The Polity of the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians

by Xenophon

Translation by H. G. Dakyns


The Polity of the Lacedaemonians talks about the
laws and institutions created by Lycurgus, which
train and develop Spartan citizens from birth to
old age.




THE POLITY OF THE ATHENIANS



I

Now, as concerning the Polity of the Athenians,[1] and the type or
manner of constitution which they have chosen,[2] I praise it not, in
so far as the very choice involves the welfare of the baser folk as
opposed to that of the better class. I repeat, I withhold my praise so
far; but, given the fact that this is the type agreed upon, I propose
to show that they set about its preservation in the right way; and
that those other transactions in connection with it, which are looked
upon as blunders by the rest of the Hellenic world, are the reverse.