chapter one of book 1 of rhetoric this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org recording by Geoffrey Edwards rhetoric by Aristotle translated by Thomas Taylor chapter 1 of book 1 rhetoric reciprocate with dialectic or logic for both are conversant with such particulars as being common me after manner be known by all men and pertain to no definite science hence all men in a certain respect participate of both these for all men to a certain extent endeavour to examine and sustain an argument to defend and accuse with respect to the multitude therefore some of them do these things casually but others through custom from habit because however this is possible in both ways it is evident that these particulars may also be reduced to a certain method for it is possible to survey the cause why some men render what they assert probable from custom and others from chance but all men now will acknowledge that a thing of this kind is the work of art at present there for those who compose the arts operations ie who unfold the art of rhetoric explain only a small part of rhetoric for credibility is the only artificial part of the art but the other parts are additions the rhetorician x' however of the present day say nothing about ends the memes which are the substantial part of credibility but their attention is for the most part directed to things foreign to the purpose for accusation pity anger and such like passions of the soul do not pertain to the thing itself which is to be proved but to the judge hence if all judicial processes were conducted in the same manner as they are I present in some cities and especially in those that are governed by good laws these rhetorician x' would not have anything to say for with respect to all cities some think it necessary that the laws should thus ordain but this method is adopted by others and they forbid rhetorician to say anything foreign to the purpose in the same manner as in the Areopagus and in this respect they think rightly for it is not proper to pervert the judge by exciting him to anger or envy or pity since this is just as if someone should make the rule distorted which he intends to use again it is likewise manifest that the only business of the litigant is to show that a thing either is or is not or that it has or has not been done but with respect to such things as the legislature has not defined whether they are greater small just or unjust these ought to be known by the judge himself and he is not to learn them from the litigants it is especially requisite therefore that laws which are rightly framed should define all such particulars as can be defined and leave very little to be defined by the judge and in the first place indeed this is requisite because it is more easy to obtain one person or a few than many that are intelligent and wise and who are able to act the part of a legislator and a judge in the next place the establishment of laws is the effect of a survey from a long series of pastime but judgments are the result of a survey from recent times so that it is difficult for those who judge to attribute what is just and advantageous in a becoming manner that however which is the greatest reason of all is that the judgment of the legislature is not conversant with particulars but with future events and universals but the judgment of the barrister and the judge is directed to present and definite circumstances with which love and hatred and private advantage are frequently conjoined so that they are no longer sufficiently able to survey the truth but their own your pleasure or paying darkens their judgment with respect to other particulars therefore it is necessary as we have said that very little should be left in the power of the judge but with respect to the inquiry whether a thing has been done or not or whether it will or will not take place or is or is not it is necessary that this should be left to the judges for it is not possible that these things should be foreseen by the legislator if then this be the case it is evident that those rhetorician who define other parts of a narration except credibility such for instance as what the pro-am or the narration should contain and each of the other parts these exercise their art in things foreign to the purpose for in these they affect nothing else except delivering the method by which the judge may be influenced but they demonstrate nothing respecting artificial credibility viz once someone may become Infinium addict or possess the power of discovering artificial proofs of that which is the subject of controversy hence though there is the same method respecting popular and judicial orations and the popular is better and more political than the method pertaining to contracts yet retro ish ins of the present day are silent as to the popular method but all of them endeavor to unfold the art pertaining to the judicial genius because it is less advantageous in popular orations to assert what is foreign to the purpose and a popular oration is less pernicious than a judicial discussion but is more common for in the former the judge decides about appropriate concerns so that nothing else is necessary then to show that the thing is as the counsellor asserts it to be in judicial processes however this is not sufficient but it is requisite to pay attention to the hearer for the decision is concerning things of a foreign nature hence the judges looking to their own advantage and regarding their own pleasure gratify the litigants but do not decide with justice hence - as I have before observed in many places the law forbids anything foreign to the purpose to be said and in these places this law is sufficiently observed by the judges themselves since however it is evident that the artificial method is conversant with credibility but credibility is a certain demonstration for we then especially believe in a thing when we think it is accompanied with demonstration and a rhetorical demonstration is an infimum and this in short possesses the greatest authority of all credibility's but an infimum is a certain syllogism and