by Demosthenes
[32] Now take also the law of Aristophon; for, men of Athens, Solon was thought to have enacted in this instance so wise and democratic a law that you voted to re-enact it.” Law”
It is fitting that you, then, acting in defence of the laws, should hold, not that those who ply a trade are aliens, but that those who bring malicious and baseless suits are scoundrels. For, Eubulides, there is another law too regarding idleness to which you, who denounce us who are traders, are amenable.
[33] ἀλλὰ γὰρ τοσαύτη τις ἀτυχία ἐστὶν περὶ ἡμᾶς νῦν, ὥστε τούτῳ μὲν ἔξεστιν ἔξω τοῦ πράγματος βλασφημεῖν καὶ πάντα ποιεῖν, ὅπως μηδενὸς τῶν δικαίων ἐγὼ τύχω: ἐμοὶ δ᾽ ἐπιτιμήσετ᾽ ἴσως, ἐὰν λέγω ὃν τρόπον οὗτος ἐργάζεται περιιὼν ἐν τῇ πόλει, καὶ εἰκότως: ἃ γὰρ ὑμεῖς ἴστε, τί δεῖ λέγειν; σκοπεῖτε δή: νομίζω γὰρ ἔγωγε τὸ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ ἡμᾶς ἐργάζεσθαι μέγιστον εἶναι σημεῖον τοῦ ψευδεῖς ἡμῖν αἰτίας τοῦτον ἐπιφέρειν. ἣν γάρ φησιν ταινιόπωλιν εἶναι καὶ φανερὰν πᾶσιν,
[33] But we are at the present time involved in a misfortune so great that, whereas it is permitted to this fellow to make slanderous statements which have nothing to do with the case, and to avail himself of every possible means to prevent my obtaining my rights in any particular, you will perhaps rebuke me, if I tell you what sort of a trade this man plies as he goes about the city; and you would do so with good reason, for what need is there for me to tell you what you know? But consider. It seems to me certainly that our carrying on a trade in the market-place is the strongest proof that this fellow is bringing against us charges which are false.
[34] προσῆκεν δήπουθεν εἰδότας αὐτὴν πολλοὺς ἥτις ἐστὶ μαρτυρεῖν, καὶ μὴ μόνον ἀκοήν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰ μὲν ξένη ἦν, τὰ τέλη ἐξετάσαντας τὰ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ, εἰ ξενικὰ ἐτέλει, καὶ ποδαπὴ ἦν ἐπιδεικνύντας: εἰ δὲ δούλη, μάλιστα μὲν τὸν πριάμενον, εἰ δὲ μή, τὸν ἀποδόμενον ἥκειν καταμαρτυροῦντα, εἰ δὲ μή, τῶν ἄλλων τινά, ἢ ὡς ἐδούλευσεν ἢ ὡς ἀφείθη ἐλευθέρα. νῦν δὲ τούτων μὲν ἀπέδειξεν οὐδέν, λελοιδόρηκεν δέ, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, οὐδὲν ὅ τι οὔ. τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ὁ συκοφάντης, αἰτιᾶσθαι μὲν πάντα, ἐξελέγξαι δὲ μηδέν.
[34] He asserts that my mother is a vendor of ribbons and that everybody has seen her. Well then, there ought to be many to testify from knowledge who she is, and not from hearsay only. If she was an alien, they ought to have examined the market-tolls, and have shown whether she paid the alien’s tax, and from what country she came; and if she were a slave, then the one who had bought her should by all means have come to give evidence against her, or the one who sold her, or in default of them, someone else to prove that she had lived as a slave or had been set free. But as it is, Eubulides has proved not one of these things; he has merely, in my opinion, indulged in every form of abuse. For this is what a blackmailer is; he makes all manner of charges, but proves nothing.
