Precepts of Statecraft (30-32)

We ought not, however, on this account to be niggardly as to the customary public contributions,

if we are in prosperous circumstances; since the masses are more hostile to a rich man who does not give them a share of his private possessions than to a poor man who steals from the public funds, for they think the former’s conduct is due to arrogance and contempt of them, but the latter’s to necessity. First, then, let the gifts be made without bargaining for anything; for so they surprise and overcome the recipients more completely; and secondly they should be given on some occasion which offers a good and excellent pretext, one which is connected with the worship of a god and leads the people to piety; for at the same time there springs up in the minds of the masses a strong disposition to believe that the deity is great and majestic, when they see the men whom they themselves honour and regard as great so liberally and zealously vying with each other in honouring the divinity. Therefore, just as Plato[*] withheld the Lydian and the Ionian musical modes from the education of the young, because the one arouses that part of the soul which is inclined towards mourning and grief and the other strengthens that part which readily slips into pleasures and grows wanton, so you must, if possible, remove from the State all those free exhibitions which excite and nourish the murderous and brutal or the scurrilous and licentious spirit, or if you cannot do that, avoid them and oppose the multitude when they demand them. But always make the objects of your expenditures useful and moderate, having as their purpose either what is good or what is necessary, or at any rate what is pleasant and agreeable without anything harmful or outrageous in it.

But if your property is moderate and in relation

to your needs strictly circumscribed as by centre and radius, it is neither ignoble nor humiliating at all to confess your poverty and to withdraw from among those who have the means for public expenditures, instead of borrowing money and making yourself at once a pitiful and a ridiculous object in the matter of your public contributions; for men are plainly seen to lack resources when they keep annoying their friends or truckling to money-lenders; so that it is not reputation or power, but rather shame and contempt, which they acquire by such expenditures. And therefore it is always desirable in connexion with such things to remember Lamachus[*] and Phocion[*]; for the latter, when the Athenians at a sacrifice called upon him to contribute and repeatedly raised a clamour, said, I should be ashamed if I gave you a contribution and did not pay Callicles here what I owe him, pointing to his money-lender. And Lamachus always, when he was general, entered in his accounts money for shoes and a cloak for himself. And when Hermon tried to avoid office on the plea of poverty, the Thessalians voted to give him a flask[*] of wine monthly and a measure[*] of meal every four days. So it is not ignoble to confess poverty, and poor men, if by reason of their virtue they enjoy freedom of speech and public confidence, have no less influence in their cities than those who give public entertainments and exhibitions. The statesman must, then, do his best to control himself in such matters and not go down into the plain on foot to fight with cavalry; if he is poor, he must not produce foot-races, theatrical shows, and banquets in competition with the rich for reputation and power, but he should vie with those who try always to lead the State on the strength of virtue and wisdom, combined with reason, for in such are found not only nobility and dignity but also the power to win and attract the people, a thing more desirable than gold coins of Croesus.[*] For the good man is neither presumptuous nor offensive, and the prudent man is not over-blunt in speech, nor does he

Walk with a mien his townsmen bitter find,[*]

but in the first place he is affable and generally accessible and approachable for all, keeping his house always unlocked as a harbour of refuge for those in need, and showing his solicitude and friendliness, not only by acts of service, but also by sharing the griefs of those who fail and the joys of those who succeed; and he is in no way disagreeable or offensive by reason of the number of the servants who attend him at the bath or by appropriating seats at the theatre, nor is he conspicuous for invidious exhibitions of luxury and extravagance; but he is on an equal level with others in his clothing and daily life, in the bringing up of his children and as regards the servants who wait upon his wife, as one who wishes to live like the masses and be friendly with them. And, moreover, he shows himself a kindly counsellor, an advocate who accepts no fee, and a kind-hearted conciliator when husbands are at variance with their wives or friends with one another. He spends no small part of the day engaged in the public business on the orators’ platform of the senate or the assembly, and thenceforth all the rest of his life he

Draws to himself as north-east wind draws clouds[*]

services and commissions from every quarter. But since he is always devoting his thoughts to the public weal and regards public office as his life and his work, not, like most people, as an interruption to leisure and a compulsory expense, - by all these and similar qualities he turns and attracts the people towards himself, for they see that the flatteries and enticements of others are spurious and counterfeit when compared with his care and forethought. The flatterers of Demetrius would not address the other monarchs as kings, but called Seleucus Ruler of Elephants and Lysimachus Guardian of the Treasure and Ptolemy Admiral of the Fleet and Agathocles Lord of the Isles; but the multitude, even if at first they reject the good and wise man, afterwards, when they have become acquainted with his truthfulness and his character, consider him alone a statesmanlike, public-spirited man and a ruler, whereas they consider and call the others, one a provider of choruses, one a giver of banquets, and one a director of athletics. Then, just as at banquets, though Callias or Alcibiades pay the bill, it is Socrates to whom they listen, and Socrates on whom all eyes are turned, so in States in which the conditions are sound Ismenias makes contributions, Lichas gives dinners, and Niceratus provides choruses, but it is Epameinondas, Aristeides, and Lysander who are the rulers, public men, and generals. So, observing these things, we must not be humiliated or overwhelmed by the reputation with the masses gained from theatres, kitchens, and assembly-halls, remembering that it lasts but a short time and ends the minute the gladiatorial and dramatic shows are over, since there is nothing honourable or dignified in it.

