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Notes Links for annotated items in the text will open in this frame, which may be resized.
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Here is a chart of these relationships:
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Here is a chart of these relationships:
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Here is a chart of these relationships:
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 Here is a map showing the locations of the demes Acharnai and Athmonon. Membership in a deme was, to be sure, hereditary, so that Stephanus and Apollodorus need not have been neighbors. But they would, in all likelihood, have attended the same deme, phratry, trittys, or tribal festivals. And it is in any case clear from the feud which lies behind this trial that they were well acquainted with each other.
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1. Theomnestus' father-in-law is Apollodorus; his sister is Apollodorus' wife; his wife is Apollodorus' daughter. This becomes clear in the immediately following section of the speech.
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1. Note the importance attached, right at the beginning of the oration, to not being the one to start a dispute. At the same time, as becomes clear in section 12 below, to seek vengeance upon someone who had wronged you, was not only permissible, but honorable.
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3. Member of the senate = bouleutês, member of the Council (boulê) of Five Hundred.
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3. Scrutiny = dokimasia, the vetting of candidates for office — a formal interrogation to determine a candidate's eligibility to serve, e.g. whether he was 30 years old, belonged to a particular census class, was precluded from holding office because he had lost civic rights, etc. The boulê performed the dokimasia for all offices except its own; theincoming boulê was examined by the outgoing boulê.
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3. The last step before entering upon an office for which one had been selected by lot or election was to take the oath of office. The bouleutic oath included promises to advise according to the laws, to advise what was best for the city, not to exile or imprison or execute anyone without a trial, and not to imprison anyone for debt, as long as he can provide three citizens to guarantee his debt.
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3.  From 359, when he succeeded to the Macedonian throne, until 336, when he died, Philip of Macedon (the father of Alexander) expanded the Macedonian kingdom into an empire, an enterprise which brought him into conflict with Athens frequently until 338 bce, when Philip's victory at the Battle of Chaeronea in Boeotia made him the undisputed master of all Greece. The dangers to which Theomnestos refers were Philip's preparations, in summer 348 bce, for a campaign against Thrace and his clear designs on Athenian possessions and colonies in that area. The cities and regions in question are roughly encompassed by this map.
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3. Lemnos, Imbros and the Chersonese are shown on the map just above. By Chersonese is meant the Thracian Chersonese (Gallipoli). Lemnos and Imbros are islands in the northeast Aegean. For Skyros, see the map of Euboea just below.
By the terms of the [Persian] "King's Peace" or "Peace of Antalcidas" of 387 bce, which recognized the autonomy of all the Greek cities except those of Asia Minor, Lemnos, Imbros and Skyros were recognized as belonging to Athens.
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 4. Olynthus was an important city on the Chalcidean peninsula — see the map just above — and the head of a confederacy of 32 towns (the Chalcidean League). It was the danger to Olynthus that first led the Athenians to take the threat of Philip seriously, although the assembly was divided, during this period, between those, like the orator Demosthenes and, presumably, Stephanus, who advocated a more aggressive policy toward Philip and those, like Apollodorus, evidently, who were less hawkish.
Euboea. Through Macedonian influence, oligarchies had been established in Eretria and Oreus in Euboea. The democracy in Chalcis remained allied with Athens. although Chalcis was a focus of Macedonian ambitions until 338 bce, when, after his victory at Chaeronea, Philip imposed upon it a Macedonian garrison, creating there one of the three "keys" or "chains" of Greece.
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4. The principal job of the boulê was to prepare resolutions to be voted on in the assembly. These were known as "preliminary decrees" (bouleuma, bouleumata [pl]). The assembly was not empowered to vote on any issue which had not been brought before it in the form of a probouleuma by the boulê.
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4. This was not a casual question: since the introduction, in around 350 bc, of the "theoric fund" — public subsidy of theater tickets — surpluses were allocated to it, and military campaigns were financed through taxation. With the threat of Philip hanging over them, some Athenian politicians wanted to redirect surplus funds to military needs. It appears, however, that the law which established the theoric fund also prohibited its use for military purposes. Thus, Apollodorus' bouleuma ("resolution"), even though it was supported unanimously in the assembly, contravened existing law.
