primary text reader part 1

Ancient History Reader

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... 4

How to Read a Primary Source ..................................................................................................................................... 5

Neolithic ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7

Please watch: Catal Huyuk ....................................................................................................................................... 7

Sumeria .......................................................................................................................................................................... 7

Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet 1 ...................................................................................................................................... 7

Please watch: The Royal Tombs of Ur ..................................................................................................................... 9

The Legend of Sargon, c. 2300 BC ........................................................................................................................... 9

Legal Contracts from Sumeria ................................................................................................................................. 10

Contract for the Sale of a Slave, Reign of Rim-Sin, c. 2300 B.C. ....................................................................... 10

Contract for the Sale of Real Estate, Sumer, c. 2000 B.C. .................................................................................. 10

Contract for Lease of Real Estate, 60 Year Term, Thirty-sixth year of Artaxerxes, 428 B.C. ............................ 11

HAMMURABI'S CODE OF LAWS ....................................................................................................................... 11

On the ancient city of Emar (a secondary source) ................................................................................................... 31

Egypt ........................................................................................................................................................................... 31

Please Watch: Exploring the Step Pyramid ............................................................................................................ 31

Precepts of Ptah-Hotep ............................................................................................................................................ 31

Read: Overview of Pyramid Construction .............................................................................................................. 38

Please Watch: King Tut’s Tomb ............................................................................................................................. 38

India ............................................................................................................................................................................. 39

Please listen to this podcast ..................................................................................................................................... 39

Greece .......................................................................................................................................................................... 39

Please scan this photo: ............................................................................................................................................. 39

Aristotle, The Athenian Constitution, Section 1 ...................................................................................................... 39

Aristotle, Politics, Book 2 ........................................................................................................................................ 48

BOOK TWO ............................................................................................................................................................ 48

I ............................................................................................................................................................................ 48

II .......................................................................................................................................................................... 48

III ......................................................................................................................................................................... 49

IV ......................................................................................................................................................................... 50

V .......................................................................................................................................................................... 51


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VI ......................................................................................................................................................................... 54

VII ....................................................................................................................................................................... 56

Frontinus, The Aquaducts of Rome, Book 1:1-23 ................................................................................................... 56

Carthage ....................................................................................................................................................................... 63

Aristotle, Carthaginian Constitution ........................................................................................................................ 63

Rome ........................................................................................................................................................................... 65

Please scan this picture: ........................................................................................................................................... 65

Polybius, History of Rome, Book 6 ......................................................................................................................... 65

Vitruvius: On Architecture ..................................................................................................................................... 78

Procopius, Buildings ................................................................................................................................................ 79

Book 1, Chapter 1 ................................................................................................................................................ 79

Book 2.1 (Fortifications and Cities in the Persian Empire) ................................................................................. 84

Islam ............................................................................................................................................................................ 87

Yakut: Baghdad under the Abbasids, c. 1000 CE .................................................................................................... 87


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INTRODUCTION

I created this reader for two reasons: 1) Our topic for the quarter is ancient cities, and it was

impossible to find a book with primary texts on this particular topic. 2) The book I normally use

in this course is now about $90, which is a bit excessive. This will save you money since all the

texts below are out of copyright and can be copied for educational purposes. It contains video

and links to websites that relate to the material we are reading about.

I give the websites of all the texts in case you would like to read more than what I have given

you. The first chapter (How To Read a Primary Source) is taken from my book, Voices of Early

Christianity (published in 2013). Although it was written for a book on early Christianity, it is

still applicable to reading any primary text.


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HOW TO READ A PRIMARY

SOURCE

For ancient history, the primary sources for

information come from documents that were

written and archaeology that was

constructed during a particular time period

being studied. Since this volume

concentrates primarily on texts, it is

important to understand what needs to be

considered when reading a book or a letter

written by someone nearly 2,000 years ago.

Modern people, when examining primary

texts, need to think about a number of

questions beyond the actual message found

in the text. Questions that are usually asked

are: What is the history of the text itself?

Do the originals exist, and if not, how was

the text reconstructed? It is then important

to think about: Who wrote it? Who was it

written to? What are the circumstances that

led to the creation of the letter/book?

Before looking at authorship,

audience, and context, some observations

should be made words about the texts or

manuscripts (from the Latin manus=hand

and scripto=to write) should be said. First,

many texts from the first centuries of

Christianity are not the originals. For

example, the oldest part of the New

Testament that exists today is a very small

fragment of the Gospel of John, dated to the

early part of the second century. It isn’t

until the 300s C.E. when we find

manuscripts that contain large parts of the

New Testament. Second, to make matters

more difficult, there are over 5,000

manuscripts of the Greek New Testament

(Greek was the original language) and there

are differences found throughout these

thousands of texts, sometimes small,

sometimes large. To manage these

differences, the manuscripts are organized

into “families” which often originate from a

particular geographical area. In the case of

the Alexandrian family of manuscripts, they

originate near Alexandria, Egypt. The

modern printing of the Greek and Latin New

Testament will contain a critical apparatus,

found at the bottom of the page, which

contains some of the major variations found

between different manuscript families or

differences between individual texts. For

example, the title of the Gospel of John is

“According to John” in most manuscripts,

but the critical apparatus notes that in other

manuscripts, the title is “The Gospel

According to John.” Thus the texts of the

Old and New Testaments we have today are

essentially put together by modern scholars

who are trying to determine what the

original wording was.

The originals of many Christian

writings which came after the composition


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of the Biblical texts also do not exist

anymore. Over time they have disappeared

or were destroyed, either on purpose or by

accident, so modern readers are reliant on

copies or even copies of copies. An

example of this is found in Eusebius of

Caesarea’s Church History (written in the

late 200s/early 300s). Eusebius was the first

historian to actively cite his sources.

Sometimes the citations he gives are the

only evidence we have of these writings.

When we are lucky enough to have a

number of copies of the same book, usually

they are not exactly the same, which is

similar to the problems with the biblical

texts. These difficulties with the Biblical

and later texts usually stem from the process

of producing books/letters in the ancient

world. Books were time-consuming and

expensive to produce. The process began

when one person would sit down to copy a

book by hand, or someone would stand up in

front of a group of scribes and read the

original while the scribes would copy down

what they heard. Many mistakes can enter a

text in this way. The person copying the

text could start to daydream and miss whole

sections. A word could be misspelled, or

even misplaced in the copied version. The

person reading could accidently skip a part

of the text causing the scribes to replicate

the same mistake. Sometimes the problem

lies with the copy itself—pages could have

been missing and then this missing section is

just wholesale transferred to the copy being

made. The original being used could have

also been corrupted in some way and the

mistakes carried over into the copy.

Another item to consider when

reading primary texts is that they were

obviously not written in English. The texts

provided in this volume were originally in

Greek, Latin, and Coptic (an Egyptian

language). This is something to take into

account when reading ancient texts.

Translation is a difficult process, and

mistakes can also be made. A problem with

translating is that it isn’t as easy as giving a

word-for-word account. Sometimes the

translator is forced to add something that the

original does not have in order to make it

understandable to a modern reader. For

example, Latin lacks definite and indefinite

articles, which are “the” for definite and “a”

and “an” for indefinite (“the book,” as

opposed to “a book”). This means that

when it is translated into English, the

translator must make a decision as to

whether the original author meant something

very specific (“the book”) or more general

(“a book”). Usually the context will guide

the translator.

Once these issues are dealt with, the

contents of the text can then examined. As

mentioned above, there are three things that

need to be looked at: authorship, the

intended audience, and the context of the

message. If the author is known, this can

give the reader some background (if we are

lucky enough to know something about the

author) as to why the text was written. If the

name of the author is attached, the reader

then should also consider whether that

person is actually the real author. Many

texts from early Christianity were

supposedly written by a famous person, but


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scholars have discovered that for some, the

authorship was by someone else. For

example, some of the Gnostic texts from

Nag Hammadi, Egypt, have the names of

some of the Twelve Disciples attached to

them, but many times the texts were written

centuries after their death. This is also the

case for some texts from the New

Testament. There are many writings

attributed to Paul that are now believed to

have been written by Paul’s followers,

probably after his death. If the text is

anonymous, then the reader needs to ask

why that is the case. Modern readers do not

need to necessarily mistrust an anonymous

text, but it could lead to other questions such

as “was it dangerous to put the name of the

author on the text?”

Modern readers also need to consider

the intended audience (who the original

author was specifically writing to) and the

context (the reason for the text being written

and/or information on the social

environment of the author and the intended

audience). Knowing who the intended

audience was will help readers discover why

it was written in the first place. Ancient

letters usually include the addressee. For

example, Paul the Apostle states the

intended audience in his Letter to the

Romans (the title of which was given later)

in Romans 1:7 “To all God's beloved in

Rome, who are called to be saints.” Many

books during this period were also addressed

to particular people. For example, Justin

Martyr addressed his First Apology: “To the

Emperor Titus Aelius Adrianus Antoninus

Pius Augustus Cæsar, and to his son

Verissimus the Philosopher, and to Lucius

the Philosopher, the natural son of Caesar,

and the adopted son of Pius, a lover of

learning, and to the sacred Senate, with the

whole People of the Romans.” Sometimes,

as in the case of Justin’s First Apology, the

context can be better determined by looking

who the author was directing his book to.

Many times the context can also be

discovered just by reading the text. Other

times, modern readers will have to do a bit

of historical investigation on the manuscript

itself to gain a better understanding of the

text.1

NEOLITHIC

PLEASE WATCH: CATAL HUYUK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

CNZRzKChn84&feature=player_embedded

SUMERIA

EPIC OF GILGAMESH, TABLET 1

(http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/

mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab11.htm)

1 Give reference to my book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNZRzKChn84&feature=player_embedded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNZRzKChn84&feature=player_embedded

http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab11.htm

http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab11.htm


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He who has seen everything, I will make

known (?) to the lands.

I will teach (?) about him who experienced

all things,

... alike,

Anu granted him the totality of knowledge

of all.

He saw the Secret, discovered the Hidden,

he brought information of (the time) before

the Flood.

He went on a distant journey, pushing

himself to exhaustion,

but then was brought to peace.

He carved on a stone stela all of his toils,

and built the wall of Uruk-Haven,

the wall of the sacred Eanna Temple, the

holy sanctuary.

Look at its wall which gleams like

copper(?),

inspect its inner wall, the likes of which no

one can equal!

Take hold of the threshold stone--it dates

from ancient times!

Go close to the Eanna Temple, the residence

of Ishtar,

such as no later king or man ever equaled!

Go up on the wall of Uruk and walk around,

examine its foundation, inspect its

brickwork thoroughly.

Is not (even the core of) the brick structure

made of kiln-fired brick,

and did not the Seven Sages themselves lay

out its plans?

One league city, one league palm gardens,

one league lowlands, the open area(?) of the

Ishtar Temple,

three leagues and the open area(?) of Uruk it

(the wall) encloses.

Find the copper tablet box,

open the ... of its lock of bronze,

undo the fastening of its secret opening.

Take and read out from the lapis lazuli tablet

how Gilgamesh went through every

hardship.

Supreme over other kings, lordly in

appearance,

he is the hero, born of Uruk, the goring wild

bull.

He walks out in front, the leader,

and walks at the rear, trusted by his

companions.

Mighty net, protector of his people,

raging flood-wave who destroys even walls

of stone!

Offspring of Lugalbanda, Gilgamesh is

strong to perfection,

son of the august cow, Rimat-Ninsun;...

Gilgamesh is awesome to perfection.

It was he who opened the mountain passes,

who dug wells on the flank of the mountain.

It was he who crossed the ocean, the vast

seas, to the rising sun,

who explored the world regions, seeking

life.

It was he who reached by his own sheer

strength Utanapishtim, the Faraway,

who restored the sanctuaries (or: cities) that

the Flood had destroyed!

... for teeming mankind.

Who can compare with him in kingliness?

Who can say like Gilgamesh: "I am King!"?

Whose name, from the day of his birth, was

called "Gilgamesh"?

Two-thirds of him is god, one-third of him is

human.

The Great Goddess [Aruru] designed(?) the

model for his body,

she prepared his form ...

... beautiful, handsomest of men,

... perfect

...

He walks around in the enclosure of Uruk,

Like a wild bull he makes himself mighty,


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head raised (over others).

There is no rival who can raise his weapon

against him.

His fellows stand (at the alert), attentive to

his (orders ?),

and the men of Uruk become anxious in ...

Gilgamesh does not leave a son to his father,

day and night he arrogant[y(?) ...2

PLEASE WATCH: THE ROYAL TOMBS

OF UR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl

ayer_embedded&v=Z4uuoHc6k9w

THE LEGEND OF SARGON, C. 2300

BC

1. Sargon, the mighty king, king of Akkadê

am I,

2. My mother was lowly; my father I did not

know;

3. The brother of my father dwelt in the

mountain.

4. My city is Azupiranu, which is situated on

the bank of the Purattu [Euphrates],

2 Taken from

5. My lowly mother conceived me, in secret

she brought me forth.

6. She placed me in a basket of reeds, she

closed my entrance with bitumen,

7. She cast me upon the rivers which did not

overflow me.

8. The river carried me, it brought me to

Akki, the irrigator.

9. Akki, the irrigator, in the goodness of his

heart lifted me out,

10. Akki, the irrigator, as his own son

brought me up;

11. Akki, the irrigator, as his gardener

appointed me.

12. When I was a gardener the goddess

Ishtar loved me,

13. And for four years I ruled the kingdom.

14. The black-headed peoples I ruled, I

governed;

15. Mighty mountains with axes of bronze I

destroyed (?).

16. I ascended the upper mountains;

17. I burst through the lower mountains.

18. The country of the sea I besieged three

times;

19. Dilmun I captured (?).

20. Unto the great Dur-ilu I went up, I . . . . .

. . . .

21 . . . . . . . . . .I altered. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

22. Whatsoever king shall be exalted after

me,

23. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Z4uuoHc6k9w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Z4uuoHc6k9w


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24. Let him rule, let him govern the black-

headed peoples;

25. Mighty mountains with axes of bronze

let him destroy;

26. Let him ascend the upper mountains,

27. Let him break through the lower

mountains;

28. The country of the sea let him besiege

three times;

29. Dilmun let him capture;

30. To great Dur-ilu let him go up.

LEGAL CONTRACTS FROM

SUMERIA

CONTRACT FOR THE SALE OF A

SLAVE, REIGN OF RIM-SIN, C.

2300 B.C.

(http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/me

sopotamia-contracts.asp )

In this transaction the sellers simply

guarantee to make no further claim upon the

slave. It dates from about 2300 B.C., and is

interesting as an index of the legal

development of that far-off time.

Sini-Ishtar has bought a slave, Ea-tappi by

name, from Ilu-elatti, and Akhia, his son,

and has paid ten shekels of Silver, the price

agreed. Ilu-elatti, and Akhia, his son, will

not set up a future claim on the slave. In the

presence of Ilu-iqisha, son of Likua; in the

presence of Ilu-iqisha, son of Immeru; in the

presence of Likulubishtum, son of Appa, the

scribe, who sealed it with the seal of the

witnesses. The tenth of Kisilimu, the year

when Rim-Sin, the king, overcame the

hostile enemies.

CONTRACT FOR THE SALE OF

REAL ESTATE, SUMER, C. 2000

B.C.

This is a transaction from the last days of

Sumerian history. It exhibits a form of

transfer and title which has a flavor of

modern business method about it.

Sini-Ishtar, the son of Ilu-eribu, and Apil-Ili,

his brother, have bought one third Shar of

land with a house constructed, next the

house of Sini-Ishtar, and next the house of

Minani; one third Shar of arable land next

the house of Sini-Ishtar, which fronts on the

street; the property of Minani, the son of

Migrat-Sin, from Minani, the son of Migrat-

Sin. They have paid four and a half shekels

of silver, the price agreed. Never shall

further claim be made, on account of the

house of Minani. By their king they swore.

(The names of fourteen witnesses and a

http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/mesopotamia-contracts.asp

http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/mesopotamia-contracts.asp


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scribe then follow.) Month Tebet, year of

the great wall of Karra-Shamash.

CONTRACT FOR LEASE OF REAL

ESTATE, 60 YEAR TERM, THIRTY-

SIXTH YEAR OF ARTAXERXES,

428 B.C.

This complicated contract is of unusual

interest, since the lease is for so long a

period; the rent is paid in advance, and the

lessee is in the same instrunnent guaranteed

against all future contingencies.

Baga'miri, son of Mitradatu, spoke of his

own free-will to Belshum-iddin, son of

Murashu, saying: "I will lease my cultivated

field and uncultivated land, and the

cultivated field and uncultivated land of

Rushundati, my father's deceased brother,

which is situated on the bank of the canal of

Sin, and the bank of the canal Shilikhti, and

the dwelling houses in the town of Galiya,

on the north, adjoining the field of Nabu-

akhi-iddin, son of Ninib-iddin, and adjoining

the field of Banani-erish, a citizen of

Nippur; on the south, adjoining the field of

Minu-Bel-dana, son of Balatu; on the east,

the bank of the canal of Sin; on the west, the

bank of the canal of Shilikhti, and adjoining

the field of Rushundati, the overseer (?) of

Artaremu---all to use and to plant for sixty

years. The rent of the cultivated field will be

twenty talents of dates; and the uncultivated

field (I will lease) for planting." Afterward

Bel-shum-iddin, son of Murashu, accepted

his offer with reference to the cultivated

field and the uncultivated field, his part and

the part of Rushundati, his uncle, deceased;

he shall hold for sixty years the cultivated

portion of it for a rental of twenty talents of

dates per year, and the uncultivated portion

for planting. Each year in the month Tishri,

Bel-shum-iddin unto Baga'miri will give

twenty talents of dates for the use of that

field. The whole rent of his field for sixty

years Baga'miri, son of Mitradatu, has

received from the hands of Bel-shum-iddin,

son of Murashu. If, in the future, before

sixty years are completed, Baga'miri shall

take that field from Bel-shum-iddin,

Baga'miri shall pay one talent of silver to

Bel-shum-iddin for the work which he shall

have done on it and the orchard which he

shall have planted. In case any claim should

arise against that field, Baga'miri shall settle

it and pay instead of Bel-shum-iddin. From

the month Nisan, of the thirty-seventh year

of Artaxerxes, the king, that field, for use

and for planting, shall be in the possession

of Bel-shum-iddin, son of Murashu, for sixty

years. (The names of thirty witnesses and a

scribe follow, eleven of whom left the

impressions of their seals on the edges of the

tablet).

HAMMURABI'S CODE OF LAWS

(http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/ha

mcode.asp#text)

(circa 1780 B.C.)

Translated by L. W. King

When Anu the Sublime, King of the

Anunaki, and Bel, the lord of Heaven and

earth, who decreed the fate of the land,

assigned to Marduk, the over-ruling son of

Ea, God of righteousness, dominion over

earthly man, and made him great among the

Igigi, they called Babylon by his illustrious

http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/hamcode.asp#text

http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/hamcode.asp#text


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name, made it great on earth, and founded

an everlasting kingdom in it, whose

foundations are laid so solidly as those of

heaven and earth; then Anu and Bel called

by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted

prince, who feared God, to bring about the

rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy

the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the

strong should not harm the weak; so that I

should rule over the black-headed people

like Shamash, and enlighten the land, to

further the well-being of mankind.

Hammurabi, the prince, called of Bel am I,

making riches and increase, enriching

Nippur and Dur-ilu beyond compare,

sublime patron of E-kur; who reestablished

Eridu and purified the worship of E-apsu;

who conquered the four quarters of the

world, made great the name of Babylon,

rejoiced the heart of Marduk, his lord who

daily pays his devotions in Saggil; the royal

scion whom Sin made; who enriched Ur; the

humble, the reverent, who brings wealth to

Gish-shir-gal; the white king, heard of

Shamash, the mighty, who again laid the

foundations of Sippara; who clothed the

gravestones of Malkat with green; who

made E-babbar great, which is like the

heavens, the warrior who guarded Larsa and

renewed E-babbar, with Shamash as his

helper; the lord who granted new life to

Uruk, who brought plenteous water to its

inhabitants, raised the head of E-anna, and

perfected the beauty of Anu and Nana;

shield of the land, who reunited the scattered

inhabitants of Isin; who richly endowed E-

gal-mach; the protecting king of the city,

brother of the god Zamama; who firmly

founded the farms of Kish, crowned E-me-

te-ursag with glory, redoubled the great holy

treasures of Nana, managed the temple of

Harsag-kalama; the grave of the enemy,

whose help brought about the victory; who

increased the power of Cuthah; made all

glorious in E-shidlam, the black steer, who

gored the enemy; beloved of the god Nebo,

who rejoiced the inhabitants of Borsippa, the

Sublime; who is indefatigable for E-zida; the

divine king of the city; the White, Wise;

who broadened the fields of Dilbat, who

heaped up the harvests for Urash; the

Mighty, the lord to whom come scepter and

crown, with which he clothes himself; the

Elect of Ma-ma; who fixed the temple

bounds of Kesh, who made rich the holy

feasts of Nin-tu; the provident, solicitous,

who provided food and drink for Lagash and

Girsu, who provided large sacrificial

offerings for the temple of Ningirsu; who

captured the enemy, the Elect of the oracle

who fulfilled the prediction of Hallab, who

rejoiced the heart of Anunit; the pure prince,

whose prayer is accepted by Adad; who

satisfied the heart of Adad, the warrior, in

Karkar, who restored the vessels for worship

in E-ud-gal-gal; the king who granted life to

the city of Adab; the guide of E-mach; the

princely king of the city, the irresistible

warrior, who granted life to the inhabitants

of Mashkanshabri, and brought abundance

to the temple of Shidlam; the White, Potent,

who penetrated the secret cave of the

bandits, saved the inhabitants of Malka from

misfortune, and fixed their home fast in

wealth; who established pure sacrificial gifts

for Ea and Dam-gal-nun-na, who made his

kingdom everlastingly great; the princely

king of the city, who subjected the districts

on the Ud-kib-nun-na Canal to the sway of

Dagon, his Creator; who spared the

inhabitants of Mera and Tutul; the sublime

prince, who makes the face of Ninni shine;

who presents holy meals to the divinity of

Nin-a-zu, who cared for its inhabitants in

their need, provided a portion for them in

Babylon in peace; the shepherd of the

oppressed and of the slaves; whose deeds

find favor before Anunit, who provided for

Anunit in the temple of Dumash in the


13

suburb of Agade; who recognizes the right,

who rules by law; who gave back to the city

of Ashur its protecting god; who let the

name of Ishtar of Nineveh remain in E-

mish-mish; the Sublime, who humbles

himself before the great gods; successor of

Sumula-il; the mighty son of Sin-muballit;

the royal scion of Eternity; the mighty

monarch, the sun of Babylon, whose rays

shed light over the land of Sumer and

Akkad; the king, obeyed by the four quarters

of the world; Beloved of Ninni, am I.

When Marduk sent me to rule over men, to

give the protection of right to the land, I did

right and righteousness in . . . , and brought

about the well-being of the oppressed.

CODE OF LAWS

1. If any one ensnare another, putting a ban

upon him, but he can not prove it, then he

that ensnared him shall be put to death.

2. If any one bring an accusation against a

man, and the accused go to the river and

leap into the river, if he sink in the river his

accuser shall take possession of his house.

But if the river prove that the accused is not

guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who

had brought the accusation shall be put to

death, while he who leaped into the river

shall take possession of the house that had

belonged to his accuser.

3. If any one bring an accusation of any

crime before the elders, and does not prove

what he has charged, he shall, if it be a

capital offense charged, be put to death.

4. If he satisfy the elders to impose a fine of

grain or money, he shall receive the fine that

the action produces.

5. If a judge try a case, reach a decision, and

present his judgment in writing; if later error

shall appear in his decision, and it be

through his own fault, then he shall pay

twelve times the fine set by him in the case,

and he shall be publicly removed from the

judge's bench, and never again shall he sit

there to render judgement.

6. If any one steal the property of a temple

or of the court, he shall be put to death, and

also the one who receives the stolen thing

from him shall be put to death.

7. If any one buy from the son or the slave

of another man, without witnesses or a

contract, silver or gold, a male or female

slave, an ox or a sheep, an ass or anything,

or if he take it in charge, he is considered a

thief and shall be put to death.

8. If any one steal cattle or sheep, or an ass,

or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to

the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold

therefor; if they belonged to a freed man of

the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has

nothing with which to pay he shall be put to

death.

9. If any one lose an article, and find it in the

possession of another: if the person in whose

possession the thing is found say "A

merchant sold it to me, I paid for it before

witnesses," and if the owner of the thing say,

"I will bring witnesses who know my

property," then shall the purchaser bring the

merchant who sold it to him, and the

witnesses before whom he bought it, and the

owner shall bring witnesses who can

identify his property. The judge shall

examine their testimony--both of the

witnesses before whom the price was paid,

and of the witnesses who identify the lost

article on oath. The merchant is then proved

to be a thief and shall be put to death. The

owner of the lost article receives his

property, and he who bought it receives the


14

money he paid from the estate of the

merchant.

10. If the purchaser does not bring the

merchant and the witnesses before whom he

bought the article, but its owner bring

witnesses who identify it, then the buyer is

the thief and shall be put to death, and the

owner receives the lost article.

11. If the owner do not bring witnesses to

identify the lost article, he is an evil-doer, he

has traduced, and shall be put to death.

12. If the witnesses be not at hand, then shall

the judge set a limit, at the expiration of six

months. If his witnesses have not appeared

within the six months, he is an evil-doer, and

shall bear the fine of the pending case.

[editor's note: there is no 13th law in the

code, 13 being considered and unlucky and

evil number]

14. If any one steal the minor son of another,

he shall be put to death.

15. If any one take a male or female slave of

the court, or a male or female slave of a

freed man, outside the city gates, he shall be

put to death.

16. If any one receive into his house a

runaway male or female slave of the court,

or of a freedman, and does not bring it out at

the public proclamation of the major domus,

the master of the house shall be put to death.

17. If any one find runaway male or female

slaves in the open country and bring them to

their masters, the master of the slaves shall

pay him two shekels of silver.

18. If the slave will not give the name of the

master, the finder shall bring him to the

palace; a further investigation must follow,

and the slave shall be returned to his master.

19. If he hold the slaves in his house, and

they are caught there, he shall be put to

death.

20. If the slave that he caught run away from

him, then shall he swear to the owners of the

slave, and he is free of all blame.

21. If any one break a hole into a house

(break in to steal), he shall be put to death

before that hole and be buried.

22. If any one is committing a robbery and is

caught, then he shall be put to death.

23. If the robber is not caught, then shall he

who was robbed claim under oath the

amount of his loss; then shall the

community, and . . . on whose ground and

territory and in whose domain it was

compensate him for the goods stolen.

24. If persons are stolen, then shall the

community and . . . pay one mina of silver to

their relatives.

25. If fire break out in a house, and some

one who comes to put it out cast his eye

upon the property of the owner of the house,

and take the property of the master of the

house, he shall be thrown into that self-same

fire.

26. If a chieftain or a man (common soldier),

who has been ordered to go upon the king's

highway for war does not go, but hires a

mercenary, if he withholds the

compensation, then shall this officer or man

be put to death, and he who represented him

shall take possession of his house.

27. If a chieftain or man be caught in the

misfortune of the king (captured in battle),

and if his fields and garden be given to

another and he take possession, if he return

and reaches his place, his field and garden


15

shall be returned to him, he shall take it over

again.

28. If a chieftain or a man be caught in the

misfortune of a king, if his son is able to

enter into possession, then the field and

garden shall be given to him, he shall take

over the fee of his father.

29. If his son is still young, and can not take

possession, a third of the field and garden

shall be given to his mother, and she shall

bring him up.

