Demosthenes, Speeches 20-22

INTRODUCTION TO THIS VOLUME

INTRODUCTION TO THIS VOLUME By Edward M. Harris The three speeches in this volume were delivered at trials during the decade following the Social War (357–355 bce). This period marked an important transition in the history of Athenian democracy. Earlier in the fourth century the Athenians attempted to regain the hegemony that they had lost by their defeat in the Peloponnesian War. In 378 the Athenians created a league of allies and portrayed themselves as the champions of Greek freedom against Spartan oppression. The new league got off to a promising start: in 376 Chabrias defeated the Spartan fleet off Naxos, freeing Athens from a Spartan blockade. Many Greek city-states in Ionia and Central Greece joined the new league, and in 375 Timotheus won allies in Western Greece and defeated another Spartan fleet at Alyzia. But the alliance was weakened by the defection of Thebes in 371. After the Thebans defeated the Spartans at Leuctra later that year and invaded the Peloponnese, the Athenians voted to conclude an alliance with Sparta and destroyed the main rationale for the new league. The Athenians further undermined their claim of protecting Greek liberty when they revived their territorial ambitions in Northern Greece. Between 368 and 359, first Iphicrates, then Timotheus commanded Athenian forces that subdued many cities in the Chalcidice and Chersonnese, but they failed to capture Amphipolis.  For the revival of Athenian ambitions to regain leadership, see Seager 1967.  For Chabrias’ victory at Naxos, see Xen. Hellenica 5.4.61; Diodorus 15.34–35. For Timotheus’ victory at Alyzia, see Xen. Hellenica 5.4.62–66.  For an analysis of the reasons for the failure of the Second Athenian League, see Cawkwell 1981.  For a brief summary of these campaigns, see E. M. Harris 1995: 41–43. For the chronology of Timotheus’ campaigns, see also E. M. Harris 2006a: 355–364. introduction to this volume 7 By 357 the city of Byzantium and the powerful islands of Chios and Rhodes no longer saw any reason to accept Athenian leadership, and they started a revolt with the encouragement of Mausolus, the Carian dynast. The Athenians sent the general Chares with a fleet to blockade Chios, but it was defeated in late 356. The Chians, Rhodians, and Byzantines then attacked Athenian possessions at Imbros and Lemnos and laid siege to Samos. The Athenians responded by sending a fleet of sixty ships under Iphicrates and Menestheus to join Chabrias and attack Byzantium. The rebels struck a decisive blow against this force in 355 at the battle of Embata near Erythrae. The Athenians were now short of funds, and Chares attempted to raise funds by hiring out Athenian troops to the rebellious satrap Artabazus. But this strategy ran aground when the Persian King sent a protest to Athens and threatened to take the side of their enemies. Isolated and without resources, the Athenians were forced to make peace in 355 and accept the withdrawal of their most powerful allies from the league. The defeat exposed the weaknesses of the Athenian military and sparked a vigorous debate about Athenian foreign policy and financial administration. According to Isocrates (8.61–81), the lesson to be learned from the debacle in the Social War was that the Athenians should abandon their ambitions to regain their naval empire. In his work The Ways and Means, Xenophon advised the Athenians to give up their dreams of conquest and acquire wealth by encouraging commerce and exploitation of the silver mines at Laurion. Several politicians took practical steps to address the crisis. During the Social War Periander enacted a reform of the trierarchy. Androtion and Satyrus may have been assigned to collect arrears of the war tax at this time. Eubulus may have created or reorganized the Theoric Fund during this period and used its resources to embark on an ambitious building program (Aes. 3.25). Demosthenes too joined in the debate. In an early speech to the Assembly, Demosthenes (14.16–23) made a proposal to increase the number of contributors in the symmories. In his Olynthiacs  For the role of Mausolus, see Dem. 15.3; Diodorus 15.7.  On the defeat at Chios, see Diodorus 16.7; Plut. Phocion 6; Dem. 20.81.  For the battle of Embata, see Nepos Timotheus 3; Polyaenus 3.9.29.  Diodorus 16.22.1–2; Dem. 15.26; Isoc. 8.16.  See Dem. 21.155n.  See Dem. 22.47–58nn. 8...