recte itaque Aeschines, cum propter iudicialem ignominiam relictis Athenis Rhodum petisset, atque ibi rogatu civitatis suam prius in Ctesiphontem, deinde Demosthenis pro eodem orationem clarissima et suavissima voce recitasset, admirantibus cunctis utriusque voluminis eloquentiam sed aliquanto magis Demosthenis, quid si inquit ipsum audissetis? tantus orator et modo tam infestus adversarius sic inimici vim ardoremque dicendi suspexit ut se scriptorum eius parum idoneum lectorem esse praedicaret, expertus acerrimum vigorem oculorum, terribile vultus pondus, accommodatum singulis verbis sonum vocis, efficacissimos corporis motus.
So Aeschines was right. After his judicial humiliation he left Athens and went to Rhodes, where, at the request of the community he recited first his own speech against Ctesiphon, then that of Demosthenes on behalf of the same in very loud and melodious tones. Everyone admired the eloquence of both works, but that of Demosthenes somewhat the more of the two. What if you had heard himself? said Aeschines. So great an orator and recently so bitter an adversary, he had so high an esteem for his enemys oratorical force and ardour as to declare himself ill qualified to read his writings aloud. He had experienced the piercing force of the eyes, the formidable gravity of the countenance, the timbre of the voice accommodated to the several words, the arresting movements of the body.
final_alignments\Valerius_Memorable_Book8.json