| Demosthenes, Speeches (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose; rhetoric] [word count] [lemma count] [Dem.]. | ||
| <<Dem. 50.24 | Dem. 50.35 (Greek) | >>Dem. 50.45 |
50.30I was ready to reckon it up item by item, while I had by me as witnesses to the expenditures the sailors and the marines and the rowers, in order that, if he disputed anything, I might refute him at once. Everything had been recorded so accurately by me, that I had written down not only the disbursements themselves, but also the objects for which the money had been spent, the nature of the service rendered, what the price was, in the coinage of what country the payment was made, and what the loss in exchange was, in order that I might be able to give convincing proof to my successor, if he thought any false entries were being made against him.
50.31And besides I was ready to take an oath to confirm my reckoning. Upon my giving him this challenge, he answered that he had no interest in what I was saying. At this point a servant came from the general with orders for me to set sail. The order was given to me, not to the defendant, my successor, upon whom the duty was now devolving; but the reason for this I will explain in the course of my address. For the time being it seemed to me best to weigh anchor and sail where he ordered me,
50.32but when I put into Thasos again, after towing the vessels to Strymê as the general had ordered, bidding the sailors and the marines and the rowers to remain on board, I went by myself to the house where the general, Timomachus, lodged, wishing that he too should be present, when I offered the ship with her full crew to the defendant Polycles.
50.33I found the defendant there and the trierarchs and those who were to succeed them, and some others of our citizens; and on coming in I spoke at once to Polycles in the presence of the general, and called upon him to take over the ship from me, and to pay me for the disbursements made during the period since my term of service had expired; and I asked him about the ship's equipment, whether he would take it over, or whether he had brought equipment of his own with him.
50.34When I thus challenged him, he asked me why I was the only one of the trierarchs who had equipment of my own, and whether the state did not know that there were some people able to provide equipment for their ships, so that the state itself did not need to do it. “Or have you,” he said, “so far surpassed the others in wealth as to be the only one of the trierarchs to have equipment of your own and gilded ornaments?
50.35Who,” he continued, “could endure your madness and extravagance, a crew corrupted and accustomed to receive large sums in advance and to enjoy exemption from services normally required on board a ship, and able also to make use of the baths, and marines and rowers rendered luxurious by high wages paid in full? Bad ways,” he said, “are these you have taught the army. It is partly your fault that the troops of the other trierarchs have become more unruly, seeking to have the same treatment that yours enjoy; you ought to have done the same as the other trierarchs.”
50.36Upon his saying this, I answered that the reason I had taken no equipment from the docks was because, “You,” said I, “have brought the stores into bad repute. However, if you like, take this equipment of mine; if not, provide equipment for yourself. As for the sailors and marines and rowers, if you say that they have been corrupted by me, take over the ship, and get sailors and marines and rowers for yourself, who will sail with you without pay. But take over the ship, for it is not my place to serve any longer; the term of my trierarchy has expired, and I have served four months beyond it.”
50.37When I said this to him, he answered that his colleague in the trierarchy had not come to the ship. “So,” said he, “I will not take over the ship alone.” To prove that I am telling you the truth in this, that in the market-place he made the answer mentioned above, that he cared nothing for what I was saying, and that in the house where Timomachus lodged he declared that he would not take over the ship alone—the clerk shall read you the depositions bearing on these facts.
Depositions
50.38After this, men of the jury, when the defendant would neither take over the ship from me nor pay the expenses for the period beyond my term, and the general ordered me to set sail, I approached him in the harbor in Thasos, and in the presence of the general, when the ship was fully manned, and made a proposal, which was not indeed fair, since the advantage was all on his side, but which was forced upon me by the circumstances. 50.39“Since you say, Polycles, that your associate in the trierarchy has not come, I will get from him, if I can, the amount expended during my extra time of service, the four months; but do you take over the ship, and first serve as trierarch for your term, the six months; then, if your colleague shall have arrived in the interim, you will give over the ship, having fulfilled your term of service; and, if he does not come, you will suffer no great harm in serving two months beyond your term. 50.40Or, am I, who have served for my own term and that of my colleague, to have performed extra service as trierarch for you and your associate, and are you, who have incurred no expense, to refuse either to take over the ship and serve your own term, or to reimburse me for the expenses I have borne?” When I said this, he answered that I was romancing. Then the general ordered me to go on board my ship and put to sea with him.
To prove that he did give me this answer, please read the deposition.Deposition
| Demosthenes, Speeches (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose; rhetoric] [word count] [lemma count] [Dem.]. | ||
| <<Dem. 50.24 | Dem. 50.35 (Greek) | >>Dem. 50.45 |
