For my part I have always held that the
						constitution of a state reflects the character of the leading
							politicians. 
						But some of the leading men at Athens have stated that they recognize
						justice as clearly as other men; 
						 but, they have said, owing to the
						poverty of the masses, we are forced to be somewhat unjust in our treatment
						of the cities. This set me thinking whether by any means the citizens might
						obtain food entirely from their own soil, which would certainly be the
						fairest way. I felt that, were this so, they would be relieved of their
						poverty, and also of the suspicion with which they are regarded by the Greek
						world.

Now as I thought over my ideas, one thing
						seemed clear at once, that the country is by its nature capable of
						furnishing an ample revenue. To drive home the truth of this statement I
						will first describe the natural properties of Attica.

The extreme mildness of the seasons here is
						shown by the actual products. At any rate, plants that will not even grow in
						many countries bear fruit here. Not less productive than the land is the sea
						around the coasts. Notice too that the good things which the gods send in
						their season all come in earlier here and go out later than elsewhere.

And the pre-eminence of the land is not only in the things that bloom and
						wither annually: she has other good things that last for ever. Nature has
						put in her abundance of stone, from which are fashioned lovely temples and
						lovely altars, and goodly statues for the gods. Many Greeks and barbarians
						alike have need of it.

Again, there is land that yields no fruit if sown, and yet, when quarried,
						feeds many times the number it could support if it grew corn. And recollect,
						there is silver in the soil, the gift, beyond doubt, of divine providence:
						at any rate, many as are the states near to her by land and sea, into none
						of them does even a thin vein of silver ore extend.

One might reasonably suppose that the city
						lies at the centre of Greece, nay of the whole inhabited world. For the
						further we go from her, the more intense is the heat or cold we meet with;
						and every traveller who would cross from one to the other end of Greece
						passes Athens as the centre of a circle, whether he goes by water or by
						road.

Then, too, though she is not wholly sea-girt, all the winds of heaven bring
						to her the goods she needs and bear away her exports, as if she were an
						island; for she lies between two seas: and she has a vast land trade as
						well; for she is of the mainland.

Further, on the borders of most states dwell barbarians who trouble them: but
						the neighbouring states of Athens are themselves remote from the barbarians.

All these advantages, as I have said, are, I
						believe, due to the country itself. But instead of limiting ourselves to the
						blessings that may be called indigenous, suppose that, in the first place,
						we studied the interests of the resident aliens. For in them we have one of
						the very best sources of revenue, in my opinion, inasmuch as they are
						self-supporting and, so far from receiving payment for the many services
						they render to states, they contribute by paying a special tax.

I think that we should study their interests sufficiently, if we relieved
						them of the duties that seem to impose a certain measure of disability on
						the resident alien without conferring any benefit on the state, and also of
						the obligation to serve in the infantry along with the citizens. Apart from
						the personal risk, it is no small thing to leave their trades and their private
						affairs.

The state itself too would gain if the citizens served in the ranks together,
						and no longer found themselves in the same company with Lydians, Phrygians,
						Syrians, and barbarians of all sorts, of whom a large part of our alien
						population consists.

In addition to the advantage of dispensing with the services of these men, it
						would be an ornament to the state that the Athenians should be thought to
						rely on themselves rather than on the help of foreigners in fighting their
						battles.

If, moreover, we granted the resident aliens
						the right to serve in the cavalry and various other privileges which it is
						proper to grant them, I think that we should find their loyalty increase and
						at the same time should add to the strength and greatness of the state.

Then again, since there are many vacant sites
						for houses within the walls, if the state allowed approved applicants to
						erect houses on these and granted them the freehold of the land, I think
						that we should find a larger and better class of persons desiring to live at
						Athens.

And if we appointed a board of Guardians of
						Aliens analogous to the Guardians of Orphans, and some kind of distinction
						were earmarked for guardians whose list of resident aliens was longest, that
						too would add to the loyalty of the aliens, and probably all without a city
						would covet the right of settling in Athens, and would increase our
						revenues.

