§ 1. _to take counsel_, &c. Aeschines had asked the jury to refuse
Demosthenes a hearing, or at least to require him to follow the same
order of treatment as himself.
§ 3. _unpleasant_. Many render [Greek: duocheres] 'inauspicious',
'ill-omened'; but as we do not know exactly what was in Demosthenes'
mind, it is better not to give the word a meaning which it does not
bear elsewhere. It may, however, mean 'vexatious'.
§ 11. _knave as you are_, &c. The assonance of the original might
perhaps be partly reproduced by rendering 'evil-minded as you are, it
was yet a very simple-minded idea that your mind conceived', &c.
§ 12. _it does not enable the State_: lit. 'it is not possible for the
State.' The point is that the prosecution of Ctesiphon, while
expressing the malice of Aeschines towards Demosthenes, does not enable
the State to punish Demosthenes himself for his alleged offences, since
any penalty inflicted would fall on Ctesiphon.
§ 13. _to debar another_, &c. This probably refers to the attempt to
deprive Demosthenes of a hearing, not (as some have thought) to the
attempt to get so heavy a fine inflicted upon Ctesiphon that he would
be unable to pay it, and would therefore lose his rights as a citizen.
§ 17. _ascribed to me_, &c. Aeschines was anxious, in view of the
existing state of feeling at Athens, to disown his part in connexion
with the Peace of Philocrates; while Demosthenes undoubtedly assisted
Philocrates in the earlier of the negotiations and discussions which
led to the Peace.
_appropriate_. 'The recapitulation of the history is not a mere
argumentative necessity, but has a moral fitness also; in fact, the
whole defence of Demosthenes resolves itself into a proof that he only
acted in the spirit of Athenian history' (Simcox).
§ 18. _When the Phocian war bad broken out_: i.e. in 356-5. Demosthenes
made his first speech in the Assembly in 354.
_those who detested the Spartans_: i.e. the Messenians and Arcadians.
_those who had previously governed_, &c.: e.g. the oligarchies which
had governed with the help of Sparta in Phlius and Mantinea, and were
overthrown after the battle of Leuctra.
§ 19. _would be forced_, &c. This is a misrepresentation, since Philip
and the Thebans had been in alliance for some time, and Thebes had no
such grounds for apprehending evil from Philip, as would make her apply
to Athens.
§ 21. _Aristodemus_, &c. See Introd. to Speech on the Peace. As a
matter of fact, Demosthenes acted with Philocrates at least down to the
return of the First Embassy, and himself proposed to crown Aristodemus
for his services (Aeschines, On the Embassy, §§ 15-17).
§ 23. _the Hellenes bad all_, &c. It is not easy to reconcile this
passage with § 16 of the Speech on the Embassy, from which it appears
that representatives of other states were present in Athens; but these
so-called envoys may have been private visitors, and in any case there
was no real hope of uniting Greece against Philip.
§ 24. _Eurybatus_ is said to have been sent as an envoy by Croesus to
Cyrus, and to have turned traitor. The name came to be proverbial.
§ 27. _those strongholds_. See Introd. to Speech on the Peace.
§ 28. _But they would have watched_, &c. The passage has been taken in
several ways: (1) 'They would have had to watch,' &c., and this would
have been discreditable to Athens; (2) 'They would have watched,' &c.,
i.e. they would not have been excluded, as you desired, in any case;
(3) 'But, you say, they would have paid two obols apiece,' and the city
would have gained this. The sentence which follows favours (3), but
perhaps (2) is best. The petty interests of the city would include
(from the point of view assumed by Aeschines) the abstention from
showing civility to the enemy's envoys. The two-obol (threepenny) seats
were the cheapest.
§ 30. _three whole months_. In fact the ambassadors were only absent
from Athens about ten weeks altogether.
_equally well_. The reading ([Greek: homoios]) is probably wrong; but
if it is right, this must be the meaning.
