by Demosthenes
[37] To pass over other occasions, seven times, Aristogeiton, have you indicted me, when you had taken the pay of Philip’s agents, and twice you accused me at my audit. As a mere mortal I pay my respects to Nemesis, and I am deeply grateful both to the gods and to all the citizens of Athens for their protection. But as for you, it was never once found that you had spoken the truth; you were always convicted of chicanery. If, then, these gentlemen make the laws invalid by acquitting you today, will you convict me now? On what charge?
[38] σκοπεῖτε γὰρ οὑτωσί. δύ᾽ ἔτη βιάζεται λέγειν οὗτος οὐκ ἐξὸν αὐτῷ, ἀλλὰ λέγει γ᾽ ὅμως. ἔπειτ᾽ ἐν τούτοις τὸν μὲν ταλαίπωρον Φωκίδην καὶ τὸν χαλκοτύπον τὸν ἐκ Πειραιῶς καὶ τὸν σκυλόδεψον, καὶ ὅσων ἄλλων κατηγόρηκε παρ᾽ ὑμῖν, εἶδ᾽ ἀδικοῦντας τὴν πόλιν, ἐμὲ δ᾽ οὐχ ἑώρα τὸν ῥήτορ᾽ ᾧ ἐπολέμει, οὐδὲ τὸν Λυκοῦργον, οὐδὲ τοὺς ἄλλους, περὶ ὧν αὐτίκα δὴ τὰ πόλλ᾽ ἐρεῖ; καὶ μὴν κατ᾽ ἀμφότερ᾽ ἄξιός ἐστ᾽ ἀπολωλέναι, τοῦτο μέν, εἴ τι καθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἔχων ἀδίκημα δεικνύναι ἡμᾶς μὲν ἀφίει, ἐπὶ δὲ τοὺς ἰδιώτας ἐπορεύετο, τοῦτο δέ, εἰ μηδὲν ἔχων ἕνεκα τοῦ παρακρούσασθαι καὶ φενακίσαι ὑμᾶς ταῦτ᾽ ἐρεῖ.
[38] I ask the jury to reflect. For two years he has been asserting his claim to address you, though it is illegal for him to do so; but he speaks all the same. All that time he saw the State injured by the wretched Phocides, by the coppersmith from Peiraeus, by the tanner, and by all the others whom he has accused in your courts; but had he no eyes for me, the orator with whom he was at open war, or for Lycurgus, or for the other orators about whom he will have so much to say presently? Yet either way he deserves death; in the one case, if he had a charge against us that he could prove, but passed it over to assail private citizens, or on the other hand, if he has no charge against us, but wants to deceive and hoodwink you by his statements.
[39] εἰ τοίνυν ἄρα καὶ τοιοῦτός τίς ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος ἐν τῇ πόλει, οἷος ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου τὸν κρινοῦντά τινα καὶ συκοφαντήσοντα ζητεῖν, εἰ δὲ δικαίως ἢ ἀδίκως μηδὲν φροντίζειν, οὐδέν᾽ ἂν ἧττον εὕροι χρήσιμον ὄντ᾽ ἢ τοῦτον ἑαυτῷ. διὰ τί; ὅτι τὸν κατηγορήσοντα τῶν ἄλλων καὶ πάντας κρινοῦντα αὐτὸν ἀνεξέλεγκτον ὑπάρχειν δεῖ, ἵνα μὴ διὰ τὴν τούτου πονηρίαν ἀποφεύγωσιν ἐκεῖνοι. τούτου δ᾽ οὔτε πλειόνων οὔτε μειζόνων ἁμαρτημάτων οὐδεὶς μᾶλλόν ἐστι μεστὸς ἐν τῇ πόλει.
[39] If there really is in our city a man whose disposition prompts him diligently to search for someone ready to accuse and blackmail others, but who does not trouble himself about the justice or injustice of the charges, he could not find an agent less fitted for his purpose than the defendant. And why? Because one who is prepared to accuse others and bring them all to trial, ought to be himself unimpeachable, so that his victims may not escape through his own wickedness. But no one in the city has a record of more numerous and more serious crimes than the defendant.
