{1} I believe, men of Athens, that you would give a great sum to know
what policy, in reference to the matter which you are now considering,
will best serve the interests of the city, and since that is so, you
ought to be ready and eager to listen to those who desire to give you
their advice. For not only can you hear and accept any useful proposals
which a speaker may have thought out before he came here; but such, I
conceive, is your fortune, that the right suggestion will often occur
to some of those present on the spur of the moment; and out of all
these suggestions it should be easy for you to choose the most
advantageous course.
{2} The present time, men of Athens, seems almost to cry aloud that you
must take matters into your own hands yonder, if you have any interest
in a successful termination of the crisis: and yet our attitude appears
to be--I do not know what. My own opinion, at all events, is that you
should at once resolve to send this assistance; that you should prepare
for the departure of the expedition at the first possible moment--you
must not fall victims to the same error as before--and that you should
dispatch an embassy to announce our intention, and to be present at the
scene of action. {3} For what we have most to fear is this--that he,
with his unscrupulous cleverness in taking advantage of
circumstances--now, it may be, by making concessions; now by uttering
threats, which he may well seem likely to fulfil; now by
misrepresenting ourselves and our absence from the scene--may turn and
wrest to his own advantage some of the vital elements of our power. {4}
And yet it may fairly be said, men of Athens, that our best hope lies
in that very circumstance which renders Philip's power so hard to
grapple with. The fact that the entire control over everything, open or
secret,[n] is concentrated in the hands of a single man; that he is at
one and the same time general, master, and treasurer; that he is always
present in person with his army--all this is a great advantage, in so
far as military operations must be prompt and well-timed. But as
regards the compact which he would so gladly make with the Olynthians,
the effect is just the reverse. {5} For the Olynthians know well that
they are not fighting now for honour and glory, nor for a strip of
territory, but to avert the devastation and enslavement of their
country. They know how he treated[n] those who betrayed to him their
city at Amphipolis, and those who received him at Pydna; and it is, I
imagine, universally true that tyranny is a faithless friend to a free
state, and that most of all, when they occupy adjoining territories.
{6} With this knowledge, men of Athens, and with all the reflections
that the occasion calls for in your minds, I say that now, if ever
before, you must make your resolve, rouse all your energies, and give
your minds to the war: you must contribute gladly, you must go forth in
person, you must leave nothing undone. There is no longer any reason or
excuse remaining, which can justify you in refusing to do your duty.
{7} For every one was but recently harping on the desirability of
exciting Olynthus to war with Philip; and this has now come to pass of
itself, and in the way which most completely suits your interests. Had
they taken up the war because you had persuaded them to do so, their
alliance might perhaps have been precarious, and their resolution might
only have carried them a certain way. But now their detestation of
Philip is based upon grievances which affect themselves; and we may
suppose that a hostility which is occasioned by their own fears and
sufferings will be a lasting one. {8} Since, therefore, men of Athens,
such an opportunity has been thrown in your way, you must not let it
go, nor fall victims to the mistake from which you have often suffered
before. If, for instance, when we had returned from our expedition in
aid of the Euboeans,[n] and Hierax and Stratocles came from Amphipolis
and stood upon this platform and urged us to sail and take over the
city; if, I say, we had continued to display in our own interest the
eagerness which we displayed in the deliverance of the Euboeans, you
would have kept Amphipolis then, and we should have been free from all
the trouble that we have had since. {9} And again, when news kept
coming of the investment of Pydna, Poteidaea, Methone, Pagasae, and all
the other places--I will not stay to enumerate them all--if we had
acted at once, and had gone to the rescue of the first place attacked,
with the energy which we ought to have shown, we should now have found
Philip much less proud and difficult to deal with. As it is, we are
always sacrificing the present, always fancying that the future will
turn out well of itself; and so we have raised Philip to a position of
such importance as no king of Macedonia has ever before attained. {10}
And now an opportunity has come to Athens, in this crisis at Olynthus,
as great as any of those former ones: and I believe, men of Athens,
that one who was to draw up a true account of the blessings which have
been given us by the gods, would, in spite of much that is not as it
should be, find great cause for thankfulness to them; and naturally so.
