§1Εἰς τοῦτο δὴ τὸ δικαστήριον καὶ αὐτὸς εἰσάγων τὴν γενομένην μοι πρὸς ὑμᾶς διάλεξιν ἐχθές, ᾤμην τῆς πολιτικῆς ἀρετῆς ὕπαρ οὐκ ὄναρ ἀκοῦσαι λεγούσης
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κεκρότηται χρυσέα κρηπὶς ἱεραῖσιν ἀοιδαῖς,
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ὁ προτρεπόμενος καὶ διαίρων ἐπὶ πολιτείαν βέβληται λόγος·
Into this very court I myself, bringing in the conversation which I had with you yesterday, thought that I heard political virtue speaking, as a waking reality and not a dream, "A golden foundation has been built for sacred songs, "that the discourse which exhorts and elevates towards public life has been laid.
ἐκτίνωμεν ἢδη τὴν ὀφειλομένην ἐποικοδομοῦντες τῇ προτροπῇ διδασκαλίαν, ὀφείλεται δὲ τῷ παραδεδεγμένῳ τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ πράττειν τὰ κοινὰ προτροπὴν καὶ ὁρμὴν ἑξῆς ἀκοῦσαι καὶ λαβεῖν παραγγέλματα πολιτείας, οἷς χρώμενος, ὡς ἀνυστὸν ἐστιν ἀνθρώπῳ, δημωφελὴς ἔσται, μετʼ ἀσφαλείας ἅμα καὶ τιμῆς δικαίας εὖ τιθέμενος τὸ οἰκεῖον.
Let us now pay what is owed by building upon the exhortation our instruction; for it is owed to the one who has accepted the exhortation and impulse toward managing public affairs next to hear and receive the precepts of statecraft, by using which, as far as is possible for a human being, he will be useful to the public, while at the same time with safety and deserved honor establishing his own affairs well.
ὃ δὲ προὔργου μέν ἐστιν εἰς τὰ μέλλοντα τοῖς δὲ προλελεγμένοις ἕπεται, σκεπτέον ἥτις ἀρίστη πολιτεία.
And as for that which is useful for the future and follows what has been said before, we must consider what is the best form of government.
καθάπερ γὰρ ἀνθρώπου βίοι πλείονες, ἔστι καὶ δήμου ἡ πολιτεία βίος· ὥστε λαβεῖν τὴν ἀρίστην ἀναγκαῖον· ἢ γὰρ ἐκ πασῶν αἱρήσεται ταύτην ὁ πολιτικὸς ἢ τῶν λοιπῶν τὴν ὁμοιοτάτην, εἰ ταύτην ἀδύνατον.
For just as the lives of an individual are many, so the form of government is also the life of a people; so that it is necessary to take the best; for either the statesman will choose this from among them all, or, if this is impossible, the one most similar of the remaining.
§2λέγεται μὲν δὴ πολιτεία καὶ μετάληψις τῶν ἐν πόλει δικαίων· ὥς φαμεν Ἀλεξάνδρῳ πολιτείαν Μεγαρεῖς ψηφίσασθαι· τοῦ δʼ εἰς γέλωτα θεμένου τὴν σπουδὴν αὐτῶν, εἰπεῖν ἐκείνους ὅτι μόνῳ πρότερον τὴν πολιτείαν Ἡρακλεῖ καὶ μετʼ ἐκεῖνον αὐτῷ ψηφίσαιντο· τὸν δὲ θαυμάσαντα δέξασθαι τὸ τίμιον ἐν τῷ σπανίῳ τιθέμενον.
To begin with, 'politeia' is said of the participation in the rights of a city; as we say that the Megarians voted the citizenship ('politeia') to Alexander; and when he turned their earnestness into laughter, they said that they had previously voted the citizenship only to Heracles, and after him to himself; and he, being astonished, accepted the honor, placing its value in its rarity.
λέγεται δὲ καὶ βίος ἀνδρὸς πολιτικοῦ καὶ τὰ κοινὰ πράττοντος πολιτεία· καθὸ τὴν Περικλέους πολιτείαν ἐπαινοῦμεν καὶ τὴν Βίαντος, ψέγομεν δὲ τὴν Ὑπερβόλου καὶ Κλέωνος.
