Demosthenes, Against Leptines, James Herbert Vince (Translator), 146

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

← Previous Next →

[146] There are advocates appointed to defend the law, and very able speakers they are; Leodamas of Acharnae, Aristophon of Hazenia, Cephisodotus of Ceramicus, and Dinias of Herchia.¹ Let me tell you, then, how you may reasonably retort upon them, and do you consider whether the retort is fair.² Take Leodamas first. It was he who impeached the grant to Chabrias,³ which included among other things the gift of immunity, and when his case came before you, he lost it.

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

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.

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.) — 146 focus

[146] ᾕρηνται δὲ τῷ νόμῳ σύνδικοι καὶ μάλισθʼ οἱ δεινοὶ λέγειν ἄνδρες, Λεωδάμας Ἀχαρνεὺς καὶ Ἀριστοφῶν Ἁζηνιεὺς καὶ Κηφισόδοτος ἐκ Κεραμέων καὶ Δεινίας Ἑρχιεύς. ἃ δὴ πρὸς τούτους ὑπολαμβάνοιτʼ ἂν εἰκότως, ἀκούσατε, καὶ σκοπεῖτʼ ἂν ὑμῖν δίκαια φαίνηται. πρῶτον μὲν πρὸς Λεωδάμαντα. οὗτος ἐγράψατο τὴν Χαβρίου δωρειάν, ἐν ᾗ τοῦτʼ ἔνεστιν τὸ τῆς ἀτελείας τῶν ἐκείνῳ τι δοθέντων, καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰσελθὼν ἡττήθη·

Notes on the current edition

Against Leptines

1. These were the four advocates nominated by the people, with Leptines as a fifth, to defend the law. Aristophon, the best known, was the leading Athenian statesman before the rise of Eubulus. He was now nearly eighty years old, and could boast that he had been 75 times defendant in a γραφὴ παρανόμων and had always acquitted.

2. Demosthenes suggests that the personal record of the advocates should lead the jury to reject their arguments.

3. See Dem. 20.77 .

Demosthenes Against Leptines 146

James Herbert Vince (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers