Greek Texts & Translations

49.1Let no one of you think, men of the jury, that it is a thing beyond belief that Timotheus should have owed money to my father and is now being prosecuted by me in this suit. On the contrary, when I have called to your minds the occasion on which the loan was contracted and the events in which the defendant was at that time involved and the straits to which he was reduced, you will then hold that my father was most generous to Timotheus, and that the defendant is not only ungrateful, but is the most dishonest of humankind; 49.2for he got from my father all that he asked, and received from the bank money at a time when he was in great need and when he was in grievous danger of losing his life ^note; yet he has not only made no return, but even seeks to rob me of the money which was granted him. And yet, if matters had gone badly with Timotheus, my father's money, too, was lost, for he lent it without security and without witnesses; but, if the defendant got off safe, it rested with him to choose when, having the funds available, he should pay us back. 49.3But for all that, men of the jury, my father did not count the holding of large sums of money as important a matter as to supply Timotheus with what he needed in the time of his distress. No, my father thought, men of the jury, that, if Timotheus then got safely out of those dangers and returned home from the service of the king, ^note when the defendant was in better circumstances than at the time, he would not only recover his money, but would be in a position to obtain whatever else he might wish from Timotheus. 49.4But as matters have not turned out as my father expected, since the money which Timotheus asked of my father and gratefully received from the bank he is determined, now that my father is dead, to pay back only if forced to do so by hostile legal procedure, and by convincing proof of his indebtedness, and, if he can convince you by deceitful arguments that he is not liable, to rob us of the money—I count it necessary to inform you fully of everything from the beginning: the several loans, the purpose for which he expended each sum, and the dates at which the obligations were contracted. 49.5And let no one of you wonder that I have accurate knowledge of these matters; for bankers are accustomed to write out memoranda of the sums which they lend, the purposes for which funds are desired, and the payments which a borrower makes, in order that his receipts and his payments may be known to them for their accounts. 49.6It was then, in the archonship of Socratidas, ^note in the month Munichion, ^note when the defendant Timotheus was about to sail on his second expedition and was already in the Peiraeus on the point of putting to sea, that, being in want of money, he came to my father in the port and urged him to lend him one thousand three hundred and fifty-one drachmae two obols, declaring that he needed that additional sum; and he bade him give the money to his treasurer Antimachus, who at that time managed everything for him. 49.7It was Timotheus who borrowed the money from my father, and who bade him give it to his treasurer Antimachus, but the one who received the money from Phormio at the bank was Autonomus, who throughout all that time served as secretary to Antimachus. 49.8When, therefore, the money was paid out, the bank recorded as debtor Timotheus, who had requested the loan, but made a memorandum in the name of Antimachus, to whom Timotheus had ordered the money to be paid, and also named Autonomus, whom Antimachus had sent to the bank to receive the money, the amount being one thousand three hundred and fifty-one drachmae two obols. The first loan, then, which Timotheus contracted at the time of his going to sea, when he was serving as general the second time, was for this amount. 49.9Again, when you had removed him from his command as general because he failed to sail round the Peloponnesus, and he had been given over to the popular assembly for trial under a very heavy charge, when he was being prosecuted by Callistratus and Iphicrates, ^note men of power both in action and in speech, and they and their fellow-pleaders so influenced your minds by their accusations against him 49.10that you condemned and put to death Antimachus, his treasurer and a man most devoted to him,—yes, and confiscated his property; while Timotheus himself, thanks to the intercession of all his friends and relatives, and also of Alcetas and Jason, ^note who were allies of yours, you were reluctantly induced to pardon, but you deposed him from his command;— 49.11such were the charges under which he lay, and he was in desperate need of money. For all his property had been mortgaged, pillars had been set up on it, and other people were in control. His farm in the plain had been taken over as security by the son of Eumelidas; the rest of his property was mortgaged, for seven minae each, to the sixty trierarchs who set out on the voyage with him, which money he as admiral had forced them to distribute among their crews for maintenance. 49.12When he was deposed, he reported in the account which he rendered, that he had at that time himself given those seven minae for the ships from the military fund, but, fearing lest the trierarchs should give evidence against him and he should be convicted of lying, he borrowed privately from each one of them seven minae, and gave them a mortgage on his property. Yet he is now seeking to rob them of this money, and he has dug up the pillars. 49.13He was hard pressed on every side, his life was in extreme danger because of the gravity of the misfortunes which had befallen the state, the army in Calaureia ^note had been broken up for want of pay, the allies around Peloponnesus were being besieged by the Lacedaemonians, Iphicrates and Callistratus were accusing him of being responsible for the present disaster, and, furthermore, those who came from the army were reporting before the assembly the distress and need that existed, and at the same time individuals kept receiving word from their relatives and friends telling of their plight. These things you all heard in the popular assembly at that time, and you remember how each man of you felt toward him; you are not without knowledge of what people were saying. 49.14Well, then, when he was on the point of sailing home for his trial, the defendant, while still in Calaureia, borrowed from Antiphanes of Lamptrae, ^note who sailed with Philip the shipowner as his treasurer, the sum of one thousand drachmae to distribute among the Boeotian trierarchs, that they might remain with the fleet until his trial should come off, for fear lest, if the Boeotian fleet should first be broken up and the troops scattered here and there to their homes, you might be the more incensed against him. 49.15For although our countrymen endured their privations and remained at their posts, the Boeotians declared that they would not stay, unless somebody should furnish them with their daily rations. Under stress of necessity, then, at that time he borrowed the thousand drachmae from Antiphanes, who sailed with Philip, the shipowner, as his treasurer, and gave them to the admiral of the Boeotian fleet. 49.16But when he got back to Athens, both Philip and Antiphanes demanded of him the thousand drachmae which he had borrowed in Calaureia, and were angry at not receiving their money at once. Timotheus, then, fearing that his enemies might learn that the thousand drachmae, which in his report he stated he had paid for the Boeotian fleet out of the military fund, had in fact been lent by Philip, who could not get them back, 49.17and fearing also that Philip might give testimony against him at his trial, came to my father and begged him to settle with Philip, and to lend him the thousand drachmae to pay Philip. And my father, seeing the seriousness of the trial in which the defendant was involved, and in what plight he was, felt pity for him, and, taking him to the bank, bade Phormio, who was cashier, to pay Philip the thousand drachmae, and to enter on the books Timotheus as owing that amount.

