by Demosthenes
[22] “If the Presidents do not convene the Assembly according to the written regulations, or if the commissioners do not put the question, each president shall forfeit one thousand drachmas of sacred money to Athena, and each commissioner shall forfeit forty drachmas of sacred money to Athena, and information thereof shall be laid before the Judges in such manner as when a man holds office being in debt to the treasury; and the Judges shall bring before the Court according to the law all persons against whom such information is laid; otherwise they shall not be raised to the Council of Areopagus, as obstructing the rectification of the statutes.”
[23] “πρὸ δὲ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὁ βουλόμενος Ἀθηναίων ἐκτιθέτω πρόσθεν τῶν ἐπωνύμων γράψας τοὺς νόμους οὓς ἂν τιθῇ, ὅπως ἂν πρὸς τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἐκτεθέντων νόμων ψηφίσηται ὁ δῆμος περὶ τοῦ χρόνου τοῖς νομοθέταις. ὁ δὲ τιθεὶς τὸν καινὸν νόμον ἀναγράψας εἰς λεύκωμα ἐκτιθέτω πρόσθεν τῶν ἐπωνύμων ὁσημέραι, ἕως ἂν ἡ ἐκκλησία γένηται. αἱρεῖσθαι δὲ καὶ τοὺς συναπολογησομένους τὸν δῆμον τοῖς νόμοις, οἳ ἂν ἐν τοῖς νομοθέταις λύωνται, πέντε ἄνδρας ἐξ Ἀθηναίων ἁπάντων, τῇ ἑνδεκάτῃ τοῦ ἑκατομβαιῶνος μηνός.”
[23] “Before the meeting of the Assembly any Athenian citizen who wishes shall write down the laws proposed by him and exhibit the same in front of the Eponymous Heroes, to the end that the People may vote on the question of the time allowed to the Legislative Committee with due regard to the total number of laws proposed. Whosoever proposes a new statute shall write it on a white hoard and exhibit it in front of the Heroes on every day until the meeting of the Assembly. On the eleventh day of the month Hecatombaeon the people shall elect from the whole body of citizens five persons to speak in defence of laws proposed for repeal before the Legislative Committee.”
[24] οὗτοι πάντες οἱ νόμοι κεῖνται πολὺν ἤδη χρόνον, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ πεῖραν αὑτῶν πολλάκις δεδώκασ᾽ ὅτι συμφέροντες ὑμῖν εἰσιν, καὶ οὐδεὶς πώποτ᾽ ἀντεῖπεν μὴ οὐ καλῶς ἔχειν αὐτούς. εἰκότως: οὐδὲν γὰρ ὠμὸν οὐδὲ βίαιον οὐδ᾽ ὀλιγαρχικὸν προστάττουσιν, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον πάντα φιλανθρώπως καὶ δημοτικῶς φράζουσι πράττειν.
[24] These are all old-established laws, gentlemen of the jury; they have been repeatedly tested and found advantageous to you, and no man ever denied that they were well-conceived. Naturally; for there is nothing offensive or violent or oligarchical in their provisions; they order business to be done in a courteous, democratic spirit.
[25] καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἐφ᾽ ὑμῖν ἐποίησαν διαχειροτονίαν, πότερον εἰσοιστέος ἐστὶ νόμος καινὸς ἢ δοκοῦσιν ἀρκεῖν οἱ κείμενοι: μετὰ ταῦτα δέ, ἂν χειροτονῆτ᾽ εἰσφέρειν, οὐκ εὐθὺς τιθέναι προσέταξαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν τρίτην ἀπέδειξαν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ οὐδ᾽ ἐν ταύτῃ τιθέναι δεδώκασιν, ἀλλὰ σκέψασθαι καθ᾽ ὅ τι τοὺς νομοθέτας καθιεῖτε. ἐν δὲ τῷ μεταξὺ χρόνῳ τούτῳ προσέταξαν τοῖς βουλομένοις εἰσφέρειν ἐκτιθέναι τοὺς νόμους πρόσθεν τῶν ἐπωνύμων, ἵν᾽ ὁ βουλόμενος σκέψηται, κἂν ἀσύμφορον ὑμῖν κατίδῃ τι, φράσῃ καὶ κατὰ σχολὴν ἀντείπῃ.
[25] In the first place, they entrusted to you citizens the decision whether a new law is to be introduced or the existing laws judged satisfactory. Then, if your vote is in favour of introduction, they did not order immediate enactment, but appointed the next assembly but one, and even at that assembly, they do not permit you to legislate, but only to consider the terms on which the Legislative Committee shall sit. In the intervening time they instructed persons wishing to introduce laws to exhibit them in front of the Heroes, so that anyone who chooses may inspect them, and, if he discovers anything injurious to the public interest, may inform you and have time to speak against the laws.
