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Isocrates, Speeches and Letters (ed. George Norlin)Editions and translations: Greek (ed. George Norlin) | English (ed. George Norlin)Your current position in the text is marked in red. Click anywhere on the line to jump to another position.
Many of you are wondering, I suppose, what in the world my purpose is1 in coming forward to address you on The Public Safety, as if Athens were in danger or her affairs on an uncertain footing, when in fact she possesses more than two hundred ships-of-war, enjoys peace throughout her territory, maintains her empire on the sea,2 1 Strictly, what my purpose was. The aorist tense reflects the fact that the Athenian orators had to give written notice, in advance, of any subject they proposed to discuss before the General Assembly. See Isoc. 7.15. 2 The second Athenian Confederacy, organized in 378 B.C. See General Introduction p. xxxvii. 3 He refers here, probably, to allies by special treaty as distinguished from the allies next mentioned, who were members of the Confederacy and under the leadership of Athens. The latter paid their quotas into the Athenian treasury for the support of the Confederate navy. 4 In the second Confederacy the word suntaxis (contribution) was used instead of phoros (tribute) which became an odious term in the Confederacy of Delos. Cf. Isoc. 15.123. Preferred URL for linking to this page: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Isoc.+7+1 The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text. This text is based on the following book(s): Buy a copy of this text (not necessarily the same edition) from Amazon.com: vol. 1; vol. 2; vol. 3 |