§ 32. _as you did before_, in 352. See Introd. to First Philippic.
§ 36. _decree of Callisthenes_. This ordered the bringing in of effects
from the country. See Speech on Embassy, §§ 86, 125.
§ 41. _property in Boeotia_. See Speech on Embassy, § 145.
§ 43. _their hopes_: sc. of the humiliation of Thebes.
_and gladly_: i.e. they were glad to be free from a danger which
(though remotely) threatened themselves, as the next sentence explains.
I can see no good reason for taking the participle [Greek:
polemoumenoi] as concessive ('_although_ they also,' &c.).
§ 48. For Lasthenes see Introd. to Olynthiacs. Timolaus probably
contrived the surrender of Thebes after the battle of Chaeroneia.
Eudicus is unknown. Simus invoked Philip's aid against the tyrants at
Pherae in 352 (see Introd, to First Philippic). Aristratus was tyrant
of Sicyon, and made alliance with Philip in 338. For Perillus, see
Speech on Embassy, Section 295.
§ 50. _stale dregs_: strictly the remains, and especially the wine left
in the cups, from the previous night's feast; here the long-admitted
responsibility of Aeschines for the Peace of 346.
§ 63. _Dolopes_: a small tribe living to the south-west of Thessaly.
§ 65. _free constitutions_. This refers especially to the Thessalians,
who had been placed under tetrarchies (see Philippic III. § 26).
§ 70. _Aristophon_. See Speech on Chersonese, § 30 n. Diopeithes is
perhaps Diopeithes of Sphettus (mentioned by Hypereides, Speech against
Euxenippus, § 39), not the general sent by Athens to the Chersonese.
§ 71. For the events mentioned in this section, see Introd. to Speech
on the Embassy.
§ 72. _Mysian booty_. A proverbial expression derived from the helpless
condition of Mysia (according to legend) in the absence of its king,
Telephus.
§ 79. _to the Peloponnese_, in 344 (see Introd. to Second Philippic):
_to Euboea_ in 343-2 (see Introd. to Speech on Embassy); _to Oreus_,
&c., in 341 (see Introd. to this Speech).
§ 82. _as their patron_, i.e. as consul (or official patron) of Oreus
in Athens. See n. on Speech for Rhodians, § 15. civil rights. See vol.
i, p. 52.
§ 83. _this was already the second proclamation_: i.e. the proclamation
in accordance with the decree of Aristonicus. It is indeed just
possible that the reference is to the proposal of Ctesiphon, 'for this
is now the second proclamation,' &c. If so, we should have to assume
that the proclamation under the decree of Demomeles in 338 was
prevented by the disaster of Chaeroneia. But the first sentence of §
120 is against this (see Goodwin's edition _ad loc_.).
§ 94. _inconsiderate conduct_: i.e. in joining the revolt of the
Athenian allies in 356.
§ 96. _when the Spartans_, &c. The section refers to the events of 395.
_Deceleian War_: i.e. the last part of the Peloponnesian War (413-404
B.C.), when Deceleia (in Attica) was occupied by the Spartans.
§ 99. _Thebans... Euboea_: in 358 or 357. See Speech for
Megalopolitans, § 14 n.
§ 100. _Oropus_. See Speech for Megalopolitans, Section 11 n.
_I was one_. Demosthenes was, in fact, co-trierarch with Philinus
(Speech against Meidias, § 161).
§ 102. See Speech on Naval Boards (with Introd. and notes), and n. on
Olynthiac II, § 29.
