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Further aggravations of the offence. Lampis had a residence at Athens, and the time was one of special scarcity, so that every cargo that could be had, was wanted at Athens.

τῶν νόμωνἐμπόριον [Cf. Or. 35 § 50, Lycurgus adv. Leocratem 27 οἱ ὑμέτεροι νόμοι τὰς ἐσχάτας τιμωρίας ὁρίζουσιν, ἐάν τις Ἀθηναίων ἄλλοσέ ποι σιτηγήσῃ ὡς ὑμᾶς, cf. Or. 58 § 12 πλεύσαντα δικαίως οἱ προσῆκεν, and 56 § 6. S.]

διεμετροῦντο ‘Were having measured out to them their barley-meal in the Odeum, while those in the Peiraeus (contrasted with τὸ ἄστυ) were getting their loaves by pennyworths at a time in the arsenal and their barley-meal at the long warehouse, having it doled out to them at a gallon a-piece, and nearly trampled to death in the crush.’ A curious picture of corn at famine price. [A. Schaefer places this time of high prices in the period between 330 and 326 B.C. when Demosthenes was σιτώνης. Dem. u. s. Zeit III 268—271{1}, 294— 8{2}; III B 300, 339. Cf Blass, Att. Ber. III 516{1}, 578{2}. S.]

ἐν τῷ νεωρίῳ ‘in the dockyard’; doubtless in some open place in front of it (Wachsmuth, Stadt Athen II i 51 f., where Milchhofer's suggestion ἐμπορίῳ is rejected). The term is used in sing. in 47 §§ 20, 23, and in 50 § 36. S.]

ἐν τῷ ᾠδείῳ The Odeum of Pericles was a music school or minor theatre, lying east of the great theatre under the Acropolis, and sometimes (Ar. Vesp. 1109) used as a law court. The present passage shows that it was made generally useful. [Or. 59 § 52 λαχόντος δίκην σίτου είς ᾠδεῖον and Pollux VIII 33. Cf. Bekker's Anecd. 317 ᾠδεῖον: θέατρον Ἀθήνῃσιν, πεποίηκε Περικλῆς εἰς τὸ ἐπιδείκνυσθαι τοὺς μουσικούς: ἐν καὶ δικαστήριον ἦν σίτου καὶ ἄλφιτα διεμετρεῖτο ἐκεῖ. Miss Harrison's Ancient Athens p. 261—3. S.]

The μακρὰ στοὰ was used as a cornstore. It is mentioned in Ar. Ach. 548, as in a state of activity during preparation for war, στοᾶς στεναχούσης, σιτίων μετρουμἐνων. [Schol. τῆς λεγομένης ἀλφιτοπώλιδος ἣν ᾠκοδόμησε Περικλῆς ὅπου καὶ σῖτος ἀπέκειτο τῆς πόλεως. ἦν δὲ περὶ τὸν Πειραιᾶ. Leake (Athens, I p. 382) appears to distinguish between the μακρὰ στοὰ of the Peiraeus and the στ. ἀλφιτοπῶλις or meal-bazaar; but they are identified by Wachsmuth, Stadt Athen, II i 96, 101. See Thuc. VIII 90 § 6, and cf. Pausan. I 1 § 3 (of the Peiraeus) ἔστι δὲ τῆς στοᾶς τῆς μακρᾶς ἔνθα καθέστηκεν ἀγορὰ τοῖς ἐπὶ θαλάσσης. It is clear that it was not, as Mr Penrose thought, in the city, apparently confounding it with the μακρὰ στοὰ in the quarter called Melite (Scholiast on Ar. Aves 998). See Boeckh, P. E. pp. 83, 121 Lamb. S.]

καθ᾽ ἡμίεκτον a medimnus held 48 choenices, so that 8 choenices were a sixth, and 4 choenices a half-sixth. Hence the joke in Ar. Nub. 645 περίδου νῦν ἐμοί, εἰ μὴ τετράμετρόν ἐστιν ἡμιεκτέον. The medimnus was equivalent to twelve gallons, and the ἡμίεκτον to one.

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hide References (3 total)
  • Commentary references from this page (3):
    • Demosthenes, Against Lacritus, 50
    • Demosthenes, Against Theocrines, 12
    • Demosthenes, Against Neaera, 52
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