Delphi Complete Works of Demosthenes

by Demosthenes

  [12] I, on my part, thinking it was becoming to a good citizen who wished to avoid quarrels not to rush headlong into court, was persuaded （for why should I multiply words?） to consent that the conference regarding a settlement should take place on the twenty-third of the month Boedromion, and the declaration regarding the property on the twenty-fifth. Yet, although he had obtained both his requests from me, Phaenippus did not present himself on either of these days; instead, he now appears before you as one who has transgressed two laws instead of one; — first, that which declares that the inventory shall be presented within three days after that on which one takes the oath, and, secondly, that which declares that mutual covenants, agreed upon in the presence of witnesses, shall be binding.

  [13] καίτοι, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τίς οὐκ οἶδεν ὑμῶν, ὅτι ὁμοίως ἥ τε ἐν τῷ νόμῳ γεγραμμένη κυρία ἐστὶν ἡμέρα καὶ ἡ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀντιδίκων συγχωρηθεῖσα; πολλάκις γὰρ ἔν τε τοῖς νόμοις γεγραμμένης τριακοστῆς ἡμέρας ἑτέραν ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς συγχωρήσαντες ἐθέμεθα, παρά τε ταῖς ἀρχαῖς ἁπάσαις καὶ δίκας καὶ κρίσεις ἀναβάλλονται τοῖς ἀντιδίκοις οἱ ἄρχοντες συγχωρησάντων ἐκείνων ἀλλήλοις: ὧν εἴ τις ἄκυρον ἡγήσαιτο δεῖν εἶναι τὴν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὁμολογίαν, μισήσαιτ᾽ ἂν αὐτὸν ὡς ὑπερβάλλοντα συκοφαντίᾳ.

  [13] Yet, men of the jury, who among you does not know that the day fixed by law and that agreed upon by the contending parties are equally binding? Why, very often, although the thirtieth day is appointed by law, we fix upon another by mutual agreement; and in all the offices the magistrates put off trials and judgements for the contestants, when these have come to a mutual agreement; and if anyone should hold that the agreement thus entered upon was to be of no effect, you would despise him as a cheat without equal.

  [14] Φαίνιππος τοίνυν, ὥσπερ τοῦ νόμου προστάττοντος μηδὲν ποιεῖν ὧν ἂν ὁμολογήσῃ τις, ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνης τῆς ἡμέρας, ἀφ᾽ ἧς ὡμολόγησεν ἐπί τε τὰς διαλύσεις ἀπαντήσεσθαι καὶ τὴν ἀπόφασίν μοι τὴν αὑτοῦ δώσειν καὶ τὴν παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ λήψεσθαι, οὐδεπώποτ᾽ ἀπήντησεν: ἀλλ᾽ ἐγὼ μὲν ἐπειδὴ τοῦτον ἑώρων οὐ προσέχοντά μοι τὸν νοῦν οὐδὲ τοῖς νόμοις, εἰς τὸ στρατήγιον ἔδωκα τὴν ἀπόφασιν, οὗτος δέ, ὅπερ καὶ μικρῷ πρότερον εἶπον, πρῴην ἔδωκέ μοι βιβλίον, οὐδὲν ἄλλο βουλόμενος ἢ δοκεῖν μὲν δεδωκέναι τὴν ἀπόφασιν, μὴ ἔχειν δέ με τοῖς ἐν αὐτῷ γεγραμμένοις ὅ τι χρήσομαι.

  [14] Well then, Phaenippus, just as though the law enjoined that one should do nothing that one had agreed to, from the day on which he promised to meet me for a settlement and to give me an inventory of his property and receive from me one of mine, never put in an appearance; but I, when I saw that he was paying no heed to me or to the laws, gave in my inventory at the office of the generals, whereas Phaenippus, as I said a moment ago, gave me a paper only the other day with no other purpose than that he might appear to have given me his inventory, but that I should be unable to make any use of its contents.

  [15] χρὴ δ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, μὴ τοῖς ἰσχυροτέραν νομίζουσι τῶν νόμων τὴν αὑτῶν βδελυρίαν εἶναι, πλέον τούτοις τοῦ δικαίου νέμειν （εἰ δὲ μή, πολλοὺς ποιήσετε τοὺς καταγελῶντας τῶν ἐν τοῖς νόμοις δικαίων γεγραμμένων）, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκείνοις βοηθεῖν, οἵτινες ἂν τὴν τῶν νόμων φωνὴν ὑμετέραν εἶναι νομίζωσι, καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν ταύτην, τὴν εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον, ὑπὲρ τῶν ἠδικημένων εἶναι νομίζωσιν, μὴ τῶν ἠδικηκότων.

