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DemosthenesDemosthenes, Part II.
Demosthenes, Part II.
But when things came at last to war, Philip on the one side being not
able to live in peace, and the Athenians, on the other side, being stirred up
by Demosthenes, the first action he put them upon was the reducing of Euboea,
which, by the treachery of the tyrants, was brought under subjection to
Philip. And on his proposition, the decree was voted, and they crossed thither
and chased the Macedonians out of the island. The next, was the relief of the
Byzantines and Perinthians, whom the Macedonians at that time were attacking.
He persuaded the people to lay aside their enmity against these cities, to
forget the offences committed by them in the Confederate War, and to send them
such succors as eventually saved and secured them. Not long after, he
undertook an embassy through the States of Greece, which he solicited and so
far incensed against Philip, that, a few only excepted, he brought them all
into a general league. So that, besides the forces composed of the citizens
themselves, there was an army consisting of fifteen thousand foot and two
thousand horse, and the money to pay these strangers was levied and brought in
with great cheerfulness. On which occasion it was, says Theophrastus, on the
allies requesting that their contributions for the war might be ascertained
and stated, Crobylus, the orator, made use of the saying, "War can`t be fed at
so much a day." Now was all Greece up in arms, and in great expectation what
would be the event. The Euboeans, the Achaeans, the Corinthians, the
Megarians, the Leucadians, and Corcyraenas, their people and their cities,
were all joined together in a league. But the hardest task was yet behind,
left for Demosthenes, to draw the Thebans into this confederacy with the rest.
Their country bordered next upon Attica, they had great forces for the war,
and at that time they were accounted the best soldiers of all Greece, but it
was no easy matter to make them break with Philip, who, by many good offices,
had so lately obliged them in the Phocian war; especially considering how the
subjects of dispute and variance between the two cities were continually
renewed and exasperated by petty quarrels, arising out of the proximity of
their frontiers.
But after Philip, being now grown high and puffed up with his good
success at Amphissa, on a sudden surprised Elatea and possessed himself of
Phocis, and the Athenians were in a great consternation, none durst venture to
rise up to speak, no one knew what to say, all were at a loss, and the whole
assembly in silence and perplexity, in this extremity of affairs, Demosthenes
was the only man who appeared, his counsel to them being alliance with the
Thebans. And having in other ways encouraged the people, and, as his manner
was, raised their spirits up with hopes, he, with some others, was sent
ambassador to Thebes. To oppose him, as Marsyas says, Philip also sent thither
his envoys, Amyntas and Clearchus, two Macedonians, besides Daochus, a
Thessalian, and Thrasydaeus. Now the Thebans, in their consultations, were
well enough aware what suited best with their own interest, but every one had
before his eyes the terrors of war, and their losses in the Phocian troubles
were still recent; but such was the force and power of the orator, fanning up,
as Theopompus says, their courage, and firing their emulation, that casting
away every thought of prudence, fear, or obligation, in a sort of divine
possession, they chose the path of honor, to which his words invited them. And
this success, thus accomplished by an orator, was thought to be so glorious
and of such consequence, that Philip immediately sent heralds to treat and
petition for a peace: all Greece was aroused, and up in arms to help. And the
commanders - in - chief, not only of Attica, but of Boeotia, applied
themselves to Demosthenes, and observed his directions. He managed all the
assemblies of the Thebans, no less than those of the Athenians; he was beloved
both by the one and by the other, and exercised the same supreme authority
with both; and that not by unfair means, or without just cause, as Theopompus
professes, but indeed it was no more than was due to his merit.
But there was, it should seem, some divinely - ordered fortune,
commissioned, in the revolution of things, to put a period at this time to the
liberty of Greece, which opposed and thwarted all their actions, and by many
signs foretold what should happen. Such were the sad predictions uttered by
the Pythian priestess, and this old oracle cited out of the Sibyl`s verses, -
"The battle on Thermodon that shall be
Safe at a distance I desire to see,
Far, like an eagle, watching in the air.
Conquered shall weep, and conqueror perish there."
This Thermodon, they say, is a little rivulet here in our country in
Chaeronea, running into the Cephisus. But we know of none that is so called at
the present time; and can only conjecture that the streamlet which is now
called Haemon, and runs by the Temple of Hercules, where the Grecians were
encamped, might perhaps in those days be called Thermodon, and after the
fight, being filled with blood and dead bodies, upon this occasion, as we
guess, might change its old name for that which it now bears. Yet Duris says
that this Thermodon was no river, but that some of the soldiers, as they were
pitching their tents and digging trenches about them, found a small stone
statue, which, by the inscription, appeared to be the figure of Thermodon,
carrying a wounded Amazon in his arms; and that there was another oracle
current about it, as follows: -
"The battle on Thermodon that shall be,
Fail not, black raven, to attend and see;
The flesh of men shall there abound for thee."
