Humanitext Reader

Theophrastus · Fragments §129.1

The Superiority of Harmosts as a Title for Governors

Passage 134 of 196 · Greek

Summary

Theophrastus evaluates the Lacedaemonian practice of calling their city governors 'harmosts' rather than 'episkopoi' or 'phylakes' as the Athenians did, from the perspective of the elegance of the naming.

§129.1Fr. 129 Θ. ἐν πρώτῳ τῶν πολιτικῶν τῶν πρὸς καιροὺς φηοσὶν οὕτως· πολλῷ γὰρ κάλλιον κατά γε τὴν τοῦ ὀνόματος θέσιν ὡς οἱ Λάκωνες ἁρμοστὰς φάσκοντες εἰς τὰς πόλεις πέμπειν, οὐκ ἐπισκόπους οὐδὲ φύλακας ὡς Ἀθηναῖοι.
\nFr. 129\nTheophrastus in the first book of the Politics on Seasons speaks as follows:\nFor it is much better, at least with regard to the giving of the name, to send [governors] to the cities, as the Lacedaemonians do, calling them "harmosts", and not "episkopoi" or "phylakes", as the Athenians do.

Notes

  1. §129.1πολλῷ γὰρ κάλλιον ... πέμπειν — A structure where the infinitive πέμπειν depends as the subject on the impersonal comparative expression κάλλιον [ἐστί]. The comparative clauses introduced by ὡς are inserted to contrast Spartan and Athenian practices of appointing city governors.
  2. §129.1ἁρμοστὰς φάσκοντες — The participle φάσκοντες (from φάσκω) takes the predicate accusative ἁρμοστάς, with the omission of a complementary infinitive such as εἶναι. It means 'claiming them to be harmosts' or 'calling them harmosts'.

Cite this passage

Theophrastus, Fragments §129.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0093.tlg010x09.humanitext-grc1:129.1

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