§31δοκεῖτε δέ μοι πολὺ βέλτιον ἂν περὶ τοῦ πολέμου καὶ ὅλης τῆς παρασκευῆς βουλεύσασθαι, εἰ τὸν τόπον, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῆς χώρας, πρὸς ἣν πολεμεῖτε, ἐνθυμηθείητε, καὶ λογίσαισθʼ ὅτι τοῖς πνεύμασιν καὶ ταῖς ὥραις τοῦ ἔτους τὰ πολλὰ προλαμβάνων διαπράττεται Φίλιππος, καὶ φυλάξας τοὺς ἐτησίας ἢ τὸν χειμῶνʼ ἐπιχειρεῖ, ἡνίκʼ ἂν ἡμεῖς μὴ δυναίμεθʼ ἐκεῖσʼ ἀφικέσθαι.
And it seems to me, men of Athens, that you would deliberate much better about the war and the whole preparation, if you were to consider the position of the region against which you are fighting, and if you were to reckon that Philip accomplishes most of his successes by anticipating the winds and the seasons of the year, and that he attacks after watching for the Etesian winds or the winter, when we would not be able to arrive there.
§32δεῖ τοίνυν ταῦτʼ ἐνθυμουμένους μὴ βοηθείαις πολεμεῖν (ὑστεριοῦμεν γὰρ ἁπάντων), ἀλλὰ παρασκευῇ συνεχεῖ καὶ δυνάμει.
Therefore, bearing these things in mind, we must not carry on the war with temporary reinforcements (for we shall be too late for everything), but with a continuous preparation and force.
ὑπάρχει δʼ ὑμῖν χειμαδίῳ μὲν χρῆσθαι τῇ δυνάμει Λήμνῳ καὶ Θάσῳ καὶ Σκιάθῳ καὶ ταῖς ἐν τούτῳ τῷ τόπῳ νήσοις, ἐν αἷς καὶ λιμένες καὶ σῖτος καὶ ἃ χρὴ στρατεύματι πάνθʼ ὑπάρχει· τὴν δʼ ὥραν τοῦ ἔτους, ὅτε καὶ πρὸς τῇ γῇ γενέσθαι ῥᾴδιον καὶ τὸ τῶν πνευμάτων ἀσφαλές, πρὸς αὐτῇ τῇ χώρᾳ καὶ πρὸς τοῖς τῶν ἐμπορίων στόμασιν ῥᾳδίως ἔσται.
It is possible for you to use Lemnos, Thasos, Sciathos, and the islands in this region as a winter station for your force, in which there are harbors, corn, and all things that an army needs; and during the season of the year when it is easy to be near the land and the winds are safe, your force will easily lie close to the enemy's country itself and at the mouths of the trading ports.
§33ἃ μὲν οὖν χρήσεται καὶ πότε τῇ δυνάμει, παρὰ τὸν καιρὸν ὁ τούτων κύριος καταστὰς ὑφʼ ὑμῶν βουλεύσεται· ἃ δʼ ὑπάρξαι δεῖ παρʼ ὑμῶν, ταῦτʼ ἐστὶν ἁγὼ γέγραφα.
Now, how and when he will use the force, the commander appointed by you over these matters will deliberate as the occasion arises; but what must be provided from your side is what I have written down.
ἂν ταῦτʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, πορίσητε, τὰ χρήματα πρῶτον ἃ λέγω, εἶτα καὶ τἄλλα παρασκευάσαντες, τοὺς στρατιώτας, τὰς τριήρεις, τοὺς ἱππέας, ἐντελῆ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν νόμῳ κατακλείσητʼ ἐπὶ τῷ πολέμῳ μένειν, τῶν μὲν χρημάτων αὐτοὶ ταμίαι καὶ πορισταὶ γιγνόμενοι, τῶν δὲ πράξεων παρὰ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ τὸν λόγον ζητοῦντες, παύσεσθʼ ἀεὶ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν βουλευόμενοι καὶ πλέον οὐδὲν ποιοῦντες, §34καὶ ἔτι πρὸς τούτῳ πρῶτον μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τὸν μέγιστον τῶν ἐκείνου πόρων ἀφαιρήσεσθε.
If you provide these, men of Athens—first the money I mention, and then having prepared the rest, the soldiers, the triremes, the cavalry, and bind the whole force intact by law to remain at the war, while you yourselves become the stewards and providers of the money, and demand from the general an account of his actions—you will cease from always deliberating about the same things and accomplishing nothing more, and besides this, first of all, men of Athens, you will deprive him of his greatest resource.
ἔστι δʼ οὗτος τίς;
And what is this?
