THE CONSTITUTION OF ATHENS AND RELATED TEXTS by ARISTOTLE

THE CONSTITUTION OF ATHENS AND RELATED TEXTS by ARISTOTLE

Author:ARISTOTLE
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hafner Press
Published: 1974-07-15T00:00:00+00:00


51. Market-inspectors ( agoranomoi ) are selected by lot, five for the Piraeus and five for the city. The laws make it their duty to supervise all articles offered for sale and to see to it that they 2are pure and unadulterated. Commissioners of weights and measures ( metronomoi ) are appointed by lot, five for the city and five for the Piraeus. They have to inspect all weights and measures and see to it that the sellers use fair weights and meas3ures. There also used to be ten Corn Commissioners ( sitophylakes ), chosen by lot, five for the city and five for the Piraeus. But now there are twenty for the city and fifteen for the Piraeus. These men see to it that the unground grain which is in the market is sold at a fair price, that the millers sell barley flour at a price corresponding to that of the barley, that the bakers sell their loaves of bread at a price corresponding to that of the wheat, and that the loaves have the full weight fixed by these officials. For the law orders that they fix the weight.

4They select by lot ten Supervisors of the Trade Exchange ( emporion ) whose duty it is to supervise the trading places and to see to it that two-thirds of the grain which is brought by sea to the corn emporium is brought up to the city.

52. They also appoint by lot the Eleven whose duty it is to take care of the prisoners in the state prison. These men punish with death the robbers, kidnappers, and thieves who are brought before them, in case they confess; a but, if they deny the charge, they bring them before the law court. If they are acquitted, they let them go, and if they are not acquitted, they have them executed. It is their duty to bring before the law court the lists of farms and houses alleged to be public property, and to hand them over to the Poletae b if the court decides that they belong to the state. They also bring in informations ( endeixeis ); c for these, too, are brought before the court by the Eleven, though in some cases it is up to the Thesmothetae to bring in the informations. 2They also select by lot five men as Introducers ( eisagogeis ), who introduce the law cases which are to be decided within a month, each one acting for two tribes. The following cases are “monthly” in this sense: if someone does not pay a dowry which he is obliged to pay, if someone has borrowed money at an interest of a drachma in the mina d and does not pay, and if someone borrows capital from another person in order to start a business in the market. e Furthermore, prosecution for assault, and cases arising out of friendly loans ( eranoi ), f out of partnerships, in regard to slaves, draft animals, trierarchies, g and transactions 3with banks, are thus introduced.



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