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Demosthenes · Against Timotheus §9-17

Deposition of Timotheus and the Subsequent Loan

Passage 2 of 9 · Greek

Summary

It is explained how Timotheus, after being deposed from his generalship and facing severe financial and legal crises, received further financial assistance from the plaintiff's father to repay a loan he had taken in Calauria in order to sustain his trial.

§9ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀπεχειροτονήθη μὲν ὑφʼ ὑμῶν στρατηγὸς διὰ τὸ μὴ περιπλεῦσαι Πελοπόννησον, ἐπὶ κρίσει δὲ παρεδέδοτο εἰς τὸν δῆμον αἰτίας τῆς μεγίστης τυχών, ἐφειστήκει δὲ αὐτῷ Καλλίστρατος καὶ Ἰφικράτης, τῷ τε πράττειν καὶ εἰπεῖν δυνάμενοι, οὕτω δὲ διέθεσαν ὑμᾶς κατηγοροῦντες τούτου αὐτοί τε καὶ οἱ συναγορεύοντες αὐτοῖς, §10ὥστε Ἀντίμαχον μὲν ταμίαν ὄντα καὶ πιστότατα διακείμενον τούτῳ κρίναντες ἐν τῷ δήμῳ ἀπεκτείνατε καὶ τὴν οὐσίαν αὐτοῦ ἐδημεύσατε, αὐτὸν δὲ τοῦτον ἐξαιτουμένων τῶν ἐπιτηδείων καὶ οἰκείων αὐτοῦ ἁπάντων, ἔτι δὲ καὶ Ἀλκέτου καὶ Ἰάσονος, συμμάχων ὄντων ὑμῖν, μόλις μὲν ἐπείσθητε ἀφεῖναι, στρατηγοῦντα δὲ αὐτὸν ἐπαύσατε,— §11ἐν τοιαύταις δὲ ὢν διαβολαῖς καὶ ἀπορίᾳ χρημάτων πολλῇ (ἡ μὲν γὰρ οὐσία ὑπόχρεως ἦν ἅπασα, καὶ ὅροι αὐτῆς ἕστασαν, καὶ ἄλλοι ἐκράτουν· ὁ μὲν ἐν πεδίῳ ἀγρὸς ἀποτίμημα τῷ παιδὶ τῷ Εὐμηλίδου καθειστήκει, ἑξήκοντα δὲ τριηράρχοις τοῖς συνεκπλεύσασιν αὐτῷ ἑπτὰ μνῶν ἑκάστῳ ἡ ἄλλη οὐσία ὑπέκειτο, ἃς οὗτος αὐτοὺς στρατηγῶν ἠνάγκασε τοῖς ναύταις τροφὴν διαδοῦναι· §12ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀποχειροτονηθεὶς ἐν τῷ λόγῳ ἀπήνεγκεν ἐκ τῶν στρατιωτικῶν χρημάτων αὐτὸς δεδωκὼς εἰς τὰς ναῦς τὰς ἑπτὰ μνᾶς ταύτας τότε, φοβούμενος μὴ καταμαρτυρήσωσιν αὑτοῦ οἱ τριήραρχοι καὶ ἐξελέγχηται ψευδόμενος, δάνεισμα ποιεῖται ἰδίᾳ παρʼ ἑκάστου αὐτῶν τὰς ἑπτὰ μνᾶς καὶ ὑποτίθησιν αὐτοῖς τὴν οὐσίαν, ἃς νῦν αὐτοὺς ἀποστερεῖ καὶ τοὺς ὅρους ἀνέσπακεν), §13πανταχόθεν δὲ ἀπορούμενος, καὶ ἐν ἀγῶνι τῷ μεγίστῳ καθεστηκὼς περὶ τοῦ σώματος διὰ τὸ συμβεβηκέναι τῇ πόλει τοιαῦτα πράγματα, ἄμισθον μὲν τὸ στράτευμα καταλελύσθαι ἐν Καλαυρείᾳ, πολιορκεῖσθαι δὲ τοὺς περὶ Πελοπόννησον συμμάχους ὑπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων, κατηγορούντων δὲ τοῦτον αἴτιον εἶναι τῆς παρούσης ἀτυχίας Ἰφικράτους καὶ Καλλιστράτου, ἔτι δὲ τῶν ἀφικνουμένων ἀπὸ στρατεύματος ἀπαγγελλόντων ἐν τῷ δήμῳ τὴν παροῦσαν ἔνδειαν καὶ ἀπορίαν, τὰ δὲ καὶ διʼ ἐπιστολῶν ἑκάστου πυνθανομένου παρὰ τῶν οἰκείων καὶ ἐπιτηδείων ὡς διέκειντο (ὧν ἀκούοντες ὑμεῖς ἐν τῷ δήμῳ τότε ἀναμνήσθητε πῶς ἕκαστος περὶ αὐτοῦ τὴν γνώμην εἶχεν· §14οὐ γὰρ ἀγνοεῖτε τὰ λεγόμενα), μέλλων τοίνυν καταπλεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν κρίσιν, ἐν Καλαυρείᾳ δανείζεται χιλίας δραχμὰς παρὰ Ἀντιφάνους τοῦ Λαμπτρέως, ὃς ἐπέπλει ταμίας Φιλίππῳ τῷ ναυκλήρῳ, ἵνα διαδοίη τοῖς Βοιωτίοις τριηράρχοις, καὶ παραμένωσιν ἕως ἂν αὐτῷ ἡ κρίσις γένηται, καὶ μὴ καταλυθεισῶν πρότερον τῶν Βοιωτίων τριήρων καὶ διαπελθόντων τῶν στρατιωτῶν μᾶλλον αὐτῷ ὀργίζησθε ὑμεῖς.
But when he was deposed by you from his generalship because he had not sailed around the Peloponnese, and had been delivered to the assembly for trial, having met with the gravest charge, and Callistratus and Iphicrates, who were powerful both in action and speech, stood against him, and they themselves and those who spoke in support of them, by accusing this man, so disposed you, that, on the one hand, you tried Antimachus, who was his treasurer and most faithfully disposed to him, in the assembly and put him to death, and confiscated his property, and as for this man himself, although all his friends and relatives, and further even Alcetas and Jason, who were your allies, begged for him, you were with difficulty persuaded to let him off, but you removed him from his generalship;— being then under such accusations and in great distress for money (for his entire estate was mortgaged, and mortgage-stones were set upon it, and others held control of it; the land in the plain had been established as a security for the son of Eumelides, and the rest of his property was mortgaged to sixty trierarchs who had sailed out with him, for seven minae each, which he, as general, had forced them to