politics

Chapter 54 Volume (E) Five (12)
In general, the means of preserving monarchies of all kinds are to seek the opposite of the causes of their destruction. 20 If we talk about it separately, let us talk about the monarchy first; where a policy of moderation and humility is adopted, see Plato: "Laws" 690, 691C.kings are often able to maintain their rule.The person with less authority in the royal family tends to rule for a longer period of time with little damage; he himself will not be arrogant and autocratic because of his less authority, so he will maintain certain concepts and behaviors that are equal to others; on the other hand , his subjects feel only mild jealousy of him.This is the royal family of the Molossians "About the workshop of the Molossians", see Plutarch: "Pileus Biography" 5; "The Molossians and their royal family often swear together, and the royal family will keep The rule of law, the people swear to support the royal family."It can be seen that the establishment of this royal family is based on general will and not beyond the law.The long-term situation mentioned cannot be verified now.It can be maintained for a long time; the reason why the Lacedaemonian royal family can exist for a long time can also be said to be partly due to the old system of separation of powers between the two kings. Kαδουσ αι), see Plutarch: Artax 25.

Weitz: "German Constitutional History" (Waitz, DontzVerfassungsgeschichte) Ⅰ 283, 300, said that the old European races such as the Alamani, Bugidi, East Goths, Thuringians, Franks (Alamani, Burgundians, Ostrogoths, Thuringians, Franks) all had a system in which two kings separated power and coexisted. , in part because of the policy of humility followed by Seopangpo in many other respects, the most famous of which was the creation of the Supervisory Authority.The censorship deprived the crown of some of the powers inherent in the royal family, and in the long run, these initiatives just strengthened the Spartan monarchy "Herodotus" i 65, Xenophon: "Republic of Ragenni" viii 3 etc. Say Sparta The supervision system was founded in Laika Gushi (ninth century BC).Plato: "Laws" 692 A, it is said that it was created by someone after Laika Gushi.Aristotle identifies this section as King Theopampo (mid-eighth century BC). ; It can be seen that 30-color Opangbo has increased the role of the royal family by relying on humility.This is also the gist of his reply to his wife's question: His wife in history has asked Seopangpo that the power he bequeathed to his descendants has been greatly reduced compared with what he has received, and he is not ashamed.But he said: "I am indeed worthy of future generations; the power I pass on to them will be a power that lasts forever."

There are two ways to preserve the tyranny,35 and these two ways are diametrically opposed.One is the traditional method still used by most tyrants to this day.It is said that most of this traditional tyranny was initiated by Periander of Corinth, but many practical measures may also come from the Persian ruling system. , raising them in the court to consolidate their rule, see Plato: "Laws" 697C and below. .We discussed the tyranny above, and when we talked about the method of preserving the tyranny, we have already mentioned the method of "the outstanding man of cutting" as the method of Berleander, which was first seen in Chapter 1284 26a33-1311 of Volume III and Chapter 15 of this volume 22a40- twenty two.There are some measures in the traditional method, such as cutting down the outstanding people in the state, and getting rid of the brave and flying figures in the state at 1313.At the same time, dinners, parties, education, and other things of a similar nature are prohibited, and precautions must be taken. 5b means that all activities that may bring people together, thereby creating confidence among them, and cultivating people's aspirations, should be prohibited, and all activities should be prevented.In addition to this, the tyrant was obliged to prohibit organizations for cultural studies and similar purposes.In short, he should use various means to make everyone in the state look like a stranger.Because if people can meet and get to know each other, they will gradually trust each other. [-] Of course, the tyrant himself will from time to time gather the people who live in the city together in public places, before the gates of his palace.

In this way, the tyrant can take advantage of this opportunity to spy on the words and deeds of the people, and can also make everyone used to this kind of servile life.All these methods,10 and others similar to these methods in the obscurity of such despots, were known mostly in Persia at the time of Aristotle.Newman commented that "other means similar to this" here refers to the "worship" (προσκυνσει) and "possession" (κσσει) practiced by countries such as Persia (non-Greek nations) awe the people). , The means popular in Persia and other non-Greek (barbaric) nations can all achieve the effect of enhancing the power of the tyrant.Frequent gathering of intelligence on the words and deeds of the people is also a means.Tyrants often hire spies to collect information, like Syracuse once set up the so-called "female spy" Plutarch: "On Intervention" (De Curios) 16 and "Biography of Dion" 28, both say that Syracuse The tyrannical regime of Ernishius has "investigative police" (προσαγωγδαι), the word has a masculine ending, and it should be a male officer.Susmere revised the word "female spy" (αποαγωγδε) as "spy".According to Sepulveda's Latin translation, page 181, the original text should be "investigating police".Glotte: "History of Greece", volume 83, [-], said that the Syracuse tyrant hired "female spies", which is also possible.In this position, Hiero often dispatched "eavesdroppers" to investigate all public events and public gatherings in the state.

