by Demosthenes
[40] Not only from the facts already adduced can you see that Aphobus was not in any respect whatever prejudiced by my refusal to give the man up for torture, but also from a consideration of the matter itself. Let us suppose that Milyas is being racked upon the wheel, and consider what Aphobus would most wish him to say. Would it not be that he was not aware that the plaintiff had any of the property in his possession? Well, suppose he says so. Does that prove that the plaintiff has none? Far from it; for I produced men who knew, men who paid him the money, men who were present in person, as witnesses. It is convincing proof, not if one is ignorant that a man has something in his possession （for there might be many such）, but if one knows that he has it.
[41] καταμαρτυρησάντων τοίνυν τοσούτων σου μαρτύρων, τίνι τῶν ψευδομαρτυρίων ἐπεσκήψω; δεῖξον. ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἂν ἔχοις δεῖξαι. καίτοι πῶς οὐ σαφῶς σὺ σαυτὸν ἐξελέγχεις, ὅτι ψεύδει δεινὰ πεπονθέναι φάσκων καὶ τὴν δίκην ἀδίκως ὠφληκέναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον οὐ παραλαβών, ὃς τοὺς ταῦτα μαρτυρήσαντας ἔχειν σε καὶ λαβεῖν, περὶ ὧν ὡς οὐ καταλειφθέντων σὺ τὸν Μιλύαν ἐξῄτεις, ἀφῆκας τῶν ψευδομαρτυρίων; οὓς πολὺ κάλλιον ἦν, εἴπερ ἠδίκησο, διώκειν. ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἠδικημένος σὺ συκοφαντεῖς.
[41] But of the many witnesses who testified against you, what one have you sued for false testimony? Tell us. But you cannot. Yet you plainly convict yourself, and prove that you lie when you declare that you have been outrageously treated, and that you lost the suit unjustly, because this man was not given up to you — you who made no charge of giving false testimony against the witnesses who testified that you received and had in your possession the property, concerning which you demanded Milyas for torture to prove that it was never left us. If you had really been wronged, it would have been more fitting to proceed against them. But you were not wronged, and are bringing a baseless suit out of malice.
[42] πολλαχόθεν μὲν οὖν ἄν τις ἴδοι τὴν σὴν πονηρίαν, μάλιστα δ᾽ εἰ περὶ τῆς διαθήκης ἀκούσειεν. τοῦ γὰρ πατρός, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τὰ καταλειφθέντα πάντ᾽ ἐν τῇ διαθήκῃ γράψαντος, καὶ τὸν οἶκον ὅπως μισθώσουσιν, ταύτην μὲν οὐκ ἀπέδωκεν, ἵνα μὴ τὸ πλῆθος εὕροιμ᾽ ἐγὼ τῶν χρημάτων ἐξ αὐτῆς, ὡμολόγει δὲ κεκτῆσθαι ταῦτα, ἃ μάλιστ᾽ οὐχ οἷόν τ᾽ ἦν ἐξάρνῳ γενέσθαι διὰ τὴν περιφάνειαν.
[42] There are many points from which one may see your rascality, but most of all if one hears how you acted regarding the will. For although my father, men of the jury, wrote a will containing an inventory of all that he left, with instructions for letting the property, this will Aphobus never gave up to me, lest I should learn from it the value of the estate, and admitted possessing only those items which were so well known that he could not deny that he had them.
[43] ἦν δὲ ταῦθ᾽ ἃ γεγράφθαι φησὶν ἐν τῇ διαθήκῃ, δύο μὲν τάλαντα Δημοφῶντα λαβεῖν εὐθύς, τὴν δ᾽ ἀδελφὴν ὅταν ἡλικίαν ἔχῃ （τοῦτο δ᾽ ἔμελλεν εἰς ἔτος δέκατον γενήσεσθαι）, τοῦτον δ᾽ ὀγδοήκοντα μνᾶς καὶ τὴν μητέρα τὴν ἐμὴν καὶ τὴν οἰκίαν οἰκεῖν, Θηριππίδην δ᾽ ἑβδομήκοντα μνᾶς λαβόντα καρπώσασθαι, τέως ἀνὴρ ἐγὼ γενοίμην. τὰ δ᾽ ἄλλ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἐμοὶ χωρὶς τούτων κατελείφθη, καὶ τὸ μισθοῦν τὸν οἶκον ἠφάνιζεν ἐκ τῆς διαθήκης, οὐ συμφέρον αὑτῷ νομίζων ταῦτ᾽ ἐπιδειχθῆναι παρ᾽ ὑμῖν.
