And now let us pass under review the examiners themselves; what willtheir examination be, and how conducted? During the life of these men,whom the whole state counts worthy of the rewards of virtue, theyshall have the first seat at all public assemblies, and at allHellenic sacrifices and sacred missions, and other public and holyceremonies in which they share. The chiefs of each sacred missionshall be selected from them, and they only of all the citizens shallbe adorned with a crown of laurel; they shall all be priests of Apolloand Helios; and one of them, who is judged first of the priestscreated in that year, shall be high priest; and they shall write uphis name in each year to be a measure of time as long as the citylasts; and after their death they shall be laid out and carried to thegrave and entombed in a manner different from the other citizens. Theyshall be decked in a robe all of white, and there shall be no cryingor lamentation over them; but a chorus of fifteen maidens, and anotherof boys, shall stand around the bier on either side, hymning thepraises of the departed priests in alternate responses, declaringtheir blessedness in song all day long; and at dawn a hundred of theyouths who practise gymnastic and whom the relations of the departedshall choose, shall carry the bier to the sepulchre, the young menmarching first, dressed in the garb of warriors-the cavalry with theirhorses, the heavy-armed with their arms, and the others in likemanner. And boys neat the bier and in front of it shall sing theirnational hymn, and maidens shall follow behind, and with them thewomen who have passed the age of childbearing; next, although they areinterdicted from other burials, let priests and priestesses follow,unless the Pythian oracle forbid them; for this burial is free frompollution. The place of burial shall be an oblong vaulted chamberunderground, constructed of tufa, which will last for ever, havingstone couches placed side by side. And here they will lay theblessed person, and cover the sepulchre with a circular mound of earthand plant a grove of trees around on every side but one; and on thatside the sepulchre shall be allowed to extend for ever, and a newmound will not be required. Every year they shall have contests inmusic and gymnastics, and in horsemanship, in honour of the dead.
These are the honours which shall be given to those who at theexamination are found blameless; but if any of them, trusting to thescrutiny being over, should, after the judgment has been given,manifest the wickedness of human nature, let the law ordain that hewho pleases shall indict him, and let the cause be tried in thefollowing manner. In the first place, the court shall be composed ofthe guardians of the law, and to them the surviving examiners shall beadded, as well as the court of select judges; and let the pursuerlay his indictment in this form-he shall say that so-and-so isunworthy of the prize of virtue and of his office; and if thedefendant be convicted let him be deprived of his office, and of theburial, and of the other honours given him. But if the prosecutor donot obtain the fifth part of the votes, let him, if he be of the firstdass, pay twelve minae, and eight if he be of the second class, andsix if he be of the third dass, and two minae if he be of the fourthclass.
The so-called decision of Rhadamanthus is worthy of alladmiration. He knew that the men of his own time believed and had nodoubt that there were Gods, which was a reasonable belief in thosedays, because most men were the sons of Gods, and according totradition he was one himself. He appears to have thought that he oughtto commit judgment to no man, but to the Gods only, and in this waysuits were simply and speedily decided by him. For he made the twoparties take an oath respecting the points in dispute, and so gotrid of the matter speedily and safely. But now that a certainportion of mankind do not believe at all in the existence of the Gods,and others imagine that they have no care of us, and the opinion ofmost men, and of the men, is that in return for small sacrifice anda few flattering words they will be their accomplices in purloininglarge sums and save them from many terrible punishments, the way ofRhadamanthus is no longer suited to the needs of justice; for as theneeds of men about the Gods are changed, the laws should also bechanged;-in the granting of suits a rational legislation ought to doaway with the oaths of the parties on either side-he who obtains leaveto bring an action should write, down the charges, but should notadd an oath; and the defendant in like manner should give his denialto the magistrates in writing, and not swear; for it is a dreadfulthing to know, when many lawsuits are going on in a state thatalmost half the people who meet one another quite unconcernedly at thepublic meals and in other companies and relations of private lifeare perjured. Let the law, then, be as follows:-A judge who is aboutto give judgment shall take an oath, and he who is choosingmagistrates for the state shall either vote on oath or with a votingtablet which he brings from a temple; so too the judge of dances andof all music, and the superintendents and umpires of gymnastic andequestrian contests, and any matters in which, as far as men canjudge, there is nothing to be gained by a false oath; but all cases inwhich a denial confirmed by an oath clearly results in a greatadvantage to the taker of the oath, shall be decided without theoath of the parties to the suit, and the presiding judges shall notpermit either of them. to use an oath for the sake of persuading,nor to call down curses on himself and his race, nor to use unseemlysupplications or womanish laments. But they shall ever be teaching andlearning what is just in auspicious words; and he who does otherwiseshall be supposed to speak beside the point, and the judges shallagain bring him back to the question at issue. On the other hand,strangers in their dealings with strangers shall as at present havepower to give and receive oaths, for they will not often grow old inthe city or leave a fry of young ones like themselves to be the sonsand heirs of the land.