Against Macartatus

It seems to me therefore that it would be entirely superfluous to say anything about them save only what I cannot help mentioning. Of Theopompus, however, the father of Macartatus, and of Macartatus the defendant himself, it is necessary for me to speak. Yet the story, men of the jury, is a short one. As you have just heard, Buselus had five sons. One of these was Stratius, the ancestor of Macartatus, and another was Hagnias, the ancestor of this boy.

To Hagnias was born a son, Polemon, and a daughter, Phylomachê, sister of Polemon by the same father and the same mother; and to Stratius, the brother of Hagnias, there were born Phanostratus and Charidemus, the grandfather of the defendant Macartatus. Now I ask you, men of the jury, which is nearer of kin and more closely related to Hagnias, his son Polemon and his daughter Phylomachê, or Charidemus, the son of Stratius, and nephew of Hagnias? For my part I think that to every one of us his son and daughter are more nearly related than his nephew; and not only with us does this hold good, but also among all other people whether Greeks or barbarians.

Since, then, this is admitted, you will now easily follow the rest of the argument men of the jury, and you will see how arbitrary and how reckless these men are.

To Polemon, son of Hagnias, was born a son, Hagnias, having the name of his grandfather Hagnias, and this second Hagnias died without issue.

But from Phylomachê, the sister of Polemon, and Philagrus, to whom her brother Polemon had given her in marriage, he being his first cousin (for Philagrus was the son of Eubulides, the brother of Hagnias)—from Philagrus, I say, the cousin of Polemon, and Phylomachê the sister of Polemon, there was born Eubulides the father of this boy’s mother. These sons, then, were born to Polemon and to Polemon’s sister Phylomachê. But to Charidemus, the son of Stratius, there was born a son Theopompus, the father of the defendant Macartatus.

Again, then, I ask you, men of the jury, which is nearer of kin and more closely related to the first Hagnias, Hagnias, the son of Polemon, and Eubulides, the son of Phylomachê and Philagrus, or Theopompus, the son of Charidemus and grandson of Stratius? I am of the opinion, men of the jury, that if the son and the daughter are the nearest of kin, so, too, the son’s son and the daughter’s son are more nearly related than the son of a nephew and one who is a member of another branch of the family.

Well, to Theopompus was born a son, Macartatus, the defendant, and to Eubulides, the son of Phylomachê, and cousin of Hagnias on his father’s side; this boy, who is to Hagnias the son of a first cousin on the father’s side; since Phylomachê, the mother of Eubulides and Polemon, the father of Hagnias, were brother and sister, born of the same father and the same mother. But to Macartatus here, the son of Theopompus, there has been no issue which is both in the family of Hagnias and in that of Stratius.

Such being the facts, this boy here has one of the titles mentioned in the law, and up to which the law ordains that the right of succession should extend; for he is the child of the first cousin of Hagnias, since his father Eubulides was cousin to Hagnias, whose inheritance is in question. Theopompus, on the contrary, the father of the defendant Macartatus, could not have appropriated to himself any one of the titles mentioned in the law, for he belonged to another branch of the family, that of Stratius.

But it is not fitting, men of the jury, that any man whatsoever should possess the estate of Hagnias, one who belongs to another branch, so long as there is left any one of those born of the branch of Hagnias; no, nor is it right to expel such person by violence, as these men are trying to do, while they are themselves more distantly related, and not of the same branch of the family. For this, men of the jury, is the point upon which Theopompus, the father of the defendant Macartatus, misled the jury.

Who, then, are those still surviving in the branch of Hagnias? Phylomachê, my wife, who is the daughter of Eubulides, the cousin of Hagnias, and this boy, who has been adopted into the family of Eubulides and Hagnias. Theopompus, however, the father of the defendant Macartatus, not being himself of the branch of Hagnias, told the jurymen a monstrous lie regarding Phylomachê, the sister of Polemon and the aunt of Hagnias, alleging that she was not the sister of Polemon, the son of Hagnias, by the same father and mother, and another in pretending that he himself was of the same family as Hagnias, whereas he had never belonged to it.

All these assertions Theopompus made fearlessly, not producing any witness who would have been responsible to us, but having only his associates to corroborate what he said; for they were leagued with one another and did everything in concert, in order to rob the lady, the mother of this boy here, of the inheritance which you by your votes had decided to be hers.

I wish now, men of the jury, to produce witnesses in support of the statements which I have made to you—first, to prove that Phylomachê, the daughter of Eubulides, won judgement for the estate of Hagnias as being the nearest of kin, and then to establish the rest of the facts.

(To the clerk.) Read the deposition.

