- Source
- Aristotle. Aristotelis Politica. Ross, William David, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
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- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg035.humanitext-grc2:4.1291b
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
While other functions of the state can overlap in the same people, wealth and poverty cannot; thus, the wealthy and the poor are the most fundamental opposing parts of a city. Aristotle begins explaining the various forms of democracy and oligarchy by identifying the sub-classes of both the populace and the notables, then defines the first form of democracy based on equality.
ἀναγκαῖον καὶ μετέχοντας εἶναί τινας ἀρετῆς τῆς τῶν πολιτικῶν.1 τὰς μὲν οὖν ἄλλας δυνάμεις τοῖς αὐτοῖς ὑπάρχειν ἐνδέχεσθαι δοκεῖ πολλοῖς, οἷον τοὺς αὐτοὺς εἶναι τοὺς προπολεμοῦντας καὶ γεωργοῦντας καὶ τεχνίτας, ἔτι δὲ τοὺς βουλευομένους τε καὶ κρίνοντας· ἀντιποιοῦνται δὲ καὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς πάντες,2 καὶ τὰς πλείστας ἀρχὰς ἄρχειν οἴονται δύνασθαι· ἀλλὰ πένεσθαι καὶ πλουτεῖν τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἀδύνατον. διὸ ταῦτα μέρη μάλιστα εἶναι δοκεῖ πόλεως,3 οἱ εὔποροι καὶ οἱ ἄποροι. ἔτι δὲ διὰ τὸ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ τοὺς μὲν ὀλίγους εἶναι τοὺς δὲ πολλοὺς ταῦτα ἐναντία μέρη φαίνεται τῶν τῆς πόλεως μορίων. ὥστε καὶ τὰς πολιτείας κατὰ τὰς ὑπεροχὰς τούτων καθιστᾶσι, καὶ δύο πολιτεῖαι δοκοῦσιν εἶναι, δημοκρατία καὶ ὀλιγαρχία. ὅτι μὲν οὖν εἰσι πολιτεῖαι πλείους, καὶ διὰ τίνας αἰτίας, εἴρηται πρότερον· ὅτι δὲ ἔστι καὶ δημοκρατίας εἴδη πλείω καὶ ὀλιγαρχίας, λέγωμεν. φανερὸν δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων. εἴδη γὰρ πλείω τοῦ τε δήμου καὶ τῶν λεγομένων γνωρίμων ἔστιν, οἷον δήμου μὲν εἴδη ἓν μὲν οἱ γεωργοί, ἕτερον δὲ τὸ περὶ τὰς τέχνας, ἄλλο δὲ τὸ ἀγοραῖον τὸ περὶ ὠνὴν καὶ πρᾶσιν διατρῖβον, ἄλλο δὲ τὸ περὶ τὴν θάλατταν, καὶ τούτου τὸ μὲν πολεμικὸν τὸ δὲ χρηματιστικὸν τὸ δὲ πορθμευτικὸν τὸ δʼ ἁλιευτικόν (πολλαχοῦ γὰρ ἕκαστα τούτων πολύοχλα, οἷον ἁλιεῖς μὲν ἐν Τάραντι καὶ Βυζαντίῳ, τριηρικὸν δὲ Ἀθήνησιν, ἐμπορικὸν δὲ ἐν Αἰγίνῃ καὶ Χίῳ, πορθμευτικὸν δʼ ἐν Τενέδῳ), πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τὸ χερνητικὸν καὶ τὸ μικρὰν ἔχον οὐσίαν ὥστε μὴ δύνασθαι σχολάζειν, ἔτι τὸ μὴ ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων ἐλεύθερον,4 κἂν εἴ τι τοιοῦτον ἕτερον πλήθους εἶδος· τῶν δὲ γνωρίμων πλοῦτος εὐγένεια ἀρετὴ παιδεία καὶ τὰ τούτοις λεγόμενα κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν διαφοράν. δημοκρατία μὲν οὖν ἐστι πρώτη μὲν ἡ λεγομένη μάλιστα κατὰ τὸ ἴσον. ἴσον γάρ φησιν ὁ νόμος ὁ τῆς τοιαύτης δημοκρατίας τὸ μηδὲν μᾶλλον ὑπερέχειν τοὺς ἀπόρους ἢ τοὺς εὐπόρους, μηδὲ κυρίους εἶναι ὁποτερουσοῦν, ἀλλʼ ὁμοίους ἀμφοτέρους. εἴπερ γὰρ ἐλευθερία μάλιστʼ ἔστιν ἐν δημοκρατίᾳ, καθάπερ ὑπολαμβάνουσί τινες, καὶ ἰσότης, οὕτως ἂν εἴη μάλιστα, κοινωνούτων ἁπάντων μάλιστα τῆς πολιτείας ὁμοίως. ἐπεὶ δὲ πλείων ὁ δῆμος, κύριον δὲ τὸ δόξαν τοῖς πλείοσιν, ἀνάγκη δημοκρατίαν εἶναι ταύτην. ἓν μὲν οὖν εἶδος δημοκρατίας τοῦτο, τὸ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἀπὸ τιμημάτων εἴναι, βραχέων δὲ τούτων ὄντων· δεῖ δὲ τῷ κτωμένῳ ἐξουσίαν εἶναι μετέχειν καὶ τὸν ἀποβάλλοντα μὴ μετέχειν·5
it is also necessary that there be some who share in the virtue of political men. Now, it seems to many that the other capacities can belong to the same people, for instance that the same people are those who fight in defense, who farm, and who are artisans, and further those who deliberate and judge; and all people also lay claim to virtue, and think they are able to rule in most of the offices. But for the same people to be poor and rich is impossible. Therefore, these seem to be parts of a city most of all, the wealthy and the poor. Furthermore, because for the most part the former are few and the latter many, these