I shall now say something of the unrivalled
						amenities and advantages of our city as a commercial centre. 
					 In the first place, I presume, she possesses
						the finest and safest accomodation for shipping, since vessels can anchor
						here and ride safe at their moorings in spite of bad weather.

Moreover, at most other ports merchants are compelled to ship a return cargo,
						because the local currency has no circulation in other states; but at Athens
						they have the opportunity of exchanging their cargo and exporting very many
						classes of goods that are in demand, or, if they do not want to ship a
						return cargo of goods, it is sound business to export silver; for, wherever
						they sell it, they are sure to make a profit on the capital invested.

If prizes were offered to the magistrates of
						the market for just and prompt settlement of disputes,
						so that sailings were not delayed, the effect would be that a far larger
						number of merchants would trade with us and with much greater satisfaction.

It would also be an excellent plan to reserve front seats in the theatre for
						merchants and shipowners, and to offer them hospitality occasionally, when
						the high quality of their ships and merchandise entitles them to be
						considered benefactors of the state. With the prospect of these honours
						before them they would look on us as friends and hasten to visit us to win
						the honour as well as the profit.

The rise in the number of residents and
						visitors would of course lead to a corresponding expansion of our imports
						and exports, of sales, rents and customs.

Now such additions to our revenues as these
						need cost us nothing whatever beyond benevolent legislation and measures of
						control. Other methods of raising revenue that I have in mind will require
						capital, no doubt.

Nevertheless I venture to hope that the citizens would contribute eagerly
						towards such objects, when I recall the large sums contributed by the state
						when Lysistratus was in command and troops were sent to aid the
							Arcadians, and again in the time of Hegesileos.

I am also aware that large expenditure is frequently incurred to send
						warships abroad, though none can tell whether the venture will be for better
						or worse, and the only thing certain is that the subscribers will never see
						their money back nor even enjoy any part of what they contribute.

But no investment can yield them so fine a return as the money advanced by
						them to form the capital fund. For every subscriber of ten minae, drawing
						three obols a day, gets nearly twenty per cent.—as much as he would get on
							bottomry; and every subscriber of five minae gets more
						than a third of his capital back in interest.

But most of the Athenians will get over a hundred per cent. in a year, for
						those who advance one mina will draw an income of nearly two minae,
						guaranteed by the state, which is to all appearances the safest and most
						durable of human institutions.

I think, too, that if their names were to be
						recorded in the roll of benefactors for all time, many foreigners also would
						subscribe, and a certain number of states would be attracted by the prospect
						of enrolment. I believe that even kings and despots and oriental governors
						would desire to share in this reward.

When funds were sufficient, it would be a fine
						plan to build more lodging-houses for shipowners near the harbours, and
						convenient places of exchange for merchants, also hotels to accomodate
						visitors.

Again, if houses and shops were put up both in the Peiraeus and in the city
						for retail traders, they would be an ornament to the state, and at the same
						time the source of a considerable revenue.

Moreover, I think it would be a good plan to
						take a hint from the state ownership of public warships, and to see whether
						it be possible to acquire a fleet of public merchant vessels and to lease
						them under securities, like our other public property. For if this proved to
						be practicable, these vessels would yield another large revenue.

As for the silver mines, I believe that if a
						proper system of working were introduced, a vast amount of money would be
						obtained from them apart from our other sources of revenue. I want to point
						out the possibilities of these mines to those who do not know. For, once you
						realize their possibilities, you will be in a better position to consider
						how the mines should be managed.

Now, we all agree that the mines have been
						worked for many generations. At any rate, no one even attempts to date the
						beginning of mining operations. And yet, although digging and the removal of
						the silver ore have been carried on for so long a time, note how small is
						the size of the dumps compared with the virgin and silver-laden hills.

And it is continually being found that, so far from shrinking, the
						silver-yielding area extends further and further. 
					 Well, so long as the maximum number of workmen
						was employed in them, no one ever wanted a job; in fact, there were always
						more jobs than the labourers could deal with.

