For every one who is guilty of adulteration in the agora tells afalsehood, and deceives, and when he invokes the Gods, according tothe customs and cautions of the wardens of the agora, he does butswear without any respect for God or man. Certainly, it is anexcellent rule not lightly to defile the names of the Gods, afterthe fashion of men in general, who care little about piety andpurity in their religious actions. But if a man will not conform tothis rule, let the law be as follows:-He who sells anything in theagora shall not ask two prices for that which he sells, but he shallask one price, and if he do not obtain this, he shall take away hisgoods; and on that day he shall not value them either at more or less;and there shall be no praising of any goods, or oath taken about them.
If a person disobeys this command, any citizen who is present, notbeing less than thirty years of age, may with impunity chastise andbeat the swearer, but if instead of obeying the laws he takes no heed,he shall be liable to the charge of having betrayed them. If a mansells any adulterated goods and will not obey these regulations, hewho knows and can prove the fact, and does prove it in the presence ofthe magistrates, if he be a slave or a metic, shall have theadulterated goods; but if he be a citizen, and do not pursue thecharge, he shall be called a rogue, and deemed to have robbed the Godsof the agora; or if he proves the charge, he shall dedicate thegoods to the Gods of the agora. He who is proved to have sold anyadulterated goods, in addition to losing the goods themselves, shallbe beaten with stripes-a stripe for a drachma, according to theprice of the goods; and the herald shall proclaim in the agora theoffence for which he is going to be beaten. The warden of the agoraand the guardians of the law shall obtain information from experiencedpersons about the rogueries and adulterations of the sellers, andshall write up what the seller ought and ought not to do in each case;and let them inscribe their laws on a column in front of the courtof the wardens of the agora, that they may be clear instructors ofthose who have business in the agora. Enough has been said in what haspreceded about the wardens of the city, and if anything seems to bewanting, let them communicate with the guardians of the law, and writedown the omission, and place on a column in the court of the wardensof the city the primary and secondary regulations which are laiddown for them about their office.
After the practices of adulteration naturally follow the practicesof retail trade. Concerning these, we will first of all give a word ofcounsel and reason, and the law shall come afterwards. Retail trade ina city is not by nature intended to do any harm, but quite thecontrary; for is not he a benefactor who reduces the inequalitiesand incommensurabilities of goods to equality and common measure?
And this is what the power of money accomplishes, and the merchant maybe said to be appointed for this purpose. The hireling and thetavern-keeper, and many other occupations, some of them more andothers less seemly-alike have this object;-they seek to satisfy ourneeds and equalize our possessions. Let us then endeavour to seewhat has brought retail trade into ill-odour, and wherein, lies thedishonour and unseemliness of it, in order that if not entirely, wemay yet partially, cure the evil by legislation. To effect this isno easy matter, and requires a great deal of virtue.
Cleinias. What do you mean?
Athenian Stranger. Dear Cleinias, the class of men is small-theymust have been rarely gifted by nature, and trained byeducation-who, when assailed by wants and desires, are able to holdout and observe moderation, and when they might make a great deal ofmoney are sober in their wishes, and prefer a moderate to a largegain. But the mass of mankind are the very opposite: their desires areunbounded, and when they might gain in moderation they prefer gainswithout limit; wherefore all that relates to retail trade, andmerchandise, and the keeping of taverns, is denounced and numberedamong dishonourable things. For if what I trust may never be andwill not be, we were to compel, if I may venture to say a ridiculousthing, the best men everywhere to keep taverns for a time, or carry onretail trade, or do anything of that sort; or if, in consequence ofsome fate or necessity, the best women were compelled to followsimilar callings, then we should know how agreeable and pleasant allthese things are; and if all such occupations were managed onincorrupt principles, they would be honoured as we honour a motheror a nurse. But now that a man goes to desert places and builds bouseswhich can only be reached be long journeys, for the sake of retailtrade, and receives strangers who are in need at the welcomeresting-place, and gives them peace and calm when they are tossed bythe storm, or cool shade in the heat; and then instead of behavingto them as friends, and showing the duties of hospitality to hisguests, treats them as enemies and captives who are at his mercy,and will not release them until they have paid the most unjust,abominable, and extortionate ransom-these are the sort of practices,and foul evils they are, which cast a reproach upon the succour ofadversity. And the legislator ought always to be devising a remedy forevils of this nature. There is an ancient saying, which is also a trueone-"To fight against two opponents is a difficult thing," as isseen in diseases and in many other cases. And in this case also thewar is against two enemies-wealth and poverty; one of whom corruptsthe soul of man with luxury, while the other drives him by pain intoutter shamelessness. What remedy can a city of sense find against thisdisease? In the first place, they must have as few retail traders aspossible; and in the second place, they must assign the occupationto that class of men whose corruption will be the least injury tothe state; and in the third place, they must devise some way wherebythe followers of these occupations themselves will not readily fallinto habits of unbridled shamelessness and meanness.