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                                     360 BC

                                      LAWS

                                    by Plato

                         translated by Benjamin Jowett

  BOOK I



  PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE: An ATHENIAN STRANGER; CLEINIAS, a

Cretan; MEGILLUS, a Lacedaemonian



  Athenian Stranger. Tell me, Strangers, is a God or some man supposed

to be the author of your laws?

  Cleinias. A God, Stranger; in very truth a, God: among us Cretans he

is said to have been Zeus, but in Lacedaemon, whence our friend here

comes, I believe they would say that Apollo is their lawgiver: would

they not, Megillus?

  Megillus. Certainly.

  Ath. And do you, Cleinias, believe, as Homer tells, that every ninth

year Minos went to converse with his Olympian sire, and was inspired

by him to make laws for your cities?

  Cle. Yes, that is our tradition; and there was Rhadamanthus, a

brother of his, with whose name you are familiar; he is reputed to

have been the justest of men, and we Cretans are of opinion that he

earned this reputation from his righteous administration of justice

when he was alive.

  Ath. Yes, and a noble reputation it was, worthy of a son of Zeus. As

you and Megillus have been trained in these institutions, I dare say

that you will not be unwilling to give an account of your government

and laws; on our way we can pass the time pleasantly in about them,

for I am told that the distance from Cnosus to the cave and temple

of Zeus is considerable; and doubtless there are shady places under

the lofty trees, which will protect us from this scorching sun.

Being no longer young, we may often stop to rest beneath them, and get

over the whole journey without difficulty, beguiling the time by

conversation.

  Cle. Yes, Stranger, and if we proceed onward we shall come to groves

of cypresses, which are of rare height and beauty, and there are green

meadows, in which we may repose and converse.

  Ath. Very good.

  Cle. Very good, indeed; and still better when we see them; let us

move on cheerily.

  Ath. I am willing-And first, I want to know why the law has ordained

that you shall have common meals and gymnastic exercises, and wear

arms.

  Cle. I think, Stranger, that the aim of our institutions is easily

intelligible to any one. Look at the character of our country: Crete

is not like Thessaly, a large plain; and for this reason they have

horsemen in Thessaly, and we have runners-the inequality of the ground

in our country is more adapted to locomotion on foot; but then, if you

have runners you must have light arms-no one can carry a heavy

weight when running, and bows and arrows are convenient because they

are light. Now all these regulations have been made with a view to

war, and the legislator appears to me to have looked to this in all

his arrangements:-the common meals, if I am not mistaken, were

instituted by him for a similar reason, because he saw that while they

are in the field the citizens are by the nature of the case

compelled to take their meals together for the sake of mutual

protection. He seems to me to have thought the world foolish in not

understanding that all are always at war with one another; and if in

war there ought to be common meals and certain persons regularly

appointed under others to protect an army, they should be continued in

peace. For what men in general term peace would be said by him to be

only a name; in reality every city is in a natural state of war with

every other, not indeed proclaimed by heralds, but everlasting. And if

you look closely, you will find that this was the intention of the

Cretan legislator; all institutions, private as well as public, were

arranged by him with a view to war; in giving them he was under the

impression that no possessions or institutions are of any value to him

who is defeated in battle; for all the good things of the conquered

pass into the hands of the conquerors.

  Ath. You appear to me, Stranger, to have been thoroughly trained

in the Cretan institutions, and to be well informed about them; will

you tell me a little more explicitly what is the principle of

government which you would lay down? You seem to imagine that a well

governed state ought to be so ordered as to conquer all other states

in war: am I right in supposing this to be your meaning?

  Cle. Certainly; and our Lacedaemonian friend, if I am not

mistaken, will agree with me.

  Meg. Why, my good friend, how could any Lacedaemonian say anything

else?

  Ath. And is what you say applicable only to states, or also to

villages?

  Cle. To both alike.

  Ath. The case is the same?

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. And in the village will there be the same war of family against

family, and of individual against individual?

  Cle. The same.

  Ath. And should each man conceive himself to be his own

enemy:-what shall we say?

  Cle. O Athenian Stranger-inhabitant of Attica I will not call you,

for you seem to deserve rather to be named after the goddess

herself, because you go back to first principles you have thrown a

light upon the argument, and will now be better able to understand

what I was just saying-that all men are publicly one another's

enemies, and each man privately his own.

  (Ath. My good sir, what do you mean?)--

  Cle..... Moreover, there is a victory and defeat-the first and

best of victories, the lowest and worst of defeats-which each man

gains or sustains at the hands, not of another, but of himself; this

shows that there is a war against ourselves going on within every

one of us.

  Ath. Let us now reverse the order of the argument: Seeing that every

individual is either his own superior or his own inferior, may we

say that there is the same principle in the house, the village, and

the state?

  Cle. You mean that in each of them there is a principle of

superiority or inferiority to self?

  Ath. Yes.

  Cle. You are quite right in asking the question, for there certainly

is such a principle, and above all in states; and the state in which

the better citizens win a victory over the mob and over the inferior

classes may be truly said to be better than itself, and may be

justly praised, where such a victory is gained, or censured in the

opposite case.

   Ath. Whether the better is ever really conquered by the worse, is a

question which requires more discussion, and may be therefore left for

the present. But I now quite understand your meaning when you say that

citizens who are of the same race and live in the same cities may

unjustly conspire, and having the superiority in numbers may

overcome and enslave the few just; and when they prevail, the state

may be truly called its own inferior and therefore bad; and when

they are defeated, its own superior and therefore good.

  Cle. Your remark, Stranger, is a paradox, and yet we cannot possibly

deny it.

  Ath. Here is another case for consideration;-in a family there may

be several brothers, who are the offspring of a single pair; very

possibly the majority of them may be unjust, and the just may be in

a minority.

  Cle. Very possibly.

  Ath. And you and I ought not to raise a question of words as to

whether this family and household are rightly said to be superior when

they conquer, and inferior when they are conquered; for we are not now

considering what may or may not be the proper or customary way of

speaking, but we are considering the natural principles of right and

wrong in laws.

  Cle. What you say, Stranger, is most true.

  Meg. Quite excellent, in my opinion, as far as we have gone.

  Ath. Again; might there not be a judge over these brethren, of

whom we were speaking?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Now, which would be the better judge-one who destroyed the

bad and appointed the good to govern themselves; or one who, while

allowing the good to govern, let the bad live, and made them

voluntarily submit? Or third, I suppose, in the scale of excellence

might be placed a judge, who, finding the family distracted, not

only did not destroy any one, but reconciled them to one another for

ever after, and gave them laws which they mutually observed, and was

able to keep them friends.

  Cle. The last would be by far the best sort of judge and legislator.

  Ath. And yet the aim of all the laws which he gave would be the

reverse of war.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. And will he who constitutes the state and orders the life of

man have in view external war, or that kind of intestine war called

civil, which no one, if he could prevent, would like to have occurring

in his own state; and when occurring, every one would wish to be

quit of as soon as possible?

  Cle. He would have the latter chiefly in view.

  Ath. And would he prefer that this civil war should be terminated by

the destruction of one of the parties, and by the victory of the

other, or that peace and friendship should be re-established, and

that, being reconciled, they should give their attention to foreign

enemies?

  Cle. Every one would desire the latter in the case of his own state.

  Ath. And would not that also be the desire of the legislator?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And would not every one always make laws for the sake of the

best?

  Cle. To be sure.

  Ath. But war, whether external or civil, is not the best, and the

need of either is to be deprecated; but peace with one another, and

good will, are best. Nor is the victory of the state over itself to be

regarded as a really good thing, but as a necessity; a man might as

well say that the body was in the best state when sick and purged by

medicine, forgetting that there is also a state of the body which

needs no purge. And in like manner no one can be a true statesman,

whether he aims at the happiness of the individual or state, who looks

only, or first of all, to external warfare; nor will he ever be a

sound legislator who orders peace for the sake of war, and not war for

the sake of peace.

  Cle. I suppose that there is truth, Stranger, in that remark of

yours; and yet I am greatly mistaken if war is not the entire aim

and object of our own institutions, and also of the Lacedaemonian.

  Ath. I dare say; but there is no reason why we should rudely quarrel

with one another about your legislators, instead of gently questioning

them, seeing that both we and they are equally in earnest. Please

follow me and the argument closely:-And first I will put forward

Tyrtaeus, an Athenian by birth, but also a Spartan citizen, who of all

men was most eager about war: Well, he says, "I sing not, I care

not, about any man, even if he were the richest of men, and

possessed every good (and then he gives a whole list of them), if he

be not at all times a brave warrior." I imagine that you, too, must

have heard his poems; our Lacedaemonian friend has probably heard more

than enough of them.

  Meg. Very true.

  Cle. And they have found their way from Lacedaemon to Crete.

  Ath. Come now and let us all join in asking this question of

Tyrtaeus: O most divine poet, we will say to him, the excellent praise

which you have bestowed on those who excel in war sufficiently

proves that you are wise and good, and I and Megillus and Cleinias

of Cnosus do, as I believe, entirely agree with you. But we should

like to be quite sure that we are speaking of the same men; tell us,

then, do you agree with us in thinking that there are two kinds of

war; or what would you say? A far inferior man to Tyrtaeus would

have no difficulty in replying quite truly, that war is of two kinds

one which is universally called civil war, and is as we were just

now saying, of all wars the worst; the other, as we should all

admit, in which we fall out with other nations who are of a

different race, is a far milder form of warfare.

  Cle. Certainly, far milder.

  Ath. Well, now, when you praise and blame war in this high-flown

strain, whom are you praising or blaming, and to which kind of war are

you referring? I suppose that you must mean foreign war, if I am to

judge from expressions of yours in which you say that you abominate

those



  Who refuse to look upon fields of blood, and will not draw near

and strike at their enemies.



And we shall naturally go on to say to him-You, Tyrtaeus, as it seems,

praise those who distinguish themselves in external and foreign war;

and he must admit this.

  Cle. Evidently.

  Ath. They are good; but we say that there are still better men whose

virtue is displayed in the greatest of all battles. And we too have

a poet whom we summon as a witness, Theognis, citizen of Megara in

Sicily:



  Cyrnus, he who is faithful in a civil broil is worth his weight in

gold and silver.



And such an one is far better, as we affirm, than the other in a

more difficult kind of war, much in the same degree as justice and

temperance and wisdom, when united with courage, are better than

courage only; for a man cannot be faithful and good in civil strife

without having all virtue. But in the war of which Tyrtaeus speaks,

many a mercenary soldier will take his stand and be ready to die at

his post, and yet they are generally and almost without exception

insolent, unjust, violent men, and the most senseless of human beings.

You will ask what the conclusion is, and what I am seeking to prove: I

maintain that the divine legislator of Crete, like any other who is

worthy of consideration, will always and above all things in making

laws have regard to the greatest virtue; which, according to Theognis,

is loyalty in the hour of danger, and may be truly called perfect

justice. Whereas, that virtue which Tyrtaeus highly praises is well

enough, and was praised by the poet at the right time, yet in place

and dignity may be said to be only fourth rate.

  Cle. Stranger, we are degrading our inspired lawgiver to a rank

which is far beneath him.

  Ath. Nay, I think that we degrade not him but ourselves, if we

imagine that Lycurgus and Minos laid down laws both in Lacedaemon

and Crete mainly with a view to war.

  Cle. What ought we to say then?

  Ath. What truth and what justice require of us, if I am not

mistaken, when speaking in behalf of divine excellence;-at the

legislator when making his laws had in view not a part only, and

this the lowest part of virtue, but all virtue, and that he devised

classes of laws answering to the kinds of virtue; not in the way in

which modern inventors of laws make the classes, for they only

investigate and offer laws whenever a want is felt, and one man has

a class of laws about allotments and heiresses, another about

assaults; others about ten thousand other such matters. But we

maintain that the right way of examining into laws is to proceed as we

have now done, and I admired the spirit of your exposition; for you

were quite right in beginning with virtue, and saying that this was

the aim of the giver of the law, but I thought that you went wrong

when you added that all his legislation had a view only to a part, and

the least part of virtue, and this called forth my subsequent remarks.

Will you allow me then to explain how I should have liked to have

heard you expound the matter?

  Cle. By all means.

  Ath. You ought to have said, Stranger-The Cretan laws are with

reason famous among the Hellenes; for they fulfil the object of

laws, which is to make those who use them happy; and they confer every

sort of good. Now goods are of two kinds: there are human and there

are divine goods, and the human hang upon the divine; and the state

which attains the greater, at the same time acquires the less, or, not

having the greater, has neither. Of the lesser goods the first is

health, the second beauty, the third strength, including swiftness

in running and bodily agility generally, and the fourth is wealth, not

the blind god [Pluto], but one who is keen of sight, if only he has

wisdom for his companion. For wisdom is chief and leader of the divine

dass of goods, and next follows temperance; and from the union of

these two with courage springs justice, and fourth in the scale of

virtue is courage. All these naturally take precedence of the other

goods, and this is the order in which the legislator must place

them, and after them he will enjoin the rest of his ordinances on

the citizens with a view to these, the human looking to the divine,

and the divine looking to their leader mind. Some of his ordinances

will relate to contracts of marriage which they make one with another,

and then to the procreation and education of children, both male and

female; the duty of the lawgiver will be to take charge of his

citizens, in youth and age, and at every time of life, and to give

them punishments and rewards; and in reference to all their

intercourse with one another, he ought to consider their pains and

pleasures and desires, and the vehemence of all their passions; he

should keep a watch over them, and blame and praise them rightly by

the mouth of the laws themselves. Also with regard to anger and

terror, and the other perturbations of the soul, which arise out of

misfortune, and the deliverances from them which prosperity brings,

and the experiences which come to men in diseases, or in war, or

poverty, or the opposite of these; in all these states he should

determine and teach what is the good and evil of the condition of

each. In the next place, the legislator has to be careful how the

citizens make their money and in what way they spend it, and to have

an eye to their mutual contracts and dissolutions of contracts,

whether voluntary or involuntary: he should see how they order all

this, and consider where justice as well as injustice is found or is

wanting in their several dealings with one another; and honour those

who obey the law, and impose fixed penalties on those who disobey,

until the round of civil life is ended, and the time has come for

the consideration of the proper funeral rites and honours of the dead.

And the lawgiver reviewing his work, will appoint guardians to preside

over these things-some who walk by intelligence, others by true

opinion only, and then mind will bind together all his ordinances

and show them to be in harmony with temperance and justice, and not

with wealth or ambition. This is the spirit, Stranger, in which I

was and am desirous that you should pursue the subject. And I want

to know the nature of all these things, and how they are arranged in

the laws of Zeus, as they are termed, and in those of the Pythian

Apollo, which Minos and Lycurgus gave; and how the order of them is

discovered to his eyes, who has experience in laws gained either by

study or habit, although they are far from being self-evident to the

rest of mankind like ourselves.

  Cle. How shall we proceed, Stranger?

  Ath. I think that we must begin again as before, and first

consider the habit of courage; and then we will go on and discuss

another and then another form of virtue, if you please. In this way we

shall have a model of the whole; and with these and similar discourses

we will beguile the way. And when we have gone through all the

virtues, we will show, by the grace of God, that the institutions of

which I was speaking look to virtue.

  Meg. Very good; and suppose that you first criticize this praiser of

Zeus and the laws of Crete.

  Ath. I will try to criticize you and myself, as well as him, for the

argument is a common concern. Tell me-were not first the syssitia, and

secondly the gymnasia, invented by your legislator with a view to war?

  Meg. Yes.

  Ath. And what comes third, and what fourth? For that, I think, is

the sort of enumeration which ought to be made of the remaining

parts of virtue, no matter whether you call them parts or what their

name is, provided the meaning is clear.

  Meg. Then I, or any other Lacedaemonian, would reply that hunting is

third in order.

  Ath. Let us see if we can discover what comes fourth and fifth.

  Meg. I think that I can get as far as the fouth head, which is the

frequent endurance of pain, exhibited among us Spartans in certain

hand-to-hand fights; also in stealing with the prospect of getting a

good beating; there is, too, the so-called Crypteia, or secret

service, in which wonderful endurance is shown-our people wander

over the whole country by day and by night, and even in winter have

not a shoe to their foot, and are without beds to lie upon, and have

to attend upon themselves. Marvellous, too, is the endurance which our

citizens show in their naked exercises, contending against the violent

summer heat; and there are many similar practices, to speak of which

in detail would be endless.

  Ath. Excellent, O Lacedaemonian Stranger. But how ought we to define

courage? Is it to be regarded only as a combat against fears and

pains, or also against desires and pleasures, and against

flatteries; which exercise such a tremendous power, that they make the

hearts even of respectable citizens to melt like wax?

  Meg. I should say the latter.

  Ath. In what preceded, as you will remember, our Cnosian friend

was speaking of a man or a city being inferior to themselves:-Were you

not, Cleinias?

  Cle. I was.

   Ath. Now, which is in the truest sense inferior, the man who is

overcome by pleasure or by pain?

  Cle. I should say the man who is overcome by pleasure; for all men

deem him to be inferior in a more disgraceful sense, than the other

who is overcome by pain.

  Ath. But surely the lawgivers of Crete and Lacedaemon have not

legislated for a courage which is lame of one leg, able only to meet

attacks which come from the left, but impotent against the insidious

flatteries which come from the right?

  Cle. Able to meet both, I should say.

  Ath. Then let me once more ask, what institutions have you in either

of your states which give a taste of pleasures, and do not avoid

them any more than they avoid pains; but which set a person in the

midst of them, and compel or induce him by the prospect of reward to

get the better of them? Where is an ordinance about pleasure similar

to that about pain to be found in your laws? Tell me what there is

of this nature among you:-What is there which makes your citizen

equally brave against pleasure and pain, conquering what they ought to

conquer, and superior to the enemies who are most dangerous and

nearest home?

  Meg. I was able to tell you, Stranger, many laws which were directed

against pain; but I do not know that I can point out any great or

obvious examples of similar institutions which are concerned with

pleasure; there are some lesser provisions, however, which I might

mention.

  Cle. Neither can I show anything of that sort which is at all

equally prominent in the Cretan laws.

  Ath. No wonder, my dear friends; and if, as is very likely, in our

search after the true and good, one of us may have to censure the laws

of the others, we must not be offended, but take kindly what another

says.

  Cle. You are quite right, Athenian Stranger, and we will do as you

say.

  Ath. At our time of life, Cleinias, there should be no feeling of

irritation.

  Cle. Certainly not.

  Ath. I will not at present determine whether he who censures the

Cretan or Lacedaemonian polities is right or wrong. But I believe that

I can tell better than either of you what the many say about them. For

assuming that you have reasonably good laws, one of the best of them

will be the law forbidding any young men to enquire which of them

are right or wrong; but with one mouth and one voice they must all

agree that the laws are all good, for they came from God; and any

one who says the contrary is not to be listened to. But an old man who

remarks any defect in your laws may communicate his observation to a

ruler or to an equal in years when no young man is present.

  Cle. Exactly so, Stranger; and like a diviner, although not there at

the time, you seem to me quite to have hit the meaning of the

legislator, and to say what is most true.

  Ath. As there are no young men present, and the legislator has given

old men free licence, there will be no impropriety in our discussing

these very matters now that we are alone.

  Cle. True. And therefore you may be as free as you like in your

censure of our laws, for there is no discredit in knowing what is

wrong; he who receives what is said in a generous and friendly

spirit will be all the better for it.

  Ath. Very good; however, I am not going to say anything against your

laws until to the best of my ability I have examined them, but I am

going to raise doubts about them. For you are the only people known to

us, whether Greek or barbarian, whom the legislator commanded to

eschew all great pleasures and amusements and never to touch them;

whereas in the matter of pains or fears which we have just been

discussing, he thought that they who from infancy had always avoided

pains and fears and sorrows, when they were compelled to face them

would run away from those who were hardened in them, and would

become their subjects. Now the legislator ought to have considered

that this was equally true of pleasure; he should have said to

himself, that if our citizens are from their youth upward unacquainted

with the greatest pleasures, and unused to endure amid the temptations

of pleasure, and are not disciplined to refrain from all things

evil, the sweet feeling of pleasure will overcome them just as fear

would overcome the former class; and in another, and even a worse

manner, they will be the slaves of those who are able to endure amid

pleasures, and have had the opportunity of enjoying them, they being

often the worst of mankind. One half of their souls will be a slave,

the other half free; and they will not be worthy to be called in the

true sense men and freemen. Tell me whether you assent to my words?

  Cle. On first hearing, what you say appears to be the truth; but

to be hasty in coming to a conclusion about such important matters

would be very childish and simple.

  Ath. Suppose, Cleinias and Megillus, that we consider the virtue

which follows next of those which we intended to discuss (for after

courage comes temperance), what institutions shall we find relating to

temperance, either in Crete or Lacedaemon, which, like your military

institutions, differ from those of any ordinary state.

  Meg. That is not an easy question to answer; still I should say that

the common meals and gymnastic exercises have been excellently devised

for the promotion both of temperance and courage.

  Ath. There seems to be a difficulty, Stranger, with regard to

states, in making words and facts coincide so that there can be no

dispute about them. As in the human body, the regimen which does

good in one way does harm in another; and we can hardly say that any

one course of treatment is adapted to a particular constitution. Now

the gymnasia and common meals do a great deal of good, and yet they

are a source of evil in civil troubles; as is shown in the case of the

Milesian, and Boeotian, and Thurian youth, among whom these

institutions seem always to have had a tendency to degrade the ancient

and natural custom of love below the level, not only of man, but of

the beasts. The charge may be fairly brought against your cities above

all others, and is true also of most other states which especially

cultivate gymnastics. Whether such matters are to be regarded

jestingly or seriously, I think that the pleasure is to be deemed

natural which arises out of the intercourse between men and women; but

that the intercourse of men with men, or of women with women, is

contrary to nature, and that the bold attempt was originally due to

unbridled lust. The Cretans are always accused of having invented

the story of Ganymede and Zeus because they wanted to justify

themselves in the enjoyment of unnatural pleasures by the practice

of the god whom they believe to have been their lawgiver. Leaving

the story, we may observe that any speculation about laws turns almost

entirely on pleasure and pain, both in states and in individuals:

these are two fountains which nature lets flow, and he who draws

from them where and when, and as much as he ought, is happy; and

this holds of men and animals-of individuals as well as states; and he

who indulges in them ignorantly and at the wrong time, is the

reverse of happy.

  Meg. I admit, Stranger, that your words are well spoken, and I

hardly know what to say in answer to you; but still I think that the

Spartan lawgiver was quite right in forbidding pleasure. Of the Cretan

laws, I shall leave the defence to my Cnosian friend. But the laws

of Sparta, in as far as they relate to pleasure, appear to me to be

the best in the world; for that which leads mankind in general into

the wildest pleasure and licence, and every other folly, the law has

clean driven out; and neither in the country nor in towns which are

under the control of Sparta, will you find revelries and the many

incitements of every kind of pleasure which accompany them; and any

one who meets a drunken and disorderly person, will immediately have

him most severely punished, and will not let him off on any

pretence, not even at the time of a Dionysiac festival; although I

have remarked that this may happen at your performances "on the cart,"

as they are called; and among our Tarentine colonists I have seen

the whole city drunk at a Dionysiac festival; but nothing of the

sort happens among us.

  Ath. O Lacedaemonian Stranger, these festivities are praiseworthy

where there is a spirit of endurance, but are very senseless when they

are under no regulations. In order to retaliate, an Athenian has

only to point out the licence which exists among your women. To all

such accusations, whether they are brought against the Tarentines,

or us, or you, there is one answer which exonerates the practice in

question from impropriety. When a stranger expresses wonder at the

singularity of what he sees, any inhabitant will naturally answer

him:-Wonder not, O stranger; this is our custom, and you may very

likely have some other custom about the same things. Now we are

speaking, my friends, not about men in general, but about the merits

and defects of the lawgivers themselves. Let us then discourse a

little more at length about intoxication, which is a very important

subject, and will seriously task the discrimination of the legislator.

I am not speaking of drinking, or not drinking, wine at all, but of

intoxication. Are we to follow the custom of the Scythians, and

Persians, and Carthaginians, and Celts, and Iberians, and Thracians,

who are all warlike nations, or that of your countrymen, for they,

as you say, altogether abstain? But the Scythians and Thracians,

both men and women, drink unmixed wine, which they pour on their

garments, and this they think a happy and glorious institution. The

Persians, again, are much given to other practices of luxury which you

reject, but they have more moderation in them than the Thracians and

Scythians.

  Meg. O best of men, we have only to take arms into our hands, and we

send all these nations flying before us.

  Ath. Nay, my good friend, do not say that; there have been, as there

always will be, flights and pursuits of which no account can be given,

and therefore we cannot say that victory or defeat in battle affords

more than a doubtful proof of the goodness or badness of institutions.

For when the greater states conquer and enslave the lesser, as the

Syracusans have done the Locrians, who appear to be the

best-governed people in their part of the world, or as the Athenians

have done the Ceans (and there are ten thousand other instances of the

same sort of thing), all this is not to the point; let us endeavour

rather to form a conclusion about each institution in itself and say

nothing, at present, of victories and defeats. Let us only say that

such and such a custom is honourable, and another not. And first

permit me to tell you how good and bad are to be estimated in

reference to these very matters.

  Meg. How do you mean?

  Ath. All those who are ready at a moment's notice to praise or

censure any practice which is matter of discussion, seem to me to

proceed in a wrong way. Let me give you an illustration of what I

mean:-You may suppose a person to be praising wheat as a good kind

of food, whereupon another person instantly blames wheat, without ever

enquiring into its effect or use, or in what way, or to whom, or

with what, or in what state and how, wheat is to be given. And that is

just what we are doing in this discussion. At the very mention of

the word intoxication, one side is ready with their praises and the

other with their censures; which is absurd. For either side adduce

their witnesses and approvers, and some of us think that we speak with

authority because we have many witnesses; and others because they

see those who abstain conquering in battle, and this again is disputed

by us. Now I cannot say that I shall be satisfied, if we go on

discussing each of the remaining laws in the same way. And about

this very point of intoxication I should like to speak in another way,

which I hold to be the right one; for if number is to be the

criterion, are there not myriads upon myriads of nations ready to

dispute the point with you, who are only two cities?

  Meg. I shall gladly welcome any method of enquiry which is right.

  Ath. Let me put the matter thus:-Suppose a person to praise the

keeping of goats, and the creatures themselves as capital things to

have, and then some one who had seen goats feeding without a

goatherd in cultivated spots, and doing mischief, were to censure a

goat or any other animal who has no keeper, or a bad keeper, would

there be any sense or justice in such censure?

  Meg. Certainly not.

  Ath. Does a captain require only to have nautical knowledge in order

to be a good captain, whether he is sea-sick or not? What do you say?

  Meg. I say that he is not a good captain if, although he have

nautical skill, he is liable to sea-sickness.

  Ath. And what would you say of the commander of an army? Will he

be able to command merely because he has military skill if he be a

coward, who, when danger comes, is sick and drunk with fear?

  Meg. Impossible.

  Ath. And what if besides being a coward he has no skill?

  Meg. He is a miserable fellow, not fit to be a commander of men, but

only of old women.

  Ath. And what would you say of some one who blames or praises any

sort of meeting which is intended by nature to have a ruler, and is

well enough when under his presidency? The critic, however, has

never seen the society meeting together at an orderly feast under

the control of a president, but always without a ruler or with a bad

one:-when observers of this class praise or blame such meetings, are

we to suppose that what they say is of any value?

  Meg. Certainly not, if they have never seen or been present at

such a meeting when rightly ordered.

  Ath. Reflect; may not banqueters and banquets be said to

constitute a kind of meeting?

  Meg. Of course.

  Ath. And did any one ever see this sort of convivial meeting rightly

ordered? Of course you two will answer that you have never seen them

at all, because they are not customary or lawful in your country;

but I have come across many of them in many different places, and

moreover I have made enquiries about them wherever I went, as I may

say, and never did I see or hear of anything of the kind which was

carried on altogether rightly; in some few particulars they might be

right, but in general they were utterly wrong.

  Cle. What do you mean, Stranger, by this remark? Explain; For we, as

you say, from our inexperience in such matters, might very likely

not know, even if they came in our way, what was right or wrong in

such societies.

  Ath. Likely enough; then let me try to be your instructor: You would

acknowledge, would you not, that in all gatherings of man, kind, of

whatever sort, there ought to be a leader?

  Cle. Certainly I should.

  Ath. And we were saying just now, that when men are at war the

leader ought to be a brave man?

  Cle. We were.

  Ath. The brave man is less likely than the coward to be disturbed by

fears?

  Cle. That again is true.

  Ath. And if there were a possibility of having a general of an

army who was absolutely fearless and imperturbable, should we not by

all means appoint him?

  Cle. Assuredly.

  Ath. Now, however, we are speaking not of a general who is to

command an army, when foe meets foe in time of war, but of one who

is to regulate meetings of another sort, when friend meets friend in

time of peace.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. And that sort of meeting, if attended with drunkenness, is

apt to be unquiet.

  Cle. Certainly; the reverse of quiet.

  Ath. In the first place, then, the revellers as well as the soldiers

will require a ruler?

  Cle. To be sure; no men more so.

  Ath. And we ought, if possible, to provide them with a quiet ruler?

  Cle. Of course.

  Ath. And he should be a man who understands society; for his duty is

to preserve the friendly feelings which exist among the company at the

time, and to increase them for the future by his use of the occasion.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. Must we not appoint a sober man and a wise to be our master

of the revels? For if the ruler of drinkers be himself young and

drunken, and not over-wise, only by some special good fortune will

he be saved from doing some great evil.

  Cle. It will be by a singular good fortune that he is saved.

  Ath. Now suppose such associations to be framed in the best way

possible in states, and that some one blames the very fact of their

existence-he may very likely be right. But if he blames a practice

which he only sees very much mismanaged, he shows in the first place

that he is not aware of the mismanagement, and also not aware that

everything done in this way will turn out to be wrong, because done

without the superintendence of a sober ruler. Do you not see that a

drunken pilot or a drunken ruler of any sort will ruin ship,

chariot, army-anything, in short, of which he has the direction?

  Cle. The last remark is very true, Stranger; and I see quite clearly

the advantage of an army having a good leader-he will give victory

in war to his followers, which is a very great advantage; and so of

other things. But I do not see any similar advantage which either

individuals or states gain from the good management of a feast; and

I want you to tell me what great good will be effected, supposing that

this drinking ordinance is duly established.

  Ath. If you mean to ask what great good accrues to the state from

the right training of a single youth, or of a single chorus-when the

question is put in that form, we cannot deny that the good is not very

great in any particular instance. But if you ask what is the good of

education in general, the answer is easy-that education makes good

men, and that good men act nobly, and conquer their enemies in battle,

because they are good. Education certainly gives victory, although

victory sometimes produces forgetfulness of education; for many have

grown insolent from victory in war, and this insolence has

engendered in them innumerable evils; and many a victory has been

and will be suicidal to the victors; but education is never suicidal.

  Cle. You seem to imply, my friend, that convivial meetings, when

rightly ordered, are an important element of education.

  Ath. Certainly I do.

  Cle. And can you show that what you have been saying is true?

  Ath. To be absolutely sure of the truth of matters concerning

which there are many opinions, is an attribute of the Gods not given

to man, Stranger; but I shall be very happy to tell you what I

think, especially as we are now proposing to enter on a discussion

concerning laws and constitutions.

  Cle. Your opinion, Stranger, about the questions which are now being

raised, is precisely what we want to hear.

  Ath. Very good; I will try to find a way of explaining my meaning,

and you shall try to have the gift of understanding me. But first

let me make an apology. The Athenian citizen is reputed among all

the Hellenes to be a great talker, whereas Sparta is renowned for

brevity, and the Cretans have more wit than words. Now I am afraid

of appearing to elicit a very long discourse out of very small

materials. For drinking indeed may appear to be a slight matter, and

yet is one which cannot be rightly ordered according to nature,

without correct principles of music; these are necessary to any

clear or satisfactory treatment of the subject, and music again runs

up into education generally, and there is much to be said about all

this. What would you say then to leaving these matters for the

present, and passing on to some other question of law?

  Meg. O Athenian Stranger, let me tell you what perhaps you do not

know, that our family is the proxenus of your state. I imagine that

from their earliest youth all boys, when they are told that they are

the proxeni of a particular state, feel kindly towards their second

and this has certainly been my own feeling. I can well remember from

the days of my boyhood, how, when any Lacedaemonians praised or blamed

the Athenians, they used to say to me-"See, Megillus, how ill or how

well," as the case might be, "has your state treated us"; and having

always had to fight your battles against detractors when I heard you

assailed, I became warmly attached to you. And I always like to hear

the Athenian tongue spoken; the common saying is quite true, that a

good Athenian is more than ordinarily good, for he is the only man who

is freely and genuinely good by the divine inspiration of his own

nature, and is not manufactured. Therefore be assured that I shall

like to hear you say whatever you have to say.

  Cle. Yes, Stranger; and when you have heard me speak, say boldly

what is in your thoughts. Let me remind you of a tie which unites

you to Crete. You must have heard here the story of the prophet

Epimenides, who was of my family, and came to Athens ten years

before the Persian war, in accordance with the response of the Oracle,

and offered certain sacrifices which the God commanded. The

Athenians were at that time in dread of the Persian invasion; and he

said that for ten years they would not come, and that when they

came, they would go away again without accomplishing any of their

objects, and would suffer more evil than they inflicted. At that

time my forefathers formed ties of hospitality with you; thus

ancient is the friendship which I and my parents have had for you.

  Ath. You seem to be quite ready to listen; and I am also ready to

perform as much as I can of an almost impossible task, which I will

nevertheless attempt. At the outset of the discussion, let me define

the nature and power of education; for this is the way by which our

argument must travel onwards to the God Dionysus.

  Cle. Let us proceed, if you please.

  Ath. Well, then, if I tell you what are my notions of education,

will you consider whether they satisfy you?

  Cle. Let us hear.

  Ath. According to my view, any one who would be good at anything

must practise that thing from his youth upwards, both in sport and

earnest, in its several branches: for example, he who is to be a

good builder, should play at building children's houses; he who is

to be a good husbandman, at tilling the ground; and those who have the

care of their education should provide them when young with mimic

tools. They should learn beforehand the knowledge which they will

afterwards require for their art. For example, the future carpenter

should learn to measure or apply the line in play; and the future

warrior should learn riding, or some other exercise, for amusement,

and the teacher should endeavour to direct the children's inclinations

and pleasures, by the help of amusements, to their final aim in

life. The most important part of education is right training in the

nursery. The soul of the child in his play should be guided to the

love of that sort of excellence in which when he grows up to manhood

he will have to be perfected. Do you agree with me thus far?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Then let us not leave the meaning of education ambiguous or

ill-defined. At present, when we speak in terms of praise or blame

about the bringing-up of each person, we call one man educated and

another uneducated, although the uneducated man may be sometimes

very well educated for the calling of a retail trader, or of a captain

of a ship, and the like. For we are not speaking of education in

this narrower sense, but of that other education in virtue from

youth upwards, which makes a man eagerly pursue the ideal perfection

of citizenship, and teaches him how rightly to rule and how to obey.

This is the only education which, upon our view, deserves the name;

that other sort of training, which aims at the acquisition of wealth

or bodily strength, or mere cleverness apart from intelligence and

justice, is mean and illiberal, and is not worthy to be called

education at all. But let us not quarrel with one another about a

word, provided that the proposition which has just been granted hold

good: to wit, that those who are rightly educated generally become

good men. Neither must we cast a slight upon education, which is the

first and fairest thing that the best of men can ever have, and which,

though liable to take a wrong direction, is capable of reformation.

And this work of reformation is the great business of every man

while he lives.

  Cle. Very true; and we entirely agree with you.

  Ath. And we agreed before that they are good men who are able to

rule themselves, and bad men who are not.

  Cle. You are quite right.

  Ath. Let me now proceed, if I can, to clear up the subject a

little further by an illustration which I will offer you.

  Cle. Proceed.

  Ath. Do we not consider each of ourselves to be one?

  Cle. We do.

  Ath. And each one of us has in his bosom two counsellors, both

foolish and also antagonistic; of which we call the one pleasure,

and the other pain.

  Cle. Exactly.

  Ath. Also there are opinions about the future, which have the

general name of expectations; and the specific name of fear, when

the expectation is of pain; and of hope, when of pleasure; and

further, there is reflection about the good or evil of them, and this,

when embodied in a decree by the State, is called Law.

  Cle. I am hardly able to follow you; proceed, however, as if I were.

  Meg. I am in the like case.

  Ath. Let us look at the matter thus: May we not conceive each of

us living beings to be a puppet of the Gods, either their plaything

only, or created with a purpose-which of the two we cannot certainly

know? But we do know, that these affections in us are like cords and

strings, which pull us different and opposite ways, and to opposite

actions; and herein lies the difference between virtue and vice.

According to the argument there is one among these cords which every

man ought to grasp and never let go, but to pull with it against all

the rest; and this is the sacred and golden cord of reason, called

by us the common law of the State; there are others which are hard and

of iron, but this one is soft because golden; and there are several

other kinds. Now we ought always to cooperate with the lead of the

best, which is law. For inasmuch as reason is beautiful and gentle,

and not violent, her rule must needs have ministers in order to help

the golden principle in vanquishing the other principles. And thus the

moral of the tale about our being puppets will not have been lost, and

the meaning of the expression "superior or inferior to a man's self"

will become clearer; and the individual, attaining to right reason

in this matter of pulling the strings of the puppet, should live

according to its rule; while the city, receiving the same from some

god or from one who has knowledge of these things, should embody it in

a law, to be her guide in her dealings with herself and with other

states. In this way virtue and vice will be more clearly distinguished

by us. And when they have become clearer, education and other

institutions will in like manner become clearer; and in particular

that question of convivial entertainment, which may seem, perhaps,

to have been a very trifling matter, and to have taken a great many

more words than were necessary.

  Cle. Perhaps, however, the theme may turn out not to be unworthy

of the length of discourse.

  Ath. Very good; let us proceed with any enquiry which really bears

on our present object.

  Cle. Proceed.

  Ath. Suppose that we give this puppet of ours drink-what will be the

effect on him?

  Cle. Having what in view do you ask that question?

  Ath. Nothing as yet; but I ask generally, when the puppet is brought

to the drink, what sort of result is likely to follow. I will

endeavour to explain my meaning more clearly: what I am now asking

is this-Does the drinking of wine heighten and increase pleasures

and pains, and passions and loves?

  Cle. Very greatly.

  Ath. And are perception and memory, and opinion and prudence,

heightened and increased? Do not these qualities entirely desert a man

if he becomes saturated with drink?

  Cle. Yes, they entirely desert him.

  Ath. Does he not return to the state of soul in which he was when

a young child?

  Cle. He does.

  Ath. Then at that time he will have the least control over himself?

  Cle. The least.

  Ath. And will he not be in a most wretched plight?

  Cle. Most wretched.

  Ath. Then not only an old man but also a drunkard becomes a second

time a child?

  Cle. Well said, Stranger.

  Ath. Is there any argument which will prove to us that we ought to

encourage the taste for drinking instead of doing all we can to

avoid it?

  Cle. I suppose that there is; you at any rate, were just now

saying that you were ready to maintain such a doctrine.

  Ath. True, I was; and I am ready still, seeing that you have both

declared that you are anxious to hear me.

  Cle. To sure we are, if only for the strangeness of the paradox,

which asserts that a man ought of his own accord to plunge into

utter degradation.

  Ath. Are you speaking of the soul?

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. And what would you say about the body, my friend? Are you not

surprised at any one of his own accord bringing upon himself

deformity, leanness, ugliness, decrepitude?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Yet when a man goes of his own accord to a doctor's shop, and

takes medicine, is he not aware that soon, and for many days

afterwards, he will be in a state of body which he would die rather

than accept as the permanent condition of his life? Are not those

who train in gymnasia, at first beginning reduced to a state of

weakness?

  Cle. Yes, all that is well known.

  Ath. Also that they go of their own accord for the sake of the

subsequent benefit?

  Cle. Very good.

  Ath. And we may conceive this to be true in the same way of other

practices?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And the same view may be taken of the pastime of drinking wine,

if we are right in supposing that the same good effect follows?

  Cle. To be sure.

  Ath. If such convivialities should turn out to have any advantage

equal in importance to that of gymnastic, they are in their very

nature to be preferred to mere bodily exercise, inasmuch as they

have no accompaniment of pain.

  Cle. True; but I hardly think that we shall be able to discover

any such benefits to be derived from them.

  Ath. That is just what we must endeavour to show. And let me ask you

a question:-Do we not distinguish two kinds of fear, which are very

different?

  Cle. What are they?

  Ath. There is the fear of expected evil.

  Cle. Yes.

   Ath. And there is the fear of an evil reputation; we are afraid

of being thought evil, because we do or say some dishonourable

thing, which fear we and all men term shame.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. These are the two fears, as I called them; one of which is

the opposite of pain and other fears, and the opposite also of the

greatest and most numerous sort of pleasures.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. And does not the legislator and every one who is good for

anything, hold this fear in the greatest honour? This is what he terms

reverence, and the confidence which is the reverse of this he terms

insolence; and the latter he always deems to be a very great evil both

to individuals and to states.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Does not this kind of fear preserve us in many important

ways? What is there which so surely gives victory and safety in war?

For there are two things which give victory-confidence before enemies,

and fear of disgrace before friends.

  Cle. There are.

  Ath. Then each of us should be fearless and also fearful; and why we

should be either has now been determined.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And when we want to make any one fearless, we and the law bring

him face to face with many fears.

  Cle. Clearly.

  Ath. And when we want to make him rightly fearful, must we not

introduce him to shameless pleasures, and train him to take up arms

against them, and to overcome them? Or does this principle apply to

courage only, and must he who would be perfect in valour fight against

and overcome his own natural character-since if he be unpractised

and inexperienced in such conflicts, he will not be half the man which

he might have been-and are we to suppose, that with temperance it is

otherwise, and that he who has never fought with the shameless and

unrighteous temptations of his pleasures and lusts, and conquered

them, in earnest and in play, by word, deed, and act, will still be

perfectly temperate?

  Cle. A most unlikely supposition.

  Ath. Suppose that some God had given a fear-potion to men, and

that the more a man drank of this the more he regarded himself at

every draught as a child of misfortune, and that he feared

everything happening or about to happen to him; and that at last the

most courageous of men utterly lost his presence of mind for a time,

and only came to himself again when he had slept off the influence

of the draught.

  Cle. But has such a draught, Stranger, ever really been known

among men?

  Ath. No; but, if there had been, might not such a draught have

been of use to the legislator as a test of courage? Might we not go

and say to him, "O legislator, whether you are legislating for the

Cretan, or for any other state, would you not like to have a

touchstone of the courage and cowardice of your citizens?"

  Cle. "I should," will be the answer of every one.

  Ath. "And you would rather have a touchstone in which there is no

risk and no great danger than the reverse?"

  Cle. In that proposition every one may safely agree.

  Ath. "And in order to make use of the draught, you would lead them

amid these imaginary terrors, and prove them, when the affection of

fear was working upon them, and compel them to be fearless,

exhorting and admonishing them; and also honouring them, but

dishonouring any one who will not be persuaded by you to be in all

respects such as you command him; and if he underwent the trial well

and manfully, you would let him go unscathed; but if ill, you would

inflict a punishment upon him? Or would you abstain from using the

potion altogether, although you have no reason for abstaining?"

  Cle. He would be certain, Stranger, to use the potion.

  Ath. This would be a mode of testing and training which would be

wonderfully easy in comparison with those now in use, and might be

applied to a single person, or to a few, or indeed to any number;

and he would do well who provided himself with the potion only, rather

than with any number of other things, whether he preferred to be by

himself in solitude, and there contend with his fears, because he

was ashamed to be seen by the eye of man until he was perfect; or

trusting to the force of his own nature and habits, and believing that

he had been already disciplined sufficiently, he did not hesitate to

train himself in company with any number of others, and display his

power in conquering the irresistible change effected by the

draught-his virtue being such, that he never in any instance fell into

any great unseemliness, but was always himself, and left off before he

arrived at the last cup, fearing that he, like all other men, might be

overcome by the potion.

  Cle. Yes, Stranger, in that last case, too, he might equally show

his self-control.

  Ath. Let us return to the lawgiver, and say to him:-"Well, lawgiver,

there is certainly no such fear-potion which man has either received

from the Gods or himself discovered; for witchcraft has no place at

our board. But is there any potion which might serve as a test of

overboldness and excessive and indiscreet boasting?

  Cle. I suppose that he will say, Yes-meaning that wine is such a

potion.

  Ath. Is not the effect of this quite the opposite of the effect of

the other? When a man drinks wine he begins to be better pleased

with himself, and the more he drinks the more he is filled full of

brave hopes, and conceit of his power, and at last the string of his

tongue is loosened, and fancying himself wise, he is brimming over

with lawlessness, and has no more fear or respect, and is ready to

do or say anything.

  Cle. I think that every one will admit the truth of your

description.

  Meg. Certainly.

  Ath. Now, let us remember, as we were saying, that there are two

things which should be cultivated in the soul: first, the greatest

courage; secondly, the greatest fear-

  Cle. Which you said to be characteristic of reverence, if I am not

mistaken.

  Ath. Thank you for reminding me. But now, as the habit of courage

and fearlessness is to be trained amid fears, let us consider

whether the opposite quality is not also to be trained among

opposites.

  Cle. That is probably the case.

  Ath. There are times and seasons at which we are by nature more than

commonly valiant and bold; now we ought to train ourselves on these

occasions to be as free from impudence and shamelessness as

possible, and to be afraid to say or suffer or do anything that is

base.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Are not the moments in which we are apt to be bold and

shameless such as these?-when we are under the influence of anger,

love, pride, ignorance, avarice, cowardice? or when wealth, beauty,

strength, and all the intoxicating workings of pleasure madden us?

What is better adapted than the festive use of wine, in the first

place to test, and in the second place to train the character of a

man, if care be taken in the use of it? What is there cheaper, or more

innocent? For do but consider which is the greater risk:-Would you

rather test a man of a morose and savage nature, which is the source

of ten thousand acts of injustice, by making bargains with him at a

risk to yourself, or by having him as a companion at the festival of

Dionysus? Or would you, if you wanted to apply a touchstone to a man

who is prone to love, entrust your wife, or your sons, or daughters to

him, perilling your dearest interests in order to have a view of the

condition of his soul? I might mention numberless cases, in which

the advantage would be manifest of getting to know a character in

sport, and without paying dearly for experience. And I do not

believe that either a Cretan, or any other man, will doubt that such a

test is a fair test, and safer, cheaper, and speedier than any other.

  Cle. That is certainly true.

  Ath. And this knowledge of the natures and habits of men's souls

will be of the greatest use in that art which has the management of

them; and that art, if I am not mistaken, is politics.

  Cle. Exactly so.

  BOOK II



  Athenian Stranger. And now we have to consider whether the insight

into human nature is the only benefit derived from well ordered

potations, or whether there are not other advantages great and much to

be desired. The argument seems to imply that there are. But how and in

what way these are to be attained, will have to be considered

attentively, or we may be entangled in error.

  Cleinias. Proceed.

  Ath. Let me once more recall our doctrine of right education; which,

if I am not mistaken, depends on the due regulation of convivial

intercourse.

  Cle. You talk rather grandly.

  Ath. Pleasure and pain I maintain to be the first perceptions of

children, and I say that they are the forms under which virtue and

vice are originally present to them. As to wisdom and true and fixed

opinions, happy is the man who acquires them, even when declining in

years; and we may say that he who possesses them, and the blessings

which are contained in them, is a perfect man. Now I mean by education

that training which is given by suitable habits to the first instincts

of virtue in children;-when pleasure, and friendship, and pain, and

hatred, are rightly implanted in souls not yet capable of

understanding the nature of them, and who find them, after they have

attained reason, to be in harmony with her. This harmony of the

soul, taken as a whole, is virtue; but the particular training in

respect of pleasure and pain, which leads you always to hate what

you ought to hate, and love what you ought to love from the

beginning of life to the end, may be separated off; and, in my view,

will be rightly called education.

  Cle. I think, Stranger, that you are quite right in all that you

have said and are saying about education.

  Ath. I am glad to hear that you agree with me; for, indeed, the

discipline of pleasure and pain which, when rightly ordered, is a

principle of education, has been often relaxed and corrupted in

human life. And the Gods, pitying the toils which our race is born

to undergo, have appointed holy festivals, wherein men alternate

rest with labour; and have given them the Muses and Apollo, the leader

of the Muses, and Dionysus, to be companions in their revels, that

they may improve their education by taking part in the festivals of

the Gods, and with their help. I should like to know whether a

common saying is in our opinion true to nature or not. For men say

that the young of all creatures cannot be quiet in their bodies or

in their voices; they are always wanting to move and cry out; some

leaping and skipping, and overflowing with sportiveness and delight at

something, others uttering all sorts of cries. But, whereas the

animals have no perception of order or disorder in their movements,

that is, of rhythm or harmony, as they are called, to us, the Gods,

who, as we say, have been appointed to be our companions in the dance,

have given the pleasurable sense of harmony and rhythm; and so they

stir us into life, and we follow them, joining hands together in

dances and songs; and these they call choruses, which is a term

naturally expressive of cheerfulness. Shall we begin, then, with the

acknowledgment that education is first given through Apollo and the

Muses? What do you say?

  Cle. I assent.

  Ath. And the uneducated is he who has not been trained in the

chorus, and the educated is he who has been well trained?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And the chorus is made up of two parts, dance and song?

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Then he who is well educated will be able to sing and dance

well?

  Cle. I suppose that he will.

  Ath. Let us see; what are we saying?

  Cle. What?

  Ath. He sings well and dances well; now must we add that he sings

what is good and dances what is good?

  Cle. Let us make the addition.

  Ath. We will suppose that he knows the good to be good, and the

bad to be bad, and makes use of them accordingly: which now is the

better trained in dancing and music-he who is able to move his body

and to use his voice in what is understood to be the right manner, but

has no delight in good or hatred of evil; or he who is incorrect in

gesture and voice, but is right in his sense of pleasure and pain, and

welcomes what is good, and is offended at what is evil?

  Cle. There is a great difference, Stranger, in the two kinds of

education.

  Ath. If we three know what is good in song and dance, then we

truly know also who is educated and who is uneducated; but if not,

then we certainly shall not know wherein lies the safeguard of

education, and whether there is any or not.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Let us follow the scent like hounds, and go in pursuit of

beauty of figure, and melody, and song, and dance; if these escape us,

there will be no use in talking about true education, whether Hellenic

or barbarian.

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. And what is beauty of figure, or beautiful melody? When a manly

soul is in trouble, and when a cowardly soul is in similar case, are

they likely to use the same figures and gestures, or to give utterance

to the same sounds?

  Cle. How can they, when the very colours of their faces differ?

  Ath. Good, my friend; I may observe, however, in passing, that in

music there certainly are figures and there are melodies: and music is

concerned with harmony and rhythm, so that you may speak of a melody

or figure having good rhythm or good harmony-the term is correct

enough; but to speak metaphorically of a melody or figure having a

"good colour," as the masters of choruses do, is not allowable,

although you can speak of the melodies or figures of the brave and the

coward, praising the one and censuring the other. And not to be

tedious, let us say that the figures and melodies which are expressive

of virtue of soul or body, or of images of virtue, are without

exception good, and those which are expressive of vice are the reverse

of good.

  Cle. Your suggestion is excellent; and let us answer that these

things are so.

  Ath. Once more, are all of us equally delighted with every sort of

dance?

  Cle. Far otherwise.

  Ath. What, then, leads us astray? Are beautiful things not the

same to us all, or are they the same in themselves, but not in our

opinion of them? For no one will admit that forms of vice in the dance

are more beautiful than forms of virtue, or that he himself delights

in the forms of vice, and others in a muse of another character. And

yet most persons say, that the excellence of music is to give pleasure

to our souls. But this is intolerable and blasphemous; there is,

however, a much more plausible account of the delusion.

  Cle. What?

  Ath. The adaptation of art to the characters of men. Choric

movements are imitations of manners occurring in various actions,

fortunes, dispositions-each particular is imitated, and those to

whom the words, or songs, or dances are suited, either by nature or

habit or both, cannot help feeling pleasure in them and applauding

them, and calling them beautiful. But those whose natures, or ways, or

habits are unsuited to them, cannot delight in them or applaud them,

and they call them base. There are others, again, whose natures are

right and their habits wrong, or whose habits are right and their

natures wrong, and they praise one thing, but are pleased at

another. For they say that all these imitations are pleasant, but

not good. And in the presence of those whom they think wise, they

are ashamed of dancing and singing in the baser manner, or of

deliberately lending any countenance to such proceedings; and yet,

they have a secret pleasure in them.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. And is any harm done to the lover of vicious dances or songs,

or any good done to the approver of the opposite sort of pleasure?

  Cle. I think that there is.

  Ath. "I think" is not the word, but I would say, rather, "I am

certain." For must they not have the same effect as when a man

associates with bad characters, whom he likes and approves rather than

dislikes, and only censures playfully because he has a suspicion of

his own badness? In that case, he who takes pleasure in them will

surely become like those in whom he takes pleasure, even though he

be ashamed to praise them. And what greater good or evil can any

destiny ever make us undergo?

  Cle. I know of none.

  Ath. Then in a city which has good laws, or in future ages is to

have them, bearing in mind the instruction and amusement which are

given by music, can we suppose that the poets are to be allowed to

teach in the dance anything which they themselves like, in the way

of rhythm, or melody, or words, to the young children of any

well-conditioned parents? Is the poet to train his choruses as he

pleases, without reference to virtue or vice?

  Cle. That is surely quite unreasonable, and is not to be thought of.

  Ath. And yet he may do this in almost any state with the exception

of Egypt.

  Cle. And what are the laws about music and dancing in Egypt?

  Ath. You will wonder when I tell you: Long ago they appear to have

recognized the very principle of which we are now speaking-that

their young citizens must be habituated to forms and strains of

virtue. These they fixed, and exhibited the patterns of them in

their temples; and no painter or artist is allowed to innovate upon

them, or to leave the traditional forms and invent new ones. To this

day, no alteration is allowed either in these arts, or in music at

all. And you will find that their works of art are painted or

moulded in the same forms which they had ten thousand years

ago;-this is literally true and no exaggeration-their ancient

paintings and sculptures are not a whit better or worse than the

work of to-day, but are made with just the same skill.

  Cle. How extraordinary!

  Ath. I should rather say, How statesmanlike, how worthy of a

legislator! I know that other things in Egypt are nat so well. But

what I am telling you about music is true and deserving of

consideration, because showing that a lawgiver may institute

melodies which have a natural truth and correctness without any fear

of failure. To do this, however, must be the work of God, or of a

divine person; in Egypt they have a tradition that their ancient

chants which have been preserved for so many ages are the

composition of the Goddess Isis. And therefore, as I was saying, if

a person can only find in any way the natural melodies, he may

confidently embody them in a fixed and legal form. For the love of

novelty which arises out of pleasure in the new and weariness of the

old, has not strength enough to corrupt the consecrated song and

dance, under the plea that they have become antiquated. At any rate,

they are far from being corrupted in Egypt.

  Cle. Your arguments seem to prove your point.

  Ath. May we not confidently say that the true use of music and of

choral festivities is as follows: We rejoice when we think that we

prosper, and again we think that we prosper when we rejoice?

  Cle. Exactly.

  Ath. And when rejoicing in our good fortune, we are unable to be

still?

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Our young men break forth into dancing and singing, and we

who are their elders deem that we are fulfilling our part in life when

we look on at them. Having lost our agility, we delight in their

sports and merry-making, because we love to think of our former

selves; and gladly institute contests for those who are able to awaken

in us the memory of our youth.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. Is it altogether unmeaning to say, as the common people do

about festivals, that he should be adjudged the wisest of men, and the

winner of the palm, who gives us the greatest amount of pleasure and

mirth? For on such occasions, and when mirth is the order of the

day, ought not he to be honoured most, and, as I was saying, bear

the palm, who gives most mirth to the greatest number? Now is this a

true way of speaking or of acting?

  Cle. Possibly.

  Ath. But, my dear friend, let us distinguish between different

cases, and not be hasty in forming a judgment: One way of

considering the question will be to imagine a festival at which

there are entertainments of all sorts, including gymnastic, musical,

and equestrian contests: the citizens are assembled; prizes are

offered, and proclamation is made that any one who likes may enter the

lists, and that he is to bear the palm who gives the most pleasure

to the spectators-there is to be no regulation about the manner how;

but he who is most successful in giving pleasure is to be crowned

victor, and deemed to be the pleasantest of the candidates: What is

likely to be the result of such a proclamation?

  Cle. In what respect?

  Ath. There would be various exhibitions: one man, like Homer, will

exhibit a rhapsody, another a performance on the lute; one will have a

tragedy, and another a comedy. Nor would there be anything astonishing

in some one imagining that he could gain the prize by exhibiting a

puppet-show. Suppose these competitors to meet, and not these only,

but innumerable others as well can you tell me who ought to be the

victor?

  Cle. I do not see how any one can answer you, or pretend to know,

unless he has heard with his own ears the several competitors; the

question is absurd.

  Ath. Well, then, if neither of you can answer, shall I answer this

question which you deem so absurd?

  Cle. By all means.

  Ath. If very small children are to determine the question, they will

decide for the puppet show.

  Cle. Of course.

  Ath. The older children will be advocates of comedy; educated women,

and young men, and people in general, will favour tragedy.

  Cle. Very likely.

  Ath. And I believe that we old men would have the greatest

pleasure in hearing a rhapsodist recite well the Iliad and Odyssey, or

one of the Hesiodic poems, and would award the victory to him. But,

who would really be the victor?-that is the question.

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. Clearly you and I will have to declare that those whom we old

men adjudge victors ought to win; for our ways are far and away better

than any which at present exist anywhere in the world.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Thus far I too should agree with the many, that the

excellence of music is to be measured by pleasure. But the pleasure

must not be that of chance persons; the fairest music is that which

delights the best and best educated, and especially that which

delights the one man who is pre-eminent in virtue and education. And

therefore the judges must be men of character, for they will require

both wisdom and courage; the true judge must not draw his

inspiration from the theatre, nor ought he to be unnerved by the

clamour of the many and his own incapacity; nor again, knowing the

truth, ought he through cowardice and unmanliness carelessly to

deliver a lying judgment, with the very same lips which have just

appealed to the Gods before he judged. He is sitting not as the

disciple of the theatre, but, in his proper place, as their

instructor, and he ought to be the enemy of all pandering to the

pleasure of the spectators. The ancient and common custom of Hellas,

which still prevails in Italy and Sicily, did certainly leave the

judgment to the body of spectators, who determined the victor by

show of hands. But this custom has been the destruction of the

poets; for they are now in the habit of composing with a view to

please the bad taste of their judges, and the result is that the

spectators instruct themselves;-and also it has been the ruin of the

theatre; they ought to be having characters put before them better

than their own, and so receiving a higher pleasure, but now by their

own act the opposite result follows. What inference is to be drawn

from all this? Shall I tell you?

  Cle. What?

  Ath. The inference at which we arrive for the third or fourth time

is, that education is the constraining and directing of youth

towards that right reason, which the law affirms, and which the

experience of the eldest and best has agreed to be truly right. In

order, then, that the soul of the child may not be habituated to

feel joy and sorrow in a manner at variance with the law, and those

who obey the law, but may rather follow the law and rejoice and sorrow

at the same things as the aged-in order, I say, to produce this

effect, chants appear to have been invented, which really enchant, and

are designed to implant that harmony of which we speak. And, because

the mind of the child is incapable of enduring serious training,

they are called plays and songs, and are performed in play; just as

when men are sick and ailing in their bodies, their attendants give

them wholesome diet in pleasant meats and drinks, but unwholesome diet

in disagreeable things, in order that they may learn, as they ought,

to like the one, and to dislike the other. And similarly the true

legislator will persuade, and, if he cannot persuade, will compel

the poet to express, as he ought, by fair and noble words, in his

rhythms, the figures, and in his melodies, the music of temperate

and brave and in every way good men.

  Cle. But do you really imagine, Stranger, that this is the way in

which poets generally compose in States at the present day? As far

as I can observe, except among us and among the Lacedaemonians,

there are no regulations like those of which you speak; in other

places novelties are always being introduced in dancing and in

music, generally not under the authority of any law, but at the

instigation of lawless pleasures; and these pleasures are so far

from being the same, as you describe the Egyptian to be, or having the

same principles, that they are never the same.

  Ath. Most true, Cleinias; and I daresay that I may have expressed

myself obscurely, and so led you to imagine that I was speaking of

some really existing state of things, whereas I was only saying what

regulations I would like to have about music; and hence there occurred

a misapprehension on your part. For when evils are far gone and

irremediable, the task of censuring them is never pleasant, although

at times necessary. But as we do not really differ, will you let me

ask you whether you consider such institutions to be more prevalent

among the Cretans and Lacedaemonians than among the other Hellenes?

  Cle. Certainly they are.

  Ath. And if they were extended to the other Hellenes, would it be an

improvement on the present state of things?

  Cle. A very great improvement, if the customs which prevail among

them were such as prevail among us and the Lacedaemonians, and such as

you were just now saying ought to prevail.

  Ath. Let us see whether we understand one another:-Are not the

principles of education and music which prevail among you as

follows: you compel your poets to say that the good man, if he be

temperate and just, is fortunate and happy; and this whether he be

great and strong or small and weak, and whether he be rich or poor;

and, on the other hand, if he have a wealth passing that of Cinyras or

Midas, and be unjust, he is wretched and lives in misery? As the

poet says, and with truth: I sing not, I care not about him who

accomplishes all noble things, not having justice; let him who

"draws near and stretches out his hand against his enemies be a just

man." But if he be unjust, I would not have him "look calmly upon

bloody death," nor "surpass in swiftness the Thracian Boreas"; and let

no other thing that is called good ever be his. For the goods of which

the many speak are not really good: first in the catalogue is placed

health, beauty next, wealth third; and then innumerable others, as for

example to have a keen eye or a quick ear, and in general to have

all the senses perfect; or, again, to be a tyrant and do as you

like; and the final consummation of happiness is to have acquired

all these things, and when you have acquired them to become at once

immortal. But you and I say, that while to the just and holy all these

things are the best of possessions, to the unjust they are all,

including even health, the greatest of evils. For in truth, to have

sight, and hearing, and the use of the senses, or to live at all

without justice and virtue, even though a man be rich in all the

so-called goods of fortune, is the greatest of evils, if life be

immortal; but not so great, if the bad man lives only a very short

time. These are the truths which, if I am not mistaken, you will

persuade or compel your poets to utter with suitable accompaniments of

harmony and rhythm, and in these they must train up your youth. Am I

not right? For I plainly declare that evils as they are termed are

goods to the unjust, and only evils to the just, and that goods are

truly good to the good, but evil to the evil. Let me ask again, Are

you and I agreed about this?

  Cle. I think that we partly agree and partly do not.

  Ath. When a man has health and wealth and a tyranny which lasts, and

when he is preeminent in strength and courage, and has the gift of

immortality, and none of the so-called evils which counter-balance

these goods, but only the injustice and insolence of his own nature-of

such an one you are, I suspect, unwilling to believe that he is

miserable rather than happy.

  Cle. That is quite true.

  Ath. Once more: Suppose that he be valiant and strong, and

handsome and rich, and does throughout his whole life whatever he

likes, still, if he be unrighteous and insolent, would not both of you

agree that he will of necessity live basely? You will surely grant

so much?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And an evil life too?

  Cle. I am not equally disposed to grant that.

  Ath. Will he not live painfully and to his own disadvantage?

  Cle. How can I possibly say so?

  Ath. How! Then may Heaven make us to be of one mind, for now we

are of two. To me, dear Cleinias, the truth of what I am saying is

as plain as the fact that Crete is an island. And, if I were a

lawgiver, I would try to make the poets and all the citizens speak

in this strain, and I would inflict the heaviest penalties on any

one in all the land who should dare to say that there are bad men

who lead pleasant lives, or that the profitable and gainful is one

thing, and the just another; and there are many other matters about

which I should make my citizens speak in a manner different from the

Cretans and Lacedaemonians of this age, and I may say, indeed, from

the world in general. For tell me, my good friends, by Zeus and Apollo

tell me, if I were to ask these same Gods who were your legislators-Is

not the most just life also the pleasantest? or are there two lives,

one of which is the justest and the other the pleasantest?-and they

were to reply that there are two; and thereupon I proceeded to ask,

(that would be the right way of pursuing the enquiry), Which are the

happier-those who lead the justest, or those who lead the

pleasantest life? and they replied, Those who lead the

pleasantest-that would be a very strange answer, which I should not

like to put into the mouth of the Gods. The words will come with

more propriety from the lips of fathers and legislators, and therefore

I will repeat my former questions to one of them, and suppose him to

say again that he who leads the pleasantest life is the happiest.

And to that I rejoin:-O my father, did you not wish me to live as

happily as possible? And yet you also never ceased telling me that I

should live as justly as possible. Now, here the giver of the rule,

whether he be legislator or father, will be in a dilemma, and will

in vain endeavour to be consistent with himself. But if he were to

declare that the justest life is also the happiest, every one

hearing him would enquire, if I am not mistaken, what is that good and

noble principle in life which the law approves, and which is

superior to pleasure. For what good can the just man have which is

separated from pleasure? Shall we say that glory and fame, coming from

Gods and men, though good and noble, are nevertheless unpleasant,

and infamy pleasant? Certainly not, sweet legislator. Or shall we

say that the not-doing of wrong and there being no wrong done is

good and honourable, although there is no pleasure in it, and that the

doing wrong is pleasant, but evil and base?

  Cle. Impossible.

  Ath. The view which identifies the pleasant and the pleasant and the

just and the good and the noble has an excellent moral and religious

tendency. And the opposite view is most at variance with the designs

of the legislator, and is, in his opinion, infamous; for no one, if he

can help, will be persuaded to do that which gives him more pain

than pleasure. But as distant prospects are apt to make us dizzy,

especially in childhood, the legislator will try to purge away the

darkness and exhibit the truth; he will persuade the citizens, in some

way or other, by customs and praises and words, that just and unjust

are shadows only, and that injustice, which seems opposed to

justice, when contemplated by the unjust and evil man appears pleasant

and the just most unpleasant; but that from the just man's point of

view, the very opposite is the appearance of both of them.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. And which may be supposed to be the truer judgment-that of

the inferior or of the better soul?

  Cle. Surely, that of the better soul.

  Ath. Then the unjust life must not only be more base and depraved,

but also more unpleasant than the just and holy life?

  Cle. That seems to be implied in the present argument.

  Ath. And even supposing this were otherwise, and not as the argument

has proven, still the lawgiver, who is worth anything, if he ever

ventures to tell a lie to the young for their good, could not invent a

more useful lie than this, or one which will have a better effect in

making them do what is right, not on compulsion but voluntarily.

  Cle. Truth, Stranger, is a noble thing and a lasting, but a thing of

which men are hard to be persuaded.

  Ath. And yet the story of the Sidonian Cadmus, which is so

improbable, has been readily believed, and also innumerable other

tales.

  Cle. What is that story?

  Ath. The story of armed men springing up after the sowing of

teeth, which the legislator may take as a proof that he can persuade

the minds of the young of anything; so that he has only to reflect and

find out what belief will be of the greatest public advantage, and

then use all his efforts to make the whole community utter one and the

same word in their songs and tales and discourses all their life long.

But if you do not agree with me, there is no reason why you should not

argue on the other side.

  Cle. I do not see that any argument can fairly be raised by either

of us against what you are now saying.

  Ath. The next suggestion which I have to offer is, that all our

three choruses shall sing to the young and tender souls of children,

reciting in their strains all the noble thoughts of which we have

already spoken, or are about to speak; and the sum of them shall be,

that the life which is by the Gods deemed to be the happiest is also

the best;-we shall affirm this to be a most certain truth; and the

minds of our young disciples will be more likely to receive these

words of ours than any others which we might address to them.

  Cle. I assent to what you say.

  Ath. First will enter in their natural order the sacred choir

composed of children, which is to sing lustily the heaven-taught lay

to the whole city. Next will follow the choir of young men under the

age of thirty, who will call upon the God Paean to testify to the

truth of their words, and will pray him to be gracious to the youth

and to turn their hearts. Thirdly, the choir of elder men, who are

from thirty to sixty years of age, will also sing. There remain

those who are too old to sing, and they will tell stories,

illustrating the same virtues, as with the voice of an oracle.

  Cle. Who are those who compose the third choir, Stranger? for I do

not clearly understand what you mean to say about them.

  Ath. And yet almost all that I have been saying has said with a view

to them.

  Cle. Will you try to be a little plainer?

  Ath. I was speaking at the commencement of our discourse, as you

will remember, of the fiery nature of young creatures: I said that

they were unable to keep quiet either in limb or voice, and that

they called out and jumped about in a disorderly manner; and that no

other animal attained to any perception of order, but man only. Now

the order of motion is called rhythm, and the order of the voice, in

which high and low are duly mingled, is called harmony; and both

together are termed choric song. And I said that the Gods had pity

on us, and gave us Apollo and the Muses to be our playfellows and

leaders in the dance; and Dionysus, as I dare say that you will

remember, was the third.

  Cle. I quite remember.

  Ath. Thus far I have spoken of the chorus of Apollo and the Muses,

and I have still to speak of the remaining chorus, which is that of

Dionysus.

  Cle. How is that arranged? There is something strange, at any rate

on first hearing, in a Dionysiac chorus of old men, if you really mean

that those who are above thirty, and may be fifty, or from fifty to

sixty years of age, are to dance in his honour.

  Ath. Very true; and therefore it must be shown that there is good

reason for the proposal.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Are we agreed thus far?

  Cle. About what?

  Ath. That every man and boy, slave and free, both sexes, and the

whole city, should never cease charming themselves with the strains of

which we have spoken; and that there should be every sort of change

and variation of them in order to take away the effect of sameness, so

that the singers may always receive pleasure from their hymns, and may

never weary of them?

  Cle. Every one will agree.

  Ath. Where, then, will that best part of our city which, by reason

of age and intelligence, has the greatest influence, sing these

fairest of strains, which are to do so much good? Shall we be so

foolish as to let them off who would give us the most beautiful and

also the most useful of songs?

  Cle. But, says the argument, we cannot let them off.

  Ath. Then how can we carry out our purpose with decorum? Will this

be the way?

  Cle. What?

  Ath. When a man is advancing in years, he is afraid and reluctant to

sing;-he has no pleasure in his own performances; and if compulsion is

used, he will be more and more ashamed, the older and more discreet he

grows;-is not this true?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Well, and will he not be yet more ashamed if he has to stand up

and sing in the theatre to a mixed audience?-and if moreover when he

is required to do so, like the other choirs who contend for prizes,

and have been trained under a singing master, he is pinched and

hungry, he will certainly have a feeling of shame and discomfort which

will make him very unwilling to exhibit.

  Cle. No doubt.

  Ath. How, then, shall we reassure him, and get him to sing? Shall we

begin by enacting that boys shall not taste wine at all until they are

eighteen years of age; we will tell them that fire must not be

poured upon fire, whether in the body or in the soul, until they begin

to go to work-this is a precaution which has to be taken against the

excitableness of youth;-afterwards they may taste wine in moderation

up to the age of thirty, but while a man is young he should abstain

altogether from intoxication and from excess of wine; when, at length,

he has reached forty years, after dinner at a public mess, he may

invite not only the other Gods, but Dionysus above all, to the mystery

and festivity of the elder men, making use of the wine which he has

given men to lighten the sourness of old age; that in age we may renew

our youth, and forget our sorrows; and also in order that the nature

of the soul, like iron melted in the fire, may become softer and so

more impressible. In the first place, will not any one who is thus

mellowed be more ready and less ashamed to sing-I do not say before

a large audience, but before a moderate company; nor yet among

strangers, but among his familiars, and, as we have often said, to

chant, and to enchant?

  Cle. He will be far more ready.

  Ath. There will be no impropriety in our using such a method of

persuading them to join with us in song.

  Cle. None at all.

  Ath. And what strain will they sing, and what muse will they hymn?

The strain should clearly be one suitable to them.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And what strain is suitable for heroes? Shall they sing a

choric strain?

  Cle. Truly, Stranger, we of Crete and Lacedaemon know no strain

other than that which we have learnt and been accustomed to sing in

our chorus.

  Ath. I dare say; for you have never acquired the knowledge of the

most beautiful kind of song, in your military way of life, which is

modelled after the camp, and is not like that of dwellers in cities;

and you have your young men herding and feeding together like young

colts. No one takes his own individual colt and drags him away from

his fellows against his will, raging and foaming, and gives him a

groom to attend to him alone, and trains and rubs him down

privately, and gives him the qualities in education which will make

him not only a good soldier, but also a governor of a state and of

cities. Such an one, as we said at first, would be a greater warrior

than he of whom Tyrtaeus sings; and he would honour courage

everywhere, but always as the fourth, and not as the first part of

virtue, either in individuals or states.

  Cle. Once more, Stranger, I must complain that you depreciate our

lawgivers.

