Politics   

occasion.
Part IX
In the governments of Lacedaemon and Crete, and indeed in all
governments, two points have to be considered: first, whether any
particular law is good or bad, when compared with the perfect state;
secondly, whether it is or is not consistent with the idea and
character which the lawgiver has set before his citizens. That in a
well-ordered state the citizens should have leisure and not have to
provide for their daily wants is generally acknowledged, but there is
a difficulty in seeing how this leisure is to be attained. The
Thessalian Penestae have often risen against their masters, and the
Helots in like manner against the Lacedaemonians, for whose
misfortunes they are always lying in wait. Nothing, however, of this
kind has as yet happened to the Cretans; the reason probably is that
the neighboring cities, even when at war with one another, never form
an alliance with rebellious serfs, rebellions not being for their
interest, since they themselves have a dependent population. Whereas
all the neighbors of the Lacedaemonians, whether Argives, Messenians,
or Arcadians, were their enemies. In Thessaly, again, the original
revolt of the slaves occurred because the Thessalians were still at
war with the neighboring Achaeans, Perrhaebians, and Magnesians.
Besides, if there were no other difficulty, the treatment or
management of slaves is a troublesome affair; for, if not kept in
hand, they are insolent, and think that they are as good as their
masters, and, if harshly treated, they hate and conspire against them.
Now it is clear that when these are the results the citizens of a
state have not found out the secret of managing their subject
population.
Again, the license of the Lacedaemonian women defeats the intention of
the Spartan constitution, and is adverse to the happiness of the
state. For, a husband and wife being each a part of every family, the
state may be considered as about equally divided into men and women;
and, therefore, in those states in which the condition of the women is
bad, half the city may be regarded as having no laws. And this is what
has actually happened at Sparta; the legislator wanted to make the
whole state hardy and temperate, and he has carried out his intention
in the case of the men, but he has neglected the women, who live in
every sort of intemperance and luxury. The consequence is that in such
a state wealth is too highly valued, especially if the citizen fall
under the dominion of their wives, after the manner of most warlike
races, except the Celts and a few others who openly approve of male
loves. The old mythologer would seem to have been right in uniting
Ares and Aphrodite, for all warlike races are prone to the love either
of men or of women. This was exemplified among the Spartans in the
days of their greatness; many things were managed by their women. But
what difference does it make whether women rule, or the rulers are
ruled by women? The result is the same. Even in regard to courage,
which is of no use in daily life, and is needed only in war, the
influence of the Lacedaemonian women has been most mischievous. The
evil showed itself in the Theban invasion, when, unlike the women
other cities, they were utterly useless and caused more confusion than
the enemy. This license of the Lacedaemonian women existed from the
earliest times, and was only what might be expected. For, during the
wars of the Lacedaemonians, first against the Argives, and afterwards
against the Arcadians and Messenians, the men were long away from
home, and, on the return of peace, they gave themselves into the
legislator's hand, already prepared by the discipline of a soldier's
life (in which there are many elements of virtue), to receive his
enactments. But, when Lycurgus, as tradition says, wanted to bring the
women under his laws, they resisted, and he gave up the attempt. These
then are the causes of what then happened, and this defect in the
constitution is clearly to be attributed to them. We are not, however,
considering what is or is not to be excused, but what is right or
wrong, and the disorder of the women, as I have already said, not only