Demosthenes, On the False Embassy, Charles Anthony Vince (Translator), James Herbert Vince (Translator), 95

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And now that he is answerable for his misdeeds, and must stand his trial, being as he is a knave, a scoundrel, and—a government clerk,¹ he will conduct his defence as if he were on trial for the peace, not to make his justification broader than his indictment—that would be folly—but because he can see in his own acts nothing that is good, nothing that is not criminal, while a defence of the peace, if it has no other merit, will enable him to pose as a Friend of Humanity.

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.) — 95 focus

[95] εἶτʼ ἐπειδὴ δεῖ λόγον καὶ δίκην ὑπέχειν τῶν πεπραγμένων, ὤν, οἶμαι, πανοῦργος οὗτος καὶ θεοῖς ἐχθρὸς καὶ γραμματεύς, ὡς ὑπὲρ εἰρήνης κρινόμενος ἀπολογήσεται, οὐχ ἵνα πλειόνων ἢ κατηγορεῖ τις αὐτοῦ δῷ λόγον· μανία γὰρ τοῦτό γε· ἀλλʼ ὁρᾷ τοῦθʼ ὅτι ἐν μὲν τοῖς ὑφʼ αὑτοῦ πεπραγμένοις ἀγαθὸν μὲν οὐδέν ἐστιν, ἅπαντα δὲ τἀδικήματα, ἡ δʼ ὑπὲρ τῆς εἰρήνης ἀπολογία, καὶ εἰ μηδὲν ἄλλο, τοὔνομα γοῦν ἔχει φιλάνθρωπον.

Notes on the current edition

On the False Embassy

1. Demosthenes often alludes scornfully to Aeschines’ profession of γραμματεύς. Aeschines seems first to have been private secretary to the statesmen Aristophon and Eubulus. After his career on the stage, he obtained an under-clerkship in the Civil Service, and subsequently became Clerk of the Council and Assembly. This was an official of some dignity; he was appointed by popular election and enjoyed the privilege of free maintenance in the Prytaneum or Town Hall.

Demosthenes On the False Embassy 95

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

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