ὅσα μὴ ‘exceptwhatis (deposed) by means of themselves’; ‘nam nisi quod sibi ipsi testabuntur nullum adversus nos testem habebunt. Plutarch Timol. 3 πρᾷος διαφερόντως ὅσα μὴ μισοτύραννος εἶναι καὶ μισοπόνηρος.’ G. H. Schaefer.
ἡ—ἑτοιμότης On this circumlocution, see Kühner, Gk Gr. II § 414, 4 Anm. 3 (ed. 1898).
ὄση καἱ οἵα quanta et qualis. ‘In heaven's name, I could not tell you the extent and the character of the readiness existing on their part to perpetrate anything in the world.’ Cf. the common collocation τοσοῦτος καὶ τοιοῦτος (e. g. § 37), which may often be conveniently paraphrased as above.
ἵνα εἰδῆτε The speaker uses the plural in addressing the δικασταί, and passes off to the singular λέγε, on turning to the clerk of the court.
ἐπίλαβε τὸ ὕδωρ Or. 45 § 8; 57 § 21; Lysias Or. 23 §§ 4, 8, 11, 13, 15; Isaeus Or. 2 § 34; 3 § 12 The κλεψύδρα (Becker's Charicles, p. 212 n.) was always stopped by the attendant in charge of it (ὁ έφ᾽ ὔδωρ) during the recitation of documents. The flow of the water was stopped by placing the hand on the top of the αὐλίσκος, or short neck, of the κλεψύδρα, Aristotle, Const. of Athens, col. 33—4 (c. 67 § 3 of Kenyon's Berlin ed.) ἐπιλαμβάνει τὸν α[ὐλίσκον ὅταν ψηφισμα ἢ] νόμον ἢ μαρ[τυρίαν ἢ σύμβολον ὁ γραμμ]ατεὺς ἀναγιγν[ώσκειν μέλλη̣]. It was only the duration of the speech proper that was reckoned in the allowance of time measured by the κλεψύδρα. Or. 36 ends with the words ἐξέρα τὸ ὕδωρ ‘pour out the water,’ implying that the orator had found it unnecessary to avail himself of the full allowance of time. The Orators frequently used ὕδωρ in the sense of ‘time allotted’ for a speech, e.g. ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ ὕδατι: ἐν μικρῷ μέρει τοῦ παντὸς ὕδατος. So Or. 41 fin. πρὸς ὀλίγον ὕδωρ ἀναγκαζόμενος λέγειν, infra § 44; 40 § 38; 44 § 45; 53 § 3; 59 § 20; Deinarchus Or. 1 § 114; 2 § 6. Aeschm. Fals. Leg. § 126 πρὸς ἕνδεκα ἀμφορέας .. κρίνομαι, Dem. Or. 43 § 8. Cf. Pliny, Ep. II 11 § 14 dixi horis paene quinque; nam duodecim clepsydris quas spaiiosissimas acceperam sunt additae quatiuor.
When Goethe visited Venice, in Oct. 1786, and went to see a trial in the Ducal Palace, he found a custom in force singularly similar to that implied in the text. Whenever the advocate spoke, the time that elapsed was measured with an hourglass, which was laid on its side while the depositions were read: ‘so lange namlich der Schreiber liest, so lange läuft die Zeit nicht’ etc. (Italiänische Reise, p. 68 Düntzer).
