GetPassage urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0014.tlg018.perseus-eng2:53-56 urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0014.tlg018.perseus-eng2:53-56

I propose then at last to come to my defence against the actual indictment, and to a recital of my public acts, that Aeschines may hear from me what he knows perfectly well, the grounds on which I claim that I deserve even larger rewards than those proposed by the Council. Please take and read the indictment.

In the archonship of Chaerondas, on the sixth day of Elaphebolion, Aeschines, son of Atrometus, of Cothocidae, indicted Ctesiphon, son of Leosthenes, of Anaphlystus, before the Archon for a breach of the constitution, in that he proposed an unconstitutional decree, to wit, that Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes, of Paeania should be crowned with a golden crown, and that proclamation should be made in the theatre at the Great Dionysia, when the new tragedies are produced, that the People crown Demosthenes, son of Demosthenes, of Paeania, with a golden crown for his merit and for the goodwill which he has constantly displayed both towards all the Greeks and towards the people of Athens, and also for his steadfastness, and because he has constantly by word and deed promoted the best interests of the people, and is forward to do whatever good he can,

all these proposals being false and unconstitutional, inasmuch as the laws forbid, first, the entry of false statements in the public records; secondly, the crowning of one liable to audit (now Demosthenes is Commissioner of Fortifications and a trustee of the Theatrical Fund); thirdly, the proclamation of the crown in the Theatre at the Dionysia the day of the new tragedies; but if the crowning is by the Council, it shall be proclaimed in the Council-house, if by the State, in the Assembly on the Pnyx. Fine demanded: fifty talents. Witnesses to summons: Cephisophon, son of Cephisophon, of Rhamnus, Cleon, son of Cleon, of Cothocidae.

These are the clauses of the decree against which this prosecution is directed; but from these very clauses I hope to prove to your satisfaction that I have an honest defence to offer. For I will take the charges one by one in the same order as the prosecutor, without any intentional omission.