In Aristotle’s ethical theory there appear three features that are distinctly Greek. (1) The leading question that he asks at the beginning of the Ethics, What is the end or Supreme Good of human action? is Greek. The modern writer asks, What is the nature of duty? (2) The emphasis on the “mean” is Greek. The idea of the “mean” was the fundamental principle in Greek life, and appeared in such literature as Gnomic poetry and Plato. (3) The subordination of individual ethical conduct to the conception of the state is Greek. Aristotle says that politics will have to settle the question of the Supreme Good, for the Good of the state and that of the individual are identical. =The Political Philosophy of Aristotle.= In the present real world rational activity rather than happiness is the chief concern of man. Happiness is, however, his highest Good, which he can attain if his environment favors him. The political environment is a moral factor to be considered. The state should be the fulfillment of the morals of the individual, and should also be his ethical trainer. That State is fulfilling its own possibilities most completely which brings to the full its natural endowments. Every Constitution is right that has the weal of the people at heart, so that we find Aristotle holding this extraordinarily liberal position, that the external structure of the State is not so much of consequence as that the State should be the educator of its people and the actualization of its own inherent possibilities. Aristotle did not construct an ideal state, like Plato. He merely pointed out some essentials necessary to the well-being of a state, like education and providence for the future life of the State. Although the State is the offspring of necessity, and arises out of the needs of utility, it is the Form or actuality of the inner self-realization of man from his savagery. Race, blood, soil, and geographical position are all the Matter of the State; the rational perfection of these is the Form; the civic virtue is the permanent means of the social development. The individual in Aristotle’s State is subordinated, but not absorbed, in the State. He can participate in the intellectual virtues. Since his own enjoyment in wisdom approximates God’s, he himself has distinction. Aristotle was a stanch supporter of marriage and the family relations. No philosopher in ancient times so elevated the position of woman. He reluctantly consented to the institution of slavery because it seemed to him a necessity. CHAPTER IX THE HELLENIC-ROMAN PERIOD (322 B. C.–476 A. D.) =Its Time Length.= Greek Period, 300 years. Hellenic-Roman Period, 800 years. Middle Ages, 1000 years. Modern Period, 450 years.