30. If a chieftain or a man leave his house,

garden, and field and hires it out, and some

one else takes possession of his house,

garden, and field and uses it for three years:

if the first owner return and claims his

house, garden, and field, it shall not be given

to him, but he who has taken possession of it

and used it shall continue to use it.

31. If he hire it out for one year and then

return, the house, garden, and field shall be

given back to him, and he shall take it over

again.

32. If a chieftain or a man is captured on the

"Way of the King" (in war), and a merchant

buy him free, and bring him back to his

place; if he have the means in his house to

buy his freedom, he shall buy himself free:

if he have nothing in his house with which

to buy himself free, he shall be bought free

by the temple of his community; if there be

nothing in the temple with which to buy him

free, the court shall buy his freedom. His

field, garden, and house shall not be given

for the purchase of his freedom.

33. If a . . . or a . . . enter himself as

withdrawn from the "Way of the King," and

send a mercenary as substitute, but withdraw

him, then the . . . or . . . shall be put to death.

34. If a . . . or a . . . harm the property of a

captain, injure the captain, or take away

from the captain a gift presented to him by

the king, then the . . . or . . . shall be put to

death.

35. If any one buy the cattle or sheep which

the king has given to chieftains from him, he

loses his money.

36. The field, garden, and house of a

chieftain, of a man, or of one subject to quit-

rent, can not be sold.

37. If any one buy the field, garden, and

house of a chieftain, man, or one subject to

quit-rent, his contract tablet of sale shall be

broken (declared invalid) and he loses his

money. The field, garden, and house return

to their owners.

38. A chieftain, man, or one subject to quit-

rent can not assign his tenure of field, house,

and garden to his wife or daughter, nor can

he assign it for a debt.

39. He may, however, assign a field, garden,

or house which he has bought, and holds as

property, to his wife or daughter or give it

for debt.

40. He may sell field, garden, and house to a

merchant (royal agents) or to any other

public official, the buyer holding field,

house, and garden for its usufruct.

41. If any one fence in the field, garden, and

house of a chieftain, man, or one subject to

quit-rent, furnishing the palings therefor; if

the chieftain, man, or one subject to quit-

rent return to field, garden, and house, the

palings which were given to him become his

property.

42. If any one take over a field to till it, and

obtain no harvest therefrom, it must be

proved that he did no work on the field, and


16

he must deliver grain, just as his neighbor

raised, to the owner of the field.

43. If he do not till the field, but let it lie

fallow, he shall give grain like his neighbor's

to the owner of the field, and the field which

he let lie fallow he must plow and sow and

return to its owner.

44. If any one take over a waste-lying field

to make it arable, but is lazy, and does not

make it arable, he shall plow the fallow field

in the fourth year, harrow it and till it, and

give it back to its owner, and for each ten

gan (a measure of area) ten gur of grain shall

be paid.

45. If a man rent his field for tillage for a

fixed rental, and receive the rent of his field,

but bad weather come and destroy the

harvest, the injury falls upon the tiller of the

soil.

46. If he do not receive a fixed rental for his

field, but lets it on half or third shares of the

harvest, the grain on the field shall be

divided proportionately between the tiller

and the owner.

47. If the tiller, because he did not succeed

in the first year, has had the soil tilled by

others, the owner may raise no objection; the

field has been cultivated and he receives the

harvest according to agreement.

48. If any one owe a debt for a loan, and a

storm prostrates the grain, or the harvest fail,

or the grain does not grow for lack of water;

in that year he need not give his creditor any

grain, he washes his debt-tablet in water and

pays no rent for this year.

49. If any one take money from a merchant,

and give the merchant a field tillable for

corn or sesame and order him to plant corn

or sesame in the field, and to harvest the

crop; if the cultivator plant corn or sesame in

the field, at the harvest the corn or sesame

that is in the field shall belong to the owner

of the field and he shall pay corn as rent, for

the money he received from the merchant,

and the livelihood of the cultivator shall he

give to the merchant.

50. If he give a cultivated corn-field or a

cultivated sesame-field, the corn or sesame

in the field shall belong to the owner of the

field, and he shall return the money to the

merchant as rent.

51. If he have no money to repay, then he

shall pay in corn or sesame in place of the

money as rent for what he received from the

merchant, according to the royal tariff.

52. If the cultivator do not plant corn or

sesame in the field, the debtor's contract is

not weakened.

53. If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in

proper condition, and does not so keep it; if

then the dam break and all the fields be

flooded, then shall he in whose dam the

break occurred be sold for money, and the

money shall replace the corn which he has

caused to be ruined.

54. If he be not able to replace the corn, then

he and his possessions shall be divided

among the farmers whose corn he has

flooded.

55. If any one open his ditches to water his

crop, but is careless, and the water flood the

field of his neighbor, then he shall pay his

neighbor corn for his loss.

56. If a man let in the water, and the water

overflow the plantation of his neighbor, he

shall pay ten gur of corn for every ten gan of

land.

57. If a shepherd, without the permission of

the owner of the field, and without the


17

knowledge of the owner of the sheep, lets

the sheep into a field to graze, then the

owner of the field shall harvest his crop, and

the shepherd, who had pastured his flock

there without permission of the owner of the

field, shall pay to the owner twenty gur of

corn for every ten gan.

58. If after the flocks have left the pasture

and been shut up in the common fold at the

city gate, any shepherd let them into a field

and they graze there, this shepherd shall take

possession of the field which he has allowed

to be grazed on, and at the harvest he must

pay sixty gur of corn for every ten gan.

59. If any man, without the knowledge of

the owner of a garden, fell a tree in a garden

he shall pay half a mina in money.

60. If any one give over a field to a

gardener, for him to plant it as a garden, if

he work at it, and care for it for four years,

in the fifth year the owner and the gardener

shall divide it, the owner taking his part in

charge.

61. If the gardener has not completed the

planting of the field, leaving one part

unused, this shall be assigned to him as his.

62. If he do not plant the field that was given

over to him as a garden, if it be arable land

(for corn or sesame) the gardener shall pay

the owner the produce of the field for the

years that he let it lie fallow, according to

the product of neighboring fields, put the

field in arable condition and return it to its

owner.

63. If he transform waste land into arable

fields and return it to its owner, the latter

shall pay him for one year ten gur for ten

gan.

64. If any one hand over his garden to a

gardener to work, the gardener shall pay to

its owner two-thirds of the produce of the

garden, for so long as he has it in

possession, and the other third shall he keep.

65. If the gardener do not work in the garden

and the product fall off, the gardener shall

pay in proportion to other neighboring

gardens. [Here a portion of the text is

missing, apparently comprising thirty-four

paragraphs.]

100. . . . interest for the money, as much as

he has received, he shall give a note

therefor, and on the day, when they settle,

pay to the merchant.

101. If there are no mercantile arrangements

in the place whither he went, he shall leave

the entire amount of money which he

received with the broker to give to the

merchant.

102. If a merchant entrust money to an agent

(broker) for some investment, and the broker

suffer a loss in the place to which he goes,

he shall make good the capital to the

merchant.

103. If, while on the journey, an enemy take

away from him anything that he had, the

broker shall swear by God and be free of

obligation.

104. If a merchant give an agent corn, wool,

oil, or any other goods to transport, the agent

shall give a receipt for the amount, and

compensate the merchant therefor. Then he

shall obtain a receipt form the merchant for

the money that he gives the merchant.

105. If the agent is careless, and does not

take a receipt for the money which he gave

the merchant, he can not consider the

unreceipted money as his own.

106. If the agent accept money from the

merchant, but have a quarrel with the


18

merchant (denying the receipt), then shall

the merchant swear before God and

witnesses that he has given this money to the

agent, and the agent shall pay him three

times the sum.

107. If the merchant cheat the agent, in that

as the latter has returned to him all that had

been given him, but the merchant denies the

receipt of what had been returned to him,

then shall this agent convict the merchant

before God and the judges, and if he still

deny receiving what the agent had given him

shall pay six times the sum to the agent.

108. If a tavern-keeper (feminine) does not

accept corn according to gross weight in

payment of drink, but takes money, and the

price of the drink is less than that of the

corn, she shall be convicted and thrown into

the water.

109. If conspirators meet in the house of a

tavern-keeper, and these conspirators are not

captured and delivered to the court, the

tavern-keeper shall be put to death.

110. If a "sister of a god" open a tavern, or

enter a tavern to drink, then shall this

woman be burned to death.

111. If an inn-keeper furnish sixty ka of

usakani-drink to . . . she shall receive fifty

ka of corn at the harvest.

112. If any one be on a journey and entrust

silver, gold, precious stones, or any movable

property to another, and wish to recover it

from him; if the latter do not bring all of the

property to the appointed place, but

appropriate it to his own use, then shall this

man, who did not bring the property to hand

it over, be convicted, and he shall pay

fivefold for all that had been entrusted to

him.

113. If any one have consignment of corn or

money, and he take from the granary or box

without the knowledge of the owner, then

shall he who took corn without the

knowledge of the owner out of the granary

or money out of the box be legally

convicted, and repay the corn he has taken.

And he shall lose whatever commission was

paid to him, or due him.

114. If a man have no claim on another for

corn and money, and try to demand it by

force, he shall pay one-third of a mina of

silver in every case.

115. If any one have a claim for corn or

money upon another and imprison him; if

the prisoner die in prison a natural death, the

case shall go no further.

116. If the prisoner die in prison from blows

or maltreatment, the master of the prisoner

shall convict the merchant before the judge.

If he was a free-born man, the son of the

merchant shall be put to death; if it was a

slave, he shall pay one-third of a mina of

gold, and all that the master of the prisoner

gave he shall forfeit.

117. If any one fail to meet a claim for debt,

and sell himself, his wife, his son, and

daughter for money or give them away to

forced labor: they shall work for three years

in the house of the man who bought them, or

the proprietor, and in the fourth year they

shall be set free.

118. If he give a male or female slave away

for forced labor, and the merchant sublease

them, or sell them for money, no objection

can be raised.

119. If any one fail to meet a claim for debt,

and he sell the maid servant who has borne

him children, for money, the money which

the merchant has paid shall be repaid to him


19

by the owner of the slave and she shall be

freed.

120. If any one store corn for safe keeping in

another person's house, and any harm

happen to the corn in storage, or if the owner

of the house open the granary and take some

of the corn, or if especially he deny that the

corn was stored in his house: then the owner

of the corn shall claim his corn before God

(on oath), and the owner of the house shall

pay its owner for all of the corn that he took.

121. If any one store corn in another man's

house he shall pay him storage at the rate of

one gur for every five ka of corn per year.

122. If any one give another silver, gold, or

anything else to keep, he shall show

everything to some witness, draw up a

contract, and then hand it over for safe

keeping.

123. If he turn it over for safe keeping

without witness or contract, and if he to

whom it was given deny it, then he has no

legitimate claim.

124. If any one deliver silver, gold, or

anything else to another for safe keeping,

before a witness, but he deny it, he shall be

brought before a judge, and all that he has

denied he shall pay in full.

125. If any one place his property with

another for safe keeping, and there, either

through thieves or robbers, his property and

the property of the other man be lost, the

owner of the house, through whose neglect

the loss took place, shall compensate the

owner for all that was given to him in

charge. But the owner of the house shall try

to follow up and recover his property, and

take it away from the thief.

126. If any one who has not lost his goods

state that they have been lost, and make

false claims: if he claim his goods and

amount of injury before God, even though

he has not lost them, he shall be fully

compensated for all his loss claimed. (I.e.,

the oath is all that is needed.)

127. If any one "point the finger" (slander)

at a sister of a god or the wife of any one,

and can not prove it, this man shall be taken

before the judges and his brow shall be

marked. (by cutting the skin, or perhaps

hair.)

128. If a man take a woman to wife, but

have no intercourse with her, this woman is

no wife to him.

129. If a man's wife be surprised (in

flagrante delicto) with another man, both

shall be tied and thrown into the water, but

the husband may pardon his wife and the

king his slaves.

130. If a man violate the wife (betrothed or

child-wife) of another man, who has never

known a man, and still lives in her father's

house, and sleep with her and be surprised,

this man shall be put to death, but the wife is

blameless.

131. If a man bring a charge against one's

wife, but she is not surprised with another

man, she must take an oath and then may

return to her house.

132. If the "finger is pointed" at a man's wife

about another man, but she is not caught

sleeping with the other man, she shall jump

into the river for her husband.

133. If a man is taken prisoner in war, and

there is a sustenance in his house, but his

wife leave house and court, and go to

another house: because this wife did not

keep her court, and went to another house,

she shall be judicially condemned and

thrown into the water.


20

134. If any one be captured in war and there

is not sustenance in his house, if then his

wife go to another house this woman shall

be held blameless.

135. If a man be taken prisoner in war and

there be no sustenance in his house and his

wife go to another house and bear children;

and if later her husband return and come to

his home: then this wife shall return to her

husband, but the children follow their father.

136. If any one leave his house, run away,

and then his wife go to another house, if

then he return, and wishes to take his wife

back: because he fled from his home and ran

away, the wife of this runaway shall not

return to her husband.

137. If a man wish to separate from a

woman who has borne him children, or from

his wife who has borne him children: then

he shall give that wife her dowry, and a part

of the usufruct of field, garden, and

property, so that she can rear her children.

When she has brought up her children, a

portion of all that is given to the children,

equal as that of one son, shall be given to

her. She may then marry the man of her

heart.

138. If a man wishes to separate from his

wife who has borne him no children, he

shall give her the amount of her purchase

money and the dowry which she brought

from her father's house, and let her go.

139. If there was no purchase price he shall

give her one mina of gold as a gift of

release.

140. If he be a freed man he shall give her

one-third of a mina of gold.

141. If a man's wife, who lives in his house,

wishes to leave it, plunges into debt, tries to

ruin her house, neglects her husband, and is

judicially convicted: if her husband offer her

release, she may go on her way, and he

gives her nothing as a gift of release. If her

husband does not wish to release her, and if

he take another wife, she shall remain as

servant in her husband's house.

142. If a woman quarrel with her husband,

and say: "You are not congenial to me," the

reasons for her prejudice must be presented.

If she is guiltless, and there is no fault on her

part, but he leaves and neglects her, then no

guilt attaches to this woman, she shall take

her dowry and go back to her father's house.

143. If she is not innocent, but leaves her

husband, and ruins her house, neglecting her

husband, this woman shall be cast into the

water.

144. If a man take a wife and this woman

give her husband a maid-servant, and she

bear him children, but this man wishes to

take another wife, this shall not be permitted

to him; he shall not take a second wife.

145. If a man take a wife, and she bear him

no children, and he intend to take another

wife: if he take this second wife, and bring

her into the house, this second wife shall not

be allowed equality with his wife.

146. If a man take a wife and she give this

man a maid-servant as wife and she bear

him children, and then this maid assume

equality with the wife: because she has

borne him children her master shall not sell

her for money, but he may keep her as a

slave, reckoning her among the maid-

servants.

147. If she have not borne him children, then

her mistress may sell her for money.

148. If a man take a wife, and she be seized

by disease, if he then desire to take a second

wife he shall not put away his wife, who has


21

been attacked by disease, but he shall keep

her in the house which he has built and

support her so long as she lives.

149. If this woman does not wish to remain

in her husband's house, then he shall

compensate her for the dowry that she

brought with her from her father's house,

and she may go.

150. If a man give his wife a field, garden,

and house and a deed therefor, if then after

the death of her husband the sons raise no

claim, then the mother may bequeath all to

one of her sons whom she prefers, and need

leave nothing to his brothers.

151. If a woman who lived in a man's house

made an agreement with her husband, that

no creditor can arrest her, and has given a

document therefor: if that man, before he

married that woman, had a debt, the creditor

can not hold the woman for it. But if the

woman, before she entered the man's house,

had contracted a debt, her creditor can not

arrest her husband therefor.

152. If after the woman had entered the

man's house, both contracted a debt, both

must pay the merchant.

153. If the wife of one man on account of

another man has their mates (her husband

and the other man's wife) murdered, both of

them shall be impaled.

154. If a man be guilty of incest with his

daughter, he shall be driven from the place

(exiled).

155. If a man betroth a girl to his son, and

his son have intercourse with her, but he (the

father) afterward defile her, and be

surprised, then he shall be bound and cast

into the water (drowned).

156. If a man betroth a girl to his son, but

his son has not known her, and if then he

defile her, he shall pay her half a gold mina,

and compensate her for all that she brought

out of her father's house. She may marry the

man of her heart.

157. If any one be guilty of incest with his

mother after his father, both shall be burned.

158. If any one be surprised after his father

with his chief wife, who has borne children,

he shall be driven out of his father's house.

159. If any one, who has brought chattels

into his father-in-law's house, and has paid

the purchase-money, looks for another wife,

and says to his father-in-law: "I do not want

your daughter," the girl's father may keep all

that he had brought.

160. If a man bring chattels into the house of

his father-in-law, and pay the "purchase

price" (for his wife): if then the father of the

girl say: "I will not give you my daughter,"

he shall give him back all that he brought

with him.

161. If a man bring chattels into his father-

in-law's house and pay the "purchase price,"

if then his friend slander him, and his father-

in-law say to the young husband: "You shall

not marry my daughter," the he shall give

back to him undiminished all that he had

brought with him; but his wife shall not be

married to the friend.

162. If a man marry a woman, and she bear

sons to him; if then this woman die, then

shall her father have no claim on her dowry;

this belongs to her sons.

163. If a man marry a woman and she bear

him no sons; if then this woman die, if the

"purchase price" which he had paid into the

house of his father-in-law is repaid to him,

her husband shall have no claim upon the


22

dowry of this woman; it belongs to her

father's house.

164. If his father-in-law do not pay back to

him the amount of the "purchase price" he

may subtract the amount of the "Purchase

price" from the dowry, and then pay the

remainder to her father's house.

165. If a man give to one of his sons whom

he prefers a field, garden, and house, and a

deed therefor: if later the father die, and the

brothers divide the estate, then they shall

first give him the present of his father, and

he shall accept it; and the rest of the paternal

property shall they divide.

166. If a man take wives for his son, but take

no wife for his minor son, and if then he die:

if the sons divide the estate, they shall set

aside besides his portion the money for the

"purchase price" for the minor brother who

had taken no wife as yet, and secure a wife

for him.

167. If a man marry a wife and she bear him

children: if this wife die and he then take

another wife and she bear him children: if

then the father die, the sons must not

partition the estate according to the mothers,

they shall divide the dowries of their

mothers only in this way; the paternal estate

they shall divide equally with one another.

168. If a man wish to put his son out of his

house, and declare before the judge: "I want

to put my son out," then the judge shall

examine into his reasons. If the son be guilty

of no great fault, for which he can be

rightfully put out, the father shall not put

him out.

169. If he be guilty of a grave fault, which

should rightfully deprive him of the filial

relationship, the father shall forgive him the

first time; but if he be guilty of a grave fault

a second time the father may deprive his son

of all filial relation.

170. If his wife bear sons to a man, or his

maid-servant have borne sons, and the father

while still living says to the children whom

his maid-servant has borne: "My sons," and

he count them with the sons of his wife; if

then the father die, then the sons of the wife

and of the maid-servant shall divide the

paternal property in common. The son of the

wife is to partition and choose.

171. If, however, the father while still living

did not say to the sons of the maid-servant:

"My sons," and then the father dies, then the

sons of the maid-servant shall not share with

the sons of the wife, but the freedom of the

maid and her sons shall be granted. The sons

of the wife shall have no right to enslave the

sons of the maid; the wife shall take her

dowry (from her father), and the gift that her

husband gave her and deeded to her

(separate from dowry, or the purchase-

money paid her father), and live in the home

of her husband: so long as she lives she shall

use it, it shall not be sold for money.

Whatever she leaves shall belong to her

children.

172. If her husband made her no gift, she

shall be compensated for her gift, and she

shall receive a portion from the estate of her

husband, equal to that of one child. If her

sons oppress her, to force her out of the

house, the judge shall examine into the

matter, and if the sons are at fault the

woman shall not leave her husband's house.

If the woman desire to leave the house, she

must leave to her sons the gift which her

husband gave her, but she may take the

dowry of her father's house. Then she may

marry the man of her heart.

173. If this woman bear sons to her second

husband, in the place to which she went, and


23

then die, her earlier and later sons shall

divide the dowry between them.

174. If she bear no sons to her second

husband, the sons of her first husband shall

have the dowry.

175. If a State slave or the slave of a freed

man marry the daughter of a free man, and

children are born, the master of the slave

shall have no right to enslave the children of

the free.

176. If, however, a State slave or the slave

of a freed man marry a man's daughter, and

after he marries her she bring a dowry from

a father's house, if then they both enjoy it

and found a household, and accumulate

means, if then the slave die, then she who

was free born may take her dowry, and all

that her husband and she had earned; she

shall divide them into two parts, one-half the

master for the slave shall take, and the other

half shall the free-born woman take for her

children. If the free-born woman had no gift

she shall take all that her husband and she

had earned and divide it into two parts; and

the master of the slave shall take one-half

and she shall take the other for her children.

177. If a widow, whose children are not

grown, wishes to enter another house

(remarry), she shall not enter it without the

knowledge of the judge. If she enter another

house the judge shall examine the state of

the house of her first husband. Then the

house of her first husband shall be entrusted

to the second husband and the woman

herself as managers. And a record must be

made thereof. She shall keep the house in

order, bring up the children, and not sell the

house-hold utensils. He who buys the

utensils of the children of a widow shall lose

his money, and the goods shall return to

their owners.

178. If a "devoted woman" or a prostitute to

whom her father has given a dowry and a

deed therefor, but if in this deed it is not

stated that she may bequeath it as she

pleases, and has not explicitly stated that she

has the right of disposal; if then her father

die, then her brothers shall hold her field and

garden, and give her corn, oil, and milk

according to her portion, and satisfy her. If

her brothers do not give her corn, oil, and

milk according to her share, then her field

and garden shall support her. She shall have

the usufruct of field and garden and all that

her father gave her so long as she lives, but

she can not sell or assign it to others. Her

position of inheritance belongs to her

brothers.

179. If a "sister of a god," or a prostitute,

receive a gift from her father, and a deed in

which it has been explicitly stated that she

may dispose of it as she pleases, and give

her complete disposition thereof: if then her

father die, then she may leave her property

to whomsoever she pleases. Her brothers

can raise no claim thereto.

180. If a father give a present to his

daughter--either marriageable or a prostitute

(unmarriageable)--and then die, then she is

to receive a portion as a child from the

paternal estate, and enjoy its usufruct so

long as she lives. Her estate belongs to her

brothers.

181. If a father devote a temple-maid or

temple-virgin to God and give her no

present: if then the father die, she shall

receive the third of a child's portion from the

inheritance of her father's house, and enjoy

its usufruct so long as she lives. Her estate

belongs to her brothers.

182. If a father devote his daughter as a wife

of Mardi of Babylon (as in 181), and give

her no present, nor a deed; if then her father


24

die, then shall she receive one-third of her

portion as a child of her father's house from

her brothers, but Marduk may leave her

estate to whomsoever she wishes.

183. If a man give his daughter by a

concubine a dowry, and a husband, and a

deed; if then her father die, she shall receive

no portion from the paternal estate.

184. If a man do not give a dowry to his

daughter by a concubine, and no husband; if

then her father die, her brother shall give her

a dowry according to her father's wealth and

secure a husband for her.

185. If a man adopt a child and to his name

as son, and rear him, this grown son can not

be demanded back again.

186. If a man adopt a son, and if after he has

taken him he injure his foster father and

mother, then this adopted son shall return to

his father's house.

187. The son of a paramour in the palace

service, or of a prostitute, can not be

demanded back.

188. If an artizan has undertaken to rear a

child and teaches him his craft, he can not be

demanded back.

189. If he has not taught him his craft, this

adopted son may return to his father's house.

190. If a man does not maintain a child that

he has adopted as a son and reared with his

other children, then his adopted son may

return to his father's house.

191. If a man, who had adopted a son and

reared him, founded a household, and had

children, wish to put this adopted son out,

then this son shall not simply go his way.

His adoptive father shall give him of his

wealth one-third of a child's portion, and

then he may go. He shall not give him of the

field, garden, and house.

192. If a son of a paramour or a prostitute

say to his adoptive father or mother: "You

are not my father, or my mother," his tongue

shall be cut off.

193. If the son of a paramour or a prostitute

desire his father's house, and desert his

adoptive father and adoptive mother, and

goes to his father's house, then shall his eye

be put out.

194. If a man give his child to a nurse and

the child die in her hands, but the nurse

unbeknown to the father and mother nurse

another child, then they shall convict her of

having nursed another child without the

knowledge of the father and mother and her

breasts shall be cut off.

195. If a son strike his father, his hands shall

be hewn off.

196. If a man put out the eye of another

man, his eye shall be put out. [ An eye for an

eye ]

197. If he break another man's bone, his

bone shall be broken.

198. If he put out the eye of a freed man, or

break the bone of a freed man, he shall pay

one gold mina.

199. If he put out the eye of a man's slave, or

break the bone of a man's slave, he shall pay

one-half of its value.

200. If a man knock out the teeth of his

equal, his teeth shall be knocked out. [ A

tooth for a tooth ]

201. If he knock out the teeth of a freed

man, he shall pay one-third of a gold mina.


25

202. If any one strike the body of a man

higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty

blows with an ox-whip in public.

203. If a free-born man strike the body of

another free-born man or equal rank, he

shall pay one gold mina.

204. If a freed man strike the body of

another freed man, he shall pay ten shekels

in money.

205. If the slave of a freed man strike the

body of a freed man, his ear shall be cut off.

206. If during a quarrel one man strike

another and wound him, then he shall swear,

"I did not injure him wittingly," and pay the

physicians.

207. If the man die of his wound, he shall

swear similarly, and if he (the deceased) was

a free-born man, he shall pay half a mina in

money.

208. If he was a freed man, he shall pay one-

third of a mina.

209. If a man strike a free-born woman so

that she lose her unborn child, he shall pay

ten shekels for her loss.

210. If the woman die, his daughter shall be

put to death.

211. If a woman of the free class lose her

child by a blow, he shall pay five shekels in

money.

212. If this woman die, he shall pay half a

mina.

213. If he strike the maid-servant of a man,

and she lose her child, he shall pay two

shekels in money.

214. If this maid-servant die, he shall pay

one-third of a mina.

215. If a physician make a large incision

with an operating knife and cure it, or if he

open a tumor (over the eye) with an

operating knife, and saves the eye, he shall

receive ten shekels in money.

216. If the patient be a freed man, he

receives five shekels.

217. If he be the slave of some one, his

owner shall give the physician two shekels.

218. If a physician make a large incision

with the operating knife, and kill him, or

open a tumor with the operating knife, and

cut out the eye, his hands shall be cut off.

219. If a physician make a large incision in

the slave of a freed man, and kill him, he

shall replace the slave with another slave.

220. If he had opened a tumor with the

operating knife, and put out his eye, he shall

pay half his value.

221. If a physician heal the broken bone or

diseased soft part of a man, the patient shall

pay the physician five shekels in money.

222. If he were a freed man he shall pay

three shekels.

223. If he were a slave his owner shall pay

the physician two shekels.

224. If a veterinary surgeon perform a

serious operation on an ass or an ox, and

cure it, the owner shall pay the surgeon one-

sixth of a shekel as a fee.

225. If he perform a serious operation on an

ass or ox, and kill it, he shall pay the owner

one-fourth of its value.

226. If a barber, without the knowledge of

his master, cut the sign of a slave on a slave

not to be sold, the hands of this barber shall

be cut off.


26

227. If any one deceive a barber, and have

him mark a slave not for sale with the sign

of a slave, he shall be put to death, and

buried in his house. The barber shall swear:

"I did not mark him wittingly," and shall be

guiltless.