distribute to the sailors for provisions; and when, after being deposed, he reported in his accounts that he had himself paid these seven minae for the ships out of the military funds at that time, fearing lest the trierarchs should testify against him and he should be convicted of lying, he made the seven minae a private loan from each of them and mortgaged his property to them, of which he is now defrauding them, and he has pulled up the boundary-stones), and being in distress from all sides, and placed in the greatest trial for his life, because such conditions had befallen the city, namely, on the one hand, that the army had disbanded in Calauria without pay, and on the other, that the allies around the Peloponnese were being besieged by the Lacedaemonians, and while Iphicrates and Callistratus were accusing this man of being the cause of the present misfortune, and further, those arriving from the army were reporting in the assembly the present destitution and distress, and partly also because each person was learning through letters from their relatives and friends how they fared (hearing which in the assembly at that time, you remember how each of you felt towards him; for you are not ignorant of what was being said), being then about to sail home for his trial, he borrowed in Calauria one thousand drachmas from Antiphanes of Lampra, who was sailing as treasurer to Philippus the shipowner, in order that he might distribute it to the Boeotian trierarchs and they might remain until his trial should take place, and that, the Boeotian triremes not being disbanded beforehand and the soldiers dispersed, you might not be more angry with him.
§15οἱ μὲν γὰρ πολῖται ἠνείχοντο κακοπαθοῦντες καὶ παρέμενον· οἱ δὲ Βοιωτοὶ οὐκ ἔφασαν παραμενεῖν, εἰ μή τις αὐτοῖς τὴν καθʼ ἡμέραν τροφὴν δώσει.
For the citizens endured hardship and remained; but the Boeotians said they would not remain unless someone should give them their daily provisions.
τότε οὖν ἀναγκαζόμενος δανείζεται τὰς χιλίας δραχμὰς παρὰ τοῦ Ἀντιφάνους, ὃς ἐπέπλει ταμιεύων Φιλίππῳ τῷ ναυκλήρῳ, καὶ δίδωσι τῷ Βοιωτίῳ ἄρχοντι τῶν νεῶν.
At that time, therefore, being compelled, he borrowed the one thousand drachmas from Antiphanes, who was sailing as treasurer to Philippus the shipowner, and gave it to the Boeotian commander of the ships.
§16ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀφίκετο δεῦρο, ἀπῄτουν αὐτὸν ὅ τε Φίλιππος καὶ Ἀντιφάνης τὰς χιλίας δραχμὰς ἃς ἐδανείσατο ἐν Καλαυρείᾳ, καὶ ἠγανάκτουν ὅτι οὐ ταχὺ ἀπελάμβανον.
And when he arrived here, both Philippus and Antiphanes demanded from him the one thousand drachmas which he had borrowed in Calauria, and were indignant because they did not quickly receive it back.
φοβούμενος δὲ οὗτος τοὺς ἐχθροὺς τοὺς ἑαυτοῦ, μὴ πύθοιντο ὅτι, ἃς ἐν τῷ λόγῳ ἀπήνεγκεν χιλίας δραχμὰς δεδωκὼς εἰς τὰς Βοιωτίας ναῦς ἐκ τῶν στρατιωτικῶν χρημάτων, §17ταύτας Φίλιππος δανείσας ἀποστερεῖται, καὶ ἅμα δεδιὼς τὸν Φίλιππον, μὴ καταμαρτυροίη αὑτοῦ ἐν τῷ ἀγῶνι, προσελθὼν τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἐμῷ ἐδεήθη ἀπαλλάξαι τὸν Φίλιππον καὶ χρῆσαι αὑτῷ τὰς χιλίας δραχμάς, ἵνα ἀποδοίη Φιλίππῳ.
But this man, fearing his enemies, lest they should discover that the one thousand drachmas which he reported in his accounts as having been given to the Boeotian ships from the military funds, had been lent by Philippus, who was now being deprived of them, and at the same time fearing Philippus, lest he should testify against him in the trial, he came to my father and begged him to satisfy Philippus and lend him the one thousand drachmas, so that he might pay Philippus back.
ὁρῶν δὲ ὁ πατὴρ ὁ ἐμὸς τό τε μέγεθος τοῦ ἀγῶνος ἡλίκον ἦν τούτῳ, καὶ ὡς ἠπορεῖτο οὗτος, καὶ ἐλεῶν αὐτόν, προσαγαγὼν πρὸς τὴν τράπεζαν ἐκέλευσεν ἀποδοῦναι Φιλίππῳ χιλίας δραχμὰς τὸν Φορμίωνα τὸν ἐπικαθήμενον ἐπὶ τῇ τραπέζῃ, καὶ γράψαι ὀφείλοντα Τιμόθεον.
My father, seeing how great a trial was hanging over him and how distressed he was, and pitying him, brought him to the bank and ordered Phormio, who was sitting at the bank counter, to pay Philippus one thousand drachmas and to write down Timotheus as owing it.

