1. I do not think, gentlemen of the jury, that even Timocrates can lay the blame of the present prosecution upon anyone else: he has brought it on himself. Moved by desire to deprive the State of a large sum of money, he has most illegally introduced a law which is both inexpedient and iniquitous. You shall presently learn in detail, if you will listen to me, in how many respects this law, if ratified, will be injurious and detrimental to the common weal; but there is one result, the most important and the most obvious that I can name, which I shall not hesitate to put before you.
1. τοῦ μὲν ἀγῶνος, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τοῦ παρόντος οὐδʼ ἂν αὐτὸν οἶμαι Τιμοκράτην εἰπεῖν ὡς αἴτιός ἐστιν ἄλλος τις αὐτῷ πλὴν αὐτὸς αὑτῷ. χρημάτων γὰρ οὐκ ὀλίγων ἀποστερῆσαι βουλόμενος τὴν πόλιν, παρὰ πάντας τοὺς νόμους νόμον εἰσήνεγκεν οὔτʼ ἐπιτήδειον οὔτε δίκαιον, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί· ὃς τὰ μὲν ἄλλʼ ὅσα λυμανεῖται καὶ χεῖρον ἔχειν τὰ κοινὰ ποιήσει, κύριος εἰ γενήσεται, τάχα δὴ καθʼ ἕκαστον ἀκούοντες ἐμοῦ μαθήσεσθε, ἓν δʼ, ὃ μέγιστον ἔχω καὶ προχειρότατον πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰπεῖν, οὐκ ἀποτρέψομαι.
2. For it is the decision that you pronounce on oath on every question which is annulled and made worthless by the law proposed by the defendant; and his object is not any public benefit to the State,—that is impossible, for his law robs those Courts of Justice, which are the pillars of the constitution, of all power to impose the additional penalties attached by the laws to transgressions,—but that certain of those men who have long battened on your substance and pillaged your property may not even refund moneys which they were openly caught in the act of embezzling.
2. τὴν γὰρ ὑμετέραν ψῆφον, ἣν ὀμωμοκότες περὶ πάντων φέρετε, λύει καὶ ποιεῖ τοῦ μηδενὸς ἀξίαν ὁ τουτουὶ νόμος, οὐχ ἵνα κοινῇ τι τὴν πόλιν ὠφελήσῃ (πῶς γάρ; ὅς γε, ἃ δοκεῖ συνέχειν τὴν πολιτείαν, τὰ δικαστήρια, ταῦτʼ ἄκυρα ποιεῖ τῶν προστιμημάτων τῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀδικήμασιν ἐκ τῶν νόμων ὡρισμένων), ἀλλʼ ἵνα τῶν πολὺν χρόνον ὑμᾶς τινες ἐκκεκαρπωμένων καὶ πολλὰ τῶν ὑμετέρων διηρπακότων μηδʼ ἃ κλέπτοντες φανερῶς ἐλήφθησαν καταθῶσιν.
3. Also it is so much easier to curry favour privately with certain persons than to stand up in defence of your rights that, while Timocrates has their fee in his pocket, and never introduced his law until he got it, I, so far from getting any reward from you, am risking a thousand drachmas in your defence.
3. καὶ τοσούτῳ ῥᾷόν ἐστʼ ἰδίᾳ τινὰς θεραπεύειν ἢ τῶν ὑμετέρων δικαίων προΐστασθαι, ὥσθʼ οὗτος μὲν ἔχει παρʼ ἐκείνων ἀργύριον καὶ οὐ πρότερον τοῦτον εἰσήνεγκε ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν τὸν νόμον, ἐμοὶ δʼ ἐν χιλίαις ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ὁ κίνδυνος· τοσοῦτʼ ἀπέχω τοῦ λαβεῖν τι παρʼ ὑμῶν.
4. Now it is the common practice of those who take up any piece of public business to inform you that the matter on which they happen to be making their speeches is most momentous, and worthy of your best attention. But if that claim has ever been made with propriety, I think that I am entitled to make it now.
4. εἰώθασιν μὲν οὖν οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν πράττειν τι προαιρουμένων τῶν κοινῶν λέγειν ὡς ταῦθʼ ὑμῖν σπουδαιότατʼ ἐστὶν καὶ μάλιστʼ ἄξιον προσέχειν τούτοις, ὑπὲρ ὧν ἂν αὐτοὶ τυγχάνωσι ποιούμενοι τοὺς λόγους. ἐγὼ δʼ, εἴπερ τινὶ τοῦτο καὶ ἄλλῳ προσηκόντως εἴρηται, νομίζω κἀμοὶ νῦν ἁρμόττειν εἰπεῖν.
5. For I suppose that no man living will attribute the prosperity of Athens, her liberty, her popular government, to anything rather than to the laws. Well, the question for you today is this: shall all the laws that you have enacted for the restraint of evil-doers be invalidated, and this law alone be valid; or shall this law be annulled and the rest allowed to remain? That, to put it in brief summary, is the issue that you have to determine today.
5. τῶν γὰρ ὄντων ἀγαθῶν τῇ πόλει καὶ τοῦ δημοκρατουμένην καὶ ἐλευθέραν εἶναι ὡς ἄλλο τι τῶν νόμων αἰτιώτερόν ἐστιν, οὐδʼ ἂν ἕνʼ εἰπεῖν οἶμαι. περὶ τοίνυν αὐτοῦ τούτου νῦν ὑμῖν ἐστιν, πότερον δεῖ τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους νόμους, οὓς ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀδικοῦσι τὴν πόλιν ὑμεῖς ἀνεγράψατε, ἀκύρους εἶναι, τόνδε δὲ κύριον, ἢ τοὐναντίον τοῦτον μὲν λῦσαι, κατὰ χώραν δὲ μένειν τοὺς ἄλλους ἐᾶν. τὸ μὲν οὖν πρᾶγμα περὶ οὗ δεῖ νῦν ὑμᾶς γνῶναι, ὡς ἐν κεφαλαίῳ τις ἂν εἴποι, τοῦτʼ ἐστίν.
6. But to forestall any surprise you may feel that I, who can claim to have hitherto lived a quiet life, should now be making my appearance in actions at law and public prosecutions, I desire to offer a brief explanation, which will not be irrelevant to the issue. Men of Athens, I once fell out with a worthless, quarrelsome, unprincipled fellow, with whom in the end the whole city also fell out,—I mean Androtion.
6. ἵνα δʼ ὑμῶν μηδεὶς θαυμάζῃ τί δή ποτʼ ἐγὼ μετρίως, ὥς γʼ ἐμαυτὸν πείθω, τὸν ἄλλον χρόνον βεβιωκὼς νῦν ἐν ἀγῶσι καὶ γραφαῖς δημοσίαις ἐξετάζομαι, βούλομαι μικρὰ πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰπεῖν· ἔσται δὲ ταῦτʼ οὐκ ἄπο τοῦ πράγματος. ἐγὼ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, προσέκρουσʼ ἀνθρώπῳ πονηρῷ καὶ φιλαπεχθήμονι καὶ θεοῖς ἐχθρῷ, ᾧ τελευτῶσʼ ὅλη προσέκρουσεν ἡ πόλις, Ἀνδροτίωνα λέγω.
7. By this man I was far more grievously wronged than Euctemon, inasmuch as Euctemon suffered the loss of some money, but I, if he had made good his attack upon me, should have lost my life as well as my property; indeed, even the common privilege of an easy exit from life would have been denied me. He accused me of a crime which a man of good feeling would be loath even to mention,—of having killed my own father; he concocted an indictment for impiety, and brought me to trial. At that trial he failed to get a fifth part of the votes of the jury, and was fined a thousand drachmas. I was deservedly acquitted, for which I thank first the gods, and secondly those of you who were on the jury;
7. καὶ τοσούτῳ δεινότερʼ Εὐκτήμονος ἠδικήθην ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ, ὥσθʼ ὁ μὲν Εὐκτήμων εἰς χρήματʼ ἔσθʼ ἃ κακῶς ἔπαθεν, ἐγὼ δʼ, εἰ κατώρθωσεν ἐκεῖνος ἣν ἐπʼ ἔμʼ ἦλθεν ὁδόν, οὐχ ὅτι τῶν ὄντων ἂν ἀπεστερήμην, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ἂν ἔζων, οὐδʼ ὃ κοινὸν ἅπασίν ἐστιν, ἀπαλλαγῆναι τοῦ βίου, ῥᾴδιον ἦν ἄν μοι. αἰτιασάμενος γάρ μʼ ἃ καὶ λέγειν ἄν τις ὀκνήσειεν εὖ φρονῶν, τὸν ἐμαυτοῦ πατέρʼ ὡς ἀπέκτονα, ἀσεβείας γραφὴν κατασκευάσας εἰς ἀγῶνα κατέστησεν. ἐν δὲ τούτῳ τὸ πέμπτον μέρος τῶν ψήφων οὐ μεταλαβὼν ὦφλε χιλίας, ἐγὼ δʼ, ὥσπερ ἦν δίκαιον, μάλιστα μὲν διὰ τοὺς θεούς, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ διὰ τοὺς δικάζοντας ὑμῶν ἐσώθην, τὸν δʼ εἰς τοιαῦτα καταστήσαντά μʼ ἀδίκως ἀδιάλλακτον ἐχθρὸν ἡγούμην.
