Exordia

I should have wished, men of Athens, that some of the speakers had displayed as much eagerness to present the best proposals as they did to be thought good speakers, in order that these men might have been regarded as honest instead of clever at speaking and that your interests, just as is proper, might have been in better shape. As it now is, however, some seem to me to be entirely content with the reputation for speaking, but to be taking no thought for what will subsequently befall you.

And certainly I wonder whether speeches of this sort are capable of deceiving the speaker as much as those to whom they are addressed, or whether these men knowingly express before the Assembly opinions directly opposed to what they themselves think best. For if they are unaware that he who is going to do what requires to be done must not have audacity based upon words but power based upon armament, nor yet self-confidence based upon the assumption that our enemies will be weak, but confidence that we shall overmaster them even if they shall be strong, the elegance of their speeches has prevented them, as it seems, from apprehending the most vital facts. Yet if they should not even deny awareness of these facts, and some ulterior motive underlies their predilection for this conduct, how can one help assuming that this motive, whatever it may be, is base?

As for me, I shall not be deterred from saying what I think, although I see that you have been bewitched[*](This meaning of the verb comes from magical practices; see Lexicon under ἀγώγιμον.); for it would be foolish, because you have wrongly yielded to the spell of oratory, for the man who in his turn is going to offer better proposals and much more to your advantage, to give in to fear. And I ask of you to listen patiently, bearing in mind that you would not have formed your present opinions either unless you had listened to the speeches by which you have been persuaded.

Accordingly, just as you would have thought it necessary to test a coin if you were judging what its worth might be, so I ask of you to scrutinize in the light of what we have to say against it the speech that has been made, and if you find it to your advantage, agree with the speaker, and may good fortune attend you; but if, after all, as you examine each detail, it shall seem alien to your interests, to change your plans before falling into error and to adopt the counsels that are right.