of the greatest consequence; the one is the servant
of the whole body, and the other the master, in whom
all the ruling senses are by nature set. Let
the young men imagine that he hears in what has preceded
the praises of the military life; the law shall be
as follows: He shall serve in war who is on the
roll or appointed to some special service, and if
any one is absent from cowardice, and without the
leave of the generals, he shall be indicted before
the military commanders for failure of service when
the army comes home; and the soldiers shall be his
judges; the heavy-armed, and the cavalry, and the other
arms of the service shall form separate courts; and
they shall bring the heavy-armed before the heavy-armed,
and the horsemen before the horsemen, and the others
in like manner before their peers; and he who is found
guilty shall never be allowed to compete for any prize
of valour, or indict another for not serving on an
expedition, or be an accuser at all in any military
matters. Moreover, the court shall further determine
what punishment he shall suffer, or what penalty he
shall pay. When the suits for failure of service
are completed, the leaders of the several kinds of
troops shall again hold an assembly, and they shall
adjudge the prizes of valour; and he who likes searching
for judgment in his own branch of the service, saying
nothing about any former expedition, nor producing
any proof or witnesses to confirm his statement, but
speaking only of the present occasion. The crown
of victory shall be an olive wreath which the victor
shall offer up at the temple of any war-god whom he
likes, adding an inscription for a testimony to last
during life, that such an one has received the first,
the second, or the third prize. If any one goes
on an expedition, and returns home before the appointed
time, when the generals have not withdrawn the army,
he shall be indicted for desertion before the same
persons who took cognizance of failure of service,
and if he be found guilty, the same punishment shall
be inflicted on him. Now every man who is engaged
in any suit ought to be very careful of bringing false
witness against any one, either intentionally or unintentionally,
if he can help; for justice is truly said to be an
honourable maiden, and falsehood is naturally repugnant
to honour and justice. A witness ought to be very
careful not to sin against justice, as for example
in what relates to the throwing away of arms—he
must distinguish the throwing them away when necessary,
and not make that a reproach, or bring an action against
some innocent person on that account. To make
the distinction may be difficult; but still the law
must attempt to define the different kinds in some
way. Let me endeavour to explain my meaning by
an ancient tale: If Patroclus had been brought
to the tent still alive but without his arms (and this
has happened to innumerable persons), the original
arms, which the poet says were presented to Peleus
by the Gods as a nuptial gift when he married Thetis,