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Ancient critics consistently included Aeschines in the canon of the ten great Attic orators. Cicero ranked him second only to Demosthenes, Aeschines' political rival; the literary critic Dionysius of Halicarnassus considered him one of the three best orators in Greek literature. Aeschines' fame rests entirely on three long speeches originally delivered at trials in Athenian courts, then later published with probably only minor revisions. These three speeches are Against Timarchus (346 B.C.), On the False Embassy (343 B.C.), and Against Ctesiphon (330 B.C.). Nine letters were attributed to his authorship in antiquity, but modern scholarship has declared all of them forgeries. Aeschines was admired for his natural ability, his stately manner, and his clear exposition. Cicero praised his speeches for their forceful and elevated style.
Aeschines was born about 390 B.C., the son of an Athenian citizen. His father, Atrometus, was a man of modest means. Aeschines claims that his father was once wealthy but lost his property during the Peloponnesian War and was forced to earn money as a mercenary soldier.
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