Humanitext Reader

Plato · Republic §8.547-8.548

The Rise of Timocracy and the Nature of Its Rulers

Passage 115 of 153 · Greek

Summary

The transition from aristocracy to timocracy is described as a result of faction caused by the mixing of metals in the ruling class, and the character of timocratic rulers is examined, highlighting their warrior-like love of honor alongside a secret desire for wealth.

§8.547ὁμοῦ δὲ μιγέντος σιδηροῦ ἀργυρῷ καὶ χαλκοῦ χρυσῷ ἀνομοιότης ἐγγενήσεται καὶ ἀνωμαλία ἀνάρμοστος, ἃ γενόμενα, οὗ ἂν ἐγγένηται, ἀεὶ τίκτει πόλεμον καὶ ἔχθραν.
And when iron is mixed with silver and bronze with gold, unlikeness will arise and discordant irregularity, which, having arisen, wherever they arise, always breed war and hostility.
"ταύτης τοι γενεῆς" χρὴ φάναι εἶναι στάσιν, ὅπου ἂν γίγνηται ἀεί.
"Of this lineage" one must say that faction is, wherever it always arises.
καὶ ὀρθῶς γʼ, ἔφη, αὐτὰς ἀποκρίνεσθαι φήσομεν.
"And we shall say that they answer correctly," he said.
καὶ γάρ, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, ἀνάγκη μούσας γε οὔσας. τί οὖν, ἦ δʼ ὅς, τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο λέγουσιν αἱ Μοῦσαι; στάσεως, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, γενομένης εἱλκέτην ἄρα ἑκατέρω τὼ γένει, τὸ μὲν σιδηροῦν καὶ χαλκοῦν ἐπὶ χρηματισμὸν καὶ γῆς κτῆσιν καὶ οἰκίας χρυσίου τε καὶ ἀργύρου, τὼ δʼ αὖ, τὸ χρυσοῦν τε καὶ ἀργυροῦν, ἅτε οὐ πενομένω ἀλλὰ φύσει ὄντε πλουσίω, τὰς ψυχὰς ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὴν ἀρχαίαν κατάστασιν ἠγέτην·
"For indeed," I said, "it is necessary, since they are Muses." "What then," he said, "do the Muses say after this?" "When faction arose," I said, "the two races pulled in opposite directions—the iron and bronze on the one hand toward money-making and the acquisition of land, houses, gold, and silver; the others, on the other hand, the golden and silver, since they were not poor but by nature rich, led their souls toward virtue and the ancient constitution.
βιαζομένων δὲ καὶ ἀντιτεινόντων ἀλλήλοις, εἰς μέσον ὡμολόγησαν γῆν μὲν καὶ οἰκίας κατανειμαμένους ἰδιώσασθαι, τοὺς δὲ πρὶν φυλαττομένους ὑπʼ αὐτῶν ὡς ἐλευθέρους φίλους τε καὶ τροφέας, δουλωσάμενοι τότε περιοίκους τε καὶ οἰκέτας ἔχοντες, αὐτοὶ πολέμου τε καὶ φυλακῆς αὐτῶν ἐπιμελεῖσθαι. δοκεῖ μοι, ἔφη, αὕτη ἡ μετάβασις ἐντεῦθεν γίγνεσθαι. οὐκοῦν, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, ἐν μέσῳ τις ἂν εἴη ἀριστοκρατίας τε καὶ ὀλιγαρχίας αὕτη ἡ πολιτεία; πάνυ μὲν οὖν. μεταβήσεται μὲν δὴ οὕτω· μεταβᾶσα δὲ πῶς οἰκήσει;
But as they strove and resisted one another, they agreed on a middle course: to distribute land and houses and make them private, while those who had previously been guarded by them as free friends and supporters they enslaved and held as serfs and domestics, and they themselves took charge of war and of guarding them." "It seems to me," he said, "that this transition arises from there." "Is not this constitution, then," I said, "something in the middle between aristocracy and oligarchy?" "Entirely so." "It will change in this way; but having changed, how will it be administered?
ἢ φανερὸν ὅτι τὰ μὲν μιμήσεται τὴν προτέραν πολιτείαν, τὰ δὲ τὴν ὀλιγαρχίαν, ἅτʼ ἐν μέσῳ οὖσα, τὸ δέ τι καὶ αὑτῆς ἕξει ἴδιον; οὕτως, ἔφη.
Or is it clear that in some respects it will imitate the former constitution, and in others oligarchy, inasmuch as it is in the middle, and will also have something peculiar to itself?" "Thus," he said.
οὐκοῦν τῷ μὲν τιμᾶν τοὺς ἄρχοντας καὶ γεωργιῶν ἀπέχεσθαι τὸ προπολεμοῦν αὐτῆς καὶ χειροτεχνιῶν καὶ τοῦ ἄλλου χρηματισμοῦ, συσσίτια δὲ κατεσκευάσθαι καὶ γυμναστικῆς τε καὶ τῆς τοῦ πολέμου ἀγωνίας ἐπιμελεῖσθαι, πᾶσι τοῖς τοιούτοις τὴν προτέραν μιμήσεται; ναί. τῷ δέ γε φοβεῖσθαι τοὺς σοφοὺς ἐπὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς ἄγειν, ἅτε οὐκέτι κεκτημένην ἁπλοῦς τε καὶ ἀτενεῖς τοὺς τοιούτους ἄνδρας ἀλλὰ μεικτούς, ἐπὶ δὲ θυμοειδεῖς τε καὶ ἁπλουστέρους ἀποκλίνειν, τοὺς πρὸς πόλεμον μᾶλλον πεφυκότας ἢ πρὸς εἰρήνην, καὶ τοὺς περὶ ταῦτα δόλους τε καὶ μηχανὰς ἐντίμως ἔχειν, καὶ πολεμοῦσα τὸν ἀεὶ χρόνον διάγειν, αὐτὴ ἑαυτῆς αὖ τὰ πολλὰ τῶν τοιούτων ἴδια ἕξει; §8.548ναί. ἐπιθυμηταὶ δέ γε, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, χρημάτων οἱ τοιοῦτοι ἔσονται, ὥσπερ οἱ ἐν ταῖς ὀλιγαρχίαις, καὶ τιμῶντες ἀγρίως ὑπὸ σκότου χρυσόν τε καὶ ἄργυρον, ἅτε κεκτημένοι ταμιεῖα καὶ οἰκείους θησαυρούς, οἷ θέμενοι ἂν αὐτὰ κρύψειαν, καὶ αὖ περιβόλους οἰκήσεων, ἀτεχνῶς νεοττιὰς ἰδίας, ἐν αἷς ἀναλίσκοντες γυναιξί τε καὶ οἷς ἐθέλοιεν ἄλλοις πολλὰ ἂν δαπανῷντο.
