Aegineticus

and he cherished so warmly my father's affection for him that at the death of his wife, who was without children, he remarried, taking as wife my father's cousin, as he did not wish to dissolve the affinity with us. But after he had lived with her for only a short time, he suffered the same bereavement as his former wife.

After this he married a woman of Seriphos, belonging to a family of greater consequence than might be expected of a native of their island.[*](The insignificance of Seriphos was proverbial; cf. Plat. Rep. 329e.) Of this marriage were born Sopolis, Thrasylochus, and a daughter, who is my wife. These were the only legitimate children left by Thrasyllus and he made these his heirs when he died.

Thrasylochus and I, having inherited from our fathers a friendship the intimacy of which I have recently mentioned, made the bond still closer. For during our childhood we were fonder of each other than of our brothers, and we would perform no sacrifice, make no pilgrimage, and celebrate no festival except in one another's company; and when we reached manhood we never opposed one another in any action undertaken, for we not only shared our private concerns but also held similar sentiments regarding public affairs, and we had the same intimates and guest-friends.

And why need I speak further of our intimacy at home?[*](That is, at Siphnos.) In truth, not even in exile did we care to be apart. Finally, when Thrasylochus was striken with the wasting disease and suffered a long illness—his brother Sopolis had previously died[*](Sopolis died in Lycia (cf. Isoc. 19.40).) and his mother and sister had not arrived[*](At Aegina.)—seeing him so completely destitute of companionship I nursed him with such unremitting care and devotion that he thought he could never repay me with a gratitude adequate to my services;

Nevertheless he left nothing undone to reward me, and when he was in a grievous condition and had given up all hope of life, he summoned witnesses, made me his adoptive son, and gave me his sister and his fortune. Please take the will.

It was in accordance with this law, citizens of Aegina, that Thrasylochus adopted me as his son, for I was his fellow-citizen and friend, in birth inferior to no one of the Siphnians, and had been reared and educated very much as he himself had been. I therefore do not see how he could have acted more consistently with the law, since the law insists that persons of the same status may be adopted. Please take also the law of Ceos,[*](The law of Ceos was valid also in Siphonos.) under which we were living.

If ,therefore, citizens of Aegina, my opponents were refusing to recognize the validity of these laws, but were able to produce in support of their case the law of their own country, their conduct would have been less astonishing. But the truth is that their own law is in agreement with those already read. Please take this document.

What argument is left to them, therefore, since they themselves admit that Thrasylochus left the will and that they can cite no law in their favor, whereas all support my case—first, the law which is valid among you who are to adjudge the case, next, the law of Siphnos, the fatherland of the testator, and finally the law of the country of my opponents? And yet from what illegal act do you think these persons would abstain, inasmuch as they seek to persuade you that you should declare this will valid, although the laws read as you have heard and you have taken oath to cast your votes in conformity with them?

On the issue itself I consider that I have adduced sufficient proof; but that no one may think that my possession of the inheritance rests upon feeble grounds, or that this woman had been kindly in her behavior toward Thrasylochus and is being defrauded of his fortune, I wish also to discuss these matters. For I should be ashamed in behalf of the deceased unless you were all convinced that his actions were strictly in accordance, not only with the law, but also with justice.

And I believe that proof of this is easy. There was, in truth, this great difference between us—that this woman, who bases her contention on the ground of relationship, never ceased to be at variance with the testator and evilly-disposed toward him and toward Sopolis and their mother, whereas I shall be shown to have been the most deserving of all his friends, not only in my relations with Thrasylochus and his brother, but also with regard to the estate in controversy.

It would be a long story to tell of the events of long ago; but when Pasinus[*](An unknown person.) took Paros, it chanced that my friends had the greatest part of their fortune deposited as a pledge with my guest-friends there; for we thought that this island was by far the safest. When they were at their wits' end and believed that their property was lost, I sailed thither by night and got their money out at risk of my life;