No More Learning

Plutarch in his 'Life of Demosthenes' gives us several
interesting details about his study and preparation for
the career of an orator, and it is satisfactory to find
that so high an authority as Mr Grote thinks that they
rest on good evidence. It appears that the youth put
himself under the instruction of Isaeus, one of the first
advocates of the time, who was frequently retained in
cases connected with wills and disputes about property.
In his speeches against his guardians he is said to have
availed himself of the counsel and guidance of this
eminent lawyer. But the most fashionable rhetoric-
professor of the day was Isocrates, and Demosthenes
was among the number of his most attentive and ad-
miring hearers; though perhaps we must not believe a
story according to which he asked the great man to
teach him a fifth part_ of his art for two minas, as he
could not afford the regular fee of ten minas, about
? 40, to learn the whole. One would like to believe
that he heard and admired some of the discourses of
Plato, who was then in the height of his philosophical
glory; and there is a tradition, mentioned by Cicero
and Tacitus, to this effect. The literary styles of the
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? EARLY LIFE OF DEMOSTHENES. 29
two men are no doubt very diverse; yet,' as Dr Thirl-
>wall suggests, it is not wholly improbable that the
lofty morality which Demosthenes ventured to intro-
duce into speeches addressed to Athenian assemblies
and law courts may have been inspired by the philo-
sopher. That he was a devoted student of the great
'History of Thucydides, that he copied it out eight times,
and almost'. knew it by heart, we may well believe.
One of the ancient critics, Dionysius of Halycarnassus,
has elaborately pointed out resemblances in the orator
to the historian. Strangely enough Cicero, in his
_Orator,* asks the question, "What Greek orator ever'
borrowed anything from Thucydides T " We really fail
to see the point of this question, unless he meant to
limit the term orator to a mere pleader, and even then
we think he is wrong. But for the purpose of political
oratory there cannot be a doubt that both the style and
matter of Thucydides might be studied with infinite'
profit by a man of real capacity.
Nothing but the utmost energy and perseverance
'would have enabled Demosthenes to make himself an
orator. He had, as already said, to surmount the
actual physical difliculties of a feeble constitution. and
of some defect in his organs of speech. His ultimate
success was a decisive proof of a singularly exceptional
force of character. It is for this, indeed, as exhibited
throughout his whole career, that he specially deserves
admiration. We are told that he practised speaking
with pebbles in his mouth; that he strengthened his
lungs and his voice by reciting as he ran up hill 5 that
" Chapter ix.
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? 30 DEAIOSTHENES.
he declaimed on the seashore amid the noise of waves
and storms. He would even pass two or three months
continuously in a subterranean cell, shaving one side
of his head, that he might not be able to show himself
>in public, to the interruption of his rhetorical exercises.
But all this patient and laborious practice did not
procure immediate success. No public assembly could
be more critical and fastidious than that of Athens.
Demosthenes failed repeatedly. One of the old citizens
found him on one of these occasions wandering about
disconsolately in the Piraeus, and tried to cheer him
up by saying, " You have a way of speaking which re-
minds me of Pericles, but you lose yourself through mere
timidity and cowardice. " Another time he was return-
ing to his home in deep dejection, when Satyrus, a great
and popular actor, with whom he was well acquainted,
entered into conversation with him. Demosthenes
complained that though he was the most painstaking
of all the orators, and had almost sacrificed his health
to his intense application, yet he could find no favour
with the people, and that drunken seamen and other
illiterate persons were listened to in preference to him-
self. "True," replied the actor, " but I will provide
you a remedy if you will repeat to me some speech in
Euripides or Sophocles. " Demosthenes did so, and then
Satyrus recited the same speech in such a manner that
it seemed to the orator quite a different passage. With
the aid of such hints, joined to his own indefatigable
industry, he at last achieved a distinct success in the
law courts, and his services as an advocate were in
great request. _
. After all, he had not much of which, according to
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? EARLY LIFE OF DEMOSTHENES. 31
our notions, a man could feasonably complain. Suc-
cess came to him very early in life. He was, as we
should say, in large practice at the bar when he was
considerably under thirty--an age at which a young
English barrister hardly hopes for a brief. Doubtless,
at Athens there were opportunities for displaying ora-
torical ability which do not exist in England. One
thoroughly successful speech before the popular assem-
bly might well make the fortune of a man as an advo-
cate. To make such a speech required, we may be sure,
marked ability and considerable training; but once
made, it must at least have opened a career in the law
courts. Athenian law, too, was probably less intricate
and diflicult than English. It had not such a variety
of branches, as seem to be indispensable in so complex
a community as our own. The study of it must thus
have been a much_,less _ard. ueus>>. task than that which
lies before the English lawyer. But it was an admir-
able preparation for political life. Law and politics
werc;in_te@glfad__at_ Athens - very much more than
among ourselves I; and a lawyer was almost necessarily
something of a politician. There, questions which we
regard as purely political, and which would be dis-
cussed with us only in Parliament, might come before
a law court. An accusation, for instance, might be
preferred against a man for proposing a law or a decree
quite at variance with the spirit of the constitution.
