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"dead? No, but in great danger." How are you concerned in thofe rumours? Suppofe he fhould meet fome fatal ftroke: you would foon raife up another Philip, if your interefts are thus regarded. For it is not to his own ftrength that he fo much owes his elevation, as to our fupinenefs. And fhould fome accident affect him; fhould fortune, who hath ever been more careful of the ftate than we ourselves, now repeat her favours (and may the thus crown them!) be affured of this, that by being on the spot, ready to take advantage of the confufion, you will every where be abfolute maflers; but in your prefent difpofition, even if a favourable juncture fhould prefent you with Amphipolis, you could not take poffeffion of it, while this fufpence prevails in your designs and in your councils.

And now, as to the neceffity of a general vigour and alacrity; of this you must be fully perfuaded: this point therefore I fhall urge no further. But the nature of the armament, which, I think, will extricate you from the prefent difficulties, the numbers to be raised, the fubfidies required for their fupport, and all the other neceflaries; how they may (in my opinion) be best and most expeditiously provided; thefe things I fhall endeavour to explain. But here I make this request, Athenians! that you would not be precipitate, but fufpend your judgment till you have heard me fully. And if, at first, I feem to propofe a new kind of armament, let it not be thought that I am delaying your affairs. For it is not they who cry out, "Inftantly!" "This moment!" whofe counfels fuit the prefent juncture (as it is not poffible to repel violences already committed by any occafional detachment) but he who will fhew you of what kind that armament mult be, how great, and how fupported, which may fubfift until we yield to peace, or till our enemies fink beneath our arms; for thus only can we be fecured from future dangers. Thefe things, I think, I can point out; not that I would prevent any other perfon from declaring his opinion: thus far am I engaged. How I can acquit myfelf, will immediately appear: to your judgments I appeal.

Thus far we fhould be provided against thofe fudden excurfions from his own kingdom to Thermopyla, to the Cherfonefus, to Olynthus, to whatever places he thinks proper. For of this he should neceffarily be perfuaded, that poffibly you may break out from this immoderate indolence, and fly to fome scene of action: as you did to Euboea, and formerly, as we are told, to Haliartus, and, but now. to Thermopyla. But although we fhould not act with all this vigour, (which yet I must regard as our indifpenfable duty) ftill the measures I propofe will have their ufe: as his fears may keep him quiet, when he knows we are prepared (and this he will know, for there are too too many among ourselves who inform him of every thing): or, if he fhould defpife our armament, his fecurity may prove fatal to him; as it will be abfolutely in our power, at the first favourable juncture, to make a descent upon his own coafts.

Firt then, Athenians! I fay that you fhould fit out fifty fhips of war; and then resolve, that on the firft emergency you will embark yourselves. To thefe I infift that you mun add transport, and other neceffaly vefiels fufficient for half our horfe.

These then are the refolutions I propofe; these the provifions it will become you to make. And I pronounce it still farther neceffary to raise fome other forces which may harrafs him with perpetual incurfions. Talk not of your ten thoufands, or twenty thousands of foreigners; of thofe armies which appear fo magnificent on paper; but let them be the natural forces of the ftate: and if you chuse a single perfon, if a number, if this particular man, or whomever you appoint as general, let them be entirely under his guidance and authority. I alfo move you that fubfistence be provided for them. But as to the quality, the numbers, the maintenance of this body: how are thefe points to be fettled? I now proceed to speak of each of them distinctly.

The body of infantry therefore-But here give me leave to warn you of an error which hath often proved injurious to you. Think not that your preparations never can be too magnificent: great and terrible in your decrees; in execution weak and contemptible. Let your preparations, let your fupplies at first be moderate, and add to thefe if you find them not fufficient. I fay then that the whole body of infantry fhould be two thoufand; of thefe, that five hundred should be Athenians, of fuch an age as you fhall think proper; and with a ftated time for fervice, not long, but fuch as that others may have their turn of duty. Let the rest be formed of foreigners. To thefe you are to add two hundred horfe, fifty of them at least Athenians, to serve

not for fervice. My countrymen! fhould
not all these generals have been chofen
from your own body; all these several
officers from your own body, that our
force might be really Athenian? And yet,
for an expedition in favour of Lemnos,
the general muft be a citizen, while troops,
engaged in defence of our own territories,
are commanded by Menelaus.
this to detract from his merit; but to
I fay not
whomfoever this command hath been in-
trufted, furely he should have derived it
from your voices.

