Delphi Complete Works of Demosthenes

by Demosthenes

  [66] The specific instances of the perjuries which he has committed without scruple would make a long story; but I will call to your minds the most flagrant instances and those of which you are all well aware. You know that he swore in the assembly, imprecating destruction upon himself and dedicating his property to sacred uses, if he should fail to indict Iphicrates as a usurper of the rights of citizenship. Yet, although he had sworn and promised this in the assembly, no long time afterwards, in order to serve his own interests, he gave his daughter in marraige to the son of Iphicrates.

  [67] ὃς οὖν οὔτε ὑμᾶς ᾐσχύνθη ἐξαπατῆσαι ὑποσχόμενος, νόμων ὄντων, ἐάν τις τὸν δῆμον ὑποσχόμενος ἐξαπατήσῃ, εἰσαγγελίαν εἶναι περὶ αὐτοῦ, οὔτε τοὺς θεοὺς ὀμόσας καὶ ἐπαρασάμενος ἑαυτῷ ἔδεισεν, οὓς ἐπιώρκησεν, πῶς οὐκ εἰκὸς ἐμὲ τούτῳ μὴ ἐθέλειν ὅρκον δοῦναι; οὔπω τοίνυν πολὺς χρόνος ἐστὶν ἐξ ὅτου ἐν τῷ δήμῳ πάλιν διωμόσατο μὴ εἶναι αὑτῷ ἐφόδια τῷ γήρᾳ ἱκανά, τοσαύτην οὐσίαν κεκτημένος: οὕτως ἄπληστος καὶ αἰσχροκερδὴς ὁ τρόπος αὐτοῦ ἐστιν.

  [67] When a man, then, felt no shame in deceiving you to whom he had pledged his word, though there are laws which declare that, if a man deceive the people by a promise, he shall be liable to impeachment, — when, after swearing and imprecating destruction upon himself, he had no fear of the gods in whose name he had perjured himself — was it strange that I was unwilling to allow him to take an oath? Again, not very long ago, he once more solemnly declared in the assembly that he had not adequate provision for his old age — he, who possesses so large an estate; so insatiate and grasping is his character.

  [68] ἡδέως δ᾽ ἂν ἔγωγε πυθοίμην ὑμῶν εἰ ὀργίζεσθε τοῖς ἀνεσκευασμένοις τῶν τραπεζιτῶν. εἰ γὰρ ἐκείνοις ὀργίζεσθε δικαίως ὅτι ἀδικοῦσιν ὑμᾶς, πῶς οὐκ εἰκός ἐστιν βοηθεῖν τοῖς μηδὲν ἀδικοῦσιν; καὶ μὴν διὰ τούτους τοὺς ἄνδρας αἱ τράπεζαι ἀνασκευάζονται, ὅταν ἀπορούμενοι μὲν δανείζωνται καὶ οἴωνται διὰ τὴν δόξαν πιστεύεσθαι δεῖν, εὐπορήσαντες δὲ μὴ ἀποδιδῶσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀποστερῶσιν.

  [68] I should be glad, however, to ask you whether you feel anger against bankers who have failed. For, if you have reason to feel anger against them because they do you injury, is it not reasonable for you to support those who do you no injury? Surely it is through men like Timotheus that banks are caused to fail; for when they are in need they borrow money, and think they should obtain credit because of their reputation; but when they are in funds they do not make payments but seek to defraud their creditors.

  [69] ὅσων μὲν τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ἐδυνάμην ὑμῖν μάρτυρας παρασχέσθαι, μεμαρτυρήκασί μοι: ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἐκ τεκμηρίων δεδήλωκα ὑμῖν ὡς ὀφείλει Τιμόθεος τὸ ἀργύριον τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἐμῷ. δέομαι οὖν ὑμῶν συνεισπρᾶξαί μοι τοὺς ὀφείλοντας, ἅ μοι ὁ πατὴρ κατέλιπεν.

  [69] All matters, men of the jury, in proof of which I was able to provide witnesses, have been proved to you by witnesses; further, I have shown you by circumstantial evidence that Timotheus owes the money to my father. I beg you therefore to aid me in recovering from my father’s debtors the estate which he left me.

