IN DEFENCE OF A PATRIOT
Demosthenes. The Origin and Growth of His Policy. By Werner Jaeger. Translated by Edward Schouten Robinson. (Cambridge University Press. los. 6d.)
THIS series of lectures, composed for the Sather Professorship of Classical Literature in the University of California, bears all the marks of Professor Jaeger's mature understanding of the politics and literature of Hellas in the fourth century B.C. As the sub-title implies, the thesis of the book is neither bio- graphical nor historical but concentrates upon Greek politi- cal thought of the practical, as distinct from the theoretical, kind, and involves the vindication of the personal policy of Demosthenes. In this way what might have been a lifeless treatise on the most complex period in Greek diplomacy has been vitalised by the constant presence of the bravest, though least successful, of Greek politicians and the most eloquent of European orators.
Both the academic and the human aspects deserved and deserve attention. Amongst scholars, and especially British scholars, until very recently there has been a tendency to neglect the politics of the fourth century (a sad story for lovers of democracy) or else, when they did approach that era, to dwell on the clearer and less saddening idealistic theories of Plato and the general analyses of Aristotle. The last ten years have produced some able young writers in this country who are working to repair this, but as yet there is no one capable of surveying the period with authority or experience equal to Professor Jaeger's.
The second theme in these lectures, the vindication of Demosthenes' good name, should interest more than the professional Hellenist. In the last century the prevailing political views of the Germans, those Titans who challenged all the historical gods of earlier days, set strongly against such a champion of small autonomous States as Demosthenes. The rise of what the skilful translator of this work calls "national unitarianism" in Germany and Italy fostered the theory that the city States were only an inferior stage in the ascent to the consummation of Greek statecraft—the Hellenistic monarchies, Macedonia serving the same unifying function a:: Prussia and Savoy. Hence Demosthenes began to be disparaged as an intransigent and short-sighted opponent of progress and not even a true patriot, while Isocrates and Aeschines became admired as provident and progressive statesmen. The one liberal-minded scholar who opposed this rapidly spreading cult was imperfectly equipped for writing a really telling reply. To achieve this was Professor Jaeger's object, and he has succeeded.
His method is to examine the political content of Demosthenes' speeches in chronological order in the light of his own detailed knowledge of their background, and to formt:.- late convincing conclusions. In doing this his style and arrangement are so well judged that the translation is probably the first work on the patchy and complex politics of the time which should be easily and pleasantly digestible for the lay reader. Within the general development of facts and theories the book abounds in arresting phrases and judgements : ." Demosthenes is the very first person since the world began about whose youth we have really detailed information. . . . Here is one man of the ancient world whom we can know not merely as a walking canon of virtue, the hero of some largely fictitious school biography patched together a century or more after his death, but as a real person in a real environment, waging a lifelong struggle against all his human frailties" (p. 22) ; " Chabrias, a genius at improvisation and the inventor of trench warfare" (p. 19) ; "Only when the last ray of hope was extinguished and the last uprising had met disaster did quiet finally settle down upon Greece—the quiet of the grave- yard" (p. 192). Besides the central figure, other actors in this tragedy of the decline of democracy are clearly portrayed : Aeschines, Philip, Isocrates (who is put back to his proper ranking). Scholars will find both variety and originality in the footnotes—for example the remarks on oratorical delivery on p. 215. Incidentally there is an extraordinarily large number of what may be called Anglo-Graecisms in the book ; besides such common terms as " thalassocracy," "hegemony," "ethos," one finds " pleonexy " (but in Greek form on pp. 53 and 255), " autodidacticism," " irenic." In such classical company "let-up "on p. 48 is rather a let-down.
W. B. STANFORD.
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