Aristotle preserves the tradition that the early tyrants were good business men. He speaks of “rendering account of their receipts and expenditure, as has been done already by certain of the tyrants. For by this kind of administration he would give the impression of being a manager (οἰκονόμος) and not a tyrant[54].” That the early tyrants had previously been men of wealth is also perhaps to be inferred from certain remarks of Aristotle about the “lawgivers” of the same period. The general character of these “lawgivers” is a matter of some dispute; but they appear to have differed from the tyrants in at least two points. They governed by general consent and they marked an earlier stage in the economic evolution of the city state[55]. They are perhaps to be compared with the “arbitrators” between employers and employed who in recent times have sometimes enjoyed considerable influence[56]. When Aristotle[57] emphasizes the fact that the best “lawgivers” were all drawn from the citizens of moderate means (ἐκ τῶν μέσων πολιτῶν) he is making a fairly pointless remark unless the same could not be said of the tyrants of the period. That Aristotle did actually recognize the connexion between tyranny and extremes of wealth and poverty is shown by another passage of the _Politics_[58]: For this reason it is very fortunate when those engaged in politics have moderate but sufficient means, for where some have very great possessions and others none, the result is either extreme democracy or unmitigated oligarchy or tyranny, which is caused by both extremes. For unbridled democracy and oligarchy lead to tyranny, the intermediate and more closely allied forms of government do so far less. The philosopher himself may have pictured some of the early tyrants as having risen from being penniless demagogues. The difficulties in the way of accepting the view that a poor man ever became a tyrant before the democratic development of the fifth century will be set forth later in this chapter. If there is any basis of fact for Aristotle’s statement, the early tyrants must have come from among the wealthiest of the citizens. [Sidenote: (_d_) evidence as to industrial conditions during and after the age of the tyrants,] There is nothing surprising in this conclusion. In the age that saw merchants like Solon made practical dictators in their native cities[59], and philosophers like Thales anticipating the Rockefellers by making a corner in oil[60], there must have been individuals with something of the abilities of these great men, but little of their disinterestedness, who would be quick to grasp the possibility of reaching through the corner to the crown.