IX. How then, one might ask, was it that Æschines in his orations speaks of Demosthenes as a man of unbounded impudence? or how was it that when Python of Byzantium was pouring forth a flood of invective against Athens, Demosthenes alone rose and answered him? Moreover, when Lamachus of Mytilene, who had written an encomium upon the Kings of Macedon, Philip and Alexander, which was full of abuse of the Thebans and Olynthians, read his composition in public at the Olympic festival, Demosthenes came up to him and in a fine speech proved from history how great things the Thebans and inhabitants of Chalkidike had done for Greece, and what evils had arisen from the baseness of those who flattered the Macedonians, till the audience were so much wrought upon by his eloquence that Lamachus was forced to flee for his life. The answer to this appears to be that Demosthenes, although he did not copy Perikles in all respects, imitated his reserve and dignity of manner, and his reluctance to speak upon every trivial occasion; and that he was not so much attracted by the credit which he might gain by engaging in these encounters, as he was unwilling rashly to place his power and reputation at the mercy of fortune. Indeed, his spoken orations had more fire and daring than the written ones, if we may trust Eratosthenes, Demetrius of Phalerum, and the comic poets. Eratosthenes tells us that in his speeches he used to rave like a Bacchanal, while Demetrius says that once, as if inspired, he recited the metrical oath:
“By earth, by fountains, and by waterfloods.”
One of the comic poets also calls him “the random talker,” while another mocks at his fondness for antithesis in the following verses:
“1st Citizen. He got it as he got it back.
2nd Citizen. Demosthenes would willingly have spoken words like these.”
Unless indeed Antiphanes meant by this to allude to the oration on Halonesus, in which Demosthenes advised the Athenians not to take that island, but to take it back from Philip.
X. Yet all admitted that Demades, by his own natural wit, without art, was invincible; and that he often, speaking on the spur of the moment, would demolish the carefully studied orations of Demosthenes. Ariston of Chios has preserved the opinion of Theophrastus about these two orators. Theophrastus, when asked what kind of orator he thought Demosthenes to be, replied, “an orator worthy of Athens.” When again asked his opinion of Demades, he replied that he thought him “Too great for Athens.” The same philosopher relates that Polyeuktus of Sphettus, one of the chief Athenian statesmen of the time, used to declare that Demosthenes was the best orator, but that Phokion was the most powerful speaker, because his speeches contained the greatest possible amount of meaning in the fewest words. Demosthenes himself, whenever Phokion rose to answer him, was wont to whisper to his friends, “Here comes the cleaver of my harangues.” It is not clear whether by this Demosthenes alluded to Phokion’s oratorical skill, or to his blameless life and high reputation, meaning that the slightest sign given by a man in whom the people felt such confidence carried more weight than the longest oration by anyone else.
XI. Demetrius of Phalerum has recorded the devices by which Demosthenes overcame his bodily defects, which he says he heard from Demosthenes’s own lips when he was an old man. He corrected the indistinctness of his articulation and his tendency to lisp by declaiming long speeches with pebbles in his mouth, while he strengthened his voice by running or walking up hill, talking the while, and repeating orations or verses. He also had a large mirror in his house, and used to stand before it and study oratorical gestures. We are told that once a man called upon him and asked him to act as his counsel in a lawsuit against a man by whom he had been beaten. “But,” said Demosthenes, “you have not suffered any of this ill-treatment which you complain of.” At this the man raised his voice and excitedly exclaimed, “Do you say, Demosthenes, that I have not been ill-treated?” “Yes,” answered he, “now I hear the voice of one who has really been ill-used.” So important did he think the action and the tone of voice of a speaker to be in carrying conviction to the minds of his hearers. His manner in speaking marvellously pleased the common people, though men of taste, such as Demetrius of Phalerum, thought it vulgar and affected. Hermippus informs us that Aesion,[127] when asked to give his opinion about the orators of former times and those of his own day, said that the ancient orators used to address the people in a surprisingly decorous and dignified manner, but that the speeches of Demosthenes when read aloud, appeared to him to be much more carefully constructed and more forcible. It is indeed unnecessary to say that the written speeches of Demosthenes are bitter and angry compositions; but in his impromptu repartees, he often was genuinely witty and pleasant. As for example, when Demades exclaimed, “Demosthenes teach me! Will a sow teach Athena?”
Demosthenes answered, “This Athena was caught in adultery in Kollytus[128] the other day.” And when the thief who was surnamed Chalkus, that is, Brazen-face, attempted to sneer at him for sitting up late at night writing, Demosthenes answered, “I know that my habit of burning a lamp at night must disconcert you. But, men of Athens, need we wonder at the thefts which take place, when we see that our thieves are brazen, and our walls are only made of clay.” However, although I could relate several more anecdotes of this kind, I must now stop, as we ought to discover what remains of the disposition and character of Demosthenes from a survey of his political acts.
XII. He first began to take an active part in public affairs during the Phokian war, as we learn from his own words, and as we may also gather from his Philippic orations, some of which were pronounced after that war was ended, while the earlier ones touch on those matters most nearly connected with it. It is evident that when he prepared the oration against Meidias he was thirty-two years of age, and had not as yet acquired any fame or reputation. This appears to me to be the chief reason for his having made up his quarrel with Meidias for a sum of money, for he was far from being a “mild-mannered” man, but keen and savage in avenging the injuries which he received. It must have been because he saw, that to ruin a man who was so rich, so able a speaker, and so well-befriended as Meidias, was too difficult a task for a man of his political power, and so yielded to the entreaties of those who begged him to let the action drop; for I do not believe that the bribe of three thousand drachmae which he received would by itself have caused Demosthenes to lay aside the rancorous hatred which he bore to Meidias, if he had entertained any hopes of obtaining a verdict against him.
In the defence of the liberties of Greece against the encroachments of Philip, Demosthenes found a noble theme for political oratory, which he treated in a manner worthy of the subject, and soon acquired such renown by his able and fearless speeches, that he was courted by the king of