49.18To prove that these statements are true, I shall bring forward Phormio, who paid the money, as a witness, as soon as I shall have explained to you the other loan, in order that, being informed through the same deposition about the whole of the debt, you may know that I am speaking the truth. I shall also call before you Antiphanes, who lent the sum of one thousand drachmae to the defendant in Calaureia, and who was present when Philip received payment of the money from my father here in Athens. 49.19That I did not put the deposition in the box before the arbitrator was due to a trick of Antiphanes, who kept saying that he would give evidence for me on the day set for the decision; but when the hearing was in progress before the arbitrator, although he was summoned from his house (for he was nowhere to be seen), he was persuaded by Timotheus to fail to appear as a witness. On my depositing a drachma in his name on a charge of failing to appear, as the law prescribes, the arbitrator did not make an award against the defendant, but decided in his favor, and then went off, for it was already late. 49.20Now, however, I have entered suit on my own account for damages against Antiphanes because he neither gave testimony for me, nor asked under oath for a postponement, as the law provides. And I demand of him that he get up and state under oath before you, first, whether he lent Timotheus a thousand drachmae in Calaureia, and secondly, whether Philip received here payment of that sum from my father. 49.21The defendant himself practically admitted before the arbitrator that my father paid Philip the thousand drachmae; but he declared that it was not to him (Timotheus) that my father lent the money, but to the Boeotian admiral, who, he alleges, gave some copper as security for the sum. However, that in this he was not stating the truth, but that he borrowed the money himself and is seeking to avoid payment, I shall prove to you, when I shall have informed you in detail regarding his other debts also.

