"Excessive dealings with tyrants are not good for the security of free states"
About this Quote
Demosthenes is warning Athens that tyranny is contagious, not just politically but psychologically. “Excessive dealings” sounds like mundane diplomacy or trade, but he loads it with menace: the danger isn’t a single alliance or necessary negotiation; it’s the slow normalization that comes from frequent contact. Tyrants don’t merely threaten borders. They reshape what a free state comes to tolerate.
The line is built like a security memo disguised as moral advice. “Not good for the security” frames the issue in hard, strategic terms, refusing the comforting fiction that freedom is protected by ideals alone. Security is treated as something porous: every concession, every flattering embassy, every mutually beneficial deal can become a channel for influence, bribery, and dependency. Demosthenes understood that autocrats prefer leverage to invasion. If they can purchase silence, fracture a legislature, or cultivate friendly elites, they don’t need to storm the walls.
Context matters: he’s speaking from a city-state model where “free” meant self-rule and civic participation, not modern liberal rights. Athens is facing the rise of Macedon under Philip II, who mixed military force with charm, money, and political manipulation. Demosthenes’ broader project was to snap Athenians out of complacency and into costly collective action.
The subtext is also self-indicting: democracies often cooperate with tyrants because it’s easy, profitable, and temporarily stabilizing. Demosthenes isn’t naïve about diplomacy; he’s suspicious of habituation. The real threat is that a free state, trying to manage tyrants, ends up managing itself down to their level.
The line is built like a security memo disguised as moral advice. “Not good for the security” frames the issue in hard, strategic terms, refusing the comforting fiction that freedom is protected by ideals alone. Security is treated as something porous: every concession, every flattering embassy, every mutually beneficial deal can become a channel for influence, bribery, and dependency. Demosthenes understood that autocrats prefer leverage to invasion. If they can purchase silence, fracture a legislature, or cultivate friendly elites, they don’t need to storm the walls.
Context matters: he’s speaking from a city-state model where “free” meant self-rule and civic participation, not modern liberal rights. Athens is facing the rise of Macedon under Philip II, who mixed military force with charm, money, and political manipulation. Demosthenes’ broader project was to snap Athenians out of complacency and into costly collective action.
The subtext is also self-indicting: democracies often cooperate with tyrants because it’s easy, profitable, and temporarily stabilizing. Demosthenes isn’t naïve about diplomacy; he’s suspicious of habituation. The real threat is that a free state, trying to manage tyrants, ends up managing itself down to their level.
Quote Details
| Topic | Freedom |
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