NOTES, BOOK 6'. 7. 207
which they combine (supra $ j), and the nature of the combination
lnakes Some of them more and some less stable.' The words
\,hich follow return to 8w#G'pouui : ' there are such differences ;
for those of them which incline more to oligarchy are called
aristocracies, those which incline to democracy, polities.'
2) rohy and Gih roh may be thought to refer rather to what
fo;jo\vs than tc \vhat precedes. ' Aristocracies differ from polities
in ~hat polities include numbers, and because of this difference
sollie of them are less and some of them more stable, some inclin-
more to oligarchy or the government of a few, others to polity,
\yliich is the government of a larger number.'
Susemihl takes the whole passage nearly in the same manner :
3) 'Aristocracies differ from the so-called polities in this respect
(i. e. in having the three elements of G+os, TXOSTOS, a'pc~i instead of
the first two only), and for this reason, the former of these two
kinds of governments (air&) are less stable and the latter more so.
For those Tvhich incline rather to oligarchy are called aristocracies,
aid those which incline to democracy are called polities ; and for
this reason they are safer than the others : for the greater number
he more influence, and because they have equality they are more
content.' Polity has only two elements, while aristocracy has
thee. The Gjpos being one-half of the polity but only one-third of
the aristocracy are better pleased with the esisting government and
therefore less disposed to revolution.
This way of explaining the passage gives an excellent sense.
nut the words ai piv +TO,, ai 61 pichhou, are partitive of airfv, which
refers to ni dplmoxpariac and cannot therefore be applied ai piu picXhov
~km to timocracies ai 6; +TO, pdvipo~ to aristocracies. The passage
IS ill written and inaccurately worded, though the general meaning
tolerably clear, namely, that there is often an ill mingling of
coIlstitutions, which in various degrees seek to unite numbers and
and that of the two, numbers are the safer basis.
~v~$t] %1 1.6 cipqp'ivou Iv Boupiois. 7. 9.
sc. the tendency of the constitution towards the prevailing
element spoken of in 8 7, as at Thurii from aristocracy towards
oligarchy, follofyed by a reaction to democracy.