Demosthenes, On the False Embassy, Charles Anthony Vince (Translator), James Herbert Vince (Translator), 70

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[70] To show you that this man is already accursed by you, and that religion and piety forbid you to acquit one who has been guilty of such falsehoods,—recite the curse.¹ Take and read it from the statute: here it is.

(The Statutory Commination is read)

This imprecation, men of Athens , is pronounced, as the law directs, by the marshal on your behalf at every meeting of the Assembly, and again before the Council at all their sessions. The defendant cannot say that he is not familiar with it, for, when acting as clerk to the Assembly and as an officer of the Council, he used to dictate the statute to the marshal.

On the False Embassy. Demosthenes. Charles Anthony Vince (Translator), James Herbert Vince (Translator). London. 1926.

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Current edition Perseus

On the Embassy (English) (Demosthenes, Vol. II: De Corona, De Falsa Legatione, XVIII, XIX. Vince, C. A. and Vince, J. H., translators. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1926 (1939 reprint).)

Editions (1)

περὶ τῆς παραπρεσβείας Perseus (Demosthenes. Orationes, Vol. I. Butcher, S. H., editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1903.) — 70 focus

[70] ἵνα τοίνυν εἰδῆθʼ ὅτι καὶ κατάρατός ἐστιν ὑφʼ ὑμῶν, καὶ οὐδʼ ὅσιον ὑμῖν οὐδʼ εὐσεβές ἐστι τοιαῦτʼ ἐψευσμένον αὐτὸν ἀφεῖναι, λέγε τὴν ἀρὰν καὶ ἀνάγνωθι λαβὼν τὴν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου ταυτηνί.

ΑΡΑ.

ταῦθʼ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, καθʼ ἑκάστην τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ὁ κῆρυξ εὔχεται νόμῳ προστεταγμένα, καὶ ὅταν ἡ βουλὴ καθῆται, παρʼ ἐκείνῃ πάλιν. καὶ ταῦτʼ οὐκ ἔνεστιν εἰπεῖν τούτῳ ὡς οὐκ εὖ ᾔδει· ὑπογραμματεύων γὰρ ὑμῖν καὶ ὑπηρετῶν τῇ βουλῇ αὐτὸς ἐξηγεῖτο τὸν νόμον τοῦτον τῷ κήρυκι.

Notes on the current edition

On the False Embassy

1. Every meeting of the Assembly and of the Council opened with a form of prayer, which included a curse on the enemies of the state and was recited by the marshal ( κῆρυξ) at the dictation of an under-clerk. The curse has nowhere been preserved, but a parody will be found in Aristoph. Thes. 331 ff.

Demosthenes On the False Embassy 70

Charles Anthony Vince (Translator), James Herbert Vince (Translator)

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(The Statutory Commination is read)

Current edition Perseus

ΑΡΑ.

Notes on the current edition

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