[26] τούτων μέντοι τοσούτων ὄντων οὐδὲν πεποίηκε Τιμοκράτης οὑτοσί: οὔτε γὰρ ἐξέθηκε τὸν νόμον, οὔτ᾽ ἔδωκεν εἴ τις ἐβούλετ᾽ ἀναγνοὺς ἀντειπεῖν, οὔτ᾽ ἀνέμεινεν οὐδένα τῶν τεταγμένων χρόνων ἐν τοῖς νόμοις, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἐν ᾗ τοὺς νόμους ἐπεχειροτονήσατε, οὔσης ἑνδεκάτῃ τοῦ ἑκατομβαιῶνος μηνός, δωδεκάτῃ τὸν νόμον εἰσήνεγκεν, εὐθὺς τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ, καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ὄντων Κρονίων καὶ διὰ ταῦτ᾽ ἀφειμένης τῆς βουλῆς, διαπραξάμενος μετὰ τῶν ὑμῖν ἐπιβουλευόντων καθέζεσθαι νομοθέτας διὰ ψηφίσματος ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν Παναθηναίων προφάσει.
[26] Now, of all these rules the defendant Timocrates has not observed one. He never exhibited his law; he gave no one a chance to read it and oppose it; nor did he wait for any of the dates appointed by statute. The assembly at which your vote was taken fell on the eleventh of Hecatombaeon, and he introduced his law on the twelfth, the very next day, although it was a feast of Cronos and the Council therefore stood adjourned; for he had contrived, with the help of persons whose intentions are unfriendly to you, to get by decree a sitting of the Legislative Committee, on an excuse afforded by the Panathenian Festival.
[27] βούλομαι δ᾽ ὑμῖν τὸ ψήφισμ᾽ αὔτ᾽ ἀναγνῶναι τὸ νικῆσαν, ἵν᾽ ἴδηθ᾽ ὅτι πάντα συνταξάμενοι καὶ οὐδὲν ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου τούτων ἔπραττον. λαβὲ τὸ ψήφισμ᾽ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἀναγίγνωσκε σύ.”Ψήφισμα
ἐπὶ τῆς Πανδιονίδος πρώτης, ἑνδεκάτῃ τῆς πρυτανείας, Ἐπικράτης εἶπεν, ὅπως ἂν τὰ ἱερὰ θύηται καὶ ἡ διοίκησις ἱκανὴ γένηται καὶ εἴ τινος ἐνδεῖ πρὸς τὰ Παναθήναια διοικηθῇ, τοὺς πρυτάνεις τοὺς τῆς Πανδιονίδος καθίσαι νομοθέτας αὔριον, τοὺς δὲ νομοθέτας εἶναι ἕνα καὶ χιλίους ἐκ τῶν ὀμωμοκότων, συννομοθετεῖν δὲ καὶ τὴν βουλήν.”
[27] I wish to read to you the decree that was adopted on division, to show you that the whole business was managed by collusion, and nothing was left to chance. — Take the decree, sir, and read it to the jury.”Decree
During the first presidency, namely, that of the Pandionid Tribe, and on the eleventh day of that presidency, it was moved by Epicrates that, in order that the sacrifices may be offered, that provision may be adequate, and that any lack of funds for the Panathenian Festival may be made good, the Presidents of the Pandionid Tribe do tomorrow set up a Legislative Committee, and that such Legislative Committee do consist of one thousand and one citizens who have taken the oath, and that the Council co-operate therewith in legislative business.”
[28] ἐνθυμήθητε ἀναγιγνωσκομένου τοῦ ψηφίσματος ὡς τεχνικῶς ὁ γράφων αὐτὸ τὴν διοίκησιν καὶ τὸ τῆς ἑορτῆς προστησάμενος κατεπεῖγον, ἀνελὼν τὸν ἐκ τῶν νόμων χρόνον, αὐτὸς ἔγρ
αψεν αὔριον νομοθετεῖν, οὐ μὰ Δί᾽ οὐχ ἵν᾽ ὡς κάλλιστα γένοιτό τι τῶν περὶ τὴν ἑορτήν （οὐδὲ γὰρ ἦν ὑπόλοιπον οὐδ᾽ ἀδιοίκητον οὐδέν）, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα μὴ προαισθομένου μηδενὸς ἀνθρώπων μηδ᾽ ἀντειπόντος τεθείη καὶ γένοιτο κύριος αὐτοῖς ὅδ᾽ ὁ νῦν ἀγωνιζόμενος νόμος.
