§25ταῦτα θαυμάζω, κἄτι πρὸς τούτοις, εἰ μηδεὶς ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, δύναται λογίσασθαι πόσον πολεμεῖτε χρόνον Φιλίππῳ, καὶ τί ποιούντων ὑμῶν ὁ χρόνος διελήλυθεν οὗτος.
I wonder at these things, and even more besides, that not one of you, men of Athens, is able to calculate how long a time you have been at war with Philip, and what you were doing while this time passed away.
ἴστε γὰρ δήπου τοῦθʼ, ὅτι μελλόντων αὐτῶν, ἑτέρους τινὰς ἐλπιζόντων πράξειν, αἰτιωμένων ἀλλήλους, κρινόντων, πάλιν ἐλπιζόντων, σχεδὸν ταὔθʼ ἅπερ νυνὶ ποιούντων, ἅπας ὁ χρόνος διελήλυθεν.
For surely you know this, that while you were delaying, hoping that some others would act, accusing one another, bringing each other to trial, hoping again, and doing practically the very same things as you are doing now, the whole time has passed away.
§26εἶθʼ οὕτως ἀγνωμόνως ἔχετʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὥστε διʼ ὧν ἐκ χρηστῶν φαῦλα τὰ πράγματα τῆς πόλεως γέγονεν, διὰ τούτων ἐλπίζετε τῶν αὐτῶν πράξεων ἐκ φαύλων αὐτὰ χρηστὰ γενήσεσθαι;
Are you then so senseless, men of Athens, as to expect that by the very same actions through which the affairs of the city have become bad from having been good, they will become good from being bad?
ἀλλʼ οὔτʼ εὔλογον οὔτʼ ἔχον ἐστὶ φύσιν τοῦτό γε· πολὺ γὰρ ῥᾷον ἔχοντας φυλάττειν ἢ κτήσασθαι πάντα πέφυκεν.
But this is neither reasonable nor natural; for it is natural for all things to be much easier to guard when possessed than to acquire.
νῦν δʼ ὅ τι μὲν φυλάξομεν, οὐδέν ἐσθʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ πολέμου λοιπὸν τῶν πρότερον, κτήσασθαι δὲ δεῖ.
But now, of our former possessions, there is nothing left by the war for us to guard, but we must acquire them anew.
αὐτῶν οὖν ἡμῶν ἔργον τοῦτʼ ἤδη.
This, therefore, is now our own task.
§27φημὶ δὴ δεῖν εἰσφέρειν χρήματα, αὐτοὺς ἐξιέναι προθύμως, μηδένʼ αἰτιᾶσθαι πρὶν ἂν τῶν πραγμάτων κρατήσητε, τηνικαῦτα δʼ ἀπʼ αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων κρίναντας τοὺς μὲν ἀξίους ἐπαίνου τιμᾶν, τοὺς δʼ ἀδικοῦντας κολάζειν, τὰς προφάσεις δʼ ἀφελεῖν καὶ τὰ καθʼ ὑμᾶς ἐλλείμματα·
I say, then, that you must contribute money, march out yourselves with zeal, and accuse no one until you have gained control of affairs; and then, judging from the actual deeds, you should honor those worthy of praise and punish those who do wrong, and remove excuses and your own shortcomings.
οὐ γὰρ ἔστι πικρῶς ἐξετάσαι τί πέπρακται τοῖς ἄλλοις, ἂν μὴ παρʼ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν πρῶτον ὑπάρξῃ τὰ δέοντα.
For it is not possible to examine strictly what has been done by others, unless what is required has first been performed by yourselves.
§28τίνος γὰρ εἵνεκʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, νομίζετε τοῦτον μὲν φεύγειν τὸν πόλεμον πάντας ὅσους ἂν ἐκπέμψητε στρατηγούς, ἰδίους δʼ εὑρίσκειν πολέμους, εἰ δεῖ τι τῶν ὄντων καὶ περὶ τῶν στρατηγῶν εἰπεῖν;
For why, men of Athens, do you think that all the generals whom you send out avoid this war, and find wars of their own, if indeed one must speak the truth about the generals also?
ὅτι ἐνταῦθα μέν ἐστι τἆθλʼ ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐστιν ὁ πόλεμος ὑμέτερα (Ἀμφίπολίς γʼ ἂν ληφθῇ, παραχρῆμʼ ὑμεῖς κομιεῖσθε), οἱ δὲ κίνδυνοι τῶν ἐφεστηκότων ἴδιοι, μισθὸς δʼ οὐκ ἔστιν· ἐκεῖ δὲ κίνδυνοι μὲν ἐλάττους, τὰ δὲ λήμματα τῶν ἐφεστηκότων καὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν, Λάμψακος, Σίγειον, τὰ πλοῖʼ ἃ συλῶσιν.
