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all our reasonings have reference to our piety towards God. 8.8.9 For he left none of these things unexamined or undefined. For there are two methods of all education and of the formation of morals; of which the one is didactic by means of reason, the other by the practice of morals. Other lawgivers, therefore, were divided in their opinions, and choosing one of these methods which seemed best to each, they neglected the other. For instance, the Lacedaemonians and Cretans educated by customs, not by words; but the Athenians and almost all the other Greeks prescribed what ought or ought not to be done through their laws, but neglected to accustom them to these things through their 8.8.10 deeds. But our lawgiver combined both of these with great care. For neither did he leave the practice of morals silent, nor did he allow the word of the law to be unpracticed, but beginning straight from the first nourishment and the manner of life of each in the household, he left nothing, not even the smallest things, to the independent will of those who would use them, but concerning what foods one must abstain from and what to eat, and concerning companions in one’s way of life, and the intensity of work and, conversely, of rest, he himself set the law as a limit and rule, so that, living as if under this father and master, 8.8.11 we might sin neither willingly in anything nor through ignorance. For he did not leave the plea of ignorance, but showed the law to be the most beautiful and necessary education, not for those who hear it once or twice or many times, but he commanded that every week, abstaining from other work, they should assemble for the hearing of the law and learn it accurately; a thing which 8.8.12 all the other lawgivers seem to have neglected. And most men are so far from living according to their own laws that they hardly even know them; but when they transgress, they then learn from others that they have broken the law. And those who administer the greatest and most important offices among them confess their ignorance; for they appoint as overseers of the administration of affairs those who promise to have experience of the laws. 8.8.13 But if you should choose any one of us, he could more easily recite all the laws than his own name. Therefore, learning them right from our first perception, we have them as if engraved on our souls, and rare is the one who transgresses, 8.8.14 and impossible is the escape from punishment. This first of all has produced for us our wonderful unanimity. For to have one and the same opinion concerning God, and in life and customs to differ in nothing from one another, produces the most beautiful harmony in 8.8.15 the characters of men. For among us alone one will not hear reasonings about God that are contradictory to each other, such as are many among others, where it is not only by common people that the emotion which befalls each is spoken of, but it has even been dared by some of the philosophers, some of whom have attempted with their reasonings to destroy the entire nature of God, while others have taken away his providence for mankind; nor will one see a difference in the pursuits of life, but among us the works of all are common, and there is one reasoning which is in harmony with the law concerning 8.8.16 God, saying that he oversees all things. And indeed concerning the pursuits of life, that all other things must have piety as their end, one might hear this even from women and from servants. Whence indeed also the accusation brought against us by some, that is, of not having produced men who are inventors of new works or reasonings, has arisen from this. 8.8.17 For others think it fine to abide by none of their ancestral traditions and bear witness to the cleverness of wisdom in those who are most daring in transgressing these things, but we, on the contrary, have supposed it to be one and the same wisdom and virtue, to do or think nothing at all contrary to what was legislated from the beginning. 8.8.18 which would reasonably be a proof of the

