[742] Corinth was the most corrupt as well as the most commercial of Greek cities, and held a number of great courtesans, indeed some of the most celebrated, e.g. Laïs, Cyrené, Sinopé, practised their profession there; they, however, set a very high value on their favours, and hence the saying, "_Non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum_"--"it is not for every man to go to Corinth." [743] This was the mild punishment inflicted upon the adulterer by Athenian custom. The laws of Solon were very indulgent to this kind of crime; they only provided that the guilty woman might be repudiated by her husband, but were completely silent concerning her accomplice. [744] Cario means to convey that women often paid their lovers, or at all events made it their business to open up the road to fortune for them. [745] In order to receive the _triobolus,_ the fee for attendance. [746] The richest citizens were saddled with this expense and were called trierarchs. [747] Athens had formed an alliance with Corinth and Thebes against Sparta in 393 B.C., a little before the production of the 'Plutus.' Corinth, not feeling itself strong enough to resist the attacks of the Spartans unaided, had demanded the help of an Athenian garrison, and hence Athens maintained some few thousand mercenaries there. [748] A civil servant, who had been exiled for embezzling State funds. [749] No doubt an accomplice of Pamphilus in his misdeeds; the Scholiast says he was one of his parasites. [750] An upstart and, through the favour of the people, an admiral in the year 389 B.C., after Thrasybulus; he had enriched himself through some rather equivocal state employments and was insolent, because of his wealth, 'as a well-fed ass.' [751] A buffoon, so the Scholiasts inform us, who was in the habit of visiting the public places of the city in order to make a little money by amusing the crowd with ridiculous stories. Others say he was a statesman of the period, who was condemned for embezzlement of public money; in his defence he may well have invented some fabulous tales to account for the disappearance of the money out of the Treasury. [752] The precise historical reference here is obscure. [753] Laïs, a celebrated courtesan.--Of Philonides little is known, except that he was a native of Melita and a rich and profligate character. [754] The reference is no doubt to a pretentious construction that had been built for the rich and over-proud Timotheus, the son of Conon. He was a clever general of great integrity; when the 'Plutus' was produced, he was still very young. [755] Chremylus rises in a regular climax from love to military glory; the slave in as direct an anti-climax comes from bread, sweetmeats, etc., down to lentils.