Page:The City-State of the Greeks and Romans.djvu/279

IX our while to see what it is that Thucydides is so seriously trying to impress on his countrymen.

Stasis is common to mankind, he says, i.e. to mankind living in the only form of community which he recognised for civilised society; but it differs in intensity according to circumstances, and especially is it accentuated by war. For war is a severe schoolmaster, who makes men discontented and angry; the rich man's property is heavily taxed, the poor man is forced to serve in the field, and thus the capital which each possesses may be wasted and destroyed. After this preliminary remark, which had a special meaning for his own age, he goes on to point out the moral and political effects of stasis. The virtues, he says, seemed to lose their value, and to change into something foreign to their true nature. What in ordinary times would be called defects of character, laid claim now to be considered excellences. "Reckless daring was held to be loyal courage; prudent delay was the excuse of a coward; moderation was the disguise of unmanly weakness; to know everything was to do nothing. The lover of violence was always trusted, and his opponent suspected. ... The tie of party was stronger than that of blood, because a partisan was more ready to dare without asking why."

A society of clubs and coteries took the place of family life and family affection, a sure sign of internal decay in States that had been built up on the foundation of the family and the clan.