Consider the following list: justice, citizenship, law, happiness (or another goal of human existence). Which of these four is the most important foundation for a political existence, a civil life? Defend your position through a careful analysis of Herodotus and Aristotle. One potential answer is that the most important foundation for a political existence is citizenship. According to Aristotle "the citizen in the strict sense is best defined by the single criterion that participates in the administration of justice and the exercise of offices". Defines citizenship as actively serving in government, whether actively serving as a politician or simply serving as a juror. Through his definition, Aristotle implies that someone must be politically active to be considered a citizen. Furthermore, in Herodotus' Histories, no concrete description of citizenship is given, but Herodotus illustrates several examples of what citizenship should look like. He does this by profiling the various rulers of Lydia and highlighting both the flaws and triumphs of each ruler. Herodotus also describes several military campaigns joined by civilizations such as Athens and Sparta. Military involvement was a defining feature of citizenship and civil life for Athens and Sparta, and by capturing these different battles, Herodotus demonstrates that through military campaigns these civilizations established a robust political existence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay A second answer is that the most important foundation for a political existence is law. Laws are used to give citizens peace and order and prevent society from deteriorating into chaos. In Herodotus he describes the situation of the Spartans. Once labeled the worst governed people in Greece, Lycurgus, a legislator, turned to the Oracle of Delphi for advice. There, the Pythoness gave him an entire system of new laws that reformed the Spartans' government and greatly improved their society. In order for people to have a civilized life, there must be laws. In Politics, Aristotle also argues for the importance of laws, stating that “laws based on unwritten custom are even more sovereign and concern matters of even more sovereign importance.” Free from human desires, the most important laws are those that concern matters of high concern; let's take for example things like justice (not falsely accusing others, harming/killing others, etc.). Law and political order go hand in hand, without laws we simply cannot have a civilized existence. The most important foundation for a political existence is citizenship; be actively involved in your government or society through voting, holding public or government offices, participating in jury duty, and participating in the community. While laws provide a solid foundation for any society, civilization is made up of citizens. Citizen actions and involvement create a society and keep it functioning. First, there will be historical background on Herodotus and Aristotle. An argument for law as the foundation of a political existence will then be presented with Herodotus' account of the Spartans and Aristotle's statements on laws provided to support the argument. Next, a case for citizenship will be made with examples from Herodotus of influential leaders and military exploits along with comments from Aristotle. Finally, this article will demonstrate why citizenship is the most important legal foundation for any civilized life. From the book Herodotus and Hellenistic Culture:Literary Studies in the Reception of the Histories, author Jessica Priestley examines the historical biography of Herodotus, citing primarily the Byzantine Suda. The book presents a passage from the Suda which states that Herodotus was the son of Lyxes and Dryo. Herodotus moved from Halicarnassus to Samos because of the tyrant Lygadamis and was on Samos when he wrote his Histories. Herodotus eventually returned to Halicarnassus, removed the tyrant, and eventually died. A historical author, Herodotus wrote about the country of Lydia and how power passed from the Heraclides to the family of Croesus. It does so by describing campaigns and military tactics adopted according to different rules. For Aristotle, his political beliefs stem from his "extensive knowledge of the affairs" of several mainland and insular Greek cities such as modern-day Turkey, Italy, Spain, and Greece. the coasts of the Adriatic and the Black Sea.[4]The main focus of Politics is on different forms of government and which ones work better than others. Good forms of government include kingship, aristocracy, and constitutional, while bad forms are tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy. Aristotle's Politics is closely related to his other work, The Nicomachean Ethics, since in both works his general idea is that the city exists for the good life and he focuses this idea on the individual and the entire city. According to Aristotle, a city is determined by a constitution and not by its citizens. He defines the constitution as the organization of a city with respect to "that particular office which is sovereign in all matters." The introduction to Aristotle's Politics discusses the importance of law to Aristotle who believes there must be a distinction between a government and its laws and where decisions are made by the majority. However, Aristotle shows concern for any government without laws. The reason we have laws is that they are a way to keep power in check. Whether power belongs to the people (in a democracy) or to a single person (kingship or tyranny), laws prevent rulers from exercising rampant control. These laws were not created solely for the rulers but also for the welfare of the citizens. Aristotle recognizes and cites various legislators and parliaments such as Solon, Charondas and Draco. Solon was an Athenian legislator who worked to guide Athens to commercial success by canceling debts and encouraging immigration. Caronda wrote laws regarding property, meals for women, and rules on drinking and military training. Draco focused on adding laws to an "existing constitution" and focused on laws of punishment.