[43] The will, according to his statement, contained these provisions: that Demophon should at once receive two talents, and should marry my sister when she should come of age （this would be in ten years）; that Aphobus himself should have eighty minae with my mother, and the house to live in; and that Therippides should enjoy the interest on seventy minae until I should reach manhood. All the rest of the property left to me apart from these items, and the clause regarding the letting of the estate, he suppressed from the will, not thinking that it was to his interest that these matters should be made known in your court.
[44] ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ὡμολόγηθ᾽ ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ τούτου τὸν πατέρ᾽ ἡμῶν τελευτῶντα τοσοῦτον ἀργύριον τούτων ἑκάστῳ δοῦναι, τεκμήριον οἱ δικάζοντες τότε τὰς ὁμολογίας ἐποιήσαντο ταύτας τοῦ πλήθους τῶν χρημάτων: ὅστις γὰρ ἀπὸ τῶν ὄντων τέτταρα τάλαντα καὶ τρισχιλίας προῖκα καὶ δωρεὰν ἔδωκεν, φανερὸν ἦν ὅτι οὐκ ἀπὸ μικρᾶς οὐσίας, ἀλλὰ πλέον ἢ διπλασίας ἧς ἐμοὶ κατέλειπεν ταῦτ᾽ ἀφεῖλεν.
[44] However, since it was admitted by Aphobus himself that my father on his death-bed gave to each of these men such large sums of money, the jurymen at the former trial considered these admissions to be a proof of the size of the estate. For when a man gave out of his estate four talents and three thousand drachmae by way of marriage-portion and legacy, it was plain that he took these sums, not from a small estate, but from one （bequeathed to me） of more than double this amount.
[45] οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐδόκει τὸν μὲν υἱὸν ἐμὲ πένητα βούλεσθαι καταστῆσαι, τούτους δὲ πλουσίους ὄντας ἔτι πλουσιωτέρους ποιῆσαι ἐπιθυμεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἕνεκα τοῦ πλήθους τῶν ἐμοὶ καταλειπομένων Θηριππίδῃ τε τὰς ἑβδομήκοντα μνᾶς καὶ Δημοφῶντι τὰ δύο τάλαντα, οὔπω μέλλοντι τῇ ἀδελφῇ τῇ ἐμῇ συνοικήσειν, καρποῦσθαι δοῦναι. ταῦτα δὴ τὰ χρήματ᾽ οὐδαμοῦ παραδοὺς ἐφαίνετο, οὐδ᾽ ἐλάττω μικροῖς: ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἀνηλωκέναι, τὰ δ᾽ οὐ λαβεῖν ἔφη, τὰ δ᾽ οὐκ εἰδέναι, τὰ δὲ τὸν δεῖν᾽ ἔχειν, τὰ δ᾽ ἔνδον εἶναι, τὰ δὲ πάντα μᾶλλον ἢ ὅπου παρέδωκεν εἶχεν λέγειν.
[45] For it cannot be supposed that he would wish to leave me, his son, in poverty, and be eager further to enrich these men, who were already wealthy. No; it was because of the size of the estate left to me that he gave to Therippides the interest on seventy minae, and to Demophon that on the two talents — though he was not yet to marry my sister. These moneys it has been proved that Aphobus never gave over to me, nor even an amount slightly less. Part of it he said he had spent, part he had never received, part he knew nothing about, part was in the hands of so-and-so, part was in the house, and of part he could say anything except when and where he had paid it over.
[46] περὶ δὲ τοῦ μὴ καταλειφθῆναι τὰ χρήματ᾽ ἔνδον, βούλομαι σαφῶς ὑμῖν ἐπιδεῖξαι ψευδόμενον. τοῦτον γὰρ τὸν λόγον καθεῖκεν, ἐπειδὴ τὰ χρήματα μὲν πολλὰ πέφηνεν ὄντα, οὐκ ἔχει δ᾽ ἐπιδεῖξαι ταῦθ᾽ ὡς ἀποδέδωκεν, ἵν᾽ ἐξ εἰκότος οὐδὲν προσῆκον ἡμῖν φανῇ κομίζεσθαι τά γ᾽ ὄντα παρ᾽ ἡμῖν.
