Note 234-5 — Chapter II
John J. (John Joseph) Lalor translation
Compare especially the French sumptuary law of 1567. Zaleucos went so far in his severity as to punish with death the drinking of unmixed wine, without the prescription of a physician. (Athen., IX, 429.) The effort has sometimes been made to enlist the feeling of honor of the people in the controlling of luxury. Thus old Zaleucos forbade the wearing of gold rings or Milesian cloth unless the wearer desired to commit adultery, or to be guilty of sins against nature (Diodor., XII, 21); but such laws are scarcely attended with success.