Is not this the
case, when some of them, after escaping from prison,
have raised themselves so high as to forget their
former condition; and yet have reduced a state,
whose pre-eminence in Greece was but now uni-
I Twice rescued, dec.
case, when some of them, after escaping from prison,
have raised themselves so high as to forget their
former condition; and yet have reduced a state,
whose pre-eminence in Greece was but now uni-
I Twice rescued, dec.
Demosthenes - Leland - Orations
org/access_use#pd-google
? PHILIPPIC THE FOURTH.
177
agreeably not to justice only, but to good policy;
for to rob some men of their necessary subsistence
is to raise a number of enemies to the common-
wealth.
To men of lower fortunes I give this advice: that
they should remove those grievances of which the
wealthier members complain so loudly and so justly
(for I now proceed in the manner I proposed, and
shall not scruple to offer such truths as may be
favourable to the rich). Look out, not through
Athens only, but every other state, and, in my opin-
ion, you will not find a man of so cruel, so inhuman
a disposition, as to complain when he sees poor men,
men who even want the necessaries of life, receiv-
ing these appointments. Where then lies the diffi-
culty ? Whence this animosity ? When they behold
certain1 persons charging private fortunes with those
demands which were usually answered by the public;
when they behold the proposer of this immediately
rising in your esteem, and, as far as your protection
can make him, immortal; when they find your pri-
vate votes entirely different from your public clam-
ours; then it is that their indignation is raised;
for justice requires, Athenians, that the advantages
of society should be shared by all its members.
The rich should have their lives and fortunes well
secured; that so, when any danger threatens their
country, their opulence maybe applied to its defence.
Other citizens should regard the public treasure as
it really is, the property of all, and be content with
their just portion; but should esteem all private for-
tunes as the inviolable right of their possessors.
Thus a small state rises to greatness; a great one
preserves its power.
But it may be said that possibly these are the
duties of our several citizens: yet, that they may be
performed agreeably to the laws, some regulations
i When they behold certain, &c. ]--See note 3, p. 174
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? 178 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
must first be made. --The causes of our present dis-
orders are many in number, and of long continuance.
Grant me your attention, and I shall trace them to
their origin.
You have departed, Athenians, from that plan of
government which your ancestors laid down. Yon
are persuaded by your leaders, that to be the first
among the Greeks, to keep up your forces ready to
redress the injured, is an unnecessary and vain ex-
pense. You are taught to think, that to lie down in
indolence, to be free from public cares, to abandon
all your interests one by one, a prey to the vigilance
and craft of others, is to be perfectly secure, and
surprisingly happy. By these means the station
which you should have maintained is now seized by
another, and he is become the successful, the mighty
potentate. And what else could have been expected ?
for as the Lacedaemonians were unfortunate, the
Thebans engaged in the Phocian war, and we quite
insensible, he had no competitor for a prize so noble,
so great, so illustrious, which for a long time en-
gaged the most considerable states of Greece in the
severest contests. Thus is he become formidable,
strengthened by alliances and attended by his armies;
while all the Greeks are involved in so many and so
great difficulties, that it is hard to say where they
may find resources. But of all the dangers of the
several states, none are so dreadful as those which
threaten ours; not only because Philip's designs aim
principally at us, but because we, of all others, have
been most regardless of our interests.
If, then, from the variety1 of . merchandises and
plenty of provisions, you flatter yourselves that the
state is not in danger, you judge unworthily-and
falsely. Hence we might determine whether our
markets were well or ill supplied: but the strength
of that state which is regarded by all who aim at
1 If, then, from the variety, &c. ]--See note on the oration on the State
? f the Chersonesus, p. 133.
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? PHllIPpiC THE FOURTH. 179
the sovereignty of Greece as the sole obstacle to
their designs, the well-known guardian of liberty, is
not surely to be judged of by its vendibles. No:
we should inquire whether it be secure of the affec-
tions of its allies; whether it be powerful in arms.
