William Watson Goodwin, Commentary on Demosthenes: On the Crown

2. προσάγειν τοὺς πρέσβεις (sc. εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν): these were the ambassadors sent by Philip to negotiate the peace. Foreign embassies first presented themselves to the Senate, which by a decree provided for their introduction to the Assembly: see Aesch. II. 58, ταῖς δὲ ξενικαῖς πρεσβείαις ἡ βουλὴ τὰς εἰς τὸν δῆμον προσόδους προβουλεύει. Such a bill was proposed by Demosth. in the Senate before the arrival of the ambassadors, appointing a special meeting of the Assembly to receive them on the eighth of Elaphebolion: afterwards the discussion of the peace was postponed to the eighteenth and nineteenth.

5. θέαν...κελεῦσαι (sc. ἐχρῆν): ought I not to have ordered the architect (of the theatre) to assign them seats (as I did)? θέαν, place to see; cf. ἐθεώρουν (7): this would be the προεδρία (Aesch. III. 76). The stone Dionysiac theatre was at this time building under the direction of Lycurgus; and the lessee was called ἀρχιτέκτων, as an important part of his duties was the superintendence of the work of building. See Dörpfeld and Reisch, Griech. Theater, 36—40, where the building of the theatre is assigned to about 350—325 B.C. Aeschines (61, 76) makes this official politeness of Demosthenes one ground of his grotesque charge of flattering Philip! To this Demosth. alludes in § 294.2, ὃς γὰρ ἐμοὶ Φιλιππισμὸν, κ.τ.λ. Aesch., however, mentions only the introduction of the envoys to the theatre.

6. ἐν τοῖν δυοῖν οβολοῖν, in the two-obol seats, the threepenny seats of the ordinary citizens. The διωβελία, which was then given from the theoric fund as festival money to every citizen who asked for it, paid the entrance fee to the theatre. It is implied that the distinguished strangers could have been admitted, like other people, to the common seats by merely paying their two obols. With ἐν τοῖν δυοῖν ὀβολοῖν cf. ἐν τοῖς ἰχθύσιν, Ar. Vesp. 789 (see Ran. 1068), in the fishmarket, ἐν τῷ μύρῳ, Eq. 1375.

7. εἰ μὴ τοῦτ᾽ ἐγράφη, i.e. had I not proposed my bill.

8. τὰ μικρὰ συμφέροντα: it is jo- cosely assumed that Aesch. objected to the higher price which the state probably paid for the front seats, or perhaps to the state paying for the seats at all.—φυλάττειν, πεπρακέναι: the change of tense may perhaps be seen in a paraphrase; was it my duty to watch the petty interests of the state, after I had sold her highest interests like these men? With ὅλα, whole, entire, cf. τῶν ὅλων τι, § 278.9.