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4. "he had sworn that...." — in the bouleutic oath; see above, in section 3.
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5. Stephanus brought against Apollodorus a graphê paranomôn — an "indictment" charging that a decree is "illegal," i.e. that it contravenes existing law. Anyone who proposed a decree in the assembly that contradicted an existing law was subject to prosecution on this charge. Notice how Theomnestus tries to soft-peddle Apollodorus' illegal decree by claiming that he was just interested in a free and open discussion.
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5. It is highly unlikely that this was the case — if Apollodorus had been a debtor, this would have rendered him ineligible for service on the boulê, and would certainly have come out in his dokimasia (scrutiny).
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6. The graphê paranomôn was suit "without a fixed penalty," as opposed to those where the penalty was fixed by law. In such suits, both the prosecution and defense proposed penalties, and the jurors chose between them. In this case, evidently, Apollodorus proposed a fine of one talent, and Stephanus proposed one of five.
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 9. This map shows the location of the deme Aphidna in relation to Acharnai, Apollodorus' deme. Runaway slaves naturally decamped towards the north, and along a route that would take them around the Parnes mountain range. During the phase of the Peloponnesian War known as the Decelean War (from the name of the deme) — 413-403 bce — hundreds of Athenian slaves from all parts of Attica escaped to Decelea, where the Spartans had established a garrison.
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9. At Athens, special courts were designated for homicide trials; the principal ones were the Council of the Areopagus for intentional homicide, the Palladium for unintentional homicide, and the Delphinium for justifiable homicide. Thus, the charge brought against Apollodorus must have been for unpremeditated (unintentional) homicide.
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16. Themothetae was a title given to the six junior of Athens' Nine Archons. Of the nine, three had special titles — the Eponymous Archon, who gave his name to the year in the Athenian civic calendar; the Archon Basileus or King Archon, who had special religious obligations; and the Polemarch, who oversaw legal matters concerned with metics, inheritance, and status. The rest, the Thesmothetae, are sometimes defined as legislators or judges, though they were neither in our senses of the words. Rather, their main function was to receive charges in various legal actions and arrange for a trial by jury, at which one them was the chairman. In the fourth century, the Thesmothetae arranged the dates for trials and allotted courts to magistrates each day.
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 20. In the courts of Athens, the time allotted to each speaker was measured with a "water-clock" or klepsydra (lit, "water-thief"). by a water-clock (klepsydra). This example has a clay spout with a bronze inner tube just above the base. Above the spout is a hole limiting the amount of water that the vessel can hold. It is marked XX for two choes (about 6.4 liters), equivalent to about six minutes. The inscription running between the handles indicates that the klepsydra belongs to the tribe Antiochis. It was discovered in the Agora excavations and is dated to the fifth century bce.
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21. Lysias the sophist is the well-known orator. He was the son of Cephalus, a metic from Syracuse and a friend of Socrates; Cephalus appears as a character in Plato's Republic.
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21. Lysias wanted to undertake the expense of having Metaneira intitiated in the Eleusinian mysteries.
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22. Note the care that Lysias takes to avoid insulting his wife and mother. And see also below, in section 30, where Timanoridas the Corinthian and Eucrates the Leucadian pay Neaera to leave Corinth when they are about to get married.
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24. The Great Panathenaea was a quadriennial celebration of the Panathenaea, the great civic festival of the Athenians in honor of their patron deity, in the month of Hekatombaion (August-September). Its principal features were a great procession, large sacrifices, and an all-night observance (pannychis). To this were added, for the Great Panathenaea, the presentation of a new robe to her icon and major athletic and musical competitions. The latter celebrations were open to all Greeks, and it is on one such of these occasions that Neara came to Athens with Simus the Thessalian and her owner, Nicarete.
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28. Note that Hipparchus comes from Athmonon, the same deme as Theomnestus.
