Ways and Means

Books

• 1
  Book 1

  Athens needs revenue. Xenophon proposes to increase it without raising taxes or fighting wars — through good policy rather than force.

  8 lines
• 2
  Book 2

  Attract metics (resident aliens). They pay taxes and strengthen the economy. Remove the indignities that drive them away — give them land rights, exempt them from military service.

  7 lines
• 3
  Book 3

  Expand trade. Build hostels for merchants, improve the harbours, and make Athens the most convenient market in Greece.

  14 lines
• 4
  Book 4

  The silver mines at Laurium. Buy state-owned slaves to work them and lease the revenue. Every citizen could receive a daily payment from the profits.

  52 lines
• 5
  Book 5

  Fund a merchant fleet with public investment. Peace is more profitable than war — a radical argument in fourth-century Athens.

  13 lines
• 6
  Book 6

  Summary. If Athens follows this programme, she will be prosperous, at peace, and admired by all Greece. Xenophon's most pragmatic work.

  3 lines