Not that we
assert that it is more eligible to have the Lacedae-
monians our enemies than the Thebans.
assert that it is more eligible to have the Lacedae-
monians our enemies than the Thebans.
Demosthenes - Leland - Orations
And it
is by no means his scheme, by destroying us, to lose
his own empire. His wishes are to command all; if
this cannot be obtained, at least he would secure his
power over his own slaves.
If, then, it be imagined that the Thebanswill unite
with him,2 it is a hard part to speak of Thebes in this
assembly; for such is your aversion to this people,
History speaks no farther of this Orontes ; but as in this year (the eighth
from the time of his revolt) Demosthenes mentions him as an enemy to
the Persian, we may conjecture that his last services bad been disre-
garded, and that he iiad again taken up arms. --Lvcchesini.
t I cannot persuade myself that there is occasion to point out to the
reader the three and pertinency of this argument, although it be ellipti-
ettlly expressed. To be assured of the true signification of the phrase
rpoi Tov PapfSaoav, we need but cast our eyes to a sentence a little far-
ther on--ck ptv ye ruiv IIP02 rovs iavrov irpoyovous iroXeirnv--from the
weTs waged against his ancestors.
* The history of both nations accounts for the detestation With which
the Athenians are supposed to hear the name of the Thebans ; and per-
haps it were impossible that two nations so different in genius and man-
ners ever should entertain any sentiments of friendship and esteem for
each other. Our orator, however, was far superior to vulgar national
prejudices. He considered without partiality the real interests of his
country, whose welfare should be a statesman's passion. Yet his regard
for the people of Thebes was numbered by ^Dschines among his crimes.
The error which, he says, they would if possible redeem, was their
joining with Xerxes in his invasion of Greece. --Francis
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? ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
that you will not hear the voice of truth itself if it
seems at all to favour them. However, it is the duty
of those who debate on great affairs by no means, and
on no pretence whatever, to suppress any argument
which may prove of use. I say, then, that so far are
the Thebans from ever at any time uniting with the
king against the Greeks, that they would freely give
the greatest treasures, were they possessed of them,
to purchase a fair occasion of atoning for their an-
cient errors with respect to Greece. But let the
Thebans be ever so unhappily disposed, still we must
all be sensible, that if they unite with him, their ene-
mies must necessarily unite with the Greeks. And I
trust that the cause of justice and the friends to this
cause will ever prove superior to traitors and to all
the force of the Barbarian. Let us not, then, yield to
these extravagant alarms, nor rashly brave all conse-
quences by being first to take up arms.
Nor do I think that any other of the Grecian states
should look on this war with terror. ' Is there a man
among them who is not sensible, that while they
regarded the Persian as their common enemy and
maintained a firm union with each other, their fortune
was completely happy; but when, by a fatal reliance
on his friendship, they were betrayed into contests
and dissensions among themselves, their calamities
were so great as to exceed all the imprecations which
the most inveterate malice could invent* And shall
that man, whom fortune, whom Heaven itself pro-
nounces as a friend unprofitable, as an enemy of ad-
vantage,--shall he, I say, be feared ? By no means.
Yet let us have the due regard to ourselves; let us
have the due attention to the disorders and suspicions
of the rest of Greece; and let us not incur the charge
1 The well-known and great events described in the taistory of Greece
confirm these observations of the orator fully with respect to all the
Grecian states. Yet we may concur with the Italian commentator in
supposing that they had the Lacedaemonians particularly In view; to
whom they are, indeed, eminently applicable. '
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? ORATION ON THE CLASSES. 247
of injustice. Could we, indeed, with all the Greeks
united firmly on our side, attack him single and un-
supported, I would not then suppose that you could
be charged with injustice. But, as this is not to be
expected, let us be cautious; let us afford him no pre-
tence of appearing to assert the rights of the other
Greeks. If we continue quiet, his applications to
them will be suspicious; if we are the first to take up
arms, he will seem justified by our hostilities in his
attempts to gain their friendship.
Do not, then, discover to the world the melancholy
state of Greece, by inviting those to an alliance whom
you cannot gain, and by engaging in a war which you
cannot support. Be quiet; be resolute; be prepared.
Let not the emissaries of Persia report to their king
that Greece and Athens are distracted in their coun-
cils, are confounded by their fears, are torn by dissen-
sions. No; let them rather tell him, that if it were
not equally shameful for the Greeks to violate their
honour and their oaths as it is to him matter of tri-
umph, they would have long since marched against
him, and that if you now do not march, you are re-
strained solely by a regard to your own dignity; that
it is your prayer to all the gods that he may be seized
with the infatuation which once possessed his ances-
tors, and then he would find no defect of vigour in
your measures. He knows that by our wars with
his ancestors this state became happy and powerful;
that by our peaceful demeanour before these wars we
acquired a superiority over the other Grecian states
never more observable than at present. He knows
that the affairs of Greece require some power to be
either voluntarily or accidentally the instrument of a
general peace. He knows that he himself must prove
that instrument if he once attempts to raise a war;
and, therefore, these informations will have their due
weight and credit.
That I may not longer abuse your patience, I shall
repeat the sum of my advice, and then descend.
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? 248 ORATIONS OV DEMOSTHENES.
You should prepare your force against your pres-
ent enemies; you should use this force against the
king, against any power that may attempt to injure
you; but never be the first to break through the
bounds of justice either in council or in action. You
should be solicitous, not that our speeches, but tha
our conduct may be worthy of our illustrious descent.
Act thus, and you will serve, not yourselves only, but
the men who oppose these measures; for they will
not feel your resentment hereafter if they be not
suffered to mislead you now. 1
l What effect this oration had on the people we may learn from a pas-
sage in the oration for the Rhodians, of which the following is a transla-
tion :--"There are some among you who may remember,'that at the
time when the affairs of Persia were the subject of our consultations, I
was the first, the only, or (Jmost the only, one to recommend it as the
wisest measure not to assign your enmity to the king as the motive of
your armament; to make your preparations against your avowed adver-
saries, and to employ them even against him should he attempt to injure
you. Nor did I urge these things without your full concurrence: the*
were received with applause. "
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? ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS:
PRONOUNCED IN THE ARCHONSHIP OF EUDEMUS, TUX FOURTH YEAR OF
THE HUNDRED AND SIXTH OLYMPIAD.
INTRODUCTION.
In order to prepare the reader for the perusal of the following oration,
it is necessary to recall to his view some of the late important transac-
tions in Greece. He is not to be informed of the flourishing condition of
Sparta after the famous Peloponnesian war, the immoderate ambition of
that state, and the war in which the Spartans were consequently involved
with Thebes. The conduct and vigour of Eparninondas the Theban
proved fatal to Sparta, and the battle of Leuctra put an end to the tyran
nical dominion which this state had long exercised in Peloponnesus.
Immediately after this battle, several of the Peloponnesian states re-
volted from the Lacedemonians. The Messenians, their ancient rivals,
. were restored to their original settlement by the Theban arms, after
many ages of dispersion. The Arcadians and Argives asserted their
independence, and, assisted by the Thebans, took up arms against their
former sovereigns. The Spartans now seemed on the point of having
their ruin completed. They were reduced to fortify their city, whose
defenceless condition had been so long their boast; they armed six hun-
dred of their slaves, and sent a deputation to Athens humbly to solicit
the assistance of their old rivals in this their state of extremity.
The Athenians, who began to conceive a jealousy of the rising power
. of Thebes, readily consented to join with Ihe Lacedaemonians. Iphi-
crates was sent with twelve thousand men to their relief; and on advice
received that Eparninondas was marching against Lacedasmon at the
bead of the Thebans, Argives, and Arcadians, Chabrias was despatched
with another reinforcement to join the Spartans and thetr confederates.
It is not to the present purpose to mention particularly the several
events in the course of this war. It is only necessary to observe, that
the Arcadians, in order the better to secure that liberty for which they
now contended, determined to collect all their force into one body, brought
the detached settlements of their countrymen to a union, and fixed their
common residence in a city built by the advice and assistance of Eparni-
nondas (if we may believe Pausanias), and called Megalopolis, or the
Great City. This was one considerable barrier against the Lacedceino-
nian power in Peloponnesus, which still subsisted, together with the
other equitable regulations of Eparninondas for securing the liberty of
the Peloponnesians.
i
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? 250
INTRODUCTION.
