§1.77.1ἐπεὶ δὲ τῆς νομοθεσίας ἐμνήσθημεν, οὐκ ἀνοίκειον εἶναι τῆς ὑποκειμένης ἱστορίας νομίζομεν ἐκθέσθαι τῶν νόμων ὅσοι παρὰ τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις παλαιότητι διήνεγκαν ἢ παρηλλαγμένην τάξιν ἔσχον ἢ τὸ σύνολον ὠφέλειαν τοῖς φιλαναγνωστοῦσι δύνανται παρασχέσθαι.
Since we have mentioned legislation, we believe it is not unrelated to our subject history to set forth those laws among the Egyptians which stood out for their antiquity, or possessed an unusual arrangement, or in general are able to provide utility to lovers of reading.
§1.77.2πρῶτον μὲν οὖν κατὰ τῶν ἐπιόρκων θάνατος ἦν παρʼ αὐτοῖς τὸ πρόστιμον, ὡς δύο τὰ μέγιστα ποιούντων ἀνομήματα, θεούς τε ἀσεβούντων καὶ τὴν μεγίστην τῶν παρʼ ἀνθρώποις πίστιν ἀνατρεπόντων.
First of all, then, against perjurers, death was the penalty among them, on the grounds that they commit two of the greatest offenses, both acting impiously toward the gods and overturning the greatest pledge among humans.
§1.77.3ἔπειτα εἴ τις ἐν ὁδῷ κατὰ τὴν χώραν ἰδὼν φονευόμενον ἄνθρωπον ἢ τὸ καθόλου βίαιόν τι πάσχοντα μὴ ῥύσαιτο δυνατὸς ὤν, θανάτῳ περιπεσεῖν ὤφειλεν· εἰ δὲ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν διὰ τὸ ἀδύνατον μὴ κατισχύσαι βοηθῆσαι, μηνῦσαί γε πάντως ὤφειλε τοὺς λῃστὰς καὶ ἐπεξιέναι τὴν παρανομίαν· τὸν δὲ ταῦτα μὴ πράξαντα κατὰ τὸν νόμον ἔδει μαστιγοῦσθαι τεταγμένας πληγὰς καὶ πάσης εἴργεσθαι τροφῆς ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας.
Next, if someone on a road in the country, seeing a person being murdered or in general suffering some violence, should not rescue him though being able to do so, he was bound to suffer death; but if in truth, owing to inability, he did not have the strength to help, he was at all events bound to report the robbers and prosecute the lawlessness; and the one who did not do these things was required by law to be scourged with a prescribed number of blows and to be barred from all food for three days.
§1.77.4οἱ δὲ ψευδῶς τινων κατηγορήσαντες ὤφειλον τοῦτο παθεῖν ὃ τοῖς συκοφαντηθεῖσιν ἐτέτακτο πρόστιμον, εἴπερ ἔτυχον καταδικασθέντες.
And those who falsely accused some people were bound to suffer this very penalty which had been appointed for those who were falsely accused, if they had happened to be convicted.
§1.77.5προσετέτακτο δὲ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις ἀπογράφεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς ἄρχοντας ἀπὸ τίνων ἕκαστος πορίζεται τὸν βίον, καὶ τὸν ἐν τούτοις ψευσάμενον ἢ πόρον ἄδικον ἐπιτελοῦντα θανάτῳ περιπίπτειν ἦν ἀναγκαῖον.
Moreover, it was also commanded of all Egyptians to register with the magistrates from what source each person procures his livelihood, and it was necessary for the one who lied in these matters, or who pursued an unjust means of livelihood, to suffer death.
λέγεται δὲ τοῦτον τὸν νόμον ὑπὸ Σόλωνος παραβαλόντος εἰς Αἴγυπτον εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας μετενεχθῆναι.
And it is said that this law was transferred to Athens by Solon when he visited Egypt.
§1.77.6εἰ δέ τις ἑκουσίως ἀποκτείναι τὸν ἐλεύθερον ἢ τὸν δοῦλον, ἀποθνήσκειν τοῦτον οἱ νόμοι προσέταττον, ἅμα μὲν βουλόμενοι μὴ ταῖς διαφοραῖς τῆς τύχης, ἀλλὰ ταῖς τῶν πράξεων ἐπιβολαῖς εἴργεσθαι πάντας ἀπὸ τῶν φαύλων, ἅμα δὲ διὰ τῆς τῶν δούλων φροντίδος ἐθίζοντες τοὺς ἀνθρώπους πολὺ μᾶλλον εἰς τοὺς ἐλευθέρους μηδὲν ὅλως ἐξαμαρτάνειν.
