---
title: "On the Murder of Herodes · Περὶ τοῦ Ἡρῷδου φόνου"
author: "Antiphon"
translator: "Kenneth John Maidment"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/antiphon-on-the-murder-of-herodes/
cite: "Antiphon, tr. Kenneth John Maidment, On the Murder of Herodes · Περὶ τοῦ Ἡρῷδου φόνου. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/antiphon-on-the-murder-of-herodes/"
---

# On the Murder of Herodes · Περὶ τοῦ Ἡρῷδου φόνου

*Antiphon, tr. Kenneth John Maidment*

A man from Mytilene accused of killing a fellow passenger who vanished at a harbour.

> Greek: ed. Kenneth John Maidment, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0028.tlg005, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Kenneth John Maidment, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0028.tlg005.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## Contents

1. [Sections 1–50](https://scriptura.si/works/antiphon-on-the-murder-of-herodes/1.md)
2. [Sections 51–96](https://scriptura.si/works/antiphon-on-the-murder-of-herodes/2.md)

## 1. Sections 1–50

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/antiphon-on-the-murder-of-herodes/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/antiphon-on-the-murder-of-herodes/1/#p-N

[¶0] 1. I could have wished, gentlemen, that my powers of speech and my experience of the world were as great as the misfortune and the severities with which I have been visited. Instead, I know more of the last two than I should, and am more wanting in the first than is good for me.

> Greek: 1. ἐβουλόμην μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες, τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ λέγειν καὶ τὴν ἐμπειρίαν τῶν πραγμάτων ἐξ ἴσου μοι καθεστάναι τῇ τε συμφορᾷ καὶ τοῖς κακοῖς τοῖς γεγενημένοις· νῦν δὲ τοῦ μὲν πεπείραμαι πέρᾳ τοῦ προσήκοντος, τοῦ δὲ ἐνδεής εἰμι μᾶλλον τοῦ συμφέροντος.

[¶1] 2. When I had to submit to the bodily suffering which this unwarranted charge brought with it, experience afforded me no help; while now that my life depends upon my giving a truthful account of the facts, my case is being prejudiced by my inability to speak.

> Greek: 2. οὗ μὲν γάρ με ἔδει κακοπαθεῖν τῷ σώματι μετὰ τῆς αἰτίας τῆς οὐ προσηκούσης, ἐνταυθοῖ οὐδέν με ὠφέλησεν ἡ ἐμπειρία· οὗ δέ με δεῖ σωθῆναι μετὰ τῆς ἀληθείας εἰπόντα τὰ γενόμενα, ἐν τούτῳ με βλάπτει ἡ τοῦ λέγειν ἀδυνασία.

[¶2] 3. Poor speakers have often before now been disbelieved because they spoke the truth, and the truth itself has been their undoing because they could not make it convincing: just as clever speakers have often gained credit with lies, and have owed their lives to the very fact that they lied. Thus the fate of one who is not a practised pleader inevitably depends less upon the true facts and his actual conduct than upon the version of them given by his accusers.

> Greek: 3. πολλοὶ μὲν γὰρ ἤδη τῶν οὐ δυναμένων λέγειν, ἄπιστοι γενόμενοι τοῖς ἀληθέσιν, αὐτοῖς τούτοις ἀπώλοντο, οὐ δυνάμενοι δηλῶσαι αὐτά· πολλοὶ δὲ τῶν λέγειν δυναμένων πιστοὶ γενόμενοι τῷ ψεύδεσθαι, τούτῳ ἐσώθησαν, διότι ἐψεύσαντο. ἀνάγκη οὖν, ὅταν τις ἄπειρος ᾖ τοῦ ἀγωνίζεσθαι, ἐπὶ τοῖς τῶν κατηγόρων λόγοις εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἔργοις καὶ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ τῶν πραγμάτων.

[¶3] 4. I shall therefore ask you, gentlemen, not indeed for a hearing, as do the majority of those on trial, who lack confidence in themselves and presume you to be biassed; for with an honest jury the defence is naturally assured of a hearing even without appealing for it, seeing that that same jury accorded the prosecution a hearing unasked— no, my request of you is this.

> Greek: 4. ἐγὼ οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες, αἰτήσομαι ὑμᾶς, οὐχ ἅπερ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων ἀκροᾶσθαι σφῶν αὐτῶν αἰτοῦνται, σφίσι μὲν αὐτοῖς ἀπιστοῦντες, ὑμῶν δὲ προκατεγνωκότες ἄδικόν τι—εἰκὸς γὰρ ἐν ἀνδράσι γε ἀγαθοῖς καὶ ἄνευ τῆς αἰτήσεως τὴν ἀκρόασιν ὑπάρχειν τοῖς φεύγουσιν, οὗπερ καὶ οἱ διώκοντες ἔτυχον ἄνευ αἰτήσεως·— τάδε δὲ δέομαι ὑμῶν, τοῦτο μὲν ἐάν τι τῇ γλώσσῃ ἁμάρτω, συγγνώμην ἔχειν μοι, καὶ ἡγεῖσθαι ἀπειρίᾳ αὐτὸ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀδικίᾳ ἡμαρτῆσθαι, τοῦτο δὲ ἐάν τι ὀρθῶς εἴπω, ἀληθείᾳ μᾶλλον ἢ δεινότητι εἰρῆσθαι.

[¶4] 5. If, on the one hand, I make any mistake in speaking, pardon me and treat it as due to inexperience rather than dishonesty; and if, on the other hand, I express a point well, treat it as due to truthfulness rather than skill. For it is no more right that mere words should be the undoing of a man who is in fact innocent than that they should be the salvation of a man who is in fact guilty; the tongue is to blame for a word whereas the will is to blame for an act. Moreover, a man in personal danger is sure to make some mistake; he cannot help thinking of his fate as well as of his argument, as the decision of an issue which is still in doubt always depends more upon chance than upon human effort. Hence a man in danger is bound to be not a little distraught.

> Greek: 5. οὐ γὰρ δίκαιον οὔτʼ ἔργῳ ἁμαρτόντα διὰ ῥήματα σωθῆναι, οὔτʼ ἔργῳ ὀρθῶς πράξαντα διὰ ῥήματα ἀπολέσθαι· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ῥῆμα τῆς γλώσσης ἁμάρτημά ἐστι, τὸ δʼ ἔργον τῆς γνώμης. ἀνάγκη δὲ κινδυνεύοντα περὶ αὑτῷ καί πού τι καὶ ἐξαμαρτεῖν. οὐ γὰρ μόνον τῶν λεγομένων ἀνάγκη ἐνθυμεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐσομένων· ἅπαντα γὰρ τὰ ἐν ἀδήλῳ ἔτʼ ὄντα ἐπὶ τῇ τύχῃ μᾶλλον ἀνάκειται ἢ τῇ προνοίᾳ. ταῦτʼ οὖν ἔκπληξιν πολλὴν παρέχειν ἀνάγκη ἐστὶ τῷ κινδυνεύοντι.

[¶5] 7. Even speakers with a long experience of the courts are far from being at their best, I notice, when in any danger; they are more successful when conducting a case in safety.

> Greek: 7. ὁρῶ γὰρ ἔγωγε καὶ τοὺς πάνυ ἐμπείρους τοῦ ἀγωνίζεσθαι πολλῷ χεῖρον ἑαυτῶν λέγοντας, ὅταν ἔν τινι κινδύνῳ ὦσιν· ὅταν δʼ ἄνευ κινδύνων τι διαπράσσωνται, μᾶλλον ὀρθουμένους.

[¶6] 8. So much for my request, gentlemen; it breaks no law, human or divine: and it takes into account what you have a right to expect from me as much as what I have a right to expect from you. And now for the charges made, which I will answer one at a time. To begin with, I shall prove to you that the methods used to involve me in today’s proceedings were entirely illegal and arbitrary. Not that I wish to evade trial before a popular court; as far as my belief in my innocence of the present charge and in the justice of your verdict is concerned, I would place my life in your hands even if you were not on oath and I were being tried under no particular law. No, my object is to let the arbitrary and illegal behavior of the prosecution furnish you with a presumption as to the character of the rest of their case against me.

> Greek: 8. ἡ μὲν οὖν αἴτησις, ὦ ἄνδρες, καὶ νομίμως καὶ ὁσίως ἔχουσα, καὶ ἐν τῷ ὑμετέρῳ δικαίῳ οὐχ ἧσσον ἢ ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ· περὶ δὲ τῶν κατηγορημένων ἀπολογήσομαι καθʼ ἕκαστον. πρῶτον μὲν οὖν, ὡς παρανομώτατα καὶ βιαιότατα εἰς τόνδε τὸν ἀγῶνα καθέστηκα, τοῦτο ὑμᾶς διδάξω, οὐ τῷ φεύγειν ἂν τὸ πλῆθος τὸ ὑμέτερον, ἐπεὶ κἂν ἀνωμότοις ὑμῖν καὶ μὴ κατὰ νόμον μηδένα ἐπιτρέψαιμι περὶ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ ἐμοῦ διαψηφίσασθαι, ἕνεκά γε τοῦ πιστεύειν ἐμοί τε μηδὲν ἐξημαρτῆσθαι εἰς τόδε τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ ὑμᾶς γνώσεσθαι τὰ δίκαια, ἀλλʼ ἵνα ᾖ τεκμήρια ὑμῖν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πραγμάτων ⟨καὶ⟩ τῶν εἰς ἐμὲ ἡ τούτων βιαιότης καὶ παρανομία.

[¶7] 9. First, whereas an information has been lodged against me as a malefactor, I am being tried for murder: a thing which has never before happened to anyone in this country. Indeed, the prosecution have themselves borne witness to the fact that I am not a malefactor and cannot be charged under the law directed against malefactors, as that law is concerned with thieves and footpads, and they have omitted to prove my claim to either title. Thus, as far as this arrest of mine goes, they have given you every right and justification to acquit me.

> Greek: 9. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ κακοῦργος ἐνδεδειγμένος φόνου δίκην φεύγω, ὃ οὐδεὶς πώποτʼ ἔπαθε τῶν ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ. καὶ ὡς μὲν οὐ κακοῦργός εἰμι οὐδʼ ἔνοχος τῷ τῶν κακούργων νόμῳ, αὐτοὶ οὗτοι τούτου γε μάρτυρες γεγένηνται. περὶ γὰρ τῶν κλεπτῶν καὶ λωποδυτῶν ὁ νόμος κεῖται, ὧν οὐδὲν ἐμοὶ προσὸν ἀπέδειξαν. οὕτως εἴς γε ταύτην τὴν ἀπαγωγὴν νομιμωτάτην καὶ δικαιοτάτην πεποιήκασιν ὑμῖν τὴν ἀποψήφισίν μου.

[¶8] 10. They object, however, that murder is a malefaction, and a grave one. I agree, a very grave one; so is sacrilege; so is treason; but the laws which apply to each of them differ. In my case the prosecution have first of all caused the trial to be held in the one place from which those charged with murder are always debarred by proclamation, the Agora: and secondly, although it is laid down by law that a murderer shall pay with his life, they have entered a claim for damages —not as a kindness to me, but for their own benefit—and by so doing they have grudged the dead man his lawful due. Their motives you will learn in the course of my speech.

> Greek: 10. φασὶ δὲ αὖ τό γε ἀποκτείνειν μέγα κακούργημα εἶναι, καὶ ἐγὼ ὁμολογῶ μέγιστόν γε, καὶ τὸ ἱεροσυλεῖν καὶ τὸ προδιδόναι τὴν πόλιν· ἀλλὰ χωρὶς περὶ αὐτῶν ἑκάστου οἱ νόμοι κεῖνται. ἐμοὶ δὲ πρῶτον μέν, οὗ τοῖς ἄλλοις εἴργεσθαι προαγορεύουσι τοῖς τοῦ φόνου φεύγουσι τὰς δίκας, ἐνταυθοῖ πεποιήκασι τὴν κρίσιν, ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ· ἔπειτα τίμησίν μοι ἐποίησαν, ἀνταποθανεῖν τοῦ νόμου κειμένου τὸν ἀποκτείναντα, οὐ τοῦ ἐμοὶ συμφέροντος ἕνεκα, ἀλλὰ τοῦ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς λυσιτελοῦντος, καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἔλασσον ἔνειμαν τῷ τεθνηκότι τῶν ἐν τῷ νόμῳ κειμένων· οὗ δʼ ἕνεκα, γνώσεσθε προϊόντος τοῦ λόγου.

[¶9] 11. Secondly, as of course you all know, every court judges cases of murder in the open air, and for good reasons: first, that the jurors may avoid entering the same building as those whose hands are unclean: and secondly, that he who is conducting the prosecution for murder may avoid being under the same roof as the murderer. No one but yourself has ever dreamed of evading this law. And not only that you should, as a preliminary, have taken the most solemn and binding oath known, swearing, under pain of causing yourself, your kin, and your house to perish from the earth, that you would accuse me only in connection with the murder itself, to the effect that I committed it; whereby, however numerous my crimes, I could have been condemned only on the charge before the court, and however numerous my good deeds, none of those good deeds could have gained me an acquittal.

> Greek: 11. ἔπειτα δέ, ὃ πάντας οἶμαι ὑμᾶς ἐπίστασθαι, ἅπαντα τὰ δικαστήρια ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ δικάζει τὰς δίκας τοῦ φόνου, οὐδενὸς ἄλλου ἕνεκα ἢ ἵνα τοῦτο μὲν οἱ δικασταὶ μὴ ἴωσιν εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ τοῖς μὴ καθαροῖς τὰς χεῖρας, τοῦτο δὲ ὁ διώκων τὴν δίκην τοῦ φόνου ἵνα μὴ ὁμωρόφιος γίγνηται τῷ αὐθέντῃ· σὺ δὲ τοῦτο μὲν παρελθὼν τοῦτον τὸν νόμον τοὐναντίον τοῖς ἄλλοις πεποίηκας· τοῦτο δὲ δέον σε διομόσασθαι ὅρκον τὸν μέγιστον καὶ ἰσχυρότατον, ἐξώλειαν σαυτῷ καὶ γένει καὶ οἰκίᾳ τῇ σῇ ἐπαρώμενον, ἦ μὴν μὴ ἄλλα κατηγορήσειν ἐμοῦ ἢ εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν φόνον, ὡς ἔκτεινα, ἐν ᾧ οὔτʼ ἂν κακὰ πολλὰ εἰργασμένος ἡλισκόμην ἄλλῳ ἢ αὐτῷ τῷ πράγματι, οὔτʼ ἂν πολλὰ ἀγαθὰ εἰργασμένος τούτοις ἂν ἐσωζόμην τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς·

[¶10] 12. This requirement you have evaded. You have invented laws to suit yourself. You, the prosecutor, are not on oath; nor are the witnesses, who are giving evidence against me which they should have given only after taking the same preliminary oath as yourself, their hands on the sacrifice as they did so. You bid the court, moreover, believe your witnesses, in spite of their not being on oath, and pass sentence for murder—when your own evasion of the laws of the land has destroyed the trustworthiness of those witnesses. Yes, you imagine that, in the eyes of the court, the laws themselves should have less authority than your own actions in defiance of them.

> Greek: 12. ἃ σὺ παρελθών, αὐτὸς σεαυτῷ νόμους ἐξευρών, ἀνώμοτος μὲν αὐτὸς ἐμοῦ κατηγορεῖς, ἀνώμοτοι δὲ οἱ μάρτυρες καταμαρτυροῦσι, δέον αὐτοὺς τὸν αὐτὸν ὅρκον σοὶ διομοσαμένους καὶ ἁπτομένους τῶν σφαγίων καταμαρτυρεῖν ἐμοῦ. ἔπειτα κελεύεις τοὺς δικαστὰς ἀνωμότοις πιστεύσαντας τοῖς μαρτυροῦσι φόνου δίκην καταγνῶναι, οὓς σὺ αὐτὸς ἀπίστους κατέστησας παρελθὼν τοὺς κειμένους νόμους, καὶ ἡγῇ χρῆναι αὐτοῖς σὴν παρανομίαν κρείσσω γενέσθαι αὐτῶν τῶν νόμων.

