Tuesday, February 14, 2023
The Status Quo
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 2.4.1 (tr. Earnest Cary):
Newer› ‹Older
We have no need of a new form of government and we are not going to change the one which our ancestors approved of as the best and handed down to us. In this we show both a deference for the judgment of our elders, whose superior wisdom we recognize in establishing it, and our own satisfaction with our present condition.
ἡμεῖς πολιτείας μὲν καινῆς οὐδὲν δεόμεθα, τὴν δ' ὑπὸ τῶν πατέρων δοκιμασθεῖσαν εἶναι κρατίστην παραλαβόντες οὐ μετατιθέμεθα γνώμῃ τε ἑπόμενοι τῶν παλαιοτέρων, οὺς ἀπὸ μείζονος οἰόμεθα φρονήσεως αὐτὴν καταστήσασθαι, καὶ τύχῃ ἀρεσκόμενοι.
