7
Since, then, gentlemen, no one of my brother's relatives was present when he died and I was abroad when his remains were brought hither, I am obliged to use the actual statements of my adversaries to prove that the will is a forgery. It is only reasonable to suppose that Astyphilus did not merely feel a desire to adopt a son, but also provided that whatever dispositions he made should be as effectual as possible, and that, whomsoever he adopted, that person should both possess his estate and have access to his ancestral altars and perform all the customary rites for himself after his death and for his forefathers.
8
He would be assured that all these intentions would be best effected, not if he made his will without the attestation of any of his friends, but if he summoned first his kinsmen, then the members of his ward and deme, and finally as many as possible of his other acquaintances; for then anyone who might claim the estate either as next-of-kin or as legatee could be easily convicted of false pretences.
9
Astyphilus is shown to have taken none of these precautions, and not to have summoned any of the persons whom I have mentioned when he made the will which my opponents allege that he made—unless, indeed, anyone has been suborned by them to state that he was present. I will myself produce all these persons before you as witnesses.
10
Witnesses
10
Cleon will perhaps contend that you ought not to draw any conclusions from the evidence of these witnesses, because they merely depose that they have no knowledge of the making of this will by Astyphilus. But in my opinion, since the controversy is about a will and about the adoption of a son by Astyphilus, more weight should be attached by you to the evidence of the intimate friends of the deceased, when they declare that they were not present on so important an occasion, than to the evidence of those who have no connection with him, to the effect that they were present.
