Duris, however, says that this Thermodon was no river, but that some of the soldiers, as they were pitching a tent and digging a trench round it, found a small stone statue, which by some letters cut on it, appeared to be a figure of Thermodon carrying a wounded Amazon in his arms; and that there was another oracle current about it, as follows:: The battle on Thermodon that shall be, In fine, it is not easy to determine how it stands. 20 But Demosthenes, we are told, was so full of confidence in the Grecian forces, and so elevated by the sight of the courage and resolution of so many brave men ready to engage the enemy, that he would not have them give any heed to oracles or hearken to prophecies, but suspected even the prophetess herself as one of Philip's party; and put the Thebans in mind of Epaminondas, and the Athenians of Pericles, who always took their measures and governed their actions by reason, looking upon things of this kind as pretexts for cowardice. Thus far he acquitted himself like a brave man. But in the fight he did nothing honourable, or answerable to his speeches; but fled, deserting his place disgracefully, and throwing away his arms, not ashamed, as Pytheas observed, to belie the motto, "With good fortune," inscribed on his shield in gold letters. Philip, in the first moment of victory, was so transported with joy, that he grew extravagant, and going out, after he had drunk largely, to make a riotous visit to the dead * The Pythoness, he said, was philippizing. 21 bodies, chanted the first words of the decree of Demosthenes, The motion of Demosthenes, Demosthenes's son,* dividing it metrically into feet, and marking the beats. But when he came to himself, and reflected on the danger he had been in, he could not forbear from shuddering at the ability and power of the orator who had made him hazard his life and empire on the issue of a few brief hours. The fame of it also reached the court of Persia, and the king sent letters to his satraps, commanding them to supply Demosthenes with money and to pay every attention to him, as the one man of the Greeks who was able to give Philip occupation and find employment for his forces near home in the troubles of Greece. This afterwards came to the knowledge of Alexander by some letters of Demosthenes which he found at Sardis, and by other papers of the Persian officers, stating the large sums which had been given him. At this time, however, after the disaster of the Greeks, the speakers of the party opposed to him, sought further to trample upon Demosthenes, and called him in various ways to an account for his conduct. But the people not only acquitted him upon these accusations, but continued towards him their former respect, and still invited him, as a lover of his country, to take a part in public affairs. When the bones of those who had been slain at Charonea were brought home to be solemnly "De * Demosthenes Demosthenóus, Paiánieús, tad eipen. mosthenes, the son of Demosthenes, of the Paæanian township, made this motion," the usual form of the commencement of a vote or resolution of the Athenian Assembly. interred, they chose Demosthenes to make the funeral oration. They did not show under the misfortunes which befell them a base and ignoble mind, as Theopompus writes in his exaggerated style, but, on the contrary, by the honour and respect paid to their counsellor, they made it appear that they were not dissatisfied with the counsels he had given them. The speech therefore was spoken by Demosthenes. But the subsequent decrees he would not allow to be passed in his own name, but made use of those of his friends, one after another, looking upon his own as unfortunate and inauspicious; till at length he took courage again after the death of Philip, who did not long outlive his victory at Charonea; this, it seems, being what was foretold in the last verse of the oracle, Conquered shall weep, and conqueror perish there. of Philip, B.C. 336. Demosthenes had secret intelligence of the death of 22 Philip, and laying hold of the opportunity to prepossess Death the people with courage and better hopes for the future, he came into the assembly with a cheerful countenance, pretending to have had a dream that presaged some great good fortune for Athens; and, not long after, arrived the messengers who brought the news of Philip's death. No sooner had the people received it, but immediately they offered sacrifice to the gods, and decreed that Pausanias* should be presented with a crown. Demosthenes appeared publicly in a rich dress, with a chaplet on his head, though it were but the seventh day since the death of his daughter, as is said by Æschines, *The conspirator, who had killed Philip. who upbraids him upon this account and rails at him as one void of natural affection towards his children. Whereas indeed he rather exposes his own poor spirit and effeminate mind, if he really means to make wailings and lamentation the signs of a gentle and affectionate nature, and to condemn those who bear such contingencies with more temper and less passion. For my own part, I do not say that it was wise or right in the people to crown themselves with garlands and to sacrifice to the gods for the death of one who in his success and victories, when they were a conquered people, had used them with so much clemency and humanity; (for, besides provoking fortune, it was unworthy in itself, to make Philip a citizen of Athens and pay him honours while he lived, and when he fell by another's hand, to set no bounds to their delight, to insult over him dead, and to sing triumphant songs, as if they by their own valour had vanquished him); yet I must at the same time commend the conduct of Demosthenes, who, leaving tears and lamentations and domestic sorrows to the women, made it his business to attend to the interests of the commonwealth. And I think it the duty of him who would be accounted to have a soul truly valiant and fit for government, that, standing always firm to the common good, and letting private griefs and troubles find their compensation in public blessings, he should maintain the dignity of his character and station, much more than actors who represent the persons of kings and tyrants, who, we see, when they either laugh or weep on the stage, follow, not their own private inclinations, but the course consistent with the plot and with their part. And if, moreover, when our neighbour is in misfortune, it is not our duty to forbear offering any consolation, but rather to say whatever may tend to cheer him, and to invite his attention to any agreeable objects, (just as we tell people who are troubled with sore eyes, to withdraw their sight from bright and offensive colours to green and those of a softer mixture,) from whence can a man seek in his own case better arguments of consolation for afflictions in his family, than from the prosperity of his country, by making public and domestic chances count, so to say, together, and the better fortune of the state obscure, and conceal the less happy circumstances of the individual. I have been induced to say so much, because I have known many readers melted by Æschines's language into a soft and unmanly tenderness. of the set war. Alex destruc Thebes, The cities of Greece were inspirited once more by 23 the efforts of Demosthenes to form a league together. Renewal The Thebans, whom he had provided with arms, upon their garrison, and slew many of them; the ander's Athenians made preparations to join their forces with tion of them; Demosthenes ruled supreme in the popular B.C. 335. assembly, and wrote letters to the Persian officers who commanded under the king in Asia, inciting them to make war upon Alexander, whom he called child and simpleton. But when Alexander, having settled matters in his own kingdom, came in person with his army into Boeotia, down fell the courage of the Athenians, and Demosthenes was hushed; the Thebans, deserted by them, fought by themselves, and lost their city. After * * Child and Murgites, the latter being the character held up to ridicule in an old poem ascribed to Homer,―the boy who, though fully grown up, has never attained the sense or wits of a man. |