by Demosthenes
Consider now of how large a sum they are defrauding me in the matter of these sofa-makers: the principal alone, forty minae, and interest upon it for ten years, two talents; for they obtained from the slaves a profit of twelve minae each year. Is this a trifling sum drawn from some obscure source, which might easily have been miscalculated, or have they not manifestly robbed me of nearly three talents? Of this sum which they have jointly scattered to the winds, it is surely right that I should recover a third from the defendant. [30]
Furthermore, men of the jury, they have dealt in much the same way with the ivory and iron which were left me. They do not produce them. Yet it is impossible that one who possessed so many sofa-makers and so many sword-makers should not also have left iron and ivory. These things must have been available, for what could the slaves have produced without these materials? [31] Well then, though my father possessed more than fifty slaves and conducted two factories, one of which easily consumed two minae worth of ivory per month for the sofas, while the sword-factory consumed as much more, and iron besides, these men declare that he left no ivory and no iron; to such a pitch of shamelessness have they come! [32] From these facts alone it is easy to see that no credence is to be given to their statements; but that my father actually did leave such an amount of these materials as not only to suffice for his own workmen to use in their trade, but also for sale to anyone else who wished to buy, is made clear by the fact that he himself during his lifetime used to sell these materials, and that after his death Demophon and the defendant continued to sell them from out my house to those wishing to buy. [33] And yet how large must one suppose the quantity left by my father to have been, when it is shown to have sufficed for such extensive factories, and to have been sold by the guardians besides? Was it a small amount, or not rather much more than I have charged?
Take now these depositions and read them to the jury.” Depositions”
Of this ivory, you see, there is more than a talent’s worth of which they make no report — neither of the raw material nor of the finished product. No; this also they have utterly and absolutely made away with. [34]
Furthermore, men of the jury, I shall prove to you from the account which they render, and from the receipts admitted by themselves, that these three men have in their possession more than eight talents of my money, and that of this amount Aphobus has separately taken three talents and one thousand drachmae. I shall set down separately at a higher figure than they do themselves the moneys they have expended, and shall deduct all the sums they have paid me, that you may see the utter shamelessness of their attempts. [35] They confess to have received from my estate, Aphobus one hundred and eight minae （besides what I shall now show to be in his hands）; Therippides two talents; and Demophon eighty-seven minae. This makes altogether five talents and fifteen minae. Of this sum there are nearly seventy-seven minae, the income from the slaves, which were not received all at once, and a little less than four talents of which they got possession immediately. Now, if you add to this last sum the interest for ten years, reckoned at a drachma only you will find that the whole, principal and interest, amounts to eight talents and four thousand drachmae. [36] From the seventy-seven minae, the profits of the factory, the cost of maintenance of the men must be deducted, for Therippides expended for this seven minae a year, and I admit having received thus much. Thus they expended on our behalf in the ten years seventy minae for maintenance; to this I add the balance, seven hundred drachmae, and thus credit them with a larger expenditure than they do themselves. There must also be deducted from the eight talents and more the sum they handed over to me when I came of age, and the taxes which they have paid to the state. [37] The defendant and Therippides paid me thirty-one minae, and they compute that they have paid eighteen minae in taxes. I will go beyond them and will make this sum thirty minae, that they may have not a word to say in protest. Well, then, if you take away one talent from the eight, seven are left, which, according to their own admissions of receipts, they must necessarily have in their possession. This sum, then, even if they rob me of everything else and deny that they have it, they ought at least to have paid me, seeing that they admit having received it from my estate. [38] But what is it that they do? They report no return in interest for this money, and tell me that they have expended the entire principal together with the seventy-seven minae; and Demophon has, moreover, actually set me down as indebted to him. Is not this absolute and barefaced effrontery? Is it not the very excess of outrageous rapacity? What is the meaning of outrageous, if matters pushed to this extreme are not to be so called? [39] The defendant, then, for his own part, since he admits having received one hundred and eight minae, has in his possession these and the interest on them for ten years, in all about three talents and one thousand drachmae.
In proof that what I say is true — that each one of them in the account of his guardianship admits that he has received the money, but claims to have spent it all — take the depositions and read them.” Depositions “ [40]
I think, men of the jury, that you have now been fully informed regarding the theft and wrongdoings of each of these men. You would, however, have had more exact knowledge of the matter, if they had been willing to give up to me the will which my father left; for it contained （so my mother tells me） a statement of all the property that my father left, along with instructions regarding the funds from which these men were to take what had been given them, and regarding the letting of the property. [41] But as it is, on my demanding it, they admit that there was a will, but they do not produce it; and they take this course because they do not want to make known the amount of the property which was left, and which they have embezzled, and to the end that they may not appear to have received their legacies — as though they would not easily be convicted by the facts themselves.
Take now, and read them the evidence of those in whose presence they made their answers.” Depositions “ [42]
This man declares that a will was made and testifies that in it the two talents were given to Demophon, and the eighty minae to Aphobus; but he declares there was no additional clause regarding the seventy minae which Therippides received, or regarding the amount of the property bequeathed, or instructions as to the letting of it; for it was not to his interest to make these further admissions.
