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VI.

AESCHINES

Aeschines was the son of Atrometus,¹ who was exiled in the time of the Thirty and helped to restore the democracy, and of Glaucothea. He belonged to the deme of the Cothocidae and was not of distinguished family or great wealth. When he was young and physically strong he worked hard in the gymnasia; and afterwards, since he had a clear voice, he practised tragedy; and according to Demosthenes² he was for a long time under-secretary and regularly played as a third-rate actor with Aristodemus at the Dionysiac festivals,³ repeating the old tragedies⁴ in his spare time. And while still a child he helped his father to teach letters, and as a young man he served in the patrol of the frontiers. After studying with Isocrates and Plato, as some say, but with Leodamas according to Caecilius,⁵ he was prominent in public life in the party opposed to that of Demosthenes, and was sent on many embassies, among them the one to Philip concerning the peace.⁶ For this he was accused by Demosthenes of having destroyed the Phocian nation and moreover of having stirred up war between the Amphissians, who were building the harbour when he was chosen as delegate to the Amphictyonic Council, and the Amphictyons; as a result of which the Amphictyons turned to Philip for protection, and he, assisted by Aeschines, took matters in hand and conquered Phocis. But through the aid of Eubulus, son of Spintharus, of the deme of Probalinthus, who had influence with the people, he was acquitted by thirty votes; but some say that though the orators composed their speeches, yet the suit never came to trial because the battle of Chaeroneia intervened.⁷ At a later time, when Philip was dead and Alexander was crossing over to Asia, he brought a suit against Ctesiphon for illegal conduct in proposing the honours for Demosthenes; and when he did not receive one-fifth of the votes cast, he went into exile at Rhodes, not being willing to pay a fine of a thousand drachmas for his defeat.⁸ But some say that he was further punished by disfranchisement and did not leave the city of his own accord, and that he went to Alexander at Ephesus. During the confusion following Alexander’s death he sailed to Rhodes, set up a school there, and taught. He read to the Rhodians his oration against Ctesiphon as an exhibition of his powers, and when they all wondered that after delivering that speech he had lost his case, You would not wonder, Rhodians, he said, if you had heard Demosthenes speak in reply to it. And he left a school behind him there, called the Rhodian school. Then he sailed to Samos and not long after, while lingering on that island, died. He had an excellent voice, as is clear from what Demosthenes says⁹ and from the oration of Demochares.

Four orations are current under his name: that Against Timarchus, that On the False Legation,¹⁰ and that Against Ctesiphon,¹¹ and these alone are genuine, since the one entitled the Delian Oration is not by Aeschines; for he was, to be sure, appointed associate advocate in the trial relating to the sanctuary at Delos, but he did not deliver the speech; for Hypereides was elected in his place, as Demosthenes says.¹² He had, as he himself says,¹³ two brothers, Aphobetus and Philochares. He was the first to bring to the Athenians the news of the victory at Tamynae, for which he was crowned a second time.

Some have said that Aeschines did not study under any teachers, but rose from the under-clerkship in the courts, which he held at that time. And they say that his first speech before the people was against Philip, by which he gained such reputation as to be chosen envoy to the Arcadians; and when he came to them he raised the ten thousand troops with which to oppose Philip. He also prosecuted for unchastity Timarchus, who gave up the defence and hanged himself, as Demosthenes says somewhere.¹⁴ He was elected envoy to Philip with Ctesiphon and Demosthenes to treat for peace, on which occasion he was more successful than Demosthenes; and the second time, when he was one of ten,¹⁵ he confirmed the peace with oaths, was tried for it, and was acquitted, as has been said above.

Vitae decem oratorum. Plutarch. Harold North Fowler (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1936.

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Funding provided by The National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

The Lives of the Ten Orators (English) (Plutarch. Moralia, Vol. X. Fowler, Harold North, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1936 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Περὶ τῶν δέκα ἡτόρων Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia, Vol. V. Vernardakēs, Grēgorios N., editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1893.) — 6 focus

