Delphi Complete Works of Demosthenes

by Demosthenes

  [19] ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἐξ αὐτῶν τούτων μάλιστ᾽ οἶμαι ὑμῖν ἐμαυτὸν Ἀθηναῖον ὄντ᾽ ἐπιδείξειν. καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ὡς ἑάλω καὶ ἐσώθη, μάρτυρας ὑμῖν παρέξομαι, ἔπειθ᾽ ὅτι ἀφικόμενος τῆς οὐσίας παρὰ τῶν θείων τὸ μέρος μετέλαβεν, εἶθ᾽ ὅτι οὔτ᾽ ἐν τοῖς δημόταις οὔτ᾽ ἐν τοῖς φράτερσιν οὔτ᾽ ἄλλοθι οὐδαμοῦ τὸν ξενίζοντ᾽ οὐδεὶς πώποτ᾽ ᾐτιάσαθ᾽ ὡς εἴη ξένος. καί μοι λαβὲ τὰς μαρτυρίας.”Μαρτυρίαι”

  [19] On my part, however, I think that these very facts will more than anything else help me to demonstrate that I am an Athenian.

  In the first place, to prove that my father was taken prisoner and was ransomed, I will bring witnesses before you; then, that when he reached home he received from his uncles his share of the property; and furthermore, that neither among the members of the deme nor among those of the clan nor anywhere else did anyone ever accuse him （despite his foreign accent） with being a foreigner.

  Please take the depositions.” Depositions”

  [20] περὶ μὲν τῆς ἁλώσεως καὶ τῆς σωτηρίας, ἣν συνέβη γενέσθαι τῷ πατρὶ δεῦρο, ἀκηκόατε. ὡς δ᾽ ὑμέτερος ἦν πολίτης, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί （τὸ γὰρ ὂν καὶ ἀληθὲς οὕτως ὑπάρχει）, μάρτυρας καλῶ τοὺς ζῶντας ὑμῖν τῶν συγγενῶν τῶν πρὸς πατρός. κάλει δή μοι πρῶτον μὲν Θουκριτίδην καὶ Χαρισιάδην: ὁ γὰρ τούτων πατὴρ Χαρίσιος ἀδελφὸς ἦν τοῦ πάππου τοῦ ἐμοῦ Θουκριτίδου καὶ Λυσαρέτης τῆς ἐμῆς τήθης （ἀδελφὴν γὰρ ὁ πάππος οὑμὸς ἔγημεν οὐχ ὁμομητρίαν）, θεῖος δὲ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ ἐμοῦ:

  [20] You have heard, then, of my father’s being taken prisoner by the enemy and of the good fortune which brought him back here. To prove now that he was your fellow-citizen, men of the jury （for this you may depend upon as being the veritable truth）, I will call as witnesses those of my relatives on my father’s side who are still living.

  Call first, please, Thucritides and Charisiades; for their father Charisius was brother to my grandfather Thucritides and my grandmother Lysaretê, and uncle to my father （for my father had married his sister born of a different mother）.

  [21] ἔπειτα Νικιάδην: καὶ γὰρ ὁ τούτου πατὴρ Λυσανίας ἀδελφὸς ἦν τοῦ Θουκριτίδου καὶ τῆς Λυσαρέτης, θεῖος δὲ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ ἐμοῦ: ἔπειτα Νικόστρατον: καὶ γὰρ ὁ τούτου πατὴρ Νικιάδης ἀδελφιδοῦς ἦν τῷ πάππῳ τῷ ἐμῷ καὶ τῇ τήθῃ, ἀνεψιὸς δὲ τῷ πατρί. καί μοι κάλει τούτους πάντας. σὺ δ᾽ ἐπίλαβε τὸ ὕδωρ.”Μάρτυρες”

  [21] Next, call Niciades; for his father Lysanias was brother to Thucritides and Lysaretê, and uncle to my father. After him, call Nicostratus; for his father Niciades was nephew to my grandfather and my grandmother, and cousin to my father.

  Call all these persons, please. And do you check the water.” Witnesses”

  [22] τῶν μὲν τοίνυν πρὸς ἀνδρῶν τῷ πατρὶ συγγενῶν ἀκηκόατ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καὶ μαρτυρούντων καὶ διομνυμένων Ἀθηναῖον εἶναι καὶ συγγενῆ τὸν ἐμὸν πατέρ᾽ αὑτοῖς: ὧν οὐδεὶς δήπου, παραστησάμενος τοὺς συνεισομένους αὑτῷ τὰ ψευδῆ μαρτυροῦντι, κατ᾽ ἐξωλείας ἐπιορκεῖ. λαβὲ δὴ καὶ τὰς τῶν πρὸς γυναικῶν τῷ πατρὶ συγγενῶν μαρτυρίας.”Μαρτυρίαι”

  [22] You have heard, men of Athens, the relatives of my father on the male side both deposing and swearing that my father was an Athenian and their own kinsman. And surely not one of them would commit perjury with imprecations on his own head in the presence of those who would know that he was forswearing himself.