The Deposition

The deponents state that they were present before the arbitrator in the archonship of Nicophemus,[*](That is, in B.C. 361-360.) when Phylomachê, the daughter of Eubulides, won judgement for the estate of Hagnias against all who disputed her title.

That Phylomachê, the daughter of Eubulides, won judgement for the estate of Hagnias, you have heard, men of the jury. And she won it, not by wrongful trickery or conspiracy, but in the fairest manner possible, since we proved that she was nearest of kin to Hagnias, whose estate is in question, being the daughter of his cousin on his father’s side, and being of the same branch as Hagnias.

When, therefore, Macartatus says that his father Theopompus won judgement for this estate, make answer to him on your part, men of the jury, that the lady also won judgement before Theopompus, the defendant’s father, and that the lady won her case fairly, since she was of the same branch as Hagnias, being the daughter of Eubulides, the cousin of Hagnias, but that Theopompus did not win the suit, but prevailed by trickery, being himself in no sense whatever of the branch of Hagnias.

Make this reply to him yourselves, men of the jury, and also state that against this boy Eubulides, son of Eubulides, son of the first cousin on his father’s side of Hagnias, whose estate is in question, neither Theopompus, the father of Macartatus, nor any other man ever at any time won a judgement. At the present time the contest and the trial to adjudge the estate of Hagnias are between this son of Eubulides and the defendant Macartatus, the son of Theopompus; and whichever of these two shall in your judgement speak most in harmony with justice and the laws, to him, it is plain, you jurymen will give your votes.

(To the clerk.) Read the remaining depositions; first, those proving that Phylomachê, the aunt of Hagnias, was sister by the same father and the same mother to Polemon, the father of Hagnias; after that he shall read all the other depositions which have to do with the pedigree.

The Depositions

The deponents testify that they are fellow-demesmen of Philagrus, the father of Eubulides, and Polemon, the father of Hagnias, and that they know that Phylomachê, the mother of Eubulides, was considered to be the sister of Polemon, the father of Hagnias, by the same father and the same mother, and that they never heard from anyone that Polemon, the son of Hagnias, had a brother.

Another

The deponents testify that Oenanthê, the mother of their grandfather Stratonides, was first cousin to Polemon, the father of Hagnias, their fathers having been brothers, and that they heard from their own father that Polemon, the father of Hagnias, never had any brother, but had a sister, born of the same father and the same mother, namely Phylomachê, the mother of Eubulides, the father of Phylomachê, wife of Sositheus.

Another

The deponent testifies that he is a relative and fellow-clansman and fellow-demesman of Hagnias and Eubulides, and that he heard from his own father and other relatives that Polemon, the father of Hagnias, never had any brother, but had a sister, born of the same father and the same mother, namely Phylomachê, the mother of Eubulides, the father of Phylomachê, wife of Sositheus.

Another

The deponent testifies that Archimachus was his grandfather and adopted him as his son, and that he was a relative of Polemon, the father of Hagnias, and that he heard from Archimachus and his other relatives that Polemon, the father of Hagnias, never had any brother, but had a sister, born of the same father and the same mother, namely Phylomachê, the mother of Eubulides, the father of Phylomachê, wife of Sositheus.

Another

The deponent testifies that his wife’s father Callistratus was first cousin to Polemon, the father of Hagnias, and to Charidemus, the father of Theopompus, their fathers having been brothers, and that his mother was daughter of a first cousin to Polemon, and that their mother often said to them that Phylomachê, the mother of Eubulides, was sister of Polemon, the father of Hagnias, born of the same father and the same mother, and that Polemon, the father of Hagnias, never had any brother.

In the former trial, men of the jury, when these men formed their conspiracy with one another and acted in concert, the whole group of them, in their contest against the lady, we, on our part, men of the jury, neither prepared depositions regarding facts that were admitted, nor summoned witnesses, but thought that in these matters at least we were perfectly safe; whereas our opponents had equipped themselves with all manner of shameless artifices for the trial, and had their minds set upon this thing alone—to deceive the jurymen for the moment.

They had the audacity to assert that Polemon, the father of Hagnias, had no sister at all born of the same father and the same mother; so abominably impudent were they, seeking to mislead the jurymen in a matter of such importance and so well-known, and they spent all their efforts and strove beyond all else to establish this. We have, however, on this present occasion produced this host of witnesses regarding the sister of Polemon and aunt of Hagnias.

On the defendant’s side let whoever will give evidence either that Polemon and Phylomachê were not brother and sister, born of the same father and the same mother, or that Polemon was not the son, and Phylomachê not the daughter, of Hagnias, the son of Buselus; or that Polemon was not the father of Hagnias, whose estate is in question, and Phylomachê, the sister of Polemon, not his aunt;