Athenians

The Argives therefore went to the Athenians, and complained, that though it had been specified in the treaty that they should not allow an enemy to pass through their respective countries, they had allowed them to go there by sea;

Wounding himself and his mules, he drove his wagon into the marketplace, with a story that he had escaped from his enemies, who would have killed him (so he said) as he was driving into the country.

I vow that I will boldly tell you the whole truth and keep nothing back.

If we did not observe that the Thebans have schemed to win you over, by fair means or foul, to their contention that they have done us no wrong, we could have finished our plea in a few words.

It is surely wrong that you should be highly indignant when you are the victims of such coercion, but should neglect all safeguards if it is employed somewhere else, contrary to the sworn agreement with you, and that we here at Athens should be urged by certain speakers to abide by the oaths, while they grant this liberty of action to the men who have so notoriously made those oaths of no effect.

For we were charged by the Chians, Byzantines and Rhodians with plotting against them, and that was why they concerted the last war against us;

for the former put into our minds the expectation both of regaining our possessions in the several states and of recovering the power which we formerly enjoyed, while the latter hold forth no such hope, insisting rather that we must have peace and not crave great possessions contrary to justice, but be content with those we have —and that for the great majority of mankind is of all things the most difficult.

The cause of all these evils and all these troubles is Philip, for if he had kept quiet, our city would have been free from trouble, you cannot gainsay it, but you seem to me to be vexed and to feel that you are, as it were, losing something.

Yet violation of the rights of heralds and ambassadors is regarded by all men as an act of impiety, and by none more than by you, if I may judge from the fact that, when the Megarians arrested Anthemocritus, your Assembly went to the length of excluding them from the celebration of the mysteries, and actually erected a statue before the city gates to commemorate the outrage.

There was more of prejudice, therefore, than truth in the reproach, which Piso cast upon the Athenians of his own time, refusing to consider them as Athenians since they had become extinct by so many disasters, and were nothing more than a base mixture of all nations of the earth.

Perhaps you will say, Of course we all know that we must send an expedition, and we are willing to do so;

For who does not himself know or has not heard from the tragic poets at the Dionysia of the misfortunes which befell Adrastus at Thebes, how in his desire to restore to power the son of Oedipus, his own son-in-law, he lost a great number of his Argive soldiers in the battle and saw all of his captains slain, though saving his own life in dishonor, and, when he failed to obtain a truce and was unab …

But, I think, when Philip had taken Nicaea from them and given it to the Thessalians, and when he was now bringing back again upon Thebes herself through Phocis the same war that he had formerly driven from the borders of Boeotia, and when finally he had seized Elateia and fortified and garrisoned it, then, and not till then, it was, when the peril was laying hold on them, that they sent for the Athenians.

The harvest-wreath bears figs and rich loaves, and honey in a cup, and oil to anoint oneself.

For none of you must assume that the same policy that weakened the power of Athens will suffice to restore and advance it, nor suppose that, if you are as half-hearted as before, others will be zealous in defence of your interests.

If anyone asked you, Are you at peace, Athenians?

The matters that you are debating, men of Athens, are to my mind so important and even vital to the State, that I will endeavour to offer you what I consider profitable advice on the subject.

But I want, men of Athens—for Pytho, who was one of the ambassadors, made an excellent impression on you by his address—I want to recall to you the exact words he used, for I am sure you must remember them.

Now I do not choose, Athenians, to enumerate the resources of Philip and by such arguments to call on you to rise to the occasion.

—Should we, then, do as the Athenians often did, and record the present time as an "anarchy"—as though there were no handsome man?

but be well assured, men of Athens, that we believe we are inviting you to benefits far greater for your state than for our own.