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• The Hero, the Realpolitiker and the Careerist: A Historiographical Approach to the Early Foreign Policies of Demosthenes

  37-52

  Dániel Seres

  Views:

  140

  The study explores the difficulties research has experienced in distancing itself from the 19th-century view of Demosthenes, rooted in the romantic cult of genius. The approach offers a retrospective view of the young Demosthenes and his early political activities. Assessment of his work – and in some cases, the excuses created for its shortcomings – is influenced by the image of the later leader of anti-Macedonian politics and the speeches On the False Embassy and On the Crown. Based on Demosthenes’s speeches For the Megalopolitans and On the Liberty of the Rhodians, the study will argue – building on statements made by Badian and Wooten – in favour of redefining the typical image of the young politician and, by extension, not looking for consistent political aspirations where none were to be found.

• Religious Vocabulary in Demosthenes’ Speech Against Timocrates

  327-340

  Dániel Seres

  Views:

  126

  In this study I argue that the words “ἱερόσυλος” (temple-robber) and “κατάρατος” (accursed) are key elements in Demosthenes’ speech against Timocrates. In both cases, I argue that in this speech elements of religious vocabulary are clearly used: Demosthenes legitimately and convincingly uses such strong expressions against his opponents. As these words rarely occur in texts of the classical period, I shell examine in parallel the prose texts of the fifth to third centuries BC, furthermore the epigraphical sources and the dramas, which are the primary requirements to understanding the role of these words in argument.

• Shields dropped

  5–16

  György Németh

  Views:

  110

  Ancient sources regarded throwing away one’s shield as a punishable crime in Greek poleis, and their testimony has been accepted by modern scholarship. However, if we read the accounts of actual instances of shield-dropping, we find that the interests of the whole community often took precedence over the demand to penalize shield-droppers.