49.22In the month Maimacterion ^note in the archonship of Asteius, ^note Alcetas and Jason came to visit Timotheus to be present at his trial and give him their support, and they arrived at his house in Peiraeus in the Hippodameia ^note when it was already evening. Being at a loss how to entertain them, he sent his body servant Aeschrion to my father and bade him ask for the loan of some bedding and cloaks and two silver bowls and to borrow a mina of silver. 49.23And my father, hearing from Aeschrion, the body-servant of the defendant, that they had arrived and the urgent need for which the request was made, both supplied the objects for which the slave had come and lent the mina of silver which he asked to borrow. Well, when he had been acquitted of the charge, the defendant found himself in sore straits for money to pay his private debts and the taxes to the state, and my father, seeing this, did not venture to demand repayment of the money at once; 49.24for, while he did not think that Timotheus would defraud him when he had the means to pay, he did not himself see any way to exact payment from him when he was without means. So, after the departure of Alcetas and Jason, Aeschrion, the defendant's body-servant, brought back the bedding and the cloaks, but he did not return the two bowls, for which he had asked at the time he borrowed the bedding and the mina of silver., when Alcetas and Jason arrived at the defendant's house. 49.25Then, when he was about to leave the country to take service with the king, and had arranged to sail as the king's general to carry on the Egyptian war, in order that he might not have to submit an account and vouchers for his military administration here, he sent for my father to come to the Paralion, ^note thanked him for his former services to him, 49.26and, introducing to him Philondas, a Megarian by birth, but one who resided as an alien at Athens,—a man who at that time was loyally devoted to the defendant and was employed in his service—he begged my father, that when Philonidas (whom he then introduced to him) should come back from Macedonia bringing some timber, which had been given to the defendant by Amyntas, ^note he would supply him with money for the freight of the timber, and let him deliver the timber to the defendant's house in Peiraeus; for he declared the timber belonged to him. 49.27At the same time in preferring this request, he made statements which are quite inconsistent with his present actions. For he said that even if he should not obtain what he asked of my father, he would not be angry, as another might who failed to obtain what he wanted, but would show his gratitude, if he should ever find himself able to do so, for the services which my father had rendered him at his request. On hearing this my father was pleased at his words and commended him for remembering the favors shown him, and promised to do all that he asked. 49.28Timotheus, then, after this set sail to join the king's generals, but Philondas, to whom he had presented my father as one who would pay the freight, when he should come back with the timber, set out on his journey to Macedonia. The time was about the month Thargelion, ^note in the archonship of Asteius. 49.29In the following year Philondas came back from Macedonia, bringing the timber, while Timotheus was absent in the king's service. He approached my father and asked him to furnish the freight for the timber, in order that he might settle with the shipowner, as Timotheus had begged my father to do, when he was about to sail and had introduced Philondas to him. So my father took him to the bank and ordered Phormio to pay him the freight of the timber, one thousand seven hundred and fifty drachmae. 49.30And Phormio counted out the money, and set down Timotheus as owing it (for it was he who had asked my father to furnish the freight for the timber, and the timber was his), and he wrote a memorandum of the purpose for which the money was received, and the name of the person who received it. The date of the transaction was the archonship of Alcisthenes, ^note the year after Timotheus set sail to take service with the king. 49.31About the same time Timosthenes of Aegilia ^note also arrived home from a journey abroad which he had made on private business. Timosthenes was a friend and partner of Phormio, and when he set sail he had given to Phormio to put away for him along with other articles two bowls of Lycian workmanship. By chance the boy, not knowing that these bowls were the property of someone else, gave them to Aeschrion, the body-servant of the defendant, when he was sent to my father by Timotheus and requested the bedding and the cloaks and the bowls, and borrowed the mina of silver at the time when Alcetas and Jason came to the defendant's house. 49.32When Timosthenes reached home and asked for the return of the bowls, Timotheus being still abroad in the king's service, my father persuaded him to accept the value of the bowls, as much as they were worth by weight, namely two hundred and thirty-seven drachmae. So he paid to Timosthenes the value of the bowls and entered on his books the defendant as owing what he paid to Timosthenes for the bowls in addition to the rest of the debt which the defendant owed him.