And even at the present day no owner of slaves employed in the mines reduces
						the number of his men; on the contrary, every master obtains as many more as
						he can. The fact is, I imagine, that when there are few diggers and
						searchers, the amount of metal recovered is small, and when there are many,
						the total of ore discovered is multiplied. Hence of all the industries with
						which I am acquainted this is the only one in which expansion of business
						excites no jealousy.

Further than this, every farmer can tell just
						how many yoke of oxen are enough for the farm and how many labourers. To put
						more on the land than the requisite number is counted loss. In mining
						undertakings, on the contrary, everyone tells you that he is short of
						labour.

Mining, in fact, is quite different from other industries. An increase in the
						number of coppersmiths, for example, produces a fall in the price of copper
						work, and the coppersmiths retire from business. The same thing happens in
						the iron trade. Again, when corn and wine are abundant, the crops are cheap,
						and the profit derived from growing them disappears, so that many give up
						farming and set up as merchants or shopkeepers or moneylenders. But an
						increase in the amount of the silver ore discovered and of the metal won is
						accompanied by an increase in the number of persons who take up this
						industry.

Neither is silver like furniture, of which a man never buys more when once he
						has got enough for his house. No one ever yet possessed so much silver as to
						want no more; if a man finds himself with a huge amount of it, he takes as
						much pleasure in burying the surplus as in using it.

Mark too that, whenever states are prosperous,
						silver is in strong demand. The men will spend money on fine arms and good
						horses and magnificent houses and establishments, and the women go in for
						expensive clothes and gold jewelry.

If, on the other hand, the body politic is diseased owing to failure of the
						harvest or to war, the land goes out of cultivation and there is a much more
						insistent demand for cash to pay for food and mercenaries.

If anyone says that gold is quite as useful as
						silver, I am not going to contradict him; but I know this, that when gold is
						plentiful, silver rises and gold falls in value.

With these facts before us, we need not
						hesitate to bring as much labour as we can get into the mines and carry on
						work in them, feeling confident that the ore will never give out and that
						silver will never lose its value.

I think, indeed, that the state has anticipated me in this discovery; at any
						rate she throws open the mining industry to foreigners on the same terms as
						are granted to citizens.

To make myself clearer on the subject of
						alimony, I will now explain how the mines may be worked with the greatest
						advantage to the state. Not that I expect to surprise you by what I am going
						to say, as if I had found the solution of a difficult problem. For some
						things that I shall mention are still to be seen by anyone at the present
						day, and as for conditions in the past, our fathers have told us that they
						were similar.

But what may well excite surprise is that the state, being aware that many
						private individuals are making money out of her, does not imitate them.
						Those of us who have given thought to the matter have heard long ago, I
						imagine, that Nicias son of Niceratus, once owned a thousand men in the
						mines, and let them out to Socias the Thracian, on condition that Sosias
						paid him an obol a day per man net and filled all vacancies as they
						occurred.

Hipponicus, again, had six hundred slaves let out on the same terms and
						received a rent of a mina a day net. Philemonides had three hundred, and
						received half a mina. There were others too, owning numbers in proportion, I
						presume, to their capital.

But why dwell on the past? At this day there are many men in the mines let
						out in this way.

Were my proposals adopted, the only innovation would be, that just as private
						individuals have built up a permanent income by becoming slave owners, so
						the state would become possessed of public slaves, until there were three
						for every citizen.

Whether my plan is workable, let anyone who chooses judge for himself by
						examining it in detail. 
					 So let us take first the cost of the men.
						Clearly the treasury is in a better position to provide the money than
						private individuals. Moreover the Council can easily issue a notice inviting
						all and sundry to bring slaves, and can buy those that are brought to it.

When once they are purchased, why should there be more hesitation about
						hiring from the treasury than from a private person, the terms offered being
						the same? At any rate men hire consecrated lands and houses, and farm taxes under the state.

The treasury can insure the slaves purchased
						by requiring some of the lessees to become guarantors, as it does in the
						case of the tax-farmers. In fact a tax-farmer can swindle the state more
						easily than a lessee of slaves.

