I will then argue that this escalation in Philip’sĪlienness also marks Demosthenes’ gradual assumption of more and more power over theĭeliberative process as the only Athenian able to counteract the Macedonian threat. The following section traces the evolution of Demosthenes’ presentation of Philip fromīarbarian king to other-worldly threat. Leader and representative of Athens in the political battle against Macedonia.ĭemosthenes’ uniquely strong leadership was acceptable within a democratic context ifĪnd only if the idea of Philip as an extraordinary, alien threat was first accepted. Magnifying Philip’s power Demosthenes validated his own privileged role as the wise Concomitantly, the more alien the threat from Philip became, the more theĪthenians stood in need of a Demosthenes to lead them onto the path of victory.

Instead of being created in theĮminently Athenian role of an orator, Demosthenes’ Philip becomes the ultimateįoreigner. Magnifying the threat that Macedonia supposedly posed. For, if Aeschines and the ambassadors attempted to bring Philip ‘toĪthens’ – that is, to make him familiar and thereby non-threatening to the Athenians –ĭemosthenes attempted to do exactly the opposite: to silence and alienate Philip, thereby The Crown, Demosthenes re-imagines himself as a leader taking part in a cosmic contestĪgainst Philip.

Mediates between the outside world and Athens, in his later speeches, culminating in On Manipulate cultural norms with greater freedom.

Stature Demosthenes gained during the peace process and over the course of the nextįifteen years strengthened his position in the polis and, as we will see, enabled him to That Demosthenes located himself within this schema as the wise advisor able to mediateīetween Macedonian foreignness and Athenian understanding. In the last chapter I explored how Demosthenes’ early anti-Philip speeches drewįrom older paradigms of the Athenian enemy – both Spartan and Persian – to present theĬonflict between Athens and Macedonia in dramatic, oppositional terms.

The grand strategy of philip ii