SOURCE: “Aeschines,” in The Greek Orators, Books for Libraries Press, 1967, pp. 163-98.

In the following excerpt, originally published in 1919, Dobson offers an overview of Aeschines's life, including evaluations of his public character, personality, and oratorical style.

1. Life

Aeschines was for twenty years a bitter enemy of Demosthenes. This enmity was perhaps the chief interest in his life; at any rate it is the dominant motive of his extant speeches. Demosthenes on his side could not afford to despise an enemy whose biting wit and real gift of eloquence assured him an attentive hearing, whether in the courts or before the ecclesia, and thus gave him an influence which the vagueness of his political views and the instability of his personal character could never entirely dissipate. Aeschines had no constructive policy, but he had just the talents which are requisite for the leader of a captious and malicious opposition...