No More Learning

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? 186 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
versally acknowledged, to the lowest degree of
infamy and meanness ? I could say more on these
and other points; but T forbear: for it is not want
of good counsel that now distresses, or ever hath
distressed you. But when your true interests have
been laid before you, and that you have been
unanimous in your approbation, you can, with equal
patience, attend to those who endeavour to discredit,
to overthrow all that hath been advanced. Not that
you are ignorant of their characters (for you can, at
first glance, distinguish the hireling and agent of
Philip from the true patriot); but that by impeaching
your faithful friends, and by turning the whole affair
into ridicule and invective, you may find a pretence
for the entire neglect of your duty.
You have now heard truths of the highest moment
urged with all freedom, simplicity, and zeal. You
have heard a speech, not filled with flattery, danger,
and deceit, calculated to bring gold to the speaker,
and to reduce the state into the power of its enemies.
It remains, therefore, that the whole tenour of your
conduct be reformed; if not, that utter desolation
which will be found in your affairs must be imputed
wholly to yourselves.
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? THE TWELFTH ORATION AGAINST PHILIP:
Commonly called the Oration on the Letter.
PRONOUNCED IN THE ARCHONSHIP OF THEOPHRASTUS, THE YEAR
AFTER THE FOREGOING! ORATION.
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED
PHILIP'S LETTER TO THE ATHENIANS.
INTRODUCTION.
The former oration inspired the Athenians with the resolution of send-
ing succours to all the cities that were threatened by Philip's arms; and
their first step was to despatch to the Hellespont a convoy with provisions;
which weighed anchor in view of Selymbria, a city of the Propontis,
then besieged by the Macedonians, and was there seized by Amyntas,
Philip's admiral. The ships were demanded by the Athenians, and
returned by Philip, but with declarations sufficiently alarming.
The obstinate valour of the Perinthiana had forced Philip to turn the
siege into a blockade. He marched oft with a considerable body of his
army to attack other places, and made an incursion into the territories
of Byzantium. The Byzantines shut themselves up within their city,
and despatched one of their citizens to Athens to desire the assistance
of that state; who, with some difficulty, prevailed to have a fleet of forty
ships sent out, under the command of Chares.
As this general had not the same reputation in other places as at
Athens, the cities by which he was to pass refused to receive him: so
that he was obliged to wander for some time along the coasts, extorting
contributions from the Athenian allies; despised by the enemy, and sus-
pected by the whole world. He appeared at last before Byzantium,
where he met with the same mortifying treatment as in other places, and
was refused admission; and shortly after was defeated by Amyntas in a
naval engagement, in which a considerable part ot his fleet was either
sunk or taken.
Philip had for some time perceived, that, sooner or later, he must
Inevitably come to a rupture with the Athenians. His partisans were no
longer able to lull them into security. Their opposition to his designs,
however imperfect and ineffectual, was yet sufficient to alarm him. He
therefore determined to endeavour to abate that spirit which now began
to break through their inveterate indolence; and for this purpose sent
them a letter, in which, with the utmost an, he laid open the causes of
complaint he had against them, &nd threatened them with reprisals.
This letter was not received at Athens till after the news of Chares'*
Meat, . _
Vol. I. --P
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? 188
INTRODUCTION.
Philip had now lnid siege to Byzantium, and exerted all his efforts in
make himself master of that city. On the other hand, the Athenians
were disheartened by the ill success of their commander, and began to
repent of having sent any succours, when Phocion, who-always assumed
the liberty ot speaking his sentiments freely, assured them, that for
once they themselves had not been in fault; but that their general only
was to blame. He was immediately desired to take on himself the
charge of relieving Byzantium; and set sail with a numerous body of
forces. He was received with the greatest demonstrations of joy; and
his whole conduct expressed the utmost wisdom and moderation. Nor
was his valour less conspicuous: he sustained many assaults with an
Intrepidity worthy of the early ages of the commonwealth, and at last
obliged Philip to raise the siege.
