men choose to call a commission, 
 it becomes your duty to remind them of this, to op- 
 pose the law itself to their impudent construction, 
 and to make it plain to them that you see through 
 the vicious sophistry by which the enactment is 
 attempted to be set aside by false glosses and eva- 
 sions; and to let them feel, moreover, that the greater 
 their ingenuity in attempting to give an illegal ex- 
 position, the greater shall be the weight of your 
 displeasure upon them. It is right indeed, men of 
 Athens, that the law^ and the public speaker should 
 utter the self-same sound ; but when the law speaks 
 in one way, and the orator in another, it must surely 
 be to the integrity of the law, not to the insolent 
 assertions of its opponent, that every suffrage should 
 be given. 
 
 I wish here to reply briefly to an argument which 
 
 [15—19.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 11 
 
 Demosthenes regards as impregnable. " I am," says 
 he, " a member of the ΛYalls Commission. I admit 
 it. But I have given one hundred minie of my own 
 monev towards the better construction of the Λvork. 
 For Avhat then am I accountable, unless private lib- 
 erality is to be the subject of public accountability?" 
 Listen to my just and proper answer to this piece of 
 sophistry. 
 
 In this ancient City of ours, so vast in its extent, 
 no one has ever been exempted from accountability 
 for any employment whatsoever undertaken in the 
 public service. The examples which I shall first refer 
 to may doubtless surprise you, for I shall now men- 
 tion the ministers of religion of both sexes, who 
 receive merely honorary compensation, and whose 
 duty is confined to putting up prayers to the deities 
 in vour behalf These are all accountable both col- 
 lectively and individually; — not onl}- in particular, 
 but whole families in common, the Eumolpidte and 
 the Iverykes, and all others. Again, trierarchs are 
 accountable by law, although they have not handled 
 public money, nor diverted from you large portions 
 of your revenues whilst they have expended but a 
 trifle, neither found asserting they have given to 
 you of their own whilst they have been but return- 
 ing what belonged to you ; and this, too, when by 
 the admission of all they hav^e been consuming their 
 own patrimony in the expression of their good- will 
 to the State. And not only the trierarchs, but our 
 
12 
 
 iESCHINES 
 
 most important assemblies are bound to submit to 
 the iudixment of the State tribunals. 
 
 First of all, the law requires the Council of the 
 Areopai^us to give an account of its transactions and 
 to submit its proceedings to examination by the State 
 officials ; and this august tribunal which deals with 
 the largest affairs is thus brought under your control. 
 Shall it be said then that this Council shall never be 
 crowned ?— Certainly, for it is not allowed by tlieir 
 ancient constitution.— Are they then insensible to 
 honor?— So far from this, that, not content with inter- 
 dicting to themselves every species of injustice, they 
 even punish the slightest fault committed by their 
 members ; whilst your orators insolently hold them- 
 selves above the law itself. Again, your law-givers 
 have made the Council of Five Hundred accountable : 
 and so resolute is its distrust of all officials thus made 
 liable, that at the head of tlie law itself is inscribed 
 " that no madstrate who may be called upon to ac- 
 count shall absent himself from the City."— " By 
 Hercules," shall some one then exclaim, " because I 
 have exercised a public charge, shall I not leave the 
 country when I will?"— *'Xo, you cannot, lest in 
 your night you carry off with you the property or 
 the secrets of the State."— 
 
 Furthermore, the law permits not that one liable 
 to account shall consecrate his estate to religion, or 
 make offerings to the Gods, or become adopted, or 
 make a testamentary disposition, or commit many 
 
 [19-23.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHOX. 
 
 13 
 
 other acts. In a word, the law holds in pledge each 
 official's entire estate, until he shall have rendered to 
 the State the most absolute account of his transactions 
 with it. Is there none then in the public service Λνΐιο 
 may not have disbursed public money, or even han- 
 dled it when in office ? — Even such an one the law 
 directs to account before the Auditors. — How then 
 shall he do this, when he has neither received nor 
 spent the public money ? — The ^Λν gives the answer, 
 and tells us what such an one shall say ; for it orders 
 liim to declare even so, — *' I have neither touched 
 nor spent the moneys of the City." — Nothing then 
 throughout the State is exempt from the duty of ac- 
 counting, or from inquiry, or from investigation. — 
 That I speak truth in this matter hear from the laws 
 
 themselves. 
 
 LAAVS. 
 
 AVhen Demosthenes shall therefore with triumphant 
 air boldly assert that he is not accountable for what 
 he gave, answer him thus : " Should you not, De- 
 mosthenes, have permitted the herald of the public 
 auditors to proclaim in ancient and fitting form, ' who 
 wishes to accuse V Suffer it to be objected to you by 
 any one who wishes, that you have given nothing, 
 but after having receiv^ed from the City ten talents 
 for the purpose, you have out of this large sum spent 
 but a little upon the reparation of the walls. Clutch 
 not by force these civic honors, nor snatch their suf- 
 frages from the judges' hands. Hold yourself under, 
 
14 
 
 JESCHINES 
 
 [23—27.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 15 
 
 not above the law ; for thus are our democratic insti- 
 tutions upheld." 
 
 Such, then, is my answer to the frivolous pretexts 
 which my adversaries have hitherto opposed to me. 
 I shall now attempt to prove to you from the public 
 records that when Ctesiphon proposed his decree, 
 Demosthenes was reallj^ accountable, as he was at 
 that time Administrator of the Theoric Fund and 
 also Superintendent of Repairs of AValls, and had 
 not yet rendered any account of his management 
 of these employments. Let the Clerk now read in 
 whose archonship, and in what month and on what 
 day, and in w^hat Assembly, Demosthenes was elected 
 to administer the Theoric Fund. 
 
 EXUMEEATION OF DATES. 
 
 If therefore I go no further than I have done, 
 Ctesiphon will stand justly convicted, for he is con- 
 demned not by my charge, but by the public records. 
 
 In days of yore, Athenians, there was a controller 
 chosen by the people who in each presidency ac- 
 counted to it for the public revenues. By reason of 
 the confidence which had been reposed in Eubulus, 
 the men who (before the law of Ilegemon) were 
 chosen to administer the Theoric Fund exercised at 
 the same time the offices of controller, of receiver- 
 general, of superintendent of marine, and of inspector 
 of arsenals. They were also intrusted with the repair 
 of the highways, and controlled in effect almost the 
 
 9\ 
 
 
 
 entire municipal government. I am neither accusing 
 nor blaming any one for this: I simply desire to 
 show you that the law-maker forbade even the least 
 of these functionaries to be crowned before he had 
 rendered correct accounts of his administration.— 
 Ctesiphon, however, has not hesitated to propose a 
 decree for the crowning of Demosthenes, who in his 
 single person united all the administrative faculties 
 of Athens. 
 
 To prove that when Ctesiphon brought in his de- 
 cree, his friend Λvas also Superintendent of Repairs 
 of Walls, was handling the public monev, was im- 
 posmg fines like other magistrates, and was presiding 
 in tribunals, I shall produce to you the testimony of 
 Demosthenes and Ctesiphon themselves. For in the 
 archonship of Chiierondas, on the twenty-second day 
 of the month Thargelion, Demosthenes in an Assem- 
 bly of the people brought forward a decree for the 
 assembling of the tribes upon the second and third 
 days of the month Scirophorion ; and again another 
 decree he proposed, that from every tribe should be 
 selected persons to oversee the work upon the walls, 
 and to regulate the expenditure for it.— And very 
 properly too ;— in order that the City might have 
 responsible citizens to whom to look for an account 
 of these outlays. 
 Read these decrees. 
 
16 
 
 JESCHINES 
 
 [27—33.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 17 
 
 DECREES. 
 
 Yea, but in the face of all this, Demosthenes insists 
 that he did not become Superintendent of Repairs of 
 Walls, either by lot, or by the votes of the people. 
 And on this both he and Ctesiphon will dihite. My 
 answer shall be short and clear, and shall pierce 
 through all their sophistries. I wish first, however, 
 to make a few general remarks upon the subject. 
 
 There are three kinds of magistracies, Athenians ; 
 of which the first and most obvious class is that 
 which is either chosen by lot or elected by the 
 people; the next is composed of those who handle 
 public money for over thirty days, or who are set 
 over public works ; the third class is designated by 
 law to include " all who may be otherwise chosen 
 and who preside over tribunals, and who nmst be 
 confirmed before they exercise their charge." Thus, 
 after excluding magistrates chosen by the people or 
 
 bv lot, there remains the class of functionaries chosen 
 
 t/ ' 
 
 by the tribes, or by the thirds, or by the denies, from 
 their own bodies to administer public funds; and 
 this occurs when, as in this instance, the tribes are 
 charged with the duty of digging trenches, or of con- 
 structing galleys. The truth of what I advance will 
 be manifest from the laws themselves. 
 
 LAWS. 
 
 Bear in mind, then, what has just been said, that 
 the law directs those who have been selected from 
 
 I 
 
 ' 
 
 the body of the tribes to be first judicially approved. 
 Now the tribe Pandion has chosen Demosthenes to 
 the office of Superintendent of Repairs of AYalls, and 
 he has received from the Treasury for this purpose 
 nearlv ten talents. Another law forbids the honorinor 
 of a magistrate Avith a crown while still accountable ; 
 and j'ou are sworn to give your verdict according to 
 law. But Ctesiphon has introduced a decree for the 
 crowning of an accountable magistrate, without even 
 adding the words, '- after he shall have rendered his 
 accounts." I expose its illegality, and I support my 
 charge by the laws, the decrees, by my adversaries 
 themselves. How then can you have a plainer case 
 of violation of law by the introduction of an illegal 
 decree ? 
 
 I shall now demonstrate to you that the decree is 
 also illegal in providing as it does for the proclama- 
 tion of the crown. The law directs explicitly that 
 if the crown be conferred by the Senate, it shall be 
 proclaimed in the Senate Chamber, if by the People, 
 in the Assembly, and in no other place. Read the law. 
 
 LAW. 
 
 And the law, Athenians, wisely thus provides. 
 
 For the legislature, I fancy, deemed it improper that 
 
 a public man should be honored before strangers, 
 
 but that he should content himself with a distinction 
 
 from the hands of his own people in the City itself, 
 
 and that he should never trade for self-advancement 
 
 4 
 
18 
 
 iESCHINES 
 
 in the proclamation of a public honor. — Thus thought 
 indeed the law-giver ; but how thought Ctesiphon ? 
 
 Read the decree. 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 You have just heard, Athenians, that the law 
 directs the proclamation of one who is crowned by 
 the people to be made in the Pnyx at an Assembly 
 of the people, and nowhere else. Ctesiphon however 
 not only transgresses the law by directing it to be 
 done in the theatre, thus changing the place from 
 that Avhere the Athenians hold their Assembly, but 
 he commands it to take place not before the people 
 alone, but in presence of the assembled Greeks, that 
 they may see along with us what manner of man it is 
 whom we thus honor. 
 
 The framer of this decree having thus then plainly 
 violated the law shall be now seen arrayed with De- 
 mosthenes in raising up subtleties to defeat it. That 
 you may not be deceived through ignorance of them, 
 I will expose and exhibit them in advance. These 
 men will not indeed assert that the laws do not for- 
 bid the proclamation of one λ\Λ\ο is crowned by the 
 people to be made outside of an Assembly of the peo- 
 ple, but they will bring in as their justification a law 
 concerning the Dionysiac festivals ; and making use 
 of only a portion of it, they will practise upon your 
 discernment, by laying before you an enactment 
 which has no application to the present prosecution. 
 They will tell you that there are two laws in our 
 
 [33—39.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 19 
 
 City relative to proclamations : one, Λvhich I have 
 just presented, \vhich indeed expressly forbids a cit- 
 izen who is crowned by the people from being so 
 proclaimed outside of an Assembly ; another quite 
 opposite, Avhich authorizes the proclamation to be 
 made in the theatre at the representation of the 
 tragedies, provided the people shall so direct. And 
 under this last-named law they will assert that Ctesi- 
 phon wrote his decree. 
 
 Against this artifice I present the laws themselves 
 as advocates, as I shall earnestly and persistently 
 continue to do throughout this wiiole controversy. 
 If such a thing could indeed be true, and such a 
 practice could have crept into your polity as to leave 
 laws without force standing along with laws in full 
 force, and two laws directly contradictory could be 
 found side by side relating to the same subject, what 
 should be said of a government in Λvhich the law 
 injoins at one and the same time to do and not to do 
 the same act? But it is not so, and may you never 
 fall into such a disorder of the law ! The founders 
 of our popular constitution were not unmindful of 
 such a contingency, and have expressly injoined upon 
 the junior archons to propose every year to the people 
 a reformation of the laws, after making a careful 
 examination as to whether any enactment exists at 
 variance with any other, or Avhether repealed laws 
 are found among those in force, or whether there are 
 redundant or pleonastic statutes. And should any 
 
 
20 
 
 ^SCHINES 
 
 such be found, the junior arehons are directed to 
 have tlieni inscribed and attached to the statues of 
 our heroes for inspection ; and the senators are then 
 required to call an Assembly of the people, and to lay 
 before them the names of their propounders. The 
 president is then to take the vote of the people upon 
 the question of Avhich laws shall be abrogated and 
 which shall continue operative, so that there sball be 
 finally found but a single enactment in force upon 
 the same subject. 
 Read here the laws. 
 
 LAWS. 
 
 If then, Athenians, the assertion of these men 
 Avere true, and there had been two laws in existence 
 upon the subject of proclamations, it seems plain to 
 me that the arehons would have discovered them 
 and the presidents would have returned them to their 
 propounders ; and one or other of them, eitber that 
 Λvhich gave authority to make the proclamation or 
 that \vhich withheld it, would have been repealed. 
 But since none of these things has taken place, they 
 are plainly convicted not only of advancing a ΛνΙΗιιΙ 
 untruth but an impossibility. I shall noV expose 
 to you the source from which they draw this false- 
 hood in explaining the origin of the laws relating to 
 proclamations in the theatre. 
 
 At the season of the new tragedies, certain citizens 
 without having obtained authority from the people 
 
 [39—44.] 
 
 AGAIKST CTESIPIION. 
 
 21 
 
 would cause themselves to be proclaimed, some as 
 being crowned by their tribesmen, others by their 
 fellows of the deme; nay, there would be others 
 Avho having ordered silence to be proclaimed by the 
 herald would publicly manumit their slaves, calling 
 upon all Greece to witness their enfranchisement. 
 But what Avas even more disgusting, certain citizens 
 who had found means to enter into relations of hos- 
 pitality with foreign cities, would actually cause it to 
 be then proclaimed, that they had been honored with 
 a crown on account of their virtue and valor by 
 the citizens, for instance, of Rhodes, or of Chios, 
 or of any other city. And this they did, not after 
 having first obtained your consent, for w^hich they 
 w^ould have been your debtors for at least thanks, as 
 citizens who are crowned by the Senate or by the 
 People, but upon their own decision, Avithout any 
 decree at all. In consequence of this the spectators, 
 the chorus-masters and the actors were much an- 
 noyed ; and the men who were proclaimed in this 
 way in the theatre really received a higher honor 
 than citizens wdio were crowned by the people. For 
 to these last a place, namely the Assembly, Avas 
 designated, in w^hich they should be crowned, and 
 it was interdicted to them to be proclaimed else- 
 where; whereas the others were proclaimed in the 
 presence of all Greece: — the former, at your in- 
 stance, by authority of a decree; — the latter, w^ith- 
 out any decree at all. 
 
22 
 
 ^ESCHINES 
 
 In view of this abuse, one of our legislators intro- 
 duced a law which had no connection whatsoever 
 with the law in regard to the crowning by the people, 
 and which of course in no wise affected it; since it 
 was not the Assembly of the people, but the represen- 
 tations at the theatre Avhich were interfered with by 
 the course which had been pursued. And the new 
 enactment did not clash with existing laws, — for that 
 was not permissible, — but it operated simply upon 
 such persons as were crowned without a decree by 
 the tribes and denies, and upon citizens wlio enfran- 
 chised their slaves, and upon crowns voted by foreign 
 cities. It expressly forbade the manumission of a 
 slave in the theatre, or the proclamation of a crown 
 conferred by the tribes or denies, or by any one else, 
 under pain of infamy to the herald. 
 
 Since then it is directed that those honored with a 
 crown by the Senate shall be proclaimed in the Sen- 
 ate Cliamber, and those crowned by the people in the 
 Assembly, and it is interdicted to those crowned by 
 the tribes or denies to be so proclaimed in the theatre, 
 that no one by mean solicitations for crowns and 
 proclamations should thereby obtain a spurious 
 honor, and it is moreover forbidden by the law that 
 proclamation shall be made by any one unless by the 
 Senate, the people, the tribes and the demes ; if all 
 these be excepted, what remains but the case of crowns 
 conferred by foreign states? That this is manifestly 
 so, I shall convince you by the laws themselves. 
 
 [44—47.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 23 
 
 ♦^ 
 
 Besides it is injoined by law that the crown of gold 
 which shall be proclaimed in the theatre in behalf 
 of any one shall be taken from him and consecrated 
 to Athene. ΛλΠιο ΛνοηΜ dare however from this to 
 accuse the people of Athens of a sordid economy ? 
 Never was there a city, never an individual, so desti- 
 tute of generosity, as in the same moment to pro- 
 claim, take aAvay, and consecrate a crown of their 
 own bestowal ! This consecration is doubtless di- 
 rected to be made because the crown has been con- 
 ferred l)y strangers, that no man may estimate a 
 foreign honor as of greater value than his country, 
 and may not be tempted in consequence to fail in his 
 devotion to her. The crown conferred by the people 
 and proclaimed in the Assembly is never consecrated, 
 but on the contrary is permitted to be enjoyed not 
 only by its recipient but by his descendants, that by 
 preserving this memorial in their family they may 
 never become ill-disposed to their country. And 
 this is the reason why the law-maker has prohibited 
 the proclamation in the theatre of a crown conferred 
 by strangers unless authorized by a decree of the 
 people;— that the foreign city which may desire so 
 to honor one of your citizens shall first through an 
 embassy demand it of the people ; and thus he w^ho 
 is crowned shall owe a higher debt of gratitude to 
 vou w^ho have permitted the proclamation than to 
 those who have presented him with the crown itself. 
 Let the laws be read in proof of my assertion. 
 
*> 
 
 24 
 
 ^ESCHINES 
 
 LAWS. 
 
 "When therefore tliese men in tlie desire of de- 
 ceiving you shall cry out that the law allows the 
 crowning to take place in the theatre if the people 
 so decree, remember to answer them thus: — ''Yes, 
 if it be a crown conferred by another city. But if it 
 be the Athenian people which gives it, the place in 
 which it is to be done is absolutely settled : it is un- 
 lawful to proclaim it outside of an Assembly. Should 
 you spend the whole day in twisting the words, 'and 
 never elscAvhere,' you shall fail to show that your 
 decree was in conformity to the law." 
 
 There remains to be considered a part of the prose- 
 cution upon which I shall dwell Avith great earnest- 
 ness: — the pretext by Avliich Demosthenes is asserted 
 to be worthy of the honor of the crown. The decree 
 in question alleges in this respect "that the herald 
 shall proclaim in the theatre to the Greeks that the 
 Athenian people crowns Demosthenes for his virtue 
 and probity," and, above all, "for his persevering 
 efforts both by speech and action to achieve the best 
 results for his country." My argument on this point 
 shall be simple and easily understood by you who are 
 to pass upon the question. As prosecutor it is my 
 duty to establish that this commendation of Demos- 
 thenes is utterly false, because he has never been 
 found nor is he now found advisinir or doinir the 
 best for his country. If I show this, Ctesiphon must 
 
 [47—53.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 25 
 
 be undoubtedly fairly convicted, since all our laws 
 forbid the introduction of falsehood into the public 
 records. The defendant to insure his acquittal must 
 establish the opposite of this: and you will decide 
 upon the strength of our arguments and assertions. 
 Such then is the state of the case. 
 
 To pass in review the whole life of Demosthenes 
 would occupy too much time, and of what profit to 
 us would it be to discuss it ? It would be of no value 
 to speak of the prosecution brought by him for his 
 Λvound before the Council of Areopagus against his 
 relative Demomeles the Paeanian, and to tell of the 
 gashes he inflicted upon his own head. Ήοτ need I 
 speak of the expedition of Kephisodotus when he 
 sailed with the fleet to the Hellespont, Demosthenes 
 as one of the trierarchs having the admiral in his 
 own ship, eating at the same table Avith him, sharing 
 in his libations and sacrifices, and asserting a claim 
 to this intimacy by reason of a family friendship, and 
 yet not liesitating to denounce him and to become 
 his accuser in a case of life and death. Or Λvhy 
 should I refer to the aflair with Midias and the blows 
 Λvhich Demosthenes received from him in the theatre 
 when he was exercising his duties as chorus-master, 
 and how he compounded for thirty minae the outrage 
 against liimself and the judgment which the people 
 had pronounced against Midias in the temple of Dio- 
 nysus ? I ought, it seems to me, to pass over all 
 such details; not in the desire of either deceiving 
 
26 
 
 ^SCHINES 
 
 you, or of betraying my cause, but in the apprehen- 
 sion that I might incur your displeasure in the recital 
 of facts confessedly true indeed, but stale and known 
 to every one. And you, Ctesiphon, I ask, which is 
 the most proper treatment for a man whose baseness 
 is so familiar and clear to the hearers, that his accuser 
 is compelled to omit charges not because they are 
 untrue but only too old and notorious? Is it risrht 
 that such an one should be honored with a crown of 
 gold, or rather be branded with infamy? You who 
 have insolently dared to introduce falsehoods into a 
 decree, shall you brave our halls of justice with im- 
 punity, or shall punishment be inflicted upon you by 
 the City ? 
 
 In regard to Demosthenes's public offences, I shall 
 endeavor to speak more directly. I understand that 
 he intends, when it comes to his turn to address you, 
 to divide into periods the time of his public career. 
 The first of these, as I am informed, he dates from 
 our war with Philip about Amphipolis, and concludes 
 with the peace and alliance brought about by Phi- 
 locrates of Agiiusia with his own assistance, as I shall 
 plainly prove to you. Tlie next he will fix as in- 
 cluding the period of the peace until the day when 
 this same orator caused it to be broken by his dec- 
 laration of Λvar. The third covers the period of the 
 war until the fatal day of Chreronea : and the fourth 
 will bring us thence to the present time. He has 
 thus, as I hear, divided his whole administration, and 
 
 [53_57.] 
 
 AGAINST (TTESIPHON. 
 
 27 
 
 he intends, it seems, to demand of me as to which of 
 the four periods I accuse him, and w^hen it was that 
 I charfire him with not bavins^ well served his countrv; 
 and he proclaims that should I refuse to answer and 
 should I wrap myself up in my robe and try to es- 
 cape, he will strip me bare, and drag me to the 
 tribunal where he Λνϋΐ force me to speech. That he 
 may not then insolently prevail, and that you may 
 be forewarned, and that I may reply, I now say to 
 you, Demosthenes, in presence of all the jurors, and 
 the other citizens who are standing round us, in 
 presence of the assembled Greeks who have thought 
 fit to be here during this trial, (I see them not a 
 few, but in numbers vastly greater than any one can 
 remember to have ever beheld at a public prosecu- 
 tion,) I answer that I accuse you in regard to each 
 and every one of the four periods which you have 
 thought fit to name. And w^ith the permission of the 
 Gods, and an impartial hearing from the jurors, if I 
 am only able to recollect what I know in regard to 
 you, I shall make it clear as day that to the Divinity 
 and to those who have conducted our affairs Avith 
 propriety and moderation is it that the City owes 
 to-day the security she enjoys; while you, Demos- 
 thenes, shall be proved to have been the author of all 
 the calamities she has undergone. I shall adopt the 
 same order and division which I am told he will use, 
 and will first refer to the first period, next to the 
 second, thirdly to that which succeeded it, and finally 
 
28 
 
 ^SCHINES 
 
 discuss our present situation. And I shall direct 
 myself in the outset to the peace which was en- 
 gineered by you and Pliilocrates. 
 
 It was in your power, men of Athens, to have 
 made the first peace with the consent of the General 
 Assembly of the Greeks, had certain of your public 
 men suftered you to await the return of the embassies 
 which you had sent at that time to the dittcrent 
 States, inviting them to unite in a general Grecian 
 Confederacy against Philip ; for it was a period 
 favorable to the recoverv of our ascendencv with 
 the consent of the Greeks. This advantaije vou lost 
 through the corruption of Demosthenes and Pliiloc- 
 rates, Λνΐιο were purchased to conspire against the 
 public interests. Should this statement falling sud- 
 denly upon your ears strike any of you as improb- 
 able, hearken attentively to what I am about to say, 
 just as we do Λvhen we sit down to examine an old 
 account of expenditures. AVe sometimes uiidoubt- 
 edly leave home with false opinions in regard to our 
 accounts; yet Avhen the reckoning has been made, 
 none is so unreasonable as not to assent to and rec- 
 ognize the correctness of what the calculation has 
 proved. And so should you now listen to Λvhat I am 
 about to say. Should an}^ of you have come from 
 home in the long-entertained belief that Demosthenes 
 could never have urged Philip's interests in concert 
 with Pliilocrates, let him, I say, Avho is so disposed 
 suspend his judgment until after he hears me : — for 
 
 [57—62.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 29 
 
 this is only justice. If you give me your attention 
 then while I briefly recall to you these periods, if I 
 show you the very decree proposed by Demosthenes 
 in conjunction Λvith Philocrates, if an examination 
 into the truth of the matter convicts him of having 
 written more decrees than his confederate in the 
 first negotiations about the peace and the alliance, of 
 having flattered Philip to the depths of baseness, of 
 havinsr refused to wait the return of our envoys, and 
 of having prevented our people from concluding the 
 peace Avith the Common Assembly of the Greeks, of 
 having delivered up to Philip Kersobleptes king of 
 Thrace the friend and ally of Athens ;— if I demon- 
 strate all this, I claim of you this moderate fiivor : — 
 concede to me, in the name of Heaven, that this man 
 in the first of these four periods at least did not well 
 administer our afiairs. — I shall expose all this so that 
 you may readily follow me. 
 
 Philocrates had proposed a decree by which Philip 
 should be allowed to send hither a herald and ambas- 
 sadors to treat of peace. This was attacked as con- 
 trary to law ; a day was fixed for the trial ; Lykinus 
 prosecuted, Philocrates defended himself and was sup- 
 ported by Demosthenes, and acquitted. Then came 
 the time when Themistocles was archon. Without 
 a title either by original selection or as substitute 
 for another, but brought in through bribery and 
 intrigue, Demosthenes became a senator, that in the 
 Senate he might uphold Philocrates both by Λvord 
 
>■ 
 
 1 
 
 30 
 
 .ESCHIXES 
 
 and deed, as the result lias clearly shown. For Plii- 
 locrates was thus enabled to obtain the passage of 
 another decree by which the deputies Λvere directed 
 to be chosen to proceed to Philip to ask him to 
 send hither plenipotentiaries to negotiate a peace. 
 Amongst the number of deputies Demosthenes Λva8 
 found, and upon his return from Macedon he spoke 
 strongly in favor of peace, and confirmed the report 
 of the other deputies. Alone of all the Senate he 
 proposed to conclude a treaty with Philip's herald 
 and ambassadors, conforming in all this to the views 
 of Philocrates. The one obtained authority for 
 Philip's herald and envoys to be sent hither ; the 
 other closed with them after their arrival. For what 
 followed, give me here your most earnest attention. 
 
 The negotiations were carried on by Demosthenes 
 and Philocrates alone without the other deputies, who 
 upon this change of affairs were shortly afterwards 
 grossly calumniated by Demosthenes ; and this was 
 not surprising, as these two men had been joined in 
 the embassy and had prepared the decrees in concert. 
 And by these decrees, first, they brought it to pass 
 that you should refuse to await the return of the en- 
 voys who had been sent by you to stir up the Greeks 
 against Philip, in order that you miglit conclude 
 peace with him separately, and \vithout the other 
 Greeks. Next, you were induced not only to make 
 peace with Philip, but to enter into an alliance with 
 him, so that your partisans in the other States might 
 
 [62— 67.J 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHOX. 
 
 31 
 
 be reduced to despair when they saw you urging 
 them to war with Philip, and at the same time not 
 only concluding peace with him at Athens but enter- 
 ing into a strict alliance with him. Lastly, Kerso- 
 bleptes king of Thrace was not only not included in 
 this convention, but was not permitted to participate 
 either in the peace or the alliance ; although the 
 expedition was actually then on foot against him. 
 
 The king of Macedon indeed who had purchased 
 these advantages was not acting unfairly in this 
 matter, since he had a right to obtain what was best 
 for himself before taking the oaths and entering 
 into the treaties ; but these men who were be- 
 traying and selling out to him the resources of the 
 State deserved your hottest indignation. And yet 
 this Demosthenes who is telling us he is now the 
 enemy of Alexander as he then Avas of Philip, while 
 he is reproaching me with the friendship of the 
 former, snatched from vou the time for considera- 
 tion, by directing the presidents to call an Assembly 
 of the people upon the eighth day of Elaphebolion, 
 a holiday consecrated to the games and sacrifices of 
 Esculapius, — a thing theretofore unheard of. And 
 Avhat was his excuse for this ? Why, forsooth, that 
 when Philip^s deputies should arrive, you could de- 
 liberate without delay upon his propositions. He 
 thus procured in advance an Assembly for deputies 
 who were still in Macedonia, deprived you of the 
 opportunity for discussion, and hurried through the 
 
32 
 
 ^SCHINES 
 
 whole matter in order that you might conchule peace 
 by yourselves, iti the absence of your deputies, and 
 without the concurrence of the other Greeks. Mean- 
 while Philip's deputies arrived, while yours who were 
 exciting the other Greeks against him were still away. 
 Then it was that Demosthenes pushed through an- 
 other decree, by which, Avithout waiting for your own 
 envoys, you were to deliberate on the instant imme- 
 diately after the Dionysiac festivals on the eighteenth 
 and nineteenth of the month, not only upon the peace 
 but upon the alliance with the king of Macedon. 
 For the truth of this I appeal to the decree. 
 
 The Assemblies were accordingly convened, after 
 these festivals had been celebrated; and upon the 
 first of them a common resolve of the Allies was 
 read, the heads of which I ΛνΙΙΙ now briefiy state. 
 And first they desired that you should deliberate in 
 regard to the peace separately, omitting all reference 
 to the alliance, not from forgetfulness, but because 
 they thought that even the peace itself was more 
 necessarv than honorable. Xext, in the endeavor to 
 provide against the corruption of Demosthenes they 
 inserted in the resolve that to any of the Grecian 
 States it should be permitted during the space of 
 three months to be inscribed upon the same pillar 
 with the Athenians and thus to participate with 
 them in the same stipulations and treaties. 
 
 Two important advantages were thus secured : first, 
 a gain of three months' time for the preparation of 
 
 LI 
 
 [67—72.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHOX. 
 
 33 
 
 the Grecian Embassies; secondly, the obtaining for 
 Athens of the good-will of the other Greeks through 
 a General Assembly: so that if the treaty were 
 violated we should not be compelled to fight alone 
 and unsupported, in which condition we have been 
 placed through the mismanagement of Demosthenes. 
 The reading of these documents will establish the 
 correctness of my statements. 
 
 THE RESOLUTIONS OF THE ALLIES. 
 
 I declared myself, I now avow, in favor of this 
 resolution, as did all who spoke in this first As- 
 sembly. And the people went away in the convic- 
 tion that peace should be concluded, but that it was 
 inexpedient to deliberate at that time about the alli- 
 ance, in consequence of the invitation from the other 
 Greeks; but that it should be engaged in in con- 
 junction with the rest of Greece. Night intervened. 
 The next day we reassembled; and then Demos- 
 thenes getting possession of the platform, to the 
 exclusion of every one else, proclaimed that the dis- 
 cussion of the day before was utterly worthless, 
 unless Philip's deputies would consent to such an 
 arrangement; And he asserted that he knew not of 
 any peace separate from the alliance. ''It will not 
 do," said he, — (I remember well his expression from 
 
 my repugnance both to the speaker and liis words, ) 
 
 " it will not do to sever the alliance from the peace 
 nor to wait upon the delays of the other Greeks. 
 
 6 
 
34 
 
 ^SCHINES 
 
 We must either fight alone, or conclude a separate 
 peace." AVhen he had ended, he called Antipater to 
 the platform, and put some questions to him, having 
 concerted Avith him in advance both the questions to 
 be asked and the answers to be given to them against 
 the City's interests. In the end this course prevailed, 
 Demosthenes carrying his point by words, and Phi- 
 locrates embodying them in the decree. 
 
 There still remained to be effected by them the 
 betrayal of Kersobleptes with the kingdom of Thrace. 
 This w^as accomplished upon the 26th of the same 
 Elaphebolion, before Demosthenes set out upon his 
 last embassy to receive the oaths. Yes ! this orator 
 w^ho now proclaims himself before you as such an 
 enemy of Philip and of Alexander, Λvho orders you 
 to load down the Macedonians with abuse, went 
 twice as ambassador to Macedon, when there was no 
 need for him even to go at all. This senator through 
 intrio-ue, sitting' then in this Assembly of the 2Gth, 
 surrendered Kersobleptes in concert with Pliilocrates. 
 For Pliilocrates caused to be secretly inserted in the 
 decree a clause which Demosthenes procured to be 
 carried with the others, " that the representatives of 
 the allies should on that very day exchange oaths 
 with Philip's deputies." But as no representative of 
 Kersobleptes was present, a decree which compelled 
 the deputies then present to exchange oaths, in effect 
 excluded Kersobleptes who was absent. 
 
 f*JI 
 
 •t• 
 
 [72—76.] 
 
 AGAINST CTTESIPHON. 
 
 35 
 
 THE DECREE. THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 Admirable indeed, Athenians, admirable is the 
 provision by which our public records are preserved 
 forever! Immutable, and changing not with the 
 shifting opinions of the political renegades who 
 readily pass from one side to the other, they hold 
 up before the eyes of the people a certain means of 
 information whenever it chooses to look into the 
 antecedents of the faithless men who pretend to 
 have become all at once upright citizens! And it 
 will be well for me to exhibit just here an instance 
 of this fellow's sycophancy. During the year of his 
 senatorship he appears to have not once moved that 
 the ambassadors from any other country should re- 
 ceive the honor of precedency. But now for the first 
 and only time he accords to Philip's envoys the 
 highest place of honor. lie orders cushions to be 
 brought for them to repose upon, has tapestry spread 
 around them, and at the dawn of day conducts them 
 to the theatre with such unseemly flattery, that he is 
 greeted with hisses from the people for his abject 
 adulation towards them. AVhen the envoys set out 
 for Thebes on their return, they were conducted 
 thither in three carriao^es drawn bv mules hired ex- 
 pressly by Demosthenes, who thus held up his City 
 to be the laughing-stock of Greece. That I msij 
 pause for a moment on this subject, let the clerk 
 read here the decree in regard to the precedence 
 awarded to the ambassadors. 
 
36 
 
 ^SCHINES 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 And yet this ffross, this abject flatterer, Athenians, 
 when he obtained, through the spies sent to him by 
 Charidemus, the first intelligence of Philip's assassi- 
 nation, fidsely asserted that he had not so learnt it 
 from Charidemus, but from the Gods themselves in a 
 vision, which he forged for the occasion. Yes, this 
 man who by day outrages the divinities by his per- 
 jured appeals to them, has, he asserts, communica- 
 tions bv niiiht from Jupiter and from Athene, in 
 which they reveal to him what is to take place in the 
 future! On the seventh day from his daughter's 
 death, before he had even mourned for her, or ac- 
 complished the last rites of affection, he comes forth 
 in public, crowned with a garland of flowers, and in 
 a Avhite robe, and offers up sacrifices to the Gods for 
 the deliverance ;— the unnatural Avretch thus acting 
 in defiance of the laws of decency, the parent who 
 had just lost her who was the first and only one who 
 ever called him by the name of father! I wish not 
 to insult his misfortune, but I choose to display his 
 real character. The unfeeling parent, the bad father, 
 can never become the upright statesman. He who 
 cherishes and loves not those who are bound to him 
 bv the dearest and nearest ties, will never exhibit a 
 stronger attachment to you who are strangers to him. 
 The wicked man in private life will never prove the 
 virtuous counsellor towards the public;— and he who 
 
 #r 
 
 I 
 
 [76—81.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 37 
 
 is shewn to have been heartless and worthless in his 
 own home was never the good and upright represen- 
 tative of Athens in Macedonia : — he had only changed 
 his country, not his nature. 
 
 AVe now approach the second period to which I 
 have referred ; and here we may well ask how it was 
 that while Philocrates was denounced and driven into 
 exile for the same political acts which he had com- 
 mitted along with Demosthenes, the latter stepped 
 forth as the accuser of others, and, corrupt as he Avas, 
 was enabled to plunge us into our present miseries? 
 
 AVhen Philip had suddenly passed Thermopylie, 
 and contrary to all expectation had destroyed the 
 cities of the Phocians, raising up the power of the 
 Thebans, as you then thought, to a height which 
 threatened the general advantage of Greece as well 
 as your particular interests, in alarm and dismay you 
 hurried in all your etfects from the country, and the 
 deputies who had been concerned in the embassy for 
 the peace were bitterly denounced by you. Phi- 
 locrates and Demosthenes Avere censured above all 
 others, because, besides being of the embassy, they 
 had introduced the decrees. At this moment the 
 two men were at variance, quarrelling perhaps about 
 matters Λvhicll you may readily suspect. Seeing the 
 storm impending, and taking counsel from the innate 
 depravity of his heart, and filled with a mean jealousy 
 of Philocrates in regard to the wages of his venality, 
 Demosthenes resolv^ed upon his course. He thought 
 
36 
 
 ^ESCHINES 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 And yet this gross, this abject flatterer, Athenians, 
 when he obtained, through the spies sent to h'nn by 
 Charidemus, tlie first intelligence of Philip's assassi- 
 nation, falsely asserted that he had not so learnt it 
 from Charidemus, but from the Gods themselves in a 
 vision, which he forged for the occasion. Yes, this 
 man who by day outrages the divinities by his per- 
 jured appeals to them, has, he asserts, communica- 
 tions by night from Jupiter and from Athene, in 
 which they reveal to him what is to take place in the 
 future! On the seventh day from his daughter's 
 death, before he had even mourned for her, or ac- 
 complished the last rites of affection, he comes forth 
 in public, crowned with a garland of flowers, and in 
 a white robe, and ofters up sacrifices to the Gods for 
 the deliverance; — the unnatural Λvretch thus acting 
 in defiance of the laws of decency, the parent who 
 had just lost her who was the first and only one who 
 ever called him by the name of father ! I wish not 
 to insult his misfortune, but I choose to display his 
 real character. The unfeeling parent, the bad father, 
 can never become the upright statesman. He who 
 cherishes and loves not those who are bound to liim 
 bv the dearest and nearest ties, will never exhibit a 
 stronger attachment to you who are strangers to him. 
 The wicked man in private life will never prove the 
 virtuous counsellor towards the public; — and he who 
 
 t 
 
 ir 
 
 Ψ" 
 
 [76—81.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 37 
 
 is shewn to have been heartless and worthless in his 
 own home was never the good and upright represen- 
 tative of Athens in Aiacedonia r—he had only changed 
 his country, not his nature. 
 
