To Philip

I, for my part, think that this will set a limit to human endeavor; for no other man will ever be able to do deeds greater than these, because among the Hellenes there will never be again so great an enterprise as that of leading us forward out of our innumerable wars into a spirit of concord; nor, among the barbarians, is it likely that so great a power will ever be built up again if once you shatter that which they now possess.

Therefore, in generations yet to come, no one, no matter how surpassing his genius, will ever be in a position to do so great a thing. Yes, and speaking of those who lived before your time, I could show that their deeds are excelled by the things which you have even now accomplished, in no specious sense but in very truth; for since you have overthrown more nations than any of the Hellenes has ever taken cities, it would not be hard for me to prove, comparing you with each of them in turn, that you have accomplished greater things than they.

But I have deliberately abstained from this mode of comparison, and for two reasons: because some writers employ it in season and out of season, and also because I am unwilling to represent those whom the world regards as demigods as of less worth than men who are now living.

Ponder well the fact (to touch upon examples from the distant past) that while no man, whether poet or writer of prose, would applaud the wealth of Tantalus, or the rule of Pelops, or the power of Eurystheus, all the world, with one accord, would praise—next to the unrivalled excellence of Heracles and the goodness of Theseus—the men who marched against Troy and all others who have proved to be like them.

And yet we know that the bravest and most famous of them held their sway in little villages and petty islands; nevertheless they left behind them a name which rivals that of the gods and is renowned throughout the world. For all the world loves, not those who have acquired the greatest power for themselves alone, but those who have shown themselves to be the greatest benefactors of Hellas.

And you will observe that this is the opinion which men hold, not of these heroes only, but of all mankind. Thus, no one would praise our city either because she was once mistress of the sea, or because she extorted such huge sums of money from her allies and carried them up into the Acropolis,[*](The treasury of the Confederacy of Delos was originally in the island of Delos; later it was transferred to the Parthenon at Athens.) nor yet, surely, because she obtained power over many cities—power to devastate them, or aggrandize them, or manage them according to her pleasure (for all these things it was possible for her to do);

no, all these things have been the source of many complaints against her, while because of the battle of Marathon, the naval battle at Salamis, and most of all because her citizens abandoned their own homes to insure the deliverance of Hellas,[*](For these services see Isoc. 4.91-96.) she enjoys the encomiums of all mankind. The same opinion is held regarding the Lacedaemonians also;

their defeat at Thermopylae is more admired than their many victories; the trophy[*](He means the spot where the trophy was raised, marked later by the column erected by the Greeks. Hdt. 7..228.) which was erected by the barbarians over the Lacedaemonians is an object of affectionate regard and of pilgrimages, while the trophies erected by the Lacedaemonians over their enemies call forth, not praise, but odium; for the former is regarded as a proof of valor, the latter of selfish greed.

Now if, after examining and reviewing all these admonitions in your own mind, you feel that my discourse is in any part rather weak and inadequate,[*](For like apologies see Isoc. 15.9; Isoc. 12.4; Isoc. Letter 6.6.) set it down to my age, which might well claim the indulgence of all; but if it is up to the standard of my former publications, I would have you believe that it was not my old age that conceived it but the divine will that prompted it, not out of solicitude for me, but because of its concern for Hellas, and because of its desire to deliver her out of her present distress and to crown you with a glory far greater than you now possess.

I think that you are not unaware in what manner the gods order the affairs of mortals: for not with their own hands do they deal out the blessings and curses that befall us; rather they inspire in each of us such a state of mind that good or ill, as the case may be,

is visited upon us through one another. For example, it may be that even now the gods have assigned to me the task of speech while to you they allot the task of action,[*](Cf. Isoc. Letter 9.17.) considering that you will be the best master in that province, while in the field of speech I might prove least irksome to my hearers. Indeed, I believe that even your past achievements would never have reached such magnitude had not one of the gods helped you to succeed;

and I believe he did so, not that you might spend your whole life warring upon the barbarians in Europe alone, but that, having been trained and having gained experience and come to know your own powers in these campaigns, you might set your heart upon the course which I have urged upon you. It were therefore shameful, now that fortune nobly leads the way, to lag behind and refuse to follow whither she desires to lead you forward.

It is my belief that, while you ought to honor everyone who has any praise for your past accomplishments, you ought to consider that those laud you in the noblest terms who judge your nature capable of even greater triumphs, and not those whose discourse has gratified you for the moment only, but those who will cause future generations to admire your achievements beyond the deeds of any man of the generations that are past. I would like to say many things in this strain, but I am not able; the reason why, I have stated more often than I ought.

It remains, then, to summarize what I have said in this discourse, in order that you may see in the smallest compass the substance of my counsels. I assert that it is incumbent upon you to work for the good of the Hellenes, to reign as king over the Macedonians,[*](The indigenous Macedonians are regarded as half barbarians.) and to extend your power over the greatest possible number of the barbarians. For if you do these things, all men will be grateful to you: the Hellenes for your kindness to them; the Macedonians if you reign over them, not like a tyrant, but like a king; and the rest of the nations, if by your hands they are delivered from barbaric despotism and are brought under the protection of Hellas.

How well this discourse has been composed with respect to appropriateness and finish of style is a question which it is fair to ask my hearers to answer; but that no one could give you better advice than this, or advice more suited to the present situation—of this I believe that I am well assured.