These were considered by the LacedGemonians as so many memorials
of their disgrace. And the least respite from the calamities of an unsuc-
cessful war was sufficient to inspire them with an earnest desire of
recovering their ancient power and superiority. Greece was now
harassed by the sacred war. Several cities of inferior note had changed
their masters in the course of this quarrel. The re-establishment of
peace, and a settlement of the whole nation of Greece, were universally
urged as objects highly worthy of the general attention. And now
Archidamus, the King of Sparta, a subtle and designing prince, proposed
a plan for this purpose, in appearance advantageous to the whole body,
but, in effect, only calculated to restore the superiority of Sparta. He
proposed, that in order to restore the general tranquillity, the several
cities should be re-established in the same condition as before the late
wars.
This was a scheme which promised some advantage to all the leading
states. Oropus, a city on the confines of Breotia, once commanded by
the Athenians, and still claimed as their right, but now possessed by the
Thebans, must have returned to its ancient masters. Thespia and
Platcea, two eminent cities in Bosotia, that had felt the jealousy and
revenge of Thebes, and now lay subverted and depopulated, were by the
same plan to be restored and fortified. The Phocians were to give up
two important acquisitions gained in the . course of the sacred war, the
cities of Orchomenus and Coronea. But these and the other Boeotian
cities were only to acknowledge Thebes as the principal and leading city
1 in Bceotia, without any ahsolute submission or dependence, and without
any obedience to that jurisdiction which the Thebans claimed and had
exercised over them. On the other hand, Peloponnesus was to be reduced
to its former state of dependence; the cities of Messene and Megalopolis
were to be destroyed, and their inhabitants dispersed; so as to restore
the Spartans to the power of resuming that tyrannical dominion which
they had formerly exercised over their neighbours.
Archidamus began with endeavouring to regain that authority in
Peloponnesus to which the Spartans aspired. A dispute was soon raised
between Sparta and Argos about the boundaries of their dominions;
and the King of Sparta, having in vain attempted'to succeed by practising
secretly with Nicostratus, the principal citizen of Argos, determined to
have recourse to arms.
The people of Megalopolis were equally concerned in this quarrel. A
war was on the point of breaking out in Peloponnesus; each side was
assiduous to gain over the other states of Greece: and on this occasion
both the Megalopolitans and Lacedaemonians sent their ambassadors
to Athens; the one to solicit for assistance and support, the other to
prevail on the Athenians to continue neuter.
On this occasion was the assembly convened, in which the following
oration was delivered. Each state had its partisans in this assembly,
and the speakers on both sides seem to have delivered their sentiments
with the utmost heat and animosity. The orators who opposed the
demands of Megalopolis urged the connexions of Athens with the Lacedte-
monians in the Theban war, and the dishonour and inconsistency of
arming against their old fellow-soldiers. They represented the old
attachment of the Megalopolitans to Thebes in the most odious and sus-
Eicious colours; and declared, that by sup1iorting them and depressing
acedasmon, they would in effect render the Theban power highly
formidable, if not irresistible: nor did they forget to urge that by ae
qutescing in the attempts of Lacedasmon to re-establish its power is
Pe'oponnesus, they themselves would be entitled to the assistance of
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? INTRODUCTION.
that state, in order to recover the dominions which had been wrested
from them. Through this whole debate the Athenians seemed to have
been entirely influenced by motives of policy and convenience; and ihe
reader will And these urged by Demosthenes, with the utmost address
and artifice, in favour of the people of Megalopolis, in the following
oration.
That this oration was pronounced in the archonship of Theodemus or
Eudemus, we are informed by Dionysius of Halicarnassus (in F. pist. ad
Ammse. ): and this Eudemus was arch on, according to Diodorus, in the
fourth year of the hundred <<ml sixth Olympiad. In the beginning of the
next year the Lacedaemonians made their irruption into Arcadia. So
that it is probable that the ambassadors we're received at Athens about
the latter end ofthe year (i. e. a little before the summer solstice), whea
the Lacedaemonians were just preparing to take the field, and the Area-
? tans threatened with immediate danger.
Vol. I. --U
?
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? ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS.
The speakers on both sides seem to me, ye men
of Athens, equally to blame--the partisans of the
Arcadians and the advocates for Lacedaemon. Like
the deputies of these communities, not like youi
citizens, to whom their deputations are addressed,
they excuse, they inveigh against each other. ' This,
I say, is to act like deputies: but to speak with a
true patriot spirit, to attend entirely to the interest of
the state, free from all factious principles, these are
their duties who assume the character of our coun-
sellors. But now, were not their persons known,
did they not speak bur language, I should have taken
many of them for two distinct people: the one of
Arcadia, the other of Lacedaemon.
How hazardous a part it is to urge your real
interests is to me apparent: for in this violence of
opposition, where you are all alike deceived, as well
the favourers of this as the supporters of the opposite
opinion, should a man attempt to point out the just
I This heat and acrimony did not always proceed from conviction and
zeal for the public interest. Every city or community that solicited any
matter in the Athenian assembly first took care to secure managers and
advocates among the popular speakers. If the interposition of these
pleaders proved successful, they were sometimes rewarded with a
statue erected in the city whose interests they had supported; some-
times, and indeed more frequently, with a sum of money. Agreements
were formally made, and, in some cases, securities given for the payment
of this fee. In the oration of JEsehines against Ctesiphon we have one
instance of a transaction of this nature between the city of Oreum and
Demosthenes himself, where the stipulation was so notorious as to
appear on the public records of this city; and so firm and binding, as to
oblige the people of Oreum, in a time of their distress, to mortgage their
revenues to the orator as a security for the sum agreed on, and to pay
kiterost, monthly, until the principal could be discharged.
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? ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOL1TANS. 253
mean between them, and should you prove impatient
of direction, he would gratify neither party; he
would be calumniated by both. Yet still, I freely
choose, if such must be my fate, rather to be thought
weakly impertinent than to suffer any men to mis-
lead you from what I deem most advantageous to
the state. There are other points of which, if I have
your permission, I shall hereafter speak. I now
proceed, from principles acknowledged equally by
all, to deduce such truths as I think of greatest
moment.
There is not a man1 who can deny that it is for the
interest of Athens that both the Lacedaemonians and
the Thebans also should be weak; but such is the
present state of things ^if any conjecture may be
formed from the discourses we so often hear), that
if Orchomenus2 and Thespia and Plataea be re-
1 There is not a man, &c. ]--On this principle it is that the orator
founds all his reasoning. The wars which these three leading states
carried on against each other were either for acquiring, or supporting,
or recovering the sovereignty in Greece. A passion for this pre-emi-
nence constituted the principal part of national virtue and merit. They
talked, indeed, of the interest of the whole body of Greece, of an exten-
sive regard and affection to this body, and of the necessity of a just
batance of power; yet, in these days of degeneracy, at least, the duly
of aggrandizing their own community was frequently made the great
law of the morality of statesmen. And this contributed no less to the
final ruin of the Grecian states than their luxury and corruption.
"Graecia e civitates, dum imperare singulae cnpiunt, imperium omnes
perdiderunt," says Justin. A strict union with each other was neces-
sary, even to the being and support of each. But for extensive dominion,
the constitution and circumstances even of the most eminent of their
communities were by no means calculated.
2 There were two cities in Greece of this name; the one in Arcadia,
the other, of which the orator here speaks, in Bceotia, an ancient and
illustrious city, to which Thebes was tributary, in the heroic times,
until Hercules enabled it to assert its independence. After the battle of
! ,euctra the Thebans determined to reduce this rival city to their obedi-
ence, but were restrained by the moderation of Epaminondas, who pre-
vailed on his countrymen to admit the people of Orchomenus to their
alliance, instead of reducing them to slavery. However, after the battle
of Maritinea, in which this general fell, the Thebans found a pretence
for executing their former severe purposes against Orchomenus. Three
hundred Orchomenian cavalry, had joined with certain Theban exiles in
a conspiracy to overturn the aristocratical constitution of Thebes, and
were betrayed by those whom they had agreed to assist. The Thebans,
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? 254 orations or Demosthenes.
peopled, the Thebans must be weak; that the
Lacedemonians,1 if Arcadia be reduced to their
obedience, and the Great City be possessed by them,
must once more become powerful. We are, there-
fore, to be careful not to suffer these to be great and
formidable before the others are reduced; nor to
betray ourselves into greater inconveniences by the
strength of Lacedsemon than can possibly be com-
pensated by the weakness of Thebes.
Not that we
assert that it is more eligible to have the Lacedae-
monians our enemies than the Thebans. This is not
the point we would support; but that neither of them
should have the power of injuring us in any instance:
for thus only can our fears be removed and our
security established.
