[39]
I have now finished what I wished to say by way of prelude1 about myself and others, like a chorus, as it were, before the contest. But I think that those who wish to be exact and just in praising any given state ought not to confine themselves alone to the state which they single out, but even as we examine purple and gold and test them by placing them side by side with articles of similar appearance and of the same estimated value,
1 Cf. Aristot. Rh. 3.14, where he compares the prooemium of a speech to the prelude of a flute player.