 Λ^θ now approach the second period to which I 
 have referred ; and here we may well ask how it was 
 that while Philocrates was denounced and driven into 
 exile for the same political acts which he had com- 
 mitted along with Demosthenes, the latter stepped 
 forth as tlie accuser of others, and, corrupt as he was, 
 was enabled to plunge us into our present miseries? 
 
 AVhen Philip had suddenly passed Thermopylae, 
 and contrary to all expectation had destroyed the 
 cities of the Phocians, raising up the power of the 
 Thebans, as you then thought, to a height which 
 threatened the general advantage of Greece as well 
 as your particular interests, in alarm and dismay you 
 hurried in all your eftects from the country, and the 
 deputies who had been concerned in the embassy for 
 the peace were bitterly denounced by you. Phi- 
 locrates and Demosthenes were censured above all 
 others, because, besides being of the embassy, they 
 had introduced the decrees. At this moment the 
 two men were at variance, quarrelling perhaps about 
 matters which you may readily suspect. Seeing the 
 storm impending, and taking counsel from the innate 
 depravity of his heart, and filled with a mean jealousy 
 of Philocrates in regard to the wages of his venality, 
 Demosthenes resolved upon his course. He thouo-ht 
 
38 
 
 JESCHINES 
 
 that if he now appeared as the accuser of his fellow- 
 ambassadors, and attacked Philip himself, Philoc- 
 rates would be lost, his colleasfues in danirer, and 
 himself raised to the highest point of esteem for thus 
 wickedly betraying his friends under the guise of 
 fidelity to the public cause. The factious and tur- 
 bulent citizens, seeing this, readily seconded him by 
 calling him to the platform, and proclaimed him as 
 the one incorruptible public man. He acquiesced in 
 their views, and thus furnished them with the be- 
 ginnings of war and confusion. This is the man, 
 Athenians, who first found out about the stronir 
 place Serrium, and Doriscum, and Ergiske, and 
 Murgiske, and Garros, and Ganida, places the very 
 names of which were up to this time unknown to us. 
 And he carried matters to such a point that if Philip 
 did not send us his ambassadors, he said he was 
 treating the City wnth disrespect; — if he sent them, 
 he called them spies, not ambassadors. Did Philip 
 desire to refer the decision of our disputes to the 
 umpirage of some fair and impartial people, he as- 
 serted none could be found to adjudge equitably be- 
 tween us and the king of Macedon. When this 
 prince gave up Halonesus to us, Demosthenes for- 
 bade us to receive it; — he should restore it, not give it, 
 he said, thus disputing about terms. And finally, 
 by causing a crown to be conferred upon those who 
 under the leadership of Aristodemus had gone upon 
 the expedition to Thessaly and Magnesia contrary to 
 
 [81—85.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 39 
 
 Λ 
 
 the stipulations of our convention, he broke up the 
 peace, and dragged his country into all the horrors of 
 war. 
 
 True, but he tells us by the alliance of the Euboeans 
 and of the Thebans he has surrounded our country 
 Avith Avails of adamant. But, men of Athens, in these 
 very matters, although you w^ere kept in the most 
 profound ignorance of it, you have been most grossly 
 wronged in three important particulars. Anxious as 
 I am to hasten on to speak of this wonderful alliance 
 with the Thebans, I must begin, that I may proceed 
 in due order, with the Euboeans. 
 
 You had been treated w^ith great injustice on many 
 occasions not only originally by Mnesarchus of Chal- 
 cis the father of Callias and Taurosthenes, the two 
 men whom Demosthenes has now dared for a bribe 
 to enroll among our citizens, but more recently by 
 Themison the Eretrian, who in time of peace robbed 
 us of Oropus. Nevertheless when the Thebans in 
 their descent upon the island successfully attempted 
 to reduce their cities to subjection, forgetting your 
 former Avrongs you came willingly to their assistance, 
 and in five days relieved them w^ith your fleet and 
 with an army; and before thirty days had passed 
 having become masters of Eubcea you forced the 
 Thebans to capitulate and retire. From a sense of 
 honor and equity you restored the captured cities and 
 their governments to those who had confided in you, 
 thinking it to be beneath your character for justice 
 
40 
 
 .ESCHINES 
 
 to recall your animosity against a people ΛνΗο had 
 relied upon your good fixith. 
 
 For these enormous benefits the Chalcidians made 
 you a poor requital. AVhen you returned to Euba^a 
 to assist Plutarch, they at first pretended to he your 
 friends ; but scarcely had you arrived at Tamynae, 
 after passing Mount Cotylus, than this same Callias 
 whom Demosthenes had been hired to eulogize, see- 
 ing our army entangled in the defiles, — with no 
 chance of retreat except through victory, — without 
 hope of succor either by land or by sea, — gathered 
 together an army throughout EuboDa Avhich he re- 
 inforced by troops from Philip. At the same time 
 Taurosthenes, who now extends to all of us the right 
 hand of fellowship with a gracious smile, collected his 
 Phocian mercenaries, and uniting with his brother, 
 both advanced tosrether ao^ainst us for our destruc- 
 tion. Had not some benignant deity intervened in 
 your behalf, and had not your soldiers, both foot and 
 horse, performed prodigies of valor, thus enabling 
 you to gain a pitched battle at Tamyna^ near the 
 hippodrome, where you routed and received the sur- 
 render of the enemy, the State had been in imminent 
 dansrer of a most dishonorable defeat. For ill-sue- 
 cess in w^ar is by no means the greatest disaster 
 which can happen ; the defeat is double which is sus- 
 tained in a conflict with an unworthy foe. — But in 
 spite of all this ill-treatment from them, you were 
 again reconciled to the Euboeans. 
 
 [85—91.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 41 
 
 Callias, who had obtained your pardon, soon re- 
 lapsed into his original nature. Aspiring to a dis- 
 tiniruished tvranny, he assembled in form a general 
 council of Euboea at Chalcis, with the real design of 
 uniting the whole island against you; and in the hope 
 of making Philip an instrument of this movement, 
 he visited Macedon. There he followed that prince 
 up and down the country, and ranged himself in the 
 body of his courtiers ; but having ofiended him he 
 was obliged to fly his kingdom, and he then oflered 
 himself to the Tliebans. He soon abandoned them 
 also, and after exhibiting more windings than the 
 Euripus on the banks of which he dw^elt, he found 
 himself involved in the enmity of both the Thebans 
 and of Philip. In this embarrassment, uncertain 
 whither to turn, and an expedition being already 
 announced against him, he saw his only hope of 
 safety in persuading the Athenians to become his 
 allies, and to pledge tliemselves to his assistance 
 should he be attacked, which was clearly manifest 
 unless you interfered to prevent it. 
 
 Such being his resolve, he sent hither his deputies 
 Glauketes, Empedon, and that famous runner Diodo- 
 rus, to bear empty promises to the people, but full 
 purses to Demosthenes and his fellows. He pur- 
 chased through them three separate advantages at 
 the same time. First, that he should not fail in 
 securing your alliance; for should you in the remem- 
 brance of his former misdeeds refuse it, no middle 
 
42 
 
 JESCHINES 
 
 course was open to him ; — he must either flee from 
 Chalcis, or be captured and probably put to deatli, so 
 great were the forces of Philip and of the Thebans 
 which were arra^^ed against liim. Next, he offered 
 his money freely to him Λνΐιο after obtaining for him 
 the alliance should get the City to dispense with the 
 necessity of the Chalcidians attending the convention 
 which was to sit at Athens. Lastly, that the Chal- 
 cidians should be relieved from all contributions. 
 Callias succeeded in all these projects. For Demos- 
 thenes the tyrant-hater, as he now pretends to be, 
 and who Ctesiplion asserts has ever counselled best 
 for the City, abandoned all her interests, and obtained 
 the makinii C)f an alliance bv which we eniraired to 
 come to the relief of the Chalcidians, getting in ex- 
 change for our services the euphemistic statement 
 that in case we should ever be attacked by any one, 
 we should be aided in turn by them. lie however 
 surrendered altogether the sending hither of deputies 
 to a conmion assemblv, as well as the furnishiiiir of 
 the sinews of war in the shape of contributions; and 
 dignifying his abominable conduct Avith fine phrases, 
 he persuaded you that the City should first sewd 
 assistance to those Greeks who needed it, and not 
 concern itself about alliances until after they had 
 been saved. That you may be convinced of the 
 truth of my statements, let the decree of Callias and 
 the alliance be now read. 
 
 [91—%.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 43 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 Disirraceful however as \vas this sale by Demos- 
 thenes of these splendid opportunities of the City, 
 this al)andonment of the Assemblies and of all con- 
 tributions to her, what I am about to relate will 
 strike you as still more monstrous. Callias the Chal- 
 cidian had now reached this height of effrontery and 
 greed, and Demosthenes the hero of Ctesiphon's 
 panegyrics sustained him in it by his venality, that 
 in your presence and under your very eyes, they 
 snatched from you the contributions of Oreum and 
 Eretria, amounting to ten talents, and after having 
 excused tlie deputies of those cities from coming to 
 Athens, they reconvoked them at Chalcis at a so- 
 called Eubcean Assembly. It is well worth hearing 
 how and by what misfeasances they accomplished 
 
 this purpose. 
 
 No longer sendins: hither his emissaries, Callias 
 now presented himself in person in our Assembly, 
 and harangued us in a speech prepared for him by 
 Demosthenes. He told us he had just arrived from 
 Peloponnesus where he had obtained an imposition 
 for a fund of one hundred talents to be used against 
 Philip, and he specified the sums to be contributed 
 by each people. The Acheeans and Megarians were 
 to supply sixty talents and the cities of Euboea forty, 
 by means of which a naval and a land armament 
 were to be secured. Many of the other Greeks 
 
I 
 
 44 
 
 JESCHINES 
 
 Λνοιι1(1 swell this contribution, so that neither money 
 nor troops would fail. All this was plain enough, 
 he said, but there were secret negotiations to be 
 entered into to Λvhich some of your citizens were 
 privy ; and he wound up by calling upon Demos- 
 thenes to vouch for the truth of his assertions. 
 
 Demosthenes coming forward with an imjiortant 
 air, began by praising Callias, and pretending to be 
 in the secret; but he desired first, he said, to give 
 you an account of his mission to the Peloponnesus 
 and to Acarnania. The substance of his statement 
 w^as that all the Peloponnesians and Acarnanians 
 had been induced by him to contribute to the war 
 against Philip; the subsidies Λvould provide for one 
 hundred swift-sailing vessels, ten thousand foot sol- 
 diers, and one thousand horse ; and over and above 
 this, Peloponnesus and Acarnania would each supply 
 more than two thousand heavy-armed troops, and 
 the command of the whole would be conferred by 
 them upon you. The execution of this project was 
 not to be delaved bevond the sixteenth of the month 
 Anthesterion, for he had concerted, in these cities, 
 for a general rendezvous at Athens on the day of the 
 full moon. — This man has in fact a wonderful way 
 of his own. Other impostors when they intend to 
 deceive deal in vague and ambiguous generalities, in 
 the fear of being called upon for proofs. But De- 
 mosthenes when he goes about to trick, first sol- 
 emnly swears to the falsehood, calling down ruin 
 
 [96—101.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 45 
 
 »"^ 
 
 upon his head Avith imprecations in case he forswears 
 himself, and then confidently states propositions 
 Λvhich he well knows can never be performed, and 
 gives the names of persons whom he has never seen, 
 amusing his audience by a well-feigned imitation of 
 a truthful man. And for this especially is it that 
 he should be held in detestation by you, for he 
 cheats and corrupts with all the semblance of honesty 
 
 itself. — 
 
 Having said all this, Demosthenes hands the clerk 
 to read a decree longer than the Iliad, emptier than 
 his own harangues and his own hollow life, and 
 stuflfed with hopes doomed to be disappointed, and 
 with armies never to be levied. Having thus di- 
 verted your attention from his knavery, and kept 
 you in suspense by these false hopes, he collects all 
 his forces for his purpose, and Λvrites the decree for 
 the choice of deputies to Eretria who are to beseech 
 the Eretrians (they must now indeed be besought) 
 to pay their contribution of five talents not to you 
 but to Callias. At the same time other deputies were 
 chosen to Oreum who were to beg that people to re- 
 gard as friends and enemies the friends and enemies 
 of Athens. Then the whole trick was consummated 
 by his causing it to be written in the decree, that the 
 deputies should further ask the people of Oreum to 
 pay their five talents to Callias, not to you. That all 
 this may be manifest, take here the decree itself, 
 strip it of all the pomp and imposture of armies and 
 
46 
 
 JESCHINES 
 
 galleys, and come to the very point of the fraudulent 
 advantage which this impure, this profane wretch 
 was here secretly appropriating to liimself: — the 
 man who Ctesiphon declares hy his decree has per- 
 severed in serving for the best the people of Athens 
 both by word and deed. 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 You thus got fine words about galleys, armies, 
 the full moon, and general assemblies, but in deed 
 and in fact you lost the contributions of the allies 
 and ten talents. 
 
 It remains for me to tell you why it was that 
 Demosthenes wrote this decree, and how he got a 
 bribe of three talents for doing so, — one from Chalcis 
 through Callias, another from Eretria through their 
 king Clitarchus, and the remaining one from Oreum. 
 The bargain was found out in this way. Oreum was 
 a democracy, and all its public matters were trans- 
 acted through decrees. The people had been much 
 exhausted in their war with Philip, and left almost 
 without resources. They therefore sent Gnosidemus 
 son of Charigenes their old ruler to Demosthenes to 
 beg him to remit the payment of this talent, ottering 
 at the same time to erect his statue in brass in their 
 city. Demosthenes replied to him that he had no 
 need of^the smallest piece of brass, and that he would 
 procure payment of his talent through Callias. The 
 Oreans thus driven to close quarters, and being with- 
 
 [101—107.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 47 
 
 out money, were obliged to hypothecate their public 
 revenues to Demosthenes as a security for the talent, 
 and paid him as interest upon the price of his venality 
 at the rate of a drachma a month for a mina, until 
 they had discharged the principal. And this Avas all 
 done by a decree of the people. Take it and read it 
 in proof of my statement. 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 This decree is at the same time dishonorable to 
 our City, a strong proof of the character of Demos- 
 thenes's political acts, and a conclusive accusation 
 of Ctesiphon. It is impossible that the recipient of 
 such degrading bribes can be the exemplary citizen 
 which this man has dared to call him in his decree. 
 
 I come now to the third period to Λvhich I have 
 referred, a period the most disastrous of all, in which 
 Demosthenes whelmed in a common ruin the affairs 
 of our own State and of all Greece by his impiety 
 towards the Delphian temple, and by the iniquitous 
 and unfair alliance he brought about with Thebes. 
 I shall begin with his sacrilegious acts to the Gods. 
 
 There is a plain, Athenians, called Kirrha, and 
 a post now termed infamous and accursed. This 
 country was formerly inhabited by the Kirrhseans 
 and Acragallidse, a people regardless of law, who 
 profaned the temple of Delphi, plundered the sacred 
 off^erings to it, and even insulted the Amphictyons. 
 Our ancestors in particular, as tradition reports, and 
 
t^ 
 
 48 
 
 ^SCHINES 
 
 then the other Ampliictyous, indignant at tliese out- 
 rages, consulted the oracle to learn from the divinity 
 in what way they should punish these guilty men. 
 The response was, to make incessant war upon them, 
 to ravage their country, and, after suhduing and en- 
 slaving the inhahitants, to consecrate the ground to 
 the Pythian Apollo, to Artemis, to Latona, and to 
 Athene the Provident, and to leave it unworked for- 
 ever, neither cultivating it themselves nor permitting 
 it to he done hy others. AVhen this response was 
 received, the Amphictyons, acting under the advice 
 of Solon that eminent law-giver distinguished alike 
 as a poet and philosopher, resolved to march against 
 those accursed men in fulfilment of the oracle of the 
 God; and having assemhled a sufiicient force, they 
 conquered and enslaved the inhahitants, filled up 
 their harhors, razed their cities to the ground, and 
 consecrated the territory in ohedience to the oracle. 
 Furthermore they ohliged themselves hy oath never 
 to cultivate the soil, nor to permit others to do it, hut 
 to defend the city and to preserve the ground unpro- 
 faned, with all tlieir strength and might. Nor were 
 they content with simply swearing this oath, hut they 
 further hound themselves hy maledictions and im- 
 precations upon themselves should they ever violate 
 it. For it Λvas thus set forth in this terrihle fornmla, 
 "that if any city, people, or private person, shall 
 transgress this oath, let them be held accursed of 
 Apollo, of Artemis, of Latona, and of Athene the 
 
 ,•• Λ 
 
 [107—114.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 4% 
 
 Provident ! Let not the earth yield to them itsiruits, 
 nor let their wives bring forth children like unto 
 their parents, but unseemly monsters ; let not their 
 flocks and herds give increase in the order of nature; 
 let their people ever fail in war, and in their civil 
 controversies and in trade ; and may they be utterly 
 destroyed, they, their households, and their children. 
 And finally, may their offerings never be accept- 
 able nor received by Artemis, Latona, or the wise 
 Athene !" 
 
 In proof of this let the oracle be ηοΛν read. Listen 
 to the imprecations, and recall the oaths sworn by 
 vour ancestors in common with the Amphictyons. 
 
 ORACLE. 
 
 " The city's towers ne'er taken shall not fail, 
 Till dark-eyed Amphitrite with her waves 
 Shall bathe the sacred fields with hollow moan." 
 
 OATHS— IMPRECATIONS. 
 
 In spite of these imprecations, these oaths, this 
 oracle, yet engraven in the sacred archives, the Lo- 
 crians of Amphissa, or rather their chiefs, wickedest 
 and most disloyal of men, entered upon the sacred 
 })lain, cultivated it, relniilt and occupied the accursed 
 port, exacted imposts from those who visited it, and 
 corrupted with bribes' many of the deputies who 
 were sent to Delphi, Demosthenes among the rest. 
 For having been elected a deputy by you, he received 
 a thousand drachmas from the Amphissians to keep 
 
 6 
 
50 
 
 jESCHINES 
 
 silence in regard to them in the Council of the 
 Amphictyons. And it was furtlier agreed that for 
 the future twenty minne should be sent every year to 
 him at Athens out of their sacrilegious funds, upon 
 condition that he should assist them there witli all 
 his strength. AVhence it occurred, even more than 
 theretofore, that every one who was handled by him 
 — individual, prince or commonwealth — became in- 
 volved in irremediable evils. 
 
 But consider here, men of Athens, how the Di- 
 vinity and Fortune were superior to the impiety of 
 the Amphissians. In the archonship of Theophras- 
 tus and in the presbytership of Diognetus the Ana- 
 phlystian, you chose as deputies Midias of Anagyrus, 
 (who for many reasons I could wish were now living,) 
 Thrasycles of Olus, and myself. AVhen we reached 
 Delphi it so chanced that Diognetus tlie presbyter 
 was taken ill of a fever, and Midias along with him. 
 The Amphictyons were then in session ; and we were 
 informed bv some of our well-wishers that the Am- 
 phissians, who were crouching under the rule of the 
 Thebans and altogether subservient to them, had in- 
 troduced a decree against our City by which it was 
 proposed to mulct us in a fine of fifty talents for 
 having suspended in the new temple before its con- 
 secration, golden shields with this true inscription 
 upon them : — " taken by the Athenians from the 
 Persians and Thebans when they fought together 
 against the Greeks." I was requested by our pres- 
 
 . 
 
 
 [114—119.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 51 
 
 byter to repair to the Assembly and to speak on 
 behalf of the City before the Amphictyons, and I 
 had proposed the same thing to myself. My fellow- 
 deputies being absent, I entered the Assembly with 
 some degree of warmth and began to speak. Im- 
 mediately an insolent, and, as it seemed to me, an 
 illiterate fellow from among the Amphissians, per- 
 haps urged on by some unpropitious deity to commit 
 the outrage, cried out, " Men of Greece, if you are 
 wise, let not even the name of the Athenian people 
 be uttered here at this time, but drive them from 
 the temple as execrable." And he forthwith recalled 
 our alliance with the Phocians which had been pro- 
 posed by Crobylus, and ran over many other inde- 
 cent charges against the City, which I had neither 
 patience to listen to then, nor have satisfaction in 
 recounting now. 
 
 I heard him with a spirit of indignation such as I 
 had never before felt, and rose to reply. AVhat I said 
 in answer to him I shall pass over, with a single ex- 
 ception. But in concluding it came into my head to 
 speak of the impiety of the Amphissians in regard to 
 the sacred territory. From the place where I stood 
 I pointed to the Kirrhsean plain ; — it lies, you know, 
 almost under the temple, and can be readily seen from 
 it. — " Look," I exclaimed, ''Amphictyons, look upon 
 this plain now cultivated by the Amphissians, behold 
 their ftictories and their workshops built all over it. 
 You see with your own eyes that infamous and ac- 
 
52 
 
 ^SCHINES 
 
 cursed harbor entirely reconstructed. You know of 
 your own knowledge, and need no other witnesses, 
 that they have levied imposts for its use, and are now 
 receiving money from this sacred port." And at the 
 same time I ordered to be read to them the oracle of 
 the God, the oath of their ancestors, and the impre- 
 cations pronounced by them ; and I afhrmed that on 
 behalf of the people of Athens, myself, my children, 
 and my household, I would according to the oath 
 assist the God, and the consecrated ground, by hand 
 and foot and voice, and with my whole strength, until 
 I had acquitted my country of her duty to the Gods. 
 '*Do you," I thus proceeded, ''see to it as to your- 
 selves. The sacred panniers are now being elevated, 
 the victims are at the foot of the altar, and you are 
 about to ask of the Gods blessings for yourselves, 
 and for your common country. With what voice, 
 with what spirit, with what eyes, with what assurance, 
 shall you address to them your prayers, while you 
 still leave these wicked wretches unpunished who are 
 involved in this anathema? The imprecation is ex- 
 press, not Avritten in enigmas, but in words of light 
 both as to the punishment w^hich awaits these impious 
 men, and you yourselves who are passively upholding 
 them in their crimes. This is its language : ' Those 
 who abstain from punisliing these men, can neither 
 make acceptable sacrifice to Apollo, to Artemis, to 
 Latona, or to Athene the Provident, nor shall their 
 offerings be received.'" 
 
 [119—124.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 53 
 
 After I had thus spoken and much more to the 
 same purpose, I quitted the Assembly and went out. 
 Inmiediately a great cry arose and the excitement 
 was great among the Amphictyons. Their talk was 
 no lonirer about the shields which had been hung up 
 by us, but about punishing the Amphissians. The 
 day Λvas already far spent, and the herald came for- 
 ward and proclaimed that the men of Delphi who 
 were of the age of twenty and upwards, Λvhether free 
 or bond, should assemble on the morrow at the break 
 of day, with sfcythes and spades, at a place called 
 Tytheum. And the same herald announced that the 
 presbyters and deputies should meet in the same 
 place in order to give assistance to the God and the 
 sacred plain; and any city Avhich absented itself 
 should be excluded from the temple, held accursed, 
 and involved in the imprecation. 
 
 The next day at dawn Ave came together at the ap- 
 pointed spot, and descending to the Kirrhsean plain, 
 destroyed the port and burnt the houses, and were 
 about to retire. But whilst we were thus engaged, 
 the Locrians of Amphissa, who dwelt at the distance 
 of about sixty stadia from Delphi, came against us 
 with their whole people in arms, and w^e were in 
 danger of beins: cut off had we not escaped with 
 difficulty by flight to Delphi. 
 
 On the day following, Cottyphus, who was charged 
 with the duty of collecting the votes, convoked a 
 General Assembly of the Amphictyons. It was styled 
 
54 
 
 iESCHINES 
 
 a General Assembly when it consisted not only of 
 the deputies and presbyters, but of those who came 
 thither to sacrifice to and consult the God. At its 
 convocation numerous accusations were preferred 
 against the Amphissians, and great praise was given 
 to our City. As a result of their deliberations, it was 
 decreed that the presbyters should come to Ther- 
 mopylae at a designated day, in advance of the next 
 Assembly, armed with a decree by virtue of which 
 the Amphissians should be punished for the acts ot 
 impiety they had committed against the God, the 
 sacred territory and the Amphictyons. The clerk 
 will now read this decree to corroborate my state- 
 ments. 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 This decree having been presented by us upon our 
 return to the Senate, and again to the people in the 
 Assembly, our action was ratihed and the whole City 
 was on the side of the God. Demosthenes never- 
 theless by reason of the pay he had received from 
 the Amphissians resolved to oppose it, but I over- 
 came him plainly in your presence. Finding that he 
 could not deceive the City, as the evidence was too 
 plain, he came into the Senate, and having caused all 
 private citizens to retire he brought into the Assem- 
 bly a preliminary decree which he had had passed 
 through the inexperience of the mover. He suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining the passage of this decree by 
 the people in the Assembly, although it had already 
 
 I 
 
 L 
 
 1 
 
 [124—128.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 55 
 
 risen, and most of the members had left, I myself 
 among the rest, or I would never have permitted it. 
 Its summary is as follows : " The Athenian presby- 
 ter and the present and future deputies shall report 
 themselves at Thermopylae and Delphi at the time 
 designated by our ancestors."— Fair enough in form, 
 but scandalous in fact, this decree prevented our join- 
 ing the convocation which was necessarily to be con- 
 vened at Thermopyhe before the regular Assembly 
 should meet.— And moreover he had inserted in the 
 same decree another article still plainer and more 
 pointed, as follows :—" The Athenian presbyter and 
 deputies present and future shall in no wise partici- 
 pate either in the deliberations, conduct, or decrees 
 of the deputies in any way whatsoever."— In no wise 
 participate ?— Shall I speak truth as to this clause, 
 or shall I only utter what is pleasant to listen to ?— I 
 shall speak out the truth ! It is these honey-tongued 
 utterances which have brought the City to her pres- 
 ent condition !— This language meant that we were 
 to be permitted to remember neither the oaths sworn 
 by our ancestors, the imprecations pronounced by 
 them, nor the oracle of the God. 
 
 In consequence of this decree, men of Athens, we 
 remained at home, while the other Amphictyons re- .^^.. 
 assembled at Thermopylie with the exception of a ^ 1 
 single city whose name I cannot mention ;— may her 
 misfortunes be kept for away from the other Greeks ! 
 And it was resolved at this meeting that an expedi- 
 
56 
 
 JESCHINES 
 
 tion slioiikl be undertaken against the Amphissians, 
 and the same Cottyphus the Pharsalian who had col- 
 lected the votes of the Assembly was chosen gen- 
 eral. Philip, whom Demosthenes will soon dare to 
 assert I brought down against the Greeks, was not 
 then in Macedonia, nor even in Greece, but absent 
 far away in Scythia. In this first expedition great 
 moderation was shewn towards the Amphissians, for 
 they were simply punished for their great misdeeds 
 bv a fine which was directed to be paid to the God 
 by a certain day ; the accursed authors of the out- 
 rages were banished, and those who had quitted the 
 country in consequence of the sacrilege were restored 
 to it. AVhen indeed the Amphissians refused to dis- 
 charire the fine, broudit back the criminals,, and 
 expelled the pious citizens who had been recalled, a 
 second armament was organized against them. But 
 this was a long time afterwards, upon Philip's return 
 from his expedition against the Scythians, when the 
 venality of Demosthenes had proved the obstacle to 
 our obtainino; the command of the sacred war which 
 the immortal Gods had conmiitted to us. 
 
 Did not, Athenians, did not the Gods forewarn us, 
 did they not declare to us almost with the signifi- 
 cance of a human utterance, to be upon our guard 
 against the impending danger? ^ever have I known 
 a State more completely under the protection of the 
 Gods, never have I seen one more completely ruined 
 by certain of its public men! The prodigies which 
 
 [128—132.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 57 
 
 4fi 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 accompanied the mysteries, the death of the newly 
 initiated, should not all this have been sufficient to 
 excite our apprehensions? Did not Aminiades warn 
 us of our danger, and beg us to send persons to Del- 
 phi to interrogate the divinity and ascertain from 
 liim what was to be done? AVas not all this opposed 
 by Demosthenes, who, brutally misusing the license 
 vou had accorded to him, even declared that the 
 oracle was philippizing? And when the consumma- 
 tion was at hand and the sacrifices Λvere unpropitious 
 and unacceptable to the Gods, did he not send out 
 our soldiers to certain peril? Yes, this very man 
 who recently dared to assert that Philip had not en- 
 tered our territory because the sacrifices w^ere un- 
 favorable to him ! — What punishment do you not 
 merit, scourge of all Greece ? — If the conqueror was 
 deterred from marching into the conquered country 
 because the auguries forbade it, and if in absolute 
 ignorance of futurity without one happy omen you 
 sent forward our soldiers to a certain doom, do j^ou 
 deserve to be now honored with a crown for the ruin 
 you have brought upon the State, or to be forever 
 banished from it ? 
 
 Truly, Athenians, Λvhat unexpected, what unfore- 
 seen events have occurred in our day ! Λ¥β have not 
 lived the ordinary life of mortals, but we have been 
 born to be the wonder of posterity. The Persian 
 King, the mighty monarch who cut through Blount 
 Athos, who chained the Hellespont, who demanded 
 
58 
 
 ^SCHINES 
 
 of the Greeks earth and water, who dared to write 
 that he was master of all nations from the rising to 
 the setting sun, is he not now contending not for the 
 mastery of others, hut for his own personal existence ? 
 And have we not seen the very men who delivered 
 the temple of Delphi judged worthy of the glory of 
 the command against the Persian? And Thehes our 
 neidiborinii eitv, has not Thebes been swept in a 
 single day from the face of Greece? And if not 
 unjustly, because they managed their affairs impru- 
 dently and stupidly, still they seem rather to have 
 been struck with judicial blindness, than to have 
 shewn mere human ignorance and folly. And the 
 unhappy Lacedemonians Λνΐιο interfered but slightly 
 in the beginning in the attack upon the temple, the 
 people who formerly aspired to be the leaders of 
 Greece, are now compelled to send hostages to Alex- 
 ander, and to display their misery before the whole 
 world, reduced to suffer for themselves and country 
 what the pleasure of the conqueror may inflict, and to 
 expect that moderation which an enemy who has re- 
 ceived the first offence nuiy choose to shew them. 
 And our own City, heretofore the common refuge 
 of all Greeks, to whom in former days embassies 
 from every State in Greece were wont to come to 
 claim our protection, no longer now contends for 
 empire, but for her own soil. 
 
 And this has all been brought to pass since Demos- 
 thenes began to intervene in public affairs. AVell 
 
 [132— 137.J 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 59 
 
 1 
 
 
 does the poet Hesiod express himself upon this sub- 
 ject, when he seeks to instruct the people, and to 
 counsel republics to shut their ears to the advances 
 of designing demagogues. I will repeat his verses : 
 for doubtless we were taught in childhood to commit 
 to memory these noble sentences of the poets, that 
 we might store them up for use in our mature age : 
 
 (( 
 
 Oft do whole nations pay the guilt of one 
 Who by his crimes insults an angry heaven ! 
 Famine and plague, twin ministers of wrath, 
 Great Saturn's son sends forth : armies perish, 
 Towers and strongholds fall, and mighty fleets 
 Are swept away, in witne.ss of Jove's ire." 
 
 Take away Hesiod's metre, and consider only the 
 thoughts to which he gave expression, and you shall 
 no longer regard it as the language of poetry, but as 
 an oracle pointed at the administration of Demos- 
 thenes : — an army, a naval expedition, many cities, 
 have been in fact all annihilated through this man's 
 policy. 
 
 I think indeed that neither Phrynondas, nor Eu- 
 rybatus, nor any other of the traitors of old, was ever 
 such a charlatan and impostor as this fellow. He 
 dares indeed, (I call heaven and earth to witness, and 
 ye divinities and all men who wish to hear the truth !) 
 he dares to look you in the face, and to assert that the 
 Thebans entered into the alliance with you, not driven 
 to it by the force of circumstances, by stress of the 
 
60 
 
 ^ESCHINES 
 
 fear in which they found themselves, not by reason 
 of your own glory, but in consequence of the ha- 
 rangues of Demosthenes ! And yet before his time, 
 those who were best inclined to the Thebans went 
 many times as ambassadors to Thebes without sue- 
 cess ; first of all Thrasybulus of Collytta, a man hon- 
 ored with their entire confidence, — then Thraso their 
 patron in our City, Leodamas the Acharnian whose 
 eloquence was not inferior to that of Demosthenes 
 and to me at least a much more pleasing speaker, 
 Archidemus another eloquent man whose regard for 
 the Thebans had exposed him to many dangers dur- 
 ing his administration, Aristophon the Azenian who 
 labored for a long time under the imputation of The- 
 banizing, and lastly Pyrandrus of Anaphlystus who 
 is still alive. No one was ever able to secure their 
 friendship for you. The reason I know well, but I 
 care not now to mention it, out of regard to the The- 
 bans' misfortunes. But after Philip had taken JSTiceea 
 from them and handed it over to the Thessalians, 
 after he had in traversing Phocis again brought upon 
 them the war which he had before kept away from 
 Bceotia, and finally after he had taken and fortified 
 Elatea and planted a garrison in it, then when pres- 
 ent danger menaced them, then it was that the The- 
 bans had recourse to you, and you marched out to 
 their relief and entered Thebes with your troops both 
 horse and foot, before Demosthenes had written a 
 single syllable about the alliance. The times, their 
 
 [137—143.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 61 
 
 alarm, and the need of union with you, brought you 
 to Thebes, not Demosthenes. 
 
 In this matter of the treaty, moreover, Demos- 
 thenes committed three capital faults to your preju- 
 dice. First, when Philip who was at war merely in 
 name with Athens, but had his whole hostility really 
 directed against the Thebans as events proved, (and 
 wdiy say more on this point?) Demosthenes kept 
 this important consideration entirely out of view; 
 and pretending that the alliance had been brought 
 about not from the stress of circumstances but 
 through his own embassies, he persuaded you that 
 it Avas of less consequence to discuss the conditions 
 of the alliance than to succeed in obtaining it. Hav- 
 ing secured this point, he abandoned all Boeotia to 
 the Thebans by the introduction of a clause into the 
 treaty that if any city should revolt from Thebes the 
 Athenians should be bound to assist only the Boeo- 
 tians who adhered to Thebes. He thus concealed 
 and evaded the real issue, according to his wont, by 
 delusive language ; as if the Boeotians Avhen smart- 
 ing under injury would content themselves with De- 
 mosthenes's fine phrases, and not rather feel indig- 
 nant at the real injustice they were made to sufter. 
 A<rain, he assessed you from whom the danger was 
 remote with two-thirds of the expense of the war, 
 charging the Thebans Avith the other third; being 
 Avell paid for this and his other arrangements. The 
 command of the fleet he divided, while he put the 
 
62 
 
 .ESCHINES 
 
 whole cost upon you; but he gave up, to speak 
 phiinly, the entire control of the land forces to the 
 Thebans, insomuch that Stratocles your general was 
 unable during the war to provide even for the safety 
 of his own troops. I accuse him not as to matters 
 which others might pass over, but I speak out as to 
 what all condemn him for ; and yet you Λνΐιο know 
 all this express no resentment about it. You seem 
 to be disposed towards Demosthenes in this way : 
 vou have been so accustomed to hear of his mis- 
 deeds, that they no longer create astonishment in 
 you. But you must put away this frame of mind, 
 and become indignant unto punishment, if you are 
 to expect that even what is left to our State shall 
 prosper. 
 
 But there was a second Avrong committed by him 
 even greater than the first. By means of the clause 
 which provided for the common consideration of all 
 measures with the chiefs of Boeotia he practically 
 abstracted from our Senate and people the entire 
 discussion of public business, and transported it to 
 Thebes, to the Cadmeia. In this Λvay his power 
 became so absolute, that he publicly announced to 
 you from the platform, that he would go as ambassa- 
 dor whithersoever he thought proper, without regard 
 to your orders. 
 
 Did any of your generals differ from him in 
 opinion, he declared he would reduce them to sub- 
 mission and accustom them to absolute acquiescence 
 
 [143^148.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 63 
 
 by having the pre-eminence of the platform estab- 
 lished over that of the camp, asserting that you had 
 been more benefited by his efibrts from the platform 
 than by anything done by any general in the field. 
 Besides making profit out of the empty battalions in 
 our foreign forces and embezzling the soldiers' pay, 
 he hired out to the Amphissians ten thousand of these 
 troops against my reiterated protests and objections 
 in the Assembly ; and in consequence of their re- 
 moval he involved the City in serious peril. AYhat, 
 think you, could Philip have most desired under the 
 circumstances ? Was it not to fight here separately 
 against the City's forces, separately in Amphissa 
 against the mercenaries, and then after striking such 
 a blow to surprise the discouraged Greeks? And 
 the author of all this ruin, not content with escaping 
 the punishment due to his oftences, is indignant, for- 
 sooth, at being deprived of the honor of a golden 
 And it is not enough for him that it shall 
 
 crown 
 
 ! 
 
 be proclaimed in presence of you his fellow-citizens, 
 but he must complain bitterly if it be not done before 
 the eyes of assembled Greece ! Thus, it seems, a de- 
 praved nature armed with great power brings heavy 
 calamities upon the State. 
 
