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[9] First,1 whereas an information has been lodged against me as a malefactor, I am being tried for murder: a thing which has never before happened to anyone in this country.2 Indeed, the prosecution have themselves borne witness to the fact that I am not a malefactor and cannot be charged under the law directed against malefactors, as that law is concerned with thieves and footpads, and they have omitted to prove my claim to either title. Thus, as far as this arrest of mine goes, they have given you every right and justification to acquit me.

1 For the meaning of this and the following paragraph see Introduction.

2 A deliberate ambiguity. τῶν ἐν τῇ γῇ ταύτῃ can mean （a） Athenian citizens, （b） persons who happen to be in Attica. Taken in sense （a） the statement is true. Taken in sense （b） it is probably false.

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load focus Notes (Sir Richard C. Jebb, 1888)
load focus Greek (K. J. Maidment)
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