that is to say, equality before the law,

也就是在法律面前人人平等
that was a fundamental principle of democracy,

是民主政治的基础
but economic equality had no place in the Athens of Pericles.

但经济平等在伯里克利时期的雅典不被重视
On the contrary, the democracy he led

相反他所领导的民主制度
defended the right of private property

保护私有财产
and made no effort to change its unequal distributions.

而对于分配不均他没有采取任何举措
The oath taken by jurors each time that

每一次陪审团的誓言
they sat on a jury included the following clause.

都包括以下条款
"I will not allow private debts to be canceled,

我不会允许取消私人债务
nor lands or houses belonging to Athenian citizens to be redistributed.

也不会允许雅典公民的土地和房子的再分配
In addition, the chief magistrate each year swore that

另外首席执政官每年都必须起誓
"whatever anyone owns before I enter this office,

在我任职之前无论是谁的东西