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λόγοι πάντες ἐπὶ τὴν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἡμῖν εὐσέβειαν ἔχουσι τὴν 8.8.9 ἀναφοράν· οὐδὲν γὰρ τούτων ἀνεξέταστον οὐδ' ἀόριστον παρέλιπεν. δύο μὲν γάρ εἰσιν ἁπάσης παιδείας τρόποι καὶ τῆς περὶ τὰ ἤθη κατασκευῆς, ὧν ὁ μὲν λόγῳ διδασκαλικός, ἅτερος δὲ διὰ τῆς ἀσκήσεως τῶν ἠθῶν. οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι νομοθέται ταῖς γνώμαις διέστησαν καὶ τὸν ἕτερον αὐτῶν ὃν ἔδοξεν ἑκάστοις ἑλόμενοι τὸν ἕτερον παρέλιπον· οἷον Λακεδαιμόνιοι μὲν καὶ Κρῆτες ἔθεσιν ἐπαίδευον, οὐ λόγοις, Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ καὶ σχεδὸν οἱ ἄλλοι πάντες Ἕλληνες ἃ μὲν χρὴ πράττειν ἢ μὴ προσέτασσον διὰ τῶν νόμων, τοῦ δὲ πρὸς αὐτὰ διὰ τῶν 8.8.10 ἔργων ἐθίζειν ὠλιγώρησαν. ὁ δ' ἡμέτερος νομοθέτης ἄμφω ταῦτα συνήρμοσε κατὰ πολλὴν ἐπιμέλειαν· οὔτε γὰρ κωφὴν ἀπέλιπε τὴν τῶν ἠθῶν ἄσκησιν οὔτε τὸν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου λόγον ἄπρακτον εἴασεν, ἀλλ' εὐθὺς ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ἀρξάμενος τροφῆς καὶ τῆς κατὰ τὸν οἶκον ἑκάστων διαίτης οὐδὲν οὐδὲ τῶν βραχυτάτων αὐτεξούσιον ἐπὶ ταῖς βουλήσεσι τῶν χρησομένων κατέλιπεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ σιτίων ὅσων ἀπέχεσθαι χρὴ καὶ τίνα προσφέρεσθαι καὶ περὶ τῶν κοινωνησόντων τῆς διαίτης ἔργων τε συντονίας καὶ τοὔμπαλιν ἀναπαύσεως ὅρον ἔθηκεν αὐτὸς καὶ κανόνα τὸν νόμον, ἵν' ὥσπερ ὑπὸ πατρὶ τούτῳ καὶ δεσπότῃ 8.8.11 ζῶντες μήτε βουλόμενοι μηθὲν μήθ' ὑπ' ἀγνοίας ἁμαρτάνωμεν. οὐδὲ γὰρ τὴν ὑπὸ τῆς ἀγνοίας ὑποτίμησιν κατέλιπεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ κάλλιστον καὶ ἀναγκαιότατον ἀπέδειξε παίδευμα τὸν νόμον, οὐκ εἰσάπαξ ἀκροασαμένοις οὐδὲ δὶς ἢ πολλάκις, ἀλλ' ἑκάστης ἑβδομάδος τῶν ἄλλων ἔργων ἀφεμένους ἐπὶ τὴν ἀκρόασιν ἐκέλευσε τοῦ νόμου συλλέγεσθαι καὶ τοῦτον ἀκριβῶς ἐκμανθάνειν· ὃ δὴ 8.8.12 πάντες ἐοίκασιν οἱ νομοθέται παραλιπεῖν. καὶ τοσοῦτον οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀπέχουσι τοῦ κατὰ τοὺς οἰκείους ζῆν νόμους ὥστε σχεδὸν αὐτοὺς οὐδ' ἴσασιν· ἀλλ' ὅταν ἐξαμαρτάνωσι, τότε παρ' ἄλλων μανθάνουσιν ὅτι τὸν νόμον παραβεβήκασιν. οἵ τε τὰς μεγίστας καὶ κυριωτάτας παρ' αὐτοῖς ἀρχὰς διοικοῦντες ὁμολογοῦσι τὴν ἄγνοιαν· ἐπιστάτας γὰρ παρακαθίστανται τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων οἰκονομίας τοὺς ἐμπειρίαν ἔχειν τῶν νόμων ὑπισχνουμένους. 8.8.13 ἡμῶν δ' ὁντινοῦν τις ἕλοιτο, τοὺς νόμους ῥᾷον ἄν τις εἴποι πάντας ἢ τοὔνομα τὸ ἑαυτοῦ. τοιγαροῦν ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης εὐθὺς αἰσθήσεως αὐτοὺς ἐκμανθάνοντες ἔχομεν ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὥσπερ ἐγκεχαραγμένους, καὶ σπάνιος μὲν ὁ παραβαίνων, 8.8.14 ἀδύνατος δ' ἡ τῆς κολάσεως παραίτησις. τοῦτο πρῶτον ἁπάντων τὴν θαυ μαστὴν ὁμόνοιαν ἡμῖν ἐμπεποίηκε. τὸ γὰρ μίαν μὲν ἔχειν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν δόξαν περὶ θεοῦ, τῷ βίῳ δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἔθεσι μηδὲν ἀλλήλων διαφέρειν καλλίστην ἐν 8.8.15 ἤθεσιν ἀνθρώπων συμφωνίαν ἀποτελεῖ. παρ' ἡμῖν γὰρ μόνοις οὔτε περὶ θεοῦ λόγους ἀκούσεταί τις ἀλλήλοις ὑπεναντίους, ὁποῖα πολλὰ παρ' ἑτέροις οὐχ ὑπὸ τῶν τυχόντων μόνον τὸ κατὰ τὸ προσπεσὸν ἑκάστῳ λέγεται πάθος, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρά τισι τῶν φιλοσόφων ἀποτετόλμηται, τῶν μὲν τὴν ὅλην τοῦ θεοῦ φύσιν ἀναιρεῖν τοῖς λόγοις ἐπικεχειρηκότων, ἄλλων δὲ τὴν ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων αὐτὸν πρόνοιαν ἀφαιρουμένων· οὐδ' ἐν τοῖς ἐπιτηδεύμασι τῶν βίων ὄψεται διαφοράν, ἀλλὰ κοινὰ μὲν ἔργα πάντων παρ' ἡμῖν, εἷς δ' ὁ λόγος ὁ τῷ νόμῳ συμφωνῶν περὶ 8.8.16 θεοῦ, πάντα λέγων ἐκεῖνον ἐφορᾶν. καὶ μὴν περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον ἐπιτηδευμάτων, ὅτι δεῖ πάντα τὰ ἄλλα τέλος ἔχειν τὴν εὐσέβειαν, καὶ γυναικῶν ἀκούσειεν ἄν τις καὶ τῶν οἰκετῶν. ὅθεν δὴ καὶ τὸ προσφερόμενον ἡμῖν ὑπό τινων ἔγκλημα, τὸ δὴ μὴ καινῶν εὑρετὰς ἔργων ἢ λόγων ἄνδρας παρασχεῖν, ἐντεῦ8.8.17 θεν συμβέβηκεν. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι τὸ μηδενὶ τῶν πατρίων ἐμμένειν καλὸν εἶναι νομίζουσι καὶ τοῖς μάλιστα τολμῶσι ταῦτα παραβαίνειν σοφίας δεινότητα μαρτυροῦσιν, ἡμεῖς δὲ τοὐναντίον μίαν εἶναι καὶ φρόνησιν καὶ ἀρετὴν ὑπειλήφαμεν, τὸ μηδὲν ὅλως ὑπεναντίον μήτε πρᾶξαι μήτε διανοηθῆναι τοῖς ἐξ ἀρχῆς 8.8.18 νομοθετηθεῖσιν. ὅπερ εἰκότως ἂν εἴη τεκμήριον τοῦ