by Demosthenes
[74] I fancy, men of the jury, that it has become clear to you on many grounds that the deposition is false, but that you see it most readily from the conduct of the men themselves. For they thought, men of the jury, that, if they took a large quantity of goods from me as security, I should be glad to release the witnesses from the charge of false testimony in order to get back the goods.
[75] καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἐδεήθην αὐτοῦ ἀναβαλέσθαι μοι τὴν ὑπερημερίαν, ἅσμενος ἤκουσεν, ἵνα ὑπερήμερος αὐτῷ γενοίμην καὶ ἐκφορήσαιτό μου ὡς πλεῖστα. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀκάκως καὶ ταχύ μοι ὡμολόγησεν, ἵνα πιθανὸς γένηται καὶ μὴ καταφανὴς ἐπιβουλεύων, ἡγούμενος οὐκ εἶναι αὑτῷ δι᾽ ἄλλου τρόπου τοὺς μάρτυρας ἀφεθῆναι τῶν ψευδομαρτυρίων ἢ διὰ τοῦ ἐξαπατῆσαι καὶ λαβεῖν με ὑπερήμερον καὶ ἐκφορήσασθαι ὡς πλεῖστα: οὐ γὰρ ὅσα ἔχουσί μου ᾤετο λήψεσθαι, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ πλείω.
[75] And when I asked Theophemus to oblige me by extending the time of payment, he was glad to comply in order that I might be in default, and that he might carry off as many goods as possible. It was for this reason that he acceded to my request so guilelessly and so promptly in order to win my confidence and keep me from seeing his plot; for he thought it was not possible for him in any other way to get the witnesses released from the charge of false testimony than by tricking me, catching me in default and carrying off as many goods as possible; for he expected to get, not only what they actually have of mine, but a great deal more.
[76] καὶ τὸν μὲν ἄλλον χρόνον ἀνέμενεν ὡς οὐ διὰ ταχέων με ποριοῦντα αὐτῷ τὸ ἀργύριον, βουλόμενος ὑπ᾽ αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἀγῶνας τῶν ψευδομαρτυρίων τὴν ἐνεχυρασίαν μου ποιήσασθαι: ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐπήγγειλα αὐτῷ κομίσασθαι τὴν δίκην, ἐλθών μου τά τε σκεύη καὶ τοὺς οἰκέτας καὶ τὰ πρόβατα ἔλαβεν ἀντὶ τοῦ ἀπολαβεῖν. γεωργῶ δὲ πρὸς τῷ ἱπποδρόμῳ, ὥστε οὐ πόρρω ἔδει αὐτὸν ἐλθεῖν.
[76] And he waited the rest of the time, thinking that I should not quickly get the money together, and wishing to seize the goods as security just when the trial for false testimony was coming on; but when I served notice on him to come and collect the amount of the judgement, he went and seized my furniture and slaves and sheep instead of receiving payment. I till a farm near the Hippodrome, so that he did not have far to go.
[77] ὅτι δ᾽ ἀληθῆ λέγω, μέγα τεκμήριον ὑμῖν ἔστω: τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ γὰρ ἐκομίσατο τὸ ἀργύριον τῆς δίκης ἢ τὰ ἐνέχυρα ἔλαβεν. καίτοι πῶς ἄν, εἰ μὴ πεπορισμένον ἦν, εὐθὺς ἀπέλαβε τὸ ἀργύριον χιλίας τριακοσίας δέκα τρεῖς δύ᾽ ὀβολώ; καὶ τὰ ἐνέχυρά μοι οὐκ ἀπεδίδου, ἀλλ᾽ ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἔχει ὡς ὑπερημέρου ὄντος. ὅτι δ᾽ οὐκ ἦν αὐτῷ ὑπερήμερος, ἀνάγνωθί μοι τὸν νόμον καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν, ὃς κελεύει κύρια εἶναι ὅ τι ἂν ἕτερος ἑτέρῳ ὁμολογήσῃ, ὥστε οὐκέτι ἦν αὐτῷ δήπου ὑπερήμερος.”Νόμος”“Μαρτυρία”
[77] That what I am saying is true let this be a strong proof: he got the amount of the judgement the day after he seized the security. And yet, if I had not got the money together, how could he have got payment at once in cash, one thousand three hundred and thirteen drachmae two obols? And the goods which he had seized as security he refused to return to me, but up to this day he keeps them, as though I were in default. But to prove that I was not in default, read me the deposition and the law which ordains that all agreements entered into by the two parties shall be binding; I was, therefore, as you see, no longer in default to him.” Law ““ Deposition”
[78] ὡς μὲν τοίνυν ὡμολόγησε καὶ ἀνεβάλετό μοι τὴν ὑπερημερίαν, μεμαρτύρηται ὑμῖν: ὡς δὲ ἐτριηράρχουν, ὁ συντριήραρχός μοι μεμαρτύρηκεν, καὶ ὡς ἡ ναῦς στρατηγὶς κατεσκευάσθη Ἀλκιμάχῳ. ὥστ᾽ οὐκ ἦν αὐτῷ δήπου ὑπερήμερος ἀναβαλομένῳ μοι, ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἐκτίνων. ἀλλὰ δεινὴ ἡ πλεονεξία τοῦ τρόπου, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, περὶ τὸ πλέον καὶ τὸ ἔλαττον. καὶ εὖ ᾔδεσαν ὅτι, εἰ μὲν τὴν ἄνθρωπον παραδώσουσιν, ἐξελεγχθήσονται ψευδῆ ἐγκαλέσαντες, εἰ δὲ μὴ παραδώσουσιν ἣν ἐμαρτύρησαν ὡς οὗτος ἤθελε παραδιδόναι, ψευδομαρτυρίων ἁλώσονται.
