7
Among those who from first to last held this opinion were Timocrates and Onetor. Of this I can give you the strongest of proofs. For the defendant wished to give his sister in marriage to Aphobus, seeing that he had got into his hands his own patrimony and mine (which was not inconsiderable) as well; but he had not confidence enough in him to abandon her marriage-portion. It was as if he felt, forsooth, that the property of guardians was a security for their wards.The remark is sarcastic. Demosthenes represents Onetor as fearing lest the suit of Demosthenes against Aphobus might make it questionable whether the latter would be in a position to repay the marriage-portion, if called upon to do so. He did, however, give him his sister, but the portion, Timocrates, who had been her former husband, agreed to keep as a loan with interest at the rate of five obols.That is, at 10 percent, instead of the ordinary 18 percent.
8
When I had won my suit against Aphobus in the matter of the guardianship and he still refused to make any just settlement, Onetor did not even try to settle our dispute, but, alleging that his sister had been divorced, and that he was unable to get back her marriage-portion, which he had paid (although he had not paid it, and it was even then in his possession), declared that he had taken a mortgage on the land, and had the effrontery to expel me from it; such was his contempt for me, and for you, and for the laws which were in force.
