ON THE CROWN
§ 1. to take counsel, &c. Aeschines had asked the jury to refuse Demosthenes a hearing, or at least to require him to follow the same order of treatment as himself.
§ 3. unpleasant. Many render [Greek: duocheres] 'inauspicious', 'ill-omened'; but as we do not know exactly what was in Demosthenes' mind, it is better not to give the word a meaning which it does not bear elsewhere. It may, however, mean 'vexatious'.
§ 11. knave as you are, &c. The assonance of the original might perhaps be partly reproduced by rendering 'evil-minded as you are, it was yet a very simple-minded idea that your mind conceived', &c.
§ 12. it does not enable the State: lit. 'it is not possible for the State.' The point is that the prosecution of Ctesiphon, while expressing the malice of Aeschines towards Demosthenes, does not enable the State to punish Demosthenes himself for his alleged offences, since any penalty inflicted would fall on Ctesiphon.
§ 13. to debar another, &c. This probably refers to the attempt to deprive Demosthenes of a hearing, not (as some have thought) to the attempt to get so heavy a fine inflicted upon Ctesiphon that he would be unable to pay it, and would therefore lose his rights as a citizen.
§ 17. ascribed to me, &c. Aeschines was anxious, in view of the existing state of feeling at Athens, to disown his part in connexion with the Peace of Philocrates; while Demosthenes undoubtedly assisted Philocrates in the earlier of the negotiations and discussions which led to the Peace.
appropriate. 'The recapitulation of the history is not a mere argumentative necessity, but has a moral fitness also; in fact, the whole defence of Demosthenes resolves itself into a proof that he only acted in the spirit of Athenian history' (Simcox).
§ 18. When the Phocian war bad broken out: i.e. in 356-5. Demosthenes made his first speech in the Assembly in 354.
those who detested the Spartans: i.e. the Messenians and Arcadians.
those who had previously governed, &c.: e.g. the oligarchies which had governed with the help of Sparta in Phlius and Mantinea, and were overthrown after the battle of Leuctra.
§ 19. would be forced, &c. This is a misrepresentation, since Philip and the Thebans had been in alliance for some time, and Thebes had no such grounds for apprehending evil from Philip, as would make her apply to Athens.
§ 21. Aristodemus, &c. See Introd. to Speech on the Peace. As a matter of fact, Demosthenes acted with Philocrates at least down to the return of the First Embassy, and himself proposed to crown Aristodemus for his services (Aeschines, On the Embassy, §§ 15-17).
§ 23. the Hellenes bad all, &c. It is not easy to reconcile this passage with § 16 of the Speech on the Embassy, from which it appears that representatives of other states were present in Athens; but these so-called envoys may have been private visitors, and in any case there was no real hope of uniting Greece against Philip.
§ 24. Eurybatus is said to have been sent as an envoy by Croesus to Cyrus, and to have turned traitor. The name came to be proverbial.
§ 27. those strongholds. See Introd. to Speech on the Peace.
§ 28. But they would have watched, &c. The passage has been taken in several ways: (1) 'They would have had to watch,' &c., and this would have been discreditable to Athens; (2) 'They would have watched,' &c., i.e. they would not have been excluded, as you desired, in any case; (3) 'But, you say, they would have paid two obols apiece,' and the city would have gained this. The sentence which follows favours (3), but perhaps (2) is best. The petty interests of the city would include (from the point of view assumed by Aeschines) the abstention from showing civility to the enemy's envoys. The two-obol (threepenny) seats were the cheapest.
§ 30. three whole months. In fact the ambassadors were only absent from Athens about ten weeks altogether.
equally well. The reading ([Greek: homoios]) is probably wrong; but if it is right, this must be the meaning.
§ 32. as you did before, in 352. See Introd. to First Philippic.
§ 36. decree of Callisthenes. This ordered the bringing in of effects from the country. See Speech on Embassy, §§ 86, 125.
§ 41. property in Boeotia. See Speech on Embassy, § 145.
§ 43. their hopes: sc. of the humiliation of Thebes.
and gladly: i.e. they were glad to be free from a danger which (though remotely) threatened themselves, as the next sentence explains. I can see no good reason for taking the participle [Greek: polemoumenoi] as concessive ('although they also,' &c.).