  Ath. Not intentionally, if at all, my good friend; but whither the

argument leads, thither let us follow; for if there be indeed some

strain of song more beautiful than that of the choruses or the

public theatres, I should like to impart it to those who, as we say,

are ashamed of these, and want to have the best.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. When things have an accompanying charm, either the best thing

in them is this very charm, or there is some rightness or utility

possessed by them;-for example, I should say that eating and drinking,

and the use of food in general, have an accompanying charm which we

call pleasure; but that this rightness and utility is just the

healthfulness of the things served up to us, which is their true

rightness.

  Cle. Just so.

  Ath. Thus, too, I should say that learning has a certain

accompanying charm which is the pleasure; but that the right and the

profitable, the good and the noble, are qualities which the truth

gives to it.

  Cle. Exactly.

  Ath. And so in the imitative arts-if they succeed in making

likenesses, and are accompanied by pleasure, may not their works be

said to have a charm?

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. But equal proportions, whether of quality or quantity, and

not pleasure, speaking generally, would give them truth or rightness.

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. Then that only can be rightly judged by the standard of

pleasure, which makes or furnishes no utility or truth or likeness,

nor on the other hand is productive of any hurtful quality, but exists

solely for the sake of the accompanying charm; and the term "pleasure"

is most appropriately applied to it when these other qualities are

absent.

  Cle. You are speaking of harmless pleasure, are you not?

  Ath. Yes; and this I term amusement, when doing neither harm nor

good in any degree worth speaking of.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. Then, if such be our principles, we must assert that

imitation is not to be judged of by pleasure and false opinion; and

this is true of all equality, for the equal is not equal or the

symmetrical symmetrical, because somebody thinks or likes something,

but they are to be judged of by the standard of truth, and by no other

whatever.

  Cle. Quite true.

  Ath. Do we not regard all music as representative and imitative?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Then, when any one says that music is to be judged of by

pleasure, his doctrine cannot be admitted; and if there be any music

of which pleasure is the criterion, such music is not to be sought out

or deemed to have any real excellence, but only that other kind of

music which is an imitation of the good.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. And those who seek for the best kind of song and music ought

not to seek for that which is pleasant, but for that which is true;

and the truth of imitation consists, as we were saying, in rendering

the thing imitated according to quantity and quality.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And every one will admit that musical compositions are all

imitative and representative. Will not poets and spectators and actors

all agree in this?

  Cle. They will.

  Ath. Surely then he who would judge correctly must know what each

composition is; for if he does not know what is the character and

meaning of the piece, and what it represents, he will never discern

whether the intention is true or false.

  Cle. Certainly not.

  Ath. And will he who does not know what is true be able to

distinguish what is good and bad? My statement is not very clear;

but perhaps you will understand me better if I put the matter in

another way.

  Cle. How?

  Ath. There are ten thousand likenesses of objects of sight?

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. And can he who does not know what the exact object is which

is imitated, ever know whether the resemblance is truthfully executed?

I mean, for example, whether a statue has the proportions of a body,

and the true situation of the parts; what those proportions are, and

how the parts fit into one another in due order; also their colours

and conformations, or whether this is all confused in the execution:

do you think that any one can know about this, who does not know

what the animal is which has been imitated?

  Cle. Impossible.

  Ath. But even if we know that the thing pictured or sculptured is

a man, who has received at the hand of the artist all his proper parts

and colours and shapes, must we not also know whether the work is

beautiful or in any respect deficient in beauty?

  Cle. If this were not required, Stranger, we should all of us be

judges of beauty.

  Ath. Very true; and may we not say that in everything imitated,

whether in drawing, music, or any other art, he who is to be a

competent judge must possess three things;-he must know, in the

first place, of what the imitation is; secondly, he must know that

it is true; and thirdly, that it has been well executed in words and

melodies and rhythms?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Then let us not faint in discussing the peculiar difficulty

of music. Music is more celebrated than any other kind of imitation,

and therefore requires the greatest care of them all. For if a man

makes a mistake here, he may do himself the greatest injury by

welcoming evil dispositions, and the mistake may be very difficult

to discern, because the poets are artists very inferior in character

to the Muses themselves, who would never fall into the monstrous error

of assigning to the words of men the gestures and songs of women;

nor after combining the melodies with the gestures of freemen would

they add on the rhythms of slaves and men of the baser sort; nor,

beginning with the rhythms and gestures of freemen, would they

assign to them a melody or words which are of an opposite character;

nor would they mix up the voices and sounds of animals and of men

and instruments, and every other sort of noise, as if they were all

one. But human poets are fond of introducing this sort of inconsistent

mixture, and so make themselves ridiculous in the eyes of those who,

as Orpheus says, "are ripe for true pleasure." The experienced see all

this confusion, and yet the poets go on and make still further havoc

by separating the rhythm and the figure of the dance from the

melody, setting bare words to metre, and also separating the melody

and the rhythm from the words, using the lyre or the flute alone.

For when there are no words, it is very difficult to recognize the

meaning of the harmony and rhythm, or to see that any worthy object is

imitated by them. And we must acknowledge that all this sort of thing,

which aims only at swiftness and smoothness and a brutish noise, and

uses the flute and the lyre not as the mere accompaniments of the

dance and song, is exceedingly coarse and tasteless. The use of either

instrument, when unaccompanied, leads to every sort of irregularity

and trickery. This is all rational enough. But we are considering

not how our choristers, who are from thirty to fifty years of age, and

may be over fifty, are not to use the Muses, but how they are to use

them. And the considerations which we have urged seem to show in

what way these fifty year-old choristers who are to sing, may be

expected to be better trained. For they need to have a quick

perception and knowledge of harmonies and rhythms; otherwise, how

can they ever know whether a melody would be rightly sung to the

Dorian mode, or to the rhythm which the poet has assigned to it?

  Cle. Clearly they cannot.

  Ath. The many are ridiculous in imagining that they know what is

in proper harmony and rhythm, and what is not, when they can only be

made to sing and step in rhythm by force; it never occurs to them that

they are ignorant of what they are doing. Now every melody is right

when it has suitable harmony and rhythm, and wrong when unsuitable.

  Cle. That is most certain.

  Ath. But can a man who does not know a thing, as we were saying,

know that the thing is right?

  Cle. Impossible.

  Ath. Then now, as would appear, we are making the discovery that our

newly-appointed choristers, whom we hereby invite and, although they

are their own masters, compel to sing, must be educated to such an

extent as to be able to follow the steps of the rhythm and the notes

of the song, that they may know the harmonies and rhythms, and be able

to select what are suitable for men of their age and character to

sing; and may sing them, and have innocent pleasure from their own

performance, and also lead younger men to welcome with dutiful delight

good dispositions. Having such training, they will attain a more

accurate knowledge than falls to the lot of the common people, or even

of the poets themselves. For the poet need not know the third point,

viz., whether the imitation is good or not, though he can hardly

help knowing the laws of melody and rhythm. But the aged chorus must

know all the three, that they may choose the best, and that which is

nearest to the best; for otherwise they will never be able to charm

the souls of young men in the way of virtue. And now the original

design of the argument which was intended to bring eloquent aid to the

Chorus of Dionysus, has been accomplished to the best of our

ability, and let us see whether we were right:-I should imagine that a

drinking assembly is likely to become more and more tumultuous as

the drinking goes on: this, as we were saying at first, will certainly

be the case.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Every man has a more than natural elevation; his heart is

glad within him, and he will say anything and will be restrained by

nobody at such a time; he fancies that he is able to rule over himself

and all mankind.

  Cle. Quite true.

  Ath. Were we not saying that on such occasions the souls of the

drinkers become like iron heated in the fire, and grow softer and

younger, and are easily moulded by him who knows how to educate and

fashion them, just as when they were young, and that this fashioner of

them is the same who prescribed for them in the days of their youth,

viz., the good legislator; and that he ought to enact laws of the

banquet, which, when a man is confident, bold, and impudent, and

unwilling to wait his turn and have his share of silence and speech,

and drinking and music, will change his character into the

opposite-such laws as will infuse into him a just and noble fear,

which will take up arms at the approach of insolence, being that

divine fear which we have called reverence and shame?

  Cle. True.

  Ath. And the guardians of these laws and fellow-workers with them

are the calm and sober generals of the drinkers; and without their

help there is greater difficulty in fighting against drink than in

fighting against enemies when the commander of an army is not

himself calm; and he who is unwilling to obey them and the

commanders of Dionysiac feasts who are more than sixty years of age,

shall suffer a disgrace as great as he who disobeys military

leaders, or even greater.

  Cle. Right.

  Ath. If, then, drinking and amusement were regulated in this way,

would not the companions of our revels be improved? they would part

better friends than they were, and not, as now enemies. Their whole

intercourse would be regulated by law and observant of it, and the

sober would be the leaders of the drunken.

  Cle. I think so too, if drinking were regulated as you propose.

  Ath. Let us not then simply censure the gift of Dionysus as bad

and unfit to be received into the State. For wine has many

excellences, and one pre-eminent one, about which there is a

difficulty in speaking to the many, from a fear of their misconceiving

and misunderstanding what is said.

  Cle. To what do you refer?

  Ath. There is a tradition or story, which has somehow crept about

the world, that Dionysus was robbed of his wits by his stepmother

Here, and that out of revenge he inspires Bacchic furies and dancing

madnesses in others; for which reason he gave men wine. Such

traditions concerning the Gods I leave to those who think that they

may be safely uttered; I only know that no animal at birth is mature

or perfect in intelligence; and in the intermediate period, in which

he has not yet acquired his own proper sense, he rages and roars

without rhyme or reason; and when he has once got on his legs he jumps

about without rhyme or reason; and this, as you will remember, has

been already said by us to be the origin of music and gymnastic.

  Cle. To be sure, I remember.

  Ath. And did we not say that the sense of harmony and rhythm

sprang from this beginning among men, and that Apollo and the Muses

and Dionysus were the Gods whom we had to thank for them?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. The other story implied that wine was given man out of revenge,

and in order to make him mad; but our present doctrine, on the

contrary, is, that wine was given him as a balm, and in order to

implant modesty in the soul, and health and strength in the body.

  Cle. That, Stranger, is precisely what was said.

  Ath. Then half the subject may now be considered to have been

discussed; shall we proceed to the consideration of the other half?

  Cle. What is the other half, and how do you divide the subject?

  Ath. The whole choral art is also in our view the whole of

education; and of this art, rhythms and harmonies form the part

which has to do with the voice.

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. The movement of the body has rhythm in common with the movement

of the voice, but gesture is peculiar to it, whereas song is simply

the movement of the voice.

  Cle. Most true.

  Ath. And the sound of the voice which reaches and educates the soul,

we have ventured to term music.

  Cle. We were right.

  Ath. And the movement of the body, when regarded as an amusement, we

termed dancing; but when extended and pursued with a view to the

excellence of the body, this scientific training may be called

gymnastic.

  Cle. Exactly.

  Ath. Music, which was one half of the choral art, may be said to

have been completely discussed. Shall we proceed to the other half

or not? What would you like?

  Cle. My good friend, when you are talking with a Cretan and

Lacedaemonian, and we have discussed music and not gymnastic, what

answer are either of us likely to make to such an enquiry?

  Ath. An answer is contained in your question; and I understand and

accept what you say not only as an answer, but also as a command to

proceed with gymnastic.

  Cle. You quite understand me; do as you say.

  Ath. I will; and there will not be any difficulty in speaking

intelligibly to you about a subject with which both of you are far

more familiar than with music.

  Cle. There will not.

  Ath. Is not the origin of gymnastics, too, to be sought in the

tendency to rapid motion which exists in all animals; man, as we

were saying, having attained the sense of rhythm, created and invented

dancing; and melody arousing and awakening rhythm, both united

formed the choral art?

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. And one part of this subject has been already discussed by

us, and there still remains another to be discussed?

  Cle. Exactly.

  Ath. I have first a final word to add to my discourse about drink,

if you will allow me to do so.

  Cle. What more have you to say?

  Ath. I should say that if a city seriously means to adopt the

practice of drinking under due regulation and with a view to the

enforcement of temperance, and in like manner, and on the same

principle, will allow of other pleasures, designing to gain the

victory over them in this way all of them may be used. But if the

State makes drinking an amusement only, and whoever likes may drink

whenever he likes, and with whom he likes, and add to this any other

indulgences, I shall never agree or allow that this city or this man

should practise drinking. I would go further than the Cretans and

Lacedaemonians, and am disposed rather to the law of the

Carthaginians, that no one while he is on a campaign should be allowed

to taste wine at all, but that he should drink water during all that

time, and that in the city no slave, male or female, should ever drink

wine; and that no magistrates should drink during their year of

office, nor should pilots of vessels or judges while on duty taste

wine at all, nor any one who is going to hold a consultation about any

matter of importance; nor in the daytime at all, unless in consequence

of exercise or as medicine; nor again at night, when any one, either

man or woman, is minded to get children. There are numberless other

cases also in which those who have good sense and good laws ought

not to drink wine, so that if what I say is true, no city will need

many vineyards. Their husbandry and their way of life in general

will follow an appointed order, and their cultivation of the vine will

be the most limited and the least common of their employments. And

this, Stranger, shall be the crown of my discourse about wine, if

you agree.

  Cle. Excellent: we agree.

  BOOK III



  Athenian Stranger. Enough of this. And what, then, is to be regarded

as the origin of government? Will not a man be able to judge of it

best from a point of view in which he may behold the progress of

states and their transitions to good or evil?

  Cleinias. What do you mean?

  Ath. I mean that he might watch them from the point of view of time,

and observe the changes which take place in them during infinite ages.

  Cle. How so?

  Ath. Why, do you think that you can reckon the time which has

elapsed since cities first existed and men were citizens of them?

  Cle. Hardly.

  Ath. But are sure that it must be vast and incalculable?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And have not thousands and thousands of cities come into

being during this period and as many perished? And has not each of

them had every form of government many times over, now growing larger,

now smaller, and again improving or declining?

  Cle. To be sure.

  Ath. Let us endeavour to ascertain the cause of these changes; for

that will probably explain the first origin and development of forms

of government.

  Cle. Very good. You shall endeavour to impart your thoughts to us,

and we will make an effort to understand you.

  Ath. Do you believe that there is any truth in ancient traditions?

  Cle. What traditions?

  Ath. The traditions about the many destructions of mankind which

have been occasioned by deluges and pestilences, and in many other

ways, and of the survival of a remnant?

  Cle. Every one is disposed to believe them.

  Ath. Let us consider one of them, that which was caused by the

famous deluge.

  Cle. What are we to observe about it?

  Ath. I mean to say that those who then escaped would only be hill

shepherds-small sparks of the human race preserved on the tops of

mountains.

  Cle. Clearly.

  Ath. Such survivors would necessarily be unacquainted with the

arts and the various devices which are suggested to the dwellers in

cities by interest or ambition, and with all the wrongs which they

contrive against one another.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. Let us suppose, then, that the cities in the plain and on the

sea-coast were utterly destroyed at that time.

  Cle. Very good.

  Ath. Would not all implements have then perished and every other

excellent invention of political or any other sort of wisdom have

utterly disappeared?

  Cle. Why, yes, my friend; and if things had always continued as they

are at present ordered, how could any discovery have ever been made

even in the least particular? For it is evident that the arts were

unknown during ten thousand times ten thousand years. And no more than

a thousand or two thousand years have elapsed since the discoveries of

Daedalus, Orpheus and Palamedes-since Marsyas and Olympus invented

music, and Amphion the lyre-not to speak of numberless other

inventions which are but of yesterday.

  Ath. Have you forgotten, Cleinias, the name of a friend who is

really of yesterday?

  Cle. I suppose that you mean Epimenides.

  Ath. The same, my friend; he does indeed far overleap the heads of

all mankind by his invention; for he carried out in practice, as you

declare, what of old Hesiod only preached.

  Cle. Yes, according to our tradition.

  Ath. After the great destruction, may we not suppose that the

state of man was something of this sort:-In the beginning of things

there was a fearful illimitable desert and a vast expanse of land; a

herd or two of oxen would be the only survivors of the animal world;

and there might be a few goats, these too hardly enough to maintain

the shepherds who tended them?

  Cle. True.

  Ath. And of cities or governments or legislation, about which we are

now talking, do you suppose that they could have any recollection at

all?

  Cle. None whatever.

  Ath. And out of this state of things has there not sprung all that

we now are and have: cities and governments, and arts and laws, and

a great deal of vice and a great deal of virtue?

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. Why, my good friend, how can we possibly suppose that those who

knew nothing of all the good and evil of cities could have attained

their full development, whether of virtue or of vice?

  Cle. I understand your meaning, and you are quite right.

  Ath. But, as time advanced and the race multiplied, the world came

to be what the world is.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. Doubtless the change was not made all in a moment, but little

by little, during a very long period of time.

  Cle. A highly probable supposition.

  Ath. At first, they would have a natural fear ringing in their

ears which would prevent their descending from the heights into the

plain.

  Cle. Of course.

  Ath. The fewness of the survivors at that time would have made

them all the more desirous of seeing one another; but then the means

of travelling either by land or sea had been almost entirely lost,

as I may say, with the loss of the arts, and there was great

difficulty in getting at one another; for iron and brass and all

metals were jumbled together and had disappeared in the chaos; nor was

there any possibility of extracting ore from them; and they had

scarcely any means of felling timber. Even if you suppose that some

implements might have been preserved in the mountains, they must

quickly have worn out and vanished, and there would be no more of them

until the art of metallurgy had again revived.

  Cle. There could not have been.

  Ath. In how many generations would this be attained?

  Cle. Clearly, not for many generations.

  Ath. During this period, and for some time afterwards, all the

arts which require iron and brass and the like would disappear.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Faction and war would also have died out in those days, and for

many reasons.

  Cle. How would that be?

  Ath. In the first place, the desolation of these primitive men would

create in them a feeling of affection and good-will towards one

another; and, secondly, they would have no occasion to quarrel about

their subsistence, for they would have pasture in abundance, except

just at first, and in some particular cases; and from their

pasture-land they would obtain the greater part of their food in a

primitive age, having plenty of milk and flesh; moreover they would

procure other food by the chase, not to be despised either in quantity

or quality. They would also have abundance of clothing, and bedding,

and dwellings, and utensils either capable of standing on the fire

or not; for the plastic and weaving arts do not require any use of

iron: and God has given these two arts to man in order to provide

him with all such things, that, when reduced to the last extremity,

the human race may still grow and increase. Hence in those days

mankind were not very poor; nor was poverty a cause of difference

among them; and rich they could not have been, having neither gold nor

silver:-such at that time was their condition. And the community which

has neither poverty nor riches will always have the noblest

principles; in it there is no insolence or injustice, nor, again,

are there any contentions or envyings. And therefore they were good,

and also because they were what is called simple-minded; and when they

were told about good and evil, they in their simplicity believed

what they heard to be very truth and practised it. No one had the

wit to suspect another of a falsehood, as men do now; but what they

heard about Gods and men they believed to be true, and lived

accordingly; and therefore they were in all respects such as we have

described them.

  Cle. That quite accords with my views, and with those of my friend

here.

  Ath. Would not many generations living on in a simple manner,

although ruder, perhaps, and more ignorant of the arts generally,

and in particular of those of land or naval warfare, and likewise of

other arts, termed in cities legal practices and party conflicts,

and including all conceivable ways of hurting one another in word

and deed;-although inferior to those who lived before the deluge, or

to the men of our day in these respects, would they not, I say, be

simpler and more manly, and also more temperate and altogether more

just? The reason has been already explained.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. I should wish you to understand that what has preceded and what

is about to follow, has been, and will be said, with the intention

of explaining what need the men of that time had of laws, and who

was their lawgiver.

  Cle. And thus far what you have said has been very well said.

  Ath. They could hardly have wanted lawgivers as yet; nothing of that

sort was likely to have existed in their days, for they had no letters

at this early period; they lived by habit and the customs of their

ancestors, as they are called.

  Cle. Probably.

  Ath. But there was already existing a form of government which, if I

am not mistaken, is generally termed a lordship, and this still

remains in many places, both among Hellenes and barbarians, and is the

government which is declared by Homer to have prevailed among the

Cyclopes:



  They have neither councils nor judgments, but they dwell in hollow

caves on the tops of high mountains, and every one gives law to his

wife and children, and they do not busy themselves about one another.



  Cle. That seems to be a charming poet of yours; I have read some

other verses of his, which are very clever; but I do not know much

of him, for foreign poets are very little read among the Cretans.

  Megillus. But they are in Lacedaemon, and he appears to be the

prince of them all; the manner of life, however, which he describes is

not Spartan, but rather Ionian, and he seems quite to confirm what you

are saying, when he traces up the ancient state of mankind by the help

of tradition to barbarism.

  Ath. Yes, he does confirm it; and we may accept his witness to the

fact that such forms of government sometimes arise.

  Cle. We may.

  Ath. And were not such states composed of men who had been dispersed

in single habitations and families by the poverty which attended the

devastations; and did not the eldest then rule among them, because

with them government originated in the authority of a father and a

mother, whom, like a flock of birds, they followed, forming one

troop under the patriarchal rule and sovereignty of their parents,

which of all sovereignties is the most just?

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. After this they came together in greater numbers, and increased

the size of their cities, and betook themselves to husbandry, first of

all at the foot of the mountains, and made enclosures of loose walls

and works of defence, in order to keep off wild beasts; thus

creating a single large and common habitation.

  Cle. Yes; at least we may suppose so.

  Ath. There is another thing which would probably happen.

  Cle. What?

  Ath. When these larger habitations grew up out of the lesser

original ones, each of the lesser ones would survive in the larger;

every family would be under the rule of the eldest, and, owing to

their separation from one another, would have peculiar customs in

things divine and human, which they would have received from their

several parents who had educated them; and these customs would incline

them to order, when the parents had the element of order in their

nature, and to courage, when they had the element of courage. And they

would naturally stamp upon their children, and upon their children's

children, their own likings; and, as we are saying, they would find

their way into the larger society, having already their own peculiar

laws.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And every man surely likes his own laws best, and the laws of

others not so well.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Then now we seem to have stumbled upon the beginnings of

legislation.

  Cle. Exactly.

  Ath. The next step will be that these persons who have met together,

will select some arbiters, who will review the laws of all of them,

and will publicly present such as they approve to the chiefs who

lead the tribes, and who are in a manner their kings, allowing them to

choose those which they think best. These persons will themselves be

called legislators, and will appoint the magistrates, framing some

sort of aristocracy, or perhaps monarchy, out of the dynasties or

lordships, and in this altered state of the government they will live.

  Cle. Yes, that would be the natural order of things.

  Ath. Then, now let us speak of a third form of government, in

which all other forms and conditions of polities and cities concur.

  Cle. What is that?

  Ath. The form which in fact Homer indicates as following the second.

This third form arose when, as he says, Dardanus founded Dardania:



  For not as yet had the holy Ilium been built on the plain to be a

city of speaking men; but they were still dwelling at the foot of

many-fountained Ida.



For indeed, in these verses, and in what he said of the Cyclopes, he

speaks the words of God and nature; for poets are a divine race and

often in their strains, by the aid of the Muses and the Graces, they

attain truth.

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. Then now let us proceed with the rest of our tale, which will

probably be found to illustrate in some degree our proposed

design:-Shall we do so?

  Cle. By all means.

  Ath. Ilium was built, when they descended from the mountain, in a

large and fair plain, on a sort of low hill, watered by many rivers

descending from Ida.

  Cle. Such is the tradition.

  Ath. And we must suppose this event to have taken place many ages

after the deluge?

  Ath. A marvellous forgetfulness of the former destruction would

appear to have come over them, when they placed their town right under

numerous streams flowing from the heights, trusting for their security

to not very high hills, either.

  Cle. There must have been a long interval, clearly.

  Ath. And, as population increased, many other cities would begin

to be inhabited.

  Cle. Doubtless.

  Ath. Those cities made war against Troy-by sea as well as land-for

at that time men were ceasing to be afraid of the sea.

  Cle. Clearly.

  Ath. The Achaeans remained ten years, and overthrew Troy.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. And during the ten years in which the Achaeans were besieging

Ilium, the homes of the besiegers were falling into an evil plight.

Their youth revolted; and when the soldiers returned to their own

cities and families, they did not receive them properly, and as they

ought to have done, and numerous deaths, murders, exiles, were the

consequence. The exiles came again, under a new name, no longer

Achaeans, but Dorians-a name which they derived from Dorieus; for it

was he who gathered them together. The rest of the story is told by

you Lacedaemonians as part of the history of Sparta.

  Meg. To be sure.

  Ath. Thus, after digressing from the original subject of laws into

music and drinking-bouts, the argument has, providentially, come

back to the same point, and presents to us another handle. For we have

reached the settlement of Lacedaemon; which, as you truly say, is in

laws and in institutions the sister of Crete. And we are all the

better for the digression, because we have gone through various

governments and settlements, and have been present at the foundation

of a first, second, and third state, succeeding one another in

infinite time. And now there appears on the horizon a fourth state

or nation which was once in process of settlement and has continued

settled to this day. If, out of all this, we are able to discern

what is well or ill settled, and what laws are the salvation and

what are the destruction of cities, and what changes would make a

state happy, O Megillus and Cleinias, we may now begin again, unless

we have some fault to find with the previous discussion.

  Meg. If some God, Stranger, would promise us that our new enquiry

about legislation would be as good and full as the present, I would go

a great way to hear such another, and would think that a day as long

as this-and we are now approaching the longest day of the year-was too

short for the discussion.

  Ath. Then I suppose that we must consider this subject?

  Meg. Certainly.

  Ath. Let us place ourselves in thought at the moment when Lacedaemon

and Argos and Messene and the rest of the Peloponnesus were all in

complete subjection, Megillus, to your ancestors; for afterwards, as

the legend informs us, they divided their army into three portions,

and settled three cities, Argos, Messene, Lacedaemon.

  Meg. True.

  Ath. Temenus was the king of Argos, Cresphontes of Messene,

Procles and Eurysthenes of Lacedaemon.

  Meg. Certainly.

  Ath. To these kings all the men of that day made oath that they

would assist them, if any one subverted their kingdom.

  Meg. True.

  Ath. But can a kingship be destroyed, or was any other form of

government ever destroyed, by any but the rulers themselves? No

indeed, by Zeus. Have we already forgotten what was said a little

while ago?

  Meg. No.

  Ath. And may we not now further confirm what was then mentioned? For

we have come upon facts which have brought us back again to the same

principle; so that, in resuming the discussion, we shall not be

enquiring about an empty theory, but about events which actually

happened. The case was as follows:-Three royal heroes made oath to

three cities which were under a kingly government, and the cities to

the kings, that both rulers and subjects should govern and be governed

according to the laws which were common to all of them: the rulers

promised that as time and the race went forward they would not make

their rule more arbitrary; and the subjects said that, if the rulers

observed these conditions, they would never subvert or permit others

to subvert those kingdoms; the kings were to assist kings and

peoples when injured, and the peoples were to assist peoples and kings

in like manner. Is not this the fact?

  Meg. Yes.

  Ath. And the three states to whom these laws were given, whether

their kings or any others were the authors of them, had therefore

the greatest security for the maintenance of their constitutions?

  Meg. What security?

  Ath. That the other two states were always to come to the rescue

against a rebellious third.

  Meg. True.

  Ath. Many persons say that legislators ought to impose such laws

as the mass of the people will be ready to receive; but this is just

as if one were to command gymnastic masters or physicians to treat

or cure their pupils or patients in an agreeable manner.

  Meg. Exactly.

  Ath. Whereas the physician may often be too happy if he can

restore health, and make the body whole, without any very great

infliction of pain.

  Meg. Certainly.

  Ath. There was also another advantage possessed by the men of that

day, which greatly lightened the task of passing laws.

  Meg. What advantage?

  Ath. The legislators of that day, when they equalized property,

escaped the great accusation which generally arises in legislation, if

a person attempts to disturb the possession of land, or to abolish

debts, because he sees that without this reform there can never be any

real equality. Now, in general, when the legislator attempts to make a

new settlement of such matters, every one meets him with the cry, that

"he is not to disturb vested interests"-declaring with imprecations

that he is introducing agrarian laws and cancelling of debts, until

a man is at his wits end; whereas no one could quarrel with the

Dorians for distributing the land-there was nothing to hinder them;

and as for debts, they had none which were considerable or of old

standing.

  Meg. Very true.

  Ath. But then, my good friends, why did the settlement and

legislation of their country turn out so badly?

  Meg. How do you mean; and why do you blame them?

  Ath. There were three kingdoms, and of these, two quickly

corrupted their original constitution and laws, and the only one which

remained was the Spartan.

  Meg. The question which you ask is not easily answered.

  Ath. And yet must be answered when we are enquiring about laws, this

being our old man's sober game of play, whereby we beguile the way, as

I was saying when we first set out on our journey.

  Meg. Certainly; and we must find out why this was.

  Ath. What laws are more worthy of our attention than those which

have regulated such cities? or what settlements of states are

greater or more famous?

  Meg. I know of none.

  Ath. Can we doubt that your ancestors intended these institutions

not only for the protection of Peloponnesus, but of all the

Hellenes. in case they were attacked by the barbarian? For the

inhabitants of the region about Ilium, when they provoked by their

insolence the Trojan war, relied upon the power of the Assyrians and

the Empire of Ninus, which still existed and had a great prestige; the

people of those days fearing the united Assyrian Empire just as we now

fear the Great King. And the second capture of Troy was a serious

offence against them, because Troy was a portion of the Assyrian

Empire. To meet the danger the single army was distributed between

three cities by the royal brothers, sons of Heracles-a fair device, as

it seemed, and a far better arrangement than the expedition against

Troy. For, firstly, the people of that day had, as they thought, in

the Heraclidae better leaders than the Pelopidae; in the next place,

they considered that their army was superior in valour to that which

went against Troy; for, although the latter conquered the Trojans,

they were themselves conquered by the Heraclidae-Achaeans by

Dorians. May we not suppose that this was the intention with which the

men of those days framed the constitutions of their states?

  Meg. Quite true.

  Ath. And would not men who had shared with one another many dangers,

and were governed by a single race of royal brothers, and had taken

the advice of oracles, and in particular of the Delphian Apollo, be

likely to think that such states would be firmly and lastingly

established?

  Meg. Of course they would.

  Ath. Yet these institutions, of which such great expectations were

entertained, seem to have all rapidly vanished away; with the

exception, as I was saying, of that small part of them which existed

in yourland.And this third part has never to this day ceased warring

against the two others; whereas, if the original idea had been carried

out, and they had agreed to be one, their power would have been

invincible in war.

  Meg. No doubt.

  Ath. But what was the ruin of this glorious confederacy? Here is a

subject well worthy of consideration.

  Meg. Certainly, no one will ever find more striking instances of

laws or governments being the salvation or destruction of great and

noble interests, than are here presented to his view.

  Ath. Then now we seem to have happily arrived at a real and

important question.

  Meg. Very true.

  Ath. Did you never remark, sage friend, that all men, and we

ourselves at this moment, often fancy that they see some beautiful

thing which might have effected wonders if any one had only known

how to make a right use of it in some way; and yet this mode of

looking at things may turn out after all to be a mistake, and not

according to nature, either in our own case or in any other?

  Meg. To what are you referring, and what do you mean?

  Ath. I was thinking of my own admiration of the aforesaid

Heracleid expedition, which was so noble, and might have had such

wonderful results for the Hellenes, if only rightly used; and I was

just laughing at myself.

  Meg. But were you not right and wise in speaking as you did, and

we in assenting to you?

  Ath. Perhaps; and yet I cannot help observing that any one who

sees anything great or powerful, immediately has the feeling

that-"If the owner only knew how to use his great and noble

possession, how happy would he be, and what great results would he

achieve!"

  Meg. And would he not be justified?

  Ath. Reflect; in what point of view does this sort of praise

appear just: First, in reference to the question in hand:-If the

then commanders had known how to arrange their army properly, how

would they have attained success? Would not this have been the way?

They would have bound them all firmly together and preserved them

for ever, giving them freedom and dominion at pleasure, combined

with the power of doing in the whole world, Hellenic and barbarian,

whatever they and their descendants desired. What other aim would they

have had?

  Meg. Very good.

  Ath. Suppose any one were in the same way to express his

admiration at the sight of great wealth or family honour, or the like,

he would praise them under the idea that through them he would

attain either all or the greater and chief part of what he desires.

  Meg. He would.

  Ath. Well, now, and does not the argument show that there is one

common desire of all mankind?

  Meg. What is it?

  Ath. The desire which a man has, that all things, if possible-at any

rate, things human-may come to pass in accordance with his soul's

desire.

  Meg. Certainly.

  Ath. And having this desire always, and at every time of life, in

youth, in manhood, in age, he cannot help always praying for the

fulfilment of it.

  Meg. No doubt.

  Ath. And we join in the prayers of our friends, and ask for them

what they ask for themselves.

  Meg. We do.

  Ath. Dear is the son to the father-the younger to the elder.

  Meg. Of course.

  Ath. And yet the son often prays to obtain things which the father

prays that he may not obtain.

  Meg. When the son is young and foolish, you mean?

  Ath. Yes; or when the father, in the dotage of age or the heat of

youth, having no sense of right and justice, prays with fervour, under

the influence of feelings akin to those of Theseus when he cursed

the unfortunate Hippolytus, do you imagine that the son, having a

sense of right and justice, will join in his father's prayers?

  Meg. I understand you to mean that a man should not desire or be

in a hurry to have all things according to his wish, for his wish

may be at variance with his reason. But every state and every

individual ought to pray and strive for wisdom.

  Ath. Yes; and I remember, and you will remember, what I said at

first, that a statesman and legislator ought to ordain laws with a

view to wisdom; while you were arguing that the good lawgiver ought to

order all with a view to war. And to this I replied that there were

four virtues, but that upon your view one of them only was the aim

of legislation; whereas you ought to regard all virtue, and especially

that which comes first, and is the leader of all the rest-I mean

wisdom and mind and opinion, having affection and desire in their

train. And now the argument returns to the same point, and I say

once more, in jest if you like, or in earnest if you like, that the

prayer of a fool is full of danger, being likely to end in the

opposite of what he desires. And if you would rather receive my

words in earnest, I am willing that you should; and you will find, I

suspect, as I have said already, that not cowardice was the cause of

the ruin of the Dorian kings and of their whole design, nor

ignorance of military matters, either on the part of the rulers or

of their subjects; but their misfortunes were due to their general

degeneracy, and especially to their ignorance of the most important

human affairs. That was then, and is still, and always will be the

case, as I will endeavour, if you will allow me, to make out and

demonstrate as well as I am able to you who are my friends, in the

course of the argument.

  Cle. Pray go on, Stranger;-compliments are troublesome, but we

will show, not in word but in deed, how greatly we prize your words,

for we will give them our best attention; and that is the way in which

a freeman best shows his approval or disapproval.

  Meg. Excellent, Cleinias; let us do as you say.

  Cle. By all means, if Heaven wills. Go on.

  Ath. Well, then, proceeding in the same train of thought, I say that

the greatest ignorance was the ruin of the Dorian power, and that now,

as then, ignorance is ruin. And if this be true, the legislator must

endeavour to implant wisdom in states, and banish ignorance to the

utmost of his power.

  Cle. That is evident.

  Ath. Then now consider what is really the greatest ignorance. I

should like to know whether you and Megillus would agree with me in

what I am about to say; for my opinion is-

  Cle. What?

  Ath. That the greatest ignorance is when a man hates that which he

nevertheless thinks to be good and noble, and loves and embraces

that which he knows to be unrighteous and evil. This disagreement

between the sense of pleasure and the judgment of reason in the soul

is, in my opinion, the worst ignorance; and also the greatest, because

affecting the great mass of the human soul; for the principle which

feels pleasure and pain in the individual is like the mass or populace

in a state. And when the soul is opposed to knowledge, or opinion,

or reason, which are her natural lords, that I call folly, just as

in the state, when the multitude refuses to obey their rulers and

the laws; or, again, in the individual, when fair reasonings have

their habitation in the soul and yet do no good, but rather the

reverse of good. All these cases I term the worst ignorance, whether

in individuals or in states. You will understand, Stranger, that I

am speaking of something which is very different from the ignorance of

handicraftsmen.

  Cle. Yes, my friend, we understand and agree.

  Ath. Let us, then, in the first place declare and affirm that the

citizen who does not know these things ought never to have any kind of

authority entrusted to him: he must be stigmatized as ignorant, even

though he be versed in calculation and skilled in all sorts of

accomplishments, and feats of mental dexterity; and the opposite are

to be called wise, even although, in the words of the proverb, they

know neither how to read nor how to swim; and to them, as to men of

sense, authority is to be committed. For, O my friends, how can

there be the least shadow of wisdom when there is no harmony? There is

none; but the noblest and greatest of harmonies may be truly said to

be the greatest wisdom; and of this he is a partaker who lives

according to reason; whereas he who is devoid of reason is the

destroyer of his house and the very opposite of a saviour of the

state: he is utterly ignorant of political wisdom. Let this, then,

as I was saying, be laid down by us.

  Cle. Let it be so laid down.

  Ath. I suppose that there must be rulers and subjects in states?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And what are the principles on which men rule and obey in

cities, whether great or small; and similarly in families? What are

they, and how many in number? Is there not one claim of authority

which is always just-that of fathers and mothers and in general of

progenitors to rule over their offspring?

  Cle. There is.

  Ath. Next follows the principle that the noble should rule over

the ignoble; and, thirdly, that the elder should rule and the

younger obey?

  Cle. To be sure.

  Ath. And, fourthly, that slaves should be ruled, and their masters

rule?

  Cle. Of course.

  Ath. Fifthly, if I am not mistaken, comes the principle that the

stronger shall rule, and the weaker be ruled?

  Cle. That is a rule not to be disobeyed.

  Ath. Yes, and a rule which prevails very widely among all creatures,

and is according to nature, as the Theban poet Pindar once said; and

the sixth principle, and the greatest of all, is, that the wise should

lead and command, and the ignorant follow and obey; and yet, O thou

most wise Pindar, as I should reply him, this surely is not contrary

to nature, but according to nature, being the rule of law over willing

subjects, and not a rule of compulsion.

  Cle. Most true.

  Ath. There is a seventh kind of rule which is awarded by lot, and is

dear to the Gods and a token of good fortune: he on whom the lot falls

is a ruler, and he who fails in obtaining the lot goes away and is the

subject; and this we affirm to be quite just.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. "Then now," as we say playfully to any of those who lightly

undertake the making of laws, "you see, legislator, the principles

of government, how many they are, and that they are naturally

opposed to each other. There we have discovered a fountain-head of

seditions, to which you must attend. And, first, we will ask you to

consider with us, how and in what respect the kings of Argos and

Messene violated these our maxims, and ruined themselves and the great

and famous Hellenic power of the olden time. Was it because they did

not know how wisely Hesiod spoke when he said that the half is often

more than the whole? His meaning was, that when to take the whole

would be dangerous, and to take the half would be the safe and

moderate course, then the moderate or better was more than the

immoderate or worse."

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. And may we suppose this immoderate spirit to be more fatal when

found among kings than when among peoples?

  Cle. The probability is that ignorance will be a disorder especially

prevalent among kings, because they lead a proud and luxurious life.

  Ath. Is it not palpable that the chief aim of the kings of that time

was to get the better of the established laws, and that they were

not in harmony with the principles which they had agreed to observe by

word and oath? This want of harmony may have had the appearance of

wisdom, but was really, as we assert, the greatest ignorance, and

utterly overthrew the whole empire by dissonance and harsh discord.

  Cle. Very likely.

  Ath. Good; and what measures ought the legislator to have then taken

in order to avert this calamity? Truly there is no great wisdom in

knowing, and no great difficulty in telling, after the evil has

happened; but to have foreseen the remedy at the time would have taken

a much wiser head than ours.

  Meg. What do you mean?

  Ath. Any one who looks at what has occurred with you Lacedaemonians,

Megillus, may easily know and may easily say what ought to have been

done at that time.

  Meg. Speak a little more clearly.

  Ath. Nothing can be clearer than the observation which I am about to

make.

  Meg. What is it?

  Ath. That if any one gives too great a power to anything, too

large a sail to a vessel, too much food to the body, too much

authority to the mind, and does not observe the mean, everything is

overthrown, and, in the wantonness of excess runs in the one case to

disorders, and in the other to injustice, which is the child of

excess. I mean to say, my dear friends, that there is no soul of

man, young and irresponsible, who will be able to sustain the

temptation of arbitrary power-no one who will not, under such

circumstances, become filled with folly, that worst of diseases, and

be hated by his nearest and dearest friends: when this happens, his

kingdom is undermined, and all his power vanishes from him. And

great legislators who know the mean should take heed of the danger. As

far as we can guess at this distance of time, what happened was as

follows:-

  Meg. What?

  Ath. A God, who watched over Sparta, seeing into the future, gave

you two families of kings instead of one; and thus brought you more

within the limits of moderation. In the next place, some human

wisdom mingled with divine power, observing that the constitution of

your government was still feverish and excited, tempered your inborn

strength and pride of birth with the moderation which comes of age,

making the power of your twenty-eight elders equal with that of the

kings in the most important matters. But your third saviour,

perceiving that your government was still swelling and foaming, and

desirous to impose a curb upon it, instituted the Ephors, whose

power he made to resemble that of magistrates elected by lot; and by

this arrangement the kingly office, being compounded of the right

elements and duly moderated, was preserved, and was the means of

preserving all the rest. Since, if there had been only the original

legislators, Temenus, Cresphontes, and their contemporaries, as far as

they were concerned not even the portion of Aristodemus would have

been preserved; for they had no proper experience in legislation, or

they would surely not have imagined that oaths would moderate a

youthful spirit invested with a power which might be converted into

a tyranny. Now that God has instructed us what sort of government

would have been or will be lasting, there is no wisdom, as I have

already said, in judging after the event; there is no difficulty in

learning from an example which has already occurred. But if any one

could have foreseen all this at the time, and had been able to

moderate the government of the three kingdoms and unite them into one,

he might have saved all the excellent institutions which were then

conceived; and no Persian or any other armament would have dared to

attack us, or would have regarded Hellas as a power to be despised.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. There was small credit to us, Cleinias, in defeating them;

and the discredit was, not that the conquerors did not win glorious

victories both by land and sea, but what, in my opinion, brought

discredit was, first of all, the circumstance that of the three cities

one only fought on behalf of Hellas, and the two others were so

utterly good for nothing that the one was waging a mighty war

against Lacedaemon, and was thus preventing her from rendering

assistance, while the city of Argos, which had the precedence at the

time of the distribution, when asked to aid in repelling the

barbarian, would not answer to the call, or give aid. Many things

might be told about Hellas in connection with that war which are far

from honourable; nor, indeed, can we rightly say that Hellas

repelled the invader; for the truth is, that unless the Athenians

and Lacedaemonians, acting in concert, had warded off the impending

yoke, all the tribes of Hellas would have been fused in a chaos of

Hellenes mingling with one another, of barbarians mingling with

Hellenes, and Hellenes with barbarians; just as nations who are now

subject to the Persian power, owing to unnatural separations and

combinations of them, are dispersed and scattered, and live miserably.

These, Cleinias and Megillus, are the reproaches which we have to make

against statesmen and legislators, as they are called, past and

present, if we would analyse the causes of their failure, and find out

what else might have been done. We said, for instance, just now,

that there ought to be no great and unmixed powers; and this was under

the idea that a state ought to be free and wise and harmonious, and

that a legislator ought to legislate with a view to this end. Nor is

there any reason to be surprised at our continually proposing aims for

the legislator which appear not to be always the same; but we should

consider when we say that temperance is to be the aim, or wisdom is to

be the aim, or friendship is to be the aim, that all these aims are

really the same; and if so, a variety in the modes of expression ought

not to disturb us.

  Cle. Let us resume the argument in that spirit. And now, speaking of

friendship and wisdom and freedom, I wish that you would tell me at

what, in your opinion, the legislator should aim.

  Ath. Hear me, then: there are two mother forms of states from

which the rest may be truly said to be derived; and one of them may be

called monarchy and the other democracy: the Persians have the highest

form of the one, and we of the other; almost all the rest, as I was

saying, are variations of these. Now, if you are to have liberty and

the combination of friendship with wisdom, you must have both these

forms of government in a measure; the argument emphatically declares

that no city can be well governed which is not made up of both.

  Cle. Impossible.

  Ath. Neither the one, if it be exclusively and excessively

attached to monarchy, nor the other, if it be similarly attached to

freedom, observes moderation; but your states, the Laconian and

Cretan, have more of it; and the same was the case with the

Athenians and Persians of old time, but now they have less. Shall I

tell you why?

  Cle. By all means, if it will tend to elucidate our subject.

  Ath. Hear, then:-There was a time when the Persians had more of

the state which is a mean between slavery and freedom. In the reign of

Cyrus they were freemen and also lords of many others: the rulers gave

a share of freedom to the subjects, and being treated as equals, the

soldiers were on better terms with their generals, and showed

themselves more ready in the hour of danger. And if there was any wise

man among them, who was able to give good counsel, he imparted his

wisdom to the public; for the king was not jealous, but allowed him

full liberty of speech, and gave honour to those who could advise

him in any matter. And the nation waxed in all respects, because there

was freedom and friendship and communion of mind among them.

  Cle. That certainly appears to have been the case.

  Ath. How, then, was this advantage lost under Cambyses, and again

recovered under Darius? Shall I try to divine?

  Cle. The enquiry, no doubt, has a bearing upon our subject.

  Ath. I imagine that Cyrus, though a great and patriotic general, had

never given his mind to education, and never attended to the order

of his household.

  Cle. What makes you say so?

  Ath. I think that from his youth upwards he was a soldier, and

entrusted the education of his children to the women; and they brought

them up from their childhood as the favourites of fortune, who were

blessed already, and needed no more blessings. They thought that

they were happy enough, and that no one should be allowed to oppose

them in any way, and they compelled every one to praise all that

they said or did. This was how they brought them up.

  Cle. A splendid education truly!

  Ath. Such an one as women were likely to give them, and especially

princesses who had recently grown rich, and in the absence of the men,

too, who were occupied in wars and dangers, and had no time to look

after them.

  Cle. What would you expect?

  Ath. Their father had possessions of cattle and sheep, and many

herds of men and other animals, but he did not consider that those

to whom he was about to make them over were not trained in his own

calling, which was Persian; for the Persians are shepherds-sons of a

rugged land, which is a stern mother, and well fitted to produce

sturdy race able to live in the open air and go without sleep, and

also to fight, if fighting is required. He did not observe that his

sons were trained differently; through the so-called blessing of being

royal they were educated in the Median fashion by women and eunuchs,

which led to their becoming such as people do become when they are

brought up unreproved. And so, after the death of Cyrus, his sons,

in the fulness of luxury and licence, took the kingdom, and first

one slew the other because he could not endure a rival; and,

afterwards, the slayer himself, mad with wine and brutality, lost

his kingdom through the Medes and the Eunuch, as they called him,

who despised the folly of Cambyses.

  Cle. So runs the tale, and such probably were the facts.

  Ath. Yes; and the tradition says, that the empire came back to the

Persians, through Darius and the seven chiefs.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Let us note the rest of the story. Observe, that Darius was not

the son of a king, and had not received a luxurious education. When he

came to the throne, being one of the seven, he divided the country

into seven portions, and of this arrangement there are some shadowy

traces still remaining; he made laws upon the principle of introducing

universal equality in the order of the state, and he embodied in his

laws the settlement of the tribute which Cyrus promised-thus

creating a feeling of friendship and community among all the Persians,

and attaching the people to him with money and gifts. Hence his armies

cheerfully acquired for him countries as large as those which Cyrus

had left behind him. Darius was succeeded by his son Xerxes; and he

again was brought up in the royal and luxurious fashion. Might we

not most justly say: "O Darius, how came you to bring up Xerxes in the

same way in which Cyrus brought up Cambyses, and not to see his

fatal mistake?" For Xerxes, being the creation of the same

education, met with much the same fortune as Cambyses; and from that

time until now there has never been a really great king among the

Persians, although they are all called Great. And their degeneracy

is not to be attributed to chance, as I maintain; the reason is rather

the evil life which is generally led by the sons of very rich and

royal persons; for never will boy or man, young or old, excel in

virtue, who has been thus educated. And this, I say, is what the

legislator has to consider, and what at the present moment has to be

considered by us. Justly may you, O Lacedaemonians, be praised, in

that you do not give special honour or a special education to wealth

rather than to poverty, or to a royal rather than to a private

station, where the divine and inspired lawgiver has not originally

commanded them to be given. For no man ought to have pre-eminent

honour in a state because he surpasses others in wealth, any more than

because he is swift of foot or fair or strong, unless he have some

virtue in him; nor even if he have virtue, unless he have this

particular virtue of temperance.

  Meg. What do you mean, Stranger?

  Ath. I suppose that courage is a part of virtue?

  Meg. To be sure.

  Ath. Then, now hear and judge for yourself:-Would you like to have

for a fellow-lodger or neighbour a very courageous man, who had no

control over himself?

  Meg. Heaven forbid!

  Ath. Or an artist, who was clever in his profession, but a rogue?

  Meg. Certainly not.

  Ath. And surely justice does not grow apart from temperance?

  Meg. Impossible.

  Ath. Any more than our pattern wise man, whom we exhibited as having

his pleasures and pains in accordance with and corresponding to true

reason, can be intemperate?

  Meg. No.

  Ath. There is a further consideration relating to the due and

undue award of honours in states.

  Meg. What is it?

  Ath. I should like to know whether temperance without the other

virtues, existing alone in the soul of man, is rightly to be praised

or blamed?

  Meg. I cannot tell.

  Ath. And that is the best answer; for whichever alternative you

had chosen, I think that you would have gone wrong.

  Meg. I am fortunate.

  Ath. Very good; a quality, which is a mere appendage of things which

can be praised or blamed, does not deserve an expression of opinion,

but is best passed over in silence.

  Meg. You are speaking of temperance?

  Ath. Yes; but of the other virtues, that which having this appendage

is also most beneficial, will be most deserving of honour, and next

that which is beneficial in the next degree; and so each of them

will be rightly honoured according to a regular order.

  Meg. True.

  Ath. And ought not the legislator to determine these classes?

  Meg. Certainly he should.

  Ath. Suppose that we leave to him the arrangement of details. But

the general division of laws according to their importance into a

first and second and third class, we who are lovers of law may make

ourselves.

  Meg. Very; good.

  Ath. We maintain, then, that a State which would be safe and

happy, as far as the nature of man allows, must and ought to

distribute honour and dishonour in the right way. And the right way is

to place the goods of the soul first and highest in the scale,

always assuming temperance to be the condition of them; and to

assign the second place to the goods of the body; and the third

place to money and property. And it any legislator or state departs

from this rule by giving money the place of honour, or in any way

preferring that which is really last, may we not say, that he or the

state is doing an unholy and unpatriotic thing?

  Meg. Yes; let that be plainly declared.

  Ath. The consideration of the Persian governments led us thus far to

enlarge. We remarked that the Persians grew worse and worse. And we

affirm the reason of this to have been, that they too much

diminished the freedom of the people, and introduced too much of

despotism, and so destroyed friendship and community of feeling. And

when there is an end of these, no longer do the governors govern on

behalf of their subjects or of the people, but on behalf of

themselves; and if they think that they can gain ever so small an

advantage for themselves, they devastate cities, and send fire and

desolation among friendly races. And as they hate ruthlessly and

horribly, so are they hated; and when they want the people to fight

for them, they find no community of feeling or willingness to risk

their lives on their behalf; their untold myriads are useless to

them on the field of battle, and they think that their salvation

depends on the employment of mercenaries and strangers whom they hire,

as if they were in want of more men. And they cannot help being

stupid, since they proclaim by actions that the ordinary

distinctions of right and wrong which are made in a state are a

trifle, when compared with gold and silver.

  Meg. Quite true.

  Ath. And now enough of the Persians, and their present

maladministration of their government, which is owing to the excess of

slavery and despotism among them.

  Meg. Good.

  Ath. Next, we must pass in review the government of Attica in like

manner, and from this show that entire freedom and the absence of

all superior authority is not by any means so good as government by

others when properly limited, which was our ancient Athenian

constitution at the time when the Persians made their attack on

Hellas, or, speaking more correctly, on the whole continent of Europe.

There were four classes, arranged according to a property census,

and reverence was our queen and mistress, and made us willing to

live in obedience to the laws which then prevailed. Also the

vastness of the Persian armament, both by sea and on land, caused a

helpless terror, which made us more and more the servants of our

rulers and of the laws; and for all these reasons an exceeding harmony

prevailed among us. About ten years before the naval engagement at

Salamis, Datis came, leading a Persian host by command of Darius,

which was expressly directed against the Athenians and Eretrians,

having orders to carry them away captive; and these orders he was to

execute under pain of death. Now Datis and his myriads soon became

complete masters of Eretria, and he sent a fearful report to Athens

that no Eretrian had escaped him; for the soldiers of Datis had joined

hands and netted the whole of Eretria. And this report, whether well

or ill founded, was terrible to all the Hellenes, and above all to the

Athenians, and they dispatched embassies in all directions, but no one

was willing to come to their relief, with the exception of the

Lacedaemonians; and they, either because they were detained by the

Messenian war, which was then going on, or for some other reason of

which we are not told, came a day too late for the battle of Marathon.

After a while, the news arrived of mighty preparations being made, and

innumerable threats came from the king. Then, as time went on, a

rumour reached us that Darius had died, and that his son, who was

young and hot-headed, had come to the throne and was persisting in his

design. The Athenians were under the impression that the whole

expedition was directed against them, in consequence of the battle

of Marathon; and hearing of the bridge over the Hellespont, and the

canal of Athos, and the host of ships, considering that there was no

salvation for them either by land or by sea, for there was no one to

help them, and remembering that in the first expedition, when the

Persians destroyed Eretria, no one came to their help, or would risk

the danger of an alliance with them, they thought that this would

happen again, at least on land; nor, when they looked to the sea,

could they descry any hope of salvation; for they were attacked by a

thousand vessels and more. One chance of safety remained, slight

indeed and desperate, but their only one. They saw that on the

former occasion they had gained a seemingly impossible victory, and

borne up by this hope, they found that their only refuge was in

themselves and in the Gods. All these things created in them the

spirit of friendship; there was the fear of the moment, and there

was that higher fear, which they had acquired by obedience to their

ancient laws, and which I have several times in the preceding

discourse called reverence, of which the good man ought to be a

willing servant, and of which the coward is independent and

fearless. If this fear had not possessed them, they would never have

met the enemy, or defended their temples and sepulchres and their

country, and everything that was near and dear to them, as they did;

but little by little they would have been all scattered and dispersed.

  Meg. Your words, Athenian, are quite true, and worthy of yourself

and of your country.

  Ath. They are true, Megillus; and to you, who have inherited the

virtues of your ancestors, I may properly speak of the actions of that

day. And I would wish you and Cleinias to consider whether my words

have not also a bearing on legislation; for I am not discoursing

only for the pleasure of talking, but for the argument's sake.

Please to remark that the experience both of ourselves and the

Persians was, in a certain sense, the same; for as they led their

people into utter servitude, so we too led ours into all freedom.

And now, how shall we proceed? for I would like you to observe that

our previous arguments have good deal to say for themselves.

  Meg. True; but I wish that you would give us a fuller explanation.

  Ath. I will. Under the ancient laws, my friends, the people was

not as now the master, but rather the willing servant of the laws.

  Meg. What laws do you mean?

  Ath. In the first place, let us speak of the laws about music-that

is to say, such music as then existed-in order that we may trace the

growth of the excess of freedom from the beginning. Now music was

early divided among us into certain kinds and manners. One sort

consisted of prayers to the Gods, which were called hymns; and there

was another and opposite sort called lamentations, and another

termed paeans, and another, celebrating the birth of Dionysus, called,

I believe, "dithyrambs." And they used the actual word "laws," or

nomoi, for another kind of song; and to this they added the term

"citharoedic." All these and others were duly distinguished, nor

were the performers allowed to confuse one style of music with

another. And the authority which determined and gave judgment, and

punished the disobedient, was not expressed in a hiss, nor in the most

unmusical shouts of the multitude, as in our days, nor in applause and

clapping of hands. But the directors of public instruction insisted

that the spectators should listen in silence to the end; and boys

and their tutors, and the multitude in general, were kept quiet by a

hint from a stick. Such was the good order which the multitude were

willing to observe; they would never have dared to give judgment by

noisy cries. And then, as time went on, the poets themselves

introduced the reign of vulgar and lawless innovation. They were men

of genius, but they had no perception of what is just and lawful in

music; raging like Bacchanals and possessed with inordinate

delights-mingling lamentations with hymns, and paeans with dithyrambs;

imitating the sounds of the flute on the lyre, and making one

general confusion; ignorantly affirming that music has no truth,

and, whether good or bad, can only be judged of rightly by the

pleasure of the hearer. And by composing such licentious works, and

adding to them words as licentious, they have inspired the multitude

with lawlessness and boldness, and made them fancy that they can judge

for themselves about melody and song. And in this way the theatres

from being mute have become vocal, as though they had understanding of

good and bad in music and poetry; and instead of an aristocracy, an

evil sort of theatrocracy has grown up. For if the democracy which

judged had only consisted of educated persons, no fatal harm would

have been done; but in music there first arose the universal conceit

of omniscience and general lawlessness;-freedom came following

afterwards, and men, fancying that they knew what they did not know,

had no longer any fear, and the absence of fear begets

shamelessness. For what is this shamelessness, which is so evil a

thing, but the insolent refusal to regard the opinion of the better by

reason of an over-daring sort of liberty?

  Meg. Very true.

  Ath. Consequent upon this freedom comes the other freedom, of

disobedience to rulers; and then the attempt to escape the control and

exhortation of father, mother, elders, and when near the end, the

control of the laws also; and at the very end there is the contempt of

oaths and pledges, and no regard at all for the Gods-herein they

exhibit and imitate the old so called Titanic nature, and come to

the same point as the Titans when they rebelled against God, leading a

life of endless evils. But why have I said all this? I ask, because

the argument ought to be pulled up from time to time, and not be

allowed to run away, but held with bit and bridle, and then we shall

not, as the proverb says, fall off our ass. Let us then once more

ask the question, To what end has all this been said?

  Meg. Very good.

  Ath. This, then, has been said for the sake-

  Meg. Of what?

  Ath. We were maintaining that the lawgiver ought to have three

things in view: first, that the city for which he legislates should be

free; and secondly, be at unity with herself; and thirdly, should have

understanding;-these were our principles, were they not?

  Meg. Certainly.

  Ath. With a view to this we selected two kinds of government, the

despotic, and the other the most free; and now we are considering

which of them is the right form: we took a mean in both cases, of

despotism in the one, and of liberty in the other, and we saw that

in a mean they attained their perfection; but that when they were

carried to the extreme of either, slavery or licence, neither party

were the gainers.

  Meg. Very true.

  Ath. And that was our reason for considering the settlement of the

Dorian army, and of the city built by Dardanus at the foot of the

mountains, and the removal of cities to the seashore, and of our

mention of the first men, who were the survivors of the deluge. And

all that was previously said about music and drinking, and what

preceded, was said with the view of seeing how a state might be best

administered, and how an individual might best order his own life. And

now, Megillus and Cleinias, how can we put to the proof the value of

our words?

  Cle. Stranger, I think that I see how a proof of their value may

be obtained. This discussion of ours appears to me to have been

singularly fortunate, and just what I at this moment want; most

auspiciously have you and my friend Megillus come in my way. For I

will tell you what has happened to me; and I regard the coincidence as

a sort of omen. The greater part of Crete is going to send out a

colony, and they have entrusted the management of the affair to the

Cnosians; and the Cnosian government to me and nine others. And they

desire us to give them any laws which we please, whether taken from

the Cretan model or from any other; and they do not mind about their

being foreign if they are better. Grant me then this favour, which

will also be a gain to yourselves:-Let us make a selection from what

has been said, and then let us imagine a State of which we will

suppose ourselves to be the original founders. Thus we shall proceed

with our enquiry, and, at the same time, I may have the use of the

framework which you are constructing, for the city which is in

contemplation.

   Ath. Good news, Cleinias; if Megillus has no objection, you may

be sure that I will do all in my power to please you.

  Cle. Thank you.

  Meg. And so will I.

  Cle. Excellent; and now let us begin to frame the State.

  BOOK IV



  Athenian Stranger. And now, what will this city be? I do not mean to

ask what is or will hereafter be the name of the place; that may be

determined by the accident of locality or of the original settlement-a

river or fountain, or some local deity may give the sanction of a name

to the newly-founded city; but I do want to know what the situation

is, whether maritime or inland.

  Cleinias. I should imagine, Stranger, that the city of which we

are speaking is about eighty stadia distant from the sea.

  Ath. And are there harbours on the seaboard?

  Cle. Excellent harbours, Stranger; there could not be better.

  Ath. Alas! what a prospect! And is the surrounding country

productive, or in need of importations?

  Cle. Hardly in need of anything.

  Ath. And is there any neighbouring State?

  Cle. None whatever, and that is the reason for selecting the

place; in days of old, there was a migration of the inhabitants, and

the region has been deserted from time immemorial.

  Ath. And has the place a fair proportion of hill, and plain, and

wood?

  Cle. Like the rest of Crete in that.

  Ath. You mean to say that there is more rock than plain?

  Cle. Exactly.

  Ath. Then there is some hope that your citizens may be virtuous: had

you been on the sea, and well provided with harbours, and an importing

rather than a producing country, some mighty saviour would have been

needed, and lawgivers more than mortal, if you were ever to have a

chance of preserving your state from degeneracy and discordance of

manners. But there is comfort in the eighty stadia; although the sea

is too near, especially if, as you say, the harbours are so good.

Still we may be content. The sea is pleasant enough as a daily

companion, but has indeed also a bitter and brackish quality;

filling the streets with merchants and shopkeepers, and begetting in

the souls of men uncertain and unfaithful ways-making the state

unfriendly and unfaithful both to her own citizens, and also to

other nations. There is a consolation, therefore, in the country

producing all things at home; and yet, owing to the ruggedness of

the soil, not providing anything in great abundance. Had there been

abundance, there might have been a great export trade, and a great

return of gold and silver; which, as we may safely affirm, has the

most fatal results on a State whose aim is the attainment of just

and noble sentiments: this was said by us, if you remember, in the

previous discussion.

  Cle. I remember, and am of opinion that we both were and are in

the right.

  Ath. Well, but let me ask, how is the country supplied with timber

for ship-building?

  Cle. There is no fir of any consequence, nor pine, and not much

cypress; and you will find very little stone-pine or plane-wood, which

shipwrights always require for the interior of ships.

  Ath. These are also natural advantages.

  Cle. Why so?

  Ath. Because no city ought to be easily able to imitate its

enemies in what is mischievous.

  Cle. How does that bear upon any of the matters of which we have

been speaking?

  Ath. Remember, my good friend, what I said at first about the Cretan

laws, that they look to one thing only, and this, as you both

agreed, was war; and I replied that such laws, in so far as they

tended to promote virtue, were good; but in that they regarded a

part only, and not the whole of virtue, I disapproved of them. And now

I hope that you in your turn will follow and watch me if I legislate

with a view to anything but virtue, or with a view to a part of virtue

only. For I consider that the true lawgiver, like an archer, aims only

at that on which some eternal beauty is always attending, and

dismisses everything else, whether wealth or any other benefit, when

separated from virtue. I was saying that the imitation of enemies

was a bad thing; and I was thinking of a case in which a maritime

people are harassed by enemies, as the Athenians were by Minos (I do

not speak from any desire to recall past grievances); but he, as we

know, was a great naval potentate, who compelled the inhabitants of

Attica to pay him a cruel tribute; and in those days they had no ships

of war as they now have, nor was the country filled with

ship-timber, and therefore they could not readily build them. Hence

they could not learn how to imitate their enemy at sea, and in this

way, becoming sailors themselves, directly repel their enemies. Better

for them to have lost many times over the seven youths, than that

heavy-armed and stationary troops should have been turned into

sailors, and accustomed to be often leaping on shore, and again to

come running back to their ships; or should have fancied that there

was no disgrace in not awaiting the attack of an enemy and dying

boldly; and that there were good reasons, and plenty of them, for a

man throwing away his arms, and betaking himself to flight-which is

not dishonourable, as people say, at certain times. This is the

language of naval warfare, and is anything but worthy of extraordinary

praise. For we should not teach bad habits, least of all to the best

part of the citizens. You may learn the evil of such a practice from

Homer, by whom Odysseus is introduced, rebuking Agamemnon because he

desires to draw down the ships to the sea at a time when the

Achaeans are hard pressed by the Trojans-he gets angry with him, and

says:



  Who, at a time when the battle is in full cry, biddest to drag the

well-benched ships into the sea, that the prayers of the Trojans may

be accomplished yet more, and high ruin falls upon us. For the

Achaeans will not maintain the battle, when the ships are drawn into

the sea, but they will look behind and will cease from strife; in that

the counsel which you give will prove injurious.



You see that he quite knew triremes on the sea, in the neighbourhood

of fighting men, to be an evil;-lions might be trained in that way

to fly from a herd of deer. Moreover, naval powers which owe their

safety to ships, do not give honour to that sort of warlike excellence

which is most deserving of it. For he who owes his safety to the pilot

and the captain, and the oarsman, and all sorts of rather inferior

persons cannot rightly give honour to whom honour is due. But how

can a state be in a right condition which cannot justly award honour?

  Cle. It is hardly possible, I admit; and yet, Stranger, we Cretans

are in the habit of saying that the battle of Salamis was the

salvation of Hellas.

  Ath. Why, yes; and that is an opinion which is widely spread both

among Hellenes and barbarians. But Megillus and I say rather, that the

battle of Marathon was the beginning, and the battle of Plataea the

completion, of the great deliverance, and that these battles by land

made the Hellenes better; whereas the sea-fights of Salamis and

Artemisium-for I may as well put them both together-made them no

better, if I may say so without offence about the battles which helped

to save us. And in estimating the goodness of a state, we regard

both the situation of the country and the order of the laws,

considering that the mere preservation and continuance of life is

not the most honourable thing for men, as the vulgar think, but the

continuance of the best life, while we live; and that again, if I am

jot mistaken, is remark which has been made already.

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. Then we have only to ask whether we are taking the course which

we acknowledge to be the best for the settlement and legislation of

states.

  Cle. The best by far.

  Ath. And now let me proceed to another question: Who are to be the

colonists? May any one come out of all Crete; and is the idea that the

population in the several states is too numerous for the means of

subsistence? For I suppose that you are not going to send out a

general invitation to any Hellene who likes to come. And yet I observe

that to your country settlers have come from Argos and Aegina and

other parts of Hellas. Tell me, then, whence do you draw your recruits

in the present enterprise?

  Cle. They will come from all Crete; and of other Hellenes,

Peloponnesians will be most acceptable. For, as you truly observe,

there are Cretans of Argive descent; and the race of Cretans which has

the highest character at the present day is the Gortynian, and this

has come from Gortys in the Peloponnesus.

  Ath. Cities find colonization in some respects easier if the

colonists are one race, which like a swarm of bees is sent out from

a single country, either when friends leave friends, owing to some

pressure of population or other similar necessity, or when a portion

of a state is driven by factions to emigrate. And there have been

whole cities which have taken flight when utterly conquered by a

superior power in war. This, however, which is in one way an advantage

to the colonist or legislator, in another point of view creates a

difficulty. There is an element of friendship in the community of

race, and language, and language, and laws, and in common temples

and rites of worship; but colonies which are of this homogeneous

sort are apt to kick against any laws or any form of constitution

differing from that which they had at home; and although the badness

of their own laws may have been the cause of the factions which

prevailed among them, yet from the force of habit they would fain

preserve the very customs which were their ruin, and the leader of the

colony, who is their legislator, finds them troublesome and

rebellious. On the other hand, the conflux of several populations

might be more disposed to listen to new laws; but then, to make them

combine and pull together, as they say of horses, is a most

difficult task, and the work of years. And yet there is nothing

which tends more to the improvement of mankind than legislation and

colonization.

  Cle. No doubt; but I should like to know why you say so.

  Ath. My good friend, I am afraid that the course of my

speculations is leading me to say something depreciatory of

legislators; but if the word be to the purpose, there can be no

harm. And yet, why am I disquieted, for I believe that the same

principle applies equally to all human things?

  Cle. To what are you referring?

  Ath. I was going to say that man never legislates, but accidents

of all sorts, which legislate for us in all sorts of ways. The

violence of war and the hard necessity of poverty are constantly

overturning governments and changing laws. And the power of discase

has often caused innovations in the state, when there have been

pestilences, or when there has been a succession of bad seasons

continuing during many years. Any one who sees all this, naturally

rushes to the conclusion of which I was speaking, that no mortal

legislates in anything, but that in human affairs chance is almost

everything. And this may be said of the arts of the sailor, and the

pilot, and the physician, and the general, and may seem to be well

said; and yet there is another thing which may be said with equal

truth of all of them.

  Cle. What is it?

  Ath. That God governs all things, and that chance and opportunity

co-operate with him in the government of human affairs. There is,

however, a third and less extreme view, that art should be there also;

for I should say that in a storm there must surely be a great

advantage in having the aid of the pilot's art. You would agree?

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. And does not a like principle apply to legislation as well as

to other things: even supposing all the conditions to be favourable

which are needed for the happiness of the state, yet the true

legislator must from time to time appear on the scene?

  Cle. Most true.

  Ath. In each case the artist would be able to pray rightly for

certain conditions, and if these were granted by fortune, he would

then only require to exercise his art?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And all the other artists just now mentioned, if they were

bidden to offer up each their special prayer, would do so?

  Cle. Of course.

  Ath. And the legislator would do likewise?

  Cle. I believe that he would.

  Ath. "Come, legislator," we will say to him; "what are the

conditions which you require in a state before you can organize it?"

How ought he to answer this question? Shall I give his answer?

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. He will say-"Give me a state which is governed by a tyrant, and

let the tyrant be young and have a good memory; let him be quick at

learning, and of a courageous and noble nature; let him have that

quality which, as I said before, is the inseparable companion of all

the other parts of virtue, if there is to be any good in them."

  Cle. I suppose, Megillus, that this companion virtue of which the

Stranger speaks, must be temperance?

  Ath. Yes, Cleinias, temperance in the vulgar sense; not that which

in the forced and exaggerated language of some philosophers is

called prudence, but that which is the natural gift of children and

animals, of whom some live continently and others incontinently, but

when isolated, was as we said, hardly worth reckoning in the catalogue

of goods. I think that you must understand my meaning.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Then our tyrant must have this as well as the other

qualities, if the state is to acquire in the best manner and in the

shortest time the form of government which is most conducive to

happiness; for there neither is nor ever will be a better or

speedier way of establishing a polity than by a tyranny.

  Cle. By what possible arguments, Stranger, can any man persuade

himself of such a monstrous doctrine?

  Ath. There is surely no difficulty in seeing, Cleinias, what is in

accordance with the order of nature?

  Cle. You would assume, as you say, a tyrant who was young,

temperate, quick at learning, having a good memory, courageous, of a

noble nature?

  Ath. Yes; and you must add fortunate; and his good fortune must be

that he is the contemporary of a great legislator, and that some happy

chance brings them together. When this has been accomplished, God

has done all that he ever does for a state which he desires to be

eminently prosperous; He has done second best for a state in which

there are two such rulers, and third best for a state in which there

are three. The difficulty increases with the increase, and

diminishes with the diminution of the number.

  Cle. You mean to say, I suppose, that the best government is

produced from a tyranny, and originates in a good lawgiver and an

orderly tyrant, and that the change from such a tyranny into a perfect

form of government takes place most easily; less easily when from an

oligarchy; and, in the third degree, from a democracy: is not that

your meaning?

  Ath. Not so; I mean rather to say that the change is best made out

of a tyranny; and secondly, out of a monarchy; and thirdly, out of

some sort of democracy: fourth, in the capacity for improvement, comes

oligarchy, which has the greatest difficulty in admitting of such a

change, because the government is in the hands of a number of

potentates. I am supposing that the legislator is by nature of the

true sort, and that his strength is united with that of the chief

men of the state; and when the ruling element is numerically small,

and at the same time very strong, as in a tyranny, there the change is

likely to be easiest and most rapid.

  Cle. How? I do not understand.

  Ath. And yet I have repeated what I am saying a good many times; but

I suppose that you have never seen a city which is under a tyranny?

  Cle. No, and I cannot say that I have any great desire to see one.

  Ath. And yet, where there is a tyranny, you might certainly see that

of which I am now speaking.

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. I mean that you might see how, without trouble and in no very

long period of time, the tyrant, if he wishes, can change the

manners of a state: he has only to go in the direction of virtue or of

vice, whichever he prefers, he himself indicating by his example the

lines of conduct, praising and rewarding some actions and reproving

others, and degrading those who disobey.

  Cle. But how can we imagine that the citizens in general will at

once follow the example set to them; and how can he have this power

both of persuading and of compelling them?