Such cases were frequent. It was in a prosecution of
this nature that Demosthenes, who for some few years
had had a good practice as a barrister in civil and
criminal causes, made what we may fairly call his first
appearance as a political adviser.
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? C H A P T E R IV.
DEMOSTHENES surses POLITICAL LIFE.
IN all democracies much will be expected from the rich.
This was the rule in the Greek states, and especially
at Athens. There the constitution demanded a certain
amount of public spirit, and prescribed various modes
in which it was to display itself. Athenians loved a
bright joyous life, and the wealthier of them were
under legal obligations to minister to the popular tastes
and contribute to the public amusements. There was
a good side to all this. It made the rich feel that they
must not use their riches merely for their own selfish en-
joyment, but that it ought to be the glory of an Athe-
nian citizen of fortune to put happiness and refinement
within the reach of every member of the community.
Pericles, in the famous funeral oration, the substance of
which Thucydides has given us, had boasted how it was
=the peculiar genius of Athens to combine mirthfulness
and gaiety with a strong sense of political responsibility.
Poetry and music were an essential part of an Athe- '
nian's life. They were intimately connected with all
the religious festivals. With us the pleasures of the
opera are necessarily confined to a select few. ' At
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? DEM OSTH ENES ENTERS POLITIOA L LIFE. 33
Athens the poorest citizen was enabled to gratify his
taste for such pleasures. The law imposed on a man
with a certain amount of property the liability of hav-
ing to provide a chorus of singers or musicians on some
great public occasion. He had to bear all the expenses
himself. Having made up his number, he had to ob-
tain a teacher or choir-master, and to pay him for his
instruction. He had also, it seems, to board and lodge
the chorus during the time of its training, and he had,
further, to furnish them with suitable dresses. All
this, of course, he could do by deputy; but if he was
anxious, as he usually would be, to do it with credit to
himself, he would find that he must give the matter
his personal attention. There was a prize for the best
' performance; and this, if not intrinsically valuable,
was sure to be coveted. The choragus, as he was
called, had a stall assigned him in the theatre, and it
was part of his duty to be present during the cere-
mony with his crown and robe of office. There seems
to have been every variety of chorus--tragic and comic
choruses, pyrrhic choruses, and choruses of flute-players.
The expense of providing them might range from ? 100
to . ? l200--a large sum in comparison with Athenian
wealth. Still thisflamount was, it appears, often ex-
ceeded in an eager competition for the prize. The
successful choragus was certain to be a popular citizen.
This, then, was one of the regular charges on the
wealthier class. There were others. Athleticism and
gymnastic games were a prominent feature in Greek
life. At Athens one of the amusements in which they
specially delighted was running with the torch, the
. a. c. s. s. vol. iv. 0
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? 34 DEMOSTHENES.
runners carrying wax lights_ in their hands, which it
was their object not to extinguish. The race in the
time of Socrates began to be run on horseback, and
the training and preparation for it became one of
the public services, which the rich had to undertake.
