by Demosthenes
[52] If he declares that it is my possession in this sense, that he reckons up what is in the hands of either of the trustees, it will be clear that he accounts for only a third part, and still does not prove that I have possession of it. For as I have convicted the defendant of having in his possession the large amount I have stated, I shall also prove that each of them has not less than he. This statement, therefore, will not help him. No; he must show that either he or his fellow-trustees really handed the money over to me. If he fails to prove this, why should you pay any attention to his challenge? He still does not prove that I have the money.
[53] πολλὰ τοίνυν ἀπορηθεὶς πρὸς τῷ διαιτητῇ περὶ πάντων τούτων, καὶ καθ᾽ ἕκαστον ἐξελεγχόμενος ὥσπερ νυνὶ παρ᾽ ὑμῖν, ἐτόλμησε ψεύσασθαι πάντων δεινότατον, ὡς τέτταρά μοι τάλανθ᾽ ὁ πατὴρ κατέλιπε κατορωρυγμένα καὶ τούτων κυρίαν τὴν μητέρ᾽ ἐποίησεν. ταῦτα δ᾽ εἶπεν, ἵν᾽ εἰ μὲν καὶ νῦν προσδοκήσαιμ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐρεῖν, ἀπολογούμενος περὶ αὐτῶν διατρίβοιμι, δέον ἕτερά μ᾽ αὐτοῦ κατηγορεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς: εἰ δ᾽ ὡς οὐ ῥηθησομένων παραλίποιμι, νῦν αὐτὸς εἴποι, ἵνα δοκῶν εἶναι πλούσιος ἧττον ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν ἐλεοίμην.
[53] Being sorely at a loss to explain any of these matters before the arbitrator, and being convicted on each point, just as he is now before you, he had the audacity to make an outrageously false statement, to the effect that my father left me four talents buried in the ground, and that he had put my mother in charge of them. He made this statement in order that, if I should assume that he would repeat it here, I might waste my time in refuting it, when I ought to be preferring the rest of my charges against him; or if I should pass it over, not expecting him to repeat it, then he himself might now bring it up, in the hope that I, by seeming to be rich, might meet with less compassion from you.
[54] καὶ μαρτυρίαν μὲν οὐδεμίαν ἐνεβάλετο τούτων ὁ ταῦτ᾽ εἰπεῖν ἀξιώσας, ψιλῷ δὲ λόγῳ χρησάμενος ὡς πιστευθησόμενος δι᾽ ἐκείνων. καὶ ὅταν μὲν ἔρηταί τις αὐτόν, εἰς τί τῶν ἐμῶν τοσαῦτα χρήματ᾽ ἀνήλωκεν, χρέα φησὶν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ ἐκτετεικέναι καὶ πένητ᾽ ἐνταυθοῖ ζητεῖ ποιεῖν: ὅταν δὲ βούληται, πλούσιον ὡς ἔοικεν, εἴπερ γε καὶ τοσοῦτον ἐκεῖνος ἀργύριον οἴκοι κατέλιπεν. ὡς δ᾽ οὐκ ἀληθῆ λέγειν οἷόν τ᾽ αὐτόν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀδύνατόν τι γενέσθαι τούτων, ἐκ πολλῶν ῥᾴδιον μαθεῖν.
[54] Yet he who dared to make such a statement put in no evidence to prove it, but relied on his bare word, as though you would lightly give him credence. When one asks him upon what he has spent so much of my money, he says he has paid debts for me, and so represents me as poor; yet, when it pleases him, he makes me rich, as it seems, seeing that my father left such a sum of money in the house. It is easy to see, however, from many considerations that he is lying, and that there is no basis of fact in this story.
[55] εἰ μὲν γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ἠπίστει τούτοις, δῆλον ὅτι οὔτ᾽ ἂν τἄλλ᾽ ἐπέτρεπεν οὔτ᾽ ἂν ταῦθ᾽ οὕτω καταλείπων αὐτοῖς ἔφραζε: μανία γὰρ δεινὴ τὰ κεκρυμμέν᾽ εἰπεῖν, μηδὲ τῶν φανερῶν μέλλοντ᾽ ἐπιτρόπους καταστήσειν. εἰ δ᾽ ἐπίστευεν, οὐκ ἂν δήπου τὰ μὲν πλεῖστ᾽ αὐτοῖς τῶν χρημάτων ἐνεχείρισεν, τῶν δ᾽ οὐκ ἂν κυρίους ἐποίησεν. οὐδ᾽ ἂν τῇ μὲν μητρί μου ταῦτα φυλάττειν ἔδωκεν, αὐτὴν δ᾽ ἐκείνην ἑνὶ τῶν ἐπιτρόπων τούτῳ γυναῖκ᾽ ἔδωκεν: οὐ γὰρ ἔχει λόγον, σῴζειν μὲν τὰ χρήματα διὰ τῆς ἐμῆς μητρὸς ζητεῖν, ἕνα δὲ τῶν ἀπιστουμένων καὶ αὐτῆς καὶ τῶν χρημάτων κύριον ποιεῖν.