[9] Aristotle highlights the flaws and triumphs of each legislator with some of the flaws due to the people being given too much power and therefore the functionality of the laws was undermined. A fundamental idea that recurs throughout Aristotle's discussion of laws is the need for balance. Laws must discuss all aspects of a political establishment regarding the ownership of objects and property, military and public service, how people treat each other, and economic laws (selling and buying goods, involvement of government in business) so that a civilized existence can thrive. Herodotus outlines how the legislator Lycurgus aided the Spartans by altering "all existing laws, substituting new ones, which he took care were observed by all... such was the manner in which the Spartans became a well-governed people."[10] ] The Spartans, a struggling civilization, had a poor governance structure and procedures and struggled with international relations. But with Lycurgus, he reshaped their society by providing new laws and helping the society maintain them. Ultimately, this led to the Spartans having successful military campaigns and onethriving society. This particular case illustrates how laws could establish a political and civil existence. From an article entitled Herodotus on Kings and Tyrants: Objective Historiography or Conventional Portraiture? Author John Gammie details the third book of Herodotus' Histories, focusing on several rulers and laws. Gammie writes how a king's unchecked power can harm his fellow citizens and that a political organization must be wary of the king who abuses his power. While the law itself can be abused by kings and individuals with power, steps can be taken to ensure that leaders have restrictions that prevent this. An example of this would be the Magna Carta, created to put a limit on the seemingly endless rule of kings and create the beginning of making kings subject to law and not controlling them. Gammie quotes Herodotus as agreeing with the statement that “'law is king of all'”.[13] No one is above the law, neither kings nor citizens. It is an intriguing paradox since people create laws but do so to submit to these laws. Herodotus helped destroy the image that kings were akin to the gods and held supreme power over everything (a good example of this would be the Egyptian pharaohs). Aristotle commands that the law is governed only by God and reason and that when man gets involved and governs it he adds a “character of the beast”. Man has a natural appetite which leads to governmental perversion and therefore the law must be devoid of desire. But even if a man tries to create laws according to God and His will and reason, it can still be distorted. We remember the Ten Commandments because they were laws from God Himself that were perfect and yet no human being can keep them perfectly. Because humans are sinners, they are unable to observe perfect laws and must make compromises to keep them attainable. Therefore, laws become flawed and have the potential to become corrupt. With this potential, it is dangerous to bet on its existence a civilian life. After all, without the rules on citizenship they could not exist. Citizenship, defined as politically active, is what creates laws. Citizens coming together to hold political office and define and protect justice create the gateway to laws. After all, it is the citizens who make the laws, and they do so by coming together and ultimately forming some sort of political assembly. Herodotus also illustrates various rulers and legislators and conveys that law does not always guarantee a prosperous existence. Laws have the potential to become corrupt especially when there is only one ruler. Even with a system aimed at limiting the power of kings and rulers, there are still ways to overcome these limitations. Therefore, while laws are a vital and necessary component to a political life, citizenship is the core of life in a civil or political existence. In his Politics, Aristotle saw the family as “the fundamental unit of society”. It draws the foundations of a society or civil life that come from a family. Relationships in a family lead to citizenship. However, although, as was stated earlier, Aristotle defines a citizen (or citizenry) as one who is actively involved in politics, a family living in a city can lead to this. It was normal for the man of the family to participate in social life while the women stayed at home. And in Greek culture politics played a huge role. At least one person from each family was expected to be politically involved, so having a family in a city implied a strong sense of citizenship. The introduction to Politics states that Aristotle saw the polis, or city, as an interactive society in which all citizens.