394 On the Birth-Year of Demosthenes. imply that the seven years were complete. But with re- gard to the other term, of ten years, the ambiguity is by no means so potent, and in fact among all the passages in which it occurs, there is only one where the expression seems at all to countenance Mr Clinton's conclusion, that the tenth year was not completed. This is that which he cites last in a note where he has collected most of them ; they are the last words of the Oration ag. Aphob. i : 'j^0o/3oi/ de jurjo rjv eAape rrpoiK eueKovTa airooovvai^ Kai Tavr erei ^e/cctTfo. On the other hand there are others where the completion of the term seems at first sight to be unequivocally exprest : as in the phrase ^e/ca erijov Siayevojuevcov^ p. 833. and still more strongly in the question : ov')(^ 6ol^ ereai TrpoTefjov 06/ca rajua hapoov eiyev GKeivos (ov axpAe ttjv diKrjv^ 7] Krj^eaTrjv aoi yeveadai ; which alludes to the marriage con- tracted in the last month of Polyzelus, immediately after which Demosthenes informs us that he was admitted to his estate ^ But Mr Clinton contends that "in the state- ment of the ten entire years of guardianship it was evi- dently the orator'^s interest and purpose to make the most of the amount of time. The whole period of guar- dianship was no more than ten years : and at the time of that marriage Demosthenes was yet in his minority. Hence it is manifest that the space expressed by oa leKa erri was less than ten years complete.**' This argument does not seem to me convincing. The exact time was un- doubtedly well known, and appears never to have been a subject of dispute between the litigants. Demosthenes mentions it as the basis of his calculations of the interest of sums due to him. But he as much as possible avoids the appearance of demanding anything more than is due to him upon the most moderate computation : he is con- tent with a lower rate of interest on his mother's portion than the law allows him (in Aphob. i. p. 8I9) : he is ready to make the most liberal deduction for the outlays of his guardians (p. S25. to irepiov tu^ eTTTaKoaia^ 7rpoaTi9rm.i ' Corsini by a singular oversight speaks of this marriage as that of the sister of Demosthenes : and, which is still more remarkable, Boeckh (Ueber die Zeitverhaelt- nisse der Rede gegen Meidias, p. 78) commits the same mistake.
