by Demosthenes
[53] Now, men of Athens, let me show you the thing for which more than anything else this fellow Stephanus deserves to be put to death. It is an awful thing to bear false witness against anyone whomsoever, but it is a thing more awful by far, and more deserving of indignation, to bear false witness against those of your own blood; for a man of that stamp violates, not the written laws alone, but also the ties of natural relationship. This, then, Stephanus shall be proved to have done.
[54] τοῦτο τοίνυν ἐπιδειχθήσεται πεποιηκὼς οὗτος. ἔστι γὰρ ἡ τούτου μήτηρ καὶ ὁ τῆς ἐμῆς γυναικὸς πατὴρ ἀδελφοί, ὥστε τὴν μὲν γυναῖκα τὴν ἐμὴν ἀνεψιὰν εἶναι τούτῳ, τοὺς δὲ παῖδας τοὺς ἐκείνης καὶ τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἀνεψιαδοῦς. ἆρ᾽ οὖν δοκεῖ ποτ᾽ ἂν ὑμῖν οὗτος, εἴ τι δι᾽ ἔνδειαν εἶδε ποιούσας ὧν οὐ χρὴ τὰς αὑτοῦ συγγενεῖς, ὅπερ ἤδη πολλοὶ πεποιήκασι, παρ᾽ αὑτοῦ προῖκ᾽ ἐπιδοὺς ἐκδοῦναι, ὃς ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηδ᾽ ἃ προσήκει κομίσασθαι ταύτας τὰ ψευδῆ μαρτυρεῖν ἠθέλησεν, καὶ περὶ πλείονος ἐποιήσατο τὸν Φορμίωνος πλοῦτον ἢ τὰ τῆς συγγενείας ἀναγκαῖα; ἀλλὰ μὴν ὅτι ταῦτ᾽ ἀληθῆ λέγω,
[54] For his mother and the father of my wife are a brother and sister, so that my wife is his first cousin, and the children born to her and to me are his cousin’s children. Do you think, then, that this man, if he saw his female relatives driven by want to shameful actions, would give them in marriage and add marriage portions out of his own resources — a thing which many a man has done ere now — when he has chosen to give false testimony in order to prevent their getting what belongs to them, and has counted the wealth of Phormio of higher worth than the strong ties of kinship?
[55] λαβὲ τὴν μαρτυρίαν τὴν Δεινίου καὶ ἀναγίγνωσκε, καὶ κάλει Δεινίαν.”Μαρτυρία
Δεινίας Θεομνήστου Ἀθμονεὺς μαρτυρεῖ τὴν θυγατέρα τὴν αὑτοῦ ἐκδοῦναι Ἀπολλοδώρῳ κατὰ τοὺς νόμους γυναῖκα ἔχειν, καὶ μηδεπώποτε παραγενέσθαι μηδὲ αἰσθέσθαι ὅτι Ἀπολλόδωρος ἀφῆκε τῶν ἐγκλημάτων ἁπάντων Φορμίωνα.”
[55] However, to prove that I am telling the truth in this, take the deposition of Deinias and read it; and call Deinias.”Deposition
Deinias, son of Theomnestus, of Athmonon, deposes that he gave his daughter to Apollodorus to live with him as his wife according to the laws, and that he was never present when Apollodorus released Phormio from all claims, nor was ever aware that he had done so.”
[56] ὅμοιός γ᾽ ὁ Δεινίας, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τούτῳ, ὃς ὑπὲρ τῆς θυγατρὸς καὶ τῶν θυγατριδῶν καὶ ἐμοῦ τοῦ κηδεστοῦ διὰ τὴν συγγένειαν οὐδὲ τἀληθῆ μαρτυρεῖν ἐθέλει κατὰ τούτου. ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ οὑτοσὶ Στέφανος, οὐκ ὤκνησε καθ᾽ ἡμῶν τὰ ψευδῆ μαρτυρεῖν, οὐδ᾽, εἰ μηδένα τῶν ἄλλων, τὴν αὑτοῦ μητέρα ᾐσχύνθη τοῖς ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνης οἰκείοις τῆς ἐσχάτης ἐνδείας αἴτιος γενόμενος.
