by Demosthenes
Read the law.”Law
If anyone shall dig up an olive tree at Athens, except it be for a sanctuary of the Athenian state or of one of its demes, or for his own use to the number of two olive trees each year, or except it be needful to use it for the service of one who is dead, he shall be fined one hundred drachmae, to he paid into the public treasury, for each tree, and the tenth part of this sum shall belong to the goddess. Furthermore he shall be obligated to pay to the private individual who prosecutes him one hundred drachmae for each olive tree. And suits concerning these matters shall be brought before the archons, according as they severally have jurisdiction. And the prosecutor shall deposit the court fees for his share. And when a person shall have been convicted, the archon before whom the case was brought shall make a report to the collectors of the amount due to the treasury, and of the amount due to the goddess, to the treasurers of the goddess. And if they fail to make such reports, they shall themselves be liable for the amount.” [72]
The law is thus severe. But pray ponder in your minds, men of the jury, what you must imagine us to have suffered in the past from these men and the insolence of these men, when they have shown contempt toward you, so great a people, and have done what the laws expressly forbid their doing, in thus contemptuously laying waste the farms which Hagnias left. The law forbids anyone to root up any of these things even out of his own land inherited from his fathers. Much indeed do these men care either about obedience to your laws or the saving of the house of Hagnias from extinction! [73]
I desire, men of the jury, to speak to you in a few words about myself, and to prove to you that I have, in a very different way from theirs, shown my concern that the house of Hagnias should not become extinct. For I, too, am myself of the family of Buselus. For Callistratus married the granddaughter of Habron, the son of Buselus, being himself the son of Eubulides and grandson of Buselus; and from the granddaughter of Habron and Callistratus, the nephew of Habron, our mother was born. [74] I myself, when I had been awarded the hand of the mother of this boy, and four sons and one daughter had been born to me, gave them, men of the jury, the following names: to the eldest I gave, as was fitting, the name of my father Sosias, and thus I gave to the eldest this name that was his due; to the son born next after him I gave the name Eubulides, which was the name of the father of this boy’s mother; to the next after him I gave the name Menestheus, for Menestheus was a relative of my wife; and to the youngest I gave the name Callistratus, which was the name of my mother’s father. In addition to all this, I did not give my daughter in marriage into another family, but to my own brother’s son, in order that, if they had health, the children born of them should be of the same family as Hagnias. [75] I, then, administered matters in this way, in order that the families springing from Buselus should as completely as possible be preserved. As for our opponents, let us examine them once more.
And first of all read this law.”Law
Let the archon take charge of orphans and of heiresses and of families that are becoming extinct, and of all women who remain in the houses of their deceased husbands, declaring that they are pregnant. Let him take charge of these, and not suffer anyone to do any outrage to them. And if anyone shall commit any outrage or any lawless act against them, he shall have power to impose a fine upon such person up to the limit fixed by law. And if the offender shall seem to him to be deserving of a more severe punishment, let him summon such a person, giving him five days’ notice, and bring him before the court of Heliaea, writing upon the indictment the penalty which he thinks is deserved. And if there be a conviction, let the court of Heliaea appoint for the one convicted what penalty he ought to suffer or pay.” [76]
