14
Then too Demosthenes decided upon war, offering to his compatriots counsel which, though seemingly prudent, was in reality fraught with danger.After the accession of Alexander in 336 B.C. Demosthenes proposed a decree to honor Philip’s murderer, and war was imminent. But in the same year, when Alexander entered Thessaly, Athens retracted. Demades apparently negotiated the ensuing agreement, but we have no other evidence to confirm the statement made in this passage. When the enemy was encamped near Attica and the country was being confined in the town, when the city, worthy to be striven for and marvelled at by all, was being filled like a stable with oxen, sheep and flocks and there was no hope of help from any quarter, I proposed the peace.
15
I admit it and I maintain that it is an honorable and expedient course to have taken. For it is better to shun the cloud as it approaches than to be swept away in the rush of the flood. I ask, Athenians, that the grief occasioned by events shall not engender in you any bitterness against me. For I have no mastery over Fortune; it is Fortune which controls life and gives it its danger. The counsellor, like the doctor, must not take blame for the disease; he must be thanked for the cure.
16
Discount, therefore, what happened from extraneous causes and simply examine my policy naked in the light of facts. To resume then: after this the city was exposed to a third and paramount danger, not this time sent by Fortune but brought on us by the politicians of the day.The reference is to the events leading up to the destruction of Thebes in 335 B.C., after which Demades interceded with Alexander on behalf of Athens. See Din. 1.10, note.