Now take the answer of the defendant.” Deposition “ [43]
He also declares that the will was made, and that the money accruing from the copper and the gall was duly paid to Therippides, which Therippides denies; and that the two talents were paid to Demophon; but in regard to the money given to himself, while he admits that the clause was written in the will, he declares that he did not assent to it, in order that he may not appear to have received it. But as to the amount of the estate he, too, reveals absolutely nothing, nor as to letting the property. For it was not to his interest either to make these further admissions. [44] The amount of the property that was left is, however, none the less clear （though these men seek to conceal it） from the terms of the will, in accordance with which they state that such large sums were given to them severally. When a man out of four talents and three thousand drachmae has given to two of these men three talents and two thousand drachmae as marriage-portions, and to the third the interest on seventy minae, it is clear, I fancy, that he took these sums, not from a small estate, but from one bequeathed to me of more than double this amount. [45] For, I take it, he would not wish to leave me, his son, in poverty, and be eager further to enrich these men, who were already wealthy. No; it was because of the size of the estate left to me that he gave to Therippides the interest on a sum so considerable, and to Demophon that on the two talents — though he was not yet to marry my sister — in order to accomplish one or the other of two ends: either he would by his gifts encourage them to act the more honorably in the guardianship, or, if they should prove dishonest, they would meet with no leniency at your hands, seeing that, after being so liberally treated, they sinned so grievously aga
inst us. [46] Well now, the defendant, who in addition to my mother’s marriage-portion has taken the female servants, and has lived in the house, when it becomes necessary to render an account of these matters, says he is busy with his own affairs; and he has come to such a pitch of rapaciousness, that he has even cheated my instructors of their fees, and has left unpaid some of the taxes, although he charges me with the amounts.
Take these depositions too, and read them to the jury.” Depositions “ [47]
How could one show more clearly that he has made havoc of the whole estate, sparing nothing, however small, than by proving, as I have done by so many witnesses and proofs, that he admitted having received the marriage-portion, and that he acknowledged in writing to the guardians that he had it; that he enjoyed the profits of the factory, but makes report of none; [48] that of our other effects he has sold some without paying to us the proceeds, while others he has taken to himself and hidden; that according to the account which he has himself rendered, he has embezzled large sums; that in addition to all this he has made away with the will, sold the slaves, and in all other respects has administered the estate as not even the bitterest enemies would have done? I do not see how anyone could prove the matter more clearly. [49]
He had the audacity to say before the arbitrator that he had paid many debts for me out of the estate to Demophon and Therippides, his fellow-guardians, and that they received a large part of my property, yet neither of these facts was he able to prove. He did not show by the books that my father left me in debt, nor has he brought forward as witnesses the men whom he says he paid; nor, again, is the amount of money which he charged against his fellow-guardians equal to the amount which he is shown to have received himself. On the contrary, it is much less. [50] When the arbitrator questioned him about each of these matters, and asked him whether he had managed his own estate from the interest or had spent the principal, and whether,if he had been under guardianship, he would have accepted an account of this sort from his guardians or would have demanded that the money be duly paid to him with the accrued interest, he made no answer to these questions, but tendered me a challenge to the effect that he was ready to show that my property was worth ten talents, and said that, if it fell short of this amount, he would himself make up the difference. [51] When I bade him prove this to the arbitrator, he did not do so, nor did he show that his fellow-guardians had paid me （for if he had, the arbitrator would not have given judgement against him）; but he put in a piece of evidence of a sort regarding which he will try to find something to say.