For our many losses in the war must in fairness be set down to our own
indifference; but that we did not suffer such losses long ago, and that
an alliance has presented itself to us, which, if we will only take
advantage of it, will act as a counterpoise to them--all this I, for
one, should set down as a favour due to their goodness towards us. But
it is, I imagine, in politics, as it is in money-making. {11} If a man
is able to keep all that he gets, he is abundantly grateful to Fortune;
but if he loses it all before he is aware, he loses with it his memory
of Fortune's kindness. So it is in politics. When men have not made a
right use of their opportunities, they do not remember any good that
heaven may actually have granted them: for it is by the ultimate issue
that men estimate all that they have enjoyed before. Therefore, men of
Athens, you must pay the very utmost heed to the future, that by the
better use you make of it, you may wipe out the dishonour of the past.
{12} But if you sacrifice these men also, men of Athens, and Philip in
consequence reduces Olynthus to subjection, I ask any of you to tell me
what is to prevent him from marching where he pleases. Is there a man
among you, men of Athens, who considers or studies the steps by which
Philip, weak enough at first, has become so strong? First he took
Amphipolis, next Pydna, then again Poteidaea, and then Methone. Next he
set foot in Thessaly. {13} Then when Pherae, Pagasae, Magnesia[n] were
secured for his purposes, just as it suited him, he departed to Thrace.
In Thrace, after expelling one prince and setting up another, he fell
ill. When he grew easier again, he showed no inclination to take things
easily, but at once attacked the Olynthians[n]--and I am passing over
his campaigns against the Illyrians and the Paeonians, against
Arybbas,[n] and in every possible direction.
{14} Why, I may be asked, do I mention these things at the present
moment? I wish you to understand, men of Athens, and to realize these
two points: first, the unprofitableness of perpetually sacrificing your
interests one by one; and, secondly, the restless activity which is a
part of Philip's very being, and which will not allow him to content
himself with his achievements and remain at peace. For if it is to be
his fixed resolve, that he must always be aiming at something greater
than he has yet attained; and ours, that we will never set ourselves
resolutely to work; ask yourselves what you can expect to be the end of
the matter. {15} In God's name, is there one of you so innocent as not
to know that the war will be transferred from Olynthus to Attica, if we
pay no heed? But if that happens, men of Athens, I fear that we shall
be like men who light-heartedly borrow at a high rate of interest, and
after a brief period of affluence, lose even their original estate;
that like them we shall find that our carelessness has cost us dear;
that through making pleasure our standard in everything, we shall find
ourselves driven to do many of those unpleasant things which we wished
to avoid, and shall find our position even in our own country
imperilled.
{16} I may be told that it is easy to criticize--any one can do that;
but that a political adviser is expected to offer some practical
proposal to meet the existing situation. Now I am well aware, men of
Athens, that in the event of any disappointment, it is not upon those
who are responsible that your anger falls, but upon those who have
spoken last upon the subject in question. Yet I do not think that
consideration for my own safety should lead me to conceal my conviction
as to the course which your interests demand. {17} I say then that
there are two things which you must do to save the situation. You must
rescue these towns [n] for the Olynthians, and send troops to
accomplish this: and you must damage Philip's country with your ships
and with a second body of troops. {18} If you neglect either of these
things, our campaign, I greatly fear, will be in vain. For suppose that
you inflict damage on his country, and that he allows you to do so,
while he reduces Olynthus; he will have no difficulty in repelling you
when he returns. Suppose, on the other hand, that you only go to the
help of Olynthus; he will see that he has nothing to fear at home, and
so he will sit down before the town and remain at his task, until time
enables him to get the better of the besieged. The expedition,
therefore, must be large, and it must be in two parts.
Such is my view with regard to the expedition. {19} As to the sources
of supply, you have funds, men of Athens--funds larger than any one
else in the world; but you appropriate these without scruple, just as
you choose. Now if you will assign these to your troops, you need no
further supplies: otherwise, not only do you need further supplies--you
are destitute of supplies altogether. 'Well' (does someone say?), 'do
you move that this money should form a war-fund?' I assure you that I
make no such motion. {20} For while I do indeed believe that a force
ought to be made ready [and that this money should form a war-fund],
and that the receipt of money should be connected, as part of one and
the same system, with the performance of duty; you, on the contrary,
think it right to take the money, after your present fashion, for your
festivals, and spare yourselves trouble. And therefore, I suppose, our
only resource is a general tax--larger or smaller, according to the
amount required. In any case, we need funds, and without funds nothing
can be done that we ought to do. Various other sources of supply are
suggested by different persons. Choose whichever you think best of
these, and get to work, while you have the opportunity.