8. but the man who had wickedly brought me to that pass I accounted an enemy with whom I could make no terms. When I discovered that he had defrauded the whole commonwealth in the collection of the property-tax and in the manufacture of processional utensils, and that he held and refused to restore a great deal of money belonging to the Goddess, the Heroes, and the State, I proceeded against him with the aid of Euctemon, thinking it a favorable opportunity for doing the State a service, and at the same time getting satisfaction for the wrongs I had suffered. My purpose would naturally be that I should accomplish my desire, and that he should get his deserts.
8. ἰδὼν δʼ ἠδικηκότα κοινῇ πᾶσαν τὴν πόλιν καὶ περὶ τὴν εἴσπραξιν τῶν εἰσφορῶν καὶ περὶ τὴν ποίησιν τῶν πομπείων, καὶ χρήματα πολλὰ τῆς θεοῦ καὶ τῶν ἐπωνύμων καὶ τῆς πόλεως ἔχοντα καὶ οὐκ ἀποδιδόντα, ἦλθον ἐπʼ αὐτὸν μετʼ Εὐκτήμονος, ἡγούμενος ἁρμόττοντʼ εἰληφέναι καιρὸν τοῦ βοηθῆσαί θʼ ἅμα τῇ πόλει καὶ τιμωρίαν ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐπεπόνθειν λαβεῖν· βουλοίμην δʼ ἂν ἐμέ τε τυχεῖν ὧν βούλομαι τοῦτόν τε παθεῖν ὧν ἄξιός ἐστι.
9. The facts were indisputable; the Council condemned him; the Assembly spent a whole day over the case; two juries, each a thousand-and-one strong, brought in their verdict; and then, when there was no subterfuge left by which you could be kept out of your money, this man Timocrates, with the most insolent contempt of the whole proceeding, proposes this law,—a law by which he robs the gods of their consecrated treasure and the city of her just dues, invalidates the judgements pronounced by the Council, the Assembly, and the Courts of Justice, and has given free licence to everybody to plunder the treasury.
9. τοῦ δὲ πράγματος οὐκέτʼ ὄντος ἀμφισβητησίμου, ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν τῆς βουλῆς κατεγνωκυίας, εἶτα τοῦ δήμου μίαν ἡμέραν ὅλην ἐπὶ τούτοις αὐτοῖς ἀναλώσαντος, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις δικαστηρίοιν δυοῖν εἰς ἕνα καὶ χιλίους ἐψηφισμένων, ἐνούσης δʼ οὐδεμιᾶς ἔτʼ ἀποστροφῆς τοῦ μὴ τὰ χρήματʼ ἔχειν ὑμᾶς, Τιμοκράτης οὑτοσὶ τοσοῦθʼ ὑπερεῖδεν ἅπαντα τὰ πράγματα, ὥστε τίθησι τουτονὶ τὸν νόμον, διʼ οὗ τῶν ἱερῶν μὲν χρημάτων τοὺς θεούς, τῶν ὁσίων δὲ τὴν πόλιν ἀποστερεῖ, ἄκυρα δὲ τὰ γνωσθένθʼ ὑπὸ τῆς βουλῆς καὶ τοῦ δήμου καὶ τοῦ δικαστηρίου καθίστησιν, ἄδειαν δὲ τὰ κοινὰ διαρπάζειν τῷ βουλομένῳ πεποίηκεν.
10. From all these wrongs we saw only one way of escape, that is, if we could abrogate the law by indicting it and bringing it before this court. I will therefore briefly recount the facts from the outset, in order that you may more readily grasp, and follow step by step, the manifold iniquities involved in the law itself.
10. ὑπὲρ δὴ τούτων ἁπάντων λύσιν εὑρίσκομεν ταύτην οὖσαν μόνην, εἰ γραψάμενοι τὸν νόμον καὶ εἰσαγαγόντες εἰς ὑμᾶς λῦσαι δυναίμεθα. ἐξ ἀρχῆς οὖν ἐν βραχέσιν τὰ πραχθέντα δίειμι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἵνα μᾶλλον μάθητε καὶ παρακολουθήσητε τοῖς περὶ τὸν νόμον αὐτὸν ἀδικήμασιν.
11. A decree was moved by Aristophon in the Assembly, appointing a commission of inquiry, and directing anyone, who knew of any sacred or public money in private hands, to give information to the commission. Thereupon Euctemon laid an information that Archebius and Lysitheides, who had served as naval captains, held property captured in a ship of Naucratis to the value of nine talents and thirty minas. He approached the Council, and a provisional resolution was drafted. Subsequently the Assembly met, and the people voted in favour of further inquiry.
11. ψήφισμʼ εἶπεν ἐν ὑμῖν Ἀριστοφῶν ἑλέσθαι ζητητάς, εἰ δέ τις οἶδέν τινʼ ἢ τῶν ἱερῶν ἢ τῶν ὁσίων χρημάτων ἔχοντά τι τῆς πόλεως, μηνύειν πρὸς τούτους. μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἐμήνυσεν Εὐκτήμων ἔχειν Ἀρχέβιον καὶ Λυσιθείδην τριηραρχήσαντας χρήματα Ναυκρατιτικά, τίμημα τάλαντʼ ἐννέα καὶ τριάκοντα μνᾶς. προσῆλθε τῇ βουλῇ, προβούλευμʼ ἐγράφη. μετὰ ταῦτα γενομένης ἐκκλησίας προὐχειροτόνησεν ὁ δῆμος.
12. Then Euctemon stood up, and in the course of his speech told you the whole story: how the ship in question was taken by the galley that was conveying Melanopus, Glaucetes, and Androtion on their embassy to Mausolus, how the owners presented their petition, and how you voted that the goods were enemy property at the time of capture. He reminded you of the statutes by which in such circumstances the property belongs to the State.
12. ἀναστὰς Εὐκτήμων ἔλεγʼ ἄλλα τε πολλὰ καὶ διεξῆλθεν πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὡς ἔλαβʼ ἡ τριήρης τὸ πλοῖον ἡ Μελάνωπον ἄγουσα καὶ Γλαυκέτην καὶ Ἀνδροτίωνα πρεσβευτὰς ὡς Μαύσωλον, ὡς ἔθεσαν τὴν ἱκετηρίαν ὧν ἦν τὰ χρήμαθʼ ἅνθρωποι, ὡς ἀπεχειροτονήσαθʼ ὑμεῖς μὴ φίλιʼ εἶναι τότε, ἀνέμνησεν ὑμᾶς, τοὺς νόμους ἀνέγνω καθʼ οὓς τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον πραχθέντων τῆς πόλεως γίγνεται τὰ χρήματα.
13. You all thought that what he said was just. Androtion, Glaucetes, and Melanopus sprang to their feet,—and here you may judge whether I am telling the truth,—made noisy, indignant, abusive speeches, exonerated the captains, admitted that the money was in their hands, and asked that the inquiry should proceed at their own houses. You listened to them; and, when their clamor had subsided, Euctemon offered a proposal, the fairest that could possibly be made, that you should demand payment from the captains, that they should apply in turn to the men in possession, and that any dispute as to liability should be adjudicated, the loser of such action to be indebted to the State.
13. ἐδόκει δίκαια λέγειν ὑμῖν ἅπασιν. ἀναπηδήσας Ἀνδροτίων καὶ Γλαυκέτης καὶ Μελάνωπος (καὶ ταυτὶ σκοπεῖτʼ ἂν ἀληθῆ λέγω) ἐβόων, ἠγανάκτουν, ἐλοιδοροῦντο, ἀπέλυον τοὺς τριηράρχους, ἔχειν ὡμολόγουν, παρʼ ἑαυτοῖς ζητεῖν ἠξίουν τὰ χρήματα. ταῦτʼ ἀκουσάντων ὑμῶν, ἐπειδή ποτʼ ἐπαύσανθʼ οὗτοι βοῶντες, ἔδωκε γνώμην Εὐκτήμων ὡς δυνατὸν δικαιοτάτην, ὑμᾶς μὲν εἰσπράττειν τοὺς τριηράρχους, ἐκείνοις δʼ εἶναι περὶ αὐτῶν εἰς τοὺς ἔχοντας ἀναφοράν· ἐὰν δʼ ἀμφισβητῆταί τι, ποιεῖν διαδικασίαν, τὸν δʼ ἡττηθέντα, τοῦτον ὀφείλειν τῇ πόλει.
14. They challenge the decree; it is brought before this Court; and to cut the story short, it was held to be legal, and escaped condemnation. Now what should have been the sequel? The State should have got the money, and the embezzler should have been punished; but assuredly there was no need of any new statute whatsoever. So far no wrong had been done to you by Timocrates, the defendant in this case; but afterwards he took over responsibility for everything that I have recounted, and it will be shown that the whole of your injuries are due to him. He made himself the hired agent of the artifices and impostures of these men, and, by that offer of his services, as I will prove to your satisfaction, he took upon himself the burden of their iniquities.
14. γράφονται τὸ ψήφισμα· εἰς ὑμᾶς εἰσῆλθεν· ἵνα συντέμω, κατὰ τοὺς νόμους ἔδοξεν εἰρῆσθαι καὶ ἀπέφυγεν. ἐνταῦθα τί προσῆκεν; τὰ μὲν χρήματʼ ἔχειν τὴν πόλιν, τὸν δʼ ἀποστεροῦντα κολάζειν· νόμου δʼ οὐδʼ ὁτιοῦν οὐδενὸς δήπου προσέδει. μέχρι μὲν δὴ τούτων οὐδὲν ἠδίκησθʼ ὑπὸ Τιμοκράτους τουτουί. μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ πάντʼ ἀνεδέξατʼ ἐφʼ αὑτὸν τὰ προειρημένα, καὶ πάντʼ ἠδικημένοι φανήσεσθʼ ὑπὸ τούτου· ταῖς γὰρ ἐκείνων τέχναις καὶ πανουργίαις μισθώσας αὑτὸν καὶ παρασχὼν ὑπηρέτην ἐφʼ αὑτὸν ἤγαγεν τἀδικήματα, ὡς ἐγὼ σαφῶς ὑμῖν ἐπιδείξω.
15. However, to begin with, I must remind you of dates, and of the conjuncture at which he proposed his new law; and indeed it will be apparent that he was impertinently laughing in your faces. It was the month of Scirophorion when those men lost the action they brought against Euctemon. Then they hired this man, and, without making the least preparation to satisfy your claim, they put up some newsmongers to tell people in the market-place that they were ready to pay the bare amount of the debt, but that they really could not afford to pay it twice over.
15. ἀνάγκη δὲ πρῶτον ὑπομνῆσαι τοὺς χρόνους ὑμᾶς καὶ τὸν καιρὸν ἐν ᾧ τίθησι τὸν νόμον· καὶ γὰρ ὑβριστικῶς προσεκκεχλευακὼς ὑμᾶς φανήσεται. ἦν μὲν γὰρ σκιροφοριὼν μὴν ἐν ᾧ τὰς γραφὰς ἥττηντʼ ἐκεῖνοι τὰς κατὰ τοῦ Εὐκτήμονος· μισθωσάμενοι δὲ τοῦτον καὶ οὐδὲ παρεσκευασμένοι τὰ δίκαια ποιεῖν ὑμῖν κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν λογοποιοὺς καθίεσαν ὡς ἁπλᾶ μὲν ἕτοιμοι τὰ χρήματʼ ἐκτίνειν, διπλᾶ δʼ οὐ δυνήσονται.
16. This was a mere manoeuvre, with banter thrown in—a device to divert attention from the enactment of this law. That it was so, we have the testimony of plain fact: all the time they never paid over a shilling of the money, while they disannulled most of the established laws by a single statute, and that the most disgraceful and scandalous ever enacted in your assembly.
16. ἦν δὲ ταῦτʼ ἐνέδρα μετὰ χλευασίας καὶ κατασκευασμὸς ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαθεῖν τόνδε τὸν νόμον τεθέντα. μαρτυρεῖ δʼ ὅτι ταῦθʼ οὕτως ἔχει τοὔργον αὐτό· τῶν μὲν γὰρ χρημάτων ἐκείνοις τοῖς χρόνοις δραχμὴν οὐ κατέθηκαν ὑμῖν, νόμῳ δʼ ἑνὶ πλείστους ὑπάρχοντας ἀκύρους ἐποίησαν, καὶ τούτῳ τῶν πώποτʼ ἐν ὑμῖν τεθέντων αἰσχίστῳ καὶ δεινοτάτῳ.
17. Before speaking of the law that I have indicted, I wish to give you a brief account of the existing statutes under which indictments of this kind are laid; for after hearing this account you will find the information useful for the rest of my speech. In our laws at present in force, men of Athens, every condition that must be observed when new statutes are to be enacted is laid down clearly and with precision.
17. βούλομαι δὴ μικρὰ διεξελθὼν περὶ τῶν κειμένων νόμων, καθʼ οὕς εἰσιν αἱ τοιαίδε γραφαί, περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ νόμου λέγειν ὃν γέγραμμαι· γενήσεσθε γὰρ εὐμαθέστεροι πρὸς τὰ λοιπὰ ταῦτα προακούσαντες. ἔστιν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, ἐν τοῖς οὖσι νόμοις ἡμῖν κυρίοις διωρισμένʼ ἀκριβῶς καὶ σαφῶς πάνθʼ ὅσα δεῖ ποιεῖν περὶ τῶν μελλόντων τεθήσεσθαι νόμων.
18. First of all, there is a prescribed time for legislation; but even at the proper time a man is not permitted to propose his law just as he pleases. He is directed, in the first place, to put it in writing and post it in front of the Heroes for everyone to see. Then it is ordained that the law must be of universal application, and also that laws of contrary purport must be repealed; and there are other directions with which I do not think I need trouble you now. If a man disobeys any of these directions, anyone who chooses is empowered to indict him.
18. καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἁπάντων χρόνος ἐστὶ γεγραμμένος, ἐν ᾧ προσήκει νομοθετεῖν· εἶτʼ οὐδὲ τόθʼ ὡς ἂν ἑκάστῳ δοκῇ δέδωκε τοῦτο πράττειν, ἀλλὰ προστάττει πρῶτον μὲν ἐκθεῖναι πρόσθεν τῶν ἐπωνύμων γράψαντα σκοπεῖν τῷ βουλομένῳ, μετὰ ταῦτʼ ἐπὶ πᾶσι τὸν αὐτὸν νόμον τιθέναι κελεύει, πρὸς τούτοις λύειν τοὺς ἐναντίους, ἄλλα περὶ ὧν οὐδὲν ἴσως ὑμᾶς κατεπείγει νῦν ἀκοῦσαι. ἂν δέ τις τούτων ἓν παραβῇ, τῷ βουλομένῳ δίδωσι γράφεσθαι.
19. Now if Timocrates had not been liable to prosecution on every count, if he had not contravened every one of these directions when he introduced his law, a single charge, whatever it might be, would have been preferred against him; but, as the matter stands, I am compelled to take the points one by one and address you on each in its turn. I will therefore take his first offence first, that is, that he tried to legislate in defiance of all the statutes. Afterwards I will deal in turn with any other topic on which you are willing to hear me.—Please take the statutes,—here they are,—and read them.—You will find that he has not satisfied any one requirement. I ask your attention, gentlemen of the jury, to the statutes as they are read. Ratification of Laws “In the first presidency and on the eleventh day thereof, in the Assembly, the Herald having read prayers, a vote shall be taken on the laws, to wit, first upon laws respecting the Council, and secondly upon general statutes, and then upon statutes enacted for the nine Archons, and then upon laws affecting other authorities.
19. εἰ μὲν οὖν μὴ πᾶσιν ἦν ἔνοχος τούτοις Τιμοκράτης, καὶ παρὰ πάντα ταῦτʼ εἰσενηνόχει τὸν νόμον, ἓν ἂν αὐτοῦ τις ἐποιεῖτο κατηγόρημα, ὅ τι δήποτε τοῦτʼ ἦν· νῦν δʼ ἀνάγκη καθʼ ἕκαστον, χωρὶς περὶ ἑκάστου διελόμενον, λέγειν. πρῶτον μὲν οὖν, ὅπερ ἠδίκησε πρῶτον, τοῦτʼ ἐρῶ, ὡς παρὰ πάντας τοὺς νόμους ἐνομοθέτει, εἶτα τῶν ἄλλων ἑξῆς ὅ τι ἂν βουλομένοις ὑμῖν ἀκούειν ᾖ. καί μοι λαβὲ τουτουσὶ τοὺς νόμους καὶ ἀνάγνωθι· φανήσεται γὰρ τούτων οὐδὲν πεποιηκώς. προσέχετʼ, ἄνδρες δικασταί, τὸν νοῦν ἀναγιγνωσκομένοις τοῖς νόμοις. ΕΠΙΧΕΙΡΟΤΟΝΙΑ ΝΟΜΩΝ.
20. Those who are content with the laws respecting the Council shall hold up their hands first, and then those who are not content; and in like manner in respect of general statutes. All voting upon laws shall be in accordance with laws already in force.” “If any law already in force be rejected on show of hands, the presidents in whose term of office the voting takes place shall appoint the last of the three meetings of the Assembly for the consideration of laws so rejected. The commissioners who preside by lot at the Assembly are required, immediately after religious observances, to put the question respecting the sessions of the Legislative Committee, and respecting the fund from which their fees are to be paid. The Legislative Committee shall consist of persons who have taken the judicial oath.”
20. ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς πρώτης πρυτανείας τῇ ἑνδεκάτῃ ἐν τῷ δήμῳ, ἐπειδὰν εὔξηται ὁ κῆρυξ, ἐπιχειροτονίαν ποιεῖν τῶν νόμων, πρῶτον μὲν περὶ τῶν βουλευτικῶν, δεύτερον δὲ τῶν κοινῶν, εἶτα οἳ κεῖνται τοῖς ἐννέα ἄρχουσιν, εἶτα τῶν ἄλλων ἀρχῶν. ἡ δὲ χειροτονία ἔστω ἡ προτέρα, ὅτῳ δοκοῦσιν ἀρκεῖν οἱ νόμοι οἱ βουλευτικοί, ἡ δʼ ὑστέρα, ὅτῳ μὴ δοκοῦσιν· εἶτα τῶν κοινῶν κατὰ ταὐτά. τὴν δʼ ἐπιχειροτονίαν εἶναι τῶν νόμων κατὰ τοὺς νόμους τοὺς κειμένους. ἐὰν δέ τινες τῶν νόμων τῶν κειμένων ἀποχειροτονηθῶσι, τοὺς πρυτάνεις, ἐφʼ ὧν ἂν ἡ ἐπιχειροτονία γένηται, ποιεῖν περὶ τῶν ἀποχειροτονηθέντων τὴν τελευταίαν τῶν τριῶν ἐκκλησιῶν· τοὺς δὲ προέδρους, οἳ ἂν τυγχάνωσι προεδρεύοντες ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, χρηματίζειν ἐπάναγκες πρῶτον μετὰ τὰ ἱερὰ περὶ τῶν νομοθετῶν, καθʼ ὅ τι καθεδοῦνται, καὶ περὶ τοῦ ἀργυρίου, ὁπόθεν τοῖς νομοθέταις ἔσται· τοὺς δὲ νομοθέτας εἶναι ἐκ τῶν ὀμωμοκότων τὸν ἡλιαστικὸν ὅρκον.
