their march; all shall, when they have been placed in a troop and under a standard, march together in that troop in an orderly fashion, no troop mingling with another; all shall march carefully, guarding the van, the rear and the flanks of the army according to the orders they will receive from the elders.
VI. And should God ordain that we incur losses through some incautiousness or neglect on the part of the captains, either in the field or at the outposts or at the entrenchments, or at any other post that may have been entrusted to them by the elders or by the community, then [the captains] shall without exception be punished by death and loss of their goods, be he [the guilty person] a prince, a lord or any one else, without excepting or excluding any one.
VII. But if the Lord God grants to us to overcome and defeat the enemies, to capture towns, strongholds, or castles, and, either on the march or while encamped, to obtain booty, then shall these spoils and this booty be collected and brought together to a spot appointed and chosen by the elders, be it much or little; and for this purpose elders shall be chosen among all communities, the lords, knights, townsmen, and peasants, who will faithfully see that these things are justly distributed and divided among the rich and the poor as is befitting, so that no one may himself carry anything away or keep it. But if some one carries away anything or keeps it and he is conscientiously[1] convicted of this, then such a man shall be executed, and lose his life and goods, as one who has robbed God and the commonwealth, whoever he may be, without exception in favour of any one; for thus was treated Achan[2] because of the cap and the cloak of the king’s daughter, or [such a man] shall die by some other death, be he a prince, noble, knight, squire, citizen, craftsman or peasant, without exception for any man or regard to his person; thus with God’s help will we take vengeance on such a man.
B B