[40] τί οὖν οὗτός ἐστι; κύων νὴ Δία, φασί τινες, τοῦ δήμου. ποδαπός; οἷος οὓς μὲν αἰτιᾶται λύκους εἶναι μὴ δάκνειν, ἃ δέ φησι φυλάττειν πρόβατ᾽ αὐτὸς κατεσθίειν. τίνα γὰρ τῶν ῥητόρων οὗτος εἴργασταί τι κακὸν τοσοῦτον ἡλίκον τοὺς ἰδιώτας, περὶ ὧν ψηφίσματα γράψας ἑάλω; τίνα δ᾽, ἐξ οὗ νῦν πάλιν λέγει, κέκρικεν ῥήτορα; οὐδ᾽ ἕνα: ἀλλ᾽ ἰδιώτας πολλούς. ἀλλὰ μὴν τοὺς γευομένους κύνας τῶν προβάτων κατακόπτειν φασὶ δεῖν, ὥστ᾽ οὐκ ἂν φθάνοι κατακοπτόμενος.
[40] Now what is the defendant? “He is the watch dog of the democracy,” cry his friends. Yes, but what sort of dog? One that never snaps at those whom he accuses of being wolves, but himself devours the sheep he pretends to guard. To which of the orators has he done so much harm as to the private citizens against whom he has been convicted of moving unlawful decrees? What statesman has he brought to trial, since he again took to public speaking? Not a single one-but plenty of private citizens. But they say that dogs who taste mutton ought to be cut to bits; so the sooner he is cut up the better.
[41] οὐδέν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, χρήσιμός ἐστιν ὧν φησίν, ἀλλ᾽ οὗτος πρᾶγμ᾽ ἑόρακεν μιαρὸν καὶ ἀναιδές. λοιδορούμενος γὰρ ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις καὶ προπετῶς ἅπασι προσκρούων, ὧν ἂν ἐκ τούτων ἁθρόους πάντας ὑμᾶς ἐκεῖ παρακρούσηται, τούτων καταβὰς καθ᾽ ἕν᾽ ὑμῶν παρ᾽ ἑκάστου δίκην λαμβάνει, συκοφαντῶν, αἰτῶν, εἰσπράττων ἀργύριον, οὐχὶ μὰ Δία τοὺς λέγοντας （οὗτοι μὲν γὰρ ἐπίστανται τούτῳ διαβαπτίζεσθαι）, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἰδιώτας καὶ τοὺς ἀπείρους: ἴσασι δ᾽ οἱ πεπληγμένοι.
[41] Men of Athens, he serves no purpose that he claims to serve, but he has turned his attention to an abominable and disgusting trick. In the Assembly he recklessly abuses and attacks all alike, and for all the misrepresentations that he thus foists upon you collectively, he gets his remuneration from each of you separately, when he descends from the platform, by threatening prosecution and by demanding and extorting money. Not from the orators, you may be sure: they know how to throw mud back at him: but from the inexperienced private citizens, as those know who have felt his blows.
[42] ἀλλὰ νὴ Δία ταῦτα μὲν οὕτως ἔχειν ὁμολογήσετε, χρήσιμον δ᾽ ἄνθρωπον τῇ πόλει κρίνειν, ὥστε πάντα ταῦτα παριδόντας δεῖν αὐτὸν σῴζειν. ἀλλ᾽ ὧν ἔργῳ πεῖραν εἰλήφατ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, μηδέποτ᾽ ἐκ λόγου ταῦτα σκοπεῖσθε. οὗτος ὑμῖν οὐχὶ προσῆλθε πέντ᾽ ἐτῶν, ὧν ἐτιμήθη μὴ λέγειν αὐτῷ. τίς οὖν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χρόνῳ τοῦτον ἐπόθησεν; τί τῶν τῆς πόλεως ἐλλειφθὲν διὰ τὴν ἀπουσίαν εἶδε τὴν τούτου; τί δέ, ἀφ᾽ οὗ νῦν λέγει, βέλτιον γεγονός; ἐμοὶ μὲν γὰρ δοκεῖ τοὐναντίον, ὃν μὲν οὐ προσῄει χρόνον ὑμῖν, ἀναπαύσασθαι τῶν κακῶν ἡ πόλις ὧν ἅπασιν οὗτος παρεῖχεν, ἀφ᾽ οὗ δὲ πάλιν δημηγορεῖ, πολιορκεῖσθαι, λόγους στασιώδεις καὶ ταραχώδεις ἐν ἁπάσαις ἀεὶ ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις λέγοντος τούτου.
