The Political Thought of Gemistos Plethon: A Renaissance Byzantine Reformer
Author(s): N. Patrick Peritore
Source: Polity, Vol. 10, No. 2, (Winter, 1977), pp. 168-191
Published by: Palgrave Macmillan Journals
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3234257
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The PoliticalThoughtof
GemistosPlethon:A
RenaissanceByzantine
Reformer*
N. PatrickPeritore
University of Missouri
Modern modes of thought often have roots that reach back into earlier
periods of history. Peritore presents an illuminating analysis of an early
development of nationalist myth by Georgios Gemistos Plethon and its
practical application as a means of national mobilization against the
Turkish threat to the Byzantine Empire. Plethon, an important figure in
the diffusion of Platonic ideas to fifteenth-centuryItaly, bases his proposals for radical reforms of class, military, taxation, penal, and economic structures on a prescient awareness of the persuasive power of
nationalist ideology. In the present article the author examines the background, philosophic origin, and practicability of his proposals.
N. Patrick Peritore, assistant professor of political science at the University of Missouri-Columbia, teaches political theory and the philosophy
of social science method. He has published articles in The American
Political Science Review and other journals. Currentlyhe is working on
a book dealing with the dialectical critique of contemporary philosophy.
Georgios Gemistos Plethon (ca. 1355-1452) is one of the greatest and
most controversial political theorists produced by the Byzantine Empire.
Born in Constantinople, Plethon studied the Neoplatonic and ArabAristotelian philosophies in Turkish Adrianople under the direction of
Elissaius, a member of the Sultan's literary circle. Exiled from Constantinople, he settled in Mistra the capital of the despotate of the Morea
* This research was funded by a Summer Fellowship from the Research Council of the Graduate School, University of Missouri-Columbia.An earlier draft of
this paper was delivered to the Central RenaissanceConference of the Renaissance
Society of America, February24-26, 1977, St. Louis, Missouri.
N. Patrick Peritore
169
(Peloponnese) and served there as president of the high court and advisor to the Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus (r. 1391-1425) and his
son the Despot Theodore II (r. 1407-1428).1
Plethon is an important figure in the diffusion of Platonic learning to
the West. His circle of students included the future Cardinal Bessarion
and Manuel Chrysoloras, and while a member of the delegation to the
Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438-1440) he lectured on Plato at the
palace of Cosimo de' Medici and is thought to have been a prime influence on the foundation of the Florentine Academy. His treatise "On the
Differences between Aristotle and Plato" spawned an extensive and enlightening international controversy whose most important product was
Bessarion's "In Calumniatorem Platonis." His reintroduction of Strabo's
geography to the West may have indirectly influenced Columbus's voyages. His political works influenced Thomas More's Utopia (through
Theodore of Gaza), comprised parts of Erasmus's library, and were reprinted in Antwerp and England. Plethon's contributions to Western
learning were so well remembered that Sigismundo Malatesta had his
remains reinterred at Rimini in 1465, his epitaph reading in part "prince
2
among the philosophers of his time."
1. For biographical information see Francois Masai, Plethon et le Platonisme
de Mistra (Paris: Societe d'edition "Les Belles Lettres," 1956), pp. 48-65. Fritz
Schiiltze, Geschichte der Philosophie der Renaissance: Georgios Gemistos Plethon
(Jena: Mauke, 1874), vol. 1, bk. 1. C. Alexandre, ed., Plethon: Traite des Lois,
trans. A. Pellissier (Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1966), pp. v-lvi. Neokles Kazazes,
"Ge6rgios Gemistos Pleth6n kai ho koin6nismos kata ten anagennesin,"Epistemonike epeteris tou ethnikou panepistemiou (1802-1803),
pp. 6-16. Ioannou P.
Mamalaki, Ho G. Gemistos en Peloponneso apo tou 1414-1437 (Thessalonika,
Greece: I. Konstantinodou, 1939), pp. 7-12. Ioannou P. Mamalaki, Ge6rgios
Gemistos-Plethon (Athens: Verlag der Byzantinische-NeugriechischenJahrbucher,
1939), pp. 8-12. (In modern Greek).
2. For Plethon's influence on the West see Borje Knbs, "Gemiste Plethon et son
souvenir,"Lettres d'Humanite 9(1950): 97-184. J. Duncan M. Derrett, "Gemistos
Plethon, the Essenes, and More's Utopia," Biblotheque d'humanisme et Renaissance
27(1965): 580-591, 598-600, 583 fn. 2, 589. Milton V. Anastos, "Some Aspects
of Byzantine Influence on Latin Thought" in Marshall Clagett, et al., eds., Twelfth
Century Europe and the Foundations of Modern Society (Madison: University of
Wisconsin Press, 1966), pp. 163-164 explicates Plethon's reintroductionof Strabo's
geography to the West. Milton V. Anastos, "Pletho and Strabo on the Habitability
of the Torrid Zone," Byzantinische Zeitschrift 44 (1951):7-10. Franz Taeschner,
"Georgios Gemistos Plethon. Ein Beitrag zur Frage der tjbertragung von islamischem Geistesgut nach dem Abendlande,"Der Islam 18(1929): 236-240. Franz
Taeschner, "Georgios Gemistos Plethon, ein Vermittler zwischen Morgenland und
Abendland zu Beginn der Renaissance," Byzantinische-Neugriechische
Jahrbucher
8(1931): 100-113. For a discussion of Taeschner'sthesis of Islamic influences on
Plethon see Milton V. Anastos, "Pletho'sCalendar and Liturgy,"Dumbarton Oaks
170
Political Thought of Gemistos Plethon
His influence on the West would, however, have been even greater had
not most of his posthumous Treatise on the Laws been burnt by the
Patriarch Scholarios in an unfortunate act of censorship. The portions
which remain show Plethon to have been an advocate of a PlatonicSpartan theocracy which resurrected the pagan Hellenic pantheon. Interpretation of this unusual fragment must await the editing of Plethon's
intervening works on ethics, religion, history, geography, and the sciences
which presently lay unattended in European archives.3
Papers 4 (1949): 270-305. Frangois Masai, "Plethon, l'averroismeet le probleme
religieux," in Le Neoplatonisme (Paris: Editions du Centre National de la
RechercheScientifique,1971), pp. 435-446.
Regarding Plethon's influence on the foundation of the Florentine Platonic
Academy see Marsilio Ficino's testimony in Alexandre, Lois, p. xvii, fn. 3. Knos,
"Souvenir,"pp. 113-122. Paul O. Kristeller, Renaissance Concept of Man (New
York: Harper and Row, 1972), chap. 4, 5. Paul O. Kristeller, "The Platonic
Academy of Florence," in Renaissance Thought II (New York: Harper and Row,
1965), pp. 89-101. Paul O. Kristeller, "Renaissance Platonism," in William H.
Werkmeister,ed., Facets of the Renaissance (New York: Harper and Row, 1959),
pp. 103-123, 106-107. Paul O. Kristeller, Eight Philosophers of the Italian Renais-
sance (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1964), pp. 38-42. John W.
Taylor, Georgios Gemistos Plethon's Criticism of Plato and Aristotle (Menasha,
Wis.: Collegiate Press, 1921), pp. 6-18, 19 for a preliminary list of the treatises
involved in the controversy. Linos Benakis, "Georgiou Gemistou Plethonos, pros
erotemena atta apokrisis," Philosophia (Athens) 4 (1974): 330-376 deals with
the logomachy and Plethon's anthropology, with appended texts. Masai, Plethon,
pp. 315-365. Frangois Masai, "Le probleme des influences byzantines sur le
platonisme Italien de la Renaissance," Lettres d'humanite 12 (1953): 82-90.
Kenneth M. Setton, "The Byzantine Background to the Italian Renaissance,"
Proceedings of the American Philosophical
Society 100 (1956):
1-76. Deno J.