§ 48. For Lasthenes see Introd. to Olynthiacs. Timolaus probably contrived the surrender of Thebes after the battle of Chaeroneia. Eudicus is unknown. Simus invoked Philip's aid against the tyrants at Pherae in 352 (see Introd, to First Philippic). Aristratus was tyrant of Sicyon, and made alliance with Philip in 338. For Perillus, see Speech on Embassy, Section 295.
§ 50. stale dregs: strictly the remains, and especially the wine left in the cups, from the previous night's feast; here the long-admitted responsibility of Aeschines for the Peace of 346.
§ 63. Dolopes: a small tribe living to the south-west of Thessaly.
§ 65. free constitutions. This refers especially to the Thessalians, who had been placed under tetrarchies (see Philippic III. § 26).
§ 70. Aristophon. See Speech on Chersonese, § 30 n. Diopeithes is perhaps Diopeithes of Sphettus (mentioned by Hypereides, Speech against Euxenippus, § 39), not the general sent by Athens to the Chersonese.
§ 71. For the events mentioned in this section, see Introd. to Speech on the Embassy.
§ 72. Mysian booty. A proverbial expression derived from the helpless condition of Mysia (according to legend) in the absence of its king, Telephus.
§ 79. to the Peloponnese, in 344 (see Introd. to Second Philippic): to Euboea in 343-2 (see Introd. to Speech on Embassy); to Oreus, &c., in 341 (see Introd. to this Speech).
§ 82. as their patron, i.e. as consul (or official patron) of Oreus in Athens. See n. on Speech for Rhodians, § 15. civil rights. See vol. i, p. 52.
§ 83. this was already the second proclamation: i.e. the proclamation in accordance with the decree of Aristonicus. It is indeed just possible that the reference is to the proposal of Ctesiphon, 'for this is now the second proclamation,' &c. If so, we should have to assume that the proclamation under the decree of Demomeles in 338 was prevented by the disaster of Chaeroneia. But the first sentence of § 120 is against this (see Goodwin's edition ad loc.).
§ 94. inconsiderate conduct: i.e. in joining the revolt of the Athenian allies in 356.
§ 96. when the Spartans, &c. The section refers to the events of 395.
Deceleian War: i.e. the last part of the Peloponnesian War (413-404 B.C.), when Deceleia (in Attica) was occupied by the Spartans.
§ 99. Thebans… Euboea: in 358 or 357. See Speech for Megalopolitans, § 14 n.
§ 100. Oropus. See Speech for Megalopolitans, Section 11 n.
I was one. Demosthenes was, in fact, co-trierarch with Philinus (Speech against Meidias, § 161).
§ 102. See Speech on Naval Boards (with Introd. and notes), and n. on Olynthiac II, § 29.
obtaining exemption. The undertaking of the trierarchy conferred exemption from other burdens for the year, and (conversely) no one responsible for another public burden need be trierarch. The leaders of the Taxation Boards referred to in § 103 are probably not (as generally supposed) the richest men in the Naval Boards [Footnote: They may indeed have been so, but it was in virtue of their function as leading members of the Hundred Boards (for collecting the war tax) that they were grouped together as the Three Hundred.] (responsible for trierarchy), but those in the Hundred Boards responsible for the war tax. In each of these Boards there was a leader, a 'second', and a 'third', and these, all together, are almost certainly identical with the 'Three Hundred' responsible for advancing the sum due. When these were already advancing the war tax, they became exempt from trierarchy, and their poorer colleagues in the Naval Boards (to which of course they also belonged) had to bear the burden without them. But under Demosthenes' law the trierarchic payment was required from all alike, in strict proportion to their valuation as entered for the purposes of the war tax; and the Three Hundred (the leaders, seconds, and thirds) were no longer exempted. (This explains their anxiety to get the law shelved.) Even in years when they were not exempt, before Demosthenes' law was passed, they only paid a very small share in proportion to their wealth, since all the members of each Naval Board paid the same sum. It appears, however, that (though the Three Hundred as such cannot be shown to have had any office in connexion with the trierarchy) the richer men in the Naval Boards arranged the contracts for the work of equipment, and that when they had contracted that the work should be done (e.g.) for a talent, they sometimes recovered the whole talent from their poorer colleagues. (Speech against Meidias, § 155.)
