|
Whether the Greeks borrowed from the Egyptians their notions about
trade, like so many others, I cannot say for certain. I have
remarked that the Thracians, the Scyths, the Persians, the
Lydians, and almost all other barbarians, hold the citizens who
practice trades, and their children, in less repute than the rest,
while they esteem as noble those who keep aloof from handicrafts, and
especially honour such as are given wholly to war. These ideas prevail
throughout the whole of Greece, particularly among the
Lacedaemonians. Corinth is the place where mechanics are least despised.
|
|