[35] ἐπεὶ κἀκεῖνο περὶ τῆς μητρὸς εἴρηκεν, ὅτι ἐτίτθευσεν. ἡμεῖς δέ, ὅθ᾽ ἡ πόλις ἠτύχει καὶ πάντες κακῶς ἔπραττον, οὐκ ἀρνούμεθα τοῦτο γενέσθαι: ὃν δὲ τρόπον καὶ ὧν ἕνεκ᾽ ἐτίτθευσεν, ἐγὼ σαφῶς ὑμῖν ἐπιδείξω. μηδεὶς δ᾽ ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, δυσχερῶς ὑπολάβῃ: καὶ γὰρ νῦν ἀστὰς γυναῖκας πολλὰς εὑρήσετε τιτθευούσας, ἃς ὑμῖν καὶ κατ᾽ ὄνομα, ἐὰν βούλησθε, ἐροῦμεν. εἰ δέ γε πλούσιοι ἦμεν, οὔτ᾽ ἂν τὰς ταινίας ἐπωλοῦμεν οὔτ᾽ ἂν ὅλως ἦμεν ἄποροι. ἀλλὰ τί ταῦτα κοινωνεῖ τῷ γένει;
[35] He has said this too about my mother, that she served as a nurse. We, on our part, do not deny that this was the case in the time of the city’s misfortune, when all people were badly off; but in what manner and for what reasons she became a nurse I will tell you plainly. And let no one of you, men of Athens, be prejudiced against us because of this; for you will find today many Athenian women who are serving as nurses; I will mention them by name, if you wish. If we were rich we should not be selling ribbons nor be in want in any way. But what has this to do with our descent? Nothing whatever, in my opinion.
[36] ἐγὼ μὲν οὐδὲν οἶμαι. μηδαμῶς, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τοὺς πένητας ἀτιμάζετε （ἱκανὸν γὰρ αὐτοῖς τὸ πένεσθαι κακόν）, μηδέ γε τοὺς ἐργάζεσθαι καὶ ζῆν ἐκ τοῦ δικαίου προαιρουμένους: ἀλλ᾽ ἀκούσαντες, ἐὰν ὑμῖν ἐπιδεικνύω τῆς μητρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους οἵους προσήκει εἶναι ἀνθρώποις ἐλευθέροις, ἃ καταιτιᾶται περὶ αὐτῆς, ταύτας τὰς διαβολὰς ἐξομνυμένους, καὶ μαρτυροῦντας αὐτὴν ἀστὴν οὖσαν εἰδέναι, οὓς ὑμεῖς φήσετε πιστοὺς εἶναι, δικαίαν ἡμῖν θέσθε τὴν ψῆφον.
[36] Pray, men of Athens, do not scorn the needy （their poverty is misfortune enough）, and scorn still less those who choose to engage in trade and get their living by honest means. No; listen to my words, and if I prove to you that my mother’s relatives are such as free-born people ought to be; that they deny upon oath the calumnious charges which this man makes regarding her, and testify that they know her to be of civic birth — they on their part being witnesses whom you yourselves will acknowledge to be worthy of credence — , then, as you are bound to do, cast your votes in my favor.
[37] ἐμοὶ γὰρ ἦν πάππος, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, τῆς μητρὸς πατήρ, Δαμόστρατος Μελιτεύς. τούτῳ γίγνονται τέτταρες παῖδες, ἐκ μὲν ἧς τὸ πρῶτον ἔσχεν γυναικὸς θυγάτηρ καὶ υἱὸς ᾧ ὄνομ᾽ Ἀμυθέων, ἐκ δὲ τῆς ὕστερον, Χαιρεστράτης, ἡ μήτηρ ἡ ἐμὴ καὶ Τιμοκράτης. τούτοις δὲ γίγνονται παῖδες, τῷ μὲν Ἀμυθέωνι Δαμόστρατος, τοῦ πάππου τοὔνομ᾽ ἔχων, καὶ Καλλίστρατος καὶ Δεξίθεος. καὶ ὁ μὲν Ἀμυθέων ὁ τῆς μητρὸς ἀδελφὸς τῶν ἐν Σικελίᾳ στρατευσαμένων καὶ τελευτησάντων ἐστίν, καὶ τέθαπται ἐν τοῖς δημοσίοις μνήμασιν: καὶ ταῦτα μαρτυρήσεται.