§ 103. lie under sworn notice, &c. ([Greek: en hupomosia]). One who intended to indict the proposer of a law for illegality had probably to give sworn notice of his intention, and the suggestion made to Demosthenes was that when such notice had been given, he should let the law drop.
§ 105. the decree, &c.: i.e. either a decree suspending the law until the indictment should be heard, or one ordering the trial on the indictment to be held.
§ 107. no trierarch, &c. A trierarch who thought the burden too heavy for him could appeal against it by laying a branch on the altar in the Pnyx, or by taking sanctuary in the Temple of Artemis at Munychia. A dilatory or recalcitrant trierarch could be arrested by order of the ten commissioners ([Greek: apostuleis]) who constituted a sort of Admiralty Board.
§ 111. the laws, &c. The laws alleged to have been violated were copied out, and accompanied the indictment. With regard to the laws in the present case, see Goodwin's edition, pp. 313-6.
§ 114. Nausides was sent to oppose Philip at Thermopylae in 352 (see Introd. to First Philippic). Diotimus had a command at sea in 338, and his surrender was demanded by Alexander in 335, as was also that of Charidernus (see n. on Olynthiac III, § 5), who had now been a regular Athenian general for many years, and had been sent to assist Byzantium in 340 (see Speech against Aristocrates, passim).
§ 121. hellebore: supposed in antiquity to cure madness.
§ 122. reveller on a cart, e.g. on the second day of the Anthesteria, when masked revellers rode in wagons and assailed the bystanders with abusive language. Such ceremonial abuse was perhaps originally supposed to have power to avert evil, and occurs in primitive ritual all over the world.
§ 125. the statutable limit. There was a limit of time (differing according to the alleged offence) after which no action could be brought. Demosthenes could not now be prosecuted for any of the offences with which Aeschines charged him.
§ 127. Aeacus, &c.: the judges of the dead in Hades, according to popular legend.
scandal-monger. The Greek word ([Greek: spermologos]) is used primarily of a small bird that pecks up seeds, and hence of a person who picks up petty gossip. (In Acts xvii. 18 it is the word which is applied to St. Paul, and translated 'this babbler'.)
an old band in the market-place: i.e. a rogue. A clerk would perhaps often be found in the offices about the market-place; or the reference may be to the market-place as a centre of gossip.
O Earth, &c. Demosthenes quotes from the peroration of Aeschines' speech.
§ 129. The stories which Demosthenes retails in these sections deal with a time which must have been forty or fifty years before the date of this speech, and probably contain little truth, beyond the facts that Aeschines' father was a schoolmaster (not a slave), and was assisted by Aeschines himself; and that his mother was priestess of a 'thiasos' or voluntary association of worshippers of Dionysus-Sabazios, among whose ceremonies was doubtless one symbolizing a marriage or mystical union between the god and his worshippers. (Whether the form of 'sacred marriage' which was originally intended to promote the fertility of the ground by 'sympathetic magic' entered into the ritual of Sabazios is doubtful.) Such a rite, though probably in fact quite innocent, gave rise to suspicions, of which Demosthenes takes full advantage; and the fact that well-known courtesans (such as Phryne and perhaps Ninus) sometimes organized such 'mysteries' would lend colour to the suspicions.
Hero of the Lancet ([Greek: to kalamit_e aer_oi]). The interpretation is very uncertain (see Goodwin, pp. 339 ff.); and, according as [Greek: kalamos] is taken in the sense of 'lancet', 'splints', or 'bow', editors render the phrase 'hero of the lancet', 'hero of the splints', 'archer-hero' (identified by some with Toxaris, the Scythian physician, whose arrival in Athens in Solon's time is described in Lucian's [Greek: Skuth_es ae Proxenos]). That the Hero was a physician is shown by the Speech on the Embassy, § 249.
§ 130. for they were not like, &c. ([Greek: ouge gar h_onetuchen _en, all ois hu daemos kataratai]). The meaning is quite uncertain. The most likely interpretations are: (1) that given in the text, [Greek: a bebioken] being understood as the subject of [Greek: _en], and [Greek: _on etuchen] as = [Greek: tout_on a etuchen], i.e. 'not belonging to the class of acts which were such as chance made them,' but acts of a quite definite kind, viz. the kind which the People curses (through the mouth of the herald at each meeting of the Assembly); (2) 'for he was not of ordinary parents, but of such as the People curses'; the subject of [Greek: _en] being Aeschines. But there is the difficulty that, with this subject for [Greek: _en, _on etuchen] can only represent [Greek: tout_on _on etuchen _on], whereas the sense required is [Greek: tout_on oi etuchon], or (the regular idiom) [Greek: t_on tuchunt_on]; and the sense is not so good, for the context [Greek: opse gar]) shows that the clause ought to refer to the acts of Aeschines about which he is going to speak, not to his parentage, which the orator has done with.
