Philip II of Macedon

Philip, King of Macedonia, to the Council and People of Athens, greeting.

When Philip had sworn to the peace, having first secured Thrace because of their disobedience to my decree, he bribed them to postpone our departure from Macedonia until he had made ready for his expedition against the Phocians.

Was it the duty of our city, Aeschines, to abase her pride, to lower her dignity, to rank herself with Thessalians and Dolopians, to help Philip to establish his supremacy over Greece, to annihilate the glories and the prerogatives of our forefathers?

Again, the consideration that not a city of the Phocians was taken forcibly, whether by blockade or assault, and yet that they were all brought to utter ruin under the convention, is a convincing proof that they perished because they had been persuaded through these men that Philip would deliver them;

Therefore these dates, together with their own reports and decrees, all convict these men of having co-operated with Philip, and they share with him the guilt of the destruction of the Phocians.

A convention between Philip and the Phocians, it says, not between the Thebans and the Phocians, or the Thessalians and the Phocians, or the Locrians, or any other of the nationalities then present.

Do not be surprised, Philip, that I am going to begin, not with the discourse which is to be addressed to you and which is presently to be brought to your attention, but with that which I have written about Amphipolis.

Has he not converted the Thessalians, whose power formerly extended over Macedonia, into an attitude so friendly to him that every Thessalian has more confidence in him than in his own fellow countrymen?

but in any case, while I was still occupied with this endeavor, you and Athens anticipated me by making peace before I had completed my discourse;

now ordaining the worship of the Macedonian from Pella, Philip son of Amyntas, in the Cynosarges — him with the broken collar-bone and the maimed leg, who had his eye knocked out;

Now if any of you, Athenians, seeing Philip’s good fortune, considers him a formidable and dangerous opponent, he is exercising a prudent forethought.

From this you can gauge the feelings of the great body of the Macedonians towards Philip;

Moreover, men of Athens, frequent reflection has taught me that not only do Philip’s alliances end in suspicion and hostility, but also the various parts of his own kingdom are not united by such satisfactory and intimate ties as people imagine.

And you too, men of Athens, if you are willing to adopt this principle, now if never before, if each citizen is ready to throw off his diffidence and serve the state as he ought and as he best may, the rich man paying, the strong man fighting, if, briefly and plainly, you will consent to become your own masters, and if each man will cease to expect that, while he does nothing himself, his neighbor …

for even this Philip has not grown great through his own unaided strength so much as through our carelessness.

It seems to me, Athenians, as if some god, out of very shame for the conduct of our city, had inspired Philip with this activity.

First, men of Athens, you must fix this firmly in your minds, that Philip is at war with us and has broken the peace, and that he is ill-disposed and hostile to the whole city and to the very soil on which the city stands, and, I will add, to the gods that dwell in it;

Why then, men of Athens, has none of these speakers ever admitted that Philip is violating rights and provoking war, when he is thus openly violating rights and subduing cities, but when others urge you not to give way to Philip nor submit to these losses, they say they are provoking war?

The other errors it is not worth while to investigate now, but whenever any question arises that concerns Philip, instantly up jumps someone and says there must be no nonsense talked, no declarationtion of war, and he at once goes on to add how good a thing it is to preserve peace, and what a bother it is to keep up a large army, and how certain persons want to plunder your wealth;

Men of Athens, the charges that Philip brings against the speakers who here uphold your claims shall never deter us from offering our advice on what concerns your interests;

But Philip, although, as you have heard from his letter, he admits the justice of this amendment and consents to accept it, has robbed the Pheraeans of their city, placing a garrison in their citadel, in order, I suppose, to ensure their independence;

As for the other amendment which you propose to introduce, that all the Greeks who are not parties to the peace should remain free and independent, and that if they are attacked, the signatories should unite to defend them, you considered it both fair and generous that the peace should not be confined to Athens and her allies on the one side and Philip and his allies on the other, while those who …

First, men of Athens, you must fix this firmly in your minds, that Philip is at war with us and has broken the peace.