[37] My grandfather, men of Athens, the father of my mother, was Damostratus of Melitê. To him were born four children; by his first wife a daughter and a son Amytheon, and by his second wife Chaerestratê my mother and Timocrates. These also had children. Amytheon had a son Damostratus, who bore the same name as his grandfather, and two others, Callistratus and Dexitheus. Amytheon, my mother’s brother, was one of those who served in the campaign in Sicily and were killed there, and he lies buried in the public tomb. These facts will be proved to you by testimony.
[38] τῇ δ᾽ ἀδελφῇ αὐτοῦ συνοικησάσῃ Διοδώρῳ Ἁλαιεῖ υἱὸς γίγνεται Κτησίβιος. καὶ οὗτος μὲν ἐτελεύτησεν ἐν Ἀβύδῳ μετὰ Θρασυβούλου στρατευόμενος, ζῇ δὲ τούτων ὁ Δαμόστρατ�
�ς ὁ τοῦ Ἀμυθέωνος, τῆς μητρὸς ἀδελφιδοῦς τῆς ἐμῆς. τῆς δὲ Χαιρεστράτης τῆς ἐμῆς τήθης τὴν ἀδελφὴν λαμβάνει Ἀπολλόδωρος Πλωθεύς: τούτων γίγνεται Ὀλύμπιχος, τοῦ δ᾽ Ὀλυμπίχου Ἀπολλόδωρος, καὶ οὗτος ζῇ. καί μοι κάλει αὐτούς.”Μάρτυρες”
[38] To Amytheon’s sister, who married Diodorus of Halae, was born a son Ctesibius, and he was killed in Abydus while serving in the campaign with Thrasybulus. Of these relatives there is living Damostratus, son of Amytheon and nephew of my mother. The sister of my grandmother Chaerestratê was married to Apollodorus of Plotheia. They had a son Olympichus, and Olympichus a son Apollodorus, who is still living.
Call these people, please.” Witnesses”
[39] τούτων μὲν τοίνυν ἀκηκόατε μαρτυρούντων καὶ διομνυμένων: τὸν δὲ καὶ ὁμομήτριον καὶ κατ᾽ ἀμφότερ᾽ ἡμῖν συγγενῆ καλῶ, καὶ τοὺς υἱεῖς αὐτοῦ. τῷ γὰρ Τιμοκράτει τῷ τῆς μητρὸς ἀδελφῷ τῆς ἐμῆς τῷ ὁμοπατρίῳ καὶ ὁμομητρίῳ γίγνεται Εὐξίθεος, τοῦ δ᾽ Εὐξιθέου τρεῖς υἱεῖς: οὗτοι πάντες ζῶσιν. καί μοι κάλει τοὺς ἐπιδημοῦντας αὐτῶν.”Μάρτυρες”
[39] These witnesses, then, you have heard giving their testimony and taking their oaths. I will call also one who is our kinsman on both sides, and his sons. For Timocrates, who is my mother’s brother, born from the same father and the same mother, had a son Euxitheus, and Euxitheus had three sons. All these persons are still living.
Call, please, those of them who are in the city.” Witnesses”
[40] λαβὲ δή μοι καὶ τὰς τῶν φρατέρων τῶν συγγενῶν τῶν τῆς μητρὸς καὶ δημοτῶν μαρτυρίας, καὶ ὧν τὰ μνήματα ταὐτά.”Μαρτυρίαι”
τὰ μὲν τοίνυν τοῦ γένους τοῦ τῆς μητρὸς οὕτως ὑμῖν ἐπιδεικνύω, καὶ πρὸς ἀνδρῶν καὶ πρὸς γυναικῶν ἀστήν. τῇ δὲ μητρὶ τῇ ἐμῇ γίγνεται, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐκ Πρωτομάχου, ᾧ αὐτὴν ὁ Τιμοκράτης ὁμομήτριος καὶ ὁμοπάτριος ὢν ἀδελφὸς ἔδωκεν, θυγάτηρ, εἶτ᾽ ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ ἐμοῦ ἐγώ. ὃν δὲ τρόπον τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἐμῷ συνῴκησεν, ταῦθ᾽ ὑμᾶς ἀκοῦσαι δεῖ: καὶ γὰρ ἃ περὶ τὸν Κλεινίαν αἰτιᾶται καὶ τὸ τιτθεῦσαι τὴν μητέρα καὶ ταῦτα πάντ᾽ ἐγὼ σαφῶς ὑμῖν διηγήσομαι.
