§665μὰ Δίʼ οὐ μέντοι. §665bκαὶ ποῖ τρέπεται δὴ ʼπειτα τὰ χρήματα τἄλλα; §666ἐς τούτους τοὺς
οὐχὶ προδώσω τὸν Ἀθηναίων κολοσυρτόν, §667ἀλλὰ μαχοῦμαι περὶ τοῦ πλήθους ἀεί. σὺ γὰρ ὦ πάτερ αὐτοὺς §668ἄρχειν αἱρεῖ σαυτοῦ τούτοις τοῖς ῥηματίοις περιπεφθείς. §669κᾆθʼ οὗτοι μὲν δωροδοκοῦσιν κατὰ πεντήκοντα τάλαντα §670ἀπὸ τῶν πόλεων ἐπαπειλοῦντες τοιαυτὶ κἀναφοβοῦντες, §671δώσετε τὸν φόρον, ἢ βροντήσας τὴν πόλιν ὑμῶν ἀνατρέψω. §672σὺ δὲ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἀγαπᾷς τῆς σῆς τοὺς ἀργελόφους περιτρώγων. §673οἱ δὲ ξύμμαχοι ὡς ᾔσθηνται τὸν μὲν σύρφακα τὸν ἄλλον §674ἐκ κηθαρίον λαγαριζόμενον καὶ τραγαλιζοντα τὸ μηδέν, §675σὲ μὲν ἡγοῦνται Κόννου ψῆφον, τούτοισι δὲ δωροφοροῦσιν §676ὕρχας οἶνον δάπιδας τυρὸν μέλι σήσαμα προσκεφάλαια §677φιάλας χλανίδας στεφάνους ὅρμους ἐκπώματα πλουθυγιείαν· §678σοὶ δʼ ὧν ἄρχεις, πολλὰ μὲν ἐν γῇ πολλὰ δʼ ἐφʼ ὑγρᾷ πιτυλεύσας, §679οὐδεὶς οὐδὲ σκορόδου κεφαλὴν τοῖς ἑψητοῖσι δίδωσιν. §680μὰ Δίʼ ἀλλὰ παρʼ Εὐχαρίδου καὐτὸς τρεῖς γʼ ἄγλιθας μετέπεμψα. §681ἀλλʼ αὐτήν μοι τὴν δουλείαν οὐκ ἀποφαίνων ἀποκναίεις. §682οὐ γὰρ μεγάλη δουλεία ʼστὶν τούτους μὲν ἅπαντας ἐν ἀρχαῖς §683αὐτούς τʼ εἶναι καὶ τοὺς κόλακας τοὺς τούτων μισθοφοροῦντας; §684σοὶ δʼ ἤν τις δῷ τοὺς τρεῖς ὀβολούς, ἀγαπᾷς· οὓς αὐτὸς ἐλαύνων §685καὶ πεζομαχῶν καὶ πολιορκῶν ἐκτήσω πολλὰ πονήτας. §686καὶ πρὸς τούτοις ἐπιταττόμενος φοιτᾷς, ὃ μάλιστά μʼ ἀπάγχει, §687ὅταν εἰσελθὸν μειράκιόν σοι κατάπυγον, Χαιρέου υἱός, §688ὡδὶ διαβὰς διακινηθεὶς τῷ σώματι καὶ τρυφερανθείς, §689ἥκειν εἴπῃ πρῲ κἀν ὥρᾳ δικάσονθʼ, ὡς ὅστις ἂν ὑμῶν §690ὕστερος ἔλθῃ τοῦ σημείου, τὸ τριώβολον οὐ κομιεῖται· §691αὐτὸς δὲ φέρει τὸ συνηγορικὸν δραχμήν, κἂν ὕστερος ἔλθῃ· §692καὶ κοινωνῶν τῶν ἀρχόντων ἑτέρῳ τινὶ τῶν μεθʼ ἑαυτοῦ, §693ἤν τίς τι διδῷ τῶν φευγόντων, ξυνθέντε τὸ πρᾶγμα δύʼ ὄντε §694ἐσπουδάκατον, κᾆθʼ ὡς πρίονθʼ ὁ μὲν ἕλκει ὁ δʼ ἀντενέδωκε· §695σὺ δὲ χασκάζεις τὸν κωλακρέτην, τὸ δὲ πραττόμενόν σε λέληθεν.
By Zeus, indeed not! And where, then, does the rest of the money go? To those people, who say, 'I will not betray the Athenian rabble, but I will always fight for the multitude.' For you, father, choose that they should rule over you, cooked (gullible) by these little phrases. And then they take bribes of fifty talents from the cities, threatening them with such words and frightening them: 'Give the tribute, or I will thunder and overturn your city!' While you are content with your empire, nibbling the scraps (leftovers). And the allies, when they perceive that the rest of the rabble is getting nothing and starving from the voting-box, regard you as Connus's vote (worthless), and bring gifts to these leaders: jars of wine, carpets, cheese, honey, sesame, pillows, bowls, cloaks, crowns, necklaces, drinking cups, wealth and health; while to you, over whom you rule, having paddled much on land and much on the wet sea, no one gives even a head of garlic for your boiled fish. By Zeus, indeed I myself sent for three cloves of garlic from Eucharides! But you wear me out by not showing me the slavery itself. Is it not a great slavery for all of them to be in office, both themselves and their flatterers who receive pay from them? While if someone gives you the three obols, you are content; which you yourself acquired with much labor, marching, fighting on foot, and besieging. And besides this, you go about being ordered, which chokes me most of all, when some debauched youth enters, Chaireas's son, stepping out like this, swaying his body, and acting delicately, and tells you to come early and in time to judge, since whoever of you comes later than the sign will not receive the three obols; while he himself carries off the advocate's fee of a drachma, even if he comes late; and sharing with the rulers, together with another of his companions, if any of the defendants gives something, the two of them settle the matter and work zealously; and then, like men sawing, one pulls and the other gives way. But you gape at the Kolakretes, and what is being done escapes you. Do they do this to me?
