Aeschines
Aeschines
389 BC – 314 BC
Aeschines was born in 390 or 389 BC in Athens to a family of modest means — his enemies never let him forget it. Before entering politics he worked as a minor clerk and possibly as an actor, which gave him the magnificent voice and delivery that made him one of the three great Attic orators alongside Demosthenes and Lysias.
His career is inseparable from his rivalry with Demosthenes. Aeschines favoured accommodation with Philip II of Macedon; Demosthenes favoured resistance. Their conflict produced some of the most savage oratory in the ancient world. Aeschines served on embassies to Philip and was twice prosecuted by Demosthenes for corruption — the speech Against Timarchus was his pre-emptive strike against one of these prosecutions, a masterpiece of character assassination. The final showdown came in 330 BC with the trial On the Crown, where Aeschines prosecuted Ctesiphon for proposing to honour Demosthenes. He lost catastrophically, failed to win even a fifth of the jury's votes, and went into exile in Rhodes, where he reportedly opened a school of rhetoric.
Three speeches survive. They are vivid, forceful, and provide an essential counterweight to Demosthenes' version of events.
Works (3)
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1
Against Ctesiphon oratory
Aeschines prosecutes Ctesiphon for proposing an illegal crown for Demosthenes. The real target is Demosthenes' entire political career. This is the sp...
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2
Against Timarchus oratory
A prosecution of Timarchus for prostitution — which disqualified him from public life. Aeschines uses the case to attack Demosthenes' political allies...
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3
On the Embassy oratory
Aeschines defends himself against Demosthenes' charge of misconduct during the embassy to Philip. The rival version to Demosthenes' On the False Embas...