it is the province either of the whole or of a certain part of dialectic to pay attention similarly to every syllogism this being the case it is evident that he who is eminently capable of surveying this fizz from what propositions and how a syllogism may be made he will be especially enthymeme addict in consequence of assuming what the particulars are with which enthymeme are conversant and what differences they possess with respect to logical syllogisms for it is the province of the same power to perceive truth and what is similar to truth and at the same time men are by nature sufficiently adapted to the perception of truths and for the most part obtain it hence he who sagaciously conjectures probabilities is disposed similarly to him who perceives truth than others therefore artificially discussed things foreign to the purpose and why they especially inclined to judicial precepts is evident from what has been said but rhetoric is useful because things true and just are naturally more excellent than their countries so that unless judgments are formed according to what is fit what is more excellent will be vanquished by its contrary and this is a thing worthy of reprehensive farther still though we should possess the most accurate science it is not easy when we speak to persuade some persons by employing that science for a scientific oration proceeds from disap and it is impossible from this to persuade the unlearn it but it is necessary when addressing these to procure credibility and frame arguments from such things as are common just as we have asserted in the topics respecting the conference with the multitude further still the power of being able to persuade contraries or the ability of disputing on each side of a question is necessary in the same manner as in syllogisms not in order that we may do both for it is not proper to persuade to what is base but that we may not be ignorant how contrary subsist and that when another person employs those arguments unjustly we may be able to solve them no one therefore of the other art syllogistic Allah concludes contraries but this is alone affected by dialectic and rhetoric for both of them are similarly conversant with contraries though the things which are the subjects of their consideration do not subsist similarly but always as I may say things which are true and naturally more excellent are more syllogistic and adapted to procure persuasion besides it is absurd that it should be shameful for a man not to be able to give assistance to his body and that it should not be shameful for him not to be able to assist himself by the reasoning power which is more the peculiarity of man than the use of the body if however it should be objected that he who uses unjustly the rhetorical power may injure others in a great degree this objection is common to everything that is good except virtue and especially to the most useful things such as strength health riches and military command for he who uses things of this kind justly may benefit others in the greatest degree and by using them unjustly may affect the greatest injury that rhetoric therefore is not conversant with one certain definite genus but resembles in this respect dialectic and that it is useful is evident it is likewise evident that the employment of rhetoric is not to persuade but to perceive on every subject what is adapted to procure persuasion in the same manner as in all other arts for it is not the business of medicine to produce health but to do everything as much as possible which may procure it since the healing art may be well exercised upon those that are incapable of being restored to health in addition likewise to what has been said it is the province of the same power to perceive what is persuasive and what appears to be so just as it is the province of dialectic to discern what is a true and what is only an apparent syllogism for the sophistical art does not consist in the power of reasoning but in deliberate choice except that here indeed fizz in the rhetorical art one man will be a rhetorician from science but another from deliberate choice there however is in dialectic or logic the Sophists indeed is from deliberate choice but the logician is not from deliberate choice but from the power of reasoning chapter 2 now therefore we shall endeavor to speak concerning the method itself i.e the rhetorical art and show how and from what particulars we may be able to obtain the end proposed by this art again therefore as if defining from the beginning let us discuss what remains let rhetoric then be the power of perceiving in everything that which is capable of producing persuasion for this is the employment of no other art since each of the other arts is doctrinal and persuasive about that which is the subject of its consideration thus for instance medicine is doctrinal and persuasive about that which is salubrious and morbid geometry about the properties accidental to magnitudes and arithmetic about number the like also takes place in the other arts and sciences but rhetoric as I may say appears to be able to survey about any given thing what is adapted to produce persuasion hence also we say but it does not possess an artificial power about any certain peculiar definite genus with respect however two things which procure credibility some of them are without art but others are artificial and I call those without art which are not devised by us but exist prior to all artificial invention such as witnesses questions writings and other particulars of the like kind but those are artificial which are capable of being procured methodically and by us so that it is requisite to use the former and discover the latter of the credibility however which is procured by argument there are three species for one kind indeed consists in the manner of the speaker another in the disposition of the hearer and the third in the argument itself in consequence of demonstrating or appearing to demonstrate credibility therefore is procured through manners when the oration is delivered in such a way as to render the speaker worthy of