by Demosthenes
To prove that I am speaking the truth in all this, the clerk shall read you the depositions bearing upon these matters.” Depositions “ [29]
There are many proofs from which I think I can show you that Polycles neither at the first intended to take over the ship from me, nor, after he was forced by you and your decree to go and join the ship, was he willing to take it over as my successor. For after he arrived at Thasos, when I was serving for the fourth month after my term had expired, I took witnesses with me, as many of the citizens as I could and the marines and rowers, and, coming up to him in the market-place at Thasos, I bade him take over the ship from me as my successor and repay me what I had expended since the expiration of my term. [30] I was ready to reckon it up item by item, while I had by me as witnesses to the expenditures the sailors and the marines and the rowers, in order that, if he disputed anything, I might refute him at once. Everything had been recorded so accurately by me, that I had written down not only the disbursements themselves, but also the objects for which the money had been spent, the nature of the service rendered, what the price was, in the coinage of what country the payment was made, and what the loss in exchange was, in order that I might be able to give convincing proof to my successor, if he thought any false entries were being made against him. [31] And besides I was ready to take an oath to confirm my reckoning. Upon my giving him this challenge, he answered that he had no interest in what I was saying. At this point a servant came from the general with orders for me to set sail. The order was given to me, not to the defendant, my successor, upon whom the duty was now devolving; but the reason for this I will explain in the course of my address. For the time being it seemed to me best to weigh anchor and sail where he ordered me, [32] but when I put into Thasos again, after towing the vessels to Strymê as the general had ordered, bidding the sailors and the marines and the rowers to remain on board, I went by myself to the house where the general, Timomachus, lodged, wishing that he too should be present, when I offered the ship with her full crew to the defendant Polycles. [33] I found the defendant there and the trierarchs and those who were to succeed them, and some others of our citizens; and on coming in I spoke at once to Polycles in the presence of the general, and called upon him to take over the ship from me, and to pay me for the disbursements made during the period since my term of service had expired; and I asked him about the ship’s equipment, whether he would take it over, or whether he had brought equipment of his own with him. [34] When I thus challenged him, he asked me why I was the only one of the trierarchs who had equipment of my own, and whether the state did not know that there were some people able to provide equipment for their ships, so that the state itself did not need to do it. “Or have you,” he said, “so far surpassed the others in wealth as to be the only one of the trierarchs to have equipment of your own and gilded ornaments? [35] Who,” he continued, “could endure your madness and extravagance, a crew corrupted and accustomed to receive large sums in advance and to enjoy exemption from services normally required on board a ship, and able also to make use of the baths, and marines and rowers rendered luxurious by high wages paid in full? Bad ways,” he said, “are these you have taught the army. It is partly your fault that the troops of the other trierarchs have become more unruly, seeking to have the same treatment that yours enjoy; you ought to have done the same as the other trierarchs.” [36] Upon his saying this, I answered that the reason I had taken no equipment from the docks was because, “You,” said I, “have brought the stores into bad repute. However, if you like, take this equipment of mine; if not, provide equipment for yourself. As for the sailors and marines and rowers, if you say that they have been corrupted by me, take over the ship, and get sailors and marines and rowers for yourself, who will sail with you without pay. But take over the ship, for it is not my place to serve any longer; the term of my trierarchy has expired, and I have served four months beyond it.” [37] When I said this to him, he answered that his colleague in the trierarchy had not come to the ship. “So,” said he, “I will not take over the ship alone.” To prove that I am telling you the truth in this, that in the market-place he made the answer mentioned above, that he cared nothing for what I was saying, and that in the house where Timomachus lodged he declared that he would not take over the ship alone — the clerk shall read you the depositions bearing on these facts.” Depositions “ [38]
After this, men of the jury, when the defendant would neither take over the ship from me nor pay the expenses for the period beyond my term, and the general ordered me to set sail, I approached him in the harbor in Thasos, and in the presence of the general, when the ship was fully manned, and made a proposal, which was not indeed fair, since the advantage was all on his side, but which was forced upon me by the circumstances. [39] “Since you say, Polycles, that your associate in the trierarchy has not come, I will get from him, if I can, the amount expended during my extra time of service, the four months; but do you take over the ship, and first serve as trierarch for your term, the six months; then, if your colleague shall have arrived in the interim, you will give over the ship, having fulfilled your term of service; and, if he does not come, you will suffer no great harm in serving two months beyond your term. [40] Or, am I, who have served for my own term and that of my colleague, to have performed extra service as trierarch for you and your associate, and are you, who have incurred no expense, to refuse either to take over the ship and serve your own term, or to reimburse me for the expenses I have borne?” When I said this, he answered that I was romancing. Then the general ordered me to go on board my ship and put to sea with him.
