'Even if everyone else succumbs to slavery, we must still
fight for our freedom.'
Admired by many in the ancient world as the greatest of the classic
Athenian orators, Demosthenes was intimately involved in the political
events of his day. As well as showing a master orator at work, his
speeches are a prime source for the history of the period, when Athens
was engaged in a doomed struggle against the rising power of Macedon
under the brilliant father and son, Philip and Alexander. Demosthenes
wrote for the courts, both for political trials in which he was involved
and for other cases in which he acted as ghost-writer for plaintiff or
defendant, and his lawcourt speeches give an unrivalled glimpse of the
daily life of ancient Athens. He also played a central role in education
in Greece and Rome from the Hellenistic period onward, and was imitated
by the greatest of Roman orators, Cicero.
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