§5.743ΑΘ. λέγουσιν δὲ τοὺς κεκτημένους ἐν ὀλίγοις τῶν ἀνθρώπων πλείστου νομίσματος ἄξια κτήματα, ἃ καὶ κακός τις κεκτῇτʼ ἄν.
ATH.: They say that those who possess property worth the most money among a very few people are rich, and such property even a bad man could possess.
εἰ δʼ ἔστιν τοῦτο οὕτως ἔχον, οὐκ ἂν ἔγωγε αὐτοῖς ποτε συγχωροίην τὸν πλούσιον εὐδαίμονα τῇ ἀληθείᾳ γίγνεσθαι μὴ καὶ ἀγαθὸν ὄντα· ἀγαθὸν δὲ ὄντα διαφόρως καὶ πλούσιον εἶναι διαφερόντως ἀδύνατον.
If this is so, I would never agree with them that the rich man becomes truly happy without also being good; but to be exceptionally good and at the same time exceptionally rich is impossible.
τί δή; φαίη τις ἂν ἴσως.
"Why indeed?" someone might perhaps say.
ὅτι, φαῖμεν ἄν, ἥ τε ἐκ δικαίου καὶ ἀδίκου κτῆσις πλέον ἢ διπλασία ἐστὶν τῆς ἐκ τοῦ δικαίου μόνον, τά τε ἀναλώματα μήτε καλῶς μήτε αἰσχρῶς ἐθέλοντα ἀναλίσκεσθαι τῶν καλῶν καὶ εἰς καλὰ ἐθελόντων δαπανᾶσθαι διπλασίῳ ἐλάττονα·
"Because," we would say, "acquisition from both justice and injustice is more than double that from justice alone, and expenditures that are willing to be spent neither beautifully nor shamefully are twice less than those that are beautiful and willing to be spent on beautiful things.
οὔκουν ποτὲ ἂν τῶν ἐκ διπλασίων μὲν κτημάτων, ἡμίσεων δὲ ἀναλωμάτων ὁ τὰ ἐναντία τούτων πράττων γένοιτʼ ἂν πλουσιώτερος.
Therefore, the one who does the opposite of these could never become richer than the one who has double acquisitions and half expenditures.
ἔστιν δὲ ὁ μὲν ἀγαθὸς τούτων, ὁ δὲ οὐ κακὸς ὅταν ᾖ φειδωλός, τοτὲ δέ ποτε καὶ πάγκακος, ἀγαθὸς δέ, ὅπερ εἴρηται τὰ νῦν, οὐδέποτε.
Now, of these, the one is good, and the other is not bad when he is frugal, and sometimes even extremely bad, but never good in the sense now being spoken of.
ὁ μὲν γὰρ δικαίως καὶ ἀδίκως λαμβάνων καὶ μήτε δικαίως μήτε ἀδίκως ἀναλίσκων πλούσιος, ὅταν καὶ φειδωλὸς ᾖ, ὁ δὲ πάγκακος, ὡς τὰ πολλὰ ὢν ἄσωτος, μάλα πένης·
For the one who receives both justly and unjustly and spends neither justly nor unjustly is rich when he is also frugal, whereas the extremely bad man, being for the most part spendthrift, is very poor.
ὁ δὲ ἀναλίσκων τε εἰς τὰ καλὰ καὶ κτώμενος ἐκ τῶν δικαίων μόνον οὔτʼ ἂν διαφέρων πλούτῳ ῥᾳδίως ἄν ποτε γένοιτο οὐδʼ αὖ σφόδρα πένης.
On the other hand, the one who spends on beautiful things and acquires from just sources alone could never easily become exceptionally rich, nor on the other hand extremely poor.
ὥστε ὁ λόγος ἡμῖν ὀρθός, ὡς οὐκ εἰσὶν οἱ παμπλούσιοι ἀγαθοί· εἰ δὲ μὴ ἀγαθοί, οὐδὲ εὐδαίμονες.
So our argument is correct, that the super-rich are not good; and if they are not good, neither are they happy.
ἡμῖν δὲ ἡ τῶν νόμων ὑπόθεσις ἐνταῦθα ἔβλεπεν, ὅπως ὡς εὐδαιμονέστατοι ἔσονται καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα ἀλλήλοις φίλοι·
Now, the plan of our laws here looked to how they might be as happy as possible and as friendly as possible to one another.