  [15] But, men of the jury, you should not grant more than their due to those who hold their own shamelessness to be stronger than the laws; if you do, you will multiply the numbers of those who mock at the just provisions of the laws. No; you should succor those who regard the voice of the laws as your voice, and the day appointed for coming into court as established in the interest of those who have been wronged, not of those who have done wrong.

  [16] λέγε τῶν ἀρτίως εἰρημένων τὰς μαρτυρίας καὶ τοὺς νόμους.”Μαρτυρίαι”“Νόμοι”

  τοιαῦτα τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, πεπονθὼς ἐγὼ ὑπὸ Φαινίππου ἀπεγραψάμην πρὸς τοὺς στρατηγοὺς ταύτην τὴν ἀπογραφήν. λέγε.”Ἀπογραφή”

  [16] Read the depositions in support of what I have just said, and the laws.” Depositions ““ Laws”

  Having, then, been thus treated by Phaenippus, men of the jury, I reported to the generals the following inventory of my property. Read.” Inventory”

  [17] πῶς οὖν ἄλλως πρὸς τῶν θεῶν καὶ δαιμόνων, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ἐπιδεικνύειν ὑμῖν δεῖ Φαίνιππον ἔνοχον ὄντα τοῖς ἀνεγνωσμένοις ἢ ὅνπερ τρόπον ἐγὼ νῦν ἐπιδεικνύω; ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως ἐμὲ ἀντεγράψατο Φαίνιππος μὴ δικαίως ἀποφαίνειν τὴν οὐσίαν: οὕτω τὸ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ψεύδεσθαι τοῖς τοιούτοις ῥᾴδιόν ἐστιν: καὶ κατηγορεῖ τοῦ ὅρκου ὃν ὤμοσα πρὸ τῆς ἀποφάσεως, λέγων ὅτι πλὴν τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις ὑπεσχόμην ἀποφαίνειν τὴν ἄλλην οὐσίαν, ὥσπερ τὸ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ὀμνύειν, τοῦτ᾽ ἄξιον κατηγορίας ὄν.

  [17] How else, then, in the name of the gods and divinities, men of the jury, should one prove that Phaenippus is liable under the laws which have been read, than precisely in the way in which I am proving it? Yet Phaenippus has none the less brought a counter-charge against me that I am not rendering a just inventory of my property; so easy is it for men of his stamp to make false statements before you; and he complains of the oath which I took before filing the inventory, asserting that I undertook to report all the rest of my property except that in the mining-works; — as if to swear according to law were a matter for complaint!

  [18] ὑμεῖς δ᾽ ἴστε, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί （ὑμεῖς γὰρ ἔθεσθε） τὸν νόμον, ὃς διαρρήδην οὕτω λέγει, ‘τοὺς δ᾽ ἀντιδιδόντας ἀλλήλοις, ὅταν ὀμόσαντες ἀποφαίνωσι τὴν οὐσίαν, προσομνύειν τόνδε τὸν ὅρκον ‘ἀποφαίνω τὴν οὐσίαν τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ ὀρθῶς καὶ δικαίως, πλὴν τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς ἀργυρείοις, ὅσα οἱ νόμοι ἀτελῆ πεποιήκασι’.’

  [18] But you know the law, men of the jury, for you enacted it, that which expressly makes this provision, that those tendering exchanges to one another, when they under oath report their inventories, shall swear also the following oath: “I will give a true and honest inventory of my property except that in the silver mines, all of which the laws have made exempt from taxes.”

  [19] μᾶλλον δὲ λέγε τὸν νόμον αὐτόν. μικρὸν μὲν οὖν ἱκετεύω ἐπίσχες. ἐγὼ γὰρ καὶ πρότερον προὐκαλεσάμην Φαίνιππον, καὶ νῦν, ὦ ἄ�
�δρες δικασταί, δίδωμι αὐτῷ δωρεὰν καὶ ἀφίσταμαι μετὰ τῆς ἄλλης οὐσίας καὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις, ἐάν μοι τὴν ἐσχατιὰν μόνην ἐλευθέραν παραδῷ, ὥσπερ ἦν ὅτ᾽ ἐγὼ τὸ πρῶτον ἦλθον εἰς αὐτὴν μετὰ μαρτύρων, καὶ ἐάν, ὃν ἐξῆχεν ἐκ τῶν οἰκημάτων σῖτον καὶ οἶνον καὶ τἄλλα, ἀφελὼν ἀπὸ τῶν θυρῶν τὰ σημεῖα, ταῦτα πάλιν εἰς ταὐτὸ καταστήσῃ.

  [19] But, rather, read the law itself. Yet, stop a moment, please. For I made this offer before to Phaenippus, and now again, men of the jury, I tender it freely: — I will surrender to him all my property including that in the mining works, if he will hand over to me the farm alone free from all encumbrances as it was when I first went to it with witnesses, and will replace as they were before the grain and wine and the other things which he has carried away from the buildings after removing the seals from the doors.