In fine, it is not easy to determine what is the truth. But of
Demosthenes it is said, that he had such great confidence in the Grecian
forces, and was so excited by the sight of the courage and resolution of so
many brave men ready to engage the enemy, that he would by no means endure
they should give any heed to oracles, or hearken to prophecies, but gave out
that he suspected even the prophetess herself, as if she had been tampered
with to speak in favor of Philip. The Thebans he put in mind of Epaminondas,
the Athenians, of Pericles who always took their own measures and governed
their actions by reason, looking upon things of this kind as mere pretexts for
cowardice. Thus far, therefore, Demosthenes acquitted himself like a brave
man. But in the fight he did nothing honorable, nor was his performance
answerable to his speeches. For he fled, deserting his place disgracefully,
and throwing away his arms, not ashamed, as Pytheas observed, to belie the
inscription written on his shield, in letters of gold, "With good fortune."
In the mean time Philip, in the first moment of victory, was so
transported with joy, that he grew extravagant, and going out, after he had
drunk largely, to visit the dead bodies, he chanted the first words of the
decree that had been passed on the motion of Demosthenes,
"The motion of Demosthenes, Demosthenes` son,"^8
[Footnote 8: Demosthenes Demosthenous, Paianieus, tad` eipen. "Demosthenes,
the son of Demosthenes, of the Paeanian township, made this motion," - the
usual form of the commencement of the Votes of the Athenian Assembly.]
dividing it metrically into feet, and marking the beats.
But when he came to himself, and had well considered the danger he was
lately under, he could not forbear from shuddering at the wonderful ability
and power of an orator who had made him hazard his life and empire on the
issue of a few brief hours. The fame of it also reached even to the court of
Persia, and the king sent letters to his lieutenants, commanding them to
supply Demosthenes with money, and to pay every attention to him, as the only
man of all the Grecians who was able to give Philip occupation and find
employment for his forces near home, in the troubles of Greece. This
afterwards came to the knowledge of Alexander, by certain letters of
Demosthenes which he found at Sardis, and by other papers of the Persian
officers, stating the large sums which had been given him.
At this time, however, upon the ill success which now happened to the
Grecians, those of the contrary faction in the commonwealth fell foul upon
Demosthenes, and took the opportunity to frame several informations and
indictments against him. But the people not only acquitted him of these
accusations, but continued towards him their former respect, and still invited
him, as a man that meant well, to take a part in public affairs. Insomuch that
when the bones of those who had been slain at Chaeronea were brought home to
be solemnly interred, Demosthenes was the man they chose to make the funeral
oration. They did not show, under the misfortunes which befell them, a base or
ignoble mind, as Theopompus writes in his exaggerated style, but, on the
contrary, by the honor and respect paid to their counsellor, they made it
appear that they were noway dissatisfied with the counsels he had given them.
The speech, therefore, was spoken by Demosthenes. But the subsequent decrees
he would not allow to be passed in his own name, but made use of those of his
friends, one after another, looking upon his own as unfortunate and
inauspicious; till at length he took courage again after the death of Philip,
who did not long outlive his victory at Chaeronea. And this, it seems, was
that which was foretold in the last verse of the oracle,
"Conquered shall weep, and conqueror perish there."
Demosthenes had secret intelligence of the death of Philip, and laying
hold of this opportunity to prepossess the people with courage and better
hopes for the future, he came into the assembly with a cheerful countenance
pretending to have had a dream that presaged some great good fortune for
Athens; and, not long after, arrived the messengers who brought the news of
Philip`s death. No sooner had the people received it, but immediately they
offered sacrifice to the gods, and decreed that Pausanias should be presented
with a crown. Demosthenes appeared publicly in a rich dress, with a chaplet on
his head, though it were but the seventh day since the death of his daughter,
as is said by Aeschines, who upbraids him upon this account, and rails at him
as one void of natural affection towards his children. Whereas, indeed, he
rather betrays himself to be of a poor, low spirit, and effeminate mind, if he
really means to make wailings and lamentation the only signs of a gentle and
affectionate nature, and to condemn those who bear such accidents with more
temper and less passion. For my own part, I cannot say that the behavior of
the Athenians on this occasion was wise or honorable, to crown themselves with
garlands and to sacrifice to the gods for the death of a Prince who, in the
midst of his success and victories, when they were a conquered people, had
used them with so much clemency and humanity. For besides provoking fortune,
it was a base thing, and unworthy in itself, to make him a citizen of Athens,
and pay him honors while he lived, and yet as soon as he fell by another`s
hand, to set no bounds to their jollity, to insult over him dead, and to sing
triumphant songs of victory, as if by their own valor they had vanquished him.