The gymnasiarch, or director of these games, had to
defray all the expenses connected with the spectacle;
he had to see to and to pay for the training of the
competitors, which was on a very elaborate scale, and
might involve a comparatively heavy outlay. Another
still more burdensome obligation was the conduct of
religious embassies to various places. This was re-
garded as a duty of the highest and most sacred kind ;
and whenever the State sent out a special commission
to any of the ancient seats of Greek worship, such as
Delos or Delphi, to consult the oracle of the god or to
offer a solemn sacrifice, it was represented by citizens
of wealth and distinction. Anything like parsimony
on such an occasion would have been thought pecu-
liarly discreditable, and it was the tendency of an
Athenian to go to the opposite extreme. The head of
the sacred mission entered the city whither he was
bound with a crown of gold and in a splendidly equip-
pedchariot. Alcibiades astonished the Greek world
at the Olympic festival with his magnificent horses
and his princely expenditure. Even in an ordinary
way, however, the performance of this duty must have
been a costly service. A minor expense was that of
giving a public dinner to the particular tribe of which
a man was a member. This too was a burden im-
nosed on the rich. Last of all came the obligation to
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? D|EllOSTHENES ENTERS POLITICAL LIFE. 35
maintain the fleet in efiiciency,--Athens' defence and
glory. This--the trierarchy, as it was called--was a
service of which we are continually hearing in the
speeches of Demosthenes, and to place it on a satis-
factory footing was an object he had specially at heart.
All these services, it must be understood, were legally
compulsory--not merely enforced on the rich by public
opinion, as in our time. At Athens, no citizen who
was registered as the possessor of a certain amount of
property could evade them. A man in England may
be obliged to serve the ofiice of sheriff once in a way,
but to try to create public spirit by law would be
repugnant to our notions. In a Greek state there was
a much more distinct theory as to what each citizen
owed to the commonwealth; and Athens, the very
type of Greek democracy, felt it most natural to make
these demands on her richer classes. At the same
time, she had thought fit to exempt certain persons from
the operation of this principle. There were a few
whose meritorious services might be fairly considered
to have earned them such an exemption--the trierarchy
alone excepted The privilege in some cases was ex-
tended to their descendants. Two names were cherished
at Athens with peculiarly grateful remembrance, those
of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, the illustrious tyran-
nicides, who were believed to have given freedom and
equality to their city. To their offspring for ever was
granted immunity from the public burdens we have
just described. In like manner, a statesman or a
general who had deserved well of his country might
be rewarded with the same privilege for himself and
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? 36 DEMOSTHENES.
his children. With us such men occasionally obtain
pensions, which, in a few instances, are continued to
their descendants. With the Athenians, they enjoyed
what was perhaps almost an equivalent--exemption
from costly and burdensome services.
It is easy to see that many abuses might creep into
this system; and that even without any very glaring
abuses, there might be much envy and dissatisfaction.
Privileges of any kind are sure to give offence, and in
a democratical community they cannot fail to furnish a
handle to demagogues and politicians. We are there-
fore not surprised to find that at Athens in 356 no. a
law was proposed and carried repealing all exemptions
and immunities. The author of the law was a certain
Leptines, who was no doubt put forward as the spokes-
man of a considerable party. He contrived to get a
measure of a very sweeping kind passed, so that not
only were_ all existing grants of immunity abolished,
but it was declared illegal to make such grants in the
future, and even to ask for them was forbidden under
a heavy penalty. We do not know whether there was
any special impulse or provocation under which the
people of Athens allowed themselves to be persuaded
into passing this law. It roused, of course, a strong
opposition, the leader of which was ason of the famous
Ohabrias, Who had fallen in his country's cause, fighting
on bb? d his ship at the siege of Chios. The son had
inherited from his father one of these honourable grants
of immunity. He was, it seems, himself utterly un-
worthy of it ; but he represented a principle, and had,
we may be sure, a numerous following. Demosthenes
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? DEMOSTHENES ENTERS POLITICAL LIFE. 37
became his advocate, and in the year subsequent to
the passing of the law, he assailed it in a speech which
has always been much admired.
This was his first political effort. He was quite a
young man at the time--thirty years of age at most,
probably less. The speech he delivered does not
exhibit the fire and force of some of his subsequent
orations; it is calm and argumentative, and deserves
the e ithet_Q_" subtle" which Cicero* applies to it.
