by Demosthenes
[12] ὡς γὰρ διήμαρτεν τοῦ διαφθαρῆναι τὸ πλοῖον, οὐκ ἔχων ἀποδοῦναι τὰ χρήματα τοῖς δανείσασιν （πῶς γάρ; ἅ γ᾽ ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὴ ἐνέθετο） ἀντιποιεῖται τῶν ἡμετέρων, καί φησι τῷ Ἡγεστράτῳ ἐπὶ τούτῳ τῷ σίτῳ δεδανεικέναι ὃν ὁ παρ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐπιπλέων ἐπρίατο. οἱ δὲ δανεισταὶ τὸ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐξηπατημένοι, ὁρῶντες ἑαυτοῖς ἀντὶ τῶν χρημάτων ἄνθρωπον πονηρὸν χρήστην, ἄλλο δ᾽ οὐδέν, ἐλπίδ᾽ ἔχοντες ὑπὸ τούτου παρακρουσθέντων ὑμῶν ἐκ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀπολήψεσθαι τὰ ἑαυτῶν, ὃν ἴσασιν ψευδόμενον ταῦτα καθ᾽ ἡμῶν, τούτῳ συνδικεῖν ἀναγκάζονται τοῦ συμφέροντος εἵνεκα τοῦ ἑαυτῶν.
[12] For when he failed in his scheme to destroy the vessel, not being able to pay back their money to his creditors — how could he pay, when at the start he had put nothing on board? — he lays claim to my goods, and declares that he has lent money to Hegestratus on the security of the grain which our agent sailing with him had purchased. The creditors, who had been deceived in the first instance, seeing that instead of receiving their money, they have a scoundrel as their debtor and nothing more, and hoping that, if you are imposed upon by Zenothemis, they may recover their own out of my property, are forced to make common cause with him in order to protect their own interests, although they know him to be making these false charges against me.
[13] τὸ μὲν οὖν πρᾶγμ᾽ ὑπὲρ οὗ τὴν ψῆφον οἴσετε, ὡς εἰπεῖν ἐν κεφαλαίῳ, τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν. βούλομαι δὲ τοὺς μάρτυρας ὧν λέγω πρῶτον ὑμῖν παρασχόμενος, μετὰ ταῦτ᾽ ἤδη καὶ τἄλλα διδάσκειν. καί μοι λέγε τὰς μαρτυρίας.”Μαρτυρίαι”
[13] Such, to speak briefly, is the matter on which you are to cast your votes. But I wish first to bring before you the witnesses to what I am saying, and then to instruct you regarding other aspects of the case.
Please read the depositions.” Depositions”
[14] ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἀφίκετο δεῦρο τὸ πλοῖον, γνόντων τῶν Κεφαλλήνων ἀντιπράττοντος τούτου, ὅθεν ἐξέπλευσε τὸ πλοῖον, ἐνταῦθα καὶ καταπλεῖν αὐτό, τὴν μὲν ναῦν οἱ ἐπὶ τῇ νηὶ δεδανεικότες ἐνθένδ᾽ εὐθέως εἶχον, τὸν δὲ σῖτον ὁ ἠγορακὼς εἶχεν: ἦν δ᾽ οὗτος ὁ ἡμῖν τὰ χρήματ᾽ ὀφείλων. μετὰ ταῦθ᾽ ἧκεν οὗτος ἔχων τὸν παρ᾽ ἡμῶν πεμφθέντα πρεσβευτήν, τὸν Ἀριστοφῶντα, καὶ ἠμφεσβήτει τοῦ σίτου, φάσκων Ἡγεστράτῳ δεδανεικέναι.
[14] When the vessel arrived here — for the Cephallenians ordered, despite the plaintiff’s machinations, that it should put into the port from which it first sailed — those who had lent money on the ship immediately took possession of her, and the man who had bought the grain took possession of it; he was the one who had borrowed the money of us. After this the plaintiff came, having with him Aristophon, the man sent out as our representative, and laid claim to the grain, saying that he had lent money to Hegestratus.
