Theopompus, a pupil of Socrates, described a “Meropian” land.1049 His aim, however, was probably the entertainment of the reader, rather than social reform, as is evidenced by the fantastic nature of his stories. They picture not only ideal communistic conditions, but also a state of the wicked (πονηρόπολις), and crassly emphasize the alleged free-love of the Etruscans.1050
The Cimmerian state of Hecataeus, an idealization of the kingdom of the Pharaohs, had a more serious social purpose.1051 It describes a state in which all conquered lands are equally divided among the citizens, and where landed property cannot be sold. The people are free from greed of gain, civic strife, and all the ills that follow it. The ideal is not the greatest increase of wealth, but the development of the citizens to the highest social ideal.1052
Euhemerus wrote a “Sacred Chronicle” (ἱερὰ ἀναγραφή)1053 of an ideal society on an island near India, ruled by a priestly aristocracy. Here, labor was held in high regard. The artisans were in the priestly class, the farmers were second, and the herdsmen were on an equality with the soldiers.1054 All land and other means of production were common, except the house and garden (κήπου).1055 The land was not worked collectively, but farmers and herdsmen alike brought their products to a common storehouse for common consumption.1056 Thus neither money nor commercial class was necessary.
Jambulus, in his “Sun State,”1057 outdoes even Euhemerus in his communistic ideas. He describes a sort of paradise of sun-worshipers at the equator. Here the trees never fail of ripe fruit, and the citizens never