Laws
state: No one who is a smith shall also be a carpenter, and if he be a
carpenter, he shall not superintend the smith's art rather than his own,
under the pretext that in superintending many servants who are working
for him, he is likely to superintend them better, because more revenue
will accrue to him from them than from his own art; but let every man in
the state have one art, and get his living by that. Let the wardens of
the city labour to maintain this law, and if any citizen incline to
any other art rather than the study of virtue, let them punish him
with disgrace and infamy, until they bring him back into his own right
course; and if any stranger profess two arts, let them chastise him
with bonds and money penalties, and expulsion from the state, until they
compel him to be one only and not many.
But as touching payments for hire, and contracts of work, or in case any
one does wrong to any of the citizens, or they do wrong to any other, up
to fifty drachmae, let the wardens of the city decide the case; but if a
greater amount be involved, then let the public courts decide according
to law. Let no one pay any duty either on the importation or exportation
of goods; and as to frankincense and similar perfumes, used in the
service of the Gods, which come from abroad, and purple and other dyes
which are not produced in the country, or the materials of any art which
have to be imported, and which are not necessary--no one should import
them; nor, again, should any one export anything which is wanted in
the country. Of all these things let there be inspectors and
superintendents, taken from the guardians of the law; and they shall be
the twelve next in order to the five seniors. Concerning arms, and all
implements which are required for military purposes, if there be need
of introducing any art, or plant, or metal, or chains of any kind, or
animals for use in war, let the commanders of the horse and the generals
have authority over their importation and exportation; the city shall
send them out and also receive them, and the guardians of the law shall
make fit and proper laws about them. But let there be no retail trade
for the sake of moneymaking, either in these or any other articles, in
the city or country at all.
With respect to food and the distribution of the produce of the country,
the right and proper way seems to be nearly that which is the custom of
Crete; for all should be required to distribute the fruits of the soil
into twelve parts, and in this way consume them. Let the twelfth portion
of each as for instance of wheat and barley, to which the rest of the
fruits of the earth shall be added, as well as the animals which are for
sale in each of the twelve divisions, be divided in due proportion into
three parts; one part for freemen, another for their servants, and a
third for craftsmen and in general for strangers, whether sojourners who
may be dwelling in the city, and like other men must live, or those
who come on some business which they have with the state, or with some
individual. Let only this third part of all necessaries be required to
be sold; out of the other two-thirds no one shall be compelled to
sell. And how will they be best distributed? In the first place, we see
clearly that the distribution will be of equals in one point of view,
and in another point of view of unequals.
CLEINIAS: What do you mean?
ATHENIAN: I mean that the earth of necessity produces and nourishes the
various articles of food, sometimes better and sometimes worse.
CLEINIAS: Of course.
ATHENIAN: Such being the case, let no one of the three portions be
greater than either of the other two--neither that which is assigned
to masters or to slaves, nor again that of the stranger; but let the
distribution to all be equal and alike, and let every citizen take his
two portions and distribute them among slaves and freemen, he having
power to determine the quantity and quality. And what remains he shall
distribute by measure and number among the animals who have to be
sustained from the earth, taking the whole number of them.
In the second place, our citizens should have separate houses duly
ordered; and this will be the order proper for men like them. There
shall be twelve hamlets, one in the middle of each twelfth portion,
and in each hamlet they shall first set apart a market-place, and the
temples of the Gods, and of their attendant demi-gods; and if there
be any local deities of the Magnetes, or holy seats of other ancient
deities, whose memory has been preserved, to these let them pay their
ancient honours. But Hestia, and Zeus, and Athene will have temples
everywhere together with the God who presides in each of the twelve
districts. And the first erection of houses shall be around these
temples, where the ground is highest, in order to provide the safest
and most defensible place of retreat for the guards. All the rest of
the country they shall settle in the following manner: They shall make
thirteen divisions of the craftsmen; one of them they shall establish
in the city, and this, again, they shall subdivide into twelve lesser
divisions, among the twelve districts of the city, and the remainder
shall be distributed in the country round about; and in each village
they shall settle various classes of craftsmen, with a view to the
convenience of the husbandmen. And the chief officers of the wardens
of the country shall superintend all these matters, and see how many of
them, and which class of them, each place requires; and fix them
where they are likely to be least troublesome, and most useful to the
husbandman. And the wardens of the city shall see to similar matters in
the city.
Now the wardens of the agora ought to see to the details of the agora.
