Delphi Complete Works of Demosthenes

by Demosthenes

  [66] εὖ δ᾽ ἴστε ὅτι οὐ περὶ τῶν ἐμῶν ἰδίων μᾶλλον τιμωρήσεσθε Πολυκλέα ἢ οὐχ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν, οὐδὲ περὶ τῶν παρεληλυθότων τριηράρχων ἐπιμέλειαν ποιήσεσθε μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῶν μελλόντων πρόνοιαν, ὥστε μήτε τοὺς λῃτουργοῦντας ἀθυμεῖν, μήτε τοὺς διαδόχους καταφρονεῖν τῶν νόμων, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπιέναι ἐπὶ τὰς ναῦς, ὅταν κατασταθῶσιν. ἃ προσήκει ὑμᾶς ἐνθυμηθέντας ὀρθῶς καὶ δικαίως διαγνῶναι περὶ ἁπάντων.

  [66] Be assured that it will be no more in my interest than in your own that you will punish Polycles, nor will you be showing concern merely for those who have served as trierarchs in the past; no, you will be taking thought also for those who are to serve in the future, so that those who perform public services may not be discouraged, and those who are designated as their successors may not show contempt toward the laws, but may go to their ships when they are appointed. These matters you should bear in mind, and reach a fair and just decision regarding all the points at issue.

  [67] ἡδέως δ᾽ ἂν ὑμῶν πυθοίμην, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τίν᾽ ἄν ποτε γνώμην περὶ ἐμοῦ εἴχετε, εἰ τοῦ τε χρόνου ἐξήκοντος καὶ τούτου μὴ ἥκοντος ἐπὶ τὴν ναῦν μὴ ἐπετριηράρχησα κελεύοντος τοῦ στρατηγοῦ, ἀλλὰ πλέων ᾠχόμην. ἆρ᾽ οὐκ ἂν ὠργίζεσθέ μοι καὶ ἡγεῖσθε ἂν ἀδικεῖν; εἰ τοίνυν ἂν ἐμοὶ τότε ὠργίζεσθε, ὅτι οὐκ ἐπετριηράρχησα, πῶς οὐχὶ νῦν προσήκει ὑμᾶς τοῦτον εἰσπρᾶξαί μοι τὰ ἀναλώματα, ἃ ἐγὼ ὑπὲρ τούτου ἀνήλωσα, τὸν οὐ διαδεξάμενον τὴν ναῦν;

  [67] I should gladly ask you, men of the jury, what opinion you would have had of me, if, when my term of service had expired and the defendant had not come to take over the ship, I had refused to serve longer when the general so ordered, but had sailed away. Would you not have been indignant and have thought that I was wronging you? If, then, you would have been indignant in that case, because I refused to serve beyond my term, should you not now exact from the defendant the money expended by me on his behalf, seeing that he did not take over the ship?

  [68] ὅτι δ᾽ οὐκ ἐμοὶ μόνῳ οὐ διεδέξατο τὴν ναῦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρότερον Εὐριπίδῃ συντριήραρχος ὢν καὶ συνθηκῶν οὐσῶν αὐτοῖς τοὺς ἓξ μῆνας ἑκάτερον πλεῖν, ἐπειδὴ Εὐριπίδης ἐξέπλευσεν καὶ ὁ χρόνος ἐξῆκεν, οὐ διεδέξατο τὴν ναῦν αὐτῷ, ἀναγνώσεται τὴν μαρτυρίαν.”Μαρτυρία”

  [68] To prove that it is not in my case only that he failed to take over his ship, but that on a former occasion also, when he was the associate of Euripides in the trierarchy and there was an agreement between them that each should sail for six months, when Euripides had sailed and the term had expired, Polycles did not take over the ship from him, — to prove this, I say, the clerk shall read the deposition.” Deposition”

  περὶ τοῦ Στεφάνου τῆς Τριηραρκίας — ON THE TRIERARCHIC CROWN

  [1] εἰ μὲν ὅτῳ πλεῖστοι συνείποιεν, ὦ βουλή, τὸ ψήφισμ᾽ ἐκέλευε δοῦναι τὸν στέφανον, κἂν ἀνόητος ἦν εἰ λαβεῖν αὐτὸν ἠξίουν, Κηφισοδότου μόνου μοι συνειρηκότος, τούτοις δὲ παμπόλλων. νῦν δὲ τῷ πρώτῳ παρασκευάσαντι τὴν τριήρη τὸν ταμίαν προσέταξεν ὁ δῆμος δοῦναι, πεποίηκα δὲ τοῦτ᾽ ἐγώ: διό φημι δεῖν αὐτὸς στεφανοῦσθαι.