_obtaining exemption_. The undertaking of the trierarchy conferred
exemption from other burdens for the year, and (conversely) no one
responsible for another public burden need be trierarch. The leaders of
the Taxation Boards referred to in § 103 are probably not (as generally
supposed) the richest men in the _Naval_ Boards [Footnote: They may
indeed have been so, but it was in virtue of their function as leading
members of the Hundred Boards (for collecting the war tax) that they
were grouped together as the Three Hundred.] (responsible for
trierarchy), but those in the Hundred Boards responsible for the war
tax. In each of these Boards there was a leader, a 'second', and a
'third', and these, all together, are almost certainly identical with
the 'Three Hundred' responsible for advancing the sum due. When these
were already advancing the war tax, they became exempt from trierarchy,
and their poorer colleagues in the Naval Boards (to which of course
they also belonged) had to bear the burden without them. But under
Demosthenes' law the trierarchic payment was required from all alike,
in strict proportion to their valuation as entered for the purposes of
the war tax; and the Three Hundred (the leaders, seconds, and thirds)
were no longer exempted. (This explains their anxiety to get the law
shelved.) Even in years when they were not exempt, before Demosthenes'
law was passed, they only paid a very small share in proportion to
their wealth, since all the members of each Naval Board paid the same
sum. It appears, however, that (though the Three Hundred as such cannot
be shown to have had any office in connexion with the trierarchy) the
richer men in the Naval Boards arranged the contracts for the work of
equipment, and that when they had contracted that the work should be
done (e.g.) for a talent, they sometimes recovered the whole talent
from their poorer colleagues. (Speech against Meidias, § 155.)
§ 103. _lie under sworn notice_, &c. ([Greek: en hupomosia]). One who
intended to indict the proposer of a law for illegality had probably to
give sworn notice of his intention, and the suggestion made to
Demosthenes was that when such notice had been given, he should let the
law drop.
§ 105. _the decree_, &c.: i.e. either a decree suspending the law until
the indictment should be heard, or one ordering the trial on the
indictment to be held.
§ 107. _no trierarch_, &c. A trierarch who thought the burden too heavy
for him could appeal against it by laying a branch on the altar in the
Pnyx, or by taking sanctuary in the Temple of Artemis at Munychia. A
dilatory or recalcitrant trierarch could be arrested by order of the
ten commissioners ([Greek: apostuleis]) who constituted a sort of
Admiralty Board.
§ 111. _the laws_, &c. The laws alleged to have been violated were
copied out, and accompanied the indictment. With regard to the laws in
the present case, see Goodwin's edition, pp. 313-6.
§ 114. _Nausides_ was sent to oppose Philip at Thermopylae in 352 (see
Introd. to First Philippic). Diotimus had a command at sea in 338, and
his surrender was demanded by Alexander in 335, as was also that of
Charidernus (see n. on Olynthiac III, § 5), who had now been a regular
Athenian general for many years, and had been sent to assist Byzantium
in 340 (see Speech against Aristocrates, _passim_).
§ 121. _hellebore_: supposed in antiquity to cure madness.
§ 122. _reveller on a cart_, e.g. on the second day of the Anthesteria,
when masked revellers rode in wagons and assailed the bystanders with
abusive language. Such ceremonial abuse was perhaps originally supposed
to have power to avert evil, and occurs in primitive ritual all over
the world.
§ 125. _the statutable limit_. There was a limit of time (differing
according to the alleged offence) after which no action could be
brought. Demosthenes could not now be prosecuted for any of the
offences with which Aeschines charged him.
§ 127. _Aeacus_, &c.: the judges of the dead in Hades, according to
popular legend.
_scandal-monger_. The Greek word ([Greek: spermologos]) is used
primarily of a small bird that pecks up seeds, and hence of a person
who picks up petty gossip. (In Acts xvii. 18 it is the word which is
applied to St. Paul, and translated 'this babbler'.)
_an old band in the market-place_: i.e. a rogue. A clerk would perhaps
often be found in the offices about the market-place; or the reference
may be to the market-place as a centre of gossip.
_O Earth_, &c. Demosthenes quotes from the peroration of Aeschines'
speech.