[¶11] 13. You reply that if I had been allowed my freedom, I should have made off without awaiting my trial—as though you had forced me to enter this country against my will. Yet if I attached no importance to being debarred from Athens for the future, it was equally open to me either to disregard the summons to appear in court and so lose the case by default, or to avail myself of the right given to every one of leaving the country after making the first speech for the defense. You, however, for purely personal reasons, are trying to rob me, and me alone, of a privilege accorded to every Greek, by framing a law to suit yourself.

> Greek: 13. λέγεις δὲ ὡς οὐκ ἂν παρέμεινα εἰ ἐλελύμην, ἀλλʼ ᾠχόμην ἂν ἀπιών, ὡσπερεὶ ἄκοντά με ἀναγκάσας εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν γῆν ταύτην. καίτοι ἐμοὶ εἰ μηδὲν διέφερε στέρεσθαι τῆσδε τῆς πόλεως, ἴσον ἦν μοι καὶ προσκληθέντι μὴ ἐλθεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἐρήμην ὀφλεῖν τὴν δίκην, τοῦτο δʼ ἀπολογησαμένῳ τὴν προτέραν ἐξεῖναι ἐξελθεῖν· ἅπασι γὰρ τοῦτο κοινόν ἐστι. σὺ δέ, ὃ τοῖς ἄλλοις Ἕλλησι κοινόν ἐστιν, ἰδίᾳ ζητεῖς με μόνον ἀποστερεῖν, αὐτὸς σαυτῷ νόμον θέμενος.

[¶12] 14. Yet it would be unanimously agreed, I think, that the laws which deal with cases such as the present are the most admirable and righteous of all laws. Not only have they the distinction of being the oldest in this country, but they have changed no more than the crime with which they are concerned; and that is the surest token of good laws, as time and experience show mankind what is imperfect. Hence you must not use the speech for the prosecution to discover whether your laws are good or bad: you must use the laws to discover whether or not the speech for the prosecution is giving you a correct and lawful interpretation of the case.

> Greek: 14. καίτοι τούς γε νόμους οἳ κεῖνται περὶ τῶν τοιούτων, πάντας ἂν οἶμαι ὁμολογῆσαι κάλλιστα νόμων ἁπάντων κεῖσθαι καὶ ὁσιώτατα. ὑπάρχει μέν γε αὐτοῖς ἀρχαιοτάτοις εἶναι ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ, ἔπειτα τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἀεὶ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν, ὅπερ μέγιστόν ἐστι σημεῖον νόμων καλῶς κειμένων· ὁ γὰρ χρόνος καὶ ἡ ἐμπειρία τὰ μὴ καλῶς ἔχοντα ἐκδιδάσκει τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. ὥστε οὐ δεῖ ὑμᾶς ἐκ τῶν τοῦ κατηγόρου λόγων τοὺς νόμους καταμανθάνειν, εἰ καλῶς ὑμῖν κεῖνται ἢ μή, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῶν νόμων τοὺς τοῦ κατηγόρου λόγους, εἰ ὀρθῶς καὶ νομίμως ὑμᾶς διδάσκουσι τὸ πρᾶγμα ἢ οὔ.

[¶13] 15. The laws concerned with the taking of life are thus excellent, and no one has ever before ventured to interfere with them. You alone have had the audacity to turn legislator and substitute worse for better; and the object of this arbitrary behavior of yours is to have me put to death without just cause. In fact, your infringement of the law is itself decisive evidence in my favor, because you well knew that you would find no one to testify to my guilt once he had taken that preliminary oath.

> Greek: 15. οὕτως οἵ γε νόμοι κάλλιστα κεῖνται οἱ περὶ φόνου, οὓς οὐδεὶς πώποτε ἐτόλμησε κινῆσαι· σὺ δὲ μόνος δὴ τετόλμηκας γενέσθαι νομοθέτης ἐπὶ τὰ πονηρότερα, καὶ ταῦτα παρελθὼν ζητεῖς με ἀδίκως ἀπολέσαι. ἃ δὲ σὺ παρανομεῖς, αὐτὰ ταῦτά μοι μέγιστα μαρτύριά ἐστιν· εὖ γὰρ ᾔδεις ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἂν ἦν σοι ὃς ἐκεῖνον τὸν ὅρκον διομοσάμενος ἐμοῦ κατεμαρτύρησεν.

[¶14] 16. Furthermore, instead of acting like a man confident of his case and arranging that it should be tried once and indisputably, you have left yourself grounds for dispute and argument, as though you proposed to show your distrust of even the present court. The result is that even if I am acquitted today, I am no better off; you can say that it was as a malefactor that I was acquitted, not on a charge of murder. On the other hand, if you win your case, you will claim my life, on the ground that it is on a charge of murder that I have been tried and found guilty. Could any thing more unfair be devised? You and your associates have only to convince this court once, and your object is gained; whereas I, if I am acquitted once, am left in the same peril as before.

> Greek: 16. ἔπειτα δὲ οὐχ ὡς πιστεύων τῷ πράγματι ἀναμφισβητήτως ἕνα τὸν ἀγῶνα περὶ τοῦ πράγματος ἐποιήσω, ἀλλὰ ἀμφισβήτησιν καὶ λόγον ὑπελίπου ὡς καὶ τοῖσδε τοῖς δικασταῖς ἀπιστήσων. ὥστε μηδέν μοι ἐνθάδε ⟨μηδὲ⟩ πλέον εἶναι μηδʼ ἀποφυγόντι, ἀλλʼ ἐξεῖναί σοι λέγειν ὅτι κακοῦργος ἀπέφυγον, ἀλλʼ οὐ τοῦ φόνου τὴν δίκην· ἑλὼν δʼ αὖ ἀξιώσεις με ἀποκτεῖναι ὡς τοῦ φόνου τὴν δίκην ὠφληκότα. καίτοι πῶς ἂν εἴη τούτων δεινότερα μηχανήματα, εἰ ὑμῖν μὲν ἅπαξ τουτουσὶ πείσασι κατείργασται ἃ βούλεσθε, ἐμοὶ δʼ ἅπαξ ἀποφυγόντι; ὁ αὐτὸς κίνδυνος ὑπολείπεται;

[¶15] 17. Then again, gentlemen, my imprisonment was an act of illegality quite without parallel. I was ready to furnish the three sureties required by law; yet the prosecution took steps to ensure that I should be prevented from doing so. Hitherto no alien willing to furnish sureties has ever been imprisoned; and, moreover, the law concerned applies to the custodians of malefactors as it does to others. Here again, then, we have a law by which every one benefits: and it has failed to release me, and me alone, from confinement.

> Greek: 17. ἔτι δὲ μάλʼ ἐδέθην, ὦ ἄνδρες, παρανομώτατα ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων. ἐθέλοντος γάρ μου ἐγγυητὰς τρεῖς καθιστάναι κατὰ τὸν νόμου, οὕτως οὗτοι διεπράξαντο τοῦτο ὥστε μὴ ἐγγενέσθαι μοι ποιῆσαι. τῶν δὲ ἄλλων ξένων ὅτις πώποτε ἠθέλησε καταστῆσαι ἐγγυητάς, οὐδεὶς πώποτʼ ἐδέθη. καίτοι οἱ ἐπιμεληταὶ τῶν κακούργων τῷ αὐτῷ χρῶνται νόμῳ τούτῳ. ὥστε καὶ οὗτος κοινὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις πᾶσιν ὢν ἐμοὶ μόνῳ ἐπέλιπε μὴ ἀπολῦσαι τοῦ δεσμοῦ.

[¶16] 18. The reason was that it was to the prosecution’s advantage, first, that I should be prevented from looking after my interests in person, and so be quite unable to prepare for my trial: and secondly, that I should undergo bodily suffering, and by reason of that bodily suffering find my friends readier to tell lies as witnesses for the prosecution than the truth as witnesses for the defence. In addition to which, lifelong disgrace has been brought upon me and mine.

> Greek: 18. τούτοις γὰρ ἦν τοῦτο συμφέρον, πρῶτον μὲν ἀπαρασκευότατον γενέσθαι με, μὴ δυνάμενον διαπράσσεσθαι αὐτὸν τἀμαυτοῦ πράγματα, ἔπειτα κακοπαθεῖν τῷ σώματι, τούς τε φίλους προθυμοτέρους ἔχειν τοὺς ἐμαυτοῦ τούτοις τὰ ψευδῆ μαρτυρεῖν ἢ ἐμοὶ τἀληθῆ λέγειν, διὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος κακοπάθειαν. ὄνειδός τε αὐτῷ τε ἐμοὶ περιέθεσαν καὶ τοῖς ἐμοῖς προσήκουσιν εἰς τὸν βίον ἅπαντα.

[¶17] 19. Such are the manifold respects in which I have had to submit to a loss of the rights accorded me by your laws and by justice before appearing in court. However, in spite of that disadvantage, I will try to prove my innocence: although it is hard to refute at a moment’s notice false charges so carefully framed, as one cannot prepare oneself against the unexpected.

> Greek: 19. οὑτωσὶ μὲν δὴ πολλοῖς ἐλασσωθεὶς τῶν νόμων τῶν ὑμετέρων καὶ τοῦ δικαίου καθέστηκα εἰς τὸν ἀγῶνα· ὅμως μέντοι γε καὶ ἐκ τούτων πειράσομαι ἐμαυτὸν ἀναίτιον ἐπιδεῖξαι. καίτοι χαλεπόν γε τὰ ἐκ πολλοῦ κατεψευσμένα καὶ ἐπιβεβουλευμένα, ταῦτα παραχρῆμα ἀπελέγχειν· ἃ γάρ τις μὴ προσεδόκησεν, οὐδὲ φυλάξασθαι ἐγχωρεῖ.

[¶18] 20. I sailed from Mytilene, gentlemen, as a passenger on the same boat as this Herodes whom, we are told, I murdered. We were bound for Aenus, I to visit my father, who happened to be there just then, and Herodes to release some slaves to certain Thracians. The slaves whom he was to release were also passengers, as were the Thracians who were to purchase their freedom. I will produce witnesses to satisfy you of this.

> Greek: 20. ἐγὼ δὲ τὸν μὲν πλοῦν ἐποιησάμην ἐκ τῆς Μυτιλήνης, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ πλέων ᾧ Ἡρῴδης οὗτος, ὅν φασιν ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ ἀποθανεῖν· ἐπλέομεν δὲ εἰς τὴν Αἶνον, ἐγὼ μὲν ὡς τὸν πατέρα—ἐτύγχανε γὰρ ἐκεῖ ὢν τότε—ὁ δʼ Ἡρῴδης ἀνδράποδα Θρᾳξὶν ἀνθρώποις ἀπολύσων. συνέπλει δὲ τά τε ἀνδράποδα ἃ ἔδει αὐτὸν ἀπολῦσαι, καὶ οἱ Θρᾷκες οἱ λυσόμενοι. τούτων δʼ ὑμῖν τοὺς μάρτυρας παρέξομαι.

[¶19] 21. Witnesses Such were our respective reasons for making the voyage. In the course of it, we happened to meet with a storm which forced us to put in at a place within the territory of Methymna, where the boat on to which Herodes transhipped, and on which the prosecution maintain that he met his end, lay at anchor. Now consider these circumstances in themselves to begin with; they were due to chance, not to any design on my part. It has nowhere been shown that I persuaded Herodes to accompany me; on the contrary, it has been shown that I made the voyage independently on business of my own.

> Greek: 21. Μάρτυρες ἡ μὲν πρόφασις ἑκατέρῳ τοῦ πλοῦ αὕτη· ἐτύχομεν δὲ χειμῶνί τινι χρησάμενοι, ὑφʼ οὗ ἠναγκάσθημεν κατασχεῖν εἰς τῆς Μηθυμναίας τι χωρίον, οὗ τὸ πλοῖον ὥρμει τοῦτο εἰς ὃ μετεκβάντα φασὶν ἀποθανεῖν αὐτόν ⟨, τὸν Ἡρῴδην⟩. καὶ πρῶτον μὲν αὐτὰ ταῦτα σκοπεῖτε, ὅτι ⟨οὐ τῇ ἐ⟩μῇ προνοίᾳ μᾶλλον ἐγίγνετο ἢ τύχῃ. οὔτε γὰρ πείσας τὸν ἄνδρα οὐδαμοῦ ἀπελέγχομαι σύμπλουν μοι γενέσθαι, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς καθʼ αὑτὸν τὸν πλοῦν πεποιημένος ἕνεκα πραγμάτων ἰδίων·

[¶20] 22. Nor again, as is clear, was I making my voyage to Aenus without good reason. Nor did we put in at this particular spot by prearrangement of any sort; we were forced to do so. And the transhipment after coming to anchor was similarly forced upon us, and not part of any plot or ruse. The boat on which we were passengers had no deck, whereas that on to which we transhipped had one and the rain was the reason for the exchange. I will produce witnesses to satisfy you of this.

> Greek: 22. οὔτʼ αὖ ἐγὼ ἄνευ προφάσεως ἱκανῆς φαίνομαι τὸν πλοῦν ποιησάμενος εἰς τὴν Αἶνον, οὔτε κατασχόντες εἰς τὸ χωρίον τοῦτο ἀπὸ παρασκευῆς οὐδεμιᾶς, ἀλλʼ ἀνάγκῃ χρησάμενοι· οὔτʼ αὖ ἐπειδὴ ὡρμισάμεθα, ἡ μετέκβασις ἐγένετο εἰς τὸ ἕτερον πλοῖον οὐδενὶ μηχανήματι οὐδʼ ἀπάτῃ, ἀλλʼ ἀνάγκῃ καὶ τοῦτο ἐγίγνετο. ἐν ᾧ μὲν γὰρ ἐπλέομεν, ἀστέγαστον ἦν τὸ πλοῖον, εἰς ὃ δὲ μετέβημεν, ἐστεγασμένον· τοῦ δὲ ὑετοῦ ἕνεκα ταῦτʼ ἦν. τούτων δʼ ὑμῖν μάρτυρας παρέξομαι.

[¶21] 23. Witnesses After crossing into the other boat, we fell to drinking. Now whereas it is established that Herodes quitted the boat and did not board it again, I did not leave the boat at all that night. Next day, when Herodes was missing, I joined in the search as anxiously as any; if anyone considered the matter serious, I did. Not only was I responsible for the dispatch of a messenger to Mytilene, that is to say, it was upon my suggestion that it was decided to send one, but when none of the passengers or the personal companions of Herodes volunteered to go, I offered to send my own attendant; and I hardly imagine that I was deliberately proposing to send someone who would inform against me.

> Greek: 23. Μάρτυρες ἐπειδὴ δὲ μετεξέβημεν εἰς τὸ ἕτερον πλοῖον, ἐπίνομεν. καὶ ὁ μέν ἐστι φανερὸς ἐκβὰς ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου καὶ οὐκ εἰσβὰς πάλιν· ἐγὼ δὲ τὸ παράπαν οὐκ ἐξέβην ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου τῆς νυκτὸς ἐκείνης. τῇ δʼ ὑστεραίᾳ, ἐπειδὴ ἀφανὴς ἦν ὁ ἀνήρ, ἐζητεῖτο οὐδέν τι μᾶλλον ὑπὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἢ καὶ ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ· καὶ εἴ τῳ τῶν ἄλλων ἐδόκει δεινὸν εἶναι, καὶ ἐμοὶ ὁμοίως. καὶ εἴς τε τὴν Μυτιλήνην ἐγὼ αἴτιος ἦ πεμφθῆναι ἄγγελον, καὶ τῇ ἐμῇ γνώμῃ ἐπέμπετο.

[¶22] 24. Finally, when the search had failed to reveal any trace of Herodes either at Mytilene or anywhere else and, with the return of fair sailing-weather, the rest of the boats began standing out to sea, I likewise took my departure. I will produce witnesses to prove these statements to you.

> Greek: 24. καὶ ἄλλου οὐδενὸς ἐθέλοντος βαδίζειν, οὔτε τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ πλοίου οὔτε τῶν αὐτῷ τῷ Ἡρῴδῃ συμπλεόντων, ἐγὼ τὸν ἀκόλουθον τὸν ἐμαυτοῦ πέμπειν ἕτοιμος ἦ· καίτοι οὐ δήπου γε κατʼ ἐμαυτοῦ μηνυτὴν ἔπεμπον εἰδώς. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὁ ἀνὴρ οὔτε ἐν τῇ Μυτιλήνῃ ἐφαίνετο ζητούμενος οὔτʼ ἄλλοθι οὐδαμοῦ, πλοῦς τε ἡμῖν ἐγίγνετο, καὶ τἆλλʼ ἀνήγετο πλοῖα ἅπαντα, ᾠχόμην κἀγὼ πλέων. τούτων δʼ ὑμῖν τοὺς μάρτυρας παρασχήσομαι.

