§18ἀμφότερʼ οὖν οἶδε, καὶ αὑτὸν ὑμῖν ἐπιβουλεύοντα καὶ ὑμᾶς αἰσθανομένους·
Therefore he knows both: both that he himself is plotting against you, and that you perceive it.
εὖ φρονεῖν δʼ ὑμᾶς ὑπολαμβάνων, δικαίως αὑτὸν μισεῖν νομίζει, καὶ παρώξυνται, πείσεσθαί τι προσδοκῶν, ἂν καιρὸν λάβητε, ἂν μὴ φθάσῃ ποιήσας πρότερος.
Assuming that you are wise, he believes that you justly hate him; and he is highly provoked, expecting to suffer some harm if you should find an opportunity, unless he should anticipate you by acting first.
§19διὰ ταῦτʼ ἐγρήγορεν, ἐφέστηκεν, ἐπὶ τῇ πόλει θεραπεύει τινάς, Θηβαίους καὶ Πελοποννησίων τοὺς ταὐτὰ βουλομένους τούτοις, οὓς διὰ μὲν πλεονεξίαν τὰ παρόντʼ ἀγαπήσειν οἴεται, διὰ δὲ σκαιότητα τρόπων τῶν μετὰ ταῦτʼ οὐδὲν προόψεσθαι.
For this reason he is awake, he is on the watch, and he is courting certain people against our city: namely, the Thebans and those of the Peloponnesians who want the same things as they do. He thinks that, because of their greediness, they will be content with the present state of affairs, but because of the stupidity of their character, they will foresee nothing of what is to follow.
καίτοι σωφρονοῦσί γε καὶ μετρίως ἐναργῆ παραδείγματʼ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, ἃ καὶ πρὸς Μεσσηνίους καὶ πρὸς Ἀργείους ἔμοιγʼ εἰπεῖν συνέβη, βέλτιον δʼ ἴσως καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐστιν εἰρῆσθαι.
And yet, to those who are wise, it is possible to see examples that are moderately clear, which it fell to my lot to speak both to the Messenians and to the Argives, but which it is perhaps better to have been spoken to you as well.
§20πῶς γὰρ οἴεσθʼ,
ἔφην,
ὦ ἄνδρες Μεσσήνιοι, δυσχερῶς ἀκούειν Ὀλυνθίους, εἴ τίς τι λέγοι κατὰ Φιλίππου κατʼ ἐκείνους τοὺς χρόνους, ὅτʼ Ἀνθεμοῦντα μὲν αὐτοῖς ἀφίει, ἧς πάντες οἱ πρότερον Μακεδονίας βασιλεῖς ἀντεποιοῦντο, Ποτείδαιαν δʼ ἐδίδου τοὺς Ἀθηναίων ἀποίκους ἐκβάλλων, καὶ τὴν μὲν ἔχθραν τὴν πρὸς ἡμᾶς αὐτὸς ἀνῄρητο, τὴν χώραν δʼ ἐκείνοις ἐδεδώκει καρποῦσθαι;
"For how do you think," said I, "men of Messene, the Olynthians would have listened with displeasure if anyone spoke against Philip in those times, when he was ceding Anthemus to them, which all the former kings of Macedonia claimed, and was giving them Potidaea, expelling the Athenian colonists, and had himself taken upon his own shoulders the enmity toward us, and had given them the land to enjoy?
ἆρα προσδοκᾶν αὐτοὺς τοιαῦτα πείσεσθαι, ἢ λέγοντος ἄν τινος πιστεῦσαι οἴεσθε;
Do you think they expected to suffer such things as they did, or would have believed anyone who said so?
§21ἀλλʼ ὅμως,
ἔφην ἐγώ,
μικρὸν χρόνον τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν καρπωσάμενοι πολὺν τῆς αὑτῶν ὑπʼ ἐκείνου στέρονται, αἰσχρῶς ἐκπεσόντες, οὐ κρατηθέντες μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ προδοθέντες ὑπʼ ἀλλήλων καὶ πραθέντες· οὐ γὰρ ἀσφαλεῖς ταῖς πολιτείαις αἱ πρὸς τοὺς τυράννους αὗται λίαν ὁμιλίαι.
But nevertheless," said I, "having enjoyed the land of others for a short time, they have been deprived of their own by him for a long time, having been shamefully cast out, not only conquered, but also betrayed by one another and sold; for these excessive intimacies with tyrants are not safe for free constitutions.
§22τί δʼ οἱ Θετταλοί;
And what of the Thessalians?
ἆρʼ οἴεσθʼ,
ἔφην,
ὅτʼ αὐτοῖς τοὺς τυράννους ἐξέβαλλε καὶ πάλιν Νίκαιαν καὶ Μαγνησίαν ἐδίδου, προσδοκᾶν τὴν καθεστῶσαν νῦν δεκαδαρχίαν ἔσεσθαι παρʼ αὐτοῖς;
Do you think," said I, "when he was expelling their tyrants for them, and again was giving them Nicaea and Magnesia, they expected that the decarchy now established among them would exist?
ἢ τὸν τὴν πυλαίαν ἀποδόντα, τοῦτον τὰς ἰδίας αὐτῶν προσόδους παραιρήσεσθαι;
Or that he who restored the Amphictyonic seat to them would plunder their own private revenues?
οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα.
It is not so.
ἀλλὰ μὴν γέγονεν ταῦτα καὶ πᾶσιν ἔστιν εἰδέναι·
And yet these things have happened, and all may know them.