I must at the same time commend the behavior of Demosthenes, who, leaving
tears and lamentations and domestic sorrows to the women, made it his business
to attend to the interests of the commonwealth. And I think it the duty of him
who would be accounted to have a soul truly valiant, and fit for government,
that, standing always firm to the common good, and letting private griefs and
troubles find their compensation in public blessings, he should maintain the
dignity of his character and station, much more than actors who represent the
persons of kings and tyrants, who, we see, when they either laugh or weep on
the stage, follow, not their own private inclinations, but the course
consistent with the subject and with their position. And if, moreover, when
our neighbor is in misfortune, it is not our duty to forbear offering any
consolation, but rather to say whatever may tend to cheer him, and to invite
his attention to any agreeable objects, just as we tell people who are
troubled with sore eyes, to withdraw their sight from bright and offensive
colors to green, and those of a softer mixture, from whence can a man seek, in
his own case, better arguments of consolation for afflictions in his family,
than from the prosperity of his country, by making public and domestic chances
count, so to say, together, and the better fortune of the state obscure and
conceal the less happy circumstances of the individual. I have been induced to
say so much, because I have known many readers melted by Aeschines` language
into a soft and unmanly tenderness.
But now to return to my narrative. The cities of Greece were inspirited
once more by the efforts of Demosthenes to form a league together. The
Thebans, whom he had provided with arms, set upon their garrison, and slew
many of them; the Athenians made preparations to join their forces with them;
Demosthenes ruled supreme in the popular assembly, and wrote letters to the
Persian officers who commanded under the king in Asia, inciting them to make
war upon the Macedonian, calling him child in simpleton.^9 But as soon as
Alexander had settled matters in his own country, and came in person with his
army into Boeotia, down fell the courage of the Athenians, and Demosthenes was
hushed; the Thebans, deserted by them, fought by themselves, and lost their
city. After which, the people of Athens, all in distress and great perplexity,
resolved to send ambassadors to Alexander, and amongst others, made choice of
Demosthenes for one; but his heart failing him for fear of the king`s anger,
he returned back from Cithaeron, and left the embassy. In the mean time,
Alexander sent to Athens, requiring ten of their orators to be delivered up to
him, as Idomeneus and Duris have reported, but as the most and best historians
say, he demanded these eight only, - Demosthenes, Polyeuctus, Ephialtes,
Lycurgus, Moerocles, Demon, Callisthenes, and Charidemus. It was upon this
occasion that Demosthenes related to them the fable in which the sheep are
said to deliver up their dogs to the wolves; himself and those who with him
contended for the people`s safety, being, in his comparison, the dogs that
defended the flock, and Alexander "the Macedonian arch wolf." He further told
them, "As we see corn - masters sell their whole stock but a few grains of
wheat which they carry about with them in a dish, as a sample of the rest, so
you, by delivering up us, who are but a few, do at the same time unawares
surrender up yourselves all together with us;" so we find it related in the
history of Aristobulus, the Cassandrian. The Athenians were deliberating, and
at a loss what to do, when Demades, having agreed with the persons whom
Alexander had demanded, for five talents, undertook to go ambassador, and to
intercede with the king for them; and, whether it was that he relied on his
friendship and kindness, or that he hoped to find him satiated, as a lion
glutted with slaughter, he certainly went, and prevailed with him both to
pardon the men, and to be reconciled to the city.
[Footnote 9: Margites, the name of the character held up to ridicule in an old
poem ascribed to Homer, - the boy, who, though fully grown up, has never
attained the sense or wits of a man.]