How, now, could people more effectively bring a house to extinction than if, being themselves of another house, that of Stratius, they should dispossess those nearest of kin to Hagnias? Or again, if one should claim to possess the estate of Hagnias as being related by blood, when he bears a name that is not only not derived from the family of Hagnias, but not even from that of Stratius, the claimant’s own ancestor — no, when he has not the name of any other of all the descendants of Buselus, many as they are? [77] Whence, then, does he get the name Macartatus? From his mother’s family. For he was adopted into the family of Macartatus of Prospalta, who was his mother’s brother, and he possesses that estate also. And so regardless of right is he that, when a son was born to him, he forgot to introduce him into the family of Hagnias, as a son to Hagnias, and that too while he was in possession of the estate of Hagnias, and claimed that he was related to him by male descent. [78] This son who was born to him Macartatus has introduced by his mother’s descent into the Prospaltians, and has suffered the family of Hagnias to become extinct, so far as this boy is concerned; but he alleges that his own father Theopompus was related to Hagnias. Yet the law of Solon ordains that males and the sons of males shall have precedence; but the defendant has thus lightly shown contempt both for Hagnias and for the laws, and has had his son introduced into the family of his mother. How could there be people more scornful of law or more arbitrary than these? [79]
Now this is not the only thing, men of the jury. There is a place of burial common to all those descended from Buselus （it is called the burial-place of the Buselidae, a large area, enclosed, after the manner of the men of old）. In this burial-place lie all the other descendants of Buselus and Hagnias and Eubulides and Polemon, and all the rest of the host of those descended from Buselus, all these hold in common this place of burial. [80] But the father of the defendant Macartatus and the grandfather have no share in it, but they made for themselves a tomb apart, at a distance from that of the Buselidae. Do they appear to you, men of the jury, to belong in any sense to the house of Hagnias, except that they have seized and hold what does not belong to them? Whether the house of Hagnias and of Eubulides, the cousin of Hagnias, is to become extinct and have no name, has never in the least degree been an object of concern to them. [81]
I for my part, men of the jury, am defending to the full extent of my power the interest of those dead relatives, but it is not an easy task to contend against the intrigues of these men. I therefore deliver over to you this boy to be the object of your care in whatever way you may deem most just. He has been adopted into the house of Eubulides, and has been introduced to the clansmen, not mine, but those of Eubulides and Hagnias and the defendant, Macartatus. [82] And when he was being introduced, the rest of the clansmen cast their votes secretly, but the defendant Macartatus by an open vote declared that this boy was being rightly introduced as a son to Eubulides; for he did not wish to lay his hand upon the victim or to remove it from the altar, and thus make himself responsible; nay, he even received his portion of the flesh from the hand of this boy, and took it away with him, as did the rest of the clansmen. [83] Consider, men of the jury, that this boy is set before you as though he were the suppliant’s wand, on behalf of the deceased Hagnias and Eubulides and the other descendants of Hagnias, and that they supplicate you jurymen not to allow their house to be brought to extinction by these loathsome monsters, who are of the house of Stratius, and never belonged to that of Hagnias. Do not suffer them to keep what is not their own, but compel them to give it back into the house of Hagnias for those who are his relatives. [84] I verily am defending the interests of those relatives who are dead, and the laws established to protect them, and I beg of you also, men of the jury, I beseech you, I implore you, do not shut your eyes to the outrage done to this boy by the defendants, nor suffer his ancestors to be treated with even greater indignity than before, as will be the case, if these men accomplish what they desire. No; rally to the defence of the laws, and take thought for the dead, that their house be not brought to extinction. By doing this you will render a verdict which is just and consonant with your oaths, and in the interest of your own selves.
