Quiz: Politics

15 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. 1. What does Aristotle say offices should be like in a small state?

   Spits that also serve to hold a lamp Ships that carry both cargo and soldiers Coins that pass in every market Walls that both defend and enclose
2. 2. What two kinds of equality does Aristotle distinguish at the start of Book V?

   Natural and legal Political and economic Divine and human Numerical and proportional
3. 3. Under what condition, says Aristotle, would masters not want slaves?

   If all men were made equal by the laws of their city If wars between cities ceased If money were no longer used in exchange between cities If every tool could do its own work at command
4. 4. What are the three elements of every constitution in Book IV, chapter 14?

   The farmers, the artisans and the warriors of the city Law, custom and religion The king, the council of elders and the assembly of the people The deliberative, the magistracies and the judicial
5. 5. What, according to Book III, is the special characteristic of a citizen in the strictest sense?

   Both his parents are citizens He lives within the city walls He shares in the administration of justice and in offices He owns land in the city
6. 6. What invention does Aristotle praise as suited to the restlessness of children?

   The lyre of Orpheus The rattle of Archytas The tablet of Thrasippus The flute of Athene
7. 7. Why can a very populous state hardly have constitutional government?

   Its walls would be too long for the citizens to defend them Its citizens would all be traders No herald could address it without the voice of a Stentor It cannot produce enough food to feed all of its citizens
8. 8. What does Aristotle say of someone unable to live in society, or so self-sufficient that he has no need of it?

   He is fitted by nature to be a king over the rest He is a slave by nature and must be ruled by others He is the best kind of citizen, since he needs no one He must be either a beast or a god
9. 9. According to Book IV, what really distinguishes democracy from oligarchy?

   Democracy uses election, oligarchy uses lot Democracy has written laws, oligarchy has none Democracy is rule of the free (and poor), oligarchy of the rich Democracy is rule by many, oligarchy by few
10. 10. How was the Syracusan constitution once changed, according to Aristotle?

    By a love-quarrel between two young men in the government By a foreign king’s bribe By a dispute over a horse race By an earthquake that destroyed the assembly
11. 11. What does Aristotle compare to water poured into a leaky cask?

    Electing all the magistrates by lot from the whole people Distributing the public surplus to the poor Fining the rich heavily in the popular law-courts Paying the assembly to meet often in the year
12. 12. What effect did the victory at Salamis have on Athens, according to Aristotle?

    It strengthened the democracy, as the common people had manned the fleet It strengthened the Areopagus It caused Athens to adopt an oligarchy of the wealthy who paid for the ships It restored the tyranny of Peisistratus’ sons, who had led the fleet
13. 13. Which premise of Socrates in the Republic does Aristotle attack first?

    That the greater the unity of the state the better That justice is the interest of the stronger party in every city That the soul has three parts, matching the three classes of the city That philosophers should be kings, or kings become philosophers
14. 14. What is Hippodamus of Miletus said to have invented?

    The art of planning cities Ostracism The common meals for all citizens The secret ballot in the law-courts
15. 15. How did Periander answer the herald sent by Thrasybulus?

    He sent back an empty jar sealed with his own seal He burned a field of corn before the herald’s eyes He drew a line in the sand He silently cut off the tallest ears of corn