The Complete Aristotle (eng.)

their
services.
XI
    We have already said that the city should be open to the land
and to the sea, and to the whole country as far as possible. In
respect of the place itself our wish would be that its situation
should be fortunate in four things. The first, health—this is a
necessity: cities which lie towards the east, and are blown upon by
winds coming from the east, are the healthiest; next in
healthfulness are those which are sheltered from the north wind,
for they have a milder winter. The site of the city should likewise
be convenient both for political administration and for war. With a
view to the latter it should afford easy egress to the citizens,
and at the same time be inaccessible and difficult of capture to
enemies. There should be a natural abundance of springs and
fountains in the town, or, if there is a deficiency of them, great
reservoirs may be established for the collection of rainwater, such
as will not fail when the inhabitants are cut off from the country
by by war. Special care should be taken of the health of the
inhabitants, which will depend chiefly on the healthiness of the
locality and of the quarter to which they are exposed, and
secondly, on the use of pure water; this latter point is by no
means a secondary consideration. For the elements which we use most
and oftenest for the support of the body contribute most to health,
and among these are water and air. Wherefore, in all wise states,
if there is a want of pure water, and the supply is not all equally
good, the drinking water ought to be separated from that which is
used for other purposes.
    As to strongholds, what is suitable to different forms of
government varies: thus an acropolis is suited to an oligarchy or a
monarchy, but a plain to a democracy; neither to an aristocracy,
but rather a number of strong places. The arrangement of private
houses is considered to be more agreeable and generally more
convenient, if the streets are regularly laid out after the modern
fashion which Hippodamus introduced, but for security in war the
antiquated mode of building, which made it difficult for strangers
to get out of a town and for assailants to find their way in, is
preferable. A city should therefore adopt both plans of building:
it is possible to arrange the houses irregularly, as husbandmen
plant their vines in what are called ‘clumps.’ The whole town
should not be laid out in straight lines, but only certain quarters
and regions; thus security and beauty will be combined.
    As to walls, those who say that cities making any pretension to
military virtue should not have them, are quite out of date in
their notions; and they may see the cities which prided themselves
on this fancy confuted by facts. True, there is little courage
shown in seeking for safety behind a rampart when an enemy is
similar in character and not much superior in number; but the
superiority of the besiegers may be and often is too much both for
ordinary human valor and for that which is found only in a few; and
if they are to be saved and to escape defeat and outrage, the
strongest wall will be the truest soldierly precaution, more
especially now that missiles and siege engines have been brought to
such perfection. To have no walls would be as foolish as to choose
a site for a town in an exposed country, and to level the heights;
or as if an individual were to leave his house unwalled, lest the
inmates should become cowards. Nor must we forget that those who
have their cities surrounded by walls may either take advantage of
them or not, but cities which are unwalled have no choice.
    If our conclusions are just, not only should cities have walls,
but care should be taken to make them ornamental, as well as useful
for warlike purposes, and adapted to resist modern inventions. For
as the assailants of a city do all they can to gain an advantage,
so the defenders should make use of any means of defense which have
been already discovered, and should devise and invent others, for
when men are well prepared no enemy even thinks of attacking
them.
XII
    As the walls are to be divided by guardhouses and towers built
at suitable intervals, and the body of citizens must be distributed
at common tables, the idea will naturally occur that we should
establish some of the common tables in the guardhouses. These might
be arranged as has been suggested; while the principal common
tables of the magistrates will occupy a suitable place, and there
also will be the buildings