[55] For if my father had no confidence in these men, it is plain that he would neither have entrusted to them the rest of his property, nor, if he had left this money in the way alleged, would he have told them of it. It would have been the height of madness to tell them of hidden treasure, when he was not going to make them trustees even of his visible property. But if he had confidence in them, he would not, I take it, have given into their hands the bulk of his property, and not have put them in control of this. Nor would he have entrusted this remainder to my mother to keep, and then have given her herself in marriage to this man who was one of the guardians. For it is not reasonable that he should seek to secure the money through my mother, and yet to put one of the men whom he distrusted in control both of her and of it.
[56] ἔτι δέ, τούτων εἴ τι ἦν ἀληθές, οἴεσθ᾽ οὐκ ἂν αὐτὴν λαβεῖν δοθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός; ὃς τὴν μὲν προῖκ᾽ αὐτῆς ἤδη, τὰς ὀγδοήκοντα μνᾶς, ἔχων ὡς συνοικήσων αὐτῇ, τὴν Φιλωνίδου τοῦ Μελιτέως θυγατέρ᾽ ἔγημεν: τεττάρων δὲ ταλάντων ἔνδον ὄντων, καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἐκείνης ἐχούσης, ὡς οὗτός φησιν, οὐκ ἂν ἡγεῖσθ᾽ αὐτὸν κἂν ἐπιδραμεῖν, ὥστε γενέσθαι μετ᾽ ἐκείνης αὐτῶν κύριον;
[56] Furthermore, if there were any truth in all this, do you suppose Aphobus would not have taken my mother to wife, bequeathed to him as she was by my father? He had already taken her marriage-portion — the eighty minae — as though he were going to marry her; but he subsequently married the daughter of Philonides of Melite But if there had been four talents in the house and in her custody, as he alleges, don’t you imagine he would have raced to get possession both of her and of them?
[57] ἢ τὴν μὲν φανερὰν οὐσίαν, ἣν καὶ ὑμῶν οἱ πολλοὶ συνῄδεσαν ὅτι κατελείφθη, μετὰ τῶν συνεπιτρόπων οὕτως αἰσχρῶς διήρπασεν, ὧν δ᾽ οὐκ ἐμέλλεθ᾽ ὑμεῖς ἔσεσθαι μάρτυρες, ἀπέσχετ᾽ ἂν ἐξὸν αὐτῷ λαβεῖν; καὶ τίς ἂν πιστεύσειεν; οὐκ ἔστιν ταῦτ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, οὐκ ἔστιν, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν χρήματα, ὅσα κατέλιπεν ὁ πατήρ, πάντα τούτοις παρέδωκεν, οὗτος δ᾽, ἵν᾽ ἧττον ἐλεηθῶ παρ᾽ ὑμῖν, τούτοις τοῖς λόγοις χρήσεται.
[57] Would he have joined with his co-trustees in so shamefully plundering my visible property, which many of you knew had been left me, and have refrained, when he had the chance, from seizing a fund to the evidence of which you would not be able to testify? Who can believe this? It is impossible, men of the jury; it is impossible. No; my father entrusted to these men all the property which he left, and the defendant will tell this story, that I may meet with less compassion from you.
[58] πολλὰ μὲν οὖν ἔγωγ᾽ ἔχω καὶ ἄλλα τούτου κατηγορεῖν: ἓν δὲ περὶ πάντων κεφάλαιον εἰπών, πάσας αὐτοῦ διαλύσω τὰς ἀπολογίας. τούτῳ γὰρ ἐξῆν μηδὲν ἔχειν τούτων τῶν πραγμάτων, μισθώσαντι τὸν οἶκον κατὰ τουτουσὶ τοὺς νόμους. λαβὲ τοὺς νόμους καὶ ἀνάγνωθι.”Νόμοι”
κατὰ τούτους τοὺς νόμους Ἀντιδώ�
�ῳ μὲν ἐκ τριῶν ταλάντων καὶ τρισχιλίων ἐν ἓξ ἔτεσιν ἓξ τάλαντα καὶ πλέον ἐκ τοῦ μισθωθῆναι παρεδόθη, καὶ ταῦθ᾽ ὑμῶν τινὲς εἶδον: Θεογένης γὰρ ὁ Προβαλίσιος, ὁ μισθωσάμενος αὐτοῦ τὸν οἶκον, ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ ταῦτα τὰ χρήματ᾽ ἐξηρίθμησεν.
