( I05 )
CHAPTER X,
ON THE SOURCE OF THEIR RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL LAW,
ON PROPHETS, AND ON THE QUESTION WHETHER
SINGLE LAWS CAN BE ABROGATED OR NOT.
The ancient Greeks received their religious and civil Law and
1 r- 11 11 1 1 religion
laws from saa^es among them who were called to the among the
Greeks
work, and of whom their countrymen believed that founded by
they received divine help, like Solon, Draco, Pythagoras,
Minos, and others. Also their kings did the same ; for
Mianos (sic), when ruling over the islands of the sea
and over the Cretans about two hundred years after
Moses, gave them laws, pretending to have received
them from Zeus. About the same time also Minos (sic)
gave his laws.
At the time of Darius I., the successor of Cyrus, the
Romans sent messengers to the Athenians, and received
from them the laws in twelve books, under which they
lived till the rule of Pompilius (Numa). This king
gave them new laws ; he assigned to the year twelve
months, whilst up to that time it had only had ten
months. It appears that he introduced his innovations
against the will of the Romans, for he ordered them to
use as instruments of barter in commerce pieces of
pottery and hides instead of silver, which seems on
his part to betray a certain anger against rebellious
subjects.
In the first chapter of the Book of Laws of Plato, the Quotation _
..,__, -, 1-1 .1 from Plato's
Athenian stranger says: " Who do you think was the Laws.