The land must therefore be divided into
two parts, one public and the other private, and each part should be
subdivided, part of the public land being appropriated to the
service of the Gods, and the other part used to defray the cost of the
common meals; while of the private land, part should be near the
border, and the other near the city, so that, each citizen having
two lots, they may all of them have land in both places; there is
justice and fairness in such a division, and it tends to inspire
unanimity among the people in their border wars. Where there is not
this arrangement some of them are too ready to come to blows with
their neighbors, while others are so cautious that they quite lose the
sense of honor. Wherefore there is a law in some places which
forbids those who dwell near the border to take part in public
deliberations about wars with neighbors, on the ground that their
interests will pervert their judgment. For the reasons already
mentioned, then, the land should be divided in the manner described.
The very best thing of all would be that the husbandmen should be
slaves taken from among men who are not all of the same race and not
spirited, for if they have no spirit they will be better suited for
their work, and there will be no danger of their making a
revolution. The next best thing would be that they should be
Perioeci of foreign race, and of a like inferior nature; some of
them should be the slaves of individuals, and employed in the
private estates of men of property, the remainder should be the
property of the state and employed on the common land.
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