It is because here the prizes for which the war is waged are yours (if Amphipolis is taken, you will immediately recover it), but the dangers belong to the commanders, while there is no pay; whereas there, the dangers are less, and the gains belong to the commanders and the soldiers—Lampsacus, Sigeum, the ships they plunder.
ἐπʼ οὖν τὸ λυσιτελοῦν αὑτοῖς ἕκαστοι χωροῦσιν.
Each of them, therefore, goes towards what is profitable to themselves.
§29ὑμεῖς δʼ, ὅταν μὲν εἰς τὰ πράγματʼ ἀποβλέψητε φαύλως ἔχοντα, τοὺς ἐφεστηκότας κρίνετε, ὅταν δὲ δόντες λόγον τὰς ἀνάγκας ἀκούσητε ταύτας, ἀφίετε.
But you, whenever you look at affairs being in a bad state, put the commanders on trial; yet whenever they give an account and you hear these necessities, you acquit them.
περίεστι τοίνυν ὑμῖν ἀλλήλοις ἐρίζειν καὶ διεστάναι, τοῖς μὲν ταῦτα πεπεισμένοις, τοῖς δὲ ταῦτα, τὰ κοινὰ δʼ ἔχειν φαύλως.
Consequently, what remains for you is to dispute with one another and be divided, some being convinced of this, and others of that, while the public interest is in a bad state.
πρότερον μὲν γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, κατὰ συμμορίας εἰσεφέρετε, νυνὶ δὲ πολιτεύεσθε κατὰ συμμορίας.
For formerly, men of Athens, you contributed by tax-symmeries, but now you conduct politics by symmeries.
ῥήτωρ ἡγεμὼν ἑκατέρων, καὶ στρατηγὸς ὑπὸ τούτῳ καὶ οἱ βοησόμενοι, οἱ τριακόσιοι· οἱ δʼ ἄλλοι προσνενέμησθε οἱ μὲν ὡς τούτους, οἱ δʼ ὡς ἐκείνους.
An orator is the leader of each group, and under him a general, and those who will shout, the Three Hundred; while the rest of you are apportioned, some to this side and some to that.
§30δεῖ δὴ ταῦτʼ ἐπανέντας καὶ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ἔτι καὶ νῦν γενομένους κοινὸν καὶ τὸ βουλεύεσθαι καὶ τὸ λέγειν καὶ τὸ πράττειν ποιῆσαι.
You must indeed relax these practices and, becoming your own masters even now, make debating, speaking, and acting common to all.
εἰ δὲ τοῖς μὲν ὥσπερ ἐκ τυραννίδος ὑμῶν ἐπιτάττειν ἀποδώσετε, τοῖς δʼ ἀναγκάζεσθαι τριηραρχεῖν, εἰσφέρειν, στρατεύεσθαι, τοῖς δὲ ψηφίζεσθαι κατὰ τούτων μόνον, ἄλλο δὲ μηδʼ ὁτιοῦν συμπονεῖν, οὐχὶ γενήσεται τῶν δεόντων ἡμῖν οὐδὲν ἐν καιρῷ· τὸ γὰρ ἠδικημένον ἀεὶ μέρος ἐλλείψει, εἶθʼ ὑμῖν τούτους κολάζειν ἀντὶ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐξέσται.
For if you assign to some the right to command you as if by tyranny, and to others the necessity of performing trierarchies, contributing tax, and campaigning, and to others only to vote decrees against these, while contributing in no other way to the common labor, none of the necessary duties will be accomplished for us in due season; for the injured part will always fail to do its duty, and then it will be your lot to punish them instead of your enemies.
§31λέγω δὴ κεφάλαιον, πάντας εἰσφέρειν ἀφʼ ὅσων ἕκαστος ἔχει τὸ ἴσον· πάντας ἐξιέναι κατὰ μέρος, ἕως ἂν ἅπαντες στρατεύσησθε· πᾶσι τοῖς παριοῦσι λόγον διδόναι, καὶ τὰ βέλτισθʼ ὧν ἂν ἀκούσηθʼ αἱρεῖσθαι, μὴ ἃν ὁ δεῖνʼ ἢ ὁ δεῖνʼ εἴπῃ.
To sum up, I say that all should contribute equally, according to what each possesses; that all should march out in turn, until all of you have campaigned; that you should give a hearing to all who come forward, and choose the best of what you hear, not what this or that person says.
κἂν ταῦτα ποιῆτε, οὐ τὸν εἰπόντα μόνον παραχρῆμʼ ἐπαινέσεσθε, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς ὕστερον, βέλτιον τῶν ὅλων πραγμάτων ὑμῖν ἐχόντων.
And if you do these things, you will not only praise the speaker immediately, but yourselves also afterwards, because your whole affairs will be in a better state.