The Complete Aristotle (eng.)

difference being that whereas the Ephors
are five, the Cosmi are ten in number. The elders, too, answer to
the elders in Crete, who are termed by the Cretans the council. And
the kingly office once existed in Crete, but was abolished, and the
Cosmi have now the duty of leading them in war. All classes share
in the ecclesia, but it can only ratify the decrees of the elders
and the Cosmi.
    The common meals of Crete are certainly better managed than the
Lacedaemonian; for in Lacedaemon every one pays so much per head,
or, if he fails, the law, as I have already explained, forbids him
to exercise the rights of citizenship. But in Crete they are of a
more popular character. There, of all the fruits of the earth and
cattle raised on the public lands, and of the tribute which is paid
by the Perioeci, one portion is assigned to the Gods and to the
service of the state, and another to the common meals, so that men,
women, and children are all supported out of a common stock. The
legislator has many ingenious ways of securing moderation in
eating, which he conceives to be a gain; he likewise encourages the
separation of men from women, lest they should have too many
children, and the companionship of men with one another—whether
this is a good or bad thing I shall have an opportunity of
considering at another time. But that the Cretan common meals are
better ordered than the Lacedaemonian there can be no doubt.
    On the other hand, the Cosmi are even a worse institution than
the Ephors, of which they have all the evils without the good. Like
the Ephors, they are any chance persons, but in Crete this is not
counterbalanced by a corresponding political advantage. At Sparta
every one is eligible, and the body of the people, having a share
in the highest office, want the constitution to be permanent. But
in Crete the Cosmi are elected out of certain families, and not out
of the whole people, and the elders out of those who have been
Cosmi.
    The same criticism may be made about the Cretan, which has been
already made about the Lacedaemonian elders. Their irresponsibility
and life tenure is too great a privilege, and their arbitrary power
of acting upon their own judgment, and dispensing with written law,
is dangerous. It is no proof of the goodness of the institution
that the people are not discontented at being excluded from it. For
there is no profit to be made out of the office as out of the
Ephoralty, since, unlike the Ephors, the Cosmi, being in an island,
are removed from temptation.
    The remedy by which they correct the evil of this institution is
an extraordinary one, suited rather to a close oligarchy than to a
constitutional state. For the Cosmi are often expelled by a
conspiracy of their own colleagues, or of private individuals; and
they are allowed also to resign before their term of office has
expired. Surely all matters of this kind are better regulated by
law than by the will of man, which is a very unsafe rule. Worst of
all is the suspension of the office of Cosmi, a device to which the
nobles often have recourse when they will not submit to justice.
This shows that the Cretan government, although possessing some of
the characteristics of a constitutional state, is really a close
oligarchy.
    The nobles have a habit, too, of setting up a chief; they get
together a party among the common people and their own friends and
then quarrel and fight with one another. What is this but the
temporary destruction of the state and dissolution of society? A
city is in a dangerous condition when those who are willing are
also able to attack her. But, as I have already said, the island of
Crete is saved by her situation; distance has the same effect as
the Lacedaemonian prohibition of strangers; and the Cretans have no
foreign dominions. This is the reason why the Perioeci are
contented in Crete, whereas the Helots are perpetually revolting.
But when lately foreign invaders found their way into the island,
the weakness of the Cretan constitution was revealed. Enough of the
government of Crete.
XI
    The Carthaginians are also considered to have an excellent form
of government, which differs from that of any other state in
several respects, though it is in some very like the Lacedaemonian.
Indeed, all three states—the Lacedaemonian, the Cretan, and the
Carthaginian—nearly resemble one another, and are very different
from any others. Many of the Carthaginian institutions are
excellent The superiority of their constitution is