Works of Demosthenes

His orations constitute the last significant expression of Athenian intellectual prowess and provide a thorough insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece.

The Alexandrian Canon compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace recognized Demosthenes as one of the ten greatest Attic orators and logographers.

Cicero acclaimed him as "the perfect orator" and the one who "has pre-eminence over all others" ("inter omnes unus excellat"),[1] while Quintilian extolled him as lex orandi ("the standard of oratory").

[3] In the next generation after his death, texts of his speeches survived in at least two places: Athens and the Library of Alexandria (early-mid third century BC).

Demosthenes' speeches were incorporated into the body of classical Greek literature that was preserved, catalogued and studied by scholars of the Hellenistic period.

Texts of his speeches were in a relatively good position to survive the tense period from the sixth until the ninth century AD.

[16][18] The prologues give us insights into the Athenians' attitude to their democracy as well as to the reactions and even expectations of an audience at an Assembly.

The Logoi, the famous speeches by Demosthenes, in a 1570 edition, in Greek surrounded by Greek commentary, amongst other works of the period.
Demosthenes, De Corona 167–169. P. Oxy. 1377, 1st century BCE