Demosthenes, Against Leptines, James Herbert Vince (Translator), 54

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[54] And afterwards, when peace, the peace of Antalcidas,¹ was concluded with the Lacedaemonians, the latter requited their acts with exile. But you, in giving them shelter, acted like good men and true; for you decreed them all that they needed. Yet now are we actually debating whether those decrees should remain valid? No! The bare statement is a disgrace, if it should be reported that Athenians are debating whether they ought to let their benefactors keep what they have given them; for that question ought to have been debated, yes, and decided, long ago.

Read this decree also to the court.

[The decree is read]

Against Leptines. Demosthenes. James Herbert Vince (Translator). London. 1930.

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Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

Current edition Perseus

Against Leptines (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 Ἀτελείας πρὸς Λεπτίνην Perseus (Demosthenes. Orationes, Vol. II, Part 1. Butcher, S. H., editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.) — 54 focus

[54] ἐπειδὴ δʼ ἡ πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους εἰρήνη μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἐγένετο, ἡ ἐπʼ Ἀνταλκίδου, ἀντὶ τῶν ἔργων τούτων ὑπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων ἐξέπεσον. ὑποδεξάμενοι δʼ ὑμεῖς αὐτοὺς ἐποιήσατʼ ἔργον ἀνθρώπων καλῶν κἀγαθῶν· ἐψηφίσασθε γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἅπανθʼ ὧν ἐδέοντο. εἶτα ταῦτα νῦν εἰ χρὴ κύριʼ εἶναι σκοποῦμεν; ἀλλʼ ὁ λόγος πρῶτον αἰσχρὸς τοῖς σκοπουμένοις, εἴ τις ἀκούσειεν ὡς Ἀθηναῖοι σκοποῦσιν εἰ χρὴ τοὺς εὐεργέτας ἐᾶν τὰ δοθέντʼ ἔχειν· πάλαι γὰρ ἐσκέφθαι ταῦτα καὶ ἐγνῶσθαι προσῆκεν. ἀνάγνωθι καὶ τοῦτο τὸ ψήφισμʼ αὐτοῖς.

ΨΗΦΙΣΜΑ.

Notes on the current edition

Against Leptines

1. In 387. Antalcidas was the Spartan diplomatist. The Greeks acknowledged the King of Persia as the arbiter of their disputes, and abandoned to him their cities in Asia . All other Greek states were to be independent, except Lemnos , Imbros, and Scyros, which were to be retained by Athens . Sparta ’s main object was to break up the power of Thebes over the other Boeotian cities.

Demosthenes Against Leptines 54

James Herbert Vince (Translator)

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[The decree is read]

Current edition Perseus

ΨΗΦΙΣΜΑ.

Notes on the current edition

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