Aeschines: Against Timarchos

This is a commentary on Aeschines' "Against Timarchos", the prosecution speech in the politically crucial trial of 346/5BC. The case in essence was that Timarchos was legally ineligible to engage in active politics because he had engaged in improper homosexual relationships in the past and had wasted his inheritance on debauchery. The speech is our most important source for Athenian legal sanctions and moral attitudes concerning same-sex relations, and has been the focus of intense recent debates on the nature of Greek sexualities and on the relationship between sex, politics, and cultural life. It illuminates Athenian politics at the time when Athens faced the challenge to her independence from Philip of Macedon. It is a rhetorical masterpiece of misrepresentation, which persuaded the jury to convict Timarchos despite the fact that Aeschines had virtually no evidence of his misdeeds This book provides a new translation, a full introduction, and a commentary, all accessible to those without knowledge of Greek. The introduction explores the main issues of the case, including Aeschines' career, Athenian laws and attitudes relating to homosexual relations, and the reasons for Aeschin

Fisher provides an invaluable historical commentary and an extensive introduction, which summarizes much of the recent scholarship on Aeschines and Greek homosexuality ... I highly recommend Fisher's commentary for professional scholars, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates.

Nick Fisher is Reader in Ancient History at Cardiff University.