Phocion then departed amid the general acclamations of the people
whom he had saved. He proceeded to the relief of the colonies of the
Chersoncsus, who were ever exposed to the attacks of the Cardians. In
this way he took some vessels laden with arms and provisions for the
enemy, and obliged the Macedonians, who had attempted Sestos, to
abandon their enterprise, and shut themselves up in Carols.
And thus, after various expeditions highly honourable both to him-
self and to his country, Phocion returned home, where he found the
Athenians engaged in a debate on Philip's letter: on which occasion
Demosthenes pronounced his last, oration against Philip. To have
answered the letter particularly would have been very difficult; for,
though Athens had the better cause, yet many irregularities had really
Deen committed, which Philip knew how to display in their full force.
The orator therefore nakes use of his art to extricate Unwell* from the
difficulty ; avoids all former discussions of facts, and applies himself at
once to raise the lively passions: affects to consider this letter as an
open declaration of war; inflames the imaginations of his hearers with
this idea; and speaks only of the means to support their arms against
bo powerful an enemy
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? PHILIP'S LETTER TO THE ATHENIANS. 1
Philip, to the Senate and People of Athens--greet-
ing: As the embassies I have frequently sent to
enforce those oaths and declarations by which we
stand engaged have produced no alteraiion in your
conduct, I thought it necessary thus to lay before
you the several particulars in which I think myself
aggrieved. Be not surprised at the length of this
letter; for, as I have many causes of complaint, it is
necessaiy to explain them all distinctly.
First, then, when Nicias the herald* was forcibly
taken out of ray own territory; instead of punishing
the author of this outrage, as justice required, you
added to his wrongs by keeping him ten months in
prison ; and the letters intrusted to him by us3 you
read publicly in your assembly. Again, when the
ports of Thassus were open4 to the Byzantine gal-
1 This letter is a masterpiece in the original: it has a majestic and
persuasive vivacity; a force and justness of reasoning sustained through
the whole; a clear exposition of facts, and each followed by its natural
consequence; a delicate irony: in short, a noble and concise style, made
for kings who speak well, or have taste and discernment at least to make
choice of those who can make them speak well. If Philip was himself
the author of [his letter, as it is but just to believe, since we have no
proof to the contrary, we may reasonably pronounce of him as was said
of Caesar, " thathe wrote with that spirit with which be fought. " Eodem
animo dixit, quo bellavit. QuinL Inst. 1. x. --Tourreil.
2 When Nicias the herald, &<\]--Probably he had been seized on his
journey from Thrace to Macedon by Diopithes, at the time of his invad-
ing Philip's Taracian dominions, as mentioned in the preface to the ora-
tion on the State of the Chersonesus. --Tourreil.
3 And the letters intrusted to him by us, &c. ]--The Athenians hoped,
by opening this packet, to get some light into Philip's secret schemes and
practices against them. There were found in it some letters directed to
Olympias, Philip's queen, which they treated with a most scrupulous
respect, and took care she should receive them in the same condition
In which they had been intercepted. --Tourreil.
* When the ports of ThassuB were open, &c. ]--The Athenians bad
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? 190 PHILIP'S LETTER TO THE ATHENIANS.
leys, nay, to any pirates that pleased, yon looked aa
with indifference; although our treaties expressly
say that such proceedings shall be considered as an
actual declaration of war. About the same time it
was that Diopithes made a descent on my dominions,
carried off in chains the inhabitants of Crobyle and
Tiristasis,1 ravaged all the adjacent parts of Thraee,
and at length proceeded to such a pitch of lawless
violence as to seize Amphilocns,2 who went in quality
of an ambassador, to treat about the ransom of
prisoners; whom, after he had reduced him to the
greatest difficulties, he compelled to purchase his
freedom, at the rate of nine talents: and this he did
with the approbation of his state. Yet the violation
of the sacred character of heralds and ambassadors
is accounted, by all people, the height of impiety:
nor have any expressed a deeper sense of this than
you yourselves; for, when the Megareans had put
Anthemocritus to death,11 the people proceeded so far
engaged, by an article of their treaty, that the Thawsians, waff -were
their subjects, should not receive any ships that committed piracies on
the subjects or allies of Philip. This article had not been strictly ob-
served ; perhaps on account of Philip's own infidelity. --Tortrreii.
