politics

Chapter 15 Volume (B) II (7)
Germanic antiquity had a similar habit.This section talks about the legal system to the more primitive etiquette and customs.In terms of political research, in addition to collecting the "political systems" (Πoλιεα) of various Greek states, Aristotle also cataloged the "customs" (Voμμα) of barbaric nations. , there is a criminal law on homicide, as long as the accuser has a close relative as a witness, the defendant can be convicted of a felony.Human beings generally choose good things to follow, not completely follow the tradition of their fathers, but stick to the old system of their ancestors.The primitive humans we know, whether he is a "native resident" or a "remnant of a certain catastrophe." Ancient Greece has two theories about the origin of human beings, (1) "Native inhabitants" (γηγενε), see Bindar's poem "Nemi Sub-section Song (pindar, Nemeonicae) vi 108; Shixiwotu's "Work and Season" 482.The ancient philosopher Anaximander agreed with this.Euripides' play "Ion" (Ion) [-], mentioned that Ion still insisted that "the earth is the mother of mankind".

(676) Plato's "Laws" 781, 22, "Timaeus" 762, etc. speculate that human beings have existed for tens of millions of years and will exist for tens of millions of years in the future; or they have no beginning and no end, but they rise and fall.Aristotle also said that the world and human beings have always existed and will exist forever.This is consistent with the statement that today's human beings are "remnants of a certain (previous) catastrophe" (εκΦθορs ινòs σθησαν).Aristotle believed that the catastrophe could be a flood or a severe drought ("Meteorology" Vol. 28, Chapter 5).Aristotle has two theories; "Procreation" Volume III Chapter 10 [-]b[-], and said that it is necessary to study the theory of "native birth", but he is more inclined to the "disaster theory". , [-] can generally be understood as similar to the situation of the stupid peoples that are encountered by chance nowadays, and the stories circulated among the primitive "natives" are indeed very ignorant.It would be absurd to regard the old and the old as precious.Many original customs (unwritten laws) must be abolished or revised, and the written laws that will be drawn up in the future will also change with the times. [-] In politics, as in other disciplines, it is impossible to write every general rule precisely and exhaustively: every written rule recorded in a common vocabulary cannot fully capture the wide variety of behaviors of people.The early laws and regulations were not very comprehensive and vague, and they had to undergo rapid changes based on countless individual experiences of human beings.

But even if we are familiar with the reasons why the law needs to be changed under what circumstances and when, we still need to pay attention to another argument: 15 Change is indeed a major event worthy of careful consideration.It is not a society's happiness if people get used to hasty change.If the reforms do not yield greater benefits, we shall retain for the time being some of the defects contained in the law and government, which would lose their prestige if the course were changed.In this way, the benefits obtained from the reform are not enough to offset the losses caused by the change of course.The above analogy between politics and other arts 1268b34 above is not quite consistent; changes in law are very different from changes in arts.The reason why the law can be obeyed depends on the obedience of the people, and only long-term cultivation can form the habit of the people to abide by the law. If various legal systems are easily abolished and modified, the habit of the people to abide by the law will inevitably weaken, and the law Prestige also weakened.There are other difficulties in changing the law. 20 Even if we admit that the law needs to be changed, we must study whether it is a comprehensive or partial change in the entire legal and political system, and whether the change requires anyone who is willing to innovate. to operate or can only be handled by certain people.The selection of these arguments is very important, and we will not discuss them in detail for the time being, and there will be appropriate comments in the future, but these topics are not discussed later in this book. .

Chapter Nine The first eight chapters of this volume comment on the model political systems drawn up by the predecessors, and the last four chapters comment on the state regimes with relatively complete and well-governed scales in history.The purpose of the whole volume is to find out the pros and cons of the past, and to make advance arrangements for an ideal city-state for oneself.

In the discussion of Lacedaemon (Sparta) "Lacedaemon" is the main city in the territory of "Lageni", and the urban area is also called "Sparta".The Spartans are famous for their brave and straightforward character. Later generations often refer to the Spartans as the Ragennis.This book often uses the word "Lacedaemon" first and then the word "Lageni" in the same chapter; this example is also found in Chapter 30, etc. of "The Constitution of Athens".In discussing the constitution of Crete, or rather of any city-state, two points should be attended to:35 First, whether all their laws are good or bad in comparison with the best (model) constitutions. Second, whether various practical facilities comply with the program of the original legislation and whether they are consistent with the purpose of the founding of the country.Almost all thinkers admit that in a politically prosperous city-state, everyone must have "free time" and cannot be kept busy all their lives because of the needs of daily life, but how to make the public have such free time, [-] is a puzzle.The Penestea system in Thessaly was one way of getting spare time, but the serfs often rebelled against their masters who had spare time; The provocation of the Spartans, they seemed to be an army lurking in the bushes, ready to strike (revolt) at the first opportunity.

