On the Property of Aristophanes (41-45)

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0540.tlg019.perseus-eng2:41-45

Refs	`{'start': {'reference': '41', 'human_reference': 'None 41'}, 'end': {'reference': '45', 'human_reference': 'None 45'}}`
Ancestors	`[]`
Children	`[]`

plain text • XML

And nobody can say that there was malversation, or that the accounts were not fairly rendered: for he made his dispositions himself in his illness, while his mind was sound. Please call witnesses to this.

Witnesses

Why, surely anyone, gentlemen, before the amounts of the two had been revealed, would have thought that the property of Nicophemus was a mere fraction of that of Conon. Now, Aristophanes had acquired a house with land for more than five talents, had produced dramas on his own account and on his father’s at a cost of five thousand drachmae,[*] and had spent eighty minae[*] on equipping warships;

on account of the two, no less than forty minae have been contributed to special levies; for the Sicilian expedition he spent a hundred minae,[*] and for commissioning the warships, when the Cypriots came and you gave them the ten vessels, he supplied thirty thousand drachmae[*] to pay the light infantry and purchase their arms. The total of all these sums amounts to little short of fifteen talents.

Hence you can have no reason to lay blame on us, since the property of Conon, which is admitted to have been fairly accounted for by the owner himself, and was thought to be many times more than that of Aristophanes, is found to be less than thrice the amount of his. And we are omitting from the calculation all that Nicophemus held himself in Cyprus, where he had a wife and a daughter.

I claim, therefore, gentlemen of the jury, that after having produced such an abundance of weighty proofs we ought not to be unjustly ruined. I have been told by my father and other elderly people that you have had similar experiences in the past of being deceived in the fortunes of many men who were supposed to be wealthy while they lived, but whose death showed your supposition to be wide of the mark.

