ANTIPHON, of Rhamnus in Attica, the earliest of the "ten" Attic orators, was born in 48o B.C. He was largely responsible for the establishment of the Four Hundred in 411 (see THERAMENES) ; on the restoration of the democracy he was accused of treason and condemned to death (Thuc. viii. 68) . He was a professional speech-writer for other litigants, and never addressed the people himself except when he defended his policy at his trial. Fifteen of his speeches are extant : twelve are school exercises, divided into tetralogies, each consisting of two speeches for prosecution and two for defence ; three refer to actual legal processes. All deal with cases of homicide (4ovucai 8ixac). Antiphon is also said to have composed a TEXva or art of Rhetoric.
See edition, with commentary, by Maetzner (1838) ; text by Blass (188i) ; Jebb, Attic Orators; Plutarch, Vitae X. Oratorum; Philostra tus. Vit. Sophistarnm, i. 15; van Cleef, Index Antiphonteus, Ithaca, N.Y. (1895) ; P. Hamberger in Die nedneriscke Disposition in der alten TEXvn bn-ropudi (Paderborn, 1914)—deals with Antiphon's style. See also RHETORIC.