Answer to Philip’s Letter

It must now be clear to all of you, Athenians, that Philip never concluded a peace with you, but only postponed the war; for ever since he handed Halus[*](A town in the south of Thessaly on the Pagasaean Gulf; not to be confused with Halonnesus.) over to the Pharsalians, settled the Phocian question, and subdued the whole of Thrace, coining false excuses and inventing hollow pretexts, he has been all the time practically at war with Athens, though it is only now that he confesses it openly in the letter which he has sent.

I shall, however, try to prove to you that you must not quail before his power nor offer a half-hearted resistance, but must enter the war with an unsparing provision of men, money, and ships—in a word, with all your resources. For first, men of Athens, you may reasonably expect that your mightiest allies and supporters will be those gods whose sanction he has flouted and whose name he has taken in vain through his unjust violation of the peace.