  Ath. Let no one, my friends, persuade us that there is any quicker

and easier way in which states change their laws than when the

rulers lead: such changes never have, nor ever will, come to pass in

any other way. The real impossibility or difficulty is of another

sort, and is rarely surmounted in the course of ages; but when once it

is surmounted, ten thousand or rather all blessings follow.

  Cle. Of what are you speaking?

  Ath. The difficulty is to find the divine love of temperate and just

institutions existing in any powerful forms of government, whether

in a monarchy or oligarchy of wealth or of birth. You might as well

hope to reproduce the character of Nestor, who is said to have

excelled all men in the power of speech, and yet more in his

temperance. This, however, according to the tradition, was in the

times of Troy; in our own days there is nothing of the sort; but if

such an one either has or ever shall come into being, or is now

among us, blessed is he and blessed are they who hear the wise words

that flow from his lips. And this may be said of power in general:

When the supreme power in man coincides with the greatest wisdom and

temperance, then the best laws and the best constitution come into

being; but in no other way. And let what I have been saying be

regarded as a kind of sacred legend or oracle, and let this be our

proof that, in one point of view, there may be a difficulty for a city

to have good laws, but that there is another point of view in which

nothing can be easier or sooner effected, granting our supposition.

  Cle. How do you mean?

  Ath. Let us try to amuse ourselves, old boys as we are, by

moulding in words the laws which are suitable to your state.

  Cle. Let us proceed without delay.

  Ath. Then let us invoke God at the settlement of our state; may he

hear and be propitious to us, and come and set in order the State

and the laws!

  Cle. May he come!

  Ath. But what form of polity are we going to give the city?

  Cle. Tell us what you mean a little more clearly. Do you mean some

form of democracy, or oligarchy, or aristocracy, or monarchy? For we

cannot suppose that you would include tyranny.

  Ath. Which of you will first tell me to which of these classes his

own government is to be referred?

  Megillus. Ought I to answer first, since I am the elder?

  Cle. Perhaps you should.

  Meg. And yet, Stranger, I perceive that I cannot say, without more

thought, what I should call the government of Lacedaemon, for it seems

to me to be like a tyranny-the power of our Ephors is marvellously

tyrannical; and sometimes it appears to me to be of all cities the

most democratical; and who can reasonably deny that it is an

aristocracy? We have also a monarchy which is held for life, and is

said by all mankind, and not by ourselves only, to be the most ancient

of all monarchies; and, therefore, when asked on a sudden, I cannot

precisely say which form of government the Spartan is.

  Cle. I am in the same difficulty, Megillus; for I do not feel

confident that the polity of Cnosus is any of these.

   Ath. The reason is, my excellent friends, that you really have

polities, but the states of which we were just now speaking are merely

aggregations of men dwelling in cities who are the subjects and

servants of a part of their own state, and each of them is named after

the dominant power; they are not polities at all. But if states are to

be named after their rulers, the true state ought to be called by

the name of the God who rules over wise men.

  Cle. And who is this God?

  Ath. May I still make use of fable to some extent, in the hope

that I may be better able to answer your question: shall I?

  Cle. By all means.

  Ath. In the primeval world, and a long while before the cities

came into being whose settlements we have described, there is said

to have been in the time of Cronos a blessed rule and life, of which

the best-ordered of existing states is a copy.

  Cle. It will be very necessary to hear about that.

  Ath. I quite agree with you; and therefore I have introduced the

subject.

  Cle. Most appropriately; and since the tale is to the point, you

will do well in giving us the whole story.

  Ath. I will do as you suggest. There is a tradition of the happy

life of mankind in days when all things were spontaneous and abundant.

And of this the reason is said to have been as follows:-Cronos knew

what we ourselves were declaring, that no human nature invested with

supreme power is able to order human affairs and not overflow with

insolence and wrong. Which reflection led him to appoint not men but

demigods, who are of a higher and more divine race, to be the kings

and rulers of our cities; he did as we do with flocks of sheep and

other tame animals. For we do not appoint oxen to be the lords of

oxen, or goats of goats; but we ourselves are a superior race, and

rule over them. In like manner God, in his love of mankind, placed

over us the demons, who are a superior race, and they with great

case and pleasure to themselves, and no less to us, taking care us and

giving us peace and reverence and order and justice never failing,

made the tribes of men happy and united. And this tradition, which

is true, declares that cities of which some mortal man and not God

is the ruler, have no escape from evils and toils. Still we must do

all that we can to imitate the life which is said to have existed in

the days of Cronos, and, as far as the principle of immortality dwells

in us, to that we must hearken, both in private and public life, and

regulate our cities and houses according to law, meaning by the very

term "law," the distribution of mind. But if either a single person or

an oligarchy or a democracy has a soul eager after pleasures and

desires-wanting to be filled with them, yet retaining none of them,

and perpetually afflicted with an endless and insatiable disorder; and

this evil spirit, having first trampled the laws under foot, becomes

the master either of a state or of an individual-then, as I was

saying, salvation is hopeless. And now, Cleinias, we have to

consider whether you will or will not accept this tale of mine.

  Cle. Certainly we will.

  Ath. You are aware-are you not?-that there are of said to be as many

forms of laws as there are of governments, and of the latter we have

already mentioned all those which are commonly recognized. Now you

must regard this as a matter of first-rate importance. For what is

to be the standard of just and unjust, is once more the point at

issue. Men say that the law ought not to regard either military

virtue, or virtue in general, but only the interests and power and

preservation of the established form of government; this is thought by

them to be the best way of expressing the natural definition of

justice.

  Cle. How?

  Ath. Justice is said by them to be the interest of the stronger.

  Cle. Speak plainer.

  Ath. I will:-"Surely," they say, "the governing power makes whatever

laws have authority in any state?"

  Cle. True.

  Ath. "Well," they would add, "and do you suppose that tyranny or

democracy, or any other conquering power, does not make the

continuance of the power which is possessed by them the first or

principal object of their laws?"

  Cle. How can they have any other?

  Ath. "And whoever transgresses these laws is punished as an

evil-doer by the legislator, who calls the laws just?"

  Cle. Naturally.

  Ath. "This, then, is always the mode and fashion in which justice

exists."

  Cle. Certainly, if they are correct in their view.

  Ath. Why, yes, this is one of those false principles of government

to which we were referring.

  Cle. Which do you mean?

  Ath. Those which we were examining when we spoke of who ought to

govern whom. Did we not arrive at the conclusion that parents ought to

govern their children, and the elder the younger, and the noble the

ignoble? And there were many other principles, if you remember, and

they were not always consistent. One principle was this very principle

of might, and we said that Pindar considered violence natural and

justified it.

  Cle. Yes; I remember.

  Ath. Consider, then, to whom our state is to be entrusted. For there

is a thing which has occurred times without number in states-

  Cle. What thing?

  Ath. That when there has been a contest for power, those who gain

the upper hand so entirely monopolize the government, as to refuse all

share to the defeated party and their descendants-they live watching

one another, the ruling class being in perpetual fear that some one

who has a recollection of former wrongs will come into power and

rise up against them. Now, according to our view, such governments are

not polities at all, nor are laws right which are passed for the

good of particular classes and not for the good of the whole state.

States which have such laws are not polities but parties, and their

notions of justice are simply unmeaning. I say this, because I am

going to assert that we must not entrust the government in your

state to any one because he is rich, or because he possesses any other

advantage, such as strength, or stature, or again birth: but he who is

most obedient to the laws of the state, he shall win the palm; and

to him who is victorious in the first degree shall be given the

highest office and chief ministry of the gods; and the second to him

who bears the second palm; and on a similar principle shall all the

other be assigned to those who come next in order. And when I call the

rulers servants or ministers of the law, I give them this name not for

the sake of novelty, but because I certainly believe that upon such

service or ministry depends the well- or ill-being of the state. For

that state in which the law is subject and has no authority, I

perceive to be on the highway to ruin; but I see that the state in

which the law is above the rulers, and the rulers are the inferiors of

the law, has salvation, and every blessing which the Gods can confer.

  Cle. Truly, Stranger, you see with the keen vision of age.

  Ath. Why, yes; every man when he is young has that sort of vision

dullest, and when he is old keenest.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. And now, what is to be the next step? May we not suppose the

colonists to have arrived, and proceed to make our speech to them?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. "Friends," we say to them,-"God, as the old tradition declares,

holding in his hand the beginning, middle, and end of all that is,

travels according to his nature in a straight line towards the

accomplishment of his end. Justice always accompanies him, and is

the punisher of those who fall short of the divine law. To justice, he

who would be happy holds fast, and follows in her company with all

humility and order; but he who is lifted up with pride, or elated by

wealth or rank, or beauty, who is young and foolish, and has a soul

hot with insolence, and thinks that he has no need of any guide or

ruler, but is able himself to be the guide of others, he, I say, is

left deserted of God; and being thus deserted, he takes to him

others who are like himself, and dances about, throwing all things

into confusion, and many think that he is a great man, but in a

short time he pays a penalty which justice cannot but approve, and

is utterly destroyed, and his family and city with him. Wherefore,

seeing that human things are thus ordered, what should a wise man do

or think, or not do or think?

  Cle. Every man ought to make up his mind that he will be one of

the followers of God; there can be no doubt of that.

  Ath. Then what life is agreeable to God, and becoming in his

followers? One only, expressed once for all in the old saying that

"like agrees with like, with measure measure," but things which have

no measure agree neither with themselves nor with the things which

have. Now God ought to be to us the measure of all things, and not

man, as men commonly say (Protagoras): the words are far more true

of him. And he who would be dear to God must, as far as is possible,

be like him and such as he is. Wherefore the temperate man is the

friend of God, for he is like him; and the intemperate man is unlike

him, and different from him, and unjust. And the same applies to other

things; and this is the conclusion, which is also the noblest and

truest of all sayings-that for the good man to offer sacrifice to

the Gods, and hold converse with them by means of prayers and

offerings and every kind of service, is the noblest and best of all

things, and also the most conducive to a happy life, and very fit

and meet. But with the bad man, the opposite of this is true: for

the bad man has an impure soul, whereas the good is pure; and from one

who is polluted, neither good man nor God can without impropriety

receive gifts. Wherefore the unholy do only waste their much service

upon the Gods, but when offered by any holy man, such service is

most acceptable to them. This is the mark at which we ought to aim.

But what weapons shall we use, and how shall we direct them? In the

first place, we affirm that next after the Olympian Gods and the

Gods of the State, honour should be given to the Gods below; they

should receive everything in even and of the second choice, and ill

omen, while the odd numbers, and the first choice, and the things of

lucky omen, are given to the Gods above, by him who would rightly

hit the mark of piety. Next to these Gods, a wise man will do

service to the demons or spirits, and then to the heroes, and after

them will follow the private and ancestral Gods, who are worshipped as

the law prescribes in the places which are sacred to them. Next

comes the honour of living parents, to whom, as is meet, we have to

pay the first and greatest and oldest of all debts, considering that

all which a man has belongs to those who gave him birth and brought

him up, and that he must do all that he can to minister to them,

first, in his property, secondly, in his person, and thirdly, in his

soul, in return for the endless care and travail which they bestowed

upon him of old, in the days of his infancy, and which he is now to

pay back to them when they are old and in the extremity of their need.

And all his life long he ought never to utter, or to have uttered,

an unbecoming word to them; for of light and fleeting words the

penalty is most severe; Nemesis, the messenger of justice, is

appointed to watch over all such matters. When they are angry and want

to satisfy their feelings in word or deed, he should give way to them;

for a father who thinks that he has been wronged by his son may be

reasonably expected to be very angry. At their death, the most

moderate funeral is best, neither exceeding the customary expense, nor

yet falling short of the honour which has been usually shown by the

former generation to their parents. And let a man not forget to pay

the yearly tribute of respect to the dead, honouring them chiefly by

omitting nothing that conduces to a perpetual remembrance of them, and

giving a reasonable portion of his fortune to the dead. Doing this,

and living after this manner, we shall receive our reward from the

Gods and those who are above us [i.e., the demons]; and we shall spend

our days for the most part in good hope. And how a man ought to

order what relates to his descendants and his kindred and friends

and fellow-citizens, and the rites of hospitality taught by Heaven,

and the intercourse which arises out of all these duties, with a

view to the embellishment and orderly regulation of his own life-these

things, I say, the laws, as we proceed with them, will accomplish,

partly persuading, and partly when natures do not yield to the

persuasion of custom, chastising them by might and right, and will

thus render our state, if the Gods co-operate with us, prosperous

and happy. But of what has to be said, and must be said by the

legislator who is of my way of thinking, and yet, if said in the

form of law, would be out of place-of this I think that he may give

a sample for the instruction of himself and of those for whom he is

legislating; and then when, as far as he is able, he has gone

through all the preliminaries, he may proceed to the work of

legislation. Now, what will be the form of such prefaces? There may be

a difficulty in including or describing them all under a single

form, but I think that we may get some notion of them if we can

guarantee one thing.

  Cle. What is that?

  Ath. I should wish the citizens to be as readily persuaded to virtue

as possible; this will surely be the aim of the legislator in all

his laws.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. The proposal appears to me to be of some value; and I think

that a person will listen with more gentleness and good-will to the

precepts addressed to him by the legislator, when his soul is not

altogether unprepared to receive them. Even a little done in the way

of conciliation gains his ear, and is always worth having. For there

is no great inclination or readiness on the part of mankind to be made

as good, or as quickly good, as possible. The case of the many

proves the wisdom of Hesiod, who says that the road to wickedness is

smooth and can be travelled without perspiring, because it is so

very short:



  But before virtue the immortal Gods have placed the sweat of labour,

and long and steep is the way thither, and rugged at first; but when

you have reached the top, although difficult before, it is then easy.



  Cle. Yes; and he certainly speaks well.

  Ath. Very true: and now let me tell you the effect which the

preceding discourse has had upon me.

  Cle. Proceed.

  Ath. Suppose that we have a little conversation with the legislator,

and say to him-"O, legislator, speak; if you know what we ought to say

and do, you can surely tell."

  Cle. Of course he can.

  Ath. "Did we not hear you just now saying, that the legislator ought

not to allow the poets to do what they liked? For that they would

not know in which of their words they went against the laws, to the

hurt of the state."

  Cle. That is true.

  Ath. May we not fairly make answer to him on behalf of the poets?

  Cle. What answer shall we make to him?

  Ath. That the poet, according to the tradition which has ever

prevailed among us, and is accepted of all men, when he sits down on

the tripod of the muse, is not in his right mind; like a fountain,

he allows to flow out freely whatever comes in, and his art being

imitative, he is often compelled to represent men of opposite

dispositions, and thus to contradict himself; neither can he tell

whether there is more truth in one thing that he has said than in

another. this is not the case in a law; the legislator must give not

two rules about the same thing, but one only. Take an example from

what you have just been saying. Of three kinds of funerals, there is

one which is too extravagant, another is too niggardly, the third is a

mean; and you choose and approve and order the last without

qualification. But if I had an extremely rich wife, and she bade me

bury her and describe her burial in a poem, I should praise the

extravagant sort; and a poor miserly man, who had not much money to

spend, would approve of the niggardly; and the man of moderate

means, who was himself moderate, would praise a moderate funeral.

Now you in the capacity of legislator must not barely say "a

moderate funeral," but you must define what moderation is, and how

much; unless you are definite, you must not suppose that you are

speaking a language that can become law.

  Cle. Certainly not.

  Ath. And is our legislator to have no preface to his laws, but to

say at once Do this, avoid that-and then holding the penalty in

terrorem to go on to another law; offering never a word of advice or

exhortation to those for whom he is legislating, after the manner of

some doctors? For of doctors, as I may remind you, some have a

gentler, others a ruder method of cure; and as children ask the doctor

to be gentle with them, so we will ask the legislator to cure our

disorders with the gentlest remedies. What I mean to say is, that

besides doctors there are doctors' servants, who are also styled

doctors.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. And whether they are slaves or freemen makes no difference;

they acquire their knowledge of medicine by obeying and observing

their masters; empirically and not according to the natural way of

learning, as the manner of freemen is, who have learned scientifically

themselves the art which they impart scientifically to their pupils.

You are aware that there are these two classes of doctors?

  Cle. To be sure.

  Ath. And did you ever observe that there are two classes of patients

in states, slaves and freemen; and the slave doctors run about and

cure the slaves, or wait for them in the dispensaries-practitioners of

this sort never talk to their patients individually, or let them

talk about their own individual complaints? The slave doctor

prescribes what mere experience suggests, as if he had exact

knowledge; and when he has given his orders, like a tyrant, he

rushes off with equal assurance to some other servant who is ill;

and so he relieves the master of the house of the care of his

invalid slaves. But the other doctor, who is a freeman, attends and

practises upon freemen; and he carries his enquiries far back, and

goes into the nature of the disorder; he enters into discourse with

the patient and with his friends, and is at once getting information

from the sick man, and also instructing him as far as he is able,

and he will not prescribe for him until he has first convinced him; at

last, when he has brought the patient more and more under his

persuasive influences and set him on the road to health, he attempts

to effect a cure. Now which is the better way of proceeding in a

physician and in a trainer? Is he the better who accomplishes his ends

in a double way, or he who works in one way, and that the ruder and

inferior?

  Cle. I should say, Stranger, that the double way is far better.

  Ath. Should you like to see an example of the double and single

method in legislation?

  Cle. Certainly I should.

  Ath. What will be our first law? Will not the the order of nature,

begin by making regulations for states about births?

  Cle. He will.

  Ath. In all states the birth of children goes back to the connection

of marriage?

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. And, according to the true order, the laws relating to marriage

should be those which are first determined in every state?

  Cle. Quite so.

  Ath. Then let me first give the law of marriage in a simple form; it

may run as follows:-A man shall marry between the ages of thirty and

thirty-five, or, if he does not, he shall pay such and such a fine, or

shall suffer the loss of such and such privileges. This would be the

simple law about marriage. The double law would run thus:-A man

shall marry between the ages of thirty and thirty-five, considering

that in a manner the human race naturally partakes of immortality,

which every man is by nature inclined to desire to the utmost; for the

desire of every man that he may become famous, and not lie in the

grave without a name, is only the love of continuance. Now mankind are

coeval with all time, and are ever following, and will ever follow,

the course of time; and so they are immortal, because they leave

children's children behind them, and partake of immortality in the

unity of generation. And for a man voluntarily to deprive himself of

this gift, as he deliberately does who will not have a wife or

children, is impiety. He who obeys the law shall be free, and shall

pay no fine; but he who is disobedient, and does not marry, when he

has arrived at the age of thirty-five, shall pay a yearly fine of a

certain amount, in order that he may not imagine his celibacy to bring

ease and profit to him; and he shall not share in the honours which

the young men in the state give to the aged. Comparing now the two

forms of the law, you will be able to arrive at a judgment about any

other laws-whether they should be double in length even when shortest,

because they have to persuade as well as threaten, or whether they

shall only threaten and be of half the length.

  Meg. The shorter form, Stranger, would be more in accordance with

Lacedaemonian custom; although, for my own part, if any one were to

ask me which I myself prefer in the state, I should certainly

determine in favour of the longer; and I would have every law made

after the same pattern, if I had to choose. But I think that

Cleinias is the person to be consulted, for his is the state which

is going to use these laws.

  Cle. Thank you, Megillus.

  Ath. Whether, in the abstract, words are to be many or few, is a

very foolish question; the best form, and not the shortest, is to be

approved; nor is length at all to be regarded. Of the two forms of law

which have been recited, the one is not only twice as good in

practical usefulness as the other, but the case is like that of the

two kinds of doctors, which I was just now mentioning. And yet

legislators never appear to have considered that they have two

instruments which they might use in legislation-persuasion and

force; for in dealing with the rude and uneducated multitude, they use

the one only as far as they can; they do not mingle persuasion with

coercion, but employ force pure and simple. Moreover, there is a third

point, sweet friends, which ought to be, and never is, regarded in our

existing laws.

  Cle. What is it?

  Ath. A point arising out of our previous discussion, which comes

into my mind in some mysterious way. All this time, from early dawn

until noon, have we been talking about laws in this charming

retreat: now we are going to promulgate our laws, and what has

preceded was only the prelude of them. Why do I mention this? For this

reason:-Because all discourses and vocal exercises have preludes and

overtures, which are a sort of artistic beginnings intended to help

the strain which is to be performed; lyric measures and music of every

other kind have preludes framed with wonderful care. But of the

truer and higher strain of law and politics, no one has ever yet

uttered any prelude, or composed or published any, as though there was

no such thing in nature. Whereas our present discussion seems to me to

imply that there is;-these double laws, of which we were speaking, are

not exactly double, but they are in two parts, the law and the prelude

of the law. The arbitrary command, which was compared to the

commands of doctors, whom we described as of the meaner sort, was

the law pure and simple; and that which preceded, and was described by

our friend here as being hortatory only, was, although in fact, an

exhortation, likewise analogous to the preamble of a discourse. For

I imagine that all this language of conciliation, which the legislator

has been uttering in the preface of the law, was intended to create

goodwill in the person whom he addressed, in order that, by reason

of this good-will, he might more intelligently receive his command,

that is to say, the law. And therefore, in my way of speaking, this is

more rightly described as the preamble than as the matter of the

law. And I must further proceed to observe, that to all his laws,

and to each separately, the legislator should prefix a preamble; he

should remember how great will be the difference between them,

according as they have, or have not, such preambles, as in the case

already given.

  Cle. The lawgiver, if he asks my opinion, will certainly legislate

in the form which you advise.

  Ath. I think that you are right, Cleinias, in affirming that all

laws have preambles, and that throughout the whole of this work of

legislation every single law should have a suitable preamble at the

beginning; for that which is to follow is most important, and it makes

all the difference whether we clearly remember the preambles or not.

Yet we should be wrong in requiring that all laws, small and great

alike, should have preambles of the same kind, any more than all songs

or speeches; although they may be natural to all, they are not

always necessary, and whether they are to be employed or not has in

each case to be left to the judgment of the speaker or the musician,

or, in the present instance, of the lawgiver.

  Cle. That I think is most true. And now, Stranger, without delay let

us return to the argument, and, as people say in play, make a second

and better beginning, if you please, with the principles which we have

been laying down, which we never thought of regarding as a preamble

before, but of which we may now make a preamble, and not merely

consider them to be chance topics of discourse. Let us acknowledge,

then, that we have a preamble. About the honour of the Gods and the

respect of parents, enough has been already said; and we may proceed

to the topics which follow next in order, until the preamble is deemed

by you to be complete; and after that you shall go through the laws

themselves.

  Ath. I understand you to mean that we have made a sufficient

preamble about Gods and demi-gods, and about parents living or dead;

and now you would have us bring the rest of the subject into the light

of day?

  Cle. Exactly.

  Ath. After this, as is meet and for the interest of us all, I the

speaker, and you the listeners, will try to estimate all that

relates to the souls and bodies and properties of the citizens, as

regards both their occupations and arrive, as far as in us lies, at

the nature of education. These then are the topics which follow next

in order.

  Cle. Very good.

  BOOK V



  Athenian Stranger. Listen, all ye who have just now heard the laws

about Gods, and about our dear forefathers:-Of all the things which

a man has, next to the Gods, his soul is the most divine and most

truly his own. Now in every man there are two parts: the better and

superior, which rules, and the worse and inferior, which serves; and

the ruling part of him is always to be preferred to the subject.

Wherefore I am right in bidding every one next to the Gods, who are

our masters, and those who in order follow them [i.e., the demons], to

honour his own soul, which every one seems to honour, but no one

honours as he ought; for honour is a divine good, and no evil thing is

honourable; and he who thinks that he can honour the soul by word or

gift, or any sort of compliance, without making her in any way better,

seems to honour her, but honours her not at all. For example, every

man, from his very boyhood, fancies that he is able to know

everything, and thinks that he honours his soul by praising her, and

he is very ready to let her do whatever she may like. But I mean to

say that in acting thus he injures his soul, and is far from honouring

her; whereas, in our opinion, he ought to honour her as second only to

the Gods. Again, when a man thinks that others are to be blamed, and

not himself, for the errors which he has committed from time to

time, and the many and great evils which befell him in consequence,

and is always fancying himself to be exempt and innocent, he is

under the idea that he is honouring his soul; whereas the very reverse

is the fact, for he is really injuring her. And when, disregarding the

word and approval of the legislator, he indulges in pleasure, then

again he is far from honouring her; he only dishonours her, and

fills her full of evil and remorse; or when he does not endure to

the end the labours and fears and sorrows and pains which the

legislator approves, but gives way before them, then, by yielding,

he does not honour the soul, but by all such conduct he makes her to

be dishonourable; nor when he thinks that life at any price is a good,

does he honour her, but yet once more he dishonours her; for the

soul having a notion that the world below is all evil, he yields to

her, and does not resist and teach or convince her that, for aught she

knows, the world of the Gods below, instead of being evil, may be

the greatest of all goods. Again, when any one prefers beauty to

virtue, what is this but the real and utter dishonour of the soul? For

such a preference implies that the body is more honourable than the

soul; and this is false, for there is nothing of earthly birth which

is more honourable than the heavenly, and he who thinks otherwise of

the soul has no idea how greatly he undervalues this wonderful

possession; nor, again, when a person is willing, or not unwilling, to

acquire dishonest gains, does he then honour his soul with gifts-far

otherwise; he sells her glory and honour for a small piece of gold;

but all the gold which is under or upon the earth is not enough to

give in exchange for virtue. In a word, I may say that he who does not

estimate the base and evil, the good and noble, according to the

standard of the legislator, and abstain in every possible way from the

one and practise the other to the utmost of his power, does not know

that in all these respects he is most foully and disgracefully abusing

his soul, which is the divinest part of man; for no one, as I may say,

ever considers that which is declared to be the greatest penalty of

evil-doing--namely, to grow into the likeness of bad men, and

growing like them to fly from the conversation of the good, and be cut

off from them, and cleave to and follow after the company of the

bad. And he who is joined to them must do and suffer what such men

by nature do and say to one another-a suffering which is not justice

but retribution; for justice and the just are noble, whereas

retribution is the suffering which waits upon injustice; and whether a

man escape or endure this, he is miserable-in the former case, because

he is not cured; while in the latter, he perishes in order that the

rest of mankind may be saved.

  Speaking generally, our glory is to follow the better and improve

the inferior, which is susceptible of improvement, as far as this is

possible. And of all human possessions, the soul is by nature most

inclined to avoid the evil, and track out and find the chief good;

which when a man has found, he should take up his abode with it during

the remainder of his life. Wherefore the soul also is second [or

next to God] in honour; and third, as every one will perceive, comes

the honour of the body in natural order. Having determined this, we

have next to consider that there is a natural honour of the body,

and that of honours some are true and some are counterfeit. To

decide which are which is the business of the legislator; and he, I

suspect, would intimate that they are as follows:-Honour is not to

be given to the fair body, or to the strong or the swift or the

tall, or to the healthy body (although many may think otherwise),

any more than to their opposites; but the mean states of all these

habits are by far the safest and most moderate; for the one extreme

makes the soul braggart and insolent, and the other, illiberal and

base; and money, and property, and distinction all go to the same

tune. The excess of any of these things is apt to be a source of

hatreds and divisions among states and individuals; and the defect

of them is commonly a cause of slavery. And, therefore, I would not

have any one fond of heaping up riches for the sake of his children,

in order that he may leave them as rich as possible. For the

possession of great wealth is of no use, either to them or to the

state. The condition of youth which is free from flattery, and at

the same time not in need of the necessaries of life, is the best

and most harmonious of all, being in accord and agreement with our

nature, and making life to be most entirely free from sorrow. Let

parents, then, bequeath to their children not a heap of riches, but

the spirit of reverence. We, indeed, fancy that they will inherit

reverence from us, if we rebuke them when they show a want of

reverence. But this quality is not really imparted to them by the

present style of admonition, which only tells them that the young

ought always to be reverential. A sensible legislator will rather

exhort the elders to reverence the younger, and above all to take heed

that no young man sees or hears one of themselves doing or saying

anything disgraceful; for where old men have no shame, there young men

will most certainly be devoid of reverence. The best way of training

the young is to train yourself at the same time; not to admonish them,

but to be always carrying out your own admonitions in practice. He who

honours his kindred, and reveres those who share in the same Gods

and are of the same blood and family, may fairly expect that the

Gods who preside over generation will be propitious to him, and will

quicken his seed. And he who deems the services which his friends

and acquaintances do for him, greater and more important than they

themselves deem them, and his own favours to them less than theirs

to him, will have their good-will in the intercourse of life. And

surely in his relations to the state and his fellow citizens, he is by

far the best, who rather than the Olympic or any other victory of

peace or war, desires to win the palm of obedience to the laws of

his country, and who, of all mankind, is the person reputed to have

obeyed them best through life. In his relations to strangers, a man

should consider that a contract is a most holy thing, and that all

concerns and wrongs of strangers are more directly dependent on the

protection of God, than wrongs done to citizens; for the stranger,

having no kindred and friends, is more to be pitied by Gods and men.

Wherefore, also, he who is most able to avenge him is most zealous

in his cause; and he who is most able is the genius and the god of the

stranger, who follow in the train of Zeus, the god of strangers. And

for this reason, he who has a spark of caution in him, will do his

best to pass through life without sinning against the stranger. And of

offences committed, whether against strangers or fellow-countrymen,

that against suppliants is the greatest. For the god who witnessed

to the agreement made with the suppliant, becomes in a special

manner the guardian of the sufferer; and he will certainly not

suffer unavenged.

  Thus we have fairly described the manner in which a man is to act

about his parents, and himself, and his own affairs; and in relation

to the state, and his friends, and kindred, both in what concerns

his own countrymen, and in what concerns the stranger. We will now

consider what manner of man he must be who would best pass through

life in respect of those other things which are not matters of law,

but of praise and blame only; in which praise and blame educate a man,

and make him more tractable and amenable to the laws which are about

to be imposed.

  Truth is the beginning of every good thing, both to Gods and men;

and he who would be blessed and happy, should be from the first a

partaker of the truth, that he may live a true man as long as

possible, for then he can be trusted; but he is not to be trusted

who loves voluntary falsehood, and he who loves involuntary

falsehood is a fool. Neither condition is enviable, for the

untrustworthy and ignorant has no friend, and as time advances he

becomes known, and lays up in store for himself isolation in crabbed

age when life is on the wane: so that, whether his children or friends

are alive or not, he is equally solitary.-Worthy of honour is he who

does no injustice, and of more than twofold honour, if he not only

does no injustice himself, but hinders others from doing any; the

first may count as one man, the second is worth many men, because he

informs the rulers of the injustice of others. And yet more highly

to be esteemed is he who co-operates with the rulers in correcting the

citizens as far as he can-he shall be proclaimed the great and perfect

citizen, and bear away the palm of virtue. The same praise may be

given about temperance and wisdom, and all other goods which may be

imparted to others, as well as acquired by a man for himself; he who

imparts them shall be honoured as the man of men, and he who is

willing, yet is not able, may be allowed the second place; but he

who is jealous and will not, if he can help, allow others to partake

in a friendly way of any good, is deserving of blame: the good,

however, which he has, is not to be undervalued by us because it is

possessed by him, but must be acquired by us also to the utmost of our

power. Let every man, then, freely strive for the prize of virtue, and

let there be no envy. For the unenvious nature increases the greatness

of states-he himself contends in the race, blasting the fair fame of

no man; but the envious, who thinks that he ought to get the better by

defaming others, is less energetic himself in the pursuit of true

virtue, and reduces his rivals to despair by his unjust slanders of

them. And so he makes the whole city to enter the arena untrained in

the practice of virtue, and diminishes her glory as far as in him

lies. Now every man should be valiant, but he should also be gentle.

From the cruel, or hardly curable, or altogether incurable acts of

injustice done to him by others, a man can only escape by fighting and

defending himself and conquering, and by never ceasing to punish them;

and no man who is not of a noble spirit is able to accomplish this. As

to the actions of those who do evil, but whose evil is curable, in the

first place, let us remember that the unjust man is not unjust of

his own free will. For no man of his own free will would choose to

possess the greatest of evils, and least of all in the most honourable

part of himself. And the soul, as we said, is of a truth deemed by all

men the most honourable. In the soul, then, which is the most

honourable part of him, no one, if he could help, would admit, or

allow to continue the greatest of evils. The unrighteous and vicious

are always to be pitied in any case; and one can afford to forgive

as well as pity him who is curable, and refrain and calm one's

anger, not getting into a passion, like a woman, and nursing

ill-feeling. But upon him who is incapable of reformation and wholly

evil, the vials of our wrath should be poured out; wherefore I say

that good men ought, when occasion demands, to be both gentle and

passionate.

  Of all evils the greatest is one which in the souls of most men is

innate, and which a man is always excusing in himself and never

correcting; mean, what is expressed in the saying that "Every man by

nature is and ought to be his own friend." Whereas the excessive

love of self is in reality the source to each man of all offences; for

the lover is blinded about the beloved, so that he judges wrongly of

the just, the good, and the honourable, and thinks that he ought

always to prefer himself to the truth. But he who would be a great man

ought to regard, not himself or his interests, but what is just,

whether the just act be his own or that of another. Through a

similar error men are induced to fancy that their own ignorance is

wisdom, and thus we who may be truly said to know nothing, think

that we know all things; and because we will not let others act for us

in what we do not know, we are compelled to act amiss ourselves.

Wherefore let every man avoid excess of self-love, and condescend to

follow a better man than himself, not allowing any false shame to

stand in the way. There are also minor precepts which are often

repeated, and are quite as useful; a man should recollect them and

remind himself of them. For when a stream is flowing out, there should

be water flowing in too; and recollection flows in while wisdom is

departing. Therefore I say that a man should refrain from excess

either of laughter or tears, and should exhort his neighbour to do the

same; he should veil his immoderate sorrow or joy, and seek to

behave with propriety, whether the genius of his good fortune

remains with him, or whether at the crisis of his fate, when he

seems to be mounting high and steep places, the Gods oppose him in

some of his enterprises. Still he may ever hope, in the case of good

men, that whatever afflictions are to befall them in the future God

will lessen, and that present evils he will change for the better; and

as to the goods which are the opposite of these evils, he will not

doubt that they will be added to them, and that they will be

fortunate. Such should be men's hopes, and such should be the

exhortations with which they admonish one another, never losing an

opportunity, but on every occasion distinctly reminding themselves and

others of all these things, both in jest and earnest.

  Enough has now been said of divine matters, both as touching the

practices which men ought to follow, and as to the sort of persons who

they ought severally to be. But of human things we have not as yet

spoken, and we must; for to men we are discoursing and not to Gods.

Pleasures and pains and desires are a part of human nature, and on

them every mortal being must of necessity hang and depend with the

most eager interest. And therefore we must praise the noblest life,

not only as the fairest in appearance, but as being one which, if a

man will only taste, and not, while still in his youth, desert for

another, he will find to surpass also in the very thing which we all

of us desire-I mean in having a greater amount of pleasure and less of

pain during the whole of life. And this will be plain, if a man has

a true taste of them, as will be quickly and clearly seen. But what is

a true taste? That we have to learn from the argument-the point

being what is according to nature, and what is not according to

nature. One life must be compared with another, the more pleasurable

with the more painful, after this manner:-We desire to have

pleasure, but we neither desire nor choose pain; and the neutral state

we are ready to take in exchange, not for pleasure but for pain; and

we also wish for less pain and greater pleasure, but less pleasure and

greater pain we do not wish for; and an equal balance of either we

cannot venture to assert that we should desire. And all these differ

or do not differ severally in number and magnitude and intensity and

equality, and in the opposites of these when regarded as objects of

choice, in relation to desire. And such being the necessary order of

things, we wish for that life in which there are many great and

intense elements of pleasure and pain, and in which the pleasures

are in excess, and do not wish for that in which the opposites exceed;

nor, again, do we wish for that in which the clements of either are

small and few and feeble, and the pains exceed. And when, as I said

before, there is a balance of pleasure and pain in life, this is to be

regarded by us as the balanced life; while other lives are preferred

by us because they exceed in what we like, or are rejected by us

because they exceed in what we dislike. All the lives of men may be

regarded by us as bound up in these, and we must also consider what

sort of lives we by nature desire. And if we wish for any others, I

say that we desire them only through some ignorance and inexperience

of the lives which actually exist.

  Now, what lives are they, and how many in which, having searched out

and beheld the objects of will and desire and their opposites, and

making of them a law, choosing, I say, the dear and the pleasant and

the best and noblest, a man may live in the happiest way possible? Let

us say that the temperate life is one kind of life, and the rational

another, and the courageous another, and the healthful another; and to

these four let us oppose four other lives-the foolish, the cowardly,

the intemperate, the diseased. He who knows the temperate life will

describe it as in all things gentle, having gentle pains and gentle

pleasures, and placid desires and loves not insane; whereas the

intemperate life is impetuous in all things, and has violent pains and

pleasures, and vehement and stinging desires, and loves utterly

insane; and in the temperate life the pleasures exceed the pains,

but in the intemperate life the pains exceed the pleasures in

greatness and number and frequency. Hence one of the two lives is

naturally and necessarily more pleasant and the other more painful,

and he who would live pleasantly cannot possibly choose to live

intemperately. And if this is true, the inference clearly is that no

man is voluntarily intemperate; but that the whole multitude of men

lack temperance in their lives, either from ignorance, or from want of

self-control, or both. And the same holds of the diseased and

healthy life; they both have pleasures and pains, but in health the

pleasure exceeds the pain, and in sickness the pain exceeds the

pleasure. Now our intention in choosing the lives is not that the

painful should exceed, but the life in which pain is exceeded by

pleasure we have determined to be the more pleasant life. And we

should say that the temperate life has the elements both of pleasure

and pain fewer and smaller and less frequent than the intemperate, and

the wise life than the foolish life, and the life of courage than

the life of cowardice; one of each pair exceeding in pleasure and

the other in pain, the courageous surpassing the cowardly, and the

wise exceeding the foolish. And so the one dass of lives exceeds the

other class in pleasure; the temperate and courageous and wise and

healthy exceed the cowardly and foolish and intemperate and diseased

lives; and generally speaking, that which has any virtue, whether of

body or soul, is pleasanter than the vicious life, and far superior in

beauty and rectitude and excellence and reputation, and causes him who

lives accordingly to be infinitely happier than the opposite.

  Enough of the preamble; and now the laws should follow; or, to speak

more correctly, outline of them. As, then, in the case of a web or any

other tissue, the warp and the woof cannot be made of the same

materials, but the warp is necessarily superior as being stronger, and

having a certain character of firmness, whereas the woof is softer and

has a proper degree of elasticity;-in a similar manner those who are

to hold great offices in states, should be distinguished truly in each

case from those who have been but slenderly proven by education. Let

us suppose that there are two parts in the constitution of a state-one

the creation of offices, the other the laws which are assigned to them

to administer.

  But, before all this, comes the following consideration:-The

shepherd or herdsman, or breeder of horses or the like, when he has

received his animals will not begin to train them until he has first

purified them in a manner which befits a community of animals; he will

divide the healthy and unhealthy, and the good breed and the bad

breed, and will send away the unhealthy and badly bred to other herds,

and tend the rest, reflecting that his labours will be vain and have

no effect, either on the souls or bodies of those whom nature and

ill nurture have corrupted, and that they will involve in

destruction the pure and healthy nature and being of every other

animal, if he should neglect to purify them. Now the case of other

animals is not so important-they are only worth introducing for the

sake of illustration; but what relates to man is of the highest

importance; and the legislator should make enquiries, and indicate

what is proper for each one in the way of purification and of any

other procedure. Take, for example, the purification of a city-there

are many kinds of purification, some easier and others more difficult;

and some of them, and the best and most difficult of them, the

legislator, if he be also a despot, may be able to effect; but the

legislator, who, not being a despot, sets up a new government and

laws, even if he attempt the mildest of purgations, may think

himself happy if he can complete his work. The best kind of

purification is painful, like similar cures in medicine, involving

righteous punishment and inflicting death or exile in the last resort.

For in this way we commonly dispose of great sinners who are

incurable, and are the greatest injury of the whole state. But the

milder form of purification is as follows:-when men who have

nothing, and are in want of food, show a disposition to follow their

leaders in an attack on the property of the rich-these, who are the

natural plague of the state, are sent away by the legislator in a

friendly spirit as far as he is able; and this dismissal of them is

euphemistically termed a colony. And every legislator should

contrive to do this at once. Our present case, however, is peculiar.

For there is no need to devise any colony or purifying separation

under the circumstances in which we are placed. But as, when many

streams flow together from many sources, whether springs or mountain

torrents, into a single lake, we ought to attend and take care that

the confluent waters should be perfectly clear, and in order to effect

this, should pump and draw off and divert impurities, so in every

political arrangement there may be trouble and danger. But, seeing

that we are now only discoursing and not acting, let our selection

be supposed to be completed, and the desired purity attained. Touching

evil men, who want to join and be citizens of our state, after we have

tested them by every sort of persuasion and for a sufficient time,

we will prevent them from coming; but the good we will to the utmost

of our ability receive as friends with open arms.

  Another piece of good fortune must not be forgotten, which, as we

were saying, the Heraclid colony had, and which is also ours-that we

have escaped division of land and the abolition of debts; for these

are always a source of dangerous contention, and a city which is

driven by necessity to legislate upon such matters can neither allow

the old ways to continue, nor yet venture to alter them. We must

have recourse to prayers, so to speak, and hope that a slight change

may be cautiously effected in a length of time. And such a change

can be accomplished by those who have abundance of land, and having

also many debtors, are willing, in a kindly spirit, to share with

those who are in want, sometimes remitting and sometimes giving,

holding fast in a path of moderation, and deeming poverty to be the

increase of a man's desires and not the diminution of his property.

For this is the great beginning of salvation to a state, and upon this

lasting basis may be erected afterwards whatever political order is

suitable under the circumstances; but if the change be based upon an

unsound principle, the future administration of the country will be

full of difficulties. That is a danger which, as I am saying, is

escaped by us, and yet we had better say how, if we had not escaped,

we might have escaped; and we may venture now to assert that no

other way of escape, whether narrow or broad, can be devised but

freedom from avarice and a sense of justice-upon this rock our city

shall be built; for there ought to be no disputes among citizens about

property. If there are quarrels of long standing among them, no

legislator of any degree of sense will proceed a step in the

arrangement of the state until they are settled. But that they to whom

God has given, as he has to us, to be the founders of a new state as

yet free from enmity-that they should create themselves enmities by

their mode of distributing lands and houses, would be superhuman folly

and wickedness.

  How then can we rightly order the distribution of the land? In the

first place, the number of the citizens has to be determined, and also

the number and size of the divisions into which they will have to be

formed; and the land and the houses will then have to be apportioned

by us as fairly as we can. The number of citizens can only be

estimated satisfactorily in relation to the territory and the

neighbouring states. The territory must be sufficient to maintain a

certain number of inhabitants in a moderate way of life-more than this

is not required; and the number of citizens should be sufficient to

defend themselves against the injustice of their neighbours, and

also to give them the power of rendering efficient aid to their

neighbours when they are wronged. After having taken a survey of

theirs and their neighbours' territory, we will determine the limits

of them in fact as well as in theory. And now, let us proceed to

legislate with a view to perfecting the form and outline of our state.

The number of our citizens shall be 5040-this will be a convenient

number; and these shall be owners of the land and protectors of the

allotment. The houses and the land will be divided in the same way, so

that every man may correspond to a lot. Let the whole number be

first divided into two parts, and then into three; and the number is

further capable of being divided into four or five parts, or any

number of parts up to ten. Every legislator ought to know so much

arithmetic as to be able to tell what number is most likely to be

useful to all cities; and we are going to take that number which

contains the greatest and most regular and unbroken series of

divisions. The whole of number has every possible division, and the

number 5040 can be divided by exactly fifty-nine divisors, and ten

of these proceed without interval from one to ten: this will furnish

numbers for war and peace, and for all contracts and dealings,

including taxes and divisions of the land. These properties of

number should be ascertained at leisure by those who are bound by

law to know them; for they are true, and should be proclaimed at the

foundation of the city, with a view to use. Whether the legislator

is establishing a new state or restoring an old and decayed one, in

respect of Gods and temples-the temples which are to be built in

each city, and the Gods or demi-gods after whom they are to be

called-if he be a man of sense, he will make no change in anything

which the oracle of Delphi, or Dodona, or the God Ammon, or any

ancient tradition has sanctioned in whatever manner, whether by

apparitions or reputed inspiration of Heaven, in obedience to which

mankind have established sacrifices in connection with mystic rites,

either originating on the spot, or derived from Tyrrhenia or Cyprus or

some other place, and on the strength of which traditions they have

consecrated oracles and images, and altars and temples, and

portioned out a sacred domain for each of them. The least part of

all these ought not to be disturbed by the legislator; but he should

assign to the several districts some God, or demi-god, or hero, and,

in the distribution of the soil, should give to these first their

chosen domain and all things fitting, that the inhabitants of the

several districts may meet at fixed times, and that they may readily

supply their various wants, and entertain one another with sacrifices,

and become friends and acquaintances; for there is no greater good

in a state than that the citizens should be known to one another. When

not light but darkness and ignorance of each other's characters

prevails among them, no one will receive the honour of which he is

deserving, or the power or the justice to which he is fairly entitled:

wherefore, in every state, above all things, every man should take

heed that he have no deceit in him, but that he be always true and

simple; and that no deceitful person take any advantage of him.

  The next move in our pastime of legislation, like the withdrawal

of the stone from the holy line in the game of draughts, being an

unusual one, will probably excite wonder when mentioned for the

first time. And yet, if a man will only reflect and weigh the matter

with care, he will see that our city is ordered in a manner which,

if not the best, is the second best. Perhaps also some one may not

approve this form, because he thinks that such a constitution is ill

adapted to a legislator who has not despotic power. The truth is, that

there are three forms of government, the best, the second and the

third best, which we may just mention, and then leave the selection to

the ruler of the settlement. Following this method in the present

instance, let us speak of the states which are respectively first,

second, and third in excellence, and then we will leave the choice

to Cleinias now, or to any one else who may hereafter have to make a

similar choice among constitutions, and may desire to give to his

state some feature which is congenial to him and which he approves

in his own country.

  The first and highest form of the state and of the government and of

the law is that in which there prevails most widely the ancient

saying, that "Friends have all things in common." Whether there is

anywhere now, or will ever be, this communion of women and children

and of property, in which the private and individual is altogether

banished from life, and things which are by nature private, such as

eyes and ears and hands, have become common, and in some way see and

hear and act in common, and all men express praise and blame and

feel joy and sorrow on the same occasions, and whatever laws there are

unite the city to the utmost-whether all this is possible or not, I

say that no man, acting upon any other principle, will ever constitute

a state which will be truer or better or more exalted in virtue.

Whether such a state is governed by Gods or sons of Gods, one, or more

than one, happy are the men who, living after this manner, dwell

there; and therefore to this we are to look for the pattern of the

state, and to cling to this, and to seek with all our might for one

which is like this. The state which we have now in hand, when created,

will be nearest to immortality and the only one which takes the second

place; and after that, by the grace of God, we will complete the third

one. And we will begin by speaking of the nature and origin of the

second.

  Let the citizens at once distribute their land and houses, and not

till the land in common, since a community of goods goes beyond

their proposed origin, and nurture, and education. But in making the

distribution, let the several possessors feel that their particular

lots also belong to the whole city; and seeing that the earth is their

parent, let them tend her more carefully than children do their

mother. For she is a goddess and their queen, and they are her

mortal subjects. Such also are the feelings which they ought to

entertain to the Gods and demi-gods of the country. And in order

that the distribution may always remain, they ought to consider

further that the present number of families should be always retained,

and neither increased nor diminished. This may be secured for the

whole city in the following manner:-Let the possessor of a lot leave

the one of his children who is his best beloved, and one only, to be

the heir of his dwelling, and his successor in the duty of ministering

to the Gods, the state and the family, as well the living members of

it as those who are departed when he comes into the inheritance; but

of his other children, if he have more than one, he shall give the

females in marriage according to the law to be hereafter enacted,

and the males he shall distribute as sons to those citizens who have

no children and are disposed to receive them; or if there should be

none such, and particular individuals have too many children, male

or female, or too few, as in the case of barrenness-in all these cases

let the highest and most honourable magistracy created by us judge and

determine what is to be done with the redundant or deficient, and

devise a means that the number of 5040 houses shall always remain

the same. There are many ways of regulating numbers; for they in

whom generation is affluent may be made to refrain, and, on the

other hand, special care may be taken to increase the number of births

by rewards and stigmas, or we may meet the evil by the elder men

giving advice and administering rebuke to the younger-in this way

the object may be attained. And if after all there be very great

difficulty about the equal preservation of the 5040 houses, and

there be an excess of citizens, owing to the too great love of those

who live together, and we are at our wits' end, there is still the old

device often mentioned by us of sending out a colony, which will

part friends with us, and be composed of suitable persons. If, on

the other hand, there come a wave bearing a deluge of disease, or a

plague of war, and the inhabitants become much fewer than the

appointed number by reason of bereavement, we ought not to introduce

citizens of spurious birth and education, if this can be avoided;

but even God is said not to be able to fight against necessity.

  Wherefore let us suppose this "high argument" of ours to address

us in the following terms:-Best of men, cease not to honour

according to nature similarity and equality and sameness and

agreement, as regards number and every good and noble quality. And,

above all, observe the aforesaid number 5040 throughout life; in the

second place, do not disparage the small and modest proportions of the

inheritances which you received in the distribution, by buying and

selling them to one another. For then neither will the God who gave

you the lot be your friend, nor will the legislator; and indeed the

law declares to the disobedient that these are the terms upon which he

may or may not take the lot. In the first place, the earth as he is

informed is sacred to the Gods; and in the next place, priests and

priestesses will offer up prayers over a first, and second, and even a

third sacrifice, that he who buys or sells the houses or lands which

he has received, may suffer the punishment which he deserves; and

these their prayers they shall write down in the temples, on tablets

of cypress-wood, for the instruction of posterity. Moreover they

will set a watch over all these things, that they may be observed;-the

magistracy which has the sharpest eyes shall keep watch that any

infringement of these commands may be discovered and punished as

offences both against the law and the God. How great is the benefit of

such an ordinance to all those cities, which obey and are administered

accordingly, no bad man can ever know, as the old proverb says; but

only a man of experience and good habits. For in such an order of

things there will not be much opportunity for making money; no man

either ought, or indeed will be allowed, to exercise any ignoble

occupation, of which the vulgarity is a matter of reproach to a

freeman, and should never want to acquire riches by any such means.

  Further, the law enjoins that no private man shall be allowed to

possess gold and silver, but only coin for daily use, which is

almost necessary in dealing with artisans, and for payment of

hirelings, whether slaves or immigrants, by all those persons who

require the use of them. Wherefore our citizens, as we say, should

have a coin passing current among themselves, but not accepted among

the rest of mankind; with a view, however, to expeditions and journeys

to other lands-for embassies, or for any other occasion which may

arise of sending out a herald, the state must also possess a common

Hellenic currency. If a private person is ever obliged to go abroad,

let him have the consent of the magistrates and go; and if when he

returns he has any foreign money remaining, let him give the surplus

back to the treasury, and receive a corresponding sum in the local

currency. And if he is discovered to appropriate it, let it be

confiscated, and let him who knows and does not inform be subject to

curse and dishonour equally him who brought the money, and also to a

fine not less in amount than the foreign money which has been

brought back. In marrying and giving in marriage, no one shall give or

receive any dowry at all; and no one shall deposit money with

another whom he does not trust as a friend, nor shall he lend money

upon interest; and the borrower should be under no obligation to repay

either capital or interest. That these principles are best, any one

may see who compares them with the first principle and intention of

a state. The intention, as we affirm, of a reasonable statesman, is

not what the many declare to be the object of a good legislator,

namely, that the state for the true interests of which he is

advising should be as great and as rich as possible, and should

possess gold and silver, and have the greatest empire by sea and

land;-this they imagine to be the real object of legislation, at the

same time adding, inconsistently, that the true legislator desires

to have the city the best and happiest possible. But they do not see

that some of these things are possible, and some of them are

impossible; and he who orders the state will desire what is

possible, and will not indulge in vain wishes or attempts to

accomplish that which is impossible. The citizen must indeed be

happy and good, and the legislator will seek to make him so; but

very rich and very good at the same time he cannot be, not, at

least, in the sense in which the many speak of riches. For they mean

by "the rich" the few who have the most valuable possessions, although

the owner of them may quite well be a rogue. And if this is true, I

can never assent to the doctrine that the rich man will be happy-he

must be good as well as rich. And good in a high degree, and rich in a

high degree at the same time, he cannot be. Some one will ask, why

not? And we shall answer-Because acquisitions which come from

sources which are just and unjust indifferently, are more than

double those which come from just sources only; and the sums which are

expended neither honourably nor disgracefully, are only half as

great as those which are expended honourably and on honourable

purposes. Thus, if the one acquires double and spends half, the

other who is in the opposite case and is a good man cannot possibly be

wealthier than he. The first-I am speaking of the saver and not of the

spender-is not always bad; he may indeed in some cases be utterly bad,

but, as I was saying, a good man he never is. For he who receives

money unjustly as well as justly, and spends neither nor unjustly,

will be a rich man if he be also thrifty. On the other hand, the

utterly bad is in general profligate, and therefore very poor; while

he who spends on noble objects, and acquires wealth by just means

only, can hardly be remarkable for riches, any more than he can be

very poor. Our statement, then, is true, that the very rich are not

good, and, if they are not good, they are not happy. But the intention

of our laws was that the citizens should be as happy as may be, and as

friendly as possible to one another. And men who are always at law

with one another, and amongst whom there are many wrongs done, can

never be friends to one another, but only those among whom crimes

and lawsuits are few and slight. Therefore we say that gold and silver

ought not to be allowed in the city, nor much of the vulgar sort of

trade which is carried on by lending money, or rearing the meaner

kinds of live stock; but only the produce of agriculture, and only

so much of this as will not compel us in pursuing it to neglect that

for the sake of which riches exist-I mean, soul and body, which

without gymnastics, and without education, will never be worth

anything; and therefore, as we have said not once but many times,

the care of riches should have the last place in our thoughts. For

there are in all three things about which every man has an interest;

and the interest about money, when rightly regarded, is the third

and lowest of them: midway comes the interest of the body; and,

first of all, that of the soul; and the state which we are

describing will have been rightly constituted if it ordains honours

according to this scale. But if, in any of the laws which have been

ordained, health has been preferred to temperance, or wealth to health

and temperate habits, that law must clearly be wrong. Wherefore, also,

the legislator ought often to impress upon himself the

question-"What do I want?" and "Do I attain my aim, or do I miss the

mark?" In this way, and in this way only, he ma acquit himself and

free others from the work of legislation.

  Let the allottee then hold his lot upon the conditions which we have

mentioned.

  It would be well that every man should come to the colony having all

things equal; but seeing that this is not possible, and one man will

have greater possessions than another, for many reasons and in

particular in order to preserve equality in special crises of the

state, qualifications of property must be unequal, in order that

offices and contributions and distributions may be proportioned to the

value of each person's wealth, and not solely to the virtue of his

ancestors or himself, nor yet to the strength and beauty of his

person, but also to the measure of his wealth or poverty; and so by

a law of inequality, which will be in proportion to his wealth, he

will receive honours and offices as equally as possible, and there

will be no quarrels and disputes. To which end there should be four

different standards appointed according to the amount of property:

there should be a first and a second and a third and a fourth class,

in which the citizens will be placed, and they will be called by these

or similar names: they may continue in the same rank, or pass into

another in any individual case, on becoming richer from being, poorer,

or poorer from being richer. The form of law which I should propose as

the natural sequel would be as follows:-In a state which is desirous

of being saved from the greatest of all plagues-not faction, but

rather distraction;-here should exist among the citizens neither

extreme poverty, nor, again, excess of wealth, for both are productive

of both these evils. Now the legislator should determine what is to be

the limit of poverty or wealth. Let the limit of poverty be the

value of the lot; this ought to be preserved, and no ruler, nor any

one else who aspires after a reputation for virtue, will allow the lot

to be impaired in any case. This the legislator gives as a measure,

and he will permit a man to acquire double or triple, or as much as

four times the amount of this. But if a person have yet greater

riches, whether he has found them, or they have been given to him,

or he has made them in business, or has acquired by any stroke of

fortune that which is in excess of the measure, if he give back the

surplus to the state, and to the Gods who are the patrons of the

state, he shall suffer no penalty or loss of reputation; but if he

disobeys this our law any one who likes may inform against him and

receive half the value of the excess, and the delinquent shall pay a

sum equal to the excess out of his own property, and the other half of

the excess shall belong to the Gods. And let every possession of every

man, with the exception of the lot, be publicly registered before

the magistrates whom the law appoints, so that all suits about money

may be easy and quite simple.

  The next thing to be noted is, that the city should be placed as

nearly as possible in the centre of the country; we should choose a

place which possesses what is suitable for a city, and this may easily

be imagined and described. Then we will divide the city into twelve

portions, first founding temples to Hestia, to Zeus and to Athene,

in a spot which we will call the Acropolis, and surround with a

circular wall, making the division of the entire city and country

radiate from this point. The twelve portions shall be equalized by the

provision that those which are of good land shall be smaller. while

those of inferior quality shall be larger. The number of the lots

shall be 5040, and each of them shall be divided into two, and every

allotment shall be composed of two such sections; one of land near the

city, the other of land which is at a distance. This arrangement shall

be carried out in the following manner: The section which is near

the city shall be added to that which is on borders, and form one lot,

and the portion which is next nearest shall be added to the portion

which is next farthest; and so of the rest. Moreover, in the two

sections of the lots the same principle of equalization of the soil

ought to be maintained; the badness and goodness shall be

compensated by more and less. And the legislator shall divide the

citizens into twelve parts, and arrange the rest of their property, as

far as possible, so as to form twelve equal parts; and there shall

be a registration of all. After this they shall assign twelve lots

to twelve Gods, and call them by their names, and dedicate to each God

their several portions, and call the tribes after them. And they shall

distribute the twelve divisions of the city in the same way in which

they divided the country; and every man shall have two habitations,

one in the centre of the country, and the other at the extremity.

Enough of the manner of settlement.

  Now we ought by all means to consider that there can never be such a

happy concurrence of circumstances as we have described; neither can

all things coincide as they are wanted. Men who will not take

offence at such a mode of living together, and will endure all their

life long to have their property fixed at a moderate limit, and to

beget children in accordance with our ordinances, and will allow

themselves to be deprived of gold and other things which the

legislator, as is evident from these enactments, will certainly forbid

them; and will endure, further, the situation of the land with the

city in the middle and dwellings round about;-all this is as if the

legislator were telling his dreams, or making a city and citizens of

wax. There is truth in these objections, and therefore every one

should take to heart what I am going to say. Once more, then, the

legislator shall appear and address us:-"O my friends," he will say to

us, "do not suppose me ignorant that there is a certain degree of

truth in your words; but I am of opinion that, in matters which are

not present but future, he who exhibits a pattern of that at which

he aims, should in nothing fall short of the fairest and truest; and

that if he finds any part of this work impossible of execution he

should avoid and not execute it, but he should contrive to carry out

that which is nearest and most akin to it; you must allow the

legislator to perfect his design, and when it is perfected, you should

join with him in considering what part of his legislation is expedient

and what will arouse opposition; for surely the artist who is to be

deemed worthy of any regard at all, ought always to make his work

self-consistent."

  Having determined that there is to be a distribution into twelve

parts, let us now see in what way this may be accomplished. There is

no difficulty in perceiving that the twelve parts admit of the

greatest number of divisions of that which they include, or in

seeing the other numbers which are consequent upon them, and are

produced out of them up to 5040; wherefore the law ought to order

phratries and demes and villages, and also military ranks and

movements, as well as coins and measures, dry and liquid, and weights,

so as to be commensurable and agreeable to one another. Nor should

we fear the appearance of minuteness, if the law commands that all the

vessels which a man possesses should have a common measure, when we

consider generally that the divisions and variations of numbers have a

use in respect of all the variations of which they are susceptible,

both in themselves and as measures of height and depth, and in all

sounds, and in motions, as well those which proceed in a straight

direction, upwards or downwards, as in those which go round and round.

The legislator is to consider all these things and to bid the

citizens, as far as possible, not to lose sight of numerical order;

for no single instrument of youthful education has such mighty

power, both as regards domestic economy and politics, and in the arts,

as the study of arithmetic. Above all, arithmetic stirs up him who

is by nature sleepy and dull, and makes him quick to learn, retentive,

shrewd, and aided by art divine he makes progress quite beyond his

natural powers. All such things, if only the legislator, by other laws

and institutions, can banish meanness and covetousness from the

souls of men, so that they can use them properly and to their own

good, will be excellent and suitable instruments of education. But

if he cannot, he will unintentionally create in them, instead of

wisdom, the habit of craft, which evil tendency may be observed in the

Egyptians and Phoenicians, and many other races, through the general

vulgarity of their pursuits and acquisitions, whether some unworthy

legislator theirs has been the cause, or some impediment of chance

or nature. For we must not fail to observe, O Megillus and Cleinias,

that there is a difference in places, and that some beget better men

and others worse; and we must legislate accordingly. Some places are

subject to strange and fatal influences by reason of diverse winds and

violent heats, some by reason of waters; or, again, from the character

of the food given by the earth, which not only affects the bodies of

men for good or evil, but produces similar results in their souls. And

in all such qualities those spots excel in which there is a divine

inspiration, and in which the demi-gods have their appointed lots, and

are propitious, not adverse, to the settlers in them. To all these

matters the legislator, if he have any sense in him, will attend as

far as man can, and frame his laws accordingly. And this is what

you, Cleinias, must do, and to matters of this kind you must turn your

mind since you are going to colonize a new country.

  Cleinias. Your words, Athenian Stranger, are excellent, and I will

do as you say.

  BOOK VI



  Athenian Stranger. And now having made an end of the preliminaries

we will proceed to the appointment of magistracies.

  Cleinias. Very good.

  Ath. In the ordering of a state there are two parts: first, the

number of the magistracies, and the mode of establishing them; and,

secondly, when they have been established, laws again will have to

be provided for each of them, suitable in nature and number. But

before electing the magistrates let us stop a little and say a word in

season about the election of them.

  Cle. What have you got to say?

  Ath. This is what I have to say; every one can see, that although

the work of legislation is a most important matter, yet if a

well-ordered city superadd to good laws unsuitable offices, not only

will there be no use in having the good laws-not only will they be

ridiculous and useless, but the greatest political injury and evil

will accrue from them.

  Cle. Of course.

  Ath. Then now, my friend, let us observe what will happen in the

constitution of out intended state. In the first place, you will

acknowledge that those who are duly appointed to magisterial power,

and their families, should severally have given satisfactory proof

of what they are, from youth upward until the time of election; in the

next place, those who are to elect should have been trained in

habits of law, and be well educated, that they may have a right

judgment, and may be able to select or reject men whom they approve or

disapprove, as they are worthy of either. But how can we imagine

that those who are brought together for the first time, and are

strangers to one another, and also uneducated, will avoid making

mistakes in the choice of magistrates?

  Cle. Impossible.

  Ath. The matter is serious, and excuses will not serve the turn. I

will tell you, then, what you and I will have to do, since you, as you

tell me, with nine others, have offered to settle the new state on

behalf of the people of Crete, and I am to help you by the invention

of the present romance. I certainly should not like to leave the

tale wandering all over the world without a head;-a headless monster

is such a hideous thing.

  Cle. Excellent, Stranger.

  Ath. Yes; and I will be as good as my word.

  Cle. Let us by all means do as you propose.

  Ath. That we will, by the grace of God, if old age will only

permit us.

  Cle. But God will be gracious.

  Ath. Yes; and under his guidance let us consider further point.

  Cle. What is it?

  Ath. Let us remember what a courageously mad and daring creation

this our city is.

  Cle. What had you in your mind when you said that?

  Ath. I had in my mind the free and easy manner in which we are

ordaining that the inexperienced colonists shall receive our laws. Now

a man need not be very wise, Cleinias, in order to see that no one can

easily receive laws at their first imposition. But if we could

anyhow wait until those who have been imbued with them from childhood,

and have been nurtured in them, and become habituated to them, take

their part in the public elections of the state; I say, if this

could be accomplished, and rightly accomplished by any way or

contrivance-then, I think that there would be very little danger, at

the end of the time, of a state thus trained not being permanent.

  Cle. A reasonable supposition.

  Ath. Then let us consider if we can find any way out of the

difficulty; for I maintain, Cleinias, that the Cnosians, above all the

other Cretans, should not be satisfied with barely discharging their

duty to the colony, but they ought to take the utmost pains to

establish the offices which are first created by them in the best

and surest manner. Above all, this applies to the selection of the

guardians of the law, who must be chosen first of all, and with the

greatest care; the others are of less importance.

  Cle. What method can we devise of electing them?

  Ath. This will be the method:-Sons of the Cretans, I shall say to

them, inasmuch as the Cnosians have precedence over the other

states, they should, in common with those who join this settlement,

choose a body of thirty-seven in all, nineteen of them being taken

from the settlers, and the remainder from the citizens of Cnosus. Of

those latter the Cnosians shall make a present to your colony, and you

yourself shall be one of the eighteen, and shall become a citizen of

the new state; and if you and they cannot be persuaded to go, the

Cnosians may fairly use a little violence in order to make you.

  Cle. But why, Stranger, do not you and Megillus take a part in our

new city?

  Ath. O, Cleinias, Athens is proud, and Sparta too; and they are both

a long way off. But you and likewise the other colonists are

conveniently situated as you describe. I have been speaking of the way

in which the new citizens may be best managed under present

circumstances; but in after-ages, if the city continues to exist,

let the election be on this wise. All who are horse or foot

soldiers, or have seen military service at the proper ages when they

were severally fitted for it, shall share in the election of

magistrates; and the election shall be held in whatever temple the

state deems most venerable, and every one shall carry his vote to

the altar of the God, writing down on a tablet the name of the

person for whom he votes, and his father's name, and his tribe, and

ward; and at the side he shall write his own name in like manner.

Any one who pleases may take away any tablet which he does not think

properly filled up, and exhibit it in the Agara for a period of not

less than thirty days. The tablets which are judged to be first, to

the number of 300, shall be shown by the magistrates to the whole

city, and the citizens shall in like manner select from these the

candidates whom they prefer; and this second selection, to the

number of 100, shall be again exhibited to the citizens; in the third,

let any one who pleases select whom pleases out of the 100, walking

through the parts of victims, and let them choose for magistrates

and proclaim the seven and thirty who have the greatest number of

votes. But who, Cleinias and Megillus, will order for us in the colony

all this matter of the magistrates, and the scrutinies of them? If

we reflect, we shall see that cities which are in process of

construction like ours must have some such persons, who cannot

possibly be elected before there are any magistrates; and yet they

must be elected in some way, and they are not to be inferior men,

but the best possible. For as the proverb says, "a good beginning is

half the business"; and "to have begun well" is praised by all, and in

my opinion is a great deal more than half the business, and has

never been praised by any one enough.

  Cle. That is very true.

  Ath. Then let us recognize the difficulty, and make clear to our own

minds how the beginning is to be accomplished. There is only one

proposal which I have to offer, and that is one which, under our

circumstances, is both necessary and expedient.

  Cle. What is it?

  Ath. I maintain that this colony of ours has a father and mother,

who are no other than the colonizing state. Well I know that many

colonies have been, and will be, at enmity with their parents. But

in early days the child, as in a family, loves and is beloved; even if

there come a time later when the tie is broken, still, while he is

in want of education, he naturally loves his parents and is beloved by

them, and flies to his relatives for protection, and finds in them his

only natural allies in time of need; and this parental feeling already

exists in the Cnosians, as is shown by their care of the new city; and

there is a similar feeling on the part of the young city towards

Cnosus. And I repeat what I was saying-for there is no harm in

repeating a good thing-that the Cnosians should take a common interest

in all these matters, and choose, as far as they can, the eldest and

best of the colonists, to the number of not less than a hundred; and

let there be another hundred of the Cnosians themselves. These, I say,

on their arrival, should have a joint care that the magistrates should

be appointed according to law, and that when they are appointed they

should undergo a scrutiny. When this has been effected, the Cnosians

shall return home, and the new city do the best she can for her own

preservation and happiness. I would have the seven-and-thirty now, and

in all future time, chosen to fulfil the following duties:-Let them,

in the first place, be the guardians of the law; and, secondly, of the

registers in which each one registers before the magistrate the amount

of his property, excepting four minae which are allowed to citizens of

the first class, three allowed to the second, two to the third, and

a single mina to the fourth. And if any one, despising the laws for

the sake of gain, be found to possess anything more which has not been

registered, let all that he has in excess be confiscated, and let

him be liable to a suit which shall be the reverse of honourable or

fortunate. And let any one who will, indict him on the charge of

loving base gains, and proceed against him before the guardians of the

law. And if he be cast, let him lose his share of the public

possessions, and when there is any public distribution, let him have

nothing but his original lot; and let him be written down a

condemned man as long as he lives, in some place in which any one

who pleases can read about his onces. The guardian of the law shall

not hold office longer than twenty years, and shall not be less than

fifty years of age when he is elected; or if he is elected when he

is sixty years of age, he shall hold office for ten years only; and

upon the same principle, he must not imagine that he will be permitted

to hold such an important office as that of guardian of the laws after

he is seventy years of age, if he live so long.

  These are the three first ordinances about the guardians of the law;

as the work of legislation progresses, each law in turn will assign to

them their further duties. And now we may proceed in order to speak of

the election of other officers; for generals have to be elected, and

these again must have their ministers, commanders, and colonels of

horse, and commanders of brigades of foot, who would be more rightly

called by their popular name of brigadiers. The guardians of the law

shall propose as generals men who are natives of the city, and a

selection from the candidates proposed shall be made by those who

are or have been of the age for military service. And if one who is

not proposed is thought by somebody to be better than one who is,

let him name whom he prefers in the place of whom, and make oath

that he is better, and propose him; and whichever of them is

approved by vote shall be admitted to the final selection; and the

three who have the greatest number of votes shall be appointed

generals, and superintendents of military affairs, after previously

undergoing a scrutiny, like the guardians of the law. And let the

generals thus elected propose twelve brigadiers, one for each tribe;

and there shall be a right of counterproposal as in the case of the

generals, and the voting and decision shall take place in the same

way. Until the prytanes and council are elected, the guardians of

the law shall convene the assembly in some holy spot which is suitable

to the purpose, placing the hoplites by themselves, and the cavalry by

themselves, and in a third division all the rest of the army. All

are to vote for the generals [and for the colonels of horse], but

the brigadiers are to be voted for only by those who carry shields

[i.e. the hoplites]. Let the body of cavalry choose phylarchs for

the generals; but captains of light troops, or archers, or any other

division of the army, shall be appointed by the generals for

themselves. There only remains the appointment of officers of cavalry:

these shall be proposed by the same persons who proposed the generals,

and the election and the counter-proposal of other candidates shall be

arranged in the same way as in the case of the generals, and let the

cavalry vote and the infantry look on at the election; the two who

have the greatest number of votes shall be the leaders of all the

horse. Disputes about the voting may be raised once or twice; but if

the dispute be raised a third time, the officers who preside at the

several elections shall decide.

  The council shall consist of 30 x 12 members-360 will be a

convenient number for sub-division. If we divide the whole number into

four parts of ninety each, we get ninety counsellors for each class.

First, all the citizens shall select candidates from the first

class; they shall be compelled to vote, and, if they do not, shall

be duly fined. When the candidates have been selected, some one

shall mark them down; this shall be the business of the first day. And

on the following day, candidates shall be selected from the second

class in the same manner and under the same conditions as on the

previous day; and on the third day a selection shall be made from

the third class, at which every one may, if he likes, vote, and the

three first classes shall be compelled to vote; but the fourth and

lowest class shall be under no compulsion, and any member of this

class who does not vote shall not be punished. On the fourth day

candidates shall be selected from the fourth and smallest class;

they shall be selected by all, but he who is of the fourth class shall

suffer no penalty, nor he who is of the third, if he be not willing to

vote; but he who is of the first or second class, if he does not

vote shall be punished;-he who is of the second class shall pay a fine

of triple the amount which was exacted at first, and he who is of

the first class quadruple. On the fifth day the rulers shall bring out

the names noted down, for all the citizens to see, and every man shall

choose out of them, under pain, if he do not, of suffering the first

penalty; and when they have chosen out of each of the classes, they

shall choose one-half of them by lot, who shall undergo a

scrutiny:-These are to form the council for the year.