§ 129. The stories which Demosthenes retails in these sections deal
with a time which must have been forty or fifty years before the date
of this speech, and probably contain little truth, beyond the facts
that Aeschines' father was a schoolmaster (not a slave), and was
assisted by Aeschines himself; and that his mother was priestess of a
'thiasos' or voluntary association of worshippers of Dionysus-Sabazios,
among whose ceremonies was doubtless one symbolizing a marriage or
mystical union between the god and his worshippers. (Whether the form
of 'sacred marriage' which was originally intended to promote the
fertility of the ground by 'sympathetic magic' entered into the ritual
of Sabazios is doubtful.) Such a rite, though probably in fact quite
innocent, gave rise to suspicions, of which Demosthenes takes full
advantage; and the fact that well-known courtesans (such as Phryne and
perhaps Ninus) sometimes organized such 'mysteries' would lend colour
to the suspicions.
_Hero of the Lancet_ ([Greek: to kalamit_e aer_oi]). The interpretation
is very uncertain (see Goodwin, pp. 339 ff.); and, according as [Greek:
kalamos] is taken in the sense of 'lancet', 'splints', or 'bow',
editors render the phrase 'hero of the lancet', 'hero of the splints',
'archer-hero' (identified by some with Toxaris, the Scythian physician,
whose arrival in Athens in Solon's time is described in Lucian's
[Greek: Skuth_es ae Proxenos]). That the Hero was a physician is shown
by the Speech on the Embassy, § 249.
§ 130. _for they were not like_, &c. ([Greek: ouge gar h_onetuchen _en,
all ois hu daemos kataratai]). The meaning is quite uncertain. The most
likely interpretations are: (1) that given in the text, [Greek: a
bebioken] being understood as the subject of [Greek: _en], and [Greek:
_on etuchen] as = [Greek: tout_on a etuchen], i.e. 'not belonging to
the class of acts which were such as chance made them,' but acts of a
quite definite kind, viz. the kind which the People curses (through the
mouth of the herald at each meeting of the Assembly); (2) 'for he was
not of ordinary parents, but of such as the People curses'; the subject
of [Greek: _en] being Aeschines. But there is the difficulty that, with
this subject for [Greek: _en, _on etuchen] can only represent [Greek:
tout_on _on etuchen _on], whereas the sense required is [Greek: tout_on
oi etuchon], or (the regular idiom) [Greek: t_on tuchunt_on]; and the
sense is not so good, for the context [Greek: opse gar]) shows that the
clause ought to refer to the _acts_ of Aeschines about which he is
going to speak, not to his parentage, which the orator has done with.
_Glaucothea_. Her real name is said to have been Glaucis. Glaucothea
was the name of a sea-nymph. The change of the father's name Tromes
('Trembler') to Atrometus ('Dauntless') would also betoken a rise in
the world.
_Empusa_, or 'The Foul Phantom': a female demon capable of assuming any
shape. Obscene ideas were sometimes associated with her.
§ 132. For Antiphon, see Introd. to Speech on the Embassy.
_struck off the list_: at the revision of the lists in 346. (Each deme
revised the list of its own members, subject to an appeal to the
courts.)
_without a decree_: i.e. a decree authorizing a domiciliary visit.
§ 134. _when ... you elected him_. See Introd. to Speech on the Embassy.
_from the altar_: a peculiarly solemn form of voting; it is mentioned
in the Speech against Macartatus, § 14.
§ 136. _when Philip sent_, &c. See Introd. to Speech on the Embassy.
§ 137. The ostensible purpose of Anaxinus' visit was to make purchases
for Olympias, Philip's wife. Aeschines states that Anaxinus had once
been Demosthenes' own host at Oreus.
§ 141. _paternal deity_: as father of Ion, the legendary ancestor of
the Ionians, and so of the Athenians.
§ 143. _and of one_, &c. I have followed the general consensus of
recent editors; but I do not feel at all sure that the antecedent of
[Greek: us] is not [Greek: polemos]. In that case we should translate,
'which led to Philip's coming to Elateia and being chosen commander of
the Amphictyons, and which overthrew,' &c.
