free man to struggle with corrupt and uncivilized opponents, lashed with foul abuse and submitting to outrages which would be intolerable to a person of good sense—as if good, brave, and high-minded men could have anystronger reason for entering politics than the determination not to give in to the wicked, and not to allow the state to be torn apart by such people in a situation where they themselves would be powerless to help even if they wished to do so.
9
Again, when they deny that a wise man will take part in politics, who, I ask you, can be satisfied with their proviso * —’unless some period of crisis compels him’? As if anyone could face a greater crisis than I did. What could I have done at that time had I not been consul? And how could I have been consul if I had not followed from boyhood the career that would bring a man of equestrian birth like me to the highest office? So the opportunity of rescuing the country, whatever the dangers that threaten it, does not come suddenly or when you wish it, but only when you are in a position which allows you to do so. I find this most astonishing in the writings of intellectuals: they plead their inability to steer the ship when the sea is calm, because they have never been taught and have never cared to acquire such knowledge; and yet they proclaim that they will take the helm when the waves are at their highest! Those gentlemen openly admit, and indeed take great pride in the fact, that they have never learned and do not teach anything about how to set up or maintain a government; they think that expertise in such matters does not befit learned and philosophical men and should be left to people with practical experience in that sort of thing. So what sense does it make to promise assistance to the government only if driven to do so by a crisis, when they cannot manage a much easier task, namely to take charge of the government when there is
no
compelling crisis? Even if it were true that the sage does not voluntarily deign to descend to the technicalities of statecraft, and yet does not shirk that duty if forced by circumstances, I should still think it quite wrong for him to neglect the art of politics; he ought to have everything at his fingertips, for he never knows when he may have to use it.
10
11
I have set out these points at some length, because in the present work I have planned and undertaken a discussion of the state. To prevent the project from seeming futile, I had, at the outset, to get rid of people’s scruples about entering public life. Nevertheless, if any readers are swayed by the authority of philosophers, they should pay attention for a moment and listen to men who enjoya very great authority * and reputation in the highest intellectual circles. Even if they themselves never actually governed, I still think they did the state some service, because they studied and wrote extensively about it. In fact I note that those whom the Greeks called ‘The Seven Wise Men’ * in almost every case played a central role in political life. Nor, indeed, is there any occupation which brings human excellence closer to divine power than founding new states and preserving * those already founded.
12
13–32. Preliminaries, leading to astronomy and its relation to politics
Since I have had the good fortune * to achieve something of note in government, and also possess a certain ability in expounding political principles not only as a result of experience but also through my enthusiasm for learning and teaching (I am not unqualified * for this task. This is not true of most) authorities; for some of my predecessors have been highly accomplished in theoretical discussion, without any discernible achievement in practice; others, with a creditable practical record, have lacked analytical skill. Not that this account which I am about to give is novel or original. I intend rather to recall a discussion that took place within a group of people who at a particular time
9
Again, when they deny that a wise man will take part in politics, who, I ask you, can be satisfied with their proviso * —’unless some period of crisis compels him’? As if anyone could face a greater crisis than I did. What could I have done at that time had I not been consul? And how could I have been consul if I had not followed from boyhood the career that would bring a man of equestrian birth like me to the highest office? So the opportunity of rescuing the country, whatever the dangers that threaten it, does not come suddenly or when you wish it, but only when you are in a position which allows you to do so. I find this most astonishing in the writings of intellectuals: they plead their inability to steer the ship when the sea is calm, because they have never been taught and have never cared to acquire such knowledge; and yet they proclaim that they will take the helm when the waves are at their highest! Those gentlemen openly admit, and indeed take great pride in the fact, that they have never learned and do not teach anything about how to set up or maintain a government; they think that expertise in such matters does not befit learned and philosophical men and should be left to people with practical experience in that sort of thing. So what sense does it make to promise assistance to the government only if driven to do so by a crisis, when they cannot manage a much easier task, namely to take charge of the government when there is
no
compelling crisis? Even if it were true that the sage does not voluntarily deign to descend to the technicalities of statecraft, and yet does not shirk that duty if forced by circumstances, I should still think it quite wrong for him to neglect the art of politics; he ought to have everything at his fingertips, for he never knows when he may have to use it.
10
11
I have set out these points at some length, because in the present work I have planned and undertaken a discussion of the state. To prevent the project from seeming futile, I had, at the outset, to get rid of people’s scruples about entering public life. Nevertheless, if any readers are swayed by the authority of philosophers, they should pay attention for a moment and listen to men who enjoya very great authority * and reputation in the highest intellectual circles. Even if they themselves never actually governed, I still think they did the state some service, because they studied and wrote extensively about it. In fact I note that those whom the Greeks called ‘The Seven Wise Men’ * in almost every case played a central role in political life. Nor, indeed, is there any occupation which brings human excellence closer to divine power than founding new states and preserving * those already founded.
12
13–32. Preliminaries, leading to astronomy and its relation to politics
Since I have had the good fortune * to achieve something of note in government, and also possess a certain ability in expounding political principles not only as a result of experience but also through my enthusiasm for learning and teaching (I am not unqualified * for this task. This is not true of most) authorities; for some of my predecessors have been highly accomplished in theoretical discussion, without any discernible achievement in practice; others, with a creditable practical record, have lacked analytical skill. Not that this account which I am about to give is novel or original. I intend rather to recall a discussion that took place within a group of people who at a particular time
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