belief for about everything in short we believe the worthy in a greater degree and more rapidly but in those particulars in which an accurate knowledge cannot be obtained and which are ambiguous we entirely confined in the decisions of the worthy it is however requisite that this also should happen through the oration and not entirely from any previous opinion respecting the speaker for we must not admit what some teachers of rhetoric have asserted in their art that the probity of the speaker contributes nothing to persuasion since nearly as I may say manners possess the most powerful and principal credibility but credibility is procured through the hearers when their passions are influenced by the oration for we do not similarly form a judgement when we grieve or rejoice love or hate to which species of credibility we assert that those who now deliver the art of rhetoric alone direct their attention each of these particulars however will be elucidated by when we speak concerning the passions but belief is produced through arguments when we show what is true or appears to be true from the probabilities pertaining to the several objects of inquiry since however credibility is effected through these things it is evident that to obtain the three species of it above-mentioned is the province of him who is able to cyllage eyes who can survey what pertains to manners in the virtues and in the third place what pertains to the passions what each of them is what quality it possesses and from what particulars it is in generating in the hearer and how so that it happens that rhetoric is as it were something which grows upon dialectic and the discussions concerning manners and it is just to call it political hence rhetoric assumes the form of the political science and those who profess it do so partly through ignorance partly from arrogance and partly from other human causes for it is a certain particle and resemblance of dialectic as we observed in the beginning of this treatise for neither of them is the science of anything definite and which shows how a thing subsists but there are certain powers of procuring arguments and thus we have nearly spoken sufficiently concerning the power which they possess and how they subsist with respect to each other with respect however to proof either real or apparent in the same manner as in the dialectic one kind is induction another is a true syllogism and a third is apparent syllogism thus also similarly in rhetoric for example indeed is induction but enthymeme is a syllogism but I call enthymeme indeed a rhetorical syllogism and example a rhetorical induction all rhetorician x' however who procure belief by the proofs which they adduce affect it either by the examples which they bring or by enthymeme x' and in a certain respect there is nothing else beasts these hence if in short it is necessary to point out any person or thing by syllogism or induction bracket but this is evident to us from the analytics close bracket it is necessary that each of those should be the same with each of these but what the difference is between example and enthymeme is evident from the topics for their syllogism and induction are previously discussed because if it is shown in many in similar things that what we assert is true there indeed it is induction but here it is example when however certain things existing something else besides happens from these because they subsist either universally or for the most part when this is the case there indeed it is called syllogism but here enthymeme but it is evident that each form of rhetoric is benefited by these two for the like to what we have observed in the methodical treatises takes place also in this treatise for summary asians are of the nature of examples but others are infimum addict and in a similar manner with respect to records some are delighted with examples and others with enthymeme z' arguments therefore firm examples are no less calculated to persuade than others but those from enthymeme z' cause greater perturbation but the reason of this and how each of these these of examples and enthymeme z' is to be used we shall hereafter explain now however let us more fully and clearly discuss these very particulars themselves for that which is persuasive is persuasive to someone and one thing indeed is immediately of itself persuasive and credible but another because it appears to be proved through things that are credible no arc however speculates that which is particular thus for instance medicine does not speculate what is salubrious to socrates or careless but what is so - such a one or two such persons in general for this is artificial but particulars are infinite and are not the objects of science nor does rhetoric speculate opine about particulars such as what is the subject of opinion to Socrates or habeas but that which is the subject of opinion to such or such persons in the same manner as dialectic for dialectic also cyllage Isis not from such things as are casual since certain things appear to be credible even to those who are delirious but dialectic cyllage Isis from such things as require to be developed by a reasoning process and rhetoric from such things as are accustomed to take place in consultation the employment however of rhetoric consists in such particulars as are the subject of our consultation and respecting which we have no art and it is also conversant with such years as are incapable of perceiving a conclusion which is deduced through many medium or of cyllage izing remotely ie who are incapable of a long series of reasoning but we consult about those things the subsistence of which appears to be possible in both ways ie which may subsist otherwise than they do for with respect to such things as cannot either in the past or future or present time have a different subsistence no one consults about these conceiving that they thus subsist for it is not possible for anyone to consult otherwise than thus about things of this kind but it is possible to cyllage eyes and collect some things indeed from such particulars as have been previously