by Demosthenes
[21] ὅλως δ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, δίκαιον μὲν οὐδενὶ δήπου σκῆψιν οὐδεμίαν τοιαύτην οὐδ᾽ ἄδειαν ὑπάρχειν παρ᾽ ὑμῖν, δι᾽ ἣν ὑβρίζειν ἐξέσται: εἰ δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἐστίν τῳ, τοῖς δι᾽ ἡλικίαν τούτων τι πράττουσιν, τούτοις ἀποκεῖσθαι προσήκει τὰς τοιαύτας καταφυγάς, κἀκείνοις οὐκ εἰς τὸ μὴ δοῦναι δίκην, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς τὸ τῆς προσηκούσης ἐλάττω.
[21] Speaking broadly, men of the jury, I hold it right that no man should have any excuse or immunity to rely on, when he is brought before you, so valid that he is to be permitted to commit outrage; but if allowance is to be made for anyone, it should be for those only who commit an act of this sort in the folly of youth, — it is for these, I say, that such indulgence should be reserved, and even in their case it should not extend to the remission of the penalty, but to its mitigation.
[22] ὅστις δ᾽ ἐτῶν μέν ἐστιν πλειόνων ἢ πεντήκοντα, παρὼν δὲ νεωτέροις ἀνθρώποις καὶ τούτοις υἱέσιν, οὐχ ὅπως ἀπέτρεψεν ἢ διεκώλυσεν, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸς ἡγεμὼν καὶ πρῶτος καὶ πάντων βδελυρώτατος γεγένηται, τίν᾽ ἂν οὗτος ἀξίαν τῶν πεπραγμένων ὑπόσχοι δίκην; ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ οὐδ᾽ ἀποθανόντ᾽ οἴομαι. καὶ γὰρ εἰ μηδὲν αὐτὸς εἴργαστο τῶν πεπραγμένων, ἀλλ᾽ εἰ παρεστηκότος τούτου Κτησίας ὁ υἱὸς ὁ τούτου ταὔθ᾽ ἅπερ νυνὶ πεποιηκὼς ἐφαίνετο, τοῦτον ἐμισεῖτ᾽ ἂν δικαίως.
[22] But when a man over fifty years of age in the company of younger men, and these his own sons, not only did not discourage or prevent their wantonness, but has proved himself the leader and the foremost and the vilest of all, what punishment could he suffer that would be commensurate with his deeds? For my part, I think that even death would be too mild. Why, if Conon had committed none of the acts himself, but had merely stood by while his son Ctesias did what he is himself proved to have done, you would regard him with loathing, and rightly.
[23] εἰ γὰρ οὕτω τοὺς αὑτοῦ προῆκται παῖδας ὥστ᾽ ἐναντίον ἐξαμαρτάνοντας ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἐφ᾽ ὧν ἐνίοις θάνατος ἡ ζημία κεῖται, μήτε φοβεῖσθαι μήτ᾽ αἰσχύνεσθαι, τί τοῦτον οὐκ ἂν εἰκότως παθεῖν οἴεσθε; ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ ἡγοῦμαι ταῦτ᾽ εἶναι σημεῖα τοῦ μηδὲ τοῦτον τὸν ἑαυτοῦ πατέρ᾽ αἰσχύνεσθαι: εἰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνον αὐτὸς ἐτίμα καὶ ἐδεδίει, κἂν τούτους αὑτὸν ἠξίου.
[23] For if he has trained up his sons in such fashion that they feel no fear or shame while committing in his presence crimes for some of which the punishment of death is ordained, what punishment do you think too severe for him? I think these actions are a proof that he has no reverence for his own father; for if he had honored and feared him, he would have exacted honor and fear from his own children.