228. If a builder build a house for some one

and complete it, he shall give him a fee of

two shekels in money for each sar of

surface.

229 If a builder build a house for some one,

and does not construct it properly, and the

house which he built fall in and kill its

owner, then that builder shall be put to

death.

230. If it kill the son of the owner the son of

that builder shall be put to death.

231. If it kill a slave of the owner, then he

shall pay slave for slave to the owner of the

house.

232. If it ruin goods, he shall make

compensation for all that has been ruined,

and inasmuch as he did not construct

properly this house which he built and it fell,

he shall re-erect the house from his own

means.

233. If a builder build a house for some one,

even though he has not yet completed it; if

then the walls seem toppling, the builder

must make the walls solid from his own

means.

234. If a shipbuilder build a boat of sixty gur

for a man, he shall pay him a fee of two

shekels in money.

235. If a shipbuilder build a boat for some

one, and do not make it tight, if during that

same year that boat is sent away and suffers

injury, the shipbuilder shall take the boat

apart and put it together tight at his own

expense. The tight boat he shall give to the

boat owner.

236. If a man rent his boat to a sailor, and

the sailor is careless, and the boat is wrecked

or goes aground, the sailor shall give the

owner of the boat another boat as

compensation.

237. If a man hire a sailor and his boat, and

provide it with corn, clothing, oil and dates,

and other things of the kind needed for

fitting it: if the sailor is careless, the boat is

wrecked, and its contents ruined, then the

sailor shall compensate for the boat which

was wrecked and all in it that he ruined.

238. If a sailor wreck any one's ship, but

saves it, he shall pay the half of its value in

money.

239. If a man hire a sailor, he shall pay him

six gur of corn per year.

240. If a merchantman run against a

ferryboat, and wreck it, the master of the

ship that was wrecked shall seek justice

before God; the master of the merchantman,

which wrecked the ferryboat, must

compensate the owner for the boat and all

that he ruined.

241. If any one impresses an ox for forced

labor, he shall pay one-third of a mina in

money.

242. If any one hire oxen for a year, he shall

pay four gur of corn for plow-oxen.

243. As rent of herd cattle he shall pay three

gur of corn to the owner.

244. If any one hire an ox or an ass, and a

lion kill it in the field, the loss is upon its

owner.


27

245. If any one hire oxen, and kill them by

bad treatment or blows, he shall compensate

the owner, oxen for oxen.

246. If a man hire an ox, and he break its leg

or cut the ligament of its neck, he shall

compensate the owner with ox for ox.

247. If any one hire an ox, and put out its

eye, he shall pay the owner one-half of its

value.

248. If any one hire an ox, and break off a

horn, or cut off its tail, or hurt its muzzle, he

shall pay one-fourth of its value in money.

249. If any one hire an ox, and God strike it

that it die, the man who hired it shall swear

by God and be considered guiltless.

250. If while an ox is passing on the street

(market) some one push it, and kill it, the

owner can set up no claim in the suit

(against the hirer).

251. If an ox be a goring ox, and it shown

that he is a gorer, and he do not bind his

horns, or fasten the ox up, and the ox gore a

free-born man and kill him, the owner shall

pay one-half a mina in money.

252. If he kill a man's slave, he shall pay

one-third of a mina.

253. If any one agree with another to tend

his field, give him seed, entrust a yoke of

oxen to him, and bind him to cultivate the

field, if he steal the corn or plants, and take

them for himself, his hands shall be hewn

off.

254. If he take the seed-corn for himself, and

do not use the yoke of oxen, he shall

compensate him for the amount of the seed-

corn.

255. If he sublet the man's yoke of oxen or

steal the seed-corn, planting nothing in the

field, he shall be convicted, and for each one

hundred gan he shall pay sixty gur of corn.

256. If his community will not pay for him,

then he shall be placed in that field with the

cattle (at work).

257. If any one hire a field laborer, he shall

pay him eight gur of corn per year.

258. If any one hire an ox-driver, he shall

pay him six gur of corn per year.

259. If any one steal a water-wheel from the

field, he shall pay five shekels in money to

its owner.

260. If any one steal a shadduf (used to draw

water from the river or canal) or a plow, he

shall pay three shekels in money.

261. If any one hire a herdsman for cattle or

sheep, he shall pay him eight gur of corn per

annum.

262. If any one, a cow or a sheep . . .

263. If he kill the cattle or sheep that were

given to him, he shall compensate the owner

with cattle for cattle and sheep for sheep.

264. If a herdsman, to whom cattle or sheep

have been entrusted for watching over, and

who has received his wages as agreed upon,

and is satisfied, diminish the number of the

cattle or sheep, or make the increase by birth

less, he shall make good the increase or

profit which was lost in the terms of

settlement.

265. If a herdsman, to whose care cattle or

sheep have been entrusted, be guilty of fraud

and make false returns of the natural

increase, or sell them for money, then shall

he be convicted and pay the owner ten times

the loss.


28

266. If the animal be killed in the stable by

God ( an accident), or if a lion kill it, the

herdsman shall declare his innocence before

God, and the owner bears the accident in the

stable.

267. If the herdsman overlook something,

and an accident happen in the stable, then

the herdsman is at fault for the accident

which he has caused in the stable, and he

must compensate the owner for the cattle or

sheep.

268. If any one hire an ox for threshing, the

amount of the hire is twenty ka of corn.

269. If he hire an ass for threshing, the hire

is twenty ka of corn.

270. If he hire a young animal for threshing,

the hire is ten ka of corn.

271. If any one hire oxen, cart and driver, he

shall pay one hundred and eighty ka of corn

per day.

272. If any one hire a cart alone, he shall pay

forty ka of corn per day.

273. If any one hire a day laborer, he shall

pay him from the New Year until the fifth

month (April to August, when days are long

and the work hard) six gerahs in money per

day; from the sixth month to the end of the

year he shall give him five gerahs per day.

274. If any one hire a skilled artizan, he

shall pay as wages of the . . . five gerahs, as

wages of the potter five gerahs, of a tailor

five gerahs, of . . . gerahs, . . . of a

ropemaker four gerahs, of . . .. gerahs, of a

mason . . . gerahs per day.

275. If any one hire a ferryboat, he shall pay

three gerahs in money per day.

276. If he hire a freight-boat, he shall pay

two and one-half gerahs per day.

277. If any one hire a ship of sixty gur, he

shall pay one-sixth of a shekel in money as

its hire per day.

278. If any one buy a male or female slave,

and before a month has elapsed the benu-

disease be developed, he shall return the

slave to the seller, and receive the money

which he had paid.

279. If any one by a male or female slave,

and a third party claim it, the seller is liable

for the claim.

280. If while in a foreign country a man buy

a male or female slave belonging to another

of his own country; if when he return home

the owner of the male or female slave

recognize it: if the male or female slave be a

native of the country, he shall give them

back without any money.

281. If they are from another country, the

buyer shall declare the amount of money

paid therefor to the merchant, and keep the

male or female slave.

282. If a slave say to his master: "You are

not my master," if they convict him his

master shall cut off his ear.

THE EPILOGUE

LAWS of justice which Hammurabi, the

wise king, established. A righteous law, and

pious statute did he teach the land.

Hammurabi, the protecting king am I. I have

not withdrawn myself from the men, whom

Bel gave to me, the rule over whom Marduk

gave to me, I was not negligent, but I made

them a peaceful abiding-place. I expounded

all great difficulties, I made the light shine

upon them. With the mighty weapons which

Zamama and Ishtar entrusted to me, with the

keen vision with which Ea endowed me,

with the wisdom that Marduk gave me, I


29

have uprooted the enemy above and below

(in north and south), subdued the earth,

brought prosperity to the land, guaranteed

security to the inhabitants in their homes; a

disturber was not permitted. The great gods

have called me, I am the salvation-bearing

shepherd, whose staff is straight, the good

shadow that is spread over my city; on my

breast I cherish the inhabitants of the land of

Sumer and Akkad; in my shelter I have let

them repose in peace; in my deep wisdom

have I enclosed them. That the strong might

not injure the weak, in order to protect the

widows and orphans, I have in Babylon the

city where Anu and Bel raise high their

head, in E-Sagil, the Temple, whose

foundations stand firm as heaven and earth,

in order to bespeak justice in the land, to

settle all disputes, and heal all injuries, set

up these my precious words, written upon

my memorial stone, before the image of me,

as king of righteousness.

The king who ruleth among the kings of the

cities am I. My words are well considered;

there is no wisdom like unto mine. By the

command of Shamash, the great judge of

heaven and earth, let righteousness go forth

in the land: by the order of Marduk, my lord,

let no destruction befall my monument. In

E-Sagil, which I love, let my name be ever

repeated; let the oppressed, who has a case

at law, come and stand before this my image

as king of righteousness; let him read the

inscription, and understand my precious

words: the inscription will explain his case

to him; he will find out what is just, and his

heart will be glad, so that he will say:

"Hammurabi is a ruler, who is as a father to

his subjects, who holds the words of Marduk

in reverence, who has achieved conquest for

Marduk over the north and south, who

rejoices the heart of Marduk, his lord, who

has bestowed benefits for ever and ever on

his subjects, and has established order in the

land."

When he reads the record, let him pray with

full heart to Marduk, my lord, and Zarpanit,

my lady; and then shall the protecting deities

and the gods, who frequent E-Sagil,

graciously grant the desires daily presented

before Marduk, my lord, and Zarpanit, my

lady.

In future time, through all coming

generations, let the king, who may be in the

land, observe the words of righteousness

which I have written on my monument; let

him not alter the law of the land which I

have given, the edicts which I have enacted;

my monument let him not mar. If such a

ruler have wisdom, and be able to keep his

land in order, he shall observe the words

which I have written in this inscription; the

rule, statute, and law of the land which I

have given; the decisions which I have made

will this inscription show him; let him rule

his subjects accordingly, speak justice to

them, give right decisions, root out the

miscreants and criminals from this land, and

grant prosperity to his subjects.

Hammurabi, the king of righteousness, on

whom Shamash has conferred right (or law)

am I. My words are well considered; my

deeds are not equaled; to bring low those

that were high; to humble the proud, to

expel insolence. If a succeeding ruler

considers my words, which I have written in

this my inscription, if he do not annul my

law, nor corrupt my words, nor change my

monument, then may Shamash lengthen that

king's reign, as he has that of me, the king of

righteousness, that he may reign in

righteousness over his subjects. If this ruler

do not esteem my words, which I have

written in my inscription, if he despise my

curses, and fear not the curse of God, if he


30

destroy the law which I have given, corrupt

my words, change my monument, efface my

name, write his name there, or on account of

the curses commission another so to do, that

man, whether king or ruler, patesi, or

commoner, no matter what he be, may the

great God (Anu), the Father of the gods,

who has ordered my rule, withdraw from

him the glory of royalty, break his scepter,

curse his destiny. May Bel, the lord, who

fixeth destiny, whose command can not be

altered, who has made my kingdom great,

order a rebellion which his hand can not

control; may he let the wind of the

overthrow of his habitation blow, may he

ordain the years of his rule in groaning,

years of scarcity, years of famine, darkness

without light, death with seeing eyes be

fated to him; may he (Bel) order with his

potent mouth the destruction of his city, the

dispersion of his subjects, the cutting off of

his rule, the removal of his name and

memory from the land. May Belit, the great

Mother, whose command is potent in E-Kur

(the Babylonian Olympus), the Mistress,

who harkens graciously to my petitions, in

the seat of judgment and decision (where

Bel fixes destiny), turn his affairs evil before

Bel, and put the devastation of his land, the

destruction of his subjects, the pouring out

of his life like water into the mouth of King

Bel. May Ea, the great ruler, whose fated

decrees come to pass, the thinker of the

gods, the omniscient, who maketh long the

days of my life, withdraw understanding and

wisdom from him, lead him to forgetfulness,

shut up his rivers at their sources, and not

allow corn or sustenance for man to grow in

his land. May Shamash, the great Judge of

heaven and earth, who supporteth all means

of livelihood, Lord of life-courage, shatter

his dominion, annul his law, destroy his

way, make vain the march of his troops,

send him in his visions forecasts of the

uprooting of the foundations of his throne

and of the destruction of his land. May the

condemnation of Shamash overtake him

forthwith; may he be deprived of water

above among the living, and his spirit below

in the earth. May Sin (the Moon-god), the

Lord of Heaven, the divine father, whose

crescent gives light among the gods, take

away the crown and regal throne from him;

may he put upon him heavy guilt, great

decay, that nothing may be lower than he.

May he destine him as fated, days, months

and years of dominion filled with sighing

and tears, increase of the burden of

dominion, a life that is like unto death. May

Adad, the lord of fruitfulness, ruler of

heaven and earth, my helper, withhold from

him rain from heaven, and the flood of water

from the springs, destroying his land by

famine and want; may he rage mightily over

his city, and make his land into flood-hills

(heaps of ruined cities). May Zamama, the

great warrior, the first-born son of E-Kur,

who goeth at my right hand, shatter his

weapons on the field of battle, turn day into

night for him, and let his foe triumph over

him. May Ishtar, the goddess of fighting and

war, who unfetters my weapons, my

gracious protecting spirit, who loveth my

dominion, curse his kingdom in her angry

heart; in her great wrath, change his grace

into evil, and shatter his weapons on the

place of fighting and war. May she create

disorder and sedition for him, strike down

his warriors, that the earth may drink their

blood, and throw down the piles of corpses

of his warriors on the field; may she not

grant him a life of mercy, deliver him into

the hands of his enemies, and imprison him

in the land of his enemies. May Nergal, the

might among the gods, whose contest is

irresistible, who grants me victory, in his

great might burn up his subjects like a

slender reedstalk, cut off his limbs with his

mighty weapons, and shatter him like an

earthen image. May Nin-tu, the sublime


31

mistress of the lands, the fruitful mother,

deny him a son, vouchsafe him no name,

give him no successor among men. May

Nin-karak, the daughter of Anu, who

adjudges grace to me, cause to come upon

his members in E-kur high fever, severe

wounds, that can not be healed, whose

nature the physician does not understand,

which he can not treat with dressing, which,

like the bite of death, can not be removed,

until they have sapped away his life.

May he lament the loss of his life-power,

and may the great gods of heaven and earth,

the Anunaki, altogether inflict a curse and

evil upon the confines of the temple, the

walls of this E-barra (the Sun temple of

Sippara), upon his dominion, his land, his

warriors, his subjects, and his troops. May

Bel curse him with the potent curses of his

mouth that can not be altered, and may they

come upon him forthwith.

THE END

ON THE ANCIENT CITY OF EMAR

(A SECONDARY SOURCE)

http://web.archive.org/web/1996112705162

1/http://scholar.cc.emory.edu/scripts/ASOR/

BA/Margueron.html

EGYPT

PLEASE WATCH: EXPLORING THE STEP

PYRAMID

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UqPJoShXCc&

feature=player_embedded

PRECEPTS OF PTAH-HOTEP

(http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/pta

hhotep.asp)

Precepts of the prefect, the lord Ptah-hotep,

under the Majesty of the King of the South

and North,

Assa, living eternally forever.

The prefect, the feudal lord Ptah-hotep, says:

O Ptah with the two crocodiles, my lord, the

progress of age changes into senility. Decay

falls upon man and decline takes the place of

youth. A vexation weighs upon him every

day; sight fails, the ear becomes deaf; his

strength dissolves without ceasing. The

mouth is silent, speech fails him; the mind

decays, remembering not the day before.

The whole body suffers. That which is good

becomes evil; taste completely disappears.

Old age makes a man altogether miserable;

the nose is stopped up, breathing no more

from exhaustion. Standing or sitting there is

here a condition of . . . Who will cause me to

have authority to speak, that I may declare

to him the words of those who have heard

the counsels of former days? And the

counsels heard of the gods, who will give

me authority to declare them? Cause that it

be so and that evil be removed from those

http://web.archive.org/web/19961127051621/http:/scholar.cc.emory.edu/scripts/ASOR/BA/Margueron.html



http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/ptahhotep.asp

http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/ancient/ptahhotep.asp


32

that are enlightened; send the double . . . The

majesty of this god says: Instruct him in the

sayings of former days. It is this which

constitutes the merit of the children of the

great. All that which makes the soul equal

penetrates him who hears it, and that which

it says produces no satiety.

Beginning of the arrangement of the good

sayings, spoken by the noble lord, the divine

father, beloved of Ptah, the son of the king,

the first-born of his race, the prefect and

feudal lord Ptah-hotep, so as to instruct the

ignorant in the knowledge of the arguments

of the good sayings. It is profitable for him

who hears them, it is a loss to him who shall

transgress them. He says to his son:

Be not arrogant because of that which you

know; deal with the ignorant as with the

learned; for the barriers of art are not closed,

no artist being in possession of the

perfection to which he should aspire. But

good words are more difficult to find than

the emerald, for it is by slaves that that is

discovered among the rocks of pegmatite.

If you find a disputant while he is hot, and if

he is superior to you in ability, lower the

hands, bend the back, do not get into a

passion with him. As he will not let you

destroy his words, it is utterly wrong to

interrupt him; that proclaims that you are

incapable of keeping yourself calm, when

you are contradicted. If then you have to do

with a disputant while he is hot, imitate one

who does not stir. You have the advantage

over him if you keep silence when he is

uttering evil words. "The better of the two is

he who is impassive," say the bystanders,

and you are right in the opinion of the great.

If you find a disputant while he is hot, do

not despise him because you are not of the

same opinion. Be not angry against him

when he is wrong; away with such a thing.

He fights against himself; require him not

further to flatter your feelings. Do not amuse

yourself with the spectacle which you have

before you; it is odious, it is mean, it is the

part of a despicable soul so to do. As soon as

you let yourself be moved by your feelings,

combat this desire as a thing that is reproved

by the great.

If you have, as leader, to decide on the

conduct of a great number of men, seek the

most perfect

manner of doing so that your own conduct

may be without reproach. Justice is great,

invariable, and assured; it has not been

disturbed since the age of Ptah. To throw

obstacles in the way of the laws is to open

the way before violence. Shall that which is

below gain the upper hand, if the unjust does

not attain to the place of justice? Even he

who says: I take for myself, of my own free-

will; but says not: I take by virtue of my

authority. The limitations of justice are

invariable; such is the instruction which

every man receives from his father.

Inspire not men with fear, else Ptah will

fight against you in the same manner. If any

one asserts that he lives by such means, Ptah

will take away the bread from his mouth; if

any one asserts that he enriches himself

thereby, Ptah says: I may take those riches

to myself. If any one asserts that he beats

others, Ptah will end by reducing him to

impotence. Let no one inspire men with fear;

this is the will of Ptah. Let one provide

sustenance for them in the lap of peace; it

will then be that they will freely give what

has been torn from them by terror.

If you are among the persons seated at meat

in the house of a greater man than yourself,

take that which he gives you, bowing to the

ground. Regard that which is placed before

you, but point not at it; regard it not

frequently; he is a blameworthy person who


33

departs from this rule. Speak not to the great

man more than he requires, for one knows

not what may be displeasing to him. Speak

when he invites you and your worth will be

pleasing. As for the great man who has

plenty of means of existence, his conduct is

as he himself wishes. He does that which

pleases him; if he desires to repose, he

realizes his intention. The great man

stretching forth his hand does that to which

other men do not attain. But as the means of

existence are under the will of Ptah, one can

not rebel against it.

If you are one of those who bring the

messages of one great man to another,

conform yourself exactly to that wherewith

he has charged you; perform for him the

commission as he has enjoined you. Beware

of altering in speaking the offensive words

which one great person addresses to another;

he who perverts the trustfulness of his way,

in order to repeat only what produces

pleasure in the words of every man, great or

small, is a detestable person.

If you are a farmer, gather the crops in the

field which the great Ptah has given you, do

not boast in the house of your neighbors; it

is better to make oneself dreaded by one's

deeds. As for him who, master of his own

way of acting, being all-powerful, seizes the

goods of others like a crocodile in the midst

even of watchment, his children are an

object of malediction, of scorn, and of

hatred on account of it, while his father is

grievously distressed, and as for the mother

who has borne him, happy is another rather

than herself. But a man becomes a god when

he is chief of a tribe which has confidence in

following him.

If you abase yourself in obeying a superior,

your conduct is entirely good before Ptah.

Knowing who you ought to obey and who

you ought to command, do not lift up your

heart against him. As you know that in him

is authority, be respectful toward him as

belonging to him. Wealth comes only at

Ptah's own good-will, and his caprice only is

the law; as for him who . . Ptah, who has

created his superiority, turns himself from

him and he is overthrown.

Be active during the time of your existence,

do no more than is commanded. Do not

spoil the time of your activity; he is a

blameworthy person who makes a bad use

of his moments. Do not lose the daily

opportunity of increasing that which your

house possesses. Activity produces riches,

and riches do not endure when it slackens.

If you are a wise man, bring up a son who

shall be pleasing to Ptah. If he conforms his

conduct to your way and occupies himself

with your affairs as is right, do to him all the

good you can; he is your son, a person

attached to you whom your own self has

begotten. Separate not your heart from

him.... But if he conducts himself ill and

transgresses your wish, if he rejects all

counsel, if his mouth goes according to the

evil word, strike him on the mouth in return.

Give orders without hesitation to those who

do wrong, to him whose temper is turbulent;

and he will not deviate from the straight

path, and there will be no obstacle to

interrupt the way.

If you are employed in the larit, stand or sit

rather than walk about. Lay down rules for

yourself from the first: not to absent yourself

even when weariness overtakes you. Keep

an eye on him who enters announcing that

what he asks is secret; what is entrusted to

you is above appreciation, and all contrary

argument is a matter to be rejected. He is a

god who penetrates into a place where no

relaxation of the rules is made for the

privileged.


34

If you are with people who display for you

an extreme affection, saying: "Aspiration of

my heart, aspiration of my heart, where

there is no remedy! That which is said in

your heart, let it be realized by springing up

spontaneously. Sovereign master, I give

myself to your opinion. Your name is

approved without speaking. Your body is

full of vigor, your face is above your

neighbors." If then you are accustomed to

this excess of flattery, and there be an

obstacle to you in your desires, then your

impulse is to obey your passion. But he who

. . . according to his caprice, his soul is . . .,

his body is . . . While the man who is master

of his soul is superior to those whom Ptah

has loaded with his gifts; the man who obeys

his passion is under the power of his wife.

Declare your line of conduct without

reticence; give your opinion in the council

of your lord; while there are people who turn

back upon their own words when they

speak, so as not to offend him who has put

forward a statement, and answer not in this

fashion: "He is the great man who will

recognize the error of another; and when he

shall raise his voice to oppose the other

about it he will keep silence after what I

have said."

If you are a leader, setting forward your

plans according to that which you decide,

perform perfect actions which posterity may

remember, without letting the words prevail

with you which multiply flattery, which

excite pride and produce vanity.

If you are a leader of peace, listen to the

discourse of the petitioner. Be not abrupt

with him; that would trouble him. Say not to

him: "You have already recounted this."

Indulgence will encourage him to

accomplish the object of his coming. As for

being abrupt with the complainant because

he described what passed when the injury

was done, instead of complaining of the

injury itself let it not be! The way to obtain a

clear explanation is to listen with kindness.

If you desire to excite respect within the

house you enter, for example the house of a

superior, a friend, or any person of

consideration, in short everywhere where

you enter, keep yourself from making

advances to a woman, for there is nothing

good in so doing. There is no prudence in

taking part in it, and thousands of men

destroy themselves in order to enjoy a

moment, brief as a dream, while they gain

death, so as to know it. It is a villainous

intention, that of a man who thus excites

himself; if he goes on to carry it out, his

mind abandons him. For as for him who is

without repugnance for such an act, there is

no good sense at all in him.

If you desire that your conduct should be

good and preserved from all evil, keep

yourself from every attack of bad humor. It

is a fatal malady which leads to discord, and

there is no longer any existence for him who

gives way to it. For it introduces discord

between fathers and mothers, as well as

between brothers and sisters; it causes the

wife and the husband to hate each other; it

contains all kinds of wickedness, it

embodies all kinds of wrong. When a man

has established his just equilibrium and

walks in this path, there where he makes his

dwelling, there is no room for bad humor.

Be not of an irritable temper as regards that

which happens at your side; grumble not

over your own affairs. Be not of an irritable

temper in regard to your neighbors; better is

a compliment to that which displeases than

rudeness. It is wrong to get into a passion

with one's neighbors, to be no longer master

of one's words. When there is only a little

irritation, one creates for oneself an


35

affliction for the time when one will again

be cool.

If you are wise, look after your house; love

your wife without alloy. Fill her stomach,

clothe her back; these are the cares to be

bestowed on her person. Caress her, fulfil

her desires during the time of her existence;

it is a kindness which does honor to its

possessor. Be not brutal; tact will influence

her better than violence; her . . . behold to

what she aspires, at what she aims, what she

regards. It is that which fixes her in your

house; if you repel her, it is an abyss. Open

your arms for her, respond to her arms; call

her, display to her your love.

Treat your dependents well, in so far as it

belongs to you to do so; and it belongs to

those whom Ptah has favored. If any one

fails in treating his dependents well it is

said: "He is a person . . ." As we do not

know the events which may happen

tomorrow, he is a wise person by whom one

is well treated. When there comes the

necessity of showing zeal, it will then be the

dependents themselves who say: "Come on,

come on," if good treatment has not quitted

the place; if it has quitted it, the dependents

are defaulters.

Do not repeat any extravagance of language;

do not listen to it; it is a thing which has

escaped from a hasty mouth. If it is repeated,

look, without hearing it, toward the earth;

say nothing in regard to it. Cause him who

speaks to you to know what is just, even him

who provokes to injustice; cause that which

is just to be done, cause it to triumph. As for

that which is hateful according to the law,

condemn it by unveiling it.

If you are a wise man, sitting in the council

of your lord, direct your thought toward that

which is wise. Be silent rather than scatter

your words. When you speak, know that

which can be brought against you. To speak

in the council is an art, and speech is

criticized more than any other labor; it is

contradiction which puts it to the proof.

If you are powerful, respect knowledge and

calmness of language. Command only to

direct; to be absolute is to run into evil. Let

not your heart be haughty, neither let it be

mean. Do not let your orders remain unsaid

and cause your answers to penetrate; but

speak without heat, assume a serious

countenance. As for the vivacity of an ardent

heart, temper it; the gentle man penetrates

all obstacles. He who agitates himself all the

day long has not a good moment; and he

who amuses himself all the day long keeps

not his fortune. Aim at fulness like pilots;

once one is seated another works, and seeks

to obey one's orders.

Disturb not a great man; weaken not the

attention of him who is occupied. His care is

to embrace his task, and he strips his person

through the love which he puts into it. That

transports men to Ptah, even the love for the

work which they accomplish. Compose then

your face even in trouble, that peace may be

with you, when agitation is with . . .These

are the people who succeed in what they

desire.

Teach others to render homage to a great

man. If you gather the crop for him among

men, cause it to return fully to its owner, at

whose hands is your subsistence. But the gift

of affection is worth more than the

provisions with which your back is covered.

For that which the great man receives from

you will enable your house to live, without

speaking of the maintenance you enjoy,

which you desire to preserve; it is thereby

that he extends a beneficent hand, and that

in your home good things are added to good

things. Let your love pass into the heart of


36

those who love you; cause those about you

to be loving and obedient.

If you are a son of the guardians deputed to

watch over the public tranquillity, execute

your commission without knowing its

meaning, and speak with firmness.

Substitute not for that which the instructor

has said what you believe to be his intention;

the great use words as it suits them. Your

part is to transmit rather than to comment

upon.

If you are annoyed at a thing, if you are

tormented by someone who is acting within

his right, get out of his sight, and remember

him no more when he has ceased to address

you.

