ome
democracies the son of a free-woman is himself free. The same is also
observed in many others with respect to natural children; but it is
through want of citizens regularly born that they admit such: for these
laws are always made in consequence of a scarcity of inhabitants; so,
as their numbers increase, they first deprive the children of a male or
female slave of this privilege, next the child of a free-woman, and last
of all they will admit none but those whose fathers and mothers were
both free.

That there are many sorts of citizens, and that he may be said to be as
completely who shares the honours of the state, is evident from what
has been already said. Thus Achilles, in Homer, complains of Agamemnon's
treating him like an unhonoured stranger; for a stranger or sojourner is
one who does not partake of the honours of the state: and whenever the
right to the freedom of the city is kept obscure, it is for the sake of
the inhabitants. [1278b] From what has been said it is plain whether the
virtue of a good man and an excellent citizen is the same or different:
and we find that in some states it is the same, in others not; and also
that this is not true of each citizen, but of those only who take the
lead, or are capable of taking the lead, in public affairs, either alone
or in conjunction with others.

CHAPTER VI

Having established these points, we proceed next to consider whether one
form of government only should be established, or more than one; and if
more, how many, and of what sort, and what are the differences between
them. The form of government is the ordering and regulating of the city,
and all the offices in it, particularly those wherein the supreme power
is lodged; and this power is always possessed by the administration; but
the administration itself is that particular form of government which
is established in any state: thus in a democracy the supreme power is
lodged in the whole people; on the contrary, in an oligarchy it is in
the hands of a few. We say then, that the form of government in these
states is different, and we shall find the same thing hold good in
others. Let us first determine for whose sake a city is established;
and point out the different species of rule which man may submit to in
social life.

I have already mentioned in my treatise on the management of a family,
and the power of the master, that man is an animal naturally formed
for society, and that therefore,