The Public Orations of Demosthenes Volume II Part 9

-- 17. _had again acted_: i.e. as on the First Emba.s.sy, if the reading is correct (or perhaps, 'had committed a fresh series of wrongful acts'). But possibly [Greek: _peprhakot_on_] is right, 'had sold fresh concessions' to Philip.

-- 20. Aeschines replies that every one expected Philip to turn against Thebes; and that for the rest, he was only reporting the gossip of the Macedonian camp, where the representatives of many states were gathered together, and not making promises at all. It is noteworthy, however, that in the Speech on the Peace, -- 10, shortly after the events in question, when the speeches made would be fresh in every one's memory, Demosthenes gives the same account of his opponent's a.s.sertions; and Aeschines probably said something very like what is attributed to him.

-- 21. _debt due to the G.o.d_: i.e. the value of the Temple-treasure of Delphi, which the Phocians had plundered.

-- 30. _for however contemptible_, &c. The argument seems to be this. 'You must not say that a man like Aeschines could not have brought about such vast results. Athens may employ inferior men, but any one who represents Athens has to deal with great affairs, and so his acts may have great consequences. And again, although it may have been Philip who actually ruined the Phocians, and although Aeschines could never have done it alone, still he did his best to help.'

-- 31. _the Town Hall_, or Prytaneum, where the Prytanes (the acting Committee of the Council) met, and other magistrates had their offices.

_Timagoras_ was accused (according to Xenophon) by his colleague Leon of having conspired with Pelopidas of Thebes against the interests of Athens, when on a mission to the court of Artaxerxes in 357. In -- 137 Demosthenes also states that he received large sums of money from Artaxerxes.

-- 36. Aeschines denies that he wrote the letter for Philip, and his denial is fairly convincing.

-- 40. _a talent_. According to Aristotle (_Eth. Nic_. v. 7) the conventional amount payable as ransom was one mina per head. But from -- 169 it appears that the Macedonians sometimes asked for more than this.

_laudable ambition_: i.e. to get credit for having thought of the ransom of the prisoners.

-- 47. _handed in_: either to the Clerk or to the Proedroi (the committee of Chairmen of the a.s.sembly).

-- 51. Aeschines states that Philip's invitation was declined because it was suggested that Philip would keep the soldiers sent as hostages.

-- 65. _on our way to Delphi_. Demosthenes had been one of the Athenian representatives at the meeting of the Amphictyonic Council at Delphi this year.

_gave its vote_, &c. After the battle of Aegospotami at the end of the Peloponnesian War, the representative of Thebes proposed to the Spartans and their allies that Athens should be destroyed and its inhabitants sold into slavery.

-- 70. _read this law over_: i.e. that the herald might proclaim it after him.

-- 72. For the Spartans see -- 76. The Phocians had treated the Athenians badly when Proxenus was sent to Thermopylae (see Introd. to Speech on Peace). Hegesippus may have opposed the acceptance of Philip's invitation to the Athenians to join him. Aeschines (on the Emba.s.sy, ---- 137, 138) mentions no names in connexion with the refusal, but represents it as the sacrifice of a unique opportunity of saving the Phocians (cf. -- 51 n.).

-- 76. _deceit and cunning, and of nothing else_ ([Greek: _pasa apat_e_]).

The argument is, 'Aeschines will try to allege wrongful acts on the part of the Phocians; but there was no time for such acts in the five days; and this proves that there were no such acts to justify their ruin, and that their overthrow was due to nothing but trickery.' This is better than to translate '_every kind of_ deceit and trickery was concocted for the ruin of the Phocians'; for this is not the point, nor is it what would be inferred from the fact that there was only a five-days' interval between the speech of Aeschines and the capitulation of the Phocians. There is no need to emend to [Greek: _h_e pasa apat_e_].

_on account of the Peace_: i.e. of the negotiations for the Peace, before it was finally arranged.

_all that they wished_: viz. the restoration of the Temple of Delphi to their kinsmen, the Dorians of Mount Parna.s.sus.

-- 78. _four whole months_: in reality, three months and a few days.

-- 81. _Phocian people_: i.e. those who were left in Phocis, as distinct from the exiles just referred to.

-- 86. _of Diophantus_. In 352, when Philip had been repulsed by Onomarchus, Diophantus proposed that public thanksgivings should be held (see Introd. to First Philippic).

_of Callisthenes_: in 346, after the Phocians had surrendered to Philip.

_the sacrifice to Heracles_: perhaps one of the two festivals which were respectively held at Marathon and at Cynosarges.

-- 99. _const.i.tutional_: lit. 'an excuse for a citizen,' under a const.i.tution by which no one was compelled to enter public life, and any one who did so without the requisite capacity had to take the responsibility for his errors.

-- 103. _impeached_. An impeachment was brought before the Council (or, more rarely, the a.s.sembly). The procedure was only applied to cases of extraordinary gravity, and particularly to what would now be called cases of treason.

