§1Φίλιππος Ἀθηναίων τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ χαίρειν.
Philip to the council and the people of Athens, greeting.
ἐπειδὴ πολλάκις μου πρέσβεις ἀποστείλαντος, ἵνʼ ἐμμείνωμεν τοῖς ὅρκοις καὶ ταῖς ὁμολογίαις, οὐδεμίαν ἐποιεῖσθʼ ἐπιστροφήν, ᾤμην δεῖν πέμψαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὑπὲρ ὧν ἀδικεῖσθαι νομίζω.
Since, although I have often sent envoys in order that we might abide by our oaths and agreements, you have paid no attention, I thought it necessary to send to you concerning the matters in which I consider myself wronged.
μὴ θαυμάσητε δὲ τὸ μῆκος τῆς ἐπιστολῆς· πολλῶν γὰρ ὑπαρχόντων ἐγκλημάτων ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων δηλῶσαι καθαρῶς.
Do not be surprised at the length of this letter; for since there are many grievances, it is necessary to make a clear statement about them all.
§2πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ Νικίου τοῦ κήρυκος ἁρπασθέντος ἐκ τῆς χώρας τῆς ἐμῆς, οὐχ ὅτι τοῖς παρανομοῦσιν ἐπετιμήσατε τὴν δίκην, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀδικούμενον εἵρξατε δέκα μῆνας· ἃς δʼ ἔφερε παρʼ ἡμῶν ἐπιστολάς, ἀνέγνωτʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος.
For first, when Nicias the herald was carried off from my territory, you did not punish the lawbreakers, but you imprisoned the injured party for ten months; and the letters which he was carrying from us, you read aloud on the rostrum.
ἔπειτα Θασίων ὑποδεχομένων τὰς Βυζαντίων τριήρεις καὶ τῶν λῃστῶν τοὺς βουλομένους οὐδὲν ἐφροντίζετε, τῶν συνθηκῶν διαρρήδην λεγουσῶν πολεμίους εἶναι τοὺς ταῦτα ποιοῦντας.
Secondly, when the Thasians were harboring the triremes of the Byzantines and any pirates who wished, you cared nothing, although the treaty expressly states that those who do these things are enemies.
§3ἔτι τοίνυν περὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους Διοπείθης ἐμβαλὼν εἰς τὴν χώραν Κρωβύλην μὲν καὶ τὴν Τιρίστασιν ἐξηνδραποδίσατο, τὴν δὲ προσεχῆ Θρᾴκην ἐπόρθησε, τέλος δʼ εἰς τοῦτʼ ἦλθε παρανομίας ὥστʼ Ἀμφίλοχον ὑπὲρ τῶν αἰχμαλώτων ἐλθόντα πρεσβευτὴν συλλαβὼν καὶ τὰς ἐσχάτας ἀνάγκας ἐπιθεὶς ἀπελύτρωσε ταλάντων ἐννέα· καὶ ταῦτα τῷ δήμῳ συνδοκοῦντʼ ἐποίησεν.
Furthermore, about the same time, Diopeithes, having invaded my territory, enslaved Crobyle and Tiristasis, and ravaged the adjacent part of Thrace, and finally reached such a pitch of lawlessness that he seized Amphilochus, who had come as an envoy on behalf of the prisoners, and having inflicted extreme tortures on him, ransomed him for nine talents; and this he did with the approval of your assembly.
§4καίτοι τὸ παρανομεῖν εἰς κήρυκα καὶ πρέσβεις τοῖς ἄλλοις τε πᾶσιν ἀσεβὲς εἶναι δοκεῖ καὶ μάλισθʼ ὑμῖν· Μεγαρέων γοῦν Ἀνθεμόκριτον ἀνελόντων εἰς τοῦτʼ ἐλήλυθεν ὁ δῆμος ὥστε μυστηρίων μὲν εἶργον αὐτούς, ὑπομνήματα δὲ τῆς ἀδικίας ἔστησαν ἀνδριάντα πρὸ τῶν πυλῶν.
And yet, to violate the laws against heralds and envoys is considered impious by all other people, and most of all by you; at all events, when the Megarians put Anthemocritus to death, your people went so far as to exclude them from the mysteries, and erected a statue before their gates as a memorial of the outrage.
καίτοι πῶς οὐ δεινόν, ἐφʼ οἷς παθόντες οὕτως ἐμισήσατε τοὺς δράσαντας, νῦν αὐτοὺς φαίνεσθαι ποιοῦντας;
And yet, is it not monstrous that you themselves are now seen to be doing those things for which, when you suffered them, you so deeply hated the perpetrators?
