23
The greatest humiliation, however, that we have suffered is that all the other Greeks and barbarians dread your enmity, but these upstartsLiterally nouveaux riches, another word condemned by Libanius as un-Demosthenic. alone can make you despise yourselves, sometimes by persuasion, sometimes by force, as if Abdera or Maronea,Two cities of Thrace. The former was the Greek Gotham. and not Athens, were the scene of their political activities.
24
Moreover, while they weaken your cause and strengthen that of your enemies, they at the same time admit unconsciously that our city is irresistible, because they bid her uphold justice by injustice, as though she could easily vanquish her enemies, if she preferred to consult her own interests.The disloyal politicians wish to put Athens at a disadvantage by urging her to keep the compact justly while allowing the Macedonians to break it unjustly. Now if Athens can afford to do this and yet keep her position, it proves that she could easily beat her enemies if she concentrated on her own interests.
25
And they have taken up a reasonable attitude; for as long as we, single-handed, can maintain an unchallenged supremacy at sea, we can devise other and stronger defences on land in addition to our existing forces, especially if by good fortune we can get rid of these politicians, who have for their bodyguard the hosts of tyranny, and if some of them are destroyed and others conclusively proved to be worthless.
