[407] Plato, Legg. xi. p. 913 D.
Modes of acquiring property — legitimate and illegitimate.
Various modes of acquiring property are first forbidden as illegitimate. The maxim[408] — “That which you have not put down, do not take up” — is rigorously enforced: any man who finds a buried treasure is prohibited from touching it, though he find it by accident and though the person who buried it be unknown. If a man violates this law, every one, freeman or slave, is invited and commanded to inform against him. Should he be found guilty, a special message must be sent to the Delphian oracle, to ask what is to be done both with the treasure and with the offender. So again, an article of property left on the highway is declared to be under protection of the Goddess or Dæmon of the Highway: whoever finds and takes it, if he be a slave, shall be severely flogged by any freeman above thirty years of age who meets him: if he be a freeman, he shall be disgraced and shall pay, besides, ten times its value to the person who left it.[409] These are average specimens of Plato’s point of view and manner of handling offences respecting property.
[408] Plato, Legg. xi. p. 913 C. Ἃ μὴ κατέθου, μὴ ἀνελῇ. This does not include, however, what has been deposited by a man’s father or grandfather.
[409] Plato, Legg. xi. p. 914. Seemingly, if any man found a treasure buried in the ground, or a purse lying on the road without an owner, he was not considered by most persons dishonest if he appropriated it; to do so was looked upon as an admissible piece of good luck. See Theophrastus, περὶ Μεμψιμοιρίας. From Plato’s language we gather that the finder sometimes went to consult the prophets what he should do, p. 913 B — μήτε τοῖς λεγομένοις μάντεσιν ἀνακοινώσαιμι: his phrase is not very respectful towards the prophets.
Plato’s general regulations leave little room for disputes about ownership.
The general constitution of Plato’s community restricts within comparatively narrow limits the occasions of proprietary dispute. His 5040 lots of land are all marked out, unchangeable, and indivisible, each possessed by one citizen. No man is allowed to acquire or possess movable property to a greater value than four times the lot of land: every article of property possessed by every man is registered by the magistrates. Disputes as to ownership, if they arise, are settled by reference to this register.[410] If the disputed article be not registered, the possessor is bound to produce the seller or donor from whom he received it. All purchases and sales are required to take place in the public market before the Agoranomi: and all for ready-money, or by immediate interchange and delivery. If a man chooses to deliver his property, without receiving the consideration, or in any private place, he does so at his own risk: he has no legal claim against the receiver.[411] So likewise respecting the Eranoi or Associations for mutual Succour and Benefit. Plato gives no legal remedy to a contributor or complainant respecting any matter arising out of these associations. He requires that every man shall contribute at his own risk: and trust for requital to the honesty or equity of his fellow-contributors.[412]
[410] Plato, Legg. xi. p. 914 D.
[411] The same principle is laid down by Plato, Republic, viii. p. 556 A, and was also laid down by Charondas (Theophrast. ap. Stobæum Serm. xliv. 21, p. 204). Aristotle alludes to some Grecian cities in which it was the established law. K. F. Hermann, Privat-Alterthümer der Griechen, s. 71, n. 10.
[412] Plato, Legg. xi. p. 915 D-E.