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[7]

To begin with （assuming that it is best to mention public matters before private）, in what way will the state give its command to us, if any duty is to be performed? The members of the tribe will, of course1, nominate us in the same way as they nominate other people. Well then; they will bring forward the name of Mantitheus, son of Mantias, of Thoricus2 if they are nominating one for choregus3 or gymnasiarch4 or feaster of the tribe5 or for any other office. By what, then, will it be made clear whether they are nominating you or me?

1 The appointment of citizens to undertake the various “liturgies” （such as, e.g., the trierarchy） was made from the tax-groups chosen by the several tribes.

2 Thoricus was a deme of the tribe Acamantis.

3 The choregus had for his duties the equipment and training of a chorus for the dramatic contests at one of the great festivals. For this purpose the tribe chose one of its richest members.

4 The gymnasiarch was appointed by the tribe to maintain a team to represent it in the torch-races, which formed a feature of certain Athenian festivals.

5 This third form of public service entailed the duty of giving the annual dinner （in the Prytaneum （?）） to the members of the tribe.

Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D., LL.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1939.

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