All classes share in
the ecclesia, but it can only ratify the decrees of the elders and the
Cosmi.
The common meals of Crete are certainly better managed than the
Lacedaemonian; for in Lacedaemon every one pays so much per head,
or, if he fails, the law, as I have already explained, forbids him
to exercise the rights of citizenship. But in Crete they are of a more
popular character. There, of all the fruits of the earth and cattle
raised on the public lands, and of the tribute which is paid by the
Perioeci, one portion is assigned to the Gods and to the service of
the state, and another to the common meals, so that men, women, and
children are all supported out of a common stock. The legislator has
many ingenious ways of securing moderation in eating, which he
conceives to be a gain; he likewise encourages the separation of men
from women, lest they should have too many children, and the
companionship of men with one another- whether this is a good or bad
thing I shall have an opportunity of considering at another time.
But that the Cretan common meals are better ordered than the
Lacedaemonian there can be no doubt.
On the other hand, the Cosmi are even a worse institution than the
Ephors, of which they have all the evils without the good. Like the
Ephors, they are any chance persons, but in Crete this is not
counterbalanced by a corresponding political advantage.
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