1 Crobyle and Tiristasis. ]--The first of these places is quite unknown.
Tiristasis is placed by Pliny in the Tbracian Chersonesus. --Tmirrtil.
* As to seize Amphilocns. ]--It is impossible to save the honour of
Diopithes but by denying the fact; at least in the manner that Philip
represents it. --Tourreil.
8 For when the Megareans had put Anthemocritus to death, Ac. ]--
Philip here beats the Athenians with their own weapons, and cites, very
much to the purpose, the example of a rnemora>le vengeance which they
had taken about an age before on the Megareans. They had accused this
people of favouring a revolt of their slaves, and of profaning a tract of con-
secrated land; and on this account excluded Ihem from all advantages of
commerce in the ports and markets of Athens. Thucydides stops here;
but Pausanias adds, that Anthemocritus went from Athens in quality of
a herald to summon the Megareans to desist from their sacrilege, and
that for answer they put him to death. The interest of the gods served
the Athenians for a pretence; but the famous Aspasia, whom Pericles'
was so violently in love with, was the true cause of their rupture with
Megara. Some young Athenians, heated by wine, had taken away from
Megara a remarkable courtesan called Simaetha; and the Megareans,
by way of reprisal, seized two Athenian ladies of the same char-
acter that were in Aspasia's train. Pericles espoused his favourite's
quarrel; and, with the power which he then possessed, easily persuaded
the people to whatever he pleased. They thundered <mt a decree against
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? PHILIP S LETTER TO THE ATHENIANS. 191
as to exelude them from the mysteries, and erected'
a statue before the gates as a monument of their
crime. And is not this shocking, to be avowedly
guilty of the very same crimes for which your re-
sentment fell so severely on others, when you your-
selves were aggrieved?
In the next place, Callias your general hath made
himself master of all the towns on the bay of Pa-
gasae, though comprehended in the treaty made with
you, and united in alliance to me. Not a vessel
could steer its eourse towards Macedon but the pas-
sengers were all treated by him as enemies, and sold;
and this his conduct hath been applauded by the
resolutions of your council! So that I do not see
how you can proceed further if you actually declare
war against me. For, when we were at open hostili-
ties, you did but send out your corsairs, make prize
of those who were sailing to my kingdom, assist my
enemies, and infest my territories. Yet now, when
we are professedly at peace, so far have your injus-
tice and rancour hurried you, that you have sent am-
bassadors to the Persian,2 to persuade him to attack
the Megareans, forbidding all commerce with them on pain of death:
they drew up a new form of an oath, by which every general obliged
himself to invade the territories of Megara twice every year. This de-
cree kindled the first sparks of contention, which at length flamed out
in the Peloponnesian war: it was the work of three courtesans. The
most illustrious events have sometimes as shameful an origin. --Tourreii.
1 To exclude them from the mysteries, and erected, &c]--All tha
Greeks had ordinarily a right to be initiated into what were called the
lesser mysteries, which the Athenians celebrated at Eleusis in honour
of Ceres and Proserpine; but on the death of Anthemocritus the Mega-
reans were excluded, and a statue or tomb erected in honour of this
herald on the road leading from Athens to Eleusis, near the gate called
Dipylon. According to Aristophanes (in Acharn, act u. sc. 5) the Me-
gareans denied this murder, and threw the whole blame of it on Aspasia
and Perieles. --Tourreii.
2 You have sent ambassadors to the Persian, dec. ]--Diodorus informs
as that about this time the satraps of the Lesser Asia had obliged Philip
to raise the siege of Perinthus. The historian; does not say that the
Athenians invited them; but Philip complains of, it here: andPausanias
observes, that in this expedition the Persian forces were commanded by
Anollodorus, an Athenian general. We may observe with what disre-
spect Philip (whose ancestors in their greatest prosperity never aspired
higher than to the alliance of some satrap) here speaks of the great
king--4i the Persian 1"--Tovrral.