[24] λαβὲ δή μοι καὶ τοὺς νόμους, τόν τε τῆς ὕβρεως καὶ τὸν περὶ τῶν λωποδυτῶν: καὶ γὰρ τούτοις ἀμφοτέροις ἐνόχους τούτους ὄψεσθε. λέγε.”Νόμοι”
τούτοις τοῖς νόμοις ἀμφοτέροις ἐκ τῶν πεπραγμένων ἔνοχος Κόνων ἐστὶν οὑτοσί: καὶ γὰρ ὕβριζεν καὶ ἐλωποδύτει. εἰ δὲ μὴ κατὰ τούτους προειλόμεθ᾽ ἡμεῖς δίκην λαμβάνειν, ἡμεῖς μὲν ἀπράγμονες καὶ μέτριοι φαινοίμεθ᾽ ἂν εἰκότως, οὗτος δ᾽ ὁμοίως πονηρός.
[24] Now take the statutes, that concerning assault and that concerning highway robbers. You will see that the defendant is amenable to them both. Read.” Laws”
By both these statutes, then, the defendant Conon is amenable for what he has done; for he committed both assault and highway robbery. If I on my part have not chosen to proceed against him under these statutes, that should fairly prove that I am a peaceful and inoffensive person, not that he is any the less a villain.
[25] καὶ μὴν εἰ παθεῖν τί μοι συνέβη, φόνου καὶ τῶν δεινοτάτων ἂν ἦν ὑπόδικος. τὸν γοῦν τῆς Βραυρωνόθεν ἱερείας πατέρ᾽ ὁμολογουμένως οὐχ ἁψάμενον τοῦ τελευτήσαντος, ὅτι τῷ πατάξαντι τύπτειν παρεκελεύσατο, ἐξέβαλεν ἡ βουλὴ ἡ ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου, δικαίως: εἰ γὰρ οἱ παρόντες ἀντὶ τοῦ κωλύειν τοὺς ἢ δι᾽ οἶνον ἢ δι᾽ ὀργὴν ἤ τιν᾽ ἄλλην αἰτίαν ἐξαμαρτάνειν ἐπιχειροῦντας αὐτοὶ παροξυνοῦσιν, οὐδεμί᾽ ἐστὶν ἐλπὶς σωτηρίας τῷ περιπίπτοντι τοῖς ἀσελγαίνουσιν, ἀλλ᾽ ἕως ἂν ἀπείπωσιν, ὑβρίζεσθαι ὑπάρξει: ὅπερ ἐμοὶ συνέβη.
[25] And, assuredly, if anything had happened to me, he would have been liable to a charge of murder and the severest of penalties. At any rate the father of the priestess at Brauron, although it was admitted that he had not laid a finger on the deceased, but had merely urged the one who dealt the blow to keep on striking, was banished by the court of the Areopagus. And justly; for, if the bystanders, instead of preventing those who through the influence of drink or anger or any other cause are undertaking to act lawlessly, are themselves to urge them on, there is no hope of safety for one who falls in with lawless rascals; he may be sure that he will be maltreated until they grow weary as was the case with me.
[26] ἃ τοίνυν, ὅθ᾽ ἡ δίαιτα ἐγίγνετο, ἐποίουν, βούλομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰπεῖν: καὶ γὰρ ἐκ τούτων τὴν ἀσέλγειαν θεάσεσθ᾽ αὐτῶν. ἐποίησαν μὲν γὰρ ἔξω μέσων νυκτῶν τὴν ὥραν, οὔτε τὰς μαρτυρίας ἀναγιγνώσκειν ἐθέλοντες οὔτ᾽ ἀντίγραφα διδόναι, τῶν τε παρόντων ἡμῖν καθ᾽ ἕν᾽ οὑτωσὶ πρὸς τὸν λίθον ἄγοντες καὶ ἐξορκοῦντες, καὶ γράφοντες μαρτυρίας οὐδὲν πρὸς τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἀλλ᾽ ἐξ ἑταίρας εἶναι παιδίον αὐτῷ καὶ τοῦτο πεπονθέναι τὰ καὶ τά, ἃ μὰ τοὺς θεούς, ἄνδρες δικασταί, οὐδεὶς ὅστις οὐκ ἐπετίμα τῶν παρόντων καὶ ἐμίσει, τελευτῶντες δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ οὗτοι ἑαυτούς.