For how are you to detect the export of public money? Money looks the same
						whether it is private property or belongs to the state. But how is a man to
						steal slaves when they are branded with the public mark and it is a penal
						offence to sell or export them? 
					 So far, then, it appears to be possible for
						the state to acquire and to keep men.

But, one may ask, when labour is abundant, how will a sufficient number of
						persons be found to hire it? Well, if anyone feels doubtful about that, let
						him comfort himself with the thought that many men in the business will hire
						the state slaves as additional hands, since they have abundance of capital,
						and that among those now working in the mines many are growing old. Moreover
						there are many others, both Athenians and foreigners, who have neither will
						nor strength to work with their own hands, but would be glad to to make a
						living by becoming managers.

Assume, however, that the total number of
						slaves to begin with is twelve hundred. By using the revenue derived from
						these the number might in all probability be raised to six thousand at the
						least in the course of five or six years. Further, if each man brings in a
						clear obol a day, the annual revenue derived from that number of men is
						sixty talents.

Out of this sum, if twenty talents are invested in additional slaves, the
						state will have forty talents available for any other necessary purpose. And
						when a total of ten thousand men is reached, the revenue will be a hundred
						talents.

But the state will receive far more than that,
						as anyone will testify who is old enough to remember how much the charge for
						slave labour brought in before the trouble at Decelea. And
						there is another proof. During the history of the mines an infinite number
						of men has worked in them; and yet the condition of the mines to-day is
						exactly the same as it was in the time of our ancestors, and their memory
						ran not to the contrary.

And present conditions all lead to the conclusion that the number of slaves
						employed there can never be greater than the works need. For the miners find
						no limit to shaft or gallery.

And, mark you, it is as possible now to open new veins as in former times.
						Nor can one say with any certainty whether the ore is more plentiful in the
						area already under work or in the unexplored tracts.

Then why, it may be asked, are fewer new
						cuttings made nowadays than formerly? Simply because those interested in the
						mines are poorer. For operations have only lately been resumed, and a man
						who makes a new cutting incurs a serious risk. If he strikes good stuff he
						makes a fortune; but if he is

disappointed, he loses the money he has spent. Therefore people nowadays are
						very chary of taking such a risk.

However, I think I can meet this difficulty
						too, and suggest a plan that will make the opening of new cuttings a
						perfectly safe undertaking. The Athenians, of course, are divided into ten
						tribes. Now assume that the state were to offer each tribe an equal number
						of slaves, and that when new cuttings were made, the tribes were to pool
						their luck.

The result would be that if one tribe found silver, the discovery would be
						profitable to all; and if two, three, four, or half the tribes found, the
						profits from these works would obviously be greater. 
					 Nothing that has happened in the past makes it
						probable that all would fail to find.

Of course, private individuals also are able to combine on this principle and
						pool their fortunes in order to diminish the risk. Nevertheless there is no
						reason to fear that a public company formed on this plan will conflict with
						the interests of private persons, or be hampered by them. No, just as every
						new adhesion to a confederacy brings an increase of strength to all its
						members, so the greater the number of persons operating in the mines, the
						more treasure they will discover and unearth.

I have now explained what regulations I think
						should be introduced into the state in order that every Athenian may receive
						sufficient maintenance at the public expense.

Some may imagine that enough money would never be subscribed to provide the
						huge amount of capital necessary, according to their calculations, to
						finance all these schemes. But even so they need not despair.

For it is not essential that the plan should be carried out in all its
						details in order that any advantage may come of it. No, whatever the number
						of houses built, or of ships constructed, or of slaves purchased, they will
						immediately prove a paying concern.

In fact in one respect it will be even more profitable to proceed gradually
						than to do everything at once. For if everybody begins building, we shall
						pay more for worse work than if we carry out the undertaking gradually; and
						if we try to find an enormous number of slaves, we shall be forced to buy
						inferior men at a high price.

By proceeding as our means allow, we can
						repeat whatever is well conceived and avoid the repetition of mistakes.