Αἰσχίνης

[1] 840a Αἰσχίνης Ἀτρομήτου, φυγόντος μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν τριάκοντα συγκαταγαγόντος δὲ τὸν δῆμον, καὶ Γλαυκοθέας· τῶν δὲ δήμων Κοθωκίδης, οὔτε κατὰ 15 γένος τῶν ἐπιφανῶν οὔτε κατὰ περιουσίαν χρημάτων. νέος δʼ ὢν καὶ ἐρρωμένος τῷ σώματι περὶ τὰ γυμνάσια ἐπόνει· λαμπρόφωνος δʼ ὢν μετὰ ταῦτα τραγῳδίαν ἤσκησεν ὡς δὲ Δημοσθένης φησίν, ὑπογραμματεύων καὶ τριταγωνιστῶν Ἀριστοδήμῳ ἐν 20 τοῖς Διονυσίοις διετέλει, ἀναλαμβάνων ἐπὶ σχολῆς 840b τὰς παλαιὰς τραγῳδίας καὶ ἔτι παῖς ὢν ἐδίδασκε γράμματα σὺν τῷ πατρί, καὶ μειράκιον ὢν ἐστρατεύετο ἐν τοῖς περιπόλοις. ἀκροατὴς δὲ γενόμενος ὡς μέν τινες λέγουσιν Ἰσοκράτους καὶ Πλάτωνος, 25 ὡς δὲ Καικίλιος Λεωδάμαντος, καὶ πολιτευόμενος; οὐκ ἀφανῶς ἐκ τῆς ἐναντίας μερίδος τοῖς περὶ Δημοσθένη, ἐπρέσβευσεν ἄλλας τε πρεσβείας πολλὰς καὶ πρὸς Φίλιππον ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰρήνης· ἐφʼ κατηγορήθη ὑπὸ Δημοσθένους ὡς ἀνῃρημένου τοῦ Φωκέων 5 ἔθνους, ἔτι δʼ ὡς πόλεμον ἐξάψας, ἡνίκα πυλαγόρας ᾑρέθη Ἀμφικτύοσι πρὸς Ἀμφισσεῖς τοὺς τὸν λιμένα ἐργαζομένους· ἐξ οὗ συνέβη τοὺς Ἀμφικτύονας 840c Φιλίππῳ προσφυγεῖν, τὸν δʼ ὑπὸ τοῦ Αἰσχίνου συνεργούμενον ἐπιθέσθαι τοῖς πράγμασι 10 καὶ τὴν Φωκίδα λαβεῖν· ἀλλὰ συνειπόντος αὐτῷ Εὐβούλου τοῦ Σπινθάρου Προβαλλουσίου δημαγωγοῦντος, τριάκοντα ψήφοις ἀπέφυγεν. εἰσὶ δʼ οἵ φασι συγγράψαι μὲν τοὺς ῥήτορας τοὺς λόγους· ἐμποδὼν δὲ γενομένων τῶν περὶ Χαιρώνειαν, μηκέτι 15 τὴν δίκην εἰσελθεῖν. χρόνῳ δʼ ὕστερον, Φιλίππου μὲν τετελευτηκότος Ἀλεξάνδρου δὲ διαβαίνοντος εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν, ἐγράψατο Κτησιφῶντα παρανόμων ἐπὶ ταῖς Δημοσθένους τιμαῖς· οὐ μεταλαβὼν δὲ τὸ πέμπτον μέρος τῶν ψήφων ἔφυγεν εἰς τὴν 20 Ῥόδον, χιλίας δραχμὰς ὑπὲρ τῆς ἥττης οὐ βουληθεὶς 840d καταθέσθαι. οἱ δʼ ἀτιμίας αὐτῷ προστιμηθῆναι λέγουσιν οὐ θέλοντι ἐξελθεῖν τῆς πόλεως, καὶ ἐλθεῖν εἰς Ἔφεσον ὡς Ἀλέξανδρον. τοῦ δὲ τελευτήσαντος, ταραχῆς οὔσης, ἀπάρας εἰς τὴν Ῥόδον ἐνταῦθα σχολὴν καταστησάμενος ἐδίδασκεν. ἀνέγνω τε τοῖς Ῥοδίοις τὸν κατὰ Κτησιφῶντος λόγον ἐπιδεικνύμενος· θαυμαζόντων δὲ πάντων εἰ ταῦτʼ εἰπὼν ἡττήθη 840e οὐκ ἄν ἔφη ἐθαυμάζετε, Ῥόδιοι, εἰ πρὸς ταῦτα 5 Δημοσθένους; λέγοντος ἠκούσατε σχολὴν τʼ ἐκεῖ προσκατέλιπε, τὸ Ῥοδιακὸν διδασκαλεῖον κληθέν. ἔπειτα πλεύσας εἰς Σάμον καὶ διατρίβων ἐπὶ τῆς νήσου ὀλίγον ὕστερον ἐτελεύτησεν. ἐγένετο δʼ εὔφωνος, ὡς δῆλον ἔκ τε ὧν φησι Δημοσθένης καὶ ἐκ 10 τοῦ Δημοχάρους λόγου. φέρονται δʼ αὐτοῦ λόγοι τέσσαρες, ὅ τε κατὰ Τιμάρχου καὶ ὁ τῆς Παραπρεσβείας καὶ ὁ κατὰ Κτησιφῶντος, οἳ καὶ μόνοι εἰσὶ γνήσιοι. ὁ γὰρ ἐπιγραφόμενος Δηλιακὸς οὐκ ἔστιν Αἰσχίνου· ἀπεδείχθη μὲν γὰρ ἐπὶ τὴν κρίσιν τὴν 15 περὶ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τοῦ ἐν Δήλῳ συσταθεὶς συνήγορος 840f οὐ μὴν εἶπε τὸν λόγον· ἐχειροτονήθη γὰρ Ὑπερείδης ἀντʼ αὐτοῦ, ὥς φησι Δημοσθένης. ἔσχε δὲ καὶ ἀδελφούς, ὥς φησιν αὐτός, Ἀφόβητον καὶ Φιλοχάρη. ἀπήγγειλε δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐν Ταμύναις νίκην πρῶτος 20 Ἀθηναίοις, ἐφʼ ᾧ καὶ ἐστεφανώθη τὸ δεύτερον. οἱ δʼ εἶπον μηδὲ μαθητεῦσαί τισι τὸν Αἰσχίνην, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῆς ὑπογραμματείας ἀρθῆναι ἐν τοῖς δικαστηρίοις τότε διάγοντα· πρῶτον δʼ εἰπεῖν ἐν τῷ δήμῳ κατὰ Φιλίππου, εὐδοκιμήσαντά τε πρεσβευτὴν χειροτονηθῆναι πρὸς Ἀρκάδας πρὸς οὓς ἀφικόμενον συστῆσαι 841a τοὺς μυρίους ἐπὶ Φίλιππον. ἐγράψατο δὲ καὶ Τίμαρχον ἑταιρήσεως· ὁ δ’ ἐκλιπὼν τὸν ἀγῶνα αὑτὸν 5 ἀνήρτησεν, ὥς πού φησι Δημοσθένης. ἐχειροτονήθη δὲ πρεσβευτὴς ὡς Φίλιππον μετὰ Κτησιφῶντος καὶ Δημοσθένους περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης, ἐν ἄμεινον τοῦ Δημοσθένους ἠνέχθη· τὸ δὲ δεύτερον δέκατος ὤν, κυρώσας ὅρκοις τὴν εἰρήνην, κριθεὶς ἀπέφυγεν, ὡς 10 προείρηται.