 The third and by much the most important ofience 
 which I have referred to, I am now about to speak 
 of. Philip did not despise the Greeks. He was 
 quite too intelligent for that. Nor was he so in- 
 considerate as to desire to risk upon the event of the 
 
64 
 
 .ivSCHINES 
 
 fraction of a day all the advantages he had secured. 
 He was therefore desirous of an accommodation, and 
 Λvas upon the point of sending envoys to treat about 
 it. The Theban magistrates also rightly apprehended 
 the impending danger; for they had learned a lesson 
 not easily to be forgotten from the Phocian war of 
 ten years' duration : — tliey needed not the advice of 
 an unwarlike orator, who had been guilty of desert- 
 ing his post. In this condition of things, Demos- 
 thenes suspecting that the Ba'otian leaders had been 
 secretly bribed by Philip to conclude a particular 
 peace, and thinking it w^orse than death that he 
 should be left out of the circle of corruption, burst 
 into the Assembly when there was no question under 
 consideration of either peace or war; and intending 
 to proclaim in advance as if througli the voice of a 
 herald to the Theban magistrates that they must give 
 him a share of the plunder, he swore by Athene 
 (whose statue Phidias seems to have carved to enable 
 Demosthenes to appeal to as an instrument of perjury 
 and proiit) that if any one should speak of making 
 peace with Philip he w^ould drag him to prison by 
 the hair of his head, in imitation of that Cleophon 
 w^io, w^e are told, ruined the republic by his violence 
 in the war with the Lacedemonians. But as the 
 Thebans paid no heed to him, and were even about 
 sending back your troops who had already taken 
 the field, maddened at the spectacle, he ascended 
 the platform and denounced the Boeotian rulers as 
 
 [148—153.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHOX. 
 
 65 
 
 traitors to Greece. And the man who had never 
 dared to look the foe in the face, declared that he 
 would introduce a decree under wbich you ΛνοηΜ 
 send deputies to tlie Thebans to demand a passage 
 through their country against Philip! Those who 
 w^ere in power there, mortified and dreading that 
 they might really appear to have betrayed the cause 
 of the Greeks, faltered and turned aside from all 
 thoughts of peace, and threw themselves into prepa- 
 rations for the conflict. 
 
 It is here the proper place to speak of the gallant 
 men wliom this Demosthenes in disregard of unpro- 
 pitious auspices sent forth to meet a certain doom. 
 The wn^etch who mounts the tombs of these unhappy 
 victims with the trembling feet wbich faltered in the 
 ranks and fled from battle, is he who dares to cele- 
 brate the courage of these heroes! Oh most das- 
 tardly of men, most incapable of wise and noble 
 conduct, but most audaciously skilful in the use of 
 words, darest thou now to undertake to look upon 
 the countenances of these thy fellow-citizens, and to 
 assert before them that thou deservest to be crowned 
 for bringing ruin upon thy country ! And if he dares 
 to say this, will you my fellow-citizens permit it, and 
 shall the memory of those brave men perish with 
 them, Avhen they have ceased to live? Go with me 
 for a moment in your thoughts from this tribunal to 
 the theatre, behold the herald advancing slowly, and 
 listen to the proclamation which will follow this 
 
 7 
 
ι 
 
 6ϋ 
 
 JESCHINES 
 
 [153—158.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHOX. 
 
 67 
 
 decree. AVill the parents and the rehitives of these 
 unfortunate soldiers shed more ahundant tears over 
 the misfortunes and woes presented in the tragic 
 spectacles there exhibited, than over the State's in- 
 o-ratitude ? AVhat Greek trained in the principles of 
 freedom will not on such a day be filled with grief 
 Λvhen he reflects that formerly before the spectacles 
 beo'an,Avhen the government Avas administered under 
 happier laws and by wiser counsellors, the herald 
 Λvould advance with the youthful orphans whose 
 fathers had fallen in the field, and pointing to them 
 clad in complete armor would proclaim in those 
 beautiful and encouraging words, " Behold the chil- 
 dren of the gallant men who lost their lives in our 
 defence, whom their country has educated up to 
 manhood, and now presents here armed in proof, 
 and sends fortli witli happy auguries to manage their 
 own aitairs and to aspire to the highest honors of the 
 
 State." 
 
 Such was the language of the herald in former 
 days, but now how difl:erent ! AVere he now to pre- 
 sent before you him who caused the orphanhood of 
 all these children, in what terms think you Avould 
 he make his proclamation ? Should he indeed recite 
 the form of the decree, truth would cry out and pro- 
 claim our shame in words of contradiction to the 
 herald's voice. She ΛνοηΜ assert that the Athenian 
 people crown for his virtue the man, if he be a 
 man, who is infamous for vice, — for his courage, the 
 
 t\ 
 
 coward who in the hour of danger fled from liis post ! 
 I implore you, men of Athens, in the name of the 
 sovereign Jove and all the Gods, suffer not to be 
 erected against yourselves a trophy in the temple of 
 Dionysus ; convict not our City of madness in the 
 face of assembled Greece ; nor remind the w^orld of 
 the irremediable woes of the unhappy Thebans wdiom 
 you welcomed hither when they fled from the homes 
 from which they had been driven by the venality of 
 Demosthenes, through whose corruption they lost 
 their temples, their children, and their tombs. 
 
 But since you were not present in person, figure 
 to yourselves in imagination the condition of this 
 unhappy people. Their city is carried by assault; 
 amidst the horrors and confusion of walls over- 
 turned, and houses in flames, you shall see Λvomen 
 and children driven from their homes into slaverv, 
 and aged persons of both sexes unlearning too late 
 in life the sweet teachings of freedom; you shall 
 find them in all their misery less indignant against 
 the immediate instruments of their punishment than 
 against the real authors of their wrongs : they im- 
 plore you Avith sobs and tears never to honor with a 
 crown the scourge of Greece, but to guard yourselves 
 against the evil genius and the ill-fortune which have 
 always accompanied this man. No community, no 
 private person has ever prospered who has submitted 
 himself to the counsels of Demosthenes. And will 
 you not be ashamed, Athenians, after enacting a law 
 
QS 
 
 .ESCHINES 
 
 about tlie passage over the Strait to Salamis, that 
 any ferryman who shall even nnintentionally upset 
 his boat shall never again be permitted to exercise 
 his calling, that no one through carelessness may 
 jeopard the lives of Greeks, yet to allow this man, 
 who has so completely destroyed not only Athens 
 but all Greece, to be placed again at the head of our 
 ofovernment ? 
 
 In coming now to the fourth period, which em- 
 braces our present condition, I wish first to remind 
 3^ou that Demosthenes not only quitted the ranks of 
 the army on the battle-field, but also deserted his 
 post as a citizen ; for he embarked on one of your 
 vessels, and immediately started off under pretext of 
 levying contributions upon the other Greeks. AVhen 
 the danger had unexpectedly passed away, he re- 
 turned to Athens, and advancing towards the plat- 
 form trembling and half dead with fear, he besought 
 you to elect him commissioner for settling the terms 
 of peace. At that time you would not even suffer 
 the name of Demosthenes to be inscribed upon your 
 decrees, but injoined the duty upon Nausicles : and 
 yet he now demands the honor of a croΛvn ! After 
 Philip's assassination, and Alexander had succeeded 
 to the throne, he resumed his trade of impostor. He 
 erected altars to Pausanias, drew upon the Senate the 
 odium of ordering sacrifices at the good news, and 
 even termed the new king a Margites, assuring us he 
 would never stir from Macedon, but remain at l*ella 
 
 [158—162.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 69 
 
 Λ 
 
 walking about Λvatching the auguries. All this, he 
 said, he asserted positively and not from conjecture, 
 since courage is purchased by blood alone. This 
 fellow thus spoke, who was without blood in his own 
 veins, and who judged Alexander not after Alexan- 
 der's nature, but from his own dastardly character ! 
 But when the Thessalians were marching against 
 your City, and the youthful monarch Λvas animated 
 Avith a just anger, his army actually investing Thebes, 
 Demosthenes, who had been chosen ambassador to 
 him, took the alarm on Mount Citheeron, and re- 
 turned flying back to Athens, thus proving himself 
 equally useless in peace and in war. And most 
 astonishing of all, you have not surrendered this 
 man for trial by the Assembly of the Greeks ; — the 
 traitor who, if common report is true, has betrayed 
 you all ! 
 
 According to the statements of the mariners and 
 of your envoys to Alexander, — and the thing seems 
 highly probable, — there went with them a young 
 man from Platsea, Aristion the son of Aristobulus 
 the druggist, whom some of you are perhaps ac- 
 quainted with. This youth, who was of remarkable 
 personal beauty, lived for a long time in the house of 
 Demosthenes, upon what footing is uncertain, and it 
 would be improper for me to explain. Taking ad- 
 vantage, as I have heard, of the belief that his origin 
 and former mode of life were unknown, he insinuated 
 himself into Alexander's favor, and was admitted 
 
70 
 
 ^SCHINES 
 
 [162—167.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 71 
 
 into his intimacy. Through this man Demosthenes 
 corresponded ^vith the king, and by flattery and ob- 
 sequiousness secured a certain foothokl for reconcilia- 
 tion. And observe how the facts agree with Avhat I 
 
 alleoce asrainst him. 
 
 If Demosthenes really believed what he now asserts, 
 and was so hostile, as he says he was, to Alexander, 
 three fine opportunities for proving this presented 
 themselves, none of which he made use of. 
 
 First of all, when Alexander, just seated on the 
 tlirone, was about passing over into Asia, his 
 authority at home not yet firmly established, the 
 Persian king, then in his prime of strength, abound- 
 in»• in ships, and troops and supplies of all kinds, 
 would readily have made an alliance Λvith us on ac- 
 count of the dangers which threatened him. AVhat 
 word did you then utter, Demosthenes, or what de- 
 cree did you prepare? Shall I set down this omis- 
 sion to your fears, and to your native timidity ? Yet 
 public policy waits not upon the cowardice of the 
 
 public man. 
 
 Ao-ain, when Darius had descended with all his 
 powers, and Alexander was menaced in Cilicia, 
 without support, and as you then said, about to be 
 crushed by the Persian cavalry; when Athens could 
 scarce contain your insolence, and you strutted about 
 the streets with letters in your hands, pointing out 
 my face as that of a terror-stricken man, and saying 
 I was a victim crowned for the sacrifice ready to fall 
 
 . 
 
 
 at the least reverse to Alexander ;— even then you 
 did nothing, but waited for a more favorable oppor- 
 tunity. But passing over all this, I will come down 
 to the present moment. 
 
 The Lacedemonians, with the aid of a foreign 
 force, had gained a battle, defeating a Macedonian 
 army near Corragus : the Elians had joined them, 
 all the Achieans except the people of Pellene, all Ar- 
 cadia, except Megalopolis. That city was besieged, 
 and every day was expected to be taken. Alexander 
 himself had advanced beyond the Great Bear, and 
 almost beyond the habitable globe : Antipater had 
 for a long time been trying to gather together an 
 army, and the future Avas uncertain. Tell us now, 
 Demosthenes, what you then did, what you then 
 said; if you will, I yield to you the platform until 
 you shall have finished. You are silent and embar- 
 rassed ; I take compassion upon you, and will now 
 report myself what you then rehearsed. 
 
 Do you not remember, Athenians, the odious and 
 almost incredible language Avhich he then uttered, 
 and which you then listened to with the callousness 
 of steel, when, advancing from the platform, he cried 
 out, " There are some among you who clip and cut 
 the' City as a vine, who hack the people's tendrils; 
 the very nerves of the State have been cut asunder, 
 we are stitched up as in a mat, our sides are pricked 
 as with needles." AVhat language was this, oh beast, 
 was it words, or the utterance of a monster ! And 
 
72 
 
 .SSCHINES 
 
 again, when swinging yourself round upon the plat- 
 form you srave yourself out as workinij aii^ainst Alex- 
 ancler, and hawled out, " It is I who raised up against 
 him the Lacedemonians, it is I who detached from 
 him the Thessalians and Perrhihceans." — You, De- 
 mosthenes, you stir up a single hurgh ! You, who 
 Avould neyer come near a town, or eyen a single 
 house, where danger was present ! But if money 
 was anywhere to he spent, there you were sure to he 
 found ; — neyer w^here a deed of manhood was to he 
 done ! Is a lucky stroke struck, you cunningly ap- 
 propriate it, and take care to inscrihe it Λyith your 
 name ; is danger in the Λyind, you eyer keep out of 
 the way ; hut with the return of confidence, you cry 
 out for recompense, for rewards and golden crowns ! 
 
 Oh, but he is a friend of the people, a loyer of our 
 institutions ! If you turn to his flattering harangues, 
 Λ'οη will be deceiyed as you haye eyer been : if you 
 scan his real nature, and look at the truth itself, you 
 Ayill be sayed from error. And thus should you 
 make up your judgment about him. But I will now 
 consider with you the true cliaracter of the wise and 
 yirtuous friend of his country, contrasting with it the 
 yile partisan of the goyernment of a few ; and when 
 you haye both presented for comparison, then search 
 out and proye which of the two he is, not from his 
 own fawning tongue, but from his life and conduct. 
 
 You w^ill all doubtless admit that the true patriot 
 should first of all be liberally born both on the father's 
 
 [167—171.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 73 
 
 and the mother's side, lest he might look with disfa- 
 vor, by reason of his misfortune, upon our free demo- 
 cratic constitution, l^ext, he should be able to point 
 to services rendered by his ancestors to the State ; or 
 at least that they should not have laid themselves 
 open to reproach, lest in the effort to remedy their 
 disgrace he might be brought to do the Common- 
 Avealth a wrong. Thirdly, his daily walk in life 
 should be wise and moderate, that waste and irregu- 
 larity may not tempt him to take the wages of cor- 
 ruption to the people's disadvantage. Fourthly, he 
 should be able to clothe noble and patriotic thoughts 
 in fitting language, that he may the better appeal 
 to right intelligence; for the persuasive wisdom of 
 the speaker powerfully influences his auditors. But 
 good sense must always be set above mere rhetor- 
 ical display. Lastly, he must be of firm and con- 
 stant heart, that lie may never be tempted to abandon 
 his fellow-citizens in the face of danger. He who 
 adheres to the power of an oligarchy is the opposite 
 of all this, and it is useless to repeat his character- 
 istics. Examine then well, w^hich of the patriot's 
 attributes belong to Demosthenes; but let the ex- 
 amination be in all respects fair and just. 
 
 Ilis father, Demosthenes of Pieania, Λyas undoubt- 
 edly a man of free birth ; this must be fully admitted. 
 But how about his descent on the mother's side, and 
 who was his maternal grandfather? I will tell you. 
 There was once a certain Gylon of Kerameis who 
 
74 
 
 .ESCHINES 
 
 betrayed to the enemy Xympliieum, a city of Pontus 
 which then belonged to us ; and being denounced for 
 this, he awaited not the sentence of death, but fled 
 from Athens and settled on the Bosphorus. lie re- 
 ceived from the neighboring princes as the reward of 
 his perfidy a place called Kepi, and married a woman 
 rich indeed and who brought him a large estate, but 
 a Scythian by birth. From this union sprang tAvo 
 daughters, whom he sent hither with considerable 
 fortunes. One he established in marriage with a 
 citizen whom I do not mention, as I desire not to 
 make unnecessary enemies; the other was betrothed 
 to Demosthenes of Pteania, who disregarded the laws 
 of his country in espousing her. The issue of this 
 marriage was Demosthenes, this officious meddling 
 sycophant. On his mother's side, on her father's, he 
 is thus the people's enemy; for against his grand- 
 father you pronounced sentence of death. His 
 mother, Greek only in speech, but barbarian by 
 race, has given the world a son whose wicked nature 
 proves him no true Athenian. 
 
 And what has been his daily mode of life ? Having 
 wasted his inheritance by folly and frivolity, from a 
 trierarch he became a special pleader; but showing 
 his treachery in this employment l)y the betrayal of 
 his clients' secrets to their adversaries, he quitted it 
 to betake himself to the platform. Of the large sums 
 which he received from the public he kept little ; 
 but the king of Persia's gold flowed freely to sup- 
 
 
 [171—176.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHOX. 
 
 75 
 
 port his profusion. Yet all this proved insufficient, 
 for no money could satisfy the prodigality of his 
 spendthrift nature. He lived, in a word, not from 
 his private revenues, but from the public dangers. 
 
 But what are his endowments of ability and power 
 of speech ? Eloquent in words, his life is utterly de- 
 praved. Of his abuse of his body, and his coarse 
 sensuality, I must not speak at large. To reveal the 
 gross vices of our fellows is always an ungrateful 
 task. But what does the City get by this?— Fine 
 ΛVords, and ill deeds. 
 
 It remains to speak a Avord or two about his cour- 
 age. Had he denied his cowardice, or were you not 
 ail well acquainted with it, I had had here the occa- 
 sion of consuming a little time upon this point. But 
 as he has avowed it himself in our Assemblies, and 
 you are thoroughly informed about it, I need only 
 refer to the laws which have been framed upon this 
 subject. Our ancient law-giver Solon thought that 
 the man who refused to obey the summons to the 
 field, as well as he who quitted the ranks, were equally 
 guilty with the coward : for the laws are enacted 
 against cowardice. Should some of you perchance 
 be surprised that a natural infirmity is treated as a 
 crime, the reason is easily given. It is that each 
 citizen fearing more the punishment inflicted by 
 the laws than the enemy's face should contend all 
 the better in his country's behalf. The law there- 
 fore excludes equally from the public lustrations the 
 
»* ^ . ^^i4 i JiftliW!»JM*lM < ( * aft^ 
 
 76 
 
 JB8CHINES 
 
 L176— 181.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHOX. 
 
 77 
 
 man λυΙιο refuses to serve, the coward, and him who 
 abandons his post. He can neither receive the honor 
 of a crown, nor be admitted to the sacred rites of the 
 temple. And yet you, Ctesiphon, order us to crown 
 a man incapable by law of receiving a crown ; by 
 your decree you call into the theatre, during the 
 tragedies, him who is unworthy of appearing there ; 
 you attempt to introduce into the temple of Dionysus 
 one who has forfeited throu£:li his cowardice all rrsht 
 to participate in the rites of religion. 
 
 But, lest I should withdraw your attention from 
 the subject, keep this point steadily in view. AVhen 
 he professes his great affection for the people, look 
 to his life, not his \vords; regard what he is, not 
 Avhat he says. And as we are talking of crowns and 
 rewards, let me, Λvhile it is still in my mind, fore- 
 warn you, Athenians, that unless tliis prodigality of 
 honors, this indiscriminate conferring: of crowns is 
 stopped, you will neither obtain the thanks of those 
 Λνΐιο are honored, nor will the affairs of the City be 
 advanced. The Λvorthless man will not be made 
 better, Avhile the o-ood will be altoi^ether discoura<red 
 by it. Let me give you some pregnant instances of 
 the truth of what I say. AVere the question put to 
 you Avhether the condition of the State was more 
 glorious in your ancestors' time than at present, all 
 \vould answer. In the days of our forefathers. AVere 
 the men of the olden time better than now? Then, 
 they were truly great; now, alas, ho\v degenerate! 
 
 And crowns, and honors, and proclamations and en- 
 tertainments in the Prytaneum, were they more rife 
 then than now^? In those days rewards with us were 
 rare, but the name of virtue was truly precious. In 
 our time honors have become vile by their profusion : 
 and crowns are given as a customary ceremonial, not 
 as a recompense conferred with judgment. 
 
 Should it seem strange to the reiiecting mind that 
 wliile honors now are more abundant, (hen the public 
 interests more flourished, that public servants should 
 now be worse, then better, I Avill endeavor to give the 
 explanation. Can you suppose, Athenians, that any 
 one would enter the lists of the Olynipian Games, or 
 of any other of our public sports to strive for the 
 prize in ΛvrestΓmg or any other contest, were the 
 crow^n aΛvarded, not to the best man, but to some in- 
 trio-uimr trickster? No ! None would prepare him- 
 self for the encounter. It is because the prize is 
 rare, hard to obtain, conferring immortality upon the 
 victor, and therefore glorious, that the generous 
 youth keep their bodies under subjection, endure 
 J:he greatest hardships, and are ready to meet the 
 greatest dangers! And imagine yourselves to be 
 the judges in the contention for civic excellence; 
 think you not that when you bestow the prize up- 
 rightly upon the deserving few, the combatants in 
 this glorious strife wall not be many ? It is by show- 
 ing favor to the ready caballer, that you stifle all 
 noble aspirations. 
 
78 
 
 ^:SCHINES 
 
 Let me make my meaning still more plain. AVliich 
 was the better man, Themistocles the commander of 
 your fleet when you overcame the Persians at Sala- 
 mis, or Demosthenes the deserter from the ranks ? — 
 Miltiades the conqueror at Marathon, or tliis fellow? 
 — the men who brous^ht back from Phvle the flvinir 
 people, Aristides surnamed the just, or Demosthenes 
 who should be surnamed something very different? 
 But, by the Olympian Gods, it were unworthy to men- 
 tion on the same day this beast and those illustrious 
 men I Let him show, if he can, wlien he comes to 
 speak, Λvhen was it it was ever decreed that a crown 
 should be conferred upon any of them. AVas their 
 country then ungrateful? No! she Λvas magnani- 
 mous : and these citizens Avere truly worthy of her, 
 in the very absence of such honors. They thought 
 it not honorable to be inscribed in decrees, but to 
 live in the remembrance of their grateful fellow- 
 citizens, Avhich has kept their memory ever fresh 
 from that day down to this. 
 
 AVhat then were their rewards ? Such, indeed, as 
 it is honorable to speak of There were those, Athe-, 
 nians, who, fighting under the greatest ditticulties 
 and encountering the greatest perils, vanquished the 
 Persians near the river Strymon. On their arrival 
 here, the people accorded to their demand for recom- 
 pense, what then seemed a mighty honor. In the 
 portico of the temple of Hermes were erected three 
 statues of the God, inscribed not with their own 
 
 [181—186.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 79 
 
 names, lest the inscription should appear to be made 
 for the generals, rather than the people. The lan- 
 guage proves the truth of my assertion ; for on the 
 first you find these words : 
 
 *' Honor to those who first by Strymon's floods 
 Kouted the Mede, hard by old Eion's towers : 
 Famine and valor laid the foeman low." 
 
 Upon the second : 
 
 " Good-will and courage Athens thus rewards 
 In those who forth her armies led. Let all, 
 Of this regardful, strive to emulate 
 This virtue in the State's behalf displayed." 
 
 And on the third Hermes it is thus inscribed : 
 
 " In days of yore Menestheus to Troy's plains 
 With great Atrides marched the Attic hosts : 
 « A mighty chieftain with the mail-clad Greeks 
 The blind bard sings him. Hence the City claims 
 Of AVar and Peace to stand the Arbiter." 
 
 AVhere do you find here the names of the generals? 
 —Nowhere.— It is the people's only. Go with me, 
 in imagination, to the painted Portico, for in this 
 public place the monuments of all your glories are 
 displayed in full view. Why do I ask this? It is 
 because you will there find represented by the 
 painter's hand the battle of Marathon. Should it 
 be asked who led the troops to action on that glo- 
 rious day, all would reply, Miltiades. Is his name 
 inscribed there ? Or did he ask this honor ? The 
 
ml 
 
 80 
 
 .ESCHINES 
 
 [186—191.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHOX. 
 
 81 
 
 State refused his claim, and only conceded that he 
 should be there depicted leading on his troops to 
 victory. Behold again in the temple of the Motlier 
 of the Gods, near the Senate-house, the record of 
 the rewards bestowed upon the men who brought 
 back our fugitive citizens from Phyle. The decree 
 was proposed and passed by Archines of Koile, him- 
 self one of the victorious leaders, and by it was given 
 to them, first, a largess of one thousand drachmas for 
 sacrifices and ofterings, — less than ten drachmas to 
 each man. Next, they are all directed to be crowned 
 with olive wreaths, not crowns of gold. The olive 
 crown was precious in those days, while now the 
 golden one is fallen into contempt. Nor was this 
 honor distributed by chance. No, it was awarded 
 after exact inquiry by the Senate to the men who had 
 courageously sustained the siege in Phyle against the 
 Lacedemonians and the Thirty, not to those who re- 
 fused to keep their ranks at Chyeronea against the 
 enemy's attack. Listen to the decree in proof of my 
 statements. 
 
 DECREE RELATING TO THE HONOR OF THOSE 
 WHO HAD BEEN AT PHYLE. 
 
 Read now Ctesiphon's decree in favor of the author 
 of all our ills. 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 The honor to the men of Phyle is effaced by this 
 decree. If this last is right, the first one Avas all 
 
 t» 
 
 JIf 
 
 ^ 
 
 wTong. If Thrasybulus and his companions were 
 justly honored, Demosthenes is unjustly crowned. 
 
 He will assert however, I am told, that I act un- 
 fairly in comparing him with the men of the olden 
 time, and Λνϋΐ say that Philammon was not crowned 
 at the Olympian Games for having overcome Glaucus 
 that ancient Avrestler, but for having defeated the 
 combatants of the present day. Fool! do we not 
 know that athletes strive each with the other, but 
 that in the struggle for the honors of the State the 
 contest is with Virtue herself I The herald's voice, 
 when he proclaims the crown before assembled 
 Greece, should echo back the truth ! Show us not, 
 then, Demosthenes, that you have surpassed the 
 pigmy Patiekion, but Λvhen you reclaim the honors 
 of the State prove your title by your own worth. 
 Let the clerk now read the inscription to the honor 
 of the men Λvho brought back the people from Phyle, 
 lest I should seem to wander from the point. 
 
 INSCRIPTION. 
 
 " Athens, this soil which holds by ancient right, 
 Honors with crowns of olive the brave men 
 Λ\Ίιο lightly prizing life the State redeemed 
 By tyrants and by tyrants' laws oppressed." 
 
 The poet tells us these heroes were honored be- 
 cause they overthrew^ the men who governed con- 
 trarv to law; for it was ringing in the ears of all 
 that the people were defeated the moment there w^as 
 
 8 
 
f 
 
 82 
 
 JESCHINES 
 
 [191—196.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 83 
 
 taken from them the power to pursue the invaders of 
 the law. 
 
 I have heard from my father, wlio lived to the age 
 of ninety after sharing in all the misfortunes of his 
 country, Λvhilst conversing with me in his leisure 
 moments, that upon the return of the people hoth 
 words and deeds were equally punished when a 
 prosecution Λvas instituted for a violation of the laws. 
 AVhat more impious indeed than an assault against 
 them either hy speech or act? And according to his 
 report, the trial was conducted not as at present, but 
 the dicasts themselves were much more severe aijainst 
 the offenders than the prosecutor. Oftentimes would 
 they call upon the clerk to read over the laws and 
 the decree, and those accused of introducing bills 
 in contravention of them were condemned not for 
 transgressing the whole body of the laAvs, but for 
 changing in them a single syllable. As the matter is 
 now managed, the whole thing is ridiculous. The 
 proposed illegal decree is read, while the jurors, inat- 
 tentive to what is going on, listen as to a ballad or 
 an idle tale. And you have furthermore, in follow- 
 ing this fellow's artifices, introduced into our trials 
 a scandalous practice. The rights of the State are 
 completely reversed : it is the prosecutor who must 
 defend himself, Λvhile the criminal attacks ; and the 
 judges, perplexed and in ignorance of the real point 
 to be decided, are compelled to render their verdict 
 upon something which is not before them. If the 
 
 4r 
 
 accused should perchance speak to the case at all, he 
 defends himself not upon the ground of legality, but 
 because another who has committed the self-same 
 act has been heretofore suffered to escape scot-free. 
 And upon this, I understand, Ctesiphon relies with 
 irreat confidence. 
 
 Aristophon the Azenian once boasted in public 
 that although he had been seventy-five times prose- 
 cuted for infractions of the law, he had never been 
 convicted. IIow difterent was that ancient minister, 
 the patriot Kephalus ! His boast was— and it was 
 an honest one— that while he had Λvritten more de- 
 crees than any, he had never been accused of vio- 
 lating the law. For in those days, not only did 
 political opponents accuse each other of illegality, 
 but friends Avithstood friends upon the ground of 
 injustice done the State. Here is a striking proof. 
 AVhen Archines accused Thrasybulus of illegality for 
 proposing a crown to one of those who had returned 
 with him from Phyle, the prosecution was successful 
 in spite of the recent great services of the accused. 
 For the jurors thought that the same Thrasybulus 
 who had brought back our countrymen from Phyle 
 to the City, himself drove them forth again, in thus 
 proposing an illegal decree. To-day all is difl:erent. 
 Your generals of repute, your public men honored 
 by maintenance in the Prytaneum, solicit you on be- 
 half of the violators of the law. And you should 
 rio-htly treat them as ungrateful citizens. For the 
 
81 
 
 .i:SCHINES 
 
 [196—202.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHOX. 
 
 S5 
 
 man who, honored by a democracy like ourr=; which 
 is protected by Heaven and the laws, dares to assist 
 the laws' infringer, himself attempts the destruction 
 of the very State from Avhicli he draws his title to 
 consideration. 
 
 AVhat then should be the course a just and wise 
 man should adopt in such a defence as this ? I will 
 expose it. AVhen an impeachment founded upon the 
 proposal of an illegal decree is brought before the 
 Court, one-third of the day of trial should be ac- 
 corded to the accuser, to the laws and to the gov- 
 ernment. The second part should then be given to 
 the accused and his defenders. If the defence is not 
 successful upon the first vote, the remaining portion 
 of the day should be consumed in adjusting the sen- 
 tence in proportion to the crime. To solicit your 
 moderation in awarding it, is nothing but an appeal 
 to your clemency : but to ask your suffrages in the 
 first instance in behalf of the offender, is to ask you 
 to run counter to your oaths, the laws, and the con- 
 stitution. It is to ask what is equally unlawful either 
 for them to solicit or for you to grant. You should 
 then compel these importunate petitioners to suffer 
 you first to pronounce your verdict in conformity 
 to law, and then ask you to abate the rigor of the 
 sentence. 
 
 For my own part, Athenians, I am strongly in- 
 clined to the opinion that in prosecutions ί'οχ an in- 
 fraction of the law like this, it should be forbidden 
 
 iH 
 
 i 
 
 both to the accuser and the accused to employ an ad- 
 vocate. In such cases the law of justice is plain and 
 easily determined. For as in the construction of a 
 building a supposed departure from the perpendic- 
 ular is settled by the plumb-line, so in an accusation 
 for a breach of la\v by means of the proposal of an 
 illegal decree, a plain and simple rule is placed be- 
 fore the judge in the record upon Avhich the laws and 
 the decree attacked are inscribed. Shew that the 
 decree conforms to the law, and then, Ctesiphon, de- 
 scend. AVhy nmst you call upon Demosthenes ? To 
 pass by a just defence, and then to claim the services 
 of an architect of evil, a weaver of harangues, in this 
 way you arrest the cause of justice, you injure the 
 City, and you defeat the constitution. 
 
 How nmst Λve get rid of all such artifice ? Should 
 Ctesiphon step forward and rehearse the introduc- 
 tion of that discourse Avhich has been prepared for 
 him, and then proceed to waste your time in empty 
 declamation without touching his defence, order him 
 at once to confront the decree with the record of the 
 laws. Should he pretend not to hear you, do you 
 refuse to listen to him ; for you are here to regard 
 the just defence of an honest litigant, not the subtle 
 apology of one who is ev-ading the accusation. But 
 should he pretermit this upright course and call upon 
 Demosthenes, decline to receive this artisan of evil 
 who hopes to pervert the law by dint of words. Let 
 none of you, on Ctesiphon's demand, be first ready 
 
 c«^ 
 
8β 
 
 ^SCHINES 
 
 [202—207.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 87 
 
 to cry out, " Call liim, call him." You call him, if 
 you do, against yourselves, against the laws, against 
 the Commonwealth. But if it be 3'our pleasure to 
 listen to Demosthenes, compel him to make his de- 
 fence in the same order as the accusation ; and what 
 this is, I Λvill recall to you. 
 
 I did not begin by going over Demosthenes's 
 private life, nor by referring to any of his public 
 offences, although I should have been the most in- 
 experienced of men had I not been able to produce 
 abundant instances of wrong from each. No ! I 
 began by exhibiting the laws Nvhich forbade the 
 coronation of any public man Avhose accounts had 
 not been passed ; I then convicted Ctesiplion of 
 having proposed a crown to Demosthenes while yet 
 accountable, without even adding the qualifying 
 clause " when he shall have given in his accounts," 
 in utter disregard both of the laws and you; and 
 I exposed the futility of the pretences set up against 
 my ease, which I now ask you to recall. 
 
 i^ext, I referred to the laws upon the subject of 
 proclamations, by which it is expressly forbidden 
 that any one crowned by the people should be so 
 proclaimed outside of the Assembly ; and I showed 
 that the accused had not only violated the law in the 
 first respect, but also as to the time and place of the 
 proclamation in directing it should take place not 
 in an Assembly but in the Theatre, not before the 
 Athenians alone, but in the presence of all the 
 
 t 
 
 Greeks at the representation of the new tragedies. 
 In'conclusion I touched upon the irregularities of his 
 private life, and expatiated at some length upon the 
 defaults of his public career. 
 
 You should then compel Demosthenes to begin by 
 first discussing the law relating to accountables, next 
 as to the time and place of the proclamation, and 
 finally, what is of most importance, to prove his title, 
 or rather to disprove his Avant of title to the honor. 
 And should he ask of you to concede to him the 
 order and arrangement of his reply, and promise 
 that he will answer the question of illegality at the 
 close of his discourse, sufier him not, in ignorance of 
 his design to deceive your tribunal, so to proceed. 
 His purpose is not to attempt to justify the legality 
 of the decree ; and knowing that he cannot do so he 
 will by withdrawing your attention to other matters 
 endeavor in your possible forgetful ness of it to elude 
 the point altogether. And as in our gymnastic 
 sports the wrestlers skilfully contend about the choice 
 of irround, so do you in vour contest for the credit 
 of the State strive with him the entire day if neces- 
 sary to prevent his evasion of the legal points, and 
 keeping always on your guard watch every twist 
 and turning of his harangue, and bring him back 
 and confine him to the real issue. 
 
 I may here foretell the part that he will play when 
 he sees that you are in earnest in your endeavor to 
 hold him to his true course. Ctesiphon will intro- 
 
88 
 
 iESCHINES 
 
 [207—212.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 89 
 
 duce that arch-impostor, that phinderer of the puhlic, 
 who has cut the constitution into shreds ; the man 
 who can weep more easily than others Laugh, and 
 from Λvhom perjury flows in ready Λvords ! 
 
 He can, I doubt not, change his tone, and pass 
 from tears to gross abuse, insult the citizens who 
 are listening outside, and cry out that the partisans 
 of oligarchical power detected by the hand of truth 
 are pressing round the prosecutor to support him, 
 while the friends of the constitution are rallvini^ 
 round the accused. And when he dares to speak 
 so, answer thus his seditious menaces. '' ^Vhat, De- 
 mosthenes, had the heroes who brought back our 
 fugitive citizens from Phyle been like you, our 
 democratic form of government had ceased to exist! 
 Those illustrious men saved the State exhausted by 
 ijreat civil disorders in pronounciiii? that wise and 
 admirable sentence * oblivion of all offences.' But 
 you, more careful of your rounded periods than 
 of the City's safety, are willing to reopen all her 
 wounds." 
 
 ΛVhen this perjurer shall seek for credit by taking 
 refuge in his oaths, remind him that to the forsworn 
 man who asks belief in them from those he has de- 
 ceived -so often, of two things one is needful, neither 
 of which exists for Demosthenes; he must either 
 get new Gods, or an audience not the same. And 
 to his tears and wordy lamentations, Avhen he shall 
 ask, "Whither shall I fly, Athenians, should you cast 
 
 J« 
 
 Τ 
 
 me out, I have not where to rest," reply, " Where 
 shall the people seek refuge, Demosthenes; what 
 allies, what resources, Avliat reserve have you pre- 
 pared for us ? ΛΥα all see what you have provided 
 for yourself. AVhen you have left the City, you shall 
 not stop, as you Avould seem, to dwell in Piraeus, but 
 quickly thence departing, you shall visit other lands, 
 Avith all the appointments for your journey provided 
 through your corruption from Persian gold, or public 
 
 plunder." 
 
 But why at all these tears, these cries, this voice of 
 lamentation ? Is it not Ctesiphon who is accused, 
 and even for him may not the penalty be moderated 
 by you ? Thou pleadest not, Demosthenes, either for 
 thy life, thy fortune, or thy honor !— AVhy is he then 
 so disquieted ? About crowns of gold, and procla- 
 mations in the Theatre against the laws :— the man 
 Λvho, Avere the people so insensate or so forgetful of 
 the present as to wish to crown him in this time of 
 public distress, should himself step forth and say, 
 " Men of Athens, while I accept the crown, I dis- 
 approve the proclamation of the honor at a time like 
 this : it should not be in regard to things for which 
 tlie State is now mourning and while it is in the 
 depth of grief." — Would not a man whose life was 
 really upright so speak out; only a knave who 
 assumes the garb of virtue would talk as you do? 
 
 Let none of you, by Hercules, be apprehensive lest 
 this high-souled citizen, this distinguished warrior, 
 
 r^w» 
 
90 
 
 .S:SCHIXES 
 
 [212—218.1 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHOX. 
 
 91 
 
 from loss of this reward should on his return home 
 take his life. The man who rates so low your con- 
 sideration as to make a thousand incisions on that 
 impure and mortgaged head which Ctesiphon pro- 
 poses against all law to honor with a crown, makes 
 money of his wounds by bringing actions for the 
 eifects of his own premeditated blows. Yes, that 
 crown of his so often battered, that perhaps even 
 now it bears upon it the marks of Midias's anger, 
 that crown which brings its owner in an income, 
 serves both for revenue and head ! 
 
 Let me say a few words about this Ctesiphon the 
 author of the decree, omitting most of what might 
 be spoken, and touching only upon what nmst be 
 apparent to you about such worthless fellows, Avith- 
 out the aid of set phrase to assist you. I shall only 
 mention what is common to them both and what any 
 one might fairly say. They parade the public place 
 expressing their opinions of each other in terms not 
 complimentary but true. Ctesiphon tells us he has 
 no fears about himself, for he is but a private man, 
 but he dreads Demosthenes^s venality, his cowardice, 
 and his abject baseness. Demosthenes for his part 
 making a self-examination has reason for great con- 
 fidence, but he is worried about his friend's per- 
 versity, his shocking morals, and his odious trade of 
 go-between! How fairly they judge themselves! — 
 can you absolve this precious pair who know each 
 other so well ? 
 
