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238 an agricultural class, as Cato knew; but to an Athenian their shortcomings would have been more obvious. They were not political men; the real end and aim of all their political struggles had so far been economical reform, the recovery of their land and status, the limitation of large estates. Constitutional reform had been a means, not an end, and had been left in the hands of their more wealthy leaders. They belonged to the type which the Spartans represented in Greece; they were not men of keen intellect or ready speech, nor were they eager for new things, or seekers after truth. They knew their own wants, and did their work well; they had a strict sense of duty to the State, to their families, and to the gods, which made them excellent soldiers, fathers, and citizens. They had clear notions, as we have seen, of constituted authority, and of the reasonable limits which may be set upon it; and they had very precise conceptions of the nature and use of legal transactions. But they were not men of the world, or men of affairs, nor had they the acuteness or the leisure of the Athenian. It is plain that they were not the men to govern themselves; government they could leave to their betters, who understood the traditions of the art. They were not fitted to guide, but they were always ready to obey; by their obedience they conquered the world, but left it to their leaders to make the best use of their conquests.

Democracy, then, in the Athenian sense of the word, could never have been realised at Rome. The people had neither wish nor ability to govern