Now the respect shall be, that the freedman go three times in themonth to the hearth of the person who freed him and offer to dowhatever he ought, so far as he can; and he shall agree to make such amarriage as his former master approves. He shall not be permitted tohave more property than he who gave him liberty, and what more hehas shall belong to his master. The freedman shall not remain in thestate more than twenty years, but like other foreigners shall go away,taking his entire property with him, unless he has the consent ofthe magistrates and of his former master to remain. If a freedman orany other stranger has a property greater than the census of the thirdclass, at the expiration. of thirty days from the day on which thiscomes to pass, he shall take that which is his and go his way, andin this case he shall not be allowed to remain any longer by themagistrates. And if any one disobeys this regulation, and is broughtinto court and convicted, he shall be punished with death, hisproperty shall be confiscated. Suits about these matters shall takeplace before the tribes, unless the plaintiff and defendant have gotrid of the accusation either before their neighbours or beforejudges chosen by them. If a man lay claim to any animal or anythingelse which he declares to be his, let the possessor refer to theseller or to some honest and trustworthy person, who has given, orin some legitimate way made over the property to him; if he be acitizen or a metic, sojourning in the city, within thirty days, or, ifthe property have been delivered to him by a stranger, within fivemonths, of which the middle month shall include the summer solstice.
When goods are exchanged by selling and buying, a man shall deliverthem, and receive the price of them, at a fixed place in the agora,and have done with the matter; but he shall not buy or sell anywhereelse, nor give credit. And if in any other manner or in any otherplace there be an exchange of one thing for another, and the sellergive credit to the man who buys fram him, he must do this on theunderstanding that the law gives no protection in cases of things soldnot in accordance with these regulations. Again, as tocontributions, any man who likes may go about collecting contributionsas a friend among friends, but if any difference arises about thecollection, he is to act on the understanding that the law gives noprotection in such cases. He who sells anything above the value offifty drachmas shall be required to remain in the city for ten days,and the purchaser shall be informed of the house of the seller, with aview to the sort of charges which are apt to arise in such cases,and the restitutions which the law allows. And let legal restitutionbe on this wise:-If a man sells a slave who is in a consumption, orwho has the disease of the stone, or of strangury, or epilepsy, orsome other tedious and incurable disorder of body or mind, which isnot discernible to the ordinary man, if the purchaser be a physicianor trainer, he shall have no right of restitution; nor shall therebe any right of restitution if the seller has told the truthbeforehand to the buyer. But if a skilled person sells to anotherwho is not skilled, let the buyer appeal for restitution within sixmonths, except in the case of epilepsy, and then the appeal may bemade within a year. The cause shall be determined by such physiciansas the parties may agree to choose; and the defendant, if he losethe suit, shall pay double the price at which he sold. If a privateperson sell to another private person, he shall have the right ofrestitution, and the decision shall be given as before, but thedefendant, if he be cast, shall only pay back the price of theslave. If a person sells a homicide to another, and they both knowof the fact, let there be no restitution in such a case, but if hedo not know of the fact, there shall be a right of restitution,whenever the buyer makes the discovery; and the decision shall restwith the five youngest guardians of the law, and if the decision bethat the seller was cognisant the fact, he shall purify the house ofthe purchaser, according to the law of the interpreters, and shall payback three times the purchase-money.
If man exchanges either money for money, or anything whatever foranything else, either with or without life, let him give and receivethem genuine and unadulterated, in accordance with the law. And let ushave a prelude about all this sort of roguery, like the preludes ofour other laws. Every man should regard adulteration as of one and thesame class with falsehood and deceit, concerning which the many aretoo fond of saying that at proper times and places the practice mayoften be right. But they leave the occasion, and the when, and thewhere, undefined and unsettled, and from this want of definitenessin their language they do a great deal of harm to themselves and toothers. Now a legislator ought not to leave the matter undetermined;he ought to prescribe some limit, either greater or less. Let thisbe the rule prescribed:-No one shall call the Gods to witness, when hesays or does anything false or deceitful or dishonest, unless he wouldbe the most hateful of mankind to them. And he is most hateful to themtakes a false oath, and pays no heed to the Gods; and in the nextdegree, he who tells a falsehood in the presence of his superiors. Nowbetter men are the superiors of worse men, and in general elders arethe superiors of the young; wherefore also parents are the superiorsof their off spring, and men of women and children, and rulers oftheir subjects; for all men ought to reverence any one who is in anyposition of authority, and especially those who are in stateoffices. And this is the reason why I have spoken of these matters.