Geanakoplos, Greek Scholars in Venice (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1962), pp. 85-88 on the logomachy, pp. 33-37 on Bessarion, p. 75 on the
possible inclusion of Michael Apostolis in Plethon's circle in Mistra. For the dissemination of Plethon's ideas see Henri Vast, Le Cardinal Bessarion (Paris:
Hachette, 1878), chap. 3 entire. Ludwig Mohler, Kardinal Bessarion als Theologe,
Humanist und Staatsmann, 2 vols. (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schoeningh, 1923), I:
335-358. Joseph Gill, "The Sincerity of Bessarion the Unionist," Journal of Theological Studies, N.S. 24 (1975): 377-392. Franco Gaeta, "Giorgio de Trebisonda,
le Leggi di Platone e la constituzione di Venezia," Bulletino dell'istituto storico
Italiano per il medio evo 82 (1970): 479-497. Charles Astruc, "La fin inedite du
Contra Plethonem
de Matthieu Camariotes," Scriptorium 9 (1955):
246-262.
Charles Astruc, "ManuscritsParisiens de Gemiste Plethon,"Scriptorium5 (1951):
114-116. Henri Gregoire, "Les manuscritsde Julien et le mouvement neo-paien de
Mistra; Demetrius Rhallis et Gemiste Plethon," Byzantion 5 (1929): 730-736.
3. On Gennadius' (scholarios) motivation for burning the ms. of Plethon's Laws
(Nomon Syngraphe) see his letters in Spiridon Lampros, Palaiologeia kai Peloponnesiaka, 3 vols. (Athens: N.P., 1926), n: 19-27. W. Gass, Gennadius und Pletho:
Aristotelismus und Platonismus in der Griechischen Kirche (Breslau: Gesohorsky
N. Patrick Peritore
171
This paper will examine the early political theory of Gemistos Plethon
as contained in his treatises "Advice to the Despot Theodore Concerning the Affairs of the Peloponnese," presented probably in 1416, and
"Georgios Gemistos to Manuel Palaeologus Concerning the Affairs of
the Peloponnese" presented in 1418.4 Platonic in style, Plethon's treatises
Verlag, 1844), pp. 24-77. M. Jugie, "La polemique de Georges Scholarios contre
Plethon," Byzantion 10 (1935): 517-530. Alexandre, Lois, pp. xliii-lvi. On the
Laws see Alexandre Lois for the text, appendices, and valuable commentary.
Milton V. Anastos, "Pletho's Calendar,"pp. 183-270. Masai, Plethon, chap. 4, 5.
Schultze, Geschichte, pp. 127-216. Kn6s, "Souvenir,"pp. 123-132. John W. Taylor,
"Gemistos Pletho as a Moral Philosopher," Transactions and Proceedings of the
American Philological Association 51 (1920): 84-100. D.P. Walker, "Orpheus the
Theologian and Renaissance Platonists," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld
Institutes 16 (1953): 107-109 regardingpossible Orphic influences.
For Plethon's other writings see J.P. Migne, Patrologiae Graecae (Paris: N.P.,
1866), vol. 160: columns 774-1020 for parallel Greek and Latin texts of his two
political treatises, essay on ethics (Peri Areton), treatise on the differences between Plato and Aristotle, on the Latin dogma (of the Trinity), his polemic against
Scholarios, and additional materials. R. and F. Masai, "L'oeuvre de Georges
Gemiste Plethon," Academie de Belgique (Classe des Lettres 5th Series) 40
(1954): 536-555. A. Diller, "The Autographs of Georgius Gemistus Plethon,"
Scriptorium 10 (1956):27-41. B. Lagarde, "Le 'De Differentiis'de Plethon d'apres
l'autographde la Marcienne,"Byzantion 42 (1973): 312-343. Mamalaki, Plethon,
pp. 49-54. Kn6s, "Souvenir,"pp. 107-108. Basile Tatakis, La philosophieByzantine
(Paris: Presses Universitairesde France, 1949), pp. 281-306. Antonio Dalla Bona,
trans., Georgio Gemisto Pletone dell'istorie dei Greci (Verona: Ramanzini, 1736)
is an Italian translation of Plethon's Peri ton meta ten en Mantineia machen, the
Greek text of which I was unable to locate.
4. The best edition is in Spiridon Lampros, Palaiologeia, II: 113-135 contains
"Plethonos symbouleutikos pros ton despoten Theodoron peri tes Peloponnesou,"
and iii:246-265 "Ge6rgiouGemistou eis Manouel Palaiologon peri ton en Peloponnes6 pragmat6n."The German translation of an earlier edition is in H. Ellissen,
Analektin der Mittel-und Neugriechischen Literatur 4 (1860):
85-154. For English
translation of some selected passages and commentary see Ernest Barker, ed. and
trans., Social and Political Thought in Byzantium (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1957), pp. 196-219. All quotes in this paper are my translations of the
Lampros rescensions of Plethon's memoranda. On the dating of the mss. see
Masai, Plethon, pp. 387-388; and Ioannis P. Mamalaki'sreview of Masai, Plethon
in Deltion tes historikes kai ethnologikes hetaireias tes Hellados 15 (1961):
363-
384 at p. 365. For general backgroundsee Barker, Thought; and Francis Dvornik,
Early Christian and Byzantine Political Philosophy, 2 vols. (Washington, D.C.:
Dumbarton Oaks, 1966). For commentary on the mss. see Apostolos E. Vacalopoulos, Origins of the Greek Nation 1204-1461,
trans. Ian Moles (New Bruns-
wick, N.J.: RutgersUniversity Press, 1970), chap. 9, an excellent work on the sociohistorical setting of Plethon's proposals. H.F. Tozer, "A Byzantine Reformer,"
Journal of Hellenic Studies 7 (1886): 353-380. Johannes Draeseke, "Plethonsund
Bessarions Denkschriften 'Cber die Angelegenheiten im Peloponnes,'" Neue
172
Political Thought of Gemistos Plethon
advocate a rational and sweeping program of reform designed to engender national mobilization against the Turkish threat, which was to
sweep away the Eastern Roman Empire in the decade after Plethon's
death. Plethon's treatises are of interest today because they demonstrate
an early and visionary appreciation of the preconditions of nationalism
and national mobilization. Such terms must be used with care. Properly
speaking, nationalism was only incipient in late medieval history. Hans
Kohn defines nationalism as "a state of mind, permeating the majority of
a people [which] recognizes the nation-state as the ideal form of political
organization and the nationality as the source of all creative cultural
5
energy and of economic well-being." It is apparent that the economic,
for
the communication and popular
and
conditions
technical,
political
did not exist in the late
notion
of
a
such
acceptance
contemporary
form of nationalism
modern
Byzantine Empire. Instead of a fully evolved
we possess in Plethon's treatises an extraordinarily prescient call for a
"mass nationalist movement" based on a national myth and intended to
bring about a social mobilization to meet the threat of Turkish invasion
and inaugurate the "dynamic process whereby pre-national peoples enter
into political community with their fellows." 6
Thus, in support of the thesis that Georgios Gemistos Plethon deserves
a place in the history of political thought for his early explication of the
myth of nationalism and for his analysis of the socioeconomic basis of
that mass mobilization which could give the myth objective efficacy, this
paper will examine the philosophical origin of his proposals and their
Jahrbiicher fiir das Klassische Altertum, Geschichte, und Deutsche Literatur 14
(1911): 102-119.
On the condition of the Peloponnese in this period see the invaluable work by
D.A. Zakythinos, Le Despotate Grec de Moree, 2 vols. (Paris: Societe d'edition
'Les Belles Lettres,' 1932 and 1952); and Vacalopoulos, Origins, pp. 169-186.
John W. Barker, Manuel II Palaeologus 1391-1425, (New Brunswick, N.J.:
RutgersUniversity Press, 1969). Ioannis P. Mamalaki,"He epidraset6n synchronon
gegonot6n stis idees tou G. Gemistou," Pepragmena tou 8th diethnous Byzantinologikou synhedriou 2 (April 1953): 498-532. Rudolph Guilland, Recherches sur
les Institutions Byzantines, 2 vols. (Amsterdam: Hakkert, 1967), II: 1-24 on the
despotate. Zakythinos, Despotate, I:168-176. William Miller, The Latins in the
Levant (New York: Dutton, 1908), chap. 12, 13. See also the documents on the
Hexamilion in Spiridon Lampros, "Ta teiche tou isthmou tes Korinthou kata tous
mesous ai6nas," Neos Hellenomnemon 2 (1905): 435-489, and "Prostheke,"Neos
Hellenomnemon 4 (1907): 20-26.