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27. After Athens' defeat in 403, Sparta assumed uncontested hegemony of the Greek world. But in 395 bce, a new alliance to resist Spartan dominance was formed under the leadership of Thebes. In 371 bce, shortly after Sparta and Athens had concluded a peace, the long-brewing conflict between Sparta and Thebes came to a head in the battle of Leuctra, which resulted in a stunning defeat for Sparta and the assumption by Thebes of Greek hegemony. In the next year (370 bce), Epaminondas and the Thebans invaded Sparta, freed the Messenian helots, established Messenia as an independent state, and founded Messene on the top of Mount Ithome; in Arcadia, Epaminondas united forty or so distinct townships into a confederation with a newly founded capital at Megalopolis, on the banks of the Helisson. When the Athenians heard of these events, they immediately voted to send aid to the Spartans, but the general whom they appointed — Iphicrates — dallied so long at Corinth, collecting his forces, that the Thebans and their allies had ample opportunity to return home.
In 369, Thebes invaded the Laconian peninsula for a second time — this is the event to which Apollodorus refers here: at this point the Spartans, increasingly alarmed at the threat from Thebes, petitioned Athens for aid, and after a vigorous debate in the assembly regarding the terms of their alliance, Athens agreed to send aid. (See also notes on sections 35, 37, and 43 below.)
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30. Here is the location of Phrynion's deme, Paeania:
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30. The price for an ordinary prostitute was a drachma, but courtesans charged more. The legendary Athenian courtesan Phryne reported charged a mina (100 drachmae). The price for Neaera's eventual freedom was twenty times this: 20 minae = 2000 drachmae, of which her Corinthian lovers contributed half, and the other half of which she obtained from Phrynion and other lovers.
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33. archonship of Socratidas = 373 BCE. Note that the date of this oration is 343-30 BCE.
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33. The temple of Aphrodite Colias was on a promontory on the Bay of Phalerum — Athens' harbor before Themistocles fortified the Piraeus in the early fifth century. Aphrodite Colias was a protectress of courtesans.
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 34. Xypete and Cydathenaeum were both city demes. Aexone, Chabrias' deme, was a coastal deme a few miles south of Athens.
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35. The first war was the famous Peloponnesian War (431-403 bce). Apollodorus' reference to the second encompasses the period from 378 to 371 bce, when Athens was allied with Thebes against Sparta; in 371 bce the Athenians and Spartans concluded a peace treaty (the Peace of Callias). Apollodorus' reference to the archonship of Asteius, however, dates these particular hostilities to the year 373/2 bce. In that year, a dispute between Athens and Sparta over peace negotiations led the Spartans to beseige the city of Corcyra, and the Athenians to send aid to the Corcyreans under the generalship of Iphicrates, along with Cabrias and Callistratus, the orator and patron of Stephanus, who was an advocate for peace with Sparta. In the next year (372/1), Callistratus voluntarily accompanied a peace embassy to Sparta which concluded the peace of Callias. (See also notes on sections 27, 37 and 43.)
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37. Leuctra was a town in Boeotia. In this battle (371 bce) the Thebans under Epameinondas broke the power of Sparta. (See above, notes to sections 27 and 35.)
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37. Since Neara takes Stephanus as her patron, the clear implication is that she intends to live in Athens as a metic.
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39. We don't know what or where the Whispering Hermes was — presumably it was a representation of the god which was well-known around town.
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39. Pettifoggery = sycophancy. Apollodorus describes this further in 43 below: "to stand beside the [speaker's] platform and shout, to prefer indictments and informations for hire."
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40. Neaera had to post a bond because her status--slave or metic--was not yet determined.
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43. Callistratus was a popular orator, talented general, and advocate of peace with Sparta. He served with Iphicrates in 373/2 bce and accompanied the Athenian peace embassy to Sparta in 372/1 bce. (See above, notes to sections 27 and 35.)
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46. Pay attention to how the arbitration is arranged, and to what its terms are as regards Neaera. What does the settlement imply about her and her status?
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50. Note the size of the dowry for Phano. How does it compare with the amount which purchased Neaera's freedom?
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52. alimony: this is not an exact translation. The Greek says "a suit for maintenance," which could be brought against the guardian of a minor or woman for the failure to provide for the individual's maintenance. There was another suit, the dikê proikos, "suit for return of the dowry," which was normally brought against a husband for return of the dowry.