Glaucothea. Her real name is said to have been Glaucis. Glaucothea was the name of a sea-nymph. The change of the father's name Tromes ('Trembler') to Atrometus ('Dauntless') would also betoken a rise in the world.
Empusa, or 'The Foul Phantom': a female demon capable of assuming any shape. Obscene ideas were sometimes associated with her.
§ 132. For Antiphon, see Introd. to Speech on the Embassy.
struck off the list: at the revision of the lists in 346. (Each deme revised the list of its own members, subject to an appeal to the courts.)
without a decree: i.e. a decree authorizing a domiciliary visit.
§ 134. when … you elected him. See Introd. to Speech on the Embassy.
from the altar: a peculiarly solemn form of voting; it is mentioned in the Speech against Macartatus, § 14.
§ 136. when Philip sent, &c. See Introd. to Speech on the Embassy.
§ 137. The ostensible purpose of Anaxinus' visit was to make purchases for Olympias, Philip's wife. Aeschines states that Anaxinus had once been Demosthenes' own host at Oreus.
§ 141. paternal deity: as father of Ion, the legendary ancestor of the Ionians, and so of the Athenians.
§ 143. and of one, &c. I have followed the general consensus of recent editors; but I do not feel at all sure that the antecedent of [Greek: us] is not [Greek: polemos]. In that case we should translate, 'which led to Philip's coming to Elateia and being chosen commander of the Amphictyons, and which overthrew,' &c.
§ 146. nature of the resources, &c.: i.e. especially the possession by Athens of a strong fleet.
§ 148. representatives on the Council. The Amphictyonic Council was composed of two representatives (Hieromnemones) from each of twelve primitive tribes, of which the Thessalians, the Boeotians, the Ionians (one of whose members was appointed by Athens), and the Dorians (one member appointed by Sparta) were the chief, while some of the tribes were now very obscure. There were also present delegates (Pylagori) from various towns. These were not members of the Council, and had no vote, but might speak. Athens sent three such delegates to each meeting. (See Goodwin, pp. 338, 339.)
§ 150. make the circuit, or 'beat the bounds'. The actual proceedings (according to Aeschines' account, summarized in the Introd. to this Speech) were much more violent.
It was clearly impossible, &c. The argument is unconvincing. Aeschines may have known of the intention of the Locrians without their having served a formal summons.
§ 158. one man: i.e. Philip.
§ 169. the Prytanes: the acting Committee of the Council.
set fire to the wicker-work: i.e. probably the hurdles, &c., of which the booths were partly composed. Probably a bonfire was a well-understood form of summons to an Assembly called in an emergency.
the draft-resolution. See Introd., vol. i, p. 18.
on the hill-side: i.e. on the Pnyx, the meeting-place of the Assembly.
§ 171. the Three Hundred. See n. on § 102.
§ 176. philippize. The word was coined during the wars with Philip, on the analogy of 'medize'—the term used of the action of the traitors who supported the invading Persians (Medes) early in the fifth century.
§ 177. to Eleusis, which was on the most convenient (though not the shortest) route for an army marching to Thebes.
§ 180. Battalus: a nickname given to Demosthenes by his nurse on account of the impediment in his speech from which he suffered in early days, or of his general delicacy. Aeschines had tried to fix an obscene interpretation upon it.
Creon. See Speech on the Embassy, § 247.
at Collytus: i.e. at the Rural Dionysia held in that deme.
§ 189. any one: lit. 'any one who chooses,' i.e. to call him to account. The expression ([Greek: ho boulomenos]) is apparently half technical, as applied to a self-appointed prosecutor. (Cf. Aristophanes, Plutus 908 and 918.)
§ 194. the general: i.e. at Chaeroneia.
§ 195. Philip employed. Most editors say 'Aeschines employed'. But this would require [Greek: outos] not [Greek: ekeinos], and § 218 also supports the interpretation here given.