[¶23] 25. Witnesses Those are the facts; now draw the logical conclusions. First, in the interval before I put to sea for Aenus, when Herodes was missing, not a soul accused me, although the prosecution had already heard the news; otherwise I should never have taken my departure. For the moment the true facts of the matter were too much for any charge which they could bring; and, moreover, I was still on the island. It was not until I had resumed my voyage, and the prosecution had conspired to form this plot of theirs upon my life, that they made their accusation.

> Greek: 25. Μάρτυρες τὰ μὲν γενόμενα ταῦτʼ ἐστίν· ἐκ δὲ τούτων ἤδη σκοπεῖτε τὰ εἰκότα. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ πρὶν ἀνάγεσθαί με εἰς τὴν Αἶνον, ὅτε ἦν ἀφανὴς ὁ ἀνήρ, οὐδεὶς ᾐτιάσατό με ἀνθρώπων, ἤδη πεπυσμένων τούτων τὴν ἀγγελίαν· οὐ γὰρ ἄν ποτε ᾠχόμην πλέων. ἀλλʼ εἰς μὲν τὸ παραχρῆμα κρεῖσσον ἦν τὸ ἀληθὲς καὶ τὸ γεγενημένον τῆς τούτων αἰτιάσεως, καὶ ἅμα ἐγὼ ἔτι ἐπεδήμουν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐγώ τε ᾠχόμην πλέων καὶ οὗτοι ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς συνέθεσαν ταῦτα καὶ ἐμηχανήσαντο κατʼ ἐμοῦ, τότε ᾐτιάσαντο.

[¶24] 26. Their story is that it was on the shore that Herodes was killed, and that I, who did not leave the boat at all, struck him upon the head with a stone. Yet while they have detailed information of this, they cannot give any plausible account of how the man came to disappear. Clearly, the probabilities suggest that the crime was committed somewhere in the neighborhood of the harbor. On the one hand, Herodes was drunk; and on the other hand, it was at night that he left the boat. He probably would not have been in a condition to control his own movements, nor could anyone who wished to take him a long way off by night have found any plausible excuse for doing so.

> Greek: 26. λέγουσι δὲ ὡς ἐν μὲν τῇ γῇ ἀπέθανεν ὁ ἀνήρ, κἀγὼ λίθον αὐτῷ ἐνέβαλον εἰς τὴν κεφαλήν, ὃς οὐκ ἐξέβην τὸ παράπαν ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν ἀκριβῶς οὗτοι ἴσασιν. ὅπως δʼ ἠφανίσθη ὁ ἀνήρ, οὐδενὶ λόγῳ εἰκότι δύνανται ἀποφαίνειν. δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι ἐγγύς που τοῦ λιμένος εἰκὸς ἦν τοῦτο γίγνεσθαι, τοῦτο μὲν μεθύοντος τοῦ ἀνδρός, τοῦτο δὲ νύκτωρ ἐκβάντος ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου· οὔτε γὰρ αὑτοῦ κρατεῖν ἴσως ἂν ἐδύνατο, οὔτε τῷ ἀπάγοντι νύκτωρ μακρὰν ὁδὸν ἡ πρόφασις ἂν εἰκότως ἐγίγνετο·

[¶25] 27. Yet in spite of a two days’ search both in the harbor and at a distance from it, no eyewitness, no bloodstain, and no clue of any other description was found. But I will go further. I accept the prosecution’s story. I can indeed produce witnesses to prove that I did not quit the boat. But suppose as much as you please that I did quit it; it is still utterly improbable that the man should have remained undiscovered after his disappearance, if he did not go very far from the sea.

> Greek: 27. ζητουμένου δὲ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς δύο ἡμέρας καὶ ἐν τῷ λιμένι καὶ ἄπωθεν τοῦ λιμένος, οὔτε ὀπτὴρ οὐδεὶς ἐφάνη οὔθʼ αἷμα οὔτʼ ἄλλο σημεῖον οὐδέν. κᾆτʼ ἐγὼ συγχωρῶ τῷ τούτων λόγῳ, παρεχόμενος μὲν τοὺς μάρτυρας ὡς οὐκ ἐξέβην ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου· εἰ δὲ καὶ ὡς μάλιστα ἐξέβην ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου, οὐδενὶ τρόπῳ εἰκὸς ἦν ἀφανισθέντα λαθεῖν τὸν ἄνθρωπον, εἴπερ γε μὴ πάνυ πόρρω ἀπῆλθεν ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάσσης.

[¶26] 28. However, we are told that he was thrown into the sea. From what boat? Clearly, the boat came from the harbor itself; and in that case, why should it not have been identified? For that matter, we should also have expected to find some traces in the boat, seeing that a dead man had been placed in it and thrown overboard in the dark. The prosecution claim, indeed, to have found traces—but only in the boat on board of which he was drinking and which he quitted, the one boat on which they themselves agree that he was not murdered. The boat from which he was thrown into the sea they have not discovered; they have found neither it itself nor any trace of it. I will produce witnesses to prove these statements to you.

> Greek: 28. ἀλλʼ ὡς κατεποντώθη λέγουσιν. ἐν τίνι πλοίῳ; δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ λιμένος ἦν τὸ πλοῖον. πῶς ἂν οὖν οὐκ ἐξηυρέθη; καὶ μὴν εἰκός γε ἦν καὶ σημεῖόν τι γενέσθαι ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ ἀνδρὸς τεθνεῶτος ⟨ἐντιθεμένου⟩ καὶ ἐκβαλλομένου νύκτωρ. νῦν δὲ ἐν ᾧ μὲν ἔπινε πλοίῳ καὶ ἐξ οὗ ἐξέβαινεν, ἐν τούτῳ φασὶν εὑρεῖν σημεῖα, ἐν ᾧ αὐτοὶ μὴ ὁμολογοῦσιν ἀποθανεῖν τὸν ἄνδρα· ἐν ᾧ δὲ κατεποντώθη, οὐχ ηὗρον οὔτʼ αὐτὸ τὸ πλοῖον οὔτε σημεῖον οὐδέν. τούτων δʼ ὑμῖν τοὺς μάρτυρας παρασχήσομαι.

[¶27] 29. Witnesses After I had departed for Aenus and the boat on which Herodes and I had been drinking had reached Mytilene, the prosecution first of all went on board and conducted a search. On finding the bloodstains, they claimed that this was where Herodes had met his end. But the suggestion proved an unfortunate one, as the blood turned out to be that of the animals sacrificed. So they abandoned that line, and instead seized the two men and examined them under torture.

> Greek: 29. Μάρτυρες ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐγὼ μὲν φροῦδος ἦ πλέων εἰς τὴν Αἶνον, τὸ δὲ πλοῖον ἧκεν εἰς τὴν Μυτιλήνην ἐν ᾧ ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ Ἡρῴδης ἐπίνομεν, πρῶτον μὲν εἰσβάντες εἰς τὸ πλοῖον ἠρεύνων, καὶ ἐπειδὴ τὸ αἷμα ηὗρον, ἐνταῦθα ἔφασαν τεθνάναι τὸν ἄνδρα· ἐπειδὴ δὲ αὐτοῖς τοῦτο οὐκ ἐνεχώρει, ἀλλʼ ἐφαίνετο τῶν προβάτων ὂν αἷμα, ἀποτραπόμενοι τούτου τοῦ λόγου συλλαβόντες ἐβασάνιζον τοὺς ἀνθρώπους.

[¶28] 30. The first, who was tortured there and then, said nothing to damage me. The second was tortured several days later, after being in the prosecution’s company throughout the interval. It was he who was induced by them to incriminate me falsely. I will produce witnesses to confirm these facts.

> Greek: 30. καὶ ὃν μὲν τότε παραχρῆμα ἐβασάνισαν, οὗτος μὲν οὐδὲν εἶπε περὶ ἐμοῦ φλαῦρον· ὃν δʼ ἡμέραις ὕστερον πολλαῖς ἐβασάνισαν, ἔχοντες παρὰ σφίσιν αὐτοῖς τὸν πρόσθεν χρόνον, οὗτος ἦν ὁ πεισθεὶς ὑπὸ τούτων καὶ καταψευσάμενος ἐμοῦ. παρέξομαι δὲ τούτων τοὺς μάρτυρας. Μάρτυρες Μάρτυρες ὡς μὲν ὕστερον τοσούτῳ χρόνῳ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐβασανίσθη, μεμαρτύρηται ὑμῖν·

[¶29] 31. Witnesses You have listened to evidence for the length of the delay before the man’s examination under torture; now notice the actual character of that examination. The slave was doubtless promised his freedom: it was certainly to the prosecution alone that he could look for release from his sufferings. Probably both of these considerations induced him to make the false charges against me which he did; he hoped to gain his freedom, and his one immediate wish was to end the torture.

> Greek: 31. προσέχετε δὲ τὸν νοῦν αὐτῇ τῇ βασάνῳ, οἵα γεγένηται. ὁ μὲν γὰρ δοῦλος, ᾧ ἴσως οὗτοι τοῦτο μὲν ἐλευθερίαν ὑπέσχοντο, τοῦτο δʼ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἦν παύσασθαι κακούμενον αὐτόν, ἴσως ὑπʼ ἀμφοῖν πεισθεὶς κατεψεύσατό μου, τὴν μὲν ἐλευθερίαν ἐλπίσας οἴσεσθαι, τῆς δὲ βασάνου εἰς τὸ παραχρῆμα βουλόμενος ἀπηλλάχθαι. οἶμαι δʼ ὑμᾶς ἐπίστασθαι τοῦτο, ὅτι ἐφʼ οἷς ἂν τὸ πλεῖστον μέρος τῆς βασάνου, πρὸς τούτων εἰσὶν οἱ βασανιζόμενοι λέγειν ὅ τι ἂν ἐκείνοις μέλλωσι χαριεῖσθαι·

[¶30] 32. I need not remind you, I think, that witnesses under torture are biassed in favor of those who do most of the torturing; they will say anything likely to gratify them. It is their one chance of salvation, especially when the victims of their lies happen not to be present. Had I myself proceeded to give orders that the slave should be racked for not telling the truth, that step in itself would doubtless have been enough to make him stop incriminating me falsely. As it was, the examination was conducted by men who also knew what their own interests required.

> Greek: 32. ἐν τούτοις γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐστιν ἡ ὠφέλεια, ἄλλως τε κἂν μὴ παρόντες τυγχάνωσιν ὧν ἂν καταψεύδωνται. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἐγὼ ἐκέλευον αὐτὸν στρεβλοῦν ὡς οὐ τἀληθῆ λέγοντα, ἴσως ἂν ἐν αὐτῷ τούτῳ ἀπετρέπετο μηδὲν κατʼ ἐμοῦ καταψεύδεσθαι· νῦν δὲ αὑτοὶ ἦσαν καὶ βασανισταὶ καὶ ἐπιτιμηταὶ τῶν σφίσιν αὐτοῖς συμφερόντων.

[¶31] 33. Now as long as he believed that he had something to gain by falsely incriminating me, he firmly adhered to that course; but on finding that he was doomed, he at once reverted to the truth and admitted that it was our friends here who had induced him to lie about me. However, neither his persevering attempts at falsehood nor his subsequent confession of the truth helped him.

> Greek: 33. ἕως μὲν οὖν μετὰ χρηστῆς ἐλπίδος ἐγίγνωσκέ μου καταψευσάμενος, τούτῳ διισχυρίζετο τῷ λόγῳ· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐγίγνωσκεν ἀποθανούμενος, ἐνταῦθʼ ἤδη τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἐχρῆτο, καὶ ἔλεγεν ὅτι πεισθείη ὑπὸ τούτων ἐμοῦ καταψεύδεσθαι. διαπειραθέντα δʼ αὐτὸν τὰ ψευδῆ λέγειν, ὕστερον δὲ τἀληθῆ λέγοντα, οὐδέτερα ὠφέλησεν, ἀλλʼ ἀπέκτειναν ἄγοντες τὸν ἄνδρα, τὸν μηνυτήν, ᾧ πιστεύοντες ἐμὲ διώκουσι, τοὐναντίον ποιήσαντες ἢ οἱ ἄλλοι ἄνθρωποι.

[¶32] 34. They took him, took the man upon whose disclosures they are resting their case against me, and put him to death, a thing which no one else would have dreamed of doing. As a rule, informers are rewarded with money, if they are free, and with their liberty, if they are slaves. The prosecution paid for their information with death, and that in spite of a protest from my friends that they should postpone the execution until my return.

> Greek: 34. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι τοῖς μηνυταῖς τοῖς μὲν ἐλευθέροις χρήματα διδόασι, τοὺς δὲ δούλους ἐλευθεροῦσιν· οὗτοι δὲ θάνατον τῷ μηνυτῇ τὴν δωρεὰν ἀπέδοσαν, ἀπαγορευόντων τῶν φίλων τῶν ἐμῶν μὴ ἀποκτείνειν τὸν ἄνδρα πρὶν ⟨ἂν⟩ ἐγὼ ἔλθοιμι.

[¶33] 35. Clearly, it was not his person, but his evidence, which they required; had the man remained alive, he would have been tortured by me in the same way, and the prosecution would be confronted with their plot: but once he was dead, not only did the loss of his person mean that I was deprived of my opportunity of establishing the truth, but his false statements are assumed to be true and are proving my undoing. Call me witnesses to confirm these facts.

> Greek: 35. δῆλον οὖν ὅτι οὐ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ χρεία ἦν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλὰ τῶν λόγων· ζῶν μὲν γὰρ ὁ ἀνὴρ διὰ τῆς αὐτῆς βασάνου ἰὼν ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ κατήγορος ἂν ἐγίγνετο τῆς τούτων ἐπιβουλῆς, τεθνεὼς δὲ τὸν μὲν ἔλεγχον τῆς ἀληθείας ἀπεστέρει διʼ αὐτοῦ τοῦ σώματος ἀπολλυμένου, τοῖς δὲ λόγοις τοῖς ἐψευσμένοις ὑπʼ ἐκείνου ὡς ἀληθέσιν οὖσιν ἐγὼ ἀπόλλυμαι. τούτων δὲ μάρτυράς μοι κάλει.

[¶34] 36. Witnesses In my opinion, they should have produced the informer himself in court, if they wished to prove me guilty. That was the issue to which they should have brought the case. Instead of putting the man to death, they ought to have produced him in the flesh and challenged me to examine him under torture. As it is, which of his statements will they use, may I ask: his first or his second? And which is true: the statement that I committed the murder or the statement that I did not?

> Greek: 36. ⟨Μάρτυρες⟩ ἐχρῆν μὲν γὰρ αὐτούς, ὡς ἐγὼ νομίζω, ἐνθάδε παρέχοντας τὸν μηνυτὴν αὐτὸν ἀπελέγχειν ἐμέ, καὶ αὐτῷ τούτῳ χρῆσθαι ἀγωνίσματι, ἐμφανῆ παρέχοντας τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ κελεύοντας βασανίζειν, ἀλλὰ μὴ ἀποκτεῖναι. φέρε γὰρ δὴ ποτέρῳ νῦν χρήσονται τῶν λόγων; πότερα ᾧ πρῶτον εἶπεν ἢ ᾧ ὕστερον; καὶ πότερʼ ἀληθῆ ἐστιν, ὅτʼ ἔφη με εἰργάσθαι τὸ ἔργον ἢ ὅτʼ οὐκ ἔφη;

[¶35] 37. If we are to judge from probability, it is obviously the second which is the truer; he was lying to benefit himself, but on finding that those lies were proving fatal, he thought that he would be saved by telling the truth. However, he had no one to stand up for the truth, as I, who was vindicated by his second, true statement, was unfortunately not present; while there were those who were ready to put his first, his false one, beyond all reach of future correction. As a rule, it is the victim who quietly seizes an informer and then makes away with him. In this case, it is the very persons who arrested the slave in order to discover the truth who have done so;

> Greek: 37. εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τοῦ εἰκότος ἐξετασθῆναι δεῖ τὸ πρᾶγμα, οἱ ὕστεροι λόγοι ἀληθέστεροι φαίνονται. ἐψεύδετο μὲν γὰρ ἐπʼ ὠφελείᾳ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ, ἐπειδὴ δὲ τῷ ψεύδεσθαι ἀπώλλυτο, ἡγήσατο τἀληθῆ κατειπὼν διὰ τοῦτο σωθῆναι ἄν. τῆς μὲν οὖν ἀληθείας οὐκ ἦν αὐτῷ τιμωρὸς οὐδείς· οὐ γὰρ παρὼν ἐγὼ ἐτύγχανον, ᾧπερ σύμμαχος ἦν ἡ ἀλήθεια τῶν ὑστέρων λόγων· τοὺς δὲ προτέρους λόγους τοὺς κατεψευσμένους ἦσαν οἱ ἀφανιοῦντες, ὥστε μηδέποτε εἰς τὸ ἀληθὲς καταστῆναι.