49.33To prove that all these statements of mine are true the clerk shall read you the depositions which bear upon them; first, that of those who were at that time clerks in the bank and paid the money from its funds to the persons to whom Timotheus bade them pay it, and then that of the man who received the price of the bowls.Depositions

You have learned, then, from the depositions which have just been read, that I am telling you nothing but the truth regarding the matters which I mentioned. And that the defendant himself admits that the timber brought by Philondas was delivered to his house in the Peiraeus,—this, too, is proved by the deposition which will be read to you.Deposition

49.34That the timber, then, which Philondas brought was the property of the defendant I have his own testimony to prove; for he admitted before the arbitrator that it was delivered to his house in Peiraeus, as those who heard him have testified. But besides this I shall try to prove to you by circumstantial evidence that I am telling the truth. 49.35For do you suppose, men of the jury, that, if the timber had not been the property of Timotheus, and if he had not begged my father—at the time he introduced Philondas to him, when he was about to set sail to join the king's generals—to provide the freight, my father would ever have allowed Philondas to carry the timber away from the harbor, seeing that it was pledeged as security to him for the freight, and would not rather have set one of his servants to keep watch and to receive the price as the timber was sold, until he had recovered his money, if we suppose that the timber was the property of Philondas and was brought in for the sake of trade? 49.36Then, besides this, does it seem to anyone likely, that if Timotheus had not bidden my father to supply the freight for the timber given to him by Amyntas, my father would have trusted Philondas, and have suffered him to deliver the timber to the defendant's house? Or, how is it possible that Philondas, as is stated by the defendant, brought in the timber for the sake of trade, and yet that the defendant on his return used this timber for the building of his house? 49.37And observe this also, that many worthy citizens were friends of the defendant and looked after his affairs while Timotheus was abroad in the service of the king, and yet not one of these has dared to testify on his behalf either that Philondas did not receive from the bank the freight of the timber, or that, having received it, he paid it back; or, again, that any one of them settled for the freight of the timber which Philondas brought and which had been given to the defendant by Amyntas. For they deem it a matter of higher import to themselves to preserve their character as worthy and honorable men than to do a favor to Timotheus by giving false testimony. 49.38But they declared that they would not testify to the truth against him; for they said he was their friend. Since, then, no one of those who are his friends, and who looked after his affairs when he was abroad in the service of the king, has ventured to testify either that Philondas did not receive from the bank the freight for the timber, or that any one of them paid it, is it not reasonable that you should believe that I am speaking the truth? 49.39Surely he will not venture to say this, that anyone other than my father paid the freight for the timber which Philondas brought. If he does insist upon this argument, demand of him that he produce before you the deposition of the person who paid the freight for the timber. For it is admitted that he was himself abroad in the king's service, and as for Philondas, whom he sent to fetch the timber and whom he introduced to my father—you found on your return from the king's service, Timotheus, that he was dead. 49.40It must be, then, that some other of your relatives and friends, whom you left to look after your affairs when you were about to go abroad, knows from what source Philondas got the freight for the timber and paid the shipowner, if you deny that you introduced my father to Philondas, or that Philondas got the freight for the timber from my father. 49.41However, you cannot produce a deposition from any of your friends to prove that the freight for the timber was not received from the bank, while you were abroad; therefore one or the other of two things follows: either you are on good terms with no one of your friends and have no confidence in any of your connections, or else, though knowing well that Philondas did receive the freight for the timber from my father, to whom you introduced him when you were about to set out on your voyage, you see fit to rob us, if you can, and enrich yourself. 49.42On my part, men of the jury, in addition to the deposition which I have produced before you of those who at the time were serving as clerks in the bank and who paid the money to the persons to whom Timotheus bade them pay it, I was ready also to confirm my statements by an oath, which the clerk will read to you.Oath

