Against Macartatus

Since we have had suits before now, men of the jury, against these same men regarding the estate of Hagnias, and they do not cease from their lawless and violent conduct, endeavoring by hook or crook to keep what does not belong to them, it is perhaps necessary to set forth all that has been done from the beginning;

for you, men of the jury, will thus more easily follow the course of the whole argument, and these men will be exhibited in their true character, and you will see that they began long ago and still continue to play their tricks, and to think that they may do whatever occurs to them. We therefore beg of you, men of the jury, to listen to our arguments with goodwill, and to follow with close attention. And I, on my part, will endeavor to give you the clearest information I can concerning the facts.

The mother of this boy, men of the jury, being the nearest of kin to Hagnias of Oeon,[*](There were two demes bearing the name Oeon, one belonging to the tribe Leontis, the other to the tribe Hippothontis.) had the estate of Hagnias adjudged to her according to your laws; and of those who then made counter-claims to this estate not one ventured to swear that he was nearer of kin than the lady (for it was admitted by all that the inheritance belonged to her by virtue of nearest kinship),

but Glaucus of Oeon and Glaucon his brother presented themselves, having concocted a spurious will, and Theopompus, the father of Macartatus here, joined with them in getting up this whole scheme, and was their witness in most of the depositions that were put in. The will which they then produced was proved to be spurious, and they not only lost their case, but went out of court completely disgraced.

And Theopompus, the father of Macartatus here, although he was in town when the herald asked by proclamation whether anyone wished to lay claim to the estate of Hagnias by virtue of kinship or under a will, or to deposit security for the costs of such claim, yet did not venture to make a deposit, but by his own act gave judgement against himself that he had no conceivable claim on the estate of Hagnias.

But, although the mother of this boy here became possessed of the inheritance, since she had prevailed in the suit over all those who disputed her claim, these men are abominable, as you see, and imagine that they need obey neither your laws nor the decisions of your courts, but they are trying by fair means or foul once more to take away from the lady the inheritance which you awarded to her.

A conspiracy was formed, and a written agreement entered into, and deposited with Medeius of Hagnus,[*](Hagnus was a deme of the tribe Acamantis.) by Theopompus, the father of Macartatus here, and by Glaucon and the Glaucus who was worsted in the former suit; and they added to themselves as a fourth another of their friends (Eupolemus was his name). All these men, having in common formed their plot, cited the lady before the archon for the adjudication of claims to the estate of Hagnias, declaring that the law prescribed that if anyone wished to enter a claim, citation should be made of the one to whom the estate had been adjudged and who had it in his possession.

And when the archon brought the case into court, and the trial was to be held, they had everything cleverly arranged for the trial, and in particular the water which was to measure their speeches was four times as much as that allowed to us. For the archon, men of the jury, was obliged to pour into the water-clock an amphora[*](The amphora contained about nine gallons.) of water for each claimant, and three choes[*](The chous contained about 1/12 of an amphora.) for the reply;

so that I, who acted as pleader for the lady, was not only unable to explain to the jurymen the relationship and other matters as clearly as I could have wished, but could not even defend myself against the smallest fraction of the lies which they told about us; for I had but a fifth part of the water. Their scheme was this: to tell a wholly false story about us, but to back one another up and agree in everything.

So, since they had formed their plot in this way, and each backed up the other’s charges against us, when the four ballot-boxes[*](One ballot-box, that is, for each contestant. There were five in all, but the two brothers, Glaucus and Glaucon, were apparently counted as one, since their title was the same. This problem is discussed by Wyse in his introduction to Isaeus Hag..) were set out according to law, the jurymen, naturally enough, as I think, were deceived and could not agree with one another, and being led astray by this trick, they voted each as chance determined. And there were a very few more votes—some three or four—in the box of Theopompus than in that of the lady.

This, then, was what took place at that time. But when this boy was born, and it seemed a fitting time, I, being in no way incensed at what had happened, but considering that the former jurymen had met with a very natural experience, introduced this boy here to the clansmen of Hagnias in the interest of Eubulides, seeing that the boy was the son of his daughter, in order that the family might not become extinct.