To prove that he did give me this answer, please read the deposition.” Deposition “ [41]
I wish now to mention a matter to you, to the end that you may understand how flagrantly I have been wronged. For about the same time Mnesilochus of Perithoidae and Phrasierides of Anaphlystus were appointed to succeed Hagnias and Praxicles. But, since Phrasierides did not arrive to join the ship, Mnesilochus went to Thasos and took over the trireme from Hagnias, [42] and paid to Hagnias what the latter convinced him was due for the expenses he had incurred on their behalf while serving as trierarch beyond his time, and hired from Hagnias the ship’s equipment, and assumed himself the duties of trierarch. Afterwards, when the men from Phrasierides came, they paid his share of the expenses to Mnesilochus, and for the remainder of the term joined in meeting whatever expenditures he required for the ship.
Read, please, the deposition establishing these facts.” Deposition “ [43]
Perhaps, now, men of the jury, you want to hear for what possible reason the general failed to compel the defendant to take over the ship, when he came to it as my successor, the laws on the matter being so strict. In regard to this I wish to show you clearly why it was. For Timomachus, men of the jury, wished above all things to have the trireme well equipped for every service. [44] He knew, however, that the defendant, if he took over the ship, would manage wretchedly as trierarch; that he would get service neither from the crew nor the marines nor the rowers, for not one of them would stay with him. Besides, he knew that, if he ordered him to sail without giving him money, he would not put out to sea at his bidding, as I should do, but would make trouble. And in addition to this he borrowed from him thirty minae on the understanding that he would not force him to take over the ship. [45] But why it was that he was especially incensed against me and treated me despitefully, and would never on any occasion listen to a word from me regarding any matter, I wish to show you clearly, that you may understand that I cared less at that time for my own comfort or for the general’s power than for the people of Athens and the laws, and that I endured ill-treatment and abuse, which were far more grievous to me than the expenses I incurred. [46] For, while the fleet was lying at Thasos, a despatch-boat came from Methonê in Macedonia to Thasos, bringing a man with letters from Callistratus to Timomachus, which, as I afterward learned, contained a request that he should send the swiftest-sailing ship he had to br
ing Callistratus to him. At once, then, at daybreak the next morning, the officer from the general came and ordered me to summon my crew to the ship. [47] When it was manned, Callippus, the son of Philon, of Aexonê, came on board, and ordered the pilot to steer the course for Macedonia. When we had reached a place on the opposite mainland, a trading post of the Thasians, and had gone ashore and were getting our dinner, one of the sailors, Callicles, the son of Epitrephes, of Thria, came up to me, and said that he wished to speak to me about a matter which concerned myself. I bade him speak on, and he said that he wanted to make what return he could for the help I had given him in his need. [48] “Do you know, then,” he asked, “for what purpose you are making this voyage, and where you are going?” When I replied that I did not know, he said, “Then I will tell you; for you must learn this in order to plan your action aright. You are going,” said he, “to bring Callistratus, an exile whom the Athenians have twice condemned to death, from Methonê to Thasos to Timomachus, his kinsman by marriage. I have found this out,” he said, “from the servants of Callippus. For your own part, then, if you are wise, you will not permit any exile to come on board the ship; for the laws forbid it.” [49] On hearing this from Callicles, I approached Callippus, and asked him to what place he was sailing, and whom he was going to fetch. He spoke roughly to me and threatened me in a way you can easily understand （for you are not without experience of the ways of Callippus）, and I said to him, “I hear that you are sailing to fetch Callistratus. Now, I will transport no exile, nor will I go to fetch him; for the laws forbid anyone to give harborage to any exile, and make one who does so liable to the same punishment. I shall, therefore, sail back to the general in Thasos.” [50] So, when the sailors came on board, I ordered the pilot to sail back to Thasos. Callippus protested, and bade him sail for Macedonia in accordance with the general’s commands; but Posidippus, the pilot, answered him that I was trierarch of the ship, and the one responsible, and that he got his pay from me; he would sail, therefore, whither I bade him sail — to Thasos, to the general. [51] When we reached Thasos the next day, Timomachus sent for me to come to the place where he lodged outside the wall. I was afraid that he would put me under arrest on false charges preferred by Callippus, so did not obey the summons in person, but told the officer that, if he had anything to say to me, I should be in the market-place; and I sent my servant with him, in order that, if the general had any orders to give he might hear and report to me. [52] It was for this reason, which I have stated to you, men of the jury, that Timomachus did not force the defendant to take over the ship, and besides, he wanted the use of the ship for himself, as she was the best sailer. As for the trireme of Thrasylochus of Anagyrus, on board which he was himself sailing, he induced Thrasylochus to let his trierarchy to Callippus, that Callippus, being in full control of the ship, might carry Callistratus about, as he pleased. Timomachus himself came on board my ship, and sailed around here and there until he reached the Hellespont. [53]
When he had no longer need of ships of war, he put on board my vessel Eucinus of Pallenê, as commander, and, enjoining upon him to give the sailors money every day, ordered me to sail for home. When, then, on our homeward voyage we were in Tenedos, and Lucinus, despite the orders given him by Timomachus, was furnishing no money for sustenance to the sailors （he said he had none, but should get some from Mytilenê）, and the men had nothing with which to buy provisions, and without food could not have continued rowing, [54] again taking some of our citizens as witnesses I approached the defendant in Tenedos, and bade him take over the ship as my successor, and to reimburse me for the expenses I had incurred while I serving as trierarch in his stead beyond my term. I did this in order that he might not make use of the pretext, in his defence before you, that I refused to hand over the ship to him because I was ambitious to sail home in a fast-sailing ship and show off to you my lavish expenditure. [55] Since he refused to take over the ship, and the sailors were asking for money that they might buy supplies, I came up to him again, having witnesses with me, and asked whether he had come out with money with the purpose of taking over the ship from me, or not. On his replying that he had brought money with him, I urged him to lend me some on the security of the ship’s equipment, that I might distribute it among the sailors and bring the ship home, seeing that he refused to take over the ship, although he was my successor. [56] To this request of mine he replied that he would not lend me a farthing. Accordingly I borrowed from Cleanax and Eperatus, friends of my father in Tenedos, and gave the sailors their provision-money; for on account of my being Pasion’s son, and the fact that he was connected by ties of hospitality with many, and was trusted throughout the Greek world, I had no difficulty in borrowing money wherever I needed it.
