Now the respect shall be,that the freedman go three times in the month to the hearth of the person who freed him and offer to do whatever he ought,so far as he can;and he shall agree to make such a marriage as his former master approves.He shall not be permitted to have more property than he who gave him liberty,and what more he has shall belong to his master.The freedman shall not remain in the state more than twenty years,but like other foreigners shall go away,taking his entire property with him,unless he has the consent of the magistrates and of his former master to remain.If a freedman or any other stranger has a property greater than the census of the third class,at the expiration.of thirty days from the day on which this comes to pass,he shall take that which is his and go his way,and in this case he shall not be allowed to remain any longer by the magistrates.And if any one disobeys this regulation,and is brought into court and convicted,he shall be punished with death,his property shall be confiscated.Suits about these matters shall take place before the tribes,unless the plaintiff and defendant have got rid of the accusation either before their neighbours or before judges chosen by them.If a man lay claim to any animal or anything else which he declares to be his,let the possessor refer to the seller or to some honest and trustworthy person,who has given,or in some legitimate way made over the property to him;if he be a citizen or a metic,sojourning in the city,within thirty days,or,if the property have been delivered to him by a stranger,within five months,of which the middle month shall include the summer solstice.
When goods are exchanged by selling and buying,a man shall deliver them,and receive the price of them,at a fixed place in the agora,and have done with the matter;but he shall not buy or sell anywhere else,nor give credit.And if in any other manner or in any other place there be an exchange of one thing for another,and the seller give credit to the man who buys fram him,he must do this on the understanding that the law gives no protection in cases of things sold not in accordance with these regulations.Again,as to contributions,any man who likes may go about collecting contributions as a friend among friends,but if any difference arises about the collection,he is to act on the understanding that the law gives no protection in such cases.He who sells anything above the value of fifty drachmas shall be required to remain in the city for ten days,and the purchaser shall be informed of the house of the seller,with a view to the sort of charges which are apt to arise in such cases,and the restitutions which the law allows.And let legal restitution be on this wise:-If a man sells a slave who is in a consumption,or who has the disease of the stone,or of strangury,or epilepsy,or some other tedious and incurable disorder of body or mind,which is not discernible to the ordinary man,if the purchaser be a physician or trainer,he shall have no right of restitution;nor shall there be any right of restitution if the seller has told the truth beforehand to the buyer.But if a skilled person sells to another who is not skilled,let the buyer appeal for restitution within six months,except in the case of epilepsy,and then the appeal may be made within a year.The cause shall be determined by such physicians as the parties may agree to choose;and the defendant,if he lose the suit,shall pay double the price at which he sold.If a private person sell to another private person,he shall have the right of restitution,and the decision shall be given as before,but the defendant,if he be cast,shall only pay back the price of the slave.If a person sells a homicide to another,and they both know of the fact,let there be no restitution in such a case,but if he do not know of the fact,there shall be a right of restitution,whenever the buyer makes the discovery;and the decision shall rest with the five youngest guardians of the law,and if the decision be that the seller was cognisant the fact,he shall purify the house of the purchaser,according to the law of the interpreters,and shall pay back three times the purchase-money.
If man exchanges either money for money,or anything whatever for anything else,either with or without life,let him give and receive them genuine and unadulterated,in accordance with the law.And let us have a prelude about all this sort of roguery,like the preludes of our other laws.Every man should regard *****eration as of one and the same class with falsehood and deceit,concerning which the many are too fond of saying that at proper times and places the practice may often be right.But they leave the occasion,and the when,and the where,undefined and unsettled,and from this want of definiteness in their language they do a great deal of harm to themselves and to others.Now a legislator ought not to leave the matter undetermined;he ought to prescribe some limit,either greater or less.Let this be the rule prescribed:-No one shall call the Gods to witness,when he says or does anything false or deceitful or dishonest,unless he would be the most hateful of mankind to them.And he is most hateful to them takes a false oath,and pays no heed to the Gods;and in the next degree,he who tells a falsehood in the presence of his superiors.Now better men are the superiors of worse men,and in general elders are the superiors of the young;wherefore also parents are the superiors of their off spring,and men of women and children,and rulers of their subjects;for all men ought to reverence any one who is in any position of authority,and especially those who are in state offices.And this is the reason why I have spoken of these matters.