 * 4 
 
 As for myself I briefly meet in advance the invec- 
 tives which are to be launched against me. I am 
 told that Demosthenes will insist that Avhile the City 
 has been Avell served by him on many occasions, by 
 me it has been ever ill served. And he will fasten 
 upon my shoulders the burthen of all the Λvrongs the 
 City has endured from Philip and from Alexander. 
 This perfidious architect of words will not be content 
 to attack my acts of administration, and my uttered 
 discourses; but my leisure hours, my very silence, 
 will be slandered and accusecL, that no spot in my 
 life may escape his envenomed tongue. The harm- 
 less sports of the gymnasium in the company of our 
 youth will be misconstrued ; and from the very out- 
 set of his reply he will denounce this prosecution as 
 instituted not in the City's interest, but to pay court 
 to Alexander, since I know so well this king loves 
 not Demosthenes. Finally he will ask why it is that 
 I now attack in mass the whole of his administration, 
 \vhen I never interfered with it or accused it in de- 
 tail ; why do I attack it to-day, I who never meddled 
 with public afiairs except rarely and at long intervals. 
 For myself, Athenians, I have neither envied the 
 occupations of Demosthenes, nor am I ashamed of 
 my own. I neither desire that any discourse ever 
 made by me to you should be withdrawn, nor would 
 I be willing to live on the condition of having to 
 father his. My moderation, Demosthenes, has caused 
 my silence, for my Λvay of life is simple, I have never 
 
92 
 
 J^CHINES 
 
 wished for oruiltv splendor. Unconstrained by any 
 expenses, I speak or am silent as reflection dictates. 
 But you are silent when your hands are full, and you 
 cry out when thej' are empty; you sjicak not what 
 or when you should, but when your paymasters ex- 
 act it; and you blush not to utter boldly what the 
 moment afterwards you are convinced was false. 
 
 This prosecution begun in Philip's lifetime, before 
 Alexander had reached the throne, you say was 
 brought by me to gratify the youthful king, and not 
 in the City's behalf. But you had not then beheld 
 the vision of Pausanias, nor had your midniijht in- 
 terview with Athene and with Here taken place. 
 Could I have thus paid my court in advance to 
 Alexander, unless I had been favored with the same 
 dreams as Demosthenes ? 
 
 You blame me for coming before the people at 
 rare intervals, as if we Avere ignorant that such an 
 argument has no place in a constitution like ours. 
 AYhere the government is in the hands of a few, not 
 who would, accuses, but he Avho has the power : in a 
 democracy it is the citizen who does, and when he 
 wills to do so. Infrequent speech before the people 
 argues the man who speaks in their true interests 
 and on proper occasions : the mercenary's daily 
 harangue l)etrays his hire and salary for the work. 
 
 You dare to say you have never hitherto been 
 prosecuted by me, and that you have never yet been 
 punished for a crime ! Do you presume your hearers 
 
 [218—224.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 93 
 
 have lost their memory, or do you deceive yourself, 
 in recurring to such subterfuges ? Perhaps you hope 
 the people have forgotten, in the course of time, how 
 I exposed your impious behavior about the Amphis- 
 sians, and your venal conduct in the affair of Eubcea. 
 But what time could efface the remembrance of your 
 robberies in the matter of the triremes and the trier- 
 archs? You introduced a law for the manning of 
 three hundred galleys, and having persuaded the 
 Athenians to make you Superintendent of Marine, 
 you Avere convicted by me of having fraudulently 
 withdrawn sixtv-five fast-sailing cruisers, thus sub- 
 tracting a larger force than that with which the City 
 defeated the Lacedemonians and their admiral Pollis 
 in the naval light ait Xaxos. 
 
 By your recriminations against others you so em- 
 barrassed the prosecutions against yourself, that the 
 real danger was not to you who had committed the 
 offence, but to your accusers. Making magnificent 
 promises for the future while you were always ruin- 
 ing the present, you kept pouring out abuse upon 
 Philip and Alexander, and inveighing against others 
 as hindering the City's opportunities. At the very 
 moment I Avas about to denounce you as a State 
 criminal, did you not contrive the arrest of Anaxinus 
 of Oreum who was making purchases of merchandise 
 here for Olympias, and did you not subject him to 
 torture with your own hand, after procuring a capital 
 sentence to be pronounced against him? Yes, this 
 
94 
 
 ^SCHINES 
 
 was jour treatment of the man at whose house you 
 had lodged, with whom you had eaten and drunk, 
 with wliom you had made libations at the same table, 
 whose right hand you had clasped in yours as your 
 friend and host ! And yet you put liim to death ; 
 and Avhen in the face of our whole people you Λvere 
 convicted of this bv me, and denounced as the niur- 
 derer of your host, without attempting to deny it 
 you replied in a way that made our citizens and the 
 foreigners who were present cry out Avith indigna- 
 tion, that "you valued the salt of Athens more than 
 the table of the stranger." 
 
 I speak not now of the forged letters, the arrest 
 of spies and the putting of them to the torture for 
 pretended crimes, under the suggestion that I and 
 others with me were trying to make innovations in 
 the frame of our government. He Λνϋΐ ask me, as I 
 learn, what kind of physician must he be who pre- 
 scribes nothing for his patient in his last illness, but 
 should at his funeral expatiate in presence of his 
 relatives upon the remedies by which he might have 
 been saved. But you will not ask yourself what 
 sort of demagogue the man is who flatters tlie people 
 to their face, but omits all occasions of saving the 
 Commonwealth as they occur, and by his calumnies 
 stays the hands of the faithful public servants who 
 are ready to give good counsel ! You will not tell 
 us of the worthless minister who after involviuir his 
 country in every possible calamity deserted his post 
 
 [224—229.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 95 
 
 in the hour of danger, and then demanded honors 
 and crowns for his services, himself the author of all 
 the ruin ; and who after driving by his abuse from 
 the public service the men who might have yet saved 
 the State while it Λvas possible, should insolently 
 demand why they had not prevented him from de- 
 stroying it. And least of all will you wish to have 
 exposed how wlien after the battle we had no time 
 to think of your punishment while our attention was 
 engrossed with the safety of the State and the em- 
 bassy for that purpose, it was not enough for you 
 that you should escape the hands of justice, but that 
 when by your impudent claim for rewards Athens 
 was made ridiculous in the sight of Greece, I was 
 compelled to oppose this and to bring the accusation 
 now under trial. But by the immortal Gods I am 
 most indignant, Λvhen I am told of what Demos- 
 thenes designs finally to say of me. I am like the 
 justly decried Sirens, it seems, and those who listen 
 to me, whilst they are charmed are lured on to their 
 destruction. My natural and acquired talents have 
 been used but for the injury of those Λvho gave heed 
 to me. This reproach should in my opinion have 
 never been made against me, since it is disgraceful to 
 make a charge which cannot be substantiated. I can 
 well understand how such an accusation might have 
 come, not indeed from Demosthenes, but from some 
 rugged warrior who has performed great exploits but 
 is incapable of public speech, and who is naturally 
 
96 
 
 .ESCHINES 
 
 [229—233.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHOX. 
 
 97 
 
 jealous of the orator, when lie feels that while he 
 himself is unable to state clearly to the people his 
 own title to esteem, the latter can even claim merit 
 with his hearers for actions which he has never per- 
 formed. But when a man who is made up of words, 
 and those bitter and superfluous, takes refuge in a 
 claim for simplicity of speech and the substantial 
 merit of his conduct, who can put up with the pre- 
 tensions of such a wordmonger of Avhom if you stop 
 the mouth, as with a flute, there is nothing left? • 
 
 Great will be my astonishment then to learn upon 
 what grounds you can dismiss this prosecution. Can 
 it be because Ctesiphon's decree w conformable to 
 law? Never has there been a proposition more il- 
 leofal. Is it because he w^ho has introduced it is not 
 justly punishable for his conduct ? Should you fail to 
 convict him, never shall the action of a public man 
 be hereafter made the subject of examination. AVhat 
 more melancholy spectacle than when upon a day 
 consecrated to the honor of the State by strangers on 
 which in the olden time the Theatre was filled with 
 the golden crowns conferred upon the Athenian 
 people by the other Greeks, you should not only not 
 be crowned and proclaimed by reason of this man's• 
 policy, but that Demosthenes himself should l)e hon- 
 ored ! Should any of our poets whose pieces are 
 exhibited after this ceremony so far depart from 
 truth as to represent that Thersites whom Homer 
 has depicted as a cowardly calumniator, as crowned 
 
 'Ώ 
 
 by the Greeks, you would rise and condemn the ab- 
 surdity. And think you not if you shall undertake 
 to crown this man, you will not be condemned and 
 hissed in the heart of every Greek? Your fathers 
 indeed gave to the people the credit of their own 
 glorious achievements, and threw back upon their 
 paltry public men what was mean and discreditable : 
 but Ctesiphon would have you discharge Demosthe- 
 nes of his own infamy that it may be fastened upon 
 the State itself. 
 
 You proclaim that you are fortunate, as you really 
 are, in your present prosperity. Will you by your 
 verdict tlitn declare that you have been abandoned 
 by Fortune, and tliat you have been supported by 
 Demosthenes alone ? And grossest of inconsisten- 
 cies, will you in the same tribunal in Avhich you have 
 condemned the guilt of those who have been con- 
 victed of bribery, honor with a crown the minister 
 who you are convinced has allowed himself to be 
 corrupted ? In the games of our Dionysiac festivals 
 you punish the judges for pronouncing unfairly upon 
 the merits of the dancers. Shall you who are to de- 
 cide, not upon the passing amusements of the day, 
 but Λvho are to judge of law, and of public virtue, 
 award the recompense contrary to equity not to the 
 upright deserving few, but to the factious intriguer ? 
 Then shall you the judges retire from the judgment 
 seat belittled and enfeebled, and this orator remain 
 
 all-powerful ! The citizen, bear in mind, reigns in a 
 
 9 
 
98 
 
 ^ESCHINES 
 
 democratical community by the laws and l)y his own 
 vote : Avhen he resigns to others these pledges of his 
 poAver, himself has Avrought the destruction of his 
 own authority. The oath which he swore when he 
 entered upon his duties shall cease not to torment 
 him while he reflects upon the crime which he has 
 connived at ; and he is even deprived of the miser- 
 able satisfaction of being known to him whom he 
 has favored by his perjury, since his vote was cast in 
 
 secret ! 
 
 We appear, to me at least, Athenians, notwith- 
 standing our imprudent policy, to have succeeded 
 sometimes in spite of our very rashness. That the 
 many should have abandoned to the few, in the ex- 
 isting juncture, the Avhole powers of the government, 
 I cannot surely approve: and yet we are fortunate 
 in this that the swarm of corrupt and audacious 
 orators which formerly existed has not now- prevailed. 
 Formerly indeed the republic produced many such 
 natures which readily overcame the people ; for it 
 is fond of, and surrenders itself to flattery. Hence 
 it has been destroyed not by the men whom it dis- 
 trusted, but by those upon whom it relied. Among 
 them were found some who ranged themselves on 
 the side of the Thirty Tyrants, who put to death 
 more than fifteen hundred citizens Avithout trial, and 
 who would not even suffer their relatives to pay them 
 the last rites of sepulture. AVill you not then shew 
 yourselves the masters of your public servants? 
 
 [233—237.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 99 
 
 φ 
 
 Will you not humiliate these superb orators? Will 
 you cease to remember that never has a man in days 
 of yore attempted the subjugation of the people, 
 until he first proved himself to be stronger than the 
 law and the courts of justice ? 
 
 I will willingly then, Athenians, enter upon a cal- 
 culation in your presence Avith him who drew up this 
 decree, of the public services for Avhich he thinks 
 Demosthenes worthy of being croAvned. Should you 
 say, Ctesiphon, — it is the beginning of your decree 
 — that it is for the intrenchments with Avhich he has 
 surrounded the City, I admire your impudence. To 
 have been the cause of the necessity of such works 
 is a much heavier accusation, than to have exe- 
 cuted them is a ground for praise. A good minis- 
 ter should shew his title to reward and praise not 
 in surrounding the City Avith walls built from the 
 ruins of the public tombs, but in securing to his 
 country some substantial good. Should you pass on 
 to the next part of your decree, in which you have 
 dared to assert that he is a patriot who has perse- 
 vered by speech and act to advance the interests .of 
 the Athenian people, lay aside the empty boast and 
 emphasis of language, and come to the very facts 
 and shew us what they are. I pass over altogether 
 those acts of venality in regard to the Amphissians 
 and the Eubanins; but when you attribute to De- 
 mosthenes our alliance with the Thebans, you try to 
 deceive the uninstructed, and you outrage the well- 
 
100 
 
 .ESCHINES 
 
 informed. In suppressing the circumstances, in tar- 
 nishing the glory of your fellow-citizens hy which 
 this alliance was brought about, in giving to Demos- 
 thenes the credit which belongs to the City, you at- 
 tempt in vain to hide from us your malignity. 
 
 I will prove directly by a signal instance the hol- 
 lowness of all this pretension. The Persian king, just 
 before the passage of Alexander into Asia, wrote to 
 the people an insolent letter, in true barbaric style, 
 in which among other gross expressions he con- 
 cluded as follows : " I shall not give you money, ask 
 it not, for you shall not get it." And yet this self- 
 same king when pressed by the dangers which men- 
 aced him, of his own accord, Avithout demand from 
 us, sent over three hundred talents, which the Athe- 
 nian people wisely declined to accept. It Λvas the 
 time, his present fears, and the want of allies which 
 brought this money. And so it was with the Thc- 
 ban alliance. AVith the name of the Thebans and 
 with this unfortunate alliance with them you are 
 continually wearying us, but you keep silent about 
 the seventy talents of the Persian's money which you 
 took and diverted to your own use. And yet was it 
 not for want of five talents that the stranger did not 
 deliver up their citadel to the Thebans ? AVas it not 
 for want of nine, that when the Arcadians had taken 
 the field and their chiefs were disposed to come to 
 our assistance, the thing failed ? Meanwhile you, 
 Demosthenes, are rich, and are revelling in every 
 
 .1) 
 
 [237—243.] 
 
 AGAINST CTTESIPHON. 
 
 101 
 
 pleasure. In a word, the Persian king's gold is Λvith 
 him, the dangers, Athenians, all with you. 
 
 It is well also to notice here the coarseness of these 
 two men. Should Ctesiphon dare to call upon De- 
 mosthenes to address you in this cause, and he should 
 mount the platform to deluge you with self-enco- 
 miums, their audience Λνϋΐ be even more intolerable 
 than the misconduct which you have endured from 
 him. It is hard indeed to listen even to eminent 
 men whose many actions we knoAv to have been glo- 
 rious, Avlien they indulge in self-laudation ; but it 
 becomes insufterable when the man Λvho sounds his 
 own praises is a Avretch who has brought disgrace 
 upon the State. 
 
 If you are wise then, Ctesiphon, you will abstain 
 from such scandalous conduct, but make your defence 
 in person. You surely cannot say that you are un- 
 able to speak in public. Strange indeed would it be, 
 if Avhen selected with your own consent you Avent as 
 a deputy to King Philip's daughter Cleopatra to pre- 
 sent to her the condolence of the City upon the death 
 of her husband Alexander king of the Molossians, 
 you should now pretend that you cannot speak ! 
 You could publicly condole with a foreign princess 
 upon her misfortune, and can you not justify a decree 
 which you were well paid for introducing ? 
 
 And can it be that he whom you have thought 
 worthy by your decree of the honor of this crown, 
 is so unknown to the public which has been so 
 
102 
 
 ^ESCHINES 
 
 largely benefited by him, that you must procure 
 assistance to speak in his behalf? Ask of the 
 jurors whether they know Chabrias, Iphicrates, and 
 Timotheus, and learn from them why they have 
 honored and erected statues to them? ΛΥί!! they 
 not proclaim wnth one voice that they rendered 
 honor to Chabrias for his naval victory near Naxos ; 
 to Iphicrates for having cut off a Spartan corps ; to 
 Timotheus for his expedition to Corcyra; to other 
 heroes for their many glorious achievements? Ask 
 them now whv Demosthenes is to be rewarded. Is 
 it for his venality, for his cowardice, for his base 
 desertion of his post in the day of battle ? In honor- 
 ino* such an one, Λνϋΐ you not dishonor yourselves, 
 and the gallant men who have laid down their lives 
 for you in the field ? — whose plaintive remonstrances 
 against the crowning of this man you may almost 
 seem to hear! Strange, passing strange, does it 
 seem, Athenians, that you banish from tlie limits 
 •of the State the stocks and stones, the senseless im- 
 plements which have unwittingly caused death by 
 casualty; — that the hand which has inflicted the 
 wound of self-destruction is buried apart from the 
 rest of the body;— and that yet you can render 
 honor to this Demosthenes, by whose counsels this 
 last fatal expedition in which your troops were 
 slaughtered and destroyed was planned! The vic- 
 tims of this massacre are thus insulted in their 
 o-raves, and the survivors outraged and discouraged 
 
 ^1^ 
 
 [243—247.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 103 
 
 when tliey behold the only reward of patriotic valor 
 to be an unremembered death, and a disregarded 
 memory ! And last and most important of all con- 
 sequences, what answer shall you make to your 
 children, when they ask you after what examples 
 they shall frame their lives? It is not, men of 
 Athens, you know it Avell, it is not the palaestra, the 
 seminary, or the study of the liberal arts alone, 
 which form and educate our youth. Of vastly 
 greater value are the lessons taught by these honors 
 publicly conferred. Is a man proclaimed and crowned 
 in the Theatre for virtue, courage, and patriotism, 
 when his irregular and vicious life belies the honor, 
 the young who witness this are perverted and cor- 
 rupted ! Is a profligate and a pander, such as Ctesi- 
 phon, sentenced and punished, an instructive lesson 
 is iriven to the risinsr o-eneration. Has a citizen voted 
 in opposition to justice and propriety, and does he, on 
 his return to his house, attempt to instruct his son; 
 disobedience surely follows, and the lesson is justly 
 looked upon as importunate and out of place. Pro- 
 nounce your verdict then not as simple jurors, but 
 as ffuardians of the State, whose decision can be jus- 
 tified in the eyes of their absent fellow-citizens who 
 shall demand a strict account of it. Know ye not, 
 Athenians, that the people is judged by the ministers 
 Avhom it honors ; — will it not be disgraceful then that 
 you shall be thought to resemble the baseness of 
 Demosthenes, and not the virtues of your ancestors ? 
 
104 
 
 jESCHINES 
 
 How then is this reproach to be avoided ? It must 
 be by distrusting the men who usurp the character of 
 upright and patriotic citizens, wliicli their entire con- 
 duct orainsavs. Good-will and zeal for the public 
 interest can be readily assumed in name ; oftentimes 
 those who have the smallest pretensions to them by 
 their conduct seize upon and take refuge behind these 
 honorable titles. AVhen you find then an orator de- 
 sirous of being crowned by strangers and of being 
 proclaimed in presence of the Greeks, let him, as the 
 law requires in other cases, prove the claim Avhich he 
 asserts by the evidence of a life free from re[)roach, 
 and a Avise and blameless course. If he be unable to 
 do this, do not confirm to him the honors which he 
 claims, and try at least to preserve the remiuint of 
 that public authority wliich is fast escaping from you. 
 Even now, strange as it should seem, are not the 
 Senate and the people passed over and neglected, 
 and despatches and deputations received by private 
 citizens, not from obscure individuals, but from the 
 most important personages of Europe and Asia? 
 Far from denying that for which under our laws the 
 punishment is death, it is made the subject of open 
 public boast; the correspondence is exhibited and 
 read; and you are invited l)y some to look upon them 
 as the guardians of the constitution, while others de- 
 mand to be rewarded as the saviors of the country. 
 The people, meanwhile, as if struck with the decrepi- 
 tude of age, and broken down by their misfortunes, 
 
 [247—254.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHOX. 
 
 105 
 
 preserve the republic only in name, and abandon to 
 others the reality of authority. You thus retire from 
 the Assembly, not as from a public deliberation, but 
 as from an entertainment given at common cost 
 where each guest carries aAvay with him a share of 
 the remnants of the feast. That I speak forth the 
 Avords of truth and soberness, hearken to what I am 
 about to say. 
 
 It distresses me to recur so often to our public 
 calamities, but when a private citizen undertook to 
 sail only to Samos to get out of the Avay, he was con- 
 demned to death on the same day by the Council of 
 Areopagus as a traitor to his country. Another pri- 
 vate citizen, unable to bear the fear which oppressed 
 him, and sailing in consequence to Rhodes, was re- 
 cently denounced for this, and escaped punishment 
 by an equal division of the votes. Had a single one 
 been cast on the otlier side, he would have been 
 either banished or put to death. Compare these in- 
 stances with the present one. An orator, the cause 
 of all our misfortunes, who abandons his post in time 
 of war and flies from the City, proclaims himself 
 worthy of crowns and proclamations. Will you not 
 drive such a man from your midst as the common 
 scourge of Greece; or will you not rather seize upon 
 and punish him as a piratical braggart who steers his 
 course through our government by dint of phrases ? 
 
 Consider moreover the occasion on which you are 
 called upon to record your verdict. In a few days 
 
106 
 
 .ESCHINES 
 
 the Pythian Games will be celebrated, and the assem- 
 
 ft/ 
 
 bled Greeks will all be reunited in your City. She 
 has already suffered much disparagement from the 
 policy of Demosthenes : should you now crown him 
 by your votes, you will seem to share the same opin- 
 ions as the men who wish to break the common 
 peace. By adopting the contrary course, you will 
 free the State from any such suspicion. 
 
 Let your deliberations then be in accord with the 
 interests of the City : it is for her, and not a foreign 
 community, you are now to decide. Do not throw 
 away your honors, but confer them with discern- 
 ment upon high-minded citizens and deserving men. 
 Search with both eyes and ears as to who they are 
 among you who are to-day standing forth in Demos- 
 thenes's behalf. Are they the companions of his 
 youth who shared with him the manly toils of the 
 chase or the robust exercises of the paloestra ? No, 
 by the Olympian Jove, he has passed not his life in 
 hunting the wild boar, or in the preparation of his 
 body for fatigue and hardship, but in the exercise of 
 chicane at the cost of the substance of men of wealth ! 
 
 Examine well his vainglorious boasting when he 
 shall dare to say that by his embassy he withdrew 
 the Byzantines from the cause of Philip; that by 
 his eloquence he detached from him the Acarnanians, 
 and so transported the Thebans as to confirm them 
 upon 3^our side. He believes indeed that you have 
 reached such a point of credulity that you are ready 
 
 [254—259.] 
 
 AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 107 
 
 to be persuaded by him of anything he may choose 
 to utter, as if you had here in your midst the goddess 
 Persuasion herself, and not an artful demagogue. 
 
 And when at the close of his harangue Demos- 
 thenes shall invite the partakers of his corruption to 
 press round and defend him, let there be present in 
 your imagination upon the platform from which I 
 am now speaking the venerable forms of the ancient 
 benefactors of the State arrayed in all their virtue to 
 oppose these men's insolence. I see among them the 
 wise Solon, that upright law-giver who founded our 
 popular government upon the soundest principles of 
 legislation, gently advising you with his native mod- 
 eration not to place your oaths and the law under 
 the control of this man's discourse. And Aristides, 
 by whose equity the imposts upon the Greeks were 
 regulated, whose daughters left in poverty through 
 his incorruptible integrity were endowed by the 
 State, Aristides is seen complaining of this outrage 
 upon justice, and demanding Λvhetller the descend- 
 aTits of the men who thought worthy of death and 
 actually banished from their City and country Arth- 
 mius the Zelian then living in their midst and en- 
 joying the sacred rights of hospitality for merely 
 bringing Persian gold into Greece, are now going to 
 cover themselves Λvith disgrace by honoring with a 
 crown of gold the man Avho has not simply brought 
 hither the stranger's money, but is enjoying here 
 the price of his treason. And Themistocles and the 
 
^m 
 
 108 
 
 -ESCHINES AGAINST CTESIPHON. 
 
 men λυΙιο fell at Marathon and Plata-a, tliink you 
 that they are insensible to what is takinir place! 
 Do not their voices cry out from tlie very tombs in 
 mournful protest against this perverse rendering of 
 honor to one avIio has dared to proclaim his union 
 with the barl)arians against the Greeks! 
 
 As for me, Oh Earth and Sun, oh Λ^irtue, and 
 thou, Intelligence, by whose light we are enabled to 
 discern and to separate good from evil, as for me, I 
 have directed my efforts against this wrong, I have 
 lifted up my voice against this injustice ! If I liave 
 spoken well and loftily against this crime, I have 
 spoken as I could have wished ; but if my utterances 
 have been feeble and ill-directed, still they have been 
 according to the measure of my strength. It is for 
 you, men of Athens and jurors, to weigh carefully 
 both what has been spoken and what lias been left 
 unsaid, and to render such a decision as shall not 
 only be upright but for the advantage of the State. 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 ON BEHALF OP 
 
 CTESIPHON. 
 
 J 
 
 109 
 
DEMOSTHENES ON BEHALF OF 
 
 CTESIPHON. 
 
 ,. 
 
 First of all, Athenians, I implore of the Gods and 
 Goddesses, that the same good-will which I feel and 
 have ever shewn to the City and to all of you shall 
 be shewn by you to me in this contest. Next, — this 
 concerns you especially, your piety and glory,— that 
 they may inspire you not to suifer my antagonist to 
 control you as to the manner in which you shall hear 
 my defence, (this would indeed be cruel,) but that in 
 this you will keep before you the law and your oath, , 
 in which, among other proper things, this also is pre- 
 scribed, that YOU SHALL REGARD BOTH SIDES EQUALLY. 
 
 And this means not only that you shall not forejudge 
 anything, not merely that you shall shew the same 
 good-will to both sides, but that you shall permit 
 each party to adopt freely that arrangement and 
 course of argument in his address which he may 
 prefer and think most convenient. 
 
 In many things, indeed, am I at a disadvantage 
 with ^schines in this encounter ;— in two matters 
 
 111 
 
 e. 
 
112 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 [3-9.] 
 
 of great importance, in particular. AVe are by no 
 means equal in this; — it is not the same thing to me 
 if I shall forfeit your good-will, to him if lie merely 
 fiiils in the prosecution : — to me, indeed — hut I dare 
 not in the outset of my reply say anything of ill 
 omen. My opponent therefore accuses me at his 
 ease. Again, men by their constitution hear readily 
 attacks and abuse of others, but listen with dissrust 
 to all self-panegyric. Wiiat is agreeable, therefore, 
 fiiils to his part; to me is left, so to speak, what 
 is distasteful to all to hear. On the one hand then, 
 if in the fear of thus offending I omit to speak of 
 what has been done by me, I may seem to fail to 
 answer the charges brought against me, and not to 
 shew for what I am entitled to honor ; on the other 
 hand, if I enter upon my course of action and my 
 policy, I shall be often compelled to speak of myself. 
 I shall endeavor, however, to do this with as much 
 reserve as possible; but for so much as I shall be 
 forced to say, it is proper to hold him responsible 
 who has instituted this prosecution. 
 
 Men of Athens and jurors, I think you will all 
 admit that this contest concerns me as much as 
 Ctesiphon, and deserves no less earnest attention 
 from my hands than from his. For, to be deprived 
 of anything, especially by an enemy, is grievous and 
 hard to bear, but to lose your good opinion and 
 your affection is the greatest of misfortunes, as their 
 possession is the most inestimable blessing. 
 
 ox BEHALF OF CTESIPHOX. 
 
 113 
 
 - 
 
 vou αΐ '7»f l"'"^"- «f ^'- controversy, I beseech 
 ou all ahke to hsten to n.y defence to this accusa- 
 tion with the fairness which the laws require. Those 
 laws, established Ion-, ago by Solon, who was your 
 ve 1-w.she.• and a friend of the people, were thought 
 l.y h n. no only to be binding by reason of theirln- 
 «cnpt,on but because you were sworn to observe 
 them. Not that, as it seems to me, he distrusted you 
 in so causing ,;ou to be sworn, but that he foresaw 
 that the accused could never escape the enmities and 
 malice ,„ which the strength of the prosecutor, from 
 being allowed to speak first, lies, unless each one of 
 rtie jury guarchng his probity by an appeal to the 
 God should hsten favorably and justly to what 
 should be asserted by the defence, and in the same 
 Bp.nt of impartiality to both sides enter upon an 
 examination of the whole cause. 
 
 Since I am about to give, then, as it would seem, 
 an account as well of my whole private life as of m^ 
 puhhc career, I desire, as in the outset, to appeal 
 again to the immortal Gods; and in presence of you 
 all I implore them first to direct you to show to me 
 in this contest the same kindness which I have ever 
 felt to you and to your city; next, that they will i„. 
 spire you so to pass upon this prosecution as shall 
 redound to your common credit, and to the elevation 
 ot the character of each one of you. 
 
 Had ^Eschines merely followed in the line of his 
 attack the matters upon which he has founded the 
 
 10 
 
114 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 [9-14.] 
 
 ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 115 
 
 prosecution, I eoukl have readily defended tlie pre- 
 liminary decree; but since he has, in unmeasured 
 speech, gone over many other things, scattering the 
 foulest abuse upon me, it is necessary and proper 
 that I should first briefly reply to these, lest some of 
 you, led astray by such foreign matters, might hear 
 me with disfavor upon the merits of the charge itself. 
 See how fairly and directly I ^aH 'in^wer all that 
 this man has so slanderously alleged against my pri- 
 vate life. If you have known me to be such as he 
 accuses me,-and I have lived my whole life among 
 vou,-permit not my voice to be heard, no matter 
 iiow well I have managed public afiairs, but rise 
 and condemn me on the spot. If, on the other hand, 
 you believe and know me to be better and of better 
 descent than my accuser, and— not to speak too 
 presumptuously-that I and mine are inferior to no 
 respectable citizens, then disregard everything which 
 he has said al)out my public life, since it will be ap- 
 parent he has falsified in everything. I shall only 
 ask you to shew me now the same kindness which 
 you have always shewn in the past in the many con- 
 tests in which "l have been engaged. But malicious 
 as you are, ^schines, you must be very simple to 
 think I shall now pass by all that you have said about 
 my political course, and begin by taking up your 
 abuse of my private character. I shall do nothing 
 of the kind. I am not quite so absurd. I shall first 
 notice your falsehoods and slanders about my public 
 
 «R 
 
 dr» 
 
 lu 
 
 life; and afterwards touch upon the scurrilous abuse 
 you have been pouring out so freely upon me, should 
 the jurors wish to liear me about it. 
 
 The charges Avhicli have been made are many and 
 astounding, and to some of them the laws affix severe 
 and even the greatest punishments; but the manage- 
 ment of this prosecution presents all the abuse and 
 insulting conduct of a private enemy, the malice, the 
 contumelious treatment, and all its characteristics. 
 If the charges and accusations brought are true, the 
 City can never take sufficient vengeance for them, or 
 anything like it. It is most unseemly therefore to 
 prevent tlie person accused from appealing to the 
 people and exercising his right of speech before 
 them; but to act thus in the interest of private 
 enmity and malice, by the Gods, Athenians, I hold 
 to be unconstitutional as well as most unrighteous 
 and unjust. If ^schines lias known me to be guilty 
 of deliberate breaches of the law against the City, 
 were they as enormous as he has been charging and 
 declaiming, the penalties affixed to them by thelaws 
 should have been awarded. If he has seen me doing 
 acts which deserved impeachment, he should have 
 impeached me and brought me to trial before you for 
 them. If my conduct has been unconstitutional, it 
 should have been so proved and punished. But he 
 should not pursue Ctesiphon for me: 'for had he 
 thought he could have convicted me, he certainly 
 would never have brought an accusation against him. 
 
116 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 Besides, had he seen me committing any of the 
 crimes which he has just been falsely accusing me of 
 and charging upon me, or any other offences against 
 you, for all such there were laws, and punishments, 
 and trials, and judgments, with sharp and severe pen- 
 alties : all these it was open to him to employ against 
 me; and had he been found doing this, had he made, 
 use of this method against me, his cliarges would at 
 least have been consistent with his actions. Xow, 
 however, he has turned aside from the honest and 
 direct path, and avoiding at the time to confront the 
 allegations Λvith the proofs, he is playing a part by 
 heaping up at this late day accusations, and calum- 
 nies, and ribaldrv. 
 
 Furthermore, he is attacking me, whilst he is 
 prosecuting Ctesiphon, making his hatred of me the 
 head and front of the whole contest ; and not fairly 
 meeting me even on this ground, he is endeavoring 
 to take away the privileges of another. Thus in ad- 
 dition to all the arguments, Athenians, Avhicli mav 
 be brought forward in favor of Ctesiphon, this it 
 seems to me may also be strongly urged, that it is 
 proper that the inquiry into our private griefs should 
 be made between ourselves, and that we should not 
 quit our personal quarrel, to find out how much pun- 
 ishment Ave can inflict upon a third person ; this were 
 the height of injustice. 
 
 Any one can see then from what I have said, how 
 all that he has brought ai^ainst me is devoid of truth 
 
 [14-19.] 
 
 OX BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 117 
 
 and justice. But I wish to examine the charo-es 
 separately, and in particular what he has falsely ac- 
 cused me of in regard to the peace and the embassy, 
 which Avas really done by himself in concert Avith 
 Philocrates. It is necessary and right to do this, 
 that you may have brought to your recollection w^hat 
 actually took place at that time, so that you can look 
 at each event in its proper order. 
 
 AVhen the Phocian war broke out, (not caused 
 by me,— I was not then in public life,) you were at 
 first in this position; although you knew the Pho- 
 cians had acted improperly, yet you desired them to 
 be saved from ruin ; and as you had just cause of 
 irritation against the Thebans, you would even have 
 been pleased at their sutfering any reverse ; for they 
 had used their success at Leuctra immoderately. Be- 
 sides, all Peloi)onnesus Avas at variance with itself. 
 Neitlier those avIio hated the Lacedemonians were 
 strong enough to crush them; nor were those Avho' 
 V the Spartans' means had at first triumphed able 
 to remain masters of the Cities. Everywhere secret 
 enmity, strife and trouble prevailed,— not only there, 
 but tliroughout all the States. All this was mani- 
 fest to Philip, (indeed it was plain enough,) and he 
 scattered his bribes freely to traitors in every city in 
 order to set the Greeks by the ears ; and by intro- 
 ducing confusion and hatred among them he took 
 advantage of their blunders and dissensions, and 
 grew in strength to their common detriment. 
 
118 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 The Theban8,-tl,e.. insolent enou-1., now alas so 
 unfortunate,-wom out by the lengtii of the war 
 were manifestly compelled to turn to vou; but VhWrn 
 anxious to prevent this and to keep ihe cities apart,' 
 offered peace to you and aid to them. Why was he 
 so near taking you as willing captives by his seduc- 
 tive arts ? It was through the baseness, or the folly 
 -or call it both,-of the other Greeks. While you' 
 had been carrying on a long and incessant war'for 
 the common benefit of all, as the result plainly 
 sheΛvcd, they never assisted you in the least, either 
 by money, by troops, or in any way. Justly and 
 naturally displeased with this, you listened readily 
 to Philip. Tlie peace that was concluded was thus 
 brought about in this way,-not throuiih me, as 
 ^sch.nes has fiilsely asserted. The cause, then of 
 our present condition, any one who shall foirly 'in- 
 quire will find in the criminality and corruption of 
 these men at the time of the treaty. 
 
 All this 1 have accurately recounted for the sake 
 of truth. If anything seems wrong in it, it is surely 
 nothing to me. The first man who spoke of or 
 called your attention to peace was Aristodennis, the 
 actor ; he who came next and wrote the decree, hired 
 by Thilip for the purpose equally with the other, was 
 Philocrates, the Agnusian,— your accomplice, ^Es- 
 chines, not ΜΐΝΕ, -though you should burst' with 
 fiilsely asserting this, I say it. Their supporters 
 whatever were their motives, (I pass this by for the 
 
 Λ 
 
 [19-24.] 
 
 ON BEHALF OP CTESIPHON. 
 
 119 
 
 present,) were Eubulus and Kephisophon. I had 
 notliiiig to do with it. But although this was so, 
 as has just been clearly shewn, he has nevertheless 
 reached this height of effrontery as to assert boldly 
 that I was the author of the peace, and that I pre- 
 vented the City from concluding it with the Common 
 Council of the Greeks. Oh, you !— How can any 
 one rightly characterize you ? If you Avere present 
 and saw me depriving the City of this fine thing, this 
 alliance as grand as you now style it, why did you 
 not express your indignation, why did you not come 
 forward and proclaim and expose what you are now 
 denouncing me for ? And if, in Philip's pay, I Avas 
 defeating the common interests of Greece, you should 
 not have then sat silent, but you should have thun- 
 dered, and protested against it, and proclaimed it to 
 all. You then did nothing of the kind ; no one ever 
 heard that voice of yours. And for a good reason, 
 Athenians. No embassy was sent by you to any of 
 the Greeks ; they had all long before declared them- 
 selves. ^Eschines has told nothing true about this. 
 
 Moreover, in all that he has said he has chiefly 
 slandered the City. For had you invited the other 
 Greeks into this war, and had then sent ambassadors 
 to Philip to treat of peace, your conduct would have 
 been that of Eurybatus, unworthy of the City, or of 
 honorable men. But it is not, it is not so. Why 
 should you have sent to the Greeks at that time? 
 To treat of peace ? All then had it. To discuss 
 
120 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 war? But you were then deliberating about peace 
 It IS plain that I ^xas neither the author of tlie peace 
 nor even advocated it ; nor has any of his other false 
 charges against me been shewn to be true. 
 
 Peace being then concluded, let us see what part 
 each of us took, that you may thence understand 
 who was Avorking in everything for Thilip, and who 
 was active in your behalf eagerly on the lookout for 
 what might be useful to the City. It was then that 
 I wrote the decree directing the ambassadors to sail 
 without delay to wheresoever Philip might be, and to 
 receive the oaths from him. They would not, how- 
 ever, act in accordance with this. The value of the 
 decree I will explain. 
 
 It was Philip's interest to delay the taking of the 
 oaths as long as he could, whilst it was yours'to have 
 It done as soon as possible, and for this reason. From 
 the very day not only on which you had sworn to the 
 peace, but from the time you had hoped it mi..ht be 
 obtained, you had laid aside all preparation foT war 
 Phihp, on the contrary, had from that moment re- 
 doubled his efforts, convinced, as it really turned out 
 that whatever he might deprive the City of, he should 
 be able to retain firmly, as no one would be disposed 
 to give up peace on that account. I foresaw this 
 Athenians, and carefully weighing the matter, I pre- 
 pared the decree requiring them to sail to where Philip 
 was, and there at once receive the oaths from him 
 The oaths were to be so taken, that the Thracians 
 
 [24—29.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHOJi. 121 
 
 jour iillies should still retain the places which ^Es- 
 chines now belittles-Serrium, Myrtium, and Ergiske 
 —and that Philip should not seize the principal 
 posts, and thus becoming master of all Thrace, draw 
 from it resources and troops, and be readily enabled 
 to accomplish his further purposes. 
 
