Government, according to the ancients, and their learned
disciple Machiavel, the only politician of later ages, is of
three kinds: the government of one man, or of the better sort, or
of the whole people; which, by their more learned names, are
called monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. These they hold,
through their proneness to degenerate, to be all evil. For
whereas they that govern should govern according to reason, if
they govern according to passion they do that which they should
not do. Wherefore, as reason and passion are two things, so
government by reason is one thing, and the corruption of
government by passion is another thing, but not always another
government: as a body that is alive is one thing, and a body that
is dead is another thing, but not always another creature, though
the corruption of one comes at length to be the generation of
another. The corruption then of monarchy is called tyranny; that
of aristocracy, oligarchy and that of democracy, anarchy. But
legislators, having found these three governments at the best to
be naught, have invented another, consisting of a mixture of them
all, which only is good. This is the doctrine of the ancients.
But Leviathan is positive that they are all deceived, and
that there is no other government in nature than one of the
three; as also that the flesh of them cannot stink, the names of
their corruptions being but the names of men's fancies, which
will be understood when we are shown which of them was Senatus
Populusque Romanus.
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