by Demosthenes
However, to prove that he borrowed money from some of our citizens without security, since he had no equivalent security to give, please read the deposition.” Deposition “ [62]
Now regarding the bowls which Aeschrion, the body-servant of the defendant, requested of me in the month Maimacterion in the archonship of Asteius, when Timotheus was in Athens at the time when he entertained Alcetas and Jason, and with the value of which he was debited in the archonship of Alcisthenes — for some time my father supposed he would return the bowls which he had borrowed; but when he went off without having returned them, and the bowls of Timosthenes were no longer in the custody of Phormio, and the one who had deposited them came and demanded their return, my father paid the price of the bowls to Timosthenes, and wrote the defendant down as owing this sum in addition to the rest of his debt. [63] If, then, he makes use of this defence, that he was not in Athens at the time when he was debited with the cost of the bowls, make this reply to him: “You received them, when here, and since you did not return them, and were abroad, and the bowls which the depositor claimed were not there, you were debited with their value, that sum, namely, which was paid for the bowls.” [64] Ah but, he will perhaps say, my father ought to have demanded the return of the bowls from him. But my father saw in what straits you were, Timotheus. He trusted you in regard to the rest of your debt, and believed that after your return to Athens he would recover his money from you, when you should be better off for funds. Was he, then, going to distrust you in the matter of the bowls? He promised at your request that he would provide the freight for the timber when you were sailing to take service with the king; was he, then, going to distrust you because of a couple of bowls? He did not demand of you that you pay the rest of the debt, because he saw that you were without funds. Was he, then, going to demand the bowls? [65]
I wish now to speak about the challenge to an oath, which I tendered the defendant, and he tendered me. For after I had put an oath in the evidence-box, he thought that, by taking an oath himself, he could be quit of the affair. And, if I had not known that he had flagrantly perjured himself in many solemn oaths both to states and to individuals, I should have allowed him to take the oath; but as it was, seeing that I had witnesses to prove that the persons appointed by him had in fact received the money from the bank, and conclusive circumstantial evidence as well, it seemed to me a monstrous thing to give an oath to one who would not only take no care to swear honestly, but who, when it was a question of gain, has not spared even temples. [66] The specific instances of the perjuries which he has committed without scruple would make a long story; but I will call to your minds the most flagrant instances and those of which you are all well aware. You know that he swore in the assembly, imprecating destruction upon himself and dedicating his property to sacred uses, if he should fail to indict Iphicrates as a usurper of the rights of citizenship. Yet, although he had sworn and promised this in the assembly, no long time afterwards, in order to serve his own interests, he gave his daughter in marraige to the son of Iphicrates. [67] When a man, then, felt no shame in deceiving you to whom he had pledged his word, though there are laws which declare that, if a man deceive the people by a promise, he shall be liable to impeachment, — when, after swearing and imprecating destruction upon himself, he had no fear of the gods in whose name he had perjured himself — was it strange that I was unwilling to allow him to take an oath? Again, not very long ago, he once more solemnly declared in the assembly that he had not adequate provision for his old age — he, who possesses so large an estate; so insatiate and grasping is his character. [68] I should be glad, however, to ask you whether you feel anger against bankers who have failed. For, if you have reason to feel anger against them because they do you injury, is it not reasonable for you to support those who do you no injury? Surely it is through men like Timotheus that banks are caused to fail; for when they are in need they borrow money, and think they should obtain credit because of their reputation; but when they are in funds they do not make payments but seek to defraud their creditors. [69]
All matters, men of the jury, in proof of which I was able to provide witnesses, have been proved to you by witnesses; further, I have shown you by circumstantial evidence that Timotheus owes the money to my father. I beg you therefore to aid me in recovering from my father’s debtors the estate which he left me.