 ^schines neither reads this decree nor notices it, 
 but attacks me because when Senator I advised that 
 it was proper to receive Philip's envoys. But what 
 was to be done ? To decree that after coming liither 
 they should not be admitted to confer with you ? Or 
 was the manager of the Theatre to be ordered not to 
 furnisli them seat^? For two oboli they could have 
 purchased them in spite of a decree. AVould it have 
 been well in me to have watched over these petty 
 interests of the City, and to have betrayed its im- 
 portant ones, as these men did? By no means. 
 Kead now the decree which this man has purposely 
 ignored. 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 " In the archonship of Mnesiphilus, on the last day of Heca- 
 tombeon, during the presidency of the tribe Pandion, Demosthe- 
 nes, son of Demosthenes of Pa?ania, moved, that whereas Philip 
 had sent ambassadors to treat of peace with us upon certain 
 stipuhited conditions, it should be decreed by the Council and 
 people of Athens that for the purpose of ratifying the peace 
 which had been agreed upon in the first Assembly, five ambassa- 
 dors chosen from all the Athenians should proceed without delay 
 to meet Philip wheresoever he might be, and there exchange 
 oaths with him as speedily as possible upon the terms agreed 
 
122 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 [29—35.] 
 
 OX BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 123 
 
 upon between him and the Athenian people, the allies on both 
 sides being included in the treaty. The ambassadors chosen are 
 Eubulus, of Anaphlystus; .Eschines, of Cothocida• ; Kephiso- 
 phon, of Rhamnus; Democrates, of Phlyus ; and Cleou, of 
 Cothocidie." 
 
 This decree had been prepared by me in the City's 
 interest, not in Philip's; but our precious envoys, 
 utterly disregarding it, sat down tliree whole months 
 in Macedonia, until Philip had left Thrace after re- 
 ducing it entirely to submission. In ten days— even 
 in three or four— they could have reached the Helles- 
 pont, and saved these places, by receiving the oaths 
 from him before he had captured them. He could 
 never have touched them had we been present;— 
 certainly we should not have received the oaths from 
 him; he would have missed the peace, or he could 
 not have held on to both the peace and these posts. 
 
 This was Philip's first perfidy, the purchase, in the 
 matter of the embassy, of these abominable men, 
 accursed of the Gods. For this I was then, am now, 
 and ever shall be their enemy and opponent. But 
 you shall see immediately after this a still greater 
 piece of villainy. Philip having at last taken the 
 oaths, but not until he had made himself master of 
 Thrace through the disobedience of these men to my 
 decree, obtained from them for a price that they 
 should not quit Macedonia until he had everything 
 ready for his expedition against the Phocians. He 
 feared that if they should let you know what he was 
 
 ♦ 
 
 preparing to do, you might sail Λvith your fleet to 
 Thermopylie and close the Straits, as you had for- 
 merly done ; he hoped, therefore, you Avould receive 
 no intelligence until he was fairly there, and then 
 you could do nothing. 
 
 But Philip was in fear and mortal agony lest, after 
 he had taken the pass, you might still resolve to aid 
 the Phocians before he had destroyed them, and the 
 thing should thus slip through his hands. So he 
 bribes this miserable creature, not in the lump with 
 the other envoys, but singly by himself, to announce 
 to you propositions by giving heed to which every- 
 thing might be ruined. I call upon ^^ou, Athenians, 
 to remember, and I beg of you to keep it in 
 mind throughout the whole of this trial, that if 
 ^Eschines had not himself travelled out of the 
 record to load me with abuse, I should never have 
 uttered a single word foreign to it. But to all the 
 accusations and assaults w^hich he has so freely made 
 against me, I must absolutely reply a little by Λvay of 
 answer to the various charges contained in them. 
 
 A\liat was it, then, that was announced to you by 
 him, which caused this entire ruin? — "That you 
 need not be uneasy because Philip had passed the 
 Straits; for everything would turn out as you wished, 
 if you would only keep quiet ; and in two or three 
 days you would find out that he would prove the 
 friend of those against whom he was marching as an 
 enemy, and the enemy of those to Λνΐιοηι he seemed 
 
124 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 L3d— 40.J 
 
 OX BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 125 
 
 friendly. It was not Avords," said lie, talking in 
 his solemn manner, "but a community of interest 
 that really cemented friendship. Your interest and 
 Philip's and the Phocians' Avere the same, — to free 
 yourself from the insolence and heavy oppressiveness 
 of the Tliebans." 
 
 All this Avas received with satisfaction by many of 
 you on account of the secret dislike felt asrainst the 
 Thebans. AYhat took place soon afterwards? It 
 was not long in coming. — The Phocians were de- 
 stroyed ; their cities annihilated. You who had 
 Λvaited patiently, relying upon this fellow, were in 
 a little while compelled to bring in all your effects 
 from the country to the city, ^schines pocketed 
 his pay, and besides, the hatred of the Thebans and 
 Thessalians was transferred to you, and their grati- 
 tude to Philip for what had taken place. To prove 
 that this is so, I shall have now read to you the de- 
 cree of Calisthenes and Philip's letter, which will 
 make all as plain as daylight. Read them : 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 "In the archonship of Mnesiphilus, at a special Assembly 
 convened by the generals with the advice of the Senators and 
 Council, on the twenty-first day of Miemacterion, Calisthenes, 
 son of Eteonicus of Phalerum, moved that no Athenian should 
 under any pretext pass the night in the C()untr>% but that all 
 should remain in the city and in Pirieus, except such as were 
 distributed in the garrisons; that these last should maintain 
 their posts, neither quitting them by day or night ; that any one 
 
 disobeying should be punished as a traitor unless he could shew 
 the impossibility of obedience, the cause of disobedience to be 
 decided by the generals of arms and superintendence of finance, 
 assisted by the clerk of the Senate. All property should be 
 brought as speedily as possible from the country into the city, 
 and into Pira?us, if the distance did not exceed one hundred 
 and twenty stadia ;* beyond that distance, into Eleusis, Phyle, 
 Aphidna, Rhamnus, and Sunium. Calisthenes of Phalerum has 
 80 moved." 
 
 AVas this the hope with which you made peace ; or 
 Λvas this the promise which this hireling held out to 
 you? 
 
 Read now the letter Λvhich Philip sent you after all 
 was done. 
 
 LETTER. 
 
 "Philip, king of Macedon, to the Council and People of 
 Athens, Greeting:— Know that I have passed Thermopylae and 
 reduced Phocis to subjection. In such of their towns as have at 
 once submitted I have placed garrisons; those which have re- 
 sisted I have taken by force, razed to the ground, and sold their 
 inhabitants into slavery. As I have learned that you were pre- 
 paring to assist them, I now write to you that you may save 
 yourselves the trouble. You seem, in fine, to be acting alto- 
 gether unreasonably in your intention of marching against me 
 while you are still at peace with me,— and for the Phocians, too, 
 who are not included in our treaties. Should you fail to stand 
 by our mutual obligations you will gain nothing more than to 
 be the first to commit injustice." 
 
 See how plainly in this letter to you he discloses 
 
 * A stadium is a little less than a furlong. 
 
126 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 himself, and speaks to his allies. " I have done this," 
 says he, " in spite of the Athenians, and to tlieir 
 great annoyance; if you are wise, Thebans and 
 Thessalians, you will look upon them as your 
 enemies, and trust entirely to me." He does not, 
 it is true, use these very words, but this is what he 
 designs to convey. In this manner he so got the 
 mastery of them, that they foresaw, they perceived 
 nothing, and allowed him ever after to manage 
 everything in his own way. Hence all the disasters 
 whicli the wretched Thebans have suffered. But he 
 who was the fellow-worker with Thilip, and, with 
 him, the cause of this confidence, he Λνΐιο announced 
 falsehoods to you, and altogether deceived you, this 
 is the man who is now pitying the miseries of the 
 Thebans, giving their sad detail, himself the author 
 of all the calamities of the Phocians, and of what- 
 ever else the Greeks have been afflicted with. It is 
 very plain that you, ^schines, are mourning over 
 what has happened, and are compassionating the 
 Thebans, you, who possess their property, and are 
 cultivating their fields in Boeotia; while I, forsooth, 
 am rejoicing over it, I, Avho was at once demanded 
 to be delivered up by the originator of all this ruin ! 
 But I am touching upon matters which it will be 
 more fitting to speak of a little later. I return now 
 to shew that the iniquity of these men was the cause 
 of all our present disasters. 
 
 After you had been thus cheated in the embassy by 
 
 ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 127 
 
 [40—45.] 
 
 Philip through these men who had been purchased 
 by him to report nothing truly to you, after the 
 unhappy Phocians had been cheated and their cities 
 had been destroyed, what next occurred? The con- 
 temptible Thessalians and the besotted Thebans re- 
 carded Philip as their friend, benefactor, and savior. 
 He was all in all to them. They would not hear a 
 word against this. You, however, who were much 
 annoyed at what had taken place, and naturally dis- 
 trustful, still kept the peace; indeed there was no- 
 thing else you could have done alone. The other 
 Greeks, tricked like yourselves, and disappointed m 
 their hopes, willingly kept the peace too, although in 
 a certain sense all had been for a long time attacked 
 by him. For when Philip in his hostile movements 
 had overcome the Illyrians and Triballians, besides 
 destroying some of the Grecian cities, in this way 
 mi<^htily hicreasing his power and resources; and 
 ΛvlΓen many of these vile men, some from every city, 
 ^schines among the rest, had repaired to his Court, 
 under the pretext of the peace, to ^^f.^^^^^^^.^^'^f .^ 
 of corruption, all the States against which Philip had 
 been manoeuvring, he was really making war upon 
 If they did not see this, that was another aftair, and 
 no fault of mine. I spoke out and I testified both at 
 home and wherever I was sent by you, in season and 
 out of season. But the States of Greece were in the 
 lethargy of disease; the men at the head of affairs 
 had been bribed by largesses ; of the citizens, some 
 

 128 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 allured by the ba,t of a present life of easv i.ulif 
 ference; an .-ere afflicted with the .a„.e L 1 
 They beheved the impending blow wouhl not Z'l 
 upon then• heads, and son,e actnallv thought tit 
 
 r η ο the.r ne.ghbors. It happened, I fanev, that 
 h.le the people lost their liberties from preferH ,. to 
 hem an .nglorious ease, their leaders who thou^^h 
 hey were selhng every one but themselves, fou'.u 
 they were the first who were betrave.l. Ins ead ο 
 fnends and guests,-the names best;wed upon Lm 
 while they were being purehased,-they were ea led 
 paras.tes, enemies of the Gods, and such like names 
 when they were no longer serviceable. And jC !' 
 -For no one, Athenians, thinks of the interests S 
 he corrupt man when he is bribing him, or con- 
 tinues to take the advice of a traitor after he has 
 become master of what he has been buving fron. him 
 i^oth.ng would be pleasanter than a tn.itor' ifo 
 were this so: but it is not;-very far fron. U W^ 
 he who .s stnving for the n.astery reaches the hei4 
 ot power, and becomes the lord of the betrayer 
 hat n.oment he sees through all their villainy Id 
 a es, and m,strusts, and loathes then.. Οοί:.:;:^ 
 this , If he time of act.on be past, the time for look- 
 ing at thmgs as they really are is at least always 
 present to the wise nnn T-.fi , '"''■>^ 
 
 Pbilm'. f , ^"'f"• i^asthenes uas thus called 
 Phihp s fnend untd he betrayed Olynthus to him, 
 
 [45-^1.] 
 
 OX BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 129 
 
 I 
 
 and no lonsrer. And Timolaus, until he ruined 
 Tliebes. So also Eudicus and Simus the Larissians, 
 until they had placed Thessaly at Philip's feet. After 
 this, the Avorld Λvas filled with these traitors, driven 
 away, insulted, and a prey to every evil. How^ did 
 Aristratus fore in Sikyon, and Perilaus in Megara? 
 AVere they not outcasts ? From all this it is plain, 
 ^schines, that he who cherishes his country, and is 
 ever opposed to such men as you, really enables the 
 traitor and the venal statesman to trade upon their 
 corruption ; for it is through the people, and the men 
 who are opposed to your designs, that you continue 
 safe and purchasable ; you would have long since 
 been ruined by your own conduct. 
 
 I had still much more to say about these matters, 
 but perhaps I have said too much already. This man, 
 however, is the cause of it ; as he has been pouring 
 out upon me the dregs of his vile abuse and injustice, 
 it was necessary I should defend myself against it 
 with the younger portion of my hearers, who are new 
 to w^hat took place so long ago. You are all doubt- 
 less now weary of it, since you must have been con- 
 vinced of his having been in Philip's pay before I 
 said a Avord upon the subject. lie calls it friendship 
 and intimacy, and speaking of me in connection Λvith 
 it a little while ago, he said, " He finds fault wath my 
 intimacy with Alexander."— I talk of your intimacy 
 w^ith Alexander ! How did you obtain it, and what 
 is your title to it ? I never called you the friend of 
 
 11 
 
130 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 Philip, or the intimate of Alexander. I have not 
 quite lost mv senses. You might as well speak of 
 the reapers and hired laborers as the friends and 
 guests of their employers. But this is impossil)le. 
 I did call you the hireling first of Philip, and after- 
 wards of Alexander; and all who are listening know 
 it is so. If you doubt it, ask them ; or rather I will 
 do it for you. Athenians, which is ^Eschines, Alex- 
 ander's hired man, or his friend ? — You hear their 
 answer. 
 
 I now desire, however, to answer the charge itself, 
 and to speak in detail about my public life, ^schines 
 already knows it, but he shall hear from what I say 
 that I happen to be not only deserving of the honors 
 which were decreed to me, but of rewards very much 
 2:reater. Read the accusation. 
 
 ACCUSATION. 
 
 " In the archonship of Chaerondas, on the sixth clay of Ela- 
 phebolion, iEschines, son of Atrometus, of Cotliocida?, lodged 
 with the Archon an accusation against Ctesiphon, son of Le- 
 osthenes, the Anaphlystian, for that contrary to law he has 
 brought forward a decree providing that Demosthenes, son of 
 Demosthenes the Pieanian, shall be crowned with a golden 
 crown, proclamation to be made in the Theatre during the Di- 
 onysiac festivals while the new tragedies are being performed, 
 that the people crown the aforesaid Demosthenes with a golden 
 crown as a reward for his virtue and the good-will which he has 
 ever displayed towards all the Greeks and the people of Athens 
 in particular, and for his excellence in speech and action in 
 behalf of the true interests of the people, and his zeal in doing 
 
 [51—58.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 131 
 
 the best that could be done ; all of which was decreed by him 
 falsely and contrary to law ; the laws in the first place forbidding 
 falsehoods to be injected into the public records; next, it being 
 unlawful to vote a crown to a person whose accounts have not 
 been passed, the said Demosthenes being still a Commissioner 
 for the erection of walls, and Administrator of the Theoric 
 fund ; and lastly, it being contrary to law that the crowning of 
 any one should be proclaimed at the Theatre during the Di- 
 onysiac festivals at the time of the new tragedies, it being re- 
 quired that if a crown be voted by the Council, proclamation 
 thereof shall be made in the Council Chamber, and if by the 
 City, at the Pnyx during the holding of an Assembly. The fine 
 incurred is fifty talents. Witnesses, Kephisophon, son of Ke- 
 phisophon, of Rhamnus; Cleon, son of Cleon, of Cothocidae." 
 
 This is what is charged, Athenians, against the 
 decree. From the language of the charge itself, I 
 think I shall make it clear to you that I shall be able 
 to answer it successfully. I shall pursue the same 
 order as that of the accusation, and meet every speci- 
 fication in detail, omitting nothing purposely. 
 
 As the decree commends me for having always, by 
 word and deed, acted for the true interest of Athens, 
 and for having zealously accomplished the best that 
 was in my power, I necessarily regard my public life 
 as placed in issue. From a careful review of it it 
 will then be found whether Ctesiphon, in proposing 
 what he did, spoke truly or falsely. And as he did 
 not direct that the coronation was to take place after 
 I had given in my accounts; and as it was ordered to 
 be done in the theatre, I think it equally plain that 
 
132 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 this referred also to my public career, and whether I 
 was deserving or not of this honor, and of its being 
 proclaimed in the manner mentioned. I deem it 
 however proper to produce tlie laws under which 
 Ctesiphon was authorized to decree as he did. I shall 
 then, men of Athens, make my defence fairly and 
 frankly in this way, and go over my public life at 
 some length. And let no one suppose I shall be 
 departing from the scope of the accusation should 
 I touch upon matters relating to the afhiirs of Greece. 
 In attacking the decree as untruly stating that I did 
 not advise and perform what Λvas best for my coun- 
 try, the propounder of the charge has made my 
 w^hole policy pertinent and even necessary to its dis- 
 cussion. And as upon my entrance into public life 
 I made choice of the department of the ailairs of 
 Greece, from this quarter also I am entitled to draw 
 my proofs. 
 
 I pass by altogether what Philip had gotten and 
 held before I began to speak and to take part in af- 
 fairs; with this, I think, I have no concern. But 
 from the day on which I undertook to act a part, in 
 what way I was able to resist his plans I shall men- 
 tion in detail, first premising, however, as follows. 
 Philip had one enormous advantage in this, that 
 throughout Greece, not here and there but every- 
 where, there was a swarm of traitors and corrupt 
 men, detested of the Gods, such as theretofore no 
 one could recollect havinor ever seen. These men he 
 
 ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 133 
 
 [58—65.] 
 
 made use of as co-workers in his purpose, and what 
 WBB at first bad enough in the conduct of the Greeks 
 towards each other, he made much worse by deceiv- 
 ing some, purchasing others, and corrupting all in 
 various ways. He thus divided them into an hun- 
 dred parties when there should have been but a single 
 purpose in them all,— to resist his growing greatness. 
 In this conjuncture, and in ignorance of the existing 
 and increasing evil by the other Greeks, it becomes 
 us to consider what was proper for the City to do, 
 and to hold me responsible for what was actually 
 done. For it was I who settled its policy in this 
 
 respect. 
 
 ΛVas the City, JSschines, to abjure its pride and 
 dio:nity, and to imitate the Thessalians and Dolopians 
 in\elping Philip to obtain the headship of Greece, 
 and thus to set at nought the wise and glorious pre- 
 cedents of our ancestors? Or if she abstained from 
 doing this,— this would indeed have been shameful, 
 — afrer foreseeing from afar what would inevitably 
 take place unless resisted, was she to disregard it alto- 
 gether ? And here I would willingly ask the most 
 envious carper at what has been done, Avhich side he 
 would have wished the City to embrace,— to be an 
 instrument in bringing about the calamities and dis- 
 graces which befell Greece, as the Thessalians and 
 those who worked with them were, or to ignore to- 
 tally what was taking place in the hope of purchasing 
 their own security, as we saw the Arcadians and Mes- 
 
134 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 senians and Argives do? Yet most of these States, 
 or in fact all of them, suiFered more than we.— Had 
 Philip, indeed, after his success, thought proper to 
 retrace his steps, and to remain quiet, neitlier perse- 
 cuting his allies nor the other Greeks, there miirht 
 have been grounds for the accusation \vhich has been 
 brought against the opponents of his policy. But 
 when he was aiming to strike down not only the 
 glory, the power, the liberties of our people, but their 
 very institutions themselves so far as he could, can it 
 be possible that in following my advice you have not 
 pursued the most honorable course ? 
 
 But I return to this.— AMiat did it behoove the 
 City, ^schines, to do when it saw Philip preparing 
 to obtain the command and empire of Greece? 
 Vr\mt did it become me, a Counsellor of Athens, to 
 advise by words or by decrees, (this is the vital 
 point,) — I, who knew my country had always, from 
 the earliest times down to the very hour I first as- 
 cended the platform, been strivins: for the hiHiest 
 place in honor and glory, and with a noble emuhition 
 had spent more treasure and given more lives to 
 assist Greece than all the Greeks together had done 
 to assist themselves ?— I, who saw this very Philip, 
 with whom you were contending for leadership and 
 mastery, w^ith one eye gone, his shoulder shattered, 
 maimed of a hand and leg, yet freely abandoning to 
 fortune Avhatever else she wanted of his body, if he 
 might only live glorious and honored with what was 
 
 [65—71.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 135 
 
 left? iiot only this, but that any one should dare to 
 say that such a height of arrogance could enter the 
 breast of a man reared at Pella— a little spot unknown 
 to Fame— as to aspire to or even conceive of attain- 
 ing to the command of Greece ; and that such abject 
 ba'^eness was yours, Athenians, who saw each day, in 
 every word uttered, and in every spectacle around 
 you, the memorials of your ancestors' virtue,— that 
 you' could abandon, that you could voluntarily give 
 up to Philip the liberties of Greece !— Impossible 
 that any one should say this ! You were then all 
 bound to oppose this man's injustice by every just 
 means. And you fairly and willingly assumed this 
 from the start; and I counselled, and I wrote de- 
 crees, and I contrived according to my ability 
 throLurbout all this time. But what was the best 
 
 thing to be done ? '~ 
 
 I ask you again ;— put aside Amphipolis, Pydna, 
 Potidiva, Halounesus, and the rest,— I make no men- 
 tion of them. And so also as to Serrium, Doriscus, 
 and tlie destruction of Peparethus, and whatever else 
 the country was injured in ;— I care not if they took 
 place. And yet you have said that it was I who, in 
 advisino; as to these things, precipitated the Athenians 
 into hostility with Philip, when in reality the decrees 
 were written by Eubulus and Aristophon and Dio- 
 pithes, not by me. Oh reckless utterer of whatever 
 you choose to say !-I will not now, however, speak 
 of these things.-But when Philip appropriated Eu- 
 
136 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 boea to himself, making use of it as an objective point 
 against Attica, and laid his hands upon Megara, and 
 captured Oreus, and destroyed Porthmus, and on the 
 one side established Philistides as tvrant in Oreus 
 and on the other Clitarchus in Eretria, and reduced 
 the Hellespont under his control, and besieged By- 
 zantium, and took possession of some Grecian cities, 
 and put back in others the fugitives from them,— was 
 the man who did all this, acting with injustice ? And 
 was he setting his engagements at nought? And 
 did he break the peace or not ? And was it proper 
 that any Grecian State should try to prevent all this? 
 If it was not, but it Λvas right that Greece should 
 become a Mysian prey, the Athenians strong and 
 powerful looking on meanwhile, then I wasted my 
 breath in speaking as I did, and the City wasted its 
 time in paying attention to me, and all that was done 
 by me was a blunder and a wrong. But if it Λva8 
 right for any of the Grecian States to interfere to 
 prevent all this, then was not Athens the proper 
 party to do it? I did direct all my measures to this 
 end; I did oppose this man, whom I saw attempting 
 to enslave every people ; and both by my Λvords and 
 by my teachings I did advise you not to permit all 
 Greece to be delivered into his hands. I admit all 
 this. 
 
 It was not the City, however, ^Eschines, which 
 broke the peace ; it was Philip, by taking our ships. 
 Bring forward the decrees and Philip's letter, and 
 
 [71—75.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 137 
 
 read them consecutively ; it will then be apparent 
 who was the cause of this. 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 " In the archonship of Neocles, in the month Boedromion, at 
 an extraordinary Assembly convened by the generals, Eubulus, 
 son of I^Inesitheus, of Copras, moved that whereas the generals 
 had announced to the Assembly that Leodamas, our admiral, 
 and twenty ships under his command, which had been sent to 
 the Hellespont for the transport of corn, had been carried off by 
 Amyntas, Philip's general, to Macedonia, and there kept under 
 guard, the senators and generals should provide that a council 
 be called to choose deputies to be sent to Philip to ask the re- 
 lease of our admiral and ships and sailors. And if it shall 
 appear that Amyntas has done this through ignorance, the 
 Athenians find no fault with him. Or if it be alleged that he 
 captured Leodamas because he was transgressing his orders, the 
 Athenians will examine into it, and punish him according to 
 the measure of his offence. But if neither of these things be 
 the cause, and the wrong has been done by the orders either of 
 Philip or his lieutenant, then the deputies shall report this, so 
 that the people may consider the matter and advise as to what 
 ought to be done." 
 
 This decree was written by Eubulus, not by me. 
 And then came Aristophon Avith another, and Hege- 
 sippus with his, then Aristophon again, then Phi- 
 locrates, then Kephisophon, then all the others with 
 theirs. But I proposed none. Bead again. 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 « In the archonship of Neocles, on the last day of Boedromion, 
 the senators and generals brought and submitted to the opinion 
 
138 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 of the Council the decree of the Assembly that it had seemed 
 proper to the people that deputies should be sent to Philip in 
 regard to the return of our ships, and that instructions be given 
 to them according to the tenor of the Assembly's decree. The 
 following persons were chosen : Kephisophon, son of Cleon, the 
 Anaphlystian ; Democritus, son of Demophon, the Anagyrasian; 
 Polycritus, son of Apemantes, the Cothocidian. In the presi- 
 dency of the tribe Hippothoontis, Aristophon, of Collytta, 
 moving the decree." 
 
 I have now produced these decrees, and do you, 
 ^schines, if you can, produce any whicli I Avrote 
 which caused the war. You cannot. If you could 
 you would have been ready enough witli it. Even 
 Philip never accused me of this, blaniini; others as 
 the authors of the war. Read Philip's letter now. 
 
 LETTER. 
 
 e 
 
 "Philip, King of Macedon, to the Council and people of 
 Athens, Greeting. The deputies sent by you to me, Kephiso- 
 phon, and Democritus, and Polycritus, have complained about 
 the capture of your ships under the command of Leodamas. 
 You seem to me to be very simple if you think I am ignorant 
 that your sending these ships to transport corn from the Helles- 
 pont to Lemnos was a pretext, it being in reality to assist the 
 Selymbrians who were besieged by me and who were not in- 
 cluded in our common treaties of friendship. And this was 
 done without the knowledge of the people by your admiral 
 acting under the orders of certain men who control your affairs 
 and of others not now in office but who desire in every way, 
 notwithstanding our existing friendship, that you should be at 
 war with me, being much more anxious to bring this about than 
 to aid the Selymbrians, and because they also believe they would 
 
 [75—81.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 139 
 
 make profit out of it. It seems to me, however, it will neither 
 be of service to you nor to me. I return your ships to you, and 
 if for the future you will not suffer the men at the head of 
 afliiiirs to advise you badly but will disgrace them, I on my part 
 ΛΥΪΙΙ endeavor to preserve the peace. Farewell." 
 
 In no manner, you see, did he accuse Demosthenes, 
 nor in any way inculpate him. AVhy was it, then, 
 that when he was finding fault with all the others, he 
 made no reference to anything which had been done 
 by me? Because in attacking me he would have 
 brought forward the remembrance of his own injus- 
 tice. Those acts of wrong I had always set myself 
 against, those perfidies I had always opposed. AYhen 
 Philip first stole into Peloponnesus, I sent thither 
 an embassy ; so also did I to Euboea, when he was 
 trying to pounce upon that island ; and when he was 
 endeavoring to establish tyrants in Oreus and Eretria, 
 I sent thither no embassies, but military expeditions. 
 I then despatched the fieets by which Chersonnesus, 
 Byzantium, and all our allies were saved. 
 
 In consequence of this, there flowed in upon you 
 from the States which you had thus relieved, praise, 
 glory, honors, crowns, thanks, the highest commen- 
 dations. Of those who had been wronged and who 
 had heeded your advice the safety was assured; those 
 who had neglected to follow what you had so often 
 tried to impress upon them, now found out that you 
 had not only been well disposed to them, but came to 
 look upon you as wise and far-seeing men : every- 
 
140 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 thing fell out as you had predicted. AVhat would not 
 Philistides have given to have kept Oreus, or Cli- 
 tarchus to have kept Eretria, or Philip, himself, to 
 have had these cities under his control, so that he 
 could use them against you ;— to have had no one to 
 call him to account for his other misdeeds, no censor 
 to overlook and control him in his acts of injustice ? 
 ^o one feels any doubt as to this, and nobody less 
 than you, -^schines. For the envoys wlio were sent 
 hither by Philistides and Clitarchus took up their 
 quarters with you, you were their host. AVhen the 
 City dismissed them as enemies who were proposino• 
 unjust things, you stood their friend. But none of 
 those things Avas done, calumniator of my conduct, 
 who assert that I am silent when my hands are full, 
 but that I cry out when they are empty ! You, on 
 the contrary, cry out when your hands are full ; and 
 will never cease until your fellow-citizens shall stop 
 your mouth by a sentence of disgrace. It was then 
 that you, my fellow-citizens, crowned me for what I 
 had done, and Aristonieus wrote the decree in the 
 self-same words which Ctesiphon has used in the 
 present one. The proclamation was ordered to be 
 made in the Theatre; and although I received the 
 honor for the second time, and ^schines was pres- 
 ent, he brought no accusation against the mover of 
 the decree. Read it here. 
 
 [81—86.] 
 
 ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 141 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 " In the archonship of Chaerondas, son of Hegemon, on the 
 twenty-fifth day of Gamelion, during the presidency of the tribe 
 Leontis, Aristonieus of Phrearrii moved that Demosthenes, son 
 of Demosthenes of Pseania, having re^idered many and great 
 services to the Athenian people, and heretofore to many of their 
 allies, and having at the present time aided them by decrees, 
 and brought about the freedom of certain cities in Euboea, and 
 having persevered in his good-will to the City, and said and 
 done what was best for the Athenians and all the Greeks, it be 
 decreed by the Council and people of Athens that the said De- 
 mosthenes be publicly praised and crowned with a golden crown, 
 and that the crown be conferred upon him in the Theatre at the 
 Dionysiac festivals, at the representation of the new tragedies. 
 The presiding tribe and the Master of the Games shall take 
 charge of the proclamation. Aristonieus of Phrearrii has brought 
 forward the decree." 
 
 Do any of you see that by the passage of this 
 decree the City disgraced herself, or laid herself open 
 to the sneers or ridicule which this man says will be 
 levelled at her if I am now crowned ? And yet when 
 the matter was recent and understood by every one, 
 had it been well done it would have met with thanks; 
 had it been ill done it would have received censure. 
 At that time, at least, I appear to have received 
 commendation, not dispraise or dishonor. 
 
 The time in Avhich these things took place, I call 
 all to witness, Avas at least a period when I was ac- 
 knowledged to have been doing everything in the 
 City's interest: a period in which I was in the as- 
 
142 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 and ^^hen bj my decrees being carried into effect 
 honors and crowns were in consequence voted To tit 
 
 I οΓίΓΓ""" "'" '"'^'^ ''^• ^•*'" *" ^he Gods on 
 account oi our successes. 
 
 Philip being tbus dri'ven out of EubcBa by your 
 
 say, though some of you should burst at heariu. it 
 he sought to engineer a now device against tie" iitT 
 Know,ng that you consumed more foreign corn S m 
 
 thej refused, saymg, and saying truly, that their 
 alhance was not for any such purpose, Ρ ilin „ ned 
 Z'^J'Z :•"":•^' --""vallatio'n abo'ut the 
 
 et ?'n' fΓ^ " '"-""" '^°^^"' — -ced its 
 siege. I need hardly ask what was your duty in this 
 
 conjuncture : it was clear to all. 4uo was it ", t 
 ever, who brought relief to H,« -R .• "" "' ''°"- 
 them ' Whr., ■! , %=^antmes and saved 
 
 non?f ' '* ''''° *^"'^ mventcd the Helles- 
 
 Ta τοΓλ!Γ"° ""'" *'^^ ''^"^-' °f -other? It 
 
 iitv ' ΤΓ"''"' ""' "'"" ^ '^y y^^ I "lean the 
 Cit^ And who was it that was speaking, and decree 
 ng and act.ng in the City's behalf, giving hims f" 
 to her entirely and without reserve ? It tvasT τΖ 
 great things which were then done in ai al7you 
 
 [86—91.] 
 
 ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 143 
 
 cannot learn from Λvor(ls alone, — from the work itself 
 you have approved them. That war, apart from the 
 glory which it conferred, brought to you a more abun- 
 dant supply of all the necessaries of life at cheaper 
 rates than this present peace made against the City's 
 interests, which ^schines and his friends, — excellent 
 men ! — with their hopes for the future, have guarded 
 80 zealously, hopes which I trust they may be dis- 
 appointed in ! Let them partake with you of the good 
 which you are asking of the Gods, but let there not 
 be meted out to you any of the things which they 
 have been desiring ! Eead here to them the crowns 
 Λvhich the Bvzantines and Perinthians voted to the 
 City in consequence of its services. 
 
 DECREE OF THE BYZANTINES. 
 
 " Tn the presbytership of Bosporichus, Damagetus moved in 
 the Assembly, with the consent of the Council, as follows: 
 Whereas the Athenian people has in the past displayed its good- 
 will to the Bvzantines and to their allies and relatives the Pe- 
 rinthians, and has frequently sent them great assistance; and 
 whereas when Philip of Macedon was recently invading the 
 land, threatening to destroy their cities, firing the country, and 
 cutting down the plantations, the Athenians sent to their relief 
 one hundred and twenty ships, provisions, arms, and troops, and 
 saved them from their great peril, preserving for them their 
 form of government, their laws, and their tombs, it is ordered 
 that there be conferred by the Byzantines and Perinthians upon 
 the Athenians the rights of intermarriage, citizenship, property, 
 and domicile, the first seats at the public games, the privilege of 
 entering first in the Senate and Assembly after the sacrifices. 
 
144 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 and to those who wish to reside in their cities the right to do so 
 exempted from public burthens. Moreover, three statues, six- 
 teen cubits in height, shall be erected upon the Bosphorus, 
 representing the people of Athens crowned by the people of 
 Byzantium and Perinthus, and deputations shall be sent to the 
 public meetings of the Greeks at the Isthmian, Nemean, Olym- 
 pian, and Pythian games, where proclamation shall be made of 
 the crowns decreed by us to the Athenians, that the assembled 
 Greeks may be certified of the virtue of the Athenians, and of 
 the gratitude of the Byzantines and Perinthians." 
 
 Read now the decree of the people of Chersoiinesus 
 voting crowns to the Athenians. 
 
 DECREE OF THE CHERSOXNESIANS. 
 
 " The people of Chersonnesus, inhabiting Sestos, Eleus, Mady- 
 tus, and Alopeconesus, crown the council and people of Athens 
 with a golden crown, of the value of sixty talents ; and they 
 will furthermore erect an altar to Gratitude and to the Athenian 
 people, as having conferred upon them the greatest possible 
 good, in rescuing them from Philip, and preserving to them 
 their country, their laws, their liberties, and their temples. 
 Thus, in all time to come, their gratitude and their desire 
 to do every good in their power to the Athenians shall not fail. 
 Decreed in general assembly." 
 
 Tlius, not only were Chersonnesus and Byzantium 
 saved, and the Hellespont kept from Philip's control ; 
 not only was the City honored by what my measures 
 and my policy had effected, but to the whole world 
 were exhibited her magnanimity and Philip's base- 
 ness. AVhat more disgraceful and scandalous spec- 
 
 
 [91—96.] OX BEHALF OF CTESIPHO-N. 145 
 
 taclc than that their friend and ally should be 
 besieging the Byzantines ? AVhilst you, who had 
 just reason to blame them for the many acts of un- 
 friendliness they had formerly committed against 
 you were now seen not only bearing no malice 
 against them ; not only passing over their wrongful 
 conduct, but actually coming forward as their pre- 
 servers. For this, honor, glory, renown, were lav- 
 ished: upon you from every side. We all know that 
 many public men had theretofore been crowned by 
 you ; but when could it be shewn before my day that 
 the City itself had received a crown through one of 
 its counsellors and orators ? 
 
 As to the abuse which ^schines has been pouring 
 out against the Eubcoans and Byzantines, while he 
 has been reminding you of every unfriendly act they 
 ever peri^etrated against you, I shall shew it to be 
 malicious and false, as I suppose you yourselves are 
 already satisfied. Had it been true, it was necessary 
 for us I should have acted in the matter as I did. In 
 proof of this I wish to present one or two instances 
 of noble acts performed by you, and this very briefly. 
 And we must recollect, that as with the individual in 
 private life, so must the City in its public career 
 always strive to make its future conduct emulate the 
 glories of the past. AVhen the Lacedemonians were 
 all-powerful by sea and land, and had surrounded 
 Attica with their governors and garrisons, having 
 taken Euboea, Tanagra, all Boeotia, Megara, Egina, 
 
 12 
 
146 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 Cleonpe, and the other islands, you, Athenians, al- 
 though the City was destitute both of ships and 
 walls, did not hesitate to march to the aid of ITali- 
 artus, and again, a few days later, to Corinth. You 
 might then have recalled the many grievances you 
 had to complain of both from the Corinthians and 
 the Thebans for their conduct in the Dekelian war. 
 But you did not, — far from it. Nor on either of 
 these occasions did you act from gratitude, or from 
 ignorance of the peril. But it did not, ^schines, 
 make the Athenians abandon those who implored 
 them for assistance. From a sense of honor, from a 
 love of glory, they encountered the emergency, act- 
 ing wisely as well as magnanimously. For as death 
 is the limit of life to every one, let him hide himself 
 Avhere he may in some obscure hole, it becomes all 
 gallant men to strive for what is noble, holding up 
 high hope before them, but resolved to bear firmly 
 whatever the Gods shall award to them. 
 
 Such was vour ancestors' course, such the course 
 of the elder amongst yourselves. For when the 
 Thebans in the height of their power after Leuctra 
 undertook to destroy the Lacedemonians, who had 
 never been either friendly or even well-disposed to 
 you, but on the contrary had inflicted many and 
 great wrongs upon ^'our City, you prevented it. You 
 were neither deterred by the dread of the power or 
 reputation of the Thebans; nor did you stop to think 
 Λvhat the men for whom you were incurring danger 
 
 [96—101.] ON BEHALF OF (TTESIPHON. 147 
 
 had formerly done against you. You thus shewed 
 all Greece that if any people had ofl:ended you you 
 reserved your anger for another time, but did not 
 recall and dwell upon it when danger menaced their 
 safety or their freedom. 
 