For the elder Eubulides, men of the jury, who was next of kin to Hagnias, prayed to the gods above all else that a son might be born to him as a daughter had been, the mother of this boy; but since he failed of this hope and not a single male child was born to him, his next dearest wish was that a son of his daughter should be adopted into his own family and that of Hagnias and should be introduced to the members of his clan; for he thought, men of the jury, that of his surviving relatives this boy was nearest to him, and that in this way their house would best be preserved and kept from extinction.

And I was the one to render him this service, since I was husband to the daughter of Eubulides, she having been adjudged to me as being the nearest of kin, and I introduced this boy to the clansmen of Hagnias and Eubulides, to which fellowship Theopompus, the father of Macartatus here, belonged during his lifetime, and to which Macartatus now belongs.

And the fellow-clansmen of Macartatus here, who knew better than any others the pedigree of the family, seeing that he himself did not choose to risk a contest and did not remove the victim from the altar, as he should have done had the introduction of this boy not been legitimate, but demanded that they commit perjury,6 took the ballot while the victims were still burning, and carried it from the altar of Zeus Phatrius[*](So named, as god of the clan (phratry)—which was a religious institution.) in the presence of the defendant Macartatus, and gave a just verdict, men of the jury—that this boy was duly and rightfully introduced as the adopted son of Eubulides into the family of Hagnias.

But when the fellow-clansmen of the defendant Macartatus had passed this vote, this boy, as the son of Eubulides, cited the defendant Macartatus for an adjudication of claims for the estate of Hagnias, and had a day appointed by the archon for the hearing, inscribing his brother’s name as his guardian; for it was no longer open to me, men of the jury, to stand inscribed as guardian, since I had got the boy adopted into the family of Eubulides. And the citation was made by this boy according to the same laws in accordance with which these men had cited his mother, who had won the former suit in court, and was in possession of the estate of Hagnias.

(To the clerk.) Please read the law which ordains that citation shall be made of the person possessing the inheritance.

The Law

If any person shall claim the inheritance or the heiress after adjudication has been made, let him cite before the archon the person who has obtained the adjudication just as in other suits, and a deposit to cover costs shall be made by the claimant. And if he wins an adjudication without citation, the adjudication of the estate shall be of no effect. And if the person who has had the estate adjudged to him be not living, let the claimant cite in like manner the successor, provided that the period covered by the statute of limitations has not expired.[*](This period was five years.) And the claim upon the possessor shall be that he shall show on what terms the person whose property he holds had it adjudged to him.

You have heard the law, and it is a reasonable request I make of you, men of the jury. If I shall prove to you that this boy Eubulides here and Phylomachê, who is the mother of the boy and the daughter of Eubulides, are nearer of kin to Hagnias than Theopompus, the father of Macartatus, and not only that they are nearest of kin, but that there is absolutely no human being belonging to the house of Hagnias except the mother of this boy and the boy himself,—if I shall prove this, I beg of you, men of the jury, to give your aid to us.

At the first, men of the jury, it was my intention to write on a board all the kinsfolk of Hagnias, and thus to exhibit them to you one by one; but when I saw plainly that not all the jurymen would have an equally good view, but that those sitting at a distance would be at a disadvantage, it is perhaps necessary to instruct you by word of mouth, for thus all will be on the same footing. I, on my part, will endeavor to the best of my ability to inform you regarding the family of Hagnias in the fewest words possible.

Buselus, men of the jury, was a member of the deme Oeon, and to him were born five sons, Hagnias and Eubulides and Stratius and Habron and Cleocritus. And all these sons of Buselus grew up to manhood, and their father Buselus divided his property among them all fairly and equitably, as was fitting. And when they had divided the property among themselves, each of them married a wife according to your laws, and sons and grandsons were born to them all, and there sprang up five households from the single one of Buselus; and they dwelt apart, each one having his own home and begetting his descendants.

Now with regard to three of the brothers, sons of Buselus, and the descendants born to them, why should I trouble you, men of the jury, or myself by going into particulars about each one? For although they are in the same degree of relationship as Theopompus, and are as near of kin to Hagnias, whose estate is in question, not one of them has ever troubled us either at an earlier time or now, nor has made any claim to the estate of Hagnias or to the woman who is the heiress, who was assigned in marriage to me; for they considered that they had no claim whatever to anything belonging to Hagnias.