48 ALAIN BRESSON (TRANSLATED By EDwARD M. HARRIS)
κατακομίδην τῶν ὡραίων καὶ πάλιν ἀντίληψιν ὧν ἡ θάλασσα τῇ ἠπείρῳ
δίδωσι).^30- Isocrates has a theory of deficiencies and surpluses that resembles Aristotle’s
but with a clearer vision of sharing sources of wealth among different
cities: ‘Moreover, each population does not possess a territory that can provide
for all its needs. Sometimes it lacks an item; sometimes it produces more than
necessary’.^31 - For the doctrinaire Plato of the Laws, who is so strict about excluding foreigners,
exports and imports (the two activities are mentioned side by side, it must be
emphasized, three different times) are limited to a strict minimum (strategic
goods and similar items). This is placed under the rigorous control of the city.^32 - In the historian Xenophon, one finds an interesting allusion to foreign trade in a
speech given by Jason of Pherai,^33 in which he compares his growing power with
that of Athens: ‘By gaining control of Macedonia, from which the Athenians
have their timber imported,^34 we will be in a position to construct many more
ships than they do. The Penestai will provide sailors, and who will be in the best
position to feed these sailors, we who have so much wheat that we export it
or the Athenians who do not have enough to supply their own needs without
buying it from abroad?’ Thus Jason proposes to use the normal surpluses, which
allow the Thessalians to export grain, to feed the sailors of his fleet. - In Polybius the ideal situation for a city is to be able to import and export under
optimal conditions. Such was the case for Byzantium: ‘It is perhaps the Byzantines
who enjoy the greatest advantages (i.e. from the existence of the trade-route
from the Black Sea, which Polybius discusses in this passage) due to its unusual
location. In fact, they can export the entire surplus of their produce (ἅπαν γὰρ τὸ
περιττεῦον παρ’ αὐτοῖς) and to make up for what they lacked, they could directly
import with much benefit, without difficulty and without risk.’^35
One can see that Aristotle’s ideas (importing what one lacks, exportation of
surplus) are by no means unusual, not only for his own period but also for
Greek and Hellenistic thought in general because they are also found in an
identical form in Polybius. Moreover, rather than being the specific product
of a particular school whose teachings were passed directly to Polybius, one
has the distinct impression of a communis opinio concerning to foreign trade. In
fact, paradoxically enough given the chronology, one of the most interesting
views about this topic is that of the Old Oligarch. This author basically stresses
the healthy level of exports for many cities. We borrow the translation of Marr
and Rhodes^36 :They alone of the Greeks and non-Greeks are able to possess naval
wealth. For if some city is rich in timber for shipbuilding where will
it dispose of it, if it does not have the consent of the ruler of the sea?
What if a city is rich in iron or copper or flax? Where will it dispose