Plato, Republic, ed. John Burnet, 2.371

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[371]
καὶ μὴν κενὸς ἂν ἴῃ ὁ διάκονος, μηδὲν ἄγων ὧν ἐκεῖνοι 371a δέονται παρʼ ὧν ἂν κομίζωνται ὧν ἂν αὐτοῖς χρεία, κενὸς ἄπεισιν. ἦ γάρ;
δοκεῖ μοι.
δεῖ δὴ τὰ οἴκοι μὴ μόνον ἑαυτοῖς ποιεῖν ἱκανά, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἷα καὶ ὅσα ἐκείνοις ὧν ἂν δέωνται.
δεῖ γάρ.
πλειόνων δὴ γεωργῶν τε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων δημιουργῶν δεῖ ἡμῖν τῇ πόλει.
πλειόνων γάρ.
καὶ δὴ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων διακόνων που τῶν τε εἰσαξόντων καὶ ἐξαξόντων ἕκαστα. οὗτοι δέ εἰσιν ἔμποροι· ἦ γάρ;
ναί.
καὶ ἐμπόρων δὴ δεησόμεθα.
πάνυ γε.
καὶ ἐὰν μέν γε κατὰ θάλατταν ἡ ἐμπορία γίγνηται, συχνῶν 371b καὶ ἄλλων προσδεήσεται τῶν ἐπιστημόνων τῆς περὶ τὴν θάλατταν ἐργασίας.
συχνῶν μέντοι.
τί δὲ δή; ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ πόλει πῶς ἀλλήλοις μεταδώσουσιν ὧν ἂν ἕκαστοι ἐργάζωνται; ὧν δὴ ἕνεκα καὶ κοινωνίαν ποιησάμενοι πόλιν ᾠκίσαμεν.
δῆλον δή, ἦ δʼ ὅς, ὅτι πωλοῦντες καὶ ὠνούμενοι.
ἀγορὰ δὴ ἡμῖν καὶ νόμισμα σύμβολον τῆς ἀλλαγῆς ἕνεκα γενήσεται ἐκ τούτου.
πάνυ μὲν οὖν. 371c
ἂν οὖν κομίσας ὁ γεωργὸς εἰς τὴν ἀγοράν τι ὧν ποιεῖ, ἤ τις ἄλλος τῶν δημιουργῶν, μὴ εἰς τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον ἥκῃ τοῖς δεομένοις τὰ παρʼ αὐτοῦ ἀλλάξασθαι, ἀργήσει τῆς αὑτοῦ δημιουργίας καθήμενος ἐν ἀγορᾷ;
οὐδαμῶς, ἦ δʼ ὅς, ἀλλὰ εἰσὶν οἳ τοῦτο ὁρῶντες ἑαυτοὺς ἐπὶ τὴν διακονίαν τάττουσιν ταύτην, ἐν μὲν ταῖς ὀρθῶς οἰκουμέναις πόλεσι σχεδόν τι οἱ ἀσθενέστατοι τὰ σώματα καὶ ἀχρεῖοί τι ἄλλο ἔργον πράττειν. αὐτοῦ γὰρ δεῖ μένοντας 371d αὐτοὺς περὶ τὴν ἀγορὰν τὰ μὲν ἀντʼ ἀργυρίου ἀλλάξασθαι τοῖς τι δεομένοις ἀποδόσθαι, τοῖς δὲ ἀντὶ αὖ ἀργυρίου διαλλάττειν ὅσοι τι δέονται πρίασθαι.
αὕτη ἄρα, ἦν δʼ ἐγώ, ἡ χρεία καπήλων ἡμῖν γένεσιν ἐμποιεῖ τῇ πόλει. ἢ οὐ καπήλους καλοῦμεν τοὺς πρὸς ὠνήν τε καὶ πρᾶσιν διακονοῦντας ἱδρυμένους ἐν ἀγορᾷ, τοὺς δὲ πλανήτας ἐπὶ τὰς πόλεις ἐμπόρους;
πάνυ μὲν οὖν. 371e
ἔτι δή τινες, ὡς ἐγᾦμαι, εἰσὶ καὶ ἄλλοι διάκονοι, οἳ ἂν τὰ μὲν τῆς διανοίας μὴ πάνυ ἀξιοκοινώνητοι ὦσιν, τὴν δὲ τοῦ σώματος ἰσχὺν ἱκανὴν ἐπὶ τοὺς πόνους ἔχωσιν· οἳ δὴ πωλοῦντες τὴν τῆς ἰσχύος χρείαν, τὴν τιμὴν ταύτην μισθὸν καλοῦντες, κέκληνται, ὡς ἐγᾦμαι, μισθωτοί· ἦ γάρ;
πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
πλήρωμα δὴ πόλεώς εἰσιν, ὡς ἔοικε, καὶ μισθωτοί.
δοκεῖ μοι.
ἆρʼ οὖν, ὦ Ἀδείμαντε, ἤδη ἡμῖν ηὔξηται ἡ πόλις, ὥστʼ εἶναι τελέα;
ἴσως.
ποῦ οὖν ἄν ποτε ἐν αὐτῇ εἴη ἥ τε δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἡ ἀδικία; καὶ τίνι ἅμα ἐγγενομένη ὧν ἐσκέμμεθα;

