The work agrees with Aristotle, against Plato, in his doctrine that men and women are essentially different in nature, and hence that their work should be distinct.889
No attempt is made to justify slavery, though Aristotle is followed in his advice to grant emancipation, as a special reward for faithfulness.890
The author of Book ii seems to have taken for granted the Cynic theory that money need have no intrinsic value, at least for local purposes. Coinage of iron,891 tin,892 bronze,893 the arbitrary stamping of drachmas with a double value,894 are all offered apparently as a proper means of escape from financial difficulty.
Like Aristotle, he accepts monopoly as a shrewd and legitimate principle of finance.895
Elsewhere, however, in striking contrast to such uneconomic suggestions, the author states the important economic principle that expenditures should not exceed income.896
In accord with Greek usage, he is familiar with a tax on exports for revenue and as a means of guarding against depletion of supply.897
# CYRENAICS
The Cyrenaics were the forerunners of the Epicureans in their more liberal attitude toward wealth. Aristippus,898 the founder of the school, was a man of the world, who believed in enjoying life as it came.899 He held that pleasure was always a good, and that all else was of value only as a means of realizing this end.900 If consistent, therefore, he must have valued highly moderate wealth. His principle that one should aim to realize the highest degree of pleasure with the least economic expenditure is somewhat analogous to the modern economic doctrine of the smallest means.901