ἀπὸ τῶν ὑμετέρων ὑμῖν πολεμεῖ συμμάχων, ἄγων καὶ φέρων τοὺς πλέοντας τὴν θάλατταν.
He carries on war against you using the resources of your own allies, plundering those who sail the sea.
ἔπειτα τί πρὸς τούτῳ;
Then, what besides this?
τοῦ πάσχειν αὐτοὶ κακῶς ἔξω γενήσεσθε, οὐχ ὥσπερ τὸν παρελθόντα χρόνον εἰς Λῆμνον καὶ Ἴμβρον ἐμβαλὼν αἰχμαλώτους πολίτας ὑμετέρους ᾤχετʼ ἔχων, πρὸς τῷ Γεραιστῷ τὰ πλοῖα συλλαβὼν ἀμύθητα χρήματʼ ἐξέλεξε, τὰ τελευταῖʼ εἰς Μαραθῶνʼ ἀπέβη καὶ τὴν ἱερὰν ἀπὸ τῆς χώρας ᾤχετʼ ἔχων τριήρη, ὑμεῖς δʼ οὔτε ταῦτα δύνασθε κωλύειν οὔτʼ εἰς τοὺς χρόνους, οὓς ἂν προθῆσθε, βοηθεῖν.
You yourselves will be out of the reach of suffering harm, not as in the past time, when he invaded Lemnos and Imbros and went off with your citizens as captives, and seized the vessels off Geraestus and collected untold wealth, and finally landed at Marathon and went off with the sacred trireme from our territory, while you could neither prevent these things nor send help at the times which you had proposed.
§35καίτοι τί δήποτʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, νομίζετε τὴν μὲν τῶν Παναθηναίων ἑορτὴν καὶ τὴν τῶν Διονυσίων ἀεὶ τοῦ καθήκοντος χρόνου γίγνεσθαι, ἄν τε δεινοὶ λάχωσιν ἄν τʼ ἰδιῶται οἱ τούτων ἑκατέρων ἐπιμελούμενοι, εἰς ἃ τοσαῦτʼ ἀναλίσκεται χρήματα, ὅσʼ οὐδʼ εἰς ἕνα τῶν ἀποστόλων, καὶ τοσοῦτον ὄχλον καὶ παρασκευὴν ὅσην οὐκ οἶδʼ εἴ τι τῶν ἁπάντων ἔχει, τοὺς δʼ ἀποστόλους πάντας ὑμῖν ὑστερίζειν τῶν καιρῶν, τὸν εἰς Μεθώνην, τὸν εἰς Παγασάς, τὸν εἰς Ποτείδαιαν;
And yet, why on earth, men of Athens, do you think that the festival of the Panathenaia and that of the Dionysia always take place at the proper time, whether skilled men or private citizens are chosen by lot to manage either of these, on which as much money is spent as on not even one of your expeditions, and which have such a crowd and preparation as I do not know if any other thing has, while all your expeditions are too late for their opportunities—the one to Methone, the one to Pagasae, the one to Potidaea?
§36ὅτι ἐκεῖνα μὲν ἅπαντα νόμῳ τέτακται, καὶ πρόοιδεν ἕκαστος ὑμῶν ἐκ πολλοῦ τίς χορηγὸς ἢ γυμνασίαρχος τῆς φυλῆς, πότε καὶ παρὰ τοῦ καὶ τί λαβόντα τί δεῖ ποιεῖν, οὐδὲν ἀνεξέταστον οὐδʼ ἀόριστον ἐν τούτοις ἠμέληται·
Because those festivals are all regulated by law, and each of you knows long beforehand who is the choregos or gymnasiarch of his tribe, and when, from whom, and what he must receive and what he must do; nothing is left unexamined or undefined through neglect in these matters.
ἐν δὲ τοῖς περὶ τοῦ πολέμου καὶ τῇ τούτου παρασκευῇ ἄτακτα, ἀδιόρθωτα, ἀόρισθʼ ἅπαντα.
But in what concerns the war and its preparation, all is unregulated, uncorrected, and undefined.
τοιγαροῦν ἅμʼ ἀκηκόαμέν τι καὶ τριηράρχους καθίσταμεν καὶ τούτοις ἀντιδόσεις ποιούμεθα καὶ περὶ χρημάτων πόρου σκοποῦμεν, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἐμβαίνειν τοὺς μετοίκους ἔδοξε καὶ τοὺς χωρὶς οἰκοῦντας,
Therefore, as soon as we hear anything, we appoint trierarches, and make exchanges of property with them, and consider the provision of money; and after this, it is decided that metics and those who live apart should embark,