Against Timocrates

Synopsis

"Against Timocrates" was a speech given by Demosthenes in Athens in which he accused Timocrates of proposing an illegal decree. The speech provides our best evidence about the use of imprisonment as a punishment in Classical Athens. Timocrates' law would have allowed debtors to the state to go free on providing a surety, rather than being imprisoned until they paid their debts. Demosthenes' speech criticises this law on the grounds that it would unfairly advantage wealthy citizens at the expense of the poor.

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Demosthenes