13.4. 4. Of a Republic in the like Case.
When a republic has reduced a nation to the drudgery of cultivating her lands,
she ought never to suffer the free subject to have the power of increasing the
tribute of the bondman. This was not permitted at Sparta. Those brave people
thought the Helotes
[1]
would be more industrious in cultivating their lands, and knowing that their
servitude was not to increase; they imagined, likewise, that the masters would
be better citizens, when they desired no more than what they were accustomed to enjoy.
Footnotes
[1]
Plutarch, "Notable Sayings of the Lacedæmonians."