5. Hans Kohn, The Idea of Nationalism (New York: Macmillan, 1961), p. 16.
6. Chalmers Johnson, Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power, (Stanford,
Calif.: StanfordUniversity Press, 1962), pp. 19-30, 22.
N. Patrick Peritore
173
feasibility given the current situation of the Palaeologan Empire. This
examination will proceed under three heads: Plethon's nationalism, his
Platonically structured reforms, and his protectionism for economic development.
I. Plethon's Myth of Hellenic Nationalism
In the opening paragraphs of his treatise to Manuel, Plethon states the
myth of Hellenic nationality in the form of a persuasive definition. "We
are ... the Greek race which you rule, as is witnessed by our language
and traditional culture." (Esmen ... Hellenes to genos hos he te phone
kai he patrios paideia marturei.) 7 His claim was, in effect, that the
Hellenes comprised a "race" united by language, traditional culture, and
occupation of a discrete territory, the Peloponnese. This definition requires detailed analysis prior to consideration of the role and origin of
the nationalist myth.
First, in using the term "Hellene" in his definition, Plethon was rejecting the universalist claims of Roman Empire and embracing a nationalist
particularism. Prior to the Palaeologan revival the Byzantines commonly
called themselves Rhomaioi or Romans, thereby asserting their status as
continuators of the Roman world state. This claim was accepted alike
by the Crusaders, who called the Empire Roumania, the Turks (Roumelia), and Arabs (Roum). Before the Fourth Crusade the term Hellene
had been persistently used to denote a pagan, idolater, or gentile as opposed to "Christianos," and the criminal charge of "Hellenizing" implied
both heretical and seditious behavior. Ethnic particularismwas not politically important within the Empire, the highest offices being open to men
of "barbarian"extraction who acquired the requisite Greek language and
Christian religion. Indeed, the very term "Greek" was introduced by the
Franks and bore a pejorative connotation.8 Thus, Plethon's term, Hellene,
marked a reconceptualization of the Byzantine situation and may well
serve to establish his position as an early theorist of nationalism. It is
instructive to note that the Council of Constance, held between 1414 and
1418, the period in which Plethon's treatises were delivered, recognized
7. Lampros, Palaiologeia (hereafter referred to as PP), pp. 246.1-251.4 for
introduction to treatise to Manuel, and p. 247.14 for the definition.
8. On these terms see Vacalopoulos, Origins, pp. 18-19, 42-43. Louis Br6hier,
Les Institutions de l'Empire Byzantin (Paris: Albin Michel, 1949), pp. 1-5.
J. B. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire, 2 vols. (New York: Dover Press,
1958), I:287, 283, and footnotes; ii:399. Kilian Lechner, "Byzanz und die Barbaren," Saeculum 6 (1955): 292-306. Kohn, Idea, pp. 70-72, 595.
174
Political Thought of Gemistos Plethon
in its caucuses four "nations" defined in the ad hoc manner commonly
used in university organization.9
Second, Plethon amplified the national myth by calling the Hellenes
a "race" or "genos" and claiming an ethnic continuity which was, as we
now know, largely spurious. The inhabitants of Greece, ancient, medieval, and modern alike, were always a congeries of ethnic and linguistic
strains. Like ancient Greece, the medieval Peloponnese had experienced
a great deal of population mixture; from the ninth through the fourteenth centuries emperors had deliberately settled Slavs and Albanians
to repopulate this war-ravaged region. The satire of Mazaris, written in
Plethon's time, listed the distinct peoples occupying the Peloponnese as
"Greeks" (including Hellenized Slavs), "Italians" (French, Catalans,
and Sicilian Greeks), "Illyrians" (Albanians, Vlachs, Arvanito-Vlachs,
and other Latinophone tribes), "Egyptians" (Gypsies), and Jews (resident since 168 B.C.). Since many Grecophone peoples had fled to the
mountains, this ethnic mixture was, in fact, poorly assimilated or "Hellenized." However, despite the historical inaccuracy of Plethon's ethnic
theory, it was revived during the Greek revolt of 1822 and finds qualified
support among some contemporary Greek scholars.10
9. George C. Powers, Nationalism at the Council of Constance (1414-1418)
(Washington, D.C.: Catholic University Press, 1927), pp. 59, 64-65, 104-105,
107-108. Louise Loomis, "Nationality at the Council of Constance," American
Historical Review 44 (1939): 508-527. Marcel Handelsman, "Le r6ole de la
nationalit6 dans l'histoire du moyen age," Bulletin of International Communication of Historical Societies 2 (1921): 235-247. On language and nationality see
Marc Bloch, Feudal Society, trans. L. A. Manyon (Chicago, Ill.: University of
Chicago Press, 1971), ii:431-437. See Hans-Georg Beck, Ideen und Realitaeten
in Byzanz (London: Variorum Reprints, 1972), pp. 86-94 of the sixth essay for
the argument that "Hellene" is "wohl ein reiner Anachronismus"and not a nationalist usage, which position in my opinion is based on too narrow and modern
a definition of nationality (p. 92). His extracts, however, do show the relative
temporal priorityof Plethon'snationalism.
10. For the ethnic origins of the ancient Greeks see George Thomson, Studies
in Ancient Greek Society (New York: Citadel Press, 1965), chap. 4, 5, 11, 12, 13.
For the satire of Mazaris see J. F. Tozer, "ByzantineSatire," Journal of Hellenic
Studies 2 (1881): 233-270. A. A. Vasiliev, History of the Byzantine Empire, 2
vols., 2nd ed. (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1970), In:238. J. F.
Tozer, "Reformer," pp. 363-366. Zakythinos, Despotate, II: 160-166. For the
ethnic origin of the modern Greeks see Vacalopoulos, Origins, chap. 1 and especially p. 16 where he argues, with qualifications, like Plethon for the continuity
of language, culture, and ethnos. A similar argument is made by Speros Vryonis,
Byzantium and Europe (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, 1967), pp.
80-82. For Plethon's effect on the Greek Liberation movement of the 1820's see
Joseph Braddock, The Greek Phoenix (New York: Coward McCann, 1973),
p. 35.
N. Patrick Peritore
175
Third, Plethon maintained that the Greek language bore witness to
the historical unity of the Hellenic genos, a proposition which certainly
requires qualification. It is true, on the one hand, that more continuity
exists between Classical, Koine, and Demotic (modem) Greek than
between Latin and its modern Romance derivatives. But, on the other
hand, only the educated governing class could appreciate this philological
tradition in that court circles utilized an affected and consciously archaic
"Attic" style which differed broadly from the spoken Demotic Greek.
An unfortunate schism developed between the rich popular literature of
Demotic song, epic, and paroimia, and an increasingly stilted official
literature.11Thus appreciation of the lingustic heritage was a function of
education and class position and therefore not a potential element of
popular national consciousness, whatever role it may have played in
mobilizing the elite. In the nineteenth-century Greek revolt this linguistic
schism was reborn in the struggle between puristic (katharevousa) and
popular (demotike) Greek for the position of official language.
Fourth, Plethon's claim that the ancestral culture (patrios paideia)
witnessed the national unity of the Hellenes was not self-evidently valid
given the pattern of Christian suppression and selective reappropriation
of the Classical heritage which obtained throughout Byzantine history.l2
However, against the backdrop of the Lascarid-Palaeologan Renaissance,
Plethon's idea gains weight as a reflection of the self-consciously archaising nationalist movement occurring in court circles. The literati of this
period had begun systematically to reappropriate classical Hellenic culture as the ideational framework for resistance to both Frankish and
Turkish assimilation. Archaeological excavations and the careful collection and study of ancient manuscripts created a resurgence of classical
learning later diffused to Italy by fleeing Greek scholars and antiquarians.13Unfortunately, the educated elite alone benefited from the liberating impact of classical culture, while the masses remained in their state
of religious credulity.
The fifth component of Plethon's nationalist myth was the claim that
the Peloponnese, the cradle of the Hellenic genos, had been continuously
11. Frederick Hertz, Nationality in History and Politics (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1944), p. 113. Mamalaki,Plethon, pp. 23-26.