If you have become great after having been

little, if you have become rich after having

been poor, when you are at the head of the

city, know how not to take advantage of the

fact that you have reached the first rank,

harden not your heart because of your

elevation; you are become only the

administrator, the prefect, of the provisions

which belong to Ptah. Put not behind you

the neighbor who is like you; be unto him as

a companion.

Bend your back before your superior. You

are attached to the palace of the king; your

house is established in its fortune, and your

profits are as is fitting. Yet a man is annoyed

at having an authority above himself, and

passes the period of life in being vexed

thereat. Although that hurts not your . . . Do

not plunder the house of your neighbors,

seize not by force the goods which are

beside you. Exclaim not then against that

which you hear, and do not feel humiliated.

It is necessary to reflect when one is

hindered by it that the pressure of authority

is felt also by one's neighbor.

Do not make . . . you know that there are

obstacles to the water which comes to its

hinder part, and that there is no trickling of

that which is in its bosom. Let it not . . . after

having corrupted his heart.

If you aim at polished manners, call not him

whom you accost. Converse with him

especially in such a way as not to annoy

him. Enter on a discussion with him only

after having left him time to saturate his

mind with the subject of the conversation. If

he lets his ignorance display itself, and if he

gives you all opportunity to disgrace him,

treat him with courtesy rather; proceed not

to drive him into a corner; do not . . . the

word to him; answer not in a crushing

manner; crush him not; worry him not; in

order that in his turn he may not return to the

subject, but depart to the profit of your

conversation.

Let your countenance be cheerful during the

time of your existence. When we see one

departing from the storehouse who has

entered in order to bring his share of

provision, with his face contracted, it shows

that his stomach is empty and that authority

is offensive to him. Let not that happen to

you; it is . . .

Know those who are faithful to you when

you are in low estate. Your merit then is

worth more than those who did you honor.

His . . ., behold that which a man possesses

completely. That is of more importance than

his high rank; for this is a matter which

passes from one to another. The merit of

one's son is advantageous to the father, and

that which he really is, is worth more than

the remembrance of his father's rank.

Distinguish the superintendent who directs

from the workman, for manual labor is little

elevated; the inaction of the hands is

honorable. If a man is not in the evil way,


37

that which places him there is the want of

subordination to authority.

If you take a wife, do not . . . Let her be

more contented than any of her fellow-

citizens. She will be attached to you doubly,

if her chain is pleasant. Do not repel her;

grant that which pleases her; it is to her

contentment that she appreciates your work.

If you hear those things which I have said to

you, your wisdom will be fully advanced.

Although they are the means which are

suitable for arriving at the maat, and it is that

which makes them precious, their memory

would recede from the mouth of men. But

thanks to the beauty of their arrangement in

rhythm all their words will now be carried

without alteration over this earth eternally.

That will create a canvass to be embellished,

whereof the great will speak, in order to

instruct men in its sayings. After having

listened to them the pupil will become a

master, even he who shall have properly

listened to the sayings because he shall have

heard them. Let him win success by placing

himself in the first rank; that is for him a

position perfect and durable, and he has

nothing further to desire forever. By

knowledge his path is assured, and he is

made happy by it on the earth. The wise man

is satiated by knowledge; he is a great man

through his own merits. His tongue is in

accord with his mind; just are his lips when

he speaks, his eyes when he gazes, his ears

when he hears. The advantage of his son is

to do that which is just without deceiving

himself.

To attend therefore profits the son of him

who has attended. To attend is the result of

the fact that one has attended. A teachable

auditor is formed, because I have attended.

Good when he has attended, good when he

speaks, he who has attended has profited,

and it is profitable to attend to him who has

attended. To attend is worth more than

anything else, for it produces love, the good

thing that is twice good. The son who

accepts the instruction of his father will

grow old on that account. What Ptah loves is

that one should attend; if one attends not, it

is abhorrent to Ptah. The heart makes itself

its own master when it attends and when it

does not attend; but if it attends, then his

heart is a beneficent master to a man. In

attending to instruction, a man loves what he

attends to, and to do that which is prescribed

is pleasant. When a son attends to his father,

it is a twofold joy for both; when wise things

are prescribed to him, the son is gentle

toward his master. Attending to him who has

attended when such things have been

prescribed to him, he engraves upon his

heart that which is approved by his father;

and the recollection of it is preserved in the

mouth of the living who exist upon this

earth.

When a son receives the instruction of his

father there is no error in all his plans. Train

your son to be a teachable man whose

wisdom is agreeable to the great. Let him

direct his mouth according to that which has

been said to him; in the docility of a son is

discovered his wisdom. His conduct is

perfect while error carries away the

unteachable. Tomorrow knowledge will

support him, while the ignorant will be

destroyed.

As for the man without experience who

listens not, he effects nothing whatsoever.

He sees knowledge in ignorance, profit in

loss; he commits all kinds of error, always

accordingly choosing the contrary of what is

praiseworthy. He lives on that which is

mortal, in this fashion. His food is evil

words, whereat he is filled with

astonishment. That which the great know to

be mortal he lives upon every day, flying


38

from that which would be profitable to him,

because of the multitude of errors which

present themselves before him every day.

A son who attends is like a follower of

Horus; he is happy after having attended. He

becomes great, he arrives at dignity, he

gives the same lesson to his children. Let

none innovate upon the precepts of his

father; let the same precepts form his lessons

to his children. "Verily," will his children

say to him, "to accomplish what you say

works marvels." Cause therefore that to

flourish which is just, in order to nourish

your children with it. If the teachers allow

themselves to be led toward evil principles,

verily the people who understand them not

will speak accordingly, and that being said

to those who are docile they will act

accordingly. Then all the world considers

them as masters and they inspire confidence

in the public; but their glory endures not so

long as would please them. Take not away

then a word from the ancient teaching, and

add not one; put not one thing in place of

another; beware of uncovering the rebellious

ideas which arise in you; but teach

according to the words of the wise. Attend if

you wish to dwell in the mouth of those who

shall attend to your words, when you have

entered upon the office of master, that your

words may be upon our lips . . . and that

there may be a chair from which to deliver

your arguments.

Let your thoughts be abundant, but let your

mouth be under restraint, and you shall

argue with the great. Put yourself in unison

with the ways of your master; cause him to

say: "He is my son," so that those who shall

hear it shall say "Praise be to her who has

borne him to him!" Apply yourself while

you speak; speak only of perfect things; and

let the great who shall hear you say: "Twice

good is that which issues from his mouth!"

Do that which your master bids you. Twice

good is the precept of his father, from whom

he has issued, from his flesh. What he tells

us, let it be fixed in our heart; to satisfy him

greatly let us do for him more than he has

prescribed. Verily a good son is one of the

gifts of Ptah, a son who does even better

than he has been told to do. For his master

he does what is satisfactory, putting himself

with all his heart on the part of right. So I

shall bring it about that your body shall be

healthful, that the Pharaoh shall be satisfied

with you in all circumstances and that you

shall obtain years of life without default. It

has caused me on earth to obtain one

hundred and ten years of life, along with the

gift of the favor of the Pharoah among the

first of those whom their works have

ennobled, satisfying the Pharoah in a place

of dignity.

It is finished, from its beginning to its end,

according to that which is found in writing.

READ: OVERVIEW OF PYRAMID

CONSTRUCTION

(http://www.touregypt.net/construction/)

PLEASE WATCH: KING TUT’S TOMB

http://www.touregypt.net/construction/


39

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L92iLo

TS3Sg&feature=player_embedded

INDIA

PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/b00qb5x

x on the Indus seals.

GREECE

PLEASE SCAN THIS PHOTO:

Please scan the following picture (of the

mask) with your smart phone. You will

need to get the Microsoft Tag app to do this.

You can get this here: http://gettag.mobi or

search either the Microsoft App store or

Apple’s app store for Microsoft Tag Reader.

This will take you to a video on the city of

Mycenae.

ARISTOTLE, THE ATHENIAN

CONSTITUTION, SECTION 1

(http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/athenian_co

nst.1.1.html)

Part 1

...[They were tried] by a court empanelled

from among the noble families, and sworn

upon the sacrifices. The part of accuser was

taken by Myron. They were found guilty of

the sacrilege, and their bodies were cast out

of their graves and their race banished for

evermore. In view of this expiation,

Epimenides the Cretan performed a

purification of the city.

Part 2

After this event there was contention for a

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L92iLoTS3Sg&feature=player_embedded

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L92iLoTS3Sg&feature=player_embedded

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/b00qb5xx

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/b00qb5xx

http://gettag.mobi/

http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/athenian_const.1.1.html

http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/athenian_const.1.1.html


40

long time between the upper classes and the

populace. Not only was the constitution at

this time oligarchical in every respect, but

the poorer classes, men, women, and

children, were the serfs of the rich. They

were known as Pelatae and also as

Hectemori, because they cultivated the lands

of the rich at the rent thus indicated. The

whole country was in the hands of a few

persons, and if the tenants failed to pay their

rent they were liable to be haled into

slavery, and their children with them. All

loans secured upon the debtor's person, a

custom which prevailed until the time of

Solon, who was the first to appear as the

champion of the people. But the hardest and

bitterest part of the constitution in the eyes

of the masses was their state of serfdom. Not

but what they were also discontented with

every other feature of their lot; for, to speak

generally, they had no part nor share in

anything.

Part 3

Now the ancient constitution, as it existed

before the time of Draco, was organized as

follows. The magistrates were elected

according to qualifications of birth and

wealth. At first they governed for life, but

subsequently for terms of ten years. The first

magistrates, both in date and in importance,

were the King, the Polemarch, and the

Archon. The earliest of these offices was

that of the King, which existed from

ancestral antiquity. To this was added,

secondly, the office of Polemarch, on

account of some of the kings proving feeble

in war; for it was on this account that Ion

was invited to accept the post on an occasion

of pressing need. The last of the three

offices was that of the Archon, which most

authorities state to have come into existence

in the time of Medon. Others assign it to the

time of Acastus, and adduce as proof the

fact that the nine Archons swear to execute

their oaths 'as in the days of Acastus,' which

seems to suggest that it was in his time that

the descendants of Codrus retired from the

kingship in return for the prerogatives

conferred upon the Archon. Whichever way

it may be, the difference in date is small; but

that it was the last of these magistracies to

be created is shown by the fact that the

Archon has no part in the ancestral

sacrifices, as the King and the Polemarch

have, but exclusively in those of later origin.

So it is only at a comparatively late date that

the office of Archon has become of great

importance, through the dignity conferred by

these later additions. The Thesmothetae

were many years afterwards, when these

offices had already become annual, with the

object that they might publicly record all

legal decisions, and act as guardians of them

with a view to determining the issues

between litigants. Accordingly their office,

alone of those which have been mentioned,

was never of more than annual duration.

Such, then, is the relative chronological

precedence of these offices. At that time the

nine Archons did not all live together. The

King occupied the building now known as

the Boculium, near the Prytaneum, as may

be seen from the fact that even to the present

day the marriage of the King's wife to

Dionysus takes place there. The Archon


41

lived in the Prytaneum, the Polemarch in the

Epilyceum. The latter building was formerly

called the Polemarcheum, but after Epilycus,

during his term of office as Polemarch, had

rebuilt it and fitted it up, it was called the

Epilyceum. The Thesmothetae occupied the

Thesmotheteum. In the time of Solon,

however, they all came together into the

Thesmotheteum. They had power to decide

cases finally on their own authority, not, as

now, merely to hold a preliminary hearing.

Such then was the arrangement of the

magistracies. The Council of Areopagus had

as its constitutionally assigned duty the

protection of the laws; but in point of fact it

administered the greater and most important

part of the government of the state, and

inflicted personal punishments and fines

summarily upon all who misbehaved

themselves. This was the natural

consequence of the facts that the Archons

were elected under qualifications of birth

and wealth, and that the Areopagus was

composed of those who had served as

Archons; for which latter reason the

membership of the Areopagus is the only

office which has continued to be a life-

magistracy to the present day.

Part 4

Such was, in outline, the first constitution,

but not very long after the events above

recorded, in the archonship of Aristaichmus,

Draco enacted his ordinances. Now his

constitution had the following form. The

franchise was given to all who could furnish

themselves with a military equipment. The

nine Archons and the Treasurers were

elected by this body from persons

possessing an unencumbered property of not

less than ten minas, the less important

officials from those who could furnish

themselves with a military equipment, and

the generals [Strategi] and commanders of

the cavalry [Hipparchi] from those who

could show an unencumbered property of

not less than a hundred minas, and had

children born in lawful wedlock over ten

years of age. These officers were required to

hold to bail the Prytanes, the Strategi, and

the Hipparchi of the preceding year until

their accounts had been audited, taking four

securities of the same class as that to which

the Strategi and the Hipparchi belonged.

There was also to be a Council, consisting of

four hundred and one members, elected by

lot from among those who possessed the

franchise. Both for this and for the other

magistracies the lot was cast among those

who were over thirty years of age; and no

one might hold office twice until every one

else had had his turn, after which they were

to cast the lot afresh. If any member of the

Council failed to attend when there was a

sitting of the Council or of the Assembly, he

paid a fine, to the amount of three drachmas

if he was a Pentacosiomedimnus, two if he

was a Knight, and One if he was a Zeugites.

The Council of Areopagus was guardian of

the laws, and kept watch over the

magistrates to see that they executed their

offices in accordance with the laws. Any

person who felt himself wronged might lay

an information before the Council of

Areopagus, on declaring what law was

broken by the wrong done to him. But, as

has been said before, loans were secured


42

upon the persons of the debtors, and the land

was in the hands of a few.

Part 5

Since such, then, was the organization of the

constitution, and the many were in slavery to

the few, the people rose against the upper

class. The strife was keen, and for a long

time the two parties were ranged in hostile

camps against one another, till at last, by

common consent, they appointed Solon to

be mediator and Archon, and committed the

whole constitution to his hands. The

immediate occasion of his appointment was

his poem, which begins with the words:

I behold, and within my heart deep sadness

has claimed its place,

As I mark the oldest home of the ancient

Ionian race

Slain by the sword.

In this poem he fights and disputes on behalf

of each party in turn against the other, and

finally he advises them to come to terms and

put an end to the quarrel existing between

them. By birth and reputation Solon was one

of the foremost men of the day, but in

wealth and position he was of the middle

class, as is generally agreed, and is, indeed,

established by his own evidence in these

poems, where he exhorts the wealthy not to

be grasping.

But ye who have store of good, who are

sated and overflow,

Restrain your swelling soul, and still it and

keep it low:

Let the heart that is great within you be

trained a lowlier way;

Ye shall not have all at your will, and we

will not for ever obey.

Indeed, he constantly fastens the blame of

the conflict on the rich; and accordingly at

the beginning of the poem he says that he

fears 'the love of wealth and an overweening

mind', evidently meaning that it was through

these that the quarrel arose.

Part 6

As soon as he was at the head of affairs,

Solon liberated the people once and for all,

by prohibiting all loans on the security of the

debtor's person: and in addition he made

laws by which he cancelled all debts, public

and private. This measure is commonly

called the Seisachtheia [= removal of

burdens], since thereby the people had their

loads removed from them. In connexion

with it some persons try to traduce the

character of Solon. It so happened that,

when he was about to enact the Seisachtheia,

he communicated his intention to some

members of the upper class, whereupon, as

the partisans of the popular party say, his

friends stole a march on him; while those

who wish to attack his character maintain

that he too had a share in the fraud himself.

For these persons borrowed money and

bought up a large amount of land, and so

when, a short time afterwards, all debts were

cancelled, they became wealthy; and this,

they say, was the origin of the families

which were afterwards looked on as having

been wealthy from primeval times.


43

However, the story of the popular party is by

far the most probable. A man who was so

moderate and public-spirited in all his other

actions, that when it was within his power to

put his fellow-citizens beneath his feet and

establish himself as tyrant, he preferred

instead to incur the hostility of both parties

by placing his honour and the general

welfare above his personal aggrandisement,

is not likely to have consented to defile his

hands by such a petty and palpable fraud.

That he had this absolute power is, in the

first place, indicated by the desperate

condition the country; moreover, he

mentions it himself repeatedly in his poems,

and it is universally admitted. We are

therefore bound to consider this accusation

to be false.

Part 7

Next Solon drew up a constitution and

enacted new laws; and the ordinances of

Draco ceased to be used, with the exception

of those relating to murder. The laws were

inscribed on the wooden stands, and set up

in the King's Porch, and all swore to obey

them; and the nine Archons made oath upon

the stone, declaring that they would dedicate

a golden statue if they should transgress any

of them. This is the origin of the oath to that

effect which they take to the present day.

Solon ratified his laws for a hundred years;

and the following was the fashion in which

he organized the constitution. He divided the

population according to property into four

classes, just as it had been divided before,

namely, Pentacosiomedimni, Knights,

Zeugitae, and Thetes. The various

magistracies, namely, the nine Archons, the

Treasurers, the Commissioners for Public

Contracts (Poletae), the Eleven, and Clerks

(Colacretae), he assigned to the

Pentacosiomedimni, the Knights, and the

Zeugitae, giving offices to each class in

proportion to the value of their rateable

property. To who ranked among the Thetes

he gave nothing but a place in the Assembly

and in the juries. A man had to rank as a

Pentacosiomedimnus if he made, from his

own land, five hundred measures, whether

liquid or solid. Those ranked as Knights who

made three hundred measures, or, as some

say, those who were able to maintain a

horse. In support of the latter definition they

adduce the name of the class, which may be

supposed to be derived from this fact, and

also some votive offerings of early times;

for in the Acropolis there is a votive

offering, a statue of Diphilus, bearing this

inscription:

The son of Diphilus, Athenion hight,

Raised from the Thetes and become a

knight,

Did to the gods this sculptured charger

bring,

For his promotion a thank-offering. And a

horse stands in evidence beside the man,

implying that this was what was meant by

belonging to the rank of Knight. At the same

time it seems reasonable to suppose that this

class, like the Pentacosiomedimni, was

defined by the possession of an income of a

certain number of measures. Those ranked

as Zeugitae who made two hundred

measures, liquid or solid; and the rest ranked

as Thetes, and were not eligible for any


44

office. Hence it is that even at the present

day, when a candidate for any office is

asked to what class he belongs, no one

would think of saying that he belonged to

the Thetes.

Part 8

The elections to the various offices Solon

enacted should be by lot, out of candidates

selected by each of the tribes. Each tribe

selected ten candidates for the nine

archonships, and among these the lot was

cast. Hence it is still the custom for each

tribe to choose ten candidates by lot, and

then the lot is again cast among these. A

proof that Solon regulated the elections to

office according to the property classes may

be found in the law still in force with regard

to the Treasurers, which enacts that they

shall be chosen from the

Pentacosiomedimni. Such was Solon's

legislation with respect to the nine Archons;

whereas in early times the Council of

Areopagus summoned suitable persons

according to its own judgement and

appointed them for the year to the several

offices. There were four tribes, as before,

and four tribe-kings. Each tribe was divided

into three Trittyes [=Thirds], with twelve

Naucraries in each; and the Naucraries had

officers of their own, called Naucrari, whose

duty it was to superintend the current

receipts and expenditure. Hence, among the

laws of Solon now obsolete, it is repeatedly

written that the Naucrari are to receive and

to spend out of the Naucraric fund. Solon

also appointed a Council of four hundred, a

hundred from each tribe; but he assigned to

the Council of the Areopagus the duty of

superintending the laws, acting as before as

the guardian of the constitution in general. It

kept watch over the affairs of the state in

most of the more important matters, and

corrected offenders, with full powers to

inflict either fines or personal punishment.

The money received in fines it brought up

into the Acropolis, without assigning the

reason for the mulct. It also tried those who

conspired for the overthrow of the state,

Solon having enacted a process of

impeachment to deal with such offenders.

Further, since he saw the state often engaged

in internal disputes, while many of the

citizens from sheer indifference accepted

whatever might turn up, he made a law with

express reference to such persons, enacting

that any one who, in a time civil factions,

did not take up arms with either party,

should lose his rights as a citizen and cease

to have any part in the state.

Part 9

Such, then, was his legislation concerning

the magistracies. There are three points in

the constitution of Solon which appear to be

its most democratic features: first and most

important, the prohibition of loans on the

security of the debtor's person; secondly, the

right of every person who so willed to claim

redress on behalf of any one to whom wrong

was being done; thirdly, the institution of the

appeal to the jurycourts; and it is to this last,

they say, that the masses have owed their

strength most of all, since, when the

democracy is master of the voting-power, it

is master of the constitution. Moreover,


45

since the laws were not drawn up in simple

and explicit terms (but like the one

concerning inheritances and wards of state),

disputes inevitably occurred, and the courts

had to decide in every matter, whether

public or private. Some persons in fact

believe that Solon deliberately made the

laws indefinite, in order that the final

decision might be in the hands of the people.

This, however, is not probable, and the

reason no doubt was that it is impossible to

attain ideal perfection when framing a law in

general terms; for we must judge of his

intentions, not from the actual results in the

present day, but from the general tenor of

the rest of his legislation.

Part 10

These seem to be the democratic features of

his laws; but in addition, before the period

of his legislation, he carried through his

abolition of debts, and after it his increase in

the standards of weights and measures, and

of the currency. During his administration

the measures were made larger than those of

Pheidon, and the mina, which previously

had a standard of seventy drachmas, was

raised to the full hundred. The standard coin

in earlier times was the two-drachma piece.

He also made weights corresponding with

the coinage, sixty-three minas going to the

talent; and the odd three minas were

distributed among the staters and the other

values.

Part 11

When he had completed his organization of

the constitution in the manner that has been

described, he found himself beset by people

coming to him and harassing him

concerning his laws, criticizing here and

questioning there, till, as he wished neither

to alter what he had decided on nor yet to be

an object of ill will to every one by

remaining in Athens, he set off on a journey

to Egypt, with the combined objects of trade

and travel, giving out that he should not

return for ten years. He considered that there

was no call for him to expound the laws

personally, but that every one should obey

them just as they were written. Moreover,

his position at this time was unpleasant.

Many members of the upper class had been

estranged from him on account of his

abolition of debts, and both parties were

alienated through their disappointment at the

condition of things which he had created.

The mass of the people had expected him to

make a complete redistribution of all

property, and the upper class hoped he

would restore everything to its former

position, or, at any rate, make but a small

change. Solon, however, had resisted both

classes. He might have made himself a

despot by attaching himself to whichever

party he chose, but he preferred, though at

the cost of incurring the enmity of both, to

be the saviour of his country and the ideal

lawgiver.

Part 12

The truth of this view of Solon's policy is

established alike by common consent, and

by the mention he has himself made of the

matter in his poems. Thus:


46

I gave to the mass of the people such rank as

befitted their need,

I took not away their honour, and I granted

naught to their greed;

While those who were rich in power, who in

wealth were glorious and

great,

I bethought me that naught should befall

them unworthy their

splendour and state;

So I stood with my shield outstretched, and

both were sale in its

sight,

And I would not that either should triumph,

when the triumph was

not with right.

Again he declares how the mass of the

people ought to be treated: But thus will the

people best the voice of their leaders obey,

When neither too slack is the rein, nor

violence holdeth the sway; For indulgence

breedeth a child, the presumption that spurns

control,

When riches too great are poured upon men

of unbalanced soul.

And again elsewhere he speaks about the

persons who wished to redistribute the land:

So they came in search of plunder, and their

cravings knew no hound, Every one among

them deeming endless wealth would here be

found. And that I with glozing smoothness

hid a cruel mind within. Fondly then and

vainly dreamt they; now they raise an angry

din, And they glare askance in anger, and

the light within their eyes Burns with hostile

flames upon me. Yet therein no justice lies.

All I promised, fully wrought I with the

gods at hand to cheer, Naught beyond in

folly ventured. Never to my soul was dear

With a tyrant's force to govern, nor to see

the good and base Side by side in equal

portion share the rich home of our race.

Once more he speaks of the abolition of

debts and of those who before were in

servitude, but were released owing to the

Seisachtheia:

Of all the aims for which I summoned forth

The people, was there one I compassed not?

Thou, when slow time brings justice in its

train,

O mighty mother of the Olympian gods,

Dark Earth, thou best canst witness, from

whose breast

I swept the pillars broadcast planted there,

And made thee free, who hadst been slave of

yore.

And many a man whom fraud or law had

sold

For from his god-built land, an outcast slave,

I brought again to Athens; yea, and some,

Exiles from home through debt's oppressive

load,

Speaking no more the dear Athenian tongue,

But wandering far and wide, I brought

again;

And those that here in vilest slavery

Crouched 'neath a master's frown, I set them

free.

Thus might and right were yoked in

harmony,

Since by the force of law I won my ends

And kept my promise. Equal laws I gave


47

To evil and to good, with even hand

Drawing straight justice for the lot of each.

But had another held the goad as

One in whose heart was guile and

greediness,

He had not kept the people back from strife.

For had I granted, now what pleased the one,

Then what their foes devised in

counterpoise,

Of many a man this state had been bereft.

Therefore I showed my might on every side,

Turning at bay like wolf among the hounds.

And again he reviles both parties for their

grumblings in the times that followed:

Nay, if one must lay blame where blame is

due,

Wer't not for me, the people ne'er had set

Their eyes upon these blessings e'en in

dreams:-

While greater men, the men of wealthier

life,

Should praise me and should court me as

their friend. For had any other man, he says,

received this exalted post,

He had not kept the people hack, nor ceased

Til he had robbed the richness of the milk.

But I stood forth a landmark in the midst,

And barred the foes from battle.

Part 13

Such then, were Solon's reasons for his

departure from the country. After his

retirement the city was still torn by

divisions. For four years, indeed, they lived

in peace; but in the fifth year after Solon's

government they were unable to elect an

Archon on account of their dissensions, and

again four years later they elected no

Archon for the same reason. Subsequently,

after a similar period had elapsed, Damasias

was elected Archon; and he governed for

two years and two months, until he was

forcibly expelled from his office. After this,

it was agreed, as a compromise, to elect ten

Archons, five from the Eupatridae, three

from the Agroeci, and two from the

Demiurgi, and they ruled for the year

following Damasias. It is clear from this that

the Archon was at the time the magistrate

who possessed the greatest power, since it is

always in connexion with this office that

conflicts are seen to arise. But altogether

they were in a continual state of internal

disorder. Some found the cause and

justification of their discontent in the

abolition of debts, because thereby they had

been reduced to poverty; others were

dissatisfied with the political constitution,

because it had undergone a revolutionary

change; while with others the motive was

found in personal rivalries among

themselves. The parties at this time were

three in number. First there was the party of

the Shore, led by Megacles the son of

Alcmeon, which was considered to aim at a

moderate form of government; then there

were the men of the Plain, who desired an

oligarchy and were led by Lycurgus; and

thirdly there were the men of the Highlands,

at the head of whom was Pisistratus, who

was looked on as an extreme democrat. This

latter party was reinforced by those who had

been deprived of the debts due to them, from

motives of poverty, and by those who were


48

not of pure descent, from motives of

personal apprehension. A proof of this is

seen in the fact that after the tyranny was

overthrown a revision was made of the

citizen-roll, on the ground that many persons

were partaking in the franchise without

having a right to it. The names given to the

respective parties were derived from the

districts in which they held their lands.

ARISTOTLE, POLITICS, BOOK 2

BOOK TWO

I

(http://www.sacred-

texts.com/cla/ari/pol/pol02.htm )

OUR PURPOSE is to consider what form of

political community is best of all for those

who are most able to realize their ideal of

life. We must therefore examine not only

this but other constitutions, both such as

actually exist in well-governed states, and

any theoretical forms which are held in

esteem; that what is good and useful may be

brought to light. And let no one suppose that

in seeking for something beyond them we

are anxious to make a sophistical display at

any cost; we only undertake this inquiry

because all the constitutions with which we

are acquainted are faulty.

