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Conover Bribery in Classical Athens Chapter Four including former Athenian holdings, and Philip soon settled the Third Sacred War by destroying Athens’ ally Phocis. 10 As the dust settled on the events of 346, the Athenians quickly realized that the Peace of Philocrates and its aftermath were an utter failure for the city: with the Peace, all of Philip’s gains in northern Greece over the previous decade had been recognized, and now he had a major hand in controlling affairs in central Greece. Still, Aeschines, a strong advocate for maintaining diplomatic ties with Macedon, continued to push for rapprochement with Philip. When in 343 these efforts at diplomacy fell apart, Philocrates and Aeschines, both major proponents of the Peace, were in trouble. Philocrates was charged with treason and fled Athens rather than face trial; and, with public opinion decisively on his side, Demosthenes prosecuted Aeschines for misconduct on the Second Embassy. 11 Demosthenes’ speech On the False Embassy is based on his prosecution speech on that occasion. 12 It is abundantly clear from Demosthenes’ prosecution speech that, in the orator’s eyes at least, his opponent Aeschines took bribes from Philip, and he was a traitor for doing so. Throughout, Demosthenes’ clear focus is on his opponent’s bribe-taking: no fewer than 55 times he accuses Aeschines of being on Philip’s payroll, of which instances 10 For a more detailed background to these events with primary sources, see Griffith in Hammond and Griffith (1979: 2.216-328), Sealey (1993: 50-101), Paulsen (1999: 28-45), Buckler (2000: 117-32), Ryder (2000: 45-72). 11 Griffith in Hammond and Griffith (1979: 2.450-95), Harris (1995: 102-15), Paulsen (1999: 45-50), Buckler (2000: 132-4) and MacDowell (2000: 1-14) helpfully collect the primary sources on the aftermath of the Peace of Philocrates. 12 On the trial itself, see recently Harris (1995: 116-18), Buckler (2000: 134-40), MacDowell (2000: 14- 22). For Demosthenes’ prosecution speech (Dem. 19) and Aeschines’ defense speech (Aeschin. 2), recent commentaries by MacDowell (2000) on Demosthenes and by Paulsen (1999) on both speeches are invaluable. 175
Conover Bribery in Classical Athens Chapter Four at least 13 also insinuate that Aeschines was a traitor. 13 In the opening of the speech, Demosthenes underscores how Aeschines failed in every one of his duties as an ambassador—by providing a dishonest report to the people, giving them bad advice, not following their explicit instructions, and wasting precious time that the city could have used to pursue other opportunities (Dem. 19.4-6)—and each one of these failures was thought due to the receipt of dōra (Dem. 19.4, 7-8). More damning is Demosthenes’ repeated accusation that Aeschines “profited at the city’s expense,” a refrain familiar from the earlier part of the fourth century, as we examined in the last chapter. 14 Yet, instead of profiting at the city’s financial expense, as the accusation earlier signaled, Aeschines is accused of actively bringing ruin to the city. That is, he is accused of being a traitor, not a thief. His personal profit is weighed against the destruction of Athens’ ally Phocis and, Demosthenes suggests, the eventual ruin of Athens herself. 15 Beneath the veneer of these accusations lay a much larger, more sustained problem, one critical to the very security of the polis: for the democracy to survive, ambassadors had to be honest and trustworthy (Dem. 19.182-4). 16 As the orator warns, there would surely be dire consequences for trusting in a traitor like Aeschines. 17 In 13 Dem. 19.8, 9, 16, 19-20, 27, 29, 68, 88, 94, 97, 102, 104, 110, 111-3, 114-5, 116-18, 120, 121, 125, 127, 134, 142, 143-6, 147, 149, 201, 205, 209, 220, 236, 243-5, 254-5, 279, 286, 292-3, 301, 303-9, 308, 313, 316, 328-9, 331 to which should be added the orator’s accusations that Aeschines was a traitor for taking bribes: Dem. 19. 88, 90, 133, 146, 178, 180, 182-4, 207-8, 229, 258, 301-2. 14 The accusation recurs throughout Demosthenes’ speeches: Dem. 3.29, 8.66, 17.11, 18.109, 18.211-7, 18.250, 18.298-9, 18.320, 21.123-5 57.60. 15 Dem. 19.7, 275. This weighing of interests recurs throughout Demosthenes’ speech: e.g. Dem. 19.8, 90, 143-6, 147, 149. Cf. 18.298-9. 16 As a result, Demosthenes frequently upholds his own, purportedly trustworthy actions and reports as a foil to Aeschines’: cf. Dem. 19.15-16, 18, 33, 45-6, 150-2 with 155 and 157, 205-8, 211-12, 223, 229-30. In response, Aeschines takes a similar tack, foregrounding Demosthenes’ ties with Philip’s purported hireling Philocrates, while distancing himself from Philocrates: Aeschin. 2.14, 18, 54, 56, 63-6, 69; cf. 3.58, 69, 79. 17 Indeed, to further this aim the orator’s accusations repeatedly link Aeschines’ bribe-taking to purported instances of lying: because Aeschines was bribed, he lied in his reports to the Assembly, he lied about Philip’s intentions while giving advice to the people, and in this manner he committed the greatest 176
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BRIBERY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS Kellam
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© Copyright by Kellam McChesney Co
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legislating dōrodokia. Rather than
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encouragement that made me crazily
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and long-lasting patience were crit
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CHAPTER SEVEN: Athenian dōrodokia
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BRIBERY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS Kellam ... - Historia Antigua

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