syllogistic li inferred but others from things not inferred by syllogism but which require syllogism because they are not probable and it is necessary indeed with respect to these that the constitution of the one should not be easy on account of its length for the judge is supposed to be simple and that the other should not be adapted to persuade because it does not proceed from things acknowledged nor from such as are probable hence it is necessary that enthymeme and example should be conversant with such things as for the most part admit of a various subsistence and example indeed requires induction but enthymeme syllogism it is likewise necessary that enthymeme and example should consist from a few things and frequently from fewer than those from which the first tillage ISM consists for if any one of these is known it is not necessary to say anything farther since the hearer himself will add this less for instance for the purpose of concluding that dorcas was victorious in the contest in which the victors were crowned it is sufficient to say that he concurred in the Olympic Games but there is no occasion to add that he was crowned because he conquered in the Olympic Games for this is known by all men there are however a few necessary things from which rhetorical syllogisms consist for many of the particulars which are the subjects of judgment and consideration may have a various subsistence or subsist otherwise than they do since men make their actions the subjects of their consultation and consideration all actions likewise belong to the genus of things which are contingent and no one of these as I may say is from necessity but things which are for the most part accidental and contingent must necessarily be syllogistic aliy collected from other things which are of the like kind and such as are necessary must be deduced by syllogism from necessary propositions but this is evident to us from the analytics this then being the case it is manifest that with respect to those things from which enthymeme are deduced some indeed are necessary but most of them are such as have a frequency of subsistence for anthems are deduced from the probabilities and signs so that it is necessary each of these should be the same with each for the probable is that which subsists for the most part but not simply according to the definition of some persons that however which is assumed respecting things which may have a very subsistence as the same relation to that to which the probable is directed as universal to particular but with respect to signs when indeed has such a subsistence as someone of particulars to that which is universal but another as someone of universals to that which is particular and of these signs that indeed which is necessary is an argument but that which is not necessary is anonymous according to difference I call therefore those things necessary from which syllogism is produced on which account also a sign of this is tech Marian or an argument for when rhetorician fancy that what they say cannot be solved then they think they have adduced an argument as being something proved and definite for tech Mar and bound or limit are the same according to the ancient tongue with respect to science however that indeed which subsists as particular to universal is just as if someone should say it is a sign that wise are just men for Socrates was wise and just this therefore is assigned but what has been asserted though true may be solved for it is unsolicited the following however as for instance if someone should say it is a sign that a certain person is diseased for he has a fever or that some female has been delivered because she has milk are necessary signs and which are the only signs that are tech mariya for these alone if true cannot be solved but that which subsists as universal to particular is as if someone should say it is a sign that a certain person has a fever for he breathes short and frequently this however may be solved though it is true for it is possible that one who has not a fever may labor under a difficulty of breathing we have therefore now shown what the probable assigned and an argument are and in what they differ from each other these however are more clearly unfolded in the analytics where also it is shown from what cause some of them are unsophisticated Italy deduced and with respect to example that it is indeed induction and what the subjects are about which it is an induction we have already shown it is however neither as a part to the whole nor as the whole to a part nor as a whole to whole but that which is as a part to a part and as the similar to the similar when both are under the same genus but the one is more known than the other is example less for instance that Dionysius endeavoured to establish a tyrannical government when he required a guard is an example for paisa stratus who prior to him attempted the same thing demanded a guard and having obtained it tyrannize over the Athenians and the agencies over the mega Renzi ins all such others likewise as are known to have acted in this manner become an example of Dionysius with respect to whom it is not yet known whether he requires a guard with a view to a tyrannical government all these however are under the same universal vis that he aspires after tyranny who requires a guard and thus we have shown what the particulars are from which the credibility that appears to be demonstrative is derived chapter 3 with respect to enthymeme however there is a great difference of which nearly all the professors of rhetoric are particularly ignorant and which is conversant with the dialectic method of syllogisms for some enthymeme pertaining to rhetoric just as some syllogism subsist according to the dial dick method but others pertain to other arts and faculties some of which are in existence and others are not yet discovered hence they are not understood by those that hear them and if rhetorician x' employ them more than is fit they relinquish their own art and exchange it for some other but what we have said will become more evident by a more copious