In the first place we must assume as our starting-point that in
the many forms of government which have sprung up there has always
been an acknowledgment of justice and proportionate equality, although
mankind fail attaining them, as I have already explained. Democracy,
for example, arises out of the notion that those who are equal in
any respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free,
they claim to be absolutely equal. Oligarchy is based on the notion
that those who are unequal in one respect are in all respects unequal;
being unequal, that is, in property, they suppose themselves to be
unequal absolutely. The democrats think that as they are equal they
ought to be equal in all things; while the oligarchs, under the idea
that they are unequal, claim too much, which is one form of
inequality. All these forms of government have a kind of justice, but,
tried by an absolute standard, they are faulty; and, therefore, both
parties, whenever their share in the government does not accord with
their preconceived ideas, stir up revolution. Those who excel in
virtue have the best right of all to rebel (for they alone can with
reason be deemed absolutely unequal), but then they are of all men the
least inclined to do so. There is also a superiority which is
claimed by men of rank; for they are thought noble because they spring
from wealthy and virtuous ancestors.
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