Dicaeogenes, having sailed out as commander of the Paralus,The Paralus, which in time of peace was one of the two sacred vessels used for the conveyance of religious missions, ambassadors, etc., was used in war as the flagship of the commander of a squadron. was killed in action at Cnidus.The engagement at Cnidus probably refers to the battle near Syme in 411 B.C. (see Thuc. 8.42). He died without issue, and Proxenus, the father of Dicaeogenes (III.) here, produced a will, in reliance on which our fathersMenexenus III., the speaker, is pleading on behalf of himself and his cousins Menexenus II. and Cephisodotus, whose fathers had married two of the sisters of Dicaeogenes II. distributed his estate. Under the will Dicaeogenes (III.) here was to be recognized as the adopted son of Dicaeogenes (II.), the son of Menexenus (I.) and our uncle, and heir to a third of his estate of the remainder an equal share was adjudicated to each of the daughters of Menexenus (I.). Of these facts I will produce before you as witnesses those who were present on that occasion.

Witnesses

When they had thus divided up the inheritance, having sworn not to transgress the terms agreed upon, each remained in possession of the share which he had received for twelve years. During all this period, though the courts sat, no one of them thought of claiming that there was any injustice in what had been done, until, when the city suffered misfortune and strife arose,The reference is to the internal troubles at Athens which followed the defeat at Aegospotami in 405 B.C. Dicaeogenes (III.) here, acting at the instigation of Melas the Egyptian, whose advice he followed in everything, claimed from us the whole estate, alleging that he had been adopted as sole heir by our uncle.

We thought him mad in bringing the action; for we could never imagine that the same man could at one time state that he had been adopted as heir to one-third and at another time that he had been adopted as sole heir, and be believed by you to be speaking the truth. However, on coming into court, though we had by far the better case, we were cheated of our rights, not by the judges but by Melas the Egyptian and his friends, who thought that the misfortunes of the city gave them liberty to possess themselves of other people's property and to bear false witness in support of one another, and by their acting in this manner the judges were misled.