"Therefore, in honoring the rulers and in the warrior-class abstaining from farming, handicrafts, and other money-making, and in having common meals established, and in taking care of gymnastics and the contest of war, in all such things will it imitate the former?" "Yes." "But in being afraid to bring the wise to office, because it no longer possesses such men simple and earnest, but mixed, and in bending toward spirited and simpler men, those naturally more suited for war than for peace, and in holding in honor the tricks and devices concerning these things, and in spending all its time making war—will it have many such things peculiar to itself?" "Yes." "And such men," I said, "will be lovers of money, just like those in oligarchies, and fiercely honoring gold and silver in secret, since they possess private storehouses and treasuries where they would hide them, and also surrounding walls of dwellings, absolutely private nests, in which wasting money on women and on whomever else they pleased they would spend much." "Most true," he said.
ἀληθέστατα, ἔφη. οὐκοῦν καὶ φειδωλοὶ χρημάτων, ἅτε τιμῶντες καὶ οὐ φανερῶς κτώμενοι, φιλαναλωταὶ δὲ ἀλλοτρίων διʼ ἐπιθυμίαν, καὶ λάθρᾳ τὰς ἡδονὰς καρπούμενοι, ὥσπερ παῖδες πατέρα τὸν νόμον ἀποδιδράσκοντες, οὐχ ὑπὸ πειθοῦς ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ βίας πεπαιδευμένοι διὰ τὸ τῆς ἀληθινῆς Μούσης τῆς μετὰ λόγων τε καὶ φιλοσοφίας ἠμεληκέναι καὶ πρεσβυτέρως γυμναστικὴν μουσικῆς τετιμηκέναι. παντάπασιν, ἔφη, λέγεις μεμειγμένην πολιτείαν ἐκ κακοῦ τε καὶ ἀγαθοῦ. μέμεικται γάρ, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ· διαφανέστατον δʼ ἐν αὐτῇ ἐστὶν ἕν τι μόνον ὑπὸ τοῦ θυμοειδοῦς κρατοῦντος, φιλονικίαι καὶ φιλοτιμίαι. σφόδρα γε, ἦ δʼ ὅς.
"Therefore they will also be stingy with money, since they honor it and do not acquire it openly, but they will love to spend other people's money because of desire, and they will harvest pleasures in secret, running away from the law like children from a father, having been educated not by persuasion but by force, because they neglected the true Muse, which is accompanied by discourse and philosophy, and honored gymnastics more highly than music." "Entirely," he said, "you speak of a constitution mixed of bad and good." "For it is indeed mixed," I said; "but one thing alone is most conspicuous in it because of the spirited element ruling: love of victory and love of honor." "Very much so," he said.
οὐκοῦν, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, αὕτη μὲν ἡ πολιτεία οὕτω γεγονυῖα καὶ τοιαύτη ἄν τις εἴη, ὡς λόγῳ σχῆμα πολιτείας ὑπογράψαντα μὴ ἀκριβῶς ἀπεργάσασθαι διὰ τὸ ἐξαρκεῖν μὲν ἰδεῖν καὶ ἐκ τῆς ὑπογραφῆς τόν τε δικαιότατον καὶ τὸν ἀδικώτατον, ἀμήχανον δὲ μήκει ἔργον εἶναι πάσας μὲν πολιτείας, πάντα δὲ ἤθη μηδὲν παραλιπόντα διελθεῖν. καὶ ὀρθῶς, ἔφη.
"Therefore," I said, "this constitution having arisen in this way would be of such a kind—as if one were to sketch in outline the shape of a constitution in speech, not working it out precisely, because it is sufficient to see from the outline both the most just and the most unjust man, and it would be an impossibly long task to go through all constitutions and all characters without omitting anything." "And rightly so," he said.
τίς οὖν ὁ κατὰ ταύτην τὴν πολιτείαν ἀνήρ;
"Who, then, is the man corresponding to this constitution?
πῶς τε γενόμενος ποῖός τέ τις ὤν; οἶμαι μέν, ἔφη ὁ Ἀδείμαντος, ἐγγύς τι αὐτὸν Γλαύκωνος τουτουὶ τείνειν ἕνεκά γε φιλονικίας. ἴσως, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, τοῦτό γε· ἀλλά μοι δοκεῖ τάδε οὐ κατὰ τοῦτον πεφυκέναι. τὰ ποῖα;
How does he come to be, and what is he like?" "I think," Adeimantus said, "that in love of victory at least, he comes rather close to Glaucon here." "Perhaps," I said, "in this respect; but in these other ways, his nature does not seem to me to be like his." "In what ways?"

