If a herald or an ambassador carry a false message from our cityto any other, or bring back a false message from the city to whichhe is sent, or be proved to have brought back, whether from friends orenemies, in his capacity of herald or ambassador, what they have neversaid, let him be indicted for having violated, contrary to the law,the commands and duties imposed upon him by Hermes and Zeus, and letthere be a penalty fixed, which he shall suffer or pay if he beconvicted.
Theft is a mean, and robbery a shameless thing; and none of the sonsof Zeus delight in fraud and violence, or ever practised, either.
Wherefore let no one be deluded by poets or mythologers into amistaken belief of such such things, nor let him suppose, when hethieves or is guilty of violence, that he is doing nothing base, butonly what the Gods themselves do. For such tales are untrue andimprobable; and he who steals or robs contrary to the law, is nevereither a God or the son of a God; of this the legislator ought to bebetter informed than all the, poets put together. Happy is he andmay he be forever happy, who is persuaded and listens to our words;but he who disobeys shall have to contend against the followinglaw:-If a man steal anything belonging to the public, whether thatwhich he steals be much or little, he shall have the samepunishment. For he who steals a little steals with the same wish as hewho steals much, but with less power, and he who takes up a greateramount; not having deposited it, is wholly unjust. Wherefore the lawis not disposed to inflict a less penalty on the one than on the otherbecause his theft, is less, but on the ground that the thief maypossibly be in one case still curable, and may in another case beincurable. If any one convict in a court of law a stranger or aslave of a theft of public property, let the court determine whatpunishment he shall suffer, or what penalty he shall pay, bearing inmind that he is probably not incurable. But the citizen who has beenbrought up as our citizens will have been, if he be found guilty ofrobbing his country by fraud or violence, whether he be caught inthe act or not, shall be punished with death; for he is incurable.
Now for expeditions of war much consideration and many laws arerequired; the great principle of all is that no one of either sexshould be without a commander; nor should the mind of any one beaccustomed to do anything, either in jest or earnest, of his ownmotion, but in war and in peace he should look to and follow hisleader, even in the least things being under his guidance; forexample, he should stand or move, or exercise, or wash, or take hismeals, or get up in the night to keep guard and deliver messageswhen he is bidden; and in the hour of danger he should not pursueand not retreat except by order of his superior; and in a word, notteach the soul or accustom her to know or understand how to doanything apart from others. Of all soldiers the life should bealways and in all things as far as possible in common and together;there neither is nor ever will be a higher, or better, or morescientific principle than this for the attainment of salvation andvictory in war. And we ought in time of peace from youth upwards topractise this habit of commanding others, and of being commanded byothers; anarchy should have no place in the life of man or of thebeasts who are subject to man. I may add that all dances ought to beperformed with view to military excellence; and agility and easeshould be cultivated for the same object, and also endurance of thewant of meats and drinks, and of winter cold and summer heat, and ofhard couches; and, above all, care should be taken not to destroythe peculiar qualities of the head and the feet by surrounding themwith extraneous coverings, and so hindering their natural growth ofhair and soles. For these are the extremities, and of all the parts ofthe body, whether they are preserved or not is of the greatestconsequence; the one is the servant of the whole body, and the otherthe master, in whom all the ruling senses are by nature set. Let theyoung man imagine that he hears in what has preceded the praises ofthe military life; the law shall be as follows:-He shall serve inwar who is on the roll or appointed to some special service, and ifany one is absent from cowardice, and without the leave of thegenerals; he shall be indicted before the military commanders forfailure of service when the army comes home; and the soldiers shall behis judges; the heavy armed, and the cavalry, and the other arms ofthe service shall form separate courts; and they shall bring theheavy-armed before the heavy-armed, and the horsemen before thehorsemen, and the others in like manner before their peers; and he whois found guilty shall never be allowed to compete for any prize ofvalour, or indict another for not serving on an expedition, or be anaccuser at all in any military matters. Moreover, the court shallfurther determine what punishment he shall suffer, or what penaltyhe shall pay. When the suits for failure of service are completed, theleaders of the several kinds of troops shall again hold an assembly,and they shall adjudge the prizes of valour; and he who likes shallgive judgment in his own branch of the service, saying nothing aboutany former expedition, nor producing any proof or witnesses to confirmhis statement, but speaking only of the present occasion. The crown ofvictory shall be an olive wreath which the victor shall offer up thetemple of any war-god whom he likes, adding an inscription for atestimony to last during life, that such an one has received thefirst, the second, or prize. If any one goes on an expedition, andreturns home before the appointed time, when the generals. have notwithdrawn the army, be shall be indicted for desertion before the samepersons who took cognisance of failure of service, and if he befound guilty, the same punishment shall be inflicted on him.