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Plato : LAWS
Persons of the dialogue: An Athenian stranger - Cleinias, a Cretan = Note by Elpenor |
This Part: 69 Pages
Part 4 Page 12
Touching the exaction of penalties, when a man appears to have done anything which deserves a fine, he shall pay the fine, if he have anything in excess of the lot which is assigned to him; but more than that he shall not pay. And to secure exactness, let the guardians of the law refer to the registers, and inform the judges of the precise truth, in order that none of the lots may go uncultivated for want of money. But if any one seems to deserve a greater penalty, let him undergo a long and public imprisonment and be dishonoured, unless some of his friends are willing to be surety for him, and liberate him by assisting him to pay the fine. No criminal shall go unpunished, not even for a single offence, nor if he have fled the country; but let the penalty be according to his deserts - death, or bonds, or blows, or degrading places of sitting or standing, or removal to some temple on the borders of the land; or let him pay fines, as we said before. In cases of death, let the judges be the guardians of the law, and a court selected by merit from the last year's magistrates. But how the causes are to be brought into to court, how the summonses are to be served, the like, these things may be left to the younger generation of legislators to determine; the manner of voting we must determine ourselves.
Laws part 5 of 5. Back to Part 1 / 2 / 3. You are at part 4
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