εἶεν δὲ οὐκ ἄν ποτε πολῖται φίλοι, ὅπου πολλαὶ μὲν δίκαι ἐν ἀλλήλοις εἶεν, πολλαὶ δὲ ἀδικίαι, ἀλλʼ ὅπου ὡς ὅτι σμικρόταται καὶ ὀλίγισται.
But citizens would never be friends where many lawsuits and many injustices existed among one another, but where they are as small and as few as possible.
λέγομεν δὴ μήτε χρυσὸν δεῖν μήτε ἄργυρον ἐν τῇ πόλει, μήτε αὖ χρηματισμὸν πολὺν διὰ βαναυσίας καὶ τόκων μηδὲ βοσκημάτων αἰσχρῶν, ἀλλʼ ὅσα γεωργία δίδωσι καὶ φέρει, καὶ τούτων ὁπόσα μὴ χρηματιζόμενον ἀναγκάσειεν ἀμελεῖν ὧν ἕνεκα πέφυκε τὰ χρήματα·
Therefore, we say that there must be neither gold nor silver in the city, nor again much money-making through manual labor, interest, or disgraceful cattle-breeding, but only what agriculture gives and brings, and of these only so much as would not force a man, in making money, to neglect those things for the sake of which property naturally exists.
ταῦτα δʼ ἐστὶ ψυχὴ καὶ σῶμα, ἃ χωρὶς γυμναστικῆς καὶ τῆς ἄλλης παιδείας οὐκ ἄν ποτε γένοιτο ἄξια λόγου.
These are the soul and the body, which without gymnastics and the rest of education could never become worthy of mention.
διὸ δὴ χρημάτων ἐπιμέλειαν οὐχ ἅπαξ εἰρήκαμεν ὡς χρὴ τελευταῖον τιμᾶν·
Therefore, we have said more than once that the care of money must be honored last.
ὄντων γὰρ τριῶν τῶν ἁπάντων περὶ ἃ πᾶς ἄνθρωπος σπουδάζει, τελευταῖον καὶ τρίτον ἐστὶν ἡ τῶν χρημάτων ὀρθῶς σπουδαζομένη σπουδή, σώματος δὲ πέρι μέση, πρώτη δὲ ἡ τῆς ψυχῆς.
For of all the three things about which every human being is serious, the correct seriousness about money is the last and third, while that about the body is middle, and that about the soul is first.
§5.744ΑΘ. καὶ δὴ καὶ νῦν ἣν διεξερχόμεθα πολιτείαν, εἰ μὲν τὰς τιμὰς οὕτω τάττεται, ὀρθῶς νενομοθέτηται·
ATH.: And indeed, now, as for the constitution we are going through, if it arranges its honors in this way, it has been correctly legislated.
εἰ δέ τις τῶν προσταττομένων αὐτόθι νόμων σωφροσύνης ἔμπροσθεν ὑγίειαν ἐν τῇ πόλει φανεῖται ποιῶν τιμίαν, ἢ πλοῦτον ὑγιείας καὶ τοῦ σωφρονεῖν, οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἀναφανεῖται τιθέμενος.
But if any of the laws prescribed there appears to make health more honored in the city than temperance, or wealth more than health and temperance, it will show itself to be incorrectly established.
τοῦτʼ οὖν δὴ πολλάκις ἐπισημαίνεσθαι χρὴ τὸν νομοθέτην—τί τε βούλομαι;
Therefore, the legislator must frequently signal to himself: "What do I want?
καὶ εἴ μοι συμβαίνει τοῦτο ἢ καὶ ἀποτυγχάνω τοῦ σκοποῦ; —καὶ οὕτω τάχʼ ἂν ἴσως ἐκ τῆς νομοθεσίας αὐτός τε ἐκβαίνοι καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀπαλλάττοι, κατʼ ἄλλον δὲ τρόπον οὐδʼ ἂν ἕνα ποτέ.
And am I succeeding in this, or am I missing the mark?"—and in this way, perhaps, he might succeed in his legislation and free others from trouble, but in no other way whatsoever.
ὁ δὴ λαχὼν κεκτήσθω, φαμέν, τὸν κλῆρον ἐπὶ τούτοις οἷς εἰρήκαμεν.
Now, the one who has obtained the lot by drawing, we say, must possess the lot on these conditions which we have mentioned.
