Demosthenes, Against Leptines, James Herbert Vince (Translator), 131

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[131] Again,¹ perhaps they will say in their haphazard² style that some citizens, by claiming to be Megarians and Messenians,³ at once gain immunity, whole crowds at a time, to say nothing of slaves and jailbirds like Lycidas and Dionysius; such are the examples they select. When they hold such language, deal with them thus. Tell them, if they are speaking the truth, to produce the decrees which contain these men’s immunity; for no one in your city enjoys immunity unless granted by some decree or law.

Against Leptines. Demosthenes. James Herbert Vince (Translator). London. 1930.

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Current edition Perseus

Against Leptines (English) (Demosthenes. Vol. I. Olynthiacs, Philippics, Minor Public Speeches, Speech Against Leptines, I-XVII, XX. Vince, J. H., translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1930 (printing).)

Editions (1)

περὶ τῆς Ἀτελείας πρὸς Λεπτίνην Perseus (Demosthenes. Orationes, Vol. II, Part 1. Butcher, S. H., editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.) — 131 focus

[131] ἔτι τοίνυν ἴσως ἐπισύροντες ἐροῦσιν ὡς Μεγαρεῖς καὶ Μεσσήνιοί τινες εἶναι φάσκοντες, ἔπειτʼ ἀτελεῖς εἰσιν, ἁθρόοι παμπληθεῖς ἄνθρωποι, καί τινες ἄλλοι δοῦλοι καὶ μαστιγίαι, Λυκίδας καὶ Διονύσιος, καὶ τοιούτους τινὰς ἐξειλεγμένοι. ὑπὲρ δὴ τούτων ὡδὶ ποιήσαθʼ ὅταν ταῦτα λέγωσι· κελεύετʼ, εἴπερ ἀληθῆ λέγουσι πρὸς ὑμᾶς, τὰ ψηφίσματʼ ἐν οἷς ἀτελεῖς εἰσιν οὗτοι δεῖξαι. οὐ γάρ ἐστʼ οὐδεὶς ἀτελὴς παρʼ ὑμῖν ὅτῳ μὴ ψήφισμʼ ἢ νόμος δέδωκε τὴν ἀτέλειαν.

Notes on the current edition

Against Leptines

1. They assert that many aliens have received immunity; he challenges them to produce the decrees conferring it. He admits that many undeserving aliens have been made proxenoi (in the honorary sense explained in note on Dem. 20.60 ), but this distinction does not confer immunity.

2. Literally, trailing the robe; hence slovenly, slipshod.

3. There is no record of any general exemption granted to these two peoples. If Weil ’s conjecture is right, translate certain M. and M., by claiming to be Friends of the State.

Demosthenes Against Leptines 131

James Herbert Vince (Translator)

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