Of the rest we shall mention that of Hiero, and Gelo at
Syracuse; and this did not continue long, for both their reigns were
only eighteen years; for Gelo died in the eighth year of his tyranny,
and Hiero in his tenth. Thrasybulus fell in his eleventh month, and
many other tyrannies have continued a very short time. We have now
gone through the general cases of corruption and [1316a] means of
preservation both in free states and monarchies. In Plato's Republic,
Socrates is introduced treating upon the changes which different
governments are liable to: but his discourse is faulty; for he does
not particularly mention what changes the best and first governments
are liable to; for he only assigns the general cause, of nothing being
immutable, but that in time everything will alter [***tr.: text is
unintelligible here***] he conceives that nature will then
produce bad men, who will not submit to education, and in this,
probably, he is not wrong; for it is certain that there are some
persons whom it is impossible by any education to make good men; but
why should this change be more peculiar to what he calls the
best-formed government, than to all other forms, and indeed to all
other things that exist? and in respect to his assigned time, as the
cause of the alteration of all things, we find that those which did
not begin to exist at the same time cease to be at the same time; so
that, if anything came into beginning the day before the solstice, it
must alter at the same time.
Pages:
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247