"Against Leptines" was a speech given by
Demosthenes
Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual pr ...
in which he called for the repeal of a
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
sponsored by
Leptines
Leptines ( grc-gre, Λεπτίνης) was an Athenian orator. He is known as the proposer of a law that no Athenian, whether citizen or resident alien (with the sole exception of the descendants of Harmodius and Aristogeiton), should be exempt fr ...
, which denied anyone a special exemption from paying public charges (''
leitourgiai''). It was probably delivered in the year 355–54 BC. Unusually for Athenian law courts, though Demosthenes wrote the speech for Ctesippus, the son of
Chabrias
Chabrias ( el, Χαβρίας; bef. 420–357 BC) was an Athenian general active in the first half of the 4th century BC. During his career he was involved in several battles, both on land and sea. The orator Demosthenes described him as one ...
, he probably delivered it himself. It is thus the first speech which Demosthenes delivered in a public case.
History
This law had been proposed by a man named
Leptines
Leptines ( grc-gre, Λεπτίνης) was an Athenian orator. He is known as the proposer of a law that no Athenian, whether citizen or resident alien (with the sole exception of the descendants of Harmodius and Aristogeiton), should be exempt fr ...
, so the speech came to be known as "Against Leptines". Although
Dio Chrysostom
Dio Chrysostom (; el, Δίων Χρυσόστομος ''Dion Chrysostomos''), Dion of Prusa or Cocceianus Dio (c. 40 – c. 115 AD), was a Greek orator, writer, philosopher and historian of the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD. Eighty of hi ...
(31.128-9) says that Demosthenes won the case, his account has been dismissed as inaccurate. West says that "we do not know the verdict".
An inscription shows that Ctesippus, son of Chabrias (whose inheritable exemption Demosthenes was arguing to preserve), performed a liturgy that "is unlikely to have been voluntary," and there is no evidence of any grants of exemption after the trial.
Background
During the
Social War, a number of measures were passed in Athens to increase public revenue, including a law proposed by Leptines in 356 which abolished exemptions from
liturgies
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
. The law made it illegal both for the people of Athens to grant exceptions to liturgies, and for anybody to request an exception. The law was challenged by an Athenian called Bathippus, but he died before the case came to court; later, this case was taken up by his son, Apsephion. Apsephion proposed that Leptines' law should be repealed, and that it should be replaced by a law that provided for a procedure to remove an illegally-obtained exemption from liturgies. The case came to court in 355–54 BC.
References
External links
Text of the speech at the Perseus Digital Library
Works by Demosthenes
355 BC
Ancient Greek orations
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