It is requisite that those who deliberate about, and perform any
thing, should begin from the Gods: for it is best, as the proverb
says, for God to be the cause of all our deliberations and works.
And, farther still, it is requisite to abstain from base actions,
and especially on account of consulting with God. For there is no
communication between God and him who is unjust. Every one, also,
should give assistance to himself, and should incite himself to the
undertaking and performance of such things as are conformable to his
desert; since for a man to extend himself similarly to small and
great undertakings appears to be too sordid and illiberal. Hence, you
should be very careful to avoid falling vehemently into things of an
extended nature, and of great consequence. But, in every undertaking,
you should measure your own desert and power, in order that you may
obtain honour and veneration.
Let no assistance be afforded to a man or woman who has been
condemned by the city, nor let any one associate with such a person,
or if he does, let him be disgraced, as being similar to him or her
with whom he associates. But it is proper to love men who, from
the previous decision of the city, are good, and to associate with
them; and by imitating and acquiring in reality their virtue and
probity, to be thus initiated in the greatest and most perfect of
the mysteries. For no man is perfect without virtue. And assistance
should be given to an injured citizen, whether he is in his own, or
in a foreign country. But let every stranger who was venerated in
his own country, and conformably to the proper laws of that country,
be received and dismissed auspiciously and familiarly, calling to
mind hospitable Jupiter, as a God who is established by all nations
in common, and who is the inspective guardian of hospitality and
inhospitality.
Let more elderly men also preside over such as are younger, so
that the latter may be ashamed of and deterred from vice, through
reverence and fear of the former. For in cities in which more elderly
men are shameless, the children and grandchildren of these are also
destitute of shame. But wanton insolence and injustice are the
attendants of shamelessness and impudence. And destruction follows
these. Let, however, no one be impudent[22], but let every one be
modest and temperate; because he will thus have the Gods propitious
to him, and will procure for himself salvation. For no vicious man is
dear to divinity. Let every one likewise honour probity and truth,
and hate what is base and false. For these are the indications of
virtue and vice. Hence it is requisite to accustom children from
their youth [to worthy manners], by punishing those that are lovers
of falsehood, but being delighted with those that are lovers of
truth, in order that in each that which is most beautiful, and most
prolific of virtue, may be implanted. Each of the citizens, likewise,
should be more anxious to pretend to be temperate than to pretend
to be wise: for the pretence of wisdom is a great indication of an
ignorance of probity, and is also a sign of pusillanimity. But let
the pretence of temperance be considered as a true claim to it. For
no one should feign with his tongue, that he performs beautiful
deeds, when at the same time he is both destitute of worthy conduct
and good intentions.
It is likewise requisite to preserve benevolence towards rulers,
being obedient to and venerating them as if they were parents. For he
who does not conceive that this is proper will suffer the punishment
of bad counsel from the dæmons who are the inspective guardians of
the seat of empire. For the rulers are the guardians of the city, and
of the safety of the citizens.
But it is also necessary that governors should preside justly over
those that are governed, in the same manner as over their own
children, in passing sentence on others, laying asleep hatred,
friendship, and anger.
Let those likewise be praised and celebrated who, being themselves in
affluence, have assisted the indigent, and let them be considered as
the saviours of the children and defenders of their country. And let
the wants of those be relieved who are poor through fortune, and not
through an indolent and intemperate life. For fortune is common to
all men, but an indolent and intemperate life is peculiar to bad men.
Let it also be considered as a worthy deed, to point out any one
who has acted unjustly, in order that the polity may be saved,
which has many guardians of its decorous arrangement. But let the
indicator of the unjust action be considered as a pious man, though
his information should be respecting his most familiar acquaintance.
For nothing is more familiar and allied to a man than his country.
Let, however, the indication be made, not of things done through
involuntary ignorance, but of such crimes as have been committed from
a previous knowledge [of their enormity.] And if he who is detected
should be hostile to him by whom he is detected, let him be hated by
all men, in order that he may suffer the punishment of ingratitude,
through which he deprives himself of being cured of the greatest of
diseases injustice.
Farther still, let a contempt of the Gods be considered as the
greatest of iniquities, and also injuring parents voluntarily, the
neglecting rulers and laws, and voluntarily dishonouring justice. But
let him be considered as a most just and holy citizen who honours
these things, and indicates to the citizens and rulers those that
despise them.
Let it be esteemed to be more venerable for a man to die for his
country than, through a desire of life, to desert it, together
with probity. For it is better to die well than to live basely and
disgracefully.
It is likewise requisite to honour each of the dead, not with tears
nor with lamentations, but with good remembrance, and with an
oblation of annual fruits. For when we grieve immoderately for those
that are dead, we are ungrateful to the terrestrial dæmons.
Let no one curse him by whom he has been injured. For praise is more
divine than defamation.
Let him be thought to be a better citizen who is superior to anger,
than him who is an offender through it.
Let not him be praised but disgraced, who, in the sumptuousness of
his expence, surpasses temples and palaces. For let nothing private
be more magnificent and venerable than things of a public nature.
Let him who is a slave to wealth and money be despised, as one who
is pusillanimous and illiberal, and is astonished by sumptuous
possessions, and let him be considered as one who leads a tragical
life, and whose soul is vile. For he who is magnanimous foresees with
himself all human concerns, and is not disturbed by any thing of this
kind [whether prosperous or adverse], when it accedes.
Let no one speak obscenely, in order that he may not in his thoughts
approach to base deeds, and that he may not fill his soul with
impudence and defilement. For we call things which are decorous and
lovely, by their proper names, and by those appellations which are
established by law. But we abstain from naming things to which we are
hostile, on account of their baseness. Let it also be considered as
base, to speak of a base thing.
Let every one dearly love his lawful wife, and beget children from
her. But let no one emit the seed of his children[23] into any other
person; nor let him illegally consume that which is honourable both
by nature and law, and act with wanton insolence. For nature produced
the seed, for the sake of procreating children, and not for the sake
of lust.
But it is requisite that a wife should be chaste, and should not
admit the impious connection with other men, as by so doing she will
subject herself to the vengeance of the dæmons, whose office it is
to expel those to whom they are hostile from their houses, and to
produce hatred.
Let not him be praised who gives a stepmother to his children[24],
but disgraced, as being the cause of domestic dissension.
And as it is proper to observe these mandates, let him who
transgresses them be obnoxious to political execration.
The law also orders that these _proems_ should be known by all the
citizens, and should be read in festivals after the pæans[25] by him
who is appointed for this purpose by the master of the feast, in
order that the precepts may be inserted in the minds of all that hear
them.