Demosthenes
XLVIII
ΚΑΤΑ ΟΛΥΜΙΠΙΟΔΩΡΟΥ ΒΛΑΒΗΣ
[1167]Ἀναγκαῖον ἴσως ἐστίν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, καὶ τοὺς μὴ εἰωθότας μηδὲ δυναμένους εἰπεῖν εἰσιέναι εἰς δικαστήριον, ἐπειδὰν ὑπό τινος ἀδικῶνται, ἄλλως τε καὶ ὑφ᾿ ὧν ἥκιστα προσῆκεν ἀδικεῖσθαι, οἷον καὶ ἐμοὶ νυνὶ συμβαίνει. οὐ βουλόμενος γάρ, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ἀγωνίζεσθαι πρὸς Ὀλυμπιόδωρον οἰκεῖον ὄντα καὶ ἀδελφὴν τούτου ἔχων, ἠνάγκασμαι διὰ τὸ μεγάλ᾿ ἀδικεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τούτου. 2εἰ μὲν οὖν μὴ ἀδικούμενος, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ἀλλὰ ψεῦδός τι ἐγκαλῶν Ὀλυμπιοδώρῳ τούτων τι ἐποίουν, ἢ τοῖς ἐπιτηδείοις τοῖς ἐμοῖς καὶ Ὀλυμπιοδώρου μὴ ἐθέλων ἐπιτρέπειν, ἢ ἄλλου τινὸς τῶν δικαίων ἀφιστάμενος, εὖ ἴστε ὅτι πάνυ ἂν ᾐσχυνόμην καὶ ἐνόμιζον ἂν ἐμαυτὸν φαῦλον εἶναι ἄνθρωπον· νῦν δ᾿ οὔτε μικρὰ ἐλαττούμενος ὑπὸ Ὀλυμπιοδώρου, οὔτε διαλλακτὴν οὐδένα φεύγων, οὔτ᾿ αὖ μὰ τὸν Δία τὸν μέγιστον ἑκών, ἀλλ᾿ ὡς οἷόν τε μάλιστα ἄκων, ἠνάγκασμαι ὑπὸ τούτου 3ἀγωνίζεσθαι ταύτην τὴν δίκην. δέομαι οὖν
Against Olympiodorus
XLVIII
Callistratus Against Olympiodorus, an Action for Damages
It is perhaps necessary, men of the jury, even for those who have neither practice nor skill in speaking, to come into court when they have been wronged by anyone, especially if it be by those who should be the last to wrong them, as has now come to pass with me. For, although I have been unwilling, men of the jury, to go to law with Olympiodorus, who is a relative of mine and whose sister is my wife, I have been forced to do so because of the magnitude of the wrongs which he has done me. If I were entering2 upon this course, men of the jury, without having been wronged, or were trumping up a false charge against Olympiodorus, or if I were unwilling to refer the matter to men who are friends both of Olympiodorus and myself, or if I were refusing to adopt any other fair course of action, be assured that I should be thoroughly ashamed, and should think myself a worthless sort of fellow: but as it is, the loss I have suffered at the hands of Olympiodorus is no small one; I have not refused to accept any referee, and I swear by Zeus the Supreme that it is not willingly, but with the utmost possible reluctance, that I have been forced by the defendant to bring this suit.