Sositheus Against Macartatus in Regard to the Estate of Hagnias (6-10)

But, although the mother of this boy here became possessed of the inheritance, since she had prevailed in the suit over all those who disputed her claim, these men are abominable, as you see, and imagine that they need obey neither your laws nor the decisions of your courts, but they are trying by fair means or foul once more to take away from the lady the inheritance which you awarded to her.

A conspiracy was formed, and a written agreement entered into, and deposited with Medeius of Hagnus,[*] by Theopompus, the father of Macartatus here, and by Glaucon and the Glaucus who was worsted in the former suit; and they added to themselves as a fourth another of their friends (Eupolemus was his name). All these men, having in common formed their plot, cited the lady before the archon for the adjudication of claims to the estate of Hagnias, declaring that the law prescribed that if anyone wished to enter a claim, citation should be made of the one to whom the estate had been adjudged and who had it in his possession.

And when the archon brought the case into court, and the trial was to be held, they had everything cleverly arranged for the trial, and in particular the water which was to measure their speeches was four times as much as that allowed to us. For the archon, men of the jury, was obliged to pour into the water-clock an amphora[*] of water for each claimant, and three choes[*] for the reply;

so that I, who acted as pleader for the lady, was not only unable to explain to the jurymen the relationship and other matters as clearly as I could have wished, but could not even defend myself against the smallest fraction of the lies which they told about us; for I had but a fifth part of the water. Their scheme was this: to tell a wholly false story about us, but to back one another up and agree in everything.

So, since they had formed their plot in this way, and each backed up the other’s charges against us, when the four ballot-boxes[*] were set out according to law, the jurymen, naturally enough, as I think, were deceived and could not agree with one another, and being led astray by this trick, they voted each as chance determined. And there were a very few more votes—some three or four—in the box of Theopompus than in that of the lady.