Notes on the current edition
On the murder of Herodes
1.
Weil’s emendation is certain. Herodes and Euxitheus took shelter for the night on a boat bound for
. After the storm was over, the passengers returned to their own vessel.
2.
τὸ αἷμα(cf.
τῶν προβάτων), because it had already been mentioned in the preceding evidence. Similarly with
τοὺς ἀνθρώπους(infr); they had been referred to in the speech for the presecution.
3.
The references in the course of the speech to the two witnesses for the prosecution are confusing. The relevant passages are 29, 42, 49, and 52. From 49 it is clear that one was a slave and the other a free man, although he cannot have been a Greek, as he was subjected to torture by the prosecution (ibid). 29 suggests that the two were members of the crew of the homeward bound vessel on which Euxitheus and Herodes sheltered form the rain, and that after the storm they continued their voyage to
, where the relatives of Herodes immediately came aboard and took them into custody. This is supported by 52, which implies that Euxitheus parted from the men after the storm, he proceeding the
, and they to
. 42, however, offers a difficulty. Euxitheus there says with reference to the free man:
he sailed in the same boat as myself, and was present and in my company throughout, a statement which on the face of it should mean that he travelled with Euxitheus from
to
. There seems to be only one explanation of the inconsistency. Euxitheus must have been intentionally misrepresenting the facts in 42, as it was important to show that the favorable evidence of this witness was based upon a personal acquaintance with his movements and general behavior. If so, it seems not unlikely that the man was actually in the pay of Euxitheus. Can he have been the
ἀκόλουθος of 24, sent back to
by E. and there detained by the family of Herodes?