Aegineticus

​I used to think, men of Aegina, that Thrasylochus had made such excellent arrangements concerning his property that no one would ever come to act contrary to the will which he left behind. But since our opponents have come to such a state of mind as to dispute even a will so clearly drawn, it is necessary for me to try to obtain justice at your hands.

​Indeed, my experience is the opposite of most people’s. For while I see others taking it hard when they are unjustly put in danger of a lawsuit, I am almost grateful to my opponents for having brought me into this trial. For if the matter had remained unjudged, you would not have known what kind of man I proved to be toward the deceased to become the heir of his property; but once you hear what happened, you will all know that I would justly have been thought worthy of even a greater gift than this.

​Indeed, she who disputes the property ought not to try to obtain from you the estate which Thrasylochus left, but rather, by showing herself to have been kind toward him, to claim a right to the inheritance on that basis. As it is, however, she is so far from repenting of the wrongs she committed against him while he was alive, that even now that he is dead, she attempts to invalidate his will and at the same time to leave his house desolate.

​I am also surprised at those who act on her behalf, if they think that this trial is risk-free for them on the ground that, if they fail, they will have to pay nothing. For I think it is a great penalty in itself if, after being convicted of making an unjust claim, they should thereafter appear to you to be worse men. You will know their wickedness from their very deeds when you have heard the whole story of what happened; but I will begin my narration from the point where I think you will most quickly understand the matters in dispute.

​For Thrasyllus, the father of the man who left the will, inherited no property from his ancestors, but became so close a friend of Polemaenetus the seer that when the latter died, he left Thrasyllus his books on divination and gave him a portion of the property which we now hold.

​Having received these starting resources, Thrasyllus practiced the art. He became a wanderer and, living in many cities, had relations with various other women, some of whom produced children whom he never recognized as legitimate; and indeed, it was during these times that he took the mother of this woman.

​When he had acquired a large fortune and felt a longing for his homeland, he rid himself of that woman and the others, and, sailing back to Siphnos, married my father’s sister; for although he was the first of the citizens in wealth, he knew that our house excelled in birth and other distinctions.

​And he valued my father’s friendship so highly that when she died childless, he married my father’s cousin, not wishing to dissolve his connection with us. But after living with her for only a short time, he met with the same fortune regarding her as with the former.

​After this, he married a woman from Seriphos, from a family of far greater worth than was common in their city; from her were born Sopolis, Thrasylochus, and a daughter who is now my wife. Thrasyllus, then, having left only these as his legitimate children and having appointed them heirs of his property, ended his life.

​As for Thrasylochus and myself, having inherited from our fathers a friendship as great as I have just described, we made it even greater than it was before. For while we were children, we valued each other more than we did our brothers, and we never attended any sacrifice, religious embassy, or other festival apart from one another. And when we became men, we never did anything opposed to one another, but we shared our private possessions, held the same views on public affairs, and associated with the same friends and guest-friends.