Categoria: Leis XI

In the next place, dealings between man and man require to be suitably regulated. The principle of them is very simple : — Thou shalt not, if thou canst help, touch that which is mine, or remove the least thing which belongs to me without my consent ; and may I be of a sound…

Ath. When goods are exchanged by selling and buying, a man shall deliver them, and receive the price of them, at a fixed place in the agora, and have done with the matter ; but he shall not buy or sell anywhere else, nor give credit. And if in any other manner or in any…

Ath. When a man makes an agreement which he does not fulfil, unless the agreement be of a nature which the law or a vote of the assembly does not allow, or which he has made under the influence of some unjust compulsion, or which he is prevented from fulfilling against his will by some…

The greater part of the dealings between man and man have been now regulated by us with the exception of those that relate to orphans and the supervision of orphans by their guardians. These follow next in order, and must be regulated in some way. But to arrive at them we must begin with the…

Greater differences than there ought to be sometimes arise between fathers and sons, on the part either of fathers who will be of opinion that the legislator should enact that they may, if they wish, lawfully renounce their son by the proclamation of a herald in the face of the world, or of sons who…

Cases in which one man injures another by poisons, and which prove fatal, have been already discussed ; but about other cases in which a person intentionally and of malice harms another with meats, or drinks, or ointments, nothing has as yet been determined. For there are two kinds of poisons used among men, which…

When a man does another any injury by theft or violence, for the greater injury let him pay greater damages to the injured man, and less for the smaller injury ; but in all cases, whatever the injury may have been, as much as will compensate the loss. And besides the compensation of the wrong,…

Ath. If a man is mad he shall not be at large in the city, but his relations shall keep him at home in any way which they can ; or if not, let them pay a penalty — he who is of the highest class shall pay a penalty of one hundred drachmae, whether…

Ath. And in such cases almost all men take to saying something ridiculous about their opponent, and there is no man who is in the habit of laughing at another who does not miss virtue and earnestness altogether, or lose the better half of greatness. Wherefore let no one utter any taunting word at a…

Now he is not to be pitied who is hungry, or who suffers any bodily pain, but he who is temperate, or has some other virtue, or part of a virtue, and at the same time suffers from misfortune ; it would be an extraordinary thing if such an one, whether slave or freeman, were…

If a slave of either sex injure anything, which is not his or her own, through inexperience, or some improper practice, and the person who suffers damage be not himself in part to blame, the master of the slave who has done the harm shall either make full satisfaction, or give up the the slave…

If any man refuses to be a witness, he who wants him shall summon him, and he who is summoned shall come to the trial ; and if he knows and is willing to bear witness, let him bear witness, but if he says he does not know let him swear by the three divinities…