An aristocracy, of which I have already treated in the first book, is
rightly called so; for a state governed by the best men, upon the most
virtuous principles, and not upon any hypothesis, which even good men
may propose, has alone a right to be called an aristocracy, for it is
there only that a man is at once a good man and a good citizen; while
in other states men are good only relative to those states. Moreover,
there are some other states which are called by the same name, that
differ both from oligarchies and free states, wherein not only the
rich but also the virtuous have a share in the administration; and
have therefore acquired the name of aristocracies; for in those
governments wherein virtue is not their common care, there are still
men of worth and approved goodness. Whatever state, then, like the
Carthaginians, favours the rich, the virtuous, and the citizens at
large, is a sort of aristocracy: when only the two latter are held in
esteem, as at Lacedaemon, and the state is jointly composed of these,
it is a virtuous democracy. These are the two species of aristocracies
after the first, which is the best of all governments. There is also a
third, which is, whenever a free state inclines to the dominion of a
few.
CHAPTER VIII
It now remains for us to treat of that government which is
particularly called a free state, and also of a tyranny; and the
reason for my choosing to place that free state here is, because this,
as well as those aristocracies already mentioned, although they do not
seem excesses, yet, to speak true, they have all departed from what a
perfect government is.
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