[26] I wish now to tell you what they sought to do at the arbitration; for from this you will perceive their utter insolence. They spun out the time till past midnight, refusing to read the depositions or to put in copies; leading to the altar one at a time our witnesses who were present and putting them on oath; writing depositions which had nothing to do with the case （for instance “that Ctesias was the son of Conon by a mistress, and that he had been treated thus and so”） — a course of action, men of the jury, which I assure you by the gods roused resentment and disgust in the mind of every one present; and finally they were disgusted at themselves.
[27] ἐπειδὴ δ᾽ οὖν ποτ᾽ ἀπεῖπον καὶ ἐνεπλήσθησαν ταῦτα ποιοῦντες, προκαλοῦνται ἐπὶ διακρούσει καὶ τῷ μὴ σημανθῆναι τοὺς ἐχίνους ἐθέλειν ἐκδοῦναι περὶ τῶν πληγῶν παῖδας, ὀνόματα γράψαντες.
καὶ νῦν οἶμαι περὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἔσεσθαι τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν λόγων αὐτοῖς. ἐγὼ δ᾽ οἶμαι δεῖν πάντας ὑμᾶς ἐκεῖνο σκοπεῖν, ὅτι οὗτοι, εἰ τοῦ γενέσθαι τὴν βάσανον ἕνεκα προὐκαλοῦντο καὶ ἐπίστευον τῷ δικαίῳ τούτῳ, οὐκ ἂν ἤδη τῆς διαίτης ἀποφαινομένης, νυκτός, οὐδεμιᾶς ὑπολοίπου σκήψεως οὔσης, προὐκαλοῦντο,
[27] Be that as it may, when they had had their fill and were tired of acting thus, they put in a challenge with a view to gaining time and preventing the boxes from being sealed, offering to deliver up certain slaves, whose names they wrote down, to be examined as to the assault. And I fancy that their defence will hinge chiefly upon this point. I think, however, that you should all note one thing — that if these men tendered the challenge in order that the inquiry by the torture should take place, and had confidence in this method of proof, they would not have tendered it when the award was now just being announced, when night had fallen and no further pretext was left them; no,
[28] ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν πρὸ τοῦ τὴν δίκην ληχθῆναι, ἡνίκ᾽ ἀσθενῶν ἐγὼ κατεκείμην, καὶ οὐκ εἰδὼς εἰ περιφεύξομαι, πρὸς ἅπαντας τοὺς εἰσιόντας τοῦτον ἀπέφαινον τὸν πρῶτον πατάξαντα καὶ τὰ πλεῖσθ᾽ ὧν ὑβρίσμην διαπεπραγμένον, τότ᾽ ἂν εὐθέως ἧκεν ἔχων μάρτυρας πολλοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκίαν, τότ᾽ ἂν τοὺς οἰκέτας παρεδίδου καὶ τῶν ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου τινὰς παρεκάλει: εἰ γὰρ ἀπέθανον, παρ᾽ ἐκείνοις ἂν ἦν ἡ δίκη.
[28] before the action had been brought, while I was lying ill and not knowing whether I should recover, and was denouncing the defendant to all who came to see me as the one who dealt the first blow and was the perpetrator of most of the maltreatment I received, — it was then, I say, that he would have come to my house without delay, bringing with him a number of witnesses; it was then that he would have offered to deliver up his slaves for the torture, and would have invited some members of the Areopagus to attend; for if I had died, the case would have come before them.
[29] εἰ δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἠγνόησε ταῦτα, καὶ τοῦτο τὸ δίκαιον ἔχων, ὡς νῦν φήσει, οὐ παρεσκευάσατ᾽ ὑπὲρ τηλικούτου κινδύνου, ἐπειδή γ᾽ ἀνεστηκὼς ἤδη προσεκαλεσάμην αὐτόν, ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ συνόδῳ πρὸς τῷ διαιτητῇ παραδιδοὺς ἐφαίνετ᾽ ἄν: ὧν οὐδὲν πέπρακται τούτῳ. ὅτι δ᾽ ἀληθῆ λέγω καὶ διακρούσεως ἕνεχ᾽ ἡ πρόκλησις ἦν, λέγε ταύτην τὴν μαρτυρίαν: ἔσται γὰρ ἐκ ταύτης φανερόν.”Μαρτυρία”
[29] But if he was unaware of this situation, and having this proof, as he will now say, made no preparation against so serious a danger, surely when I had left my sick bed and summoned him, he would at our first meeting before the arbitrator have shown himself ready to deliver up the slaves. But he did nothing of the kind.