Perhaps you are fully fenfible of these
truths; but would rather hear me upon
another point; that of the fupplies; what
we are to raise, and from what funds. To
this I now proceed. The fum therefore
neceffary for the maintenance of thefe
forces, that the foldiers may be fupplied
with grain, is fomewhat above ninety ta-
lents. To the ten gallies, forty talents,
that each vefiel may have a monthly al-
lowance of twenty minæ. To the two
thoufand foot the fame fum, that each fol-
dier may receive ten drachmæ a month
for corn. To the two hundred horfe, for
a monthly allowance of thirty drachmæ
each, twelve talents. And let it not be
thought a small convenience, that the fol-
diers are fupplied with grain: for I am
clearly fatisfied, that if fuch a provifion
be made, the war itfelf will fupply them
with every thing elfe, fo as to complete
their appointment, and this without an in-
jury to the Greeks or allies: and I myself
am ready to fail with them, and to answer
for the confequence with my life, fhould it
prove otherwife. From what funds the
fum which I propofe may be fupplied, fhall
now be explained.

in the fame manner as the foot. For these you are to provide tranfports. And now, what farther preparations? Ten light gallies. For as he hath a naval power, we must be provided with light veffels, that our troops may have a fecure convoy. But whence are thefe forces to be fubfifted? This I shall explain, when I have first given my reasons why I think fuch numbers fufficient, and why I have advifed that we should ferve in person. As to the numbers, Athenians! my reafon is this: it is not at prefent in our power to provide a force able to meet him in the open field; but we muft harrafs him by depredations: thus the war must be carried on at first. We therefore cannot think of raising a prodigious army (for fuch we have neither pay nor provifions), nor muft our forces be abfolutely mean. And I have propofed, that citizens fhould join in the fervice, and help to man our fleet; because I am informed, that fome time fince, the ftate maintained a body of auxiliaries at Corinth, which Polyftratus commanded, and Iphicrates, and Chabrias, and fome others; that you yourselves ferved with them; and that the united efforts of thefe auxiliary and domestic forces gained a confiderable victory over the Lacedemonians. But, ever fince our armies have been formed of foreigners alone, their victories have been over our allies and confederates, while our enemies have arifen to an extravagance of power. And these armies, with scarcely the flightest attention to the fervice of the state, fail off to fight for Artabazus, or any other perfon; and their general follows them: nor should we wonder at it; for he cannot command, who cannot pay his foldiers. What then do I recommend? That you should take away all pretences both from generals and from foldiers, by a regular payment of the army, and by incorporating domeftic forces with the auxiliaries, to be as it were infpectors into the conduct of the commanders. For at present our manner of acting is even ridiculous. If a man fhould afk, "Are you at peace, Athenians?" the anfwer would immediately be," By no means! "we are at war with Philip. Have not we chosen the usual generals and officers "both of horse and foot?" And of what ufe are all these, except the fingle perfon whom you send to the field? The reit attend your priefts in their proceffions. So that, as if you formed fo many men of clay, you make your officers for thew, and