APOLLODORUS AGAINST POLYCLES
Translated by A. T. Murray
In suits of this nature, men of the jury, it is fitting that those who are to render a decision, as well as the litigants themselves, should give the closest attention. For the suit is not a private one concerning Polycles and myself alone, but it touches also the interests of the state as well. In cases where the charges indeed are of a private nature, but the injury is public, it is surely fitting that you should listen and decide aright. If I had come before you quarrelling with Polycles about a contract of some other sort, the contest would have concerned Polycles and myself alone; but as it is, the question concerns the succession to a ship, and extra trierarchal expenses for five months and six days, and it concerns also the laws, whether they are to be in force, or not. [2] It seems to me, therefore, to be necessary to explain all the facts to you from the beginning. And by the gods, men of the jury, I beg you not to think that I am talking idly, if I set forth at some length what I have expended and what I have done, to show that my several services were rendered opportunely, and that they were helpful to the state. If anyone is able to show that I am uttering falsehoods, let him get up in the time allotted to me and disprove whatever statement I may make to you which he holds to be false. But if my statements are true, and no one would contradict them save the defendant, I make of you all a request that is fair. [3] All you who were in the army and were present in the campaign, call to mind and tell to those who sit by you my own efforts and the troubles and distresses in which the state was involved at that crisis, in order that you may know from this evidence what manner of man I am in carrying out the orders you lay upon me. And all of you who stayed at home, listen to me in silence, while I set forth before you all the facts, and produce in support of every statement that I make the laws and decrees both of the senate and the people, and the testimony of witnesses. [4]
On the twenty-fourth day of the month Metageitnion in the archonship of Molon, when an assembly had been held and tidings of many serious events had been brought before you, you voted that the trierarchs （of whom I was one） should launch their ships. It is not necessary for me to go into details regarding the crisis which had at that time befallen the state; you of yourselves know that Tenos had been seized by Alexander, and its people had been reduced to slavery; [5] that Miltocythes had revolted from Cotys, and had sent ambassadors regarding an alliance, begging you to send troops to his aid, and offering to restore the Chersonesus; that the Proconnesians, your allies, were requesting you in the assembly to come to their aid, stating that the Cyzicenes were pressing them hard in war by both land and sea, and imploring you not to look idly on while they perished. [6] When you heard all these tidings at that time in the assembly from both the speakers themselves and those who supported them; when furthermore the merchants and shipowners were about to sail out of the Pontus, and the Byzantines and Calchedonians and Cyzicenes were forcing their ships to put in to their ports because of the scarcity of grain in their own countries; seeing also that the price of grain was advancing in the Peiraeus, and that there was not very much to be bought, you voted that the trierarchs should launch their ships and bring them up to the pier, and that the members of the senate and the demarchs should make out lists of the demesmen and reports of available seamen, and that the armament should be despatched at once, and aid sent to the various regions. And this decree, proposed by Aristophon, was passed, as follows:” Decree “ [7]
The decree, then, you have heard, men of the jury. For my own part, when the sailors listed by the demesmen did not appear, save a very few, and these incompetent, I dismissed them
; and having mortgaged my property and borrowed money, I was the first to man my ship, hiring the best sailors possible by giving to each man large bonuses and advance payments. More than that, I furnished the ship with equipment wholly my own, taking nothing from the public stores, and I made everything as beautiful and magnificent as possible, outdoing all the other trierarchs. As for rowers, I hired the best that could be had. [8] And not only did I defray the trierarchal expenses, which at that time were so very heavy, but I also paid in advance no small part of the taxes which you had ordered to be collected for the cost of the expedition. For when you had voted that the members of the senate on behalf of the demesmen should report the names of those who were to pay taxes in advance, both of those who were members of the demes and those who owned property in them, my name was reported from three demes, as my property was in land. [9] Of these I was the first to pay my taxes in advance, nor did I seek to get myself excused either on the ground that I was serving as trierarch and could not defray the costs of two public services at once, or that the laws did not permit such a thing. And I have never recovered the money which I advanced, because at the time I was abroad in your service as trierarch, and afterwards, when I returned, I found that the money from those who had resources had already been gathered in by others, and that those who were left had nothing. [10]