§696ταυτί με ποιοῦσʼ; οἴμοι τί λέγεις;
Alas, what are you saying?
ὥς μου τὸν θῖνα ταράττεις, §697καὶ τὸν νοῦν μου προσάγεις μᾶλλον, κοὐκ οἶδʼ ὅ τι χρῆμά με ποιεῖς. §698σκέψαι τοίνυν ὡς ἐξόν σοι πλουτεῖν καὶ τοῖσιν ἅπασιν §699ὑπὸ τῶν ἀεὶ δημιζόντων οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπῃ ἐγκεκύκλησαι, §700ὅστις πόλεων ἄρχων πλείστων ἀπὸ τοῦ Πόντου μέχρι Σαρδοῦς §701οὐκ ἀπολαύεις πλὴν τοῦθʼ ὃ φέρεις ἀκαρῆ· καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐρίῳ σοι §702ἐνστάζουσιν κατὰ μικρὸν ἀεὶ τοῦ ζῆν ἕνεχʼ ὥσπερ ἔλαιον. §703βούλονται γάρ σε πένητʼ εἶναι· καὶ τοῦθʼ ὧν οὕνεκʼ ἐρῶ σοι, §704ἵνα γιγνώσκῃς τὸν τιθασευτήν, κᾆθʼ ὅταν οὗτός γʼ ἐπισίξῃ §705ἐπὶ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τινʼ ἐπιρρύξας, ἀγρίως αὐτοῖς ἐπιπηδᾷς. §706εἰ γὰρ ἐβούλοντο βίον πορίσαι τῷ δήμῳ, ῥᾴδιον ἦν ἄν. §707εἰσίν γε πόλεις χίλιαι αἳ νῦν τὸν φόρον ἡμῖν ἀπάγουσι· §708τούτων εἴκοσιν ἄνδρας βόσκειν εἴ τις προσέταξεν ἑκάστῃ, §709δύο μυριάδʼ ἂν τῶν δημοτικῶν ἔζων ἐν πᾶσι λαγῴοις §710καὶ στεφάνοισιν παντοδαποῖσιν καὶ πυριάτῃ, §711ἄξια τῆς γῆς ἀπολαύοντες καὶ τοῦ ʼν Μαραθῶνι τροπαίου. §712νῦν δʼ ὥσπερ ἐλαολόγοι χωρεῖθʼ ἅμα τῷ τὸν μισθὸν ἔχοντι.
How you stir up the depths of my soul, and draw my mind more, and I do not know what you are doing to me. Consider then, how, although it is possible for you and everyone to be rich, you have been penned in somehow by those who are always playing the friend of the people, you who, ruling over very many cities from the Black Sea to Sardinia, enjoy nothing except this tiny bit you carry; and this they drip on you with wool like oil, little by little, just to keep you alive. For they want you to be poor; and I will tell you why they do this, so that you may know your tamer, and then when he eggs you on against some of his enemies, you may leap upon them savagely. For if they wanted to provide a livelihood for the people, it would have been easy. There are a thousand cities which now bring us tribute; if someone ordered each of these to feed twenty men, twenty thousand of the common citizens would live in all kinds of hare-meat and wreaths of all sorts and colostrum-cake, enjoying benefits worthy of the land and the trophy at Marathon. But now, like olive-gatherers, you go about along with the one who has the pay. Alas, what have I suffered?
§713οἴμοι τί πέπονθʼ; ὡς νάρκη μου κατὰ τῆς χειρὸς καταχεῖται, §714καὶ τὸ ξίφος οὐ δύναμαι κατέχειν, ἀλλʼ ἤδη μαλθακός εἰμι. §715ἀλλʼ ὁπόταν μὲν δείσωσʼ αὐτοί, τὴν Εὔβοιαν διδόασιν §716ὑμῖν καὶ σῖτον ὑφίστανται κατὰ πεντήκοντα μεδίμνους §717ποριεῖν· ἔδοσαν δʼ οὐπώποτέ σοι πλὴν πρώην πέντε μεδίμνους, §718καὶ ταῦτα μόλις ξενίας φεύγων ἔλαβες κατὰ χοίνικα κριθῶν. §719ὧν οὕνεκʼ ἐγώ σʼ ἀπέκλῃον ἀεὶ
How a numbness pours down my hand, and I cannot hold my sword, but I am already soft. But whenever they themselves are afraid, they offer Euboea to you and promise to provide grain at fifty medimnoi each; but they never gave you any, except the other day, five medimnoi, and even this you barely received, barley by the choinix, while defending yourself against a charge of foreign birth. For which reason I always kept you locked up...