Now, men of the jury, my father not only wrote out and left to me a record of his credits, but also during his illness told me of each particular debt that was due to him, the person in whose possession the money was, and the purpose for which it was received; and he made these statements to my brother also. To prove that I am speaking the truth in this, read, please, the deposition of my brother.Deposition

49.43Well then, that Timotheus was left by my father owing us the money as a debtor for which I am suing him, and that this is a part of my share, my brother has testified, and so has Phormio, who paid the money; and I was ready confirm the fact by an oath. But when the defendant challenged me before the arbitrator, bidding me bring the books from the bank and demanding copies, and sent Phrasiendes to the bank, I brought out the books and allowed Phrasiendes to examine them and to copy out the entries of all the sums that Timotheus owed. To prove that the defendant himself admitted having received the copies, please read the deposition.Deposition

49.44I therefore brought the books to the arbitrator. Phormio and Euphraeus, who had paid the money to the persons designated by Timotheus, were present, and they exposed his falsehoods by showing the date at which he had contracted each loan, the person who received the money, and the use for which he expended it. Regarding the one thousand three hundred and fifty-one drachmae two obols, which he borrowed as the first loan in the month Munichion in the archonship of Socratidas, when he was about to set out on his voyage, and which the defendant ordered to be paid to Antimachus, his treasurer, he declared that my father lent the money to Antimachus on his own private account, and that he (the defendant) did not himself receive it. 49.45To prove the truth of this statement he has produced no witness, but is vigorous in his assertion, in order that it may not appear that he is himself defrauding us, but that Antimachus borrowed the money. And yet, men of the jury, I will give you a convincing proof that my father lent the money, not to Antimachus, but to Timotheus when he was about to sail. For which do you think would have been the easier course for my father, to file a claim against the estate of Antimachus, when his property was confiscated, for this sum as due to him, supposing he had lent it to Antimachus, 49.46or to wait until the defendant might be in better circumstances so as to collect it from him, seeing that he had at that time little hope of deliverance? Surely, if he had filed the claim, he would not have been at a loss to find the deposit money, ^note nor would you have had any cause to disbelieve him. For you all know that my father had no wish unjustly to acquire public funds, but that he willingly expended his own money in your service whenever you bade him do so; 49.47and besides, Callistratus, who sold the goods of Antimachus, was a friend of his, so that my father was meeting no opposition. What possible motive then, could my father have had to leave Timotheus inscribed in his books is our debtor, if he did not really owe the money, rather than file his claim and recover his debt from the confiscated estate of Antimachus?