22. “If the Presidents do not convene the Assembly according to the written regulations, or if the commissioners do not put the question, each president shall forfeit one thousand drachmas of sacred money to Athena, and each commissioner shall forfeit forty drachmas of sacred money to Athena, and information thereof shall be laid before the Judges in such manner as when a man holds office being in debt to the treasury; and the Judges shall bring before the Court according to the law all persons against whom such information is laid; otherwise they shall not be raised to the Council of Areopagus, as obstructing the rectification of the statutes.”
22. ἐὰν δʼ οἱ πρυτάνεις μὴ ποιήσωσι κατὰ τὰ γεγραμμένα τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἢ οἱ πρόεδροι μὴ χρηματίσωσι, ὀφείλειν τῶν μὲν πρυτάνεων ἕκαστον χιλίας δραχμὰς ἱερὰς τῇ Ἀθηνᾷ, τῶν δὲ προέδρων ἕκαστος ὀφειλέτω τετταράκοντα δραχμὰς ἱερὰς τῇ Ἀθηνᾷ. καὶ ἔνδειξις αὐτῶν ἔστω πρὸς τοὺς θεσμοθέτας, καθάπερ ἐάν τις ἄρχῃ ὀφείλων τῷ δημοσίῳ· οἱ δὲ θεσμοθέται τοὺς ἐνδειχθέντας εἰσαγόντων εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον κατὰ τὸν νόμον, ἢ μὴ ἀνιόντων εἰς Ἄρειον πάγον, ὡς καταλύοντες τὴν ἐπανόρθωσιν τῶν νόμων.
23. “Before the meeting of the Assembly any Athenian citizen who wishes shall write down the laws proposed by him and exhibit the same in front of the Eponymous Heroes, to the end that the People may vote on the question of the time allowed to the Legislative Committee with due regard to the total number of laws proposed. Whosoever proposes a new statute shall write it on a white hoard and exhibit it in front of the Heroes on every day until the meeting of the Assembly. On the eleventh day of the month Hecatombaeon the people shall elect from the whole body of citizens five persons to speak in defence of laws proposed for repeal before the Legislative Committee.”
23. πρὸ δὲ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὁ βουλόμενος Ἀθηναίων ἐκτιθέτω πρόσθεν τῶν ἐπωνύμων γράψας τοὺς νόμους οὓς ἂν τιθῇ, ὅπως ἂν πρὸς τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἐκτεθέντων νόμων ψηφίσηται ὁ δῆμος περὶ τοῦ χρόνου τοῖς νομοθέταις. ὁ δὲ τιθεὶς τὸν καινὸν νόμον ἀναγράψας εἰς λεύκωμα ἐκτιθέτω πρόσθεν τῶν ἐπωνύμων ὁσημέραι, ἕως ἂν ⟨ἡ⟩ ἐκκλησία γένηται. αἱρεῖσθαι δὲ καὶ τοὺς συναπολογησομένους τὸν δῆμον τοῖς νόμοις, οἳ ἂν ἐν τοῖς νομοθέταις λύωνται, πέντε ἄνδρας ἐξ Ἀθηναίων ἁπάντων, τῇ ἑνδεκάτῃ τοῦ ἑκατομβαιῶνος μηνός.
24. These are all old-established laws, gentlemen of the jury; they have been repeatedly tested and found advantageous to you, and no man ever denied that they were well-conceived. Naturally; for there is nothing offensive or violent or oligarchical in their provisions; they order business to be done in a courteous, democratic spirit.
24. οὗτοι πάντες οἱ νόμοι κεῖνται πολὺν ἤδη χρόνον, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ πεῖραν αὑτῶν πολλάκις δεδώκασʼ ὅτι συμφέροντες ὑμῖν εἰσιν, καὶ οὐδεὶς πώποτʼ ἀντεῖπεν μὴ οὐ καλῶς ἔχειν αὐτούς. εἰκότως· οὐδὲν γὰρ ὠμὸν οὐδὲ βίαιον οὐδʼ ὀλιγαρχικὸν προστάττουσιν, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον πάντα φιλανθρώπως καὶ δημοτικῶς φράζουσι πράττειν.
25. In the first place, they entrusted to you citizens the decision whether a new law is to be introduced or the existing laws judged satisfactory. Then, if your vote is in favour of introduction, they did not order immediate enactment, but appointed the next assembly but one, and even at that assembly, they do not permit you to legislate, but only to consider the terms on which the Legislative Committee shall sit. In the intervening time they instructed persons wishing to introduce laws to exhibit them in front of the Heroes, so that anyone who chooses may inspect them, and, if he discovers anything injurious to the public interest, may inform you and have time to speak against the laws.
25. καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἐφʼ ὑμῖν ἐποίησαν διαχειροτονίαν, πότερον εἰσοιστέος ἐστὶ νόμος καινὸς ἢ δοκοῦσιν ἀρκεῖν οἱ κείμενοι· μετὰ ταῦτα δέ, ἂν χειροτονῆτʼ εἰσφέρειν, οὐκ εὐθὺς τιθέναι προσέταξαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν τρίτην ἀπέδειξαν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ οὐδʼ ἐν ταύτῃ τιθέναι δεδώκασιν, ἀλλὰ σκέψασθαι καθʼ ὅ τι τοὺς νομοθέτας καθιεῖτε. ἐν δὲ τῷ μεταξὺ χρόνῳ τούτῳ προσέταξαν τοῖς βουλομένοις εἰσφέρειν ἐκτιθέναι τοὺς νόμους πρόσθεν τῶν ἐπωνύμων, ἵνʼ ὁ βουλόμενος σκέψηται, κἂν ἀσύμφορον ὑμῖν κατίδῃ τι, φράσῃ καὶ κατὰ σχολὴν ἀντείπῃ.
26. Now, of all these rules the defendant Timocrates has not observed one. He never exhibited his law; he gave no one a chance to read it and oppose it; nor did he wait for any of the dates appointed by statute. The assembly at which your vote was taken fell on the eleventh of Hecatombaeon, and he introduced his law on the twelfth, the very next day, although it was a feast of Cronos and the Council therefore stood adjourned; for he had contrived, with the help of persons whose intentions are unfriendly to you, to get by decree a sitting of the Legislative Committee, on an excuse afforded by the Panathenian Festival.
26. τούτων μέντοι τοσούτων ὄντων οὐδὲν πεποίηκε Τιμοκράτης οὑτοσί· οὔτε γὰρ ἐξέθηκε τὸν νόμον, οὔτʼ ἔδωκεν εἴ τις ἐβούλετʼ ἀναγνοὺς ἀντειπεῖν, οὔτʼ ἀνέμεινεν οὐδένα τῶν τεταγμένων χρόνων ἐν τοῖς νόμοις, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἐν ᾗ τοὺς νόμους ἐπεχειροτονήσατε, οὔσης ἑνδεκάτῃ τοῦ ἑκατομβαιῶνος μηνός, δωδεκάτῃ τὸν νόμον εἰσήνεγκεν, εὐθὺς τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ, καὶ ταῦτʼ ὄντων Κρονίων καὶ διὰ ταῦτʼ ἀφειμένης τῆς βουλῆς, διαπραξάμενος μετὰ τῶν ὑμῖν ἐπιβουλευόντων καθέζεσθαι νομοθέτας διὰ ψηφίσματος ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν Παναθηναίων προφάσει.
27. I wish to read to you the decree that was adopted on division, to show you that the whole business was managed by collusion, and nothing was left to chance.—Take the decree, sir, and read it to the jury. Decree “During the first presidency, namely, that of the Pandionid Tribe, and on the eleventh day of that presidency, it was moved by Epicrates that, in order that the sacrifices may be offered, that provision may be adequate, and that any lack of funds for the Panathenian Festival may be made good, the Presidents of the Pandionid Tribe do tomorrow set up a Legislative Committee, and that such Legislative Committee do consist of one thousand and one citizens who have taken the oath, and that the Council co-operate therewith in legislative business.”
27. βούλομαι δʼ ὑμῖν τὸ ψήφισμʼ αὔτʼ ἀναγνῶναι τὸ νικῆσαν, ἵνʼ ἴδηθʼ ὅτι πάντα συνταξάμενοι καὶ οὐδὲν ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου τούτων ἔπραττον. λαβὲ τὸ ψήφισμʼ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἀναγίγνωσκε σύ. ΨΗΦΙΣΜΑ. ἐπὶ τῆς Πανδιονίδος πρώτης, ἑνδεκάτῃ τῆς πρυτανείας, Ἐπικράτης εἶπεν, ὅπως ἂν τὰ ἱερὰ θύηται καὶ ἡ διοίκησις ἱκανὴ γένηται καὶ εἴ τινος ἐνδεῖ πρὸς τὰ Παναθήναια διοικηθῇ, τοὺς πρυτάνεις τοὺς τῆς Πανδιονίδος καθίσαι νομοθέτας αὔριον, τοὺς δὲ νομοθέτας εἶναι ἕνα καὶ χιλίους ἐκ τῶν ὀμωμοκότων, συννομοθετεῖν δὲ καὶ τὴν βουλήν.
