[1314b]
[1]
not squandering presents such as
the multitudes resent, when tyrants take money from the people themselves while
they toil and labor in penury and lavish it on mistresses and foreigners and
craftsmen, and also rendering account of receipts and expenditure, as some
tyrants have done already (for this careful management would make a
ruler seem a steward of the state and not a tyrant, and he need not be afraid of
ever being at a loss for funds while he is master of the state; on the contrary, for those tyrants who go
abroad on foreign campaigns this is actually more expedient than to leave their
money there collected into one sum, for there is less fear of those guarding it
making an attempt on power; since for tyrants campaigning abroad the keepers of
the treasury are more to be feared than the citizens, for the citizens go abroad
with him but the others stay at home). Secondly he must be seen to
collect his taxes and benevolences for purposes of administration and to meet
his occasional requirements for military emergencies, and generally must pose as
guardian and steward as it were of a public fund and not a private estate.
And his bearing must not be
harsh but dignified, and also such as to inspire not fear but rather
respect
[20]
in those who encounter
him, though this is not easy to achieve if he is a contemptible personality; so
that even if he neglects the other virtues he is bound to cultivate military
valor, and to make himself a reputation as a soldier. And further more not only
must he himself be known not to outrage any of his subjects, either boy or girl,
but so also must everybody about him, and also their wives must similarly show
respect towards the other women, since even the insolences of women have caused
the fall of many tyrannies. And in
regard to bodily enjoyments he must do the opposite of what some tyrants do now
(for they not only begin their debaucheries at daybreak and carry them
on for many days at a time, but also wish to be seen doing so by the public, in
order that people may admire them as fortunate and happy), but best of
all he must be moderate in such matters, or if not, he must at all events avoid
displaying his indulgences to his fellows (for not the sober man but
the drunkard is easy to attack and to despise, not the wakeful man but the
sleeper). And he must do
the opposite of almost all the things mentioned some time back, for he must lay
out and adorn the city as if he were a trustee and not a tyrant. And further he
must be seen always to be exceptionally zealous as regards religious observances
(for people are less afraid of suffering any illegal treatment from men
of this sort,
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