 Nor were these the only instances of such behavior 
 on your part. When the Thebans recently attempted 
 to get possession of Euboea, you would not permit 
 it, but, forgetting the injuries of Themison and Theo- 
 dorus in regard to Oropus, you succored even these 
 very men. This was at the time we had voluntary 
 trierarchs, of whom I was one ; but it is not neces- 
 sary to speak now of this. , 
 
 You did well in saving the island; but you did far 
 better in honorably restoring to those who had of- 
 fended you their cities and their inhabitants of which 
 you had made yourselves masters, forgetting all their 
 injuries from the time they had reposed their trust in 
 you. I omit to mention a thousand other like in- 
 stances, engagements by sea and by land, expeditions 
 of all kinds, undertaken long ago by our fathers, 
 recently by yourselves, all for the safety and the lib- 
 erties of the other Greeks. 
 
 And I who had seen the City willing to exert her- 
 self on all these occasions for the safety of others, 
 what kind of advice did it become me to ofler to her 
 when it concerned herself? To cherish enmity against 
 those who desired to be saved by her, and to seek for 
 pretexts by which we might have betrayed the com- 
 
148 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 mon cause ? Ju3t heaven ! AVho would not have 
 rightly put me to death, had I attempted even by 
 speech thus to tarnish the glories which belonged to 
 the City ? I knew well that you could not of your- 
 selves have committed a dishonorable action. TTad 
 you desired to do so, who was there to hinder you? 
 Was it not in your power ? And were not these evil 
 counsellors always present ? 
 
 I will now return to the next in order of my public 
 acts. And I desire you to look closely whether I 
 acted therein for the State's best interests. I saw, 
 Athenians, that your navy was deteriorating; the 
 rich were exempt from all but paltry contributions to- 
 wards its support, while by the assessments upon them 
 the owners of moderate properties and the poorer 
 classes were almost stripped of their estates, and yet 
 the City was going behindhand. I therefore had a 
 law passed by Λvhich the wealthy were compelled to 
 contribute equitably and the poor were relieved from 
 oppression, the City being greatly the gainer by the 
 work being done in good season. Being impeached 
 for this, I appealed to you, and the prosecutor did 
 not receive the fifth part of the votes. AVhat sum of 
 money do you imagine the heads of the Synmiories, 
 and those next to them, and even third in order, 
 offered to me, rather than have this law passed, or to 
 get it withdrawn when the prosecution against me 
 began ? It Avas so large that I dare hardly name it 
 to you. And yet they acted prudently in doing so. 
 
 
 [101-106.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 149 
 
 For l)y the old law sixteen of them being chargeable 
 to-ether, the contribution of each single one was 
 little or nothing, the poorer citizens being ground to 
 powder. By my law each citizen was rated accord- 
 in- to his property, and he who had been formerly a 
 contributory of only a sixteenth was now the trier- 
 arch of even two ships. For they had even ceased 
 to be called trierarchs, but styled themselves contrib- 
 utories. So that to get rid of these burthens, and 
 to escape their just liabilities, there is nothmg they 
 ΛVOuld not have given. Read now, first, the decree 
 under which I was prosecuted, and then the operative 
 parts of the old law, and the one proposed by me. 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 '. In the archonship of Polycles, on the sixteenth day of Boe- 
 dromion, during the presidency of the tribe H.ppothoont. 
 . Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes the Piean.an, proposed a law 
 Γη regard to trierarchs, in place of the old law of contr,bu,«nes 
 to trierarchs. It was passed by the Council ''"^People where- 
 upon Patrocles of Phlyus impeached Demosthenes but not 
 receiving the requisite number of votes, he has paid the fine 
 of five hundred drachmas." 
 
 Read now the honest schedule of the old law ! 
 
 SCHEDULE. 
 «The trierarchs shall be appointed sixteen to each trireme 
 from the contributories in the Companies, from twen y-five 
 years of age up to forty, each contributing equally to the 
 expense." 
 
 Read now the enacting part of my law. 
 
150 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 SCHEDULE. 
 
 "Trierarchs shall be chosen for a trireme according to the 
 valuation of their property, the rate being fixed at ten talents. 
 Should properties be valued in excess of this sum, let the charge 
 go up as high as three ships and a tender, according to assess- 
 ment. In the same ratio let those whose properties are assessed 
 below ten talents contribute together until that sum is reached." 
 
 Do I seem, then, Athenians, to have assisted the 
 poorer chisses in a slight degree, or would the r'ch 
 have given a small amount of money to have escaped 
 their just hurthen ? I have a right, therefore, to claim 
 credit not only for not having yielded in this matter, 
 and for having escaped the impeachment, hut for 
 having introduced a profitahle law Λvhich was found 
 by experience to suit the work in hand. During the 
 whole war our naval expeditions Λvere fitted out under 
 this law of mine, and not only no trierarch sought 
 exemption from it of you as unjust, or took refuge 
 from it in Munychia, or was imprisoned by the su- 
 perintendents of marine, but no ship was ever aban- 
 doned at sea to the City's loss, nor was any left in 
 port from inability to get away, all of which had 
 often occurred under the old law. And the reason 
 was that the tax pressed too heavily upon those who 
 were unable to bear it, and impossibilities could not 
 be achieved. 
 
 I transferred the trierarchies from the poor to the 
 rich, and all that was wanted was at once found done. 
 And not only do I deserve credit because I laid down 
 
 ^106-111.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 151 
 
 a line of policy from which honor, and reputation, 
 and power accrued to the City, but no single measure 
 of mine was mean, or rigorous, or base, or hard, or 
 unworthy of the State. This was my plain course 
 not onl/in matters regarding the City, but in what 
 affected Greece generally. In our own aftairs I did 
 not set the favor of the wealthy above the City s 
 interests; nor in the affairs of Greece did I prefer 
 Philip's gifts and allurements to the common ad- 
 vantage of all the Greeks. 
 
 It remains for me to speak about the proclamation 
 and my accounting, for I think it sufficiently clear, 
 from what I have said, that I have always done the 
 best for you, and that I have been throughout well- 
 disposed and zealous in your service. I shall, there- 
 fore, pass over my most important public acts, first, 
 because it is proper that I should now speak upon 
 the question of illegality; next, should I say nothing 
 further about them, your own consciousness of them 
 
 shall equally avail me. 
 
 As to most of ^Eschines's muddled statements about 
 
 the laws contradicting the decree in my behalf, 1 
 think, by heavens, that neither you could understand 
 what he said, nor I, I am sure, follow them at a 1. I 
 will give you, however, a plain rule by which to try 
 this question. I am so far from saying the contrary, 
 as he has just been slanderously charging me with 
 that I now admit I shall hold myself accountable all 
 my life for whatever I have taken in hand and man- 
 
152 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 aged for you. But for what I have given from my 
 own private fortune to the people, I say, — do you 
 hear, w^schines? — I liave never been accountable for a 
 single day : nor would any one else be, were he even 
 one of the nine archons. AVhere can be found the 
 laAV so stuffed with harshness and injustice as first to 
 rob of thanks the man who in giving out of his pri- 
 vate means performs a beneficent and liberal act, and 
 then turn him over to an account before malit^nants 
 of what he has thus given ? There cannot be. If he 
 says there is, let him shew^ it ; I shall be satisfied and 
 hold my peace. There never was such a law, Athe- 
 nians ; but this libeller says, because I was adminis- 
 tering the Theoric fund at the time I so gave, " the 
 Council has honored him while he was still account- 
 able." Oh Calumniator, it Avas not for anything for 
 which I was accountable, but in regard to my free- 
 will oiferings! But again, he says, ''you were a 
 commissioner for repairing the walls." And for this 
 very thing I w^as rightly commended ; for I gave 
 what was expended upon them, without reckoning 
 Λvith the public. A reckoning requires the exhibi- 
 tion of accounts and their settlement; but a free gift 
 merits thanks and commendation. And it was for 
 this that Ctesiphon brought forward his decree; from 
 an hundred instances I shall shew that this has been so 
 settled, not only by your laws, but by your equitable 
 practice. 
 First, Nausicles, the general, was many times 
 
 [111—116.1 ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 153 « 
 
 crowned by you for what he gave to the public out 
 of his own property. So when Diotimus gave 
 shields, and again Charidemus, they were both 
 
 crowned. 
 
 So, also, Neoptolemus, here present, who was 
 superintendent of many public works, was frequently 
 honored for what lie gave towards them. Hard m- 
 dced would it be were it not permitted to one ex- 
 ercising a public employment to give of his own 
 means to the City towards the work in hand, or to 
 be compelled to render an account of it instead of 
 receiving thanks for his liberality. To prove the 
 correctness of my assertions, take the decrees passed 
 in rco-ard to these citizens, and read them. 
 
 DECREE. 
 " Ih the archonship of Demonicua of Phlyus, on the twenty- 
 sixth day of Boedromion, by the advice of the Council and 
 People Callias of Phrearrii moved as follows: The Council and 
 People' think it pro,.er that Nausicles, the general of arms, be 
 crowned, because when two thousand Athenian heavy-armed 
 troops were in Imbros to assist the Athenian colonists in that 
 island, and Philo charged with the supplies was prevented by 
 stormy weather from sailing thither and paying them, Nausic es 
 relieved them out of his own funds without making any recla- 
 mation upon the City: proclamation of the coronation to be 
 made at the Dionysiac festivals at the representation of the new 
 
 tragedies." 
 
 ANOTHER DECREE. 
 
 " The Senators declaring it to be by the advice of the Council, 
 Callias of Phrearrii moved as follows : Whereas Charidemus, 
 
 W 
 
154 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 commander of the heavy-armed troops when in Salamis, and 
 Diotimus, commander of the cavalry, certain of our troops 
 having been despoiled of their arms by the enemy in the en- 
 gagement by the river, supplied the young soldiery out of their 
 own private means with shields to the number of eight hundred, 
 it is decreed by the Council and people that Charidemus and 
 Diotimus shall be crowned with golden crowns, proclamation of 
 the coronation to be made at the great Panathenaic festivals 
 during the gymnastic games, and at the Dionysiac festivals 
 during the representation of the new tragedies. The junior 
 archons, the Senators, and the Masters of the Games will take 
 charge of the proclamation.'.' 
 
 Each of these citizens, while accountable in regard 
 to the employments wliich he exercised, was not so 
 as to the matters for which he was crowned. Nor I 
 either. — For what was just and proper in their case 
 is surely equally so in mine. I gave ; — I was com- 
 mended for this; — nor was I to be accountable for 
 what I had thus given. — I exercised a public charge ; 
 — I rendered my accounts of this; — not of what I 
 gave. But by Jove, say you, I exercised my charge 
 unfairly.— AYhy then, I ask, did you not, as you were 
 present when the auditors passed my accounts, object 
 
 to them ? 
 
 But that you may see that he himself testifies for 
 me that I was crowned for what I was not account- 
 able for, look at the whole decree wliich was written 
 in my behalf, and from what he has not attacked 
 in it his malignity will be evident in wliat he has 
 attacked. Read it. 
 
 [116—120.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 155 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 - In the archonship of Euthycles, on the twenty-second day of 
 the month Pyanepsion, in the presidency of the tribe (Eneis, 
 Ctesiphon, son of Leosthenes the Anaphlystian, moved as fol- 
 io^• Whereas Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes the P^anian, 
 whilst he was superintendent of the repair of the walls, gave to the 
 people three talents of his own money towards the prosecution of 
 the work, and also whilst he was administrator of the Theoric 
 fund gave to the sacred envoys for their sacrifices one hundred 
 min«, it is decreed by the Council and people pf Athens that 
 the said Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes the Paeanian, be com- 
 mended for the public spirit and good feeling ever manifested by 
 him to the Athenian people, and that he be crowned with a 
 golden crown, the coronation to be proclaimed in the Theatre at 
 the Dionysiac festivals during the representation of the new tra- 
 gedies. The Masters of the Games will see to the proclamation. 
 
 It was not, then, for anything Λvhich I gave that 
 you attacked the decree : it is for what the Council 
 resolved should be done to me for what I gave that 
 you arraigned it. The receiving of the gifts from 
 me he therefore admits to be within the law ;— it is 
 the conferring of thanks for the gifts which he ac 
 cuses as against the law. A\niere, in the name of 
 heaven, could there be found a more thoroughly 
 depraved and wicked man the enemy of the Gods, if 
 
 it be not he ? 
 
 As to the proclamation in regard to the crowning 
 in the Theatre, I pass it by, as it has been done to 
 thousands of persons thousands of times, I myself 
 bavin- been often crowned there. But you are so 
 
156 
 
 PEMOSTHENES 
 
 stupid and senseless, u^scliines, that, by the Gods, 
 you are not able to perceive that while the crown 
 confers the same honor upon the recipient, let the 
 coronation take place w^here it may, it is in favor of 
 those who decree it that proclamation of it is ordered 
 to be made in the Theatre. For when the whole peo- 
 ple hear this they are stimulated to do good service 
 to the State, in their admiration of the kindness of 
 those conferring the honor rather than of him upon 
 Λνΐιοηι it is conferred. A\nierefore it was that the 
 City long since enacted this law. Take it now and 
 read it. 
 
 LAW. 
 
 " Whenever persons shall be crowned by the different demes, 
 proclamation shall be made of the fact in each deme, unless the 
 whole community or the Council shall decree the crown. In 
 such cases the proclamation may be made in the Theatre, at the 
 Dionysiac festivals." 
 
 Do you hear, ^schines, the law speaks clearly, 
 " unless the whole community or the Council shall 
 decree the crown, in such cases proclamation Tnay be 
 made in the Theatre, at the Dionysiac festivals." 
 AVhy, then, Ο miserable man, do you prevaricate ? 
 Wliy do you weave idle tales? Why do you not, 
 after this, take a dose of hellebore ? Is it not scan- 
 dalous, that undertaking a prosecution out of hatred, 
 and not for any illegality, you should pervert some 
 laws, and take scraps from others which it was es- 
 sential should be presented entire to those who are 
 
 1120—124.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 157 
 
 sworn to decide according to the laws ? And you 
 who are asking this are speaking, forsooth, of Λvhat 
 becomes a friend of the people; just as if, after 
 having ordered a statue according to a given pat- 
 tern, you take care that the contractor shall never be 
 able to conform to his agreement : or as if the true 
 friend of the people is to be ascertained by words 
 only, and not by actions and public conduct. And 
 you bawl out, as if from a cart, your filthy vitupera- 
 tions such as may suit you and your breeding, but in 
 no wise fit for me to speak. 
 
 Men of Athens, there is this difference, I think, 
 between defamation and a legal charge :— the charge 
 refers to illegal acts to which the laws assign their 
 proper punishment ; — defamation is sustained by 
 mere invective, with which enemies, according to 
 their nature, bespatter each other. Our ancestors, 
 indeed, built these Courts of justice, I assume, not 
 that you might be brought into them from your pri- 
 vate business to listen to the abuse which men heap 
 upon each other in personal wrangles, but that we 
 ηύφΐ convict in them those who have committed 
 ille'gal acts against the State, ^schines, knowing 
 this fully as well as I, has nevertheless chosen to 
 vituperate, instead of to present an accusation. It 
 is not right, therefore, that he should withdraw with- 
 out getting the worst of it.— But I will come to this 
 point again ;— I now desire to ask him this question. 
 Should any one ask you, ^schines, whether you 
 
158 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 are the City's enemy or mine, you would doubtless 
 answer, mine. Yet you flxiled to proceed aii^idnst me 
 according to law for these things, as a crinnnal, at 
 the time of the audits of my accounts, during the 
 prosecutions against me, and in other ways. After I 
 have been entirely absolved by the laws, by lapse of 
 time, by prescription, by being oftentimes tried, but 
 never adjudged guilty, you are now opposing me as 
 to measures which there is a necessity of the City 
 more or less sharing the credit of, since they con- 
 cerned the public : — See, then, whether you are not 
 the enemy of your countrymen, while you are pre- 
 tending to be only mine. 
 
 Since, then, the proper and just mode of deciding 
 has been pointed out to you all, it is right, it seems, 
 altHough I am by nature unaccustomed to use abusive 
 language, that in consequence of the slanders — many 
 and false — spoken by him, I should mention a few 
 absolutely necessary particulars about him, and shew 
 you who this fellow is, and what are his belonsrinirs, 
 who undertakes thus recklessly to defame, who finds 
 fault with my words, and who has been pouring out 
 abuse that any moderate person ΛνοηΜ hesitate even 
 to mention. If, indeed, my accuser were ^acus, 
 Rhadamanthus, or Minos, instead of a babbling hack 
 of the market-place, a pestiferous scribe, I am sure 
 he never would so have spoken, nor would he so 
 load down his discourse (bawling out as in a play) 
 with such phrases as " Ο earth, sun, Ο virtue,'' 
 
 [124—130.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 159 
 
 and the like. :^ror wouhl he appeal to conscience 
 and education, by which good is distinguished from 
 evil.— These things, I presume, you all heard him 
 speaking of. Scum of the earth, what part have you 
 or yours with virtue ? Or what knowledge have you 
 of what is honorable or its opposite ? Whence could 
 you get it? How could you esteem it? AVhat jus- 
 tice Is there in your talking about education, of 
 Avhich if one were truly possessed he would never 
 talk about it himself, and would even blush should 
 another speak of it before him? Those who are 
 destitute of it, as you are, when they stupidly lay 
 claim to it only cause disgust in their hearers when 
 they so speak, in no other wise succeeding. 
 
 I am not at a loss what to say about you and yours; 
 I am only at a loss what to say first. Shall I tell 
 how your father, Tromes, was the slave of Elpias, the 
 schoolmaster, hard by the temple of Theseus, and 
 how he wore heavy shackles on his feet and a yoke 
 about his neck? Or how your mother made use of 
 her morning nuptials in the stews with her hero, the 
 Calamite, to rear up her fair statuesque son, the great 
 third-rate actor? Or how Phormio, the galley flute- 
 player, Dion the Phrearrian's slave, took her out of 
 this fine way of living? But, by the Gods, I pause, 
 not lest I sliould say what is not befitting him, but 
 lest I should seem to speak of things unbecoming 
 myself. I shall, therefore, quit this subject, and start 
 from the life >vhich he has lived himself. 
 
160 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 In all this there is nothing which the people has 
 not execrated. Was it not lately — lately, do I say ? 
 — in fact, only yesterday — he became an Athenian 
 and an orator; and, adding two sylhibles to his 
 father's name, made Atrometus out of Tromes? 
 His mother he called very splendidly Glaucothea, 
 whom every one knew before as Empnsa, because 
 of her doing and submitting to everything, as lier 
 surname plainly shewed. How otherwise could she 
 have got it ? 
 
 But how thankless and of how depraved a nature 
 you are ! — When, by the favor of the Athenians, you 
 are made a freeman and rich, from a slave and a 
 pauper, you return no thanks for this, but hire your- 
 self out to work against them. — As to anything which 
 is in doubt whether he spoke in behalf of the City, 
 I sa}' nothing. I shall only bring to your recollection 
 what he has been openly proved to have done for our 
 enemies. 
 
 Who amongst you does not recollect the outlawed 
 Antiphon, who entered the City under a commission 
 from Philip to set lire to your ship-yards? AVhen I 
 took him from his hiding-place in Piraeus, and 
 brought him before the Assembly, this malignant 
 fellow bawled out to you that I was committing an 
 outrage in a free community, that I was insulting 
 the unfortunate, that I was entering a house without 
 a warrant, — and he had him discharged. Had not 
 the Council of the Areopagus, observing how from 
 
 [130—135.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 161 
 
 incaution you had fallen into error, taken hold of the 
 matter, and sought him out and brought him before 
 you again, the miscreant would have been rescued 
 and escaped the hands of justice, spirited away by 
 this solemn prater. But you put him to the torture, 
 and despatched him, as you should this ^schines. 
 
 ΛΥΙιοη you subsequently, from the same incon- 
 sideratene*8S, nominated him as your advocate in the 
 affair of the Temple at Delos,— an inconsiderateness 
 with which you have proceeded to your disadvantage 
 in many matters of importance,— the Council of the 
 Areopagus, to whom you had referred the matter for 
 determination, taking cognizance of what he had done 
 in the case just spoken of, at once set him aside as a 
 traitor, and substituted Hyperides in his place. And 
 this they did taking their votes from the altar itself, not 
 a single one being cast in favor of this wretch. And 
 to shew you I speak truly, call me now the witnesses. 
 
 AVITNESSES. 
 
 " Upon the demand of Demosthenes, on behalf of all their 
 colleagues Callias of Sunium, Zeno of Phlyus, Gleon of Pha- 
 lerum, and Demonicus of Marathon, declare that the people 
 having elected ^schines to be their advocate to the Am- 
 phictyons, in the matter of the Temple of Delos, they adjudged 
 Hyperides to be more worthy to represent the City :— and Hy- 
 perides was sent." 
 
 Thus, therefore, after he had been chosen, the 
 Council removed him, and preferred another, assert- 
 
 18 
 
162 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 ing him to be a traitor and inimical to your interests. 
 This, then, is one of this fine young man's political 
 acts, like Avhat he has been charging me Λvith, is not 
 it ? Let me call to your notice another one. 
 
 AVhen Philip sent Python, the Byzantine, to us, 
 and Λvith him the ambassadors of all his allies, that 
 he might bring discredit upon the City by denouncing 
 her injustice, I yielded not to nor recoiled from 
 Python's insolence and his stream of abuse aiiainst 
 you ; — I withstood him to the face and answered him 
 back. So far from abandoning the righteous cause 
 of the City, I exposed Philip's injustice, so that even 
 his allies rose up and admitted it. This man, how- 
 ever, stood by assisting him, and bearing false testi- 
 mony against his country. 
 
 This is not all. Again, some time afterwards, he 
 was detected going into Thraso's house, with Anax- 
 inus the spy. Now, he who is found consulting in 
 secret Λvith an emissary of the enemy, is himself 
 a spy in heart, and an enemy of his country. Call 
 me here the witnesses to establish the truth of my 
 
 assertion. 
 
 WITNESSES. 
 
 " Keledemus, son of Cleon ; Hyperides, son of Calla?schrus ; 
 Nicomachus, son of Diophantes, testify for Demosthenes as they 
 swore in the presence of the generals, that they saw ^Eschines, 
 son of Atrometus, the Cothocidian, entering the house of Thraso 
 by night, and conferring with Anaxinus, who had been adjudged 
 to be a spy of Philip's. This testimony was given before Nikiaa 
 on the third of the month Hecatombeon." 
 
 [135—139.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 163 
 
 I omit a thousand other acts of the same kind, and 
 for this reason. I could point to many more cases 
 from which this man, during the whole of this time, 
 could be shewn to have been assisting your enemies, 
 whilst he was vilifying me. But these things are 
 neither very accurately remembered by you, nor do 
 they beget in you any resentment. By a certain 
 vicious habit, you give ample license to any one who 
 wishes to trip up and defame him w^ho is counselling 
 in your behalf, thus trading against the interests of 
 the City the pleasure and satisfaction you derive from 
 listening to attacks upon character. It is, therefore, 
 always safer and easier to serve your enemies for pay 
 against you, than to urge a line of policy by which 
 your interests may be advanced. 
 
 If, however, before the war broke out it was 
 scandalous for ^schines to act publicly with Philip 
 against his country, — heavens and earth, why should 
 it not have been ! — Pass this by, however. — But after 
 our ships had been openly seized, the Chersonnesus 
 ravaged, and Philip himself was advancing towards 
 Attica, nothing being longer in doubt, and war fla- 
 grant, what then did this miserable mouther of iam- 
 bics do in vour behalf? You can find no decree 
 proposed by ^schines, great or small, for the advan- 
 tage of the City. If he says there is, let him shew 
 it now, — I yield him my time for the purpose. But 
 there is nothing of the kind. Of two things, there- 
 fore, one is clear; either he had nothing to propose 
 
164 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 better than what I advised ; or, seeking the advantage 
 of our enemies, he did not advise upon the subject. 
 But although he wrote no decrees, he was not at 
 all silent whenever any mischief was to be Λvorked 
 against you : — then it was impossible for any one 
 else to speak. 
 
 The City, it seemed, Λvas able to bear up to this 
 time what he had been secretly contriving against it. 
 But what he now did, men of Athens, put the finish- 
 ing stroke to all his former misdeeds ; — the matter 
 about which he spent such a waste of words, passing 
 in review the decrees concerning the Locrians of 
 Amphissa, when he was endeavoring to twist the 
 truth. But this cannot be : — far from it. Never can 
 you wash yourself clean of what was then done by 
 you. You shall speak your words in vain. 
 
 In your presence, men of Athens, I invoke tlie 
 Gods and Goddesses who hold Attica under their 
 fostering care; above all, the Pythian Apollo, your 
 patron; and I pray them all, as I shall speak truth to 
 you, — and I spoke it out instantly before the people 
 when the matter was first broached bv this miscreant, 
 (I knew it, I knew it well on the instant,) — as I 
 speak truth, so may they grant me their protection 
 and my salvation ! But if from private hatred or 
 enmity I falsely accuse this man, may they forever 
 deprive me of all that is good ! 
 
 Wliy do I make these imprecations, and why am I 
 thus vehemently excited? It is because although I 
 
 [139—145.] OX BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 165 
 
 have the proofs lying in your archives, from Avhich 
 to establish my assertions ; although you yourselves 
 must clearly remember the facts, I fear lest you Λvill 
 never believe this man to have been wicked enough 
 to perpetrate such a crime,— as happened before, 
 when he brought about the ruin of the Phocians by 
 making use of false testimony against them to you. 
 This, this is the man who first lighted up the war in 
 Amphissa which made Philip the leader of the Am- 
 phictyons, which brought him to Elatea, and which 
 finally overturned the aftairs of Greece; this is the 
 man who contrived and plotted all,— the cause of all 
 
 your ruin ! 
 
 ΛVhen I arose in the Assembly, and protested and 
 cried out, "You are bringing the war into Attica, 
 ^schines, an Amphictyonic war," those Avho were 
 ranged on his side would not suffer me to speak ; the 
 others sat by astonished, and persuaded themselves 
 that I was nuiking an empty charge against him from 
 private enmity. But, men of Athens, although you 
 were then prevented, hear to-day what Avas the real 
 orio-in of this business ; in what way the Avhole thing 
 was contrived ; how it was finally completed. You 
 shall see that the thing was well concocted ; you shall 
 be greatly assisted in understanding the history of 
 the times ; and you shall comprehend how great w^as 
 
 the ability of Philip. 
 
 There was neither end nor deliverance for Philip 
 from the war with you, unless he could make the The- 
 
 κ 
 

 166 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 bans and Thessalians your enemies. For althou»•]! 
 your generals fought against him both unskilfully 
 and unsuccessfully, still, from the war itself and from 
 the cruisers at sea he suffered greatly. He could 
 neither export from his own country what was raised 
 in it, nor could he import into it what Avas necessary 
 for him, as he was not only inferior to you by sea, 
 but he was unable to penetrate Attica unless the 
 Thessalians followed him and the Thebans gave him 
 a free passage through their Country. It thus luip- 
 pened to him, that although he overcame your gen- 
 erals—such as they were— (I pass over this, how- 
 ever,) from the very nature of the situation and 
 from your relative positions, he was at a great dis- 
 advantage. Should he, however, by reason of his 
 own private quarrel, try to persuade the Thessalians 
 or Thebans to march against you, he thou^-ht he 
 could never induce them to do so; but if by the pre- 
 text of a common cause he could succeed in being 
 chosen general, he readily hoped he might either 
 cheat or persuade them to aid his views. AVhat then 
 should he put his hand to ? You shall see how well 
 he contrived.— He Avould create an Amphictyonic 
 war, and introduce trouble into the Assembly at 
 Thermopylae, and then they would at once think him 
 necessary to them. Should any of the presbyters, 
 however, sent either by him or his allies, adtate 
 the subject, he knew it would be looked upon with 
 suspicion by the Thebans and Thessalians, and that 
 
 [140—151.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 167 
 
 every one would be thus put upon his guard. But 
 if he could bring about that the presbyter should be 
 an Athenian, sent by you his opponents, the matter 
 would easily escape notice. And so it turned out. 
 
 How, then, did he work this ? He purchased ^s- 
 ciiiNES. No one, as I suppose, either foreseeing or 
 suspecting the thing, {you know how these matters 
 are generally done by you,) ^schines was nomi- 
 nated as deputy, and chosen by a shew of three or 
 
 four hands. 
 
 Clothed with this honor from the City, he came to 
 the Amphictyonic Council, and disregarding every- 
 thing else, hastened to accomplish the purpose for 
 which he was hired. Putting together specious and 
 false statements as to the origin of the dedication of 
 the Kirrhsean plain, as he had to deal only with the 
 presbyters who were simple and unsuspecting, he 
 persuaded them to resolve upon a perambulation of 
 the district which the Amphissians declared they 
 were cultivating as their own, but which he pro- 
 nounced to be within the sacred precincts. The 
 Locrians had then no controversy Λvith us, as he has 
 falsely asserted here to-day. You may know the 
 truth from this. It was impossible, I suppose, for 
 the Locrians to have had a controversy with us, Avith- 
 out first sending us a citation. Λ\Ίιο ever summoned 
 you? In whose archonship was it done? Name 
 him, if he is known— shew it. You cannot. This 
 hollow artiiice you made use of, and you falsified. 
 
168 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 Λ\Τιίΐ8ΐ the Amphictyons were perambulating the 
 plain, in pursuance of ^schines's advice, the Locrians 
 fell upon them and almost destroyed them all, even 
 carrying off some of the presbyters. Accusations 
 following, and hostilities being in consequence im- 
 minent, Cottyphus was at first appointed to lead an 
 army composed of Amphictyons against the Amphis- 
 sians. But as some of the troops did not come at 
 all, and as those that came did nothing, the traitors 
 among the Thessalians, and in the other cities, who 
 were on the lookout, forthwith urged the choice of 
 Philip as general at the approaching Council : and 
 they made use of specious arguments. For they said, 
 they must either raise a subsidy for the support of an 
 army of mercenaries and fine those who did not con- 
 tribute, or select Philip. AMiy waste words about 
 this? Philip was chosen general ; and immediately 
 drawing his forces together, and advancing as if 
 against Ivirrha, he bade good-bye forever to the Kir- 
 rhicans and Locrians, and forthwith took possession 
 of Elatea. 
 
 If the Thebans upon witnessing this had not at 
 once changed their minds, and taken sides with you, 
 the whole thing would have burst upon our City like 
 a mountain torrent. :NOw, indeed, for the moment 
 they stopped him ;— chiefly, men of Athens, through 
 the kindness of some divinity to you, next, as much 
 as lay in the power of one man, through me. 
 
 Give me the decrees, and the dates in which every- 
 
 [151—155.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 169 
 
 thing took place, that you may see how one infamous 
 head has brought about, unpunished, these great 
 misfortunes. Read the decrees. 
 
 DECKER 
 
 " In the priesthood of Clinagoras at the Spring Council, it 
 was resolved by the deputies and councillors of the Amphictyons, 
 as well as by the General Assembly, that whereas the Amphis- 
 sians have entered upon the sacred district, sowing grain there- 
 upon, and dividing it up for pasturage, the deputies and coun- 
 cillors are directed to mark its boundaries by proper monuments, 
 and to forbid the Amphissians from trespassing for the future." 
 
 ANOTHER DECREE. 
 
 " In the priesthood of Clinagoras, at the Spring Sessions, it 
 was resolved by the deputies and councillors of the Amphicty- 
 ons, and by the General Assembly, that whereas the Amphis- 
 sians have entered upon the sacred plain, and have ploughed it 
 and divided it up for pasturage, and when forbidden to proceed 
 have assembled in arms and resisted the General Assembly of 
 the Greeks with violence, and wounded some of their number, 
 it is now ordered that Cottyphus, the Arcadian chosen as Gen- 
 eral of the Amphictyons, be despatched to Philip of Macedon to 
 request him to come to the aid of Apollo and the Amphictyons, 
 and not to suffer the God to be insulted by the impious Am- 
 phissians; and that therefore the Greeks assembled in the 
 Amphictyonic Council have elected him as their General with 
 absolute powers." 
 
 Read me now the dates at which these things took 
 place : they happened whilst ^schines was an Am- 
 phictyonic deputy. Read. — 
 
170 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 DATES. 
 
 '* Mnesitheidea being Archon, on the sixteenth day of the 
 month Anthesterion." 
 
 Give me now the letter which, as the Thehans 
 did not respond to liini, Philip sent to his allies in 
 Peloponnesus. You may see clearly from it he was 
 concealing the true aspect of the measures he was 
 adopting against Greece and the Thehans and your- 
 selves, whilst he was pretending to act for the com- 
 mon interest under the orders of the Amphictyons. 
 These pretexts and these shams this man furnished 
 him with. Read. — 
 
 PHILIP'S LETTER. 
 
 "Philip, King of the Macedonians, to the Magistrates and 
 Councillors of the Peloponnesian allies, and to the other allies, 
 Greeting. Whereas the Locrians called Ozolian dwelling in 
 Amphissa have profaned the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and 
 with arms in their hands have violated the sacred plain, now, 
 with your assistance, I desire to avenge the God, and to punish 
 the men who have committed these sacrilegious acts. We ask 
 you, therefore, to assemble with arms in Phocis, supplied with 
 provisions for forty days, in the coming month of Loos, as we 
 style it, called Boedromion by the Athenians, and Panemus by 
 the Corinthians. Those who shall so assemble in mass Avith us 
 we shall treat as friends, and those not joining us as enemies." 
 
 See how he avoids speaking of his private ends, 
 and skulks hehind Amphictyonic reasons. IVho sup- 
 
 [155—161.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHOX. 
 
 171 
 
 plied him with these pretexts ? ΛλΠιο prepared them 
 for him ? AVho has heen the head and front of all 
 the evils which have thus been wrought? Is it not 
 this man ? Do not go about, Athenians, saying that 
 Greece has suffered all her woes from one man. 
 Heavens and earth ! It has not been from one man, 
 but from many wretches found in every city. And 
 ^schines is one of them; whom, were I bound to 
 speak nothing but the literal truth, I should not hesi- 
 tate to denounce as a common pest, the cause of all 
 the destruction of men, places, and cities, that after- 
 wards took place. The sower of the seed is the 
 author of the crop of ruin Λvhich springs up. How 
 you can look upon him without at once turning 
 away, I wonder ; but there is a veil, it seems to me, 
 between you and the truth. 
 
 It has happened to me, in handling the various acts 
 done by this man against his country, to touch upon 
 matters which I myself proposed in opposition to 
 him. For many reasons, Athenians, I desire you to 
 hear me upon them; but chiefly because, it ΛνοηΜ 
 be disgraceful in you not to be willing to listen to 
 the account of that which I spent so much labor in 
 accomplishing. » 
 
 Seeincr then that the Thehans, and you too, influ- 
 enced by those who Avere doing Philip's work— the 
 corrupt men in each city— Avere overlooking and not 
 providing for what was dangerous and to be guarded 
 against by you, namely, suffering Philip's strength to 
 
172 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 increase whilst you were hating and quarrelling with 
 each other, I was ever on the lookout to prevent this 
 being accomplished. JSOr did I thus act from my 
 own opinion alone; for I well knew that Aristo- 
 phon and Eubulus, who diifered greatly as to other 
 matters, had ever desired to bring about this friendly 
 feeling, — being always of one mind upon this point. 
 Those men, vile wretch, whom you fawned upon 
 when livinor you are not now ashamed to attack 
 when dead ! For in inveighing against me about 
 the Theban alliance, you bring a much graver accu- 
 sation against them, since they advised the measure 
 long before I did. 
 
 But I must go back now. — AVhen ^schines had 
 got up the Araphissian w^ar, and whilst others, uni- 
 ting with him here, Λvere Λvorking up this enmity 
 against Thebes, Philip was marching against you; 
 this was the purpose for Λvhich these men had em- 
 broiled the two cities. And if we liad not bestirred 
 ourselves a little we should not have been able to 
 recover, so far forward had they brought the matter. 
 In what position you stood to each other you shall 
 learn from these decrees and answers. 
 
 Read now the decrees. 
 
 DECREE. 
 
 " In the archonship of Heropythus, on the twenty-fifth day 
 of the month Elaphebolion, in the presidency of the Erectheian 
 tribe, it was resolved, by the advice of the Council and Gen- 
 erals, as follows : Whereas Philip has taken possession of certain 
 
 [161—166.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 173 
 
 cities of our neighbors, and is besieging others ; but, above all, 
 is preparing to march against Attica, disregarding our treaties, 
 and intending to break his oath and the peace, and to overturn 
 our common engagements, therefore it is resolved by the Coun- 
 cil and the people to send ambassadors to Philip, who shall 
 confer with him, and endeavor to persuade him, above all, to 
 keep faithfully his agreements and treaties with us ; or if not, at 
 least to give sufficient time to the City to deliberate, and to 
 grant an armistice until the month Thargelion. There have 
 been chosen as deputies from the Council, Simus of Anagyrus, 
 Euthydemus of Phlyus, Bulagoras of Alopeke." 
 
 ANOTHER DECREE. 
 " In the archonship of Heropythus, on the last day of the 
 month Munychion, it was resolved, by the advice of the Pol- 
 emarch : AVhereas Philip is endeavoring to bring the Thebans 
 into hostilities with us, and is preparing to take possession, with 
 all his forces, of the places bordering upon Attica, disregarding 
 the existing treaties between us, it is resolved by the Council 
 and people to send a herald and envoys unto him to endeavor to 
 persuade him to grant an armistice, that the people may have 
 an opportunity to consider the matter, for the people has not 
 now determined to march out in the event of anything reason- 
 able. Were chosen as envoys from the Council, Nearchus, son 
 of Sosinomus ; Polycrates, son of Epiphron ; and as herald from 
 the people, Eunomus, the Anaphlystian." 
 
 Read now Philip's answers. 
 
 ANSWER TO THE ATHENIANS. 
 
 "Philip, King of Macedon, to the Council and people of 
 
 Athens, Greeting. 
 
 " I am not ignorant of the design which you have had from 
 the beginning, and which you vehemently desire to carry out, of 
 
174 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 gaining over the Thessalians and Thebans, as well as the Bceo- 
 tians. They, however, have thought better of this matter, and 
 do not wish to adopt your views, but to stand by their own in- 
 terest. You now turn round and send a herald and envoys to 
 remind us of our treaties, and to ask for an armistice, although 
 you have been in no wise wronged by us. I have listened, how- 
 ever, to your envoys, and am ready to accede to your demand 
 and grant the armistice, if you will dismiss your evil counsel- 
 lors, and disgrace them as they deserve. Farewell." 
 