Now those who are skilled in tending and keeping bees think that the hive which hums loudest and is most full of noise is thriving and in good condition; but he to whom God has given the care of the rational and political swarm will judge of its happiness chiefly by the quietness and tranquillity of the people; he will accept and imitate to the best of his ability the other precepts of Solon, but will wonder in great perplexity why that great man prescribed that in case of factional disorder whoever joined neither faction should be deprived of civic rights. For in a body afflicted with disease the beginning of a change to health does not come from the diseased parts, but it comes when the condition in the healthy parts gains strength and drives out that which is contrary to nature; and in a people afflicted with faction, if it is not dangerous and destructive but is destined to cease sometime, there must be a strong, permanent, and permeating admixture of sanity and soundness; for to this element there flows from the men of understanding that which is akin to it, and then it permeates the part which is diseased; but States which have fallen into complete disorder are utterly ruined unless they meet with some external necessity and chastisement and are thus forcibly compelled by their misfortunes to be reasonable. Yet certainly it is not fitting in time

of disorder to sit without feeling or grief, singing the praises of your own impassiveness and of the inactive and blessed life,[*] and rejoicing in the follies of others; on the contrary, at such times you should by all means put on the buskin of Theramenes,[*] conversing with both parties and joining neither; for you will appear to be, not an outsider by not joining in wrongdoing, but a common partisan of all by coming to their aid; and your not sharing in their misfortunes will not arouse envy, if it is plain that you sympathize with all alike. But the best thing is to see to it in advance that factional discord shall never arise among them and to regard this as the greatest and noblest function of what may be called the art of statesmanship. For observe that of the greatest blessings which States can enjoy, - peace, liberty, plenty, abundance of men, and concord, - so far as peace is concerned the peoples have no need of statesmanship at present; for all war, both Greek and foreign,[*] has been banished from among us and has disappeared; and of liberty the peoples have as great a share as our rulers grant them, and perhaps more would not be better for them; but bounteous productiveness of the soil, kindly tempering of the seasons, that wives may bear children like to their sires,[*] and that the offspring may live in safety - these things the wise man will ask the gods in his prayers to grant his fellow-citizens.

There remains, then, for the statesman, of those activities which fall within his province, only this - and it is the equal of any of the other blessings: - always to instil concord and friendship in those who dwell together with him and to remove strifes, discords, and all enmity. He will talk, as in the case of quarrels among friends, first with the persons who think they are the more aggrieved, and will appear to share their feeling of wrong and anger, then he will try in this way to mollify them and teach them that those who let wrongs go unheeded are superior to those who are quarrelsome and try to compel and overcome others, not only in reasonableness and character, but also in wisdom and greatness of spirit, and that by yielding in a small thing they gain their point in the best and most important matters. Then he will instruct his people both individually and collectively and will call attention to the weak condition of Greek affairs, in which it is best for wise men to accept one advantage - a life of harmony and quiet - since fortune has left us no prize open for competition. For what dominion, what glory is there for those who are victorious? What sort of power is it which a small edict of a proconsul may annul or transfer to another man and which, even if it last, has nothing in it seriously worth while? But just as a conflagration does not often begin in sacred or public places, but some lamp left neglected in a house or some burnt rubbish causes a great flame and works public destruction, so disorder in a State is not always kindled by contentions about public matters, but frequently differences arising from private affairs and offences pass thence into public life and throw the whole State into confusion.

Therefore it behoves the statesman above all things to remedy or prevent these, that some of them may not arise at all and some may be quickly ended and others may not grow great and extend to public interests, but may remain merely among the persons who are at odds with one another. He should do this by noticing himself and pointing out to others that private troubles become the causes of public ones and small troubles of great ones, if they are overlooked and do not in the beginning receive treatment or soothing counsel.

For example, at Delphi the greatest insurrection is said to have been caused by Crates, whose daughter was to be married to Orsilaüs, the son of Phalis; but then, when at the betrothal the mixing-bowl broke in the middle of its own accord, Orsilaüs regarded that as an omen, left his bride, and went away with his father. But Crates a little later, secretly putting a sacred object of gold into their possession while they were sacrificing, caused Orsilaüs and his brother to be hurled over the precipice without trial and later slew some of their friends and relatives when they were suppliants in the sanctuary of Athena-before-the-Temple. But after many such things had taken place the Delphians put Crates and his fellow-partisans to death, and with their property, which had been declared accursed, they built the lower temples. And at Syracuse there were two young men, intimate friends, one of whom, being entrusted with his friend’s beloved for safe-keeping, seduced him while the other was away; then the latter, as if to repay outrage with outrage, committed adultery with the offender’s wife. Thereupon one of the elder men came forward in the senate and

moved that both be banished before the State reap the result and be infected with enmity through them. His motion, however, was not carried, and from this beginning disorder arose which caused great disasters and overthrew the most excellent government. And indeed you yourself also no doubt have excellent examples at home in the enmity of Pardalas and Tyrrhenus, which came near to destroying Sardis by involving the State in rebellion and war as the result of petty private matters.

Therefore the statesman should not despise such offences as may, like diseases in a person, spread quickly, but he should take hold of them, suppress them, and cure them. For by attention, as Cato says, the great is made small and the small is reduced to nothing. And for this there is no more persuasive device than for the statesman to show himself in his private differences mild and conciliatory, persisting without anger in his original reasons for disagreement, and treating no one with contentiousness, anger, or any other passion which injects harsha ness and bitterness into unavoidable disputes. For we put soft gloves on the hands of those who compete in the boxing-school, that the contest may not have a fatal result, its blows being soft and not painful; and in law-suits against one’s fellow-citizens it is better to treat the causes of disagreement pure and simple in one’s pleading, and not, by sharpening and poisoning matters, as if they were darts or arrows, with bad words, malice, and threats, to make them incurable, great, and of public importance.

For a man who proceeds in this way towards those with whom he himself has to do will find that others also yield to him; and rivalries affecting public interests, if private enmities are done away with, become of slight importance and do no serious or incurable harm.