§21μέγιστον δʼ αὐτοῖς συνεβάλετο πρὸς τὸ καλῶς οἰκεῖν τὴν πόλιν, ὅτι δυοῖν ἰσοτήτοιν νομιζομέναιν εἶναι, καὶ τῆς μὲν ταὐτὸν ἅπασιν ἀπονεμούσης τῆς δὲ τὸ προσῆκον ἑκάστοις, οὐκ ἠγνόουν τὴν χρησιμωτέραν, ἀλλὰ τὴν μὲν τῶν αὐτῶν ἀξιοῦσαν τοὺς χρηστοὺς καὶ τοὺς πονηροὺς ἀπεδοκίμαζον ὡς οὐ δικαίαν οὖσαν, §22τὴν δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν ἕκαστον τιμῶσαν καὶ κολάζουσαν προῃροῦντο, καὶ διὰ ταύτης ᾤκουν τὴν πόλιν, οὐκ ἐξ ἁπάντων τὰς ἀρχὰς κληροῦντες, ἀλλὰ τοὺς βελτίστους καὶ τοὺς ἱκανωτάτους ἐφʼ ἕκαστον τῶν ἔργων προκρίνοντες.
And what contributed most to their governing the city well was that, while two kinds of equality are recognized, the one distributing the same to all and the other what is fitting to each, they were not ignorant of the more useful one; but, rejecting as unjust the one that deems the good and the bad worthy of the same things, they chose the one that honors and punishes each according to his worth, and by means of this they governed the city, not appointing magistrates by lot from all the citizens, but selecting the best and most capable for each of the duties.
τοιούτους γὰρ ἤλπιζον ἔσεσθαι καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους, οἷοί περ ἂν ὦσιν οἱ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐπιστατοῦντες.
For they expected that the rest of the citizens would be of such character as those who are in charge of affairs.
§23ἔπειτα καὶ δημοτικωτέραν ἐνόμιζον εἶναι ταύτην τὴν κατάστασιν ἢ τὴν διὰ τοῦ λαγχάνειν γιγνομένην ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῇ κληρώσει τὴν τύχην βραβεύσειν, καὶ πολλάκις λήψεσθαι τὰς ἀρχὰς τοὺς ὀλιγαρχίας ἐπιθυμοῦντας, ἐν δὲ τῷ προκρίνειν τοὺς ἐπιεικεστάτους τὸν δῆμον ἔσεσθαι κύριον ἑλέσθαι τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας μάλιστα τὴν καθεστῶσαν πολιτείαν.
Furthermore, they considered this arrangement to be more democratic than that which comes about through the casting of lots; for in the allotment of offices, fortune would act as judge, and those who desire oligarchy would often obtain offices, whereas in selecting the most suitable men, the people would have the authority to choose those who are most devoted to the established constitution.
§24αἴτιον δʼ ἦν τοῦ ταῦτα τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀρέσκειν καὶ μὴ περιμαχήτους εἶναι τὰς ἀρχάς, ὅτι μεμαθηκότες ἦσαν ἐργάζεσθαι καὶ φείδεσθαι, καὶ μὴ τῶν μὲν οἰκείων ἀμελεῖν τοῖς δʼ ἀλλοτρίοις ἐπιβουλεύειν, μηδʼ ἐκ τῶν δημοσίων τὰ σφέτερʼ αὐτῶν διοικεῖν, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῶν ἑκάστοις ὑπαρχόντων, εἴ ποτε δεήσειε, τοῖς κοινοῖς ἐπαρκεῖν, μηδʼ ἀκριβέστερον εἰδέναι τὰς ἐκ τῶν ἀρχείων προσόδους ἢ τὰς ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων γιγνομένας αὑτοῖς.
The reason why these things pleased the majority, and why the offices were not fought over, was that they had learned to work and to be thrifty, and not to neglect their own property while plotting against that of others, nor to manage their own affairs from the public treasury, but to support the public needs from their own resources, if ever there should be need, and not to know the revenues from the public offices more accurately than those that accrued to them from their private estates.
οὕτω δʼ ἀπείχοντο σφόδρα τῶν τῆς πόλεως, §25ὥστε χαλεπώτερον ἦν ἐν ἐκείνοις τοῖς χρόνοις εὑρεῖν τοὺς βουλομένους ἄρχειν ἢ νῦν τοὺς μηδὲν δεομένους· οὐ γὰρ ἐμπορίαν ἀλλὰ λειτουργίαν ἐνόμιζον εἶναι τὴν τῶν κοινῶν ἐπιμέλειαν, οὐδʼ ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ἡμέρας ἐσκόπουν ἐλθόντες εἴ τι λῆμμα παραλελοίπασιν οἱ πρότερον ἄρχοντες, ἀλλὰ πολὺ μᾶλλον εἴ τινος πράγματος κατημελήκασι τῶν τέλος ἔχειν κατεπειγόντων.
They kept themselves so strictly away from the city's resources that in those times it was more difficult to find those who wished to hold office than it is now to find those who do not desire it at all; for they considered the care of public affairs to be not a business but a service, and they did not, upon entering office on the first day, examine whether the previous magistrates had left any gain behind, but rather whether they had neglected any business that urgently required completion.
