Book 7
1326b
Such may be our conclusion on the question of the size of the state.
1326b
Very much the same holds good about its territory. As to the question what particular kind of land it ought to have, it is clear that everybody would command that which is most self-sufficing (and such is necessarily that which bears every sort of produce, for self-sufficiency means having a supply of everything and lacking nothing). In extent and magnitude the land ought to be of a size that will enable the inhabitants to live a life of liberal and at the same time temperate leisure. Whether this limiting principle is rightly or wrongly stated must be considered more precisely later on,This promise is not fulfilled in the work as it has come down to us. when we come to raise the general subject of property and the ownership of wealth,—how and in what way it ought to be related to the employment of wealthThe distinction seems to be between owning (or perhaps getting) wealth and using it; but a probable emendation of the Greek gives how we ought to stand in relation to its employment.; about this question there are many controversies, owing to those that draw us towards either extreme of life, the one school towards parsimony and the other towards luxury. The proper configuration of the country it is not difficult to state (though there are some points on which the advice of military experts also must be taken): on the one hand it should be difficult for enemies to invade and easy for the people themselves to march out from,
