§2.24.1δοκεῖ δὲ καὶ τῆς ἄλλης εὐκοσμίας, ᾗ χρώμενοι Ῥωμαῖοι διεφύλαξαν εὐδαιμονοῦσαν τὴν πόλιν ἐπὶ πολλὰς γενεάς, ἐκεῖνος ἄρξαι νόμους καλοὺς καὶ συμφέροντας ἀγράφους μὲν τοὺς πλείστους, ἔστι δʼ οὓς καὶ ἐν γράμμασι κειμένους καταστησάμενος, ὧν ἐγὼ τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους οὐδὲν δέομαι γράφειν, οὓς δὲ πάντων μάλιστα τεθαύμακα καὶ ἐξ ὧν ὑπείληφα καταφανῆ καὶ τὴν ἄλλην τοῦ ἀνδρὸς γενήσεσθαι νομοθεσίαν, ὡς αὐστηρὰ καὶ μισοπόνηρος ἦν καὶ πολλὴν ἔχουσα πρὸς τοὺς ἡρωικοὺς βίους ὁμοιότητα, §2.24.2δι’ ὀλίγης ὑπομνήσεως σημανῶ, τοσοῦτο προειπών, ὅτι μοι δοκοῦσιν ἅπαντες οἱ διατάξαντες τάς τε βαρβαρικὰς καὶ τὰς Ἑλληνικὰς πολιτείας τὸ μὲν κοινὸν ὀρθῶς ἰδεῖν, ὅτι πόλιν ἅπασαν ἐκ πολλῶν οἴκων συνεστῶσαν ὀρθήν τε πλεῖν εἰκὸς ὅταν οἱ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν εὐσταθῶσι βίοι, καὶ χειμῶνα πολὺν ἄγειν ὅταν κακῶς ἑκάστοις ἔχῃ τὰ ἴδια, καὶ ὅτι δεῖ τὸν νοῦν ἔχοντα πολιτικὸν ἐάν τε νομοθέτης ἐάν τε βασιλεὺς ᾖ, ταῦτα νομοθετεῖν, ἃ ποιήσει δικαίους καὶ σώφρονας τοὺς τῶν ἰδιωτῶν βίους.
And he seems also to have made a beginning of that other good order, by practicing which the Romans preserved their city in prosperity for many generations, by establishing beautiful and beneficial laws, most of them unwritten, though some were committed to writing; of these I have no need to write the others, but those which I have admired most of all, and from which I have supposed that the rest of this man's legislation will also become clear—showing how strict and hateful of wickedness it was, and having a great resemblance to the heroic lives— I shall point out by a brief mention, having first said this much: that all those who established both the barbarian and the Greek polities seem to me to have seen correctly the common principle, namely, that it is natural for every city composed of many households to sail on a straight course when the lives of private citizens are stable, and to experience a great storm when private affairs are in a bad state for each; and that the intelligent statesman, whether he be a lawgiver or a king, must enact those laws which will make the lives of private citizens just and temperate.
§2.24.3ἐξ ὧν δʼ ἂν ἐπιτηδευμάτων καὶ διʼ οἵων γένοιντο τοιοῦτοι νόμων, οὐκέθʼ ὁμοίως ἅπαντες δοκοῦσί μοι συνιδεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἔνιοί γε πολλοῦ καὶ τοῦ παντός, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἐν τοῖς κυριωτάτοις καὶ πρώτοις μέρεσι τῆς νομοθεσίας ἁμαρτεῖν.
But from what practices and through what kind of laws they might become such, not all seem to me to have perceived in like manner, but some, so to speak, to have erred greatly and entirely in the most essential and primary parts of their legislation.
§2.24.4αὐτίκα περὶ γάμων καὶ τῆς πρὸς γυναῖκας ὁμιλίας, ἀφʼ ἧς ἄρχεσθαι δεῖ τὸν νομοθέτην, ὥσπερ καὶ ἡ φύσις ἁρμόττειν τοὺς βίους ἡμῶν ἤρξατο, οἱ μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν θηρίων τὸ παράδειγμα λαβόντες ἀφέτους καὶ κοινὰς τὰς μίξεις ἐποίησαν τῷ ἄρρενι πρὸς τὸ θῆλυ, ὡς ἐρωτικῶν τε οἴστρων ἐλευθερώσοντες τοὺς βίους καὶ ζήλων ἀλληλοκτόνων ἐξελούμενοι καὶ πολλῶν ἄλλων ἀπαλλάξοντες κακῶν, ἃ καταλαμβάνει τούς τε ἰδίους οἴκους καὶ τὰς πόλεις ὅλας διὰ γυναῖκας· §2.24.5οἱ δὲ ταύτας μὲν ἐξήλασαν ἐκ τῶν πόλεων τὰς ἀγερώχους καὶ θηριώδεις συνουσίας ἄνδρα συναρμόσαντες εἰς γυναῖκα μίαν, περὶ δε φυλακῆς γάμων καὶ σωφροσύνης γυναικῶν νομοθετεῖν οὔτε μεῖζον οὔτʼ ἔλαττον οὐδὲν ἐπεχείρησαν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἀδυνάτου πράγματος ἀπέστησαν· §2.24.6οἱ δὲ οὔτε ἀνεγγύους ἐποίησαν ὥσπερ ἔνιοι τῶν βαρβάρων τὰς ἀφροδισίους μίξεις οὔτε ἀφῆκαν ὥσπερ Λακεδαιμόνιοι τὰς τῶν γυναικῶν φυλακάς, ἀλλὰ πολλοὺς ἔθεσαν ἐπʼ αὐταῖς νόμους σωφρονιστάς.
For example, concerning marriages and association with women, from which the lawgiver must begin, just as nature also began to fit our lives, some, taking their example from the beasts, made the intercourse of the male with the female unrestricted and common, as if they would free lives from passionate lusts, remove homicidal jealousies, and deliver them from many other evils which overtake both private homes and entire cities because of women; others banished these unruly and beastly unions from their cities, joining one man to one woman, but attempted to enact nothing great or small concerning the guarding of marriages and the temperance of women, but desisted as from an impossible task; and others neither made sexual intercourse free from contract like some of the barbarians, nor abandoned the guarding of women like the Lacedaemonians, but established many laws for their correction.
εἰσὶ δʼ οἳ καὶ ἀρχήν τινα κατέστησαν ἐπιμελησομένην εὐκοσμίας γυναικῶν· οὐ μὴν ἀποχρῶσά γε ἡ πρόνοια αὐτῶν τῆς τηρήσεως, ἀλλὰ μαλακωτέρα τοῦ δέοντος ἐγένετο καὶ οὐχ ἱκανὴ τὴν μὴ σπουδαίᾳ φύσει κεκραμένην εἰς ἀνάγκην βίου σώφρονος ἀγαγεῖν.
Some indeed even established a certain office to superintend the good conduct of women; yet their foresight was not sufficient for their protection, but became softer than was necessary and not adequate to lead a woman not endowed with a noble nature to the necessity of a temperate life.