These are the points to be considered; and in these,
instead of being well provided, you are totally
deficient. To be assured of this you need but attend
to the following consideration. At what time have
the affairs of Greece been in the greatest confusion ?
I believe it will not be affirmed that they have ever
been in greater than at present: for in former times
Greece was always divided into two parties, that of
the Lacedaemonians and ours. All the several states
adhered to one or the other of these. The king,
while he had no alliances here, was equally suspected
by all. By espousing the cause of the vanquished1
he gained some credit, until he restored them to the
same degree of power with their adversaries; after
that, he became no less hated2 by those whom he
had saved than by those whom he had constantly
opposed. But now, in the first place, the king lives
in amity with all the Greeks (indeed, without some
immediate reformation in our conduct, we must be
excepted). In the next place, there are several
1 By espousing the cause of the vanquished, &c. ]--Lacedssmon first
entered into an alliance with Darius Nothus, by the mediation of Tissa-
phernes; which enabled Lysander to conquer Athens. Conon obtained
from Artaxerxes Mnemon the succours necessary to revenge his country
and to re-establish it. And it was with reason that the kings of Persia
attended to the preservation of a due balance between the Grecian states,
lest the prevailing power might turn its thoughts to Asia, and attempt
'an invasion there. --Tourreil.
2 He became no less hated, &c. ]--Laeedaemon had no sooner subjected
the Athenians, by the help of Darius, but she ravaged the Persian prov-
inces in Asia Minor, and joined with the rebellious satraps. And as
soon as the Athenians were delivered by Artaxerxes' from the Spartan
yoke, they espoused the quarrel of Evagoras, who had revolted from
Artaxerxes, and usurped a great partof the kingdom of Cyprus. Benefits
could not bind these states. Interest alone formed their engagements,
and interest dissolved them. The picture here exhibited of the conduct
Df the Greeks towards the kings of Persia is by no means flattering in
point of morals. But it is not in ancient times only that we find morals
must be silent whet pt litics epeak. --Tourreil
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? 180 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
cities which affect the, characters of guardians and
protectors. They are all possessed with a strong
passion for pre-eminence; and some of them (to
their shame! ) desert, and envy, and distrust each
other. In a word, the Argians, Thebans, Corinthi-
ans, Lacedaemonians, Arcadians, and Athenians have
ajl erected themselves mto so many distinct sove-
reignties. But among all these parties, all these
governing states, into which Greece is broken, there
is not one (if I may speak freely) to whose coun-
cils1 fewer Grecian affairs are submitted than to ours;
and no wonder, when neither love, nor confidence,
nor fear can induce any people to apply to you. It
is not one single cause that hath effected this (in
that case the remedy were easy), but many faults, of
various natures and of long continuance. Without
entering into a particular detail, I shall mention one
in which they all centre; but I must first entreat you
not to be offended if I speak some bold truths without
reserve.
Every opportunity which might have been im-
proved to your advantage hath been sold. The ease
and supineness in which you are indulged have dis-
armed your resentment against the traitors; and
thus others are suffered to possess your honours. --
But at present I shall take notice only of what
relates to Philip. If he be mentioned, immediately
there is one ready to start up and cry, " We should
not act inconsiderately: we should not involve our-
selves in a war. " And then he is sure not to forget
the great happiness of living in peace, the misfor-
tune of being loaded with the maintenance of a
1 To whose councils. &c. ]--The ruling states of dreece accounted it
their greatest glory to see and hear a number of ambassadors in their
assemblies^ soliciting their protection and alliance. The conquests
which Philip made in Thrace bad put an end to many Applications of
this sort, which had formerly oeen addressed to the Athenians ; and
their indolence- made people decline any engagements with them.
Foreigners were persuaded, that they who were insensible to their *
own interests were not likely to grant the due attention to those of
ethers
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? PHILIPPIC THE FOURTH.
18
large array, the evil designs of some persons agains.
our treasures; with others of the like momentous
truths. >
But these exhortations to peace should not he
addressed to you; your conduct is but too pacific:
let them rather be addressed to him who is in arms.
