7.2. 2. Of sumptuary Laws in a Democracy.
We have observed that in a republic, where riches are equally
divided, there can be no such thing as luxury; and as we have shown in
the 5th Book
[3]
that this equal distribution constitutes the excellence
of a republican government; hence it follows, that the less luxury there
is in a republic, the more it is perfect. There was none among the old
Romans, none among the Lacedmonians; and in republics where this
equality is not quite lost, the spirit of commerce, industry, and virtue
renders every man able and willing to live on his own property, and
consequently prevents the growth of luxury.
The laws concerning the new division of lands, insisted upon so
eagerly in some republics, were of the most salutary nature. They are
dangerous, only as they are sudden. By reducing instantly the wealth of
some, and increasing that of others, they form a revolution in each
family, and must produce a general one in the state.
In proportion as luxury gains ground in a republic, the minds of the
people are turned towards their particular interests. Those who are
allowed only what is necessary have nothing but their own reputation and
their country's glory in view. But a soul depraved by luxury has many
other desires, and soon becomes an enemy to the laws that confine it.
The luxury in which the garrison of Rhegio began to live was the cause
of their massacring the inhabitants.
No sooner were the Romans corrupted than their desires became
boundless and immense. Of this we may judge by the price they set on
things. A pitcher of Falernian wine
[4]
was sold for a hundred Roman
denarii; a barrel of salt meat from the kingdom of Pontus cost four
hundred; a good cook four talents; and for boys, no price was reckoned
too great. When the whole world, impelled by the force of corruption, is
immersed in voluptuousness
[5]
what must then become of virtue?
Footnotes
[4]
Fragment of the 36th book of Diodorus, quoted by Constantine
Porphyrogenitus, in his Extract of Virtues and Vices.
[5]
Cum maximus omnium impetus ad luxuriant esset. — Ibid.