49.48Now with regard to the one thousand drachmae which he borrowed from Antiphanes in Calaureia to distribute to the Boeotian trierarchs,when he was about to sail home for his trial, and which he paid to Philip the shipowner after he had got them from my father, he maintains that the Boeotian admiral borrowed the money and gave my father some copper as security for it. That this, however, is untrue, I will give you a convincing proof. 49.49In the first place, it is proved that the defendant borrowed the thousand drachmae in Calaureia, and not the Boeotian admiral; secondly, that Philip demanded payment of the thousand drachmae here from Timotheus and not from the Boeotian admiral, and that Timotheus made payment and not the Boeotian admiral; for it was quite proper that the Boeotian admiral should receive from Timotheus the maintenance for the crews of his ships, since the pay for the troops came out of a common contribution, and it was you, Timotheus, who collected all the money from the allies, and you were bound to account for it. 49.50Again, supposing the Boeotian fleet had disbanded and the troops had dispersed to their various homes, the Boeotian admiral was in no danger from the Athenians, nor was any trial impending over him; you, however, were in very great danger, and in your utter terror you thought it would be a great aid to your defence, if the Boeotian triremes should stay with the fleet until your trial should come off. Besides, from what motive of friendship pray, would my father have lent the one thousand drachmae to the Boeotian admiral whom he did not even know? Ah, but he says the admiral pledged some copper as security. How much, then? and from what country was it imported? 49.51And from what source did the Boeotian admiral get the copper? Was it imported by way of trade, or was it obtained from prisoners? Then who were the persons who brought the copper to my father? Were they hired men, or slaves? 49.52And which one of our slaves was it who received it? For, if slaves brought it, he ought to have delivered them up for the torture, but if hired men, he ought to have demanded for the torture the slave of ours who received and weighed the copper; for, I fancy, neither would the one taking the copper in pledge accept it, nor the one offering it give it over, without weighing; nor was my father likely to carry the copper and weigh it himself, since he had slaves who were accustomed to receive the articles given as security for loans. 49.53And I certainly wonder for what possible reason the Boeotian admiral should have given the copper to my father as security, if he owed a thousand drachmae to Philip. Was it that Philip would not have been glad to receive interest, if his money was lent safely and on security? or that Philip had no money? So, what need was there for the Boeotian admiral to ask my father to lend the thousand drachmae and pay Philip, rather than give the copper as security to Philip? 49.54But, men of the jury, the copper was not given as security, nor did the Boeotian admiral borrow the thousand drachmae from my father, but this man Timotheus borrowed them, being in great distress; and the urgent need, to meet which he used the money, I have told you. But instead of evincing gratitude for the confidence shown him and the loan which he received from my father, he thinks it proper to defraud us, if he can, even of the principal.

49.55Now, as to the bowls and the mina of silver, which he borrowed from my father when he sent his bodyservant Aeschrion to my father in the night, I asked him before the arbitrator if Aeschrion was still a slave, and demanded that he be put to the test “in his hide.” ^note He answered that Aeschrion was free, so I desisted from my demand; but I required him to put in a deposition made by Aeschrion as being a free man. 49.56He, however, neither provided a deposition from Aeschrion, as being free, nor would he deliver him up as a slave that proof might be had from his body; for he was afraid that, if he produced a deposition from him as being free, I should bring suit for false testimony, and after proving that Aeschrion had testified falsely, should proceed against Timotheus himself for subornation, as the law provides; and if, again, he should deliver him up for the torture, he was afraid that Aeschrion would state the truth against him. 49.57And yet it was a fine opportunity for him, if he was unable to produce witnesses concerning the other receipts of money, to prove this at any rate by the words of Aeschrion—that the bowls and the mina of silver were not received, and that Aeschrion was not sent by him to my father; and then to use this as evidence to you that I am uttering falsehoods in regard to my other claims upon him, seeing that his slave, whom I declare to have received the bowls and the mina of silver, was proved by the torture not to have received them. 49.58If, then, this would have been a strong piece of evidence for him to use before you, that, namely, he offered to deliver up Aeschrion, whom I declare to have been sent by the defendant and to have received the bowls from my father and to have borrowed the mina of silver, let it also be evidence for me to use before you, that knowing my claims to be true, he does not dare to deliver up Aeschrion for the torture.

49.59Well, he will make the defence that he was listed in the books of the bank in the archonship of Alcisthenes as having received the freight of the timber and the price of the bowls, which my father paid to Timosthenes on his behalf, and that he was not at that time in the country, but was in the service of the king. About this I wish to give you accurate information, that you may understand clearly how the books of the bank are kept. 49.60The defendant in the month Thargelion in the archonship of Asteius when he was about to sail to take service with the king, introduced Philondas to my father; and in the following year in the archonship of Alcisthenes, Philondas arrived bringing the timber from Macedonia and received the freight from my father, while Timotheus was abroad in the service of the king. Accordingly they entered the defendant as debtor at the time they paid the money, not at the time when, being in Athens, he had introduced Philondas to my father. 49.61For, when he introduced him, the timber had not yet come, but Philondas was about to make the journey to fetch it; when, however, he came back, bringing the timber, the defendant was abroad, but Philondas received the freight for the timber according to the defendant's orders, and the timber was delivered to the defendant's house in Peiraeus. That Timotheus was not well provided with funds when he sailed from Athens is already known to all of you to whom his estate was mortgaged, and whom he is now seeking to defraud.