To prove that the statements I am making to you are true, I shall produce for you the depositions establishing these facts.” Depositions “ [57]
The clerk has read the depositions of all those whom I was able to produce, who were present in person, to prove that I again and again offered to give over the ship to Polycles, and that he refused to take it. More than that, I have shown by convincing circumstantial evidence, why it was that he refused to take over the ship. I desire now to have read to you the law also regarding those appointed to succeed others in the trierarchy, that you may know how severe the penalties are when a man fails to take over a ship from his predecessor within the appointed time, and how Polycles scoffed, not at me only, but at you and at the laws. [58] So far as he is concerned, all measures undertaken by the state and her allies have failed; for he neither joined his ship, as the law commands, nor, when he did come, was he willing to take over the ship from his predecessor; whereas I served for my own term and that of my associate in the trierarchy, and when my term of service had expired and I was ordered by the general to sail to Hieron, I convoyed the grain for our people, [59] that they might buy in a plentiful market, and that, so far as depended on me, there should be no lack; and I performed for the general every other service which he desired either of myself or of my trireme, not only spending my property, but risking my life as well through always making the voyage in person, although my domestic affairs were in such a condition at that time that you would pity me, if you heard them. [60] My mother lay sick, and was at the point of death while I was abroad, so that she was unable any longer to help in the depletion of my resources save to a slight extent. I had been but six days at home, when, after she had seen and greeted me, she breathed her last, being no longer mistress of her property, so as to give me I as much as she wished. She had often sent for me before this, begging me to come to her by myself if I could not come in my ship. [61] My wife, too, to whom I am deeply attached, was in poor health for a long time during my absence; my children were small and my estate was in debt; my land not only produced no crops, but that year, as you all know, the water even dried up in the wells, so that not a vegetable grew in the garden; and my creditors at the expiration of the year came to collect their interest, unless the principal was paid to them according to the contract. [62] When I heard these facts from the lips of those who came and also through letters from my relatives, how do you think I must have felt, and how many tears must I have shed, while I reckoned up my present troubles and was longing to see my children and my wife, and my mother whom I had little hope of finding alive? For what is sweeter to a man than these, or why should one wish to live, if deprived of them? [63]
Although the misfortunes which had befallen me were thus grievous, I did not count my private interests of so much importance as your interests, but felt that I ought to rise above the wasting of my fortune, the neglect of my household affairs, and the sickness of my wife and my mother, so that no one could accuse me of deserting my post or letting my ship be useless to the state. [64] In return for all this I now implore you, that, as I showed myself obedient and useful in your service, so you will now take thought of me, and, remembering all that I have told you, the depositions which I have produced and the decrees, y
ou will succor me when I am being wronged, will mete out punishment in your own interest, and will exact repayment of the funds expended in the defendant’s behalf. Or who will wish to be zealous on your service, when men see that you neither reward those who are honest and obedient, nor punish those who are dishonest and disobedient? [65] The clerk shall read you the law and an account of my expenses in detail for the period during which I served as trierarch beyond my term on the defendant’s behalf, and the sums which the several deserters took with them when they ran away from the ship, and where they went, in order that you may be assured that neither now nor at any time before have I made false statements to you. I count it my duty to serve you in a manner above reproach for the period prescribed by law, and as regards those who scorn you and the laws, and will not obey the laws, to convict them and get them punished in your courts. [66] Be assured that it will be no more in my interest than in your own that you will punish Polycles, nor will you be showing concern merely for those who have served as trierarchs in the past; no, you will be taking thought also for those who are to serve in the future, so that those who perform public services may not be discouraged, and those who are designated as their successors may not show contempt toward the laws, but may go to their ships when they are appointed. These matters you should bear in mind, and reach a fair and just decision regarding all the points at issue. [67]