Page:History of Greece Vol XI.djvu/292

 266 rflSTC/RY OF GREECE. of the latest oration, Demosthenes had still received nothing ; noi do we know how much he ultimately realized, though it would seem that the difficulties thrown in his way were such as to com- pel him to forego the greater part of the claim. Nor is it certain whether he ever brought the actions, of which he speaks as in- tended, against the other two guardians Demophon and Therip- pides. 1 Demosthenes received during his youth the ordinary grammat- ical and rhetorical education of a wealthy Athenian. Even as a boy, he is said to have manifested extraordinary appetite and in- terest for rhetorical exercise. By earnest entreaty, he prevailed on his tutors to conduct him to hear Kallistratus, one of the ablest speakers in Athens, delivering an harangue in the Dikastery on the matter of Oropus. 2 This harangue, producing a profound impression upon Demosthenes, stimulated his fondness for rhetor- ical studies. Still more was the passion excited, when on attain- ing his majority, he found himself cheated of most of his paternal property, and constrained to claim his rights by a suit at law against his guardians. Being obliged, according to Athenian prac- 1 Demosth. cont. Onetor. ii. p. 880. KfK.ofj.Lafj.evov //jycT OTIOVV, nal TO.VT' t&t'h.ovTa. iroitiv vfilv avroif, sin TUV deovTuv tfiovliecr&E TrpaTreiv. That he ultimately got much less than he was entitled to, appears from his own statement in the oration against Meidias, p. 540. See Wcstermann, De Litibus quas Demosthenes oravit ipse, cap. L p. 15,16. Plutarch (Vit. X Oratt. p. 844) says that he voluntarily refrained from enforcing the judgment obtained. I do not clearly understand what is meant by ^Eschines (cont. Ktesiph. p. 78), when he designates Demosthenes as TU TrarpiJa /carayeXaoruf Kposfievof. Cell. iii. 13. Nothing positive can be made out respecting this famous trial ; neither the date, nor the exact point in question, nor the manner in which Kallistratus was concerned in it nor who were his opponents. Mnny con- jectures have been proposed, differing materially one from the other, and all uncertain. These conjectures are brought together and examined in Rchdantz, Vita Iphicratis, Chabria?, et Timothei, p. 111-114. In the month of November, 361 u. c., Kallistratus was in exile at McthonS in the Thermaic Gulf. He had been twice condemned to death by the Athe- nians (Demosth. cont. Polykl. p. 1221 ). But when these condemnations took place, we do not know.
 * Plutarch, Demosth. c. 5 ; Vit. X Orator, p. 844 ; Hermippus ap. Aul.