第98章 BOOK IX(7)

If any one slays a freeman with his own hand and the deed be done in passion,in the case of such actions we must begin by making a distinction.For a deed is done from passion either when men suddenly,and without intention to kill,cause the death of another by blows and the like on a momentary impulse,and are sorry for the deed immediately afterwards;or again,when after having been insulted in deed or word,men pursue revenge,and kill a person intentionally,and are not sorry for the act.And,therefore,we must assume that these homicides are of two kinds,both of them arising from passion,which may be justly said to be in a mean between the voluntary and involuntary;at the same time,they are neither of them anything more than a likeness or shadow of either.He who treasures up his anger,and avenges himself,not immediately and at the moment,but with insidious design,and after an interval,is like the voluntary;but he who does not treasure up his anger,and takes vengeance on the instant,and without malice prepense,approaches to the involuntary;and yet even he is not altogether involuntary,but only the image or shadow of the involuntary;wherefore about homicides committed in hot blood,there is a difficulty in determining whether in legislating we shall reckon them as voluntary or as partly involuntary.The best and truest view is to regard them respectively as likenesses only of the voluntary and involuntary,and to distinguish them accordingly as they are done with or without premeditation.And we should make the penalties heavier for those who commit homicide with angry premeditation,and lighter for those who do not premeditate,but smite upon the instant;for that which is like a greater evil should be punished more severely,and that which is like a less evil should be punished less severely:this shall be the rule of our laws.

Cle.Certainly.

Ath.Let us proceed:-If any one slays a free man with his own hand,and the deed be done in a moment of anger,and without premeditation,let the offender suffer in other respects as the involuntary homicide would have suffered,and also undergo an exile of two years,that he may learn to school his passions.But he who slays another from passion,yet with premeditation,shall in other respects suffer as the former;and to this shall be added an exile of three instead of two years-his punishment is to be longer because his passion is greater.The manner of their return shall be on this wise:(and here the law has difficulty in determining exactly;for in some cases the murderer who is judged by the law to be the worse may really be the less cruel,and he who is judged the less cruel may be really the worse,and may have executed the murder in a more savage manner,whereas the other may have been gentler.But in general the degrees of guilt will be such as we have described them.Of all these things the guardians of the law must take cognisance):-When a homicide of either kind has completed his term of exile,the guardians shall send twelve judges to the borders of the land;these during the interval shall have informed themselves of the actions of the criminals,and they shall judge respecting their pardon and reception;and the homicides shall abide by their judgment.But if after they have returned home,any one of them in a moment of anger repeats the deed,let him be an exile,and return no more;or if he returns,let him suffer as the stranger was to suffer in a similar case.He who kills his own slave shall undergo a purification,but if he kills the slave of another in anger,he shall pay twice the amount of the loss to his owner.And if any homicide is disobedient to the law,and without purification pollutes the agora,or the games,or the temples,he who pleases may bring to trial the next of kin to the dead man for permitting him,and the murderer with him,and may compel the one to exact and the other to suffer a double amount of fines and purifications;and the accuser shall himself receive the fine in accordance with the law.If a slave in a fit of passion kills his master,the kindred of the deceased man may do with the murderer (provided only they do not spare his life)whatever they please,and they will be pure;or if he kills a freeman,who is not his master,the owner shall give up the slave to the relatives of the deceased,and they shall be under an obligation to put him to death,but this may be done in any manner which they please.

And if (which is a rare occurrence,but does sometimes happen)a father or a mother in a moment of passion slays a son or daughter by blows,or some other violence,the slayer shall undergo the same purification as in other cases,and be exiled during three years;but when the exile returns the wife shall separate from the husband,and the husband from the wife,and they shall never afterwards beget children together,or live under the same roof,or partake of the same sacred rites with those whom they have deprived of a child or of a brother.And he who is impious and disobedient in such a case shall be brought to trial for impiety by any one who pleases.If in a fit of anger a husband kills his wedded wife,or the wife her husband,the slayer shall undergo the same purification,and the term of exile shall be three years.And when he who has committed any such crime returns,let him have no communication in sacred rites with his children,neither let him sit at the same table with them,and the father or son who disobeys shall be liable to be brought to trial for impiety by any one who pleases.If a brother or a sister in a fit of passion kills a brother or a sister,they shall undergo purification and exile,as was the case with parents who killed their offspring:they shall not come under the same roof,or share in the sacred rites of those whom they have deprived of their brethren,or of their children.