[46] As to his story of money left in the house I shall clearly prove to you that he is lying. This a
rgument he speciously introduced, when it had become clear that the property was large and was unable to show that he had paid it back, in order that it might appear a reasonable inference that I was wrongfully seeking to recover what was already in my possession.
[47] εἰ μὲν τοίνυν ὁ πατὴρ ἠπίστει τούτοις, δῆλον ὅτι οὔτ᾽ ἂν τἄλλ᾽ ἐπέτρεπεν, οὔτ᾽ ἂν ἐκεῖν᾽ οὕτω καταλείπων αὐτοῖς ἔφραζεν: ὥστε πόθεν ἴσασιν; 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 παρέδωκεν, αὐτὴν δὲ ταύτην ἑνὶ τῶν ἐπιτρόπων τούτῳ γυναῖκ᾽ ἠγγύησεν: οὐ γὰρ ἔχει λόγον, σῷσαι μὲν τὰ χρήματα δι᾽ ἐκείνης ζητεῖν, ἕνα δὲ τῶν ἀπιστουμένων ταύτης κἀκείνων κύριον ποιεῖν.
[47] If my father had no confidence in these men it is plain that he would neither have entrusted them with the rest of his property, nor, if he had left this money in the way alleged, would he have told them of it. How, then, do they know about it? 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 charge of the rest. Nor would he have entrusted this remainder to my mother to keep and then have pledged her herself in marriage to this man, who was one of the guardians. For it is not reasonable that he should seek to make the money secure through her, and yet put one of the men whom he distrusted in control both of her and of it.
[48] ἔτι δὲ τοῦτον, εἴ τι τούτων ἀληθὲς ἦν, οἴεσθ᾽ οὐκ ἂν αὐτὴν λαβεῖν δοθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός; ὃς τὴν μὲν προῖκ᾽ αὐτῆς ἤδη, τὰς ὀγδοήκοντα μνᾶς, ἔχων ὡς αὐτῇ συνοικήσων, τὴν Φιλωνίδου τοῦ Μελιτέως θυγατέρ᾽ ἔγημεν δι᾽ αἰσχροκερδίαν, ἵνα πρὸς αἷς εἶχεν παρ᾽ ἡμῶν, ἑτέρας ὀγδοήκοντα μνᾶς λάβοι παρ᾽ ἐκείνου: τεττάρων δὲ ταλάντων ἔνδον ὄντων καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἐκείνης ἐχούσης, ὡς οὗτός φησιν, οὐκ ἂν ἡγεῖσθ᾽ αὐτὸν κἂν ἐπιδραμεῖν, ὥστε γενέσθαι μετ᾽ ἐκείνης αὐτῶν κύριον;
[48] Furthermore, if there were any truth in all this, do you suppose that 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, from motives of avarice, in order that, in addition to what he had received from us, he might get from him other eighty minae. 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?
[49] ἢ τὴν μὲν φανερὰν οὐσίαν, ἣν καὶ ὑμῶν 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 ἔστι ταῦτ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, οὐκ ἔστιν: ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν χρήματα, ὅσα κατέλιπεν ὁ πατήρ, ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ κατωρύττετο, ὅτ᾽ εἰς τὰς τούτων χεῖρας ἦλθεν, οὗτος δ᾽ οὐκ ἔχων ἂν εἰπεῖν ὅπου τι τούτων ἀπέδωκεν, ἵν᾽ εὔπορος εἶναι δοκῶν μηδενὸς τύχω παρ᾽ ὑμῶν ἐλέου, τούτοις χρῆται τοῖς λόγοις.
[49] 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 existence of which you would not be able to testify? Who can believe this? It is impossible, men of the jury; it is impossible. No; all the money which my father left was indeed buried on the day on which it came into the hands of these men; and the defendant, not being able to tell when and where he paid back any of it, makes use of these arguments, hoping that I may seem to be a rich man, and so meet with no compassion from you.
