he would be the most hateful of mankind to them.
And he is most hateful to them who takes a false oath,
and pays no heed to the Gods; and in the next degree,
he who tells a falsehood in the presence of his superiors.
Now better men are the superiors of worse men, and
in general elders are the superiors of the young;
wherefore also parents are the superiors of their
offspring, and men of women and children, and rulers
of their subjects; for all men ought to reverence any
one who is in any position of authority, and especially
those who are in state offices. And this is the
reason why I have spoken of these matters. For
every one who is guilty of adulteration in the agora
tells a falsehood, and deceives, and when he invokes
the Gods, according to the customs and cautions of
the wardens of the agora, he does but swear without
any respect for God or man. Certainly, it is
an excellent rule not lightly to defile the names
of the Gods, after the fashion of men in general, who
care little about piety and purity in their religious
actions. But if a man will not conform to this
rule, let the law be as follows: He who sells
anything in the agora shall not ask two prices for
that which he sells, but he shall ask one price, and
if he do not obtain this, he shall take away his goods;
and on that day he shall not value them either at more
or less; and there shall be no praising of any goods,
or oath taken about them. If a person disobeys
this command, any citizen who is present, not being
less than thirty years of age, may with impunity chastise
and beat the swearer, but if instead of obeying the
laws he takes no heed, he shall be liable to the charge
of having betrayed them. If a man sells any adulterated
goods and will not obey these regulations, he who knows
and can prove the fact, and does prove it in the presence
of the magistrates, if he be a slave or a metic, shall
have the adulterated goods; but if he be a citizen,
and do not pursue the charge, he shall be called a
rogue, and deemed to have robbed the Gods of the agora;
or if he proves the charge, he shall dedicate the
goods to the Gods of the agora. He who is proved
to have sold any adulterated goods, in addition to
losing the goods themselves, shall be beaten with
stripes—a stripe for a drachma, according
to the price of the goods; and the herald shall proclaim
in the agora the offence for which he is going to
be beaten. The wardens of the agora and the guardians
of the law shall obtain information from experienced
persons about the rogueries and adulterations of the
sellers, and shall write up what the seller ought
and ought not to do in each case; and let them inscribe
their laws on a column in front of the court of the
wardens of the agora, that they may be clear instructors
of those who have business in the agora. Enough
has been said in what has preceded about the wardens
of the city, and if anything seems to be wanting, let
them communicate with the guardians of the law, and
write down the omission, and place on a column in
the court of the wardens of the city the primary and
secondary regulations which are laid down for them
about their office.