When a man does not fulfil his contract, he being under no legal or
other impediment, the case shall be brought before the court of the
tribes, if not previously settled by arbitration. The class of artisans
is consecrated to Hephaestus and Athene; the makers of weapons to Ares
and Athene: all of whom, remembering that the Gods are their ancestors,
should be ashamed to deceive in the practice of their craft. If any man
is lazy in the fulfilment of his work, and fancies, foolish fellow, that
his patron God will not deal hardly with him, he will be punished by the
God; and let the law follow:--He who fails in his undertaking shall pay
the value, and do the work gratis in a specified time. The contractor,
like the seller, is enjoined by law to charge the simple value of his
work; in a free city, art should be a true thing, and the artist must
not practise on the ignorance of others. On the other hand, he who has
ordered any work and does not pay the workman according to agreement,
dishonours Zeus and Athene, and breaks the bonds of society. And if
he does not pay at the time agreed, let him pay double; and although
interest is forbidden in other cases, let the workman receive after the
expiration of a year interest at the rate of an obol a month for every
drachma (equal to 200 per cent. per ann.). And we may observe by the
way, in speaking of craftsmen, that if our military craft do their work
well, the state will praise those who honour them, and blame those who
do not honour them. Not that the first place of honour is to be assigned
to the warrior; a higher still is reserved for those who obey the laws.