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[Here the fecretary of the affembly reads a scheme for raifing the fupplies, and propofes it to the people in form, in the name of the orator.] Thefe are the fupplies, Athenians! in our power to raife. And, when you come effectual provifion, that you may oppose to give your voices, determine upon fome Philip, not by decrees and letters only, but by actions. And, in my opinion, your plan of operation, and every thing relating to your armament, will be much more happily adjusted, if the fituation of the country, which is to be the scene of action, be taken into the account; and if you reRect, that the winds and feafons have greatly contributed to the rapidity of Philip's conquefts; that he watches the blow

ing of the Etefians, and the feverity of the winter, and forms his fieges when it is impoffible for us to bring up our forces. It is your part then to confider this, and not to carry on the war by occafional detachments, (they will ever arrive too late) but by a regular army conftantly kept up. And for winter-quarters you may command Lemnos, and Thaffus, and Sciathus, and the adjacent iflands; in which there are ports and provifions, and all things neceffary for the foldiery in abundance. As to the feafon of the year, in which we may land our forces with the greatest cafe, and be in no danger from the winds, either upon the coaft to which we are bound, or at the entrance of thofe harbours where we may put in for provifions-this will be eafily discovered. In what manner, and at what time our forces are to act, their general will determine, according to the junctures of affairs. What you are to perform, on your part, is contained in the decree I have now proposed. And if you will be perfuaded, Athenians! firft, to raise these fupplies which I have recommended, then to proceed to your other preparations, your infantry, navy, and cavalry; and, laftly, to confine your forces, by a law, to that fervice which is appointed to them; referving the care and diftribution of their money to yourselves, and strictly examining into the conduct of the general; then, your time will be no longer wafted in continual debates upon the fame fubject, and scarcely to any purpose; then, you wil: deprive him of the most confiderable of his revenues. For his arms are now fupported, by feizing and making prizes of thofe who pafs the feas. But is this all?-No.-You fhall alfo be fecure from his attempts: not as when fome time fince he fell on Lemnos and Imbrus, and carried away your citizens in chains: not as when he furprized your veffels at Geraftus, and fpoiled them of an unfpeakable quantity of riches: not as when lately he made a defcent on the coaft of Marathon, and carried off our facred galley while you could neither oppofe thefe infults, nor detach your forces at fuch junctures as were thought conve

nient.

And now, Athenians! what is the reafon (think ye) that the public feftivals in honour of Minerva and of Bacchus are always celebrated at the appointed time, whether the direction of them falls to the lot of men of eminence, or of perfons lefs diftinguished: (feftivals which coft more trea

fure than is ufually expended upon a whole navy; and more numbers and greater preparations, than any one perhaps ever coft) while your expeditions have been all too late, as that to Methonè, that to Pegafe, that to Potidea. The reafon is this: every thing relating to the former is afcertained by law; and every one of you knows long before, who is to conduct the feveral entertainments in each tribe; what he is to receive, when, and from whom, and what to perform Not one of these things is left uncertain, not one undetermined. But in affairs of war, and warlike preparations, there is no order, no certainty, no regulation. So that, when any accident alarms us, firft, we appoint our trierarchs; then we allow them the exchange; then the fupplies are confidered. Theie points once fettled, we refove to man cur fleet with ftrangers and foreigners; then find it neceflary to fupply their place ourselves. In the midst of these delays, what we are failing to defend, the enemy is already mafter of: for the time of action we spend in preparing: and the junctures of affairs will not wait our flow and irrefolute meafures. Thefe forces too, which we think may be depended on, until the new levies are railed, when put to the proof plainly dif cover their infufficiency. By thefe means hath he arrived at tuch a pitch of infolence, as to fend a letter to the Euboeans, conceived in fuch terms as thefe :

The LETTER is read.

What hath now been read, is for the moft part true, Athenians! too true! but perhaps not very agreeable in the recital. But if, by tuppieffing things ungrateful to the ear, the things themselves could be prevented, then the fole concern of a public fpeaker should be to pleafe. If, on the contrary, thefe unteatonably pleasing fpeeches be really injurious, it is thameful, Athenians, to deceive yourfelves, and, by deferring the confideration of every thing dilagreeable, never once to move until it be too late; and not to apprehend that they who conduct a war with prudence, are not to follow, but to direct events; to direct them with the fame abfolute authority, with which a general leads on his forces: that the course of affairs may be determined by them, and not determine their measures. But you, Athenians, although poffeffed of the greatest power of all kinds, hips, infantry, cavalry, and