If he can be prevailed on, there will be no difficulty
on your part. Then, it cannot be thought a misfor-
tune to provide for our security at the expense of
some part of our possessions: the consequences that
must arise, if this provision be neglected, rather
deserve that name. And as to the plundering of
your treasury, this must be prevented by finding
some effectual means to guard it; not by neglecting
your interests. Nor can I but express the utmost
indignation, when I find some of you complaining
that your treasures are plundered, though it be in
your power to secure them, and to punish the guilty ;
and yet looking on with indifference, while Philip is
plundering every part of Greece successively; and
this, that he may at last destroy you.
And what can be the reason, Athenians, that when
Philip is guilty of such manifest violations of justice,
when he is actually seizing our cities, yet none of
these men will acknowledge that he acts unjustly,
or commits hostilities; but assert that they who
rouse you from your insensibility, and urge you to
oppose these outrages, are involving you in war?
This is the reason; that whatever accidents may
happen in the course of the war (and there is a
necessity, a melancholy necessity that war should
be attended with many accidents), they may lay the
whole blame on your best and most faithful coun-
sellors. They know, that if with a steady and
unanimous resolution you oppose the insolent in-
vader, he must be conquered, and they deprived of a
master whose pay was ever ready. But if the first
unhappy accident calls you off to private trials and
prosecutions, they need but appear as accusers.
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? 182 OKaTIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
and two great points are secured--your favour, and
Philip's gold; while you discharge the vengeance
due to their perfidy against your faithful speakers.
These are their hopes; these the grounds of thpir
complaints that certain persons are involving you
in war. For my own part, this 1 know perfectly,
that although it hath never been proposed by any
Athenian to declare war, yet Philip hath, seized
many of our territories, and but just now sent suc-
cours to the Cardians. But if we will persuade
ourselves that he is not committing hostilities, he
would be the most senseless of mortals should he
attempt to undeceive us: for, when they who have
received the injury deny it, must the offender prove
his guilt? But when he marches directly hither,
what shall we then say? He will still deny that he
is at war with us (as he did to the people of Oreum,
until his forces were in the heart of their dominions;
as he did to those of Pherae, until he was on the
point of storming their walls; as he did to the
Olynthians, until he appeared in their territories at
the head of an army). Shall we then say that they
who urge lis to defend our country are involving us
in a wai ? If so, we must be slaves. There is no
medium. Nor is your danger the same with that
of other states. Philip's design is not to enslave,
but to extirpate Athens. He knows that a state like
yours, accustomed to command, will not, or, if it
were inclined, cannot submit to slavery: he knows,
that if you have an opportunity you can give him
more disturbance than any other people; and, there-
fore, if ever he conquers us, we may be sure of find-
ing no degree of mercy.
Since, then, you are engaged in defence of all that
is dear to you, apply to the great work with an atten-
tion equal to the importance of it: let the wretches
who have openly sold themselves to this mar. be the
objects of your abhorrence: let them meet with the
utmost severity of public justice: for you will not.
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? PHILIPPIC THE FOURTH.
183
you cannot conquer your foreign enemies until you
have punished those that lurk within your walls
No: they will ever prove so many obstacles to
impede our progress, and to give our enemies the
superiority.
