Education of the Spartan Youths Their voice you would no more hear, than if they were of marble, their gaze is as immovable as if they were cast in bronze. You would deem them more modest than the very maidens in their eyes. In other states equals in age associate together, and such an atmosphere is little conducive to modesty. Whereas in Sparta Lycurgus was careful so to blend the […]
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“The Rise of the Roman Empire” by Polybius
The Roman Constitution The Roman Constitution has three interdependent elements: monarchy (The Consuls), aristocracy (The Senate) and democracy (The Tribunes of the People). Their respective share of power in the whole state are regulated with a scrupulous regard to equality and equilibrium. This, according to Aristotle, is the golden mean of the form of government. Polybius attributes the original conception of this type of constitution to Lycurgus, the Spartan lawgiver, […]
Read more“The Peloponnesian War” by Thucydides
The National Characters of Athens and Sparta The Athenians are addicted to innovation, and their designs are characterized by swiftness alike in conception and execution; you have a genius for keeping what you have got, accompanied by a total want of invention, and when forced to act you never go far enough. Again, they are adventurous beyond their power, and daring beyond their judgment, and in danger they are sanguine; […]
Read more“The Athenian Constitution” by Aristotle
The Constitution of Solon “Some persons in fact believe that Solon deliberately made the laws indefinite, in order that the final decision might be in the hands of the people [jurycourts]. This, however, is not probable, and the reason no doubt was that it is impossible to attain ideal perfection when framing a law in general terms; for we must judge of his intentions, not from the actual results in […]
Read more“Politics” by Aristotle
As is his custom, Aristotle first surveys the existing political theories, discusses their strong and weak points, and then provides his own theory, describing the different forms of government, the reason of their existence and the means of their maintenance. The Licence of the Lacedaemonian Women The old mythologer would seem to have been right in uniting Ares and Aphrodite, for all warlike races are prone to the love either […]
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