  [20] καὶ τί λέγεις ἔτι καὶ βοᾷς; πόλλ᾽ ἐκ τῶν ἔργων τῶν ἀργυρείων ἐγώ, Φαίνιππε, πρότερον αὐτὸς τῷ ἐμαυτοῦ σώματι πονῶν καὶ ἐργαζόμενος συνελεξάμην: ὁμολογῶ. νυνὶ δὲ πλὴν ὀλίγων ἅπαντ᾽ ἀπολώλεκα. σὺ δ᾽ ἐκ τῆς ἐσχατιᾶς νῦν πωλῶν τὰς κριθὰς ὀκτωκαιδεκαδράχμους καὶ τὸν οἶνον δωδεκάδραχμον πλουτεῖς εἰκότως, ἐπειδὰν ποιῇς σίτου μὲν μεδίμνους πλέον ἢ χιλίους, οἴνου δὲ μετρήτας ὑπὲρ ὀκτακοσίους.

  [20] Why, pray, do you keep on talking and crying out? From my silver mines, Phaenippus, I formerly by my own bodily toil and labor reaped a large profit. I confess it. But now I have lost all but a small portion of my gains. You, on the contrary, since you sell from your farm your barley at a price of eighteen drachmae and your wine at a price of twelve, are a rich man, naturally, for you make more than a thousand medimni of grain and above eight hundred measures of wine.

  [21] ἔτ᾽ οὖν τὴν αὐτὴν ἡμᾶς τάξιν ἔχειν δεῖ, μὴ τῆς αὐτῆς τύχης ἡμῖν παρακολουθούσης νῦν τε καὶ πρότερον; μηδαμῶς: οὐ γὰρ δίκαιον. ἀλλὰ διάδεξαι καὶ σὺ καὶ μετάλαβε μικρὸν χρόνον τῆς τοῦ λῃτουργοῦντος τάξεως, ἐπειδὴ οἱ μὲν ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις ἠτυχήκασιν, ὑμεῖς δ᾽ οἱ γεωργοῦντες εὐπορεῖτε μᾶλλον ἢ προσῆκεν. ἱκανὸν γὰρ χρόνον δύ᾽ οὐσίας καρπούμενος διατελεῖς, τὴν μὲν τοῦ φύσει πατρὸς Καλλίππου, τὴν δὲ τοῦ ποιησαμένου σε, Φιλοστράτου τοῦ ῥήτορος, καὶ οὐδὲν πώποτε τουτοισὶ πεποίηκας.

  [21] Ought I, then, to continue in the same class, when the same fortune does not attend me now as formerly? Do not demand that; it would not be just. No; do you also take your turn and share for a little while in the class that performs public services, since those engaged in mining have suffered reverses while you farmers are prospering beyond what is your due. For a considerable time you have enjoyed the income of two estates, that of your natural father, Callippus, and that of him who adopted you, Philostratus, the orator, and you have never done anything for your fellow-citizens here.

  [22] καίτοι ὁ μὲν ἐμὸς πατὴρ πέντε καὶ τετταράκοντα μνῶν μόνων ἑκατέρῳ, ἐμοὶ καὶ τῷ ἀδελφῷ, τὴν οὐσίαν κατέλιπεν, ἀφ᾽ ἧς ζῆν οὐ ῥᾴδιόν ἐστιν: οἱ δὲ σοὶ πατέρες τοσούτων ἦσαν κύριοι χρημάτων, ὥσθ᾽ ἑκατέρου τρίπους ἀνάκειται, νικησάντων αὐτῶν Διονύσια χορηγούντων. καὶ οὐ φθονῶ: δεῖ γὰρ τοὺς εὐπόρους χρησίμους αὑτοὺς παρέχειν τοῖς πολίταις. σὺ τοίνυν δεῖξον χαλκοῦν ἕνα μόνον εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἀνηλωκώς, ὁ τὰς δύο λῃτουργούσας οὐσίας παρειληφώς.

  [22] Yet my father left to each of us, my brother and myself, an estate of forty-five minae merely, on which it is not easy to live, while your fathers were possessed of such wealth that each of them set up a tripod in honor of choregic victories at the Dionysia. And I do not begrudge them this, for it is the duty of the wealthy to render service to the state. Do you, therefore, show that you have expended one single copper coin on the state — you, who have inherited two estates which performed public services.