It is in fact a specimen throughout of close and con-
secutive reasoning Leptines' proposal was no doubt
popular, and was supported by many plausible argu-
ments. The circumstances of the State were such as
made any exemptions and immunities 'from public
burdens of very questionable expediency. Athens had
been seriously impoverished by her recent disastrous
war with her allies, and many of her richer citizens
must, for a time at least, have been sorely straitened
in their resources. To exempt such wealthy men from
burdens which there was not too much wealth left to
bear, might well seem a distinct loss to the State. It
increased the difliculty of providing for those public
festivals which were so dear to the people. It could
also no doubt be plausibly argued that exemptions had
been granted too freely, and now and then to thoroughly
unworthy persons. Many a man not particularly rich
would think himself aggrieved, when he saw some one
far richer than himself altogether exempt. The favoured
few were sure to be envied, and might almost be said
to be defrauding the State of what they owed it. The
* Orator, c. xxxi.
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? 38 _ DEMOSTHENES.
object, in fact, of the law of Leptines was, it might be
contended, to insure for Athens the due performance of
services which she had a right to claim from every citizen
of ample means. The burden, he argued, ought to fall
on all such ; no exemptions ought to be granted, as it
was likely they would be granted unwisely, and the
examples of other states, such as Sparta and Thebes,
showed that these grants were unnecessary. Besides,
merit at Athens was rewarded in other ways; and in
sweeping away such rewards as these, they would be
really abolishing what was not needed by the posses-
sors, and was at the same time injurious to the State.
Thus the new law seemed on the surface a good one,
and must have enlisted popular sympathy. It promised
to get rid of invidious privileges, to distribute public
burdens equitably, and to provide for the celebration
of the festivals and games with becoming splendour.
The occasion was thus clearly one to task all the
powers of an opposition speaker. If we want a
modern analogy, we may suppose a motion brought
forward in the House of Commons in a time of
national distress, when every tax would be acutely
felt, to abolish all pensions ever granted to deserving
men and to their children. It is conceivable that such
a proposition might find supporters at a trying crisis,
and become a powerful party-cry. Demosthenes may
well have had an uphill battle to fight. But he took
the right ground, and rested his case on the highest
moral principles and the most enlightened view of
political expediency. The faith and honour of the
State, he maintained, must be superior to all other
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? DEMOSTHENES ENTERS POLITICAL LIFE. 39
considerations. We may say that the text of his
speech was--" A good name is better than riches. "
First, he argued that it was unjust to deprive the
people of the power to grant special privileges because
they had sometimes granted them improperly.
" You might as well take from them all their constitu-
tional rights because they dof not always exercise them
wisely. Even if a few undeserving persons received these
privileges, this was better than that none should be con-
ferred, and that a powerful encouragement to patriotism
should be withdrawn. To revoke gifts which the State
had bestowed would be a scandalous breach of the
national faith. It would cast a slur on democratic
government, and create an impression that such govern-
ments were as little to be trusted as those of oligarchs
and despots. It would be base ingratitude to many
distinguished foreigners--for example, to the king of
Bosporus, from whose country much corn was exported
to Athens, free of duty--and such men for the future
would not care to befriend the State in a time of need.
It was nothing to the purpose to speak of Sparta and
Thebes, as proofs that these grants of exemption were
not required. The whole genius and character of those
states were so radically different, that no conclusion
could be reasonably drawn from them as to what suited
Athenians. It was of supreme importance that Athens,
as the noblest representative of Greece, should value
above all things a character for justice, generosity, and
public spirit. To attempt to bind her for all future
time by a law which might be a hurtful and dangerous
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? 40 DEMOSTHENES.
check on patriotic impulses must be inexpedient. No
one could foresee what course politics might take, and it
was possible that citizens like Harmodius and Aris-
togeiton might again be needed. All human legislation
must take account of such possibilities and contin-
gencies, improbable as they might seem at the time.
The law of Leptines was, in fact, an offence to Nemesis,
which ever waits on arrogance and presumption. "
These were some of the chief arguments with which
Demosthenes combated the reasonings of his opponent.