So he and his friends, when Alexander went away, were great men, and
Demosthenes was quite put aside. Yet when Agis, the Spartan, made his
insurrection, he also for a short time attempted a movement in his favor; but
he soon shrunk back again, as the Athenians would not take any part in it,
and, Agis being slain, the Lacedaemonians were vanquished. During this time it
was that the indictment against Ctesiphon, concerning the Crown, was brought
to trial. The action was commenced a little before the battle in Chaeronea,
when Chaerondas was archon, but it was not proceeded with till about ten years
after, Aristophon being then archon. Never was any public cause more
celebrated than this, alike for the fame of the orators, and for the generous
courage of the judges, who, though at that time the accusers of Demosthenes
were in the height of power, and supported by all the favor of the
Macedonians, yet would not give judgment against him, but acquitted him so
honorably, that Aeschines did not obtain the fifth part of their suffrages on
his side, so that, immediately after, he left the city, and spent the rest of
his life in teaching rhetoric about the island of Rhodes, and upon the
continent in Ionia.
It was not long after that Harpalus fled from Alexander, and came to
Athens out of Asia; knowing himself guilty of many misdeeds into which his
love of luxury had led him, and fearing the king, who was now grown terrible
even to his best friends. Yet this man had no sooner addressed himself to the
people, and delivered up his goods, his ships, and himself to their disposal,
but the other orators of the town had their eyes quickly fixed upon his money,
and came in to his assistance, persuading the Athenians to receive and protect
their suppliant. Demosthenes at first gave advice to chase him out of the
country, and to beware lest they involved their city in a war upon an
unnecessary and unjust occasion. But some few days after, as they were taking
an account of the treasure, Harpalus, perceiving how much he was pleased with
a cup of Persian manufacture, and how curiously he surveyed the sculpture and
fashion of it, desired him to poise it in his hand, and consider the weight of
the gold. Demosthenes, being amazed to feel how heavy it was, asked him what
weight it came to. "To you," said Harpalus, smiling, "it shall come with
twenty talents." And presently after, when night drew on, he sent him the cup
with so many talents. Harpalus, it seems, was a person of singular skill to
discern a man`s covetousness by the air of his countenance, and the look and
movements of his eyes. For Demosthenes could not resist the temptation, but
admitting the present, like an armed garrison, into the citadel of his house,
he surrendered himself up to the interest of Harpalus. The next day, he came
into the assembly with his neck swathed about with wool and rollers, and when
they called on him to rise up and speak, he made signs as if he had lost his
voice. But the wits, turning the matter to ridicule, said that certainly the
orator had been seized that night with no other than a silver quinsy. And soon
after, the people, becoming aware of the bribery, grew angry, and would not
suffer him to speak, or make any apology for himself, but ran him down with
noise; and one man stood up, and cried out, "What, ye men of Athens, will you
not hear the cup - bearer?" So at length they banished Harpalus out of the
city; and fearing lest they should be called to account for the treasure which
the orators had purloined, they made a strict inquiry, going from house to
house; only Callicles, the son of Arrhenidas, who was newly married, they
would not suffer to be searched, out of respect, as Theopompus writes, to the
bride, who was within.
Demosthenes resisted the inquisition, and proposed a decree to refer the
business to the court of Areopagus, and to punish those whom that court should
find guilty. But being himself one of the first whom the court condemned, when
he came to the bar, he was fined fifty talents, and committed to prison;
where, out of shame of the crime for which he was condemned, and through the
weakness of his body, growing incapable of supporting the confinement, he made
his escape, by the carelessness of some and by the connivance of others of the
citizens. We are told, at least, that he had not fled far from the city, when,
finding that he was pursued by some of those who had been his adversaries, he
endeavored to hide himself. But when they called him by name, and coming up
nearer to him, desired he would accept from them some money which they had
brought from home as a provision for his journey, and to that purpose only had
followed him, when they entreated him to take courage, and to bear up against
his misfortune, he burst out into much greater lamentation, saying, "But how
is it possible to support myself under so heavy an affliction, since I leave a
city in which I have such enemies, as in any other it is not easy to find
friends." He did not show much fortitude in his banishment, spending his time
for the most part in Aegina and Troezen, and, with tears in his eyes, looking
towards the country of Attica. And there remain upon record some sayings of
his, little resembling those sentiments of generosity and bravery which he
used to express when he had the management of the commonwealth. For, as he was
departing out of the city, it is reported, he lifted up his hands towards the
Acropolis, and said, "O Lady Minerva, how is it that thou takest delight in
three such fierce untractable beasts, the owl, the snake, and the people?" The
young men that came to visit and converse with him, he deterred from meddling
with state affairs, telling them, that if at first two ways had been proposed
to him, the one leading to the speaker`s stand and the assembly, the other
going direct to destruction, and he could have foreseen the many evils which
attend those who deal in public business, such as fears, envies, calumnies,
and contentions, he would certainly have taken that which led straight on to
his death.