To prove that I am speaking the truth, and that the challenge was tendered merely for the sake of gaining time, read this deposition. It will be clear from this.” Deposition”
[30] περὶ μὲν τοίνυν τῆς βασάνου ταῦτα μέμνησθε, τὴν ὥραν ἡνίκα προὐκαλεῖτο, ὧν ἕνεκ᾽ ἐκκρούων ταῦτ᾽ ἐποίει, τοὺς χρόνους τοὺς πρώτους, ἐν οἷς οὐδαμοῦ τοῦτο βουληθεὶς τὸ δίκαιον αὑτῷ γενέσθαι φαίνεται, οὐδὲ προκαλεσάμενος, οὐδ᾽ ἀξιώσας. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ταὐτὰ πάντ᾽ ἠλέγχεθ᾽ ἅπερ καὶ νῦν, πρὸς τῷ διαιτητῇ, καὶ φανερῶς ἐδείκνυτο πᾶσιν ὢν ἔνοχος τοῖς ἐγκεκλημένοις,
[30] With regard to the examination by the torture, then, bear these facts in mind: the time when the challenge was tendered, his evasive purpose in doing this, and the first occasions, in the course of which he showed that he did not wish this test to be accorded him, and neither proposed it nor demanded it. Since, however, he was convicted on all these points before the arbitrator, just as he is now, and proved manifestly guilty of all the charges against him, he puts into the box a false deposition,
[31] ἐμβάλλεται μαρτυρίαν ψευδῆ καὶ ἐπιγράφεται μάρτυρας ἀνθρώπους οὓς οὐδ᾽ ὑμᾶς ἀγνοήσειν οἴομαι, ἐὰν ἀκούσητε, ‘Διότιμος Διοτίμου Ἰκαριεύς, Ἀρχεβιάδης Δημοτέλους Ἁλαιεύς, Χαιρήτιος Χαιριμένους Πιθεὺς μαρτυροῦσιν ἀπιέναι ἀπὸ δείπνου μετὰ Κόνωνος, καὶ προσελθεῖν ἐν ἀγορᾷ μαχομένοις Ἀρίστωνι καὶ τῷ υἱεῖ τῷ Κόνωνος,
[31] and writes at the head of it as witnesses the names of people whom I think you will know well when you hear them— “Diotimus, son of Diotimus, of Icaria, Archebiades, son of Demoteles, of Halae, Chaeretimus, son of Chaerimenes, of Pithus, depose that they were returning from a dinner with Conon, and came upon Ariston and the son of Conon fighting in the agora, and that Conon did not strike Ariston,”
[32] καὶ μὴ πατάξαι Κόνωνα Ἀρίστωνα’, ὡς ὑμᾶς εὐθέως πιστεύσοντας, τὸ δ᾽ ἀληθὲς οὐ λογιουμένους, ὅτι πρῶτον μὲν οὐδέποτ᾽ ἂν οὔθ᾽ ὁ Λυσίστρατος οὔθ᾽ ὁ Πασέας οὔθ᾽ ὁ Νικήρατος οὔθ᾽ ὁ Διόδωρος, οἳ διαρρήδην μεμαρτυρήκασιν ὁρᾶν ὑπὸ Κόνωνος τυπτόμενον ἐμὲ καὶ θοἰμάτιον ἐκδυόμενον καὶ τἄλλ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἔπασχον ὑβριζόμενον, ἀγνῶτες ὄντες κἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου παραγενόμενοι τῷ πράγματι τὰ ψευδῆ μαρτυρεῖν ἠθέλησαν, εἰ μὴ ταῦθ᾽ ἑώρων πεπονθότα: ἔπειτ᾽ αὐτὸς ἐγὼ οὐδέποτ᾽ ἄν, μὴ παθὼν ὑπὸ τούτου ταῦτα, ἀφεὶς τοὺς καὶ παρ᾽ αὐτῶν τούτων ὁμολογουμένους τύπτειν ἐμὲ πρὸς τὸν οὐδ᾽ ἁψάμενον πρῶτον εἰσιέναι προειλόμην.
