This shows
that the Cretan government, although possessing some of the
characteristics of a constitutional state, is really a close
oligarchy.
The nobles have a habit, too, of setting up a chief; they get
together a party among the common people and their own friends and
then quarrel and fight with one another. What is this but the
temporary destruction of the state and dissolution of society? A
city is in a dangerous condition when those who are willing are also
able to attack her. But, as I have already said, the island of Crete
is saved by her situation; distance has the same effect as the
Lacedaemonian prohibition of strangers; and the Cretans have no
foreign dominions. This is the reason why the Perioeci are contented
in Crete, whereas the Helots are perpetually revolting. But when
lately foreign invaders found their way into the island, the
weakness of the Cretan constitution was revealed. Enough of the
government of Crete.
XI
The Carthaginians are also considered to have an excellent form of
government, which differs from that of any other state in several
respects, though it is in some very like the Lacedaemonian. Indeed,
all three states- the Lacedaemonian, the Cretan, and the Carthaginian-
nearly resemble one another, and are very different from any others.
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