Now every man who is engaged in any suit ought to be very careful of bringing false witness against any one,either intentionally or unintentionally,if he can help;for justice is truly said to be an honourable maiden,and falsehood is naturally repugnant to honour and justice.A witness ought to be very careful not to sift against justice,as for example in what relates to the throwing away of arms-he must distinguish the throwing them away when necessary,and not make that a reproach,or bring in action against some innocent person on that account.To make the distinction maybe difficult;but still the law must attempt to define the different kinds in some way.Let me endeavour to explain my meaning by an ancient tale:-If Patroclus had been brought to the tent still alive but without his arms (and this has happened to innumerable persons),the original arms,which the poet says were presented to Peleus by the Gods as a nuptial gift when he married.Thetis,remaining in the hands of Hector,then the base spirits of that day might have reproached the son of Menoetius with having cast away his arms.Again,there is the case of those who have been thrown down precipices and lost their arms;and of those who at sea,and in stormy places,have been suddenly overwhelmed by floods of water;and there are numberless things of this kind which one might adduce by way of extenuation,and with the view of justifying a misfortune which is easily misrepresented.We must,therefore,endeavour to divide to the best of our power the greater and more serious evil from the lesser.And a distinction may be drawn in the use of terms of reproach.A man does not always deserve to be called the thrower away of his shield;he may be only the loser of his arms.For there is a great or rather absolute difference between him who is deprived of his arms by a sufficient force,and him who voluntarily lets his shield go.Let the law then be as follows:-If a person having arms is overtaken by the enemy and does not turn round and defend himself,but lets them go voluntarily or throws them away,choosing a base life and a swift escape rather than a courageous and noble and blessed death-in such a case of the throwing away of arms let justice be done,but the judge need take no note of the case just now mentioned;for the bad man ought always to be punished,in the hope that he may be improved,but not the unfortunate,for there is no advantage in that.And what shall be the punishment suited to him who has thrown away his weapons of defence?Tradition says that Caeneus,the Thessalian,was changed by a God from a woman into a man;but the converse miracle cannot now be wrought,or no punishment would be more proper than that the man who throws away his shield should be changed into a woman.This however is impossible,and therefore let us make a law as nearly like this as we can-that he who loves his life too well shall be in no danger for the remainder of his days,but shall live for ever under the stigma of cowardice.And let the law be in the following terms:-When a man is found guilty of disgracefully throwing away his arms in war,no general or military officer shall allow him to serve as a soldier,or give him any place at all in the ranks of soldiers;and the officer who gives the coward any place,shall suffer a penalty which the public examiner shall exact of him;and if he be of the highest dass,he shall pay a thousand drachmae;or if he be of the second class,five minae;or if he be of the third,three minae;or if he be of the fourth class,one mina.And he who is found guilty of cowardice,shall not only be dismissed from manly dangers,which is a disgrace appropriate to his nature,but he shall pay a thousand drachmae,if he be of the highest class,and five minae if he be of the second class,and three if he be of the third class,and a mina,like the preceding,if he be of the fourth class.
同类推荐
热门推荐
追妻无门:女boss不好惹
青涩蜕变,如今她是能独当一面的女boss,爱了冷泽聿七年,也同样花了七年时间去忘记他。以为是陌路,他突然向他表白,扬言要娶她,她只当他是脑子抽风,他的殷勤她也全都无视。他帮她查她父母的死因,赶走身边情敌,解释当初拒绝她的告别,和故意对她冷漠都是无奈之举。突然爆出她父母的死居然和冷家有丝毫联系,还莫名跳出个公爵未婚夫,扬言要与她履行婚约。峰回路转,破镜还能重圆吗? PS:我又开新文了,每逢假期必书荒,新文《有你的世界遇到爱》,喜欢我的文的朋友可以来看看,这是重生类现言,对这个题材感兴趣的一定要收藏起来。重生国民男神之四爷驾到
她,司烨,是盛世王朝女扮男装的摄政王爷,“他”智多近妖,文采斐然,是整个王朝的启明灯。然而,一次意外,她被陷害落入水中,竟然将她带入一个奇异的的世界。作为一个“异世人”,她的表现是这样的。“这是什么?”司烨指着一个粉色包装,上面还写着“七度空间”的东西问经纪人。经纪人:“……这是卫生巾,给女孩子用的,你一个大老爷们问这个干什么?!”……读历史就是读故事(中国卷)
故事是历史的缩影,是文化的窗口,是窥探民族个性的镜子。一个个鲜活的人物,一桩桩真实的史事,都是祖宗留给我们宝贵的文化财富。本书是一本中国历史的通俗读本,以时间为顺序,以事件为线索,通俗而又简明扼要地讲述了几千年中的重大历史事件和重要人物。每个历史事件都以故事的形式呈现,将浩繁的中国历史深入浅出地展现在读者面前,融科学性、知识性、趣味性为一体,使读者能够以轻松愉悦的心态最低限度地获取历史知识,汲取丰富的人生智慧,学会正确处理纷繁复杂事情的方法,从而踏上了成功之路。