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[29] After I had departed for Aenus and the boat on which Herodes and I had been drinking1 had reached Mytilene, the prosecution first of all went on board and conducted a search. On finding the bloodstains,2 they claimed that this was where Herodes had met his end. But the suggestion proved an unfortunate one, as the blood turned out to be that of the animals sacrificed. So they abandoned that line, and instead seized the two men and examined them under torture.3

1 Weil's emendation is certain. Herodes and Euxitheus took shelter for the night on a boat bound for Mytilene. After the storm was over, the passengers returned to their own vessel.

2 τὸ αἷμα(cf. τῶν προβάτων), because it had already been mentioned in the preceding evidence. Similarly with τοὺς ἀνθρώπους(infr); they had been referred to in the speech for the presecution.

3 The references in the course of the speech to the two witnesses for the prosecution are confusing. The relevant passages are 29, 42, 49, and 52. From 49 it is clear that one was a slave and the other a free man, although he cannot have been a Greek, as he was subjected to torture by the prosecution (ibid). 29 suggests that the two were members of the crew of the homeward bound vessel on which Euxitheus and Herodes sheltered form the rain, and that after the storm they continued their voyage to Mytilene, where the relatives of Herodes immediately came aboard and took them into custody. This is supported by 52, which implies that Euxitheus parted from the men after the storm, he proceeding the Aenus, and they to Mytilene. 42, however, offers a difficulty. Euxitheus there says with reference to the free man: “he sailed in the same boat as myself, and was present and in my company throughout,” a statement which on the face of it should mean that he travelled with Euxitheus from Mytilene to Aenus. There seems to be only one explanation of the inconsistency. Euxitheus must have been intentionally misrepresenting the facts in 42, as it was important to show that the favorable evidence of this witness was based upon a personal acquaintance with his movements and general behavior. If so, it seems not unlikely that the man was actually in the pay of Euxitheus. Can he have been the ἀκόλουθος of 24, sent back to Mytilene by E. and there detained by the family of Herodes?

load focus Notes (Sir Richard C. Jebb, 1888)
load focus Greek (K. J. Maidment)
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