Translations (1)

Lives of the Ten Orators Perseus (Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals, Vol. V. Goodwin, William W., editor; Barcroft, Charles, translator. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company; Cambridge: Press of John Wilson and Son, 1874.) — 6 focus

VI.

AESCHINES.

HE was the son of Atrometus—who, being banished by the Thirty Tyrants, was thereby a means of reducing the commonwealth to the government of the people—and of his wife Glaucothea; by birth a Cothocidian. He was neither nobly born nor rich; but in his youth, being strong and well set, he addicted himself to all sorts of bodily exercises; and afterwards, having a very clear voice, he took to playing of tragedies, and if we may credit Demosthenes, he was a petty clerk, and also served Aristodemus as a player of third parts at the Bacchanalian festivals, in his times of leisure rehearsing the ancient tragedies. When he was but a boy, he was assisting to his father in teaching little children their letters, and when he was grown up, he listed himself a private soldier. Some think he was brought up under Socrates and Plato; but Caecilius will have it that Leodamas was his master. Being concerned in the affairs of the commonwealth, he openly acted in opposition to Demosthenes and his faction; and was employed in several embassies, and especially in one to Philip, to treat about articles of peace. For which Demosthenes accused him for being the cause of the overthrow and ruin of the Phocians, and the inflamer of war; which part he would have him thought to have acted when the Amphictyons chose him one of their deputies to the Amphissians who were building up the harbor [of Crissa]. On which the Amphictyons put themselves under Philip’s protection, who, being assisted by Aeschines, took the affair in hand, and soon conquered all Phocis.¹ But Aeschines, notwithstanding all that Demosthenes could do, being favored by Eubulus the son of Spintharus, a Probalisian, who pleaded in his behalf, carried his cause by thirty voices, and so was cleared. Though some tell us, that there were orations prepared by the orators, but the news of the conquest of Chaeronea put a stop to the present proceedings, and so the suit fell.

