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Antiphon of Rhamnus · On the Choreutes §35-43

Plot to Evade Charges and Legality of the Basileus's Refusal

Passage 6 of 7 · Greek

Summary

The speaker exposes his enemies' plot to escape prosecution for their corruption by accusing him of murder to bar him from public life. He demonstrates that the Basileus's refusal to register the charge was a legally sound decision based on procedural time limits, supported by the fact that the enemies did not challenge the Basileus during his subsequent audit.

§35κατηγορήσειν ἔμελλον Ἀριστίωνος καὶ Φιλίνου καὶ Ἀμπελίνου καὶ τοῦ ὑπογραμματέως τῶν θεσμοθετῶν, μεθʼ οὗπερ συνέκλεπτον, περὶ ὧν εἰσήγγειλα εἰς τὴν βουλήν.
I was about to prosecute Aristion, Philinus, Ampelinus, and the underscribe of the thesmothetae, with whom they were embezzling, concerning the matters which I had denounced to the Senate.
καὶ αὐτοῖς ἐκ μὲν τῶν πεπραγμένων οὐδεμία ἦν ἐλπὶς ἀποφεύξεσθαι—τοιαῦτα ἄρʼ ἦν τὰ ἠδικημένα—· πείσαντες δὲ τούτους ἀπογράφεσθαι καὶ προαγορεύειν ἐμοὶ εἴργεσθαι τῶν νομίμων, ἡγήσαντο ταύτην σφίσιν ἔσεσθαι σωτηρίαν καὶ ἀπαλλαγὴν τῶν πραγμάτων ἁπάντων.
And for them, there was no hope of acquittal from the facts of what had been done—for such, it seems, were the wrongs they had committed—; but by persuading these men to register the charge and to proclaim my exclusion from the sacred rites, they thought this would be their salvation and a deliverance from all their troubles.
ὁ γὰρ νόμος οὕτως ἔχει, §36ἐπειδάν τις ἀπογραφῇ φόνου δίκην, εἴργεσθαι τῶν νομίμων· καὶ οὔτʼ ἂν ἐγὼ οἷός τʼ ἦ ἐπεξελθεῖν εἰργόμενος τῶν νομίμων, ἐκεῖνοί τε ἐμοῦ τοῦ εἰσαγγείλαντος καὶ ἐπισταμένου τὰ πράγματα μὴ ἐπεξιόντος ῥᾳδίως ἔμελλον ἀποφεύξεσθαι καὶ δίκην οὐ δώσειν ὑμῖν ὧν ἠδίκησαν.
For the law is as follows: whenever anyone is registered for a charge of murder, they are to be barred from the sacred rites; and neither would I have been able to prosecute, being barred from the sacred rites, and they, with me—the one who had denounced them and knew the facts—not prosecuting, were likely to be easily acquitted and not pay the penalty to you for the wrongs they had committed.
καὶ τοῦτʼ οὐκ ἐπʼ ἐμοὶ πρῶτον ἐμηχανήσαντο Φιλῖνος καὶ οἱ ἕτεροι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ Λυσιστράτῳ πρότερον, ὡς αὐτοὶ ὑμεῖς ἠκούσατε.
And they did not devise this scheme against me first, Philinus and his associates, but also against Lysistratus on a previous occasion, as you yourselves have heard.
§37καὶ οὗτοι τότε μὲν πρόθυμοι ἦσαν ἀπογράφεσθαί με εὐθὺς τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ ᾗ ὁ παῖς ἐθάπτετο, πρὶν τὴν οἰκίαν καθῆραι καὶ τὰ νομιζόμενα ποιῆσαι, αὐτὴν ταύτην φυλάξαντες τὴν ἡμέραν ἐν ᾗ ἔμελλεν ὁ πρῶτος ἐκείνων κριθήσεσθαι, ὅπως μηδὲ καθʼ ἑνὸς αὐτῶν οἷός τε γενοίμην ἐπεξελθεῖν μηδʼ ἐνδεῖξαι τῷ δικαστηρίῳ τἀδικήματα·
And these men were eager at that time to register the charge against me immediately on the day after the boy was buried, before purifying the house and performing the customary rites, waiting for this very day on which the first of them was about to be tried, so that I would not be able to prosecute a single one of them nor show their crimes to the court.
§38ἐπειδὴ δὲ αὐτοῖς ὁ βασιλεὺς τούς τε νόμους ἀνέγνω, καὶ χρόνους ἐπέδειξεν ὅτι οὐκ ἐγχωροίη ἀπογράψασθαι καὶ τὰς κλήσεις καλεῖσθαι ὅσας ἔδει, καὶ ἐγὼ τοὺς ταῦτα μηχανωμένους εἰσάγων εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον εἷλον ἅπαντας, καὶ ἐτιμήθη αὐτοῖς ὧν ὑμεῖς ἐπίστασθε, καὶ οὗτοι ὧν ἕνεκα ἐλάμβανον χρήματα οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς οἷόι τε ἦσαν ὠφελῆσαι, τότε δὴ προσιόντες αὐτῷ τʼ ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῖς φίλοις ἐδέοντο διαλλαγῆναι, καὶ δίκην ἕτοιμοι ἦσαν διδόναι τῶν ἡμαρτημένων.
But when the Basileus read the laws to them and showed them that there was no time to register the charge and make all the necessary summonses, and I, bringing those who devised these schemes into the court, convicted them all, and there was assessed against them such penalty as you know, and these men were unable to help them in any way in the matters for which they were receiving money, then indeed they approached both me and my friends, begging for a reconciliation, and were ready to pay the penalty for their errors.