12. Bury, Empire, II:366-372. Masai, Plethon, pp. 34-36.
13. Vasiliev, Byzantine, II:541-542, 506-566. Vacalopoulos, Origins, pp. 27-49,
104-125. Zakythinos, Despotate, I:120. Knos, "Souvenir," pp. 102-103. Masai,
Plethon, pp. 36-37. Cyril Mango, "Antique Statuary and the Byzantine Beholder,"
Dumbarton Oaks Papers 17 (1963): 69, fn. 84. Cyril Mango, "Byzantinismand
Romantic Hellenism," Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 28 (1965):
29-43.
176
Political Thought of Gemistos Plethon
occupied by Hellenes and was one of the points of origin of both the
Roman and Constantinopolitan populaces. Beside its historical connections, the Peloponnese was to Plethon both fruitful and easily defensible given its topography and the recent fortification of the Isthmus of
Corinth which in effect converted it into an island. Plethon's interest in
the Peloponnese stemmed from his profession as tutor to its despot
Theodore II Palaeologus (r. 1407-1428). The Despotate of the Morea
(Peloponnese), an appanage of the Byzantine state, was created in 1262
and extinguished by the Turks in 1460.14 With some justice Plethon
emphasized the rich history of this peninsula, the central landmass of
both the restored Empire and of contemporary Greece. His reform proposals concerned a Morea recently subdued and reorganized, and were
intended to revitalize its defensive and economic potential. For this reason an encomium of the Peloponnese opened the treatise and justified
the concrete measures which followed.
What was the function of Plethon's nationalist myth? It can be argued
that his treatises were designed to crystallize nascent nationalist sentiments current among the court intelligentsia in order to provide an ideological framework for popular mobilization. In the analogous case of
early modern China, mobilization of the intellectuals preceded that of
the masses, and arguments rehearsed in learned treatises later sparked
popular ferment.'5 A similar dynamic, and lag, in the diffusion of national consciousness seemed to be operative in the Byzantine situation.
As Frederick Hertz noted,
In spite of the strong national consciousness and excessive pride of
the Greek educated classes, however, it is doubtful how far there
was a Byzantine nation. The population showed great difference in
language and traditions.... Byzantine history is filled with revolutions and civil wars in which frequently parties invoked the help of
foreign invaders without any regard for national interests.16
Plethon's national myth in theory united the court elite with the peasantsoldier class against the "feudal" lords and monasteries, major power
14. Lampros,PP., pp. 246.1-247.14.
15. Johnson, Peasant, pp. 25-27.
16. Hertz, Nationality, p. 112. Cyril Mango argues, regarding the Late Empire, that "expressions of hellenism during these two or three centuries were
largely rhetorical... they were confined to a very small circle of intellectuals
and had no impact on the people. The handful of Byzantine neohellenists was
eventually integrated into the broad stream of the Italian Renaissance...."
"Byzantinism,"p. 33. G. I. Bratianu, "'Democratie' dans le lexique Byzantin
a l'epoque des Palaeologues,"in Anon., Memorial Louis Petit (Bucharest: Institut
Francais d'6tudesByzantines, 1948), pp. 32-40.
N. Patrick Peritore
177
blocs opposing rational mobilization for self-defense. Nationalist ideology
could potentially have provided a common purpose for such an effort.
By calling the Hellenes a genos united by language, ancestral culture,
and common territory, Plethon anticipated those "objective bonds"
which comprise the sufficient if not necessary conditions for nationality
according to Hans Kohn.17
Thus, Plethon's myth is not to be judged in terms of its historical
veracity but rather for its potential as a unifying article of political faith.
For, as Ernst Cassirer argued, the objectivity of a myth
lies neither in a metaphysical nor in an empirical-psychological
"reality" which stands behind it, but in what myth itself is and
achieves, in the manner and form of objectivization which it accomplishes. It is objective insofar as it is ... one of the determining
factors by which consciousness ... creates a world of its own in
accordance with a spiritual principle.18
Plethon's nationalism found its vehicle not in the Palaeologan Empire,
but in the Hellenic revolt of 1821-1830. The reason for its failure in his
time must be sought in study of his specific reform proposals and their
feasibility given the social conditions of the Peloponnese.
II. Plethon'sReforms-National Mobilizationon a PlatonicBasis
The major portions of Plethon's treatises expound sweeping reforms of
the socioeconomic and military structure of the Peloponnese. The central
theme of these reforms is the rational mobilization of all socioeconomic
and political factors in order to create a centralized, autarchic, and defensible territory.
The reform proposals are for the most part specific and practical, and
their Platonic derivation is clear. In the manner of Byzantine intellectuals
and as the greatest Platonist of his time, Plethon claimed to draw his
insights from the wisdom and political practice of the ancients."9 This
tendency was reinforced by his position as advisor to the Despot Thedore
and the Emperor Manuel, a situation comparable to Plato's relationship
to Dionysius of Syracuse. Plethon had given Plato's abortive political
effort much consideration in his historical compilation "On the History
17. Kohn, Idea, pp. 13-18 lists common descent, language, territory, political
entity, customs, traditions,and religion as objective bonds.
18. Ernst Cassirer, The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms, trans. Ralph Manheim,
3 vols. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1955), II:14.
19. Wilson, "Moral Philosopher,"p. 84. Alexandre, Lois, pp. 34-35. Lampros,
PP, 130.12-130.19.
178
Political Thought of Gemistos Plethon
of the Hellenes after the Battle of Mantinea" and would in his own time
attempt to replicate Plato's intention "to exchange tyranny for a Spartan
regime, and to decorate the fatherland with more clement and just
laws...." 20 In the treatise addressed to Manuel, Pleton offered to administer his own program of reform. "If you should command me to put
these things into practice, I will undertake these public services even if
no one else would have the courage. I promise to organize and consolidate the affairs of the Peloponnese in action according to the plan
which I have already set forth in words." 21
The parallel in historical situations is reinforced by theoretical similarities. Like Plato, Plethon preferred monarchy to oligarchy and democracy because it provides the most noble laws and efficient administration. Neither oligarchy nor democracy promote the public good (ton
koinei sympheront6n) because of the irrationality introduced into legislation by private interests, popular ignorance, and the struggle between
rich and poor.22 Like Plato's monarchism Plethon's, far from being conservative, was a force for social reform insofar as it required the ruler
to act as a lawgiver. As Plethon noted, "There is no other cause of a
polity's faring well or ill than the excellence or weakness of the way in
which its constitution (politeia) has been established."23 Impressed
by the urgency of the Empire's situation and encouraged by Manuel's
successful campaign against the Moreote nobles and rapid construction of
the Hexamilion (a defensive fortification of the Isthmus of Corinth),
Plethon proposed further rectification of the affairs of the Peloponnese
through sweeping royal action.24
If Manuel ii Palaeologus was a highly accomplished litterateur and
man of affairs, his son Theodore more closely approximated Plato's recalcitrant pupil in his love of pleasure. Plethon's passionate exhortation
to Theodore is in effect a Platonic disquisition on the morality and
responsibility of the ruler and as such forms part of the Furstenspiegel
tradition. Plethon contrasted moral and immoral rulers and lawgivers,
from Herakles to Nero, recalled the greatness of the Hellenes and lamented their current decline, and quite pointedly compared the lordly
20. Dalla Bona, Istorie, p. 19, my translation. Almost the entire first book of
this compilation is devoted to the Syracusan episode.
Johannes Draeseke, "Zu Platon und
21. Lampros, PP, pp. 265.5-265.12.
Plethon," Archiv fur Geschichte der Philosophie 27 (1914). 288-294. For
Plato's belief in the efficacy of royal action see Republic, III:398b, v:459c, 473,
vI:497a-502c; Laws, Iv:709e.
22. Lampros, PP, pp. 118-119.
23. Ibid., pp. 116.18-116.19, 118.12-118.14.
24. Ibid., pp. 116.10-116.15. Lampros, "Teiche," passim. Zakythinos, Despotate,
I: 168-180; n: 140-145.