AGAINST LEOCHARES
Translated by A. T. Murray
It is the fault of Leochares, the defendant, men of the jury, tha
t he is himself being brought to trial, and that I, despite my youth, am addressing you, for he claims the right to inherit what does not belong to him, and has made a false affidavit of objections before the archon in support of his claim. [2] It was incumbent upon us — since the law grants the right of succession to those nearest of kin, and we are relatives of Archiades, who originally left the estate — not to suffer his house to become extinct, and others, who had no right whatever to it, to inherit his property; while the defendant, who was neither a son by blood of the deceased nor a son adopted according to your laws, as I shall show, has thus recklessly made a false affidavit, and is seeking to rob me of the inheritance. [3] I beg you, men of the jury, to come to the aid of my father and myself, if our pleading shall seem just, and not suffer men who are poor and without influence to be crushed by the lawless men marshalled against us. For we have come before you relying upon the truth, well content if we are permitted to obtain our legal rights; while our adversaries have from the first never ceased to rely upon intrigue and the spending of money, and very naturally in my opinion; for they readily make expenditures from funds which belong to others, and so have provided themselves with a host of people who will speak in their behalf and give false testimony. [4] My father here （ for the truth shall be told you） comes into court with manifest signs that he is, as you are all aware, a poor man, and that he knows nothing of pleading in court; for he has long been a public crier in Peiraeus, and this is not only a sign of the poverty which is common to man, but also of the fact that he has no time to meddle with the law; for a man so employed has to spend the whole day in the market-place. If you bear this in mind, you will be forced to conclude that, if we did not rely upon the justice of our cause, we should never have come before you at all. [5]
With reference to matters of this nature you will gain clearer information in the course of my address, but I think I must now inform you about the affidavit and the case at issue. If, men of the jury, Leochares, basing his defence upon the affidavit itself, were going to prove that he is the lawfully born son of Archiades, there would be no need of many words, nor any need that I should trace our family line back to its origin; [6] but since the matters sworn to in the affidavit are of a different nature, and most of the arguments of our adversaries will be devoted to proving that they were adopted and should properly inherit the estate by right of descent as lawful children, it is necessary for this reason, men of the jury, to go back a little way and instruct you regarding the pedigree; for when you understand this matter clearly, there will be no danger of your being misled by their arguments. [7] Very well then, the case before you is one to settle the title to an inheritance. Our claim to the estate is based upon descent, theirs upon adoption. We admit here in your presence that all adoptions, if rightly made in accordance with the laws, ought to be valid. Bear in mind, therefore, the bases upon which our respective claims rest, and if they prove to you that the laws grant what they have sworn in their affidavit, adjudge the estate to them. [8] And even if they have not the support of the laws, but it seems to you that what they say is in accordance with justice and generosity, even so we withdraw our claim. However, that you may know that, while we are by descent the nearest of kin, we do not rest our case upon this alone, but upon all the other grounds as well, I will first instruct you regarding the family itself from which the inheritance comes; for I am sure that, if you follow with clear understanding this phase of the matter at issue, you will have no difficulty in grasping any of the other facts. [9]
To go back to the beginning, men of the jury, there were born to Euthymachus, of Otrynê, three sons, Meidylides and Archippus and Archiades, and a daughter whose name was Archidicê. After the death of their father the brothers gave Archidicê in marriage to Leostratus of Eleusis ; of the three brothers Archippus lost his life at Methymna while serving as trierarch, and Meidylides not long afterward married Mnesimache, the daughter of Lysippus of Crioa. [10] To him there was born a daughter, Cleitomachê by name, whom he wished to give in marriage to his own brother, who was still unmarried; but since Archiades declared that he did not wish to marry, and for this reason allowed the property to remain undivided, and lived by himself in Salamis, Meidylides at length gave his daughter in marriage to Aristoteles of Pallenê, my grandfather. Of them were born three sons, Aristodemus here, my father, and Habronichus, my uncle, and Meidylides, who is now dead. Our right of inheritance, based on kinship in the family to which the estate belongs, is, men of the jury, substantially this. [11] For we are the nearest of kin to Archiades in the male line, and, as we deemed it right according to this law that we should inherit his estate, and not allow the family to be brought to extinction, we brought suit for the inheritance before the archon. Our opponents, who hold the property without right, have now filed an affidavit of objections, basing their entire claim upon adoption, but alleging also that they are near of kin. [12] Now, with regard to this adoption, we will show you plainly later on what its character was; but with reference to blood relationship, I must prove to you that they are not nearer of kin than we. One thing is admitted, that in the matter of inheritance males and those descended from males have the precedence, for the law explicitly gives the inheritance as their due to the nearest of kin in the male line, when there are no children. Well, it is we who answer this description; for Archiades is admitted to have died without issue, and we are the nearest of kin to him in the male line. [13] And furthermore, we are also his nearest of kin in the female line; for Meidylides was the brother of Archiades, and the daughter of Meidylides was the mother of my father, so that Archiades, for whose inheritance we are now prosecuting our claim, is uncle （ their fathers having been brothers） to the mother of my father, having this relationship in the male line, not in the female line. But Leostratus here is in kinship further removed, and is related to Archiades on the female side; for the mother of Leocrates, the father of the defendant, was niece to the Archiades in question and to Meidylides, as descendants of whom we claim the right to win the inheritance. [14]
First, men of the jury, to prove that our pedigree is as I have stated, the clerk shall read you the depositions, and thereafter the law itself which awards inheritances to the families and to those nearest of kin in the male line. For, I take it, these are the essential points in the case and the matters upon which you cast your vote under oath.