ἦν μὲν δὴ καλὸν καὶ τἆλλα ἴσα πάντʼ ἔχοντα ἕνα ἕκαστον ἐλθεῖν εἰς τὴν ἀποικίαν·
It would indeed have been beautiful for each and every one to come to the colony possessing all other things equal.
ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐ δυνατόν, ἀλλʼ ὁ μέν τις πλείω κεκτημένος ἀφίξεται χρήματα, ὁ δʼ ἐλάττονα, δεῖ δὴ πολλῶν ἕνεκα, τῶν τε κατὰ πόλιν καιρῶν ἰσότητος ἕνεκα, τιμήματα ἄνισα γενέσθαι, ἵνα ἀρχαί τε καὶ εἰσφοραὶ καὶ διανομαί, τὴν τῆς ἀξίας ἑκάστοις τιμὴν μὴ κατʼ ἀρετὴν μόνον τήν τε προγόνων καὶ τὴν αὑτοῦ, μηδὲ κατὰ σωμάτων ἰσχῦς καὶ εὐμορφίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ πλούτου χρῆσιν καὶ πενίαν, τὰς τιμάς τε καὶ ἀρχὰς ὡς ἰσαίτατα τῷ ἀνίσῳ συμμέτρῳ δὲ ἀπολαμβάνοντες μὴ διαφέρωνται.
But since it is impossible, and one will arrive possessing more property and another less, it is necessary for many reasons, including the equality of opportunities in the city, that there be unequal property assessments, so that offices, contributions, and distributions, receiving the value of worth for each not according to virtue alone, both of ancestors and of one's own, nor according to the strength and beauty of bodies, but also according to the use of wealth and poverty, may obtain honors and offices as equally as possible in an unequal but symmetrical way, so that they may not disagree.
τούτων χάριν τέτταρα μεγέθει τῆς οὐσίας τιμήματα ποιεῖσθαι χρεών, πρώτους καὶ δευτέρους καὶ τρίτους καὶ τετάρτους, ἤ τισιν ἄλλοις προσαγορευομένους ὀνόμασιν, ὅταν τε μένωσιν ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τιμήματι καὶ ὅταν πλουσιώτεροι ἐκ πενήτων καὶ ἐκ πλουσίων πένητες γιγνόμενοι μεταβαίνωσιν εἰς τὸ προσῆκον ἕκαστοι ἑαυτοῖσιν τίμημα.
For the sake of these things, it is necessary to make four assessments of property in size: first, second, third, and fourth, or called by any other names, both when they remain in the same assessment and when, becoming richer from poor or poor from rich, they move into the assessment appropriate to each of them.
τόδε δʼ ἐπὶ τούτοις αὖ νόμου σχῆμα ἔγωγε ἂν τιθείην ὡς ἑπόμενον.
And on these conditions, I would establish this form of law as following.
δεῖ γὰρ ἐν πόλει που, φαμέν, τῇ τοῦ μεγίστου νοσήματος οὐ μεθεξούσῃ, ὃ διάστασιν ἢ στάσιν ὀρθότερον ἂν εἴη κεκλῆσθαι, μήτε πενίαν τὴν χαλεπὴν ἐνεῖναι παρά τισιν τῶν πολιτῶν μήτε αὖ πλοῦτον, ὡς ἀμφοτέρων τικτόντων ταῦτα ἀμφότερα·
For we say that in a city that is not to participate in the greatest disease, which would more correctly be called division or faction, there must not be harsh poverty among some of the citizens, nor on the other hand wealth, since both of these produce both of these evils.
νῦν οὖν ὅρον δεῖ τούτων ἑκατέρου τὸν νομοθέτην φράζειν.
Now, therefore, the legislator must state the limit of each of these.
ἔστω δὴ πενίας μὲν ὅρος ἡ τοῦ κλήρου τιμή, ὃν δεῖ μένειν καὶ ὃν ἄρχων οὐδεὶς οὐδενί ποτε περιόψεται ἐλάττω γιγνόμενον, τῶν τε ἄλλων κατὰ ταὐτὰ οὐδεὶς ὅστις φιλότιμος ἐπʼ ἀρετῇ.
Let the limit of poverty be the value of the lot, which must remain and which no ruler will ever overlook becoming smaller for anyone, nor indeed will anyone else of those who are ambitious for virtue.