Aspetti finanziari dell'egemonia nelle rappresentazioni speculari di Tucidide e Demostene

[Machine translation] The contrast between enterprising Athenians and indolent Spartans drawn up by Thucydides for the Peloponnesian War returns, reversed and modified, in Demosthenes in the contrast between the indolence of the Athenians and the resourcefulness of Philip II of Macedon. This revival of a Thucydidean motive does not simply respond to a rhetorical need, but expresses the speaker's awareness of the profound link between public finances and the war capacity of a polis that in the fourth century saw Athens, now devoid of its maritime empire and its relative tribute, in a position of progressive weakness vis-a-vis the rise of Macedonia, prompting Demosthenes to encourage Athenians to make greater personal and financial commitment to opposing Macedonian expansionism.