  πρὸς Πολυκλέα περὶ τοῦ Ἐπιτριηραρχήματος — APOLLODORUS AGAINST POLYCLES

  [1] τοῖς τοιούτοις τῶν ἀγώνων, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ τοὺς διαγνωσομένους προσήκει μάλιστα προσέχειν τὸν νοῦν. οὐ γὰρ ἐμὸς καὶ Πολυκλέους ἴδιός ἐστιν ὁ ἀγὼν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς πόλεως κοινός. ὧν γὰρ τὰ μὲν ἐγκλήματα ἴδιά ἐστιν, αἱ δὲ βλάβαι κοιναί, πῶς οὐχ ὑπὲρ τούτων εἰκός ἐστιν ἀκούσαντας ὑμᾶς ὀρθῶς διαγνῶναι; εἰ μὲν γὰρ περὶ ἄλλου τινὸς συμβολαίου ἐγὼ διαφερόμενος πρὸς Πολυκλέα εἰσῄειν εἰς ὑμᾶς, ἐμὸς ἂν ἦν καὶ Πολυκλέους ὁ ἀγών: νῦν δὲ περί τε διαδοχῆς νεώς ἐστιν ὁ λόγος καὶ ἐπιτριηραρχήματος πέντε μηνῶν καὶ ἓξ ἡμερῶν ἀνηλωμένου, καὶ περὶ τῶν νόμων, πότερα κύριοί εἰσιν ἢ οὔ.

  [1] In suits of this nature, men of the jury, it is fitting that those who are to render a decision, as well as the litigants themselves, should give the closest attention. For the suit is not a private one concerning Polycles and myself alone, but it touches also the interests of the state as well. In cases where the charges indeed are of a private nature, but the injury is public, it is surely fitting that you should listen and decide aright. If I had come before you quarrelling with Polycles about a contract of some other sort, the contest would have concerned Polycles and myself alone; but as it is, the question concerns the succession to a ship, and extra trierarchal expenses for five months and six days, and it concerns also the laws, whether they are to be in force, or not.

  [2] ἀναγκαῖον δή μοι δοκεῖ εἶναι ἅπαντα ἐξ ἀρχῆς διηγήσασθαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς. καὶ πρὸς θεῶν, ἄνδρες δικασταί, δέομαι ὑμῶν, μή με ἡγήσησθε ἀδολεσχεῖν, ἐὰν διὰ μακροτέρων διηγῶμαι τά τε ἀναλώματα καὶ τὰς πράξεις, ὡς ἐν καιρῷ τε ἕκασται καὶ χρήσιμοι τῇ πόλει ἐδιακονήθησαν. εἰ μὲν γάρ τις ἔχει με ἐπιδεῖξαι ὡς ψεύδομαι, ἀναστὰς ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ ὕδατι ἐξελεγξάτω, ὅ τι ἂν μὴ φῇ με ἀληθῆ λέγειν πρὸς ὑμᾶς: εἰ δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἀληθῆ καὶ μηδεὶς ἄν μοι ἀντείποι ἄλλος ἢ οὗτος, δέομαι ὑμῶν ἁπάντων δικαίαν δέησιν:

  [2] It seems to me, therefore, to be necessary to explain all the facts to you from the beginning. And by the gods, men of the jury, I beg you not to think that I am talking idly, if I set forth at some length what I have expended and what I have done, to show that my several services were rendered opportunely, and that they were helpful to the state. If anyone is able to show that I am uttering falsehoods, let him get up in the time allotted to me and disprove whatever statement I may make to you which he holds to be false. But if my statements are true, and no one would contradict them save the defendant, I make of you all a request that is fair.

  [3] ὅσοι μὲν τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἐστε καὶ παρῆτε ἐκεῖ, αὐτοί τε ἀναμνήσθητε καὶ τοῖς παρακαθημένοις φράζετε τήν τ᾽ ἐμὴν προθυμίαν καὶ τὰ συμβάντα ἐν τῷ τότε καιρῷ τῇ πόλει πράγματα καὶ τὰς ἀπορίας, ἵνα ἐκ τούτων εἰδῆτε ὁποῖός τίς εἰμι περὶ ἃ ἂν προστάξητε ὑμεῖς: ὅσοι δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐπεδημεῖτε, σιγῇ μου ἀκοῦσαι διηγουμένου ἅπαντα πρὸς ὑμᾶς, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτων ἑκάστῳ, οἷς ἂν λέγω, τούς τε νόμους παρεχομένου καὶ τὰ ψηφίσματα, τά τε τῆς βουλῆς καὶ τὰ τοῦ δήμου, καὶ τὰς μαρτυρίας.

  [3] All you who were in th
e army and were present in the campaign, call to mind and tell to those who sit by you my own efforts and the troubles and distresses in which the state was involved at that crisis, in order that you may know from this evidence what manner of man I am in carrying out the orders you lay upon me. And all of you who stayed at home, listen to me in silence, while I set forth before you all the facts, and produce in support of every statement that I make the laws and decrees both of the senate and the people, and the testimony of witnesses.

