[1266b]
[1]
and he thought that this would not be difficult to
secure at the outset for cities in process of foundation, while in those already
settled, although it would be a more irksome task, nevertheless a levelling
would most easily be effected by the rich giving dowries but not receiving them
and the poor receiving but not giving them. Plato when writing the
Laws thought that up to a certain point inequality ought to
be allowed, but that no citizen should be permitted to acquire more land than
would make his estate five times the size of the smallest, as has also been said
before.But those who bring in legislation of this sort must also not
overlook this point, which is overlooked at present, that when regulating the
amount of property legislators ought also to regulate the size of the family;
for if the number of children becomes too large for the property, the law is
quite sure to be broken, and apart from the breach of the law it is a bad thing
that many citizens who were rich should become poor, for it is difficult for
such men not to be advocates of a new order. That a level standard of property affects the community of
the citizens in an important manner some men even in old times clearly have
recognized; for example there is the legislation of Solon, and other states have
a law prohibiting the acquisition of land to any amount that the individual may
desire; and similarly there is legislation to prevent the sale of estates, as at
Locri there is a law
[20]
that a man shall not sell unless he can
prove that manifest misfortune has befallen him and also there is legislation to
preserve the old allotments, and the repeal of this restriction at Leucas made the Leucadian constitution
excessively democratic, for it came about that the offices were no longer filled
from the established property-qualifications. But it is possible that equality of estates may be
maintained, but their size may be either too large and promote luxury, or too
small, causing a penurious standard of living; it is clear therefore that it is
not enough for the lawgiver to make the estates equal, but he must aim at
securing a medium size. And again, even if one prescribed a moderate property
for all, it would be of no avail, since it is more needful to level men's
desires than their properties, and this can only be done by an adequate system
of education enforced by law. But
perhaps Phaleas would say that he himself actually prescribes this, as he
considers it fundamentally necessary for states to have equality in these two
things, property and education. But the nature of the education needs to be
defined: it is no use merely for it to be one and the same for all, for it is
possible for all to have one and the same education but for this to be of such a
nature as to make them desirous of getting more than their share of money or
honor or both; moreover1 civil strife is caused not only by
inequality of property but also by inequality of honors, though the two motives
operate in opposite ways—the masses are discontented if possessions
are unequally distributed,
1 Probably the Greek should be altered to give ‘because’ instead of ‘moreover.’
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