Delphi Complete Works of Demosthenes

by Demosthenes

  [28] καὶ τούτων οὐδέν με δεῖ μάρτυρας ὑμῖν παρασχέσθαι: πάντες γὰρ ἴστε τοὺς ἐπὶ Λυκίσκου ἄρχοντος θεσμοθέτας ἀποχειροτονηθέντας ἐν τῷ δήμῳ διὰ τοῦτον. ὧν ἀναμιμνῃσκομένους ὑμᾶς χρὴ τὸν αὐτὸν ὑπολαμβάνειν εἶναι τοῦτον καὶ πρότερον καὶ νῦν. οὐ πολλῷ τοίνυν χρόνῳ ὕστερον τῆς ἀποχειροτονίας, τελευτήσαντος αὐτῷ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ βιαίῳ θανάτῳ, τοιοῦτος ἐγένετο περὶ αὐτὸν οὗτος, ὥστε ζητήσας τοὺς δράσαντας καὶ πυθόμενος οἵτινες ἦσαν, ἀργύριον λαβὼν ἀπηλλάγη.

  [28] To prove these facts there is no need of my calling witnesses before you, for you all know that in the archonship of Lyciscus the Thesmothetae were deposed from office by vote of the popular assembly because of Theocrines. Remembering this, you ought to assume that he is no different now from what he was then.

  Not long after he was removed from office, when his brother died by a violent death, Theocrines showed himself so utterly heartless toward him that, when he had made inquiry concerning those who had done the deed, and had learned who they were, he accepted a bribe, and let the matter drop.

  [29] καὶ τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν ἣν ἐκεῖνος ἄρχων ἐτελεύτησεν, ἱεροποιὸς ὤν, παρὰ τοὺς νόμους ἦρχεν οὗτος, οὔτε λαχὼν οὔτ᾽ ἐπιλαχών: ὑπὲρ ὧν δ᾽ ἔπαθεν ἐκεῖνος, μέχρι τούτου σχετλιάζων περιῄει καὶ φάσκων εἰς Ἄρειον πάγον Δημοχάρην προσκαλεῖσθαι, ἕως διελύσατο πρὸς τοὺς τὴν αἰτίαν ἔχοντας. χρηστός γ᾽ ἐστὶ καὶ πιστὸς καὶ κρείττων χρημάτων. οὐδ᾽ ἂν αὐτὸς φήσειεν. οὐ γὰρ τοσούτων δεῖσθαί φασι δεῖν τὸν δικαίως καὶ μετρίως τῶν κοινῶν ἐπιμελησόμενον, ἀλλὰ πάντων τούτων εἶναι κρείττω δι᾽ ὧν ἀναλίσκουσιν εἰς ἑαυτοὺς ἃ λαμβάνουσιν.

  [29] His brother at the time of his death held the office of sacrificer, and this office Theocrines continued to fill in defiance of the laws, without having been designated by lot to assume the office or to fill the vacancy. He went around bewailing his brother’s fate and declaring that he was going to summon Demochares before the Areopagus, until he made terms with those charged with the crime. An honorable man is he indeed, one whom you can trust, a man quite above the appeal of money! Why, even he would not claim that. Men say that whoever means to administer public affairs with justice and moderation should not have so many wants, but should be superior to all those things which lead people to spend on themselves all that they receive.

  [30] καὶ τὰ μὲν πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτῷ πεπραγμένα τοιαῦτά ἐστιν: ἃ δὲ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν προσελθὼν διῴκηται （δευτέρους γὰρ ὑμᾶς φήσει φιλεῖν μετὰ τοὺς οἰκείους） ἄξιον ἀκοῦσαι. ἄρξομαι δ᾽ ἀπὸ τῶν πρὸς ἡμᾶς αὐτῷ πεπραγμένων. τοῦ γὰρ πατρὸς κατηγορῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ὅτε τὴν τῶν παρανόμων αὐτὸν ἐδίωκε γραφήν, ἔλεγεν ὡς ἐπιβεβουλευμένος ὁ παῖς εἴη περὶ οὗ τὸ ψήφισμα γεγραμμένον ἦν, ἐν ᾧ τὴν σίτησιν ἔγραψεν Χαριδήμῳ ὁ πατὴρ τῷ Ἰσχομάχου υἱῷ,

  [30] Such, then, was his conduct where his brother was concerned; but it is worth your while to hear how he has managed affairs since he came forward in public life （for he declares that he loves you next after his own relatives）. I will begin with his conduct toward us. In his accusation against my father, men of the jury, when he was prosecuting the indictment for illegality against him, he stated that a plot had been formed against the boy, regarding whom the decree was drawn — the decree, that is, in which my father moved that maintenance in the Prytaneum should be granted to Charidemus, son of Ischomachus.