28. Observe, as the decree is read, how ingeniously the man who drafted it, under a pretext of finance and the urgency of the Festival, cancelled the date fixed by statute, and put in his own date,—that they should legislate “to-morrow.” I protest that his intention was, not that something belonging to the Festival should be done as handsomely as possible, for in fact there was nothing left to be done, and no financial deficiency to be made good; but that this law of theirs, the subject of the present trial, might be enacted and come into force without any living man having wind of it beforehand or offering opposition.
28. ἐνθυμήθητε ἀναγιγνωσκομένου τοῦ ψηφίσματος ὡς τεχνικῶς ὁ γράφων αὐτὸ τὴν διοίκησιν καὶ τὸ τῆς ἑορτῆς προστησάμενος κατεπεῖγον, ἀνελὼν τὸν ἐκ τῶν νόμων χρόνον, αὐτὸς ἔγραψεν αὔριον νομοθετεῖν, οὐ μὰ Δίʼ οὐχ ἵνʼ ὡς κάλλιστα γένοιτό τι τῶν περὶ τὴν ἑορτήν (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἦν ὑπόλοιπον οὐδʼ ἀδιοίκητον οὐδέν), ἀλλʼ ἵνα μὴ προαισθομένου μηδενὸς ἀνθρώπων μηδʼ ἀντειπόντος τεθείη καὶ γένοιτο κύριος αὐτοῖς ὅδʼ ὁ νῦν ἀγωνιζόμενος νόμος.
29. Here is the proof: when the Legislative Committee was in session, nobody introduced any law, good or bad, in respect of the business specified, that is, of financial provision for the Panathenian Festival, but this man Timocrates coolly and quietly proceeded to legislate about matters that lay outside the terms of the decree, and were forbidden by statute. He assumed that the date specified in the decree was more authoritative than the date prescribed by law; and, while you were all holidaymaking, and though there is a standing law that at such a time we shall do one another no wrong either in private or public life nor transact business that does not concern the Festival, he was not in the least afraid of making an exhibition of himself by doing wrong, not to this or that person, but to the whole community.
29. τεκμήριον δέ· καθεζομένων γὰρ τῶν νομοθετῶν, περὶ μὲν τούτων, τῆς διοικήσεως καὶ τῶν Παναθηναίων, οὔτε χείρονʼ οὔτε βελτίω νόμον οὐδένʼ εἰσήνεγκεν οὐδείς, περὶ δʼ ὧν οὔτε τὸ ψήφισμʼ ἐκέλευεν οἵ τε νόμοι κωλύουσιν, Τιμοκράτης οὑτοσὶ κατὰ πολλὴν ἡσυχίαν ἐνομοθέτει, κυριώτερον μὲν νομίσας τὸν ἐκ τοῦ ψηφίσματος ἢ τὸν ἐν τοῖς νόμοις εἰρημένον χρόνον, οὐδʼ ὁτιοῦν δὲ φοβηθεὶς εἰ ἁπάντων ὑμῶν ἀγόντων ἱερομηνίαν, καὶ νόμου κειμένου μήτʼ ἰδίᾳ μήτε κοινῇ μηδὲν ἀλλήλους ἀδικεῖν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χρόνῳ, μηδὲ χρηματίζειν ὅ τι ἂν μὴ περὶ τῆς ἑορτῆς ᾖ, αὐτὸς οὐχ ἕνα τὸν τυχόντα, ἀλλʼ ὅλην ἀδικῶν φανήσεται τὴν πόλιν.
30. Yet was it not outrageous that, well knowing that the statutes which you heard read just now were still in force, well knowing also that another law declares that no decree, even though in itself constitutional, shall have higher authority than a statute, he should draft and propose to you a new law, in virtue of a decree that, as he was fully aware, had been moved in defiance of the laws?
30. καίτοι πῶς οὐ δεινόν, εἰδότα μὲν τοὺς νόμους, ὧν ὀλίγῳ πρότερον πάντες ἠκούσατε, κυρίους ὄντας, εἰδότα δʼ οὐκ ἐῶνθʼ ἕτερον νόμον ψήφισμʼ οὐδέν, οὐδʼ ἂν ἔννομον ᾖ, νόμου κυριώτερον εἶναι, γράψαι καὶ θεῖναι νόμον ὑμῖν κατὰ ψήφισμα, ὃ καὶ αὐτὸ παρὰ τοὺς νόμους εἰρημένον ᾔδει;
31. Was it not atrocious that, when the State had granted to us individually security against any disagreeable or offensive treatment at that time, by declaring a religious holiday, the State itself should have obtained no such immunity from Timocrates, but, during that very holiday, should have been subjected to most grievous ill-treatment? How, indeed, could any private person ill-treat the State more gravely than by subverting the laws by which the State is administered?
31. ἢ πῶς οὐ σχέτλιον τὴν μὲν πόλιν [αὐτὴν] ἑκάστῳ ἡμῶν δεδωκέναι ἄδειαν τοῦ μή τι παθεῖν ἀηδὲς ἢ δεινὸν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χρόνῳ ποιήσασαν ἱερομηνίαν, αὐτὴν δὲ μὴ τετυχηκέναι ταύτης τῆς ἀσφαλείας παρὰ Τιμοκράτους, ἀλλʼ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἱερομηνίᾳ τὰ μέγιστʼ ἠδικῆσθαι; τί γὰρ ἄν τις μεῖζον ἠδίκησʼ ἰδιώτης ἀνὴρ ἢ καταλύων τοὺς νόμους αὐτῆς, διʼ ὧν οἰκεῖται;
32. That Timocrates has done nothing that he ought to have done, nothing that the laws expressly enjoin, may be concluded from consideration of what I have already said; and before long you shall be satisfied, point by point, that he transgressed not merely in so far as he ignored the dates fixed by statute, and entirely annulled your right of deliberate consideration, by attempting to legislate during the holiday, but also in this respect,—that the law he introduced is inconsistent with all existing statutes.—But first take and read the statute I have here, which expressly forbids the introduction of any conflicting law, and authorizes an indictment if such a law should have been introduced. The Law “It shall not he lawful to repeal any established law except at a Legislative Committee; and then any Athenian citizen may move for such repeal only on condition that he proposes a law to be substituted for the law so repealed.
32. ὅτι μὲν τοίνυν οὐδὲν ὧν προσῆκέν τε καὶ κελεύουσιν οἱ νόμοι πεποίηκεν, εἰς τὰ προειρημένα τις σκοπῶν ἂν γνοίη. ὅτι δʼ οὐ μόνον κατὰ τοῦτʼ ἀδικεῖ, εἰ παραβὰς τὸν χρόνον τὸν ἐκ τῶν νόμων καὶ τὸ βουλεύσασθαι καὶ σκέψασθαι περὶ τούτων ὑμᾶς παντελῶς ἀνελὼν οὔσης ἱερομηνίας ἐνομοθέτει, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατʼ ἐκεῖνο, ὅτι πᾶσιν ἐναντίον εἰσενήνοχεν τοῖς οὖσι νόμοις, αὐτίκα δὴ μάλʼ ἀκριβῶς μαθήσεσθε. ἀνάγνωθι δέ μοι λαβὼν τουτονὶ πρῶτον τὸν νόμον, ὃς διαρρήδην οὐκ ἐᾷ νόμον οὐδένʼ ἐναντίον εἰσφέρειν, ἐὰν δέ τις εἰσφέρῃ, γράφεσθαι κελεύει. ἀναγίγνωσκε. ΝΟΜΟΣ.
33. The Commissioners shall take a show of hands upon such laws, in the first instance upon the established law, whether it appear to be advantageous to the Athenian democracy or not, and afterwards upon the law proposed. And whichever law is approved on division by the Legislative Committee shall then be operative. It shall not be lawful to introduce any law contrary to existing laws; and if any person having repealed any existing law proposes in substitution another law that is either disadvantageous to the Athenian democracy or contrary to any established law, an indictment shall lie against him according to the law made and provided in the case of the proposer of a disadvantageous law.”
33. τῶν δὲ νόμων τῶν κειμένων μὴ ἐξεῖναι λῦσαι μηδένα, ἐὰν μὴ ἐν νομοθέταις. τότε δʼ ἐξεῖναι τῷ βουλομένῳ Ἀθηναίων λύειν, ἕτερον τιθέντι ἀνθʼ ὅτου ἂν λύῃ. διαχειροτονίαν δὲ ποιεῖν τοὺς προέδρους περὶ τούτων τῶν νόμων, πρῶτον μὲν περὶ τοῦ κειμένου, εἰ δοκεῖ ἐπιτήδειος εἶναι τῷ δήμῳ τῷ Ἀθηναίων ἢ οὔ, ἔπειτα περὶ τοῦ τιθεμένου. ὁπότερον δʼ ἂν χειροτονήσωσιν οἱ νομοθέται, τοῦτον κύριον εἶναι. ἐναντίον δὲ νόμον μὴ ἐξεῖναι τιθέναι τῶν νόμων τῶν κειμένων μηδενί. ἐὰν δέ τις λύσας τινὰ τῶν νόμων τῶν κειμένων ἕτερον ἀντιθῇ μὴ ἐπιτήδειον τῷ δήμῳ τῷ Ἀθηναίων ἢ ἐναντίον τῶν κειμένων τῳ, τὰς γραφὰς εἶναι κατʼ αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὸν νόμον ὃς κεῖται ἐάν τις μὴ ἐπιτήδειον θῇ νόμον.
