- 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
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg035.humanitext-grc2:4.1297b
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
The author discusses the property qualification for a constitution based on weapon-holders, traces the historical evolution of Greek constitutions from cavalry to hoplite infantry, and begins analyzing the three fundamental parts common to all constitutions (deliberative, magisterial, and judicial).
δεῖ δὲ τὴν πολιτείαν εἶναι μὲν ἐκ τῶν τὰ ὅπλα ἐχόντων μόνον· τοῦ δὲ τιμήματος τὸ πλῆθος ἁπλῶς μὲν ὁρισαμένους οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν τοσοῦτον δεῖν ὑπάρχειν, ἀλλὰ σκεψαμένους1 τὸ ποῖον ἐπιβάλλει μακρότατον2 ὥστε τοὺς μετέχοντας τῆς πολιτείας εἶναι πλείους τῶν μὴ μετεχόντων, τοῦτο τάττειν. ἐθέλουσι γὰρ οἱ πένητες καὶ μὴ μετέχοντες τῶν τιμῶν ἡσυχίαν ἔχειν, ἐὰν μήτε ὑβρίζῃ τις αὐτοὺς μήτε ἀφαιρῆται μηθὲν τῆς οὐσίας. ἀλλὰ τοῦτο οὐ ῥᾴδιον· οὐ γὰρ ἀεὶ συμβαίνει χαρίεντας εἶναι τοὺς μετέχοντας τοῦ πολιτεύματος. καὶ εἰώθασι δέ, ὅταν πόλεμος ᾖ, ὀκνεῖν, ἂν μὴ λαμβάνωσι τροφήν, ἄποροι δὲ ὦσιν· ἐὰν δὲ πορίζῃ τις τροφήν, βούλονται πολεμεῖν. ἔστι δὲ ἡ πολιτεία παρʼ ἐνίοις οὐ μόνον ἐκ τῶν ὁπλιτευόντων ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὡπλιτευκότων· ἐν Μαλιεῦσι δὲ ἡ μὲν πολιτεία ἦν ἐκ τούτων, τὰς δὲ ἀρχὰς ᾑροῦντο ἐκ τῶν στρατευομένων. καὶ ἡ πρώτη δὲ πολιτεία ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐγένετο μετὰ τὰς βασιλείας ἐκ τῶν πολεμούντων, ἡ μὲν ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐκ τῶν ἱππέων (τὴν γὰρ ἰσχὺν καὶ τὴν ὑπεροχὴν ἐν τοῖς ἱππεῦσιν ὁ πόλεμος εἶχεν· ἄνευ μὲν γὰρ συντάξεως ἄχρηστον τὸ ὁπλιτικόν, αἱ δὲ περὶ τῶν τοιούτων ἐμπειρίαι καὶ τάξεις ἐν τοῖς ἀρχαίοις οὐχ ὑπῆρχον, ὥστʼ ἐν τοῖς ἱππεῦσιν εἶναι τὴν ἰσχύν), αὐξανομένων δὲ τῶν πόλεων καὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις ἰσχυσάντων μᾶλλον πλείους μετεῖχον τῆς πολιτείας· διόπερ ἃς νῦν καλοῦμεν πολιτείας, οἱ πρότερον ἐκάλουν δημοκρατίας· ἦσαν δὲ αἱ ἀρχαῖαι πολιτεῖαι εὐλόγως ὀλιγαρχικαὶ καὶ βασιλικαί. διʼ ὀλιγανθρωπίαν γὰρ οὐκ εἶχον πολὺ τὸ μέσον, ὥστʼ ὀλίγοι τε ὄντες τὸ πλῆθος καὶ κατὰ τὴν σύνταξιν φαῦλοι ὑπέμενον τὸ ἄρχεσθαι. διὰ τίνα μὲν οὖν εἰσιν αἰτίαν αἱ πολιτεῖαι πλείους, καὶ διὰ τί παρὰ τὰς λεγομένας ἕτεραι (δημοκρατία τε γὰρ οὐ μία τὸν ἀριθμόν ἐστι, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὁμοίως), ἔτι δὲ τίνες αἱ διαφοραὶ καὶ διὰ τίνα αἰτίαν συμβαίνει, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τίς ἀρίστη τῶν πολιτειῶν ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πλεῖστον εἰπεῖν, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ποία ποίοις ἁρμόττει τῶν πολιτειῶν, εἴρηται. πάλιν δὲ καὶ κοινῇ καὶ χωρὶς περὶ ἑκάστης λέγωμεν περὶ τῶν ἐφεξῆς, λαβόντες ἀρχὴν τὴν προσήκουσαν αὐτῶν. ἔστι δὴ τρία μόρια τῶν πολιτειῶν πασῶν, περὶ ὧν δεῖ θεωρεῖν τὸν σπουδαῖον νομοθέτην ἑκάστῃ τὸ συμφέρον· ὧν ἐχόντων καλῶς3 ἀνάγκη τὴν πολιτείαν ἔχειν καλῶς, καὶ τὰς πολιτείας ἀλλήλων διαφέρειν ἐν τῷ διαφέρειν ἕκαστον τούτων.4 ἔστι δὲ τῶν τριῶν τούτων ἓν μὲν τί τὸ βουλευόμενον περὶ τῶν κοινῶν,