§ 146. _nature of the resources_, &c.: i.e. especially the possession
by Athens of a strong fleet.
§ 148. _representatives on the Council_. The Amphictyonic Council was
composed of two representatives (Hieromnemones) from each of twelve
primitive tribes, of which the Thessalians, the Boeotians, the Ionians
(one of whose members was appointed by Athens), and the Dorians (one
member appointed by Sparta) were the chief, while some of the tribes
were now very obscure. There were also present delegates (Pylagori)
from various towns. These were not members of the Council, and had no
vote, but might speak. Athens sent three such delegates to each
meeting. (See Goodwin, pp. 338, 339.)
§ 150. _make the circuit_, or 'beat the bounds'. The actual proceedings
(according to Aeschines' account, summarized in the Introd. to this
Speech) were much more violent.
_It was clearly impossible_, &c. The argument is unconvincing.
Aeschines may have known of the intention of the Locrians without their
having served a formal summons.
§ 158. _one man_: i.e. Philip.
§ 169. _the Prytanes_: the acting Committee of the Council.
_set fire to the wicker-work_: i.e. probably the hurdles, &c., of which
the booths were partly composed. Probably a bonfire was a
well-understood form of summons to an Assembly called in an emergency.
_the draft-resolution_. See Introd., vol. i, p. 18.
_on the hill-side_: i.e. on the Pnyx, the meeting-place of the Assembly.
§ 171. _the Three Hundred_. See n. on § 102.
§ 176. _philippize_. The word was coined during the wars with Philip,
on the analogy of 'medize'--the term used of the action of the traitors
who supported the invading Persians (Medes) early in the fifth century.
§ 177. _to Eleusis_, which was on the most convenient (though not the
shortest) route for an army marching to Thebes.
§ 180. _Battalus_: a nickname given to Demosthenes by his nurse on
account of the impediment in his speech from which he suffered in early
days, or of his general delicacy. Aeschines had tried to fix an obscene
interpretation upon it.
_Creon_. See Speech on the Embassy, § 247.
_at Collytus_: i.e. at the Rural Dionysia held in that deme.
§ 189. _any one_: lit. 'any one who chooses,' i.e. to call him to
account. The expression ([Greek: ho boulomenos]) is apparently half
technical, as applied to a self-appointed prosecutor. (Cf.
Aristophanes, _Plutus_ 908 and 918.)
§ 194. _the general_: i.e. at Chaeroneia.
§ 195. _Philip employed_. Most editors say '_Aeschines_ employed'. But
this would require [Greek: outos] not [Greek: ekeinos], and § 218 also
supports the interpretation here given.
§ 198. _treasured up_, &c. The suggestion seems to be that Aeschines
foresaw the disasters, but concealed his knowledge, 'storing them up'
in order to make a reputation out of them later.
§ 204. _to leave their land_, &c.: i.e. at the time of Xerxes' invasion
in 480, when the Athenians abandoned the city and trusted to the
'wooden walls' of their ships.
§ 208. On this magnificent passage, see the treatise _On the Sublime_,
chaps, xvi, xvii.
§ 209. _poring pedant_: lit. 'one who stoops over writings'. Here used
perhaps with reference to Aeschines' having 'worked up' allusions to
the past for the purpose of his Speech, while he remained blind to the
great issues of the present. Many editors think that the reference is
to his earlier occupation as a schoolmaster or a clerk; but this is
perhaps less suitable to the context.
§ 210. _staff...ticket_. The colour of the staff indicated the court in
which the juror was to sit; the ticket was exchanged for his pay at the
end of the day.
§ 214. _a very deluge_. He is thinking, no doubt, of the disaster at
Chaeroneia and the destruction of Thebes.