If even now he still tries to assert that I am in possession of property, ask him who handed it over to me, and demand that he produce witnesses to prove each statement. [52] If he declares that it is my possession in this sense, that he reckons up what is in the hands of either of the trustees, it will be clear that he accounts for only a third part, and still does not prove that I have possession of it. For as I have convicted the defendant of having in his possession the large amount I have stated, I shall also prove that each of them has not less than he. This statement, therefore, will not help him. No; he must show that either he or his fellow-trustees really handed the money over to me. If he fails to prove this, why should you pay any attention to his challenge? He still does not prove that I have the money. [53]
Being sorely at a loss to explain any of these matters before the arbitrator, and being convicted on each point, just as he is now before you, he had the audacity to make an outrageously false statement, to the effect that my father left me four talents buried in the ground, and that he had put my mother in charge of them. He made this statement in order that, if I should assume that he would repeat it here, I might waste my time in refuting it, when I ought to be preferring the rest of my charges against him; or if I should pass it over, not expecting him to repeat it, then he himself might now bring it up, in the hope that I, by seeming to be rich, might meet with less compassion from you. [54] Yet he who dared to make such a statement put in no evidence to prove it, but relied on his bare word, as though you would lightly give him credence. When one asks him upon what he has spent so much of my money, he says he has paid debts for me, and so represents me as poor; yet, when it pleases him, he makes me rich, as it seems, seeing that my father left such a sum of money in the house. It is easy to see, however, from many considerations that he is lying, and that there is no basis of fact in this story. [55] For if my father had no confidence in these men, it is plain that he would neither have entrusted to them the rest of his property, nor, if he had left this money in the way alleged, would he have told them of it. It would have been the height of madness to tell them of hidden treasure, when he was not going to make them trustees even of his visible property. But if he had confidence in them, he would not, I take it, have given into their hands the bulk of his property, and not have put them in control of this. Nor would he have entrusted this remainder to my mother to keep, and then have given her herself in marriage to this man who was one of the guardians. For it is not reasonable that he should seek to secure the money through my mother, and yet to put one of the men whom he distrusted in control both of her and of it. [56] Furthermore, if there were any truth in all this, do you suppose Aphobus would not have taken my mother to wife, bequeathed to him as she was by my father? He had already taken her marriage-portion — the eighty minae — as though he were going to marry her; but he subsequently married the daughter of Philonides of Melite But if there had been four talents in the house and in her custody, as he alleges, don’t you imagine he would have raced to get possession both of her and of them? [57] Would he have joined with his co-trustees in so shamefully plundering my visible property, which many of you knew had been left me, and have refrained, when he had the chance, from seizing a fund to the evidence of which you would not be able to testify? Who can believe this? It is impossible, men of the jury; it is impossible. No; my father entrusted to these men all the property which he left, and the defendant will tell this story, that I may meet with less compassion from you. [58]
I have many other charges to make against him, but summing them all up in one, I will break down every defence of his. He could have avoided all this trouble, had he let the estate in accordance with these laws.
Take the laws and read them.” Laws”
In the case of Antidorus, as a result of his property having been let in accordance with these laws, there was given over to him, at the end of six years, an estate of six talents and more from an original amount of three talents and three thousand drachmae; and this some of you have seen with your own eyes; for Theogenes of Probalinthus, who leased the estate, counted out that sum in the market-place. [59] But in my case, fourteen talents in ten years, when consideration is given to the time and the terms of his lease, ought to have been more than trebled. Ask him why he did not do this. If he declares that it was better not to let the estate, let him show, not that it has been doubled or trebled, but that the mere principal has been paid back to me in full. But if out of fourteen talents they have handed over to me not even seventy minae, and one of them has actually recorded me as in his debt, how can it be right to accept any word they say? It is surely impossible. [60]
Seeing that the fortune left me was of so great value, as you heard at the beginning, the third part of it bringing in an income of fifty minae, these men, albeit insatiate in their greed, even if they refused to let the property, might out of this income and leaving the principal untouched, have maintained us, paid the taxes to the state, and saved the residue. [61] The rest of the estate — an amount twice as large — they might have invested profitably, and, if greedy for money, have taken a reasonable amount for themselves, and have increased my estate from the income, besides keeping the principal intact. Yet they did nothing of the sort. Instead, by selling to one another the most valuable of the slaves and by absolutely doing away with the rest, they destroyed the existing source of my income and secured a considerable one for themselves at my cost. [62] Having
taken all the rest thus shamefully, they unite in maintaining that more than half of my property was never left to me at all. They have rendered an account as though the estate were one of five talents only; they do not produce the principal, though reporting no income from it, but have the impudence to tell me that the capital itself has been expended. And for this audacity they feel no shame! [63] What, pray, would have been my plight, if I had continued longer as their ward? They would have hard work to tell. For when, after the lapse of ten years, I have recovered so little from two of these men, and by the third am even set down as a debtor, have I not good ground for indignation? Nay, it is wholly clear. If I had been left an orphan of a year old, and had been six years longer under their guardianship, I should never have recovered even the pitiful amounts I now have. For, if the expenditures they have made were justifiable, the sums they have handed over to me would not have lasted six years, but they would either have had to support me themselves or to have let me perish from hunger. [64] Yet is it not an outrage, if estates left to others of a value of one or two talents have as a result of letting been doubled or trebled, so that the owners have been called upon for state services, while mine, which has been wont to equip triremes and to make large contributions in taxes, will be unable to contribute even small sums thanks to the shameless acts of these men? What words are gross enough to describe their conduct? They have done away with the will, thinking to avoid discovery, their own estates they have administered from the income, and have greatly increased their capital by drawing upon my funds, while, as for my own estate, they have destroyed my entire capital, as if in requital for some grievous wrong we had done them. [65] You, on your part, do not act thus even toward those who sin against you: when you give judgement against any of them, you do not take away all that they have, but in pity for their wives and children you leave something even to these. But these men are so different from you that, although they had received legacies from us to make them administer their trust faithfully, they have done us these outrageous wrongs. They felt no touch of shame for their ruthlessness toward my sister, who, though my father left two talents as the dowry due her, will now get no fitting portion. Nay, they have recked nothing of kinship, as though they had been left to us, not as friends and kinsfolk, but as bitterest enemies. [66]