§1.80.1ὑπῆρχε δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν κλεπτῶν νόμος παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις ἰδιώτατος.
There was also a most peculiar law concerning thieves among the Egyptians.
ἐκέλευε γὰρ τοὺς μὲν βουλομένους ἔχειν ταύτην τὴν ἐργασίαν ἀπογράφεσθαι πρὸς τὸν ἀρχίφωρα, καὶ τὸ κλαπὲν ὁμολόγως ἀναφέρειν παραχρῆμα πρὸς ἐκεῖνον, τοὺς δὲ ἀπολέσαντας παραπλησίως ἀπογράφειν αὐτῷ καθʼ ἕκαστον τῶν ἀπολωλότων, προστιθέντας τόν τε τόπον καὶ τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ τὴν ὥραν καθʼ ἣν ἀπώλεσεν. §1.80.2τούτῳ δὲ τῷ τρόπῳ πάντων ἑτοίμως εὑρισκομένων, ἔδει τὸν ἀπολέσαντα τὸ τέταρτον μέρος τῆς ἀξίας δόντα κτήσασθαι τὰ ἑαυτοῦ μόνα.
For it ordered those who wished to practice this trade to register themselves with the chief thief, and to report what was stolen immediately and by agreement to him; and those who lost things to register likewise with him each of the lost items, adding both the place and the day and the hour at which they lost it. In this way, since everything was easily found, the loser had to recover only his own property by giving a quarter of its value.
ἀδυνάτου γὰρ ὄντος τοῦ πάντας ἀποστῆσαι τῆς κλοπῆς εὗρε πόρον ὁ νομοθέτης διʼ οὗ πᾶν τὸ ἀπολόμενον σωθήσεται μικρῶν διδομένων λύτρων. §1.80.3γαμοῦσι δὲ παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοις οἱ μὲν ἱερεῖς μίαν, τῶν δʼ ἄλλων ὅσας ἂν ἕκαστος προαιρῆται· καὶ τὰ γεννώμενα πάντα τρέφουσιν ἐξ ἀνάγκης ἕνεκα τῆς πολυανθρωπίας, ὡς ταύτης μέγιστα συμβαλλομένης πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν χώρας τε καὶ πόλεων, νόθον δʼ οὐδένα τῶν γεννηθέντων νομίζουσιν, οὐδʼ ἂν ἐξ ἀργυρωνήτου μητρὸς γεννηθῇ· §1.80.4καθόλου γὰρ ὑπειλήφασι τὸν πατέρα μόνον αἴτιον εἶναι τῆς γενέσεως, τὴν δὲ μητέρα τροφὴν καὶ χώραν παρέχεσθαι τῷ βρέφει, καὶ τῶν δένδρων ἄρρενα μὲν καλοῦσι τὰ καρποφόρα, θήλεα δὲ τὰ μὴ φέροντα τοὺς καρπούς, ἐναντίως τοῖς Ἕλλησι. §1.80.5τρέφουσι δὲ τὰ παιδία μετά τινος εὐχερείας ἀδαπάνου καὶ παντελῶς ἀπίστου· ἑψήματα γὰρ αὐτοῖς χορηγοῦσιν ἔκ τινος εὐτελείας ἑτοίμης γινόμενα, καὶ τῶν ἐκ τῆς βύβλου πυθμένων τοὺς δυναμένους εἰς τὸ πῦρ ἐγκρύβεσθαι, καὶ τῶν ῥιζῶν καὶ τῶν καυλῶν τῶν ἑλείων τὰ μὲν ὠμά, τὰ δʼ ἕψοντες, τὰ δʼ ὀπτῶντες, διδόασιν. §1.80.6ἀνυποδήτων δὲ καὶ γυμνῶν τῶν πλείστων τρεφομένων διὰ τὴν εὐκρασίαν τῶν τόπων, τὴν πᾶσαν δαπάνην οἱ γονεῖς, ἄχρι ἂν εἰς ἡλικίαν ἔλθῃ τὸ τέκνον, οὐ πλείω ποιοῦσι δραχμῶν εἴκοσι.
For since it was impossible to keep everyone away from theft, the legislator found a way by which all that was lost would be saved upon the payment of a small ransom. Among the Egyptians, the priests marry one wife, but of the others as many as each may choose; and they rear all children born of necessity for the sake of populousness, since they believe this contributes most to the prosperity of both country and cities; and they consider none of the children born to be illegitimate, not even if one should be born of a bought slave mother; for in general they believe that the father alone is the cause of generation, while the mother provides nourishment and place to the infant; and of trees they call those that bear fruit male, and those that do not bear fruit female, contrary to the Greeks. And they rear their children with a certain inexpensive and altogether incredible ease; for they supply them with stews made from some cheap and easily available material, and the stalks of papyrus that can be roasted in the fire, and of the roots and stalks of marsh plants they give them some raw, some boiled, and some roasted. And since most of them are reared unshod and naked on account of the mildness of the climate, the parents incur a total expense, until the child reaches maturity, of no more than twenty drachmas.
διʼ ἃς αἰτίας μάλιστα τὴν Αἴγυπτον συμβαίνει πολυανθρωπίᾳ διαφέρειν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πλείστας ἔχειν μεγάλων ἔργων κατασκευάς.
For these reasons especially, it happens that Egypt excels in populousness, and on this account possesses the greatest number of constructions of great works.