[28] Observe, as the decree is read, how ingeniously the man who drafted it, under a pretext of finance and the urgency of the Festival, cancelled the date fixed by statute, and put in his own date, — that they should legislate “to-morrow.” I protest that his intention was, not that something belonging to the Festival should be done as handsomely as possible, for in fact there was nothing left to be done, and no financial deficiency to be made good; but that this law of theirs, the subject of the present trial, might be enacted and come into force without any living man having wind of it beforehand or offering opposition.
[29] τεκμήριον δέ: καθεζομένων γὰρ τῶν νομοθετῶν, περὶ μὲν τούτων, τῆς διοικήσεως καὶ τῶν Παναθηναίων, οὔτε χείρον᾽ οὔτε βελτίω νόμον οὐδέν᾽ εἰσήνεγκεν οὐδείς, περὶ δ᾽ ὧν οὔτε τὸ ψήφισμ᾽ ἐκέλευεν οἵ τε νόμοι κωλύουσιν, Τιμοκράτης οὑτοσὶ κατὰ πολλὴν ἡσυχίαν ἐνομοθέτει, κυριώτερον μὲν νομίσας τὸν ἐκ τοῦ ψηφίσματος ἢ τὸν ἐν τοῖς νόμοις εἰρημένον χρόνον, οὐδ᾽ ὁτιοῦν δὲ φοβηθεὶς εἰ ἁπάντων ὑμῶν ἀγόντων ἱερομηνίαν, καὶ νόμου κειμένου μήτ᾽ ἰδίᾳ μήτε κοινῇ μηδὲν ἀλλήλους ἀδικεῖν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χρόνῳ, μηδὲ χρηματίζειν ὅ τι ἂν μὴ περὶ τῆς ἑορτῆς ᾖ, αὐτὸς οὐχ ἕνα τὸν τυχόντα, ἀλλ᾽ ὅλην ἀδικῶν φανήσεται τὴν πόλιν.
[29] Here is the proof: when the Legislative Committee was in session, nobody introduced any law, good or bad, in respect of the business specified, that is, of financial provision for the Panathenian Festival, but this man Timocrates coolly and quietly proceeded to legislate about matters that lay outside the terms of the decree, and were forbidden by statute. He assumed that the date specified in the decree was more authoritative than the date prescribed by law; and, while you were all holidaymaking, and though there is a standing law that at such a time we shall do one another no wrong either in private or public life nor transact business that does not concern the Festival, he was not in the least afraid of making an exhibition of himself by doing wrong, not to this or that person, but to the whole community.
[30] καίτοι πῶς οὐ δεινόν, εἰδότα μὲν τοὺς νόμους, ὧν ὀλίγῳ πρότερον πάντες ἠκούσατε, κυρίους ὄντας, εἰδότα δ᾽ οὐκ ἐῶνθ᾽ ἕτερον νόμον ψήφισμ᾽ οὐδέν, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἔννομον ᾖ, νόμου κυριώτερον εἶναι, γράψαι καὶ θεῖναι νόμον ὑμῖν κατὰ ψήφισμα, ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ παρὰ τοὺς νόμους εἰρημένον ᾔδει;
[30] Yet was it not outrageous that, well knowing that the statutes which you heard read just now were still in force, well knowing also that another law declares that no decree, even though in itself constitutional, shall have higher authority than a statute, he should draft and propose to you a new law, in virtue of a decree that, as he was fully aware, had been moved in defiance of the laws?
[31] ἢ πῶς οὐ σχέτλιον τὴν μὲν πόλιν αὐτὴν ἑκάστῳ ἡμῶν δεδωκέναι ἄδειαν τοῦ μή τι παθεῖν ἀηδὲς ἢ δεινὸν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χρόνῳ ποιήσασαν ἱερομηνίαν, αὐτὴν δὲ μὴ τετυχηκέναι ταύτης τῆς ἀσφαλείας παρὰ Τιμοκράτους, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἱερομηνίᾳ τὰ μέγιστ᾽ ἠδικῆσθαι; τί γὰρ ἄν τις μεῖζον ἠδίκησ᾽ ἰδιώτης ἀνὴρ ἢ καταλύων τοὺς νόμους αὐτῆς, δι᾽ ὧν οἰκεῖται;
[31] Was it not atrocious that, when the State had granted to us individually security against any disagreeable or offensive treatment at that time, by declaring a religious holiday, the State itself should have obtained no such immunity from Timocrates, but, during that very holiday, should have been subjected to most grievous ill-treatment? How, indeed, could any private person ill-treat the State more gravely than by subverting the laws by which the State is administered?