[15] ‘τί λέγεις, ἄνθρωπε;’ εὐθέως ὁ Πρῶτος （τοῦτο γὰρ ἦν τοὔνομα τῷ τὸν σῖτον εἰσαγαγόντι, τῷ τὰ χρήμαθ᾽ ἡμῖν ὀφείλοντι） ‘σὺ χρήματα δέδωκας Ἡγεστράτῳ, μεθ᾽ οὗ τοὺς ἄλλους ἐξηπάτηκας, ὅπως δανείσηται, καὶ σοὶ πολλάκις λέγοντος ὅτι τοῖς προϊεμένοις ἀπολεῖται τὰ χρήματα; σὺ οὖν ταῦτ᾽ ἀκούων αὐτὸς ἂν προήκω;’ ἔφη καὶ ἀναιδὴς ἦν. ‘οὐκοῦν εἰ τὰ μάλιστ᾽ ἀληθῆ λέγεις,’ τῶν παρόντων τις ὑπέλαβεν, ‘ὁ σὸς κοινωνὸς καὶ πολίτης, ὁ Ἡγέστρατος, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἐξηπάτηκέν σε, καὶ ὑπὲρ τούτων αὐτὸς αὑτῷ θανάτου τιμήσας ἀπόλωλεν.’
[15] “What are you saying, fellow?” exclaimed Protus immediately. （This was the name of the man who imported the grain, and who owed us the money.） “Is it you who have given money to Hegestratus, you who aided him to deceive the others, that he might borrow of them? Would you who often heard him say that those who ventured their money would lose it, would you, I say, hearing this, have ventured yours?” “Yes,” said he impudently. “Well, then,” interrupted one of those present, “if what you say is never so true, your partner and fellow-countryman, Hegestratus, has taken you in, it appears, and for that has passed sentence of death upon himself, and is dead.”
[16] ‘καὶ ὅτι γ᾽,’ ἔφη τις τῶν παρόντων, ‘ἁπάντων ἐστὶ συνεργὸς οὗτος ἐκείνῳ, σημεῖον ὑμῖν ἐρῶ: πρὸ γὰρ τοῦ διακόπτειν ἐπιχειρῆσαι τὴν ναῦν, τίθενται πρός τινα τῶν συμπλεόντων οὗτος καὶ ὁ Ἡγέστρατος συγγραφήν. καίτοι εἰ μὲν εἰς πίστιν ἔδωκας, τί πρὸ τοῦ κακουργήματος ἂν τὰ βέβαι᾽ ἐποιοῦ; εἰ δ᾽ ἀπιστῶν ἐτύγχανες, τί οὐχ, ὥσπερ οἱ ἄλλοι, τὰ δίκαι᾽ ἐλάμβανες ἐν τῇ γῇ;’
[16] “Yes,” said another of the bystanders, “and that this fellow has co-operated with Hegestratus in the whole matter, I will give you a proof. For before the attempt was made to cut through the ship’s bottom, this man and Hegestratus deposited with one of the ship’s company a written agreement. Yet, if you had confidence in him when you gave the money, why should you have sought some security for yourself before the crime? But if you distrusted him, why did you not, like the others, get a legal acknowledgement before sailing?”
[17] τί ἂν τὰ πολλὰ λέγοι τις; ἦν γὰρ οὐδ᾽ ὁτιοῦν πλέον ἡμῖν ταῦτα λέγουσιν, ἀλλ᾽ εἴχετο τοῦ σίτου. ἐξῆγεν αὐτὸν Πρῶτος καὶ ὁ κοινωνὸς τοῦ Πρώτου, Φέρτατος: οὑτοσὶ δ᾽ οὐκ ἐξήγετο, οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἔφη διαρρήδην ὑπ᾽ οὐδενὸς ἐξαχθῆναι, εἰ μὴ αὐτὸν ἐγὼ ἐξάξω.
[17] But why relate all that was said? We made no progress by all this talking; he held on to the grain. Protus tried to put him out, and so did Phertatus, Protus’s partner; but he wouldn’t budge, declaring point-blank that he would not be put out of possession by anyone, unless I myself should put him out.
