§31ἂν δὲ παρελθὼν λέγῃ τις τἀληθῆ, ὅτι
ληρεῖτʼ, Ἀθηναῖοι· πάντων τῶν κακῶν καὶ τῶν πραγμάτων τούτων Φίλιππός ἐστʼ αἴτιος·
If, however, someone comes forward and speaks the truth, saying: "You are talking nonsense, men of Athens; Philip is the cause of all these evils and troubles.
εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἦγεν ἡσυχίαν, οὐδὲν ἂν ἦν πρᾶγμα τῇ πόλει,
ὡς μὲν οὐκ ἀληθῆ ταῦτʼ ἐστὶν οὐκ ἔχετʼ ἀντιλέγειν, ἄχθεσθαι δέ μοι δοκεῖτε καὶ ὥσπερ ἀπολλύναι τι νομίζειν.
For if he had remained quiet, there would be no trouble for the city," you cannot deny that this is true, but you seem to me to be vexed and to think you are losing something.
§32αἴτιον δὲ τούτων (καί μοι πρὸς θεῶν, ὅταν εἵνεκα τοῦ βελτίστου λέγω, ἔστω παρρησία)· παρεσκευάκασιν ὑμᾶς τῶν πολιτευομένων ἔνιοι ἐν μὲν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις φοβεροὺς καὶ χαλεπούς, ἐν δὲ ταῖς παρασκευαῖς ταῖς τοῦ πολέμου ῥᾳθύμους καὶ εὐκαταφρονήτους.
And the cause of this is—and by the gods, when I speak for your best interest, let there be frankness of speech—some of the politicians have made you formidable and harsh in the assemblies, but in the preparations for war, listless and contemptible.
ἂν μὲν οὖν τὸν αἴτιον εἴπῃ τις ὃν ἴσθʼ ὅτι λήψεσθε παρʼ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς, φατὲ καὶ βούλεσθε· ἂν δὲ τοιοῦτον λέγῃ τις, ὃν κρατήσαντας τοῖς ὅπλοις, ἄλλως δʼ οὐκ ἔστιν κολάσαι, οὐκ ἔχετʼ, οἶμαι, τί ποιήσετε, ἐξελεγχόμενοι δʼ ἄχθεσθε.
If, then, someone names as the cause a person whom you know you can seize among yourselves, you agree and wish to do so; but if someone names one whom you cannot punish except by conquering them by arms, you do not know, I think, what to do, and being refuted, you are vexed.
§33ἐχρῆν γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοὐναντίον ἢ νῦν ἅπαντας τοὺς πολιτευομένους ἐν μὲν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις πράους καὶ φιλανθρώπους ὑμᾶς ἐθίζειν εἶναι (πρὸς γὰρ ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς καὶ τοὺς συμμάχους ἐν ταύταις ἐστὶ τὰ δίκαια), ἐν δὲ ταῖς παρασκευαῖς ταῖς τοῦ πολέμου φοβεροὺς καὶ χαλεποὺς ἐπιδεικνύναι· πρὸς γὰρ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς καὶ τοὺς ἀντιπάλους ἐκεῖνός ἐσθʼ ἁγών.
For it was proper, men of Athens, for all the politicians to accustom you to the opposite of what is now the case: to be mild and humane in the assemblies (for in these is where justice lies towards yourselves and your allies), but to show yourselves formidable and harsh in the preparations for war; for that is where the struggle is against enemies and rivals.
§34νῦν δὲ δημαγωγοῦντες ὑμᾶς καὶ χαριζόμενοι καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν οὕτω διατεθήκασιν, ὥστʼ ἐν μὲν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τρυφᾶν καὶ κολακεύεσθαι πάντα πρὸς ἡδονὴν ἀκούοντας, ἐν δὲ τοῖς πράγμασι καὶ τοῖς γιγνομένοις περὶ τῶν ἐσχάτων ἤδη κινδυνεύειν.
But as it is, by leading you as demagogues and gratifying you to excess, they have brought you to such a state that in the assemblies you are pampered and flattered, hearing everything to your pleasure, but in actual events and in what is happening, you are already in extreme danger.
φέρε γὰρ πρὸς Διός, εἰ λόγον ὑμᾶς ἀπαιτήσειαν οἱ Ἕλληνες ὧν νυνὶ παρείκατε καιρῶν διὰ ῥᾳθυμίαν, §35καὶ ἔροινθʼ ὑμᾶς,
ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, πέμπεθʼ ὡς ἡμᾶς ἑκάστοτε πρέσβεις, καὶ λέγεθʼ ὡς ἐπιβουλεύει Φίλιππος ἡμῖν καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς Ἕλλησι, καὶ ὡς φυλάττεσθαι δεῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαυτί; ἀνάγκη φάσκειν καὶ ὁμολογεῖν· ποιοῦμεν γὰρ ταῦτα.
For consider, by Zeus, if the Greeks should demand from you an account of the opportunities you have now let slip through listlessness, and should ask you: "Men of Athens, do you not send ambassadors to us on each occasion, and say that Philip is plotting against us and all the Greeks, and that we must guard against the man, and all such things?" We must say yes and admit it; for we do these things.
