Against Phaenippus

I invoke many blessings, men of the jury, first upon all of you, and then also upon Solon, who established the law about the exchange of estates. For if he had not clearly defined for us what is the first thing to be done by those who have offered an exchange, and what the second, and so on in due order, I do not know to what lengths the audacity of this man Phaenippus would have gone, when even as it is, notwithstanding that the law prescribes all these things for us, he has nevertheless disregarded its just provisions, and instead of giving me the inventory of his property as the law prescribes within three days after he took the oath, or if he did not wish to do so then, giving it at least on the sixth day of the month Boedromion,[*](The month Boedromion corresponds to the latter half of September and the prior half of October.) which date was fixed upon at his request, and on which he promised to deliver the inventory, he did neither the one thing nor the other,

but, showing contempt both for me and for the law, he has delivered his inventory a month later, only two or three days before the case was brought into court, and all the rest of the time has kept himself out of sight; and instead of leaving untouched the seals which I had put upon the buildings, he went into the country, opened the buildings, and carried off the barley and other things, just as if the law had granted him the privilege of doing whatever he pleases, and not what is right.

For my part, men of the jury, I should be most happy to see myself enjoying the material prosperity which was mine before, and remaining in the group of the Three Hundred,[*](Each of the ten Athenian tribes reported a list of its wealthiest citizens to the number of 120. The resulting body of 1200 was divided into four groups of 300 each (for the division into symmories, see note on vol. 1. p. 10), and these groups, being made up of the richest citizens, naturally bore the heaviest burdens, and in times of crisis might be called upon to advance the entire amount of money required. See Boeckh, Publ. Econ., Book 6, chapter 13, and Gilbert, Gk. Const. Ant. pp. 368-374 (English Trans.).) but since, partly through having to share in the misfortunes common to all those who are engaged in mining works, and partly through having met heavy reverses in my private business, I have lost my estate, and now at the last must pay three talents to the state, a talent for each share (for I too was a partner, as I wish I had not been, in the confiscated mine),[*](The mine had apparently been taken over by the state because of non-payment of the rental, and to recover possession the lessees had to make the payment specified. On the general subject of the mining business in ancient Athens see Dem. 37 with the Introduction and notes.) I am compelled to try to substitute in my place a man who is not only richer than I am now, but was richer even before my losses, and who has never borne any state services, nor made any contribution to the state.

I therefore beg of you all, men of the jury, that, if I prove that Phaenippus here has both transgressed the just provisions of the law and is a richer man than myself, you will succor me, and appoint him in the list of the Three Hundred in my stead; for it is on this account that the laws every year provide for the tendering of exchanges, because to enjoy unbroken prosperity is not wont to be the permanent fortune of any large number of our citizens. But I will tell you all that has been done regarding the exchange from the very beginning.

On the second day of the month Metageitnion,[*](The month Metageitnion corresponds to the latter half of August and the prior half of September.) men of the jury, the generals appointed a court for the Three Hundred for the tendering of exchanges. Among these I cited this man Phaenippus as the law provides. After citing him, I took some of my friends and relatives, and proceeded to his outlying farm at Cytherus.[*](Cytherus was a deme of the tribe Pandionis.) And first I led them around the farm, the circuit of which was more than forty stades,[*](The stade was roughly a furlong.) and pointed out to them, and called them to witness in the presence of Phaenippus, that there were no mortgage-pillars[*](Inscribed pillars were set up to indicate that a piece of property was mortgaged. See Dem. 31 passim.) on the farm, and I bade Phaenippus, if he said there were, to declare it at once and point them out to me, for fear some debt existing against the property might be brought to light later on.

Then I sealed the buildings, and bade Phaenippus to proceed to my property. After this I asked him where his threshed grain was, for by the gods and goddesses, men of the jury, there were two threshing-floors there, each one of nearly a plethron in extent.[*](That is, in diameter. The speaker evidently expected to find large quantities of threshed grain, owing to the size of the threshing floors. The plethron was about 100 feet.) He answered me that some of the grain had been sold, and that some was stored within.

Finally, to make a long story short, I stationed men inside to keep watch, and by Zeus I gave strict orders to the ass-drivers and made them stop carrying off timber from the farm (for in addition to the rest of his property Phaenippus has also this very considerable source of revenue: six asses carry off wood the whole year through, and he receives more than twelve drachmae a day). I forbade the ass-drivers, as I said, to touch the wood, and after giving notice to Phaenippus to attend the sacrifice,[*](Evidently for the purpose of taking the oath.) as the law commands, I went back to the city.

First, now, I will produce for you the depositions substantiating what I have said, and then you shall hear the entire truth about the other aspects of the case. For you will find, men of the jury, that this fellow Phaenippus began from the very first day to act in utter disregard of right. I sealed the buildings, as the law permitted me; he opened them. And he acknowledges that he removed the seal, but does not acknowledge that he opened the door, as if men removed the seals for any other purpose than to open the doors.