Republic. Plato. ed. John Burnet. Oxford. 1905.

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Current edition Perseus

Πολιτεία (Greek) (Platonis Opera Tomus IV: Tetralogia VIII. Burnet, John, editor. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.)

Translations (1)

Republic Perseus (Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 5-6. Shorey, Paul, translator. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1935-37 (printing).) — 2.371 focus

[371] And again, if our servitor goes forth empty-handed, not taking with him any of the things needed by those 371a from whom they procure what they themselves require, he will come back with empty hands, will he not? I think so. Then their home production must not merely suffice for themselves but in quality and quantity meet the needs of those of whom they have need. It must. So our city will require more farmers and other craftsmen. Yes, more. And also of other ministrants who are to export and import the merchandise. These are traders, are they not? Yes. We shall also need traders, then. Assuredly. And if the trading is carried on by sea, 371b we shall need quite a number of others who are expert in maritime business. Quite a number.
But again, within the city itself how will they share with one another the products of their labor? This was the very purpose of our association and establishment of a state. Obviously, he said, by buying and selling. A market-place, then, and money as a token¹ for the purpose of exchange will be the result of this. 371c By all means. If, then, the farmer or any other craftsman taking his products to the market-place does not arrive at the same time with those who desire to exchange with him, is he to sit idle in the market-place and lose time from his own work? By no means, he said, but there are men who see this need and appoint themselves for this service—in well-conducted cities they are generally those who are weakest² in body and those who are useless for any other task. They must wait there in the agora 371d and exchange money for goods with those who wish to sell, and goods for money with as many as desire to buy. This need, then, said I, creates the class of shopkeepers in our city. Or is not shopkeepers the name we give to those who, planted in the agora, serve us in buying and selling, while we call those who roam from city to city merchants? Certainly. And there are, furthermore, I believe, other servitors who in the things of the mind 371e are not altogether worthy of our fellowship, but whose strength of body is sufficient for toil; so they, selling the use of this strength and calling the price wages, are designated, I believe, wage-earners, are they not? Certainly. Wage-earners, then, it seems, are the complement that helps to fill up the state.³ I think so. Has our city, then, Adeimantus, reached its full growth and is it complete? Perhaps. Where, then, can justice and injustice be found in it? And along with which of the constituents that we have considered does it come into the state?

Commentary

Commentary on Plato, Republic (Plato. The Republic, Vol 1-2. Adam, James, editor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1902-1903.) focus

ὧν ἂν δέωνται . ὧν is masculine in spite of ὧν ἐκεῖνοι δέονται just above. The reading of q ἐκείνοις ἄξουσιν, οἳ μεταδώσουσιν ὧν ἂν δέωνται is a free correction (after 371 B) intended to make ὧν neuter.

