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[14]
since neither
because of my previous political record was I deserving punishment nor had the charges
been proved upon which I was being tried. For I shall never be shown to have been one of
the friends of Harpalus,1 and among the
decrees that were passed concerning him only those proposed by me have afforded the State
a clean record. From all these facts it is clear that I was caught in an unfortunate
conjuncture, not taken in wrongdoing, and that through coming first on the list into court
I unjustly fell foul of the public rage against all those involved in those charges.
1 Harpalus was an absconding treasurer of Alexander who sought refuge in Attica. Part of his illicit funds disappeared from the Acropolis, where they had been sequestered by the Athenians. Demosthenes was accused and convicted of accepting twenty talents. Few historians believe that he was guilty; some suggest that he may have spent part of the money in the cause of liberty.
Demosthenes with an English translation by Norman W. DeWitt, Ph.D., and Norman J. DeWitt, Ph.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1949.
The Annenberg CPB/Project provided support for entering this text.