§5Καλλίας τοίνυν ὁ παρʼ ὑμῶν στρατηγὸς τὰς μὲν πόλεις τὰς ἐν τῷ Παγασίτῃ κόλπῳ κατοικουμένας ἔλαβεν ἁπάσας, ὑμῖν μὲν ἐνόρκους, ἐμοὶ δὲ συμμαχίδας οὔσας, τοὺς δʼ εἰς Μακεδονίαν πλέοντας ἐπώλει πάντας πολεμίους κρίνων· καὶ διὰ ταῦθʼ ὑμεῖς ἐπῃνεῖτʼ αὐτὸν ἐν τοῖς ψηφίσμασιν.
Furthermore, Callias, your general, took all the cities situated on the Pagasaean Gulf, which were bound to you by oath, but were allies of mine; and he sold all those sailing to Macedonia, judging them to be enemies; and for these things you praised him in your decrees.
ὥστʼ ἔγωγʼ ἀπορῶ τί ποτʼ ἔσται καινότερον, ἐὰν ὁμολογήσητέ μοι πολεμεῖν· καὶ γὰρ ὅτε φανερῶς διεφερόμεθα, λῃστὰς ἐξεπέμπετε καὶ τοὺς πλέοντας ὡς ἡμᾶς ἐπωλεῖτε, τοῖς ἐναντίοις ἐβοηθεῖτε, τὴν χώραν μου κακῶς ἐποιεῖτε.
So that I am at a loss to know what more you could do that would be new, if you should formally declare war on me; for even when we were openly at variance, you sent out pirates, sold those sailing to us, assisted our opponents, and ravaged my territory.
§6χωρὶς τοίνυν εἰς τοῦτο παρανομίας ἀφῖχθε καὶ δυσμενείας ὥστε καὶ πρὸς τὸν Πέρσην πρέσβεις ἀπεστάλκατε πείσοντας αὐτὸν ἐμοὶ πολεμεῖν· ὃ μάλιστʼ ἄν τις θαυμάσειεν.
Moreover, you have reached such a pitch of lawlessness and hostility that you have even sent envoys to the Persian king to persuade him to make war on me; which is what one might wonder at most of all.
πρὸ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ λαβεῖν αὐτὸν Αἴγυπτον καὶ Φοινίκην ἐψηφίσασθε, ἂν ἐκεῖνός τι νεωτερίζῃ, παρακαλεῖν ὁμοίως ἐμὲ καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους Ἕλληνας ἅπαντας ἐπʼ αὐτόν· §7νῦν δὲ τοσοῦτον ὑμῖν περίεστι τοῦ πρὸς ἐμὲ μίσους ὥστε πρὸς ἐκεῖνον διαλέγεσθε περὶ τῆς ἐπιμαχίας.
For before he captured Egypt and Phoenicia, you voted that, if he made any hostile movement, you would call upon me, as well as all the other Greeks, to join against him; but now your hatred towards me is so excessive that you are negotiating with him for a defensive alliance.
καίτοι τὸ παλαιὸν οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν, ὡς ἐγὼ πυνθάνομαι, τοῖς Πεισιστρατίδαις ἐπετίμων ὡς ἐπάγουσι τὸν Πέρσην ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἕλληνας· ὑμεῖς δʼ οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθε ταῦτα ποιοῦντες ἃ διετελεῖτε τοῖς τυράννοις ἐγκαλοῦντες.
And yet, in the old days, your ancestors, as I am informed, used to censure the Pisistratidae for bringing the Persian against the Greeks; yet you are not ashamed to do those very things for which you were constantly blaming the tyrants.
§8ἀλλὰ πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις καὶ γράφετʼ ἐν τοῖς ψηφίσμασιν ἐμοὶ προστάττοντες Τήρην καὶ Κερσοβλέπτην ἐᾶν Θρᾴκης ἄρχειν, ὡς ὄντας Ἀθηναίους.
But, in addition to everything else, you even write in your decrees ordering me to allow Teres and Cersobleptes to rule over Thrace, on the ground that they are Athenians.
ἐγὼ δὲ τούτους οὔτε τῶν περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης συνθηκῶν οἶδα μετασχόντας ὑμῖν οὔτʼ ἐν ταῖς στήλαις ἀναγεγραμμένους οὔτʼ Ἀθηναίους ὄντας, ἀλλὰ Τήρην μὲν μετʼ ἐμοῦ στρατευόμενον ἐφʼ ὑμᾶς, Κερσοβλέπτην δὲ τοῖς παρʼ ἐμοῦ πρεσβευταῖς ἰδίᾳ μὲν τοὺς ὅρκους ὀμόσαι προθυμούμενον, κωλυθέντα δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν ὑμετέρων στρατηγῶν ἀποφαινόντων αὐτὸν Ἀθηναίων ἐχθρόν.
But I do not know of these men as having participated with you in the treaty of peace, nor as being inscribed on the stone pillars, nor as being Athenians; but, on the contrary, Teres has been campaigning with me against you, and Cersobleptes was eager to take the oaths privately to my envoys, but was prevented by your own generals, who declared him to be an enemy of the Athenians.