But I am absolutely certain that, without waiting for any Athenian to propose a declaration of war, Philip is in possession of much of our territory and has just dispatched a force against Cardia.

This, then, is the first thing needful, to recognize in Philip the inveterate enemy of constitutional government and democracy, for unless you are heartily persuaded of this, you will not consent to take your politics seriously.

In the same way by agreement with Philip we have waived our claim to Amphipolis, and we are permitting Cardia to be excepted from the rest of the Chersonese, the Carian to occupy the islands of Chios, Cos, and Rhodes, and the Byzantines to detain our ships in harbor, obviously because we think that the respite which the peace affords is more productive of advantages than wrangling and coming to bl …

Again, men of Athens, when I saw that Neoptolemus, the actor, enjoying safe conduct under cover of his profession, was doing his best to injure our city and was Philip’s agent and representative at Athens, I once more came forward and addressed you, not out of private animosity or love of informing, as indeed my subsequent conduct has proved.

I only know this, that Philip was less interested in those towns than desirous to secure the pass, to win for himself the credit of finishing off the Sacred War, and to preside at the Pythian games.

I wonder that no one here, men of Athens, can count up how many years you have been at war with Philip, and what you have been doing all that long time.

But if any of you, Athenians, seeing Philip’s good fortune, thinks that he is in that respect a formidable antagonist, he reasons like a prudent man.

Hence it is not difficult to see how the majority of the Macedonians regard Philip.

Unfortunately all our national affairs have now reached to such a pass, that the more completely and manifestly Philip is convicted of violating the peace with us and of plotting against the whole of Greece, the more difficult it is to suggest the right course of action.

But if we may judge from his present conduct, it is plain that on that occasion also he acted from deliberate choice, and everything, if correctly observed, points to the fact that all his intrigues are directed against Athens.

Whenever, men of Athens, we are discussing Philip’s intrigues and his violations of the peace, I observe that all the speeches on our side are manifestly inspired by justice and generosity, and those who denounce Philip are all felt to be saying exactly the right thing;

If not, let someone come forward and tell me who but ourselves has made Philip powerful.

For, quite apart from the disgrace that we should incur if we shirk our responsibilities, I see not a little danger, men of Athens, for the future, if the Thebans maintain their present attitude towards us, and the Phocians have come to the end of their money, and there is nothing to hinder Philip, when he has crushed his present foe, from turning his arms against Attica.

You remember, men of Athens, when news came three or four years ago that Philip was in Thrace besieging the fortress of Heraeum.

Perhaps you wonder why the people of Olynthus and Eretria and Oreus were more favorably inclined to Philip’s advocates than to their own.

but since some of you are in such a strange mood that, though Philip is seizing cities, and retaining many of your possessions, and inflicting injury on everybody, you tolerate some speakers who repeatedly assert in the Assembly that the real aggressors are certain of ourselves, we must be on our guard and set this matter right.

Many speeches are delivered, men of Athens, at almost every meeting of the Assembly, about the wrongs that Philip has been committing, ever since the conclusion of peace, not only against you but also against the other states, and all the speakers would, I am sure, admit in theory, though they do not put it in practice, that the object both of our words and deeds must be to check and chastise his arrogance;

Be assured that a glory unsurpassable and worthy of the deeds you have done in the past will be yours when you shall compel the barbarians—all but those who have fought on your side—to be serfs of the Greeks, and when you shall force the king who is now called Great to do whatever you command.

At that time, you recall, I counselled you that, after you had reconciled our city with Sparta, Thebes, and Argos, you should bring all the Greeks into concord, as I was of opinion that if you should persuade the principal cities to be favorably inclined to such a course, the others also would quickly follow.

On hearing this, all entreated me to encourage you and to exhort you to hold fast to this same resolution, since they believe that no achievement could be more glorious, more useful to the Greeks, or more timely than this will be.

Not content with the wreck of so many cities which Philip had either conquered or bought, he throws down some in one place, some in another, and carries his arms round the whole world, nor does his cruelty stop anywhere, weary, after the manner of savage beasts that bite more than hunger demands.