William Watson Goodwin, Commentary on Demosthenes: On the Crown

2. τὰ μὲν καθ᾽ ἕκαστα, the details, with the subordinate ἐγὼ μὲν and ὑμᾶς δὲ, is in antithesis to ὅ τι δ᾽ οὖν ἐπείσαμεν (i.e. the sum of what we accom -plished) in l. 6.—ἀντὶ...τοῦ βίου, as we might say, I would give my life: cf. τιμᾶν and τιμᾶσθαι used of estimating the penalty in a lawsuit; and I. 1, ἀντὶ πολλῶν ἂν χρημάτων ἑλέσθαι. It is not hard to see why Demosthenes should be unwilling to repeat any part of this brilliant speech. The hope of successes of the allies against Philip, which he probably held out, had been disappointed by the crushing defeat at Chaeronea; and the destruction of Thebes three years later must have made the whole tone of this speech now sadly untimely. Plutarch (Dem. 18) gives a graphic account of the Theban assembly and of the address, which was probably one of the orator's greatest efforts.

4. ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ...ἡγούμενοι, as (you would think, ἐνομίζετε ἄν) if you believed, etc. (M.T. 227, 868). Strictly we should have either ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ ἡγεῖσθε (impf.) or ὥσπερ ἂν ἡγούμενοι (=εἰ ἡγεῖσθε), since a conditional participle is not regularly preceded by εἰ (M.T. 472). But it would seem that the colloquial use of ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ, quasi, sometimes caused the true ellipsis to be overlooked and the εἰ to be irregularly added.—καὶ κατακλυσμὸν; i.e. also a deluge, as well as the lapse of opportunity (παρεληλυθότων τῶν καιρῶν).

5. τῶν πραγμάτων, objective geni- tive after κατακλυσμὸν.

6. ὅ τι ἐπείσαμεν and (ὅ τι)...ἀπε- κρίναντο are the same thing.