On the Estate of Astyphilus (0-4)

Argument

Astyphilus and the speaker of this oration were half-brothers, children of the same mother. On the death of Astyphilus a certain Cleon, his first cousin, produced a will, alleging that it had been made in favor of his own son. The brother of Astyphilius attacks the will as being a forgery. The discussion turns on a question of fact.

Astyphilus, the owner of the estate, was my half-brother, gentlemen, the son of my mother. He went abroad with the force which sailed to Mytilene, and died there. I shall try and prove to you what I stated in my affidavit, namely, that the deceased did not adopt a son, that he did not bequeath his property, that he left no will, and that no one except myself has a right to the estate of Astyphilus.

Cleon, my adversary, is first cousin to Astyphilus on his father's side, and his son, whom he pretends that Astyphilus adopted, is his first cousin once removed. Cleon's father, however, passed by adoption into another family, and they still belong to that family, so that in law they have no sort of relationship with Astyphilus. Seeing that they had no claim on these grounds, gentlemen, they concocted a will, which, as I think I shall be able to prove, is a forgery, and are trying to deprive me of my brother's estate.

So confident, indeed, has Cleon here always been, and still is, that no one but himself is to have the estate, that, as soon as the news of Astyphilus's death was reported—my father being ill at the time and I abroad on military service—he entered into possession of the landed estate and declared that anything else which Astyphilus left belonged to his own son, without ever giving you the opportunity to decide the matter.

When, however, my brother's remains were brought home, the person who claims to have been long ago adopted as his son did not lay them out or bury them, but Astyphilus's friends and companions-in-arms, seeing that my father was ill and I was abroad, themselves laid out the remains and carried out all the other customary rites, and conducted my father, ill though he was, to the tomb, well knowing the affection in which Astyphilus held him. I will produce before you the friends of the deceased, who were amongst those who were present, as witnesses of this.