§ 198. treasured up, &c. The suggestion seems to be that Aeschines foresaw the disasters, but concealed his knowledge, 'storing them up' in order to make a reputation out of them later.
§ 204. to leave their land, &c.: i.e. at the time of Xerxes' invasion in 480, when the Athenians abandoned the city and trusted to the 'wooden walls' of their ships.
§ 208. On this magnificent passage, see the treatise On the Sublime, chaps, xvi, xvii.
§ 209. poring pedant: lit. 'one who stoops over writings'. Here used perhaps with reference to Aeschines' having 'worked up' allusions to the past for the purpose of his Speech, while he remained blind to the great issues of the present. Many editors think that the reference is to his earlier occupation as a schoolmaster or a clerk; but this is perhaps less suitable to the context.
§ 210. staff…ticket. The colour of the staff indicated the court in which the juror was to sit; the ticket was exchanged for his pay at the end of the day.
§ 214. a very deluge. He is thinking, no doubt, of the disaster at Chaeroneia and the destruction of Thebes.
§ 215. while their infantry, &c. The Theban forces when prepared for action would naturally camp outside the walls (see Olynth. I, § 27, where Demosthenes similarly thinks of the Athenian army encamping outside Athens). But although they were thus encamped outside, and had left their wives and children unguarded within, they allowed the Athenian soldiers to enter the city freely.
§ 216. the river: probably the Cephisus. Both battles are otherwise unknown. If one of them was in winter, it must have taken place not long after the capture of Elateia, and several months before the battle of Chaeroneia.
§ 219. somewhere to lay the blame: or possibly, 'some opportunity of recovering himself,' or 'some place of retreat'. But the interpretation given (which is that of Harpocration) is supported by the use of [Greek: anenenkein] in § 224.
§ 227. counters all disappear. The calculation was made by taking away, for each item of debt or expenditure, so many counters from the total representing the sum originally possessed. When the frame (or abacus) containing the counters was left clear, it meant that there was no surplus. (The right reading, however, may be [Greek: an kathair_osin], 'if the counters are decisive,' or [Greek: han kathair_osin], 'whatever the counters prove, you concede.')
§ 231. cancel them out ([Greek: antanelein]): strictly, to strike each out of the account in view of something on the opposite side (i.e. in view of the alternative which you would have proposed).
§ 234. collected in advance: i.e. Athens had been anticipating her income.
§ 238. if you refer, &c. Aeschines had accused Demosthenes of saddling Athens with two-thirds of the expense of the war, and Thebes with only one-third.
three hundred, &c. See Speech on Naval Boards, § 29 n.
§ 243. customary offerings, made at the tomb on the third and ninth days after the death.
§ 249. Philocrates: not Philocrates of Hagnus, the proposer of the Peace of 346, but an Eleusinian. For Diondas, see § 222. The others are unknown.
§ 251. Cephalus. Cf. § 219. He was an orator and statesman of the early part of the fourth century. (The best account of him is in Beloch, Attische Politik, p. 117.)
§ 258. the attendants' room. The 'attendants' are those who escorted the boys to and from school—generally slaves.
§ 259. the books, &c. Cf. § 129 and notes. The books probably contained the formulae of initiation, or the hymns which were chanted by some Dionysiac societies. The service described here is probably that of the combined worship of Dionysus-Sabazios and the Great Mother (Cybele).
dressing, &c. The candidate for initiation was clothed in a fawn-skin, and was 'purified' by being smeared with clay (while sitting down, with head covered) and rubbed clean with bran, and after the initiation was supposed to enter upon a new and higher life. It is possible that the veiling and disguising with clay originally signified a death to the old life, such as is the ruling idea in many initiations of a primitive type. (Cf. Aristophanes, travesty of an initiation-ceremony in the Clouds 256.)
§ 260. fennel and white poplar. These were credited with magical and protective properties.
Euoe, Saboe: the cry to Sabazios. One is tempted to render it by 'Glory! Hallelujah!' In fact, the Dionysiac 'thiasoi', or some of them, had many features, good as well as bad, in common with the Salvation Army. The cry 'Euoe, Saboe' is of Thracian origin; 'Hyes Attes' is Phrygian. The serpents, the ivy, and the winnowing-fan figured in more than one variety of Dionysiac service. It is not certain that for 'ivy-bearer' ([Greek: kittophorhos]) we should not read 'chest-bearer' ([Greek: kistophoros]) used with reference to the receptacle containing sacred objects, of which we hear elsewhere in connexion with similar rites.