And what can be the reason that he treats you
with insolence (for I cannot call his present conduct
by another name); that he utters menaces against
' you; while he, at least, condescends to dissemble
with other people, and to gain their confidence by
good offices? Thus, by heaping favours on the
Thessalians, he led them insensibly into their present
slavery. It is not possible to enumerate all the
various artifices he practised against the wretched
Olynthians (such, among others, was the putting
them in possession of Potidaea). In his late trans-
actions with the Thebans, he enticed them to his
party by yielding Breotia to them, and by freeing
them from a tedious and distressing war. And
thus, after receiving their several insidious favours,
some of these people have suffered calamities but
too well known to all; others must submit to what-
ever may befall them. What you yourselves have
formerly lost I shall not mention; but, in the very
treaty of peace, in how many instances have we
f been deceived ? how have we been despoiled 1 Did
we not givp up Phocis and the straits ? Did we not
lose our Thracian dominions--Doriscum, Serrium,
and even our ally Cersobleptes ? Is he not in pos-
session of Cardia ? and doth he not avow his usurpa-
tion ? Whence is it, then, that his behaviour towards
you is so different from that towards others? Be-
cause, of all the Grecian states, ours is the only one
in which harangues in favour of enemies are pro-
nounced with impunity; and the venal wretch may
utter his falsehoods with security, even while yon
are losing your dominions. It was not safe to speak
* for Philip at Olynthus until the people had been
gained bv Potidaea. In Thessaly it was not safe to
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? 184 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
speak for Philip until that people had been _
by the expulsion of their tyrants, and by being rein-
stated in the council of amphictyons. Nor could it
have been safely attempted at Thebes until he had
given them up Bceotia, and exterminated the Pho-
cians. But at Athens without the least danger may
Philip be defended, although he hath deprived us of
Amphipolis and the territory of Cardia; although
he threatens our city by his fortifications in Eubcea;
although he is now marching to Byzantium. Hence
some of his advocates have arisen from penury to
affluence; from obscurity and contempt to honour
and eminence; while, on the other hand, you have
sunk from glory to disgrace; from wealth to poverty:
for the riches of a state I take to be the number,
fidelity, and affection of its allies; in all which you
are notoriously deficient. And by your total insen-
sibility, while your affairs are thus falling into ruin,
he is become successful, great, and formidable to all
the Greeks, to all the Barbarians; and you deserted
and inconsiderable; sumptuous, indeed, in your
markets; but in every thing relating to military
power, ridiculous.
There are some orators, I find, who view your
interests and their own in a quite different light.
To you they urge the necessity of continuing quiet,
whatever injuries you are exposed to; they them-
selves find this impossible, though no one offers them
the least injury. To you I speak, Aristodemus! '
Suppose a person should, without severity, ask you
this question: " How is it that you, who are sensible
(for it is a well-known truth) that the life of private
men is serene and easy, and free from danger--that
of statesmen invidious and insecure, subject to daily
contests and disquiets--should yet prefer the life
1 To you I speak, Aristodemus! ]--He was by profession a player, and
was one of the ten ambassadors which the Athenians had sent to the
court of Macedon to treat about the peace. At his return Demosthenes
proposed a decree for crowning this very man for his good services,
whom he here inveighs against with so much bitterness.
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? PHILIPPIC THE FOURTH. 1S5
encompassed with dangers to that of peace and dis-
engagement? " What could you say ? Suppose we
admit the truth of the very best answer you could
make, " that you were prompted by a desire of
honour and renown;" is it possible that you, who
engaged in such painful undertakings, who despised
all toils and dangers for the sake of these, should
advise the state to give them up for ease and indul-
gence ? You cannot, surely, say that it was in-
cumbent on you to maintain a degree of eminence
in the city; and that the city was not concerned to
maintain her eminence in Greece! Nor do I see
how the public safety requires that we should confine
ourselves to our own concerns; and yet, that an
officious intrusion into those of others should be
necessary for your safety. On the contrary, you
are involving yourself in the greatest dangers by
being unnecessarily assiduous; and the city by
being quite inactive. " But then you have an illus-
trious reputation, derived from your family, which
it would be shameful hot to support ; while, on the
contrary, nothing has been transmitted from our
fathers but obscurity and meanness. " This is equally
false. Your father was like you, and therefore base
and infamous. To the honour of our ancestors let
all Greece bear witness--twice rescued1 by their
valour from the greatest dangers.
There are persons, then, who do not act with the
same firmness and integrity in the conduct of their
own affairs and those of the state.
Is not this the
case, when some of them, after escaping from prison,
have raised themselves so high as to forget their
former condition; and yet have reduced a state,
whose pre-eminence in Greece was but now uni-
I Twice rescued, dec. ]--First at Marathon, and afterward at Salamis.