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? 192 Philip's letter to the Athenians.
me; which must appear highly surprising; for, before
that prince had subdued Egypt and Phoenicia, it was
resolved,' that if he attempted any new enterprises,
you would invite me, as well as all the other Greeks,
to an association against him. But now, with such
malice am I pursued, that you are, on the contrary,
confederating with him against me. In former times,
I am told, your ancestors objected it as a heinous
crime to the family2 of Pisistratus that they had led
the Persian against the Greeks: and yet you are
not ashamed to commit the very same action for
which you were continually inveighing against those
tyrants!
But your injustice hath not stopped here. Your
decrees command me to permit Teres and Cerso-
bleptes to reign3 unmolested in Thrace, as being citi-
zens of Athens. --I do not know that they were
included in our treaty, that their names are to be
found in the records of our engagements, or that they
are Athenians. But this I know, that Teres served
in my army against you; and that when Cerso-
1 Before that prince had subdued Egypt and Phoenicia, it was resolved,
&c. ]--Artaxerxes Ochus, who governed Persia at that time, before his
reduction of theserevolted provinces had marched into the Lesser Asia
against Artabazus, a rebellious satrap. The approach of the Persians
alarmed the Greeks ; and Athens conceived a design of attacking them
in their own country. This gave occasion to the oration of Demos-
thenes entitled Ilepi Toiv Zviiiioptbiv. Philip pretends that they had
resolved to admit him into the confederacy which was then forming in
favour of the Greeks, with whom he affects to rank, and by his expres.
sions removes every idea of foreigner and Barbarian, which are the repre-
sentations that the orator frequently makes of him. --TourreU.
2 Your ancestors objected it as a heinous crime to the family, &c. ]--
The comparison which Philip makes here, between the sons of Pisis-
tratus and the orators who advised an alliance with Persia, is founded
on a history too well known to be enlarged on. It is undoubtedly by no
means just: for, in different conjunctures, the good citizen may employ
the same forces to save his country that the wicked one had formerly
employed to destroy it. However, the turn he gives it was the fittest in
the world to affect the people, who thought it their greatest honour to
express an inveterate hatred to the Persians.
s To permit Teres and Cersobleptes to reign, &c. ]--History speaks
only of Cersobleptes. They had suffered him to be overthrown by Philip;
snd when they found how nearly they themselves were affected by his
All, employed those decrees to endeavour to restore him. --TourreU.
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? Philip's letter to the Athenians. 193
