Demosthenes’ Assembly Speeches

Chapter 3 examines Demosthenes’ use of the past in his Assembly speeches (including, for example, the Philippics and Olynthiacs ), spanning the period from 355/4 to 341 BC. The chapter plots Demosthenes’ increasing agility in handling the past and his increasing investment in its persuasive potential over that period, as he builds a consistent self-characterization as a farsighted, optimistic, and impeccably democratic and well-intentioned symboulos figure via frequent reference to a wide range of past models, distant and recent. Chapter 3.1 offers an introduction and overview, addressing among other things how far (and in what senses) the practical emulation of past politicians might have been possible for Demosthenes. Chapter 3.2 looks at Demosthenes’ valorization of the correct application of the correct models for each set of circumstances (e.g. for the rise of Philip of Macedon), and of himself as the best adviser because of his superior control of those models. Chapter 3.3 examines three notable techniques that Demosthenes uses to impress the endless relevance of the past on his audience and to ground his expertise and authority as its interpreter: (1) imagining possible rupture in the continuum of Athenian excellence; (2) imagining non-Athenians reflecting on the Athenian past; and (3) contrasting Athenian uniqueness with the vicissitudes of other states. Chapter 3.4 studies an outstanding deployment of the figure of the dead general Timotheus as model for Demosthenes himself in speech 8, On the Chersonese . Chapter 3.5 offers a conclusion.

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