[¶36] 38. and it is the very person who had supplied information against myself with whom they have made away. Had I myself been responsible for his disappearance, had I refused to surrender him to the prosecution or declined to establish the truth in some other way, they would have treated that very fact as most significant: it would have furnished the strongest presumption in their favor that I was guilty. So now that they themselves have declined to submit to an inquiry, in spite of a challenge from my friends to do so, that fact should in the same way furnish a presumption in my favor that the charge which they are bringing is a false one.

> Greek: 38. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι καθʼ ὧν ἂν μηνύῃ τις, οὗτοι κλέπτουσι τοὺς μηνύοντας, κᾆτʼ ἀφανίζουσιν· αὐτοὶ δὲ οὗτοι οἱ ἀπάγοντες καὶ ζητοῦντες τὸ πρᾶγμα τὸν κατʼ ἐμοῦ μηνυτὴν ἠφάνισαν. καὶ εἰ μὲν ἐγὼ τὸν ἄνδρα ἠφάνισα ἢ μὴ ἤθελον ἐκδοῦναι τούτοις ἢ ἄλλον τινὰ ἔφευγον ἔλεγχον, αὐτοῖς ἂν τούτοις ἰσχυροτάτοις εἰς τὰ πράγματα ἐχρῶντο, καὶ ἦν ταῦτα αὐτοῖς μέγιστα τεκμήρια κατʼ ἐμοῦ· νῦν δέ, ὁπότε αὐτοὶ οὗτοι προκαλουμένων τῶν φίλων τῶν ἐμῶν ταῦτʼ ἔφυγον, ἐμοὶ δήπου κατὰ τούτων εἶναι χρὴ ταὐτὰ ταῦτα τεκμήρια, ὡς οὐκ ἀληθῆ τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπέφερον ἣν ᾐτιῶντο.

[¶37] 39. They further allege that the slave admitted under torture that he had been my accomplice in the murder. I maintain that he did not say this; what he said was that he conducted Herodes and myself off the boat, and that after I had murdered him, he helped me pick him up and put him in the boat; then he threw him into the sea.

> Greek: 39. ἔτι δὲ καὶ τάδε λέγουσιν, ὡς ὡμολόγει ὁ ἄνθρωπος βασανιζόμενος συναποκτεῖναι τὸν ἄνδρα. ἐγὼ δέ φημι ταῦτα μὲν οὐ λέγειν αὐτόν, ὅτι δὲ ἐξαγάγοι ἐμὲ καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου, καὶ ὅτι ἤδη τεθνεῶτα αὐτὸν ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ συνανελὼν καὶ ἐνθεὶς εἰς τὸ πλοῖον καταποντώσειε.

[¶38] 40. Also let me point out to you that at the start, before being placed on the wheel, in fact, until extreme pressure was brought to bear, the man adhered to the truth and declared me innocent. It was only when on the wheel, and when driven to it, that he falsely incriminated me, in order to put an end to the torture.

> Greek: 40. καίτοι σκέψασθε ὅτι πρῶτον μέν, πρὶν ἐπὶ τὸν τροχὸν ἀναβῆναι, ὁ ἀνὴρ μέχρι τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀνάγκης τῇ ἀληθείᾳ ἐχρῆτο καὶ ἀπέλυέ με τῆς αἰτίας· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν τροχὸν ἀνέβη, τῇ ἀνάγκῃ χρώμενος ἤδη κατεψεύδετό μου, βουλόμενος ἀπηλλάχθαι τῆς βασάνου.

[¶39] 41. When it was over, he ceased affirming that I had had any part in the crime; indeed, at the end he bemoaned the injustice with which both I and he were being sent to our doom: not that he was trying to do me a kindness—hardly that, after falsely accusing me as he had done; no, the truth left him no choice: he was confirming as true the declaration which he had made to begin with.

> Greek: 41. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐπαύσατο βασανιζόμενος, οὐκέτι ἔφη με τούτων εἰργάσθαι οὐδέν, ἀλλὰ τὸ τελευταῖον ἀπῴμωξεν ἐμέ τε καὶ αὑτὸν ὡς ἀδίκως ἀπολλυμένους, οὐ χάριτι τῇ ἐμῇ—πῶς γάρ; ὅς γε κατεψεύσατο,—ἀλλʼ ἀναγκαζόμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς καὶ βεβαιῶν τοὺς πρώτους λόγους ὡς ἀληθεῖς εἰρημένους.

[¶40] 42. Then there was the second man. He had travelled on the same boat as I: had been present throughout the voyage: and had been constantly in my company. When tortured in the same way, he confirmed the first and last statements of the other as true; for he declared me innocent from start to finish. On the other hand, the assertions made by the other upon the wheel, made not because they were the truth, but because they were wrung from him, he contradicted. Thus, while the one said that it was not until I had left the boat that I killed Herodes, and that he had himself helped me to remove the body after the murder, the other maintained that I did not leave the boat at all.

> Greek: 42. ἔπειτα δὲ ὁ ἕτερος ἄνθρωπος, ὁ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ πλοίω πλέων καὶ παρὼν διὰ τέλους καὶ συνών μοι, τῇ αὐτῇ βασάνῳ βασανιζόμενος τοῖς μὲν πρώτοις καὶ τοῖς ὕστερον λόγοις τοῖς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου συνεφέρετο ὡς ἀληθέσιν οὖσι, διὰ τέλους γάρ με ἀπέλυε, τοῖς δʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ τροχοῦ λεγομένοις, οὓς ἐκεῖνος ἀνάγκῃ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀληθείᾳ ἔλεγε, τούτοις δὲ διεφέρετο. ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐκβάντα μʼ ἔφη ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου ἀποκτεῖναι τὸν ἄνδρα, καὶ αὐτὸς ἤδη τεθνεῶτα συνανελεῖν μοι· ὁ δὲ τὸ παράπαν ἔφη οὐκ ἐκβῆναί με ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου.

[¶41] 43. And indeed, the probabilities are in my favor; I hardly imagine myself to have been so benighted that after planning the murder on my own to ensure that no one was privy to it—for there lay my one great danger—I proceeded to furnish myself with witnesses and confederates once the crime had been committed.

> Greek: 43. καίτοι τὸ εἰκὸς σύμμαχόν μοί ἐστιν. οὐ γὰρ δήπου οὕτω κακοδαίμων ἐγώ, ὥστε τὸ μὲν ἀποκτεῖναι τὸν ἄνδρα προὐνοησάμην μόνος, ἵνα μοι μηδεὶς συνειδείη, ἐν ᾧ μοι ὁ πᾶς κίνδυνος ἦν, ἤδη δὲ πεπραγμένου μοι τοῦ ἔργου μάρτυρας καὶ συμβούλους ἐποιούμην.

[¶42] 44. Furthermore, Herodes was murdered very close to the sea and the boats, or so we are told by the prosecution. Was a man who was struck down by but one assailant not going to shout out or attract the attention of those on shore or on board? Moreover, sounds can be heard over much greater distances by night than by day, on a beach than in a city. Moreover, it is admitted that the passengers were still awake when Herodes left the boat.

> Greek: 44. καὶ ἀπέθανε μὲν ὁ ἀνὴρ οὑτωσὶ ἐγγὺς τῆς θαλάσσης καὶ τῶν πλοίων, ὡς ὁ τούτων λόγος ἐστίν· ὑπὸ δὲ ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς ἀποθνῄσκων οὔτε ἀνέκραγεν οὔτʼ αἴσθησιν οὐδεμίαν ἐποίησεν οὔτε τοῖς ἐν τῇ γῇ οὔτε τοῖς ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ; καὶ μὴν πολλῷ ⟨ἐπὶ⟩ πλέον γε ἀκούειν ἔστι νύκτωρ ἢ μεθʼ ἡμέραν, ἐπʼ ἀκτῆς ἢ κατὰ πόλιν· καὶ μὴν ἔτι ἐγρηγορότων φασὶν ἐκβῆναι τὸν ἄνδρα ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου.

[¶43] 45. Again, he was murdered on shore and placed in the boat; yet no trace or bloodstain was found either on shore or in the boat, in spite of the fact that it was at night that he was picked up and at night that he was placed in the boat. Do you think that any human being in such circumstances would have been able to smooth out the traces on shore and wipe away the marks on the boat, clues which a calm and collected man could not have removed successfully even by daylight? What probability is there in such a suggestion, gentlemen?

> Greek: 45. ἔπειτα ἐν τῇ γῇ μὲν ἀποθανόντος, ἐντιθεμένου δὲ εἰς τὸ πλοῖον, οὔτε ἐν τῇ γῇ σημεῖον οὐδὲ αἷμα ἐφάνη οὔτε ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ, νύκτωρ μὲν ἀναιρεθέντος, νύκτωρ δʼ ἐντιθεμένου εἰς τὸ πλοῖον. ἢ δοκεῖ ἂν ὑμῖν ἄνθρωπος δύνασθαι ἐν τοιούτῳ πράγματι ὢν τά τʼ ἐν τῇ γῇ ὄντα ἀναξύσαι καὶ τὰ ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ ἀποσπογγίσαι, ἃ οὐδὲ μεθʼ ἡμέραν ⟨ἄν⟩ τις οἷός τʼ ἐγένετο, ἔνδον ὢν αὑτοῦ καὶ μὴ πεφοβημένος, τὸ παράπαν ἀφανίσαι; ταῦτα, ὧ ἄνδρες, πῶς εἰκότα ἐστίν;

[¶44] 46. One thing above all you must remember, and I hope that you will forgive me for repeatedly stressing the same point; but my danger is great, and only if you form a right judgement, am I safe; if you are misled, I am doomed. I repeat, let no one cause you to forget that the prosecution put the informer to death, that they used every effort to prevent his appearance in court and to make it impossible for me to take him and examine him under torture on my return;

> Greek: 46. ὅ δὲ ⟨δεῖ⟩ καὶ μάλιστα ἐνθυμεῖσθαι,—καὶ μή μοι ἄχθεσθε, ἂν ὑμᾶς πολλάκις ταὐτὰ διδάξω. μέγας γὰρ ὁ κίνδυνός ἐστι, καθʼ ὅ τι δʼ ἂν ὑμεῖς ὀρθῶς γνῶτε, κατὰ τοῦτο σῴζομαι, καθʼ ὅ τι δʼ ἂν ψευσθῆτε τἀληθοῦς, κατὰ τοῦτο ἀπόλλυμαι—μὴ οὖν ἐξέληται τοῦτο ὑμῶν μηδείς, ὅτι τὸν μηνυτὴν ἀπέκτειναν, καὶ διετείναντο αὐτὸν μὴ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς ὑμᾶς, μηδʼ ἐμοὶ ἐγγενέσθαι παρόντι ἄξαι τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ βασανίσαι αὐτόν.

[¶45] 47. although to allow me to do so was to their own advantage. Instead, they bought the slave and put him to death, entirely on their own initiative—put the informer himself to death, without any official sanction, and without the excuse that he was guilty of the murder. They should of course have kept him in custody, or surrendered him to my friends on security, or else handed him over to the magistrates of Athens in order that his fate might be decided by a court. As it was, you sentenced him to death on your own authority and executed him, when even an allied state is denied the right of inflicting the death-penalty in such fashion without the consent of the Athenian people. You thought fit to let the present court decide the merits of his statements; but you pass judgement on his acts yourselves.

> Greek: 47. καίτοι πρὸς τούτων ἦν τοῦτο. νῦν δὲ πριάμενοι τὸν ἄνδρα, ἰδίᾳ ἐπὶ σφῶν αὐτῶν ἀπέκτειναν, τὸν μηνυτήν, οὔτε τῆς πόλεως ψηφισαμένης, οὔτε αὐτόχειρα ὄντα τοῦ ἀνδρός. ὃν ἐχρῆν δεδεμένον αὐτοὺς φυλάσσειν, ἢ τοῖς φίλοις τοῖς ἐμοῖς ἐξεγγυῆσαι, ἢ τοῖς ἄρχουσι τοῖς ὑμετέροις παραδοῦναι, καὶ ψῆφον περὶ αὐτοῦ γενέσθαι. νῦν δὲ αὐτοὶ καταγνόντες τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἀπεκτείνατε· ὃ οὐδὲ πόλει ἔξεστιν, ἄνευ Ἀθηναίων οὐδένα θανάτῳ ζημιῶσαι. καὶ τῶν μὲν ἄλλων λόγων τῶν ἐκείνου τουτουσὶ κριτὰς ἠξιώσατε γενέσθαι, τῶν δὲ ἔργων αὐτοὶ δικασταὶ γίγνεσθε.

[¶46] 48. Why, even slaves who have murdered their masters and been caught red-handed are not put to death by the victim’s own relatives; they are handed over to the authorities as the ancient laws of your country ordain. If it is a fact that a slave is allowed to give evidence that a free man is guilty of murder, if a master can seek vengeance for the murder of his slave, should he see fit, and if a court can sentence the murderer of a slave as effectively as it can the murderer of a free man, it follows that the slave in question should have had a public trial, instead of being put to death by you without a hearing. Thus it is you who deserve to be on trial far rather than I, who am being accused this day so undeservedly.

> Greek: 48. καίτοι οὐδὲ οἱ τοὺς δεσπότας ἀποκτείναντες, ἐὰν ἐπʼ αὐτοφώρῳ ληφθῶσιν, οὐδʼ οὗτοι ἀποθνῄσκουσιν ὑπʼ αὐτῶν τῶν προσηκόντων, ἀλλὰ παραδιδόασιν αὐτοὺς τῇ ἀρχῇ κατὰ νόμους ὑμετέρους πατρίους. εἴπερ γὰρ καὶ μαρτυρεῖν ἔξεστι δούλῳ κατὰ τοῦ ἐλευθέρου τὸν φόνον, καὶ τῷ δεσπότῃ, ἂν δοκῇ, ἐπεξελθεῖν ὑπὲρ τοῦ δούλου, καὶ ἡ ψῆφος ἴσον δύναται τῷ δοῦλον ἀποκτείναντι καὶ τῷ ἐλεύθερον, εἰκός τοι καὶ ψῆφον γενέσθαι περὶ αὐτοῦ ἦν, καὶ μὴ ἄκριτον ἀποθανεῖν αὐτὸν ὑφʼ ὑμῶν. ὥστε πολλῷ ἂν ὑμεῖς δικαιότερον κρίνοισθε ἢ ἐγὼ νῦν φεύγω ὑφʼ ὑμῶν ἀδίκως.

[¶47] 49. And now, gentlemen, consider further the statements of the two witnesses tortured. What are the fair and reasonable conclusions to be drawn from them? The slave gave two accounts: at one time he maintained that I was guilty, at another that I was not.

> Greek: 49. σκοπεῖτε δή, ὦ ἄνδρες, καὶ ἐκ τοῖν λόγοιν τοῖν ἀνδροῖν ἑκατέροιν τοῖν βασανισθέντοιν τὸ δίκαιον καὶ τὸ εἰκός. ὁ μὲν γὰρ δοῦλος δύο λόγω ἔλεγε· τοτὲ μὲν ἔφη με εἰργάσθαι τὸ ἔργον, τοτὲ δὲ οὐκ ἔφη· ὁ δὲ ἐλεύθερος οὐδέπω νῦν εἴρηκε περὶ ἐμοῦ φλαῦρον οὐδέν, τῇ αὐτῇ βασάνῳ βασανιζόμενος.

