§5.741ΑΘ. ἐάν τʼ αὖ καὶ τοὐναντίον ἐπέλθῃ ποτὲ κῦμα κατακλυσμὸν φέρον νόσων, ἢ πολέμων φθορά, ἐλάττους δὲ πολὺ τοῦ τεταγμένου ἀριθμοῦ διʼ ὀρφανίας γένωνται, ἑκόντας μὲν οὐ δεῖ πολίτας παρεμβάλλειν νόθῃ παιδείᾳ πεπαιδευμένους, ἀνάγκην δὲ οὐδὲ θεὸς εἶναι λέγεται δυνατὸς βιάζεσθαι.
ATH.: On the other hand, if ever the contrary wave should come upon them, bringing a deluge of diseases, or the destruction of wars, and they should become far fewer than the prescribed number because of bereavement, we must not voluntarily introduce citizens who have been educated in a bastard education, but even a god is said to be unable to force necessity.
ταῦτʼ οὖν δὴ τὸν νῦν λεγόμενον λόγον ἡμῖν φῶμεν παραινεῖν λέγοντα· ὦ πάντων ἀνδρῶν ἄριστοι, τὴν ὁμοιότητα καὶ ἰσότητα καὶ τὸ ταὐτὸν καὶ ὁμολογούμενον τιμῶντες κατὰ φύσιν μὴ ἀνίετε κατά τε ἀριθμὸν καὶ πᾶσαν δύναμιν τὴν τῶν καλῶν κἀγαθῶν πραγμάτων·
Let us say, then, that the argument now being spoken exhorts us, saying: "O best of all men, do not slacken in honoring similarity, equality, identity, and agreement according to nature, both in number and in every power of beautiful and good things.
καὶ δὴ καὶ νῦν τὸν ἀριθμὸν μὲν πρῶτον διὰ βίου παντὸς φυλάξατε τὸν εἰρημένον, εἶτα τὸ τῆς οὐσίας ὕψος τε καὶ μέγεθος, ὃ τὸ πρῶτον ἐνείμασθε μέτριον ὄν, μὴ ἀτιμάσητε τῷ τε ὠνεῖσθαι καὶ τῷ πωλεῖν πρὸς ἀλλήλους—οὔτε γὰρ ὁ νείμας κλῆρος ὢν θεὸς ὑμῖν σύμμαχος οὔτε ὁ νομοθέτης—νῦν γὰρ δὴ πρῶτον τῷ ἀπειθοῦντι νόμος προστάττει, προειπὼν ἐπὶ τούτοις κληροῦσθαι τὸν ἐθέλοντα ἢ μὴ κληροῦσθαι, ὡς πρῶτον μὲν τῆς γῆς ἱερᾶς οὔσης τῶν πάντων θεῶν, εἶτα ἱερέων τε καὶ ἱερειῶν εὐχὰς ποιησομένων ἐπὶ τοῖς πρώτοις θύμασι καὶ δευτέροις καὶ μέχρι τριῶν, τὸν πριάμενον ἢ ἀποδόμενον ὧν ἔλαχεν οἰκοπέδων ἢ γηπέδων τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις πρέποντα πάσχειν πάθη· γράψαντες δὲ ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς θήσουσι κυπαριττίνας μνήμας εἰς τὸν ἔπειτα χρόνον καταγεγραμμένας, πρὸς τούτοις δʼ ἔτι φυλακτήρια τούτων, ὅπως ἂν γίγνηται, καταστήσουσιν ἐν ταύτῃ τῶν ἀρχῶν ἥτις ἂν ὀξύτατον ὁρᾶν δοκῇ, ἵνα αἱ παρὰ ταῦτα ἑκάστοτε παραγωγαὶ γιγνόμεναι μὴ λανθάνωσιν αὐτούς, ἀλλὰ κολάζωσι τὸν ἀπειθοῦντα ἅμα νόμῳ καὶ τῷ θεῷ.
And indeed, now first guard through your whole life the said number, and then do not dishonor the height and magnitude of the property, which you distributed at first, being moderate, by buying and selling to one another—for neither the god who distributed the lot is your ally, nor is the legislator. For indeed, now first the law commands the disobedient, having forewarned that on these conditions he who wishes may draw lots or not draw lots, namely, that first the land is sacred to all the gods, and further, that priests and priestesses will make prayers over the first and second and up to the third sacrifices, so that the one who buys or sells any of the house-plots or land-plots he obtained by lot shall suffer the appropriate penalties for these actions; and they shall write them down and place in the temples cypress monuments inscribed for the future, and in addition to these, they shall establish guardians of these things, so that they may be maintained, in whichever of the offices seems to see most sharply, so that the deviations that occur from time to time contrary to these things may not escape them, but they may punish the disobedient one both by the law and the god.
