[67]
And now, in seeking to recover what is
mine, I have come into the greatest peril; for if the defendant is acquitted
（which heaven forbid!） I shall have to pay one-sixth of the
damages,1 one hundred minae. The
defendant, if you give judgement against him, will be liable for a sum to be
determined, and will make payment, not out of his own funds, but out of mine;
while in my case the sum is fixed, so that I shall not only have been robbed of
my inheritance, but shall also lose my civic rights, unless you now take pity on
me.
1 The plaintiff in a private suit who was so far from being able to prove his case that he did not receive a fifth part of the votes, was subject to a fine of one-sixth of the damages claimed （an obol for each drachma）. Failure to pay entailed the loss of civic rights. Compare Dem. 28.18, end. In the case of Aphobus, the amount for which he would be held liable, if he lost suit, would be fixed by the court.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D., LL.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1939.
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