I
For myself I hold to the opinion that the qualities of the leading
statesmen in a state, whatever they be, are reproduced in the character of
the constitution itself.[1]
[1] "Like minister, like government." For the same idea more fully
expressed, see "Cyrop." VIII. i. 8; viii. 5.
As, however, it has been maintained by certain leading statesmen in
Athens that the recognised standard of right and wrong is as high at
Athens as elsewhere, but that, owing to the pressure of poverty on the
masses, a certain measure of injustice in their dealing with the allied
states[2] could not be avoided; I set myself to discover whether by any
manner of means it were possible for the citizens of Athens to be
supported solely from the soil of Attica itself, which was obviously the
most equitable solution. For if so, herein lay, as I believed, the antidote at
once to their own poverty and to the feeling of suspicion with which they
are regarded by the rest of Hellas.
[2] Lit. "the cities," i.e. of the alliance, {tas summakhidas}.
I had no sooner begun my investigation than one fact presented itself
clearly to my mind, which is that the country itself is made by nature to
provide the amplest resources. And with a view to establishing the truth of
this initial proposition I will describe the physical features of Attica.