Chapter 653: Platos Observation (I)
Chapter 653: Platos Observation (I)
With Davos advocating academic debate over unreasonable arguments, it also serves as a wake-up call for the scholars. Thus in the subsequent lectures, although there were still fierce debates, everyone managed to control their emotions well.
And the most striking among those debates was the one between Plato and Demacritus’ disciple, Xanthithelian.
Xanthithelian inherited Demacritus’ idea that democracy is the ideal form of government while the other forms are flawed. Moreover, living in a democracy, even in poverty, is better than being wealthy in an autocracy.
But he also states that they must emphasise the rule of law for a democratic state to function well. After all, a well-governed city-state cannot be without a well-developed law. And since it is human nature to always seek advantages and avoid disadvantages while trying to profit outside of the law, making the people obey the law would protect the safety and lives of the citizens themselves. Thus it is the never-ending mission of a city-state to persuade the people to obey the law…
However, Demacritus’ ideals are the exact opposite of Plato’s political philosophy.
Plato advocates the wise to govern the world and for the rule of the king. Moreover, he hopes to guide the people with the idea of goodness and develop virtues as the foundation of governing a country.
The reason he was opposed to democracy was that he believed that democracy would make the people indulge in their desire, depraving the youth of the city-state and developing many ambitious and ignorant arrogant people.
And the result of this debate was that Plato won. After all, the knowledgeable and quick thinker Plato lived in Athens for decades, where everyone was known for their excellent rhetoric. Thus he had already developed his rhetorics to a high level. Moreover, Plato used his home city-state, Athens, the best democratic city in the Mediterranean, as an example and enumerated Athens’ faults and foolishness, making the audience empathise. Hence it is only natural for Xanthithelian to lose.
But since the Law of Theonia ensured the stability and unity of the kingdom and the concept of abiding by the law was already embedded in their bones, the Theonian audience also agreed with Xanthithelian’s emphasis on the law to guarantee the function of the city-state.
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Then the All-Greek Academic Symposium, which lasted for nearly a month, finally ended.
Besides the academic exchanges during their time in Thurii, the renowned scholars from all over the Mediterranean, under the attentive care of the Akademia and with the full assistance of the city hall of Thurii, tasted the cuisine of Thurii, enjoyed a dip in the hot springs, watched the fierce ball games, went to the hospital to check their health and enjoyed the culture of the different races…which could be said that their harvest is abundant.
In addition, the Theonian Akademia also collected the lectures of the scholars and compiled them into a book titled Selected Works in the All-Greek Academic Symposium and copied into several hundred and distributed throughout Greece.
And the scholars, who received fame and fortune, returned home with satisfaction. In the following period, they would always praise the academic atmosphere of the Kingdom of Theonia and the enthusiasm and wealth of their people whenever they talked about this event with others. And that led to more scholars from various city-state inquiring whether Theonia would hold the academic symposium again. And when will it be held?
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After the Pythagorean scholars returned to Taranto, an argument over Phaestokiadas’ theory happened, which led to their conflict and division.
Some left Taranto for the eastern Mediterranean.
Another group led by Lysis stayed in Taranto, thinking about improving the Pythagorean School’s philosophy and integrating these irrational numbers into it.
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But among the renowned scholars, two did not leave Thurii.
One was Hippocrates. Although he was already old, the rich innovation and advanced theory of medical science of the Theonian Medical School surprised him. But a month’s stay in Theonia wasn’t enough for him to understand, let alone learn. Thus he willingly stayed to guard this mountain of treasure until he thoroughly learned and understood it and ultimately solved the many questions he had about medicine all his life.
Davos supported him by approving his stay in the Akademia and giving him the title of a teacher. Davos even made him an honorary citizen of Theonia in recognition of his life’s outstanding contribution to the cause of medicine.
The other scholar was Plato. He asked Davos to fulfil his promise and sent people to guide him in understanding the political system of the kingdom of Theonia.
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On this day, the court clerk Henipolis led Plato and his two students, Speusippus and Augeas, to the examination centre for the reserve officials of the kingdom in the southern area of Thurii.