treasure ;

treafure; yet, to this day, have never employed any of them feasonably, but are ever laft in the field. Juft as barbarians engage at boxing, fo you make war with Philip for, when one of them receives a blow, that blow engages him if ftruck in another part, to that part his hands are fhifted but to ward off the blow, or to watch his antagonift-for this, he hath neither fkill nor fpirit. Even fo, if you hear that Philip is in the Cherfonefus, you refolve to fend forces thither; if in Thermopyle, thither; if in any other place, you hurry up and down, you follow his tandard. But no useful fcheme for carrying on the war, no wife provifions are ever thought of, until you hear of fome enterprise in execution, or already crowned with success. This might have formerly been pardonable, but now is the very critical moment, when it can by no means be admitted.

--

tors; we cannot expect, no, not the leaft fuccefs, in any one particular. Wherever a part of our city is detached, although the whole be not prefent, the favour of the gods and the kindness of fortune attend to fight upon our fide; but when we send out a general, and an infignificant decree, and the hopes of our fpeakers, misfortune and difappointment muft enfue. Such expeditions are to our enemies a fport, but trike our allies with deadly apprehenfions. For it is not, it is not poflible for any one man to perform every thing you defire. He may promife, and harangue, and accufe this or that perfon: but to fuch proceedings we owe the ruin of our affairs. For, when a general who commanded a wretched collection of unpaid foreigners, hath been defeated; when there are perfons here, who, in arraigning his conduct, dare to advance falfehoods, and when you lightly engage in any determination, juft from their fugIt feems to me, Athenians, that fome geftions; what must be the confequence? divinity, who, from a regard to Athens, How then fhall thele abufes be removed? looks down upon our conduct with indig- By offering yourfelves, Athenians, to nation, hath infpired Philip with this reft- execute the commands of your general, to lefs ambition. For were he to fit down be witneffes of his conduct in the field, in the quiet enjoyment of his conquefts and his judges at your return: fo as not and acquifitions, without proceeding to any only to hear how your affairs are tranfacted, new attempts, there are men among you, but to infpect them. But now, fo fhamewho, I think, would be unmoved at thofe fully are we degenerated, that each of our tranfactions, which have branded our ftate commanders is twice or thrice called bewith the odious marks of infamy, cow- fore you to anfwer for his life, though ardice, and all that is bafe. But as he not one of them dared to hazard that life, fill purfues his conquefts, as he is ftill by once engaging his enemy. No; they extending his ambitious views, poffibly, he chufe the death of robbers and pilferers, may at laft call you forth, unless you have rather than to fall as becomes them. Such renounced the name of Athenians. To me malefactors fhould die by the fentence of it is aftonishing, that none of you look the law. Generals fhould meet their fate back to the beginning of this war, and bravely in the field. confider that we engaged in it to chastise the infolence of Philip; but that now it is become a defenfive war, to fecure us from his attempts. And that he will ever be repeating thefe attempts is manifeft, unlefs fome power rifes to oppofe him. But, if we wait in expectation of this, if we fend out armaments compofed of empty gallies, and thofe hopes with which fome ipeaker may have flattered you; can you then think your interefts well fecured? fhall we not embark ? fhall we not fail, with at leaft a part of our domeftic force, now, fince we have not hitherto ?-But where fhall we make our defcent?-Let us but engage in the enterprife, and the war itfelf, Athenians, will fhew us where he is weakeft. But if we fit at home, liftening to the mutual invectives and accufations of our ora