N. Patrick Peritore
179
yet plain eagle to the vain and worthless peacock.25 He did not fail to
draw the lesson from his historical and natural examples: "One should,
on every occasion, provide laws for the polis which are not only excellent,
but also effective [kuri6n]. Ineffective laws are neither excellent nor of
the least use, and laws become effective only through the virtues of the
rulers.... " 26 There are two forms of life, argued Plethon, differentiated
as to their object: pleasure or the good. A mixture of immortal soul and
mortal body, man is either drawn by his opinions toward the soul and thus
strives for the good, or succumbs to the animal part of his nature, and
through the pursuit of pleasure is rendered evil.27 Borrowing an analogy
from the Gorgias (521e) Plethon warns Theodore that he will act the
part of a doctor, dispensing disagreeable if necessary advice, rather than
acting the part of a cook who destroys the body politic by serving its
cravings over its needs.28
Plethon's most radical and complex proposal is definitely Platonist in
implication. Like Plato in the Republic or Laws, Plethon was concerned
to begin radical restructuringof the polity on a tabula rasa. He therefore
proposed royal confiscation and redistribution of land to the working
peasantry.
The judgment should be added to what has already been said that
by nature all the land is equal and common to those dwelling on it;
no one should lay claim to any part of the land as private but whoever
wishes to plant should go where he will, build a house and plow as
much land as he is willing and able, and each shall be master of
this much land on condition that he occupies it and does not neglect
to work it. No one will pay rent nor be troubled or annoyed by anyone other than those who have previously taken the land through
work according to the law of common property which fits the case.
Then if he should be of the Helot class, a third of his produce is
taken for the common fund as we said and he is to be troubled no
further, having once and for all discharged his debt. But if he is a
soldier or some other among those serving the state through their
acts, he shall pay no taxes but rather do the service to which he was
appointed.29
25. Lampros, PP, pp. 126.24-128.13, 116.16-118.14, 133.11-133.18.
26. Ibid., pp. 129.7-129.10.
27. Ibid., pp. 126.7-126.23. Compare Peri Areton in Migne, Patrologiae, columns 865-882, where the division between the irrational and rational portions of
the soul becomes the basis for further development of a systematic ethics incorporating the four Platonic virtues and a great deal of Stoicism, as well as a
genetic psychology.
28. Lampros, PP, pp. 115.6-115.19.
29. Ibid., pp. 260.1-260.17.
180
Political Thought of Gemistos Plethon
Given Manuel's recent victory over the Peloponnesian Dynatoi, or landlords, Plethon optimistically concluded that this necessary condition for
the creation of a Platonic system of classes could immediately be realized.
There are historical antecedents other than the Platonic for this proposal. For example, it closely paralleled the revolutionary program of
the Hellenistic Spartan kings Agis (264-241 B.C.) and Kleomenes
(263-219 B.c.) which Plethon, who lived only a few miles from medieval Sparta, examined in his histories. The Spartan Kings' redistribution
of land and debt cancellation resembled Plethon's homesteading of "nationalized" land by peasants freed from feudal duties and bonds. The
Spartan expansion of the army and citizenship rolls was approximated
in his "pairing" of farmers and soldiers and their rotation of functions.
The Spartan restorationof the "Lycurgan"lifestyle, considered by Plethon
to be unrealistically harsh, found an echo in his advocacy of simplified
living and sumptuary laws to restrain the extravagances of the wealthy.30
But the third and most concrete influence on Plethon's proposal for
distribution of land to the tiller was the historical condition of Byzantine
land tenure. A quick sketch of this issue may illuminate Plethon's proposal.31 The Byzantines continued the Roman practice of settling troops
30. For the dynamics of a conservative attempt to return to the norms of
"Lycurgan"Sparta which ended in real social revolution and the ultimate downfall of Sparta, see Plutarch, The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, trans.
"Dryden" (Chicago, Ill.: Britannica, Great Books, 1951), lives of Agis and
Cleomenes, Aratus, Philopoemen, Flaminius. H. Mitchell, Sparta (New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1964), chap. 11. Benjamin Shimron, Late Sparta
(Buffalo: Arethusa, 1972). F. Oilier, "Le philosophe stoicien Sphairos et l'oeuvre
reformatrice des rois de Sparta Agis iv et Cleomene iII," Revue des Etudes
Grecques 49 (1936): 536-570. P. R. Coleman-Norton, "Socialism at Sparta," in
Anon., The Greek Political Experience (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1941), pp. 61-77. W. H. Porter, "The Antecedents of the Spartan Revolution of 243 B.C.," Hermathena 49 (1953): 1-15. For the specific reforms see
Alexander Fuks, "Agis Cleomenes, and Equality," Classical Philology 57 (1962):
161-166; and "The Spartan Citizen-Body in Mid-Third Century B.C. and its
Enlargement Proposed by Agis iv," Athenaeum 40 (1962): 244-263; and "NonPhylarchean Tradition of the Programme of Agis iv," Classical Quarterly 12
(1962): 118-121.
31. See A. M. Andreades' paper on the economy of Byzantium in Norman
H. Baynes and H. Moss, eds., Byzantium (Oxford: Clarendon, 1948), pp. 51-70.
E. H. Kantorowicz'sessay on feudalism in Rushton Coulborn, ed., Feudalism in
History (Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1965), pp. 151-166. On pronoia and
the struggle against feudalism see Georges Ostrogorski, Pour l'histoire de la
Feodalite Byzantine (Brussels: Institut de Philologie et d'histoire Orientales et
Slaves, 1954), pp. 92-154. Georges Ostrogorski, "Le Systeme de la Pronoia a
Byzance et en Servie Medievale," in Actes du Vie Congres International d'etudes
N. Patrick Peritore
181
as peasant fighters on the borders of Empire (limitanei, foederati, akritai),
and under the increasing pressure of Slav and Arab invasion the emperors, beginning probably with the Emperor Heraclius (610-641), extended the practice into the open lands within their own borders. Thus was
inaugurated the Thematic system in which approximately 60,000 small
estates were created for Greek, Slavic, and Armenian soldiers to guarantee their participation in border defense. The "picked men" of this group,
armed, self-supporting, and ruled by the local chief, provided the core
of the Byzantine army. Economically, thematic soldiers ranged from poor
peasants to yeomen and petty gentry, but all maintained a minimal inalienable estate. According to E. H. Kantorowicz, the system was highly
successful. "In addition to being more economical, the theme system
created a reliable peasant militia which was willing to defend its property, which drew from the soil both its livelihood and the means for
waging war, and which, on top of all that, even paid some taxes to the
state." 32 However, certain factors favored encroachment on thematic
lands by the large landlords (dynatoi, archontes). The adoption of the
expensive plate armor of the knight (kataphract), corrupt and excessive
taxation, the need for mercenaries in the capital, extensive famine, and
the accession of the pro-aristocratic Comneni (1081-1185) were factors
promoting the re-emergence of latifundia, although a fully developed
feudalism never took root in the Empire due to the peculiarities of the
grant in pronoia. Pronoial grants were estates or estate revenues for the life
support of individuals serving the emperor. Their number and size were
controlled by the emperor's decrees, they were held only at his pleasure
in return for services rendered, and subinfeudation was prohibited. This
legal form could not be the basis of a truly feudal localism although the
emperor's ultimate right to control and reapportion pronoiai depended
on his military and financial strength and the political situation. Thus,
when the aristocratic party prevailed, the emperor tended to grant
Byzantines, 2 vols. (Paris: La Borbonne, 1950), 1:181-189. Charles Diehl,
Byzantium: Greatness and Decline, trans. Naomi Walford (New Brunswick, N.J.:
Rutgers University Press, 1957), bk. 3, ch. 3. Vasiliev, Byzantine, II:563-570.
Zakythinos, Despotate, 11:211-226, and chap. 3 entire. Vacalopoulos, Origins,
pp. 54-57. Peter Charanis, "The Monastic Properties and the State in the Byzantine Empire," Dumbarton Oaks Papers 4 (1948): 53-54. Leon-Pierre Raybaud,
Le Gouvernement et l'administration centrale de l'empire Byzantin (Paris: Sirey,
1968), pp. 146-154. On the Nicaean empire's land tenure see Michael Angold,
A Byzantine Government
in Exile (London:
Oxford University
Press, 1975),
chap. 7, 9, 10. On the thematic system see Arnold Toynbee, Constantine Porphlyrogenitus and his World (London: Oxford University Press, 1973), pp. 122-184,
225-274.