[18] μετὰ ταῦτα προὐκαλεῖθ᾽ ὁ Πρῶτος αὐτὸν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν τὴν τῶν Συρακοσίων, κἂν μὲν ἐωνημένος τὸν σῖτον ἐκεῖνος φαίνηται καὶ τὰ τέλη κείμεν᾽ ἐκείνῳ καὶ τὰς τιμὰς ὁ διαλύων ἐκεῖνος, τοῦτον πονηρὸν ὄντ᾽ ἀξιοῦμεν ζημιοῦσθαι, εἰ δὲ μή, καὶ τὰ διάφορ᾽ ἀπολαβεῖν καὶ τάλαντον προσλαβεῖν, καὶ τοῦ σίτου ἀφιστάμεθα. ταῦτ᾽ ἐκείνου προκαλουμένου καὶ λέγοντος καὶ ἡμῶν οὐδὲν ἦν πλέον, ἀλλ᾽ ἦν αἵρεσις ἢ τοῦτον ἐξάγειν ἢ ἀπολωλεκέναι σωθέντα καὶ παρόντα τὰ ἡμέτερ᾽ αὐτῶν.
[18] After this Protus and I challenged him to go before the Syracusan authorities, and, if it should be shown that Protus had boug
ht the grain, that the customs duties were recorded in his name, and that it was he who had paid the price, we demanded that Zenothemis be punished as a rascal; if this were not proved, we agreed that he should receive back all he had expended and a talent in addition and that we would relinquish our claim to the grain. Despite this challenge and all that Protus and I could say, we made no progress, but I had to choose either to put Zenothemis out, or to lose my property which had been brought safe to port and was there before my eyes.
[19] ὁ γὰρ αὖ Πρῶτος διεμαρτύρετ᾽ ἐξάγειν, βεβαιῶν ἀναπλεῖν ἐθέλειν εἰς τὴν Σικελίαν: εἰ δὲ ταῦτ᾽ ἐθέλοντος αὑτοῦ προησόμεθ᾽ ἡμεῖς τούτῳ τὸν σῖτον, οὐδὲν αὑτῷ μέλειν. καὶ ὅτι ταῦτ᾽ ἀληθῆ λέγω, καὶ οὔτ᾽ ἂν ἐξαχθῆναι ἔφη, εἰ μὴ ὑπ᾽ ἐμοῦ, οὔθ᾽ ἃ προὐκαλεῖτο περὶ τοῦ ἀναπλεῖν ἐδέχετο, ἔν τε τῷ πλῷ τὴν συγγραφὴν ἔθετο, λέγε τὰς μαρτυρίας.”Μαρτυρίαι”
[19] Protus on his part adjured us by the gods to put him out, declaring himself ready to sail back to Sicily; but if, despite this willingness of his, I should give up the grain to Zenothemis, he said it made no difference to him. To prove that I am telling the truth in this — that the plaintiff refused to be put out of possession except by me, that he refused the challenge to sail back to Sicily, and that he deposited the agreement in the course of the voyage — read the depositions.” Depositions”
[20] ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν οὔτ᾽ ἐξάγεσθαι ἤθελεν ὑπὸ τοῦ Πρώτου οὔτ᾽ εἰς τὴν Σικελίαν ἀναπλεῖν ἐπὶ τὰ δίκαια, προειδώς θ᾽ ἅπαντ᾽ ἐφαίνετο, ἃ ὁ Ἡγέστρατος ἐκακούργει, λοιπὸν ἦν ἡμῖν τοῖς ἐνθένδε μὲν πεποιημένοις τὸ συμβόλαιον, παρειληφόσι δὲ τὸν σῖτον παρὰ τοῦ δικαίως ἐκεῖ πριαμένου, ἐξάγειν τοῦτον.