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52. The Odeum of Pericles, built in the middle of the fifth century bce, was adjacent to the theater of Dionysus on the south slope of the acropolis. It was used for a variety of dramatic activities and recitations, as well as extraordinary meetings of the assembly, and as a court. The internal columns were constructed from the masts taken from the Persian fleet after the battle of Salamis (480 bce), and its roof was modelled on Xerxes' tent.
Source: http://www.theatron.co.uk/athens.htm
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52. nine obols/mina = 18%
6 obols = 1 drachma
100 drachmae = 1 mina
60 minae = 1 talent
Thus, 9 obols a month for a year = 108 obols or 1.8 drachmae/year for each mina.
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53. What do you think the withdrawal of actions by both parties says about the character of the dispute? Note the order in which the deposition says that the suits were brought, and contrast this with the narrative in the speech.
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66. Compare also what Apollodorus says about adultery in sections 86-87 below. What can you derive from the two accounts together in terms of an Athenian view of adultery?
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69. another indictment withdrawn and another potential lawsuit settled by arbitration. What does this say to you about the Athenian judicial system?
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70. Why do you think Epanetus agrees to contribute to Phano's dowry? Note the difference in the size of this dowry and the one given with Phano to Phrastor (section 50). 1000 drachmae = 10 minae.
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71. What do the terms of this settlement say about Phano's status?
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72. That is, he was to be the archon basileus, the king archon.
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73. The oath is cited below, in section 78. The ritual described in this and the following sections was celebrated on the third day of the Anthesteria, a spring festival in honor of Dionysus. The elements of the festival included: the opeing of the new wine, a drinking contest, rites performed in honor of the dead, and the hieros gamos ("sacred marriage") at which Dionysus married the wife of the king archon. The last ritual took place on the last day (which began on the evening before). It entailed a procession from the Limnaion (a sanctuary of Dionysus whose exact location is unknown) to the Boukolion, the seat of the archon basileus in the agora. While in the Limnaion, fourteen women made offerings at the fourteen altars in the sanctuary. Two separate processions brought the basilinna (wife of the king archon) to the Boukolion, and Dionysus to the basilinna, after which the sacred union took place.
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89. These sections are very revealing about the meaning of "citizenship" in Athens. Think over their implications as they apply to women. And reflect that they are being reviewed by someone who was himself a naturalized citizen and the son of a former slave.
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90. barriers. These separated the voting from the non-voting members of the assembly. The latter would have been spectators, either visiting foreign dignitaries or perhaps also interested metics.
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92. Note the restrictions on naturalized citizens, which do not apply to their descendants. What do they say about the particular offices concerned and their importance to the polis?
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94. Apollodorus here reviews events having to do with the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, reminding the audience that the Plataeans were the allies of the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon (490 bce), that they fought alongside the Spartans and other Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae (480 bce) and at the last stand of the Greeks against the Persians (479 bce), and that, when the Spartan king Archedamus beseiged and ultimately captured Plataea in 429 bce, in the early years of the Peloponnesian War, the Athenians, out of gratitude for the Plataeans' alliance at Marathon, granted the survivors of the siege Athenian citizenship.
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98. Archidamus reigned from 476-427 bce. A friend of Pericles, he opposed war with Athens, but was overruled by the war party at Sparta. He led a campaign against Plataea in 429 bce, and in the preceding and following years (431, 430, 428) invaded Attica at the head of the Peloponnesian forces. The first ten years of the Peloponnesian War are called the Archidamian War after him.
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107. Note the implications of this statement that it was possible for women also to become naturalized citizens.
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108. The word used here for citizen woman (astê) is the same one used in the decree concerning the Plataeans.
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110. What are the implications of this hypothetical conversation for the views of Athenian woman on the matter of citizenship? Contrast this conversation about political affairs with the one reported in the Ecclesiazusae. Which do you think is more likely to be realistic?
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113. How does Apollodorus identify the rights and privileges of Athenian citizen wives? Does what he says alter your views on the subject?
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115. Does the reference to Neaera's appearance suggest that she was present in the courtroom?
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116. hierophant = high priest of the temple at Eleusis. Note that he is punished in part for usurping the rights of the priestess.
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119. the word used for "mistress" is hetaira, not the one for concubine (pallakê)
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122. Mistresses = hetairai; concubines = pallakai
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