In one passage he reminds his audience how careful
Athens had been in the past of her good name.
"You have to consider not merely whether you love
money, but whether you love also a good name, which
you are more anxious after than money; and not you
only, but your ancestors, as I can prove. For when they
had got wealth in abundance, they expended it all in_
pursuit of honour. For glory's sake they never shrank
from any danger, but persevered to the last, spending
even their private fortunes. Instead of a good name,
this law fastens an opprobrium on the commonwealth,
unworthy both of your ancestors and yourselves. It
begets three of the greatest reproaches--the reputa~
tion of being envious, faithless, and ungrateful. That
it is altogether foreign to your character to establish a
law like this, I will endeavour to prove in a few words
by recounting one of the former acts of the State.
The Thirty Tyrants are said to have borrowed money
from the Lacedaemonians to attack the party in the
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? DEMOSTIIENES ENTERS POLITICAL LIFE. 41
Piraeus. When unanimity was restored, and these
troubles were composed, the Lacedaemonians sent am-
bassadors and demanded payment of their money.
Upon this there arose a debate, and some contended
that the borrowers, the city party, should pay; others
advised that it should be the first proof of harmony to
join in discharging the debt. The people, we know,
determined themselves to contribute, and share in the
expense, to avoid breaking any article of their conven-
tion. Then, were it not shameful if, at that time, you
chose to contribute money for the benefit of persons
who had injured you, rather than break your word, yet
now, when it is in your power, without cost, to do
justice to your benefactors by repealing this law, you
should prefer to break your word '1 "
He argues that the envious, grudging spirit displayed
in the law is, of all things, most alien to Athenian
feeling. . _
"Every possible reproach should be avoided, but
most of all, that of being envious. Why'? Because
envy is altogether the mark of a bad disposition, and
to have this feeling is wholly unpardonable. Besides,
abhorring, as our commonwealth does, everything dis-
graceful, there is no reproach from which she is further
removed than from the imputation of being envious.
Observe how strong are the proofs. In the first place,
you are the only people who have state funerals for
the dead, and funeral orations in which you glorify the
actions of brave men. Such a custom is that of a people
which admires virtue, and does not envy others who are
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? 42 DEMOSTHENES.
honoured for it. In the next place, you have ever
bestowed the highest rewards upon those who win the
garlands in gymnastic contests; nor have you, because
but few are born to partake of such rewards, envied
the parties receiving them, nor abridged your honours
on that account. Add to these striking evidences that
no one appears ever to have surpassed our State in
liberality--such munificence has she displayed in re-
quiting services. All these are manifestations of justice,
virtue, niagnanimity. Do not destroy the character for
which our State has all along been renowned ; do not,
in order that Leptines may wreak his personal malice
upon some whom he dislikes, deprive the State and
yourselves of the honourable name which you have
enjoyed throughout all time. Regard this as a contest
purely for the dignity of Athens, whether it is to be
maintained the same as before, or to be impaired and
degraded. "
The following passage is near the conclusion of the
speech. He is arguing against the impolicy of binding
the State for the future by such a law :-
" To one thing more I beg your attention. This law
cannot be good which makes the same provision for the
future as the past. ' N 0 one shall be exempt,' it says,
' not even the descendants of Harmodius and Aristogei-
ton. ' Good. ' Nor shall it be lawful to grant exemptions
hereafter. ' Not if similar men arise'! Blame former
doings as you may, know you also the future'! Oh,
but we are far from expecting anything of the kind.
I trust we are; but being human, our language and our
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? DEMOSTIIENES ENTERS POLITICAL LIFE. 43
law should be such as not to shock religious sentiment;
and while we look for good fortune, and implore
heaven to grant it, we will regard all fortune as sub-
ject to human casualties. The future, I take it, is un-
certain to all men, and small occasions are productive
of great events. Therefore we will be moderate in
prosperity, and show that we have an eye to the
future. "
It may be said that there is much of a modern tone
and character about this speech. Its arguments are
those of a constitutional lawyer and of a far-sighted
politician. It is quiet and temperate, and at the same
time singularly convincing. It was successful in its
immediate object, and it must have established the
reputation of Demosthenes as a political debater of the
first rank. From this time he must have felt but
little timidity or hesitation in addressing that critical
audience--the Athenian popular assembly.