εἶτʼ, ὦ πάντων ἀνθρώπων φαυλότατοι, δέκα μῆνας ἀπογενομένου τἀνθρώπου καὶ νόσῳ καὶ χειμῶνι καὶ πολέμοις ἀποληφθέντος ὥστε μὴ ἂν δύνασθαι ἐπανελθεῖν οἴκαδε, §36οὔτε τὴν Εὔβοιαν ἠλευθερώσατε, οὔτε τῶν ὑμετέρων αὐτῶν οὐδὲν ἐκομίσασθε, ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνος μὲν ὑμῶν οἴκοι μενόντων, σχολὴν ἀγόντων, ὑγιαινόντων (εἰ δὴ τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιοῦντας ὑγιαίνειν φήσαιμεν), δύʼ ἐν Εὐβοίᾳ κατέστησε τυράννους, τὸν μὲν ἀπαντικρὺ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐπιτειχίσας, τὸν δʼ ἐπὶ Σκίαθον, §37ὑμεῖς δʼ οὐδὲ ταῦτʼ ἀπελύσασθε, εἰ μηδὲν ἄλλʼ ἐβούλεσθε, ἀλλʼ εἰάκατε;
"Then, O most foolish of all men, when the man was away for ten months, and was cut off by sickness, winter, and wars so that he could not return home, you neither liberated Euboea, nor recovered any of your own possessions, but while you stayed at home, at leisure, and in good health (if indeed we can say those who act in such a way are in good health), he established two tyrants in Euboea, one as a fort of threat opposite Attica, and the other over against Sciathus; and did you not even rid yourselves of these, if you wished nothing else, but allowed them?
ἀφέστατε δῆλον ὅτι αὐτῷ, καὶ φανερὸν πεποιήκατε ὅτι οὐδʼ ἂν δεκάκις ἀποθάνῃ, οὐδὲν μᾶλλον κινήσεσθε.
You have clearly yielded to him, and made it manifest that even if he dies ten times over, you will move no more.
τί οὖν πρεσβεύετε καὶ κατηγορεῖτε καὶ πράγμαθʼ ἡμῖν παρέχετε; ἂν ταῦτα λέγωσι, τί ἐροῦμεν ἢ τί φήσομεν, Ἀθηναῖοι;
Why then do you send embassies, and bring accusations, and cause us trouble?" If they say these things, what shall we say or what shall we answer, men of Athens?
ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ οὐχ ὁρῶ.
For I do not see.
§38εἰσὶ τοίνυν τινὲς οἳ τότʼ ἐξελέγχειν τὸν παριόντʼ οἴονται, ἐπειδὰν ἐρωτήσωσι
τί οὖν χρὴ ποιεῖν; οἷς ἐγὼ μὲν τὸ δικαιότατον καὶ ἀληθέστατον τοῦτʼ ἀποκρινοῦμαι, ταῦτα μὴ ποιεῖν ἃ νυνὶ ποιεῖτε, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἀκριβῶς ἐρῶ.
Now indeed there are some who think to refute the speaker when they ask, "What then must we do?" To them, I will give this most just and true answer: not to do these things which you are doing now; however, I will also speak of each detail precisely.
καὶ ὅπως, ὥσπερ ἐρωτῶσι προθύμως, οὕτω καὶ ποιεῖν ἐθελήσουσιν.
And just as they ask eagerly, so may they also be willing to act.
§39πρῶτον μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοῦτο παρʼ ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς βεβαίως γνῶναι, ὅτι τῇ πόλει Φίλιππος πολεμεῖ καὶ τὴν εἰρήνην λέλυκεν (καὶ παύσασθε περὶ τούτου κατηγοροῦντες ἀλλήλων) καὶ κακόνους μέν ἐστι καὶ ἐχθρὸς ὅλῃ τῇ πόλει καὶ τῷ τῆς πόλεως ἐδάφει, §40προσθήσω δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἐν τῇ πόλει πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις, καὶ τοῖς μάλιστʼ οἰομένοις αὐτῷ χαρίζεσθαι (εἰ δὲ μή, σκεψάσθων Εὐθυκράτη καὶ Λασθένη τοὺς Ὀλυνθίους, οἳ δοκοῦντες οἰκειότατʼ αὐτῷ διακεῖσθαι, ἐπειδὴ τὴν πόλιν προὔδοσαν, πάντων κάκιστʼ ἀπολώλασιν), οὐδενὶ μέντοι μᾶλλον ἢ τῇ πολιτείᾳ πολεμεῖ οὐδʼ ἐπιβουλεύει, καὶ σκοπεῖ μᾶλλον οὐδὲ ἓν τῶν πάντων, ἢ πῶς ταύτην καταλύσει.
First of all, men of Athens, you must firmly resolve this within yourselves: that Philip is at war with the city and has broken the peace (and stop accusing each other about this), and that he is ill-disposed and an enemy to the whole city and to the very soil of the city, and I will add, even to all the people in the city, and to those who most of all believe they are gratifying him (if not, let them look at Euthycrates and Lasthenes the Olynthians, who, thinking they were on the most intimate terms with him, perished most miserably after they betrayed their city); however, he is at war with and plotting against nothing more than our constitution, and he considers nothing of all things more than how he shall destroy this.