POLITICAL FRAGMENTS

OF THE

PYTHAGOREANS.

FROM THE TREATISE OF HIPPODAMUS THE THURIAN ON A REPUBLIC.

Polity: The structure of a state.

I say that the whole of a polity polity (the form or constitution of a government) is divided into three parts. The first part consists of good men who manage public affairs. The second part consists of those who are powerful. The third part is composed of those who are employed in supplying and procuring the necessaries of life. I denominate the first multitude [in a polity] that which consults for the good of the whole; the second, that which is auxiliary; and the third, that which pertains to mechanical and sordid sordid (in the classical sense: involving manual labor or low-status work) occupations. Of these, I say that the first two belong to those whose condition in life is liberal; but the third belongs to those who labor to procure subsistence.