§16τῶν δʼ Ἀθηναίων λιμένων καὶ νεωρίων καὶ τριήρων καὶ τόπου καὶ δόξης, ὧν μήτʼ ἐκείνῳ μήτʼ ἄλλῳ γένοιτο μηδενὶ χειρωσαμένῳ τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἡμετέραν κυριεῦσαι, οὐκ ἐπιθυμεῖν, ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὑμᾶς ἐάσειν ἔχειν, ὑπὲρ δὲ τῶν μελινῶν καὶ τῶν ὀλυρῶν τῶν ἐν τοῖς Θρᾳκίοις σιροῖς ἐν τῷ βαράθρῳ χειμάζειν.
And that he has no desire for the Athenian harbors, docks, triremes, location, and glory—which may neither he nor any other ever become master of by conquering our city!—but will leave you to possess these, while he himself winters in that abyss for the sake of the millet and spelt in the Thracian silos.
§17οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνʼ ὑπὲρ τοῦ τούτων γίγνεσθαι κύριος καὶ τἄλλα πάντα πραγματεύεται.
This is not so; rather, he is scheming both for those former places and all other things in order to become master of these.
ταῦτα τοίνυν ἕκαστον εἰδότα καὶ γιγνώσκοντα παρʼ αὑτῷ δεῖ μὰ Δίʼ οὐ γράψαι κελεύειν πόλεμον τὸν τὰ βέλτιστʼ ἐπὶ πᾶσι δικαίοις συμβουλεύοντα· τοῦτο μὲν γάρ ἐστι λαβεῖν ὅτῳ πολεμήσετε βουλομένων, οὐχ ἃ τῇ πόλει συμφέρει πράττειν.
Therefore, everyone knowing and recognizing this in his own mind must not, by Zeus, call upon the one who advises the best on all just grounds to propose war; for to do this is only to provide those who wish to plot with a target of whom you will make war upon, not to do what is advantageous for the city.
§18ὁρᾶτε γάρ. εἰ διʼ ἃ πρῶτα παρεσπόνδησε Φίλιππος ἢ δεύτερʼ ἢ τρίτα (πολλὰ γάρ ἐστιν ἐφεξῆς) ἔγραψέ τις αὐτῷ πολεμεῖν, ὁ δʼ ὁμοίως ὥσπερ νῦν, οὐ γράφοντος οὐδενὸς ὑμῶν πόλεμον, Καρδιανοῖς ἐβοήθει, οὐκ ἂν ἀνηρπασμένος ἦν ὁ γράψας, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πάντες ᾐτιῶντʼ ἂν αὐτὸν Καρδιανοῖς βεβοηθηκέναι;
For look: if, because of Philip's first or second or third treaty-breaking (for there are many in succession), someone had proposed to make war on him, and he, just as now when no one of you is proposing war, had assisted the Cardians, would not the proposer have been torn to pieces, and because of this, would not everyone have blamed him for having brought aid to the Cardians?
§19μὴ τοίνυν ζητεῖθʼ ὅντινʼ ἀνθʼ ὧν Φίλιππος ἐξαμαρτάνει μισήσετε καὶ τοῖς παρʼ ἐκείνου μισθαρνοῦσι διασπάσασθαι παραβαλεῖτε· μηδʼ αὐτοὶ χειροτονήσαντες πόλεμον βούλεσθε παρʼ αὐτοῖς ὑμῖν ἐρίζειν, εἰ δέον ἢ μὴ δέον ὑμᾶς τοῦτο πεποιηκέναι·
Do not, therefore, look for someone whom you will hate in place of Philip's wrongdoings, and throw to those who receive bribes from him to tear to pieces; nor, having voted for war yourselves, wish to dispute among yourselves whether it was necessary or not for you to have done this.
ἀλλʼ ὃν ἐκεῖνος πολεμεῖ τρόπον, τοῦτον μιμεῖσθε, τοῖς μὲν ἀμυνομένοις ἤδη χρήματα καὶ τἄλλʼ ὅσων δέονται διδόντες, αὐτοὶ δʼ εἰσφέροντες, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ κατασκευαζόμενοι στράτευμα, τριήρεις ταχείας, ἵππους, ἱππαγωγούς, τἄλλʼ ὅσʼ εἰς πόλεμον·
Rather, imitate the way he makes war, by giving money and whatever else they need to those who are already defending themselves, and yourselves, men of Athens, contributing funds and organizing an army, fast triremes, horses, horse-transports, and everything else needed for war.
§20ἐπεὶ νῦν γε γέλως ἔσθʼ ὡς χρώμεθα τοῖς πράγμασι, καὶ Φίλιππον δʼ αὐτὸν οὐδὲν ἂν ἄλλʼ οἶμαι μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς εὔξασθαι ποιεῖν τὴν πόλιν ἢ ταῦθʼ ἃ νῦν ποιεῖτε· ὑστερίζετε, ἀναλίσκετε· ὅτῳ παραδώσετε τὰ πράγματα ζητεῖτε, δυσχεραίνετε· ἀλλήλους αἰτιᾶσθε.
For as it is, our way of dealing with affairs is a laughing-stock; and by the gods, I believe Philip himself would pray for the city to do nothing else than what you are doing now: you are late, you waste money, you look for someone to whom you will hand over affairs, you are disgruntled, and you blame one another.
