If it were, all the acts of a tyrant must of necessity
be just; for he only coerces other men by superior power, just as
the multitude coerce the rich. But is it just then that the few and
the wealthy should be the rulers? And what if they, in like manner,
rob and plunder the people- is this just? if so, the other case will
likewise be just. But there can be no doubt that all these things
are wrong and unjust.
Then ought the good to rule and have supreme power? But in that case
everybody else, being excluded from power, will be dishonored. For the
offices of a state are posts of honor; and if one set of men always
holds them, the rest must be deprived of them. Then will it be well
that the one best man should rule? Nay, that is still more
oligarchical, for the number of those who are dishonored is thereby
increased. Some one may say that it is bad in any case for a man,
subject as he is to all the accidents of human passion, to have the
supreme power, rather than the law. But what if the law itself be
democratical or oligarchical, how will that help us out of our
difficulties? Not at all; the same consequences will follow.
XI
Most of these questions may be reserved for another occasion. The
principle that the multitude ought to be supreme rather than the few
best is one that is maintained, and, though not free from
difficulty, yet seems to contain an element of truth.
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