34. You have heard the law. Our city possesses many excellent laws, but in my judgement there is not one that has been framed in a more praiseworthy manner than this. Observe in what an equitable and thoroughly democratic spirit it is enacted. It forbids the introduction of anything repugnant to existing laws, except after abrogation of the law previously enacted. What is the purpose? First, to enable a jury to give a just and conscientious verdict;
34. ἠκούσατε μὲν τοῦ νόμου· πολλῶν δὲ καλῶς κειμένων νόμων τῇ πόλει οὐδενὸς ἧττον ἡγοῦμαι καὶ τοῦτον ἀξίως ἐπαίνου γεγράφθαι. σκέψασθε γὰρ ὡς δικαίως καὶ σφόδρʼ ὑπὲρ τοῦ δήμου κεῖται. οὐκ ἐᾷ τοῖς ὑπάρχουσι νόμοις ἐναντίον εἰσφέρειν, ἐὰν μὴ λύσῃ τὸν πρότερον κείμενον. τίνος εἵνεκα; πρῶτον μὲν ἵνʼ ὑμῖν ἐξῇ τὰ δίκαια ψηφίζεσθαι μετʼ εὐσεβείας.
35. for, if there were two inconsistent laws, and if two litigants were contending in this court, whether in a public or a private dispute, and if each of them, by citing a different law, claimed your verdict, you could not of course give judgement in favour of both of them,—that is absurd,—nor could you give your verdict for either without breaking your oath, because such a decision contravenes the opposite law, which is equally valid.
35. εἰ γὰρ εἴησαν δύʼ ἐναντίοι νόμοι, καί τινες ἀντίδικοι παρʼ ὑμῖν ἀγωνίζοιντο ἢ περὶ δημοσίων ἢ περὶ ἰδίων πραγμάτων, ἀξιοίη δʼ ἑκάτερος νικᾶν μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν δεικνύων νόμον, οὔτʼ ἀμφοτέροις ἔνι δήπου ψηφίσασθαι· πῶς γάρ; οὔτε θατέρῳ ψηφιζομένους εὐορκεῖν· παρὰ γὰρ τὸν ἐναντίον, ὄντα δʼ ὁμοίως κύριον, ἡ γνῶσις συμβαίνει.
36. As a safeguard against such a dilemma the lawgiver made this provision in your interest. He also wished to make you the established guardians of the law, well knowing that the other safeguards provided by him may be evaded in many ways. The advocates appointed by you, for instance, may be persuaded to hold their peace. He enjoined the exhibition of a proposed law that we may all have knowledge of it beforehand; but it may happen that it is unobserved by those who would oppose it if they knew in time, and that the rest read it without attention.
36. τοῦτό τʼ οὖν ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν φυλαττόμενος ταῦτα προεῖπε καὶ ἔτι πρὸς τούτῳ βουλόμενος φύλακας ὑμᾶς τῶν νόμων καταστῆσαι· ᾔδει γὰρ ἐκεῖνο, ὅτι τὰς ἄλλας ἃς γέγραφʼ αὐτῶν φυλακὰς ἔστι πολλαχῇ διακρούσασθαι. τοὺς συνηγόρους, οὓς χειροτονεῖτε, δύναιτʼ ἂν πεῖσαί τις σιωπᾶν. ἐκτιθέναι κελεύει τοῦ προειδέναι πάντας· τάχʼ ἄν, εἰ τύχοι, τοὺς μὲν ἀντειπόντας ἂν εἰ [μὴ] προαίσθοιντο, λάθοι, οἱ δʼ οὐδὲν προσέχοντες ἀναγνοῖεν ἄν.
37. But, it may be objected, it is open to anyone to indict the law, as I have done on this occasion. Well, even in that event the State is outwitted if a man gets the prosecutor to stand aside. What, then, is the only honest and trustworthy safeguard of the law? You, the common people. It is beyond the power of mortal man to take away from you the right to determine and to approve the best policy. No man, by getting you to stand aside, or by bribing you, can ever induce you to substitute a bad law for a good one.
37. ἀλλὰ γράψασθαι νὴ Δίʼ ἕκαστον ἔστιν, ὃ κἀγὼ νυνὶ πεποίηκα· κἀνταῦθα, ἂν ἀπαλλάξῃ τις τὸν ἐπιστάντα, ἡ πόλις παρακέκρουσται. τίς οὖν μόνη φυλακὴ καὶ δικαία καὶ βέβαιος τῶν νόμων; ὑμεῖς οἱ πολλοί· οὔτε γὰρ τὸ γνῶναι καὶ δοκιμάσαι τὸ βέλτιστον ἐξελέσθαι δύναιτʼ ἂν ὑμῶν οὐδὲ εἷς, οὔτʼ ἀπαλλάξας καὶ διαφθείρας πεῖσαι τὸν χείρω θέσθαι νόμον ἀντὶ τοῦ κρείττονος.
38. Therefore the lawgiver anticipates every avenue of iniquity, thwarting the plans and forbidding the advance of men whose intentions are hostile to you. All these precautions, so admirably and so righteously enacted, Timocrates has subverted and obliterated, so far as in him lay; he has introduced a law repugnant to all or nearly all the existing statutes, without reading any for comparison, without repealing any, without leaving you the right of choice, without taking any other of the steps that he was required to take.
38. διὰ ταῦτα πάντʼ ἐφʼ ἑκάστην ἀπαντᾷ τὴν ὁδὸν τῶν ἀδικημάτων, κωλύων καὶ οὐκ ἐῶν βαδίζειν τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας ὑμῖν. ταῦτα πάντα Τιμοκράτης, οὕτω καλῶς καὶ δικαίως κείμενα, ἠφάνισεν, ἐξήλειψεν, ὅσον ἦν ἐπὶ τούτῳ, καὶ νόμον εἰσήνεγκεν ἅπασιν ἐναντίον, ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν, τοῖς οὖσιν, οὐ παραναγνούς, οὐ λύσας, οὐ δοὺς αἵρεσιν, οὐκ ἄλλο ποιήσας οὐδὲν τῶν προσηκόντων.
39. I suppose that you are all satisfied that he is amenable to the indictment, as having introduced a law that contravenes existing statutes; but, to show you the character of the laws he has contravened and of the law he has introduced, the clerk will read to you, first his new law, and then the other laws to which it is repugnant. Law of Timocrates “During the first presidency, namely, that of the Pandionid Tribe, and on the twelfth day of that presidency, it was moved by Timocrates that, if the additional penalty of imprisonment has been or shall hereafter be inflicted in pursuance of any law or decree upon any person in debt to the treasury, it shall be competent for him or for any other person on his behalf to nominate as sureties for the debt such persons as shall be approved by vote of the Assembly, on an undertaking to pay in full the amount in which he was indebted. The Commissioners are required to put the question whensoever any debtor wishes to nominate sureties.”
39. ὡς μὲν οὖν ἔνοχος τῇ γραφῇ καθέστηκεν, ἐναντίον εἰσενηνοχὼς τοῖς οὖσι νόμοις, οἶμαι πάντας ὑμᾶς ᾐσθῆσθαι· ἵνα δʼ εἰδῆτε παρʼ οἵους νόμους οἷον οὗτος εἰσήνεγκεν, ἀναγνώσεται πρῶτον ὑμῖν τὸν τούτου νόμον, εἶτα τοὺς ἄλλους, οἷς οὗτος ἐναντίος ἐστίν. ἀναγίγνωσκε. ΝΟΜΟΣ. ἐπὶ τῆς Πανδιονίδος πρώτης, δωδεκάτῃ τῆς πρυτανείας, Τιμοκράτης εἶπεν, καὶ εἴ τινι τῶν ὀφειλόντων τῷ δημοσίῳ προστετίμηται κατὰ νόμον ἢ κατὰ ψήφισμα δεσμοῦ ἢ τὸ λοιπὸν προστιμηθῇ, εἶναι αὐτῷ ἢ ἄλλῳ ὑπὲρ ἐκείνου ἐγγυητὰς καταστῆσαι τοῦ ὀφλήματος, οὓς ἂν ὁ δῆμος χειροτονήσῃ, ἦ μὴν ἐκτείσειν τὸ ἀργύριον ὃ ὦφλεν. τοὺς δὲ προέδρους ἐπιχειροτονεῖν ἐπάναγκες, ὅταν τις καθιστάναι βούληται.
40. “The debtor who has given sureties shall be released from the penalty of imprisonment on payment to the State of the money, in respect of which he gave such sureties; but if at the time of the ninth presidency neither he nor his sureties shall have paid in the money, the man who gave sureties shall be imprisoned and the property of the sureties shall be confiscated. But in the case of tax-farmers, their sureties, and their collectors, and of the lessees of leasable revenues and their sureties, the State may exact payment according to the established laws. If any man incur debt during the ninth presidency he shall pay in full during the ninth or the tenth presidency of the next ensuing year.”
40. τῷ δὲ καταστήσαντι τοὺς ἐγγυητάς, ἐὰν ἀποδιδῷ τῇ πόλει τὸ ἀργύριον ἐφʼ ᾧ κατέστησε τοὺς ἐγγυητάς, ἀφεῖσθαι τοῦ δεσμοῦ. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ καταβάλῃ τὸ ἀργύριον ἢ αὐτὸς ἢ οἱ ἐγγυηταὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐνάτης πρυτανείας, τὸν μὲν ἐξεγγυηθέντα δεδέσθαι, τῶν δὲ ἐγγυητῶν δημοσίαν εἶναι τὴν οὐσίαν. περὶ δὲ τῶν ὠνουμένων τὰ τέλη καὶ τῶν ἐγγυωμένων καὶ ἐκλεγόντων, καὶ τῶν τὰ μισθώσιμα μισθουμένων καὶ ἐγγυωμένων, τὰς πράξεις εἶναι τῇ πόλει κατὰ τοὺς νόμους τοὺς κειμένους. ἐὰν δʼ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐνάτης ἢ δεκάτης πρυτανείας ὄφλῃ, τοῦ ὑστέρου ἐνιαυτοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐνάτης πρυτανείας ἐκτίνειν.
