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St Photius the Great, tr. Freese, 1920; selections

Codex 61: Aeschines, Against Timarchus; On the False Embassy; and Against Ctesiphon

Read the three orations of Aeschines,¹ Against Timarchus (the first of his speeches), On the False Embassy, and Against Ctesiphon (the third and last). These three speeches and nine letters are said to be his only genuine works; for which reason the orations were sometimes called the three Graces, from their number and the charm of their style, and the letters the nine Muses. Another oration, the Delian law, was known under his name; but Caecilius² denies its genuineness and ascribes it to another Aeschines, an Athenian and contemporary.

Aeschines was one of the “ten” Attic orators. He was accused by Demosthenes of having misconducted an embassy,³ but was not convicted, since the demagogue Eubulus, in whose service Aeschines had formerly been,⁴ sided with him against Demosthenes, and caused the jury to rise before Demosthenes had finished his speech. Subsequently, when he attacked the proposal of Ctesiphon on behalf of Demosthenes as illegal,⁵ having himself settled the amount of the fine he was prepared to pay if he did not make good the charge, he failed to do so, and left his country. He first set out for Asia, intending to seek refuge with Alexander, the son of Philip, who was then on his Asiatic expedition, but when he heard of his death and that his successors were quarrelling amongst themselves, he sailed to Rhodes, where he remained for some time, giving young men lessons in rhetoric. When his admirers were at a loss to understand how so great an orator could have been defeated by Demosthenes, he replied, “If you had heard that beast (meaning Demosthenes), you would not be surprised.” He is said to have been the first to compose imaginary speeches and what are called “declamations” in his leisure hours. In his old age he removed to Samos, where he died. He was of humble origin;⁶ his father was Atrometus; his mother Glaucothea, a priestess. He had two brothers, Aphobetus and Philochares. At first, being possessed of a loud voice, he became a third-rate actor; then he was copying-clerk to the Council; and soon afterwards came forward as a public speaker. He belonged to the philippizing party at Athens, and was consequently a political opponent of Demosthenes. He is said to have attended Plato’s lectures, and to have been the pupil of Antalcidas,⁷ statements which are supported by the grandeur of his language and the dignity of his inventions.⁸ The sophist Dionysius,⁹ when he came across the oration Against Timarchus, after he had read the opening----“I have never yet publicly indicted a citizen nor harassed him when he was rendering an account of his office”----is reported to have said, “Would that you had indicted or harassed many, that so you might have left us more speeches of the kind,” so delighted was he with this orator’s style.

His language appears natural and extemporaneous, and does not create so much admiration for the writer’s art as for his natural gifts. Abundant proofs of his cleverness and ability are to be found in his orations. In his choice of words he aims at simplicity and distinctness, and in the structure of his periods he is neither so feeble as Isocrates, nor so compressed and concise as Lysias, while in verve and energy he is not inferior to Demosthenes. He employs figures of thought and speech, not to create the impression of using artistic language, but in conformity with the necessities of the subject. Hence his style appears direct and straightforward, well adapted for speaking in public and for private conversation; for he does not make constant use of proofs and arguments, and is not over elaborate.

Aeschines,¹⁰ the son of Lysanias, called Socraticus, is reckoned by Phrynichus and others one of the greatest orators, and his speeches as models of Attic style, only second to those of its best representatives.

Notes

Attic orator (c. 390-314 B.C.), rival of Demosthenes. He had a varied career as secretary, third-rate actor, orator, and statesman. At first an opponent of Philip of Macedon, he was induced by bribery to favour his cause. After his unsuccessful attack on Ctesiphon for proposing to bestow a crown on Demosthenes for his public services, he retired, first to Ephesus, then to Rhodes, and lastly to Samos, where he died. The three speeches have come down to us; the letters are lost.
Caecilius Calactinus (from Kale Akte in Sicily), Greek rhetorician, flourished at Rome in the time of Augustus. He wrote a number of rhetorical, grammatical, and historical works, the chief being On the Character of the Ten (Attic) Orators, but none of them has come down to us.
To Philip of Macedon.
As secretary. Eubulus was a distinguished financier, and a bitter opponent of Demosthenes.
The text is corrupt here. The sense required is given in the translation.
According to his own account, he was of good family.
The only Antalcidas appears to be the author of the humiliating peace with Persia (387 B.C.), who is not famous as a rhetorician or teacher. Suidas says that Aeschines was a pupil of Alcidamas of Elaea (in Aeolis in Asia Minor), a pupil of Gorgias.
The word πλάσματα perhaps refers here to the “moulded form” of style, not, as above, to imaginary, fictitious speeches.
Of Miletus. He lived in the time of the emperor Hadrian.
Pupil of Socrates. He spent some time at the court of Dionysius the Younger of Syracuse, and then settled in Athens and wrote speeches for the law-courts. He also composed a number of Socratic dialogues, of which seven were supposed to be genuine. The three that pass under his name and some letters are certainly not by him.