Dinarchus, Against Demosthenes, ed. J. O. Burtt, 10

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[10] Now in one respect—for I shall speak my mind—the Areopagus fully deserves this treatment. It was faced with two alternatives. One would have been, in accordance with the people's instructions, to conduct the previous investigation over the three hundred talents which came from the Persian king¹; in which case this monster would have been convicted and the names of those who shared the money published; the betrayal of Thebes , for which Demosthenes was responsible,² would have been exposed, and we, exacting from this demagogue the punishment he deserved, would have been rid of him.

Against Demosthenes. Dinarchus. ed. J. O. Burtt. London. 1954.

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Current edition Perseus

Against Demosthenes (English) (Dinarchus. Minor Attic Orators, Vol. 2. Burtt, J. O., translator. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1954 (printing).)

Editions (1)

Κατὰ Δημοσθένους Perseus (Dinarchus. Minor Attic Orators, Vol. 2. Burtt, J. O., editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1954 (printing).) — 10 focus

[10] δίκαια μὲν οὖν, δίκαια τρόπον γέ τινα πάσχει τὸ συνέδριον· εἰρήσεται γὰρ ἃ γιγνώσκω. δυοῖν γὰρ θάτερον ἐχρῆν αὐτούς, ἢ καὶ τὴν προτέραν ζήτησιν τὴν ὑπὲρ τῶν τριακοσίων ταλάντων τῶν παρὰ τοῦ Περσῶν βασιλέως ἀφικομένων ζητεῖν, καθάπερ συνέταξεν ὁ δῆμος, ἵνα τότε δόντος δίκην τοῦ θηρίου τούτου, καὶ τῶν μερισαμένων ἐκεῖνα τὰ χρήματα φανερῶν γενομένων, καὶ τῆς περὶ Θηβαίους προδοσίας ἐξελεγχθείσης ἣν οὗτος προδέδωκεν, ἀπηλλάγμεθα τούτου τοῦ δημαγωγοῦ δίκην ἀξίαν δόντος·

Notes on the current edition

Against Demosthenes

1. After Alexander's accession Darius subsidized several Greek states to oppose him. Three hundred talents offered by him to Athens and officially refused were said to have been accepted by Demosthenes to be used in the king's interest. Cf. Din. 1.18 ; Aeschin. 3.239 (who gives the sum which Demosthenes appropriated as seventy talents); Dio. Sic. 17.4 .

2. In 335 B.C., owing to a report that Alexander, who was fighting the Triballi, had been killed, Thebes revolted against Macedonian domination encouraged by Demosthenes and others who assisted them to procure arms. When they applied for assistance to the Peloponnese and Athens , the Peloponnesians sent an army as far as the Isthmus, while Athens voted help but awaited the turn of events. Meanwhile Thebes was taken by Alexander and destroyed. Dinarchus, who goes into greater detail later ( Din. 1.18-22 ), maintains that for ten talents of the Persian money Demosthenes could have secured the help of the Peloponnesian army but was too miserly to do so. Cf. Dio. Sic. 17.8 ; Aeschin. 3.239-240 .

Dinarchus Against Demosthenes 10

ed. J. O. Burtt

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