§ 16. in the very presence, &c.: contrast Speech on the Crown,
§ 23 (and see n. there). Aeschines states that he was in fact replying to inflammatory speeches made by orators who pointed to the Propylaea, and appealed to the memory of ancestral exploits; and that he simply urged that it was possible for the Athenians to copy the wisdom of their forefathers without giving way to an unseasonable passion for strife.
§ 17. had again acted: i.e. as on the First Embassy, if the reading is correct (or perhaps, 'had committed a fresh series of wrongful acts'). But possibly [Greek: _peprhakot_on_] is right, 'had sold fresh concessions' to Philip.
§ 20. Aeschines replies that every one expected Philip to turn against Thebes; and that for the rest, he was only reporting the gossip of the Macedonian camp, where the representatives of many states were gathered together, and not making promises at all. It is noteworthy, however, that in the Speech on the Peace, § 10, shortly after the events in question, when the speeches made would be fresh in every one's memory, Demosthenes gives the same account of his opponent's assertions; and Aeschines probably said something very like what is attributed to him.
§ 21. debt due to the god: i.e. the value of the Temple-treasure of Delphi, which the Phocians had plundered.
§ 30. for however contemptible, &c. The argument seems to be this. 'You must not say that a man like Aeschines could not have brought about such vast results. Athens may employ inferior men, but any one who represents Athens has to deal with great affairs, and so his acts may have great consequences. And again, although it may have been Philip who actually ruined the Phocians, and although Aeschines could never have done it alone, still he did his best to help.'
§ 31. the Town Hall, or Prytaneum, where the Prytanes (the acting Committee of the Council) met, and other magistrates had their offices.
Timagoras was accused (according to Xenophon) by his colleague Leon of having conspired with Pelopidas of Thebes against the interests of Athens, when on a mission to the court of Artaxerxes in 357. In § 137 Demosthenes also states that he received large sums of money from Artaxerxes.
§ 36. Aeschines denies that he wrote the letter for Philip, and his denial is fairly convincing.
§ 40. a talent. According to Aristotle (Eth. Nic. v. 7) the conventional amount payable as ransom was one mina per head. But from § 169 it appears that the Macedonians sometimes asked for more than this.