And if someone intentionally killed either a free person or a slave, the laws commanded that this person die, wishing on the one hand that all be kept from wicked deeds not by differences in fortune but by the intent of their actions, and on the other hand, through concern for the slaves, training people much more not to commit any offense at all against free persons.
§1.77.7καὶ κατὰ μὲν τῶν γονέων τῶν ἀποκτεινάντων τὰ τέκνα θάνατον μὲν οὐχ ὥρισαν, ἡμέρας δὲ τρεῖς καὶ νύκτας ἴσας συνεχῶς ἦν ἀναγκαῖον περιειληφότας τὸν νεκρὸν ὑπομένειν φυλακῆς παρεδρευούσης δημοσίας· οὐ γὰρ δίκαιον ὑπελήφθη τὸ τοῦ βίου στερίσκειν τοὺς τὸν βίον τοῖς παισὶ δεδωκότας, νουθετήσει δὲ μᾶλλον λύπην ἐχούσῃ καὶ μεταμέλειαν ἀποτρέπειν τῶν τοιούτων ἐγχειρημάτων·
And against parents who killed their children, they did not indeed decree death, but it was necessary for them to endure holding the corpse continuously for three equal days and nights, while a public guard stood by; for it was not deemed just to deprive of life those who had given life to their children, but rather to deter them from such undertakings by an admonition that brings grief and repentance.
§1.77.8κατὰ δὲ τῶν τέκνων τῶν γονεῖς φονευσάντων τιμωρίαν ἐξηλλαγμένην ἔθηκαν· ἔδει γὰρ τοὺς καταδικασθέντας ἐπὶ τούτοις καλάμοις ὀξέσι δακτυλιαῖα μέρη τοῦ σώματος κατατμηθέντας ἐπʼ ἀκάνθαις κατακάεσθαι ζῶντας· μέγιστον τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις ἀδικημάτων κρίνοντες τὸ βιαίως τὸ ζῆν ἀφαιρεῖσθαι τῶν τὴν ζωὴν αὐτοῖς δεδωκότων.
On the other hand, against children who murdered their parents, they established an extraordinary punishment; for it was required that those convicted of these things, having had finger-sized parts of their body cut off with sharp reeds, be burned alive upon thorns; judging it the greatest of crimes among humans to violently take away the life of those who had given life to them.
§1.77.9τῶν δὲ γυναικῶν τῶν καταδικασθεισῶν θανάτῳ τὰς ἐγκύους μὴ θανατοῦσθαι πρὶν ἂν τέκωσι.
And of the women who were condemned to death, those who were pregnant were not to be put to death until they gave birth.
καὶ τοῦτο τὸ νόμιμον πολλοὶ καὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων κατέδειξαν, ἡγούμενοι παντελῶς ἄδικον εἶναι τὸ μηδὲν ἀδικῆσαν τῷ ἀδικήσαντι τῆς αὐτῆς μετέχειν τιμωρίας, καὶ παρανομήματος ἑνὸς γενομένου παρὰ δυοῖν λαμβάνειν τὸ πρόστιμον, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις κατὰ προαίρεσιν πονηρὰν συντελεσθέντος τοῦ ἀδικήματος τὸ μηδεμίαν πω σύνεσιν ἔχον ὑπὸ τὴν ὁμοίαν ἄγειν κόλασιν, τὸ δὲ πάντων μέγιστον, ὅτι ταῖς κυούσαις ἰδίᾳ τῆς αἰτίας ἐπενηνεγμένης οὐδαμῶς προσήκει τὸ κοινὸν πατρὸς καὶ μητρὸς τέκνον ἀναιρεῖσθαι·
And this custom many of the Greeks also established, believing it to be entirely unjust for the one who has done no wrong to share in the same punishment as the wrongdoer, and to take the penalty from two when one transgression had occurred, and moreover, when the wrong had been committed according to a wicked purpose, to bring under the same punishment that which does not yet possess any understanding, and greatest of all, because while the accusation is brought against the pregnant woman individually, it is in no way fitting for the child, which is common to father and mother, to be destroyed.
§1.77.10ἐπʼ ἴσης γὰρ ἄν τις φαύλους διαλάβοι κριτὰς τούς τε τὸν ἔνοχον τῷ φόνῳ σώζοντας καὶ τοὺς τὸ μηδὲν ὅλως ἀδικῆσαν συναναιροῦντας.
For one would judge equally bad those judges who save the person guilty of murder and those who destroy along with them the one who has done no wrong at all.
§1.77.11τῶν μὲν οὖν φονικῶν νόμων οἱ μάλιστα δοκοῦντες ἐπιτετεῦχθαι τοιοῦτοί τινες ἦσαν.
Of the laws concerning homicide, then, those which seemed to have been most successfully enacted were of this sort.