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Aristotle · Politics §5.1302b

Specific Causes of Faction and Constitutional Change

Passage 92 of 155 · Greek

Summary

The text lists the specific causes of faction (such as insolence, gain, honor, superiority, fear, contempt, and disproportionate growth) and explains with historical examples how these lead to constitutional change and civil strife.

§5.1302bἀλλʼ ἑτέρους ὁρῶντες τοὺς μὲν δικαίως τοὺς δʼ ἀδίκως πλεονεκτοῦντας τούτων·
but because they see others, some justly and others unjustly, getting more of these things.
ἔτι διὰ ὕβριν, διὰ φόβον, διὰ ὑπεροχήν, διὰ καταφρόνησιν, διὰ αὔξησιν τὴν παρὰ τὸ ἀνάλογον· ἔτι δὲ ἄλλον τρόπον διʼ ἐριθείαν, διʼ ὀλιγωρίαν, διὰ μικρότητα, διὰ ἀνομοιότητα.
Further, they rebel because of insolence, because of fear, because of superiority, because of contempt, because of disproportionate growth; and in another way because of party rivalry, because of negligence, because of smallness, because of dissimilarity.
Τούτων δὲ ὕβρις μὲν καὶ κέρδος τίνα ἔχουσι δύναμιν καὶ πῶς αἴτια, σχεδόν ἐστι φανερόν·
Of these, what power insolence and gain have, and how they are causes, is pretty clear.
ὑβριζόντων τε γὰρ τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἀρχαῖς καὶ πλεονεκτούντων στασιάζουσι καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ πρὸς τὰς πολιτείας τὰς διδούσας τὴν ἐξουσίαν· ἡ δὲ πλεονεξία γίνεται ὁτὲ μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων ὁτὲ δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν κοινῶν.
For when those in office act insolently and grasp for more, men rebel both against one another and against the constitutions that give them the power; and this grabbing of more occurs sometimes at the expense of private property and sometimes of public property.
—δῆλον δὲ καὶ ἡ τιμή, καὶ τί δύναται καὶ πῶς αἰτία στάσεως· καὶ γὰρ αὐτοὶ ἀτιμαζόμενοι καὶ ἄλλους ὁρῶντες τιμωμένους στασιάζουσιν· ταῦτα δὲ ἀδίκως μὲν γίνεται ὅταν παρὰ τὴν ἀξίαν ἢ τιμῶνταί τινες ἢ ἀτιμάζωνται, δικαίως δὲ ὅταν κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν.
It is also clear about honor, both what power it has and how it is a cause of faction; for men also rebel when they are themselves dishonored and when they see others honored; and these things happen unjustly when some are honored or dishonored contrary to their merit, and justly when it is according to their merit.
—διʼ ὑπεροχὴν δέ, ὅταν τις ᾖ τῇ δυνάμει μείζων (ἢ εἷς ἢ πλείους) ἢ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ πολιτεύματος· γίνεσθαι γὰρ εἴωθεν ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων μοναρχία ἢ δυναστεία·
Faction because of superiority occurs when someone (either one person or more) is greater in power than is in proportion to the city and the power of its government; for from such men a monarchy or a dynasty is accustomed to arise.
διὸ ἐνιαχοῦ εἰώθασιν ὀστρακίζειν, οἷον ἐν Ἄργει καὶ Ἀθήνησιν· καίτοι βέλτιον ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὁρᾶν ὅπως μὴ ἐνέσονται τοσοῦτον ὑπερέχοντες, ἢ ἐάσαντας γενέσθαι ἰᾶσθαι ὕστερον.
Therefore in some places they are accustomed to ostracize them, as in Argos and Athens; though it is better from the beginning to see to it that there are no men of such outstanding superiority, rather than to allow them to arise and then to cure it afterwards.
—διὰ δὲ φόβον στασιάζουσιν οἵ τε ἠδικηκότες, δεδιότες μὴ δῶσι δίκην, καὶ οἱ μέλλοντες ἀδικεῖσθαι, βουλόμενοι φθάσαι πρὶν ἀδικηθῆναι, ὥσπερ ἐν Ῥόδῳ συνέστησαν οἱ γνώριμοι ἐπὶ τὸν δῆμον διὰ τὰς ἐπιφερομένας δίκας.