In this way, people will not dare to confide their hearts because of the fear of spies,15 let alone talk about state affairs casually; if they sometimes inevitably have slander, they will also be detected by spies.Another method is to drive apart the relationship between friends and friends, between common people and dignitaries, between some rich houses and other rich houses, that is, to spread the seeds of suspicion (discord) among them, so that they do not trust each other. .The tyrants can also use the last resort, even if the people are impoverished.When the people are in a state of poverty, the people have no financial resources to buy arms or store up food, 20 they are busy making a living all day long, and have no leisure to engage in political schemes.One example of this policy is the Egyptian pyramid building "Herodotus" ii 124, said that Egypt forced labor to build the tombs of the kings, which was designed to make the people poor and unable to do anything else, which is the same as Aristotle This section matches the description of the pyramids.Most of the labor in the Greek city-states was performed by slaves, and there was no need to enlist citizens; as for the impoverishment of the people by the tyrants, it should be pointed out that they should issue property. .In addition, the tyrant regime of Cybesel built temples extravagantly. Regarding the dedication of the temple of the tyrants of Corinth, in Plato: "Phaedrus" 236B, it was mentioned that Zeus with the Olympian Hera Temple (Heraeum) A large golden statue; this golden statue is also found in the "Suyda Dictionary" "The Gift of Cybeselu" (Kυψελδων νθημα).

, the tyrant regime of Pythias Strato built the Temple of Olympia Zeus in Athens. The construction of the Temple of Olympia Zeus in Athens began during Pythias Strato's reign, and it has not been completed for several generations (Pausanias: "Greek Customs" ii 178); Bishestrato wanted to compete with the Temple of Zeus in Megara, so he designed this building on a particularly huge scale. .Among the major buildings on Themos Island, the project added by Polycrates according to "Herodotus" iii 60, there are three major buildings on Themos Island, but it is not stated that these buildings originated from the tyrant in the 6th century BC Polycrates (IIολυκρη).The large building that Polycrates repaired was probably a palace.Xiuyi Tongnis: "Suetonius, Caligula" (Suetonius, Caligula) 21, said that Caligula had planned to rebuild the Forbidden City on the island of Semos.

This palace may be the building of Polycrates.should serve as yet another example of this point of view. 25 The reason why the tyrant regime set up these projects is for the same purpose, that is, to make the people work hard and be busy with slavery all year round.Of course, teaching can also produce similar functions and effects.The donation and loss of Syracuse at the beginning was an example of the tyrant city-state's extortionate extortion.When Dionysius was the former ruler, the tyrant regime clearly stipulated that within five years, the full amount of each family’s assets should be donated to the national treasury in an annual basis. The donation mentioned here is equivalent to an annual property tax of 20.00%.According to "Theodorus" ii 56, when Syracuse fought Carthage, the fleet and army of the former Lord Dionysius were very large; the losses and losses must have been very heavy during this period. .From this it can be seen that the reason why tyrants are warlike is that their subjects are not allowed to rest, so they have to obey their command.

One of the hallmarks of tyranny is suspicion. 30 We know that friends and henchmen support the king; because the tyrant has ulterior motives, he also knows that although the people of the whole country want to overthrow him, only those so-called friends have the ability to overthrow him, so friends should not be trusted. Yes, and the tyrant who should be most vigilant is suspicious of friends and servants, see Isocrates: "On Peace" (DePace) 112 and other books.Xenophon: "Hielo" iii7, remembers Hiero, and "Diodorus" xv73 records Dionysius I, both are the lord of suspicion. .Therefore, in the tyrant city-states, there are various strategies that only extreme civilian regimes can adopt.Both regimes promote women's rights in the family, encouraging women to monitor and report the words and deeds of their husbands; both regimes also indulge slaves for the same reason. Athens Republic" i10, Plato: "Utopia" 563B, Demosynes: "Philip" Ⅲ 3. , so as to encourage slaves to expose the master's private affairs. 35 Therefore, slaves and women generally do not participate in anti-tyrant activities.As a matter of fact, as the slaves and women were as proud in a tyrant as they were in a plebeian government, they were as glad to be ruled by a tyrant as they were by a plebeian.Of course, those "crowds" who in democracies pretend to be sovereign sovereigns behave like tyrants.Therefore, "Ningchen" can be favored in both regimes, and 40 will become a dignitary because of this.