discussion for I say that dialectic and rhetorical syllogisms are those which are formed from propositions derived from certain places and these are such as are conversant in common both things that are just and natural and about political concerns and many things which are specifically different such for instance as the place respecting the more and the less for we cannot in any greater degree cyllage eyes from this place or produce an infimum from it respecting what is just or natural then respecting anything else though these things are specifically different but peculiar or proper syllogisms are those which consist from propositions pertaining to each species and genus thus for instance the propositions respecting natural things are those from which neither an enthymeme nor syllogism respecting ethics can be formed and ethical enthymeme x' are those which are formed from propositions peculiar to ethical subjects and from which physical enthymeme cannot be produced the like also takes place in every subject and those dialectic and rhetorical syllogisms indeed do not render man wise in any kind of discussion because they are not conversant with any definite subject but with respect to these that are peculiar and appropriate in proportion as the selection of them is better in such proportion will he who makes the selection latent ly produce a science different from dialectic and rhetoric for if he should happen to meet with the principles of any science the peculiar syllogisms will no longer pertain either to dialectic or rhetoric but to that science of which he possesses the principles insta memes however are derived from those forms which are particular and proper and a few of them are derived from common places as in the topics therefore so here the species and the places of enthymeme z' from whence they are to be assumed must be distinguished but I call species indeed the peculiar prepositions according to each genus and places those propositions which are similarly common to all genera we shall therefore speak first concerning the species and in the first place we shall assume the genera of rhetoric in order that we may ascertain how many there are and with respect to these we shall separately assume the elements and the propositions but the genera of rhetoric are three in number for so many also are the auditors operations for a narration is composed from three things from the speaker from the thing about which he speaks and from the person to whom he speaks the end also of the speaker is directed to this last I mean to the hearer but it is necessary that the auditor should either be a spectator or a judge and that the judge should be a judge either of things past or future he however who judges of future events is as it were one who speaks in an assembly but he who judges of past events is as it were one who determines causes and he who judges of the power of the oration is as it were a spectator hence there will necessarily be three genera of rhetorical orations the deliberative or that which pertains to counsel the judicial and the demonstrative but of counsel one part is exhortation and another d hor tation for always both those who privately give counsel and those who publicly harangue do one of these ie either exhort or dissuade of judgment however one part is accusation but another defense for those that are engaged in controversy must necessarily do one or another of these but of the demonstrative part is praise and another blame there are also times appropriate to each of these to him who gives counsel indeed the future for he consults about future events and concerning these either exhorts or dissuades but the time which is adapted to him who judges is the past for always concerning things which happened them one accuses and another apologizes and to him who demonstrates the most appropriate time is the present for all those who demonstrate praise or blame according to existing circumstances frequently however they employ the past time for the purpose of recollecting and they form a conjecture of future events but the end to each of these is different and as there are three persons there are three ends to him who gives counsel indeed the end is that which is advantageous and detrimental for the advice of him who exhorts is directed to that which is better but he who dissuades dissuades from that which is worse and at the same time they assume other things with a view to this is either the just or the unjust either the beautiful in conduct or the base but to those who judge in courts of Judicature the end is the just and the unjust and they also assume other things with a view to these and to those that praise and blame the end is the beautiful and the base in conduct and they likewise refer other things to these an indication however that the end of each of these is what we have said it is is that sometimes there is no controversy about other things thus for instance he who is tried well assert that the things were not done or that he has committed no injury but he will never acknowledge that he has acted unjustly for if he did the trial would be unnecessary in linked manner those who give counsel frequently admit other things but will not acknowledge that they have advised what is disadvantageous or that they have dissuaded from what is beneficial frequently however they are not at all concerned whether it is not unjust to in slow the neighboring people and those who have done the note injury in link manner also those who praise and those who blame do not consider whether the subject of their praise or blame has acted advantageously or perniciously but frequently applauded him because disregarding his own interest he performed some worthy action thus for instance they praise Achilles because he gave assistance to his friend Patroclus though he knew it was necessary that he should die himself by giving this assistance and that it was in his power to live but to Achilles indeed a death of this kind was more honorable and to live more advantageous from what has been said however it is evident that it is