On Revenues
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Xenophon >> On Revenues
Etext prepared by John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz.
On Revenues
by Xenophon
Translation by H. G. Dakyns
Xenophon the Athenian was born 431 B.C. He was a
pupil of Socrates. He marched with the Spartans,
and was exiled from Athens. Sparta gave him land
and property in Scillus, where he lived for many
years before having to move once more, to settle
in Corinth. He died in 354 B.C.
Revenues describes Xenophon's ideas to solve the
problem of poverty in Athens, and thus remove an
excuse to mistreat the Athenian allies.
PREPARER'S NOTE
This was typed from Dakyns' series, "The Works of Xenophon," a
four-volume set. The complete list of Xenophon's works (though
there is doubt about some of these) is:
Work Number of books
The Anabasis 7
The Hellenica 7
The Cyropaedia 8
The Memorabilia 4
The Symposium 1
The Economist 1
On Horsemanship 1
The Sportsman 1
The Cavalry General 1
The Apology 1
On Revenues 1
The Hiero 1
The Agesilaus 1
The Polity of the Athenians and the Lacedaemonians 2
Text in brackets "{}" is my transliteration of Greek text into
English using an Oxford English Dictionary alphabet table. The
diacritical marks have been lost.
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 constitution 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
masses, 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 Hellas.
[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 establishing 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 gods. This marble, moreover, is an
obejct of desire to many foreigners, Hellenes 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 gods afford in their seasons."
[4] Or, "arise," or "are fashioned."
Indeed it would be scarcely irrational to maintain that the city of
Athens lies at the navel, not of Hellas 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 illustration, the traveller who desires to traverse the
confines of Hellas 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 masses 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 shore 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 class of residents
confering 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 class. Besides the advantage [of so weeding the
ranks],[7] it would add a positive lustre 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 assembly, 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 class 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 class, 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 assigned 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 class 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 shipping, 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 wishing 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 noble institution to pay special marks
of honour, such as the privilege of the front seat, to merchants and
shipowners, and on occasion to invite to hospitable entertainment
those who, through something notable in the quality of ship 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.
Now the greater the number of people attracted to Athens either as
visitors or as residents, clearly the greater the development of
imports and exports. More goods will be sent out of the country,[8]
there will be more buying and selling, with a consequent influx of
money in the shape of rents to individuals and dues and customs to the
state exchequer. And to secure this augmentation of the revenues, mind
you, not the outlay of one single penny; nothing needed beyond one or
two philanthropic measures and certain details of supervision.[9]
[8] See Zurborg, "Comm." p. 24.
[9] See Aristot. "Pol." iv. 15, 3.
With regard to the other sources of revenue which I contemplate, I
admit, it is different. For these I recognise the necessity of a
capital[10] to begin with. I am not, however, without good hope that
the citizens of this state will contribute heartily to such an object,
when I reflect on the large sums subscribed by the state on various
late occasions, as, for instance, when reinforcements were sent to the
Arcadians under the command of Lysistratus,[11] and again at the date
of the generalship of Hegesileos.[12] I am well aware that ships of
war are frequently despatched and that too[13] although it is
uncertain whether the venture will be for the better or for the worse,
and the only certainty is that the contributor will not recover the
sum subscribed nor have any further share in the object for which he
gave his contribution.[14]
[10] "A starting-point."
[11] B.C. 366; cf. "Hell." VII. iv. 3.
[12] B.C. 362; cf. "Hell." VII. v. 15. See Grote, "H. G." x. 459;
Ephor. ap. Diog. Laert. ii. 54; Diod. Sic. xv. 84; Boeckh, ap. L.
Dindorf. Xenophon's son Gryllus served under him and was slain.
[13] Reading {kai tauta toutout men adelou ontos}, after Zurborg.
[14] Reading {[uper] on an eisenegkosi} with Zurborg. See his note,
"Comm." p. 25.
But for a sound investment[15] I know of nothing comparable with the
initial outlay to form this fund.[16] Any one whose contribution
amounts to ten minae[17] may look forward to a return as high as he
would get on bottomry, of nearly one-fifth,[18] as the recipient of
three obols a day. The contributor of five minae[19] will on the same
principle get more than a third,[20] while the majority of Athenians
will get more than cent per cent on their contribution. That is to
say, a subscription of one mina[21] will put the subscriber in
possession of nearly double that sum,[22] and that, moreover, without
setting foot outside Athens, which, as far as human affairs go, is as
sound and durable a security as possible.
[15] "A good substantial property."
