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The laws have given you the right, Athenians, to acquit or punish men on
trial. A doctor cannot treat his patients skilfully if he has not discerned
the cause of the disease, nor can a member of a jury give a fair vote
unless he has followed intelligently the rights and wrongs of the case. [2]
Since I have myself become exposed to the full hatred of the orators, I
am asking not only for divine assistance but for your help also. For they
are casting aspersions on my personal history, thinking to undermine
your confidence in my speech. I am of no consequence whether alive or
dead; for what do the Athenians care if Demades is lost to them, too? No
soldier will shed tears over my deathHow could he, when war brings
him advancement and peace destroys his livelihood? ; but it will be
lamented by the farmer, the sailor, and everyone who has enjoyed the
peaceful life with which I fortified Attica, encircling its boundaries, not
with stone, but with the safety of the city. [3] In many cases, gentlemen
of the jury, when men are serving as judges they are seriously misled.
For, just as a complaint of the eyes, by confusing the vision, prevents a
man from seeing what lies before him, so an unjust speech, insinuating
itself into the minds of the jury, prevents them in their anger from
perceiving the truth. You should therefore exercise more care in dealing
with the accused than with the plaintiffs. For the latter, by virtue of
speaking first, have the jury in the mood which suits them, while the
former are compelled to plead their cause to judges already prejudiced
by anger. [4] Now, if you hold me liable for the charges, condemn me out
of hand; I ask no pardon. But if, on considerations of justice, law, and
expediency, I prove to be innocent of these charges, do not leave me to
the savagery of my prosecutors. If my death will contribute in the least,
as these men say, to the common safety, I am ready to die. For it is a
noble thing to win public esteem by the loss of one's own life, so long as
it is given in answer to the country's need and not the argument of these
accusers. [5] I entreat you by the gods, Athenians, give me free scope to
explain to you my claims to fair treatment. I have, I believe, the power
even to be of assistance to others, but on this occasion fear restrains my
speech. Apart from that I am not afraid that the facts will convict me; all
I fear is my opponents' slander which, instead of bringing wrongdoers to
There is bitterness in the voice of truth, when the speaker with simple
frankness takes away the expectation of great successes: while pleasant
words, though they are false, convince those who hear them. [19]
It is not the giving of the bribe that distresses us but the action of the
man who takes it, if it is directed against our interests. [22]
With these words he raises the firebrand of war and the enemy encamps
at the gates. [23]
My purpose is not to get gold, as these men falsely allege; it is this. [25]
If only the Thebans had possessed a Demades; for Thebes would then be
still a city. Now it is but the site of a city, a remnant of catastrophe, razed
to its foundations by enemy hands. [27]
It was not honorable to admit enemy blood and Macedonian fire into
Attica nor to be silent and endure the sight of the city sinking like a ship.
[28]
But the cowardly politicians, leading out the flower of the city to Boeotia,
led them to a graveyard. [29]
They came to realize clearly the changeability of the politician's life, the
uncertainty of the future, the variety of fortune's changes, and the
difficulty of gauging the crises that hold Greece in their grip. Therefore
the law which they intended to direct against others . . . [35]
It was not I that advised this course: my country, the occasion, the
circumstances themselves, thought fit to use my voice to put the
measures into effect. It Is unjust therefore that an adviser should be held
accountable for circumstances and for events whose outcome rested
with fortune. [36]
A word, if rashly uttered, will sharpen the sword of war, and yet, if
skilfully chosen, it will blunt the spear even though it is already whetted.
There is more speed in management than in force. [41]
The barbarian accepted the statement but did not probe its meaning. For
his ears interpreted the message to conform with his own pleasure
rather than with the truth. But this was no idle speech, for deeds
followed hard upon it. [42]
Force does not enable a man to master even the smallest things. It was
inventiveness and system that made him yoke the ox to the plough for
the tilling of the land, bridle the horse, set a rider on the elephant, and
cross the boundless sea in boats of wood. The engineer and craftsman of
all these things is mind, and we must use it as our guide, not always
seeking to follow the subtleties of our own plans but rather the natural
changes of events. This was the method by which I tamed Alexander,
like some fearful beast, with flattering words and made him tractable for
the future. [43]
I hate the popular leaders because they disturb the people and shatter
the peace, the fruit of my administration, with a decree in favour of war.
[45]
Our ancestors left Athens and held the sea as a city, and the naval
disaster shattered the land army also. [46]
The changes to which events are subject are treacherous and unceasing.
[48]
For those words as it were lulled to sleep the king's anger. [53]
For the powers of the city and the pride of Greece were still at their
height, and fortune favoured the people. But now every element of value
in the political world has been ostracized and the cities' hamstrings
removed men's lives have inclined to relaxation and luxury, the means
of concord are no longer there, and the hopes of our friends have proved
vain. [54]
Examine the truth in the light of events and do not give more weight to
false charges than to accepted facts. [56]
My diplomacy and the clamor that greeted it combined to set the city on
the watch, saved Attica from being swamped from every side as by a
wave and turned the army in Boeotia against the Persians.11 [58]
Fear of war, like darkness, does not present the same aspect when it
confronts us as when it has been averted. [59]
Each offence is dealt with in its own particular way some call for the
council of the Areopagus, some for lesser courts, others for the Heliaea.
All these are distinguished in name, circumstance, time, penalty,
procedure, and in the number of the jury. [61]
They think that they will plunge me below the surface. [64]
It is not right that the saving of a man in danger should provide fuel for
the malicious charges of those who have abandoned all principle, nor
that an accusation based on stories should be held stronger than a
defence grounded on facts. [65]
2 It is said that after Chaeronea in 338 B.C. Philip was insulting his
prisoners, until Demades, by his frank speech, won him over to a better
attitude towards Athens. Cf. Dio. Sic. 16.87.
7 For the well-known story of the envoys of Darius, whom the Spartans
threw into a well and the Athenians into a pit, see Hdt. 7.133
8 For the story of the daughters of Erechtheus see Lyc. 98 and note.
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