Oikonomia/Plutocracy
Luciano Canfora traces the long arc from ancient household management and civic finance to modern plutocracy, showing how ideas of wealth, taxation, and political power have repeatedly been recast across history.
30 December 202530 Dezembro 2025
Protagonista absoluto do Festival de ClûÀssicos de Turim, organizado pelo Circolo dei lettori, o historiador da Antiguidade de 83 anos, Luciano Canfora, natural de Bari, aborda o tema deste ano, Oikonomia/Plutocracia, que abrange desde as questûçes mais domûˋsticas atûˋ a ascensûÈo de uma oligarquia global.
The undisputed protagonist of the Turin Festival of Classics, organized by the Circolo dei lettori, the 83-year-old historian of antiquity Luciano Canfora, a native of Bari, addresses this year’s theme, Oikonomia/Plutocracy, which ranges from the most domestic questions to the rise of a global oligarchy.
A entrevistaô comô Luciano Canfora, ûˋ deô Francesco Rigatelli, publicada porô La Stampa, 13-12-2025. A traduûÏûÈo ûˋ de Luisa Rabolini.ô Eis a entrevista.
The interview with Luciano Canfora is by Francesco Rigatelli, published in La Stampa, 13 December 2025. The translation is by Luisa Rabolini. Here is the interview.
Como nasce a oikonomia?
How does oikonomia arise?
Desde Homero, estûÀ intimamente ligada û dimensûÈo da casa e, posteriormente, estendeu-se û pû°lis. Como economia de guerra, ûˋ descrita por TucûÙdides nos dois discursos de Pûˋricles, nos quais ele indica com precisûÈo as receitas atenienses. Fontes posteriores, como a Vida de Plutarco, de Pûˋricles, dûÈo espaûÏo û economia pû¤blica, aos salûÀrios de homens livres e dos servos, û construûÏûÈo e ao planejamento urbano. Portanto, no final do sûˋculo V, delineia-se uma ideia mais precisa dela.
Since Homer, it has been intimately bound up with the dimension of the household and later extended to the polis. As an economy of war, it is described by Thucydides in Pericles’ two speeches, in which he indicates Athenian revenues with precision. Later sources, such as Plutarch’s Life of Pericles, give space to public economy, to the wages of free men and servants, to construction and urban planning. Thus, by the end of the fifth century, a more precise idea of it begins to take shape.
Existem diferenûÏas entre gregos e romanos na forma de lidar?
Are there differences between Greeks and Romans in the way they dealt with it?
Xenofonte tratou das receitas do Estado. CatûÈo, o Velho, escreveu sobre a agricultura no mundo romano. A partir do momento em que Roma entrou em contato com o mundo helenûÙstico, assimilou tudo, inclusive a economia como disciplina. O direito romano, em seguida, forneceu um arcabouûÏo para tudo isso.
Xenophon dealt with state revenues. Cato the Elder wrote on agriculture in the Roman world. From the moment Rome came into contact with the Hellenistic world, it assimilated everything, including economics as a discipline. Roman law then provided a framework for all of this.
E quando surgiu a plutocracia?
And when did plutocracy emerge?
Ela ûˋ mencionada no terceiro livro da PolûÙtica de Aristû°teles, em uma passagem famosa, segundo a qual o governo dos ricos seria a essûˆncia da oligarquia, enquanto o governo dos pobres, a essûˆncia da democracia. Seus tratados eram como cursos universitûÀrios. Aristû°teles conhece as falhas de ambos os modelos: os oligarcas entram em conflito, a democracia ûˋ assolada pela demagogia. Ele provavelmente simpatizava com uma democracia moderada, na qual a cidadania nûÈo era concedida a todos os homens livres, mas sim limitada. Uma ideia de igualdade aritmûˋtica diferente daquela baseada na dignidade.
It is mentioned in the third book of Aristotle’s Politics, in a famous passage according to which the rule of the rich would be the essence of oligarchy, while the rule of the poor would be the essence of democracy. His treatises were like university courses. Aristotle knows the flaws of both models: the oligarchs fall into conflict, democracy is beset by demagogy. He probably sympathized with a moderate democracy, in which citizenship was not granted to all free men but was instead limited. An idea of arithmetical equality different from one based on dignity.
A plutocracia de hoje ûˋ muito diferente?
Is today’s plutocracy very different?
Certos procedimentos estûÈo retornando. O sûˋculo XX viu o nascimento do Estado de bem-estar social como ferramenta de distribuiûÏûÈo da riqueza para os serviûÏos que beneficiam os menos favorecidos. Liturgias semelhantes jûÀ existiam em Atenas, obrigando os ricos a financiar atividades sociais como teatro, festividades ou frotas.
Certain procedures are returning. The twentieth century saw the birth of the welfare state as an instrument for distributing wealth toward services that benefit the least favored. Similar liturgies already existed in Athens, obliging the rich to finance social activities such as theater, festivities, or fleets.
Em suma, o imposto sobre a riqueza nûÈo ûˋ uma invenûÏûÈo contemporûÂnea.
In short, the wealth tax is not a contemporary invention.
NûÈo, uma tributaûÏûÈo progressiva baseada na riqueza jûÀ estava presente na ConstituiûÏûÈo de LuûÙs XVIII de 1814, no Estatuto Albertino e na ConstituiûÏûÈo italiana.
No, progressive taxation based on wealth was already present in the Constitution of Louis XVIII of 1814, in the Albertine Statute, and in the Italian Constitution.
De onde vem a ideia de riqueza?
Where does the idea of wealth come from?
Poderia vir dos sûÀtrapas orientais. No primeiro livro de Herû°doto, Creso ûˋ rico e feliz como tal, mesmo que contestado por Sû°lon. Na democracia clûÀssica, prevalece a ideia da primazia intelectual, artûÙstica e esportiva. No mundo americano, a partir do final do sûˋculo XVIII, consolidou-se o valor de que aqueles que enriquecem sûÈo bons. O protestantismo, em sua versûÈo calvinista, vinculou a bondade û capacidade de ganhar dinheiro quase como uma bûˆnûÏûÈo divina. Capitalismo e Reforma, na interpretaûÏûÈo de Max Weber, estûÈo ligados.
It may have come from the eastern satraps. In the first book of Herodotus, Croesus is rich and happy as such, even if challenged by Solon. In classical democracy, the idea of intellectual, artistic, and athletic primacy prevails. In the American world, from the end of the eighteenth century onward, the value took hold that those who enrich themselves are good. Protestantism, in its Calvinist version, linked goodness to the ability to make money almost as a divine blessing. Capitalism and the Reformation, in Max Weber’s interpretation, are connected.
Mesmo para Deng Xiaoping, enriquecer tornou-se glorioso...
Even for Deng Xiaoping, becoming rich became glorious...
…the essay continues at the source.