  [1] If the decree, men of the senate, ordered that the crown should be given to the man having the largest number of advocates, it would have been senseless for me to claim it, for Cephisodotus alone has spoken on my behalf, while a host of pleaders has spoken for my opponents. But the fact is, the people appointed that the treasurer should give the crown to the one who first got his trireme ready for sea; and this I have done; so I declare that it is I who should be crowned.

  [2] θαυμάζω δὲ καὶ τούτων, ὅτι τῆς τριήρους ἀμελήσαντες τοὺς ῥήτορας παρεσκεύασαν, καὶ δοκοῦσί μοι παντὸς διημαρτηκέναι τοῦ πράγματος, καὶ νομίζειν οὐχὶ τοῖς ποιοῦσιν ἃ δεῖ χάριν ὑμᾶς ἔχειν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς φάσκουσιν, οὐ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἐγνωκότες ὅνπερ ἐγὼ περὶ ὑμῶν. καὶ κατ᾽ αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο δικαίως ἂν ἔχοιτ᾽ εὐνοϊκωτέρως ἐμοί: φαίνομαι γὰρ βελτίους ὑμᾶς ὑπολαμβάνων ἢ οὗτοι.

  [2] Also I am surprised that my opponents neglected their ships, but took care to get their orators ready; and they seem to me to be mistaken in regard to the whole affair, and to imagine that you are grateful, not to those who do their duty, but to those who say they do it; and they have formed a totally different estimate regarding you from that which I hold. For this very reason it is right that you should feel more kindly disposed toward me; for it is plain that I entertain a higher opinion of you than they do.

  [3] ἐχρῆν μὲν οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ δίκαιον ἦν τοὺς τὸν στέφανον οἰομένους δεῖν παρ᾽ ὑμῶν λαβεῖν αὑτοὺς ἀξίους ἐπιδεικνύναι τούτου, μὴ ἐμὲ κακῶς λέγειν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ τοῦτο παρέντες ἐκεῖνο ποιοῦσιν, ἀμφότερ᾽ αὐτοὺς ἐπιδείξω ψευδομένους, ἅ θ᾽ αὑτοὺς ἐνεκωμίασαν καὶ ὅσ᾽ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐβλασφήμησαν, ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν πεπραγμένων ἑκατέροις.

  [3] Surely it would have been right and proper, men of Athens, that those who claim to receive a crown from you, should show that they are worthy of it, and not speak ill of me. But since they leave out the former of these two things and do the latter, I shall show that they are speaking falsely both in their praise of themselves and in their slander of me; and I shall prove this by their own deeds and by mine.

  [4] ψήφισμα γὰρ ὑμῶν ποιησαμένων, ὃς ἂν μὴ πρὸ τῆς ἕνης καὶ νέας ἐπὶ χῶμα τὴν ναῦν περιορμίσῃ, δῆσαι καὶ δικαστηρίῳ παραδοῦναι, καὶ ταῦτα κυρωσάντων, ἐγὼ μὲν περιώρμισα καὶ στέφανον διὰ ταῦτα παρ᾽ ὑμῶν ἔλαβον, οὗτοι δ᾽ οὐδὲ καθείλκυσαν, ὥστ᾽ ἔνοχοι δεσμῷ γεγόνασιν. πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἀτοπώτατον ἂν διαπράξαισθ᾽ ἔργον, εἰ τοὺς καθ᾽ ἑαυτῶν ἐάσαντας τίμημα τοιοῦτον ἐπαχθῆναι, τούτους στεφανώσαντες ὑμεῖς φαίνοισθε;

  [4] When you had passed a decree and confirmed it, to the effect that whoever did not bring his ship around to the pier before the last day of the month should be placed under arrest and handed over to the court, I brought my ship up to the pier, and for this I received a crown from you, while the others had not even launched their ships; they therefore have made themselves liable to imprisonment. Would it not, then, be the strangest possible act on your part, if you should be seen to confer a crown on people who had suffered themselves to become liable to so grievous a penalty?

  [5] τὰ σκεύη τοίνυν, ὅσα δεῖ παρέχειν �
�ὴν πόλιν τοῖς τριηράρχοις, ἐγὼ μὲν ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων ἀνήλωσα καὶ τῶν δημοσίων ἔλαβον οὐδέν, οὗτοι δ᾽ ὑμετέροις κέχρηνται καὶ τῶν σφετέρων οὐδὲν εἰς ταῦτα προεῖνται. καὶ μὴν οὐδ᾽ ἂν ἐκεῖνό γ᾽ ἔχοιεν εἰπεῖν, ὡς ἀνεπειρῶντ᾽ ἐμοῦ πρότεροι: πρὶν γὰρ ἧφθαι μόνον τῆς τριήρους τούτους ἐπεπλήρωτό μοι, καὶ πάντες ἑωρᾶθ᾽ ὑμεῖς ἀναπειρωμένην τὴν ναῦν.