Notes

  1. 547aταύτης τοι γενεῆς — A parodic echo of the famous Homeric line in the Iliad (e.g., 6.211) "ταύτης τοι γενεῆς τε καὶ αἵματος εὔχομαι εἶναι" ('Of this lineage and blood I boast to be'). The genitive `ταύτης ... γενεῆς` functions as a genitive of origin or possession, indicating that faction is born of, or belongs to, this very lineage/generation.
  2. 547bεἱλκέτην — The dual 3rd person imperfect indicative form of `ἕλκω`. The subject is the dual noun phrase `ἑκατέρω τὼ γένει` ('both of the two races', i.e., the iron-bronze race and the gold-silver race). The use of the dual highlights the sharp binary conflict as they pulled in opposite directions. The subsequent verb `ἠγέτην` (dual 3rd person of `ἄγω`) follows the same grammatical structure.
  3. 547bβιαζομένων δὲ καὶ ἀντιτεινόντων — A genitive absolute construction with no explicit subject. The implied subject is the two groups mentioned just before (`ἑκατέρω τὼ γένει`). It functions temporally/circumstantially: 'as they strove and resisted one another', setting up the transition from conflict to compromise.
  4. 548bπρεσβυτέρως — A comparative adverb, used here in the sense of 'more highly', 'more preferentially', or 'with greater honor', rather than its literal temporal sense of 'older'. It takes `μουσικῆς` in the genitive as its term of comparison, indicating that they honored gymnastics over music.

Cite this passage

Plato, Republic §8.547-8.548. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg030.humanitext-grc2:8.547-8.548

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