necessary to possess in the first place propositions about these things for arguments bracket Tech mariya close bracket probabilities and signs are rhetorical propositions for in short syllogism is from propositions but enthymeme is a syllogism consisting from the above-mentioned propositions since however impossibilities cannot be performed either at present or in future but this can only be asserted of possibilities and since likewise it is not possible that things which are neither done or will be done should be performed at present or in future it is necessary that he who counsels he who judges and he who demonstrates should possess propositions concerning the possible and impossible and whether thing has been done or not and whether it will be or not farther still all those who praise and blame who exhort and dissuade who accuse and defend not only endeavor to show the particulars we have mentioned but also something which is great or small good or evil beautiful or base just or unjust whether they speak of those things themselves or compare them with each other this being the case it is evident that it is requisite to have propositions concerning magnitude and parva tude the greater and the less the universal and the particular such for instance as what is a greater or less good and unjust or a just action and in a similar manner in other things and thus we have shown what the things are concerning which it is necessary to assume propositions chapter 4 in the next place a distinction must be peculiarly made respecting each of these as for instance what the subjects of consultation are with what demonstrative durations are conversant and in the third place what the subjects are about which judgments are employed in the first place therefore it must be assumed what the kind of good or evil is about which he who advised his counsels since he does not give counsel about all things but about such as may happen to be or not but with respect to such things as necessarily either are or will be or which cannot possibly exist about these there is no consultation hence neither is there consultation about all contingent events for there are some goods from nature and some from fortune which notwithstanding they are contingent and may or may not be yet consultation contributes nothing to them but it is evident that consultation is respecting such things as are naturally adapted to be referred to us and the principle of the generation of which is in our power for our attention is exerted thus far till we find whether it is possible or impossible for us to perform such things accurately therefore to enumerate the several particulars and to distribute into species the subjects of popular discussion and besides this to determine according to truth as much as is possible concerning them it is not necessary at present to investigate because it is not the province of the rhetorical art but of an art more aligned to wisdom and more true for even now much more is attributed to rhetoric than pertains to its proper theorems for that which we have before observed is true that rhetoric is composed indeed from the analytic science and from that political which is conversant with morals and it is partly similar to dialectic and partly to sophistical arguments in proportion however as anyone endeavors to discuss either dialectic or rhetoric not as powers but as Sciences so far he in currently destroys the nature of them by migrating through this attempt into the sciences all of certain subject things instead of alone making a transition into the powers or faculties of words at the same time we shall now speak of whatever it is indeed requisite to distinguish and which leaves matter of consideration to the political science for nearly the subjects which are discussed by all those who give counsel are especially five in number and these are concerning wealth warrant piece and besides these the defense of the country exports and imports and legislation hence it is requisite that he who is to give counsel about wealth should know the revenues of the country what they are and how if they are deficient an addition may be made to them and how if they are too small they may be augmented it is likewise necessary that he should be acquainted with all the expenses of the city and how any unnecessary expense may be removed and that which is greater than his fit may become less for men not only become richer by accumulation of property but also by a decrease of expense and these things may not only be surveyed from the experience of private affairs but in order to give counsel about these it is necessary to be skilled in what has been discovered by others with respect however toward end piece it is necessary to know the power of the city what the forces of it are at present how great they may be what the nature of the strength is which is possessed and what addition may be made to it and farther still what Wars the city has had and how they have been conducted and it is not only necessary that he who gives counsel should understand these concerns of his own country but also those of the neighboring countries he should likewise be particularly a queen with those cities against which it is thought fit to wage war in order that peace may be made with the more powerful and war undertaken against the less powerful if requisite he must also know the forces of these cities whether they are similar or dissimilar for in these it is possible to be superior or inferior it is likewise necessary for this purpose that he should not only have surveyed the Wars of his own country but likewise the event of the wars of other countries for similars are naturally adapted to be known from similars farther still with respect to the defenses of the country it is requisite not to be ignorant how it may be defended but to know the multitude of its defenders in the form of the defence and the places proper for Garrison's this knowledge however cannot be possessed by him who is unacquainted with the country for such knowledge is necessary in order that if the defense is less than it