Named Entity Results
Demosthenes, Speeches 1-10

But if we leave these men too in the lurch, Athenians, and then Olynthus is crushed by Philip, tell me what is to prevent him from marching henceforward just where he pleases. I wonder if any one of you in this audience watches and notes the steps by which Philip, weak at first, has grown so powerful. First he seized Amphipolis, next Pydna, then Potidaea, after that Methone, lastly he invaded Thessaly.

But you must make sure, men of Athens, that our envoys do not confine themselves to words; they must be able to give some practical proof that we have taken the field in a way worthy of our city and that we are really grappling with the situation. All words, apart from action, seem vain and idle, especially words from Athenian lips; for the greater our reputation for a ready tongue, the greater the distrust it inspires in all men.

You will never find one, especially as the only result would be that the proposer would get into trouble without improving the situation, and his fate would also make good advice more dangerous for the future. Yes, men of Athens, and you ought to insist that those who made these laws should also repeal them.

take advantage of the general confusion and to control the situation at your pleasure; but in your present condition you would be unable, even if the opportunity offered, to take over Amphipolis, having neither a force nor a policy ready to hand.Lit. “being cut off [from Amphipolis] both in forces and in plans,” a vigorous but untranslatable phrase. take advantage of the general confusion and to control the situation at your pleasure; but in your present condition you would be unable, even if the opportunity offered, to take over Amphipolis, having neither a force nor a policy ready to hand.Lit. “being cut off [from Amphipolis] both in forces and in plans,” a vigorous but untranslatable phrase.

you, he would be choosing friends, and that your friendship would be based on justice; but that if he attached himself to the others, he would find in them the tools of his own ambition. That is why, now as then, he chooses them rather than you. For surely it is not that he regards their fleets as superior to ours, nor that, having discovered some inland empire, he has abandoned the seaboard with its harbors, nor yet that he has a short memory for the speeches and the promises that gained for him the Peace.Had Philip renounced his hope of founding a maritime and commercial state and confined himself to extending his empire north and west of Macedonia, his rejection of Athenian friendship would be intelligible. As it is, it must be otherwise explained.

though intercourse between the two nations was more frequent then than now. For Macedonia was under our sway and tributary to us,The speaker is improving on the claim made by Demosthenes in Dem. 3.24. Macedonia was never really subject or tributary to Athens. and we used each other's markets more freely then than at present, and mercantile suitsAlso callede)/mmhnoi di/kai, because theMacedonia was never really subject or tributary to Athens. and we used each other's markets more freely then than at present, and mercantile suitsAlso callede)/mmhnoi di/kai, because they had to be settled within a month. They were heard, under the presidency of the Thesmothetae, during the six winter months, when the seas were closed to commerce. were not then, as now, settled strictly every month, making a formal compact between such distant parties unnecessary.

though intercourse between the two nations was more frequent then than now. For Macedonia was under our sway and tributary to us,The speaker is improving on the claim made by Demosthenes in Dem. 3.24. Macedonia was never really subject or tributary to Athens. and we used each other's markets more freely then than at present, and mercantile suitsAlso callede)/mmhnoi di/kai, because they had to be settled within a month. They were heard, under the presidency of the Thesmothetae, during the six winter months, when the seas were closed to commerce. were not then, as now, settled strictly every month, making a formal compact between such distant parties unnecessary.

And then again quite lately, after entering Thessaly as a friend and ally, he seized Pherae and still retains it; and lastly, he informed those poor wretches, the people of Oreus, that he had sent his soldiers to pay them a visit of sympathy in all goodwill, for he understood that they were suffering from acute internal trouble, and it was the duty of true friends and allies to be at their side on such occasions.

Then having settled Pherae, Pagasae, Magnesia, and the rest of that country to suit his purposes, off he went to Thrace, and there, after evicting some of the chiefs and installing others, he fell sick. On his recovery, he did not relapse into inactivity, but instantly assailed Olynthus. His campaigns against Illyrians and Paeonians and King Arybbas and any others that might be mentioned, I pass over in silence.

Then having settled Pherae, Pagasae, Magnesia, and the rest of that country to suit his purposes, off he went to Thrace, and there, after evicting some of the chiefs and installing others, he fell sick. On his recovery, he did not relapse into inactivity, but instantly assailed Olynthus. His campaigns against Illyrians and Paeonians and King Arybbas and any others that might be mentioned, I pass over in silence.