Tokens

And	1	w	3
nobody	1	w	9
can	1	w	12
say	1	w	15
that	1	w	19
there	1	w	24
was	1	w	27
malversation	1	w	39
or	1	w	42
that	2	w	46
the	2	w	49
accounts	1	w	57
were	1	w	61
not	1	w	64
fairly	1	w	70
rendered	1	w	78
for	1	w	82
he	3	w	84
made	1	w	88
his	1	w	91
dispositions	1	w	103
himself	1	w	110
in	1	w	112
his	2	w	115
illness	1	w	122
while	1	w	128
his	3	w	131
mind	1	w	135
was	2	w	138
sound	1	w	143
Please	1	w	150
call	1	w	154
witnesses	1	w	163
to	1	w	165
this	1	w	169
Witnesses	1	w	179
Why	1	w	182
surely	1	w	189
anyone	1	w	195
gentlemen	1	w	205
before	1	w	212
the	3	w	215
amounts	1	w	222
of	1	w	224
the	4	w	227
two	1	w	230
had	1	w	233
been	1	w	237
revealed	1	w	245
would	1	w	251
have	1	w	255
thought	1	w	262
that	3	w	266
the	5	w	269
property	1	w	277
of	2	w	279
Nicophemus	1	w	289
was	3	w	292
a	21	w	293
mere	1	w	297
fraction	1	w	305
of	3	w	307
that	4	w	311
of	4	w	313
Conon	1	w	318
Now	1	w	322
Aristophanes	1	w	335
had	2	w	338
acquired	1	w	346
a	27	w	347
house	1	w	352
with	1	w	356
land	1	w	360
for	3	w	363
more	1	w	367
than	1	w	371
five	1	w	375
talents	1	w	382
had	3	w	386
produced	1	w	394
dramas	1	w	400
on	7	w	402
his	5	w	405
own	1	w	408
account	2	w	415
and	2	w	418
on	8	w	420
his	6	w	423
father	1	w	429
s	35	w	431
at	7	w	433
a	38	w	434
cost	1	w	438
of	5	w	440
five	2	w	444
thousand	1	w	452
drachmae	1	w	460
50	1	w	463
minae	1	w	468
and	4	w	472
had	4	w	475
spent	1	w	480
eighty	1	w	486
minae	2	w	491
1	1	w	492
talent	2	w	498
and	5	w	501
20	1	w	503
minae	3	w	508
on	9	w	511
equipping	1	w	520
warships	1	w	528
on	10	w	531
account	3	w	538
of	6	w	540
the	7	w	543
two	2	w	546
no	4	w	549
less	1	w	553
than	2	w	557
forty	1	w	562
minae	4	w	567
have	2	w	571
been	2	w	575
contributed	1	w	586
to	3	w	588
special	1	w	595
levies	1	w	601
for	5	w	605
the	8	w	608
Sicilian	1	w	616
expedition	1	w	626
he	11	w	628
spent	2	w	633
a	56	w	634
hundred	1	w	641
minae	5	w	646
1	2	w	648
talent	3	w	654
and	6	w	657
40	1	w	659
minae	6	w	664
and	7	w	668
for	6	w	671
commissioning	1	w	684
the	9	w	687
warships	2	w	695
when	1	w	700
the	10	w	703
Cypriots	1	w	711
came	1	w	715
and	8	w	718
you	1	w	721
gave	1	w	725
them	1	w	729
the	12	w	732
ten	1	w	735
vessels	1	w	742
he	17	w	745
supplied	1	w	753
thirty	1	w	759
thousand	2	w	767
drachmae	2	w	775
5	2	w	776
talents	2	w	783
to	4	w	786
pay	1	w	789
the	13	w	792
light	1	w	797
infantry	1	w	805
and	10	w	808
purchase	1	w	816
their	1	w	821
arms	1	w	825
The	1	w	829
total	1	w	834
of	7	w	836
all	2	w	839
these	1	w	844
sums	1	w	848
amounts	2	w	855
to	6	w	857
little	1	w	863
short	1	w	868
of	8	w	870
fifteen	1	w	877
talents	3	w	884
Hence	1	w	890
you	2	w	893
can	2	w	896
have	3	w	900
no	5	w	902
reason	1	w	908
to	7	w	910
lay	1	w	913
blame	1	w	918
on	15	w	920
us	5	w	922
since	1	w	928
the	16	w	931
property	2	w	939
of	9	w	941
Conon	2	w	946
which	1	w	952
is	10	w	954
admitted	1	w	962
to	8	w	964
have	4	w	968
been	3	w	972
fairly	2	w	978
accounted	1	w	987
for	7	w	990
by	1	w	992
the	17	w	995
owner	1	w	1000
himself	2	w	1007
and	11	w	1011
was	4	w	1014
thought	2	w	1021
to	9	w	1023
be	5	w	1025
many	1	w	1029
times	1	w	1034
more	2	w	1038
than	3	w	1042
that	5	w	1046
of	10	w	1048
Aristophanes	2	w	1060
is	12	w	1063
found	1	w	1068
to	11	w	1070
be	6	w	1072
less	2	w	1076
than	4	w	1080
thrice	1	w	1086
the	18	w	1089
amount	3	w	1095
of	11	w	1097
his	7	w	1100
And	2	w	1104
we	2	w	1106
are	1	w	1109
omitting	1	w	1117
from	1	w	1121
the	19	w	1124
calculation	1	w	1135
all	3	w	1138
that	6	w	1142
Nicophemus	2	w	1152
held	1	w	1156
himself	3	w	1163
in	14	w	1165
Cyprus	1	w	1171
where	1	w	1177
he	29	w	1179
had	5	w	1182
a	102	w	1183
wife	1	w	1187
and	12	w	1190
a	104	w	1191
daughter	1	w	1199
I	1	w	1201
claim	1	w	1206
therefore	1	w	1216
gentlemen	2	w	1226
of	12	w	1228
the	21	w	1231
jury	1	w	1235
that	7	w	1240
after	1	w	1245
having	1	w	1251
produced	2	w	1259
such	1	w	1263
an	25	w	1265
abundance	1	w	1274
of	13	w	1276
weighty	1	w	1283
proofs	1	w	1289
we	4	w	1291
ought	3	w	1296
not	2	w	1299
to	12	w	1301
be	7	w	1303
unjustly	1	w	1311
ruined	1	w	1317
I	2	w	1319
have	5	w	1323
been	4	w	1327
told	1	w	1331
by	2	w	1333
my	1	w	1335
father	2	w	1341
and	13	w	1344
other	1	w	1349
elderly	1	w	1356
people	1	w	1362
that	8	w	1366
you	3	w	1369
have	6	w	1373
had	6	w	1376
similar	1	w	1383
experiences	1	w	1394
in	17	w	1396
the	24	w	1399
past	1	w	1403
of	15	w	1405
being	1	w	1410
deceived	1	w	1418
in	19	w	1420
the	25	w	1423
fortunes	1	w	1431
of	16	w	1433
many	2	w	1437
men	3	w	1440
who	1	w	1443
were	2	w	1447
supposed	1	w	1455
to	14	w	1457
be	10	w	1459
wealthy	1	w	1466
while	2	w	1471
they	1	w	1475
lived	1	w	1480
but	2	w	1484
whose	1	w	1489
death	1	w	1494
showed	1	w	1500
your	1	w	1504
supposition	1	w	1515
to	15	w	1517
be	11	w	1519
wide	1	w	1523
of	17	w	1525
the	27	w	1528
mark	1	w	1532