We will begin with the natural beginning of

the subject. Three alternatives are

conceivable: The members of a state must

either have (1) all things or (2) nothing in

common, or (3) some things in common and

some not. That they should have nothing in

common is clearly impossible, for the

constitution is a community, and must at any

rate have a common place -- one city will be

in one place, and the citizens are those who

share in that one city. But should a well

ordered state have all things, as far as may

be, in common, or some only and not

others? For the citizens might conceivably

have wives and children and property in

common, as Socrates proposes in the

Republic of Plato. Which is better, our

present condition, or the proposed new order

of society.

II

There are many difficulties in the

community of women. And the principle on

which Socrates rests the necessity of such an

institution evidently is not established by his

arguments. Further, as a means to the end

which he ascribes to the state, the scheme,

taken literally is impracticable, and how we

are to interpret it is nowhere precisely stated.

I am speaking of the premise from which the

argument of Socrates proceeds, 'that the

greater the unity of the state the better.' Is it

not obvious that a state may at length attain

such a degree of unity as to be no longer a

state? since the nature of a state is to be a

http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/ari/pol/pol02.htm

http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/ari/pol/pol02.htm


49

plurality, and in tending to greater unity,

from being a state, it becomes a family, and

from being a family, an individual; for the

family may be said to be more than the state,

and the individual than the family. So that

we ought not to attain this greatest unity

even if we could, for it would be the

destruction of the state. Again, a state is not

made up only of so many men, but of

different kinds of men; for similars do not

constitute a state. It is not like a military

alliance The usefulness of the latter depends

upon its quantity even where there is no

difference in quality (for mutual protection

is the end aimed at), just as a greater weight

of anything is more useful than a less (in

like manner, a state differs from a nation,

when the nation has not its population

organized in villages, but lives an Arcadian

sort of life); but the elements out of which a

unity is to be formed differ in kind.

Wherefore the principle of compensation, as

I have already remarked in the Ethics, is the

salvation of states. Even among freemen and

equals this is a principle which must be

maintained, for they cannot an rule together,

but must change at the end of a year or some

other period of time or in some order of

succession. The result is that upon this plan

they all govern; just as if shoemakers and

carpenters were to exchange their

occupations, and the same persons did not

always continue shoemakers and carpenters.

And since it is better that this should be so in

politics as well, it is clear that while there

should be continuance of the same persons

in power where this is possible, yet where

this is not possible by reason of the natural

equality of the citizens, and at the same time

it is just that an should share in the

government (whether to govern be a good

thing or a bad), an approximation to this is

that equals should in turn retire from office

and should, apart from official position, be

treated alike. Thus the one party rule and the

others are ruled in turn, as if they were no

longer the same persons. In like manner

when they hold office there is a variety in

the offices held. Hence it is evident that a

city is not by nature one in that sense which

some persons affirm; and that what is said to

be the greatest good of cities is in reality

their destruction; but surely the good of

things must be that which preserves them.

Again, in another point of view, this extreme

unification of the state is clearly not good;

for a family is more self-sufficing than an

individual, and a city than a family, and a

city only comes into being when the

community is large enough to be self-

sufficing. If then self-sufficiency is to be

desired, the lesser degree of unity is more

desirable than the greater.

III

But, even supposing that it were best for the

community to have the greatest degree of

unity, this unity is by no means proved to

follow from the fact 'of all men saying

"mine" and "not mine" at the same instant of

time,' which, according to Socrates, is the

sign of perfect unity in a state. For the word

'all' is ambiguous. If the meaning be that

every individual says 'mine' and 'not mine' at

the same time, then perhaps the result at

which Socrates aims may be in some degree

accomplished; each man will call the same

person his own son and the same person his

wife, and so of his property and of all that

falls to his lot. This, however, is not the way

in which people would speak who had their

had their wives and children in common;

they would say 'all' but not 'each.' In like

manner their property would be described as

belonging to them, not severally but

collectively. There is an obvious fallacy in

the term 'all': like some other words, 'both,'

'odd,' 'even,' it is ambiguous, and even in


50

abstract argument becomes a source of

logical puzzles. That all persons call the

same thing mine in the sense in which each

does so may be a fine thing, but it is

impracticable; or if the words are taken in

the other sense, such a unity in no way

conduces to harmony. And there is another

objection to the proposal. For that which is

common to the greatest number has the least

care bestowed upon it. Every one thinks

chiefly of his own, hardly at all of the

common interest; and only when he is

himself concerned as an individual. For

besides other considerations, everybody is

more inclined to neglect the duty which he

expects another to fulfill; as in families

many attendants are often less useful than a

few. Each citizen will have a thousand sons

who will not be his sons individually but

anybody will be equally the son of anybody,

and will therefore be neglected by all alike.

Further, upon this principle, every one will

use the word 'mine' of one who is prospering

or the reverse, however small a fraction he

may himself be of the whole number; the

same boy will be 'so and so's son,' the son of

each of the thousand, or whatever be the

number of the citizens; and even about this

he will not be positive; for it is impossible to

know who chanced to have a child, or

whether, if one came into existence, it has

survived. But which is better -- for each to

say 'mine' in this way, making a man the

same relation to two thousand or ten

thousand citizens, or to use the word 'mine'

in the ordinary and more restricted sense?

For usually the same person is called by one

man his own son whom another calls his

own brother or cousin or kinsman -- blood

relation or connection by marriage either of

himself or of some relation of his, and yet

another his clansman or tribesman; and how

much better is it to be the real cousin of

somebody than to be a son after Plato's

fashion! Nor is there any way of preventing

brothers and children and fathers and

mothers from sometimes recognizing one

another; for children are born like their

parents, and they will necessarily be finding

indications of their relationship to one

another. Geographers declare such to be the

fact; they say that in part of Upper Libya,

where the women are common, nevertheless

the children who are born are assigned to

their respective fathers on the ground of

their likeness. And some women, like the

females of other animals -- for example,

mares and cows -- have a strong tendency to

produce offspring resembling their parents,

as was the case with the Pharsalian mare

called Honest.

IV

Other evils, against which it is not easy for

the authors of such a community to guard,

will be assaults and homicides, voluntary as

well as involuntary, quarrels and slanders,

all which are most unholy acts when

committed against fathers and mothers and

near relations, but not equally unholy when

there is no relationship. Moreover, they are

much more likely to occur if the relationship

is unknown, and, when they have occurred,

the customary expiations of them cannot be

made. Again, how strange it is that Socrates,

after having made the children common,

should hinder lovers from carnal intercourse

only, but should permit love and

familiarities between father and son or

between brother and brother, than which

nothing can be more unseemly, since even

without them love of this sort is improper.

How strange, too, to forbid intercourse for

no other reason than the violence of the

pleasure, as though the relationship of father

and son or of brothers with one another

made no difference.


51

This community of wives and children

seems better suited to the husbandmen than

to the guardians, for if they have wives and

children in common, they will be bound to

one another by weaker ties, as a subject

class should be, and they will remain

obedient and not rebel. In a word, the result

of such a law would be just the opposite of

which good laws ought to have, and the

intention of Socrates in making these

regulations about women and children

would defeat itself. For friendship we

believe to be the greatest good of states and

the preservative of them against revolutions;

neither is there anything which Socrates so

greatly lauds as the unity of the state which

he and all the world declare to be created by

friendship. But the unity which he

commends would be like that of the lovers

in the Symposium, who, as Aristophanes

says, desire to grow together in the excess of

their affection, and from being two to

become one, in which case one or both

would certainly perish. Whereas in a state

having women and children common, love

will be watery; and the father will certainly

not say 'my son,' or the son 'my father.' As a

little sweet wine mingled with a great deal

of water is imperceptible in the mixture, so,

in this sort of community, the idea of

relationship which is based upon these

names will be lost; there is no reason why

the so-called father should care about the

son, or the son about the father, or brothers

about one another. Of the two qualities

which chiefly inspire regard and affection --

that a thing is your own and that it is your

only one -- neither can exist in such a state

as this.

Again, the transfer of children as soon as

they are born from the rank of husbandmen

or of artisans to that of guardians, and from

the rank of guardians into a lower rank, will

be very difficult to arrange; the givers or

transferrers cannot but know whom they are

giving and transferring, and to whom. And

the previously mentioned evils, such as

assaults, unlawful loves, homicides, will

happen more often amongst those who are

transferred to the lower classes, or who have

a place assigned to them among the

guardians; for they will no longer call the

members of the class they have left brothers,

and children, and fathers, and mothers, and

will not, therefore, be afraid of committing

any crimes by reason of consanguinity.

Touching the community of wives and

children, let this be our conclusion.

V

Next let us consider what should be our

arrangements about property: should the

citizens of the perfect state have their

possessions in common or not? This

question may be discussed separately from

the enactments about women and children.

Even supposing that the women and children

belong to individuals, according to the

custom which is at present universal, may

there not be an advantage in having and

using possessions in common? Three cases

are possible: (1) the soil may be

appropriated, but the produce may be

thrown for consumption into the common

stock; and this is the practice of some

nations. Or (2), the soil may be common,

and may be cultivated in common, but the

produce divided among individuals for their

private use; this is a form of common

property which is said to exist among certain

barbarians. Or (3), the soil and the produce

may be alike common.

When the husbandmen are not the owners,

the case will be different and easier to deal

with; but when they till the ground for

themselves the question of ownership will


52

give a world of trouble. If they do not share

equally enjoyments and toils, those who

labor much and get little will necessarily

complain of those who labor little and

receive or consume much. But indeed there

is always a difficulty in men living together

and having all human relations in common,

but especially in their having common

property. The partnerships of fellow-

travelers are an example to the point; for

they generally fall out over everyday matters

and quarrel about any trifle which turns up.

So with servants: we are most able to take

offense at those with whom we most we

most frequently come into contact in daily

life.

These are only some of the disadvantages

which attend the community of property; the

present arrangement, if improved as it might

be by good customs and laws, would be far

better, and would have the advantages of

both systems. Property should be in a certain

sense common, but, as a general rule,

private; for, when everyone has a distinct

interest, men will not complain of one

another, and they will make more progress,

because every one will be attending to his

own business. And yet by reason of

goodness, and in respect of use, 'Friends,' as

the proverb says, 'will have all things

common.' Even now there are traces of such

a principle, showing that it is not

impracticable, but, in well-ordered states,

exists already to a certain extent and may be

carried further. For, although every man has

his own property, some things he will place

at the disposal of his friends, while of others

he shares the use with them. The

Lacedaemonians, for example, use one

another's slaves, and horses, and dogs, as if

they were their own; and when they lack

provisions on a journey, they appropriate

what they find in the fields throughout the

country. It is clearly better that property

should be private, but the use of it common;

and the special business of the legislator is

to create in men this benevolent disposition.

Again, how immeasurably greater is the

pleasure, when a man feels a thing to be his

own; for surely the love of self is a feeling

implanted by nature and not given in vain,

although selfishness is rightly censured; this,

however, is not the mere love of self, but the

love of self in excess, like the miser's love of

money; for all, or almost all, men love

money and other such objects in a measure.

And further, there is the greatest pleasure in

doing a kindness or service to friends or

guests or companions, which can only be

rendered when a man has private property.

These advantages are lost by excessive

unification of the state. The exhibition of

two virtues, besides, is visibly annihilated in

such a state: first, temperance towards

women (for it is an honorable action to

abstain from another's wife for temperance'

sake); secondly, liberality in the matter of

property. No one, when men have all things

in common, will any longer set an example

of liberality or do any liberal action; for

liberality consists in the use which is made

of property.

Such legislation may have a specious

appearance of benevolence; men readily

listen to it, and are easily induced to believe

that in some wonderful manner everybody

will become everybody's friend, especially

when some one is heard denouncing the

evils now existing in states, suits about

contracts, convictions for perjury, flatteries

of rich men and the like, which are said to

arise out of the possession of private

property. These evils, however, are due to a

very different cause -- the wickedness of

human nature. Indeed, we see that there is

much more quarrelling among those who

have all things in common, though there are


53

not many of them when compared with the

vast numbers who have private property.

Again, we ought to reckon, not only the

evils from which the citizens will be saved,

but also the advantages which they will lose.

The life which they are to lead appears to be

quite impracticable. The error of Socrates

must be attributed to the false notion of

unity from which he starts. Unity there

should be, both of the family and of the

state, but in some respects only. For there is

a point at which a state may attain such a

degree of unity as to be no longer a state, or

at which, without actually ceasing to exist, it

will become an inferior state, like harmony

passing into unison, or rhythm which has

been reduced to a single foot. The state, as I

was saying, is a plurality which should be

united and made into a community by

education; and it is strange that the author of

a system of education which he thinks will

make the state virtuous, should expect to

improve his citizens by regulations of this

sort, and not by philosophy or by customs

and laws, like those which prevail at Sparta

and Crete respecting common meals,

whereby the legislator has made property

common. Let us remember that we should

not disregard the experience of ages; in the

multitude of years these things, if they were

good, would certainly not have been

unknown; for almost everything has been

found out, although sometimes they are not

put together; in other cases men do not use

the knowledge which they have. Great light

would be thrown on this subject if we could

see such a form of government in the actual

process of construction; for the legislator

could not form a state at all without

distributing and dividing its constituents into

associations for common meals, and into

phratries and tribes. But all this legislation

ends only in forbidding agriculture to the

guardians, a prohibition which the

Lacedaemonians try to enforce already.

But, indeed, Socrates has not said, nor is it

easy to decide, what in such a community

will be the general form of the state. The

citizens who are not guardians are the

majority, and about them nothing has been

determined: are the husbandmen, too, to

have their property in common? Or is each

individual to have his own? And are the

wives and children to be individual or

common. If, like the guardians, they are to

have all things in common, what do they

differ from them, or what will they gain by

submitting to their government? Or, upon

what principle would they submit, unless

indeed the governing class adopt the

ingenious policy of the Cretans, who give

their slaves the same institutions as their

own, but forbid them gymnastic exercises

and the possession of arms. If, on the other

hand, the inferior classes are to be like other

cities in respect of marriage and property,

what will be the form of the community?

Must it not contain two states in one, each

hostile to the other He makes the guardians

into a mere occupying garrison, while the

husbandmen and artisans and the rest are the

real citizens. But if so the suits and quarrels,

and all the evils which Socrates affirms to

exist in other states, will exist equally

among them. He says indeed that, having so

good an education, the citizens will not need

many laws, for example laws about the city

or about the markets; but then he confines

his education to the guardians. Again, he

makes the husbandmen owners of the

property upon condition of their paying a

tribute. But in that case they are likely to be

much more unmanageable and conceited

than the Helots, or Penestae, or slaves in

general. And whether community of wives

and property be necessary for the lower

equally with the higher class or not, and the


54

questions akin to this, what will be the

education, form of government, laws of the

lower class, Socrates has nowhere

determined: neither is it easy to discover

this, nor is their character of small

importance if the common life of the

guardians is to be maintained.

Again, if Socrates makes the women

common, and retains private property, the

men will see to the fields, but who will see

to the house? And who will do so if the

agricultural class have both their property

and their wives in common? Once more: it is

absurd to argue, from the analogy of the

animals, that men and women should follow

the same pursuits, for animals have not to

manage a household. The government, too,

as constituted by Socrates, contains elements

of danger; for he makes the same persons

always rule. And if this is often a cause of

disturbance among the meaner sort, how

much more among high-spirited warriors?

But that the persons whom he makes rulers

must be the same is evident; for the gold

which the God mingles in the souls of men

is not at one time given to one, at another

time to another, but always to the same: as

he says, 'God mingles gold in some, and

silver in others, from their very birth; but

brass and iron in those who are meant to be

artisans and husbandmen.' Again, he

deprives the guardians even of happiness,

and says that the legislator ought to make

the whole state happy. But the whole cannot

be happy unless most, or all, or some of its

parts enjoy happiness. In this respect

happiness is not like the even principle in

numbers, which may exist only in the whole,

but in neither of the parts; not so happiness.

And if the guardians are not happy, who

are? Surely not the artisans, or the common

people. The Republic of which Socrates

discourses has all these difficulties, and

others quite as great.

VI

The same, or nearly the same, objections

apply to Plato's later work, the Laws, and

therefore we had better examine briefly the

constitution which is therein described. In

the Republic, Socrates has definitely settled

in all a few questions only; such as the

community of women and children, the

community of property, and the constitution

of the state. The population is divided into

two classes -- one of husbandmen, and the

other of warriors; from this latter is taken a

third class of counselors and rulers of the

state. But Socrates has not determined

whether the husbandmen and artisans are to

have a share in the government, and whether

they, too, are to carry arms and share in

military service, or not. He certainly thinks

that the women ought to share in the

education of the guardians, and to fight by

their side. The remainder of the work is

filled up with digressions foreign to the

main subject, and with discussions about the

education of the guardians. In the Laws

there is hardly anything but laws; not much

is said about the constitution. This, which he

had intended to make more of the ordinary

type, he gradually brings round to the other

or ideal form. For with the exception of the

community of women and property, he

supposes everything to be the same in both

states; there is to be the same education; the

citizens of both are to live free from servile

occupations, and there are to be common

meals in both. The only difference is that in

the Laws, the common meals are extended

to women, and the warriors number 5000,

but in the Republic only 1000.

The discourses of Socrates are never

commonplace; they always exhibit grace

and originality and thought; but perfection in

everything can hardly be expected. We must


55

not overlook the fact that the number of

5000 citizens, just now mentioned, will

require a territory as large as Babylon, or

some other huge site, if so many persons are

to be supported in idleness, together with

their women and attendants, who will be a

multitude many times as great. In framing an

ideal we may assume what we wish, but

should avoid impossibilities.

It is said that the legislator ought to have his

eye directed to two points -- the people and

the country. But neighboring countries also

must not be forgotten by him, firstly because

the state for which he legislates is to have a

political and not an isolated life. For a state

must have such a military force as will be

serviceable against her neighbors, and not

merely useful at home. Even if the life of

action is not admitted to be the best, either

for individuals or states, still a city should be

formidable to enemies, whether invading or

retreating.

There is another point: Should not the

amount of property be defined in some way

which differs from this by being clearer? For

Socrates says that a man should have so

much property as will enable him to live

temperately, which is only a way of saying

'to live well'; this is too general a

conception. Further, a man may live

temperately and yet miserably. A better

definition would be that a man must have so

much property as will enable him to live not

only temperately but liberally; if the two are

parted, liberally will combine with luxury;

temperance will be associated with toil. For

liberality and temperance are the only

eligible qualities which have to do with the

use of property. A man cannot use property

with mildness or courage, but temperately

and liberally he may; and therefore the

practice of these virtues is inseparable from

property. There is an inconsistency, too, in

too, in equalizing the property and not

regulating the number of the citizens; the

population is to remain unlimited, and he

thinks that it will be sufficiently equalized

by a certain number of marriages being

unfruitful, however many are born to others,

because he finds this to be the case in

existing states. But greater care will be

required than now; for among ourselves,

whatever may be the number of citizens, the

property is always distributed among them,

and therefore no one is in want; but, if the

property were incapable of division as in the

Laws, the supernumeraries, whether few or

many, would get nothing. One would have

thought that it was even more necessary to

limit population than property; and that the

limit should be fixed by calculating the

chances of mortality in the children, and of

sterility in married persons. The neglect of

this subject, which in existing states is so

common, is a never-failing cause of poverty

among the citizens; and poverty is the parent

of revolution and crime. Pheidon the

Corinthian, who was one of the most ardent

legislators, thought that the families and the

number of citizens ought to remain the

same, although originally all the lots may

have been of different sizes: but in the Laws

the opposite principle is maintained. What in

our opinion is the right arrangement will

have to be explained hereafter.

There is another omission in the Laws:

Socrates does not tell us how the rulers

differ from their subjects; he only says that

they should be related as the warp and the

woof, which are made out of different

wools. He allows that a man's whole

property may be increased fivefold, but why

should not his land also increase to a certain

extent? Again, will the good management of

a household be promoted by his arrangement

of homesteads? For he assigns to each

individual two homesteads in separate


56

places, and it is difficult to live in two

houses.

The whole system of government tends to be

neither democracy nor oligarchy, but

something in a mean between them, which is

usually called a polity, and is composed of

the heavy-armed soldiers. Now, if he

intended to frame a constitution which

would suit the greatest number of states, he

was very likely right, but not if he meant to

say that this constitutional form came

nearest to his first or ideal state; for many

would prefer the Lacedaemonian, or,

possibly, some other more aristocratic

government. Some, indeed, say that the best

constitution is a combination of all existing

forms, and they praise the Lacedaemonian

because it is made up of oligarchy,

monarchy, and democracy, the king forming

the monarchy, and the council of elders the

oligarchy while the democratic element is

represented by the Ephors; for the Ephors

are selected from the people. Others,

however, declare the Ephoralty to be a

tyranny, and find the element of democracy

in the common meals and in the habits of

daily life. In the Laws it is maintained that

the best constitution is made up of

democracy and tyranny, which are either not

constitutions at all, or are the worst of all.

But they are nearer the truth who combine

many forms; for the constitution is better

which is made up of more numerous

elements. The constitution proposed in the

Laws has no element of monarchy at all; it is

nothing but oligarchy and democracy,

leaning rather to oligarchy. This is seen in

the mode of appointing magistrates; for

although the appointment of them by lot

from among those who have been already

selected combines both elements, the way in

which the rich are compelled by law to

attend the assembly and vote for magistrates

or discharge other political duties, while the

rest may do as they like, and the endeavor to

have the greater number of the magistrates

appointed out of the richer classes and the

highest officers selected from those who

have the greatest incomes, both these are

oligarchical features. The oligarchical

principle prevails also in the choice of the

council, for all are compelled to choose, but

the compulsion extends only to the choice

out of the first class, and of an equal number

out of the second class and out of the third

class, but not in this latter case to all the

voters but to those of the first three classes;

and the selection of candidates out of the

fourth class is only compulsory on the first

and second. Then, from the persons so

chosen, he says that there ought to be an

equal number of each class selected. Thus a

preponderance will be given to the better

sort of people, who have the larger incomes,

because many of the lower classes, not being

compelled will not vote. These

considerations, and others which will be

adduced when the time comes for examining

similar polities, tend to show that states like

Plato's should not be composed of

democracy and monarchy. There is also a

danger in electing the magistrates out of a

body who are themselves elected; for, if but

a small number choose to combine, the

elections will always go as they desire. Such

is the constitution which is described in the

Laws.

VII

FRONTINUS, THE AQUADUCTS OF

ROME, BOOK 1:1-23

(http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Ro

man/Texts/Frontinus/De_Aquis/text*.html )

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57

1. Inasmuch as every task assigned by the

Emperor demands especial attention; and

inasmuch as I am incited, not merely to

diligence, but also to devotion, when any

matter is entrusted to me, be it as a

consequence of my natural sense of

responsibility or of my fidelity; and

inasmuch as Nerva Augustus (an emperor of

whom I am at a loss to say whether he

devotes more industry or love to the State)

has laid upon me the duties of water

commissioner, an office which concerns not

merely the convenience but also the health

and even the safety of the City, and which

has always been administered by the most

eminent men of our State; now therefore

I deem it of the first and greatest importance

to familiarize myself with the business

I have undertaken, a policy which I have

always made a principle in other affairs.

2. For I believe that there is no surer

foundation for any business than this, and

that it would be otherwise impossible to

determine what ought to be done, what

ought to be avoided; likewise that there is

nothing so disgraceful for a decent man as to

conduct an office delegated to him,

according to the instructions of assistants.

Yet precisely this is inevitable whenever a

person inexperienced in the matter in hand

has to have recourse to the practical

knowledge of subordinates. For though the

latter play a necessary rôle in the way of

rendering assistance, yet they are, as it were,

but the hands and tools of the directing head.

Observing, therefore, the practice which

I have followed in many offices, I have

gathered in this sketch (into one systematic

body, so to speak) such facts, hitherto

scattered, as I have been able to get together,

which bear on the general subject, and

which might serve to guide me in my

administration. Now in the case of other

books which I have written after practical

experience, I consulted the interests of my

predecessors. The present treatise also may

be found useful by my own successor, but it

will serve especially for my own instruction

and guidance, being prepared, as it is, at the

beginning of my administration.

3. And lest I seem to have omitted anything

requisite to a familiarity with the entire

subject, I will first set down the names of the

waters which enter the City of Rome; then

I will tell by whom, under what consuls, and

in what year after the founding of the City

each one was brought in; then at what point

and at what milestone each water was taken;

how far each is carried in a subterranean

channel, how far on substructures, how far

on arches. Then I will give the elevation of

each, [the plan] of the taps, and the

distributions that are made from them; how

much each aqueduct brings to points outside

the City, what proportion to each quarter

within the City; how many public reservoirs

there are, and from these how much is

delivered to public works, how much to

ornamental fountains (munera, as the more

polite call them), how much to the water-

basins; how much is granted in the name of

Caesar; how much for private uses by the

favour of the Emperor; what is the law with

regard to the construction and maintenance

of the aqueducts, what penalties enforce it,

whether established by resolutions of the

Senate or by edicts of the Emperors.

4. For four hundred and forty-one years

from the foundation of the City, the Romans

were satisfied with the use of such waters as

they drew from the Tiber, from wells, or

from springs. Esteem for springs still

continues, and is observed with veneration.

They are believed to bring healing to the

sick, as, for example, the springs of the

Camenae, of Apollo, and of Juturna. But

there now run into the City: the Appian

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58

aqueduct, Old Anio, Marcia, Tepula, Julia,

Virgo, Alsietina, which is also called

Augusta, Claudia, New Anio.

5. In the consulship of Marcus Valerius

Maximus and Publius Decius Mus, in the

thirtieth year after the beginning of the

Samnite War, the Appian aqueduct was

brought into the City by Appius Claudius

Crassus, the Censor, who afterwards

received the surname of "the Blind," the

same man who had charge of constructing

the Appian Way from the Porta Capena as

far as the City of Capua. As colleague in the

censorship Appius had Gaius Plautius, to

whom was given the name of "the Hunter"

for having discovered the springs of this

water. But since Plautius resigned the

censorship within a year and six months,

under the mistaken impression that his

colleague would do the same, the honour of

giving his name to the aqueduct fell to

Appius alone, who, by various subterfuges,

is reported to have extended the term of his

consulship, until he should complete both

the Way and this aqueduct. The intake of the

Appia is on the Lucullan estate, between the

seventh and eighth milestones, on the

Praenestine Way, on a cross-road, •780

paces to the left. From its intake to the

Salinae at the Porta Trigemina, its channel

has a length of •11,190 paces, of which

•11,130 paces run underground, while above

ground •sixty paces are carried on

substructures and, near the Porta Capena, on

arches. Near Spes Vetus, on the edge of the

Torquatian and Epaphroditian Gardens,

there joins it a branch of Augusta, added by

Augustus as a supplementary supply *

This branch has its intake at the

sixth milestone, on the Praenestine Way, on

a cross-road, •980 paces to the left, near the

Collatian Way. Its course, by underground

channel, extends to •6,380 paces before

reaching The Twins. The distribution of

Appia begins at the foot of the Publician

Ascent, near the Porta Trigemina, at the

place designated as the Salinae.

6. Forty years after Appia was brought in, in

the four hundred and eighty-first year from

the founding of the City, Manius Curius

Dentatus, who held the censorship with

Lucius Papirius Cursor, contracted to have

the waters of what is now called Old Anio

brought into the City, with the proceeds of

the booty captured from Pyrrhus. This was

in the second consulship of Spurius

Carvilius and Lucius Papirius. Then two

years later the question of completing the

aqueduct was discussed in the Senate on the

motion * of the praetor. At the

close of the discussion, Curius, who had let

the original contract, and Fulvius Flaccus

were appointed by decree of the Senate as a

board of two to bring in the water. Within

five days of the time he had been appointed,

one of the two commissioners, Curius, died;

thus the credit of achieving the work rested

with Flaccus. The intake of Old Anio is

above Tibur at the twentieth milestone

outside the * Gate, where it

gives a part of its water to supply the

Tiburtines. Owing to the exigence of

elevation, its conduit has a length of •43,000

paces. Of this, the channel runs underground

for •42,779 paces, while there are above

ground substructures for •221 paces.

