In 353 B.C., the Greek statesman and orator Demosthenes delivered his famous speech, Against Timocrates. In his oration, Demosthenes defended the political equality safeguarded by Athenian democracy, and warned against oligarchic corruption. In the midst of peace negotiations with Caria, Greek ambassadors had captured an enemy merchant ship, and the Athenian government declared that its goods could be sold for the benefit of the state. Instead, the ambassadors sold them for their own private profit.