Others

Then, as to your own conduct--fome wander about, crying, Philip hath joined with the Lacedemonians, and they are concerting the deftruction of Thebes, and the diffolution of fome free states. affure us he hath fent an embaffy to the king; others, that he is fortifying places in Illyria. Thus we all go about framing our feveral tales. I do believe indeed, Athenians! he is intoxicated with his greatnefs, and does entertain his imagination with many fuch vifionary prospects, as he fees no power riding to oppose him, and is elated with his fuccefs. But I cannot be perfuaded that he hath fo taken his meafures, that the weakest among us know what he is next to do: (for it is the weakest among us who spread these rumours)-Let us difregard them: let us be perfuaded of

this, that he is our enemy, that he hath fpoiled us of our dominions, that we have long been fubject to his infolence, that whatever we expected to be done for us by others, hath proved against us, that all the refource left is in ourselves, that, if we are not inclined to carry our arms abroad, we may be forced to engage here-let us be perfuaded of this, and then we fhall come to a proper determination, then shall we be freed from thofe idle tales. For we are not to be folicitous to know what particular events will happen; we need but be convinced nothing good can happen, unless you grant the due attention to affairs, and be ready to act as becomes Athenians.

I, on my part, have never upon any occafion chofen to court your favour, by speaking any thing but what I was convinced would ferve you. And, on this occafion, I have freely declared my fentiments, without art, and without referve. It would have pleafed me indeed, that, as it is for your advantage to have your true intereft laid before you, fo I might be affured that he who layeth it before you, would fhare the advantages: for then I had fpoken with greater alacrity. However, uncertain as is the confequence with respect to me, I yet determined to fpeak, because I was convinced that these measures, if purfued, must have their ufe. And, of all thofe opinions which are offered to your acceptance, may that be chofen, which will beft advance the general weal! Leland.

§ 2. The first Olynthiac Oration: pronounced four Years after the first Philippic, in the Archonship of Callimachus, the fourth Year of the Hundred and Seventh Olympiad, and the twelfth of Philip's Reign.

INTRODUCTION.

The former Oration doth not appear to have had any confiderable effect. Philip had his creatures in the Athenian affembly, who probably recommended lefs vigorous meafures, and were but too favourably heard. In the mean time, this prince purfued his ambitious defigns. When he found himself fhut out of Greece, he turned his arms to fuch remote parts, as he might reduce without alarming the flates of Greece. And, at the fame time, he revenged himself upon the Athenians, by making, himself mafter of fome places which they laid claim to. At length his fuccefs emboldened him to declare thofe inten

to

tions which he had long entertained fecretly against the Olynthians. Olynthius (a city of Thrace poffeffed by Greeks originally from Chalcis,-a town of Euboea and colony of Athens) commanded a large tract called the Chalcidian region, in which there were thirty-two cities. It had arisen by degrees to fuch a pitch of grandeur, as to have frequent and remarkable contefts both with Athens and Lacedemon. Nor did the Olynthians fhew great regard to the friendship of Philip when he first came to the throne, and was taking all measures to fecure the poffeffion of it. For they did not fcruple to receive two of his brothers by another marriage, who had fled to avoid the effects of his jealoufy; and endeavoured to conclude an alliance with Athens, against him, which he, by fecret practices, found means defeat. But as he was yet fcarcely fecure upon his throne, instead of expreffing his refentment, he courted, or rather purchased, the alliance of the Olynthians, by the ceffion of Anthemus, a city which the kings of Macedon had long difputed with them, and afterwards, by that of Pydna and Potidea; which their joint forces had besieged and taken from the Athenians. But the Olynthians could not be influenced by gratitude towards fuch a benefactor. The rapid progress of his arms, and his glaring acts of perfidy, alarmed them exceedingly. He had already made fome inroads on their territories, and now began to act against them with lefs referve. They therefore difpatched ambaffadors to Athens to propofe an alliance, and requeft affiftance against a power which they were equally concerned to oppose. Philip affected the highest refentment at this ftep; alledged their mutual engagements to adhere to each other in war and peace; inveighed against their harbouring his brothers, whom he called the confpirators; and, under pretence of punishing their infractions, purfued his hottilities with double vigour, made himself mafter of fome of their cities, and threatened the capital with a fiege.

In the mean time, the Ölynthians pref

fed the Athenians for immediate fuc

Cours.

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