appear as opposite parts among the portions of the city. So they even establish constitutions according to the superiority of these, and two constitutions seem to exist, democracy and oligarchy. That there are, then, several constitutions, and for what causes, has been said before; but let us say that there are also several forms of democracy and oligarchy. This is clear also from what has been said. For there are several forms of both the populace and the so-called notables. For instance, of the populace, one form is the farmers, another is the part concerned with the crafts, another is the market class which is occupied with buying and selling, and another is the part concerned with the sea, and of this, one is military, another commercial, another ferrymen, and another fishermen (for in many places each of these is a large crowd, for instance, fishermen in Tarentum and Byzantium, the trireme force at Athens, the merchant class in Aegina and Chios, and ferrymen in Tenedos); in addition to these, there is the class of manual laborers and those who possess so little property that they cannot have leisure, further those who are not free on both sides, and any other such form of the multitude. Among the notables, there are wealth, noble birth, virtue, education, and what are spoken of according to the same difference. Now first of the democracies is that which is said to be most of all according to equality. For the law of such a democracy says that equality is for the poor to have no more superiority than the wealthy, and for neither to be sovereign, but both to be equal. For if freedom is most of all in a democracy, as some assume, and equality, it would be so most of all in this way, with everyone sharing in the constitution most equally. But since the populace is the majority, and what is decided by the majority is sovereign, this must be a democracy. This, then, is one form of democracy, namely that offices are from property qualifications, these being small; and it is necessary that the one who acquires it has the right to share, and the one who loses it does not share.
- 1291b1ἀναγκαῖον καὶ μετέχοντας εἶναί τινας ἀρετῆς τῆς τῶν πολιτικῶν
A consequent clause continuing from the preceding 1291a41 'If, then, these things must exist...'. The subject of ἀναγκαῖον is εἶναί τινας μετέχοντας... (that there be some who share...), where μετέχοντας is an accusative participle agreeing with τινας, the subject of the infinitive εἶναι. καὶ means 'also', indicating that in addition to the necessary parts of the state, those sharing in political virtue are also necessary.
- 1291b5ἀντιποιοῦνται δὲ καὶ τῆς ἀρετῆς πάντες
The verb ἀντιποιέομαι takes the genitive and means 'to lay claim to' or 'to contend for'. Here it means 'all people lay claim to virtue (as if they possess it)'.
- 1291b8διὸ ταῦτα μέρη μάλιστα εἶναι δοκεῖ πόλεως
ταῦτα is a neuter plural nominative referring to the following οἱ εὔποροι καὶ οἱ ἄποροι (the wealthy and the poor). Based on the fact that poverty and wealth cannot belong to the same person, this explains why these two are considered the most fundamental 'parts of a city'.
- 1291b26τὸ μὴ ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων ἐλεύθερον
ἐξ ἀμφοτέρων means 'from both parents', referring to the citizenship requirement that both father and mother be free (or citizens). τὸ μὴ ... ἐλεύθερον designates the category of the populace consisting of those who are not born of free parents on both sides.
- 1291b40δεῖ δὲ τῷ κτωμένῳ ἐξουσίαν εἶναι μετέχειν καὶ τὸν ἀποβάλλοντα μὴ μετέχειν
δεῖ is an impersonal verb governing the whole sentence. Its logical subjects are the two structures: ἐξουσίαν εἶναι (that there be power/authority) with the dative τῷ κτωμένῳ (for the one who acquires), and the accusative with infinitive τὸν ἀποβάλλοντα μὴ μετέχειν (that the one who loses does not share).