Politics: A Treatise on Government
and that therefore the husbandmen should be a separate order of people;
and how large and of what nature the country ought to be: we will first
treat of the division of the land, and of the husbandmen, how many and
of what sort they ought to be; since we by no means hold that property
ought to be common, as some persons have said, only thus far, in
friendship, it [1330a] should be their custom to let no citizen want
subsistence. As to common meals, it is in general agreed that they are
proper in well-regulated cities; my reasons for approving of them shall
be mentioned hereafter: they are what all the citizens ought to partake
of; but it will not be easy for the poor, out of what is their own, to
furnish as much as they are ordered to do, and supply their own house
besides. The expense also of religious worship should be defrayed by the
whole state. Of necessity therefore the land ought to be divided into
two parts, one of which should belong to the community in general, the
other to the individuals separately; and each of these parts should
again be subdivided into two: half of that which belongs to the public
should be appropriated to maintain the worship of the gods, the other
half to support the common meals. Half of that which belongs to the
individuals should be at the extremity of the country, the other half
near the city, so that these two portions being allotted to each person,
all would partake of land in both places, which would be both equal and
right; and induce them to act in concert with greater harmony in any war
with their neighbours: for when the land is not divided in this manner,
one party neglects the inroads of the enemy on the borders, the other
makes it a matter of too much consequence and more than is necessary;
for which reason in some places there is a law which forbids the
inhabitants of the borders to have any vote in the council when they are
debating upon a war which is made against them as their private interest
might prevent their voting impartially. Thus therefore the country ought
to be divided and for the reasons before mentioned. Could one have one's
choice, the husbandmen should by all means be slaves, not of the same
nation, or men of any spirit; for thus they would be laborious in
their business, and safe from attempting any novelties: next to these
barbarian servants are to be preferred, similar in natural disposition
to these we have already mentioned. Of these, let those who are
to cultivate the private property of the individual belong to that
individual, and those who are to cultivate the public territory belong
to the public. In what manner these slaves ought to be used, and for
what reason it is very proper that they should have the promise of their
liberty made them, as a reward for their services, shall be mentioned
hereafter.
CHAPTER XI
We have already mentioned, that both the city and all the country should
communicate both with the sea and the continent as much as possible.
There are these four things which we should be particularly desirous of
in the position of the city with respect to itself: in the first place,
health is to be consulted as the first thing necessary: now a city
which fronts the east and receives the winds which blow from thence is
esteemed most healthful; next to this that which has a northern position
is to be preferred, as best in winter. It should next be contrived that
it may have a proper situation for the business of government and for
defence in war: that in war the citizens may [1330b] have easy access
to it; but that it may be difficult of access to, and hardly to be taken
by, the enemy. In the next place particularly, that there may be plenty
of water, and rivers near at hand: but if those cannot be found, very
large cisterns must be prepared to save rain-water, so that there may
be no want of it in case they should be driven into the town in time of
war. And as great care should be taken of the health of the inhabitants,
the first thing to be attended to is, that the city should have a good
situation and a good position; the second is, that they may have good
water to drink; and this not be negligently taken care of; for what
we chiefly and most frequently use for the support of the body must
principally influence the health of it; and this influence is what the
air and water naturally have: for which reason in all wise governments
the waters ought to be appropriated to different purposes, and if they
are not equally good, and if there is not a plenty of necessary water,
that which is to drink should be separated from that which is for other
uses. As to fortified places, what is proper for some governments is
not proper for all; as, for instance, a lofty citadel is proper for a
monarchy and an oligarchy; a city built upon a plain suits a democracy;
neither of these for an aristocracy, but rather many strong places. As
to the form of private houses, those are thought to be best and most
useful for their different purposes which are distinct and separate
from each other, and built in the modern manner, after the plan of
Hippodamus: but for safety in time of war, on the contrary, they should
be built as they formerly were; for they were such that strangers could
not easily find their way out of them, and the method of access to
them such as an enemy could with difficulty find out if he proposed
to besiege them. A city therefore should have both these sorts of
buildings, which may easily be contrived if any one will so regulate
them as the planters do their rows of vines; not that the buildings
throughout the city should be detached from each other, only in some
parts of it; thus elegance and safety will be equally consulted. With
respect to walls, those who say that a courageous people ought not to
have any, pay too much respect to obsolete notions; particularly as
we may see those who pride themselves therein continually confuted by
facts. It is indeed disreputable for those who are equal, or nearly so,
to the enemy, to endeavour to take refuge within their walls--but since
it very often happens, that those who make the attack are too powerful
for the bravery and courage of those few who oppose them to resist,
if you would not suffer the calamities of war and the insolence of the
enemy, it must be thought the part of a good soldier to seek for safety
under the shelter and protection of walls more especially since so many
missile weapons and machines have been most ingeniously invented to
besiege cities with. Indeed to neglect surrounding a city with a wall
would be similar to choosing a country which is easy of access to an
enemy, or levelling the eminences of it; or as if an individual should
not have a wall to his house lest it should be thought that the owner
of it was a coward: nor should this be left unconsidered, that those who
have a city surrounded with walls may act both ways, either as if it had
or as if it had not; but where it has not they cannot do this. If this
is true, it is not only necessary to have walls, but care must be taken
that they may be a proper ornament to the city, as well as a defence
in time of war; not only according to the old methods, but the modern
improvements also: for as those who make offensive war endeavour by
every way possible to gain advantages over their adversaries, so should
those who are upon the defensive employ all the means already known, and
such new ones as philosophy can invent, to defend themselves: for those
who are well prepared are seldom first attacked.
