Politics   

possessions and occupation; of the second, habits of temperance; as to
the third, if any desire pleasures which depend on themselves, they
will find the satisfaction of their desires nowhere but in philosophy;
for all other pleasures we are dependent on others. The fact is that
the greatest crimes are caused by excess and not by necessity. Men do
not become tyrants in order that they may not suffer cold; and hence
great is the honor bestowed, not on him who kills a thief, but on him
who kills a tyrant. Thus we see that the institutions of Phaleas avail
only against petty crimes.
There is another objection to them. They are chiefly designed to
promote the internal welfare of the state. But the legislator should
consider also its relation to neighboring nations, and to all who are
outside of it. The government must be organized with a view to
military strength; and of this he has said not a word. And so with
respect to property: there should not only be enough to supply the
internal wants of the state, but also to meet dangers coming from
without. The property of the state should not be so large that more
powerful neighbors may be tempted by it, while the owners are unable
to repel the invaders; nor yet so small that the state is unable to
maintain a war even against states of equal power, and of the same
character. Phaleas has not laid down any rule; but we should bear in
mind that abundance of wealth is an advantage. The best limit will
probably be, that a more powerful neighbor must have no inducement to
go to war with you by reason of the excess of your wealth, but only
such as he would have had if you had possessed less. There is a story
that Eubulus, when Autophradates was going to besiege Atarneus, told
him to consider how long the operation would take, and then reckon up
the cost which would be incurred in the time. 'For,' said he, 'I am
willing for a smaller sum than that to leave Atarneus at once.' These
words of Eubulus made an impression on Autophradates, and he desisted
from the siege.
The equalization of property is one of the things that tend to prevent
the citizens from quarrelling. Not that the gain in this direction is
very great. For the nobles will be dissatisfied because they think
themselves worthy of more than an equal share of honors; and this is
often found to be a cause of sedition and revolution. And the avarice
of mankind is insatiable; at one time two obols was pay enough; but
now, when this sum has become customary, men always want more and more
without end; for it is of the nature of desire not to be satisfied,
and most men live only for the gratification of it. The beginning of
reform is not so much to equalize property as to train the nobler sort
of natures not to desire more, and to prevent the lower from getting
more; that is to say, they must be kept down, but not ill-treated.
Besides, the equalization proposed by Phaleas is imperfect; for he
only equalizes land, whereas a man may be rich also in slaves, and
cattle, and money, and in the abundance of what are called his
movables. Now either all these things must be equalized, or some limit
must be imposed on them, or they must an be let alone. It would appear
that Phaleas is legislating for a small city only, if, as he supposes,
all the artisans are to be public slaves and not to form a
supplementary part of the body of citizens. But if there is a law that
artisans are to be public slaves, it should only apply to those
engaged on public works, as at Epidamnus, or at Athens on the plan
which Diophantus once introduced.
From these observations any one may judge how far Phaleas was wrong or
right in his ideas.
Part VIII
Hippodamus, the son of Euryphon, a native of Miletus, the same who
invented the art of planning cities, and who also laid out the
Piraeus- a strange man, whose fondness for distinction led him into a
general eccentricity of life, which made some think him affected (for
he would wear flowing hair and expensive ornaments; but these were
worn on a cheap but warm garment both in winter and summer); he,
besides aspiring to be an adept in the knowledge of nature, was the