Politics: A Treatise on Government
came from the markets to purchase, there was no one had any to sell but
himself; and though he put no great advance upon it, yet by laying out
fifty talents he made an hundred. When Dionysius heard this he permitted
him to take his money with him, but forbid him to continue any longer in
Sicily, as being one who contrived means for getting money inconsistent
with his affairs. This man's view and Thales's was exactly the same;
both of them contrived to procure a monopoly for themselves: it is
useful also for politicians to understand these things, for many states
want to raise money and by such means, as well as private families,
nay more so; for which reason some persons who are employed in the
management of public affairs confine themselves to this province only.
CHAPTER XII
There are then three parts of domestic government, the masters, of
which we have already treated, the fathers, and the husbands; now the
government of the wife and children should both be that of free persons,
but not the [I259b] same; for the wife should be treated as a citizen of
a free state, the children should be under kingly power; for the male is
by nature superior to the female, except when something happens contrary
to the usual course of nature, as is the elder and perfect to the
younger and imperfect. Now in the generality of free states, the
governors and the governed alternately change place; for an equality
without any preference is what nature chooses; however, when one
governs and another is governed, she endeavours that there should be a
distinction between them in forms, expressions, and honours; according
to what Amasis said of his laver. This then should be the established
rule between the man and the woman. The government of children should
be kingly; for the power of the father over the child is founded in
affection and seniority, which is a species of kingly government; for
which reason Homer very properly calls Jupiter "the father of gods and
men," who was king of both these; for nature requires that a king should
be of the same species with those whom he governs, though superior in
some particulars, as is the case between the elder and the younger, the
father and the son.
CHAPTER XIII
It is evident then that in the due government of a family, greater
attention should be paid to the several members of it and their virtues
than to the possessions or riches of it; and greater to the freemen
than the slaves: but here some one may doubt whether there is any other
virtue in a slave than his organic services, and of higher estimation
than these, as temperance, fortitude, justice, and such-like habits, or
whether they possess only bodily qualities: each side of the question
has its difficulties; for if they possess these virtues, wherein do
they differ from freemen? and that they do not, since they are men,
and partakers of reason, is absurd. Nearly the same inquiry may be made
concerning a woman and a child, whether these also have their proper
virtues; whether a woman ought to be temperate, brave, and just, and
whether a child is temperate or no; and indeed this inquiry ought to be
general, whether the virtues of those who, by nature, either govern or
are governed, are the same or different; for if it is necessary that
both of them should partake of the fair and good, why is it also
necessary that, without exception, the one should govern, the other
always be governed? for this cannot arise from their possessing these
qualities in different degrees; for to govern, and to be governed, are
things different in species, but more or less are not. And yet it is
wonderful that one party ought to have them, and the other not; for if
he who is to govern should not be temperate and just, how can he govern
well? or if he is to be governed, how can he be governed well? for he
who is intemperate [1260a] and a coward will never do what he ought: it
is evident then that both parties ought to be virtuous; but there is a
difference between them, as there is between those who by nature command
and who by nature obey, and this originates in the soul; for in this
nature has planted the governing and submitting principle, the virtues
of which we say are different, as are those of a rational and an
irrational being. It is plain then that the same principle may be
extended farther, and that there are in nature a variety of things which
govern and are governed; for a freeman is governed in a different manner
from a slave, a male from a female, and a man from a child: and all
these have parts of mind within them, but in a different manner. Thus
a slave can have no power of determination, a woman but a weak one, a
child an imperfect one. Thus also must it necessarily be with respect to
moral virtues; all must be supposed to possess them, but not in the
same manner, but as is best suited to every one's employment; on which
account he who is to govern ought to be perfect in moral virtue, for his
business is entirely that of an architect, and reason is the architect;
while others want only that portion of it which may be sufficient for
their station; from whence it is evident, that although moral virtue is
common to all those we have spoken of, yet the temperance of a man and
a woman are not the same, nor their courage, nor their justice, though
Socrates thought otherwise; for the courage of the man consists in
commanding, the woman's in obeying; and the same is true in other
particulars: and this will be evident to those who will examine
different virtues separately; for those who use general terms deceive
themselves when they say, that virtue consists in a good disposition of
mind, or doing what is right, or something of this sort. They do much
better who enumerate the different virtues as Georgias did, than those
who thus define them; and as Sophocles speaks of a woman, we think