7. One hundred and twenty-seven years

later, that is in the six hundred and eighth

year from the founding of the City, in the

consulship of Servius Sulpicius Galba and

Lucius Aurelius Cotta, when the conduits of

Appia and Old Anio had become leaky by

reason of age, and water was also being

diverted from them unlawfully by

individuals, the Senate commissioned

Marcius, who at that time administered the

law as praetor between citizens, to reclaim





59

and repair these conduits; and since the

growth of the City was seen to demand a

more bountiful supply of water, the same

man was charged by the Senate to bring into

the City other waters so far as he could. *

He restored the old channels and

brought in a third supply, more wholesome

than these, * which is called

Marcia after the man who introduced it. We

read in Fenestella, that

180,000,000 sesterces were granted to

Marcius for these works, and since the term

of his praetorship was not sufficient for the

completion of the enterprise, it was extended

for a second year. At that time the

Decemvirs, on consulting the Sibylline

Books for another purpose, are said to have

discovered that it was not right for the

Marcian water, or rather the Anio (for

tradition more regularly mentions this) to be

brought to the Capitol. The matter is said to

have been debated in the Senate, in the

consulship of Appius Claudius and Quintus

Caecilius, Marcus Lepidus acting as

spokesman for the Board of Decemvirs; and

three years later the matter is said to have

been brought up again by Lucius Lentulus,

in the consulship of Gaius Laelius and

Quintus Servilius, but on both occasions the

influence of Marcius Rex carried the day;

and thus the water was brought to the

Capitol. The intake of Marcia is at the thirty-

sixth milestone on the Valerian Way, on a

cross-road, three miles to the right as you

come from Rome. But on the Sublacensian

Way, which was first paved under the

Emperor Nero, at the thirty-eighth

milestone, within •200 paces to the left [a

view of its source may be seen]. Its waters

stand like a tranquil pool, of deep green hue.

Its conduit has a length, from the intake to

the City, of •61,710½ paces; •54,247½ paces

of underground conduit; •7,463 paces on

structures above ground, of which, at some

distance from the City, in several places

where it crosses valleys, there are •463

paces on arches; nearer the City, beginning

at the seventh milestone, •528 paces on

substructures, and the remaining •6,472

paces on arches.

8. The Censors, Gnaeus Servilius Caepio

and Lucius Cassius Longinus, called

Ravilla, in the year 627 after the founding of

the City, in the consulate of Marcus Plautus

Hypsaeus and Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, had

the water called Tepula brought to Rome

and to the Capitol, from the estate of

Lucullus, which some persons hold to

belong to Tusculan territory. The intake of

Tepula is at the tenth milestone on the Latin

Way, near a cross-road, two miles to the

right as you proceed from Rome *

From that point it was conducted

in its own channel to the City.

9. Later * in the second

consulate of the Emperor Caesar Augustus,

when Lucius Volcatius was his colleague, in

the year 719 after the foundation of the City,

[Marcus] Agrippa, when aedile, after his

first consulship, took another independent

source of supply, at the twelfth milestone

from the City on the Latin Way, on a cross-

road two miles to the right as you proceed

from Rome, and also tapped Tepula. The

name Julia was given to the new aqueduct

by its builder, but since the waters were

again divided for distribution, the name

Tepula remained. The conduit of Julia has a

length of •15,426½ paces; •7,000 paces on

masonry above ground, of which •528 paces

next the City, beginning at the seventh

milestone, are on substructures, the other

•6,472 paces being on arches. Past the intake

of Julia flows a brook, which is called

Crabra. Agrippa refrained from taking in

this brook either because he had condemned

it, or because he thought it ought to be left to

the proprietors at Tusculum, for this is the




60

water which all the estates of that district

receive in turn, dealt out to them on regular

days and in regular quantities. But our

water-men, failing to practise the same

restraint, have always claimed a part of it to

supplement Julia, not, however, thus

increasing the actual flow of Julia, since

they habitually exhausted it by diverting its

waters for their own profit. I therefore shut

off the Crabra brook and at the Emperor's

command restored it entirely to the Tusculan

proprietors, who now, possibly not without

surprise, take its waters, without knowing to

what cause to ascribe the unusual

abundance. The Julian aqueduct, on the

other hand, by reason of the destruction of

the branch pipes through which it was

secretly plundered, has maintained its

normal quantity even in times of most

extraordinary drought. In the same year,

Agrippa repaired the conduits of Appia, Old

Anio, and Marcia, which had almost worn

out, and with unique forethought provided

the City with a large number of fountains.

10. The same man, after his own third

consulship, in the consulship of Gaius

Sentius and Quintus Lucretius, twelve years

after he had constructed the Julian aqueduct,

also brought Virgo to Rome, taking it from

the estate of Lucullus. We learn that June 9

was the day that it first began to flow in the

City. It was called Virgo, •because a young

girl pointed out certain springs to some

soldiers hunting for water, and when they

followed these up and dug, they found a

copious supply. A small temple, situated

near the spring, contains a painting which

illustrates this origin of the aqueduct. The

intake of Virgo is on the Collatian Way at

the eighth milestone, in a marshy spot,

surrounded by a concrete enclosure for the

purpose of confining the gushing waters. Its

volume is augmented by several tributaries.

Its length is •14,105 paces. For •12,865

paces of this distance it is carried in an

underground channel, for •1,240 paces

above ground. Of these 1,240 paces, it is

carried for •540 paces on substructures at

various points, and for •700 paces on arches.

The underground conduits of the tributaries

measure •1,405 paces.

11. I fail to see what motive induced

Augustus, a most sagacious sovereign, to

bring in the Alsietinian water, also called

Augusta. For this has nothing to commend

it, — is in fact positively unwholesome, and

for that reason is nowhere delivered for

consumption by the people. It may have

been that when Augustus began the

construction of his Naumachia, he brought

this water in a special conduit, in order not

to encroach on the existing supply of

wholesome water, and then granted the

surplus of the Naumachia to the adjacent

gardens and to private users for irrigation. It

is customary, however, in the district across

the Tiber, in an emergency, whenever the

bridges are undergoing repairs and the water

supply is cut off from this side of the river,

to draw from Alsietina to maintain the flow

of the public fountains. Its source is the

Alsietinian Lake, at the fourteenth

milestone, on the Claudian Way, on a cross-

road, six miles and a half to the right. Its

conduit has a length of •22,172 paces, with

•358 paces on arches.

12. To supplement Marcia, whenever dry

seasons required an additional supply,

Augustus also, by an underground channel,

brought to the conduit of Marcia another

water of the same excellent quality, called

Augusta from the name of its donor. Its

source is beyond the springs of Marcia; its

conduit, up to its junction with Marcia,

measures •800 paces.


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61

13. After these aqueducts, Gaius Caesar, the

successor of Tiberius, in the second year of

his reign, in the consulate of Marcus Aquila

Julianus and Publius Nonius Asprenas, in

the year 791 after the founding of the City,

began two others, inasmuch as the seven

then existing seemed insufficient to meet

both the public needs and the luxurious

private demands of the day. These works

Claudius completed on the most magnificent

scale, and dedicated in the consulship of

Sulla and Titianus, on the 1st of August in

the year 803 after the founding of the City.

To the one water, which had its sources in

the Caerulean and Curtian springs, was

given the name Claudia. This is next to

Marcia in excellence. The second began to

be designated as New Anio, in order the

more readily to distinguish by title the two

Anios that had now begun to flow to the

City. To the former Anio the name of "Old"

was added.

14. The intake of Claudia is at the thirty-

eighth milestone on the Sublacensian Way,

on a cross-road, •less than three hundred

paces to the left. The water comes from two

very large and beautiful springs, the

Caerulean, so designated from its

appearance, and the Curtian. Claudia also

receives the spring which is called

Albudinus, which is of such excellence that,

when Marcia, too, needs supplementing, this

water answers the purpose so admirably that

by its addition there is no change in Marcia's

quality. The spring of Augusta was turned

into Claudia, because it was plainly evident

that Marcia was of sufficient volume by

itself. But Augusta remained, nevertheless, a

reserve supply to Marcia, the understanding

being that Augusta should run into Claudia

only when the conduit of Marcia would not

carry it. Claudia's conduit has a length of

•46,606 paces, of which •36,230 are in a

subterranean channel, •10,176 on structures

above ground; of these last there are at

various points in the upper reaches •3,076

paces on arches; and near the City,

beginning at the seventh milestone, •609

paces on substructures and •6,491 on arches.

15. The intake of New Anio is at the forty-

second milestone on the Sublacensian Way,

in the district of Simbruvium. The water is

taken from the river, which, even without

the effect of rainstorms, is muddy and

discoloured, because it has rich and

cultivated fields adjoining it, and in

consequence loose banks. For this reason, a

settling reservoir was put in beyond the inlet

of the aqueduct, in order that the water

might settle there and clarify itself, between

the river and the conduit. But even despite

this precaution, the water reaches the City in

a discoloured condition whenever there are

rains. It is joined by the Herculanean brook,

which has its source on the same Way, at the

thirty-eighth milestone, opposite the springs

of Claudia, beyond the river and the

highway. This is naturally very clear, but

loses the charm of its purity by admixture

with New Anio. The conduit of New Anio

measures •58,700 paces, of which •49,300

are in an underground channel, •9,400 paces

above ground on masonry; of these, at

various points in the upper reaches are

•2,300 paces on substructures or arches;

while nearer the City, beginning at the

seventh milestone, are •609 paces on

substructures, •6,491 paces on arches. These

are the highest arches, rising at certain

points to •109 feet.

16. With such an array of indispensable

structures carrying so many waters,

compare, if you will, the idle Pyramids or

the useless, though famous, works of the

Greeks!






62

17. It has seemed to me not inappropriate to

include also a statement of the lengths of the

channels of the several aqueducts, according

to the kinds of construction. For since the

chief function of this office of water-

commissioner lies in their upkeep, the man

in charge of them ought to know which of

them demand the heavier outlay. My zeal

was not satisfied with submitting details to

examination; I also had plans made of the

aqueducts, on which it is shown where there

are valleys and how great these are; where

rivers are crossed; and where conduits laid

on hillsides demand more particular constant

care for their maintenance and repair. By

this provision, one reaps the advantage of

being able to have the works before one's

eyes, so to speak, at a moment's notice, and

to consider them as though standing by their

side.

18. The several aqueducts reach the City at

different elevations. In consequence certain

ones deliver water on higher ground, while

others cannot rise to the loftier points; for

the hills have gradually grown higher with

rubbish in consequence of frequent

conflagrations. There are five whose head

rises to every point in the City, but of these

some are forced up with greater, others with

lesser pressure. The highest is New Anio;

next comes Claudia; the third place is taken

by Julia; the fourth by Tepula; the last by

Marcia, although at its intake this mounts

even to the level of Claudia. But the ancients

laid the lines of their aqueducts at a lower

elevation, either because they had not yet

nicely worked out the art of levelling, or

because they purposely sunk their aqueducts

in the ground, in order that they might not

easily be cut by the enemy, since frequent

wars were still waged with the Italians. But

now, whenever a conduit has succumbed to

old age, it is the practice to carry it in certain

parts on substructures or on arches, in order

to save length, abandoning the subterranean

loops in the valleys. The sixth rank in height

is held by Old Anio, which would likewise

be capable of supplying even the higher

portions of the City, if it were raised up on

substructures or arches, wherever the nature

of the valleys and low places demands. Its

elevation is followed by that of Virgo, then

by that of Appia. These, since they were

brought from points near the City, could not

rise to such high elevations. Lowest of all is

Alsietina, which supplies the ward across

the Tiber and the very lowest districts.

19. Of these waters, six are received in

covered catch-basins, this side the seventh

milestone on the Latin Way. Here, taking

fresh breath, so to speak, after the run, they

deposit their sediment. Their volume also is

determined by gauges set up at the same

point. Three of these, Julia, Marcia, and

Tepula, are carried by the same arches from

the catch-basins onward. Tepula, which, as

we have above explained, was tapped and

added to the conduit of Julia, now leaves the

basin of this same Julia, receives its own

quota of water, and runs in its own conduit,

under its own name. The topmost of these

three is Julia; next below is Tepula; then

Marcia. These flowing [under ground] reach

the level of the Viminal Hill, and in fact

even of the Viminal Gate. There they again

emerge. Yet a part of Julia is first diverted at

Spes Vetus, and distributed to the reservoirs

of Mount Caelius. But Marcia delivers a part

of its waters into the so-called Herculanean

Conduit, behind the Gardens of Pallas. This

conduit, carried along the Caelian, affords

no service to the occupants of the hill, on

account of its low level; it ends beyond the

Porta Capena.

20. New Anio and Claudia are carried

together from their catch-basins on lofty

arches, Anio being above. Their arches end






63

behind the Gardens of Pallas, and from that

point their waters are distributed in pipes to

serve the City. Yet Claudia first transfers a

part of its waters near Spes Vetus to the

so-called Neronian Arches. These arches

pass along the Caelian Hill and end near the

Temple of the Deified Claudius. Both

aqueducts deliver the volume which they

receive, partly about the Caelian, partly on

the Palatine and Aventine, and to the ward

beyond the Tiber.

21. Old Anio, this side the fourth milestone,

passes under New Anio, which here shifts

from the Latin to the Labican Way; it has its

own catch-basin. Then, this side the second

milestone, it gives a part of its waters to the

so-called Octavian Conduit and reaches the

Asinian Gardens in the neighbourhood of

the New Way, whence it is distributed

throughout that district. But the main

conduit, which passes Spes Vetus, comes

inside the Esquiline Gate and is distributed

to high-lying mains throughout the City.

22. Neither Virgo, nor Appia, nor Alsietina

has a receiving reservoir or catch-basin. The

arches of Virgo begin under the Lucullan

Gardens, and end on the Campus Martius in

front of the Voting Porticoes. The conduit of

Appia, running along the base of the Caelian

and Aventine, emerges, as we have said

above, at the foot of the Publician Ascent.

The conduit of Alsietina terminates behind

the Naumachia, for which it seems to have

been constructed.

23. Since I have given in detail the builders

of the several aqueducts, their dates, and, in

addition, their sources, the lengths of their

channels, and their elevations in sequence, it

seems to me not out of keeping to add also

some separate details, and to show how

great is the supply which suffices not only

for public and private uses and purposes, but

also for the satisfaction of luxury; by how

many reservoirs it is distributed and in what

wards; how much water is delivered outside

the City; how much is used for water-basins,

how much for fountains, how much for

public buildings, how much in the name of

Caesar, how much for private consumption.

But before I mention the names quinaria,

centenaria, and those of the other ajutages

by which water is gauged, I deem it

appropriate to state what is their origin, what

their capacities, and what each name means;

and, after setting forth the rule according to

which their proportions and capacities are

computed, to show in what way I discovered

their discrepancies, and what course

I pursued in correcting them.

CARTHAGE

ARISTOTLE, CARTHAGINIAN

CONSTITUTION

(http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/aris

totle-carthage.asp )

The Carthaginians are also considered to

have an excellent form of government,

which differs from that of any other state in

several respects, though it is in some very

like the Spartan. Indeed, all three states---the

Spartan, the Cretan, and the Carthaginian---

nearly resemble one another, and are very

different from any others. Many of the

Carthaginian institutions are excellent. The

superiority of their constitution is proved by

the fact that the common people remain

loyal to the constitution. The Carthaginians

have never had any rebellion worth speaking

of, and have never been under the rule of a

tyrant. Among the points in which the

Carthaginian constitution resembles the

Spartan are the following: The common


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64

tables of the clubs answer to the Spartan

phiditia, and their magistracy of the

Hundred-Four to the Ephors; but, whereas

the Ephors are any chance persons, the

magistrates of the Carthaginians are elected

according to merit---this is an improvement.

They have also their kings and their

Gerousia, or council of elders, who

correspond to the kings and elders of Sparta.

Their kings, unlike the Spartan, are not

always of the same family, nor that an

ordinary one, but if there is some

distinguished family they are selected out of

it and not appointed by seniority---this is far

better. Such officers have great power, and

therefore, if they are persons of little worth,

do a great deal of harm, and they have

already done harm at Sparta.

Most of the defects or deviations from the

perfect state, for which the Carthaginian

constitution would be censured, apply

equally to all the forms of government

which we have mentioned. But of the

deflections from aristocracy and

constitutional government, some incline

more to democracy and some to oligarchy.

The kings and elders, if unanimous, may

determine whether they will or will not

bring a matter before the people, but when

they are not unanimous, the people decide

on such matters as well. And whatever the

kings and elders bring before the people is

not only heard but also determined by them,

and any one who likes may oppose it; now

this is not permitted in Sparta and Crete.

That the magistrates of five who have under

them many important matters should be co-

opted, that they should choose the supreme

council of One Hundred, and should hold

office longer than other magistrates (for they

are virtually rulers both before and after they

hold office)---these are oligarchical features;

their being without salary and not elected by

lot, and any similar points, such as the

practice of having all suits tried by the

magistrates, and not some by one class of

judges or jurors and some by another, as at

Sparta, are characteristic of aristocracy.

The Carthaginian constitution deviates from

aristocracy and inclines to oligarchy, chiefly

on a point where popular opinion is on their

side. For men in general think that

magistrates should be chosen not only for

their merit, but for their wealth: a man, they

say, who is poor cannot rule well---he has

not the leisure. If, then, election of

magistrates for their wealth be characteristic

of oligarchy, and election for merit of

aristocracy, there will be a third form under

which the constitution of Carthage is

comprehended; for the Carthaginians choose

their magistrates, and particularly the

highest of them---their kings and generals---

with an eye both to merit and to wealth. But

we must acknowledge that, in thus deviating

from aristocracy, the legislator has

committed an error. Nothing is more

absolutely necessary than to provide that the

highest class, not only when in office, but

when out of office, should have leisure and

not disgrace themselves in any way; and to

this his attention should be first directed.

Even if you must have regard to wealth, in

order to secure leisure, yet it is surely a bad

thing that the greatest offices, such as those

of kings and generals, should be bought. The

law which allows this abuse makes wealth

of more account than virtue, and the whole

state becomes avaricious.

For, whenever the chiefs of the state deem

anything honorable, the other citizens are

sure to follow their example; and, where

virtue has not the first place, their

aristocracy cannot be firmly established.

Those who have been at the expense of

purchasing their places will be in the habit

of repaying themselves; and it is absurd to

suppose that a poor and honest man will be


65

wanting to make gains, and that a lower

stamp of man who has incurred a great

expense will not. Wherefore they should

rule who are able to rule best. And even if

the legislator does not care to protect the

good from poverty, he should at any rate

secure leisure for them when in office. It

would seem also to be a bad principle that

the same person should hold many offices,

which is a favorite practice among the

Carthaginians, for one business is better

done by one man.

The government of the Carthaginians is

oligarchical, but they successfully escape the

evils of oligarchy by enriching one portion

of the people after another by sending them

to their colonies. This is their panacea and

the means by which they give stability to the

state. Accident favors them, but the

legislator should be able to provide against

revolution without trusting to accidents. As

things are, if any misfortune occurred, and

the bulk of the subjects revolted, there

would be no way of restoring peace by legal

methods.

ROME

PLEASE SCAN THIS PICTURE:

Please scan the following picture (of the

church building) with your smart phone.

You will need to get the Microsoft Tag app

to do this. You can get this here:

http://gettag.mobi or search either the

Microsoft App store or Apple’s app store for

Microsoft Tag Reader. This will take you to

a video on early churches of Rome.

POLYBIUS, HISTORY OF ROME,

BOOK 6

(http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/pol

ybius6.asp)

THE THREE kinds of government,

monarchy, aristocracy and democracy, were

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66

all found united in the commonwealth of

Rome. And so even was the balance

between them all, and so regular the

administration that resulted from their union,

that it was no easy thing to determine with

assurance, whether the entire state was to be

estimated an aristocracy, a democracy, or a

monarchy. For if they turned their view

upon the power of the consuls, the

government appeared to be purely

monarchical and regal. If, again, the

authority of the senate was considered, it

then seemed to wear the form of aristocracy.

And, lastly, if regard was to be had to the

share which the people possessed in the

administration of affairs, it could then

scarcely fail to be denominated a popular

state. The several powers that were

appropriated to each of these distinct

branches of the constitution at the time of

which we are speaking, and which, with

very little variation, are even still preserved,

are these which follow.

The consuls, when they remain in Rome,

before they lead out the armies into the field,

are the masters of all public affairs. For all

other magistrates, the tribunes alone

excepted, are subject to them, and bound to

obey their commands. They introduce

ambassadors into the senate. They propose

also to the senate the subjects of debates;

and direct all forms that are observed in

making the decrees. Nor is it less a part of

their office likewise, to attend to those

affairs that are transacted by the people; to

call together general assemblies; to report to

them the resolutions of the senate; and to

ratify whatever is determined by the greater

number. In all the preparations that are made

for war, as well as in the whole

administration in the field, they possess an

almost absolute authority. For to them it

belongs to impose upon the allies whatever

services they judge expedient; to appoint the

military tribunes; to enroll the legions, and

make the necessary levies, and to inflict

punishments in the field, upon all that are

subject to their command. Add to this, that

they have the power likewise to expend

whatever sums of money they may think

convenient from the public treasury; being

attended for that purpose by a quaestor; who

is always ready to receive and execute their

orders. When any one therefore, directs his

view to this part of the constitution, it is very

reasonable for him to conclude that this

government is no other than a simple

royalty. Let me only observe, that if in some

of these particular points, or in those that

will hereafter be mentioned, any change

should be either now remarked, or should

happen at some future time, such an

alteration will not destroy the general

principles of this discourse.

To the senate belongs, in the first place, the

sole care and management of the public

money. For all returns that are brought into

the treasury, as well as all the payments that

are issued from it, are directed by their

orders. Nor is it allowed to the quaestors to

apply any part of the revenue to particular

occasions as they arise, without a decree of

the senate; those sums alone excepted.

which are expended in the service of the

consuls. And even those more general, as

well as greatest disbursements, which are

employed at the return every five years, in

building and repairing the public edifices,

are assigned to the censors for that purpose,

by the express permission of the senate. To

the senate also is referred the cognizance of

all the crimes, committed in any part of

Italy, that demand a public examination and

inquiry: such as treasons, conspiracies,

poisonings, and assassinations. Add to this,

that when any controversies arise, either

between private men, or any of the cities of

Italy, it is the part of the senate to adjust all


67

disputes; to censure those that are deserving

of blame: and to yield assistance to those

who stand in need of protection and defense.

When any embassies are sent out of Italy;

either to reconcile contending states; to offer

exhortations and advice; or even, as it

sometimes happens, to impose commands;

to propose conditions of a treaty; or to make

a denunciation of war; the care and conduct

of all these transactions is entrusted wholly

to the senate. When any ambassadors also

arrive in Rome, it is the senate likewise that

determines how they shall be received and

treated, and what answer shall be given to

their demands.

In all these things that have now been

mentioned, the people has no share. To

those, therefore, who come to reside in

Rome during the absence of the consuls, the

government appears to be purely

aristocratic. Many of the Greeks, especially,

and of the foreign princes, are easily led into

this persuasion: when they perceive that

almost all the affairs, which they are forced

to negotiate with the Romans, are

determined by the senate.

And now it may well be asked, what part is

left to the people in this government: since

the senate, on the one hand, is vested with

the sovereign power, in the several instances

that have been enumerated, and more

especially in all things that concern the

management and disposal of the public

treasure; and since the consuls, on the other

hand, are entrusted with the absolute

direction of the preparations that are made

for war, and exercise an uncontrolled

authority on the field. There is, however, a

part still allotted to the people; and, indeed,

the most important part. For, first, the people

are the sole dispensers of rewards and

punishments; which are the only bands by

which states and kingdoms, and, in a word,

all human societies, are held together. For

when the difference between these is

overlooked, or when they are distributed

without due distinction, nothing but disorder

can ensue. Nor is it possible, indeed, that the

government should be maintained if the

wicked stand in equal estimation with the

good. The people, then, when any such

offences demand such punishment,

frequently condemn citizens to the payment

of a fine: those especially who have been

invested with the dignities of the state. To

the people alone belongs the right to

sentence any one to die. Upon this occasion

they have a custom which deserves to be

mentioned with applause. The person

accused is allowed to withdraw himself in

open view, and embrace a voluntary

banishment, if only a single tribe remains

that has not yet given judgment; and is

suffered to retire in safety to Praeneste,

Tibur, Naples, or any other of the

confederate cities. The public magistrates

are allotted also by the people to those who

are esteemed worthy of them: and these are

the noblest rewards that any government can

bestow on virtue. To the people belongs the

power of approving or rejecting laws and,

which is still of greater importance, peace

and war are likewise fixed by their

deliberations. When any alliance is

concluded, any war ended, or treaty made;

to them the conditions are referred, and by

them either annulled or ratified. And thus

again, from a view of all these

circumstances, it might with reason be

imagined, that the people had engrossed the

largest portion of the government, and that

the state was plainly a democracy.

Such are the parts of the administration,

which are distinctly assigned to each of the

three forms of government, that are united in

the commonwealth of Rome. It now remains

to be considered, in what manner each


68

several form is enabled to counteract the

others, or to cooperate with them.

When the consuls, invested with the power

that has been mentioned, lead the armies

into the field, though they seem, indeed, to

hold such absolute authority as is sufficient

for all purposes, yet are they in truth so

dependent both on the senate and the people,

that without their assistance they are by no

means able to accomplish any design. It is

well known that armies demand a continual

supply of necessities. But neither corn, nor

habits, nor even the military stipends, can at

any time be transmitted to the legions unless

by an express order of the senate. Any

opposition, therefore, or delay, on the part of

this assembly, is sufficient always to defeat

the enterprises of the generals. It is the

senate, likewise, that either compels the

consuls to leave their designs imperfect, or

enables them to complete the projects which

they have formed, by sending a successor

into each of their several provinces, upon the

expiration of the annual term, or by

continuing them in the same command. The

senate also has the power to aggrandize and

amplify the victories that are gained, or, on

the contrary, to depreciate and debase them.

For that which is called among the Romans

a triumph, in which a sensible representation

of the actions of the generals is exposed in

solemn procession to the view of all the

citizens, can neither be exhibited with due

pomp and splendor, nor, indeed, be in any

other manner celebrated, unless the consent

of the senate be first obtained, together with

the sums that are requisite for the expense.

Nor is it less necessary, on the other hand,

that the consuls, how soever far they may

happen to be removed from Rome, should

be careful to preserve the good affections of

the people. For the people, as we have

already mentioned, annuls or ratifies all

treaties. But that which is of greatest

moment is that the consuls, at the time of

laying down their office are bound to submit

their past administration to the judgment of

the people. And thus these magistrates can at

no time think themselves secure, if they

neglect to gain the approbation both of the

senate and the people.

In the same manner the senate also, though

invested with so great authority, is bound to

yield a certain attention to the people, and to

act in concert with them in all affairs that are

of great importance. With regard especially

to those offences that are committed against

the state, and which demand a capital

punishment, no inquiry can be perfected, nor

any judgment carried into execution, unless

the people confirm what the senate has

before decreed. Nor are the things which

more immediately regard the senate itself

less subject than the same control. For if a

law should at any time be proposed to lessen

the received authority of the senators, to

detract from their honors and pre-eminence,

or even deprive them of a part of their

possessions, it belongs wholly to the people

to establish or reject it. And even still more,

the interposition of a single tribune is

sufficient, not only to suspend the

deliberations of the senate, but to prevent

them also from holding any meeting or

assembly. Now the peculiar office of the

tribunes is to declare those sentiments that

are most pleasing to the people: and

principally to promote their interests and

designs. And thus the senate, on account of

all these reasons, is forced to cultivate the

favor and gratify the inclinations of the

people.

