Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes [384-322 BC]:
Considered in his time the foremost orator of Athenai, he was a leader of a political faction, a politician who held various state offices, and the equivalent of an attorney. Having lost his father when age 7, he became an orator starting at age 18 to recover his estate from his guardians - his brothers Aphobos and Demophon, and their friend, Therippides. After years of training he brought a successful legal action against them when age 21.
Initially employed in private cases and as a speechwriter, he started his career in public offices as an assistant prosecutor. Many of his prosecutions turned on political expediency rather than on a search for truth or justice. A well-turned phrase was always more important to him than a fact. His bitter hatred of his rival Aischines underlay, in part, his opposition to the Makedones.
Eventually, that opposition to Philippos defined much of Demosthenes' purpose. His rhetoric and his faction brought Athenai to war with Philippos. He arranged the alliance with Thebai in 339 BC, and fought at Khaironea. With the defeat, he fled the battlefield.
His opposition to the Makedones continued long after Philippos' death to an assassin~s knife (an event Demosthenes may have known in advance). Following the death of Alexandros, Demosthenes participated in Athenai's political maneuvering during the Lamian War. With the Makedon victory at Krannon, in 322 BC, he fled Athenai and was condemned to death by a decree of Demades. Pursued by agents of Antipatros, Demosthenes took poison and died at the temple of Poseidon in Kalauria.
Aischines (actually Aiskhines) [Aeschines, c397 - 322 BC]:
An orator and rival of Demosthenes, he was a member of a political faction that sought security through a Common Peace. After distinguished hoplite service in the 360s and early 350s BC, Aischines was briefly an actor. He then began his public career, first as a supporter of Aristophon, then of Eubolos.
The famous rivalry with Demosthenes began in 346 BC. Aischines was one of the ten envoys sent by Athenai to treat with Philippos. He and Demosthenes were the youngest members of that embassy. When back in Athenai and peace was debated, Aischines strove for a Common Peace (a peace embracing all states) while Demosthenes worked for a simple alliance, knowing that's all Philippos would accept at the time. The ten envoys went back to secure Philippos' oath to the treaty. The king held off completing the treaty until his forces were poised to invade Phokis.
The envoys rushed back to Athenai where Demosthenes sought to send aid to the Phokians. By that point the Makedones held Thermopylai, and Demosthenes was hooted down for the futility of his proposal. Aischines worked to reconcile the Athenians, and gave a notable speech in support of the peace. Demosthenes believed from that moment that Philippos had succeeded in bribing Aischines.
In 345 and again in 343, Demosthenes' faction attempted to prosecute Aischines. Both times, Aischines prevailed, but the second time by an extremely narrow margin.
It was Aischines' action at the Amphiktyonic Council that led to the condemnation of Amphissa and the commencement of the Fourth Sacred War. While Aischines succeeded in turning aside an attack on Athenai, he did so at a terrible price. After Khaironeal he was one of the citYs envoys to Philippos. In a legal action in 330 BC, Aischines failed dismally in an attempt to prosecute an. ally of Demosthenes. He was exiled from Athenai, not having garnered the minimum number of votes required in a prosecution. He taught rhetoric in Rhodos until his death.
Macedonia Personalities
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