[56] Deinias, men of the jury, is very like Stephanus, is he not? — Deinias, who on account of his relationship, refuses to testify against the defendant even to what is true, and on behalf of his daughter and his daughter’s children, and me, his son-in-law! Not so Stephanus here. He did not hesitate to give false testimony against us; even respect for his own mother, if for no one else, did not keep him from bringing the extremest poverty upon those who through her were his relatives.
[57] ὃ τοίνυν ἔπαθον δεινότατον καὶ ἐφ᾽ ᾧ μάλιστ᾽ ἐξεπλάγην ὅτ᾽ ἠγωνιζόμην, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τοῦθ᾽ ὑμῖν εἰπεῖν βούλομαι: τήν τε γὰρ τούτου πονηρίαν ἔτι μᾶλλον ὑμεῖς ὄψεσθε, καὶ ἐγὼ τῶν γεγενημένων ἀποδυράμενος τὰ πλεῖστα πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὡσπερεὶ ῥᾴων ἔσομαι. τὴν γὰρ μαρτυρίαν ἣν ᾤμην εἶναι καὶ δι᾽ ἧς ἦν ὁ πλεῖστος ἔλεγχός μοι, ταύτην οὐχ ηὗρον ἐνοῦσαν ἐν τῷ ἐχίνῳ.
[57] I wish now, men of the jury, to tell you of the most a outrageous thing which has been done to me, — a thing which more than anything else overwhelmed me with dismay in the course of the trial; for you will thus see even more clearly the fellow’s baseness, and I, by venting before you my grief for what has happened, shall find, as it were, a sort of relief. The deposition, which I thought was there, and which afforded the strongest evidence in support of my case, I did not find in the box.
[58] τότε μὲν δὴ τῷ κακῷ πληγεὶς οὐδὲν ἄλλ᾽ εἶχον ποιῆσαι πλὴν ὑπολαμβάνειν τὴν ἀρχὴν ἠδικηκέναι με καὶ τὸν ἐχῖνον κεκινηκέναι. νῦν δ᾽ ἀφ᾽ ὧν ὕστερον πέπυσμαι, πρὸς αὐτῷ τῷ διαιτητῇ Στέφανον τουτονὶ αὐτὴν ὑφῃρημένον εὑρίσκω, πρὸς μαρτυρίαν τιν᾽ ἵν᾽ ἐξορκώσαιμι, ἀναστάντος ἐμοῦ. καὶ ὅτι ταῦτ᾽ ἀληθῆ λέγω, πρῶτον μὲν ὑμῖν μαρτυρήσουσιν τῶν τούτοις παρόντων οἱ ἰδόντες.
[58] At the time, dismayed by this misfortune, I could imagine nothing else than that the magistrate had wronged me and tampered with the box. Now, however, from what I have since learned, I find that the defendant Stephanus had filched the document away in the very presence of the arbitrator, when I had got up to put a witness on his oath. And to prove that I am speaking the truth in this, depositions shall first be offered you from those who were present at the time and saw it; for I do not think they will choose to take an oath of disclaimer.
[59] οὐ γὰρ ἐξομνύναι ‘θελήσειν αὐτοὺς οἴομαι. ἐὰν δ᾽ ἄρα τοῦτο ποιήσωσιν ὑπ᾽ ἀναιδείας, πρόκλησιν ὑμῖν ἀναγνώσεται, ἐξ ἧς τούτους τ᾽ ἐπιορκοῦντας ἐπ᾽ αὐτοφώρῳ λήψεσθε, καὶ τοῦτον ὁμοίως ὑφῃρημένον τὴν μαρτυρίαν εἴσεσθε. καίτοι ὅστις, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, κακῶν ἀλλοτρίων κλέπτης ὑπέμεινεν ὀνομασθῆναι, τί ἂν ἡγεῖσθε ποιῆσαι τοῦτον ὑπὲρ αὑτοῦ;
[59] But if they are shameless enough to do this the clerk shall read you a challenge by which you will catch them in the very act of perjury, and will know all the same that this man did steal the deposition. And yet, men of Athens, a person who would not shrink from being named as one who had stolen what was prejudicial to another — what do you suppose he would do in his own interest?
