§1ὁ μὲν ἀγών μοι μέγας ἐστίν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί.
The contest is a great one for me, gentlemen of the jury.
οὐ γὰρ μόνον περὶ πολλῶν χρημάτων κινδυνεύω, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τοῦ μὴ δοκεῖν ἀδίκως τῶν ἀλλοτρίων ἐπιθυμεῖν· ὃ ἐγὼ περὶ πλείστου ποιοῦμαι.
For I run a risk not only regarding a large amount of money, but also regarding the reputation of unjustly desiring other people's property; which I value above all else.
οὐσία μὲν γὰρ ἱκανή μοι καταλειφθήσεται καὶ τούτων στερηθέντι· εἰ δὲ δόξαιμι μηδὲν προσῆκον τοσαῦτα χρήματʼ ἐγκαλέσαι, διαβληθείην ἂν τὸν ἅπαντα βίον.
For a sufficient estate will be left to me even if I am deprived of these; but if I should seem to demand such a large sum of money with no right to it, I would be slandered for my entire life.
§2ἔστι δʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, πάντων χαλεπώτατον τοιούτων ἀντιδίκων τυχεῖν.
It is, gentlemen of the jury, the most difficult of all things to have opponents of this kind.
τὰ μὲν γὰρ συμβόλαια τὰ πρὸς τοὺς ἐπὶ ταῖς τραπέζαις ἄνευ μαρτύρων γίγνεται, τοῖς ἀδικουμένοις δὲ πρὸς τοιούτους ἀνάγκη κινδυνεύειν, οἳ καὶ φίλους πολλοὺς κέκτηνται καὶ χρήματα πολλὰ διαχειρίζουσι καὶ πιστοὶ διὰ τὴν τέχνην δοκοῦσιν εἶναι.
For transactions with those at the banks are conducted without witnesses, and those who are wronged must run risks against such men, who possess many friends, manage much money, and appear trustworthy because of their trade.
ὅμως δὲ καὶ τούτων ὑπαρχόντων ἡγοῦμαι φανερὸν πᾶσι ποιήσειν ὅτι ἀποστεροῦμαι τῶν χρημάτων ὑπὸ Πασίωνος.
Nevertheless, even under these circumstances, I believe I shall make it clear to all that I am being deprived of my money by Pasion.
§3ἐξ ἀρχῆς οὖν ὑμῖν, ὅπως ἂν δύνωμαι, διηγήσομαι τὰ πεπραγμένα.
From the beginning, therefore, I will relate to you the facts, as best as I am able.
ἐμοὶ γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, πατὴρ μέν ἐστι Σωπαῖος, ὃν οἱ πλέοντες εἰς τὸν Πόντον ἅπαντες ἴσασιν οὕτως οἰκείως πρὸς Σάτυρον διακείμενον, ὥστε πολλῆς μὲν χώρας ἄρχειν, ἁπάσης δὲ τῆς δυνάμεως ἐπιμελεῖσθαι τῆς ἐκείνου.
For my father, gentlemen of the jury, is Sopaeus, whom all who sail to the Pontus know to be on such intimate terms with Satyrus that he rules over a vast territory and has charge of his entire force.
§4πυνθανόμενος δὲ καὶ περὶ τῆσδε τῆς πόλεως καὶ περὶ τῆς ἄλλης Ἑλλάδος ἐπεθύμησʼ ἀποδημῆσαι.
Hearing of both this city and the rest of Greece, I desired to travel abroad.
γεμίσας οὖς ὁ πατήρ μου δύο ναῦς σίτου καὶ χρήματα δοὺς ἐξέπεμψεν ἅμα κατʼ ἐμπορίαν καὶ κατὰ θεωρίαν· συστήσαντος δέ μοι Πυθοδώρου τοῦ Φοίνικος Πασιωνα ἐχρώμην τῇ τούτου τραπέζῃ.
My father, having loaded two ships with grain and given me money, sent me out for both trade and sightseeing; and since Pythodorus the Phoenician introduced Pasion to me, I made use of his bank.
§5χρόνῳ δʼ ὕστερον διαβολῆς πρὸς Σάτυρον γενομένης ὡς καὶ ὁ πατὴρ οὑμὸς ἐπιβουλεύοι τῇ ἀρχῇ, κἀγὼ τοῖς φυγάσι συγγιγνοίμην, τὸν μὲν πατέρα μου συλλαμβάνει, ἐπιστέλλει δὲ τοῖς ἐνθάδʼ ἐπιδημοῦσιν ἐκ τοῦ Πόντου τά τε χρήματα παρʼ ἐμοῦ παραλαβεῖν καὶ αὐτὸν εἰσπλεῖν κελεύειν· ἐὰν δὲ τούτων μηδὲν ποιῶ, §6παρʼ ὑμῶν ἐξαιτεῖν.