[40] Now take, please, the depositions of the members of the clan belonging to the same gens as my mother, and of the members of the deme, and of those who have the right of burial in the same tombs.” Depositions”
As to my mother’s lineage, then, I prove to you in this way that she was an Athenian on both the male and the female side. My mother, men of the jury, first married Protomachus, to whom she was given by Timocrates, her brother born of the same father and the same mother; and she had by him a daughter. Then she married my father and gave birth to me. But how it was that she came to marry my father you must hear; for the charges which my opponent makes regarding Cleinias and my mother’s having served as nurse — all this too I will set forth to you clearly.
[41] ὁ Πρωτόμαχος πένης ἦν: ἐπικλήρου δὲ κληρονομήσας εὐπόρου, τὴν μητέρα βουληθεὶς ἐκδοῦναι πείθει λαβεῖν αὐτὴν Θούκριτον τὸν πατέρα τὸν ἐμόν, ὄνθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ γνώριμον, καὶ ἐγγυᾶται ὁ πατὴρ τὴν μητέρα τὴν ἐμὴν παρὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτῆς Τιμοκράτους Μελιτέως, παρόντων τῶν τε θείων ἀμφοτέρων τῶν ἑαυτοῦ καὶ ἄλλων μαρτύρων: καὶ τούτων ὅσοι ζῶσι, μαρτυρήσουσιν ὑμῖν.
[41] Protomachus was a poor man, but becoming entitled to inherit a large estate by marrying an heiress, and wishing to give my mother in marriage, he persuaded my father Thucritus, an acquaintance of his, to take her, and my father received my mother in marriage at the hands of her brother Timocrates of Melitê, in the presence of both his own uncles and other witnesses; and of these as many as are still living shall give testimony before you.
[42] μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα χρόνῳ ὕστερον παιδίων αὐτῇ δυοῖν ἤδη γεγενημένων, καὶ τοῦ μὲν πατρὸς στρατευομένου καὶ ἀποδημοῦντος μετὰ Θρασυβούλου, αὐτὴ δ᾽ οὖσ᾽ ἐν ἀπορίαις ἠναγκάσθη τὸν Κλεινίαν τὸν τοῦ Κλειδίκου τιτθεῦσαι, τῷ μὲν εἰς ἔμ᾽ ἥκοντι κινδύνῳ νῦν μὰ τὸν Δι᾽ οὐχὶ συμφέρον πρᾶγμα ποιήσασα （ἀπὸ γὰρ ταύτης τῆς τιτθείας ἅπασ᾽ ἡ περὶ ἡμᾶς γέγονεν βλασφημία）, τῇ μέντοι ὑπαρχούσῃ πενίᾳ ἴσως καὶ ἀναγκαῖα καὶ ἁρμόττοντα ποιοῦσα.
[42] Some time after this, when by now two children had been born to her, she was compelled at a time when my father was absent on military service with Thrasybulus and she herself was in hard straits, to take Cleinias, the son of Cleidicus, to nurse. This act of hers was, Heaven knows, none too fortunate with reference to the danger which has now come upon me （for it was from this nursing that all the slander about us has arisen）; but in view of the poverty with which she had to cope she did what was perhaps both necessary and fitting.