§26ὡς δὲ συντόμως εἰπεῖν, ἐκεῖνοι διεγνωκότες ἦσαν ὅτι δεῖ τὸν μὲν δῆμον ὥσπερ τύραννον καθιστάναι τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ κολάζειν τοὺς ἐξαμαρτάνοντας καὶ κρίνειν περὶ τῶν ἀμφισβητουμένων, τοὺς δὲ σχολὴν ἄγειν δυναμένους καὶ βίον ἱκανὸν κεκτημένους ἐπιμελεῖσθαι τῶν κοινῶν ὥσπερ οἰκέτας, §27καὶ δικαίους μὲν γενομένους ἐπαινεῖσθαι καὶ στέργειν ταύτῃ τῇ τιμῇ, κακῶς δὲ διοικήσαντας μηδεμιᾶς συγγνώμης τυγχάνειν ἀλλὰ ταῖς μεγίσταις ζημίαις περιπίπτειν.
To speak briefly, they had resolved that the people, like a tyrant, should appoint the magistrates, punish those who commit offenses, and judge in disputed matters, while those who were able to enjoy leisure and possessed sufficient livelihood should attend to public affairs like servants, and if they proved just, they should be praised and be content with this honor, but if they administered badly, they should meet with no mercy but incur the greatest penalties.
καίτοι πῶς ἄν τις εὕροι ταύτης βεβαιοτέραν ἢ δικαιοτέραν δημοκρατίαν, τῆς τοὺς μὲν δυνατωτάτους ἐπὶ τὰς πράξεις καθιστάσης, αὐτῶν δὲ τούτων τὸν δῆμον κύριον ποιούσης;
And yet, how could one find a democracy more stable or more just than this, which places the most capable in charge of affairs, and makes the people sovereign over these very men?
§28τὸ μὲν οὖν σύνταγμα τῆς πολιτείας τοιοῦτον ἦν αὐτοῖς· ῥᾴδιον δʼ ἐκ τούτων καταμαθεῖν ὡς καὶ τὰ καθʼ ἡμέραν ἑκάστην ὀρθῶς καὶ νομίμως πράττοντες διετέλεσαν.
Such, then, was the constitution of their government; and from these things it is easy to understand that they continued to act rightly and lawfully in their daily lives.
ἀνάγκη γὰρ τοῖς περὶ ὅλων τῶν πραγμάτων καλὰς τὰς ὑποθέσεις πεποιημένοις καὶ τὰ μέρη τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἔχειν ἐκείνοις.
For it is necessary that for those who have laid down good foundations for the whole of their affairs, the parts also should be of the same character as those foundations.
§29καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τὰ περὶ τοὺς θεούς, ἐντεῦθεν γὰρ ἄρχεσθαι δίκαιον, οὐκ ἀνωμάλως οὐδʼ ἀτάκτως οὔτʼ ἐθεράπευον οὔτʼ ὠργίαζον· οὐδʼ ὁπότε μὲν δόξειεν αὐτοῖς, τριακοσίους βοῦς ἔπεμπον, ὁπότε δὲ τύχοιεν, τὰς πατρίους θυσίας ἐξέλειπον· οὐδὲ τὰς μὲν ἐπιθέτους ἑορτάς, αἷς ἑστίασίς τις προσείη, μεγαλοπρεπῶς ἦγον, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἁγιωτάτοις τῶν ἱερῶν ἀπὸ μισθωμάτων ἔθυον· §30ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνο μόνον ἐτήρουν, ὅπως μηδὲν μήτε τῶν πατρίων καταλύσουσι μήτʼ ἔξω τῶν νομιζομένων προσθήσουσιν·
And first of all, as regards the gods—for it is right to begin from there—they did not worship them or perform rituals in an irregular or disorderly fashion; they did not send three hundred oxen whenever it pleased them, while neglecting the ancestral sacrifices whenever it so happened; nor did they celebrate magnificently the newly added festivals to which some feasting was attached, while offering sacrifices in the most holy of sanctuaries by cheap contract; but they observed only this: that they should neither abolish any of the ancestral rites nor add anything beyond what was customary.
οὐ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς πολυτελείαις ἐνόμιζον εἶναι τὴν εὐσέβειαν, ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ μηδὲν κινεῖν ὧν αὐτοῖς οἱ πρόγονοι παρέδοσαν.
For they did not believe that piety consisted in extravagance, but in changing nothing of what their ancestors had handed down to them.
καὶ γάρ τοι καὶ τὰ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν οὐκ ἐμπλήκτως οὐδὲ ταραχωδῶς αὐτοῖς συνέβαινεν, ἀλλʼ εὐκαίρως καὶ πρὸς τὴν ἐργασίαν τῆς χώρας καὶ πρὸς τὴν συγκομιδὴν τῶν καρπῶν.
And indeed, the gifts from the gods did not come to them in a fitful or turbulent manner, but in due season both for the cultivation of the land and for the harvesting of the fruits.