| Demosthenes, Speeches (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose; rhetoric] [word count] [lemma count] [Dem.]. | ||
| <<Dem. 54.33 | Dem. 54.41 (Greek) | >>Dem. 55.1 |
54.39The contempt, however, which this fellow feels for all sacred things I must tell you about; for I have been forced to make inquiry. For I hear, then, men of the jury, that a certain Bacchius, who was condemned to death in your court, and Aristocrates, the man with the bad eyes, and certain others of the same stamp, and with them this man Conon , were intimates when they were youths, and bore the nickname Triballi note; and that these men used to devour the food set out for Hecatê note and to gather up on each occasion for their dinner with one another the testicles of the pigs which are offered for purification when the assembly convenes, note and that they thought less of swearing and perjuring themselves than of anything else in the world.
54.40Surely Conon , a man of that sort, is not to be believed on oath; far from it indeed. No; the man who would not swear by any object which your custom does not recognize even an oath which he intended to observe, and would not even think of doing so by the lives of his children, but would suffer anything rather than that; and who, if forced to swear, will take only a customary oath, imprecating destruction upon himself, his race, and his house, is more to be believed than one who swears by his children or is ready to pass through fire. note I, then, who on every account am more worthy to be believed than you, Conon , offered to take the oath here cited, note not that through readiness to do anything whatsoever I might avoid paying the penalty for crimes which I had committed, as is the case with you, but in the interest of truth, and in order that I might not be subjected to further outrage, and as one who will not allow his case to be lost through your perjury.
Conon this wrong for which I am suing him; that I was beaten by him, and that my lip was cut open so that it had to be sewn up, and that it is because of gross maltreatment that I am prosecuting him. If I swear truly, may many blessings be mine, and may I never again suffer such an outrage; but, if I am forsworn, may I perish utterly, I and all I possess or ever may possess. But I am not forsworn; no, not though Conon should say so till he bursts.
54.42Therefore, men of the jury, since I have shown you all the just arguments which I have to present, and have furthermore added an oath, it is but right that you should feel toward Conon on my behalf the same resentment which each one of you, had he been the victim, would have felt toward the one who did the wrong, and not to regard an act of this sort as a private matter which might fall to the lot of any man. No; whoever may be the victim, bear him aid and give him the redress that is his due, and loathe those who in the face of their crimes are bold and reckless, but when they are brought to trial are impudent villains, caring nothing for reputation or character or anything else, provided only they can escape punishment.
54.43Of course Conon will entreat you and wail aloud. But consider, which of us is more deserving of pity, a man who has suffered such treatment as I have at the hands of the defendant, if I am to go forth having met with the further disgrace of losing my suit, or Conon , if he is to be punished? Is it to the advantage of each one of you that a man be permitted to indulge in battery and outrage, or that he be not permitted? I certainly think he should not be. Well then, if you let him off, there will be many such; if you punish him, fewer.
Conon , we are not, I suppose, to be beaten or maltreated.
Read the challenge.Challenge
54.41This oath I was at that time ready to take, and now, to convince you and those who stand gathered about, I swear by all the gods and goddesses that I have in very truth suffered at the hands of
54.44I might have much to say, men of the jury, about the services we have rendered you, I, and my father while he lived, both as trierarchs and in the army, and in performing whatever duty was laid upon us, and I could show that neither the defendant nor any of his sons have rendered any service; but the allowance of water is not sufficient nor is it at this time a question of such services. For, if it were indeed our lot to be by common consent regarded as more useless and more base than
I do not know what reason there is why I should say more; for I believe that nothing which I have said has escaped you. note
| Demosthenes, Speeches (English) (XML Header) [genre: prose; rhetoric] [word count] [lemma count] [Dem.]. | ||
| <<Dem. 54.33 | Dem. 54.41 (Greek) | >>Dem. 55.1 |