41. You have heard the law, and I beg you to bear in mind this phrase, “if the additional penalty of imprisonment has been or shall hereafter be inflicted,” and also that he excepts from the operation of his law tax-farmers and lessees and their sureties. The law as a whole, but those provisions more especially, is contrary to all existing statutes. That you will recognize when you have listened to the actual laws.—Read. The Law “Moved by Diocles: that laws enacted under democratic government before the archonship of Eucleides and all laws that were enacted during the archonship of Eucleides and are on record shall be in force.
41. ἀκηκόατε μὲν τοῦ νόμου, μνημονεύετε δʼ ἐξ αὐτοῦ μοι πρῶτον μὲν τὸ καὶ εἴ τινι τῶν ὀφειλόντων δεσμοῦ προστετίμηται ἢ τὸ λοιπὸν προστιμηθῇ, ἔπειθʼ ὅτι πλὴν περὶ τῶν τελωνῶν καὶ περὶ τῶν μισθουμένων, καὶ ὅσοι ταῦτʼ ἐγγυῶνται, χρῆσθαι κελεύει τῷ νόμῳ. ὅλος μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἅπασιν ἐναντίος τοῖς οὖσι, μάλιστα δὲ ταῦτα· γνώσεσθε δὲ τοὺς νόμους ἀκούοντες αὐτούς. λέγε. ΝΟΜΟΣ.
42. Laws enacted after the archonship of Eucleides or laws that shall hereafter be enacted shall be in force as from the day of their several enactment, unless a clause be appended defining the date of their first coming into force. The Clerk of the Council shall affix his mark to all laws now established within thirty days; and hereafter whosoever is acting as clerk shall forthwith make a note that the law is in force as from the date of enactment.”
42. Διοκλῆς εἶπεν· τοὺς νόμους τοὺς πρὸ Εὐκλείδου τεθέντας ἐν δημοκρατίᾳ καὶ ὅσοι ἐπʼ Εὐκλείδου ἐτέθησαν καὶ εἰσὶν ἀναγεγραμμένοι, κυρίους εἶναι. τοὺς δὲ μετʼ Εὐκλείδην τεθέντας καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν τιθεμένους κυρίους εἶναι ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμέρας ἧς ἕκαστος ἐτέθη, πλὴν εἴ τῳ προσγέγραπται χρόνος ὅντινα δεῖ ἄρχειν. ἐπιγράψαι δὲ τοῖς μὲν νῦν κειμένοις τὸν γραμματέα τῆς βουλῆς τριάκοντα ἡμερῶν· τὸ δὲ λοιπόν, ὃς ἂν τυγχάνῃ γραμματεύων, προσγραφέτω παραχρῆμα τὸν νόμον κύριον εἶναι ἀπὸ τῆς ἡμέρας ἧς ἐτέθη.
43. The existing laws are excellent, gentlemen of the jury; but the law just read has defined them, if I may so put it, and given them new authority. It ordains that every statute shall be operative as from the date of enactment, unless any date is appended, and, in that case, that the specified date shall mark the beginning of its operation. The reason is that a clause had been appended to many statutes, to the effect that “this law shall be in force from the time of the next ensuing archon.” But the man who, to confirm such statutes, proposed the statute that has just been read, did not, in drafting his law at a later date, think it right to carry back to their dates of enactment those laws whose operation had been deferred to a date later than their enactment, and so make them operative earlier than their several authors intended.
43. καλῶς ἐχόντων τῶν νόμων, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τῶν ὑπαρχόντων, ὅδʼ ὁ νῦν ἀναγνωσθεὶς νόμος ὡσπερεὶ διώρισεν καὶ βεβαιοτέρους ἐποίησεν αὐτούς. κελεύει γὰρ ἕκαστον ἀφʼ ἧς ἡμέρας ἐτέθη κύριον εἶναι, πλὴν εἴ τῳ χρόνος προσγέγραπται, τούτῳ δὲ τὸν γεγραμμένον ἄρχειν. διὰ τί; ὅτι πολλοῖς τῶν νόμων προσεγέγραπτο τὸν δὲ νόμον εἶναι κύριον τόνδʼ ἀπὸ τοῦ μετὰ τὸν νῦν ἄρχοντα. ὕστερον δὲ γράφων ὁ τιθεὶς ἐπὶ τούτοις τόνδε τὸν νόμον τὸν ἀνεγνωσμένον, οὐκ ἐνόμιζε δίκαιον εἶναι τοὺς αὐτοὺς τῶν νόμων ἀναγεγραμμένους ὕστερον ἢ ἐτέθησαν κυρίους εἶναι ἀνενεγκεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν ἡμέραν, ἀφʼ ἧς ἐτέθησαν, καὶ πρότερον ποιῆσαι κυρίους ἢ ὁ θεὶς ἕκαστον ἠξίωσεν.
44. You must therefore observe how contrary to that statute is the law that Timocrates has proposed. The statute ordains that either the date specified or the date of enactment shall hold good; Timocrates writes, “if the penalty has been inflicted,” referring to past transactions. He did not even define the initial date by naming an archonship; nay, he has made his law operative not merely before the date of enactment, but before any of us were born, for he has included all past time without any limitation.—Your duty, Timocrates, was either not to compose your law, or to repeal the other one; you had no right to throw the whole business into confusion for the furtherance of your own purposes. Read another law.
44. τούτῳ μέντοι τῷ νόμῳ σκέψασθʼ ὡς ἐναντίος ἐστὶν ὃν οὗτος τέθηκεν. ὁ μέν γε κελεύει τὸν γεγραμμένον χρόνον ἢ τὴν ἡμέραν ἀφʼ ἧς ἂν τεθῇ κυρίαν εἶναι· ὁ δʼ ἔγραψεν καὶ εἴ τινι προστετίμηται, περὶ τῶν παρεληλυθότων λέγων. καὶ οὐδὲ τοῦθʼ ὥρισεν, ἄρχοντα προσγράψας ἀφʼ οὗ, ἀλλὰ πεποίηκεν οὐ μόνον πρὸ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐν ᾗ τέθηκε κύριον τὸν νόμον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ γενέσθαι τινʼ ἡμῶν· ἀόριστον γὰρ ἅπαντα τὸν παρεληλυθότα προσπεριείληφε χρόνον. καίτοι χρῆν σʼ, ὦ Τιμόκρατες, ἢ τοῦτον μὴ γράφειν ἢ ἐκεῖνον λύειν, οὐχ, ἵνʼ ὃ βούλει σὺ γένηται, πάντα τὰ πράγματα συνταράξαι. λέγʼ ἄλλον νόμον.
45. The Law “… nor in respect of disfranchised citizens, for restoration of their franchise, nor in respect of persons indebted to the Gods or to the treasury of the Athenians, for remission or composition of their debt, unless permission be granted by not less than six thousand citizens giving an affirmative vote by ballot. In that event it shall be lawful to put the question in such manner as the Council and the Assembly approve.”
45. ΝΟΜΟΣ. μηδὲ περὶ τῶν ἀτίμων, ὅπως χρὴ ἐπιτίμους αὐτοὺς εἶναι, μηδὲ περὶ τῶν ὀφειλόντων τοῖς θεοῖς ἢ τῷ δημοσίῳ τῷ Ἀθηναίων περὶ ἀφέσεως τοῦ ὀφλήματος ἢ τάξεως, ἐὰν μὴ ψηφισαμένων Ἀθηναίων τὴν ἄδειαν πρῶτον μὴ ἔλαττον ἑξακισχιλίων, οἷς ἂν δόξῃ κρύβδην ψηφιζομένοις. τότε δʼ ἐξεῖναι χρηματίζειν καθʼ ὅ τι ἂν τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ δοκῇ.
46. Here is another law which forbids any proposal in respect of disfranchised or indebted persons, for remission or composition, to be made or put to the vote, except after permission granted, and that only if at least six thousand citizens have voted aye. But Timocrates expressly proposed that, if the additional penalty of imprisonment has been inflicted on any debtor, he shall have remission on production of sureties, without any preliminary resolution having been carried, or any permission granted for such a resolution.
46. ἄλλος οὗτος νόμος, οὐκ ἐῶν περὶ τῶν ἀτίμων οὐδὲ τῶν ὀφειλόντων λέγειν οὐδὲ χρηματίζειν περὶ ἀφέσεως τῶν ὀφλημάτων οὐδὲ τάξεως, ἂν μὴ τῆς ἀδείας δοθείσης, καὶ ταύτης μὴ ἔλαττον ἢ ἑξακισχιλίων ψηφισαμένων. οὗτος δʼ ἔγραψεν ἄντικρυς, καὶ εἴ τινι τῶν ὀφειλόντων δεσμοῦ προστετίμηται, εἶναι τὴν ἄφεσιν πορισαμένῳ τοὺς ἐγγυησομένους, οὐ προτεθέντος οὐδενὸς περὶ τούτων, οὐδὲ δοθείσης ἀδείας λέγειν.
47. Even when a man has got his permission, the law does not allow him to do the business as he chooses, but as the Council and the Assembly approve. Timocrates was not satisfied with the simple transgression of making his proposal and introducing his law on the matters in question without permission granted; he went further and, without laying any proposition before the Council or before the Assembly, on the sly, when the Council stood adjourned, and everybody was holiday-making in honor of the festival, he brought in his bill surreptitiously.— Yet, if your intentions had been honest, Timocrates, knowing as you did the statute which I have read, it was your duty, first to make written request for audience before the Council, then to confer with the Assembly, and after that, if the whole body of citizens had approved, to compose and bring in your bill on the matters in question, and even then to wait for the dates prescribed by law, in order that, doing business in that fashion, even though anyone tried to show that your law was disadvantageous to the State, you might not have been suspected of malicious intention, but only of the misfortune of erroneous judgement.
47. καὶ ὁ μὲν νόμος, οὐδʼ ἐπειδὰν τὴν ἄδειαν εὕρηταί τις, ἔδωκεν ὡς ἂν βούληται πράττειν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἂν τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ δοκῇ· τῷ δʼ οὐκ ἀπέχρησε τοῦτʼ ἀδικεῖν μόνον, εἰ μὴ δοθείσης τῆς ἀδείας λέγει καὶ νόμον εἰσφέρει περὶ τούτων, ἀλλὰ καὶ προσέτʼ οὐκ εἰς τὴν βουλήν, οὐκ εἰς τὸν δῆμον εἰπὼν περὶ τούτων οὐδέν, ἐν παραβύστῳ, τῆς βουλῆς μὲν ἀφειμένης, τῶν δʼ ἄλλων διὰ τὴν ἑορτὴν ἱερομηνίαν ἀγόντων, λάθρα τὸν νόμον εἰσήνεγκεν. καίτοι χρῆν σʼ, ὦ Τιμόκρατες, εἰδότα τὸν νόμον τόνδʼ ὃν ἀνέγνω, εἴ τι δίκαιον ἐβούλου πράττειν, πρῶτον μὲν πρόσοδον γράψασθαι πρὸς τὴν βουλήν, εἶτα τῷ δήμῳ διαλεχθῆναι, κᾆθʼ οὕτως, εἰ πᾶσιν Ἀθηναίοις ἐδόκει, γράφειν καὶ νομοθετεῖν περὶ τούτων, καὶ τότε τοὺς χρόνους ἀναμείναντα τοὺς ἐκ τῶν νόμων, ἵνα τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον πράττων, εἰ καί τις ἐπεχείρει δεικνύειν οὐκ ἐπιτήδειον ὄντα τῇ πόλει τὸν νόμον, μὴ οὖν ἐπιβουλεύειν γʼ ἐδόκεις, ἀλλὰ γνώμῃ διαμαρτὼν ἀποτυχεῖν.
49. As it is, by thrusting your law into the statute-book clandestinely, hastily, and illegally, you have stripped yourself of all claim to indulgence; for indulgence belongs to those who offend unwittingly, not to those who have concerted a plot, as you are convicted of doing. However, I shall have a word to say on that point presently. Meantime,—read the next law.
49. νῦν δὲ τῷ λάθρα καὶ ταχὺ καὶ παρὰ τοὺς νόμους ἐμβαλεῖν τὸν νόμον εἰς τοὺς νόμους καὶ μὴ θεῖναι, πᾶσαν ἀφῄρησαι σαυτοῦ τὴν συγγνώμην· τοῖς γὰρ ἄκουσιν ἁμαρτοῦσι μέτεστι συγγνώμης, οὐ τοῖς ἐπιβουλεύσασιν, ὃ σὺ νῦν εἴληψαι ποιῶν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ αὐτίκʼ ἐρῶ περὶ τούτων. νῦν δʼ ἀναγίγνωσκε τὸν ἑξῆς νόμον.
50. The Law “If any person make petition to the Council or to the Assembly in respect of any sentence of a Court of Justice or of the Council or of the Assembly, if the person who has been fined himself make petition before he has paid the fine, an information shall lie against him in the same manner as when a person sits on a jury being indebted to the treasury; and if another person make petition on behalf of the person fined, his whole property shall be confiscated; and if any Commissioner shall allow the question to be put for anyone, whether for the person fined or for another on his behalf, he shall be disfranchised.”
50. ΝΟΜΟΣ. ἐὰν δέ τις ἱκετεύῃ ἐν τῇ βουλῇ ἢ ἐν τῷ δήμῳ περὶ ὧν δικαστήριον ἢ ἡ βουλὴ ἢ ὁ δῆμος κατέγνω, ἐὰν μὲν αὐτὸς ὁ ὀφλὼν ἱκετεύῃ πρὶν ἐκτεῖσαι, ἔνδειξιν εἶναι αὐτοῦ, καθάπερ ἐάν τις ὀφείλων τῷ δημοσίῳ ἡλιάζηται· ἐὰν δʼ ἄλλος ὑπὲρ τοῦ ὠφληκότος ἱκετεύῃ πρὶν ἐκτεῖσαι, δημοσία ἔστω αὐτοῦ ἡ οὐσία ἅπασα. ἐὰν δέ τις τῶν προέδρων δῷ τινι τὴν ἐπιχειροτονίαν, ἢ αὐτῷ τῷ ὠφληκότι ἢ ἄλλῳ ὑπὲρ ἐκείνου, πρὶν ἐκτεῖσαι, ἄτιμος ἔστω.
51. It is a long task, gentlemen of the jury, if we are to speak of all the laws to which the proposals introduced by the defendant are repugnant; but if any law deserves discussion it is surely that which the clerk has just read. The author of that law knew how kind-hearted and indulgent you Athenians are; he could see that in many instances you had already suffered serious detriment by your own act because of that easy disposition;
51. ἔστι μὲν ἔργον, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, εἰ περὶ πάντων τῶν νόμων οἷς οὗτος ἐναντίον εἰσενήνοχεν ἐροῦμεν· ἄξιον δʼ, εἰ περί του καὶ ἄλλου, καὶ περὶ τοῦδʼ ὃν νῦν ἀνέγνω διελθεῖν. ὁ γὰρ τὸν νόμον τοῦτον, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, θεὶς ᾔδει τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν καὶ τὴν πραότητα τὴν ὑμετέραν, καὶ διὰ ταύτην ἑώρα περὶ πολλῶν ὑμᾶς ἑκόντας ἤδη ποτὲ μεγάλα ζημιωθέντας.
52. and therefore, wishing to leave no excuse for public losses, he declared it wrongful that men who had been convicted of misconduct by process and judgement with the sanction of law should enjoy the benefit of your good-nature, falling back upon prayers and solicitation in their distress. Accordingly he strictly forbade either the culprit himself or anyone else to supplicate you or make speeches upon such complaints; they must do what justice demands in silence.
52. βουλόμενος δὴ μηδεμίαν πρόφασιν τοῦ τὰ κοινὰ κακῶς ἔχειν ὑπολιπεῖν, τοὺς μετὰ τῶν νόμων κρίσει καὶ δικαστηρίῳ μὴ δίκαια ποιεῖν ἐγνωσμένους οὐκ ᾤετο δεῖν τῆς εὐηθείας τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀπολαύειν, τὸ δεῖσθαι καὶ μετὰ συμφορᾶς ἱκετεύειν ἔχοντας ἀφορμήν, ἀλλʼ ὅλως ἀπεῖπεν μήτʼ αὐτῷ μήτʼ ἄλλῳ μηδενὶ μήθʼ ἱκετεύειν μήτε λέγειν ὑπὲρ τῶν τοιούτων, ἀλλὰ ποιεῖν τὰ δίκαια σιγῇ.
53. Now if you were asked for whom you would more naturally do a service, for those who beg you or for those who bid you, I am sure you would reply, for those who beg; for the former service is the outcome of kindliness, the latter of cowardice. Well, the laws, all of them, command you to do your duty; suppliants beg you to do a favour. Then where supplication is forbidden, can it be permissible to introduce a law that contains a command? I think not. In cases in which you conceived it to be your duty even to refuse favours, it is shameful that you should allow the desires of certain people to be fulfilled against your will.—Read the statute that comes next in order.
53. εἰ τοίνυν τις ἔροιθʼ ὑμᾶς ποτέροις μᾶλλον ἂν εἰκότως ποιήσαιθʼ ὁτιοῦν, τοῖς δεομένοις ἢ τοῖς ἐπιτάττουσιν, οἶδʼ ὅτι φήσαιτʼ ἂν τοῖς δεομένοις· τὸ μὲν γὰρ χρηστῶν, τὸ δʼ ἀνάνδρων ἀνθρώπων ἔργον ἐστίν. οὐκοῦν οἱ νόμοι μὲν ἅπαντες προστάττουσιν ἃ χρὴ ποιεῖν, οἱ τιθέντες δὲ τὰς ἱκετηρίας δέονται. εἰ τοίνυν ἱκετεύειν οὐκ ἔξεστιν, ἦ που νόμον γʼ ἐπίταγμʼ ἔχοντʼ εἰσφέρειν; ἐγὼ μὲν οὐκ οἶμαι. καὶ γὰρ αἰσχρὸν περὶ ὧν μηδὲ χαρίζεσθαι δεῖν ὑπειλήφατε, περὶ τούτων ἀκόντων ὑμῶν ἐᾶν ἅ τινες βούλονται πραχθῆναι. λέγε τὸν μετὰ τοῦτον ἐφεξῆς.