Stobaeus, Volume II

Name: Stobaeus, Volume II
Author: John Stobaeus

Greek and English with an introduction and explanatory footnotes.

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Stobaeus, Volume IIBook II Chapter 7 · II.7.26.8–II.7.26.9

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Book II Chapter 7 · II.7.26.8–II.7.26.9

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Ancient Greek

p. 536

Ἐμπειρία καὶ χρηματιστική

II.7.26.8

Διὸ καὶ πολλῶν ἔμπειρον ⟨δεῖν⟩ εἶναι τὸν οἰκονομικόν, γεωργίας, προβατείας, μεταλλείας, ἵνα τοὺς λυσιτελεστάτους καρποὺς ἅμα καὶ δικαιοτάτους διαγνώσῃ. Τῆς δὲ χρηματιστικῆς τὴν μὲν εἶναι κρείττω, τὴν δὲ χείρω· κρείττω μὲν τὴν φύσει γιγνομένην, χείρω δὲ τὴν διὰ καπηλικῆς. ⟨Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν περὶ οἰκονομικῆς⟩ ἀπόχρη.

Πόλις καὶ πολίτης

II.7.26.9

Περὶ δὲ πολιτικῆς ταῦτ’ ἂν εἴη κεφάλαια· πρῶτον μέν, ὅτι συνέστησαν αἱ πόλεις τῇ μὲν διὰ τὸ φύσει κοινωνικὸν εἶναι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, τῇ δὲ διὰ τὸ συμφέρον. Εἶτα ὅτι ἡ τελειοτάτη κοινωνία πόλις ἐστὶ καὶ ὅτι πολίτης ἐστὶν ᾧ μέτεστι πολιτικῆς ἀρχῆς. Πόλις δὲ τὸ ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων πλῆθος ἱκανὸν πρὸς αὐτάρκειαν ζωῆς.

Stobaeus, Volume II: Book II Chapter 7

p. 537

Experience and the Acquisition of Wealth

II.7.26.8

Therefore the household manager ⟨must⟩ also have experience of many things—farming, sheep rearing, and mining—so that he may discern the most profitable and at the same time most just returns.⁷⁴⁵ Of the acquisition of wealth, one kind is better and another worse: that which occurs naturally is better, and that which occurs through retail trade is worse. ⟨And these remarks, then, on household management⟩ suffice.⁷⁴⁶

City and Citizen

II.7.26.9

The main points concerning politics would be these. First, cities were constituted partly because a human being is naturally social, and partly for advantage.⁷⁴⁷ Next, the city is the most complete association, and a citizen is someone who shares in political authority. A city is a multitude of such people sufficient for a self-sufficient life.⁷⁴⁸

745.The supplied ⟨δεῖν⟩ remains bracketed as must. All three activities are retained, including mining. Both superlatives qualify καρποί, returns or yields: the most profitable and the most just. The stated economic criterion is therefore not profitability alone.

746.Καπηλική is retail trade or dealing for resale; the word is not silently broadened to all commerce. The account ranks natural acquisition above it. The entire closing phrase supplied by the editor remains bracketed in both languages, while ἀπόχρη, suffice, is transmitted outside the supplement.

747.Κοινωνικός means social or disposed to association. The two explanations remain joined: natural sociability and advantage. Calling the city the most complete association identifies its scope and sufficiency, rather than denying that a household is also an association.

748.Πολιτικὴ ἀρχή is political authority or office. Citizenship is defined through participation in it, not simply residence within the territory. Αὐτάρκεια here concerns the sufficiency of a political community for life; compare the different definition of an individual ethical state in II.7.25.14.

About This Reading Edition

The complete surviving text of Stobaeus’s second book, through II.46.22, in Ancient Greek and English, with an introduction and 1,541 explanatory notes. All forty-six chapter headings remain, including the notices for chapters whose texts are missing.

Historical Text and Translation

Greek: Curt Wachsmuth, Ioannis Stobaei Anthologii libri duo priores, volumen II (Berlin: Weidmann, 1884), printed p. 1 and pp. 3–264. The supplied edition preserves consequential editorial signs, reconstructed joins, qualified attributions, and missing-text notices. English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes: Diotimos Editions, 2026.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

Stobaeus’s ancient Greek work and Wachsmuth’s 1884 edition are in the public domain. The supplied English translation, introduction, and explanatory notes are published with the site owner’s authorization.