HKB
that this man, who is not a neighbor, nor an inspector, nor old enough to know about such things, has entered me on the indictment as having destroyed an olive.
I wish you not to place more trust in the assertions of my accuser than you do in the facts themselves, nor accept the word of my personal enemies in matters which you yourself know about, but to form your opinions from what I have told you and from the rest of my conduct as a citizen. 31. For I did everything allotted to me in a grander manner than I was compelled to do by the state: equipped a trireme, supplied a chorus, and performed all my other duties more expensively than the rest of the citizens. 32. If I had done these things in a moderate way, and not expensively, I should not be fighting against exile and for my possessions, but should be worth more and not unjustly be on trial for my life. If I had committed the crime with which he charges me I should have gained nothing, but only brought myself into difficulty. 33. You all would agree that it is more just to accept weighty proofs in a great case and to regard as more trustworthy those things to which the whole city testifies, than those which the prosecutor alone asserts.
Look at the case, (members of the) Boule, from what took place besides. I went to him, and in the presence of witnesses said that I now had all the slaves of which I had been possessed at the time I bought the place, and I was ready, if he wished, to give them up to be tortured, thinking that this would be the strongest test of his assertions and of the facts. 35. But he would not take them, saying that there was no trusting slaves. It seems to me strange that slaves when tortured make damning statements about themselves, knowing well that it will kill them, but prefer to be tortured than to inform on their masters to whom they are naturally ill-disposed, when by doing so they could free themselves.
If Nicomachus had asked for them, and I had refused to give them up, it would be evident that I thought them conscious of my guilt. As he did not wish to take them when offered, you rightly can have the same opinion about him, for the danger was not by any means evenly divided. 37. Had they denounced me, there would have been no escape for me. If they had not testified what he wished he would have suffered no penalty. So that it devolved a great deal more on him to take them than on me to offer them. But I was thus zealous, thinking it was for my interest to have you learn the truth of the matter either from the evidence of slaves or freedmen or facts.
Consider then, (members of the) Boule, whether you ought to trust me for whom many persons have given testimony, or my accuser for whom no one dares testify, and whether it is more likely that he lied when there was no risk to himself, or that in the face of such great danger I committed the act, and whether you think he made the accusation merely for the good of the city or as an informer.