However, to prove that he borrowed money from some of our citizens without security, since he had no equivalent security to give, please read the deposition.Deposition

49.62Now regarding the bowls which Aeschrion, the body-servant of the defendant, requested of me in the month Maimacterion in the archonship of Asteius, when Timotheus was in Athens at the time when he entertained Alcetas and Jason, and with the value of which he was debited in the archonship of Alcisthenes—for some time my father supposed he would return the bowls which he had borrowed; but when he went off without having returned them, and the bowls of Timosthenes were no longer in the custody of Phormio, and the one who had deposited them came and demanded their return, my father paid the price of the bowls to Timosthenes, and wrote the defendant down as owing this sum in addition to the rest of his debt. 49.63If, then, he makes use of this defence, that he was not in Athens at the time when he was debited with the cost of the bowls, make this reply to him: “You received them, when here, and since you did not return them, and were abroad, and the bowls which the depositor claimed were not there, you were debited with their value, that sum, namely, which was paid for the bowls.” 49.64Ah but, he will perhaps say, my father ought to have demanded the return of the bowls from him. But my father saw in what straits you were, Timotheus. He trusted you in regard to the rest of your debt, and believed that after your return to Athens he would recover his money from you, when you should be better off for funds. Was he, then, going to distrust you in the matter of the bowls? He promised at your request that he would provide the freight for the timber when you were sailing to take service with the king; was he, then, going to distrust you because of a couple of bowls? He did not demand of you that you pay the rest of the debt, because he saw that you were without funds. Was he, then, going to demand the bowls?

49.65I wish now to speak about the challenge to an oath, which I tendered the defendant, and he tendered me. For after I had put an oath in the evidence-box, he thought that, by taking an oath himself, he could be quit of the affair. And, if I had not known that he had flagrantly perjured himself in many solemn oaths both to states and to individuals, I should have allowed him to take the oath; but as it was, seeing that I had witnesses to prove that the persons appointed by him had in fact received the money from the bank, and conclusive circumstantial evidence as well, it seemed to me a monstrous thing to give an oath to one who would not only take no care to swear honestly, but who, when it was a question of gain, has not spared even temples. 49.66The specific instances of the perjuries which he has committed without scruple would make a long story; but I will call to your minds the most flagrant instances and those of which you are all well aware. You know that he swore in the assembly, imprecating destruction upon himself and dedicating his property to sacred uses, if he should fail to indict Iphicrates as a usurper of the rights of citizenship. Yet, although he had sworn and promised this in the assembly, no long time afterwards, in order to serve his own interests, he gave his daughter in marraige to the son of Iphicrates. 49.67When a man, then, felt no shame in deceiving you to whom he had pledged his word, though there are laws which declare that, if a man deceive the people by a promise, he shall be liable to impeachment,—when, after swearing and imprecating destruction upon himself, he had no fear of the gods in whose name he had perjured himself—was it strange that I was unwilling to allow him to take an oath? Again, not very long ago, he once more solemnly declared in the assembly that he had not adequate provision for his old age—he, who possesses so large an estate; so insatiate and grasping is his character. 49.68I should be glad, however, to ask you whether you feel anger against bankers who have failed. For, if you have reason to feel anger against them because they do you injury, is it not reasonable for you to support those who do you no injury? Surely it is through men like Timotheus that banks are caused to fail; for when they are in need they borrow money, and think they should obtain credit because of their reputation; but when they are in funds they do not make payments but seek to defraud their creditors.

49.69All matters, men of the jury, in proof of which I was able to provide witnesses, have been proved to you by witnesses; further, I have shown you by circumstantial evidence that Timotheus owes the money to my father. I beg you therefore to aid me in recovering from my father's debtors the estate which he left me.