On the Estate of Philoctemon

Argument

Philoctemon, a son of Euctemon, adopted Chaerestratus, the son of one of his two sisters and of Phanostratus, in a will which was deposited with Chaereas, the husband of the other sister, and died during his father's lifetime. When the latter also died, Chaerestratus claimed possession in accordance with the law. When Androcles lodged a protestation that the estate was not adjudicable because Euctemon had a legitimate son, namely, Antidorus,[*](This is a mistake. Antidorus was the name of one of the guardians (Isaeus 6.39, Isaeus 6.47). The names of the two alleged sons are not stated anywhere in the speech.) Chaerestratus and his supporters impugned the protestation, declaring that both Antidorus and his sister[*](Another mistake. No sister is mentioned in the speech.) were illegitimate and that the law ordains that an illegitimate son or daughter cannot inherit as next-of-kin. The discussion turns on questions of fact; for it is uncertain whether Philoctemon adopted Chaerestratus as his son, and further, whether Antidorus and the other child are legitimate.

That I am on terms of very close friendship with Phanostratus and with Chaerestratus here, I think most of you, gentlemen, are aware, but to those who are not aware of it I will give a convincing proof. When Chaerestratus[*](If the reading here is correct, Chaerestratus, who is still a young man at the date of this speech (Isaeus 6.60) and therefore cannot have taken part in the famous Sicilian expedition of 415-413 B.C., must have sailed to Sicily on some occasion of which we have no historical record. The emendation Φανόστρατος adopted by most editors, is precluded by the wordsδεομένων τούτων, which can only refer to Phanostratus and Chaerestratus; although Phanostratus might have taken part in the Sicilian Expedition, Chaerestratus could not have been then alive and therefore would not have requested the speaker to accompany his father to Sicily.) set sail for Sicily in command of a trireme, although, having sailed thither myself before, I knew well all the dangers which I should encounter, yet, at the request of these friends of mine, I sailed with him and shared his misfortune, and we were both made prisoners of war.

It would be strange if I endured all this in the face of evident danger because of my friendship and affection for them, and yet were not now to attempt so to plead their cause that you shall pass a sentence in accordance with your oath and that justice shall be done to my clients. I entreat you, therefore, to grant me indulgence and to listen to me with goodwill; for the suit is of no slight importance to them, but their most vital interests are at stake.

Philoctemon of Cephisia was a friend of Chaerestratus here, and died, having bequeathed to him his property and having adopted him as his son. Chaerestratus in accordance with the law[*](Being adopted posthumously he had to obtain a legal adjudication before he could take possession. This formality was not necessary for a son adopted in the lifetime of the testator.) claimed the estate. But, since it is lawful for any Athenian who wishes to do so to dispute an inheritance by bringing a direct action before you, and if he can establish a better claim, to obtain possession of the estate,

Androcles here put in a protestation declaring that the succession was not adjudicable, thus depriving my client of his right to claim the estate and you of your right to decide who ought to be declared heir to Philoctemon's property. He thus thinks by a single verdict and by a single suit to establish as brothers of the deceased men who have no sort of connection with him, to place himself in possession of the estate without further legal procedure, to, become legal representative of the sister of the deceased, and to annul the will.

Androcles has made a number of extraordinary allegations in his protestation; I will take one point first and prove that Philoctemon made a will and adopted Chaerestratus here as his son. Seeing that Philoctemon had no issue by the woman to whom he was married, and since, as it was war-time, he was running considerable risks, serving in the cavalry and often sailing as trierarch, he resolved to dispose of his property by will, so that he might not leave his house desolate if anything happened to him.

He had had two brothers, both of whom died without issue: of his two sisters one, who was the wife of Chaereas, had no son and had never had one, though she had been married for many years; the other, who was wife of Phanostratus here, had two sons. It was the elder of these, Chaerestratus here, whom Philoctemon adopted as his son.

Under the terms of his will, if he had no child by his wife, Chaerestratus inherited his estate. He deposited his will with Chaereas, his brother-in-law, the husband of his other sister. This will shall now be read to you, and those who were present at its execution shall give evidence. Please read it.

Will. Witnesses

You have now heard that Philoctemon made a will, and on what conditions he adopted Chaerestratus as his son. To prove that he had a right to do so, I will produce the text of the law which is in my opinion the best source of information in such matters. Please read it.

Law

This law, gentlemen, holds good for all men alike, permitting anyone to dispose of his property in default of male issue, providing that, at the time of doing so, he is not insane or mentally incapacitated by old age or any other of the causes mentioned in the law. That Philoctemon did not fall under any of these exceptions, I will prove to you in a few words. For how could anyone dare to say that a man was not in full possession of his faculties, who all his life showed himself so good a citizen, that, owing to your esteem for him, he was considered worthy to hold command, and who died fighting against the enemy?

