A Klepsydra (waterclock) used to time speeches in the Athenian courts. Original in front with replica above showing the flow of water out of the top pot into the lower one.
From the Athenian Agora Museum 2008.19.0037 (LCT-149)
Apollodoros, the likely author and principal speaker in Against Neaira, was the son of Archippe and Pasion, a former slave who, upon being freed, acquired ownership of a bank and was subsequently awarded Athenian citizenship. Upon Pasion’s death, both the bank and his widow (Apollodoros’ mother) passed to Phormion, a former slave of Pasion who, like him, had been freed and acquired Athenian citizenship.
From 359 BCE, when he succeeded to the Macedonian throne, until 336, when he died, Philip of Macedon (the father of Alexander) expanded the Macedonian kingdom into an empire, an enterprise which brought him into conflict with Athens frequently until 338, when Philip’s victory at the Battle of Chaeronea in Boeotia made him the undisputed master of all Greece. The dangers to which Theomnestos refers in Against Neaira 3 were Philip’s preparations, in summer 348, for a campaign against Thrace and his clear designs on Athenian possessions and colonies in that area. The cities and regions in question are encompassed by this map. (Marilyn Katz)
