[14]
Then too Demosthenes decided upon war, offering to
his compatriots counsel which, though seemingly prudent, was in reality fraught
with danger.1 When the enemy was
encamped near Attica and the country
was being confined in the town, when the city, worthy to be striven for and
marvelled at by all, was being filled like a stable with oxen, sheep and flocks
and there was no hope of help from any quarter, I proposed the peace.
1 After the accession of Alexander in 336 B.C. Demosthenes proposed a decree to honor Philip's murderer, and war was imminent. But in the same year, when Alexander entered Thessaly, Athens retracted. Demades apparently negotiated the ensuing agreement, but we have no other evidence to confirm the statement made in this passage.
Demades. Minor Attic Orators in two volumes, 2, with an English translation by J. O. Burtt, M.A. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1962.
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