§39καὶ ἐγὼ πεισθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν φίλων διηλλάγην τούτοις ἐν τῇ πόλει ἐναντίον μαρτύρων, οἵπερ διήλλαττον ἡμᾶς πρὸς τῷ νεῷ τῆς Ἀθηνᾶς· καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο συνῆσάν μοι καὶ διελέγοντο ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς, ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ, ἐν τῇ ἐμῇ οἰκίᾳ, ἐν τῇ σφετέρᾳ αὐτῶν καὶ ἑτέρωθι πανταχοῦ.
And I, persuaded by my friends, reconciled with them in the city in the presence of witnesses, the very ones who reconciled us near the temple of Athena; and after this, they were with me and conversed with me in the shrines, in the Agora, in my house, in their own house, and everywhere else.
§40τὸ τελευταῖον, ὦ Ζεῦ καὶ θεοὶ πάντες, Φιλοκράτης αὐτὸς οὑτοσὶ ἐν τῷ βουλευτηρίῳ ἐναντίον τῆς βουλῆς, ἑστὼς μετʼ ἐμοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ βήματος, ἁπτόμενος ἐμοῦ διελέγετο, ὀνόματι οὗτος ἐμὲ προσαγορεύων, καὶ ἐγὼ τοῦτον, ὥστε δεινὸν δόξαι εἶναι τῇ βουλῇ, ἐπειδὴ ἐπύθετο προειρημένον μοι εἴργεσθαι τῶν νομίμων ὑπὸ τούτων, οὓς ἑώρων μοι τῇ προτεραίᾳ συνόντας καὶ διαλεγομένους.
At last, O Zeus and all gods, this Philocrates himself, in the Senate House in the presence of the Senate, standing with me on the dais, spoke to me while touching me, addressing me by name and I him, so that it seemed shocking to the Senate when it learned that I had been previously proclaimed by these men to be barred from the sacred rites, whom they had seen being with me and conversing with me on the previous day.
§41σκέψασθε δὲ καί μοι μνήσθητε, ὦ ἄνδρες· ταῦτα γὰρ οὐ μόνον μάρτυσιν ὑμῖν ἀποδείξω, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων ἃ τούτοις πέπρακται, ῥᾳδίως γνώσεσθε ὅτι ἀληθῆ λέγω.
Consider this and remember it for me, gentlemen; for I will prove these things to you not only by witnesses, but also from the very deeds they committed, you will easily know that I speak the truth.
καὶ πρῶτον ἃ τοῦ βασιλέως κατηγοροῦσι καὶ διὰ τὴν ἐμὴν σπουδὴν οὔ φασιν ἐθέλειν αὐτὸν ἀπογράφεσθαι τὴν δίκην, τοῦτο δὴ κατʼ αὐτῶν τούτων ἔσται τεκμήριον ὅτι οὐκ ἀληθῆ λέγουσιν.
And first, as to what they accuse the Basileus of, saying that because of my zeal he was unwilling to receive the lawsuit, this very thing will be a proof against them that they do not speak the truth.
§42ἔδει μὲν γὰρ τὸν βασιλέα, ἐπειδὴ ἀπεγράψατο, τρεῖς προδικασίας ποιῆσαι ἐν τρισὶ μησί, τὴν δίκην δʼ εἰσάγειν τετάρτῳ μηνί, ὥσπερ νυνί· τῆς δʼ ἀρχῆς αὐτῷ λοιποὶ δύο μῆνες ἦσαν, Θαργηλιὼν καὶ Σκιροφοριών.
For the Basileus, after receiving the charge, had to hold three preliminary hearings in three months, and bring the case in the fourth month, just as now; but there were two months remaining of his term of office, Thargelion and Scirophorion.
καὶ οὔτʼ εἰσάγειν δήπου οἷός τʼ ἂν ἦν ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῦ, οὔτε παραδοῦναι φόνου δίκην ἔξεστιν, οὐδὲ παρέδωκεν οὐδεὶς πώποτε βασιλεὺς ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ.
And he would not have been able to bring it in during his own term, and it is not permitted to hand over a charge of murder, nor has any Basileus ever handed one over in this land.
ἥντινα οὖν μήτε εἰσάγειν μήτε παραδοῦναι ἐξῆν αὐτῷ, οὐδʼ ἀπογράφεσθαι ἠξίου παρὰ τοὺς ὑμετέρους νόμους.
Therefore, a suit which it was permitted for him neither to bring in nor to hand over, he did not think it right even to register, contrary to your laws.
§43καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἠδίκει αὐτούς, μέγιστον σημεῖον· Φιλοκράτης γὰρ οὑτοσὶ ἑτέρους τῶν ὑπευθύνων ἔσειε καὶ ἐσυκοφάντει, τούτου δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως, ὅν φασι δεινὰ καὶ σχέτλια εἰργάσθαι, οὐκ ἦλθε κατηγορήσων εἰς τὰς εὐθύνας.
And that he was doing them no wrong is the greatest proof: for this Philocrates blackmailed and slandered others of those subject to audit, but did not come to accuse this Basileus, of whom they say he had done terrible and outrageous things, at his audit.
καίτοι τί ἂν ὑμῖν μεῖζον τούτου τεκμήριον ἀποδείξαιμι, ὅτι οὐκ ἠδικεῖτο οὔθʼ ὑπʼ ἐμοῦ οὔθʼ ὑπʼ ἐκείνου;
And yet, what greater proof of this could I show you, that he was wronged neither by me nor by him?