[¶48] 50. On the other hand, in spite of similar torture, the free man has not even yet said anything to damage me. He could not be influenced by offers of freedom, as his companion had been; and at the same time he was determined to cling to the truth, cost what it might. Of course, as far as his own advantage was concerned, he knew, like the other, that the torture would be over as soon as he corroborated the prosecution. Which, then, have we more reason to believe: the witness who firmly adhered to the same statement throughout, or the witness who affirmed a thing at one moment, and denied it at the next? Why, quite apart from the torture employed, those who consistently keep to one statement about one set of facts are more to be trusted than those who contradict themselves.

> Greek: 50. τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἦν αὐτῷ ἐλευθερίαν προτείναντας ὥσπερ τὸν ἕτερον πεῖσαι· τοῦτο δὲ μετὰ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς ἐβούλετο κινδυνεύων πάσχειν ὅ τι δέοι, ἐπεὶ τό γε συμφέρον καὶ οὗτος ἠπίστατο, ὅτι τότε παύσοιτο στρεβλούμενος, ὁπότε εἴποι τὰ τούτοις δοκοῦντα. ποτέρῳ οὖν εἰκός ἐστι πιστεῦσαι, τῷ διὰ τέλους τὸν αὐτὸν ἀεὶ λόγον λέγοντι, ἢ τῷ τοτὲ μὲν φάσκοντι τοτὲ δʼ οὔ; ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνευ βασάνου τοιαύτης οἱ τοὺς αὐτοὺς αἰεὶ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν λόγους λέγοντες πιστότεροί εἰσι τῶν διαφερομένων σφίσιν αὐτοῖς.

## 2. Sections 51–96

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/antiphon-on-the-murder-of-herodes/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/antiphon-on-the-murder-of-herodes/2/#p-N

[¶0] 51. Then again, of the slave’s statements half are in favor of one side, half in favor of the other: his affirmations support my accusers, and his denials support me. [; Similarly with the combined statements of both the witnesses examined: the one affirmed, and the other consistently denied.]; But I need not point out that any equal division is to the advantage of the defence rather than the prosecution, in view of the fact that an equal division of the votes of the jury similarly benefits the defence rather than the prosecution.

> Greek: 51. ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῶν λόγων τῶν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μερὶς ἑκατέροις ἴση ἂν εἴη, μὲν τὸ φάσκειν, ἐμοὶ δὲ τὸ μὴ φάσκειν· ⟨ἔκ τε ἀμφοῖν τοῖν ἀνδροῖν τοῖν βασανισθέντοιν· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἔφησεν, ὁ δὲ διὰ τέλους ἔξαρνος ἦν.⟩ καὶ μὲν δὴ τὰ ἐξ ἴσου γενόμενα τοῦ φεύγοντός ἐστι μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦ διώκοντος, εἴπερ γε καὶ τῶν ψήφων ὁ ἀριθμὸς ἐξ ἴσου γενόμενος τὸν φεύγοντα μᾶλλον ὠφελεῖ ἢ τὸν διώκοντα.

[¶1] 52. Such was the examination under torture on which the prosecution rely, gentlemen, when they say that they are convinced that I am the murderer of Herodes. Yet if I had had anything whatsoever on my conscience, if I had committed a crime of this kind, I should have got rid of both witnesses while I had the opportunity, either by taking them with me to Aenus or by shipping them to the mainland. I should not have left the men who knew the truth behind to inform against me.

> Greek: 52. ἡ μὲν βάσανος, ὦ ἄνδρες, τοιαύτη ἐγένετο, ᾗ οὗτοι πιστεύοντες εὖ εἰδέναι φασὶν ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ ἀποθανόντα τὸν ἄνδρα. καίτοι τὸ παράπαν ἔγωγʼ ἂν εἴ τι συνῄδη ἐμαυτῷ καὶ εἴ τί μοι τοιοῦτον εἴργαστο, ἠφάνισʼ ἂν τὼ ἀνθρώπω, ὅτε ἐπʼ ἐμοὶ ἦν τοῦτο μὲν εἰς τὴν Αἶνον ἀπάγειν ἅμα ἐμοί, τοῦτο δὲ εἰς τὴν ἤπειρον διαβιβάσαι, καὶ μὴ ὑπολείπεσθαι μηνυτὰς κατʼ ἐμαυτοῦ τοὺς συνειδότας.

[¶2] 53. The prosecution further allege that they discovered on board a note stating that I had killed Herodes, which I had intended to send to Lycinus. But what need had I to send a note, when the bearer himself was my accomplice? Not only would he, as one of the murderers, have told the story more clearly in his own words, but it would have been quite unnecessary to conceal the message from him, and it is essentially messages which cannot be disclosed to the bearer that are sent in writing.

> Greek: 53. φασὶ δὲ γραμματείδιον εὑρεῖν ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ, ὃ ἔπεμπον ἐγὼ Λυκίνῳ, ὡς ἀποκτείναιμι τὸν ἄνδρα. καίτοι τί ἔδει με γραμματείδιον πέμπειν, αὐτοῦ συνειδότος τοῦ τὸ γραμματείδιον φέροντος; ὥστε τοῦτο μὲν σαφέστερον αὐτὸς ἔμελλεν ἐρεῖν ὁ εἰργασμένος, τοῦτο δὲ οὐδὲν ἔδει κρύπτειν αὐτόν· ἃ γὰρ μὴ οἷόν τε εἰδέναι τὸν φέροντα, ταῦτʼ ἄν τις μάλιστα συγγράψας πέμψειεν.

[¶3] 54. Then again, an extensive message would have had to be written down, as its length would have prevented the bearer remembering it. But this one was brief enough to deliver—“The man is dead.” Moreover, bear in mind that the note contradicted the slave tortured, and the slave the note. The slave stated under torture that he had committed the murder himself, whereas the note when opened revealed the fact that I was the murderer.

> Greek: 54. ἔπειτα δὲ ὅ τι μὲν μακρὸν εἴη πρᾶγμα, τοῦτο μὲν ἄν τις ἀναγκασθείη γράψαι τῷ μὴ διαμνημονεύειν τὸν ἀπαγγέλλοντα ὑπὸ πλήθους. τοῦτο δὲ βραχὺ ἦν ἀπαγγεῖλαι, ὅτι τέθνηκεν ὁ ἀνήρ. ἔπειτα ἐνθυμεῖσθε ὅτι διάφορον ἦν τὸ γραμματείδιον τῷ βασανισθέντι, διάφορος δʼ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῷ γραμματειδίῳ. ὁ μὲν γὰρ βασανιζόμενος αὐτὸς ἔφη ἀποκτεῖναι, τὸ δὲ γραμματείδιον ἀνοιχθὲν ἐμὲ τὸν ἀποκτείναντα ἐμήνυεν.

[¶4] 55. Which are we to believe? The prosecution discovered the note on board only during a second search, not during their first one; they had not hit on the idea at the time. It was not until the first witness had said nothing to incriminate me when tortured that they dropped the note in the boat, in order to have that, if nothing else, as a ground for accusing me.

> Greek: 55. καίτοι ποτέρῳ χρὴ πιστεῦσαι; τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτον οὐχ ηὗρον ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ ζητοῦντες τὸ γραμματείδιον, ὕστερον δέ. τότε μὲν γὰρ οὔπω οὕτως ἐμεμηχάνητο αὐτοῖς. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὁ πρότερος βασανισθεὶς οὐδὲν ἔλεγε κατʼ ἐμοῦ, τότε εἰσβάλλουσιν εἰς τὸ πλοῖον τὸ γραμματείδιον, ἵνα ταύτην ἔχοιεν ἐμοὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ἐπιφέρειν·

[¶5] 56. Then, once the note had been read and the second witness, when tortured, persisted in disagreeing with the note, it was impossible to spirit away the message read from it. Needless to say, had the prosecution supposed that they would induce the slave to lie about me immediately, they would never have devised the message contained in the note. Call me witnesses to confirm these facts.

> Greek: 56. ἐπειδὴ δʼ ἀνεγνώσθη τὸ γραμματείδιον καὶ ὁ ὕστερος βασανιζόμενος οὐ συνεφέρετο τῷ γραμματειδίῳ, οὐκέθʼ οἷόν τʼ ἦν ἀφανίσαι τὰ ἀναγνωσθέντα. εἰ γὰρ ἡγήσαντο τὸν ἄνδρα πείσειν ἀπὸ πρώτης καταψεύδεσθαί μου, οὐκ ἄν ποτʼ ἐμηχανήσαντο τὰ ἐν τῷ γραμματειδίῳ. καί μοι μάρτυρας τούτων κάλει.

[¶6] 57. Witnesses Now what was my motive in murdering Herodes? For there was not even any bad feeling between us. The prosecution have the audacity to suggest that I murdered him as a favor. But who has ever turned murderer to oblige a friend? No one, I am sure. The bitterest feeling has to exist before murder is committed, while the growth of the design is always abundantly manifest. And, as I said, between Herodes and myself there was no bad feeling.

> Greek: 57. Μάρτυρες τίνος γε δὴ ἕνεκα τὸν ἄνδρα ἀπέκτεινα; οὐδὲ γὰρ ἔχθρα οὐδεμία ἦν ἐμοὶ κἀκείνῳ. λέγειν δὲ τολμῶσιν ὡς ἐγὼ χάριτι τὸν ἄνδρα ἔκτεινα. καὶ τίς πώποτε χαριζόμενος ἑτέρῳ τοῦτο εἰργάσατο; οἶμαι μὲν γὰρ οὐδένα, ἀλλὰ δεῖ μεγάλην τὴν ἔχθραν ὑπάρχειν τῷ τοῦτο μέλλοντι ποιήσειν, καὶ τὴν πρόνοιαν ἐκ πολλῶν εἶναι φανερὰν ἐπιβουλευομένην. ἐμοὶ δὲ κἀκείνῳ οὐκ ἦν ἔχθρα οὐδεμία.

[¶7] 58. Well and good. Then was it that I was afraid of being murdered by him myself? A motive of that kind might well drive a man to the deed. No, I had no such fears with regard to him. Then was I going to enrich myself by the murder? No, he had no money.

> Greek: 58. εἶεν, ἀλλὰ δείσας περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ μὴ αὐτὸς παρʼ ἐκείνου τοῦτο πάθοιμι; καὶ γὰρ ἂν τῶν τοιούτων ἕνεκά τις ἀναγκασθείη τοῦτο ἐργάσασθαι. ἀλλʼ οὐδέν μοι τοιοῦτον ὑπῆρκτο εἰς αὐτόν. ἀλλὰ χρήματα ἔμελλον λήψεσθαι ἀποκτείνας αὐτόν; ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἦν αὐτῷ.

[¶8] 59. Indeed, it would be more intelligible and nearer the truth for me to maintain that money was at the bottom of your own attempt to secure my death than it is for you to suggest it as my motive in murdering Herodes. You yourself deserve to be convicted of murder by my relatives for killing me far more than I by you and the family of Herodes. Of your designs on my life I have clear proof: whereas you, in seeking to make an end of me, produce only a tale of which proof is impossible.

> Greek: 59. ἀλλὰ σοὶ μᾶλλον ἐγὼ τὴν πρόφασιν ταύτην ἔχοιμʼ ἂν εἰκότως μετὰ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀναθεῖναι, ὅτι χρημάτων ἕνεκα ζητεῖς ἐμὲ ἀποκτεῖναι, μᾶλλον ἢ σὺ ἐμοὶ ἐκεῖνον· καὶ πολὺ ἂν δικαιότερον ἁλοίης σὺ φόνου ἐμὲ ἀποκτείνας ὑπὸ τῶν ἐμοὶ προσηκόντων, ἢ ἐγὼ ὑπὸ σοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐκείνου ἀναγκαίων. ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ σοῦ φανερὰν τὴν πρόνοιαν εἰς ἐμὲ ἀποδείκνυμι, σὺ δʼ ἐμὲ ἐν ἀφανεῖ λόγῳ ζητεῖς ἀπολέσαι.

[¶9] 60. I assure you that I personally can have had no motive for murdering Herodes; but I must apparently clear Lycinus as well as myself by showing the absurdity of the charge in his case also. I assure you that his position with regard to Herodes was the same as my own. He had no means of enriching himself by the murder; and there was no danger from which the death of Herodes released him.

> Greek: 60. ταῦτα μὲν ὑμῖν λέγω, ὡς αὐτῷ μοι πρόφασιν οὐδεμίαν εἶχε τἀποκτεῖναι τὸν ἄνδρα· δεῖ δέ με καὶ ὑπὲρ Λυκίνου ἀπολογήσασθαι, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἀλλʼ οὐχ ὑπὲρ αὑτοῦ μόνον, ὡς οὐδʼ ἐκεῖνον εἰκότως αἰτιῶνται. λέγω τοίνυν ὑμῖν ὅτι ταὐτὰ ὑπῆρχεν αὐτῷ εἰς ἐκεῖνον ἅπερ ἐμοί· οὔτε γὰρ χρήματα ἦν αὐτῷ ὁπόθεν ἂν ἔλαβεν ἀποκτείνας ἐκεῖνον, οὔτε κίνδυνος αὐτῷ ὑπῆρχεν οὐδεὶς ὅντινα διέφευγεν ἀποθανόντος ἐκείνου.

[¶10] 61. Further, the following consideration indicates most strikingly that he did not desire his death: had redress for some old injury been owing to Lycinus, he could have brought Herodes into court on a charge which endangered his life, and have enlisted the help of your laws in making an end of him. By proving him a criminal he could have gained both his own object and your city’s gratitude. This he did not trouble to do: he did not even attempt to institute proceedings against him, in spite of the fact that he was running a more honorable risk by bringing Herodes into court than by engaging me to murder him. Call me witnesses to confirm these facts.

> Greek: 61. τεκμήριον δὲ μέγιστον ὡς οὐκ ἐβούλετο αὐτὸν ἀπολέσαι. ἐξὸν γὰρ αὐτῷ ἐν ἀγῶνι καὶ κινδύνῳ μεγάλῳ καταστήσαντι μετὰ τῶν νόμων τῶν ὑμετέρων ἀπολέσαι ἐκεῖνον, εἴπερ προωφείλετο αὐτῷ κακόν, καὶ τό τε ἴδιον τὸ αὑτοῦ διαπράξασθαι καὶ τῇ πόλει τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ χάριν καταθέσθαι, εἰ ἐπέδειξεν ἀδικοῦντα ἐκεῖνον, οὐκ ἠξίωσεν, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τοῦτον. καίτοι καλλίων γε ἦν ὁ κίνδυνος αὐτῷ … Μάρτυρες ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα μὲν ἀφῆκεν αὐτόν·

[¶11] 62. Witnesses So we are to understand that Lycinus left Herodes in peace as far as an action at law was concerned, and instead chose the one course which was bound to endanger both himself and me, that of plotting his death, notwithstanding the fact that, if discovered, he would have deprived me of my country and himself of his rights before heaven and mankind, and of all that men hold most sacred and most precious. I will go further: I will adopt the standpoint of the prosecution: I will admit as readily as you like that Lycinus did desire the death of Herodes. Does it follow that I should ever have been induced to perform in his stead a deed which he refused to commit with his own hand?

> Greek: 62. οὗ δὲ ἔδει κινδυνεύειν αὐτὸν περί τε αὑτοῦ καὶ περὶ ἐμοῦ, ἐνταῦθα δʼ ἐπεβούλευεν, ἐν ᾧ γνωσθεὶς ἂν ἀπεστέρει μὲν ἐμὲ τῆς πατρίδος, ἀπεστέρει δὲ αὑτὸν ἱερῶν καὶ ὁσίων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἅπερ μέγιστα καὶ περὶ πλείστου ἐστὶν ἀνθρώποις. ἔπειτα δʼ εἰ καὶ ὡς μάλιστα ἐβούλετο αὐτὸν ὁ Λυκῖνος τεθνάναι—εἶμι γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν τῶν κατηγόρων λόγον,—οὗ αὐτὸς οὐκ ἠξίου αὐτόχειρ γενέσθαι, τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον ἐγώ ποτʼ ἂν ἐπείσθην ἀντʼ ἐκείνου ποιῆσαι;

[¶12] 63. Was I, for instance, in a position to risk my life, and he in a position to hire me to do so? No, I had money, and he had none. On the contrary, the probabilities show that he would have been induced to commit the crime by me sooner than I by him; for even after suffering an execution for a debt of seven minae, he could not release himself from prison: his friends had to purchase his release. In fact, this affords the clearest indication of the relations between Lycinus and myself; it shows that my friendship with him was hardly close enough to make me willing to satisfy his every wish. I cannot suppose that I braved the enormous risk which murder involved to oblige him, after refusing to pay off seven minae for him when he was suffering the hardships of imprisonment.