Isocrates mentions a third time, when they delivered Greece from the
Spartan yoke. Demosthenes (frequently speaks of this in the highest
terms, but) here rather chooses to lossen the glory of his country than to
recall an event which reflected on the Lacedemonians, now in alliance
with Athens. --Tourreil.
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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.
? PHILIPPIC THE FOURTH.
177
agreeably not to justice only, but to good policy;
for to rob some men of their necessary subsistence
is to raise a number of enemies to the common-
wealth.
To men of lower fortunes I give this advice: that
they should remove those grievances of which the
wealthier members complain so loudly and so justly
(for I now proceed in the manner I proposed, and
shall not scruple to offer such truths as may be
favourable to the rich). Look out, not through
Athens only, but every other state, and, in my opin-
ion, you will not find a man of so cruel, so inhuman
a disposition, as to complain when he sees poor men,
men who even want the necessaries of life, receiv-
ing these appointments. Where then lies the diffi-
culty ? Whence this animosity ? When they behold
certain1 persons charging private fortunes with those
demands which were usually answered by the public;
when they behold the proposer of this immediately
rising in your esteem, and, as far as your protection
can make him, immortal; when they find your pri-
vate votes entirely different from your public clam-
ours; then it is that their indignation is raised;
for justice requires, Athenians, that the advantages
of society should be shared by all its members.
The rich should have their lives and fortunes well
secured; that so, when any danger threatens their
country, their opulence maybe applied to its defence.
Other citizens should regard the public treasure as
it really is, the property of all, and be content with
their just portion; but should esteem all private for-
tunes as the inviolable right of their possessors.
Thus a small state rises to greatness; a great one
preserves its power.
But it may be said that possibly these are the
duties of our several citizens: yet, that they may be
performed agreeably to the laws, some regulations
i When they behold certain, &c. ]--See note 3, p. 174
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? 178 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
must first be made. --The causes of our present dis-
orders are many in number, and of long continuance.
Grant me your attention, and I shall trace them to
their origin.
You have departed, Athenians, from that plan of
government which your ancestors laid down. Yon
are persuaded by your leaders, that to be the first
among the Greeks, to keep up your forces ready to
redress the injured, is an unnecessary and vain ex-
pense. You are taught to think, that to lie down in
indolence, to be free from public cares, to abandon
all your interests one by one, a prey to the vigilance
and craft of others, is to be perfectly secure, and
surprisingly happy. By these means the station
which you should have maintained is now seized by
another, and he is become the successful, the mighty
potentate. And what else could have been expected ?
for as the Lacedaemonians were unfortunate, the
Thebans engaged in the Phocian war, and we quite
insensible, he had no competitor for a prize so noble,
so great, so illustrious, which for a long time en-
gaged the most considerable states of Greece in the
severest contests. Thus is he become formidable,
strengthened by alliances and attended by his armies;
while all the Greeks are involved in so many and so
great difficulties, that it is hard to say where they
may find resources. But of all the dangers of the
several states, none are so dreadful as those which
threaten ours; not only because Philip's designs aim
principally at us, but because we, of all others, have
been most regardless of our interests.
If, then, from the variety1 of . merchandises and
plenty of provisions, you flatter yourselves that the
state is not in danger, you judge unworthily-and
falsely. Hence we might determine whether our
markets were well or ill supplied: but the strength
of that state which is regarded by all who aim at
1 If, then, from the variety, &c. ]--See note on the oration on the State
? f the Chersonesus, p. 133.
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? PHllIPpiC THE FOURTH. 179
the sovereignty of Greece as the sole obstacle to
their designs, the well-known guardian of liberty, is
not surely to be judged of by its vendibles. No:
we should inquire whether it be secure of the affec-
tions of its allies; whether it be powerful in arms.
These are the points to be considered; and in these,
instead of being well provided, you are totally
deficient. To be assured of this you need but attend
to the following consideration. At what time have
the affairs of Greece been in the greatest confusion ?