  [4] ἑβδόμῃ γὰρ φθίνοντος μεταγειτνιῶνος μηνὸς ἐπὶ Μόλωνος ἄρχοντος, ἐκκλησίας γενομένης καὶ εἰσαγγελθέντων ὑμῖν πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων πραγμάτων, ἐψηφίσασθε τὰς ναῦς καθέλκειν τοὺς τριηράρχους: ὧν καὶ ἐγὼ ἦν. καὶ τὸν μὲν καιρὸν τὸν συμβεβηκότα τῇ πόλει τότε οὐκ ἐμὲ δεῖ διεξελθεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ὑμᾶς αὐτοὺς ἀναμνησθῆναι, ὅτι Τῆνος μὲν καταληφθεῖσα ὑπ᾽ Ἀλεξάνδρου ἐξηνδραποδίσθη,

  [4] On the twenty-fourth day of the month Metageitnion in the archonship of Molon, when an assembly had been held and tidings of many serious events had been brought before you, you voted that the trierarchs （of whom I was one） should launch their ships. It is not necessary for me to go into details regarding the crisis which had at that time befallen the state; you of yourselves know that Tenos had been seized by Alexander, and its people had been reduced to slavery;

  [5] Μιλτοκύθης δὲ ἀφειστήκει ἀπὸ Κότυος καὶ πρέσβεις ἐπεπόμφει περὶ συμμαχίας, βοηθεῖν κελεύων καὶ τὴν Χερρόνησον ἀποδιδούς, Προκοννήσιοι δὲ σύμμαχοι ὄντες ἱκέτευον ὑμᾶς ἐν τῷ δήμῳ βοηθῆσαι αὑτοῖς, λέγοντες ὅτι ὑπὸ Κυζικηνῶν κατέχονται τῷ πολέμῳ καὶ κατὰ γῆν καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν, καὶ μὴ περιιδεῖν ἀπολομένους:

  [5] that Miltocythes had revolted from Cotys, and had sent ambassadors regarding an alliance, begging you to send troops to his aid, and offering to restore the Chersonesus; that the Proconnesians, your allies, were requesting you in the assembly to come to their aid, stating that the Cyzicenes were pressing them hard in war by both land and sea, and imploring you not to look idly on while they perished.

  [6] ὧν ἀκούοντες τότε ὑμεῖς ἐν τῷ δήμῳ αὐτῶν τε λεγόντων καὶ τῶν συναγορευόντων αὐτοῖς, ἔτι δὲ τῶν ἐμπόρων καὶ τῶν ναυκλήρων περὶ ἔκπλουν ὄντων ἐκ τοῦ Πόντου, καὶ Βυζαντίων καὶ Καλχηδονίων καὶ Κυζικηνῶν καταγόντων τὰ πλοῖα ἕνεκα τῆς ἰδίας χρείας τοῦ σίτου, καὶ ὁρῶντες ἐν τῷ Πειραιεῖ τὸν σῖτον ἐπιτιμώμενον καὶ οὐκ ὄντα ἄφθονον ὠνεῖσθαι, ἐψηφίσασθε τάς τε ναῦς καθέλκειν τοὺς τριηράρχους καὶ παρακομίζειν ἐπὶ τὸ χῶμα, καὶ τοὺς βουλευτὰς καὶ τοὺς δημάρχους καταλόγους ποιεῖσθαι τῶν δημοτῶν καὶ ἀποφέρειν ναύτας, καὶ διὰ τάχους τὸν ἀπόστολον ποιεῖσθαι καὶ βοηθεῖν ἑκασταχοῖ. καὶ ἐνίκησε τὸ Ἀριστοφῶντος ψήφισμα τουτί.”Ψήφισμα”

  [6] When you heard all these tidings at that time in the assembly from both the speakers themselves and those who supported them; when furthermore the merchants and shipowners were about to sail out of the Pontus, and the Byzantines and Calchedonians and Cyzicenes were forcing their ships to put in to their ports because of the scarcity of grain in their own countries; seeing also that the price of grain was advancing in the Peiraeus, and that there was not very much to be bought, you voted that the trierarchs should launch their ships and bring them up to the pier, and that the members of the senate and the demarchs should make out lists of the demesmen and reports of available seamen, and that the armament should be despatched at once, and aid sent to the various regions. And this decree, proposed by Aristophon, was passed, as follows:” Decree”

  [7] τοῦ μὲν ψηφίσματος τοίνυν ἀκηκόατε, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί. ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἐπειδή μοι οὐκ ἦλθον οἱ ναῦται οἱ καταλεγέντες ὑπὸ τῶν δημοτῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ ὀλίγοι καὶ οὗτοι ἀδύνατοι, τούτους μὲν ἀφῆκα, ὑποθεὶς δὲ τὴν οὐσίαν τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ καὶ δανεισάμενος ἀργύριον πρῶτος ἐπληρωσάμην τὴν ναῦν, μισθωσάμενος ναύτας ὡς οἷόν τ᾽ ἦν ἀρίστους, δωρεὰς καὶ προδόσεις δοὺς ἑκάστῳ αὐτῶν μεγάλας. ἔτι δὲ σκεύεσιν ἰδίοις τὴν ναῦν ἅπασι κατεσκεύασα, καὶ τῶν δημοσίων ἔλαβον οὐδέν, καὶ κόσμῳ ὡς οἷόν τ᾽ ἦν κάλλιστα καὶ διαπρεπέστατα τῶν τριηράρχων. ὑπηρεσίαν τοίνυν ἣν ἐδυνάμην κρατίστην ἐμισθωσάμην.