ought to be it may be increased that if superfluous it may be taken away and the Garrison's may be formed in more appropriate places again it is requisite to know what expense is necessary to supply the city with provisions what the country will afford and what must be supplied from abroad what commodities are fit to be imported and what exported in order that conventions and compacts may be considered accordingly for there are two descriptions of men with whom it is necessary the citizens should preserve themselves blameless viz with those that are more powerful and with those that are beneficial to them in a commercial point of view and it is necessary indeed to be able to survey all these particulars for the sake of security and in no small degree for the purpose of understanding the business of legislation for the safety of the city is in the laws and it is necessary to know how many forms of government there are what kind of things are advantageous to each and by what they are naturally adapted to be corrupted both among things appropriate and contrary to the polity but I saying governments are corrupted by things appropriate because all polities except that which is the best our corrupted by omission and intention thus for instance a democracy not only becomes more imbecile by remission so as at length to arrive at an oligarchy but it is also weakened by a vehement intention just as an aquiline and a flat nose not only arrived at mediocrity by remission but likewise when they become very aquiline or flat cause the nose to be so disposed that it no longer appears to be a nostril it is moreover useful for the purpose of legislation not only to understand what is advantageous to a polity by a survey of past events but also to know the condition of other qualities and what is adapted to each hence it is evident that traveling is useful for the purposes of legislation since from hence the laws of nations may be obtained but the knowledge of history is requisite to political councils all these particulars however are the business of politics and not of rhetoric such therefore are the principal things which he who intends to give counsel ought to possess chapter 5 let us again however enumerate the particulars from which it is requisite to exhort or dissuade both respecting these things and other things but nearly both privately to each individual and in common to all men there is a certain scope to which choice and diversions are directed and this is in short Felicity and the parts of it hence for the sake of an example we shall assume what Felicity is and from what the parts of it consist for all exhortation and all dissuasion are conversant with this and with the things which contribute to it and the contraries to this for it is necessary to perform such things as procure this Felicity or a certain part of it or which render it greater instead of less and not to do those things which corrupt or impede Felicity or produce its contraries like Felicity therefore be defined to be acting well in conjunction with Virge or a life sufficient to itself or the most pleasant life in conjunction with security or a prosperous condition of possessions in the body together with the power of preserving and affecting these for nearly all men acknowledge that Felicity is one or more than one of these if therefore Felicity is a thing of this kind it is necessary that the parts of it should be nobility of birth and abundance of friends and these such as are worthy men riches a numerous progeny and a good old age and besides these the virtues of the body such as health Beauty strength magnitude agonistic power glory honour and prosperity virtue or also the parts of it prudence fortitude justice and temperance for this a man will be most sufficient to himself if both internal and external goods are present with him for there are no other goods besides these but internal goods indeed are both those which pertain to the soul and those which pertain to the body and external goods are nobility of birth friends riches and honour and besides these we think it requisite that power and fortune should be present for thus life will be most secure in a similar manner therefore we shall assume what each of these is nobility of births then both to a nation and the city is when the people are indigenous or ancient and their first leaders or commanders are illustrious men and when many persons illustrious in those things which are the objects of emulation are the progeny of these but private nobility is derived either for men or from women and a legitimate procreation from both and in this nobility as well as in that of a city it is requisite that the first authors of the race should be illustrious either in virtue or enriches or in something else which is honorable and likewise that many illustrious men and women young and all should be the progeny of this genus with respect to a good and numerous offspring it is not a manifest what it is but in a community a good offspring is a multitude of young and worthy children who are worthy indeed according to the virtue of the body as for instance in magnitude Beauty strength and agonistic power and according to the virtue of the soul in temperance and fortitude which are the virtues of youth privately however the offspring is good and numerous if the proper children both male and female are many and worthy but the corporeal virtue of females is beauty and magnitude and the virtues of their soul are temperance and Sidhu leti without a liberality it is requisite therefore to investigate both privately and publicly the existence of each of these virtues in men and in women for where these virtues are wanting in the women as is the case with the last demony ins such women are scarcely half happy the parts of wealth however are money a great quantity of land and the possession of farms and besides these furniture cattle and slaves which are remarkable for their multitude magnitude and beauty all these possessions likewise ought to be secure free and useful but those are more useful which are profitable those are free