§1ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπως αἱ αἰτίαι, ἃς Φίλιππος αἰτιᾶται τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῶν δικαίων πρὸς ὑμᾶς λέγοντας, κωλύσουσι συμβούλους ἡμᾶς γίγνεσθαι ὑπὲρ τῶν ὑμῖν συμφερόντων· δεινὸν γὰρ ἂν εἴη, εἰ τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος παρρησίαν αἱ παρʼ ἐκείνου πεμπόμεναι ἐπιστολαὶ ἀνέλοιεν.
Men of Athens, there is no way that the accusations which Philip brings against those who speak to you in defense of justice will prevent us from acting as advisers for your interests; for it would be a terrible thing if the letters sent from him should destroy the freedom of speech upon the rostrum.
ἐγὼ δʼ ὑμῖν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, βούλομαι πρῶτον μὲν περὶ ὧν Φίλιππος ἐπέσταλκε, περὶ τούτων διεξελθεῖν· ὕστερον δέ, περὶ ὧν οἱ πρέσβεις λέγουσι, καὶ ἡμεῖς λέξομεν.
And I, men of Athens, wish first to go through those matters about which Philip has written in his letter, and afterwards, we also shall speak about the things which the ambassadors are saying.
§2Φίλιππος γὰρ ἄρχεται μὲν περὶ Ἁλοννήσου λέγων ὡς ὑμῖν δίδωσιν ἑαυτοῦ οὖσαν, ὑμᾶς δὲ οὔ φησι δικαίως αὐτὸν ἀπαιτεῖν· οὐ γὰρ ὑμετέραν οὖσαν οὔτε λαβεῖν οὔτε νῦν ἔχειν.
For Philip begins by saying about Halonnesus that he is "giving" it to you because it is his own, but he denies that you are demanding its return justly; for he says that he neither took it when it was yours, nor does he hold it now as yours.
ἔλεγε δὲ καὶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοιούτους λόγους, ὅτε πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐπρεσβεύσαμεν, ὡς λῃστὰς ἀφελόμενος ταύτην τὴν νῆσον κτήσαιτο, καὶ προσήκειν αὐτὴν ἑαυτοῦ εἶναι.
And he also spoke such words to us when we went on an embassy to him, claiming that he had acquired this island by taking it away from pirates, and that it was fitting for it to be his own.
§3τοῦτον δὲ τὸν λόγον, ὡς οὐκ ἔστι δίκαιος, οὐ χαλεπόν ἐστιν αὐτοῦ ἀφελέσθαι.
But it is not difficult to deprive him of this argument by showing that it is not just.
ἅπαντες γὰρ οἱ λῃσταὶ τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους τόπους καταλαμβάνοντες καὶ τούτους ἐχυροὺς ποιούμενοι, ἐντεῦθεν τοὺς ἄλλους κακῶς ποιοῦσιν.
For all pirates, when they seize the places of others and make them strongholds, inflict damage on others from there.
ὁ δὴ τοὺς λῃστὰς τιμωρησάμενος καὶ κρατήσας οὐκ ἂν δήπου εἰκότα λέγοι, εἰ φαίη, ἃ ἐκεῖνοι ἀδίκως καὶ ἀλλότρια εἶχον, ταῦθʼ ἑαυτοῦ γίγνεσθαι.
Surely, then, one who has punished and overcome the pirates would not be speaking reasonably if he should say that the things which they held unjustly and which belonged to others now become his own.
§4εἰ γὰρ ταῦτα συγχωρήσετε, τί κωλύει, καὶ εἴ τινα τῆς Ἀττικῆς λῃσταὶ τόπον καταλάβοιεν ἢ Λήμνου ἢ Ἴμβρου ἢ Σκύρου, καί τινες τούτους τοὺς λῃστὰς ἐκκόψαιεν, εὐθὺς καὶ τὸν τόπον τοῦτον, οὗ ἦσαν οἱ λῃσταί, τὸν ὄντα ἡμέτερον, τῶν τιμωρησαμένων τοὺς λῃστὰς γίγνεσθαι;
For if you concede this, what is to prevent it, even if pirates should seize some place in Attica, or in Lemnos, Imbros, or Scyros, and some people should drive out these pirates, that this place too where the pirates were—which is actually ours—should immediately become the property of those who punished the pirates?
§5Φίλιππος δʼ οὐκ ἀγνοεῖ ταῦτʼ οὐ δίκαια λέγων, ἀλλʼ εἰ καί τις ἄλλος ἐπιστάμενος παρακρουσθῆναι ἂν ὑμᾶς οἴεται ὑπὸ τῶν τἀνταῦθα διοικήσειν, ὡς ἂν αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος βούληται, καὶ πρὶν ὑπεσχημένων, καὶ νῦν δὲ πραττόντων.
But Philip is not ignorant that he is speaking unjustly, but more than anyone else he knows it; yet he thinks you will be deceived by those who are here to manage affairs as he himself wishes—men who promised this in the past and are doing so now.
ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδʼ ἐκεῖνό γε λανθάνει αὐτόν, ὅτι διʼ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν ὀνομάτων, ὁποτέρῳ ἂν χρῆσθε, ὑμεῖς ἕξετε τὴν νῆσον, ἄν τε λάβητε ἄν τʼ ἀπολάβητε. §6τί οὖν αὐτῷ διαφέρει, μὴ τῷ δικαίῳ ὀνόματι χρησάμενον ἀποδοῦναι ὑμῖν, ἀλλὰ δωρεὰν δεδωκέναι, τῷ ἀδίκῳ;
Moreover, this does not escape him either, that by both words, whichever you use, you will hold the island, whether you "receive" it or "receive it back." What difference, then, does it make to him, not to return it to you by using the just word, but to have given it as a gift, by using the unjust one?
οὐχ ἵνʼ εὐεργέτημά τι καταλογίσηται πρὸς ὑμᾶς (γελοῖον γὰρ ἂν εἴη τοῦτο τὸ εὐεργέτημα), ἀλλʼ ἵνʼ ἐνδείξηται ἅπασι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ὅτι Ἀθηναῖοι τὰ ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ χωρία ἀγαπῶσι παρὰ τοῦ Μακεδόνος λαμβάνοντες.
It is not so that he may charge it to you as a favor (for such a favor would be ridiculous), but so that he may show to all the Greeks that the Athenians are content to receive their maritime possessions from the Macedonian.
τοῦτο δʼ ὑμῖν οὐ ποιητέον ἐστίν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι.
But you must not do this, men of Athens.
§7ὅταν δὲ λέγῃ περὶ τούτων ὡς ἐθέλει διαδικάσασθαι, οὐδὲν ἀλλʼ ἢ χλευάζει ὑμᾶς, πρῶτον μὲν ἀξιῶν Ἀθηναίους ὄντας πρὸς τὸν ἐκ Πέλλης ὁρμώμενον περὶ τῶν νήσων διαδικάζεσθαι, πότερʼ ὑμέτεραι ἢ ἐκείνου εἰσίν.
And when he says regarding these things that he is willing to submit them to arbitration, he does nothing but mock you, first of all by demanding that you, who are Athenians, should go to law about islands with a man who comes from Pella, to decide whether they are yours or his.
ὁπότε γὰρ ἡ μὲν δύναμις ἡ ὑμετέρα, ἡ ἐλευθερώσασα τοὺς Ἕλληνας, μὴ δύναται ὑμῖν τὰ ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ χωρία σῴζειν, οἱ δὲ δικασταί, οἷς ἂν ἐπιτρέψητε, οἱ κύριοι τῆς ψήφου, οὗτοι ὑμῖν σώσουσιν, ἐὰν μὴ Φίλιππος αὐτοὺς πρίηται, §8πῶς ὑμεῖς οὐχ ὁμολογουμένως, ὅταν ταῦτα διαπράττησθε, τῶν ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ ἁπάντων ἀφεστήκατε, καὶ ἐπιδείκνυτε ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις ὅτι οὐδὲ περὶ ἑνὸς αὐτῷ διαγωνιεῖσθε, εἴγε περὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ θαλάττῃ, οὗ φατὲ ἰσχύειν, μὴ διαγωνιεῖσθε, ἀλλὰ δικάσεσθε;
For when your power, which liberated the Greeks, cannot preserve for you your maritime possessions, but the judges to whom you may refer the matter, the masters of the vote, are to preserve them for you—provided Philip does not buy them off— how can you deny that, when you act in this way, you have admittedly abandoned all possessions on the mainland, and are showing to all mankind that you will not contend with him even for a single thing, if indeed concerning the things in the sea, where you say you are strong, you will not contend but will go to court?
§9ἔτι περὶ συμβόλων φησὶ πεπομφέναι πρὸς ὑμᾶς τοὺς ποιησομένους, ταῦτα δὲ κύρια ἔσεσθαι, οὐκ ἐπειδὰν ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ τῷ παρʼ ὑμῖν κυρωθῇ, ὥσπερ ὁ νόμος κελεύει, ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὰν ὡς ἑαυτὸν ἐπανενεχθῇ, ἐφέσιμον τὴν παρʼ ὑμῶν γενομένην γνῶσιν ὡς ἑαυτὸν ποιούμενος.
Furthermore, concerning the judicial treaty, he says he has sent envoys to you to draw it up, and that this treaty will be valid, not when it is ratified in your court, as the law commands, but when it is referred back to him, thus making the decision rendered by you appealable to himself.
βούλεται γὰρ ὑμῶν τοῦτο προλαβεῖν καὶ ὁμολογούμενον ἐν τοῖς συμβόλοις καταστῆσαι, ὅτι τῶν περὶ Ποτείδαιαν γεγενημένων ἀδικημάτων οὐδὲν ἐγκαλεῖτε αὐτῷ ὡς ἀδικούμενοι, ἀλλὰ βεβαιοῦτε δικαίως αὐτὴν ἐκεῖνον καὶ λαβεῖν καὶ κεκτῆσθαι.
For he wishes to gain this advantage over you and establish it as agreed in the treaty, that you make no complaint against him as victims of the injustices committed around Potidaea, but confirm that he justly both took and possesses it.