Against Olympiodorus

​As for the end which came about, you must of necessity hear this. For I myself decided between him and me, and he between me and him, that each of us should take half of what Comon left, and that there should be no further unpleasantness. And I preferred, gentlemen of the jury, willingly to share with him rather than to run the risk of going to court against this man who is a relative, and saying something unpleasant—he being my wife’s brother and my children’s uncle—and hearing from him something disagreeable.

​Reflecting on all these things, I yielded to him. And after this we drew up a written agreement between ourselves concerning all matters, and swore solemn oaths to one another, that we would indeed divide the visible assets fairly and justly, and that neither of us would take any advantage over the other of what Comon left behind, and that we would seek all other matters in common, and act in consultation with each other in whatever might be necessary from time to time.

​For we suspected, gentlemen of the jury, that others also would come to claim a share of Comon’s property; for example, my own brother by the same father, though not by the same mother, who was abroad, and if indeed anyone else wished to make a claim, it was not in our power to prevent them; for the laws permit anyone who wishes to make a claim. Foreseeing all these things, we drew up the agreement and swore oaths, so that neither of us, whether willingly or unwillingly, should have the power to do anything at all privately, but that we should do everything in common, consulting with one another.

​And we made witnesses of these things, first the gods by whom we swore to one another, and our own relatives, and then Androclides of Acharnae, with whom we deposited the agreement. I wish, therefore, gentlemen of the jury, that the law according to which we drew up the agreement between ourselves, and the testimony of the one who holds the agreement, be read. Read the law first. LAW. Now read also the testimony of Androclides. TESTIMONY.

​When we had sworn to one another and the agreement was deposited with Androclides, I divided the property into two shares, gentlemen of the jury. One share was the house in which Comon himself lived, and the slaves who were sack-weavers; the other share was another house and the slaves who were drug-grinders. As for any money that Comon left visible at the bank of Heraclides, almost all of this was spent on the funeral, the other customary rites, and the building of the tomb.

​Having divided these into two shares, I gave this Olympiodorus here his choice of whichever of the shares he wished to take, and he chose the drug-grinders and the small house; and I took the sack-weavers and the other house. And these are the things which each of us held.

​In the share of this Olympiodorus here was one of the drug-grinders, whom Comon considered to be most faithful to himself; the man’s name is Moschion. This servant knew almost everything else of Comon’s affairs, and indeed where the money was, which was kept inside by Comon.

​And indeed, without the knowledge of Comon, who was elderly and had trusted him, this servant Moschion secretly stole the money. First, he stole a thousand drachmae which were lying somewhere apart from the rest of the money, and then another seventy minae. And in doing this, he escaped the notice of Comon. And this man kept all this money to himself.