I believe it will not be affirmed that they have ever
been in greater than at present: for in former times
Greece was always divided into two parties, that of
the Lacedaemonians and ours. All the several states
adhered to one or the other of these. The king,
while he had no alliances here, was equally suspected
by all. By espousing the cause of the vanquished1
he gained some credit, until he restored them to the
same degree of power with their adversaries; after
that, he became no less hated2 by those whom he
had saved than by those whom he had constantly
opposed. But now, in the first place, the king lives
in amity with all the Greeks (indeed, without some
immediate reformation in our conduct, we must be
excepted). In the next place, there are several
1 By espousing the cause of the vanquished, &c. ]--Lacedssmon first
entered into an alliance with Darius Nothus, by the mediation of Tissa-
phernes; which enabled Lysander to conquer Athens. Conon obtained
from Artaxerxes Mnemon the succours necessary to revenge his country
and to re-establish it. And it was with reason that the kings of Persia
attended to the preservation of a due balance between the Grecian states,
lest the prevailing power might turn its thoughts to Asia, and attempt
'an invasion there. --Tourreil.
2 He became no less hated, &c. ]--Laeedaemon had no sooner subjected
the Athenians, by the help of Darius, but she ravaged the Persian prov-
inces in Asia Minor, and joined with the rebellious satraps. And as
soon as the Athenians were delivered by Artaxerxes' from the Spartan
yoke, they espoused the quarrel of Evagoras, who had revolted from
Artaxerxes, and usurped a great partof the kingdom of Cyprus. Benefits
could not bind these states. Interest alone formed their engagements,
and interest dissolved them. The picture here exhibited of the conduct
Df the Greeks towards the kings of Persia is by no means flattering in
point of morals. But it is not in ancient times only that we find morals
must be silent whet pt litics epeak. --Tourreil
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? 180 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
cities which affect the, characters of guardians and
protectors. They are all possessed with a strong
passion for pre-eminence; and some of them (to
their shame! ) desert, and envy, and distrust each
other. In a word, the Argians, Thebans, Corinthi-
ans, Lacedaemonians, Arcadians, and Athenians have
ajl erected themselves mto so many distinct sove-
reignties. But among all these parties, all these
governing states, into which Greece is broken, there
is not one (if I may speak freely) to whose coun-
cils1 fewer Grecian affairs are submitted than to ours;
and no wonder, when neither love, nor confidence,
nor fear can induce any people to apply to you. It
is not one single cause that hath effected this (in
that case the remedy were easy), but many faults, of
various natures and of long continuance. Without
entering into a particular detail, I shall mention one
in which they all centre; but I must first entreat you
not to be offended if I speak some bold truths without
reserve.
Every opportunity which might have been im-
proved to your advantage hath been sold. The ease
and supineness in which you are indulged have dis-
armed your resentment against the traitors; and
thus others are suffered to possess your honours. --
But at present I shall take notice only of what
relates to Philip. If he be mentioned, immediately
there is one ready to start up and cry, " We should
not act inconsiderately: we should not involve our-
selves in a war. " And then he is sure not to forget
the great happiness of living in peace, the misfor-
tune of being loaded with the maintenance of a
1 To whose councils. &c. ]--The ruling states of dreece accounted it
their greatest glory to see and hear a number of ambassadors in their
assemblies^ soliciting their protection and alliance. The conquests
which Philip made in Thrace bad put an end to many Applications of
this sort, which had formerly oeen addressed to the Athenians ; and
their indolence- made people decline any engagements with them.
Foreigners were persuaded, that they who were insensible to their *
own interests were not likely to grant the due attention to those of
ethers
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? PHILIPPIC THE FOURTH.
18
large array, the evil designs of some persons agains.
our treasures; with others of the like momentous
truths. >
But these exhortations to peace should not he
addressed to you; your conduct is but too pacific:
let them rather be addressed to him who is in arms.
