TRIAL OF AN OLD GREEK CORN-RING 37* 



And this was no harsh provision before the birth of rhetoric and logic 

 when natural eloquence alone existed and professional oratory was not 

 dreamed of. The establishment of the popular courts and the above 

 requirement changed the literary vehicle from poetry to prose, as a 

 mode of expression better adapted to argument and logical treatment, 

 and finally the professional rhetorician came into the field just after 

 the death of Pericles, that eloquent political "boss" of Athens. At 

 this time, Gorgias, the famous Sicilian orator, showed the Athenians, 

 as embassador, the miraculous possibilities of their language and it 

 at once became the style to cultivate oratory as a fine art. The 

 ordinary man was now severely handicapped in a contest at court with 

 a pupil of the professional rhetorician and lack of time, inclination or 

 ability forced the suitor, if himself unskilled, to hire a logographer 

 or speech-writer to prepare his speech for delivery. 



The logographer wrote the speech and gave his client (if we may 

 so call him) some instruction in general delivery. He was not a 

 lawyer, in our sense, his duties ceasing when the case came to court; 

 though at intervals, we find a "next friend," who serves as assistant 

 speaker without pay. The speech-writer did not appear in a pro- 

 fessional capacity and the delivered speech disclosed no identity which 

 suggested a violation of the laws on pleading and practise. 



The first logographer who wrote for pay was the orator, Antiphon, 

 the master of criminal law. Isaeus has left us an extended collection 

 of his speeches, drawn up for suitors in inheritance cases. Demosthenes, 

 after being looted by his guardians, took to speech-writing as a liveli- 

 hood and laid the foundation of a greater fortune than the one he had 

 lost. Lysias, a reduced metic (resident alien) at Athens, whose prop- 

 erty had been confiscated by the "Thirty Tyrants," was probably the 

 most famous and cleverest speech-writer of his times, if we can take 

 Plato's word (Phsedrus 228A). His character-study of the manners 

 and mannerisms of the actual suitor was so thorough that the delivered 

 speech became the apparent thought and word of the pleader himself. 

 Not being a citizen, Lysias was practically out of politics and political 

 speeches and so confined his attention to the remunerative preparation 

 of the private speeches of those who wished to win their case. The 

 senator who prosecutes the grain-dealers evidently considered that, in 

 obtaining the services of the expert Lysias, he was doing all in his 

 power to aid the public weal and to protect and enhance his own civic 

 and political reputation. 



While undoubtedly Lysias was " for the prosecution," — whether 

 that word is interpreted to mean the unknown senator or the state — 

 we know nothing of the counsel for the defense — unless we have a 

 right to infer that the corn-ring employed the regularly, though 

 stealthily, retained, " corporation " defense-writer. 