 ANSWER TO THE THEBANS. 
 
 "Philip, King of Macedon, to the Council and people of 
 Thebes, Greeting. I have received your letter, in which you 
 renew concord and peace with me. But I understand that the 
 Athenians have been using efforts to induce you to join them in 
 carrying out their plans. At first I blamed you for suffering 
 yourselves to be persuaded by their promises to follow their 
 advice. But knowing now that you earnestly seek to preserve 
 peace with me rather than to follow the opinions of others, I 
 rejoice and praise you on many accounts, but chiefly because in 
 so acting you have consulted your own safety, and preserve your 
 kind feelings towards me. It will, I hope, be of no small im- 
 portance to you if you abide in this purpose. Farewell." 
 
 ^ Philip, having thus by these means embroiled the 
 cities, pufied up by the decrees and liis answers to 
 them, advanced with his forces against Elatea and 
 took possession of it, tliinking that happen what 
 might, you and the Thebans would never be united. 
 Though you all know the alarm which this caused to 
 Athens, hear from me a few words about it, and 
 these only the most necessary. 
 
 fl66_171.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 175 
 
 « 
 
 It was evening. — A messenger arrived to inform 
 the Presidents that Elatea was taken. Immediately 
 rising from supper, some of them drove fronr their 
 tents those who Λvere engaged in traffic in the mar- 
 ket-place, and set fire to the booths; whilst others 
 sent for the generals, and called out the trumpeter : 
 great was the excitement in the City. The next 
 morning at daybreak the Presidents called the 
 Council together in their Chamber, and you all as- 
 sembled in public meeting ;— before the Council had 
 advised or offered anything for consideration, every 
 deme w^as seated in its place upon the hill-side. 
 ΛYhen the Council arrived, and the Presidents pro- 
 claimed the news, and introduced the messenger who 
 spoke out his message, the herald demanded, "λΥ\ιο 
 desires to address the meeting?" No one stood 
 forth. After the herald had many times made the 
 same demand, no one responded, although all the 
 generals, all the orators were present, and their coun- 
 try by her common voice called upon each citizen to 
 advise concerning her safety; for when the herald 
 lifted up his voice, according to law, it is right to 
 call it the common voice of our country. If it be- 
 hooved all who desired the salvation of their country 
 to come forward, all of you and the rest of the Athe- 
 nians would have stood up, and mounted the plat- 
 form ; for all, I well know, desired her salvation. 
 Had it concerned the rich in particular, the three 
 hundred would have risen up. Had it concerned 
 
176 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 those who were both warmly attached to their coun- 
 try and also wealthy, they who immediately after- 
 wards gave largely for the common interests would 
 have been there, for they gave from patriotism as 
 well as wealth. But, as it appeared, the day and the 
 occasion required not merely a rich and patriotic 
 citizen, but one who had followed the subject from 
 the very beginning, and could correctly understand 
 why it was that Philip was thus acting, and what was 
 his ulterior purpose. He who was ignorant of this, 
 or who had not followed it carefully for a long time, 
 was totally unfit, notwithstanding his patriotism and 
 his Avealth, either to see what it was necessary to do^ 
 or to advise you how to do it. 
 
 / was the man who appeared on that day, and 
 who, ascending the platform, addressed you. AVhat I 
 then told you, you should now listen to attentively for 
 two reasons : first, that you may know that I alone, 
 of all the orators and counsellors, did not desert the 
 patriot's post in that hour of danger, but both by 
 speech and written decrees advised what was most 
 useful to you in your time of peril; next, because 
 by spending a little time upon this you will much 
 more readily comprehend all the rest of the policy 
 of the day. I spoke as follows : " Those persons, I 
 thought, who were greatly troubled at the Thebans 
 being under Philip's control, ignored the real state 
 of things, for I well knew that if this had been the 
 case we should have not only heard of Philip being 
 
 ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 177 
 
 [171—177.] 
 
 in Elatea, but on our very borders. I was clearly, 
 however, of opinion that he was coming to Thebes 
 to bring this about. — How the matter now stands," 
 I said, " hear from me. 
 
 " Philip has won over many of the Thebans by 
 bribing some and deceiving others : those, however, 
 who have withstood him from the first, and are now 
 opposed to him, he will in no wise be able to gain. 
 AVhat, then, is his purpose, and why has he occupied 
 Elatea? By making a great shew of strength and 
 displaying his arms he has raised up and inspired 
 confidence in his adherents, and to the same extent 
 depressed his enemies. He will thus compel these 
 last either to join him through fear, which they do 
 not wish to do, or they will be crushed out com- 
 pletely. If, therefore," said I, " we are now disposed 
 to remember the old offences of the Thebans against 
 us, and to distrust them as enemies, we shall be doing 
 exactly what Philip wants; and I fear that even those 
 of them who are now unfriendly will join him, and 
 then all having Philippized with one consent, he and 
 they will march together against Attica. 
 
 " If you will listen to me, and look dispassion- 
 ately at what I am going to propose, I think I can 
 shew what is best to be done, and remove the present 
 danger from the City. AVhat, then, do I propose? 
 
 '* First of all dispel your present apprehension, and 
 feel and fear for the Thebans. The danger is much 
 nearer to them than to us, for to them the peril is 
 
 14 
 
178 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 immediate. Next, let all who are able march at once 
 Avitli the cavalry to Eleusis, that ever}^ one may see 
 you are in arms. Your partisans in Thebes will thus 
 be enabled to speak out freely on the right side 
 equally with their opponents, when they know that 
 while there is a force at Elatea to back up the traitors 
 who have sold their country to Philip, you are pre- 
 pared to stand by them and assist them, should any 
 one attack them, while they desire to contend for 
 their country's freedom. 
 
 "Further, I recommend that ten ambassadors be 
 chosen, with equal power with the generals, to fix 
 the time for going thither and for the march out. 
 AVhen the ambassadors shall reach Thebes, how do 
 I propose the question shall be dealt with ? Give 
 me here your earnest attention. Endeavor to obtain 
 nothing from the Thebans, (to attempt it at such a 
 time would be base,) but say to them Λνβ have come 
 to aid them, if they desire it, in their time of ex- 
 treme peril, as we foresee better than they what is 
 going to happen. Should they accept our offer, 
 and hearken to us, we shall have obtained Aviiat we 
 w^ish, and our conduct will wear a color worthv of 
 the City; should we be unsuccessful, then they will 
 have themselves to blame for havinor mismanatred 
 their business, and we shall have done nothing 
 mean or dishonorable." 
 
 Having thus spoken, and much more to the same 
 effect, I descended and sat down. Every one con- 
 
 [177_18L] OX BEHALF OF CTESIPHOX. 
 
 179 
 
 curred. Xot a dissenting voice w^as heard. I not 
 only spoke thus, but I wrote the decree ; I not only 
 Avrote the decree, but I went on the embassy ; I not 
 only w^ent on the embassy, but I persuaded the The- 
 bans. I went through with everything from the be- 
 ginning to the end, and gave myself up entirely to 
 you, in the existing danger to the City. Bring me 
 the decree w^hicli w^as then passed. 
 
 AVhat name then, ^schines, do you wish me to 
 affix to you and what to myself upon that day ? Shall 
 I call myself Batalus, as you have done, slandering 
 and vilifying me; and you not merely a common 
 hero, but one from the stage, Chresphontes, or 
 Creon, or (Enomaus, w^hom you played once at Col- 
 lyttus, and broke down so abominably in ? On that 
 day I, Batalus the Paeanian, seemed to be worth 
 much more to our country than you, (Enomaus the 
 Cothocidian. You, indeed, w^ere not of the slightest 
 use to her; w^iile I did everything which became the 
 good citizen. Read the decree : 
 
 THE DECREE OF DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 ** In the archonship of Nausicles, in the presidency of the 
 jEantian tribe, on the sixteenth day of the month Scirophorion, 
 Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes of Paeania, moved as follows: 
 Whereas Philip, King of Macedon, has been shewn in the past 
 to have violated the treaties of peace made between him and the 
 Athenian people, and to have broken his oaths, and what is 
 accounted just by all the Greeks, taking possession of cities not 
 belonging to him, even capturing some belonging to the Athe- 
 
180 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 nians, by whose people he has been in no wise wronged : and 
 whereas he is now proceeding largely by violence and cruelty, 
 placing garrisons in some Greek cities and destroying their in- 
 dependence; overthrowing others, and reducing the inhabitants 
 to slavery ; in some of them even planting Barbarians in place 
 of Greeks, and giving them possession of their temples and 
 sepulchres ; in all this not acting inconsistently with his coun- 
 try and his own character in thus using in excess his present 
 fortune, in utter oblivion of his having become unexpectedly 
 great by accident from a humble beginning: and whereas the 
 Athenian people, whilst it saw him taking cities of Barbarians 
 and its own, deemed it a matter of less importance that it was 
 wronged by him ; but now that it has witnessed Grecian cities, 
 some insulted and others ravaged by Philip, it considers it a 
 great outrage, and to be unworthy of its ancestral glory to look 
 on and see the Greeks enslaved : Therefore, it is resolved by the 
 Council and people of Athens, addressing themselves and sacri- 
 ficing to the Gods and tutelary heroes, under whose protection 
 the City and territory of the Athenians are, and laying to heart 
 the virtue of their forefathers, who watched over the freedom 
 of the Greeks with more solicitude than they did over their own 
 country, that they will send a fleet of two hundred ships to sea, 
 Avhose admiral shall sail up into the straits of Thermopyhe, and 
 their general and commander of horse shall lead our infantry 
 and cavalry to Eleusis; and also that ambassadors be sent to the 
 other Grecian cities, and first to Thebes, as Philip is nearer to 
 their country, to exhort them to be in no wise in dread of him, 
 and to hold fast to their own and the common liberties of Greece, 
 assuring them that the Athenian people has dismissed from her 
 recollection any old animosities between the two cities, and will 
 now assist the Thebans with her power and her means, and with 
 military engines and with arms, regarding it as honorable to con- 
 tend with each other for the headship of their common country, 
 but deeming it unworthy of their glory and the virtue of their 
 
 [181—189.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 181 
 
 ancestors to submit to the rule of a man of foreign race, and to 
 abandon their leadership to him. 
 
 " Moreover, the Athenian people does not regard the people 
 of Thebes as alien in descent or race, and bears in mind the 
 acts of kindness shewn by their ancestors to the ancestors of the 
 Thebans. For when the descendants of Hercules were kept 
 out of their hereditary sovereignty by the Peloponnesians, 
 Athens restored them to it, subduing with force of arms those 
 who were endeavoring to resist the posterity of Hercules. We 
 also received and succored (Edipus and his banished com- 
 panions, and have rendered many other acts of kindness and 
 good-will to the Thebans. 
 
 " AVherefore the Athenian people w^ill not now withhold its 
 assistance from the Thebans and the other Greeks. Let an 
 alliance then be entered into with them, with the right of in- 
 termarriage, and let oaths be mutually given and received : 
 Ambassadors, Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes of Pseania; 
 Hyperides, son of Cleander of Sphettium ; Mnesitheides, son 
 of Antiphanes of Phrearrii ; Democrates, son of Sophilus of 
 Phlyus ; Callieschrus, son of Diotimus of Cothocidae." 
 
 This was the beghining and foundation of our 
 connection Λvit]l Thebes, tlie two Cities before this 
 liaving been plunged by these men into hatred, dis- 
 trust, and enmity. And this decree dispelled the 
 danger which menaced the City like the morning 
 mists. Then was the moment for an honest poli- 
 tician to proclaim a better counsel than the one 
 adopted;— and not now to rail at what had been 
 done. For the statesman and the demagogue, dif- 
 fering in everything, are in this respect most unlike: 
 the former states his views openly before the crisis, 
 
182 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 and makes himself responsible for them to those who 
 give heed to him, to fortune, to the season of action, 
 to every one;— the latter, silent Avhen lie should 
 speak, the moment misfortune happens, is loud- 
 tongued in abuse of all that has been done. Then, 
 as I said before, was the time for the upright coun- 
 sellor to speak, and for wise counsels. 
 
 But I will state this extreme proposition. If even 
 now any one can shew anything better, in whole or 
 in part, than what I then advised, I λυϊΙΙ confess that 
 I was wrong. If any one can to-day shew anything 
 different, which if then done would have availed, I 
 agree that it should not have escaped me. But if 
 there is and was no such thing, and no one can even 
 now suggest it, Λvhat was the true counsellor to do? 
 Was it not to choose the best thing that presented 
 itself? — This I then did, ^schines, when the herald 
 proclaimed, ''Who present desires to give advice,"— 
 not, "AVho wishes to quarrel Avith the past,"— nor, 
 "AVho wishes to forecast the future." You then sat 
 silent in the Assembly, whilst I came forAvard and 
 spoke.— But although you spoke not at that time, do 
 it now. Tell us what measures would then have been 
 useful; — what favorable chance was then overlooked: 
 what alliance, what conjuncture in which I should 
 have placed my countrymen, was omitted? 
 ^ The past is taken from us all,— no one undertakes to 
 advise about it : it is the future, it is the present which 
 requires the exhibition of counsel. At that time 
 
 [189—195.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 183 
 
 there were dangers in the future, there were dangers 
 actually pressing. Scrutinize the choice of the means 
 I then selected, but do not carp at the result. For^the 
 end is, as the Master of all things decrees ; but It is 
 the choice of a policy which displays the judgment 
 of the statesman. Do not, then, regard it as my 
 wront^ because it chanced to Philip to succeed in the 
 contlict :— the issues Λvere in God's hands, not mme. 
 Shew me, however, that I did not select every means 
 according to the best human calculation, working in 
 this justly, and carefully, and laboriously even be- 
 yond my strength, or that I did not propose what 
 was honorable and becoming and necessary to the 
 City ; shew me this, and then find fault with me. 
 If the impending blow was too powerful not only 
 for us but for all Greece to ward off, what is it right 
 to do ? Is it not as if the merchant Avho has pro- 
 vided every proper equipment for his vessel, and has 
 done everything for its safety, when it has encoun- 
 tered a storm, and the rigging and tackle are broken 
 and shattered, should be condemned as the author of 
 the shipwreck? — "I was not the master of the ship," 
 he might say.— "Nor was I the general, nor the 
 master of Fortune who herself controlled everything." 
 Just look at tlie thing and reflect for a moment.— 
 If, while fighting as allies of the Thebans, it befell 
 us as it did, what was not to have been expected, if, 
 instead of having them on our side, they had been 
 with Philip, for which end he had used every persua- 
 
184 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 [195—200.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 185 
 
 sion ? And if so great a fear and danger menaced 
 and overcame us when the battle was fouglit three 
 days' distance from Attica, wliat might not have been 
 expected had the disaster occurred upon our very 
 soil ? Do you not see that we had time to stand, to 
 meet together, to breatlie? IVIucli did one day, two 
 days, three, enable us to do for the safety of the City. 
 On the other hand — but it is wrong even to speak of 
 what the City has been spared tlirough the benefi- 
 cence of some deity, and by the protection of this 
 very alliance which you have been assailing. 
 
 All that I have been saying— perhaps too much— 
 on this subject, is addressed to you, judges, and to 
 the by-standers who are listening: to this abominable 
 fellow, a short and plain reply shall suffice. If the 
 future, ^schines, was foreknown to you alone, when 
 the City Λvas deliberating upon these matters, you 
 should then have spoken out. If you did not foresee 
 any more than the rest, you are as much responsible 
 as they. Why should you tben rather accuse me as 
 to the result than I you? I, indeed, was a better 
 citizen so far as these matters are concerned, (I refer 
 now to nothing else), inasmuch as I gave myself up 
 to what seemed to be for the general good, neither 
 shrinking from nor taking thought of any danger, 
 whilst you neither proposed anything better, (or my 
 measures would not have been adopted,) nor in any 
 wise gave your aid towards what liad been agreed 
 upon. You were found to have acted, after the 
 
 result, as the City's worst and most malignant ene- 
 mies -—while Aristratus at Naxos, and Aristolaus 
 at Thasos, accuse the friends of the Athenians, at 
 Athens Demosthenes is denounced by ^schines. 
 But he by whom the misfortunes of Greece are 
 hoarded up to build a reputation upon is himself 
 deserving of utter condemnation, — not to be the ac- 
 cuser of others ; and he who profits, along Λvith his 
 country's enemies, by her misfortunes, can never be 
 regarded as lier well-wislier. You stand confest, 
 then, from your life and conduct, from your speech, 
 from your silence. Is anything to be advised for the 
 benefit of Athens, JEschines sits dumb. Does an 
 unforeseen reverse occur, ^scliines is on his feet. — 
 Just as when disease overtakes the body, old sores 
 and sprains break out to w^orry it. 
 
 Since, however, ^schines insists so strongly upon 
 the result, I desire to enounce a proposition which 
 may at first seem paradoxical. Do not, in the name 
 of Jupiter and all the Gods, be astounded at it be- 
 cause it seems extreme, but listen without prejudice 
 to what I am about to say. Had the issue been 
 already known to you all, — had all foreseen it, and 
 had you, ^schines, bawled yourself hoarse in pro- 
 claiming it,— although you uttered not a whisper, 
 — even then the City should not have hesitated to 
 undertake what she did, having regard to her true 
 glory, to our ancestors, to posterity. Now indeed 
 she appears to have been unsuccessful, which is a 
 
 ^' 
 
186 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 common chance Avhen the Gods so will it. But then 
 she would have incurred the reproach of delivering 
 over the Greeks to Philip, if after claiming the head- 
 ship of all Greece she had voluntarily descended from 
 it. Had she then resiorned without a struirirle that 
 which our forefathers spared no dangers to achieve, 
 w^ho would not then have spit upon you, ^Eschines, 
 —not upon me, not upon the City ? AVith what eyes, 
 good God, could w^e have looked upon strangers 
 visiting the City, had the result been what it is and 
 Philip been chosen tlie lord and master of us all, the 
 rest of our countrvmen, without us, contestins: his 
 claim? Especially when in bygone days our City 
 had shrunk from no danger in the cause of honor, 
 rather than repose in an inglorious security. What 
 Greek indeed, what Barbarian does not know that 
 the Thebans-, and the Lacedemonians before them 
 all-powerful, and the Persian king himself, would 
 thankfully and readily have permitted Athens to take 
 what she wislied and to keep her own, liad she been 
 willing to obey the behests of the stranger and suffer 
 him to assume the command of Greece ? But such 
 things, as it seemed to the Athenians of those days, 
 were neither patriotic, nor natural, nor supportable; 
 nor could any one in all past time have prevailed 
 upon the City to succumb to the powerful evil-doer, 
 sitting down in safe submission. No, she ever en- 
 countered every peril, in the contention for the first 
 place, and for honor and glory. And you, your- 
 
 [200—207.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 187 
 
 selves, regard this conduct as so august, and as so 
 conformable to your own thoughts and feelings, that 
 those of your ancestors who have so acted are held 
 by you in the highest esteem. And properly : for 
 who does not admire the virtue of the men who pre- 
 ferred to quit their city and their country, and em- 
 bark upon their ships, rather than endure servitude, 
 electing to their command Themistocles, Λvho had so 
 counselled them ; nay, even stoning to death Kyr- 
 silus, who had advised submission :— not only him, 
 but your wives also putting his wife to death. Those 
 Athenians sought not an orator or a general by Avhom 
 they might be enslaved; they preferred not to live, 
 unless they could live free. Each one of them be- 
 lieved that he was born, not only for his father and 
 his mother, but for his country also.— And the dif- 
 ference is this.— He who thinks that he is born for 
 his parents only, waits for his appointed and natural 
 end : but he who thinks he belongs to his country 
 also, prefers to die rather than to see her enslaved, 
 and fears more than death itself, the insults and 
 dishonor \vhich must be borne Λvhen his city is 
 
 enthralled. 
 
 AVere I to assert that it was I who had induced 
 you to adopt resolves worthy of your ancestors, there 
 is none who might not justly reprove me. I now 
 proclaim that these resolves were your own, and that 
 the same opinions were held by the City before my 
 time. I onlv sav that some of the credit from each 
 
188 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 of these measures should be given to me. But this 
 fellow, who finds fault with everything, and who is 
 instigating you to condemn me as the author of all 
 the City's alarms and calamities, is striving to de- 
 prive me, indeed, of this present honor, but is taking 
 away from you your just eulogy for all time to come. 
 For if you now convict Ctesiphon by condemning 
 me as not having pursued the best policy, then will 
 you appear to have erred, and not to have suffered 
 what has happened from the injustice of Fortune. 
 But you have not, you have not erred, Athenians, 
 in encountering peril for the liberties and safety of 
 your countrymen. I swear it by the spirits of your 
 fathers, who went forth to face death at Marathon, 
 by the men who stood in battle array at Plata3a, by 
 those who fought by sea at Salamis and Artemisium, 
 by the throng of Avorthies now reposing in the public 
 sepulchres, — all gallant men, — all buried by the City 
 as deserving of the same honor. — Yes, ^schines, 
 all, — not the victorious and successful only, — all : — 
 and justly. For all alike did the work of noble 
 men, and all were subject to the influence of that 
 fortune which the Divinity assigned to each. And 
 you, accursed scribe, have been talking of the tro- 
 phies and battles and great deeds of the olden time, 
 wishing to rob me of the good opinion and honor of 
 mv countrymen. AVhich one of those deeds does 
 this present controversy stand in need of? But, oh 
 third-rate actor, when the City's leadership of Greece 
 
 [207—212.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 189 
 
 was in question, in what disposition did it become 
 me to advise when I arose to speak ? Was it to 
 counsel something unworthy of these our citizens ? 
 —I had been justly put to death had I done so ! 
 —My fellow-citizens, you should in no wise delib- 
 erate in the same manner in a private controversy 
 and upon a public question. In matters of every- 
 day life you must be governed by the particular facts 
 and the laws applicable to them ; in aflairs of State 
 you must judge in a spirit worthy of your ancestors. 
 And when you are called to decide public questions, 
 each one of you, along with his badge and stafl:^ of 
 office, must take up the spirit of the City, if you 
 deem it your duty to act worthily of your ancestors. 
 
 In speaking, however, of the exploits of your fore- 
 fathers, I have passed over certain decrees and trans- 
 actions which I now wish to advert to. I therefore 
 return to the place whence I digressed. 
 
 AVhen we reached Thebes we found there Philip's 
 ambassadors, as well as those of the Thessalians and 
 the other allies,-"Our friends dismayed, theirs jubi- 
 lant. And to prove that I do not say this to aid my 
 cause, read the letter which our envoys at once sent 
 home.— This fellow, however, has reached this pitch 
 of malignity, that Avhatever succeeds for us, he says, 
 is the result of fortune, not from me ; but if anything 
 turns out amiss, I and my ill-fortune are the cause. 
 Thus it seems, I the counsellor and speaker, accord- 
 ing to him, have no share in what is counselled or 
 
190 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 spoken ; while of any disaster to our arms, any defect 
 in generalsliip, I alone am to be treated as the author. 
 — AVhere will you find a more brutal or viler calum- 
 niator? — But read the letter. 
 
 LETTER.* 
 
 AVhen the Assembly met they gave speech first to 
 Philip's ambassadors, on account of their position as 
 allies, and these harangued the people in high praise 
 of Philip, and in abuse of you, rehearsing every hos- 
 tile act ever done by you against the Thebans. And 
 they summed up by saying that as the Thebans had 
 always experienced kindness from him they should be 
 favorable to Philip,— so, as they had ever been dealt 
 Λvith unjustly by you they should now^ take satisfac- 
 tion, as they might prefer,— either by letting loose 
 the allies upon you, or, by invading Attica them- 
 selves. And they described, as they thought, the 
 result of their advice, in the number of slaves and 
 cattle and other good things which would be poured 
 into Boeotia; w^hereas by acting upon our suggestions 
 they would be despoiled in like manner, if the war 
 should take place on Theban soil : — and much more 
 in the same strain. 
 
 ΛVhat we replied to all these things,— to all and 
 each of them,— I would give my life to tell you; but 
 I suppose, as the times have now passed by, you 
 
 * No documents are hereafter given, but merely their titles. 
 
 [212—216.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 191 
 
 would, in the belief that a deluge has sw^ept away 
 the whole matter, regard what was then said as an 
 idle tale. But what we succeeded in obtaining, and 
 what the Thebans replied to you, now hear. Take 
 this letter and read it. 
 
 LETTER. 
 
 As the result, they sent for and called you to them; 
 and you departed to their assistance. To pass over 
 what occurred in the interim,— they received you so 
 warmly, that Avhile their own troops w^ere without 
 the Λvalls, yours w^ere received into the citadel, into 
 their houses, among their wives and children, and 
 whatever they held most precious. And on that 
 occasion the Thebans pronounced before the whole 
 world the highest eulogium upon you, in thus testify- 
 ing to your courage, your justice, and your temper- 
 ance. For in electing to carry on the contest with 
 you, instead of against you, they adjudged you to be 
 both braver and justqr in your demands than Philip : 
 and in acting as they did in regard to what they 
 and all mankind guard most jealously— their wives 
 and children— they manifested their confidence in 
 your virtue. And in all this, Athenians, they shewed 
 they judged you rightly. For after your army en- 
 tered their city, no one made even an unjust charge 
 ao-ainst you, so decorous was your conduct:— and 
 twice taking part in the first engagements, the one at 
 the river, and the one during the winter, you shewed 
 
192 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 yourselves not only irreproachable, but admirable for 
 your discipline, your preparation, and your spirit. 
 Meanwhile praises poured in upon you from others, 
 and from yourselves processions and sacrifices to the 
 Gods. And I would here fain ask ^^schines whether 
 whilst this was taking place, and the City was over- 
 flowing with zeal, and joy, and commendations, he, 
 too, sacrificed and shared in the general exultation ; 
 or whether he sat still at home grieving and sorrow- 
 ing and disappointed at the public successes. If he 
 appeared and took part with the rest, does he not now 
 act strangely, or rather impiously, if, w^hen he him- 
 self at that time called upon the Gods as witnesses to 
 our success, he would now have you condemn all 
 this as ill done, after you had invoked the Gods in its 
 behalf? If he did not then shew^ himself, is he not 
 now rightly deserving of many deaths, because while 
 his fellow-citizens were filled with joy, he was look- 
 ing with disapproval upon all that w^as being done ? 
 Read now these decrees. 
 
 DECREES. 
 
 AVhilst we, therefore, were thus joyfully sacrificing, 
 and the Thebans were convinced they had been saved 
 by us, it was brought to pass that we, who, through 
 the machinations of ^schines and his friends, had 
 seemed to stand in need of assistance, were now 
 able, by following my advice, to assist others. What 
 cries Philip uttered, and in what straits he found 
 
 [21&— 221.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 193 
 
 himself in consequence, you shall hear from the let- 
 ters which he sent into Peloponnesus. Read them 
 now, that you may see whether my perseverance, 
 and journeys, and efforts, and the numerous decrees 
 wliich this man has been tearing to pieces, accom- 
 plished anything. 
 
 Athenians, you have had before my day many dis- 
 tinguished and great orators, the illustrious Callis- 
 tratus, Aristophon, Kephalus, Thrasybulus, and a 
 thousand others ; but none of them gave himself up 
 entirely to the State. lie who drew the decree did 
 not go on the embassy, and he Avho went as ambas- 
 sador did not write the decree. Each one reserved 
 some indulgence for himself, and in case of reverse 
 some means of recovery. ** AVhat, then," shall it be 
 asked, " do you surpass all others in strength and 
 boldness, as if you alone were able to do every- 
 thing?" — I do not say this :— but I felt the peril 
 which was pressing upon the City to be so great that 
 it seemed to me there was no room to give a thought 
 to individual security, but I must be content to leave 
 nothing undone which ought to be done for the 
 public safety. I was fully persuaded, — perhaps I 
 w^as wTong, — but I was fully persuaded that no one 
 could write decrees better than I, or do what w^as 
 to be done, or act as ambassador with more zeal or 
 more uprightness. For these reasons I placed my- 
 self in every position. Read now Philip's letters. 
 
 15 
 
194 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 To this condition did my policy reduce Philip, 
 ^schines ; this cry for assistance was he compelled 
 to utter throut^h mv action, — he who before this had 
 been used to utter threatening speeches against the 
 City. For this I was justly crowned by my fellow- 
 citizens, you though present not objecting; and Dion- 
 das, who attacked the decree, not obtaining even a 
 fifth part of the votes. Read me here the decrees 
 which Λvere absolved by the law, and which this man 
 did not attack. 
 
 DECREES. 
 
 These decrees, Athenians, first Avritten by Aris- 
 tonicus, recently by Ctesiphon, are in the self-same 
 words and syllables : and these decrees this ^schines 
 not only did not attack, but did not even join with 
 him who did. But if he now assails me fairlv, he 
 might then much more fairly have arraigned De- 
 monicles and Hyperides, Avho moved the decree. 
 And why ? Because Ctesiphon may \vell refer to 
 the decisions of the Courts and to the fact of ^s- 
 chines not attacking them then although they moved 
 the very same decrees which Ctesiphon is moving, 
 and to the laws barring further proceedings in such 
 cases, and to much more of the like nature. 
 
 Then the question would have been tried upon its 
 own merits, before any such advantage had been 
 
 [221—228.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 195 
 
 obtained. Then, methinks, it could not have been 
 done as he is now doing, raking up from old times 
 and decrees what no one knew of before, nor could 
 have supposed would be referred to to-day for the 
 purpose of slander, — perverting dates, and substi- 
 tuting false motives for the true ones, to give color to 
 what is said. This could not have then been done. 
 For the actual condition of things was then fresh, 
 and you yourselves cognizant of what had taken 
 place; and having, as it were, everything in your 
 hands, those decrees w^ould then have been perfectly 
 understood. But this fellow, avoiding proofs about 
 these matters at the time, comes here at this late 
 day, it seems, thinking you will make this a contest 
 of orators, instead of an inquiry into measures,— a 
 criticism of words, rather than of what was most 
 profitable to the public. 
 
 Then he sophisticates, and says, when you are here 
 as judges you should discard the opinions which you 
 had of us both at home. Just as w^hen you enter 
 upon a reckoning believing there is a surplus, if 
 there is found an exact balance and nothing remains, 
 you acquiesce in the result : so should you now pro- 
 ceed in the same way with the subject in hand. Only 
 look how plainly rotten in its nature is everything 
 which is not fairly done ! For, from this sophist's 
 own proposition, you must begin by assuming that I 
 had been speaking on my country's side, and he on 
 Philip's. He would not try to persuade you to the 
 
196 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 contrary, unless such was your first impression as to 
 each of us. That he is not acting fairly in asking 
 you to change this opinion I shall shew clearly — not 
 by counters, (that is not the way to deal with public 
 affairs,) but by briefly calling to remembrance each 
 prominent event, and using you who are listening, 
 both as witnesses and reckoners. 
 
 My policy, which he condemns, instead of letting 
 the Thebans come swooping down upon your coun- 
 try in concert with riiilij), which all expected, fixed 
 them on your side against him ; — instead of bringing 
 the war into Attica, kept it seven hundred stadia 
 from your City, on the Theban frontier; — instead of 
 cruisers from Euboea harassing you, Attica was kept 
 free from attack on the sea-side during the whole 
 w^ar; — instead of Philip controlling the Hellespont 
 by taking Byzantium, the Byzantines were on your 
 side aojainst him. Does this seem to be a result like 
 the casting of counters ? Is it right, or not, to 
 cancel all these things ; or to consider whether they 
 shall not rather be kept in remembrance forever? I 
 do not add, that when Philip became altogether 
 master, it was manifest others had the experience of 
 his harshness ; while of his kindness adopted with 
 ulterior view^s and displayed towards you, you for- 
 tunately reaped the fruits. I pass this over alto- 
 gether. 
 
 Moreover, I do not hesitate to say that he who 
 would criticise an orator fairly, and not slander him, 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 [228—235.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 197 
 
 does not find fault with such things as this man does, 
 fabricating instances, mimicking my words and per- 
 sonal appearance ! Do you not see how very im- 
 portant this is?— The policy of the Greeks is to 
 depend upon Avhether I made use of this word in- 
 stead of that, or whether I moved my hand in this 
 direction rather than in that! ^o\ he would have 
 examined the very facts themselves. AVhat resources, 
 what credit had the City when I entered into public 
 life? did I add to them whilst I was in power? and 
 what was the condition of our adversaries ? Then, 
 if I had diminished her means the blame would have 
 fallen on me upon his shewing it: if, on the con- 
 trary, I had much increased them, he should not 
 have 'calumniated me. Since you have avoided this 
 course, I shall adopt it. And do you, judges, see 
 that I present my argument fairly. 
 
 The resources of the City were confined at that 
 time to some of the islands, and those the weakest ; 
 for neither Chios, nor Rhodes, nor Corcyra were 
 with us. The amount of contributions reached but 
 forty-five talents, and even that was anticipated. Of 
 horsemen and foot there were none except the City 
 troops. But the thing most to be dreaded, and 
 which was most favorable to our enemies, was that 
 these men had brought all our neighbors much 
 nearer to a state of hostility than friendliness,— the 
 Megarians, the Thebans, the Euboeans. Such then 
 was^our condition, and no one can say it was other- 
 
198 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 wise. Look on the other hand at the position of 
 Philip with whom we were then contending. First 
 of all, he had the absolute control of his soldiery, 
 which in war is of the greatest importance. Next, 
 his troops were always handling their arms; — he 
 abounded in resources, and his hand was ready to 
 execute what his head conceived ; — he neither pro- 
 claimed his views in advance by decrees, nor was he 
 bound to express them openly, nor was he in dread 
 of hostile attacks, nor of prosecutions; — in line, he 
 was responsible to no one: — he was king, lord, 
 master. I Λvho was opposed to him, (it is proper 
 you should consider this too,) — what was I the master 
 of? [NOthing. Even the right to speak I did not 
 possess exclusively. This right you accorded equally 
 to those who were in Philip's pay and to me. And 
 whenever these men prevailed against me, (and 
 there was much of this as each one found a pretext,) 
 you Λvent away after really advising in your enemy's 
 behalf. 
 
 notwithstanding these great disadvantages, I con- 
 firmed the Euboeans, the Acheeans, the Corinthians, 
 the Thebans, the Megarians, the Leucadians, and 
 the Corcyrieans, as your allies. They furnished us 
 fifteen thousand men and two thousand horse over 
 and above the fiit^-'s^ own forces : and I obtained 
 from them as large a subsidy as I was able. Should 
 you discuss, ^schines, the fairness of our conditions 
 Λvith the Thebans, the Byzantines, the Euba'ans, and 
 
 [235—241.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 199 
 
 Others, and now find fault with them,-first, you are 
 ignorant that of the triremes used in the former 
 «""aval war by the Greeks,-three hundred in all,- 
 Athens supplied two hundred. Nor did she think 
 herself injured by this, or prosecute those who 
 advised it, or shew displeasure in regard to it,— 
 (this would have been base,)-but she rather gave 
 thanks to the Gods that in the common peril of 
 Greece she was able to furnish twice as many ships 
 as all the others towards the common safety. Be- 
 sides, you are bestowing an empty favor upon your 
 fellow-citizens in slandering me. AVhy do you now 
 tell us what should have been done then, when, 
 although present, you did not state your views, if in- 
 deed they were practicable ? In the existing juncture 
 we were obliged to accept not what we desired, but 
 the best that could then be obtained. There was a 
 man ready to bid against us, eager to welcome all 
 who might be driven from us, and prepared to lavish 
 money to secure his ends. 
 
 But if I am now to be blamed for what was actu- 
 ally done, what would you not have heard if, by 
 reason of my bargaining too closely, the allies had 
 <.one off from us and joined Philip, and he had re- 
 mained master with Euboea, Thebes, and Byzantium 
 
 united to him? 
 
 AVhat would not these faithless men have then 
 done and said? AVhy, that when the allies wished 
 to remain with us they had been surrendered and 
 
200 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 driven off;— tliat Philip had got command of the 
 Hellespont through the Byzantines, and could pre- 
 vent the transport of food to Greece ;— that an op- 
 pressive border war had been brought directly by 
 means of the Thebans into Attica;— that the sea 
 had been closed by the privateers who issued out of 
 Euboea.— AVould they not have said all this, and 
 much more of the same kind? 
 
 A wicked thing, Athenians, a wicked thing is the 
 calumniator always, thoroughly censorious and slan- 
 derous. This fellow, dishonest by nature, is incapable 
 from the beginning of doing anything straightfor- 
 ward and liberal ; this tragic ape, this rustic" (Eno- 
 maus, this counterfeit orator! In what has his skill 
 ever come to his country's aid ?— Do you now babble 
 to us about the past ?— Just as if the physician wlio 
 had been attending a sick man should give no advice, 
 nor prescribe anything by which the disease might be 
 cured, \vhen the patient dies and his funeral is taking 
 place, should follow him to the tomb, and there cry 
 out, " If this man had only done thus and so he 
 would have been alive to-day." Fool ! are you now 
 telling us all this ? 
 
 You will find, then, that the disasters to the City 
 which you, wretch that you are, are rejoicing over 
 instead of lamenting, were in no wise brought about 
 by me. You should look at it in this light.— Never 
 up to this time, when I was sent as ambassador by 
 you, did I return worsted by the ambassadors of 
 
 [241—247.] ON BEHALF OF fTfESiPHON. 201 
 
 Philip; neither from Thessaly, nor Ambracia, nor 
 from the Illvrians, nor the Thracian kings, nor from 
 Byzantium, nor from anywhere, nor, last of all, re- 
 cently from Thebes. But everything in wliich his 
 ambassadors were overcome by me in argument, 
 Avith arms in his hands he overthrew. AYhy then 
 do you demand an account from me of these things, 
 and whv are you not ashamed to sneer at my cow- 
 ardice, expecting me single-lianded to overcome 
 Philip's power, and this too by Avords? AVhat else 
 was I master of? Neither of the spirit of any one, 
 nor of the fortune of war, nor of the leadership ; yet 
 you demand of me an account of all this, — oblique 
 and indirect that you are ! Of everything which the 
 statesman should be answerable for, take the fullest 
 account :— I ask not to be excused. AVhat are these 
 things ?— To watch over the concoction of measures, 
 to ascertain them even in advance, to proclaim their 
 scope to the people. All this I did ; and everywhere, 
 the delays, doubts, ignorance, party spirit,— insepa- 
 rable defects of all our governments,— all these I re- 
 duced to a minimum, and even turned to harmony 
 and union^ and to an eitbrt to do w^hat was needed. 
 Yes, all this I did, and no one ever found anything 
 in this respect omitted by me. 
 