[16] Or, "on the other hand, I affirm that the outlay necessary to
form the capital for my present project will be more remunerative
than any other that can be named." As to the scheme itself see
Grote, "Plato," III. ch. xxxix.; Boeckh, op. cit. (pp. 4, 37, 136,
600 seq. Eng. tr.) Cf. Demosth. "de Sym." for another scheme, 354
B.C., which shows the "sound administrative and practical
judgment" of the youthful orator as compared with "the benevolent
dreams and ample public largess in which Xenophon here indulges."
--Grote, op. cit. p. 601.
[17] L40:12:4 = 1000 drachmae.
[18] I.e. exactly 18 or nearly 20 per cent. The following table will
make the arithmetic clear:--
6 ob. = 1 drachma 10 minae = 6000 ob.
100 dr. = 1 mina = 1000 dr.
600 ob. = 1 mina 1000 dr.:180 dr.::100:18 therefore nearly 1/5
3 ob. (a day) x 360 = 1080 ob. p.a. = nearly 20 per cent.
= 180 dr. p.a.
As to the 3 obols a day (= 180 dr. p.a.) which as an Athenian
citizen he is entitled to, see Grote, op. cit. p. 597: "There will
be a regular distribution among all citizens, per head and
equally. Three oboli, or half a drachma, will be allotted daily to
each, to poor and rich alike" [on the principle of the Theorikon].
"For the poor citizens this will provide a comfortable
subsistence, without any contribution on their part; the poverty
now prevailing will thus be alleviated. The rich, like the poor,
receive the daily triobolon as a free gift; but if they compute it
as interest for their investments, they will find that the rate of
interest is full and satisfactory, like the rate on bottomry."
Zurborg, "Comm." p. 25; Boeckh, op. cit. IV. xxi. (p. 606, Eng.
tr.); and Grote's note, op. cit. p. 598.
[19] = L20:6:3 = 500 drachmae.
[20] = I.e. 36 per cent.
[21] = L4:1:3 = 100 drachmae.
[22] I.e. 180 per cent.
Moreover, I am of opinion that if the names of contributors were to be
inscribed as benefactors for all time, many foreigners would be
induced to contribute, and possibly not a few states, in their desire
to obtain the right of inscription; indeed I anticipate that some
kings,[23] tyrants,[24] and satraps will display a keen desire to
share in such a favour.
[23] Zurborg suggests (p. 5) "Philip or Cersobleptes." Cf. Isocr. "On
the Peace," S. 23.
[24] I.e. despotic monarchs.
To come to the point. Were such a capital once furnished, it would be
a magnificent plan to build lodging-houses for the benefit of
shipmasters in the neighbourhood of the harbours, in addition to those
which exist; and again, on the same principle, suitable places of
meeting for merchants, for the purposes[25] of buying and selling; and
thirdly, public lodging-houses for persons visiting the city. Again,
supposing dwelling-houses and stores for vending goods were fitted up
for retail dealers in Piraeus and the city, they would at once be an
ornament to the state and a fertile source of revenue. Also it seems
to me it would be a good thing to try and see if, on the principle on
which at present the state possesses public warships, it would not be
possible to secure public merchant vessels, to be let out on the
security of guarantors just like any other public property. If the
plan were found feasible this public merchant navy would be a large
source of extra revenue.
[25] Reading, with Zurborg, {epi one te}.
IV
I come to a new topic. I am persuaded that the establishment of the
silver mines on a proper footing[1] would be followed by a large
increase in wealth apart from the other sources of revenue. And I
would like, for the benefit of those who may be ignorant, to point out
what the capacity of these mines really is. You will then be in a
position to decide how to turn them to better account. It is clear, I
presume, to every one that these mines have for a very long time been
in active operation; at any rate no one will venture to fix the date
at which they first began to be worked.[2] Now in spite of the fact
that the silver ore has been dug and carried out for so long a time, I
would ask you to note that the mounds of rubbish so shovelled out are
but a fractional portion of the series of hillocks containing veins of
silver, and as yet unquarried. Nor is the silver-bearing region
gradually becoming circumscribed. On the contrary it is evidently
extending in wider area from year to year. That is to say, during the
period in which thousands of workers[3] have been employed within the
mines no hand was ever stopped for want of work to do. Rather, at any
given moment, the work to be done was more than enough for the hands
employed. And so it is to-day with the owners of slaves working in the
mines; no one dreams of reducing the number of his hands. On the
contrary, the object is perpetually to acquire as many additional
hands as the owner possibly can. The fact is that with few hands to
dig and search, the find of treasure will be small, but with an
increase in labour the discovery of the ore itself is more than
proportionally increased. So much so, that of all operations with
which I am acquainted, this is the only one in which no sort of
jealousy is felt at a further development of the industry.[4] I may go
a step farther; every proprietor of a farm will be able to tell you
exactly how many yoke of oxen are sufficient for the estate, and how
many farm hands. To send into the field more than the exact number
requisite every farmer would consider a dead loss.[5] But in silver
mining [operations] the universal complaint is the want of hands.