If he can be prevailed on, there will be no difficulty
on your part. Then, it cannot be thought a misfor-
tune to provide for our security at the expense of
some part of our possessions: the consequences that
must arise, if this provision be neglected, rather
deserve that name. And as to the plundering of
your treasury, this must be prevented by finding
some effectual means to guard it; not by neglecting
your interests. Nor can I but express the utmost
indignation, when I find some of you complaining
that your treasures are plundered, though it be in
your power to secure them, and to punish the guilty ;
and yet looking on with indifference, while Philip is
plundering every part of Greece successively; and
this, that he may at last destroy you.
And what can be the reason, Athenians, that when
Philip is guilty of such manifest violations of justice,
when he is actually seizing our cities, yet none of
these men will acknowledge that he acts unjustly,
or commits hostilities; but assert that they who
rouse you from your insensibility, and urge you to
oppose these outrages, are involving you in war?
This is the reason; that whatever accidents may
happen in the course of the war (and there is a
necessity, a melancholy necessity that war should
be attended with many accidents), they may lay the
whole blame on your best and most faithful coun-
sellors. They know, that if with a steady and
unanimous resolution you oppose the insolent in-
vader, he must be conquered, and they deprived of a
master whose pay was ever ready. But if the first
unhappy accident calls you off to private trials and
prosecutions, they need but appear as accusers.
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? 182 OKaTIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
and two great points are secured--your favour, and
Philip's gold; while you discharge the vengeance
due to their perfidy against your faithful speakers.
These are their hopes; these the grounds of thpir
complaints that certain persons are involving you
in war. For my own part, this 1 know perfectly,
that although it hath never been proposed by any
Athenian to declare war, yet Philip hath, seized
many of our territories, and but just now sent suc-
cours to the Cardians. But if we will persuade
ourselves that he is not committing hostilities, he
would be the most senseless of mortals should he
attempt to undeceive us: for, when they who have
received the injury deny it, must the offender prove
his guilt? But when he marches directly hither,
what shall we then say? He will still deny that he
is at war with us (as he did to the people of Oreum,
until his forces were in the heart of their dominions;
as he did to those of Pherae, until he was on the
point of storming their walls; as he did to the
Olynthians, until he appeared in their territories at
the head of an army). Shall we then say that they
who urge lis to defend our country are involving us
in a wai ? If so, we must be slaves. There is no
medium. Nor is your danger the same with that
of other states. Philip's design is not to enslave,
but to extirpate Athens. He knows that a state like
yours, accustomed to command, will not, or, if it
were inclined, cannot submit to slavery: he knows,
that if you have an opportunity you can give him
more disturbance than any other people; and, there-
fore, if ever he conquers us, we may be sure of find-
ing no degree of mercy.
Since, then, you are engaged in defence of all that
is dear to you, apply to the great work with an atten-
tion equal to the importance of it: let the wretches
who have openly sold themselves to this mar. be the
objects of your abhorrence: let them meet with the
utmost severity of public justice: for you will not.
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? PHILIPPIC THE FOURTH.
183
you cannot conquer your foreign enemies until you
have punished those that lurk within your walls
No: they will ever prove so many obstacles to
impede our progress, and to give our enemies the
superiority.