ὅσον γὰρ δὴ τὸ νῦν ἐπιταττόμενον ἀγαθὸν ὂν τυγχάνει πάσαις ταῖς πειθομέναις πόλεσι, τὴν ἑπομένην κατασκευὴν προσλαβόν, κατὰ τὴν παλαιὰν παροιμίαν οὐδεὶς εἴσεταί ποτε κακὸς ὤν, ἀλλʼ ἔμπειρός τε καὶ ἐπιεικὴς ἔθεσι γενόμενος·
For indeed, how great a good is what is now commanded for all the cities that obey it, having received the accompanying arrangement, as the old proverb says, no one will ever know being bad, but becoming experienced and reasonable in habits.
χρηματισμὸς γὰρ οὔτʼ ἔνεστιν σφόδρα ἐν τῇ τοιαύτῃ κατασκευῇ, συνέπεταί τε αὐτῇ μηδὲ δεῖν μηδʼ ἐξεῖναι χρηματίζεσθαι τῶν ἀνελευθέρων χρηματισμῶν μηδενὶ μηδένα, καθʼ ὅσον ἐπονείδιστος λεγομένη βαναυσία ἦθος ἀποτρέπει ἐλεύθερον, μηδὲ τὸ παράπαν ἀξιοῦν ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων συλλέγειν χρήματα.
For money-making is not very possible in such an arrangement, and it accompanies it that no one must or is allowed to make money by any of the illiberal ways of money-making, insofar as the so-called shameful manual labor turns a free character away, nor to think it worthy at all to collect money from such sources.
§5.742ΑΘ. πρὸς τούτοις δʼ ἔτι νόμος ἕπεται πᾶσι τούτοις, μηδʼ ἐξεῖναι χρυσὸν μηδὲ ἄργυρον κεκτῆσθαι μηδένα μηδενὶ ἰδιώτῃ, νόμισμα δὲ ἕνεκα ἀλλαγῆς τῆς καθʼ ἡμέραν, ἣν δημιουργοῖς τε ἀλλάττεσθαι σχεδὸν ἀναγκαῖον, καὶ πᾶσιν ὁπόσων χρεία τῶν τοιούτων μισθοὺς μισθωτοῖς, δούλοις καὶ ἐποίκοις, ἀποτίνειν.
ATH.: In addition to these things, there is still a law that follows all of them, namely, that it is not allowed for any private person to possess gold or silver, but only coinage for the sake of daily exchange, which is practically necessary to exchange with craftsmen, and for all who have need of such things to pay wages to hirelings, slaves, and resident aliens.
ὧν ἕνεκά φαμεν τὸ νόμισμα κτητέον αὐτοῖς μὲν ἔντιμον, τοῖς δὲ ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις ἀδόκιμον· κοινὸν δὲ Ἑλληνικὸν νόμισμα ἕνεκά τε στρατειῶν καὶ ἀποδημιῶν εἰς τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους, οἷον πρεσβειῶν ἢ καί τινος ἀναγκαίας ἄλλης τῇ πόλει κηρυκείας, ἐκπέμπειν τινὰ ἂν δέῃ, τούτων χάριν ἀνάγκη ἑκάστοτε κεκτῆσθαι τῇ πόλει νόμισμα Ἑλληνικόν.
For which reasons we say that they must possess coinage that is valued among themselves but useless to the rest of mankind; but a common Greek coinage, for the sake of military expeditions and journeys to other men—such as embassies or indeed some other necessary public mission for the city, if it is necessary to send someone out—for the sake of these things, it is necessary for the city to possess Greek coinage on each occasion.
ἰδιώτῃ δὲ ἂν ἄρα ποτὲ ἀνάγκη τις γίγνηται ἀποδημεῖν, παρέμενος μὲν τοὺς ἄρχοντας ἀποδημείτω, νόμισμα δὲ ἄν ποθεν ἔχων ξενικὸν οἴκαδε ἀφίκηται περιγενόμενον, τῇ πόλει αὐτὸ καταβαλλέτω πρὸς λόγον ἀπολαμβάνων τὸ ἐπιχώριον·
And if ever some necessity arises for a private person to travel abroad, let him travel after obtaining permission from the rulers; and if he arrives home possessing foreign coinage left over from somewhere, let him deposit it with the city, receiving the local currency in proportion.