[42] But perhaps, while admitting the truth of this, you will say that you consider him a useful servant of the State, so that we must overlook all this and spare him. Men of Athens, when you have had practical experience of something, you should never take a merely theoretical view of it. This man had no dealings with you in the five years when he was deprived of the right to address you. Well, who in all that time regretted him? What neglect of the city’s interests has anyone observed in consequence of his absence, or what improvement now that he is allowed to speak? On the con
trary, it seems to me that as long as he did not come before you, the city had respite from the troubles that he caused to everyone, but since he started his harangues again, Athens is in a state of siege from the factious and unruly speeches that he delivers at every meeting of the Assembly.
[43] βούλομαι τοίνυν καὶ παρακινδυνευτικοῦ τινος ἅψασθαι λόγου καὶ διαλεχθῆναι τοῖς διὰ ταῦτα φιλοῦσιν αὐτόν: οὓς ὁποίους μέν τινας χρὴ νομίζειν, αὐτοὶ σκοπεῖσθε, ἐγὼ δ᾽ οὐδὲν ἂν εἴποιμι, πλὴν ὅτι γ᾽ οὐ σωφρονοῦσι προσνέμοντες αὑτοὺς τούτῳ. τῶν μὲν οὖν ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ νῦν ὄντων ὑμῶν οὐδέν᾽ εἶναι τοιοῦτον τίθεμαι: καὶ γὰρ δίκαιον, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ καλὸν καὶ συμφέρον οὕτω καὶ λέγειν ἐμὲ καὶ φρονεῖν περὶ ὑμῶν.
[43] I will now trench upon a dangerous topic and offer some remarks to those who, for these reasons, admire him. How such persons ought to be regarded, you shall judge for yourselves; I will say nothing myself, except that they are not wise in taking his part. Now of you who are here in court, I assume that this does not apply to any: it is only fair, men of Athens, and honorable and proper that I should both say and think that of you.
[44] ἐκ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν, ἵν᾽ ὡς εἰς ἐλαχίστους τὴν βλασφημίαν ἀγάγω, τὸν μαθητήν, εἰ δὲ βούλεσθε, τὸν διδάσκαλον αὐτοῦ, Φιλοκράτην τὸν Ἐλευσίνιον, μόνον εἶναι τοιοῦτον τίθεμαι, οὐχ ὡς οὐχὶ πλειόνων ὄντων （ὤφελε γὰρ μηδεὶς ἄλλος Ἀριστογείτονι χαίρειν）, ἀλλ᾽ ὃ καθ᾽ ὑμῶν ὡς ὄνειδος ὀκνῶ λέγειν, οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων πολιτῶν δίκαιός εἰμι δημοσίᾳ κατηγορεῖν: εἶτα καὶ ταὐτὸ ποιήσει καὶ πρὸς ἕνα ῥηθεὶς ὁ λόγος.
[44] But of the rest of our citizens — to confine the reproach to as few as possible — his pupil, or, if you like, his teacher, Philocrates of Eleusis, is the only one whom I account as such, not as if there were not more （for I would that no one else found satisfaction in Aristogeiton）, but I have no right publicly to bring a charge against other citizens which I shrink from bringing against you. Moreover the argument, though it applies to one man alone, will have the same force.