  Now take also the depositions of those related to my father on the female side.” Depositions”

  [23] οἱ μὲν τοίνυν ζῶντες οὗτοι τῶν συγγενῶν τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ πρὸς ἀνδρῶν καὶ πρὸς γυναικῶν μεμαρτυρήκασιν, ὡς ἦν ἀμφοτέρωθεν Ἀθηναῖος καὶ μετῆν τῆς πόλεως αὐτῷ δικαίως. κάλει δή μοι καὶ τοὺς φράτερας, ἔπειτα τοὺς γεννήτας.”Μάρτυρες”

  λαβὲ δὴ καὶ τὰς τῶν δημοτῶν μαρτυρίας, καὶ τὰς τῶν συγγενῶν περὶ τῶν φρατέρων, ὡς εἵλοντό με φρατρίαρχον.”Μαρτυρίαι”

  [23] These persons, then, the surviving relatives of my father, on both the male and the female side, have testified that he was on both sides an Athenian and justly entitled to the rights of citizenship.

  Now call, please, the clansmen and thereafter the members of the gens.” Witnesses”

  Now take the depositions of the demesmen and the members of the gens in regard to the clansmen, to show that they elected me president of the clan.” Depositions”

  [24] τὰ μὲν τοίνυν ὑπὸ τῶν συγγενῶν καὶ φρατέρων καὶ δημοτῶν καὶ γεννητῶν, ὧν προσήκει, μαρτυρούμεν᾽ ἀκηκόατε. ἐξ ὧν ἔστιν ὑμῖν εἰδέναι, πότερόν ποτ᾽ ἀστὸς ἢ ξένος ἦν ᾧ ταῦθ᾽ ὑπῆρχεν. καὶ γὰρ εἰ μὲν εἰς ἕν᾽ ἢ δύ᾽ ἀνθρώπους κατεφεύγομεν, εἴχομεν ἄν τιν᾽ ὑποψίαν παρεσκευάσθαι τούτους: εἰ δ᾽ ἐν ἅπασιν, ὅσοισπερ ἕκαστος ὑμῶν, ἐξητασμένος φαίνεται καὶ ζῶν ὁ πατὴρ καὶ νῦν ἐγώ, λέγω φράτερσι, συγγενέσι, δημόταις, γεννήταις, πῶς ἔνεστιν ἢ πῶς δυνατὸν τούτους ἅπαντας μὴ μετ᾽ ἀληθείας ὑπάρχοντας κατεσκευάσθαι;

  [24] You have heard, then, the testimony given by my relatives and fellow-clansmen and by the members of the deme and of the gens, who are the proper persons to be called upon to testify. And from this you may learn whether a man who has this support is a citizen or an alien. If we were seeking protection in the testimony of one or two people only, we might be open to the suspicion that we had suborned them; but if it appears that my father in his lifetime and I myself at present have been put to the test before all the groups to which each one of you belongs （I mean those of clan, of kindred, of the deme, and of the gens）, how can it be, how can it possibly be, that all these persons have been suborned to appear, they not being in truth relatives of mine?

  [25] εἰ μὲν τοίνυν εὔπορος ὢν ὁ πατὴρ χρήματα δοὺς τούτοις ἐφαίνετο πείσας συγγενεῖς αὐτοὺς ἑαυτοῦ φάσκειν εἶναι, λόγον εἶχεν ἂν ὑποψίαν τιν᾽ ἔχειν ὡς οὐκ ἦν ἀστός: εἰ δὲ πένης ὢν ἅμα συγγενεῖς τε παρέσχετο τοὺς αὐτοὺς καὶ μεταδιδόντας τῶν ὄντων ἐπεδείκνυε, πῶς οὐκ εὔδηλον ὅτι τῇ ἀληθείᾳ προσῆκε τούτοις; οὐ γὰρ ἂν δήπου, εἴ γε μηδενὶ ἦν οἰκεῖος, χρήματ᾽ αὐτῷ προστιθέντες οὗτοι τοῦ γένους μετεδίδοσαν. ἀλλ᾽ ἦν, ὡς τό τ᾽ ἔργον ἐδήλωσεν καὶ ὑμῖν μεμαρτύρηται
. ἔτι τοίνυν ἀρχὰς ἔλαχεν καὶ ἦρξεν δοκιμασθείς. καί μοι λαβὲ τὴν μαρτυρίαν.”Μαρτυρία”

  [25] If it were shown that my father was a man of wealth and had given money to these people to persuade them to assert that they were his relatives, it would have been reasonable for anyone to suspect that he was not a citizen; but if, poor as he was, he both produced these same people as his relatives and proved that they had shared their property with him, is it not perfectly clear that he was indeed related to them? For surely, if he was related to no one of them, they would not have admitted him to a place in the gens and have given him money besides. No; he was related to them, as the facts have shown, and as witnesses have testified to you. And furthermore, he was chosen to offices by lot, and he passed the probationary test, and held office.

