Demades

Demades was an Athenian orator and politician active in the second half of the fourth century BC. He was born into poverty, worked as a sailor in his youth, and rose to prominence through raw rhetorical talent rather than education or family connections. He improvised all his speeches — none were written down by him — which makes the survival of even one text under his name remarkable.

Demades was the great pragmatist of Athenian politics. After the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, where Philip II of Macedon crushed the Athenian and Theban armies, it was Demades who negotiated the peace. He consistently advocated accommodation with Macedon, which made him politically effective but historically suspect — later generations, following Demosthenes' lead, treated collaboration with Macedon as treason.

The single surviving speech, On the Twelve Years, is probably not by Demades himself but reflects his political positions. He was eventually executed by Cassander around 319 BC. His reputation for devastating wit survived better than his words: ancient sources preserve dozens of his bons mots.