Their first care, after the temples which are in the agora have been
seen to, should be to prevent any one from doing any wrong in dealings
between man and man; in the second place, as being inspectors of
temperance and violence, they should chastise him who requires
chastisement. Touching articles of sale, they should first see whether
the articles which the citizens are under regulations to sell to
strangers are sold to them, as the law ordains. And let the law be as
follows: On the first day of the month, the persons in charge, whoever
they are, whether strangers or slaves, who have the charge on behalf of
the citizens, shall produce to the strangers the portion which falls to
them, in the first place, a twelfth portion of the corn--the stranger
shall purchase corn for the whole month, and other cereals, on the first
market day; and on the tenth day of the month the one party shall sell,
and the other buy, liquids sufficient to last during the whole month;
and on the twenty-third day there shall be a sale of animals by those
who are willing to sell to the people who want to buy, and of implements
and other things which husbandmen sell, (such as skins and all kinds of
clothing, either woven or made of felt and other goods of the same sort)
and which strangers are compelled to buy and purchase of others. As to
the retail trade in these things, whether of barley or wheat set apart
for meal and flour, or any other kind of food, no one shall sell them
to citizens or their slaves, nor shall any one buy of a citizen; but let
the stranger sell them in the market of strangers, to artisans and their
slaves, making an exchange of wine and food, which is commonly called
retail trade. And butchers shall offer for sale parts of dismembered
animals to the strangers, and artisans, and their servants. Let any
stranger who likes buy fuel from day to day wholesale, from those who
have the care of it in the country, and let him sell to the strangers as
much as he pleases and when he pleases. As to other goods and implements
which are likely to be wanted, they shall sell them in the common
market, at any place which the guardians of the law and the wardens
of the market and city, choosing according to their judgment, shall
determine; at such places they shall exchange money for goods, and goods
for money, neither party giving credit to the other; and he who gives
credit must be satisfied, whether he obtain his money or not, for in
such exchanges he will not be protected by law. But whenever property
has been bought or sold, greater in quantity or value than is allowed by
the law, which has determined within what limits a man may increase and
diminish his possessions, let the excess be registered in the books
of the guardians of the law; or in case of diminution, let there be an
erasure made. And let the same rule be observed about the registration
of the property of the metics. Any one who likes may come and be a metic
on certain conditions; a foreigner, if he likes, and is able to settle,
may dwell in the land, but he must practise an art, and not abide more
than twenty years from the time at which he has registered himself; and
he shall pay no sojourner's tax, however small, except good conduct,
nor any other tax for buying and selling. But when the twenty years have
expired, he shall take his property with him and depart. And if in the
course of these years he should chance to distinguish himself by any
considerable benefit which he confers on the state, and he thinks that
he can persuade the council and assembly, either to grant him delay
in leaving the country, or to allow him to remain for the whole of his
life, let him go and persuade the city, and whatever they assent to at
his instance shall take effect. For the children of the metics, being
artisans, and of fifteen years of age, let the time of their sojourn
commence after their fifteenth year; and let them remain for twenty
years, and then go where they like; but any of them who wishes to
remain, may do so, if he can persuade the council and assembly. And if
he depart, let him erase all the entries which have been made by him in
the register kept by the magistrates.
BOOK IX.
Next to all the matters which have preceded in the natural order of
legislation will come suits of law. Of suits those which relate to
agriculture have been already described, but the more important have not
been described. Having mentioned them severally under their usual names,
we will proceed to say what punishments are to be inflicted for each
offence, and who are to be the judges of them.
CLEINIAS: Very good.
ATHENIAN: There is a sense of disgrace in legislating, as we are about
to do, for all the details of crime in a state which, as we say, is
to be well regulated and will be perfectly adapted to the practice of
virtue. To assume that in such a state there will arise some one who
will be guilty of crimes as heinous as any which are ever perpetrated
in other states, and that we must legislate for him by anticipation, and
threaten and make laws against him if he should arise, in order to deter
him, and punish his acts, under the idea that he will arise--this, as I
was saying, is in a manner disgraceful. Yet seeing that we are not
like the ancient legislators, who gave laws to heroes and sons of gods,
being, according to the popular belief, themselves the offspring of the
gods, and legislating for others, who were also the children of divine
parents, but that we are only men who are legislating for the sons of
men, there is no uncharitableness in apprehending that some one of our
citizens may be like a seed which has touched the ox's horn, having a
heart so hard that it cannot be softened any more than those seeds can
be softened by fire. Among our citizens there may be those who cannot be
subdued by all the strength of the laws; and for their sake, though
an ungracious task, I will proclaim my first law about the robbing of
temples, in case any one should dare to commit such a crime. I do not