Isaeus

7. ON THE ESTATE OF APOLLODORUS

. ON THE ESTATE OF APOLLODORUS The brothers Eupolis, Mneson, and Thrasyllus I jointly inherited a large estate from their father, who was probably named Apollodorus. Mneson died childless, and Thrasyllus died on the Sicilian expedition of 415–413, leaving a son, Apollodorus II, who was a minor and therefore came under the guardianship of his uncle, Eupolis. According to the speaker, Eupolis misappropriated the whole of Mneson’s estate, half of which belonged by law to Apollodorus, and embezzled his nephew’s property. Meanwhile, Apollodorus’ mother had remarried, and her second husband, Archedamus, brought him up in his own house. When Apollodorus reached the age of majority, Archedamus helped him win two lawsuits against Eupolis, securing his share of Mneson’s estate and the restoration of three talents. In return, Apollodorus aided Archedamus after the latter had been taken prisoner of war; later, when he was himself about to serve in the Corinthian War (395–386), Apollodorus made a will leaving his estate to his halfsister , Archedamus’ daughter, and arranging her marriage. But this will did not come into effect, because Apollodorus survived the war and in due course had a son of his own. The son died the year before this trial, however, and since Apollodorus was by now at least sixty, he determined to adopt a son. The obvious choice, given his enmity towards Eupolis’ family, was his half-sister’s son, Thrasyllus II (the speaker). Apollodorus presented Thrasyllus to his genos (descent group) and phratry at the Thargelia festival of 355, but he died before Thrasyllus had been registered in  Since both Eupolis and Thrasyllus so named their sons.  On this procedure, see Andrewes 1961: 5–6. 116 isaeus his deme though the demesmen subsequently admitted him to the list, against the protests of Apollodorus’ first cousin, the daughter of Eupolis who was married to Pronapes. Through her husband she challenged the validity of the adoption and claimed Apollodorus’ estate by a diadikasia (inheritance claim). Another potential claimant was Thrasybulus, the son of Eupolis’ other daughter (who was also now dead); but he did not make a claim, because (according to Thrasyllus ) he was satisfied that the adoption was legal (7.21) or because (according to the opponents) he had lost his rights through being adopted into another family (7.23). The cousin’s claim seems, on the face of it, to be a piece of opportunism , an attempt through a technicality to get her hands on the sizeable fortune of a man who had long been at odds with her side of the family. It is hard to imagine that Pronapes will have disputed in court that Apollodorus had fully intended to go through with the adoption; he may have argued that the old man had come under the influence of a woman and so the adoption was invalid, though Thrasyllus makes no direct mention of this (he perhaps hints at it at 7.36). Nevertheless, it is clear that the proper formalities of adoption had not been completed when Apollodorus died, and Pronapes may well have entered a claim immediately. Thrasyllus was left in an awkward position: he could not enter a declaration (diamartyria) that the estate was not adjudicable because there was a legitimate F = Aeschines F = Pronapes (the opponents) Apollodorus II Apollodorus III F Thrasyllus II (the speaker, adopted by Apollodorus II) Thrasyllus I = F = Archedamus Mneson Apollodorus I Eupolis I Eupolis II M Thrasybulus Stemma on the estate of apollodorus 117 son; and he had not been adopted by a will, nor was he the next of kin (since in Athenian law kin on the father’s side took precedence over kin on the mother’s side, and Thrasyllus was in any case only Apollodorus’ half-nephew, being the son of his half-sister, not his nephew). He therefore emphasizes the affection between the families of Apollodorus and Archedamus and the hostility between Apollodorus and Eupolis; and he describes at length the measures that Apollodorus took to adopt him before his death. He also highlights how his opponents had allowed the family of Apollodorus III, the son of Eupolis and brother of Pronapes’ wife, to become extinct, a danger he claims was now threatening the house of Apollodorus II as well. It seems, then, that the law favored the wife of Pronapes, but equity favored Thrasyllus. We do not know how the jurors decided. Isaeus’ main...