[43] φαίνεται τοίνυν οὐχ ὁ ἐμὸς πατὴρ πρῶτος, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, λαβὼν τὴν ἐμὴν μητέρα, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ Πρωτόμαχος, καὶ παῖδας ποιησάμενος καὶ θυγατέρ᾽ ἐκδούς: ὃς καὶ τετελευτηκὼς ὅμως μαρτυρεῖ τοῖς ἔργοις ἀστήν τ᾽ αὐτὴν καὶ πολῖτιν εἶναι. ὡς οὖν ταῦτ᾽ ἀληθῆ λέγω, κάλει μοι πρῶτον μὲν τοὺς τοῦ Πρωτομάχου υἱεῖς, ἔπειτα τοὺς ἐγγυωμένῳ παρόντας τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τῶν φρατέρων τοὺς οἰκείους, οἷς τὴν γαμηλίαν εἰσήνεγκεν ὑπὲρ τῆς μητρὸς ὁ πατήρ, εἶτ᾽ Εὔνικον Χολαργέα τὸν τὴν ἀδελφὴν λαβόντα τὴν ἐμὴν παρὰ τοῦ Πρωτομάχου, εἶτα τὸν υἱὸν τῆς ἀδελφῆς. κάλει τούτους.”Μάρτυρες”
[43] Now it is plain, men of Athens, that it was not my father who first received my mother in marriage. No; it was Protomachus,and he had by her a son, and a daughter whom he gave in marriage. And he, even though dead, bears testimony by what he did that my mother was an Athenian and of civic birth.
To prove that these statements of mine are true, call first, please, the sons of Protomachus, and next the witnesses who were present when my mother was betrothed to my father, and from the members of the clan the kinsfolk to whom my father gave the marriage-feast in honor of my mother. After them call Eunicus of Cholargus, who received my sister in marriage from Protomachus, and then my sister’s son. Call them.” Witnesses”
[44] πῶς οὖν οὐκ ἂν οἰκτρότατ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, πάντων ἐγὼ πεπονθὼς εἴην, εἰ τῶν συγγενῶν ὄντων τοσούτων τουτωνὶ καὶ μαρτυρούντων καὶ διομνυμένων ἐμοὶ προσήκειν, μηδεὶς μηδενὶ τούτων ἀμφισβητῶν ὡς οὐκ εἰ
σὶ πολῖται, ἐμὲ ψηφίσαισθ᾽ εἶναι ξένον; λαβὲ δή μοι καὶ τὴν τοῦ Κλεινίου καὶ τὴν τῶν συγγενῶν αὐτοῦ μαρτυρίαν: οἳ ἴσασιν δήπου τίς οὖσά ποθ᾽ ἡ ἐμὴ μήτηρ ἐτίτθευσεν αὐτόν. οὐ γὰρ ἃ τήμερον ἡμεῖς φαμέν, εὔορκον αὐτοῖς μαρτυρεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἃ πάντα τὸν χρόνον ᾔδεσαν τὴν ἡμετέραν μὲν μητέρα, τιτθὴν δὲ τούτου νομιζομένην.
[44] Would not my lot, men of Athens, be more piteous than that of any other, if, when all this host of witnesses deposes and swears that they are of my kin, and when no one disputes the citizenship of any one of these, you should vote that I am an alien?
Take, please, also the deposition of Cleinias and that of his relatives; for they, I presume, know who my mother was who once served as his nurse. Their oath requires them to bear witness, not to what I say today, but to what they have always known regarding her who was reputed to be my mother and the nurse of Cleinias.
[45] καὶ γὰρ εἰ ταπεινὸν ἡ τιτθή, τὴν ἀλήθειαν οὐ φεύγω: οὐ γὰρ εἰ πένητες ἦμεν, ἠδικήκαμεν, ἀλλ᾽ εἰ μὴ πολῖται: οὐδὲ περὶ τύχης οὐδὲ περὶ χρημάτων ἡμῖν ἐστὶν ὁ παρὼν ἀγών, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὲρ γένους. πολλὰ δουλικὰ καὶ ταπεινὰ πράγματα τοὺς ἐλευθέρους ἡ πενία βιάζεται ποιεῖν, ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἐλεοῖντ᾽ ἄν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, δικαιότερον ἢ προσαπολλύοιντο. ὡς γὰρ ἐγὼ ἀκούω, πολλαὶ καὶ τιτθαὶ καὶ ἔριθοι καὶ τρυγήτριαι γεγόνασιν ὑπὸ τῶν τῆς πόλεως κατ᾽ ἐκείνους τοὺς χρόνους συμφορῶν ἀσταὶ γυναῖκες, πολλαὶ δ᾽ ἐκ πενήτων πλούσιαι νῦν. ἀλλ᾽ αὐτίχ᾽ ὑπὲρ τούτων. νῦν δὲ τοὺς μάρτυρας κάλει.”Μάρτυρες”