> Greek: 63. πότερα ὡς ἐγὼ μὲν ἦ τῷ σώματι ἐπιτήδειος διακινδυνεύειν, ἐκεῖνος δὲ χρήμασι τὸν ἐμὸν κίνδυνον ἐκπρίασθαι; οὐ δῆτα· τῷ μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἦν χρήματα, ἐμοὶ δὲ ἦν· ἀλλʼ αὐτὸ τὸ ἐναντίον ἐκεῖνος τοῦτο θᾶσσον ἂν ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ ἐπείσθη κατά γε τὸ εἰκὸς ἢ ἐγὼ ὑπὸ τούτου, ἐπεὶ ἐκεῖνός γʼ ἑαυτὸν οὐδʼ ὑπερήμερον γενόμενον ἑπτὰ μνῶν δυνατὸς ἦν λύσασθαι, ἀλλʼ οἱ φίλοι αὐτὸν ἐλύσαντο. καὶ μὲν δὴ καὶ τῆς χρείας τῆς ἐμῆς καὶ τῆς Λυκίνου τοῦτο ὑμῖν μέγιστον τεκμήριόν ἐστιν, ὅτι οὐ σφόδρα ἐχρώμην ἐγὼ Λυκίνῳ φίλῳ, ὡς πάντα ποιῆσαι ἂν τὰ ἐκείνῳ δοκοῦντα· οὐ γὰρ δήπου ἑπτὰ μὲν μνᾶς οὐκ ἀπέτεισα ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ δεδεμένου καὶ λυμαινομένου, κίνδυνον δὲ τοσοῦτον ἀράμενος ἄνδρα ἀπέκτεινα διʼ ἐκεῖνον.

[¶13] 64. I have proved, then, to the best of my ability that both Lycinus and I are innocent. However, the prosecution make endless play with the argument that Herodes has disappeared; and doubtless it is a fact which you want explained. Now if it is conjecture which is expected of me, you are just as capable of it as I am—we are both alike innocent of the crime; on the other hand, if it is the truth, the prosecution must ask one of the criminals: he would best be able to satisfy them.

> Greek: 64. ὡς μὲν οὖν οὐκ αὐτὸς αἴτιός εἰμι τοῦ πράγματος οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνος, ἀποδέδεικται καθʼ ὅσον ἐγὼ δύναμαι μάλιστα. τούτῳ δὲ χρῶνται πλείστῳ ⟨τῷ⟩ λόγῳ οἱ κατήγοροι, ὅτι ἀφανής ἐστιν ὁ ἀνήρ, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἴσως περὶ τούτου αὐτοῦ ποθεῖτε ἀκοῦσαι. εἰ μὲν οὖν τοῦτο εἰκάζειν με δεῖ, ἐξ ἴσου τοῦτό ἐστι καὶ ὑμῖν καὶ ἐμοί· οὔτε γὰρ ὑμεῖς αἴτιοι τοῦ ἔργου ἐστὲ οὔτε ἐγώ· εἰ δὲ δεῖ τοῖς ἀληθέσι χρῆσθαι, τῶν εἰργασμένων τινὰ ἐρωτώντων· ἐκείνου γὰρ ἄριστʼ ἂν πύθοιντο.

[¶14] 65. The utmost that I who am not guilty can reply is that I am not guilty; whereas the criminal can easily reveal the facts, or at least make a good guess. Criminals no sooner commit a crime than they invent an explanation to suit it; on the other hand, an innocent man can scarcely guess the answer to what is a mystery to him. Each of you yourselves, I am sure, if asked something which he did not happen to know, would simply reply to that effect; and if told to say more, you would find yourselves, I think, in a serious difficulty.

> Greek: 65. ἐμοὶ μὲν γὰρ τῷ μὴ εἰργασμένῳ τοσοῦτον τὸ μακρότατον τῆς ἀποκρίσεώς ἐστιν, ὅτι οὐκ εἴργασμαι· τῷ δὲ ποιήσαντι ῥᾳδία ἐστὶν ἡ ἀπόδειξις, καὶ μὴ ἀποδείξαντι εὖ εἰκάσαι. οἱ μὲν γὰρ πανουργοῦντες ἅμα τε πανουργοῦσι καὶ πρόφασιν εὑρίσκουσι τοῦ ἀδικήματος· τῷ δὲ μὴ εἰργασμένῳ χαλεπὸν περὶ τῶν ἀφανῶν εἰκάζειν. οἶμαι δʼ ἂν καὶ ὑμῶν ἕκαστον, εἴ τίς τινα ἔροιτο ὅ τι μὴ τύχοι εἰδώς, τοσοῦτον ἂν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι οὐκ οἶδεν. εἰ δέ τις περαιτέρω τι κελεύοι λέγειν, ἐν πολλῇ ἂν ἔχεσθαι ὑμᾶς ἀπορίᾳ δοκῶ.

[¶15] 66. So do not present me with a difficulty which you yourselves would not find easy of solution. Furthermore, do not make my acquittal depend on my making plausible conjectures. Let it be enough for me to prove my innocence of the crime; and that depends not upon my discovering how Herodes disappeared or met his end, but upon my possessing no motive whatever for murdering him.

> Greek: 66. μὴ τοίνυν ἐμοὶ νείμητε τὸ ἄπορον τοῦτο, ἐν ᾧ μηδʼ ἂν αὐτοὶ εὐποροῖτε· μηδʼ ἐὰν εὖ εἰκάζω, ἐν τούτῳ μοι ἀξιοῦτε τὴν ἀπόφευξιν εἶναι, ἀλλʼ ἐξαρκείτω μοι ἐμαυτὸν ἀναίτιον ἀποδεῖξαι τοῦ πράγματος. ἐν τούτῳ οὖν ἀναίτιός εἰμι, οὐκ ἐὰν ⟨μὴ⟩ ἐξεύρω ὅτῳ τρόπῳ ἀφανής ἐστιν ἢ ἀπόλωλεν ἁνήρ, ἀλλʼ εἰ μὴ προσήκει μοι μηδὲν ὥστʼ ἀποκτεῖναι αὐτόν.

[¶16] 67. As I know from report, there have been similar cases in the past, when sometimes the victim, sometimes the murderer, has not been traced; it would be unfair, were those who had been in their company held responsible. Many, again, have been accused before now of the crimes of others, and have lost their lives before the truth became known.

> Greek: 67. ἤδη δʼ ἔγωγε καὶ πρότερον ἀκοῇ ἐπίσταμαι γεγονός, τοῦτο μὲν τοὺς ἀποθανόντας, τοῦτο δὲ τοὺς ἀποκτείναντας οὐχ εὑρεθέντας· οὔκουν ἂν καλῶς ἔχοι, εἰ τούτων δέοι τὰς αἰτίας ὑποσχεῖν τοὺς συγγενομένους. πολλοὶ δέ γʼ ἤδη σχόντες ἑτέρων πραγμάτων αἰτίας, πρὶν τὸ σαφὲς αὐτῶν γνωσθῆναι, προαπώλοντο.

[¶17] 68. For instance, the murderers of one of your own citizens, Ephialtes, have remained undiscovered to this day; it would have been unfair to his companions to require them to conjecture who his assassins were under pain of being held guilty of the murder themselves. Moreover, the murderers of Ephialtes made no attempt to get rid of the body, for fear of the accompanying risk of publicity—unlike myself, who, we are told, took no one into my confidence when planning the crime, but then sought help for the removal of the corpse.

> Greek: 68. αὐτίκα Ἐφιάλτην τὸν ὑμέτερον πολίτην οὐδέπω νῦν ηὕρηνται οἱ ἀποκτείναντες· εἰ οὖν τις ἠξίου τοὺς συνόντας ἐκείνῳ εἰκάζειν οἵτινες ἦσαν οἱ ἀποκτείναντες ⟨Ἐφιάλτην⟩, εἰ δὲ μή, ἐνόχους εἶναι τῷ φόνῳ, οὐκ ἂν καλῶς εἶχε τοῖς συνοῦσιν. ἔπειτα οἵ γε Ἐφιάλτην ἀποκτείναντες οὐκ ἐζήτησαν τὸν νεκρὸν ἀφανίσαι, οὐδʼ ἐν τούτῳ κινδυνεύειν μηνῦσαι τὸ πρᾶγμα, ὥσπερ οἵδε φασὶν ἐμὲ τῆς μὲν ἐπιβουλῆς οὐδένα κοινωνὸν ποιήσασθαι τοῦ θανάτου, τῆς δʼ ἀναιρέσεως.

[¶18] 69. Once more, a slave, not twelve years old, recently attempted to murder his master. Had he had the courage to stay where he was, instead of taking to his heels in terror at his victim’s cries, leaving the knife in the wound, the entire household would have perished, as no one would have dreamed him capable of such audacity. As it was, he was caught, and later confessed his own guilt. Then again, your Hellenotamiae were once accused of embezzlement, as wrongfully as I am accused today. Anger swept reason aside, and they were all put to death save one. Later the true facts became known.

> Greek: 69. τοῦτο δʼ ἐντὸς οὐ πολλοῦ χρόνου παῖς ἐζήτησεν οὐδὲ δώδεκα ἔτη γεγονὼς τὸν δεσπότην ἀποκτεῖναι. καὶ εἰ μὴ φοβηθείς, ὡς ἀνεβόησεν, ἐγκαταλιπὼν τὴν μάχαιραν ἐν τῇ σφαγῇ ὤχετο φεύγων, ἀλλʼ ἐτόλμησε μεῖναι, ἀπώλοντʼ ἂν οἱ ἔνδον ὄντες ἅπαντες· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἂν ᾤετο τὸν παῖδα τολμῆσαί ποτε τοῦτο· νῦν δὲ συλληφθεὶς αὐτὸς ὕστερον κατεῖπεν αὑτοῦ. τοῦτο δὲ περὶ χρημάτων αἰτίαν ποτὲ σχόντες οὐκ οὖσαν, ὥσπερ ἐγὼ νῦν, οἱ Ἑλληνοταμίαι οἱ ὑμέτεροι, ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ἅπαντες ἀπέθανον ὀργῇ μᾶλλον ἢ γνώμῃ, πλὴν ἑνός, τὸ δὲ πρᾶγμα ὕστερον καταφανὲς ἐγένετο.

[¶19] 70. This one, whose name is said to have been Sosias, though under sentence of death, had not yet been executed. Meanwhile it was shown how the money had disappeared. The Athenian people rescued him from the very hands of the Eleven: while the rest had died entirely innocent.

> Greek: 70. τοῦ δʼ ἑνὸς τούτου—Σωσίαν ὄνομά φασιν αὐτῷ εἶναι—κατέγνωστο μὲν ἤδη θάνατος, ἐτεθνήκει δὲ οὔπω· καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ἐδηλώθη τῷ τρόπῳ ἀπωλώλει τὰ χρήματα, καὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἀπήχθη ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου τοῦ ὑμετέρου παραδεδομένος ἤδη τοῖς ἕνδεκα, οἱ δʼ ἄλλοι ἐτέθνασαν οὐδὲν αἴτιοι ὄντες.

[¶20] 71. You older ones remember this yourselves, I expect, and the younger have heard of it like myself. Thus it is wise to let time help us in testing the truth of a matter. Perhaps the circumstances of Herodes’ death will similarly come to light hereafter; so do not discover that you have put an innocent man to death when it is too late. Weigh the matter carefully while there is yet time, without anger and without prejudice: for they are the worst of counsellors;

> Greek: 71. ταῦθʼ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ἐγὼ οἶμαι μεμνῆσθαι τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους, τοὺς δὲ νεωτέρους πυνθάνεσθαι ὥσπερ ἐμέ. οὕτως ἀγαθόν ἐστι μετὰ τοῦ χρόνου βασανίζειν τὰ πράγματα. καὶ τοῦτʼ ἴσως ἂν φανερὸν γένοιτʼ ἂν ὕστερον, ὅτῳ τρόπῳ τέθνηκεν ὁ ἄνθρωπος. μὴ οὖν ὕστερον τοῦτο γνῶτε, ἀναίτιόν με ὄντα ἀπολέσαντες, ἀλλὰ πρότερόν γʼ εὖ βουλεύσασθε, καὶ μὴ μετʼ ὀργῆς καὶ διαβολῆς, ὡς τούτων οὐκ ἂν γένοιντο ἕτεροι πονηρότεροι σύμβουλοι.

[¶21] 72. it is impossible for an angry man to make a right decision, as anger destroys his one instrument of decision, his judgement. The lapse of one day after another, gentlemen, has a wondrous power of liberating the judgement from the sway of passion and of bringing the truth to light.

> Greek: 72. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ὅ τι ἂν ὀργιζόμενος ἄνθρωπος εὖ γνοίη· αὐτὸ γὰρ ᾧ βουλεύεται, τὴν γνώμην, διαφθείρει τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. μέγα τοι ἡμέρα παρʼ ἡμέραν γιγνομένη γνώμην, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἐξ ὀργῆς μεταστῆσαι καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν εὑρεῖν τῶν γεγενημένων.

[¶22] 73. Remember too that it is pity which I deserve from you, not punishment. Wrongdoers should be punished: those wrongfully imperilled should be pitied. You must never let your power to satisfy justice by saving my life be overridden by my enemies’ desire to outrage it by putting me to death. A delay will still allow you to take the awful step which the prosecution urge upon you; whereas haste will make a fair consideration of the case quite impossible.

> Greek: 73. εὖ δὲ ἴστε ὅτι ἐλεηθῆναι ὑφʼ ὑμῶν ἄξιός εἰμι μᾶλλον ἢ δίκην δοῦναι· δίκην μὲν γὰρ εἰκός ἐστι διδόναι τοὺς ἀδικοῦντας, ἐλεεῖσθαι δὲ τοὺς ἀδίκως κινδυνεύοντας. κρεῖσσον δὲ χρὴ γίγνεσθαι ἀεὶ τὸ ὑμέτερον δυνάμενον ἐμὲ δικαίως σῴζειν ἢ τὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν βουλόμενον ἀδίκως με ἀπολλύναι. ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῷ ἐπισχεῖν ἔστι καὶ τὰ δεινὰ ταῦτα ποιῆσαι ἃ οὗτοι κελεύουσιν· ἐν δὲ τῷ παραχρῆμα οὐκ ἔστιν ἀρχὴν ὀρθῶς βουλεύεσθαι.

[¶23] 74. I must also defend my father although, as my father, it would have been far more natural for him to be defending me. He is far older than I, and knows what my life has been whereas I am far younger than he, and cannot know what his has been. If my accuser were on trial, and I were giving evidence against him based on hearsay instead of certain knowledge, he would protest that he was being treated monstrously;

> Greek: 74. δεῖ δέ με καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀπολογήσασθαι. καίτοι γε πολλῷ μᾶλλον εἰκὸς ἦν ἐκεῖνον ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ ἀπολογήσασθαι, πατέρα ὄντα· ὁ μὲν γὰρ πολλῷ πρεσβύτερός ἐστι τῶν ἐμῶν πραγμάτων, ἐγὼ δὲ πολλῷ νεώτερος τῶν ἐκείνῳ πεπραγμένων, καὶ εἰ μὲν ἐγὼ τούτου ἀγωνιζομένου κατεμαρτύρουν ἃ μὴ σαφῶς ᾔδη, ἀκοῇ δὲ ἠπιστάμην, δεινὰ ἂν ἔφη πάσχειν ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ·

[¶24] 75. yet he sees nothing monstrous in forcing me to explain occurrences with which I am far too young to be acquainted save from hearsay. However, as a loyal son, I will use what knowledge I have to defend my father against the unwarranted abuse to which you have been listening. Possibly indeed I may fail. I may describe but faultily a life which was without fault. But none the less, I will accept that risk.

