As I have now finished what was introductory to this
subject, and considered at large the nature of other
states, it now remains that I should first say what
ought to be the establishment of a city which one
should form according to one’s wish; for no good
state can exist without a moderate proportion of what
is necessary. Many things therefore ought to
be forethought of as desirable, but none of them such
as are impossible: I mean relative to the number
of citizens and the extent of the territory:
for as other artificers, such as the weaver and the
shipwright, ought to have such materials as are fit
for their work, since so much the better they are,
by so much [1326a] superior will the work itself necessarily
be; so also ought the legislator and politician endeavour
to procure proper materials for the business they
have in hand. Now the first and principal instrument
of the politician is the number of the people; he should
therefore know how many, and what they naturally ought
to be: in like manner the country, how large,
and what it is. Most persons think that it is
necessary for a city to be large to be happy:
but, should this be true, they cannot tell what is
a large one and what a small one; for according to
the multitude of the inhabitants they estimate the
greatness of it; but they ought rather to consider
its strength than its numbers; for a state has a certain
object in view, and from the power which it has in
itself of accomplishing it, its greatness ought to
be estimated; as a person might say, that Hippocrates
was a greater physician, though not a greater man,
than one that exceeded him in the size of his body:
but if it was proper to determine the strength of
the city from the number of the inhabitants, it should
never be collected from the multitude in general who
may happen to be in it; for in a city there must necessarily
be many slaves, sojourners, and foreigners; but from
those who are really part of the city and properly
constitute its members; a multitude of these is indeed
a proof of a large city, but in a state where a large
number of mechanics inhabit, and but few soldiers,
such a state cannot be great; for the greatness of
the city, and the number of men in it, are not the
same thing. This too is evident from fact, that
it is very difficult, if not impossible, to govern
properly a very numerous body of men; for of all the
states which appear well governed we find not one
where the rights of a citizen are open to an indiscriminate
multitude. And this is also evident from the nature
of the thing; for as law is a certain order, so good
law is of course a certain good order: but too
large a multitude are incapable of this, unless under
the government of that DIVINE POWER which comprehends
the universe. Not but that, as quantity and variety
are usually essential to beauty, the perfection of
a city consists in the largeness of it as far as that
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Politics: A Treatise on Government from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