§23ὑμεῖς δʼ,
ἔφην ἐγώ,
διδόντα μὲν καὶ ὑπισχνούμενον θεωρεῖτε Φίλιππον, ἐξηπατηκότα δʼ ἤδη καὶ παρακεκρουμένον ἀπεύχεσθε, εἰ σωφρονεῖτε δή, ἰδεῖν.
And you," said I, "behold Philip giving and promising, but pray, if indeed you are wise, never to see him having already deceived and cheated you.
ἔστι τοίνυν νὴ Δίʼ,
ἔφην ἐγώ,
παντοδαπὰ εὑρημένα ταῖς πόλεσιν πρὸς φυλακὴν καὶ σωτηρίαν, οἷον χαρακώματα καὶ τείχη καὶ τάφροι καὶ τἄλλʼ ὅσα τοιαῦτα.
Indeed, by Zeus," said I, "all kinds of devices have been invented by cities for defense and safety, such as palisades, walls, trenches, and all other such things.
§24καὶ ταῦτα μέν ἐστιν ἅπαντα χειροποίητα καὶ δαπάνης προσδεῖται· ἓν δέ τι κοινὸν ἡ φύσις τῶν εὖ φρονούντων ἐν αὑτῇ κέκτηται φυλακτήριον, ὃ πᾶσι μέν ἐστʼ ἀγαθὸν καὶ σωτήριον, μάλιστα δὲ τοῖς πλήθεσι πρὸς τοὺς τυράννους.
And all of these are hand-made and require expense; but there is one common safeguard which the nature of the wise possesses within itself, which is good and saving for all, but especially for democracies against tyrants.
τί οὖν ἐστι τοῦτο;
What, then, is this?
ἀπιστία.
Distrust.
ταύτην φυλάττετε, ταύτης ἀντέχεσθε· ἂν ταύτην σῴζητε, οὐδὲν μὴ δεινὸν πάθητε.
Guard this, hold fast to this; if you preserve this, you will suffer no dreadful thing.
τί ζητεῖτʼ; ἔφην.
What do you seek?" said I.
§25ἐλευθερίαν;
"Liberty?
εἶτʼ οὐχ ὁρᾶτε Φίλιππον ἀλλοτριωτάτας ταύτῃ καὶ τὰς προσηγορίας ἔχοντα;
Then do you not see that Philip has even his titles most alien to this?
βασιλεὺς γὰρ καὶ τύραννος ἅπας ἐχθρὸς ἐλευθερίᾳ καὶ νόμοις ἐναντίος.
For every king and tyrant is an enemy to liberty and opposed to laws.
οὐ φυλάξεσθʼ ὅπως,
ἔφην,
μὴ πολέμου ζητοῦντες ἀπαλλαγῆναι δεσπότην εὕρητε; §26ταῦτʼ ἀκούσαντες ἐκεῖνοι, καὶ θορυβοῦντες ὡς ὀρθῶς λέγεται, καὶ πολλοὺς ἑτέρους λόγους παρὰ τῶν πρέσβεων καὶ παρόντος ἐμοῦ καὶ πάλιν ὕστερον, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὐδὲν μᾶλλον ἀποσχήσονται τῆς Φιλίππου φιλίας οὐδʼ ὧν ἐπαγγέλλεται.
Will you not guard," said I, "lest, in seeking to be rid of war, you find a master?" Though they heard these things, and applauded them as being rightly said, and heard many other speeches from the ambassadors, both in my presence and again afterwards, they will, as it seems, none the more keep away from Philip's friendship nor from what he promises.
§27καὶ οὐ τοῦτʼ ἔστʼ ἄτοπον, εἰ Μεσσήνιοι καὶ Πελοποννησίων τινὲς παρʼ ἃ τῷ λογισμῷ βέλτισθʼ ὁρῶσί τι πράξουσιν, ἀλλʼ ὑμεῖς οἱ καὶ συνιέντες αὐτοὶ καὶ τῶν λεγόντων ἀκούοντες ἡμῶν, ὡς ἐπιβουλεύεσθε, ὡς περιστοιχίζεσθε, ἐκ τοῦ μηδὲν ἤδη ποιῆσαι λήσεθʼ, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, πάνθʼ ὑπομείναντες· οὕτως ἡ παραυτίχʼ ἡδονὴ καὶ ῥᾳστώνη μεῖζον ἰσχύει τοῦ ποθʼ ὕστερον συνοίσειν μέλλοντος.
And this is not strange, if the Messenians and some of the Peloponnesians will act contrary to what they see best in their reasoning; but you, who both understand for yourselves and hear from us who speak, how you are being plotted against and how you are being hemmed in, will, as it seems to me, by doing nothing now, find yourselves to have endured everything without knowing it; so much does immediate pleasure and ease prevail over what will be of benefit hereafter.
§28περὶ μὲν δὴ τῶν ἡμῖν πρακτέων καθʼ ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς ὕστερον βουλεύσεσθε, ἂν σωφρονῆτε· ἃ δὲ νῦν ἀποκρινάμενοι τὰ δέοντʼ ἂν εἴητʼ ἐψηφισμένοι, ταῦτʼ ἤδη λέξω.
Indeed, concerning what we ourselves must do, you will deliberate later among yourselves, if you are wise; but what you might now answer so as to have decreed what is necessary, this I shall now say. ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ.
ΑΠΟΚΡΙΣΙΣ.
ἦν μὲν οὖν δίκαιον, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοὺς ἐνεγκόντας τὰς ὑποσχέσεις, ἐφʼ αἷς ἐπείσθητε ποιήσασθαι τὴν εἰρήνην, καλεῖν·
It would indeed have been just, men of Athens, to call those who brought the promises on which you were persuaded to make the peace;