bleptes proposed to my ambassadors to take the ne-
cessary oaths, in order to be particularly included in
the treaty, your generals prevented him, by declaring
him an enemy to the Athemans. And how is this
equitable or just:--when it serves your purposes,to
proclaim him the enemy of your state ; when I am
to be calumniated, to give him the title of your citi-
zen: when Sitalces was slain,1 to whom you granted
the privileges of your city, instantly to enter into an
alliance with his murderer; yet to engage in a war
with me on account of Cersobleptes ]--and this, when
you are sensible that not one of these your adopted
citizens have ever shown the least regard to your
laws or determinations! --But to bring this affair to
a short issue. You granted the rights of your com-
munity2 to Evagoras of Cyprus,3 to Dionysius the
i When Sitalces was slain, &c. ]--This Sitalces was the grandfathei
of Cersobleptes. In the beginning of the Peloponnesian war he ren-
dered the Athenians such important services, that they, by way of ac-
knowledgment, admitted his son Sadocus into the number of their citi-
zens. In the eighth year of-this war Sitalces was killed in a battle
against the Triballi. His nephew Seuthes seized theltingdom, in preju-
dice of his children ; and hence became suspected of being the cause of
his death. Philip argues from this suspicion as if it were an undoubted
truth. --TourrnL
2 You granted the rights of your community, &c. j--What idea must
we form of the splendour of that city, where even kmgs solicited for the
rank of private citizens ! The other states of Greece affected the same
kind of grandeur. At a time when ambassadors from Corinth were
congratulating Alexander on his victories, they made him an offer of the
freedom of their city, as the greatest mark of honour possible. Alex-
ander, now in the full splendour of his fortune, disdained to return them
any answer but a contemptuous smile. This stung the ambassadors to
the quick ; and one of them was bold enough to say, " Know, sir, that
the great Hercules and you are the only persons whom Corinth has ever
deigned to distinguish in this manner. " This softened the prince: lie
received them with all possible marks of respect, and accepted of a title
which had been so dignified. --TourreiU
3 To Evagoras of Cyprus.
]--The Athenians erected a statue to Evago-
ras, the elder of that name, and declared him a citizen of Athens, for
having assisted Conon in restoring their liberty. He caused Salamis to
revolt from the Persians, and subdued most part of the Aland of Cy-
prus ; but was afterward reduced, and fell by the hand of Nicocles.
His son, Evagoras tne Younger, however, asserted his claim to the king
dom of Cyprus, and was supported by the Athenians against Protagoras,
the successor of Nicocles. But his attempts were not successful. Pro-
tagoras supplanted him at the court of Persia, where he had been in full
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? 194 PHILIP'S LETTER TO THE ATHENIANS
Syracusan, and to their descendants. Prevail, there-
fore, on the men who have dispossessed each of these
to restore them to their dominions, and you shall
recover from me all those territories of Thrace' which
Teres and Cersobleptes commanded. But if you
have nothing to urge against those who expelled
them, and yet are incessantly tormenting me, am not I
justly warranted to oppose you ? --I might urge many
other arguments on this head, but I choose to pass
them over. <<
The Cardians,21 freely declare, I am determined
to support, as my engagements to them are prior to
our treaty, and as you refused to submit your differ-
ences with them to an arbitration, though frequently
urged by me: nor have they been wanting in the like
solicitations. Should not I, therefore, be the basest
of mankind to abandon my allies, and to show great
regard for you, my inveterate opposers, than for my
constant and assured adherents ?
Formerly (for I cannot pass this in silence) you
contented yourselves with remonstrating on the
points above mentioned. But lately, on the bare
complaint of the Peparethians that they had been
severely treated by me, you proceeded to such out-
rage, as to send orders to your general to revenge
their quarrel. Yet the punishment which I inflicted
was no way equal to the heinousness of their crime;
as they had in time of peace seized Halonesus : nor
could be prevailed on by all my solicitations to give
up either the island or the garrison. The injuries I
received from the Peparethians were never thought
favour. He was cited to answer to some heads of an accusation; and
upon his justifying himself, he obtained a government in Asia well
worth his little kingdom. But his bad conduct soon obliged him to
abdicate, and fly into Cyprus, where he perished wretchedly. --TourreiL
1 All those territories . of Thrace. ]--In the original, tiiv Qpaxqv, hattvt
&. c. By the ironical pomp of this expression he sets their dominions
(which were really inconsiderable) in the most contemptuous light. --
Touireil.
2 The Cardians, 4c. ]--See the preface to the oration on the State of
the Chersonesus.
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? Philip's letter to the Athenians. 195
of; but their punishment commanded all your atten-
tion, as it afforded a pretence for accusing me;
although I did not take the island either from them
or from you, but from the pirate Sostratus. If, then,
you confess that you delivered it to Sostratus, you
confess yourselves guilty of sending out pirates: if
he seized it without your consent, how have 1 injured
you by taking possession of it, and by rendering it a
secure harbour? Nay, so great was my regard to
your state, that I offered to bestow on you this
island: but this was not agreeable to your orators:
they1 would not have it accepted, but resumed. So
that, if I complied with their directions, I proclaimed
myself a usurper: if I still kept possession of the place,
I became suspected to the people. I saw through these
artifices, and therefore proposed to bring our differ-
ences to a judicial determination: and if sentence was
given for me, to present you with the place; if in your
favour, to restore it to the people. This I frequently
desired: you would not hear it: the Peparethians
seized the island. What then was I to do ? Should
I not punish the violators of oaths ? Was I tamely
to bear such an audacious insult ? If the island was
the property of the Peparethians, what right have
the Athenians to demand it ? If it be yours, why do
you not resent their usurpations ?