  The mode of election which has been described is in a mean between

monarchy and democracy, and such a mean the state ought always to

observe; for servants and masters never can be friends, nor good and

bad, merely because they are declared to have equal privileges. For to

unequals equals become unequal, if they are not harmonized by measure;

and both by reason of equality, and by reason of inequality, cities

are filled with seditions. The old saying, that "equality makes

friendship," is happy and also true; but there is obscurity and

confusion as to what sort of equality is meant. For there are two

equalities which are called by the same name, but are in reality in

many ways almost the opposite of one another; one of them may be

introduced without difficulty, by any state or any legislator in the

distribution of honours: this is the rule of measure, weight, and

number, which regulates and apportions them. But there is another

equality, of a better and higher kind, which is not so easily

recognized. This is the judgment of Zeus; among men it avails but

little; that little, however, is the source of the greatest good to

individuals and states. For it gives to the greater more, and to the

inferior less and in proportion to the nature of each; and, above all,

greater honour always to the greater virtue, and to the less less; and

to either in proportion to their respective measure of virtue and

education. And this is justice, and is ever the true principle of

states, at which we ought to aim, and according to this rule order the

new city which is now being founded, and any other city which may be

hereafter founded. To this the legislator should look-not to the

interests of tyrants one or more, or to the power of the people, but

to justice always; which, as I was saying, the distribution of natural

equality among unequals in each case. But there are times at which

every state is compelled to use the words, "just," "equal," in a

secondary sense, in the hope of escaping in some degree from factions.

For equity and indulgence are infractions of the perfect and strict

rule of justice. And this is the reason why we are obliged to use

the equality of the lot, in order to avoid the discontent of the

people; and so we invoke God and fortune in our prayers, and beg

that they themselves will direct the lot with a view to supreme

justice. And therefore, although we are compelled to use both

equalities, we should use that into which the element of chance enters

as seldom as possible.

  Thus, O my friends, and for the reasons given, should a state act

which would endure and be saved. But as a ship sailing on the sea

has to be watched night and day, in like manner a city also is sailing

on a sea of politics, and is liable to all sorts of insidious

assaults; and therefore from morning to night, and from night to

morning, rulers must join hands with rulers, and watchers with

watchers, receiving and giving up their trust in a perpetual

succession. Now a multitude can never fulfil a duty of this sort

with anything like energy. Moreover, the greater number of the

senators will have to be left during the greater part of the year to

order their concerns at their own homes. They will therefore have to

be arranged in twelve portions, answering to the twelve months, and

furnish guardians of the state, each portion for a single month. Their

business is to be at hand and receive any foreigner or citizen who

comes to them, whether to give information, or to put one of those

questions, to which, when asked by other cities, a city should give an

answer, and to which, if she ask them herself, she should receive an

answer; or again, when there is a likelihood of internal commotions,

which are always liable to happen in some form or other, they will, if

they can, prevent their occurring; or if they have already occurred,

will lose time in making them known to the city, and healing the evil.

Wherefore, also, this which is the presiding body of the state ought

always to have the control of their assemblies, and of the

dissolutions of them, ordinary as well as extraordinary. All this is

to be ordered by the twelfth part of the council, which is always to

keep watch together with the other officers of the state during one

portion of the year, and to rest during the remaining eleven portions.

  Thus will the city be fairly ordered. And now, who is to have, the

superintendence of the country, and what shall be the arrangement?

Seeing that the whole city and the entire country have been both of

them divided into twelve portions, ought there not to be appointed

superintendents of the streets of the city, and of the houses, and

buildings, and harbours, and the agora, and fountains, and sacred

domains, and temples, and the like?

  Cle. To be sure there ought.

  Ath. Let us assume, then, that there ought to be servants of the

temples, and priests and priestesses. There must also be

superintendents of roads and buddings, who will have a care of men,

that they may do no harm, and also of beasts, both within the

enclosure and in the suburbs. Three kinds of officers will thus have

to be appointed, in order that the city may be suitably provided

according to her needs. Those who have the care of the city shall be

called wardens of the city; and those who have the care of the agora

shall be called wardens of the agora; and those who have the care of

the temples shall be called priests. Those who hold hereditary offices

as priests or priestesses, shall not be disturbed; but if there be few

or none such, as is probable at the foundation of a new city,

priests and priestesses shall be appointed to be servants of the

Gods who have no servants. Some of our officers shall be elected,

and others appointed by lot, those who are of the people and those who

are not of the people mingling in a friendly manner in every place and

city, that the state may be as far as possible of one mind. The

officers of the temples shall be appointed by lot; in this way their

election will be committed to God, that he may do what is agreeable to

him. And he who obtains a lot shall undergo a scrutiny, first, as to

whether he is sound of body and of legitimate birth; and in the second

place, in order to show that he is of a perfectly pure family, not

stained with homicide or any similar impiety in his own person, and

also that his father and mother have led a similar unstained life. Now

the laws about all divine things should be brought from Delphi, and

interpreters appointed, under whose direction they should be used. The

tenure of the priesthood should always be for a year and no longer;

and he who will duly execute the sacred office, according to the

laws of religion, must be not less than sixty years of age-the laws

shall be the same about priestesses. As for the interpreters, they

shall be appointed thus:-Let the twelve tribes be distributed into

groups of four, and let each group select four, one out of each

tribe within the group, three times; and let the three who have the

greatest number of votes [out of the twelve appointed by each

group], after undergoing a scrutiny, nine in all, be sent to Delphi,

in order that the God may return one out of each triad; their age

shall be the same as that of the priests, and the scrutiny of them

shall be conducted in the same manner; let them be interpreters for

life, and when any one dies let the four tribes select another from

the tribe of the deceased. Moreover, besides priests and interpreters,

there must be treasurers, who will take charge of the property of

the several temples, and of the sacred domains, and shall have

authority over the produce and the letting of them; and three of

them shall be chosen from the highest classes for the greater temples,

and two for the lesser, and one for the least of all; the manner of

their election and the scrutiny of them shall be the same as that of

the generals. This shall be the order of the temples.

  Let everything have a guard as far as possible. Let the defence of

the city be commited to the generals, and taxiarchs, and hipparchs,

and phylarchs, and prytanes, and the wardens of the city, and of the

agora, when the election of them has been completed. The defence of

the country shall be provided for as follows:-The entire land has been

already distributed into twelve as nearly as possible equal parts, and

let the tribe allotted to a division provide annually for it five

wardens of the country and commanders of the watch; and let each

body of five have the power of selecting twelve others out of the

youth of their own tribe-these shall be not less than twenty-five

years of age, and not more than thirty. And let there be allotted to

them severally every month the various districts, in order that they

may all acquire knowledge and experience of the whole country. The

term of service for commanders and for watchers shall continue

during two years. After having had their stations allotted to them,

they will go from place to place in regular order, making their

round from left to right as their commanders direct them; (when I

speak of going to the right, I mean that they are to go to the

east). And at the commencement of the second year, in order that as

many as possible of the guards may not only get a knowledge of the

country at any one season of the year, but may also have experience of

the manner in which different places are affected at different seasons

of the year, their then commanders shall lead them again towards the

left, from place to place in succession, until they have completed the

second year. In the third year other wardens of the country shall be

chosen and commanders of the watch, five for each division, who are to

be the superintendents of the bands of twelve. While on service at

each station, their attention shall be directed to the following

points:-In the first place, they shall see that the country is well

protected against enemies; they shall trench and dig wherever this

is required, and, as far as they can, they shall by fortifications

keep off the evil-disposed, in order to prevent them from doing any

harm to the country or the property; they shall use the beasts of

burden and the labourers whom they find on the spot: these will be

their instruments whom they will superintend, taking them, as far as

possible, at the times when they are not engaged in their regular

business. They shall make every part of the country inaccessible to

enemies, and as accessible as possible to friends; there shall be ways

for man and beasts of burden and for cattle, and they shall take

care to have them always as smooth as they can; and shall provide

against the rains doing harm instead of good to the land, when they

come down from the mountains into the hollow dells; and shall keep

in the overflow by the help of works and ditches, in order that the

valleys, receiving and drinking up the rain from heaven, and providing

fountains and streams in the fields and regions which lie

underneath, may furnish even to the dry places plenty of good water.

The fountains of water, whether of rivers or of springs, shall be

ornamented with plantations and buildings for beauty; and let them

bring together the streams in subterraneous channels, and make all

things plenteous; and if there be a sacred grove or dedicated precinct

in the neighbourhood, they shall conduct the water to the actual

temples of the Gods, and so beautify them at all seasons of the

year. Everywhere in such places the youth shall make gymnasia for

themselves, and warm baths for the aged, placing by them abundance

of dry wood, for the benefit of those labouring under disease-there

the weary frame of the rustic, worn with toil, will receive a kindly

welcome, far better than he would at the hands of a not over-wise

doctor.

  The building of these and the like works will be useful and

ornamental; they will provide a pleasing amusement, but they will be a

serious employment too; for the sixty wardens will have to guard their

several divisions, not only with a view to enemies, but also with an

eye to professing friends. When a quarrel arises among neighbours or

citizens, and any one, whether slave or freeman wrongs another, let

the five wardens decide small matters on their own authority; but

where the charge against another relates to greater matters, the

seventeen composed of the fives and twelves, shall determine any

charges which one man brings against another, not involving more

than three minae. Every judge and magistrate shall be liable to give

an account of his conduct in office, except those who, like kings,

have the final decision. Moreover, as regards the aforesaid wardens of

the country, if they do any wrong to those of whom they have the care,

whether by imposing upon them unequal tasks, or by taking the

produce of the soil or implements of husbandry without their

consent; also if they receive anything in the way of a bribe, or

decide suits unjustly, or if they yield to the influences of flattery,

let them be publicly dishonoured; and in regard to any other wrong

which they do to the inhabitants of the country, if the question be of

a mina, let them submit to the decision of the villagers in the

neighbourhood; but in suits of greater amount, or in case of lesser,

if they refuse to submit, trusting that their monthly removal into

another part of the country will enable them to escape-in such cases

the injured party may bring his suit in the common court, and if he

obtain a verdict he may exact from the defendant, who refused to

submit, a double penalty.

  The wardens and the overseers of the country, while on their two

years service, shall have common meals at their several stations,

and shall all live together; and he who is absent from the common

meal, or sleeps out, if only for one day or night, unless by order

of his commanders, or by reason of absolute necessity, if the five

denounce him and inscribe his name the agora as not having kept his

guard, let him be deemed to have betrayed the city, as far as lay in

his power, and let him be disgraced and beaten with impunity by any

one who meets him and is willing to punish him. If any of the

commanders is guilty of such an irregularity, the whole company of

sixty shall see to it, and he who is cognizant of the offence, and

does not bring the offender to trial, shall be amenable to the same

laws as the younger offender himself, and shall pay a heavier fine,

and be incapable of ever commanding the young. The guardians of the

law are to be careful inspectors of these matters, and shall either

prevent or punish offenders. Every man should remember the universal

rule, that he who is not a good servant will not be a good master; a

man should pride himself more upon serving well than upon commanding

well: first upon serving the laws, which is also the service of the

Gods; in the second place, upon having. served ancient and

honourable men in the days of his youth. Furthermore, during the two

years in which any one is a warden of the country, his daily food

ought to be of a simple and humble kind. When the twelve have been

chosen, let them and the five meet together, and determine that they

will be their own servants, and, like servants, will not have other

slaves and servants for their own use, neither will they use those

of the villagers and husbandmen for their private advantage, but for

the public service only; and in general they should make up their

minds to live independently by themselves, servants of each other

and of themselves. Further, at all seasons of the year, summer and

winter alike, let them be under arms and survey minutely the whole

country; thus they will at once keep guard, and at the same time

acquire a perfect knowledge of every locality. There can be no more

important kind of information than the exact knowledge of a man's

own country; and for this as well as for more general reasons of

pleasure and advantage, hunting with dogs and other kinds of sports

should be pursued by the young. The service to whom this is

committed may be called the secret police, or wardens of the

country; the name does not much signify, but every one who has the

safety of the state at heart will use his utmost diligence in this

service.

  After the wardens of the country, we have to speak of the election

of wardens of the agora and of the city. The wardens of the country

were sixty in number, and the wardens of the city will be three, and

will divide the twelve parts of the city into three; like the

former, they shall have care of the ways, and of the different high

roads which lead out of the country into the city, and of the

buildings, that they may be all made according to law;-also of the

waters, which the guardians of the supply preserve and convey to them,

care being taken that they may reach the fountains pure and

abundant, and be both an ornament and a benefit to the city. These

also should be men of influence, and at leisure to take care of the

public interest. Let every man propose as warden of the city any one

whom he likes out of the highest class, and when the vote has been

given on them, and the number is reduced to the six who have the

greatest number of votes, let the electing officers choose by lot

three out of the six, and when they have undergone a scrutiny let them

hold office according to the laws laid down for them. Next, let the

wardens of the agora be elected in like manner, out of the first and

second class, five in number: ten are to be first elected, and out

of the ten five are to be chosen by lot, as in the election of the

wardens of the city:-these when they have undergone a scrutiny are

to be declared magistrates. Every one shall vote for every one, and he

who will not vote, if he be informed against before the magistrates,

shall be fined fifty drachmae, and shall also be deemed a bad citizen.

Let any one who likes go to the assembly and to the general council;

it shall be compulsory to go on citizens of the first and second

class, and they shall pay a fine of ten drachmae if they be found

not answering to their names at the assembly. the third and fourth

class shall be under no compulsion, and shall be let off without a

fine, unless the magistrates have commanded all to be present, in

consequence of some urgent necessity. The wardens of the agora shall

observe the order appointed by law for the agora, and shall have the

charge of the temples and fountains which are in the agora; and they

shall see that no one injures anything, and punish him who does,

with stripes and bonds, if he be a slave or stranger; but if he be a

citizen who misbehaves in this way, they shall have the power

themselves of inflicting a fine upon him to the amount of a hundred

drachmae, or with the consent of the wardens of the city up to

double that amount. And let the wardens of the city have a similar

power of imposing punishments and fines in their own department; and

let them impose fines by their own department; and let them impose

fines by their own authority, up to a mina, or up to two minae with

the consent of the wardens of the agora.

  In the next place, it will be proper to appoint directors of music

and gymnastic, two kinds of each-of the one kind the business will

be education, of the other, the superintendence of contests. In

speaking of education, the law means to speak of those who have the

care of order and instruction in gymnasia and schools, and of the

going to school, and of school buildings for boys and girls; and in

speaking of contests, the law refers to the judges of gymnastics and

of music; these again are divided into two classes, the one having

to do with music, the other with gymnastics; and the same who judge of

the gymnastic contests of men, shall judge of horses; but in music

there shall be one set of judges of solo singing, and of imitation-I

mean of rhapsodists, players on the harp, the flute and the like,

and another who shall judge of choral song. First of all, we must

choose directors for the choruses of boys, and men, and maidens,

whom they shall follow in the amusement of the dance, and for our

other musical arrangements; -one director will be enough for the

choruses, and he should be not less than forty years of age. One

director will also be enough to introduce the solo singers, and to

give judgment on the competitors, and he ought not to be less than

thirty years of age. The director and manager of the choruses shall be

elected after the following manner:-Let any persons who commonly

take an interest in such matters go to the meeting, and be fined if

they do not go (the guardians of the law shall judge of their

fault), but those who have no interest shall not be compelled. The

elector shall propose as director some one who understands music,

and he in the scrutiny may be challenged on the one part by those

who say he has no skill, and defended on the other hand by those who

say that he has. Ten are to be elected by vote, and he of the ten

who is chosen by lot shall undergo a scrutiny, and lead the choruses

for a year according to law. And in like manner the competitor who

wins the lot shall be leader of the solo and concert music for that

year; and he who is thus elected shall deliver the award to the

judges. In the next place, we have to choose judges in the contests of

horses and of men; these shall be selected from the third and also

from the second class of citizens, and three first classes shall be

compelled to go to the election, but the lowest may stay away with

impunity; and let there be three elected by lot out of the twenty

who have been chosen previously, and they must also have the vote

and approval of the examiners. But if any one is rejected in the

scrutiny at any ballot or decision, others shall be chosen in the same

manner, and undergo a similar scrutiny.

  There remains the minister of the education of youth, male and

female; he too will rule according to law; one such minister will be

sufficient, and he must be fifty years old, and have children lawfully

begotten, both boys and girls by preference, at any rate, one or the

other. He who is elected, and he who is the elector, should consider

that of all the great offices of state, this is the greatest; for

the first shoot of any plant, if it makes a good start towards the

attainment of its natural excellence, has the greatest effect on its

maturity; and this is not only true of plants, but of animals wild and

tame, and also of men. Man, as we say, is a tame or civilized

animal; nevertheless, he requires proper instruction and a fortunate

nature, and then of all animals he becomes the most divine and most

civilized; but if he be insufficiently or ill educated he is the

most savage of earthly creatures. Wherefore the legislator ought not

to allow the education of children to become a secondary or accidental

matter. In the first place, he who would be rightly provident about

them, should begin by taking care that he is elected, who of all the

citizens is in every way best; him the legislator shall do his

utmost to appoint guardian and superintendent. To this end all the

magistrates, with the exception of the council and prytanes, shall

go to the temple of Apollo, and elect by ballot him of the guardians

of the law whom they severally think will be the best superintendent

of education. And he who has the greatest number of votes, after he

has undergone a scrutiny at the hands of all the magistrates who

have been his electors, with the exception of the guardians of the

law-shall hold office for five years; and in the sixth year let

another be chosen in like manner to fill his office.

  If any one dies while he is holding a public office, and more than

thirty days before his term of office expires, let those whose

business it is elect another to the office in the same manner as

before. And if any one who is entrusted with orphans dies, let the

relations both on the father's and mother's side, who are residing

at home, including cousins, appoint another guardian within ten

days, or be fined a drachma a day for neglect to do so.

  A city which has no regular courts of law ceases to be a city; and

again, if a judge is silent and says no more in preliminary

proceedings than the litigants, as is the case in arbitrations, he

will never be able to decide justly; wherefore a multitude of judges

will not easily judge well, nor a few if they are bad. The point in

dispute between the parties should be made clear; and time, and

deliberation, and repeated examination, greatly tend to clear up

doubts. For this reason, he who goes to law with another should go

first of all to his neighbours and friends who know best the questions

at issue. And if he be unable to obtain from them a satisfactory

decision, let him have recourse to another court; and if the two

courts cannot settle the matter, let a third put an end to the suit.

  Now the establishment of courts of justice may be regarded as a

choice of magistrates, for every magistrate must also be a judge of

some things; and the judge, though he be not a magistrate, yet in

certain respects is a very important magistrate on the day on which he

is determining a suit. Regarding then the judges also as

magistrates, let us say who are fit to be judges, and of what they are

to be judges, and how many of them are to judge in each suit. Let that

be the supreme tribunal which the litigants appoint in common for

themselves, choosing certain persons by agreement. And let there be

two other tribunals: one for private causes, when a citizen accuses

another of wronging him and wishes to get a decision; the other for

public causes, in which some citizen is of opinion that the public has

been wronged by an individual, and is willing to vindicate the

common interests. And we must not forget to mention how the judges are

to be qualified, and who they are to be. In the first place, let there

be a tribunal open to all private persons who are trying causes one

against another for the third time, and let this be composed as

follows:-All the officers of state, as well annual as those holding

office for a longer period, when the new year is about to commence, in

the month following after the summer solstice, on the last day but one

of the year, shall meet in some temple, and calling God to witness,

shall dedicate one judge from every magistracy to be their

first-fruits, choosing in each office him who seems to them to be

the best, and whom they deem likely to decide the causes of his

fellow-citizens during the ensuing year in the best and holiest

manner. And when the election is completed, a scrutiny shall be held

in the presence of the electors themselves, and if any one be rejected

another shall be chosen in the same manner. Those who have undergone

the scrutiny shall judge the causes of those who have declined the

inferior courts, and shall give their vote openly. The councillors and

other magistrates who have elected them shall be required to be

hearers and spectators of the causes; and any one else may be

present who pleases. If one man charges another with having

intentionally decided wrong, let him go to the guardians of the law

and lay his accusation before them, and he who is found guilty in such

a case shall pay damages to the injured party equal to half the

injury; but if he shall appear to deserve a greater penalty, the

judges shall determine what additional punishment he shall suffer, and

how much more he ought to pay to the public treasury, and to the party

who brought the suit.

  In the judgment of offences against the state, the people ought to

participate, for when any one wrongs the state all are wronged, and

may reasonably complain if they are not allowed to share in the

decision. Such causes ought to originate with the people, and the

ought also to have the final decision of them, but the trial of them

shall take place before three of the highest magistrates, upon whom

the plaintiff and the defendant shall agree; and if they are not

able to come to an agreement themselves, the council shall choose

one of the two proposed. And in private suits, too, as far as is

possible, all should have a share; for he who has no share in the

administration of justice, is apt to imagine that he has no share in

the state at all. And for this reason there shall be a court of law in

every tribe, and the judges shall be chosen by lot;-they shall give

their decisions at once, and shall be inaccessible to entreaties.

The final judgment shall rest with that court which, as we maintain,

has been established in the most incorruptible form of which human

things admit: this shall be the court established for those who are

unable to get rid of their suits either in the courts of neighbours or

of the tribes.

  Thus much of the courts of law, which, as I was saying, cannot be

precisely defined either as being or not being offices; a

superficial sketch has been given of them, in which some things have

been told and others omitted. For the right place of an exact

statement of the laws respecting suits, under their several heads,

will be at the end of the body of legislation;-let us then expect them

at the end. Hitherto our legislation has been chiefly occupied with

the appointment of offices. Perfect unity and exactness, extending

to the whole and every particular of political administration,

cannot be attained to the full, until the discussion shall have a

beginning, middle, and end, and is complete in every part. At

present we have reached the election of magistrates, and this may be

regarded as a sufficient termination of what preceded. And now there

need no longer be any delay or hesitation in beginning the work of

legislation.

  Cle. I like what you have said, Stranger-and I particularly like

your manner of tacking on the beginning of your new discourse to the

end of the former one.

  Ath. Thus far, then, the old men's rational pastime has gone off

well.

  Cle. You mean, I suppose, their serious and noble pursuit?

  Ath. Perhaps; but I should like to know whether you and I are agreed

about a certain thing.

  Cle. About what thing?

  Ath. You know. the endless labour which painters expend upon their

pictures-they are always putting in or taking out colours, or whatever

be the term which artists employ; they seem as if they would never

cease touching up their works, which are always being made brighter

and more beautiful.

  Cle. I know something of these matters from report, although I

have never had any great acquaintance with the art.

  Ath. No matter; we may make use of the illustration

notwithstanding:-Suppose that some one had a mind to paint a figure in

the most beautiful manner, in the hope that his work instead of losing

would always improve as time went on-do you not see that being a

mortal, unless he leaves some one to succeed him who will correct

the flaws which time may introduce, and be able to add what is left

imperfect through the defect of the artist, and who will further

brighten up and improve the picture, all his great labour will last

but a short time?

  Cle. True.

  Ath. And is not the aim of the legislator similar? First, he desires

that his laws should be written down with all possible exactness; in

the second place, as time goes on and he has made an actual trial of

his decrees, will he not find omissions? Do you imagine that there

ever was a legislator so foolish as not to know that many things are

necessarily omitted, which some one coming after him must correct,

if the constitution and the order of government is not to deteriorate,

but to improve in the state which he has established?

  Cle. Assuredly, that is the sort of thing which every one would

desire.

  Ath. And if any one possesses any means of accomplishing this by

word or deed, or has any way great or small by which he can teach a

person to understand how he can maintain and amend the laws, he should

finish what he has to say, and not leave the work incomplete.

  Cle. By all means.

  Ath. And is not this what you and I have to do at the present

moment?

  Cle. What have we to do?

  Ath. As we are about to legislate and have chosen our guardians of

the law, and are ourselves in the evening of life, and they as

compared with us are young men, we ought not only to legislate for

them, but to endeavour to make them not only guardians of the law

but legislators themselves, as far as this is possible.

  Cle. Certainly; if we can.

  Ath. At any rate, we must do our best.

  Cle. Of course.

  Ath. We will say to them-O friends and saviours of our laws, in

laying down any law, there are many particulars which we shall omit,

and this cannot be helped; at the same time, we will do our utmost

to describe what is important, and will give an outline which you

shall fill up. And I will explain on what principle you are to act.

Megillus and Cleinias and I have often spoken to one another

touching these matters, and we are of opinion that we have spoken

well. And we hope that you will be of the same mind with us, and

become our disciples, and keep in view the things which in our

united opinion the legislator and guardian of the law ought to keep in

view. There was one main point about which we were agreed-that a man's

whole energies throughout life should be devoted to the acquisition of

the virtue proper to a man, whether this was to be gained by study, or

habit, or some mode of acquisition, or desire, or opinion, or

knowledge-and this applies equally to men and women, old and young-the

aim of all should always be such as I have described; anything which

may be an impediment, the good man ought to show that he utterly

disregards. And if at last necessity plainly compels him to be an

outlaw from his native land, rather than bow his neck to the yoke of

slavery and be ruled by inferiors, and he has to fly, an exile he must

be and endure all such trials, rather than accept another form of

government, which is likely to make men worse. These are our

original principles; and do you now, fixing your eyes upon the

standard of what a man and a citizen ought or ought not to be,

praise and blame the laws-blame those which have not this power of

making the citizen better, but embrace those which have; and with

gladness receive and live in them; bidding a long farewell to other

institutions which aim at goods, as they are termed, of a different

kind.

  Let us proceed to another class of laws, beginning with their

foundation in religion. And we must first return to the number

5040-the entire number had, and has, a great many convenient

divisions, and the number of the tribes which was a twelfth part of

the whole, being correctly formed by 21 X 20 [5040/(21 X 20), i.e.,

5040/420=12], also has them. And not only is the whole number

divisible by twelve, but also the number of each tribe is divisible by

twelve. Now every portion should be regarded by us as a sacred gift of

Heaven, corresponding to the months and to the revolution of the

universe. Every city has a guiding and sacred principle given by

nature, but in some the division or distribution has been more right

than in others, and has been more sacred and fortunate. In our

opinion, nothing can be more right than the selection of the number

5040, which may be divided by all numbers from one to twelve with

the single exception of eleven, and that admits of a very easy

correction; for if, turning to the dividend (5040), we deduct two

families, the defect in the division is cured. And the truth of this

may be easily proved when we have leisure. But for the present,

trusting to the mere assertion of this principle, let us divide the

state; and assigning to each portion some God or son of a God, let

us give them altars and sacred rites, and at the altars let us hold

assemblies for sacrifice twice in the month-twelve assemblies for

the tribes, and twelve for the city, according to their divisions; the

first in honour of the Gods and divine things, and the second to

promote friendship and "better acquaintance," as the phrase is, and

every sort of good fellowship with one another. For people must be

acquainted with those into whose families and whom they marry and with

those to whom they give in marriage; in such matters, as far as

possible, a man should deem it all important to avoid a mistake, and

with this serious purpose let games be instituted in which youths

and maidens shall dance together, seeing one another and being seen

naked, at a proper age, and on a suitable occasion, not

transgressing the rules of modesty.

  The directors of choruses will be the superintendents and regulators

of these games, and they, together with the guardians of the law, will

legislate in any matters which we have omitted; for, as we said, where

there are numerous and minute details, the legislator must leave out

something. And the annual officers who have experience, and know

what is wanted, must make arrangements and improvements year by

year, until such enactments and provisions are sufficiently

determined. A ten years experience of sacrifices and dances, if

extending to all particulars, will be quite sufficient; and if the

legislator be alive they shall communicate with him, but if he be dead

then the several officers shall refer the omissions which come under

their notice to the guardians of the law, and correct them, until

all is perfect; and from that time there shall be no more change,

and they shall establish and use the new laws with the others which

the legislator originally gave them, and of which they are never, if

they can help, to change aught; or, if some necessity overtakes

them, the magistrates must be called into counsel, and the whole

people, and they must go to all the oracles of the Gods; and if they

are all agreed, in that case they may make the change, but if they are

not agreed, by no manner of means, and any one who dissents shall

prevail, as the law ordains.

  Whenever any one over twenty-five years of age, having seen and been

seen by others, believes himself to have found a marriage connection

which is to his mind, and suitable for the procreation of children,

let him marry if he be still under the age of five-and-thirty years;

but let him first hear how he ought to seek after what is suitable and

appropriate. For, as Cleinias says, every law should have a suitable

prelude.

  Cle. You recollect at the right moment, Stranger, and do not miss

the opportunity which the argument affords of saying a word in season.

  Ath. I thank you. We will say to him who is born of good parents-O

my son, you ought to make such a marriage as wise men would approve.

Now they would advise you neither to avoid a poor marriage, nor

specially to desire a rich one; but if other things are equal,

always to honour inferiors, and with them to form connections;-this

will be for the benefit of the city and of the families which are

united; for the equable and symmetrical tends infinitely more to

virtue than the unmixed. And he who is conscious of being too

headstrong, and carried away more than is fitting in all his

actions, ought to desire to become the relation of orderly parents;

and he who is of the opposite temper ought to seek the opposite

alliance. Let there be one word concerning all marriages:-Every man

shall follow, not after the marriage which is most pleasing to

himself, but after that which is most beneficial to the state. For

somehow every one is by nature prone to that which is likest to

himself, and in this way the whole city becomes unequal in property

and in disposition; and hence there arise in most states the very

results which we least desire to happen. Now, to add to the law an

express provision, not only that the rich man shall not marry into the

rich family, nor the powerful into the family of the powerful, but

that the slower natures shall be compelled to enter into marriage with

the quicker, and the quicker with the slower, may awaken anger as well

as laughter in the minds of many; for there is a difficulty in

perceiving that the city ought to be well mingled like a cup, in which

the maddening wine is hot and fiery, but when chastened by a soberer

God, receives a fair associate and becomes an excellent and

temperate drink. Yet in marriage no one is able to see that the same

result occurs. Wherefore also the law must let alone such matters, but

we should try to charm the spirits of men into believing the

equability of their children's disposition to be of more importance

than equality in excessive fortune when they marry; and him who is too

desirous of making a rich marriage we should endeavour to turn aside

by reproaches, not, however, by any compulsion of written law.

  Let this then be our exhortation concerning marriage, and let us

remember what was said before-that a man should cling to

immortality, and leave behind him children's children to be the

servants of God in his place for ever. All this and much more may be

truly said by way of prelude about the duty of marriage. But if a

man will not listen and remains unsocial and alien among his

fellow-citizens, and is still unmarried at thirty-five years of age,

let him pay a yearly fine;-he who of the highest class shall pay a

fine of a hundred drachmae, and he who is of the second dass a fine of

seventy drachmae; the third class shall pay sixty drachmae, and the

fourth thirty drachmae, and let the money be sacred to Here; he who

does not pay the fine annually shall owe ten times the sum, which

the treasurer of the goddess shall exact; and if he fails in doing so,

let him be answerable and give an account of the. money at his

audit. He who refuses to marry shall be thus punished in money, and

also be deprived of all honour which the younger show to the elder;

let no young man voluntarily obey him, and if he attempt to punish any

one, let every one come to the rescue and defend the injured person,

and he who is present and does not come to the rescue, shall be

pronounced by the law to be a coward and a bad citizen. Of the

marriage portion I have already spoken; and again I say for the

instruction of poor men that he who neither gives nor receives a dowry

on account of poverty, has a compensation; for the citizens of our

state are provided with the necessaries of life, and wives will be

less likely to be insolent, and husbands to be mean and subservient to

them on account of property. And he who obeys this law will do a noble

action; but he who will not obey, and gives or receives more than

fifty drachmae as the price of the marriage garments if he be of the

lowest, or more than a mina, or a mina and-a-half, if he be of the

third or second classes, or two minae if he be of the highest class,

shall owe to the public treasury a similar sum, and that which is

given or received shall be sacred to Here and Zeus; and let the

treasurers of these Gods exact the money, as was said before about the

unmarried-that the treasurers of Here were to exact the money, or

pay the fine themselves.

  The betrothal by a father shall be valid in the first degree, that

by a grandfather in the second degree, and in the third degree,

betrothal by brothers who have the same father; but if there are

none of these alive, the betrothal by a mother shall be valid in

like manner; in cases of unexampled fatality, the next of kin and

the guardians shall have authority. What are to be the rites before

marriages, or any other sacred acts, relating either to future,

present, or past marriages, shall be referred to the interpreters; and

he who follows their advice may be satisfied. Touching the marriage

festival, they shall assemble not more than five male and five

female friends of both families; and a like number of members of the

family of either sex, and no man shall spend more than his means

will allow; he who is of the richest class may spend a mina-he who

is of the second, half a mina, and in the same proportion as the

census of each decreases: all men shall praise him who is obedient

to the law; but he who is disobedient shall be punished by the

guardians of the law as a man wanting in true taste, and

uninstructed in the laws of bridal song. Drunkenness is always

improper, except at the festivals of the God who gave wine; and

peculiarly dangerous, when a man is engaged in the business of

marriage; at such a crisis of their lives a bride and bridegroom ought

to have all their wits about them-they ought to take care that their

offspring may be born of reasonable beings; for on what day or night

Heaven will give them increase, who can say? Moreover, they ought

not to begetting children when their bodies are dissipated by

intoxication, but their offspring should be compact and solid, quiet

and compounded properly; whereas the drunkard is all abroad in all his

actions, and beside himself both in body and soul. Wherefore, also,

the drunken man is bad and unsteady in sowing the seed of increase,

and is likely to beget offspring who will be unstable and

untrustworthy, and cannot be expected to walk straight either in

body or mind. Hence during the whole year and all his life long, and

especially while he is begetting children, ought to take care and

not intentionally do what is injurious to health, or what involves

insolence and wrong; for he cannot help leaving the impression of

himself on the souls and bodies of his offspring, and he begets

children in every way inferior. And especially on the day and night of

marriage should a man abstain from such things. For the beginning,

which is also a God dwelling in man, preserves all things, if it

meet with proper respect from each individual. He who marries is

further to consider that one of the two houses in the lot is the

nest and nursery of his young, and there he is to marry and make a

home for himself and bring up his children, going away from his father

and mother. For in friendships there must be some degree of desire, in

order to cement and bind together diversities of character; but

excessive intercourse not having the desire which is created by

time, insensibly dissolves friendships from a feeling of satiety;

wherefore a man and his wife shall leave to his and her father and

mother their own dwelling-places, and themselves go as to a colony and

dwell there, and visit and be visited by their parents; and they shall

beget and bring up children, handing on the torch of life from one

generation to another, and worshipping the Gods according to law for

ever.

  In the next place, we have to consider what sort of property will be

most convenient. There is no difficulty either in understanding or

acquiring most kinds of property, but there is great difficulty in

what relates to slaves. And the reason is that we speak about them

in a way which is right and which is not right; for what we say

about our slaves is consistent and also inconsistent with our practice

about them.

  Megillus. I do not understand, Stranger, what you mean.

  Ath. I am not surprised, Megillus, for the state of the Helots among

the Lacedaemonians is of all Hellenic forms of slavery the most

controverted and disputed about, some approving and some condemning

it; there is less dispute about the slavery which exists among the

Heracleots, who have subjugated the Mariandynians, and about the

Thessalian Penestae. Looking at these and the like examples, what

ought we to do concerning property in slaves? I made a remark, in

passing, which naturally elicited a question about my meaning from

you. It was this:-We know that all would agree that we should have the

best and most attached slaves whom we can get. For many a man has

found his slaves better in every way than brethren or sons, and many

times they have saved the lives and property of their masters and

their whole house-such tales are well known.

  Meg. To be sure.

  Ath. But may we not also say that the soul of the slave is utterly

corrupt, and that no man of sense ought to trust them? And the

wisest of our poets, speaking of Zeus, says:



  Far-seeing Zeus takes away half the understanding of men whom the

day of slavery subdues.



Different persons have got these two different notions of slaves in

their minds-some of them utterly distrust their servants, and, as if

they were wild beasts, chastise them with goads and whips, and make

their souls three times, or rather many times, as slavish as they were

before;-and others do just the opposite.

  Meg. True.

  Cle. Then what are we to do in our own country, Stranger, seeing

that there are, such differences in the treatment of slaves by their

owners?

  Ath. Well, Cleinias, there can be no doubt that man is a troublesome

animal, and therefore he is not very manageable, nor likely to

become so, when you attempt to introduce the necessary division,

slave, and freeman, and master.

  Cle. That is obvious.

  Ath. He is a troublesome piece of goods, as has been often shown

by the frequent revolts of the Messenians, and the great mischiefs

which happen in states having many slaves who speak the same language,

and the numerous robberies and lawless life of the Italian banditti,

as they are called. A man who considers all this is fairly at a

loss. Two remedies alone remain to us-not to have the slaves of the

same country, nor if possible, speaking the same language; in this way

they will more easily be held in subjection: secondly, we should

tend them carefully, not only out of regard to them, but yet more

out of respect to ourselves. And the right treatment of slaves is to

behave properly to them, and to do to them, if possible, even more

justice than to those who are our equals; for he who naturally and

genuinely reverences justice, and hates injustice, is discovered in

his dealings with any class of men to whom he can easily be unjust.

And he who in regard to the natures and actions of his slaves is

undefiled by impiety and injustice, will best sow the seeds of

virtue in them; and this may be truly said of every master, and

tyrant, and of every other having authority in relation to his

inferiors. Slaves ought to be punished as they deserve, and not

admonished as if they were freemen, which will only make them

conceited. The language used to a servant ought always to be that of a

command, and we ought not to jest with them, whether they are males or

females-this is a foolish way which many people have of setting up

their slaves, and making the life of servitude more disagreeable

both for them and for their masters.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Now that each of the citizens is provided, as far as

possible, with a sufficient number of suitable slaves who can help him

in what he has to do, we may next proceed to describe their dwellings.

  Cle. Very good.

  Ath. The city being new and hitherto uninhabited, care ought to be

taken of all the buildings, and the manner of building each of them,

and also of the temples and walls. These, Cleinias, were matters which

properly came before the marriages; but, as we are only talking, there

is no objection to changing the order. If, however, our plan of

legislation is ever to take effect, then the house shall precede the

marriage if God so will, and afterwards we will come to the

regulations about marriage; but at present we are only describing

these matters in a general outline.

  Cle. Quite true.

  Ath. The temples are to be placed all round the agora, and the whole

city built on the heights in a circle, for the sake of defence and for

the sake of purity. Near the temples are to be placed buildings for

the magistrates and the courts of law; in these plaintiff and

defendant will receive their due, and the places will be regarded as

most holy, partly because they have to do with the holy things: and

partly because they are the dwelling-places of holy Gods: and in

them will be held the courts in which cases of homicide and other

trials of capital offenses may fitly take place. As to the walls,

Megillus, I agree with Sparta in thinking that they should be

allowed to sleep in the earth, and that we should not attempt to

disinter them; there is a poetical saying, which is finely

expressed, that "walls ought to be of steel and iron, and not of

earth; besides, how ridiculous of us to be sending out our young men

annually into the country to dig and to trench, and to keep off the

enemy by fortifications, under the idea that they are not to be

allowed to set foot in our territory, and then, that we should

surround ourselves with a wall, which, in the first place, is by no

means conducive to the health of cities, and is also apt to produce

a certain effeminacy in the minds of the inhabitants, inviting men

to run thither instead of repelling their enemies, and leading them to

imagine that their safety is due not to their keeping guard day and

night, but that when they are protected by walls and gates, then

they may sleep in safety; as if they were not meant to labour, and did

not know that true repose comes from labour, and that disgraceful

indolence and a careless temper of mind is only the renewal of

trouble. But if men must have walls, the private houses ought to be so

arranged from the first that the whole city may be one wall, having

all the houses capable of defence by reason of their uniformity and

equality towards the streets. The form of the city being that of a

single dwelling will have an agreeable aspect, and being easily

guarded will be infinitely better for security. Until the original

building is completed, these should be the principal objects of the

inhabitants; and the wardens of the city should superintend the

work, and should impose a fine on him who is negligent; and in all

that relates to the city they should have a care of cleanliness, and

not allow a private person to encroach upon any public property either

by buildings or excavations. Further, they ought to take care that the

rains from heaven flow off easily, and of any other matters which

may have to be administered either within or without the city. The

guardians of the law shall pass any further enactments which their

experience may show to be necessary, and supply any other points in

which the law may be deficient. And now that these matters, and the

buildings about the agora, and the gymnasia, and places of

instruction, and theatres, are all ready and waiting for scholars

and spectators, let us proceed to the subjects which follow marriage

in the order of legislation.

  Cle. By all means.

  Ath. Assuming that marriages exist already, Cleinias, the mode of

life during the year after marriage, before children are born, will

follow next in order. In what way bride and bridegroom ought to live

in a city which is to be superior to other cities, is a matter not

at all easy for us to determine. There have been many difficulties

already, but this will be the greatest of them, and the most

disagreeable to the many. Still I cannot but say what appears to me to

be right and true, Cleinias.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. He who imagines that he can give laws for the public conduct of

states, while he leaves the private life of citizens wholly to take

care of itself; who thinks that individuals may pass the day as they

please, and that there is no necessity of order in all things; he, I

say, who gives up the control of their private lives, and supposes

that they will conform to law in their common and public life, is

making a great mistake. Why have I made this remark? Why, because I am

going to enact that the bridegrooms should live at the common

tables, just as they did before marriage. This was a singularity

when first enacted by the legislator in your parts of the world,

Megillus and Cleinias, as I should suppose, on the occasion of some

war or other similar danger, which caused the passing of the law,

and which would be likely to occur in thinly-peopled places, and in

times of pressure. But when men had once tried and been accustomed

to a common table, experience showed that the institution greatly

conduced to security; and in some such manner the custom of having

common tables arose among you.

  Cle. Likely enough.

  Ath. I said that there may have been singularity and danger in

imposing such a custom at first, but that now there is not the same

difficulty. There is, however, another institution which is the

natural sequel to this, and would be excellent, if it existed

anywhere, but at present it does not. The institution of which I am

about to speak is not easily described or executed; and would be

like the legislator "combing wool into the fire," as people say, or

performing any other impossible and useless feat.

  Cle. What is the cause, Stranger, of this extreme hesitation?

  Ath. You shall hear without any fruitless loss of time. That which

has law and order in a state is the cause of every good, but that

which is disordered or ill-ordered is often the ruin of that which

is well-ordered; and at this point the argument is now waiting. For

with you, Cleinias and Megillus, the common tables of men are, as I

said, a heaven-born and admirable institution, but you are mistaken in

leaving the women unregulated by law. They have no similar institution

of public tables in the light of day, and just that part of the

human race which is by nature prone to secrecy and stealth on

account of their weakness-I mean the female sex-has been left

without regulation by the legislator, which is a great mistake. And,

in consequence of this neglect, many things have grown lax among

you, which might have been far better, if they had been only regulated

by law; for the neglect of regulations about women may not only be

regarded as a neglect of half the entire matter, but in proportion

as woman's nature is inferior to that of men in capacity for virtue,

in that degree the consequence of such neglect is more than twice as

important. The careful consideration of this matter, and the arranging

and ordering on a common principle of all our institutions relating

both to men and women, greatly conduces to the happiness of the state.

But at present, such is the unfortunate condition of mankind, that

no man of sense will even venture to speak of common tables in

places and cities in which they have never been established at all;

and how can any one avoid being utterly ridiculous, who attempts to

compel women to show in public how much they eat and drink? There is

nothing at which the sex is more likely to take offence. For women are

accustomed to creep into dark places, and when dragged out into the

light they will exert their utmost powers of resistance, and be far

too much for the legislator. And therefore, as I said before, in

most places they will not endure to have the truth spoken without

raising a tremendous outcry, but in this state perhaps they may. And

if we may assume that our whole discussion about the state has not

been mere idle talk, I should like to prove to you, if you will

consent to listen, that this institution is good and proper; but if

you had rather not, I will refrain.

  Cle. There is nothing which we should both of us like better,

Stranger, than to hear what you have to say.

  Ath. Very good; and you must not be surprised if I go back a little,

for we have plenty of leisure, and there is nothing to prevent us from

considering in every point of view the subject of law.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Then let us return once more to what we were saying at first.

Every man should understand that the human race either had no

beginning at all, and will never have an end, but always will be and

has been; or that it began an immense while ago.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Well, and have there not been constitutions and destructions of

states, and all sorts of pursuits both orderly and disorderly, and

diverse desires of meats and drinks always, and in all the world,

and all sorts of changes of the seasons in which animals may be

expected to have undergone innumerable transformations of themselves?

  Cle. No doubt.

  Ath. And may we not suppose that vines appeared, which had

previously no existence, and also olives, and the gifts of Demeter and

her daughter, of which one Triptolemus was the minister, and that,

before these existed, animals took to devouring each other as they

do still?

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Again, the practice of men sacrificing one another still exists

among many nations; while, on the other hand, we hear of other human

beings who did not even venture to taste the flesh of a cow and had no

animal sacrifices, but only cakes and fruits dipped in honey, and

similar pure offerings, but no flesh of animals; from these they

abstained under the idea that they ought not to eat them, and might

not stain the altars of the Gods with blood. For in those days men are

said to have lived a sort of Orphic life, having the use of all

lifeless things, but abstaining from all living things.

  Cle. Such has been the constant tradition, and is very likely true.

  Ath. Some one might say to us, What is the drift of all this?

  Cle. A very pertinent question, Stranger.

  Ath. And therefore I will endeavour, Cleinias, if I can, to draw the

natural inference.

  Cle. Proceed.

    Ath. I see that among men all things depend upon three wants and

desires, of which the end is virtue, if they are rightly led by

them, or the opposite if wrongly. Now these are eating and drinking,

which begin at birth-every animal has a natural desire for them, and

is violently excited, and rebels against him who says that he must not

satisfy all his pleasures and appetites, and get rid of all the

corresponding pains-and the third and greatest and sharpest want and

desire breaks out last, and is the fire of sexual lust, which

kindles in men every species of wantonness and madness. And these

three disorders we must endeavour to master by the three great

principles of fear and law and right reason; turning them away from

that which is called pleasantest to the best, using the Muses and

the Gods who preside over contests to extinguish their increase and

influx.

  But to return:-After marriage let us speak of the birth of children,

and after their birth of their nurture and education. In the course of

discussion the several laws will be perfected, and we shall at last

arrive at the common tables. Whether such associations are to be

confined to men, or extended to women also, we shall see better when

we approach and take a nearer view of them; and we may then

determine what previous institutions are required and will have to

precede them. As I said before we shall see them more in detail, and

shall be better able to lay down the laws which are proper or suited

to them.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. Let us keep in mind the words which have now been spoken; for

hereafter there may be need of them.

  Cle. What do you bid us keep in mind?

  Ath. That which we comprehended under the three words-first, eating,

secondly, drinking, thirdly, the excitement of love.

  Cle. We shall be sure to remember, Stranger.

  Ath. Very good. Then let us now proceed to marriage, and teach

persons in what way they shall beget children, threatening them, if

they disobey, with the terrors of the law.

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. The bride and bridegroom should consider that they are to

produce for the state the best and fairest specimens of children which

they can. Now all men who are associated any action always succeed

when they attend and give their mind to what they are doing, but

when they do not give their mind or have no mind, they fail; wherefore

let the bridegroom give his mind to the bride and to the begetting

of children, and the bride in like manner give her mind to the

bridegroom, and particularly at the time when their children are not

yet born. And let the women whom we have chosen be the overseers of

such matters, and let them in whatever number, large or small, and

at whatever time the magistrates may command, assemble every day in

the temple of Eileithyia during a third part of the day, and being

there assembled, let them inform one another of any one whom they see,

whether man or woman, of those who are begetting children,

disregarding the ordinances given at the time when the nuptial

sacrifices and ceremonies were performed. Let the begetting of

children and the supervision of those who are begetting them

continue ten years and no longer, during the time when marriage is

fruitful. But if any continue without children up to this time, let

them take counsel with their kindred and with the women holding the

office of overseer and be divorced for their mutual benefit. If,

however, any dispute arises about what is proper and for the

interest of either party, they shall choose ten of the guardians of

the law and abide by their permission and appointment. The women who

preside over these matters shall enter into the houses of the young,

and partly by admonitions and partly by threats make them give over

their folly and error: if they persist, let the women go and tell

the guardians of the law, and the guardians shall prevent them. But if

they too cannot prevent them, they shall bring the matter before the

people; and let them write up their names and make oath that they

cannot reform such and such an one; and let him who is thus written

up, if he cannot in a court of law convict those who have inscribed

his name, be deprived of the privileges of a citizen in the

following respects:-let him not go to weddings nor to the

thanksgivings after the birth of children; and if he go, let any one

who pleases strike him with impunity; and let the same regulations

hold about women: let not a woman be allowed to appear abroad, or

receive honour, or go to nuptial and birthday festivals, if she in

like manner be written up as acting disorderly and cannot obtain a

verdict. And if, when they themselves have done begetting children

according to the law, a man or woman have connection with another

man or woman who are still begetting children, let the same

penalties be inflicted upon them as upon those who are still having

a family; and when the time for procreation has passed let the man

or woman who refrains in such matters be held in esteem, and let those

who do not refrain be held in the contrary of esteem-that is to say,

disesteem. Now, if the greater part of mankind behave modestly, the

enactments of law may be left to slumber; but, if they are disorderly,

the enactments having been passed, let them be carried into execution.

To every man the first year is the beginning of life, and the time

of birth ought to be written down in the temples of their fathers as

the beginning of existence to every child, whether boy or girl. Let

every phratria have inscribed on a whited wall the names of the

successive archons by whom the years are reckoned. And near to them

let the living members of the phratria be inscribed, and when they

depart life let them be erased. The limit of marriageable ages for a

woman shall be from sixteen to twenty years at the longest-for a

man, from thirty to thirty-five years; and let a woman hold office

at forty, and a man at thirty years. Let a man go out to war from

twenty to sixty years, and for a woman, if there appear any need to

make use of her in military service, let the time of service be

after she shall have brought forth children up to fifty years of

age; and let regard be had to what is possible and suitable to each.

  BOOK VII



  And now, assuming children of both sexes to have been born, it

will be proper for us to consider, in the next place, their nurture

and education; this cannot be left altogether unnoticed, and yet may

be thought a subject fitted rather for precept and admonition than for

law. In private life there are many little things, not always

apparent, arising out of the pleasures and pains and desires of

individuals, which run counter to the intention of the legislator, and

make the characters of the citizens various and dissimilar:-this is an

evil in states; for by reason of their smallness and frequent

occurrence, there would be an unseemliness and want of propriety in

making them penal by law; and if made penal, they are the

destruction of the written law because mankind get the habit of

frequently transgressing the law in small matters. The result is

that you cannot legislate about them, and still less can you be

silent. I speak somewhat darkly, but I shall endeavour also to bring

my wares into the light of day, for I acknowledge that at present

there is a want of clearness in what I am saying.

  Cleinias. Very true.

  Athenian. Stranger. Am I not right in maintaining that a good

education is that which tends most, to the improvement of mind and

body?

  Cle. Undoubtedly.

  Ath. And nothing can be plainer than that the fairest bodies are

those which grow up from infancy in the best and straightest manner?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And do we not further observe that the first shoot of every

living thing is by far the greatest and fullest? Many will even

contend that a man at twenty-five does not reach twice the height

which he attained at five.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Well, and is not rapid growth without proper and abundant

exercise the source endless evils in the body?

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. And the body should have the most exercise when it receives

most nourishment?

  Cle. But, Stranger, are we to impose this great amount of exercise

upon newly-born infants?

  Ath. Nay, rather on the bodies of infants still unborn.

  Cle. What do you mean, my good sir? In the process of gestation?

  Ath. Exactly. I am not at all surprised that you have never heard of

this very peculiar sort of gymnastic applied to such little creatures,

which, although strange, I will endeavour to explain to you.

  Cle. By all means.

  Ath. The practice is more easy for us to understand than for you, by

reason of certain amusements which are carried to excess by us at

Athens. Not only boys, but often older persons, are in the habit of

keeping quails and cocks, which they train to fight one another. And

they are far from thinking that the contests in which they stir them

up to fight with one another are sufficient exercise; for, in addition

to this, they carry them about tucked beneath their armpits, holding

the smaller birds in their hands, the larger under their arms, and

go for a walk of a great many miles for the sake of health, that is to

say, not their own, health, but the health of the birds; whereby

they prove to any intelligent person, that all bodies are benefited by

shakings and movements, when they are moved without weariness, whether

motion proceeds from themselves, or is caused by a swing, or at sea,

or on horseback, or by other bodies in whatever way moving, and that

thus gaining the mastery over food and drink, they are able to

impart beauty and health and strength. But admitting all this, what

follows? Shall we make a ridiculous law that the pregnant woman

shall walk about and fashion the embryo within as we fashion wax

before it hardens, and after birth swathe the infant for two years?

Suppose that we compel nurses, under penalty of a legal fine, to be

always carrying the children somewhere or other, either to the

temples, or into the country, or to their relations, houses, until

they are well able to stand, and to take care that their limbs are not

distorted by leaning on them when they are too young-they should

continue to carry them until the infant has completed its third

year; the nurses should be strong, and there should be more than one

of them. Shall these be our rules, and shall we impose a penalty for

the neglect of them? No, no; the penalty of which we were speaking

will fall upon our own heads more than enough.

  Cle. What penalty?

  Ath. Ridicule, and the difficulty of getting the feminine and

servant-like dispositions of the nurses to comply.

  Cle. Then why was there any need to speak of the matter at all?

  Ath. The reason is that masters and freemen in states, when they

hear of it, are very likely to arrive at a true conviction that

without due regulation of private life in cities, stability in the

laying down of laws is hardly to be expected; and he who makes this

reflection may himself adopt the laws just now mentioned, and,

adopting them, may order his house and state well and be happy.

  Cle. Likely enough.

  Ath. And therefore let us proceed with our legislation until we have

determined the exercises which are suited to the souls of young

children, in the same manner in which we have begun to go through

the rules relating to their bodies.

  Cle. By all means.

  Ath. Let us assume, then, as a first principle in relation both to

the body and soul of very young creatures, that nursing and moving

about by day and night is good for them all, and that the younger they

are, the more they will need it; infants should live, if that were

possible, as if they were always rocking at sea. This is the lesson

which we may gather from the experience of nurses, and likewise from

the use of the remedy of motion in the rites of the Corybantes; for

when mothers want their restless children to go to sleep they do not

employ rest, but, on the contrary, motion-rocking them in their

arms; nor do they give them silence, but they sing to them and lap

them in sweet strains; and the Bacchic women are cured of their frenzy

in the same manner by the use of the dance and of music.

  Cle. Well, Stranger, and what is the reason of this?

  Ath. The reason is obvious.

  Cle. What?

  Ath. The affection both of the Bacchantes and of the children is

an emotion of fear, which springs out of an evil habit of the soul.

And when some one applies external agitation to affections of this

sort, the motion coming from without gets the better of the terrible

and violent internal one, and produces a peace and calm in the soul,

and quiets the restless palpitation of the heart, which is a thing

much to be desired, sending the children to sleep, and making the

Bacchantes, although they remain awake, to dance to the pipe with

the help of the Gods to whom they offer acceptable sacrifices, and

producing in them a sound mind, which takes the place of their frenzy.

And, to express what I mean in a word, there is a good deal to be said

in favour of this treatment.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. But if fear has such a power we ought to infer from these

facts, that every soul which from youth upward has been familiar

with fears, will be made more liable to fear, and every one will allow

that this is the way to form a habit of cowardice and not of courage.

  Cle. No doubt.

  Ath. And, on the other hand, the habit of overcoming, from our youth

upwards, the fears and terrors which beset us, may be said to be an

exercise of courage.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. And we may say that the use of exercise and motion in the

earliest years of life greatly contributes to create a part of

virtue in the soul.

  Cle. Quite true.

  Ath. Further, a cheerful temper, or the reverse, may be regarded

as having much to do with high spirit on the one hand, or with

cowardice on the other.

  Cle. To be sure.

  Ath. Then now we must endeavour to show how and to what extent we

may, if we please, without difficulty implant either character in

the young.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. There is a common opinion, that luxury makes the disposition of

youth discontented and irascible and vehemently excited by trifles;

that on the other hand excessive and savage servitude makes men mean

and abject, and haters of their kind, and therefore makes them

undesirable associates.

  Cle. But how must the state educate those who do not as yet

understand the language of the country, and are therefore incapable of

appreciating any sort of instruction?

  Ath. I will tell you how:-Every animal that is born is wont to utter

some cry, and this is especially the case with man, and he is also

affected with the inclination to weep more than any other animal.

  Cle. Quite true.

  Ath. Do not nurses, when they want to know what an infant desires,

judge by these signs?-when anything is brought to the infant and he is

silent, then he is supposed to be pleased, but, when he weeps and

cries out, then he is not pleased. For tears and cries are the

inauspicious signs by which children show what they love and hate. Now

the time which is thus spent is no less than three years, and is a

very considerable portion of life to be passed ill or well.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Does not the discontented and ungracious nature appear to you

to be full of lamentations and sorrows more than a good man ought to

be?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Well, but if during these three years every possible care

were taken that our nursling should have as little of sorrow and fear,

and in general of pain as was possible, might we not expect in early

childhood to make his soul more gentle and cheerful?

  Cle. To be sure, Stranger-more especially if we could procure him

a variety of pleasures.

  Ath. There I can no longer agree, Cleinias: you amaze me. To bring

him up in such a way would be his utter ruin; for the beginning is

always the most critical part of education. Let us see whether I am

right.

  Cle. Proceed.

  Ath. The point about which you and I differ is of great

importance, and I hope that you, Megillus, will help to decide between

us. For I maintain that the true life should neither seek for

pleasures, nor, on the other hand, entirely avoid pains, but should

embrace the middle state, which I just spoke of as gentle and

benign, and is a state which we by some divine presage and inspiration

rightly ascribe to God. Now, I say, he among men, too, who would be

divine ought to pursue after this mean habit-he should not rush

headlong into pleasures, for he will not be free from pains; nor

should we allow any one, young or old, male or female, to be thus

given any more than ourselves, and least of all the newly-born infant,

for in infancy more than at any other time the character is

engrained by habit. Nay, more, if I were not afraid of appearing to be

ridiculous, I would say that a woman during her year of pregnancy

should of all women be most carefully tended, and kept from violent or

excessive pleasures and pains, and should at that time cultivate

gentleness and benevolence and kindness.

  Cle. You need not, ask Megillus, Stranger, which of us has most

truly spoken; for I myself agree that all men ought to avoid the

life of unmingled pain or pleasure, and pursue always a middle course.

And having spoken well, may I add that you have been well answered?

  Ath. Very good, Cleinias; and now let us all three consider a

further point.

  Cle. What is it?

  Ath. That all the matters which we are now describing are commonly

called by the general name of unwritten customs, and what are termed

the laws of our ancestors are all of similar nature. And the

reflection which lately arose in our minds, that we can neither call

these things laws, nor yet leave them unmentioned, is justified; for

they are the bonds of the whole state, and come in between the written

laws which are or are hereafter to be laid down; they are just

ancestral customs of great antiquity, which, if they are rightly

ordered and made habitual, shield and preserve the previously existing

written law; but if they depart from right and fall into disorder,

then they are like the props of builders which slip away out of

their Place and cause a universal ruin-one part drags another down,

and the fair super-structure falls because the old foundations are

undermined. Reflecting upon this, Cleinias, you ought to bind together

the new state in every possible way, omitting nothing, whether great

or small, of what are called laws or manners or pursuits, for by these

means a city is bound together, and all these things are only

lasting when they depend upon one another; and, therefore, we must not

wonder if we find that many apparently trifling customs or usages come

pouring in and lengthening out our laws.

  Cle. Very true: we are disposed to agree with you.

  Ath. Up to the age of three years, whether of boy or girl, if a

person strictly carries out our previous regulations and makes them

a principal aim, he will do much for the advantage of the young

creatures. But at three, four, five, and even six years the childish

nature will require sports; now is the time to get rid of self-will in

him, punishing him, but not so as to disgrace him. We were saying

about slaves, that we ought neither to add insult to punishment so

as to anger them, nor yet to leave them unpunished lest they become

self-willed; and a like rule is to be observed in the case of the

free-born. Children at that age have certain natural modes of

amusement which they find out for themselves when they meet. And all

the children who are between the ages of three and six ought to meet

at the temples the villages, the several families of a village uniting

on one spot. The nurses are to see that the children behave properly

and orderly-they themselves and all their companies are to be under

the control of twelve matrons, one for each company, who are

annually selected to inspect them from the women previously mentioned,

[i.e., the women who have authority over marriage], whom the guardians

of the law appoint. These matrons shall be chosen by the women who

have authority over marriage, one out of each tribe; all are to be

of the same age; and let each of them, as soon as she is appointed,

hold office and go to the temples every day, punishing all

offenders, male or female, who are slaves or strangers, by the help of

some of the public slaves; but if any citizen disputes the punishment,

let her bring him before the wardens of the city; or, if there be no

dispute, let her punish him herself. After the age of six years the

time has arrived for the separation of the sexes-let boys live with

boys, and girls in like manner with girls. Now they must begin to

learn-the boys going to teachers of horsemanship and the use of the

bow, the javelin, and sling, and the girls too, if they do not object,

at any rate until they know how to manage these weapons, and

especially how to handle heavy arms; for I may note, that the practice

which now prevails is almost universally misunderstood.

  Cle. In what respect?

  Ath. In that the right and left hand are supposed to be by nature

differently suited for our various uses of them; whereas no difference

is found in the use of the feet and the lower limbs; but in the use of

the hands we are, as it were, maimed by the folly of nurses and

mothers; for although our several limbs are by nature balanced, we

create a difference in them by bad habit. In some cases this is of

no consequence, as, for example, when we hold the lyre in the left

hand, and the plectrum in the right, but it is downright folly to make

the same distinction in other cases. The custom of the Scythians

proves our error; for they not only hold the bow from them with the

left hand and draw the arrow to them with their right, but use

either hand for both purposes. And there are many similar examples

in charioteering and other things, from which we may learn that

those who make the left side weaker than the right act contrary to

nature. In the case of the plectrum, which is of horn only, and

similar instruments, as I was saying, it is of no consequence, but

makes a great difference, and may be of very great importance to the

warrior who has to use iron weapons, bows and javelins, and the

like; above all, when in heavy armour, he has to fight against heavy

armour. And there is a very great difference between one who has

learnt and one who has not, and between one who has been trained in

gymnastic exercises and one who has not been. For as he who is

perfectly skilled in the Pancratium or boxing or wrestling, is not

unable to fight from his left side, and does not limp and draggle in

confusion when his opponent makes him change his position, so in

heavy-armed fighting, and in all other things if I am not mistaken,

the like holds-he who has these double powers of attack and defence

ought not in any case to leave them either unused or untrained, if

he can help; and if a person had the nature of Geryon or Briareus he

ought to be able with his hundred hands to throw a hundred darts. Now,

the magistrates, male and female, should see to all these things,

the women superintending the nursing and amusements of the children,

and the men superintending their education, that all of them, boys and

girls alike, may be sound hand and foot, and may not, if they can

help, spoil the gifts of nature by bad habits.

  Education has two branches-one of gymnastic, which is concerned with

the body, and the other of music, which is designed for the

improvement of the soul. And gymnastic has also two branches-dancing

and wrestling; and one sort of dancing imitates musical recitation,

and aims at preserving dignity and freedom, the other aims at

producing health, agility, and beauty in the limbs and parts of the

body, giving the proper flexion and extension to each of them, a

harmonious motion being diffused everywhere, and forming a suitable

accompaniment to the dance. As regards wrestling, the tricks which

Antaeus and Cercyon devised in their systems out of a vain spirit of

competition, or the tricks of boxing which Epeius or Amycus

invented, are useless and unsuitable for war, and do not deserve to

have much said about them; but the art of wrestling erect and

keeping free the neck and hands and sides, working with energy and

constancy, with a composed strength, and for the sake of

health-these are always useful, and are not to be neglected, but to be

enjoined alike on masters and scholars, when we reach that part of

legislation; and we will desire the one to give their instructions

freely, and the others to receive them thankfully. Nor, again, must we

omit suitable imitations of war in our choruses; here in Crete you

have the armed dances if the Curetes, and the Lacedaemonians have

those of the Dioscuri. And our virgin lady, delighting in the

amusement of the dance, thought it not fit to amuse herself with empty

hands; she must be clothed in a complete suit of armour, and in this

attire go through the dance; and youths and maidens should in every

respect imitate her, esteeming highly the favour of the Goddess,

both with a view to the necessities of war, and to festive

occasions: it will be right also for the boys, until such time as they

go out to war, to make processions and supplications to all the Gods

in goodly array, armed and on horseback, in dances, and marches,

fast or slow, offering up prayers to the Gods and to the sons of Gods;

and also engaging in contests and preludes of contests, if at all,

with these objects: For these sorts of exercises, and no others, are

useful both in peace and war, and are beneficial alike to states and

to private houses. But other labours and sports and exercises of the

body are unworthy of freemen, O Megillus and Cleinias.

  I have now completely described the kind of gymnastic which I said

at first ought to be described; if you know of any better, will you

communicate your thoughts?

  Cle. It is not easy, Stranger, to put aside these principles of

gymnastic and wrestling and to enunciate better ones.

  Ath. Now we must say what has yet to be said about the gifts of

the Muses and of Apollo: before, we fancied that we had said all,

and that gymnastic alone remained; but now we see clearly what

points have been omitted, and should be first proclaimed; of these,

then, let us proceed to speak.

  Cle. By all means.

  Ath. Let me tell you once more-although you have heard me say the

same before that caution must be always exercised, both by the speaker

and by the hearer, about anything that is very singular and unusual.

For my tale is one, which many a man would be afraid to tell, and

yet I have a confidence which makes me go on.

  Cle. What have you to say, Stranger?

  Ath. I say that in states generally no one has observed that the

plays of childhood have a great deal to do with the permanence or want

of permanence in legislation. For when plays are ordered with a view

to children having the same plays, and amusing themselves after the

same manner, and finding delight in the same playthings, the more

solemn institutions of the state are allowed to remain undisturbed.

Whereas if sports are disturbed, and innovations are made in them, and

they constantly change, and the young never speak of their having

the same likings, or the same established notions of good and bad

taste, either in the bearing of their bodies or in their dress, but he

who devises something new and out of the way in figures and colours

and the like is held in special honour, we may truly say that no

greater evil can happen in a state; for he who changes the sports is

secretly changing the manners of the young, and making the old to be

dishonoured among them and the new to be honoured. And I affirm that

there is nothing which is a greater injury to all states than saying

or thinking thus. Will you hear me tell how great I deem the evil to

be?

  Cle. You mean the evil of blaming antiquity in states?

  Ath. Exactly.

  Cle. If you are speaking of that, you will find in us hearers who

are disposed to receive what you say not unfavourably but most

favourably.

  Ath. I should expect so.

  Cle. Proceed.

  Ath. Well, then, let us give all the greater heed to one another's

words. The argument affirms that any change whatever except from

evil is the most dangerous of all things; this is true in the case

of the seasons and of the winds, in the management of our bodies and

the habits of our minds-true of all things except, as I said before,

of the bad. He who looks at the constitution of individuals accustomed

to eat any sort of meat, or drink any drink, or to do any work which

they can get, may see that they are at first disordered by them, but

afterwards, as time goes on, their bodies grow adapted to them, and

they learn to know and like variety, and have good health and

enjoyment of life; and if ever afterwards they are confined again to a

superior diet, at first they are troubled with disorders, and with

difficulty become habituated to their new food. A similar principle we

may imagine to hold good about the minds of men and the natures of

their souls. For when they have been brought up in certain laws, which

by some Divine Providence have remained unchanged during long ages, so

that no one has any memory or tradition of their ever having been

otherwise than they are, then every one is afraid and ashamed to

change that which is established. The legislator must somehow find a

way of implanting this reverence for antiquity, and I would propose

the following way:-People are apt to fancy, as I was saying before,

that when the plays of children are altered they are merely plays, not

seeing that the most serious and detrimental consequences arise out of

the change; and they readily comply with the child's wishes instead of

deterring him, not considering that these children who make

innovations in their games, when they grow up to be men, will be

different from the last generation of children, and, being

different, will desire a different sort of life, and under the

influence of this desire will want other institutions and laws; and no

one of them reflects that there will follow what I just now called the

greatest of evils to states. Changes in bodily fashions are no such

serious evils, but frequent changes in the praise and censure of

manners are the greatest of evils, and require the utmost prevision.

  Cle. To be sure.

  Ath. And now do we still hold to our former assertion, that

rhythms and music in general are imitations of good and evil

characters in men? What say you?

  Cle. That is the only doctrine which we can admit.

  Ath. Must we not, then, try in every possible way to prevent our

youth from even desiring to imitate new modes either in dance or song?

nor must any one be allowed to offer them varieties of pleasures.

  Cle. Most true.

  Ath. Can any of us imagine a better mode of effecting this object

than that of the Egyptians?

  Cle. What is their method?

  Ath. To consecrate every sort of dance or melody. First we should

ordain festivals-calculating for the year what they ought to be, and

at what time, and in honour of what Gods, sons of Gods, and heroes

they ought to be celebrated; and, in the next place, what hymns

ought to be sung at the several sacrifices, and with what dances the

particular festival is to be honoured. This has to be arranged at

first by certain persons, and, when arranged, the whole assembly of

the citizens are to offer sacrifices and libations to the Fates and

all the other Gods, and to consecrate the several odes to gods and

heroes: and if any one offers any other hymns or dances to any one

of the Gods, the priests and priestesses, acting in concert with the

guardians of the law, shall, with the sanction of religion and the

law, exclude him, and he who is excluded, if he do not submit, shall

be liable all his life long to have a suit of impiety brought

against him by any one who likes.

  Cle. Very good.

  Ath. In the consideration of this subject, let us remember what is

due to ourselves.

  Cle. To what are you referring?

  Ath. I mean that any young man, and much more any old one, when he

sees or hears anything strange or unaccustomed, does not at once run

to embrace the paradox, but he stands considering, like a person who

is at a place where three paths meet, and does not very well know

his way-he may be alone or he may be walking with others, and he

will say to himself and them, "Which is the way?" and will not move

forward until he is satisfied that he is going right. And this is what

we must do in the present instance:-A strange discussion on the

subject of law has arisen, which requires the utmost consideration,

and we should not at our age be too ready to speak about such great

matters, or be confident that we can say anything certain all in a

moment.

  Cle. Most true.

  Ath. Then we will allow time for reflection, and decide when we have

given the subject sufficient consideration. But that we may not be

hindered from completing the natural arrangement of our laws, let us

proceed to the conclusion of them in due order; for very possibly,

if God will, the exposition of them, when completed, may throw light

on our present perplexity.

  Cle. Excellent, Stranger; let us do as you propose.

  Ath. Let us then affirm the paradox that strains of music are our

laws (nomoi), and this latter being the name which the ancients gave

to lyric songs, they probably would not have very much objected to our

proposed application of the word. Some one, either asleep or awake,

must have had a dreamy suspicion of their nature. And let our decree

be as follows:-No one in singing or dancing shall offend against

public and consecrated models, and the general fashion among the

youth, any more than he would offend against any other law. And he who

observes this law shall be blameless; but he who is disobedient, as

I was saying, shall be punished by the guardians of the laws, and by

the priests and priestesses. Suppose that we imagine this to be our

law.

  Cle. Very good.

  Ath. Can any one who makes such laws escape ridicule? Let us see.

I think that our only safety will be in first framing certain models

for composers. One of these models shall be as follows:-If when a

sacrifice is going on, and the victims are being burnt according to

law-if, I say, any one who may be a son or brother, standing by

another at the altar and over the victims, horribly blasphemes, will

not his words inspire despondency and evil omens and forebodings in

the mind of his father and of his other kinsmen?

  Cle. Of course.

  Ath. And this is just what takes place in almost all our cities. A

magistrate offers a public sacrifice, and there come in not one but

many choruses, who take up a position a little way from the altar, and

from time to time pour forth all sorts of horrible blasphemies on

the sacred rites, exciting the souls of the audience with words and

rhythms and melodies most sorrowful to hear; and he who at the

moment when the city is offering sacrifice makes the citizens weep

most, carries away the palm of victory. Now, ought we not to forbid

such strains as these? And if ever our citizens must hear such

lamentations, then on some unblest and inauspicious day let there be

choruses of foreign and hired minstrels, like those hirelings who

accompany the departed at funerals with barbarous Carian chants.

That is the sort of thing which will be appropriate if we have such

strains at all; and let the apparel of the singers be, not circlets

and ornaments of gold, but the reverse. Enough of all this. I will

simply ask once more whether we shall lay down as one of our

principles of song-

  Cle. What?

  Ath. That we should avoid every word of evil omen; let that kind

of song which is of good omen be heard everywhere and always in our

state. I need hardly ask again, but shall assume that you agree with

me.

  Cle. By all means; that law is approved by the suffrages of us all.

  Ath. But what shall be our next musical law or type? Ought not

prayers to be offered up to the Gods when we sacrifice?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And our third law, if I am not mistaken, will be to the

effect that our poets, understanding prayers to be requests which we

make to the Gods, will take especial heed that they do not by

mistake ask for evil instead of good. To make such a prayer would

surely be too ridiculous.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. Were we not a little while ago quite convinced that no silver

or golden Plutus should dwell in our state?

  Cle. To be sure.

  Ath. And what has it been the object of our argument to show? Did we

not imply that the poets are not always quite capable of knowing

what is good or evil? And if one of them utters a mistaken prayer in

song or words, he will make our citizens pray for the opposite of what

is good in matters of the highest import; than which, as I was saying,

there can be few greater mistakes. Shall we then propose as one of our

laws and models relating to the Muses-

  Cle. What?-will you explain the law more precisely?

