Why Is Herodotus Paid For The Poor In Lydia's Republic?
Herodotus mentions in his histories that the Lydian people suffered in the time of king Atys’ reign (fifth century B.C.) from severe famine for a long period of eighteen years. In order to survive, they had to find a system of allocating their resources that would elongate the life of most of their citizens or what an economist might call, a way of smoothing consumption. The obvious choice was to daily allocate half of a needed portion to each citizen. For a time people lingered on as patiently as they could, but soon it became clear that no improvement of their situation was in sight.
Atys now had to overcome a new problem: the misery and the lack of hope of its citizens. Luckily, as Herodotus mentions, the Lydians were a sophisticated and …show more content…
Atys soon realized that this method would not work either, since many people could have done a particular job, and thus feeding only one citizen would have been injust. The king also knew that giving each citizen an equal chance at doing the job would have been inefficient, for not everybody is suited for everything.
The king once again turned to the gods for help, but this time payed much attention to what his people were already doing. On the way to the temple he passed by his people: first a farmer, than a blacksmith, then a midwife, and a priest. He asked them to join him, to walk with him to the temple and discuss the problem.
The priest advocated that gods must choose the right man for the job, for that man would have the gods on its side that day. Atys knew the priest was right but he also knew that as the child could not carry both buckets, some people will not be able to do some jobs.
The farmer, a man of a more practical nature, said that each season brings a new type of task. So, the task should be primarely divided acording to season.
The blacksmith thinking at his hard work said that no man can be able to work if its fed only on that day. He needed at least a week of feeding and regained his full
Atys now had to overcome a new problem: the misery and the lack of hope of its citizens. Luckily, as Herodotus mentions, the Lydians were a sophisticated and …show more content…
Atys soon realized that this method would not work either, since many people could have done a particular job, and thus feeding only one citizen would have been injust. The king also knew that giving each citizen an equal chance at doing the job would have been inefficient, for not everybody is suited for everything.
The king once again turned to the gods for help, but this time payed much attention to what his people were already doing. On the way to the temple he passed by his people: first a farmer, than a blacksmith, then a midwife, and a priest. He asked them to join him, to walk with him to the temple and discuss the problem.
The priest advocated that gods must choose the right man for the job, for that man would have the gods on its side that day. Atys knew the priest was right but he also knew that as the child could not carry both buckets, some people will not be able to do some jobs.
The farmer, a man of a more practical nature, said that each season brings a new type of task. So, the task should be primarely divided acording to season.
The blacksmith thinking at his hard work said that no man can be able to work if its fed only on that day. He needed at least a week of feeding and regained his full