§9ἢ νομίζετε τὸν μὲν καιρόν ποτʼ ἰσχύειν καὶ ἄνευ τοῦ δικαίου τὸ συμφέρον πράττειν· νυνὶ δʼ, ὅτʼ εἰς ταὐτὸν τὸ δίκαιον ἅμα καὶ ὁ καιρὸς καὶ τὸ συμφέρον συνδεδράμηκεν, ἄλλον ἄρα τινὰ χρόνον ἀναμενεῖτε τῆς ἰδίας ἐλευθερίας ἅμα καὶ τῆς τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων ἀντιλαβέσθαι;
Or do you think that opportunity once had power to secure advantage even without justice, but now, when justice, opportunity, and advantage have run together to the same point, you will wait for some other time to lay hold of your own freedom and at the same time that of the other Greeks?
§10ἐπʼ ἄλλο δὲ δίκαιον ἔρχομαι τῶν κατὰ τὰς συνθήκας.
I come to another point of justice according to the treaties.
ἔστι γὰρ γεγραμμένον, ἐάν τινες τὰς πολιτείας τὰς παρʼ ἑκάστοις οὔσας, ὅτε τοὺς ὅρκους τοὺς περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης ὤμνυσαν, καταλύωσι, πολεμίους εἶναι πᾶσι τοῖς τῆς εἰρήνης μετέχουσιν.
For it is written that, if any should overthrow the constitutions that existed in each state when they swore the oaths concerning the peace, they are to be enemies to all who share in the peace.
σκέψασθε δʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ὅτι Ἀχαιοὶ μὲν οἱ ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ ἐδημοκρατοῦντο, τούτων δʼ ἐν Πελλήνῃ νῦν καταλέλυκε τὸν δῆμον ὁ Μακεδὼν ἐκβαλὼν τῶν πολιτῶν τοὺς πλείστους, τὰ δʼ ἐκείνων τοῖς οἰκέταις δέδωκε, Χαίρωνα δὲ τὸν παλαιστὴν τύραννον ἐγκατέστησεν.
Consider, O men of Athens, that the Achaeans in the Peloponnese were living under democracy, and of these, the Macedonian has now overthrown the democracy in Pellene, having expelled most of the citizens, given their property to their slaves, and established Chaeron the wrestler as tyrant.
§11ἡμεῖς δὲ τῆς εἰρήνης μετέχομεν τῆς προσταττούσης πολεμίους ἡγεῖσθαι τοὺς ταῦτα πράττοντας.
And we share in the peace which commands us to consider those who do these things as enemies.
ἐκ δὴ τούτων πότερα πειθόμεθα τοῖς κοινοῖς προστάγμασι πολεμίοις αὐτοῖς χρώμενοι, ἢ βδελυρεύσεταί τις οὐ φάσκων, τούτων τῶν μισθοφορούντων παρὰ τοῦ Μακεδόνος, τῶν καθʼ ὑμῶν πεπλουτηκότων;
In view of this, do we obey the common commands by treating them as enemies, or will someone shamelessly deny it—one of those who receive pay from the Macedonian, who have grown rich at your expense?
§12οὐ γὰρ δὴ λέληθέ γʼ αὐτοὺς οὐδὲν τούτων· ἀλλʼ εἰς τοῦθʼ ὕβρεως ἥκουσιν ὥστε δορυφορούμενοι τοῖς τοῦ τυράννου στρατοπέδοις ἐν μὲν τοῖς παραβεβασμένοις ὅρκοις ἐμμένειν ὑμῖν διακελεύονται, ὡς καὶ τῆς ἐπιορκίας αὐτοκράτορος ὄντος ἐκείνου, τοὺς δʼ ἰδίους ὑμᾶς νόμους ἀναγκάζουσι λύειν, τοὺς μὲν κεκριμένους ἐν τοῖς δικαστηρίοις ἀφιέντες, ἕτερα δὲ παμπληθῆ τοιαῦτα βιαζόμενοι παρανομεῖν.
For indeed none of these things has escaped them; but they have reached such a pitch of insolence that, being escorted by the tyrant’s armies, they exhort you to abide by the oaths that have been violated, as though he also had full authority over perjury, while they force you to break your own laws, releasing those condemned in the courts, and compelling you to transgress the law in countless other such ways.
§13εἰκότως· τοῖς γὰρ πεπρακόσιν ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τἀναντία τοῖς τῇ πατρίδι συμφέρουσιν οὐκ ἔνι μέλειν νόμων οὐδʼ ὅρκων· τοῖς δʼ ὀνόμασι μόνον αὐτῶν ἀποχρώμενοι παρακρούονται τοὺς παρέργως ἐνταυθὶ ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐξεταστικῶς ἐκκλησιάζοντας, καὶ νομίζοντας τὴν παραυτίχʼ ἡσυχίαν οὐκ ἔσεσθαί ποτʼ αἰτίαν ταραχῆς ἀτόπου.