  Ath. Shall we make a law that the poet shall compose nothing

contrary to the ideas of the lawful, or just, or beautiful, or good,

which are allowed in the state? nor shall he be permitted to

communicate his compositions to any private individuals, until he

shall have shown them to the appointed judges and the guardians of the

law, and they are satisfied with them. As to the persons whom we

appoint to be our legislators about music and as to the director of

education, these have been already indicated. Once more then, as I

have asked more than once, shall this be our third law, and type,

and model-What do you say?

  Cle. Let it be so, by all means.

  Ath. Then it will be proper to have hymns and praises of the Gods,

intermingled with prayers; and after the Gods prayers and praises

should be offered in like manner to demigods and heroes, suitable to

their several characters.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. In the next place there will be no objection to a law, that

citizens who are departed and have done good and energetic deeds,

either with their souls or with their bodies, and have been obedient

to the laws, should receive eulogies; this will be very fitting.

  Cle. Quite true.

  Ath. But to honour with hymns and panegyrics those who are still

alive is not safe; a man should run his course, and make a fair

ending, and then we will praise him; and let praise be given equally

to women as well as men who have been distinguished in virtue. The

order of songs and dances shall be as follows:-There are many

ancient musical compositions and dances which are excellent, and

from these the newly-founded city may freely select what is proper and

suitable; and they shall choose judges of not less than fifty years of

age, who shall make the selection, and any of the old poems which they

deem sufficient they shall include; any that are deficient or

altogether unsuitable, they shall either utterly throw aside, or

examine and amend, taking into their counsel poets and musicians,

and making use of their poetical genius; but explaining to them the

wishes of the legislator in order that they may regulate dancing,

music, and all choral strains, according to the mind of the judges;

and not allowing them to indulge, except in some few matters, their

individual pleasures and fancies. Now the irregular strain of music is

always made ten thousand times better by attaining to law and order,

and rejecting the honeyed Muse-not however that we mean wholly to

exclude pleasure, which is the characteristic of all music. And if a

man be brought up from childhood to the age of discretion and maturity

in the use of the orderly and severe music, when he hears the opposite

he detests it, and calls it illiberal; but if trained in the sweet and

vulgar music, he deems the severer kind cold and displeasing. So that,

as I was saying before, while he who hears them gains no more pleasure

from the one than from the other, the one has the advantage of

making those who are trained in it better men, whereas the other makes

them worse.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. Again, we must distinguish and determine on some general

principle what songs are suitable to women, and what to men, and

must assign to them their proper melodies and rhythms. It is

shocking for a whole harmony to be inharmonical, or for a rhythm to be

unrhythmical, and this will happen when the melody is inappropriate to

them. And therefore the legislator must assign to these also their

forms. Now both sexes have melodies and rhythms which of necessity

belong to them; and those of women are clearly enough indicated by

their natural difference. The grand, and that which tends to

courage, may be fairly called manly; but that which inclines to

moderation and temperance, may be declared both in law and in ordinary

speech to be the more womanly quality. This, then, will be the general

order of them.

  Let us now speak of the manner of teaching and imparting them, and

the persons to whom, and the time when, they are severally to be

imparted. As the shipwright first lays down the lines of the keel, and

thus, as it were, draws the ship in outline, so do I seek to

distinguish the patterns of life, and lay down their keels according

to the nature of different men's souls; seeking truly to consider by

what means, and in what ways, we may go through the voyage of life

best. Now human affairs are hardly worth considering in earnest, and

yet we must be in earnest about them-a sad necessity constrains us.

And having got thus far, there will be a fitness in our completing the

matter, if we can only find some suitable method of doing so. But what

do I mean? Some one may ask this very question, and quite rightly,

too.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. I say that about serious matters a man should be serious, and

about a matter which is not serious he should not be, serious; and

that God is the natural and worthy object of our most serious and

blessed endeavours, for man, as I said before, is made to be the

plaything of God, and this, truly considered, is the best of him;

wherefore also every man and woman should walk seriously, and pass

life in the noblest of pastimes, and be of another mind from what they

are at present.

  Cle. In what respect?

  Ath. At present they think that their serious suits should be for

the sake of their sports, for they deem war a serious. pursuit,

which must be managed well for the sake of peace; but the truth is,

that there neither is, nor has been, nor ever will be, either

amusement or instruction in any degree worth, speaking of in war,

which is nevertheless deemed by us to be the most serious of our

pursuits. And therefore, as we say, every one of us should live the

life of peace as long and as well as he can. And what is the right way

of living? Are we to live in sports always? If so, in what kind of

sports? We ought to live sacrificing, and singing, and dancing, and

then a man will be able to propitiate the Gods, and to defend

himself against his enemies and conquer them in battle. The type of

song or dance by which he will propitiate them has been described, and

the paths along which he is to proceed have been cut for him. He

will go forward in the spirit of the poet:



  Telemachus, some things thou wilt thyself find in thy heart, but

other things God will suggest; for I deem that thou wast not brought

up without the will of the Gods.



And this ought to be the view of our alumni; they ought to think

that what has been said is enough for them, and that any other

things their Genius and God will suggest to them-he will tell them

to whom, and when, and to what Gods severally they are to sacrifice

and perform dances, and how they may propitiate the deities, and

live according to the appointment of nature; being for the most part

puppets, but having some little share of reality.

  Megillus. You have a low opinion of mankind, Stranger.

  Ath. Nay, Megillus, be not amazed, but forgive me:-I was comparing

them with the Gods; and under that feeling I spoke. Let us grant, if

you wish, that the human race is not to be despised, but is worthy

of some consideration.

  Next follow the buildings for gymnasia and schools open to all;

these are to be in three places in the midst of the city; and

outside the city and in the surrounding country, also in three places,

there shall be schools for horse exercise, and large grounds

arranged with a view to archery and the throwing of missiles, at which

young men may learn and practise. Of these mention has already been

made, and if the mention be not sufficiently explicit, let us speak,

further of them and embody them in laws. In these several schools

let there be dwellings for teachers, who shall be brought from foreign

parts by pay, and let them teach those who attend the schools the

art of war and the art of music, and the children shall come not

only if their parents please, but if they do not please; there shall

be compulsory education, as the saying is, of all and sundry, as far

this is possible; and the pupils shall be regarded as belonging to the

state rather than to their parents. My law would apply to females as

well as males; they shall both go through the same exercises. I assert

without fear of contradiction that gymnastic and horsemanship are as

suitable to women as to men. Of the truth of this I am persuaded

from ancient tradition, and at the present day there are said to be

countless myriads of women in the neighbourhood of the Black Sea,

called Sauromatides, who not only ride on horseback like men, but have

enjoined upon them the use of bows and other weapons equally with

the men. And I further affirm, that if these things are possible,

nothing can be more absurd than the practice which prevails in our own

country, of men and women not following the same pursuits with all

their strength and with one mind, for thus the state, instead of being

a whole, is reduced to a half, but has the same imposts to pay and the

same toils to undergo; and what can be a greater mistake for any

legislator to make than this?

  Cle. Very true; yet much of what has been asserted by us, Stranger

is contrary to the custom of states; still, in saying that the

discourse should be allowed to proceed, and that when the discussion

is completed, we should choose what seems best, you spoke very

properly, and I now feel compunction for what I have said. Tell me,

then, what you would next wish to say.

  Ath. I should wish to say, Cleinias, as I said before, that if the

possibility of these things were not sufficiently proven in fact, then

there might be an objection to the argument, but the fact being as I

have said, he who rejects the law must find some other ground of

objection; and, failing this, our exhortation will still hold good,

nor will any one deny that women ought to share as far as possible

in education and in other ways with men. For consider;-if women do not

share in their whole life with men, then they must have some other

order of life.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And what arrangement of life to be found anywhere is preferable

to this community which we are now assigning to them? Shall we

prefer that which is adopted by the Thracians and many other races who

use their women to till the ground and to be shepherds of their

herds and flocks, and to minister to them like slaves?-Or shall we

do as we and people in our part of the world do-getting together, as

the phrase is, all our goods and chattels into one dwelling, we

entrust them to our women, who are the stewards of them, and who

also preside over the shuttles and the whole art of spinning? Or shall

we take a middle course, in Lacedaemon, Megillus-letting the girls

share in gymnastic and music, while the grown-up women, no longer

employed in spinning wool, are hard at work weaving the web of life,

which will be no cheap or mean employment, and in the duty of

serving and taking care of the household and bringing up children,

in which they will observe a sort of mean, not participating in the

toils of war; and if there were any necessity that they should fight

for their city and families, unlike the Amazons, they would be

unable to take part in archery or any other skilled use of missiles,

nor could they, after the example of the Goddess, carry shield or

spear, or stand up nobly for their country when it was being

destroyed, and strike terror into their enemies, if only because

they were seen in regular order? Living as they do, they would never

dare at all to imitate the Sauromatides, who, when compared with

ordinary women, would appear to be like men. Let him who will,

praise your legislators, but I must say what I think. The legislator

ought to be whole and perfect, and not half a man only; he ought not

to let the female sex live softly and waste money and have no order of

life, while he takes the utmost care of the male sex, and leaves

half of life only blest with happiness, when he might have made the

whole state happy.

  Meg. What shall we do, Cleinias? Shall we allow a stranger to run

down Sparta in this fashion?

  Cle. Yes; for as we have given him liberty of speech we must let him

go on until we have perfected the work of legislation.

  Meg. Very true.

  Ath. Then now I may proceed?

  Cle. By all means.

  Ath. What will be the manner of life among men who may be supposed

to have their food and clothing provided for them in moderation, and

who have entrusted the practice of the arts to others, and whose

husbandry, committed to slaves paying a part of the produce, brings

them a return sufficient for men living temperately; who, moreover,

have common tables in which the men are placed apart, and near them

are the common tables of their families, of their daughters and

mothers, which day by day, the officers, male and female, are to

inspect-they shall see to the behaviour of the company, and so dismiss

them; after which the presiding magistrate and his attendants shall

honour with libations those Gods to whom that day and night are

dedicated, and then go home? To men whose lives are thus ordered, is

there no work remaining to be done which is necessary and fitting, but

shall each one of them live fattening like a beast? Such a life is

neither just nor honourable, nor can he who lives it fail of meeting

his due; and the due reward of the idle fatted beast is that he should

be torn in pieces by some other valiant beast whose fatness is worn

down by brave deeds and toil. These regulations, if we duly consider

them, will never be exactly carried into execution under present

circumstances, nor as long as women and children and houses and all

other things are the private property of individuals; but if we can

attain the second-best form of polity, we shall be very well off.

And to men living under this second polity there remains a work to

be accomplished which is far from being small or insignificant, but is

the greatest of all works, and ordained by the appointment of

righteous law. For the life which may be truly said to be concerned

with the virtue of body and soul is twice, or more than twice, as full

of toil and trouble as the pursuit after Pythian and Olympic

victories, which debars a man from every employment of life. For there

ought to be no bye-work interfering with the greater work of providing

the necessary exercise and nourishment for the body, and instruction

and education for the soul. Night and day are not long enough for

the accomplishment of their perfection and consummation; and therefore

to this end all freemen ought to arrange the way in which they will

spend their time during the whole course of the day, from morning till

evening and from evening till the morning of the next sunrise. There

may seem to be some impropriety in the legislator determining minutely

the numberless details of the management of the house, including

such particulars as the duty of wakefulness in those who are to be

perpetual watchmen of the whole city; for that any citizen should

continue during the whole of any night in sleep, instead of being seen

by all his servants, always the first to awake and get up-this,

whether the regulation is to be called a law or only a practice,

should be deemed base and unworthy of a freeman; also that the

mistress of the house should be awakened by her handmaidens instead of

herself first awakening them, is what the slaves, male and female, and

the serving-boys, and, if that were possible, everybody and everything

in the house should regard as base. If they rise early, they may all

of them do much of their public and of their household business, as

magistrates in the city, and masters and mistresses in their private

houses, before the sun is up. Much sleep is not required by nature,

either for our souls or bodies, or for the actions which they perform.

For no one who is asleep is good for anything, any more than if he

were dead; but he of us who has the most regard for life and reason

keeps awake as long he can, reserving only so much time for sleep as

is expedient for health; and much sleep is not required, if the

habit of moderation be once rightly formed. Magistrates in states

who keep awake at night are terrible to the bad, whether enemies or

citizens, and are honoured and reverenced by the just and temperate,

and are useful to themselves and to the whole state.

  A night which is passed in such a manner, in addition to all the

above-mentioned advantages, infuses a sort of courage into the minds

of the citizens. When the day breaks, the time has arrived for youth

to go to their schoolmasters. Now neither sheep nor any other

animals can live without a shepherd, nor can children be left

without tutors, or slaves without masters. And of all animals the

boy is the most unmanageable, inasmuch as he has the fountain of

reason in him not yet regulated; he is the most insidious,

sharp-witted, and insubordinate of animals. Wherefore he must be bound

with many bridles; in the first place, when he gets away from

mothers and nurses, he must be under the management of tutors on

account of his childishness and foolishness; then, again, being a

freeman, he must be controlled by teachers, no matter what they teach,

and by studies; but he is also a slave, and in that regard any freeman

who comes in his way may punish him and his tutor and his

instructor, if any of them does anything wrong; and he who comes

across him and does not inflict upon him the punishment which he

deserves, shall incur the greatest disgrace; and let the guardian of

the law, who is the director of education, see to him who coming in

the way of the offences which we have mentioned, does not chastise

them when he ought, or chastises them in a way which he ought not; let

him keep a sharp look-out, and take especial care of the training of

our children, directing their natures, and always turning them to good

according to the law.

  But how can our law sufficiently train the director of education.

himself; for as yet all has been imperfect, and nothing has been

said either clear or satisfactory? Now, as far as possible, the law

ought to leave nothing to him, but to explain everything, that he

may be an interpreter and tutor to others. About dances and music

and choral strains, I have already spoken both to the character of the

selection of them, and the manner in which they are to be amended

and consecrated. But we have not as yet spoken, O illustrious guardian

of education, of the manner in which your pupils are to use those

strains which are written in prose, although you have been informed

what martial strains they are to learn and practise; what relates in

the first place to the learning of letters, and secondly, to the lyre,

and also to calculation, which, as we were saying, is needful for them

all to learn, and any other things which are required with a view to

war and the management of house and city, and, looking to the same

object, what is useful in the revolutions of the heavenly bodies-the

stars and sun and moon, and the various regulations about these

matters which are necessary for the whole state-I am speaking of the

arrangements of; days in periods of months, and of months in years,

which are to be observed, in order that seasons and sacrifices and

festivals may have their regular and natural order, and keep the

city alive and awake, the Gods receiving the honours due to them,

and men having a better understanding about them: all these things,

O my friend, have not yet been sufficiently declared to you by the

legislator. Attend, then, to what I am now going to say:-We were

telling you, in the first place, that you were not sufficiently

informed about letters, and the objection was to this effect-that

you were never told whether he who was meant to be a respectable

citizen should apply himself in detail to that sort of learning, or

not apply himself at all; and the same remark holds good of the

study of the lyre. But now we say that he ought to attend to them. A

fair time for a boy of ten years old to spend in letters is three

years; the age of thirteen is the proper time for him to begin to

handle the lyre, and he may continue at this for another three

years, neither more nor less, and whether his father or himself like

or dislike the study, he is not to be allowed to spend more or less

time in learning music than the law allows. And let him who disobeys

the law be deprived of those youthful honours of which we shall

hereafter speak. Hear, however, first of all, what the young ought

to learn in the early years of life, and what their instructors

ought to teach them. They ought to be occupied with their letters

until they are to read and write; but the acquisition of perfect

beauty or quickness in writinig, if nature has not stimulated them

to acquire these accomplishments in the given number of years, they

should let alone. And as to the learning of compositions committed

to writing which are not set to the lyre, whether metrical or

without rhythmical divisions, compositions in prose, as they are

termed, having no rhythm or harmony-seeing how dangerous are the

writings handed down to us by many writers of this class-what will you

do with them, O most excellent guardians of the law? or how can the

lawgiver rightly direct you about them? I believe that he will be in

great difficulty.

  Cle. What troubles you, Stranger? and why are you so perplexed in

your mind?

  Ath. You naturally ask, Cleinias, and to you and Megillus, who are

my partners in the work of legislation, I must state the more

difficult as well as the easier parts of the task.

  Cle. To what do you refer in this instance?

  Ath. I will tell you. There is a difficulty in opposing many myriads

of mouths.

  Cle. Well, and have we not already opposed the popular voice in many

important enactments?

  Ath. That is quite true; and you mean to imply, that the road

which we are taking may be disagreeable to some but is agreeable to as

many others, or if not to as many, at any rate to persons not inferior

to the others, and in company with them you bid me, at whatever

risk, to proceed along the path of legislation which has opened out of

our present discourse, and to be of good cheer, and not to faint.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And I do not faint; I say, indeed, that we have a great many

poets writing in hexameter, trimeter, and all sorts of measures-some

who are serious, others who aim only at raising a laugh-and all

mankind declare that the youth who are rightly educated should be

brought up in them and saturated with them; some insist that they

should be constantly hearing them read aloud, and always learning

them, so as to get by heart entire poets; while others select choice

passages and long speeches, and make compendiums of them, saying

that these ought to be committed to memory, if a man is to be made

good and wise by experience and learning of many things. And you

want me now to tell them plainly in what they are right and in what

they are wrong.

  Cle. Yes, I do.

 Ath. But how can I in one word rightly comprehend all of them? I am

of opinion, and, if I am not mistaken, there is a general agreement,

that every one of these poets has said many things well and many

things the reverse of well; and if this be true, then I do affirm that

much learning is dangerous to youth.

  Cle. How would you advise the guardian of the law to act?

  Ath. In what respect?

  Cle. I mean to what pattern should he look as his guide in

permitting the young to learn some things and forbidding them to learn

others. Do not shrink from answering.

  Ath. My good Cleinias, I rather think that I am fortunate.

  Cle. How so?

  Ath. I think that I am not wholly in want of a pattern, for when I

consider the words which we have spoken from early dawn until now, and

which, as I believe, have been inspired by Heaven, they appear to me

to be quite like a poem. When I reflected upon all these words of

ours. I naturally felt pleasure, for of all the discourses which I

have ever learnt or heard, either in poetry or prose, this seemed to

me to be the justest, and most suitable for young men to hear; I

cannot imagine any better pattern than this which the guardian of

the law who is also the director of education can have. He cannot do

better than advise the teachers to teach the young these words and any

which are of a like nature, if he should happen to find them, either

in poetry or prose, or if he come across unwritten discourses akin

to ours, he should certainly preserve them, and commit them to

writing. And, first of all, he shall constrain the teachers themselves

to learn and approve them, and any of them who will not, shall not

be employed by him, but those whom he finds agreeing in his

judgment, he shall make use of and shall commit to them the

instruction and education of youth. And here and on this wise let my

fanciful tale about letters and teachers of letters come to an end.

  Cle. I do not think, Stranger, that we have wandered out of the

proposed limits of the argument; but whether we are right or not in

our whole conception, I cannot be very certain.

  Ath. The truth, Cleinias, may be expected to become clearer when, as

we have often said, we arrive at the end of the whole discussion about

laws.

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. And now that we have done with the teacher of letters, the

teacher of the lyre has to receive orders from us.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. I think that we have only to recollect our previous

discussions, and we shall be able to give suitable regulations

touching all this part of instruction and education to the teachers of

the lyre.

  Cle. To what do you refer?

  Ath. We were saying, if I remember rightly, that the

sixty-year-old choristers of Dionysus were to be specially quick in

their perceptions of rhythm and musical composition, that they might

be able to distinguish good and bad imitation, that is to say, the

imitation of the good or bad soul when under the influence of passion,

rejecting the one and displaying the other in hymns and songs,

charming the souls of youth, and inviting them to follow and attain

virtue by the way of imitation.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. And with this view, the teacher and the learner ought to use

the sounds of the lyre, because its notes are pure, the player who

teaches and his pupil rendering note for note in unison; but

complexity, and variation of notes, when the strings give one sound

and the poet or composer of the melody gives another-also when they

make concords and harmonies in which lesser and greater intervals,

slow and quick, or high and low notes, are combined-or, again, when

they make complex variations of rhythms, which they adapt to the notes

of the lyre-all that sort of thing is not suited to those who have

to acquire a speedy and useful knowledge of music in three years;

for opposite principles are confusing, and create a difficulty in

learning, and our young men should learn quickly, and their mere

necessary acquirements are not few or trifling, as will be shown in

due course. Let the director of education attend to the principles

concerning music which we are laying down. As to the songs and words

themselves which the masters of choruses are to teach and the

character of them, they have been already described by us, and are the

same which, when consecrated and adapted to the different festivals,

we said were to benefit cities by affording them an innocent

amusement.

  Cle. That, again, is true.

  Ath. Then let him who has been elected a director of music receive

these rules from us as containing the very truth; and may he prosper

in his office! Let us now proceed to lay down other rules in

addition to the preceding about dancing and gymnastic exercise in

general. Having said what remained to be said about the teaching of

music, let us speak in like manner about gymnastic. For boys and girls

ought to learn to dance and practise gymnastic exercises-ought they

not?

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. Then the boys ought to have dancing masters, and the girls

dancing mistresses to exercise them.

  Cle. Very good.

  Ath. Then once more let us summon him who has the chief concern in

the business, the superintendent of youth [i.e., the director of

education]; he will have plenty to do, if he is to have the charge

of music and gymnastic.

  Cle. But how will old man be able to attend to such great charges?

  Ath. O my friend, there will be no difficulty, for the law has

already given and will give him permission to select as his assistants

in this charge any citizens, male or female, whom he desires; and he

will know whom he ought to choose, and will be anxious not to make a

mistake, from a due sense of responsibility, and from a

consciousness of the importance of his office, and also because he

will consider that if young men have been and are well brought up,

then all things go swimmingly, but if not, it is not meet to say,

nor do we say, what will follow, lest the regarders of omens should

take alarm about our infant state. Many things have been said by us

about dancing and about gymnastic movements in general; for we include

under gymnastics all military exercises, such as archery, and all

hurling of weapons, and the use of the light shield, and all

fighting with heavy arms, and military evolutions, and movements of

armies, and encampings, and all that relates to horsemanship. Of all

these things there ought to be public teachers, receiving pay from the

state, and their pupils should be the men and boys in the state, and

also the girls and women, who are to know all these things. While they

are yet girls they should have practised dancing in arms and the whole

art of fighting-when grown-up women, they should apply themselves to

evolutions and tactics, and the mode of grounding and taking up

arms; if for no other reason, yet in case the whole military force

should have to leave the city and carry on operations of war

outside, that those who will have to guard the young and the rest of

the city may be equal to the task; and, on the other hand, when

enemies, whether barbarian or Hellenic, come from without with

mighty force and make a violent assault upon them, and thus compel

them to fight for the possession of the city, which is far from

being an impossibility, great would be the disgrace to the state, if

the women had been so miserably trained that they could not fight

for their young, as birds will, against any creature however strong,

and die or undergo any danger, but must instantly rush to the

temples and crowd at the altars and shrines, and bring upon human

nature the reproach, that of all animals man is the most cowardly!

  Cle. Such a want of education, Stranger, is certainly an unseemly

thing to happen in a state, as well as a great misfortune.

  Ath. Suppose that we carry our law to the extent of saying that

women ought not to neglect military matters, but that all citizens,

male and female alike, shall attend to them?

  Cle. I quite agree.

  Ath. Of wrestling we have spoken in part, but of what I should

call the most important part we have not spoken, and cannot easily

speak without showing at the same time by gesture as well as in word

what we mean; when word and action combine, and not till then, we

shall explain clearly what has been said, pointing out that of all

movements wrestling is most akin to the military art, and is to be

pursued for the sake of this, and not this for the sake of wrestling.

  Cle. Excellent.

  Ath. Enough of wrestling; we will now proceed to speak of other

movements of the body. Such motion may be in general called dancing,

and is of two kinds: one of nobler figures, imitating the

honourable, the other of the more ignoble figures, imitating the mean;

and of both these there are two further subdivisions. Of the

serious, one kind is of those engaged in war and vehement action,

and is the exercise of a noble person and a manly heart; the other

exhibits a temperate soul in the enjoyment of prosperity and modest

pleasures, and may be truly called and is the dance of peace. The

warrior dance is different from the peaceful one, and may be rightly

termed Pyrrhic; this imitates the modes of avoiding blows and missiles

by dropping or giving way, or springing aside, or rising up or falling

down; also the opposite postures which are those of action, as, for

example, the imitation of archery and the hurling of javelins, and

of all sorts of blows. And when the imitation is of brave bodies and

souls, and the action is direct and muscular, giving for the most part

a straight movement to the limbs of the body-that, I say, is the

true sort; but the opposite is not right. In the dance of peace what

we have to consider is whether a man bears himself naturally and

gracefully, and after the manner of men who duly conform to the law.

But before proceeding I must distinguish the dancing about which there

is any doubt, from that about which there is no doubt. Which is the

doubtful kind, and how are the two to be distinguished? There are

dances of the Bacchic sort, both those in which, as they say, they

imitate drunken men, and which are named after the Nymphs, and Pan,

and Silenuses, and Satyrs; and also those in which purifications are

made or mysteries celebrated-all this sort of dancing cannot be

rightly defined as having either a peaceful or a warlike character, or

indeed as having any meaning whatever and may, I think, be most

truly described as distinct from the warlike dance, and distinct

from the peaceful, and not suited for a city at all. There let it lie;

and so leaving it to lie, we will proceed to the dances of war and

peace, for with these we are undoubtedly concerned. Now the

unwarlike muse, which honours in dance the Gods and the sons of the

Gods, is entirely associated with the consciousness of prosperity;

this class may be subdivided into two lesser classes, of which one

is expressive of an escape from some labour or danger into good, and

has greater pleasures, the other expressive of preservation and

increase of former good, in which the pleasure is less exciting;-in

all these cases, every man when the pleasure is greater, moves his

body more, and less when the pleasure is less; and, again, if he be

more orderly and has learned courage from discipline he waves less,

but if he be a coward, and has no training or self-control, he makes

greater and more violent movements, and in general when he is speaking

or singing he is not altogether able to keep his body still; and so

out of the imitation of words in gestures the whole art of dancing has

arisen. And in these various kinds of imitation one man moves in an

orderly, another in a disorderly manner; and as the ancients may be

observed to have given many names which are according to nature and

deserving of praise, so there is an excellent one which they have

given to the dances of men who in their times of prosperity are

moderate in their pleasures-the giver of names, whoever he was,

assigned to them a very true, and poetical, and rational name, when he

called them Emmeleiai, or dances of order, thus establishing two kinds

of dances of the nobler sort, the dance of war which he called the

Pyrrhic, and the dance of peace which he called Emmeleia, or the dance

of order; giving to each their appropriate and becoming name. These

things the legislator should indicate in general outline, and the

guardian of the law should enquire into them and search them out,

combining dancing with music, and assigning to the several sacrificial

feasts that which is suitable to them; and when he has consecrated all

of them in due order, he shall for the future change nothing,

whether of dance or song. Thenceforward the city and the citizens

shall continue to have the same pleasures, themselves being as far

as possible alike, and shall live well and happily.

  I have described the dances which are appropriate to noble bodies

and generous souls. But it is necessary also to consider and know

uncomely persons and thoughts, and those which are intended to produce

laughter in comedy, and have a comic character in respect of style,

song, and dance, and of the imitations which these afford. For serious

things cannot be understood without laughable things, nor opposites at

all without opposites, if a man is really to have intelligence of

either; but he can not carry out both in action, if he is to have

any degree of virtue. And for this very reason he should learn them

both, in order that he may not in ignorance do or say anything which

is ridiculous and out of place-he should command slaves and hired

strangers to imitate such things, but he should never take any serious

interest in them himself, nor should any freeman or freewoman be

discovered taking pains to learn them; and there should always be some

element of novelty in the imitation. Let these then be laid down, both

in law and in our discourse, as the regulations of laughable

amusements which are generally called comedy. And, if any of the

serious poets, as they are termed, who write tragedy, come to us and

say-"O strangers, may we go to your city and country or may we not,

and shall we bring with us our poetry-what is your will about these

matters?"-how shall we answer the divine men? I think that our

answer should be as follows:-Best of strangers, we will say to them,

we also according to our ability are tragic poets, and our tragedy

is the best and noblest; for our whole state is an imitation of the

best and noblest life, which we affirm to be indeed the very truth

of tragedy. You are poets and we are poets, both makers of the same

strains, rivals and antagonists in the noblest of dramas, which true

law can alone perfect, as our hope is. Do not then suppose that we

shall all in a moment allow you to erect your stage in the agora, or

introduce the fair voices of your actors, speaking above our own,

and permit you to harangue our women and children, and the common

people, about our institutions, in language other than our own, and

very often the opposite of our own. For a state would be mad which

gave you this licence, until the magistrates had determined whether

your poetry might be recited, and was fit for publication or not.

Wherefore, O ye sons and scions of the softer Muses, first of all show

your songs to the magistrates, and let them compare them with our own,

and if they are the same or better we will give you a chorus; but if

not, then, my friends, we cannot. Let these, then, be the customs

ordained by law about all dances and the teaching of them, and let

matters relating to slaves be separated from those relating to

masters, if you do not object.

  Cle. We can have no hesitation in assenting when you put the

matter thus.

  Ath. There still remain three studies suitable for freemen.

Arithmetic is one of them; the measurement of length, surface, and

depth is the second; and the third has to do with the revolutions of

the stars in relation to one another. Not every one has need to toil

through all these things in a strictly scientific manner, but only a

few, and who they are to be we will hereafter indicate at the end,

which will be the proper place; not to know what is necessary for

mankind in general, and what is the truth, is disgraceful to every

one: and yet to enter into these matters minutely is neither easy, nor

at all possible for every one; but there is something in them which is

necessary and cannot be set aside, and probably he who made the

proverb about God originally had this in view when he said, that

"not even God himself can fight against necessity";-he meant, if I

am not mistaken, divine necessity; for as to the human necessities

of which the many speak, when they talk in this manner, nothing can be

more ridiculous than such an application of the words.

  Cle. And what necessities of knowledge are there, Stranger, which

are divine and not human?

  Ath. I conceive them to be those of which he who has no use nor

any knowledge at all cannot be a God, or demi-god, or hero to mankind,

or able to take any serious thought or charge of them. And very unlike

a divine man would he be, who is unable to count one, two, three, or

to distinguish odd and even numbers, or is unable to count at all,

or reckon night and day, and who is totally unacquainted with the

revolution of the sun and moon, and the other stars. There would be

great folly in supposing that all these are not necessary parts of

knowledge to him who intends to know anything about the highest

kinds of knowledge; but which these are, and how many there are of

them, and when they are to be learned, and what is to be learned

together and what apart, and the whole correlation of them, must be

rightly apprehended first; and these leading the way we may proceed to

the other parts of knowledge. For so necessity grounded in nature

constrains us, against which we say that no God contends, or ever will

contend.

  Cle. I think, Stranger, that what you have now said is very true and

agreeable to nature.

  Ath. Yes, Cleinias, that is so. But it is difficult for the

legislator to begin with these studies; at a more convenient time we

will make regulations for them.

  Cle. You seem, Stranger, to be afraid of our habitual ignorance of

the subject: there is no reason why that should prevent you from

speaking out.

  Ath. I certainly am afraid of the difficulties to which you

allude, but I am still more afraid of those who apply themselves to

this sort of knowledge, and apply themselves badly. For entire

ignorance is not so terrible or extreme an evil, and is far from being

the greatest of all; too much cleverness and too much learning,

accompanied with an ill bringing up, are far more fatal.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. All freemen, I conceive, should learn as much of these branches

of knowledge as every child in Egypt is taught when he learns the

alphabet. In that country arithmetical games have been invented for

the use of mere children, which they learn as a pleasure and

amusement. They have to distribute apples and garlands, using the same

number sometimes for a larger and sometimes for a lesser number of

persons; and they arrange pugilists, and wrestlers as they pair

together by lot or remain over, and show how their turns come in

natural order. Another mode of amusing them is to distribute

vessels, sometimes of gold, brass, silver, and the like, intermixed

with one another, sometimes of one metal only; as I was saying they

adapt to their amusement the numbers in common use, and in this way

make more intelligible to their pupils the arrangements and

movements of armies and expeditions, in the management of a

household they make people more useful to themselves, and more wide

awake; and again in measurements of things which have length, and

breadth, and depth, they free us from that natural ignorance of all

these things which is so ludicrous and disgraceful.

  Cle. What kind of ignorance do you mean?

  Ath. O my dear Cleinias, I, like yourself, have late in life heard

with amazement of our ignorance in these matters; to me we appear to

be more like pigs than men, and I am quite ashamed, not only of

myself, but of all Hellenes.

  Cle. About what? Say, Stranger, what you mean.

  Ath. I will; or rather I will show you my meaning by a question, and

do you please to answer me: You know, I suppose, what length is?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And what breadth is?

  Cle. To be sure.

  Ath. And you know that these are two distinct things, and that there

is a third thing called depth?

  Cle. Of course.

  Ath. And do not all these seem to you to be commensurable with

themselves?

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. That is to say, length is naturally commensurable with

length, and breadth with breadth, and depth in like manner with depth?

  Cle. Undoubtedly.

  Ath. But if some things are commensurable and others wholly

incommensurable, and you think that all things are commensurable, what

is your position in regard to them?

  Cle. Clearly, far from good.

  Ath. Concerning length and breadth when compared with depth, or

breadth when and length when compared with one another, are not all

the Hellenes agreed that these are commensurable with one in some way?

  Cle. Quite true.

  Ath. But if they are absolutely incommensurable, and yet all of us

regard them as commensurable, have we not reason to be ashamed of

our compatriots; and might we not say to them:-O ye best of

Hellenes, is not this one of the things of which we were saying that

not to know them is disgraceful, and of which to have a bare knowledge

only is no great distinction?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And there are other things akin to these, in which there spring

up other errors of the same family.

  Cle. What are they?

  Ath. The natures of commensurable and incommensurable quantities

in their relation to one another. A man who is good for a thing

ought to be able, when he thinks, to distinguish them; and different

persons should compete with one another in asking questions, which

will be a fair, better and more graceful way of passing their time

than the old man's game of draughts.

  Cle. I dare say; and these pastimes are not so very unlike a game of

draughts.

  Ath. And these, as I maintain, Cleinias, are the studies which our

youth ought to learn, for they are innocent and not difficult; the

learning of them will be an amusement, and they will benefit the

state. If anyone is of another mind, let him say what he has to say.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Then if these studies are such as we maintain we will include

them; if not, they shall be excluded.

  Cle. Assuredly: but may we not now, Stranger, prescribe these

studies as necessary, and so fill up the lacunae of our laws?

  Ath. They shall be regarded as pledges which may be hereafter

redeemed and removed from our state, if they do not please either us

who give them, or you who accept them.

  Cle. A fair condition.

  Ath. Next let us see whether we are or are not willing that the

study of astronomy shall be proposed for our youth.

  Cle. Proceed.

  Ath. Here occurs a strange phenomenon, which certainly cannot in any

point of view be tolerated.

  Cle. To what are you referring?

  Ath. Men say that we ought not to enquire into the supreme God and

the nature of the universe, nor busy ourselves in searching out the

causes of things, and that such enquiries are impious; whereas the

very opposite is the truth.

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. Perhaps what I am saying may seem paradoxical, and at

variance with the usual language of age. But when any one has any good

and true notion which is for the advantage of the state and in every

way acceptable to God, he cannot abstain from expressing it.

  Cle. Your words are reasonable enough; but shall we find any good or

true notion about the stars?

  Ath. My good friends, at this hour all of us Hellenes tell lies,

if I may use such an expression, about those great Gods, the Sun and

the Moon.

  Cle. Lies of what nature?

  Ath. We say that they and divers other stars do not keep the same

path, and we call them planets or wanderers.

  Cle. Very true, Stranger; and in the course of my life I have

often myself seen the morning star and the evening star and divers

others not moving in their accustomed course, but wandering out of

their path in all manner of ways, and I have seen the sun and moon

doing what we all know that they do.

  Ath. Just so, Megillus and Cleinias; and I maintain that our

citizens and our youth ought to learn about the nature of the Gods

in heaven, so far as to be able to offer sacrifices and pray to them

in pious language, and not to blaspheme about them.

  Cle. There you are right if such a knowledge be only attainable; and

if we are wrong in our mode of speaking now, and can be better

instructed and learn to use better language, then I quite agree with

you that such a degree of knowledge as will enable us to speak rightly

should be acquired by us. And now do you try to explain to us your

whole meaning, and we, on our part, will endeavour to understand you.

  Ath. There is some difficulty in understanding my meaning, but not a

very great one, nor will any great length of time be required. And

of this I am myself a proof; for I did not know these things long ago,

nor in the days of my youth, and yet I can explain them to you in a

brief space of time; whereas if they had been difficult I could

certainly never have explained them all, old as I am, to old men

like yourselves.

  Cle. True; but what is this study which you describe as wonderful

and fitting for youth to learn, but of which we are ignorant? Try

and explain the nature of it to us as clearly as you can.

  Ath. I will. For, O my good friends, that other doctrine about the

wandering of the sun and the moon and the other stars is not the

truth, but the very reverse of the truth. Each of them moves in the

same path-not in many paths, but in one only, which is circular, and

the varieties are only apparent. Nor are we right in supposing that

the swiftest of them is the slowest, nor conversely, that the

slowest is the quickest. And if what I say is true, only just

imagine that we had a similar notion about horses running at

Olympia, or about men who ran in the long course, and that we

addressed the swiftest as the slowest and the slowest as the swiftest,

and sang the praises of the vanquished as though he were the

victor,-in that case our praises would not be true, nor very agreeable

to the runners, though they be but men; and now, to commit the same

error about the Gods which would have been ludicrous and erroneous

in the case of men-is not that ludicrous and erroneous?

  Cle. Worse than ludicrous, I should say.

  Ath. At all events, the Gods cannot like us to be spreading a

false report of them.

  Cle. Most true, if such is the fact.

  Ath. And if we can show that such is really the fact, then all these

matters ought to be learned so far as is necessary for the avoidance

of impiety; but if we cannot, they may be let alone, and let this be

our decision.

  Cle. Very good.

  Ath. Enough of laws relating to education and learning. But

hunting and similar pursuits in like manner claim our attention. For

the legislator appears to have a duty imposed upon him which goes

beyond mere legislation. There is something over and above law which

lies in a region between admonition and law, and has several times

occurred to us in the course of discussion; for example, in the

education of very young children there were things, as we maintain,

which are not to be defined, and to regard them as matters of positive

law is a great absurdity. Now, our laws and the whole constitution

of our state having been thus delineated, the praise of the virtuous

citizen is not complete when he is described as the person who

serves the laws best and obeys them most, but the higher form of

praise is that which describes him as the good citizen who passes

through life undefiled and is obedient to the words of the legislator,

both when he is giving laws and when he assigns praise and blame. This

is the truest word that can be spoken in praise of a citizen; and

the true legislator ought not only to write his laws, but also to

interweave with them all such things as seem to him honourable and

dishonourable. And the perfect citizen ought to seek to strengthen

these no less than the principles of law which are sanctioned by

punishments. I will adduce an example which will clear up my

meaning, and will be a sort of witness to my words. Hunting is of wide

extent, and has a name under which many things are included, for there

is a hunting of creatures in the water, and of creatures in the air,

and there is a great deal of hunting of land animals of all kinds, and

not of wild beasts only. The hunting after man is also worthy of

consideration; there is the hunting after him in war, and there is

often a hunting after him in the way of friendship, which is praised

and also blamed; and there is thieving, and the hunting which is

practised by robbers, and that of armies against armies. Now the

legislator, in laying down laws about hunting, can neither abstain

from noting these things, nor can he make threatening ordinances which

will assign rules and penalties about all of them. What is he to do?

He will have to praise and blame hunting with a view to the exercise

and pursuits of youth. And, on the other hand, the young man must

listen obediently; neither pleasure nor pain should hinder him, and he

should regard as his standard of action the praises and injunctions of

the legislator rather than the punishments which he imposes by law.

This being premised, there will follow next in order moderate praise

and censure of hunting; the praise being assigned to that kind which

will make the souls of young men better, and the censure to that which

has the opposite effect.

  And now let us address young men in the form of a prayer for their

welfare: O friends, we will say to them, may no desire or love of

hunting in the sea, or of angling or of catching the creatures in

the waters, ever take possession of you, either when you are awake

or when you are asleep, by hook or with weels, which latter is a

very lazy contrivance; and let not any desire of catching men and of

piracy by sea enter into your souls and make you cruel and lawless

hunters. And as to the desire of thieving in town or country, may it

never enter into your most passing thoughts; nor let the insidious

fancy of catching birds, which is hardly worthy of freemen, come

into the head of any youth. There remains therefore for our athletes

only the hunting and catching of land animals, of which the one sort

is called hunting by night, in which the hunters sleep in turn and are

lazy; this is not to be commended any more than that which has

intervals of rest, in which the will strength of beasts is subdued

by nets and snares, and not by the victory of a laborious spirit.

Thus, only the best kind of hunting is allowed at all-that of

quadrupeds, which is carried on with horses and dogs and men's own

persons, and they get the victory over the animals by running them

down and striking them and hurling at them, those who have a care of

godlike manhood taking them with their own hands. The praise and blame

which is assigned to all these things has now been declared; and let

the law be as follows:-Let no one hinder these who verily are sacred

hunters from following the chase wherever and whither soever they

will; but the hunter by night, who trusts to his nets and gins,

shall not be allowed to hunt anywhere. The fowler in the mountains and

waste places shall be permitted, but on cultivated ground and on

consecrated wilds he shall not be permitted; and any one who meets him

may stop him. As to the hunter in waters, he may hunt anywhere

except in harbours or sacred streams or marshes or pools, provided

only that he do not pollute the water with poisonous juices. And now

we may say that all our enactments about education are complete.

  Cle. Very good.

  BOOK VIIII



  Athenian Stranger. Next, with the help of the Delphian oracle, we

have to institute festivals and make laws about them, and to determine

what sacrifices will be for the good of the city, and to what Gods

they shall be offered; but when they shall be offered, and how

often, may be partly regulated by us.

  Cleinias. The number-yes.

  Ath. Then we will first determine the number; and let the whole

number be 365-one for every day-so that one magistrate at least will

sacrifice daily to some God or demi-god on behalf of the city, and the

citizens, and their possessions. And the interpreters, and priests,

and priestesses, and prophets shall meet, and, in company with the

guardians of the law, ordain those things which the legislator of

necessity omits; and I may remark that they are the very persons who

ought to take note of what is omitted. The law will say that there are

twelve feasts dedicated to the twelve Gods, after whom the several

tribes are named; and that to each of them they shall sacrifice

every month, and appoint choruses, and musical and gymnastic contests,

assigning them so as to suit the Gods and seasons of the year. And

they shall have festivals for women, distinguishing those which

ought to be separated from the men's festivals, and those which

ought not. Further, they shall not confuse the infernal deities and

their rites with the Gods who are termed heavenly and their rites, but

shall separate them, giving to Pluto his own in the twelfth month,

which is sacred to him, according to the law. To such a deity

warlike men should entertain no aversion, but they should honour him

as being always the best friend of man. For the connection of soul and

body is no way better than the dissolution of them, as I am ready to

maintain quite seriously. Moreover, those who would regulate these

matters rightly should consider, that our city among existing cities

has fellow, either in respect of leisure or comin and of the

necessaries of life, and that like an individual she ought to live

happily. And those who would live happily should in the first place do

no wrong to one another, and ought not themselves to be wronged by

others; to attain the first is not difficult, but there is great

difficulty, in acquiring the power of not being wronged. No man can be

perfectly secure against wrong, unless he has become perfectly good;

and cities are like individuals in this, for a city if good has a life

of peace, but if evil, a life of war within and without. Wherefore the

citizens ought to practise war-not in time of war, but rather while

they are at peace. And every city which has any sense, should take the

field at least for one day in every month; and for more if the

magistrates think fit, having no regard to winter cold or summer heat;

and they should go out en masse, including their wives and their

children, when the magistrates determine to lead forth the whole

people, or in separate portions when summoned by them; and they should

always provide that there should be games and sacrificial feasts,

and they should have tournaments, imitating in as lively a manner as

they can real battles. And they should distribute prizes of victory

and valour to the competitors, passing censures and encomiums on one

another according to the characters which they bear in the contests

and their whole life, honouring him who seems to be the best, and

blaming him who is the opposite. And let poets celebrate the

victors-not however every poet, but only one who in the first place is

not less than fifty years of age; nor should he be one who, although

he may have musical and poetical gifts, has never in his life done any

noble or illustrious action; but those who are themselves good and

also honourable in the state, creators of noble actions-let their

poems be sung, even though they be not very musical. And let the

judgment of them rest with the instructor of youth and the other

guardians of the laws, who shall give them this privilege, and they

alone shall be free to sing; but the rest of the world shall not

have this liberty. Nor shall any one dare to sing a song which has not

been approved by the judgment of the guardians of the laws, not even

if his strain be sweeter than the songs of Thamyras and Orpheus; but

only and Orpheus; but only such poems as have been judged sacred and

dedicated to the Gods, and such as are the works of good men, which

praise of blame has been awarded and which have been deemed to

fulfil their design fairly.

  The regulations about and about liberty of speech in poitry, ought

to apply equally to men and women. The legislator may be supposed to

argue the question in his own mind:-Who are my citizens for whom I

have set in order the city? Are they not competitors in the greatest

of all contests, and have they not innumerable rivals? To be sure,

will be the natural, reply. Well, but if we were training boxers, or

pancratiasts, or any other sort of athletes, would they never meet

until the hour of contest arrived; and should we do nothing to prepare

ourselves previously by daily practice? Surely, if we were boxers we

should have been learning to fight for many days before, and

exercising ourselves in imitating all those blows and wards which we

were intending to use in the hour of conflict; and in order that we

might come as near to reality as possible, instead of cestuses we

should put on boxing gloves, that the blows and the wards might be

practised by us to the utmost of our power. And if there were a lack

of competitors, the ridicule of fools would ryot deter us from hanging

up a lifeless image and practising at that. Or if we had no

adversary at all, animate or inanimate, should we not venture in the

dearth of antagonists to spar by ourselves? In what other manner could

we ever study the art of self-defence?

  Cle. The way which you mention Stranger, would be the only way.

  Ath. And shall the warriors of our city, who are destined when

occasion calli to enter the greatest of all contests, and to fight for

their lives, and their children, and their property, and the whole

city, be worse prepared than boxers? And will the legislator,

because he is afraid that their practising with one another may appear

to some ridiculous, abstain from commanding them to go out and

fight; will he not ordain that soldiers shall perform lesser exercises

without arms every day, making dancing and all gymnastic tend to

this end; and also will he not require that they shall practise some

gymnastic exercises, greater as well as lesser, as often as every

month; and that they shall have contests one with another in every

part of the country, seizing upon posts and lying in ambush, and

imitating in every respect the reality of war; fighting with

boxing-gloves and hurling javelins, and using weapons somewhat

dangerous, and as nearly as possible like the true ones, in order that

the sport may not be altogether without fear, but may have terrors and

to a certain degree show the man who has and who has not courage;

and that the honour and dishonour which are assigned to them

respectively, may prepare the whole city for the true conflict of

life? If any one dies in these mimic contests, the homicide is

involuntary, and we will make the slayer, when he has been purified

according to law, to be pure of blood, considering that if a few men

should die, others as good as they will be born; but that if fear is

dead then the citizens will never find a test of superior and inferior

natures, which is a far greater evil to the state than the loss of a

few.

  Cle. We are quite agreed, Stranger, that we should legislate about

such things, and that the whole state should practise them supposed

  Ath. And what is the reason that dances and contests of this sort

hardly ever exist in states, at least not to any extent worth speaking

of? Is this due to the ignorance of mankind and their legislators?

  Cle. Perhaps.

  Ath. Certainly not, sweet Cleinias; there are two causes, which

are quite enough to account for the deficiency.

  Cle. What are they?

  Ath. One cause is the love of wealth, which wholly absorbs men,

and never for a moment allows them to think of anything but their

own private possessions; on this the soul of every citizen hangs

suspended, and can attend to nothing but his daily gain; mankind are

ready to learn any branch of knowledge, and to follow any pursuit

which tends to this end, and they laugh at every other:-that is one

reason why a city will not be in earnest about such contests or any

other good and honourable pursuit. But from an insatiable love of gold

and silver, every man will stoop to any art or contrivance, seemly

or unseemly, in the hope of becoming rich; and will make no

objection to performing any action, holy, or unholy and utterly

base, if only like a beast he have the power of eating and drinking

all kinds of things, and procuring for himself in every sort of way

the gratification of his lusts.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Let this, then, be deemed one of the causes which prevent

states from pursuing in an efficient manner the art of war, or any

other noble aim, but makes the orderly and temperate part of mankind

into merchants, and captains of ships, and servants, and converts

the valiant sort into thieves and burglars and robbers of temples, and

violent, tyrannical persons; many of whom are not without ability, but

they are unfortunate.

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. Must not they be truly unfortunate whose souls are compelled to

pass through life always hungering?

  Cle. Then that is one cause, Stranger; but you spoke of another.

  Ath. Thank you for reminding me.

  Cle. The insatiable life long love of wealth, as you were saying

is one clause which absorbs mankind, and prevents them from rightly

practising the arts of war:-Granted; and now tell me, what is the

other?

  Ath. Do you imagine that I delay because I am in a perplexity?

  Cle. No; but we think that you are too severe upon the

money-loving temper, of which you seem in the present discussion to

have a peculiar dislike.

   Ath. That is a very fair rebuke, Cleinias; and I will now proceed

to the second cause.

  Cle. Proceed.

  Ath. I say that governments are a cause-democracy, oligarchy,

tyranny, concerning which I have often spoken in the previous

discourse; or rather governments they are not, for none of them

exercises a voluntary rule over voluntary subjects; but they may be

truly called states of discord, in which while the government is

voluntary, the subjects always obey against their will, and have to be

coerced; and the ruler fears the subject, and will not, if he can

help, allow him to become either noble, or rich, or strong, or

valiant, or warlike at all. These two are the chief causes of almost

all evils, and of the evils of which I have been speaking they are

notably the causes. But our state has escaped both of them; for her

citizens have the greatest leisure, and they are not subject to one

another, and will, I think, be made by these laws the reverse of

lovers of money. Such a constitution may be reasonably supposed to

be the only one existing which will accept the education which we have

described, and the martial pastimes which have been perfected

according to our idea.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Then next we must remember, about all gymnastic contests,

that only the warlike sort of them are to be practised and to have

prizes of victory; and those which are not military are to be given

up. The military sort had better be completely described and

established by law; and first, let us speak of running and swiftness.

  Cle. Very good.

  Ath. Certainly the most military of all qualities is general

activity of body, whether of foot or hand. For escaping or for

capturing an enemy, quickness of foot is required; but hand-to-hand

conflict and combat need vigour and strength.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. Neither of them can attain their greatest efficiency without

arms.

  Cle. How can they?

   Ath. Then our herald, in accordance with the prevailing practice,

will first summon the runner;-he will appear armed, for to an

unarmed competitor we will not give a prize. And he shall enter

first who is to run the single course bearing arms; next, he who is to

run the double course; third, he who is to run the horse-course; and

fourthly, he who is to run the long course; the fifth whom we start,

shall be the first sent forth in heavy armour, and shall run a

course of sixty stadia to some temple of Ares-and we will send forth

another, whom we will style the more heavily armed, to run over

smoother ground. There remains the archer; and he shall run in the

full equipments of an archer a distance of 100 stadia over

mountains, and across every sort of country, to a temple of Apollo and

Artemis; this shall be the order of the contest, and we will wait

for them until they return, and will give a prize to the conqueror

in each.

  Cle. Very good.

  Ath. Let us suppose that there are three kinds of contests-one of

boys, another of beardless youths, and a third of men. For the

youths we will fix the length of the contest at two-thirds, and for

the boys at half of the entire course, whether they contend as archers

or as heavy armed. Touching the women, let the girls who are not grown

up compete naked in the stadium and the double course, and the

horse-course and the long course, and let them run on the

race-ground itself; those who are thirteen years of age and upwards

until their marriage shall continue to share in contests if they are

not more than twenty, and shall be compelled to run up to eighteen;

and they shall descend into the arena in suitable dresses. Let these

be the regulations about contests in running both for men and women.

  Respecting contests of strength, instead of wrestling and similar

contests of the heavier sort, we will institute conflicts in armour of

one against one, and two against two, and so on up to ten against ten.

As to what a man ought not to suffer or do, and to what extent, in

order to gain the victory-as in wrestling, the masters of the art have

laid down what is fair and what is not fair, so in fighting in

armour-we ought to call in skilful persons, who shall judge for us and

be our assessors in the work of legislation; they shall say who

deserves to be victor in combats of this sort, and what he is not to

do or have done to him, and in like manner what rule determines who is

defeated; and let these ordinances apply to women until they married

as well as to men. The pancration shall have a counterpart in a combat

of the light armed; they shall contend with bows and with light

shields and with javelins and in the throwing of stones by slings

and by hand: and laws shall be made about it, and rewards and prizes

given to him who best fulfils the ordinances of the law.

  Next in order we shall have to legislate about the horse contests.

Now we do not need many horses, for they cannot be of much use in a

country like Crete, and hence we naturally do not take great pains

about the rearing of them or about horse races. There is no one who

keeps a chariot among us, and any rivalry in such matters would be

altogether out of place; there would be no sense nor any shadow of

sense in instituting contests which are not after the manner of our

country. And therefore we give our prizes for single horses-for

colts who have not yet cast their teeth, and for those who are

intermediate, and for the full-grown horses themselves; and thus our

equestrian games will accord with the nature of the country. Let

them have conflict and rivalry in these matters in accordance with the

law, and let the colonels and generals of horse decide together

about all courses and about the armed competitors in them. But we have

nothing to say to the unarmed either in gymnastic exercises or in

these contests. On the other hand, the Cretan bowman or javelin-man

who fights in armour on horseback is useful, and therefore we may as

well place a competition of this sort among amusements. Women are

not to be forced to compete by laws and ordinances; but if from

previous training they have acquired the habit and are strong enough

and like to take part, let them do so, girls as well as boys, and no

blame to them.

  Thus the competition in gymnastic and the mode of learning it have

been described; and we have spoken also of the toils of the contest,

and of daily exercises under the superintendence of masters. Likewise,

what relates to music has been, for the most part, completed. But as

to rhapsodes and the like, and the contests of choruses which are to

perform at feasts, all this shall be arranged when the months and days

and years have been appointed for Gods and demi-gods, whether every

third year, or again every fifth year, or in whatever way or manner

the Gods may put into men's minds the distribution and order of

them. At the same time, we may expect that the musical contests will

be celebrated in their turn by the command of the judges and the

director of education and the guardians of the law meeting together

for this purpose, and themselves becoming legislators of the times and

nature and conditions of the choral contests and of dancing in

general. What they ought severally to be in language and song, and

in the admixture of harmony with rhythm and the dance, has been

often declared by the original legislator; and his successors ought to

follow him, making the games and sacrifices duly to correspond at

fitting times, and appointing public festivals. It is not difficult to

determine how these and the like matters may have a regular order;

nor, again, will the alteration of them do any great good or harm to

the state. There is, however, another matter of great importance and

difficulty, concerning which God should legislate, if there were any

possibility of obtaining from him an ordinance about it. But seeing

that divine aid is not to be had, there appears to be a need of some

bold man who specially honours plainness of speech, and will say

outright what he thinks best for the city and citizens-ordaining

what is good and convenient for the whole state amid the corruptions

of human souls, opposing the mightiest lusts, and having no man his

helper but himself standing alone and following reason only.

  Cle. What is this, Stranger, that you are saying? For we do not as

yet understand your meaning.

  Ath. Very likely; I will endeavour to explain myself more clearly.

When I came to the subject of education, I beheld young men and

maidens holding friendly intercourse with one another. And there

naturally arose in my mind a sort of apprehension-I could not help

thinking how one is to deal with a city in which youths and maidens

are well nurtured, and have nothing to do, and are not undergoing

the excessive and servile toils which extinguish wantonness, and whose

only cares during their whole life are sacrifices and festivals and

dances. How, in such a state as this, will they abstain from desires

which thrust many a man and woman into perdition; and from which

reason, assuming the functions of law, commands them to abstain? The

ordinances already made may possibly get the better of most of these

desires; the prohibition of excessive wealth is a very considerable

gain in the direction of temperance, and the whole education of our

youth imposes a law of moderation on them; moreover, the eye of the

rulers is required always to watch over the young, and never to lose

sight of them; and these provisions do, as far as human means can

effect anything, exercise a regulating influence upon the desires in

general. But how can we take precautions against the unnatural loves

of either sex, from which innumerable evils have come upon individuals

and cities? How shall we devise a remedy and way of escape out of so

great a danger? Truly, Cleinias, here is a difficulty. In many ways

Crete and Lacedaemon furnish a great help to those who make peculiar

laws; but in the matter of love, as we are alone, I must confess

that they are quite against us. For if any one following nature should

lay down the law which existed before the days of Laius, and

denounce these lusts as contrary to nature, adducing the animals as

a proof that such unions were monstrous, he might prove his point, but

he would be wholly at variance with the custom of your states.

Further, they are repugnant to a principle which we say that a

legislator should always observe; for we are always enquiring which of

our enactments tends to virtue and which not. And suppose we grant

that these loves are accounted by law to be honourable, or at least

not disgraceful, in what degree will they contribute to virtue? Will

such passions implant in the soul of him who is seduced the habit of

courage, or in the soul of the seducer the principle of temperance?

Who will ever believe this?-or rather, who will not blame the

effeminacy of him who yields to pleasures and is unable to hold out

against them? Will not all men censure as womanly him who imitates the

woman? And who would ever think of establishing such a practice by

law? Certainly no one who had in his mind the image of true law. How

can we prove, that what I am saying is true? He who would rightly

consider these matters must see the nature of friendship and desire,

and of these so-called loves, for they are of two kinds, and out of

the two arises a third kind, having the same name; and this similarity

of name causes all the difficulty and obscurity.

  Cle. How is that?

  Ath. Dear is the like in virtue to the like, and the equal to the

equal; dear also, though unlike, is he who has abundance to him who is

in want. And when either of these friendships becomes excessive, we

term the excess love.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. The friendship which arises from contraries is horrible and

coarse, and has often no tie of communion; but that which, arises from

likeness is gentle, and has a tie of communion which lasts through

life. As to the mixed sort which is made up of them both, there is,

first of all, a in determining what he who is possessed by this

third love desires; moreover, he is drawn different ways, and is in

doubt between the two principles; the one exhorting him to enjoy the

beauty of youth, and the other forbidding him. For the one is a

lover of the body, and hungers after beauty, like ripe fruit, and

would fain satisfy himself without any regard to the character of

the beloved; the other holds the desire of the body to be a

secondary matter, and looking rather than loving and with his soul

desiring the soul of the other in a becoming manner, regards the

satisfaction of the bodily love as wantonness; he reverences and

respects temperance and courage and magnanimity and wisdom, and wishes

to live chastely with the chaste object of his affection. Now the sort

of love which is made up of the other two is that which we have

described as the third. Seeing then that there are these three sorts

of love, ought the law to prohibit and forbid them all to exist

among us? Is it not rather clear that we should wish to have in the

state the love which is of virtue and which desires the beloved

youth to be the best possible; and the other two, if possible, we

should hinder? What do you say, friend Megillus?

  Megillus. I think, Stranger, that you are perfectly right in what

you have been now saying.

  Ath. I knew well, my friend, that I should obtain your assent, which

I accept, and therefore have no need to analyse your custom any

further. Cleinias shall be prevailed upon to give me his assent at

some other time. Enough of this; and now let us proceed to the laws.

  Meg. Very good.

  Ath. Upon reflection I see a way of imposing the law, which, in

one respect, is easy, but, in another, is of the utmost difficulty.

  Meg. What do you mean?

   Ath. We are all aware that most men, in spite of their lawless

natures, are very strictly and precisely restrained from intercourse

with the fair, and this is not at all against their will, but entirely

with their will.

  Meg. When do you mean?

  Ath. When any one has a brother or sister who is fair; and about a

son or daughter the same unwritten law holds, and is a most perfect

safeguard, so that no open or secret connection ever takes place

between them. Nor does the thought of such a thing ever enter at all

into the minds of most of them.

  Meg. Very true.

  Ath. Does not a little word extinguish all pleasures of that sort?

  Meg. What word?

  Ath. The declaration that they are unholy, hated of God, and most

infamous; and is not the reason of this that no one has ever said

the opposite, but every one from his earliest childhood has heard

men speaking in the same manner about them always and everywhere,

whether in comedy or in the graver language of tragedy? When the

poet introduces on the stage a Thyestes or an Oedipus, or a Macareus

having secret intercourse with his sister, he represents him, when

found out, ready to kill himself as the penalty of his sin.

  Meg. You are very right in saying that tradition, if no breath of

opposition ever assails it, has a marvellous power.

  Ath. Am I not also right in saying that the legislator who wants

to master any of the passions which master man may easily know how

to subdue them? He will consecrate the tradition of their evil

character among all, slaves and freemen, women and children,

throughout the city:-that will be the surest foundation of the law

which he can make.

  Meg. Yes; but will he ever succeed in making all mankind use the

same language about them?

  Ath. A good objection; but was I not just now saying that I had a

way to make men use natural love and abstain from unnatural, not

intentionally destroying the seeds of human increase, or sowing them

in stony places, in which they will take no root; and that I would

command them to abstain too from any female field of increase in which

that which is sown is not likely to grow? Now if a law to this

effect could only be made perpetual, and gain an authority such as

already prevents intercourse of parents and children-such a law,

extending to other sensual desires, and conquering them, would be

the source of ten thousand blessings. For, in the first place,

moderation is the appointment of nature, and deters men from all

frenzy and madness of love, and from all adulteries and immoderate use

of meats and drinks, and makes them good friends to their own wives.

And innumerable other benefits would result if such a could only be

enforced. I can imagine some lusty youth who is standing by, and

who, on hearing this enactment, declares in scurrilous terms that we

are making foolish and impossible laws, and fills the world with his

outcry. And therefore I said that I knew a way of enacting and

perpetuating such a law, which was very easy in one respect, but in

another most difficult. There is no difficulty in seeing that such a

law is possible, and in what way; for, as I was saying, the

ordinance once consecrated would master the soul of, every man, and

terrify him into obedience. But matters have now come to such a pass

that even then the desired result seems as if it could not be

attained, just as the continuance of an entire state in the practice

of common meals is also deemed impossible. And although this latter is

partly disproven by the fact of their existence among you, still

even in your cities the common meals of women would be regarded as

unnatural and impossible. I was thinking of the rebelliousness of

the human heart when I said that the permanent establishment of

these things is very difficult.

  Meg. Very true.

  Ath. Shall I try and find some sort of persuasive argument which

will prove to you that such enactments are possible, and not beyond

human nature?

  Cle. By all means.

  Ath. Is a man more likely to abstain from the pleasures of love

and to do what he is bidden about them, when his body is in a good

condition, or when he is in an ill condition, and out of training?

  Cle. He will be far more temperate when he is in training.

  Ath. And have we not heard of Iccus of Tarentum, who, with a view to

the Olympic and other contests, in his zeal for his art, ind also

because he was of a manly and temperate disposition, never had any

connection with a woman or a youth during the whole time of his

training? And the same is said of Crison and Astylus and Diopompus and

many others; and yet, Cleinias, they were far worse educated in

their minds than your and my citizens, and in their bodies far more

lusty.

  Cle. No doubt this fact has been often affirmed positively by the

ancients of these athletes.

  Ath. And had they; courage to abstain from what is ordinarilly

deemed a pleasure for the sake of a victory in wrestling, running, and

the like; and shall our young men be incapable of a similar

endurance for the sake of a much nobler victory, which is the

noblest of all, as from their youth upwards we will tell them,

charming them, as we hope, into the belief of this by tales and

sayings and songs?

  Cle. Of what victory are you speaking?

  Ath. Of the victory over pleasure, which if they win, they will live

happily; or if they are conquered, the reverse of happily. And,

further, may we not suppose that the fear of impiety will enable

them to master that which other inferior people have mastered?

  Cle. I dare say.

  Ath. And since we have reached this point in our legislation, and

have fallen into a difficulty by reason of the vices of mankind, I

affirm that our ordinance should simply run in the following terms:

Our citizens ought not to fall below the nature of birds and beasts in

general, who are born in great multitudes, and yet remain until the

age for procreation virgin and unmarried, but when they have reached

the proper time of life are coupled, male and female, and lovingly

pair together, and live the rest of their lives in holiness and

innocence, abiding firmly in their original compact:-surely, we will

say to them, you should be better than the animals. But if they are

corrupted by the other Hellenes and the common practice of barbarians,

and they see with their eyes and hear with their ears of the so-called

free love everywhere prevailing among them, and they themselves are

not able to get the better of the temptation, the guardians of the

law, exercising the functions of lawgivers, shall devise a second

law against them.

  Cle. And what law would you advise them to pass if this one failed?

  Ath. Clearly, Cleinias, the one which would naturally follow.

  Cle. What is that?

  Ath. Our citizens should not allow pleasures to strengthen with

indulgence, but should by toil divert the aliment and exuberance of

them into other parts of the body; and this will happen if no

immodesty be allowed in the practice of love. Then they will be

ashamed of frequent intercourse, and they will find pleasure, if

seldom enjoyed, to be a less imperious mistress. They should not be

found out doing anything of the sort. Concealment shall be honourable,

and sanctioned by custom and made law by unwritten prescription; on

the other hand, to be detected shall be esteemed dishonourable, but

not, to abstain wholly. In this way there will be a second legal

standard of honourable and dishonourable, involving a second notion of

right. Three principles will comprehend all those corrupt natures whom

we call inferior to themselves, and who form but one dass, and will

compel them not to transgress.

  Cle. What are they?

  Ath. The principle of piety, the love of honour, and the desire of

beauty, not in the body but in the soul. These are, perhaps,

romantic aspirations; but they are the noblest of aspirations, if they

could only be realized in all states, and, God willing, in the

matter of love we may be able to enforce one of two things-either that

no one shall venture to touch any person of the freeborn or noble

class except his wedded wife, or sow the unconsecrated and bastard

seed among harlots, or in barren and unnatural lusts; or at least we

may abolish altogether the connection of men with men; and as to

women, if any man has to do with any but those who come into his house

duly married by sacred rites, whether they be bought or acquired in

any other way, and he offends publicly in the face of all mankind,

we shall be right in enacting that he be deprived of civic honours and

privileges, and be deemed to be, as he truly is, a stranger. Let

this law, then, whether it is one, or ought rather to be called two,

be laid down respecting love in general, and the intercourse of the

sexes which arises out of the desires, whether rightly or wrongly

indulged.

   Meg. I, for my part, Stranger, would gladly receive this law.

Cleinias shall speak for himself, and tell you what is his opinion.

  Cle. I will, Megillus, when an opportunity offers; at present, I

think that we had better allow the Stranger to proceed with his laws.

  Meg. Very good.

  Ath. We had got about as far as the establishment of the common

tables, which in most places would be difficult, but in Crete no one

would think of introducing any other custom. There might arise a

question about the manner of them-whether they shall be such as they

are here in Crete, or such as they are in Lacedaemon,-or is there a

third kind which may be better than either of them? The answer to this

question might be easily discovered, but the discovery would do no

great good, for at present they are very well ordered.

  Leaving the common tables, we may therefore proceed to the means

of providing food. Now, in cities the means of life are gained in many

ways and from divers sources, and in general from two sources, whereas

our city has only one. For most of the Hellenes obtain their food from

sea and land, but our citizens from land only. And this makes the task

of the legislator less difficult-half as many laws will be enough, and

much less than half; and they will be of a kind better suited to

free men. For he has nothing to do with laws about shipowners and

merchants and retailers and innkeepers and tax collectors and mines

and moneylending and compound interest and innumerable other

things-bidding good-bye to these, he gives laws to husbandmen and

shepherds and bee-keepers, and to the guardians and superintendents of

their implements; and he has already legislated for greater matters,

as for example, respecting marriage and the procreation and nurture of

children, and for education, and the establishment of offices-and

now he must direct his laws to those who provide food and labour in

preparing it.

  Let us first of all, then, have a class of laws which shall be

called the laws of husbandmen. And let the first of them be the law of

Zeus, the god of boundaries. Let no one shift the boundary line either

of a fellow-citizen who is a neighbour, or, if he dwells at the

extremity of the land, of any stranger who is conterminous with him,

considering that this is truly "to move the immovable," and every

one should be more willing to move the largest rock which is not a

landmark, than the least stone which is the sworn mark of friendship

and hatred between neighbours; for Zeus, the god of kindred, is the

witness of the citizen, and Zeus, the god of strangers, of the

stranger, and when aroused, terrible are the wars which they stir

up. He who obeys the law will never know the fatal consequences of

disobedience, but he who despises the law shall be liable to a

double penalty, the first coming from the Gods, and the second from

the law. For let no one wilfully remove the boundaries of his

neighbour's land, and if any one does, let him who will inform the

landowners, and let them bring him into court, and if he be

convicted of re-dividing the land by stealth or by force, let the

court determine what he ought to suffer or pay. In the next place,

many small injuries done by neighbours to one another, through their

multiplication, may cause a weight of enmity, and make neighbourhood a

very disagreeable and bitter thing. Wherefore a man ought to be very

careful of committing any offence against his neighbour, and

especially of encroaching on his neighbour's land; for any man may

easily do harm, but not every man can do good to another. He who

encroaches on his neighbour's land, and transgresses his boundaries,

shall make good the damage, and, to cure him of his impudence and also

of his meanness, he shall pay a double penalty to the injured party.

Of these and the like matters the wardens of the country shall take

cognizance, and be the judges of them and assessors of the damage;

in the more important cases, as has been already said, the whole

number of them belonging to any one of the twelve divisions shall

decide, and in the lesser cases the commanders: or, again, if any

one pastures his cattle on his neighbour's land, they shall see the

injury, and adjudge the penalty. And if any one, by decoying the bees,

gets possession of another's swarms, and draws them to himself by

making noises, he shall pay the damage; or if anyone sets fire to

his own wood and takes no care of his neighbour's property, he shall

be fined at the discretion of the magistrates. And if in planting he

does not leave a fair distance between his own and his neighbour's

land, he shall be punished, in accordance with the enactments of

many law givers, which we may use, not deeming it necessary that the

great legislator of our state should determine all the trifles which

might be decided by any body; for example, husbandmen have had of

old excellent laws about waters, and there is no reason why we

should propose to divert their course: who likes may draw water from

the fountain-head of the common stream on to his own land, if he do

not cut off the spring which clearly belongs to some other owner;

and he may take the water in any direction which he pleases, except

through a house or temple or sepulchre, but he must be careful to do

no harm beyond the channel. And if there be in any place a natural

dryness of the earth, which keeps in the rain from heaven, and

causes a deficiency in the supply of water, let him dig down on his

own land as far as the clay, and if at this depth he finds no water,

let him obtain water from his neighbours, as much, as is required

for his servants' drinking, and if his neighbours, too, are limited in

their supply, let him have a fixed measure, which shall be

determined by the wardens of the country. This he shall receive each

day, and on these terms have a share of his neighbours' water. If

there be heavy rain, and one of those on the lower ground injures some

tiller of the upper ground, or some one who has a common wall, by

refusing to give the man outlet for water; or, again, if some one

living on the higher ground recklessly lets off the water on his lower

neighbour, and they cannot come to terms with one another, let him who

will call in a warden of the city, if he be in the city, or if he be

in the country, warden of the country, and let him obtain a decision

determining what each of them is to do. And he who will not abide by

the decision shall suffer for his malignant and morose temper, and pay

a fine to the injured party, equivalent to double the value of the

injury, because he was unwilling to submit to the magistrates.

  Now the participation of fruits shall be ordered on this wise. The

goddess of Autumn has two gracious gifts: one, the joy of Dionysus

which is not treasured up; the other, which nature intends to be

stored. Let this be the law, then, concerning the fruits of autumn: He

who tastes the common or storing fruits of autumn, whether grapes or

figs, before the season of vintage which coincides with Arcturus,

either on his own land or on that of others-let him pay fifty

drachmae, which shall be sacred to Dionysus, if he pluck them from his

own land; and if from his neighbour's land, a mina, and if from any

others', two-thirds of a mina. And he who would gather the "choice"

grapes or the "choice" figs, as they are now termed, if he take them

off his own land, let him pluck them how and when he likes; but if

he take them from the ground of others without their leave, let him in

that case be always punished in accordance with the law which

ordains that he should not move what he has not laid down. And if a

slave touches any fruit of this sort, without the consent of the owner

of the land, he shall be beaten with as many blows as there are grapes

on the bunch, or figs on the fig-tree. Let a metic purchase the

"choice" autumnal fruit, and then, if he pleases, he may gather it;

but if a stranger is passing along the road, and desires to eat, let

him take of the "choice" grapes for himself and a single follower

without payment, as a tribute of hospitality. The law however

forbids strangers from sharing in the sort which is not used for

eating; and if any one, whether he be master or slave, takes of them

in ignorance, let the slave be beaten, and the freeman dismissed

with admonitions, and instructed to take of the other autumnal

fruits which are unfit for making raisins and wine, or for laying by

as dried figs. As to pears, and apples, and pomegranates, and

similar fruits, there shall be no disgrace in taking them secretly;

but he who is caught, if he be of less than thirty years of age, shall

be struck and beaten off, but not wounded; and no freeman shall have

any right of satisfaction for such blows. Of these fruits the stranger

may partake, just as he may of the fruits of autumn. And if an

elder, who is more than thirty years of age, eat of them on the

spot, let him, like the stranger, be allowed to partake of all such

fruits, but he must carry away nothing. If, however, he will not

obey the law, let him run risk of failing in the competition of

virtue, in case any one takes notice of his actions before the

judges at the time.

