Cases in which one man injures another by poisons,and which prove fatal,have been already discussed;but about other cases in which a person intentionally and of malice harms another with meats,or drinks,or ointments,nothing has as yet been determined.For there are two kinds of poisons used among men,which cannot clearly be distinguished.There is the kind just now explicitly mentioned,which injures bodies by the use of other bodies according to a natural law;there is also another kind which persuades the more daring class that they can do injury by sorceries,and incantations,and magic knots,as they are termed,and makes others believe that they above all persons are injured by the powers of the magician.Now it is not easy to know the nature of all these things;nor if a man do know can he readily persuade others to believe him.And when men are disturbed in their minds at the sight of waxen images fixed either at their doors,or in a place where three ways meet,or on the sepulchres of parents,there is no use in trying to persuade them that they should despise all such things because they have no certain knowledge about them.But we must have a law in two parts,concerning poisoning,in whichever of the two ways the attempt is made,and we must entreat,and exhort,and advise men not to have recourse to such practices,by which they scare the multitude out of their wits,as if they were children,compelling the legislator and the judge to heal the fears which the sorcerer arouses,and to tell them in the first place,that he who attempts to poison or enchant others knows not what he is doing,either as regards the body (unless he has a knowledge of medicine),or as regards his enchantments (unless he happens to be a prophet or diviner).Let the law,then,run as follows about poisoning or witchcraft:-He who employs poison to do any injury,not fatal,to a man himself,or to his servants,or any injury,whether fatal or not,to his cattle or his bees,if he be a physician,and be convicted of poisoning,shall be punished with death;or if he be a private person,the court shall determine what he is to pay or suffer.But he who seems to be the sort of man injures others by magic knots,or enchantments,or incantations,or any of the like practices,if he be a prophet or diviner,let him die;and if,not being a prophet,he be convicted of witchcraft,as in the previous case,let the court fix what he ought to pay or suffer.
When a man does another any injury by theft or violence,for the greater injury let him pay greater damages to the injured man,and less for the smaller injury;but in all cases,whatever the injury may have been,as much as will compensate the loss.And besides the compensation of the wrong,let a man pay a further penalty for the chastisement of his offence:he who has done the wrong instigated by the folly of another,through the lightheartedness of youth or the like,shall pay a lighter penalty;but he who has injured another through his own folly,when overcome by pleasure or pain,in cowardly fear,or lust,or envy,or implacable anger,shall endure a heavier punishment.Not that he is punished because he did wrong,for that which is done can never be undone,but in order that in future times,he,and those who see him corrected,may utterly hate injustice,or at any rate abate much of their evil-doing.Having an eye to all these things,the law,like a good archer,should aim at the right measure of punishment,and in all cases at the deserved punishment.In the attainment of this the judge shall be a fellow-worker with the legislator,whenever the law leaves to him to determine what the offender shall suffer or pay;and the legislator,like a painter,shall give a rough sketch of the cases in which the law is to be applied.This is what we must do,Megillus and Cleinias,in the best and fairest manner that we can,saying what the punishments are to be of all actions of theft and violence,and giving laws of such a kind as the Gods and sons of Gods would have us give.
If a man is mad he shall not be at large in the city,but his relations shall keep him at home in any way which they can;or if not,let them pay a penalty-he who is of the highest class shall pay a penalty of one hundred drachmae,whether he be a slave or a freeman whom he neglects;and he of the second class shall pay four-fifths of a mina;and he of the third class three-fifths;and he of the fourth class two-fifths.Now there are many sorts of madness,some arising out of disease,which we have already mentioned;and there are other kinds,which originate in an evil and passionate temperament,and are increased by bad education;out of a slight quarrel this class of madmen will often raise a storm of abuse against one another,and nothing of that sort ought to be allowed to occur in a well-ordered state.Let this,then,be the law about abuse,which shall relate to all cases:-No one shall speak evil of another;and when a man disputes with another he shall teach and learn of the disputant and the company,but he shall abstain from evilspeaking;for out of the imprecations which men utter against one another,and the feminine habit of casting aspersions on one another,and using foul names,out of words light as air,in very deed the greatest enmities and hatreds spring up.For the speaker gratifies his anger,which is an ungracious element of his nature;and nursing up his wrath by the entertainment of evil thoughts,and exacerbating that part of his soul which was formerly civilized by education,he lives in a state of savageness and moroseness,and pays a bitter penalty for his anger.