> Greek: 75. νῦν δὲ ἀναγκάζων ἐμὲ ἀπολογεῖσθαι ὧν ἐγὼ πολλῷ νεώτερός εἰμι καὶ λόγῳ οἶδα, ταῦτα οὐ δεινὰ ἡγεῖται εἰργάσθαι. ὅμως μέντοι καθʼ ὅσον ἐγὼ οἶδα, οὐ προδώσω τὸν πατέρα κακῶς ἀκούοντα ἐν ὑμῖν ἀδίκως. καίτοι τάχʼ ἂν σφαλείην, ἃ ἐκεῖνος ὀρθῶς ἔργῳ ἔπραξε, ταῦτʼ ἐγὼ λόγῳ μὴ ὀρθῶς εἰπών· ὅμως δʼ οὖν κεκινδυνεύσεται.

[¶25] 76. Before the revolt of Mytilene my father gave visible proof of his devotion to your interests. When, however, the city as a whole was so ill-advised as to commit the blunder of revolting, he was forced to join the city as a whole in that blunder. Not but what even then his feelings towards you remained unchanged: although he could no longer display his devotion in the old way. It was not easy for him to leave the city, as the ties which bound him, his children, and his property, were strong ones; nor yet could he set it at defiance as long as he remained there.

> Greek: 76. πρὶν μὲν γὰρ τὴν ἀπόστασιν τὴν Μυτιληναίων γενέσθαι, ἔργῳ τὴν εὔνοιαν ἐδείκνυε τὴν εἰς ὑμᾶς· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἡ πόλις ὅλη κακῶς ἐβουλεύσατο ἀποστᾶσα καὶ ἥμαρτε ⟨τῆς ὑμετέρας γνώμης⟩, μετὰ τῆς πόλεως ὅλης ἠναγκάσθη συνεξαμαρτεῖν. τὴν μὲν οὖν γνώμην ἔτι καὶ ἐν ἐκείνοις ὅμοιος ἦν εἰς ὑμᾶς, τὴν δʼ εὔνοιαν οὐκέτι ἦν ἐπʼ ἐκείνῳ τὴν αὐτὴν εἰς ὑμᾶς παρέχειν. οὔτε γὰρ ἐκλιπεῖν τὴν πόλιν εὐρόπως εἶχεν αὐτῷ· ἱκανὰ γὰρ ἦν τὰ ἐνέχυρα ἃ εἴχετο αὐτοῦ, οἵ τε παῖδες καὶ τὰ χρήματα· τοῦτο δʼ αὖ μένοντι πρὸς τὴν πόλιν αὐτῷ ἀδυνάτως εἶχεν ἰσχυρίζεσθαι.

[¶26] 77. But from the moment that you punished the authors of the revolt—of whom my father was not found to be one—and granted the other citizens of Mytilene an amnesty which allowed them to continue living on their own land, he has not been guilty of a single fault, of a single lapse from duty. He has failed neither the city of Athens nor that of Mytilene, when a public service was demanded of him; he regularly furnishes choruses, and always pays the imposts.

> Greek: 77. ἐπεὶ δʼ ὑμεῖς τοὺς αἰτίους τούτων ἐκολάσατε, ἐν οἷς οὐκ ἐφαίνετο ὢν ὁ ἐμὸς πατήρ, τοῖς δʼ ἄλλοις Μυτιληναίοις ἄδειαν ἐδώκατε οἰκεῖν τὴν σφετέραν αὐτῶν, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅ τι ὕστερον αὐτῷ ἡμάρτηται ⟨τῷ ἐμῷ πατρί⟩, οὐδʼ ὅ τι οὐ πεποίηται τῶν δεόντων, οὐδʼ ἧς τινος λῃτουργίας ἡ πόλις ἐνδεὴς γεγένηται, οὔτε ἡ ὑμετέρα οὔτε ἡ Μυτιληναίων, ἀλλὰ καὶ χορηγίας χορηγεῖ καὶ τέλη κατατίθησιν.

[¶27] 78. If Aenus is his favorite place of resort, that fact does not mean that he is evading any of his obligations towards Athens, or that he has become the citizen of another city, like those others, some of whom I see crossing to the mainland and settling among your enemies, while the rest actually litigate with you under treaty; nor does it mean that he desires to be beyond the reach of the Athenian courts. It means that he shares your own hatred of those who thrive on prosecution.

> Greek: 78. εἰ δʼ ἐν Αἴνῳ χωροφιλεῖ, τοῦτο ⟨ποιεῖ⟩ οὐκ ἀποστερῶν γε τῶν εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἑαυτὸν οὐδενὸς οὐδʼ ἑτέρας πόλεως πολίτης γεγενημένος, ὥσπερ ἑτέρους ὁρῶ, τοὺς μὲν εἰς τὴν ἤπειρον ἰόντας καὶ οἰκοῦντας ἐν τοῖς πολεμίοις τοῖς ὑμετέροις, ⟨τοὺς δὲ⟩ καὶ δίκας ἀπὸ ξυμβόλων ὑμῖν δικαζομένους, οὐδὲ φεύγων τὸ πλῆθος τὸ ὑμέτερον, τοὺς δʼ οἵους ὑμεῖς μισῶν συκοφάντας.

[¶28] 79. The act which my father joined his whole city in committing, which he committed not from choice but under compulsion, affords no just ground for punishing him individually. The mistake then made will live in the memory of every citizen of Mytilene. They exchanged great prosperity for great misery, and saw their country pass into the possession of others. Nor again must you be influenced by the distorted account of my father’s conduct as an individual with which you have been presented. Nothing but money is at the bottom of this elaborate attack upon him and myself; and unfortunately there are many circumstances which favor those who seek to lay hands on the goods of others; my father is too old to help me: and I am far too young to be able to avenge myself as I should.

> Greek: 79. ἃ μὲν οὖν μετὰ τῆς πόλεως ὅλης ἀνάγκῃ μᾶλλον ἢ γνώμῃ ἔπραξεν, τούτων οὐ δίκαιός ἐστιν ὁ ἐμὸς πατὴρ ἰδίᾳ δίκην διδόναι. ἅπασι γὰρ Μυτιληναίοις ἀείμνηστος ἡ τότε ἁμαρτία γεγένηται· ἠλλάξαντο μὲν γὰρ πολλῆς εὐδαιμονίας πολλὴν κακοδαιμονίαν, ἐπεῖδον δὲ τὴν ἑαυτῶν πατρίδα ἀνάστατον γενομένην. ἃ δὲ ἰδία οὗτοι διαβάλλουσι τὸν ἐμὸν πατέρα, μὴ πείθεσθε· χρημάτων γὰρ ἕνεκα ἡ πᾶσα παρασκευὴ γεγένηται ἐπʼ ἐμοὶ κἀκείνῳ. πολλὰ δʼ ἐστὶ τὰ συμβαλλόμενα τοῖς βουλομένοις τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ἐφίεσθαι. γέρων μὲν ἐκεῖνος ὥστʼ ἐμοὶ βοηθεῖν, νεώτερος δʼ ἐγὼ πολλῷ ἢ ὥστε δύνασθαι ἐμαυτῷ τιμωρεῖν ἱκανῶς.

[¶29] 80. You must help me: you must refuse to reach those who make a trade of prosecution to become more powerful than yourselves. If they achieve their purpose when they appear before you, it will be a lesson to their victims to compromise with them and avoid open court; but if by appearing before you they succeed only in gaining an evil reputation for themselves, you will enjoy the honor and the power which it is right that you should. So give me and give justice your support.

> Greek: 80. ἀλλʼ ὑμεῖς βοηθήσατέ μοι, καὶ μὴ διδάσκετε τοὺς συκοφάντας μεῖζον ὑμῶν αὐτῶν δύνασθαι. ἐὰν μὲν γὰρ εἰσιόντες εἰς ὑμᾶς ἃ βούλονται πράσσωσι, δεδειγμένον ἔσται τούτους μὲν πείθειν, τὸ δʼ ὑμέτερον πλῆθος φεύγειν· ἐὰν δὲ εἰσιόντες εἰς ὑμᾶς πονηροὶ μὲν αὐτοὶ δοκῶσιν εἶναι, πλέον δʼ αὐτοῖς μηδὲν γένηται, ὑμετέρα ἡ τιμὴ καὶ ἡ δύναμις ἔσται, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ δίκαιον ἔχει. ὑμεῖς οὖν ἐμοί τε βοηθεῖτε καὶ τῷ δικαίῳ.

[¶30] 81. Proof as complete as the presumptions and the evidence supplied by things human could make it has now been presented to you. But in cases of this nature the indications furnished by heaven must also have no small influence on your verdict. It is upon them that you chiefly depend for safe guidance in affairs of state, whether in times of crisis or tranquillity; so they should be allowed equal prominence and weight in the settlement of private questions.

> Greek: 81. ὅσα μὲν οὖν ἐκ τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων τεκμηρίων καὶ μαρτυριῶν οἷά τε ἦν ἀποδειχθῆναι, ἀκηκόατε· χρὴ δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν θεῶν σημείοις γενομένοις εἰς τὰ τοιαῦτα οὐχ ἥκιστα τεκμηραμένους ψηφίζεσθαι. καὶ γὰρ τὰ τῆς πόλεως κοινὰ τούτοις μάλιστα πιστεύοντες ἀσφαλῶς διαπράσσεσθε, τοῦτο μὲν τὰ εἰς τοὺς κινδύνους ἥκοντα, τοῦτο δὲ ⟨εἰς⟩ τὰ ἔξω τῶν κινδύνων. χρὴ δὲ καὶ εἰς τὰ ἴδια ταῦτα μέγιστα καὶ πιστότατα ἡγεῖσθαι.

[¶31] 82. I hardly think I need remind you that many a man with unclean hands or some other form of defilement who has embarked on shipboard with the righteous has involved them in his own destruction. Others, while they have escaped death, have had their lives imperilled owing to such polluted wretches. Many, too, have been proved to be defiled as they stood beside a sacrifice, because they prevented the proper performance of the rites.

> Greek: 82. οἶμαι γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἐπίστασθαι ὅτι πολλοὶ ἤδη ἄνθρωποι μὴ καθαροὶ ⟨τὰς⟩ χεῖρας ἢ ἄλλο τι μίασμα ἔχοντες συνεισβάντες εἰς τὸ πλοῖον συναπώλεσαν μετὰ τῆς αὑτῶν ψυχῆς τοὺς ὁσίως διακειμένους τὰ πρὸς τοὺς θεούς· τοῦτο δὲ ἤδη ἑτέρους ἀπολομένους μὲν οὔ, κινδυνεύσαντας δὲ τοὺς ἐσχάτους κινδύνους διὰ τοὺς τοιούτους ἀνθρώπους· τοῦτο δὲ ἱεροῖς παραστάντες πολλοὶ δὴ καταφανεῖς ἐγένοντο οὐχ ὅσιοι ὄντες, ⟨καὶ⟩ διακωλύοντες τὰ ἱερὰ μὴ γίγνεσθαι τὰ νομιζόμενα.

[¶32] 83. With me the opposite has happened in every case. Not only have fellow-passengers of mine enjoyed the calmest of voyages: but whenever I have attended a sacrifice, that sacrifice has invariably been successful. I claim that these facts furnish the strongest presumption in my favor that the charge brought against me by the prosecution is unfounded; I have witnesses to confirm them.

> Greek: 83. ἐμοὶ τοίνυν ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις τὰ ἐναντία ἐγένετο. τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ ὅσοις συνέπλευσα, καλλίστοις ἐχρήσαντο πλοῖς· τοῦτο δὲ ὅπου ἱεροῖς παρέστην, οὐκ ἔστιν ὅπου οὐχὶ κάλλιστα τὰ ἱερὰ ἐγένετο. ἃ ἐγὼ ἀξιῶ μεγάλα μοι τεκμήρια εἶναι τῆς αἰτίας, ὅτι οὐκ ἀληθῆ μου οὗτοι κατηγοροῦσι. ⟨εἰσὶ δέ μοι καὶ⟩ τούτων μάρτυρες.

[¶33] 84. Witnesses I know furthermore, gentlemen of the jury, that if the witnesses were testifying against me that my presence on shipboard or at a sacrifice had been the occasion of some unholy manifestation, the prosecution would be treating that fact as supremely significant; they would be showing that here, in the signs from heaven, was to be found the clearest confirmation of their charge. As, however, the signs have contradicted their assertions and the witnesses testify that what I say is true and that what the prosecution say is not, they urge you to put no credence in the evidence of those witnesses; according to them, it is their own statements which you should believe. Whereas every one else uses the facts to prove the worth of mere assertion, they use mere assertion for the purpose of discrediting the facts.

> Greek: 84. Μάρτυρες ἐπίσταμαι δὲ καὶ τάδε, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ὅτι εἰ μὲν ἐμοῦ κατεμαρτύρουν οἱ μάρτυρες, ὥς τι ἀνόσιον γεγένηται ἐμοῦ παρόντος ἐν πλοίῳ ἢ ἐν ἱεροῖς, αὐτοῖς γε τούτοις ἰσχυροτάτοις ἂν ἐχρῶντο, καὶ πίστιν τῆς αἰτίας ταύτην σαφεστάτην ἀπέφαινον, τὰ σημεῖα τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν θεῶν· νῦν δὲ τῶν τε σημείων ἐναντίων τοῖς τούτων λόγοις γιγνομένων, τῶν τε μαρτύρων ἃ μὲν ἐγὼ λέγω μαρτυρούντων ἀληθῆ εἶναι, ἃ δʼ οὗτοι κατηγοροῦσι ψευδῆ, τοῖς μὲν μαρτυροῦσιν ἀπιστεῖν ὑμᾶς κελεύουσι, τοῖς δὲ λόγοις οὓς αὐτοὶ λέγουσι πιστεύειν ὑμᾶς φασι χρῆναι. καὶ οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι ἄνθρωποι τοῖς ἔργοις τοὺς λόγους ἐλέγχουσιν, οὗτοι δὲ τοῖς λόγοις τὰ ἔργα ζητοῦσιν ἄπιστα καθιστάναι.

[¶34] 85. All the charges which I can remember, gentlemen, I have answered; and for your own sakes I think that you should acquit me. A verdict saving my life will alone enable you to comply with the law and your oath; for you have sworn to return a lawful verdict; and while the crime with which I am charged can still be tried legally, the laws under which I was arrested do not concern my case. If two trials have been made out of one, it is not I, but my accusers, who are to blame; and I cannot suppose that if my bitterest enemies have involved me in two trials, impartial ministers of justice like yourselves will prematurely find me guilty of murder in the present one.

> Greek: 85. ὅσα μὲν οὖν ἐκ τῶν κατηγορηθέντων μέμνημαι, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἀπολελόγημαι· οἶμαι δὲ καὶ ὑμῶν ⟨αὐτῶν ἕνεκα δεῖν ὑμᾶς μου⟩ ἀποψηφίσασθαι. ταὐτὰ γὰρ ἐμέ τε σῴζει, καὶ ὑμῖν νόμιμα καὶ εὔορκα γίγνεται. κατὰ γὰρ τοὺς νόμους ὠμόσατε δικάσειν· ἐγὼ δὲ καθʼ οὓς μὲν ἀπήχθην, οὐκ ἔνοχός εἰμι τοῖς νόμοις, ὧν δʼ ἔχω τὴν αἰτίαν, ἀγών μοι νόμιμος ὑπολείπεται. εἰ δὲ δύο ἐξ ἑνὸς ἀγῶνος γεγένησθον, οὐκ ἐγὼ αἴτιος, ἀλλʼ οἱ κατήγοροι. καίτοι οὐ δήπου οἱ μὲν ἔχθιστοι οἱ ἐμοὶ δύο ἀγῶνας περὶ ἐμοῦ πεποιήκασιν, ὑμεῖς δὲ οἱ τῶν δικαίων ἴσοι κριταὶ προκαταγνώσεσθέ μου ἐν τῷδε τῷ ἀγῶνι τὸν φόνον.