Some time after this, Philip being dead, and his son Alexander marching into Asia, Aeschines impeached Ctesiphon for acting against the laws, in passing a decree in favor of Demosthenes. But he having not the fifth part of the voices of the judges on his side, was forced to go in exile to Rhodes, because he would not pay his mulct of a thousand drachms. Others say, that he incurred disfranchisement also, because he would not depart the city, and that he went to Alexander at Ephesus. But upon the death of Alexander, when a tumult had been excited, he went to Rhodes, and there opened a school and taught. And on a time pronouncing the oration which he had formerly made against Ctesiphon, to pleasure the Rhodians, he did it with that grace, that they wondered how he could fail of carrying his cause if he pleaded so well for himself. But ye would not wonder, said he, that I was overthrown, if ye had heard Demosthenes pleading against me. He left a school behind him at Rhodes, which was afterwards called the Rhodian school. Thence he sailed to Samos, and there in a short time died. He had a very good voice, as both Demosthenes and Demochares testified of him.

Four orations bear his name, one of which was against Timarchus, another concerning false embassage, and a third against Ctesiphon, which three are really his own; but the fourth called Deliaca, is none of his; for though he was named to plead the cause of the temple at Delos, yet Demosthenes tells us that Hyperides was chosen in his stead.² He says himself, that he had two brothers, Aphobetus and Philochares. He was the first that brought the Athenians the news of the victory obtained at Tamynae, for which he was crowned for the second time. Some report that Aeschines was never any man’s scholar, but having passed his time chiefly in courts of justice, he raised himself from the office of clerk to that of orator. His first public appearance was in a speech against Philip; with which the people being pleased, he was immediately chosen to go ambassador to the Arcadians; and being come thither, he excited the Ten Thousand against Philip. He indicted Timarchus for profligacy; who, fearing the issue, deserted his cause and hanged himself, as Demosthenes somewhere informs us. Being employed with Ctesiphon and Demosthenes in an embassage to Philip to treat of peace, he appeared the most accomplished of the three. Another time also he was one of ten men sent in embassage to conclude a peace; and being afterwards called to answer for it, he was acquitted, as we said.

Notes on the current edition

The Lives of the Ten Orators

1. A catalogue of the tribe Oeneis, I.G. ² 2408, gives his full name: Ἀτρόμητος Αἰσχίνου Κοθοκίδης. It gives also the name of Aeschines’ son Ἀτρόμητος.

2. Demosthenes, xviii. 261; xix. 246. The festivals in question are those held in the small towns of Attica. Aristodemus was one of the most noted tragic actors of his time. Born at Metapontum, he was granted Athenian citizenship and was one of the envoys (among whom were Aeschines, Demosthenes, and Philocrates) who made the peace of Philocrates with Philip in 346 b.c.

3. More accurately in Photius, the dramatic festivals held in the small towns of Attica. For the ancient accounts of Aeschines’ career as an actor see O’Connor, Actors and Acting in Ancient Greece, pp. 74 ff. Kelly Rees, The Rule of Three Actors in the Classical Greek Drama, pp. 31 ff., has shown that the term tritagonist was invented by Demosthenes as an opprobrious epithet and it is applied in antiquity to not other actor than Aeschines; also that it meant, not actor of third-rate roles, but third-rate actor; Cf. Bekker, Anecdota, p. 309. 31 ἀδοκιμώτατος τῶν ὑποκριτῶν, ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ τάξει καταριθμούμενος.

4. Old tragedies are those which had been performed in Athens before.

5. But see below, 840 e, where the more probable statement is made that he had no teacher. Cf. the anonymous Life of Aeschines, 13, Quintilian, ii. 17. 12, and Blass, Die attische Beredsamkeit, 2nd ed., iii. p. 157.

6. Aeschines was sent in 347 and 346 b.c. on two embassies to Philip concerning peace. The second is probably the one especially referred to here. In his orations On the Peace (346 b.c.) and On the False Legation (343 b.c.) Demosthenes attacks Aeschines and his colleagues.

7. The author’s extreme brevity reduces to two sentences the events of about eight years. The acquittal of Aeschines took place in 343 b.c.

8. Anyone who brought a suit against another for proposing a measure forbidden by law was subject to a fine and was debarred from bringing any similar suit if he received less than one-fifth of the votes cast by the dicasts.

9. Demosthenes, xviii. ( On the Crown) 259, 308.

10. In L.C.L. Aeschines, pp. 15 ff.

11. Ibid. pp. 303 ff.

12. Demosthenes, xviii. ( On the Crown) p. 271, 134.

13. Aeschines, On the False Legation, 149.

14. Demosthenes xix. ( On the False Legation) 2 and 285.

15. Aeschines, On the False Legation, 178.

Plutarch Vitae decem oratorum 6

Harold North Fowler (Translator)

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VI.

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Αἰσχίνης

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