Phocion

He saw that the public men of his day had distributed among themselves as if by lot the work of the general and the orator. Some of them merely spoke before the people and introduced measures,—men like Eubulus, Aristophon, Demosthenes, Lycurgus, and Hypereides; while such men as Diopeithes, Menestheus, Leosthenes, and Chabrias advanced themselves by holding the office of general and waging war. He therefore wished to resume and restore the public service rendered by Pericles, Aristides, and Solon, which was equally apportioned in both fields of action. For each of those men showed himself to be, in the words of Archilochus,

1. As well a squire of Enyalius god of war,
2. As versed in the lovely Muses’ gifts.

Having taken this stand, his civil policies were always in favour of peace and quiet; and yet he held the office of general more frequently than any man, and I speak not only of the men of his own time, but also of those who came before him. He did not seek the office or canvass for it; nor, on the other hand, did he flee or run away when his city called him. It is generally admitted, indeed, that he held the office of general forty-five times, although he was not even once present at the election, but was always absent when the people summoned and chose him.

Therefore men of little understanding are amazed at the conduct of the Athenian people. For Phocion opposed them more than anybody else, and never said or did anything to win their favour; and yet, just as kings are supposed to listen to their flatterers after dinner has begun, so the Athenians made use of their more elegant and sprightly leaders by way of diversion, but when they wanted a commander they were always sober and serious, and called upon the severest and most sensible citizen, one who alone, or more than the rest, arrayed himself against their desires and impulses.

Indeed, when an oracle from Delphi was read out in the assembly, declaring that when the rest of the Athenians were of like mind, one man had a mind at variance with the city, Phocion came forward and bade them seek no further, since he himself was the man in question; for there was no one but he who disliked everything they did. And when, as he was once delivering an opinion to the people, he met with their approval, and saw that all alike accepted his argument, he turned to his friends and said: Can it possibly be that I am making a bad argument without knowing it?

The Athenians were once asking contributions[*](Cf. the Alcibiades, x. 1.) for a public sacrifice, and the rest were contributing, but Phocion, after being many times asked to give, said: Ask from these rich men; for I should be ashamed to make a contribution to you before I have paid my debt to this man here, pointing to Callicles the money-lender. And once when his audience would not cease shouting and crying him down, he told them this fable.

A coward was going forth to war, but when some ravens croaked, he laid down his arms and kept quiet; then he picked them up and was going forth again, and when the ravens croaked once more, he stopped, and said at last: You may croak with all your might, but you shall not get a taste of me. And at another time, when the Athenians urged him to lead forth against the enemy, and called him an unmanly coward because he did not wish to do so, he said: Ye cannot make me bold, nor can I make you cowards. However, we know one another.