' But it will be said, " Yes! this is, indeed, a point
of utmost moment: yet it is grievous to make those
our allies against whom we fought at Mantinea, to
unite with them against the very men with whom
we then shared the dangers of the field. " Grievous,
I confess, it is; but let such delicacy gain some
attention among others: let the parlies once agree
to live in peace, and we shall not, we need not, send
not contented with confining their vengeance to the guilty, seized the
city of Orchomenus, put the citizens to the sword, and made slaves of
their wives and children. --Lucckesini.
Of Thespia and Platasa, the reader will find some short account In the
oration on the Peace, note 2, p. 102. The vicinity of these three cities to
Thebes, and their hatred to the Thebans, inspired by the temembrance
of injuries never to be forgotten, sufficiently explain the assertion of
Demosthenes.
1 The subversion of the Lacedaemonian power seems to have been not
so much the effect of tue defeat at Leuctra as of the revolt of their allies
In Peloponnesus, and particularly of the Arcadians. It was not difficult
for a warlike nation to have reassembled and reinforced its troops after
such an engagement. Nor could the Thebans have ventured to pursue
their victory so far as even to threaten Sparta with slavery, unless they
had been assisted by the Arcadians. Hence both the Thebans and
Athenians ever courted the alliance of the Peloponnesiaos,and cultivated
their friendship with the greatest assiduity. And hence the orator is
justly warranted to observe that the power of Lacedremon must rise to
a formidable pitch by the reduction of the Arcadians, who, by the extent
of their territory, and the strength of their towns, were, next to Sparta,
evidently the most considerable of the Feloponnesian states ~Lu#-
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? ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS. 25S
support to the Megalopolitans; our swords shall not
then be drawn against our old fellow-soldiers. One
party (as they profess) are already in alliance with
us, the other are now soliciting our alliance. What
have we farther to desire? But what if justice
should be violated? if war should be resolved on?
If it be the sole object of debate whether we should
give up the Great City to the dominion of Laeedasmon
or no, let us give it up: I do not contend against it,
though it be not just: let us not arm against those
who once shared with us the dangers of the field.
But as we are all convinced, that if once masters of
this city, they will instantly attack Messene; let
any one of those who have been so severe on the
Megalopolitans rise and say what conduct he would
recommend to us on such an emergency. They are
silent: but you are not to be informed that whether
they should urge us or dissuade us, we should be
obliged to send succours, both by those sacred oaths
which engage us to Messene, and by our interest,
which requires that this city should subsist. 1 Con-
sider, therefore, with yourselves which would be the
noblest and most benevolent procedure, to begin
your opposition to the encroachments of Lacedaemon
by the defence of the Megalopolitans, or that of the
Messenians. In the one case, you will appear atten-
tive only to the safety of the Arcadians, and to the
solid establishment of that tranquillity for which you
have exposed yourselves to the dangers and the toils
of war: in the other, all mankind must see that in
defending Messene, you act not so much from prin-
ciples of equity as from your fears of Lacedaemon.
1 The Lacedemonians, mortified and incensed at the re-establishment
at Messene, refused to include this state in the general peace which was
made after the battle of Mantinea; and when the Thebans were once
Involved in the Phocian war, determined to seize the opportunity of
oppressing those Peloponnesians who had united with their rivals.
Hostilities were declared against the Messenians: this people applied for
succour to the Athenians, who engaged to defend them against inva
sions, though they refused to assist them in any offensive measures.
This seems to have been the engagement to which the orator reters.
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? 256
ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
Our designs and actions should be just; but we
should be careful that at the same time they may
also prove conducive to our interest. 1
It is urged by those who have spoken on the other
side that we should endeavour to regain Oropus.
But should we now make those our enemies who
would assist us in this design, we must forfeit all
hopes of their assistance. It is my opinion, too, that
we should attempt to regain Oropus. But that Lace-
daemon will now become our enemy if we unite
with those Arcadians who sue for our alliance, they,
of all men, never should assert,2 who persuaded us
to support the Lacedaemonians in the time of their
distress: for when the whole body of the Pelopon-
nesians was ready to unite with us, when they called
on us to lead them against the Lacedaemonians, the
very men who now urge this objection persuaded
you to reject their overtures,3 which forced them to
1 The reasoning in this passage may possibly deserve to be opened
and illustrated somewhat farther than can be done by a simple detail of
historical facts. It is one of the numberless instances of our orator's
accommodating his style and manner of address to the quickness and
liveliness of his countrymen ; and complimenting their understandings,
by leaving something to be supplied by them. The purport of his argu-
ment seems to be this; "Sooner or later we must oppose the attempts of
Lacedaemon, to extend our sovereignty. Our own interest requires it,
as well as our regard to equity and the general interest of Greece. To
both we owe the due attention, and it should be our care to make them
coincide: while the Arcadians are supported, the Lacedaemonians cannot
be supposed sufficiently powerful to become an object of terror: our
interposition, therefore, in favour of the Arcadians will be regarded as
the purc effect of public spirit. But if the Lacedemonians be first suf-
fered to reduce Arcadia, and the Athenians then begin to oppose their
farther progress, the motives of equity and public spirit may, indeed,
still be pleaded; but those of self-interest must necessatily be supposed
to have hnd the greater influence. "
2 They, of all men, never should assert, Ac. ]--Because these men
then reasoned from the necessity of preserving a due balance of power,
and preventing any one state from becoming formidable. The resent-
ment of the party to be opposed they then considered as of no weight
against so cogent an argument. The same argument was now urged
with equal force and propriety in favour of the Arcadians. They could
not, therefore, urge an objection now which, in a case exactly parallel,
they had affected to despise.
3 The history of this fact, as described by Xenophon, does not exactly
agree with this passage, unless supplied and illustrated by the narration
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? ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS. 257
apply to Thebes, then their sole resource, and to
expend your treasures and endanger your persons
in defence of Lacedaemon. Surely you could not
have acted with such spirit to save this people had
you been fairly told, that when once saved, no re-
straint must be prescribed to their desires, no bounds
to their injustice, else they would retain no sense of
that safety which we gave them. Let it then be
supposed that our forming an alliance with the
Arcadians be ever so repugnant to the views of the
Lacedaemonians, still that gratitude which they owe
to this state for their preservation at a time when
they were threatened with the utmost dangers, should
far outweigh any resentment they may conceive
from our opposing their injustice. And can they
then deny us their assistance to regain Oropus ?
This would prove them the most abandoned of man-
kind. No! by the gods, I cannot suspect them of
such baseness!
I hear it also urged, and am surprised at the ob-
jection, that by this alliance with the Arcadians, and
by the measures now proposed, the state must con-
tradict its former conduct, and thus lose its credit.
To me, Athenians, the very contrary seems manifest:
and why? Because it cannot be denied, that in de-
fending the Lacedaemonians, in granting the like
of Diodoras. After the battle of Leuctra the Athenians offered liberty
to all the states of Peloponnesus. The Mantineans, thus encouraged,
determined to fortify their city, but were opposed by the Laccda)
moniaus, who first remonstrated by their deputies, and then took up
arms. Many of the Arcadians themselves refused to give up their
authority over some of their dependent cities. This produced a war
between the Lacedemonians, Tegeans, and their allies, on one part;
and the Mantineans, and the principal Arcadian states, on the other.
The Mantineans and Arcadians were victorious: "Yet still," says
Diodorus (1. xv. An. 4, Olmp. 102), " they dreaded the weight of Sparta,
and could not venture by themselves to carry on the war. They there-
fore gained over the Argians and Eleans, and sent an embassy to the
Athenians, inviting them to unite in the confederacy against the Spar-
tans. But, as they could gain no attention at Athens, they had recourse
to the Thebans, and prevailed on them to join in a league against
Lacetuemon. " This extract from Diodorus throws sufficient light on the
present passage. --Lwxhesini.
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? 258 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES
defence to Thebes in former times, and lately in
saving the Eubreans,1 and then admitting them to an
alliance, we have uniformly pursued one and the
same design. And what is this? The protection
of the injured. And if this be so, the charge of
inconsistency must be urged, not against us, but those
who refuse to adhere to justice. Affairs have
changed by means of those whose ambition is un-
bounded : this state hath not changed. .
It appears to me that the Lacedaemonians are now
acting a subtle and insidious part: they say that the
Eleans2 ought to have a portion of Triphylia; the
Phliasians, Tricaranus; some" others of the Arca-
dians, the territories which are theirs; and we,
Oropus: not that they wish to see each of us in
possession of our rightful dominions: far from it!