And naturally so; for those who have sold themselves contrary to the interests of their country cannot care for laws or oaths; they merely abuse their names to deceive those who attend the assembly here casually and not critically, and who think that the immediate quiet will never be the cause of strange trouble.
§14κελεύω δʼ ἔγωγε, καθάπερ ἐν ἀρχῇ προεῖπον, πείθεσθαι τούτοις τοῖς φάσκουσι δεῖν ἐν ταῖς κοιναῖς ὁμολογίαις ἐμμένειν, εἰ μὴ ἐκεῖνο νομίζουσιν, ὅταν μὲν λέγωσιν ὡς ἐμμενετέον τοῖς ὅρκοις, οὐ λέγειν αὐτοὺς τὸ μηδὲν ἀδικεῖσθαι, οὐδένα δʼ οἴονται αἰσθήσεσθαι, τυραννίδων ἀντὶ δημοκρατιῶν καθισταμένων καὶ τῶν πολιτειῶν καταλυομένων.
For my part, I command, just as I said at the beginning, to obey those who claim we must abide by the common agreements, unless they think that, when they say we must abide by the oaths, they are not saying we should suffer no injustice, and they think no one will notice when tyrancies are established instead of democracies and constitutions are overthrown.
§15τὸ δʼ ἔτι καταγελαστότερον· ἔστι γὰρ ἐν ταῖς συνθήκαις ἐπιμελεῖσθαι τοὺς συνεδρεύοντας καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τῇ κοινῇ φυλακῇ τεταγμένους ὅπως ἐν ταῖς κοινωνούσαις πόλεσι τῆς εἰρήνης μὴ γίγνωνται θάνατοι καὶ φυγαὶ παρὰ τοὺς κειμένους ταῖς πόλεσι νόμους, μηδὲ χρημάτων δημεύσεις, μηδὲ γῆς ἀναδασμοί, μηδὲ χρεῶν ἀποκοπαί, μηδὲ δούλων ἀπελευθερώσεις ἐπὶ νεωτερισμῷ.
And what is still more ridiculous: it is written in the treaties that the councilors and those appointed for the common defense are to see to it that in the states sharing in the peace there should be no deaths and banishments contrary to the established laws of the states, nor confiscations of property, nor redistributions of land, nor cancellation of debts, nor freeing of slaves for the purpose of revolution.
οἱ δὲ τοσούτου δέουσι τούτων τι κωλύειν ὥστε καὶ συγκατασκευάζουσιν· οὓς πῶς οὐ προσήκει ἀπολωλέναι; οἳ τηλικαύτας συμφορὰς παρασκευάζουσιν ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν, ἃς διὰ τὸ μέγεθος αὐτοῖς τοσούτοις οὖσι μὴ περιορᾶν ἐπέταξαν.
But they are so far from preventing any of these things that they even help to bring them about; how is it not fitting that they should perish, who prepare such great calamities in the states, which, on account of their magnitude, the treaty commanded them, being so numerous, not to overlook?
§16ἔτι δʼ ἕτερον δείξω τὸ λελυκὸς τὰς συνθήκας.
And I will show another thing that has violated the treaties.
ἔστι γὰρ γεγραμμένον, ἐκ τῶν πόλεων τῶν κοινωνουσῶν τῆς εἰρήνης μὴ ἐξεῖναι φυγάδας ὁρμήσαντας ὅπλʼ ἐπιφέρειν ἐπὶ πολέμῳ ἐπὶ μηδεμίαν πόλιν τῶν μετεχουσῶν τῆς εἰρήνης· εἰ δὲ μή, ἔκσπονδον εἶναι τὴν πόλιν ἐξ ἧς ἂν ὁρμήσωσιν.
For it is written that it shall not be lawful for exiles, starting from the cities sharing in the peace, to bear arms for war against any city sharing in the peace; otherwise, the city from which they start shall be excluded from the treaty.
οὕτω τοίνυν ῥᾳδίως ἐπήνεγκε τὰ ὅπλʼ ὁ Μακεδὼν ὥστʼ οὐδὲ κατέθετο πώποτε, ἀλλʼ ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἔχων περιέρχεται καθʼ ὅσον δύναται, καὶ τοσούτῳ νῦν μᾶλλον ἢ πρότερον, ὅσῳ ἐκ προστάγματος ἄλλους θʼ ἑτέρωσε καὶ τὸν παιδοτρίβην εἰς Σικυῶνα κατήγαγεν.
Under these conditions, the Macedonian so easily took up arms that he never yet laid them down, but even now goes about keeping them as far as he can, and so much more now than before, as by command he has restored others to other places and the trainer to Sicyon.