40
But in fact, they thought, virtue is not advanced by written laws but by the habits of every-day life; for the majority of men tend to assimilate the manners and morals amid which they have been reared. Furthermore, they held that where there is a multitude of specific laws, it is a sign that the state is badly governed;For this idea that the multiplication of laws is a symptom of degeneracy see Tacit. Ann. 3.27: corruptissima republica plurimae leges. for it is in the attempt to build up dikes against the spread of crime that men in such a state feel constrained to multiply the laws.
41
Those who are rightly governed, on the other hand, do not need to fill their porticoesSince Solon’s time, Athenian laws were posted on pillars in the “King’s Portico,” by the market-place. See Aristot. Ath. Pol. 7. with written statutes, but only to cherish justice in their souls; for it is not by legislation, but by morals, that states are well directed, since men who are badly reared will venture to transgress even laws which are drawn up with minute exactness, whereas those who are well brought up will be willing to respect even a simple code.Cf. Plat. Rep. 425a ff.
42
Therefore, being of this mind, our forefathers did not seek to discover first how they should penalize men who were lawless, but how they should produce citizens who would refrain from any punishable act; for they thought that this was their duty, while it was proper for private enemies alone to be zealous in the avenging of crime.The initiative in bringing criminals to justice was left largely to private citizens, any one of whom might bring charges before a court.
