And if, in like manner, a brother wounds a brother, the parents andkindred of either sex, including the children of cousins, whether onthe male or female side, shall meet, and when they have judged thecause, they shall entrust the assessment of damages to the parents, asis natural; and if the estimate be disputed, then the kinsmen on themale side shall make the estimate, or if they cannot, they shallcommit the matter to the guardians of the law. And when similarcharges of wounding are brought by children against their parents,those who are more than sixty years of age, having children of theirown, not adopted, shall be required to decide; and if any one isconvicted, they shall determine whether he or she ought to die, orsuffer some other punishment either greater than death, or, at anyrate, not much less. A kinsman of the offender shall not be allowed tojudge the cause, not even if he be of the age which is prescribed bythe law. If a slave in a fit of anger wound a freeman, the owner ofthe slave shall give him up to the wounded man, who may do as hepleases with him, and if be not give him up he shall himself make goodthe injury. And if any one says that the slave and the wounded man areconspiring together, let him argue the point, and if he is cast, heshall pay for the wrong three times over, but if he gains his case,the freeman who conspired with the slave shall reliable to an actionfor kidnapping. And if any one unintentionally wounds another he shallsimply pay for the harm, for no legislator is able to controlchance. In such a case the judges shall be the same as those who areappointed in the case of children suing their parents; and theyshall estimate the amount of the injury.
All the preceding injuries and every kind of assault are deeds ofviolence; and every man, woman, or child ought to consider that theelder has the precedence of the younger in honour, both among the Godsand also among men who would live in security and happiness. Whereforeit is a foul thing and hateful to the Gods to see an elder manassaulted by a younger in the city; and it is reasonable that ayoung man when struck by an elder should lightly endure his anger,laying up in store for himself a like honour when he is old. Letthis be the law:-Every one shall reverence his elder in word and deed;he shall respect any one who is twenty years older than himself,whether male or female, regarding him or her as his father ormother; and he shall abstain from laying hands on any one who is of anage to have been his father or his mother, out of reverence to theGods who preside over birth; similarly he shall keep his hands froma stranger, whether he be an old inhabitant or newly arrived; he shallnot venture to correct such an one by blows, either as the aggressoror in self-defence. If he thinks that some stranger has struck him outof wantonness or insolence, and ought to be punished, he shall takehim to the wardens of the city, but let him not strike him, that thestranger may be kept far away from the possibility of lifting up hishand against a citizen, and let the wardens of the city take theoffender and examine him, not forgetting their duty to the God ofStrangers, and in case the stranger appears to have struck the citizenunjustly, let them inflict upon him as many blows with the scourgeas he has himself inflicted, and quell his presumption. But if he beinnocent, they shall threaten and rebuke the man who arrested him, andlet them both go. If a person strikes another of the same age orsomewhat older than himself, who has no children, whether he be an oldman who strikes an old man or a young man who strikes a young man, letthe person struck defend himself in the natural way without a weaponand with his hands only. He who, being more than forty years of age,dares to fight with another, whether he be the aggressor or in selfdefence, shall be regarded as rude and ill-mannered andslavish;-this will be a disgraceful punishment, and therefore suitableto him. The obedient nature will readily yield to such exhortations,but the disobedient, who heeds not the prelude, shall have the lawready for him:-If any man smite another who is older than himself,either by twenty or by more years, in the first place, he who is athand, not being younger than the combatants, nor their equal in age,shall separate them, or be disgraced according to law; but if he bethe equal in age of the person who is struck or younger, he shalldefend the person injured as he would a brother or father or stillolder relative. Further, let him who dares to smite an elder betried for assault, as I have said, and if he be found guilty, lethim be imprisoned for a period of not less than a year, or if thejudges approve of a longer period, their decision shall be final.