But now happened the death of Alexander, while Demosthenes was in this
banishment which we have been speaking of. And the Grecians were once again up
in arms, encouraged by the brave attempts of Leosthenes, who was then drawing
a circumvallation about Antipater, whom he held close besieged in Lamia.
Pytheas, therefore, the orator, and Callimedon, called the Crab, fled from
Athens, and taking sides with Antipater, went about with his friends and
ambassadors to keep the Grecians from revolting and taking part with the
Athenians. But, on the other side, Demosthenes, associating himself with the
ambassadors that came from Athens, used his utmost endeavors and gave them his
best assistance in persuading the cities to fall unanimously upon the
Macedonians, and to drive them out of Greece. Phylarchus says that in Arcadia
there happened a rencounter between Pytheas and Demosthenes, which came at
last to downright railing, while the one pleaded for the Macedonians, and the
other for the Grecians. Pytheas said, that as we always suppose there is some
disease in the family to which they bring asses` milk, so wherever there comes
an embassy from Athens, that city must needs be indisposed. And Demosthenes
answered him, retorting the comparison: "Asses` milk is brought to restore
health, and the Athenians come for the safety and recovery of the sick." With
this conduct the people of Athens were so well pleased, that they decreed the
recall of Demosthenes from banishment. The decree was brought in by Demon the
Paeanian, cousin to Demosthenes. So they sent him a ship to Aegina, and he
landed at the port of Piraeus, where he was met and joyfully received by all
the citizens, not so much as an Archon or a priest staying behind. And
Demetrius, the Magnesian, says, that he lifted up his hands towards heaven,
and blessed this day of his happy return, as far more honorable than that of
Alcibiades; since he was recalled by his countrymen, not through any force or
constraint put upon them, but by their own good - will and free inclinations.
There remained only his pecuniary fine, which, according to law, could not be
remitted by the people. But they found out a way to elude the law. It was a
custom with them to allow a certain quantity of silver to those who were to
furnish and adorn the altar for the sacrifice of Jupiter Soter. This office,
for that turn, they bestowed on Demosthenes, and for the performance of it
ordered him fifty talents, the very sum in which he was condemned.
Yet it was no long time that he enjoyed his country after his return, the
attempts of the Greeks being soon all utterly defeated. For the battle at
Cranon happened in Metagitnion, in Boedromion the garrison entered into
Munychia, and in the Pyanepsion following died Demosthenes after this manner.
Upon the report that Antipater and Craterus were coming to Athens,
Demosthenes with his party took their opportunity to escape privily out of the
city; but sentence of death was, upon the motion of Demades, passed upon them
by the people. They dispersed themselves, flying some to one place, some to
another; and Antipater sent about his soldiers into all quarters to apprehend
them. Archias was their captain, and was thence called the exile - hunter. He
was a Thurian born, and is reported to have been an actor of tragedies, and
they say that Polus, of Aegina, the best actor of his time, was his scholar;
but Hermippus reckons Archias among the disciples of Lacritus, the orator, and
Demetrius says, he spent some time with Anaximenes. This Archias finding
Hyperides the orator, Aristonicus of Marathon, and Himeraeus, the brother of
Demetrius the Phalerian, in Aegina, took them by force out of the temple of
Aeacus, whither they were fled for safety, and sent them to Antipater, then at
Cleonae, where they were all put to death; and Hyperides, they say, had his
tongue cut out.
