Editing Demosthenes (section)

===Early political activity===
{{See also|On the Navy Boards|For the Megalopolitans|On the Liberty of the Rhodians}}
Demosthenes was admitted to his {{Lang|grc-Latn|dêmos}} ({{Lang|grc|δῆμος}}) as a citizen with full rights probably in 366&nbsp;BC, and he soon demonstrated an interest in politics.<ref name=Bad16 /> In 363 and 359&nbsp;BC, he assumed the office of the [[trierarch]], being responsible for the outfitting and maintenance of a [[trireme]].<ref>A. W. Pickard, ''Demosthenes and the Last Days of Greek Freedom'', xiv–xv.</ref> He was among the first ever volunteer trierarchs in 357&nbsp;BC, sharing the expenses of a ship called ''Dawn'', for which the public inscription still survives.<ref>Packard Humanities Institute, [http://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/3834?&bookid=5&location=7 ''IG'' Π<sup>2</sup> 1612.301-10] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916182936/http://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/3834?&bookid=5&location=7 |date=16 September 2017 }}<br />* H. Yunis, ''Demosthenes: On the Crown'', 167.</ref> In 348&nbsp;BC, he became a [[choregos (ancient Greece)|choregos]], paying the expenses of a [[Ancient Greek theatre|theatrical production]].<ref name="Usher226">S. Usher, ''Greek Oratory'', 226.</ref>
{| class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
| style="text-align: left;" | "While the vessel is safe, whether it be a large or a small one, then is the time for sailor and helmsman and everyone in his turn to show his zeal and to take care that it is not capsized by anyone's malice or inadvertence; but when the sea has overwhelmed it, zeal is useless."
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| style="text-align: left;" | Demosthenes (''Third Philippic'', 69)—The orator warned his countrymen of the disasters Athens would suffer, if they continued to remain idle and indifferent to the challenges of their times.
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Between 355 and 351&nbsp;BC, Demosthenes continued practising law privately while he was becoming increasingly interested in public affairs. During this period, he wrote ''[[Against Androtion]]'' and ''[[Against Leptines]]'', two fierce attacks on individuals who attempted to repeal certain tax exemptions.<ref>E. M. Burke, "The Early Political Speeches of Demosthenes", 177–178.</ref> In ''[[Against Timocrates]]'' and ''Against Aristocrates'', he advocated eliminating corruption.<ref>E. Badian, "The Road to Prominence", 29–30.</ref> All these speeches, which offer early glimpses of his general principles on foreign policy, such as the importance of the navy, of alliances and of national honour,<ref name="Romilly116-117">J. De Romilly, ''A Short History of Greek Literature'', 116–117.</ref> are prosecutions ({{Lang|grc|γραφὴ παρανόμων}}'','' {{Lang|grc-Latn|[[graphē paranómōn]]}}) against individuals accused of illegally proposing legislative texts.<ref>D. M. MacDowell, ''Demosthenes the Orator'', ch. 7 (''pr.'').</ref>

In Demosthenes' time, different political goals developed around personalities. Instead of electioneering, Athenian politicians used litigation and defamation to remove rivals from government processes. Often they indicted each other for breaches of the statute laws (''{{Lang|grc-Latn|graphē paranómōn}}''), but accusations of bribery and corruption were ubiquitous in all cases, being part of the political dialogue. The orators often resorted to "character assassination" tactics ({{Lang|grc|δῐᾰβολή}}, {{Lang|grc-Latn|diabolḗ}}; {{Lang|grc|λοιδορία}}, {{Lang|grc-Latn|loidoría}}), both in the courts and in the Assembly. The rancorous and often hilariously exaggerated accusations, satirised by [[Old Comedy]], were sustained by innuendo, inferences about motives, and a complete absence of proof; as J. H. Vince states "there was no room for chivalry in Athenian political life".<ref>E. M. Harris, "Demosthenes' Speech against Meidias", 117–118; J. H. Vince, ''Demosthenes Orations'', I, Intro. xii; N. Worman, "Insult and Oral Excess", 1–2.</ref> Such rivalry enabled the ''demos'' ("citizen-body") to reign supreme as judge, jury and executioner.<ref>H. Yunis, ''Demosthenes: On The Crown'', 9, 22.</ref> Demosthenes was to become fully engaged in this kind of litigation and he was also to be instrumental in developing the power of the [[Areopagus]] to indict individuals for treason, invoked in the ''ekklesia'' by a process called {{Lang|grc|ἀπόφασις}} ({{Lang|grc-Latn|apóphasis}}).<ref>H. Yunis, ''Demosthenes: On The Crown'', 187.</ref>

In 354&nbsp;BC, Demosthenes delivered his first political oration, ''On the Navy'', in which he espoused moderation and proposed the reform of the ''[[symmoria]]i'' (boards) as a source of funding for the Athenian fleet.<ref name="Tsatsos88">E. Badian, "The Road to Prominence", 29–30; K. Tsatsos, ''Demosthenes'', 88.</ref> In 352&nbsp;BC, he delivered ''For the Megalopolitans'' and, in 351&nbsp;BC, ''On the Liberty of the Rhodians.'' In both speeches he opposed [[Eubulus (statesman)|Eubulus]], the most powerful Athenian statesman of the period 355 to 342&nbsp;BC. The latter was no pacifist but came to eschew a policy of aggressive interventionism in the internal affairs of the other Greek cities.<ref>E.M. Burke, "The Early Political Speeches of Demosthenes", 174–175.</ref> Contrary to Eubulus' policy, Demosthenes called for an alliance with [[Megalopolis, Greece|Megalopolis]] against [[Sparta]] or [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], and for supporting the democratic faction of the Rhodians in their internal strife.<ref>E.M. Burke, "The Early Political Speeches of Demosthenes", 180–183.</ref> His arguments revealed his desire to articulate Athens' needs and interests through a more activist foreign policy, wherever opportunity might provide.<ref>E. M. Burke, "The Early Political Speeches of Demosthenes", 180, 183 (note 91); T. N. Habinek, ''Ancient Rhetoric and Oratory'', 21; D. Phillips, ''Athenian Political Oratory'', 72.</ref>

Although his early orations were unsuccessful and reveal a lack of real conviction and of coherent strategic and political prioritisation,<ref>E. Badian, "The Road to Prominence", 36.</ref> Demosthenes established himself as an important political personality and broke with Eubulus' faction, of which a prominent member was Aeschines.<ref>E. M. Burke, "The Early Political Speeches of Demosthenes", 181–182.</ref> He thus laid the foundations for his future political successes and for becoming the leader of his own "party" (the issue of whether the modern concept of political parties can be applied in the [[Athenian democracy]] is hotly disputed among modern scholars).<ref>M.H. Hansen, ''The Athenian Democracy'', 177.</ref>