Demosthenes

Demosthenes (384-322 bc), greatest orator of ancient Greece, who led the Athenian opposition to Macedonia. He was born in the deme of Paeonia, near Athens. His father died when the boy was seven years old, leaving a fortune in trust for his son. As soon as Demosthenes came of age, he prosecuted the trustees, who had attempted to defraud him. He succeeded in retrieving only a portion of his inheritance, however, and turned to the profession of writing speeches for use in private legal suits. According to his biographers he was afflicted with a speech impediment, and his attempts to deliver his own speeches were so unsuccessful that he resorted to unusual means to overcome his defect, including the practice of shouting against the surf and orating with pebbles in his mouth.

Although Demosthenes continued in private law practice, he became increasingly interested in public affairs. He devoted himself to the revival of public spirit in Athens and to the preservation of Greek culture. Most of his major orations were directed against the growing power of King Philip II of Macedon, which he saw as a menace not only to Athens but to the liberty of all Greek city-states. The theme of his first speech against Philip, known as the First Philippic (351 bc), was preparedness. Two years later Philip attacked Olynthus, an ally of Athens, and in three speeches, called the Olynthiacs, Demosthenes urged Athens to help its ally. When Olynthus was destroyed, Demosthenes was among those sent (346 bc) to negotiate peace between Athens and Philip. During the next eight years, however, he continued his warnings against Macedonian encroachments. Among his orations of this period were the Second Philippic; a speech, known as On the False Embassy, against Aeschines, a rival orator and supporter of Philip; and the Third Philippic, considered the best of this group, demanding resolute action against Philip. Largely through the efforts of Demosthenes, Philip's attempt (340 bc) to capture Byzantium (now İstanbul) was delayed. Despite an alliance between Thebes and Athens, cities long hostile to each other, Philip defeated the allies at Chaeronea in 338 bc. Demosthenes continued to speak for liberation even after Macedonia's conquest of Greece. In 336 bc the orator Ctesiphon proposed that Athens honour Demosthenes for his services to the city by presenting him, according to custom, with a golden crown. This proposal became a political issue, and in 330 bc on a legal technicality, Aeschines prosecuted Ctesiphon for having offered the crown. In his brilliant speech On the Crown, Demosthenes not only defended Ctesiphon but also attacked those who would have preferred peace with Macedon. As a result, Ctesiphon was acquitted and Aeschines forced into exile.

In 324 bc Demosthenes was convicted, probably unjustly, of accepting a bribe from Harpalus, to whom Philip's son, Alexander the Great, had entrusted huge treasures and who had absconded and found refuge in Athens. After Alexander's death in 323 bc Demosthenes again urged the Greeks to free themselves from Macedonian control, but Alexander's successor, Antipater, quelled all resistance and demanded that the Athenians turn over Demosthenes and other leading patriots to him. When the Athenian assembly adopted a decree condemning the patriots to death, Demosthenes escaped to a sanctuary on the island of Calauria, where he committed suicide. The fame of his speeches continued down the ages, inspiring the Roman orator Cicero, among others, for his speeches against Mark Antony after the death of Julius Caesar.