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Demosthenes of Athens and the Fall of Classical Greece
Demosthenes (384-322) profoundly shaped one of the most eventful epochs in antiquity. His political career spanned three decades, during which time Greece fell victim to Macedonian control, 1st under Philip II, then Alexander the Great. Demosthenes' defiance of Macedonian imperialism cost him his life but earned him a reputation as one of history's outstanding patriots. He also enjoyed a brilliant & lucrative career as a speechwriter. His rhetorical skills are still emulated today by politicians. Yet he was a sickly child with a challenging speech impediment, who was swindled out of much of his family's estate by unscrupulous guardians. His story is therefore one of triumph over adversity. In this biography--the 1st in English for almost a century--Ian Worthington brings the orator's career vividly to life. He provides a moving narrative of Demosthenes' difficult beginnings, his rivalries with other Athenian politicians, his victories & defeats in the public Assembly, & finally his posthumous influence as a politician & orator. In doing so, Worthington offers new insights into Demosthenes' motives & how he shaped his policy to achieve political power. Set against the rich backdrop of late classical Athens & Macedonia, this biography will appeal to all readers interested in the history of ancient Greece. All quotations from Demosthenes' speeches are translated & briefly discussed in order for readers to appreciate his rhetorical genius.
Preamble: "Politicians & heroes"
Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes
Greece & the awakening of Macedonia
Into the public eye
The aspiring politician
Swaying the Assembly
An uneasy peace
Resisting Philip
"Speeches like soldiers"
The end of Greek freedom
"For the conqueror, death"
Demosthenes & Alexander the Great
The crown trial
Decline & fall
Poison from the pen
Appendix: Ancient coinage & months of the Attic year
Notes
Preamble: "Politicians & heroes"
Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes
Greece & the awakening of Macedonia
Into the public eye
The aspiring politician
Swaying the Assembly
An uneasy peace
Resisting Philip
"Speeches like soldiers"
The end of Greek freedom
"For the conqueror, death"
Demosthenes & Alexander the Great
The crown trial
Decline & fall
Poison from the pen
Appendix: Ancient coinage & months of the Attic year
Notes
382 pages, Hardcover
First published November 7, 2012
6 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Ian Worthington
65 books18 followersIan Worthington has been Professor of Ancient History at Macquarie University since 2017. Before then, he held an endowed chair as Curators' Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Missouri, USA. He hails from northern England, taking his B.A. at Hull and M.A. at Durham, before moving to Monash University to do his Ph.D.
Worthington specializes in Greek history and oratory. To date, he has written 9 sole-authored books, 1 co-authored book, edited 9 books, translated 2 volumes of the Greek orators (in the University of Texas Oratory of Classical Greece series), and written over 100 articles and essays on Greek history, oratory, epigraphy, and literature.
Worthington specializes in Greek history and oratory. To date, he has written 9 sole-authored books, 1 co-authored book, edited 9 books, translated 2 volumes of the Greek orators (in the University of Texas Oratory of Classical Greece series), and written over 100 articles and essays on Greek history, oratory, epigraphy, and literature.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 21, 2013
Most educated westerners have probably heard of Demosthenes, the Athenian rhetorician famed not only for the style of his speeches but also for their substance. Demosthenes, along with Homer, Cicero and Virgil, was an exemplar at “the cornerstone of western classical education after the Renaissance” (p. 342). Demosthenes, along with Themistocles and Pericles, was likewise a noble democrat and patriot in the struggle against autocracy, be it Persian or Macedonian.
Worthington's biography, however, represents the great orator as a more more complex figure than is imagined in the popular mind. First and foremost, he was a political actor, playing to a large and litigious public on several stages in a radically direct democracy which bears only remote resemblance to its modern, enfeebled descendants. Beyond the offices he held, he was, in effect, a lawyer as well as a political demagogue, selling his legal services as a speech writer for others when not defending himself or prosecuting his opponents. As such, truth very often was of less importance to him and his clients than image and advantage.
As Worthington interprets him, Demosthenes' initial concerns were primarily self-aggrandizing: retrieving his estate upon the attainment of his majority and punishing those who had mishandled it, establishing himself as a litigator and amassing a personal fortune. Only later, reputation established, could he afford to stand on principle, this being what amounted to a conservative Athenian patriotism which necessarily put him at odds with the imperial ambitions of Macedonian kings and pretenders.
In this he was standing against the tide of history, his quite conservative vision of autonomous Greek poleis—with Athens first among them in terms of wealth and power—being founded upon an idealized appropriation of Greek affairs between the repulse of Persia and the Spartan ascendency. The contradictions were, of course, many: independent poleis, but Athens dominant; radical Athenian democracy, but women, slaves and immigrants excluded. Meanwhile, at the borders of Greece, grasping empires: Persian, Macedonian, Roman.
