Nicocles or the Cyprians (13-16)

and, second, that I hold this office, not illegally nor as a usurper, but with the just sanction of gods and men, and by virtue of my earliest ancestors, and of my father and of myself. For, once these claims have been established, who will not condemn himself to the severest punishment if he fails to heed my counsels and commands?

Speaking, then, of forms of government (for this was the subject I set out to lay before you), I imagine that we all believe that it is altogether monstrous[*] that the good and the bad should be thought worthy of the same privileges, and that it is of the very essence of justice that distinctions should be made between them, and that those who are unlike should not be treated alike but should fare and be rewarded in each case according to their deserts.

Now oligarchies and democracies seek equality for those who share in the administration of them; and the doctrine is in high favor in those governments that one man should not have the power to get more than another—a principle which works in the interest of the worthless! Monarchies, on the other hand, make the highest award to the best man, the next highest to the next best, and in the same proportion to the third and the fourth and so on. Even if this practice does not obtain everywhere, such at least is the intention of the polity.

And, mark you, monarchies more than other governments keep an appraising eye upon the characters and actions of men, as everyone will admit. Who, then, that is of sound mind would not prefer to share in a form of government under which his own worth shall not pass unnoticed, rather than be lost in the hurly-burly of the mob and not be recognized for what he is? Furthermore, we should be right in pronouncing monarchy also a milder government, in proportion as it is easier to give heed to the will of a single person than to seek to please many and manifold minds.