Demosthenes, Letters (ed. Norman W. DeWitt, Norman J. DeWitt), Concerning the Sons of Lycurgus (search)
I am amazed if none of you thinks that it is a disgraceful thing for the people of
Athens, who are supposed to be superior to all men in understanding and culture and have
also maintained here for the unfortunate a common refuge in all ages, to show themselves
less considerate than Philip, who, although naturally subject to no correction, nursed as he was, in licence, still thought that at the moment of
his greatest good fortuneThe battle of Chaeronea, 338 B.C.; the
Greeks magnified its importance. Their liberty was lost by degrees, not suddenly.
he ought to be seen acting with the greatest humanity and did not venture to cast into
chains the men who had faced him in the battle line, against whom he had staked his all,
nor demand to know, “Whose sons are they and what are their
names?”An Athenian citizen was identified
by three items: his own name, his father's name, and
Polybius, Histories, book 5, The Present Philip Compared to his Ancestors (search)
The Present Philip Compared to his Ancestors
Take again the case of Philip, the founder of the
B. C. 338.
family splendour, and the first of the race to establish the
greatness of the kingdom. The success which he obtained,
after his victory over the Athenians at Chaeronea, was not due so much to his superiority
in arms, as to his justice and humanity. His victory in
the field gave him the mastery only over those immediately
engaged against him; while his equity and moderation
secured his hold upon the entire Athenian people and
their city. For he did not allow his measures to be dictated
by vindictive passion; but laid aside his arms and warlike
measures, as soon as he found himself in a position to display
the mildness of his temper and the uprightness of his motives.
With this view he dismissed his Athenian prisoners without
ransom, and took measures for the burial of those who had
fallen, and, by the agency of Antipater, caused their bones to
be conveyed home; and presented most
Polybius, Histories, book 9, Greece: Philip Reduces Thessaly (search)
eks, I am persuaded that
no one will venture to deny; and you may satisfy yourselves
by looking at it thus. There was a league of Greeks living in
the parts towards Thrace who were colonists from Athens and
Chalcis, of which the most conspicuous and powerful was the
city of Olynthus. B. C. 347. Having enslaved and made
an example of this town, Philip not only became
master of the Thraceward cities, but reduced Thessaly also to
his authority by the terror which he had thus set up. Battle of Chaeronea, B. C. 338. Not
long after this he conquered the Athenians in
a pitched battle, and used his success with
magnanimity, not from any wish to benefit the
Athenians—far from it, but in order that his favourable treatment of them might induce the other states to submit to him
voluntarily. The reputation of your city was still such that
it seemed likely, that, if a proper opportunity arose, it would
recover its supremacy in Greece. Accordingly, without waiting
for any but the slightest pretext,
he only hears a noise and sees a shadow any
where, comes running back in terror and reports that the
enemy is close at hand. So now if you should come and
tell us, Fearful is the state of affairs at Rome, terrible is
death, terrible is exile; terrible is calumny; terrible is
poverty; fly, my friends; the enemy is near—we shall
answer, Be gone, prophesy for yourself; we have committed only one fault, that we sent such a scout.
Diogenes,Diogenes was brought to king Philip after the battle of Chaeronea
as a spy (iii. 22, 24). Plutarch in the treatise, Quomodo assentator ab
amico dignoscatur, c. 30, states that when Philip asked Diogenes if he
was a spy, he replied, Certainly I am a spy, Philip, of your want of
judgment and of your folly, which lead you without any necessity to
put to the hazard your kingdom and your life in one single hour. who was sent as a scout before you, made a
different report to us. He says that death is no evil, for
neither is it base: he says that fame (reputati
Epictetus, Discourses (ed. Thomas Wentworth Higginson), book 3 (search)
He cannot. But wherever I go there is the sun, the
moon, the stars, dreams, auguries, communication
with God. And even this preparation is by no
means sufficient for a true Cynic. But it must further be known that he is a messenger sent from Zeus
to men, concerning good and evil; to show them that
they are mistaken, and seek the essence of good and
evil where it is not, but do not observe it where it is;
that he is a spy, like Diogenes, when he was brought
to Philip after the battle of Chaeronea. For, in effect, a Cynic is a spy to discover what things are
friendly, what hostile, to man; and he must, after
making an accurate observation, come and tell them
the truth; not be struck with terror, so as to point
out to them enemies where there are none; nor, in
any other instance, be disconcerted or confounded
by appearances.
He must, then, if it should so happen, be able to
lift up his voice, to come upon the stage, and say,
like Socrates: O mortals, whither are you hurrying?
What ar