τῆς ‐‐ ἐργασίας is not the work of a seaman (as Jowett seems to suppose), but a special department of ἐμπορία, viz. ναυκληρία: see Arist. Pol. A 11. 1258^{b} 21 ff. The ναύκληρος owned a ship and conveyed passengers and cargo for payment (cf. Gorg. 511 D , E): he is frequently mentioned along with the ἔμπορος, e.g. Pol. 290 A ἐμπόρους καὶ ναυκλήρους καὶ καπήλους, Laws 831 E, Xen. Vect. 3. 4, 5. 3.

ὧν δὴ ἕνεκα . ὧν can hardly (as J. and C. suppose) refer to μεταδώσουσιν: it must denote the same objects as the previous ὧν. The meaning is ‘for the sake of which things we established the principle of community and founded a city.’ Cf. 369 C κοινωνοὺς—μεταδίδωσι δὴ ἄλλος ἄλλῳ κτλ.

νόμισμα ‐‐ ἕνεκα . Cf. Laws 742 A νόμισμα δ’ ἕνεκα ἀλλαγῆς τῆς καθ’ ἡμέραν. See also 370 E note Plato regards coined money as a necessary evil— the offspring, not of φύσις, but of νόμος (cf. Arist. Eth. Nic. V 8. 1133^{a} 30 ff. διὰ τοῦτο τοὔνομα ἔχει νόμισμα, ὅτι οὐ φύσει ἀλλὰ νόμῳ ἐστί and Pol. A 9. 1257^{b} 10 ff.), a mere conventional symbol, the private possession of which is denied to the highest classes of the State (III 416 D ff.).

οἱ ἀσθενέστατοι κτλ. Cf. Laws 918 A—920 C, where καπηλεία is confined by Plato to those ὧν διαφθειρομένων οὐκ ἂν γίγνοιτο μεγάλη λύμη τῇ πόλει (919 C).

καπήλους ‐‐ ἐμπόρους . Soph. 223 D τῆς μεταβλητικῆς οὐχ ἡ μὲν κατὰ πόλιν ἀλλαγή, σχεδὸν αὐτῆς ἥμισυ μέρος ὄν, καπηλικὴ προσαγορεύεται; Ναί. Τὸ δέ γε ἐξ ἄλλης εἰς ἄλλην πόλιν διαλλαττόμενον ὠνῇ καὶ πράσει ἐμπορική; Τί δ) οὕ;

ἀξιοκοινώνητοι : worthy of being admitted into the κοινωνία of our city. This explanation (Schneider's) is better than ‘worthy of one's society’ (L. and S.).

τὴν τιμὴν ταύτην . ταύτην is idiomatic for ταύτης: see I 333 B note

μισθωτοί . Plato does not admit slave labour in his city, unless perhaps in the persons of barbarians. The exclusion of slaves is also a touch of ‘Nature’: cf. Arist. Pol. A 3. 1253^{b} 20 τοῖς δὲ παρὰ φύσιν (sc. δοκεῖ) τὸ δεσπόζειν with Suse mihl and Hicks ad loc. If barbarians may be enslaved, it is because they are φύσει δοῦλοι: cf. V 469 B ff., with 470 C and Arist. Pol. A 2. 1252^{b} 9 ταὐτὸ φύσει βάρβαρον καὶ δοῦλον.

πλούτου δὲ οὐδέν and Liebhold ( Fl. Jahrb. 1888, p. 107)

κόσμου δὲ ἄλλο μὲν <ἔχοντ)> οὐδέν for τοῦτον δὲ ἄλλο μὲν οὐδέν. Neither of these proposals has any plausibility, and it is best to regard this as one of the places where we owe the right reading to Π .

Plato Republic 2.371

ed. John Burnet

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