Involuntary homicide. (a) The guilty person, according to the Athenian law, had to go into exile, and might not return, until the family of the man slain were conciliated. Then he must be purified (Telfy, 1134). If he is caught before he has obtained forgiveness, he may be put to death (1136). These enactments reappear in the Laws (IX 865, 866). (b) The curious provision of Plato, that a stranger who has been banished for involuntary homicide and is subsequently wrecked upon the coast, must “take up his abode on the seashore, wetting his feet in the sea, and watching for an opportunity of sailing,” (IX 866 D) recalls the procedure of the Judicium Phreatteum at Athens, according to which an involuntary homicide, who, having gone into exile, is accused of a wilful murder, was tried at Phreatto for this offence in a boat by magistrates on the shore. (c) A still more singular law, occurring both in the Athenian and Magnesian code, enacts that a stone or other inanimate object which kills a man is to be tried, and cast over the border (Telfy, 590, 591: Laws IX 873 E and following).
Justifiable or excusable homicide. Plato and Athenian law agree in making homicide justifiable or excusable in the following cases:—(1) at the games (Telfy, 1137: Laws IX 865 A, B); (2) in war (Telfy, 1137: Laws IX 869 C); (3) if the person slain was found doing violence to a free woman (Telfy, 1169: Laws IX 874); (4) if a doctor’s patient dies (Telfy, 1138: Laws IX 865); (5) in the case of a robber (Telfy, 1150: Laws IX 874); (6) in self-defence (Telfy, 1132: Laws IX 869).
Impiety. Death or expulsion was the Athenian penalty for impiety (Telfy, 1078, 1080). In the Laws it is punished in various cases by imprisonment for five years, for life, and by death (X 908, 909).
Sacrilege. Robbery of temples at Athens was punished by death, refusal of burial in the land, and confiscation of property (Telfy, 1148). In the Laws (IX 854, 855) the citizen who is guilty of such a crime is to “perish ingloriously and be cast beyond the borders of the land,” but his property is not confiscated.
Sorcery. The sorcerer at Athens was to be executed (Telfy, 1156): compare Laws XI 933, where it is enacted that the physician who poisons and the professional sorcerer shall be punished with death.
Treason. Both at Athens and in the Laws the penalty for treason was death (Telfy, 1027: Laws IX 856 E), and refusal of burial in the country (Telfy, 1028: Laws IX 855 A).
Sheltering exiles. “If a man receives an exile, he shall be punished with death” (Laws XII 955 B). So, too, in Athenian law (Telfy, 1034).
Wounding. Athenian law compelled a man who had wounded another to go into exile; if he returned, he was to be put to death (Telfy, 1142). Plato only punishes the offence with death when children wound their parents or one another, or a slave wounds his master (Laws IX 877).
Bribery. Death was the punishment for taking a bribe, both at Athens (Telfy, 1054) and in the Laws (XII 955); but Athenian law offered an alternative—the payment of a fine of ten times the amount of the bribe.
Theft. Plato, like Athenian law (Telfy, 1150 and following), punishes the theft of public property by death (Laws XIII 941: compare, however, IX 857); the theft of private property in both involves a fine of double the value of the stolen goods (Telfy, 1575: Laws IX 857).
Suicide. He “who slays him who of all men, as they say, is his own best friend,” is regarded in the same spirit by Plato and by Athenian law. Plato (Laws IX 873) would have him “buried ingloriously on the borders of the twelve portions of the land, in such places as are uncultivated and nameless,” and “no column or inscription is to mark the place of his interment.” Athenian law enacted that the hand which did the deed should be separated from the body and be buried apart (Telfy, 1141).
Injury. In cases of wilful injury, Athenian law compelled the guilty person to pay double the damage; in cases of involuntary injury, simple damages (Telfy, 1552). Plato (Laws IX 878) enacts that if a man wounds another in passion, and the wound is curable, he shall pay double the damage, if incurable or disfiguring, fourfold damages. If, however, the wounding is accidental, he shall simply pay for the harm done (IX 879).
Treatment of parents. Athenian law allowed anyone to indict another for neglect or ill-treatment of parents (Telfy, 1164). So Plato bids bystanders assist a father who is assaulted by his son (IX 881), and allows anyone to give information against children who neglect their parents (XI 932).
Execution of sentences. Both Plato and Athenian law give to the winner of a suit power to seize the goods of the loser, if he does not pay within the appointed time (Telfy, 763 n.: Laws XII 958). At Athens the penalty was also doubled (Telfy, 761); not so in Plato. Plato however punishes contempt of court by death (XII 958), which at Athens seems only to have been visited with a further fine (Telfy, 768).
Property. (a) Both at Athens and in the Laws a man who has disputed property in his possession must give the name of the person from whom he received it (Telfy, 1458: Laws XI 915 C, D); and anyone searching for