  [31] λέγων ὡς, ἐὰν ἐπανέλθῃ εἰς τὸν πατρῷον οἶκον ὁ παῖς, ἀπολωλεκὼς ἔσται τὴν οὐσίαν ἅπασαν ἣν Αἰσχύλος ὁ ποιησάμενος αὐτὸν υἱὸν ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ, ψευδόμενος: οὐδενὶ γὰρ πώποτε, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τοῦτο τῶν εἰσποιηθέντων συνέβη. καὶ τούτων πάντων αἴτιον ἔφη Πολύευκτον γεγενῆσθαι τὸν ἔχοντα τὴν μητέρα τοῦ παιδός, βουλόμενον ἔχειν αὐτὸν τὴν τοῦ παιδὸς οὐσίαν. ὀργισθέντων δὲ τῶν δικαστῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις, καὶ νομισάντων αὐτὸ μὲν τὸ ψήφισμα καὶ τὴν δωρεὰν κατὰ τοὺς νόμους εἶναι, τῷ δὲ ὄντι τὸν παῖδα μέλλειν ἀποστερεῖσθαι τῶν χρημάτων, τῷ μὲν πατρὶ δέκα ταλάντων ἐτίμησαν ὡς μετὰ Πολυεύκτου ταῦτα πράττοντι, τούτῳ δ᾽ ἐπίστευσαν ὡς δὴ βοηθήσαντι τῷ παιδί.

  [31] For Theocrines asserted that, if the boy should return to his father’s house, he would be found to have lost all the estate which Aeschylus, his adoptive father, had given him. This assertion was false, for no such thing, men of the jury, has ever happened to any adopted person. He made the further assertion that Polyeuctus, the husband of the boy’s mother, had been responsible for the whole scheme, since he wished to retain possession of the boy’s property. The jurymen were incensed at his assertions and held that, while the decree itself and the grant were both legal, the boy would in fact be robbed of his estate; and they fined my father ten talents as being in the scheme with Polyeuctus, and gave credence to Theocrines as having come to the boy’s defence.

  [32] καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦ δικαστηρίου γενόμενα τοιαῦτα καὶ παραπλήσια τούτοις ἦν: ὡς δ᾽ ὁ χρηστὸς οὗτος ὠργισμένους ᾔσθετο τοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ πεπιστευμένον αὑτὸν ὡς οὐ παντάπασιν ἀνόσιον ὄντα, προσκαλεσάμενος τὸν Πολύευκτον ἀποφέρει γραφὴν κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ κακώσεως πρὸς τὸν ἄρχοντα καὶ δίδωσι τὴν λῆξιν Μνησαρχίδῃ τῷ παρέδρῳ: λαβὼν δὲ διακοσίας δραχμὰς παρὰ τοῦ Πολυεύκτου, καὶ τὰ δεινὰ ταῦτ᾽ ἀποδόμενος μικροῦ λήμματος ἐφ᾽ οἷς τῷ πατρὶ ἐτιμήσατο δέκα ταλάντων, ἀπηλλάγη καὶ τὴν γραφὴν ἀνείλετο προδοὺς τὸν ὀρφανόν. καί μοι κάλει τούτων τοὺς μάρτυρας.”Μάρτυρες”

  [32] Such, or substantially such, were the proceedings in court. But when this worthy fellow saw that the people were filled with wrath, and that he himself had been believed, as one who was not wholly depraved, he summoned Polyeuctus before the archon and lodged an indictment against him for maltreatment of an orphan, and put the case in the hands of the assessor Mnesarchides. When, however, he had received two hundred drachmae from Polyeuctus and had sold for a trifling sum those awful charges for which he had fixed the damages in my father’s case at ten talents, he dropped the matter, withdrew the indictment, and left the orphan in the lurch.

  Call, please, the witnesses who support these statements.” Witnesses”

  [33] εἰ τοίνυν εὔπορος ἦν ὁ πατήρ, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ δυνατὸς πορίσ
αι χιλίας δραχμάς, ὅλως ἂν ἀπηλλάγη τῆς γραφῆς τῆς τῶν παρανόμων: τοσοῦτον γὰρ αὐτὸν ᾔτει οὑτοσί. καί μοι κάλει Φιλιππίδην τὸν Παιανιέα, πρὸς ὃν ἔλεγε ταῦτα Θεοκρίνης οὑτοσί, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους οἳ συνίσασιν τούτῳ ταῦτα λέγοντι.”Μάρτυρες”

  [33] If now my father had been well-to-do, men of the jury, and able to provide a thousand drachmae, he would have got off entirely free from the indictment for illegality; for that was the sum the defendant demanded of him.

