Athenian Stranger. In this way: In the first place, our spectatorshall be of not less than fifty years of age; he must be a man ofreputation, especially in war, if he is to exhibit to other cities amodel of the guardians of the law, but when he is more than sixtyyears of age he shall no longer continue in his office of spectator,And when he has carried on his inspection during as many out of theten years of his office as he pleases, on his return home let him goto the assembly of those who review the laws. This shall be a mixedbody of young and old men, who shall be required to meet daily betweenthe hour of dawn and the rising of the sun. They shall consist, in thefirst place, of the priests who have obtained the rewards of virtue;and in the second place, of guardians of the law, the ten eldest beingchosen; the general superintendent of education shall also bemember, as well the last appointed as those who have been releasedfrom the office; and each of them shall take with him as his companionyoung man, whomsoever he chooses, between the ages of thirty andforty. These shall be always holding conversation and discourseabout the laws of their own city or about any specially good oneswhich they may hear to be existing elsewhere; also about kinds ofknowledge which may appear to be of use and will throw light uponthe examination, or of which the want will make the subject of lawsdark and uncertain to them. Any knowledge of this sort which theelders approve, the younger men shall learn with all diligence; and ifany one of those who have been invited appear to be unworthy, thewhole assembly shall blame him who invited him. The rest of the cityshall watch over those among the young men who distinguish themselves,having an eye upon them, and especially honouring them if theysucceed, but dishonouring them above the rest if they turn out to beinferior. This is the assembly to which he who has visited theinstitutions of other men, on his return home shall straightway go,and if he have discovered any one who has anything to say about theenactment of laws or education or nurture, or if he have himselfmade any observations, let him communicate his discoveries to thewhole assembly. And if he be seen to have come home neither better norworse, let him be praised at any rate for his enthusiasm; and if he bemuch better, let him be praised so much the more; and not only whilehe lives but after his death let the assembly honour him withfitting honours. But if on his return home he appear to have beencorrupted, pretending to be wise when he is not, let him hold nocommunication with any one, whether young or old; and if he willhearken to the rulers, then he shall be permitted to live as a privateindividual; but if he will not, let him die, if he be convicted in acourt of law of interfering about education and the laws, And if hedeserve to be indicted, and none of the magistrates indict him, letthat be counted as a disgrace to them when the rewards of virtue aredecided.
Let such be the character of the person who goes abroad, and let himgo abroad under these conditions. In the next place, the strangerwho comes from abroad should be received in a friendly spirit. Nowthere are four kinds of strangers, of whom we must make somemention-the first is he who comes and stays throughout the summer;this class are like birds of passage, taking wing in pursuit ofcommerce, and flying over the sea to other cities, while the seasonlasts; he shall be received in market-places and harbours and publicbuildings, near the city but outside, by those magistrates who areappointed to superintend these matters; and they shall take carethat a stranger, whoever he be, duly receives justice; but he shallnot be allowed to make any innovation. They shall hold the intercoursewith him which is necessary, and this shall be as little aspossible. The second kind is just a spectator who comes to see withhis eyes and hear with his ears the festivals of the Muses; such oughtto have entertainment provided them at the temples by hospitablepersons, and the priests and ministers of the temples should see andattend to them. But they should not remain more than a reasonabletime; let them see and hear that for the sake of which they came,and then go away, neither having suffered nor done any harm. Thepriests shall be their judges, if any of them receive or do anywrong up to the sum of fifty drachmae, but if any greater charge bebrought, in such cases the suit shall come before the wardens of theagora. The third kind of stranger is he who comes on some publicbusiness from another land, and is to be received with public honours.
He is to be received only by the generals and commanders of horseand foot, and the host by whom he is entertained, in conjunctionwith the Prytanes, shall have the sole charge of what concerns him.
There is a fourth dass of persons answering to our spectators, whocome from another land to look at ours. In the first place, suchvisits will be rare, and the visitor should be at least fifty years ofage; he may possibly be wanting to see something that is rich and rarein other states, or himself to show something in like manner toanother city. Let such an one, then, go unbidden to the doors of thewise and rich, being one of them himself: let him go, for example,to the house of the superintendent of education, confident that heis a fitting guest of such a host, or let him go to the house ofsome of those who have gained the prize of virtue and hold discoursewith them, both learning from them, and also teaching them; and whenhe has seen and heard all, he shall depart, as a friend taking leaveof friends, and be honoured by them with gifts and suitable tributesof respect. These are the customs, according to which our cityshould receive all strangers of either sex who come from othercountries, and should send forth her own citizens, showing respectto Zeus, the God of hospitality, not forbidding strangers at meals andsacrifices, as is the manner which prevails among the children ofthe Nile, nor driving them away by savage proclamations.
