[198]
The truth is, gentlemen, that they would not rob
themselves of their own share in any of those ancient achievements; and no man
would say that the battle of Salamis
belonged to Themistocles,—it was the battle of the Athenians; or that
the victory at Marathon belonged to Miltiades,—it was the victory of
the commonwealth. But today, men of Athens, it is commonly said that Corcyra was captured by Timotheus, that the Spartan battalion
was cut to pieces by Iphicrates, that the naval victory off Naxos was won by Chabrias. It really looks as
though you disclaimed any merit for those feats of arms by the extravagant
favours that you lavish on the several commanders.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D., LL.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1939.
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