Still, to be fair, he was a politician, susceptible to popular opinion and harsh realities (Demosthenes was not always in opposition to Macedon—only when it seemed practicable). In other words, he was an opportunist first, a man of principle, second—much like successful politicians in our own “democracy”. Plato's critiques of politicians and of rhetoricians are quite apposite here, the course of the Athenian ship of state under such leadership never having been for long a steady one.
While in some ways a quite thorough biography, his life being exceptionally well documented, Demosthenes of Athens might have been better. For one thing, much more could have been explained about the socioeconomic context of the times. For instance, who actually could afford to attend the popular assemblies? Who actually served on the various, sometimes enormous, juries? How did their composition vary depending upon the level, or, for a time, lack of, remuneration? What parts were actually played by citizens of other poleis dependent upon, allied with or dominated by Athens—relations which changed with stupefying frequency? Further, how did differences in wealth distort political practice while the state was so dependent on the wealthy for its maintenance? Finally, as is almost always the case for such books, where are the maps showing where all the poleis and battles mentioned were located?
Such complaints notwithstanding, this is an exceptional biography, one opinionated and well argued enough to raise the hackles of some specialists while not off-putting to a lay readership.
Worthington's biography, however, represents the great orator as a more more complex figure than is imagined in the popular mind. First and foremost, he was a political actor, playing to a large and litigious public on several stages in a radically direct democracy which bears only remote resemblance to its modern, enfeebled descendants. Beyond the offices he held, he was, in effect, a lawyer as well as a political demagogue, selling his legal services as a speech writer for others when not defending himself or prosecuting his opponents. As such, truth very often was of less importance to him and his clients than image and advantage.
As Worthington interprets him, Demosthenes' initial concerns were primarily self-aggrandizing: retrieving his estate upon the attainment of his majority and punishing those who had mishandled it, establishing himself as a litigator and amassing a personal fortune. Only later, reputation established, could he afford to stand on principle, this being what amounted to a conservative Athenian patriotism which necessarily put him at odds with the imperial ambitions of Macedonian kings and pretenders.
In this he was standing against the tide of history, his quite conservative vision of autonomous Greek poleis—with Athens first among them in terms of wealth and power—being founded upon an idealized appropriation of Greek affairs between the repulse of Persia and the Spartan ascendency. The contradictions were, of course, many: independent poleis, but Athens dominant; radical Athenian democracy, but women, slaves and immigrants excluded. Meanwhile, at the borders of Greece, grasping empires: Persian, Macedonian, Roman.
Still, to be fair, he was a politician, susceptible to popular opinion and harsh realities (Demosthenes was not always in opposition to Macedon—only when it seemed practicable). In other words, he was an opportunist first, a man of principle, second—much like successful politicians in our own “democracy”. Plato's critiques of politicians and of rhetoricians are quite apposite here, the course of the Athenian ship of state under such leadership never having been for long a steady one.
While in some ways a quite thorough biography, his life being exceptionally well documented, Demosthenes of Athens might have been better. For one thing, much more could have been explained about the socioeconomic context of the times. For instance, who actually could afford to attend the popular assemblies? Who actually served on the various, sometimes enormous, juries? How did their composition vary depending upon the level, or, for a time, lack of, remuneration? What parts were actually played by citizens of other poleis dependent upon, allied with or dominated by Athens—relations which changed with stupefying frequency? Further, how did differences in wealth distort political practice while the state was so dependent on the wealthy for its maintenance? Finally, as is almost always the case for such books, where are the maps showing where all the poleis and battles mentioned were located?
Such complaints notwithstanding, this is an exceptional biography, one opinionated and well argued enough to raise the hackles of some specialists while not off-putting to a lay readership.
June 17, 2022
A good biography of the speaker of the original Philippics. There are times when we don't know much about what Demosthenes was doing, and going through analysis of stuff we don't know was a slog. The reception history came at the end -- Hegel was not a fan, with Churchill and the menace from Hitler, Demosthenes came back into vogue. It would have been better to have put the reception in with the book -- with the first philippic what did Hegel, Churchill, whoever think about it, with the second, the third, and so forth. The resistance to Philip failed, Demosthenes' accommodation with Alexander is of little interest now, but what people through history have thought about the speeches and the uses they made of them is better documented and of more interest. It should not have been relegated to a few pages at the end.
December 20, 2016
This is one of the best books on Demosthenes and 3rd century Athens I know of. The author is erudite and goes into detail when extant documents permit. Moreover, he paints the years of tension between Philip of Macedon and the Greek city states with clear explanations. The era of Demosthenes is often overshadowed by the Hellenistic conquests of Alexander, and this book fills a needed vacancy in historical literature. Highly recommended; I suggest supplementing this book with the translations of Demosthenes by Jeremy Trevett and Michael Gagarin.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews