Against Leochares

​And he had a daughter named Cleitomache, whom he wished to give in marriage to his own unmarried brother. Since Archiades, however, said he did not choose to marry, but, having on this account consented that the estate should remain undivided, lived by himself in Salamis, Meidylides then married his daughter to Aristoteles of Pallene, my grandfather. And from him were born three sons, Aristodemos here, my father, and Habronichos my uncle, and Meidylides, who has now died.

​And the relationship of our family, in which the estate is, is pretty much as follows, gentlemen of the jury. For we, being the next of kin to Archiades on the male side, and claiming under this law to inherit his estate and not to allow the family to become extinct, claimed the estate before the archon. But these men, holding the property unjustly, have now made this protestation, relying on the whole upon an adoption, and asserting also that they are relatives.

​Concerning this adoption, then, how it stands, we shall instruct you clearly later. But concerning the pedigree, that they are not nearer than we, this you must learn. One thing indeed is admitted: that males and those descended from males have priority in inheritance; for the law simply awards the inheritances to the next of kin on the male side, when there are no children. And these are we; for Archiades is admitted to have died childless, and we are his next of kin on the male side.

​For Meidylides was Archiades’ brother, and Meidylides’ daughter was my father’s mother, so that Archiades, whose estate we are now claiming, was uncle to my father’s mother as his father’s brother, having this relationship on the male side and not on the female side. But Leostratus here is both more remote in relationship and connected to Archiades on the female side. For the mother of Leocrates, his father, was a niece to the famous Archiades and to Meidylides, from whom we, being descended, claim to obtain the inheritance.

​First then, gentlemen of the jury, to show you that our family is as we say, he shall read you the depositions, and then after that the law itself which awards the inheritances both to the families and to the next of kin on the male side; for these are pretty much the main points of the suit, and those on which you will cast your vote under oath. Call the witnesses here to me, and read the law. [WITNESSES] [LAW]

​The facts, then, concerning the family, both theirs and ours, stand thus, gentlemen of the jury, so that it is fitting for those who have shown by the depositions themselves that they are nearer in relationship to inherit, and not for the recklessness of him who made the protestation to become superior to your laws. For even if they rely on the adoption, which we shall show how it took place, yet when the adopted son has died childless, and the house has been left desolate up to the time of our claim, how is it not fitting that those who are the next of kin should recover the inheritance, and that you should assist, not those who are best able to make preparations, but those of the citizens who are wronged?

​For if it had been in our power, after showing the facts about the pedigree and the protestation itself, to step down and require no more words, we would not have troubled you with the remaining details, the most important points having pretty much been said. But since these men will not rely on the laws, but will claim to inherit by using as proofs the fact that they took prior possession of the estate long ago and entered into the property, it is perhaps necessary to speak about these matters also, and to show that they are the most violent of all men.