Secondly, the life of a statesman and of one who manages public affairs is also called 'politeia'; in which sense we praise the political career ('politeia') of Pericles and of Bias, but censure that of Hyperbolus and Cleon.
ἔνιοι δὲ καὶ μίαν πρᾶξιν εὔστοχον εἰς τὰ κοινὰ καὶ λαμπρὰν πολιτείαν προσαγορεύουσιν, οἷον χρημάτων ἐπίδοσιν, διάλυσιν πολέμου, ψηφίσματος εἰσήγησιν· καθὸ καὶ πολιτεύσασθαι τὸν δεῖνα σήμερον λέγομεν, εἰ τύχοι τι διαπραξάμενος ἐν κοινῷ τῶν δεόντων.
And some also call a single well-aimed and brilliant action in public affairs a 'politeia', such as a contribution of money, the dissolution of a war, or the introduction of a decree; in which sense we also say that so-and-so 'engaged in politics' ('epoliteusato') today, if he happened to achieve some of the necessary things in public.
§3παρὰ πάντα ταῦτα λέγεται πολιτεία τάξις καὶ κατάστασις πόλεως διοικοῦσα τὰς πράξεις· καθά φασι τρεῖς εἶναι πολιτείας, μοναρχίαν καὶ ὀλιγαρχίαν καὶ δημοκρατίαν, ὧν καὶ Ἡρόδοτος ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ σύγκρισιν πεποίηται· καὶ δοκοῦσι γενικώταται εἶναι.
Beyond all these, 'politeia' is said of the order and constitution of a city, which administers its affairs; just as people say there are three forms of government: monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy, of which Herodotus also made a comparison in his third book; and they seem to be the most generic.
τὰς γὰρ ἄλλας, ὥσπερ ἐν τοῖς μουσικοῖς διαγράμμασι τῶν πρώτων τρόπων ἀνιεμένων ἢ ἐπιτεινομένων, συμβέβηκε παρακρούσεις καὶ διαφθορὰς κατʼ ἔλλειψιν καὶ ὑπερβολὴν εἶναι.
For the others, just as in musical scales when the primary modes are relaxed or tightened, turn out to be deviations and corruptions by defect and excess.
ταύτας καὶ πλεῖστον καὶ μέγιστον ἐν ἡγεμονίαις δυνηθείσας τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀπεκληρώσαντο τὰς πολιτείας, Πέρσαι μὲν αὐτοκρατῆ βασιλείαν καὶ ἀνυπεύθυνον, Σπαρτιᾶται δʼ, ἀριστοκρατικὴν ὀλιγαρχίαν καὶ αὐθέκαστον, Ἀθηναῖοι δʼ, αὐτόνομον καὶ ἄκρατον δημοκρατίαν.
These, which had the greatest and largest power in hegemony among the nations, were chosen as their forms of government: the Persians chose an absolute and irresponsible monarchy, the Spartans an aristocratic and self-willed oligarchy, and the Athenians an autonomous and unmixed democracy.
ὧν ἁμαρτανομένων παρατροπαὶ καὶ ὑπερχύσεις εἰσὶν αἱ λεγόμεναι τυραννίδες καὶ δυναστεῖαι καὶ ὀχλοκρατίαι· ὅταν βασιλεία μὲν ὕβριν ἐντέκῃ καὶ τὸ ἀνυπεύθυνον· ὀλιγαρχία δʼ ὑπερφροσύνην καὶ τὸ αὔθαδες· δημοκρατία δ’ ἀναρχίαν, ἰσότης δʼ ἀμετρίαν, πᾶσαι δὲ τὸ ἀνόητον.
When these err, their deviations and overflows are the so-called tyrannies, oligarchic cliques, and mob-rules; whenever monarchy generates insolence and irresponsibility, oligarchy generates arrogance and self-will, democracy generates anarchy, equality generates immoderation, and all of them generate folly.