Sometime later, when a slander was made to Satyrus that my father was plotting against his rule and that I was associating with the exiles, he arrested my father, and dispatched instructions to those residing here from the Pontus to take over the money from me and to order me to sail back; and if I should do none of these, to demand my surrender from you.
ἐν τοσούτοις δὲ κακοῖς ὤν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, λέγω πρὸς Πασίωνα τὰς ἐμαυτοῦ συμφοράς· οὕτω γὰρ οἰκείως πρὸς αὐτὸν διεκείμην ὥστε μὴ μόνον περὶ χρημάτων ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων τούτῳ μάλιστα πιστεύειν.
Being in such great troubles, gentlemen of the jury, I told my misfortunes to Pasion; for I was on such intimate terms with him that I trusted him most of all, not only concerning money but also concerning other matters.
ἡγούμην δʼ εἰ μὲν προοίμην ἅπαντα τὰ χρήματα, κινδυνεύειν, εἴ τι πάθοι ʼκεῖνος, στερηθεὶς καὶ τῶν ἐνθάδε καὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ, πάντων ἐνδεὴς γενήσεσθαι· εἰ δʼ ὁμολογῶν εἶναι ἐπιστείλαντος Σατύρου μὴ παραδοίην, εἰς τὰς μεγίστας διαβολὰς ἐμαυτὸν καὶ τὸν πατέρα καταστήσειν πρὸς Σάτυρον.
I thought that if I surrendered all the money, I would run the risk, if anything should happen to my father, of being deprived of both what is here and what is there, and of becoming destitute of everything; on the other hand, if I admitted it was mine but did not hand it over when Satyrus sent instructions, I would bring myself and my father into the greatest suspicion with Satyrus.
§7βουλευομένοις οὖν ἡμῖν ἐδόκει βέλτιστον εἶναι προσομολογεῖν πάντα ποιεῖν, ὅσα Σάτυρος προσέταττε, καὶ τὰ μὲν φανερὰ τῶν χρημάτων παραδοῦναι, περὶ δὲ τῶν παρὰ τούτῳ κειμένων μὴ μόνον ἔξαρνον εἶναι ἀλλὰ καὶ ὀφείλοντά με καὶ τούτῳ καὶ ἑτέροις ἐπὶ τόκῳ φαίνεσθαι καὶ πάντα ποιεῖν ἐξ ὧν ἐκεῖνοι μάλιστʼ ἤμελλον πεισθήσεσθαι μὴ εἶναί μοι χρήματα.
As we deliberated, therefore, it seemed best to agree to do everything that Satyrus commanded, and to hand over the visible property, but concerning the money deposited with this man, not only to deny it, but also to appear to owe money at interest both to him and to others, and to do everything by which they would be most convinced that I had no money.
§8τότε μὲν οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ἐνόμιζόν μοι Πασίωνα διʼ εὔνοιαν ἅπαντα ταῦτα συμβουλεύειν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς παρὰ Σατύρου διεπραξάμην, ἔγνων αὐτὸν ἐπιβουλεύοντα τοῖς ἐμοῖς.
At that time, therefore, gentlemen of the jury, I believed Pasion was advising me all these things out of goodwill; but when I had settled matters with those from Satyrus, I realized he was plotting against my property.
βουλομένου γὰρ ἐμοῦ κομίσασθαι τἀμαυτοῦ καὶ πλεῖν εἰς Βυζάντοιν, ἡγησάμενος οὗτος κάλλιστον αὑτῷ καιρὸν παραπεπτωκέναι -- τὰ μὲν γὰρ χρήματα πόλλʼ εἶναι τὰ παρʼ αὑτῷ κείμενα καὶ ἄξιʼ ἀναισχυντίας, ἐμὲ δὲ πολλῶν ἀκουόντων ἔξαρνον γεγενῆσθαι μηδὲν κεκτῆσθαι, πᾶσί τε φανερὸν ἀπαιτούμενον καὶ ἑτέροις προσομολογοῦντα ὀφείλειν—
For when I wished to recover my own and sail to Byzantium, he thought that the finest opportunity had fallen to him—for the money deposited with him was large and worth behaving shamelessly for, while I had denied possessing anything in the hearing of many, and was clearly being asked for repayment and admitting to others that I owed them—