§ 215. _while their infantry_, &c. The Theban forces when prepared for
action would naturally camp outside the walls (see Olynth. I, § 27,
where Demosthenes similarly thinks of the Athenian army encamping
outside Athens). But although they were thus encamped outside, and had
left their wives and children unguarded within, they allowed the
Athenian soldiers to enter the city freely.
§ 216. _the river_: probably the Cephisus. Both battles are otherwise
unknown. If one of them was in winter, it must have taken place not
long after the capture of Elateia, and several months before the battle
of Chaeroneia.
§ 219. _somewhere to lay the blame_: or possibly, 'some opportunity of
recovering himself,' or 'some place of retreat'. But the interpretation
given (which is that of Harpocration) is supported by the use of
[Greek: anenenkein] in § 224.
§ 227. _counters all disappear_. The calculation was made by taking
away, for each item of debt or expenditure, so many counters from the
total representing the sum originally possessed. When the frame (or
_abacus_) containing the counters was left clear, it meant that there
was no surplus. (The right reading, however, may be [Greek: an
kathair_osin], 'if the counters are decisive,' or [Greek: han
kathair_osin], 'whatever the counters prove, you concede.')
§ 231. _cancel them out_ ([Greek: antanelein]): strictly, to strike
each out of the account in view of something on the opposite side (i.e.
in view of the alternative which you would have proposed).
§ 234. _collected in advance_: i.e. Athens had been anticipating her
income.
§ 238. _if you refer_, &c. Aeschines had accused Demosthenes of
saddling Athens with two-thirds of the expense of the war, and Thebes
with only one-third.
_three hundred_, &c. See Speech on Naval Boards, § 29 n.
§ 243. _customary offerings_, made at the tomb on the third and ninth
days after the death.
§ 249. _Philocrates_: not Philocrates of Hagnus, the proposer of the
Peace of 346, but an Eleusinian. For Diondas, see § 222. The others are
unknown.
§ 251. _Cephalus_. Cf. § 219. He was an orator and statesman of the
early part of the fourth century. (The best account of him is in
Beloch, _Attische Politik_, p. 117.)
§ 258. _the attendants' room_. The 'attendants' are those who escorted
the boys to and from school--generally slaves.
§ 259. _the books_, &c. Cf. § 129 and notes. The books probably
contained the formulae of initiation, or the hymns which were chanted
by some Dionysiac societies. The service described here is probably
that of the combined worship of Dionysus-Sabazios and the Great Mother
(Cybele).
_dressing_, &c. The candidate for initiation was clothed in a
fawn-skin, and was 'purified' by being smeared with clay (while sitting
down, with head covered) and rubbed clean with bran, and after the
initiation was supposed to enter upon a new and higher life. It is
possible that the veiling and disguising with clay originally signified
a death to the old life, such as is the ruling idea in many initiations
of a primitive type. (Cf. Aristophanes, travesty of an
initiation-ceremony in the _Clouds_ 256.)
§ 260. _fennel and white poplar_. These were credited with magical and
protective properties.
_Euoe, Saboe_: the cry to Sabazios. One is tempted to render it by
'Glory! Hallelujah!' In fact, the Dionysiac 'thiasoi', or some of them,
had many features, good as well as bad, in common with the Salvation
Army. The cry 'Euoe, Saboe' is of Thracian origin; 'Hyes Attes' is
Phrygian. The serpents, the ivy, and the winnowing-fan figured in more
than one variety of Dionysiac service. It is not certain that for
'ivy-bearer' ([Greek: kittophorhos]) we should not read 'chest-bearer'
([Greek: kistophoros]) used with reference to the receptacle containing
sacred objects, of which we hear elsewhere in connexion with similar
rites.
§ 261. _fellow-parishioners_; lit. 'members of your deme'. Each deme
kept the register of citizens belonging to it. Enrolment was possible
at the age of 18 years, and had to be confirmed by the Council. (See
Aristotle, _Constitution of Athens_, chap. xiii.)