[32] — as though you would believe them off-hand, and would have no regard to the truth of the matter that, to begin with, Lysistratus and Paseas and Niceratus and Diodorus, who have expressly testified that they saw me being beaten by Conon, stripped of my cloak, and suffering all the other forms of brutal outrage I experienced — men, remember, who were unacquainted with me and who happened on the affair by chance — that these men, I say, would never in the world have consented to give testimony which they would have known to be false, if they had not seen the maltreatment which I received; and, secondly, that I myself, if I had not been thus treated by the defendant, should never have let off men who are admitted by my opponents themselves to have struck me, and have chosen to proceed first against the one who never laid a finger on me.
[33] τί γὰρ ἄν; ἀλλ᾽ ὑφ᾽ οὗ γε πρώτου ἐπλήγην καὶ μάλισθ᾽ ὑβρίσθην, τούτῳ καὶ δικάζομαι καὶ μισῶ καὶ ἐπεξέρχομαι. καὶ τὰ μὲν παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ πάνθ᾽ οὕτως ἐστὶν ἀληθῆ καὶ φαίνεται: τούτῳ δὲ μὴ παρασχομένῳ τούτους μάρτυρας ἦν δήπου λόγος οὐδείς, ἀλλ᾽ ἑαλωκέναι παραχρῆμ᾽ ὑπῆρχε σιωπῇ. συμπόται δ᾽ ὄντες τούτου καὶ πολλῶν τοιούτω�
� ἔργων κοινωνοὶ εἰκότως τὰ ψευδῆ μεμαρτυρήκασιν. εἰ δ᾽ ἔσται τὸ πρᾶγμα τοιοῦτον, ἐὰν ἅπαξ ἀπαναισχυντήσωσίν τινες καὶ τὰ ψευδῆ φανερῶς τολμήσωσι μαρτυρεῖν, οὐδὲν δὲ τῆς ἀληθείας ὄφελος, πάνδεινον ἔσται πρᾶγμα.
[33] Why should I? No; the man who was first to strike me and from whom I suffered the greatest indignity, he it is whom I am suing, whom I abhor, and whom I am now prosecuting. My words, then, are all true and are proved to be so, whereas the defendant, if he had not brought forward these witnesses, had, I take it, not an argument to advance, but would have had silently to undergo an immediate conviction. But it stands to reason, that these men, who have been partners in his drinking bouts and have shared in many deeds of this sort, have given false testimony. If matters are to come to this pass, if once certain people shall prove shameless enough to give manifestly false testimony, and there shall be no advantage in the truth, it will be a terrible state of things.
[34] ἀλλὰ νὴ Δί᾽ οὐκ εἰσὶ τοιοῦτοι. ἀλλ᾽ ἴσασιν ὑμῶν, ὡς ἐγὼ νομίζω, πολλοὶ καὶ τὸν Διότιμον καὶ τὸν Ἀρχεβιάδην καὶ τὸν Χαιρήτιον τὸν ἐπιπόλιον τουτονί, οἳ μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν μὲν ἐσκυθρωπάκασιν καὶ λακωνίζειν φασὶ καὶ τρίβωνας ἔχουσιν καὶ ἁπλᾶς ὑποδέδενται, ἐπειδὰν δὲ συλλεγῶσιν καὶ μετ᾽ ἀλλήλων γένωνται, κακῶν καὶ αἰσχρῶν οὐδὲν ἐλλείπουσι.