[¶35] 86. Beware of such haste, gentlemen; give time its opportunity; it is time which enables those who seek the truth to find it with certainty. In fact, gentlemen, I for one have always maintained that, while a case of this kind should certainly be tried according to law, the rights of the matter should be established as many times as the law will permit, since they would thus be the better understood; the repeated trial of a case is a good friend of the truth and the deadly foe of misrepresentation.

> Greek: 86. μὴ ὑμεῖς γε, ὦ ἄνδρες· ἀλλὰ δότε τι καὶ τῷ χρόνῳ, μεθʼ οὗ ὀρθότατα εὑρίσκουσιν οἱ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν ζητοῦντες τῶν πραγμάτων. ἠξίουν μὲν γὰρ ἔγωγε περὶ τῶν τοιούτων, ὦ ἄνδρες, εἶναι τὴν δίκην κατὰ τοὺς νόμους, κατὰ μέντοι ⟨τούτους⟩ τὸ δίκαιον ὡς πλειστάκις ἐλέγχεσθαι. τοσούτῳ γὰρ ἄμεινον ἂν ἐγιγνώσκετο· οἱ γὰρ πολλοὶ ἀγῶνες τῇ μὲν ἀληθείᾳ σύμμαχοί εἰσι, τῇ δὲ διαβολῇ πολεμιώτατοι.

[¶36] 87. In a trial for murder, even if judgement is wrongly given against the defendant, justice and the facts cannot prevail against that decision. Once you condemn me, I must perforce obey your verdict and the law, even if I am not the murderer or concerned in the crime. No one would venture either to disregard the sentence passed upon him because he was sure that he had had no part in the crime, or to disobey the law if he knew in his heart that he was guilty of such a deed. He has to submit to the verdict in defiance of the facts, or submit to the facts themselves, as the case may be, above all if his victim has none to avenge him.

> Greek: 87. φόνου γὰρ δίκη καὶ μὴ ὀρθῶς γνωσθεῖσα ἰσχυρότερον τοῦ δικαίου καὶ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς ἐστιν· ἀνάγκη γὰρ, ἐὰν ὑμεῖς μου καταψηφίσησθε, καὶ μὴ ὄντα φονέα μηδʼ ἔνοχον τῷ ἔργῳ χρῆσθαι τῇ δίκῃ καὶ τῷ νόμῳ· καὶ οὐδεὶς ἂν τολμήσειεν οὔτε τὴν δίκην τὴν δεδικασμένην παραβαίνειν, πιστεύσας αὑτῷ ὅτι οὐκ ἔνοχός ἐστιν, οὔτε ξυνειδὼς αὑτῷ τοιοῦτον ἔργον εἰργασμένῳ μὴ οὐ χρῆσθαι τῷ νόμῳ· ἀνάγκη δὲ τῆς ⟨τε⟩ δίκης νικᾶσθαι παρὰ τὸ ἀληθές, αὐτοῦ τε τοῦ ἀληθοῦς, ἄλλως τε καὶ ἐὰν μὴ ᾖ ὁ τιμωρήσων.

[¶37] 88. The laws, the oaths, the sacrifices, the proclamations, in fact the entire proceeding in connection with trials for murder differ as profoundly as they do from the proceedings elsewhere simply because it is of supreme importance that the facts at issue, upon which so much turns, should themselves be rightly interpreted. Such a right interpretation means vengeance for him who has been wronged; whereas to find an innocent man guilty of murder is a mistake, and a sinful mistake, which offends both gods and laws.

> Greek: 88. αὐτῶν δὲ τούτων ἕνεκα οἵ τε νόμοι καὶ αἱ διωμοσίαι καὶ τὰ τόμια καὶ αἱ προρρήσεις, καὶ τἆλλʼ ὁπόσα γίγνεται τῶν δικῶν ἕνεκα τοῦ φόνου, πολὺ διαφέροντά ἐστιν ἢ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὰ τὰ πράγματα, περὶ ὧν οἱ κίνδυνοι, περὶ πλείστου ἐστὶν ὀρθῶς γιγνώσκεσθαι· ὀρθῶς μὲν γὰρ γνωσθέντα τιμωρία ἐστὶ τῷ ἀδικηθέντι, φονέα δὲ τὸν μὴ αἴτιον ψηφισθῆναι ἁμαρτία καὶ ἀσέβειά ἐστιν εἴς τε τοὺς θεοὺς καὶ εἰς τοὺς νόμους.

[¶38] 89. Nor is it as serious for the prosecutor to accuse the wrong person as it is for you jurors to reach a wrong verdict. The charge brought by the prosecutor is not in itself effective; whether it becomes so, depends upon you, sitting in judgement. On the other hand if you yourselves, when actually sitting in judgement, return a wrong verdict, you cannot rid yourselves of the responsibility for the mistake by blaming someone else for that verdict.

> Greek: 89. καὶ οὐκ ἴσον ἐστὶ τόν τε διώκοντα μὴ ὀρθῶς αἰτιάσασθαι καὶ ὑμᾶς τοὺς δικαστὰς μὴ ὀρθῶς γνῶναι. ἡ μὲν γὰρ τούτων αἰτίασις οὐκ ἔχει τέλος, ἀλλʼ ἐν ὑμῖν ἐστι καὶ τῇ δίκῃ· ὅ τι δʼ ἂν ὑμεῖς ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ δίκῃ μὴ ὀρθῶς γνῶτε, τοῦτο οὐκ ἔστιν ὅποι ἄν τις ἀνενεγκὼν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἀπολύσαιτο.

[¶39] 90. Then how can you decide the case aright? By allowing the prosecution to bring their charge only after taking the customary oath, and by allowing me to confine my defence to the question before the court. And how will you do this? By acquitting me today. For I do not escape your sentence even so: you will be the judges at the second hearing also. If you spare me now, you can treat me as you will then; whereas once you put me to death, you cannot even consider my case further.

> Greek: 90. πῶς ἂν οὖν ὀρθῶς δικάσαιτε περὶ αὐτῶν; εἰ τούτους τε ἐάσετε τὸν νομιζόμενον ὅρκον διομοσαμένους κατηγορῆσαι, κἀμὲ περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ πράγματος ἀπολογήσασθαι. πῶς δὲ ἐάσετε; ἐὰν νυνὶ ἀποψηφίσησθέ μου. διαφεύγω γὰρ οὐδʼ οὕτω τὰς ὑμετέρας γνώμας, ἀλλʼ ὑμεῖς ἔσεσθε οἱ κἀκεῖ περὶ ἐμοῦ διαψηφιζόμενοι. καὶ φεισαμένοις μὲν ὑμῖν ἐμοῦ νῦν ἔξεστι τότε χρῆσθαι ὅ τι ἂν βούλησθε, ἀπολέσασι δὲ οὐδὲ βουλεύσασθαι ἔτι περὶ ἐμοῦ ἐγχωρεῖ.

[¶40] 91. Indeed, supposing that you were bound to make some mistake, it would be less of an outrage to acquit me unfairly than to put me to death without just cause; for the one thing is a mistake and nothing more: the other is a sin in addition. You must exercise the greatest caution in what you do, because you will not be able to reconsider your action. In a matter which admits of reconsideration a mistake, whether made through giving rein to the feelings or through accepting a distorted account of the facts, is not so serious; it is still possible to change one’s mind and come to a right decision. But when reconsideration is impossible, the wrong done is only increased by altering one’s mind and acknowledging one’s mistake. Some of you yourselves have in fact repented before now of having sent men to their death; but when you, who had been misled, felt repentance, most assuredly did those who had misled you deserve death.

> Greek: 91. καὶ μὴν εἰ δέοι ἁμαρτεῖν τι, τὸ ἀδίκως ἀπολῦσαι ὁσιώτερον ἂν εἴη τοῦ μὴ δικαίως ἀπολέσαι· τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἁμάρτημα μόνον ἐστί, τὸ δὲ ἕτερον καὶ ἀσέβημα. ἐν ᾧ χρὴ πολλὴν πρόνοιαν ἔχειν, μέλλοντας ἀνήκεστον ἔργον ἐργάζεσθαι. ἐν μὲν γὰρ ἀκεστῷ πράγματι καὶ ὀργῇ χρησαμένους καὶ διαβολῇ πιθομένους ἔλαττόν ἐστιν ἐξαμαρτεῖν· μεταγνοὺς γάρ ⟨τις⟩ ἔτι ἂν ὀρθῶς βουλεύσαιτο· ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἀνηκέστοις πλέον βλάβος τὸ μετανοεῖν καὶ γνῶναι ἐξημαρτηκότας. ἤδη δέ τισιν ὑμῶν καὶ μετεμέλησεν ἀπολωλεκόσι. καίτοι ὅπου ὑμῖν τοῖς ἐξαπατηθεῖσι μετεμέλησεν, ἦ καὶ πάνυ τοι χρῆν τούς γε ἐξαπατῶντας ἀπολωλέναι.

[¶41] 92. Moreover, whereas involuntary mistakes are excusable, voluntary mistakes are not; for an involuntary mistake is due to chance, gentlemen, a voluntary one to the will. And what could be more voluntary than the immediate putting into effect of a carefully considered course of action? Furthermore, the wrongful taking of life by one’s vote is just as criminal as the wrongful taking of life by one’s hand.

> Greek: 92. ἔπειτα δὲ τὰ μὲν ἀκούσια τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἔχει συγγνώμην, τὰ δὲ ἑκούσια οὐκ ἔχει. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀκούσιον ἁμάρτημα, ὦ ἄνδρες, τῆς τύχης ἐστί, τὸ δὲ ἑκούσιον τῆς γνώμης. ἑκούσιον δὲ πῶς ἂν εἴη μᾶλλον ἢ εἴ τις, ὧν βουλὴν ποιοῖτο, ταῦτα παραχρῆμα ἐξεργάζοιτο; καὶ μὴν τὴν ἴσην γε δύναμιν ἔχει, ὅστις τε ἂν τῇ χειρὶ ἀποκτείνῃ ἀδίκως καὶ ὅστις τῇ ψήφῳ.

[¶42] 93. Rest assured that I should never have come to Athens, had such a crime been on my conscience. I am here, as it is, because I have faith in justice, the most precious ally of the man who has no deed of sin upon his conscience and who has committed no transgression against the gods. Often at such an hour as this, when the body has given up the struggle, its salvation is the spirit, which is ready to fight on in the conscience that it is innocent. On the other hand, he whose conscience is guilty has no worse enemy than that conscience; for his spirit fails him which his body is still unwearied, because it feels that what is approaching him is the punishment of his iniquities. But it is with no such guilty conscience that I come before you.

> Greek: 93. εὖ δʼ ἴστε ὅτι οὐκ ἄν ποτʼ ἦλθον εἰς τὴν πόλιν, εἴ τι ξυνῄδη ἐμαυτῷ τοιοῦτον· νῦν δὲ πιστεύων τῷ δικαίῳ, οὗ πλέονος οὐδέν ἐστιν ἄξιον ἀνδρὶ συναγωνίζεσθαι, μηδὲν αὑτῷ συνειδότι ἀνόσιον εἰργασμένῳ μηδʼ εἰς τοὺς θεοὺς ἠσεβηκότι· ἐν γὰρ τῷ τοιούτῳ ἤδη καὶ τὸ σῶμα ἀπειρηκὸς ἡ ψυχὴ συνεξέσωσεν, ἐθέλουσα ταλαιπωρεῖν διὰ τὸ μὴ ξυνειδέναι ἑαυτῇ. τῷ δὲ ξυνειδότι τοῦτο αὐτὸ πρῶτον πολέμιόν ἐστιν· ἔτι γὰρ καὶ τοῦ σώματος ἰσχύοντος ἡ ψυχὴ προαπολείπει, ἡγουμένη τὴν τιμωρίαν οἱ ἥκειν ταύτην τῶν ἀσεβημάτων ἐγὼ δʼ ἐμαυτῷ τοιοῦτον οὐδὲν ξυνειδὼς ἥκω εἰς ὑμᾶς.

[¶43] 94. There is nothing remarkable in the fact that the prosecution are misrepresenting me. It is expected of them just as it is expected of you not to consent to do what is wrong. I say this because if you follow my advice, it is still open to you to regret your action, and that regret can be remedied by punishing me at the second trial: whereas if you obediently carry out the prosecution’s wishes, the situation cannot be righted again. Nor is there a question of a long interval before the law will allow you to take the step to which the prosecution are today urging you to consent in defiance of it. It is not haste, but discretion which triumphs; so take cognizance of the case today: pass judgement on it later; form an opinion as to the truth today: decide upon it later.

> Greek: 94. τὸ δὲ τοὺς κατηγόρους διαβάλλειν οὐδέν ἐστι θαυμαστόν. τούτων γὰρ ἔργον τοῦτο, ὑμῶν δὲ τὸ μὴ πείθεσθαι τὰ μὴ δίκαια. τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ ἐμοὶ πειθομένοις ὑμῖν μεταμελῆσαι ἔστιν, καὶ τούτου φάρμακον τὸ αὖθις κολάσαι, τοῦ δὲ τούτοις πειθομένους ἐξεργάσασθαι ἃ οὗτοι βούλονται οὐκ ἔστιν ἴασις. οὐδὲ χρόνος πολὺς ὁ διαφέρων, ἐν ᾧ ταῦτα νομίμως πράξεθʼ ἃ νῦν ὑμᾶς παρανόμως πείθουσιν οἱ κατήγοροι ψηφίσασθαι. οὔ τοι τῶν ἐπειγομένων ἐστὶ τὰ πράγματα, ἀλλὰ τῶν εὖ βουλευομένων. νῦν μὲν οὖν γνωρισταὶ γίγνεσθε τῆς δίκης, τότε δὲ δικασταὶ ⟨τῶν μαρτύρων⟩ νῦν μὲν δοξασταί, τότε δὲ κριταὶ τῶν ἀληθῶν.

[¶44] 95. It is very easy, remember, to give false evidence against a man on a capital charge. If you are persuaded only for an instant to put him to death, he has lost his chance of redress with his life. A man’s very friends will refuse to seek redress for him once he is dead; and even if they are prepared to do so, what good is it to one who has lost his life?

> Greek: 95. ῥᾷστον δέ τοί ἐστιν ἀνδρὸς περὶ θανάτου φεύγοντος τὰ ψευδῆ καταμαρτυρῆσαι. ἐὰν γὰρ τὸ παραχρῆμα μόνον πείσωσιν ὥστε ἀποκτεῖναι, ἅμα τῷ σώματι καὶ ἡ τιμωρία ἀπόλωλεν. οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ φίλοι ἔτι θελήσουσιν ὑπὲρ ἀπολωλότος τιμωρεῖν· ἐὰν δὲ καὶ βουληθῶσιν, τί ἔσται πλέον τῷ γε ἀποθανόντι;

[¶45] 96. Acquit me, then, today and at the trial for murder the prosecution shall take the traditional oath before accusing me: you shall decide my case by the laws of the land: and I, if I am unlucky, shall have no grounds left for complaining that I was sentenced to death illegally. That is my request; and in making it I am not forgetting your duty as godfearing men or depriving myself of my rights, as my life is bound up with your oath. Respect which you will, and acquit me.

> Greek: 96. νῦν μὲν οὖν ἀποψηφίσασθέ μου· ἐν δὲ τῇ τοῦ φόνου δίκῃ οὗτοί τε τὸν νομιζόμενον ὅρκον διομοσάμενοι ἐμοῦ κατηγορήσουσι, καὶ ὑμεῖς περὶ ἐμοῦ κατὰ τοὺς κειμένους νόμους διαγνώσεσθε, καὶ ἐμοὶ οὐδεὶς λόγος ἔσται ἔτι, ἐάν τι πάσχω, ὡς παρανόμως ἀπωλόμην. ταῦτά τοι δέομαι ὑμῶν, οὔτε τὸ ὑμέτερον εὐσεβὲς παριεὶς οὔτε ἐμαυτὸν ἀποστερῶν τὸ δίκαιον· ἐν δὲ τῷ ὑμετέρῳ ὅρκῳ καὶ ἡ ἐμὴ σωτηρία ἔνεστι. πειθόμενοι δὲ τούτων ὅτῳ βούλεσθε, ἀποψηφίσασθέ μου.