§4.1293bἀριστοκρατίαν μὲν οὖν καλῶς ἔχει καλεῖν περὶ ἧς διήλθομεν ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις λόγοις (τὴν γὰρ ἐκ τῶν ἀρίστων ἁπλῶς κατʼ ἀρετὴν πολιτείαν καὶ μὴ πρὸς ὑπόθεσίν τινα ἀγαθῶν ἀνδρῶν μόνην δίκαιον προσαγορεύειν ἀριστοκρατίαν·
It is well, then, to call aristocracy that constitution which we discussed in the first discourses; for it is just to address as aristocracy only that constitution which is made of those who are absolutely best in virtue, and not merely good men relative to some hypothesis.
ἐν μόνῃ γὰρ ἁπλῶς ὁ αὐτὸς ἀνὴρ καὶ πολίτης ἀγαθός ἐστιν, οἱ δʼ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις ἀγαθοὶ πρὸς τὴν πολιτείαν εἰσὶ τὴν αὑτῶν)·
For in that constitution alone is the same man absolutely both good and a good citizen, whereas those who are good in the other constitutions are so relative to their own.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ εἰσί τινες αἳ πρός τε τὰς ὀλιγαρχουμένας ἔχουσι διαφορὰς καὶ πρὸς τὴν καλουμένην πολιτείαν.
Nevertheless, there are some constitutions which have differences both from oligarchical ones and from the so-called "politeia" (constitution).
ὅπου γὰρ μὴ μόνον πλουτίνδην ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀριστίνδην αἱροῦνται τὰς ἀρχάς, αὕτη ἡ πολιτεία διαφέρει τε ἀμφοῖν καὶ ἀριστοκρατικὴ καλεῖται.
For where they choose the offices not only by wealth but also by merit, this constitution differs from both of them and is called aristocratic.
καὶ γὰρ ἐν ταῖς μὴ ποιουμέναις κοινὴν ἐπιμέλειαν ἀρετῆς εἰσὶν ὅμως τινὲς οἱ εὐδοκιμοῦντες καὶ δοκοῦντες εἶναι ἐπιεικεῖς.
For even in those constitutions which do not make a common care of virtue, there are nevertheless some who are highly esteemed and thought to be respectable.
ὅπου οὖν ἡ πολιτεία βλέπει εἴς τε πλοῦτον καὶ ἀρετὴν καὶ δῆμον, οἷον ἐν Καρχηδόνι, αὕτη ἀριστοκρατική ἐστιν, καὶ ἐν αἷς εἰς τὰ δύο μόνον, οἷον ἡ Λακεδαιμονίων, εἴς τε ἀρετὴν καὶ δῆμον, καὶ ἔστι μίξις τῶν δύο τούτων, δημοκρατίας τε καὶ ἀρετῆς.
Where, then, the constitution looks to wealth, virtue, and the people, as in Carthage, this is aristocratic, as are also those which look to only two of these, like that of the Lacedaemonians, which looks to virtue and the people, and is a mixture of these two, democracy and virtue.
ἀριστοκρατίας μὲν οὖν παρὰ τὴν πρώτην τὴν ἀρίστην πολιτείαν ταῦτα δύο εἴδη, καὶ τρίτον ὅσαι τῆς καλουμένης πολιτείας ῥέπουσι πρὸς τὴν ὀλιγαρχίαν μᾶλλον.
These, then, are two forms of aristocracy besides the first, which is the best constitution, and a third is as many of the so-called politeia as incline more toward oligarchy.
λοιπὸν δʼ ἐστὶν ἡμῖν περί τε τῆς ὀνομαζομένης πολιτείας εἰπεῖν καὶ περὶ τυραννίδος.
It remains for us to speak about both the so-called politeia and about tyranny.
ἐτάξαμεν δʼ οὕτως οὐκ οὖσαν οὔτε ταύτην παρέκβασιν οὔτε τὰς ἄρτι ῥηθείσας ἀριστοκρατίας, ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἀληθὲς πᾶσαι διημαρτήκασι τῆς ὀρθοτάτης πολιτείας, ἔπειτα καταριθμοῦνται μετὰ τούτων εἰσί τʼ αὐτῶν αὗται παρεκβάσεις ἅσπερ ἐν τοῖς κατʼ ἀρχὴν εἴπομεν.
We have arranged them in this way because neither this nor the aristocracies just mentioned are deviations, since, in truth, all of them have missed the most correct constitution, and furthermore, they are numbered along with these, and these are themselves deviations of them, just as we said in the beginning.
τελευταῖον δὲ περὶ τυραννίδος εὔλογόν ἐστι ποιήσασθαι μνείαν διὰ τὸ πασῶν ἥκιστα ταύτην εἶναι πολιτείαν, ἡμῖν δὲ τὴν μέθοδον εἶναι περὶ πολιτείας.
And it is reasonable to make mention of tyranny last of all, because this is the least of all a constitution, and our inquiry is about constitutions.
διʼ ἣν μὲν οὖν αἰτίαν τέτακται τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον, εἴρηται· νῦν δὲ δεικτέον ἡμῖν περὶ πολιτείας.
For what reason, then, it has been arranged in this manner has been stated; and now we must show concerning the politeia.
φανερωτέρα γὰρ ἡ δύναμις αὐτῆς διωρισμένων τῶν περὶ ὀλιγαρχίας καὶ δημοκρατίας.
For its power is more manifest now that the matters concerning oligarchy and democracy have been defined.
ἔστι γὰρ ἡ πολιτεία ὡς ἁπλῶς εἰπεῖν μίξις ὀλιγαρχίας καὶ δημοκρατίας.
For the politeia is, to speak simply, a mixture of oligarchy and democracy.
εἰώθασι δὲ καλεῖν τὰς μὲν ἀποκλινούσας πρὸς τὴν δημοκρατίαν πολιτείας, τὰς δὲ πρὸς τὴν ὀλιγαρχίαν μᾶλλον ἀριστοκρατίας διὰ τὸ μᾶλλον ἀκολουθεῖν παιδείαν καὶ εὐγένειαν τοῖς εὐπορωτέροις.
And they are accustomed to call those that decline toward democracy "politeia", and those that incline more toward oligarchy "aristocracy", because education and noble birth are more attendant upon the wealthier class.
ἔτι δὲ δοκοῦσιν ἔχειν οἱ εὔποροι ὧν ἕνεκεν οἱ ἀδικοῦντες ἀδικοῦσιν· ὅθεν καὶ καλοὺς κἀγαθοὺς καὶ γνωρίμους τούτους προσαγορεύουσιν.
Furthermore, the wealthy are thought to possess those things for the sake of which wrongdoers commit wrongs; hence people also address them as the "noble and good" and "notables".
ἐπεὶ οὖν ἡ ἀριστοκρατία βούλεται τὴν ὑπεροχὴν ἀπονέμειν τοῖς ἀρίστοις τῶν πολιτῶν, καὶ τὰς ὀλιγαρχίας εἶναί φασιν ἐκ τῶν καλῶν κἀγαθῶν μᾶλλον.
Since, therefore, aristocracy wishes to distribute preeminence to the best of the citizens, they say that oligarchies also consist more of the noble and good.