Such public-spirited sentiments are new to them:
they but affect this zeal for the support of all in the
recovery of their several interests, that, when they
themselves march against Messene, all may arm in
their cause, and cheerfully unite with them; or else
appear to act unjustly, who had their concurrence in
regaining their particular claims, and yet refuse to
grant them the like returns of friendship. It is my
opinion, in the first place, that without subjecting
any part of Arcadia to the power of the Lacedaemo-
nians, Athens will regain Oropus; that these people
will themselves support our claim if they have the
least regard to justice; and that there are others3 to
1 In saving the Eubreans. )--At the time when the Tbebans had gained
possession of a part of the island, with an intent of destroying the Athe-
nian power in Eubrea. See note 3, p. 43.
2-That the Eleans, &c. l--Triphylia was a district on the seaooast,
situate between Elis and Messene. Certain Arcadian exiles had seized
Lassio, its principal city, and delivered it to the Eleans. This produced
a w^r, in which Triphylia so often changed its masters, that the right to
it became doubtful. The Arcadians, however, prevailed at length, and
now possessed several cities in this district. Tricaranus had been taken
from the Phliasians by the Argives, some time after the battle of Leuctra.
3 There are others, &c. ]--The Phocians. Thessalians, and Corinthjmc*,
who were now engaged against the Thebans in the sacred war.
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? ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS. 259
support it who think that Thebes should not be suf-
fered to possess the rights of others. But were it
evident that unless we permit the Lacedaemonians to
overturn all Peloponnesus, we never can be able to
obtain this city, I should think it more eligible (if I
may so speak) absolutely to resign our pretensions
to Oropus, than to abandon Messene and Pelopon-
nesus to the Lacedaemonians. It is not in this par-
ticular alone that we are to attend to the conduct of
Lacedsemon. --But 1 suppress those thoughts which
are now starting. I only say, we are in many in-
stances exposed to danger.
As to the actions of the Megalopolitans against this
state during their connexion with the Thebans, it is
absurd to urge these now as criminal. It is absurd,
I say, when they are inclined to form a strict union
with us, that so they may redeem their former con-
duct, by doing us effectual service, maliciously to
seek for all pretences to defeat such favourable in-
tentions ; and not to consider, that the greater zeal
and ardour they are proved to have discovered for
the interest of Thebes, the greater and the juster
should be your resentment against those who de-
prived the state of such confederates (for your pro-
tection they first solicited, before their application to
the Thebans). These are the wretched arguments
of men who wish that these people should unite with
other states. 1
From all the judgment I can form, on the most
mature reflection, I am persuaded (and there are
many here who agree with me in this opinion), that
if the Lacedaemonians are once masters of Mega-
1 Ttie objections on the other side were, " Shall we arm against the
Lacedaemonians, our fellow-soldiers in the Thenanwarl" and "Shall
We assist the Arcadians, who drew their swords against us at Man-
tinea 7" Both very popular, and likely to influence the assembly. Thf
speaker seems particularly to droad the latter: he stales it in gentle and
extenuating terms : his answer has as muchart and liveliness as forra,
and he appears not at all inclined to dwell long or particularly, on tbjr
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? 260 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
<
lopolis, Messene must certainly be in danger. Should
they gain this city also, I say, we must form an alli-
ance with the Thebans. And it will be much more
noble, much more advantageous, at once to take those
allies of the Thebans to our protection, and vigor-
ously to oppose the ambition of Lacedaemon, than to
refuse them that protection because allies to the
Thebans: to abandon them to their oppressors; and
thus be forced to save Thebes itself from ruin; nay,
to involve this our own state in danger. For I cannot
think it a matter of no consequence to Athens that
the Lacedaemonians should be masters of Mega-
lopolis, and resume their ancient greatness; while,
even now, I see them draw the sword, not to defend
their state from wrong, but to regain that sovereign
power which they formerly enjoyed. And what
were their designs when they enjoyed this power
you can better say than T, and must therefore feel
the juster and the stronger apprehensions. 1
I would gladly ask our speakers, those who ex-
press such aversion to Thebes, and those who declare
themselves the enemies of Lacedaemon, whether in
these their particular resentments they be actuated
by a regard to you and to your interests; or whether
they severally hate the Thebans, for the sake of the
Lacedaemonians; and the Lacedaemonians, from their
affection to the Thebans. If for their sakes, they
have lost their reason, and are each unworthy of our
attention: if for our interest, whence this unneces-
sary zeal for their favourite states ? It is possible,
very possible, to humble the Thebans without
aggrandizing the Lacedaemonians. This may be
easily effected, as I shall now endeavour to convince
you.
It is well known that men are, to a certain degree,
1 The sovereignty of Lacedaemon is to be dated from the destruction
of Athens by Lysander, in the first year of the ninety-fourth Olympiad,
a considerable time before the birth of Demosthenes, but within the
memory of some citizens ; at least the consequences of this important
event must have been remembered by numbers in the assembly
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? ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS. 261
obliged by shame to adhere to justice, even where
their inclinations are averse. They affect to appear
strenuous against every injurious attempt; especially
when, in any instance, they have suffered by such
attempt. Here we find the great cause of all disor-
ders, the origin of all calamities, in this want of a
sincere, disinterested regard to justice. To avoid
this danger, therefore, in our attempts to reduce the
power of Thebes, let us declare that Thespia, and
Orchomenus, and Plataea must be restored: let us
exert ourselves for this purpose, and call on others
to assist us. Thus shall our true regard to equity,
our real patriotic spirit, be displayed in this generous
concern for the restoration of ancient cities: but, at
the same time, let us not abandon Messene and Me-
galopolis to the power of their oppressors. Let us
not, under the pretence of serving the Thespians
and Plataeans, look on with unconcern while cities
now in being, already filled with inhabitants, are
razed to their foundations. If we show this equal
regard to justice, there is not a state in Greece but
will readily unite with us to wrest from the Thebans
their unjust acquisition. If not, this people must
necessarily oppose our endeavours to restore the
cities: an event which they must justly regard as
their own destruction: and, in our own affair,1 the
attempt must prove ineffectual. And what in truth
can be expected, if we are ever suffering cities now
in being to be destroyed, and demanding that cities
long since ruined should be restored ?
It hath been urged in this debate, by those who
have spoken with the greatest appearance of reason,
that these people should take down the public monu-
ments2 of their treaty with Thebes, if they mean to
1 Our own aflair. ]^That Is, the recovery of Oropus.
2 The public monuments, &c. ]--In the original, Tas XTHAA2
Kadckuv ras irpos Qr}/iaiovs. It was the custom of Greece thit the trea-
ties of the several states, and the conditions of these treaties, should be
Inscribed on columns, which were erected, and, while the treaties sub-
sisted, were preserved, in the most public and frequented places; as u.
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? 262 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
be real allies to this state. On the other side, it is
alleged that it is not such monuments, but interest,
which they regTlrd as the essential cause of friend-
ship; that they must look on those as their real allies
who will grant them their assistance.
But, however sincerely they may thus profess, this
is my opinion: that you should demand both that
these monuments be taken down, and that Lacedae-
monTje obliged to peace. If either of these demands
be rejected, we should then unite with that party
which hath acquiesced: for, if when they are allowed
to live unmolested the Megalopolitans should still
adhere to their connexions with the Thebans, they
must then discover to the world that they were in-
fluenced by the hopes conceived from the superiority
of Thebes, not by motives of equity. If, on the other
hand, when the Megalopolitans have, with real faith
and sincerity, formed an alliance with us, the Lace-
daemonians should still refuse to live in peace, it must
be manifest that all this their solicitude is not that
Thespia may be restored, but that, while the Thebans
are embroiled in this war, they may seize the oppor-
tunity of reducing all Peloponnesus.
I am surprised at some persons, who express
dreadful apprehensions at the allies of Thebes be-
coming enemies to Lacedsemon; yet, should Lace-
the scenes of their great games, where the whole nation was collected
at particular seasons, and there had an opportunity of being witnesses
of tho terms agreed on. The observance of these was, in some sort, a
matter of national concern, and came under the cognizance of the great
couneil of amphictyons. That the contracting powers themselves might
have the monuments of their public acts continually in view, the like
columns were erected in the most conspicuous places of their cities.
. Thus we learn from Thucydides that when the Athenians and Lacedae-
monians had concluded a truce for fifty years, in the tenth year of the
famous Peloponnesian war, it was provided that the columns on which
the treaty was inscribed should be erected in such places as have been
mentioned. XrriXas Se crtiffat OXupttiafft, Kai HvOau Kai laB^y, Kai cv
ABiivais tv ttoXci, Kai tv AaKtSaiuovi tv A/iUKAaiif). Pausanias observes
that in his days many of these columns were preserved in the Olympian
temple, and particularly that which was the monument of the treaty
concluded between the Athenians, Argians, and Mantineans, in the
twelfth year ofthe Peloponnesian war.
