Star.
London, England, 1829-09-03 00:00:00

ANCIENT GREEK LEASE.

PROM Tin reams QUAILTSRLIF
The attention of the learned world has recently been
called to some inatriptions of unquestionable authenticity, brought
from Greets many years sine*, and now in the University of Ley-
den, which had hitherto been most strangely overlooked, that con- •
tido, not merely an allusion to the practice of letting land in Attica,
but leases actually entered into. One of these inscriptions was
found near Mount Hymens; and is dated in the fourth year of
the 1011th Olympiad, or 345 years before the Christian era. It is
a lease by the lEsoniaos, the town's-people, sr demos of Atone, of
a piece of land called the Philais. near Mount Hymettus, to a
father and his son, for forty years, for ISt drachmas a year. Hot
as the inscription is eneedingly curious and instructive, we take
the liberty to subjoin the following translation of it, which we be-
lieve will be found to be sufficiently exact :
" The demos of /Exone let on lease the Philais to Autocles, the
son of Amens, and to Auteas, the son of Manacles, for forty years,
for 152 drachmas a year ; the said land to be farmed by them, or
planted with trees, as they please ; the rent to be paid in the moods
of Mcatomboon. If they do not pay it, they forfeit their enmity
and as much of the produce as they stand in arrear. The /Esti'
nians not to sell Der to let the said land to any one else until the
forty years have elapsed. In case of a loss on the part of the te-
nants by hostile invasion, no rent to be paid, but the produce of
the land to be divided between the /Ezonians and the tenants.
The tenants are to deliver up half the land fallow, and all the trees
upon the land; for the last five years the /Einnialts may appoint a
vine-dresser. The lease to begin with, respect to the corn land
with &Indus, the Archon, entering into office : but with respect
to the wood, not before Eubulus goes out of office. The lease to
be cot upon stone, to be set up by the Magistrates, one copy in the
Temple of Hebe, the other in the Lesebe, and boundary stones
(orol) to be set upon the land, not less than two tripods se each
side. And if a tax should be paid for the land •to Government,
the said tax to be paid by the affizanians, or if paid by the tenants,
.to be deducted from the rent. No soil to be carried away by dig-
ging from the ground, except from one put of the land to soother.
If any person makes a motion in contravention of the contract, or
puts it to the vote, he shall be answerable to the tenants for the
damage."
And there are some further stipulations with respect to the
cutting of the olive trees, and the division of the price obtained
for them between the Oxonians and the tomtits. Now it appears
clearly from this inscription or lease, that the mode of letting land
for a money rent, for a considerable number of years, and under
conditions with respect to management, must have been well un-
derstood in Attica. The terms of the lease are suck as indicate a
very high state of civilization, and a very considerable knowledge
of agriculture. In proof of this, it is only necessary to advert to
the clause binding the tenants to have half the land in fallow, at
the termination of the lease, and to that which authorises the
Szonians, or lessors, to appoint a vine-dresser for five years pre-
vious to the expiration : the making different entries to the corn
and vine lands, the provisions with respect to the damage that
might arise from hostile invasions, and the interdiction of car-
rying away any portion of the soil to another farm, all discover a
disposition to protect, as far as possible, the just rights and in-
terests of both parties, and to advance the progress of agriculture.
The lease cannot be objected to on account of its being for too
short a term ; in this country It might be thought toe long.