Laws

Ath. And each twelfth part—of wheat and barley, for instance (and all the rest of the crops must be distributed in the same way as these, as well as all marketable animals in each district)—must be divided proportionately into three shares, of which the first shall be for the freeborn citizens, and the second for their servants; the third share shall be for craftsmen and foreigners generally, including any resident aliens who may be dwelling together and in need of necessary sustenance, and all who have come into the country at any time to transact either public or private business; and this third share of all the necessaries shall be the only one liable to compulsory sale,[*](For sales to foreigners, see below Plat. Laws 849a.: they had to buy their share of food-stuff, but the other two shares were not to be forced on to the market.) it being forbidden to sell any portion of the other two shares compulsorily. What, then, will be the best way of making these divisions? It is plain, to begin with, that our division is in one way equal, in another, unequal.

Clin. How do you mean?

Ath. Of each of these products of the soil, necessarily some parts are worse and some better.

Clin. Of course.

Ath. In respect of this, no one of the three shares shall have an undue advantage,—neither that given to the masters, nor that of the slaves, nor that of the foreigners,—but the distribution shall assign to all the same equality of similarity. Each citizen shall take two shares and have control of the distribution of them to slaves and free men respectively, in the quantity and of the quality he desires to distribute. The surplus over and above this must be distributed by weight and number as follows,—the owner must take the number of all the animals that have to be fed on the produce of the soil, and make his distribution accordingly. In the next place, there must be dwellings for the citizens separately arranged. A suitable arrangement for them will be this. There should be twelve villages, one in the middle of each of the twelve districts; and in each village we shall first select temples and a market-place for the gods and demigods; and if there exist any local deities of the Magnetes[*](The original inhabitants of the site of Clinias’s new colony (cp. Plat. Laws 702b, Plat. Laws 860e): they subsequently migrated to Magnesia in Asia Minor.) or any shrines of other ancient gods whose memory is still preserved, we shall pay to them the same worship as did the men of old; and everywhere we shall erect temples to Hestia and Zeus and Athena, and whatever other deity is the patron of the district concerned. First, buildings shall be erected round about these temples, and wherever the ground is highest, to form a stronghold, as well fenced as possible, for the garrison; and all the rest of the land we shall provide for by dividing the craftsmen into thirteen sections, of which one shall settle in the city (and this section shall be subdivided again into twelve parts, like the whole city itself, and distributed round about it in the suburbs); and in each village we shall settle the classes of craftsmen that are serviceable to farmers. Of all these the chiefs of the land-stewards shall be the supervisors, determining how many and what craftsmen each place requires, and where they shall dwell so as to be of least trouble and greatest use to the farmers.

Ath. And in like manner the board of city stewards shall diligently supervise the craftsmen in the city. All matters concerning the markets must be managed by the market-stewards. In addition to supervising the temples adjoining the market, to prevent any damage being done to them, they shall, secondly, supervise personal conduct, keeping an eye on temperate and outrageous behavior, so as to punish him who needs punishment. They shall watch over commodities put up for sale, to see that the sales which citizens are directed to make to foreigners are always legally conducted. There shall be this one law—that on the first day of the month the portion of the goods which is to be sold to foreigners shall be brought out by the managers—that is, the foreigners or slaves who act as managers for the citizens; and the first commodity shall be the twelfth share of corn, and the foreigner shall buy corn, and all that goes with it, at this first market. On the tenth day of the month, fluids sufficient to last through the month shall be sold by the one party and bought by the other. Thirdly, on the twentieth day, there shall be a sale of live-stock, as much as each party can buy or sell to suit their requirements, and also of all utensils or goods which the farmers have for sale, such as skins or any kind of clothing or woven stuff or felt or any such material; and these the foreigners must obtain from others by purchase. But neither these goods, nor barley or wheat ground into flour, nor any other kind of foodstuff whatsoever, may be sold by way of retail trade to the citizens or their slaves, or bought from any such retailer (but to the craftsmen and their slaves in the foreigners’ market a foreigner may sell and traffic in wine and corn by way of what is generally termed retail trade); and the butchers shall cut up the animals and distribute the meat to the foreigners and craftsmen and their servants. Any foreigner who wishes shall buy any kind of fuel in bulk, on any day, from the managers in the districts; and he shall sell it to the foreigners in what quantity and at what time he pleases. As to all other goods and utensils that each party requires, they shall be brought for sale to the public market, each kind to its appointed place, wherever the Law-wardens and market-stewards, with the help of the city-stewards, have marked out suitable sites and set up the stalls for market-stuff: there they shall exchange coins for goods and goods for coins, and no man shall give up his share to the other without receiving its equivalent;

Ath. and if any does thus give it up, as it were on credit, he shall make the best of his bargain,[*](Cp. Plat. Laws 742c, Plat. Laws 915e.) whether or not he recovers what is due to him, since in such transactions he can no longer sue. And if the purchase or sale is greater or more costly than is allowed by the law stating the limits of increase or decrease of property beyond which both of these transactions are forbidden, the amount of difference must at once (in the case of excess) be registered with the Law-wardens, and (in the case of deficiency) be cancelled. The same rule shall hold good regarding the registration of property in the case of resident aliens. Whosoever wishes shall enter on residence as an alien on fixed terms, since residence is permitted to a foreigner who is willing and able to reside, provided that he has a craft and remains in the country not more than twenty years from the date of his registration, without the payment of even a small aliens’ tax, except virtuous conduct, or indeed any other tax for any buying or selling; and when his time has expired, he shall depart, taking with him his own property. And if within the period of twenty years it should happen that he has proved his merit by doing some signal service to the State, and if he believes that he can persuade the Council and Assembly to grant his request and authorize a postponement of his departure, or even an extension of his residence for life, whatever request he thus succeeds in persuading the State to grant to him shall be carried out for him in full. For the children of resident aliens, who are craftsmen and over fifteen years of age, the period of residence shall commence from the fifteenth year, and such an one, after remaining for twenty years from that date, shall depart whither he pleases, or if he desires to remain, he shall gain permission in like manner, and so remain; and he that departs shall go after first cancelling the entries which were previously made by him in the register at the magistrates’ office.