But the constitution should consist of those who possess arms only; as for the amount of the property qualification, it is not possible to state that it must be so much by defining it absolutely, but we must fix this after considering what is the highest amount that falls to be required so that those who share in the constitution are more than those who do not. For the poor and those who do not share in honors are willing to remain quiet, if no one insults them or deprives them of any of their property. But this is not easy; for it does not always happen that those who share in the governing body are refined. And they are accustomed, when there is war, to hesitate if they do not receive maintenance and are poor; but if anyone provides maintenance, they wish to fight. And in some places the constitution consists not only of those who are serving as hoplites but also of those who have served as hoplites; and among the Malians the constitution was composed of these, but they chose the magistrates from those currently on active service. And indeed the first constitution among the Greeks after the kingships was formed from those who fought, at first from the cavalry (for war had its strength and superiority in the cavalry; for without organization the hoplite force is useless, and experiences and tactics in such matters did not exist among the ancients, so that strength lay in the cavalry); but as the cities grew and those with arms became more powerful, more shared in the constitution; wherefore what we now call constitutions, those of former times called democracies. And the ancient constitutions were reasonably oligarchic and kingly. For owing to the smallness of population they did not have a large middle class, so that being few in number and poor in their organization they endured being ruled. For what cause, then, constitutions are multiple, and why there are others besides those mentioned (for democracy is not one in number, and similarly of the others), furthermore what the differences are and for what cause they happen, and in addition to these, which is the best of constitutions generally speaking, and which of the other constitutions fits which people, has been stated. Now let us speak again both in general and separately about each of the subsequent things, taking their appropriate starting point. There are indeed three parts of all constitutions, concerning which the excellent legislator must consider what is advantageous for each; if these are in a good condition, the constitution must necessarily be in a good condition, and constitutions differ from one another in that each of these differs. And of these three, one indeed is that which deliberates about common affairs,
- 1297bὁρισαμένους ... σκεψαμένους
The accusative participles ὁρισαμένους and σκεψαμένους function as the logical subject of the infinitives εἰπεῖν (dependent on the impersonal οὐκ ἔστιν) and τάττειν (which carries a hortatory force in context), representing a general plural agent.
- 1297bτὸ ποῖον ἐπιβάλλει μακρότατον
An indirect question. The intransitive verb ἐπιβάλλει here means "appertains" or "is appropriate", paired with the superlative μακρότατον ("highest" or "most extensive limit"), indicating the highest property qualification that still allows the participating class to remain the majority.
- 1297b35ὧν ἐχόντων καλῶς
A genitive absolute construction where the relative pronoun ὧν (referring back to the τρία μόρια, "three parts") serves as the subject, expressing a conditional force ("if these are in a good condition").
- 1297b40ἐν τῷ διαφέρειν ἕκαστον τούτων
An articular infinitive τῷ διαφέρειν governed by the preposition ἐν, with the accusative phrase ἕκαστον τούτων ("each of these") functioning as its logical subject, making an adverbial phrase of respect or cause ("in the differing of each of these").