Demosthenes, Speeches (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose; rhetoric] [word count] [lemma count] [Dem.].
<<Dem. 53.14 Dem. 53.22 (Greek) >>Dem. 54.1

53.19The wrongs done to me by these people, men of the jury, which led me to file the information, I have made clear to you. That these slaves are the property of Arethusius, and that I listed them in the inventory because they formed a part of his estate, I shall proceed to show you. Cerdon he reared from early childhood; and to prove that he belonged to Arethusius, I shall bring before you witnesses who know the fact.Witnesses

53.20I shall also bring before you witnesses to prove that Arethusius got the wages on his account from all the persons with whom Cerdon ever worked, and that he used, as being his master, to receive compensation or give it, whenever Cerdon wrought any damage.Witnesses

As for Manes: Arethusius lent some money to Archepolis of Peiraeus, and when Archepolis was unable to pay either the interest or the principal in full, he made over to him Manes in settlement.

To prove that I am speaking the truth, I shall bring before you witnesses to establish these statements.Witnesses

53.21Furthermore, from the following facts also you will see that the men belong to Arethusius. For whenever they bought up the produce of an orchard, or hired themselves out to reap a harvest, or undertook any other piece of farming work, it was Arethusius who made the purchase or paid the wages on their behalf.

To prove that I am speaking the truth, I shall bring before you witnesses to establish these statements also.Witnesses

53.22All the evidence which I had to offer to prove that the slaves belong to Arethusius, I have laid before you. I wish, however, to speak also about the challenge which these men tendered me, and which I also tendered them. They challenged me at the preliminary hearing, stating that they were ready to deliver up the slaves, that I myself might put them to the torture, their wish being that this offer should serve as a sort of evidence for their side. 53.23I answered, however, in the presence of witnesses, that I was ready to go with them to the senate, and in conjunction with the senate or the Eleven note to receive the slaves for the torture, telling them that, if my suit against them had been a private one, I should have accepted the slaves for the torture, if they had offered them, but that, as it was, both the slaves and the information belonged to the state note; and therefore the examination by the torture should be conducted by a public official. 53.24I thought that it was not proper for me as a private individual to put public slaves to the torture; for I was not empowered to conduct the torture, nor was it proper that I should decide on the meaning of the answers given by the men. I thought that the Eleven, or persons chosen by the senate, should have everything written down, and then, having sealed up the evidence extorted by the torture—the answers, that is, given by the men—should produce it in court, that you might hear it, and in the light of this reach whatever verdict you might think right. 53.25For if the men had been put to the torture privately by me, everything would have been disputed by these men; but, if publicly, we should have kept quiet, and the officers or those chosen by the senate would have carried on the torture as far as they saw fit. When I made this offer, they declared that they would not deliver up the slaves to the officials, nor would they go with me to the senate.

To prove that I am speaking the truth, call, please, the witnesses to these facts.Witnesses

53.26Their shameless impudence in laying claim to what is yours appears to me manifest on many grounds, but I shall make their character to appear most clearly by a reference to your laws. For these men, when the jurors wished to impose a sentence of death upon Arethusius, begged the jurors to impose a fine in money, and begged me to give my assent to this; and they agreed to be jointly responsible for the payment. 53.27But so far are they from making payment according to their guarantee, that they even lay claim to what is yours. And yet the laws enact that any man's estate shall be confiscated who, after guaranteeing any sum due to the state, does not make good his guarantee; so that, even if the slaves belonged to them, they ought to be state-property, if the laws are of any use. 53.28And before Arethusius became a debtor to the state, he was admitted to be the richest of the brothers, but since the laws declare his property to be yours, Arethusius is made out to be a poor man, and his mother lays claim to one part of his property, and his brothers to another. If they had wished to act fairly toward you, they should have disclosed the entire estate of Arethusius, and then have filed a claim, if any of their own property had been included in the inventory. 53.29If, then, you reflect that there will be no lack of persons to lay claim to what is yours—for they will either suborn some orphans or heiresses and claim your sympathy, or they will talk about old age and embarrassments and a mother's maintenance, and by dwelling tearfully upon these matters by which they think they can most easily deceive you, they will try to rob the state of what is due her;—if, I say, you disregard all these tricks, and reach an adverse verdict, you will decide aright.



Demosthenes, Speeches (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose; rhetoric] [word count] [lemma count] [Dem.].
<<Dem. 53.14 Dem. 53.22 (Greek) >>Dem. 54.1

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