So far, in short, have our animosities been carried,
that, when I had occasion to despatch some vessels
to the Hellespont, I was obliged to send a body of
forces through the Chersonesus to defend them
against your colonies, who are authorized to attack
me by a decree of Polycrates,2 confirmed by the
resolutions of your council. Nay, your geneial has
1 But this was not agreeable to your orators: they, &c. ]--Demos-
Ihenes in particular opposed their receiving a restitution under the name
3f a present.
2 By a decree of Polycrates. ]--This orator had great credit at Athens,
and on many occasions favoured the designs of Philip. Possibly hi
acted otherwise on this occasion, the better to conceal his attachment;
or that be might afterward sell his integrity at a dearer rate. --TourrhL
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? 196 Philip's letter to the Athenians.
actually invited the Byzantines to join him, and has
every where publicly declared that he has your
instructions to commence hostilities at the first favour-
able opportunity. All this could not prevail on me
to make any attempt on your city, or your navy, or
your territories, although I might have had success
in most, or even all of them. I chose rather to
continue my solicitations to have our complaints
submitted to proper umpires. And which, think ye,
is the fittest decision--that of reason or of the sword ?
Who are to be judges in your cause--yourselves or
others ? What can be more inconsistent than that
the people of Athens, who compelled the Thassians
and Maronites1 to bring their pretensions to the city
of Stryma to a judicial decision, should yet refuse
to have their own disputes with me determined in
the same manner ? particularly, as you are sensible
that if the decree be against you, still you lose
nothing; if in your favour, it puts you in possession
of my conquests.
But what appears to me most unaccountable is
this: when I sent you ambassadors, chosen from
all the confederated powers, on purpose to be wit-
nesses of our transactions; when I discovered the
sincerest intentions of entering into reasonable and
just engagements with you in relation to the affairs
of Greece, you even refusea to hear these ambassadors
on that head. It was then in your power to remove
all their apprehensions who suspected any danger
from my designs, or to have openly convicted me of
consummate baseness. This was the interest of the
people; but the orators could not find their account
in it; for they are a set of men to whom (if I may
believe those that are acquainted with your polity)
l Who compelled the Thassians and Maronites, &c. ]--The first of
these people inhabited an island in the Egean Sea, the other a maritime
Slace in Thrace. The Thassians had founded Stryma, according to Hero,
otus; but as it was in the neighbourhood of Maronea, probably the
Maronites had, in quality of protectors, or benefactors, acquired aouw
pretensions to it. --Tourreil.
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? PHILIP S LETTER TO THE ATHENIANS.
peace is war, and war is peace;! as they are al rays
sure to make a property of the generals, either iy
aiding their designs, or by malicious prosecutions.
Then they need but throw out some scandalous
invectives against persons of worth and eminence,
citizens or foreigners, and they at once acquire the
character of patriots among the many. . I could have
easily silenced their clamours against me by a little
gold, and even have converted them into praises;
but I should blush to purchase your friendship from
such wretches. To such insolence have they pro-
ceeded on other occasions, that they even dared to
dispute my title to Amphipolis, which is founded, I
presume, on reasons beyond their power to invali-
date : for, if it is to belong to those who first con-
quered it, what can be juster than our claim ? Alex-
ander, our ancestor, was the original sovereign ;3 da
appears from the golden statue3 which he erected at
1 Peace is war, and war is peace, &c. ]--Aristotle, in his Rhetor. I. iii.
c. 10, quotes this (nearly) as an example of an agreeable antithesis;
which, joined to the force, and, what is more, to the order of the argu-
ments contained in this letter, inclines me to think that Aristotle was
his secretary on this occasion. But my conjecture, whether well or ill
founded, does not detract from Philip in point of genius and spirit. The
true talent of a king is to know how to apply the talents of others to the
best advantage: aud we do not want other proofs of Philip's abilities
In writing; witness his letter to Aristotle on the birth of Alexander. --
Tourreil.