  Water is the greatest element of nutrition in gardens, but is easily

polluted. You cannot poison the soil, or the soil, or the sun, or

the air, which are other elements of nutrition in plants, or divert

them, or steal them; but all these things may very likely happen in

regard to water, which must therefore be protected by law. And let

this be the law:-If any one intentionally pollutes the water of

another, whether the water of a spring, or collected in reservoirs,

either by poisonous substances, or by digging or by theft, let the

injured party bring the cause before the wardens of the city, and

claim in writing the value of the loss; if the accused be found guilty

of injuring the water by deleterious substances, let him not only

pay damages, but purify the stream or the cistern which contains the

water, in such manner as the laws of the interpreters order the

purification to be made by the offender in each case.

  With respect to the gathering in of the fruits of the soil, let a

man, if he pleases, carry his own fruits through any place in which he

either does no harm to any one, or himself gains three times as much

as his neighbour loses. Now of these things the magistrates should

be cognisant, as of all other things in which a man intentionally does

injury to another or to the property of another, by fraud or force, in

the use which he makes of his own property. All these matters a man

should lay before the magistrates, and receive damages, supposing

the injury to be not more than three minae; or if he have a charge

against another which involves a larger amount, let him bring his suit

into the public courts and have the evil-doer punished. But if any

of the magistrates appear to adjudge the penalties which he imposes in

an unjust spirit, let him be liable to pay double to the injured

party. Any one may bring the offences of magistrates, in any

particular case, before the public courts. There are innumerable

little matters relating to the modes of punishment, and applications

for suits, and summonses and the witnesses to summonses-for example,

whether two witnesses should be required for a summons, or how

many-and all such details, which cannot be omitted in legislation, but

are beneath the wisdom of an aged legislator. These lesser matters, as

they indeed are in comparison with the greater ones, let a younger

generation regulate by law, after the patterns which have preceded,

and according to their own experience of the usefulness and

necessity of such laws; and when they are duly regulated let there

be no alteration, but let the citizens live in the observance of them.

  Now of artisans, let the regulations be as follows:-In the first

place, let no citizen or servant of a citizen be occupied in

handicraft arts; for he who is to secure and preserve the public order

of the state, has an art which requires much study and many kinds of

knowledge, and does not admit of being made a secondary occupation;

and hardly any human being is capable of pursuing two professions or

two arts rightly, or of practising one art himself, and superintending

some one else who is practising another. Let this, then, be our

first principle in the state:-No one who is a smith shall also be a

carpenter, and if he be a carpenter, he shall not superintend the

smith's art rather than his own, under the pretext that in

superintending many servants who are working for him, he is likely

to superintend them better, because more revenue will accrue to him

from them than from his own art; but let every man in the state have

one art, and get his living by that. Let the wardens of the city

labour to maintain this law, and if any citizen incline to any other

art than the study of virtue, let them punish him with disgrace and

infamy, until they bring him back into his own right course; and if

any stranger profess two arts, let them chastise him with bonds and

money penalties, and expulsion from the state, until they compel him

to be one only and not many.

  But as touching payments for hire, and contracts of work, or in case

any one does wrong to any of the citizens or they do wrong to any

other, up to fifty drachmae, let the wardens of the city decide the

case; but if greater amount be involved, then let the public courts

decide according to law. Let no one pay any duty either on the

importation or exportation of goods; and as to frankincense and

similar perfumes, used in the service of the Gods, which come from

abroad, and purple and other dyes which are not produced in the

country, or the materials of any art which have to be imported, and

which are not necessary-no one should import them; nor again, should

any one export anything which is wanted in the country. Of all these

things let there be inspectors and superintendents, taken from the

guardians of the law; and they shall be the twelve next in order to

the five seniors. Concerning arms, and all implements which are for

military purposes, if there be need of introducing any art, or

plant, or metal, or chains of any kind, or animals for use in war, let

the commanders of the horse and the generals have authority over their

importation and exportation; the city shall send them out and also

receive them, and the guardians of the law shall make fit and proper

laws about them. But let there be no retail trade for the sake of

money-making, either in these or any other articles, in the city or

country at all.

  With respect to food and the distribution of the produce of the

country, the right and proper way seems to be nearly that which is the

custom of Crete; for all should be required to distribute the fruits

of the soil into twelve parts, and in this way consume them. Let the

twelfth portion of each (as for instance of wheat and barley, to which

the rest of the fruits of the earth shall be added, as well as the

animals which are for sale in each of the twelve divisions) be divided

in due proportion into three parts; one part for freemen, another

for their servants, and a third for craftsmen and in general for

strangers, whether sojourners who may be dwelling in the city, and

like other men must live, or those who come on some business which

they have with the state, or with some individual. Let only this third

part of all necessaries be required to be sold; out of the other

two-thirds no one shall be compelled to sell. And how will they be

best distributed? In the first place, we see clearly that the

distribution will be of equals in one point of view, and in another

point of view of unequals.

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. I mean that the earth of necessity produces and nourishes the

various articles of food, sometimes better and sometimes worse.

  Cle. Of course.

  Ath. Such being the case, let no one of the three portions be

greater than either of the other two-neither that which is assigned to

masters or to slaves, nor again that of the stranger; but let the

distribution to all be equal and alike, and let every citizen take his

two portions and distribute them among slaves and freemen, he having

power to determine the quantity and quality. And what remains he shall

distribute by measure and numb among the animals who have to be

sustained from the earth, taking the whole number of them.

  In the second place, our citizens should have separate houses duly

ordered, and this will be the order proper for men like them. There

shall be twelve hamlets, one in the middle of each twelfth portion,

and in each hamlet they shall first set apart a market-place, and

the temples of the Gods, and of their attendant demigods; and if there

be any local deities of the Magnetes, or holy seats of other ancient

deities, whose memory has been preserved, to these let them pay

their ancient honours. But Hestia, and Zeus, and Athene will have

temples everywhere together with the God who presides in each of the

twelve districts. And the first erection of houses shall be around

these temples, where the ground is highest, in order to provide the

safest and most defensible place of retreat for the guards. All the

rest of the country they shall settle in the following manner:-They

shall make thirteen divisions of the craftsmen; one of them they shall

establish in the city, and this, again, they shall subdivide into

twelve lesser divisions, among the twelve districts of the city, and

the remainder shall be distributed in the country round about; and

in each village they shall settle various classes of craftsmen, with a

view to the convenience of the husbandmen. And the chief officers of

the wardens of the country shall superintend all these matters, and

see how many of them, and which class of them, each place requires;

and fix them where they are likely to be least troublesome, and most

useful to the husbandman. And the wardens of the city shall see to

similar matters in the city.

  Now the wardens of the agora ought to see to the details of the

agora. Their first care, after the temples which are in the agora have

been seen to, should be to prevent any one from doing any in

dealings between man and man; in the second; place, as being

inspectors of temperance and violence, they should chastise him who

requires chastisement. Touching articles of gale, they should first

see whether the articles which the citizens are under regulations to

sell to strangers are sold to them, as the law ordains. And let the

law be as follows:-on the first day of the month, the persons in

charge, whoever they are, whether strangers or slaves, who have the

charge on behalf of the citizens, shall produce to the strangers the

portion which falls to them, in the first place, a twelfth portion

of the corn;-the stranger shall purchase corn for the whole month, and

other cereals, on the first market day; and on the tenth day of the

month the one party shall sell, and the other buy, liquids

sufficient to last during the whole month; and on the twenty-third day

there shall be a sale of animals by those who are willing to sell to

the people who want to buy, and of implements and other things which

husbandmen sell (such as skins and all kinds of clothing, either woven

or made of felt and other goods of the same sort), and which strangers

are compelled to buy and purchase of others. As to the retail trade in

these things, whether of barley or wheat set apart for meal and flour,

or any other kind of food, no one shall sell them to citizens or their

slaves, nor shall any one buy of a citizen; but let the stranger

sell them in the market of strangers, to artisans and their slaves,

making an exchange of wine and food, which is commonly called retail

trade. And butchers shall offer for sale parts of dismembered

animals to the strangers, and artisans, and their servants. Let any

stranger who likes buy fuel from day to day wholesale, from those

who have the care of it in the country, and let him sell to the

strangers as much he pleases and when he pleases. As to other goods

and implements which are likely to be wanted, they shall sell them

in common market, at any place which the guardians of the law and

the wardens of the market and city, choosing according to their

judgment, shall determine; at such places they shall exchange money

for goods, and goods for money, neither party giving credit to the

other; and he who gives credit must be satisfied, whether he obtain

his money not, for in such exchanges he will not be protected by

law. But whenever property has been bought or sold, greater in

quantity or value than is allowed by the law, which has determined

within what limited a man may increase and diminish his possessions,

let the excess be registered in the books of the guardians of the law;

in case of diminution, let there be an erasure made. And let the

same rule be observed about the registration of the property of the

metics. Any one who likes may come and be a metic on certain

conditions; a foreigner, if he likes, and is able to settle, may dwell

in the land, but he must practise an art, and not abide more than

twenty years from the time at which he has registered himself; and

he shall pay no sojourner's tax, however small, except good conduct,

nor any other tax for buying and selling. But when the twenty years

have expired, he shall take his property with him and depart. And if

in the course of these years he should chance to distinguish himself

by any considerable benefit which he confers on the state, and he

thinks that he can persuade the council and assembly, either to

grant him delay in leaving the country, or to allow him to remain

for the whole of his life, let him go and persuade the city, and

whatever they assent to at his instance shall take effect. For the

children of the metics, being artisans, and of fifteen years of age,

let the time of their sojourn commence after their fifteenth year; and

let them remain for twenty years, and then go where they like; but any

of them who wishes to remain, may do so, if he can persuade the

council and assembly. And if he depart, let him erase all the

entries which have been made by him in the register kept by the

magistrates.

  BOOK IX



  Next to all the matters which have preceded in the natural order

of legislation will come suits of law. Of suits those which relate

to agriculture have been already described, but the more important

have not been described. Having mentioned them severally under their

usual names, we will proceed to say what punishments are to be

inflicted for each offence, and who are to be the judges of them.

  Cleinias. Very good.

  Athenian Stranger. There is a sense of disgrace in legislating, as

we are about to do, for all the details of crime in a state which,

as we say, is to be well regulated and will be perfectly adapted to

the practice of virtue. To assume that in such a state there will

arise some one who will be guilty of crimes as heinous as any which

are ever perpetrated in other states, and that we must legislate for

him by anticipation, and threaten and make laws against him if he

should arise, in order to deter him, and punish his acts, under the

idea that he will arise-this, as I was saying, is in a manner

disgraceful. Yet seeing that we are not like the ancient

legislators, who gave laws to heroes and sons of gods, being,

according to the popular belief, themselves the offspring of the gods,

and legislating for others, who were also the children of divine

parents, but that we are only men who are legislating for the sons

of men, there is no uncharitableness in apprehending that some one

of our citizens may be like a seed which has touched the ox's horn,

having a heart so hard that it cannot be softened any more than

those seeds can be softened by fire. Among our citizens there may be

those who cannot be subdued by all the strength of the laws; and for

their sake, though an ungracious task, I will proclaim my first law

about the robbing of temples, in case any one should dare to commit

such a crime. I do not expect or imagine that any well-brought-up

citizen will ever take the infection, but their servants, and

strangers, and strangers' servants may be guilty of many impieties.

And with a view to them especially, and yet not without a provident

eye to the weakness of human nature generally, I will proclaim the law

about robbers of temples and similar incurable, or almost incurable,

criminals. Having already agreed that such enactments ought always

to have a short prelude, we may speak to the criminal, whom some

tormenting desire by night and by day tempts to go and rob a temple,

the fewest possible words of admonition and exhortation:-O sir, we

will say to him, the impulse which moves you to rob temples is not

an ordinary human malady, nor yet a visitation of heaven, but a

madness which is begotten in a man from ancient and unexpiated

crimes of his race, an ever-recurring curse;-against this you must

guard with all your might, and how you are to guard we will explain to

you. When any such thought comes into your mind, go and perform

expiations, go as a suppliant to the temples of the Gods who avert

evils, go to the society of those who are called good men among you;

hear them tell and yourself try to repeat after them, that every man

should honour the noble and the just. Fly from the company of the

wicked-fly and turn not back; and if your disorder is lightened by

these remedies, well and good, but if not, then acknowledge death to

be nobler than life, and depart hence.

  Such are the preludes which we sing to all who have thoughts of

unholy and treasonable actions, and to him who hearkens to them the

law has nothing to say. But to him who is disobedient when the prelude

is over, cry with a loud voice,-He who is taken in the act of

robbing temples, if he be a slave or stranger, shall have his evil

deed engraven on his face and hands, and shall be beaten with as

many stripes as may seem good to the judges, and be cast naked

beyond the borders of the land. And if he suffers this punishment he

will probably return to his right mind and be improved; for no penalty

which the law inflicts is designed for evil, but always makes him

who suffers either better or not so much worse as he would have

been. But if any citizen be found guilty of any great or unmentionable

wrong, either in relation to the gods, or his parents, or the state,

let the judge deem him to be incurable, remembering that after

receiving such an excellent education and training from youth

upward, he has not abstained from the greatest of crimes. His

punishment shall be death, which to him will be the least of evils;

and his example will benefit others, if he perish ingloriously, and be

cast beyond the borders of the land. But let his children and

family, if they avoid the ways of their father, have glory, and let

honourable mention be made of them, as having nobly and manfully

escaped out of evil into good. None of them should have their goods

confiscated to the state, for the lots of the citizens ought always to

continue the same and equal.

  Touching the exaction of penalties, when a man appears to have

done anything which deserves a fine, he shall pay the fine, if he have

anything in excess of the lot which is assigned to him; but more

than that he shall not pay. And to secure exactness, let the guardians

of the law refer to the registers, and inform the judges of the

precise truth, in order that none of the lots may go uncultivated

for want of money. But if any one seems to deserve a greater

penalty, let him undergo a long and public imprisonment and be

dishonoured, unless some of his friends are willing to be surety for

him, and liberate him by assisting him to pay the fine. No criminal

shall go unpunished, not even for a single offence, nor if he have

fled the country; but let the penalty be according to his

deserts-death, or bonds, or blows, or degrading places of sitting or

standing, or removal to some temple on the borders of the land; or let

him pay fines, as we said before. In cases of death, let the judges be

the guardians of the law, and a court selected by merit from the

last year's magistrates. But how the causes are to be brought into

to court, how the summonses are to be served, the like, these things

may be left to the younger generation of legislators to determine; the

manner of voting we must determine ourselves.

  Let the vote be given openly; but before they come to the vote let

the judges sit in order of seniority over against plaintiff and

defendant, and let all the citizens who can spare time hear and take a

serious interest in listening to such causes. First of all the

plaintiff shall make one speech, and then the defendant shall make

another; and after the speeches have been made the eldest judge

shall begin to examine the parties, and proceed to make an adequate

enquiry into what has been said; and after the oldest has spoken,

the rest shall proceed in order to examine either party as to what

he finds defective in the evidence, whether of statement or

omission; and he who has nothing to ask shall hand over the

examination to another. And on so much of what has been said as is

to the purpose all the judges shall set their seals, and place the

writings on the altar of Hestia. On the next day they shall meet

again, and in like manner put their questions and go through the

cause, and again set their seals upon the evidence; and when they have

three times done this, and have had witnesses and evidence enough,

they shall each of them give a holy vote, after promising by Hestia

that they will decide justly and truly to the utmost of their power;

and so they shall put an end to the suit.

  Next, after what relates to the Gods, follows what relates to the

dissolution of the state:-Whoever by promoting a man to power enslaves

the laws, and subjects the city to factions, using violence and

stirring up sedition contrary to law, him we will deem the greatest

enemy of the whole state. But he who takes no part in such

proceedings, and, being one of the chief magistrates of the state, has

no knowledge of the treason, or, having knowledge of it, by reason

of cowardice does not interfere on behalf of his country, such an

one we must consider nearly as bad. Every man who is worth anything

will inform the magistrates, and bring the conspirator to trial for

making a violent and illegal attempt to change the government. The

judges of such cases shall be the same as of the robbers of temples;

and let the whole proceeding be carried on in the same way, and the

vote of the majority condemn to death. But let there be a general

rule, that the disgrace and punishment of the father is not to be

visited on the children, except in the case of some one whose

father, grandfather, and great-grandfather have successively undergone

the penalty of death. Such persons the city shall send away with all

their possessions to the city and country of their ancestors,

retaining only and wholly their appointed lot. And out of the citizens

who have more than one son of not less than ten years of age, they

shall select ten whom their father or grandfather by the mother's or

father's side shall appoint, and let them send to Delphi the names

of those who are selected, and him whom the God chooses they shall

establish as heir of the house which has failed; and may he have

better fortune than his predecessors!

  Cle. Very good.

  Ath. Once more let there be a third general law respecting the

judges who are to give judgment, and the manner of conducting suits

against those who are tried on an accusation of treason; and as

concerning the remaining or departure of their descendants-there shall

be one law for all three, for the traitor, and the robber of

temples, and the subverter by violence of the laws of the state. For a

thief, whether he steal much or little, let there be one law, and

one punishment for all alike: in the first place, let him pay double

the amount of the theft if he be convicted, and if he have so much

over and above the allotment;-if he have not, he shall be bound

until he pay the penalty, or persuade him has obtained the sentence

against him to forgive him. But if a person be convicted of a theft

against the state, then if he can persuade the city, or if he will pay

back twice the amount of the theft, he shall be set free from his

bonds.

  Cle. What makes you say, Stranger, that a theft is all one,

whether the thief may have taken much or little, and either from

sacred or secular places-and these are not the only differences in

thefts:-seeing, then, that they are of many kinds, ought not the

legislator to adapt himself to them, and impose upon them entirely

different penalties?

  Ath. Excellent. I was running on too fast, Cleinias, and you

impinged upon me, and brought me to my senses, reminding me of what,

indeed, had occurred to mind already, that legislation was never yet

rightly worked out, as I may say in passing.-Do you remember the image

in which I likened the men for whom laws are now made to slaves who

are doctored by slaves? For of this you may be very sure, that if

one of those empirical physicians, who practise medicine without

science, were to come upon the gentleman physician talking to his

gentleman patient, and using the language almost of philosophy,

beginning at the beginning of the disease and discoursing about the

whole nature of the body, he would burst into a hearty laugh-he

would say what most of those who are called doctors always have at

their tongue's end:-Foolish fellow, he would say, you are not

healing the sick man, but you are educating him; and he does not

want to be made a doctor, but to get well.

  Cle. And would he not be right?

  Ath. Perhaps he would; and he might remark upon us that he who

discourses about laws, as we are now doing, is giving the citizens

education and not laws; that would be rather a telling observation.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. But we are fortunate.

  Cle. In what way?

  Ath. Inasmuch as we are not compelled to give laws, but we may

take into consideration every form of government, and ascertain what

is best and what is most needful, and how they may both be carried

into execution; and we may also, if we please, at this very moment

choose what is best, or, if we prefer, what is most necessary-which

shall we do?

   Cle. There is something ridiculous, Stranger, in our proposing such

an alternative as if we were legislators, simply bound under some

great necessity which cannot be deferred to the morrow. But we, as I

may by grace of Heaven affirm, like, gatherers of stones or

beginners of some composite work, may gather a heap of materials,

and out of this, at our leisure, select what is suitable for our

projected construction. Let us then suppose ourselves to be at

leisure, not of necessity building, but rather like men who are partly

providing materials, and partly putting them together. And we may

truly say that some of our laws, like stones, are already fixed in

their places, and others lie at hand.

  Ath. Certainly, in that case, Cleinias, our view of law will be more

in accordance with nature. For there is another matter affecting

legislators, which I must earnestly entreat you to consider.

  Cle. What is it?

  Ath. There are many writings to be found in cities, and among them

there, are composed by legislators as well as by other persons.

  Cle. To be sure.

  Ath. Shall we give heed rather to the writings of those others-poets

and the like, who either in metre or out of metre have recorded

their advice about the conduct of life, and not to the writings of

legislators? or shall we give heed to them above all?

  Cle. Yes; to them far above all others.

  Ath. And ought the legislator alone among writers to withhold his

opinion about the beautiful, the good, and the just, and not to

teach what they are, and how they are to be pursued by those who

intend to be happy?

  Cle. Certainly not.

  Ath. And is it disgraceful for Homer and Tyrtaeus and other poets to

lay down evil precepts in their writings respecting life and the

pursuits of men, but not so disgraceful for Lycurgus and Solon and

others who were legislators as well as writers? Is it not true that of

all the writings to be found in cities, those which relate to laws,

when you unfold and read them, ought to be by far the noblest and

the best? and should not other writings either agree with them, or

if they disagree, be deemed ridiculous? We should consider whether the

laws of states ought not to have the character of loving and wise

parents, rather than of tyrants and masters, who command and threaten,

and, after writing their decrees on walls, go their ways; and whether,

in discoursing of laws, we should not take the gentler view of them

which may or may not be attainable-at any rate, we will show our

readiness to entertain such a view, and be prepared to undergo

whatever may be the result. And may the result be good, and if God

be gracious, it will be good!

  Cle. Excellent; let us do as you say.

  Ath. Then we will now consider accurately, as we proposed, what

relates to robbers of temples, and all kinds of thefts, and offences

in general; and we must not be annoyed if, in the course of

legislation, we have enacted some things, and have not made up our

minds about some others; for as yet we are not legislators, but we may

soon be. Let us, if you please, consider these matters.

  Cle. By all means.

  Ath. Concerning all things honourable and just, let us then

endeavour to ascertain how far we are consistent with ourselves, and

how far we are inconsistent, and how far the many, from whom at any

rate we should profess a desire to differ, agree and disagree among

themselves.

  Cle. What are the inconsistencies which you observe in us?

  Ath. I will endeavour to explain. If I am not mistaken, we are all

agreed that justice, and just men and things and actions, are all

fair, and, if a person were to maintain that just men, even when

they are deformed in body, are still perfectly beautiful in respect of

the excellent justice of their minds, no one would say that there

was any inconsistency in this.

  Cle. They would be quite right.

  Ath. Perhaps; but let us consider further, that if all things

which are just are fair and honourable, in the term "all" we must

include just sufferings which are the correlatives of just actions.

  Cle. And what is the inference?

  Ath. The inference is, that a just action in partaking of the just

partakes also in the same degree of the fair and honourable.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And must not a suffering which partakes of the just principle

be admitted to be in the same degree fair and honourable, if the

argument is consistently carried out?

  Cle. True.

  Ath. But then if we admit suffering to be just and yet

dishonourable, and the term "dishonourable" is applied to justice,

will not the just and the honourable disagree?

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. A thing not difficult to understand; the laws which have been

already enacted would seem to announce principles directly opposed

to what we are saying.

  Cle. To what?

  Ath. We had enacted, if I am not mistaken, that the robber of

temples, and he who was the enemy of law and order, might justly be

put to death, and we were proceeding to make divers other enactments

of a similar nature. But we stopped short, because we saw that these

sufferings are infinite in number and degree, and that they are, at

once, the most just and also the most dishonourable of all sufferings.

And if this be true, are not the just and the honourable at one time

all the same, and at another time in the most diametrical opposition?

  Cle. Such appears to be the case.

  Ath. In this discordant and inconsistent fashion does the language

of the many rend asunder the honourable and just.

  Cle. Very true, Stranger.

  Ath. Then now, Cleinias, let us see how far we ourselves are

consistent about these matters.

  Cle. Consistent in what?

  Ath. I think that I have clearly stated in the former part of the

discussion, but if I did not, let me now state-

  Cle. What?

  Ath. That all bad men are always involuntarily bad; and from this

must proceed to draw a further inference.

  Cle. What is it?

  Ath. That the unjust man may be bad, but that he is bad against

his will. Now that an action which is voluntary should be done

involuntarily is a contradiction; wherefore he who maintains that

injustice is involuntary will deem that the unjust does injustice

involuntarily. I too admit that all men do injustice involuntarily,

and if any contentious or disputatious person says that men are unjust

against their will, and yet that many do injustice willingly, I do not

agree with him. But, then, how can I avoid being inconsistent with

myself, if you, Cleinias, and you, Megillus, say to me-Well, Stranger,

if all this be as you say, how about legislating for the city of the

Magnetes-shall we legislate or not-what do you advise? Certainly we

will, I should reply. Then will you determine for them what are

voluntary and what are involuntary crimes, and shall we make the

punishments greater of voluntary errors and crimes and less for the

involuntary? or shall we make the punishment of all to be alike, under

the idea that there is no such thing as voluntary crime?

  Cle. Very good, Stranger; and what shall we say in answer to these

objections?

  Ath. That is a very fair question. In the first place, let us-

  Cle. Do what?

  Ath. Let us remember what has been well said by us already, that our

ideas of justice are in the highest degree confused and contradictory.

Bearing this in mind, let us proceed to ask ourselves once more

whether we have discovered a way out of the difficulty. Have we ever

determined in what respect these two classes of actions differ from

one another? For in all states and by all legislators whatsoever,

two kinds of actions have been distinguished-the one, voluntary, the

other, involuntary; and they have legislated about them accordingly.

But shall this new word of ours, like an oracle of God, be only

spoken, and get away without giving any explanation or verification of

itself? How can a word not understood be the basis of legislation?

Impossible. Before proceeding to legislate, then, we must prove that

they are two, and what is the difference between them, that when we

impose the penalty upon either, every one may understand our proposal,

and be able in some way to judge whether the penalty is fitly or

unfitly inflicted.

  Cle. I agree with you, Stranger; for one of two things is certain:

either we must not say that all unjust acts are involuntary, or we

must show the meaning and truth of this statement.

  Ath. Of these two alternatives, the one is quite intolerable-not

to speak what I believe to be the truth would be to me unlawful and

unholy. But if acts of injustice cannot be divided into voluntary

and involuntary, I must endeavour to find some other distinction

between them.

  Cle. Very true, Stranger; there cannot be two opinions among us upon

that point.

  Ath. Reflect, then; there are hurts of various kinds done by the

citizens to one another in the intercourse of life, affording

plentiful examples both of the voluntary and involuntary.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. I would not have any one suppose that all these hurts are

injuries, and that these injuries are of two kinds-one, voluntary, and

the other, involuntary; for the involuntary hurts of all men are quite

as many and as great as the voluntary? And please to consider

whether I am right or quite wrong in what I am going to say; for I

deny, Cleinias and Megillus, that he who harms another involuntarily

does him an injury involuntarily, nor should I legislate about such an

act under the idea that I am legislating for an involuntary injury.

But I should rather say that such a hurt, whether great or small, is

not an injury at all; and, on the other hand, if I am right, when a

benefit is wrongly conferred, the author of the benefit may often be

said to injure. For I maintain, O my friends, that the mere giving

or taking away of anything is not to be described either as just or

unjust; but the legislator has to consider whether mankind do good

or harm to one another out of a just principle and intention. On the

distinction between injustice and hurt he must fix his eye; and when

there is hurt, he must, as far as he can, make the hurt good by law,

and save that which is ruined, and raise up that which is fallen,

and make that which is dead or wounded whole. And when compensation

has been given for injustice, the law must always seek to win over the

doers and sufferers of the several hurts from feelings of enmity to

those of friendship.

  Cle. Very good.

  Ath. Then as to unjust hurts (and gains also, supposing the

injustice to bring gain), of these we may heal as many as are

capable of being healed, regarding them as diseases of the soul; and

the cure of injustice will take the following direction.

  Cle. What direction?

  Ath. When any one commits any injustice, small or great, the law

will admonish and compel him either never at all to do the like again,

or never voluntarily, or at any rate in a far less degree; and he must

in addition pay for the hurt. Whether the end is to be attained by

word or action, with pleasure or pain, by giving or taking away

privileges, by means of fines or gifts, or in whatsoever way the law

shall proceed to make a man hate injustice, and love or not hate the

nature of the just-this is quite the noblest work of law. But if the

legislator sees any one who is incurable, for him he will appoint a

law and a penalty. He knows quite well that to such men themselves

there is no profit in the continuance of their lives, and that they

would do a double good to the rest of mankind if they would take their

departure, inasmuch as they would be an example to other men not to

offend, and they would relieve the city of bad citizens. In such

cases, and in such cases only, the legislator ought to inflict death

as the punishment of offences.

  Cle. What you have said appears to me to be very reasonable, but

will you favour me by stating a little more clearly the difference

between hurt and injustice, and the various complications of the

voluntary and involuntary which enter into them?

   Ath. I will endeavour to do as you wish:-Concerning the soul,

thus much would be generally said and allowed, that one element in her

nature is passion, which may be described either as a state or a

part of her, and is hard to be striven against and contended with, and

by irrational force overturns many things.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. And pleasure is not the same with passion, but has an

opposite power, working her will by persuasion and by the force of

deceit in all things.

  Cle. Quite true.

  Ath. A man may truly say that ignorance is a third cause of

crimes. Ignorance, however, may be conveniently divided by the

legislator into two sorts: there is simple ignorance, which is the

source of lighter offences, and double ignorance, which is accompanied

by a conceit of wisdom; and he who is under the influence of the

latter fancies that he knows all about matters of which he knows

nothing. This second kind of ignorance, when possessed of power and

strength, will be held by the legislator to be the source of great and

monstrous times, but when attended with weakness, will only result

in the errors of children and old men; and these he will treat as

errors, and will make laws accordingly for those who commit them,

which will be the mildest and most merciful of all laws.

  Cle. You are perfectly right.

  Ath. We all of us remark of one man that he is superior to

pleasure and passion, and of another that he is inferior to them;

and this is true.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. But no one was ever yet heard to say that one of us is superior

and another inferior to ignorance.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. We are speaking of motives which incite men to the fulfilment

of their will; although an individual may be often drawn by them in

opposite directions at the same time.

  Cle. Yes, often.

  Ath. And now I can define to you clearly, and without ambiguity,

what I mean by the just and unjust, according to my notion of

them:-When anger and fear, and pleasure and pain, and jealousies and

desires, tyrannize over the soul, whether they do any harm or not-I

call all this injustice. But when the opinion of the best, in whatever

part of human nature states or individuals may suppose that to

dwell, has dominion in the soul and orders the life of every man, even

if it be sometimes mistaken, yet what is done in accordance therewith,

the principle in individuals which obeys this rule, and is best for

the whole life of man, is to be called just; although the hurt done by

mistake is thought by many to be involuntary injustice. Leaving the

question of names, about which we are not going to quarrel, and having

already delineated three sources of error, we may begin by recalling

them somewhat more vividly to our memory:-One of them was of the

painful sort, which we denominate anger and fear.

  Cle. Quite right.

  Ath. There was a second consisting of pleasures and desires, and a

third of hopes, which aimed at true opinion about the best. The latter

being subdivided into three, we now get five sources of actions; and

for these five we will make laws of two kinds.

  Cle. What are the two kinds?

  Ath. There is one kind of actions done by violence and in the

light of day, and another kind of actions which are done in darkness

and with secret deceit, or sometimes both with violence and deceit;

the laws concerning these last ought to have a character of severity.

  Cle. Naturally.

  Ath. And now let us return from this digression and complete the

work of legislation. Laws have been already enacted by us concerning

the robbers of the Gods, and concerning traitors, and also

concerning those who corrupt the laws for the purpose of subverting

the government. A man may very likely commit some of these crimes,

either in a state of madness or when affected by disease, or under the

influence of extreme old age, or in a fit of childish wantonness,

himself no better than a child. And if this be made evident to the

judges elected to try the cause, on the appeal of the criminal or

his advocate, and he be judged to have been in this state when he

committed the offence, he shall simply pay for the hurt which he may

have done to another; but he shall be exempt from other penalties,

unless he have slain some one, and have on his hands the stain of

blood. And in that case he shall go to another land and country, and

there dwell for a year; and if he return before the expiration of

the time which the law appoints, or even set his foot at all on his

native land, he shall be bound by the guardians of the law in the

public prison for two years, and then go free.

  Having begun to speak of homicide, let us endeavour to lay down laws

concerning every different kind of homicides, and, first of all,

concerning violent and involuntary homicides. If any one in an

athletic contest, and at the public games, involuntarily kills a

friend, and he dies either at the time or afterwards of the blows

which he has received; or if the like misfortune happens to any one in

war, or military exercises, or mimic contests. of which the

magistrates enjoin the practice, whether with or without arms, when he

has been purified according to the law brought from Delphi relating to

these matters, he shall be innocent. And so in the case of physicians:

if their patient dies against their will, they shall be held guiltless

by the law. And if one slay another with his own hand, but

unintentionally, whether he be unarmed or have some instrument or dart

in his hand; or if he kill him by administering food or drink or by

the application of fire or cold, or by suffocating him, whether he

do the deed by his own hand, or by the agency of others, he shall be

deemed the agent, and shall suffer one of the following

penalties:-If he kill the slave of another in the belief that he is

his own, he shall bear the master of the dead man harmless from

loss, or shall pay a penalty of twice the value of the dead man, which

the judges shall assess; but purifications must be used greater and

more numerous than for those who committed homicide at the games;-what

they are to be, the interpreters whom the God appoints shall be

authorized to declare. And if a man kills his own slave, when he has

been purified according to laws he shall be quit of the homicide.

And if a man kills a freeman unintentionally, he shall undergo the

same purification as he did who killed the slave. But let him not

forget also a tale of olden time, which is to this effect:-He who

has suffered a violent end, when newly dead, if he has had the soul of

a freeman in life, is angry with the author of his death; and being

himself full of fear and panic by reason of his violent end, when he

sees his murderer walking about in his own accustomed haunts, he is

stricken with terror and becomes disordered, and this disorder of his,

aided by the guilty recollection of is communicated by him with

overwhelming force to the murderer and his deeds. Wherefore also the

murderer must go out of the way of his victim for the entire period of

a year, and not himself be found in any spot which was familiar to him

throughout the country. And if the dead man be a stranger, the

homicide shall be kept from the country of the stranger during a

like period. If any one voluntarily obeys this law, the next of kin to

the deceased, seeing all that has happened, shall take pity on him,

and make peace with him, and show him all gentleness. But if any one

is disobedient, either ventures to go to any of the temples and

sacrifice unpurified, or will not continue in exile during the

appointed time, the next of kin to the deceased shall proceed

against him for murder; and if he be convicted, every part of his

punishment shall be doubled.

  And if the next of kin do not proceed against the perpetrator of the

crime, then the pollution shall be deemed to fall upon his own

head;-the murdered man will fix the guilt upon his kinsman, and he who

has a mind to proceed against him may compel him to be absent from his

country during five years, according to law. If a stranger

unintentionally kill a stranger who is dwelling in the city, he who

likes shall prosecute the cause according to the same rules. If he

be a metic, let him be absent for a year, or if he be an entire

stranger, in addition to the purification, whether he have slain a

stranger, or a metic, or a citizen, he shall be banished for life from

the country which is in possession of our laws. And if he return

contrary to law, let the guardians of the law punish him with death;

and let them hand over his property, if he have any, to him who is

next of kin to the sufferer. And if he be wrecked, and driven on the

coast against his will, he shall take up his abode on the seashore,

wetting his feet in the sea, and watching for an opportunity of

sailing; but if he be brought by land, and is not his own master,

let the magistrate whom he first comes across in the city, release him

and send him unharmed over the border.

  If any one slays a freeman with his own hand and the deed be done in

passion, in the case of such actions we must begin by making a

distinction. For a deed is done from passion either when men suddenly,

and without intention to kill, cause the death of another by blows and

the like on a momentary impulse, and are sorry for the deed

immediately afterwards; or again, when after having been insulted in

deed or word, men pursue revenge, and kill a person intentionally, and

are not sorry for the act. And, therefore, we must assume that these

homicides are of two kinds, both of them arising from passion, which

may be justly said to be in a mean between the voluntary and

involuntary; at the same time, they are neither of them anything

more than a likeness or shadow of either. He who treasures up his

anger, and avenges himself, not immediately and at the moment, but

with insidious design, and after an interval, is like the voluntary;

but he who does not treasure up his anger, and takes vengeance on

the instant, and without malice prepense, approaches to the

involuntary; and yet even he is not altogether involuntary, but only

the image or shadow of the involuntary; wherefore about homicides

committed in hot blood, there is a difficulty in determining whether

in legislating we shall reckon them as voluntary or as partly

involuntary. The best and truest view is to regard them respectively

as likenesses only of the voluntary and involuntary, and to

distinguish them accordingly as they are done with or without

premeditation. And we should make the penalties heavier for those

who commit homicide with angry premeditation, and lighter for those

who do not premeditate, but smite upon the instant; for that which

is like a greater evil should be punished more severely, and that

which is like a less evil should be punished less severely: this shall

be the rule of our laws.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Let us proceed:-If any one slays a free man with his own

hand, and the deed be done in a moment of anger, and without

premeditation, let the offender suffer in other respects as the

involuntary homicide would have suffered, and also undergo an exile of

two years, that he may learn to school his passions. But he who

slays another from passion, yet with premeditation, shall in other

respects suffer as the former; and to this shall be added an exile

of three instead of two years-his punishment is to be longer because

his passion is greater. The manner of their return shall be on this

wise: (and here the law has difficulty in determining exactly; for

in some cases the murderer who is judged by the law to be the worse

may really be the less cruel, and he who is judged the less cruel

may be really the worse, and may have executed the murder in a more

savage manner, whereas the other may have been gentler. But in general

the degrees of guilt will be such as we have described them. Of all

these things the guardians of the law must take cognisance):-When a

homicide of either kind has completed his term of exile, the guardians

shall send twelve judges to the borders of the land; these during

the interval shall have informed themselves of the actions of the

criminals, and they shall judge respecting their pardon and reception;

and the homicides shall abide by their judgment. But if after they

have returned home, any one of them in a moment of anger repeats the

deed, let him be an exile, and return no more; or if he returns, let

him suffer as the stranger was to suffer in a similar case. He who

kills his own slave shall undergo a purification, but if he kills

the slave of another in anger, he shall pay twice the amount of the

loss to his owner. And if any homicide is disobedient to the law,

and without purification pollutes the agora, or the games, or the

temples, he who pleases may bring to trial the next of kin to the dead

man for permitting him, and the murderer with him, and may compel

the one to exact and the other to suffer a double amount of fines

and purifications; and the accuser shall himself receive the fine in

accordance with the law. If a slave in a fit of passion kills his

master, the kindred of the deceased man may do with the murderer

(provided only they do not spare his life) whatever they please, and

they will be pure; or if he kills a freeman, who is not his master,

the owner shall give up the slave to the relatives of the deceased,

and they shall be under an obligation to put him to death, but this

may be done in any manner which they please.

  And if (which is a rare occurrence, but does sometimes happen) a

father or a mother in a moment of passion slays a son or daughter by

blows, or some other violence, the slayer shall undergo the same

purification as in other cases, and be exiled during three years;

but when the exile returns the wife shall separate from the husband,

and the husband from the wife, and they shall never afterwards beget

children together, or live under the same roof, or partake of the same

sacred rites with those whom they have deprived of a child or of a

brother. And he who is impious and disobedient in such a case shall be

brought to trial for impiety by any one who pleases. If in a fit of

anger a husband kills his wedded wife, or the wife her husband, the

slayer shall undergo the same purification, and the term of exile

shall be three years. And when he who has committed any such crime

returns, let him have no communication in sacred rites with his

children, neither let him sit at the same table with them, and the

father or son who disobeys shall be liable to be brought to trial

for impiety by any one who pleases. If a brother or a sister in a

fit of passion kills a brother or a sister, they shall undergo

purification and exile, as was the case with parents who killed

their offspring: they shall not come under the same roof, or share

in the sacred rites of those whom they have deprived of their

brethren, or of their children.

  And he who is disobedient shall be justly liable to the law

concerning impiety, which relates to these matters. If any one is so

violent in his passion against his parents, that in the madness of his

anger he dares to kill one of them, if the murdered person before

dying freely forgives the murderer, let him undergo the purification

which is assigned to those who have been guilty of involuntary

homicide, and do as they do, and he shall be pure. But if he be not

acquitted, the perpetrator of such a deed shall be amenable to many

laws;-he shall be amenable to the extreme punishments for assault, and

impiety, and robbing of temples, for he has robbed his parent of life;

and if a man could be slain more than once, most justly would he who

in a fit of passion has slain father or mother, undergo many deaths.

How can he, whom, alone of all men, even in defence of his life, and

when about to suffer death at the hands of his parents, no law will

allow to kill his father or his mother who are the authors of his

being, and whom the legislator will command to endure any extremity

rather than do this-how can he, I say, lawfully receive any other

punishment? Let death then be the appointed punishment of him who in a

fit of passion slays his father or his mother. But if brother kills

brother in a civil broil, or under other like circumstances, if the

other has begun, and he only defends himself, let him be free from

guilt, as he would be if he had slain an enemy; and the same rule will

apply if a citizen kill a citizen, or a stranger a stranger. Or if a

stranger kill a citizen or a citizen a stranger in self-defence, let

him be free from guilt in like manner; and so in the case of a slave

who has killed a slave; but if a slave have killed a freeman in

self-defence, let him be subject to the same law as he who has

killed a father; and let the law about the remission of penalties in

the case of parricide apply equally to every other remission. Whenever

any sufferer of his own accord remits the guilt of homicide to

another, under the idea that his act was involuntary, let the

perpetrator of the deed undergo a purification and remain in exile for

a year, according to law.

  Enough has been said of murders violent and involuntary and

committed in passion: we have now to speak of voluntary crimes done

with injustice of every kind and with premeditation, through the

influence of pleasures, and desires, and jealousies.

  Cle. Very good.

  Ath. Let us first speak, as far as we are able, of their various

kinds. The greatest cause of them is lust, which gets the mastery of

the soul maddened by desire; and this is most commonly found to

exist where the passion reigns which is strongest and most prevalent

among mass of mankind: I mean where the power of wealth breeds endless

desires of never-to-be-satisfied acquisition, originating in natural

disposition, and a miserable want of education. Of this want of

education, the false praise of wealth which is bruited about both

among Hellenes and barbarians is the cause; they deem that to be the

first of goods which in reality is only the third. And in this way

they wrong both posterity and themselves, for nothing can be nobler

and better than that the truth about wealth should be spoken in all

states-namely, that riches are for the sake of the body, as the body

is for the sake of the soul. They are good, and wealth is intended

by nature to be for the sake of them, and is therefore inferior to

them both, and third in order of excellence. This argument teaches

us that he who would be happy ought not to seek to be rich, or

rather he should seek to be rich justly and temperately, and then

there would be no murders in states requiring to be purged away by

other murders. But now, as I said at first, avarice is the chiefest

cause and source of the worst trials for voluntary homicide. A

second cause is ambition: this creates jealousies, which are

troublesome companions, above all to the jealous man himself, and in a

less degree to the chiefs of the state. And a third cause is

cowardly and unjust fear, which has been the occasion of many murders.

When a man is doing or has done something which he desires that no one

should know him to be doing or to have done, he will take the life

of those who are likely to inform of such things, if he have no

other means of getting rid of them. Let this be said as a prelude

concerning crimes of violence in general; and I must not omit to

mention a tradition which is firmly believed by many, and has been

received by them from those who are learned in the mysteries: they say

that such deeds will be punished in the world below, and also that

when the perpetrators return to this world they will pay the natural

penalty which is due to the sufferer, and end their lives in like

manner by the hand of another. If he who is about to commit murder

believes this, and is made by the mere prelude to dread such a

penalty, there is no need to proceed with the proclamation of the law.

But if he will not listen, let the following law be declared and

registered against him:

  Whoever shall wrongfully and of design slay with his own hand any of

his kinsmen, shall in the first place be deprived of legal privileges;

and he shall not pollute the temples, or the agora, or the harbours,

or any other place of meeting, whether he is forbidden of men or

not; for the law, which represents the whole state, forbids him, and

always is and will be in the attitude of forbidding him. And if a

cousin or nearer relative of the deceased, whether on the male or

female side, does not prosecute the homicide when he ought, and have

him proclaimed an outlaw, he shall in the first place be involved in

the pollution, and incur the hatred of the Gods, even as the curse

of the law stirs up the voices of men against him; and in the second

place he shall be liable to be prosecuted by any one who is willing to

inflict retribution on behalf of the dead. And he who would avenge a

murder shall observe all the precautionary ceremonies of lavation, and

any others which the God commands in cases of this kind. Let him

have proclamation made, and then go forth and compel the perpetrator

to suffer the execution of justice according to the law. Now the

legislator may easily show that these things must be accomplished by

prayers and sacrifices to certain Gods, who are concerned with the

prevention of murders in states. But who these Gods are, and what

should be the true manner of instituting such trials with due regard

to religion, the guardians of the law, aided by the interpreters,

and the prophets, and the God, shall determine, and when they have

determined let them carry on the prosecution at law. The cause shall

have the same judges who are appointed to decide in the case of

those who plunder temples. Let him who is convicted be punished with

death, and let him not be buried in the country of the murdered man,

for this would be shameless as well as impious. But if he fly and will

not stand his trial, let him fly for ever; or, if he set foot anywhere

on any part of the murdered man's country, let any relation of the

deceased, or any other citizen who may first happen to meet with

him, kill him with impunity, or bind and deliver him to those among

the judges of the case who are magistrates, that they may put him to

death. And let the prosecutor demand surety of him whom he prosecutes;

three sureties sufficient in the opinion of the magistrates who try

the cause shall be provided by him, and they shall undertake to

produce him at the trial. But if he be unwilling or unable to

provide sureties, then the magistrates shall take him and keep him

in bonds, and produce him at the day of trial.

  If a man do not commit a murder with his own hand, but contrives the

death of another, and is the author of the deed in intention and

design, and he continues to dwell in the city, having his soul not

pure of the guilt of murder, let him be tried in the same way,

except in what relates to the sureties; and also, if he be found

guilty, his body after execution may have burial in his native land,

but in all other respects his case shall be as the former; and whether

a stranger shall kill a citizen, or a citizen a stranger, or a slave a

slave, there shall be no difference as touching murder by one's own

hand or by contrivance, except in the matter of sureties; and these,

as has been said, shall be required of the actual murderer only, and

he who brings the accusation shall bind them over at the time. If a

slave be convicted of slaying a freeman voluntarily, either by his own

hand or by contrivance, let the public executioner take him in the

direction of the sepulchre, to a place whence he can see the tomb of

the dead man, and inflict upon him as many stripes as the person who

caught him orders, and if he survive, let him put him to death. And if

any one kills a slave who has done no wrong, because he is afraid that

he may inform of some base and evil deeds of his own, or for any

similar reason, in such a case let him pay the penalty of murder, as

he would have done if he had slain a citizen. There are things about

which it is terrible and unpleasant to legislate, but impossible not

to legislate. If, for example, there should be murders of kinsmen,

either perpetrated by the hands of kinsmen, or by their contrivance,

voluntary and purely malicious, which most often happen in

ill-regulated and ill-educated states, and may perhaps occur even in a

country where a man would not expect to find them, we must repeat once

more the tale which we narrated a little while ago, in the hope that

he who hears us will be the more disposed to abstain voluntarily on

these grounds from murders which are utterly abominable. For the myth,

or saying, or whatever we ought to call it, has been plainly set forth

by priests of old; they have pronounced that the justice which

guards and avenges the blood of kindred, follows the law of

retaliation, and ordains that he who has done any murderous act should

of necessity suffer that which he has done. He who has slain a

father shall himself be slain at some time or other by his children-if

a mother, he shall of necessity take a woman's nature, and lose his

life at the hands of his offspring in after ages; for where the

blood of a family has been polluted there is no other purification,

nor can the pollution be washed out until the homicidal soul which the

deed has given life for life, and has propitiated and laid to sleep

the wrath of the whole family. These are the retributions of Heaven,

and by such punishments men should be deterred. But if they are not

deterred, and any one should be incited by some fatality to deprive

his father or mother, or brethren, or children, of life voluntarily

and of purpose, for him the earthly lawgiver legislates as

follows:-There shall be the same proclamations about outlawry, and

there shall be the same sureties which have been enacted in the former

cases. But in his case, if he be convicted, the servants of the judges

and the magistrates shall slay him at an appointed place without the

city where three ways meet, and there expose his body naked, and

each of the magistrates on behalf of the whole city shall take a stone

and cast it upon the head of the dead man, and so deliver the city

from pollution; after that, they shall bear him to the borders of

the land, and cast him forth unburied, according to law. And what

shall he suffer who slays him who of all men, as they say, is his

own best friend? I mean the suicide, who deprives himself by

violence of his appointed share of life, not because the law of the

state requires him, nor yet under the compulsion of some painful and

inevitable misfortune which has come upon him, nor because he has

had to suffer from irremediable and intolerable shame, but who from

sloth or want of manliness imposes upon himself an unjust penalty. For

him, what ceremonies there are to be of purification and burial God

knows, and about these the next of kin should enquire of the

interpreters and of the laws thereto relating, and do according to

their injunctions. They who meet their death in this way shall be

buried alone, and none shall be laid by their side; they shall be

buried ingloriously in the borders of the twelve portions the land, in

such places as are uncultivated and nameless, and no column or

inscription shall mark the place of their interment. And if a beast of

burden or other animal cause the death of any one, except in the

case of anything of that kind happening to a competitor in the

public contests, the kinsmen of the deceased shall prosecute the

slayer for murder, and the wardens of the country, such, and so many

as the kinsmen appoint, shall try the cause, and let the beast when

condemned be slain by them, and let them cast it beyond the borders.

And if any lifeless thing deprive a man of life, except in the case of

a thunderbolt or other fatal dart sent from the Gods-whether a man

is killed by lifeless objects, falling upon him, or by his falling

upon them, the nearest of kin shall appoint the nearest neighbour to

be a judge, and thereby acquit himself and the whole family of

guilt. And he shall cast forth the guilty thing beyond the border,

as has been said about the animals.

  If a man is found dead, and his murderer be unknown, and after a

diligent search cannot be detected, there shall be the same

proclamation as in the previous cases, and the same interdict on the

murderer; and having proceeded against him, they shall proclaim in the

agora by a herald, that he who has slain such and such a person, and

has been convicted of murder, shall not set his foot in the temples,

nor at all in the country of the murdered man, and if he appears and

is discovered, he shall die, and be cast forth unburied beyond the

border. Let this one law then be laid down by us about murder; and let

cases of this sort be so regarded.

  And now let us say in what cases and under what circumstances the

murderer is rightly free from guilt:-If a man catch a thief coming,

into his house by night to steal, and he take and kill him, or if he

slay a footpad in self-defence, he shall be guiltless. And any one who

does violence to a free woman or a youth, shall be slain with impunity

by the injured person, or by his or her father or brothers or sons. If

a man find his wife suffering violence, he may kill the violator,

and be guiltless in the eye of the law; or if a person kill another in

warding off death from his father or mother or children or brethren or

wife who are doing no wrong, he shall assuredly be guiltless.

  Thus much as to the nurture and education of the living soul of man,

having which, he can, and without which, if he unfortunately be

without them, he cannot live; and also concerning the

punishments:-which are to be inflicted for violent deaths, let thus

much be enacted. Of the nurture and education of the body we have

spoken before, and next in order we have to speak of deeds of

violence, voluntary and involuntary, which men do to one another;

these we will now distinguish, as far as we are able, according to

their nature and number, and determine what will be the suitable

penalties of each, and so assign to them their proper place in the

series of our enactments. The poorest legislator will have no

difficulty in determining that wounds and mutilations arising out of

wounds should follow next in order after deaths. Let wounds be divided

as homicides were divided-into those which are involuntary, and

which are given in passion or from fear, and those inflicted

voluntarily and with premeditation. Concerning all this, we must

make some such proclamation as the following:-Mankind must have

laws, and conform to them, or their life would be as bad as that of

the most savage beast. And the reason of this is that no man's

nature is able to know what is best for human society; or knowing,

always able and willing to do what is best. In the first place,

there is a difficulty in apprehending that the true art or politics is

concerned, not with private but with public good (for public good

binds together states, but private only distracts them); and that both

the public and private good as well of individuals as of states is

greater when the state and not the individual is first considered.

In the second place, although a person knows in the abstract that this

is true, yet if he be possessed of absolute and irresponsible power,

he will never remain firm in his principles or persist in regarding

the public good as primary in the state, and the private good as

secondary. Human nature will be always drawing him into avarice and

selfishness, avoiding pain and pursuing Pleasure without any reason,

and will bring these to the front, obscuring the juster and better;

and so working darkness in his soul will at last fill with evils

both him and the whole city. For if a man were born so divinely gifted

that he could naturally apprehend the truth, he would have no need

of laws to rule over him; for there is no law or order which is

above knowledge, nor can mind, without impiety, be deemed the

subject or slave of any man, but rather the lord of all. I speak of

mind, true and free, and in harmony with nature. But then there is

no such mind anywhere, or at least not much; and therefore we must

choose law and order, which are second best. These look at things as

they exist for the most part only, and are unable to survey the

whole of them. And therefore I have spoken as I have.

  And now we will determine what penalty he ought to pay or suffer who

has hurt or wounded another. Any one may easily imagine the

questions which have to be asked in all such cases:-What did he wound,

or whom, or how, or when? for there are innumerable particulars of

this sort which greatly vary from one another. And to allow courts

of law to determine all these things, or not to determine any of them,

is alike impossible. There is one particular which they must determine

in all cases-the question of fact. And then, again, that the

legislator should not permit them to determine what punishment is to

be inflicted in any of these cases, but should himself decide about,

of them, small or great, is next to impossible.

  Cle. Then what is to be the inference?

  Ath. The inference is, that some things should be left to courts

of law; others the legislator must decide for himself.

  Cle. And what ought the legislator to decide, and what ought he to

leave to courts of law?

  Ath. I may reply, that in a state in which the courts are bad and

mute, because the judges conceal their opinions and decide causes

clandestinely; or what is worse, when they are disorderly and noisy,

as in a theatre, clapping or hooting in turn this or that orator-I say

that then there is a very serious evil, which affects the whole state.

Unfortunate is the necessity of having to legislate for such courts,

but where the necessity exists, the legislator should only allow

them to ordain the penalties for the smallest offences; if the state

for which he is legislating be of this character, he must take most

matters into his own hands and speak distinctly. But when a state

has good courts, and the judges are well trained and scrupulously

tested, the determination of the penalties or punishments which

shall be inflicted on the guilty may fairly and with advantage be left

to them. And we are not to be blamed for not legislating concerning

all that large class of matters which judges far worse educated than

ours would be able to determine, assigning to each offence what is due

both to the perpetrator and to the sufferer. We believe those for whom

we are legislating to be best able to judge, and therefore to them the

greater part may be left. At the same time, as I have often said, we

should exhibit to the judges, as we have done, the outline and form of

the punishments to be inflicted, and then they will not transgress the

just rule. That was an excellent practice, which we observed before,

and which now that we are resuming the work of legislation, may with

advantage be repeated by us.

  Let the enactment about wounding be in the following terms:-If

anyone has a purpose and intention to slay another who is not his

enemy, and whom the law does not permit him to slay, and he wounds

him, but is unable to kill him, he who had the intent and has

wounded him is not to be pitied-he deserves no consideration, but

should be regarded as a murderer and be tried for murder. Still having

respect to the fortune which has in a manner favoured him, and to

the providence which in pity to him and to the wounded man saved the

one from a fatal blow, and the other from an accursed fate and

calamity-as a thank-offering to this deity, and in order not to oppose

his will-in such a case the law will remit the punishment of death,

and only compel the offender to emigrate to a neighbouring city for

the rest of his life, where he shall remain in the enjoyment of all

his possessions. But if he have injured the wounded man, he shall make

such compensation for the injury as the court deciding the cause shall

assess, and the same judges shall decide who would have decided if the

man had died of his wounds. And if a child intentionally wound his

parents, or a servant his master, death shall be the penalty. And if a

brother ora sister intentionally wound a brother or a sister, and is

found guilty, death shall be the penalty. And if a husband wound a

wife, or a wife a husband, with intent to kill, let him or her undergo

perpetual exile; if they have sons or daughters who are still young,

the guardians shall take care of their property, and have charge of

the children as orphans. If their sons are grown up, they shall be

under no obligation to support the exiled parent, but they shall

possess the property themselves. And if he who meets with such a

misfortune has no children, the kindred of the exiled man to the

degree of sons of cousins, both on the male and female side, shall

meet together, and after taking counsel with the guardians of the

and the priests, shall appoint a 5040th citizen to be the heir of

the house, considering and reasoning that no house of all the 5040

belongs to the inhabitant or to the whole family, but is the public

and private property of the state. Now the state should seek to have

its houses as holy and happy as possible. And if any one of the houses

be unfortunate, and stained with impiety, and the owner leave no

posterity, but dies unmarried, or married and childless, having

suffered death as the penalty of murder or some other crime

committed against the Gods or against his fellow-citizens, of which

death is the penalty distinctly laid down in the law; or if any of the

citizens be in perpetual exile, and also childless, that house shall

first of all be purified and undergo expiation according to law; and

then let the kinsmen of the house, as we were just now saying, and the

guardians of the law, meet and consider what family there is in the

state which is of the highest repute for virtue and also for good

fortune, in which there are a number of sons; from that family let

them take one and introduce him to the father and forefathers of the

dead man as their son, and, for the sake of the omen, let him be

called so, that he may be the continuer of their family, the keeper of

their hearth, and the minister of their sacred rites with better

fortune than his father had; and when they have made this

supplication, they shall make him heir according to law, and the

offending person they shall leave nameless and childless and

portionless when calamities such as these overtake him.

  Now the boundaries of some things do not touch one another, but

there is a borderland which comes in between, preventing them from

touching. And we were saying that actions done from passion are of

this nature, and come in between the voluntary and involuntary. If a

person be convicted of having inflicted wounds in a passion, in the

first place he shall pay twice the amount of the injury, if the

wound be curable, or, if incurable, four times the amount of the

injury; or if the wound be curable, and at the same time cause great

and notable disgrace to the wounded person, he shall pay fourfold. And

whenever any one in wounding another injures not only the sufferer,

but also the city, and makes him incapable of defending his country

against the enemy, he, besides the other penalties, shall pay a

penalty for the loss which the state has incurred. And the penalty

shall be, that in addition to his own times of service, he shall serve

on behalf of the disabled person, and shall take his place in war; or,

if he refuse, he shall be liable to be convicted by law of refusal

to serve. The compensation for the injury, whether to be twofold or

threefold or fourfold, shall be fixed by the judges who convict him.

And if, in like manner, a brother wounds a brother, the parents and

kindred of either sex, including the children of cousins, whether on

the male or female side, shall meet, and when they have judged the

cause, they shall entrust the assessment of damages to the parents, as

is natural; and if the estimate be disputed, then the kinsmen on the

male side shall make the estimate, or if they cannot, they shall

commit the matter to the guardians of the law. And when similar

charges of wounding are brought by children against their parents,

those who are more than sixty years of age, having children of their

own, not adopted, shall be required to decide; and if any one is

convicted, they shall determine whether he or she ought to die, or

suffer some other punishment either greater than death, or, at any

rate, not much less. A kinsman of the offender shall not be allowed to

judge the cause, not even if he be of the age which is prescribed by

the law. If a slave in a fit of anger wound a freeman, the owner of

the slave shall give him up to the wounded man, who may do as he

pleases with him, and if be not give him up he shall himself make good

the injury. And if any one says that the slave and the wounded man are

conspiring together, let him argue the point, and if he is cast, he

shall pay for the wrong three times over, but if he gains his case,

the freeman who conspired with the slave shall reliable to an action

for kidnapping. And if any one unintentionally wounds another he shall

simply pay for the harm, for no legislator is able to control

chance. In such a case the judges shall be the same as those who are

appointed in the case of children suing their parents; and they

shall estimate the amount of the injury.

  All the preceding injuries and every kind of assault are deeds of

violence; and every man, woman, or child ought to consider that the

elder has the precedence of the younger in honour, both among the Gods

and also among men who would live in security and happiness. Wherefore

it is a foul thing and hateful to the Gods to see an elder man

assaulted by a younger in the city; and it is reasonable that a

young man when struck by an elder should lightly endure his anger,

laying up in store for himself a like honour when he is old. Let

this be the law:-Every one shall reverence his elder in word and deed;

he shall respect any one who is twenty years older than himself,

whether male or female, regarding him or her as his father or

mother; and he shall abstain from laying hands on any one who is of an

age to have been his father or his mother, out of reverence to the

Gods who preside over birth; similarly he shall keep his hands from

a stranger, whether he be an old inhabitant or newly arrived; he shall

not venture to correct such an one by blows, either as the aggressor

or in self-defence. If he thinks that some stranger has struck him out

of wantonness or insolence, and ought to be punished, he shall take

him to the wardens of the city, but let him not strike him, that the

stranger may be kept far away from the possibility of lifting up his

hand against a citizen, and let the wardens of the city take the

offender and examine him, not forgetting their duty to the God of

Strangers, and in case the stranger appears to have struck the citizen

unjustly, let them inflict upon him as many blows with the scourge

as he has himself inflicted, and quell his presumption. But if he be

innocent, they shall threaten and rebuke the man who arrested him, and

let them both go. If a person strikes another of the same age or

somewhat older than himself, who has no children, whether he be an old

man who strikes an old man or a young man who strikes a young man, let

the person struck defend himself in the natural way without a weapon

and with his hands only. He who, being more than forty years of age,

dares to fight with another, whether he be the aggressor or in self

defence, shall be regarded as rude and ill-mannered and

slavish;-this will be a disgraceful punishment, and therefore suitable

to him. The obedient nature will readily yield to such exhortations,

but the disobedient, who heeds not the prelude, shall have the law

ready for him:-If any man smite another who is older than himself,

either by twenty or by more years, in the first place, he who is at

hand, not being younger than the combatants, nor their equal in age,

shall separate them, or be disgraced according to law; but if he be

the equal in age of the person who is struck or younger, he shall

defend the person injured as he would a brother or father or still

older relative. Further, let him who dares to smite an elder be

tried for assault, as I have said, and if he be found guilty, let

him be imprisoned for a period of not less than a year, or if the

judges approve of a longer period, their decision shall be final.

But if a stranger or metic smite one who is older by twenty years or

more, the same law shall hold about the bystanders assisting, and he

who is found guilty in such a suit, if he be a stranger but not

resident, shall be imprisoned during a period of two years; and a

metic who disobeys the laws shall be imprisoned for three years,

unless the court assign him a longer term. And let him who was present

in any of these cases and did not assist according to law be punished,

if he be of the highest dass, by paying a fine of a mina; or if he

be of the second class, of fifty drachmas; or if of the third class,

by a fine of thirty drachmas; or if he be of the fourth class, by a

fine of twenty drachmas; and the generals and taxiarchs and

phylarchs and hipparchs shall form the court in such cases.

  Laws are partly framed for the sake of good men, in order to

instruct them how they thay live on friendly terms with one another,

and partly for the sake of those who refuse to be instructed, whose

spirit cannot be subdued, or softened, or hindered from plunging

into evil. These are the persons who cause the word to be spoken which

I am about to utter; for them the legislator legislates of

necessity, and in the hope that there may be no need of his laws. He

who shall dare to lay violent hands upon his father or mother, or

any still older relative, having no fear either of the wrath of the

Gods above, or of the punishments that are spoken of in the world

below, but transgresses in contempt of ancient and universal

traditions as though he were too wise to believe in them, requires

some extreme measure of prevention. Now death is not the worst that

can happen to men; far worse are the punishments which are said to

pursue them in the world below. But although they are most true tales,

they work on such souls no prevention; for if they had any effect

there would be no slayers of mothers, or impious hands lifted up

against parents; and therefore the punishments of this world which are

inflicted during life ought not in such cases to fall short, if

possible, of the terrors of the world below. Let our enactment then be

as follows:-If a man dare to strike his father or his mother, or their

fathers or mothers, he being at the time of sound mind, then let any

one who is at hand come to the rescue as has been already said, and

the metic or stranger who comes to the rescue shall be called to the

first place in the games; but if he do not come he shall suffer the

punishment of perpetual exile. He who is not a metic, if he comes to

the rescue, shall have praise, and if he do not come, blame. And if

a slave come to the rescue, let him be made free, but if he do not

come the rescue, let him receive 100 strokes of the whip, by order

of the wardens of the agora, if the occurrence take place in the

agora; or if somewhere in the city beyond the limits of the agora, any

warden of the city is in residence shall punish him; or if in the

country, then the commanders of the wardens of the country. If those

who are near at the time be inhabitants of the same place, whether

they be youths, or men, or women, let them come to the rescue and

denounce him as the impious one; and he who does not come to the

rescue shall fall under the curse of Zeus, the God of kindred and of

ancestors, according to law. And if any one is found guilty of

assaulting a parent, let him in the first place be for ever banished

from the city into the country, and let him abstain from the

temples; and if he do not abstain, the wardens of the country shall

punish him with blows, or in any way which they please, and if he

return he shall be put to death. And if any freeman eat or drink, or

have any other sort of intercourse with him, or only meeting him

have voluntarily touched him, he shall not enter into any temple,

nor into the agora, nor into the city, until he is purified; for he

should consider that he has become tainted by a curse. And if he

disobeys the law, and pollutes the city and the temples contrary to

law, and one of the magistrates sees him and does not indict him, when

he gives in his account this omission shall be a most serious charge.

  If a slave strike a freeman, whether a stranger or a citizen, let

any one who is present come to the rescue, or pay the penalty

already mentioned; and let the bystanders bind him, and deliver him up

to the injured person, and he receiving him shall put him in chains,

and inflict on him as many stripes as he pleases; but having

punished him he must surrender him to his master according to law, and

not deprive him of his property. Let the law be as follows:-The

slave who strikes a freeman, not at the command of the magistrates,

his owner shall receive bound from the man whom he has stricken, and

not release him until the slave has persuaded the man whom he has

stricken that he ought to be released. And let there be the same

laws about women in relation to women, about men and women in relation

to one another.

  BOOK X



  And now having spoken of assaults, let us sum up all acts of

violence under a single law, which shall be as follows:-No one shall

take or carry away any of his neighbour's goods, neither shall he

use anything which is his neighbour's without the consent of the

owner; for these are the offences which are and have been, and will

ever be, the source of all the aforesaid evils. The greatest of them

are excesses and insolences of youth, and are offences against the

greatest when they are done against religion; and especially great

when in violation of public and holy rites, or of the partly-common

rites in which tribes and phratries share; and in the second degree

great when they are committed against private rites and sepulchres,

and in the third degree (not to repeat the acts formerly mentioned),

when insults are offered to parents; the fourth kind of violence is

when any one, regardless of the authority of the rulers, takes or

carries away or makes use of anything which belongs to them, not

having their consent; and the fifth kind is when the violation of

the civil rights of an individual demands reparation. There should

be a common law embracing all these cases. For we have already said in

general terms what shall be the punishment of sacrilege, whether

fraudulent or violent, and now we have to determine what is to be

the punishment of those who speak or act insolently toward the Gods.

But first we must give them an admonition which may be in the

following terms:-No one who in obedience to the laws believed that

there were Gods, ever intentionally did any unholy act, or uttered any

unlawful word; but he who did must have supposed one of three

things-either that they did not exist,-which is the first possibility,

or secondly, that, if they did, they took no care of man, or

thirdly, that they were easily appeased and turned aside from their

purpose, by sacrifices and prayers.

  Cleinias. What shall we say or do to these persons?

  Athenian Stranger. My good friend, let us first hear the jests which

I suspect that they in their superiority will utter against us.

  Cle. What jests?

  Ath. They will make some irreverent speech of this sort:-"O

inhabitants of Athens, and Sparta, and Cnosus," they will reply, "in

that you speak truly; for some of us deny the very existence of the

Gods, while others, as you say, are of opinion that they do not care

about us; and others that they are turned from their course by

gifts. Now we have a right to claim, as you yourself allowed, in the

matter of laws, that before you are hard upon us and threaten us,

you should argue with us and convince us-you should first attempt to

teach and persuade us that there are Gods by reasonable evidences, and

also that they are too good to be unrighteous, or to be propitiated,

or turned from their course by gifts. For when we hear such things

said of them by those who are esteemed to be the best of poets, and

orators, and prophets, and priests, and by innumerable others, the

thoughts of most of us are not set upon abstaining from unrighteous

acts, but upon doing them and atoning for them. When lawgivers profess

that they are gentle and not stern, we think that they should first of

all use persuasion to us, and show us the existence of Gods, if not in

a better manner than other men, at any rate in a truer; and who

knows but that we shall hearken to you? If then our request is a

fair one, please to accept our challenge."

  Cle. But is there any difficulty in proving the existence of the

Gods?

  Ath. How would you prove it?

  Cle. How? In the first place, the earth and the sun, and the stars

and the universe, and the fair order of the seasons, and the

division of them into years and months, furnish proofs of their

existence; and also there is the fact that all Hellenes and barbarians

believe in them.

  Ath. I fear, my sweet friend, though I will not say that I much

regard, the contempt with which the profane will be likely to assail

us. For you do not understand the nature of their complaint, and you

fancy that they rush into impiety only from a love of sensual

pleasure.

  Cle. Why, Stranger, what other reason is there?

  Ath. One which you who live in a different atmosphere would never

guess.

  Cle. What is it?

  Ath. A very grievous sort of ignorance which is imagined to be the

greatest wisdom.

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. At Athens there are tales preserved in writing which the virtue

of your state, as I am informed, refuses to admit. They speak of the

Gods in prose as well as verse, and the oldest of them tell of the

origin of the heavens and of the world, and not far from the beginning

of their story they proceed to narrate the birth of the Gods, and

how after they were born they behaved to one another. Whether these

stories have in other ways a good or a bad influence, I should not

like to be severe upon them, because they are ancient; but, looking at

them with reference to the duties of children to their parents, I

cannot praise them, or think that they are useful, or at all true.

Of the words of the ancients I have nothing more to say; and I

should wish to say of them only what is pleasing to the Gods. But as

to our younger generation and their wisdom, I cannot let them off when

they do mischief. For do but mark the effect of their words: when

you and I argue for the existence of the Gods, and produce the sun,

moon, stars, and earth, claiming for them a divine being, if we

would listen to the aforesaid philosophers we should say that they are

earth and stones only, which can have no care at all of human affairs,

and that all religion is a cooking up of words and a make-believe.

  Cle. One such teacher, O Stranger, would be bad enough, and you

imply that there are many of them, which is worse.

  Ath. Well, then; what shall we say or do?-Shall we assume that

some one is accusing us among unholy men, who are trying to escape

from the effect of our legislation; and that they say of us-How

dreadful that you should legislate on the supposition that there are

Gods! Shall we make a defence of ourselves? or shall we leave them and

return to our laws, lest the prelude should become longer than the

law? For the discourse will certainly extend to great length, if we

are to treat the impiously disposed as they desire, partly

demonstrating to them at some length the things of which they demand

an explanation, partly making them afraid or dissatisfied, and then

proceed to the requisite enactments.

  Cle. Yes, Stranger; but then how often have we repeated already that

on the present occasion there is no reason why brevity should be

preferred to length; who is "at our heels"?-as the saying goes, and it

would be paltry and ridiculous to prefer the shorter to the better. It

is a matter of no small consequence, in some way or other to prove

that there are Gods, and that they are good, and regard justice more

than men do. The demonstration of this would be the best and noblest

prelude of all our laws. And therefore, without impatience, and

without hurry, let us unreservedly consider the whole matter,

summoning up all the power of persuasion which we possess.

