ABSTRACT
Opposition to Philip II is the political cause with which Demosthenes’ name is most clearly associated. From 351 right through to the Macedonian king’s death in 336 Demosthenes used his oratorical and diplomatic skills in support of his unrelenting belief that Philip was a dire threat to the freedom of the Greek world in general and of the Athenians in particular and should be resisted. For the last ten of those years the Athenian people, who were still as free and liable to change their minds about public policy as they had been in certain phases of the Peloponnesian War, were persuaded with a remarkable degree of consistency to share his belief. Other politicians are known to have joined him in promoting this cause, but the tradition is emphatic in assigning the major role to him.
