§23τίνα γὰρ οἴεσθε, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, φιλότιμον μὲν ὄντα, ἐπιστολῶν δʼ αὐτῷ ἡκουσῶν παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς μηδενὸς ἀπορήσειν ἐν Κύπρῳ, ᾑρημένον δὲ πρεσβευτὴν καὶ μέλλοντα πλεῖν ὡς Εὐαγόραν, ὑπολιπέσθαι ἄν τι τῶν ὄντων, ἀλλʼ οὐχ ἃ ἦν δυνατὸς πάντα παρασχόντα χαρίσασθαι ἐκείνῳ τε καὶ κομίσασθαι μὴ ἐλάττω;
For whom do you think, gentlemen of the jury, being ambitious, and when letters had arrived from his father saying that he would want for nothing in Cyprus, having been chosen as ambassador and being about to sail to Evagoras, would have left behind any of his possessions, rather than providing all that he was able in order to gratify him and to receive no less in return?
ὡς τοίνυν ταῦτʼ ἐστὶν ἀληθῆ, κάλει μοι Εὔνομον.
Now, to show that these things are true, call Eunomos for me.
Μαρτυρία
κάλει μοι καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους μάρτυρας.
Testimony Call the other witnesses for me as well.
§24Μάρτυρες
τῶν μὲν μαρτύρων ἀκούετε, οὐ μόνον ὅτι ἔχρησαν τὸ ἀργύριον ἐκείνου δεηθέντος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅτι ἀπειλήφασιν· ἐκομίσθη γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς τριήρους.
Witnesses You hear the witnesses, not only that they lent the money when he begged them, but also that they have received it back; for it was brought to them on the trireme.
ῥᾴδιον μὲν οὖν ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων γνῶναι ὅτι τοιούτων καιρῶν συμπεσόντων οὐδενὸς ἂν ἐφείσατο τῶν ἑαυτοῦ·
Therefore, it is easy to recognize from what has been said that when such emergencies occurred, he would have spared nothing of his own.
§25ὃ δὲ μέγιστον τεκμήριον·
And here is the greatest proof.
δῆμος γὰρ ὁ Πυριλάμπους, τριηραρχῶν εἰς Κύπρον, ἐδεήθη μου προσελθεῖν αὐτῷ, λέγων ὅτι ἔλαβε μὲν σύμβολον παρὰ βασιλέως τοῦ μεγάλου φιάλην χρυσῆν, δώσει δʼ Ἀριστοφάνει, λαβὼν ἑκκαίδεκα μνᾶς ἐπʼ αὐτῇ, ἵνʼ ἔχοι ἀναλίσκειν εἰς τὴν τριηραρχίαν· ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἰς Κύπρον ἀφίκοιτο, λύσεσθαι ἀποδοὺς εἴκοσι μνᾶς· πολλῶν γὰρ ἀγαθῶν καὶ ἄλλων χρημάτων εὐπορήσειν διὰ τὸ σύμβολον ἐν πάσῃ τῇ ἠπείρῳ.
For Demos, the son of Pyrilampes, when serving as trierarch to Cyprus, begged me to go to Aristophanes, saying that he had received a golden cup from the Great King as a token, and that he would give it to Aristophanes and receive sixteen minae upon it, so that he might have money to spend on his trierarchy; and that when he arrived in Cyprus, he would redeem it by paying back twenty minae; for he said that through this token he would have an abundance of many goods and other money throughout the entire continent.
§26Ἀριστοφάνης τοίνυν ἀκούων μὲν ταῦτα Δήμου, δεομένου δʼ ἐμοῦ, μέλλων δʼ ἄξειν τὸ χρυσίον, τέτταρας δὲ μνᾶς τόκον λήψεσθαι, οὐκ ἔφη εἶναι, ἀλλʼ ὤμνυε καὶ προσδεδανεῖσθαι τοῖς ξένοις ἄλλοθεν, ἐπειδὴ ἥδιστʼ ἂν ἀνθρώπων ἄγειν τε εὐθὺς ἐκεῖνο τὸ σύμβολον καὶ χαρίσασθαι ἡμῖν ἃ ἐδεόμεθα.
Aristophanes, therefore, although hearing this from Demos and though I begged him, and though he was about to take the gold cup and receive four minae as interest, said he had no money, but swore that he had even borrowed more from elsewhere for his foreign guests, since he would have most gladly of all men taken that token immediately and granted us the favor we asked.
§27Μάρτυρες ὡς δὲ ταῦτʼ ἐστὶν ἀληθῆ, μάρτυρας ὑμῖν παρέξομαι.
Witnesses To show that these things are true, I shall provide witnesses for you.
ὅτι μὲν τοίνυν οὐ κατέλιπεν Ἀριστοφάνης ἀργύριον οὐδὲ χρυσίον, ῥᾴδιον γνῶναι ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων καὶ μεμαρτυρημένων· χαλκώματα δὲ σύμμεικτα οὐ πολλὰ ἐκέκτητο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅθʼ εἱστία τοὺς παρʼ Εὐαγόρου πρεσβεύοντας, αἰτησάμενος ἐχρήσατο.
Therefore, that Aristophanes left behind neither silver nor gold is easy to recognize from what has been said and testified; and as for miscellaneous bronze vessels, he did not possess many, but even when he entertained the ambassadors from Evagoras, he borrowed them for use.
ἃ δὲ κατέλιπεν, ἀναγνώσεται ὑμῖν.