  Ath. Seeing you thus in earnest, I would fain offer up a prayer that

I may succeed:-but I must proceed at once. Who can be calm when he

is called upon to prove the existence of the Gods? Who can avoid

hating and abhorring the men who are and have been the cause of this

argument; I speak of those who will not believe the tales which they

have heard as babes and sucklings from their mothers and nurses,

repeated by them both in jest and earnest, like charms, who have

also heard them in the sacrificial prayers, and seen sights

accompanying them-sights and sounds delightful to children-and their

parents during the sacrifices showing an intense earnestness on behalf

of their children and of themselves, and with eager interest talking

to the Gods, and beseeching them, as though they were firmly convinced

of their existence; who likewise see and hear the prostrations and

invocations which are made by Hellenes and barbarians at the rising

and setting of the sun and moon, in all the vicissitudes of life,

not as if they thought that there were no Gods, but as if there

could be no doubt of their existence, and no suspicion of their

non-existence; when men, knowing all these things, despise them on

no real grounds, as would be admitted by all who have any particle

of intelligence, and when they force us to say what we are now saying,

how can any one in gentle terms remonstrate with the like of them,

when he has to begin by proving to them the very existence of the

Gods? Yet the attempt must be made; for it would be unseemly that

one half of mankind should go mad in their lust of pleasure, and the

other half in their indignation at such persons. Our address to

these lost and perverted natures should not be spoken in passion;

let us suppose ourselves to select some one of them, and gently reason

with him, smothering our anger:-O my son, we will say to him, you

are young, and the advance of time will make you reverse may of the

opinions which you now hold. Wait awhile, and do not attempt to

judge at present of the highest things; and that is the highest of

which you now think nothing-to know the Gods rightly and to live

accordingly. And in the first place let me indicate to you one point

which is of great importance, and about which I cannot be

deceived:-You and your friends are not the first who have held this

opinion about the Gods. There have always been persons more or less

numerous who have had the same disorder. I have known many of them,

and can tell you, that no one who had taken up in youth this

opinion, that the Gods do not exist, ever continued in the same

until he was old; the two other notions certainly do continue in

some cases, but not in many; the notion, I mean, that the Gods

exist, but take no heed of human things, and the other notion that

they do take heed of them, but are easily propitiated with

sacrifices and prayers. As to the opinion about the Gods which may

some day become clear to you, I advise you go wait and consider if

it be true or not; ask of others, and above all of the legislator.

In the meantime take care that you do not offend against the Gods. For

the duty of the legislator is and always will be to teach you the

truth of these matters.

  Cle. Our address, Stranger, thus far, is excellent.

  Ath. Quite true, Megillus and Cleinias, but I am afraid that we have

unconsciously lighted on a strange doctrine.

  Cle. What doctrine do you mean?

  Ath. The wisest of all doctrines, in the opinion of many.

  Cle. I wish that you would speak plainer.

  Ath. The doctrine that all things do become, have become, and will

become, some by nature, some by art, and some by chance.

  Cle. Is not that true?

  Ath. Well, philosophers are probably right; at any rate we may as

well follow in their track, and examine what is the meaning of them

and their disciples.

  Cle. By all means.

  Ath. They say that the greatest and fairest things are the work of

nature and of chance, the lesser of art, which, receiving from

nature the greater and primeval creations, moulds and fashions all

those lesser works which are generally termed artificial.

  Cle. How is that?

  Ath. I will explain my meaning still more clearly. They say that

fire and water, and earth and air, all exist by nature and chance, and

none of them by art, and that as to the bodies which come next in

order-earth, and sun, and moon, and stars-they have been created by

means of these absolutely inanimate existences. The elements are

severally moved by chance and some inherent force according to certain

affinities among them-of hot with cold, or of dry with moist, or of

soft with hard, and according to all the other accidental admixtures

of opposites which have been formed by necessity. After this fashion

and in this manner the whole heaven has been created, and all that

is in the heaven, as well as animals and all plants, and all the

seasons come from these elements, not by the action of mind, as they

say, or of any God, or from art, but as I was saying, by nature and

chance only. Art sprang up afterwards and out of these, mortal and

of mortal birth, and produced in play certain images and very

partial imitations of the truth, having an affinity to one another,

such as music and painting create and their companion arts. And

there are other arts which have a serious purpose, and these

co-operate with nature, such, for example, as medicine, and husbandry,

and gymnastic. And they say that politics cooperate with nature, but

in a less degree, and have more of art; also that legislation is

entirely a work of art, and is based on assumptions which are not

true.

  Cle. How do you mean?

  Ath. In the first place, my dear friend, these people would say that

the Gods exist not by nature, but by art, and by the laws of states,

which are different in different places, according to the agreement of

those who make them; and that the honourable is one thing by nature

and another thing by law, and that the principles of justice have no

existence at all in nature, but that mankind are always disputing

about them and altering them; and that the alterations which are

made by art and by law have no basis in nature, but are of authority

for the moment and at the time at which they are made.-These, my

friends, are the sayings of wise men, poets and prose writers, which

find a way into the minds of youth. They are told by them that the

highest right is might, and in this way the young fall into impieties,

under the idea that the Gods are not such as the law bids them

imagine; and hence arise factions, these philosophers inviting them to

lead a true life according to nature, that is, to live in real

dominion over others, and not in legal subjection to them.

  Cle. What a dreadful picture, Stranger, have you given, and how

great is the injury which is thus inflicted on young men to the ruin

both of states and families!

  Ath. True, Cleinias; but then what should the lawgiver do when

this evil is of long standing? should he only rise up in the state and

threaten all mankind, proclaiming that if they will not say and

think that the Gods are such as the law ordains (and this may be

extended generally to the honourable, the just, and to all the highest

things, and to all that relates to virtue and vice), and if they

will not make their actions conform to the copy which the law gives

them, then he who refuses to obey the law shall die, or suffer stripes

and bonds, or privation of citizenship, or in some cases be punished

by loss of property and exile? Should he not rather, when he is making

laws for men, at the same time infuse the spirit of persuasion into

his words, and mitigate the severity of them as far as he can?

  Cle. Why, Stranger, if such persuasion be at all possible, then a

legislator who has anything in him ought never to weary of

persuading men; he ought to leave nothing unsaid in support of the

ancient opinion that there are Gods, and of all those other truths

which you were just now mentioning; he ought to support the law and

also art, and acknowledge that both alike exist by nature, and no less

than nature, if they are the creations of mind in accordance with

right reason, you appear to me to maintain, and I am disposed to agree

with you in thinking.

  Ath. Yes, my enthusiastic Cleinias; but are not these things when

spoken to a multitude hard to be understood, not to mention that

they take up a dismal length of time?

  Cle. Why, Stranger, shall we, whose patience failed not when

drinking or music were the themes of discourse, weary now of

discoursing about the Gods, and about divine things? And the

greatest help to rational legislation is that the laws when once

written down are always at rest; they can be put to the test at any

future time, and therefore, if on first hearing they seem difficult,

there is no reason for apprehension about them, because any man

however dull can go over them and consider them again and again; nor

if they are tedious but useful, is there any reason or religion, as it

seems to me, in any man refusing to maintain the principles of them to

the utmost of his power.

  Megillus. Stranger, I like what Cleinias is saying.

  Ath. Yes, Megillus, and we should do as he proposes; for if

impious discourses were not scattered, as I may say, throughout the

world, there would have been no need for any vindication of the

existence of the Gods-but seeing that they are spread far and wide,

such arguments are needed; and who should come to the rescue of the

greatest laws, when they are being undermined by bad men, but the

legislator himself?

  Meg. There is no more proper champion of them.

  Ath. Well, then, tell me, Cleinias-for I must ask you to be my

partner-does not he who talks in this way conceive fire and water

and earth and air to be the first elements of all things? These he

calls nature, and out of these he supposes the soul to be formed

afterwards; and this is not a mere conjecture of ours about his

meaning, but is what he really means.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. Then, by Heaven, we have discovered the source of this vain

opinion of all those physical investigators; and I would have you

examine their arguments with the utmost care, for their impiety is a

very serious matter; they not only make a bad and mistaken use of

argument, but they lead away the minds of others: that is my opinion

of them.

  Cle. You are right; but I should like to know how this happens.

  Ath. I fear that the argument may seem singular.

  Cle. Do not hesitate, Stranger; I see that you are afraid of such

a discussion carrying you beyond the limits of legislation. But if

there be no other way of showing our agreement in the belief that

there are Gods, of whom the law is said now to approve, let us take

this way, my good sir.

  Ath. Then I suppose that I must repeat the singular argument of

those who manufacture the soul according to their own impious notions;

they affirm that which is the first cause of the generation and

destruction of all things, to be not first, but last, and that which

is last to be first, and hence they have fallen into error about the

true nature of the Gods.

  Cle. Still I do not understand you.

  Ath. Nearly all of them, my friends, seem to be ignorant of the

nature and power of the soul, especially in what relates to her

origin: they do not know that she is among the first of things, and

before all bodies, and is the chief author of their changes and

transpositions. And if this is true, and if the soul is older than the

body, must not the things which are of the soul's kindred be of

necessity prior to those which appertain to the body?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Then thought and attention and mind and art and law will be

prior to that which is hard and soft and heavy and light; and the

great and primitive works and actions will be works of art; they

will be the first, and after them will come nature and works of

nature, which however is a wrong term for men to apply to them;

these will follow, and will be under the government of art and mind.

  Cle. But why is the word "nature" wrong?

  Ath. Because those who use the term mean to say that nature is the

first creative power; but if the soul turn out to be the primeval

element, and not fire or air, then in the truest sense and beyond

other things the soul may be said to exist by nature; and this would

be true if you proved that the soul is older than the body, but not

otherwise.

  Cle. You are quite right.

  Ath. Shall we, then, take this as the next point to which our

attention should be directed?

  Cle. By all means.

  Ath. Let us be on our guard lest this most deceptive argument with

its youthful looks, beguiling us old men, give us the slip and make

a laughing-stock of us. Who knows but we may be aiming at the greater,

and fail of attaining the lesser? Suppose that we three have to pass a

rapid river, and I, being the youngest of the three and experienced in

rivers, take upon me the duty of making the attempt first by myself;

leaving you in safety on the bank, I am to examine whether the river

is passable by older men like yourselves, and if such appears to be

the case then I shall invite you to follow, and my experience will

help to convey you across; but if the river is impassable by you, then

there will have been no danger to anybody but myself-would not that

seem to be a very fair proposal? I mean to say that the argument in

prospect is likely to be too much for you, out of your depth and

beyond your strength, and I should be afraid that the stream of my

questions might create in you who are not in the habit of answering,

giddiness and confusion of mind, and hence a feeling of unpleasantness

and unsuitableness might arise. I think therefore that I had better

first ask the questions and then answer them myself while you listen

in safety; in that way I can carry on the argument until I have

completed the proof that the soul is prior to the body.

  Cle. Excellent, Stranger, and I hope that you will do as you

propose.

  Ath. Come, then, and if ever we are to call upon the Gods, let us

call upon them now in all seriousness to come to the demonstration

of their own existence. And so holding fast to the rope we will

venture upon the depths of the argument. When questions of this sort

are asked of me, my safest answer would appear to be as

follows:-Some one says to me, "O Stranger, are all things at rest

and nothing in motion, or is the exact opposite of this true, or are

some things in motion and others at rest?-To this I shall reply that

some things are in motion and others at rest. "And do not things which

move a place, and are not the things which are at rest at rest in a

place?" Certainly. "And some move or rest in one place and some in

more places than one?" You mean to say, we shall rejoin, that those

things which rest at the centre move in one place, just as the

circumference goes round of globes which are said to be at rest?

"Yes." And we observe that, in the revolution, the motion which

carries round the larger and the lesser circle at the same time is

proportionally distributed to greater and smaller, and is greater

and smaller in a certain proportion. Here is a wonder which might be

thought an impossibility, that the same motion should impart swiftness

and slowness in due proportion to larger and lesser circles. "Very

true." And when you speak of bodies moving in many places, you seem to

me to mean those which move from one place to another, and sometimes

have one centre of motion and sometimes more than one because they

turn upon their axis; and whenever they meet anything, if it be

stationary, they are divided by it; but if they get in the midst

between bodies which are approaching and moving towards the same

spot from opposite directions, they unite with them. "I admit the

truth of what you are saying." Also when they unite they grow, and

when they are divided they waste away-that is, supposing the

constitution of each to remain, or if that fails, then there is a

second reason of their dissolution. "And when are all things created

and how?" Clearly, they are created when the first principle

receives increase and attains to the second dimension, and from this

arrives at the one which is neighbour to this, and after reaching

the third becomes perceptible to sense. Everything which is thus

changing and moving is in process of generation; only when at rest has

it real existence, but when passing into another state it is destroyed

utterly. Have we not mentioned all motions that there are, and

comprehended them under their kinds and numbered them with the

exception, my friends, of two?

  Cle. Which are they?

  Ath. Just the two, with which our present enquiry is concerned.

  Cle. Speak plainer.

  Ath. I suppose that our enquiry has reference to the soul?

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. Let us assume that there is a motion able to move other things,

but not to move itself;-that is one kind; and there is another kind

which can move itself as well as other things, working in

composition and decomposition, by increase and diminution and

generation and destruction-that is also one of the many kinds of

motion.

  Cle. Granted.

  Ath. And we will assume that which moves other, and is changed by

other, to be the ninth, and that which changes itself and others,

and is co-incident with every action and every passion, and is the

true principle of change and motion in all that is-that we shall be

inclined to call the tenth.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And which of these ten motions ought we to prefer as being

the mightiest and most efficient?

  Cle. I must say that the motion which is able to move itself is

ten thousand times superior to all the others.

  Ath. Very good; but may I make one or two corrections in what I have

been saying?

  Cle. What are they?

  Ath. When I spoke of the tenth sort of motion, that was not quite

correct.

  Cle. What was the error?

  Ath. According to the true order, the tenth was really the first

in generation and power; then follows the second, which was

strangely enough termed the ninth by us.

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. I mean this: when one thing changes another, and that

another, of such will there be any primary changing element? How can a

thing which is moved by another ever be the beginning of change?

Impossible. But when the self-moved changes other, and that again

other, and thus thousands upon tens of thousands of bodies are set

in motion, must not the beginning of all this motion be the change

of the self-moving principle?

  Cle. Very true, and I quite agree.

  Ath. Or, to put the question in another way, making answer to

ourselves:-If, as most of these philosophers have the audacity to

affirm, all things were at rest in one mass, which of the

above-mentioned principles of motion would first spring up among them?

  Cle. Clearly the self-moving; for there could be no change in them

arising out of any external cause; the change must first take place in

themselves.

  Ath. Then we must say that self-motion being the origin of all

motions, and the first which arises among things at rest as well as

among things in motion, is the eldest and mightiest principle of

change, and that which is changed by another and yet moves other is

second.

  Cle. Quite true.

  Ath. At this stage of the argument let us put a question.

  Cle. What question?

  Ath. If we were to see this power existing in any earthy, watery, or

fiery substance, simple or compound-how should we describe it?

  Cle. You mean to ask whether we should call such a self-moving power

life?

  Ath. I do.

  Cle. Certainly we should.

  Ath. And when we see soul in anything, must we not do the

same-must we not admit that this is life?

  Cle. We must.

  Ath. And now, I beseech you, reflect;-you would admit that we have a

threefold knowledge of things?

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. I mean that we know the essence, and that we know the

definition of the essence, and the name,-these are the three; and

there are two questions which may be raised about anything.

  Cle. How two?

  Ath. Sometimes a person may give the name and ask the definition; or

he may give the definition and ask the name. I may illustrate what I

mean in this way.

  Cle. How?

  Ath. Number like some other things is capable of being divided

into equal parts; when thus divided, number is named "even," and the

definition of the name "even" is "number divisible into two equal

parts"?

  Cle. True.

  Ath. I mean, that when we are asked about the definition and give

the name, or when we are asked about the name and give the

definition-in either case, whether we give name or definition, we

speak of the same thing, calling "even" the number which is divided

into two equal parts.

  Cle. Quite true.

  Ath. And what is the definition of that which is named "soul"? Can

we conceive of any other than that which has been already given-the

motion which can move itself?

  Cle. You mean to say that the essence which is defined as the

self-moved is the same with that which has the name soul?

  Ath. Yes; and if this is true, do we still maintain that there is

anything wanting in the proof that the soul is the first origin and

moving power of all that is, or has become, or will be, and their

contraries, when she has been clearly shown to be the source of change

and motion in all things?

  Cle. Certainly not; the soul as being the source of motion, has been

most satisfactorily shown to be the oldest of all things.

  Ath. And is not that motion which is produced in another, by

reason of another, but never has any self-moving power at all, being

in truth the change of an inanimate body, to be reckoned second, or by

any lower number which you may prefer?

  Cle. Exactly.

  Ath. Then we are right, and speak the most perfect and absolute

truth, when we say that the soul is prior to the body, and that the

body is second and comes afterwards, and is born to obey the soul,

which is the ruler?

  Cle. Nothing can be more true.

  Ath. Do you remember our old admission, that if the soul was prior

to the body the things of the soul were also prior to those of the

body?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Then characters and manners, and wishes and reasonings, and

true opinions, and reflections, and recollections are prior to

length and breadth and depth and strength of bodies, if the soul is

prior to the body.

  Cle. To be sure.

  Ath. In the next place, must we not of necessity admit that the soul

is the cause of good and evil, base and honourable, just and unjust,

and of all other opposites, if we suppose her to be the cause of all

things?

  Cle. We must.

  Ath. And as the soul orders and inhabits all things that move,

however moving, must we not say that she orders also the heavens?

  Cle. Of course.

  Ath. One soul or more? More than one-I will answer for you; at any

rate, we must not suppose that there are less than two-one the

author of good, and the other of evil.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. Yes, very true; the soul then directs all things in heaven, and

earth, and sea by her movements, and these are described by the

terms-will, consideration, attention, deliberation, opinion true and

false, joy and sorrow, confidence, fear, hatred, love, and other

primary motions akin to these; which again receive the secondary

motions of corporeal substances, and guide all things to growth and

decay, to composition and decomposition, and to the qualities which

accompany them, such as heat and cold, heaviness and lightness,

hardness and softness, blackness and whiteness, bitterness and

sweetness, and all those other qualities which the soul uses,

herself a goddess, when truly receiving the divine mind she

disciplines all things rightly to their happiness; but when she is the

companion of folly, she does the very contrary of all this. Shall we

assume so much, or do we still entertain doubts?

  Cle. There is no room at all for doubt.

  Ath. Shall we say then that it is the soul which controls heaven and

earth, and the whole world?-that it is a principle of wisdom and

virtue, or a principle which has neither wisdom nor virtue? Suppose

that we make answer as follows:-

  Cle. How would you answer?

  Ath. If, my friend, we say that the whole path and movement of

heaven, and of all that is therein, is by nature akin to the

movement and revolution and calculation of mind, and proceeds by

kindred laws, then, as is plain, we must say that the best soul

takes care of the world and guides it along the good path.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. But if the world moves wildly and irregularly, then the evil

soul guides it.

  Cle. True again.

  Ath. Of what nature is the movement of mind?-To this question it

is not easy to give an intelligent answer; and therefore I ought to

assist you in framing one.

  Cle. Very good.

  Ath. Then let us not answer as if we would look straight at the sun,

making ourselves darkness at midday-I mean as if we were under the

impression that we could see with mortal eyes, or know adequately

the nature of mind;-it will be safer to look at the image only.

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. Let us select of the ten motions the one which mind chiefly

resembles; this I will bring to your recollection, and will then

make the answer on behalf of us all.

  Cle. That will be excellent.

  Ath. You will surely remember our saying that all things were either

at rest or in motion?

  Cle. I do.

  Ath. And that of things in motion some were moving in one place, and

others in more than one?

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. Of these two kinds of motion, that which moves in one place

must move about a centre like globes made in a lathe, and is most

entirely akin and similar to the circular movement of mind.

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. In saying that both mind and the motion which is in one place

move in the same and like manner, in and about the same, and in

relation to the same, and according to one proportion and order, and

are like the motion of a globe, we invented a fair image, which does

no discredit to our ingenuity.

  Cle. It does us great credit.

  Ath. And the motion of the other sort which is not after the same

manner, nor in the same, nor about the same, nor in relation to the

same, nor in one place, nor in order, nor according to any rule or

proportion, may be said to be akin to senselessness and folly?

  Cle. That is most true.

  Ath. Then, after what has been said, there is no difficulty in

distinctly stating, that since soul carries all things round, either

the best soul or the contrary must of necessity carry round and

order and arrange the revolution of the heaven.

  Cle. And judging from what has been said, Stranger, there would be

impiety in asserting that any but the most perfect soul or souls

carries round the heavens.

  Ath. You have understood my meaning right well, Cleinias, and now

let me ask you another question.

  Cle. What are you going to ask?

  Ath. If the soul carries round the sun and moon, and the other

stars, does she not carry round each individual of them?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Then of one of them let us speak, and the same argument will

apply to all.

  Cle. Which will you take?

  Ath. Every one sees the body of the sun, but no one sees his soul,

nor the soul of any other body living or dead; and yet there is

great reason to believe that this nature, unperceived by any of our

senses, is circumfused around them all, but is perceived by mind;

and therefore by mind and reflection only let us apprehend the

following point.

  Cle. What is that?

  Ath. If the soul carries round the sun, we shall not be far wrong in

supposing one of three alternatives.

  Cle. What are they?

  Ath. Either the soul which moves the sun this way and that,

resides within the circular and visible body, like the soul which

carries us about every way; or the soul provides herself with an

external body of fire or air, as some affirm, and violently propels

body by body; or thirdly, she is without such abody, but guides the

sun by some extraordinary and wonderful power.

  Cle. Yes, certainly; the soul can only order all things in one of

these three ways.

  Ath. And this soul of the sun, which is therefore better than the

sun, whether taking the sun about in a chariot to give light to men,

or acting from without or in whatever way, ought by every man to be

deemed a God.

  Cle. Yes, by every man who has the least particle of sense.

  Ath. And of the stars too, and of the moon, and of the years and

months and seasons, must we not say in like manner, that since a

soul or souls having every sort of excellence are the causes of all of

them, those souls are Gods, whether they are living beings and

reside in bodies, and in this way order the whole heaven, or

whatever be the place and mode of their existence;-and will any one

who admits all this venture to deny that all things full of Gods?

  Cle. No one, Stranger, would be such a madman.

  Ath. And now, Megillus and Cleinias, let us offer terms to him who

has hitherto denied the existence of the Gods, and leave him.

  Cle. What terms?

  Ath. Either he shall teach us that we were wrong in saying that

the soul is the original of all things, and arguing accordingly; or,

if he be not able to say anything better, then he must yield to us and

live for the remainder of his life in the belief that there are

Gods.-Let us see, then, whether we have said enough or not enough to

those who deny that there are Gods.

  Cle. Certainly-quite enough, Stranger.

  Ath. Then to them we will say no more. And now we are to address him

who, believing that there are Gods, believes also that they take no

heed of human affairs: To him we say-O thou best of men, in

believing that there are Gods you are led by some affinity to them,

which attracts you towards your kindred and makes you honour and

believe in them. But the fortunes of evil and unrighteous men in

private as well as public life, which, though not really happy, are

wrongly counted happy in the judgment of men, and are celebrated

both by poets and prose writers-these draw you aside from your natural

piety. Perhaps you have seen impious men growing old and leaving their

children's children in high offices, and their prosperity shakes

your faith-you have known or heard or been yourself an eyewitness of

many monstrous impieties, and have beheld men by such criminal

means from small beginnings attaining to sovereignty and the

pinnacle of greatness; and considering all these things you do not

like to accuse the Gods of them, because they are your relatives;

and so from some want of reasoning power, and also from an

unwillingness to find fault with them, you have come to believe that

they exist indeed, but have no thought or care of human things. Now,

that your present evil opinion may not grow to still greater

impiety, and that we may if possible use arguments which may conjure

away the evil before it arrives, we will add another argument to

that originally addressed to him who utterly denied the existence of

the Gods. And do you, Megillus and Cleinias, answer for the young

man as you did before; and if any impediment comes in our way, I

will take the word out of your mouths, and carry you over the river as

I did just now.

  Cle. Very good; do as you say, and we will help you as well as we

can.

  Ath. There will probably be no difficulty in proving to him that the

Gods care about the small as well as about the great. For he was

present and heard what was said, that they are perfectly good, and

that the care of all things is most entirely natural to them.

  Cle. No doubt he heard that.

  Ath. Let us consider together in the next place what we mean by this

virtue which we ascribe to them. Surely we should say that to be

temperate and to possess mind belongs to virtue, and the contrary to

vice?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Yes; and courage is a part of virtue, and cowardice of vice?

  Cle. True.

  Ath. And the one is honourable, and the other dishonourable?

  Cle. To be sure.

  Ath. And the one, like other meaner things, is a human quality,

but the Gods have no part in anything of the sort?

  Cle. That again is what everybody will admit.

  Ath. But do we imagine carelessness and idleness and luxury to be

virtues? What do you think?

  Cle. Decidedly not.

  Ath. They rank under the opposite class?

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. And their opposites, therefore, would fall under the opposite

class?

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. But are we to suppose that one who possesses all these good

qualities will be luxurious and heedless and idle, like those whom the

poet compares to stingless drones?

  Cle. And the comparison is a most just one.

  Ath. Surely God must not be supposed to have a nature which he

himself hates?-he who dares to say this sort of thing must not be

tolerated for a moment.

  Cle. Of course not. How could he have?

  Ath. Should we not on any principle be entirely mistaken in praising

any one who has some special business entrusted to him, if he have a

mind which takes care of great matters and no care of small ones?

Reflect; he who acts in this way, whether he be God or man, must act

from one of two principles.

  Cle. What are they?

  Ath. Either he must think that the neglect of the small matters is

of no consequence to the whole, or if he knows that they are of

consequence, and he neglects them, his neglect must be attributed to

carelessness and indolence. Is there any other way in which his

neglect can be explained? For surely, when it is impossible for him to

take care of all, he is not negligent if he fails to attend to these

things great or small, which a God or some inferior being might be

wanting in strength or capacity to manage?

  Cle. Certainly not.

  Ath. Now, then, let us examine the offenders, who both alike confess

that there are Gods, but with a difference-the one saying that they

may be appeased, and the other that they have no care of small

matters: there are three of us and two of them, and we will say to

them-In the first place, you both acknowledge that the Gods hear and

see and know all things, and that nothing can escape them which is

matter of sense and knowledge:-do you admit this?

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. And do you admit also that they have all power which mortals

and immortals can have?

  Cle. They will, of course, admit this also.

  Ath. And surely we three and they two-five in all-have

acknowledged that they are good and perfect?

  Cle. Assuredly.

  Ath. But, if they are such as we conceive them to be, can we

possibly suppose that they ever act in the spirit of carelessness

and indolence? For in us inactivity is the child of cowardice, and

carelessness of inactivity and indolence.

  Cle. Most true.

  Ath. Then not from inactivity and carelessness is any God ever

negligent; for there is no cowardice in them.

  Cle. That is very true.

  Ath. Then the alternative which remains is, that if the Gods neglect

the lighter and lesser concerns of the universe, they neglect them

because they know that they ought not to care about such

matters-what other alternative is there but the opposite of their

knowing?

  Cle. There is none.

  Ath. And, O most excellent and best of men, do I understand you to

mean that they are careless because they are ignorant, and do not know

that they ought to take care, or that they know, and yet like the

meanest sort of men, knowing the better, choose the worse because they

are overcome by pleasures and pains?

  Cle. Impossible.

  Ath. Do not all human things partake of the nature of soul? And is

not man the most religious of all animals?

  Cle. That is not to be denied.

  Ath. And we acknowledge that all mortal creatures are the property

of the Gods, to whom also the whole of heaven belongs?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And, therefore, whether a person says that these things are

to the Gods great or small-in either case it would not be natural

for the Gods who own us, and who are the most careful and the best

of owners to neglect us.-There is also a further consideration.

  Cle. What is it?

  Ath. Sensation and power are in an inverse ratio to each other in

respect to their case and difficulty.

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. I mean that there is greater difficulty in seeing and hearing

the small than the great, but more facility in moving and

controlling and taking care of and unimportant things than of their

opposites.

  Cle. Far more.

  Ath. Suppose the case of a physician who is willing and able to cure

some living thing as a whole-how will the whole fare at his hands if

he takes care only of the greater and neglects the parts which are

lesser?

  Cle. Decidedly not well.

  Ath. No better would be the result with pilots or generals, or

householders or statesmen, or any other such class, if they

neglected the small and regarded only the great;-as the builders

say, the larger stones do not lie well without the lesser.

  Cle. Of course not.

  Ath. Let us not, then, deem God inferior to human workmen, who, in

proportion to their skill, finish and perfect their works, small as

well as great, by one and the same art; or that God, the wisest of

beings, who is both willing and able to take care, is like a lazy

good-for-nothing, or a coward, who turns his back upon labour and

gives no thought to smaller and easier matters, but to the greater

only.

  Cle. Never, Stranger, let us admit a supposition about the Gods

which is both impious and false.

  Ath. I think that we have now argued enough with him who delights to

accuse the Gods of neglect.

  Cle. Yes.

  Ath. He has been forced to acknowledge that he is in error, but he

still seems to me to need some words of consolation.

  Cle. What consolation will you offer him?

  Ath. Let us say to the youth:-The ruler of the universe has

ordered all things with a view to the excellence and preservation of

the whole, and each part, as far as may be, has an action and

passion appropriate to it. Over these, down to the least fraction of

them, ministers have been appointed to preside, who have wrought out

their perfection with infinitesimal exactness. And one of these

portions of the universe is thine own, unhappy man, which, however

little, contributes to the whole; and you do not seem to be aware that

this and every other creation is for the sake of the whole, and in

order that the life of the whole may be blessed; and that you are

created for the sake of the whole, and not the whole for the sake of

you. For every physician and every skilled artist does all things

for the sake of the whole, directing his effort towards the common

good, executing the part for the sake of the whole, and not the

whole for the sake of the part. And you are annoyed because you are

ignorant how what is best for you happens to you and to the

universe, as far as the laws of the common creation admit. Now, as the

soul combining first with one body and then with another undergoes all

sorts of changes, either of herself, or through the influence of

another soul, all that remains to the player of the game is that he

should shift the pieces; sending the better nature to the better

place, and the worse to the worse, and so assigning to them their

proper portion.

  Cle. In what way do you mean?

  Ath. In a way which may be supposed to make the care of all things

easy to the Gods. If any one were to form or fashion all things

without any regard to the whole-if, for example, he formed a living

element of water out of fire, instead of forming many things out of

one or one out of many in regular order attaining to a first or second

or third birth, the transmutation would have been infinite; but now

the ruler of the world has a wonderfully easy task.

  Cle. How so?

  Ath. I will explain:-When the king saw that our actions had life,

and that there was much virtue in them and much vice, and that the

soul and body, although not, like the Gods of popular opinion,

eternal, yet having once come into existence, were indestructible (for

if either of them had been destroyed, there would have been no

generation of living beings); and when he observed that the good of

the soul was ever by nature designed to profit men, and the evil to

harm them-he, seeing all this, contrived so to place each of the parts

that their position might in the easiest and best manner procure the

victory of good and the defeat of evil in the whole. And he

contrived a general plan by which a thing of a certain nature found

a certain seat and room. But the formation of qualities he left to the

wills of individuals. For every one of us is made pretty much what

he is by the bent of his desires and the nature of his soul.

  Cle. Yes, that is probably true.

  Ath. Then all things which have a soul change, and possess in

themselves a principle of change, and in changing move according to

law and to the order of destiny: natures which have undergone a lesser

change move less and on the earth's surface, but those which have

suffered more change and have become more criminal sink into the

abyss, that is to say, into Hades and other places in the world below,

of which the very names terrify men, and which they picture to

themselves as in a dream, both while alive and when released from

the body. And whenever the soul receives more of good or evil from her

own energy and the strong influence of others-when she has communion

with divine virtue and becomes divine, she is carried into another and

better place, which is perfect in holiness; but when she has communion

with evil, then she also changes the Place of her life.



   This is the justice of the Gods who inhabit Olympus.



O youth or young man, who fancy that you are neglected by the Gods,

know that if you become worse you shall go to the worse souls, or if

better to the better, and in every succession of life and death you

will do and suffer what like may fitly suffer at the hands of like.

This is the justice of heaven, which neither you nor any other

unfortunate will ever glory in escaping, and which the ordaining

powers have specially ordained; take good heed thereof, for it will be

sure to take heed of you. If you say:-I am small and will creep into

the depths of the earth, or I am high and will fly up to heaven, you

are not so small or so high but that you shall pay the fitting

penalty, either here or in the world below or in some still more

savage place whither you shall be conveyed. This is also the

explanation of the fate of those whom you saw, who had done unholy and

evil deeds, and from small beginnings had grown great, and you fancied

that from being miserable they had become happy; and in their actions,

as in a mirror, you seemed to see the universal neglect of the Gods,

not knowing how they make all things work together and contribute to

the great whole. And thinkest thou, bold man, that thou needest not to

know this?-he who knows it not can never form any true idea of the

happiness or unhappiness of life or hold any rational discourse

respecting either. If Cleinias and this our reverend company succeed

in bringing to you that you know not what you say of the Gods, then

will God help you; but should you desire to hear more, listen to

what we say to the third opponent, if you have any understanding

whatsoever. For I think that we have sufficiently proved the existence

of the Gods, and that they care for men:-The other notion that they

are appeased by the wicked, and take gifts, is what we must not

concede to any one, and what every man should disprove to the utmost

of his power.

  Cle. Very good; let us do as you say.

  Ath. Well, then, by the Gods themselves I conjure you to tell

me-if they are to be propitiated, how are they to be propitiated?

Who are they, and what is their nature? Must they not be at least

rulers who have to order unceasingly the whole heaven?

  Cle. True.

  Ath. And to what earthly rulers can they be compared, or who to

them? How in the less can we find an image of the greater? Are they

charioteers of contending pairs of steeds, or pilots of vessels?

Perhaps they might be compared to the generals of armies, or they

might be likened to physicians providing against the diseases which

make war upon the body, or to husbandmen observing anxiously the

effects of the seasons on the growth of plants; or I perhaps, to

shepherds of flocks. For as we acknowledge the world to be full of

many goods and also of evils, and of more evils than goods, there

is, as we affirm, an immortal conflict going on among us, which

requires marvellous watchfulness; and in that conflict the Gods and

demigods are our allies, and we are their property. Injustice and

insolence and folly are the destruction of us, and justice and

temperance and wisdom are our salvation; and the place of these latter

is in the life of the Gods, although some vestige of them may

occasionally be discerned among mankind. But upon this earth we know

that there dwell souls possessing an unjust spirit, who may be

compared to brute animals, which fawn upon their keepers, whether dogs

or shepherds, or the best and most perfect masters; for they in like

manner, as the voices of the wicked declare, prevail by flattery and

prayers and incantations, and are allowed to make their gains with

impunity. And this sin, which is termed dishonesty, is an evil of

the same kind as what is termed disease in living bodies or pestilence

in years or seasons of the year, and in cities and governments has

another name, which is injustice.

  Cle. Quite true.

  Ath. What else can he say who declares that the Gods are always

lenient to the doers of unjust acts, if they divide the spoil with

them? As if wolves were to toss a portion of their prey to the dogs,

and they, mollified by the gift, suffered them to tear the flocks.

Must not he who maintains that the Gods can be propitiated argue thus?

  Cle. Precisely so.

  Ath. And to which of the above-mentioned classes of guardians

would any man compare the Gods without absurdity? Will he say that

they are like pilots, who are themselves turned away from their duty

by "libations of wine and the savour of fat," and at last overturn

both ship and sailors?

  Cle. Assuredly not.

  Ath. And surely they are not like charioteers who are bribed to give

up the victory to other chariots?

  Cle. That would be a fearful image of the Gods.

  Ath. Nor are they like generals, or physicians, or husbandmen, or

shepherds; and no one would compare them to dogs who have silenced

by wolves.

  Cle. A thing not to be spoken of.

  Ath. And are not all the Gods the chiefest of all guardians, and

do they not guard our highest interests?

  Cle. Yes; the chiefest.

  Ath. And shall we say that those who guard our noblest interests,

and are the best of guardians, are inferior in virtue to dogs, and

to men even of moderate excellence, who would never betray justice for

the sake of gifts which unjust men impiously offer them?

  Cle. Certainly not: nor is such a notion to be endured, and he who

holds this opinion may be fairly singled out and characterized as of

all impious men the wickedest and most impious.

  Ath. Then are the three assertions-that the Gods exist, and that

they take care of men, and that they can never be persuaded to do

injustice, now sufficiently demonstrated? May we say that they are?

  Cle. You have our entire assent to your words.

  Ath. I have spoken with vehemence because I am zealous against

evil men; and I will tell dear Cleinias, why I am so. I would not have

the wicked think that, having the superiority in argument, they may do

as they please and act according to their various imaginations about

the Gods; and this zeal has led me to speak too vehemently; but if

we have at all succeeded in persuading the men to hate themselves

and love their opposites, the prelude of our laws about impiety will

not have been spoken in vain.

  Cle. So let us hope; and even if we have failed, the style of our

argument will not discredit the lawgiver.

  Ath. After the prelude shall follow a discourse, which will be the

interpreter of the law; this shall proclaim to all impious

persons:-that they must depart from their ways and go over to the

pious. And to those who disobey, let the law about impiety be as

follows:-If a man is guilty of any impiety in word or deed, any one

who happens to present shall give information to the magistrates, in

aid of the law; and let the magistrates who. first receive the

information bring him before the appointed court according to the law;

and if a magistrate, after receiving information, refuses to act, he

shall be tried for impiety at the instance of any one who is willing

to vindicate the laws; and if any one be cast, the court shall

estimate the punishment of each act of impiety; and let all such

criminals be imprisoned. There shall be three prisons in the state:

the first of them is to be the common prison in the neighbourhood of

the agora for the safe-keeping of the generality of offenders; another

is to be in the neighbourhood of the nocturnal council, and is to be

called the "House of Reformation"; another, to be situated in some

wild and desolate region in the centre of the country, shall be called

by some name expressive of retribution. Now, men fall into impiety

from three causes, which have been already mentioned, and from each of

these causes arise two sorts of impiety, in all six, which are worth

distinguishing, and should not all have the same punishment. For he

who does not believe in Gods, and yet has a righteous nature, hates

the wicked and dislikes and refuses to do injustice, and avoids

unrighteous men, and loves the righteous. But they who besides

believing that the world is devoid of Gods are intemperate, and have

at the same time good memories and quick wits, are worse; although

both of them are unbelievers, much less injury is done by the one than

by the other. The one may talk loosely about the Gods and about

sacrifices and oaths, and perhaps by laughing at other men he may make

them like himself, if he be not punished. But the other who holds

the same opinions and is called a clever man, is full of stratagem and

deceit-men of this class deal in prophecy and jugglery of all kinds,

and out of their ranks sometimes come tyrants and demagogues and

generals and hierophants of private mysteries and the Sophists, as

they are termed, with their ingenious devices. There are many kinds of

unbelievers, but two only for whom legislation is required; one the

hypocritical sort, whose crime is deserving of death many times

over, while the other needs only bonds and admonition. In like

manner also the notion that the Gods take no thought of men produces

two other sorts of crimes, and the notion that they may be propitiated

produces two more. Assuming these divisions, let those who have been

made what they are only from want of understanding, and not from

malice or an evil nature, be placed by the judge in the House of

Reformation, and ordered to suffer imprisonment during a period of not

less than five years. And in the meantime let them have no intercourse

with the other citizens, except with members of the nocturnal council,

and with them let them converse with a view to the improvement of

their soul's health. And when the time of their imprisonment has

expired, if any of them be of sound mind let him be restored to sane

company, but if not, and if he be condemned a second time, let him

be punished with death. As to that class of monstrous natures who

not only believe that there are no Gods, or that they are negligent,

or to be propitiated, but in contempt of mankind conjure the souls

of the living and say that they can conjure the dead and promise to

charm the Gods with sacrifices and prayers, and will utterly overthrow

individuals and whole houses and states for the sake of money-let

him who is guilty of any of these things be condemned by the court

to be bound according to law in the prison which is in the centre of

the land, and let no freeman ever approach him, but let him receive

the rations of food appointed by the guardians of the law from the

hands of the public slaves; and when he is dead let him be cast beyond

the borders unburied, and if any freeman assist in burying him, let

him pay the penalty of impiety to any one who is willing to bring a

suit against him. But if he leaves behind him children who are fit

to be citizens, let the guardians of orphans take care of them, just

as they would of any other orphans, from the day on which their father

is convicted.

  In all these cases there should be one law, which will make men in

general less liable to transgress in word or deed, and less foolish,

because they will not be allowed to practise religious rites

contrary to law. And let this be the simple form of the law:-No man

shall have sacred rites in a private house. When he would sacrifice,

let him go to the temples and hand over his offerings to the priests

and priestesses, who see to the sanctity of such things, and let him

pray himself, and let any one who pleases join with him in prayer. The

reason of this is as follows:-Gods and temples are not easily

instituted, and to establish them rightly is the work of a mighty

intellect. And women especially, and men too, when they are sick or in

danger, or in any sort of difficulty, or again on their receiving

any good fortune, have a way of consecrating the occasion, vowing

sacrifices, and promising shrines to Gods, demigods, and sons of Gods;

and when they are awakened by terrible apparitions and dreams or

remember visions, they find in altars and temples the remedies of

them, and will fill every house and village with them, placing them in

the open air, or wherever they may have had such visions; and with a

view to all these cases we should obey the law. The law has also

regard to the impious, and would not have them fancy that by the

secret performance of these actions-by raising temples and by building

altars in private houses, they can propitiate the God secretly with

sacrifices and prayers, while they are really multiplying their crimes

infinitely, bringing guilt from heaven upon themselves, and also

upon those who permit them, and who are better men than they are;

and the consequence is that the whole state reaps the fruit of their

impiety, which, in a certain sense, is deserved. Assuredly God will

not blame the legislator, who will enact the following law:-No one

shall possess shrines of the Gods in private houses, and he who is

found to possess them, and perform any sacred rites not publicly

authorized-supposing the offender to be some man or woman who is not

guilty of any other great and impious crime-shall be informed

against by him who is acquainted with the fact, which shall be

announced by him to the guardians of the law; and let them issue

orders that he or she shall carry away their private rites to the

public temples, and if they do not persuade them, let them inflict a

penalty on them until they comply. And if a person be proven guilty of

impiety, not merely from childish levity, but such as grown-up men may

be guilty of, whether he have sacrificed publicly or privately to

any Gods, let him be punished with death, for his sacrifice is impure.

Whether the deed has been done in earnest, or only from childish

levity, let the guardians of the law determine, before they bring

the matter into court and prosecute the offender for impiety.

  BOOK XI



  In the next place, dealings between man and man require to be

suitably regulated. The principle of them is very simple:-Thou shalt

not, if thou canst help, touch that which is mine, or remove the least

thing which belongs to me without my consent; and may I be of a

sound mind, and do to others as I would that they should do to me.

First, let us speak of treasure trove:-May I never pray the Gods to

find the hidden treasure, which another has laid up for himself and

his family, he not being one of my ancestors, nor lift, if I should

find, such a treasure. And may I never have any dealings with those

who are called diviners, and who in any way or manner counsel me to

take up the deposit entrusted to the earth, for I should not gain so

much in the increase of my possessions, if I take up the prize, as I

should grow in justice and virtue of soul, if I abstain; and this will

be a better possession to me than the other in a better part of

myself; for the possession of justice in the soul is preferable to the

possession of wealth. And of many things it is well said-"Move not the

immovables," and this may be regarded as one of them. And we shall

do well to believe the common tradition which says that such deeds

prevent a man from having a family. Now as to him who is careless

about having children and regardless of the legislator, taking up that

which neither he deposited, nor any ancestor of his, without the

consent of the depositor, violating the simplest and noblest of laws

which was the enactment of no mean man:-"Take not up that which was

not laid down by thee"-of him, I say, who despises these two

legislators, and takes up, not small matter which he has not

deposited, but perhaps a great heap of treasure, what he ought to

suffer at the hands of the Gods, God only knows; but I would have

the first person who sees him go and tell the wardens of the city,

if the occurrence has taken place in the city, or if the occurrence

has taken place in the agora he shall tell the wardens of the agora,

or if in the country he shall tell the wardens of the country and

their commanders. When information has been received the city shall

send to Delphi, and, whatever the God answers about the money and

the remover of the money, that the city shall do in obedience to the

oracle; the informer, if he be a freeman, shall have the honour of

doing rightly, and he who informs not, the dishonour of doing wrongly;

and if he be a slave who gives information, let him be freed, as he

ought to be, by the state, which shall give his master the price of

him; but if he do not inform he shall be punished with death. Next

in order shall follow a similar law, which shall apply equally to

matters great and small:-If a man happens to leave behind him some

part of his property, whether intentionally or unintentionally, let

him who may come upon the left property suffer it to remain,

reflecting that such things are under the protection of the Goddess of

ways, and are dedicated to her by the law. But if any one defies the

law, and takes the property home with him, let him, if the thing is of

little worth, and the man who takes it a slave, be beaten with many

stripes by him, being a person of not less than thirty years of age.

Or if he be a freeman, in addition to being thought a mean person

and a despiser of the laws, let him pay ten times the value of the

treasure which he has moved to the leaver. And if some one accuses

another of having anything which belongs to him, whether little or

much, and the other admits that he has this thing, but denies that the

property in dispute belongs to other, if the property be registered

with the magistrates according to law, the claimant shall summon the

possessor, who shall bring it before the magistrates; and when it is

brought into court, if it be registered in the public registers, to

which of the litigants it belonged, let him take it and go his way. Or

if the property be registered as belonging to some one who is not

present, whoever will offer sufficient surety on behalf of the

absent person that he will give it up to him, shall take it away as

the representative of the other. But if the property which is

deposited be not registered with the magistrates, let it remain

until the time of trial with three of the eldest of the magistrates;

and if it be an animal which is deposited, then he who loses the

suit shall pay the magistrates for its keep, and they shall

determine the cause within three days.

  Any one who is of sound mind may arrest his own slave, and do with

him whatever he will of such things as are lawful; and he may arrest

the runaway slave of any of his friends or kindred with a view to

his safe-keeping. And if any one takes away him who is being carried

off as a slave, intending to liberate him, he who is carrying him

off shall let him go; but he who takes him away shall give three

sufficient sureties; and if he give them, and not without giving them,

he may take him away, but if he take him away after any other manner

he shall be deemed guilty of violence, and being convicted shall pay

as a penalty double the amount of the damages claimed to him who has

been deprived of the slave. Any man may also carry off a freedman,

if he do not pay respect or sufficient respect to him who freed him.

Now the respect shall be, that the freedman go three times in the

month to the hearth of the person who freed him and offer to do

whatever he ought, so far as he can; and he shall agree to make such a

marriage as his former master approves. He shall not be permitted to

have more property than he who gave him liberty, and what more he

has shall belong to his master. The freedman shall not remain in the

state more than twenty years, but like other foreigners shall go away,

taking his entire property with him, unless he has the consent of

the magistrates and of his former master to remain. If a freedman or

any other stranger has a property greater than the census of the third

class, at the expiration. of thirty days from the day on which this

comes to pass, he shall take that which is his and go his way, and

in this case he shall not be allowed to remain any longer by the

magistrates. And if any one disobeys this regulation, and is brought

into court and convicted, he shall be punished with death, his

property shall be confiscated. Suits about these matters shall take

place before the tribes, unless the plaintiff and defendant have got

rid of the accusation either before their neighbours or before

judges chosen by them. If a man lay claim to any animal or anything

else which he declares to be his, let the possessor refer to the

seller or to some honest and trustworthy person, who has given, or

in some legitimate way made over the property to him; if he be a

citizen or a metic, sojourning in the city, within thirty days, or, if

the property have been delivered to him by a stranger, within five

months, of which the middle month shall include the summer solstice.

When goods are exchanged by selling and buying, a man shall deliver

them, and receive the price of them, at a fixed place in the agora,

and have done with the matter; but he shall not buy or sell anywhere

else, nor give credit. And if in any other manner or in any other

place there be an exchange of one thing for another, and the seller

give credit to the man who buys fram him, he must do this on the

understanding that the law gives no protection in cases of things sold

not in accordance with these regulations. Again, as to

contributions, any man who likes may go about collecting contributions

as a friend among friends, but if any difference arises about the

collection, he is to act on the understanding that the law gives no

protection in such cases. He who sells anything above the value of

fifty drachmas shall be required to remain in the city for ten days,

and the purchaser shall be informed of the house of the seller, with a

view to the sort of charges which are apt to arise in such cases,

and the restitutions which the law allows. And let legal restitution

be on this wise:-If a man sells a slave who is in a consumption, or

who has the disease of the stone, or of strangury, or epilepsy, or

some other tedious and incurable disorder of body or mind, which is

not discernible to the ordinary man, if the purchaser be a physician

or trainer, he shall have no right of restitution; nor shall there

be any right of restitution if the seller has told the truth

beforehand to the buyer. But if a skilled person sells to another

who is not skilled, let the buyer appeal for restitution within six

months, except in the case of epilepsy, and then the appeal may be

made within a year. The cause shall be determined by such physicians

as the parties may agree to choose; and the defendant, if he lose

the suit, shall pay double the price at which he sold. If a private

person sell to another private person, he shall have the right of

restitution, and the decision shall be given as before, but the

defendant, if he be cast, shall only pay back the price of the

slave. If a person sells a homicide to another, and they both know

of the fact, let there be no restitution in such a case, but if he

do not know of the fact, there shall be a right of restitution,

whenever the buyer makes the discovery; and the decision shall rest

with the five youngest guardians of the law, and if the decision be

that the seller was cognisant the fact, he shall purify the house of

the purchaser, according to the law of the interpreters, and shall pay

back three times the purchase-money.

  If man exchanges either money for money, or anything whatever for

anything else, either with or without life, let him give and receive

them genuine and unadulterated, in accordance with the law. And let us

have a prelude about all this sort of roguery, like the preludes of

our other laws. Every man should regard adulteration as of one and the

same class with falsehood and deceit, concerning which the many are

too fond of saying that at proper times and places the practice may

often be right. But they leave the occasion, and the when, and the

where, undefined and unsettled, and from this want of definiteness

in their language they do a great deal of harm to themselves and to

others. Now a legislator ought not to leave the matter undetermined;

he ought to prescribe some limit, either greater or less. Let this

be the rule prescribed:-No one shall call the Gods to witness, when he

says or does anything false or deceitful or dishonest, unless he would

be the most hateful of mankind to them. And he is most hateful to them

takes a false oath, and pays no heed to the Gods; and in the next

degree, he who tells a falsehood in the presence of his superiors. Now

better men are the superiors of worse men, and in general elders are

the superiors of the young; wherefore also parents are the superiors

of their off spring, and men of women and children, and rulers of

their subjects; for all men ought to reverence any one who is in any

position of authority, and especially those who are in state

offices. And this is the reason why I have spoken of these matters.

For every one who is guilty of adulteration in the agora tells a

falsehood, and deceives, and when he invokes the Gods, according to

the customs and cautions of the wardens of the agora, he does but

swear without any respect for God or man. Certainly, it is an

excellent rule not lightly to defile the names of the Gods, after

the fashion of men in general, who care little about piety and

purity in their religious actions. But if a man will not conform to

this rule, let the law be as follows:-He who sells anything in the

agora shall not ask two prices for that which he sells, but he shall

ask one price, and if he do not obtain this, he shall take away his

goods; and on that day he shall not value them either at more or less;

and there shall be no praising of any goods, or oath taken about them.

If a person disobeys this command, any citizen who is present, not

being less than thirty years of age, may with impunity chastise and

beat the swearer, but if instead of obeying the laws he takes no heed,

he shall be liable to the charge of having betrayed them. If a man

sells any adulterated goods and will not obey these regulations, he

who knows and can prove the fact, and does prove it in the presence of

the magistrates, if he be a slave or a metic, shall have the

adulterated goods; but if he be a citizen, and do not pursue the

charge, he shall be called a rogue, and deemed to have robbed the Gods

of the agora; or if he proves the charge, he shall dedicate the

goods to the Gods of the agora. He who is proved to have sold any

adulterated goods, in addition to losing the goods themselves, shall

be beaten with stripes-a stripe for a drachma, according to the

price of the goods; and the herald shall proclaim in the agora the

offence for which he is going to be beaten. The warden of the agora

and the guardians of the law shall obtain information from experienced

persons about the rogueries and adulterations of the sellers, and

shall write up what the seller ought and ought not to do in each case;

and let them inscribe their laws on a column in front of the court

of the wardens of the agora, that they may be clear instructors of

those who have business in the agora. Enough has been said in what has

preceded about the wardens of the city, and if anything seems to be

wanting, let them communicate with the guardians of the law, and write

down the omission, and place on a column in the court of the wardens

of the city the primary and secondary regulations which are laid

down for them about their office.

  After the practices of adulteration naturally follow the practices

of retail trade. Concerning these, we will first of all give a word of

counsel and reason, and the law shall come afterwards. Retail trade in

a city is not by nature intended to do any harm, but quite the

contrary; for is not he a benefactor who reduces the inequalities

and incommensurabilities of goods to equality and common measure?

And this is what the power of money accomplishes, and the merchant may

be said to be appointed for this purpose. The hireling and the

tavern-keeper, and many other occupations, some of them more and

others less seemly-alike have this object;-they seek to satisfy our

needs and equalize our possessions. Let us then endeavour to see

what has brought retail trade into ill-odour, and wherein, lies the

dishonour and unseemliness of it, in order that if not entirely, we

may yet partially, cure the evil by legislation. To effect this is

no easy matter, and requires a great deal of virtue.

  Cleinias. What do you mean?

  Athenian Stranger. Dear Cleinias, the class of men is small-they

must have been rarely gifted by nature, and trained by

education-who, when assailed by wants and desires, are able to hold

out and observe moderation, and when they might make a great deal of

money are sober in their wishes, and prefer a moderate to a large

gain. But the mass of mankind are the very opposite: their desires are

unbounded, and when they might gain in moderation they prefer gains

without limit; wherefore all that relates to retail trade, and

merchandise, and the keeping of taverns, is denounced and numbered

among dishonourable things. For if what I trust may never be and

will not be, we were to compel, if I may venture to say a ridiculous

thing, the best men everywhere to keep taverns for a time, or carry on

retail trade, or do anything of that sort; or if, in consequence of

some fate or necessity, the best women were compelled to follow

similar callings, then we should know how agreeable and pleasant all

these things are; and if all such occupations were managed on

incorrupt principles, they would be honoured as we honour a mother

or a nurse. But now that a man goes to desert places and builds bouses

which can only be reached be long journeys, for the sake of retail

trade, and receives strangers who are in need at the welcome

resting-place, and gives them peace and calm when they are tossed by

the storm, or cool shade in the heat; and then instead of behaving

to them as friends, and showing the duties of hospitality to his

guests, treats them as enemies and captives who are at his mercy,

and will not release them until they have paid the most unjust,

abominable, and extortionate ransom-these are the sort of practices,

and foul evils they are, which cast a reproach upon the succour of

adversity. And the legislator ought always to be devising a remedy for

evils of this nature. There is an ancient saying, which is also a true

one-"To fight against two opponents is a difficult thing," as is

seen in diseases and in many other cases. And in this case also the

war is against two enemies-wealth and poverty; one of whom corrupts

the soul of man with luxury, while the other drives him by pain into

utter shamelessness. What remedy can a city of sense find against this

disease? In the first place, they must have as few retail traders as

possible; and in the second place, they must assign the occupation

to that class of men whose corruption will be the least injury to

the state; and in the third place, they must devise some way whereby

the followers of these occupations themselves will not readily fall

into habits of unbridled shamelessness and meanness.

  After this preface let our law run as follows, and may fortune

favour us:-No landowner among the Magnetes, whose city the God is

restoring and resettling-no one, that is, of the 5040 families,

shall become a retail trader either voluntarily or involuntarily;

neither shall he be a merchant, or do any service for private

persons unless they equally serve him, except for his father or his

mother, and their fathers and mothers; and in general for his elders

who are freemen, and whom he serves as a freeman. Now it is

difficult to determine accurately the things which are worthy or

unworthy of a freeman, but let those who have obtained the prize of

virtue give judgment about them in accordance with their feelings of

right and wrong. He who in any way shares in the illiberality of

retail trades may be indicted for dishonouring his race by any one who

likes, before those who have been judged to be the first in virtue;

and if he appear to throw dirt upon his father's house by an

unworthy occupation, let him be imprisoned for a year and abstain from

that sort of thing; and if he repeat the offence, for two years; and

every time that he is convicted let the length of his imprisonment

be doubled. This shall be the second law:-He who engages in retail

trade must be either a metic or a stranger. And a third law shall

be:-In order that the retail trader who dwells in our city may be as

good or as little bad as possible, the guardians of the law shall

remember that they are not only guardians of those who may be easily

watched and prevented from becoming lawless or bad, because they are

wellborn and bred; but still more should they have a watch over

those who are of another sort, and follow pursuits which have a very

strong tendency to make men bad. And, therefore, in respect of the

multifarious occupations of retail trade, that is to say, in respect

of such of them as are allowed to remain, because they seem to be

quite necessary in a state-about these the guardians of the law should

meet and take counsel with those who have experience of the several

kinds of retail trade, as we before commanded, concerning adulteration

(which is a matter akin to this), and when they meet they shall

consider what amount of receipts, after deducting expenses, will

produce a moderate gain to the retail trades, and they shall fix in

writing and strictly maintain what they find to be the right

percentage of profit; this shall be seen to by the wardens of the

agora, and by the wardens of the city, and by the wardens of the

country. And so retail trade will benefit every one, and do the

least possible injury to those in the state who practise it.

  When a man makes an agreement which he does not fulfil, unless the

agreement be of a nature which the law or a vote of the assembly

does not allow, or which he has made under the influence of some

unjust compulsion, or which he is prevented from fulfilling against

his will by some unexpected chance, the other party may go to law with

him in the courts of the tribes, for not having completed his

agreement, if the parties are not able previously to come to terms

before arbiters or before their neighbours. The class of craftsmen who

have furnished human life with the arts is dedicated to Hephaestus and

Athene; and there is a class of craftsmen who preserve the works of

all craftsmen by arts of defence, the votaries of Ares and Athene,

to which divinities they too are rightly dedicated. All these continue

through life serving the country and the people; some of them are

leaders in battle; others make for hire implements and works, and they

ought not to deceive in such matters, out of respect to the Gods who

are their ancestors. If any craftsman through indolence omit to

execute his work in a given time, not reverencing the God who gives

him the means of life, but considering, foolish fellow, that he is his

own God and will let him off easily, in the first place, he shall

suffer at the hands of the God, and in the second place, the law shall

follow in a similar spirit. He shall owe to him who contracted with

him the price of the works which he has failed in performing, and he

shall begin again and execute them gratis in the given time. When a

man undertakes a work, the law gives him the same advice which was

given to the seller, that he should not attempt to raise the price,

but simply ask the value; this the law enjoins also on the contractor;

for the craftsman assuredly knows the value of his work. Wherefore, in

free states the man of art ought not to attempt to impose upon private

individuals by the help of his art, which is by nature a true thing;

and he who is wronged in a matter of this sort, shall have a right

of action against the party who has wronged him. And if any one lets

out work to a craftsman, and does not pay him duly according to the

lawful agreement, disregarding Zeus the guardian of the city and

Athene, who are the partners of the state, and overthrows the

foundations of society for the sake of a little gain, in his case

let the law and the Gods maintain the common bonds of the state. And

let him who, having already received the work in exchange, does not

pay the price in the time agreed, pay double the price; and if a

year has elapsed, although interest is not to be taken on loans, yet

for every drachma which he owes to the contractor let him pay a

monthly interest of an obol. Suits about these matters are to be

decided by the courts of the tribes; and by the way, since we have

mentioned craftsmen at all, we must not forget the other craft of war,

in which generals and tacticians are the craftsmen, who undertake

voluntarily the work of our safety, as other craftsmen undertake other

public works;-if they execute their work well the law will never

tire of praising him who gives them those honours which are the just

rewards of the soldier; but if any one, having already received the

benefit of any noble service in war, does not make the due return of

honour, the law will blame him. Let this then be the law, having an

ingredient of praise, not compelling but advising the great body of

the citizens to honour the brave men who are the saviours of the whole

state, whether by their courage or by their military skill;-they

should honour them, I say, in the second place; for the first and

highest tribute of respect is to be given to those who are able

above other men to honour the words of good legislators.

  The greater part of the dealings between man and man have been now

regulated by us with the exception of those that relate to orphans and

the supervision of orphans by their guardians. These follow next in

order, and must be regulated in some way. But to arrive at them we

must begin with the testamentary wishes of the dying and the case of

those who may have happened to die intestate. When I said, Cleinias,

that we must regulate them, I had in my mind the difficulty and

perplexity in which all such matters are involved. You cannot leave

them unregulated, for individuals would make regulations at variance

with one another, and repugnant to the laws and habits of the living

and to their own previous habits, if a person were simply allowed to

make any will which he pleased, and this were to take effect in

whatever state he may have been at the end of his life; for most of us

lose our senses in a manner, and feel crushed when we think that we

are about to die.

  Cle. What do you mean, Stranger?

  Ath. O Cleinias, a man when he is about to die is an intractable

creature, and is apt to use language which causes a great deal of

anxiety and trouble to the legislator.

  Cle. In what way?

  Ath. He wants to have the entire control of all his property, and

will use angry words.

  Cle. Such as what?

  Ath. O ye Gods, he will say, how monstrous that I am not allowed

to give, or not to give my own to whom I will-less to him who has been

bad to me, and more to him who has been good to me, and whose

badness and goodness have been tested by me in time of sickness or

in old age and in every other sort of fortune!

  Cle. Well Stranger, and may he not very fairly say so?

  Ath. In my opinion, Cleinias, the ancient legislators were too

good-natured, and made laws without sufficient observation or

consideration of human things.

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. I mean, my friend that they were afraid of the testator's

reproaches, and so they passed a law to the effect that a man should

be allowed to dispose of his property in all respects as he liked; but

you and I, if I am not mistaken, will have something better to say

to our departing citizens.

  Cle. What?

  Ath. O my friends, we will say to them, hard is it for you, who

are creatures of a day, to know what is yours-hard too, as the Delphic

oracle says, to know yourselves at this hour. Now I, as the

legislator, regard you and your possessions, not as belonging to

yourselves, but as belonging to your whole family, both past and

future, and yet more do regard both family and possessions as

belonging to the state; wherefore, if some one steals upon you with

flattery, when you are tossed on the sea of disease or old age, and

persuades you to dispose of your property in a way that is not for the

best, I will not, if I can help, allow this; but I will legislate with

a view to the whole, considering what is best both for the state and

for the family, esteeming as I ought the feelings of an individual

at a lower rate; and I hope that you will depart in peace and kindness

towards us, as you are going the way of all mankind; and we will

impartially take care of all your concerns, not neglecting any of

them, if we can possibly help. Let this be our prelude and consolation

to the living and dying, Cleinias, and let the law be as follows:

  He who makes a disposition in a testament, if he be the father of

a family, shall first of all inscribe as his heir any one of his

sons whom he may think fit; and if he gives any of his children to

be adopted by another citizen, let the adoption be inscribed. And if

he has a son remaining over and above who has not been adopted upon

any lot, and who may be expected to be sent out to a colony

according to law, to him his father may give as much as he pleases

of the rest of his property, with the exception of the paternal lot

and the fixtures on the lot. And if there are other sons, let him

distribute among them what there is more than the lot in such portions

as he pleases. And if one of the sons has already a house of his

own, he shall not give him of the money, nor shall he give money to

a daughter who has been betrothed, but if she is not betrothed he

may give her money. And if any of the sons or daughters shall be found

to have another lot of land in the country, which has accrued after

the testament has been made, they shall leave the lot which they

have inherited to the heir of the man who has made the will. If the

testator has no sons, but only daughters, let him choose the husband

of any one of his daughters whom he pleases, and leave and inscribe

him as his son and heir. And if a man have lost his son, when he was a

child, and before he could be reckoned among grown-up men, whether his

own or an adopted son, let the testator make mention of the

circumstance and inscribe whom he will to be his second son in hope of

better fortune. If the testator has no children at all, he may

select and give to any one whom he pleases the tenth part of the

property which he has acquired; but let him not be blamed if he

gives all the rest to his adopted son, and makes a friend of him

according to the law. If the sons of a man require guardians, and: the

father when he dies leaves a will appointing guardians, those have

been named by him, whoever they are and whatever their number be, if

they are able and willing to take charge of the children, shall be

recognized according to the provisions of the will. But if he dies and

has made no will, or a will in which he has appointed no guardians,

then the next of kin, two on the father's and two on the mother's

side, and one of the friends of the deceased, shall have the authority

of guardians, whom the guardians of the law shall appoint when the

orphans require guardians. And the fifteen eldest guardians of the law

shall have the whole care and charge of the orphans, divided into

threes according to seniority-a body of three for one year, and then

another body of three for the next year, until the cycle of the five

periods is complete; and this, as far as possible, is to continue

always. If a man dies, having made no will at all, and leaves sons who

require the care of guardians, they shall share in the protection

which is afforded by these laws.

  And if a man dying by some unexpected fate leaves daughters behind

him, let him pardon the legislator if he gives them in marriage, he

have a regard only to two out of three conditions-nearness of kin

and the preservation of the lot, and omits the third condition,

which a father would naturally consider, for he would choose out of

all the citizens a son for himself, and a husband for his daughter,

with a view to his character and disposition-the father, say, shall

forgive the legislator if he disregards this, which to him is an

impossible consideration. Let the law about these matters where

practicable be as follows:-If a man dies without making a will, and

leaves behind him daughters, let his brother, being the son of the

same father or of the same mother, having no lot, marry the daughter

and have the lot of the dead man. And if he have no brother, but

only a brother's son, in like manner let them marry, if they be of a

suitable age; and if there be not even a brother's son, but only the

son of a sister, let them do likewise, and so in the fourth degree, if

there be only the testator's father's brother, or in the fifth degree,

his father's brother's son, or in the sixth degree, the child of his

father's sister. Let kindred be always reckoned in this way: if a

person leaves daughters the relationship shall proceed upwards through

brothers and sisters, and brothers' and sisters' children, and first

the males shall come, and after them the females in the same family.

The judge shall consider and determine the suitableness or

unsuitableness of age in marriage; he shall make an inspection of

the males naked, and of the women naked down to the navel. And if

there be a lack of kinsmen in a family extending to grandchildren of a

brother, or to the grandchildren of a grandfather's children, the

maiden may choose with the consent of her guardians any one of the

citizens who is willing and whom she wills, and he shall be the heir

of the dead man, and the husband of his daughter. Circumstances

vary, and there may sometimes be a still greater lack of relations

within the limits of the state; and if any maiden has no kindred

living in the city, and there is some one who has been sent out to a

colony, and she is disposed to make him the heir of her father's

possessions, if he be indeed of her kindred, let him proceed to take

the lot according to the regulation of the law; but if he be not of

her kindred, she having no kinsmen within the city, and he be chosen

by the daughter of the dead man, and empowered to marry by the

guardians, let him return home and take the lot of him who died

intestate. And if a man has no children, either male or female, and

dies without making a will, let the previous law in general hold;

and let a man and a woman go forth from the family and share the

deserted house, and let the lot belong absolutely to them; and let the

heiress in the first degree be a sister, and in a second degree a

daughter of a brother, and in the third, a daughter of a sister, in

the fourth degree the sister of a father, and in the fifth degree

the daughter of a father's brother, and in a sixth degree of a

father's sister; and these shall dwell with their male kinsmen,

according to the degree of relationship and right, as we enacted

before. Now we must not conceal from ourselves that such laws are

apt to be oppressive and that there may sometimes be a hardship in the

lawgiver commanding the kinsman of the dead man to marry his relation;

be may be thought not to have considered the innumerable hindrances

which may arise among men in the execution of such ordinances; for

there may be cases in which the parties refuse to obey, and are

ready to do anything rather than marry, when there is some bodily or

mental malady or defect among those who are bidden to marry or be

married. Persons may fancy that the legislator never thought of

this, but they are mistaken; wherefore let us make a common prelude on

behalf of the lawgiver and of his subjects, the law begging the latter

to forgive the legislator, in that he, having to take care of the

common weal, cannot order at the same time the various circumstances

of individuals, and begging him to pardon them if naturally they are

sometimes unable to fulfil the act which he in his ignorance imposes

upon them.

  Cle. And how, Stranger, can we act most fairly under the

circumstances?

  Ath. There must be arbiters chosen to deal with such laws and the

subjects of them.

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. I mean to say, that a case may occur in which the nephew,

having a rich father, will be unwilling to marry the daughter of his

uncle; he will have a feeling of pride, and he will wish to look

higher. And there are cases in which the legislator will be imposing

upon him the greatest calamity, and he will be compelled to disobey

the law, if he is required, for example, to take a wife who is mad, or

has some other terrible malady of soul or body, such as makes life

intolerable to the sufferer. Then let what we are saying concerning

these cases be embodied in a law:-If any one finds fault with the

established laws respecting testaments, both as to other matters and

especially in what relates to marriage, and asserts that the

legislator, if he were alive and present, would not compel him to

obey-that is to say, would not compel those who are by our law

required to marry or be given in marriage, to do either-and some

kinsman or guardian dispute this, the reply is that the legislator

left fifteen of the guardians of the law to be arbiters and fathers of

orphans, male or female, and to them let the disputants have recourse,

and by their aid determine any matters of the kind, admitting their

decision to be final. But if any one thinks that too great power is

thus given to the guardians of the law, let him bring his

adversaries into the court of the select judges, and there have the

points in dispute determined. And he who loses the cause shall have

censure and blame from the legislator, which, by a man of sense, is

felt to be a penalty far heavier than a great loss of money.

  Thus will orphan children have a second birth. After their first

birth we spoke of their nurture and education, and after their

second birth, when they have lost their parents, we ought to take

measures that the misfortune of orphanhood may be as little sad to

them as possible. In the first place, we say that the guardians of the

law are lawgivers and fathers to them, not inferior to their natural

fathers. Moreover, they shall take charge of them year by year as of

their own kindred; and we have given both to them and to the

children's own guardians a suitable admonition concerning the

nurture of orphans. And we seem to have spoken opportunely in our

former discourse, when we said that the souls of the dead have the

power after death of taking an interest in human affairs, about

which there are many tales and traditions, long indeed, but true;

and seeing that they are so many and so ancient, we must believe them,

and we must also believe the lawgivers, who tell us that these

things are true, if they are not to be regarded as utter fools. But if

these things are really so, in the first place men should have a

fear of the Gods above, who regard the loneliness of the orphans;

and in the second place of the souls of the departed, who by nature

incline to take an especial care of their own children, and are

friendly to those who honour, and unfriendly to those who dishonour

them. Men should also fear the souls of the living who are aged and

high in honour; wherever a city is well ordered and prosperous,

their descendants cherish them, and so live happily; old persons are

quick to see and hear all that relates to them, and are propitious

to those who are just in the fulfilment of such duties, and they

punish those who wrong the orphan and the desolate, considering that

they are the greatest and most sacred of trusts. To all which

matters the guardian and magistrate ought to apply his mind, if he has

any, and take heed of the nurture and education of the orphans,

seeking in every possible way to do them good, for he is making a

contribution to his own good and that of his children. He who obeys

the tale which precedes the law, and does no wrong to an orphan,

will never experience the wrath of the legislator. But he who is

disobedient, and wrongs any one who is bereft of father or mother,

shall pay twice the penalty which he would have paid if he had wronged

one whose parents had been alive. As touching other legislation

concerning guardians in their relation to orphans, or concerning

magistrates and their superintendence of the guardians, if they did

not possess examples of the manner in which children of freemen should

be brought up in the bringing up of their own children, and of the

care of their property in the care of their own, or if they had not

just laws fairly stated about these very things-there would have

been reason in making laws for them, under the idea that they were a

peculiar-class, and we might distinguish and make separate rules for

the life of those who are orphans and of those who are not orphans.

But as the case stands, the condition of orphans with us not different

from the case of those who have father, though in regard to honour and

dishonour, and the attention given to them, the two are not usually

placed upon a level. Wherefore, touching the legislation about

orphans, the law speaks in serious accents, both of persuasion and

threatening, and such a threat as the following will be by no means

out of place:-He who is the guardian of an orphan of either sex, and

he among the guardians of the law to whom the superintendence of

this guardian has been assigned, shall love the unfortunate orphan

as though he were his own child, and he shall be as careful and

diligent in the management of his possessions as he would be if they

were his own, or even more careful and dilligent. Let every one who

has the care of an orphan observe this law. But any one who acts

contrary to the law on these matters, if he be a guardian of the

child, may be fined by a magistrate, or, if he be himself a

magistrate, the guardian may bring him before the court of select

judges, and punish him, if convicted, by exacting a fine of double the

amount of that inflicted by the court. And if a guardian appears to

the relations of the orphan, or to any other citizen, to act

negligently or dishonestly, let them bring him before the same

court, and whatever damages are given against him, let him pay

fourfold, and let half belong to the orphan and half to him who

procured the conviction. If any orphan arrives at years of discretion,

and thinks that he has been ill-used by his guardians, let him

within five years of the expiration of the guardianship be allowed

to bring them to trial; and if any of them be convicted, the court

shall determine what he shall pay or suffer. And if magistrate shall

appear to have wronged the orphan by neglect, and he be convicted, let

the court determine what he shall suffer or pay to the orphan, and

if there be dishonesty in addition to neglect, besides paying the

fine, let him be deposed from his office of guardian of the law, and

let the state appoint another guardian of the law for the city and for

the country in his room.

