Demosthenes
Demosthenes (384 – 322 BC) was an Athenian statesman and the most famous orator of ancient Greece. His Philippics, warning against Philip II of Macedon, brought about the alliance of Athens and Thebes, but they were defeated at Chaeronea in 338 BC; after the Greeks also lost the Lamian War that followed Alexander's death, he took poison on the island of Calauria.
| Lived | 384 BC – 322 BC |
|---|---|
| Active in | Athens · Pella · Thebes · Calauria |
| Known for | The Philippics; leader of the anti-Macedonian cause |
| Game start | 346 BC · age 38 · Orator of the Athenian assembly (commoner) — The Last Speech |
Life at a glance
- 384 BC Born in the Athenian deme of Paeania, son of the owner of a workshop making swords and beds.
- c. 376 BC Loses his father at seven, and his guardians embezzle most of his inheritance.
- 364 BC Around the age of twenty he sues his guardians, Aphobus among them, recovers part of the inheritance and begins to make his name as a speaker.
- 351 BC Delivers the First Philippic. In 349 BC he gives three speeches urging aid for Olynthus, but Olynthus falls the next year.
- 346 BC Goes to Pella as one of the envoys sent to ask Philip for peace, and the Peace of Philocrates is concluded.
- 341 BC Moves the assembly with the Third Philippic, and the next year Athens breaks the peace.
- 338 BC When Elatea falls he goes to Thebes and brings back an alliance, but in August the allies are defeated by Philip and Alexander at Chaeronea. He is chosen to give the funeral oration for the dead.
- 330 BC In the “trial over the crown”, brought over Ctesiphon's proposal to award him a golden crown, he defeats his rival Aeschines with On the Crown.
- 324 BC Fined over money brought by Harpalus, Alexander's treasurer, he goes into exile.
- 322 BC After the Greek allies are defeated at Crannon in the Lamian War, he takes poison in the temple of Poseidon on Calauria as Antipater's pursuers close in.
Family
The family members who appear with this character when you start the game. Years follow the historical record; where none survives, a ? is shown.
| Relation | Name | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Father | Demosthenes | ? – c. 376 BC | Owner of a sword and bed workshop; died when his son was seven |
| Mother | Cleobule | Dates unknown | |
| Sister | (name not recorded) | Dates unknown | In the game she appears as Nicarete |
In the game
You begin in February 346 BC as an orator of thirty-eight on the Athenian embassy going to ask Philip for peace. You have no land and no skill with a sword, but wit, plenty of gold and a name made in the assembly. You are not yet married; your mother and sister are with you.
This scenario's turning point is “If the Greek allies had won at Chaeronea”. Watching the king's army at Pella, diplomacy in the Peloponnese, Euboea and Byzantium, the trireme law, and the terms you offered the Theban assembly on the day Elatea fell all move the odds for 338 BC. If the allies lose, real history runs to the end through the funeral oration, the ashes of Thebes, the trial over the crown and Harpalus's gold; if they win, another branch leads to an Athenian council of allies and young Alexander's war of revenge.
The feud with your rival Aeschines runs from the very start. Evidence gathered on the embassy, money given for the walls and what you did at Chaeronea pile up to decide the trial over the crown in 330 BC, and the real-history branch ends in 322 BC in the temple on Calauria.
- Scenario guide The Last Speech
- Era guide Classical Greece
- Related turning points What if the Greeks had won at Chaeronea?
Frequently asked questions
What are the Philippics?
The speeches Demosthenes gave in the Athenian assembly from about 351 to 341 BC warning against Philip II of Macedon. Four survive, and the authenticity of the fourth is disputed. Cicero's later speeches against Mark Antony were also called Philippics, and the word is still used in European languages for a fierce denunciation.
How did Demosthenes die?
After the Greek allies lost the Lamian War in 322 BC, Antipater of Macedon demanded the surrender of the anti-Macedonian orators. Demosthenes took refuge in the temple of Poseidon on Calauria (modern Poros), and when his pursuers arrived, Plutarch says, he drank poison he had hidden in his pen.
Is it true that he practised with pebbles in his mouth?
Plutarch says that because his speech was poor he practised speaking with pebbles in his mouth, declaimed over the roar of the waves on the shore, and spent months at a time in an underground study. There is no way to check the story, but it is widely known as the tale of an orator who overcame his weakness by effort.
Sources
Speeches of Demosthenes (the Philippics, On the Crown); Aeschines, Against Ctesiphon; Plutarch, Life of Demosthenes.