Politics

or to appoint some offices by election and others by lot. On the other hand, for some to appoint from some by election is oligarchic, and for some to appoint from some by lot is also oligarchic (and similarly so, even if it does not actually happen), and for some to appoint from some by both. And for some to appoint from all, and for all to appoint from some by election, is aristocratic. Thus, the modes concerning the offices are so many in number, and they are divided according to the constitutions in this way; but which modes are beneficial to which people, and how the appointments ought to be made, will be clear at the same time as we determine what the powers of the offices are. And I mean by the power of an office, for instance, the authority over revenues and the authority over protection; for another kind of power is, for instance, generalship and the authority over contracts in the market. It remains of the three to speak of the judicial part. And we must grasp the modes of these also according to the same assumption. There is a difference of courts in three terms: from whom, about what, and how. I mean, by ‘from whom’, whether from all or from some; and by ‘about what’, how many kinds of courts there are; and by ‘how’, whether by lot or by election. First, then, let it be divided how many kinds of courts there are. They are eight in number: one is for the audit of accounts, another if anyone wrongs any of the public interests, another for all that relates to the constitution, a fourth both for officers and for private individuals for all that they dispute about penalties, a fifth concerning private transactions that have some magnitude, and besides these, the court for homicide and that for foreigners. (Of the court for homicide there are kinds, whether before the same judges or before others: concerning premeditated homicide, concerning involuntary homicide, concerning those cases where the act is admitted but the justice of it is disputed, and fourthly, all that is brought against those who are in exile for homicide upon their return, as for instance at Athens the court in Phreatto is said to be; but such cases happen rarely in the whole of time and only in great cities. Of the court for foreigners, one is for foreigners against foreigners, and another for foreigners against citizens.) And still besides all these, there is the court concerning small transactions, such as those of a drachma, five drachmas, or slightly more. For indeed judgment must be made concerning these also, but they do not fall to a multitude of judges. But let these and the courts for homicide and foreigners be dismissed, and let us speak of the political courts, from which, if they are not well conducted, factions arise and revolutions of constitutions are made. It is necessary either for all to judge concerning all the divided matters, by election or by lot, or for all to judge concerning all, some by lot and others by election, or concerning some of the same matters, some judges to be chosen by lot and others by election.

​These, then, are four in number; and there are as many other modes that are partial. For again, the judges may be from some, and they may judge concerning all by election, or from some and judge concerning all by lot, or some matters by lot and others by election, or some courts concerning the same matters may consist of both those chosen by lot and those by election. These, then, as they were said, are the modes corresponding to those mentioned. And still the same may be combined: I mean, for instance, some from all, some from some, and some from both (as for instance if of the same court some were from all and others from some), and either by lot or by election or by both. In how many modes, then, the courts can exist has been said. And of these, the first are democratic, namely all those from all concerning all; the second are oligarchic, namely all those from some concerning all; and the third are aristocratic and constitutional, namely those where some are from all and others from some.