Because of fear, men rebel both when they have committed injustice and are afraid of paying the penalty, and when they are about to suffer injustice and wish to forestall it before they suffer, just as in Rhodes the notables coalesced against the people because of the lawsuits brought against them.
—διὰ καταφρόνησιν δὲ καὶ στασιάζουσι καὶ ἐπιτίθενται, οἷον ἔν τε ταῖς ὀλιγαρχίαις, ὅταν πλείους ὦσιν οἱ μὴ μετέχοντες τῆς πολιτείας (κρείττους γὰρ οἴονται εἶναι), καὶ ἐν ταῖς δημοκρατίαις οἱ εὔποροι καταφρονήσαντες τῆς ἀταξίας καὶ ἀναρχίας, οἷον καὶ ἐν Θήβαις μετὰ τὴν ἐν Οἰνοφύτοις μάχην κακῶς πολιτευομένων ἡ δημοκρατία διεφθάρη, καὶ ἡ Μεγαρέων διʼ ἀταξίαν καὶ ἀναρχίαν ἡττηθέντων, καὶ ἐν Συρακούσαις πρὸ τῆς Γέλωνος τυραννίδος, καὶ ἐν Ῥόδῳ ὁ δῆμος πρὸ τῆς ἐπαναστάσεως.
Because of contempt, men both rebel and attack, for instance in oligarchies, when those who have no share in the constitution are more numerous (for they think they are stronger), and in democracies, when the wealthy look down on the disorder and anarchy, as in Thebes after the battle of Oenophyta the democracy was destroyed because of bad government, and that of the Megarians when they were defeated through disorder and anarchy, and in Syracuse before the tyranny of Gelon, and in Rhodes the people before the uprising.
γίνονται δὲ καὶ διʼ αὔξησιν τὴν παρὰ τὸ ἀνάλογον μεταβολαὶ τῶν πολιτειῶν.
Changes in constitutions also occur because of disproportionate growth.
ὥσπερ γὰρ σῶμα ἐκ μερῶν σύγκειται καὶ δεῖ αὐξάνεσθαι ἀνάλογον ἵνα μένῃ ἡ συμμετρία, εἰ δὲ μή, φθείρεται, ὅταν ὁ μὲν ποὺς τεττάρων πηχῶν ᾖ τὸ δʼ ἄλλο σῶμα δυοῖν σπιθαμαῖν, ἐνίοτε δὲ κἂν εἰς ἄλλου ζῴου μεταβάλοι μορφήν, εἰ μὴ μόνον κατὰ τὸ ποσὸν ἀλλὰ καὶ κατὰ τὸ ποιὸν αὐξάνοιτο παρὰ τὸ ἀνάλογον, οὕτω καὶ πόλις σύγκειται ἐκ μερῶν,
For just as a body is composed of parts and must grow in proportion so that symmetry remains, and if not, it is ruined, as when the foot is four cubits long and the rest of the body only two spans, and sometimes it might even change into the shape of another animal if it should grow disproportionately not only in quantity but also in quality, so also a city is composed of parts,

Notes

  1. 1302b1τούτων — The genitive `τούτων` is governed by the participle `πλεονεκτοῦντας`, referring back to gain and honor (`κέρδος` and `tiμή`) mentioned in the preceding context. It establishes the syntactic connection that men rebel not to acquire these for themselves, but because they see others gaining an unfair excess (`πλεονεκτοῦντας`) of them.
  2. 1302b17ἢ κατὰ τὴν πόλιν — The combination of `ἤ` after the comparative `μείζων` (1302b16) with the preposition `κατά` (according to, in proportion to). It expresses the idea of being "disproportionately greater" in comparison to the scale of the city and the power of its government.
  3. 1302b19ἐάσαντας — The accusative participle `ἐάσαντας` agrees with the unexpressed subject of the impersonal construction `βέλτιον [ἐστι]`, which refers to the citizens or lawgivers in general. It acts as the subject of the infinitive `ἰᾶσθαι` in the second half of the comparison, contrasting with `ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὁρᾶν`.

Cite this passage

Aristotle, Politics §5.1302b. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg035.humanitext-grc2:5.1302b

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