Call the witnesses up here, please, and read the law.” Witnesses ““ Law “ [15]
Matters concerning their pedigree and concerning ours, men of the jury, stand thus, and so it is right that those who have proved on the basis of the affidavits themselves that they are nearer of kin, should have the inheritance, and that the madness of the one who made the affidavit of objections should not prove stronger than your laws. For if they lay stress on the adoption, the nature of which I shall make clear to you, yet surely after the death without issue of the adopted son, when the house up to the filing of our suit had become extinct, it is right that those who are nearest of kin should receive the inheritance, and that you should give your aid, not to those citizens who are able to get up the strongest backing, but to those who are suffering wrong. [16] If it had been in our power, after setting forth matters regarding the pedigree and the affidavit itself, to leave the platform, and to have no need of further words, since practically the most important arguments would have been advanced, we should not trouble you further. But since our opponents will not rely upon the laws, but through having forestalled us and got some control of the situation long ago, and through having entered into possession of the estate, will use these facts as proofs, and declare that they are the heirs, it is perhaps necessary to discuss these matters as well, and to prove that of all humankind our opponents are the most arbitrary. [17]
To go back to the beginning, men of the jury, Meidylides and Archiades gave their sister in marriage to Leostratus of Eleusis; and after a time from this sister of theirs, thus given in marriage, there was born Leocrates, the Iather of the
defendant Leostratus; observe how distantly related he is to Archiades, regarding whom they have filed the affidavit of objections. When matters were as I have stated, Archiades did not marry, but his brother Meidylides, the grandfather of my father here, did marry. [18] They made as yet no division of the property, but, both having enough to live on, Meidylides continued to live in the city, and Archiades made his home in Salamis. Not long afterward, when Meidylides, my father’s grandfather, happened to go on a journey out of the country, Archiades fell sick, and died during the absence of Meidylides, being still unmarried. What is the proof of this? A maiden bearing an urn for water stands upon the tomb of Archiades. [19] At this juncture Leocrates, the father of Leostratus here, on the pretext of his relationship on the female side, got himself adopted as son to Archiades, and so entered into possession of the estate, as though he had been adopted by Archiades during his lifetime. When Meidylides returned, he was incensed at what had been done, and was in a mood to enter suit against Leocrates; but under the persuasion of his relatives and their pleas that he should suffer Leocrates to remain in the family as the son by adoption of Archiades, he yielded the point, — not through losing his case in court, but absolutely through being deceived by these men here and partly also through giving way to the persuasion of his relatives. [20] After this experience Meidylides died, and Leocrates continued in possession of the estate of Archiades, and conducted himself as heir for many years, as being his adopted son; and we, on our part, inasmuch as Meidylides had made this concession, refrained from action. No long time afterwards, however, — and now, men of the jury, pay close heed to what I am about to say — [21] Leocrates, who had become son by adoption to Archiades, himself returned to the Eleusinians, to whom he originally belonged, leaving Leostratus here in the family as a lawfully born son. Even then we did not as yet disturb any of the arrangements regarding the estate, but continued as before. [22] Well now, Leostratus here, although he was an adopted son and had been left in the family of Archiades, himself returned, as his father had done, to the Eleusinians, leaving in his place a lawfully born son, and, in defiance of the laws, setting up the original adoption as valid through the lives of three persons. [23] For how could it be other than contrary to the laws, when one, being himself an adopted son, returned to his original family leaving adopted sons in his place? That is what Leostratus has done up to this day, and by this means they think to rob us of our inheritance, making profit from the estate of Archiades, and supporting their children by it, and always returning from it to the estate of their fathers, keeping that intact, while spending the other. [24]