[20] When, therefore, he refused to be put out of possession by Protus, or to sail back to Sicily for an equitable settlement, and when it was proved that he was an accomplice in all the villainy of Hegestratus, the only course left for us, who had lent our money here at Athens and had taken over the grain from the man who had honestly purchased it there in Sicily, was to dispossess the plaintiff.
[21] τί γὰρ ἂν καὶ ἄλλ᾽ ἐποιοῦμεν; οὔπω γὰρ τοῦτό γ᾽ οὐδεὶς ἡμῶν τῶν κοινωνῶν ὑπέλαβεν, ὡς ὑμεῖς γνώσεσθέ ποτ᾽ εἶναι τούτου τὸν σῖτον, ὃν καταλιπεῖν οὗτος ἔπειθεν τοὺς ναύτας, ὅπως ἀπόλοιτο τοῦ πλοίου καταδύντος. ὃ καὶ μέγιστόν ἐστι σημεῖον τοῦ μηδὲν προσήκειν αὐτῷ. τίς γὰρ ἂν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ σῖτον ἔπειθε προέσθαι τοὺς σῴζειν βουλομένους; ἢ τίς οὐκ ἂν ἔπλει δεξάμενος τὴν πρόκλησιν εἰς τὴν Σικελίαν, οὗ ταῦτ᾽ ἦν ἐλέγξαι καθαρῶς;
[21] What else could we have done? Not one of us partners had as yet any idea that you would ever declare the grain to be this man’s property — grain which he tried to induce the sailors to abandon, that it might be lost by the sinking of the ship. This fact is the strongest proof that none of it belonged to him; for who would have tried to induce those who were attempting to save it to abandon grain which belonged to himself? Or who would not have accepted the challenge and have sailed to Sicily, where these matters might have been clearly proved?
[22] καὶ μὴν οὐδὲ τοῦτ᾽ ἐμέλλομεν ὑμῶν καταγνώσεσθαι, ὡς εἰσαγώγιμον ψηφιεῖσθε τούτῳ τὴν δίκην περὶ τούτων τῶν χρημάτων, ἃ κατὰ πολλοὺς τρόπους οὗτος ἔπραττεν ὅπως μὴ εἰσαγώγιμα δεῦρ᾽ ἔσται, πρῶτον μὲν ὅτ᾽ αὐτὰ καταλιπεῖν τοὺς ναύτας ἔπειθεν, εἶθ᾽ ὅτ᾽ ἐν Κεφαλληνίᾳ μὴ δεῦρο πλεῖν τὴν ναῦν ἔπραττεν.
[22] And surely I was not going to have so poor an opinion of you as to imagine that you would vote to allow this man to enter a suit regarding these goods, whose entry into your port he had sought by every means to prevent, — first when he tried to induce the sailors to abandon them, and again when in Cephallenia he strove to prevent the ship from sailing here.
[23] πῶς γὰρ οὐκ αἰσχρὸν καὶ δεινὸν ἂν γένοιτο, εἰ Κεφαλλῆνες μέν, ὅπως τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις σωθῇ τὰ χρήματα, δεῦρο πλεῖν τὴν ναῦν ἔκριναν, ὑμεῖς δ᾽ ὄντες Ἀθηναῖοι τὰ τῶν πολιτῶν τοῖς καταποντίσαι βουληθεῖσιν δοῦναι γνοίητε, καὶ ἃ μὴ καταπλεῖν ὅλως οὗτος δεῦρ᾽ ἔπραττεν, ταῦτ᾽ εἰσαγώγιμα τούτῳ ψηφίσαισθε; μὴ δῆτ᾽, ὦ Ζεῦ καὶ θεοί. λέγε δή μοι τί παραγέγραμμαι.”Παραγραφή”
λέγε δή μοι τὸν νόμον.”Νόμος”
[23] Would it not be a shameful and outrageous thing, if Cephallenians, in order to save property for Athenians, ordered the ship to be brought here, but you, who are Athenians, should order the property of your citizens to be given up to those who wished to throw it into the sea, and should allow this fellow to enter an action for goods which he schemed to prevent from being brought here at all? Do not do that, I implore you by Zeus and the Gods. Now read, please, the special plea which I entered.” Plea”
Now please read the law.” Law”
[24] ὅτι μὲν τοίνυν ἐκ τῶν νόμων παρεγραψάμην μὴ εἰσαγώγιμον εἶναι τὴν δίκην, ἱκανῶς οἴομαι δεδεῖχθαι: τέχνην δ᾽ ἀκούσεσθε τοῦ σοφοῦ τοῦ ταῦτα πάντα συντεθηκότος, τοῦ Ἀριστοφῶντος. ὡς γὰρ ἐκ τῶν πραγμάτων ἁπλῶς οὐδὲν ἑώρων δίκαιον ἑαυτοῖς ἐνόν, ἐπικηρυκεύονται τῷ Πρώτῳ καὶ πείθουσι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐνδοῦναι τὰ πράγμαθ᾽ ἑαυτοῖς, πράττοντες μὲν ὡς ἔοικεν καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς τοῦτο, ὡς ἡμῖν νῦν φανερὸν γέγονεν, οὐ δυνάμενοι δὲ πεῖσαι.
