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[17]
And surely my departure from Athens would not
afford you just grounds for resentment against me, for it was not because I had renounced
allegiance to you nor because I was looking to another quarter for comfort1 that I changed my residence to another country, but
because, in the first place, I was pained at contemplating the disgrace of imprisonment,
and in the second, on account of my age I was in no condition to endure the bodily
discomforts. Besides, I did not think that you, either, were averse to my getting beyond
the reach of revilement which, without benefiting you, was breaking me down.
[18]
For, as indications that it was on you my thoughts were centered
and on no others, you may note many items of evidence; for instance, I did not go to a
city in which I was likely to play an outstanding role myself,2 but to one where I knew
our ancestors had gone when the Persian danger overtook them,3 and
where I knew too there existed abundant goodwill toward yourselves.
[19]
I refer to the city of Troezen,
to which it is my chief prayer that all the gods may be propitious, both because of its
goodwill to you and because of its kindness to me, and my second prayer is that, having
been delivered from this exile by you, I may be enabled to make repayment for kindnesses.
In this city, when certain persons, thinking to make themselves agreeable to me, ventured
to censure you for your arbitrary action in my regard, I preserved all reticence, as was
my duty, which I believe was the chief reason for their being moved to admiration of me
and honoring me in the name of the city.
[20]
Observing, however, that though the goodwill of the men there was strong, yet the power
of the city was insufficient for the present need, I changed my residence and now have my
quarters in the sanctuary of Poseidon in Calauria,4 not only for the sake of my personal safety, which through the
protection of the god I hope is assured—because I am not quite certain; for the
fact that it is in the power of unfriendly people to deal with matters as they choose
renders frail and unpredictable the safety of a man in danger—but also because
from here I look across the sea every day to my native land, toward which I am conscious
in my heart of feeling an attachment as strong as I pray that I may enjoy on your part.
1 The suggestion is that another man might have offered his services to the Macedonians.
2 He hints that he might have gone to some other city friendly to the Macedonians, where a welcome would have awaited him if he had renounced his allegiance to Athens.
3 The Athenians abandoned the city before the battle of Salamis in 480 B.C.
4 Calauria is situated south of Aegina in the Sardonic Gulf. Harpocration cites the letter under the name Calauria, an evidence of its authenticity.
Demosthenes with an English translation by Norman W. DeWitt, Ph.D., and Norman J. DeWitt, Ph.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1949.
The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text.