?
is by no means his scheme, by destroying us, to lose
his own empire. His wishes are to command all; if
this cannot be obtained, at least he would secure his
power over his own slaves.
If, then, it be imagined that the Thebanswill unite
with him,2 it is a hard part to speak of Thebes in this
assembly; for such is your aversion to this people,
History speaks no farther of this Orontes ; but as in this year (the eighth
from the time of his revolt) Demosthenes mentions him as an enemy to
the Persian, we may conjecture that his last services bad been disre-
garded, and that he iiad again taken up arms. --Lvcchesini.
t I cannot persuade myself that there is occasion to point out to the
reader the three and pertinency of this argument, although it be ellipti-
ettlly expressed. To be assured of the true signification of the phrase
rpoi Tov PapfSaoav, we need but cast our eyes to a sentence a little far-
ther on--ck ptv ye ruiv IIP02 rovs iavrov irpoyovous iroXeirnv--from the
weTs waged against his ancestors.
* The history of both nations accounts for the detestation With which
the Athenians are supposed to hear the name of the Thebans ; and per-
haps it were impossible that two nations so different in genius and man-
ners ever should entertain any sentiments of friendship and esteem for
each other. Our orator, however, was far superior to vulgar national
prejudices. He considered without partiality the real interests of his
country, whose welfare should be a statesman's passion. Yet his regard
for the people of Thebes was numbered by ^Dschines among his crimes.
The error which, he says, they would if possible redeem, was their
joining with Xerxes in his invasion of Greece. --Francis
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? ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
that you will not hear the voice of truth itself if it
seems at all to favour them. However, it is the duty
of those who debate on great affairs by no means, and
on no pretence whatever, to suppress any argument
which may prove of use. I say, then, that so far are
the Thebans from ever at any time uniting with the
king against the Greeks, that they would freely give
the greatest treasures, were they possessed of them,
to purchase a fair occasion of atoning for their an-
cient errors with respect to Greece. But let the
Thebans be ever so unhappily disposed, still we must
all be sensible, that if they unite with him, their ene-
mies must necessarily unite with the Greeks. And I
trust that the cause of justice and the friends to this
cause will ever prove superior to traitors and to all
the force of the Barbarian. Let us not, then, yield to
these extravagant alarms, nor rashly brave all conse-
quences by being first to take up arms.
Nor do I think that any other of the Grecian states
should look on this war with terror. ' Is there a man
among them who is not sensible, that while they
regarded the Persian as their common enemy and
maintained a firm union with each other, their fortune
was completely happy; but when, by a fatal reliance
on his friendship, they were betrayed into contests
and dissensions among themselves, their calamities
were so great as to exceed all the imprecations which
the most inveterate malice could invent* And shall
that man, whom fortune, whom Heaven itself pro-
nounces as a friend unprofitable, as an enemy of ad-
vantage,--shall he, I say, be feared ? By no means.
Yet let us have the due regard to ourselves; let us
have the due attention to the disorders and suspicions
of the rest of Greece; and let us not incur the charge
1 The well-known and great events described in the taistory of Greece
confirm these observations of the orator fully with respect to all the
Grecian states. Yet we may concur with the Italian commentator in
supposing that they had the Lacedaemonians particularly In view; to
whom they are, indeed, eminently applicable. '
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? ORATION ON THE CLASSES. 247
of injustice. Could we, indeed, with all the Greeks
united firmly on our side, attack him single and un-
supported, I would not then suppose that you could
be charged with injustice. But, as this is not to be
expected, let us be cautious; let us afford him no pre-
tence of appearing to assert the rights of the other
Greeks. If we continue quiet, his applications to
them will be suspicious; if we are the first to take up
arms, he will seem justified by our hostilities in his
attempts to gain their friendship.
Do not, then, discover to the world the melancholy
state of Greece, by inviting those to an alliance whom
you cannot gain, and by engaging in a war which you
cannot support. Be quiet; be resolute; be prepared.
Let not the emissaries of Persia report to their king
that Greece and Athens are distracted in their coun-
cils, are confounded by their fears, are torn by dissen-
sions. No; let them rather tell him, that if it were
not equally shameful for the Greeks to violate their
honour and their oaths as it is to him matter of tri-
umph, they would have long since marched against
him, and that if you now do not march, you are re-
strained solely by a regard to your own dignity; that
it is your prayer to all the gods that he may be seized
with the infatuation which once possessed his ances-
tors, and then he would find no defect of vigour in
your measures. He knows that by our wars with
his ancestors this state became happy and powerful;
that by our peaceful demeanour before these wars we
acquired a superiority over the other Grecian states
never more observable than at present. He knows
that the affairs of Greece require some power to be
either voluntarily or accidentally the instrument of a
general peace. He knows that he himself must prove
that instrument if he once attempts to raise a war;
and, therefore, these informations will have their due
weight and credit.
That I may not longer abuse your patience, I shall
repeat the sum of my advice, and then descend.
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? 248 ORATIONS OV DEMOSTHENES.
You should prepare your force against your pres-
ent enemies; you should use this force against the
king, against any power that may attempt to injure
you; but never be the first to break through the
bounds of justice either in council or in action. You
should be solicitous, not that our speeches, but tha
our conduct may be worthy of our illustrious descent.
Act thus, and you will serve, not yourselves only, but
the men who oppose these measures; for they will
not feel your resentment hereafter if they be not
suffered to mislead you now. 1
l What effect this oration had on the people we may learn from a pas-
sage in the oration for the Rhodians, of which the following is a transla-
tion :--"There are some among you who may remember,'that at the
time when the affairs of Persia were the subject of our consultations, I
was the first, the only, or (Jmost the only, one to recommend it as the
wisest measure not to assign your enmity to the king as the motive of
your armament; to make your preparations against your avowed adver-
saries, and to employ them even against him should he attempt to injure
you. Nor did I urge these things without your full concurrence: the*
were received with applause. "
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? ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS:
PRONOUNCED IN THE ARCHONSHIP OF EUDEMUS, TUX FOURTH YEAR OF
THE HUNDRED AND SIXTH OLYMPIAD.
INTRODUCTION.
In order to prepare the reader for the perusal of the following oration,
it is necessary to recall to his view some of the late important transac-
tions in Greece. He is not to be informed of the flourishing condition of
Sparta after the famous Peloponnesian war, the immoderate ambition of
that state, and the war in which the Spartans were consequently involved
with Thebes. The conduct and vigour of Eparninondas the Theban
proved fatal to Sparta, and the battle of Leuctra put an end to the tyran
nical dominion which this state had long exercised in Peloponnesus.
Immediately after this battle, several of the Peloponnesian states re-
volted from the Lacedemonians. The Messenians, their ancient rivals,
. were restored to their original settlement by the Theban arms, after
many ages of dispersion. The Arcadians and Argives asserted their
independence, and, assisted by the Thebans, took up arms against their
former sovereigns. The Spartans now seemed on the point of having
their ruin completed. They were reduced to fortify their city, whose
defenceless condition had been so long their boast; they armed six hun-
dred of their slaves, and sent a deputation to Athens humbly to solicit
the assistance of their old rivals in this their state of extremity.
The Athenians, who began to conceive a jealousy of the rising power
. of Thebes, readily consented to join with Ihe Lacedaemonians. Iphi-
crates was sent with twelve thousand men to their relief; and on advice
received that Eparninondas was marching against Lacedasmon at the
bead of the Thebans, Argives, and Arcadians, Chabrias was despatched
with another reinforcement to join the Spartans and thetr confederates.
It is not to the present purpose to mention particularly the several
events in the course of this war. It is only necessary to observe, that
the Arcadians, in order the better to secure that liberty for which they
now contended, determined to collect all their force into one body, brought
the detached settlements of their countrymen to a union, and fixed their
common residence in a city built by the advice and assistance of Eparni-
nondas (if we may believe Pausanias), and called Megalopolis, or the
Great City. This was one considerable barrier against the Lacedceino-
nian power in Peloponnesus, which still subsisted, together with the
other equitable regulations of Eparninondas for securing the liberty of
the Peloponnesians.
i
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? 250
INTRODUCTION.
These were considered by the LacedGemonians as so many memorials
of their disgrace. And the least respite from the calamities of an unsuc-
cessful war was sufficient to inspire them with an earnest desire of
recovering their ancient power and superiority. Greece was now
harassed by the sacred war. Several cities of inferior note had changed
their masters in the course of this quarrel. The re-establishment of
peace, and a settlement of the whole nation of Greece, were universally
urged as objects highly worthy of the general attention. And now
Archidamus, the King of Sparta, a subtle and designing prince, proposed
a plan for this purpose, in appearance advantageous to the whole body,
but, in effect, only calculated to restore the superiority of Sparta. He
proposed, that in order to restore the general tranquillity, the several
cities should be re-established in the same condition as before the late
wars.