-- 114. _by torture_. The evidence of slaves might be given under torture, in response to a challenge from one or other of the parties to a suit. The most diverse opinions as to the value of such evidence are expressed by the orators, according to the requirements of their case. The consent of both sides was necessary; and in a very large number of cases, one side or the other appears to have refused to allow evidence to be taken in this way.

_was going_: i.e. to Philip.

-- 118. _accept his discharge_. There seems to be a play on two senses of the verb [Greek: aphienai], viz. 'to discharge from the obligations of a contract', and 'to acquit'.

-- 120. _Why, this is the finest_, &c. The expression ([Greek: touto gar esti to lamprhon]) recurs in -- 279, a closely parallel pa.s.sage, and need not be regarded as an interpolation in either case. The interpretation given seems slightly preferable, and is approved by Weil. It is almost equally possible to translate the Greek by 'such is the brilliant defence which he offers'; but perhaps this does not suit -- 279 so well.

_stand up_. Apparently Aeschines declined the invitation, which was quite within the custom of the Athenian courts. Either of the princ.i.p.al parties could ask the other questions, and have the answers taken down as evidence.

_cases that have all_, &c. The reference is to the prosecution of Timarchus, when advanced in age, for offences committed in early youth.

There may also be an allusion to Aeschines' early career as an actor.

-- 122. _declined on oath_. An elected official could refuse to serve, if he took an oath that there was some good reason (such as illness) for excusing him.

-- 126. _though not elected_. Aeschines (on the Emba.s.sy, -- 94) replies that in fact the commission was renewed at a second meeting of the a.s.sembly, and that he was then well enough to go and was elected. (That there was a second election of amba.s.sadors is confirmed by Demosthenes' own statement in -- 172 of the present speech, that he himself was twice elected and twice refused to serve.)

-- 128. _Thesmothetae_: the six archons who did not hold the special offices of archon eponymus, polemarch, or king archon.

_Aeschines went_, &c. To have refused to be present would really have been to make a political demonstration against Thebes, which would have had perilous results. Aeschines defends himself on the ground that in his view the Peace was no disadvantage to Athens, so that he might well join in the honours paid to the G.o.ds.

-- 129. _Metroon_. The temple of the Great Mother (Cybele), which was the Athenian record-office.

_the name of Aeschines_: i.e. its removal from the list of amba.s.sadors.

-- 131. _in their interest_. If the words are not corrupt, the meaning is probably 'in the interest of Philip and the Thebans'; or possibly, 'in reference to these matters.'

-- 136. _as his informant_. The text is possibly corrupt, though as it stands it might perhaps bear the meaning given, if [Greek: hyparchei] were understood with [Greek: autos]. Others (with or without emendation) take the sense to be 'to manage his business ... just as he would manage it in person '.

-- 137. For Timagoras see -- 31 n.

-- 144. _summon Philip's envoys_: i.e. in order to report the decision of the a.s.sembly, and so close the matter.

-- 147. _ask him whether_, &c. The argument seems to be this 'if Aeschines was the amba.s.sador of a city which had been victorious against Philip, the latter would naturally wish to buy easy terms of peace; and Aeschines might undertake to procure such terms, without committing a particularly heinous offence, since he would only be getting some advantage for himself out of the general good fortune of his country. But to secure advantages for himself at his country's expense, when his country was already suffering disaster, would be far worse. And as Aeschines complains that the generals had incurred disaster, he convicts himself of the worse offence.'

-- 148. The _Tilphossaeum_ was apparently a mountain near Lake Copais in Boeotia. The town which Strabo calls Tilphusium may have been on the mountain. Neones, or Neon, was a Phocian village; Hedyleion, a mountain in Boeotia.

-- 149. _Ah! he will say_, &c. Either the words are interpolated, or there is a lacuna. The objection is nowhere refuted.

-- 156. Doriscus, &c. The places mentioned did not really belong to Athens, but to Cersobleptes, who was being a.s.sisted by Athenian troops, so that, strictly speaking, Philip was within his rights; and in fact (according to Aeschines), Cersobleptes and the Sacred Mountain were taken by Philip the day before the Athenians and their allies swore to the Peace at Athens.

-- 162. _Eucleides_ had been sent to protest against Philip's attack upon Cersobleptes in 346 (see vol. i, p. 122). Philip replied that he had not yet been officially informed by the Athenian amba.s.sadors of the conclusion of the Peace, and was therefore not yet bound by it.

-- 166. _procure their ransom_: i.e. from the various Macedonians who had captured them, or to whom they had been given or sold.

-- 176. _committed to writing_, &c. Formal evidence (as distinct from the mere a.s.sertions of a speaker) was written down, and the witness was asked to swear to it. A witness who was called upon might swear that he had no knowledge of the matter in question ([Greek: _exomnysthai_]). By writing down his evidence and swearing to it, Demosthenes took the risk of prosecution for perjury.

-- 180. _might be proved in countless ways_: or 'would need a speech of infinite length '. But as [Greek: _kai_] and not [Greek: _de_] follows, I slightly prefer the former rendering. (The latter is supported by the Third Philippic, -- 60, but there the next clause is connected by [Greek: _de_].)