On Revenues Part 1

On Revenues.

by Xenophon.

WAYS AND MEANS

A Pamphlet On Revenues

I

For myself I hold to the opinion that the qualities of the leading statesmen in a state, whatever they be, are reproduced in the character of the const.i.tution itself. (1)

(1) "Like minister, like government." For the same idea more fully expressed, see "Cyrop." VIII. i. 8; viii. 5.

As, however, it has been maintained by certain leading statesmen in Athens that the recognised standard of right and wrong is as high at Athens as elsewhere, but that, owing to the pressure of poverty on the ma.s.ses, a certain measure of injustice in their dealing with the allied states (2) could not be avoided; I set myself to discover whether by any manner of means it were possible for the citizens of Athens to be supported solely from the soil of Attica itself, which was obviously the most equitable solution. For if so, herein lay, as I believed, the antidote at once to their own poverty and to the feeling of suspicion with which they are regarded by the rest of h.e.l.las.

(2) Lit. "the cities," i.e. of the alliance, {tas summakhidas}.

I had no sooner begun my investigation than one fact presented itself clearly to my mind, which is that the country itself is made by nature to provide the amplest resources. And with a view to establis.h.i.+ng the truth of this initial proposition I will describe the physical features of Attica.

In the first place, the extraordinary mildness of the climate is proved by the actual products of the soil. Numerous plants which in many parts of the world appear as stunted leafless growths are here fruit-bearing.

And as with the soil so with the sea indenting our coasts, the varied productivity of which is exceptionally great. Again with regard to those kindly fruits of earth (3) which Providence bestows on man season by season, one and all they commence earlier and end later in this land.

Nor is the supremacy of Attica shown only in those products which year after year flourish and grow old, but the land contains treasures of a more perennial kind. Within its folds lies imbedded by nature an unstinted store of marble, out of which are chiselled (4) temples and altars of rarest beauty and the glittering splendour of images sacred to the G.o.ds. This marble, moreover, is an object of desire to many foreigners, h.e.l.lenes and barbarians alike. Then there is land which, although it yields no fruit to the sower, needs only to be quarried in order to feed many times more mouths than it could as corn-land.

Doubtless we owe it to a divine dispensation that our land is veined with silver; if we consider how many neighbouring states lie round us by land and sea and yet into none of them does a single thinnest vein of silver penetrate.

(3) Lit. "those good things which the G.o.ds afford in their seasons."

(4) Or, "arise," or "are fas.h.i.+oned."

Indeed it would be scarcely irrational to maintain that the city of Athens lies at the navel, not of h.e.l.las merely, but of the habitable world. So true is it, that the farther we remove from Athens the greater the extreme of heat or cold to be encountered; or to use another ill.u.s.tration, the traveller who desires to traverse the confines of h.e.l.las from end to end will find that, whether he voyages by sea or by land, he is describing a circle, the centre of which is Athens. (5)

(5) See "Geog. of Brit. Isles." J. R. and S. A. Green, ch. i. p. 7: "London, in fact, is placed at what is very nearly the geometrical centre of those ma.s.ses of land which make up the earth surface of the globe, and is thus more than any city of the world the natural point of convergence for its different lines of navigation," etc.

The natural advantages of Boeotia are similarly set forth by Ephorus. Cf. Strab. ix. 2, p. 400.

Once more, this land though not literally sea-girt has all the advantages of an island, being accessible to every wind that blows, and can invite to its bosom or waft from its sh.o.r.e all products, since it is peninsular; whilst by land it is the emporium of many markets, as being a portion of the continent.

Lastly, while the majority of states have barbarian neighbours, the source of many troubles, Athens has as her next-door neighbours civilised states which are themselves far remote from the barbarians.

II

All these advantages, to repeat what I have said, may, I believe, be traced primarily to the soil and position of Attica itself. But these natural blessings may be added to: in the first place, by a careful handling of our resident alien (1) population. And, for my part, I can hardly conceive of a more splendid source of revenue than lies open in this direction. Here you have a self-supporting cla.s.s of residents conferring large benefits upon the state, and instead of receiving payment (2) themselves, contributing on the contrary to the gain of the exchequer by the sojourners' tax. (3) Nor, under the term careful handling, do I demand more than the removal of obligations which, whilst they confer no benefit on the state, have an air of inflicting various disabilities on the resident aliens. (4) And I would further relieve them from the obligation of serving as hoplites side by side with the citizen proper; since, beside the personal risk, which is great, the trouble of quitting trades and homesteads is no trifle. (5) Incidentally the state itself would benefit by this exemption, if the citizens were more in the habit of campaigning with one another, rather than (6) shoulder to shoulder with Lydians, Phrygians, Syrians, and barbarians from all quarters of the world, who form the staple of our resident alien cla.s.s. Besides the advantage (of so weeding the ranks), (7) it would add a positive l.u.s.tre to our city, were it admitted that the men of Athens, her sons, have reliance on themselves rather than on foreigners to fight her battles. And further, supposing we offered our resident aliens a share in various other honourable duties, including the cavalry service, (8) I shall be surprised if we do not increase the goodwill of the aliens themselves, whilst at the same time we add distinctly to the strength and grandeur of our city.