  Take the deposition, please.” Deposition”

  [26] οἴεταί τις οὖν ὑμῶν ἐᾶσαί ποτ᾽ ἂν τοὺς δημότας ἐκεῖνον τὸν ξένον καὶ μὴ πολίτην ἄρχειν παρ᾽ αὑτοῖς, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἂν κατηγορεῖν; οὐ τοίνυν κατηγόρησεν οὐδὲ εἷς, οὐδ᾽ ᾐτιάσατο. ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ διαψηφίσεις ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἐγένοντο τοῖς δημόταις ὀμόσασιν καθ᾽ ἱερῶν, ὅτ᾽ ἀπώλετ᾽ αὐτοῖς τὸ ληξιαρχικὸν γραμματεῖον δημαρχοῦντος Ἀντιφίλου τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ Εὐβουλίδου, καί τινας ἀπήλασαν αὑτῶν: περὶ ἐκείνου δ᾽ οὐδεὶς οὔτ᾽ εἶπεν οὔτ᾽ ᾐτιάσατο τοιοῦτον οὐδέν.

  [26] Now does any one of you imagine that the demesmen would have suffered the alien and non-citizen to hold office among them, and would not have prosecuted him? Well, not a single man prosecuted him, or brought any charge against him. More than that, the demesmen had of necessity to vote on one another, after binding themselves by solemn oaths, when their voting-register was lost during the administration as prefect of the deme of Antiphilus, the father of Eubulides, and they expelled some of their members; but not a man made any motion about my father or brought any such charges against him.

  [27] καίτοι πᾶσίν ἐστιν ἀνθρώποις τέλος τοῦ βίου θάνατος, καὶ περὶ ὧν μὲν ἄν τις ζῶν αἰτίαν σχῇ, δίκαιον τοὺς παῖδας τὴν ἀειλογίαν παρέχειν: περὶ ὧν δ᾽ ἂν μηδεὶς αὐτὸν ζῶντα καταιτιάσηται, πῶς οὐ δεινὸν εἰ τοὺς παῖδας ὁ βουλόμενος κρινεῖ; εἰ μὲν τοίνυν περὶ τούτων μηδεὶς λόγος ἐξητάσθη, δῶμεν τοῦτο λεληθέναι: εἰ δ᾽ ἐδόθη καὶ διεψηφίσαντο καὶ μηδὲν ᾐτιάσατο πώποτε μηδείς, πῶς οὐ δικαίως ἂν ἐγὼ κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον Ἀθηναῖος εἴην, τὸν τελευτήσαντα πρὶν ἀμφισβητηθῆναι τοῦ γένους αὐτῷ; ὡς δὴ ταῦτ᾽ ἀληθῆ λέγω, καλῶ καὶ τούτων μάρτυρας.”Μάρτυρες”

  [27] Yet for all men the end of life is death; and with whatsoever wrongdoings a man may be charged during his lifetime, it is right that for these his children should forever be held accountable; but in matters concerning which no man ever made accusation against him while he lived, is it not outrageous that anyone so wishing should bring his children to trial? If, now, there had been no inquiry into the question, let us grant that the matter has escaped notice; but if inquiry was made and the demesmen reviewed their lists, and no one ever made any accusation, ought I not justly to be regarded as an Athenian so far as my father is concerned, seeing that he died before any dispute regarding his lineage arose?

  To prove that these statements of mine are true, I will call witnesses who depose to these facts also.” Witnesses”

  [28] ἔτι τοίνυν παίδων αὐτῷ τεττάρων γενομένων ὁμομητρίων ἐμοὶ καὶ τελευτησάντων, ἔθαψε τούτους εἰς τὰ πατρῷα μνήματα, ὧν ὅσοιπέρ εἰσιν τοῦ γένους κοινωνοῦσιν: καὶ τούτων οὐδεὶς οὐκ ἀπεῖπεν πώποτε, οὐκ ἐκώλυσεν, οὐ δίκην ἔλαχεν. καίτοι τίς ἔστιν ὅστις ἂν εἰς τὰ πατρῷα μνήματα τοὺς μηδὲν ἐν γένει τιθέναι ἐάσαι; ὡς τοίνυν καὶ ταῦτ᾽ ἀληθῆ λέγω, λαβὲ τὴν μαρτυρίαν.”Μαρτυρία”

  [28] Furthermore, my father had four sons born of the same mother as myself, and when they died he buried them in our ancestral tomb, which belongs in common to all members of the gens; and no one of these kinsfolk ever made protest or prevented it or brought suit. And yet, who is there who would have permitted persons having no connection with the family to be placed in the ancestral tomb?

