Demosthenes, Letters
Norman W. DeWitt, Norman J. DeWitt, Ed.

On Political Harmony

¹ For one who is about to take any serious step, whether in speech or action, I assume that the proper course is to take his beginning from the gods. Accordingly I entreat all the gods and goddesses that what is best for the democracy of the Athenians and for those who bear goodwill toward the democracy, both now and for time to come, I may myself be moved to write and the members of the Assembly to adopt. With this prayer, having hopes of good inspiration from the gods, I address this message.

Demosthenes to the Council and the Assembly sends greeting. [2]

Concerning the question of my return² to my native land I always bear in mind that it will be for you as a body to decide; consequently I am writing nothing about it at the present moment. Observing, however, that the present occasion, if you but choose the right course, is capable of securing for you at one stroke glory and safety and freedom, not for yourselves alone but for all the rest of the Greeks as well, but that, if you act in ignorance or be led astray, it would not be easy to secure the same opportunity again, I thought I ought to place before the public the state of my opinion on these questions. [3] It is a difficult thing, I know, for advice conveyed by letter to hold its ground,³ because you Athenians have a way of opposing many suggestions without waiting to understand them. In the case of a speaker, of course, it is possible to perceive what you want and easy to correct your misapprehensions; but the written page possesses no such aid against those who raise a clamor. In spite of this fact, if you will but consent to listen in silence and have the patience to learn all that I have to say, I think that,—to speak in the hope of divine favour—brief though the writing is, I shall myself be found to be doing my duty by you with all goodwill and that I shall demonstrate clearly where your interests lie. [4] Not as supposing you were running short of speakers, or of those, either, who will say glibly and without real thought what happens to occur to them, did I decide to send the letter; but I desired, after putting plainly before those who like to make speeches all that I happen to know through experience and long association with public business, first, to furnish them with ample means of arriving at what I deem to be your interests, and second, to render easy for the people the choice of the best procedures. Such, then, were the considerations that prompted me to write the letter. [5]

First of all, men of Athens, it is necessary that you bring about harmony⁴ among yourselves for the common good of the State and drop all the contentions inherited from previous assemblies and, in the second place, that you all with one mind vigorously support your decisions, since the failure to follow either a uniform policy or to act consistently is not only unworthy of you and ignoble but, in addition, involves the greatest risks. [6] Those things must not escape your attention either, which, though by themselves they are not sufficient to effect your purpose, yet when added to your military forces, will render all your aims much easier of accomplishment. To what, then, do I refer? Toward no city and toward none of the citizens in this or that city who have supported the existing order⁵ must you harbor any bitterness⁶ or bear a grudge. [7] Because the fear of such animosity causes those who are conscious of guilt in their own hearts, because necessary to the existing order and facing a manifest danger, to be zealous supporters of it, but relieved of this fear they will all become more amenable, and this is of no slight usefulness. Now, to proclaim such intentions in the various cities would be foolish, or rather quite impossible, but in whatever spirit you shall be seen treating your own fellow-citizens, such will be the expectation you will create in the minds of each group concerning your feeling toward the rest also. [8] Accordingly I say that in general you must not cast any blame or censure whatsoever upon any general or orator or private individual of the groups that are believed, at least previously, to have supported the existing order, but rather concede to all parties in the city that they have done their duty as public men, inasmuch as the gods, to whom be thanks, by saving the city have bestowed upon you the privilege of deciding afresh whatever you shall choose to do, and you must be of the opinion that, just as on board a ship, when some declare themselves for making good their escape by the sail and others by the oars, just as all proposals of both parties aim at salvation, so it is to meet a crisis created by the gods that the need has arisen. [9] If you shall have made up your minds to regard past events in this way, you will gain the confidence of all and play the part of good and honorable men; you will also further your own interests not a little and will cause your opponents in the various cities either to change their minds, all of them, or will cause only a certain very small number of them, the ringleaders themselves, to be left. Acquit yourselves, therefore, with magnanimity and statesmanship in the general interest of Greece and bear in mind your own interests as Athenians.⁷ [10]

I urge you to this line of conduct, though I have not myself met with such generosity from certain persons but have been unjustly and in a spirit of faction tossed off⁸ for the gratification of others. I do not think, however, that I have the right while satisfying my private resentment to hurt the public interest, nor do I at all mix my private enmity with the general good. On the contrary, the conduct I urge upon the rest of men I think I ought to be myself the first to practise. [11]

Now, the steps to be taken by way of preparation and the mistakes to be guarded against, and the measures by which one might, as human calculations go, most likely succeed, have been, for practical purposes, stated by me; but how to oversee our business from day to day and how to deal rightly with situations that arise unexpectedly, [12] how to know the right moment for each action and to judge which of our objectives it is possible to attain through negotiation⁹ and which requires force in addition, these are the responsibility of the generals in charge. Therefore to give advice is to be in a very difficult position, because decisions that have been rightly taken and weighed with great care and pains are often spoiled through faulty execution on the part of those in authority. [13] Yet I hope that all will be well this time; for if any man has assumed that Alexander was fortunate because he always succeeded,¹⁰ let him reflect upon the fact that it was by doing and toiling and daring, not by sitting still, that he continued to be fortunate. Now, therefore, since Alexander is dead, Fortune is seeking some people with whom to co-operate, and you ought to become her choice. [14] As for your leaders, through whom your interests must necessarily be handled, place at the head of your forces men whose loyalty is the greatest available, and as for yourselves, let every man of you repeat to himself a solemn promise to perform whatever he in particular shall be able and shall elect to do. And see to it that he does not break this pledge or shirk his responsibility, saying that he was deceived or misled and overpersuaded, [15] because you will never find others to make good the lack of those qualities in which you yourselves shall fall short; neither does it involve the same danger to change your minds often about matters wherein it will be in your power to do as you please as it does about matters over which war will arise; but in the case of the latter a change of mind means defeat of your purpose. So do nothing of this kind, but whatever you intend to execute honestly and promptly with your whole souls, vote for that, [16] and once you have passed a decree, adopt as your leaders Zeus of Dodona and the rest of the gods, who have uttered in your interest many splendid, encouraging and true oracles, and summon them to your aid and after you have prayed to all of them for success with a vow of the fruits of victory,¹¹ with good fortune attending you, proceed to liberate the Greeks. Farewell.