[60] λέγε τὴν μαρτυρίαν εἶτα τὴν πρόκλησιν ταύτην.”Μαρτυρία
μαρτυροῦσι φίλοι εἶναι καὶ ἐπιτήδειοι Φορμίωνι, καὶ παρεῖναι πρὸς τῷ διαιτητῇ Τεισίᾳ, ὅτε ἦν ἀπόφασις τῆς διαίτης Ἀπολλοδώρῳ πρὸς Φορμίωνα, καὶ εἰδέναι τὴν μαρτυρίαν ὑφῃρημένον Στέφανον, ἣν αἰτιᾶται αὐτὸν Ἀπολλόδωρος ὑφελέσθαι.”
ἢ μαρτυρεῖτε, ἢ ἐξομόσασθε.”Ἐξωμοσία”
[60] Read the deposition, and then this challenge.”Deposit
ion
The deponents testify that they are friends and associates of Phormio, and that they were present hefore the arbitrator Teisias when the announcement of the award was made in the suit between Apollodorus and Phormio, and that they know that Stephanus filched away the deposition which Apollodorus charges him, with having stolen.”
Either depose, or take the oath of disclaimer.” Oath of Disclaimer”
[61] οὐκ ἄδηλον ἦν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ὅτι τοῦτ᾽ ἔμελλον ποιήσειν, προθύμως ἐξομεῖσθαι. ἵνα τοίνυν παραχρῆμ᾽ ἐξελεγχθῶσιν ἐπιωρκηκότες, λαβέ μοι ταύτην τὴν μαρτυρίαν καὶ τὴν πρόκλησιν. ἀναγίγνωσκε.”Μαρτυρία. Πρόκλησις.
μαρτυροῦσι παρεῖναι ὅτε Ἀπολλόδωρος προὐκαλεῖτο Στέφανον παραδοῦναι τὸν παῖδα τὸν ἀκόλουθον εἰς βάσανον περὶ τῆς ὑφαιρέσεως τοῦ γραμματείου, καὶ γράμματα ἦν ἕτοιμος γράφειν Ἀπολλόδωρος καθ᾽ ὅ τι ἔσται ἡ βάσανος. ταῦτα δὲ προκαλουμένου Ἀπολλοδώρου οὐκ ἐθελῆσαι παραδοῦναι Στέφανον, ἀλλ᾽ ἀποκρίνασθαι Ἀπολλοδώρῳ δικάζεσθαι, εἰ βούλοιτο, εἴ τί φησιν ἀδικεῖσθαι ὑφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ.”
[61] It was plain enough, men of the jury, that they would do this — take the oath of disclaimer with eagerness. Well, then, that they may at once be convicted of perjury, take, please, this deposition and challenge. Read.”Deposition and Challenge
The deponents testify that they were present when Apollodorus challenged Stephanus to give up his attendant slave to be put to the torture concerning the theft of the document, and Apollodorus was ready to write out the conditions on which the torture was to be administered; and that when Apollodorus tendered this challenge, Stephanus refused to give up the slave, but replied to Apollodorus that he might bring suit, if he chose, if he maintained that he was being in any way wronged by him.”
[62] τίς ἂν οὖν ὑπὲρ τοιαύτης αἰτίας, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, εἴπερ ἐπίστευεν αὑτῷ, οὐκ ἐδέξατο τὴν βάσανον; οὐκοῦν τῷ φεύγειν τὴν βάσανον ὑφῃρημένος ἐξελέγχεται. ἆρ᾽ οὖν ἂν ὑμῖν αἰσχυνθῆναι δοκεῖ τὴν τοῦ τὰ ψευδῆ μαρτυρεῖν δόξαν ὁ τὴν τοῦ κλέπτης φανῆναι μὴ φυγών; ἢ δεηθέντος ὀκνῆσαι τὰ ψευδῆ μαρτυρεῖν, ὃς ἃ μηδεὶς ἐκέλευεν ἐθελοντὴς πονηρὸς ἦν;
[62] Who is there, men of the jury, who, on a charge like that, if he were sure of his innocence, would not have accepted the torture? Then, by refusing the torture, he is convicted of the theft. Now do you think that a man would be ashamed of the reputation of having borne false witness, who did not shrink from being proved a thief? Or that he would hesitate to give false witness at the request of another, when, at no man’s bidding, he voluntarily committed a fraud?
