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Read about the evidence
Pausanias (Paus.).
Demosthenes (Dem. 15).
Dinarchus (Din. 2).
Demosthenes (Dem. 26).
Dinarchus (Din. 2).
Demosthenes (Dem. 25).
Demosthenes (Dem. 25).
Demosthenes (Dem. 26).
Dinarchus (Din. 2).
Demosthenes (Dem. 25).
Demosthenes (Dem. 26).
Dinarchus (Din. 2).
Demosthenes (Dem. 25).
Demosthenes (Dem. 25).
Demosthenes (Dem. 25).
Demosthenes (Dem. 26).
 
Plot on a Map
Athens.

(1) After seeing Hierocles carrying sacred garments on which there were letters stitched in gold to denote those who had dedicated them as an offering, Pythangelus and Scaphon accused him before the prytaneis of being a temple-robber, and on the next day the prytaneis took him before the Assembly. Hierocles said that he had been sent by the priestess to get the garments and was supposed to bring them to the Shrine of the Huntress.²⁴ (2) Then Aristogeiton proposed a decree that was not submitted to the Council in advance and was quite dreadful, for it ordered Hierocles to be put to death immediately, if he admitted that he stole the garments, but if he denied it, for the case to go to trial. As a result of which, if he had admitted the truth, he would have been put to death immediately, but if he had denied it, he would have been killed anyway, only a short time later. (3) Phanostratus, father of the endangered Hierocles, indicted this decree for illegality with Demosthenes as his co-plaintiff, and won the case. And the court fined Aristogeiton five talents. (4) This is the first debt that Aristogeiton owes.²⁵ Then, when he indicted Hegemon, lost the case, and failed to get one-fifth of the votes, he was fined one thousand drachmae.²⁶ When he did not pay up within the allotted time, the fines were doubled in accordance with the law and then totaled ten talents, two thousand drachmae.²⁷ (5) To generate this money he signed over a farm of his to the treasury, and his brother Eunomus bought it; Eunomus asked for a payment plan for the fine so as to pay the balance over a period of ten years, each year putting up the portion due.²⁸ He has already paid two installments (two talents, four hundred drachmae) but he still owes the rest (eight talents, sixteen hundred drachmae).²⁹ (6) So then, because he thought that he had the right to speak in the Assembly and was no longer a debtor, as he had supplied the city with a creditor to take his place, he was both indicting a lot of men and making public speeches, although the laws disfranchise public debtors until they have paid their debts in full. So Lycurgus’ group lodged an information against him on the grounds that he was not allowed to speak. (7) Then, because Aristogeiton’s name has not been removed from the register on the Acropolis, an investigation is launched at the instance of the creditor (the man who bought the farm) to decide whether the man who purchased the farm is the sole debtor, or whether the original debtor is also liable until the debt has been paid in full. (8) This inquiry is in fact organized around two debts, but the plaintiffs say that Aristogeiton also owes a third debt to the treasury. In response to this, Aristogeiton makes his stand, arguing that the third debt had been registered unjustly and that he therefore had sued Ariston, the one who registered it. (9) Demosthenes and Lycurgus say nothing about whether the registration was just or not, but say only: “When he gets a conviction against Ariston, then Aristogeiton’s name will be removed from the register, and Ariston will be registered in accordance with the law. But before the matter comes to trial, it is not appropriate for Aristogeiton to speak—this man who may in fact have been registered justly and could be falsely accusing Ariston.”³⁰ (10) These are the main matters under investigation, but Lycurgus has already dealt with them because he spoke first. Demosthenes’ speech was very short because these things had already been covered, and his entire speech consists of a denunciation of Aristogeiton’s life. (11) Dionysius of Halicarnassus does not accept these speeches as being by Demosthenes; he adduces their style as evidence.³¹ Some say that the orator purposely used this sort of stylistic character in imitation of Lycurgus, who at that time was highly esteemed at Athens; but others say that, since Lycurgus waited until this point in his life to speak first and so used all the main points himself, Demosthenes was forced to follow up more philosophically and in a highly periodic style. (12) Still others accept the first speech as being by Demosthenes, but believe that the second one is completely unworthy of the orator.³²

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— Notes —

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