On the Estate of Astyphilus

Furthermore, gentlemen, if Astyphilus wished that no one should know that he was adopting Cleon's son or that he had left a will, no one else's name ought to have been inscribed in the document as witness; but if it appears that he made a will in the presence of witnesses, and those witnesses were not taken from among those who were most intimate with him but were chance persons, is there any probability that the will is genuine?

For my part I cannot believe that anyone, when he was adopting a son, would have ventured to summon as witnesses any other persons except those with whom he was about to leave that son, to take his own place as an associate for the future in their religious and civic acts. Moreover, no one ought to be ashamed of summoning the largest possible number of witnesses to the execution of such a will, when there is a law which permits a man to bequeath his property to whomsoever he wishes.