. The literature of all nations and all ages; history, character, and incident . sition to the party of Demosthenes as togive rise to the suspicion that he was bribed by Philip. Thegeneral belief in his venality rests cbiefly on the unsupportedevidence of his rival. The increasing opposition and hatredof these orators came to a climax in the prosecution institutedby ^schines against Ctesiphon. As a member of the Councilof Five Hundred, Ctesiphon had proposed a decree thatDemosthenes, for his public acts, should be presented by theAthenians with a golden crown, and that the presentationshould t
. The literature of all nations and all ages; history, character, and incident . sition to the party of Demosthenes as togive rise to the suspicion that he was bribed by Philip. Thegeneral belief in his venality rests cbiefly on the unsupportedevidence of his rival. The increasing opposition and hatredof these orators came to a climax in the prosecution institutedby ^schines against Ctesiphon. As a member of the Councilof Five Hundred, Ctesiphon had proposed a decree thatDemosthenes, for his public acts, should be presented by theAthenians with a golden crown, and that the presentationshould take place in the theatre at the Dionysian to the Macedonian success the decree was not enacted,but six or seven years later ^schines brought a charge againstCtesiphon of proposing what was unconstitutional. As prose-cutor, he had the right of first speech, and presented the legalpoints of his case with consummate ability, and, had he reliedsolely on these points, the verdict might have been he launched out into a slanderous attack upon the char-16. GREEK I^ITERATURE. 17 acter of his rival, thus affording him an opportunity of refutingthe accusations. The trial was in reality a final combat be-tween the representative of Greek independence and the advo-cate of Macedonian interference. Crowds from the remotestcorners of Hellas thronged the platform. -3Eschines enlivenedthe assembly by several magnificent bursts of eloquent paid him back in his own coin ; but throughouthis discourse maintained a more even tenor, increasing inforce as he proceeded. The critic Longinus says of him: One might as soon face with steady eyes a descendingthunderbolt as oppose a calm front to the storm of passionswhich Demosthenes can arouse. The Athenians returneda verdict for the defendant, ^schines, having failed toreceive the quota of votes necessary to save him from fineand imprisonment, went as a voluntary exile to Rhodes, wherehe established a school
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