For the Platonic background to this chapter and the next, see Laws IV, init., 760a ff., 842b ff., 949e ff.
1326b26 The case is similar when we turn our attention to the territory. As regards quality of land, everyone would be in favour of the most self-sufficient; that is to say, it must be the most universally productive, for to have everything on hand and nothing lacking is to be self-sufficient. As to size and extent, these should be such that the inhabitants can live a life that affords the leisure of a free man, but one lived in a spirit of moderation. Whether this definition is good or bad is a point into which we must later1 go in greater detail, when we come to discuss the general question of property and abundance of possessions, and ask what procedures and arrangements ought to govern their use. It is a question with many points of dispute, because of those who pull to extremes, some to extravagance of life-style, others to niggardliness.
1326b39 The general configuration of the land is not difficult to state (though there are some points on which we must also take the opinion of those who have experience of conducting operations of war): it ought to be hard for a hostile force to invade, easy for an expeditionary force to depart from. Apart from that, just as we remarked that the population ought to be easily surveyed, so we say the same of the territory; in a country that can easily be surveyed it is easy to bring up assistance at any point. Next, the position of the state: if we are to put it exactly where we would like best, it should be conveniently situated for both sea and land. One definitive requirement, mentioned above, is that it should be well placed for sending assistance in all directions; a second is that it should form a centre for the easy receipt of crops as well as of timber, and of any other similar raw material for whatever manufacturing processes the land may possess.