[78] Well, then, that he consented and extended the time of payment has been established for you by witnesses, and that I was serving as trierarch my colleague in the trierarchy has testified, and also that the ship was equipped as flagship for the admiral Alcimachus. Surely, then, I was not in default to him when he had extended the time, especially since I paid the money in full. But the graspingness of his disposition, when it is a question of more or less, is dreadful, men of the jury. And they knew well that, if they should deliver up the woman for examination, it would be proved that their charge was false, while, if they should not deliver up the woman, whom the witnesses stated that Theophemus was willing to deliver up, they would be convicted of false testimony.
[79] δέομαι δ᾽ ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, εἴ τις ἄρα τῶν τότε δικαζόντων τυγχάνει ὢν ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ, τοῖς αὐτοῖς χρήσασθαι ἤθεσιν οἷσπερ καὶ τότε, καὶ εἰ μὲν ἡ μαρτυρία πιστὴ ὑμῖν ἔδοξεν εἶναι καὶ ἐγὼ φεύγειν τὸν ἔλεγχον τὸν ἐκ τῆς ἀνθρώπου, νῦν ἐξελεγχομένων αὐτῶν ψευδῆ μεμαρτυρηκότων καὶ οὐ παραδιδόντων τὴν ἄνθρωπον βοηθῆσαί μοι, εἰ δ᾽ ἐμοὶ ὠργίσθητε ὅτι ἐνεχυράσων ἦλθον ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκίαν τὴν τοῦ Θεοφήμου, καὶ τούτοις νῦν ὀργισθῆναι ὅτι ἐπὶ τὴν ἐμὴν ἦλθον.
[79] I beg of you, men of the jury, if any one of those who then served as jurors happens to be in the court-room, to act upon the same principles as you did then; and, if the deposition seemed to you to be worthy of credence, and I seemed to shrink from the test which the examination of the woman would have afforded, now, when they are proved to have given false testimony and do not deliver up the woman, to come to my aid: and if you are angry with me because I went to the house of Theophemus to take security, to be angry now with these men also because they went to my house.
[80] καὶ ἐγὼ μὲν ὑπὸ νόμων καὶ ψηφισμάτων ἀναγκαζόμενος, πρόνοιαν ἐποιησάμην τοῦ μήτε ἐπὶ τὸν πατέρα τὸν τούτου εἰσελθεῖν μήτε ἐπὶ τὴν μητέρα, μήτε τῶν τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ λαβεῖν μηδέν, ἀλλ᾽ οὗ αὐτὸς ᾤκει ὁ Θεόφημος: καὶ ἐπειδὴ οὐ κατέλαβον αὐτὸν ἔνδον, οὐχ ἁρπάσας ᾠχόμην οὐδέν, ἀλλὰ μετελθεῖν ἐκέλευσα αὐτόν, καὶ παρόντος, οὐκ ἀπόντος, τὴν ἐνεχυρασίαν ἐποιησάμην, καὶ ἀφαιρούμενος ἀφῆκα, καὶ ἀνῆλθον ἐπὶ τὴν βουλὴν τοὺς κυρί
ους, καὶ εἰσαγγείλας καὶ ἑλὼν ἐν τῇ βουλῇ, ἀποχρῆν ἡγησάμην τὰ μὲν σκεύη ἀπολαβεῖν ἁπλᾶ, περὶ δὲ τῶν πληγῶν ἐπιτρέψαι, τῷ δὲ τιμήματι συγχωρῆσαι:
[80] And I, who was forced to go by the laws and the decrees, was careful not to make my way into the presence of the father or mother of Theophemus or to take anything belonging to his brother; but I went to where Theophemus lived by himself, and when I did not find him at home, I did not seize anything and carry it off, but bade someone fetch him, and I took the security in his presence and not in his absence; and when it was taken from me, I gave it up and betook myself to the senate, the proper authority, and when I had preferred my impeachment and had convicted him in the senate, I thought it enough merely to recover the ship’s equipment, and to leave the matter of the assault to a referee, and to make a concession in the matter of the fine.