This centre was formerly located near Nike Square, but with the kingdom’s expansion and the increasing number of people to be assessed, the assessment venue could no longer accommodate them. And since they could not expand further as the land in the inner part of Thurii was limited, they decided to move it to the outer part of the city.
Henipolis explained it to them as they walked.
Plato listened attentively while looking at the building that couldn’t be found in other Greek cities: The building covered a large area, surrounded by thick stone walls more than three metres high, which made it so that one couldn’t see the inside from the outside.
They walked around the periphery of the building for a long time before they saw the main gate in the distance.
Plato then noticed that he almost couldn’t see the bustling crowds common in the other areas of Thurii here. And even when several people pass by, they would try to keep their voice down, which may be related not only to the guards dedicated to this area but also to the quality of the Thurian population, who try not to disturb the citizens participating in the examination inside the centre.
“There is a temple there!” Augeas pointed ahead and said in surprise.
“That’s the Temple of Hades.” Henipolis explained with a smile, “Having the examination centre next to it is advantageous because of Hades’ character of being discerning and abhorring evil. Thus any citizen who wants to cheat in the examination should think carefully about it because they won’t be able to escape Hades’ just punishment.”
Plato pondered. During his visit to the various departments of Thurii, he could see the direct and indirect presence of Hades, the god of the underworld, which seemed to be instilled in the people’s hearts so that they would always restrain their behaviour.
Once they reached the entrance of the examination centre, a tall statue stood five metres away in front of the entrance. This statue was a tall and muscular man with a determined expression, holding a flame in his hand and in a sprinting position with his feet standing on clouds.
“Why is Promotheus’ statue here?” Augeas asked curiously.
Henipolis pointed at the side of the gate, motioning them to read the two lines carved, ‘Enter this gate if you are willing to be a servant and devote yourselves to the people; Those who want to use authority to earn wealth and oppress the people, go elsewhere. – Signed by Davos.’
Then when they thought of Prometheus’ story about risking being punished by Zeus so that he could steal the flames of the gods for the benefit of mankind, the master and his disciples immediately understood the king’s intention.
Plato sighed as he said, “This is a moral education! We shouldn’t just see how Theonia emphasises the law to restrain the people. But, in fact, this city is teaching the people to act lawful at all times subconsciously!”
As soon as he said that, the guard came near them and warned, “Don’t make noises; this is an important place in the kingdom!”
Plato hurriedly apologised.
After Henipolis showed his token and the letter written by Davos to the guard, he led Plato and the others into the courtyard.
Inside, there are no pools, fountains, gardens, pavillions, corridors, and so on., In the vast examination centre, only a dozen buildings similar to the storage warehouses in the ports, as well as lots of tamped and levelled open spaces, some of which are placed with equipment.
A hundred metres ahead stands a building like a temple, which adds a little colour to the examination centre.
“Every year, we in Theonia would hold an examination to select civil servants. We hold the examination in October because this is the slack season, so the citizens have enough time to prepare. At the beginning of the year, the head of each department in each city will report the number of civil servants they need and the number of vacancies to the kingdom’s Civil Servant Management Committee. Afterwards, his majesty, together with several lords of the committee, will determine the number of civil servants to be selected for the years and the specific examination time. They would then send it to each department and each city hall to make a public announcement to notify the kingdom’s citizens.
Anyone willing to participate would pay attention to the news and prepare in advance. But before coming to Thurii to take the exam, they must also get a certificate from the city hall of their city of residence that would prove their citizenship and that they are law-abiding citizens with good behaviour…” Henipolis gave an introduction as they walked.
“What if someone at the city hall took a bribe to hide their record of violations?” Augeas asked since even Athens has wealthy citizens in the suburbs who would bribe the officials of the Demos to undercount the property they own to pay fewer taxes. Hence, they were interested in how a country as vast as the kingdom of Theonia strengthened the supervision of officials in remote areas.
“Even if he could deceive the examiners this time and succeed in becoming an official, we still have the inspectors who are monitoring the officials’ behaviours, the tribunal officers who would complain whenever they see injustice, and the people, who are familiar with the laws of Theonia, could report to the city hall and the Senate at any time. At that time, besides severely punishing that person, we would also hold the officials, who concealed the truth for him, accountable based on the certificate he issued, which we keep on the offender’s file.”