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[1322b]
[1]
And moreover if there are also cavalry or light infantry or
archers or a navy, sometimes a magistracy is appointed to have charge of each of
these arms also, and they carry the titles of Admiral, Cavalry-commander and
Taxiarch, and also the divisional commissions subordinate to these of Captains
of Triremes, Company-commanders and Captains of Tribes, and all the subdivisions
of these commands. But the whole of this sort of officers constituted a single
class, that of military command. This then is how the matter stands in regard to this office; but inasmuch as
some of the magistracies, if not all, handle large sums of public money, there
must be another office to receive an account and subject it to audit, which must
itself handle no other business; and these officials are called Auditors by some
people, Accountants by others, Examiners by others and Advocates by others. And
by the side of all these offices is the one that is most supreme over all
matters, for often the same magistracy has the execution of business that
controls its introduction, or presides over the general assembly in places where
the people are supreme; for the magistracy that convenes the sovereign assembly
is bound to be the sovereign power in the state. It is styled in some places the
Preliminary Council because it considers business in advance, but where there is
a democracy1 it is more usually called a Council. This more or less
completes the number of the offices of a political nature; but another kind of superintendence is that
concerned with divine worship; in this class are priests and superintendents of
matters
[20]
connected with the
temples, the preservation of existing buildings and the restoration of those
that are ruinous, and the other duties relating to the gods. In practice this
superintendence in some places forms a single office, for instance in the small
cities, but in others it belongs to a number of officials who are not members of
the priesthood, for example Sacrificial Officers and Temple-guardians and
Stewards of Sacred Funds. And connected with this is the office devoted to the
management of all the public festivals which the law does not assign to the
priests but the officials in charge of which derive their honor from the common
sacrificial hearth, and these officials are called in some places Archons, in
others Kings and in others Presidents. To sum up therefore, the necessary offices of
superintendence deal with the following matters : institutions of religion,
military institutions, revenue and expenditure, control of the market, citadel,
harbors and country, also the arrangements of the law-courts, registration of
contracts, collection of fines, custody of prisoners, supervision of accounts
and inspections, and the auditing of officials, and lastly the offices connected
with the body that deliberates about public affairs. On the other hand, peculiar to the states that have more
leisure and prosperity, and also pay attention to public decorum, are the
offices of Superintendent of Women, Guardian of the Laws, Superintendent of
Children, Controller of Physical Training,
Aristotle. Aristotle in 23 Volumes, Vol. 21, translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1944.
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