Editing Demosthenes (section)

====First Philippic and the Olynthiacs (351–349&nbsp;BC)====
{{further|First Philippic|Olynthiacs}}
[[File:Philip II of Macedon CdM.jpg|right|thumb|Philip II of [[Macedon]]: victory medal ({{Lang|grc-Latn|nikétérion|size=90%}}) struck in [[Tarsus (city)|Tarsus]], c.&nbsp;2nd century&nbsp;BC ([[Cabinet des Médailles]], Paris).]]
Most of Demosthenes' major orations were directed against the growing power of King Philip II of Macedon. Since 357&nbsp;BC, when Philip seized [[Amphipolis]] and [[Pydna]], Athens had been formally at war with the [[ancient Macedonians|Macedonians]].<ref>D. Phillips, ''Athenian Political Oratory'', 69.</ref> In 352&nbsp;BC, Demosthenes characterised Philip as the very worst enemy of his city; his speech presaged the fierce attacks that Demosthenes would launch against the Macedonian king over the ensuing years.<ref name="Arist121">Demosthenes, ''Against Aristocrates'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0074%3Aspeech%3D23%3Asection%3D121 121.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120520155141/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0074%3Aspeech%3D23%3Asection%3D121 |date=20 May 2012 }}</ref> A year later he criticised those dismissing Philip as a person of no account and warned that he was as dangerous as the king of [[Persia]].<ref name="Rhodians24">Demosthenes, ''For the Liberty of the Rhodians'', [[s:The Public Orations of Demosthenes/For the Freedom of the Rhodians#15:24|24.]]</ref>

In 352&nbsp;BC, Athenian troops successfully opposed Philip at [[Thermopylae]],<ref name="Embassy319">Demosthenes, ''First Philippic'', [[s:The Public Orations of Demosthenes/Philippic I#4:17|17]]; ''On the False Embassy'', [[s:The Public Orations of Demosthenes/On the Embassy#19:319|319]]<br />* E. M. Burke, "The Early Political Speeches of Demosthenes", 184 (note 92).</ref> but the Macedonian victory over the [[Phocians]] at the [[Battle of Crocus Field]] shook Demosthenes. In 351&nbsp;BC, Demosthenes felt strong enough to express his view concerning the most important foreign policy issue facing Athens at that time: the stance his city should take towards Philip. According to [[Jacqueline de Romilly]], a French philologist and member of the {{Lang|fr|[[Académie française]]|italic=no}}, the threat of Philip would give Demosthenes' stances a focus and a {{Lang|fr|[[wikt:raison d'être|raison d'être]]}}.<ref name="Romilly116-117" /> Demosthenes saw the King of Macedon as a menace to the autonomy of all Greek cities and yet he presented him as a monster of Athens's own creation; in the ''First Philippic'' he reprimanded his fellow citizens as follows: "Even if something happens to him, you will soon raise up a second Philip [...]".<ref>Demosthenes, ''First Philippic'', [[s:The Public Orations of Demosthenes/Philippic I#4:11|11]]<br />* G. Kennedy, "Oratory", 519–520.</ref>

The theme of the ''[[First Philippic]]'' (351–350&nbsp;BC) was preparedness and the reform of the [[Theoric fund]],{{Ref label|F|f|none}} a mainstay of Eubulus' policy.<ref name="Romilly116-117" /> In his rousing call for resistance, Demosthenes asked his countrymen to take the necessary action and asserted that "for a free people there can be no greater compulsion than shame for their position".<ref>Demosthenes, ''First Philippic'', [[s:The Public Orations of Demosthenes/Philippic I#4:10|10.]]</ref> He thus provided for the first time a plan and specific recommendations for the strategy to be adopted against Philip in the north.<ref>E. M. Burke, "The Early Political Speeches of Demosthenes", 183–184.</ref> Among other things, the plan called for the creation of a rapid-response force, to be created cheaply with each {{Lang|grc|[[wikt:ὁπλῑ́της|ὁπλῑ́της]]|size=80%}} ({{Lang|grc-Latn|[[Hoplite|hoplī́tēs]]|size=90%}}) to be paid only ten [[Ancient drachma|drachmas]] per month (two [[obol (coin)|obols]] per day), which was less than the average pay for unskilled labourers in Athens—implying that the hoplite was expected to make up the deficiency in pay by looting.<ref>First Philippic 28, cited by J. H. Vince, pp. 84–85 note ''a''.</ref>
{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
| style="text-align: left;" | "We need money, for sure, Athenians, and without money nothing can be done that ought to be done."
|-
| style="text-align: left;" | Demosthenes (''First Olynthiac'', 20)—The orator took great pains to convince his countrymen that the reform of the theoric fund was necessary to finance the city's military preparations.
|}

From this moment until 341&nbsp;BC, all of Demosthenes' speeches referred to the same issue, the struggle against Philip. In 349&nbsp;BC, Philip attacked [[Olynthus]], an ally of Athens. In the three ''[[Olynthiacs]]'', Demosthenes criticised his compatriots for being idle and urged Athens to help Olynthus.<ref name="OlynthII23">Demosthenes, ''First Olynthiac'', [[s:The Public Orations of Demosthenes/Olynthiac I#1:3|3]]; Demosthenes, ''Second Olynthiac'', [[s:The Public Orations of Demosthenes/Olynthiac II#2:3|3]]<br />* E. M. Burke, "The Early Political Speeches of Demosthenes", 185.</ref> He also insulted Philip by calling him a "barbarian".{{Ref label|G|g|none}} Despite Demosthenes' strong advocacy, the Athenians would not manage to prevent the falling of the city to the Macedonians. Almost simultaneously, probably on Eubulus' recommendation, they engaged in a war in [[Euboea]] against Philip, which ended in a stalemate.<ref name="Peace5">Demosthenes, ''On the Peace'', [[s:The Public Orations of Demosthenes/On the Peace#5:5|5]]<br />* E. M. Burke, "The Early Political Speeches of Demosthenes", 185–187.</ref>