The Olynthiacs and the Philippics of Demosthenes

believe, that Philip could not wish our republic to take any other course than what ye now pursue. You miss your time, waste your money, look for a person to manage your affairs, are discontented, accuse one another. How all this comes about, I will explain, and how it may cease I will inform you. Nothing, O men of Athens, have you ever set on foot or contrived rightly in the beginning: you always follow the event, stop when you are too late, on any new occurrence prepare and bustle again. But that is not the way of proceeding. It is never possible with sudden levies to perform any essential service. You must establish an army, provide maintenance for it, and paymasters, and commissaries, so ordering it that the strictest care be taken of your funds; demand from those officers an account of the expenditure, from your general an account of the campaign; and leave not the general any excuse for sailing elsewhere or prosecuting another enterprise. If ye so act and so resolve in earnest, you will compel Philip to observe a just peace and remain in his own country, or will contend with him on equal terms; and perhaps, Athenians, perhaps, as you now inquire what Philip is doing, and whither marching, so he may be anxious to learn, whither the troops of Athens are bound, and where they will make their appearance. Should any man think that these are affairs of great expense and toil and difficulty, he thinks rightly enough: but let him consider what the consequences to Athens must be, if she refuse so to act, and he will find it is our interest to perform our duties cheerfully. Suppose you had some god for your surety—for certainly no mortal could guarantee a thing so fortunate—that, although you kept quiet and sacrificed every thing, Philip would not attack you at last, yet, by Jupiter and all the gods, it would be disgraceful, unworthy of yourselves, of the dignity of your state, and the deeds of your ancestors, for the sake of selfish indolence to abandon the rest of Greece to servitude. For my part, I would rather die than have advised such a course: however, if any other man advises it, and can prevail on you, be it so; make no defense, abandon all. But if no man holds such an opinion, if on the contrary we all foresee, that, the more we permit Philip to conquer, the more fierce and formidable an enemy we shall find him, what subterfuge remains? what excuse for delay? Or when, O Athenians, shall we be willing to act as becomes us? Peradventure, when there is some necessity. But what may be called the necessity of freemen is not only come, but past long ago; and that of slaves you must surely deprecate. What is the difference? To a freeman shame for what is occurring is the strongest necessity; I know of none stronger that can be mentioned: to a slave, stripes and bodily chastisement; abominable things! too shocking to name! To be backward, men of Athens, in performing those services to which the person and property of every one are liable, is wrong, very wrong, and yet it admits of some excuse: but refusing even to bear what is necessary to be heard, and fit to be considered, this calls for the severest censure. Your practice however is, neither to attend until the business actually presses, as it does now, nor to deliberate about any thing at leisure. When Philip is preparing, you, instead of doing the like and making counter-preparation, remain listless, and, if any one speaks a word, clamor him down: when you receive news that any place is lost or besieged, then you listen and prepare. But the time to have heard and consulted was then when you declined; the time to act and employ your preparations is now that you are hearing. Such being your habits, you are the only people who adopt this singular course: others deliberate usually before action, you deliberate after action. One thing [Footnote: He means negotiation with Persia, to obtain pecuniary assistance.] remains, which should have been done long ago, but even yet is not too late: I will mention it. Nothing in the world does Athens need so much, as money for approaching exigencies. Lucky events have occurred, and, if we rightly improve them, perhaps good service may be done. In the first place, those, [Footnote: The Thracians, who had always been regarded as benefactors of the Persian king, since they assisted Darius on his invasion of Scythia. Philip was making war in Thrace at this time, and had subjected a considerable part of the country.] whom the king trusts and regards as his benefactors, are at enmity and war with Philip. Secondly, the agent and confidant [Footnote: Hermias, governor of Atarneus in Mysia, who for his treasonable practices against Artaxerxes was seized by Mentor and sent in chains to Susa, where he was put to death. He was a friend of Aristotle, who was at his court, when he was taken prisoner. The philosopher afterward married his sister.] of all Philip's preparations against the king has been snatched off, and the king will hear all the proceedings, not from Athenian accusers, whom he might consider to be speaking for their own interests, but from the acting minister himself; the charges therefore will be credible, and the only remaining argument for our embassadors will be, one which the Persian monarch will rejoice to hear, that we should take common vengeance on the injurer of both, and that Philip is much more formidable to the king, if he attack us first; for, should we be left in the lurch and suffer any mishap, he will march against the king without fear. On all these matters then I advise that you dispatch an embassy to confer with the king, and put aside that nonsense which has so often damaged you—"the barbarian," forsooth, "the common enemy"—and the like. I confess, when I see a man alarmed at a prince in Susa and Ecbatana, and declaring him to be an enemy of Athens, him that formerly [Footnote: In the confederate war, when the Persian fleet enabled Conon to defeat the Lacedaemonians at Onidus, B. C. 394.] assisted in re-establishing her power, and lately made overtures [Footnote: Artaxerxes had applied both to Athens and Lacedaemon to aid him in the recovery of Egypt, which for many years had been held in a state of revolt. Both these states refused to assist him. He then applied to Thebes and Argos, each of which sent an auxiliary force.]