Indeed there is no analogy between this and other industries. With an
increase in the number of bronze-workers articles of bronze may become
so cheap that the bronze-worker has to retire from the field. And so
again with ironfounders. Or again, in a plethoric condition of the
corn and wine market these fruits of the soil will be so depreciated
in value that the particular husbandries cease to be remunerative, and
many a farmer will give up his tillage of the soil and betake himself
to the business of a merchant, or of a shopkeeper, to banking or
money-lending. But the converse is the case in the working of silver;
there the larger the quantity of ore discovered and the greater the
amount of silver extracted, the greater the number of persons ready to
engage in the operation. One more illustration: take the case of
movable property. No one when he has got sufficient furniture for his
house dreams of making further purchases on this head, but of silver
no one ever yet possessed so much that he was forced to cry "enough."
On the contrary, if ever anybody does become possessed of an
immoderate amount he finds as much pleasure in digging a hole in the
ground and hoarding it as in the actual employment of it. And from a
wider point of view: when a state is prosperous there is nothing which
people so much desire as silver. The men want money to expend on
beautiful armour and fine horses, and houses, and sumptuous
paraphenalia[6] of all sorts. The women betake themselves to expensive
apparel and ornaments of gold. Or when states are sick,[7] either
through barrenness of corn and other fruits, or through war, the
demand for current coin is even more imperative (whilst the ground
lies unproductive), to pay for necessaries or military aid.
[1] Or, "on a sound basis."
[2] "Exploited."
[3] Or, "at the date when the maximum of hands was employed."
[4] Reading {epikataskeuazumenois}, or, if {episkeuazomenoi}, transl.
"at the rehabilitation of old works."
[5] Cf. "Oecon." xvii. 12.
[6] "The thousand and one embellishments of civil life."
[7] "When a state is struck down with barrenness," etc. See "Mem." II.
vii.
And if it be asserted that gold is after all just as useful as silver,
without gainsaying the proposition I may note this fact[8] about gold,
that, with a sudden influx of this metal, it is the gold itself which
is depreciated whilst causing at the same time a rise in the value of
silver.
[8] Lit. "I know, however."
The above facts are, I think, conclusive. They encourage us not only
to introduce as much human labour as possible into the mines, but to
extend the scale of operations within, by increase of plant, etc., in
full assurance that there is no danger either of the ore itself being
exhausted or of silver becoming depreciated. And in advancing these
views I am merely following a precedent set me by the state herself.
So it seems to me, since the state permits any foreigner who desires
it to undertake mining operations on a footing of equality[9] with her
own citizens.
[9] Or, "at an equal rent with that which she imposes on her own
citizens." See Boeckh, "P. E. A." IV. x. (p. 540, Eng. tr.)
But, to make my meaning clearer on the question of maintenance, I will
at this point explain in detail how the silver mines may be furnished
and extended so as to render them much more useful to the state. Only
I would premise that I claim no sort of admiration for anything which
I am about to say, as though I had hit upon some recondite discovery.
Since half of what I have to say is at the present moment still patent
to the eyes of all of us, and as to what belongs to past history, if
we are to believe the testimony of our fathers,[10] things were then
much of a piece with what is going on now. No, what is really
marvellous is that the state, with the fact of so many private persons
growing wealthy at her expense, and under her very eyes, should have
failed to imitate them. It is an old story, trite enough to those of
us who have cared to attend to it, how once on a time Nicias, the son
of Niceratus, owned a thousand men in the silver mines,[11] whom he
let out to Sosias, a Thracian, on the following terms. Sosias was to
pay him a net obol a day, without charge or deduction, for every slave
of the thousand, and be[12] responsible for keeping up the number
perpetually at that figure. So again Hipponicus[13] had six hundred
slaves let out on the same principle, which brought him in a net
mina[14] a day without charge or deduction. Then there was
Philemonides, with three hundred, bringing him in half a mina, and
others, I make no doubt there were, making profits in proportion to
their respective resources and capital.[15] But there is no need to
revert to ancient history. At the present moment there are hundreds of
human beings in the mines let out on the same principle.[16] And given
that my proposal were carried into effect, the only novelty in it is
that, just as the individual in acquiring the ownership of a gang of
slaves finds himself at once provided with a permanent source of
income, so the state, in like fashion, should possess herself of a
body of public slaves, to the number, say, of three for every Athenian
citizen.[17] As to the feasability of our proposals, I challenge any
one whom it may concern to test the scheme point by point, and to give
his verdict.