[63] δικαίως τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τούτων ἁπάντων δοὺς ἂν δίκην, πολὺ μᾶλλον ἂν εἰκότως διὰ τἄλλα κολασθείη παρ᾽ ὑμῖν. σκοπεῖτε δέ, τὸν βίον ὃν βεβίωκεν ἐξετάζοντες. οὗτος γάρ, ἡνίκα μὲν συνέβαινεν εὐτυχεῖν Ἀριστολόχῳ τῷ τραπεζίτῃ, ἴσα βαίνων ἐβάδιζεν ὑποπεπτωκὼς ἐκείνῳ, καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἴσασι πολλοὶ τῶν ἐνθάδ᾽ ὄντων ὑμῶν.
[63] Now, men of the jury, while he might justly be made to pay the penalty for all these things, he deserves even more to be punished in your court for the rest of his conduct. Observe the kind of a life he has lived, and judge. For so long as it was the lot of Aristolochus, the banker, to enjoy prosperity, this fellow fawned upon him as he walked beside him, adapting his pace to his, and this is well known to many of you who are present here.
[64] ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ ἀπώλετ᾽ ἐκεῖνος καὶ τῶν ὄντων ἐξέστη, οὐχ ἥκισθ᾽ ὑπὸ τούτου καὶ τῶν τοιούτων διαφορηθείς, τῷ μὲν υἱεῖ τῷ τούτου πολλῶν πραγμάτων ὄντων οὐ παρέστη πώποτε, οὐδ᾽ ἐβοήθησεν, ἀλλ᾽ Ἀπόληξις καὶ Σόλων καὶ πάντες ἄνθρωποι μᾶλλον βοηθοῦσι: Φορμίωνα δὲ πάλιν ἑόρακεν καὶ τούτῳ γέγονεν οἰκεῖος, ἐξ Ἀθηναίων ἁπάντων τοῦτον ἐκλεξάμενος, καὶ ὑπὲρ τούτου πρεσβευτὴς μὲν ᾤχετ᾽ εἰς Βυζάντιον πλέων, ἡνίκ᾽ ἐκεῖνοι τὰ πλοῖα τὰ τούτου κατέσχον, τὴν δὲ δίκην ἔλεγεν τὴν πρὸς τοὺς Καλχηδονίους, τὰ ψευδῆ δ᾽ ἐμοῦ φανερῶς οὕτως καταμεμαρτύρηκεν.
[64] But when Aristolochus was ruined and lost his property, chiefly through having been plundered by this fellow and others of his stamp, Stephanus never stood by the son of Aristolochus, who was overburdened with lawsuits, nor aided him, but it was Apolexis or Solon or anybody else that helped him rather than he. Then he has courted Phormio and become intimate with him, choosing him out of all the Athenians; and he sailed to Byzantium as agent in his interest, when the Byzantines detained Phormio’s vessels, and he pleaded his cause against the Calchedonians, and he has thus flagrantly given false witness against me.
[65] εἶθ᾽ ὃς εὐτυχούντων ἐστὶ κόλαξ, κἂν ἀτυχῶσι, τῶν αὐτῶν τούτων προδότης, καὶ τῶν μὲν ἄλλων πολιτῶν πολλῶν καὶ καλῶν κἀγαθῶν ὄντων μηδενὶ μηδ᾽ ἐξ ἴσου χρῆται, τοῖς δὲ τοιούτοις ἐθελοντὴς ὑποπίπτει, καὶ μήτ᾽ εἴ τινα τῶν οἰκείων ἀδικήσει μήτ᾽ εἰ παρὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις φαύλην δόξαν ἕξει ταῦτα ποιῶν μήτ᾽ ἄλλο μηδὲν σκοπεῖ, πλὴν ὅπως τι πλέον ἕξει, τοῦτον οὐ μισεῖν ὡς κοινὸν ἐχθρὸν τῆς φύσεως ὅλης τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης προσήκει; ἔγωγ᾽ ἂν φαίην.