The people again, on their part, are held in

dependence on the senate, both to the

particular members, and to the general body.

In every part of Italy there are works of

various kinds, which are let to farm by the


69

censors, such are the building or repairing of

the public edifices, which are almost

innumerable; the care of rivers, harbors,

mines and lands; every thing, in a word, that

falls beneath the dominion of the Romans.

In all these things the people are the

undertakers: inasmuch as there are scarcely

any to be found that are not in some way

involved, either in the contracts, or in the

management of the works. For some take the

farms of the censors at a certain price; others

become partners with the first. Some, again,

engage themselves as sureties for the

farmers; and others, in support also of these

sureties, pledge their own fortunes to the

state. Now, the supreme direction of all

these affairs is placed wholly in the senate.

The senate has the power to allot a longer

time, to lighten the conditions of the

agreement, in case that any accident has

intervened, or even to release the contractors

from their bargain, if the terms should be

found impracticable. There are also many

other circumstances in which those that are

engaged in any of the public works may be

either greatly injured or greatly benefited by

the senate; since to this body, as we have

already observed, all things that belong to

these transactions are constantly referred.

But there is still another advantage of much

greater moment. For from this order,

likewise, judges are selected, in almost

every accusation of considerable weight,

whether it be of a public or private nature.

The people, therefore, being by these means

held under due subjection and restraint, and

doubtful of obtaining that protection, which

they foresee that they may at some time

want, are always cautious of exciting any

opposition to the measures of the senate.

Nor are they, on the other hand, less ready to

pay obedience to the orders of the consuls;

through the dread of that supreme authority,

to which the citizens in general, as well as

each particular man, are obnoxious in the

field.

Thus, while each of these separate parts is

enabled either to assist or obstruct the rest,

the government, by the apt contexture of

them all in the general frame, is so well

secured against every accident, that it seems

scarcely possible to invent a more perfect

system. For when the dread of any common

danger, that threatens from abroad,

constrains all the orders of the state to unite

together, and co-operate with joint

assistance; such is the strength of the

republic that as, on the one hand, no

measures that are necessary are neglected,

while all men fix their thoughts upon the

present exigency; so neither is it possible, on

the other hand, that their designs should at

any time be frustrated through the want of

due celerity, because all in general, as well

as every citizen in particular, employ their

utmost efforts to carry what has been

determined into execution. Thus the

government, by the very form and peculiar

nature of its constitution, is equally enabled

to resist all attacks, and to accomplish every

purpose. And when again all apprehensions

of foreign enemies are past, and the Romans

being now settled in tranquility, and

enjoying at their leisure all the fruits of

victory, begin to yield to the seduction of

ease and plenty, and, as it happens usually in

such conjunctures, become haughty and

ungovernable; then chiefly may we observe

in what manner the same constitution

likewise finds in itself a remedy against the

impending danger. For whenever either of

the separate parts of the republic attempts to

exceed its proper limits, excites contention

and dispute, and struggles to obtain a greater

share of power, than that which is assigned

to it by the laws, it is manifest, that since no

one single part, as we have shown in this

discourse, is in itself supreme or absolute,


70

but that on the contrary, the powers which

are assigned to each are still subject to

reciprocal control, the part, which thus

aspires, must soon be reduced again within

its own just bounds, and not be suffered to

insult or depress the rest. And thus the

several orders, of which the state is framed,

are forced always to maintain their due

position: being partly counter-worked in

their designs; and partly also restrained from

making any attempt, by the dread of falling

under that authority to which they are

exposed.

The Military Institutions of the Romans: As

soon as the consuls are declared, the military

tribunes are next appointed. Of these,

fourteen are taken from the citizens who

have carried arms in five campaigns; and ten

more from those who completed ten. For

every citizen, before he arrives at the age of

forty-six, is obliged to serve either ten years

in the cavalry, or sixteen in the infantry:

those alone excepted who are placed by the

censors below the rate of four hundred

drachmae; and who are all reserved for the

service of the sea. In the case of any

pressing danger the time of continuing in the

infantry is extended to twenty years. No

citizen is permitted by the laws to sue for

any magistracy before he has completed the

serving of ten campaigns.

When the enrollments are to be made the

consuls give notice before to the people of a

certain day, upon which all the Romans that

are of sufficient age are required to attend.

This is done every year. And when the day

arrives, and the men all appear at Rome, and

are assembled afterwards in the Capitol, the

tribunes of the youngest order divide

themselves, as they are appointed either by

the consuls or the people, into four separate

bodies. For this division corresponds with

the first and general distribution of all the

forces into four separate legions. Of these

tribunes, therefore, the four first named are

assigned to the first legion; the three next to

the second; the following four to the third;

and the last three appointed to the fourth. Of

the tribunes of the oldest order the two that

are first named are placed in the first legion;

the three second in the second; the two that

follow in the third; and the remaining three

in the fourth. By this distribution and

division an equal number of commanders is

allotted to each legion.

When this is done, the tribunes of each

legion, having taken their seats apart, draw

out the tribes one by one by lot; and calling

to them that upon which the lot first falls,

they select from it four young men, as nearly

equal as is possible in age and stature. And

when these are brought forward from the

rest, the tribunes of the first legion first

choose one; then those of the second a

second; those of the third take the third; and

those of the fourth the last. After these four

more are made to approach. And now the

tribunes of the second legion first make their

choice; then those of the rest in order; and

last of all the tribunes of the first. In the

same manner again, from the next four that

follow, the tribunes of the third legion

choose the first; and those of the second the

last. And thus, by observing the same

method of rotation to the end, it happens that

the legions, with respect to the men of which

they are composed are all alike and equal.

The number allotted to each legion is four

thousand and two hundred; and sometimes

five thousand, when any great and unusual

danger is foreseen. After these had been thus

selected it was anciently the custom to

choose the cavalry; and to add two hundred

horsemen to each four thousand of the

infantry But in the present times, the

citizens, of whom the cavalry is composed,


71

are first enrolled; having been before

appointed by the censors, according to the

rate of their revenue; and three hundred are

assigned to every legion.

When the enrollments are in this manner

finished, the tribunes having assembled

together in separate bodies the soldiers of

their respective legions, choose out a man

that seems most proper for the purpose, and

make him swear in the following words:

"that he will be obedient to his commanders,

and execute all the orders that he shall

receive from them to the utmost of his

power." The rest of the soldiers of the

legion, advancing one by one, swear also

that they will perform what the first has

sworn. About the same time, likewise, the

consuls send notice to the magistrates of the

allied cities of Italy, from which they design

to draw any forces, what number of troops

are wanted, and at what time and place they

are required to join the Roman army. The

cities, having raised their levies in the same

manner that has now been mentioned, and

administered to them the same oath, send

them away attended by a paymaster and a

general.

At Rome the tribunes, after the ceremony of

the oath is finished, command all the legions

to return without arms upon a certain day,

and then dismiss them. And when they are

met together again at the appointed time,

those that are youngest, and of the lowest

condition, are set apart for the light-armed

troops. From the next above these in age are

selected the hastati; from those that are in

full strength and vigor, the principes; and

the oldest of all that are enrolled are the

triarii. For every legion is composed of all

these different bodies; different in name, in

age, and in the manner in which they are

armed. This division is so adjusted that the

triarii amount to six hundred men; the

principes are twelve hundred; the hastati an

equal number; and all the rest light-armed. If

a legion consist of more than four thousand

men, the several bodies are increased in due

proportion; except only that the number of

the triarii always remains the same.

The youngest of these troops are armed with

a sword, light javelins, and a buckler. The

buckler is both strongly made, and of a size

sufficient for security. For it is of a circular

form, and has three feet in the diameter.

They wear likewise upon their heads some

simple sort of covering; such as the skin of a

wolf, or something of a similar kind; which

serves both for their defense, and to point

out also to the commanders those particular

soldiers that are distinguished either by their

bravery or want of courage in the time of

action. The wood of the javelins is of the

length of two cubits, and of the thickness of

a finger. The iron part is a span in length,

and is drawn out to such a slender fineness

towards the point, that it never fails to be

bent in the very first discharge, so that the

enemy cannot throw it back again.

Otherwise it would be a common javelin.

The next in age, who are called the hastati,

are ordered to furnish themselves with a

complete suit of armor. This among the

Romans consists in the first place of a shield

of a convex surface; the breadth of which is

two feet and a half; and the length four feet,

or four feet and a palm of those of the

largest size. It is composed of two planks,

glued together, and covered first with linen,

and afterwards with calves' skin. The

extreme edges of it, both above and below,

are guarded with plates of iron; as well to

secure it against the strokes of swords, as

that it may be rested also upon the ground

without receiving any injury. To the surface

is fitted likewise a shell of iron; which

serves to turn aside the more violent strokes


72

of stones, or spears, or any other ponderous

weapon. After the shield comes the sword,

which is carried upon the right thigh, and is

called the Spanish sword. It is formed not

only to push with at the point; but to make a

falling stroke with either edge, and with

singular effect; for the blade is remarkably

strong and firm. To these arms are added

two piles or javelins; a helmet made of

brass; and boots for the legs. The piles are of

two sorts; the one large, the other slender.

Of the former those that are round have the

breadth of a palm in their diameter; and

those that are square the breadth of a palm

likewise is a side. The more slender, which

are carried with the other, resemble a

common javelin of a moderate size. In both

sorts, the wooden part is of the same length

likewise, and turned outwards at the point,

in the form of a double hook, is fastened to

the wood with so great care and foresight,

being carried upwards to the very middle of

it, and transfixed with many close-set rivets,

that it is sooner broken in use than loosened;

though in the part in which it is joined to the

wood, it is not less than a finger and a half in

thickness. Upon the helmet is worn an

ornament of three upright feathers, either red

or black, of about a cubit in height; which

being fixed upon the very top of the head,

and added to their other arms, make the

troops seem to be of double size, and gives

them an appearance which is both beautiful

and terrible. Beside these arms, the soldiers

in general place also upon their breasts a

square plate of brass, of the measure of a

span on either side, which is called the guard

of the heart. But all those who are rated at

more than ten thousand drachmae cover

their breasts with a coat of mail. The

principes and the triarii are armed in the

same manner likewise as the hastati; except

only that the triarii carry pikes instead of

javelins.

From each of these several sorts of soldiers,

the youngest alone excepted, ten men of

distinguished merit are first selected; and

after these, ten more. These are all called

commanders of companies; and he that is

first chosen has a seat in the military

council. After these, twenty more are

appointed to conduct the rear; and are

chosen by the former twenty. The soldiers of

each different order, the light troops

excepted, are then divided into ten separate

parts; to each of which are assigned four

officers, of those who have been thus

selected: two to lead the van, and two to take

the care of the rear. The light-armed troops

are distributed in just proportion among

them all. Each separate part is called a

company, a band, or an ensign; and the

leaders, captains of companies or

centurions. Last of all, two of the bravest

and most vigorous among the soldiers are

appointed by the captains to carry the

standards of the company.

It is not without good reason that two

captains are assigned to every company. For

as it always is uncertain, what will be the

conduct of an officer, or to what accidents

he may be exposed; and, as in the affairs of

war, there is no room for pretext or excuse;

this method is contrived, that the company

may not upon any occasion be destitute of a

leader. When the captains therefore both are

present, he that was first chosen leads the

right, and the other the left of the company.

And when either of them is absent, he that

remains takes the conduct of the whole. In

the choice of these captains not those that

are the boldest and most enterprising are

esteemed the best; but those rather, who are

steady and sedate; prudent in conduct, and

skillful in command. Nor is it so much

required, that they should be at all times

eager to begin the combat, and throw

themselves precipitately into action; as that,


73

when they are pressed, or even conquered by

a superior force, they should still maintain

their ground, and rather die than desert their

station.

The cavalry is divided also into ten parts or

troops. In each of these, three captains first

are chosen; who afterwards appoint three

other officers to conduct the rear. The first

of the captains commands the whole troop.

The other two hold the rank and office of

decurions; and all of them are called by that

name. In the absence of the first captain, the

next in order takes the entire command. The

manner in which these troops are armed is at

this time the same as that of the Greeks. But

anciently it was very different. For, first,

they wore no armor upon their bodies; but

were covered, in the time of action, with

only an undergarment. In this method, they

were able indeed to descend from their

horses, or leap up again upon them, with

greater quickness and facility; but, as they

were almost naked, they were too much

exposed to danger in all those engagements.

The spears also that were in use among them

in former times were, in a double respect,

very unfit for service. First, as they were of

a slender make, and always trembled in the

hand, it not only was extremely difficult to

direct them with exactness towards the

destined mark; but very frequently, even

before their points had reached the enemy,

the greatest part of them were shaken into

pieces by the bare motion of the horses. Add

to this, that these spears, not being armed

with iron at the lowest end, were formed to

strike only with the point, and, when they

were broken by this stroke, were afterwards

incapable of any farther use.

Their buckler was made of the hide of an ox,

and in form was not unlike to those globular

dishes which are used in sacrifices. But this

was also of too infirm a texture for defense;

and, as it was at first not very capable of

service, it afterwards became wholly

useless, when the substance of it had been

softened and relaxed by rain. The Romans,

therefore, having observed these defects,

soon changed their weapons for the armor of

the Greeks. For the Grecian spear, which is

firm and stable, not only serves to make the

first stroke with the point in just direction

and with sure effect; but, with the help of the

iron at the opposite end, may, when turned,

be employed against the enemy with equal

steadiness and force. In the same manner

also the Grecian shields, being strong in

texture, and capable of being held in a fixed

position, are alike serviceable both for attack

and for defense. These advantages were

soon perceived, and the arms adopted by the

cavalry. For the Romans, above all other

people, are excellent in admitting foreign

customs that are preferable to their own.

…Such then in general are the institutions of

the Romans, which belong to the

establishment of their armies, and more

especially to the manner of their

encampment.

Rome and Carthage Compared:

The government of Carthage seems also to

have been originally well contrived with

regard to those general forms that have been

mentioned. For there were kings in this

government, together with a senate, which

was vested with aristocratic authority. The

people likewise enjoy the exercise of certain

powers that were appropriated to them. In a

word, the entire frame of the republic very

much resembled those of Rome and Sparta.

But at the time of the war of Hannibal the

Carthaginian constitution was worse in its

condition than the Roman. For as nature has

assigned to every body, every government,


74

and every action, three successive periods;

the first, of growth; the second, of

perfection; and that which follows, of decay;

and as the period of perfection is the time in

which they severally display their greatest

strength; from hence arose the difference

that was then found between the two

republics. For the government of Carthage,

having reached the highest point of vigor

and perfection much sooner than that of

Rome, had now declined from it in the same

proportion: whereas the Romans, at this very

time, had just raised their constitution to the

most flourishing and perfect state. The effect

of this difference was, that among the

Carthaginians the people possessed the

greatest sway in all deliberations, but the

senate among the Romans. And as, in the

one republic, all measures were determined

by the multitude; and, in the other, by the

most eminent citizens; of so great force was

this advantage in the conduct of affairs, that

the Romans, though brought by repeated

losses into the greatest danger, became,

through the wisdom of their counsels,

superior to the Carthaginians in the war.

If we descend to a more particular

comparison, we shall find, that with respect

to military science, for example, the

Carthaginians, in the management and

conduct of a naval war, are more skillful

than the Romans. For the Carthaginians

have derived this knowledge from their

ancestors through a long course of ages; and

are more exercised in maritime affairs than

any other people. But the Romans, on the

other hand, are far superior in all things that

belong to the establishment and discipline of

armies. For this discipline, which is regarded

by them as the chief and constant object of

their care, is utterly neglected by the

Carthaginians; except only that they bestow

some little attention upon their cavalry. The

reason of this difference is, that the

Carthaginians employ foreign mercenaries;

and that on the contrary the Roman armies

are composed of citizens, and of the people

of the country. Now in this respect the

government of Rome is greatly preferable to

that of Carthage. For while the

Carthaginians entrust the preservation of

their liberty to the care of venal troops; the

Romans place all their confidence in their

own bravery, and in the assistance of their

allies. From hence it happens, that the

Romans, though at first defeated, are always

able to renew the war; and that the

Carthaginian armies never are repaired

without great difficulty. Add to this, that the

Romans, fighting for their country and their

children, never suffer their ardor to be

slackened; but persist with the same steady

spirit till they become superior to their

enemies. From hence it happens, likewise,

that even in actions upon the sea, the

Romans, though inferior to the

Carthaginians, as we have already observed,

in naval knowledge and experience, very

frequently obtain success through the mere

bravery of their forces. For though in all

such contests a skill in maritime affairs must

be allowed to be of the greatest use; yet, on

the other hand, the valor of the troops that

are engaged is no less effectual to draw the

victory to their side.

Now the people of Italy are by nature

superior to the Carthaginians and the

Africans, both in bodily strength, and in

courage. Add to this, that they have among

them certain institutions by which the young

men are greatly animated to perform acts of

bravery. It will be sufficient to mention one

of these, as a proof of the attention that is

shown by the Roman government, to infuse

such a spirit into the citizens as shall lead

them to encounter every kind of danger for

the sake of obtaining reputation in their

country. When any illustrious person dies,


75

he is carried in procession with the rest of

the funeral pomp, to the rostra in the forum;

sometimes placed conspicuous in an upright

posture; and sometimes, though less

frequently, reclined. And while the people

are all standing round, his son, if he has left

one of sufficient age, and who is then at

Rome, or, if otherwise, some person of his

kindred, ascends the rostra, and extols the

virtues of the deceased, and the great deeds

that were performed by him in his life. By

this discourse, which recalls his past actions

to remembrance, and places them in open

view before all the multitude, not those

alone who were sharers in his victories, but

even the rest who bore no part in his

exploits, are moved to such sympathy of

sorrow, that the accident seems rather to be

a public misfortune, than a private loss. He

is then buried with the usual rites; and

afterwards an image, which both in features

and complexion expresses an exact

resemblance of his face, is set up in the most

conspicuous part of the house, inclosed in a

shrine of wood. Upon solemn festivals, these

images are uncovered, and adorned with the

greatest care.

And when any other person of the same

family dies, they are carried also in the

funeral procession, with a body added to the

bust, that the representation may be just,

even with regard to size. They are dressed

likewise in the habits that belong to the

ranks which they severally filled when they

were alive. If they were consuls or praetors,

in a gown bordered with purple: if censors,

in a purple robe: and if they triumphed, or

obtained any similar honor, in a vest

embroidered with gold. Thus appeared, they

are drawn along in chariots preceded by the

rods and axes, and other ensigns of their

former dignity. And when they arrive at the

forum, they are all seated upon chairs of

ivory; and there exhibit the noblest objects

that can be offered to youthful mind,

warmed with the love of virtue and of glory.

For who can behold without emotion the

forms of so many illustrious men, thus

living, as it were, and breathing together in

his presence? Or what spectacle can be

conceived more great and striking? The

person also that is appointed to harangue,

when he has exhausted all the praises of the

deceased, turns his discourse to the rest,

whose images are before him; and,

beginning with the most ancient of them,

recounts the fortunes and the exploits of

every one in turn. By this method, which

renews continually the remembrance of men

celebrated for their virtue, the fame of every

great and noble action become immortal.

And the glory of those, by whose services

their country has been benefited, is rendered

familiar to the people, and delivered down to

future times. But the chief advantage is, that

by the hope of obtaining this honorable

fame, which is reserved for virtue, the young

men are animated to sustain all danger, in

the cause of the common safety. For from

hence it has happened, that many among the

Romans have voluntarily engaged in single

combat, in order to decide the fortune of an

entire war. Many also have devoted

themselves to inevitable death; some of

them in battle, to save the lives of other

citizens; and some in time of peace to rescue

the whole state from destruction. Others

again, who have been invested with the

highest dignities have, in defiance of all law

and customs, condemned their own sons to

die; showing greater regard to the advantage

of their country, than to the bonds of nature,

and the closest ties of kindred.

Very frequent are the examples of this kind,

that are recorded in the Roman story. I shall

here mention one, as a signal instance, and

proof of the truth of all that I have affirmed.

Horatius, surnamed Cocles, being engaged


76

in combat with two enemies, at the farthest

extremity of the bridge that led into Rome

across the Tiber, and perceiving that many

others were advancing fast to their

assistance, was apprehensive that they

would force their way together into the city.

turning himself, therefore, to his

companions that were behind him, he called

to them aloud, that should immediately

retire and break the bridge. While they were

employed in this work, Horatius, covered

over with wounds, still maintained the post,

and stopped the progress of the enemy; who

were struck with his firmness and intrepid

courage, even more than with the strength of

his resistance. And when the bridge was

broken, and the city secured from insult, he

threw himself into the river with his armor,

and there lost his life as he had designed:

having preferred the safety of his country,

and the future fame that was sure to follow

such an action, to his own present existence,

and to the time that remained for him to live.

Such is the spirit, and such the emulation of

achieving glorious action, which the Roman

institutions are fitted to infuse into the minds

of youth.

In things that regard the acquisition of

wealth, the manners also, and the customs of

the Romans, are greatly preferable to those

of the Carthaginians. Among the latter,

nothing is reputed infamous, that is joined

with gain. But among the former, nothing is

held more base than to be corrupted by gifts,

or to covet an increase of wealth by means

that are unjust. For as much as they esteem

the possession of honest riches to be fair and

honorable, so much, on the other hand, all

those that are amassed by unlawful arts, are

viewed by them with horror and reproach.

The truth of this fact is clearly seen in the

following instance. Among the

Carthaginians, money is openly employed to

obtain the dignities of the state: but all such

proceeding is a capital crime in Rome. As

the rewards, therefore, that are proposed to

virtue in the two republics are so different, it

cannot but happen, that the attention of the

citizens to form their minds to virtuous

actions must be also different.

But among all the useful institutions, that

demonstrate the superior excellence of the

Roman government, the most considerable

perhaps is the opinion which the people are

taught to hold concerning the gods: and that,

which other men regard as an object of

disgrace, appears in my judgment to be the

very thing by which this republic chiefly is

sustained. I mean, superstition: which is

impressed with all it terrors; and influences

both the private actions of the citizens, and

the public administration also of the state, in

a degree that can scarcely be exceeded. This

may appear astonishing to many. To me it is

evident, that this contrivance was at first

adopted for the sake of the multitude. For if

it were possible that a state could be

composed of wise men only, there would be

no need, perhaps, of any such invention. But

as the people universally are fickle and

inconstant, filled with irregular desires, too

precipitate in their passions, and prone to

violence; there is no way left to restrain

them, but by the dread of things unseen, and

by the pageantry of terrifying fiction. The

ancients, therefore, acted not absurdedly, nor

without good reason, when they inculcated

the notions concerning the gods, and the

belief of infernal punishments; but much

more those of the present age are to be

charged with rashness and absurdity, in

endeavoring to extirpate these opinions. For,

not to mention effects that flow from such

an institution, if, among the Greeks, for

example, a single talent only be entrusted to

those who have the management of any of

the public money; though they give ten

written sureties, with as many seals and


77

twice as many witnesses, they are unable to

discharge the trusts reposed in them with

integrity. But the Romans, on the other

hand, who in the course of their

magistracies, and in embassies, disperse the

greatest sums, are prevailed on by the single

obligation of an oath to perform their duties

with inviolable honesty. And as, in other

states, a man is rarely found whose hands

are pure from public robbery; so, among the

Romans, it is no less rare to discover one

that is tainted with this crime. But all things

are subject to decay and change. This is a

truth so evident, and so demonstrated by the

perpetual and the necessary force of nature,

that it needs no other proof.

Now there are two ways by which every

kind of government is destroyed; either by

some accident that happens from without, or

some evil that arises within itself. What the

first will be is not always easy to foresee:

but the latter is certain and determinate. We

have already shown what are the original

and what: the secondary forms of

government; and in what manner also they

are reciprocally converted each into the

other. Whoever, therefore, is able to connect

the beginning with the end in this enquiry,

will be able also to declare with some

assurance what will be the future fortune of

the Roman government. At least in my

judgment nothing is more easy. For when a

state, after having passed with safety

through many and great dangers, arrives at

the highest degree of power, and possesses

an entire and undisputed sovereignty; it is

manifest that the long continuance of

prosperity must give birth to costly and

luxurious manners, and that the minds of

men will be heated with ambitious contest,

and become too eager and aspiring in the

pursuit of dignities. And as these evils are

continually increased, the desire of power

and rule, and the imagined ignominy of

remaining in a subject state, will first begin

to work the ruin of the republic; arrogance

and luxury will afterwards advance it: and in

the end the change will be completed by the

people; as the avarice of some is found to

injure and oppress them, and the ambition of

others swells their vanity and poisons them

with flattering hopes. For then, being with

rage, and following only the dictates of their

passions, they no longer will submit to any

control, or be contented with an equal share

of the administration, in conjunction with

their rulers; but will draw to themselves the

entire sovereignty and supreme direction of

all affairs. When this is done, the

government will assume indeed the fairest of

all names, that of a free and popular state;

but will, in truth, be the greatest of all evils,

the government of the multitude.

As we have thus sufficiently explained the

constitution and the growth of the Roman

government; have marked the causes of that

greatness in which it now subsists; and

shown by comparison, in what view it may

be judged inferior, and in what superior, to

other states; we shall here close this

discourse. But as every skillful artist offers

some piece of work to public view, as a

proof of his abilities: in the same manner we

also, taking some part of history that is

connected with the times from which we

were led into this digression and making a

short recital of one single action, shall

endeavor to demonstrate by fact as well as

words what was the strength, and how great

the vigor, which at that time were displayed

by this republic.

When Hannibal, after the battle of Cannae,

had taken prisoners eight thousand of the

Romans, who were left to guard the camp;

he permitted them to send a deputation to

Rome, to treat of their ransom and

redemption. Ten persons, the most


78

illustrious that were among them, were

appointed for this purpose: and the general,

having first commanded them to swear that

they would return to him again, suffered

them to depart. But one of the number, as

soon as they had passed the entrenchment,

having said that he had forgotten something,

went back into camp, took what he had left,

and then continued his journey with the rest;

persuading himself that by his return he had

discharged his promise, and satisfied the

obligation of the oath. When they arrived at

Rome, they earnestly entreated the senate

not to envy them the safety that was offered,

but to suffer them to be restored to their

families, at the price of three minae for each

prisoner, which was the sum that Hannibal

demanded; that they were not unworthy of

this favor; that they neither had through

cowardice deserted their post in battle, nor

done anything that had brought dishonor

upon the Roman name; but that having been

left to guard the camp, they had been thrown

by unavoidable necessity, after the

destruction of the rest of the army, into the

power of the enemy.

The Romans were at this time weakened by

repeated losses; were deserted by almost

every one of their allies; and seemed even to

expect that Rome itself would instantly be

attacked; yet when they had heard the

deputies, they neither were deterred by

adverse fortune from attending to what was

fit and right, nor neglected any of those

measures that were necessary to the public

safety. But perceiving that the design of

Hannibal in this proceeding was both to

acquire a large supply of money and at the

same time to check the ardor of his enemies

in battle, by opening to their view the means

of safety, even though they should be

conquered, they were so far from yielding to

this request, that they showed no regard

either to the distressed condition of their

fellow citizens, or to the services that might

be expected from the prisoners: but resolved

to disappoint the hopes and frustrate the

intentions of this general, by rejecting all

terms of ransom. They made a law also, by

which it was declared that the soldiers that

were left must either conquer or must die;

and that no other hope of safety was

reserved for them, in case that they were

conquered. After this determination they

dismissed the nine deputies, who, on

account of their oath were, willing to return,

and taking the other, who had endeavored to

elude by sophistry what he had sworn, they

sent him bound back to the enemy; so that

Hannibal was much less filled with joy from

having vanquished the Romans in the field,

than he was struck with terror and

astonishment at the firmness and

magnanimity what appeared in their

deliberations.