2 Alexander, our ancestor,was the original sovereign. ]--Philip asserts
boldly, without giving himself much trouble even to preserve probability :
for in the'time of Alexander, the contemporary of Xerxes, there was
city, nor any fortified post in the place where Amphipolis was after-
ward raised ; nor was it till thirty years after the defeat of the Persians
that Agnon founded it. --Toitrreil.
9 As appears from the golden statue, &c. ]--Herodotus speaks of this
statue, and places it near the colossal statue which the Greeks raised,
according to custom, out of the Persian spoils. The proximity of these
statues serves Philip as a foundation for giving his ancestors an honour
which really belonged to the Greeks, Solinus mentions that Alexander,
a very rich prince, made an offering of a golden statue of Apollo in the
temple of Delphos, and another of Jupiter in the temple of Elis; but not
that the Persian spoils were any jiart of these offerings. --This Alexander,
surnamed ? tiXcXXip', friend of Greeks, had the reputation of an able poli-
tician, but not of a good soldier or great commander. He served the
Persians a long time, rather by force than inclination; and before the
battle of Salamis declared of a sudden for the Greeks. --Tourreil.
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? 108 philip's letter to the Athenians.
Delphos from the first-fruits of the Persian spoils
taken there. But if this admits of contest, and it is
to continue the property of those who were last in
possession, it is mine by this title too (for I took it
from the Lacedremonian inhabitants, who had dis-
possessed you);' and all cities are held either by
hereditary right or by the right of conquest. And
yet you, who neither were the original possessors,
nor are now in possession, presume to lay claim to
this city, under pretence of having held it for some
short lime; and this when you have yourselves given
the strongest testimony in my favour; for I fre-
quently wrote to you on this head, and you as often
acknowledged me the rightful sovereign: and, by the
articles of our late treaty, the possession of Am-
phipolis and your alliance were both secured to me.
What title, therefore, can he better established ? It
descended to us from our ancestors; it is ours by
conquest; and, lastly, you yourselves have acknow-
ledged the justice of our pretensions; you, who are
wont to assert your claim even when it is not sup-
ported by right.
I have now laid before you the grounds of my
complaints. Since you have been the first aggres-
sors ; since my gentleness and fear of offending have
only served to increase your injustice, and to animate
you in your attempts to distress me, I must now
take up arms; and I call the gods to witness to the
justice of my cause, and the necessity of procuring
for myself that redress which you deny me !
1 I took it from the LacediEmonian Inhabitants, who had dispossessed
you, ifcc. l--Brasidas, the Lacedfemonian general, took Amphipolis from
the republic of Athens; and by the assistance of Sparta it afterward
maintained its independence until it fell into the power of Philip---
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? THE ORATION ON THE LETTER. 1
Now, Athenians, it is fully evident to you all that
Philip made no real peace with us, but only deferred
hostilities. When he surrendered Halus to the Phar-
salians,2 when he completed the ruin of Phocis, when
he overturned all Thrace,3 then did he really attack
the state, under the concealment of false allegations
and unjust pretences; but now he hath made a
formal declaration of war by this his letter. That
we are not to look with horror on his power; that,
on the other hand, we are not to be remiss in our
opposition, but to engage our persons, our treasures,
and our navies; in one word, our whole strength,
freely, in the common cause ; these are the points I
would establish.
First, then, Athenians, the gods we may justly re-
gard as our strongest allies and assistants ; since in
i It must be confessed that this oration consists almost wholly of
repetitions. This great man seems to have thought himself superior to all
Tain criticisms ; and, only concerned for the safety of Athens, was in no
pain about his private glory. He speaks as an orator whose end is to
persuade and convince; not. as a dcclaimer, who seeks only to give
pleasure and excite admiration: he therefore resumes those topics he
had already made use of, and gives them new force by the close and
lively manner in which he delivers them. --Ttrurreit.
2 When he surrendered Halus to the Pharsalians, Stc. ]--Halus was q
town of The? saly on the rver Amphrysus. Parmeuio besieged and took
It; after which Philip put the people of Fharsalia in possession of it. --
TvwreU.