[81] ὥστε ἐγὼ μὲν οὕτω πρᾶος περὶ τούτους ἦν, οὗτοι δὲ οὕτως ἀσελγεῖς καὶ βδελυροὶ ὥστ᾽ ἐπὶ τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ τὰ παιδία εἰσελθεῖν, ἔχοντες μὲν τὰ πρόβατα καὶ τοὺς οἰκέτας, πλείονος ἄξια ἢ κατεδικάσαντο, ἀναβαλόμενοι δὲ τὴν ὑπερημερίαν, ἐπαγγείλαντος δ᾽ ἐμοῦ κομίζεσθαι αὐτοῖς τὴν δίκην, ὡς μεμαρτύρηται ὑμῖν, καὶ εἰσελθόντες εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τά τε σκεύη ἐκφορῆσαι τήν τε τιτθὴν συγκόψαι, γραῦν γυναῖκα, ἕνεκα κυμβίου, καὶ ταῦτα πάντα ἔτι ἔχειν καὶ μὴ ἀποδιδόναι ἐκτετεικότος ἐμοῦ τὴν δίκην, χιλίας τριακοσίας δέκα τρεῖς δύ᾽ ὀβολώ.
[81] I, then, was lenient toward these men, whereas they were so brutal and ruthless that they forced themselves into the presence of my wife and children, although they had in their possession the sheep and the slaves, of greater value than their judgement, and although they had given me an extension of time and I had given them notice to come and recover their judgement, as has been proved to you by testimony. They came to my house and not only carried off the furniture, but beat the nurse, an old woman, for the sake of a cup; and they keep possession of all these things, and refuse to give them up, though I have paid in full the amount of the judgement, one thousand three hundred and thirteen drachmae two obols.
[82] εἰ δέ τις ἀγνοήσας αὐτοὺς τότε ἀκάκους ἡγήσατο καὶ ἀπράγμονας εἶναι, βούλομαι ὑμῖν περὶ αὐτῶν τὰς μαρτυρίας ἀναγνῶναι, ἃς μεμαρτυρήκασί μοι οἱ ὑπὸ τούτων ἠδικημένοι （λόγῳ μὲν γὰρ διηγήσασθαι οὐκ ἂν ἱκανόν μοι γένοιτο τὸ ὕδωρ）, ἵν᾽ ἐκ τούτων ἁπάντων σκεψάμενοι, τῶν τε λεχθέντων καὶ τῶν μαρτυρουμένων, ὁσίαν καὶ δικαίαν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν τιθῆσθε τὴν ψῆφον. λέγε τὰς μαρτυρίας.”Μαρτυρίαι”
[82] If anyone through ignorance thought these men at the time of the former trial to be guileless and inoffensive persons, I wish to read you the depositions regarding them which have been furnished me by those whom they have wronged （for the water in the clock is not sufficient to permit me to tell the whole story in my speech）, in order that, when you have considered the case in the light of all these things, both the arguments and the testimony, the verdict which you will render may be such as piety and justice demand of you.
Read the depositions.” Depositions”
κατὰ Ὀλυμπιοδώρου Βλάβης — AGAINST OLYMPIODORUS
[1] ἀναγκαῖον ἴσως ἐστίν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ τοὺς μὴ εἰωθότας μηδὲ δυναμένους εἰπεῖν εἰσιέναι εἰς δικαστήριον, ἐπειδὰν ὑπό τινος ἀδικῶνται, ἄλλως τε καὶ ὑφ᾽ ὧν ἥκιστα προσῆκεν ἀδικεῖσθαι, οἷον καὶ ἐμοὶ νυνὶ συμβαίνει. οὐ βουλόμενος γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ἀγωνίζεσθαι πρὸς Ὀλυμπιόδωρον οἰκεῖον ὄντα καὶ ἀδελφὴν τούτου ἔχων, ἠνάγκασμαι διὰ τὸ μεγάλ᾽ ἀδικεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τούτου.
[1] It is perhaps necessary, men of the jury, even for those who have neither practice nor skill in speaking to come into court when they have been wronged by anyone, especially if it be by those who should be the last to wrong them, as has now come to pass with me. For, although I have been unwilling, men of the jury, to go to law with Olympiodorus, who is a relative of mine and whose sister is my wife, I have been forced to do so because of the magnitude of the wrongs which he has done me.
