Demosthenes, Speeches 27-38

37. Against Pantaenetus

37. AGAINST PANTAENETUS 1 The Greek expression prasis epi lysei is not actually used in this speech or in any Athenian text, but selling epi lysei is recorded on a number of horoi, stones marking ownership of pieces of land; cf. Harris 1988. introduction The speech Against Pantaenetus is written for delivery by a man named Nicobulus. Neither Nicobulus nor Pantaenetus is otherwise known, but it appears from the speech that both were Athenian citizens , not metics. The original agreement between them was made in the spring of 347 bc (37.6), after which Nicobulus went off on a trading voyage to the Black Sea, and the dispute arose after his return; thus the date of the speech is probably 346. There is no reason to doubt that it was written by Demosthenes. The Athenian silver mines were owned by the state and let out on lease. Pantaenetus was the lessee of a mine, and he had a workshop with thirty slave workmen for processing the silver ore obtained from it. However, he could not afford to buy the workshop and workmen outright, and so he held them on an arrangement which is sometimes called “sale with a view to release” or “sale with right of redemption.”1 This was much like a lease by which the lessee paid a monthly rent to the lessor, but with the difference that the agreement gave Pantaenetus the right to buy the property at the original price if he wished to do so within a stated period of time. The terminology used for such an arrangement is confusing, because either the debtor or the creditor is liable to be spoken of as the owner of the property: sometimes the man whom we may call the debtor or lessee (such as Pantaenetus) is 174 demosthenes 2 It is not known whether this Euergus is the same man as the one in Oration 47. said to have bought the property with money lent to him by the other party; sometimes the creditor or lessor is said to have bought it; thus the monthly payments made by Pantaenetus may be called either interest or rent. According to Nicobulus’ account the course of events was as follows . The workshop and workmen were bought by Mnesicles from a previous owner named Telemachus for 105 minas, of which 45 minas was contributed by two other men, Phileas and Pleistor. The agreement was that Pantaenetus was to have the use of them, with the right of redemption, for a rent of 105 drachmas a month. After a while Mnesicles wished to sell the property, and so it was bought by Nicobulus and his friend Euergus2 at the same price of 105 minas, of which Nicobulus paid 45 and Euergus 60 minas. They made an agreement with Pantaenetus on exactly the same terms as his previous agreement with Mnesicles: he was to pay rent of 105 drachmas a month, of which we may assume 45 drachmas was to go to Nicobulus and 60 drachmas to Euergus. However, the figure of 105 minas seems to need further explanation , because we are told that the property was later sold for 3 talents 2,600 drachmas (37.31), equivalent to 206 minas. Granted that the value of property may vary over time, it is strange if the workshop and workmen almost doubled in value over a short period. It has therefore been suggested that Mnesicles, Phileas, and Pleistor did not pay the whole of the price, and the difference was made up by Pantaenetus. That may be correct; but, I suggest, it produces a more economical hypothesis if we bring into the account at this point the other men who later claimed to have lent money to Pantaenetus (37.7). They seem to have been friends of his, but their names are not given; since they claimed to be creditors but their claim was disputed, I shall call them the “creditors” in quotation marks. My suggestion is that the “creditors ” did lend approximately 101 minas, while Mnesicles, Phileas, and Pleistor provided 105 minas, enabling the workshop and workmen to be bought for approximately 206 minas for Pantaenetus’ use. Then what Mnesicles later sold to Nicobulus and Euergus, though they prob- 37. against pantaenetus 175 ably did not realize it at the time, was not really full ownership but only a partial or encumbered ownership of the workshop and workmen , which served also...