§ 262. _collecting figs_, &c. Two interpretations are possible: (1)
that the spectators in derision threw fruit--probably not of the
best--at Aeschines on the stage, and he gathered it up, as a fruiterer
collects fruit from various growers, and lived on it; or (2) that while
he was a strolling player, Aeschines used to rob orchards. Of these (1)
seems by far the better in the context.
§ 267. _I leave the abysm_, &c. The opening of Euripides' _Hecuba_. The
line next quoted is unknown. 'Evil in evil wise' ([Greek: kakon
kak_os]) is found in a line of Lynceus, a fourth-century tragedian.
§ 282. _denied this intimacy with him_: or possibly (with the
scholiast), 'declined this office.'
§ 284. _the tambourine-player_. Such instruments were used in orgiastic
rites.
§ 285. Hegemon and Pythocles were members of the Macedonian party, who
were put to death in 317 by order of the Assembly. (See Speech on
Embassy, §§ 215, 314.)
§ 287. _same libation_: i.e. the same banquet. The libation preceded
the drinking. To 'go beneath the same roof' with a polluted person was
supposed to involve contamination.
_in the revel_. Cf. Speech on the Embassy, § 128. The reference,
however, is here more particularly to Philip's revels after the battle
of Chaeroneia, in which, Demosthenes suggests, the Athenian envoys took
part.
§ 289. The genuineness of the epitaph is doubtful. Line 2 is singularly
untrue. The text is almost certainly corrupt in places (e.g. ll. 3 and
10).
_their lives_, &c. As the text stands, [Greek: aret_es] and [Greek:
deimatos] must be governed by [Greek: brab_e,], 'made Hades the judge
of their valour or their cowardice.' But this leaves [Greek: ouk
esa_osan psuchas] as a quasiparenthesis, very difficult to accept in so
simple and at the same time so finished a form of composition as the
epigram. There are many emendations.
_'Tis God's_, &c. The line, [Greek: m_eden hamartein esti the_on kai
panta katorhthoun], is taken from Simonides' epitaph on the heroes of
Marathon. The sense of the couplet is plain from § 290; but [Greek: en
biot_e] in l. 10 is possibly corrupt.
§ 300. _the confederacy_, i.e. Athens, Thebes, and their allies at
Chaeroneia.
§ 301. _our neighbours_, especially Megara and Corinth.
§ 308. _the inactivity which you_, &c.: i.e. abstention from taking a
prominent part in public life.
§ 309. _opening of ports_: i.e. to Athenian commerce.
§ 311. _What pecuniary assistance_, &c. Demosthenes is thinking of his
own services in ransoming prisoners, &c. Some editors translate, 'What
public financial aid have you ever given to rich or poor?' i.e. 'When
have you ever dispensed State funds in such a way as to benefit any
one?' It is impossible to decide with certainty between the two
alternatives; but the meanings of [Greek: politik_e] ('citizen-like',
'such as one would expect from a good fellow-citizen') and [Greek:
koin_e], which I assume, seem to be supported by §§ 13 and 268
respectively.
§ 312. _leaders of the Naval Boards_. See Introd. to Speech on Naval
Boards.
_damaging attack_, &c. This probably refers to modifications introduced
on Aeschines' proposal into Demosthenes' Trierarchic Law of 340, not at
the time of its enactment, but after some experience of its working.
(See Aeschines, 'Against Ctesiphon,' § 222.)
§ 313. Theocrines was a tragic actor, who was attacked in the
pseudo-Demosthenic Speech 'Against Theocrines'. Harpocration's
description of him as a 'sycophant', or dishonest informer, may be
merely an inference from the Speech.
§ 318. _your brother_. See Speech on the Embassy, §§ 237, 249. It is
not known which brother is here referred to.
§ 319. Philammon was a recent Olympic victor in the boxing match;
Glaucus, a celebrated boxer early in the fifth century.
§ 320. _owner of a stud_. To keep horses was a sign of great wealth in
Athens.