3 When'he overturned all Thrace, Sec. ]--This is the language of an
orator, who, to represent Philip's outrages with the greater aggravation,
takes the liberty of speaking of a part of that country as of the whole.
Philip had, indeed, made himself master of the territories of Teres and
Cersobleptes, both kings in Thrace, and allies of the Athenians: but
Pausanias observes, that before the Romans, no one had ever made an
? mire conquest of Thrace. --Tourreil.
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? 200 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES
this unjust violation of his treaty he hath trampled
on religion and despised the most solemn oaths. In
the next place, those secret practices to which his
greatness hath hitherto been owing, all his arts of
deceiving, all his magnificent promises, are now quite
exhausted. The Perinthians, and the Byzantines,
and their confederates,1 have at length discovered
that he intends to treat them as he formerly treated
the Olyntluans. The Thessalians are no longer
ignorant that he affects to be the master, and not the
leader of hi3 allies. The Thebans begin to see dan-
ger in his stationing a garrison at Nicaea,2 his as-
suming the rank of an amphictyon, his bringing into
Macedon the embassies from Peloponnesus,8 and his
preventing them in seizing the advantage of an alli-
ance with the people of that country. So that, of
those who have hitherto been his friends, some are
now irreconcilably at war with him; others no longer
serve him with zeal and sincerity; and all have their
suspicions and complaints. Add to this (and it is of
no small moment) that the satraps of Asia have just
now forced him to raise the siege of Perinthus, by
throwing in a body of hired troops: and as this must
make him their enemy,4 and as they are immediately
1 And their confederates. ]--The inhabitants of Chios. Rhodes, and
some other places joined to defeat Philip's designs on Perinthus and
Byzantium. --Tourreil.
2 At Nicaea ]--This town was situated near Thermopylae, and was
counted among the principal towns of the Locrians (Epicnemidii), the
neighbours and allies of the Boeotians and Thebans. Philip made him-
self master of it at the time that he seized Thermopylae under pretence
of putting an end to the sacred war. --Tourreil. .
3 His bringing into Macedon the embassies from Peloponnesus, &c. ]---
Probably this was at the time when he interested himselt in the disputes
between Sparta and the Argians and Messei^ans, as mentioned in the
preface to the second Philippic oration. --Slrabo mentions an application
of the Argians and Messeuians to Philip to regulate a contest between
them and Lacedaurton about their boundaries; and Pausanias declaims
against the pride of Gallus, a Roman senator, who thought it derogated
from his dignity to decide the differences of Lacedaemon and Argos, and
disdained to meddle with a mediation which Philip- had formerly not only
accepted, but courted. --Tourrei! .
* As this must make him their enemy. ]--This proved an exact predic-
tion of what happened some time after. Alexander, in lus letter to
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? ORATION ON THE LETTER. 201
exposed to danger, should he become master of By-
zantium, they will not only readily unite their force
with ours, but prevail on the King of Persia to assist
us with his treasure; who, in this particular, far ex-
ceeds all other potentates ; and whose influence in
Greece is so great, that formerly, when we were en-
gaged in a war with Lacedaemon, he never failed to
give the superiority to1 that party which he espoused:
and now, when he unites with us, he will with ease
subdue the power of Philip.
I shall not mention, as a balance to these so con-
siderable advantages, that he hath taken the oppor-
tunity of the peace to make himself master of many
of our territories, our ports, and other like con-
veniences : for it is observable, that where affection
joins and one common interest animates the con-
federating powers, there the alliance is never to be
shaken; but where subtle fraud, and passions insa-
tiable, and perfidy, and violence have formed it (and
these are the means which he hath used), the least
pretence, the slightest accident gives it the fatal
shock, and in an instant it is utterly dissolved. And,
from repeated observations, I am convinced, Athe-
nians, that Philip not only wants the confidence and
affection of his allies; but, even in his own kingdom,
he is by no means happy in that well-established
regularity and those intimate attachments which
Darius, alleges, as one of the principal subjects of their rupture, the
powerful succours which Perinthus received from the Persian satraps,
Arrian, 1. i. --Tourreil.