But in Crete, such a thing as 40 has never happened.Perhaps the reason why there was no serf (Beliot) rebellion in Crete was that although the neighbors of the island were hostile to it, each state had its own serfs, and they never had contact with the Cretan serfs in war, 1269b and agreed with them to jointly attack the Cretans. The Cretan serfs were called "Beilioji" (περοικο) ("Border Residents"). According to page 706 of "Strebo", they were called Cretan serfs The reason for not rebelling is "Afumi bird too" (óμιοαι), see 1264a21, 1272b18. .But Ragenni's neighbors, such as the Argives, Messenians, and Acadians, are all its enemies. This is the root cause of the frequent rebellion (uprising) of Helutai serfs. The mountainous area of ​​the Nisa Peninsula (note 1261a29).Messinia was often invaded and plundered by the Spartans. Among the Spartan serfs, the Messinians were the most, and the two countries became feuds.The city of Argos is a big state adjacent to Sparta.Homer's "Iliad" (ⅸ 141) called "Argos of Arcadia, to be distinguished from Argos of Thessaly, the latter Argos, "Iliad" (ii 681) called Argos for Bellas season. Argos as a place name generally refers to the states of Peloponnese and Thessaly.

According to the meaning of Aristotle in this verse, it seems that Argos and other three states are different from the neighboring states of Crete in that none of them have serfs, so they can incite and contact Spartan serfs to jointly attack Sparta.But volume 1303, chapter 8 1518a83, when talking about Argos, pointed out that there were also serfs in that state.Argos’ “Gumnaidi” (γυμνηs) is similar to “Frontier Residents” (see note 5 in the second edition of “Su Xiao”). Vi 10 of "Herodotus" also records the account of the Argos slave uprising. .The same is true for the example of Thessaly. [-] When Thessaly is attacked, that is, when the Acadians, Bellebi, and Magnesians invade, there will be a rebellion (uprising) by the serfs of Thessaly. .Furthermore, even if the state was not in trouble, managing the serfs was not an easy task.It is difficult to balance the means of managing serfs: if they are too lenient and do not whip them, they will become more wanton and gradually develop the idea of ​​equality with their masters;This shows that it is difficult to build the best and stable political organization in a city-state that only relies on the Helutai (serf) system to seek comfort for the rulers and citizens.

Another aspect of the Lacedaemonian system that should be criticized is the indulgence of women.In fact, the insolence of Spartan women was contrary to the original purpose of Spartan legislation, and harmful to the public happiness of the whole state. 15 Just as a husband and wife form a family, so a city-state can be seen as a combination of men and women in very similar numbers.So, in any polity, if the status of women is not clearly defined, half of the civic bodies are lacking governance.This is what happened to Sparta. 20. At the beginning, the legislator enacted the Spartan laws to make the citizens of the whole country work hard. It can be said that his wish was half realized. Such a character has indeed been seen in the Spartan men.But he completely neglected women, so they have been dissolute and lived in luxury. Euripides' play "Andromeda" (Andromeda) 575 also accused Spartan women of debauchery.Plato's "Utopia" 548B points out that Spartan women are extravagant; but "Law" 806A says that Spartan women are very capable in managing their families and raising children. .Such a regime inevitably leads to the worship of wealth, especially among citizens who listen to women and are manipulated by them.

As long as it is a military-like and warlike race, these situations often occur, and only the Kerds refer to the "north" in the upper reaches of the Istros River (Istros (now the Danube)) in the ancient Greeks. The nation is mixed with the tribes in Germania and other regions (see "Niron", Volume 25 1115b26, "Meteorology" Volume 350 36a603).The Germanic nation loves war, but women are not immoral, which can be seen in "Athena" 199a, "Strebo" iv1272 and other books.And those nations that openly recognize homosexual love are exceptions, and they may refer to barbarian nations, or Cretans (24a1492) and Kalkians ("Aristocratic Fragments" 22 31b40), or The Thebes (Tifo) mentioned in this section. However, the phenomenon of women's immorality in these two ethnic groups is also rare.Ancient mythologists used their wisdom to pair Alei (God of War) and Aphrodite Ring (God of Love). Rerum Natura) Vol. [-]:[-]-[-].

Ancient Greek poems, such as Sisiwotu's "Theogony" 933, Bindar's "Pythionikae" (Pythionikae) iv 155, Eschelu's play "Aeschylus, Septc Theb" (Aeschylus, Septc Theb), Both are gods. , its intentions are meaningful.Historical facts have proved to us that all warlike nations are basically lustful, whether it is female or male.Because of the Rageni's love for women, many powers in the state fell into the hands of women in the heyday of their country.Is there a difference between women ruling those in power or women actually taking power?All the same result.Women's influence has multiple effects.As far as bravery is concerned, this is a unique temperament of a warrior nation,30 which is not needed in women's daily life. As a result, Sparta's original masculinity was once offset by femininity, resulting in the worst results.When raided by Thebes, Spartan women were far less alarmed than those of other states. 35 Spartan men were more disturbed by women than by enemy raids. See Xenophon's " Greek History (Hellenica) Volume VI Chapter Five 40; Plutarch's Agesilaus Biography (Agesilaus) 28.When Sparta was in its heyday, wars were fought in enemy countries. Women were not used to seeing battles. When the Thebes invaded, they panicked and disturbed the soldiers. .

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