[50] πολλὰ μὲν οὖν ἔγωγ᾽ ἔχω καὶ ἄλλα τούτου κατηγορεῖν: οὐκ ἐνδέχεται δέ μοι, τῷ μάρτυρι τοῦ κινδύνου περὶ τῆς ἐπιτιμίας ὄντος, περὶ ὧν αὐτὸς ἠδίκημαι λέγειν. ἀλλὰ βούλομαι πρόκλησιν ὑμῖν ἀναγνῶναι: γνώσεσθε γὰρ ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀκούσαντες, τὰ μεμαρτυρημέν᾽ ὡς ἔστιν ἀληθῆ, καὶ τὸν Μιλύαν ὅτι νῦν μὲν περὶ πάντων φησὶν ἐξαιτεῖν, τὸ δὲ πρῶτον ὑπὲρ τριάκοντα μόνον μνῶν ἐξῄτει, καὶ προσέτι ζημιοῦται κατὰ τὴν μαρτυρίαν οὐδέν.
[50] I have many other charges to make against him, but I have not the right to speak of the injuries I myself have suffered, when the witness is in danger of losing his civic rights. Still I wish to read to you a challenge, for you will know, when you have heard it, that the testimony was true, and that Aphobus, who now declares that he demands Milyas to be examined about all the matters involved in the suit, at first demanded him only in regard to a question of thirty minae; and, furthermore, that he has been put to no disadvantage because of the testimony.
[51] ἐγὼ γὰρ πανταχῇ τοῦτον ἐλέγξαι βουλόμενος, καὶ τὰς τέχνας αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰς πανουργίας ἐμφανεῖς ὑμῖν καταστῆσαι πειρώμενος, ἠρόμην αὐτὸν πόσ᾽ εἴη τὰ χρήματα τὸ πλῆθος, καθ᾽ ἃ τὸν Μιλύαν ὡς συνειδότ᾽ ἐξῄτησεν: οὗτος δὲ ψευσάμενος περὶ πάντων ἔφησεν. ‘περὶ μὲν τοίνυν’ ἔφην ἐγώ ‘τούτου παραδώσω σοι τὸν ἔχοντα τἀντίγραφα ὧν σύ με προὐκαλέσω.
[51] For I, in my desire to refute him in every particular, and in my attempt to make clear to you his tricks and his villainies, asked him how large the sum was regarding which he demanded to examine Milyas, as one who had knowledge of the facts. To this he replied falsely, that it was in regard to the whole amount. “Well then,” said I, “as to this I will give up to you for examination by torture the slave who has the copy of your challenge to me.
[52] προομόσαντος δέ μου τὸν ἄνθρωπον ὡς ὡμολόγησας ἐλεύθερον εἶναι καὶ κατὰ Δήμωνος ἐμαρτύρησας, ἂν ἀπομόσῃς τἀναντία τούτων κατὰ τῆς θυγατρός, ἀφίημί σοι πάνθ᾽ ὑπὲρ ὧν ἂν ἐξαιτήσας φανῇς τὸ πρῶτον βασανιζομένου τοῦ παιδός, καὶ τοσούτῳ σοι γενέσθω τὸ τίμημ᾽ ἔλαττον ὧν ὦφλες, καθ᾽ ἃ τὸν Μιλύαν ἐξῄτησας, ἵνα μηδὲν ζημιωθῇς παρὰ τοὺς μάρτυρας.’
[52] If, when I have given oath that you acknowledged the man to be free, and that you so testified against Demo, you will swear to the contrary with imprecations upon your daughter, I release to you the entire sum, for which you shall be shown by the examination of the slave to have at the first demanded Milyas; and the damages which you were condemned to pay shall be lessened by thus much — that is, by the amount in regard to which you demanded Milyas, to the end that you may be found to h
ave been put to no disadvantage by the witnesses.”
[53] ταῦτ᾽ ἐμοῦ προκαλεσαμένου πολλῶν παρόντων, οὐκ ἂν ἔφη ποιῆσαι. καίτοι ὅστις αὐτὸς αὑτῷ ταῦτ᾽ ἔφυγεν δικάσαι, πῶς ὑμᾶς χρὴ τοὺς ὀμωμοκότας τούτῳ πειθομένους καταγνῶναι τῶν μαρτύρων, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ τοῦτον ἀναισχυντότατον πάντων ἀνθρώπων εἶναι νομίζειν; ἀλλὰ μὴν ὡς ἀληθῆ λέγω, κάλει τούτων τοὺς μάρτυρας.”Μάρτυρες”
[53] This challenge I made to him in the presence of many witnesses; but he said he could not accept it. Yet, if a man refused to give this judgement in his own favor, how can it be right for you, who are upon your oaths, to give credence to his words and convict the witnesses, and not rather to regard this man as the most shameless of humankind?
To prove that my words are true, call the witnesses to these facts.” Witnesses”