To prove that I am stating the truth to you in this, the clerk shall read you the depositions covering these matters, those of the persons who at that time collected the military supplies and of the despatching board; also the record of the pay which I gave out every month to the rowers and the marines, receiving from the generals subsistence-money alone, except pay for two months only in a period of a year and five months also a list of the sailors who were hired, and how much money each of them received; to the end that from this evidence you may know how generous I was and why the defendant was unwilling to take over the ship from me when the term of my trierarchy had expired.” Depositions “ [11]
The proof, then, that I am uttering no falsehoods in regard to the matters which I have mentioned, you have learned, men of the jury, from the reading of the depositions. But, further, you will all agree with me that what I am about to say is true. It is admitted that the usefulness of a ship is done away with, first, if the men are not paid, and secondly, if she put into the Peiraeus before her expedition is finished; for in that case there is a great deal of desertion, and those of the sailors who remain are unwilling to embark again, unless additional money is given them for their household expenses. Both of these things happened to me, men of the jury, so that my trierarchy became the more costly. [12] For I received no pay from the general for the space of eight months, and I sailed home to Peiraeus with the ambassadors because my ship was the fastest sailer, and again, when I was ordered by the people to take Menon the general to the Hellespont to replace Autocles, who had been removed from his command, I set sail on short notice from Athens. In the place of the seamen who had deserted I hired others, giving them large bonuses and advance payments, and I gave to those of the original sailors who stayed with me something to leave behind for the maintenance of their households in addition to what they had before; [13] for I was well aware of the need they felt, and how it pressed upon each one, and I was myself embarrassed for funds as, by Zeus and Apollo, no one could believe, who had not accurately followed the course of my affairs. However, I mortgaged my farm to Thrasylochus and Archeneüs, and having borrowed thirty minae from them and distributed the money among the crew, I put to sea, that no part of the people’s orders might fail to be carried out, as far as it depended on me. And the people, hearing of this, gave me a vote of thanks, and invited me to dine in the Prytaneum.
To prove that I am speaking the truth in this, the clerk shall read you the deposition dealing with these facts, and the decree of the people.” Deposition ““ Decree “ [14]
Then, when we came to the Hellespont, and the term of my trierarchy had expired, and no pay had been given to the soldiers except for two months when another general, Timomachus, had come — though even he brought to the fleet no new trierarchs to relieve those in service, — many of my crew became discouraged and went off, deserting the ship, some to the mainland to take military service, and some to the fleet of the Thasians, and Maronites, won over by the promise of high pay and receiving substantial sums in advance. [15] They saw also that my resources were by now exhausted, that the state was neglectful of them, that our allies were in need, and the generals not to be depended on, and that they had been deceived by the words of many of them; and they knew that the term of my trierarchy had expired and that their voyage was not to be homeward and that no successor had arrived to take command from whom they could expect any relief. For the more ambitious I had been to man my ship with good rowers, by so much was the desertion from me greater than from the other trierarchs. [16] For the others had this advantage at any rate, that the sailors who had come to their ships drawn from the official lists, stayed with them in order to make sure of their return home when the general should discharge them; whereas mine, trusting in their skill as able rowers, went off wherever they were likely to be re-employed at the highest wages, thinking more of their gain for the immediate present than of the danger impending over them, if they should ever be caught by me. [17]
Consequently when my affairs were in the condition which I have described, and at the same time I was ordered by the general, Timomachus, to sail to Hieron to convoy the grain, though he provided no pay （word had been brought that the Byzantines and the Calchedonians were again bringing the ships into port and forcing them to unload their grain）, I borrowed money from Archidemus of Anaphlystus, fifteen minae at interest, and I secured from Nicippus, the shipowner, who happened to be in Sestus, eight hundred drachmae, as a maritime loan at 12 1/2 per cent, on condition that I should pay him principal and interest when the ship should get safely back to Athens. [18] Further, I sent Euctemon, the pentecontarch, to Lampsacus, giving him money and letters to friends of my father, and bade him hire for me the best sailors he could. I myself stayed in Sestus and gave some money — all I had — to the old sailors who stayed with me, since the term of my trierarchy had expired, and I secured also some other sailors at full pay, while the general was making ready for his voyage to Hieron. [19] But when Euctemon came back from Lampsacus, bringing the sailors whom he had hired, and the general gave the word for us to put to sea, it happened that Euctemon suddenly fell sick, and was in a very serious condition. I, therefore, gave him his pay, adding money for his journey, and sent him home; while I secured another pentecontarch and put out to sea to convoy the grain, and I stayed there forty-five days, until the vessels sailed out from Pontus after the rising of Arcturus. [20] When I arrived at Sestus, I expected to sail for home, as my term of service had expired, and I had already served two months beyond it and no successor had arrived to take over the ship. The general, Timomachus, however, — for an embassy from the Maronites had come to him, begging him to convoy their grain ships — ordered us trierarchs to make cables fast to the ships and tow them to Maroneia — a long voyage across the open sea. [21]