 Should any one ask, by what means then did Philip 
 obtain his ends ; would not all answer, by his army, 
 by his largesses, by corrupting those in office? I 
 neither controlled the City's forces, nor the general. 
 
202 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 nor am I therefore accountable for anvthins: done in 
 these respects. But in truth I did overmaster Philip 
 when I succumbed not to his offers. For as he who 
 is offering a bribe overcomes the receiv^er in pur- 
 chasing him, so the man who does not take the bribe 
 and is not corrupted triumphs over him who attempts 
 to buy him. — In this respect the City never suffered 
 defeat through me. 
 
 This is what I furnished to justify the inscription 
 of Ctesiphon's decree concerning me, — this and much 
 more of the same kind. AVhat you yourselves fur- 
 nished I will now state. Immediatelv after the 
 battle, the people, knowing and seeing all that I had 
 done, in the midst of their alarm and danger when it 
 ΛΛΌuld not have been surprising had many of them 
 felt unkindly towards me, took my advice before any 
 other as to the public safety. All that was done in 
 this direction, the ordering of the garrisons, the 
 digging of the trenches, the contribution for the 
 w^alls, was done under my decrees. Besides, I was 
 elected Conmiissioner for the supply of food over all 
 competitors. 
 
 My enemies immediately, banding together, and 
 plotting my ruin, stirred up against me prosecutions, 
 citations to account, impeachments, and all that sort 
 of thing, not at first through themselves, but princi- 
 pally through others, that they might not be recog- 
 nized. — For you must surely recollect and know that 
 at that time I was prosecuted almost every day ; and 
 
 [247—251.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 203 
 
 neither the headlong stupidity of Sosicles, the slan- 
 ders of Philocrates, the madness of Diondas and 
 Melantus, nor any other expedients were left untried 
 by them against me. In all these trials I was right- 
 eously acquitted; first through the favor of the Gods, 
 next through your sense of justice and that of the 
 other Athenians. I was declared to have been up- 
 right in everything, and this by the verdict of sworn 
 juries having due regard to their oaths. In the im- 
 peachments you not only acquitted me, but you re- 
 fused the fifth part of your votes to the prosecutors, 
 so correct did you adjudge my conduct to have been. 
 In the prosecutions I was shewn both to have coun- 
 selled and spoken strictly within the law. In the 
 audits of my accounts you pronounced that my con- 
 duct had been in all respects pure and upright. If 
 all this, then, was so, what title was it becoming or 
 proper for Ctesiphon to afiix to my conduct? Should 
 it not have been what the people had itself declared? 
 —what the sworn juries had pronounced ?— what 
 had ])een adjudged as the truth by every one? 
 
 But, says my accuser, what an honorable career 
 was that of Kephalus,— he never underwent a prose- 
 cution at all. And a lucky thing it was for him, by 
 Jupiter ! But is he not as much to be commended 
 who, though often prosecuted, has never yet been 
 convicted, ^and in everything of which he was ac- 
 cused is shewn to have acted uprightly ? Nay, more, 
 Athenians; so far as this ^schines is concerned I 
 
204 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 •can say what he said of Kephalus; for he himself 
 never either impeached or prosecuted me. So by 
 you yourself I am adjudged to be no whit an inferior 
 citizen to Kephalus. 
 
 The ill-will and malignity of ^schines we can see 
 on all sides, but nowhere is it more prominent than 
 in what he says about fortune. My own opinion is, 
 that the man who casts up to another his ill-fortune 
 acts most absurdly. Since when he believes he is 
 most successful and has his fortune most secure, he 
 does not know that it λυΙΙΙ last until evening, how 
 can he with any propriety plume himself upon it, or 
 reproach another with his ? But since he has spoken 
 in this way upon many subjects, and is most arrogant 
 in his contention about this, let us see, Athenians, 
 whether I shall not express myself with more truth 
 and humanity about fortune than he has done. I 
 regard the fortune of the City as good, and I find 
 that the Dodonean Jupiter has so declared to us ; but 
 the prevailing fortune of every one is at this time 
 hard and terrible. AVhat Greek, what Barbarian is 
 not at present suffering most severely ? I reo-ard it 
 especially as part of the City's good fortune that she 
 chose the nobler part, and so choosing has prospered 
 more than the very Greeks who thought that in be- 
 traying us they would be more successful than we. 
 To fail sometimes indeed, and not to have everything 
 succeed as we had expected, is only a part of that 
 common fatality which the City experienced when it 
 
 [251—257.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 205 
 
 fell upon us. My own private fortune or that of any 
 of us is, in my opinion, to be compared only with the 
 private fortune of others. This is my view of the 
 subject, and is probably also yours; and it seems to 
 me to be right and proper. But he who says that 
 my private fortune should control that of this great 
 Coriimonwealth, is comparing a little and insignificant 
 thing with a great and mighty one. How can this be ? 
 If, however, it pleases ^schines to criticise my 
 fortune, let him look to his own, and if he finds mine 
 better than his, let him cease carping at it. Look at 
 it, then, from the very beginning. And let no one, in 
 God's name, think there is anything heartless in my 
 making this comparison ! I think it most irrational 
 for anv one to insult poverty, or because a man has 
 been reared in prosperity that he should on that ac- 
 count take honor to himself. But in consequence of 
 the vituperations and slanders of this foul-tongued 
 fellow I am constrained to speak as I am about to 
 do ; I shall endeavor, however, to be as moderate as 
 
 I properly can. 
 
 I happened, ^schines, when a child to be sent to 
 proper schools, and to have sufficient means to pre- 
 vent my resorting to anything base or low. ΛVhen 
 I came to man's estate my conduct was conformable 
 to my education. I became choregus, trireme-mas- 
 ter, and was rated amongst the contributories to the 
 State's relief. I shrank from no duty public or 
 private by which I could be useful either to the City 
 
 I fi 
 
 , 
 
206 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 or my friends. AVhen I afterwards devoted myself 
 to public affairs, I performed political services for 
 which I was oftentimes honored with a crown, both 
 by my own country and the other Greeks : and never 
 could you my enemies assert that I put my hand to 
 anything that I should not liave properly undertaken. 
 This is the fortune that has chanced to me; and 
 although I might say much more about it, I pass it 
 by, as I wish no one to take oftence at mv referrinsr 
 to matters which have been honorable to me. 
 
 Let us now consider your fortune, great man that 
 you are, who have spit upon every one else, and see 
 what it has been. As a child you were brought up 
 in penury, attending on the school along with your 
 father, grinding the ink, sponging the seats, sweep- 
 ing out the room, and such like menial tasks, not 
 proper for a free-born youth. AVhen you emerged 
 from boyhood, you were employed in reading from 
 the books of your mother the diviner, and the like ; 
 at night, wrapping the initiated in fawn skins, pour- 
 ing water upon them, purifying them, rubbing them 
 down with clay and bran, raising them after the puri- 
 fication, and teaching them to chant "/Aare avoided 
 the bad, I have found the good :" you prided yourself 
 upon howling as no one else could, and I think my- 
 self—don't you, Athenians— that a man Λvho can 
 harangue so loudly must certainly have been able to 
 howl sonorously. In the daytime you led strolling 
 bands along the highways crowned with white poplar 
 
 [257—263.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 207 
 
 and fennel, pressing the big-jawed serpents, lifting 
 them over your head, bawling out Evoe Saboi, and 
 dancing to t^ refrain of Hyes Attes, Attes Hyes. 
 
 You were also called by the beldames their chorus- 
 leader, rhapsodist, basket-carrier, fan-bearer, and 
 such like names, receiving pay from them in sops, 
 cakes, and rolls. What man would not congratulate 
 himself, truly, upon such a fortune ? 
 
 You were next enrolled as a citizen,— how I know 
 not, but you were enrolled,-and you immediately 
 chose the noble employment of clerk and servant to 
 some petty official. Removed from this place, in 
 which you did everj^hing you have condemned 
 others for doing,— but not disgracing in it, by Jove, 
 any part of your past life,-you hired yourself to 
 those ranters called actors, Simylus and Socrates. 
 You played third-rate parts with them, picking up 
 the figs and grapes and olives which were thrown at 
 you, and as if you had been a fruit-dealer from the 
 rustic neighborhoods, you made more in this way 
 than from your acting; since you got nothing but 
 knocks from the spectators, from whom you had often 
 to run for your lives. For the war between you and 
 the audience was implacable and relentless. Many 
 hard knocks indeed you carried away with you, and 
 hence you look upon others as cowards who have not 
 had the like experience. 
 
 But as it might be urged your poverty was respon- 
 sible for most of these things, I now turn to the vices 
 
 ! '•! 
 
208 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 of your character itself. You played such a part 
 in public afiliirs (when you thought of taking to 
 them) that you led the life of a hare, in fear and 
 trembling when your country prospered, and even 
 expecting punishment for the crimes of which you 
 knew yourself guilty :— when adversity overtook us, 
 you strutted forth boldly in the sight of all. The 
 WTetch who can take courage from the death of a 
 thousand of his fellow-citizens, what should he not 
 justly suffer at the hands of the survivors ? I must 
 omit now much that I had intended to say about him, 
 feeling that I should not mention inconsiderately all 
 that is infamous and disgraceful, but only so much 
 as is not disgraceful for me to speak of 
 
 Let us, however, make a comparison of the cir- 
 cumstances of your life and mine, not rancorously, 
 but with moderation ; and then let us ask our fellow- 
 citizens which fortune they would any of them prefer 
 to have. 
 
 You taught in schools, I attended them; you 
 assisted at initiations, I \vas initiated in the hiirhest 
 mysteries ; you danced in choruses, I supplied them 
 to the people ; you were a petty scribe, I an orator ; 
 you acted third-rate parts, I was a spectator; you 
 broke down in them, I hissed; you brought forward 
 measures in favor of our enemies, I for my country: 
 — I omit the rest. To-day I am on trial for a crown, 
 but I am admitted to be guiltless of any crime; while 
 you are shewn to be a libeller and a calumniator, and 
 
 [263—269.] ON BEHALF OF OTESIPHON. 209 
 
 are even in danger whether you shall continue this 
 trade, or be driven from it by not receiving the fifth 
 part of the votes. A lucky fortune indeed (don't 
 you see) you have enjoyed,— and yet you find fault 
 
 with mine as bad I 
 
 Here now I Avill read to you the evidence of the 
 services I have rendered to the public, and do you 
 at the same time recite the verses which you once 
 murdered : 
 
 " From the drear tombs and darkness' gates I come ;" 
 
 and 
 
 " 111 to proclaim I wish not here to do." 
 
 May the Gods bring ill to you, and may your felFow- 
 citizens confound you, wdcked citizen and ^vretched 
 declaimer that you are ! Read the evidence. 
 
 EVIDENCE. 
 
 Such have I been in matters in which the State 
 was concerned. As to my private life, if you do not 
 all know I have ever been kind and liberal, com- 
 passionate to the unfortunate, I shall be silent;— I 
 shall neither speak nor offer testimony as to whether 
 I have ransomed citizens from captivity, or supplied 
 marriage portions to their daughters, or the like. 
 This is my view of such things. I am of opinion 
 that while the party obliged should never forget the 
 
 16 
 
210 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 obligation, he who confers it should dismiss it from 
 his mind, if the one desires to discharge the part of 
 an upright person, and the other of a man of honor. 
 To bring to remembrance and to proclaim one's acts 
 of beneficence differs little from reproaching the 
 recipient. I shall not do this, nor can I be forced 
 to it. However I may be thought of in this respect, 
 I am well content. 
 
 Having now passed altogether from private matters, 
 I wish to say a few words more about public. 
 
 If you can now shew, ^schines, that a human 
 being under the sun, Greek or Barbarian, has not 
 sufiered wrong, first from the rule of Philip, after- 
 wards from that of Alexander, I will give up to you 
 my fortune — or my ill-fortune, if you choose to call 
 it so — as the cause of all. If, on the other hand, 
 people who have never looked upon me or heard me 
 speak have been all grievously injured, — not merely 
 individuals, but whole communities and nations, — 
 how much more fair and true does it seem, that to 
 the common lot of humanity — some cruel course of 
 events like nothing ever seen — should be attributed 
 the happening of these disasters ! Disregarding this, 
 however, you condemn me and my policy, when it is 
 apparent that the whole blame, or at least a heavy 
 part of it, should fall upon all, and upon you in par- 
 ticular. Let it be granted that I obtained the sole 
 control of affairs, was it not open to all of you to 
 attack me? And if you were always present in our 
 
 [269—276.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 211 
 
 assemblies, and the City looked to the public discus- 
 sion of what was best for her interests, and then my 
 counsels appeared best to all, and to none more than 
 you, (for from no kindness to me did you surrender 
 your hopes, the public esteem, and your honors to 
 my propositions-thus shewing you were vanquished 
 by the truth, and had nothing better to offer,) what 
 a monstrous wrong and injustice are you not now 
 committing in condemning measures than which you 
 could then propose nothing more useful ! 
 
 See how this question is settled by the opinion of 
 the whole world. Does a man purposely do wrong, 
 he is the object of anger and punishment. Does he 
 simply err unwittingly, pardon and not punishment 
 is extended to him. Has a man undertaken to devote 
 himself to what seemed to be the public good, and, 
 without dishonesty or fault, failed in common with 
 every one else ; it is unjust either to punish or blame 
 him,— he is the object of sympathy. This is clear 
 not only from the written law, but from the unwritten 
 law of^lature and man's moral constitution. But 
 ^schines so far exceeds every one in cruelty and 
 malignity that the very things which he once looked 
 upon" as misfortunes to me he now imputes as 
 
 crimes. 
 
 Then with a seeming air of candor and kindness 
 he has asked you to watch and keep your eyes upon 
 me, lest I might deceive and beguile you ; calling me 
 a wonderful speaker, a trickster, a sophist, and the 
 
212 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 like ; and in this way by first attributing to another 
 his ΟΛνη bad qualities, he prevents his hearers from 
 inquiring into the character of him who brings the 
 charge. But I am sure you all see through this fel- 
 low, and are convinced that these vices are a part of 
 his own nature and not of mine. For I know full 
 well that my skill in oratory, — (I suppose I have some 
 skill in speaking, although I am convinced it is the 
 hearers who are usually the masters of the speaker's 
 power, for according as you regard and shew kindness 
 to him, do his talents seem to display themselves, — ) 
 if then I possess this faculty, you have always found 
 it exerted for your advantage in public affairs, never 
 against you, or for my private ends, ^schines, on 
 the other hand, has either been always speaking in 
 behalf of your enemies, or against those he thought 
 had injured or offended him. Never has he employed 
 his talents in the cause of justice, or for the State's 
 advantage. An upright citizen should never ask the 
 judges assembled in the public interest to consider 
 and pass upon his private griefs and animosities; nor 
 should he even approach them on such subjects : least 
 of all should he have such feelings in his heart, — or 
 if he cannot help this, they should be held in mod- 
 eration, and under control. 
 
 On what occasions then should the statesman and 
 the orator be vehement ? — AVhen some vital interest of 
 his country is in danger, or in matters urged against 
 the public enemy. — In such cases, properly : — for 
 
 [276-282.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 213 
 
 they much concern the zealous and the honest citi- 
 zen But when of no public wrong, and I aver ot 
 no private one, he ever justly accused me,-neither 
 acainst the City nor himself,-to be getting up an 
 accusation as to whether I should be crowned and 
 honored, and to be expending this flood of words,- 
 ite is indeed an exhibition of private hatred and 
 malice, the mark of a mean spirit, not of an honor- 
 able man.-And if he declines a direct encounter 
 with me, attacking in form another, this is the very 
 
 depth of baseness. / 
 
 You seem to me thus, ^schines, from your con-^ 
 duct, to have undertaken this accusation to make a 
 display of your rhetoric and your fine voice, not for 
 the punishment of any crime. But it is not the 
 language of the orator or the tone of his voice 
 which are held in value, but the choice of what is 
 acceptable to one's fellow-citizens, the hating and 
 loving a. our country does. The orator with such 
 feelings will say everything with honest warmth. 
 He who cherishes those from whom the City appre- 
 bends danger, does not ride upon the same anchor 
 with his fellow-citizens, for he can never have the 
 same expectation of safety with them. But-do you 
 see 9—1 have ; for I have always adopted a course 
 conformable with my country's interest, nor had I 
 ever anything separate and apart from her. Is that 
 80 witli you ? How can it be ? Immediately after 
 the battle, you went as ambassador to Philip the 
 
214 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 cause of all our City's woes, and yet, as all men 
 know, you had formerly refused this office. ΛΥΙιο 
 then has deceived the City ? Is it not he who does 
 not say what he thinks ? AVhom does the herald 
 justly denounce at the opening of our Assemblies? 
 Is it not such a man as this ? AYhat heavier accusa- 
 tion can be brought against a public man than that 
 his tono^ue does not utter the thou£:hts which are in 
 his heart? You have been proved to be such a man. 
 And yet you lift up your voice loudly here, and 
 dare to look upon the faces of your felloAv-citizens ! 
 As if they do not know who you are ! As if they 
 are all in such a state of stupor and oblivion as not 
 to remember the words which you publicly pro- 
 nounced when you asserted and asseverated there 
 was no connection between you and Philip, and that 
 I had, contrary to the truth, so charged against you 
 on account of private enmity ! Scarcely had the 
 ne\vs of the battle been proclaimed, when, forgetting 
 all this, you instantly confessed and laid claim to a 
 friendship and intimacy Λvith Philip, by those names 
 covering up the hire and salary you had taken from 
 him. ΛVith what propriety, ^schines, can you as- 
 sert that Philip was ever host, friend, or intimate of 
 the son of Glaucothea the timbrel-player ! I shall 
 never believe it. You were bribed to bring to 
 nought everything which might have availed your 
 country, and yet, standing confest a traitor, and a 
 self-convicted libeller, you attack and charge me 
 
 1282-287.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 215 
 
 forsootli for things of which you well know any one 
 is rather the cause than I. 
 
 Many and great things, ^schiues, has the City un- 
 dertaken and succeeded in through me, and of tins she 
 has never been unmindful. Here is a proof. AVheu 
 the citizens, immediately after the fatal event, were 
 about to choose an orator to pronounce the oration 
 over those who had fallen, they neither selected you 
 although put forward on account of your fine voice, 
 «or Demades although he had just negotiated the 
 peace, nor Ilegemon, nor any of you, but me Ana 
 notwithstanding you and Fythocles came forward, 
 and, oh Jupiter and all the Gods, savagely and ruth- 
 lessly attacked me, accusing me of the same things 
 vou have urged against me to-day, they all the more 
 selected me ! You are not ignorant of the reason 
 but I will tell you all the same. The people had 
 witnessed the devotion and good-will with which I 
 administered their affairs, and at the same time your 
 misconduct and dishonesty. What you had openly 
 disavowed with protestations when our aftairs were 
 prosperous, in the City's adversity you openly pro- 
 fessed. Those, therefore, who found safoty for their 
 opinions in the public distress, the people looked 
 upon as their enemies from the first, as they had now 
 shewn themselves so when occasion oftered. More- 
 over they thought it more becoming that he who was 
 to pronounce the foneral oration, and was to cele- 
 brate the valor of the men who had fallen, should 
 
216 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 not have lived under the same roof and drunk of the 
 same cup with those \vho had heen arra^'cd against 
 them; — that those who had rejoiced and sung pteans 
 over yonder upon the misfortunes of Greece with the 
 authors of her ruin, should not come forward here to 
 he honored; — that the orator should not feiflrn to 
 weep over their fate with his voice only, but should 
 grieve from his heart. This they felt was the case 
 with themselves, with me^ but not with you. Such 
 Avere the reasons whv I was chosen, and not vou. 
 And not only did the people thus act, but the fathers 
 and brothers of the slain selected by the people to 
 discharge the funeral rites, did the same thing. For 
 when it became necessary that the funeral banquet 
 should be provided, it \vas given not at the house of 
 any kinsman of the deceased, as is usually done, but 
 at mine. And properly. For while each of them 
 was nearer to each of his fallen kinsmen than I, none 
 was nearer to them all than I, in tlie common grief. 
 He who had the greatest interest in their success and 
 preservation, he indeed had the greatest share of 
 grief in what all felt for their undeserved fate. 
 
 Read him the epitaph which the City ordered to be 
 inscribed at the public expense, that you may see in 
 it, ^schines, what a malevolent foul-mouthed rogue 
 you are. Read it, I say. 
 
 EPITAPH. 
 " Here lie who fought their country's rights t' uphold, 
 And strove to quell the foe's proud insolence. 
 
 [287—292.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 217 
 
 Valor and spirit nought availed, they fell. 
 And to the common Judge, grim Pluto, passed. 
 From slavery's hated yoke the Grecian neck 
 To guard, they gave their lives. Their mother Earth 
 Her children's precious bodies loving holds ; 
 Since the decree from Jove is sent, to whom 
 Alone belongs in all things to succeed. 
 Never to fail. Man cannot fly from Fate." 
 
 I 
 Do you hear, ^schines?— in this very epitaph it is 
 said, to the Gods alone belong success, and not to 
 fail.' Not to the counsellor is it given to cause the 
 combatants to succeed, but to the Gods alone. ΛVhy, 
 then, wicked wretch, do you blame me for this ill- 
 success, and charge me with disasters which may the 
 Gods let fall upon the heads of you and yours ! 
 
 AVhilst this man was fulsely charging me with 
 many crimes, Athenians, I was particularly struck 
 with this; -that while he Avas passing in review the 
 calamities with which the City had from time to time 
 been afflicted, he never shewed the disposition of a 
 loyal or friendly citizen,— he neither shed tears nor 
 in any way expressed sympathy with his country's 
 distresses. But when he raised his voice, and loudly 
 harangued with an air of satisfaction, and thought to 
 condemn me altogether, he bore testimony against 
 himself, inasmuch as he did not exhibit in our mis- 
 fortunes the same feelings as the rest of us. It seems 
 to me that when a man is pretending to take an in- 
 terest in our laws and frame of government, as he 
 
218 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 has been doing, he should at least be able, if nothing 
 else, to grieve and rejoice over the same things with 
 his fellow-citizens, and not to range himself by his 
 public conduct in the class of their opponents as he 
 has been doing, -^scliines has just declared that I 
 was the cause of everything, and that through me all 
 the State's recent disasters were broui^ht about ; but 
 it was never through nij advice, or by my prompting, 
 that you, my fellow-citizens, first began to assist the 
 other Greeks. If, indeed, you should give me the 
 credit that it was through me you bad been first 
 brought to oppose the power arrayed against the 
 Greeks, it would truly be u greater honor than you 
 have ever yet conferred upon any one. But I do not 
 say this, (I should bo unjust to you if I did,) and I 
 well know j'ou would never make such a concession ; 
 and my antagonist, had he acted honestly, would 
 never from hostility to me have thus tarnished and 
 defaced one of your most glorious achievements. 
 
 But why do- I call him to account for this, when 
 be has wickedly charged me with a much more in- 
 fomous crime ? He has charged me, — heavens and 
 earth, what will he not say next, — with Philippizing! 
 By Hercules and all the Gods, if we consider this 
 matter accurately, inquiring fairly and without hatred 
 who the persons are who in very truth may be de- 
 scribed as the cause of these disasters, it will be 
 found they are persona in each Grecian State, like 
 -iEschines, and not any who thought as I did ; — per- 
 
 [292—296.] OK BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 219 
 
 sons who, when Philip's power was feeble and at a 
 low ebb, and whilst we were counselling and ad- 
 vising, and preparing the best measures, abandoned 
 from a sordid greed for money what was best for the 
 public good, and deceived and corrupted their re- 
 spective countryn.en until they had enslaved them.- 
 Such men were Daocbus, Kineas, Thrasylaus, with 
 the Thessalians ; Kercidas, Hieronymus, Eucampidas, 
 with the Arcadians; Myrtis, Teledamus, Mnaseas, 
 with the Argives; Euxitheus, Cleotimus, Anstiech- 
 mus with the Eleans ; Neon and Thrasylochus, sons 
 of the accursed Philiades, with the Messenians; 
 Aristratus, Epicbares, with the Sykionians ; Dinar- 
 chus, Demaratus, with the Corinthians ; Ptoeodorus, 
 Helixus, Perilaus, with the Megarians ; Timolaus, 
 Theociton, Auemcctas, with the Thebans; Hippar- 
 chu8,''ciitarchus, Sosistratus, with the Eubceans :- 
 the dav would ftvil me to enumerate even the names 
 of these traitors. Those, Athenians, those were 
 men, all like-minded in their own country with these 
 wretches in ours, vile flatterers, accursed parasites 
 who have maimed and mutilated their respective 
 States, pledging away their liberties first to Philip, 
 afterwards to Alexander; who place their happiness 
 in their bellies, and the gratification of the lowest 
 sensuality, and who have brought to ruin that free- 
 dom and that spirit which refused to own a master, 
 and which to the Greeks of old were the boundaries 
 and canons of everything that was good. 
 
220 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 Of this base and infamous arrangement, or to 
 speak in earnest, Athenians, of this betrayal of the 
 liberties of Greece, Athens through my counsels is 
 guiltless in the eyes of men, and I in yours. If you 
 ask then again, ^schines, for what services I deem 
 myself worthy of honor from my country, I answer 
 that Λvhen all the public men of Greece were being 
 corrupted, beginning with yourself, first by Philip, 
 afterwards by Alexander, neither opportunity, nor 
 fair words, nor mighty promises, nor hopes, nor 
 fears, nor anything, inclined or moved me to yield a 
 jot of what I thought just and useful to my country. 
 AVhat I advised the State to do, I did not, like you 
 and your fellows, advise, throwing self-interest, as in 
 a balance, into the scales to depress them; but I did 
 everything fairly, honestly, and with a heart that was 
 incorruptible. And controlling larger affairs than 
 any man of my time, I managed all with purity, 
 uprightness, and discretion.— Therefore do I claim 
 to be honored. • 
 
 As to the walls which you sneer at, and the in- 
 trenchments, I consider them also deserving of praise 
 and gratitude ;— why are they not?— I place them, 
 however, nowhere near my acts of administration. I 
 did not merely surround the City with walls of stone 
 and bricks,— I do not take credit to myself chiefly on 
 this account. If you will look fairly at the fortifica- 
 tions which I erected, you will find them in the arms, 
 and cities, and strong places, and harbors, and ships. 
 
 [296—303.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 221 
 
 and horses, and men, which I secured to Athens. 
 These were the bulwarks with which I protected 
 Attica, doing everything which human counsel could 
 perform : in this way I walled the whole country 
 round about, not merely the circuit of the Piricus, or 
 of the citadel. By Philip's calculations and prepara- 
 tions never was I defeated,— far from it ;— the gen- 
 erals and forces of the allies were vanquished by 
 Fate. Do you ask for the proofs ? They are plain 
 and clear as the day.— Look at them. 
 
 PROOFS. 
 What should the well-affected statesman have done 
 who was providing with the utmost care and zeal and 
 solicitude for the interests of Athens ? Should it not 
 have been to defend Attica on the sea-side by Eubcea, 
 in the middle by Boeotia, and on the side of Pelopon- 
 nesus by the contiguous States ?-To provide for the 
 transport of corn until passing along a friendly coast 
 it should reach Pirseus itself ?-To preserve the places 
 which belonged to us by sending advice and assistance 
 for their succor,— Proconnesus, Chersonnesus, and 
 Tenedos;— and draw into friendship and alliance 
 Byzantium, Abydos, and Eubcea ?-To weaken and 
 cut off the supplies of the enemy, and to procure 
 what the City most stood in need of?— All these 
 things were done by my measures and through my 
 decrees; and all, Athenians, if not looked at in an 
 envious spirit, will be found to have been well done. 
 
 t 
 
222 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 — with the utmost rectitude, — the favorable oppor- 
 tunity never lost, nor omitted, nor cast away; and so 
 far as lay within the power and faculties of a single 
 man, nothing left undone. But if either the enmity 
 of some deity, or the power of fortune, or the want 
 of skill in our generals, or the treachery of those 
 Λνΐιο betrayed your cities, or all these things to- 
 gether, made havoc with your affairs until tliey were 
 entirely ruined, why is Demosthenes in fault ? 
 
 Had there been in each Grecian city a man such 
 as I was towards you ; or had there been even but a 
 single man in Thessal}- and another in Arcadia like- 
 minded as myself, no one either outside the Gates of 
 Greece, or within them, ΛνοηΚΙ have suffered the 
 present distresses; but all the Greeks would have 
 been independent and self-governing, and dwelt in 
 their respective countries in happiness, security, and 
 freedom from alarm, thanking you and the other 
 Athenians, through me, for these beneiits. And 
 that you may see how much these advantages out- 
 weigh my words, in a desire to avoid envy I ask you 
 to read this list of aids to our country which were 
 obtained by my decrees. 
 
 ENUMERATION OF AIDS. 
 
 \J Such things, ^schines, it becomes the patriotic 
 and good citizen to do, and by succeeding in them, 
 heavens and earth, Λve should have been undoubtedly 
 the greatest of people, and deservedly ; — even in fail- 
 
 [303—309.1 ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 223 
 
 ure our conduct lias been glorious, none can blame 
 the City, or its policy, but Fortune alone which had 
 so ordered ;— but never will he abstain from assisting 
 his country, nor sell himself to her enemies, nor serve 
 their interests against her. Nor upon him who is 
 urginsr and preparing measures in favor of his country 
 and striving to stand fast by them will he look with 
 hatred ; nor if any one has privately oftended him, 
 will he treasure it up and nurse it. Nor will he 
 maintain an unjust and treacherous retirement, as 
 you have often done :— for there is a proper retire- 
 ment, profitable to the City, which many of you 
 have tairlv maintained. But such has not been 
 ^schines's withdrawal from public life— far from 
 it; retiring whenever he pleased,— and that was 
 often enouiih,- he watched the opportunity when 
 you were wearied with listening to the same adviser, 
 or when some stroke of ill-fortune had befallen you, 
 or something adverse had occurred,— so often the 
 case in human aftairs,— then seizing the occasion he 
 started up from his seclusion, and shewed himself 
 like a tempest. And with cadenced tones he rolled 
 out words and sentences, stringing them together 
 without stopping for breath, although they brought 
 with them no advantage or offer of relief to the 
 State,— but only ruin to some of our citizens, and 
 disgrace to all. Yet of such care and attention, ^s- 
 chines, if inspired by an honest heart and a desire 
 to serve the State, the fruits should be valuable, and 
 
224 
 
 DEMOSTHENES 
 
 [309—315.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 225 
 
 serviceable, and lionorable, such as alliances with 
 other cities, the supply of means, the opening of 
 commercial markets, the enactment of useful laws, 
 the hindrance of our known enemies. Such in past 
 times was Avhat was expected, and the past gave 
 many opportunities of proving this to the honorable 
 and upright man. On those occasions you were 
 neither first, nor second, nor third, nor fourth, nor 
 fifth, nor sixth, nor in any place at all; never, cer- 
 tainly on any occasion by which your country was 
 benefited. 
 
 AVhat alliances did the City ever procure through 
 you ? ΛVhat aid, what increase of glory or esteem ? 
 What embassy, what service by which the City was 
 placed in a better position? AVhat matter which 
 vou controlled, either at home or with the other 
 Greeks, or with foreigners, was ever brought to a 
 successful conclusion by your agency ? AVhat ships, 
 what military engines, what docks, what construc- 
 tion of walls, what horsemen, in what of any of 
 these things have you ever been serviceable ? What 
 assistance, from public spirit or liberality, Λvas ever 
 rendered by you to rich or poor ? None. If nothing 
 of this kind, when did you ever shew kindness or 
 aifection? ΛVhere, when? Most heartless of men, 
 while every one Λνΐιο has ever spoken from this place 
 has contributed to the relief of his fellow-citizens, — 
 Aristonicus giving away recently the very money 
 which had been set apart to restore him to his civic 
 
 it 
 % 
 
 -β» 
 
 
 privileges, — ^}ou have never given or contributed 
 aught. You were not without means, how^ could 
 you be ? You inherited from Philo, your father- 
 in-law, more than five talents, not to speak of the 
 two talents you got from the heads of the sym- 
 mories for mutilating to their relief the law con- 
 cerning the trierarchs. But that I may not, passing 
 from one thing to another, elude the present ques- 
 tion, I leave these matters. It is clear you were 
 not prevented from giving by want of means; but 
 because you took good care never to act in any 
 way against those friends of yours to whom you 
 w^ere subservient in everything. In what, then, are 
 you bold and zealous, and when are you conspic- 
 uous? AVhen it is necessary to speak against your 
 fellow-citizens : — then your voice is loud and clear, 
 and your memory perfect, oh, best of actors, tragic 
 Theocrines ! 
 
 You have reminded us, ^schines, of the mighty 
 men of old, and it is well : — but it is not just, Athe- 
 nians, that my opponent should take the gratitude 
 you now feel towards those patriots, and use it 
 against me by a contrast of the living with the dead. 
 For who does not know that an overmastering and 
 belittling envy is always at work against the living, 
 while the dead cease to be hated even by their ene- 
 mies ? If such be human nature, shall I be judged 
 and compared with those who have gone before me ? 
 By no means ; this is neither fair nor just. Com- 
 
 17 
 
226 
 
 DEMaSTHENES 
 
 pare me with yourself, ^schines, or with w^hom you 
 please of those who think as you do who are now 
 living. 
 
 Moreover, consider this. Is it better and more 
 profitable to the State, on account of the enormous 
 and immeasurably great services of our ancestors, to 
 treat the well-meant eftbrts of contemporary actors 
 with thanklessness and derision, or to award the 
 meed of praise to all who strive to do well in its 
 behalf? But can I not say that my advice and my 
 policy when rightly looked at is of like character 
 and essentially the same as that of those illustrious 
 men ; and that yours is of a piece with that of their 
 calumniators ? It is clear that in their time too there 
 w^ere those who maligned the living, and Λνΐιο be- 
 smeared the men of the past Λvith praise, — a base 
 act, and what you are now^ doing. 
 
 You assert then that I am totally unlike those men. 
 But are you like them, ^schines, or your brother? 
 Or any of your orators ? I say not one. 
 
 Compare me, honest declaimer, (for I shall call you 
 nothing else,) with the living, compare the living with 
 his competitors as in other cases,— as with poets, with 
 musicians, with wrestlers. Philammon, although he 
 was not so strong as Glaucus the Caristian and other 
 athletes who had gone before him, never returned 
 uncrowned from the Olympian Games; for since he 
 excelled all with whom he contended, he went forth 
 crowned and triumphant. Match me then with the 
 
 
 M- 
 
 [315—322.] ON BEHALF OF CTESIPHON. 
 
 227 
 
 Statesmen of to-day, with yourself, with any one you 
 please. — I except none. 
 
 When the Commonwealth was able to choose the 
 best course, and when to strive for its advantage in 
 public affairs was a matter of emulation with all, I 
 counselled most wisely, and by my decrees and my 
 laws and my embassies everything was directed ; and 
 you, none of you, were to be found anywhere, unless 
 it was necessary to do the State a mischief. AVhen 
 adversity came, and there w^as no longer a searching 
 out for counsellors, but for men Λvho were working 
 for those behind them, who were ready to prostitute 
 themselves for pay against their country, and to flatter 
 the stranger, then you and your fellows came forth 
 radiant, and great, and splendid, — and I, I admit it, 
 was very low, but still your friend, — while these men 
 
 w^ere not. 
 
 Two qualities, Athenians, an upright statesman 
 should possess, — and I thus speak as I am speaking 
 of myself to avoid being invidious, — when in power, 
 he should advocate a policy both honorable and lofty; 
 and at all times, and in all contingencies, he should 
 be loyal to his country. This last quality is native to 
 the heart, — power and strength depend upon other 
 things, — and this last you have always found abiding 
 in me. Although my person was demanded by the 
 stranger, although cited before the Amphictyonic 
 Council, although harassed by many prosecutions, 
 although hounded by these miscreants who pursued 
 
228 
 
 DEMOSTHENES. 
 
 me like wild beasts, never have I faltered in my alle- 
 o-iance to you. From the beginning I chose uncon- 
 ditionally the straight and upright course in politics, 
 -to uphold the honor, the power, the glory of my 
 country, to increase them if I could, to live and have 
 my being in them. Wlien the stranger was success- 
 ful, their did not I stalk about our public places with 
 beaming face, rejoicing, stretching out the right hand 
 to those who I hoped would report it over yokder. 
 Neither did I with a shudder hear of any success to 
 the City, walking with downcast eyes and sorrowful 
 face, like these accursed men who speak ill of and 
 belittle Athens, (as if, in so doing, they did not speak 
 ill of and belittle themselves,) who look outside of 
 their country, exulting in the success of the stranger, 
 and the misfortunes of Greece, and asserting that we 
 should take care he shall always be successful. 
 
 Let not, ye Gods, let none of these things be 
 approved by you ! llather inspire these men with a 
 better mind and counsels ! But if they be incorrigi- 
 ble, destroy and utterly confound them, whether they 
 be on sea' or land ;-aiid to us grant the shortest 
 period to the woes which have been fastened upon 
 us, and provide for us an enduring salvation I 
 
 7/ 
 
m 
 
 228 
 
 DEMaSTHENES. 
 
 me like wild beasts, never have I faltered in my alle- 
 giance to you. From the beginning I chose uncon- 
 ditionally the straight and upright course in politics, 
 —to uphold the honor, the power, the glory of my 
 country, to increase them if I could, to live and have 
 my being in them. ^VHien the stranger was success- 
 ful, then did not I stalk about our public places with 
 beaming face, rejoicing, stretching out the right hand 
 to those who I hoped ΛνοηΚΙ report it over yonder. 
 JSTeither did I with a shudder hear of any success to 
 the City, walking with downcast eyes and sorrowful 
 face, like these accursed men who speak ill of and 
 belittle Athens, (as if, in so doing, they did not speak 
 ill of and belittle themselves,) who look outside of 
 their country, exulting in the success of the stranger, 
 and the misfortunes of Greece, and asserting that we 
 should take care he shall always be successful. 
 
 Let not, ye Gods, let none of these things be 
 approved by you ! llather inspire these men with a 
 better mind and counsels ! But if they be incorrigi- 
 ble, destroy and utterly confound them, whether they 
 be on sea or land; — and to us grant the shortest 
 period to the woes which have been fastened upon 
 us, and provide for us an enduring salvation I 
 
 7^ 
 
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