[58] I have many other charges to make against him, but summing them all up in one, I will break down every defence of his. He could have avoided all this trouble, had he let the estate in accordance with these laws.
Take the laws and read them.” Laws”
In the case of Antidorus, as a result of his property having been let in accordance with these laws, there was given over to him, at the end of six years, an estate of six talents and more from an original amount of three talents and three thousand drachmae; and this some of you have seen with your own eyes; for Theogenes of Probalinthus, who leased the estate, counted out that sum in the market-place.
[59] ἐμοὶ δ᾽ ἐκ τεττάρων καὶ δέκα ταλάντων ἐν δέκ᾽ ἔτεσιν πρὸς τὸν χρόνον τε καὶ τὴν ἐκείνου μίσθωσιν πλέον ἢ τριπλάσια κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς προσῆκον γενέσθαι, τοῦτο διὰ τί οὐκ ἐποίησεν, ἐρωτᾶτ᾽ αὐτόν. εἰ μὲν γάρ φησι βέλτιον εἶναι μὴ μισθωθῆναι τὸν οἶκον, δειξάτω μὴ διπλάσια μηδὲ τριπλάσιά μοι γεγενημένα, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὰ τὰ ἀρχαῖ᾽ ἐμοὶ πάντ᾽ ἀποδεδομένα. εἰ δ᾽ ἐκ τεττάρων καὶ δέκα ταλάντων ἐμοὶ μὲν μηδ᾽ ἑβδομήκοντα μνᾶς παραδεδώκασιν, ὁ δὲ καὶ πρὸς ὀφείλοντά μ᾽ αὑτῷ ἀπέγραψεν, πῶς ἀποδέξασθαί τι προσήκει τούτων λεγόντων; οὐδαμῶς δήπουθεν.
[59] But in my case, fourteen talents in ten years, when consideration is given to the time and the terms of his lease, ought to have been more than trebled. Ask him why he did not do this. If he declares that it was better not to let the estate, let him show, not that it has been doubled or trebled, but that the mere principal has been paid back to me in full. But if out of fourteen talents they have handed over to me not even seventy minae, and one of them has actually recorded me as in his debt, how can it be right to accept any word they say? It is surely impossible.
[60] τοσαύτης τοίνυν οὐσίας μοι καταλειφθείσης ὅσην ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἠκούσατε, καὶ τοῦ τρίτου μέρους πρόσοδον αὐτῆς φερούσης πεντήκοντα μνᾶς, ἐξὸν τούτοις τοῖς ἀπληστοτάτοις χρημάτων, καὶ εἰ μὴ μισθοῦν τὸν οἶκον ἐβούλοντο, ἀπὸ μὲν τούτων τῶν προσιόντων, ἐῶντας ὥσπερ εἶχεν κατὰ χώραν, ἡμᾶς τε τρέφειν καὶ τὰ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν διοικεῖν, καὶ ὅσ᾽ ἐξαὐτῶν περιεγίγνετο,
[60] Seeing that the fortune left me was of so great value, as you heard at the beginning, the third part of it bringing in an income of fifty minae, these men, albeit insatiate in their greed, even if they refused to let the property, might out of this income and leaving the principal untouched, have maintained us, paid the taxes to the state, and saved the residue.
[61] ταῦτα προσπεριποιεῖν, τὴν δ᾽ ἄλλην οὐσίαν ἐνεργὸν ποιήσασιν, οὖσαν ταύτης διπλασίαν, αὑτοῖς τε, εἰ χρημάτων ἐπεθύμουν, μέτρι᾽ ἐξ αὐτῶν λαβεῖν, ἐμοί τε σὺν τοῖς ἀρχαίοις τὸν οἶκον ἐκ τῶν προσόδων μείζω ποιῆσαι, τούτων μὲν οὐδὲν ἐποίησαν, ἀποδόμενοι δ᾽ ἀλλήλοις τὰ πλείστου ἄξια τῶν ἀνδραπόδων, τὰ δὲ παντάπασιν ἀφανίσαντες, ἐμοῦ μὲν ἀνεῖλον καὶ τὴν ὑπάρχουσαν πρόσοδον, σφίσι δ᾽ αὐτοῖς οὐ μικρὰν ἐκ τῶν ἐμῶν κατεσκευάσαντο.
[61] The rest of the estate — an amount twice as large — they might have invested profitably, and, if greedy for money, have taken a reasonable amount for themselves, and have increased my estate from the income, besides keeping the principal intact. Yet they did nothing of the sort. Instead, by selling to one another the most valuable of the slaves and by absolutely doing away with the rest, they destroyed the existing source of my income and secured a considerable one for themselves at my cost.