I have told all these facts to you from the beginning, that you may know how much I have myself expended and how burdensome my service as trierarch has been to me, and all the expenses which I subsequently bore in the interest of the defendant by serving beyond my term, since he did not come to take over the ship, and all the dangers I myself incurred from storms and from the enemy. For after we had convoyed the ships to Maroneia, and had arrived at Thasos, Timomachus came and undertook again in conjunction with the Thasians to convoy grain and a body of peltasts to Strymê, with the intention of taking the place himself. [22] However, the Maronites arrayed their ships against us in defence of the place, and offered battle, and our men were tired out with their long voyage and from towing the ships from Thasos to Strymê besides, it was stormy, and the place offered no harbor, and it was impossible to go ashore and get a meal, for t
he country was hostile, and all around the wall bands of mercenaries and barbarians from the neighborhood lay encamped; so we were forced to ride at anchor all night long in the open sea without food and without sleep, keeping watch lest the ships of the Maronites should attack us in the night. [23] Nor was this all. It was our lot to have by night rain and thunder and a violent wind at that season of the year （for the time was just at the setting of the Pleiades）; so can you not imagine, men of the jury, what despondency fell upon our men, and what an amount of desertion I had again to face after this? For the old sailors had borne many hardships and received but little compensation — merely what I was able to borrow and give to each man in addition to what they had had from me before, since the general did not supply enough even for their daily sustenance. By now I had served three months beyond my term, and the defendant had not yet come to take over the ship; but I borrowed money and hired sailors to replace those who had deserted. [24]
The defendant alone of the trierarchs appointed to succeed us has no excuse left him for not having come to take over the ship long before. For Euctemon, the pentecontarch, after he was sent home from the Hellespont on account of his sickness, when he reached port and heard that Polycles had been appointed to relieve me, knowing that the term of my trierarchy had expired and that I was now serving over time, took with him my father-in-law, Deinias, and coming up to Polycles in the sample market, bade him set sail and take over the ship with all speed, telling him that the expenses which were incurred every day in addition to the provision money supplied by the general were very heavy. [25] He told him in detail of the pay given each month to the rowers and the marines, both to the sailors whom he had himself hired at Lampsacus and to those who came on board subsequently to replace those who had deserted, and also of the additional sums which I had given to each of the old sailors at their request after the term of my trierarchy had expired, and all the rest of the money expended upon the ship from day to day. With all these matters Euctemon was thoroughly acquainted, for it was through him as pentecontarch that all purchases and disbursements were made. [26] He told him, too, about the ship’s equipment, that it was wholly my own, and that I had nothing from the public stores. “Therefore,” he said, “plan to come to an agreement with him, or sail from here taking your own equipment with you. I think, however,” he added, “that he will readily come to terms with you; for he owes money there, which he will be glad to pay from the price of the equipment.” When the defendant heard these words from Euctemon and Deinias my father-in-law, he made no answer to them regarding the matters of which they spoke but, they said, he broke into a laugh, and said, “The mouse has just tasted pitch; for he wanted to be an Athenian.” [27] Well, when he paid no heed to what he heard from Euctemon and Deinias, later on Pythodorus of Acharnae, and Apollodorus of Leuconoë, friends and connections of mine, again approached him, and urged him to go and take over the ship, as he had been designated as my successor; and they told him about the equipment, that it was wholly my own, and that I had nothing from the public stores. [28] “So, if you want to make use of that,” they said, “leave money here, and do not run the risk of carrying it abroad.” For they wanted to redeem the farm for me by paying Archeneüs and Thrasylochus thirty minae. Regarding the wear and tear of the ship’s equipment they were willing to draw up an agreement with him, and themselves to be sureties for me, that he would assuredly have the terms which the other trierarchs gave to their successors.