  Call, please, Philippides of Paeania to whom this fellow Theocrines made this statement, and the others who know that he made it.” Witnesses”

  [34] ὅτι μὲν τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, Θεοκρίνης, εἴ τις αὐτῷ τὰς χιλίας δραχμὰς ἐδίδου, τὴν γραφὴν ἂν ἀνείλετο τὴν κατὰ τοῦ πατρός, ἡγοῦμαι πάντας ὑμᾶς πιστεύειν, καὶ εἰ μηδεὶς ἐμαρτύρησεν. ὅτι δὲ πολλὰς ἑτέρας προσκαλεσάμενος καὶ γραψάμενος καθυφεῖκεν, καὶ μικρὸν ἀργύριον λαμβάνων ἀπαλλάττεται, τοὺς δόντας ὑμῖν αὐτοὺς καλῶ, ἵνα μὴ πιστεύητε αὐτῷ λέγοντι ὡς αὐτὸς φυλάττει τοὺς παράνομα γράφοντας, καὶ ὡς, ὅταν αἱ τῶν παρανόμων γραφαὶ ἀναιρεθῶσιν, ὁ δῆμος καταλύεται: ταῦτα γὰρ οἱ πάντα πωλοῦντες λέγειν εἰθισμένοι εἰσίν.

  [34] That Theocrines, men of the jury, if he had been offered the thousand drachmae, would have withdrawn the indictment against my father, I think that you are all convinced, even if no witness had so testified. To prove, however, that he has summoned many other people and preferred indictments against them, and then has compromised the matter, and that he is in the habit of desisting from prosecution on receipt of small bribes, I shall call before you the very persons who paid him, in order that you may not believe him when he declares that it is he who keeps watch over those who propose illegal measures, and that when indictments for illegality are done away with it is the ruin of your democracy. （For it is in this way that all those who sell everything for money are in the habit of talking.）

  [35] κάλει μοι Ἀριστόμαχον Κριτοδήμου Ἀλωπεκῆθεν. οὗτος γὰρ ἔδωκεν, μᾶλλον δ᾽ ἐν τῇ τούτου οἰκίᾳ ἐδόθη τρί᾽ ἡμίμναια τούτῳ τῷ ἀδωροδοκήτῳ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ψηφίσματος ὃ Ἀντιμέδων ἔγραψε τοῖς Τενεδίοις.”Μαρτυρία”

  λέγε δὴ καὶ τὰς τῶν ἄλλων ἐφεξῆς τὰς τοιαύτας μαρτυρίας, καὶ τὴν Ὑπερείδου καὶ Δημοσθένους. τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν ὑπερβολή, τὸ παρ᾽ ὧν οὐδ᾽ ἂν εἷς ἀξιώσαι λαβεῖν, τοῦτον παρὰ τούτων ἥδιστα λαμβάνειν πωλοῦντα τὰς γραφάς.”Μαρτυρίαι”

  [35] Call, please, Aristomachus, son of Critodemus, of Alopecê, for it is he who paid — or rather in whose house were paid — the mina and a half to this man who cannot be bribed, in the matter of the decree which Antimedon proposed on behalf of the people of Tenedos.” Deposition”

  Read also in sequence the other depositions of the same sort, and that of Hypereides and Demosthenes. For this goes beyond all else — that the fellow should be most glad, by selling indictments to get money from men, from whom no one else would think of demanding it.” Depositions”

  [36] οὗτος τοίνυν αὐτίκα φήσει διὰ τοῦτο τὴν ἔνδειξιν καθ᾽ αὑτοῦ γεγονέναι, ἵνα Δημοσθένει μὴ ἐπεξέλθῃ τὴν γραφὴν ἣν ἐγράψατ᾽ αὐτόν, μηδὲ Θουκυδίδῃ: δεινὸς γάρ ἐστι ψεύσασθαι καὶ μηδὲν ὑγιὲς εἰπεῖν. ἡμεῖς δέ, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ τοῦτ᾽ ἐπεσκεψάμεθα, καὶ δείξομεν ὑμῖν οὐδὲν τὴν πόλιν βλαπτομένην, οὔτε μὰ τὸν Δία ἐὰν κύριον γένηται τὸ ψήφισμα τὸ Θουκυδίδου οὔτ᾽ ἂν ἄκυρον. καίτοι τάς γε τοιαύτας ἀπολογίας οὐ δίκαιόν ἐστι προσφέρειν τοῖς κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ὀμωμοκόσιν δικάσειν: ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς γραφῆς αὐτίκα γνώσεσθε διότι πρόφασίς ἐστιν τῆς ἐνδείξεως ἡ γραφή. λέγε τὰς γραφὰς ταύτας.”Γραφαί”

  [36] Well, he will presently say that the criminal information has been lodged against him for this purpose, that he may not proceed with the indictment which he preferred against Demosthenes or with that against Thucydides; for he is a clever fellow at lying and at saying what lacks all foundation. I have looked into this matter also, men of the jury, and will show you that the state suffers not the slightest harm, whether the decree of Thucydides is ratified, or whether it is annulled. And yet it is not right to bring up a defence of this sort before men who have sworn to give a verdict according to the laws. You will, however, presently learn from the indictment itself, that it is merely a pretext to offset the criminal information.