of all persons, that their 'virtues should be applicable to their
characters, for says he,
"Silence is a woman's ornament,"
but it is not a man's; and as a child is incomplete, it is evident that
his virtue is not to be referred to himself in his present situation,
but to that in which he will be complete, and his preceptor. In like
manner the virtue of a slave is to be referred to his master; for we
laid it down as a maxim, that the use of a slave was to employ him in
what you wanted; so that it is clear enough that few virtues are wanted
in his station, only that he may not neglect his work through idleness
or fear: some person may question if what I have said is true, whether
virtue is not necessary for artificers in their calling, for they often
through idleness neglect their work, but the difference between them
is very great; for a slave is connected with you for life, but the
artificer not so nearly: as near therefore as the artificer approaches
to the situation of a slave, just so much ought he to have of the
virtues of one; for a mean artificer is to a certain point a slave; but
then a slave is one of those things which are by nature what they are,
but this is not true [1260b] of a shoemaker, or any other artist. It is
evident then that a slave ought to be trained to those virtues which are
proper for his situation by his master; and not by him who has the power
of a master, to teach him any particular art. Those therefore are in the
wrong who would deprive slaves of reason, and say that they have only to
follow their orders; for slaves want more instruction than children, and
thus we determine this matter. It is necessary, I am sensible, for every
one who treats upon government, to enter particularly into the relations
of husband and wife, and of parent and child, and to show what are the
virtues of each and their respective connections with each other; what
is right and what is wrong; and how the one ought to be followed, and
the other avoided. Since then every family is part of a city, and each
of those individuals is part of a family, and the virtue of the parts
ought to correspond to the virtue of the whole; it is necessary, that
both the wives and children of the community should be instructed
correspondent to the nature thereof, if it is of consequence to the
virtue of the state, that the wives and children therein should be
virtuous, and of consequence it certainly is, for the wives are one half
of the free persons; and of the children the succeeding citizens are to
be formed. As then we have determined these points, we will leave
the rest to be spoken to in another place, as if the subject was now
finished; and beginning again anew, first consider the sentiments of
those who have treated of the most perfect forms of government.
BOOK II
CHAPTER I
Since then we propose to inquire what civil society is of all others
best for those who have it in their power to live entirely as they wish,
it is necessary to examine into the polity of those states which are
allowed to be well governed; and if there should be any others which
some persons have described, and which appear properly regulated, to
note what is right and useful in them; and when we point out wherein
they have failed, let not this be imputed to an affectation of wisdom,
for it is because there are great defects in all those which are already
established, that I have been induced to undertake this work. We will
begin with that part of the subject which naturally presents itself
first to our consideration. The members of every state must of necessity
have all things in common, or some things common, and not others,
or nothing at all common. To have nothing in common is evidently
impossible, for society itself is one species of [1261a] community; and
the first thing necessary thereunto is a common place of habitation,
namely the city, which must be one, and this every citizen must have a
share in. But in a government which is to be well founded, will it be
best to admit of a community in everything which is capable thereof, or
only in some particulars, but in others not? for it is possible that the
citizens may have their wives, and children, and goods in common, as
in Plato's Commonwealth; for in that Socrates affirms that all these
particulars ought to be so. Which then shall we prefer? the custom which
is already established, or the laws which are proposed in that treatise?
CHAPTER II
Now as a community of wives is attended with many other difficulties, so
neither does the cause for which he would frame his government in this
manner seem agreeable to reason, nor is it capable of producing that end
which he has proposed, and for which he says it ought to take place; nor
has he given any particular directions for putting it in practice. Now
I also am willing to agree with Socrates in the principle which he
proceeds upon, and admit that the city ought to be one as much as
possible; and yet it is evident that if it is contracted too much, it
will be no longer a city, for that necessarily supposes a multitude; so
that if we proceed in this manner, we shall reduce a city to a family,
and a family to a single person: for we admit that a family is one in a
greater degree than a city, and a single person than a family; so that
if this end could be obtained, it should never be put in practice, as it
would annihilate the city; for a city does not only consist of a large
number of inhabitants, but there must also be different sorts; for were
they all alike, there could be no city; for a confederacy and a city are
two different things; for a confederacy is valuable from its numbers,
although all those who compose it are men of the same calling; for this
is entered into for the sake of mutual defence, as we add an additional
weight to make the scale go down. The same distinction prevails between