  [5] As to the ship’s equipment, moreover, all, that is, which the state is bound to supply to the trierarchs, I purchased it with my own resources and took nothing from the public stores, while these men used equipment of yours and spent none of their own money for this purpose. And surely they cannot say either that they got their ship ready for trial before I did mine; for mine was manned before they had so much as touched theirs, and you all saw the ship being tested.

  [6] ἔτι τοίνυν ὑπηρεσίαν τὴν κρατίστην ἔλαβον, πολλῷ πλεῖστον ἀργύριον δούς. οὗτοι δ᾽ εἰ μὲν εἶχον χείρον᾽ ἡμῶν, οὐδὲν ἂν ἦν δεινόν: νῦν δ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ὁποιαντινοῦν μεμίσθωνται, περὶ τοῦ πλείονος ἀντιλέγοντες. καίτοι πῶς εἰσιν δίκαιοι ταῦτα μὲν ὕστερον ἐξαναπληροῦν, νῦν δ᾽ ὡς πρῶτοι παρασκευασάμενοι τὸν στέφανον λαβεῖν;

  [6] More than this, I secured the very best rowers, giving by far the highest wages. If my opponents had had rowers inferior to mine, it would have been nothing disgraceful, but in fact they have hired rowers of no sort whatever, though they lay claim to larger numbers. And yet, how can it be fair, when they manned their ship later than I did mine, for them now to receive the crown as having been the first to get ready?

  [7] ἡγοῦμαι τοίνυν, ὅτι μὲν δικαιότατ᾽ ἂν στεφανώσαιτ᾽ ἐμέ, καὶ μηδὲν εἰπόντος ἐμοῦ γιγνώσκειν ὑμᾶς: ὅτι δ᾽ οὐκ ἔνεστι μόνοις τούτοις περὶ τοῦ στεφάνου λόγος, τοῦτ᾽ ἐπιδεῖξαι βούλομαι. πόθεν οὖν τοῦτο μάλιστ᾽ ἔσται δῆλον; ἀφ᾽ ὧν αὐτοὶ πεποιήκασιν: σκεψάμενοι γὰρ τὸν ἐξ ἐλαχίστου τριηραρχεῖν βουλόμενον, μεμισθώκασι τὴν λῃτουργίαν. καίτοι πῶς οὐκ ἄδικον τῶν μὲν ἀναλωμάτων ἀφεστηκέναι, τῶν δὲ γιγνομένων δι᾽ ἐκεῖνα τιμῶν ἀξιοῦν αὑτοῖς μετεῖναι; καὶ τοῦ μὲν μὴ περιορμίσαι τὴν ναῦν τότε τὸν μεμισθωμένον αἰτιᾶσθαι, τῶν δὲ καλῶς δεδιακονημένων νῦν αὑτοῖς κελεύειν χάριν ὑμᾶς ἔχειν;

  [7] I think therefore that even without my saying anything you recognize that you would most justly grant me the crown, but I wish to show you that of all people in the world these men have the least claim to it. How can I prove this most clearly? By what they have themselves done. For they sought out the man who would take their trierarchy on the lowest terms, and have let the service to him. Yet is it not unjust to shrink from making the outlay, and still to demand a share in the honors accruing from it, and while they lay the blame for not bringing their ship up to the pier at that time on the man they hired, to bid you now reward them for good service rendered?

  [8] δεῖ τοίνυν ὑμᾶς, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, μὴ μόνον ἐκ τούτων σκοπεῖν τὸ δίκαιον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξ ὧν αὐτοὶ πρότερον πεποιήκατε ταὐτὰ τινῶν διαπραξαμένων τούτοις. ὅτε γὰρ τῇ ναυμαχίᾳ τῇ πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον ἐνικήθητε, τότε τῶν τριηράρχων τοὺς μεμισθωκότας τὰς τριηραρχίας αἰτιωτάτους τοῦ γεγενημένου νομίζοντες παρεδώκατ᾽ εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον, καταχειροτονήσαντες προδεδωκέναι τὰς ναῦς καὶ λελοιπέναι τὴν τάξιν.

  [8] You ought, men of Athens, to seek a just course, not only in the light of these considerations, but also in the light of your own previous actions in the case of others who have acted as these men have done. For, when you were worsted in the sea-fight against Alexander, you thought that the trierarchs who had let out their trierarchies were chiefly responsible for what had happened, and you gave them over for imprisonment, having decided by show of hands that they had betrayed their ships and deserted their post.

