Note 378 — Chapter IX · DEMOSTHENES

There is a pseudo-epilogue, §§ 126-159, devoted chiefly to the birth and life of Aeschines. Here the speech might have ended, but the orator reverts in § 160 to an examination and defence of his own political life. The real epilogue is contained in §§ 252-324. The disorder is undoubtedly due in part to the peculiar facts of the case, namely, that the issues of the trial were much wider than might have appeared. Demosthenes is not so much concerned to prove the legality of Ctesiphon’s decree as to offer an apologia of his own political conduct during many years.