Greek Texts & Translations

14.24But as regards money and a ready supply of it at once, I am aware that I am going to make a startling proposal. The proposal shall, however, be made, because I am confident that if you take the right point of view, it will be clear that I alone have told you the truth, as it is and as it will be. My view is that we ought not to talk about money now; for if we need it, we have a source of supply, abundant, honorable and fair; if we look for it at once, we shall fail so utterly to supply it now that we shall conclude that it is not even in reserve for our future use, but if we leave it alone, it will be there. What, then, is this supply, which is not now, but will be hereafter? 14.25That sounds like a riddle, but I will explain. Look at the great city that lies around you, men of Athens. In that city there is wealth, I might almost say, equal to that of all the other Greek cities together. But that wealth is in the hands of men whose temper is such that if all our orators started a scare that the King is coming, that he is close at hand, that the report must be true, and if the orators were backed by an equal number of oracle-mongers, not only would they fail to contribute, but they would refuse to declare or acknowledge their wealth. 14.26But if once they saw that what alarms them now as a mere rumor was actually taking place, none of them is so foolish that he would not be the first to pay his contribution; for who will choose to sacrifice life and property sooner than contribute a fraction to ensure his person and the remainder of his wealth? The money, I say, we have when it is really needed, but not before. Therefore I advise you not to seek it out, for the whole sum that you could raise, if you insisted on raising it, would be more ridiculous than nothing at all. 14.27For consider; will anyone propose a tax of one per cent now? Then we get sixty talents. Or double it and make it two per cent? Still only a hundred and twenty talents. And what is that to the twelve hundred camels laden, as our friends here tell us, with the King's treasure? Then would you have me assume that we shall contribute a twelfth of your wealth, or five hundred talents? But you would not submit to such a tax, nor if you paid up, would the money be sufficient for the war. 14.28You must therefore make all your other preparations, but let the money remain for the present in the hands of its owners, for it could not be in better keeping, for the benefit of the State; but if ever the threatened crisis comes, then accept it as a voluntary contribution.

These proposals, men of Athens, are both practicable and honorable and advantageous, fit to be reported of you to the King and calculated to inspire him with no little alarm. 14.29He knows that with two hundred galleys, of which we provided one hundred, our ancestors destroyed a thousand of his ships, and he will hear that we have three hundred of our own ready for sea, so that even if he were raving mad, he would scarcely think it a light thing to incur the hostility of our city. But indeed, if he bases his confidence on his wealth, he will find this too a less sure foundation than yours. 14.30He is bringing, they say, gold in plenty. But if he disburses it, he will look in vain for more; for even springs and wells have a way of failing, if one draws from them constantly and lavishly. But he will hear that our resources consist of the ratable value of our country, and how we can fight in defence of it against invaders from his land, those ancestors of his who fought at Marathon best know; but as long as we are victorious, there is surely no prospect of money failing us.

14.31Again, what frightens some of you—that his wealth will attract a large mercenary army—does not strike me as true. For although I believe that many Greeks would consent to serve in his pay against the Egyptians and Orontes ^note and other barbarians, not so much to enable him to subdue any of those enemies as to win for themselves wealth and relief from their present poverty, yet I do not think that any Greek would attack Greece. For where would he retire afterwards? Will he go to Phrygia and be a slave? 14.32For the objects at stake in a war against the barbarian are nothing less than our country, our life, our habits, our freedom, and all such blessings. Who, then, is so desperate that he will sacrifice himself, his ancestors, his sepulchres, and his native land, all for the sake of a paltry profit? I cannot think that there is such a man. Moreover, it is not even to the King's advantage that mercenaries should beat the Greeks, for the men who shall beat us have been his masters long ago. ^note No; his object is not, after destroying us, to find himself in the power of others, but to rule all the world, if he can, or if not, at least those who are now his slaves.