ἀφʼ οὗ δὲ ταῦτα γίγνεται ἐγὼ διδάξω, καὶ ὅπως παύσεται λέξω.
From what cause this arises, I will teach you, and how it will stop, I will tell.
§21οὐδὲν πώποτʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῶν πραγμάτων ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐνεστήσασθʼ οὐδὲ κατεσκευάσασθʼ ὀρθῶς, ἀλλὰ τὸ συμβαῖνον ἀεὶ διώκετε, εἶτʼ ἐπειδὰν ὑστερίσητε παύεσθε· ἕτερον πάλιν ἂν συμβῇ τι παρασκευάζεσθε καὶ θορυβεῖσθε.
Never yet, men of Athens, have you organized or prepared affairs correctly from the beginning, but you always pursue what happens, and then when you are late, you stop; and if another thing happens, you prepare again and make a bustle.
§22τὸ δʼ οὐχ οὕτως ἔχει· οὐκ ἔνεστι βοηθείαις χρωμένους οὐδὲν τῶν δεόντων ποτὲ πρᾶξαι, ἀλλὰ κατασκευάσαντας δεῖ δύναμιν, καὶ τροφὴν ταύτῃ πορίσαντας καὶ ταμίας καὶ δημοσίους, καὶ ὅπως ἔνι τὴν τῶν χρημάτων φυλακὴν ἀκριβεστάτην γενέσθαι, οὕτω ποιήσαντας, τὸν μὲν τῶν χρημάτων λόγον παρὰ τούτων λαμβάνειν, τὸν δὲ τῶν ἔργων παρὰ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ, καὶ μηδεμίαν πρόφασιν τοῦ πλεῖν ἄλλοσε ἢ πράττειν ἄλλο τι τῷ στρατηγῷ καταλείπειν.
But it is not so; it is not possible ever to do any of the necessary things by relying on ad-hoc assistance, but you must organize a force, provide maintenance for it, appoint treasurers and public clerks, and having made sure that the custody of the funds is as strict as possible, receive the account of the money from them, and the account of the deeds from the general, leaving no pretext for the general to sail elsewhere or to do anything else.
§23ἂν οὕτω ποιήσητε καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐθελήσηθʼ ὡς ἀληθῶς, ἄγειν εἰρήνην δικαίαν καὶ μένειν ἐπὶ τοῦ τόπου Φίλιππον ἀναγκάσετε, ἢ πολεμήσετʼ ἐξ ἴσου· καὶ ἴσως ἄν, ἴσως, ὥσπερ νῦν ὑμεῖς πυνθάνεσθε τί ποιεῖ Φίλιππος καὶ ποῖ πορεύεται, οὕτως ἂν ἐκεῖνος φροντίσαι ποῖ ποθʼ ἡ τῆς πόλεως ἀπῆρκεν δύναμις καὶ ποῦ φανήσεται.
If you do this and genuinely wish it, you will compel Philip either to observe a just peace and remain in his own place, or you will wage war on equal terms; and perhaps, perhaps, just as you now ask what Philip is doing and where he is marching, so he would anxiously ponder where on earth the city's force has departed for and where it will appear.
§24εἰ δέ τῳ δοκεῖ ταῦτα καὶ δαπάνης πολλῆς καὶ πόνων πολλῶν καὶ πραγματείας εἶναι, καὶ μάλʼ ὀρθῶς δοκεῖ· ἀλλʼ ἐὰν λογίσηται τὰ τῇ πόλει μετὰ ταῦτα γενησόμενα, ἐὰν ταῦτα μὴ ἐθέλῃ ποιεῖν, εὑρήσει λυσιτελοῦν τὸ ἑκόντας ποιεῖν τὰ δέοντα.
If it seems to anyone that these things require both great expense and great labor and trouble, it seems indeed very rightly so; but if he calculates what will happen to the city after this if she is unwilling to do these things, he will find it advantageous to do what is necessary voluntarily.
εἰ μὲν γάρ ἐστί τις ἐγγυητὴς ὑμῖν θεῶν (οὐ γὰρ ἀνθρώπων γʼ οὐδεὶς ἂν γένοιτʼ ἀξιόχρεως τηλικούτου πράγματος) ὡς, ἐὰν ἄγηθʼ ἡσυχίαν καὶ ἅπαντα προῆσθε, οὐκ ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ὑμᾶς τελευτῶν ἐκεῖνος ἥξει, §25αἰσχρὸν μὲν νὴ τὸν Δία καὶ πάντας θεοὺς καὶ ἀνάξιον ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων τῇ πόλει καὶ πεπραγμένων τοῖς προγόνοις, τῆς ἰδίας ῥᾳθυμίας ἕνεκα τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας Ἕλληνας εἰς δουλείαν προέσθαι, καὶ ἔγωγε αὐτὸς μὲν τεθνάναι μᾶλλον ἂν ἢ ταῦτʼ εἰρηκέναι βουλοίμην·
For if some god is a guarantor to you—for no human being could become a worthy guarantor of so great a matter—that if you keep quiet and surrender everything, he will not come at last against you yourselves, by Zeus and all the gods, it is a shameful thing and unworthy of you, of the resources of the city, and of the deeds of your ancestors, for the sake of your own indolence to surrender all the other Greeks into slavery; and for my part, I would rather die than have said such a thing.