' And this is the reason why Hellenic states were originally
governed by kings; because the Hellenes were under royal rule before
they came together, as the barbarians still are. Every family is ruled
by the eldest, and therefore in the colonies of the family the
kingly form of government prevailed because they were of the same
blood. As Homer says:
Each one gives law to his children and to his wives.
For they lived dispersedly, as was the manner in ancient times.
Wherefore men say that the Gods have a king, because they themselves
either are or were in ancient times under the rule of a king. For they
imagine, not only the forms of the Gods, but their ways of life to
be like their own.
When several villages are united in a single complete community,
large enough to be nearly or quite self-sufficing, the state comes
into existence, originating in the bare needs of life, and
continuing in existence for the sake of a good life. And therefore, if
the earlier forms of society are natural, so is the state, for it is
the end of them, and the nature of a thing is its end. For what each
thing is when fully developed, we call its nature, whether we are
speaking of a man, a horse, or a family. Besides, the final cause
and end of a thing is the best, and to be self-sufficing is the end
and the best.
Hence it is evident that the state is a creation of nature, and that
man is by nature a political animal.
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