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For instance, the murderers of one of your own citizens, Ephialtes,1 have remained undiscovered to this day; it would have been unfair to his companions to require them to conjecture who his assassins were under pain of being held guilty of the murder themselves. Moreover, the murderers of Ephialtes made no attempt to get rid of the body, for fear of the accompanying risk of publicity—unlike myself, who, we are told, took no one into my confidence when planning the crime, but then sought help for the removal of the corpse.
1 The murder had been committed some forty-five years before (first half of 461). Ephialtes was an extreme radical, and in conjunction with Pericles was responsible for the violent attack made upon the prerogatives of the Areopagus in 462. His assassination was the result. Aristotle states that the crime was committed by Aristodicus of Tanagra, employed for the purpose by Ephialtes' enemies. This may well be true, as it suited Antiphon's requirements here to assume that the mystery had never been satisfactorily solved. Cf. Aristot. 35.5, Dio. Sic. 11.77.6, Plut. Per. 10.