32. In Coulborn, Feudalism, p. 157.
182 PoliticalThoughtof GemistosPlethon
Exkousseiaor special immunitiesfrom taxation, rights to farm taxes,
and rights to settle foreigners,refugees, or vagabondsas serfs. The
possibilityalwaysexistedof the dynatoiabusingtheirprivileges,and the
emperor'sright to revoke and dispossess them was but inconsistently
exercised.
In order to counteractthe influenceof the militaryaristocracy,the
Ducas dynasty (1054-1081), with church support,created a bureaucraticcourt aristocracythroughpronoialgrants.The Frankishconquest
and partitionof the Empirein 1204 superimposedwesternfeudal relations on the Greekpronoiaalthoughthe two modes of tenurewere distinguishedat law. Most importantly,during this period in the exile
Kingdomof Nicaea, the Lascariddynastryrevived the peasant army
(althoughmixed with mercenarycontingents) and strict regulationof
pronoia.The ascent of the Palaeologandynastyto the Nicaean throne,
however,meanta reversionto aristocraticcontrol."MichaelPalaiologos
abandonedthe strictcontrolthat the emperorsof Nicaea had exercised
over pronoiaiand greatestates.To ensurethe successof his usurpation,
he was forced to buy the support of the most influentialsections of
society.The privilegesof monasteriesand of the greataristocracieswere
confirmedand extended."33From theirpositionof weaknessthe Palaeologanemperorscould not reversethe "feudalizing"tendencyeven after
theirreconquestin 1261 of Constantinopleand the Peloponnese.
Plethon's proposal was written after Manuel II had subdued the
Moreotelandlordsand reclaimedroyal rightsover the Peloponnese.As
a bureaucrat,jurist, and philosophicalroyalist,Plethon was hostile to
the landed aristocracyand suggestedconfiscationof their estates. Because the land thereinlay fallow while many peasantsremainedunemployed, he maintained,labor alone should give title to land, and the
largely idle landlords should be forced to "accede to the common
good."34 It is likely that throughthese means Plethonintendedto fuse
the highly diverse peoples of the Peloponneseinto a unified fighting
peasantryon the basis of populationmixing,homesteading,and the developmentof a correspondencebetweenthe privateinterestin land and
the commoninterestin survivalof Empire.To this end he proposedthe
"introductionof the opinion"that the land is equal and commonto all
dwellingon it accordingto nature.35It appearsthen that Plethon'spro33. Angold, Exile, p. 141.
34. Lampros, PP, pp. 260.18-261.7. For later versions of these doctrines see
GerrardWinstanley'sDigger tract in George H. Sabine, ed., The Works of Gerrard
Winstanley (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1941), p. 597; and also Mao TseTung's Draft Agrarian Law of 1947 in William Hinton, Fanshen: A Documentary
of Revolution in a Chinese Village (New York: Vintage Press, 1966), pp. 7-8.
35. Lampros,PP, pp. 260.1-260.4.
N. Patrick Peritore
183
gram of land redistribution bears the imprint not only of Platonic philosophy but also of the earlier and relatively successful "Thematic system."
Recent research has thrown our knowledge of Byzantine land tenure into
a state of flux, and thus this connection between Plethon's desire for
redistributionand the thematic system must remain an intriguing hypothesis open to further investigation.
In another controversial passage, Plethon attacked the power of the
monasteries, one of the major obstacles to his program of redistribution
and resettlement. He argued that the monks ("Philosophers") perform
no public services in return for the public money which supports their
"dronelike leisure." Thus their public support should be cut and their
property taxed so that they must, through cultivation of their own considerable resources, become self-sufficient. "Much is needed for state
affairs and even the whole of the treasury scarcely suffices for the common security. Then why in the world do we place this swarm of drones
before the common good-those who do 'spiritual observances' and lie
about-why should they profit so greatly rather than those doing many
services for the public?" 3i
Despite the harsh language Plethon's proposal was surprisingly moderate, probably in view of the great residual political and economic influence of the Byzantine monasteries. Lavishly supported by state and
personal bequests, the monasteries promoted a broad range of welfare
services. However, the monks also led politico-religious factions and did
not hesitate to utilize sedition and riot to gain their ends.37 The monasteries, already owning one-third to one-half of the total arable land of
the Empire and at least one-fourth of the Peloponnese, continued to
confiscate peasant freehold through fraudulent litigation, corruption of
officials, and economic pressure, but most usually left the land uncultivated or tilled it in a most desultory fashion. While many emperors
fought monastic oppression of the free peasantry, generating a series of
Novels beginning in 935, the power-weak Palaeologans had little choice
but to allow their encroachments.38
36. Ibid., pp. 257.10-259.20 entire. Quote at 259.13-259.20.
37. For services see Charanis, "Properties,"p. 118; Demetrios J. Constantelos,
Byzantine Philanthropy and Social Welfare (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers Uni-
versity Press, 1968), chap. 7. For political activities see Vasiliev, Byzantine,
ii:656-670.
Diehl, Greatness, pp. 167-168. Barker, Manuelr chap. 3.
38. For monastic holdings see Charanis, "Properties,"pp. 54, 96, p. 118, fn. 208.
Brehier, Institutions, p. 574. For erosion of the free peasantry see Charanis,
"Properties,"pp. 61-64, 117-118, and p. 56 for Phocas' Novel. Vacalopoulos,
Origins, pp. 54-60. Charanis translated the major novels against the monasteries
in "Properties," passim. For the emperor's position see pp. 99-103, 108-109.
Diehl, Greatness, pp. 163-175. See Hippolyte Delehaye's essay "ByzantineMonasticism" in Baynes, Byzantium, pp. 136-165.
184
Political Thought of Gemistos Plethon
Thus, Plethon's monastic policy was necessarily circumscribed by a
realistic appraisal of the Palaeologan's power. By restricting state support
and private bequests, and through direct taxation of an unspecified
variety, he hoped to engender monastic cultivation and self-sufficiency,
increasing thereby the funds available for state purposes. It must be noted
that Plethon recognized the non-monastic clergy as civil servants worthy
of modest public support. His hostility extended to the professed quietism
of the monasteries rather than to the hierarchy of the Orthodox church,
which would later serve as the vehicle of popular national sentiment
during the three hundred years of Turkish domination.39
In summary, influenced by Platonic philosophy, the Hellenistic Spartan
tradition, and Byzantine land policy, Plethon recommended to Manuel a
massive confiscation and redistributionof land through a policy of homesteading which extinguished all title but that gained through work. Plethon
ultimately desired to mobilize, through this resettlement, the cultivators
who had fled oppressive "feudal" exactions, and to free idle land for the
production of social, economic, and military self-sufficiency.
Class and Military Reform. Based on his critique of the Peloponnesian
defense system, Plethon's treatises advocated the functional specialization of social class and adoption of a modified Thematic system of
military provision. Farmers and shepherds playing the part of soldiers
are neither trained nor armed sufficiently to defend the peninsula from
the mass of fierce and disciplined Turks, he argued. Long campaigns
removed them from their proper economic function thereby casting them
39. Hertz, Nationality, pp. 109-114. Kohn, Idea, pp. 534-543, 535. Roman
Jakobson, "The Beginnings of National Self-Determinationin Europe," Review of
Politics 7 (1945): 29-42 for the Czech case.
Plethon argued for a civil religion in his address to Theodore, sounding a
theme which would prove central to his later Laws. He argued that public and
private accord on at least three religious tenets is necessary for public morality
and, it would seem, national unity. The first tenet is that God exists, the second
that he is concerned with human affairs and governs even minor conduct, and the
third that his governance is absolutely just and unaffected by rites or sacrifices.