This was a scheme which promised some advantage to all the leading
states. Oropus, a city on the confines of Breotia, once commanded by
the Athenians, and still claimed as their right, but now possessed by the
Thebans, must have returned to its ancient masters. Thespia and
Platcea, two eminent cities in Bosotia, that had felt the jealousy and
revenge of Thebes, and now lay subverted and depopulated, were by the
same plan to be restored and fortified. The Phocians were to give up
two important acquisitions gained in the . course of the sacred war, the
cities of Orchomenus and Coronea. But these and the other Boeotian
cities were only to acknowledge Thebes as the principal and leading city
1 in Bceotia, without any ahsolute submission or dependence, and without
any obedience to that jurisdiction which the Thebans claimed and had
exercised over them. On the other hand, Peloponnesus was to be reduced
to its former state of dependence; the cities of Messene and Megalopolis
were to be destroyed, and their inhabitants dispersed; so as to restore
the Spartans to the power of resuming that tyrannical dominion which
they had formerly exercised over their neighbours.
Archidamus began with endeavouring to regain that authority in
Peloponnesus to which the Spartans aspired. A dispute was soon raised
between Sparta and Argos about the boundaries of their dominions;
and the King of Sparta, having in vain attempted'to succeed by practising
secretly with Nicostratus, the principal citizen of Argos, determined to
have recourse to arms.
The people of Megalopolis were equally concerned in this quarrel. A
war was on the point of breaking out in Peloponnesus; each side was
assiduous to gain over the other states of Greece: and on this occasion
both the Megalopolitans and Lacedaemonians sent their ambassadors
to Athens; the one to solicit for assistance and support, the other to
prevail on the Athenians to continue neuter.
On this occasion was the assembly convened, in which the following
oration was delivered. Each state had its partisans in this assembly,
and the speakers on both sides seem to have delivered their sentiments
with the utmost heat and animosity. The orators who opposed the
demands of Megalopolis urged the connexions of Athens with the Lacedte-
monians in the Theban war, and the dishonour and inconsistency of
arming against their old fellow-soldiers. They represented the old
attachment of the Megalopolitans to Thebes in the most odious and sus-
Eicious colours; and declared, that by sup1iorting them and depressing
acedasmon, they would in effect render the Theban power highly
formidable, if not irresistible: nor did they forget to urge that by ae
qutescing in the attempts of Lacedasmon to re-establish its power is
Pe'oponnesus, they themselves would be entitled to the assistance of
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? INTRODUCTION.
that state, in order to recover the dominions which had been wrested
from them. Through this whole debate the Athenians seemed to have
been entirely influenced by motives of policy and convenience; and ihe
reader will And these urged by Demosthenes, with the utmost address
and artifice, in favour of the people of Megalopolis, in the following
oration.
That this oration was pronounced in the archonship of Theodemus or
Eudemus, we are informed by Dionysius of Halicarnassus (in F. pist. ad
Ammse. ): and this Eudemus was arch on, according to Diodorus, in the
fourth year of the hundred <<ml sixth Olympiad. In the beginning of the
next year the Lacedaemonians made their irruption into Arcadia. So
that it is probable that the ambassadors we're received at Athens about
the latter end ofthe year (i. e. a little before the summer solstice), whea
the Lacedaemonians were just preparing to take the field, and the Area-
? tans threatened with immediate danger.
Vol. I. --U
?
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? ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS.
The speakers on both sides seem to me, ye men
of Athens, equally to blame--the partisans of the
Arcadians and the advocates for Lacedaemon. Like
the deputies of these communities, not like youi
citizens, to whom their deputations are addressed,
they excuse, they inveigh against each other. ' This,
I say, is to act like deputies: but to speak with a
true patriot spirit, to attend entirely to the interest of
the state, free from all factious principles, these are
their duties who assume the character of our coun-
sellors. But now, were not their persons known,
did they not speak bur language, I should have taken
many of them for two distinct people: the one of
Arcadia, the other of Lacedaemon.
How hazardous a part it is to urge your real
interests is to me apparent: for in this violence of
opposition, where you are all alike deceived, as well
the favourers of this as the supporters of the opposite
opinion, should a man attempt to point out the just
I This heat and acrimony did not always proceed from conviction and
zeal for the public interest. Every city or community that solicited any
matter in the Athenian assembly first took care to secure managers and
advocates among the popular speakers. If the interposition of these
pleaders proved successful, they were sometimes rewarded with a
statue erected in the city whose interests they had supported; some-
times, and indeed more frequently, with a sum of money. Agreements
were formally made, and, in some cases, securities given for the payment
of this fee. In the oration of JEsehines against Ctesiphon we have one
instance of a transaction of this nature between the city of Oreum and
Demosthenes himself, where the stipulation was so notorious as to
appear on the public records of this city; and so firm and binding, as to
oblige the people of Oreum, in a time of their distress, to mortgage their
revenues to the orator as a security for the sum agreed on, and to pay
kiterost, monthly, until the principal could be discharged.
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? ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOL1TANS. 253
mean between them, and should you prove impatient
of direction, he would gratify neither party; he
would be calumniated by both. Yet still, I freely
choose, if such must be my fate, rather to be thought
weakly impertinent than to suffer any men to mis-
lead you from what I deem most advantageous to
the state. There are other points of which, if I have
your permission, I shall hereafter speak. I now
proceed, from principles acknowledged equally by
all, to deduce such truths as I think of greatest
moment.
There is not a man1 who can deny that it is for the
interest of Athens that both the Lacedaemonians and
the Thebans also should be weak; but such is the
present state of things ^if any conjecture may be
formed from the discourses we so often hear), that
if Orchomenus2 and Thespia and Plataea be re-
1 There is not a man, &c. ]--On this principle it is that the orator
founds all his reasoning. The wars which these three leading states
carried on against each other were either for acquiring, or supporting,
or recovering the sovereignty in Greece. A passion for this pre-emi-
nence constituted the principal part of national virtue and merit. They
talked, indeed, of the interest of the whole body of Greece, of an exten-
sive regard and affection to this body, and of the necessity of a just
batance of power; yet, in these days of degeneracy, at least, the duly
of aggrandizing their own community was frequently made the great
law of the morality of statesmen. And this contributed no less to the
final ruin of the Grecian states than their luxury and corruption.
"Graecia e civitates, dum imperare singulae cnpiunt, imperium omnes
perdiderunt," says Justin. A strict union with each other was neces-
sary, even to the being and support of each. But for extensive dominion,
the constitution and circumstances even of the most eminent of their
communities were by no means calculated.
2 There were two cities in Greece of this name; the one in Arcadia,
the other, of which the orator here speaks, in Bceotia, an ancient and
illustrious city, to which Thebes was tributary, in the heroic times,
until Hercules enabled it to assert its independence. After the battle of
! ,euctra the Thebans determined to reduce this rival city to their obedi-
ence, but were restrained by the moderation of Epaminondas, who pre-
vailed on his countrymen to admit the people of Orchomenus to their
alliance, instead of reducing them to slavery. However, after the battle
of Maritinea, in which this general fell, the Thebans found a pretence
for executing their former severe purposes against Orchomenus. Three
hundred Orchomenian cavalry, had joined with certain Theban exiles in
a conspiracy to overturn the aristocratical constitution of Thebes, and
were betrayed by those whom they had agreed to assist. The Thebans,
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? 254 orations or Demosthenes.
peopled, the Thebans must be weak; that the
Lacedemonians,1 if Arcadia be reduced to their
obedience, and the Great City be possessed by them,
must once more become powerful. We are, there-
fore, to be careful not to suffer these to be great and
formidable before the others are reduced; nor to
betray ourselves into greater inconveniences by the
strength of Lacedsemon than can possibly be com-
pensated by the weakness of Thebes.
Not that we
assert that it is more eligible to have the Lacedae-
monians our enemies than the Thebans. This is not
the point we would support; but that neither of them
should have the power of injuring us in any instance:
for thus only can our fears be removed and our
security established.
' But it will be said, " Yes! this is, indeed, a point
of utmost moment: yet it is grievous to make those
our allies against whom we fought at Mantinea, to
unite with them against the very men with whom
we then shared the dangers of the field. " Grievous,
I confess, it is; but let such delicacy gain some
attention among others: let the parlies once agree
to live in peace, and we shall not, we need not, send
not contented with confining their vengeance to the guilty, seized the
city of Orchomenus, put the citizens to the sword, and made slaves of
their wives and children. --Lucckesini.