Besides, were the whole scheme put in hand at once, we should have to find
						the whole of the money; but if some parts were proceeded with and others
						postponed, the income realised would help to provide the amount still
						required.

Possibly the gravest fear in everyone’s mind is that the
							works may become overcrowded if the state acquires too many slaves. But
							we can rid ourselves of that fear by not putting more men in year by
							year than the works themselves require.

Accordingly I hold that this, which is the
						easiest way, is also the best way of doing these things. On the other hand,
						if you think that the burdens imposed during the late war make it impossible for you
						to contribute anything at all—well, keep down the cost of administration
						during the next year to the amount that the taxes yielded before the peace;
						and invest the balances over and above that amount, which you will get with
						peace, with considerate treatment of resident aliens and merchants, with the
						growth of imports and exports due to concentration of a larger population,
						and with the expansion of harbour and market dues, so that the investment
						will bring in the largest revenue.

Or again, if any fear that this scheme would
						prove worthless in the event of war breaking out, they should observe that,
						with this system at work, war becomes far more formidable to the aggressors
						than to the city.

For what instrument is more serviceable for war than men? We should have
						enough of them to supply crews to many ships of the state; and many men
						available for service in the ranks as infantry could press the enemy hard,
						if they were treated with consideration.

But I reckon that, even in the event of war,
						the mines need not be abandoned. There are, of course, two fortresses in the
						mining district, one at Anaphlystus on the south side, the other at Thoricus
						on the north. The distance between them is about seven miles and a half.

Now suppose that we had a third stronghold between them on the highest point
						of Besa. The works 
						would then be linked up by all the fortresses, and at the first intimation
						of a hostile movement, every man would have but a short distance to go in
						order to reach safety.

In case an enemy came in force, he would, no doubt, seize any corn or wine or
						cattle that he found outside; but the silver ore, when he had got it, would
						be of as much use to him as a heap of stones.

And how could an enemy ever go for the mines? The distance between Megara,
						the nearest city, and the silver mines, is of course much more than five
						hundred furlongs; and Thebes, which is next in proximity, lies at a distance
						of much more than six hundred furlongs from them.

Let us assume, then, that an enemy is marching on the mines from some such
						point. He is bound to pass Athens; and if his numbers are small, he is
						likely to be destroyed by our cavalry and patrols. On the other hand, to
						march on them with a large force, leaving his own property unprotected, is
						no easy matter; for when he arrived at the mines the city of Athens would be
						much nearer to his own states than he himself would be.

But even supposing that he should come, how is he to stay without supplies?
						And to send part of their forces in search of food may mean destruction to
						the foraging party and failure to achieve the ends for which he is
						contending; or if the whole force is continually foraging it will find
						itself blockaded instead of blockading.

However, the rent derived from the slaves
						would not be the only source of relief to the community. With the
						concentration of a large population in the mining district, abundant revenue
						would be derived from the local market, from state-owned houses near the
						silver mines, from furnaces and all the other sources.

For a densely populated city would grow up there, if it were organised on
						this plan; yes, and building sites would become as valuable there as they
						are in our suburbs.

If the plans that I have put forward are
						carried out, I agree that, apart from the improvement in our
						financial position, we shall become a people more obedient, better
						disciplined, and more efficient in war.

For the classes undergoing physical training will take more pains in the
						gymnasium when they receive their maintenance in full than they take under
						the superintendents of the torch races; and the classes on garrison duty in a fortress, or
						serving as targeteers, or patrolling the country will show greater alacrity
						in carrying out all these duties when the maintenance is duly supplied for
						the work done.

If it seems clear that the state cannot obtain
						a full revenue from all sources unless she has peace, is it not worth while
						to set up a board of guardians of peace? Were such a board constituted, it
						would help to increase the popularity of the city and to make it more
						attractive and more densely thronged with visitors from all parts.

If any are inclined to think that a lasting peace for our city will involve a
						loss of her power and glory and fame in Greece, they too, in my opinion, are
						out in their calculations. For I presume that those states are reckoned the
						happiest that enjoy the longest period of unbroken peace; and of all states
						Athens is by nature most suited to flourish in peace.