[24] That my plea that the action is not admissible is in harmony with the laws, has, I think, been sufficiently proved; but you must hear the trick of this clever fellow Aristophon, who has concocted the whole scheme. When they saw that, in the light of the facts, they had absolutely no basis of right, they made overtures to Protus, and induced him to leave the matter wholly in their hands. From the first, as has now become plain to us, they had been working to this end, but had been unable to carry their point.
[25] ὁ γὰρ Πρῶτος, ἕως μὲν ᾤετο τὸν σῖτον κέρδος ἐλθόντα ποιήσειν, ἀντείχετο τούτου, καὶ μᾶλλον ᾑρεῖτ᾽ αὐτός τε κερδᾶναι καὶ ἡμῖν τὰ δίκαι᾽ ἀποδοῦναι, ἢ κατακοινωνήσας τούτοις τῆς μὲν ὠφελίας τούτους ποιῆσαι μερίτας, ἡμᾶς δ᾽ ἀδικῆσαι: ὡς δὲ δεῦρ᾽ ἥκοντος αὐτοῦ καὶ περὶ ταῦτα πραγματευομένου, ἐπανῆκεν ὁ σῖτος, ἄλλην εὐθέως ἔλαβεν γνώμην.
[25] For Protus, so long as he thought to get a profit for himself from the grain by going, clung to it, and chose rather to make his profit, and to render to us what was our due, than to make common cause with these men, sharing with them the advantage gained and doing us an injury. But when, aft
er he had come back here and was negotiating about these matters, grain fell in price, he straightway changed his mind.
[26] καὶ ἅμα （εἰρήσεται γάρ, ἄνδρες Ἀθηαῖοι, πᾶσα πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἡ ἀλήθεια） καὶ ἡμεῖς οἱ δεδανεικότες προσεκρούομεν αὐτῷ καὶ πικρῶς εἴχομεν, τῆς τε ζημίας ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς ἰούσης τῆς περὶ τὸν σῖτον καὶ συκοφάντην ἀντὶ χρημάτων αἰτιώμενοι τοῦτον ἡμῖν κεκομικέναι. ἐκ τούτων, οὐδὲ φύσει χρηστὸς ὢν ἅνθρωπος δῆλον ὅτι, ἐπὶ τούτους ἀποκλίνει, καὶ συγχωρεῖ τὴν δίκην ἔρημον ὀφλεῖν, ἣν οὗτος αὐτῷ λαγχάνει τότε, ὅτ᾽ οὔπω ταὔτ᾽ ἐφρόνουν.
[26] At the same time （for, men of Athens, the whole truth shall be told you）, we on our part, who had made the loan, came to a quarrel and felt bitter against him （for the loss on the grain was falling on us）, and charged that he had secured for us this pettifogging scoundrel instead of our money. After this, being manifestly none too honest by nature, he went over to their side, and agreed to let judgement go by default in the suit which Zenothemis had brought against him before they had come to an agreement with one another.