which are subservient to enjoyment I call those profitable which yield a revenue and those consistent enjoyment in which nothing is esteem a ball besides the use but the definition of security indeed is for a man to possess what he has in such a place and in such a manner that the use of it may be in his power and so that it may be his own property or not when it is in his power to alienate it but I call alienation giving and selling in short riches consist more in the use then in possession for the energy and the use of things of this kind our riches renown is to be esteemed by all worthy persons or it is the possession of a thing of such a kind as is desired by all men or which many or good or wise men desire but honor is an indication of beneficent renown and those indeed who have benefited others are justly and especially honored though he likewise is honored who is able to benefit but beneficence is that which either pertains to safety and such things as are the causes of existence or to wealth or to some other of those goods the possession of which is not easy and this either entirely or in this place or at a certain time for many persons obtain honor from things which appear to be small but the modes and the occasions are the causes of it the parts of Honor however are sacrifices eulogies in prose and verse rewards sacred groves presidency in sitting Sepulcher statues and public salaries barbaric honours such as adoration biink lining the body giving place and gifts which are universally valued for a gift is the donation of possession and an indication of honor hence the ambitious and the avaricious are desirous of gifts since gifts contain in themselves but each of these require for possession is that which the avaricious desires and is also attended with honor after which the ambitious aspire but the virtue of the body is health and this in such a way as to render those who use the body free from disease for many persons are healthy as Herodotus is said to be and yet no one will proclaim them to be happy on account of health because like Herodotus they abstained from all or the greater part of human concerns with respect to beauty it is different in every age the beauty therefore of a young man is to have a body useful for the endurance of labour viz for the course and for violent action and which is also pleasing to the view hence those that contend the five games are most beautiful because they are naturally adapted both the violent action and celerity but the beauty of him who is in the Acme of life is to be capable of warlike labors and to be terribly pleasing to the view and the beauty of an old man is to have a body sufficiently adapted to necessary labors but without pain because he has none of those diseases with which old age is defiled strength also is the power by which a man moves another thing as he pleases and it is necessary to move another thing either by drawing or impelling or lifting or compressing or crushing so that he who is strong is strong in all or in some of these but the virtue of magnitude is to excel the multitude in length depth and breadth so that the motions of the body may not be rendered slow by this excess of magnitude and the agonistic virtue of the body is composed from magnitude strength and celerity for he who is Swift is strong since he who is able to hurl forth his legs in a certain respect and to move them with celerity and to a great distance is a racer but he who can grapple and hold fast is a wrestler he who can drive another person away by a blow is a pugilist and he who can do both these is a pen crappiest but he who excels in all these is a pentathlon or skilled in the five games a good old age also is when age slowly approaches unattended with pain for neither has a man a good old age if he becomes rapidly old nor if he becomes old with difficulty but attended with pain a good old age however consists from the virtues of the body and from the goods of fortune for an old age which is that are free from disease nor strong will not be impassive to maladies and will not be unattended with pain or possessed longevity nor can it be permanent without the goods of fortune there is however another certain power of living long separate from strength and for many live long without the virtues of the body but an accurate discussion of these things is of no use at present but what the friendship of many and worthy persons is will not be in manifest from the definition of a friend a friend therefore is one who performs those things for the sake of his friend which he thinks will be beneficial to him and he who has many such as many friends but he with whom such men are worthy persons as worthy friends moreover prosperity consists in those goods of which fortune is the cause that either all or most or the greatest of these befall us but fortune is the cause of some things indeed of which the arts are the cause and likewise of many and in artificial things as for instance such as those of which nature is the cause sometimes however it happens that these are preternatural for art indeed is the cause of health but nature of beauty and magnitude and in short those Goods are from fortune which are attended with envy fortune also is the cause of those goods which are contrary to reason as when all the rest of the brothers are deformed and one alone is beautiful or when all the rest did not see the treasure and one alone discovered it or when the next person happens to be pierced with an arrow but this man escapes or when only one person did not come to a place where others were accustomed to come but others who only came to it at that time were destroyed for all such circumstances appeared to be the effect of good fortune with respect to virtue however because it is a topic most adapted to applause we shall then discuss it when we speak concerning praise and thus we have shown what ought to be our aim in persuading or dissuading whether in reference to things present or future for persuasion is contrary to dissuasion end of chapter 5 of book 1 recording in memory of Mitchell Edwards you