  Greater differences than there ought to be sometimes arise between

fathers and sons, on the part either of fathers who will be of opinion

that the legislator should enact that they may, if they wish, lawfully

renounce their son by the proclamation of a herald in the face of

the world, or of sons who think that they should be allowed to

indict their fathers on the charge of imbecility when they are

disabled by disease or old age. These things only happen, as a

matter of fact, where the natures of men are utterly bad; for where

only half is bad, as, for example, if the father be not bad, but the

son be bad, or conversely, no great calamity is the result of such

an amount of hatred as this. In another state, a son disowned by his

father would not of necessity cease to be a citizen, but in our state,

of which these are to be the laws, the disinherited must necessarily

emigrate into another country, for no addition can be made even of a

single family to the 5040 households; and, therefore, he who

deserves to suffer these things must be renounced not only by his

father, who is a single person, but by the whole family, and what is

done in these cases must be regulated by some such law as the

following:-He who in the sad disorder of his soul has a mind, justly

or unjustly, to expel from his family a son whom he has begotten and

brought up, shall not lightly or at once execute his purpose; but

first of all he shall collect together his own kinsmen extending to

cousins, and in like manner his son's kinsmen by the mother's side,

and in their presence he shall accuse his son, setting forth that he

deserves at the hands of them all to be dismissed from the family; and

the son shall be allowed to address them in a similar manner, and show

that he does not deserve to suffer any of these things. And if the

father persuades them, and obtains the suffrages of more than half

of his kindred, exclusive of the father and mother and the offender

himself-I say, if he obtains more than half the suffrages of all the

other grown-up members of the family, of both sexes, the father

shall be permitted to put away his son, but not otherwise. And if

any other citizen is willing to adopt the son who is put away, no

law shall hinder him; for the characters of young men are subject to

many changes in the course of their lives. And if he has been put

away, and in a period of ten years no one is willing to adopt him, let

those who have the care of the superabundant population which is

sent out into colonies, see to him, in order that he may be suitably

provided for in the colony. And if disease or age or harshness of

temper, or all these together, makes a man to be more out of his

mind than the rest of the world are-but this is not observable, except

to those who live with him-and he, being master of his property, is

the ruin of the house, and his son doubts and hesitates about

indicting his father for insanity, let the law in that case or, that

he shall first of all go to the eldest guardians of the law and tell

them of his father's misfortune, and they shall duly look into the

matter, and take counsel as to whether he shall indict him or not. And

if they advise him to proceed, they shall be both his witnesses and

his advocates; and if the father is cast, he shall henceforth be

incapable of ordering the least particular of his life; let him be

as a child dwelling in the house for the remainder of his days. And if

a man and his wife have an unfortunate incompatibility of temper,

ten of the guardians of the law, who are impartial, and ten of the

women who regulate marriages, shall look to the matter, and if they

are able to reconcile them they shall be formally reconciled; but if

their souls are too much tossed with passion, they shall endeavour

to find other partners. Now they are not likely to have very gentle

tempers; and, therefore, we must endeavour to associate with them

deeper and softer natures. Those who have no children, or only a

few, at the time of their separation, should choose their new partners

with a view to the procreation of children; but those who have a

sufficient number of children should separate and marry again in order

that they may have some one to grow old with and that the pair may

take care of one another in age. If a woman dies, leaving children,

male or female, the law will advise rather than compel the husband

to bring up the children without introducing into the house a

stepmother. But if he have no children, then he shall be compelled

to marry until he has begotten a sufficient number of sons to his

family and to the state. And if a man dies leaving a sufficient number

of children, the mother of his children shall remain with them and

bring, them up. But if she appears to be too young to live

virtuously without a husband, let her relations communicate with the

women who superintend marriage, and let both together do what they

think best in these matters; if there is a lack of children, let the

choice be made with a view to having them; two children, one of either

sex, shall be deemed sufficient in the eye of the law. When a child is

admitted to be the offspring of certain parents and is acknowledged by

them, but there is need of a decision as to which parent the child

is to follow-in case a female slave have intercourse with a male

slave, or with a freeman or freedman, the offspring shall always

belong to the master of the female slave. Again, if a free woman

have intercourse with a male slave, the offspring shall belong to

the master of the slave; but if a child be born either of a slave by

her master, or of his mistress by a slave-and this be provence

offspring of the woman and its father shall be sent away by the

women who superintend marriage into another country, and the guardians

of the law shall send away the offspring of the man and its mother.

  Neither God, nor a man who has understanding, will ever advise any

one to neglect his parents. To a discourse concerning the honour and

dishonour of parents, a prelude such as the following, about the

service of the Gods, will be a suitable introduction:-There are

ancient customs about the Gods which are universal, and they are of

two kinds: some of the Gods we see with our eyes and we honour them,

of others we honour the images, raising statues of them which we

adore; and though they are lifeless, yet we imagine that the living

Gods have a good will and gratitude to us on this account. Now, if a

man has a father or mother, or their fathers or mothers treasured up

in his house stricken in years, let him consider that no statue can be

more potent to grant his requests than they are, who are sitting at

his hearth if only he knows how to show true service to them.

  Cle. And what do you call the true mode of service?

  Ath. I will tell you, O my friend, for such things are worth

listening to.

  Cle. Proceed.

  Ath. Oedipus, as tradition says, when dishonoured by his sons,

invoked on them curses which every one declares to have been heard and

ratified by the Gods, and Amyntor in his wrath invoked curses on his

son Phoenix, and Theseus upon Hippolytus, and innumerable others

have also called down wrath upon their children, whence it is clear

that the Gods listen to the imprecations of parents; for the curses of

parents are, as they ought to be, mighty against their children as

no others are. And shall we suppose that the prayers of a father or

mother who is specially dishonoured by his or her children, are

heard by the Gods in accordance with nature; and that if a parent is

honoured by them, and in the gladness of his heart earnestly

entreats the Gods in his prayers to do them good, he is not equally

heard, and that they do not minister to his request? If not, they

would be very unjust ministers of good, and that we affirm to be

contrary to their nature.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. May we not think, as I was saying just now, that we can possess

no image which is more honoured by the Gods, than that of a father

or grandfather, or of a mother stricken in years? whom when a man

honours, the heart of the God rejoices, and he is ready to answer

their prayers. And, truly, the figure of an ancestor is a wonderful

thing, far higher than that of a lifeless image. For the living,

when they are honoured by us, join in our prayers, and when they are

dishonoured, they utter imprecations against us; but lifeless

objects do neither. And therefore, if a man makes a right use of his

father and grandfather and other aged relations, he will have images

which above all others will win him the favour of the Gods.

  Cle. Excellent.

  Ath. Every man of any understanding fears and respects the prayers

of parents, knowing well that many times and to many persons they have

been accomplished. Now these things being thus ordered by nature, good

men think it a blessing from heaven if their parents live to old age

and reach the utmost limit of human life, or if taken away before

their time they are deeply regretted by them; but to bad men parents

are always a cause of terror. Wherefore let every man honour with

every sort of lawful honour his own parents, agreeably to what has now

been said. But if this prelude be an unmeaning sound in the cars of

any one, let the law follow, which may be rightly imposed in these

terms:-If any one in this city be not sufficiently careful of his

parents, and do not regard and gratify in every respect their wishes

more than those of his sons and of his other offspring or of

himself-let him who experiences this sort of treatment either come

himself, or send some one to inform the three eldest guardians of

the law, and three of the women who have the care of marriages; and

let them look to the matter and punish youthful evil-doers with

stripes and bonds if they are under thirty years of age, that is to

say, if they be men, or if they be women, let them undergo the same

punishment up to forty years of age. But if, when they are still

more advanced in years, they continue the same neglect of their

parents, and do any hurt to any of them, let them be brought before

a court in which every single one of the eldest citizens shall be

the judges, and if the offender be convicted, let the court

determine what he ought to pay or suffer, and any penalty may be

imposed on him which a man can pay or suffer. If the person who has

been wronged be unable to inform the magistrates, let any freeman

who hears of his case inform, and if he do not, he shall be deemed

base, and shall be liable to have a suit for damage brought against

him by any one who likes. And if a slave inform, he shall receive

freedom; and if he be the slave of the injurer or injured party, he

shall be set free by the magistrates, or if he belong to any other

citizen, the public shall pay a price on his behalf to the owner;

and let the magistrates take heed that no one wrongs him out of

revenge, because he has given information.

  Cases in which one man injures another by poisons, and which prove

fatal, have been already discussed; but about other cases in which a

person intentionally and of malice harms another with meats, or

drinks, or ointments, nothing has as yet been determined. For there

are two kinds of poisons used among men, which cannot clearly be

distinguished. There is the kind just now explicitly mentioned,

which injures bodies by the use of other bodies according to a natural

law; there is also another kind which persuades the more daring

class that they can do injury by sorceries, and incantations, and

magic knots, as they are termed, and makes others believe that they

above all persons are injured by the powers of the magician. Now it is

not easy to know the nature of all these things; nor if a man do

know can he readily persuade others to believe him. And when men are

disturbed in their minds at the sight of waxen images fixed either

at their doors, or in a place where three ways meet, or on the

sepulchres of parents, there is no use in trying to persuade them that

they should despise all such things because they have no certain

knowledge about them. But we must have a law in two parts,

concerning poisoning, in whichever of the two ways the attempt is

made, and we must entreat, and exhort, and advise men not to have

recourse to such practices, by which they scare the multitude out of

their wits, as if they were children, compelling the legislator and

the judge to heal the fears which the sorcerer arouses, and to tell

them in the first place, that he who attempts to poison or enchant

others knows not what he is doing, either as regards the body

(unless he has a knowledge of medicine), or as regards his

enchantments (unless he happens to be a prophet or diviner). Let the

law, then, run as follows about poisoning or witchcraft:-He who

employs poison to do any injury, not fatal, to a man himself, or to

his servants, or any injury, whether fatal or not, to his cattle or

his bees, if he be a physician, and be convicted of poisoning, shall

be punished with death; or if he be a private person, the court

shall determine what he is to pay or suffer. But he who seems to be

the sort of man injures others by magic knots, or enchantments, or

incantations, or any of the like practices, if he be a prophet or

diviner, let him die; and if, not being a prophet, he be convicted

of witchcraft, as in the previous case, let the court fix what he

ought to pay or suffer.

  When a man does another any injury by theft or violence, for the

greater injury let him pay greater damages to the injured man, and

less for the smaller injury; but in all cases, whatever the injury may

have been, as much as will compensate the loss. And besides the

compensation of the wrong, let a man pay a further penalty for the

chastisement of his offence: he who has done the wrong instigated by

the folly of another, through the lightheartedness of youth or the

like, shall pay a lighter penalty; but he who has injured another

through his own folly, when overcome by pleasure or pain, in

cowardly fear, or lust, or envy, or implacable anger, shall endure a

heavier punishment. Not that he is punished because he did wrong,

for that which is done can never be undone, but in order that in

future times, he, and those who see him corrected, may utterly hate

injustice, or at any rate abate much of their evil-doing. Having an

eye to all these things, the law, like a good archer, should aim at

the right measure of punishment, and in all cases at the deserved

punishment. In the attainment of this the judge shall be a

fellow-worker with the legislator, whenever the law leaves to him to

determine what the offender shall suffer or pay; and the legislator,

like a painter, shall give a rough sketch of the cases in which the

law is to be applied. This is what we must do, Megillus and

Cleinias, in the best and fairest manner that we can, saying what

the punishments are to be of all actions of theft and violence, and

giving laws of such a kind as the Gods and sons of Gods would have

us give.

  If a man is mad he shall not be at large in the city, but his

relations shall keep him at home in any way which they can; or if not,

let them pay a penalty-he who is of the highest class shall pay a

penalty of one hundred drachmae, whether he be a slave or a freeman

whom he neglects; and he of the second class shall pay four-fifths

of a mina; and he of the third class three-fifths; and he of the

fourth class two-fifths. Now there are many sorts of madness, some

arising out of disease, which we have already mentioned; and there are

other kinds, which originate in an evil and passionate temperament,

and are increased by bad education; out of a slight quarrel this class

of madmen will often raise a storm of abuse against one another, and

nothing of that sort ought to be allowed to occur in a well-ordered

state. Let this, then, be the law about abuse, which shall relate to

all cases:-No one shall speak evil of another; and when a man disputes

with another he shall teach and learn of the disputant and the

company, but he shall abstain from evilspeaking; for out of the

imprecations which men utter against one another, and the feminine

habit of casting aspersions on one another, and using foul names,

out of words light as air, in very deed the greatest enmities and

hatreds spring up. For the speaker gratifies his anger, which is an

ungracious element of his nature; and nursing up his wrath by the

entertainment of evil thoughts, and exacerbating that part of his soul

which was formerly civilized by education, he lives in a state of

savageness and moroseness, and pays a bitter penalty for his anger.

And in such cases almost all men take to saying something ridiculous

about their opponent, and there is no man who is in the habit of

laughing at another who does not miss virtue and earnestness

altogether, or lose the better half of greatness. Wherefore let no one

utter any taunting word at a temple, or at the public sacrifices, or

at games, or in the agora, or in a court of justice, or in any

public assembly. And let the magistrate who presides on these

occasions chastise an offender, and he shall be blameless; but if he

fails in doing so, he shall not claim the prize of virtue; for he is

one who heeds not the laws, and does not do what the legislator

commands. And if in any other place any one indulges in these sort

of revilings, whether he has begun the quarrel or is only retaliating,

let any elder who is present support the law, and control with blows

those who indulge in passion, which is another great evil; and if he

do not, let him be liable to pay the appointed penalty. And we say

now, that he who deals in reproaches against others cannot reproach

them without attempting to ridicule them; and this, when done in a

moment of anger, is what we make matter of reproach against him. But

then, do we admit into our state the comic writers who are so fond

of making mankind ridiculous, if they attempt in a good-natured manner

to turn the laugh against our citizens? or do we draw the

distinction of jest and earnest, and allow a man to make use of

ridicule in jest and without anger about any thing or person; though

as we were saying, not if he be angry have a set purpose? We forbid

earnest-that is unalterably fixed; but we have still to say who are to

be sanctioned or not to be sanctioned by the law in the employment

of innocent humour. A comic poet, or maker of iambic or satirical

lyric verse, shall not be permitted to ridicule any of the citizens,

either by word or likeness, either in anger or without anger. And if

any one is disobedient, the judges shall either at once expel him from

the country, or he shall pay a fine of three minae, which shall be

dedicated to the God who presides over the contests. Those only who

have received permission shall be allowed to write verses at one

another, but they shall be without anger and in jest; in anger and

in serious earnest they shall not be allowed. The decision of this

matter shall be left to the superintendent of the general education of

the young, and whatever he may license, the writer shall be allowed to

produce, and whatever he rejects let not the poet himself exhibit,

or ever teach anybody else, slave or freeman, under the penalty of

being dishonoured, and held disobedient to the laws.

  Now he is not to be pitied who is hungry, or who suffers any

bodily pain, but he who is temperate, or has some other virtue, or

part of a virtue, and at the same time suffers from misfortune; it

would be an extraordinary thing if such an one, whether slave or

freeman, were utterly forsaken and fell into the extremes of poverty

in any tolerably well-ordered city or government. Wherefore the

legislator may safely make a law applicable to such cases in the

following terms:-Let there be no beggars in our state; and if

anybody begs, seeking to pick up a livelihood by unavailing prayers,

let the wardens of the agora turn him out of the agora, and the

wardens of the city out of the city, and the wardens of the country

send him out of any other parts of the land across the border, in

order that the land may be cleared of this sort of animal.

  If a slave of either sex injure anything, which is not his or her

own, through inexperience, or some improper practice, and the person

who suffers damage be not himself in part to blame, the master of

the slave who has done the harm shall either make full satisfaction,

or give up the the slave who has done has done the injury. But if

master argue that the charge has arisen by collusion between the

injured party and the injurer, with the view of obtaining the slave,

let him sue the person, who says that he has been injured, for

malpractices. And if he gain a conviction, let him receive double

the value which the court fixes as the price of the slave; and if he

lose his suit, let him make amends for the injury, and give up the

slave. And if a beast of burden, or horse, or dog, or any other

animal, injure the property of a neighbour, the owner shall in like

manner pay for the injury.

  If any man refuses to be a witness, he who wants him shall summon

him, and he who is summoned shall come to the trial; and if he knows

and is willing to bear witness, let him bear witness, but if he says

he does not know let him swear by the three divinities Zeus, and

Apollo, and Themis, that he does not, and have no more to do with

the cause. And he who is summoned to give witness and does not

answer to his summoner, shall be liable for the harm which ensues

according to law. And if a person calls up as a witness any one who is

acting as a judge, let him give his witness, but he shall not

afterwards vote in the cause. A free woman may give her witness and

plead, if she be more than forty years of age, and may bring an action

if she have no husband; but if her husband be alive she shall only

be allowed to bear witness. A slave of either sex and a child shall be

allowed to give evidence and to plead, but only in cases of murder;

and they must produce sufficient sureties that they will certainly

remain until the trial, in case they should be charged with false

witness. And either of the parties in a cause may bring an

accusation of perjury against witnesses, touching their evidence in

whole or in part, if he asserts that such evidence has been given; but

the accusation must be brought previous to the final decision of the

cause. The magistrates shall preserve the accusations of false

witness, and have them kept under the seal of both parties, and

produce them on the day when the trial for false witness takes

place. If a man be twice convicted of false witness, he shall not be

required, and if thrice, he shall not be allowed to bear witness;

and if he dare to witness after he has been convicted three times, let

any one who pleases inform against him to the magistrates, and let the

magistrates hand him over to the court, and if he be convicted he

shall be punished with death. And in any case in which the evidence is

rightly found to be false, and yet to have given the victory to him

who wins the suit, and more than half the witnesses are condemned, the

decision which was gained by these means shall be a discussion and a

decision as to whether the suit was determined by that false

evidence or and in whichever way the decision may be given, the

previous suit shall be determined accordingly.

  There are many noble things in human life, but to most of them

attach evils which are fated to corrupt and spoil them. Is not justice

noble, which has been the civilizer of humanity? How then can the

advocate of justice be other than noble? And yet upon this

profession which is presented to us under the fair name of art has

come an evil reputation. In the first place; we are told that by

ingenious pleas and the help of an advocate the law enables a man to

win a particular cause, whether just or unjust; and the power of

speech which is thereby imparted, are at the service of him sho is

willing to pay for them. Now in our state this so-called art,

whether really an art or only an experience and practice destitute

of any art, ought if possible never to come into existence, or if

existing among us should litten to the request of the legislator and

go away into another land, and not speak contrary to justice. If the

offenders obey we say no more; but those who disobey, the voice of the

law is as follows:-If anyone thinks that he will pervert the power

of justice in the minds of the judges, and unseasonably litigate or

advocate, let any one who likes indict him for malpractices of law and

dishonest advocacy, and let him be judged in the court of select

judges; and if he be convicted, let the court determine whether he may

be supposed to act from a love of money or from contentiousness. And

if he is supposed to act from contentiousness, the court shall fix a

time during which he shall not be allowed to institute or plead a

cause; and if he is supposed to act as be does from love of money,

in case he be a stranger, he shall leave the country, and never return

under penalty of death; but if he be a citizen, he shall die,

because he is a lover of money, in whatever manner gained; and

equally, if he be judged to have acted more than once from

contentiousness, he shall die.

  BOOK XII



  If a herald or an ambassador carry a false message from our city

to any other, or bring back a false message from the city to which

he is sent, or be proved to have brought back, whether from friends or

enemies, in his capacity of herald or ambassador, what they have never

said, let him be indicted for having violated, contrary to the law,

the commands and duties imposed upon him by Hermes and Zeus, and let

there be a penalty fixed, which he shall suffer or pay if he be

convicted.

  Theft is a mean, and robbery a shameless thing; and none of the sons

of Zeus delight in fraud and violence, or ever practised, either.

Wherefore let no one be deluded by poets or mythologers into a

mistaken belief of such such things, nor let him suppose, when he

thieves or is guilty of violence, that he is doing nothing base, but

only what the Gods themselves do. For such tales are untrue and

improbable; and he who steals or robs contrary to the law, is never

either a God or the son of a God; of this the legislator ought to be

better informed than all the, poets put together. Happy is he and

may he be forever happy, who is persuaded and listens to our words;

but he who disobeys shall have to contend against the following

law:-If a man steal anything belonging to the public, whether that

which he steals be much or little, he shall have the same

punishment. For he who steals a little steals with the same wish as he

who steals much, but with less power, and he who takes up a greater

amount; not having deposited it, is wholly unjust. Wherefore the law

is not disposed to inflict a less penalty on the one than on the other

because his theft, is less, but on the ground that the thief may

possibly be in one case still curable, and may in another case be

incurable. If any one convict in a court of law a stranger or a

slave of a theft of public property, let the court determine what

punishment he shall suffer, or what penalty he shall pay, bearing in

mind that he is probably not incurable. But the citizen who has been

brought up as our citizens will have been, if he be found guilty of

robbing his country by fraud or violence, whether he be caught in

the act or not, shall be punished with death; for he is incurable.

  Now for expeditions of war much consideration and many laws are

required; the great principle of all is that no one of either sex

should be without a commander; nor should the mind of any one be

accustomed to do anything, either in jest or earnest, of his own

motion, but in war and in peace he should look to and follow his

leader, even in the least things being under his guidance; for

example, he should stand or move, or exercise, or wash, or take his

meals, or get up in the night to keep guard and deliver messages

when he is bidden; and in the hour of danger he should not pursue

and not retreat except by order of his superior; and in a word, not

teach the soul or accustom her to know or understand how to do

anything apart from others. Of all soldiers the life should be

always and in all things as far as possible in common and together;

there neither is nor ever will be a higher, or better, or more

scientific principle than this for the attainment of salvation and

victory in war. And we ought in time of peace from youth upwards to

practise this habit of commanding others, and of being commanded by

others; anarchy should have no place in the life of man or of the

beasts who are subject to man. I may add that all dances ought to be

performed with view to military excellence; and agility and ease

should be cultivated for the same object, and also endurance of the

want of meats and drinks, and of winter cold and summer heat, and of

hard couches; and, above all, care should be taken not to destroy

the peculiar qualities of the head and the feet by surrounding them

with extraneous coverings, and so hindering their natural growth of

hair and soles. For these are the extremities, and of all the parts of

the body, whether they are preserved or not is of the greatest

consequence; the one is the servant of the whole body, and the other

the master, in whom all the ruling senses are by nature set. Let the

young man imagine that he hears in what has preceded the praises of

the military life; the law shall be as follows:-He shall serve in

war who is on the roll or appointed to some special service, and if

any one is absent from cowardice, and without the leave of the

generals; he shall be indicted before the military commanders for

failure of service when the army comes home; and the soldiers shall be

his judges; the heavy armed, and the cavalry, and the other arms of

the service shall form separate courts; and they shall bring the

heavy-armed before the heavy-armed, and the horsemen before the

horsemen, and the others in like manner before their peers; and he who

is found guilty shall never be allowed to compete for any prize of

valour, or indict another for not serving on an expedition, or be an

accuser at all in any military matters. Moreover, the court shall

further determine what punishment he shall suffer, or what penalty

he shall pay. When the suits for failure of service are completed, the

leaders of the several kinds of troops shall again hold an assembly,

and they shall adjudge the prizes of valour; and he who likes shall

give judgment in his own branch of the service, saying nothing about

any former expedition, nor producing any proof or witnesses to confirm

his statement, but speaking only of the present occasion. The crown of

victory shall be an olive wreath which the victor shall offer up the

temple of any war-god whom he likes, adding an inscription for a

testimony to last during life, that such an one has received the

first, the second, or prize. If any one goes on an expedition, and

returns home before the appointed time, when the generals. have not

withdrawn the army, be shall be indicted for desertion before the same

persons who took cognisance of failure of service, and if he be

found guilty, the same punishment shall be inflicted on him.

  Now every man who is engaged in any suit ought to be very careful of

bringing false witness against any one, either intentionally or

unintentionally, if he can help; for justice is truly said to be an

honourable maiden, and falsehood is naturally repugnant to honour

and justice. A witness ought to be very careful not to sift against

justice, as for example in what relates to the throwing away of

arms-he must distinguish the throwing them away when necessary, and

not make that a reproach, or bring in action against some innocent

person on that account. To make the distinction maybe difficult; but

still the law must attempt to define the different kinds in some

way. Let me endeavour to explain my meaning by an ancient tale:-If

Patroclus had been brought to the tent still alive but without his

arms (and this has happened to innumerable persons), the original

arms, which the poet says were presented to Peleus by the Gods as a

nuptial gift when he married. Thetis, remaining in the hands of

Hector, then the base spirits of that day might have reproached the

son of Menoetius with having cast away his arms. Again, there is the

case of those who have been thrown down precipices and lost their

arms; and of those who at sea, and in stormy places, have been

suddenly overwhelmed by floods of water; and there are numberless

things of this kind which one might adduce by way of extenuation,

and with the view of justifying a misfortune which is easily

misrepresented. We must, therefore, endeavour to divide to the best of

our power the greater and more serious evil from the lesser. And a

distinction may be drawn in the use of terms of reproach. A man does

not always deserve to be called the thrower away of his shield; he may

be only the loser of his arms. For there is a great or rather absolute

difference between him who is deprived of his arms by a sufficient

force, and him who voluntarily lets his shield go. Let the law then be

as follows:-If a person having arms is overtaken by the enemy and does

not turn round and defend himself, but lets them go voluntarily or

throws them away, choosing a base life and a swift escape rather

than a courageous and noble and blessed death-in such a case of the

throwing away of arms let justice be done, but the judge need take

no note of the case just now mentioned; for the bad man ought always

to be punished, in the hope that he may be improved, but not the

unfortunate, for there is no advantage in that. And what shall be

the punishment suited to him who has thrown away his weapons of

defence? Tradition says that Caeneus, the Thessalian, was changed by a

God from a woman into a man; but the converse miracle cannot now be

wrought, or no punishment would be more proper than that the man who

throws away his shield should be changed into a woman. This however is

impossible, and therefore let us make a law as nearly like this as

we can-that he who loves his life too well shall be in no danger for

the remainder of his days, but shall live for ever under the stigma of

cowardice. And let the law be in the following terms:-When a man is

found guilty of disgracefully throwing away his arms in war, no

general or military officer shall allow him to serve as a soldier,

or give him any place at all in the ranks of soldiers; and the officer

who gives the coward any place, shall suffer a penalty which the

public examiner shall exact of him; and if he be of the highest

dass, he shall pay a thousand drachmae; or if he be of the second

class, five minae; or if he be of the third, three minae; or if he

be of the fourth class, one mina. And he who is found guilty of

cowardice, shall not only be dismissed from manly dangers, which is

a disgrace appropriate to his nature, but he shall pay a thousand

drachmae, if he be of the highest class, and five minae if he be of

the second class, and three if he be of the third class, and a mina,

like the preceding, if he be of the fourth class.

  What regulations will be proper about examiners, seeing that some of

our magistrates are elected by lot, and for a year, and some for a

longer time and from selected persons? Of such magistrates, who will

be a sufficient censor or examiner, if any of them, weighed down by

the pressure of office or his own inability to support the dignity

of his office, be guilty of any crooked practice? It is by no means

easy to find a magistrate who excels other magistrates in virtue,

but still we must endeavour to discover some censor or examiner who is

more than man. For the truth is, that there are many elements of

dissolution in a state, as there are also in a ship, or in an

animal; they all have their cords, and girders, and sinews-one

nature diffused in many places, and called by many names; and the

office of examiner is a most important element in the preservation and

dissolution of states. For if the examiners are better than the

magistrates, and their duty is fulfilled justly and without blame,

then the whole state and country flourishes and is happy; but if the

examination of the magistrates is carried on in a wrong way, then,

by the relaxation of that justice which is the uniting principle of

all constitutions, every power in the state is rent asunder from every

other; they no longer incline in the same direction, but fill the city

with faction, and make many cities out of one, and soon bring all to

destruction. Wherefore the examiners ought to be admirable in every

sort of virtue. Let us invent a mode of creating them, which shall

be as follows:-Every year, after the summer solstice, the whole city

shall meet in the common precincts of Helios and Apollo, and shall

present to the God three men out of their own number in the manner

following:-Each citizen shall select, not himself, but some other

citizen whom he deems in every way the best, and who is not less

than fifty years of age. And out of the selected persons who have

the greatest number of votes, they shall make a further selection

until they reduce them to one-half, if they are an even number; but if

they are not an even number, they shall subtract the one who has the

smallest number of votes, and make them an even number, and then leave

the half which have the great number of votes. And if two persons have

an equal number of votes, and thus increase the number beyond

one-half, they shall withdraw the younger of the two and do away

with the excess; and then including all the rest they shall again

vote, until there are left three having an unequal number of votes.

But if all the three, or two out of the three, have equal votes, let

them commit the election to good fate and fortune, and separate off by

lot the first, and the second, and the third; these they shall crown

with an olive wreath and give them the prize of excellence, at the

same time proclaiming to all the world that the city of the

Magnetes, by providence of the Gods, is again preserved, and

presents to the Sun and to Apollo her three best men as

first-fruits, to be a common offering to them, according to the

ancient law, as long as their lives answer to the judgment formed of

them. And these shall appoint in their first year twelve examiners, to

continue until each has completed seventy-five years, to whom three

shall afterwards be added yearly; and let these divide all the

magistracies into twelve parts, and prove the holders of them by every

sort of test to which a freeman may be subjected; and let them live

while they hold office in the precinct of Helios and Apollo, in

which they were chosen, and let each one form a judgment of some

things individually, and of others in company with his colleagues; and

let him place a writing in the agora about each magistracy, and what

the magistrate ought to suffer or pay, according to the decision of

the examiners. And if a magistrate does not admit that he has been

justly judged, let him bring the examiners before the select judges,

and if he be acquitted by their decision, let him, if he will,

accuse the examiners themselves; if, however, he be convicted, and

have been condemned to death by the examiners, let him die (and of

course he can only die once):-but any other penalties which admit of

being doubled let him suffer twice over.

  And now let us pass under review the examiners themselves; what will

their examination be, and how conducted? During the life of these men,

whom the whole state counts worthy of the rewards of virtue, they

shall have the first seat at all public assemblies, and at all

Hellenic sacrifices and sacred missions, and other public and holy

ceremonies in which they share. The chiefs of each sacred mission

shall be selected from them, and they only of all the citizens shall

be adorned with a crown of laurel; they shall all be priests of Apollo

and Helios; and one of them, who is judged first of the priests

created in that year, shall be high priest; and they shall write up

his name in each year to be a measure of time as long as the city

lasts; and after their death they shall be laid out and carried to the

grave and entombed in a manner different from the other citizens. They

shall be decked in a robe all of white, and there shall be no crying

or lamentation over them; but a chorus of fifteen maidens, and another

of boys, shall stand around the bier on either side, hymning the

praises of the departed priests in alternate responses, declaring

their blessedness in song all day long; and at dawn a hundred of the

youths who practise gymnastic and whom the relations of the departed

shall choose, shall carry the bier to the sepulchre, the young men

marching first, dressed in the garb of warriors-the cavalry with their

horses, the heavy-armed with their arms, and the others in like

manner. And boys neat the bier and in front of it shall sing their

national hymn, and maidens shall follow behind, and with them the

women who have passed the age of childbearing; next, although they are

interdicted from other burials, let priests and priestesses follow,

unless the Pythian oracle forbid them; for this burial is free from

pollution. The place of burial shall be an oblong vaulted chamber

underground, constructed of tufa, which will last for ever, having

stone couches placed side by side. And here they will lay the

blessed person, and cover the sepulchre with a circular mound of earth

and plant a grove of trees around on every side but one; and on that

side the sepulchre shall be allowed to extend for ever, and a new

mound will not be required. Every year they shall have contests in

music and gymnastics, and in horsemanship, in honour of the dead.

These are the honours which shall be given to those who at the

examination are found blameless; but if any of them, trusting to the

scrutiny being over, should, after the judgment has been given,

manifest the wickedness of human nature, let the law ordain that he

who pleases shall indict him, and let the cause be tried in the

following manner. In the first place, the court shall be composed of

the guardians of the law, and to them the surviving examiners shall be

added, as well as the court of select judges; and let the pursuer

lay his indictment in this form-he shall say that so-and-so is

unworthy of the prize of virtue and of his office; and if the

defendant be convicted let him be deprived of his office, and of the

burial, and of the other honours given him. But if the prosecutor do

not obtain the fifth part of the votes, let him, if he be of the first

dass, pay twelve minae, and eight if he be of the second class, and

six if he be of the third dass, and two minae if he be of the fourth

class.

  The so-called decision of Rhadamanthus is worthy of all

admiration. He knew that the men of his own time believed and had no

doubt that there were Gods, which was a reasonable belief in those

days, because most men were the sons of Gods, and according to

tradition he was one himself. He appears to have thought that he ought

to commit judgment to no man, but to the Gods only, and in this way

suits were simply and speedily decided by him. For he made the two

parties take an oath respecting the points in dispute, and so got

rid of the matter speedily and safely. But now that a certain

portion of mankind do not believe at all in the existence of the Gods,

and others imagine that they have no care of us, and the opinion of

most men, and of the men, is that in return for small sacrifice and

a few flattering words they will be their accomplices in purloining

large sums and save them from many terrible punishments, the way of

Rhadamanthus is no longer suited to the needs of justice; for as the

needs of men about the Gods are changed, the laws should also be

changed;-in the granting of suits a rational legislation ought to do

away with the oaths of the parties on either side-he who obtains leave

to bring an action should write, down the charges, but should not

add an oath; and the defendant in like manner should give his denial

to the magistrates in writing, and not swear; for it is a dreadful

thing to know, when many lawsuits are going on in a state that

almost half the people who meet one another quite unconcernedly at the

public meals and in other companies and relations of private life

are perjured. Let the law, then, be as follows:-A judge who is about

to give judgment shall take an oath, and he who is choosing

magistrates for the state shall either vote on oath or with a voting

tablet which he brings from a temple; so too the judge of dances and

of all music, and the superintendents and umpires of gymnastic and

equestrian contests, and any matters in which, as far as men can

judge, there is nothing to be gained by a false oath; but all cases in

which a denial confirmed by an oath clearly results in a great

advantage to the taker of the oath, shall be decided without the

oath of the parties to the suit, and the presiding judges shall not

permit either of them. to use an oath for the sake of persuading,

nor to call down curses on himself and his race, nor to use unseemly

supplications or womanish laments. But they shall ever be teaching and

learning what is just in auspicious words; and he who does otherwise

shall be supposed to speak beside the point, and the judges shall

again bring him back to the question at issue. On the other hand,

strangers in their dealings with strangers shall as at present have

power to give and receive oaths, for they will not often grow old in

the city or leave a fry of young ones like themselves to be the sons

and heirs of the land.

  As to the initiation of private suits, let the manner of deciding

causes between all citizens be the same as in cases in which any

freeman is disobedient to the state in minor matters, of which the

penalty is not stripes, imprisonment, or death. But as regards

attendance at choruses or processions or other shows, and as regards

public services, whether the celebration of sacrifice in peace, or the

payment of contributions in war-in all these cases, first comes the

necessity of providing remedy for the loss; and by those who will

not obey, there shall be security given to the officers whom the

city and the law empower to exact the sum due; and if they forfeit

their security, let the goods which they have pledged be, and the

money given to the city; but if they ought to pay a larger sum, the

several magistrates shall impose upon the disobedient a suitable

penalty, and bring them before the court, until they are willing to do

what they are ordered.

  Now a state which makes money from the cultivation of the soil only,

and has no foreign trade, must consider what it will do about the

emigration of its own people to other countries, and the reception

of strangers from elsewhere. About these matters the legislator has to

consider, and he will begin by trying to persuade men as far as he

can. The intercourse of cities with one another is apt to create a

confusion of manners; strangers, are always suggesting novelties to

strangers. When states are well governed by good laws the mixture

causes the greatest possible injury; but seeing that most cities are

the reverse of well-ordered, the confusion which arises in them from

the reception of strangers, and from the citizens themselves rushing

off into other cities, when any one either young or old desires to

travel anywhere abroad at whatever time, is of no consequence. On

the other hand, the refusal of states to receive others, and for their

own citizens never to go to other places, is an utter impossibility,

and to the rest of the world is likely to appear ruthless and

uncivilized; it is a practise adopted by people who use harsh words,

such as xenelasia or banishment of strangers, and who have harsh and

morose ways, as men think. And to be thought or not to be thought well

of by the rest of the world is no light matter; for the many are not

so far wrong in their judgment of who are bad and who are good, as

they are removed from the nature of virtue in themselves. Even bad men

have a divine instinct which guesses rightly, and very many who are

utterly depraved form correct notions and judgments of the differences

between the good and bad. And the generality of cities are quite right

in exhorting us to value a good reputation in the world, for there

is no truth greater and more important than this-that he who is really

good (I am speaking of the man who would be perfect) seeks for

reputation with, but not without, the reality of goodness. And our

Cretan colony ought also to acquire the fairest and noblest reputation

for virtue from other men; and there is every reason to expect that,

if the reality answers to the idea, she will before of the few

well-ordered cities which the sun and the other Gods behold.

Wherefore, in the matter of journeys to other countries and the

reception of strangers, we enact as follows:-In the first place, let

no one be allowed to go anywhere at all into a foreign country who

is less than forty years of age; and no one shall go in a private

capacity, but only in some public one, as a herald, or on an

embassy; or on a sacred mission. Going abroad on an expedition or in

war, not to be included among travels of the class authorized by the

state. To Apollo at Delphi and to Zeus at Olympia and to Nemea and

to the Isthmus,-citizens should be sent to take part in the sacrifices

and games there dedicated to the Gods; and they should send as many as

possible, and the best and fairest that can be found, and they will

make the city renowned at holy meetings in time of peace, procuring

a glory which shall be the converse of that which is gained in war;

and when they come home they shall teach the young that the

institutions of other states are inferior to their own. And they shall

send spectators of another sort, if they have the consent of the

guardians, being such citizens as desire to look a little more at

leisure at the doings of other men; and these no law shall hinder. For

a city which has no experience of good and bad men or intercourse with

them, can never be thoroughly, and perfectly civilized, nor, again,

can the citizens of a city properly observe the laws by habit only,

and without an intelligent understanding of them. And there always are

in the world a few inspired men whose acquaintance is beyond price,

and who spring up quite as much in ill-ordered as in well-ordered

cities. These are they whom the citizens of a well ordered city should

be ever seeking out, going forth over sea and over land to find him

who is incorruptible-that he may establish more firmly institutions in

his own state which are good already; and amend what is deficient; for

without this examination and enquiry a city will never continue

perfect any more than if the examination is ill-conducted.

  Cleinias. How can we have an examination and also a good one?

  Athenian Stranger. In this way: In the first place, our spectator

shall be of not less than fifty years of age; he must be a man of

reputation, especially in war, if he is to exhibit to other cities a

model of the guardians of the law, but when he is more than sixty

years of age he shall no longer continue in his office of spectator,

And when he has carried on his inspection during as many out of the

ten years of his office as he pleases, on his return home let him go

to the assembly of those who review the laws. This shall be a mixed

body of young and old men, who shall be required to meet daily between

the hour of dawn and the rising of the sun. They shall consist, in the

first place, of the priests who have obtained the rewards of virtue;

and in the second place, of guardians of the law, the ten eldest being

chosen; the general superintendent of education shall also be

member, as well the last appointed as those who have been released

from the office; and each of them shall take with him as his companion

young man, whomsoever he chooses, between the ages of thirty and

forty. These shall be always holding conversation and discourse

about the laws of their own city or about any specially good ones

which they may hear to be existing elsewhere; also about kinds of

knowledge which may appear to be of use and will throw light upon

the examination, or of which the want will make the subject of laws

dark and uncertain to them. Any knowledge of this sort which the

elders approve, the younger men shall learn with all diligence; and if

any one of those who have been invited appear to be unworthy, the

whole assembly shall blame him who invited him. The rest of the city

shall watch over those among the young men who distinguish themselves,

having an eye upon them, and especially honouring them if they

succeed, but dishonouring them above the rest if they turn out to be

inferior. This is the assembly to which he who has visited the

institutions of other men, on his return home shall straightway go,

and if he have discovered any one who has anything to say about the

enactment of laws or education or nurture, or if he have himself

made any observations, let him communicate his discoveries to the

whole assembly. And if he be seen to have come home neither better nor

worse, let him be praised at any rate for his enthusiasm; and if he be

much better, let him be praised so much the more; and not only while

he lives but after his death let the assembly honour him with

fitting honours. But if on his return home he appear to have been

corrupted, pretending to be wise when he is not, let him hold no

communication with any one, whether young or old; and if he will

hearken to the rulers, then he shall be permitted to live as a private

individual; but if he will not, let him die, if he be convicted in a

court of law of interfering about education and the laws, And if he

deserve to be indicted, and none of the magistrates indict him, let

that be counted as a disgrace to them when the rewards of virtue are

decided.

  Let such be the character of the person who goes abroad, and let him

go abroad under these conditions. In the next place, the stranger

who comes from abroad should be received in a friendly spirit. Now

there are four kinds of strangers, of whom we must make some

mention-the first is he who comes and stays throughout the summer;

this class are like birds of passage, taking wing in pursuit of

commerce, and flying over the sea to other cities, while the season

lasts; he shall be received in market-places and harbours and public

buildings, near the city but outside, by those magistrates who are

appointed to superintend these matters; and they shall take care

that a stranger, whoever he be, duly receives justice; but he shall

not be allowed to make any innovation. They shall hold the intercourse

with him which is necessary, and this shall be as little as

possible. The second kind is just a spectator who comes to see with

his eyes and hear with his ears the festivals of the Muses; such ought

to have entertainment provided them at the temples by hospitable

persons, and the priests and ministers of the temples should see and

attend to them. But they should not remain more than a reasonable

time; let them see and hear that for the sake of which they came,

and then go away, neither having suffered nor done any harm. The

priests shall be their judges, if any of them receive or do any

wrong up to the sum of fifty drachmae, but if any greater charge be

brought, in such cases the suit shall come before the wardens of the

agora. The third kind of stranger is he who comes on some public

business from another land, and is to be received with public honours.

He is to be received only by the generals and commanders of horse

and foot, and the host by whom he is entertained, in conjunction

with the Prytanes, shall have the sole charge of what concerns him.

There is a fourth dass of persons answering to our spectators, who

come from another land to look at ours. In the first place, such

visits will be rare, and the visitor should be at least fifty years of

age; he may possibly be wanting to see something that is rich and rare

in other states, or himself to show something in like manner to

another city. Let such an one, then, go unbidden to the doors of the

wise and rich, being one of them himself: let him go, for example,

to the house of the superintendent of education, confident that he

is a fitting guest of such a host, or let him go to the house of

some of those who have gained the prize of virtue and hold discourse

with them, both learning from them, and also teaching them; and when

he has seen and heard all, he shall depart, as a friend taking leave

of friends, and be honoured by them with gifts and suitable tributes

of respect. These are the customs, according to which our city

should receive all strangers of either sex who come from other

countries, and should send forth her own citizens, showing respect

to Zeus, the God of hospitality, not forbidding strangers at meals and

sacrifices, as is the manner which prevails among the children of

the Nile, nor driving them away by savage proclamations.

  When a man becomes surety, let him give the security in a distinct

form, acknowledging the whole transaction in a written document, and

in the presence of not less than three witnesses if the sum be under a

thousand drachmae, and of not less than five witnesses if the sum be

above a thousand drachmae. The agent of a dishonest or untrustworthy

seller shall himself be responsible; both the agent and the

principal shall be equally liable. If a person wishes to find anything

in the house of another, he shall enter naked, or wearing only a short

tunic and without a girdle, having first taken an oath by the

customary Gods that he expects to find it there; he shall then make

his search, and the other shall throw open his house and allow him

to search things both sealed and unsealed. And if a person will not

allow the searcher to make his search, he who is prevented shall go to

law with him, estimating the value of the goods after which he is

searching, and if the other be convicted he shall pay twice the

value of the article. If the master be absent from home, the

dwellers in the house shall let him search the unsealed property,

and on the sealed property the searcher shall set another seal, and

shall appoint any one whom he likes to guard them during five days;

and if the master of the house be absent during a longer time, he

shall take with him the wardens of the city, and so make his search,

opening the sealed property as well as the unsealed, and then,

together with the members of the family and the wardens of the city,

he shall seal them up again as they were before. There shall be a

limit of time in the case of disputed things, and he who has had

possession of them during a certain time shall no longer be liable

to be disturbed. As to houses and lands there can be no dispute in

this state of ours; but if a man has any other possessions which he

has used and openly shown in the city and in the agora and in the

temples, and no one has put in a claim to them, and some one says that

he was looking for them during this time, and the possessor is

proved to have made no concealment, if they have continued for a year,

the one having the goods and the other looking for them, the claim

of the seeker shall not be allowed after the expiration of the year;

or if he does not use or show the lost property in the market or in

the city, but only in the country, and no one offers himself as the

owner during five years, at the expiration of the five years the claim

shall be barred for ever after; or if he uses them in the city but

within the house, then the appointed time of claiming the goods

shall be three years, or ten years if he has them in the country in

private. And if he has them in another land, there shall be no limit

of time or prescription, but whenever the owner finds them he may

claim them.

  If any one prevents another by force from being present at a

trial, whether a principal party or his witnesses; if the person

prevented be a slave, whether his own or belonging to another, the

suit shall be incomplete and invalid; but if he who is prevented be

a freeman, besides the suit being incomplete, the other who has

prevented him shall be imprisoned for a year, and shall be

prosecuted for kidnapping by any one who pleases. And if any one

hinders by force a rival competitor in gymnastic or music, or any

other sort of contest, from being present at the contest, let him

who has a mind inform the presiding judges, and they shall liberate

him who is desirous of competing; and if they are not able, and he who

hinders the other from competing wins the prize, then they shall

give the prize of victory to him who is prevented, and inscribe him as

the conqueror in any temples which he pleases; and he who hinders

the other shall not be permitted to make any offering or inscription

having reference to that contest, and in any case he shall be liable

for damages, whether he be defeated or whether he conquer.

  If any one knowingly receives anything which has been stolen, he

shall undergo the same punishment as the thief, and if a man

receives an exile he shall be punished with death. Every man should

regard the friend and enemy of the state as his own friend and

enemy; and if any one makes peace or war with another on his own

account, and without the authority of the state, he, like the receiver

of the exile, shall undergo the penalty of death. And if any

fraction of the City declare war or peace against any, the generals

shall indict the authors of this proceeding, and if they are convicted

death shall be the penalty. Those who serve their country ought to

serve without receiving gifts, and there ought to be no excusing or

approving the saying, "Men should receive gifts as the reward of good,

but not of evil deeds"; for to know which we are doing, and to stand

fast by our knowledge, is no easy matter. The safest course is to obey

the law which says, "Do no service for a bribe," and let him who

disobeys, if he be convicted, simply die. With a view to taxation, for

various reasons, every man ought to have had his property valued:

and the tribesmen should likewise bring a register of the yearly

produce to the wardens of the country, that in this way there may be

two valuations; and the public officers may use annuary whichever on

consideration they deem the best, whether they prefer to take a

certain portion of the whole value, or of the annual revenue, after

subtracting what is paid to the common tables.

  Touching offerings to the Gods, a moderate man should observe

moderation in what he offers. Now the land and the hearth of the house

of all men is sacred to all Gods; wherefore let no man dedicate them a

second time to the Gods. Gold and silver, whether possessed by private

persons or in temples, are in other cities provocative of envy, and

ivory, the product of a dead body, is not a proper offering; brass and

iron, again, are instruments of war; but of wood let a man bring

what offerings he likes, provided it be a single block, and in like

manner of stone, to the public temples; of woven work let him not

offer more than one woman can execute in a month. White is a colour

suitable to the Gods, especially in woven works, but dyes should

only be used for the adornments of war. The most divine of gifts are

birds and images, and they should be such as one painter can execute

in a single day. And let all other offerings follow a similar rule.

  Now that the whole city has been divided into parts of which the

nature and number have been described, and laws have been given

about all the most important contracts as far as this was possible,

the next thing will be to have justice done. The first of the courts

shall consist of elected judges, who shall be chosen by the

plaintiff and the defendant in common: these shall be called

arbiters rather than judges. And in the second court there shall be

judges of the villages and tribes corresponding to the twelvefold

division of the land, and before these the litigants shall go to

contend for greater damages, if the suit be not decided before the

first judges; the defendant, if he be defeated the second time,

shall pay a fifth more than the damages mentioned in the indictment;

and if he find fault with his judges and would try a third time, let

him carry the suit before the select judges, and if he be again

defeated, let him pay the whole of the damages and half as much again.

And the plaintiff, if when defeated before the first judges he persist

in going on to the second, shall if he wins receive in addition to the

damages a fifth part more, and if defeated he shall pay a like sum;

but if he is not satisfied with the previous decision, and will insist

on proceeding to a third court, then if he win he shall receive from

the defendant the amount of the damages and, as I said before, half as

much again, and the plaintiff, if he lose, shall pay half of the

damages claimed, Now the assignment by lot of judges to courts and the

completion of the number of them, and the appointment of servants to

the different magistrates, and the times at which the several causes

should be heard, and the votings and delays, and all the things that

necessarily concern suits, and the order of causes, and the time in

which answers have to be put in and parties are to appear-of these and

other things akin to these we have indeed already spoken, but there is

no harm in repeating what is right twice or thrice:-All lesser and

easier matters which the elder legislator has omitted may be

supplied by the younger one. Private courts will be sufficiently

regulated in this way, and the public and state courts, and those

which the magistrates must use in the administration of their

several offices, exist in many other states. Many very respectable

institutions of this sort have been framed by good men, and from

them the guardians of the law may by reflection derive what is

necessary, for the order of our new state, considering and

correcting them, and bringing them to the test of experience, until

every detail appears to be satisfactorily determined; and then putting

the final seal upon them, and making them irreversible, they shall use

them for ever afterwards. As to what relates to the silence of

judges and the abstinence from words of evil omen and the reverse, and

the different notions of the just and good and honourable which

exist in our: own as compared with other states, they have been partly

mentioned already, and another part of them will be mentioned

hereafter as we draw near the end. To all these matters he who would

be an equal judge, shall justly look, and he shall possess writings

about them that he may learn them. For of all kinds of knowledge the

knowledge of good laws has the greatest power of improving the

learner; otherwise there would be no meaning the divine and

admirable law possessing a name akin to mind (nous, nomos). And of all

other words, such as the praises and censures of individuals which

occur in poetry and also in prose, whether written down or uttered

in daily conversation, whether men dispute about them in the spirit of

contention or weakly assent to them, as is often the case-of all these

the one sure test is the writings of the legislator, which the

righteous judge ought to have in his mind as the antidote of all other

words, and thus make himself and the city stand upright, procuring for

the good the continuance and increase of justice, and for the bad,

on the other hand, a conversion from ignorance and intemperance, and

in general from all unrighteousness, as far as their evil minds can be

healed, but to those whose web of life is in reality finished,

giving death, which is the only remedy for souls in their condition,

as I may say truly again and again. And such judges and chiefs of

judges will be worthy of receiving praise from the whole city.

  When the suits of the year are completed the following laws shall

regulate their execution:-In the first place, the judge shall assign

to the party who wins the suit the whole property of him who loses,

with the exception of mere necessaries, and the assignment shall be

made through the herald immediately after each decision in the hearing

of the judges; and when the month arrives following the month in which

the courts are sitting (unless the gainer of the suit has been

previously satisfied), the court shall follow up the case, and hand

over to the winner the goods of the loser; but if they find that he

has not the means of paying, and the sum deficient is not less than

a drachma, the insolvent person shall not have any right of going to

law with any other man until he have satisfied the debt of the winning

party; but other persons shall still have the right of bringing

suits against him. And if any one after he is condemned refuses to

acknowledge the authority which condemned him, let the magistrates who

are thus deprived of their authority bring him before the court of the

guardians of the law, and if he be cast, let him be punished with

death, as a subverter of the whole state and of the laws.

  Thus a man is born and brought up, and after this manner he begets

and brings up his own children, and has his share of dealings with

other men, and suffers if he has done wrong to any one, and receives

satisfaction if he has been wronged, and so at length in due time he

grows old under the protection of the laws, and his end comes in the

order of nature. Concerning the dead of either sex, the religious

ceremonies which may fittingly be performed, whether appertaining to

the Gods of the underworld or of this, shall be decided by the

interpreters with absolute authority. Their sepulchres are not to be

in places which are fit for cultivation, and there shall be no

monuments in such spots, either large or small, but they shall

occupy that part of the country which is naturally adapted for

receiving and concealing the bodies of the dead with as little hurt as

possible to the living. No man, living or dead, shall deprive the

living of the sustenance which the earth, their foster-parent, is

naturally inclined to provide for them. And let not the mound be piled

higher than would be the work of five men completed in five days;

nor shall the stone which is placed over the spot be larger than would

be sufficient to receive the praises of the dead included in four

heroic lines. Nor shall the laying out of the dead in the house

continue for a longer time than is sufficient to distinguish between

him who is in a trance only and him who is really dead, and speaking

generally, the third day after death will be a fair time for

carrying out the body to the sepulchre. Now we must believe the

legislator when he tells us that the soul is in all respects

superior to the body, and that even in life what makes each one us

to be what we are is only the soul; and that the body follows us about

in the likeness of each of us, and therefore, when we are dead, the

bodies of the dead are quite rightly said to be our shades or

images; for the true and immortal being of each one of us which is

called the soul goes on her way to other Gods, before them to give

an account-which is an inspiring hope to the good, but very terrible

to the bad, as the laws of our fathers tell us; and they also say

that not much can be done in the way of helping a man after he is

dead. But the living-he should be helped by all his kindred, that

while in life he may be the holiest and justest of men, and after

death may have no great sins to be punished in the world below. If

this be true, a man ought not to waste his substance under the idea

that all this lifeless mass of flesh which is in process of burial

is connected with him; he should consider that the son, or brother, or

the beloved one, whoever he may be, whom he thinks he is laying in the

earth, has gone away to complete and fulfil his own destiny, and

that his duty is rightly to order the present, and to spend moderately

on the lifeless altar of the Gods below. But the legislator does not

intend moderation to be take, in the sense of meanness. Let the law,

then, be as follows:-The expenditure on the entire funeral of him

who is of the highest class shall not exceed five minae; and for him

who is of the second class, three minae, and for him who is of the

third class, two minae, and for him, who is of the fourth class, one

mina, will be a fair limit of expense. The guardians of the law

ought to take especial care of the different ages of life, whether

childhood, or manhood, or any other age. And at the end of all, let

there be some one guardian of the law presiding, who shall be chosen

by the friends of the deceased to superintend, and let it be glory

to him to manage with fairness and moderation what relates to the

dead, and a discredit to him if they are not well managed. Let the

laying out and other ceremonies be in accordance with custom, but to

the statesman who adopts custom as his law we must give way in certain

particulars. It would be monstrous for example that he should

command any man to weep or abstain from weeping over the dead; but

he may forbid cries of lamentation, and not allow the voice of the

mourner to be heard outside the house; also, he may forbid the

bringing of the dead body into the open streets, or the processions of

mourners in the streets, and may require that before daybreak they

should be outside the city. Let these, then, be our laws relating to

such matters, and let him who obeys be free from penalty; but he who

disobeys even a single guardian of the law shall be punished by them

all with a fitting penalty. Other modes of burial, or again the denial

of burial, which is to be refused in the case of robbers of temples

and parricides and the like, have been devised and are embodied in the

preceding laws, so that now our work of legislation is pretty nearly

at an end; but in all cases the end does not consist in doing

something or acquiring something or establishing something-the end

will be attained and finally accomplished, when we have provided for

the perfect and lasting continuance of our institutions until then our

creation is incomplete.

  Cle. That is very good Stranger; but I wish you would tell me more

clearly what you mean.

  Ath. O Cleinias, many things of old time were well said and sung;

and the saying about the Fates was one of them.

  Cle. What is it?

  Ath. The saying that Lachesis or the giver of the lots is the

first of them, and that Clotho or the spinster is the second of

them, and that Atropos or the unchanging one is the third of them; and

that she is the preserver of the things which we have spoken, and

which have been compared in a figure to things woven by fire, they

both (i.e., Atropos and the fire) producing the quality of

unchangeableness. I am speaking of the things which in a state and

government give not only health and salvation to the body, but law, or

rather preservation of the law, in the soul; and, if I am not

mistaken, this seems to be still wanting in our laws: we have still to

see how we can implant in them this irreversible nature.

  Cle. It will be no small matter if we can only discover how such a

nature can be implanted in anything.

  Ath. But it certainly can be; so much I clearly see.

  Cle. Then let us not think of desisting until we have imparted

this quality to our laws; for it is ridiculous, after a great deal

of labour has been spent, to place a thing at last on an insecure

foundation.

  Megillus. I approve of your suggestion, and am quite of the same

mind with you.

  Cle. Very good: And now what, according to you, is to be the

salvation of our government and of our laws, and how is it to be

effected?

  Ath. Were we not saying that there must be in our city a council

which was to be of this sort:-The ten oldest guardians of the law, and

all those who have obtained prizes of virtue, were to meet in the same

assembly, and the council was also to include those who had visited

foreign countries in the hope of hearing something that might be of

use in the preservation of the laws, and who, having come safely home,

and having been tested in these same matters, had proved themselves to

be worthy to take part in the assembly;-each of the members was to

select some young man of not less than thirty years of age, he himself

judging in the, first instance whether the young man was worthy by

nature and education, and then suggesting him to the others, and if he

seemed to them also to be worthy they were to adopt him; but if not,

the decision at which they arrived was to be kept a secret from the

citizens at large; and, more especially, from the rejected

candidate. The meeting of the council was to be held early in the

morning, when everybody was most at leisure from all other business,

whether public or private-was not something of this sort said by us

before?

  Cle. True.

  Ath. Then, returning to the council, I would say further, that if we

let it down to be the anchor of the state, our city, having everything

which is suitable to her, will preserve all that we wish to preserve.

  Cle. What do you mean?

  Ath. Now is the time for me to speak the truth in all earnestness.

  Cle. Well said, and I hope that you will fulfil your intention.

  Ath. Know, Cleinias, that everything, in all that it does, has a

natural saviour, as of an animal the soul and the head are the chief

saviours.

  Cle. Once more, what do you mean?

  Ath. The well-being of those two is obviously the preservation of

every living thing.

  Cle. How is that?

  Ath. The soul, besides other things, contains mind, and the head,

besides other things, contains sight and hearing; and the mind,

mingling with the noblest of the senses, and becoming one with them,

may be truly called the salvation of all.

  Cle. Yes, Quite so.

  Ath. Yes, indeed; but with what is that intellect concerned which,

mingling with the senses, is the salvation of ships in storms as

well as in fair weather? In a ship, when the pilot and the sailors

unite their perceptions with the piloting mind, do they not save

both themselves and their craft?

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. We do not want many illustrations about such matters:-What

aim would the general of an army, or what aim would a physician

propose to himself, if he were seeking to attain salvation?

  Cle. Very good.

  Ath. Does not the general aim at victory and superiority in war, and

do not the physician and his assistants aim at producing health in the

body?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And a physician who is ignorant about the body, that is to say,

who knows not that which we just now called health, or a general who

knows not victory, or any others who are ignorant of the particulars

of the arts which we mentioned, cannot be said to have understanding

about any of these matters.

  Cle. They cannot.

  Ath. And what would you say of the state? If a person proves to be

ignorant of the aim to which the statesman should look, ought he, in

the first place, to be called a ruler at all; further, will he ever be

able to preserve that of which he does not even know the aim?

  Cle. Impossible.

  Ath. And therefore, if our settlement of the country is to be

perfect, we ought to have some institution, which, as I was saying,

will tell what is the aim of the state, and will inform us how we

are to attain this, and what law or what man will advise us to that

end. Any state which has no such institution is likely to be devoid of

mind and sense, and in all her actions will proceed by mere chance.

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. In which, then, of the parts or institutions of the state is

any such guardian power to be found? Can we say?

  Cle. I am not quite certain, Stranger; but I have a suspicion that

you are referring to the assembly which you just now said was to

meet at night.

  Ath. You understand me perfectly, Cleinias; and we must assume, as

the argument iniplies, that this council possesses all virtue; and the

beginning of virtue is not to make mistakes by guessing many things,

but to look steadily at one thing, and on this to fix all our aims.

  Cle. Quite true.

  Ath. Then now we shall see why there is nothing wonderful in

states going astray-the reason is that their legislators have such

different aims; nor is there anything wonderful in some laying down as

their rule of justice, that certain individuals should bear rule in

the state, whether they be good or bad, and others that the citizens

should be rich, not caring whether they are the slaves of other men or

not. The tendency of others, again, is towards freedom; and some

legislate with a view to two things at once-they want to be at the

same time free and the lords of other states; but the wisest men, as

they deem themselves to be, look to all these and similar aims, and

there is no one of them which they exclusively honour, and to which

they would have all things look.

  Cle. Then, Stranger, our former assertion will hold, for we were

saying that laws generally should look to one thing only; and this, as

we admitted, was rightly said to be virtue.

  Ath. Yes.

  Cle. And we said that virtue was of four kinds?

  Ath. Quite true.

  Cle. And that mind was the leader of the four, and that to her the

three other virtues and all other things ought to have regard?

  Ath. You follow me capitally, Cleinias, and I would ask you to

follow me to the end, for we have already said that the mind of the

pilot, the mind of the physician and of the general look to that one

thing to which they ought to look; and now we may turn to mind

political, of which, as of a human creature, we will ask a question:-O

wonderful being, and to what are you looking? The physician is able to

tell his single aim in life, but you, the superior, as you declare

yourself to be, of all intelligent beings, when you are asked are

not able to tell. Can you, Megillus, and you, Cleinias, say distinctly

what is the aim of mind political, in return for the many explanations

of things which I have given you?

  Cle. We cannot, Stranger.

  Ath. Well, but ought we not to desire to see it, and to see where

it is to be found?

  Cle. For example, where?

  Ath. For example, we were saying that there are four kinds of

virtue, and as there are four of them, each of them must be one.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And further, all four of them we call one; for we say that

courage is virtue, and that prudence is virtue, and the same of the

two others, as if they were in reality not many but one, that is,

virtue.

  Cle. Quite so.

  Ath. There is no difficulty in seeing in what way the two differ

from one another, and have received two names, and so of the rest. But

there is more difficulty in explaining why we call these two and the

rest of them by the single name of virtue.

  Cle. How do you mean?

  Ath. I have no difficulty in explaining what I mean. Let us

distribute the subject questions and answers.

  Cle. Once more, what do you mean?

  Ath. Ask me what is that one thing which call virtue, and then again

speak of as two, one part being courage and the other wisdom. I will

tell you how that occurs:-One of them has to do with fear; in this the

beasts also participate, and quite young children-I mean courage;

for a courageous temper is a gift of nature and not of reason. But

without reason there never has been, or is, or will be a wise and

understanding soul; it is of a different nature.

  Cle. That is true.

  Ath. I have now told you in what way the two are different, and do

you in return tell me in what way they are one and the same. Suppose

that I ask you in what way the four are one, and when you have

answered me, you will have a right to ask of me in return in what

way they are four; and then let us proceed to enquire whether in the

case of things which have a name and also a definition to them, true

knowledge consists in knowing the name only and not the definition.

Can he who is good for anything be ignorant of all this without

discredit where great and glorious truths are concerned?

  Cle. I suppose not.

  Ath. And is there anything greater to the legislator and the

guardian of the law, and to him who thinks that he excels all other

men in virtue, and has won the palm of excellence, that these very

qualities of which we are now speaking-courage, temperance, wisdom,

justice?

  Cle. How can there be anything greater?

  Ath. And ought not the interpreters, the teachers the lawgivers, the

guardians of the other citizens, to excel the rest of mankind, and

perfectly to show him who desires to learn and know or whose evil

actions require to be punished and reproved, what is the nature of

virtue and vice? Or shall some poet who has found his way into the

city, or some chance person who pretends to be an instructor of youth,

show himself to be better than him who has won the prize for every

virtue? And can we wonder that when the guardians are not adequate

in speech or action, and have no adequate knowledge of virtue, the

city being unguarded should experience the common fate of cities in

our day?

  Cle. Wonder! no.

  Ath. Well, then, must we do as we said? Or can we give our guardians

a more precise knowledge of virtue in speech and action than the

many have? or is there any way in which our city can be made to

resemble the head and senses of rational beings because possessing

such a guardian power?

  Cle. What, Stranger, is the drift of your comparison?

  Ath. Do we not see that the city is the trunk, and are not the

younger guardians, who are chosen for their natural gifts, placed in

the head of the state, having their souls all full of eyes, with which

they look about the whole city? They keep watch and hand over their

perceptions to the memory, and inform the elders of all that happens

in the city; and those whom we compared to the mind, because they have

many wise thoughts-that is to say, the old men-take counsel and making

use of the younger men as their ministers, and advising with them-in

this way both together truly preserve the whole state:-Shall this or

some other be the order of our state? Are all our citizens to be equal

in acquirements, or shall there be special persons among them who have

received a more careful training and education?

  Cle. That they should be equal, my; good, sir, is impossible.

  Ath. Then we ought to proceed to some more exact training than any

which has preceded.

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. And must not that of which we are in need be the one to which

we were just now alluding?

  Cle. Very true.

  Ath. Did we not say that the workman or guardian, if he be perfect

in every respect, ought not only to be able to see the many aims,

but he should press onward to the one? this he should know, and

knowing, order all things with a view to it.

  Cle. True.

  Ath. And can any one have a more exact way of considering or

contemplating. anything, than the being able to look at one idea

gathered from many different things?

  Cle. Perhaps not.

  Ath. Not "Perhaps not," but "Certainly not," my good sir, is the

right answer. There never has been a truer method than this discovered

by any man.

  Cle. I bow to your authority, Stranger; let us proceed in the way

which you propose.

  Ath. Then, as would appear, we must compel the guardians of our

divine state to perceive, in the first place, what that principle is

which is the same in all the four-the same, as we affirm, in courage

and in temperance, and in justice and in prudence, and which, being

one, we call as we ought, by the single name of virtue. To this, my

friends, we will, if you please, hold fast, and not let go until we

have sufficiently explained what that is to which we are to look,

whether to be regarded as one, or as a whole, or as both, or in

whatever way. Are we likely ever to be in a virtuous condition, if

we cannot tell whether virtue is many, or four, or one? Certainly,

if we take counsel among ourselves, we shall in some way contrive that

this principle has a place amongst us; but if you have made up your

mind that we should let the matter alone, we will.

  Cle. We must not, Stranger, by the God of strangers I swear that

we must not, for in our opinion you speak most truly; but we should

like to know how you will accomplish your purpose.

  Ath. Wait a little before you ask; and let us, first of all, be

quite agreed with one another that the purpose has to be accomplished.

  Cle. Certainly, it ought to be, if it can be.

  Ast. Well, and about the good and the honourable, are we to take the

same view? Are our guardians only to know that each of them is many,

or, also how and in what way they are one?

  Cle. They must consider also in what sense they are one.

  Ath. And are they to consider only, and to be unable to set forth

what they think?

  Cle. Certainly not; that would be the state of a slave.

  Ath. And may not the same be said of all good things-that the true

guardians of the laws ought to know the truth about them, and to be

able to interpret them in words, and carry them out in action, judging

of what is and what is not well, according to nature?

  Cle. Certainly.

  Ath. Is not the knowledge of the Gods which we have set forth with

so much zeal one of the noblest sorts of knowledge;-to know that

they are, and know how great is their power, as far as in man lies? do

indeed excuse the mass of the citizens, who only follow the voice of

the laws, but we refuse to admit as guardians any who do not labour to

obtain every possible evidence that there is respecting the Gods;

our city is forbidden and not allowed to choose as a guardian of the

law, or to place in the select order of virtue, him who is not an

inspired man, and has not laboured at these things.

  Cle. It is certainly just, as you say, that he who is indolent about

such matters or incapable should be rejected, and that things

honourable should be put away from him.

  Ath. Are we assured that there are two things which lead men to

believe in the Gods, as we have already stated?

  Cle. What are they?

  Ath. One is the argument about the soul, which has been already

mentioned-that it is the eldest, and most divine of all things, to

which motion attaining generation gives perpetual existence; the other

was an argument from the order of the motion of the stars, and of

all things under the dominion of the mind which ordered the

universe. If a man look upon the world not lightly or ignorantly,

there was never any one so godless who did not experience an effect

opposite to that which the many imagine. For they think that those who

handle these matters by the help of astronomy, and the accompanying

arts of demonstration, may become godless, because they see, as far as

they can see, things happening by necessity, and not by an intelligent

will accomplishing good.

  Cle. But what is the fact?

  Ath. Just the opposite, as I said, of the opinion which once

prevailed among men, that the sun and stars are without soul. Even

in those days men wondered about them, and that which is now

ascertained was then conjectured by some who had a more exact

knowledge of them-that if they had been things without soul, and had

no mind, they could never have moved with numerical exactness so

wonderful; and even at that time some ventured to hazard the

conjecture that mind was the orderer of the universe. But these same

persons again mistaking the nature of the soul, which they conceived

to be younger and not older than the body, once more overturned the

world, or rather, I should say, themselves; for the bodies which

they saw moving in heaven all appeared to be full of stones, and

earth, and many other lifeless substances, and to these they

assigned the causes of all things. Such studies gave rise to much

atheism and perplexity, and the poets took occasion to be

abusive-comparing the philosophers to she-dogs uttering vain howlings,

and talking other nonsense of the same sort. But now, as I said, the

case is reversed.

  Cle. How so?

  Ath. No man can be a true worshipper of the Gods who does not know

these two principles-that the soul is the eldest of all things which

are born, and is immortal and rules over all bodies; moreover, as I

have now said several times, he who has not contemplated the mind of

nature which is said to exist in the stars, and gone through the

previous training, and seen the connection of music with these things,

and harmonized them all with laws and institutions, is not able to

give a reason of such things as have a reason. And he who is unable to

acquire this in addition to the ordinary virtues of a citizen, can

hardly be a good ruler of a whole state; but he should be the

subordinate of other rulers. Wherefore, Cleinias and Megillus, let

us consider whether we may not add to all the other laws which we have

discussed this further one-that the nocturnal assembly of the

magistrates, which has also shared in the whole scheme of education

proposed by us, shall be a guard set according to law for the

salvation of the state. Shall we propose this?

  Cle. Certainly, my good friend, we will if the thing is in any

degree possible.

  Ath. Let us make a common effort to gain such an object; for I too

will gladly share in the attempt. Of these matters I have had much

experience, and have often considered them, and I dare say that I

shall be able to find others who will also help.

  Cle. I agree, Stranger, that we should proceed along the road in

which God is guiding us; and how we can proceed rightly has now to

be investigated and explained.

  Ath. O Megillus and Cleinias, about these matters we cannot

legislate further until the council is constituted; when that is done,

then we will determine what authority they shall have of their own;

but the explanation of how this is all to be ordered would only be

given rightly in a long discourse.

  Cle. What do you mean, and what new thing is this?

  Ath. In the first place, a list would have to be made out of those

who by their ages and studies and dispositions and habits are well

fitted for the duty of a guardian. In the next place, it will not be

easy for them to discover themselves what they ought to learn, or

become the disciple of one who has already made the discovery.

Furthermore, to write down the times at which, and during which,

they ought to receive the several kinds of instruction, would be a

vain thing; for the learners themselves do not know what is learned to

advantage until the knowledge which is the result of learning has

found a place in the soul of each. And so these details, although they

could not be truly said to be secret, might be said to be incapable of

being stated beforehand, because when stated they would have no

meaning.

  Cle. What then are we to do, Stranger, under these circumstances?

  Ath. As the proverb says, the answer is no secret, but open to all

of us:-We must risk the whole on the chance of throwing, as they

say, thrice six or thrice ace, and I am willing to share with you

the danger by stating and explaining to you my views about education

and nurture, which is the question coming to the surface again. The

danger is not a slight or ordinary one, and I would advise you,

Cleinias, in particular, to see to the matter; for if you order

rightly the city of the Magnetes, or whatever name God may give it,

you will obtain the greatest glory; or at any rate you will be thought

the most courageous of men in the estimation of posterity. Dear

companions, if this our divine assembly can only be established, to

them we will hand over the city; none of the present company of

legislators, as I may call them, would hesitate about that. And the

state will be perfected and become a waking reality, which a little

while ago we attempted to create as a dream and in idea only, mingling

together reason and mind in one image, in the hope that our citizens

might be duly mingled and rightly educated; and being educated, and

dwelling in the citadel of the land, might become perfect guardians,

such as we have never seen in all our previous life, by reason of

the saving virtue which is in them.

  Meg. Dear Cleinias, after all that has been said, either we must

detain the Stranger, and by supplications and in all manner of ways

make him share in the foundation of the city, or we must give up the

undertaking.

  Cle. Very true, Megillus; and you must join with me in detaining

him.

  Meg. I will.





                              -THE END-

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