§4Ὥσπερ οὖν ὁ ἁρμονικὸς καὶ μουσικὸς ἀνὴρ παντὶ μὲν ὀργάνῳ χρήσεται προσῳδῷ τεχνικῶς ἁρμοσάμενος καὶ λόγῳ κρούων ἕκαστον, ὡς πέφυκεν ἐμμελὲς ὑπηχεῖν ἤδη μέντοι συμβούλῳ Πλάτωνι χρησάμενος, πηκτίδας, σαμβύκας καὶ ψαλτήρια πολύφθογγα καὶ βαρβίτους καὶ τρίγωνα παραπέμψας, τὴν λύραν καὶ τὴν κιθάραν προτιμήσει· τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ὁ πολιτικὸς ἀνὴρ εὖ μὲν ὀλιγαρχίαν Λακωνικὴν καὶ Λυκούργειον μεταχειριεῖται, συναρμοσάμενος αὑτῷ τοὺς ἰσοκρατεῖς καὶ ὁμοτίμους ἄνδρας, ἡσυχῇ προσβιαζόμενος· εὖ δὲ πολυφθόγγῳ καὶ πολυχόρδῳ συνοίσεται δημοκρατίᾳ, τὰ μὲν ἀνιεὶς τὰ δʼ ἐπιτείνων τῆς πολιτείας, χαλάσας τʼ ἐν καιρῷ καὶ καρτερῶς αὖθις ἐμφύς,· ἀντιβῆναι καὶ ἀντισχεῖν ἐπιστάμενος· εἰ δʼ αἵρεσις αὐτῷ δοθείη, καθάπερ ὀργάνων τῶν πολιτειῶν, οὐκ ἂν ἄλλην ἕλοιτο πλὴν τὴν μοναρχίαν, Πλάτωνι πειθόμενος, τὴν μόνην δυναμένην τὸν ἐντελῆ καὶ ὄρθιον ἐκεῖνον ὡς ἀληθῶς τῆς ἀρετῆς τόνον ἀνασχέσθαι καὶ μήτε πρὸς ἀνάγκην μήτε πρὸς χάριν ἁρμόσαι τοῦ συμφέροντος αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλαι πολιτεῖαι τρόπον τινὰ κρατούμεναι κρατοῦσι καὶ φερόμεναι φέρουσι τὸν πολιτικόν, οὐκ ἔχοντα τὴν ἰσχὺν βέβαιον ἐπὶ τούτους, παρʼ ὧν ἔχει;
Therefore, just as the harmonic and musical man will use every instrument that is in tune, adjusting it skillfully and striking each according to reason so that it naturally resounds in melody, yet, having already taken Plato as his counselor, and dismissing the pektides, sambykai, many-toned psalteria, barbitoi, and trigona, he will prefer the lyre and the kithara; in the same way, the statesman will handle well the Laconian and Lycurgean oligarchy, having harmonized to himself the men of equal power and honor, pressing them on gently; and he will agree well with the many-toned and many-stringed democracy, now relaxing, now tightening the strings of the state, loosening them in due season and then firmly grasping them again, knowing how to resist and hold out; but if a choice of constitutions were given to him, as of instruments, he would choose no other but monarchy, obeying Plato, as the only one capable of maintaining that truly perfect and upright pitch of virtue, and tuning the public interest neither by necessity nor for favor.
τὸ ἰσχῦον, ἀλλὰ πολλάκις ἀναγκαζόμενον τὸ Αἰσχύλειον ἀναφωνεῖν, ᾧ πρὸς τὴν τύχην ἐχρῆτο Δημήτριος ὁ πολιορκητὴς ἀποβαλὼν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν
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σὺ τοί με φυσᾷς σύ με καταίθειν μοι δοκεῖς.
For the other forms of government, in a way, while being ruled rule, and while being carried carry the statesman, who does not have firm power over those from whom he receives his power, but is often forced to cry out that verse of Aeschylus, which Demetrius the Besieger used against fortune after losing his hegemony: "You indeed puff me up, you seem to consume me.
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