For if the state is tranquil, what class of men will not need her? Shipowners
						and merchants will head the list. Then there will be those rich in corn and
						wine and oil and cattle; men possessed of brains and money to invest;
						craftsmen and professors and

philosophers; poets and the people who make use of their works; those to whom
						anything sacred or secular appeals that is worth seeing or hearing. Besides,
						where will those who want to buy or sell many things quickly meet with
						better success in their efforts than at Athens?

No one, I dare say, contests this; but there
						are some who wish the state to recover her ascendancy, and they may think
						that it is more likely to be won by war than by peace. Let such, in the
						first place, call to mind the Persian Wars. Was it by coercing the Greeks or
						by rendering services to them that we became leaders of the fleet and
						treasurers of the league funds?

Further, after the state had been stripped of her empire through seeming to
						exercise her authority with excessive harshness, did not the islanders even
						then restore to us the presidency of the fleet by their own free will, when
						we refrained from acts of injustice?

And again, did not the Thebans place themselves under the leadership of the
						Athenians in return for our good offices? Yet once again, it was not the
						effect of coercion on our part, but of generous treatment, that the
						Lacedaemonians permitted the Athenians to arrange the leadership as they
						chose.

And now, owing to the confusion prevalent in Greece, an opportunity, I think,
						has fallen to the state to win back the Greeks without trouble, without
						danger, and without expense. For she has it in her power to try to reconcile
						the warring states, she has it in her power to compose the factions
						contending in their midst.

And were it apparent that you are striving to make the Delphic shrine
						independent, as it used to be, not by joining in war, but by sending
						embassies up and down Greece, I for my part should not be in the least
						surprised if you found the Greeks all of one mind, banded together by oath
						and united in alliance against any that attempted to seize the shrine in the
						event of the Phocians abandoning it.

Were you to show also that you are striving for peace in every land and on
						every sea, I do think that, next to the safety of their own country, all men
						would put the safety of Athens first in their prayers.

If, on the other hand, any one supposes that
						financially war is more profitable to the state than peace, I really do not
						know how the truth of this can be tested better than by considering once
						more what has been the experience of our state in the past.

He will find that in old days a very great amount of money was paid into the
						treasury in time of peace, and that the whole of it was spent in time of
						war; he will conclude on consideration that in our own time the effect of
						the late war on our revenues was that many of them ceased, while those that
						came in were exhausted by the multitude of expenses; whereas the cessation
						of war by sea has been followed by a rise in the revenues, and has allowed
						the citizens to devote them to any purpose they choose.

But some one may ask me, Do you mean to say
						that, even if she is wronged, the state should remain at peace with the
						offender? No, certainly not; but I do say that our vengeance would follow
						far more swiftly on our enemies if we provoked nobody by wrong-doing; for
						then they would look in vain for an ally.

Well now, surely, if none of these proposals
						is impossible or even difficult, if by carrying them into effect we shall be
						regarded with more affection by the Greeks, shall live in greater security,
						and be more glorious; if the people will be maintained in comfort and the
						rich no more burdened with the expenses of war; if with a large surplus in
						hand we shall celebrate our festivals with even more splendour than at
						present, shall restore the temples, and repair the walls and docks, and
						shall give back to priests, councillors, magistrates, knights their ancient
						privileges; surely, I say, our proper course is to proceed with this scheme
						forthwith, that already in our generation we may come to see our city secure
						and prosperous.

Furthermore, if you decide to go forward with
						the plan, I should advise you to send to Dodona and Delphi, and inquire of
						the gods whether such a design is fraught with weal for the state both now
						and in days to come.

And should they consent to it, then I would say that we ought to ask them
						further, which of the gods we must propitiate in order that we may prosper
						in our handiwork. Then, when we have offered an acceptable sacrifice to the
						gods named in their reply, it behoves us to begin the work. For with heaven
						to help us in what we do, it is likely that our undertakings will go forward
						continually to the greater weal of the state.