That he made a will and adopted a son when he was in full possession of his faculties, as he was entitled to do, has been proved to you; it follows from this that Androcles has been proved to have committed perjury. But since he has further stated in his protestation that my opponent is a legitimate son of Euctemon, I will prove this also to be false. The real sons of Euctemon, the father of Philoctemon, namely, Philoctemon himself, Ergamenes, and Hegemon, and his two daughters and their mother, Euctemon's wife, the daughter of Meixiades of Cephisia, are well known to all their relatives and to the members of the ward and to most of the demesmen, and they shall testify to you;

but no one is aware or ever heard a word during Euctemon's lifetime of his having married any other wife who became mother by him of our opponents. Yet it is only natural that these should be most trustworthy witnesses; for relatives ought to know about such matters. Please call them first and read the depositions.

Depositions

Further, I will prove that our adversaries have actually given evidence in support of these facts. When the interrogations took place before the archon, and my opponents paid money into court in support of their claim that these young men were the legitimate sons of Euctemon, on being asked by us who, and whose daughter, their mother was, they could not supply the information, although we protested and the archon ordered them to reply in accordance with the law. It was surely a strange proceeding, gentlemen, to make a claim on their behalf as legitimate and to lodge a protestation, and yet not be able to state who was their mother or name any of their relatives.

At the time they alleged that she was a Lemnian and so secured a delay; subsequently, when they appeared at the interrogation, without giving time for anyone to ask a question, they immediately declared that the mother was Callippe and that she was the daughter of Pistoxenus, as though it was enough for them merely to produce the name of Pistoxenus. When we asked who he was and whether he was alive or not, they said that he had died on military service in Sicily, leaving a daughter, this Callippe, in the house of Euctemon, and that these two sons were born to her while she was under his guardianship, thus inventing a story surpassing the limits of impudence and quite untrue, as I will prove to you first of all from the answers which they themselves gave.

Fifty-two years have passed since the Sicilian expedition, reckoning from the date of its departure in the archonship of Arimnestus;[*](The Sicilian expedition set out in the summer of 415 B.C. (Thuc. 6.30). The date of this speech must therefore be 364 B.C.) yet the elder of these two alleged sons of Callippe and Euctemon has not yet passed his twentieth year. If these years are deducted, more than thirty years still remain since the Sicilian expedition; so that Callippe, if she were thirty years of age,[*](The speaker rather arbitrarily calculates the date of her marriage by the birth of her elder son.) ought to have been no longer under a guardian, nor unmarried and childless, but long ago married, given in marriage either by her guardian, according to the law, or else by an adjudication of the court.

Furthermore, she must necessarily have been known to the relatives and to the slaves of Euctemon if she had really been married to him and lived so long in the house. It is not enough merely to produce such statements at the interrogations, but it must be proved that the alleged events really took place and they must be supported by the testimony of the relatives.

When we insisted that they should indicate one of Euctemon's family who knew of anyone of the name of Callippe as having been either married to him or under his guardianship, and that they should make an inquiry from our slaves, or hand over to us for examination any of their slaves who said they had knowledge of these facts, they refused to take any of our slaves for examination or to hand over any of their own to us. Now please read their answer to the interrogation and our depositions and challenges.

Answer to Interrogation, Depositions, Challenges

My opponents, then, avoided a mode of proof so vital to their case; but I will show you the origin and position of these men whom my opponents testified to be legitimate and are seeking to establish as heirs of Euctemon's property. It is perhaps painful, gentlemen, to Phanostratus to bring to light the misfortunes of Euctemon; but it is essential that a few facts should be given, so that, knowing the truth, you may more easily give your verdict aright.

Euctemon lived for ninety-six years, and for most of this period had the reputation of being a fortunate man; he possessed considerable property and had children and a wife, and in all other respects enjoyed a reasonable degree of prosperity. In his old age, however, a serious misfortune befell him, which brought ruin to his house, caused him great financial loss, and set him at variance with his nearest relatives.

The cause and manner of it I will set forth in the fewest possible words. He had a freed-woman, gentlemen, who managed a tenement-house of his at the Peiraeus and kept prostitutes. As one of these she acquired a woman of the name of Alce, whom I think many of you know. This Alce, after her purchase, lived the life of a prostitute[*](καθήστο ἐν οἰκήματι = in cella meretricia sedebat, a technical term that refers to the activities of a working prostitute (see Wyse ad loc. in The Speeches of Isaeus, Cambridge, 1904).) for many years but gave it up when she became too old.