Demosthenes, On the False Embassy, Charles Anthony Vince (Translator), James Herbert Vince (Translator), 44

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[44] Now when I heard him making all these fine promises, and knew to a certainty that he was lying,—but let me tell you why I knew. First, because, when Philip was on the point of swearing the oath of ratification, the Phocians were expressly excluded from the treaty by these men and that exclusion should have been passed over in silence, if the Phocians were to be delivered;¹ and secondly because none of the ambassadors from Philip, nor Philip’s own letter, but only Aeschines, mentioned the promises.

On the False Embassy. Demosthenes. Charles Anthony Vince (Translator), James Herbert Vince (Translator). London. 1926.

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Current edition Perseus

On the Embassy (English) (Demosthenes, Vol. II: De Corona, De Falsa Legatione, XVIII, XIX. Vince, C. A. and Vince, J. H., translators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1926 (1939 reprint).)

Editions (1)

περὶ τῆς παραπρεσβείας Perseus (Demosthenes. Orationes, Vol. I. Butcher, S. H., editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903.) — 44 focus

[44] ἀκούων τοίνυν ἐγὼ τηλικαῦτα καὶ τοιαῦτʼ ἐπαγγελλομένου τούτου, καὶ ἀκριβῶς εἰδὼς ὅτι ψεύδεται, —καὶ ὅθεν, φράσω πρὸς ὑμᾶς, πρῶτον μὲν ἐκ τοῦ, ὅτε τοὺς ὅρκους ἔμελλε Φίλιππος ὀμνύναι τοὺς περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης, ἐκσπόνδους ἀποφανθῆναι τοὺς Φωκέας ὑπὸ τούτων, ὃ σιωπᾶν καὶ ἐᾶν εἰκὸς ἦν, εἴπερ ἔμελλον σῴζεσθαι· ἔπειτʼ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ τοὺς παρὰ τοῦ Φιλίππου πρέσβεις ταῦτα λέγειν μηδὲ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν τὴν Φιλίππου,

Notes on the current edition

On the False Embassy

1. The clause excluding the Phocians from the benefit of the peace had been rescinded by the Assembly (See Dem. 19.159 ). Aeschines and his friends were therefore acting ultra vires in restoring the clause, when they administered the oath. Had they been really convinced that Philip intended to spare the Phocians, they would have retained the more general phrase, the Athenians and their allies. It is more probable that Philip himself insisted on excluding the Phocians, and the ambassadors were as powerless as the Roman senators before Alaric.

Demosthenes On the False Embassy 44

Charles Anthony Vince (Translator), James Herbert Vince (Translator)

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