William Watson Goodwin, Commentary on Demosthenes: On the Crown

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1. ἐν οἷς εἰσηγγελλόμην (cf. ἐν οἷς ἡμάρτανον, § 19.3). The εἰσαγγελία was partly a state prosecution, which was first brought before the Senate (rarely before the Assembly). If the Senate accepted the εἰσαγγελία, it referred the case to the Heliastic court for trial, unless it settled it by inflicting a fine not exceeding 500 drachmas.

2. τὸ μέρος τῶν ψήφων: cf. §§ 103.2, 266.6. A comparison of Hyperides (Lycoph. 8), διὰ τὸ ἀκίνδυνον αὐτοῖς εἶναι τὸν ἀγῶνα, with Lycurgus (Leocr. 3), τὸν ἰδίᾳ κινδυνεύοντα, and Pollux (VIII. 52, 53), shows that in earlier times no penalty was inflicted on the εἰσαγγέλλων who failed to get one-fifth of the votes, but that afterwards he was subject to the fine without the ἀτιμία.

4. τἄριστά με πράττειν: i.e. the judgment of the court justified this expression in Ctesiphon's decree (§ 57.1).

5. ἔννομα γράφειν: opposed to παράνομα γράφειν: see note on γραφὰς, §249.3.

6. τὰς εὐθύνας ἐπεσημαίνεσθε, put your seal on my accounts: this probably refers to the official seal of the δικαστήριον before which Demosth. appeared to render his accounts (εὔθυναι) at the end of each term of office. See Aristotle, Pol. Ath. 48.18, 54.6.

10. τὸν δῆμον τιθέμενον: this re- peated approval of the people refers to the votes mentioned in § 248.

11. δικαστὰς: sc. τιθεμένους. The present judges are addressed above (6) as if they had themselves judged the previous cases.—τὴν ἀλήθειαν: with special emphasis, after τὸν δῆμον and τοὺς δικαστὰς.

This passage is a dignified and fitting conclusion to the line of argument beginning with § 227 concerning the orator's account (λογισμός) with the state. Now, after a brief allusion (§ 251) to the case of Cephalus, he passes to another matter.