Phormio's
inexperience in speaking,1 and his utter helplessness, you all see for yourselves, men
of Athens. It is necessary for us, his friends, to state and set forth for you
the facts, which we know full well from having heard him often relate them; in
order that, when you have duly learned from us and have come to know the rights
of the case, you may give a verdict that is both just and in harmony with your
oaths.
1 This is not merely the conventional plea of inexperience （compare Dem. 34.1）; Phormio was by now an old man, and further, since he was a manumitted slave, he can have had no training which would equip him for the task, and furthermore, he was, of course, of barbarian birth. His friends, therefore, came to his aid, and one of them speaks in his behalf.
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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