Demosthenes, he heard, had taken sanctuary at the temple of Neptune in
Calauria, and, crossing over thither in some light vessels, as soon as he had
landed himself, and the Thracian spear - men that came with him, he endeavored
to persuade Demosthenes to accompany him to Antipater, as if he should meet
with no hard usage from him. But Demosthenes, in his sleep the night before,
had a strange dream. It seemed to him that he was acting a tragedy, and
contended with Archias for the victory; and though he acquitted himself well,
and gave good satisfaction to the spectators, yet for want of better furniture
and provision for the stage, he lost the day. And so, while Archias was
discoursing to him with many expressions of kindness, he sate still in the
same posture, and looking up steadfastly upon him, "O Archias," said he, "I am
as little affected by your promises now as I used formerly to be by your
acting." Archias at this beginning to grow angry and to threaten him, "Now,"
said Demosthenes, "you speak like the genuine Macedonian oracle; before you
were but acting a part. Therefore forbear only a little while I write a word
or two home to my family." Having thus spoken, he withdrew into the temple,
and taking a scroll, as if he meant to write, he put the reed into his mouth,
and biting it, as he was wont to do when he was thoughtful or writing, he held
it there for some time. Then he bowed down his head and covered it. The
soldiers that stood at the door, supposing all this to proceed from want of
courage and fear of death, in derision called him effeminate, and faint -
hearted, and coward. And Archias, drawing near, desired him to rise up, and
repeating the same kind things he had spoken before, he once more promised him
to make his peace with Antipater. But Demosthenes, perceiving that now the
poison had pierced and seized his vitals, uncovered his head, and fixing his
eyes upon Archias, "Now," said he, "as soon as you please you may commence the
part of Creon in the tragedy, and cast out this body of mine unburied. But, O
gracious Neptune, I, for my part, while I am yet alive, arise up and depart
out of this sacred place; though Antipater and the Macedonians have not left
so much as thy temple unpolluted." After he had thus spoken and desired to be
held up, because already he began to tremble and stagger, as he was going
forward, and passing by the altar, he fell down, and with a groan gave up the
ghost.
Ariston says that he took the poison out of a reed, as we have shown
before. But Pappus, a certain historian whose history was recovered by
Hermippus, says, that as she fell near the altar, there was found in his
scroll this beginning only of a letter, and nothing more, "Demosthenes to
Antipater." And that when his sudden death was much wondered at, the Thracians
who guarded the doors reported that he took the poison into his hand out of a
rag, and put it into his mouth, and that they imagined it had been gold which
he swallowed; but the maid that served him, being examined by the followers of
Archias, affirmed that he had worn it in a bracelet for a long time, as an
amulet. And Eratosthenes also says that he kept the poison in a hollow ring,
and that that ring was the bracelet which he wore about his arm. There are
various other statements made by the many authors who have related the story,
but there is no need to enter into their discrepancies; yet I must not omit
what is said by Demochares, the relation of Demosthenes, who is of opinion, it
was not by the help of poison that he met with so sudden and so easy a death,
but that by the singular favor and providence of the gods he was thus rescued
from the cruelty of the Macedonians. He died on the sixteenth of Pyanepsion,
the most sad and solemn day of the Thesmophoria, which the women observe by
fasting in the temple of the goddess.
Soon after his death, the people of Athens bestowed on him such honors as
he had deserved. They erected his statue of brass; they decreed that the
eldest of his family should be maintained in the Prytaneum; and on the base of
his statue was engraven the famous inscription. -
"Had you for Greece been strong, as wise you were,
The Macedonian had not conquered her."
For it is simply ridiculous to say, as some have related, that Demosthenes
made these verses himself in Calauria, as he was about to take the poison.
A little before he went to Athens, the following incident was said to
have happened. A soldier, being summoned to appear before his superior
officer, and answer to an accusation brought against him, put that little gold
which he had into the hands of Demosthenes` statue. The fingers of this
statue were folded one within another, and near it grew a small plane - tree,
from which many leaves, either accidentally blown thither by the wind, or
placed so on purpose by the man himself, falling together, and lying round
about the gold, concealed it for a long time. In the end, the soldier
returned, and found his treasure entire, and the fame of this incident was
spread abroad. And many ingenious persons of the city competed with each
other, on this occasion, to vindicate the integrity of Demosthenes, in several
epigrams which they made on the subject.
As for Demades, he did not long enjoy the new honors he now came in for,
divine vengeance for the death of Demosthenes pursuing him into Macedonia,
where he was justly put to death by those whom he had basely flattered. They
were weary of him before, but at this time the guilt he lay under was manifest
and undeniable. For some of his letters were intercepted, in which he had
encouraged Perdiccas^10 to fall upon Macedonia, and to save the Grecians, who,
he said, hung only by an old rotten thread, meaning Antipater. Of this he was
accused by Dinarchus, the Corinthian, and Cassander was so enraged, that he
first slew his son in his bosom, and then gave orders to execute him; who
might now at last, by his own extreme misfortunes, learn the lesson, that
traitors, who make sale of their country, sell themselves first; a truth which
Demosthenes had often foretold him, and he would never believe. Thus, Sosius,
you have the life of Demosthenes, from such accounts as we have either read or
heard concerning him.
[Footnote 10: This, apparently, is one of Plutarch`s slips of memory. It was
not Perdiccas, but Antigonus; and so he tells the story himself in the life of
Phocion.]
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