[45] τὸ μὲν οὖν ἐξετάζειν ἀκριβῶς οἷον ἀνάγκη τὴν φύσιν εἶναι τὸν Ἀριστογείτονι χαίροντα, ἐάσω, ἵνα μὴ πολλὰ καὶ βλάσφημ᾽ ἀναγκάζωμαι λέγειν καὶ διεξιέναι: ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνο λέγω. εἰ πονηρός ἐστιν Ἀριστογείτων ἁπλῶς καὶ πικρὸς καὶ συκοφάντης καὶ τοιοῦτος οἷος ὑπισχνεῖται, δίδωμι, συγχωρῶ, Φιλόκρατες, σοὶ τῷ τοιούτῳ τὸν ὅμοιον σῴζειν: τῶν γὰρ ἄλλων ἁπάντων καὶ φρονούντων ἃ δεῖ καὶ φυλαττόντων τοὺς νόμους, οὐδὲν ἂν παρὰ τοῦτ᾽ οἶμαι γενέσθαι.
[45] I will not discuss too minutely what character we must assign to an admirer of Aristogeiton, for fear lest I should be committed to a long tirade of vituperation. But one thing I will say. If Aristogeiton is in plain language a rascally and malicious blackmailer, the sort of man in fact that he professes to be, then you have my hearty consent, Philocrates, to support one who so closely resembles you; because, if every one else does his duty and upholds the law, I do not think that your attitude will produce any effect.
[46] εἰ δὲ κάπηλός ἐστι πονηρίας καὶ παλιγκάπηλος καὶ μεταβολεύς, καὶ μόνον οὐ ζυγὰ καὶ στάθμ᾽ ἔχων πάνθ᾽ ὅσα πώποτ᾽ ἔπραξεν ἐπώλει, τί τοῦτον, ὦ μάται᾽, ἀκονᾷς; οὔτε γὰρ μαγείρῳ μαχαίρας οὐδέν ἐστ᾽ ὄφελος δήπουθεν ἥτις μὴ τέμνει, οὔτε τῷ βουλομένῳ δι᾽ αὑτοῦ πᾶσι πράγματα καὶ κακὰ γίγνεσθαι ὁ ταῦτ᾽ ἀποδωσόμενος συκοφάντης οὐδέν ἐστι χρήσιμος.
[46] But if he is a jobber and pedlar and retail-dealer in wickedness, if he has all but sold by scale and balance every action of his whole life, why, you silly fellow, do you egg him on? Surely a cook has no use for a knife that does not cut, and in the same way a man who wants by his own efforts to cause trouble and annoyance to everybody has no use for a blackmailer who is ready to sell such services.
[47] ἀλλὰ μὴν ὅτι τοιοῦτος οὗτός ἐστιν εἰδότι σοι φράσω. τὴν καθ᾽ Ἡγήμονος εἰσαγγελίαν μέμνησαι ὡς ἀπέδοτο: τὰς κατὰ Δημάδου γραφὰς οἶσθ᾽ ὡς ἐξέλιπεν. τὸν ἐλαιοπώλην Ἀγάθωνα （ταυτὶ γὰρ τὰ πρώην） βοῶν καὶ κεκραγὼς καὶ ἰοὺ ἰού, πάντ᾽ ἄνω τε καὶ κάτω ποιῶν ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ὡς δέον στρεβλοῦν, λαβὼν ὁτιδήποτε, παρὼν ὅτ᾽ ἀφίετο, ἄφωνος ἐγένετο. τὴν κατὰ Δημοκλέους εἰσαγγελίαν ἀνασείσας ποῖ ἔτρεψεν; ἄλλα μυρία, ὧν ἐμοὶ μὲν ἔργον ἁπάντων μνησθῆναι, σὺ δ᾽ εὖ οἶδ᾽ ὅτι καὶ τὰ ἀντίγραφ᾽ αὐτῶν ἔχεις, ἐργολαβῶν αὐτῷ.
[47] That, I may tell you, is the sort of man the defendant is, though you now it already. You remember how he sold the impeachment of Hegemon. You know how he threw up his brief against Demades. At the trial of Agathon, the olive-merchant, a day or two ago, he bellowed and ranted and cried “Ha-ha!” and threw the Assembly into confusion, saying it was a case for the rack; and after pocketing some trifle or other, though he was present at his acquittal, he kept his mouth shut. He held the threat of impeachment over Democles’ head, and what did he make of it? There are thousands of other cases. I should find it a task to mention them all, but you, who were his jackal, must have notes of them.
