Against Aphobus I

Furthermore, men of the jury, I shall prove to you from the account which they render, and from the receipts admitted by themselves, that these three men have in their possession more than eight talents of my money, and that of this amount Aphobus has separately taken three talents and one thousand drachmae. I shall set down separately at a higher figure than they do themselves the moneys they have expended, and shall deduct all the sums they have paid me, that you may see the utter shamelessness of their attempts.

They confess to have received from my estate, Aphobus one hundred and eight minae (besides what I shall now show to be in his hands); Therippides two talents; and Demophon eighty-seven minae. This makes altogether five talents and fifteen minae. Of this sum there are nearly seventy-seven minae, the income from the slaves, which were not received all at once, and a little less than four talents of which they got possession immediately. Now, if you add to this last sum the interest for ten years, reckoned at a drachma only[*](That is, at 12 percent, as above. Demosthenes is liberal indeed in his allowances. The entire sum of seventy-seven minae is crossed off as balanced by expenditures; the interest on four talents for ten years is set down as four talents forty minae, instead of four talents forty-eight minae, so that the total amount becomes eight talents and forty minae. From this there are deducted the moneys paid to him (thirty-one minae) and those paid in taxes (set down as thirty minae, instead of eighteen) and the balance (roughly, eight talents less one talent), is reckoned as seven talents.) you will find that the whole, principal and interest, amounts to eight talents and four thousand drachmae.

From the seventy-seven minae, the profits of the factory, the cost of maintenance of the men must be deducted, for Therippides expended for this seven minae a year, and I admit having received thus much. Thus they expended on our behalf in the ten years seventy minae for maintenance; to this I add the balance, seven hundred drachmae, and thus credit them with a larger expenditure than they do themselves. There must also be deducted from the eight talents and more the sum they handed over to me when I came of age, and the taxes which they have paid to the state.