And what can be the reason that he treats you
with insolence (for I cannot call his present conduct
by another name); that he utters menaces against
' you; while he, at least, condescends to dissemble
with other people, and to gain their confidence by
good offices? Thus, by heaping favours on the
Thessalians, he led them insensibly into their present
slavery. It is not possible to enumerate all the
various artifices he practised against the wretched
Olynthians (such, among others, was the putting
them in possession of Potidaea). In his late trans-
actions with the Thebans, he enticed them to his
party by yielding Breotia to them, and by freeing
them from a tedious and distressing war. And
thus, after receiving their several insidious favours,
some of these people have suffered calamities but
too well known to all; others must submit to what-
ever may befall them. What you yourselves have
formerly lost I shall not mention; but, in the very
treaty of peace, in how many instances have we
f been deceived ? how have we been despoiled 1 Did
we not givp up Phocis and the straits ? Did we not
lose our Thracian dominions--Doriscum, Serrium,
and even our ally Cersobleptes ? Is he not in pos-
session of Cardia ? and doth he not avow his usurpa-
tion ? Whence is it, then, that his behaviour towards
you is so different from that towards others? Be-
cause, of all the Grecian states, ours is the only one
in which harangues in favour of enemies are pro-
nounced with impunity; and the venal wretch may
utter his falsehoods with security, even while yon
are losing your dominions. It was not safe to speak
* for Philip at Olynthus until the people had been
gained bv Potidaea. In Thessaly it was not safe to
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? 184 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
speak for Philip until that people had been _
by the expulsion of their tyrants, and by being rein-
stated in the council of amphictyons. Nor could it
have been safely attempted at Thebes until he had
given them up Bceotia, and exterminated the Pho-
cians. But at Athens without the least danger may
Philip be defended, although he hath deprived us of
Amphipolis and the territory of Cardia; although
he threatens our city by his fortifications in Eubcea;
although he is now marching to Byzantium. Hence
some of his advocates have arisen from penury to
affluence; from obscurity and contempt to honour
and eminence; while, on the other hand, you have
sunk from glory to disgrace; from wealth to poverty:
for the riches of a state I take to be the number,
fidelity, and affection of its allies; in all which you
are notoriously deficient. And by your total insen-
sibility, while your affairs are thus falling into ruin,
he is become successful, great, and formidable to all
the Greeks, to all the Barbarians; and you deserted
and inconsiderable; sumptuous, indeed, in your
markets; but in every thing relating to military
power, ridiculous.
There are some orators, I find, who view your
interests and their own in a quite different light.
To you they urge the necessity of continuing quiet,
whatever injuries you are exposed to; they them-
selves find this impossible, though no one offers them
the least injury. To you I speak, Aristodemus! '
Suppose a person should, without severity, ask you
this question: " How is it that you, who are sensible
(for it is a well-known truth) that the life of private
men is serene and easy, and free from danger--that
of statesmen invidious and insecure, subject to daily
contests and disquiets--should yet prefer the life
1 To you I speak, Aristodemus! ]--He was by profession a player, and
was one of the ten ambassadors which the Athenians had sent to the
court of Macedon to treat about the peace. At his return Demosthenes
proposed a decree for crowning this very man for his good services,
whom he here inveighs against with so much bitterness.
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? PHILIPPIC THE FOURTH. 1S5
encompassed with dangers to that of peace and dis-
engagement? " What could you say ? Suppose we
admit the truth of the very best answer you could
make, " that you were prompted by a desire of
honour and renown;" is it possible that you, who
engaged in such painful undertakings, who despised
all toils and dangers for the sake of these, should
advise the state to give them up for ease and indul-
gence ? You cannot, surely, say that it was in-
cumbent on you to maintain a degree of eminence
in the city; and that the city was not concerned to
maintain her eminence in Greece! Nor do I see
how the public safety requires that we should confine
ourselves to our own concerns; and yet, that an
officious intrusion into those of others should be
necessary for your safety. On the contrary, you
are involving yourself in the greatest dangers by
being unnecessarily assiduous; and the city by
being quite inactive. " But then you have an illus-
trious reputation, derived from your family, which
it would be shameful hot to support ; while, on the
contrary, nothing has been transmitted from our
fathers but obscurity and meanness. " This is equally
false. Your father was like you, and therefore base
and infamous. To the honour of our ancestors let
all Greece bear witness--twice rescued1 by their
valour from the greatest dangers.
There are persons, then, who do not act with the
same firmness and integrity in the conduct of their
own affairs and those of the state.
Is not this the
case, when some of them, after escaping from prison,
have raised themselves so high as to forget their
former condition; and yet have reduced a state,
whose pre-eminence in Greece was but now uni-
I Twice rescued, dec. ]--First at Marathon, and afterward at Salamis.
Isocrates mentions a third time, when they delivered Greece from the
Spartan yoke. Demosthenes (frequently speaks of this in the highest
terms, but) here rather chooses to lossen the glory of his country than to
recall an event which reflected on the Lacedemonians, now in alliance
with Athens. --Tourreil.
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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.