Notes

  1. §35μεθʼ οὗπερ συνέκλεπτον — The verb `συνέκλεπτον` is interpreted as a third-person plural imperfect, referring to the three individuals (Aristion, Philinus, and Ampelinus) who "were embezzling together with" the underscribe. The alternative interpretation as a first-person singular ("with whom I was embezzling") is rejected because it contradicts the fact that the speaker himself denounced them to the Senate (εἰσήγγειλα).
  2. §35εἴργεσθαι τῶν νομίμων — An Athenian legal term meaning to bar the accused under a murder charge (ἀ포γραφή) from participating in religious rites, temples, the assembly, or other public spaces. `εἴργεσθαι` is a middle-passive infinitive, functioning here to describe the prescription of the law.
  3. §38καὶ οὗτοι ὧν ἕνεκα ἐλάμβανον χρήματα οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς οἷόι τε ἦσαν ὠφελῆσαι — The demonstrative pronoun `οὗτοι` refers to the boy's relatives (the prosecutors), while the dative `αὐτοῖς` refers to Philinus and his associates (the instigators who paid them). Despite having received money, the relatives were unable to benefit their paymasters because the Basileus refused to register the charge due to lack of time.
  4. §40ὥστε δεινὸν δόξαι εἶναι τῇ βουλῇ, ἐπειδὴ ἐπύθετο... — The result conjunction `ὥστε` introduces the infinitive clause with `δόξαι`, inside of which the temporal clause `ἐπειδὴ ἐπύθετο...` is embedded. The complex structure describes how the Senate, upon learning of the prior ban, found the situation shocking (δεινόν) in contrast to the intimacy they had witnessed the day before.
  5. §42ἥντινα οὖν μήτε εἰσάγειν μήτε παραδοῦναι ἐξῆν αὐτῷ, οὐδʼ ἀπογράφεσθαι ἠξίου — In the clause led by the relative pronoun `ἥντινα`, the impersonal verb `ἐξῆν` governs two parallel infinitives, `εἰσάγειν` and `παραδοῦναι`. This is combined with the negative `οὐδέ` modifying `ἠξίου` in the main clause, demonstrating the logical decision of the Basileus not to register a suit that he could neither bring to trial nor hand over.

Cite this passage

Antiphon of Rhamnus, On the Choreutes §35-43. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0028.tlg006.humanitext-grc2:35-43

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