"Leaders of the masses" (demorogs) were so popular in plebeian regimes that they could be called "sycophants of the plebeian court." 1314ɑThe reason is that the tyrants like those servile flatterers, and this is exactly what court courtiers are good at.It is precisely because tyrants take pleasure in being flattered that tyranny is a system of companionship for a few villains.People with free souls will not bow down to flattery. Good people can be friends, but they will never be courtiers.Wicked men, on the contrary, are not only good at flattering, 5 but they are also good instruments for doing bad things according to their orders.As the proverb goes: "Nails can be used to drive out nails." The proverb "Nails can be used to drive out nails" is similar to another proverb "The bad man can be used to deal with the bad man" (κακòν κακ σθαι), see Reich Hexinadewen: "Greek Proverbs" Volume 253 363, 116, Volume 10 [-].Aristotle slightly changed the meaning of the proverb when he quoted it.People with self-respect and independent free will will never be hired by tyrants.In their view, these qualities should belong exclusively to the lord. If someone also acts independently because of his own dignity, this violates the dignity and freedom of the tyrant. [-] Because of this, the tyrant hates people who interfere with his authority.It is one of the habits of tyrants to prefer a Gentile as a companion to a citizen of their own country, and they are glad to invite them, to dine with them, and to meet with them.Because they think that Gentiles are not hostile to them, but citizens are hostile to them.

These are the so-called tyranny, that is, the "law of the tyrant's family", that is, the means used by the tyrant to maintain the tyrant; the tyrant does not hesitate to use any despicable means to establish a regime that is beneficial to himself. 15 We can summarize the above means and purposes into three main points: First, destroying the spirit of the subjects is the purpose of the tyrant and the motivation for the means.Because they know that only the mentally weak will resist no one.Second, to spread and cultivate discord and suspicion among people.Because once people trust each other and reach unity, it is possible to rise up and overthrow the tyrant's regime.This is why tyrants often have enmity with good people.It is precisely because they know the disadvantages of good people for their rule-good people do not want to be regarded as slaves by others, and they also regard it as a shame to be governed by autocratic politics, and good people can trust each other and respect the loyalty of friends , Do not do despicable activities such as framing and reporting.Third, to weaken the subjects so that no one can do anything.Because when people know that resistance has no hope of success, they dare not try it lightly.In this way, the people of the whole country will not rise up to embarrass the tyrant because of their weakness. 20
Here, we summarize the many methods often used by tyrants: (25) to spread and cultivate discord and suspicion among the subjects, (29) to weaken the subjects' ability, (1855) to destroy the subjects' spirit. For the three main points above, Schneider, Gu Lai, and Becker (re-edited version in 30) all believed that this was a marginal note inserted by later generations, adding < >. "Su School" believes that it is still the main text, without brackets. .One of the two methods of preserving the tyranny has here been shown. 448 In the method we are going to describe next, the measures taken are almost completely opposite. "New School" iv[-] notes briefly describe the two opposite ways as ([-]) assuming that all the people of the tyrant state hate the tyrant, so the method of ruling is make the people powerless to resist. ([-]) It is to induce the people to regard the tyrant as the steward or guardian of the whole country, so they do not conceive of overthrowing the tyrant regime. .The nature of this method becomes quite clear when we try to trace back the causes of the failure of monarchy.

If we have observed that one of the causes of the destruction of monarchies is to convert them into tyranny, then turning tyranny into a monarchy should be the means of preserving tyranny.But the premise of this transformation is to ensure that the revised tyrant still enjoys his personal power,35 and still accepts his rule regardless of whether his subjects agree or not.If the tyrant surrenders even his own power, it would be tantamount to suicidal.For power is the foundation of a tyrant, and must continue to be strengthened; as for the rest, a tyrant should act in the royal mood, or at least dress himself like a king.First of all, the following sections are similar to the admonition to a young gentleman.Florence's Machiavelli (H Machiavelli, 1469-1527); the realistic tone of "The Way of Kings" is similar to this. ,40 He should show concern for the public treasury.Not only should he cherish wealth, but he should also not regard the treasury as his own reward, so as not to cause dissatisfaction among the people.This is because it is impossible for the people not to complain indignantly if they see that the proceeds of their hard work are all paid into the public treasury and immediately fall into the hands of people who have nothing to do with them.

(End of this chapter)