(1) Lit. "metics" or "metoecs."

(2) {misthos}, e.g. of the a.s.sembly, the senate, and the dicasts.

(3) The {metoikion}. See Plat. "Laws," 850 B; according to Isaeus, ap.

Harpocr. s.v., it was 12 drachmae per annum for a male and 6 drachmae for a female.

(4) Or, "the cla.s.s in question." According to Schneider (who cites the {atimetos metanastes} of Homer, "Il." ix. 648), the reference is not to disabilities in the technical sense, but to humiliating duties, such as the {skaphephoria} imposed on the men, or the {udriaphoria} and {skiadephoria} imposed on their wives and daughters in attendance on the {kanephoroi} at the Panathenaic and other festival processions. See Arist. "Eccles." 730 foll.; Boeckh, "P. E. A." IV. x. (Eng. tr. G. Cornewall Lewis, p. 538).

(5) Or, reading {megas men gar o agon, mega de kai to apo ton tekhnon kai ton oikeion apienai}, after Zurborg ("Xen. de Reditibus Libellus," Berolini, MDCCCLXXVI.), transl. "since it is severe enough to enter the arena of war, but all the worse when that implies the abandonment of your trade and your domestic concerns."

(6) Or, "instead of finding themselves brigaded as nowadays with a motley crew of Lydians," etc.

(7) Zurborg, after Cobet, omits the words so rendered.

(8) See "Hipparch." ix. 3, where Xenophon in almost identical words recommends that reform.

In the next place, seeing that there are at present numerous building sites within the city walls as yet devoid of houses, supposing the state were to make free grants of such land (9) to foreigners for building purposes in cases where there could be no doubt as to the respectability of the applicant, if I am not mistaken, the result of such a measure will be that a larger number of persons, and of a better cla.s.s, will be attracted to Athens as a place of residence.

(9) Or, "offer the fee simple of such property to."

Lastly, if we could bring ourselves to appoint, as a new government office, a board of guardians of foreign residents like our Guardians of Orphans, (10) with special privileges a.s.signed to those guardians who should show on their books the greatest number of resident aliens--such a measure would tend to improve the goodwill of the cla.s.s in question, and in all probability all people without a city of their own would aspire to the status of foreign residents in Athens, and so further increase the revenues of the city. (11)

(10) "The Archon was the legal protector of all orphans. It was his duty to appoint guardians, if none were named in the father's will."--C. R. Kennedy, Note to "Select Speeches of Demosthenes."

The orphans of those who had fallen in the war (Thuc. ii. 46) were specially cared for.

(11) Or, "help to swell the state exchequer."

III

At this point I propose to offer some remarks in proof of the attractions and advantages of Athens as a centre of commercial enterprise. In the first place, it will hardly be denied that we possess the finest and safest harbourage for s.h.i.+pping, where vessels of all sorts can come to moorings and be laid up in absolute security (1) as far as stress of weather is concerned. But further than that, in most states the trader is under the necessity of lading his vessel with some merchandise (2) or other in exchange for his cargo, since the current coin (3) has no circulation beyond the frontier. But at Athens he has a choice: he can either in return for his wares export a variety of goods, such as human beings seek after, or, if he does not desire to take goods in exchange for goods, he has simply to export silver, and he cannot have a more excellent freight to export, since wherever he likes to sell it he may look to realise a large percentage on his capital. (4)

(1) Reading {adeos} after Cobet, or if {edeos}, transl. "in perfect comfort."

(2) Or, "of exchanging cargo for cargo to the exclusion of specie."

(3) I.e. of the particular locality. See "The Types of Greek Coins,"

Percy Gardner, ch. ii. "International Currencies among the Greeks."

(4) Or, "on the original outlay."

Or again, supposing prizes (5) were offered to the magistrates in charge of the market (6) for equitable and speedy settlements of points in dispute (7) to enable any one so wis.h.i.+ng to proceed on his voyage without hindrance, the result would be that far more traders would trade with us and with greater satisfaction.

(5) Cf. "Hiero," ix. 6, 7, 11; "Hipparch." i. 26.

(6) {to tou emporiou arkhe}. Probably he is referring to the {epimeletai emporiou} (overseers of the market). See Harpocr.

s.v.; Aristot. "Athenian Polity," 51.

(7) For the sort of case, see Demosth. (or Deinarch.) "c. Theocr."

1324; Zurborg ad loc.; Boeckh, I. ix. xv. (pp. 48, 81, Eng. tr.)

It would indeed be a good and n.o.ble inst.i.tution to pay special marks of honour, such as the privilege of the front seat, to merchants and s.h.i.+powners, and on occasion to invite to hospitable entertainment those who, through something notable in the quality of s.h.i.+p or merchandise, may claim to have done the state a service. The recipients of these honours will rush into our arms as friends, not only under the incentive of gain, but of distinction also.