  [9] καὶ κατηγόρει μὲν Ἀριστοφῶν, ἐδικάζετε δ᾽ ὑμεῖς: εἰ δὲ μὴ μετριωτέραν ἔσχετε τὴν ὀργὴν τῆς ἐκείνων πονηρίας, οὐδὲν αὐτοὺς ἐκώλυε τεθνάναι. ταὐτὰ τοίνυν εἰδότες οὗτοι πεπραγμέν᾽ αὑτοῖς καὶ ἐκείνοις, οὐχὶ φρίττουσιν ἐν ὑμῖν ὑπὲρ ὧν προσήκει παθεῖν αὐτούς, ἀλλὰ δημηγοροῦσι κατ᾽ ἄλλων καὶ στεφανοῦν κελεύουσιν αὑτούς. καίτοι σκέψασθε τίν᾽ ἄν ποτε δόξαιτε βεβουλεῦσθαι τρόπον, εἰ διὰ τὴν αὐτὴν πρόφασιν τοὺς μὲν θανάτου κρίναντες, τοὺς δὲ στεφανώσαντες φανείητε.

  [9] The accusation was made by Aristophon, and you were the judges; and, if the anger you felt had been equal to their crime, nothing could have prevented their being put to death. My opponents, although they are aware that they have done just what those others did, instead of shuddering before you at the thought of what they ought to suffer, make speeches attacking others, and demand that they themselves be crowned. And yet, consider what would be thought of your way of reaching decisions, if you are seen to have condemned some persons to death and to have crowned others for the same cause!

  [10] καὶ μὴν οὐ μόνον εἰ τοῦτο ποιήσαιτε, δοκεῖτ᾽ ἂν ἁμαρτεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰ μὴ καὶ κολάσαιτε τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα ποιοῦντας, ἔχοντες. οὐ γὰρ ἐπειδὰν ἐάσητέ τι τῶν ὑμετέρων ἀπολέσθαι, τότε χρὴ χαλεπαίνειν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ᾧ τὰ μὲν ὑμέτερ᾽ ἐστὶν σᾶ, καθορᾶτε δὲ τοὺς ἐφεστηκότας δι᾽ αἰσχροκερδίαν οὐχὶ προσήκουσαν πρόνοιαν περὶ σωτηρίας αὐτῶν ποιουμένους. καὶ μηδεὶς ὑμῶν ἐπιτιμήσῃ τῷ λόγῳ, πικρὸν εἶναι νομίσας, ἀλλὰ τοῖς τὸ ἔργον αὐτὸ πεποιηκόσιν: διὰ γὰρ τούτους τοιοῦτός ἐστιν.

  [10] And you would be thought to be making a mistake, not only if you should do this, but also if you should fail to punish those who do things of this sort, when you have them in your power. For the time to feel indignation is not when you have suffered some of your possessions to be lost, but while they are safe, but you see those placed in charge of them failing through a shameful love of gain to make adequate provision for their safety. Let no one of you condemn my speech because he regards it as bitter; condemn rather those who have committed the crime; for it is because of them that my speech is such as it is.

  [11] θαυμάζω δ᾽ ἔγωγε, τί δή ποτε τῶν μὲν ναυτῶν τοὺς ἀπολειπομένους, ὧν τριάκοντα δραχμὰς ἕκαστος ἔχει μόνας, δοῦσι καὶ κολάζουσιν οὗτοι: τῶν δὲ τριηράρχων τοὺς μὴ συμπλέοντας, ὧν τριάκοντα μνᾶς εἰς ἔκπλουν εἴληφεν ἕκαστος, οὐ ταὐτὰ π�
�ιεῖθ᾽ ὑμεῖς: ἀλλ᾽ ἐὰν μὲν πένης ὤν τις δι᾽ ἔνδειαν ἁμάρτῃ, τοῖς ἐσχάτοις ἐπιτιμίοις ἐνέξεται, ἐὰν δὲ πλούσιος ὢν δι᾽ αἰσχροκερδίαν ταὐτὰ ποιήσῃ, συγγνώμης τεύξεται; καὶ ποῦ τὸ πάντας ἔχειν ἴσον καὶ δημοκρατεῖσθαι φαίνεται, τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ὑμῶν ταῦτα βραβευόντων;

  [11] I for my part wonder why in the world these men should imprison and punish those of the sailors who desert their ships — men who receive only thirty drachmae apiece, — while you do not deal in the same manner with those of the trierarchs who do not sail with their ships yet receive thirty minae apiece for so doing; if a poor man through stress of need commits a fault, is he to be liable to the severest penalties, while, if a rich man does the same thing through shameful love of gain, is he to win pardon? Where, then, is equality for all and popular government, if you decide matters in this way?