[2] εἰ μὲν οὖν μὴ ἀδικούμενος, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ἀλλὰ ψεῦδός τι ἐγκαλῶν Ὀλυμπιοδώρῳ τούτων τι ἐποίουν, ἢ τοῖς ἐπιτηδείοις τοῖς ἐμοῖς καὶ Ὀλυμπιοδώρου μὴ ἐθέλων ἐπιτρέπειν, ἢ ἄλλου τινὸς τῶν δικαίων ἀφιστάμενος, εὖ ἴστε ὅτι πάνυ ἂν ᾐσχυνόμην καὶ ἐνόμιζον ἂν ἐμαυτὸν φαῦλον εἶναι ἄνθρωπον: νῦν δ᾽ οὔτε μικρὰ ἐλαττούμενος ὑπὸ Ὀλυμπιοδώρου, οὔτε διαλλακτὴν οὐδένα φεύγων, οὔτ᾽ αὖ μὰ τὸν Δία τὸν μέγιστον ἑκών, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς οἷόν τε μάλιστα ἄκων, ἠνάγκασμαι ὑπὸ τούτου ἀγωνίζεσθαι ταύτην τὴν δίκην.
[2] If I were entering upon this course, men of the jury, without having been wronged, or were trumping up a false charge against Olympiodorus, or if I were unwilling to refer the matter to men who are friends both of Olympiodorus and myself, or if I were refusing to adopt any other fair course of action, be assured that I should be thoroughly ashamed, and should think myself a worthless sort of fellow: but as it is, the loss I have suffered at the hands of Olympiodorus is no small one; I have not refused to accept any referee, and I swear by Zeus the Supreme that it is not willingly, but with the utmost possible reluctance, that I have been forced by the defendant to bring this suit.
[3] δέομαι οὖν ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ἀκούσαντας ἀμφοτέρων ἡμῶν καὶ αὐτοὺς δοκιμαστὰς τοῦ πράγματος γενομένους μάλιστα μὲν διαλλάξαντας ἀποπέμψαι καὶ εὐεργέτας ἡμῶν ἀμφοτέρων ὑμᾶς γενέσθαι, ἐὰν δ᾽ ἄρα μὴ ἐπιτυγχάνητε τούτου, ἐκ τῶν ὑπολοίπων τῷ τὰ δίκαια λέγοντι, τούτῳ τὴν ψῆφον ὑμᾶς προσθέσθαι. πρῶτον μὲν οὖν μαρτυρίας ἀναγνώσεται ὅτι οὐκ ἐγὼ αἴτιός εἰμι τοῦ εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον εἰσιέναι, ἀλλ᾽ οὗτος αὐτός. λέγε τὰς μαρτυρίας.”Μαρτυρίαι”
[3] I beg of you, therefore, men of the jury, when you have heard us both and have sifted the matter for yourselves, preferably to find some settlement of our quarrel and dismiss us, and thus become benefactors of us both; but if you cannot succeed in this, of the courses remaining open to you, I beg you to give your vote to him whose plea is just.
First, then, the clerk shall read to you the depositions which show that it is not I who am responsible for bringing the case into court, but the defendant himself.
Read the depositions.” Depositions”
[4] ὅτι μὲν οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ μέτρια καὶ προσήκοντα προὐκαλούμην Ὀλυμπιόδωρον, μ�
�μαρτύρηται ὑπὸ τῶν παραγενομένων. οὐκ ἐθέλοντος δὲ τούτου οὐδ᾽ ὁτιοῦν ποιεῖν τῶν δικαίων, ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστιν πρὸς ὑμᾶς λέγειν περὶ ὧν ἀδικοῦμαι ὑπὸ Ὀλυμπιοδώρου. ἔστιν δὲ βραχὺς ὁ λόγος.
[4] That I offered reasonable and fitting terms to Olympiodorus has been testified to you, men of the jury, by those who were present. Since, however, he does not choose to do anything that is right, it is necessary for me to set forth before you the matters in which I have been wronged by him. But the story is a short one.
[5] ἦν γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, Κόμων Ἁλαιεύς, οἰκεῖος ἡμέτερος. οὗτος ὁ Κόμων ἐτελεύτησεν ἄπαις ὀλίγον πάνυ χρόνον ἀρρωστήσας, ἐβίω δὲ πολλὰ ἔτη, καὶ ἦν πρεσβύτερος ὅτε ἐτελεύτα. καὶ ἐγὼ ἐπειδὴ ᾐσθόμην ὅτι οὐχ οἷός τέ ἐστιν περιγενέσθαι, μετεπεμψάμην τουτονὶ Ὀλυμπιόδωρον, ὅπως ἂν παρῇ καὶ συνεπιμελῆται μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἁπάντων ὧν προσῆκεν. καὶ Ὀλυμπιόδωρος οὑτοσί, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ἐπειδὴ ἦλθεν ὡς ἐμὲ καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ, ἐμὴν δὲ γυναῖκα, μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἅπαντα διῴκει.