On The Estate of Apollodorus

I shall prove to you, not only that Apollodorus was prevented from leaving his estate to his nearest relatives by the many injuries which he had sustained at their hands, but also that he legally adopted me, his nephew, after having received great benefits from my family. I beg you all, gentlemen, to accord me your goodwill, and, if I can prove that my opponents are laying impudent claim to the estate, to help me to obtain my just rights. I will speak as briefly as I can, relating to you all that has happened from the beginning.

Eupolis, Thrasyllus, and Mneson were brothers, children of the same father and mother. Their father left them a large property, so that each of them was considered able to perform public offices in the city. This fortune the three brothers divided amongst themselves. Two of them died about the same time, Mneson here in Athens, unmarried and without issue, Thrasyllus in Sicily,[*](During the Sicilian expedition of 415-413 B.C.) having been chosen as one of the trierarchs, leaving a son Apollodorus, who afterwards adopted me.

Eupolis, the sole survivor of the three brothers, was not content to enjoy only a part of the family fortune, but seized for himself the whole of Mneson's estate, half of which belonged to Apollodorus, alleging that his brother had given it to him, and, as guardian, so administered the affairs of Apollodorus that he was condemned to restore three talents to him.

For my grandfather Archedamus, from the time that he married Apollodorus's mother, my grandmother, seeing that he was deprived of all his fortune, took him to his own house and to his mother and brought him up while he was a boy, and, when he came to man's estate, assisted him to bring an action and secured the restitution of the half-share of the estate left by Mneson and all that Eupolis embezzled in his capacity as guardian, winning two law-suits, and so enabled Apollodorus to recover all his fortune.

As a result Eupolis and Apollodorus were always at enmity with one another, while my grandfather and Apollodorus were naturally close friends. The acts of Apollodorus supply the best evidence that he has received kind treatment for which he thought fit to make return to his benefactors. For, when my grandfather met with misfortune and was taken a prisoner of war, Apollodorus consented to contribute money for his ransom and act as a hostage for him until he could raise the necessary sum of money.

When Archedamus had been reduced from affluence to embarrassment, Apollodorus helped him to look after his affairs, sharing his own money with him. Again, when he was on the point of starting for Corinth on military service,[*](Athenian troops were engaged in the region of Corinth from 394 to 390 B.C.) he made a will in case anything happened to him and devised his property to Archedamus's daughter, his own sister and my mother, providing for her marriage with Lacratides, who has now become hierophant.[*](The official who displayed the sacred emblems at the Eleusinian mysteries; he was a member of the house of the Eumolpidae.) Such was his conduct towards us who had originally saved him from ruin.