Against Timocrates
   HOME





Against Timocrates
"Against Timocrates" was a speech given by Demosthenes in Athens in which he accused Timocrates of proposing an illegal decree. The speech provides our best evidence about the use of imprisonment as a punishment in Classical Athens. Timocrates' law would have allowed debtors to the state to go free on providing a surety, rather than being imprisoned until they paid their debts. Demosthenes' speech criticises this law on the grounds that it would unfairly advantage wealthy citizens at the expense of the poor. Historical background The speech can be dated to the summer of 353 BC. A series of events led to the trial. Three Athenians in 355 BC, including Androtion, whilst sailing as ambassadors to Mausolus, the King of Caria, captured a merchant ship near Naucratis, claiming lawful seizure of enemy property. The ambassadors held onto the plunder they received until a commission was appointed into the matter, moved by Euctemon and Diodorus. Euctemon and Diodorus gave information ag ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


picture info

Demosthenes
Demosthenes (; ; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by studying the speeches of previous great orators. He delivered his first judicial speeches at the age of 20, in which he successfully argued that he should gain from his guardians what was left of his inheritance. For a time, Demosthenes made his living as a professional speechwriter ( logographer) and a lawyer, writing speeches for use in private legal suits. Demosthenes grew interested in politics during his time as a logographer, and in 354 BC he gave his first public political speeches. He went on to devote his most productive years to opposing Macedon's expansion. He idealized his city and strove throughout his life to restore Athens' suprema ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


picture info

Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southernmost capital on the European mainland. With its urban area's population numbering over 3.6 million, it is the List of urban areas in the European Union, eighth-largest urban area in the European Union (EU). The Municipality of Athens (also City of Athens), which constitutes a small administrative unit of the entire urban area, had a population of 643,452 (2021) within its official limits, and a land area of . Athens is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years, and its earliest human presence beginning somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennia BCE. According to Greek mythology the city was named after Athena, the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


Surety
In finance, a surety , surety bond, or guaranty involves a promise by one party to assume responsibility for the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. Usually, a surety bond or surety is a promise by a person or company (a ''surety'' or ''guarantor'') to pay one party (the ''obligee'') a certain amount if a second party (the ''principal'') fails to meet some obligation, such as fulfilling the terms of a contract. The surety bond protects the obligee against losses resulting from the principal's failure to meet the obligation. Overview A surety bond is defined as a contract among at least three parties: * the ''obligee'': the party who is the recipient of an obligation * the ''principal'': the primary party who will perform the contractual obligation * the ''surety'': who assures the obligee that the principal can perform the task European surety bonds can be issued by banks and surety companies. If issued by banks they are called "Bank Guaranties" in English a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


Androtion
Androtion (; before 405after 346 BC), was a Greek orator, and one of the leading politicians of his time. He was born between 415 and 405 BC, the son of Andron, who was a member of the Four Hundred and an associate of Theramenes. Androtion was probably Andron's first son, and seems to have inherited his fortune. In the late 390s or early 380s BC, he studied under Isocrates. He may have been the author of a work on agriculture which survives in fragmentary form. Androtion began his political career not long before 385, and the first position we can place him as holding is that of epistates, some time in the 370s BC. Androtion held various other positions during his career, including governing Arkesine on Amorgos for at least two years up to 357–6, and being a member of the boule in 356/5 BC. In 355–4, Androtion was brought to trial by Euktemon and Diodorus, accused of illegally proposing a crown be awarded to the Council of Five Hundred at the end of its term of office ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


picture info

Mausolus
Mausolus ( or , ''Mauśoλ'') was a ruler of Caria (377–353 Common Era, BCE) and a satrap of the Achaemenid Empire. He enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position created by his father Hecatomnus ( ), who was the first satrap of Caria from the hereditary Hecatomnid dynasty. Alongside Caria, Mausolus also ruled Lycia and parts of Ionia and the Dodecanese islands. He is best known for his monumental tomb and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the construction of which has traditionally been ascribed to his wife and sister Artemisia II of Caria, Artemisia. Name Mausolus' name is only known directly in Greek ( or ). It is clearly of Carian language, Carian origin, though, and would have been written as *𐊪𐊠𐊲𐊸𐊫𐊦 (''*Mauśoλ'') or similar. This is a compound name perhaps meaning "much blessed". The first part, ''*Ma-'', may mean "much", similar to the same word in Hieroglyphic Luwian. The sec ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


picture info

Caria
Caria (; from Greek language, Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; ) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Carians were described by Herodotus as being Anatolian mainlanders and they called themselves Caria because of the name of their king.''The Histories'', Book I Section 171. He reports the Carians themselves maintained that they were Anatolian mainlanders intensely engaged in seafaring and were akin to the Mysians and the Lydians. The Carians spoke Carian language, Carian, a native Anatolian language closely related to Luwian language, Luwian. Also closely associated with the Carians were the Leleges, which could be an earlier name for Carians. Municipalities of Caria Cramer's detailed catalog of Carian towns is based entirely on ancient sources. The multiple names of towns and geomorphic features, such as bays and headlands, reveal an ethnic layering consistent with the known colonization. ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


picture info

Naucratis
Naucratis or Naukratis (Ancient Greek: , "Naval Command"; Egyptian: , , , Coptic: ) was a city and trading-post in ancient Egypt, located on the Canopic (western-most) branch of the Nile river, south-east of the Mediterranean sea and the city of Alexandria. Naucratis was the first and, for much of its early history, the only permanent Greek settlement in Egypt, serving as a symbiotic nexus for the interchange of Greek and Egyptian art and culture. The modern villages of Kom Gi'eif, el-Nibeira and el-Niqrash cover the archaeological site, which is of great importance. It is the source of numerous art objects in many of the world's museums, as well as pottery inscribed with some of the earliest known examples of Greek writing. The sister port of Naucratis was the harbour town of Heracleion, which was discovered in 2000. Background Archaeological evidence suggests that the history of the ancient Greeks in Egypt dates back at least to Mycenaean times (1600–1100 BC) and more ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]


Trierarch
Trierarch () was the title of officers who commanded a trireme (''triēres'') in the classical Greek world. In Classical Athens, the title was associated with the trierarchy (τριηραρχία, ''triērarchia''), one of the public offices or liturgies Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a community, communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, ..., which were filled by wealthy citizens for a year. As the name implies, the trierarch was responsible for the outfitting and crewing of a trireme, and for commanding it in battle. Trierarchs thus had to be men of considerable means, since the expenses incurred could run as high as a talent in the course of a year. As the cost of the office was great, co-trierarchs (''syntriērarchoi'') were also appointed. By the 4th century BC, trierarchies in Athens were assumed by navy boards ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]




Graphe Paranomon
The ''graphḗ paranómōn'' (), was a form of legal action believed to have been introduced at Athens under the democracy sometime around the year 415 BC; it has been seen as a replacement for ostracism, which fell into disuse around the same time, although this view is not held by David Whitehead, who points out that the ''graphe paranomon'' was a legal procedure with legal ramifications, including shame, and the convicted had officially committed a crime, whereas the ostrakismos was not shameful in the least. The name means "suit against (bills) contrary to the laws." The suit could be brought against laws or decrees that had already been passed, or earlier when they were merely proposals. Once someone announced under oath that he intended to bring such a suit, the legislation or decree in question was suspended until the matter was resolved. The thinking was that, as there was no mechanism in Athens for unmaking a law, any new law should not be in contradiction with the alrea ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   [Amazon]