Of Thespia and Platasa, the reader will find some short account In the
oration on the Peace, note 2, p. 102. The vicinity of these three cities to
Thebes, and their hatred to the Thebans, inspired by the temembrance
of injuries never to be forgotten, sufficiently explain the assertion of
Demosthenes.
1 The subversion of the Lacedaemonian power seems to have been not
so much the effect of tue defeat at Leuctra as of the revolt of their allies
In Peloponnesus, and particularly of the Arcadians. It was not difficult
for a warlike nation to have reassembled and reinforced its troops after
such an engagement. Nor could the Thebans have ventured to pursue
their victory so far as even to threaten Sparta with slavery, unless they
had been assisted by the Arcadians. Hence both the Thebans and
Athenians ever courted the alliance of the Peloponnesiaos,and cultivated
their friendship with the greatest assiduity. And hence the orator is
justly warranted to observe that the power of Lacedremon must rise to
a formidable pitch by the reduction of the Arcadians, who, by the extent
of their territory, and the strength of their towns, were, next to Sparta,
evidently the most considerable of the Feloponnesian states ~Lu#-
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? ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS. 25S
support to the Megalopolitans; our swords shall not
then be drawn against our old fellow-soldiers. One
party (as they profess) are already in alliance with
us, the other are now soliciting our alliance. What
have we farther to desire? But what if justice
should be violated? if war should be resolved on?
If it be the sole object of debate whether we should
give up the Great City to the dominion of Laeedasmon
or no, let us give it up: I do not contend against it,
though it be not just: let us not arm against those
who once shared with us the dangers of the field.
But as we are all convinced, that if once masters of
this city, they will instantly attack Messene; let
any one of those who have been so severe on the
Megalopolitans rise and say what conduct he would
recommend to us on such an emergency. They are
silent: but you are not to be informed that whether
they should urge us or dissuade us, we should be
obliged to send succours, both by those sacred oaths
which engage us to Messene, and by our interest,
which requires that this city should subsist. 1 Con-
sider, therefore, with yourselves which would be the
noblest and most benevolent procedure, to begin
your opposition to the encroachments of Lacedaemon
by the defence of the Megalopolitans, or that of the
Messenians. In the one case, you will appear atten-
tive only to the safety of the Arcadians, and to the
solid establishment of that tranquillity for which you
have exposed yourselves to the dangers and the toils
of war: in the other, all mankind must see that in
defending Messene, you act not so much from prin-
ciples of equity as from your fears of Lacedaemon.
1 The Lacedemonians, mortified and incensed at the re-establishment
at Messene, refused to include this state in the general peace which was
made after the battle of Mantinea; and when the Thebans were once
Involved in the Phocian war, determined to seize the opportunity of
oppressing those Peloponnesians who had united with their rivals.
Hostilities were declared against the Messenians: this people applied for
succour to the Athenians, who engaged to defend them against inva
sions, though they refused to assist them in any offensive measures.
This seems to have been the engagement to which the orator reters.
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? 256
ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
Our designs and actions should be just; but we
should be careful that at the same time they may
also prove conducive to our interest. 1
It is urged by those who have spoken on the other
side that we should endeavour to regain Oropus.
But should we now make those our enemies who
would assist us in this design, we must forfeit all
hopes of their assistance. It is my opinion, too, that
we should attempt to regain Oropus. But that Lace-
daemon will now become our enemy if we unite
with those Arcadians who sue for our alliance, they,
of all men, never should assert,2 who persuaded us
to support the Lacedaemonians in the time of their
distress: for when the whole body of the Pelopon-
nesians was ready to unite with us, when they called
on us to lead them against the Lacedaemonians, the
very men who now urge this objection persuaded
you to reject their overtures,3 which forced them to
1 The reasoning in this passage may possibly deserve to be opened
and illustrated somewhat farther than can be done by a simple detail of
historical facts. It is one of the numberless instances of our orator's
accommodating his style and manner of address to the quickness and
liveliness of his countrymen ; and complimenting their understandings,
by leaving something to be supplied by them. The purport of his argu-
ment seems to be this; "Sooner or later we must oppose the attempts of
Lacedaemon, to extend our sovereignty. Our own interest requires it,
as well as our regard to equity and the general interest of Greece. To
both we owe the due attention, and it should be our care to make them
coincide: while the Arcadians are supported, the Lacedaemonians cannot
be supposed sufficiently powerful to become an object of terror: our
interposition, therefore, in favour of the Arcadians will be regarded as
the purc effect of public spirit. But if the Lacedemonians be first suf-
fered to reduce Arcadia, and the Athenians then begin to oppose their
farther progress, the motives of equity and public spirit may, indeed,
still be pleaded; but those of self-interest must necessatily be supposed
to have hnd the greater influence. "
2 They, of all men, never should assert, Ac. ]--Because these men
then reasoned from the necessity of preserving a due balance of power,
and preventing any one state from becoming formidable. The resent-
ment of the party to be opposed they then considered as of no weight
against so cogent an argument. The same argument was now urged
with equal force and propriety in favour of the Arcadians. They could
not, therefore, urge an objection now which, in a case exactly parallel,
they had affected to despise.
3 The history of this fact, as described by Xenophon, does not exactly
agree with this passage, unless supplied and illustrated by the narration
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? ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS. 257
apply to Thebes, then their sole resource, and to
expend your treasures and endanger your persons
in defence of Lacedaemon. Surely you could not
have acted with such spirit to save this people had
you been fairly told, that when once saved, no re-
straint must be prescribed to their desires, no bounds
to their injustice, else they would retain no sense of
that safety which we gave them. Let it then be
supposed that our forming an alliance with the
Arcadians be ever so repugnant to the views of the
Lacedaemonians, still that gratitude which they owe
to this state for their preservation at a time when
they were threatened with the utmost dangers, should
far outweigh any resentment they may conceive
from our opposing their injustice. And can they
then deny us their assistance to regain Oropus ?
This would prove them the most abandoned of man-
kind. No! by the gods, I cannot suspect them of
such baseness!
I hear it also urged, and am surprised at the ob-
jection, that by this alliance with the Arcadians, and
by the measures now proposed, the state must con-
tradict its former conduct, and thus lose its credit.
To me, Athenians, the very contrary seems manifest:
and why? Because it cannot be denied, that in de-
fending the Lacedaemonians, in granting the like
of Diodoras. After the battle of Leuctra the Athenians offered liberty
to all the states of Peloponnesus. The Mantineans, thus encouraged,
determined to fortify their city, but were opposed by the Laccda)
moniaus, who first remonstrated by their deputies, and then took up
arms. Many of the Arcadians themselves refused to give up their
authority over some of their dependent cities. This produced a war
between the Lacedemonians, Tegeans, and their allies, on one part;
and the Mantineans, and the principal Arcadian states, on the other.
The Mantineans and Arcadians were victorious: "Yet still," says
Diodorus (1. xv. An. 4, Olmp. 102), " they dreaded the weight of Sparta,
and could not venture by themselves to carry on the war. They there-
fore gained over the Argians and Eleans, and sent an embassy to the
Athenians, inviting them to unite in the confederacy against the Spar-
tans. But, as they could gain no attention at Athens, they had recourse
to the Thebans, and prevailed on them to join in a league against
Lacetuemon. " This extract from Diodorus throws sufficient light on the
present passage. --Lwxhesini.
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? 258 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES
defence to Thebes in former times, and lately in
saving the Eubreans,1 and then admitting them to an
alliance, we have uniformly pursued one and the
same design. And what is this? The protection
of the injured. And if this be so, the charge of
inconsistency must be urged, not against us, but those
who refuse to adhere to justice. Affairs have
changed by means of those whose ambition is un-
bounded : this state hath not changed. .
It appears to me that the Lacedaemonians are now
acting a subtle and insidious part: they say that the
Eleans2 ought to have a portion of Triphylia; the
Phliasians, Tricaranus; some" others of the Arca-
dians, the territories which are theirs; and we,
Oropus: not that they wish to see each of us in
possession of our rightful dominions: far from it!
Such public-spirited sentiments are new to them:
they but affect this zeal for the support of all in the
recovery of their several interests, that, when they
themselves march against Messene, all may arm in
their cause, and cheerfully unite with them; or else
appear to act unjustly, who had their concurrence in
regaining their particular claims, and yet refuse to
grant them the like returns of friendship. It is my
opinion, in the first place, that without subjecting
any part of Arcadia to the power of the Lacedaemo-
nians, Athens will regain Oropus; that these people
will themselves support our claim if they have the
least regard to justice; and that there are others3 to
1 In saving the Eubreans. )--At the time when the Tbebans had gained
possession of a part of the island, with an intent of destroying the Athe-
nian power in Eubrea. See note 3, p. 43.