  To prove that these statements of mine also are true, take the deposition.” Deposition”

  [29] περὶ μὲν τοίνυν τοῦ πατρός, ὡς Ἀθηναῖος ἦν, ταῦτ᾽ ἔχω λέγειν, καὶ μάρτυρας παρέσχημαι τοὺς ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν τούτων ἐψηφισμένους εἶναι πολίτας, μαρτυροῦντας ἐκεῖνον ἑαυτοῖς ἀνεψιὸν εἶναι. φαίνεται δὲ βιοὺς ἔτη τόσα καὶ τόσ᾽ ἐνθάδε, καὶ οὐδαμοῦ πώποθ᾽ ὡς ξένος ἐξετασθείς, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τούτους ὄντας συγγενεῖς καταφεύγων, οὗτοι δὲ καὶ προσδεχόμενοι καὶ τῆς οὐσίας μεταδιδόντες ὡς αὑτῶν ἑνί.

  [29] With regard to my father, then, these are the grounds for my assertion that he was an Athenian; and I have brought forward as witnesses persons whom my opponents themselves have voted to be citizens, and who depose that my father was their own cousin. It is shown that he lived such and such a number of years here in Attica and that he was never in any place brought under scrutiny as being an alien, but that he found a refuge with these persons as his relatives, and that they both received him and gave him a share of their property as being one of themselves.

  [30] τοῖς χρόνοις τοίνυν οὕτω φαίνεται γεγονὼς ὥστε, εἰ καὶ κατὰ θάτερ᾽ ἀστὸς ἦν, εἶναι πολίτην προσήκειν αὐτόν: γέγονε γὰρ πρὸ Εὐκλείδου. περὶ δὲ τῆς μητρὸς （καὶ γὰρ ταύτην διαβεβλήκασί μου） λέξω, καὶ μάρτυρας ὧν ἂν λέγω, καλῶ. καίτοι, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, οὐ μόνον παρὰ τὸ ψήφισμα τὰ περὶ τὴν ἀγορὰν διέβαλλεν ἡμᾶς Εὐβουλίδης, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τοὺς νόμους, οἳ κελεύουσιν ἔνοχον εἶναι τῇ κακηγορίᾳ τὸν τὴν ἐργασίαν τὴν ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ ἢ τῶν πολιτῶν ἢ τῶν πολιτίδων ὀνειδίζοντά τινι.

  [30] Again, it is shown that he was born in a period when, even if he was an Athenian on one side only, he was entitled to citizenship; for he was born before the archonship of Hucleides.

  With regard to my mother （for they make her too a reproach against me） I will speak, and will call witnesses to support my statements. And yet, men of Athens, in reproaching us with service in the market Eubulides has acted, not only contrary to your decree, but also contrary to the laws which declare that anyone who makes business in the market a reproach against any male or female citizen shall be liable to the penalties for evil-speaking.

  [31] ἡμεῖς δ᾽ ὁμολογοῦμεν καὶ ταινίας πωλεῖν καὶ ζῆν οὐχ ὅντινα τρόπον βουλόμεθα. καὶ εἴ σοί ἐστιν τοῦτο σημεῖον, ὦ Εὐβουλίδη, τοῦ μὴ Ἀθη- ν�
�ίους εἶναι ἡμᾶς, ἐγώ σοι τούτου ὅλως τοὐναντίον ἐπιδείξω, ὅτι οὐκ ἔξεστιν ξένῳ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ ἐργάζεσθαι. καί μοι λαβὼν ἀνάγνωθι πρῶτον τὸν Σόλωνος νόμον.”Νόμος”

  [31] We on our part acknowledge that we sell ribbons and do not live in the manner we could wish, and if in your eyes, Eubulides, this is a sign that we are not Athenians, I shall prove to you the very opposite — that it is not permitted to any alien to do business in the market.

  Take first the law of Solon and read it, please.” Law”

  [32] λαβὲ δὴ καὶ τὸν Ἀριστοφῶντος: οὕτω γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τοῦτον ἔδοξεν ἐκεῖνος καλῶς καὶ δημοτικῶς νομοθετῆσαι, ὥστ᾽ ἐψηφίσασθε πάλιν ἀνανεώσασθαι.”Νόμος”

  προσήκει τοίνυν ὑμῖν βοηθοῦσι τοῖς νόμοις μὴ τοὺς ἐργαζομένους ξένους νομίζειν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς συκοφαντοῦντας πονηρούς. ἐπεί, ὦ Εὐβουλίδη, ἔστι καὶ ἕτερος περὶ τῆς ἀργίας νόμος, ᾧ αὐτὸς ἔνοχος ὢν ἡμᾶς τοὺς ἐργαζομένους διαβάλλεις.