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§§ 14—16. That we were right in supposing he never meant to pay, was shown by the result (§ 16). We were advised to take the interest as far as Rhodes, and to file a bill against them to recover the rest. To this we consented, not wishing to seem too hard on the defendant. But when he demanded that the whole claim should be cancelled on payment of part, we declined that, offering however to cancel it in so far as it was paid. To this he would not consent, and so to this day he has paid us nothing. ὑμετέρων πολιτῶν Hence it follows that the speaker and his partner were not citizens, but μέτοικοι. Cf. note on Argument, l. 1. S.] ἀπὸ ταὐτομάτου [Mr Paley thought it better to construe this with συνεβούλευον, ‘volunteered the advice,’ than (as Kennedy takes it) with παραγενόμενοι, ‘who were accidentally present.’ M. Weil however (Revue Critique, 1876, p. 145), M. Dareste, and Mr Mayor, p. 251, agree with Kennedy's rendering. S.] κρίνεσθαι ‘To go to law,’ ‘to have the matter decided by a jury.’ μὴ καθομολογεῖν ‘Not to accept as full payment.’ The κατὰ here seems to have the same force as in καταγοράζειν, Or. 34 § 7, ‘to agree to as against the debt.’ ἐλαττοῦσθαι ‘To take something less than our rights.’ See Or. 40 § 53. οὗτος — ὁμόσε πορευομένους ‘when the defendant saw that we were closing with his offer’ (Kennedy), or ‘were ready to meet him half-way’ (Mr Mayor, p. 251), [‘willing to meet them by making concessions.’ as the context necessarily demands (Mr Page). M. Dareste has:— prêts à le suivre, and Blass III i 525{1} notices it as used peculiarly for συγχωροῦντας. This is better than understanding it ‘ready to proceed against him,’ i.e. inclined to stand on our rights (so Paley, in previous editions). The phrase, if used in a hostile sense, may be illustrated by Harpocr. ὁμόσε ἰέναἰ Ὑπερείδης ἐν τῷ κατ᾽ Ἀθηνογένους (§ 21) φησὶν “ἀλλὰ ὁμόσε βούλομαι τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ ἐλθεῖν” ἀντὶ τοῦ παραβαλέσθαι. λέγεται δὲ ἐκ μεταφορᾶς τοῦ ὁμόσε ταῖς λόγχαις ἰέναι, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐξ ἐναντίας εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ ἔρχεσθαι: καὶ μὴ στρέφεσθαι μηδὲ φεύγειν. ‘Of course ὁμόσε π. may have two meanings just as ‘meet’ may in English, but here the speaker is dwelling emphatically on his willingness to make concessions, and therefore the meaning of the otherwise ambiguous words is determined by the context’ (T. E. Page).] ἀναιρεῖσθε See Or. 34 § 31.
Select Private Orations of Demosthenes, Part I. F. A. Paley, M.A., LL.D., and J. E. Sandys, Litt. D. 1898. Cambridge University Press.
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