VITRUVIUS: ON ARCHITECTURE

Please read Book 1, Preface and Chapter 1

here and ALL of Book 5:


79

(http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Ro

man/Texts/Vitruvius/home.html)

PROCOPIUS, BUILDINGS

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Rom

an/Texts/Procopius/Buildings/home.html

BOOK 1, CHAPTER 1

1 1 It is not because I wish to make a display

of skill, nor through any confidence in my

eloquence, nor because I pride myself on my

personal knowledge of many lands, that

I have set about writing this record; for

indeed I had no grounds for venturing so

bold an intention. 2 Yet the thought has

many times occurred to me, how many and

how great are the benefits which are wont to

accrue to states through History, which

transmits to future generations the memory

of those who have gone before, and resists

the steady effort of time to bury events in

oblivion; and while it incites to virtue those

who from time to time may read it by the

praise it bestows, it constantly assails vice

by repelling its influence. 3 Wherefore our

concern must be solely this — that all the

deeds of the past shall be clearly set forth,

and by what man, whosoever he might be,

they were wrought. And this, I believe, is

not an impossible task, even for a lisping

and thin-voiced tongue. 4 Apart from all

this, history shews that subjects who have

received benefits have proved themselves

grateful toward their benefactors, and that

they have repaid them with p5thank-

offerings in generous measure, seeing that,

while they have profited, it may be, for the

moment only by the beneficence of their

rulers, they nevertheless preserve their

sovereigns' virtue imperishable in the

memory of those who are to come after

them.1 5 Indeed it is through this very

service that many men of later times strive

after virtue, by emulating the honours of

those who have preceded them, and, because

they cannot endure censure, are quite likely

to shun the basest practices. And the reason

why I have made this preface I shall

forthwith disclose.

6 In our own age there has been born the

Emperor Justinian, who, taking over the

State when it was harassed by disorder, has

not only made it greater in extent, but also

much more illustrious, by expelling from it

those barbarians who had from of old

pressed hard upon it, as I have made clear in

detail in the Books on the Wars. 7 Indeed

they say that Themistocles, the son of

Neocles, once boastfully said that he did not

lack the ability to make a small state large.

8 But this Sovereign does not lack the skill

to produce completely transformed states —

witness the way he has already added to the

Roman domain many states which in his

own times had belonged to others, and has

created countless cities which did not exist

before. 9 And finding that the belief in God

was, before his time, straying into errors and

being forced to go in many directions, he

completely destroyed all the paths leading to

such errors, and brought it about that it stood

on the firm foundation p7of a single faith.2

10 Moreover, finding the laws obscure

because they had become far more

numerous than they should be, and in

obvious confusion because they disagreed

with each other, he preserved them by

cleansing them of the mass of their verbal

trickery, and by controlling their

discrepancies with the greatest firmness; as

for those who plotted against him, he of his

own volition dismissed the charges against

them, causing those who were in want to

have a surfeit of wealth, and crushing the

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80

spiteful fortune that oppressed them, he

wedded the whole State to a life of

prosperity. 11 Furthermore, he strengthened

the Roman domain, which everywhere lay

exposed to the barbarians, by a multitude of

soldiers, and by constructing strongholds he

built a wall along all its remote frontiers.

12 However, most of the Emperor's other

achievements have been described by me in

my other writings,3 so that the subject of the

present work will be the benefits which he

wrought as a builder. They do indeed say

that the best king of whom we know by

tradition was the Persian Cyrus, and that he

was chiefly responsible for the founding of

the kingdom of Persia for the people of his

race. 13 But whether that Cyrus was in fact

such a man as he whose education from

childhood up is described by Xenophon the

Athenian, I have no means of knowing.

14 For it may well be that the skill of the

writer of that description was quite capable,

such was his exquisite eloquence, of coming

to be a mere embellishment of the facts.a

p915 But in the case of the king of our

times, Justinian (whom one would rightly,

I think, call a king by nature as well as by

inheritance, since he is, as Homer says,4 "as

gentle as a father"), if one should examine

his reign with care, he will regard the rule of

Cyrus as a sort of child's play.5 16 The

proof of this will be that the Roman Empire,

as I have just said, has become more than

doubled both in area and in power generally,

while, on the other hand, those who

treacherously formed the plot6 against him,

going so far even as to plan his

assassination, are not only living up to the

present moment, and in possession of their

own property, even though their guilt was

proved with absolute certainty, but are

actually still serving as generals of the

Romans, and are holding the consular rank

to which they had been appointed.

17 But now we must proceed, as I have said,

to the subject of the buildings of this

Emperor, so that it may not come to pass in

the future that those who see them refuse, by

reason of their great number and magnitude,

to believe that they are in truth the works of

one man. 18 For already many works of men

of former times which are not vouched for

by a written record have aroused incredulity

because of their surpassing merit. And with

good reason the buildings in Byzantium,

beyond all the rest, will serve as a

foundation for my narrative. 19 For "o'er a

work's beginnings," as the old saying has

it,7 "we needs must set a front that shines

afar."

20 Some men of the common herd, all the

rubbish of p11the city, once rose up against

the Emperor Justinian in Byzantium, when

they brought about the rising called the Nika

Insurrection, which has been described by

me in detail and without any concealment in

Books on the Wars.8 21 And by way of

shewing that it was not against the Emperor

alone that they had taken up arms, but no

less against God himself, unholy wretches

that they were, they had the hardihood to

fire the Church of the Christians, which the

people of Byzantium call "Sophia,"9 an

epithet which they have most appropriately

invented for God, by which they call His

temple; and God permitted them to

accomplish this impiety, foreseeingº into

what an object of beauty this shrine was

destined to be transformed. 22 So the whole

church at that time lay a charred mass of

ruins. But the Emperor Justinian built not

long afterwards a church10 so finely

shaped,11 that if anyone had enquired of the

Christians before the burning if it would be

their wish that the church should be

destroyed and one like this should take its

place, shewing them some sort of model of

the building we now see, it seems to me that


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81

they would have prayed that they might see

their church destroyed forthwith, in order

that the building might be converted into its

present form. 23 At any rate the Emperor,

disregarding all questions of expense,

eagerly pressed on to begin the work of

construction, and began to gather all the

artisans from the whole world. 24 And

Anthemius of Tralles, the most learned man

in the skilled craft which is known as the art

of building,12 not only of all his

contemporaries, p13but also when compared

with those who had lived long before him,

ministered to the Emperor's enthusiasm,

duly regulating the tasks of the various

artisans, and preparing in advance designs of

the future construction; and associated with

him with another master-builder, Isidorus by

name, a Milesian by birth, a man who was

intelligent and worthy to assist the Emperor

Justinian. 25 Indeed this also was an

indication of the honour in which God held

the Emperor, that He had already provided

the men who would be most serviceable to

him in the tasks which were waiting to be

carried out. 26 And one might with good

reason marvel at the discernment of the

Emperor himself, in that out of the whole

world he was able to select the men who

were most suitable for the most important of

his enterprises.13

27 So the church has become a spectacle of

marvellous beauty, overwhelming to those

who see it, but to those who know it by

hearsay altogether incredible.14 For it soars

to a height to match the sky, and as if

surging up from amongst the other buildings

it stands on high and looks down upon the

remainder of the city, adorning it, because it

is a part of it, but glorying in its own beauty,

because, though a part of the city and

dominating it, it at the same time towers

above it to such a height that the whole city

is viewed from there as from a watch-tower.

28 Both its breadth and its length have been

so carefully proportioned, that it may not

improperly be said to be exceedingly long

and at the same time unusually broad. And it

exults in an indescribable beauty.

p1729 For it proudly reveals its mass and the

harmony of its proportions, having neither

excess nor deficiency, since it is both more

pretentious than the buildings to which we

are accustomed, and considerably more

noble than those which are merely huge, and

it abounds exceedingly in sunlight and in the

reflection of the sun's rays from the marble.

30 Indeed one might say that its interior is

not illuminated from without by the sun, but

that the radiance comes into being within it,

such an abundance of light bathes this

shrine. 31 And the face itself of the church

(which would be the part which faces the

rising sun, that portion of the building in

which they perform the mysteries in worship

of God) was constructed in the following

manner. 32 A structure of masonry

(oikodomia) is built up from the ground, not

made in a straight line, but gradually curving

inward on its flanks and receding at the

middle, so that it forms the shape of half a

circle, which those who are skilled in such

matters call a half-cylinder (hêmikylindron);

and so it rises precipitously to a height.15

33 The upper part of this structure ends in

the fourth part of a sphere (sphaira), and

above it another crescent-shaped

(mênoeides) structure rises, fitted to the

adjoining parts of the building, marvellous

in its grace, but by reason of the seeming

insecurity of its composition altogether

terrifying. 34 For it seems somehow to float

in the air on no firm basis, but to be poised

aloft to the peril of those inside it. Yet

actually it is braced with exceptional

firmness and security. 35 On either side of

this are columns arranged on the pavement;

these likewise do not p19stand in a straight






82

line, but they retreat inward in the pattern of

the semicircle (hêmikyklon) as if they were

yielding to one another in a choral dance,

and above them hangs a structure of crescent

shape (mênoeides). 36 And on the side

opposite the east is reared a wall containing

the entrances (eisodoi), and on either side of

this there stand in a semicircle (hêmikyklon)

not only the columns themselves but also the

structure above them, all this being very

similar to the columns and structure I have

just described. 37 And in the centre of the

church stand four man-made eminences

(lophoi), which they call piers (pessoi), two

on the north side and two on the south,

opposite and equal to each other, each pair

having between them just four columns.16

38 The piers (lophoi) are composed of huge

stones joined together, carefully selected and

skilfully fitted to one another by the masons,

and rising to a great height. One might

suppose that they were sheer mountain-

peaks. 39 From these spring four arches

(apsides) which rise over the four sides of a

square, and their ends come together in pairs

and are made fast to each other on top of

these piers (lophoi), while the other portions

rise and soar to an infinite height. 40 And

while two of the arches rise over empty air,

those namely on the east and the west sides,

the other two have under them certain

structural elements (oikodomia), including

p21a number of rather small columns.

41 Upon the crowns of the arches rests a

circular structure (kykloterês oikodomia),

cylindrical (strongylon) in shape; it is

through this that the light of day always first

smiles. 42 For it towers above the whole

earth, as I believe, and the structure is

interrupted at short intervals, openings

having been left intentionally, in the spaces

where the perforation of the stone-work

takes place, to be channels for the admission

of light in sufficient measure. 43 And since

the arches where they are joined together are

so constructed as to form a four-cornered

plan, the stonework between the arches

produces four triangles (trigôna).17 44 And

while each supporting end (krêpis) of a

triangle, having been contracted to a point

by the coming together of each pair of

arches, makes the lower point an acute

angle, yet as the triangle rises and its width

is extended by the intermediate surface, 45 it

ends in the segment of a circle (kykloterês)

which it supports, and forms the remaining

angles18 at that level. And upon this circle

rests the huge spherical dome (sphairoeidês

tholos) which makes the structure

exceptionally beautiful. 46 Yet it seems not

to rest upon solid masonry, but to cover the

space with its golden dome (sphaira)

suspended from Heaven. 47 All these

details, fitted together with incredible skill

in mid-air and floating off from each other

and resting only on the parts next to them,

produce a single and most extraordinary

harmony in the work, and yet do not permit

the spectator to linger much over the study

of any one of them, but each detail attracts

the eye and draws it on irresistibly to itself.

48 So the vision p23constantly shifts

suddenly, for the beholder is utterly unable

to select which particular detail he should

admire more than all the others. 49 But even

so, though they turn their attention to every

side and look with contracted brows upon

every detail, observers are still unable to

understand the skilful craftsmanship, but

they always depart from there overwhelmed

by the bewildering sight. So much, then, for

this.

50 It was by many skilful devices that the

Emperor Justinian and the master-builder

Anthemius and Isidorus secured the stability

of the church, hanging, as it does, in mid-air.

Some of these it is both hopeless for me to

understand in their entirety, and impossible

to explain in words; I shall record only one





83

of them for the present, from which it should

be possible to gain an impression of the

strength of the whole work. 51 It is as

follows: The piers (lophoi) which I have just

mentioned are not constructed in the same

way as other structures, but in the following

manner. The courses of stone were laid

down so as to form a four-cornered shape,

52 the stones being rough by nature but

worked smooth; and they were cut to the

angles when they were destined to form the

projecting corners of the sides of the pier,

but when they chanced to be assigned to a

position between the angles, they were cut in

rectangles (tetrapleuron).19 53 These were

held together neither by lime (titanos),

which they call "asbestus",20 nor by asphalt,

the material which was the pride of

Semiramis in Babylon,21 nor by any other

such thing, p25but by lead (molibdos)

poured into the interstices (telma), which

flowed about everywhere in the spaces

between the stones and hardened in the

joints (harmonia), binding them to each

other.22 54 Thus were these parts

constructed; but let us proceed to the

remaining portions of the church.

The whole ceiling is overlaid with pure

gold,b which adds glory to the beauty, yet

the light reflected from the stones prevails,

shining out in rivalry with the gold. 55 And

there are two stoa-like colonnades (stoai),23

one on each side, not separated in any way

from the structure of the church itself, but

actually making the effect of its width

greater,24 and reaching along its whole

length, to the very end, while in height they

are less than the interior of the building.

56 And they too have vaulted ceilings

(orophê tholos) and decorations of gold. One

of these two colonnaded stoas has been

assigned to men worshippers, while the

other is reserved for women engaged in the

same exercise. 57 But they have nothing to

distinguish them, nor do they differ from

one another in any way, but their very

equality serves to beautify the church, and

p27their similarity to adorn it. 58 But who

could fittingly describe the galleries

(hyperôa) of the women's side

(gynaikonitis), or enumerate the many

colonnades and the colonnaded aisles

(peristyloi aulai) by means of which the

church is surrounded? 59 Or who could

recount the beauty of the columns (kiones)

and the stones with which the church is

adorned? One might imagine that he had

come upon a meadow with its flowers in full

bloom. 60 For he would surely marvel at the

purple of some, the green tint of others, and

at those on which the crimson glows and

those from which the white flashes, and

again at those which Nature, like some

painter, varies with the most contrasting

colours. 61 And whenever anyone enters

this church to pray, he understands at once

that it is not by any human power or skill,

but by the influence of God, that this work

has been so finely turned. And so his mind is

lifted up toward God and exalted, feeling

that He cannot be far away, but must

especially love to dwell in this place which

He has chosen. 62 And this does not happen

only to one who sees the church for the first

time, but the same experience comes to him

on each successive occasion, as though the

sight were new each time. 63 Of this

spectacle no one has ever had a surfeit, but

when present in the church men rejoice in

what they see, and when they leave it they

take proud delight in conversing about it.

64 Furthermore, concerning the treasures of

this church — the vessels of gold and silver

and the works in precious stones, which the

Emperor Justinian has dedicated here — it is

impossible to give a precise account of them

all. But I shall allow my readers to form a

judgment by a single example. 65 That part

of the shrine which is p29especially sacred,





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where only priests may enter, which they

call the Inner Sanctuary (thysiastêrion), is

embellished with forty thousand pounds'

weight of silver.

66 So the church of Constantinople (which

men are accustomed to call the Great

Church), speaking concisely and merely

running over the details with the finger-tips,

as it were, and mentioning with a fleeting

word only the most notable features, was

constructed in such a manner by the

Emperor Justinian. 67 But it was not with

money alone that the Emperor built it, but

also with labour of the mind and with the

other powers of the soul, as I shall

straightway shew. 68 One of the arches

which I just now mentioned (lôri25 the

master-builders call them), the one which

stands toward the east, had already been

built up from either side, but it had not yet

been wholly completed in the middle, and

was still waiting. 69 And the piers (pessoi),

above which the structure was being built,

unable to carry the mass which bore down

upon them, somehow or other suddenly

began to crack, and they seemed on the

point of collapsing. 70 So Anthemius and

Isidorus, terrified at what had happened,

carried the matter to the Emperor, having

come to have no hope in their technical skill.

71 And straightway the Emperor, impelled

by I know not what, but I suppose by God

(for he is not himself a master-builder),

commanded them to carry the curve of this

arch to its final completion. "For when it

rests upon itself," he said, "it will no longer

need p31the props (pessoi) beneath it."26

72 And if this story were without witness,

I am well aware that it would have seemed a

piece of flattery and altogether incredible;

but since there are available many witnesses

of what then took place, we need not

hesitate to proceed to the remainder of the

story. 73 So the artisans carried out his

instructions, and the whole arch then hung

secure, sealing by experiment the truth of his

idea. 74 Thus, then, was this arch

completed; but in the process of building the

other arches, indeed, those namely which are

turned toward the south and the north, the

following chanced to take place. 75 The

so-called lôri had been raised up, carrying

the masonry of the church, but everything

underneath was labouring under their load,

making the columns (kiones) which stood

there throw off tiny flakes, as if they had

been planed. 76 So once more the master-

builders were dismayed at what had

happened and reported their problem to the

Emperor. 77 And again the Emperor met the

situation with a remedy, as follows. He

ordered them immediately to remove the

upper parts (akra) of the masonry which

were strained, that is, the portions which

came into contact with the arches, and to put

them back much later, as soon as the

dampness of the masonry should abate

enough to bear them. 78 These instructions

they carried out, and thereafter the structure

stood p33secure.27 And the Emperor, in this

way, enjoys a kind of testimonial from the

work.

BOOK 2.1 (FORTIFICATIONS AND

CITIES IN THE PERSIAN EMPIRE)

1 1 All the new churches which the Emperor

Justinian built both in Constantinople and in

its suburbs, and all those which, having been

ruined by the passage of time, he restored, as

well as all the other buildings which he

erected here, have been described in the

preceding Book. 2 From this point we must

proceed to the defences with which he

surrounded the farthest limits of the territory

of the Romans. Here indeed my narrative

will be constrained to halt painfully and to

labour with an impossible subject. 3 For it is





85

not the pyramids which we are about to

describe, those celebrated monuments of the

rulers of Egypt, on which labour was

expended for a useless show,a but rather all

the fortifications whereby this Emperor

preserved the Empire, walling it about

p99and frustrating the attacks of the

barbarians on the Romans. And it seems to

me not amiss to start from the Persian

frontier.

4 When the Persians retired from the

territory of the Romans, selling to them the

city of Amida, as I have related in the Books

on the Wars,1 the Emperor Anastasius

selected a hitherto insignificant village close

to the Persian boundary, Daras by name, and

urgently set about enclosing it with a wall

and making it into a city which should serve

as a bulwark against the enemy. 5 But since

it was forbidden in the treaty which the

Emperor Theodosius once concluded with

the Persian nation, that either party should

construct any new fortress on his own land

where it bordered on the boundaries of the

other nation, the Persians, citing the terms of

the peace, tried with all their might to

obstruct the work, though they were hard

pressed by being involved in a war with the

Huns. 6 So the Romans, observing that they

were for this reason unprepared, pressed on

the work of building all more keenly, being

anxious to get ahead of the enemy before

they should finish their struggle with the

Huns and come against them.

7 Consequently, being fearful by reason of

suspicion of the enemy, and continually

expecting their attacks, they did not carry

out the building with care, since the haste

inspired by their extreme eagerness

detracted from the stability of their work.

8 For stability is never likely to keep

company with speed, nor is accuracy wont

to follow swiftness. 9 They therefore carried

out the construction of the circuit-wall in

great p101haste, not having made it fit to

withstand the enemy, but raising it only to

such a height as was barely necessary;

indeed they did not even lay the stones

themselves carefully, or fit them together as

they should, or bind them properly at the

joints with mortar. 10 So within a short time,

since the towers could not in any way

withstand the snows and the heat of the sun

because of their faulty construction, it came

about that the most of them fell into ruin. So

were the earlier walls built at the city of

Daras.2

11 The Emperor Justinian perceived that the

Persians, as far as lay in their power, would

not permit this outpost of the Romans,

which was a menace to them, to stand there,

but they would of course assault it with all

their might, and would use every device to

conduct siege operations on even terms with

the city; and that a great number of

elephants would come with them, and these

would bear wooden towers on their

shoulders, under which they would stand,

supporting them like foundations; and worse

still, that they would be led about wherever

the enemy needed them and would bear a

fortress which would follow along wherever,

according to the judgement of their masters,

it should happen to be needed; 21 and that

the enemy would mount these towers and

shoot down upon the heads of the Romans

inside the city, and attack them from a

higher level; that, furthermore they would

raise up artificial mounds against them, and

would bring up all manner of siege-engines.

13 And if any misfortune should befall the

city of Daras, which was thrown out like an

earthwork before the whole Roman Empire

and was obviously placed as a threat to the

enemy's land, the disaster for us would

p103not stop there, but a great part of the

State would be seriously shaken. For these

reasons he wished to surround the place with

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86

defences in keeping with its practical

usefulness.

14 First of all he rendered the wall (which,

as I have said, was very low and therefore

very easy for an enemy to assault) both

inaccessible and wholly impregnable for an

attacking force.3 15 For he contracted the

original apertures of the battlements by

inserting stones and reduced them to very

narrow slits, leaving only traces of them in

the form of tiny windows, and allowing

them to open just enough for a hand to pass

through, so that outlets were left through

which arrows could be shot against

assailants. 16 Then above these he added to

the wall a height of •about thirty feet,4 not

building the addition upon the whole

thickness of the wall, lest the foundations

should be overloaded by the excessive

weight which bore upon them, so that the

whole work would suffer some irreparable

damage, but he enclosed the space at that

level with courses of stones on the outside

and constructed a colonnaded stoa (stoa)

running all around the wall, and he placed

the battlements above this portico, so that

the wall really had a double roof throughout;

and at the towers there were actually three

levels for the men who defended the wall

and repelled attacks upon it. 17 For at about

the middle of each tower he added a rounded

structure (sphairikon schêma) upon which

he placed additional battlements, thus

making the wall three-storeyed.

p107 18 Then he observed that it had come

about that many of the towers, as I have

said, had fallen into ruin in a short time, yet

it was entirely out of the question to pull

them down, since the enemy were constantly

in the neighbourhood watching their

opportunity and continually scouting to see

whether they might not find some part of the

defences dismantled at any time. But he hit

upon the following plan. 19 He left these

towers in place, and outside each of them he

cleverly erected another structure in the

form of a rectangle, which was built

securely and with every possible care, and

thus, by means of a second set of defences,

he safely enclosed those parts of the wall

which had suffered. 20 But one of the

towers, called the "Tower of the Guard," he

pulled down at a favourable moment and

rebuilt so that it was safe, and everywhere

he removed the fear which had arisen from

the weakness of the circuit-wall. 21 He also

wisely added sufficient height, in due

proportion, to the outworks. 22 And outside

these he dug a moat, not in the way in which

men are wont to make them, but only for a

short distance and in a novel manner; and

the reason for this I shall explain.

23 The greater part of the defences, as it

happens, are in general unapproachable for

an attacking party, since they do not stand

on level ground and offer no favourable

opportunity for assault to an approaching

force; but they stand along a steep slope of a

rough and precipitous character, where it is

not possible for a mine to be dug or for any

attack to be made. 24 But on the side which

is turned toward south, the soil is deep and

soft and consequently easy to mine, so that it

makes the city assailable on this side. 25 So

in p109that place he dug a crescent-shaped

moat, with sufficient breadth and depth and

extending to a great distance, and joined

either end of this to the outworks and filled

it amply with water, rendering it altogether

impassable for the enemy; and on its inner

side he set up another outwork. On this the

Romans take their stand and keep guard in

time of siege, freed from anxiety for the




87

circuit-wall and the other outwork which is

thrown out before the main wall. 26 And it

happened that between the main wall and

the outwork, at the gate which faces toward

the village of Ammodius,5 there lay a great

mound of earth, under cover of which the

enemy were able to be in large measure

unobserved while making mines against the

city under the circuit-wall. 27 This mound

he removed from the spot and he cleared up

the place thoroughly, and thus frustrated any

secret attack on the wall by the enemy.

ISLAM

YAKUT: BAGHDAD UNDER THE

ABBASIDS, C. 1000 CE

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/1000

baghdad.asp

[Introduction (adapted from Davis)]

Baghdad "the city of the Arabian nights"

was founded in 764 CE. by the Abbasid

Caliph Al-Mansur. It was in its prime about

800 CE., during the reign of the famous

caliph Harun-al-Rashid. What this city -

which represented the crown of Medieval

Muslim civilization - resembled, is told by

an author who saw Baghdad in its glory.

Yakut: Geographical Encyclopedia:

The city of Baghdad formed two vast semi-

circles on the right and left banks of the

Tigris, twelve miles in diameter. The

numerous suburbs, covered with parks,

gardens, villas and beautiful promenades,

and plentifully supplied with rich bazaars,

and finely built mosques and baths,

stretched for a considerable distance on both

sides of the river. In the days of its

prosperity the population of Baghdad and its

suburbs amounted to over two millions! The

palace of the Caliph stood in the midst of a

vast park several hours in circumference

which beside a menagerie and aviary

comprised an inclosure for wild animals

reserved for the chase. The palace grounds

were laid out with gardens, and adorned

with exquisite taste with plants, flowers, and

trees, reservoirs and fountains, surrounded

by sculptured figures. On this side of the

river stood the palaces of the great nobles.

Immense streets, none less than forty cubits

wide, traversed the city from one end to the

other, dividing it into blocks or quarters,

each under the control of an overseer or

supervisor, who looked after the cleanliness,

sanitation and the comfort of the inhabitants.

The water exits both on the north and the

south were like the city gates, guarded night

and day by relays of soldiers stationed on

the watch towers on both sides of the river.

Every household was plentifully supplied

with water at all seasons by the numerous

aqueducts which intersected the town; and

the streets, gardens and parks were regularly

swept and watered, and no refuse was

allowed to remain within the walls. An

immense square in front of the imperial

palace was used for reviews, military

inspections, tournaments and races; at night

the square and the streets were lighted by

lamps.

There was also a vast open space where the

troops whose barracks lay on the left bank of

the river were paraded daily. The long wide

estrades at the different gates of the city

were used by the citizens for gossip and


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recreation or for watching the flow of

travelers and country folk into the capital.

The different nationalities in the capital had

each a head officer to represent their

interests with the government, and to whom

the stranger could appeal for counsel or

help.

Baghdad was a veritable City of Palaces, not

made of stucco and mortar, but of marble.

The buildings were usually of several

stories. The palaces and mansions were

lavishly gilded and decorated, and hung with

beautiful tapestry and hangings of brocade

or silk. The rooms were lightly and

tastefully furnished with luxurious divans,

costly tables, unique Chinese vases and gold

and silver ornaments.

Both sides of the river were for miles

fronted by the palaces, kiosks, gardens and

parks of the grandees and nobles, marble

steps led down to the water's edge, and the

scene on the river was animated by

thousands of gondolas, decked with little

flags, dancing like sunbeams on the water,

and carrying the pleasure-seeking Baghdad

citizens from one part of the city to the

other. Along the wide-stretching quays lay

whole fleets at anchor, sea and river craft of

all kinds, from the Chinese junk to the old

Assyrian raft resting on inflated skins.

The mosques of the city were at once vast in

size and remarkably beautiful. There were

also in Baghdad numerous colleges of

learning, hospitals, infirmaries for both

sexes, and lunatic asylums.

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