§ 261. fellow-parishioners; lit. 'members of your deme'. Each deme kept the register of citizens belonging to it. Enrolment was possible at the age of 18 years, and had to be confirmed by the Council. (See Aristotle, Constitution of Athens, chap. xiii.)
§ 262. collecting figs, &c. Two interpretations are possible: (1) that the spectators in derision threw fruit—probably not of the best—at Aeschines on the stage, and he gathered it up, as a fruiterer collects fruit from various growers, and lived on it; or (2) that while he was a strolling player, Aeschines used to rob orchards. Of these (1) seems by far the better in the context.
§ 267. I leave the abysm, &c. The opening of Euripides' Hecuba. The line next quoted is unknown. 'Evil in evil wise' ([Greek: kakon kak_os]) is found in a line of Lynceus, a fourth-century tragedian.
§ 282. denied this intimacy with him: or possibly (with the scholiast), 'declined this office.'
§ 284. the tambourine-player. Such instruments were used in orgiastic rites.
§ 285. Hegemon and Pythocles were members of the Macedonian party, who were put to death in 317 by order of the Assembly. (See Speech on Embassy, §§ 215, 314.)
§ 287. same libation: i.e. the same banquet. The libation preceded the drinking. To 'go beneath the same roof' with a polluted person was supposed to involve contamination.
in the revel. Cf. Speech on the Embassy, § 128. The reference, however, is here more particularly to Philip's revels after the battle of Chaeroneia, in which, Demosthenes suggests, the Athenian envoys took part.
§ 289. The genuineness of the epitaph is doubtful. Line 2 is singularly untrue. The text is almost certainly corrupt in places (e.g. ll. 3 and 10).
their lives, &c. As the text stands, [Greek: aret_es] and [Greek: deimatos] must be governed by [Greek: brab_e,], 'made Hades the judge of their valour or their cowardice.' But this leaves [Greek: ouk esa_osan psuchas] as a quasiparenthesis, very difficult to accept in so simple and at the same time so finished a form of composition as the epigram. There are many emendations.
'Tis God's, &c. The line, [Greek: m_eden hamartein esti the_on kai panta katorhthoun], is taken from Simonides' epitaph on the heroes of Marathon. The sense of the couplet is plain from § 290; but [Greek: en biot_e] in l. 10 is possibly corrupt.
§ 300. the confederacy, i.e. Athens, Thebes, and their allies at Chaeroneia.
§ 301. our neighbours, especially Megara and Corinth.
§ 308. the inactivity which you, &c.: i.e. abstention from taking a prominent part in public life.
§ 309. opening of ports: i.e. to Athenian commerce.
§ 311. What pecuniary assistance, &c. Demosthenes is thinking of his own services in ransoming prisoners, &c. Some editors translate, 'What public financial aid have you ever given to rich or poor?' i.e. 'When have you ever dispensed State funds in such a way as to benefit any one?' It is impossible to decide with certainty between the two alternatives; but the meanings of [Greek: politik_e] ('citizen-like', 'such as one would expect from a good fellow-citizen') and [Greek: koin_e], which I assume, seem to be supported by §§ 13 and 268 respectively.
§ 312. leaders of the Naval Boards. See Introd. to Speech on Naval Boards.
damaging attack, &c. This probably refers to modifications introduced on Aeschines' proposal into Demosthenes' Trierarchic Law of 340, not at the time of its enactment, but after some experience of its working. (See Aeschines, 'Against Ctesiphon,' § 222.)
§ 313. Theocrines was a tragic actor, who was attacked in the pseudo-Demosthenic Speech 'Against Theocrines'. Harpocration's description of him as a 'sycophant', or dishonest informer, may be merely an inference from the Speech.
§ 318. your brother. See Speech on the Embassy, §§ 237, 249. It is not known which brother is here referred to.
§ 319. Philammon was a recent Olympic victor in the boxing match; Glaucus, a celebrated boxer early in the fifth century.
§ 320. owner of a stud. To keep horses was a sign of great wealth in Athens.