[32] ὅτι μὲν τοίνυν οὐδὲν ὧν προσῆκέν τε καὶ κελεύουσιν οἱ νόμοι πεποίηκεν, εἰς τὰ προειρημένα τις σκοπῶν ἂν γνοίη. ὅτι δ᾽ οὐ μόνον κατὰ τοῦτ᾽ ἀδικεῖ, εἰ παραβὰς τὸν χρόνον τὸν ἐκ τῶν νόμων καὶ τὸ βουλεύσασθαι καὶ σκέψασθαι περὶ τούτων ὑμᾶς παντελῶς ἀνελὼν οὔσης ἱερομηνίας ἐνομοθέτει, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνο, ὅτι πᾶσιν ἐναντίον εἰσενήνοχεν τοῖς οὖσι νόμοις, αὐτίκα δὴ μάλ᾽ ἀκριβῶς μαθήσεσθε. ἀνάγνωθι δέ μοι λαβὼν τουτονὶ πρῶτον τὸν νόμον, ὃς διαρρήδην οὐκ ἐᾷ νόμον οὐδέν᾽ ἐναντίον εἰσφέρειν, ἐὰν δέ τις εἰσφέρῃ, γράφεσθαι κελεύει. ἀναγίγνωσκε.
[32] That Timocrates has done nothing that he ought to have done, nothing that the laws expressly enjoin, may be concluded from consideration of what I have already said; and before long you shall be satisfied, point by point, that he transgressed not merely in so far as he ignored the dates fixed by statute, and entirely annulled your right of deliberate consideration, by attempting to legislate during the holiday, but also in this respect, — that the law he introduced is inconsistent with all existing statutes. — But first take and read the statute I have here, which expressly forbids the introduction of any conflicting law, and authorizes an indictment if such a law should have been introduced.
[33] “Νόμος
τῶν δὲ νόμων τῶν κειμένων μὴ ἐξεῖναι λῦσαι μηδένα, ἐὰν μὴ ἐν νομοθέταις. τότε δ᾽ ἐξεῖναι τῷ βουλομένῳ Ἀθηναίων λύειν, ἕτερον τιθέντι ἀνθ᾽ ὅτου ἂν λύῃ. διαχειροτονίαν δὲ ποιεῖν τοὺς προέδρους περὶ τούτων τῶν νόμων, πρῶτον μὲν περὶ τοῦ κειμένου, εἰ δοκεῖ ἐπιτήδειος εἶναι τῷ δήμῳ τῷ Ἀθηναίων ἢ οὔ, ἔπειτα περὶ τοῦ τιθεμένου. ὁπότερον δ᾽ ἂν χειροτονήσωσιν οἱ νομοθέται, τοῦτον κύριον εἶναι. ἐναντίον δὲ νόμον μὴ ἐξεῖναι τιθέναι τῶν νόμων τῶν κειμένων μηδενί. ἐὰν δέ τις λύσας τινὰ τῶν νόμων τῶν κειμένων ἕτερον ἀντιθῇ μὴ ἐπιτήδειον τῷ δήμῳ τῷ Ἀθηναίων ἢ ἐναντίον τῶν κειμένων τῳ, τὰς γραφὰς εἶναι κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὸν νόμον ὃς κεῖται ἐάν τις μὴ ἐπιτήδειον θῇ νόμον.”
[33] “Law
It shall not he lawful to repeal any established law except at a Legislative Committee; and then any Athenian citizen may move for such repeal only on condition that he proposes a law to be substituted for the law so repealed. The Commissioners shall take a show of hands upon such laws, in the first instance upon the established law, whether it appear to be advantageous to the Athenian democracy or not, and afterwar
ds upon the law proposed. And whichever law is approved on division by the Legislative Committee shall then be operative. It shall not be lawful to introduce any law contrary to existing laws; and if any person having repealed any existing law proposes in substitution another law that is either disadvantageous to the Athenian democracy or contrary to any established law, an indictment shall lie against him according to the law made and provided in the case of the proposer of a disadvantageous law.”
[34] ἠκούσατε μὲν τοῦ νόμου: πολλῶν δὲ καλῶς κειμένων νόμων τῇ πόλει οὐδενὸς ἧττον ἡγοῦμαι καὶ τοῦτον ἀξίως ἐπαίνου γεγράφθαι. σκέψασθε γὰρ ὡς δικαίως καὶ σφόδρ᾽ ὑπὲρ τοῦ δήμου κεῖται. οὐκ ἐᾷ τοῖς ὑπάρχουσι νόμοις ἐναντίον εἰσφέρειν, ἐὰν μὴ λύσῃ τὸν πρότερον κείμενον. τίνος εἵνεκα; πρῶτον μὲν ἵν᾽ ὑμῖν ἐξῇ τὰ δίκαια ψηφίζεσθαι μετ᾽ εὐσεβείας.