Lampros, PP, pp. 125.3-126.7. In the Laws Plethon drops his Christian mask and
reveals himself to be a pagan determinist. The Laws is a draft of a theocratic
state based on mixed Platonic-Stoic institutions, a detailed code of moral regulations, and a complex and richly developed state cult geared to a luni-solar
calendar. His Neoplatonic "Hellenic" theology is designed to provide the religious unity needed for national regeneration, and is composed of a hierarchy
of four decads of gods and titans (including "demons") which serve as anthropomorphic representationsof the Forms which govern the cosmos. See remains
of the text in Alexandre, Lois. Plethon's political use of religion antedates More,
Campanella, and Machiavelli (Discourses, i:chap. 11-15) and makes the loss of
the political portions of his ms. all the more lamentable.
N. Patrick Peritore
185
into debt and depriving the state of taxable productivity. Because their
fighting is defensive, they cannot be compensated properly with booty.
Plethon also opposed mercenary levies supported by a hearth tax
because he considered the tax ruinous and foreign troops corrosive of
"Hellenic" mores. It was also vain to suppose that mercenaries would
sacrifice themselves for Hellenes. Inevitably they would crumble under
attack and thus no savings would be realized because native reserves
would still be needed as reinforcements.40
Plethon's insight into the conditions of national survival may have
been partly attributable to his residence among the Turks. For he saw,
as did few of his contemporaries, that the Turkish armies were unified
and animated by a national and religious idea, and that the Empire's
strategy of defending itself with "barbarian"mercenaries was no longer
viable. His criticism was sadly prophetic. The Turks breached the Hexamilion and raided the Peloponnese in 1423, 1446, and for the last time
in 1460. The ineffective resistance of the mercenaries and irregular
peasant contingents quickly crumbled in the face of the Turk's discipline and artillery.41 In effect, then, Plethon's remedy was a return
to the thematic system rationalized to ensure peasant autonomy from
oppressive exaction and to preserve continuous agriculture even during
periods of warfare. However, the creation of a "thematic" free peasant
army animated by a national idea required complete restructuringof the
class system according to Platonic ideas of functional specificity. Arguing, with Plato, that the division between classes exists in nature, Plethon
ridiculed the confusion of functions by comparing the qualities of the
warhorse with those of the donkey, stressing thereby the unsuitability of
each for the other's task.42The best laws assign "to each part of the city
and of the people" their proper function and strictly punish nonfeasance.
The first and most necessary part (anankaiotaton meros) of the state is
the productive class, which he designates Helots. This class is composed of
primary producers: farm laborers (autourgikon), farmers (georgon), and
shepherds (nome6n). The second class is composed of craftsmen
(dcmiourgikon), merchants (emporikon), and tradesmen (kapelikon)
who create, transport, and sell the goods necessary to life. The third or
ruling class (to archikon phylon) is composed of the emperor or Basileus,
40. Lampros, PP, pp. 251.5-253.16, 121.14-121.19. Kantorowicz in Coulborn,
Feudalism, pp. 163-164. For similar arguments against mercenaries see Niccolo
Machiavelli, The Prince, trans. C. Gauss (New York: New American Library,
Mentor, 1952), chap. 12, 13, 14.
41. Zakythinos, Despotate, II: 141-142.
42. Lampros,PP, pp. 132.4-132.12.
186 PoliticalThoughtof GemistosPlethon
the hierarchyof militarycommanders,and the local headmenor notables
(koruphaios) .43
Becausetherewas a shortageof manpowerin the Peloponnese,Plethon
proposeda uniquesystemof functionalrotationor "yoking"(suzugias)
designedto overcomea major shortcomingof the Theme system, the
neglectof agricultureduringcampaigns.In the firstcase, wherethe peasantrylackedmartialskills, a cleardivisionof functionwouldobtainand
soldierswould be supportedby assignmentof a fixednumberof Helots:
one Helot per foot soldier,two Helots per knight,and three Helots per
Archon (officer). The soldier, receivingprovenderand weapons from
his Helots by agreement,would thereby be free to remain with the
standards.
I would say that these Helots shouldbe assignedto the soldiers,to
each footmanone, to knightstwo, so that each soldierwill not be
hinderedby labor from fighting,being provisionedby the Helots
either by means of privateor common propertyor howeverthey
may agreeto completethe labor to acquireweaponswith which to
fight and the means to remainwhereverthey may be ordered.44
In the second case, wheremost of the populationis capableof bearing
arms,the duties of fightingand farminga commonallotmentshouldbe
rotatedbetweentwo men. "In some places soldiersand Helots will be
differentiatedbecausenot everyoneis useful as a soldier;but wherethe
greatestnumberseem fit for soldieringI would order these into pairs
because this common yoking togetheris necessaryso that in turn one
can work the commonstock of both while the otherfights."45
Because he believed the safety of the state to rest on the allegiance
of this soldier/producerclass, Plethonadvisedreformof the bureaucracy
to eliminateoppressivepractices,such as the use of unfairweightsand
measures,and to eliminatethe merchantclass fromrulingpositions,their
financialinterestsbeingincompatiblewith fair governance.4"
Functionaldivisionof classes also impliedrenovationof the complex
andoppressivesystemof taxationcurrentin the Empire.First,each class
must bear a differentrelationto the fisc. The producersprovide basic
goods and services.The merchantclass is to be prohibitedfrom mixing
43. Ibid., pp. 119.20-120.14, 254.15-255.3.
44. Ibid., pp. 256.5-256.11.
45. Ibid., pp. 256.11-257.4,
121.19-122.7.
Edgar Snow's Red Star Over China
(New York: Grove Press, 1961), pp. 279-280, reports an expedient similar to
Plethon's"yoking"in the Red Chinese liberatedareas.
46. Lampros, PP, pp. 131.13-132.7. T. F. Carney, Bureaucracy in Traditional
Society: Romano-Byzantine
sas: Coronado Press, 1971).
Bureaucracies Viewed from Within (Lawrence, Kan-
N. Patrick Peritore
187
its interests in rulership. The ruling class, including the army, should
engage itself neither in commercial enterprise nor production and is to be
paid in provender (sitesis), wages (misthos tis), and honors (geras).4
Second, Plethon distinguished three modes of taxation which could be
applied to the Helot class. The first type, corvee labor (angareia), he
rejected as shameful, slavelike, and excessive. The second, a fixed monetary contribution (taktos chrematon horos), was unfair because it was
not based on ability to pay, because it was difficult to apportion fairly,
and because payment was difficult in view of the seasonal nature of
agriculture. The third type of taxation, fixed portion of produce (he ...
rhete ton gignomenon moira), Plethon's opinion, smacked the least of
slavery and was the fairest and easiest to bear being automatically apportioned to the size of each year's harvest and thus the peasant's ability
to pay. Of the taxes in kind collected from the Helots, one-third should
be returned to the Helots for recapitalization and profit, one-third alloted
to the capitalist class, and one-third to the support of the rulers.48A
small number of Helots may be assigned as servants or pages to high
ecclesiastical and military officials, but Plethon contended that such
luxury expenditure must be kept to a minimum, so that the state's concerted effort can be focused on national self-defense.49
Plethon's enlightened critique of Byzantine penology, which punished
many minor crimes with mutilation or death, was predicated partially on
the notion that prisoners should be mobilized to perform the necessary
corvee labor for the national good.
It seems to me a better penalty, both in the interests of the constitution and most profitable to the community, to use these [criminals] to labor at rebuilding whatever is necessary; laboring to
fortify the Isthmus and other places, so that neither will it be
thought necessary for soldiers to persist in these labors, unless in
emergencies, nor again that the above mentioned taxpayers supporting this [construction] through their contribution (which equals
the whole debt they owe to the community), be troubled by this
additional corvee.'"
In summary, Plethon advocated adoption of functionally specific Platonic classes within the setting of a reformed thematic system. Resettlement of peasantry on confiscated estates was intended to create a solidary
47. Lampros, PP, pp. 120.18-121.19.
48. Ibid., pp. 122.18-123.14, 253.17-254.10. For the allocation of the moieties
see pp. 123.15-124.4, 254.11-256.4.
49. Ibid., pp. 132.19-133.11.
50. Ibid., pp. 261.17-262.14. See Thomas More, Utopia, trans. Peter K. Marshall (New York: Washington Square Press, 1965), chap. 7, for a later parallel.
