75
If Phormio had been poor, and it had been our fortune to be wealthy, and if, in the course of nature, anything had happened to me, this fellow’s sons would have claimed my daughters in marriage—the sons of the slave would have claimed the daughters of the master! For they are their uncles, since the man married my mother; but seeing that it is we who are poor, he will not help to portion them off, but he talks and talks, and reckons up the amount of property which I possess.
76
For this is the most absurd thing of all. Up to this day he has never seen fit to render an account of the money of which he has defrauded me, but enters a special plea that my action is not even admissible; yet he charges against me what I have received from the estate of my fathers. Other slaves one may see called to strict account by their masters, but here we see the very opposite: the fellow, though a slave, calls his master to account, thinking thereby to show him forth as a vile fellow and a prodigal.
77
For myself, men of Athens, in the matter of my outward appearance, my fast walking, and my loud voice, I judge that I am not one of those favored by nature; for in so far as I annoy others without benefiting myself, I am in many respects at a disadvantage; but since I am moderate in all my personal expenses, it will be seen that I live a much more orderly life than Phormio and others who are like him.
78
Whatever concerns the state, however, and all that concerns you, I perform, as you know, as lavishly as I can; for I am well aware that for you who are citizens by birth it is sufficient to perform public services as the laws require; we on the contrary who are created citizens ought to show that we perform them as a grateful payment of a debt. Cease, then, to fling into my teeth matters for which I should properly win commendation.