{21} It is worth while to remember and to take into account the nature
of Philip's position at this moment. For neither are his affairs at
present in such good order, or in so perfectly satisfactory a state, as
might appear to any but a careful observer; nor would he ever have
commenced this present war, if he had thought that he would really have
to fight. He hoped at first that by his mere advance he would carry all
before him; and he has since discovered his mistake. This
disappointment, then, is the first thing which disturbs him and causes
him great despondency: {22} and next there is the disposition of the
Thessalians, naturally inconstant as we know it has always been found
by all men; and what it has always been, that, in the highest degree,
Philip finds it now. For they have formally resolved to demand from him
the restitution of Pagasae; they have prevented him from fortifying
Magnesia, and I myself heard it stated that they intend even to refuse
him the enjoyment of their harbour and market dues for the future.
These, they say, should go to maintain the public administration of
Thessaly, instead of being taken by Philip. But if he is deprived of
these funds, the resources from which he must maintain his mercenaries
will be reduced to the narrowest limits. {23} Nay, more: we must surely
suppose that the chieftains of the Paeonians and Illyrians, and in fact
all such personages--would prefer freedom to slavery; for they are not
accustomed to obey orders, and the man, they say, is a bully. Heaven
knows, there is nothing incredible in the statement. Unmerited success
is to foolish minds a fountain-head of perversity, so that it is often
harder for men to keep the good they have, than it was to obtain it.
{24} It is for you then, men of Athens, to regard his difficulty as
your opportunity, to take up your share of the burden with readiness,
to send embassies to secure all that is required, to join the forces
yourselves, and to stir up every one else to do so. Only consider what
would happen, if Philip got such an opportunity to strike at us, and
there was war on our frontier. Can you not imagine how readily he would
march against us? Does it arouse no shame in you, that, when you have
the opportunity, you should not dare to do to him even as much as you
would have to suffer, were he able to inflict it?
{25} There is a further point, men of Athens, which must not escape
you. I mean that you have now to choose whether you are to carry on war
yonder, or whether he is to do so in your own country. If the
resistance of Olynthus is maintained, you will fight there and will
inflict damage on Philip's territory, while you remain secure in the
enjoyment of this land of your own which you now possess. But if Philip
captures Olynthus, who is to hinder him from marching to Athens? The
Thebans? {26} It seems, I fear, too bitter a thing to say; but they
will be glad to join him in the invasion. The Phocians? They cannot
protect their own country, unless you go to their aid, or some other
power. 'But, my good Sir,'[n] you say, 'he will not want to march
here.' And yet it would be one of the strangest things in the world,
if, when he has the power, he does not carry out the threats, which he
now blurts out in spite of the folly that they show. {27} But I suppose
that I need not even point out how vast is the difference between war
here and war in his country. For had you to camp outside the walls
yourselves, for only thirty days, and to take from the country such
things as men in camp must have--and I am assuming that there is no
enemy in the country--I believe that the loss your farmers would suffer
would exceed your whole expenditure on the war up to the present time.
What then must we think will be the extent of our loss, if ever war
comes to our doors? And besides the loss there is his insolence, and
the shame of our position, which to right-minded men is as serious as
any loss.
{28} When you take a comprehensive view of these things you must all go
to the rescue and stave the war off yonder; you who are well-to-do, in
order that, with a small expense in defence of the great fortunes which
you quite rightly enjoy, you may reap the benefit of the remainder
without fear; you who are of military age, that you may gain your
experience of war in Philip's country, and so become formidable
guardians of a fatherland unspoiled; and your orators, that they may
find it easy to render an account of their public life; for your
judgement upon their conduct will itself depend upon the position in
which you find yourselves. And may that be a happy one, on every ground!