re their neighbours. The class of craftsmen who have furnished human
life with the arts is dedicated to Hephaestus and Athene; and there is
a class of craftsmen who preserve the works of all craftsmen by arts of
defence, the votaries of Ares and Athene, to which divinities they
too are rightly dedicated. All these continue through life serving the
country and the people; some of them are leaders in battle; others make
for hire implements and works, and they ought not to deceive in such
matters, out of respect to the Gods who are their ancestors. If any
craftsman through indolence omit to execute his work in a given
time, not reverencing the God who gives him the means of life, but
considering, foolish fellow, that he is his own God and will let him off
easily, in the first place, he shall suffer at the hands of the God, and
in the second place, the law shall follow in a similar spirit. He shall
owe to him who contracted with him the price of the works which he has
failed in performing, and he shall begin again and execute them gratis
in the given time. When a man undertakes a work, the law gives him the
same advice which was given to the seller, that he should not attempt to
raise the price, but simply ask the value; this the law enjoins also on
the contractor; for the craftsman assuredly knows the value of his work.
Wherefore, in free states the man of art ought not to attempt to impose
upon private individuals by the help of his art, which is by nature a
true thing; and he who is wronged in a matter of this sort, shall have
a right of action against the party who has wronged him. And if any one
lets out work to a craftsman, and does not pay him duly according to the
lawful agreement, disregarding Zeus the guardian of the city and Athene,
who are the partners of the state, and overthrows the foundations of
society for the sake of a little gain, in his case let the law and the
Gods maintain the common bonds of the state. And let him who, having
already received the work in exchange, does not pay the price in the
time agreed, pay double the price; and if a year has elapsed, although
interest is not to be taken on loans, yet for every drachma which he
owes to the contractor let him pay a monthly interest of an obol. Suits
about these matters are to be decided by the courts of the tribes; and
by the way, since we have mentioned craftsmen at all, we must not
forget that other craft of war, in which generals and tacticians are