[62] λαβόντες δὲ καὶ τἄλλ᾽ αἰσχρῶς οὑτωσὶ πάντα, πλέον ἢ τὰ ἡμίσεα τῶν χρημάτων μηδὲ καταλειφθῆναι κοινῇ πάντες ἀμφισβητοῦσιν, ὡς πεντεταλάντου δὲ μόνον τῆς οὐσίας οὔσης ἐκ τοσαύτης τοὺς λόγους ἀπενηνόχασιν, οὐ πρόσοδον μὲν ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐκ ἀποφαίνοντες, τὰ δὲ κεφάλαια φανερὰ ἀποδεικνύντες, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὰ τὰ ἀρχαῖ᾽ οὕτως ἀναιδῶς ἀνηλῶσθαι φάσκοντες. καὶ οὐδ᾽ αἰσχύνονται ταῦτα τολμῶντες.
[62] Having taken all the rest thus shamefully, they unite in maintaining that more than half of my property was never left to me at all. They have rendered an account as though the estate were one of five talents only; they do not produce the principal, though reporting no income from it, but have the impudence to tell me that the capital itself has been expended. And for this audacity they feel no shame!
[63] καίτοι τί ποτ᾽ ἂν ἔπαθον ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν, εἰ πλείω χρόνον ἐπετροπεύθην; οὐκ ἂν ἔχοιεν εἰπεῖν. ὅπου γὰρ δέκ᾽ ἐτῶν διαγενομένων παρὰ μὲν τῶν οὕτω μικρὰ κεκόμισμαι, τῷ δὲ καὶ πρὸς ὀφείλων ἐγγέγραμμαι, πῶς οὐκ ἄξιον διαγανακτεῖν; δῆλον δὲ παντάπασιν: εἰ κατελείφθην μὲν ἐνιαύσιος, ἓξ ἔτη δὲ πρὸς ἐπετροπεύθην ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν, οὐδ᾽ ἂν τὰ μικρὰ ταῦτα παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ἀπέλαβον. εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖν᾽ ἀνήλωται ὀρθῶς, οὐδὲν ἂν τῶν νῦν παραδοθέντων ἐξήρκεσεν εἰς ἕκτον ἔτος, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ παρ᾽ αὑτῶν ἄν μ᾽ ἔτρεφον ἢ τῷ λιμῷ περιεῖδον ἀπολόμενον.
[63] What, pray, would have been my plight, if I had continued longer as their ward? They would have hard work to tell. For when, after the lapse of ten years, I have recovered so little from two of these men, and by the third am even set down as a debtor, have I not good ground for indignation? Nay, it is wholly clear. If I had been left an orphan of a year old, and had been six years longer under their guardianship, I should never have recovered even the pitiful amounts I now have. For, if the expenditures they have made were justifiable, the sums they have handed over to me would not have lasted six years, but they would either have had to support me themselves or to have let me perish from hunger.
[64] καίτοι πῶς οὐ δεινόν, εἰ ἕτεροι μὲν οἶκοι ταλαντιαῖοι καὶ διτάλαντοι καταλειφθέντες ἐκ τοῦ μισθωθῆναι διπλάσιοι καὶ τριπλάσιοι γεγόνασιν, ὥστ᾽ ἀξιοῦσθαι λῃτουργεῖν, ὁ δ᾽ ἐμὸς τριηραρχεῖν εἰθισμένος καὶ μεγάλας εἰσφορὰς εἰσφέρειν μηδὲ μικρὰς δυνήσεται διὰ τὰς τούτων ἀναισχυντίας; τίνας δ᾽ οὗτοι λελοίπασιν ὑπερβολὰς εἰπεῖν; οἳ καὶ τὴν διαθήκην ἠφανίκασιν ὡς λήσοντες, κ
αὶ τὰς μὲν σφετέρας αὐτῶν οὐσίας ἐκ τῶν ἐπικαρπιῶν διῳκήκασι καὶ τἀρχαῖα τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ἐκ τῶν ἐμῶν πολλῷ μείζω πεποιήκασι, τῆς δ᾽ ἐμῆς οὐσίας, ὥσπερ τὰ μέγισθ᾽ ὑφ᾽ ἡμῶν ἀδικηθέντες, ὅλον τὸ κεφάλαιον ἀνῃρήκασι;
[64] Yet is it not an outrage, if estates left to others of a value of one or two talents have as a result of letting been doubled or trebled, so that the owners have been called upon for state services, while mine, which has been wont to equip triremes and to make large contributions in taxes, will be unable to contribute even small sums thanks to the shameless acts of these men? What words are gross enough to describe their conduct? They have done away with the will, thinking to avoid discovery, their own estates they have administered from the income, and have greatly increased their capital by drawing upon my funds, while, as for my own estate, they have destroyed my entire capital, as if in requital for some grievous wrong we had done them.