[65] A man, then, who is a flatterer of those in prosperity, and who betrays these same men if they fall into adversity; who out of all the host of good and worthy citizens of Athens deals with not a single one on the basis of equality, but willingly fawns upon people like Phormio; who takes no thought whether he is going to injure any of his kinsfolk by these actions, or whether he is going to win an evil reputation in the minds of other men, but thinks only of one thing, how he may enrich himself — ought you not to loathe this man as a common enemy of the whole human race? I certainly think so.
[66] ταῦτα μέντοι τὰ τοσαύτην ἔχοντ᾽ αἰσχύνην, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἐπὶ τῷ τὴν πόλιν φεύγειν καὶ τὰ ὄντ᾽ ἀποκρύπτεσθαι προῄρηται πράττειν, ἵν᾽ ἐργασίας ἀφανεῖς διὰ τῆς τραπέζης ποιῆται, καὶ μήτε χορηγῇ μήτε τριηραρχῇ μήτ᾽ ἄλλο μηδὲν ὧν προσήκει ποιῇ. καὶ κατείργασται τοῦτο. τεκμήριον δέ: ἔχων γὰρ οὐσίαν τοσαύτην ὥσθ᾽ ἑκατὸν μνᾶς ἐπιδοῦναι τῇ θυγατρί, οὐδ᾽ ἡντινοῦν ἑώραται λῃτουργίαν ὑφ᾽ ὑμῶν λῃτουργῶν, οὐδὲ τὴν ἐλαχίστην. καίτοι πόσῳ κάλλιον φιλοτιμούμενον ἐξετάζεσθαι καὶ προθυμούμενον εἰς ἃ δεῖ τῇ πόλει, ἢ κολακεύοντα καὶ τὰ ψε�
�δῆ μαρτυροῦντα; ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τῷ κερδαίνειν πᾶν ἂν οὗτος ποιήσειε.
[66] This course of action, involving so great disgrace, he has adopted, men of Athens, with a view to evading his duties to the state and to conceal his wealth, that he may make secret profits by means of the bank, and never serve as choregus or trierarch, or perform any other of the public duties which befit his station. And he has accomplished this object. Here is a proof. Although he has so large an estate that he gave his daughter a marriage portion of one hundred minae, he has never been seen by you to perform any public service whatever, even the very slightest. And yet how much more honorable it would have been to be proved a man of public spirit and one zealous in the performance of his duties to the state, than a flatterer and a bearer of false testimony! But the fellow would do anything to get money.
[67] καὶ μήν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, μᾶλλον ἄξιον ὀργίλως ἔχειν τοῖς μετ᾽ εὐπορίας πονηροῖς ἢ τοῖς μετ᾽ ἐνδείας. τοῖς μὲν γὰρ ἡ τῆς χρείας ἀνάγκη φέρει τινὰ συγγνώμην παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνως λογιζομένοις: οἱ δ᾽ ἐκ περιουσίας, ὥσπερ οὗτος, πονηροὶ οὐδεμίαν πρόφασιν δικαίαν ἔχοιεν ἂν εἰπεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ αἰσχροκερδίᾳ καὶ πλεονεξίᾳ καὶ ὕβρει καὶ τῷ τὰς αὑτῶν συστάσεις κυριωτέρας τῶν νόμων ἀξιοῦν εἶναι ταῦτα φανήσονται πράττοντες. ὑμῖν δ᾽ οὐδὲν τούτων συμφέρει, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀσθενῆ παρὰ τοῦ πλουσίου δίκην, ἂν ἀδικῆται, δύνασθαι λαβεῖν. ἔσται δὲ τοῦτο, ἐὰν κολάζητε τοὺς φανερῶς οὕτως ἐξ εὐπορίας πονηρούς.