What he did leave behind, the clerk shall read to you.
§28Ἀπογραφὴ Χαλκωμάτων
ἴσως ἐνίοις ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, δοκεῖ ὀλίγα εἶναι· ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο ἐνθυμεῖσθε, ὅτι αὐτῷ πρὶν τὴν ναυμαχίαν νικῆσαι Κόνωνα γῆ μὲν οὐκ ἦν ἀλλʼ ἢ χωρίδιον μικρὸν Ῥαμνοῦντι.
Inventory of Bronze Vessels Perhaps to some of you, gentlemen of the jury, these things seem few; but bear this in mind, that before Conon won the sea-fight, Aristophanes had no land except a small estate at Rhamnus.
ἐγένετο δʼ ἡ ναυμαχία ἐπʼ Εὐβουλίδου ἄρχοντος.
And the sea-fight took place in the archonship of Eubulides.
§29ἐν οὖν τέτταρσιν ἢ πέντε ἔτεσι, πρότερον μὴ ὑπαρχούσης οὐσίας, χαλεπόν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τραγῳδοῖς τε δὶς χορηγῆσαι, ὑπὲρ τε καὶ τοῦ πατρός, καὶ τρία ἔτη συνεχῶς τριηραρχῆσαι, εἰσφοράς τε πολλάς εἰσενηνοχέναι, οἰκίαν τε πεντήκοντα μνῶν πρίασθαι, γῆς τε πλέον ἢ τριακόσια πλέθρα κτήσασθαι·
In four or five years, then, when no estate previously existed, it was difficult, gentlemen of the jury, to serve as choregos twice for tragedies, both for himself and on behalf of his father, to serve as trierarch for three consecutive years, to have paid many war-tax contributions, to buy a house for fifty minae, and to acquire more than three hundred plethra of land.
ἔτι δὲ πρὸς τούτοις οἴεσθε χρῆναι ἔπιπλα πολλὰ καταλελοιπέναι;
In addition to these things, do you think he must have left behind many goods?
§30ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ οἱ πάλαι πλούσιοι δοκοῦντες εἶναι ἄξια λόγου ἔχοιεν ἂν ἐξενεγκεῖν· ἐνίοτε γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν, οὐδʼ ἐάν τις πάνυ ἐπιθυμῇ, πρίασθαι τοιαῦτα ἃ κτησαμένῳ εἰς τὸν λοιπὸν χρόνον ἡδονὴν ἂν παρέχοι.
Why, not even those who have long been thought to be rich could produce any of noteworthy value; for sometimes it is not possible, even if one exceedingly desires it, to buy such things as would afford pleasure to the possessor for the remaining time.
§31ἀλλὰ τόδε σκοπεῖτε· τῶν ἄλλων, ὅσων ἐδημεύσατε τὰ χρήματα, οὐχ ὅπως σκεύη ἀπέδοσθε, ἀλλὰ καὶ αἱ θύραι ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκημάτων ἀφηρπάσθησαν· ἡμεῖς δὲ ἤδη δεδημευμένων καὶ ἐξεληλυθυίας τῆς ἐμῆς ἀδελφῆς φύλακα κατεστήσαμεν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῃ οἰκίᾳ, ἵνα μήτε θυρώματα μήτε ἀγγεῖα μήτε ἄλλο μηδὲν ἀπόλοιτο.
But consider this: in the case of others whose property you confiscated, not only did you sell no furniture, but even the doors were torn away from the dwellings; whereas we, when the confiscation had already taken place and my sister had departed, placed a guard in the deserted house, so that neither doors nor vessels nor anything else might be lost.
ἔπιπλα δὲ ἀπεφαίνετο πλεῖν ἢ χιλίων δραχμῶν, §32ὅσα οὐδενὸς πώποτʼ ἐλάβετε.
And the furniture declared amounted to more than a thousand drachmae, such an amount as you have never yet received from anyone's estate.
πρὸς δὲ τούτοις καὶ πρότερον πρὸς τοὺς συνδίκους καὶ νῦν ἐθέλομεν πίστιν δοῦναι, ἥτις ἐστὶ μεγίστη τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, μηδὲν ἔχειν τῶν Ἀριστοφάνους χρημάτων, ἐνοφείλεσθαι δὲ τὴν προῖκα τῆς ἀδελφῆς καὶ ἑπτὰ μνᾶς ἃς ᾤχετο λαβὼν παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ ἐμοῦ.
In addition to this, both formerly to the commissioners and now we are willing to give an oath, which is the greatest among men, that we hold none of Aristophanes' property, but that my sister's dowry is still owed to her, as well as the seven minae which he took from my father when he departed.
§33πῶς ἂν οὖν εἶεν ἄνθρωποι ἀθλιώτεροι, ἢ εἰ τὰ σφέτερʼ αὐτῶν ἀπολωλεκότες δοκοῖεν τἀκείνων ἔχειν;
How, then, could men be more wretched than if, having lost their own property, they should be thought to hold that of others?
ὅ δὲ πάντων δεινότατον, τὴν ἀδελφὴν ὑποδέξασθαι παιδία ἔχουσαν πολλά, καὶ ταῦτα τρέφειν, μηδʼ αὐτοὺς ἔχοντας μηδέν, ἐὰν ὑμεῖς τὰ ὄντʼ ἀφέλησθε.
And what is the most terrible of all, to receive my sister who has many children, and to support them, when we ourselves have nothing, if you take away what we possess.