Page:History of Greece Vol XI.djvu/393

 AESCHINES. 3(57 Glaukothea made a living by presiding over certain religious as- Bemblies and rites of initiation, intended chiefly for poor commu- nicants ; the boy -ffischines assisting both one and the other in a mental capacity. Such at least is the statement which comes to us, enriched with various degrading details, on the doubtful author- ity of his rival Demosthenes ; l who also affirms, what we may accept as generally true, that -5Sschines had passed his early man- hood partly as an actor, partly as a scribe or reader to the official boards. For both functions he possessed some natural advantages an athletic frame, a powerful voice, a ready flow of unpremed- itated speech. After some years passed as scribe, in which he made himself useful to Eubulus and others, he was chosen public scribe to the assembly acquired familiarity with the administrative and parliamentary business of the city and thus elevated himself by degrees to influence as a speaker. In rhetorical power, he seems to have been surpassed only by Demosthenes. 2 As envoy of Athens despatched under the motion of Eubulus, JEschines proceeded into Peloponnesus in the spring of 347 ; others being sent at the same time to other Grecian cities. Among other places, he visited Megalopolis, where he was heard before the Arcadian collective assembly called the Ten Thousand. He addressed them in a strain of animated exhortation, adjuring them to combine with Athens for the defence of the liberties of Greece against Philip, and inveighing strenuously against those traitors who, in Arcadia as well as in other parts of Greece, sold themselves to the aggressor and paralyzed all resistance. He en- countered however much opposition from a speaker named Hiero- nymus, who espoused the interest of Philip in the assembly : and though he professed to bring back some flattering hopes, it is cer- tain that neither in Arcadia, nor elsewhere in Peloponnesus, was his influence of any real efficacy. 3 The strongest feeling among 1 Demosthenes affirms this at two distinct times Fals.Leg. p. 415-431; De Corona, p. 313. Stechow (Vita JEschinis, p. 1-10) brings together the little which can be made out respecting .iEschines. e. 9, 29. 3 Demosth. Fals. Leg. p. 344-438 ; jEschin. Fals. Leg. p. 38. The con- iict of JEschines at this juncture is much the same, as described by his rival.
 * Dionys. Hal. De Adm. Vi Dicend. Demosth. p. 1063 ; Cicero, Orator,