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? CHAPTER V.
EARLY srsscnas or mnosrnssss on FOREIGN POLICY.
Psasm in the fourth century B. G. was a more consider-
able power than we might have supposed from the
comparative ease with which it was overthrown by
Alexander. The Great King, as he was always called,
was in the possession of immense resources. Financially
he was much stronger than the Greek world, though his
military inferiority had been more than once clearly
proved. He was still looked on by the Greeks generally
with a sort of wondering awe. He ruled in some fashion
a vast empire, and held it together by means of satraps
and vassal princes, notwithstanding occasional serious
revolts. He had had indeed, in past days, to acknow-
ledge the independence of the Asiatic Greeks; still he
was always distinctly felt as a force in Greek politics,
with which from time to time he was brought into
contact. On the whole, he was regarded as an enemy ;
but the unfortunate want of anything like hearty union
among the states of Greece tended to weaken this feel-
ing, and to make combined action against him all but
impossible. There was always, however, a vague fear
that he might some day, if violently provoked, crush
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? EARLY SPEECHES ON FOREIGN POLICY. 45
the Greekworld beneath the weight of a huge bar-
barian invasion.
In the year 356 13. 0. , the second year of Athens' war
with her revolted allies, this fear rose, at Athens at least,
to a positive panic. Greek generals, as we have seen,
occasionally found it convenient to take service under
some Persian satrap, for the sake of the liberal pay
on which they could confidently reckon. In the year
above mentioned, Chares was in command of a fleet
which Athens had sent out to put down her rebellious
subjects in the islands of the Aigean. He was a man
thoroughly of the adventurer type ; and when he found
that he could not pay his troops, which were for the
most part foreign mercenaries, he carried off his arma-
ment on his own responsibility to the aid of Artabanus,
the satrap of the country south of the Propontis, who
was then in revolt against the Great King. Artabanus
was, at the time, in sore need of help; but Chares gained
for him a brilliant victory over the king's forces, and
he received for himself and his soldiers a liberal re-
ward. The proceeding was, of course, utterly irregular,
and gave great offence at Athens; but the success re-
conciled them to it. The King of Persia was naturally
very indignant, and sent an embassy to Athens to com-
plain of this unprovoked aggression. Soon it was
rumoured that he was preparing a fleet of 300 galleys
to aid their revolted allies and to attack their city.
There was intense excitement. Peace was immediately
concluded with the allies, but there was a strong feeling
in favour of declaring war against Persia. Now, it
was said, was the time for an appeal to Panhellenic sen-
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-27 04:56 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/coo. 31924026456347 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 46 ' DEMOSTHENES.
4
timent, and to endeavour to unite Greece against her old
enemy. We can well imagine that such language was
likely to meet with a response in many quarters, and
that it might well seem patriotic, and even prudent.
In this case, again, Demosthenes thought it his duty
to protest. He did so in a speech delivered in 354 13. 0.
He must have been, in all probability, on the un-
popular side. He had, too, against him the opinion of
the famous and clever rhetorician, Isocrates, who had
urged in one of his pamphlets the expediency of a
Panhellenic combination against Persia. The party of
Eubulus, backed up by a number of orators and dema-
gogues, supported this policy. To Demosthenes it
seemed an idle dream--the preposterous imagination of
a knot of political adventurers. The speech in which
he opposed it is calm and statesmanlike. "In no one
of his speeches," says Mr Grote, "is the spirit of
practi_cal wisdom more predominant than in this his
earliest known discourse to the public Assembly. " He
tells his excited countrymen some very plain home-
truths. " The Greeks," he frankly says, " are too
jealous of each other to be capable of uniting in an
aggressive war. They might indeed do so in a war of
self-defence. Should Athens declare war, the King of
Persia would be able to purchase aid from the Greeks
themselves. Such a step would consequently lay bare
the worst weaknesses of the Greek world.