CHAPTER XII
As the citizens in general are to eat at public tables in certain
companies, and it is necessary that the walls should have bulwarks and
towers in proper places and at proper distances, it is evident that
it will be very necessary to have some of these in the towers; let the
buildings for this purpose be made the ornaments of the walls. As to
temples for public worship, and the hall for the public tables of
the chief magistrates, they ought to be built in proper places, and
contiguous to each other, except those temples which the law or the
oracle orders to be separate from all other buildings; and let these be
in such a conspicuous eminence, that they may have every advantage of
situation, and in the neighbourhood of that part of the city which
is best fortified. Adjoining to this place there ought to be a large
square, like that which they call in Thessaly The Square of Freedom, in
which nothing is permitted to be bought or sold; into which no mechanic
nor husbandman, nor any such person, should be permitted to enter,
unless commanded by the magistrates. It will also be an ornament to this
place if the gymnastic exercises of the elders are performed in it. It
is also proper, that for performing these exercises the citizens should
be divided into distinct classes, according to their ages, and that the
young persons should have proper officers to be with them, and that the
seniors should be with the magistrates; for having them before their
eyes would greatly inspire true modesty and ingenuous fear. There ought
to be another square [1331b] separate from this for buying and selling,
which should be so situated as to be commodious for the reception
of goods both by sea and land. As the citizens may be divided into
magistrates and priests, it is proper that the public tables of
the priests should be in buildings near the temples. Those of the
magistrates who preside over contracts, indictments, and such-like, and
also over the markets, and the public streets near the square, or some
public way, I mean the square where things are bought and sold; for I
intended the other for those who are at leisure, and this for necessary
business. The same order which I have directed here should be observed
also in the country; for there also their magistrates such as the
surveyors of the woods and overseers of the grounds, must necessarily
have their common tables and their towers, for the purpose of protection
against an enemy. There ought also to be temples erected at proper
places, both to the gods and the heroes; but it is unnecessary to dwell
longer and most minutely on these particulars--for it is by no means
difficult to plan these things, it is rather so to carry them into
execution; for the theory is the child of our wishes, but the practical
part must depend upon fortune; for which reason we shall decline saying
anything farther upon these subjects.
CHAPTER XIII
We will now show of what numbers and of what sort of people a government
ought to consist, that the state may be happy and well administered.
As there are two particulars on which the excellence and perfection of
everything depend, one of these is, that the object and end proposed
should be proper; the other, that the means to accomplish it should be
adapted to that purpose; for it may happen that these may either agree
or disagree with each other; for the end we propose may be good, but in
taking the means to obtain it we may err; at other times we may have
the right and proper means in our power, but the end may be bad,
and sometimes we may mistake in both; as in the art of medicine the
physician does not sometimes know in what situation the body ought to
be, to be healthy; nor what to do to procure the end he aims at. In
every art and science, therefore, we should be master of this knowledge,
namely, the proper end, and the means to obtain it. Now it is evident
that all persons are desirous to live well and be happy; but that some
have the means thereof in their own power, others not; and this either
through nature [1332a] or fortune; for many ingredients are necessary to
a happy life; but fewer to those who are of a good than to those who are
of a bad disposition. There are others who continually have the means