  Read these indictments.” Indictments”

  [37] τούτων τῶν ψηφισμάτων, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ἢ μενόντων κατὰ χώραν ἢ ἁλόντων （οὐδὲν γὰρ ἔμοιγε διαφέρει） τί ἡ πόλις κερδαίνει ἢ βλάπτεται; ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν οἶμαι. τοὺς γὰρ Αἰνίους φασὶν οὐδὲ προσέχειν τῇ πόλει, τοῦτο δὲ γεγονέναι διὰ Θεοκρίνην τουτονί. συκοφαντούμενοι γὰρ ἐν ἐκείνοις τοῖς χρόνοις ὑπὸ τούτου, ἐν οἷς οἱ μὲν ἐφιλίππιζον, οἱ δ᾽ ἠττίκιζον αὐτῶν, καὶ πυνθανόμενοι γεγράφθαι τὸ ψήφισμα παρανόμων ὃ Χαρῖνος πρότερον ἐγράψατο, τοῦτο τὸ περὶ τῆς συντάξεως, ὃ Θουκυδίδης εἶπε, καὶ πέρας τῶν πραγμάτων οὐδὲν γιγνόμενον,

  [37] Whether the decrees stand as they are, men of the jury, or are annulled （for it makes no difference to me）, what does the state either gain or lose? Nothing, in my opinion. They say that the men of Aenos pay no heed to our state, and that this has come about because of this fellow Theocrines. For being harassed by the false and malicious charges of this man at the time when some of them were turning to Philip and others to Athens, and learning that the decree which Charinus had previously indicted had again been indicted as illegal, — the decree, that is, which Thucydides proposed and which had to do with their contribution; and learning furthermore that no conclusion was being reached in the matter,

  [38] ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν δῆμον συγχωροῦντα τὴν σύνταξιν διδόναι τοὺς Αἰνίους ὅσην Χάρητι τῷ στρατηγῷ συνεχώρησαν, τοῦτον δὲ τὸν μιαρὸν παραδεξάμενον Χαρίνῳ τῷ προδότῃ ταὐτὰ πράττειν, ὅπερ ἦν ἀναγκαῖον αὐτοῖς, τοῦτ᾽ ἔπραξαν: εἵλοντο γὰρ τῶν παρόντων κακῶν τὰ ἐλάχιστα. καίτοι τί χρὴ νομίζειν αὐτοὺς πάσχειν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐνθάδε γραφομένων, οἷς ἦν αἱρετώτερον φρουρὰν ὑποδέχεσθαι καὶ βαρβάρων ἀκούειν, ὑμῶν ἀποστάντας; ἀλλ᾽ οἶμαι τὴν τούτων πονηρίαν ὑμεῖς μόνοι δύνασθε φέρειν, ἄλλος δ᾽ οὐδεὶς τῶν Ἑλλήνων.


  [38] but that, while the people were ready to grant that the Aenians should pay the contribution which they had agreed upon with the general Chares, this abominable fellow had taken upon himself to carry on the same practices as the traitor Charinus — learning all this, I say, they took the course which necessity forced upon them, and chose the least of the evils before them. Yet what must we assume their sufferings at the hands of those who were preferring indictments here to have been, when it seemed to the Aenians preferable to revolt from us, to receive a garrison, and to be subject to barbarians? But you alone, I think, are able to endure the wickedness of these men, you alone, and no one besides among all the Greeks!

  [39] ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὔτε διὰ τὰς γραφὰς τὰς ἀνεγνωσμένας οὔτε δι᾽ ἄλλην αἰτίαν οὐδεμίαν ἄξιόν ἐστιν παρὰ πάντας τοὺς νόμους τοὺς περὶ τῶν ἐνδείξεων ἀφεῖναι Θεοκρίνην, σχεδὸν καὶ διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων φανερόν ἐστιν. ἐγὼ δὲ τὰς μὲν τούτων προφάσεις, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ τὰς κατηγορίας καὶ τὰς προσποιήτους ταύτας ἔχθρας οὐ λανθάνειν ὑμᾶς νομίζω.