Demosthenes, On the Peace, James Herbert Vince (Translator), 13

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[13] Now there is one precaution which I think essential. If anyone proposes to negotiate for our city an alliance or a joint contribution¹ or anything of the sort, it must be done without detriment to the existing peace. I do not mean that the peace is a glorious one or even creditable to you, but, whatever we may think of it, it would better suit our purpose never to have made it than to violate it when made, because we have now sacrificed many advantages which would have made war safer and easier for us then than now.

On the Peace. Demosthenes. James Herbert Vince (Translator). London. 1930.

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Current edition Perseus

On the Peace (English) (Demosthenes, Vol. I: Olynthiacs, Philippics, Minor Public Speeches, Speech Against Leptines, I-XVII, XX. Vince, J. H., translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1930 (printing).)

Editions (1)

περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης Perseus (Demosthenes. Orationes, Vol. I. Butcher, S. H., editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903.) — 13 focus

[13] ἓν μὲν οὖν ἔγωγε πρῶτον ὑπάρχειν φημὶ δεῖν, ὅπως, εἴτε συμμάχους εἴτε σύνταξιν εἴτʼ ἄλλο τι βούλεταί τις κατασκευάζειν τῇ πόλει, τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν εἰρήνην μὴ λύων τοῦτο ποιήσει, οὐχ ὡς θαυμαστὴν οὐδʼ ὡς ἀξίαν οὖσαν ὑμῶν· ἀλλʼ ὁποία τίς ποτʼ ἐστὶν αὕτη, μὴ γενέσθαι μᾶλλον εἶχε τοῖς πράγμασι καιρὸν ἢ γεγενημένη νῦν διʼ ἡμᾶς λυθῆναι· πολλὰ γὰρ προείμεθα, ὧν ὑπαρχόντων τότʼ ἂν ἢ νῦν ἀσφαλέστερος καὶ ῥᾴων ἦν ἡμῖν ὁ πόλεμος.

Notes on the current edition

On the Peace

1. A euphemism under the second Athenian confederacy for the tribute ( φόρος) of the first.

Demosthenes On the Peace 13

James Herbert Vince (Translator)

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