Greek Texts & Translations

1.23He decided the war with bloodshed.

1.24My purpose is not to get gold, as these men falsely allege; it is this.

1.25. . . had suspicion as an ally.

1.26If 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.

1.27It 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.

1.28But the cowardly politicians, leading out the flower of the city to Boeotia, led them to a graveyard.

1.29It is with peace, not argument, that we must counter the Macedonian phalanx; for argument lacks power to take effect when urged by men whose strength is less than their desire.

1.30The anger of those who have been wronged is appeased whenever he who is to blame refrains from contentiousness and lets the party wronged judge for himself the kindness he will show.

1.31They entombed the envoys in a well, ^note noble in so far as they stood by their resolution, but impious in the execution of the punishment.

1.32Sparta was worn out with difficulties.

1.33Demosthenes, bitter sycophant that he is, by the cleverness of his words distorted the fact and showed it in a bad light.

1.34They 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 . . .

1.35It 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.

1.36Killed by his own hand he departed this life.

1.37The daughters of Erechtheus, ^note by nobility of virtue, triumphed over the woman's weakness in their hearts the frailty of their nature was made virile by devotion to the soil that reared them.

1.38Old men shrink from death in the sunset of life.

1.39. . . lit up Greece with the fire of war.

1.40A 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.

1.41The 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.

1.42Force 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.

1.43A manly utterance and a frankness worthy of the name Athenian.

1.44I 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.

1.45Our ancestors left Athens and held the sea as a city, and the naval disaster shattered the land army also.

1.46Freedom is not on guard against a spy.

1.47The changes to which events are subject are treacherous and unceasing.