ἰδιούμενος δὲ ἄν τις φαίνηται, δημόσιόν τε γιγνέσθω καὶ ὁ συνειδὼς καὶ μὴ φράζων ἀρᾷ καὶ ὀνείδει μετὰ τοῦ ἀγαγόντος ἔνοχος ἔστω, καὶ ζημίᾳ πρὸς τούτοις μὴ ἐλάττονι τοῦ ξενικοῦ κομισθέντος νομίσματος.
And if anyone is shown to keep it for himself, let it become public property, and let the one who was aware of it and did not report it be subject to curse and disgrace along with the one who brought it in, and besides these, to a penalty not less than the foreign coinage brought in.
γαμοῦντα δὲ καὶ ἐκδιδόντα μήτʼ οὖν διδόναι μήτε δέχεσθαι προῖκα τὸ παράπαν μηδʼ ἡντινοῦν, μηδὲ νόμισμα παρακατατίθεσθαι ὅτῳ μή τις πιστεύει, μηδὲ δανείζειν ἐπὶ τόκῳ, ὡς ἐξὸν μὴ ἀποδιδόναι τὸ παράπαν τῷ δανεισαμένῳ μήτε τόκον μήτε κεφάλαιον·
And when marrying and giving in marriage, let them neither give nor receive any dowry at all, and let them not deposit money with anyone whom they do not trust, nor lend at interest, since it is permitted to the borrower not to return either interest or principal at all.
ταῦτα δʼ ὅτι βέλτιστʼ ἐστὶν πόλει ἐπιτηδεύματα ἐπιτηδεύειν, ὧδε ἄν τις σκοπῶν ὀρθῶς ἂν αὐτὰ διακρίνοι, ἐπαναφέρων εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀεὶ καὶ τὴν βούλησιν.
And that these are the best practices for a city to practice, one would judge them correctly by looking at them in this way, always referring them back to the principle and the intention.
ἔστιν δὴ τοῦ νοῦν ἔχοντος πολιτικοῦ βούλησις, φαμέν, οὐχ ἥνπερ ἂν οἱ πολλοὶ φαῖεν, δεῖν βούλεσθαι τὸν ἀγαθὸν νομοθέτην ὡς μεγίστην τε εἶναι τὴν πόλιν ᾗ νοῶν εὖ νομοθετοῖ, καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα πλουσίαν, κεκτημένην δʼ αὖ χρύσεια καὶ ἀργύρεια, καὶ κατὰ γῆν καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν ἄρχουσαν ὅτι πλείστων· προσθεῖεν δʼ ἂν καὶ ὡς ἀρίστην δεῖν βούλεσθαι τὴν πόλιν εἶναι καὶ ὡς εὐδαιμονεστάτην τόν γε ὀρθῶς νομοθετοῦντα.
Indeed, the intention of the sensible statesman is, we say, not that which the many would say—that the good legislator ought to wish the city for which he wisely legislates to be as large as possible, and as rich as possible, possessing gold and silver, and ruling over as many as possible both by land and by sea; and they would add also that the one who legislates correctly ought to wish the city to be as good as possible and as happy as possible.
τούτων δὲ τὰ μὲν δυνατά ἐστιν γίγνεσθαι, τὰ δʼ οὐ δυνατά·
And of these things, some are possible to happen, and others are not possible.
τὰ μὲν οὖν δυνατὰ βούλοιτʼ ἂν ὁ διακοσμῶν, τὰ δὲ μὴ δυνατὰ οὔτʼ ἂν βούλοιτο ματαίας βουλήσεις οὔτʼ ἂν ἐπιχειροῖ.
Therefore, the one who orders would wish for the possible things, but the impossible things he would neither wish for in vain wishes nor attempt.
σχεδὸν μὲν γὰρ εὐδαίμονας ἅμα καὶ ἀγαθοὺς ἀνάγκη γίγνεσθαι—τοῦτο μὲν οὖν βούλοιτʼ ἄν—πλουσίους δʼ αὖ σφόδρα καὶ ἀγαθοὺς ἀδύνατον, οὕς γε δὴ πλουσίους οἱ πολλοὶ καταλέγουσι·
For indeed, they must be almost happy and good at the same time—this, then, he would wish—but on the other hand, it is impossible to be extremely rich and good, at least those whom the many indeed list as rich.