[5]
I shall show that Aphobus has not only acknowledged
Milyas to be a freeman, but has
even proved it by his actions; that, furthermore, about this matter he has
declined the absolutely sure test by torture,1 and does not wish
to have the truth brought to light that on the contrary he has recourse to
trickery, brings forward false witnesses, and by his own words distorts the
truth regarding what has taken place. So strong and so plain is the evidence by
which I shall prove these statements that you will all see clearly that it is I
who am speaking the truth, and that he has uttered not a word worthy of
credence. I shall begin at a point which will make it easiest for you to learn
the facts, and for me to instruct you regarding them in the briefest time.
1 On the high value attributed by the Greeks to evidence extracted from a slave by torture see Dem. 30.37, and Aristot. Rh. 1.15
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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