On The Crown   

decrees relating to the Amphisseans, in the hope of distorting the truth.
But the truth cannot be distorted. It is impossible. Never will you wash
away the stain of your actions there! You will not say enough for that!

{141} I call upon all the gods and goddesses who protect this land of
Attica, in the presence of you all, men of Athens; and upon Apollo of
Pytho, the paternal deity[n] of this city, and I pray to them all, that if
I should speak the truth to you--if I spoke it at that very time without
delay, in the presence of the people, when first I saw this abominable man
setting his hand to this business (for I knew it, I knew it at once),--
that then they may give me good fortune and life: but if, to gratify my
hatred or any private quarrel, I am now bringing a false accusation
against this man, then they may take from me the fruition of every
blessing.

{142} Why have I uttered this imprecation with such vehemence and
earnestness? Because, although I have documents, lying in the public
archives, by which I will prove the facts clearly; although I know that
you remember what was done; I have still the fear that he may be thought
too insignificant a man to have done all the evil which he has wrought--as
indeed happened before, when he caused the ruin of the unhappy Phocians by
the false report which he brought home. {143} For the war at Amphissa,
which was the cause of Philip's coming to Elateia, and of one being
chosen[n] commander of the Amphictyons, who overthrew the fortunes of the
Hellenes--_he_ it is who helped to get it up; he, in his sole person, is
to blame for disasters to which no equal can be found. I protested at the
time, and cried out, before the Assembly, 'You are bringing war into
Attica, Aeschines--an Amphictyonic War.' But a packed group of his
supporters refused to let me speak, while the rest were amazed, and
imagined that I was bringing a baseless charge against him, out of
personal animosity. {144} But what the true nature of these proceedings
was, men of Athens--why this plan was contrived, and how it was executed--
you must hear from me to-day, since you were prevented from doing so at
the time. You will behold a business cunningly organized; you will advance
greatly in your knowledge of public affairs; and you will see what
cleverness there was in Philip.

{145} Philip had no prospect of seeing the end of the war with you, or
ridding himself of it, unless he could make the Thebans and Thessalians
enemies of Athens. For although the war was being wretchedly and
inefficiently conducted by your generals, he was nevertheless suffering
infinite damage from the war itself and from the freebooters. The
exportation of the produce of his country and the importation of what he
needed were both impossible. {146} Moreover, he was not at that time
superior to you at sea, nor could he reach Attica, if the Thessalians
would not follow him, or the Thebans give him a passage through their
country; and although he was overcoming in the field the generals whom you
sent out, such as they were (for of this I say nothing), he found himself
suffering from the geographical conditions themselves, and from the nature
of the resources[n] which either side possessed. {147} Now if he tried to
encourage either the Thessalians or the Thebans to march against you in
order to further his own quarrel, no one, he thought, would pay any
attention to him; but if he adopted their own common grounds of action and
were chosen commander, he hoped to find it easier to deceive or to
persuade them, as the case might be. What then does he do? He attempts
(and observe with what skill) to stir up an Amphictyonic War, and a
disturbance in connexion with the meeting of the Council. {148} For he
thought that they would at once find that they needed his help, to deal
with these. Now if one of his own or his allies' representatives on the
Council[n] brought the matter forward, he thought that both the Thebans
and the Thessalians would regard the proceeding with suspicion, and that
all would be on their guard: but if it was an Athenian, sent by you, his
adversaries, that did so, he would easily escape detection--as, in fact,
happened. {149}* How then did he manage this? He hired Aeschines. No one,