Notes

  1. §9ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἀπεχειροτονήθη μὲν ... δανείζεται — Structural analysis. The subordinate clause introduced by ἐπειδὴ at the beginning of §9 is exceptionally long, spanning through §9, §10, §11, §12, and §13, and finally reaching the main verb of the main clause, δανείζεται, in §14. The connection is interrupted by multiple mén... dé constructions, a consecutive hṓste clause, parenthetical explanations, and numerous participial phrases.
  2. §10αὐτὸν δὲ τοῦτον ἐξαιτουμένων τῶν ἐπιτηδείων — Genitive absolute construction. The pronoun in the genitive αὐτὸν δὲ τοῦτον (which stands as a proleptic topic or part of the absolute construction) along with the genitive participle ἐξαιτουμένων and its semantic subject τῶν ἐπιτηδείων... forms a genitive absolute: "while his friends and relatives... were begging for his acquittal".
  3. §12φοβούμενος μὴ καταμαρτυρήσωσιν αὑτοῦ — Clause of fearing with subjunctive. The fearing participle φοβούμενος introduces a mē clause (μὴ καταμαρτυρήσωσιν) meaning "fearing lest they should bear witness against him," using the aorist subjunctive.

Cite this passage

Demosthenes, Against Timotheus §9-17. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0014.tlg049.humanitext-grc2:9-17

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