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[1348b]
[1]
at which he
declared that the other party was offering him money if he would favor their
pretensions; that he, however, preferred to receive from those now before him,
and to entrust to them the administration of the city. On hearing this, they
immediately contributed the money he asked, and gave it him. Thereupon he told
the other party what he had received from them; and they in turn promised him at
least an equal amount. Having thus taken the money of both factions, he effected
a reconciliation between them.He also observed
that there were many law-suits pending between the citizens, and that they had
grave and long-standing plaints against one another which had arisen in course
of war. He therefore appointed a tribunal, and made proclamation that all who
failed to appear before it within a stated period should lose the right to a
legal decision of their outstanding claims. Then, by taking into his own hands
the court-fees for a number of suits, and also those appeal-cases which involved
penalties, and receiving [through others] money from both sides, he obtained
altogether a very considerable sum. The people of Clazomenae, suffering from
dearth of grain and scarcity of funds, passed a resolution that any private
citizens who had stores of oil should lend it to the State at
interest;
[20]
this being a produce
which their land bears in abundance. The loan arranged, they hired vessels and
sent them to the depots whence they obtained their grain, <and bought a
consignment> on security of the value of the oil.The same people, owing their mercenaries twenty talents of pay
and being unable to find it, were giving the leaders of the troop four talents
of interest each year. But failing to reduce the capital debt, and committed to
this fruitless drain on their revenue, they struck an iron coinage of twenty
talents, bearing the face-value of the silver. This they distributed
proportionately among the wealthiest citizens, and received from them silver to
the same amount. Through this expedient, the private citizens possessed a
currency which was good for their daily needs, and the state was relieved of its
debt. Next, they proceeded to pay interest out of revenue to those who had
advanced the silver; and little by little distributed repayment among them,
recalling at the same time the currency of iron.1
The
people of Selybria had a law, passed in time of famine, which forbade the export
of grain. On one occasion, however, they were in need of funds; and as they
possessed large stores of grain, they passed a resolution that citizens should
deliver up their corn to the state at the regular fixed price,
1 Plut. Lycurgus speaks of an iron currency at Sparta, and Seneca De beneficiis of a leather one. These, not being exchangeable abroad, threw the nation upon its own resources and prevented the import of luxuries.
Aristotle. Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 18, translated by G.C. Armstrong. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1935.
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