—if you did not accept them, but voted refusal, the fault is not his—while the same man speaks a different language of one who is close at our doors, and growing up in the centre of Greece to be the plunderer of her people; I marvel, I dread this man, whoever he is, because he dreads not Philip. There is another thing too, the attacking of which by unjust reproach and improper language hurts the state, and affords an excuse to men who are unwilling to perform any public duty: indeed you will find that every failure to discharge the obligation of a citizen is attributable to this. I am really afraid to discuss the matter; however, I will speak out. I believe I can suggest, for the advantage of the state, a plea for the poor against the rich, and for men of property against the indigent; could we remove the clamor which some persons unfairly raise about the theatric fund, [Footnote: Boeckh, Schaefer, and others, regard it as conclusive against the genuineness of this Oration, that a different view is here taken on the subject of the Theoric fund from that which Demosthenes had expressed in the Olynthiacs. And certainly it is a strong argument. It is possible, however, that circumstances may have induced him to modify his opinion, or he may have thought it dangerous to meddle with the law of Eubulus at the present crisis, which called for the greatest unanimity among all classes. We may partly gather from this speech, that there had been some agitation among the lower classes, occasioned by the complaints of the wealthy against this law. Any agitation tending to a spirit of communism must have been extremely dangerous at Athens, where the people had such power of muleting the higher classes by their votes in the popular assembly and courts of justice. It might therefore be better to let the people alone with their theatrical treats, their fees and largesses, than to provoke retaliation by abridging such enjoyments. Leland observes on the subject as follows—"All that the orator here says in defense of the theatrical appointments is expressed with a caution and reserve quite opposite to his usual openness and freedom; and which plainly betray a consciousness of his being inconsistent with his former sentiments. How far he may be excused by the supposed necessity of yielding to the violent prepossessions of the people, and giving up a favorite point, I can not pretend to determine. But it is certainly not very honorable to Demosthenes, to suppose with Ulpian, that his former opposition was merely personal, and that the death of Eubulus now put an end to it."] and the fear that it can not stand without some signal mischief. No greater help to our affairs could we introduce; [Footnote: Viz., than the removal of this clamor and alarm about the theatric fund.] none that would more strengthen the whole community. Look at it thus. I will commence on behalf of those who are considered the needy class. There was a time with us, not long ago, when only a hundred and thirty talents came into the state; [Footnote: This must be understood (according to Boeckh) of the tribute only, which came in from the allies. The total revenue of Athens must have greatly exceeded this.] and among the persons qualified to command ships or pay property-tax, there was not one who claimed exemption from his duty because no surplus existed: [Footnote: There was as much ground for legal exemption then as there is now; and yet it was never claimed. Why should the rich seek to be relieved from their burdens because of an abundance of revenue? That abundance is for the general benefit of the state, not for theirs in particular. Such appears to be the argument, perhaps not quite satisfactory; but such it is. Pabst, apparently reading [Greek: aph heautou], has: der nicht aus eigenem Antrieb seine Schuldigkeit zu thun bereit war, weil kein Gelduberschuss vorhanden war.] galleys sailed, money was forthcoming, every thing needful was done. Since that time fortune happily has increased the revenue, and four hundred talents come in instead of one, without loss to any men of property, but with gain to them; for all the wealthy come for their share of the fund, and they are welcome to it. [Footnote: I. e. the Theoric fund, in which every member of the commonwealth had a right to share.] Why then do we reproach one another on this account, and make it an excuse for declining our duties, unless we grudge the relief given by fortune to the poor? I would be sorry to blame them myself, and I think it not right. In private families I never see a young man behaving so to his elders, so unfeeling or so unreasonable, as to refuse to do any thing himself, unless all the rest will do what he does. Such a person would certainly be amenable to the laws against undutiful conduct: [Footnote: Pabst: die Gesetze wegen ungebuhrlicher Behandlung der Eltern. [Greek: Kakosis], "maltreatment", was a technical term in the Attic law, denoting a failure of duty on the part of husbands, children, or guardians, toward their wives, parents, or wards, for which they were liable