Many speeches
are delivered, men of Athens, at
almost every meeting of the Assembly, about the wrongs that Philip has been
committing, ever since the conclusion of peace, not only against you but also
against the other states, and all the speakers would, I am sure, admit in
theory, though they do not put it in practice, that the object both of our words
and deeds must be to check and chastise his arrogance; yet I perceive that all
our interests have been so completely betrayed and sacrificed, that—I
am afraid it is an ominous thing to say, but yet the truth—even if all
who address you had wanted to propose, and all of you had wanted to pass,
measures that were bound to bring our affairs into the worst possible plight, I
do not think they could have been in a worse condition than they are today.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by J. H. Vince, M.A. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1930.
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