[48] τίς οὖν ὁ τὸν τοιοῦτον σώσων ἢ πονηρὸς ἢ χρηστός; ἢ διὰ τί; τῶν μὲν γὰρ ὁμοίων προδότης, τῶν δὲ χρηστῶν ἐχθρὸς ἐκ φύσεως καὶ γένους: πλὴν εἰ συκοφάντου τις καὶ πονηροῦ σπέρμα καὶ ῥίζαν, ὡσπερανεὶ γεωργός, οἴεται δεῖν ὑπάρχειν τῇ πόλει. τοῦτο δ᾽ οὐ καλόν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, νομίζω δὲ μὰ τοὺς θεοὺς οὐδ᾽ ὅσιον: οὐδὲ γὰρ τοὺς προγόνους ὑπολαμβάνω τὰ δικαστήρια ταῦθ᾽ ὑμῖν οἰκοδομῆσαι, ἵνα τοὺς τοιούτους ἐν αὐτοῖς μοσχεύητε, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον ἵν᾽ ἀνείργητε καὶ κολάζητε καὶ μηδεὶς ζηλοῖ μηδ᾽ ἐπιθυμῇ κακίας.
[48] Then what man, be he good or bad, wants to spare such a fellow? Why spare one who is the betrayer of those who resemble him, and the foe, by instinct and by inheritance, of good men; unless one thinks that the State should preserve, as a farmer might do, the seed and stock of the blackmailer and rascal? But that would be a disgrace, men of Athens; yes, by Heaven! and I account it an impiety too. I cannot believe that your ancestors built you these law-courts as a hotbed for rogues of this sort, but rather to enable you to check and chastise them, until no man shall admire or covet vice.
[49] δυσκατάπαυστον δέ τι κινδυνεύει πρᾶγμ᾽ εἶναι πονηρία. ὅπου γὰρ Ἀριστογεί�
�ων ἐπὶ τοῖς ὡμολογημένοις ἀδικήμασι κρίνεται καὶ οὐκ ἀπόλωλε πάλαι, τί χρὴ ποιεῖν ἢ λέγειν; ὃς εἰς τοῦθ᾽ ἥκει πονηρίας ὥστ᾽ ἐνδεδειγμένος ἤδη βοῶν, συκοφαντῶν, ἀπειλῶν οὐκ ἐπαύετο, οἷς μὲν ὑμεῖς τὰ μέγιστ᾽ ἐνεχειρίζετε στρατηγοῖς, ὅτι αὐτῷ ἀργύριον αἰτοῦντι οὐκ ἔδοσαν, οὐδὲ τῶν κοπρώνων ἂν ἐπιστάτας ἑλέσθαι φάσκων,
[49] Depravity may prove a difficult thing to check. When Aristogeiton, for acknowledged misdeeds, is only now on his trial and has not been put to death long ago, what is one to do or say? His wickedness has reached such a pitch that after information had been laid against him, he did not cease to bluster and blackmail and threaten; and because the generals, to whom you have entrusted the most important interests, refused to give him money, he said that they did not deserve to be appointed inspectors of latrines.
[50] οὐκ ἐκείνους ὑβρίζων, οὔ （ἐκείνοις μὲν γὰρ ἐξῆν μικρὸν ἀργύριον δοῦσι τούτῳ μὴ ἀκούειν ταῦτα）, ἀλλὰ τὴν ὑμετέραν χειροτονίαν προπηλακίζων καὶ τῆς αὑτοῦ πονηρίας ἐπίδειξιν ποιούμενος, τὰς δὲ κληρωτὰς ἀρχὰς σπαράττων, αἰτῶν, εἰσπράττων ἀργύριον, τί κακὸν οὐ παρέχων; τὰ τελευταῖα δὲ ταυτὶ πάντας εἰς ταραχὴν καὶ στάσιν ἐμβάλλειν ζητήσας, γράμματ᾽ ἐκτιθεὶς ψευδῆ, ὅλως δ᾽ ἐπὶ τῷ πάντων κακῷ πεφυκώς, καὶ πρόδηλος ὢν ὅτι τοιοῦτός ἐστι τῷ βίῳ.