  [7] The decree, then, you have heard, men of the jury. For my own part, when the sailors listed by the demesmen did not appear, save a very few, and these incompetent, I dismissed them; and having mortgaged my property and borrowed money, I was the first to man my ship, hiring the best sailors possible by giving to each man large bonuses and advance payments. More than that, I furnished the ship with equipment wholly my own, taking nothing from the public stores, and I made everything as beautiful and magnificent as possible, outdoing all the other trierarchs. As for rowers, I hired the best that could be had.

  [8] οὐ μόνον τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τὰ κατὰ τὴν τριηραρχίαν ἀνήλισκον τότε οὕτω πολυτελῆ ὄντα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν χρημάτων ὧν εἰς τὸν ἔκπλουν ἐψηφίσασθε εἰσενεχθῆναι μέρος οὐκ ἐλάχιστον ἐγὼ ὑμῖν προεισήνεγκα. δόξαν γὰρ ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ τῶν δημοτῶν τοὺς βουλευτὰς ἀπενεγκεῖν τοὺς προεισοίσοντας τῶν τε δημοτῶν καὶ τῶν ἐγκεκτημένων, προσαπηνέχθη μου τοὔνομα ἐν τριττοῖς δήμοις διὰ τὸ φανερὰν εἶναί μου τὴν οὐσίαν.

  [8] And not only did I defray the trierarchal expenses, which at that time were so very heavy, but I also paid in advance no small part of the taxes which you had ordered to be collected for the cost of the expedition. For when you had voted that the members of the senate on behalf of the demesmen should report the names of those who were to pay taxes in advance, both of those who were members of the demes and those who owned property in them, my name was reported from three demes, as my property was in land.

  [9] καὶ τούτων ἐγώ, οὐδεμίαν πρόφασιν ποιησάμενος, ὅτι τριηραρχῶ καὶ οὐκ ἂν δυναίμην δύο λῃτουργίας λῃτουργεῖν οὐδὲ οἱ νόμοι ἐῶσιν, ἔθηκα τὰς προεισφορὰς πρῶτος. καὶ οὐκ εἰσεπραξάμην διὰ τὸ τότε μὲν ἀποδημεῖν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν τριηραρχῶν, ὕστερον δὲ καταπλεύσας καταλαβεῖν τὰ μὲν εὔπορα ὑφ᾽ ἑτέρων προεξειλεγμένα, τὰ δ᾽ ἄπορα ὑπόλοιπα.

  [9] Of these I was the first to pay my taxes in advance, nor did I seek to get myself excused either on the ground that I was serving as trierarch and could not defray the costs of two public services at once, or that the laws did not permit such a thing. And I have
never recovered the money which I advanced, because at the time I was abroad in your service as trierarch, and afterwards, when I returned, I found that the money from those who had resources had already been gathered in by others, and that those who were left had nothing.

  [10] καὶ ταῦτα ὅτι ἀληθῆ λέγω πρὸς ὑμᾶς, τούτων ὑμῖν ἀναγνώσεται τὰς μαρτυρίας τῶν τε τὰ στρατιωτικὰ τότε εἰσπραττόντων καὶ τῶν ἀποστολέων, καὶ τοὺς μισθοὺς οὓς ταῖς ὑπηρεσίαις καὶ τοῖς ἐπιβάταις κατὰ μῆνα ἐδίδουν, παρὰ τῶν στρατηγῶν σιτηρέσιον μόνον λαμβάνων, πλὴν δυοῖν μηνοῖν μόνον μισθὸν ἐν πέντε μησὶν καὶ ἐνιαυτῷ, καὶ τοὺς ναύτας τοὺς μισθωθέντας, καὶ ὅσον ἕκαστος ἔλαβεν ἀργύριον, ἵν᾽ ἐκ τούτων εἰδῆτε τὴν ἐμὴν προθυμίαν, καὶ οὗτος δι᾽ ὅ τι παραλαβεῖν παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ τὴν ναῦν οὐκ ἤθελεν, ἐπειδή μοι ὁ χρόνος ἐξῆλθεν τῆς τριηραρχίας.”Μαρτυρίαι”