Demosthenes of Athens and the Fall of Classical Greece by Ian Worthington

Demosthenes of Athens and the Fall of Classical Greece by Ian Worthington

Author:Ian Worthington
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2013-03-20T16:00:00+00:00


In my view, the reason why our land was not invaded by the enemy, besides their own poor judgment, was the courage of these men. This is clear especially from the peace that was made. For you cannot cite a more true or more honorable reason for this than that [Philip] admired the courage of those who died, and wished to be friends with their relatives rather than to endanger all his achievements again. … Many factors undoubtedly contributed to their character, not least of which was our constitution, which inspired them. For oligarchies run by a few produce fear in their citizens, but do not foster a sense of duty. So, when the test of war comes, every man saves himself to the best of his ability, for he knows that if he wins over his masters with gifts or any other service whatsoever, no matter how shamefully he has acted, only a little blame will attach to him afterwards. But democracies have many noble and just qualities, to which sensible people must be loyal, and in particular freedom of speech, which cannot be prevented from showing the truth because it is based on speaking the truth.

The fourth part of the speech was an excursus on the origins of the ten tribes into which the Athenians were divided (27–31), which led into another eulogy to the dead, who were now living with the gods because of their sacrifice (32–34):



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