  [23] ἀλλ᾽ οὐ δείξεις: ἀποκρύπτεσθαι γὰρ καὶ διαδύεσθαι καὶ πάντα ποιεῖν ἐξ ὧν μὴ λῃτουργήσεις τουτοισὶ μεμάθηκας. ἀλλ᾽ ἐγὼ δείξω πόλλ᾽ ἀνηλωκώς, ὁ τὴν μικρὰν οὐσίαν παραλαβὼν παρὰ τοῦ πατρός. πρῶτον δέ μοι τὸν νόμον ἐκεῖνον ἀνάγνωθι τὸν οὐκ ἐῶντα τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις οὐδὲν ἀποφαίνειν καὶ τὴν πρόκλησιν, ἔπειτα τὰς μαρτυρίας ὡς δύ᾽ οἴκων λῃτουργούντων οὑτοσὶ Φαίνιππος κεκληρονόμηκεν.”Νόμος”“Πρόκλησις”“Μαρτυρίαι”

  [23] But you cannot show it, for you have learned secrecy and evasion and how to do everything to escape rendering service to your fellow-citizens here. But I will show that I have expended large sums — I, who inherited that slender estate from my father.

  Now read me first that law which declares that no mining property shall be included in the inventory, and the challenge and then the depositions proving that this fellow Phaenippus has inherited two estates that performed public services.” Law ““ Challenge ““ Depositions”

  [24] ἓν μόνον ἄν τις ἔχοι δεῖξαι τουτονὶ Φαίνιππον πεφιλοτιμημένον εἰς ὑμᾶς, ἄνδρες δικασταί: ἱπποτρόφος ἀγαθός ἐστιν καὶ φιλότιμος, ἅτε νέος καὶ πλούσιος καὶ ἰσχυρὸς ὤν. τί τούτου μέγα σημεῖον; ἀποδόμενος τὸν πολεμιστήριον ἵππον καταβέβηκεν ἀπὸ τῶν ἵππων, καὶ ἀντ᾽ ἐκείνου ὄχημ᾽ αὑτῷ τηλικοῦτος ὢν ἐώνηται, ἵνα μὴ πεζῇ πορεύηται: τοσαύτης οὗτος τρυφῆς ἐστι μεστός. καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἀπογέγραφέν μοι, τῶν δὲ κριθῶν καὶ τοῦ οἴνου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν ἐκ τῆς ἐσχατιᾶς γιγνομένων οὐδὲ τὸ δέκατον μέρος.

  [24] There is one thing only, men of the jury, in which anyone could show that this man Phaenippus has been ambitious of honor from you: he is an able and ambitious breeder of horses, being young and rich and vigorous. What is a convincing proof of this? He has given up riding on horseback, has sold his war horse, and in his place has bought himself a chariot — he, at his age! — that he may not have to travel on foot; such is the luxury that fills him. This chariot he has included in his inventory to me, but of the barley and wine and the rest of the farm-produce not a tenth part.

  [25] ἄξιον ἀφεῖναι νῦν αὐτόν ἐστιν, ἐπειδὴ χρήσιμος καὶ φιλότιμος καὶ τῇ οὐσίᾳ καὶ τῷ σώματι; πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ. καλῶν γὰρ κἀγαθῶν ἐστι δικαστῶν τοὺς μὲν τῶν πολιτῶν ἐθελοντάς, ὅταν εὐπορῶσι, λῃτουργοῦντας καὶ ἐν τοῖς τριακοσίοις ὄντας ἀναπαύειν, ὅταν τούτου δεόμενοι τυγχά�
�ωσιν, τοὺς δὲ νομίζοντας ἀπολλύειν, ὅταν εἰς τὸ κοινόν τι δαπανήσωσιν, ἄγειν εἰς τοὺς προεισφέροντας καὶ μὴ ἐπιτρέπειν δραπετεύειν. λέγε πρῶτον μὲν τὴν μαρτυρίαν, ἔπειτα τὴν ἀπόφασιν αὐτοῦ.”Μαρτυρία”“Ἀπόφασις”

  [25] He deserves then, does he not, to be let off now, seeing that he has been so public-spirited and ambitious to serve both with his property and his person? No; far from it. For it is the duty of honest jurymen to give respite to those citizens, when they have need of such help, who, when prosperous, willingly perform public services and remain in the list of the Three Hundred; but as to those who consider as lost whatever money they spend upon the state, you should bring them into the list of those who make advance contributions, and not suffer them to run away from their duty.

  Read first the deposition, and then his declaration.” Deposition ““ Declaration”

  [26] ἔα ταῦτα. καίτοι πολλὰ τῶν ἔνδοθεν ἐκφορήσας, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, Φαίνιππος, ἀνοίξας τὰ παρασεσημασμένα τῶν οἰκημάτων, ὡς ὑμῖν μεμαρτύρηται, καὶ καταλιπὼν ὅσα ἔδοξεν αὐτῷ, δευτέρῳ μηνὶ τὴν ἀπόφασιν ἔδωκέ μοι τῆς οὐσίας. ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως ἔα ταῦτα. λέγε δ᾽ ἐντευθενί ‘ἐπὶ τούτοις τάδε ὀφείλω’.”Ἀπόφασις”