188
Political Thought of Gemistos Plethon
economic base for the support of a "national"army. By yoking the Helots
and soldiers and simplifying taxation, the most prominent abuses of the
themata-oppressive taxation and the neglect of farming during wartime-would have been removed. Further, confiscation of the great
estates, denial of monastic privileges, and reform of the bureaucracy
would have eliminated three factors hindering the mobilization of resources and population for defense of the Peloponnese against Turkish
aggression.
III. Plethon's Protectionist Economic Reforms
Plethon's economic recommendations were based on the presupposition
that the Peloponnese, a rich producer of raw materials, could be rendered economically self-sufficient. If sumptuarylaws restrainedthe court's
penchant for foreign luxury goods, only iron and weapons would logically
need be imported.51
In order to eliminate debased foreign coinage as the domestic exchange medium, Plethon advocated a quasi-barter economy, utilizing
payments in kind in lieu of coin-taxes, restraining the use of coinage in
domestic trade, and limiting imports to those exchangeable for cotton.
Likewise, one should not omit the unnatural condition of the coinage
as something to be reformed. It is certainly foolish to utilize these
bad foreign bronze coins, which bring profit to others and much
mockery to ourselves.... If the taxpayers would contribute goods
and not coins, and those taking from the treasury would take payment in kind, this would contribute much it would seem to our
efforts. Less coinage would then be necessary and for exchange
among ourselves any currently circulating coinage should suffice....
Certainly this land does not seem to need so many imports from
abroad, necessitating so much coinage, except iron and weapons.
It is easy to exchange cotton for these so that it would not be
harmful to refuse to honor this base foreign coinage.'2
Further, the Despotate should control imports and exports through
selective duties. No import duties should be charged on necessary goods,
51. Lampros, PP, pp. 249.5-249.9. On needed imports see pp. 263.4-263.5. On
sumptuary laws see pp. 124.5-124.10; and Masai, Plethon, p. 77. Draeseke,
"Denkschriften,"pp. 112-113.
52. Lampros, PP, pp. 262.14-263.7. See Sabba P. Spentza, Hai Oikonomikai
kai Demosionomikai Apopseis tou Plethonos (Athens: n.p., 1964); and Demosthenes I. Danielide, He Neohellenike Koinonia kai Oikonomia (Athens: G. Sama-
ropoulos, 1934) which were unavailable to me at the time of writing.
N. Patrick Peritore
189
but both the export of goods needed for domestic consumption and the
import of luxuries should be hindered by heavy tariffs. The revenues
realized through these measures would, according to Plethon, help defray
diplomatic expenditures: ambassadorial display, tributes, and bribes.53
Domestic industry would further be encouraged to develop the rich resources of the peninsula if dependence on foreign goods and currency
was limited.
This protectionist policy demonstrated insight, unusual for its time,
into the economic preconditions of national autarky. As Plethon noted,
the Peloponnese, properly cultivated, was potentially a rich economic
base for defensive mobilization. In his time it exported cereals, fruits,
vegetables, fine Malmsey wine, fibers, and extract products such as gum,
oil, honey, and wax. Unexploited iron veins existed in the Eurotas Valley.
The Despotate since 1348 had been a financially autonomous principality
supporting itself through taxes on land, capital, imports, inheritance, and
income, as well as special levies and corvees.54 Plethon's single tax,
yoking, barter, and trade control may well have led to economic development of the region. However, European imperialism, a phenomenon beyond the limited medieval understanding of economics, intervened to
ruin Plethon's calculations. For Venice controlled the major ports and
thus the trade of the peninsula (Coron, Modon, Corinth, Argos, Patros,
Nauplia) and also engaged in smuggling, counterfeiting, piracy, and
confiscation of tariffs and duties. Thus, the growth of a native commercial
middle class with developmental capital was effectively checked by Italian
profiteering. The Byzantine state was further weakened economically by
incessant civil war, tributes to the Turks, feudal oppression of the peasantry, and monastic encroachment on the land.55
Plethon's advocacy of a barter economy was also designed to halt circulation of debased and counterfeit Ducats, Florins, and Tournois.
Venice and the other European powers had introduced these debased
media of exchange by prohibiting import of the raw precious metals
which would have allowed the Greeks to coin Hyperpyra. This base foreign
53. Lampros,PP, pp. 263.18-264.12.
54. On exports see Zakythinos, Despotate, II:263-265, 245-252. See pp. 227243 for the Despotate's finances.
55. Diehl, Greatness, pp. 79-93, 188-224. Vasiliev, Byzantine, ii:684-687.
Brehier,
Institutions,
pp. 272-280.
Zakythinos,
Despotate,
II:253-265.
Peter
Charanis, "Internal Strife in Byzantium during the 14th Century," Byzantion 15
(1940): 223-225. For a model of Western imperialism in China which closely
replicates Italian policy toward the Empire, see Joseph R. Levinson, Modern
China and its Confucian Past (New York: Doubleday and Co., Anchor Books,
1964), chap. 11.
190
Political Thought of Gemistos Plethon
coinage bled the area of domestic treasure reserves.56In return for native
labor, raw material, and gold outflow, the Italians "dumped" their surplus and luxury production in the Peloponnese, effectively undercutting
native industries. Further, through balance of power politics, the Italians
rendered control of the unruly feudal lords virtually impossible and
wreaked havoc with Greco-Turkish diplomatic relations. Thus, Plethon's
proposals for the generation of economic autarky, though highly prescient
given the state of medieval economic knowledge, were beyond the de facto
powers of either the emperor or the despot."7
IV. Conclusion
Gemistos Plethon deserves a place in the history of political theory as
one of the earliest proponents of the myth of nationalism and as a visionary reformer capable of articulating a program of reforms sufficient to
give the myth objective socioeconomic and political form.
His nationalism, although quite modern in its denomination of the
Hellenes as a genos united by language, ancestral culture, and common
territory, is clearly a political myth designed to unify the court elites with
the military, commercial, and producing classes and to neutralize both
Christian ideology, at once quietistic and divisive, and the "feudalism"
of the unruly landlords.
His policy of distributing land to the producers and his attack on
monastic prerogatives were probably intended to revive the yeomanwarrior class of the older Thematic system. On this productive and
unitary basis Plethon intended to erect a functionally specific tripartite
class system comprised of primary producers, tradesmen and merchants,
and a military ruling class under the command of the emperor. By consolidating the superabundance of taxes and duties into a single tax, onethird of the annual produce in kind, and by "yoking" the soldiers and
farmers in a relation of interdependence, Plethon sought both to support
a professional national army and to provide for continuous agriculture.
Further, to ensure popular support, he proposed to reform the taxfarming bureaucracy and the harsh penal system.
Through sumptuary laws, control of imports and exports, and domestic barter, he hoped to eliminate European control of the Peloponnesian
economy and to create the conditions for the accumulation of native
capital and autarchic economic development.
Although foreign pressure and internal collapse prevented the imple56. Zakythinos, Despotate, II:266-267. Tozer, "Reformer,"p. 376.
57. Zakythinos,Despotate, II:244, 266-269.
N. Patrick Peritore
191
mentation of his ideas, Plethon's theoretical achievement should not be
minimized. Indeed, his fertile mind would later spawn, in the Nomon
Syngraphe, a detailed constitution, civic religion, and code of laws, based
on Platonic-Stoic ethics and intended to create a Hellenic pagan theocratic state. This work of the 1440's was prevented by his enemy's
censure from taking its rightful place beside More's later Utopia (1516)
and Campanella's City of the Sun (1602). The possibility exists, however, of reconstructing much of Plethon's intent by relating his moral,
philosophical, theological, and early political treatises to the fragmentary
remains of his complex posthumous work.
Indeed, the entire field of Byzantine political thought, although copiously documented with a rich body of political chronicle, administrativelegal works, books of advice to and by kings, commentaries, literary
works, and theoretical treatises proper, remains lamentably unexplored.
Classically trained political theorists will find ample rewards in the study
of a culture in continuous possession of the Hellenic-Christian tradition,
a culture which in its thousand year history transmitted the fruits of this
tradition to the Arabic, Slavic, and Western worlds and which was capable of inaugurating a renaissance at the moment of its extinction.