ness sometimes present in Isocrates. He juxtaposes with the passage from Isocrates
an extract from Demosthenes on a similar theme, remarking ‘He does not set out
each separate pair of actions in finicky detail, old and new, and compare them, but
carries the whole antithesis through the whole theme by arranging the items in two
contrasting groups thus’ (Demosthenes, 21).
Yet observe, Athenians, what a summary contrast may be drawn between the
state’s achievements in the time of your ancestors and in your own day. The tale
will be brief and familiar to all; for you need not look abroad for examples that
provide the key to your future prosperity, but at home, Athenians. Our forefathers,
whose speakers did not humour or caress them, as those of today do you, for forty-
five years ruled the Greeks with their consent; they accumulated more than ten
thousand talents in their treasury; the king of that land submitted to them, as a
barbarian should to Greeks; they set up many glorious monuments to com-
memorate victories won by their own fighting on land and sea; and they alone
among mankind have left behind them a reputation which envy cannot erase. Such
were their achievements in Hellenic affairs: now see what they were like in their
domestic affairs, both as citizens and as men. In public they erected for our benefit
such a wealth of beautiful buildings and other objects, such as temples and the
dedicated objects in them, that posterity has been left no chance to surpass them.
Intheir private life they were so moderate, and adhered so steadfastly to the
national tradition, that anyone who knows the style of house which Aristides had,
orMiltiades, or other famous men of that day, is aware that it was no grander than
his neighbour’s. They did not engage in politics for personal profit, but each felt
it his duty to enrich the commonwealth. By conduct honourable towards the other
Greeks, reverence towards the gods and fair dealing in domestic matters, they
deservedly achieved great prosperity.That is how the state fared of old under the statesmen I have mentioned. How is
it faring now under the worthies of the present day? Is there any similarity of
resemblance? I pass over many topics on which I could wax eloquent; but with the
dearth of competition which you all observe, the Spartans being in eclipse, the
Thebans being fully occupied and none of the rest capable of challenging us for
supremacy, it should be possible for us to hold our own securely and arbritrate the
claims of others. Yet we have been deprived of territory which belongs to us, and
have spent more than one thousand five hundred talents to no purpose; these
politicians have lost in peace time those allies which we gained in war, and we have
trained up a formidable enemy to fight against us. Or let anyone come forward
and tell me where else Philip has obtained his power, if not from us. ‘Well, my dear
sir, you may say, if our foreign affairs are in a bad way, at any rate things at homeLITERATURE 173