Against Simon (21-25)

Witnesses

He had the audacity to state that on his part he had given three hundred drachmae to Theodotus, under an agreement made with him, and that I by intrigue seduced the boy from him. And yet, if this was true, it was for him to summon as many witnesses as he could and pursue the matter in accordance with our laws.

But it does not appear that he has ever done anything of the sort, but only that he has outraged and beaten us both, and has revelled and broken in doors and intruded on free women by night.

You ought to take all this, gentlemen, as primary proof that he is lying to you. And then, consider how incredible his statements are. He has valued his property altogether at two hundred and fifty drachmae: yet how surprising that he should hire his companion for more than he himself in fact possesses!

And he has carried audacity to such lengths that it does not suffice him merely to lie about this matter of having given the money, but he even says that he has recovered it! Yet how is it likely that I first committed such a crime as he has laid to my charge—of seeking to deprive him of his three hundred dracmae[*]— and then, after we had had our affray, paid him back the money, without either obtaining a quittance of all claims or being subjected to any compulsion?