2-That the Eleans, &c. l--Triphylia was a district on the seaooast,
situate between Elis and Messene. Certain Arcadian exiles had seized
Lassio, its principal city, and delivered it to the Eleans. This produced
a w^r, in which Triphylia so often changed its masters, that the right to
it became doubtful. The Arcadians, however, prevailed at length, and
now possessed several cities in this district. Tricaranus had been taken
from the Phliasians by the Argives, some time after the battle of Leuctra.
3 There are others, &c. ]--The Phocians. Thessalians, and Corinthjmc*,
who were now engaged against the Thebans in the sacred war.
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? ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS. 259
support it who think that Thebes should not be suf-
fered to possess the rights of others. But were it
evident that unless we permit the Lacedaemonians to
overturn all Peloponnesus, we never can be able to
obtain this city, I should think it more eligible (if I
may so speak) absolutely to resign our pretensions
to Oropus, than to abandon Messene and Pelopon-
nesus to the Lacedaemonians. It is not in this par-
ticular alone that we are to attend to the conduct of
Lacedsemon. --But 1 suppress those thoughts which
are now starting. I only say, we are in many in-
stances exposed to danger.
As to the actions of the Megalopolitans against this
state during their connexion with the Thebans, it is
absurd to urge these now as criminal. It is absurd,
I say, when they are inclined to form a strict union
with us, that so they may redeem their former con-
duct, by doing us effectual service, maliciously to
seek for all pretences to defeat such favourable in-
tentions ; and not to consider, that the greater zeal
and ardour they are proved to have discovered for
the interest of Thebes, the greater and the juster
should be your resentment against those who de-
prived the state of such confederates (for your pro-
tection they first solicited, before their application to
the Thebans). These are the wretched arguments
of men who wish that these people should unite with
other states. 1
From all the judgment I can form, on the most
mature reflection, I am persuaded (and there are
many here who agree with me in this opinion), that
if the Lacedaemonians are once masters of Mega-
1 Ttie objections on the other side were, " Shall we arm against the
Lacedaemonians, our fellow-soldiers in the Thenanwarl" and "Shall
We assist the Arcadians, who drew their swords against us at Man-
tinea 7" Both very popular, and likely to influence the assembly. Thf
speaker seems particularly to droad the latter: he stales it in gentle and
extenuating terms : his answer has as muchart and liveliness as forra,
and he appears not at all inclined to dwell long or particularly, on tbjr
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? 260 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
<
lopolis, Messene must certainly be in danger. Should
they gain this city also, I say, we must form an alli-
ance with the Thebans. And it will be much more
noble, much more advantageous, at once to take those
allies of the Thebans to our protection, and vigor-
ously to oppose the ambition of Lacedaemon, than to
refuse them that protection because allies to the
Thebans: to abandon them to their oppressors; and
thus be forced to save Thebes itself from ruin; nay,
to involve this our own state in danger. For I cannot
think it a matter of no consequence to Athens that
the Lacedaemonians should be masters of Mega-
lopolis, and resume their ancient greatness; while,
even now, I see them draw the sword, not to defend
their state from wrong, but to regain that sovereign
power which they formerly enjoyed. And what
were their designs when they enjoyed this power
you can better say than T, and must therefore feel
the juster and the stronger apprehensions. 1
I would gladly ask our speakers, those who ex-
press such aversion to Thebes, and those who declare
themselves the enemies of Lacedaemon, whether in
these their particular resentments they be actuated
by a regard to you and to your interests; or whether
they severally hate the Thebans, for the sake of the
Lacedaemonians; and the Lacedaemonians, from their
affection to the Thebans. If for their sakes, they
have lost their reason, and are each unworthy of our
attention: if for our interest, whence this unneces-
sary zeal for their favourite states ? It is possible,
very possible, to humble the Thebans without
aggrandizing the Lacedaemonians. This may be
easily effected, as I shall now endeavour to convince
you.
It is well known that men are, to a certain degree,
1 The sovereignty of Lacedaemon is to be dated from the destruction
of Athens by Lysander, in the first year of the ninety-fourth Olympiad,
a considerable time before the birth of Demosthenes, but within the
memory of some citizens ; at least the consequences of this important
event must have been remembered by numbers in the assembly
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? ORATION FOR THE MEGALOPOLITANS. 261
obliged by shame to adhere to justice, even where
their inclinations are averse. They affect to appear
strenuous against every injurious attempt; especially
when, in any instance, they have suffered by such
attempt. Here we find the great cause of all disor-
ders, the origin of all calamities, in this want of a
sincere, disinterested regard to justice. To avoid
this danger, therefore, in our attempts to reduce the
power of Thebes, let us declare that Thespia, and
Orchomenus, and Plataea must be restored: let us
exert ourselves for this purpose, and call on others
to assist us. Thus shall our true regard to equity,
our real patriotic spirit, be displayed in this generous
concern for the restoration of ancient cities: but, at
the same time, let us not abandon Messene and Me-
galopolis to the power of their oppressors. Let us
not, under the pretence of serving the Thespians
and Plataeans, look on with unconcern while cities
now in being, already filled with inhabitants, are
razed to their foundations. If we show this equal
regard to justice, there is not a state in Greece but
will readily unite with us to wrest from the Thebans
their unjust acquisition. If not, this people must
necessarily oppose our endeavours to restore the
cities: an event which they must justly regard as
their own destruction: and, in our own affair,1 the
attempt must prove ineffectual. And what in truth
can be expected, if we are ever suffering cities now
in being to be destroyed, and demanding that cities
long since ruined should be restored ?
It hath been urged in this debate, by those who
have spoken with the greatest appearance of reason,
that these people should take down the public monu-
ments2 of their treaty with Thebes, if they mean to
1 Our own aflair. ]^That Is, the recovery of Oropus.
2 The public monuments, &c. ]--In the original, Tas XTHAA2
Kadckuv ras irpos Qr}/iaiovs. It was the custom of Greece thit the trea-
ties of the several states, and the conditions of these treaties, should be
Inscribed on columns, which were erected, and, while the treaties sub-
sisted, were preserved, in the most public and frequented places; as u.
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? 262 ORATIONS OF DEMOSTHENES.
be real allies to this state. On the other side, it is
alleged that it is not such monuments, but interest,
which they regTlrd as the essential cause of friend-
ship; that they must look on those as their real allies
who will grant them their assistance.
But, however sincerely they may thus profess, this
is my opinion: that you should demand both that
these monuments be taken down, and that Lacedae-
monTje obliged to peace. If either of these demands
be rejected, we should then unite with that party
which hath acquiesced: for, if when they are allowed
to live unmolested the Megalopolitans should still
adhere to their connexions with the Thebans, they
must then discover to the world that they were in-
fluenced by the hopes conceived from the superiority
of Thebes, not by motives of equity. If, on the other
hand, when the Megalopolitans have, with real faith
and sincerity, formed an alliance with us, the Lace-
daemonians should still refuse to live in peace, it must
be manifest that all this their solicitude is not that
Thespia may be restored, but that, while the Thebans
are embroiled in this war, they may seize the oppor-
tunity of reducing all Peloponnesus.
I am surprised at some persons, who express
dreadful apprehensions at the allies of Thebes be-
coming enemies to Lacedsemon; yet, should Lace-
the scenes of their great games, where the whole nation was collected
at particular seasons, and there had an opportunity of being witnesses
of tho terms agreed on. The observance of these was, in some sort, a
matter of national concern, and came under the cognizance of the great
couneil of amphictyons. That the contracting powers themselves might
have the monuments of their public acts continually in view, the like
columns were erected in the most conspicuous places of their cities.
. Thus we learn from Thucydides that when the Athenians and Lacedae-
monians had concluded a truce for fifty years, in the tenth year of the
famous Peloponnesian war, it was provided that the columns on which
the treaty was inscribed should be erected in such places as have been
mentioned. XrriXas Se crtiffat OXupttiafft, Kai HvOau Kai laB^y, Kai cv
ABiivais tv ttoXci, Kai tv AaKtSaiuovi tv A/iUKAaiif). Pausanias observes
that in his days many of these columns were preserved in the Olympian
temple, and particularly that which was the monument of the treaty
concluded between the Athenians, Argians, and Mantineans, in the
twelfth year ofthe Peloponnesian war.
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